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In a dramatic showdown Tuesday, the Senate narrowly missed a 60-vote threshold required to approve construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. Fourteen Democrats supported the measure along with all 45 Republicans. With just 59 aye votes, the measure failed to pass. After Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren announced the tally, a man reportedly with the Lakota Tribe of South Dakota burst out in song, followed by protesters who called out Democrats who voted in support of the pipeline. After Tuesday’s vote, Republicans vowed to immediately bring the bill back in January, when they will hold the Senate majority. This comes as newly leaked documents reveal the company behind the Keystone XL pipeline is engaged in a "perpetual campaign" to mobilize support for another pipeline connecting the tar sands oil fields to an ocean port, this one entirely inside Canada — bypassing opposition in the United States. Strategy documents drafted for TransCanada by the public relations firm Edelman, the world’s biggest privately held PR firm, also detail its lobbying strategy and efforts to mobilize some 35,000 supporters. We speak to Cyril Scott, president of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe in South Dakota, and Suzanne Goldenberg, environment reporter at The Guardian.
TRANSCRIPT
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: "No KXL" by Bethany and Rufus. They were singing at a rally in downtown Manhattan ahead of Tuesday’s Senate’s vote on the Keystone XL pipeline. This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman, with Juan González.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Well, in a dramatic showdown Tuesday, the Senate narrowly missed a 60-vote threshold required to approve construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. Fourteen Democrats supported the measure along with all 45 Republicans. With just 59 aye votes, the measure failed to pass. Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren announced the tally.
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN: Any senator wishing to vote or wishing to change a vote? If not, on this vote, the yeas are 59, the nays are 41. The 60-vote threshold having not been achieved, the bill is not passed.
LAKOTA MAN: [singing]
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN: Sergeant-at-arms will restore order. Order in the gallery.
AMY GOODMAN: After the vote was recorded, a man reportedly with the Lakota Tribe of South Dakota burst out in song, followed by protesters who called out Democrats who voted in support of the pipeline. The Keystone XL bill was sponsored by Louisiana Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu, who faces a battle to keep her seat in a runoff next month against Republican Congressmember Bill Cassidy, who’s a sponsor of the pro-Keystone bill in the House. Senator Landrieu tried to rally her fellow Democrats during the debate before Tuesday’s vote.
SEN. MARY LANDRIEU: I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that with our partners in Canada and Mexico, this can be done. And North America can be the super-energy powerhouse of the planet. What people in Louisiana want, what people in Texas want, what people in Mississippi want, what people in New Jersey want, what people in South Dakota and Illinois and Kansas and Vermont, are good-paying jobs.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Among the Democrats who refused Senator Landrieu’s plea was Senator Barbara Boxer of California. She said Keystone XL stood for "extra lethal." Boxer spoke moments before the vote.
SEN. BARBARA BOXER: I’m telling you, Madam President, as sure as I’m standing here, when the nurses stood with me and the public health doctors stood with me, and they said, "You know what? Let’s be very careful here, because this pipeline is going to unleash 45 percent more of the dirtiest, filthiest oil." And that’s why I call it the "Keystone extra lethal" pipeline. And I hope we won’t vote it up today. I hope we’ll vote it down. I hope the president will veto it if it passes. And I will be on my feet, because I came here to protect people like this. Thank you, and I yield the floor.
AMY GOODMAN: Senator Boxer was pointing to a large photograph next to her of a girl wearing an oxygen mask.
After Tuesday’s vote, Republicans vowed to immediately bring the bill back in January, when they’ll hold the Senate majority. This comes as newly leaked documents reveal TransCanada, the company behind the Keystone XL pipeline, is engaged in a "perpetual campaign" to mobilize support for an entirely Canadian pipeline that could bypass opposition in the United States.
For more, we’re joined by two guests. In Washington, D.C., Cyril Scott is with us, president of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe in South Dakota. And in Dallas, Suzanne Goldenberg is with us, U.S. environmental correspondent for The Guardian. Her recent piece is headlined "Revealed: Keystone company’s PR blitz to safeguard its backup plan."
We welcome you both to Democracy Now! Before we go to the documents, Cyril Scott, let’s start with you. Can you talk about your response to the defeat of Keystone XL—at least for now?
CYRIL SCOTT: First of all, good morning. Yeah, it was a great thing that happened yesterday. I want to thank all the people that voted to oppose it. But as we all know, the fight has just begun. The Republicans take the House in January. So, the fight has just started. We have to gear up and be ready and start our own campaign to make sure we secure enough support to stop this black snake that’s going to harm not only Indian country, but the United States of America.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: You’ve declared the XL pipeline, if it goes through, a declaration of war against your people. Could you talk about why you feel that way?
CYRIL SCOTT: Yes, because we have to take care of our children and our grandchildren, as we are proposing to do, not only our children and our grandchildren, your children, your grandchildren. This thing is going to affect the biggest—the second-largest water aquifer in the world, the Ogallala Aquifer. We have to protect that at all costs to give your children and our children good, clean drinking water. Without that, you just can’t imagine what would happen if that Ogallala Aquifer was contaminated. It supplies water to six states here in the United States. It is one of the major water fairways here in the United States.
AMY GOODMAN: Suzanne Goldenberg, can you talk about the documents that were just revealed and how they were?
SUZANNE GOLDENBERG: Well, the documents were obtained originally by Greenpeace Canada, which made them available to The Guardian and other news outlets. And these are interesting because they’re strategy documents drawn up by Edelman public relations, which is, you know, the biggest privately held PR firm in the world and was advising TransCanada on how to beat back opposition and get this second pipeline route through, through Canada.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: That indicates that—the documents indicate, at least, that the company was already realizing that it was facing defeat coming through the United States. And Edelman has talked about employing as many as 40 people from its staff to work for the company to build so-called grassroots support for a new route to the east?
SUZANNE GOLDENBERG: I don’t know. You know, I’m not privy to the inner thoughts of TransCanada. I don’t know whether they think that this is going to be defeated, but they aren’t taking any chances, and neither is the Canadian government or the oil companies that are invested in the Alberta tar sands. There is a tremendous pressure for the energy industry to get that tar sands oil out, to get it to market, because they can’t now. This is a tremendous source of carbon, and it’s landlocked, so they are looking for—you know, for routes to market anywhere.
And so, to doing that, you know, stung by the huge opposition that they encountered in—to the Keystone project, which has put that project on ice for six years, they’ve started to sort of get to place not—it goes beyond public relations, but a big sort of plan to get a second route through. They’re talking about mobilizing 34,000 activists. There’s a budget for mobilizing those activists in the strategy documents. They sort of say they need to apply intelligent pressure on community groups, environmental groups and scientific groups in Canada to—you know, essentially, opposition research to sort of stop them from coming out and saying why this pipeline is a bad idea, this pipeline that would go through Canada, in this case. So there’s a very big campaign here that goes far beyond what most people would think of as public relations. This isn’t about buying a few ads on TV. It’s not just about a website. It’s about a big astroturfing campaign to defeat this—to get this project through.
AMY GOODMAN: One part of the leaked documents, titled "Detailed Background Research on Key Opposition Groups," reads, quote, "We will prepare a research profile of key opposition groups by examining public records ... traditional media sources ... and social media ... All relevant findings will be compiled in a written, fully documented report, to include a summary of findings and an assessment of strengths and weaknesses. We will begin with the Council of Canadians. Other possibilities include Equiterre, the David Suzuki Foundation, Avaaz and Ecology Ottawa." Suzanne Goldenberg?
SUZANNE GOLDENBERG: Yes, that’s true. I mean, this is what would pass for—in, you know, political circles, this is opposition research. They’re trying to find out potential weak points on their opponents to use these to discredit their opponents, you know. And there’s another section in there where they talk about—where they talk about scientific reports, very fleetingly, you know, that would show that this project would be a bad idea because it would open up the tar sands to further development, and it would make climate change a lot worse. Some of the information they propose digging up is financial information. So, there’s a strategy here that hints at discrediting and embarrassing anybody who speaks up against this Energy East project, this alternative pipeline through Canada.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Cyril Scott, president of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe in South Dakota, I wanted to ask you about the recent signals from the White House, President Obama seeming a lot more skeptical about the pipeline, and then some unnamed sources saying after today’s vote that even if the Senate tries to bring it back up in January with the new Republican majority, that the president is likely to veto that, because he wants instead for a—he doesn’t want the Congress making this decision. He wants the scientific study and his final decision to hold sway. Are you encouraged by that?
CYRIL SCOTT: Yes, I am. I really encourage Native Americans—Indian country has put a lot of stock in our president, President Obama, so we support him, as he supports us today. And we are very excited that he has this veto power within him and that he is going to do the right thing, not only for Indian country, but for all Americans.
AMY GOODMAN: Suzanne Goldenberg, you report Edelman, the world’s privately—biggest privately held PR firm, has previously been drawn into controversies about its position on climate change. And you said that it declared on August 7th it would no longer take on campaigns that deny global warming. What is the Keystone XL relationship with global warming, as the Senate clearly will take this up again when Republicans control the Senate in just a few weeks?
SUZANNE GOLDENBERG: Well, absolutely. The Alberta tar sands are one of the biggest stores of carbon on the planet, and the science on this is very clear. We cannot dig up all this oil and hope to avoid catastrophic climate change. There’s going to be a report coming out from the U.N. Environment Program in a couple of hours, later today, and it’s going to make that point again. We are on a road to busting through our carbon budgets. We’re burning up this oil much too fast, creating far too many greenhouse gas emissions, and we are not meeting the targets that science tells us we need to reach to avoid dangerous effects of climate change.
AMY GOODMAN: And, Cyril Scott, usually in South Dakota, now in Washington, your next step at this point? Mary Landrieu pushed very hard. She was also pushing for her own Senate seat. She’s in a runoff, and her opponent, a congressman, is the sponsor of the pro-Keystone XL pipeline bill in the House. What you’re planning to do? How you’re strategizing?
CYRIL SCOTT: Right now, we’re calling for the Oceti Sakowin, the Great Sioux Nation, to gather a couple—next week there in Rosebud to start our strategy, not only with the Great Sioux Nation, but also Bold Nebraska, 350.org and all of our supporters. We’re going to come up with a game plan also to keep the fight going. And all means, we need to stop this Keystone XL pipeline. We talk about jobs. It’s only—the CEO said it only creates 50 jobs. These are temporary jobs that go to journeymen, not to local economy. It’s people that are—I call them transients, that will be flooding into our state and onto our reservations to do harm within our state and our reservations.
AMY GOODMAN: We’re going to leave it there, but we’ll continue to cover this issue, of course. Cyril Scott, president of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe in South Dakota, and Suzanne Goldenberg with The Guardian. We’ll link to your piece. She’s speaking to us from Dallas.
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The unrest that has gripped Jerusalem has escalated after a deadly attack on five Israeli civilians. The victims were killed when armed Palestinians stormed a synagogue during morning prayers. It was the deadliest attack on Israeli civilians in more than three years and the worst in Jerusalem since 2008. The dead included three U.S.-born rabbis, a British-born rabbi and a Druze police officer. Seven worshipers were injured. The assailants were shot dead by police. The attack came after weeks of unrest fueled in part by a dispute over Jerusalem’s holiest site, known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary and known to Jews as the Temple Mount, as well as the continued expansion of Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem. After the synagogue killings, Israeli settlers launched reprisal attacks in the occupied West Bank, targeting a school near Nablus and Palestinian motorists on a road near Hebron. At least five Palestinians were wounded after Israeli forces fired rubber-coated bullets. We are joined from Jerusalem by Ha’aretz correspondent Amira Hass, the only Israeli journalist to have spent several years living in and reporting from Gaza and the West Bank.
TRANSCRIPT
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: We turn now to Jerusalem, where five Israelis died Tuesday when a pair of Palestinians armed with meat cleavers and a gun stormed a synagogue during morning prayers. It was the deadliest attack on Israeli civilians in more than three years and the worst in Jerusalem since 2008. The dead included three U.S.-born rabbis, a British-born rabbi and a Druze police officer. One of the slain rabbis, Mosheh Twersky, was from two of the most prominent families in Orthodox Judaism. Seven worshipers were injured. The assailants were shot dead by police. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine claimed responsibility for the attack, which came after months of mounting tension in Jerusalam.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of inciting violence in the city and said the killings were part of a "battle over Jerusalem."
PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: [translated] As a nation, we will settle the score with every terrorist and their dispatchers, and we have proved we will do so. But no one must take the law into their own hands, even if spirits are riled and blood is boiling. We are in a long campaign in a war against terrorism that hasn’t started today. It accompanies us throughout the Zionism. We always overcame it, and we will this time, as well. There are some who want to uproot us from our state and capital. They will not succeed. We are in a battle over Jerusalem, our eternal capital.
AMY GOODMAN: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the attack, which came after weeks of unrest, fueled in part by a dispute over Jerusalem’s holiest site, known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary, containing the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and known to Jews as the Temple Mount, because the two Biblical temples once stood there.
PRESIDENT MAHMOUD ABBAS: [translated] We strongly condemn this incident and do not accept under any circumstances attacks on civilians. At the same time we condemn these actions, we also condemn the attacks on the Al-Aqsa Mosque, holy places.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: The director of Israel’s Shin Bet domestic security service, Yoram Cohen, dismissed Netanyahu’s claim that Abbas incited the attack. Cohen said a number of events led to the synagogue massacre, including the murder of Palestinian teenager Mohammed Abu Khdeir, who was found burned to death in Jerusalem in July, and the discussions in the Knesset to permit Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount.
AMY GOODMAN: We go now to Jerusalem, where we’re joined by Amira Hass. She’s the Ha’aretz correspondent for the occupied Palestinian territories, the only Israeli Jewish journalist to have spent years living in and reporting from Gaza and the West Bank.
Amira, why don’t you lay out the scene for us in Jerusalem right now?
AMIRA HASS: Hi, Amy. I just came from the neighborhood, Har Nof, where the murder took place. And before that, I haven’t been able yet to go to the neighborhood where the two perpetrators lived, but I went to—I was in some other Palestinian neighborhoods of Jerusalem. Both Palestinian and Israeli neighborhoods seemed to be very, very reserved. There is fear in both parts. The fear was very clear in the Palestinian part. I saw many, many police—policemen, border police—scattered. I even saw them when they were launching up a big balloon, spying balloon, with a camera, I guess, over the neighborhood. The streets were almost empty.
While in the neighborhood in the Jewish neighborhood, things were normal, but very reserved, very restrained. I didn’t enter—I could not enter inside the synagogue, because I’m not allowed as a woman to be there. I did talk to some people. It turns—it seems that the two men who did the killing used to work in the neighborhood in some shops. That’s what I was told, though I didn’t check it yet, didn’t verify it yet.
I did speak to some Palestinians in Jerusalem. And what was remarkable is that they do not approve of it. They do not approve of it, of this murder. But they share with those who perpetrated—they share the sense of despair and anger that Palestinians live with all the time, all the time. I felt that people do not dare to condemn, even though some people feel uncomfortable about such a killing, such an operation. By the way, I don’t think that the Popular Front adopted it officially. People say that the two youngsters are members or fans of the Popular Front, not necessarily members or not necessarily that they got an order from the Popular Front, but this is still to be seen.
Yeah, it is very, very tense. And I was making the comparison between the neighborhood where they lived, the two men, two Abu Jamal—very crowded, very—no investment in the livelihood, in the welfare of the people—while this neighborhood is—the Har Nof neighborhood is a relatively new neighborhood on the land of the village, of the destroyed Palestinian village, Deir Yassin—very spacious, many newcomers, many new immigrants from mostly Anglo-Saxon countries. If they worked there indeed, if the two guys worked there indeed, I think that they faced every morning—they were facing—every day they were facing the Israeli apartheid, very clearly.
And they don’t have—there is no leadership in Jerusalem to—or, at all, any leadership to offer them a struggle with hope, a struggle that yields fruits which give hope for a change. Everything, somebody told me also from the Popular Front today—somebody told me, "We’ve tried everything. We’ve tried negotiations. We’ve tried demonstrations. We’ve tried nice relations with Jews. We’ve tried so many things. And nothing—nothing—brings a change and stops this reality of apartheid."
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Amira Hass, how would you characterize the tensions in the recent weeks in Jerusalem compared to previous years and the ongoing conflicts between Jews and Palestinians in Jerusalem?
AMIRA HASS: Look, there are daily confrontations with the police. There is more police, or there are more confrontations. There are many, many racist manifestations on the part of Israeli Jews in the streets of Jerusalem against Palestinians. So there is fear among Palestinians to go and spend time in the west side of the city, where most of them also have—many of them have work, as well. There is, as I said, more—more police everywhere, especially in the Old City and entrance to Al-Aqsa—has become—as somebody told me, "It is like we are going to a theater, and we have to take a ticket from the police in order to enter Al-Aqsa or to enter even the Old City." A guy who lives in the Old City told me, "I cannot go in to my own house. The police is there. There are checkpoints. They don’t let me get in from this place. They don’t get in people who do not live in the Old City." So, you feel that the Israeli measures, to remind Palestinians in Jerusalem that they are not natural residents of the place, natural natives of the place, but they are actually there on probation. They live in Jerusalem on probation, provided they behave nicely or behave according to Israeli regulations. This is the sense that you get. You get a sense—Palestinians get a sense, more than ever, that they are here in this—in their city, natives of this city, as a gesture, not because it’s their native right.
AMY GOODMAN: In October, Israel shut down the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City of Jerusalem for the first time in 14 years, following the shooting of an Israeli far-right activist named Yehudah Glick. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the temporary closure as a declaration of war on the Palestinian people. The site, again, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, houses both the mosque and the Dome of the Rock. Jamal Tawfiq, a resident of Jerusalem, said he was turned away after arriving for his morning prayers.
JAMAL TAWFIQ: [translated] This is a collective punishment for something we had nothing to do with. This is injustice. There is no fair government here. Justice should be the basis for governance. But there is no justice here. A problem happens with a person over there, they close the mosque here. Why is it OK to allow Jews to go pray at the Wailing Wall without any harassment, while a Palestinian is killed every day? Every day, a Palestinian is killed. Every day, holy olive trees are burned and pulled out because they belong to Arab Palestinians. Why are we the ones being punished?
AMY GOODMAN: So that was Jamal Tawfiq, a resident of Jerusalem. So, Amira Hass, now five Israeli Jews have been killed, three of them American citizens born in the United States. Where do you see this going from here?
AMIRA HASS: That’s always the most difficult question. I mean, the two sides are giving signs that they are ready for escalation. And there are more Israeli measures. The house of one of the perpetrators of a running-over attack, his house was demolished this night. Probably the houses of the two Abu Jamal nephews or cousins, they will be demolished also soon. So, Israelis claimed officially that they are going to use more collective measures against the entire Palestinian population in Jerusalem. Also what they declared is that they had—they planned some gestures in the West Bank, like opening roads that were closed down to Palestinian traffic, and now they decided not to have this gesture. So, there is—on this part, there is clearly an intention to escalate. And it’s never—as usual, in the past so many years, Israel does not listen to the message of Palestinian protest. It only improves and perfects its tools to repress those demonstrations and expressions of protest.
On the Palestinian side, there is a lot of confusion, because the Palestinians in Jerusalem can revolt, but there is no leadership, Palestinian leadership, that works now to—or able to lead an uprising, in all levels. And also in the West Bank, people, the great majority of people, I believe—and we’ve seen people—the great majority of Palestinians are not really keen on entering now a new phase of repression, of terrible Israeli repression. Gaza is far away. They can sacrifice again, again and again their lives, their houses. But it’s not in a position to lead an uprising against the Israeli occupation, especially now that again Hamas and Fatah are not in the best terms and the reconciliation is not really working. So, it is—there is a lot of confusion. And Jerusalemers are left now, left—in a way, they are left quite alone in a desperate attempt to explain to the Israelis that they have had enough. This is quite heroic, but also not strategized.
AMY GOODMAN: We want to thank you very much, Amira Hass, for joining us from Jerusalem. Amira is the Ha’aretz correspondent for the occupied Palestinian territories, the only Israeli Jewish journalist to have spent many years living in and reporting from Gaza and the West Bank. A few years ago, she was awarded the International Women’s Media Foundation Award for Lifetime Achievement. It was awarded by CNN’s Christiane Amanpour. And a slight correction: Five Israelis have died, four Jews and one Druze. This is Democracy Now! When we come back, we’ll be joined by a Palestinian professor and a former Israeli soldier. Stay with us.
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In the aftermath of Tuesday’s attack that killed five Israeli civilians in a Jerusalem synagogue, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of inciting violence in the city and said the killings were part of a "battle over Jerusalem." Abbas has condemned the attack, which came after weeks of unrest fueled by a dispute over Jerusalem’s holiest site, known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary and known to Jews as the Temple Mount, as well as the continued expansion of Israeli settlements. We discuss the worsening tensions in Israel and the Occupied Territories with two guests: Rashid Khalidi, Edward Said Professor of Arab Studies at Columbia University and author of several books, and Eran Efrati, a former Israeli combat soldier turned anti-occupation activist and investigative researcher.
TRANSCRIPT
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: We’re continuing our coverage of the crisis in Jerusalem, where five Israelis died Tuesday when a pair of Palestinians armed with meat cleavers and a gun stormed a synagogue during morning prayers. It was the deadliest attack on Israeli civilians in more than three years and the worst in Jerusalem since 2008.
AMY GOODMAN: We’re joined now by two guests here in New York. Rashid Khalidi is the Edward Said Professor of Arab Studies at Columbia University. He’s the author of a number of books, including his latest, Brokers of Deceit: How the U.S. Has Undermined Peace in the Middle East.
Eran Efrati is also with us, a former Israeli combat soldier turned occupation—anti-occupation activist and investigative researcher. His family has lived in Jerusalem for seven generations.
Let’s start with Professor Khalidi. Your response to what has taken place, not only yesterday, the killing of the four Israeli Jews and one Druze at the synagogue, but in the lead-up to that, as well?
RASHID KHALIDI: Well, tensions have been growing since the summer, and Jerusalem is the flashpoint. When, on top of the pressure that Palestinians are all under because of this occupation that’s now in its fifth decade, you have the issue of the Haram al-Sharif, the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and you have calls by senior ministers in the Israeli government, like Naftali Bennett, to completely change the status quo, to in effect take over a Muslim holy place that’s been the center of devotion for 1,400 years and, essentially, do to it what was done to the mosque in Hebron—turn it into a Jewish holy place where Muslims are occasionally allowed—you are throwing fuel on the fire. And so, ever since the last couple of months, there’s just been an escalation in tension all over the city.
You have increased settlement activity that just is penetrating neighborhood after neighborhood. Arab neighborhoods that have never seen armed settlers, with a heavy military and police presence to guard them, are now slowly, but surely, being colonized one by one. And so, you’re basically turning up the heat on a very, very hot situation, and that’s been going on now for many months.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And given the inability of the leaders to be able to negotiate a settlement to the ongoing occupation, do you think that there’s a possibility that we’re under the brink of a Third Intifada, with the young people just saying, "Hey, our leaders can’t deliver anything"?
RASHID KHALIDI: Well, I think that what Amira Hass earlier said is correct. In Jerusalem, in particular, there’s an absence of leadership, but there’s an absence of leadership for the Palestinians as a whole. And that has been, I think, signaled over the Gaza crisis. It’s been signaled over the inability of the Palestinians to actually put together a reconciliation, a unity government, and to define a strategy.
I mean, Israel has a clear strategy. It is that they will negotiate forever, but they will not give up control of the Occupied Territories. The most important statement made by an Israeli politician was made by Netanyahu this summer. He said, "We will keep permanent, perpetual security control of these territories." So he’s basically said, "No state, no sovereignty, no independence. You can talk as long as you want. I will meet with you. But you will never get an end to occupation."
Well, that’s—something has to give here. I don’t think—I agree with Amira: I think that people in the West Bank are afraid. They’re both afraid of Israeli retaliation and they’re afraid of the security cooperation between the Palestinian Authority, which helps the Israelis to hold them down, and Israel. So, I’m not sure that that’s where we’re going. We may be going to more—sadly, to more horrible random acts of violence and more eruptions of kids, without leadership, in various parts of the West Bank, perhaps, and Jerusalem.
AMY GOODMAN: Is there something shifting here, from an Israeli-Palestinian conflict to a Israeli, perhaps, Jewish-Muslim conflict, which certainly involves many more people than just in that area?
RASHID KHALIDI: Well, I mean, this is certainly grist for the mill of people who want to turn it into a religious conflict. There are certainly people on the Israeli side and people on the Palestinian side, but in the broader Arab and Muslim world. I mean, this group in Sinai, which announced its adherence to the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, is called Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, a support—
AMY GOODMAN: The Egyptians.
RASHID KHALIDI: The Egyptian Sinai group that announced its adherence to the Islamic State off in Mosul and Baghdad, al-Baghdadi’s group, is called Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, supporters of Jerusalem. This is a card that these people will play. So, yes, this is not just tinder in the Palestinian-Israeli arena, religious tinder; this is religious tinder all over the region. I don’t know what—I’m not suggesting that’s necessarily going to—something is necessarily going to happen, but the Israeli government is playing with fire. They have a senior minister—Naftali Bennett is one of the three most important people in the Israeli Cabinet. He is making incendiary statements. His party and Lieberman’s party are saying and doing things that Palestinians watch. They know who these people are. They know how important they are in Israeli politics. They know the kind of support they have. And people are quite afraid, I think.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And Eran Efrati, as a former soldier now turned anti-occupation activist, your reaction as you’re seeing this latest flare-up over this terrible attack yesterday?
ERAN EFRATI: All right. So I think when we’re really trying to understand what happened in Jerusalem the last few months, we’ll need to understand it in a broader context—the broader context of maybe 70 years of ethnic cleansing all over Palestine, but definitely in the last 40 years in East Jerusalem and around specifically the holy sites, trying to bring more and more Jews into this area instead of Palestinians and determine a new history, if you want, a new history when you cannot divide Jerusalem, because Jews were always there in the Old City and around these holy sites. So, from this situation, the angle is to make Palestinians leave Jerusalem. And we’re trying to oppress them so much. And this our goal—when I was in the army—in the police in Jerusalem, the goal is to make people’s life miserable. When we were in the army, they’re trying to tell us that to do that, we’re doing it for the fact that they will not act in terror attacks. So, we need to make their life miserable, so they will be afraid all the time, and they will not have time to plan terror attacks. It’s, of course, ridiculous. The end goal in the end to make them want to leave also made them want to do crazy things, like attacks on Jews and on Israelis.
The second context I will talk about—I think it’s important to talk about—is the last 10 years. Since the last—since the Second Intifada, the end of the Second Intifada, that was very bloody for both sides, the Palestinian society decided to act in nonviolent acts, trying to go to the U.N., like Amira Hass has mentioned, going to the U.N. promoting BDS—boycott, divestment and sanction movement—on Israel. All of that was countered in a very, very harsh oppression by Israel. People in Israel, officials in Israel are calling them terrorists. If you’re going to the U.N., you’re a political terrorist. If you’re promoting BDS, you’re an economic terrorist. People are arrested for that. You know, institute like [inaudible] Institute, a right-wing institute in Jerusalem, is calling the Parliament, telling them that it will help them expose BDS activists to stop them and arrest them and destroy their homes. You know, when we’re—
AMY GOODMAN: BDS being boycott, divestment and sanctions movement.
ERAN EFRATI: Right, Amy. When we’re reacting to nonviolence in such a violent way and oppression, and we explain to the Palestinians, "There is no legit way to resist the occupation, there’s no legal way to resist us," it will always end up with violence. Oppression with violence will counter resistance with violence. And in the last four months, Jerusalem is burning. I’m there. I’m from there. I’m a seventh generation in Jerusalem, and I was there in the last few months. Jerusalem is burning since the beginning of the summer, and of course since the killing of Mohammed Abu Khdeir, that, by the way, one of his killers that burned him to death in July was from Har Nof neighborhood.
So, the tension is always there. But the media was not always there, and the attention was not always there. For 40 years, East Jerusalem is in this situation, but nobody seemed to be noticing, because in the last 10 years, for Israelis, since the end of the Second Intifada, it was quiet years. For us, it was peaceful years, because we weren’t living in fear. But Palestinians never had those quiet years. They always lived in fear. They didn’t stop being attacked by the police, by the army—and now, since the summer, by civilians, by mobs on the streets going there and looking to lynch people. And they do, like Mohammed Abu Khdeir, like two days ago when they found in East Jerusalem a bus driver, a Palestinian bus driver, a father to two girls, hanged in the middle of his bus after a violent attack on him, lynching him and hanging him up in the middle of the bus. But it doesn’t seem like nobody is talking about it.
AMY GOODMAN: Wait, explain that, because it was said that he committed suicide.
ERAN EFRATI: Yes, the police came out—exactly like in the Mohammed Abu Khdeir story, by the way, when they came out and said that his family found out that he’s—their son is gay, and this is why they killed him, some homophobic and racism combined together. And, of course, in the end, they have to admit that he was actually lynched to death. The same here. The police came out immediately and said that he committed suicide. His picture, by the way, is going around online, and you can see the violent signs on his body and the rope around his neck. It’s completely crazy, but nobody is talking about it. I’m hearing Barack Obama coming out and condemning this story. I think it’s important to understand that he’s—it’s important to condemn violence against civilians, but where was he when violence against Palestinian civilians are happening every day?
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: I wanted to ask you about the role of Americans, here, financing and helping to support settlement expansion in Israel. The impact that that has?
ERAN EFRATI: Definitely, so much money is being transferred mostly from the evangelicals, but not only. Weapon companies that fuel this government, lobbyists of weapon companies that fuel this government and a lot of right-wing Zionist movements in this country is actually being fueled to the settlement movement in East Jerusalem, all over the West Bank, and to the right-wing parties in Israel. In a lot of ways, the U.S. control completely the political situation in Israel. Like Professor Khalidi just mentioned, the political atmosphere is extremely violent and fascist. And the United States not only enabled that, it’s backing it up with money and with support.
AMY GOODMAN: I want to turn to comments President Obama made following the attacks on the synagogue yesterday.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Tragically, this is not the first loss of life that we have seen in recent months. Too many Israelis have died. Too many Palestinians have died. And at this difficult time, I think it’s important for both Palestinians and Israelis to try to work together to lower tensions and to reject violence. The murderers for today’s outrageous acts represent the kind of extremism that threatens to bring all of the Middle East into the kind of spiral from which it’s very difficult to emerge, and we know how this violence can get worse over time. But we have to remind ourselves that the majority of Palestinians and Israelis overwhelmingly want peace and to be able to raise their families knowing they’re safe and secure. The United States wants to work with all parties involved to make that a reality and to isolate the kinds of extremists that are bringing about this terrible carnage.
AMY GOODMAN: That’s President Obama speaking yesterday in response to the attacks on the Jerusalem synagogue. Professor Khalidi, your response and how you feel the U.S. should respond?
RASHID KHALIDI: Well, the United States is precisely the enabler of all of this. The United States, by its diplomatic support, prevents any real pressure on Israel to stop it from occupation, settlement and repression.
AMY GOODMAN: And the tension reportedly between Netanyahu and Obama?
RASHID KHALIDI: I mean, that and five cents won’t get you a cup of coffee. The president can vent and have his acolytes and his flacks and his hacks say nasty things about the Israeli prime minister. As long as American money is going to support the repression of Palestinians, as long as 501(c)(3) supposedly "charitable" organizations in this country are not stopped by the Justice Department, are not stopped by the Treasury, from funneling tens and hundreds of millions of dollars to settlement activities and to the repression of Palestinians, what the president says is meaningless. This is an American-Israeli enterprise, in fact. The money is largely from the United States. The weapons are from the United States. We are implicated.
And we are running interference for Israel. Whenever anybody tries to do anything—British Parliament, the Spanish Parliament, the Irish Parliament, the Swedish government—the United States objects. Whenever anybody tries to do anything diplomatically or in a nonviolent manner, such as boycott, divestment and sanctions, we’re told that these are anti-Semitic actions. So, presumably, the Palestinians are supposed to lie down and let the bulldozers and the settlement enterprise and the repression run over them and go back to negotiations, which Netanyahu has already told us can never lead to an end to occupation. That’s the doing of the United States, to a very large extent, I’m afraid.
AMY GOODMAN: Your family background, Professor Khalidi? I mentioned that Eran’s family goes back, what, seven generations in Jerusalem. Yours?
RASHID KHALIDI: Our family—my family is a Jerusalem family. My uncle was the last elected Arab mayor of Jerusalem. He was elected in 1934. He was deported to the Seychelles by the British in 1937, but he served as mayor for three years before British colonialism dealt with him. So, we’re an old Jerusalem family. I have cousins living there, and I’ve talked to them. It’s scary. What Amira reported is true. There is an enormous amount of fear. People who have families, people who have kids, are really worried about what will happen to their kids. They’re worried about what will—you know, my cousin has a garden. Israeli undercover agents leap over the wall and chase people through their garden. It’s terrifying. And there’s nothing you can do about it. Palestinians have no share in the governance of the city. It is ruled by others, for others, for a project that is designed to dispossess them and make them into third-class citizens and, ultimately, if possible, get as many of them out. They’re 38 percent of the population of Jerusalem, Palestinian Arabs, and yet they are treated as if they have absolutely no rights.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And given the worldwide condemnation of the occupation and the continuing refusal of the Israeli government to negotiate some kind of just settlement, what do you see in terms of potential hope for any kind of progress in the conflict?
RASHID KHALIDI: Well, one thing that is happening is that in this country there is an awakening among younger people, the kind of people who watch this show or listen to this show, people who do not consume the mainstream media, people on campuses. There is an enormous change in public opinion below the level of the mainstream media. The second thing is, in Europe, there is an enormous shift. Four major European countries have had parliaments or governments actually take a stand. Now, that has yet to be translated into effective pressure to stop these acts of oppression, but we’re getting there.
AMY GOODMAN: Sweden just recognized Palestine.
RASHID KHALIDI: Sweden has recognized Palestine. The Spanish Parliament voted yesterday. The Irish Parliament has voted, and the British Parliament has voted. So we have four of the most important countries in the world, have come around or are beginning to come around in an official fashion on this. This is only going to increase. Everybody in Europe knows what’s going on. What the American media doesn’t tell the Americans, the European media does tell Europeans. And so, I think that you’re going to see increasing pressure on Israel, at least from Europe and the rest of the world. The problem is here. The problem is in this country.
AMY GOODMAN: Finally, Netanyahu saying that the occupation will remain forever because the borders are indefensible, your response?
RASHID KHALIDI: Well, he claimed that what has happened with the erection of this supposed Islamic caliphate shows why Israel has to maintain permanent security control over the Jordan River Valley and the entirety of the Occupied Territories. I mean, he has been finding excuses for the longest time why Israel has to continue settling, has to continue occupying, has to continue oppressing. It’s a pretty transparent maneuver. Obviously, you do not control a region by oppressing the people and turning them into your enemies, which is what Israel has been doing for 47 years.
AMY GOODMAN: We’re going to have to leave it there. We thank you both very much for being with us. Rashid Khalidi is the Edward Said Professor of Arab Studies at Columbia University, author of a number of books, including, most recently, Brokers of Deceit: How the U.S. Has Undermined Peace in the Middle East. And Eran Efrati is former Israeli combat soldier turned anti-occupation activist and investigative researcher.
This is Democracy Now! When we come back, a very close vote in the Senate to defeat the Keystone XL pipeline. Stay with us.
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The Life and Mind of Mark DeFriest: New Film Captures Florida Prisoner's Shocking Ordeal Behind Bars
We look at the shocking case of Mark DeFriest, known as the Houdini of Florida prisons because he has tried to escape 13 times — seven of them successfully. In 1979, DeFriest’s father died and left him a set of tools. He picked them up before they were probated. The teenager was arrested for stealing and sentenced to four years in prison. Thirty-four years later he is still there, having spent 27 of those years in solitary. He spent much of it in the notorious “X wing” of Florida State Prison, where he went for years without seeing the sun. We are joined by Gabriel London, director of the new film about the case, "The Life and Mind of Mark DeFriest."
Image Credit: defriest.com
TRANSCRIPT
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: We turn now to the shocking case of Mark DeFriest. In 1979, his father died and left him a set of tools. Not realizing how wills worked, Mark picked his tools up before they were probated. He was arrested for stealing. At the age of 19, Mark was sentenced to four years in prison in Florida. It’s now 34 years later, and Mark is still locked up. He’s spent 27 of those years in solitary confinement, even though he has never committed a violent act.
His story is told in a shocking new film called The Life and Mind of Mark DeFriest. The film looks at how Mark ended up in jail and how he became known as the Houdini of Florida prisons because he’s tried to escape 13 times—seven of them successfully. About a month into his sentence, he tried his first escape. This is a clip of Mark DeFriest describing that attempt.
MARK DEFRIEST: It was a Tuesday, I remember that. Tuesday Bible study. You’re supposed to be escorted out of the compound at night. Eight of us broke camp and hauled ass for the fence. Those other guys, half of them got hung up on the fence in the razor wire [bleep]. They’re screaming, "DeFriest! Wait up for me!" I’m like, "What the [bleep] is wrong with you people, man?" There’s an art to everything. My dad taught me how to deal with stuff like that.
GABRIEL LONDON: So he taught you how to cheat razor wire?
MARK DEFRIEST: Well, not that particular brand of it. But, I mean, infiltration is part of [bleep] military training, man—sabotage and counterintelligence.
GABRIEL LONDON: That’s all stuff you learned?
MARK DEFRIEST: Yeah. It’s part of war.
AMY GOODMAN: That’s a excerpt from The Life and Mind of Mark DeFriest. In another escape attempt, Mark used a zip gun he made in woodshop class. He said he never planned to hurt anyone, but he was charged with attempted murder.
During his trial, five out of six court-appointed psychiatrists testified Mark DeFriest was highly intelligent, but also mentally ill and incompetent to be sentenced. But one doctor insisted he was faking. This cleared the way for Mark to plead guilty to a life sentence. He spent much of it in the notorious "X wing" of Florida State Prison, where he went for years without seeing the sun.
For more, we’re joined now by the film’s director, Gabriel London. He is just back from a hearing before the Florida Commission on Offender Review on Wednesday, yesterday, where he testified on behalf of Mark DeFriest. The commissioners have all seen the film, and for the first time, they decided to meet again in just a couple of weeks to consider an early parole date for Mark DeFriest. This is a major change for the commission, which has previously delayed his parole for as long as 20 years.
Gabriel London, welcome to Democracy Now!
GABRIEL LONDON: Thank you for having me.
AMY GOODMAN: This case is so shocking. So what happened yesterday in court?
GABRIEL LONDON: I would say, in—
AMY GOODMAN: Is it a court?
GABRIEL LONDON: No, it’s a public body known as the Commission on Offender Review.
AMY GOODMAN: Where?
GABRIEL LONDON: It’s in Florida. It’s in Tallahassee. It was previously known as the Florida Parole Commission. Parole was abolished in 1984 in Florida, and across much of the country, so it’s interesting there are still a number of cases that are essentially grandfathered in. Mark is one of those. And he comes up for parole consideration every two years approximately. They can decide anywhere between seven and one year they can bring a case back. And they brought him back. They did a subsequent interview. And they basically said that rather than making a vote yesterday, they would like to bring the full committee back, because only with the full committee can they make a much bigger reduction in his parole.
AMY GOODMAN: Tell us Mark’s story.
GABRIEL LONDON: Yeah. Mark went to prison in 1980. He basically was 20 years old and had a dispute with his stepmother and the authorities over the will of his father. He didn’t really understand the concept of probate. And this gets at a larger issue with Mark, the whole question of whether he understood the legal process and a lot of really the laws of people. Mark was gifted as a child, incredibly gifted—a savant, if you will—and really had these skills, but no social understanding. And they tried for years, in a sense, to figure out what to do with him. And ultimately, it was the prison system that stepped in and just held him tight for the last 34 years.
AMY GOODMAN: So he took his dad’s tools that his dad had left him. In fact, it was his bond with his father—
GABRIEL LONDON: Yeah.
AMY GOODMAN: —because his father taught him to use these tools. How did he become the Houdini of the prison system?
GABRIEL LONDON: Well, it also goes back to his father. In a sense, Mark and his father had this deep connection that was really a mechanical connection. His dad had a history of having been in World War II, was an OSS person, really believed that the Communists were coming, and he sort of prepared his child, his only son, his only child, in a way to be prepared for the Russians who were coming. And Mark grew up around guns. He grew up around, you know, essentially what he calls guerrilla warfare, the sort of avoidance tactics and theories that his dad prepared him in.
And then, when he got to prison, he felt like he should not be there. He didn’t understand the sentence. He didn’t understand the people around him and the menace that they represented. And he did what he had really learned to do as a child, and he escaped. He ran. He evaded the police. And, you know, he stayed out for only about 24 hours, but what he was able to do, he swam a river, he hotwired a car, and he was caught the next day in a motel—without a shootout, without any further real incident, but he had made his statement.
AMY GOODMAN: Can you set up the scene in your film? It’s when Dr. Berland meets Mark for the first time.
GABRIEL LONDON: Yeah. Basically, Dr. Berland, who 30 years prior had said that Mark was faking mental illness, when I contacted him about the film, he essentially said, "If Mark DeFriest is still in prison, then I must have made a mistake." And that catalyzed a whole series of steps that led to him going to meet Mark in prison. And Mark basically came blinking out of solitary confinement, really walleyed almost, in a physical way that you can see. He’s kind of heaving. He hasn’t really seen people. He hadn’t talked to people in two weeks. And he comes in and meets Dr. Berland for the first time in 30 years.
AMY GOODMAN: Let’s go to that clip.
DR. ROBERT BERLAND: OK, I don’t know if you remember me. We met back in 1981. I was a lot younger then.
MARK DEFRIEST: I remember.
DR. ROBERT BERLAND: Let me just back up a little and start with why I’m even here today, lo these many years later, because I think it would help you understand where I’m coming from. It was my opinion now that my opinion then was inaccurate. There were things I didn’t know then that I know now that would have made me look at you differently. Everything would have been different. Are you OK talking with me?
MARK DEFRIEST: Sure.
DR. ROBERT BERLAND: OK. I’m going to read each of these sentences to you one at a time, and then you’re going to tell me if it’s true or false for you. All right. "I like mechanics magazines." Is that true or false for you?
MARK DEFRIEST: True.
DR. ROBERT BERLAND: "I have a good appetite."
MARK DEFRIEST: True.
DR. ROBERT BERLAND: "I wake up fresh and rested most mornings."
MARK DEFRIEST: False.
AMY GOODMAN: Mark DeFriest meeting Dr. Robert Berland for the first time, the man who said he was faking his mental illness. What does it mean that he has changed his view? What did he say after this meeting with Mark?
GABRIEL LONDON: Basically, Dr. Berland, I think, got to do something that Mark and many people in prison should have the opportunity to do, which is to ask forgiveness and to be, in a sense, redeemed. There was a really interesting moment at the end of this scene where, in a sense, Dr. Berland says, "You know, there’s things that you do and say when you’re young that you later realize were wrong." And it’s ironic as he stands across from Mark DeFriest, who really made a mistake as a 19-year-old and made a series of mistakes after he went to prison, largely, I believe, and I think many professionals believe, because of his psychological problems. But basically, Dr. Berland has this opportunity to go back and right a wrong. And that’s what we follow through the film.
AMY GOODMAN: When he went into prison, at what? He was 19 when this happened, 20, 21, when he went into prison? He was almost immediately gang-raped by 14 or 15 men.
GABRIEL LONDON: Yeah. It was a common occurrence in Florida at that time. And there’s plenty of evidence on the record and court orders, you know, from the federal government down, demanding that Florida clean up its prison system at that time. And a big part of that was the fact that rape was a common occurrence and something that was basically unchecked. And, you know, Mark faced—as somebody who already had problems that were social, he didn’t have connections to other people. He didn’t have protection from other friends. He never aligned himself with a gang. He was always a walk-alone. Well, he was the perfect target for this problem of rape in prison, and he was gang-raped and ultimately had to make some very tough choices to survive.
AMY GOODMAN: Let’s go to another clip from The Life and Mind of Mark DeFriest. This begins with Ron McAndrew, former warden of a notorious prison where Mark DeFriest was held. We then hear Mark himself.
RON McANDREW: I was a warden at Florida State Prison, the worst of the worst. It’s the prison that houses death row and the death chamber. And it was regarded as the hell hole of this Earth. It was a place that, if you just mentioned FSP to any offender anywhere in the state of Florida, you’d get his instant cooperation, because nobody wanted to be sent to Florida State Prison. And that was often done as punishment to prisoners around the state. If you couldn’t control them, if disciplinary measures didn’t help, then you would bag them up, put them on a bus, send them to Florida State Prison, and they’d come back with their tail between their legs.
MARK DEFRIEST: There’s no TV, there’s no radio, there’s no nothing. There’s nothing but death and drama and all the bull [bleep] that went along with it. It was a really depressing place, solitary confinement in a prison cell. Books and magazines are contraband. Do anything wrong, and they put you on the consolidated security, when you don’t get your one hour of yard per week. Not a day, a week. So you could go two, three, four, five, six, seven years and never see the yard.
AMY GOODMAN: That was Mark DeFriest. Ten years of requests to see the sun denied?
GABRIEL LONDON: Yeah. Mark was placed on what he calls the consolidated security list. So he was already in solitary confinement, but he was, because of rule violations. And many times you see with folks with mental illness in prison that they’re punished for their symptoms, and I think a lot of his violations relate to that. He was not even granted the one hour of yard per week where he could actually see the sun. And so, Mark literally, by the end of it, was saying, "I haven’t seen the sun, and my health is failing for lack of sun."
AMY GOODMAN: At one point, Mark makes this gun while he was in prison and uses it in an escape attempt. He says in the film he did not intend to shoot at the guard, but he admits he did shoot the gun at the wall to see what it would do. His lawyer, John Middleton, explains how he was treated next.
JOHN MIDDLETON: They charged him with attempted murder. He was placed in solitary confinement, lived in total darkness in a small cell, was not allowed to communicate. There were post orders, and in the post orders, it states, "No clothes for prisoners. No mattress or sheets. No matches, cigarettes, etc. Conversation limited to business only." Mr. DeFriest was deprived of all toiletries, was deprived of toilet paper, soap, tissue, toothpaste. The water was turned off in his cell. He could not flush his toilet. He could not bathe or shower. He had to eat without utensils and in the darkness.
AMY GOODMAN: That was his lawyer, John Middleton, explaining how Mark DeFriest was treated. Gabriel London?
GABRIEL LONDON: Yeah. I mean, really, when you look at the conditions of confinement that Mark faced in Bay County Jail in 1981, it really flash-forwards to what we’ve seen in places like Guantánamo and Abu Ghraib, you know, when you think about the base humiliation that they put him through and the way that they really tortured him. They maced him in his cell. You know, this idea that you can put somebody in a confined space, and if they won’t stop yelling, you mace them, is completely ludicrous and also torturous. So, anyway, that was what led Mark to plead to a life sentence.
AMY GOODMAN: Sorry, I want to interrupt you with your film, another clip of The Life and Mind of Mark DeFriest, when he’s explaining an escape attempt that involved LSD.
MARK DEFRIEST: They got pretty good security—iron bars and doors and all that [bleep]. But it ain’t all that tough, right? And so, my first plan was, I figured that I’d get everybody stoned. I got my hands on [inaudible]—you know what blotter acid is, right? LSD-25? The nurses’ station’s got a closet in there, where they got the brooms and mops and all that [bleep]. So I go in there, and shift change is at 4:00, but I waited ’til 3:30.
They got this coffee pot machine, and I took the whole bottle of [bleep] blotter acid. It was like maybe—I don’t know—75-100 tabs’ worth of it. So I dumped the whole thing in a fresh pot of coffee. That’s what I did. You know, all the outgoing staff drink it, all the incoming staff drink it. So, it’s like maybe 4:20 before it really starts to kick in, right? The plan was, when all these people started freaking out, I was going to pick the locks and go, right? I had all the clothes set up. I was all ready to go.
But it didn’t work out, man, because, first off, there was an incident with the aide in the washer/dryer room, the head aide, just like the Cuckoo’s Nest guy. You know how the dryer goes around and around and around? He got really freaked out about that, and he attacked the dryer. He beat the [bleep] out of the dryer. He ripped the door off, started kicking it and screaming. Then there was this little red-headed psychologist. She got a cup of coffee, and she’s walking down the center aisle of the ward with her hand between her legs, talking about [bleep].
Well, somebody got wise and called security, right? Before I could make my move, they surrounded the whole goddamn ward, [bleep] and locked it all down, right? They finally figured out the coffee had been poisoned. They didn’t catch me, though.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, that was Mark DeFriest explaining his escape attempt that involved LSD. That explains why the guards hate him.
GABRIEL LONDON: Yeah. I mean, basically, Mark is a joker. He made a self-portrait of himself as a clown in a straitjacket. You know, he became a great illustrator in prison, and we ended up animating a lot of those scenes in order to bring them back to life. We worked with a company called Thought Café based in Toronto. And basically—
AMY GOODMAN: It’s astounding, the illustration, the animation.
GABRIEL LONDON: Yeah, and it was really a way to bring people into the cell with him. It also cushions the blow a little bit. When you see the torture that he went through and a lot of the really darker pieces of this film, it actually is a way of filtering it to some extent. But really what you see in his case at this point is the punishment of these outbursts in his past that were really connected to, in a sense, his sense of humor, his playfulness, his failure to ever stop telling the same joke. And that’s something that comes up in the film, as well.
AMY GOODMAN: Mental illness in prison, we just have a minute to go, but how it is dealt with? And some of the footage, the beatings of the guards, where did you get this footage?
GABRIEL LONDON: Well, there’s a lot of archive, and I was able to pull that from the Florida Memory Project. And it was really helpful. And ultimately, with mental illness, it’s a very delicate line. You know, there’s 2.2 million people in prison; 500,000 of them are believed to be mentally ill. And, you know, in Mark’s case, there was this long record of people finding him incompetent.
Now, how is that relevant to his current case? Well, he goes before the parole commission every couple of years, and they really have to look at whether there are mitigating circumstances in understanding his behavior in prison. And that’s really, I think, the way audiences are viewing the film. We’ve had a chance to tour around with the film, particularly in Florida, and allow them to really vote on what they think should happen with Mark.
AMY GOODMAN: You presented it to the parole board members. You screened this film.
GABRIEL LONDON: First, first. And that was what—that was on purpose, really, so that they didn’t feel like they were getting blindsided by audiences coming in and saying, "Hey, free Mark DeFriest." You know—
AMY GOODMAN: Did they vote in your little—you’re holding a cardboard box. A ballot box?
GABRIEL LONDON: This box, this is the ballot box that asks on a ballot whether he should have conditional parole release. And 457 votes to two, overwhelmingly, said, yes, he should receive conditional parole release, which means there would be stipulations on his freedom. And I was able to tell the parole commission about that yesterday. And ultimately, I think that they will be swayed by Florida citizens and community members really saying, like, there is a responsibility of this body, as a democratic body, to actually look at the circumstances of the case and potentially offer redemption to this person.
AMY GOODMAN: He was married when he went into prison, and he is now married again, has been for over a decade, to another woman.
GABRIEL LONDON: Yes. His wife, Bonnie, is his loyal partner, who has been with him for 20 years and who very much wants him to come home to Oregon, where she lives. And there’s a parole plan that is being presented to the commission that really explains the services that he would receive, the places that he would live, the education opportunities that he would have.
AMY GOODMAN: The day of the parole board hearing, the special one they’ve set up?
GABRIEL LONDON: Yeah.
AMY GOODMAN: Is?
GABRIEL LONDON: Currently scheduled for December 3rd. It may potentially be December 17th. People can stay updated at DeFriest.com and through our Twitter handle, @DeFriestFilm.
AMY GOODMAN: And, of course, we will follow it, too. Gabriel London, an astounding film. The new documentary is called The Life and Mind of Mark DeFriest.
When we come back, Bryan Stevenson joins us, Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption. Stay with us.
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Record cold temperatures have been recorded across the country this week. The most extreme weather is hitting western New York, where at least seven people have died. At least six feet of snow has already fallen on parts of Buffalo, and another two to three feet is expected today. Tuesday was the coldest November morning in the country since 1976. Temperatures dropped below freezing in every state including parts of Hawaii on Tuesday and Wednesday. This comes just days after NASA reported last month was the warmest October on record. We look at the link between extreme weather and climate change with Eric Holthaus, a meteorologist who writes about weather and climate for Slate.
TRANSCRIPT
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: We turn now to extreme weather. Last week, the news was about the record heat. According to NASA, last month was the warmest October ever recorded across the globe. This week, much of the United States is experiencing record cold. Tuesday was the coldest November morning in the country since 1976. Temperatures dropped below freezing in every state including parts of Hawaii on Tuesday and Wednesday. The most extreme weather is hitting the western New York city of Buffalo.
CNN REPORTER: Buffaloans are used to snow, but this storm dumped over five feet in some spots, almost an entire season’s snowfall in 24 hours. And more is on the way.
WIVB REPORTER: And it’s just a mess here in South Buffalo here on South Park and 10th. You can see there’s a big rig behind me and dozens of cars that have been stranded for more than a day.
GINGER ZEE: Yeah, take a look at this: five feet of snow in 36 hours in upstate New York. That was so much weight, it broke the door down—boom!
BRIAN WILLIAMS: It’s a weather emergency making news, a bitterly cold night in store for most people in this country. Officially as of this morning, temperatures were below freezing at least somewhere in all 50 states. And yes, that includes Hawaii.
AMY GOODMAN: In Buffalo, New York, six to seven feet of snow; another two to three feet could fall today in areas that have already received massive amounts, unprecedented. At least seven deaths in western New York have been blamed so far on the snow.
To talk more about this week’s extreme weather, we’re joined by Eric Holthaus, a meteorologist who writes about weather and climate for Slate. His most recent post is called "Global Warming Is Probably Boosting Lake-Effect Snows."
Eric, welcome to Democracy Now! How?
ERIC HOLTHAUS: Hi, thanks. Well, the science says that this is another example of extreme weather and how climate change is affecting it. In this case, the Great Lakes are, since I think the year—since the 1970s, have decreased their ice cover by about 70 percent. So, all that extra open water in the wintertime is giving more chance for things like lake-effect snow to form.
AMY GOODMAN: Can you explain actually what’s happening across the country, and particularly in western New York, upstate in Buffalo? How is this happening, especially in areas where you can have seven feet of snow, and right next door, two inches?
ERIC HOLTHAUS: Sure, yeah. Well, lake-effect snow is a very intense, narrow band that forms off the lake. If you get a persistent wind over warm water with cold air above, that makes it an extremely unstable atmosphere. And what happens is it turns into basically a thunderstorm of snow, and it falls right over that same area for hours and hours on end. And that’s what happened this week.
AMY GOODMAN: So, explain how weather relates to climate change right now.
ERIC HOLTHAUS: Sure. Well, climate change is boosting the amount of energy that’s available in the atmosphere, in general, by heating the atmosphere, retrapping the sun’s incoming energy, and then that kind of gives an extra boost into these kind of weather systems. So when you’re talking about—when you’re talking about drought or extreme precipitation, in general, what climate change will do will make the wet days wetter, and it will make the dry periods more dry. So, again, this lake-effect snow is one example of that.
AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk about the backlash against what you’re writing? You faced this right-wing backlash on Twitter after your article came out in Slate on Wednesday. One user tweeted, "Got trapped in Buffalo by a blizzard in the late 70s. Back then it was evidence of global cooling." Another said, "Lake-effect snow is new?? You are a fool and a tool." This isn’t the first time you’ve faced criticism from the right wing for speaking out about climate change. Last year, you wrote about how the latest U.N. climate report brought you to tears and inspired you to resolve to give up air travel. This was how Greg Gutfeld of Fox News reacted.
GREG GUTFELD: The guy’s a kook. Someone should tell him that planes are better than driving, as their nitrous oxide causes cooling by ridding methane in the air. But hey, he says he’s the expert. In what? Beta mail sniveling?
AMY GOODMAN: Eric Holthaus, why do you think your scientific conclusions have inspired such a backlash?
ERIC HOLTHAUS: Well, I think the real only reason to deny the changes that are happening in the atmosphere right now because of humans is political at this point. So, people are motivated by a worldview that doesn’t allow for things like humans changing the weather. So, that’s how I explain it, personally.
AMY GOODMAN: You know, the weather is blanketing the airwaves, to say the least—as it should be, because people are—it is so extreme, what is taking place across the country—in Hawaii, below freezing. You know, in Buffalo, not only did they face seven feet of snow in some areas, but two to three feet more possibly coming today, and then flooding when it warms over the weekend. They don’t even have the equipment that can move the snow.
ERIC HOLTHAUS: Sure, yeah, I think the football team, the Buffalo Bills, called for volunteers yesterday to scoop out the stadium, because I think one of my fellow meteorologists calculated that it would be something like eight-person years of time that it would take to scoop out that snow, like 200,000 tons of snow or something, that fell in that stadium.
AMY GOODMAN: And yet we’re on target for being the warmest, the hottest year on record. Is that right? Still?
ERIC HOLTHAUS: Yes, it’s still accurate. We have—six of the last 10 months have been the warmest such month on record. I’m going back to the late 1800s, so—but we have evidence from tree rings and from ice cores going back several thousand years that show that it’s been—this is the warmest year in that entire stretch of time. So, just because we have a snowstorm here, it does not—definitely does not mean that climate change is somehow not happening.
AMY GOODMAN: All four seasons were experienced in one week, you write in a recent post?
ERIC HOLTHAUS: Yeah. Well, it felt that way, definitely. So, we’re right in the middle of fall. So, on the East Coast, in New York, in New York City, was almost peak fall time this weekend, and we had a tornado outbreak in the Southeast, as that snowstorm moved to the Northeast. And on the West Coast, we’re having a Santa Ana wind event, which it tends to boost the chances of wildfire. And in southern Florida, there were record highs at the same time record lows were being felt in the Midwest. So, it was definitely quite an extreme week this week as far as weather.
AMY GOODMAN: And to those who say record cold makes a mockery of global warming?
ERIC HOLTHAUS: Sure, well, again, you have to remember that we’re just one patch of land on this huge planet. So, even though the United States is cold right now, actually, on Tuesday, the same day that all 50 states hit a freezing temperature, the Northern Hemisphere as a whole was about almost a full degree Celsius above normal. So, just because the cold pattern is happening here doesn’t mean it’s happening everywhere.
AMY GOODMAN: Do you think it would be accurate if the meteorologists on television, instead of just flashing the two words "severe weather" or "extreme weather," also flashed "climate change" or "global warming"? How do you think that would affect people’s perceptions of what we could do?
ERIC HOLTHAUS: Well, I think it would be more scientifically accurate. I mean, I think, like I said earlier, the only reason not to talk about climate change anymore is, I think, political. So, to be true to the science, we can find a link for extreme weather events almost all around the country or around the world right now. The amount that it’s measurable is somewhat up for debate. So, for example, for this lake-effect snow, snow seasons in western New York are pretty variable, so it’s really hard to pull out that pattern or that signal of global warming. But the science has shown that it’s there. So, I think to talk about the science in a way that reflects how climate change is affecting weather patterns, I think that’s the honest path, as far as science.
AMY GOODMAN: Eric Holthaus, I want to thank you for being with us, speaking to us from Viroqua, Wisconsin. Eric Holthaus is a meteorologist who writes about weather and climate for Slate. We’ll link to your most recent post, "Global Warming Is Probably Boosting Lake-Effect Snows." We’ll link to it at democracynow.org.
When we come back, the story of a—well, he started as a young man, at the age of 18—how he went to jail for taking the tools his father bequeathed him after his dad died. How is it possible that 34 years later he remains in jail—his name is Mark DeFriest in Florida—27 of those 34 years in solitary? Stay with us.
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As Ferguson awaits the grand jury’s decision in the Michael Brown shooting in Missouri, we speak to attorney Bryan Stevenson, author of the new book, "Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption." With growing focus on the failures of the criminal justice system, Stevenson has been fighting those injustices case by case. He is founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, a group based in Alabama that represents some of this country’s most marginalized people — the poor and the wrongfully convicted. Stevenson has won relief for dozens of condemned prisoners and argued before the U.S. Supreme Court six times. In 2012, he won a landmark Supreme Court case that barred states from giving mandatory life sentences without parole to children. The Nobel Prize-winning South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu has called Stevenson "America’s young Mandela." Others have compared him to Atticus Finch, the fearless, fictional hero of Harper Lee’s seminal novel, "To Kill a Mockingbird." Stevenson’s book tells many stories, but focuses in particular on his battle to free an African-American man named Walter McMillian, who was falsely convicted and condemned to die for killing a white woman in Harper Lee’s hometown of Monroeville, Alabama. Stevenson joins us to discuss his work, the situation in Ferguson, and why he argues that the opposite of poverty is not wealth, but justice.
TRANSCRIPT
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: Protests are continuing in Ferguson, Missouri, ahead of the grand jury’s decision on whether to indict Officer Darren Wilson for the killing of Michael Brown. On Wednesday, demonstrators braved sub-zero temperatures to rally outside the Ferguson Police Department. The grand jury’s decision on whether to charge Officer Wilson is expected any day. They’re expected to reconvene on Friday.
We’re joined here in New York by Bryan Stevenson, founder and executive director of the Equal Justice initiative, a group based in Alabama that represents some of this country’s most marginalized people—the poor and the wrongfully convicted. Bryan Stevenson has won relief for dozens of condemned prisoners and argued before the Supreme Court six times. In 2012, he won a landmark Supreme Court case that barred states from giving mandatory life sentences without parole to children. The Nobel Prize-winning South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu has called Bryan Stevenson "America’s young Mandela." Bryan Stevenson is just out with a new book; it’s called Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption.
Welcome back to Democracy Now!, Bryan.
BRYAN STEVENSON: Thank you.
AMY GOODMAN: The book is astounding, but I want to start with Ferguson. Your thoughts?
BRYAN STEVENSON: You know, I think Ferguson should be seen as a mirror for all of America. In every community in this country, we have black and brown people who are being presumed dangerous and guilty. And it’s following them into schools, where they suffer higher suspension and expulsion rates. It follows them into department stores. It follows them into the streets. And that burden of being presumed dangerous and guilty is extremely frustrating and angering. And when you have incidents like Michael Brown being shot by an officer, that blows up.
And we need to keep careful attention to what’s going on in Ferguson, but we need to understand that in every community in this country where there are young black and brown men and women, that phenomenon, that problem, exists. And we are not going to deal with this issue if we just think whether this officer is indicted or prosecuted or not tells us something. We’ve got to really begin talking honestly about the legacy of racial inequality in this country and what it’s done to all of us.
AMY GOODMAN: Your thoughts on the governor, Governor Nixon—quite astounding that that is his name—but Governor Nixon of Missouri holding this news conference announcing a state of emergency?
BRYAN STEVENSON: You know, it’s just sort of like an old bad movie. It’s like they’re acting out this script that is exactly the opposite of what you should do when you’re dealing with these kind of issues—declaring a state of emergency, declaring a state of crisis. The crisis, for them, really isn’t what’s happening with this officer. What the crisis is, is that people are actually exposing all of this bias and all of this tension and all of this frustration. And it’s, I think, really quite misguided. It’s going to create more problems than it solves. He’s baiting the community by engaging in these kind of tactics. And I just wish he was talking to people who understood the pain and anguish of people in Ferguson, the pain and anguish of people of color in many parts of this country, because if he did, he’d actually be saying things differently. They’d be doing things differently. And I think we would have much less violence and conflict and tension. But because he’s talking to the same people who are in that bunker-down mentality, you see them repeating the mistakes that took place immediately after the shooting—taking this very militarized approach, gearing up, gunning up. And I think it’s a very misguided, very misguided approach to this issue.
AMY GOODMAN: You said in a TED Talk that went viral, "The opposite of poverty isn’t wealth ... the opposite of poverty is justice."
BRYAN STEVENSON: We have so many people in this country that live in the margins of society, that live in jails and prisons, that live with disability, that live outside of the American experience in the way that most people think about it. And we sometimes throw things at them to make ourselves feel better about their existence, their reality, when, in fact, I really believe that poverty in this country is a function of our unwillingness to do justice to many parts of our community. And I really do believe that the opposite of poverty isn’t wealth. I think, you know, we have this arrogance. We think that when we make a mistake, we don’t ever have to apologize, we don’t actually have to rethink how we’ve behaved; we can just throw some money or throw some policy out there and move forward. I don’t believe that gets you closer to deconstructing poverty.
AMY GOODMAN: I want to go back for a moment to Darren Wilson, if he is indicted and if he isn’t. I mean, of course, we don’t know at this point. But if he isn’t indicted, what would you say to the people of Ferguson? And, of course, this is so much bigger than Ferguson.
BRYAN STEVENSON: Yeah. I think that they should be upset. They should be angry. I would say you shouldn’t be surprised. We haven’t created an environment where people of color can be fully protected, because we haven’t talked about what it means to be a person of color in this country. I think, you know, we’ve never really told the truth about some basic realities.
The legacy—you know, we’re doing a whole project on slavery, because I don’t think we’ve ever told the truth about what slavery did to our thinking about racial difference. We told lies about people of color. We said that people of African descent aren’t smart, aren’t hard-working, aren’t capable, and because of that, we should enslave them. And because we never confronted that, slavery didn’t end, it just evolved. It turned into decades of racial terror, where we use violence and lynching and convict leasing and threats to sustain racial hierarchy. That’s our history up until the era of Jim Crow and segregation. And then we codified these differences between the races. And even after the civil rights movement, we never told the truth about all of the damage we did. We humiliated people of color on a daily basis for decades. My parents were humiliated every day of their life. I started my education in a colored school, because I was told I wasn’t smart enough to go to the public school. Those things accumulate. And because we haven’t dealt with it, we now live in an era of mass incarceration, where we intimidate and threaten and harass and menace people of color. And these—everybody feels it.
And so, we shouldn’t be surprised if you don’t get justice. What we should do is start talking about truth. And we’ve got to commit ourselves to a process of truth and reconciliation. And I hope, without an indictment, we’ll be more committed to telling the truth about our history and creating a new forward path.
AMY GOODMAN: Where did you grow up, Bryan?
BRYAN STEVENSON: I grew up in southern Delaware, the kind of the top of the South, on the Eastern Shore, in a community that was very much segregated. There were no black high schools in my county. My dad couldn’t go to high school there. And I saw people really branded by the mark of Jim Crow and of apartheid. And you can’t recover—and white people, too. We have a whole generation of white people who were taught that they’re better than other people because of their race. And we haven’t helped them recover from that, and they’re manifesting this bias in ways that they’re not even conscious of sometimes. We’ve got a lot of work to do in this country to confront our history of racial inequality.
AMY GOODMAN: Who is Walter McMillian?
BRYAN STEVENSON: Walter McMillian was one of the characters, one of the people I wrote about in this book, was an innocent man wrongly convicted of a murder in Monroeville, Alabama. At the time, there was a young woman murdered in downtown Monroeville. Mr. McMillian was actually at his home with about 25 other African Americans raising money for his church, and so everybody knew he was innocent. But he was charged because he was having an interracial affair, not because he had a prior criminal history. He was put on death row for 15 months—before the trial. He was wrongly convicted and sentenced to death. What was really troubling for me is that this case took place in Monroeville, which is where Harper Lee grew up and wrote To Kill a Mockingbird. So it’s a community that completely identifies with that story, but couldn’t recognize the injustice of this wrongful conviction of an African American.
AMY GOODMAN: And you have been compared to the young Atticus Finch.
BRYAN STEVENSON: Well, I want to do better than Atticus Finch. Atticus Finch’s client, Tom Robinson, dies in prison because there was no hope for him. I want our clients, I want people wrongly convicted and accused, to get relief. I want the people in jails and prisons all across this country who are there unfairly, unnecessarily, released. I want to do more than what happens to that client in To Kill a Mockingbird.
AMY GOODMAN: So, tell us what happened to Walter McMillian.
BRYAN STEVENSON: Well, we ultimately were able to present evidence of his innocence. The police had coerced witnesses to testify falsely against him. And for some bizarre reason, they actually tape-recorded the sessions where they were coercing the witnesses to testify falsely. So we got the tapes. And the witness was saying, "You want me to frame an innocent man for murder, and I don’t feel right about that." And we presented that evidence and ultimately won Mr. McMillian’s release. He’s one of about 150 people on death row who’ve been exonerated in this country. For every 10 executions in America, we’ve identified one innocent person who was innocent and who has now been released. It’s a shameful rate of error when it comes to imposing the death penalty.
AMY GOODMAN: Are you encouraged by the number of states that are overturning the death penalty, overall, getting rid of, abolishing the death penalty?
BRYAN STEVENSON: I am encouraged by that, but I’m also worried, because these issues are fairly local. Each state gets to make up its own decision. And so, we’ve seen some progress with several states in the last few years abolishing the death penalty. I was especially encouraged by the 2012 referendum in California, where people in that state almost voted to end the death penalty by popular vote, which would really be progress. But I’m worried that our indifference to wrongful conviction, our indifference to suffering of jailed and imprisoned people continues to be very strong. And until we break that indifference, I worry that we’re going to continue to have a country where people are condemned unfairly, sentenced unfairly, tortured in jails and prisons.
AMY GOODMAN: Bryan Stevenson, the title of your book, why Just Mercy?
BRYAN STEVENSON: I think that we have too little compassion in our criminal justice system. We’ve been corrupted by the politics of fear and anger. We’re doing harsh, extraordinarily torturous things to people. And I think we’ve forgotten that, you know, it’s not mercy, it’s not justice, it’s not compassion, when we give it to people who haven’t done anything wrong. You earn the right to call yourself compassionate and merciful when you expose people who have fallen down, who have done bad things to your justice, to your mercy. And I see a criminal justice system completely devoid of mercy, which makes us completely devoid of justice. And we’ve got to do better.
AMY GOODMAN: Young people in prison. Talk about the significance of when—for example, the story of Joe Sullivan, who is sentenced to life at the age of 13.
BRYAN STEVENSON: You know, one of the more tragic things that we’ve done over the last 40 years is that we’ve put thousands of children in the adult prison system, the adult criminal justice system. We’ve now got 250,000 people serving long sentences for crimes they committed as children. We have some 3,000 children sentenced to die in prison, some as young as 13 and 14 years of age. And it’s horrific. You know, I was hearing about the DeFriest story, which is a very compelling story, but there are thousands of children in similar situations. I’ve represented 13-year-olds in the state of Florida who were also put in solitary confinement, some of whom have been there for 18 years. Joe Sullivan was 13, convicted of a non-homicide and sentenced to die in prison.
We’ve won some Supreme Court decisions that have made it easier to challenge some of those sentences, but we still have a lot of work to do. We created these narratives about children where we said some children aren’t really children. And we’ve done some really cruel and torturous things. And it’s shameful to me that the United States and Somalia are the only two countries in the world that have not signed the Covenant on the Rights of the Child, because it protects children from adult prison sentences like life in prison and the death penalty. And one of the great tragedies is when you go to jails and prisons, and you see 13- and 14- and 15-year-old children in settings where they’re being raped and abused because we haven’t confronted the need to protect children after they’ve been accused of a crime.
AMY GOODMAN: The 2012 Supreme Court decision that your group, that you argued, barring mandatory life without parole for children, give us examples.
BRYAN STEVENSON: Sure. Well, I write about a young woman named Trina Garnett in Pennsylvania who was horribly abused. Her mother died when she was young. She was living in a house where she was suffering from a lot of violence. She was disabled. She was homeless, living on the streets of Chester, eating out of garbage cans. She met a family. There was a boy in the family, and one night she tries to go and see the boy by breaking in. She drops matches, the house catches on fire, and two children died. She’s convicted of an unintentional murder, but mandatory life without parole. We have these mandatory life sentences that are very common in the adult sentence. So, at the age of 14, she’s condemned to die in prison. She goes to the state prison. She’s raped by a male guard. She gets pregnant. She’s been in prison now for almost 40 years, and that suffering continues.
And there are many children like that who have suffered these horrible injustices because we imposed a mandatory sentence. We would not consider their age at the time of sentencing. And we don’t let kids vote, we don’t let them drink, we don’t let them smoke. We protect child status—except when they’re accused of a crime. And then we say that their child status doesn’t matter. And there’s a whole nation where we have this whole country is now populated by jails and prisons where you find children. There are 15 states with no minimum age for trying a child as an adult. I’ve represented nine- and 10-year-old children threatened with adult prosecution. There’s a 10-year-old facing adult prosecution in Pennsylvania now, a 12-year-old in the state of Florida. It’s really shameful what we’ve done to children in the name of being tough on crime, and I think that disconnect is part of what we’re trying to expose with our litigation.
AMY GOODMAN: What gives you most hope?
BRYAN STEVENSON: You know, I’m most hopeful that when you tell people about these realities, when you get people to actually look, if most people saw what I see, I think they’d be outraged. They’d demand justice. And so, what I’m hopeful is that we’re creating more space to give people a glimpse of what’s happening, through films and through books and through narratives. And I am persuaded that we can bring down the prison population in this country by dramatic—I think we can reduce the prison population by 50 percent in the next six or seven years, if we just demand greater justice.
AMY GOODMAN: This is part one of our conversation. We’ll continue after our broadcast, and we’ll post it at democracynow.org. Click here to watch Part 2 of this interview. Bryan Stevenson, founder and director of the Equal Justice Initiative, his new book, Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption.
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Actors including Viggo Mortensen, Peter Sarsgaard and Kelly Macdonald are gathering in New York today for a reading of "Voices of a People’s History of the United States," based on the late historian Howard Zinn’s book "A People’s History of the United States" — which has sold over a million copies. The event marks the 10th anniversary of publication of "Voices," which was edited by Zinn and Anthony Arnove. Mortensen, an Academy Award-nominated actor whose credits include The Lord of the Rings trilogy, has appeared in numerous performances of "Voices" and is a cast member of the television documentary version, "The People Speak." He joins us along with Anthony Arnove to discuss the 10th anniversary of "Voices" and its continued political relevance today.
TRANSCRIPT
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Actors including Viggo Mortensen, Peter Sarsgaard and Kelly Macdonald are gathering in New York today for a reading of Voices of a People’s History of the United States, based on the late historian Howard Zinn’s book, A People’s History of the United States, which has sold over a million copies. The event marks the 10th anniversary of publication of Voices, which was edited by Zinn and Anthony Arnove. At a reading in 2005 in Los Angeles, Zinn talked about why he wrote the book.
HOWARD ZINN: It seems that a lot of people who read the book were particularly struck by the fact that there were a lot of quotations in it, a lot of sort of nuggets of statements by people you don’t normally hear from, because I wasn’t quoting presidents and congressmen and industrialists and generals. No, I was quoting Native Americans and factory workers and women who went to work in the Lowell Mills at the age of 12 and died at the age of 25, very often. I was quoting dissenters of all sorts. Socialists and anarchists and antiwar people are heroes in this book. The people we quote are not Andrew Jackson, but the Indians that he ordered removed from the Southeastern states of the United States. You know, our heroes are not the war makers. Our heroes are not Theodore Roosevelt, but Mark Twain, not Woodrow Wilson, but Helen Keller.
AMY GOODMAN: Howard Zinn, speaking in 2005 at a reading of Voices of a People’s History of the United States. At the event, the actor Viggo Mortensen read an excerpt of the 16th century Spanish historian Bartolomé de las Casas, who wrote a short account of the destruction of the Indies.
VIGGO MORTENSEN: [reading Bartolomé de las Casas] "The Indies were discovered in the year one thousand four hundred and ninety-two. Forty-nine years have passed since the first settlers penetrated the land, the first being the large and most happy isle called Hispaniola, perhaps the most densely populated place in the world.
“There must be close to two hundred leagues of land on this island, and all the land so far discovered is a beehive of people; it is as though God had crowded into these lands the great majority of mankind.
“And of all the infinite universe of humanity, these people are the most guileless, the most devoid of wickedness and duplicity, the most obedient and faithful to their native masters and to the Spanish Christians whom they serve. And because they are so weak and complaisant, they are less able to endure heavy labor and soon die of no matter what malady.
“Yet into this sheepfold, into this land of meek outcasts there came some Spaniards who immediately behaved like ravening wild beasts, wolves, tigers, or lions that had been starved for many days—killing, terrorizing, afflicting, torturing, and destroying the native peoples, doing all this with the strangest and most varied new methods of cruelty, never seen or heard of before, and to such a degree that this Island of Hispaniola, once so populous (having a population that I estimated to be more than three millions), has now a population of barely two hundred persons.
"Their reason for killing and destroying such an infinite number of souls is that the Christians have an ultimate aim, which is to acquire gold, and to swell themselves with riches in a very brief time and thus rise to a high estate disproportionate to their merits. It should be kept in mind that their insatiable greed and ambition, the greatest ever seen in the world, is the cause of their villainies. And also, those lands are so rich and felicitous, the native peoples so meek and patient, so easy to subject, that our Spaniards have no more consideration for them than beasts—no, for thanks be to God, they have treated beasts with some respect; I should say instead like excrement on the public squares."
AMY GOODMAN: That’s Viggo Mortensen in 2006, reading Bartolomé de las Casas in a Voices of a People’s History of the United States event. The Academy Award-nominated actor joins us now in New York. He’s appeared in many films, including Lord of the Rings trilogy. Viggo has appeared in numerous performances of Voices and is a cast member of the television documentary version of The People Speak. Also with us, Anthony Arnove, co-editor with Howard Zinn of Voices of a People’s History of the United States and co-directed the documentary, The People Speak.
We welcome you to, both, Democracy Now! Tell us about Bartolomé de las Casas and why he matters to you, Viggo.
VIGGO MORTENSEN: Bartolomé de las Casas was a priest, a religious man, who accompanied some of the first Iberian expeditions to what we call the New World, you know, and what he’s talking about in that text, where he talks about extreme cruelty and basically that period in history’s corporate takeover of what we now call Haiti, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Jamaica, that region, it’s really–it is very disturbing, what he describes. And he wrote these texts and presented them to the court, to the king in Spain, and complained about it. Nothing really changed, because economic interests are what they are, just as they are in this country and other places. Citizens have to do something, have to demand change, you know.
And, you know, this book, Voices of a People’s History of the United States, is unusual in that it has to do with firsthand accounts, contemporary accounts, throughout this nation’s history by people that maybe we’ve never heard of, events that we’ve never heard of, unfortunately. You know, I think that all tribes, all nations have what some call foundation myths, you know, which are—foundation myths, I think, are—well, Anthony can correct me, he’s the scholar here, but they are stories that we like to tell, or that governments like to tell, to protect, to further, to enforce a status quo, you know, established states of affairs. And what this book presents, however, are texts that are, as I say, firsthand historical accounts, reactions by more or less regular people to real social, political events. I think what I call this is foundation facts, you know, which is, I think, what you guys deal with or try to every day here.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Well, and the relevance of Zinn’s great work for today, for this specific day, this historic day after President Obama has made his announcements. We had on the show today an immigrant, an undocumented mother, who’s an immigrants’ rights activist, and her daughter; a priest leading a sanctuary movement, a New Sanctuary Movement; and an organizer for the farm workers, Immokalee workers—part of those people’s histories. Anthony, the relevance for today of the book?
ANTHONY ARNOVE: Well, absolutely, and that’s why we’ve just done a new edition of the book. It’s the 10th anniversary of the first edition. Howard and I had an opportunity to update it in 2009, and I’ve just updated it for 2014 with 10 new voices, including voices of the undocumented, voices of a day laborer, voices of new movements that are emerging. And as bittersweet as it was to work on this project and to see Howard’s work continuing after he passed away in 2010, I know that he would have wanted to continue to document these struggles, highlight those voices, which are all too often pushed to the margin, and see the connections between today’s struggles and historical struggles for change.
AMY GOODMAN: Let’s turn to a clip of Kerry Washington reading Sojourner Truth.
KERRY WASHINGTON: [reading Sojourner Truth] "Well, children, where there is so much racket there must be something out of kilter. I think that 'twixt the negroes of the South and the women at the North, all talking about rights, the white men will be in a fix pretty soon. But what's all this here talking about? That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain’t I a woman?
“Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain’t I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man—when I could get it—and bear the lash as well! And ain’t I a woman? I have borne thirteen children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother’s grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain’t I a woman?
“Then they talk about this thing in the head; what’s this they call it? ... Intellect... That’s it, honey. What’s that got to do with women’s rights or negroes’ rights? If my cup won’t hold but a pint, and yours holds a quart, wouldn’t you be mean not to let me have my little half measure full?
“Then that little man in black there, he says women can’t have as much rights as men, 'cause Christ wasn't a woman! Where did your Christ come from? Where did your Christ come from? From God and a woman! Man had nothing to do with Him.
"If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back, and get it right side up again! And now they is asking to do it, the men better let them."
AMY GOODMAN: There you have actress Kerry Washington, most recently of Scandal fame, reading Sojourner Truth from Voices of a People’s History of the United States. And that Sojourner Truth speech, Anthony?
ANTHONY ARNOVE: Yeah, well, that’s from 1851, and it really exemplifies the spirit that Howard was trying to capture and gather in these voices. And, you know, the origin of this project was that when Howard wrote A People’s History of the United States, readers came up to him and said, "I hadn’t heard that speech before. I hadn’t read Eugene Debs in my school classroom. I hadn’t come across these powerful, eloquent voices of dissent." And they began to wonder, "Why hadn’t I learned that? Why had my history teacher not taught me these lessons?" And it opens up a totally different way of thinking about history. And that’s why Howard wanted to create this book, because he realized that the most powerful thing that people got out of A People’s History of the United States was that connection with the voices of struggle.
AMY GOODMAN: And Howard Zinn, what he meant to you, Viggo, in this last few seconds?
VIGGO MORTENSEN: Well, he was a gentleman. He had a great sense of humor. He loves donuts. He would sneak away to Dunkin’ Donuts behind his wife’s back. But this contribution that this book makes, it’s not—and Howard’s efforts throughout his life—he didn’t look at historical references or, more importantly, democracy, or progressive work, as a fixed thing, as something that you accomplish—democracy. Like this show is called Democracy Now! Now is not yesterday. Now is now. It’s a process. It’s a game that moves as you play. And I think it makes sense, perfect sense, that Anthony has—
AMY GOODMAN: Two seconds.
VIGGO MORTENSEN: —has included new text. Can I—since—
AMY GOODMAN: We’re going to continue this after the show. Viggo Mortensen, Anthony Arnove, thanks so much.
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In a prime-time speech Thursday night, President Obama outlined his plan to take executive action granting temporary legal status to up to 5 million undocumented immigrants, protecting them from deportation. Under the plan, undocumented parents of U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents will be allowed to temporarily remain in the country and work legally if they have lived in the United States for at least five years and pass a background check. But the new plan will not provide relief to the parents of undocumented children, even those who qualified for deferred action in 2012. The executive order will also not provide undocumented immigrants any formal, lasting legal status. Many will receive work permits, which will give them Social Security numbers and the ability to work under their own names. But they will have to reapply after three years. We get analysis from Democracy Now! co-host and New York Daily News columnist Juan González, who watched the speech with a large group of undocumented immigrants Thursday night. We are also joined from Seattle by a family team of activists: Maru Mora Villalpando, an activist and undocumented immigrant with the group Latino Advocacy, and her daughter, Josefina Mora, a U.S. citizen.
TRANSCRIPT
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: In a prime-time speech Thursday night, President Obama outlined his plan to take executive action to grant temporary legal status to up to five million undocumented immigrants, protecting them from deportation.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: My fellow Americans, we are and always will be a nation of immigrants. We were strangers once, too. And whether our forebears were strangers who crossed the Atlantic or the Pacific or the Rio Grande, we are here only because this country welcomed them in and taught them that to be an American is about something more than what we look like or what our last names are or how we worship. What makes us Americans is our shared commitment to an ideal: that all of us are created equal, and all of us have the chance to make of our lives what we will.
AMY GOODMAN: Under the plan, undocumented parents of U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents will be allowed to temporarily remain in the country and work legally if they’ve lived in the United States for at least five years and pass a background check. But the new plan will not provide relief to the parents of undocumented children, even those who qualified for deferred action in 2012. Immigrant rights groups held gatherings across the country last night to watch the president’s speech.
Juan, you were at one of those gatherings in Queens. Where were you? Who was there?
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Yes, in Jackson Heights on Roosevelt Avenue in Queens, Make the Road New York, a very influential immigrant rights group, a grassroots organization here in this city, held a viewing party. The place was jammed, over 200 people crowding every single room with about a half dozen television sets. But to me, the most important part of it was not just the president’s speech, but the people giving testimony beforehand, talking in really emotional terms about the deportations that had torn apart families, the struggles that they had had coming to this country, being here 15, 20, 25 years without any kind of legal status. It was really an emotional night as they prepared to hear the president give his presentation.
And, of course, this—we’ve got to take this in context. It was nine years ago next month when the infamous Sensenbrenner bill was passed in the House of Representatives that would make it a felony for you to be in the country illegally or for anyone to assist an undocumented immigrant. And that is really what touched off this modern human rights movement, that we know as the immigrant rights movement, in a massive way, because by that spring millions of people had poured into the streets of all the major cities in the country. And everything that’s gone on since then has been a reaction to this whole new grassroots human rights movement of the immigrant community in the United States.
So this was a historic moment here, a culmination of that, although it’s—as everyone said in the speeches last night, there’s a long way yet to go, because this temporary resolution is just that, a temporary resolution. And in fact, it will be six months before any of the parents of undocumented immigrants can actually apply for legal status. And so that the Republicans in Congress, a new Republican majority has basically a six-month window, as Congressman Luis Gutiérrez said, to finally do something, rather than just complain and whine about what the president has done now.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, let’s go back to President Obama’s speech Thursday night.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Now, here’s the thing. We expect people who live in this country to play by the rules. We expect that those who cut the line will not be unfairly rewarded. So we’re going to offer the following deal. If you have been in America for more than five years; if you have children who are American citizens or legal residents; if you register, pass a criminal background check, and you’re willing to pay your fair share of taxes, you’ll be able to apply to stay in this country temporarily without fear of deportation. You can come out of the shadows and get right with the law.
AMY GOODMAN: That’s President Obama last night in this historic address. I want to bring into this conversation two guests from Seattle, Washington, a mother and her daughter. Maru Mora Villalpando is an activist and undocumented Immigrant with the group Latino Advocacy. And we’re joined by her daughter, Josefina Mora. She is a U.S. citizen.
We welcome you both to Democracy Now! Because Josefina is a U.S. citizen, that means that you, too, will become a U.S. citizen—is that right—under President Obama’s plans?
MARU MORA VILLALPANDO: Good morning. Well, under this plan, I only get to be here for three years without being deported, and I could apply for a work permit. But that doesn’t put me in the path to legal permanent residence and then the path to citizenship. This is just a temporary relief. This is not permanent. It’s not really immigration status whatsoever. It’s very similar to what was granted to the childhood arrivals, the famous DACA.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And when you hear that already some of the Republicans in Congress are threatening to go to court, and some Republican governors are saying they will fight in their local states against providing work permits or providing driver’s licenses under the president’s executive order, what’s your response?
MARU MORA VILLALPANDO: Well, it’s not surprising. I think that Republicans have been really good at showing that they’re anti-immigrant, anti-women, anti-poor, anti-children. So when we fought for this incredible victory of ours, when we decided to shut down ICE, to put ourselves at risk of arrest and deportation, when the hunger strikers decided to call the attention of the world the detention center in Tacoma by putting themselves on risk, and their lives and their health, we knew that our target was the president, Obama, and we knew we were right. Obviously, we knew that whatever he does will be challenged by the Republicans, because that’s all they’ve been doing throughout all these years is challenging all his work.
So, what we are going to do is to continue fighting, not only to keep what we have right now—which is very little, but it’s a step—but also to expand it, to make sure that others are included, because the Not One More campaign, that’s what it’s about, is to stop all deportations. And most importantly is to make it permanent, not only a three-year program that will be renewed, but who knows what will happen if another president comes in? We cannot be relying anymore on politics and allow politicians to use us anymore as their political ball to play with.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Josefina Mora, one of the things that the president mentioned is that he plans to eliminate the Secure Communities program and replace it with a new program that would target much more those undocumented immigrants who are felons. Could you talk about how Secure Communities has affected the many Latino communities across the country?
JOSEFINA MORA: Yeah, so, Secure Communities has really implemented more dividing families, not only because it allows local enforcement to work with ICE, but also because even if these people don’t have—aren’t charged with anything, they’re going to be—they have an ICE holder on them, and they can at any time be taken by ICE. So, many of the cases that we’ve worked with, many of the people that I know, have been affected by Secure Communities. And that’s actually, I think, the biggest thing that has leaded to detention, is Secure Communities.
And although he, Obama, announced that he was going to end it, he said that he was going to ramp up more enforcement for those who do not qualify for this. So that puts people who do not qualify for this in even more danger than they were before. And, you know, really, that’s—although he’s granting temporary relief, he’s still making it a little bit worse for people who will not qualify. And although I’m lucky that my mom qualifies for this, I’m worried for people like me who actually are not citizens, my counterparts, who will be even in more fear than I am right now for my mom. They will be in more fear for their parents in the future.
AMY GOODMAN: Josefina, how old are you?
JOSEFINA MORA: I’m 17.
AMY GOODMAN: You know, I think your view is reflected by the satirical newspaper The Onion. It’s headline captured many critics’ disappointment, saying, "5 Million Illegal Immigrants to Realize Dreams of Having Deportation Deferred." Republicans, though, say President Obama has overstepped his constitutional power by acting on his own. This is House Speaker John Boehner.
SPEAKER JOHN BOEHNER: Instead of working together to fix our broken immigration system, the president says he’s acting on his own. That’s just not how our democracy works. The president has said before that he’s not king and he’s not an emperor. But he’s sure acting like one. And he’s doing it at a time when the American people want nothing more than for us to work together.
AMY GOODMAN: So, we’re going to go back to our guests right now in Seattle, in Seattle, Washington. How are you, Josefina, going to organize? And, Maru Mora Villalpando, how will you be organizing at this point, because this is a period where decisions will be made as the Senate becomes Republican?
JOSEFINA MORA: Well, you know, I have always organized with my mom. I kind of have followed her wherever I’ve gone—wherever she’s gone, since I was about three years old. So, whatever she does, I will support her, and I will follow her, and I will do whatever I can in my school and in my community for people my age who do not—are not informed about the issue to really get involved and to really use, especially my white friends, to use their white privilege and their power to really influence decisions that are made in the future. And I hope to even in the future run for political office so that I can help in some small way to change this broken system, even though it’s changing, but very, very, very, very slowly. So, hopefully in the future, I’ll be able to help change that.
AMY GOODMAN: It’s interesting that President Obama is flying right now to Nevada. IN Nevada, it’s something like 17, 18 percent of kids have at least one parent who is undocumented, and I think in the state something like 8 percent of the whole population is undocumented. That’s where he will be making his announcement again, following two years ago where he was in Las Vegas, as well. Maru Mora Villalpando, your response?
MARU MORA VILLALPANDO: Yeah, absolutely. I think that he is trying to sell this. And that’s the way he sounded last night: very apologetic. I think he just played with the rhetoric that the Republicans have used all this time.
For us, when reading the details of his action, of his executive action, it shows that now more than ever he made it really easy for us to know how we’re going to organize. We’re going to organize those that are left behind. We’re going to organize those that are going to be drafted into the military because there will be no route for them into any status. We’re going to work with those that will be targeted by this different program, just with a different name, but it’s really the same program—the PEP instead of the Secure Communities program. We’re going to work with border communities, including here in Washington state, that will see even more militarized border. We will continue working in addressing—pushing for the addressing of the roots of migration and the political stand and economic stand that the U.S. has portrayed throughout our countries that has really been the one that pushed us to this point of having to migrate. So, for us, the work at the detention center will continue more than ever, because it’s really—it’s really sad that those that organized the hunger strike, that those that put themselves on the line inside, are not going to benefit from this executive action. So, really, for us, the work just begun.
AMY GOODMAN: Maru Mora Villalpando, I want to thank you for being with us. And, you know, we last talked to you when you were protesting the immigration detention center in Washington. In Texas, a new 2,400-bed family detention center is set to open this December in Dilley, Texas. Josefina Mora, we also want to thank you for being with us. Again, Josefina is 17. She’s a U.S. citizen, so her mother, Maru Mora Villalpando, will qualify for the—under the executive order. This is Democracy Now! We’re going to continue on the issue of immigration and also the mass protests that are taking place in Mexico. We’ll talk to a leader of the New Sanctuary Movement. Stay with us.
[break]
AMY GOODMAN: Triste Bufon, "Canción de Protesta," "Protest Song." This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman, with Juan González. And we’re going to link to Juan’s column in the New York Daily News today, having just come last night from a big gathering in Queens, New York, of hundreds of people—the headline, "Obama’s Immigration Actions are Bittersweet for Some."
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People from around the world joined a day of action on Thursday to demand justice for the 43 Mexican students from Ayotzinapa teacher’s college who have been missing since September following a police attack. Earlier this month authorities said two suspects had confessed to killing the students and incinerating their bodies, leading investigators to badly burned remains, which are still being analyzed. Outrage erupted across Mexico Thursday, as caravans of the missing students’ families and classmates converged in Mexico City. Tens of thousands rallied in the main square, and a 30-foot effigy of President Enrique Peña Nieto was set on fire. We are joined by one of the organizers of the day’s events, Juan Carlos Ruiz, a priest and community activist who serves as immigration liaison with the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island. Ruiz is also one of the co-founders of the New Sanctuary Movement, which supports immigrants across the country who have taken refuge in churches to avoid deportation.
TRANSCRIPT
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: On Thursday, people from around the world joined a day of action to demand justice for the 43 Mexican students from Ayotzinapa teacher’s college who have been missing since September following a police attack. Earlier this month, authorities said two suspects had confessed to killing the students and incinerating their bodies, leading investigators to badly burned remains, which are still being analyzed. Outrage erupted across Mexico Thursday as caravans of the missing students’ families and classmates converged in Mexico City. Tens of thousands rallied in the main square, and a 30-foot effigy of President Enrique Peña Nieto was set on fire. Here in New York, protesters gathered in front of the Mexican Consulate. These are some of their voices, beginning with Israel Galindo. It took him about two minutes to read the list of cities and countries participating in the day of action.
ISRAEL GALINDO: Denver, Colorado; Bakerfield, California; El Paso; Philadelphia; Atlanta; Phoenix; Illinois; San Marcos; etc.
PROTESTERS: The people, united, will never be defeated! The people, united, will never be defeated!
ERIKA VELAZQUEZ: [translated] I am from the community that is now bleeding. I am outraged. I came to this country looking for the American dream, and I left my roots and I left my family behind. It’s difficult to live in this country, calling every night to see if we’re going to find our relatives alive. I am the daughter of a rural teacher, a teacher who taught some of the young people who are now disappeared. She prays every night that they find them, because she does not believe that those ashes belong to that which she sowed, to the people she taught since they were small, how to write, how to fight. Ayotzinapa is not the beginning of the violence in Mexico. It has to be the end.
AMY GOODMAN: That was Erika Velazquez, who’s from the Mexican state of Guerrero, speaking Thursday night here in New York City. The protesters marched from Grand Central Station, where some staged a die-in.
For more, we’re joined by one of the organizers of the day’s events, Juan Carlos Ruiz, a priest and community activist who serves as immigration liaison with the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island. He’s also one of the co-founders of the New Sanctuary Movement, which is supporting immigrants across the country who have taken refuge in churches to avoid deportation.
So, very interesting timing—you have these mass protests in Mexico and the United States, not related to President Obama speaking last night, but in fact it all converges on the same day.
JUAN CARLOS RUIZ: It’s basically something that is related. I know it can not seem, but we—organizers here in New York City, we keep saying that if Mexico does not have a solution, we’ll have continuing waves of new immigrants coming to this—to our shores. There has been a dirty war being played on Mexico, sponsored by U.S. dollars. It’s $2.1 billion so far. And this is negatively impacting our communities, our people. The bullets that we may find in the students, that we find in our peasants, in our indigenous people, are labeled "U.S.-made." So this is a murder made in U.S., and we need to denounce that. If there is no solution to Mexico, we will be accepting or being forced to accept new waves of immigrants coming from Mexico. I mean, these are our neighbors from the south.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Well, and clearly, about two-thirds of all the undocumented in the country come from Mexico, so your point is well taken in terms of the enormous role that Mexico plays in terms of American society and in terms of the immigrant population, Latino immigrant population. But I wanted to ask you—there’s been some indication that the Obama administration has especially pressed forward on this, that the migration from Mexico has reduced, has tamped down in recent years. But that doesn’t mean necessarily that those who are coming are not fleeing, as you say, the political troubles and the repression that they’re facing.
JUAN CARLOS RUIZ: Yes, and you have to look at this. Mexico has waged—staged this image that Mexico has become a secure, peaceful country, and this is the image that is being projected to the exterior, while the Mexican people know that our institutions are falling apart. There is a grabbing of land by multinationals, by corporations, that is displacing massive amounts of people. You know, Mexico has the most NAFTA treaties signed. You know, with this new signed reform, energy reform, we are expecting more people being kind of abandoned by the institution, being forced out of their homes.
AMY GOODMAN: Among the marchers at Thursday’s rally here in New York, the march that you led, was Lucero Acosta, who came to the U.S. this year from Morelos, Mexico, seeking political asylum.
LUCERO ACOSTA: Eight months ago, I came asking for political asylum, because—I can’t talk too much about my case, but I couldn’t stay anymore in Mexico because of the violence and corruption. It’s a nightmare living in Mexico now. There is violence everywhere. People is dying everywhere. Like, Mexico is bleeding. We’re receiving like calls from people asking for money, and if we don’t give them money, you know, they tell us that we’re going to get killed. Some of the women have been raped. And we—the government doesn’t do anything about it. Like, if we go and tell the police, they will say, "Oh, if you don’t have any proof, we can’t help you." So, it’s very difficult to live in a country where nobody—like, there is no justice, nobody can help us.
AMY GOODMAN: That was Lucero Acosta, who went on to say that she will not be able to apply under the new—she won’t benefit from Obama’s executive action, because she came to the United States too recently. But she fears for her life if she’s sent back to Mexico. Speaking of which, we turn now to the issue of the New Sanctuary Movement. In Philadelphia, an undocumented immigrant from Honduras, who’s a mother of two U.S. citizens, entered a church this week to take sanctuary from her final deportation order.
ANGELA NAVARRO: [translated] My name is Angela Navarro, mother of two citizens and spouse of a citizen, leader of my parish, worker. And I am tired of living in the fear and darkness of being deported. I am taking sanctuary, which means I will live in a church without leaving, leaving behind my life, my home, my work, to fight so the government withdraws my deportation order. We demand that President Obama keep his promise and end all deportations.
AMY GOODMAN: Immigrants with U.S. citizen children, like Angela Navarro, will benefit from Obama’s executive order, but it remains unclear if those who have final deportation orders already issued against them will be spared. So far, for now, Navarro remains in the church. Juan Carlos Ruiz, can you talk about what’s happening? It’s in Denver, Philadelphia, people taking refuge in churches, like the old sanctuary movement.
JUAN CARLOS RUIZ: Yeah. Well, we basically see that most of our people, the majority of our people, are not going to find any relief. It is a hopeful sign, this executive order, but it’s fragile. We don’t know what’s going to happen after the new administration takes on. So, what we’ve been doing, in terms—around the nation is that our faith communities are organizing to really push the envelope, to really allow the people who are suffering from this unjust law to tell their story, to humanize. Right now, I think there is a climate, a culture bent on destruction, bent on separating our families, bent on enforcing a law that is still very much splitting up the people from our communities.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And what’s been the response from the hierarchies of some of the major churches to the sanctuary movement of individual churches?
JUAN CARLOS RUIZ: Justice—the sense of justice and outrage is felt. But I am afraid that many times we, as churches, as religious institutions, we fall into the trap of—we have a great infrastructure of servicing, and we do not do enough in terms of seeking the justice that is needed. And I am afraid that that infrastructure is riddled with an enforcement, punitive aspect of our laws, that do not provide any relief, any human decency, any dignity for the people that we are serving.
AMY GOODMAN: Juan Carlos Ruiz, we want to thank you for being with us, priest and co-founder of the New Sanctuary Movement, immigration liaison with the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island. This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman, with Juan González.
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Opening today around the U.S., the new film "Food Chains" documents the groundbreaking partnership between farm workers, Florida tomato farmers and some of the largest fast-food and grocery chains in the world. We are joined by one of the film’s key players, Gerardo Reyes-Chávez, a farm worker and organizer with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers. Reyes-Chávez has helped lead the group’s success getting 12 corporations to join their Fair Food Program — including McDonald’s, Taco Bell and, most recently, the retail giant Wal-Mart. Participants agree to pay a premium for the tomatoes in order to support a "penny per pound" bonus that is then paid to the tomato pickers. Soon, the Fair Food label will appear on Florida tomatoes at participating stores.
TRANSCRIPT
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: We turn now to a new film that documents the groundbreaking partnership between farm workers, Florida tomato farmers and some of the largest fast-food and grocery chains in the world. It’s called Food Chains, and it stars actress Eva Longoria and author Eric Schlosser, who are also executive producers. It is narrated by the actor Forest Whitaker.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: We know our economy is stronger when we reward an honest day’s work with honest wages. Let’s declare that in the wealthiest nation on Earth, no one who works full-time should have to live in poverty.
EVA LONGORIA: Everybody should be concerned with where our food comes from and who picks it.
GERARDO REYES-CHÁVEZ: To live hungry while you are working, that’s not a dignified way of living.
ERIC SCHLOSSER: The defendants have been accused of beating them, locking them inside trailers, chaining them to a pole. These abuses are un-American, they are unacceptable, and they must stop.
The history of farm labor in the United States is a history of exploitation.
ROBERT F. KENNEDY: These people have suffered tremendously and grown much more slowly economically than any other segment of our society.
ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.: If we cannot win this fight, we have lost the soul of America.
BARRY ESTABROOK: I think the entire supermarket business goes out of its way so that you’re not reminded of where your food came from.
ERIC SCHLOSSER: If you want to make change, you need to look at the people at the very top.
GERARDO REYES-CHÁVEZ: We became a little problem for the big corporations.
FOREST WHITAKER: Farm workers in Florida placed the responsibility of fair wages and conditions for workers on the big buyers of tomatoes rather than the farmers.
GERARDO REYES-CHÁVEZ: What we want is to establish change.
EVA LONGORIA: I still believe agriculture is the backbone of America. You’ve got to pay attention to the labor force.
ERIC SCHLOSSER: Most people have no idea that they’re connected to this system every time they buy fresh fruits and vegetables. If a handful of companies decided that they wanted to eliminate poverty among farm workers, it could happen very, very quickly.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: That’s the trailer for Food Chains, which opens in more than 25 theaters around the country today in both English and Spanish.
AMY GOODMAN: For more, we’re joined by one of the film’s key players, Gerardo Reyes-Chávez, farm worker, organizer with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers. He has helped lead the group’s success getting 12 corporations to join their Fair Food Program, including McDonald’s, Taco Bell and, most recently, the retail giant Wal-Mart in January. Participants agree to pay a premium for the tomatoes in order to support a penny-per-pound bonus that’s then paid to the tomato pickers. Soon, the Fair Food label will appear on Florida tomatoes at stores participating in the program, including Wal-Mart, Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s.
Gerardo Reyes, welcome back to Democracy Now!, Gerardo Reyes-Chávez. It’s great to have you with us.
GERARDO REYES-CHÁVEZ: Thank you so much.
AMY GOODMAN: Talk about this latest—well, Wal-Mart, I mean, the world’s, what, largest retailer, that you got them to sign onto this, what does it mean?
GERARDO REYES-CHÁVEZ: Well, it means a lot of—a lot of things. First and foremost, it means an increase in wages for workers, because Wal-Mart is going to be paying the penny per pound, in the same way that the other 11 retailers have been doing. But also included on that agreement, we have the expansion of the program to cover other states. So, right now the program covers about 30,000 workers in Florida’s tomato industry, but then, starting in May and June of 2015, that’s going to expand to every state along the East Coastal line.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: One question—some companies have yet to sign on, and I know when I was out at Ohio State, there was already a student movement there trying to get the university to divest from Wendy’s, because Wendy’s is one of the companies that has refused to join your program. Could you talk about the divestment movement on this issue?
GERARDO REYES-CHÁVEZ: Yeah, there is—well, interestingly enough, when we started the campaign, we were asking Taco Bell to join, to pay the penny per pound, to condition their purchasing—to cut purchasing, if necessary, when growers would refuse to fix any of the problems in the fields. And at that time, Emil Brolick was president of Taco Bell. Now he’s the CEO of Wendy’s. And the students know that they have a lot of power. They already showed that to Mr. Brolick. And for some reason, he’s trying to resist that. But at the end, I feel that the movement, the consumers, but mainly the students, are going to have a lot, a lot to say about it. So it’s just a matter of time before Wendy’s come on board, we feel.
AMY GOODMAN: I see you have—one of the papers you have in front of you is a Wendy’s protest. Which protest is this in the country?
GERARDO REYES-CHÁVEZ: Well, as part of the film, that you were mentioning a little bit earlier, there’s going to be about 12 protests, and more that are being organized, over the weekend of the 21st and some protests over the weekend of the 28th. So, we have protests here in New York on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. after the screening at the Quad Cinema. We’re going to march from Union Square to Broadway to protest Wendy’s.
AMY GOODMAN: I want to play another clip from Food Chains, which describes how supermarkets are controlling prices and squeezing farmers and farm workers. We hear from the actress Eva Longoria, agribusiness expert Shane Hamilton and farmer Jon Esformes. But first, author Eric Schlosser.
ERIC SCHLOSSER: I think it would be easy to demonize farmers and hold them responsible for the poor wages of migrants. That might have been true in some cases 30 years ago, 40 years ago, but that’s not really the problem today. If you want to make change, I think you need to look at the people who have the real power to make the lives of farm workers better, and those are the people at the very top.
FOREST WHITAKER: Farm workers are the foundation of a massive supply chain that includes farmers and distributors, but that is dominated by fast food, food service and supermarkets, like Publix. The power of supermarkets is rooted in their gross revenue. They earn more than Monsanto, Goldman Sachs, Microsoft and Apple.
EVA LONGORIA: When you talk about grocery chains, it is very, very easy for them to bully the small farmers. They are being villainized, and they know they’re being villainized. But their hands are tied.
SHANE HAMILTON: It’s a very difficult world for most farmers. Certainly, there is this nostalgic vision of, you know, the small family farm, where there was much more control over who you paid and how much they got paid. I think there is a sense now that everybody is deeply interdependent on this entire supply chain.
JON ESFORMES: Agriculture is doing great, as long as you’re not a farmer. There has become such a disconnect over the last 30 years between the ultimate point of sale and the actual production.
AMY GOODMAN: Another excerpt of the [film] Food Chains. It’s opening around the country this weekend. Finally, Gerardo, what you’re hoping to accomplish with this film beyond this weekend?
GERARDO REYES-CHÁVEZ: Well, we expect people to take action, because the beauty of this film is—the difference between this film and many documentaries is that this is an ongoing story. This is a story that people can build on as we are talking about it. The campaign for Fair Food is very well and alive, and we hope that people will join it. Cities like D.C. are preparing to do a protest, as well—Los Angeles, Denver, Tampa, Orlando, Chicago. There’s many people that are organizing actions in support of the campaign for Fair Food. And what we expect is for people to take this as an opportunity to be able to unite with the farm workers of Immokalee in this effort that we have to transform the tomato industry and, in the future, to be able to do much more for the workers in the fields of this nation.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, Gerardo, thanks so much for being with us. Gerardo Reyes-Chávez, farm worker and organizer with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, featured in the new film Food Chains, which is out in 25 theaters around the country this weekend.
This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. Coming up, it’s the 10th anniversary of the first edition of Voices of a People’s History of the United States by the late, great historian Howard Zinn. We’ll be joined by actor Viggo Mortensen and Anthony Arnove, the editor of the volume. Stay with us.
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Republicans Block Senate Measure Curbing NSA Bulk Surveillance
Senate Republicans have blocked a sweeping measure aimed at reining in the National Security Agency’s dragnet surveillance. The USA FREEDOM Act would have ended the bulk collection of telephone records by requiring the NSA to make specific requests to phone companies for a user’s data, rather than vacuuming up all the records at once. It would also create a panel to advocate for privacy rights before the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. The measure was a direct consequence of the 2013 leaks by whistleblower Edward Snowden exposing unchecked government surveillance and data collection. But on Tuesday, Republicans helped defeat the bill in a 58-to-42 vote, two shy of the 60 needed to advance. The Republican-controlled House passed a watered-down version earlier this year. The measure faces an uncertain fate next year when Republicans take full control of Congress ahead of a June deadline to re-authorize the phone records collection program.
Senate Narrowly Rejects Keystone XL Oil Pipeline; GOP Vows New Vote
In another major vote, the Senate has narrowly rejected a measure that would have approved construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline. Fourteen Democrats supported the bill along with all 45 Republicans. But with 59 in favor, the measure failed to pass by just one vote. After the tally was announced, a man reportedly with the Lakota Tribe of South Dakota burst out in song. Republicans have vowed to resurrect the bill in January, when they hold the Senate majority.
Boehner: Potential Veto of Keystone XL Equals "Calling the American People Stupid"
Speaking ahead of the vote, House Speaker John Boehner said a potential veto from President Obama would be tantamount to calling the American people "stupid."
House Speaker John Boehner: "A Keystone pipeline veto would send the signal that this president has no interest in listening to the American people. Vetoing an overwhelmingly popular bill would be a clear indication that he doesn’t care about the American people’s priorities. It would be equivalent of calling the American people stupid."
5 Israeli Civilians Killed in Jerusalem Attack; Palestinians Wounded in Reprisal Clashes
The unrest that has gripped Jerusalem has escalated after a deadly attack on five Israeli civilians. The victims were killed when armed Palestinians stormed a synagogue during morning prayers. It was the deadliest attack on Israeli civilians in more than three years and the worst in Jerusalem since 2008. The dead included three U.S.-born rabbis, a British-born rabbi and a Druze police officer. Seven worshipers were injured. The assailants were shot dead by police. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine has claimed responsibility. The attack came after weeks of unrest fueled in part by a dispute over Jerusalem’s holiest site, known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary and known to Jews as the Temple Mount, as well as the continued expansion of Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem. After the synagogue killings, Israeli settlers launched reprisal attacks in the occupied West Bank, targeting a school near Nablus and Palestinian motorists on a road near Hebron. At least five Palestinians were wounded after Israeli forces fired rubber-coated bullets.
U.N.: ISIS Has Enough Weapons to Continue Fight for Up to 2 Years
A new United Nations report warns the militant group Islamic State has enough of a weapons stockpile to continue its war for territory in Iraq and Syria for up to two years. Much of the ISIS arsenal was stolen from the U.S.-supplied Iraqi army, which has been overrun by ISIS fighters throughout the year. The report recommends sanctions to cut off the group’s access to money and weapons, including the seizing of its oil tankers. Briefing the Security Council, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said fighting ISIS on a political level might be more effective than U.S.-led airstrikes.
Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein: "I implore the Council to support such efforts to overturn ISIL’s ideology of violence and death, for the sake of the rights of all in Iraq, irrespective of ethnic or religious identity, whether men or women, old or young. Ultimately, support given to the ideological front may be more effective than airstrikes in bringing an end to the longstanding suffering of the people of Iraq."
Also addressing the Council, Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos said over two million Iraqis living under ISIS control are in need of urgent aid.
Valerie Amos: "There are currently 3.6 million Iraqis living in areas under the control of ISIL and affiliated armed groups; 2.2 million of them are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. And despite acute needs, including for shelter, health and food in areas most impacted by the conflict, only meager amounts of assistance have been delivered to areas under ISIL control to date."
India, Cuba Report Ebola Cases in West Africa; Obama Urges Congress to Back Funding
India and Cuba have reported new cases of Ebola in citizens who were in West Africa. A Cuban doctor will be treated in Geneva after contracting the disease in Sierra Leone, where he was a member of Cuba’s 165-member medical team. Meanwhile, an Indian man is being held in isolation at Delhi’s airport after recovering from Ebola in Liberia. The Obama administration has asked Congress to approve $6.2 billion in funding for the international Ebola response. On Tuesday, President Obama urged lawmakers to approve the request before the December recess.
President Obama: "Although we should feel optimistic about our capacity to solve the Ebola crisis, we cannot be complacent simply because the news attention on it has waned. We have to stay with it. And that’s why I’m calling Congress to make sure that it approves, before it leaves, the emergency funding request that we put forward to respond to Ebola both domestically and internationally."
U.N. Assembly Votes to Refer North Korean Regime to International Criminal Court
The United Nations has approved a landmark measure to seek the potential prosecution of North Korean officials for crimes against humanity. On Tuesday, the United Nations General Assembly voted to refer abuses by the North Korean regime to the International Criminal Court. It comes months after a U.N. investigation found North Korean leaders could be guilty of major crimes, including state-sanctioned killings, starvation and torture. The final vote was 119 to 19, with 55 abstentions. Cuba was among the countries to oppose the measure, calling it a "tool to sanction and condemn developing countries."
Missouri Governor Appoints Independent Panel on Ferguson
Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon has appointed a commission to make recommendations for dealing with the social and racial justice issues raised by the killing of unarmed teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson. Nixon unveiled the 16-member panel on Tuesday.
Gov. Jay Nixon: "Let us heal the divisions exposed by the death of Michael Brown and use this defining moment as the moment we begin to walk a different path. While they are clearly a diverse group, they are united by the shared passion to promote understanding, to hasten healing, to ensure equal opportunities and education and employment, and to safeguard the civil rights of all of our citizens."
The move comes just one day after Nixon declared a state of emergency in Missouri ahead of the grand jury’s pending decision on whether to indict the officer who killed Brown, Darren Wilson.
St. Louis Seeks Spike in Gun Sales Ahead of Grand Jury Decision
Local gun sellers in St. Louis are again reporting a spike in weapons sales as the grand jury decision nears in the Michael Brown shooting case. One store says it has sold two to three times more weapons than normal in recent weeks — an average of 30 to 50 per day.
Missouri Executes Death Row Prisoner After Appeals Denied
Missouri has executed death row prisoner Leon Taylor after his last-minute appeals were denied. Taylor was convicted for the 1994 murder of a gas station attendant in Kansas City. He had sought clemency from Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon and a stay from the Supreme Court, but both efforts were rejected Tuesday night. Taylor, who is black, was initially sentenced to death by a judge after the trial jury deadlocked. When the judge’s sentence was thrown out, an all-white jury then sentenced Taylor to death. Defense attorneys argued he was penalized for successfully appealing his first conviction. Lawyers also cited a history of child abuse beginning at the age of five. Taylor is the ninth person to be executed in Missouri this year.
Obama Orders Review of Hostage Policy Following ISIS Killings
President Obama has ordered a review of the nation’s hostage policy following the execution of Americans kidnapped by the Islamic State. Family members of the hostages have criticized U.S. government policy of refusing to engage with their captors, including the payment of ransom. Freed ISIS captives have said American and British hostages suffered the worst abuses, because of the militants’ political grievances and their governments’ refusal to buy their freedom. A number of European hostages were released after their governments paid a ransom. But the White House says its new review will not include the prohibition on ransom payments. Administration officials say not paying ransoms ultimately protects more Americans by making them less valuable targets.
LGBT Couples Exchange Vows after Marriage Equality Ban Struck Down
More than a dozen LGBT couples have tied the knot in Kansas days after the state’s marriage equality ban was overturned. The couples exchanged their vows in a mass ceremony.
Martin Wilson-Sulzman: "It means that we have some equality."
David Sulzman: "It’s a new start. It’s a new start."
Martin Wilson-Sulzman: "And it can only go up from here, and that’s what it means. And that’s why I’m very happy for us and for the other couples that took that today."
On Tuesday, the Kansas Supreme Court ruled marriage licenses can only be issued in Johnson County, setting up a new potential court challenge.
Obama Unveiling Executive Action to Shield Millions from Deportation
President Obama is unveiling today his long-awaited executive action that will protect millions of undocumented immigrants from deportation. Obama previewed his plan in a video statement Wednesday night.
President Obama: "Everybody agrees that our immigration system is broken. Unfortunately, Washington has allowed the problem to fester for too long. And so, what I’m going to be laying out is the things that I can do, with my lawful authority as president, to make the system work better, even as I continue to work with Congress to encourage them to get a bipartisan comprehensive bill that can solve the entire problem."
Obama will announce his plan in a prime-time address from the White House tonight. He will then speak at a Las Vegas high school on Friday where he laid out his plan for comprehensive immigration reform two years ago.
Immigration Executive Order Won’t Cover Parents of Undocumented Youth, Health Benefits
The executive actions will reportedly not provide any formal, lasting immigration status. But many immigrants will receive work permits, which will give them Social Security numbers and the ability to work legally under their own names. Another key component will prevent the deportation of parents whose children are U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents. But it will not provide relief to farm workers or to the parents of undocumented children, even those children who qualified for deferred action under President Obama’s executive order in 2012. In another decision that falls short of immigrant rights advocates’ goals, those who receive permits under the executive order will not be eligible for healthcare benefits under the Affordable Care Act. It appears that decision was made as a nod to right-wing opposition, as many legal experts say Obama has the authority to extend health benefits. Obama’s action sets up the likelihood of a major showdown with Republicans, who have vowed to block it when they take control of Congress next year.
DHS to Close Troubled Artesia Detention Center in New Mexico
President Obama’s announcement comes as a troubled New Mexico detention center for undocumented migrants will be closed. The Department of Homeland Security says it will shut down the Artesia facility by the end of the year. Artesia has held hundreds of women and children from Central America fleeing violence and danger in their home countries. Click here to watch our August report by Democracy Now! producer Renée Feltz on the poor conditions and lack of due process for the migrants held there.
FARC Rebels Agree to Free Colombian General Days After Capture
Colombia’s FARC rebels have agreed to release an army general captured over the weekend. The release of General Rubén Darío Alzate and four others could pave the way for a resumption of peace talks with the Colombian government, which were due to begin this week. The deal was brokered by mediators from Cuba and Norway.
Israel Resumes Destroying Palestinian Homes; Thousands Attend Funeral for Jerusalem Victims
The Israeli government has resumed destroying the homes of Palestinians accused of involvement in recent attacks on Israelis. On Wednesday, Israeli forces demolished a home in occupied East Jerusalem belonging to the extended family of a driver who ran his car into two pedestrians last month. The Israeli human rights group B’Tselem says the home demolitions are "illegal and immoral." The move came as part of a new crackdown vowed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following the killing of five Israelis in a Jerusalem synagogue. Thousands of people attended the victims’ funerals in Jerusalem on Wednesday.
Israel Approves 78 New Illegal Settlement Homes in East Jerusalem
As the destruction of Palestinian homes has resumed, the Israeli government has announced the construction of new homes in its illegal settlements. On Wednesday, the Israeli government announced a tender for 78 new homes in East Jerusalem. In a statement, the State Department said: "[we] reiterate our clear and consistent opposition to construction activity in East Jerusalem."
Civilians Reportedly Wounded in New U.S. Airstrikes on Syrian Border
The United States has carried out new airstrikes on the Syrian border with Turkey. A Pentagon statement claims the attack killed two militants from the Nusra Front, in the fourth such strike on the al-Qaeda group since September. The United States also claims to have hit a Khorasan Group storage facility, but residents say at least six civilians were wounded in an adjacent home.
Report: Assad Regime Escalates Strikes Following Launch of U.S.-led Bombing
A new report says Syrian government airstrikes have escalated over the past month. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the regime of Bashar al-Assad has launched more than 1,500 strikes since October 20, killing nearly 400 civilians and wounding at least 1,500 others. The increase in Assad regime airstrikes comes just weeks after the U.S.-led bombing campaign targeting the Islamic State began in September.
Protesters Rally at Ferguson Police HQ as Grand Jury Decision Looms
Protests continue in Ferguson, Missouri, ahead of the grand jury’s decision on whether to indict Officer Darren Wilson for the killing of Michael Brown. On Wednesday, demonstrators braved sub-zero temperatures to rally outside the Ferguson Police Department. Speaking in New York, the civil rights leader Al Sharpton criticized Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon for declaring a state of emergency in the absence of any unrest.
Rev. Al Sharpton: "I think that it is very tense. I think that the role of the parents and leadership is important to keep a tone there. I also think that a lot of the young activists that have been marching and keeping things going have been very responsible and pointedly nonviolent, and we must support them. But there’s a lot of tension out there, and I do not think it’s helpful when the governor (of Missouri) lectures and does not have a balance."
The grand jury’s decision on whether to charge Wilson is expected any day.
Nursing Group Backs Navy Officer Who Refused to Force-Feed Guantánamo Bay Prisoners
A leading U.S. nursing group has come out in support of a Navy medical officer at Guantánamo Bay who this year became the first known prison official to refuse to force-feed hunger-striking detainees. The unidentified male nurse now faces potential disciplinary charges that could ultimately lead to a discharge and loss of benefits. In a letter addressed to Navy officials, the American Nurses Association said: "The military setting does not change the nurse’s ethical commitments or standards."
NBC, Netflix Shelve Bill Cosby Projects as Rape Claims Resurface
Several major media corporations have canceled projects with the entertainer and comedian Bill Cosby over new claims of rape dating back more than 40 years. On Wednesday, NBC announced it is canceling a pilot deal with Cosby while the streaming service Netflix said it would postpone an upcoming special. The network "TV Land" has also pulled reruns of "The Cosby Show" from its schedule. Cosby previously settled a case with a woman in 2004 who alleged he drugged and raped her. At the time, the plaintiff, Andrea Constand, found 13 other women to testify about similar assaults. But in recent weeks, two more women have come forward, bringing the total to at least 15. In an interview with Entertainment Tonight’s Kevin Frazier on Tuesday, former model Janice Dickinson became the sixth woman to go on the record, saying Cosby raped her in 1982.
Janice Dickinson: "In my room, he had given me wine and a pill. The next morning, I woke up, and I wasn’t wearing my pajamas. And I remember before I passed out that I had been sexually assaulted by this man."
Kevin Frazier: "You took the pill, you drank the alcohol."
Janice Dickinson: "Red wine."
Kevin Frazier: "Red wine. And then what happened?"
Janice Dickinson: "Before I woke up in the morning, the last thing I remember was Bill Cosby in a patchwork robe, dropping his robe and getting on top of me."
Cosby’s attorneys have called Dickinson’s claims "an outrageous and defamatory lie." His camp has also dismissed the previous allegations from over a dozen women as "discredited," but without explaining how. Cosby himself has been asked about the rape allegations in at least two recent interviews but has refused to answer, including this one with NPR’s Scott Simon.
Scott Simon: "This question gives me no pleasure, Mr. Cosby, but there have been serious allegations raised about you in recent days. [Two seconds of silence.] You’re shaking your head no. [Two seconds of silence.] I’m in the news business. I have to ask the question: Do you have any response to those charges? [Two seconds of silence.] Shaking your head no. [Two seconds of silence.] There are people who love you who might like to hear from you about this. I want to give you the chance. [Five seconds of silence.] All right."
In addition to losing the network deals, he has canceled appearances on at least two television talk shows.
Obama Unveils Executive Order Protecting Millions from Deportation
President Obama has unveiled his plan to shield millions of undocumented immigrants from deportation in the face of congressional inaction. Some four million people could be eligible for the new policy, which allows the undocumented parents of U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents to stay in the country with work permits, if they have lived in the United States for at least five years and pass a background check.
President Obama: "So we’re going to offer the following deal. If you’ve been in America for more than five years; if you have children who are American citizens or legal residents; if you register, pass a criminal background check, and you’re willing to pay your fair share of taxes, you’ll be able to apply to stay in this country temporarily, without fear of deportation."
Obama Action Excludes Parents of Undocumented Children, Ends Secure Communities
The new plan will not provide relief to the parents of undocumented children, even those who qualified for deferred action in 2012. It also ends the controversial Secure Communities program, which swept up immigrants with minor offenses such as traffic tickets. The newly created Priority Enforcement Program will carry out a similar role.
Tens of Thousands Protest Student Disappearances in Mexico
Tens of thousands of people have rallied in Mexico in a day of action over the apparent massacre of 43 students by police and a drug gang in the southern state of Guerrero. The students from Ayotzinapa teacher’s college have been missing for nearly two months after they were ambushed by police. On Thursday, a massive crowd turned out in Mexico City calling for action against government corruption and the resignation of President Enrique Peña Nieto.
Hundreds Killed Since Ceasefire in Eastern Ukraine; U.S. Sends Non-Lethal Military Aid
The United Nations says violence in eastern Ukraine is worsening despite a more than two-month-old ceasefire. An average of 13 people a day have been killed since the Ukrainian government reached a truce with separatist rebels in early September. More than 4,300 people have been killed and nearly half a million internally displaced since fighting erupted in April. Speaking in Geneva, U.N. official Gianni Magazzeni said eastern Ukraine has seen a "total breakdown in the rule of law."
Gianni Magazzeni: "Civilians continue to be killed, illegally detained, tortured. They are disappearing, and the number of internally displaced is growing, especially in the eastern part of Ukraine, where there is a total breakdown in the rule of law and there is very little, if we can talk about protection, very little protection, if any at all, no procedural guarantees, no respect of international human rights norms."
The U.N.’s warning comes as Vice President Joe Biden is in Kiev to announce a new increase in non-lethal military aid to the Ukrainian military. The U.S. will supply its first shipment of Humvee vehicles after ruling out weapons for now. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko had asked for lethal military aid during a visit to Washington in September.
U.S. Grants Temporary Status to Travelers from Ebola-Stricken Nations
The Obama administration is granting temporary protected status to travelers hailing from the three West African countries worst hit by Ebola. Individuals from Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone who were in the U.S. before today can now apply for deportation protection and an 18-month work permit.
U.S. Releases 5 Prisoners from Guantanamo Bay
The U.S. has released five prisoners from Guantánamo Bay, including the first Yemeni detainee to be resettled in four years. Three of the prisoners have been sent to Georgia and the other two to Slovakia. The move reduces the Guantánamo Bay prison population to 143, the majority already cleared for release.
Swedish Court Rejects Assange Appeal, but Prods Prosecutor to Resolve Standoff
A Swedish court has rejected an appeal of the arrest warrant that’s kept WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange confined in Ecuador’s London Embassy for over two years. Assange is wanted in Sweden for questioning on allegations of sexual misconduct, though no charges have been filed. He has voiced fears he would ultimately be sent for prosecution in the United States if he were to return to Sweden. Assange’s attorneys had petitioned for the warrant to be withdrawn, arguing it cannot be enforced while Assange is in the embassy and Swedish prosecutors refuse to question him in London. But on Thursday, a Swedish appeals court rejected Assange’s challenge to a ruling against him earlier this year. In a statement, the court said it factored in that Assange is a flight risk, and that he is "suspected of crimes of a relatively serious nature." But it also suggested prosecutors should consider questioning him in London, saying their refusal to do so "is not in line with their obligation — in the interests of everyone concerned — to move the preliminary investigation forward."
Marriage Equality Bans Rejected in Montana, South Carolina
LGBT couples in Montana and South Carolina have applied for marriage licenses for the first time after courts rejected their states’ bans on marriage equality. The Supreme Court rejected a request to block LGBT marriage in South Carolina on Thursday, one day after a federal judge overturned the state ban in Montana. Two couples in Montana and South Carolina spoke to reporters after requesting marriage licenses on Thursday.
Carolyn Jones: "It represents equal rights, that every American is treated the same."
Ally Logan: "Yes, that we have equal rights, that we’re not less than, that we can’t be discriminated against, legally, any other fashion."
Kayla Anderson: "We want our family and friends to be able to celebrate."
Kristin Bennett: "But we’re the first couple in South Carolina, so we’ve got to do it. That’s awesome!"
After the new rulings, marriage equality will be legalized in 35 U.S. states.
Michael Brown’s Father Urges Nonviolent Protest; Officer Reportedly in Talks to Resign
The father of Michael Brown has issued an appeal for nonviolent protest in advance of the pending grand jury decision over his son’s killing. An announcement could come any day on whether the Ferguson police officer who killed Brown, Darren Wilson, will face criminal charges. In a video statement, Michael Brown Sr. asked demonstrators to remain peaceful.
Michael Brown Sr.: "My family and I are hurting. Our whole region is hurting. I thank you for lifting your voices to end racial profiling and police intimidation. But hurting others or destroying property is not the answer. No matter what the grand jury decides, I do not want my son’s death to be in vain. I want it to lead to incredible change, positive change, change that makes the St. Louis region better for everyone. We live here together. This is our home. We are stronger united."
As he faces potential charges, Officer Wilson is reportedly in talks with city officials to resign. Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson had recently suggested Wilson could return to active duty if he is not indicted.
Angola 3 Prisoner Likely to Remain Behind Bars Despite Latest Court Ruling Ordering Release
And a federal appeals court has upheld a lower court ruling ordering Louisiana to release Albert Woodfox, a former Black Panther who has spent more than 40 years in solitary confinement. Woodfox and the late Herman Wallace, another prisoner of the "Angola 3," were convicted of murdering a guard at Angola Prison. The Angola 3 and their supporters say they were framed for their political activism. A federal judge ruled last year that Woodfox should be set free on the basis of racial discrimination in his retrial. It was the third time Woodfox’s conviction has been overturned, but prosecutors have negated the victories with a series of appeals. Thursday’s ruling by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the order for Woodfox’s release in a unanimous three-to-nothing decision. But prosecutors could still delay its enforcement with more appeals to keep Woodfox behind bars. In a statement, the International Coalition to Free the Angola 3 said: "Though the courts have finally ruled in the interest of justice, it may still be months or years before this innocent man is released from his solitary cell."
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"Keystone, Climate Change and the Cold" by Amy Goodman
It was a dramatic scene in the Senate this week. As Sen. Elizabeth Warren, presiding, announced the defeat of the Keystone XL pipeline, a Crow Creek Sioux man from South Dakota sang out in the Senate gallery. A massive people’s climate movement against extracting some of the dirtiest oil on the planet had prevailed ... at least for now.It was a Democrat, Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu, representing oil interests, who tried to push the pipeline through. She hoped its passage would help her in the Dec. 6 runoff election against her challenger, Congressman Bill Cassidy, who sponsored a similar bill in the House. The Republicans have promised to reintroduce the bill when they take control of the Senate in January.
The coalition against the Keystone XL is broad-based. It includes environmentalists, indigenous activists, farmers and ranchers, concerned about both climate change and protecting their land. They are worried about an oil spill into the Ogallala Aquifer, one of the largest aquifers in the world, which extends from South Dakota to Texas and provides water for millions of people. The name of one partner organization signals how unique this coalition is: the Cowboy and Indian Alliance. Out in the sandhills and great plains of the West, residents who in the 19th century were more likely than not to be adversaries have joined together to confront TransCanada Corp.‘s aggressive plan to force its pipeline through their land.
“The fight has just started,” Cyril Scott told me. He is the president of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe in South Dakota. “We have to gear up and be ready and start our own campaign to make sure we secure enough support to stop this black snake that’s going to harm not only Indian country, but the United States of America.”
The Keystone XL pipeline’s primary function will be to move oil from the tar sands region of Alberta to port facilities on the South Texas coast, for shipping to overseas customers. It will enable expanded extraction of the tar sands, a form of oil that is much more environmentally destructive than other types. Climate scientist James Hansen, former director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, wrote in The New York Times, “If Canada proceeds, and we do nothing, it will be game over for the climate.” Hansen is one of more than 1,200 people who were arrested in front of the White House, protesting Keystone XL.
In years past, President Barack Obama claimed that if the Keystone XL pipeline were not approved, then TransCanada would build a pipeline that avoids the U.S. entirely, sending the oil through Canada, to either its east or west coast.
Naomi Klein says that argument doesn’t wash anymore. She is a climate activist and author of a kind of new-movement bible, “This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate.” The day before the Senate vote, she told me, “The tar sands are really surrounded by opposition. Everywhere they try to build a new pipeline or expand an existing pipeline, they’re facing fierce direct action as well as legal challenges by indigenous people and by other interests. So, the idea that if you don’t build Keystone, they’ll get it out anyway, is absurd.”
TransCanada is clearly worried about the movement. Leaked documents obtained by Greenpeace reveal that TransCanada has hired Edelman, the world’s largest public-relations firm, to wage a campaign against groups that are trying to block their pipeline projects. The documents reveal that Edelman has already created an “astroturf” group, a fake civic organization that promotes a pro-pipeline agenda, and proposes that 40 Edelman PR professionals will work to harass and confound the protest groups.
President Obama signaled before the Senate vote that he has grown skeptical of the Keystone XL, and its proponents’ claims that it will create jobs and lower domestic gasoline prices: “Understand what this project is: It is providing the ability of Canada to pump their oil, send it through our land down to the Gulf, where it will be sold everywhere else.”
Meanwhile, another president, Cyril Scott of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, said in a statement: “We will close our reservation borders to Keystone XL. Authorizing Keystone XL is an act of war against our people.”
With record-breaking cold gripping the nation this week, and a year’s worth of snow dumping on Buffalo, N.Y., in a single day, we have to ask: What will it take to listen to the science, and to aggressively address the global threat of catastrophic climate change?
Denis Moynihan contributed research to this column.
Amy Goodman is the host of “Democracy Now!,” a daily international TV/radio news hour airing on more than 1,200 stations in North America. She is the co-author of “The Silenced Majority,” a New York Times best-seller.
© 2014 Amy Goodman
Distributed by King Features Syndicate
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