Missionary Renegade: Democracy Now! Daily Digest: A Daily Independent Global News Hour with Amy Goodman & Juan González for Friday, July 10, 2015

Democracy Now! Daily Digest: A Daily Independent Global News Hour with Amy Goodman & Juan González for Friday, July 10, 2015
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"A Hostage Situation": Greece Yields to Austerity Demands Just Days After Historic "No" Vote

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has submitted a bailout proposal which includes harsh austerity measures, just days after the Greek people overwhelmingly rejected such measures in a historic referendum. The proposal submitted to Greece’s creditors reportedly includes tax increases, pension cuts, a reduction in military spending, and the privatization of public assets. It comes after Tsipras himself had urged the Greek people to reject creditors’ demands for further austerity. In exchange for the reforms, Greece would receive a three-year, $59 billion bailout package. Germany, meanwhile, appears to be yielding to demands to provide at least some measure of debt relief to Greece. European officials have expressed approval for the Greek offer ahead of a key meeting of European finance ministers on Saturday. The Greek Parliament is expected to vote on the bailout proposal today, just five days after an overwhelming 61 percent of Greek voters rejected similar terms. We speak to Mark Weisbrot, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research. He is the author of forthcoming book, "Failed: What the Experts Got Wrong About the Global Economy."

TRANSCRIPT

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has submitted a bailout proposal which includes harsh austerity measures, just days after the Greek people overwhelmingly rejected such measures in an historic referendum. The proposal submitted to Greece’s creditors reportedly includes tax increases, pension cuts, a reduction in military spending, and the privatization of public assets. It comes after Tsipras himself had urged the Greek people to reject creditors’ demands for further austerity. In exchange for the reforms, Greece would receive a three-year, $59 billion bailout package.

Germany, meanwhile, appears to be yielding to demands to provide at least some measure of debt relief to Greece. European officials have expressed approval for the Greek offer ahead of a key meeting of European finance ministers on Saturday. The Greek Parliament is expected to vote on the bailout proposal today, just five days after an overwhelming 61 percent of Greek voters rejected similar terms.

AMY GOODMAN: In Greece, Dimos Koubouris of the Private Sector Pensioners Federation criticized the proposal for new austerity measures.

DIMOS KOUBOURIS: [translated] We demand that the government open the banks now and give us our pensions. This is money we have already paid in. It’s a lifetime’s work, and we want to be able to buy medicine and food for our families, and get our lives back.

AMY GOODMAN: Joining us to discuss the outlook for Greece and the new proposal under consideration is economist Mark Weisbrot, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research. He’s the author of the forthcoming book, Failed: What the Experts Got Wrong About the Global Economy.

Mark Weisbrot, are you surprised by this deal that is being crafted right now? What exactly has the Greek prime minister put forward?

MARK WEISBROT: Well, the proposal is similar to what they had rejected previously. And, you know, you have to take into account that this is kind of a hostage situation. You know, they’ve had many—a number of deadlines before and threats and what the prime minister called blackmail, but a week before last Sunday’s referendum, they—you know, they really started bombing. That is, it wasn’t threats anymore. I think that’s why the former finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, called it terrorism.

I mean, it is—they closed down the banking system, as you know, and with all the consequences that that entails. And that’s very important because a lot of people don’t know that. You know, they think the government closed down the banking system, but it really was the European Central Bank doing something that probably no central bank has ever done before, which is to create a financial crisis in a country that’s under their jurisdiction. So I think that was the pressure.

Now, we don’t really know what the deal looks like yet, because we don’t have the debt relief that the government is expecting. I would expect they will get debt relief. And if they don’t, I don’t see how it would pass the Parliament.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Now, Mark Weisbrot, a lot of the accounts today in the commercial press talk about Greece capitulating and basically giving in. But this issue of debt relief, could you clarify what that means? Because there is basically—as Greece has been saying, it’s not sustainable for the government to be able to put a country to pay back this debt, so they want the creditors to accept a certain loss in their principal on this debt to make it possible for Greece to repay at least some of it.

MARK WEISBROT: Yes. Well, it wouldn’t necessarily be a loss in principal, which is usually called a haircut. It could be a restructuring, so that, you know, interest payments are postponed into the future.

And I think the most important thing is whether the economy is allowed to recover soon, because they’ve had six years of depression, which has really been deepened and prolonged by the European Union—or the European authorities’ policies, and especially the Central Bank, which, as I said, has now really closed down the banking system. So, they need to be able to recover. And that’s not clear from this agreement yet whether they will be able to do that.

I mean, this agreement—or the proposal from the Greek government, which is matching the proposal from the European authorities on this issue, calls for a primary budget surplus of 1 percent this year, then 2 percent, 3 and three-and-a-half. And it’s hard—unless they get serious debt relief, it’s hard to see how they could recover with that kind of fiscal tightening, and certainly not a recovery that would bring down the massive unemployment in the near future. So this really isn’t over yet. I don’t think it’s over at all. This is—

AMY GOODMAN: The Greek prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, addressed the European Parliament Wednesday, saying Greeks are tired of being a laboratory for testing austerity.

PRIME MINISTER ALEXIS TSIPRAS: [translated] We want a sustainable program, because we want to be in a position to repay the loans that we’ve accepted. And when we ask to reduce the debt, we are asking for that because we want to be able to pay this back. We don’t want to be forced time and time again to accept new loans to pay off the old ones.

AMY GOODMAN: That’s the Greek prime minister. Mark Weisbrot, does the deal that he is putting forward now perhaps explain why Yanis Varoufakis—he wanted him out, and Varoufakis complied, the finance minister who just quit?

MARK WEISBROT: Well, I don’t know why—I mean, I don’t know why the finance minister quit. Obviously, you know, the European—the other finance ministers and European authorities wanted him out, and they said it was his negotiating style and things like that. I don’t know that that makes much difference.

You know, the main thing, again, is whether they can get a deal that allows for an economic recovery. You know, this is the ironic thing about it, is that the European authorities have made this mess. The reason they need all this debt relief is because the economy has shrunk by more than 25 percent and greatly reduced their ability to pay. And now, the IMF is already saying—or the IMF has already acknowledged that the debt is unsustainable.

And some of that is U.S. influence. You know, you have a difference between the U.S. and the European Union, or the European authorities, I should say, because the U.S. is only concerned with keeping Greece in the euro, whereas the others have this project. They want to transform Europe into a place that has a smaller social safety net, a reduced state, cuts in pensions and healthcare. This isn’t just Greece. Greece is the obstacle in their way of transforming Europe. So they have these whole set of other interests that they’re fighting for, and that’s why they’re being so brutal and stubborn about this.

So, again, you know, we don’t really know what’s going to happen yet. We don’t know whether they’re going to grant sufficient debt relief to allow for an economic recovery. So I think this fight is going to go on for a while.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Mark, I wanted to ask you about the parallels between what’s happening in Greece and in potentially America’s own Greece—the debt crisis in Puerto Rico and the role of hedge funds. I have a column in today’s Daily News talking about a big fundraiser that’s being held by hedge fund billionaires this weekend at an East Hampton mansion for Governor Cuomo. And many of the—there’s a new report that’s being released today by the group Hedge Clippers, that really lays out what are the role of hedge funds in the Puerto Rico debt crisis.

And that report names a bunch of hedge funds: Andrew Feldstein’s BlueMountain Capital, Paul Tudor Jones’s Stone Line Capital, the billionaire John Paulson and others, all of whom are huge donors to Governor Cuomo, who are also heavily invested in Puerto Rico debt. Fortune magazine estimates up to 50 percent of the $73 billion in Puerto Rico debt is being held by these hedge funds that bought up the debt at discount prices, are hoping to press austerity in Puerto Rico, force the raising of taxes, so then they can make a killing. Puerto Rico’s government, for instance, just on July 1st, raised the sales tax from 7 percent to 11-and-a-half percent last week on the Puerto Rican people. But many of these hedge funds also had been invested in Argentina, had been invested in Greece. The role of hedge funds in some of these financial debt crises?

MARK WEISBROT: Well, there’s no question they played a huge role in Argentina. I mean, it was them who got the court decision that actually prevented Argentina from paying the interest payments on its debt to all the creditors, the over 90 percent of creditors, who accepted a restructuring. So I think the main role, the main negative role, that the hedge funds—the vulture funds, as they’re accurately called—the main role they play is to make it more difficult to have a restructuring when there is one. So that’s a very serious problem, and it’s caused enormous problems for Argentina.

In Greece right now, of course, the main problem is still the European authorities. They’re the ones that are—you know, they’re not really fighting over the money in Greece. It’s really about forcing Greece to make these changes. And also they’re worried about what’s going to happen in the rest of Europe, because, for instance, if Greece were to win this battle, you would be much more likely to see Podemos, a left party that didn’t even exist about a year and a half ago and is now leading in the polls—

AMY GOODMAN: In Spain.

MARK WEISBROT: —they could win the election in November. So, that’s another thing they’re looking at. This really is a political project. And it’s really driven more by this politics than the actual payments on the debt, which they could have settled in Greece a long time ago for a lot more—a lot less than what they’re going to lose going forward.

AMY GOODMAN: Well, we’ll leave it there on Greece. And, Juan, on Puerto Rico, the piece that you did, "Hedge Fund Moguls Who Played Role in Puerto Rico’s Money Woes Will Be Greeted by Protesters at Swanky Fundraiser for Governor Cuomo," this is an East Hampton $5,000-a-plate fundraiser?

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Yeah, on Saturday night, yes.

AMY GOODMAN: And there will be protests outside?

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: There’s supposed to be protests outside, yes.

AMY GOODMAN: Well, we’ll link to that piece, as well. And, Mark Weisbrot, thanks for joining us, economist and co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, author of the forthcoming book, Failed: What the Experts Got Wrong About the Global Economy.

Black Granddaughter of Segregationist Strom Thurmond Praises SC for Removing Confederate Flag

The Confederate battle flag that has flown on the South Carolina state House grounds for more than 50 years comes down today. Governor Nikki Haley signed a bill Thursday to permanently remove the flag, after the House and Senate overwhelmingly approved it earlier this week. This is final push in a decades-long struggle that began after the Confederate flag was placed on South Carolina’s Capitol dome in 1962 and was later relocated to a 30-foot flagpole at the Civil War monument after a compromise that required a two-thirds vote in both the House and Senate to take it down. As Gov. Haley signed the bill in the state House rotunda Thursday, she was joined by relatives of the nine people gunned down June 17 at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston as they attended Bible study, along with three former South Carolina governors and the Rev. Jesse Jackson. The flag is set to be taken down at 10 a.m. this morning and will be moved to the state’s Military Museum in Columbia, where it will be on display in the Confederate Relic Room. For more, we speak to Wanda Williams-Bailey, the interracial granddaughter of the late South Carolina senator, former governor and longtime segregationist, Strom Thurmond, who died at the age of 100 in 2003. Months later, a woman named Essie Mae Washington-Williams came public to reveal she was the daughter of Thurmond and Carrie Butler, who was a 16-year-old African-American housekeeper in Thurmond’s home. Thurmond never publicly acknowledged Washington-Williams as his daughter or Wanda as his granddaughter.

TRANSCRIPT

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: The Confederate flag that has flown on the South Carolina state House grounds for more than 50 years comes down today. Governor Nikki Haley signed a bill Thursday to permanently remove the flag after the House and the Senate overwhelmingly approved it earlier this week.

GOV. NIKKI HALEY: And what we saw in that swift action by both the House and Senate was we saw members start to see what it was like to be in each other’s shoes, start to see what it felt like. We heard about the true honor of heritage and tradition. We heard about the true pain that many have felt. And we took the time to understand it. I saw passions get high, I saw passions get low, but I saw commitment never-ending. And so what we saw was another action, and that action is that the Confederate flag is coming off the grounds of the South Carolina state House.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: This is the final push in a decades-long struggle that began after the Confederate flag was placed on South Carolina’s Capitol dome in 1962 and was later relocated to a 30-foot flagpole at the Civil War monument after a compromise that required a two-thirds vote in both the South Carolina House and Senate to take it down.

As Governor Haley signed the bill in the state House rotunda Thursday, she was joined by relatives of the nine people gunned down June 17th at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston as they attended Bible study, along with three former South Carolina governors and the Reverend Jesse Jackson. The flag is set to be taken down at 10:00 a.m. this morning and will be moved to the state’s Military Museum in Columbia, where it will be on display in the Confederate Relic Room.

AMY GOODMAN: Well, as South Carolina found resolution on Thursday, debate over the flag broke out on Capitol Hill. First, in Washington, D.C., House Republican leaders abruptly canceled a vote on a Republican-proposed amendment to the Interior Department spending bill that would allow the Confederate battle flag to be flown in cemeteries operated by the National Park Service. In another dramatic move, Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi proposed a measure to remove any flag from the U.S. Capitol that includes a Confederate symbol. When House Republicans tried to remove the resolution from the floor and send it to a Republican-controlled committee, Democrats shouted in protest. First, Republicans yelled "aye," then Democrats yelled "no." When the ayes won, Democrats challenged Republicans to vote on the bill. The shouting began after the House clerk read the motion to exile the measure.

SPEAKER PRO TEMPORE: Question is on—question is on ordering the previous question. All those in favor say "aye."

"AYE" VOTERS: Aye!

SPEAKER PRO TEMPORE: All those opposed, "no."

"NO" VOTERS: No!

SPEAKER PRO TEMPORE: Opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.

"NO" VOTERS: No!

SPEAKER PRO TEMPORE: The ayes have it. Previous question is ordered.

"NO" VOTERS: No! No! No! No! No! No!

REP. NANCY PELOSI: Mr. Speaker—Mr. Speaker—Mr. Speaker, I ask for a recorded vote. Mr. Speaker—

"NO" VOTERS: No! No! No! No!

SPEAKER PRO TEMPORE: From California?

REP. NANCY PELOSI: I ask for a recorded vote.

SPEAKER PRO TEMPORE: Ah.

AMY GOODMAN: When the mayhem died down, Democrats held a news conference about the debate on the House floor. This is Congressmember Hakeem Jeffries of New York.

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES: The members of the Republican Conference who support the Confederate battle flag apparently argue that this is about heritage and tradition. What exactly is the tradition the Confederate battle flag is meant to represent? Is it slavery? Rape? Kidnap? Genocide? Treason? Or all of the above? The Confederate battle flag is a divisive symbol of racial hatred and oppression. It stood for the defense of the institution of slavery. And in all of its forms, it’s time to banish it to the dustbin of history, which is where it belongs.

AMY GOODMAN: For more on this historic day when the Confederate battle flag is set to come down from the South Carolina Capitol, we go now to Columbia, where we’re joined by one of those present Thursday at Governor Haley’s bill signing. Wanda Williams-Bailey is the interracial granddaughter of the late South Carolina senator, former governor, longtime segregationist, Strom Thurmond. In 1948, he ran for president as a Dixiecrat opposing civil rights.

GOV. STROM THURMOND: It simply means that it’s another effort on the part of this president to dominate the country by force and to put into effect these uncalled-for and these damnable proposals he has recommended under the guise of so-called civil rights. And I’ll tell you, the American people, from one side or the other, had better wake up and oppose such a program! And if they don’t, the next thing will be a totalitarian state in these United States.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Strom Thurmond died at the age of 100 in 2003. A few months later, a woman named Essie Mae Washington-Williams publicly revealed she was the daughter of Thurmond and Carrie Butler, who was a 16-year-old African-American housekeeper in Thurmond’s home. Thurmond never publicly acknowledged Washington-Williams as his daughter. Essie Mae Washington-Williams passed away in 2013. Strom Thurmond’s granddaughter, Wanda Williams-Bailey, joins us now from Columbia, South Carolina.

Welcome to Democracy Now!

WANDA WILLIAMS-BAILEY: Welcome. Thank you. Thank you for having me.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And your reaction to what transpired yesterday in your state?

WANDA WILLIAMS-BAILEY: Yes, you know, this is a defining moment for South Carolina. And it’s an end of an era, and it’s a joyous occasion. So I’m excited to be a part of history. You know, it’s almost—you’re emotional. You know, when I was there for the signing yesterday, everyone was emotional. It’s an experience that, unless you are there to really understand that process—and with the stroke of a pen, Governor Nikki Haley made a difference. The deal was signed.

AMY GOODMAN: Did you ever think this day would come?

WANDA WILLIAMS-BAILEY: I actually did not. You know, I thought about this many, many times. I relocated here from California. And in doing so, part of my coming here was for research and just to be here for the moment. I had no intentions of remaining here, because what disturbed me most was the atmosphere, the Confederate flag, and not only is it hanging on a pole on the state House grounds, I have seen that Confederate flag flown throughout South Carolina, all over. So, I never felt totally comfortable.

Coming from an era of the civil rights movement—my father, who happened to have been a civil rights attorney when we resided in Savannah, Georgia—I understood that time, that process, where I couldn’t even drink from the same water fountain. So I had that exposure. And I can tell you, this is a moment. For those who fought in the civil rights movement, this is a victory. So, I am glad that the Senate and the House decided to arrive on a common ground to do what was good, the only thing that they should do, and that was to come together to make a difference and to get that vote.

So, again, I’m excited, relieved, but yet we have a lot of work to do. We still have a lot of things to do here in South Carolina. This is only the beginning. But it is a defining moment. And I think in South Carolina we can now—people can look at this state in terms of being a more welcome state. Opportunities can emerge. So, I am glad, which is something I have never said before, but I am glad to be a South Carolinian as of today.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Well, you mentioned your father was a civil rights leader. This is your uncle and Senator Strom Thurmond’s son, South Carolina state Senator Paul Thurmond, calling for the Confederate flag to come down.

SEN. PAUL THURMOND: I think the time is right and the ground is fertile for us to make progress as a state and to come together and remove the Confederate battle flag from the prominent statue outside the state House and put it in the museum. It is time to acknowledge our past, atone for our sins and work towards a better future. That future must be built on symbols of peace, love and unity. That future cannot be built on symbols of war, hate and divisiveness.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: That was Republican South Carolina state Senator Paul Thurmond. Could you talk about your journey, in terms of understanding the family relationships you had to former senator, U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond?

WANDA WILLIAMS-BAILEY: Well, with Paul, which I really am just excited about what he was able to do, he stepped forward, which was really the right thing to do. He wanted to be on the right side of all that needed to happen. He elected to do that, and I’m grateful that he did. Like he described, the iconic symbol that still remains on the state House grounds as of today, which will be removed, is one of psychological oppression that has affected African Americans for decades. So, it’s something that he has pushed, and he has encouraged others, who were, like Paul, in a dilemma, that made a decision that it was the right thing to do. It is time. And in doing so, to make a difference, that’s the purpose of why they came together. He did what he felt was right to do.

AMY GOODMAN: How do you feel that your grandfather, Strom Thurmond, the famous segregationist who ran on that platform for president in 1948, was governor, was U.S. Senator, would feel today? And does that matter to you?

WANDA WILLIAMS-BAILEY: Well, actually, I wouldn’t say it doesn’t matter. But that was his platform at the time. And I think, in part, it was that era, and he appealed to his voting base. So he chose to take that route. But this is a new day. And his son stepped up to help define that moment, which I am in total support of. So, that was history. That is the past. We look to the future.

AMY GOODMAN: Was it a big decision for your mother to come forward, soon after Strom Thurmond died, to say she was the daughter? In 2003, your mother, Essie Mae Washington-Williams, revealed that Senator Strom Thurmond was her father, during an interview with 60 Minutes’ Dan Rather, who asked her why she had kept secret—had kept quiet for so long. This is what your mom said.

ESSIE MAE WASHINGTON-WILLIAMS: It wasn’t to my advantage to talk about anything that he had done. It certainly—it wasn’t to either—advantage of either one of us. And he, of course, didn’t want it to be known. Neither did I. I didn’t want it to be known, either. So, neither one of—we didn’t have any agreement about not talking about it. We just didn’t talk about it, either one of us. ...

See, for 50—I would say 50 or 60 years now, this thing has been following me. So the fact that I am coming out now to talk about it is like a burden lifted, because I had this secret. And even though many people did know about it, I hadn’t got it off my shoulders, so this is what I wanted to do.

AMY GOODMAN: That was Essie Mae Washington-Williams, our guest Wanda Williams-Bailey’s mother. How difficult was that for your mother to come forward, Wanda?

WANDA WILLIAMS-BAILEY: It was very difficult. And I spent a great deal of time with her prior to her coming out. And actually, I elaborate in my writing, a manuscript that I have just completed, that I spent years—this was years in the making—to encourage her to come forward. So, it was a battle back and forth to accomplish that goal. And I had to respect her opinion, and I didn’t want to coerce her into doing it. It was a decision that she had to make. But I thought it was a part of what needed to be told, her story. And ultimately, she had to make the final decision. And in doing so, after Strom Thurmond passed away, she felt, as she said to me one evening, it’s time. And at that point, she encouraged me to go ahead and make the arrangements to do what was necessary so that she could make a public announcement. And I’m proud for her that she decided to do that, because she is a part of history. She rewrote history. So, the fact that she came forward was a moment for all of us, because it allowed not only her, but her children, her grandchildren, her great-grandchildren, to say this is our heritage and our legacy, as well.

AMY GOODMAN: Will you be on the grounds of the state Capitol today at 10:00 a.m. when the Confederate battle flag is taken down for the final time?

WANDA WILLIAMS-BAILEY: Absolutely. I will be there. As they say, I will be there with bells on. I’m just excited. I just can’t wait. I’m restless. I haven’t been able to sleep. Again, this is a very special moment in honor of those—the Charleston massacre, in honor of those nine victims. This is a victory for the families. And my continued prayers go out to them, that I hope they find some sense of peace in this first phase of what needs to happen with South Carolina. We need to change. This is the first step. But as I said earlier, we have many more areas that we need to—in which we need to accomplish.

AMY GOODMAN: Wanda Williams-Bailey, thanks so much for being with us, granddaughter of the late South Carolina senator, segregationist, governor, Strom Thurmond. She was there on Thursday when Nikki Haley signed the bill authorizing the removal of the Confederate battle flag from the Capitol grounds.

This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. When we come back, we’re going to look at New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and the historic announcement he made this week calling for a special prosecutor when police kill unarmed civilians. Stay with us.

Mother of Eric Garner Praises New York's Appointment of Special Prosecutor to Probe Police Killings

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has announced plans to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate police killings of unarmed civilians, making New York the first state to do so. Cuomo’s move came a day after mothers of New Yorkers killed by police rallied outside his New York City office demanding he fulfill his promise to appoint the special prosecutor if state lawmakers did not take action. We speak to Gwen Carr, the mother of Eric Garner, who died almost exactly one year ago, on July 17, after police pulled him to the ground in a chokehold and piled on top of him while he said "I can’t breathe" at least 11 times. A grand jury declined to indict the officer, Daniel Pantaleo, who put Garner in the chokehold. The prosecutor in the case, Daniel Donovan, was recently elected to Congress.

TRANSCRIPT

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: We turn now to a major development here in New York in the push for police accountability. Governor Andrew Cuomo has announced plans to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate police killings of unarmed civilians. On Wednesday, Cuomo appointed New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman under a one-year executive order.

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO: An executive order that appoints the attorney general as a special prosecutor for any case where a conflict may be perceived, so the attorney general will be a standing prosecutor to handle any case where a law enforcement officer kills an unarmed civilian, or kills a civilian and there is a question as to whether or not the civilian is armed and dangerous.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Governor Cuomo’s action will make New York the first state to institute an independent prosecutor for police killings, a step recommended by President’s Obama’s task force on policing. But it falls short of the demands of some activist groups. The Justice Committee had called for the executive order to cover all police killings and not be limited to just one year. Cuomo’s move came a day after mothers of New Yorkers killed by police rallied outside his New York City office demanding he fulfill his promise to appoint a special prosecutor if state lawmakers did not take action.

AMY GOODMAN: Well, for more, we’re joined by one of those mothers. Gwen Carr is with us. She’s the mother of Eric Garner, who died almost exactly a year ago. It was July 17, 2014, after police pulled him to the ground in a chokehold and piled on top of him while he said "I can’t breathe" 11 times. A grand jury declined to indict Officer Daniel Pantaleo, who put Garner in the chokehold. The prosecutor in the case, Daniel Donovan, was recently elected to Congress from Staten Island. Garner’s death was caught on video by Ramsey Orta, who has been arrested repeatedly since Eric Garner’s death. Ramsey Orta alleges police harassment. Mrs. Carr was there Wednesday when Governor Cuomo signed his executive order appointing a special prosecutor to investigate police killings of unarmed civilians. She’s a member of the Justice Committee, which pushed for the measure.

We’re also joined by Vince Warren, executive director of the Center for Constitutional Rights.

We welcome you both to Democracy Now! Gwen Carr, you were there when Governor Cuomo made this announcement. Are you satisfied now?

GWEN CARR: Well, pretty much, I am, because Governor Cuomo signing the executive order will end inherent, fundamental, you know, areas that exist with the local DAs now, that when a person, a civilian, is killed by police, there seems to be a problem. So now we’ll have an independent person to review these killings, which we hope that there will be no more of.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And the issue of it being just for one year? Obviously, the governor had some limitations in that the state Legislature would not pass any kind of legislation. But are you worried that that’s such a short time, that even investigating one case sometimes could take longer, longer than a year?

GWEN CARR: Well, the language in the executive order doesn’t read like that anymore. It’s not only—there’s no language in there that says only for one year. It would have to be renewed after a year, which we discussed with the governor. And the scope was broadened for the Attorney General’s Office to investigate and prosecute more cases. That was brought in, you know, once we discussed it with the governor.

AMY GOODMAN: You met with Governor Cuomo and spoke to him. What did you tell him?

GWEN CARR: Well, the families told him that we wanted him to commit to signing an executive order for a special prosecutor, and he promised the families when we met in April in Albany that if his independent monitor that he was presenting wasn’t passed, that he would sign an executive order. And at that time, we tried to make it perfectly clear that we did want it for all cases, and we didn’t want a one-year limitation. OK. So now, after his independent monitor wasn’t passed, we went back to him, and we asked him to sign the executive order, which, you know, he had everything prepared. It was read to us. And we had some concerns, which we’ve addressed—he addressed. And we asked him to change certain things. And he did. When we went back, it was close to what we had asked for.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Michael [sic] Warren, why is it—has it historically been so difficult for local prosecutors to move on these cases of police killings?

VINCENT WARREN: It’s been very—it’s very difficult for a range of reasons. One of the most important things is that there is an inherent conflict of interest between prosecutors and police officers. They work together all the time. They investigate cases together. They prosecute cases together. The police collect evidence. And then, all of a sudden, if you have a scenario where a police officer is accused of killing a civilian, those same prosecutors that work with them day in and day out now are charged with trying to investigate those cases. And on the local level, politically, personally, that doesn’t always work. So we end up with this crazy scenario where if a civilian kills a police officer, you know that that civilian is going to be prosecuted, but if a police officer kills an unarmed civilian, most of us don’t have the confidence that that’s going to be a fair investigation and prosecution. This is a great step in the right direction, because it inserts the attorney general—and we have a great attorney general, Eric Schneiderman—into that mix, so that it takes it out of the hands of the prosecutor to decide whether it’s going to be a political play or whether they’re actually going to go with the law.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And my apologies. It’s Vince Warren, not Michael.

VINCENT WARREN: That’s right. I’ve been called worse than "Michael Warren," though. Believe me.

AMY GOODMAN: Gwen Carr, what was your relationship with the prosecutor in Staten Island, the prosecutor who ended up becoming a congressmember, who failed to indict Daniel Pantaleo, the officer who put your son in a chokehold?

GWEN CARR: What was my relationship to him?

AMY GOODMAN: Did you ever speak to him?

GWEN CARR: We spoke to him once, while—before he formed the grand jury, before anything happened. And just speaking with him, it didn’t sound too positive to us. And even before the grand jury was formed, we were trying to get the federal government to take the case, because we felt more confident in the federal government than we felt in the DA taking on the case.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And your reaction to this constant arrest of Ramsey Orta by the police now, time after time, since the death of your son?

GWEN CARR: Yes. Now, he has gotten in conflict with the police. You know, I’m not aware of the circumstances exactly. But one thing has nothing to do with the other. He did take the video. He took a stand, which other people didn’t. And for that, he is my hero. He’s the one that conveyed what happened in my son’s case. And the DA still failed to indict. And that’s what I don’t understand. They had a clear video showing exactly what happened. And the other thing they had was two medical examiners’ report. One of the medical examiners was a police forensic expert. And they both ruled my son’s death a homicide. So, I always understood an indictment was probable cause. Was that not probable cause?

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Vince, I wanted to ask you about this latest report today that—from the monitor now, following—of New York City police, following the stop-and-frisk settlement, that a lot of police are not now documenting their stop-and-frisks, so there may be actually an undercount of what is actually going on.

VINCENT WARREN: Yes. And the Center for Constitutional Rights, as you know, has a stop-and-frisk case that’s been going on for a number of years, and we’re in the reform process of that case now. The federal monitor came out with a report, and one of the indications in the report, based upon how—what the evidence looks like, is that the police are still not doing as good a job as they could in terms of collecting all of the information so that we will be able to keep the police officers accountable. So we’re in a situation now where even when you think about this new executive order and you think about the work that’s happening in this litigation, where now there are a number of places in which we can concretely say that there is outside oversight and outside enforcement to hold the police officers accountable so that we don’t have killings of other children, like Mrs. Carr’s son, and so that African Americans and Latinos and everyone can walk around the streets without fear of being aggressively policed illegally by the police department.

AMY GOODMAN: As we show the video of your son one more time, Eric Garner being taken down last year, the video that Ramsey Orta took, and now has been arrested repeatedly—his wife was arrested, his mother was arrested, as well.

GWEN CARR: Yes.

AMY GOODMAN: Do you think the outcome would have been different if what Governor has put—Governor Cuomo has put in place now was in place then?

GWEN CARR: I think the outcome would have been definitely—do you mean with what happened with my son?

AMY GOODMAN: Right, whether the officer or officers would have been indicted?

GWEN CARR: Yes. Well, they still weren’t indicted, you understand, because—now, in many of our cases, many of the families’ cases, there were plenty of evidence to show that there should have been an indictment, and even a conviction, with these police officers, but there wasn’t. That’s why we said there is a definite problem with the local DAs. And no matter what they say, the records prove. Some DAs will say, "Oh, I had a hundred indictments." How many convictions did they have? None. So, there’s a problem there. Everybody is not always right, on either side. And everybody is not always wrong.

AMY GOODMAN: Vince Warren, is there any possibility in the case of Eric Garner, at any level, federal or state, now, of there being some kind of indictment?

VINCENT WARREN: Well, the important thing to remember about this executive order is that it is forward-looking from the date that it’s signed. So, unfortunately, situations like Eric Garner’s case would not be included here, and it would be a forward-looking question, which is why the one year, we need to be focused on enforcing and what happens in getting the Congress—excuse me, the Legislature to come up with legislation that mirrors this.

But, you know, the Eric Garner case, there are a range of things that actually are happening. So there is a civil lawsuit that is happening. And although it is not a perfect remedy, and it will not result necessarily in police officers going to jail, it does bring out all of the evidence that will not have come out publicly, because of a lack of trial, into the public arena, and it is a measure of holding the police department accountable. I still hold out hope and expectations that federal and state law enforcement, as information comes out, will act on that.

AMY GOODMAN: Well, I want to thank you both for being with us. Gwen Carr, our condolences again on this first anniversary of your son’s death. Eric Garner was killed July 17, 2014, when put in a police chokehold and taken to the ground and piled on by a number of police officers, saying "I can’t breathe" 11 times. And thanks, Vince Warren, for joining us. Vince Warren is the executive director of the Center for Constitutional Rights.

This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. When we come back, we’ll talk about the latest developments in Greece and in Puerto Rico and what is the relationship of Governor Andrew Cuomo in New York to what’s happening in Puerto Rico today. Stay with us.

Headlines:

South Carolina Takes Down Confederate Flag at Capitol

Protests Force House Republicans to Drop Confederate Flag Measure

As South Carolina lawmakers voted to take down the Confederate flag, Republicans in the U.S. Congress blocked a measure to remove it from the U.S. Capitol, sending the resolution to a committee. House Republicans also introduced a measure to allow Confederate flags in national cemeteries. Republicans eventually withdrew the bid following protests by Democrats, including New York Congressmember Hakeem Jeffries.

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries: "The members of the Republican Conference who support the Confederate battle flag apparently argue that this is about heritage and tradition. What exactly is the tradition the Confederate battle flag is meant to represent? Is it slavery? Rape? Kidnap? Genocide? Treason? Or all of the above?"

Walter Scott’s Mother Visits Site of Killing for 1st Time

In North Charleston, South Carolina, about two hours from the state Capitol and the debate over the Confederate flag, the mother of Walter Scott visited the site of her son’s death for the first time. Walter Scott was an unarmed African-American man shot dead in April by white police officer Michael Slager, who was charged with murder after video showed he shot Scott in the back as he ran away. Walter Scott’s brother Anthony spoke during the family’s visit to the fenced-in field where his brother died.

Anthony Scott: "It’s hard trying to face it with my mom and my dad, because I, for the longest, have tried to to keep them away from the site, but I know some closure has to come. And we’re getting closer to that time. We have to come and face it and look it head-on."

Michael Slager, the officer who killed Walter Scott, is in the same jail as Charleston massacre suspect Dylann Roof.

Greece Submits Bailout Plan with Harsh Austerity Measures

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has submitted a bailout proposal which includes harsh austerity measures just days after the Greek people overwhelmingly rejected such measures in a historic referendum. The proposal submitted to Greece’s creditors reportedly includes tax increases, pension cuts, a reduction in military spending and the privatization of public assets. It comes after Tsipras himself had urged the Greek people to reject creditors’ demands for further austerity. In exchange for the reforms, Greece would receive a three-year, $59 billion bailout package. Germany meanwhile appears to be yielding to demands to provide at least some measure of debt relief to Greece. European officials have expressed approval for the Greek offer ahead of a key meeting on Saturday. The Greek Parliament is expected to vote on the bailout proposal today, just five days after an overwhelming 61 percent of Greek voters rejected similar terms. We’ll have more on Greece later in the broadcast.

U.N. Announces Humanitarian Ceasefire in Yemen

The United Nations has announced a humanitarian truce in Yemen to allow aid to reach civilians facing a possible famine. The truce calls for a pause in Saudi-led airstrikes and clashes with Shiite Houthi rebels beginning today and lasting until the end of Ramadan on July 17.

Iran Nuclear Talks Continue Past Latest Deadline

Iran and world powers are continuing talks to reach a nuclear deal in Vienna. The failure to reach an agreement before today means the U.S. Congress will now take 60, rather than 30, days to approve any deal, keeping U.S. sanctions in place in the meantime. Secretary of State John Kerry said he would not continue to negotiate indefinitely.

Secretary of State John Kerry: "We also recognize that we shouldn’t get up and leave simply because the clock strikes midnight. And I emphasize, given that the work here is incredibly technical and that the stakes are very, very high, we will not rush, and we will not be rushed, and we won’t let ourselves be rushed through any aspect of this."

Hack of U.S. Gov’t Data Impacted 21.5 Million

The Obama administration has acknowleged a breach of government computer systems was far worse than they initally disclosed. Hackers stole information including fingerprints and Social Security numbers from 21.5 million people. The Office of Personnel Management said everyone who received a government background check over the last 15 years was likely impacted.

Army Cuts 40,000 Soldiers, Citing Budget Cuts

The U.S. Army has announced plans to eliminate 40,000 soldiers from its ranks. Army force management director Randy George announced the cuts.

Randy George: "Beginning this October, we will start reducing the active component by another 40,000 soldiers. Driven by fiscal constraints resulting from the Budget Control Act of 2011 and defense strategic and budgetary guidance, this reduction amounts to a cumulative cut of 120,000 soldiers from the regular Army, or 21 percent since 2012. This will also be accompanied by the reduction of approximately 17,000 Department of the Army civilian employees. These cuts will impact nearly every Army installation both in the continental United States and overseas."

The reduction in U.S. troops has drawn criticism from Republican lawmakers who voted in favor of budget cuts the Pentagon warned would reduce its ranks.

U.S. to Upgrade Malaysia’s Trafficking Rating, Easing TPP

The Obama administration is reportedly poised to remove Malaysia from its list of the worst human trafficking hubs in a move that will ease negotiations over the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal. Last year, the United States downgraded Malaysia to a Tier 3 rating. But a measure by New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez bars the United States from enacting trade deals with Tier 3 countries. Despite protests from human rights groups, Reuters reports the State Department will upgrade Malaysia’s status, allowing it to remain part of the TPP.

Wisconsin: Walker to Sign Budget Repealing Living Wage

Wisconsin Republican Governor Scott Walker is poised to sign a bill banning non-emergency abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, with no exception for rape or incest. As Walker prepares to launch his presidential campaign on Monday, he is also expected to sign a state budget which slashes funding for the University of Wisconsin, expands the voucher program for private schools, requires drug testing for welfare recipients and eliminates the state’s living wage law.

Jeb Bush: "People Need to Work Longer Hours"

A super PAC backing Republican presidential contender Jeb Bush says it has raised a record $103 million in the first half of this year. In total, the super PAC and Bush’s campaign have raised more than $114 million, far outstripping Democratic and Republican rivals. The news comes as Bush is facing criticism for telling the New Hampshire Union Leader newspaper Americans need to work longer hours.

Jeb Bush: "Which means we have to be a lot more productive, workforce participation has to rise from its all-time, modern lows. It means that people need to work longer hours and, through their productivity, gain more income for their families."

Americans already work more hours than people in any other industrialized country. And despite a 25 percent rise in worker productivity over recent years, wages have flatlined. Bush later said he was referring to part-time workers unable to find full-time work.

Immigrants Sue over $1-a-Day Wage at Private Prison

Immigrants who were held at a private prison run by the GEO Group in Aurora, Colorado, have filed a landmark federal lawsuit, saying the company violated anti-trafficking law by forcing them to work for $1 a day under the threat of solitary confinement. This week, U.S. District Judge John Kane allowed the lawsuit to move forward. The immigrants say they spent hours cleaning toilets, mopping, and preparing meals. Attorneys say the lawsuit is the first of its kind.

Judge Scolds Gov’t over Failure to Release Guantánamo Tapes

A federal judge has scolded the Obama administration for stalling the release of footage showing force-feedings of Guantánamo prisoners. Attorneys for former prisoner Abu Wa’el Dhiab have fought for the tapes to be made public, saying he was force-fed over 1,000 times in retaliation for going on hunger strike. District Judge Gladys Kessler ordered the videos’ release back in October, but the government has said it needs months to redact faces and names of U.S. personnel. On Thursday, Judge Kessler accused the government of mounting "frivolous" challenges, and warned she would soon impose a timeline for the tapes’ release.

Pope Francis Apologizes for "Crimes" Against Indigenous People

Pope Francis has denounced austerity and unbridled capitalism in a sweeping address in Bolivia. Denouncing the "new colonialism" of government austerity, Francis also apologized for the Catholic Church’s complicity in the oppression of indigenous people in Latin America.

Pope Francis: "I say this to you with regret: Many grave sins were committed against the native peoples of America in the name of God. My predecessors acknowledged this, CELAM (the Latin American Episcopal Council) has said it, and I, too, wish to say it. Like Saint John Paul II, I ask that the church 'kneel before God and implore forgiveness for the past and present sins of her sons and daughters.' I would also say, and here I wish to be quite clear, as was Saint John Paul II: I humbly ask forgiveness, not only for the offenses of the church herself, but also for crimes committed against the native peoples during the so-called conquest of America."

Bolivian President Evo Morales presented Pope Francis with a crucifix carved into a hammer and sickle. The cross was originally designed by Jesuit activist Reverend Luis Espinal, who was assassinated by suspected Bolivian paramilitaries in 1980. Francis stopped to pray at the site where Espinal’s body was dumped when he arrived in Bolivia on Wednesday.

Greenpeace Marks 30th Anniversary of Rainbow Warrior Bombing

Today marks the 30th anniversary of the bombing of the Greenpeace flagship Rainbow Warrior by French agents in Auckland, New Zealand. Greenpeace photographer Fernando Pereira was killed in the attack. France has never apologized. To see our interview with Peter Willcox, who was the captain of the Rainbow Warrior, you can go to democracynow.org.

Federal Monitor: NYPD Failing to Document Stops

A federal monitor who is overseeing the New York City Police Department says officers have been failing to document encounters with people they stop and question on the street. The monitor was appointed after the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk tactics were found unconstitutional. The report calls into question a recent drop in the official tally of stops. We’ll have more on the NYPD and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s landmark plans for a special prosecutor to probe police killings of unarmed civilians, later in the broadcast.

Cop Who Killed Jimmie Lee Jackson, Igniting Selma March, Dies at 81

And James Bonard Fowler, the white former Alabama state trooper who shot and killed black civil rights worker Jimmie Lee Jackson in 1965, has died at the age of 81. Fowler shot Jackson in Mack’s Café in Marion, Alabama, on February 18, 1965. Jackson died eight days later. The killing was a seminal moment which set off the first Selma-to-Montgomery voting rights march, known as Bloody Sunday. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. preached at Jackson’s funeral. But it wasn’t until 45 years later, in 2010, that Fowler pleaded guilty to the killing, apologized and served five months in jail. Fowler died on Sunday.

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