10/03/16 10/03/16 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now! >> we thought the yes vote was going to win. we had hoped columbia was going to understand the was as door chance to end a war that doesn't make any sense. it doesn't make sense that six money people displaced and 500,000 people killed. amy: in a shocking development, voters in colombia have narrowly rejected a peace deal that would have ended one of the world's longest-running armed conflicts. we will get the latest. then to pioneering african-american film director ava duvernay and her powerful new documentary "13th." off13th" is the jumping

point of a wide-ranging conversation, and tour through history of racism, especially in subjugation in this country. is the first time a documentary opened at the new york film festival in its more than 50 year history. we will speak to director ava duvernay and see clips from her new film, which shows our justice system has been driven by racism from slavery to mass incarceration today. >> the 13th mm and to the constitution exit unconstitutional to be held as a slave. there are exceptions including criminals. courts the loophole was immediately exploited. what you got after that was a rapid transition to a mythology of black criminality. the we will speak with

director as well as the love the film -- malkia cyril of the center for media justice, professor kevin gannon of grand view university, and lisa graves about alec in the private system from the cca to the american veil coalition. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. in colombia, voters have rejected a peace agreement between the government and the farc rebels in a shocking turn of events that threatens to prolong the nation's 52-year-old civil war. the few still lost by margin of 49.8% to 50.2%, a stunning upset for referendum expected to pass overwhelmingly. in havana, where peace talks have taken place over the past four years, farc leader rodrigo londoño promised his movement would continue to work towards peace. maintains its

willingness for peace and reiterates its position use only words as weapons to work toward the future. to the colombian people who dream of these, you can count on us. peace will win out. amy: colombian president santos sent his negotiating team back to havana for talks and said a ceasefire with the farc would remain in effect. many of those voting no objected to the peace deal's offer of amnesty, limited immunity from prosecution, and reduced sentences granted to farc rebels. we'll have more on sunday's historic no vote on colombia's peace agreement after headlines. in news from the campaign trail, three of donald trump's newly revealed tax returns show trump claimed an income tax loss of nearly $917 million on his 1995 returns. the deduction means trump could have paid zero federal income taxes over an 18 year period. the trump campaign has not

challenged the authenticity of the documents, which were leaked to the "new york times," but said in a statement -- "mr. trump is a highly-skilled businessman who has a fiduciary responsibility to his business, his family and his employees to , pay no more tax than legally required." trump's media surrogates defended the practice, including former new york city mayor rudolph giuliani, speaking with cnn's jake tapper. >> you might remember a few years ago it was pointed out that ge paid no taxes. is, this is part of our tax code. the man is a genius. he knows how to operate the tax code for the benefit of the people he is serving. amy: donald trump's tax records were sent to the new york times by an anonymous source, with a return address listed as originating from trump tower. a lawyer for trump threatened the "new york times" with prompt legal action. trump has refused to make his tax returns public, breaking a precedent followed by every presidential nominee since 1976. meanwhile, donald trump

continued to lash out at critics, including former miss universe alicia machado, who says trump's criticism of her weight gains sparked an eating disorder. in a series of early-morning messages on twitter, trump accused machado of appearing in a sex tape. there's no evidence machado ever appeared in a sex tape. but there's new evidence that donald trump has. but there is new evidence that donald trump has. in a soft-core pornographic video by buzzfeed, trump appears. he breaks a bottle of champagne over a playboy-branded limousine. amy: elsewhere, reporter alleged on saturday that donald trump once called her the c-word in the 1980's. jennifer lin says trump used the slur to her boss after she wrote a story about trump's business dealings in atlantic city in 1988.

lin's former editor, craig stock, confirmed the story. in other campaign news, a leaked audio recording reveals hillary clinton told a group of donors she's the center-left to center-right alternative to bernie sanders and donald trump. the candid remarks were recorded at a clinton fundraiser in virginia last and leaked late february last week by the conservative website washington free beacon. in the remarks, clinton says she is straddling the line between two extremes in american politics. on the republican side, she says is a populist, nationalist, xenophobic, discriminatory approach. mrs. clinton: id desire to believe that we can have free college, free health care, that what we have done as an gone far enough and we just need to go as far as scandinavia, whatever that means. and half the people don't know what it means, but it is something that they feel.

so as a friend of mine said the other day, i am occupying from the centerleft to the center-right. i don't have much company there. amy: in the caribbean, ae matthg down on jamaica, haiti and cuba. haiti urged residents in coastal areas to evacuate, and there are fears for the thousands still living in tents following the massive earthquake in 2010. in cuba, the u.s. military says it's airlifting 700 employees, and some family pets, from the naval base at guantanamo bay, although there are no plans to , evacuate the 61 prisoners detains to teens -- there. in syria, government forces and their allies advanced on aleppo after a pair of barrel bombs hit the main hospital, knocking it out of commission and shutting off essential health care to most of east aleppo's 275,000 residents. -- 250,000 residents. u.n. secretary-general has called the attacks on medical facilities war crimes.

the violence came as residents described aleppo as a living hell with water, fuel, medicine, and electricity all in short supply. elsewhere in syria, an air strike in idlib on thursday flattened an apartment building, where a video posted online purports to show rescue workers with the white helmets volunteers digging an infant out of the rubble. >> we have been working for two or three hours. thank god we found her alive. she is lucky she is still alive. one-month-old. the baby is just one month old. two hours of work. that is 30 days old full's amy: meanwhile, russia warned the united states not to oppose its military campaign in support of bashar assad's forces, warning that a u.s. intervention could lead to "frightening tectonic shifts in the middle east." in ethiopia, as many as 52 people died in a stampede after police shot guns into the air and fired tear gas and rubber bullets into a large anti-government demonstration

sunday. the protest began as an estimated 2 million people joined a religious festival in ethiopia's oromia region -- home to the oromo people, who for the last two years have staged anti-government protests. in august, ethiopian olympic runner feyisa lelisa raised his arms in an "x" as he won a silver medal in the marathon to protest ethiopia's human rights abuses against his tribe, the oromo people. in the french port city of calais, police fired tear gas and water cannons at refugees and their supporters on saturday as the french government pressed ahead with plans to close the refugee camp known as "the jungle." about 200 refugees and 50 of their supporters held the demonstration to protest desperate conditions in the camp, which is home to some 7000 people fleeing war and poverty. some of the protesters hoisted british flags as they called on the british government to accept more refugees. this is an asylum seeker.

>> open the uk border. let them through. that is the political situation. in france, there's no political situation. we denounced that. amy: in hungary, a national referendum on whether to exclude refugees from the country failed when less than half the electorate turned out, rendering sunday's results null and void. of those who voted, more than 95% sided with prime minister rejecting european union quotas , on resettling asylum seekers. the government spent 16 million euros of taxpayer money on a campaign demonizing refugees and urging a rejection of quotas. prime minister orban has previously called asylum seekers a poison and has praised donald trump's anti-refugee platform. the state of texas formally friday withdrew from the federal refugee resettlement program. republican governor greg abbott cited security concerns, saying he wants a promise from the federal government that refugees are fully vetted and do not

present a security threat. the move is unlikely to stop the resettlement of refugees in texas, but it will stop the state from disbursing federal dollars to local resettlement agencies. in december, texas sued the federal government in a bid to block a syrian family from resettlement in the state. a federal court dismissed that case, though texas is appealing. police in the san diego, california, suburb of el cajon have released a pair of videos showing the death of unarmed go.ndan refugee alfred olan the first video captured on a security camera at a nearby restaurant shows olango confronted by richard gonsalves approaches longer with his gun drawn. a longer was cornered there a parked pickup truck and a fence as officer gonsalves follows, raising his gun. a second video taken on a cell phone camera shows second officer arriving on the scene

and aiming a taser as olango's sister pleads with officers not to shoot her brother. >> don't shoot him. [indiscernible] [gun shots] [screaming] an: police say he pulled out electronic cigarette and the police officer gonzales mistook it for a gun. no psychiatric emergency response team was deployed, even though police to the call was for a mental health emergency and it took the police 50 minutes to get there. protests continue drop the weekend in el cajon and san diego were demonstrators are calling for federal probe into the killing. meanwhile in charlotte, north carolina, police say they will publicly release all -- cam and the killing of

keith lamont scott. the police department says it is allowing scott's family to review the footage before it makes the videos public this week. police previously released portions of video of the killing, and even the police chief admits the videos do not show scott clearly holding a gun. north carolina is an open-carry state. meanwhile, democratic presidential candidate hillary clinton visited the little rock ame zion church in charlotte over the weekend, where she appeared along side 9-year-old zianna oliphant, whose testimony at a charlotte city council meeting about police brutality went viral. you can go to our website at democracynow.org to see the nine-year-old's testimony. in new york city, the man who recorded eric garner's death is set to turn himself in to police this morning to begin a four year prison sentence. ramsey orta says he was arrested on trumped-up drugs and weapons charges as payback for filming the fatal police chokehold that killed eric garner on july 17, 2014. ramsey orta is the only person

at the scene of eric garner's death who will serve jail time. the chief justice of the alabama supreme court, judge roy moore, has been suspended over his defiance of a u.s. supreme court order on marriage equality. on friday, alabama's court of the judiciary found judge moore guilty on six charges after moore ordered probate judges to violate federal law and refuse to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples back in january. the move effectively ends justice moore's career on the bench since a state law will prohibits him from running for a new term because of his age. and a new report from the bureau of investigative journalism says the pentagon gave a overoversial uk pr firm half $1 billion to run a top secret propaganda program in iraq. former bell pottinger video editor martin wells says the company would produce phony al qaeda videos, and then u.s. marines would plant the videos on compact discs during house

raids. and anyone watching the videos later would have their i.p. address logged and their location recorded. wells says bell pottinger employees also produced fake tv news reports that were designed to look as though they were made by arab reporters, rather than that british pr firm. >> a bomb would go off, people would die. people would be filming it. it would come back. we would then edit it and then go out and various channels within the region. and we were to make it as best we could look as if it was made locally -- which it is shot locally and edited locally. it was more to make it look like it was arabic. amy: wells said his bell pottinger's content was signed off on by david petraeus, then commander of the coalition forces in iraq, and occasionally by the white house. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now, democracynow.org, the war and

peace report. i'm amy goodman. in colombia, voters have rejected a peace agreement between the government and the nation's largest rebel group in a shocking turn of events that threatens to prolong the nation's 52-year-old civil war. by a razor-thin vote of 50.2% to 49.8%, colombians rejected the peace deal hammered out with the farc guerrilla movement and signed just days ago by colombian president juan manuel santos. it was a stunning upset for a referendum that was expected to pass overwhelmingly. in havana, where peace talks have taken place over the past four years, farc leader rodrigo londoño promised his movement would continue to work towards peace. >> the farc maintains its willingness for peace and reiterates its position use only words as weapons to work of the future. to the colombian people who dream of peace, you can count on us. peace will win out. amy: president santos sent his

negotiating team back to havana for talks today and said a cease-fire with the farc would remain in effect. turnout in the referendum was low, less than 40% nationwide, just 25% in some areas along the caribbean coast hit with heavy rain from hurricane matthew. in bogota, many supporters of the peace deal wept as results came in. >> i am daniela. i am a law student and i voted yes because i thought colombia was going to say yes. no one thought this was really going to happen. we were hopeful we were going to live in a new country. we had hoped for so many things, but people simply decided to continue with the war, continue with pain of more than 50 years, and not think about us, the young people nor all of the future generations. i think this agreement was not perfect and it had no -- it have points that are not very good, but of her an agreement where some of the words are wrong that of war were the bullet firing at

people's heads. amy: many of those voting no objected to the peace deal's offer of amnesty, limited immunity from prosecution, and reduced sentences granted to farc rebels. alvaro uribe, the right-wing former president, led the no campaign, arguing rebels should not be allowed to re-enter society without facing punishment. >> this gives impunity to run for office to the highest leaders of the farc, the largest cocaine trafficking cartel in the world. amy: colombia's civil war began in 1964 and has claimed some 220,000 lives. more than 5 million people are estimated to have been displaced. joining us here in new york is mario murillo, a longtime colombian activist and a professor of communications at hofstra university. he is the author of, "colombia and the united states: war, unrest, and destabilization." can you talk about the significance of this note vote? >> i think we put too much weight on the referendum to begin with, but it is

significant. theously, the supporters of no vote, those who ended up winning by slim margin, are calling it a victory in a demonstration of colombian democracy. in many ways, it is emblematic of colombian democracy when you talk about high levels of extension, which you pointed avenue introduction, when you talk about a major disparity between the rural areas most affected by the war, who voted overwhelmingly in favor of saying yes to the peace deal, despite its problem, they voted yes. and the urban areas or for the most part they been distant from ,he war and have not lived it as directly in the countryside, voted more in favor of no. trumpy, the fear, why is leading were now facing possible election in this country? how to the brexit situation happen in the uk? in colombia, the intimidation -- fear was so powerful

probable, so strong in the media and the coverage with irobe and what is cap without, it was all most inevitable it was going to be this result. i think part of the problem was they put too much weight on the vote as opposed to pointing out, ok, what needs to be done to really put an end to this war? amy: what happens next? this issident santos -- a huge failure for him, saying he is sending the team back to havana to negotiate, that yes to reach out more to uribe and the no forces, but he says the cease-fire will remain in effect as the farc say. what does this mean? >> i think that is what everyone is hoping. queens, neweights, york city, it is like the heart of the colombian community in new york. you could see the vision. you could see 60 people outside the polling place, 70 people --

totally in favor of yes. 60 to 70 people on the other side of the street operated by barricades and police totally in favor of no, and screening pretty hostile things that those in the yes vote. that is the vision that exists in colombia. the people in the yes side are insisting this is not necessarily a victory for war, that we have to just work harder to try to address the many problems that face colombia right now. there are concerns -- this is something not being reported -- is that the backlash has only begun against supporters of the yes vote in against the farc. there were reports yesterday and the week leading up to the referendum on sunday that the right and the remaining members, the armbands best to remain as former paramilitary that would be mobilized underuribe where you did not see the public outcry we're seeing with the

farc, saying the minute these farc rebels turn in their weapons, the will be considered military targets. that is not even being reported. the issue of what will happen subsequent to this accord. i've we're putting too much weight on the accord and not what is going to happen, whether or not it won the vote, what was going to happen subsequent to that. i think we should be paying attention to what is happening in the countryside, the level of intimidation against both former farc rebels if this process continues to move forward and the people who are in those areas that are supporting a cessation of hostilities. amy: uribe made this referendum on impunity for farc, but what about the paramilitaries and the government, those forces that were still responsible for so many deaths? >> i think the issue of impunity is a tough one. we keep focusing on impunity for the farc. the peace deal was also talking about dealing with the soldiers and the military members --

public forces, the armed forces of colombia involved in massive atrocities during the 50 year civil war. nobody talks about them as getting off scott free as well. which is one of the issues. the issue is, what you're pointing out, uribe negotiated a deal with the paramilitary groups, right-wing groups working hand-in-hand with the armed forces during out a dirty war in a countryside for decades -- massacring people, forcibly displacing millions of people -- when that process was unfolding, there was no opposition -- there was a lot of opposition, but you did not hear uribe and the right-wing talking about impunity at that point. these people, the head of the ac , walked in the congress and got a standing ovation. here they are concerned about giving 10 seats to the farc as part of the p still in congress. that would only last for eight years. -- it is disingenuous at

best and typical of the colombian right. the right in colombia does not seek anything without a brutal fight against those your struggling for social justice. unfortunately, that is now going to be pushed back even further because of this referendum. amy: do you see the cease-fire holding? will there be another referendum held? less than half the population voted, less than 40%. >> it is still unclear. i think the farc, at least at the high command level, are totally convinced they have to cease hostilities. the level of tranquility in some parts of the countryside is recognizable and i think all sides are recognizing we can't go back into war. my fear -- i think many are pointing this out -- there is going to be acts of violence committed by both the right and by some remnants of the farc and other groups still operating in

the country that are going to be projected in the media as hostilities renewing at a level of what we saw 2, 3, 5 years ago. the minute that happens, then the media once again we will see an onslaught of, see, these guys are not serious about negotiation, once again going at war. because there are members of the farc, a small minority of the farc still concerned about handing in their weapons and being part of this demobilization process. they get into a firefight, then carry out attacks, especially from sectors of the right, it could get pretty ugly pretty quickly. amy: mario murillo, thank you for being with us longtime , colombian activist and a professor of communications at hofstra university. he is the author of "colombia and the united states: war, unrest, and destabilization." this is democracy now! when we come back, we will talk to the first african-american director to be nominated whose film -- first african-american

woman director whose film was nominated for an oscar. it was open some of those quote -- it was "selma," ava duvernay, with a new documentary been released this week called "13th." stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we turn to a brilliant new documentary that chronicles our justice system has been driven by racial bias from the days of slavery to today's era of mass incarceration. the film is directed by ava duvernay and it's called "13th," named for the constitutional amendment that abolished slavery with the exception of punishment for crime. on friday, the film became the first documentary to ever open the almost six decade old new york film festival. this is the film's trailer. >> one out of four human beings

with their hands-on bars, shackled come in the world are locked up here in the land of the free. >> click brother was stopped by police. >> they said, we're going to take to the precinct and most likely we will let you go home within -- i never went home. >> the 13th of moment to the constitution makes it unconstitutional for someone to be held as a slave. includingexceptions criminals. >> the loophole was immediately exploited. what you got after that was a rapid transition to a mythology of black criminology. a beast that needed to be controlled. >> you better believe it. >> became virtually impossible for a politician to run and

appear soft on crime. >> the kinds of kids that are called super predators. >> millions of dollars will be allocated for prison and jail facilities. >> three strikes and you are out. >> an enormous burden the black unity, but also violated a sense of core fairness. to keeps were required these prisons filled, even if no one was committing a crime. >> difficult, it is become heavily monetized. >> focuses on taking people on probation. >> how much progress is it now that there is a private copy making money off the gps monitor? >> now have more african-americans under colonel supervision than all of the slaves in 1850's. >> products of the history that our ancestors chose. products of that set of choices that we have to understand in order to escape from.

only human after all, dope of the blame on me ♪ \ amy: that was the trailer for ava duvernay's new film "13th." it will be available to stream on netflix this friday. the united states accounts for 5% of the world's population, but 25% of its prisoners. in the year 2014, more than 2 million people were incarcerated in the united states -- of those, 40% are african-american men. according to the sentencing project african-american men , will have a 1-in-3 chance of going to prison in their lifetimes if incarceration trends continue. well, on saturday, i had a chance to sit down with acclaimed director ava duvernay after the friday net crime near of this friday night premiere of her new documentary, "13th." her previous work includes the

hit 2014 film "selma," which told the story of the campaign led by dr. martin luther king, jr., to draw the nation's attention to the struggle for equal voting rights by marching from selma to montgomery, alabama, in march of 1965. with "selma," duvernay became the first african-american woman director to have a film nominated for best picture at the academy awards. as we sat down together on saturday, i began by asking ava duvernay about the significance of the film's title "13th." >> "13th" is the jumping off point for conversation of -- a wide-ranging conversation that gives you a tour through the oppression,acism, and subjugation in this country of black people as a relates to the criminal justice system. "13th" is speaking about the 13th amendment, specifically the criminality clause states that slavery is abolished in this country except if we decide that you are a criminal. amy: and what does that mean?

from 1865 when the 13th amendment was passed to today? >> that is what "13th" explores. we take you from 18 625 and the abolition of slavery to the enactment of the 13th amendment all the way to now and the black lives matter movement and we trace decade by decade, generation by generation, politicians like politician, president by president, each decision and how it has led to this moment. we try to get some historical context to what is happening now. i think people get in this present moment and forget we are part of a legacy. the legacy is rich, but also very violent. so we try to get into the deep layers in the film. amy: let's go to a clip of "13th." >> the 13th them image the constitution makes it unconstitutional for someone to be held as a slave. in other words, it grants americans.all

there are exceptions, including criminals. there is a loophole. if you have that embedded in the structure in this constitutional language, then it is there to be used as a tool for whichever purposes one wants to use it. amy: that is a clip from "13th." 's film.rnay how did you go from "selma" to choosing to make this documentary, which opened the new york film festival -- first time ever a documentary opened the film festival in over half a century. >> yes. it is not a terrible decision that you would make -- typical decision that you would make after "selma," but i have no president. there is no black woman to ask, what is the right decision because you have done it before?

i'm try to create my own path. a lot of beautiful black women filmmakers, but none have been in the position where, unfortunately, they've had to decide what to do next after a film that got as much attention as "selma." i thought, there can't be a wrong decision. i'm not going to do what my white male counterparts my do, i'm going to do what feels right. when netflix asked if i would like to make a documentary about anything, we would pay for it, i know i wanted to explore this issue. is he like the perfect time. amy: the power of this film, and you go from president to president. i remember seeing you at sundance when you talked about showing the film to the first of american president in the white house. 100 years after another president viewed a film there and that film is in this film. >> "birth of a nation" is a great jumping off point to talk

about the immersion that we as americans have had with images that show black men, black people as criminals because it really and truly started with that film. in a way that was using the power cinematic image to subjugate, to turn the tide, to change opinion. masterfulh was a filmmaker. he a lot of techniques we still use today. he invented them. too bad he was a racist. all of those tools he was using was used to make people think that -- other people think that people like me are less than they are. amy: and president wilson's response? >> that the film was history written and lightning. amy: that there was nothing more true, 1915. let's talk about the presidential candidates have today. your film does not start and end with these candidates, but it does refer to them. talk about hillary clinton and donald trump. >> it is interesting the two

candidates are in the film, but not really specifically about their candidacy. oddly enough, both of these public figures have touched on this issue in their public life. we basically are illuminating that. donald trump and his comments and his call for death of the central park five, taking out an ad, really being in the forefront of that issue fits into section where we talk about media imagery in the insidious nature -- and mrs. clinton with comment say she made about super predators, comment about reversing her husband's legislation and the crime bill that she supported at the time. they are embedded in the documentary in historical context, not even speaking of them as candidates. we do have a section where we show mr. trump and some of his rallies. we put imagery that i believe he is invoking against his words in

the rallies. so in one of the rallies, he talks about the good old days where people were ripped from their seats and taken out in stretchers. then we show you images of the good old days when black people sitting at lunch counters tried to desegregate were ripped from their seats and taken out in stretchers. they are both there. hopefully, people can interrogate the candidates more deeply than i think we -- not your viewers -- but most of the public is giving them a pass because we're so embroiled in twitter feeds and nonsense and not asking about the issues. amy: this film coming out in this pivotal election season. how do you hope it will affect the election? answers, people demand demands and strategy, demand a plan. neither one of them has really talked in great detail or enough detail for me as to what their feelings are about this issue in a way that is when to make long-term change. there is a lot of cosmetic talk,

but i'm interested in a full commitment to making change. that can only happen to people demand it. amy: and you are focused on committed the menu different people you interview, a centerpiece, michelle alexander. talk about her significance and that of angela davis. >> queen angela davis, to sit down with her, one of the architects of the present abolitionist movement, one of the first people to really found the term prison industrial complex. her work in this space them along before became the issue of this moment thomas of to sit down with her and have a wide ranging conversation is elevating and every sense. she's a big part of the fabric of the documentary. michelle alexander, her work, a lot of people are thinking about this and trying to take -- she educates and opens eyes to and take a further in the documentary. so she was gracious -- not

further in a negative way, but to continue with that line of thought. she was gracious enough to sit down and gives a wonderful interview. i got to see where she teaches. she is a big, big part, a big boys in this doc. brian stevenson and kevin gannon does a lot of really wonderful people who are sharing their hearts and hopefully people will feel that. amy: what gives you hope? the faces of black people whenever i see them. there is black joy amidst all of the black trauma. all of the years of violent, subjugation, prejudice, all of the years of not being able move forward free in this country, all the rights and freedoms, there is still joy. there is survival there that still allows for there to be a light, and that is such a

strength. that is such a beauty. whenever i see black people gathered more than one gives me hope. amy: that was ava duvernay, director of the new documentary "13th." it is the first documentary ever to open the new york film festival, to rave reviews and standing ovations. let's turn to another clip of "13th." >> the war on drugs have become part of our popular culture and television programs like "cops." >> when you cut on your local news at night, you see black man being paraded across the screen in handcuffs. >> black people, black men and black people in general are overrepresented in news as criminals. n as means they are show criminals than is accurate,

based on fbi statistics. >> i am a big believer in the power of media, full of these cliches that basically present mostly black and brown folks who seem like animals in cages, then someone can turn off the tv thinking it is a good thing for prisons, otherwise crazy people would be walking on my blog. >> people are afraid. when you make people afraid, you can always justify people and garbage cans. ticket are you can run a waiting to relieve you of your wallet or purse. >> i begin to hear the word super predator as if that was my name. >> super predator. >> predator. >> super predators. >> that is the word they use to describe this generation and it was very, very effective. >> experts call them super predators. >> they're not just gangs of kids anymore, they're often the kinds of kids that are called super predators. no conscience, no empathy. >> animals that needed to be

controlled. >>'s grandmother says, but he is a good boy. he never did anything all stop don't you believe it. >> many black communities began to support policies that criminalize their own children. fox last night the 18 accused of the attack were arraigned on charges of rape and attempted murder. talks in the central part job or case, they put people in prison -- innocent people in prison. >> you better believe i hate the people that took this girl and raped her brutally. >> donald trump wanted to give these people the death penalty and took out a full-page ad to put the pressure. these children all went to adult prison for six to 11 years before dna evidence proved they were all innocent. amy: that is another clip from ava duvernay's new documentary "13th."

it opened the new york film festival on friday. on saturday, just before i sat down with ava duvernay, i sat down with two of the people featured in the film. among those who are in the film, michelle alexander, angela davis on the common rights for music. but malkia cyril of the center for media justice and kevin gannon of grand to university in iowa. i started by asking malkia cyril what she wanted the film to convey. >> my biggest hope is that people understand two things. one that slavery has already been amended once, let's not do it again. into the hands of police officers, electronic monitoring, aerial surveillance over baltimore, it is critical that we don't repeat the mistakes that have happened in the past and turn our communities into open-air prisons, even as we decarcerate the facilities themselves.

i want people to walk away with the knowledge that this country was built on the bones, the work, the labor, the lives of black bodies. it continues to profit from that exploited labor. we continue to profit from this system that we call white supremacy that we don't want to accept word knowledge. and that system is going to come to an end. amy: professor gannon, this trajectory from the 13th amendment to mass incarceration. take us on that journey. >> as the film talks about, we like to look at the 13 the moment is something that ended labrie. the civil war ended slavery. that is our mythology. it doesn't. slavery persist. slavery is a state of profound u nfreedom. of being owned and subjugated under another. the clause in the 13th amendment that has except in the cases of

ever.nal, that is the l makeup explain. unconstitutional, but there is the dependent cause, except in the cases of having committed a crime. here is this lever now to basically carry forward slavery under a different guise. slaves have prison uniforms down. the convict labor gangs of the late 19th century, that is not a coincidental, a novel invention. if you look in mealy after the civil war, the x confederate states passed laws called black codes that basically criminalize an entire range of behavior. you could be imprisoned for a year if you were arrested for vagrants the. it was defined so broadly. things like walking up the street and looking at 70. not being able to produce your labor contract for the plantation you were working for. criminalization of

black as. in attempt to retain as much of slavery as possible without the name of slavery." amy: take afford to now. >> that is the structure built. the continues across before the civil war, it maintains the racial caste system that the united states was built on and continues to profit from. as long as african-americans and people of color are seen as dehumanized, as outside of civil society, that is where we get to today. in this different iterations built upon the same structural outlook. amy: kevin gannon of grand view university in des moines, iowa, and malkia cyril center for media justice, both appear in ava duvernay's new documentary "13th." it will be released by netflix on friday. when we come back, another of the people featured in the , on theary, lisa graves privatization of criminal

justice in this country and its relationship with alec. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. ava duvernay's new documentary released3th" is being by netflix on friday. it premiered at the new york film festival at lincoln center here in new york. part of the documentary looks at how alec, the america legislative exchange council, has played a central role and the expansion of the was present system. alec's worked with states to write legislation promoting the privatization of prisons in addition to pushing for harsher, longer sentences. joining us now is lisa graves, executive director of the center for media and democracy also featured in "13th." talk about that these us of the film "13th."

the 13th just about the mimic, but the clause within the 13th amendment that goes from slavery in the amendment of 1865 to mass incarceration today and then how private corporations play a role in this. >> this film is a man deficit -- and the present about race and crime in america and tells new stories. one story is about how that amendment where it says you can't be enslaved or you can be put in involuntary servitude unless you are committed of a crime -- convicted of a crime. this has really manifested in the 20th century and 21st century. one thing that ava duvernay brilliantly shows is the role of corporations in joining in this racialized criminal justice system, how corporations through alec have advance her own bottom line. one thing she helps document is the role of the corrections corporation of america within alec, a member of alec for a

number years as we have written about, the chair of alec's crime has force for a number of years and ultimately left alec after was disclosed that cca was in the room when corporations were voting on the sb 1070 legislation in arizona that would have put -- designed to put more immigrants in detention facilities and jails for immigrants. cca is one of the many corporations part of alec as it has pushed both for privatization prisons as well as measures to meet people go to jail for longer sentences. amy: explain how alec works. your private corporations like cca and then you have the legislators who introduced the legislation's cowritten by the corporations. >> one thing we discovered when we launched alec exposed is it wasn't just corporations were lobbying these numbers, they were voting as equals with politicians at these alec task force meetings. corporations helped fund scholarships for legislators to go on these fancy trips, then they are wined and dined on

these trips. at alec task force meetings, they vote as equals. these bills are written by or pert lobby of them designed to advance the interests. cca claims it never voted on those bills. it was there when those bills moved forward that helped it privatize prisons, helped make it easier for people to be put into employment circumstances and prisons that ava documents as well. and a number of bills, three strikes you're out, mandatory minimums, numerous bills to put more people in jail for longer -- which all increase the profits of corporations that fund alec like cca. amy: you go from cca to abc, the american bail coalition. . >> it is a trade group that basically has documented itself, praised alec to its members saying it helps put abc on the

map. what abc has done his work for the privatization of bail in this country, which has increased profits for bell bondsman, built on services and are so for people who accused of crimes not yet convicted. one thing that happened after we connected the dots on the stand your ground law in florida and how it was pushed by out like into laws in state after state driven to corporations left alec, but one that remained was this trade group abc because they want a piece of the pie for people who are released from jail. this is alec's effort to privatize every bit of the criminal justice system and abc stands to benefit from that. amy: where do the koch fit into this? >> koch industries has had a seat on alec's board with all of these bills to privatize prisons , to put people in jail and for longer. but also, alec and the kochs

have been working on the right on crank initiative, part of the criminal justice reform. but what people don't realize is within that reform package are measures to make it easier for corporations to get away, get out of jail free. if they are successful, it would make it easier for corporations to make crimes and get away with it. amy: let me go to a guest we had on democracy now! will interviewed mark holden senior , vice president and general counsel for koch industries, on why the koch brothers were getting involved in a coalition to reform the criminal justice system. >> charles and david koch believe in expensive liberties -- expansive liberties. if your goals are to honor the bill of rights and remove obstacles to opportunity, especially for the poor disadvantage coming up to be a criminal justice arena. to answer your question, as van pointed out, what worked 20 or 30 years ago does not work today. and we have to have the intellectual honesty and courage

and humility to correct that will step in business, we do that all the time when things are not working. what we're seeing happen in the states is really a template for what should happen at the federal level and making sure everything we do and the answer is public safety and honors the bill of rights and treats everybody in the system as individuals with dignity and respect, particularly victims, law enforcement, the incarcerated, the accused, and a families. amy: that is mark old and. he appeared on democracy now! with van jones. lisa graves? >> what they have not done is acknowledge their role. koch industries has been a leader of alec, a board chair for the corporate board. they presided over the whole expansion of the criminal justice system at the state level through alec. and now it was to pretend it was not a leader of alec digna's

measures. where there is consensus for reform, i think that shamu ford, but where koch is tied to change the law to make it easier to limit accountability for financial crimes, environmental crimes and other crimes of corporations my commit, i think those revisions should be dropped. they have not been honest about that. the kochs are trying to british thereputation -- burnish reputation. amy: i want to shift gears a bit, lisa. you have been looking at the koch for quite some time, looking up politics in this country. close to 100 scientists have signed on to letter decrying inadequate environmental and cultural impact assessments for the dakota access pipeline calling for a halt to construction until such test have been carried out. this is the dakota access pipeline $3.8 billion pipeline being built in north dakota that is being vehemently protested by

not only be standing rock sioux of the area, but hundreds of native american tribes from latin america, u.s. and canada. what do you know about the politics year and the connection between the private company, the dakota access pipeline company, and the government of north dakota? >> what we know is there is a tremendous amount of influence by oil industry on the republican attorney general's association. throughhave disclosed our open records request and other investigations is the incredible role of oil companies, quitting at on, but other companies in basically getting influence with these attorney general will step the attorney general of north dakota has been the agent for more than 15 years, top law-enforcement officer of that state yet he is been part of a pay to play operation that is the republican attorney general association where they raise money for this group. it then helps fund those campaigns of those attorneys general. meanwhile, corporations are

getting special access to attorneys general to push their agenda. they have used that access and a number of ways. we have only been documenting heart of it. this goes back for more than a decade, the role of raga and the republican 80's with the energy industry companies. we do not know the full story yet that we know undoubtedly the fossil fuel industry has a disproportionate role withinraga and use that to attack the clean power plan and the other measure the trust of the democratic restraint on the oil and gas industry. amy: finally, presidential election, the washington post reporting donald trumps transition team for the environmental protection agency ofludes a climate skeptic the competitive enterprise institute. can you explain who he is? he was recently speaking at the returning -- republican attorney general. >> we posted a transcript of his comment at that event. what we know about him is that he is one of the most

skeptic, climate change deniers. the tune ofh millions of dollars. she advances -- one of the merchants of doubt as the book famously said, one of the guys who basically is determined to sow seeds of doubt and try to throw every obstacle he can and the way necessary effort to address the climate changes that are underway. amy: lisa graves, thanks for being with us executive director , of the center for media and democracy and publisher of prwatch.org and exposedbycmd.org . she is featured in ava duvernay plus new documentary just being released on friday by netflix called "13th." 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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