04/21/17 04/21/17 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now! >> it is time to call at wikileaks for what it really is, a nonstate hostile intelligence service often a bit of by state actors like russia. in reality, they champion nothing but their own celebrity. their moral compass is nonexistent. their mission, personal self-aggrandizement to destruction of western values. amy: as cia chief mike pompeo blasts wikileaks, cnn confirms the trump administration has prepared an arrest a warrant for wikileaks founder julian assange.

we will speak with pulitzer prize-winning journalist glenn greenwald, who argues the charges are a threat to free speech and press freedom. then we go to indonesia, where vice president mike pence railed against isis-linked terrorism. >> the united states is proud to be one of the oldest and most engaged defense partners. under president trump we are firmly committed to continuing to collaborate on the security of both of our peoples. amy: this comes as a shocking new expose by investigative journalist allan nairn reveals backers of donald trump in indonesia have joined army officers and a vigilante street movement linked to isis in an attempt to oust indonesia's democratically elected president. nairn revised indonesians involved in the coup attempt include a corporate lawyer working for the mining company freeport-mcmoran, which is controlled by trump adviser carl icahn. icahn'slawyer for carl

freeport was videotaped not long ago at a isis swearing ceremony where he was one of two people presiding as a group full of young men pledged allegiance or swore allegiance to the leader of isis. all of that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the state of arkansas has killed prisoner ledell lee just hours thursday, after a flurry of court activity cleared the way for his execution, in what could be the first of four death sentences carried out in arkansas this month. prisons officials injected lee with the sedative midazolam, the anesthetic vecuronium bromide, and the toxin potassium chloride. he was pronounced dead at 11:56 p.m., four minutes before his death warrant was set to expire. lee was convicted of murdering

debra reese in little rock more than 20 years ago. he went to his death proclaiming his innocence. lee's killing came after newly confirmed u.s. supreme court justice neil gorsuch cast the deciding vote in a 5-4 ruling that paved the way for arkansas to proceed with the execution. it was arkansas's first since 2005, but officials are seeking to execute three more prisoners next week before arkansas supply of midazolam expires at the end of april. arkansas initially planned to carry out eight executions this month in what critics called a conveyor belt of death. cnn is reporting the trump administration has prepared an arrest warrant for wikileaks founder julian assange. at a thursday news conference, attorney general jeff sessions confirmed that the justice department is seeking assange's arrest. that have professionals

are shocked by the number of leaks, and some of them are quite serious, so, yes, it is a priority. we have already begun to step up our efforts. whenever our case can be made, we will seek to put some people in jail. amy: last week, cia chief mike pompeo blasted wikileaks as a hostile intelligence service, calling julian assange and his supporters demons. that's despite pompeo's praise for wikileaks on twitter last year, and despite this comment from donald trump on the campaign trail last october. .res. trump: this just came out this just came out. wikileaks. i loved wikileaks. amy: we will have more on the trump administration's plan to seek the arrest of julian headlines after headlines. we'll speak with pulitzer prize-winning journalist glenn greenwald, co-founder of the intercept. meanwhile, attorney general jeff sessions said this week he was amazed that a federal judge "sitting on an island in the pacific" had the power to halt

president trump's ban on refugees and travelers from six majority-muslim nations. sessions was referring to u.s. district judge derrick watson of hawaii, who ruled in march that trump's executive order violated the first amendment's establishment clause, which bars discrimination on religious grounds. amazed a judge sitting on an island in the pacific can issue an order that stops the president of the united states from what appears to be, clearly, his statutory and constitutional powers. amy: attorney general sessions' comments drew condemnation from hawaii's congressional delegation. democratic senator mazie hirono accused sessions of dog whistle politics, tweeting -- "hawaii was built on the strength of diversity & immigrant experiences -- including my own. jeff sessions' comments are ignorant & dangerous." in more immigration news, a mother detained more than 500 days with her 4-year-old son is

speaking out after the supreme court ruled this week she has no right for a judge to review her pending deportation to honduras. she is one of two dozen families represented by the american civil liberties union. on monday, the court ruled the executive branch is the sole judge in cases like hers that are fast-tracked through a process called expedited removal, or when an immigration agent can decide if someone has credible fear of persecution based on a single interview. the woman spoke to rewire in an exclusive interview from the berks county residential center in pennsylvania. >> i feel very afraid. i don't think i will be up to sleep at night if i am forced to return to honduras. i'm a single mother and we are especially vulnerable. amy: the murder rate in honduras is 10 times the national average. immigrant rights activist jeanette vizguerra has been and one of "time magazine" 100 most influential people for 2017. vizguerra skipped a scheduled check-in with ice officials in

february and instead sought refuge in a denver church along with her four children, , fearing she'd be deported under the newly inaugurated trump administration. on thursday, vizguerra spoke outside the first unitarian society church about the time -- "time magazine" award. i don't know if it is going to help my case or not, but what i do know is this award, hopefully, helps take away the label that people have for those of us who are undocumented immigrants, that we are criminals or that we don't contribute. i have been here 20 is contribute in, working and pay my taxes. in fact, i finished my taxes from inside first unitarian church and i can show them to anyone who wants to see them, unlike president trump. amy: to see our extended interview, when we went to see her in the temperatures last weekend, and also interviewed her when she first took refuge

there in february, go to democracynow.org. in new york city, immigrant workers at the tom cat bakery are calling for a day without bread, as about 18 workers face the loss of their jobs today after their employer demanded valid working papers. s lockedning, activist themselves to the underside of tom cat bakery trucks, stalling delivery of bread while police worked to cut them out. meanwhile, over 100 of the workers' supporters rallied outside the bakery in solidarity with tom cat workers. this is one worker from tomkat. who haveare workers been here for 10 years, 18 years, and so it is unjust that tom cat treats is this right after we've given some a show the company to grow. it is a large business with a lot of production. what we're asking for at this time is there is justice and they stand up for their workers. amy: also in new york police , arrested nine people thursday at a nonviolent protest against president trump's proposal to

cut $6.2 billion from the budget of hud, the department of housing and urban development. new york is home to the nation's largest stock of public housing, and the protesters said the cuts would devastate their communities. >> they are imposing crazy stuff, like they're going to kick everyone out of public housing and five years. like that is going to work. housing already is cut to the bone. there's nowhere to cut. it is a disaster. >> this is serious stuff. people are going homeless. this is not a joke anymore. trump ain't making it no better. amy: among those arrested was new york city councilmember ritchie torres. hud director ben carson said in march he favors trump's proposal to slash his agency's budget by 14%, saying the cuts would promote fiscal responsibility. in venezuela, president nicolas maduro accused his opponents of acting a coup as opposition politicians led mass rallies

nationwide for a second straight day calling for a new elections. thursday,across venezuela police , battled street protesters armed with firebombs, responding with tear gas and rubber-coated bullets, leaving three people dead. president maduro rallied hundreds of thousands of his supporters for counter protests and threatened to arrest opposition leader henrique capriles and national assembly president julio borges. borges, you are the head of the coup. later, don't complain when the law comes to you. i am telling you ahead of time, i am telling you in defense of my motherland and in defense of the people. amy: president maduro accused the trump administration of backing a coup, comparing it to the bush administration's support for an unsuccessful attempt in 2002 to overthrow then-president hugo chavez.

meanwhile, general motors said thursday it will cease its operations in venezuela after saying the maduro government seized one of its manufacturing plants. the united nations says it's found 17 mass graves in the democratic republic of the congo. the u.n. human rights chief zeid ra'ad al hussein said there are reports the graves were dug by government soldiers, who have been accused of raping and killing civilians. this is a u.n. spokesperson elizabeth throssell. >> they confirm the existence of 15 mass graves that have been dug in the cemetery and two that have been dug elsewhere. they heard reports of local graves had these been dug by soldiers from the armed forces -- the drc armed forces. amy: in paris, france, a gunman opened fire with an automatic rifle on the champs elysees thursday, killing a police officer and seriously wounding two others before he was shot dead.

police identified the attacker as karim cheurfi. a french citizen who served 15 years in prison after he was convicted in 2001 of shooting police officers. isis claimed responsibility, saying one of his soldiers carried out the attack will stop the assault came days after french voters had to the polls sunday for election that will see the top two presidential candidates advance the runoff election may 7. in media news, former fox news star bill o'reilly will receive a payout of about $25 million, equivalent to one year's salary, after he was fired on wednesday amid revelations that over a half-dozen women accused him of sexual harassment. o'reilly's payout follows a $40 million severance package paid to former fox news ceo roger ailes last year after he was accused of sexual harassment by more than 20 women. in ohio state regulators say , crews constructing the $4.2 billion rover pipeline spilled more than 2 million gallons of drilling fluid at two different

sites, fouling wetlands and threatening water quality. the pipeline is being constructed by energy transfer partners, the same company that built the dakota access pipeline which faced months of , resistance from the standing rock sioux and members of hundreds of other indigenous tribes and their allies. dow chemical is asking the trump administration to reject the findings of government scientists as they prepare a report on how pesticides - known as organo-phosphates threaten human health and thousands of critically endangered species. organo-phosphates were originally derived from a nerve agent developed in nazi germany. peer reviewed scientific studies have linked even small amounts of the chemical to low birth weight and brain damage in children. last month, environmental protection agency chief scott pruitt overturned a ban on one of the pesticides, produced by dow chemical, just before it was set to take effect. dow chemical paid $1 million to underwrite trump's january

inauguration, and dow ceo andrew liveris was tapped by president trump to head a white house manufacturing working group. and tens of thousands of scientists and their supporters will rally in washington, d.c., and in other cities across the country saturday for a national march for science. the rallies come as the trump administration pursues an unprecedented campaign of science to now on issues including climate change, vaccines, and the environment. ahead of the march, astrophysicist and science communicator neil degrasse tyson released a video calling science denial a threat to democracy. science is a fundamental part of the country that we are, but in the 21st century, when it comes time to make decisions about science, it seems to me people have lost the ability to judge what is true

and what is not, what is reliable and what is not reliable, what you should believe in what you should not believe. whowhen you have people don't know much about science standing in denial of it and rising to power, that is a recipe for the complete dismantling of our informed democracy. amy: democracy now! will be broadcasting live from the march for science in washington, d.c., on saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. eastern time. you can go to democracynow.org to tune in the broadcast. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. cnn is reporting the trump administration has prepared an arrest warrant for wikileaks founder julian assange. attorney general jeff sessions confirmed the report at a news on thursday. >> can you talk about whether it

is a priority for your department to arrest assange once and for all, and -- >> we're going to step up our effort and already are stepping up our efforts on all leaks. this is a matter that is gone beyond anything i am aware of. we have professionals, the security business of the united states for many years that are shocked by the number of leaks. and some of them are quite serious. so yes, it is a priority. amy: last week, cia chief mike pompeo blasted wikileaks as a "hostile intelligence service" in a stark reversal from his previous praise for the group. pompeo made the remarks in his first public address as cia director. >> it is time to caught wikileaks for what it really is, a nonstate hostile intelligence service often abetted by state actors like russia.

in reality, they champion nothing but their own celebrity. their currency is quickly, their moral compass is nonexistent. their mission, personal self-aggrandizement to destruction of well -- western dollies. amy: in his speech, pompeo went on to accuse wikileaks of instructing army whistleblower chelsea manning to steal information. he also likened julian assange to a demon and suggested assange is not protected under the first amendment. it's been nearly five years since julian assange entered the ecuadorian embassy in london seeking political asylum fearing a swedish arrest warrant could lead to his extradition to the united states. for more, we go to rio de janeiro, brazil where we're joined via democracy now! video stream by glenn greenwald, pulitzer prize-winning journalist and one of the founding editors of the intercept. his recent piece is headlined "trump's cia director pompeo, targeting wikileaks, explicitly threatens speech and press freedoms." glenn, welcome to democracy now!

your response to the latest news that the u.s. government the justice department is preparing arrest warrant for julian assange? what is interesting is the justice department under president obama experiment it with this idea for a long time. they impaneled a grand jury to criminally investigate wikileaks and assange. they wanted to prosecute them for publishing the trove of to thets 2011 relating iraqi afghanistan wars as well as the u.s. state department diplomatic cables. what the obama justice department found was it is impossible to prosecute wikileaks for publishing secret documents without also prosecuting media organizations that regularly do the same thing. "the newer times" and the guardian and many other news organizations also published huge troves of the documents provided by chelsea manning. it was too much of a threat to press freedom, even for the obama administration to try and

create a theory under which wikileaks could be prosecuted. fast forward five years later, there's been a lot more wikileaks leaks and publications, including some really recent ones of sensitive cia documents, as well as having spent all of last year posting documents about the democratic national committee, which means they made enemies not just of the right in america, but also the democratic party. the trump administration obviously believes they can safely, politically prosecute wikileaks. the danger is this is an administration that has already said, the president himself has said, the u.s. media is the enemy of the american people. this is a prosecution that would enable them not only to prosecute and imprison julian assange, but a whole variety of other journalists and media outlets that routinely plant -- published classified information. amy: let's go back to what cia chief mike pompeo said as his first address as cia director. >> days like today where we call out those who great a platform

to these leakers and so-called transparency activists. we know the danger that assange and his merry band of brothers posed. ignorance or misplaced idealism is to longer an acceptable excuse for lionizing these demons. amy: and the cia chief mike pompeo continued. >> julian assange and his kind are not the slightest bit interested in enhancing personal freedom. they arehave believed shielded from justice, but they are wrong. assange is a narcissist who has created nothing of value and relies on the dirty work of others to make himself famous. he is a fraud, coward hiding behind a screen. amy: jillion assange responded earlier this week will speak in mature me scale. -- join assange responded earlier this week while speaking with jeremy scahill. >> that he was going to redefine the legal parameters of the first amendment to define

publishers like wikileaks in such a manner that the first amendment would not apply to them. is going on? he doesn't get to make proclamations on interpretation of the law. that is our responsibility for the courts, responsibility for congress, and perhaps our responsibility for the attorney general. it is way out of line to usurp the roles of those entities that are formally engaged in defining the interpretations of the first amendment four, fragrant gum any other groups to pronounce themselves, but for the head of the cia to pronounce what the boundaries are of reporting and not reporting is a very disturbing presidents. this is not how the first amendment works. it is legally wrong. the first amendment is not a positive definition of rights, it is negative.

it limits with the federal government does. it does not say the federal government must give individuals rights. it limits what the federal government can do to take away a certain climate of open debate. amendment, then congress, then the executive from engaging in actions themselves, which would then limit not only the ability of people to speak and to publish freely some of it would also limit the ability of people to read and understand information because it is that climate of public debate which creates a check on a centralized governmental structure from becoming authoritarian. from that perspective, for all of the people, not just the publisher. amy: that is julian assange speaking. glenn greenwald, if you can respond to both jillion as well

as the cia director pompeo and what he is alleging? >> the key point here to understand is the way in which government is trying to bridge freedoms. what they know is if they target a group that is popular or a particular idea that people agree with, there will be an uprising against the attempt to abridge freedom. so what they always do, for example, when they're talking about freedom of speech, they pick someone who is hated in society or expressed an idea that most people find repellent, and they try and abridge freedom of speech in that case of that most people will let their hatred for the person being targeted override the principal involved, and they will sanction rack with an attack on freedom because they hate the person being attacked. what happens is the abridgment gets institutionalized and entrenched, and with the government goes to start to apply the abridgment to other people that you like more, it is

too late because yet i quest in the first instance. that is why groups like the aclu are often -- so often defending the most marginalized and hated neo-nazis, white the premises, or the kkk, because that is where the attack happened. this is what mike pompeo is strategizing to do. the right has long he did wikileaks because of all of the publications they did of bush era war crimes, and democrats now despise wikileaks, probably more than anyone else that they hate, because of the role democrats believe we give explained in helping to defeat hillary clinton. what jeff sessions is hoping, probably with a good amount of validity, is that democrats, who should be the resistance to these attacks, will actually cheer for the trump administration while they prosecute wikileaks because they hate wikileaks so much. and u.s. media list, which also

hate wikileaks, won't raise much of a fuss. that is a dangerous precedent. what types of journalism are protected by the first amendment and what types aren't will be entrenched as precedent. next time there is a leak they hate, they will have this theory that everybody signed on to that said that the first amendment does not apply to certain people if you publish documents that are offensive enough or if you work enough with certain sources before the publication that you're deemed a collaborator. that is what makes this moment so dangerous for corporate freedoms. amy: let me get your response to this other point that the cia chief made. >> in january this year, our intelligence committee determined russian military intelligence had used wikileaks to release data of u.s. victims that the gru obtained through cyber operations against the democratic national committee. amy: glenn greenwald?

>> first of all, there's been no evidence presented by the u.s. government that that is true. they have stated that over and over, but there's been no evidence presented of it so far. let's assume they are telling the truth, that the trump cia director is being honest and that is what happened. what does that mean in terms of wikileaks? nobody suggests wikileaks did the actual hacking. in this case, even if what they're saying is true, it would mean wikileaks received information from a source come in this case a foreign government, and then published that information that every u.s. media outlet in the country deemed newsworthy because they constantly reported on it. this is a very common factor, where u.s. media outlets receive information from sources -- often foreign sources, including officials within foreign governments -- and then publish or report on the information they have been provided. if you allow that process to be 's source is sourced --

happens to be of foreign agency, you are endangering press freedoms in a very substantial way because that is something that media outlets deem it does do very often. amy: let's turn to cia director mike pompeo talking about your news organization that you cofounded, the intercept. intercept, gleefully reported unauthorized disclosures, accused wikileaks and late march of "stretching the facts" in his comments about the cia. they added the documents "were not worth the concern gimmicks generated by his public comments." amy: your response? >> that was an article written by one of our reporters journalism.kileaks' we criticize the journalism of pretty much every media outlet. we are written far more scathing critiques of "the new york times" and "the washington post" when they published fake stories or done misleading or deceitful

journalism. the fact we're criticism -- critical of the few leaks, does not justify turning them into felons and prosecuting them. it is bad journalism by making poor journalistic choices and now justify having the justice department prosecute you, there will be no media organization left. he was trolling there by citing one of our articles that was mildly critical of wikileaks' journalism, but that does not remotely justify prosecuting wikileaks for having published secret documents. amy: what happens right now? jillion assange inside the ecuadorian embassy from last five years now. what does it mean that there is an arrest warrant from him by the united states -- for him? >> that is a significant question. when mike pompeo made his speech, the one you have been playing, it was deliberate leak threatening, saying things like

we're no longer going to allow informationish this , this in snout. the question you raised is a towering one for me, ok, so the u.s. government indicts wikileaks and issues an arrest warned for julian assange, does not change the fact he is currently in the ecuadorian embassy or he is received asylum. remember, the reason the ecuadorian him as he gave him asylum in the first place is they said they were worried that if you are extradited to sweden, that would then be used to send him to the united states were he would be prosecuted for publishing information, for doing journalism. that is always what ecuador was most worried about. it seems unlikely ecuador will voluntarily withdraw its asylum. the question becomes, do they have any plans to physically sees julian fight invading the thatorian mc, something they thought about doing really on? are they try to do a new deal with the ecuadorian government to provide the benefit or

threaten them in exchange for handing julian over and withdrawing the asylum? or is it just the it or come just a show come just away the trump administration is showing they are trying to crack down on leaks? i don't think we know the answer to that question, but the asylum that julian has should prevent the u.s. government from apprehending and even if they do just decided indict wikileaks. amy: chelsea manning is about to be released in may. the argument that he is making that julian assange solicited manning, the information, your final comment, glenn? >> the obama administration, when they were trying to prosecute wikileaks, thought about, how can we do this in a way that makes it so we are accusing him of more than just publishing? they said, maybe you can find evidence that julian participated with chelsea manning. ultimately, they found no evidence whatsoever to support that theory. nonetheless, mike pompeo

asserted this was true. obviously, in anticipation of chinese it as a theory to say, we're not public -- prosecute wikileaks for publishing, but for collaborating or conspiring in the theft of this information. there's been no evidence ever the obama administration found -- and isis league of the trump administration has found evidence to that as well -- but they asserted it to say we're not prosecuting them for publishing. amy: we will leave it there but continue to follow this. thank you for joining us, glenn greenwald, pulitzer prize-winning journalists, one of the founding editors of the intercept. when we come back, and explosive new investigation by allan nairn . has president mike pence just left indonesia. we will talk to the journalist. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. vice president mike pence visited the largest mosque in southeast asia thursday during a trip to indonesia. a day earlier, he spoke addressed reporters at press conference with indonesian president joko widodo in jakarta. >> oldest and most engaged defense department's, and under president trump, we are firmly committed to continuing to collaborate on the security of both of our peoples. a strong defense partnership will service will as we confront the very security threats and challenges we now face. one of the greatest threats we face is the spread of terrorism. sadly, indonesia is no stranger to this evil. nor is the united states of america.

wated wit heartbreak in january of last year when isis-linked terrorists struck in central jakarta in a barbaric suicide bombing. our hearts wrote for your people . this violet tech claimed the lives of five innocence, injured more than two dozen others. what i can assure you in the people of indonesia is that you have the condolences and the prayers of the american people as you confront of this tragedy. amy: while he really against isis-linked terrorism, a shocking expose by longtime investigative journalist allan nairn has revealed backers of donald trump in indonesia have joined army officers and a vigilante street movement linked to isis in an attempt to oust indonesia's president. writing in the intercept, nairn reveals indonesians involved in the coup attempt include a corporate lawyer working for the mining company freeport-mcmoran, which is controlled by trump adviser carl icahn.

video has even emerged showing the lawyer at a ceremony where men are swearing allegiance to isis. according to allan nairn two of , the most prominent supporters of the coup are close associates of donald trump -- fadli zon, vice speaker of the indonesian house of representatives, and hary tanoe, trump's primary indonesian business partner who is building two trump resorts, one in bali and one outside jakarta. nairn's article is making waves in indonesia. the indonesian military is threatening legal action against the news portal tirto.id, after it published a partial translation of the piece and ran a profile about nairn. i recently spoke to allan in our dust on allan nairn responded by saying -- i recently sat down with allan nairn in our democracy now!

studio and asked him to outline what he had uncovered. >> indonesia is in the midst of theretical crisis in that is an attempt to stage what people on both sides of the conflict call the two and this is a de facto or even direct coup against the elected president, the elected government of indonesia, just .eaded by joko widodo he was the first person outside the political elite, first elected president will step on certain issues and respects, he is a bit of a reformist. he got elected in an important part because he speaks the language and people relate to him. he's been pushing social programs on health and education , but especially in recent months, his government has been fighting for survival.

projectcking this coup include the top generals in the country who were seeking to escape any whisper of accountability for their past mass murders, mass murders that have been supported by the u.s., and for the ongoing atrocities in west police of -- papua. also the friends and political associates of donald trump. the local trump people in indonesia, including his top political backer, the politician fadli zon, including his local business partner hary tanoe and others have been funding and backing this coup movement. the instrument they have been what purports to be a

radical islamt streets movement, which has been staging massive demonstration on the streets of jakarta. demonstrations trying out hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of people. and their book is what they claimed to be a religious issue, where they are attacking undemanding the death by hanging of the income of the governor of jakarta who happens to be an ethnic chinese christian who is currently standing trial for insulting religion, for insulting islam. and he could actually be sent to prison. and he is also currently standing for election. this islamist street ,ovement is in a sense a front with a real powers, the real interest, which are trying to use the demonstrations and the

attacks on the governor to bring down the government of president jokowi. i know this, for much of the past year i've been talking to people within the joko widodo government and within the coup movement. they have been describing what is happening as it goes along. the group they're using to front the street demonstrations, called the fpi -- the fpi are as streetndonesia thugs. they were created by the indonesian army and police shortly after the fall of -- in order to do killing -- amy: a u.s. backed dictator. >> yes. in order to do killings on behalf of the army without the army having to take responsibility for it. and they would do it under the ofner of radical islam, kind

diverting attention from the fact that army and police sponsorship behind it. this group, the fpi, has been implicated in attacks on mosques. they frequently attack islamic religious denominations that they do not agree with, attacks on churches, and murders. one of which, in spectacular fashion, was videotaped. seen reading as kicking to death a man lying face down in the mud. the overly call for the murder of various politicians that displease them. they lived day-to-day by the funds they get from the army and police by extortion. they claim to be religiously compliant. at one of their key tactics over the years has been go into strip clubs, go into bars, if the owners have not been giving

their weekly payoff to the fpi in a timely enough fashion, breaking the place up with heavy sticks then taking the liquor and dragging it or reselling it. i mean, this is famous on the streets of jakarta. everybody knows about this. another other activities has been inventing the poor. toy would be rented out army, police, rich developers in order to violently evict poor people so that their homes could be demolished and used for other purposes. the group also happens to be listed by western intelligence, including the australian intelligence service, as a violent extremist organization. a term they use for terrorist. and this happens to be one of the cases where their characterization of a movement as violent and extremist is accurate. this group fpi also has numerous

connections to isis. the leader of the fpi milit is lawyer who is a corpate ,awyer for freeport-mcmoran u.s. mining corporation controlled by carl icahn, donald trump's good friend and white house deregulation advisor. this lawyer represents a local corporate front for freeport. he is there provide -- presiding over the militia as they commit violence. in standing next to the fpi leaders as they call for the death by hanging of jakarta's governors. 'sis lawyer for perl icahn freeport was videotaped not long ago at a string ceremony where he was one of two people residing as a group full of orng men pledged allegiance

swore allegiance to the leader of isis. the program of massive street demonstrations and that ultimately bringing down the joko widodo-elect the government has been endorsed by donations who of gone to syria and joined up as isis fighters, as they describe themselves. etc.. this is the group which is being used by the u.s.-trained indonesian generals and being backed by donald trump's key business partner, indonesian political backer, and the lawyer for carl icahn's freeport-mcmoran -- maybe it was about a year ago, we did a short segment on democracy now! regarding the fact one of these

figures, fadli zon, the politician involved, appeared at trump tower with donald trump. this was shortly after trump launched his presidential campaign will stop he launched his campaign by attacking mexicans as rapists, and he got some heat for that. and one of the things trump did apparently was to say, get me some foreigners. one of the foreigners they got him was this indonesian politician fadli zon. he appeared at the press conference with donald trump. for doing so, he was fiercely hereked by the grand imam in new york city, a very courageous act, by the way, by thatimam given the fact fadli zon is not just a politician, but is also the right-hand man of the general who is the most notorious mass tilling general in indonesia. he was also the general who's

of u.s.est protege pentagon and intelligence during his military career. so fadli zon was -- amy: and he was a sure middle in or.t tim >> yes. but now it is his right hand man fadli zon appearing with trump at trump tower in the initial stages of launching the campaign, and who is now one of the main supporters of this movement which has as its final goal, the toppling of indonesia's democratically elected president. and among the generals -- this is a piece i have been working on and maybe by the time this heirs, it will have been released -- that have been complicit in one degree or another in this movement, boro,de general prov another one that is still under indictment for her crimes, a general who is probably the

commander of the indonesian armed forces. amy: we will be back with allan nairn in 30 seconds. ♪ [music break] amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we continue our conversation with investigative journalist allan nairn, who has just published a shocking expose at the intercept revealing backers of donald trump in indonesia have joined army officers and a vigilante street movement linked to isis in aattempt to oust indonesia's president. i asked him to talk more about trump's connection to fadli zon,

the indonesian politician who was seen with trump at trump tower during the presidential campaign. returned toli zon indonesia, as i mentioned, he was fiercely and courageously attacked or the grand imam of the mosque in new york city, and also attacked by his colleagues in the indonesian congress. fadli zon was and is the number two person in the indonesian congress. they tried to censure him for appearing with donald trump on the grounds it was unethical. as the imam have pointed out, this thing that trump is famous for in u.s. politics is being a racist and being anti-islam. this was especially sharp and ironic because probo and fadli zon have used as the main political tactic, attacking any of their opponents on the ground that are anti-islam and tools of

foreigners. them as he had told me in our extensive discussion -- the, was the most closest partner of u.s. intelligence in indonesia he was helping to run the mass murdering that she worked for the u.s. defense intelligence agency. in the campaign, he was running as a phony nationalist. after he returned to indonesia, fadli zon was under pressure from the congress. in the end, he escaped any serious censure. he did not repudiate donald trump. he became donald trump's most vocal defender within indonesian politics. indeed, after the point in the that he when trump said was going to ban all muslims from the united states, including in its first version, the first iteration and even werems -- ban muslims who

your citizens and even members , after trumpry made his first outrageous call for the muslim ban, fadli zon defended him in indonesia and said, trump is not anti-islam. donald trump is not anti-islam. and just you wait and see. as he becomes president, he will drop all of that stuff because that is only campaign rhetoric. in essence, fadli zon has been donald trump's political spokesman in indonesia. amy: who is hary tanoe? business trump's two partners in indonesia. they're working on a resort and some other projects. , the was recently a report indonesian intelligence agency, asserted that hary tanoe was covertly donating funds to the

coup movement involving the fpi in the generals. hary tanoe is a media magnate like trump. they have similar profile in business. he is in media and he also sponsors beauty pageants. have's media stations been, innocence, propaganda wings of the street coup movement to the extent they were actually admonished officially by the indonesian state broadcasting board, which is usually a very weak acquiescent body. they've been serving as propaganda for trump. the internal -- amy: for trump? >> as propagandis f theoup movement. and the internal intelligence report, which i had access to asserts that tanoe was going beyond that and directly

contributing funds to the movement. the background to this is very important. the indonesian military came to power in 1965 in a coup where the ousted the country's founding father. they consolidated power with the fromcre of anywhere 400,000 to one million civilians. the massacre was enthusiastically backed by the u.s.. the cia give them a list of 5000 communist to start with. a gleamss hailed it as of light in asia. the army installed the general as the country's dictator. yearsinton white house, later, described him as "our kind of guy." president ford and henry kissinger gave personally and the green light to invade east

timor which produced the most extensive proportional slaughter since the nazis. a regimeimplemented which involved kind of a semi religious glorification of the army and stigmatization of any kind of reformist elements, which they would characterize as communist. and when needed or when they felt like it over the years, they would stage additional massacres. result 1998, partly as a of the asian financial crisis triggered by banks, partly as a result of the amazing courage of activists who came out on the streets of jakarta to demand the ouster of the general, partly as a result of the fact that the grassroots move it here in the u.s. had succeeded in cutting

off most of the arms pipeline from the u.s. to indonesia, which then constrained them in the extent to which they were willing to open fire on those demonstrators, the general felt. after he came, what is referred to reform, which is still underway, the army is still the dominant number one power in indonesia. other power is much less than a used to be. -- by their power is much less than it used to be. the fact that joko widodo related to the poor was able to defeat the mass murdering u.s. protege general probowo in the presidential election was a real watershed in indonesian politics. a very courageous movement of survivors of army massacres and human rights activists in a hasva has -- in indonesia happened for years after years, sometimes dying in the process, like in the case of the brilliant and who wrote human rights activist who was assassinated by arsenic poisoning in 2004.

it have persisted with this movement to bring the generals the past twod in years, they succeeded in upping the pressure. they made gaind to the point some generals are worried about they might be brought to justice or at least might be publicly humiliated by their crimes being acknowledged publicly and the survivors gaining some degree of public legitimacy. the generals, to a degree much for that i realize before i started talking to people about this coup movement, have become obsessed with the idea of staving off justice. and what has happened with their sponsorship, the sponsorship of many generals of this coup movement, is that they have created a very elegant when/when strategy. if they succeed in toppling , then no joko widodo worry about count ability. on the other hand, if they don't theeed, joko widodo owe

generals who are supporting him because although the bulk of the are murdering generals affiliated one way or another with the coup movement, there's another fraction who are backing joko widodo and helping him to fend off the coup movement and are getting it effective guarantee, hey, we're keeping alive, no prosecution, right? no public exposure of our crimes? no humiliation for the atrocities that we have committed? so whichever way it turns out, in their mind, and certainly reason to think -- not unreasonable expectation, justice and accountability loses in the army wins. amy: is joko widodo aware of the trump connections to the supporters of the coup movement? >> that is a good question. i don't know. , don't know when this will air

but as we are speaking, as this is being recorded, next week on wednesday, the jakarta gubernatorial election is due to happen. that is when it will be decided whether the governor, his cut of the pretext for the street movement, will be voted in or out. amy: this is april 19. >> yes. and the day after the election, vice president mike pence is due to arrive in indonesia for two days and to meet with president joko widodo. one interesting aspect, where does the u.s. stand on this? on the one hand, the u.s. has a long time policy in countries around the world of backing the repressive armies and security forces. but on the other hand, also backing elected presidents, as long as those elected presidents do not have a program that threatens u.s. corporate interests or the interests of the local rich or the fact that is allowed to

back the forces. barring that, the uses for elected presidents. -- the u.s. is all for the election of presidents. the u.s. has come up to this -- as far as i know, until recently, been backing joko widodo against the coup movement. 's local people who have been helping to push the coup movement. i don't know whether this question is come to the attention of president trump himself. it could come to his attention through his business partner hary tanoe, through his main indonesian political partner fadli zon, through his other business partner who is a famously corrupt politician, or it could come to his attention through carl icahn -- who is close to trump, his deregulation advisor from the white house, and is the control and shoulder of freeport-mcmoran.

control and shareholder of freeport-mcmoran. taking their gold and copper. this is quite significant, but recently, has been under challenge from the joko widodo government. for years, freeport-mcmoran has had a free ride in indonesia. as long as they paid off the general and his cronies, paid off the army, very's bureaucrats, they could do whatever they want. they were able to just strip the mountains of west papua, turn the rivers indescribable primary colors from their pollution, knock off the dissident workers when necessary. they were able to do anything. but now just in the past year and a half or so, they have been under challenge romney joko widodo government, which is demeaning a renegotiation of the contract between indonesian freeport-mcmoran,

and restricting the copper exports. this is creating a problem for icahn. as this conflict between the joko widodo government and icahn 's freeport has been going on, the local lawyer for icahn's freeport has been helping to leave the coup movement to oust joko widodo. i n't know how much trump knows about this, but i know there is some question among some officials in indonesia as in the end, which siebel the u.s. come down on? will continue the traditional u.s. policy of wanting to keep an elected president in for stability purposes and french purposes order might it might align with trump's personal and business connections on the other side who are backing the coup? amy: investigative journalist allan nairn. we will link to his peace.

tune in tomorrow on our march for science in washington. on sunday, i will be speaking at princeton univ

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