Democracy Now! Daily Digest: A Daily Independent Global News Hour with Amy Goodman & Juan González for Thursday, March 20, 2014

Democracy Now! Daily Digest: A Daily Independent Global News Hour with Amy Goodman & Juan González for Thursday, March 20, 2014
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Former U.S. Ambassador: Behind Crimea Crisis, Russia Responding to Years of "Hostile" U.S. Policy
The standoff over Ukraine and the fate of Crimea has sparked the worst East-West crisis since the end of the Cold War. The U.S. has imposed sanctions on top Russian officials while announcing new military exercises in Baltic states. Meanwhile in Moscow, the Russian government says it is considering changing its stance on Iran’s nuclear talks in response to newly imposed U.S. sanctions. As tensions rise, we are joined by Jack Matlock, who served as the last U.S. ambassador to the Soviet Union. Matlock argues that Russian President Vladimir Putin is acting in response to years of perceived hostility from the U.S., from the eastward expansion of NATO to the bombing of Serbia to the expansion of American military bases in eastern Europe.
TRANSCRIPT
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: The Ukrainian government has announced plans to abandon its military bases in Crimea and evacuate its forces following Russia’s decision to annex the region. Earlier today, Russian forces reportedly released the commander of the Ukrainian Navy, who has been seized in his own headquarters in Crimea. At the United Nations, ambassadors sparred over the situation in Crimea. Yuriy Sergeyev is the Ukrainian ambassador to the U.N.
YURIY SERGEYEV: The declaration of independence by the Crimean Republic is a direct consequence of the application of the use of force and threats against Ukraine by the Russian Federation, and, in view of Russian nuclear power status, has a particularly dangerous character for Ukraine’s independence and territorial integrity, as well as for international peace and security in general. Accordingly, I assert that on the basis of customary norms and international law, that the international community is obliged not to recognize Crimea as a subject of international law or any situation, treaty or agreement that may be arise or be achieved by this territory.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, defended Moscow’s move to annex Crimea.
VITALY CHURKIN: [translated] A historic injustice has been righted, which resulted from the arbitrary actions of the leader of the U.S.S.R. at the time, Nikita Khrushchev, who, with the stroke of a pen in 1954, in violation of the constitutional norms, transferred the Russian region of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, which was part of the same state then. And he did this without informing the population of Crimea and, of course, without their consent. And nobody cared about the views of the Crimeans.
AMY GOODMAN: Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the U.S. Navy warship, the Truxtun, a U.S. guided-missile destroyer, conducted a one-day military exercise in the Black Sea with the Bulgarian and Romanian navies. And Vice President Joe Biden has been meeting this week with the heads of states of Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, promising Washington would protect them from any Russian aggression. On Wednesday, President Obama addressed the crisis during an interview with NBC 7 San Diego.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: We are not going to be getting into a military excursion in Ukraine. What we are going to do is mobilize all of our diplomatic resources to make sure that we’ve got a strong international coalition that sends a clear message, which is: The Ukraine should decide their own destiny. Russia, right now, is violating international law and the sovereignty of another country. You know, might doesn’t make right. And, you know, we are going to continue to ratchet up the pressure on Russia as it continues down its current course.
AMY GOODMAN: To talk more about the growing crisis in Ukraine, we’re joined by Ambassador Jack Matlock. He served as U.S. ambassador to Moscow from 1987 to 1991. He’s the author of several books, including Reagan and Gorbachev: How the Cold War Ended. He recently wrote a column for The Washington Post headlined "The U.S. Has Treated Russia Like a Loser Since the End of the Cold War."
Ambassador Matlock, welcome to Democracy Now! Talk about the situation right now, what has just taken place, Ukraine now pulling out of Crimea.
JACK MATLOCK JR.: Well, I think that what we have seen is a reaction, in many respects, to a long history of what the Russian government, the Russian president and many of the Russian people—most of them—feel has been a pattern of American activity that has been hostile to Russia and has simply disregarded their national interests. They feel that having thrown off communism, having dispensed with the Soviet Empire, that the U.S. systematically, from the time it started expanding NATO to the east, without them, and then using NATO to carry out what they consider offensive actions about an—against another country—in this case, Serbia—a country which had not attacked any NATO member, and then detached territory from it—this is very relevant now to what we’re seeing happening in Crimea—and then continued to place bases in these countries, to move closer and closer to borders, and then to talk of taking Ukraine, most of whose people didn’t want to be a member of NATO, into NATO, and Georgia. Now, this began an intrusion into an area which the Russians are very sensitive. Now, how would Americans feel if some Russian or Chinese or even West European started putting bases in Mexico or in the Caribbean, or trying to form governments that were hostile to us? You know, we saw how we virtually went ballistic over Cuba. And I think that we have not been very attentive to what it takes to have a harmonious relationship with Russia.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Well, Ambassador Matlock, Americans often look at these crises in isolation, and some of the press coverage deals with them that way. But from your perspective, you argued that we should see the continuum of events that have happened from the Russian point of view—for instance, the Orange Revolution, the pronouncements of some of our leaders several years back, the crisis in Georgia a few years ago, and how the Russians are seeing the original good feeling that most Russians had toward the United States after the collapse of the Soviet Union compared to now.
JACK MATLOCK JR.: Yes, that’s absolutely true. You see, in the Orange Revolution in Kiev, foreigners, including Americans, were very active in organizing people and inspiring them. Now, you know, I have to ask Americans: How would Occupy Wall Street have looked if you had foreigners out there leading them? Do you think that would have helped them get their point across? I don’t think so. And I think we have to understand that when we start directly interfering, particularly our government officials, in the internal makeup of other governments, we’re really asking for trouble.
And, you know, we were pretty careful not to do that in my day. And I recall, for example, when I was being consulted by the newly elected leaders of what was still Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania. They were still in the Soviet Union, and they would come to us. We were, of course, sympathetic to their independence; we had never even recognized that they were legally part of the Soviet Union. But I had to tell them, "Keep it peaceful. If you are suppressed, there’s nothing we can do about it. We cannot come and help you. We’re not going to start a nuclear war." Well, they kept it peaceful, despite provocations.
Now, what have we been telling the Ukrainians, the Georgians—at least some of us, officials? "Just hold on. You can join NATO, and that will solve your problems for you." You know, and yet, it is that very prospect, that the United States and its European allies were trying to surround Russia with hostile bases, that has raised the emotional temperature of all these things. And that was a huge mistake. As George Kennan wrote back in the ’90s when this question came up, the decision to expand NATO the way it was done was one of the most fateful and bad decisions of the late 20th century.
AMY GOODMAN: I wanted to go to Vice President Joe Biden, who criticized Russia recently during his trip to Lithuania Wednesday.
VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: I want to make it clear: We stand resolutely with our Baltic allies in support of Ukrainian people and against Russian aggression. As long as Russia continues on this dark path, they will face increasing political and economic isolation. There are those who say that this action shows the old rules still apply. But Russia cannot escape the fact that the world is changing and rejecting outright their behavior.
AMY GOODMAN: And in a speech Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin blasted what he called Western hypocrisy on Crimea, saying that the U.S. selectively applies international law according to its political interests.
PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN: [translated] Our Western partners, headed by the United States of America, prefer in their practical policy to be guided not by international law, but by the right of the strong. They started to believe that they have been chosen and they are unique, that they are allowed to decide the fate of the world, that only they could always be right. They do whatever they want
AMY GOODMAN: Ambassador Jack Matlock, if you could respond to both Biden and Putin?
JACK MATLOCK JR.: Well, I think that this rhetoric on both sides is being very unhelpful. The fact is, Russia now has returned Crimea to Russia. It has been, most of its recent history, in the last couple of centuries, been Russian. The majority of the people are Russian. They clearly would prefer to be in Russia. And the bottom line is, we can argue 'til doomsday over who did what and why and who was the legal and who was not—I'm sure historians generations from now will still be arguing it—but the fact is, Russia now is not going to give up Crimea. The fact also is, if you really look at it dispassionately, Ukraine is better off without Crimea, because Ukraine is divided enough as it is. Their big problem is internal, in putting together disparate people who have been put together in that country. The distraction of Crimea, where most of the people did not want to be in Ukraine and ended up in Ukraine as a result of really almost a bureaucratic whim, is—was, I think, a real liability for Ukraine.
Now, the—we should be concentrating now on how we put Ukraine back together—not we, but the Ukrainians, with the help of the Europeans, with the help of the Russians, and with at least a benign view from the United States. Now, the American president and vice president directly challenging the Russian president and threatening them with isolation is going to bring the opposite effect. All of this has actually increased President Putin’s popularity among Russians. Now, you know, most politicians, they like to do things that make them more popular at home. And, you know, the idea that we are acting, you know, contrary to what Russians would consider their very natural interests—that is, in bringing an area which had been Russian and traditionally Russian for a long time back into Russia—they look at that as a good thing. It’s going to be very costly to Russia, they’re going to find out, in many ways. But to continue all of this rhetoric, I would ask, well, how is it going to end? What is your objective? Because it isn’t going to free up Crimea again or give it back to Ukraine.
I think it would be most helpful to encourage the Ukrainians to form a united government that can begin reforms. The proposals before, both by the EU and by Russia, would not have solved their problems. And they are not going to solve the problems by taking a government that basically represents one half of the country and making it work on the whole country. And all of this interference, both by Russia and by the West, including the United States, has tended to split Ukraine. Now, that is the big issue there. And we need to turn our attention more to it. And I just hope everyone can calm down and look at realities and stop trying to start sort of a new Cold War over this. As compared to the issues of the Cold War, this is quite minor. It has many of the characteristics of a family dispute. And when outsiders get into a family dispute, they’re usually not very helpful.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Well, Ambassador Matlock, what would you, if you were counseling the president, urge him to do at this stage? Because obviously there are these pretty weak sanctions that have so far been announced. What would your advice be?
JACK MATLOCK JR.: Well, I think, first of all, we should start keeping our voice down and sort of let things work out. You know, to ship in military equipment and so on is just going to be a further provocation. Obviously, this is not something that’s going to be solved by military confrontations. So, I think if we can find a way to speak less in public, to use more quiet diplomacy—and right now, frankly, the relationships between our presidents are so poisonous, they really should have representatives who can quietly go and, you know, work with counterparts elsewhere.
But fundamentally, it’s going to be the Ukrainians who have to put their society back together. It is seriously broken now. And it seems to me they could take a leaf from the Finns, who have been very successful ever since World War II in putting together a country with both Finns and Swedes, by treating them equally, by being very respectful and careful about their relations with Russia, never getting into—anymore into military struggles or allowing foreign bases on their land. And they’ve been extremely successful. Why can’t the Ukrainians follow a policy of that sort? I think, for them, it would work, too. But first, they have to find a way to unite the disparate elements in Ukraine; otherwise, these pressures from Russia, on the one hand, and the West, on the other, is going to simply tear them apart. Now—
AMY GOODMAN: Ambassador, on Wednesday—
JACK MATLOCK JR.: —in the final analysis, if the—
AMY GOODMAN: On Wednesday, the head of Ukraine’s First National TV was attacked in his office by members of the far-right Svoboda party, including at least one member of Parliament who serves on the parliamentary committee on freedom of speech. The attackers accused the station of working for the Russian authorities, after it aired a live broadcast of the signing of the agreement between President Putin and the de facto Crimean authorities. In a video posted online, the attackers are seen forcing the head of the channel to write a resignation letter. Heather McGill of Amnesty International condemned the attack, saying, quote, "The acting Ukrainian authorities must waste no time in demonstrating that basic human rights are protected in Ukraine and that nobody will face discrimination because of their political views or ethnic origin." Ambassador Matlock, can you talk about this attack and the role of these far-right-wing parties in the new Ukrainian government?
JACK MATLOCK JR.: Well, I’m not intimately informed about all of the details, but—and I would say that I think Russian media have exaggerated that right-wing threat. On the other hand, those who have ignored it, I think, are making a big mistake. We do have to understand that a significant part of the violence at the Maidan, the demonstrations in Kiev, were done by these extreme right-wing, sort of neo-fascist groups. And they do—some of their leaders do occupy prominent positions in the security forces of the new government. And I think—I think the Russians and others are quite legitimately concerned about that. Therefore, you know, many of these things are not nearly as black and white, when we begin to look at them, as is implied in much of the rhetoric that we’re hearing. And I do think that everybody needs now to take a quiet breath to really look at where we are and to see if we can’t find ways, by keeping our voices down, to help the Ukrainians in present-day Ukraine to get to a road to greater unity and reform that will make them a viable state.
AMY GOODMAN: Jack Matlock, we want to thank—
JACK MATLOCK JR.: And I would argue that—
AMY GOODMAN: We want to—
JACK MATLOCK JR.: —they are better off without Crimea.
AMY GOODMAN: I want to thank you very much for being with us. Ambassador Matlock served as the U.S. ambassador—
JACK MATLOCK JR.: Thank you.
AMY GOODMAN: —to Moscow from 1987 to 1991 under both President Reagan and President George H.W. Bush, and he’s the author of a number of books, including Superpower Illusions and Autopsy on an Empire: The American Ambassador’s Account of the Collapse of the Soviet Union, as well as Reagan and Gorbachev: How the Cold War Ended.
When we come back, we’ll be joined by Raphael Warnock, the minister of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King’s church. He was among 39 people arrested this week in Atlanta. Stay with us.
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"Team Pentobarbital": OK Officials Joked About Seeking Football Tix for Help with Execution Drugs
Texas has executed death row prisoner Ray Jasper after obtaining a new supply of pentobarbital, the drug it uses for executions, just days before its current batch was set to expire. Meanwhile, Oklahoma has postponed two executions because it lacks the drugs required to put prisoners to death. As death penalty drugs become scarce, the assistant Oklahoma attorney general has joked with a Texas colleague that he might be able to help Texas get the drugs in exchange for 50-yard-line tickets for a top college football game between the University of Oklahoma and the University of Texas. The exchange is revealed in email obtained by The Colorado Independent, which also exposed how Oklahoma injected leftover lethal drugs into the bodies of dead prisoners. We are joined by Susan Greene, editor of The Colorado Independent.
TRANSCRIPT
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: We turn now to new developments in the shortage of lethal injection drugs used to execute prisoners. On Wednesday night, Texas put Ray Jasper to death in its fully stocked execution chamber for his role in a 1998 murder. Jasper’s case drew worldwide attention after the website Gawker published one of his letters. This came after Texas announced it obtained a new supply of the drug it uses for executions just days before its current batch was set to expire.
Meanwhile, Oklahoma announced Tuesday it would have to postpone two executions because it lacks the drugs required to put prisoners to death. After Texas, Oklahoma is tied with Virginia for having carried out the second most number of executions in the country, and has put about five prisoners to death each year since 1990. In January, it executed Michael Lee Wilson using a controversial mix of drugs that civil rights groups say constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. Twenty seconds into his execution, his final words were, quote, "I feel my whole body burning."
AMY GOODMAN: The delay in Oklahoma’s executions comes as newly revealed records show state officials joking about wanting perks for helping Texas find execution drugs during an earlier shortage in 2011. In one email, Oklahoma’s assistant attorney general, Seth Branham, dubbed the group of Oklahoma officials who had been working to procure the drugs "Team Pentobarbital," and wrote he would, quote, "forgive and forget with sideline passes for Team Pentobarbital ... plus an on-field presentation of a commemorative plaque at halftime recognizing Oklahoma’s on-going contributions to propping up the Texas system of capital punishment." The documents obtained by The Colorado Independent also show Oklahoma injected leftover lethal drugs into a dead prisoner’s body for what officials called "disposal purposes."
For more, we go to Denver, Colorado, where we’re joined by the editor of the new exposé on those documents, Susan Greene, longtime reporter and columnist, formerly with The Denver Post, now editor of The Colorado Independent.
Welcome back to Democracy Now!, Susan. Explain what you exposed.
SUSAN GREENE: We exposed these flippant emails back and forth between assistant attorneys general, who felt—had felt thwarted by Texas. There’s a shortage in the country of lethal injection drugs, and so they’re all sort of scrambling to find them so they can kill people on time. And Texas had apparently not supplied Oklahoma with the drugs it needed in an earlier execution. And Texas, a few years ago, was asking for help from states all around the country for how to deal with the shortage. And so these attorneys general in Oklahoma, feeling a little embittered by the lack of help from Texas, were joking that, as you said, they wanted, in exchange for their help, 50-yard-line tickets to a football game between Oklahoma and Texas. And then another colleague said, "Actually, you know, we want more than that. They should—Texas should throw the game for four years, for four years, in exchange for our help." And then, they went on to say, "Yes, you know, we should be brought onto the field during halftime and sort of lauded and celebrated for our valor in helping Texas carry out its tradition of death penalty injections, lethal injections." And then they actually took it further and said, "You know, for this, we should actually get passes to tollways and other sort of roads that cost money in Texas." So—
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Susan, why would—your news organization is in Colorado.
SUSAN GREENE: Yes.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Why are you the one that is exposing what’s going on between Oklahoma and Texas? Could you talk about what left you having to report this?
SUSAN GREENE: Yes. There’s a freelancer in Texas, very excellent reporter named Katie—I’m sorry, in Oklahoma, named Katie Fretland, who had obtained these documents about two years ago and sort of sat on them, largely because she felt that nobody in Oklahoma was going to use them. There wasn’t a lot of investigative reporting about the death penalty or about lethal injections in Oklahoma, even though there’s a state law there that says all information about these injections is shrouded in secrecy. And that law—as it commonly happens among reporters, when you rub up against a law that says you can’t have something, you ask for it. And Katie asked for it.
And in that Freedom of Information request, she got those emails, plus information about what Amy mentioned, the fact that they’re injecting—it’s not just one person this happened to; it’s nine people, at least. They’re injecting the leftover drugs from these executions. So there are—these executions take place with what’s known as a three-drug cocktail. The first one is supposed to anesthetize the person. The second one is supposed to stop the breathing. And the third one is supposed to stop the heart. That’s kind of how it’s supposed to work. That’s what the protocol is. That’s how it happened before the big drug pharmacies that were supplying these drugs pulled them off the market, and before the states had to sort of scramble and go toward kind of nonregulated drugs. So there are all sorts of things happening in executions that are a little bit funky and a little bit unexpected. They’re not going as smoothly as they had in the past.
AMY GOODMAN: Susan, we don’t have much time. I was wondering if you could talk about more of the exposé around Oklahoma injecting an executed prisoner with leftover drugs—
SUSAN GREENE: Yeah.
AMY GOODMAN: —more that you just heard.
SUSAN GREENE: Exactly. So they had these syringes, and basically, the men would die with the first drug, the anesthetic. They would die of an overdose, which is really not how it’s intended. And because they had these two other syringes in his three-drug cocktail, to stop their breathing and to stop their heart, instead of just throwing them out, they injected them into the dead bodies for disposal purposes. So it didn’t just happen in one case; it happened in nine cases. And we’re pretty sure that the families of those men don’t know that that happened. Even though they were watching the procedure, they don’t know that those men were already dead. And instead of just throwing the syringes out and throwing the drugs out, they’re just injecting them into their bodies to get rid of them.
AMY GOODMAN: So you leftover drugs, and you don’t have enough execution drugs, these states—a lot to do with European companies saying, "You can’t use our drugs for the purpose of executing prisoners, because we believe the death penalty is wrong"?
SUSAN GREENE: Yes, which has left the states turning to compounded—compounding pharmacies, which are kind of mom-and-pop pharmacies around the country that sort of whip up batches of lethal injections, essentially unregulated. And that’s why you’re seeing these unusual kind of side effects or responses to men being executed, because no one really knows—these drugs haven’t been tested. No one really knows what the effect will be or how quickly they’ll act. And all of these states are bound by the Eighth Amendment, which ensures the right against cruel and unusual punishment. So, the question—
AMY GOODMAN: Susan, finally, a quick question in Colorado: The head of the Colorado prisons just spent a day in solitary confinement?
SUSAN GREENE: Yes, he spent a day in solitary confinement. His name is Rick Raemisch. He replaces our former corrections chief, Tom Clements, who was murdered a year ago yesterday by a man who was let out of solitary confinement, after being told he shouldn’t be let out because he was so messed up by solitary confinement. He was too dangerous. Rick Raemisch was appointed to replace him. He’s taken Tom Clements’s, his predecessor’s, effort to reform and to limit the use of solitary confinement to a new level. He spent 20 hours in solitary confinement. He wrote an op-ed for The New York Times. He testified before Congress that solitary confinement needs to be limited because it’s hurting people with mental illness.
AMY GOODMAN: Susan, we’re going to have to leave it there, and we thank you so much for being with us. Susan Greene, editor of The Colorado Independent. We’ll link to the reports at democracynow.org.
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DREAM Act Narrowly Fails in NY Senate After Gov. Andrew Cuomo Failed to Push Passage
The New York State Senate has rejected a bill that would have provided tuition assistance to undocumented immigrant college students. The defeated bill, known as the DREAM Act, would affect some 8,000 college-age immigrants who were brought to this country as children by their parents. Last night, students protested the vote in New York City. Some of them were upset at Democratic State Senator Jeff Klein of the Bronx for bringing the bill to a vote before he had the necessary support.
TRANSCRIPT
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: Juan, you just wrote a piece in the New York Daily News that looks at how the New York State Senate has rejected a bill that would have provided tuition assistance to undocumented immigrant college students. Last night, students protested the vote here in New York City. Some of them were upset at Democratic Senator Jeff Klein of the Bronx for bringing the bill to a vote before he had the necessary support.
AMBROSIO GUADALUPE: ...say, Klein, how dare you do this to us? We waited three years! It’s been enough! Undocumented youth is here and are ready to tell you: We want the New York DREAM Act!
JOCELYN RAMIREZ: I’m naturally from California, but in New York. And this is a U.S.—like, this is a whole, from coast to coast, movement. And this shouldn’t just be based on, like, little areas. This should just be like the bigger cities slowly going into other areas where the DREAMers aren’t as represented.
AMY GOODMAN: That was Jocelyn Ramirez and Ambrosio Guadalupe. Juan, what’s happening here?
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Well, there was a vote that occurred on—earlier this week. Actually, the DREAM Act, which would provide basically tuition assistance by the state to undocumented immigrant college students in the country, would affect about 8,000 currently. And the vote actually passed 30 to 29, but the rules of the New York State Senate—and this was in the Senate—require that you have to have 32 votes, a majority of the 63 sitting senators. And when they called the vote for the bill, they were well aware that the lone Republican who was—who had said he would support the legislation had left Albany later that—in the morning, and this vote was held suddenly in the afternoon. So it was held knowing that there would not be the votes there, and that the—it was a sort of an agreement between Jeff Klein, who shares power—there’s a rump group or a breakaway group of Democrats that share power with Republicans in the state Senate, along with the Republicans.
And the governor, unfortunately—Governor Cuomo, the Democrat—was pretty complicit in the entire thing, because the governor has not made any effort to get this bill passed. He made enormous efforts around the Marriage Equality Act. He made a big push around gun control. He recently has spoken out strongly around charter schools. These are the issues that he’s made a priority, but he’s said nothing about the DREAM Act, except that if the Senate and the Assembly pass it, he will sign it. So he hasn’t used any of his—
AMY GOODMAN: So, what happens—
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: —any of his own capital to press the bill.
AMY GOODMAN: So what happens to these students?
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Well, right now, unless there’s a—New York state has to have a budget deal by April 1, and there’s still a potential to put the legislation back in a compromised budget deal between the two houses. But the governor will have to exercise his power to do that, and that’s why there’s these protests mounting. There’s a huge conference this weekend of thousands of Latino leaders from across the state, where the governor is supposed to speak. And so, there’s going to be a lot of heat on the governor over the next few days to actually do something about the DREAM Act, not just talk about the need for immigration reform.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, we will certainly continue to cover that.
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Georgia Activists Confront GOP Rejection of Medicaid as Moral Mondays Spread Across South
"Medicaid expansion now!" was the rallying cry this week of a rising grassroots movement spreading across the South. Nearly 40 people were arrested at the Georgia State Senate on Tuesday protesting a bill that would bar the expansion of Medicaid. Georgia has the fifth-highest number of uninsured people of any state in the country. Under the Affordable Care Act, an estimated 650,000 additional residents would be eligible for Medicaid. But Georgia is one of a number of Republican-led states that have opted out of such Medicaid expansion. The protest at the Georgia State Senate was the largest to date by Moral Monday Georgia, an outgrowth of the Moral Monday movement that began in North Carolina. We are joined by Reverend Dr. Raphael Warnock, senior pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, which was the spiritual home of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Rev. Warnock was among the protesters arrested for nonviolent civil disobedience on Tuesday. "Dr. King said that the time comes when silence is betrayal," Rev. Warnock says. "That time is now. The issue is affordable healthcare for all in the richest country in the world."
TRANSCRIPT
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: We’re going to turn right now to Atlanta, Georgia.
MORAL MONDAY GEORGIA PROTESTERS: Medicaid expansion now! Medicaid expansion now! Medicaid expansion now! Medicaid expansion now! Medicaid expansion now! Medicaid expansion now!
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: "Medicaid expansion now!" That was the rallying cry this week of a rising grassroots movement that is spreading across the South. The protest at the Georgia State Senate was the largest to date by Moral Monday Georgia, an outgrowth of the Moral Monday movement that has staged regular rallies against state Republicans in North Carolina since last April.
At Tuesday’s action in Atlanta, nearly 40 people were arrested protesting a bill that would bar the expansion of Medicaid. Georgia has the fifth-highest number of uninsured people of any state in the country. Under the Affordable Care Act, an estimated 650,000 additional residents in Georgia would be eligible for Medicaid, but the state is one of a number of Republican-led states that have opted out of such Medicaid expansion. Moral Monday protests have taken place at the Georgia State Capitol since January.
MORAL MONDAY GEORGIA PROTESTERS: [singing] Glory, glory, we need healthcare. Glory, glory, we need healthcare. Glory, glory, we need healthcare. Tell Governor Deal today.
AMY GOODMAN: In a similar protest in South Carolina, 17 members of a Truthful Tuesday coalition were arrested outside the state House in Columbia. It was the group’s largest action, bringing its total arrests to 39 over the last three weeks.
Well, for more, we’re going back to Atlanta, Georgia, where we’re joined by Reverend Dr. Raphael Warnock, who serves as senior pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, which was the spiritual home of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. On Tuesday, he was among the 39 protesters arrested for nonviolent civil disobedience as part of the Moral Monday Georgia movement. Warnock is the author of The Divided Mind of the Black Church: Theology, Piety, and Public Witness.
Reverend Dr. Raphael Warnock, welcome to Democracy Now! Talk about why you got arrested this week.
REV. DR. RAPHAEL WARNOCK: Thank you so much, Amy. It’s great to be here with you.
This is a critical moment in Georgia politics, and, really, in the history of our country. I would submit that not since Brown v. Board of Education have we seen the kind of obstruction that we’ve witnessed, not only in the state of Georgia, but across the country, in the wake of a decision made at the federal level. Not since 1954 have we seen a federal decision made that would give ordinary American citizens access to the fruits and benefits of our great democracy, and in the wake of it, we witness a Southern governor stand, if you will, in the doorway and say, "Yes, the president may have signed it. The Congress may have passed it. The Supreme Court may have upheld it. We’ve tried to repeal it some 50 times in the U.S. Congress, to no avail. We will not comply with the law. We will not expand Medicaid." This is a critical time, and people, regardless of their political persuasion, ought to be very concerned.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And why do you feel that the issue of the Affordable Care Act and the expansion of Medicaid is so important to risk being arrested for in your state?
REV. DR. RAPHAEL WARNOCK: Oh, it was a small price to pay, and it’s part of our ongoing effort to continue to point to this issue, to shine a bright light on this problem. Dr. King, who was pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church, said that of all the injustices, inequality in healthcare is the most shocking and the most inhumane. I agree with that. And so, it was a small price to pay to be handcuffed for a few hours.
We were trying to dramatize the fact that there are a number of people, some 600,000 Georgians and more, who are handcuffed to poverty, who could find a way from poverty to the middle class if they could be allayed of the fears and concerns of going to work every day without healthcare. I mean, this is—it’s quite ironic when you think about the push, if you will, of the GOP, the emphasis on work and the ethics of work and the dignity of work. People really need to understand that when we’re talking about expanding Medicaid, we are really talking about, in this instance, the working poor. These are people who go to work every day. We see them. They clean floors in office buildings. They sit with other sick people who have healthcare. But they have jobs which, based on their classification, do not provide them with healthcare. And so, they cannot afford to sign up for an insurance health plan, and at the same time they’re not quite poor enough to get Medicaid as the formula currently stands.
This was an effort to provide Medicaid, to provide health insurance, to some 650,000 Georgians. Georgia has the fifth-highest level of uninsured persons in the nation. We are witnessing, in this very moment, the closing of a number of rural hospitals. And so, while this issue is tragically and unfortunately racialized, often by those who are pushing against the Affordable Care Act, the fact is, it crosses racial lines. It moves from urban to rural issues. There are a lot of people who are suffering as a result of this. And so, we felt that it was important to continue to emphasize the need to expand Medicaid. Dr. King said that the time comes when silence is betrayal. That time is now. The issue is affordable healthcare for all in the richest country in the world.
AMY GOODMAN: On Tuesday, Republican Georgia State Senator Judson Hill lauded Governor Nathan Deal’s decision not to expand Medicaid. Hill likened the federal government’s lobbying for Medicaid expansion to the sales tactics used by car salesmen. According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Hill said the Obama administration is making, quote, "a troubled program less solvent" on the backs of the country’s needy and low-income population. Hill went on to say Medicaid is already failing its patients, and any expansion will make it worse. He said, quote, "It is not the lifeline, as some project. This is a bill that Georgia and America cannot afford." I wanted to get your response to that. And just to be clear, the 600,000 people you’re talking about, Reverend Warnock, 100 percent of this bill would be paid by the federal government, is that right?
REV. DR. RAPHAEL WARNOCK: That’s correct. And we witnessed just a campaign to misinform the public. And when that hasn’t worked, now we’re at a point where we’re saying, "Well, we won’t comply to the law."
So, yes, the federal government will cover 100 percent of this expansion. And so, when you think about the argument on the other side, it’s really difficult to wrap your head around it. The argument is that Georgia cannot afford a program of Medicaid expansion in which the federal government will pay 100 percent of the cost until 2017, when it will drop then to 90 percent. And so, then, permanently, the federal government will cover at least 90 percent of the cost. It would mean about a 1 percent increase in Georgia’s total budget over 10 years, about $2.1 billion. And for that investment in our citizens, we would reap $14 billion in federal funding over five years. It’s calculated that it would generate about $65 billion in economic activity, 56,000 new jobs. That’s an incredible investment, or return for a very small investment. The truth is, we cannot afford not to expand Medicaid in the state of Georgia, while our hospitals are closing and while our people are hurting. We would get the increase—the increase in revenue would help cover this modest 1 percent increase in terms of our investment in this program.
And the idea that the federal government is somehow lying, we cannot trust that they will do what they say they will do, I mean, it shows you the level at which people are willing to go to obstruct this program. Clearly, the issue is not fiscal. This is a political calculation.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Reverend Warnock—
REV. DR. RAPHAEL WARNOCK: Getting in the way of "Obamacare" is a part of the playbook for the midterm elections. And people are clearly willing to throw down the gauntlet to protect our own power, in this case, tragically, at the expense of their own citizens. The death panels have already met. And that death panel was the Georgia Legislature, that got together the other day and decided that it would wrest authority away from the governor to expand Medicaid to ensure that it never happens, and then passed a bill that would criminalize the passing on of credible information by state employees to help people to enroll in Medicaid. It is—if the governor signs the other bill that was passed by our Legislature the other day, it will be a crime for a state employee to tell ordinary citizens how to enroll in the Affordable Care Act. We’re at a new low and a scary time in our history.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Well, Reverend Warnock, your Moral Monday protests are part of protests that are scattering—that are spreading across the South on these social and economic issues, in a region that’s more commonly seen as the most conservative region, perhaps, in the entire country. What is your expectation of the impact of the movement in Georgia and some of the other states in terms of turning the tide on some of these issues?
REV. DR. RAPHAEL WARNOCK: Well, I am thrilled, as a faith leader, that this campaign is called Moral Mondays. And the NAACP has demonstrated incredible leadership with pulling us together. I’m grateful for the leadership of outstanding people, like my colleague, the Reverend William Barber in North Carolina, who has generated much activity and has organized a lot of people, not only around this issue, but a host of other issues.
What we so desperately need in this moment is for other faith leaders, particularly, to stand up. Unfortunately, over the last couple of decades, the most prominent and loudest voices often coming from the Christian church and coming from the faith community have been reactionary, deeply conservative. And as I watch state legislators who attend church every Sunday pass a bill to make it a crime to help people sign up for healthcare, I wonder where do they go to church every Sunday? Who is their pastor, and who is their god? And so, we need an alternative vision that pulls together people of faith, pulls together people who are outside of the faith community, labor unions, people who are concerned about the working poor, the nonworking poor. We are stronger when we come together.
And I think the Moral Mondays movement embodies what our vision of America is: the beloved community, that brings us together rather than divides us, helps us to see that we are stronger together, that Dr. King was correct, that we are tied in a single garment of destiny, caught up in an inescapable network of mutuality. What affects one directly affects all indirectly. None of us are well served when people are without healthcare in a nation that certainly can provide it. Through this kind of cynical, political maneuvering, we’re actually squeezing Georgia’s economy when we have available to us a tool for helping to stimulate the economy, create more jobs and move people towards what we all want—
AMY GOODMAN: Reverend Warnock—
REV. DR. RAPHAEL WARNOCK: —and that is for people to be increasingly self-sufficient and dignified in their work.
AMY GOODMAN: We have less than a minute, but if you could just comment—
REV. DR. RAPHAEL WARNOCK: Yes.
AMY GOODMAN: —on the Stand Your Ground law that was just passed that also involves bringing guns into churches?
REV. DR. RAPHAEL WARNOCK: Yes, Georgia is certainly a gun-friendly state, but the gun lobby certainly feels that we’re not friendly enough. And so, another terrible bill that passed—really, you ought to call it the "guns everywhere" bill—calls for guns in bars. It was on—it did include university campuses, but the university presidents said they didn’t want it. But it includes guns in churches. And no denomination, no bishops, no faith counsel has gathered in this state to say that what we really need is the ability to carry guns to church. And so, this is the politics of fear and division. America can do better than this. Georgia is better than this.
AMY GOODMAN: Reverend Raphael Warnock, we thank you so much for being with us, serves as senior pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, one of the 39 people arrested this week for nonviolent civil disobedience as part of the Moral Monday Georgia movement. Dr. Warnock is the author of The Divided Mind of the Black Church: Theology, Piety, and Public Witness.
This is Democracy Now! When we come back, we’re going to Colorado to find out about developments in the shortage of lethal injection drugs used to execute prisoners. Stay with us.
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Headlines:
Ukraine Announces Crimea Withdrawal as Russian Occupation Expands
The Ukrainian government is withdrawing its soldiers from Crimea as Russian forces continue to seize military bases. The announcement from Ukraine marks an acknowledgment it’s ceded control of Crimea in the aftermath of this week’s referendum vote and subsequent Russian annexation. At least one Ukrainian soldier has been killed as Russian forces take over Ukrainian bases around Crimea. Earlier today Russian troops reportedly released the commander of the Ukrainian Navy, who had been seized in his own headquarters. At a United Nations hearing today in Geneva, a Ukrainian diplomat warned Russia is preparing "a full blown military intervention in Ukraine’s east and south," a claim Russia denies. On Wednesday, President Obama ruled out U.S. military intervention while condemning Russia’s annexation of Crimea.
President Obama: "We are not going to be getting into a military excursion in Ukraine. What we are going to do is mobilize all of our diplomatic resources to make sure that we’ve got a strong international coalition that sends a clear message, which is: The Ukraine should decide their own destiny."
The Crimea standoff has sparked the worst East-West crisis since the end of the Cold War. Speaking during a visit to Europe, Vice President Joe Biden said the U.S. is considering sending ground troops to its Baltic allies for military exercises. On Wednesday, a U.S. Navy warship conducted a one-day military exercise in the Black Sea with the Bulgarian and Romanian navies. Meanwhile in Moscow, the Russian government said it is considering changing its stance on Iran’s nuclear talks in response to newly imposed U.S. sanctions.
Israel Bombs Syrian Military in Golan Heights; Syria Shuts Lebanon Crossing
Israel has carried out a series of airstrikes on the Syrian military in the Golan Heights, reportedly killing one soldier and wounding seven others. Israel called the attack retaliation for a bombing that wounded four of its soldiers in the area a day before. It was the first time Israel has acknowledged bombing Syria since the outbreak of the civil war there three years ago this month. Syria, meanwhile, has closed its border crossing with Lebanon after heavy clashes with rebel fighters driven from Homs province.
Election Authorities Ordered to Help Enforce Voter ID Laws
A federal judge has ordered national election officials to assist Kansas and Arizona in imposing voter-ID laws instead of rejecting their requests. The Election Assistance Commission had refused to add state-specific language sought by the states that would require proof of citizenship in order to vote. But on Wednesday, District Court Judge Eric Melgren ordered the EAC to grant Kansas and Arizona’s requests. The ruling could pave the way for a two-tiered voter registration system in which states add citizenship requirements for local races. The ruling wouldn’t apply to federal registration forms, which fall under congressional jurisdiction.
NSA: Tech Firms Knew of Bulk Spying
The NSA’s top attorney has contradicted longstanding claims by the nation’s leading technology companies that they were unaware of bulk government spying on their servers. Speaking before the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, NSA General Counsel Rajesh De said the companies have offered full cooperation to bulk Internet spying programs. De said the firms — including Apple, Google and Facebook — may only have been unaware of details like the operation’s codename, PRISM. The companies have denied knowingly aiding government spying since leaks from Edward Snowden disclosed PRISM last year.
Bin Laden Son-in-Law Testifies at Terrorism Trial
The son-in-law of Osama bin Laden has unexpectedly testified at his terrorism trial. Sulaiman Abu Ghaith took the stand on Wednesday to deny having prior knowledge of 9/11 and other plots against the United States. During his testimony, Abu Ghaith described meeting with bin Laden inside a cave in Afghanistan just hours after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. He is the most senior alleged al-Qaeda member to be tried in a U.S. civilian court in the years since 9/11.
Toyota Fined $1.2B for Safety Violations in Cars
The auto giant Toyota has been fined a record $1.2 billion to resolve a criminal probe of safety defects in its cars. The penalty includes an admission that Toyota misled customers about problems that forced the cars’ acceleration even as drivers tried to slow down. Attorney General Eric Holder called the fine the largest of its kind.
Attorney General Eric Holder: "The $1.2 billion payment represents the largest criminal penalty imposed on a car company in the history of the United States. This is appropriate, given the extent of the deception carried out by Toyota in this case. Put simply, Toyota’s conduct was shameful. It showed a blatant disregard for systems and laws designed to look after the safety of consumers. By the company’s own admission, it protected its brand ahead of its own customers. This constitutes a clear and reprehensible abuse of the public trust."
Holder says the case could serve as a model for resolving other car safety cases, including the General Motors recall of millions of vehicles over faulty ignition switches.
Homeless Veteran Dies in Overheated Rikers Cell
A mentally ill homeless veteran has died in a New York City prison cell that was apparently kept at a scorching temperature. Jerome Murdough, a former marine, had been arrested for trespassing after sleeping in a stairwell. Prison officials say they’re investigating whether Murdough died because of an overheated cell.
New York City’s Homeless Population Hits Record High
The number of homeless people in New York City meanwhile has reached a record high. The Coalition for the Homeless reports more than 53,600 people slept in shelters each night in January, the highest amount ever recorded. There has also been a rise in people who are homeless and working. The report found one in four homeless families is headed by an adult who has a job.
Report: Nuclear Base Test Scores Boosted by Support Staff
A new report reveals more information about deficiencies among staff at a U.S. nuclear missile base in North Dakota. Last March, airmen at Minot Air Force Base received a "marginal" rating on an inspection – the equivalent of a "D." But the Associated Press reveals that the rating was boosted by the performance of cooks and other support staff. On their own, the launch officers, who hold the keys to nuclear missiles, would have failed. There were also indications of cheating on exams. At least 92 officers at another base in Montana have been removed from launch duty in a prior cheating scandal.
Fed Scales Back Bond Purchases; Winter Weather Hampered Economy
The Federal Reserve is again scaling back its monthly economic stimulus program. Under a policy called "quantitative easing," the Fed has spent $85 billion a month buying up Treasury and mortgage bonds in a bid to trigger economic growth. On Wednesday, new Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said the program will be reduced by an additional $10 billion a month. Yellen also said the winter season’s extreme weather conditions have weakened the nation’s economic recovery.
Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen: "Unusually harsh weather in January and February has made assessing the underlying strength of the economy especially challenging. Broadly speaking, however, the spending and production data, while somewhat weaker than we had expected in January, are roughly in line with our expectations as of December, the last time committee participants submitted economic projections."
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