09/16/16 09/16/16 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now! received 1500n pages of documents and we think they tell us a lot about scott walker in wisconsin, the recall election in 2012, but also about the state of democracy in america today. amy: did wisconsin governor scott walker coordinate with dark money groups to raise money? expose of the report uses 1500 leaked court documents from the exhibit -- investigation by wisconsin prosecutors into possible illegal fundraising by governor walker for the third-party group wisconsin club for growth. we will be quit guardian .eporter ed pilkington

then we go to the philippines where waves of extradition killings has claimed thousands of lives since rodrigo duterte became president. he vowed to crack down on drug users like you did as mayor. on thursday, a former hit man testified that while duterte was mayor, duterte personally ordered him to carry out assassinations. >> the killings started from 1988 to 2013 will stop i think we have killed over 1000 people in the city alone. amy: then storycorps has launched a new campaign called #whoweare, some with a surprising twist. >> i get off the train, walking toward the stairs and this young teenager pulls out a knife. he wants my money, so i gave him my wallet and told him, "here you go."

like,rts to leave and i'm hey, wait a minute, you forgot something. if you're going to be robbing people for the rest of the night, you might as well take my coat to keep you warm. amy: we will speak with storycorps founder dave isay. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. donald trump is continuing to refuse to acknowledge that president obama was born in the united states. in an interview with the "washington post" on wednesday, trump refused to answer a reporter's question about whether he accepts that obama was born in hawaii, instead saying -- "i'll answer that question at the right time. i just don't want to answer it yet." in contrast trump's vice , presidential pick, indiana governor mike pence, has president obama was born in hawaii. trump's campaign manager kellyanne conway, has also contradicted trump, claiming he now accepts obama was born in the u.s. trump has long been a leader of the so-called birther movement

which former secretary of state colin powell has slammed and recently leaked e-mails as being a racist movement. meanwhile, donald trump's son, donald trump, jr., has also sparked controversy by invoking the holocaust while alleging media bias against his father, while speaking on a philadelphia radio station. slide media has let her on every indiscrepancy, on every game trying tonc get bernie sanders out of the thing. i mean, if republicans were doing that, they would be warming up the gas chamber right now. amy: donald trump, jr., later told nbc his comments were a reference to capital punishment in the united states, not the holocaust. donald trump himself also faced accusations of anti-semitism in the summer after he defended his decision to tweet an anti-semitic image which showed hillary clinton, a pile of $100 bills, and a six-pointed star of david along with the words "most corrupt candidate ever!"

the image originally appeared on a white supremacist message board. meanwhile, hillary clinton returned to the campaign trail thursday with a rally in greensboro, north carolina, where she addressed her recent pneumonia. she said "i'm not great at taking it easy." in the dayer spoke of the congressional hispanic caucus in washington, d.c. clinton's return to the campaign trail comes as the latest new york times/cbs news poll shows hillary clinton and donald trump in a tight race, with clinton leading trump by two points nationally in a two-way race. in a four-way race, trump and clinton are tied, each with 42%, while libertarian party nominee gary johnson has 8% of the vote, and green party nominee dr jill stein has 4% of the vote. in columbus, ohio, more than 100 people gathered for a vigil to mourn the death of 13-year-old african american tyre king, who was shot and killed thursday nit by a white police officer after the officer allegedly mistook the child's bb gun for a

real gun. king was an eighth-grader who played football and was in the young scholar's program at his school. police say he was shot after officers chased him down as they were responding to a 911 call of a man who says he was robbed of $10. police claim king pulled the bb gun from his waist band before he was shot. this is a witness to the shooting. >> he looked out the window to see what was going on, son officer running after somebody this way down to the left. heard gunshots, about five, 10 seconds afterwards. amy: tyre king is the second youngest person killed by police this year. his death recalls the police killing of 12-year-old tamir rice, who was gunned down by two officers in november of 2014 while he was playing with a toy pellet gun in cleveland, ohio. at thursday night's vigil, people mourned the ongoing killing of african americans by police. >> that is what people are sick and tired of.

justice not serving communities of color. amy: tyre king is at least the 761st person killed by police in the united states this year, according to an ongoing guardian investigation. this comes as the family of eric garner, who was killed by a fatal police chokehold in staten island in 2014, has voiced outrage over new reports that the new york police officer who killed garner has received a 20% pay hike over the last two years. nypd officer daniel pantaleo reportedly earned nearly $120,000 last year. he's been on desk duty since placing garner in the fatal police chokehold, but he does not face criminal charges. meanwhile, the family of sandra bland has received $1.9 million in a wrongful death settlement with the texas department of public safety and the waller county jail. 28-year-old african-american sandra bland died in a texas

jail cell in 2015, three days after she was arrested for allegedly failing to signal a lane change. authorities have claimed sandra bland committed suicide while in jail by hanging herself with a garbage bag, but her family has rejected this claim. the u.s. embassy in rome, italy, has confirmed the obama administration has agreed to pay the family of an italian aid worker killed in a cia drone strike in pakistan last year one million euros, which is over $1 million. president obama has acknowledged and apologized for the operation, which killed two men. despite hundreds of hours of surveillance, obama said the u.s. had not known the hostages were present. in mexico, thousands of people marched in downtown mexico city, calling for the resignation of mexican president enrique pena nieto on the eve of mexico's independence day.

it is over the violence and corruption across mexico. say long liveto mexico, but also emphasize a mexico for us. it is time to say that pena has to go. that is why i'm here. i'm fed up with our bad government. mexico smells like death because all of its territory is a common grave full of assassinated and disappeared people and the journalists who are killed for saying the truth. amy: the protest comes as pena nieto continues to face backlash after he met with donald trump in mexico city last month, only hours before trump went on to give a fiery speech in phoenix in which he promised to deport 2 million people within his first hour in office. last week, mexico's finance minister, who orchestrated trump's visit, resigned. in the philippines, the death toll of president rodrigo duterte's so-called war on drugs continues to rise. more than 3000 people have been killed by police and vigilantes since duterte took office in

late june. on thursday, a man testified to the philippine senate that he was paid by duterte to carry out a string of extrajudicial killings, including one in which he fed a body to a crocodile, while duterte was serving as the mayor of davao. this is edgar matobato. >> from 1988 to 2013, i have gunned down over 50 people when we were told to kill. i cannot remember their names. still remember being a hitman and what happened. former president lula december has been charged with being the "maximum commander" of a corruption scheme at the state-run oil company petrobras. lula was charged along with his wife and six others. he slammed the charges saying they were politically motivated. this comes after his successor dilma rousseff was impeached by the brazilian senate in a move just announced as a group. 60% of brazilian lawmakers are currently under criminal investigation or have been convicted of crimes ranging from corruption to election fraud.

in financial news, german pharmaceutical firm bayer has taken over agribusiness giant monsanto in a record $66 billion takeover, creating the largest supplier of seeds and agricultural chemicals in the world. in washington, d.c., several people were arrested during a sit-in at the headquarters of the department of the interior, demanding the obama administration stop leasing of federal land for oil and gas drilling. the sit-in came after activists delivered a petition signed by more than one million people demanding the end of the lease sales. this is one of the protesters at the sit-in. >> we are mothers. we are daughters. we are sisters. we're here because our american , we wanteds to know you to know we need your help will step help us. how our families. help our land. help our community. amy: and in uruguay, former guantanamo prisoner abu wa'el

dhiab has awoken from a coma after an ongoing hunger strike demanding he be allowed to leave uruguay and reunite with his family in turkey. dhiab was imprisoned in guantanamo for 12 years without ever being charged with a crime. while in autonomous, he -- in guantanamo, he also launched a hunger strike to demand his freedom. he was among a group of prisoners subjected to forced feeding. the obama administration is refusing to release video of the force feeding to the public, but did give the redacted video tape to a court, which reportedly shows graphic images of guards restraining dhiab and feeding him against his will. human rights groups have long said the forced feeding of guantanamo prisoners amounts to torture. on thursday, only hours after dhaib awoke from his coma, i spoke to him in an exclusive democracy now! interview. he was laying on his bed, very weak.

i began by asking him how he feels. >> i feel really, really worse. kidney, my head ache, my stomach -- my right side is really bad. i feel all of my body hurt me. amy: there is a battle in court in the united states to release the videotape of your force-feeding in guantanamo. can you describe what that force-feeding was like for you? like they say in the united states media, human rights, human rights commission right. this is not human rights. never, never. they go to my cell to move me to tube fornd give me a

force-feeding. but if you see this video and , how he was with me, this is not human. amy: president obama says he wants to close guantanamo. do you believe that will happen? >> if he wants to close guantanamo, he can. he can now. he can give order to close guantanamo, but he is a coward. he can't make this decision because he is scared. but guantanamo is supposed to closed. should be closed, guantanamo. guantanamo is not good for the united states. never. marriedaughters getting

in turkey. an event he had longed to be at. he continues his hunger fast. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. juan: and i am juan gonzalez. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. we begin today's show with an explosive new report that reveals the extensive influence of corporate cash in u.s. elections through third party groups that do not have to disclose their donors. the report published by the guardian is based on 1500 leaked court documents from an investigation by wisconsin prosecutors into possible illegal fundraising by governor scott walker for the third party group, wisconsin club for growth, a 501 organization. prosecutors gathered hundreds of email messages that show exchanges between walker, his top aides, conservative lobbyists, and leading republican figures such as karl rove.

now-republican presidential candidate donald trump also appears in the files from when he met with walker and then donated $15,000 to the wisconsin club for growth. but last july, a conservative majority of wisconsin's supreme court halted the prosecutors' investigation before any charges were filed. they said prosecutors had misread campaign finance law and that their targets were "wholly innocent of any wrongdoing." the justices also ordered that all evidence from the investigation should be destroyed. but at least one copy survived, and was leaked to the guardian. amy: this is how reporter ed pilkington begins his report. "scott walker was under pressure. it was september 2011, and earlier that year the first-term governor had turned himself into the poster boy of hard-line republican politics by passing the notorious anti-union measure act 10, stripping public sector unions of collective bargaining rights. now he was under attack himself, pursued by progressive groups who planned revenge by forcing

him into a recall election. his job was on the line. he asked his main fundraiser, kate doner, to write him a briefing note on how they could raise enough money to win the election. at 6.39 a.m. on a wednesday, she fired off an email to walker and his top advisers flagged red. "gentlemen," she began. "here are my quick thoughts on raising money for walker's possible recall efforts." her advice was bold and to the point. "corporations," she said. "go heavy after them to give." she continued, "take koch's money. get on a plane to vegas and sit down with sheldon adelson. ask for $1 million now." her advice must have hit a sweet spot, because money was soon pouring in from big corporations and mega-wealthy individuals from across the nation. a few months after the memo, adelson, a las vegas casino magnate who forbes estimates has a personal fortune of $26 billion, was to wire a donation of $200,000 for the cause.

adelson's generosity, like that of most of the other major donors solicited by walker and crew, was made out not to the governor's own personal campaign committee, but to a third-party group that did not have to disclose its donors. in the world of campaign finance, the group was known as a dark money organization, as it was the recipient of a secret flow of funds that the public knew nothing about. one of the checks made out to the group, for $10,000, came from a financier called g frederick kasten, jr. in the subject line of the check, kasten had written in his own hand -- "because scott walker asked." well, for more, we are joined by the men who wrote those words, ed pilkington, chief reporter for the guardian u.s. and author of this explosive report, "scott walker, the john doe files and how corporate cash influences american politics." welcome. it is great to be with you again. explain the significance of this

and how you got these leaked 1500 documents. >> i'm not going to discuss how i got the documents, you will understand that. we're not talking about anything to do with sources -- which is an irrelevant at it today because in wisconsin are talking about launching a legal inquiry. the attorney general of wisconsin said he will consider appointing a special prosecutor the sourcego after of these documents. so it is a sensitive and important issue, and one we are being very clear on we're not going to discuss any sources. but what we think we saw in these 1500 pages of documents that we received is not only a very intense story about wisconsin, which is a noble state with a very long tradition, a very progressive politics, that has become, i think, a kind of ground zero of the battles -- partisan battles between left and right ever since scott walker became governor in early 2011 and introduce this union-bashing law

act 10. it also tells us, and this is what we try to focus on at the guardian, it tells a much wider picture of what is happening across the nation. which is all about, i think, the atmosphere in the environment created by citizens united, the supreme court ruling of 2010, in which it seems to be politicians am a senior politicians around the country are interpreting ruling almost anything goes. they are entitled not to do you much anything they can attack millions of dollars of funding from the top billionaires right across the country, they can channel it through these dark money groups which do not -- have no limits on how much they can collect, do not disclose their donations to the public, and go that way in order -- what the prosecutors alleged in wisconsin -- to circumvent campaign-finance law to the detriment of the public. the public does not know this is going on. juan: ed pilkington, not only

these justices in wisconsin decided there was no crime here that needed to be a prosecutor, but also one ordered the destruction of the documents and, two, some of these justices have been reluctant as a result of dark money contributions to them. >> that's right. once one delves into the documents and into the story, you find yourself going into sort of a vortex of ever tightening circles where everyone seems to be talking to everybody else. as a metaphorain for what is happening across the country. calleds on one justice david prosser, who is just retired, but he was reelected in 2011. he drew upon the support of millions of dollars of corporate money pushed through exactly the same third-party groups that then went on at the same time, to help republican senators and then scott walker himself go

through the recall elections. the john doe investigation that created all of this evidence that is the documents we received was looking into exactly those groups, right? the supreme court in wisconsin ordered the documents in which this material is contained to be destroyed, and yet in the documents is evidence that the same groups were supporting one of those justices on the supreme court of wisconsin in his own reelection. so as i say, you find yourself going in ever tighter circles and you kind of wonder, where is the sort of openness? where is the transparency? where is the being honest with the wisconsin public about what is going on here? amy: we're going to go to break and be joined also by john the nation. an explosive new report by ed pilkington, chief reporter for the guardian u.s.

we will link to his beasts, "because scott walker asked." ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. we are speaking with chief reporter for the guardian u.s. come author of an explosive new report called, "because scott walker asked." juan: at a press conference on thursday, wisconsin governor scott walker said he will lead an investigation into the john doe documents leak to legal authorities. >> we been scrutinized more than any elected official in america. we have had several -- not just one, including a circuit court whoe that is well respected to my knowledge is not in

affiliation with anyone, has shut down the facebook investigation. we've seen a degree of courts. people who fail to win in a court of law because their arguments are baseless under the law, now trying to selectively [indiscernible] to try to win in a court of public opinion. they're doing it without context. we're going to abide by what was set in the first place of the legal system, which was not to comment on those things until they are fully resolved. frustrating when time and time to be shut down by the courts. juan: that was wisconsin governor scott walker speaking on thursday. we're speaking of the chief reporter for the guardian, u.s., the author of a new report called "because scott walker asked." ed pilkington, not only the response of what walker said, but one of the people you mentioned in your article was harold simmons and his company

nl industries. if you could talk about what you found. >> at the heart of most campaign-finance law is a fear that unless you protect -- unless there's some degree of regulation, there can be quid pro quo. you scratch my back, i will scratch yours. in the documents, there is some suggestion that at least even the appearance of quid pro quo could be there. the supreme court of the u.s. has made it clear many times that even appearance of quid pro quo must be avoided. in the documents is evidence that scott walker in his own recall election in 2012 went after and encouraged donations from harold simmons, a very wealthy billionaire, right-wing funder. he bankrolled this new campaign against john kerry and the 2004 election. walker'sevidence of campaign committee discussing the need to go after harold simmons, get money from him.

separate checks amounting to $750,000 to arrive in 2011 and 2012 exactly the same time of the recall elections. they went through third already dark money group called wisconsin club for growth that did not disclose those donations. the donations were never known until we received these documents. at the same time, the republican-controlled legislature in wisconsin made several attempts to change law to make it almost impossible for victims of lead paint poisoning to sue for compensation. a -- there is >> the stork we national let industries, they were one of the biggest manufacturers of lead paint and to lead paint was banned in 1978. if the law had not been stopped by the federal courts as it was come the law -- the changes through public of its made in the legislature, it would have been virtually impossible for children damaged by lead paint, as you know it affects their

the development of children, the level of toxin in their blood was something like 50 times greater than the water -- those damaged by the water in flint, michigan. and the changes republicans made what had made it virtually impossible for those children to sue for compensation for the very serious injuries they received. amy: let's go back to the other people who contributed money. at the beginning of this report in the last segment, we talked brothers and sheldon adelson. explain what happened. i think our listeners, viewers, readers remember well 2011 when protests rocked the wisconsin capitol, the uprising of 150,000 people at the state capital sa took over the capital, occupied it. police officers, firefighters, nurses, teachers, high school kids, environment list, union activist slept at the capital night after night. talk about what happened next with his recall campaign and the money that walker was appealing

for. setou describe will be seen happen and extraordinary events, very dramatically even the democratic senators fled illinois for several days and will remember those events. scott put a bomb under wisconsin in act 10 and turned it into this sort of ground zero partisan politics in the country. and in the fallout from that, he and his six of his senator colleagues from republican party were put through recall elections. at that point, it kind of went dark for the public at wisconsin, and they could not follow what happened next, which was that scott walker's campaign ,ommittee got together fundraisers, political organizers, and they started fanning out across the country -- literally, scott walker himself made several trips to texas to call on oil money. he went over to new york. he did a journey one memorable day down fifth avenue in

manhattan where he went to spend 45 minutes with donald trump. he went to morgan stanley and the big law firm. in every occasion, you see him going to visit these major billionaire donors. a few days, weeks later, check starting to arrive. not to his own campaign committee, but largely to the coffers of this third-party group wisconsin club for growth. what is aerested in fiendishly complicated world, i have to warn you, of campaign-finance in america -- which i think is part of the problem -- they can themselves go in and read all of these documents. we have rightly rejected them for personal information. otherwise, on her website you can go in and absolutely make your own conclusions from this. you may think it is great you may think it is awful. juan: you mentioned donald trump that his campaign contributions are coming back to haunt tim. what specifically happened with trump?

>> specifically, scott walker went across to new york in 2012. he did this to her down fifth avenue. we have no transcript of the discussion between them. he did spend 45 minutes in a schedule of donald trump in his fifth avenue headquarters. on that very same day, donald trump wrote a check for $15,000. we have the check from the documents. they are among the documents you can see in the database. juan: i want to turn to a clip from the first republican presidential debate held in august of last year. wisconsin governor scott walker was a candidate in at the time and participated in the debate. this is moderator bret baier of fox news questioning trump. it is not just our past support for single-payer health care. you have also supported a host of other liberal policies. you have also donated to several otheratic candidates --

clinton included, nancy pelosi. you explained away those donations saying you did that to get business-related favors. you said recently "when you give, they do whatever the hell you are them to do. mr. trump: you better believe it. >> what did they do? >mr. trump: i've given a lot of money, to many of these on this stage. >> not me. not me. you're welcome to give me a check -- >> not charlie crist. >> i hope you will give to me. me,o is sounds good to governor. i will tell you our system is broken. i have given to many people. before two months ago, i was a businessman. when they call, i give. ,hen i need something from them two years later, three years later, i called them, they are there for naples and that is a

broken system. juan: that was donald trump at the fox news republican primary debate. documents leaked in the john doe investigation show trump did give at least to one of the candidates on the stage -- scott walker. on april 3, 2012, trump wrote a check for $15,000 not to walker's campaign fund, but to wisconsin club for growth. ed pilkington, this is business as usual athis asian-american politics. shore nearlines the presidential election we're going through. you have bernie sanders and donald trump, two complete opposites politically, saying exactly the same thing. the political system is broken, that billionaires and corporations have politicians in their pocket. in the case of donald trump, he said it personally, he had politicians in his own pocket. i think that speaks to something that is of increasing concern to voters. and it explains the anger that voters have that they feel their

vote is counted less than the money being contributed to politicians. amy: i want to go back to 2011. a blogger named ian murphy revealed he had impersonated david koch in a recorded phone conversation with an unsuspecting governor walker. murphy said he pulled the prank after learning that walker was refusing to return phone calls from democratic senators. during the 20-minute conversation, governor walker admitted he had considered disrupting opposition to his anti-union bill by planting troublemakers among the protesters. this clip begins with ian murphy impersonating david koch. >> we will back you any way we can, but what we were thinking about the crowds was planting some troublemakers. --you know, the only problem we thought about that. the problem or my only gut reaction to that would be, right now the lawmakers i've talked

to, completely had it with them. the public is not really fond of this. amy: at the time of the call, the public campaign action fund was saying governor walker may have violated a law that for bits politicians from coordinating with political donors. the prank phone call ended with impersonatorh inviting governor walker to visit him in california. >> i will to you what, scott, once you crush these bastards, i will fly you out to cali and show you good time. >> that would be outstanding. thank you for all of the support in helping us move the cause forward. we appreciate it. rightdoing the just and thing for the right reasons, and it is all about getting our freedoms back. >> absolutely. and we are little vested interest as well. >> the bottom line is, we're movingo get the world

here because it is the right thing to do. " that is wisconsin governor speakingker in 2011 last year with a man he thought was republican funder the billionaire republican funder david koch, one of his supporters, but in fact it was an impersonator. the governor's office confirmed the authenticity of the reporting. we are talking to ed pilkington, chief reporter for the guardian u.s., and we will link to his bees "because scott walker asked." we're also joined by john nichols from the nation. what is response to this explosive guardian report? >> it has been big news in wisconsin. front page of the newspapers, on radio will stop as i was driving to the studio, was the lead story on public radio. this is being discussed a great deal. i would suggest that wisconsin is, like the rest of the country in this regard, and it is a challenging situation because the lines have been drawn so

hard and so deeply that instead of what you would assume maybe 20, 30 years ago when you had a revelation of this tort where everybody is shocked and democraticyou have legislators calling for investigations, public interest groups calling for investigations. you have republican legislators kind of jumping into process and saying, well, how did the guardian -- what does the guardian have? how did this happen? thething to remember is john doe investigations, a couple have been going on for a long time in wisconsin, there have been a lot of leaks. clearly, with the guardian has now, is the biggest leak in the most detailed one, but there had been a lot over the years. so i think that you are seeing individuals and groups kind of go to their camp, go to their side, and fight this out.

remember, governor walker has survived revelations of this sort before. weirdly enough, that is where you begin to see the intercept. the wisconsin democracy campaign revealed in 2012 or back in 2012, when it analyzed all the money that the governor had as well as many of the groups that helped him in a campaign or are sympathetic to him in that recall campaign, they roughly in the final fight, a two to one advantage financially. he literally was able to overwhelm the process with money. at the heart of this, we now know more about where the money came from and how he was raised, the reality is the money is still there. that great mass of money. so in wisconsin, one of the real challenges now is this question -- in a state that is essentially under one-party rule where you now have evidence of a

governor flying around the country collecting money from billionaires and corporate interests to protect himself, you have evidence of his legislative allies literally acting in the way that those interests and those allies would prefer, and then you have a state supreme court on which people who clearly should recuse themselves from these cases are not only voting on these cases, but actually writing decisions. wisconsinitesof are horrified but also an certain about how this thing gets fixed in this state. i think that is why there is an awful lot of interest in the u.s. to bring court examination of these issues. juan: the prosecutors who were denied the chance to go forward with this case have appealed. what is your sense of whether the supreme court will take the case up and also what the results could be given the current composition of the court? >> well, the court is missing a

member. so you have a closer split on it then you historically have. you should always be careful about trying to read the minds of members of the u.s. supreme court. however, one thing that is interesting and i don't think it is discussed enough, when the u.s. supreme court did the citizens united ruling -- which i've been very, very critical of for a long time. in fact, i wrote a book about it. we examine a lot of these issues. one of the interesting things in the citizens united ruling is the court said that transparency , knowing how the money is raised and who is raising it and who it is coming from, was a vital part of guarding against the legitimate concerns of citizens about corruption and about the danger of allowing corporations and wealthy individuals to be so dominant in our politics. so this court, even conservative members of it, have acknowledged the necessity of transparency.

of knowing what is going on. obviously, of maintaining campaign finance laws that were on the books that are in many cases still on the box. so one would hope that the united states supreme court would recognize the need to step in on this if only to clarify their own statements of the past about the absolute necessity of transparency. you bothant to thank for being with us, john nichols, political writer for the nation. ed pilkington, chief reporter u.s., with this latest bees, "because scott walker asked." back, what has happened to thousands of people killed in the philippines? we will be talking about the new president duterte, and remarkable new storycorps

project. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. juan: we turn now to the philippines where a wave of extra-judicial killings has claimed thousands of lives since rodrigo duterte became president in june. during his campaign, duterte vowed to crack down on drug users just like he did as the

longtime mayor of the city of -- as mayor. his promises to end crime during his presidential campaign earned him a new nickname "filipino trump." well, on thursday, a former hit man testified that while duterte was mayor, he personally ordered him to carry out assassinations. >> the killings started from 1988 to 2013. i think we have killed over 1000 people in davao city alone. juan: the self-confessed hit man told senators that while duterte was mayor, he once ordered them to kill senator leila de lima, one of his outspoken critics. >> they decided and ordered to ambush him. ambush?ho decided to >> mayor duterte. >> how did you know? we stood there waiting for

you. you did not go up. so we just state waiting. juan: during the same hearing, a philippine police chief said at least 1500 people had been killed in police operations against illegal drugs. another 2000 murders by unknown assailants are under investigation. that brings the total to more than 3500 people killed during duterte's 78 days as president. amy: before he was elected, duterte admitted he was linked to a death squad in davao. he spoke on a local tv show in a mix of english and visayan. >> me. there saying i am part of a death squad. >> how do you react to that? >> true. that is true. you know when i become president, i don't covet the position. but if i become president, though 1000 will become 50,000. i will kill all of you who make the lives of filipinos miserable. i will really kill you.

i won because of the breakdown in law and order. amy: of this comes as president barack obama was slated to meet with the controversial philippine president during his three-day trip to laos. but obama canceled the meeting after duterte called him a "son of a whore" and warned him not to ask about his so-called drug war. they later had a brief exchange behind closed doors. this is president duterte. >> i'm a president of a sovereign state. and we have long ceased to be an economy -- colony. .obody but nobody you must be respectful. do not just throw away questions and statements. p] i will swear you in that form. amy: well, for more, were are joined by ninotchka rosca, a filipina activist, feminist and writer.

author of "state of war," a novel set in the philippines during the marcos dictatorship. in 1993, she received the american book award for her novel "twice blessed." it is honor to have you with us. explain to your president is. actually aduterte is compound of all of the contradictions in philippine society. contradictions which are now surfacing in a very vicious way. -- his mother organized demonstrations against the marcos dictatorships. he was actually appointed during the reign to be vice mayor of davao city. he comes from the two main contending factions in

philippine politics. but this is very normal for politicians in the philippines. they align themselves with one affiliationchange the next day because the truth of the matter is, we don't ,eally have a political party as political parties are understood in the west. juan: but how was he able to cobble together a victory to win the presidency being so openly willing to say, i'm going to kill people if i feel it is necessary? >> i think it was an overwhelming sense of the defeat --the traditional groups of what would you call it, the traditional oligarchs. this alliance is built up of the left. marcos cronies. and everybody else whom the

aquino faction has offended. so i think people are just tired of the constant roiling of the contradictions been postponed, the resolution of contradictions been postponed. amy: during thursday's senate hearing, you have this hitman that said duterte paid him to carry out summary executions while he was davao mayor. there was an investigation held two-way this exhibition killings that is claimed more than 3000 lives during president rodrigo duterte's very short-term here. >> yes. the senator, who used to be with the commission on human rights in the philippines, tried to investigate the reports of the davao death squad, but she could

not make headway on this because -- witnesses would disappear not die, but run away and hide. i think she decided to open this she has a certain amount of power now as a senator , and because the president duterte went after her in a really vicious manner. coming out with revelations about her sex life, her love life, and trying to link her to drugs in the philippines. juan: president duterte also called for the removal of u.s. mindanao.m many may not be aware of the special relationship philippines

has had with the u.s. since it was an original colony or after the spanish-american war. can you talk about the relationship to the u.s. troops, especially? >> sure. we were the only colony of the united states in the far east. it used to be called the far east. thatespite the fact independence had been granted in 1946 to the philippines, the united states kept control of two very important aspects of the philippines government. one is the military because the philippine armed forces group out of the philippine scouts. we have been set up by the u.s. occupation, occupying troops to run after the revolutionary forces in the 1800s. so we have a military that is

totally under the control of the united states. alsohen the united states kept control over our foreign-policy. it has a was been staunchly anti-communist, pro-united states. so these two things. this is persistent to this day. there was a point around 1993 when u.s. military bases were thrown out of the philippines in the marcosth of dictatorship, because people were so disgusted. the 20 years of support the united states gave to the dictatorship that people said, throw out the bases. so that was thrown out. amy: to marcos. >> yes, do marcos. int happened was -- came up

danao and started launching raids and bombings. amy: as we wrap up, what will happen with duterte? he is been called the philippines trump. why? are people organizing? do you think he will make it to the end of his term? >> it is been a very volatile beginning. it is only been three months. police, counterbalance to the military. so this is problematic. we actually cannot tell what is going to happen. there are too many large forces operating around this question. amy: ninotchka rosca, thank you for being with us, filipina activist, feminist and writer. author of "state of war," a novel set in the philippines during the marcos dictatorship. this is this is democracy now!,

democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. as we wrap up today's show -- juan: we end with a new project from storycorps the , award-winning national social history project, the largest oral history project in the united states. tens of thousands of people have recorded interviews with their loved ones in story core booths across the country. amy: now storycorps has launched a new campaign called #whoweare, to bring stories of hope and compassion, some with a surprising twist. one is the story of bronx social worker julio diaz, who was coming home from work when he had an encounter with a teenager who held him up at knifepoint. this is the unusual way julio reacted. >> so i get off the train. i'm walking toward the stairs all stuff this young teenager pulled out a knife. he wants my money, so i just gave him my wallet and told him, here you go. he starts to leave and i am like, hey, you forgot something. if you're going to be robbing people for the rest of the

night, you might as well take my coat to keep you warm. he is looking at me like, what is going on here? he said, why are you doing this? i said, if you're willing to risk your freedom for a few dollars, then i guess you must really need the money. all he wanted to do was go get reallywill step if you want to join me, you're welcome. i'm like, you can follow me if you want. i just felt, maybe he really needs help. we go into the diner where normally eat and we sit down in a booth. the manager comes by, the dishwashers come by, the waiters come by to say hi. like, you know everybody. do you own this place? i'm like, no, i just eat your life. he is like, but you are even ice to the dishwasher. i'm like, have you been taught, you should be nice to everybody? said, i did nothing people behave that way. i asked him again, what is it you want out of life? llamas had a sad face. she could not answer me or he didn't want to.

the bill came and i look at him and i'm like, look them a i guess you're going to have to pay for this because you have my money and i can't pay for this. back, iive me my wallet will gladly treat you. he did not even think about it. he said, ok, here you go. so i got my wallet back. i gave him $20. i figure maybe it will help them. i don't know. i gave him the $20 and i asked him to give me something in return, which was his knife. and he gave it to me. it is funny because when i told my mom about what happened -- no mom wants to hear this, but with her, she was like, well, you know, you're the type of kid that if someone asks you for the time, you gave them your watch. i figure, if you treat people right, you can really hope they treat you right. it is as simple as it gets in this complicated world. that is one of the many voices in storycorps's new

#whoweare campaign. amy: this is a nine year old aidan sykes, who sat down to ask his father, albert, a few questions. >> do you remember what was going through your head when you first saw me? >> i remember when the doctor pulled you out, the first thing i thought was, he is being too rough with you. he held you like a little sprite bottle. he was like, here is your baby. that was t most prd moment of my life. don't take your bther, because there are three of you all. but it was like looking at a blank canvas and just imagining what you want the painting will look like at the end, but also knowing you cannot control the paint strokes. the fear was just, i got to bring up a black boy in mississippat which is a tough place to bring up kids period. but statistics say black boys born after the year 2000 to have a one in three chance of going to prison.

all three of my sons were born after the year 2002. >> so, dad, why do you take me to protest so much? >> i think i'd take you for a bunch of reasons. one is that i want you to see what it looks like when people come together. but also that you understand it is not just about people that are familiar to you, but it is about everybody. did you know the work that martin luther king did was for everybody and not just for black people? >> yes, i understand that. >> that is how you have to think. you decide you want to be a cab driver, then you have to be the most impactful cabdriver or you can possibly be. >> are you proud of me? >> of course. you are my man. i just love everything about you, period. ,> the thing i love about you you never give up on me. that is one of the things i will always remember about my dad. >> he set it like i'm already

gone. >> dad, what are your dreams for me? >> for you to live out your dreams. there's an old proverb the talks about when children are born, children come out with their fist closed because that is where they keep all of their gifts will step as you grow, your hands learn to unfold because you are learning to release your gifts to the world. and so for the rest of your life, i want to see you live with your hands unfolding. amy: that was nine year old aidan sykes who said down with his dad albert to ask him a few questions for storycorps, the largest oral history project in the world. we will be playing some of these throughout next week. that does it for our show. 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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