02/06/15 02/06/15 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] >> from pacifica this is democracy now! >> i am asking the fcc to reclassify internet service under title ii of a law known as the telecommunications act. in plain english, asking them to recognize for most americans the internet has become an essential part of everyday communication and life. the fcc is an independent agency and ultimately, this decision is theirs alone. but the public has commented nearly 4 million times. >> after much anticipation the chair of the federal communications commission has unveiled what he calls "the strongest open internet protections ever proposed to the

agency." we will look at this victory for net neutrality. into the case of sami al-arian. >> i was confined 23 hours a day, and sometimes for weeks, 24 hours a day. i wasn't allowed to call my family for six months. i wasn't allowed to make a single phone call. >> a prominent palestinian activist in florida professor sami al-arian was deported from the united states this week. in one of the most controversial prosecutions of the post-9/11 era, laila al-arian al-arian was accused, but a jury failed to convict him. since 2003, al-arian has been 5.5 years in jail and many more under house arrest. he will join us from turkey in a broadcast exclusive.

and we will speak to his daughter laila. all of that and more coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman the leaders of germany and france are in russia today for talks on ending the renewed violence in eastern ukraine and restoring a september ceasefire. german chancellor angela merkel and french president francois hollande are meeting with russian president vladimir putin in moscow to discuss an initiative partially based on kremlin proposals. merkel spoke in berlin earlier today ahead of her trip to russia. >> it is a question of peace and preserving european peace order. it is a question of free self-determination of the people as part of this european peace order, and we're doing what we believe to be our duty at this time namely, trying to do everything in our power to end the bloodshed. >> merkel and hollande met with ukrainian president petro poroshenko in kiev on thursday. dismissing rebel demands to

account for recent territorial gains, poroshenko called for a return to the ceasefire terms agreed to in september. >> the plan is simple. immediate cease-fire, releasing hostages closing the internationally recognized border, removing foreign troops from the ukrainian territory launching import process of the political regulation by the election -- local election and ukrainian legislation. >> on thursday, the ukraine government said it had arrested a senior military officer on charges of spying for russia, raising new concerns about the infiltration of ukraine forces. the developments come as the obama administration says it is considering sending military aid in kiev and what would be a major escalation of u.s. involvement. in meetings with ukrainian

leaders on thursday, secretary of state john kerry accused russia of aggression in eastern ukraine, and said he expects a decision on u.s. military aid soon. >> we talked about the largest threat that ukraine faces today and that is, russia's continued aggression in the east. there is no other way to call it. we are not seeking a conflict with russia. no one is. the president is reviewing all of his options. among those options, obviously the possibility of providing defense -- defensive assistance to ukraine. and those discussions are going on. the president to make his decision, i am confident, soon. >> the weaponry under consideration includes antitank missiles, battlefield radars and reconnaissance drones. speaking in washington, white house press secretary josh earnest acknowledged internal

concerns that sending weapons could worsen the crisis. >> one of the concerns we have about providing military assistance and it does contain the possibility of actually expanding bloodshed and that is what we're trying to avoid. the whole reason we're trying to encourage both sides to sit down and hammer out a diplomatic agreement is to end the bloodshed and and the escalating conflict in that country. >> on thursday, the kremlin said u.s. arming of ukraine would threaten russian security. german chancellor merkel has opposed calls to send military aid to the ukraine government in kiev. at a meeting in belgium thursday, nato defense ministers signed off on a plan to establish a network of command centers in eastern europe at a large rapid reaction force to counter russia. saying the measures mark the

alliances biggest reinforcement of collective defense since the end of the cold war. >> we decided on the immediate establishment of the first six multinational command and control units. in bulgaria, estonia, latvia lithuania, holland -- poland and armenia. if the crisis arises, they will assure national and nato forces from across the alliance are able to act as one from the start. they will make rapid deployment easier, support planning for collective defense, and help coordinate training and a are sizes. >> jordan has intensified its airstrikes on the islamic state following the immolation of a captured jordanian fighter pilot in syria. jordan says dozens of fighter jets struck isis sites on thursday in syria, and for the first time, in iraq. jordan has vowed to expand its

role in the u.s.-led anti-isis coalition following the pilot's death. jordan's announcement followed reports that the united arab emirates, a key coalition member, suspended its airstrikes in december over concerns for its pilots' safety. meanwhile, scores of people were killed in and around the syrian capital of damascus on thursday when rebels fired a barrage of rockets into several neighborhoods and government warplanes bombed opposition-held areas. greece's new finance minister has wrapped up his inaugural tour of europe following the syriza party's historic election victory last month. yanis varoufakis visited a number of european countries as part of his government's push to roll back austerity and renegotiate greece's international bailout. on thursday, varoufakis was met with a chilly reception in germany, greece's biggest creditor and the leading european backer of its austerity. at a news conference with german counterparts, varoufakis made a direct appeal to german taxpayers. >> my message to be hard-working

taxpayer is that you have given us too much money in the last five years, not too little. unfortunately, this was not an act of solidarity even though it was portrayed as one to the greek people. 90% of that money never came to greece. it was a single transfer of banking losses, initially under the shoulders of the greeks. everybody knew the shoulders of the greeks were not strong enough to sustain that weight and it would spillover do you. we are coming here to begin for the first time, a dialogue about how to minimize the cost of the greek crisis to the average greek, german, finn, spaniard portuguese, and so on and so on. >> german economy minister sigmund gabriel countered varoufakis by saying that greece must be held responsible for its previous commitments. >> every country has the right

to democtically elect a new government. of course, every government has the right to determine a new policy course. certainly, if it has a clear mandate. but it must be clear the consequences, particularly the financial consequences come of new direction in greek policy cannot be transferred other countries and financed by the taxpayers in these countries. >> germany says it's offered greece a contingent of 500 german tax collectors to help athens recover taxes from wealthy citizens. the two sides say they've agreed to disagree. meanwhile, in athens thousands of people rallied outside parliament in a show of support for the government's anti-austerity campaign. in an address shortly after his own return from a european tour, prime minister alexis tsipras said greece will not be bullied by its creditors. >> greek democracy does not take orders and certainly not through e-mails. greece has a clear position. greece has its own voice. greece has its own negotiating strength.

it is our obligation and duty not to allow our citizens to be deceived once again. we are a sovereign country. we have a democracy. we have a program and an agreement with our people, and we have to honor this agreement. >> the european central bank has rejected greece's initial demands for help, tightening rules that will make it harder for greek banks to obtain loans. greece's bailout with european and imf creditors is due to expire at the end of the month. the international monetary fund has granted partial debt relief to the three western african countries worst hit by ebola. imf chief christine lagarde announced guinea, liberia and sierra leone will be eased of around $100 million in debt payments. >> the imf is giving debt relief to these three countries through the catastrophe containment and relief trust, which will provide grant aid used to relieve the

debt for the next two years. i have actually received already from one major donor the commitment to provide additional funding, and i hope you will not be via -- that there will be more that will follow suit. >> the $100 million figure amounts to about one-fourth of the total the three countries collectively owe. the joint debt is set to jump to $620 million over the next three years because of previously announced loans. in a statement, the group jubilee debt campaign said -- "grants should be given to cope with the impact of ebola, not more loans which leave an unjust debt to be repaid over the next decade." the obama administration says the recidivism rate of guantanamo bay prisoners has fallen since president obama took office. according to the white house just six guantanamo prisoners have engaged in militant activity after their release since 2009, for a rate of under 7%.

the comparable rate under president george w. bush was 19%. but even the lower new rate could be too high. according to al jazeera america, there has been only one case of a guantanamo prisoner turning to militancy after release that can be independently confirmed. the groups cage and the center for constitutional rights say they know of no cases. at a senate hearing this week, republican senator tom cotton spoke out against president obama's call to close guantanamo bay, saying he believes the prison's only problem is "too many empty cells." >> in my opinion, the only problem that guantanamo bay is there are too many empty beds and sells. we should be sending more terrorists there for further interrogation to keep this country safe. as far as i'm concerned, every last one of them can rot in hell. as long as they don't do that, they can rot in guantánamo bay. >> two people are dead after an apparent murder-suicide at the university of south carolina's school of public health. one of the victims was a school professor.

the campus was put on lockdown for about an hour on thursday. three democratic lawmakers have announced they will skip israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu' us upcoming speech on iran. john lewis butterfield, say they oppose the visit at a time when washington seeks a nuclear deal with iran. the trip has caused a major rift with the white house. on thursday, nancy pelosi said she hopes the address is canceled but dismissed talk of a boycott. >> i'm seriously considering going. as i said, as of now, it is my intention to go. it is still my hopes that the event will not take place. there is serious unease, but don't even think and terms of the word boycott. embers will go or they won't go as they usually go or don't go. and john boehner has announced another foreign speaker who will address congress. pope francis will become the first ever hope to address a joint session of congress when he visits the u.s. in september.

>> on september 24, his holiness, pope francis, will visit us here at the united states capitol. on that day, his holiness will be the first pope in our history to address a joint session of congress. we are humbled the holy father has accepted our invitation and certainly look forward to receiving his message on behalf of the american people. >> and those are some of the headlines, this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. >> welcome to all our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. congratulations amy on your if stone lifetime achievement award! >> it was really wonderful. particularly, to be there with laura poitras, who also won this i asked on metal for journalistic independence.

after we receive the awards, we did a kind of talk back last night with tom ashbrook and then the high point a dinner was spending time with i have stone's daughter i --f stone's daughter and peter davis. we had a great time. >> will deserved award. >> thank you. and you have a cover story in "the new york daily news." >> reporting today on a new report by the new york city department of investigations. it is something i've been covering for over five years which is the massive overhaul in previous bloomberg administration of the city's final 911 emergency communication system. it is a startling report. it shows, among other things, the report shows that the project is 10 years behind schedule and has increased by

over $1 billion in cost during the period it began in 2005. the report also finds that city officials tried to order their employees to sanitize the reports to minimize the problems that the program had. it found officials also hid about $200 million in additional costs on the project in the budgets of different city agencies, so no one can really know how much the cost -- the project was spiraling out of control. it finds the private consultants are running amok basically very little control, driving up the prices to the city, sometimes as much as markets of 600%. we're talking about major companies like motorola, hewlett-packard, northrup roman, verizon. it is another example of what i have been calling one of the biggest scandals in modern

government, local and state government, which is these huge technology projects that are supposed to create efficiencies in government, but actually and up as boondoggles. this is the latest one. the new de blasio the administration has sent a whole lot of those private consultants packing and have brought in-house to have government workers and government managers in charge of it. we will see if that makes a big difference in the future. but it is really astonishing report of a decade-long project that went awry. " i hope you continue to give us reports like this. the biggest when you broke was city time, the biggest financial scandal. >> this is bigger in money but in city time about one dozen people ended up being indicted. that was the city's payroll system, computerizing the payroll system for 300,000 city workers. that ended up with a dozen

people arrested and most of them sent to long prison terms as a result. that was right -- that was outright fraud. this is just as management. >> we will link to your piece at democracynow.org. >> after much anticipation, this week the chair of the federal communications commission unveiled what he calls "the strongest open internet protections ever proposed by the agency." in a blog post published wednesday on website of wired magazine, fcc chair tom wheeler backed the regulation of internet service like a public utility to uphold net neutrality, the principle of a free and open internet. noting he used to think the fcc could assure internet openness through a determination of commercial reasonableness, wheeler wrote -- "while a recent court decision seemed to draw a roadmap for using this approach, i became concerned that this relatively new concept might, down the road, be interpreted to mean what is reasonable for commercial interests, not

consumers. that is why i am proposing that the fcc use its title ii authority to implement and enforce open internet protections." >> wheeler's plan will let the agency prevent internet service providers like comcast from blocking access to websites, slowing down content or providing paid fast lanes for internet service. it would also extend such protections to internet service on cell phones and tablets. wheeler discussed the plan on pbs newshour. >> what we're doing is we are taking the legal construct that once was used for phone companies and pairing it back to modernize it so it specifically deals with this issue. it is not really utility regulation, but it is regulation to make sure that there is somebody watching out for the consumer, like you said, that there is no paid prioritization or blocking or throttling. and most important, there will

be ongoing rules in perpetuity so that there will be a yardstick to measure what is fair for consumers. >> tom wheeler, a former lobbyist for the cellphone and cable industries, was not initially expected to take a strong stand on net neutrality. his proposal comes after the fcc received a record-setting number of comments -- nearly four million, almost all in support of strong protections. by comparison, janet jackson's accidental exposure of her breast during the 2004 super bowl triggered 1.4 million comments to the fcc. on wednesday, democratic senator ed markey of massachusetts hailed wheeler's proposal. >> today is a day where consumers and innovators entrepreneurs, anyone who counts on the internet to connect to the world is going to now be protected in the 21st century. reclassifying broadband under title ii is a major victory for our economy, for our consumers

for free expression of ideas. >> the fcc will vote on wheeler's proposal on february 26, ahead of an influx of lobbying by the telecom industry, which has also threatened to sue if measure passes. well, for more, we're joined by tim karr, senior director of strategy for free press. they are one of the main organizers of the internet countdown campaign leading up to the fcc's net neutrality vote on february 26. welcome back to democracy now! so talk about this. is this a complete turnaround? talk about the significance. what does it mean to be -- to regulate it a public utility? >> this is a remarkable victory. it is a true david and goliath story. except in this case, there are 4 million david to contacted the fcc, hundred thousands more who been calling members of congress. we have turned conventional wisdom on its ear or everybody thought at the beginning of the year, the phone and cable lobby

which write this rule and would be done with it and that has changed completely. what chairman realtor has done has proposed title ii protections, which is not public utility protections where he is focused on discrete nation. the reason they call this new media is it is not like television or radio, not like newspapers. those are one way and medias. -- those are one-way media's. the role proposes protects to a communications, make sure the provider, the carrier of that information cannot discriminate in any way. >> verizon released a statement calling fcc chair wheeler's proposal counterproductive. it said -- "the fcc can address any harmful behavior without taking this radical step" and warned that "heavy regulation of the internet will create uncertainty and chill investment among the many players." >> the irony about verizon is this whole process began when verizon sued the fcc.

an earlier role that was insufficient, it did use the title ii authority, the fcc lost that lawsuit and is now proposing title ii, which is the proper solution. now verizon is claiming they want to go back to the old system, the one they sued for. verizon has put forth all sorts of arguments. they said it will cripple investment and their cfo would before investors and said, title ii won't in fact infect investment in any way. you will be hearing this sort of noise as february 26 approaches the day of the vote. what wheeler has done has announced his intentions. we don't really know the fine details of the order. >> it seems one of the interesting things about this in terms of the public response is that we have now seen over the last decade or so, numerous major battles occur over the question of media policy and

communications policy in the country, usually not covered by the commercial press yet thinking back to 2002 with the whole major media mergers under chairman powell during the bush and administration, 2 million people commented to the fcc opposed to it and now it had this 4 million people on the issue of net neutrality. you are seeing enormous public movement, despite the fact the commercial media not paying attention to these major policy battles. >> there is a nation for that. oftentimes, the commercial media has a stake in the outcomes of these policy fights. oftentimes you'll find them under covered. the public does understand what is at stake, and what is at stake is their ability to connect and communicate without interference from these providers. this movement for media reform is really picking up steam in the last five years. we saw millions of people protesting legislation in 2011

stop they managed to kill a bill that had very for connie and copyright legislation written -- for connie and copyright legislation rules. the internet public is truly a constituency. we are a group of millions of people who come from all different backgrounds who must be dealt with before congress writes any laws that threaten our rights. >> in november, protesters called on wheeler to favor net neutrality as they blockaded his driveway when he attempted to go to work. >> i'm sorry, we can't let you go to work today because you work for verizon, comcast, at&t and other people. weak cap let you go there because you are selling us out. it is not ok with us. we want to know which side you're on. >> which side are you on, tom? in may, we were in washington and we went over to the fcc and

there was an occupy-like encampment outside the fcc. >> yes, the creativity of the grassroots has been remarkable. there have been events around the country -- marches a cat parade recently where you had numerous cats, representations of cap, stake out the lawn. cats are considered the mascot of the open internet. there has been this million points of pressure against the agency that goes all the way to the white house. the president in november sided with net neutrality advocates and said title ii is the way you solve this problem and protect internet users. this has been a very momentous occasion. we still have three weeks left before the vote occurs. after that, congress will likely getting gauged with this. so while we there still a lot of work to be done. >> i want to ask you about the amazing change in wheeler's position.

i think he is the only person ever elected to the cable hall of fame and the telecom hall of fame. he was a lobbyist for many years. and yet he is gradually shifted even perhaps now promulgating, a stronger policy that even president obama was talking about. can you talk about that shift? and also, in his statement, he said that his own experience as an entrepreneur when he was starting a company back several decades ago showed him the dangers the cable industry being gatekeepers to the internet. >> he concert we draw from that experience. it is interesting with chairman wheeler, because what usually happens at the fcc, you're a public servant first in this thing called the revolving door that spends you out into jobs and industry.

the person who is the top lobbyist for the national cable and telik medications association, former chairman michael powell, you probably remember from the fights in 2003 and wheeler is at the end of his career. he is a dedicated obama supporter appointed by the president, raised money for president obama's elections, campaigns. so he feels, i think, and a legion spoke to obama -- he has received a lot of pressure from the public. we have kind of narrowed his options for him. he is from the come to a point of realization that title ii is ackley the best solution. >> 4 million responses on the fcc website, more than any response to any government agency and history. >> this has been remarkable mobilization. it covers the political spectrum. they have gone out to the constituents and engage them in this process. >> tim karr, thank you for being

with us, senior director of strategy for free press, one of the main organizers of the internet countdown campaign leading up to the fcc's net neutrality vote on february 26. this is democracy now! democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. when we come back, a democracy now! exclusive. a former florida professor has been deported this week from the united states. we will speak to him and is double, turkey. stay with us. -- istanbul, turkey. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

>> this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. >> the palestinian activist and professor sami al-arian has been deported from the united states. in one of the most controversial prosecutions of the post-9/11 era, al-arian was jailed in florida for five and a half years on what many described as

trumped up charges. he was arrested in 2003 at a time when he was one of the most prominent palestinian activists in the united states. in addition to teaching at the university of south florida, al-arian was a frequent media commentator and speaker at anti-war rallies. he co-founded the tampa bay coalition for peace and justice and the national coalition to protect political freedom. between 1997 and 2001 he visited the white house four times. he actively campaigned for george w. bush in the 2000 election. but life for sami al-arian changed after the september 11 attacks. >> on september 28, 2001 he was interviewed on fox news by bill bill o'reilly about ramadan shalah, who went on to become the leader of the militant group palestinian islamic jihad. beginning the next day, the university of south florida, where al-arian worked was overwhelmed by hundreds of threatening letters and emails. thirty-six hours after the

interview, the university put al-arian on paid leave. in october 2002, i interviewed sami al-arian in new york when he spoke at the not in our name rally in central park. i asked him about his appearance on bill o'reilly. >> the way the interview went, the guy at attack he viciously. many e-mails and training phone calls came to me personally at the department. the department put me on paid leave and then banned me after that from coming to campus. within three months because of the august rated campaign by pro-zionist groups and some politicians in some appointed people, people appointed by governor bush, particularly, members of the university. they voted to terminate my employment in december 2001.

it hasn't been finalized because unions and other protesters from around the country have been protesting. the aup has threatened if they -- [indiscernible] >> so the university has banned you on what grounds? >> it is not really clear except they say the campus was disrupted and since people have threatened my life, the campus has not been secured. the best way to secure it is to terminate my employment. it is a bogus argument. i don't think it will fly, but that is the essence of what they're saying. >> the university of saying since your life has been threatened, their banning you. >> that's right. a set of going against the perpetrators of the threats, they're going after me.

>> the palestinian activist and professor sami al arian speaking in october 2002. four months after that interview, in february 2003, al-arian was arrested and accused of also being a leader of palestinian islamic jihad. the justice department handed down a sweeping 50-count indictment against him and seven other men, charging them with conspiracy to commit murder, giving material support to terrorists, extortion, perjury and other offenses. he was held in solitary confinement leading up to the trial. this is an excerpt from the documentary "usa versus al-arian [captioning made possible by democracy now!] >> i was put in solitary confinement 23 hours a day and sometimes for weeks, 24 hours a day. i wasn't allowed even to see -- i was not allowed to make a single phone call. >> at the end of his trial in december 2005, the jury failed to return a single guilty verdict. al-arian was acquitted on 8 of 17 counts against him and the

jury deadlocked on the rest. four months after the verdict, he agreed to plead guilty to one of the remaining charges in exchange for being released and deported. he was later found guilty of civil contempt for refusing to testify before a federal grand jury in another case. in the end al-arian was jailed , from february 2003 until september 2008. for 3.5 years, al-arian was imprisoned in solitary confinement and then held under house arrest until this week when he was deported to turkey. last year a federal court dropped all charges against him. >> sami al-arian joins us from turkey and his first broadcast interview since being deporte and we're joined by his daughter laila al-arian, anybody award-winning journalist based in washington, d.c., co-author with chris hedges of the book "collateral damage." we welcome you both to democracy now! sami al-arian, how does it feel

to have left the united states, to have been deported to where you are right now in turkey? >> it feels like i am free finally free for the first time in 12 years. i don't have to watch over my back or my head or think someone is trying to monitor you or get you. it feels like you are free. >> and this whole period you have essentially been under house arrest, can you talk about that experience as well? >> is much better than prison of course, but you are under house arrest. basically, you're confined to your living environment. though there were no restrictions other than you can't leave the house, you still know you are being monitored. it is not really freedom. unfortunately, after 9/11, my americans feel they live and a

surveillance and police state, and that is a very discomforting feeling. >> why did you choose to move to turkey? >> well, actually, i have friends who talked to the turkish authorities and the immediately made the decision to accept me. it is a tribute to them and to their thinking that they value people who fight for freedom who have been dealt with unjustly post up and very grateful for that. >> were also joined by laila al-arian, your daughter. what is the most important thing for americans to understand about your father's case and the injustices that occurred here? >> i think what is important to take note of is the fact when my father was arrested nearly 12 years ago on february 20, 2003

to john ashcroft went on national television and made pretty extraordinary claims about who my father is completely distorting and outright lying about my father, calling him a terrorist on national television. and of course, years later, none of that has borne true. my father was acquitted by 12 ordinary jurors in florida. he said from the very beginning this is a political case. i think what people should take away from what has been a nightmare for our family is the fact that the united states of america, there is no room for political prisoners am in no room for politically motivated prosecution. my father was vindicated. even if he eventually did have to leave the country. i think when we look back at this case in history, we will see it is really shameful part of our history. it won't be -- it won't be something that anyone look at with any kind of pride. so i hope we learn a lesson from

this case. >> laila, the impact on you and the other members of your family, the many years of this ordeal? >> of course it has impacted us personally. my sister, the youngest sibling was nine years old when all of this began. she is now about to graduate college. you can see how long this ordeal has lasted for us. in many ways, it is been pretty destabilizing them a feeling -- not feeling, but knowing, we're been under surveillance even as children. so when we were going -- when my father was preparing for his trial, his attorneys, we learned in fact all of our phone calls were recorded, even as children. we have the opportunity to even listen to some of the phone calls between us and our friends, when we were in grade school. is something pre-psychologically jarring and traumatizing. feeling every aspect of your life is under surveillance silly because my father was an outspoken advocate is something

that i will never truly get over. at the same time, there is been a lot of facet of things that have come out of this case. a lot of the relationships formed with many supporters many activists who have shown tremendous courage in standing up for my father and his rights, and that is what we will really remember more than anything else. >> sami, if you could talk for your own perspective about what happened to you. i play that clip from 2002 when i interviewed you at a big peace rally that you are addressing in new york. he was soon be arrested. your case factored into a senate race in florida. talk about your journey. >> it is really a story of what happened after 9/11. after 9/11, for whatever reason, [indiscernible] really took center stage are

rational people are no longer able to have any can of dialogue or rationality in their dealings. what you have is people who pressured the government just to take action against any activists. if they have the opportunity to do that, they went for. for instance, my case was celebrated as the first case after the patriot act. meaning, they said the intelligence people did not speak with the prosecutions, therefore, the government prosecute criminals. they did not know anything about my activities. [indiscernible] i saw an earlier version of the indictment in 2000 when we were very active politically. my brother-in-law [indiscernible] somehow janet reno, department

of justice refused to prosecute that case. [indiscernible] it was so political. all standards were ignored. [indiscernible] the judge asked me in 2003 [indiscernible] when i said no, that meant they had to chime in 70 days. the government said they were not ready. if they were not ready, why did they indict? if you go back and look at the nature of the case, [indiscernible] we found the president of usf went to the attorney and public

asking him to investigate. the u.s. attorney announces in february 2002 p.m. panel of a grand jury. [indiscernible] supposed to be a secret. at the end of the meeting, then announce the grand jury. the nothing happens. [indiscernible] when the university wanted to settle with me and they offered me honest $1 million to resign the chairman of objective because he is been calling me -- objected because he been calling me all caps of names up to that point. jeb bush's appointee. he goes to jeb bush and asks [indiscernible] instead of offering a

settlement, they sue me in court. it was a delaying tactic. during the indictment, when they indicted earlier in 2003, they had 17 counts against me. but they knew the statute of limitations had run out. [indiscernible] they added more accounts on some transactions that took place in chicago that i had no knowledge of, and they knew that. when we went to trial, there was zero evidence of that. the person that was actually on the phone calls [indiscernible]

i never thing that had to do was chicago, was acquitted and i wasn't. two jurors could not bring themselves to acquitted on all counts. from start to finish, it was a case that took a very ugly turn. thankfully, we had some jurors who could see through that and in the end would not go along and support the government's case. >> sami al-arian, we have to take a break, but we will come back to this discussion. sami al-arian is a prominent palestinian activist and professor. he has lived in the united states for the last 40 years and was just deported to turkey. he was previously accused of ties to the group palestinian islamic jihad, but a florida jury failed to return a single guilty verdict on any of the 17 charges against him. we're talking to sami al-arian in turkey, and his daughter laila, based in washington, d.c. we will continue with them in a moment. ♪ [music break]

>> this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. as we turn to accept of the film "usa versus al-arian." his son in this excerpt describes the night his father was arrested in february 2003. >> i woke up to a guy searching all over my room with a flashlight. he had this -- i don't remember, he was wearing all black. he starts going like this with a flashlight everywhere.

he put it in my face and i wake up. i look in the door is already open. i was a last one to wake up and i saw my dad standing on the wall with his hands like this. i go to the living room and i see these guys ask at her deliver the living room will stop like one police cop and a million guys in suits. can i see my mom and my two sisters crying and i knew what was going on. >> that is ali al-arian. we're joined by sami al-arian who was just deported to turkey from the united states after being held in prison for more than five years and more three of those years in solitary confinement, then under house arrest for many years. you're also joined by his daughter laila al-arian prominent journalist, speaking to us from washington, d.c. how old were you when your brother ali is describing what

took place and where were you when your dad was arrested? >> i was actually the same age as my youngest sister is now. i was 21 studying at georgetown university. i actually heard the news in a phone call from an image straight or who -- administrator who worked in the same office were had my work job. she called me to convey her sadness over the arrest. i had no idea. i was really shocked to learn what happened. just tried to focus on graduating them a really that point, and then after that, i really started becoming involved in advocating for my father and raising awareness not just about his case but the atrocious prison conditions you are suffering under, which we talked about a little bit earlier. throughout that time, he went on three different hunger strikes to protest his present editions but also the fact of and active prosecutor, long after -- vindictive prosecutor, try to

try a case unrelated to his trial. there were number of times with the raise awareness about his case and that kind of became a full-time job for our family. >> sami al-arian, the fact you lived in the united states for 40 years and you had been invited to the white house four times during the bush years, the impact on you of this sudden turning against you by the government? >> well, of course i am aware of the pressures that were facing after 9/11. unfortunately, most of the rules that govern the relationships between the citizens and the government were just scrapped. the government now -- at least shortly after 9/11, they just did whatever they thought they could get away with. i remember one of the lawyers who had access to some

information was that even the prosecutors themselves, when they went for indictment chertoff, the time was the head of the consumer section of the justice department, some he cannot prove. he said, everything stays. it is for a sad they had to go through this. i was able to communicate and that is a tribute to the system that i was able to go and meet with all kinds of leaders. i met with bush hillary, bill clinton, all caps of people in congress, chairman's, speakers, so on and so forth. and the whole point was to engage politically because there certain causes that were of concern to me at the time.

the politicians were really responsive to our plea and our campaign against [indiscernible] a lot of people ask me, why did you support bush? i wasn't really supporting bush per se, i approached the gore campaign and the bush campaign. the gore campaign, who's a administration the time was using secret information, just ignored our pleas. where is the bush campaign gave us service except at the last month when the race was to connect. i get a call from someone who is very close asking the personally how we can get the endorsement of the community. my answer was, he needs -- and it bush needs to say publicly he is against secret evidence any as for the bill we were passing in congress. and to my surprise, the following day, during the second

debate, he said these two things. he was asked about racial profiling and he came in saying, [indiscernible] i get a callback that says, i delivered, are you going to deliver? it shows it does work. the muslim american leaders actually met and decided to support bush based on his stand on secret evidence. in the following week come a they met and endorsed him and identified six states as being the swing states. in florida, because i lived in florida, failed to me. [indiscernible]

it proves we delivered for extroverts than what he would have -- extra votes that he would had had we not intervened. the following month i get invited to the inauguration and get a thank you from newt gingrich and tom davis, that we really delivered that the bush. we asked him to deliver us the bill against secret evidence, and they tell us because ashcroft question is confirmation was delayed, it will take time. i get a call back in august 2001 basically telling me from the same person that their study the issue and going to be good news. he asked me to invite all the muslim leaders to washington d.c. at the white house in which the news would have been announced. >> and then what happened? our feed to istanbul, turkey may

have frozen. sami, you left us by saying, then you got a call or you're supposed to invite everyone to washington for an important announcement. >> right. and i did invite everyone and briefed them and told them there will be an announcement against these of secret evidence by bush that afternoon. and everybody was in town. unfortunately, it was 9/11. that meeting never happened. everybody was asking, how come from these muslim leaders in washington, even though the airspace was closed for several days? the reason they were behind bush when he want to the national cathedral is because they were already there. there were going to meet with him for that announcement. >> did it ever happen? >> it never happened. at the time, we were protesting secret evidence.

what happened after 9/11, they were arresting people with no evidence. we went totally backward. as i said, all of the rules were no longer valid. it is a sad story. one day in history it will be written. i'm so happy that a lot of people are pushing back. at the beginning, there was this shopper everybody was afraid angry, stepping back. after the abuses witnessed in the last 10 years, a lot of people are protesting and speaking out. we've and saw some government contractors or officials like snowden crying out against what is taking place. hopefully, the excesses of the surveillance and police state will be put in place. >> this is really an astonishing story. i don't think anyone has actually heard what happened in those days leading up to september 11 attacks and that you have told here. i want to ask you, have you

noticed any change whatsoever since the obama administration came in in terms of how some of these issues are being handled? >> [indiscernible] we have heard a lot from obama but it is all rhetoric. when it comes to policies, i've not seen much change. in the beginning, i gave him the benefit of the doubt. he is busy trying to get elected for the same second term. after six years, i've not seen much change and that is very distressing. change will come from the bottom up. very rarely you get change from the top down. until people stand up and speak out and campaign and go to the cumbersome and and senators in the administration and voice opposition to these policies that not only is going to affect americans and muslim americans but it will affect every american. and we can't advocate a policy

where the rights of the minority could be taken out so the majority could seem at ease. eventually any things that will restrict -- >> sami al-arian we have to leave it there. we seem to have lost the connection as well in this exclusive broadcast with professor sami al-arian, who has just been deported from the united states after years in jail and then under house arrest, though a florida jury refused to convict him on any count against him. i also want to thank laila al-arian, his daughter, speaking to us from washington, d.c. that does it for our broadcast. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to outreach@democracynow.org or mail them to democracy now! p.o. box 693 new york, new york 10013. [captioning made possible by democracy now!]

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