[captioning made possible by democracy now!] >> from pacifica this is democracy now! >> israel has deliberately destroyed the home of residents on top of the head of children. houses were0,000 destroyed completely, and 750 were partially destroyed. more than 16,000 sustained damage. with that, the occupation has turned gaza and its streets into destruction. >> as israel launches a ground

invasion of gaza, the palestinian death toll tops 250. we will speak to sharif abdel kooudous in gaza city, then we turn to glenn greenwald on the growing controversy over nbc's decision to pull its veteran reporter ayman mohyeldin from gaza after he witnessed the israeli attack that killed four palestinian children on a gaza beach. he had been playing soccer with the boys an hour before. and then to ukraine where 298 people have died after a malaysian airliner was shot down near the russian border. all sides in the ukrainian conflict deny responsibility. >> today, the whole world has seen the real face. it is targeted against the entire world. this is a wake-up call for the whole world. we expect an adequate width fonts from the international from the -- response international community. we will speak with professor st

ephen cohen. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. a malaysia airlines flight carrying 298 people has exploded and crashed in eastern ukraine, killing everyone on board. u.s. and ukrainian officials say the boeing 777 was shot down by a russian-made surface-to-air missile, but it's unclear who shot the missle. the plane was traveling from amsterdam to kuala lampur with passengers from at least 10 countries on board, including 173 dutch nationals, 44 malaysians and 27 australians. as of this broadcast, the nationalities of 20 people have not been identified and it is unclear whether any u.s. citizens were on board. the disaster may have dealt a lasting blow to the fight against hiv/aids. as many as 100 of the world's leading aids researchers and advocates were reportedly on the plane en route to a conference

in australia, including the pioneering researcher and former president of the international aids society, joep lange. the area where the plane crashed is controlled by pro-russian separatists, who have recently claimed credit for downing ukrainian military planes. ukraine has blamed the rebels for the attack and the ukrainian intelligence agency released audio of what it claimed were intercepted phone calls between rebels and russian military intelligence officers, where the rebels appear to admit shooting down a passenger jet. the crash came a day after the united states hit russia with a new round of sanctions over its handling of the crisis in ukraine. we'll have more on this story later in the broadcast. with russian affairs expert stephen cohen. israel has launched a large-scale ground offensive in

the gaza strip, escalating a 10-day military operation that has killed at least 258 palestinians, most of them civilians. israel says its aim is destroying tunnels used by hamas to to try to destroy hamas' weapons arsenal, rocket firing abilities and tunnels under the palestinian territory's border with israel. at least 25 palestinians have died and 200 have been injured since thousands of troops stormed into gaza backed by tanks, bulldozers and warplanes. earlier today, benjamin netanyahu said it could escalate. >> we're preparing for the possibility of significantly widening the operation. >> before the ground report -- -- banoffensive began

ki-moon condemn the escalation of the conflict. the past 24 hours there have been a number of incidents involving the death of civilians, including the appalling killing of four boys on a beach in gaza city. to do far more to stop civilian casualties. there can be no military solution to this conflict. >> nbc is facing questions over its decision to pull its veteran news correspondent out of gaza. ayman mohyeldin personally witnessed the israeli military's killing of four palestinian boys on a gaza beach wednesday, kicking a soccer ball around with the boys just minutes before they died.

glenn greenwald of the intercept reports the decision to pull mohyeldin from gaza and remove him from reporting on the situation, came from nbc executive david verdi. nbc executives have reportedly claimed the decision was motivated by security concerns ahead of israel's ground invasion, but late wednesday nbc sent correspondent richard engel to gaza. we'll speak to glenn greenwald about the media coverage of gaza later in the broadcast. the pentagon has secretly told congress it is preparing to send six guantánamo prisoners to uruguay, after they were all approved for transfer more than four years ago. uruguayan president jose mujica, has opposed the u.s. treatment of guantánamo prisoners and offered to receive the six men. the "new york times" reports the group includes four syrians, a palestinian and a tunisian. one of the prisoners, jihad ahmed mujstafa diyab, has filed a lawsuit against the force-feeding of prisoners on hunger strike over their indefinite detention.

a new report says prisoners held by the u.s. military in afghanistan have staged periodic hunger-strikes similar to those at guantanamo bay. according to the guardian, non-afghan prisoners in u.s. captivity at the detention facility in parwan have refused meals to protest their conditions. their grievances include unsafe drinking water, prison segregation, and inadequate access to the red cross. the u.s. no longer imprisons afghans at bagram, but around 40 nationals from other countries are still in custody. "the guardian" newspaper has released video from a new interview with nsa whistleblower edward snowden. snowden describes a culture within the nsa of young male co-workers routinely sharing intimate details they intercept which are not related to investigations, such as nude photographs of people they find attractive.

"the guardian" asked snowden whether he was happy in russia, where he has temporary asylum. >> you know, i am much happier here in russia then i would he facing an unfair -- would be facing an unfair trial. we have asked government again and again to provide for a fair trial, and they have declined. i feel very fortunate to have received asylum. >> the u.n.'s top human rights official has suggested nsa whistleblower edward snowden should not face trial. navi pillay, the u.n. high commissioner for human rights, said snowden had exposed violations and sparked a global debate about privacy. >> those who disclose human right violations should be protected, and we need them. i see some of this here in the case of edward snowden because his revelations go to the core of what we are saying about the need for transparency, ofsultation

multi-stakeholders. we do owe it to him for drawing our attention to this issue. >> pillay added that in light of snowden's disclosure of u.s. spying on the un, she can't be sure that she is not the target of surveillance. snowden recently applied to extend his one-year asylum in russia, which expires at the end of the month. on wednesday, russia said it expects to grant snowden's request within a week. click -- the top lawyer at general motors faced a grilling before a senate committee over the company's failure to address an ignition switch defect for more than a decade. the defect, which prompted the recall of millions of cars, has been linked to at least 13 and potentially hundreds of deaths. democratic senator claire mccaskill of missouri called the failures of gm's legal unit "stunning," saying the company's focus on minimizing its own liability had "killed innocent customers." she asked gm ceo mary barra why michael millikin, the head of gm's legal department, had not been fired. >> how in the world, in the

aftermath of this report, did millikin keep his job? i not understand. a the promise to make sure we are dedicated to safety and excellence and we are well on our way. to do that, any the right team. is a man ofn incredibly high integrity. >> microsoft is firing 18,000 workers, about 14% of its workforce. the cuts are the largest in microsoft's history and among the largest in the history of the tech industry. most cuts involve the nokia cellphone unit which microsoft bought in april. missouri has executed a prisoner convicted of three murders despite doubts over his guilt and concerns he may have been mentally ill. attorneys for john middleton said new evidence showed that one of the murders took place when he was actually 40 miles

away, in a jail in iowa. earlier this week a federal judge stayed middleton's execution, saying he met the standard for mental incapacity "showing that he is incompetent to be executed." but an appeals court overturned the stay and middleton died by lethal injection on wednesday. his final statement was "you are killing an innocent man." and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. >> and i am one dollars in welcome to our listeners and viewers -- juan gonzalez. welcome to our listeners and viewers around the world. israel is pushing deeper into gaza and threatening to significantly widen its ground offensive that began on thursday. at least 25 palestinians have died and 200 have been injured since thousands of troops stormed into gaza backed by tanks, bulldozers and warplanes. israel maintains the new ground offensive was needed to target tunnels used by palestinian militants to launch attacks and to enter israel but many civilian facilities have been hit including a media office in gaza city and the el-wafa

rehabilitation hospital forcing the evacuation of patients. >> over the past 11 days, at least 264 palestinians have been killed, mostly civilians. the death toll of children is approaching 50, including three teenagers killed today. israel suffered its second fatality when one of its soldier was killed in gaza. israeli media says the soldier was likely killed by friendly fire. the israeli military said another 18,000 reserve soldiers would be mobilized to join more than 30,000 already called up. this marks israel's first major ground invasion of gaza since operation cast lead in late 2008 and 2009 when 1,4000 -- 1400 palestinians were killed. earlier today israeli prime minister benjamin netanayahu defended the grounded invasion.

>> since it is impossible to deal with the tunnels only by ariel means, our troops are also dealing with it on the ground. here come a there is no guarantee for success, but we will do the most to achieve the best result. mufeed al hasayna denounced israeli strikes on the territory and the destruction of homes. >> israel has deliberately destroyed the home of residents on top of the heads of children and the elderly in the ugliest of war crimes in the midst silence. one 800,000 houses were destroyed completely, and 750 were partially destroyed. 16,000 thatre than sustained some damage. with that, the occupation has turned gaza and its streets into destruction. >> we go now to gaza city where we are joined by democracy now correspondent sharif abdel kouddous. he has just written a piece for "the nation" titled "death and

destruction in gaza as israel launches ground invasion." describe what took place overnight, sharif abdel kouddous . >> well, i mean, it was really a terrifying night for the people of gaza. after sunset, and a few hours after the cease-fire israel had announced, the israeli military began to pound gaza from the land, from the air, from the sea, with naval guns, apache helicopters, f-16 strikes. they cut our lines. gaza went dark. flares into the air to eliminate the battlefield. it was a constant bombardment that lasted throughout the night. then we heard this announcement that they had approved this ground invasion and they were coming in. the shelling continued throughout the day today. moments ago, there was shelling that happened -- strikes that

took out residence just next to us. but it appears -- people talk about this ground invasion. from what i understand, speaking to people fleeing from the north and the east, the israeli military has not pushed in very far. by some accounts, just a few hundred meters into the border, but what they are doing is theling very intensely from north and the east, and pushing people into the city center. as you mentioned, more people -- children have been killed. the number now, the gaza spokesperson says 56 children have been killed. people have been killed. house demolitions continue. i went to the eastern area, a couple of kilometers from the border with israel, and a resident there said he just had his house destroyed.

from anhe got a call israeli military officer who named him by name and said he had to leave his house. he told them he had five 15ilies living with him, children, and no weapons, and the officer told him he had to leave. they were hit with a drone strike and a missile that completely demolished the house. the gazans are living in this orwellian atmosphere where they get calls and israeli officers know the names and tell them to leave. as you mentioned in the lead, there have also been attacks on the media. i went this morning to the building that was struck on the -- eight for which houses a television production company. it was hit at 7:00 a.m. this morning, no warning whatsoever, with a triple strike. 30 employees who had been sleeping and living there since the war began doing coverage,

miraculously only one of them was injured. they said it was a known office, most of them unknown, and they do not know why it was struck. there has also been targeting of medical facilities. again, the health ministry spokesperson told me at hospital was shelled a couple of hours ago. it is housing, he said, up to 400 children that are taking shelter there. also, a rehabilitation center, , came underhospital attack. it had been shelled a couple of days earlier and repeatedly since then a couple of times. they said after the sunset meals that rate for fast they got a call from the military asking them to leave. >> sharif abdel kouddous, if i have theerrupt you, we executive director of el-wafa

hospital on the phone, dr. basman alashi. elcome to democracy now! >> thank you. >> can you tell us what happened at the hospital the last few days? thanks last night, just before -- >> last night, just before p.m., they sent us a call that we needed to evacuate. we had been receiving these calls and we did not take the matter seriously because of repeated calls that we will bomb you, and we insist that we could not leave the hospital. our patients are paralyzed, unable to move, and we need to stay in this hospital. this is the only rehab rehabilitation hospital in gaza and the west and, but a few

minutes after the call, shells started falling down. smoke, fire, dust all over. we lost electricity. controlour nurses lost of themselves. they were not able to stand up on their feet. they left the hospital. patients were left alone, unknowing what would happen to them. i was able to call many ambulances around the area, plus the fire department, and we were able to move all of them -- some of them needed oxygen. we had to wait until 11:00 p.m. until we receive the oxygen. luckily, nobody got hurt. only a burning building, smoke and fire, dust, the ceiling falling, water leaking everywhere. so, the hospital became in inhabitable.

at that time, we said evacuation is much healthier for the patients and the nurses. >> dr. basman alashi, how do you get warned? who actually calls you to say they will bomb your hospital? himself as ifed he was from the israeli army. >> and that tells you you have to clear up the hospital. two women days ago were killed in a rehabilitation home. is that different from the al-w afa hospital? >> yes. it is different. that home was for handicapped children and young ladies, and these are the ones born with deficiency, and israelis have targeted this clinical hospital. >> the call would indicate this was a deliberate attack, not inherent missile -- not an

missile.ss -- yourould they attack hospital? >> i do not understand. we have been here since 1996. we are known to the israeli government and health ministry. they have transferred several patients to our hospital for rehabilitation. forave many who come rehabilitation. they go out of the hospital walking, and have said that al- wafa has done miracles for them. we are not too far from the borders. the building is big. it is about 2000 square meters. if i stand on the window, i can see the israelis and they can see me. we cannot -- we are not hiding

anything in the building. they can see me, and i can see them. we have been here for the last 15 years. neighbors, we have not done anything. a palestinian, or an israeli jew, whoever comes to the hospital, we treat him for his humanity, not nationality or religion. >> where did you put all of the patients? how many did you have, and dr. basman alashi? >> we moved 17. the clinic told us they would complete -- clear a complete floor for us. moved -- weas who were able to move to that place and we are there right now. the only thing we're missing is the medication for our patients. all of it was burned or destroyed, so we are trying on -- friday, you know, in that

part of the world, friday is a holiday. we are trying to have many of the suppliers opened the stores to get the medication, but still, it is extremely difficult israeliin gaza because drones are targeting any vehicle that moves around here. , have youman alashi been able to assess the damage -- can the hospital be repaired quickly once the hostilities in the attacks from israel stop? >> we are determined to go back to our building once the hostilities stops. we will be using the ground floor and the first floor. ,he second, the 30 -- the third the fourth, our inhabitable. we need to do an estimation of the cost, which is about $3 million.

, how yousman alashi respond to the israeli military saying they are launching this ground invasion to stop the shelling of israel by the rockets. >> i have no answer to them. i need them to stop shelling because this area of gaza is similar to a concentration camp. they are squeezing people from the ground, from the air, from the sea, and they are expecting people to sit there as a duck. people are responding naturally. they have the right to defend themselves, as israelis have the right to defend themselves. i am asking israelis, since they are the superpower, to act responsibly. they are the big brother and they have to sacrifice a little bit for that little land. , thereif abdel kouddous

are reports that electricity was cut in up to 80% of gaza. what is the situation there with basic utilities? >> well, power lines were cut and it was dark much of the night. many media centers do have generators and power -- and power. there is a severe problem with water lines being cut as well. this is been a problem not only during the war, but gaza under siege. that is a people keep saying. we have to come out of this with something. i think also, hamas, the movement, has nothing to lose at this point, because if they do not achieve anything out of this war, it all stopped, and they are still under siege. nothing changes. the borders are closed. people are desperate here, so they need to see some lifting of the occupation, otherwise if we just have a cease-fire and the occupation continues, it will

just be a tenuous truce that will inevitably, part as it has done for the last six years. , whenrif abdel kouddous the israeli military drops him pamphlets, calls people, and says leave, where do people go? >> how do you say that? they have dropped leaflets and want people to leave in the north, the last few days, in the north, the south,, in the east are the only thing left is the west, and that is where the sea is. they are driving people from the city center. there are no shelters, no sirens, no iron dome system. there is just this bombardment from the sky, and you do not know a lot of the times where to go once you get the warning. you have a few minutes to get out, and your house is completely destroyed it all of your belongings, and of course,

many people have been killed in the strikes. 264, the vast majority of them civilians. >> we will break, and come back to our discussion. we will also be joined by glenn greenwald to talk about where is ayman mohyeldin, who has been reporting extensively from gaza. ?hy did nbc poll him we want to say thank you to dr. basman alashi. sharif abdel kouddous will stay with us. this is democracy now! back in a minute. ♪

[music break] >> the legendary lebanese singer. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. facing questions over its decision to pull its veteran news correspondent out of gaza. ayman mohyeldin personally witnessed the israeli military's killing of four palestinian boys on a gaza beach wednesday.

mohyeldin was kicking a soccer ball around with the boys just minutes before they died. mohyeldin is a veteran reporter who has placed the gaza conflict in the context of the israeli occupation, sparking criticism from some supporters of the israeli offensive. glenn greenwald of the intercept has revealed the decision to pull mohyeldin from gaza and remove him from reporting on the situation. it came from nbc executive david verdi. >> nbc executives have reportedly claimed the decision was motivated by security concerns ahead of israel's ground invasion, but late wednesday nbc sent correspondent richard engel to gaza. during the 2008-2009 war on gaza, mohyeldin, who then worked for al jazeera, was one of the only foreign journalists reporting from gaza. nbc news did not respond to democracy now!'s repeated requests for comment. for more, we are joined by glenn greenwald, pulitzer prize- winning journalist. his piece for "the intercept" at first look media is "nbc news pulls veteran reporter from gaza

after witnessing israeli attack on children." we are also with democracy now! correspondent sharif abdel kouddous, who knows ayman mohyeldin well. sharif abdel kouddous is in gaza city. glenn greenwald, talk about what you found out yesterday. >> interestingly, this came to my attention because there were people inside of nbc news, including high-profile journalists that were angry that first of all when nbc news with brian williams reported of the killing of the beach -- on the beach, instead of having the reporter who witnessed this first hand instead have richard engel do the reporting from tel aviv. you could chalk that up to standard news machinations about who is the bigger star, and the like, but what is stunning is of the biggest events

in his journalism career, where he made a huge impact on having the world understand what is onlyning in gaza, they not blocked him from appearing on the air to talk about it on nbc news, but they told him to leave gaza immediately. when i interviewed nbc executives, none of them would talk to me on the record, and they claim the reason they told them to leave was because they had security concerns, not specific to him, but general ones about whether journalists could be safe. later that day, they sent into gaza not only richard engel, but a producer who worked for nbc would never been to gaza, does not speak arabic, who does not know the area, in contrast to ayman mohyeldin, who has been there for many years, speaks fluent arabic, and is an experienced war reporter, so it raises questions. about questions raised

not just whether nbc was concerned about his reporting, but also about his post on social media. could you talk about that as well? >> what happened on the day he witnessed the beach attack he posted some incredible tweets and some amazing photos and videos on his twitter and instagram accounts with the reaction of the palestinian parents of the boys learning that they had been killed. powerful stuff. viewed tweeted what is as unusually pointed tweets about the position of the u.s. government. namely, the state department spokeswoman was asked about the killing and essentially absolving israel and blame, us, which the u.s. government always -- blamed hamas, which the u.s.

government always does. he went on twitter, posting some mild comments, with what the state department said, and inviting people to comment on it. later he deleted it. there was speculation that he was asked to delete that, and that that could have been a cause for why he was to move. certainly, the whole context of what has happened here -- he is a unique reporter, especially for a network news position, the kind of reporting that we usually hear from sharif abdel kouddous is not the kind of reporting you hear from the network. ayman mohyeldin has been criticized by neoconservatives calling him a hamas-sympathizer, and the like, and for nbc to remove them at the moment that world,ght this to the and at the same time posted

tweets that would be considered controversial, at the very least looks awful, and for nbc news's credibility, it demands that provide some answers here. >> sharif abdel kouddous, i know you will have to leave the area. about aymank mohyeldin's is's reporting. among the reports, he said he saw three of his friends killed and he also tweeted four killed, minutes before i was kicking a ball with them. talk about the years of his reporting in gaza. you also know him from egypt. is a closehyeldin friend and truly an incredible reporter.

what we are talking about gaza, literally, i do not think there is a better reporter in the world who understands gaza, and international correspondent who has covered gaza as much. there literally is not another international reporter who has covered all three israeli assaults on gaza, the 2008, 2009, 2012, and the assault we are going through now. he understands the area. he is always the first guy at the story. we saw his incredible reporting in these past few days. it was really noted if you look at media discussion sites and other columns noting how nbc was totally changing its coverage compared to other u.s. networks and this was ayman mohyeldin's goal all along. when he first left al jazeera in 2011 and moved to a mainstream u.s. network, this is what he

had in mind, to bring this kind of coverage that is very rarely seen on the corporate media in the states, and he was succeeding in doing that. we do not know the reasons why he was taken out of gaza. you are taking one of the most experienced reporters out of gaza citing security reasons is not very credible. we do not know why they removed him. whether this was a fight about a bigger star and having richard if it was in, or about his coverage having a serious effect showing the true side of this assault, the true side of the conflict, and political considerations came into play. history,lk about the 2008-2009, right after president obama was elected, the period where the world was talking about the united states and the israeli assault on gaza began, al jazeera was the only network inside gaza. i wanted to go to a film he made

, a documentary called "a war shows reporting war gaza during the occupation known as "cast lead." he reports from the hospital in gaza city. >> we are actually standing in the orthopedic section of the hospital because it was made into a makeshift emergency care unit. i have to take you in here and warn you that the pictures might he disturbing, but these are the cases that are being treated. this woman right here, a 65-year-old charity worker was working in a building that was adjacent to one of the buildings that was struck. i have to again emphasize that the place we are standing is not an emergency care facility nor is it a special care unit. it is a makeshift room.

all of these appliances that have been put to use have been put really, on an ad hoc basis together really quickly as the cases where being brought in. >> i want to tune into another clip from the documentary, "the war around the." he explained -- the war around the." -- around us." they were in full swing to portray the war as a just war, and necessary war, a war of self-defense, and when you have a pr machine portraying everyone in gaza as a hamas sympathizer, thatrorist sympathizer, was the biggest challenge that we had to contend with, reporting the truth in the face of that spin. >> that was an excerpt of "the war around us."

again, the only international reporters broadcasting during what the israeli military called operation cast lead. greenwald, if you can talk more broadly now about the u.s. media coverage of what is taking place right now -- for that, i wanted to go to a clip for one minute of diane sawyer. this is a clip of diane sawyer reporting just a few days ago. diane sawyer, of course, the news anchor on abc. last week she misidentified scenes of the aftermath of the missile strikes in gaza as destruction caused by palestinian fire. >> we take you overseas now to the rockets raining down on israel today as israel tried to shoot them out of the sky, all

part of the tinderbox of israeli and palestinians. one woman standing speechles among the ruins. >> for the radio listeners, as she was speaking, there was a palestinian family gathering belongings and debris after an israeli strike at their home. diane sawyer apologized to >> on tuesday evening we made a mistake. aring the introduction on story on the conflict between the israelis and the palestinians, i misidentified these powerful images. the people in these photos are palestinians in gaza in the attack byof an israel. they are not israelis. i want you to know that we are truly sorry for the error.

>> that was diane sawyer. glenn caldwell -- glenn greenwald, can you comment? >> in getting to know these them outlets, working with , it really is remarkable and not hyperbole that there is nothing that makes major media executives more petrified and reporting on israel. the way in which they become so frightened to do any sort of reporting that could make what they call israel supporters inside of the united states angry really cannot be overstated. that is the reason why this abc error resonated so clearly because one of things you never see in major reporting is anything that shows the suffering of the palestinians, the brutal savagery of the israeli military inside of gaza. it is almost like they showed it

by accident and misreported because they are so more accustomed to showing, even though israeli suffering is so much less than the havoc that is wreaked on the palestinians. the one thing that i will say that is actually encouraging is this is one case where social media really does make a difference. you have thousands inside -- you worstazans inside of the attack areas that are able to go on facebook, be able to be heard in their own voices, and you have pushed back toward media outlets and their unbelievably grotesque pro-israel bias, in a way that i think has improved the coverage this time that we are now seeing a more -- more of the reality of the israeli military and aggression and they are not able to get away with calling every victim a hamas terrorist or a human shield. part of the overall trend

where major media outlets are losing their monopoly on how we understand the world, but it is still the case that nothing puts fear into the heart of american journalist and american politicians like the world -- word "israel." >> in terms of the pressure on these media companies and the ability of the israeli government and supporters to manage news coverage -- for , thence, the invasion stage was set for eight when an unnamed, high-ranking israeli official conducted interviews with "the washington post," "the new york times," all of whom wrote stories that it was likely to happen, but never named the official, and in essence a dissipated in the trial balloon set up for the invasion. >> american media officials are incredibly subservient to american political figures, but when it comes to israeli political figures, it is

virtually cringe-inducing to watch how accommodating, differential, and submissive they become, and it really is true that american media outlets play a similar role when it israeli military operations, possibly giving anonymity to any official that requests it, launder the claims without skepticism expressed, and the other side is not represented, which is the people living in those areas attacked by israeli aggression, or the politicians or military officials in gaza or the left bank. it is incredibly one-sided. it is propaganda, and it is deliberate. it is so overwhelming and extreme in terms of how one-sided they are. they barely pretend to be even-handed in their coverage. one of the most amazing things was the producer, the longtime producer at cnn, she was there

for 20 years, a completely competent, well-liked employee, never had any disciplinary who was, she had a mom , andd to hezbollah, died she expressed condolences, and was instantly fired. this has happened over and over where major media figures have been stigmatized, lost their jobs, or had their careers destroyed. those lessons have been learned just in the same way that american members of congress are edge fight of offering a piece of criticism -- petrified of offering a piece of criticism of israel and that is why you see passing in the congress. allevidence is clear about kinds of pressure and intimidation put on american media and political figures such

that we have less of an ability in the united states to debate israel policy than they do even in israel. >> glenn greenwald, thank you for being with us. his piece for "the intercept" at first look media is "nbc news pulls veteran reporter from gaza after witnessing israeli attack on children." to that. his new book is "no place to hide: edward snowden, the nsa, and the u.s. surveillance state." we will speak to stephen cohen. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

>> this is democracy now, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. with juan gonzalez. flightlaysian airlines carrying 293 people was shot russian--- russian surface-to-air missile, according to the ukraine in the u.s., but it is not clear who fired the missile. the plane was traveling from amsterdam to kuala lampur with passengers from at least 10 countries on board, including 173 dutch nationals, 44 malaysians and 27 australians. leading aids and hiv researchers were on the plane, including a pioneer, joep lange. the malaysian prime minister vowed to launch a full

investigation into what happened. >> we must and we will find out precisely what happened to this flight. now stone will be left unturned. transpires that the plane was shot down, we insist that the perpetrators must simply be brought to justice. crashed,the plane russian media quoted witnesses saying they saw the plane being hit by what looked like a rocket. on thursday, ukrainian officials blame the russian air force for shooting down and attack jet. over the past few days, governments have expressed concerns that russia is ramping up support for separatist in the eastern ukraine. the united states strengthened

sanctions, but the european union has yet to follow suit. for more, we're joined by stephen cohen. piece is fornt "the nation." professor, welcome to democracy now!. what you think we should understand about what has taken place? watching your reports on gaza, knowing what i know, but what is not being reported in the mainstream media about what is going on in eastern ukraine cities, that have been pounded by kiev, and now this. emeritus means old. i've seen this before. innocent victims. nearly 300, are the first victims, the nonresidential victims of the

new cold war. this shootdown will make everything worse, no matter who did it. there are several theoretical possibilities. i am not a conspiracy buff, but we know in the history of the cold war there are provocations, people that want to make things worse. this to happen. i cannot believe anyone would do it, but you cannot rule anything else. -- rule anything out. the other possibility is because the cleaning government has to ability to shoot down planes, and by the way the ukrainian government shot down a rest and your passenger jet in 2001 flying from tel aviv to siberia. it was an accident. competence is always a factor when you have these weapons. the rebels, we call them separatists, but they were not separatists in the beginning. they have the capability, but there is a debate with this

plane flying at commercial levels, normally beyond the reach of what they can carry on their shoulders. that is the possibility the russians aided and abetted them, possibly from russian territory, but i rule that out because in the end when we do not know who has committed a crime, the first question a professional investigator asks is that anyone have a motive, and the russians certainly had no motive here. in ands horrible for put the russian position. that is what we know so far. we may never know who did this. >> the obama administration has expanded rounds of sanctions. speaking at the white house, president obama said russia has failed to drop military support for pro-russian separatists. provocations in the ukraine, i have approved a new set of sanctions on some of russia's largest companies and institutions.

along with our allies, who i have coordinated with closely over the last several days and weeks, i have made it clear that russia must hope the flow of weapons and fighters across the border into the ukraine and russia must urge separatists to release hostages and pursue internationally mediated talks and agreed to meaningful monitors on the border. >> your response? >> sanctions are beyond -- beside the point. they will cause pain, possibly equally to europe, and they do not want them. companies took out ads asking obama not to do this. when you resort to sanctions, it means you have no policy. you have an attitude and the anti-food and attitude in washington is driving out -- attitude in

washington is driving policy. what you are covering, what is the poundingaza, of ordinary people, the same thing has been happening in eastern ukrainian cities, bombing, shelling, bordering by the key of government, whatever we think of that government, but that government is back 150% by the white house. every day, they approve of what kiev isof government -- doing. we know hundreds of thousands of residents have run from these cities. the fact is americans know nothing about this. we know something about what is happening in gaza, and there is a division of opinions in the united states. the israelis should do this, the israeli should not do this. we know there are victims.

we see them at a sometimes the mainstream media yanks a reporter who shows them to vividly, but we are not shown anything about what is happening in these eastern ukrainian city. why is that important? because this airliner, this shootdown took place in that context. the american media says it must have been the bad guys, the rebels, because they have shot down other airplanes. this is true, but the airplanes they have been shooting down our ukraine -- are ukraine's military airplanes that have come to bomb the women and children of the city. >> in the corporate media it was said that this plane might have had an unusual path, that it had gone further south and they thought it was a ukrainian military plane. also, in terms of the black boxes, that ukrainian officials and ntsb can not get there

because it is rebel held and helderritory and the rebels might have taken the black boxes. >> the rebels have said they will turn them over to moscow, and moscow will not conceding -- conceal them. what is preposterous, of course, is the prime minister of malaysia coming out and telling us that malaysia will uncover this this tree when it still cannot find it's missing airliner. this is preposterous, but you are right, the investigation will be politicized. will we ever know? let me make the point again because you harken back to it, this is a war zone. it has been a war zone for at least a month. americans do not know that. it -- you have shown >> because of what has been , and nowin syria, iraq with the israeli attacks on gaza, it is almost as if what is going on in the ukraine has

receded in the consciousness of the media here in this country, even though it is conceivably much more dangerous, and has more long-term impact on the united states. >> i do not want to prioritize death. i mean, whose death is worse or not so worse, but the reality is, if you will be asking a historian, the conflict in the middle east and iraq will affect regional politics, the conflict in the ukraine will affect global politics. we are now in a new cold war with russia. we have been for several months. one aspect is civilian deaths. this will get worse. it also brings us closer to war between russia and the west, nato and the united states. if you will be asking what is more important, russians have a staying -- saying, which is worse, they are all worse.

>> we have 30 seconds, but obama now thinks stricter sanctions against russia. how significant is this. by repeating sanctions, obama shows us he has no policies. it is not a policy, and attitude -- it is an attitude. .> stephen cohen we will link to his piece in "the nation." his latest book is out in paperback. that does it for our show. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. email your comments to outreach@democracynow.org or mail them to: democracy now! p.o. box 693 new york, ny 10013. [captioning made possible by democracy now!]

>> today on "george hirsch lifestyle," meet up with master gardener scott chaskey, who shares his deep passion of unity organic farming in to visit chef joe at townline barbecue for some truly authentic 'cue in sagaponack. back in my own kitchen, i'll prepare family-inspired comfort foods--creamy cheddar jack and mac, tender spice-rubbed grilled pork sliders with a crisp, quick slaw, and everyone's favorite-- my double chocolate brownies for dessert. hi. i'm george hirsch. welcome to "george hirsch lifestyle."