march is a good month to see whether that is going to happen or not. >> for the viewers that are not aware or understand what fast and furious is, can you give a brief overview? .. >> moving on from your book, just recently you had made some news by tweeting you're 25 now

and in five years you may be interested in running for john mccain's seat in arizona. >> well, john mccain has hinted he might retire. i doubt he will. but the door is always open, and i think being from arizona and living there my whole life, it's not that people actually like john mccain, it's that he has been the only option for a long time. so see what happened. >> all right. thanks. >> up next, author and journalist amy goodman. the most executive producer of international radio program democracy now, talks about war, politics, and grassroots activism. "the new york times" best selling author has written or cowritten five books, including "the exception to the rulers, standing up to the madness, and the silenced majority.

>> host: amy goodman in your first book in the exception to the rulers, you write that amy goodman is the journalist as uninvited guest. >> guest: we're not supposed to be a part to any party. we are journalists. there's a reason why our profession, journalism, is the only one explicitly protected by the u.s. constitution. we're post to be the check and balance on power. >> host: in that book also, war and peace, life and death, that is the role of the media in a democratic society to provide a forum for this discourse to do anything less is a disservice to the servicemen and service wal-mart of this country. >> guest: that's right. i have just glen in from denver, where i was at the national conference on media reform, and when we flew into the airport, at denver airport, people hold up signs when you come out to pick you up, and as we were

walking, there were some soldiers there. they were going to be picking up a general, and as we walked by, they were waving, and i thought maybe the general is behind me because they have a sign for the general, and didn't look that way. i said, want to go talk to them. so i went back, and i said do you watch democracy now? and they said, every day. and so i said, really. why do you watch? the said, it's objective and you cover war. it's not about whether you're for or against war. it's about covering the most serious decision a country can make. i see the media as a huge kitchen table that stretches across the globe, that we all sit around and debate and discuss the most important issue office the day. war and peace, life and death, and anything less than that is a disservice to the servicemen and women of this country. they account have these debates on military bases. they rely on news civilian

society to have the discussions that lead to decisions about weather that live or die, whether they're sent to kill or be killed. anything less than that is a disservice to a democratic society. >> host: one of the recuring themes in your writing is the corporate media as you call it. what is the corporate media and what does it do or not do? >> guest: well, it's what most people see on television on most channels. not a lot. and that's the hope. it's the channels, nbc, cbs, abc, cnn, that break for the advertisers, that turn to corporate support. i see the hope this public media, media brought to you by the listeners and viewers who are deeply committed to independent information. when we cover war, not brought to you by the weapons manufacturers. when we cover climate change. not brought to you with the oil, gas, coal companies, nuclear companies. when we cover the healthcare

debate, not brought to you by the trying drug companies or the insurance industry, but brought to listeners and viewers by listeners and viewers, who feel that information is power. that information is essential. it's the oxygen of a democracy. >> host: back to the going the rulers. our motto at democracy now is to break the sound barrier. we call ourselves the exception to the rulers. we believe all media should be. what do you mean by sound barrier? >> guest: well, so often on the networks, we get this small circle of pundits who know so little about so much. explaining the world to us and getting it so wrong. we go to the community to talk to people in this country and around the world, who are the heart of the story. it's not always easy to find, but people sense authentic

voices. i think it's why so many young people listen to democracy now. we have such a diverse audience in this country and around the world, because it's that sense of people knowing what they're talking about because they're talking from their own experience. i think that's the best kind of journalism. providing a forum for people to speak for themselves, providing a forum for people to debate and discuss with each other the critical issues, but hearing those voices of a great diversity of people, that is the role of journalism in a democratic society. >> host: when did democracy now start and how is it funded? >> guest: we started 17 years ago as the only daily election show in public broadcasting. it began on radio. it was february of 1996. that was the second best election of president clinton

ultimately. we didn't know that at the time. and we -- i was actually in haiti when i got the call from pacifica radio, where the show was first established. and when they said, do you want to host this daily election show? thought it was a very interesting challenge because several places where people get gunned down when they go to the polls like east timor and places like haiti, and yet the overwhelming majority of people vote. why on earth do people in this country not vote 0, in the majority don't vote. and i don't think it's apathy and i didn't it was then but i was interested to follow the primaries as a map of the country, and go to these states and see what people are doing in their communities, how are the

civically engaged in so i did the show and the election happened and i thought that was it. but there was more demand for the show after the election than before. so we broadcasted on a few community radio stations, and it kept growing, and then then week of september 11th happened. that week coincidentally -- sent 11, 2001, were slated to go on one tv station, in new york. it was a public access tv station and we were broadcasting from an old firehouse that had been turned into a community media center. >> host: by the twin towers. >> guest: yes. the closest national broadcast to the world trade center. so, on september 11th, we were going to be broadcasting on television as well for manhattan neighborhood network. we were -- now we broadcast 8:00 eastern standard time. then it was 9:00. so the first plane hit the first tower of the world trade center

at 8:47. we didn't know it was happening. we were in this old firehouse. the second plane hit at 9:03. we still didn't know it was happening. we were, though, doing a show that day on the connection between terror and september 11th, 1973. in chile, when the democratically elected president died in the palace as the forces rows to power. the united states backed forces, and pinochet was a dictator who was ruthless, who ran that country for 17 years. thousandsthousands of chileans e killed. september 11, 2001, is not the first time -- september 1st -- that september 11 is connected

with terror. september 11, 1977 in south africa, the founder of the black consciousness movement was being beaten to death in the back of a van by apartheid forces. died in the early morning hours of september 12, 1977 in got ma los angeles september 11, 18990. guatemalan -- was killed by security forces, sadly u.s.-backed. september 11, 1971, in new york, the attica uprising. september 9th to 13th. two days later governor rockefeller was calling out the stain troopers who would open fire on the prisoners-killing something like 79 prisoners and guards. killed 39 prisoners and guards, critically wounding 88 others and injures hundreds of others.

september 11th is not the first time that terror has come to u.s. soil. ask any african-american about slavery, and any native american about what is happening in this country. but september 11, 2001, 'twas -- was a horrific moment. 3,000 people incinerated in an instant. we'll never know actually how many people died because those who go unnamed and undocumented in life often go undocumented in death and they were the undocumented workers around the world trade center. but it was horrific. and i think united us with people around the world who have been victims of terror. >> host: so democracy now has been on the air since -- on television since 2001. >> guest: since that day. and once we went on manhattan neighborhood network as emergency broadcasting, stations around the country started calling and saying, we want to run the broadcast. and we were dealing with breaking news, so i didn't think

we would just mail it to them. we didn't heat satellites so we started fedexing. we would have huge black garbage bags full of video cass sets and would sent them around the country, and in a community where it started running on television, the local radio would say, can we run the show? so we were on community radio stations, college stations, pacifica radio stations, npr stations, and public access stations stations and now increasingly on pbs stations over the country. so we started in a few dozen radio stations in 1996 and today we're broadcasting on over 1100 public radio and television stations around the country and around the world. our headlines are also available in spanish for any radio station to take. and also writing a weekly column for hearst, to provide a road map for people -- independent

voices that are so often not reflected in the media but i think reflect the views of perhaps most people in this country. >> host: funding? >> guest: it's divided by the networks that run us. foundations, and listener and viewer support, which is most critical. all over the country and around the world, people committed to independent media. >> host: the exception to the rulers, back to your writing. journalist are not entertainers, we are reporters. we go to places that are unpopular. where were you in november of 1991? >> guest: well, in november of 1991, i went to this small country called east timor, which at the time was occupied by indonesia. i went there with my colleague, allen, superb journalist in this country, investigative journalist.

we had again there the year before to investigate what was happening there and then returned at the end of october 1991. indonesia invaded east timor dem 7, 197 5. at the time it was president ford, secretary of state henry kissinger. they did the go ahead for the invasion to one of the longest reigning czech tater as and as they flew out snow ya invaded east timor by air, land, and sea. they occupied the country. they closed it to the outside world. and for the next 17 years, or ultimately for about a quarter of a century, they slaughtered the people. one of the great genocides of the 21st century. it was worse that pol pot.

the difference was americans knowing. and pol pot was an official enemy of the united states, and the president and secretary of state would talk about and it the media should have covered it, but in the case of indonesia innovating east timor, sew hart a was an ally of the united states so on to carter and reagan and bush and christian to they didn't talk about the atrocities in east timor so we went to where the silence is, and what we found there was a real hell on earth. november 12, 1991, indonesia had occupied for 17 years, they killed a third of the population. 200,000 tim jorans, and on that morning, the people went to church to the catholic church. most of the country is catholic. it had been occupied by portugal

for many centuries actually. and they went to the multi -- the flagship church in the capitol of east timor. 300 miles above australia, and after the church went out into the street and in an unheard of demonstration because in indonesia, in occupied timor, they did not allow freedom of speech, freedom of press, freedom assembly, but two weeks after we arrived the indonesian military surrounded the church and killed the young man sebastian gomez in the church at point blank range. they had a funeral for them the next day and a thousand people turned out and marched to the cemetery. then two weeks later they were having a commemoration procession, and this land without freedom of speech, press or assembly, the people marched into the streets you would see a girl in their catholic school

uniform and women in her old garb, and girls and boys would pull out banners they had written on bed sheets and would hold them up and say things like why in the indonesian military shoot our church? they appealed to president george h.w. bush at the time, who was here, the u.n., someone to stop the slatter, and they marked through the streets, retracing the steps of the funeral two weeks before, some putting their hands up in the v sign, signaling viva east timor. incredibly brave, and they marched -- thousands joined from school, home, and they marked to the santa cruz seminary. when we got there we were interview are people. why are you risking your life to do this? and they would say, for my mother. for my father. for my village. it was wiped out. and then from the direction the procession had come we saw hundreds of indonesian soldiers

carrying their u.s. m-16s at the ready position. marching up on the crowd. and indonesia 90% of the weapons came from the united states and the military was trained by the united states and it was no different this day. soldiers marched up 10 to 12 abreast, and allen suggest we walk to the front over the crowd because we knew that the indonesian military committed many massacres in the past. never done it in front of western journalists and we thought maybe our presence could head off this attack. we always hid our equipment because anyone caught talking to a western journalist could be disappeared but this time we wanted to make clear who we were. i took my tape recorder out, put my head phones on, held up my microphone, allen put the camera above his head. allen was writing for new yorker magazine at the time. we walked to the front of the crowd. the soldiers marched up, they

rounded the corner, they swept past us, and without any hesitation, without any warning, without any provocation, they opened fire on the crowd. gunning people down from right to left. a group of soldiers gathered around me. they pulled my microphone away, raving in my face as if to say this is what we don't want, then the took me down, beating me with rifles and boots. allen got a photograph of them opening fire and then he threw himself on top of me to protect me. they took their u.s. m-16s, they slammed them against his skull, until they fractured it. so we were laying in the road, allen covered in blood. the soldiers then put the guns to our head in firing squad fashion and shouted two things -- they had stripped us of everything. the only thing had left was my passport in my skirt and i threw

it at them and they were shouting two things. australia and politik. they were saying it was political for us to witness this. but that's our job as journalist, to go to where the silence is, and they were asking if we were from australia, chanting, australiaa, australia, and we knew how dangerous that was for us. 17 years withwhen indonesia invaded east timor there were five australian based journalist covering the invasion, the military line them up against a house and scouted d -- executed them all. six journalist, and the day after a the invasion, roger east was reporting from delhi for the worldment the last western journalist there, and they broke into the radio station, they dragged him out, and as he shouted, i'm from australia, they shot him into the heart with so many thousands of -- the

australian government hardly protested the killing of their gorgeousist, we believe because years later australia and indonesia would sign the timor treaty dividing timor's oil between australia and indonesia. oil is the source of so much pain in the world, and so as we lay there allen covered in blood, and they're shouting at us, australia, with the guns to our head, we shouted back, no. mrs.. america. i had thrown my passport. i was born here in wbc. -- in washington, dc. and they would kick me in the stomach when i got my breath back and as others joined the firing squad i would say america, america. at some point they took the guns from our head. we believe because we were from the same country their weapons were from. they would have to pay a price for killing us. a red cross jeep pulled up. we were able to get into it. the driver of the red cross jeep

wicked picked up the sole timorees man who was in a sewer ditch next to us and everytime the soldiers beat him he would put up his hands in the prayer sign and they would smush his face with the butt of the rifles. we drove to a hospital. stopped us to try to get away from the killing field, and we drove to the hospital as i hung off the spare tire on the back, on top of the jeep. at the hospital, when we got out, the doctors and nurses started to cry when they saw us. not because we were in worse shape than the people that were being dragged there. young people dragging sisters or brothers who had been shot, but not yet dead, hoping they could be operated on. but because of what we represent to the people of timor, and not just allen and i. i think americans. and not just to timor but people all over the world. they think we represent two things. the shield and the sword. the sword because all too often the u.s. government uses the weapons, like in iraq and afghanistan, or provides them to human rights abusing regimes

like indonesia and also see the person miami as a shield. we can call or congressmember say, don't do that. people can march in the streets here, and they saw that shield bloodied that day and that deepened their despair. we went into hiding. we knew we had to get out of the country. we had not succeeded in stopping the massacre. the indonesian military killed more than 270 people on that day. we went to the bishop's house, bishop carlos jiminez, who won the nobel peace prize. and allen was covered in blood, and he gave him a new shirt so we could clean him up, his head under heir dark hair glistened with blood bit of we could get to the airport before the new shirt was drenched with blood, maybe we could get on the only plane out. trying to fly out of east timor and get word to the outside world. we made it to the airport.

they closed down the whole city to jeeps and soldiers were combing through the streets now. we heard gunfire in other parts. got to the airport. the military occupied the airport because it was military occupied country. they were shouting security. we don't know if they decided not kill us at the massacre site and now they just wanted us out or if there was a gap in communications but at some point they decided to let us get on the plane. allen was -- had electrical charges going from his in mid-from the beating, we walked on to the tarmac and to the plane and as the flight attendants closed the door they handed me with a silver bowl and said, clean him up. we went to bali, made a call to the west. allen reported in detail what hat taken place, and i had -- when we were in hiding we had someone take 18 pictures of us

because they had confiscated our equipment and we knew they would deny anything that happened. then they would have to explain what happened to us and i hid that film airplane, and -- film away, and i had taken a towel and wrapped his head around my skirt so we could show this evidence. so when we got to bali, and allen met the call to the west, i kept wiping the flown off because the blood from his head was drenching the phone. we then got on to a flight to guam, and we went to guam memorial hospital, where they operated on allen, sewing up his head, and it was there in that guam memorial hospital emergency room that all the press from around the world called in and it became kind of switchboard for the press. the new york times, the washington post, voice of america, bbc. what happened here? and of course, snowan military denied anything took place. and then an ambulance, allen never stopped telling the story,

even as they were sewing up his head. he had the flown glued to his ear. we were brought to a cnn outpost, cable studio. someone developed the photograph we hat godden out and we showed them and said a master has taken place, came to the united states. when we got to washington, after allen was released from the houston, win hours, they re-sowed up his head, we had a news conference at the international press club. we described the weapons that were used. we said a massacre has taken place, nationwide group grew up calling for thetas stop arming the indonesian regime in 1999, eight years later, the timorees got chance to vote for their freedom. in a u.n. sponsor sed referendum and in a sadistic goodbye operation, the indonesian military burned east timor to

the ground, killing more tim jorans in the process. the u.s. ran east timor for two years, and then on may 20, 2002 -- i tried to get in for the referendum but the military caught me and deported me. but three years later i came through australia, may 20, 2002. a remarkable day. allen also got into timor then. it was about midnight. about 100,000 timorees gathered in a sandy plain outside of the cap. you then the u.n. secretary general kofi annan gave a speech, and then the rebel leader of timor who had been imprint, ascended the stage. the founding president of the new country, and he unfurl the flag of the democratic republic of east timor.

there was fire -- fireworks display, and this nation of survivors prevailed. and it's a less job to all of us that 11 years after east timor was established as a independent nation, whether we are journalists or business people, professors, doctors, artists, students, whether we are librarians, whether we are employed or unemployed, we have a decision to make every day, every hour of every day. whether we want to represent the sword or the shield. >> host: good afternoon from washington. you're watching book tv on c-span2. this is our in department program. one author, his or her body of work and three hours with your phone calls, tweets, and e-mails. this month, amy goodman, co-host of democracy now.

ms. good goodman's books gibb from 2004, the exception to the rulers, exposing oily politicians, world profiteers and the media that love them. in 2006 she came out with static, government liers, media cheerleaders and the people who fight back. standing up to madness, ordinary heros in extraordinary times, came out in 2008. cowritten with her brother, david goodman. the sound barrier in 2009. and finally, he most recent, the silenced majority, stories of up risings, occupations, resistance, and hope came out this year. i you've want to parse tis pate 202-585-3880. in the eastern central time sows 585-3881. if you live in the mountain or pacific time zone you can also make comments on social media. you can go to our facebook page, affection -- facebook.com/book

tv, and you can send us an e-mail. and finally, you can send in a tweet as well,@book tv is our twitter handle. >> amy goodman, the silenced majority. where did the d come from? >> guest: i really do think that those who are concerned about war, the people who are concerned about the growing inequality in this country, people who are concerned about climate change, the fate of the planet, are not a fringe minority not even a silent majority, but the silenced majority. silences by the corporate media. >> host: do you consider yourself objective? i consider myself fair and accurate, and i think that is the highest aspiration a

journalist can have. >> host: how do you define democracy? are we a democracy here in the states? >> guest: i think people have different definitions but it's about people in charge of their government. people participating in their government. and i think that we have to strive for that every single day. we -- democracy now is a grassroots global news hour, and i think providing a forum for people have these discussions is the highest mission of the journalist, to continually raise issues, to a hear them hashed out. not only two sides of an issue. there can be many sideds of an issue, many different perspectivetives and to try to bring those perspective advertise out and not just give voice to those in pour. i think the media children the

great equalizer, like the internet, providing a forum no matter what strata of society you're in, to be able to talk to each other, and that's the role that journalism must play in ensuring democratic society. >> host: one of the servings in your newest book, the silenced majority, you talk about trying to get into canada to give a speech. >> guest: well, democracy now, every year we travel around the country, and we broadcast from community media, public television, public radio stations all over the country, and do fundraisers for them because of the way public media is supported by listeners and viewers, part of our mission is to shore up public media. so we're describing a situation in 2009 where my colleague, dennis moynihan, and i, who wrote with me, breaking the sound barrier and the silenced

majority, were going from seattle, speaking there, just like two days ago we broadcast in denver from the denver open media, which is public access in denver, we broadcast every day and then we went to the studio and it was the firs time this station had actually done a global broadcast. we pulled a satellite truck up. we worked with the people there. students, volunteers, and we do this broadcast. so that's what we were doing in 2009. we broadcast from seattle. and then we were making -- it was thanksgiving time here and we figured the talks wouldn't be happening here so we talked turkey in canada, and we were invited by three community media outlets. public radio and television in canada to give a talk at the vancouver public library. we broadcast across canada as well. so we're crossing the border two colleagues and i, and we are about an hour from vancouver, and they pulled us aside.

the customs. and when i handed of my passport and they said we want you to come into the facility. it's pouring rain, we were already late so this was not a good sign so we pulled over and went into a big hair house facility and they said, miss goodman, come forward, please, i said, we have to get to this talk, can i at least -- i've imentitled to a phone call -- i don't know canada -- can i call the chief librarian of vancouver public library to say we're going to be late? they said, we don't know what you're talking about. i said what i'm talking about at the library? they said, yes, hand over your notes. so i said, are you serious? it's a public talk. you can come. they said we want your notes now. i said i don't actually give speeches like that. i don't don't really have notes in that way. and kind of a no man's land on the border. and i knew i couldn't put up too much of a fight because we were

just -- we would miss the talk entirely. i said i pretty much riff off the columns in the book and that book was breaking the sound barrier. bill moyer wrote an introduction it to. i said i just riff off the book, and they said, then give us the book. well, our car was filled with books so i went out to the car and got a cop copy of the book and handed it to the gordoner guard and one of them started reading it. another one of started writing in pencil everything i was saying, and another was typing g into the computer and the said what are you going to say saidite start with the last column. that's about the healthcare fight in the united states. i said, interestingly in sarah palin's book came out at the same time and he also liked canada. she was ruining your healthcare system. you didn't detain her here i'm talking about some of the virtue of your healthcare. they didn't find this humorous.

i said the book is -- maybe i can take -- the title of the column, the last column in the book, was -- i thought, well, i'll read it to them. i said healthcare reform needs an action hero. and imagine the scene, america 2009, 18,000 people have died in one year, an average of almost 50 a day. who is taking them out, who it killing? to investigate-president obama might be tempted to call on jack bauer, the fictional rogue intelligence agent from the hit tv series 24, who invariably employs torture and other tactics to help the president fight terrorism but terrorism is not the culprit here. it's lack of adequate healthcare so maybe the hero is not bauer but the actor 0 who plays him. the star of 24 is keifer sutherland whose family has a deep connection to healthcare reform in canada. i said to the agents, tommy douglas is his grandfather.

tommy douglas voted by cbs cbc as the greatest canadaa. tommy douglas walt the premiere of saskatchewan and he also lost his leg as a kid, and the doctors saved him, and he felt that public health care was critical. and so who thought for a public healthcare, just in saskatchewan, two took him on in the american medical association. afraid the contagion would spread south. they won in saskatchewan and it became so popular, it spread across canada and became canada's national healthcare system, and so this is what i'm telling the border guards and they're sitting there and saying, yes, and writing what i'm saying down, and i said, so maybe -- i talked about how

keifer suggest very lean talk about you must privatize health care near canada. if he would speak to his audience in the united states maybe we would get public healthcare passed in the united states. and they said what else are you talking sunset i said, well, i was going to talk about the economy. the terrible recession, depression we're suffering from. what else? i said, maybe this is what they're getting at. i said i will be discussing the wars in iraq and afghanistan, what else are you talking sunset i said that about does it. it's only acknowledge hour talk they said are you denying you're going to talk about the vancouver olympics? no, they said are you denying you're going to be talking about the olympics? and anything who knows me knows i don't deal that much with sports. i like to play them. i said the olympics? you mean that president obama just went to copenhagen to try to get the olympics in chicago. and they said he didn't get them. i said i know that. i said, you mean the real

olympics and that made them think that i wasn't telling the truth because the vancouver olympics were coming up, which i wasn't particularly aware of. are you denying you're coming here to talk about this? and i said, well, until now, i wasn't planning to talk about the vancouver olympics. tie took my picture, took my colleagues' pictures, staples documents into our passport, and i opened it up and said we have 48 hours to stay in canada. that's as long as our trip was going to be. i was speaking at the university of victoria and at the libraire so we raced up and thank goodness for canadians they had all gone out for beer and had come back three-fold larger because of what had taken place. i gave my talk, discussed the vancouver olympics and asked why would people be so concerned? raced over to speak at the university of victoria and we stayed at a bed and breakfast and everybody was having tea before dinner and i sat down quietly in this room, with the bed and breakfast where the

older folks were having their tea, and they turned on the news and the first story was about me getting detained, and everyone looks over at me. i said, oh, no, i'm just here to give a speech. it became a very big story in canada because the second story was about how in the vancouver city council had voted to -- that anyone who put up a sign against the olympics, their house could be raided, if athletes could not speak about the corporations that were sponsoring the olympics so the british columbia civil liberties association was involved. so, there was great outcry about this. it got a lot of attention in canada, that they would detain an american journalist, demand to know i was going to see and if it wasn't satisfactory to them, keep me from coming into the country. so we did come back to new york and the next show we did was about the vancouver olympics, but let it never be said the state determines what is it that democracy now broadcasts. it certainly provided fodder for

the show. >> host: two more questions. how many speech does you give a year? >> guest: many. we did the silenced majority about 100 city tour, sometimes three in a day, as we're traveling we do the show in the morning and then go to universities, public events, and mainly they're fundraisers for community media stations around the country. >> host: most of your books are dedicated or in memory of your parents. >> guest: yes. >> guest: yes. my wonderful parents, george and dari goodman. my dad died 12 years ago. he was a physician, an on that polling gist, and we grew up in bay shore, new york, and long island, and he was just committed to our community being a better place, and i don't know if they even talked about people asking to -- my mother committed

to peace. she was a social worker. she taught women's history and literature in local community colleges. the example of my mother, who died a few years ago, truly wonderful woman, loved in the community, mace father was. she taught women's history, continuing ed for truck drivers and cops and whoever they'd get, a couple of credits and it would mean a higher salary and though thought we'll take women's literature, it will be easy, and she was teaching them about virginia wolf and tony morrison, the great writers, and soon they'd bring their wives. this was the time of women's liberation, is this what they're talking sunset and by theabled of classrooms would be packed with those enrolled and their families.

and then she went into social work. my dad was involved with physicians for social responsibility. a very famous face in the local long island railroad stations because they made this poster. he looked exactly like peter sellers but they paid this poster of a doctor in a white jacket with a seth scope and a nuclear mushroom in the seth scope, and it said, your doctor is worried. they were chosen to lead a task force to integrate the schools of our community. we had a diverse community, bay shore, but it was pretty much de facto segregation where people lived, and so the schools would be the great equalizer, and i would go with them to cafeterias and auditoriums, and there would be a thousand screaming parents, death threats against this task

force that was go to decide what to do. but ultimately so judiciously made his way to a more just community. that is my parent. i lost my parents but their legacy lives on, and me and my brothers, and all the community, and they've been such an inspiration to us. >> host: amy goodman is our guest. author and host of democracy now. now it's your turn. we'll begin with john in santa barbara. >> caller: himself i was trying to think can what show have watched longer than democracy now? i realize it's c-span i've watched longer. >> host: we'll take that. >> but there is a solution to all these problems, and it's in the constitution, the article 5 convention, congress put out a paper last year about the article five convention and all

we need is people like amy goodman and and c-span and brian lamb to say it's time to dust off the constitution and hold a convention. people fear a convention, thinking it's going to be controlled but it's just open discussion. there's nothing to control. and this would allow for this discussion that you're talking about earlier, amy, where the people can actually come together and build consensus so my question is, at any point will c-span and democracy now start talking about the need for an article 5 convention? >> host: amy goodman? >> guest: explain a little more what it is about. >> host: he is gone. i apologize for that. moved on to another caller but he i talking about a potential constitutional convention. >> guest: i mean, it's interesting, and i'd have to learn more about it. i don't want to be one of those pundits who comments on something i don't know about. >> host: john in fairfax, virginia.

hi, john. >> caller: hi, peter, amy. you brought tears to my eyes for the first time watching c-span, making a remarkable witness to history for us all. i actually watch democracy now and c-span but now i can now listen to it on wtfw at 6:00. >> guest: yes. >> caller: so i appreciate all of your ability to catch c-span and catch you on the same day. i'd like too recommend you have more authors and book reports that also have truth story to tell, particularly about 9/11 and the war on drugs. thank you so much. >> guest: thank you. you talk about book authors, and i was just in denver for a conference, and remarkably, i

met a woman who you will soon hear her story. her name is carlotta. she wrote a book and i talked to her yesterday and we'll be broadcasting the interview but i was so moved by her story. she was the youngest member of the little rock nine. she was 14 years old, and in 1957. when she signed a petition that went around, would anyone like to go to central high? she went to the -- to the african school. but she knew that the resources were at central high. so she signed up. she at any time tell her parents. and then the fall came around, and nine of these young people -- i mean, she was 14 years old.

attempt to go to the high school. they attempt once right after little rock explodes. literally the courthouse was blown up. the fire chief's car they put a bomb under it. but still the kid went. they tried once but a wild mob prevent them. then september 23rd, they tried again to integrate the school. she is 14 years old. they were turned back but on that day she described how a group of african-american reporters from around the country, chicago, pittsburgh, baltimore, amsterdam new york, and were trying to cover them, and how they were set upon, can so often it's those with the cameras and pens and pencils that are documenting are thirst attacked, and they were beaten and they were chased.

and then the kids went back for a third time. hard to think about the arkansas -- the little rock nine as children because, how -- on september 25th, by then, after what happened to the black reports, president eisenhower called out the national guard. they protected them. they went into the school. and carlotta wools was the only female member of the little rock nine who graduated two years later. she left the next morning. she left that city of so much pain, yet of so much achievement, and it's voices like those that we need to hear all over this country, and she was at the national conference on media reform and talked about the importance of having media that tells the stories of people at the grassroots, who are engaging in these acts of courage. even now. even more than 50 years later.

>> host: our production team tells us that article 5, going back to the first caller, convention is a convention to propose amendments to the u.s. constitution. do you -- have you thought about amendments to the u.s. constitution at this point that you reside like to -- >> guest: well, we're covering them. as we travel the country we see these movements building. there's particularly the november amend, and that's a constitutional amendment that would say that corporations are not people. which is a big movement in this country. the way corporations are treated, especially when it comes to pouring money into politics as individual, that if you violate their ability to give money, you're violating a person's freedom of speech. and many people consider that one of the gravest problems we have to face in this country today. the issue of money and politics. who gets a say. who determines. who are the leaders of the

country are, who are the elected officials. and then once they're elect, who they vote for. >> host: an e-mail, amy goodman could have one of the best news programs on the air to do so she would need to include multiple point office view. her programs usually have a counter-main stream slant which i like because i can get plenty of main stream in the new york times, wall street journal, new yorker and. if she included a main street guest along with a counter-voice we could think through the whole subject and i think she would have a fabulous program. >> guest: that's an interesting point i'm right here going to democracy now, looking at our broadcast from just this past week. we had a really interesting debate. we have many, many debates on democracy now. two men from nelson, georgia, and they were nelson is the

second city in georgia to pass resolutions that -- pass a law, the city council passed it unanimously -- that every head of house hold must have a gun. so we had to two members of nelson on two residents, one a city council member who said that way people in the highway would pass by nelson if they were going to commit a crime because they know everyone has a gun. then we also had on a person who was opposed to this and said are you going to have me arrested? there are categories. you don't have to if you're a cop shen sunday objector. he said i don't want a gun. and we had a debate about this. what does this sunshine but we have many debates on democracy now. >> host: kathleen in connecticut, thanks for holding. you're on with amy goodman, this is book tv on c-span2. >> caller: hello. first thing i want to do is say

thank you, amy. i love democracy now and it's a very important program. then i had two quick questions. you said -- something in the title of your last book about hope, and i was wondering where you look and see signs of hope on the political landscape, and sectly, you mentioned earlier you've don't think the lack of voting in this country is due to apathy, that would you think it's due to? thank you. >> guest: you know, i had an interesting -- well, first of all, thank you for the call and thank you for tuning into democracy now. check it out out democracy.org. i had an interesting experience on election day 2000. were then a radio show, not yet a tv show, and we got an interesting call that morning. we were about to go on the air, and we got a call from, well -- they got on the phone and said, hi, this is the white house, i

thought they said, this is white house communication and we were just about to go on the air, the producers were in the studio and i was running in, but we got this callful i thought who would be calling right before the show unless it's an emergency. the music is already swelling for the beginning of the show, and i said hello. they said white house communication and i thought, white horse? it's a famous tavern in new york where dylan thomas drank himself to death. it's in the village. i thought why would a bar be calling us at 9:00 in the morning? and so i said, what do you want? they said the president wants to come on. i said the president of what? president of the tavern? they said the president of the united states. this is white house communication. and it was bill clinton, and -- who wanted to come on the show, and i said the president, bill clinton, wants to come on democracy now? yes, today. he'll call you in a few minutes. they said he was calling radio

stations to get out the vote. it was when hillary clinton was running for senate and al gore was running for president ids know if the was a crank call or whatever, and i said, whatever. we went on the air. i said to the producers, as the music is coming down, the president might be calling so make sure you pick up the phone if he does, and we went on with the show. i he didn't call, so who knew. we were glowing out to coffee because we knew it would be a long day. this is election day. who knew that long day would stretch into five weeks. but we would get coffee and then start the election day coverage. and we get -- we hear a yelp from the control room, and the next show is on, a latino music show and they say, get in here, the president is on the phone, and is a run in, all of the music is up 'the mike microphones are down and you hear president clinton saying, hello, hello, is nip anyone

there before the salsa? and i hurl myself over the board and turn down the music and say, yes, mr. president. i understand you want to talk about getting out the vote. and i asked him at the beginning about that. and i said, many people don't vote because they feel that both parties are captured by the corporations. what do you have to say about that? and he responded. and then he was still on, so i asked him, you know, -- he was considering clemency for leonard pelt 'er, the famous native american activist who was convicted of killing two fbi agents on the pine ridge reservation in 1975, a crime he continues to this day to maintain he did not commit. and president clinton had never

spoken publicly about it and we talk about it. and then we asked him questions about the napalming of puerto rico island the u.s. navy was doing, asked when they would stop. asked about racial profiling. this was a time when ralph dar, and i asked. if he could responsible for ralph nadars and i think at the time president clinton said i find you combative and sometimes disrespectful. i said i have a few more questions. i asked about racial profiling because al gore said if he became president it would be the first executive order to do air with racial profiling. so i said if that is his intention -- you both have been in power for eight years. why haven't you done it until now? but anyway, after about half an hour he got off the phone.

and it got a lot of attention, this conversation with the president. and the next day i get a call fromle news day, local newspaper in new york, talking to the reporter, and i get another call and at it from the white house. and so i just put the phone call with the reporter down on -- at the time we used tape records, just as a physical place to put the phone down, and i said just one minute, please, white house is on the phone. so he happened to here -- hear my end of the conversation because i just put that phone down. this is a time when we used phones and not cell phones and i said, hello, and they said something to do i would be banned from the white house. i said what are you talking sunset i said -- they said i broke all the basic rules, the agreement we had -- i said, i had no agreement with you. i was going on the air in one second. you said the president might call. that was the extent of our conversation, and they said, we said he wanted to talk about getting out the vote. and they said something like,

questions one, four, and seven related to that but not the other ones. i said i didn't agree that those are the only question is would ask. i understood that is what he wanted to talk about. but we're independent. we're journalists. and i said how many other radio stations did he call? and she said oh, many. he speak to 40 journalist, and i said and all of them just agreed to ask the questions that you wanted asked? and they said, that's right. and i said that's a very sad state, a comment on the sad state of journalism, and they said you kept him on the phone for half an hour. i said he is the leader of the free world. he could hang up he wants to. i'm doing my job asking him questions until he decided to get off the phone which he did. any, it was very interesting. conversation that we had, and it got a lot of attention with headlines that said, we went back and forth, but that issue

of an agreement that you have, that journalists have, with politicians, i've covered the white house, covering the -- been in the white house press corps covering the president, and i'm afraid all too often journalists engage in the access of evil. that is trading truth for access. ...

that was the first question i put to president clinton, the idea that people across the political spectrum, individuals or losing control in the corporations, the corporate power has a tremendous threat to democracy right now also the issue of privacy. but we hope people across the political spectrum are organizing, people are engaging in the highest civic duty which is to participate, and what ever comes out of that its people, not the corporations that should be determining all of the country. >> host: amy goodman recounts a conversation with the president with exception to the rulers in a chapter called lot on bended knee.

there is a transcript here and this is the first, just to the first answer and first question mr. president, are you there? >> im, can you hear me? you are calling radio stations to tell people to get out and vote. what do you say to people who feel the two parties are bought by corporations and at this point feel that their vote doesn't the key difference? my guess is that the last time you ever talked to president clinton? >> guest: let me see, was the last time? interestingly enough, when it became independent nation they were establishing the u.s. embassy, so we had a chance to actually challenge him about u.s. policy and we will see that interaction stalin had a very interesting into action with president clinton but and there never lie interviewed him. >> host: where did you have the presence of mind to jump into a conversation and the

president of the united states? >> guest: people prepare their whole life's with an interview with the president of the united states. we didn't have the upper tnt. he called in and it's a huge responsibility, what they're talking to a president or anyone else. you know, you are there and not a lot of people get to ask the questions. so, you know, i see when i told of the microphone there are so many people behind us who would have questions if they didn't have to be at work or if they could only get a job. and i take that extremely seriously as i think many journalists do. what are the questions that make a difference for most people in this country. >> host: you started this and every question you asked has been hostile and combative so you listen to my answer. will you do that? good men, they've been critical questions.

>> guest: yes, that's it. he seemed very surprised by a journalist asking critical questions when he had the intention to get out the vote. >> host: earnest e-mails from san francisco does democracy now have credentials to ask questions of tapper at the white house press and if not why does democracy now ever get a chance to interview the president or any other major governmental official? >> guest: we are not at the white house right now, but i do believe that if we wanted to be. >> host: why don't you go? >> guest: we don't have the kind of resources to dedicate a reporter there now. we do a daily global news hour. >> host: are dubious that the fire station? >> guest: we build our own studio. it is the greenest internet tv radio studio in the country.

we got platinum certification which means the green room and the kitchen area are made of crushed recycled bottles cemented together in the data centers and the machine rooms all tv stations and radio stations have to deal with the data centers. we pioneered the way because the electronics give us so much heat to work out a way to try to use less energy because we really do believe the media has to be the message. and also what is interesting about the democracy now broadcast every morning at 8:00 life and the stations can run at all david you can go to a website and watch it all day and then we put out transcript every day of a free show students come and watch the broadcast wetter graduate students or fourth grader, kids in high school and

college is a tremendous opportunity, and really any civic education. we get to ask them questions and we talk about what journalism is today in a space society so it is a wonderful the educational forum with lots of volunteers and interns and fellows, but these class is that come into -- they come from around the world and from around new york city. it's been a remarkable experience to hold these forums every day. >> host: next call in rockville maryland. >> caller: good afternoon, amy, thank you for coming. >> guest: it's great to be here. >> caller: ayman longtime listeners. i listen to you every day when i listen to work, democracy now. >> guest: where do you listen? >> guest: washington. >> guest: wtfw. >> caller: i'm a contributor to wtfw and i've been a

contributor for many years. i you really take issue with your reporting on israel. you vilified israel and it is ally israel and of ally israel. i'm glad you pointed out how object of your because when the prime minister netanyahu spoke to the joint session of congress and year-and-a-half ago, she got 20 or 40 standing ovations, 20 or 30 standing ovations by the members of congress. democracy now reported what you said was something to the effect the prime minister netanyahu shouted down the demonstrator. one woman got up and started yelling free palestine.

they took her off and read her rights and let her go. your reporting was netanyahu was shot down by the palestinian demonstrator. not that he got 20 or 30 standing ovations. do you remember that? >> host: let's get a response. >> guest: i want to address an issue that you raise in discovering the israel-palestine conflict, how important it is to bring out the voices across the political spectrum. i fear that the media is changing but reporting on power in the united states acting as demographers to power we see that with israel as well,

journalists presenting the government side, and we very much bring out different perspectives. we interview the former foreign minister who said it was the most extensive discussion he had had in the united states of israel. we don't just do sound bite television and radio. we give the whole meal. we have extended debates and discussions on these issues and we interviewed palestinian journalists, academics, people on the ground in the occupied territories and west bank and we interviewed the israelis, and i think one area that is very overlooked in the united states is the israeli peace movement, but i think public opinion in the united states is shifting

dramatically. they have a very different perspective of what they're doing in the occupied territories to the number of palestinian prisoners that they are holding the palestinian prisoners who died in custody the protest given voice to the protest, those in west bank and gaza. it was called the freedom flotilla to document these attempts to break the israeli embargo and what does it mean to be on the ship as with other journalistic organizations. sadly when the military brought the ship ashore, they took all of the reporters equipment, computer, canada, and this was more than a year ago and they were written so they were not free to be returning it. it is very important that we reflect what is happening on the ground. these are difficult truths.

the situation in israel and palestine must be resolved. it's not good for palestinians. it is not good for israeli is it is a conflict that must be resolved. >> host: if you can't get through on the phone lines you can go to gaza and you can send us a tweet. book tv is our trigger handle. amana has sent several tweets and facebook comments and wanted to address a couple of them. is there one place on earth you haven't traveled that you would like to. >> there are many places i haven't traveled but what we do at democracy now as we speak there is a new film i recommend to everyone that is coming out in april.

they started working at democracy now in the late nineties and we went to nigeria together and we covered the my jug altar in particular looking at it before i was de windel local show what say what the pacifica station sar in new york. almost 65 years ago in berkeley california came out of the detention center in world war ii who said there has to be a media outlet that is sent from the corporations that profit from the war but run by argolis. that was 1949. then kpfk and los angeles in 1959 in new york in 1960 the station here is wpfw and in

houston texas. those are the five pacifica stations. it's the only radio station in the country whose transmitter was blown up by the ku klux klan. they went on for a few weeks and based the trends and blew it to smithereens. to advertise the new station certainly put into the consciousness. i can't remember if it was the exulted cyclops because a confuse the title but of the proudest fact and they understood how dangerous independent media is. they were allowed to speak for themselves and when they hear it

palestinian children and other and an uncle from afghanistan telling their story it makes it much more difficult to character or stereotype. it begins the process of understanding of finding common ground. how often do we agree with our family members. but research to understand where they are coming from. instead, it is all too often as a weapon of war and i think that has to be challenged. >> host: one more question from amanda. >> guest: i don't know if i said the name of jeremy. jeremy and i went to nigeria. i almost -- so jeremy was a producer with democracy malcolm and then he wrote the book the world's most powerful mercenary army a remarkable book that everyone should read, and then

his latest book is just coming out in the next few weeks. actually next week. and it's called dirty war, the war is a battlefield putative and his friend by the scene title is also coming out and in a major award at the sundance festival its opening in theaters across the country. a jury in important film waged by the united states and about the joint special operations command and what is happening especially around the issue of the drawn attacks from yemen to somalia to pakistan. and it's very interesting. we know what is done in our name. so jeremy and i went to nigeria at the end of the 90's, and we went to the niger delta to investigate. i met a man a few years before when i was just on the local station doing a show called wake-up call to get he was brought in by the nigerian times

and said sorry, maybe you can come back another day. i hadn't heard of him. he said sorry she's here for one day and he needs to go on. okay, two minutes. and he introduced himself. his name was ken. one of the most famous nigerians of the famous soap opera, then he threw in with his people and he was taking on the corporation which crisscrossed with these pipes and unlike the united states where this is illegal, they would throw off the gas in their communities and these kids whether they lived in the land because they were in the shadow of the flame coming and he came to the united states to speak about the corporate and military government power. he was living under the dictatorship and was working with the shell corporation. she said when i go home on the a

man who will be arrested. we dumped that morning because it was a remarkable story he was telling. and i would try to go to nigeria. she was jailed with eight other minority rights activists so within a year it was november 10th, 1995 and after the trial he was executed. we went back to nigeria and visited his family. one minute his community came forward after they sing us as long after we met his parents who had since died he then came forward and recounted for us the last speech in court. but then we discovered this other story in another part of the niger delta of the villagers that had gone to speak with the executives on the board because there had been an oil spill and

they wanted the forest cleaned up and they wanted jobs. ultimately the military was on and they opened fire and killed two nigerians and critically wounded a third and we did a documentary called drilling and killing in the oil dictatorship to date and it's those kind of stories that we feel are critical to shed a spotlight on places that americans might not know about and you cannot dhaka the protesters down in front of the headquarters in california putative so why is it that this could happen and nigeria and africa's most populous country? it is our job as journalists to go where the silence is and bring back the stories. >> host: medish, facebook comment. it's capitalism the best system for america? >> guest: the whole issue of capitalism today is one that must be debated and discussed.

what is the best system in the country right now? democracy now has long covered grass-roots movements, and i think people across the political spectrum are deeply concerned about that sound from the bottom to the top right now. we are seeing the largest gaps in of inequality and we have to evaluate the system and we need each elected leaders who are not more field and to corporations and to wall street than to the people that elected them. >> host: this is an e-mail what happened to the occupied wall street movement of a year ago? did it fail to achieve its objectives? is such an endeavor hopeless because the general public is a pathetic or not mobilized?

>> guest: the occupied movement i don't think we have seen the end of it. it takes different forms but what happened around the world was truly remarkable. first you have the tunisian revolution at the end of december, 2010, which sparked the egyptian uprising, and that the egyptian uprising rebroadcast of the egyptian uprising through our reporter on the ground who did remarkable reporting. he was our senior producer for eight years when the egyptian uprising happened. he flew home basically and essentially didn't leave for 18 days. his reporting -- he became one of the top in the world. mubarak had brought down the internet with the help of u.s. corporations. he couldn't have done it alone. and even when the internet was brought down, she was tweeting out to the world what was

happening and i was on all of the networks. and, you know, they then brought down the satellites and democracy now is bringing out these remarkable 20 minute video reports of our videographer. we traveled through interviewing people. of the reporting was remarkable. you met, for example the great egyptian writer. you met the 79-year-old at the time the former presidential candidate psychiatrist. she had been imprisoned. she's exiled for people when they were despondent saying how will we take on mubarak she would say we will win, we will win, you will meet the high school student that is putting out of places abroad, bringing out the voices of people in this uprising and she would put them

out with this group of young people, high school students in the shadow of the state media building and he would read all of them had, the people in the uprising for the remarkable reports and then he was the interview of msnbc and cnn and all of the networks of course broadcasting a democracy now we call that the trickle of journalism becomes a and he was even separating the union rights and the rights of teachers and others and wisconsin and what we saw there had been seen in wisconsin for its entire history

and what happens of timbre of 2011. we are the first broadcast, global tv radiobroadcast to talk about september 17th before september 17th. the networks many of them are based in new york and hardly touched it for the first week. they would be walking by but hardly touched this grass-roots uprising. if you cover the grassroots movements you saw it coalescing what was about to happen and it and they were inspired a few weeks before you 1200 people are arrested at the white house which was a decision now in 2013 president obama is about to make whether the keystone xl will be about the pipeline that will take the tarsands to the gulf of mexico and there have been massive protests. the people that got arrested there and some of them moved to new york and joining many others in new york and others who had come into new york to really

change the paradigm and the discussions in this country at who benefits and who doesn't come and that was the occupied movement. september 17th changed so much in this country as to what happens now the police went after the encampments all over the country knocking out the actual physical encampments but i think it is percolating in all different ways. it's a different consciousness in this country. but again, unites people across the political spectrum deeply concerned about who has power in this country. >> host: sean tweets do you think that president of barack obama has been a positive or negative force against the military industrial complex? >> guest: it's very important as journalists that we evaluate president bush's record as we evaluated president obama's record and evaluated president

bush's record. people are deeply concerned about what is happening today in this country. whether we are talking about the keystone xl pipeline and climate change or talking about the crackdown that we are seeing in this country on the whistle-blowers, and this extends from one of the government's top secret agencies, the nsa, the national security agency, which is a number of times larger than the cia. whistle-blowers like william and others who joined the nsa who are deeply concerned about national security and wanted to serve the country after they tried the channels within the agency deeply concerned about the surveillance of americans. finding the programs are being developed not to improve

national security, but to actually data mining the americans and of state spoken out one by one, they faced prosecution or persecution in the case of william the authorities rated as having them at gunpoint in the shower, she was a diabetic and he, his family and to fata identified. under the obama administration, they're have been more whistle-blowers charged than in all past presidential administrations combined. it's a very serious issue which then brings us to the case of bradley manning. this young soldier who went to iraq and has now pled guilty to having released hundreds of thousands, if not millions of

pages of documents wikileaks and documented what was happening in iraq and afghanistan and then does the department cable. it's the largest trove of state department cable ever released, decades' worth, and it's astounding. if this is all true that he was able to do this in the desert and iraq. but he has been in jail now for almost three years. he has not yet been tried though he recently pleaded guilty to some of the charges. what message does this send to especially young soldiers who are concerned about what has happened in the direction the country has taken? you cannot hear his voice and in democracy now we've recently broadcast bradley manning's voice because someone secretly recorded his testimony at fort meade where he is being tried.

why is it so dangerous to even hear his voice? what messages being sent to people? i think it is way beyond a broadly manning. it's about what it means to be whistle-blower. what are some of those documents that were released and the newspapers all over the world worked with wikileaks because they were so important and so newsworthy to the times. these have been significant at the time of the crackdown of information and i just want to tell the story of one video that we broadcast on democracy now. wikileaks called it the collateral murder video, but it was a video.

it can out of the papers in iraq was about an incident in february of 2007 where the apache helicopter unit in an area of baghdad was hovering and they served the cause of the iraqis putting their hands of any surrender sign to read these documents are written by low-level officers, these aren't peace activists on the ground, this is a daily activity and war they put their hands up, they didn't know what to do, they were in a helicopter and a lawyer on the basis that you can't surrender to the helicopter so they blew these away. other people said they knew at that time it would have been an outcry in the investigation. it happens six months later. july 12, 2007 in the area of baghdad.

>> he was 22 and he had four children and the drivers in the wartime was so important because the international borders in a place like iraq or afghanistan need to get a leave the land quickly that are indigenous to the area today and they are telling them about this upcoming. in introducing them to people. they will be left in the community. so here were these men and they were being taken now by residents of baghdad because they've been bombing a day before. and then the same apache helicopter is hovering overhead. with the video is is a video taken by the helicopter so it is recording the voices and documenting what is happening below, showing the video. you hear the last thing commit

countless regard for life. they get that permission and they blow them away you see the people in the ground say that he isn't old outright comegys dragging himself away and then a van pulls up. there's children in the man from the neighborhood and the father driving the van they explode the van. the employees are killed along with the men in the neighborhood. there are people together. they ask the military for this video for years and they never got it. was only when it was released that they saw the last moments of their employees' lives. and we see what took place there. bradley manning talked about this in the courtroom when he had his chance to address the

court saying i felt it was important for people to know what was happening and you can disagree. you can say he had no authority to do this and that's fine. but we have to make decisions based on fact. hearing people making their own cases this is a critical document of the war and that happened before the obama administration. of course he became president in 2009. but it is the crackdown that has happened since it has people so deeply concerned. whether we are talking about information about the war or we are talking about the men who are languishing at guantanamo to be in number of them are held for a number of ten years and yet they remain. we year and we have been doing a number of pieces on the democracy now that it may be that a majority of them are on

hunger strike. they've been admitting this day by day increasing the numbers of those admitting that they are on a hunger strike. but what message are we sending to the world when we hold people without charge for more than ten years so they can be held indefinitely? i think it is frightening and it endangers u.s. officials overseas and u.s. soldiers overseas and i think it is something that we as journalists must cover. >> host: page tero 18 of the silent majority, president obama spoke at the opening of the memorial here in washington, d.c.. what obama left unsaid is that she would most likely be protesting the obama administration policies. we have an hour and a half left with our guest this month. amy goodman, our producer often sends the authors we have on the

program a series of questions, and she sent amy a series of questions as well. amy goodman provided answers and we want to show those to you now

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if p-funk ♪ ♪ >> host: amy goodman, one and a half hours left in the program today and this is an e-mail from robert m. colorado given the word spoken by president obama during the 2008 and the 2012 campaign are you disappointed by his actions and will the u.s. effort to adopt a single payer health care system? >> guest: very important question. i'd also like to go back to the issue you raised before the break and that is president obama speaking at the dedication as the m.l. king memorial, that

dr. king memorial. here we are on this sunday. it is 45 years ago, it was 45 years ago on april 4th 1968 that dr. king was gunned down on the balcony. he went down to memphis that week off to stand with sanitation workers who were simply trying to organize a local union, 1707 in the federation of state employees. we were covering the protests and wisconsin. for young people who are thinking it was clear-cut black-and-white i think people should think again. it was founded i think in 1932 and wisconsin dr. king died for that right. most people in this country don't realize or no the i have a dream speech but don't realize

that he was speaking i may not make at the mountain top address. he was there to stand with sanitation workers seven organizing. a year to the day before he died on april 4th, 1967 at riverside church, dr. king gave another evidence that didn't give as much attention after he died. the replete every year on dr. king's birthday a federal holiday that was very hard fought for by people all over the country and state-by-state finally. i think new hampshire and arizona were the last ones to accept it as a federal holiday to recognize dr. king day. but on april 14th, 1967, dr. king had dressed riverside church thousands gathered there and said saturday that his country, the united states is the greatest purveyor of

violence speaking out against the war in vietnam and there were even in his inner circle who said don't do that, don't speak out you have achieved the support of the most powerful person on earth, the president of the united states. he signed the voting rights act and the civil rights act. do not alienate him now. but dr. king saul this as his duty as he was concerned about injustice at home he was concerned about it abroad and it was pointed out that one of the magazines that most affected dr. king and what was happening on the ground was the independent publication on the parts come as a doctor can give that address into is field today all over the country, all over the world time magazine calls

his speech, talked about it as demagogic saying it's like a script from hanoi. "the washington post" said in that speech he did a disservice to his cause, his country, his people. dr. king wouldn't stop. he continued to speak out against the war and i think that is very relevant today and why we did that column and what dr. king would be saying today. would he be invited to the celebration of his life today, and as president obama decided over the honoring of dr. king with a memorial what would he have to say about president obama's policies around the war what's happening in the extended war and the four of drone

attacks in pakistan and beyond. >> host: in a recent column you praised senator rand paul. maybe that is the wrong word. >> guest: i talked about what he did. rand paul engaged in a filibuster for a day, and it was quite remarkable protesting drawn attacks. protesting and it was not only rand paul but a number of his colleagues on the other side of the ogle. democratic senator ron wyden also spoke because he along with senator udall had also been deeply concerned about these issues from the ground attacks to surveillance. but senator paul was raising on that day and we will see if he raises it again as could a u.s. citizen be killed on u.s. soil even in a cafe and a drone at

tak? he detailed what happened in yemen with the killing of anwar al-awlaki. this is a story that they went to investigate the former democracy now producer and what dirty wars that is what is coming out. he went and met with the family. but not only did president obama have them killed without trial and without charge drove the attack in yemen and killed anwar al-awlaki whether you think that he's saying it is right for you think it is reprehensible, she was an american citizen and you have to ask this question killing of this american citizen than two weeks later dropping a murder missile bomb drawn straight on his son who was born in denver 16-years-old what did

his son who do, and actually the senator raised this question what was his crime and that he was the son of his father clacks those are serious questions. i would expand his questions to not only u.s. citizens but everyone. it is very significant what he did on that day. >> host: ballan washington d.c. thanks for holding you are on the air on book tv with amy goodman. >> caller: hauer you doing? >> guest: good. >> caller: wanted to see if you have a shout out. have you seen him lately? >> guest: i have sent to that i just flew into washington this morning. >> host: who is that? >> caller: he is the person that is sort of responsible for bringing a amy goodman on the air. but that's not what i really wanted to talk about.

i try with the foundation and with c-span, for that matter equally culpable on the major media. have you ever heard of a project by the pentagon called the height project? >> guest: i have. >> caller: for the listeners that might not have heard of that, it is haar which stands for harmonic atmosphere research. there's been hearings on this during the nineties and if you go to google and right and the weaponry you get 1.5 million entries. >> host: so you're point asking about this?

>> caller: this system is something that can cause earthquakes committed can create them -- >> host: what is your view about it? >> guest: >> caller: the last part is the most important on mind control that can be linked to the arab spring. andrea mitchell reported on this prior to the surge in iraq when they may have used this system which is based in alaska to quiet down the population. >> host: let's hear from amy goodman. thanks for calling in. >> guest: i don't know enough about the heart project. i know it involves the the weather and this is something i will look into.

>> host: and ron pinchback? >> guest: he was the former manager of wpfw. u.s the manager before ron was the manager and i haven't spoken to him recently. but if he's watching, hello. >> host: jeff is in long beach california. please go ahead. >> guest: >> caller: hello, amy. i have listened to democracy now for several years and i'm a big admirer of your work. i have three questions for you. first off, i often tell my friends and co-workers about democracy now and i for the same thing from people who consider themselves to be progressive, and that is that they are concerned that a democracy now is leftist and has an agenda and i assume that you can counter this as well. i wonder how you have responded to it and how i can do the same. i am wondering why you haven't interviewed bald on your program before? and third -- >> host: who is that? what was the last name?

>> guest: he was the head of the revolutionary party. and then lastly and interested in your perspective on living a balanced life because there are so many issues from the injustice in justices and i wonder how you balance the getting involved in making a difference and still being a good family member from a significant other, healthy person to exercise and travel. >> guest: yes, living in a balanced life is important for everyone. we should know what kind of food we eat and be careful not all that. exercise is very important. and we all strive for that. there is a lot we have to do in the world. and what ever job we have, whatever we do, i think it should involve in some way

striving for peace and better in our communities. the other questions -- >> host: the revolutionary party -- >> guest: there are many people we haven't interviewed but that would be somebody there would be interesting to talk to. >> host: if i may rephrase the first question do you consider yourself a leftist? >> guest: i don't think that labels are productive or instructive. of what i say to people is watch and listen to the show. it is an amazing who watches and listens and of course we don't know most of the people who do because we are talking about millions of people in this country and around the world. i think labels break down in this country now. whether you are talking about progressive or conservative liberals or democrat, even republican. i think that people are

rethinking the way we live. and you can never assume what people's views are on any issue. as a journalist it is our job to go outside what is considered the status quo because i really don't think it is mainstream anymore. we just passed the tenth anniversary of the invasion of iraq. and that week of programming that we did in the past week, i didn't think that it was particularly radical to bring the iraqi is to talk about what happened in their country but when i watched the rest of the media there were very few iraqi is interviewed. we also look back at ten years ago, and this is very important for today. we look at iran or north korea, and we see the push really in a direction of war comic had urgently or inadvertently, north

korea for an example. where is the issue, where is the evidence? we have to start there. we go back ten years ago in iraq and they did a very interesting study it's called fairness and accuracy in reporting. around colin powell giving a push for the war of the u.n. high right about this and i was just giving a speech and the fact that so many news organizations in the time and half the population was opposed to the war before the major nightly newscast, abc, nbc, cbs and the pps news hour, they were getting a push for war at the u.n.. he was secretary, he was the secretary of state at that time general. he said it was a stain on his career what he did there to be the was the final nail in the coffin for so many because he had been so respected for dragging his feet on the war saying that on february 5th,

20036 weeks before the invasion he said the evidence is there. and if there were so many. the population was divided. and these four major newscasts were so important at this time. they set the agenda, the interviews and arnove for mechem at period in the newscast what do we expect, 150 would be and the most 400 interviews it's beating the drums for the war. in the first book my brother wrote which we call it that because that is our job in the media to be the exception that will be the model democracy for now, the exception to the rulers there is high-tech digital age

with television and radio still all we ever get is static, that distortion flies in the misrepresentations and a half truth of the obscure reality. what we need the media to give us is a dictionary definition of static, criticism and opposition, the unwanted interference with the media that covers power, not covers for power, it's for the state, and when the media covers the most. >> host: the third but you got to get a standing after the madness ordinary heroes of extraordinary times, 2008 how to stand up to the rules of the road, challenge the corporate media. number two, don't follow the leaders. number three, question of 40. number four, speegap, number five, say no. number six, stand together and

number seven, take the show on the road. what is that about? >> guest: that is a way to get out the voice of the people you wouldn't normally hear. we go into the communities and bring out the voices of people that are so rarely interviewed. so often we have these media appointed leaders when they are not the leaders of people in their own communities and to bring out the story is whether we are talking about some like it hot, the whole issue of climate change, we were looking at the climate change scientist particularly to one of the people that provide all this, he just announced that he is retiring for the space studies. he is deeply concerned particularly in the bush administration that the government was in the words global warming of the government

websites what we call it a global warming or climate change or climate destruction people say why is it so cold? and the earth is heating up. it's about extreme weather. and i have a message to people on all of the channels. a lot of people tune in for the whether you have to figure out what to wear each day. but you know how the lowest in the bottom of the screen that tells you who the person is that is speaking it will often flash ekstrand whether or severe weather. it should slash another two birds, climate change, global warming because people shouldn't just be tuning in to see what to wear that day but what can we doing about this? this is not inevitable. we have covered, democracy now headed to copenhagen to change the senate. we have headed to cancun mexico

done in south africa, doha we just came from and the summits. why does anything accomplished there? welcome the actual diplomatic meetings are very painful. but the thousands of people who come from all over the world with an emphasis on bringing out the voices of people to the grassroots is remarkable. the movement are not climate change is so much more advanced because people are suffering. especially the nation's, the country's would be submerged. they are direct but we are, too. we hear about it in terms of weather reports whether we're talking at the forest fires from california, superstore sandina for the dust bowl conditions of the midwest to and we should hear about this as much as we hear about the weather being

severe or extreme. why? and what can we do about it? we talked about in this book just people who don't go looking for trouble but when it comes to them how they speak out. like the kids of connecticut and other teachers. >> host: who was or is bonnie dickinson, speaking of which. >> guest: she was a drama teacher in connecticut, and the kids and bonnie decided to do a play that year. high schools have an annual play and they wanted to do a play about the iraq war into the took the letters and statements of soldiers return home and then wrote a play and made the costumes and learn their lines and they were very enthusiastic. but as it was coming time for the performance the principal walked in and said ha you can learn your lines and keep making

the costumes but you're not performing display here and the kids said what do you talk about? we have done a play every year and we've chosen to do this one kid and he said you are not going to take on the issue of the war and he begged and pleaded and he said the ship has sailed. ..

>> the man who wrote step provides live did wilting to netiquette and wrote a letter to "the new york times" congratulating the kids and the java class -- drama class congratulating them. allowing them not to become a like a step further rise of connecticut. >> host: talks about her book standing up to the mat this a'' from that book protesting is an act of love. it is from a deeply held conviction that the road to be a better and kinder place. it is sealed in a declaration of hope. amy goodman, your first three books have different covers but your last two, breaking the sound

barrier and the silenced majority have your picture. is there a editorial decision? given those are the book of problems every week breaking the sound barrier and now the silenced majority which was the publisher's decision and the first had the introduction by bill moyers and the silence majority has the introduction by michael moore. he said the weekly interviews we do on democracy now to take one story each week to bring it out so it is published in the papers around the country. there is so much to cover. in that week of the tenth anniversary of iraq, we interviewed thomas young.

he is a young soldier who went to iraq. not there five days before he was in sadr city april 4, 2004, the same day casey she and died he was the son of sandy she and. but thomas was shot and paralyzed from the neck down and came back to the united states and started to speak out against war when he was somewhat rehabilitated. but then he had a pulmonary embolism and his physical health started to deteriorate. now he is making a decision we said in a camera crew because his voice was soft and we wanted to insure people could hear what he

was saying and we had filled it -- phil donahue and cut in the studio he did have a flagship show on an as nbc -- m.s. nbc it was on 8:00 in the evening and we got a hold of a secret memo that said after words as we move into war we will not have the anti-war space on the flagship show when the other networks are waving the american flag. i think expressing that view to have a guest on that dared to speak out against war is patriotic. paid -- but with the first documentary and has remained in touch ever since in thomas's deciding to take his own life.

he said he cannot deal with the pain and that the virginia has failed and he is in terrible pain and had a tremendous will to live but the pain has worn him down and feel that many soldiers find themselves in the situation. the terrific numbers of suicide we see today of soldiers coming back is like one per day and put that together we talk by still find this hard to believe 18 people per day but thomas young has announced he will take his own life in the next few months. i said would there be anything that would deter you? what if you could deal with the pain? he said that would be different. his is a story that everyone should know and just talking about activism and what it

means to save know which is a brave and active staying staying, earlier in the discussion we talked about the little rock nine we just passed the 100th anniversary of rosa parks. is instructive to know her story because the media has done a story wrong as well. when she died 2005 everyone knows the basic data -- online but we raced down to washington because she was the first african-american woman to lay in state in the rotunda and obama has just dedicated her statue then thousands kimmel for the memorial service the former chair of the naacp and all gave eloquent speeches and they had speakers outsides

everybody could hear in we were outside. i said were you doing here'' she said i e. miller of my professors i will not be in class today i am going to go get an education. [laughter] so the story that is told that she sits down on the bus and asked to get up refuses. in so doing stand up for everyone. one person is a press we're all press. she refuses to lew get up and launches the modern-day civil rights movement then goes to court and then they choose the young minister who is just come into town and she hopes to launch dr. dr. martin luther king than one year later wearing down of city of and the transportation system is integrated. where does the media get a

wrong? i remember the networks that day, as cnn said rosa parks was a tired seamstress and was no trouble marks -- troublemaker. >> she knew exactly where she was doing she was secretary of the local naacp. i encourage everyone to read the book that just came out but she was secretary and she worked under radical liberal politics and randolph helped organize the march on washington. nixon helped to organize the african-american black borders who rode the train. the mothers did not mean them but george pullman why

they need to organize in the famous story of eleanor roosevelt taking randolph to meet with fdr and he describes the condition of black people to the president fdr and the condition of working people and fdr response i don't disagree with anything you have said the will have to make me do it. interestingly when barack obama was running for president, the first time time, he was in the backyard of a new jersey home with 100 people and taking questions and a man said what you going to do about the middle east? he repeated the story of a philip randolph and fdr and he said make me do it. that's interesting for anyone in this country to be responsible citizen. you have to make your demands known. but rosa parks knew just what she was doing.

she was an activist and trained at the highlander center in tennessee. black and white together learning to effectively strategizing to change the law. the media denigrates activists but what could be more noble to dedicate your life to be a better place and to show how brave she was just go back a few months to the summer of 55 to the killing of emmett till the 14 year-old african-american boy in chicago. sent him to mississippi to be with his cousin and was strike at of bet in the middle of the night by a white mob and ends up in the bottom of the tallahassee river. when his body was dredged up and this had an influence who i talked about earlier the of little rock nine, because she was 14

when she's the integrated the central high school but when his body was sent back to chicago, his mother was not an activist, she was thrust into this with the agony of losing her only child she said she wanted the casket opened for the wake and the funeral and the world to see the ravages of racism, the duke -- brutality of bigotry and thousands streamed by than jack magazine and other black publication actually took photographs of the distended mutilated head and they were published and is seared into the history and consciousness of this country. she has something very important to teach the press of today. show the pictures, show the images. kid you imagine for one week we saw be images of four? if they showed us did baby

on the ground, every top of every newscast of a soldier dead and dying. to every e-mail told the story whose legs were blown off or killed in a drone attack. americans are a compassionate people and they would say war is not the answer. >> host: this is booktv our guest is author and journalist amy goodman. of jeff from oregon you have been the most patient caller in history. please go ahead. >> caller: thank you. he visited last summer. >> high desert community radio. i remember that journey very well. it was a great honor. >> it was an honor to have you but the low powered fm

radios that were intended to fill the void of local reporting left by major media and the majority has been issued to organizations that are predominantly broadcast syndicated content rather than local. what is your opinion on this with local grassroots access to the media? >> it is very important when the fcc opens the window where there are stations that are made available low-power or full power. it is a real opportunity for people to have local media in their community and whether it is grassroots global news hour to connect the dots around the world or of local programming which is so important so people in

a community have a voice voice, these are important moments. all smokehouse right now the chair of the fcc has announced he is stepping down. another commissioner is also stepping down that leaves two of the five seats open. this is a very critical time for the fcc policy. when know what happened 10 years ago colin powell being secretary of state to make that push for war, but his son michael powell was the chair of the fcc. people did not even know what it was, this arcane agency in the u.s. government but they figured it out fast when michael powell started to try to deregulate the media which

means a lot of people are deeply concerned about one media mogul owning a newspaper and radio and television in a town. when you relax regulations that is what happens and it is dangerous when you only have one media mogul town and city. it is a serious issue. we need to open up the discussion. not what counts is having hundreds of channels but who owns them and we have to fight to ensure the internet remains open and free for all people to communicate and not that the telecom and the community -- cable companies write the legislation to jeopardize its powerful resource. >> host: to an acknowledged this tweak amy goodman if goodman speaks for the majority i must reconcile myself to the minority status typical

leftism and any now coming from donna, i remember another time when amy's role was grossly and unfairly compromised march march 8, 2002, international women's day and sponsoring a rally was civil disobedience several of us broke through a police line in front of the white house arrested by park police and amy was videotaping the action but was arrested anyway. i was in a paddy wagon with her as we were taken to jail and she was fuming the entire trip. keep up your brave journalism. >> guest: that was a significant moment. i was actually on my cell phone interviewing these women in front of the warehouse diminish to break through asking what they we're doing.

and going on differing community radio stations. for when i moved back as the police were moving in they took me first. >> host: amy goodman made the statement flaring off the gas on the oil wells was being done in nigeria and it was illegal and the u.s. but it is being done in the balkans and in north dakota senate that is very interesting. i do want to know more what is happening in this country when things are legal or illegal. in nigeria comedies were apartment building sized players. -- fire flares that in most places would not be allowed in the united states but i will look into north dakota. >> host: please go ahead with your question or comment for amy goodman.

>> caller: i'm glad you could have me and director of the powers of lighters -- waters house in pennsylvania. democracy now a fantastic organization but perhaps could use speak of another organization that doing the same kind of good work that you are? i will take this moment to personally invite you to our college we would love to have you out there to spend time with us. >> guest: i would love to come. thank you very much. independent media is on the rise in the united states. all over the country use the public access tv, public television, a community television college radio and website setter truly independent and is very important in a community for people to know where they can make their own media.

you cannot just walk in to abc, cbs, nbc to do a of a program but where do learn the tools? it is the way we learn about the world, how do you learn about it? it is through a corporate plans and we need it to be to the independence lens and certainly the rest of the world to see us through the independent run said is a matter of national security. there are many different organizations online, and media groups and literacy groups in your community. you could always go to democracy now.board and we link to so many because we have so many different people representing different groups. >> host: for that caller previous utah also send an invitation also who is one

gonzalez? >> i just left and in denver last night he is headed back to new york he is a great journalist in this country today one is co-host of democracy now from its inception 17 years ago also a columnist with the "new york daily news" and has been for many years. he also has written many books and his latest to our news for all the people that is a critical look written with another journalist from free press that put on a conference this weekend. it is a history of how the media develops in this country with that particular attention on the press of

color and the communities of colors throughout the united states. a the book is called harvest of empire in the film has just been made, his book is required reading in many classrooms. it tells a very different story of this critical day around the issue of immigration and why people come to the united states with there we talk about nicaragua, guatemala and mexico were most come from also the news of the dropping of the i word. this weekend he was on a panel from the applied

research center and publisher of color lines and they were one of the group's that led the drop the i word campaign. >> host: meaning illegal. >> illegal immigrant or illegal alien the term is illegal is what they want to drop. the ap has finally made that decision you can refer to illegal activity but you don't refer to a person as the legal. is very important because the associated press provides news to news outlets around the country so that changes in what one talked about is a change when news organizations stop using the word collared or negro. these decisions in the

newspapers history but then "the new york times" then "the washington post" but ap has made the decision and also shows with our coverage a difference between democracy in the zero andean their media -- and and the other media. when this it decision is made by congress we show they organizing that went to making that happen is it just the leadership that says over coffee let's drop the word and stop describing people as a legal. no. years of campaigning just the same with legislation that made public broadcasting yes it is signed off so the history books will say that but it

comes from grass-roots activism and is nothing more american than that. that is what is important to show. journalism is just the first draft is a story of the people on the ground that make the leaders and make demands of those leaders. that is what we try to document. how this happens where the grass roots mechanisms as they are happening? >> host: next call we have a little over half an hour left with our guest. east hampton connecticut. >> caller: hello. i am a very big supporter of democracy now. i have a quick comment and then a question. >> guest: where d you'll hear democracy now? >> i think it is the university of hartford. i think it comes on twice that day spinet this is a

radio station that is one of the oldest community radio stations in the country, a second oldest they ran wire into the basement of the gate was 1939 and in media is so important the hunter to communicate and to bring up the independent voices. it is great to hear from you >> caller: i am sick of watching mainstream may be at and on cable might quit comment is i am a jewish-american and remembering jewish voices for peace i did agree with, and tear with the israeli cover general degree get the full message and i want to put that out there because the jewish community

is not homogeneous. a lot of us know there's a lot more to this issue. my main question has to do with the free trade agreement but is a very scary agreement and one of the main precept is that corporations will not have to follow the laws of the countries in which they are doing business. and nash -- negotiations behind closed doors even our legislators don't know what is going on a have written several times to see if they can get a copy and some of it was leaked on the public citizen web site. >> host: let's get a response.

>> guest: of public citizen is a very important source of information on the so-called free trade agreements which are often nothing more than corporate managed trade and not about free trade. it is important we discussed this with all of the media and not just democracy now. and we will do more on that. >> host: on our facebook page it is posted, what is your view on ron paul and the libertarian approach? >> he has left congress the doctor from texas his son ran paul is the senator now. we've tried to interview on paul many times but were not able to. it is not one opinion but

looking at the different issues he dealt with. on the issue of war he was fiercely opposed and from right to left to see why the lines are breaking down with you have libertarian's deeply concerned the issue of his newsletters but they are of grave concern. and it makes me think today there is no connection but just thinking of the last few weeks of our programming one of the things we're looking at is the present chief bin colorado and 58 and his wife are their connections between the killings?

the concern is we don't know absolutely but that looks like the suspect died in texas with a white supremacist prison gang who got out of jail but the rise of the aryan brotherhood of texas is a very serious issue. i don't mean to connect that with the question that was just asked by have moved on to another topic but very few people know about the seriousness of the threat of the white supremacist groups that the justice department putts at the highest level. if there were questions if these are african-americans are muslim of lot more of the country would know about this. we must know about what is happening at these are very serious threats. >> host: e-mail said from

redmond organ you're advocating the majority needs to move on a gun control because if you are doing? >> we are covering it but not like the rest of the media. >> host: to you personally or that of broadcast studio use of armed security? >> guest: we don't have armed security. >> host: day you worry about your safety? >> guest: i just carry on doing my job. on the issue of armed security at was just thinking about the report that just came not from the national rifle association pushing for armed guards in all the schools. we had a serious discussion about this in addition to the nilson debate for and

against -- for and against every household being armed they have come out very critical of armed guards in every school in columbine there was but that did not stop that shooting. also resources. what is happening to our schools? i am a big advocate of public education met him deeply concerned the people having access to education. because resources are limited it is an issue where they go are they armed camps? to they put the money into better education these issues we need to debate but

the issue of gun control should be present -- put to president obama. the assistant managing editor over at business week had some interesting points questioning president obama himself about where he stands on the issues the words hearses the actions. yes he went to colorado and connecticut to push for gun-control but what it actually comes down to those that excluded thousands did president obama speak? when he gave his state of the union address many may think of that as a time when they can tell for gun-control bill he was just

pushing for gun-control that was described for the pro-gun democrats to vote against getting a pass from obama and it comes from the top the national rifle association is so important with the talk of corporations to look at many and politics and on whose behalf to than make the decisions those politicians so beholden to the national rifle association for so long. >> host: amy goodman is our guest on booktv at c-span2. the author of five nonfiction books. here they are. the exception to the rivers -- rulers, a static 2006,

2008, standing up to the madness, a 2009 the sound barrier, and the silenced maturity is the most recent and this e-mail comes from anita thank you for all you do you are a true hero -- hero would you comment on scott sobers work related to this we talked about this earlier but briefly to touch on this. >> guest: i dunno about the individual but the move is a very important movement that is gaining momentum to strip corporations of personhood and we're just documented that as it happens.

>> aloha. i a give you the courage when it you jump to the fence to continue reporting please tell us more about those police aloha to you and your associates. >> guest: our experience not covering that pass republican convention but in 2008 in minneapolis/st. paul was extremely serious. our team went and as many others were subjected, we were arrested along with two of my colleagues our multimedia producer at the time and the reporter from egypt and it was the first day which did not bode well for how things would go. we were covering a peace

protest and about 10,000 people were marching to where the convention would take place that afternoon. it was led by soldiers on in full military regalia. they risk a lot when they do that and concerned about war so we cover that then i went to the floor of the convention. we all had credentials and i went to cover the convention floor and my colleagues went back to the to the -- tv studio to digitize the tape and prepare the show for the next day. i am on the floor of the convention interviewing delegates from the hottest state at the time, alaska and i get a call come quickly to seventh and

jackson they have been arrested and bloodied by police. what you talking about? they are in it tv studio to is my senior producer and said go quickly. they are still there. so i was with my videographer who was filming my video and we raced down the street to the corner that was an old parking lot but they had contained the area so there was no action taking place i have my full credentials on around my neck i have just come from the convention floor to allow me to interview president and vice president dan delegates i was looking for the highest authority and i just talked and said

excuse me i'd like to talk to your commanding officer to of my colleagues have credentials it and we need to have them released not seconds before the of police pulled me through the police line put me in handcuffs and put me a bit against the car than on the ground i am so desperately looking from my vantage point* for my colleagues and i don't see than anywhere they were across the parking not finally be were all standing with credentials in clear view and say we demand to be released you can see we are secret -- we are journalists and the secret service representative to them from our next then they put us in the van sharifs arm was

bleeding and nicole's face was bleeding i said what happened? she said she went to the convention floor and we went back to the studio we heard a commotion and they would not have been doing their jobs if they had not ray and to get the camera and microphone and they started to film nicole did not plan to film her own violent arrest the police are coming at her shouting on your face and she was trapped and filming in saying where? is based on your face. she did not know what hitter they took her down pulling on her leg that was dragging her face but the first thing to go down on a camera they

pulled out the battery but she read to is a superb journalist who just won an award for their great journalism he is right there and says, down. they take him and throw him up against the wall and give him riot charges i was a misdemeanor interfering with a peace officer if only there was one in the vicinity. so we go to put them with the protesters and they are taken to jail and there were so many responses from around the country that were called in to authorities i was released and then nicole and shariff was released

after the interview in reporter said i don't get why wasn't i arrested? eyes of recovering the protest? he said no. i said you have got to get out there 90 percent of life is just showing up our job is to be on the floor to talk to the delegates to see who is sponsoring the associations or the campaign but also to be in the streets with the uninvited guest and sometimes thousands and they have something important to say as well. democracy is messy and it is our job to capture it all. so ultimately be settled for a six-figure amount the

secret service did not want to it that they were there to pull the credentials off but the police already told us they said it wasn't us it was the secret service. it was very serious. we came back and held a news conference because we are moving into the next convention in we were not alone to be arrested. more than 40 jet -- journalists were arrested. it is not acceptable. we have to do our job. we have to be in all places and when there is a protest to say you don't follow this onto the bridge who will be the eyes and ears or who will watch what is happening? right now there is an unprecedented trial in new york hundreds of thousands of african-americans and latinos young people are

stopped and frisked by police in we need to be there to see that. will the police change their policy? will we have a certain role in society to hold those in power accountable. it projects a democratic society. >> she recounts the story in "breaking the sound barrier." how was your treatment 2012? >> we cover the convention beginning to end as well as charlotte. what was really interesting about the democratic convention is the first day it was of undocumented immigrants risking so much coming up with butterflies to walk quickly and chance

with the undocumented and unafraid. they went to the front of the convention center. this is the democratic convention and they unfurled a the banner in the rain with the big butterfly and families were being arrested. one gentleman said i paid my taxes in this country for 18 years which is more than citibank can say. and with that he and his wife and daughter were arrested and as one of the women were getting arrested i asked her why day butterflies? she said because the butterflies know no borders. they are free. >> host: washington your on with amy goodman. >> caller: what a pleasure

to go back to your exception to the rulers book i notice the name will flits popped up what is the capacity? condoleezza rice that says what a wonderful job chevron is doing for nigeria. >> guest: all of these people are central figures to the occupation of iraq and it is important we reflect back as this country moves on. there are two different issues. should those who held high office be held accountable? should they be tried? this is one of the movements

that has developed over the years. if people are not held accountable for their actions, that history will repeat itself. obama has taken a strong stand that we should look for day and not look back but many feel the only way to move forward is to hold those in power accountable accountable, those who had power in the past and the iraq war is a very important place to start because we now know that saddam hussein did not have those weapons of destruction despite in your times printed story after story from judith miller and michael gordon. about one year later they did write an article and had of box some people call it there may occult blood that

they did not name names and they should have that box on the front page as many times as the articles appeared because that is what sinks into the consciousness of the american people. journalist using unnamed sources they are in place for that when they are whistle-blower for their family or they are threatened there is a place where journalists make a decision to say we will not name you but when it is about protecting the high level government officials to put out a line not to be traced back that is not acceptable and news organizations have to evaluate with articles on unnamed sources because the allies take lives. >> host: there is a treat.

>> beyond being a great female journalist what does amy goodman say about feminism? >> a great feminist standing up for all women and african-americans these are women who stood up there reza series called makers i was privileged to be part of where they interviewed many women across the political spectrum. no question as young women come up to me to talk about what they want to do in their future it is important

to know who came before us. we make it possible for young woman to say i want a profession and save the world and have the confidence to do that so we owe a lot to the four mothers and that is what feminism is all about. >> host: standing up to the madness there is a story i cannot remember which one about the gentleman about over the rainbow the words. who was that? >> one of my dad's favorites he would be familiar to many for the lyrics that hero

brother can you spare a dime as relevant as it is today as it was the also know the musician but you don't know the lyricist but he was blacklisted. he is the person who put together the "wizard of oz" and summer over the rainbow and who put the rainbow in the "wizard of oz"? he did not have a rainbow. but he did the first integrated all black show on broadway with cabin in the sky and one of the people in that play was a guy called joe. during the joe mccarthy era and said he was talking

about justice dahlin nor london, i can remember. it is inspiring to see all that bad as people watched the "wizard of oz" of rethinks giving back production got more attention on television and he was blacklisted as many were in had used different names. so yes we are inspired by and people can go to the web site and watch it and read it. >> host: it is then the most recent book by did want to ask you what is now misery? >> how much time do we have? >> two 1/2 minutes.

>> from 2003 there is a property in eastern maryland , well, frederick douglass was born in eastern nederland and was as late as a teenager on the property of mount misery and as douglas headed north he took on media to change the world that that property was bought by donald trump's felt as he was secretary of defense. i went there to see if that could be true and went to an old black church and ask the folks right before the sunday service what do think? this is at the time and secretary of defense rooms held and he was tortured and

escaped in a great abolitionist then you have rooms filled owning that property where he was held who is known for torture when you talk about donald from spelled to talk about iraq, guantanamo and what you think? the women in parishioners said i cannot comment right now we are in church. >> host: just a few minutes left with our guest please go ahead. >> caller: first i want to express the gratitude of their work and as a reasonable and individual thinking i am glad for what you do. after seeing a the documentary with the most difficult issues and topics

facing the nation where your sources for hope as you look at these topics? >> that is the important issue of how we draw hope and i am often concerned we have difficult issues to deal with. people will listen to democracy now will be overwhelmed but they draw hope from what they see. they're not the typical journalist. they are deeply engaged in their community. they'd only analyze the situation the talk about how they deal with the. when people take action that is what is great about the country. documented those actions and

around the world that is still torn apart by what happened by the u.s. invasion how do people organize to draw hope? in haiti what has delts with so much with the economy that is racked and devastated by the neighbors to the north. how do people deal? that is where i draw inspiration. and what we do with democracy now we give context of what people have done before to show the richness of what has taken place to give a context that is so lacking there are

remarkable heroes all over and it is giving voice to those people that i find so nourishing and hopeful. >> host: with the white house called about talking with president clinton would you have refused the interview had they insisted on putting restrictions on the questions? >> guest: when they say he will only answer this question you just have to make clear to the people who are listening what it is they are saying but very clearly there were no restrictions and if you have a restriction you say and understand your not talk about this you can still ask a question if you are free not to answer it to. we'll ask what we ask the you can save you are willing to answer. >> host: another e-mail would you consider moderating a presidential

debates as well as determining the format or would you please describe was a meaningful series of presidential debates could look like? >> we engaged in that this year now waiting for 2016 the first debate was in denver. so we went to denver and first ii virginia tech there we met up with collin doddered who was one of those people that were shot up during the massacre in 2007. of film has been made of him he had four bullets and he took me through virginia tech where the massacre took place and now he is working with brady campaign to get the moderator's about

gun-control and gun violence why is this so difficult? you went to virginia tech and then we flew to denver and we expanded the debate it was broadcast on public television around the country and we did it for every debate. the presidential candidates at the university of denver with jim lehrer we looked online and saw how they were addressing us that. the bright blue background with a podium but you did not know what it would like we wanted to mirror what they did and we broadcasted from the facility down the road where, my high school is that we set up the blue

backdrop and rented to podiums to address them similarly and we invited third-party presidential candidates and their rocky anderson you ran with a justice party and also dr. dr. stein from the green party and they stood at the podium and i said in relation to them as jim lehrer said -- that and when the debate began it began with jim lehrer asking question that i think he said president obama you won the coin toss you have to minutes that was followed by ms. romney -- a nit romney we stopped the video tape and then we said you have two minutes to answer this question, rocky anderson you