01/28/16 01/28/16 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from the sundance film festival in park city, utah, this is democracy now! -- without these photos and videos, first 10 experience, you can't really tell health -- tell the world how bad it might be. >> even was the second most recognition in recent history after 9/11. jim was horrified by that. >> i think i was in denial about how dangerous this was. these four guys with guns stopped the taxi and they put

jim into the back of their and. i did not know oppose going to see him again. amy: "jim: the james foley story." a new documentary opens at sundance looking at the life and legacy of the american journalist beheaded in syria in 2014. he became the first american citizen killed by the self-proclaimed islamic state. we will talk to his parents and the film's director who is a childhood friend of jim about his legacy, the failings of the u.s. hostage policy and jim's passion for reporting on the plight of civilians in war. but first, "the settlers." >> settlement activities are a front to the palestinian people and to the international community. amy: as u.n. secretary general ban ki-moon condemns israel's plans to build new settlement homes in the occupied west bank,

we will look at a new documentary examining the history and consequences of decades of israeli settlement construction on palestinian lands. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. in virginia, the health department has confirmed its first zika virus infection in an adult, sparking concern the mosquito-borne infection could soon sweep the united states as it has dozens of other countries. the zika virus itself is usually not life-threatening, but it appears to be linked to a condition called microcephaly, a rare and dangerous birth defect that causes babies to be born with abnormally small heads. the centers for disease control says microcephaly also causes a host of other health impacts, including seizures, developmental delays, hearing

loss and vision problems. ,a recent study estimates it could reach regions were 60% of u.s. population lives. at least 22 countries and territories in the americas have recorded confirmed cases of the zika virus. the world health organization director general said the virus is "spreading explosively." one of the hardest hit countries is brazil, where more than 4000 babies have been born with microcephaly since october. brazil has mobilized the military and health workers to combat the virus. another hard-hit country, el salvador, has taken the extreme step of recommending women do not get pregnant before 2018. scientists have linked rising temperatures from global warming to the increase incidence of mosquito borne infections such as zika. i stress climate director said "zika is the latest example of the many mosquito-borne virus is which poses an increasing threat

to humans due to warmer and wetter conditions associated with climate change." in oregon, ammon bundy has called for the remaining armed militia members occupying a federal wildlife reserve to "please go home." ammon and his brother ryan bundy were arrested following a traffic stop tuesday afternoon that left militia spokesperson robert lavoy finicum dead. in federal court wednesday, ammon bundy's lawyer read bundy's statement urging the protesters to end the armed occupation. this comes as law enforcement officers set up check points in and out of the wildlife refuge. officers arrested three more militia members at one of the checkpoints. in total, 11 militia members have been arrested, including the bundy brothers. they all face federal felony charges of conspiracy to impede officers of the united states from discharging their duties through the use of force, intimidation, and threats. in news from europe, the swedish interior minister says sweden plans to expel up to 80,000 refugees who arrived in 2015 seeking asylum.

the minister said the expulsions would require specially chartered aircrafts, and could take several years. this comes as refugees in copenhagen are protesting newly passed danish laws that permit denmark to confiscate refugees' money and valuables to pay for their stay in asylum centers. many have compared the so-called "jewelry bill" to the confiscation of property from jews during the holocaust. the new laws also delay family reunification for one to three years. an iraqi refugee named hiwa spoke out during a protest in copenhagen tuesday. it is wrong and we don't accept this. we condemn this. we protest today only going to keep protesting against this new law because this doesn't work, and we want the danish parliament to think again about this new law. dehumanizing us.

amy: meanwhile, in south carolina, a new bill that would require state police to track refugees is headed to the senate floor after a senate committee approved the measure wednesday. if passed, the bill could mean refugees' home addresses would be placed on an internet registry, similar to the ones used for registered sex offenders. democratic senator kevin johnson, whose is african american, compared the bill to the treatment his ancestors received under jim crow, saying -- "they were told the same thing. we don't want you in our state. we don't want you in our neighborhood. we don't want you in our schools." in afghanistan, three prisoners who were formerly held at the secretive u.s. bagram military prison and are now being held in afghan custody have launched a hunger strike to protest their continued imprisonment. two of the three prisoners, brothers sa'id jamaluddin and abdul fatah, were captured by u.s. forces during a military raid in 2008 and were sent to

the bagram prison. in 2010, the military found the brothers posed no risk to the u.s. the brothers were transferred to afghan custody in december 2014, as the u.s. moved to close its military prisons in afghanistan. two months later, an afghan court ruled that they were entitled to release, but they remain in custody to this day. an afghan court has also ruled the third hunger striking prisoner, musa akhmadjanov, is not guilty of any crime under afghan law and is also entitled to release, yet he, too, remains imprisoned. in news from the campaign trail, republican presidential candidate donald trump has announced he will be holding a separate event at drake university in iowa tonight at the same time as the fox news-hosted gop debate. this comes after trump said he would not dissipate in the debate after fox refused to remove megyn kelly as one of the debate's moderators. in august, during the first gop debate, kelly asked trump about his history of calling women

"fat pigs, dogs, slobs and disgusting animals." after the debate, trump implied -- criticized kelly saying -- "she starts asking me all sorts of ridiculous questions. and, you know, you could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her, wherever." instead of participating tonight, trump says he's holding a special event to benefit veteran organizations, although it's unclear how the scheduled free event will in fact raise money for these groups. ted cruz, meanwhile, has booked another venue in sioux city, iowa, for his proposed mano-a-mano debate between him and trump on saturday. trump has dismissed cruz's calls for the one-on-one debate, derisively suggesting it be held in canada, a reference to cruz's birth place. cruz's campaign website has also begun selling a version of trump's "make america great again" baseball cap, except on this version the hat reads, "make trump debate again." nate silver's fivethirtyeight

website predicts cruz and trump are currently neck-and-neck in iowa. meanwhile, democratic presidential candidate bernie sanders' campaign has called for three more official debates sanctioned by the democratic national committee. this comes as his rival, former secretary of state hillary clinton, is calling on sanders to join her proposed debate in new hampshire next week, which is not sanctioned by the dnc. sanders has said he doesn't want to participate in clinton's debate for fear of being barred from future official dnc events. on wednesday, sanders' campaign manager jeff weaver said in a statement -- "from the beginning of this campaign senator sanders has , called for more debates. secretary clinton has not. now she is asking to change the rules to schedule a debate next week that is not sanctioned by the dnc. why is that? the answer is obvious. the dynamics of the race have changed and senator sanders has significant momentum." msnbc rachel maddow hosted a live town hall in flint,

michigan, wednesday to examine the ongoing crisis over lead poisoning in the drinking water. the contamination crisis began after flint's unelected emergency manager appointed by michigan governor rick snyder switched the source of the city's drinking water to the corrosive flint river in a bid to save money. at the town hall, national action network michigan president reverend charles willia spoke out against michigan's emergency management laws and called attention to the fact that governor snyder has used state-imposed emergency management almost exclusively against majority black cities. >> took over every black city in michigan. took over every black city in michigan. detroit, detroit public schools, and has failed at every city he has taken over. i'm putting in an emergency management give detroit from going bankrupt. what happened?

detroit goes bankrupt. i mean, it is ludicrous. and anybody who fails at the rate that governor snyder has failed, i would have been fired a long time ago. all i got to say is governor snyder -- amy: and civil rights lawyer michael john kennedy has died. throughout his career, kennedy represented a number of activists from some of the united states' most significant radical movements, including the black panther party, the american indian movement, and the weather underground. he successfully defended black panther party co-founder huey newton, and one acquittals -- won acquittals for six americans charged with raising money to fund the irish republican army, known as the ira. he was the general counsel for high times magazine for 42 years. he was arrested and jailed briefly after staging a silent protest during a senate house of unamerican activities investigation, and he served as a legal aid to the sandinista movement in nicaragua. in his one and only divorce case, kennedy also represented ivana trump in her divorce from donald trump. kennedy was the general counsel for high times magazine for 42 years, during which he provided

a legal shield for the magazine's effort to expose the u.s. government's war on drugs. he died on monday at the age of 78 after a battle with cancer. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. we are broadcasting from the sundance film festival in park city, utah. israel is facing international condemnation over its plan to build 153 new settlement homes in the israel-occupied west bank. the watchdog group peace now reports israel's defense minister approved the construction of the new jewish-only homes last week. the plan sparked swift criticism from u.n. secretary-general ban ki-moon, who called the settlements "an affront to the palestinian people and to the international community." >> continued settlement activities are an affront to the palestinian people and to the

international community. they rightly raised hundreds of questions about -- two state solution. amy: in response, israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu said ban ki moon's criticism gives "a tailwind to terrorism," and that, "the u.n. lost its neutrality and moral force a long time ago." the words of the secretary-general only bolster terrorism. there's no justification for terrorism, period. the palestinian murderers do not want to build a state, they want to destroy a state and they declare it publicly. amy: this comes as president barack obama spoke at the israeli embassy to mark holocaust remembrance day saying, "we are all indeed jews." well, we turn now to an extraordinary new film, titled, "the settlers," which just had its world premiere here at the sundance film festival. the documentary examines the history and consequences of decades of israeli settlement construction on palestinian

lands. we'll be joined by the film's director in a minute. but first, i want to go to a clip from the film. talia sasson, the former head of the israeli state prosecution criminal department, explains the findings of an official israeli government report on the settlements outposts between 1995 and march 2005. the findings of my report were that the entity behind the establishment of the outposts was the state of israel. acting behind the governments back, illegally, that with the involvement of various government ministries.

amy: that was a clip from the just released documentary film, -- goat theents settlers." for more, we're joined now by the film's director, shimon dotan, an award-winning filmmaker. dotan teaches political cinema at nyu graduate school of journalism and film directing at new school university. welcome to democracy now! talk about the history of the settlements. while we hear about what is happening every day, how 400,000 jews can to settle in these jewish only committed these in the occupied west bank is critical to understand today.

heated and such a often discussed topic, but i find it so little is known and it isthe discussion about misinformed. i started the film as an attempt to explore the present reality in the west bank that soon understood it is to go back to the beginning of the settlement. what i found out, which is not a secret, but i think it is relevant to put it up front, no point in time in the israel government decided it is the best interest of the state of israel to keep settlements in the west bank will stop it all -- there was an initiative from the settlers that were driven often by their religious, ideological political reasons and facing a reality, in my view, is the most critical to the state of israel and the

region at large that without a calculated an educated decision from the government of israel. amy: so talk about the first jewish settlers, how they ended up there. talk about the numbers of people right now that are settlers in the west bank. >> maybe i will take it one step back. in may 1967, there was a celebration of israel rheumaticce work as -- charismatic rabbi started in outcry longing for the lost biblical sites of israel. three weeks later, israel took possession of these three areas. the students at this particular moment, became the leader of the

settlement movement where it's prime ideology is that the people of israel will get redemption of the land of the west bank. at the same time, it was a clear intention of the government of in a piecengage investigation with the neighboring states. allowedacy of the time these one or two settlements to take cold -- the prime minister at the time allowed one or two of the settlements to take hold. 400,000 of them. some of them are politically and religiously driven, but the vast majority is for quality of life

reasons. cheaper housing, etc. assassination by an extremist israeli jew, talk about the significance. >> that a watershed. everything changed after the assassination. i think one of the reasons many do oppose the settlement enterprise in whatever it implies, the reason of inevitable revolution when you create a reality of settlements under occupation of the population within that territory , and you put the people in this region in eternal conflict with the immediate neighbors. 20 years earlier, he was a very strong opponent of the settlement enterprise.

the driving force behind the they settlers, a cult of democratic fabric. 20 years later, he was murdered. amy: and talk about the man who murdered him. extremist jew the believed he had to take action in order to save the settlements, so to speak, to prevent the process, an attempt of a peace agreement between the israel's palestinians to take hold. tragically, it was an extremely successful political assassination. after that come also fell apart and israel was more or less governed -- joint amy: you have actually for full moment to a poignant moment of a palestinian woman say, "get off my land" to israeli settlers will stop and

also, talk about your interview in ramallah. >> first of all, i will present only settlers. it was clear i cannot just a way from those terribly affected by this. we have this woman that actually she has two olive trees and a stick in her hand and she comes to settlers who took a hold of her all of trees and she threatened them with this stick. she says, don't dare touch my olive trees. it is a nikon of moment and it does represent a reality of the day-to-day life of the people. the human rights activists in the west bank, based in roll ramallah, present in a way that the expense of palestinians out of the substance throughout every --

i think it is extremely important to understand what drove the settlers. it is not something that will go away. one of the purposes i had in making this film is to inform and have a better understanding that will take us away from the black-and-white depiction of the reality. and i hope the movie does that. amy: we are talking to shimon dotan, award-winning film maker whose latest film premiered here at the sundance film festival called "the settlers." talk about the violence the settlers engage in. >> the pattern established for the early members started -- first established the jewish settlement. the kind of pattern that is been used throughout the years. tragically, today, almost 60 years after israel took possession of the land of the

west bank, a new group of young settlers are engaging similar tactics. the main difference will be probably less educated, more extreme, and they stop at nothing. but the pattern that was established 50 years ago seem to relive itself once again. i find it terribly concerning. they may not have the political power to drive the dialogue, but they must definitely have the with the violence. amy: the significance of what ban ki-moon, once again, condemning the expanded settlements in the west bank? almost irrelevant, if i must say so. the massive presence and hundreds -- meaningless. there'soint in time,

ongoing construction in the west bank. the settlements are expanding and flourishing, more more people are moving into the west bank. it is a country established on ideas of inequality and secular libelism. israel tothe state of hold a strong grip with the occupation of the west bank. that is what is relevant. we have to have a more far-reaching goal. amy: what do you see will end the occupation? >> i don't even try to propose a solution. what i do know is if the prime minister of israel does not wake up ever sing a morning and say, what can i do today to bring peace to the region, he is not doing his job. amy: the settlements flourished no matter what. in the insult, not to mention killings of the

palestinians in the west bank, would it means to them, their ancestral homes being pushed out by many jews who don't even come from the area. how many of them, for example, come from new york, brooklyn? >> i don't have the numbers, but allowedt is, jews are to gain citizenship as soon as they come to the state of israel. however, those who come directly to the west bank enjoy the same benefits. amy: and palestinians, and the issue of the right of return? >> there is no status for palestinians to game the right of return. it is a nonexisting element. you mention the violence before. i must say the violence against israel, give settlers, is quite wider, quite present. facing an we're inevitable revolution. this violence is there to stay.

they may be idle for a day or week or a month, it surely will come back. and every time it comes back, comes back more stronger and more vicious. amy: i want to thank you for being with us, shimon dotan, the award-winning film maker. his latest film is called, "the settlers," which had its world premiere at the 2016 sundance film festival. he teaches political cinema at nyu graduate school of journalism and film directing at new school university. when we come back, the story of jim. that is james foley. the first american to be killed by isis. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we are broadcasting from the sundance film festival in park city, utah. as we turn now to a new documentary about james foley, the american journalist beheaded by the islamic state in august 2014. the film is titled, "jim: the james foley story." believe front-line

journalism is important. without these photos and videos and first-hand experience, you can't really tell the world how bad it might be. >> the event was a second-most recognition in recent american history after 9/11. jim would have been horrified by that. >> i think i was in denial about how dangerous this really was. these four guys with guns stopped the taxi and they put jim and the back of their van. i did not know if i was going to see him again. i did not know who is holding him. i was frantic. >> isis was on nobody's radar. >> they threatened to kill jim. >> i had not heard his voice in two years. i never, ever imagined it would end in that fashion. >> we lost all hope. james didn't. he saw the light instead of the dark. >> there's physical courage, but that is nothing compared to moral courage.

if i don't have that moral courage, we don't have journalism. documentary, "jim: the james foley story." it is probably the sundance film festival and will premiere on hbo february 6. james foley was a freelance journalist who covered iraq, afghanistan, libya, syria. in 2011, kidnapped and held for 44 days in libya. a year after his release, he was kidnapped again, this time in syria. he wasn't seen again until images of his beheading were broadcast around the world. since his death, james's mother diane foley has become a leading critic of u.s. policy to refuse to negotiate or pay ransom the captors, unlike european nations. in november, she told congress jim would be alive today had he been french, spanish, tie-in or danish. in part due to her campaigning, the obama administration announced last year plans to change aspects of u.s. hostage policy. his this week, i spoke to parents, diane and john foley, who started the legacy

foundation. we also spoke to brian oakes, the drive to her -- director of the film. he was a childhood friend of james foley. i asked diane foley when children her son had been kidnapped in syria. >> it was thanksgiving. it was the morning after thanksgiving when we had begun to be concerned because we had not heard from jim, and that was very unlike him. even when he was in the field, he would always come you know, reach out at holidays, particularly thanksgiving. we had not heard from him. morning, we were on the couch having a cup of coffee and the phone rang. we heard from his colleague clair gillis. she informed us that jim had not returned the night before. anda witness said he and kidnapped. we were in shock.

that it could happen again. year of hisin a other, well, a year and a half of his othso we were incredulout could happen again. and very much in shock. amy: diane foley, can you talk about your son jim? you have five children. >> jim was our oldest. he was his own -- very much his own person. jim had many gifts and that he was curious and people. he wanted to hear everybody's story. so when he finally found journalism, or it found him, it was like a perfect match. it was like, you know, and jim is an incredible listener. so it really -- he had found something that -- a way to give voice to a lot of people who had stories to tell, important stories for the world to know.

amy: let's go to a clip of, "jim: the james foley story." >> jim is the kind of guy who never needed much. some of the last ounce of a conflict journalist is tough. cork seal the positions i think he cared about were books, tvs, and his camera. out a would come home with toothbrush and just use whatever toothbrush was available. >> eco-policy anywhere. he was like a cat. >> [indiscernible] ridver time, he slowly got of his apartment, sold his car. he just ended up really owning nothing. what he would want for christmas? he wanted a tough pair of pants.

lessally did have less and and it didn't bother him at all. amy: diane, in the film, your son john, in the military, talked about his ongoing arguments and battles with his older brother about war. can you talk about that? is it fair to say that jim covered war to end war? >> i think that is very true, amy. he wanted to understand the issues and certainly, particularly the issues of the civilians and the children. and he really felt our world come the western world, really needed to know those stories. so the more suffering he saw, truly the more committed he became to all of that. he really felt he of promises to keep. he became very committed. he was very touched by the goodness of so many of the local syrians.

therefore, he became very passionate about that story. amy: democracy now! was in chicago in 2012 for the major anti-nato protests that were happening because of the summit that was taking place. and that was the same time that the great late cinematographer going to oscar-winning film was thereell wexler making a film about the protest and met jim. after jim was killed, we spoke to haskell about that meeting and his actual interviews, video recordings of his conversations with jim. i want to play a clip. >> what countries, regions have you been? >> libya, syria, i was in afghanistan with u.s. troops in 2010. i'm really interested in the just comingthe once back from iraq and afghanistan.

that has a huge impact. if there giving their medals back, that [indiscernible] i am into the young mentality. i've seen young vets and occupy d.c. a new york gravitating towards them a little bit. voicese most authentic to criticize nato right now. amy: can you talk about what you made this film and your connection to the film? you are unusual and that most --mmakers get into intellectually interested in a story, but yours is very personal, longtime connection. >> i've known jim since we were seven years old and we were

first-graders together in a little town in new hampshire, a very rural picturesque norman rockwell upbringing. i've known the foley family pretty much my entire life as well. this is a very personal story for me. you know, knowing jim my entire life and all that has happened in the past 3, 4 years, you get very protective of your loved ones and your friends after they pass. jim became -- went to journalism school and 2008 is when he did indianat inbed with the national guard when he went to afghanistan. after that, that is when he went to libya to cover the libya revolution. when he was captured in libya, i

was in new york city and, you know, i'm sure the foleys can speak more about the reactions, but as a friend, it was shocking and scary. amy: he would eventually be released. when he told you he was then going to syria, what did you tell him? >> i, you know, jim and my relationship with jim has always and very open and honest trustworthy, so, you know, you always want to support your friends. but at the same time, you always want, you know, to understand why they want to do the things they do. know, -- i think what we have to understand is when jim went into syria, we knew it was dangerous, but isis was not -- did not even exist. so i think a lot of misconceptions about when jim

went into first went into syria is, well, why would he go there when i says was around? isis was on no one's radar at the time. amy: dr. john foley, when your son jim told you after he was held captive for 44 days he was going back to syria, many journalists would no longer be war correspondents after the first time. they would be afraid. they would not want to take that risk. jim was very committed. what kind of conversations did you have with them at that time? certainly, i was very, very concerned. and asked him, well, why do you have to do this? he was nearly 40 years old at that point in time. as a parent of an adult child, as a parent of an adult child it is difficult to say, "you can't."

i often, or at least on one occasion, asked him what his passion was. he said, ma, i found it. you, and honest with this sounds very naive, i was excited for him because he was excited. i, obviously at that time, was unaware of the risk. isis's point is correct, wasn't around. in fact, one of the last articles jimmy wrote was one indicating the revolution was becoming contaminated by groups like al qaeda and eventually isis. so he was there when this began. i think the second trip back was more difficult, because by that time, we knew the risk. any coke you mean the second time he went back to syria? libya, wasin captured, got out, went to

syria, then returned to syria. >> yes, came home and return to syria in october. we had a very difficult time with that because, i mean, thing, but the question is, where was the common sense or -- not to say as brian was saying he was reckless, but i mean, i'm not a hero. i guess my point is, i could not see why -- how somebody could go to a place where he or she could be captured, tortured, and killed. again, i'm going to express my .owardice no story was worth that to me. amy: what did jim say when he would raise those issues? hei think he listened, but -- i think he had made commitments with people in a

country that he was coming back. i don't know what they were. either that, or hit is deep, deep conviction that he had to be there to tell the story. because if he wasn't going to do it, nobody else was and he could see the destruction and the need -- this whole thing, you know? amy: and a moment, we will continue our conversation with dr. john foley, his wife diane, the parents of slain journalist jim foley, as well as brian oakes, jim's friend and the director of, "jim: the james foley story." stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: "somebody got lost in a storm." this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. there broadcasting from sundance film festival in park city, utah, as we continue to discuss the life and legacy of slain journalist james foley. i want to turn to president obama's remarks on september 10, 2014, 1 month after jim foley was beheaded by isis. >> in a region that has known so much bloodshed, these terrorists are unique in their brutality. prisoners. captured they kill children. they enslave, rape, and forced women into marriage.

they threatened religious minority with genocide. and in acts of barbarism, they took the lives of two american journalists, jim foley and steven sotloff. so isil poses a threat to the people of iraq and syria, and includingmiddle east, americans citizens, personnel, and facilities. it is -- if left unchecked, they could pose a growing threat beyond the region, including to the united states. 12 days after president obama gave that speech, the u.s. began bombing syria. earlier this week, i spoke with journalist claire gillis was held with jim foley in libya, when aunt to work in syria. she can to park city, utah, for the premiere of the film, "jim: the james foley story." she said she is deeply concerned about how jim foley's debt is used to justify more war. >> i thought of your interesting

article and i reference it in the movie, and you can look at a pretty easily yourself, "wall street journal" poll -- a study 4% of the americans they surveyed, which were all registered voters, 94% of them were aware of who james foley was and how he died, which makes his beheading the second-most known event in recent american history after 9/11. which is staggering, to me. and i think it would've been disturbing to him because -- you know, he never wanted his face youe anywhere near what want therefore, he whether to show the suffering of the syrian people. he devoted, quite literally, his like to do that. to become the poster boy for renewed american involvement in the region, you know, propaganda on any side of the conflict. you can see how he has been used

for the coalition aircraft that are striking against isis. if you take a look at isis recruiting material, you'll see a tremendous amount of his imagery and his words ring used to draw new recruits to isis. it is just this propaganda, horrible gift that keeps on reaping very bad fruits. they make a freelance journalist clare gillis, held hostage with jim foley in libya. we return now to our conversation with diane and john foley, the parents of slain journalist jim foley, as well as brian oakes, his friend and the director of the film, "jim: the james foley story." talk about the progression of your efforts to get him freed or keeping in touch with the government or the government -- u.s. government keeping in touch with you to tell you what they were doing to try to free jim. began to be a bit

public after christmas, you know, of 2012, because we were frantic. it was already six weeks into his captivity and he had vanished. so, you know, jim's older brother -- or our next youngest, brother michael, initially was very involved and i was. and also, globalpost, one of the media organizations that he was offeredfor very quickly to stand up a security team to help our efforts. so we felt very grateful that we had the fbi, the security team, all of jim's colleagues on the ground, clare gillis and many others were looking for him. there was a big outreach at that point. but we could not find him.

amy: did you feel the government was doing all they could? >> we certainly did. absolutely. we did not know otherwise. -- you know, one of the things that james dubya legacy foundation is trying to do is collaborate with the there can be that better interagency communication and better support for american families. they're all loosely was some of that lacking during our experience. amy: what was missing? >> mainly communication. i think we have a very big hardnment and it is very for there to be communication between our many agencies, between fbi and state and intelligence. amy: i think you have been instrumental in making the

government re-examine how they deal with families of hostages. congressimony before in 2015, just a few months ago, critique. in its and you were not afraid to name names about who you felt let you down. >> we were deceived as an american family. we were told repeatedly that jim was their highest priority. your highest priority. we trusted our government to help him return home. during the brief months that jim's isis captors reached out to negotiate for his release, our government refused to engage with the isis captors, leaving us alone as parents to negotiate for our son's freedom. 18 months after jim's captivity,

our family and three other families of hostages held with jim in syria were threatened by colonel mark mitchell, a member of our national security council, with prosecution by our government. although there was never any president. if we attempted to raise the ransom to free our loved ones. he also clearly told us that our government would not ask allies to help negotiate the release and would never conduct any military operation to rescue them. he made it very clear that our united states government plan to abandon these four americans. amy: they threatened you with prison if you tried to save your son? . >> well, we can't say "they." this individual did. and that was very intimidating. had legal counsel for there was no precedent

that, that other american families had in fact needed to raise ransom in a kidnap situation. so i knew him a knew, john and i knew that that was not true, but it was very intimidating because he was from the national security council. so it was, obviously, very upsetting to all of us as family and frightening. you know, because we wanted to and needed the help of our government to get them out, hopefully, you know. countrieshe issue of that negotiated for the hostages and countries that did not. the u.s. did not, countries like france, clearly did. this is something, diane, you raised in your testimony very forcefully. >> our government's abandonment of jim allow their deaths to be used as propaganda for isis

recruitment. thus strengthening and emboldening isis. it surely helped in the recruitment of other violent to destroy us. as i said before, i want point there were more than 20 western hostages held together, all of whom are citizens of our allies. all our western allies valued their citizens enough to negotiate for their freedom. had jim been french, spanish, german, italian or danish, he would be alive today. amy: brian, you ierviewed nicholas hainan, the french hostage who was released, as tores whose in your film. pierre is very clear about why they were freed. he says our country negotiated. isyou have to realize france a small country, we don't have things such as the cia and we

don't put this amount of money and those things, but they managed to get their guys out. while the americans government completely failed. so now i think the american government, and also the british government to have to get back what failed and what they did because it is not acceptable. amy: diane foley, what do these countries do that the united states refused to do? >> well, we don't know all of the details at all. they werew is that willing to talk with or find ways to talk with the captors. and thus find a commonality, a way to get their hostages released. -- but, however, our government finds that

problematic because, of course, large sums of money were exchanged in these negotiations, which, of course, funds the terrorism and the continued kidnapping. so this is a very complex problem. there were a lot of disconnects, and that is partly why this is one of our major campaigns, amy. there were issues, problems, but, again, we want to be part of the solution, amy. and we are seeing some progress -- some real progress. you know, very complicated situation. very complex, dangerous world. so that is what is making us hopeful. amy: john? >> and i can't understate the fact that our government,

president obama, the hostage recovery cell, the valuation of the policy that led to the cell, has been extremely honest and , so they thorough deficiencies that we dealt with have been addressed. i think going back is not going to do jimmy in a good, not going to do us any good, but we have to focus on the future. and i think we have a brighter future because of what was done because of the four americans in the loss of life. amy: what is understanding of what the u.s. ransom policy will be going forward? >> it hasn't changed, amy. the policy really has not changed. our policy states that we can negotiate, but not make concessions. is, certainly against ransom, and the trading of

prisoners and such. the problem is, this is not black and white. and our government certainly realizes that. there's a lot of gray areas. legacy to be jim's such that at least this issue is a priority, that american hostages are important. and that we need the best of what our fbi intelligence and state department can do to free them. >> when you start talking about responsibilities, i think it is really important to expand the idea of responsibility. you know, he can talk about government responsibility. you can talk about personal responsibility. and i think we all in a way have a responsibility. factor one other big

that i hope the film brings up is that, you know, jim was a freelance journalist. and that is a very different job description than a journalist who works for foreign bureau. amy: let's go back to jim -- to "jim: the james foley story." the clip features clare gillis, im, and aage with j call who worked with him in syria. >> freelance journalists decide to work together based on his chemistry.ck read, cheer he looked friendly enough and i said, what's up? he said, not much, going to the front line. he had heard a lot about libya and the fact that it was very cheap to work, rebels and protesters were eager to show us their side of the story. they were driving is all over for free, translating for us for free. many of us never really

experienced the luxury of journalism in its heyday. what we do is journalism on a shoestring budget. so we have had to be a lot more resourceful in a way and just more street savvy. amy: brian oakes, continue talking about freelance journalists. >> i personally believe we also have to look at the people that hire journalists, whether freelance or not. i think with the foreign bureaus and the media companies, i think there is also -- we can talk about government responsibility, but i think there's also the employer responsibility. i think that is just an important part >>. absolutely, brian. that is our second campaign and the foley foundation, that very thing. clearly touched many people with this phone. among them was one of the most famous musicians, sting. he asked the helped to compose the final song -- he actually

helped to compose the final song in the film, "jim: the james foley story." "the empty chair." i had a chance to talk to sting with diane and john right after the premiere of the film. >> i think the film is probably one of the most important things anyone will see this year, i guarantee it. it is a vitally important message. jim foley is the antidote to so much nonsense that is being spouted in the world about immigration, about religion, and he was a good, courageous man. the answer is not guns and bullets, it is compassion, love. it is infinite mercy. and jim foley represented that in a very, very powerful, irresistible way. this is a message that is to go out. you need to hear this message. and that is a legendary musician sting along with jim foley's parents, john and diane foley, and brian oakes, director of, "jim: the james foley story." on film premieres on hbo

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-on this episode of "eat! drink! italy!," i'm in tuscany to learn another basic, but irresistible dish. tony verdoni and i talk about cannubi, a relatively unknown wine that you need to know about. and i make another pasta dish with one of turin's best pasta makers. my name is vic rallo, and i eat and drink italy. follow me, and i'll prove it. -"eat! drink! italy!" is brought to you by... wine enthusiast magazine and catalog -- for wine storage, glassware, and accessories. the historic count basie theatre in red bank, new jersey. the atalanta corporation -- importing authentic italian products and more for over 50 years. coffee afficionado -- artisanal roasters of sustainably sourced coffee.