10/28/16 10/28/16 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now! >> generally, procompetition and less concentration, i think, is generally helpful, especially in the media. but this -- i've not had a chance to dig into the details, but those are the kinds of questions we need to be asking. amy: at&t has agreed to purchase time warner for $85 billion. if approved by federal antitrust regulators, the megamerger could mean higher prices, violate net neutrality principles possibly, give at&t control over warner bros. film and television

studios, along with cnn, tnt, hbo, and many other brands. we will get reaction from craig aaron from free press and electronic frontier foundation. then to the standoff at standing rock. what we saw today is basically just another part of 500 years of colonization and aggressive and -- aggression. amy: hundreds of police with military equipment have raided a resistance camp established by native american water protectors in the path of the dakota access pipeline. we will go to standing rock for a life of dave. in venezuela, opposition leaders have called for national strike unless the election board allows for a stalled referendum recall president maduro. >> i am still asking, if not dialogue, what? what is the alternative to dialogue?

war, confrontation between venezuela men and women? amy: we will speak with mark weisbrot. his new article. all of that and more coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. in north dakota, hundreds of heavily armed police with military hardware raided a resistance camp established by native american water protectors in the path of the proposed $3.8 billion dakota access pipeline. on thursday afternoon, over 100 officers in riot gear with automatic rifles lined up across north dakota's highway 1806, flanked by armored personnel carriers, a sound cannon, humvees driven by national guardsmen, an armored police truck, and a bulldozer. water protecters say police

deployed tear gas, pepper spray, tasers, concussion grenades and bean bag rounds against the native americans, and shot rubber bullets at their horses. >> out of the roadway. [bleep] >> the police protecting and serving a pipeline and fossil fuel profits over human beings. they are macing people in the face. amy: water protectors used cars to blockade a highway and set fire to hay bales and tires. police arrested two people they accused of firing gunshots. four people locked themselves to a truck parked in the middle of the highway in efforts to stop the police advance. at least 141 people were arrested yesterday. dakota access pipeline company cranes and bulldozers were active just behind the police line on the site of the tribal burial ground where dakota access security guards unleashed dogs on native americans on

september 3. after headlines, we'll go to north dakota for the latest on the standoff at standing rock. thursday's mass arrests came as native american youth flooded the hillary clinton campaign headquarters in brooklyn, new york, to demand clinton oppose the dakota access pipeline. after clinton campaign staffers declined to meet with the delegation, they attempted to present a letter to security guards. >> we ask you to take this letter from us. >> please, take a letter. >> take the letter. amy: the protesters were later ordered by police to leave or face arrest. while vermont senator bernie sanders has come out against the pipeline, hillary clinton has so far refused to take a stance on . in the clinton campaign's first statement on the pipeline, spokesperson tyrone gayle wrote, in response to the young protesters -- "now, all of the parties involved.

need to find a path forward that serves the broadest public interest. as that happens, it's important that on the ground in north dakota, everyone respects demonstrators' rights to protest peacefully, and workers' rights to do their jobs safely." climate activist and 350.org founder bill mckibben responded on twitter, writing -- "hillary clinton managed to make a statement about the dakota pipeline that literally says nothing. literally." in oregon, a federal jury on thursday acquitted anti-government militia aders ammon and ryan bundy and five of their followers of conspiracy and weapons charges related to their armed takeover of a federal wildlife refuge earlier this year. the stunning verdict shocked federal prosecutors, who called the 41-day occupation of the malheur national wildlife refuge a lawless scheme to seize federal property by force. the occupation forced federal employees onto administrative leave cost the federal , government over $4 million and alarmed local residents. it also angered the paiute

tribe, which has treaty rights to the land the militia occupied. the tribe says militia members mishandled tribal artifacts and bulldozed sacred sites. militia leaders ammon and ryan bundy still face federal charges related to an armed standoff in nevada in 2014. u.n. secretary-general ban ki-moon is demanding an investigation into a strike on a school in idlib, syria, that killed 26 civilians, mostly children. ban's spokesperson said the attack could amount to a war crime. collect the secretary-general calls for an immediate and impartial investigation of this and similar attacks against civilians in the area. as such terrific acts persist despite global outrage, it is largely because their authors, weathering quarters of power were insurgent readouts, do not fear justice. they must be proved wrong. amy: russia's defense ministry denied that its warplanes were responsible for the attack. it released drone footage that it claimed showed the school was not struck from the air, and accused the syrian observatory for human rights and the civil

defense network, or white helmets, of spreading propaganda. in washington, a white house spokesperson said either syrian or russian warplanes were to blame. iraq faces what could become the largest humanitarian crisis in its history with hundreds of thousands set to be displaced during a u.s.-backed offensive aimed at retaking the city of mosul from isis. the latest data from the u.n. show more than 10,000 civilians have fled their homes since the launch of the offensive, with another 200,000 expected to flee in the next few weeks. the u.n. says it plans to build six camps capable of accommodating an estimated 80,000 civilians and can't rule out as many as one million displaced civilians as the fight continues. in calais, france, aid workers say dozens of children were left without shelter for a second consecutive night after authorities lured them from the ruins of their refugee camp, known as "the jungle," with false promises of help. french authorities told the

unaccompanied minors to line up for buses that would carry them to new refugee centers where they could apply for asylum or reunification with families in britain. but the teenagers were literally left out in the cold when the buses failed to materialize and riot police prevented them from reentering the camp. this is dorothy sang of the charity save the children. concerning, itly is getting dark. it is really cold. these children have had enough. they have been waiting months to be put into protective shelter. and now, once again, -- you know, we were asked to encourage them to get on these buses that never materialized. amy: on the campaign trail, donald trump repeated a campaign pledge to end all immigration by syrian refugees and others from what he called terror-prone nations. trump was speaking thursday in springfield, ohio. mr. trump: we are not going to take the risk when it comes to the safety of the american people no longer.

so let me say this as clearly as i can. if i am elected president, i am going to keep radical islamic l out of ourhe hel country. amy: meanwhile, another woman has come forward to accuse donald trump of sexual assault. ninni laaksonen, a former miss finland in the miss universe beauty pageant that trump once owned, says trump grabbed her buttocks during a photo shoot in 2006. laaksonen is the 12th woman to accuse trump of unwanted sexual contact since the release of a 2005 "access hollywood" tape in which trump boasted of sexually assaulting women. russian president vladimir putin has weighed in on claims that he is meddling in the u.s. presidential election. putin made the remarks thursday in southern russia. seriously think that russia can in some influence the choice of the american people? is america some time -- kind of

nano republic? america is a great country. correct me if i am wrong. amy: hillary clinton has accused rival donald trump of being a puppet of putin. she also says russia is behind the theft of campaign emails made public through wikileaks. president obama thursday granted clemency to 98 federal prisoners, bringing the total number of inmates whose sentences he's commuted to nearly 900. that's more than the previous 11 presidents combined. many of the prisoners received harsh sentences under mandatory minimum drug laws that critics say targeted communities of color. obama has also rejected a record number of commutations -- a result of a surge in applications since a clemency initiative announced in 2014. in the venezuelan capital of caracas, clashes broke out thursday as the country's increasingly militant opposition stepped up efforts to oust president nicolas maduro. opposition leaders have called for a national strike today and a march to the presidential

palace unless the election board allows for a stalled referendum on whether to recall president maduro. each side has accused the other of attempting a coup. venezuela political -- venezuela's political unrest comes as the country is grappling with a massive economic crisis, which has led to shortages of food, medicine and other necessary goods. , we'll have more on the crisis in venezuela later in the broadcast. the united nations thursday voted overwhelmingly to start talks aimed at abolishing all nuclear weapons. the landmark resolution will see the u.n. convene a conference next year to negotiate a legally binding instrument for worldwide nuclear prohibition. the vote was 123-38, with 16 countries abstaining. voting against were all nine known nuclear states -- china, russia, france, britain india, , pakistan, israel, north korea, and the united states. broadband internet providers will need to ask for permission if they want to sell customers' private data to third parties. well, that is under new rules adopted thursday by the federal communications commission. watchdog groups are hailing the

move as a major step forward on internet privacy. the media reform group free press said -- "the companies that carry all of our speech online have no business profiting from all the information they gather without our consent." the rules do not require internet providers to get clear permission before using private customer data themselves. the world's whaling watchdog agency moved thursday to restrict japan's annual whale hunt, rejecting claims by japanese whalers that they kill marine mammals for scientific research. advocate nicholas entrup of the group oceancare applauded the move by the international whaling commission, but said the organization lacked the teeth needed to enforce its decision. >> our concern, of course, remains because so far, even with the ruling of the international court of justice, japan has not stuck to that ruling and has ignored it. it has continued scientific whaling but under a new name, but little has changed. amy: and a united nations agency

has concluded a deal to create the world's largest marine reserve. today's agreement sets aside an area in antarctica's ross sea that's nearly as big as the state of alaska. this is u.s. state department official evan bloom. >> we have had a real achievement today. we have created the world's largest ring protected area, and that is a major step forward for marine conservation globally. it is a wonderful moment. amy: the marine sanctuary is home to whales, seals, penguins, and other animals. the agreement on the ross sea sanctuary came as the world wildlife fund released a shocking new study that finds more than two-thirds of the world's wildlife could be gone by 2020. 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'm juan gonzalez. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. we begin today's show with the proposed merger of telecommunications giant at&t

and time warner. at&t has agreed to purchase time warner for $85 billion. if approved by federal antitrust regulators, the merger would give at&t control over warner bros. film and television studios, along with cnn, tnt, hbo, and many other brands. critics warn of further limits to competition and higher prices for customers. the merger could also allow at&t to give preferential treatment to streaming video from time warner's companies, which would violate the principles of net neutrality. on the campaign trail, both hillary clinton and donald trump addressed the merger. mrs. clinton: look, i think it raises questions and concerns and they should be looked into. i hear congress will start having bipartisan hearings, which i think it's appropriate. i will follow it closely. obviously, if i am fortunate enough to be president, i will expect the government to conduct

a very thorough analysis before making a decision. mr. trump: they are trying desperately to suppress my vote and the voice of the american people. as an example of the power structure, at&t is buying time warner and thus cnn, a deal we will not approve in my administration because it is too much concentration of power in the hands of too few. juan: meanwhile, at&t is bracing for what is expected to be a lengthy and tough antitrust review of the proposed merger. the deal would need approval of the u.s. justice department and possible fcc approval. wall street analysts are trying to determine the likelihood of that approval. this is barclays capital managing director amir rozwadowski. >> it is difficult to put specific odds right now. i think we're digesting the fact this is just announced very recently, but i think that on

paper, you know, there is president and president generally is a good framework in terms of providing additional support for regulatory approval. the challenge to that, we're in a different environment. with this deal being announced on the eve of an election and what type of people will be put into place post that election, really will factor into some of the decisions being made about the approval of this transaction. amy: at&t has clashed with the fcc in recent years on a number of fronts. the company was among those who sued the fcc in 2015 to block the obama administration's landmark rules on net neutrality, which bar internet service providers from obstructing or slowing down consumer access to web content. meanwhile, new details have emerged about how at&t has been spying on americans for profit. the daily beast reports at&t is keeping private call records and selling the information to authorities investigating everything from the war on drugs to medicaid fraud.

the secret plan is called project hemisphere. at&t reportedly s been retaining every call, message, skype chat, or other communication that has passed through its infrastructure. some of the records date back to 1987. sheriff and police departments each pay upwards of $1 million a year for access to the call records. no warrants are needed and at&t requires governmental agencies to keep secret the source of the information. well, for more, we are joined by -- we're going to craig aaron president and ceo of free press, , which has come out against the multibillion-dollar merger of at&t and time warner. welcome to democracy notalk fire significance of this megamerger. >> megamerger is right, amy. i think the first thing for people to keep in mind is just how big this deal is. billionion to the $85 that is going to be shareholders at time warner, at&t is taking

on another $22 billion in debt will stop this is over $100 billion. we need a ask ourselves, for what? what is the benefit? if you're not a time warner shareholder, if you're not a senior executive, if you're not a wall street banker, there's very little in this deal for you accept higher prices and a new gatekeeper over what you watch, see, hear, and read every day. that is why we have come out strongly against this merger. we do not think it is in the public interest. we think it has huge problems putting this much media power under one corporate umbrella. juan: this reminds if years ago in 2011 when comcast took over telemundo at and the top, comcast was able to marshal support from any of the african-american and latino leaders in the country with promises of more diversity. famously, they put out sharpton

sharpton out there. then they started to reduce that kind of diversity in the program. to gety time they want one of these deals done, suddenly a company like at&t or comcast remembers, hey, now we are one of finally provide broadband to poor people in low-income communities. they make all of these problems about new kinds of programming and promotion, but you can look back at the record of merger after merger and most of those promises end up being broken. and once the week conditions expire, if they even bother to follow them at all, all of those promises go away but we are still left with this incredible concentration of power. done,t can get this deal after taking over directv, they are already the biggest satellite tv company in the country. have the most video subscribers

in the country, the second-biggest wireless company. they have a huge internet book print, and now they want to own big channels like cnn, tnt, hbo so they can really control how that information flows so they can cross subsidize themselves. they get to move the money from one pocket to another while raising costs on everyone else. the people ending up paying in the end are going to be there on subscribers who don't really have anywhere ousted turn. it will show up on their monthly bills. all of these promises we will here week after week, those will disappear. amy: you have at&t currently number 10 on the forbes 500 list , one of the u.s. highest grossing companies. time warner is number 99 on the list. forming this the norm us company. some of the pros are the promises of new kind of content a new phase of video innovation,

and arguing the deal will unleash this. how do you answer those? >> i don't see how at&t is going to do all of this innovation when they are so indebted. you look at what wall street is eyeing about this deal and there are a lot of concerns about them having to pay off this debt. where is this money going to come to invest in new products? second of all, are there really going to be consumer benefits and those new products or is at&t just going to be locking down the content, savoring their own content, making it harder for people to get what they want? people want to be a little watch whatever they want at any time. what these kind of corporate mergers do is lockdown that content. we can look at what happened with comcast and nbc. a lot of us were may be interested in watching the olympics over the summer. when we tried to do that, we were like, hey, why can i watched this anytime i want online? comcaston is because

owned all of the rights. they owned the tv rights, internet rights, and decided it was going to make them more money to lock you in and force you to watch it when they wanted you to watch it then when you wanted to do it. at&t is saying, we want to be of the do that, too. juan: what has been the reaction on wall street to this merger? remember back in 2000 when aol and time warner merged, it was billed as one of the visionary mergers and turned out to be a colossal failure. >> that is what is so interesting about this merger. normally at this point when one of these deals is announced, i'm the only one running around saying, hey, this can be stopped, this is a bad idea. this merger has not been well received by politicians or wall street. numerous analysts being quoted at best it is a 50/50 point flip. many segment think there is even a worse chance it will be approved and a lot of questions actually being raised on wall street is a, what do we need this for? where are the benefits? how is this going to spur innovation?

and being seen by some as a desperate move by at&t. that does that make it any less dangerous because it would lock so much content and control under the at&t umbrella. i think wall street is surprisingly skeptical about this deal, which is good news. and the politicians are a lot more skeptical about this deal, which is very good news. this is really a decision that will be made as a result of a political fight, a fight in washington and the fact that so many politicians in both hearties are actually out so strongly against this merger from the start i think is an encouraging signage to be stopped. which would be in everyone's best interest. amy: new details are emerging about how at&t has been spying on americans for profit. it is called project hemisphere. the daily beast reports at&t is keeping private call records and selling the information to authorities investigating everything from the war on drugs to medicaid fraud.

at&t reportedly has been retaining every call, text message, skype chat, or other communications that passed through its infrastructure. some of the records date act to 1987. sheriff and police departments across the country each pay upwards of $1 million he year for us to be call records. no words are needed and at&t requires governmental agencies to keep secret the source of information. amy: a 2014 statement of work from at&t to the city of atlanta published by daily beast outlines the secrecy at&t demanded. it reads -- "the government agency agrees not to use the data as evidence in any judicial or administrative proceedings unless there is no other available and admissible probative evidence. the government agency shall make every effort to insure that information provided by the contractor is non-attributable to at&t if the data is provided to a third-party." well, for more, we want to bring in adam schwartz to this conversation senior lawyer at , the electronic frontier foundation.

his latest article "at&t , requires police to hide hemisphere phone spying." so explain what is this project hemisphere? click the largest them, possibly the biggest database of telephone metadata that the government is using to spy on us. every day the database rows by literally 4 billion records. it has records going back to the 1980's most of police are using powerful algorithms just grew denies this database of everyone that we're having telephone and other digital communications with to discover our personal relationships. whether we are talking to a psychiatrist or criminal defense lawyer or a union organizer on the telephone. we view this as a menace to our privacy. one of the most disturbing features of it is how it has been kept a secret.

so that is the public and the courts and congress cannot scrutinize this program and decide whether we even want it. juan: how are they able to do this? wire the lawnot -- enforcement agencies not required to have court-ordered subpoenas to obtain these records? >> that is a great question. under federal statutes that protect our privacy, ordinarily, the police do have to go to a judge and get some kind of approval before they get this metadata a few we're talking to. what at&t has required the police to do through the provision of the contract that you just read is what the police call parallel construction and what the eff calls evidence laundering. what this means, after the police find evidence against someone in the hemisphere database, they wall it off from the training manual and they use a traditional subpoena to re-create the same evidence

trail. when it comes time to put the person on trial, they present the second that of cleaner evidence, and no one is the wiser that they were using this massive, disturbing, digital database to spy on all americans, including the criminal suspect. juan: wouldn't there be a requirement for the company to at least notify the consumers they are participating in something like this? >> unfortunately, there isn't. at&t, in his public comments about hemisphere, has adjusted they are merely responding to government requests for information, the same way that all kinds of providers of consumer services have to respond. in fact, as we see through the contract that at&t wrote, which can delay earlier this week in the daily beast, it was at&t who was to manning a government that the program be kept a secret. we do not know what at&t motives is to demand the secrecy, perhaps it is because at&t is

literally making millions of dollars a year from government agencies in exchange for providing this unique database of telephone records to the police for their scrutiny. amy: so the police a pay up to -- one police department somewhere may pay like $1 million to get this information? >> just to be clear, there is a task force, federal, state, local officials call the high-intensity drug trafficking areas, and it is funded by the white house office of national drug control policy. three centers across the country were at&t company's are posted along with dea agents another law enforcement, and that is the entry point for law enforcement to the at&t hemisphere database and the funding is a little bit shadowy but it is clear that one of these three centers, white

house finds to the tune of $1 million the year are going to going tofrom entering at&t. so it is not $1 million from each agency, but millions of dollars in total. juan: adam schwartz, and my correct, at&t does not only provide information on their own customers, but on other carriers who possibly may be going through the at&t infrastructure as well? >> that is exactly correct. any consumer, whether they are not -- whether or not they are with at&t, when a call goes through and at&t switch, it goes into the hemisphere database. if you are using roaming away from your own carrier's network and using at&t's network, then your call goes into the hemisphere database. again, 4 billion records per day from american consumers and for international calls into the hemisphere database.

amy: and the significance of broadband internet providers having to ask permission if they want to sell customers private data to third parties, the ruling that was just adopted thursday by the fcc? i think that the critical principle here is that consumers should have control over their data and corporations should not be diverting that data for their own profit reasons. we think -- amy: they can sell it to other companies, you are saying. not only to police agencies, but to corporations, they could sell your for you know, our text to each other. >> right. the ruling yesterday from the fcc, which the electronic frontier foundation lobbied for, said they have to get each individual consumers permission before they divert their private information to anything other than providing the standard

broadband service. so there is a parallel between that issue in the hemisphere issue, which is that consumers have a right to privacy and at&t should not be undermining that privacy. in the case of hemisphere, by creating the world's biggest or one of the world's biggest databases to allow the government to scrutinize our private relationships based on who we are having digital correspondence with. of free press,on your sense of how this information on the hemisphere program, whether this is going to become now part of the overall discussions on at&t's increased market power if it has this merger? >> i think it has to be. this is yet another example of why we can't trust at&t and its promises. i think it is concerning that at&t is literally putting employees, you know, right alongside sitting law enforcement, willingly mind

their data to health them out and then sell it. they're taking their own customers private information, selling it back to the government for a hefty profit while violating their privacy. this is the kind of company at&t is. andhas exposed for years years through their legal work everything at&t has been up to, supporting the dea, the nsa, f. i think this is something to be concerned about when a company gets even bigger and what a company is about to take over a major news network. who is going to hold at&t accountable when these kinds of stories are out there yet though we even here about them? >> we want to thank you both for being with us, craig aaron, president and ceo of free press, , from thechwartz electronic frontier foundation. craig aaron, what is the timetable on this? >> i think this merger, weird probably talking about a year --

we are probably talking about a year. this will be made by the next presidential in administration, the justice department, which gives us time to organize but it is very important we get started now because this is going to be a fight that will be going well into next year. amy: thank you so much to both of you. when we come back, we had to north dakota to the standoff at standing rock. well over 100 people were once again arrested yesterday as native americans and their allies faced off against a heavy -- heavily militarized police department. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: "warrior people." this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. juan: we turn now to north dakota where on thursday, , hundreds of police with military equipment raided a resistance camp established by native american water protectors in the path of the proposed $3.8 billion dakota access pipeline, which has faced months of resistance from the standing rock sioux tribe and members of hundreds of other tribes from across the americas. on thursday afternoon, over 100 officers in riot gear with automatic rifles lined up across north dakota's highway 1806, flanked by multiple mrap's -- that's mine-resistant ambush protected military vehicles --

sound cannon, humvees driven by national guardsmen, an armored police truck, and a bulldozer. water protecters say police deployed tear gas, mace, pepper spray and flash-bang grenades , and bean bag rounds against the native americans, and shot rubber bullets at their horses. this is video shot by unicorn riot, followed by a facebook live video from sacheen seitcham of the west coast women warriors media cooperative. >> they had been pepper spraying. they have maced my throne smoke atnades -- from smoker nate as. offer water. over 300 pigs. we protecting the water. there protectingthey are protec. amy: water protectors set up a

blockade of the highway using cars, tires, and fire in order to try to protect their camp -- parts of which were demolished by police. four people locked themselves to a truck parked in the middle of the highway in order to stop the police's advance. elders also lead prayer ceremonies in front of the police line. some were arrested in the middle of prayer. in total, more than 100 people were arrested. ahead of the police raid, the federal aviation administration also issued a temporary no-fly zone for the airspace above the resistance camps for all aircraft except for those used by law enforcement. police appeared to be evicting the frontline camp in order to clear the way for the dakota access pipeline company to continue construction. company cranes and bulldozers were active thursday just behind the police line on the site of the sacred burial ground where dakota access security guards unleashed dogs on native americans on september 3. we're going to turn to dallas goldtooth of the indigenous environmental network. this clip from the frontline.

where the frontline of the dakota access pipeline fight. we are about two miles from the river to the west here. were east, sorry. to the west over the sale, dakota access is doing construction, trying to get to this road. there's a police line on top of the hill with the current access workers and police are protecting the workers. amy: that is dallas goldtooth. before that, you hear the lrad, the long range acoustic device. for more, we're joined by our guest. explain what took place yesterday. the video and the photos that we have of the military hardware, a raid against the protesters. -- weterday we saw learned a lot about the relationship of the people with fossil fuels and north dakota to

native people, and we learned a lot about america and where we stand. yesterday, we saw folks being maced. i was standing next to a group of teenagers who were maced in the face. all kinds of people. myself, i was a must shot in the face by being background that ricocheted off a truck next to my head. these police were actively trying to her people, pushing them back to allow construction of the dakota access pipeline. they were defending monetary interest as human beings were being physically hurt. i saw in front of me come a group of police officers pull a protester forward and begin beating him over the head with sticks. there is video of it. this was an all-out war that was waged on indigenous protectors that were doing nothing more than peacefully assembling. there was no fire, nothing like that until police began their

violent attack on us. juan: tara, where was this incident, in relationship to the september 3 dog attacks, the tribal burial site? >> when dakota access jumped ahead over 20 miles to destroy the site that had just been identified -- dignified as a sacred place, that happened september 3. that is the anniversary of the whitehill stone massacre. that is the place that dakota access basically constructing is pipeline. hundreds and hundreds of people came to stand and pray in bring all of their energy forward to stop this from happening. it was right at that site were native american men, women, and children have been attacked by private security, by dogs and mace. and all of the same things we saw yesterday. this incredible escalated to violence against people that were doing nothing more than trying to stop the destruction of sacred site right in front of

their eyes. amy: tara, use all rifles aimed directly at people, police aiming those rifles? >> yes, there were people walking around everywhere -- police walking around everywhere with rivals. there was a policeman holding a rifle trained directly on us. bean bag minnelli full weapons -- nonlethal weapons were also aimed at us. as soon as our hands came down, they aimed. police were smiling as they were doing these things. police officers were filming, laughing as human beings were being attacked, being maced. it was a nightmarish scene and it should be a shame to the federal government and a shame to the mac and people that this is happening within u.s. borders to indigenous people and to our allies. all people trying to protect water. yesterday was a shameful moment for this country and where we

stand. amy: in the number of people you estimate that were arrested? >> i saw dozens of people being arrested. they were just pulling people out and arresting them. i actually had to get pulled back from a group -- i mean, the police were pushing forward and just grabbing people at will. we had a number of lockdowns that were right in front of us in this truck in the middle-of-the-road that was used to attempt to blocking these police from advancing forward. there were five people that were locked to that. they attempted to construct a tepee behind people who were praying and singing. there were folks that -- see that? the police ripped that tepee down and ripped those people out. it was a really horrible scene. juan: just minutes before the police raid in north dakota, in new york city, police use

flooded the hillary clinton in new york to demand she depose -- she oppose pipeline. clinton has refused to take a stand. amy: in an e-mail to democracy now!, clinton campaign spokesperson tyrone gayle wrote -- "secretary clinton has been clear that she thinks all voices should be heard and all views considered in federal infrastructure projects. now, all of the parties involved -- including the federal government, the pipeline company and contractors, the state of north dakota, and the tribes -- need to find a path forward that serves the broadest public interest. as that happens, it's important that on the ground in north dakota, everyone respects demonstrators' rights to protest peacefully, and workers' rights to do their jobs safely." well, for more, we're joined by daniel grassrope of the lower brule sioux nation in south dakota. he was part of the native american youth that flooded clinton's campaign headquarters on thursday.

you built a tepee in the campaign headquarters? >> yes, we did. we wanted to demonstrate a cultural event in the campaigns -- the clinton's campaign office. we wanted to show we do not want the pipeline because it will affect our water. amy: a group of you flew in from standing rock? >> yes. 11. juan: and no one from the campaign was willing to talk with you? >> no one was willing to talk with us. guard officers did not want to take the letter. juan: the importance of this struggle to you another young native americans across the country? >> the struggle, while we are trying to protect our water and everyone in the native nation knows that water

brings life to everything. plants, trees, the four-legged, the animals we eat, everything. it brings life to us in general. it is very important we have water. quote want to turn to a we read in the headlines of bill mckibben. .he founder of 350.org after he read the statement that the campaign claim -- clinton campaign put out. it is the first time her campaign has put out a statement. bill mckibben said -- "hillary clinton managed to make a statement about the dakota pipeline that literally says nothing. literally." daniel, what about the response that they did put out a statement and do you think it is satisfactory? >> the response that i get, she is telling people on the ground of north dakota that everyone respects the demonstrators rights to peacefully protest. as protectors of land, we are

peaceful. we're not there to engage in any violent activity. we're there to stop the pipeline through prayer, and that is what we have been doing from the beginning. amy: how did you organize to come out here? to come to the national headquarters of hillary clinton from north dakota, from standing rock, and you can to north dakota -- from south dakota? >> their organizers beyond that and brought it to us. we're just happy to be a part of it. amy: we're going to go to upstate new york. daniel grassrope, thank you for being with us. for more and the escalating standoff at standing rock, we're joined by the standing rock sioux tribal chairman dave archambault. he's asked the justice department to launch an investigation into the use of force against those resisting the dakota access pipeline. chairman dave archambault , thank you for joining us. what had he asked the doj and

what have they told you as this heavily militarized police standoff against the native americans of your tribe and so many others? >> thank you for having me on here. the department of justice a couple of days ago because i knew that the north dakota state was planning something. -- the north dakota department of human services set up a prehospital tent near the camp. that brought concern to me. that was telling me, sending me signals that, you know, this is going to get out of hand. i asked the department of justice to step in and ask the to come forward with the rate. i also asked them to talk to the company, the dakota access pipeline, and stop construction

-- cease construction. this again, to out of hand. up coming back with was the state is ready to negotiate. the state is willing to sit down and talk to you. but the company was not willing to stop construction. they want to force their hand on everybody will stop it is hitting -- it is getting the protesters, protectors, up against law enforcement will stop law enforcement is starting to use severe aggression, severe force on our members, on all of those who support us who are there with us. it is unlawful. we are asking the department of justice to hold the state accountable. they knew this was going to happen. they knew it was coming forward. so did the company. they just keep pushing forward

in a box as in a corner and expect us to let it be. and right now we're trying to protect water. that is the whole thing. just protect water. why is that such a hard thing for the state understand? why is it such a hard thing for the company to understand? we need to help the world realize what is going on here, and understand the importance of water in the treatment to our members, to our supporters, the unlawful treatment. if you ask yourself, who has the weapons? who is praying? if you look at the videos, you will see people praying inning, then you will see militarized law enforcement with weapons. they are the ones who have weapons. they are the ones who are being aggressive. they are the ones who are causing harm. we had over 30 to 40 people with

severe bruises from rubber bullets, broken bones from the harsh treatment. it is just not right. amy: finally, very quickly, lrad , long-range acoustic device, the piercing sounds that make people sick. the armored vehicles, the mrap 's. where does the police department and where does the morton county sheriff's department get these military weapons? >> why can't we have somebody come in and stop that and get some weapons out of their possession -- get these weapons out of their possession? it is unnecessary. we need the federal government to step in and start protecting us from the state officials. it is uncalled for. i don't know where they get the weapons.

i am assuming the national guard is doing it. that needs the u.n. to step in to keep the peace because the federal government, the united states, all we have to do is deny this easement and this will all go away. reroute this pipeline and this will all go away. protect our water and this will all go away. toy -- president obama needs step up and deny the easement. hillary clinton needs to make a firm statement about this and stop trying to right the feds. we want people to have saved jobs, too, but we also want them to have saved drinking water. for her to say that, we will let the warrant does union workers reroute this away from water and we will protect them so they have safe jobs and everybody is happy. all of the politicians, all of the people who get oil and

history contributions, border campaign, the economy, the national security, the energy independence will all be there, just reroute this, deny the easement, and let's put an end to this once and for all. dave archambault, thank you for being with us, chair of the standing rock sioux tribe. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. and today show in venezuela. on thursday, clashes broke out in the venezuelan capital of caracas as the country's increasingly militant opposition stepped up efforts to oust president nicolas maduro. opposition leaders have called for a national strike today and a march to the miraflores -- strike today unless the election board allows for a stalled referendum to recall maduro. last week, venezuela's electoral council council blocked a drive for the referendum, citing fraud. meanwhile, maduro has lambasted the opposition-led national assembly, likening them to zombies. amy: earlier this week, the opposition-led legislature voted to put president nicolas maduro on trial. at times, scuffles broke out on the floor of the national assembly as opposition lawmakers accused maduro of breaking the constitutional order. the vote is seen as largely symbolic as the venezuelan government and supreme court

have declared congress illegitimate. which has led tos venezuela is , shortages of food, medicine and other necessary goods. , well, for more, we go now to washington, d.c., where we're joined by mark weisbrot, co-director of the center for economic and policy research, and president of just foreign policy. his new book "failed: what the , experts got wrong about the global economy." his latest piece in truth out "venezuela's economic crisis: , does it mean that the left has failed?" just have a few minutes. we will bring you back next week for a debate on venezuela. what is most important people understand this week? >> dialogue is really the always solution you have. -- solution. give a divided government. assembly is the opposition. they have to reach some compromise. i don't think it is about the referendum really because that train has over the left the station. that is a moot issue because it

is impossible at this point to have a referendum before january 10, which means they actually do have one, if maduro is voted out, you just get -- they're not really fighting for referendum anymore. they're fighting to overthrow the government. to understandt this because the opposition is always been divided, back the 2002 military coup. between people who want overthrow the government and people who want to work for a peaceful solution. you have the division today and you have the u.s. which plays a major role, even though it is not talked about here in the united states, kind of like talking about ukraine and never talking about russia. never mentioning russia. that is a big part of the nation as well. our government is kind of on the offensive in latin america. they got argentina back, result, using the international body to try to isolate venezuela and want to get venezuela back, too. i think you'll see more

aggressive posture from our government after this election. juan: given the fact that venezuela sitting on the large largest -- world's largest oil reserve, what is at the root of the economic crisis and the problems the country has had over the last couple of years? >> that is what i am mostly written about. i should say, i don't defend anything this government does that is wrong. i have never done that in the past 15 years. full disclosure, i am a member of the economic team of -- headed by the former president of the dominican republic. this team of economists put together a proposal in the past few months to revitalize and restart the economy. i think that is the major problem. i think the government has made it very serious mistakes and needs serious reform to rejuvenate the economy. most importantly, have got to

fix the exchange rate system. you can't have this black market that is 100 times the official rate for the currency. you know, just encourages corruption and all kinds of distortions and problems. of course, you have to get rid of some of the price control. a is possible to do this in way that doesn't hurt the majority of the people. you can subsidize them for food directly rather than through the exchange rate as they have been doing for the past decade. economyally is -- the has already adjusted mostly to the lower oil prices. they cut imports by 50% since 2012, which is enormous. even breeze has only done about half of that six years. the hard part is done. they need to fix the relative prices, the exchange rate

system, and make sure that everybody -- get rid of the shortages, which means removing a lot of the price control. the: this whole issue of courts declaring the legislature illegitimate? >> there is a fight over that because there are several legislators who the courts -- the supreme court has determined are not legitimately seated. so that is a fight. they have to resolve that in some way. amy: we want to thank you, mark, and we will have you back next week to have a debate on venezuela. thank you for being with us. .ark weisbrot on saturday morning, i will be at the new york press clubs journalism conference had done :00 a.m.. check our website for more information. 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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