03/02/18 03/02/18 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now! >> you think about her in here with two fbi agents, her back against the wall, to me it felt very intimidating. it would have been almost like a jail cell. amy: former u.s. intelligence contractor reality leigh winner appeared in court this week, in an orange jumpsuit and shackles, nine months after she was arrested and charged with violating the espionage act. the government claims she leaked a top-secret document about russian interference in the 2016

election to the intercept. we'll speak with her mother billie winner-davis, outside her daughter's home where she was arrested by fbi agents. then in 1961, an 18-year-old african-american student walked onto the campus of the university of georgia into the pages of history. she became one of two black students to desegregate the school. her name? charlayne hunter-gault . we will speak with legendary journalist charlayne hunter-gault. has to findration their own cause and embrace it or reject it, but i just want them to know that the power they have within them -- it was young people who changed the face of the south. brooding -- a brooding decades

of a certain kind of law that did not regard people as equals. amy: all of that in more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. on capitol hill, republican lawmakers said thursday they're moving on from the debate over gun control after failing to pass a single bill on firearms in the wake of last month's mass shooting in parkland, florida, which killed 17 people at stoneman douglas high school. the congressional inaction came as president trump appeared to backpedal thursday from his surprise announcement a day earlier that stunned so many when he said he supports comprehensive gun control measures. chris cox, a top lobbyist with the national rifle association, tweeted after a meeting with trump and vice president pence last night -- "potus & vpotus support the second amendment, support strong

due process and don't want gun control." trump followed up, tweeting -- "good -- great meeting in the oval office tonight with the nra!" trump's backpedaling came just one day after he publicly chided pennsylvania republican senator pat toomey for being afraid of the nra. pres. trump: it doesn't make sense that i have to wait until i am 21 to get a handgun but i can get his weapon at 18. i was curious as to what you did in your bill. >> we did not address it, mr. president. pres. trump: because you are afraid of the nra, right? amy: meanwhile, state lawmakers in georgia approved a bill thursday punishing delta air lines for its decision to end a promotional discount for members of the nra. the bill, which republican governor nathan deal has pledged to sign, ends a proposed $50 million sales tax break on jet fuel that would have benefited

delta. president trump announced thursday he's imposing still new tariffs on imports of foreign steel and aluminum in a move that sent world stock markets tumbling amid fears of a new trade war. the new tariffs, 25% on steel and 10% on aluminum, will benefit u.s. producers of the metals, while raising prices for companies that manufacture everything from cars to airplanes to high-rise apartments. the announcement prompted fears that other countries will impose retaliatory tariffs while challenging u.s. protectionism at the world trade organization. russian president vladimir putin said thursday his nation has developed a new arsenal of invincible nuclear weapons that can reach "anywhere in the world." among the weapons claimed by putin is a nuclear-powered, nuclear-armed cruise missile with unlimited range, a nuclear torpedo, and a new class of submarine-launched, long-range missiles. putin's announcement comes just

weeks after the trump administration unveiled its new nuclear weapons strategy, which involves spending at least $1.2d states' nuclear arsenal. nobel peace laureate beatrice fihn of the international campaign to abolish nuclear weapons responded to the news , writing -- "putin's statement makes it clear we are in a new arms race that will put us under the terror of a new cold war, in constant fear of death at any instant. while russia and the u.s. compare the size of their arsenals, the rest of the world is joining a treaty that bans them." in syria, aid groups are warning of a humanitarian catastrophe in the damascus suburb of eastern ghouta after a daily humanitarian pause in fighting failed to materialize. this is a resident of eastern ghouta speaking in a video posted on a social media site. >> what truce, brother?

look at the destruction. barrel bombs are dropping on us. until today, there were barrel bombs and nothing is left. there's no food or drink or anything at all. you cannot work. what truce? we do not want to leave. we are staying here and will remain resistant. we just want al-assad to self-destruct. amy: the syrian civil defense, also known as the white helmets, said today 674 civilians have been killed in syrian government-led airstrikes and artillery attacks over the past two weeks. the union of medical care and relief organizations says two of eastern ghouta's hospitals have been bombed since saturday and that more than 1100 sick and wounded residents are at risk of dying if they're not immediately evacuated. cnn reports that fbi investigators are looking into whether white house senior adviser ivanka trump's business dealings leave her vulnerable to pressure by foreign agents. the investigation is centered around financing for the $360

million trump international hotel and tower in vancouver, canada, which opened after president trump took office. the project was led by a powerful malaysian investor through a canada-based development company. investigators are reportedly looking into whether the flow of foreign money through the project might be influencing white house policy. the investigation comes as part of the first daughter's bid to obtain full security clearance to read top secret documents. her husband, also white house advisor, jared kushner, has been denied such clearance and was stripped of his temporary top secret clearance earlier this week. this comes after the "new york times" reported kushner's real estate company received loans worth hundreds of millions of dollars from two separate investors after he met with powerful financial executives at the white house. executives from citigroup and

apollo. president trump said thursday the u.s. should impose the death penalty on drug dealers, praising countries like the philippines that apply capital punishment to drug traffickers. trump made the remarks during a white house summit on the opioid crisis. pres. trump: if you want to be week and you want to talk about just blue-ribbon committees, that is not the answer. the answer is you have to have strength and toughness. the drug dealers, the drug pushers are -- they're really doing damage. they are really doing damage. some countries have a very, very tough penalty. the ultimate penalty. and by the way, they have much less of a drug problem than we do. amy: trump's comments come just weeks after the international criminal court opened up her luminary investigation and accusations that filipino president rodrigo duterte had committed crimes against humanity by overseeing the killing of up to 8000 people and is so-called war on drugs.

ofer report finds the gains the civil rights movement have stalled and in some cases, lost ground over the past half-century. among the report's findings: school segregation is on the rise, white supremacist movements are becoming emboldened and more violent, and child poverty has increased from 15.5% in 1968 to 21% today. the report comes on the 50-year anniversary of a report by the kerner commission, which was assembled by president lyndon johnson in the wake of uprisings by african americans in newark and detroit. the commission concluded that the united states was "moving toward two societies, one black, one white -- separate and unequal." in louisiana, newly disclosed documents reveal a state intelligence agency regularly spied on activists opposing construction of the bayou bridge pipeline, which would carry nearly a half-million barrels of oil per day across louisiana's wetlands. the documents show the louisiana governor's office of homeland

security and emergency preparedness regularly drafted intelligence memos on anti-pipeline activists, including a gathering of indigenous-led water protectors who have set up a protest encampment along the pipeline's route. other newly revealed documents show close coordination between louisiana regulators and the company building the pipeline, energy transfer partners. in some cases, state regulators used language drafted by the pipeline company in its public documents. this comes just one week after a u.s. district judge in baton rouge ordered a temporary injunction against construction of the bayou bridge pipeline in order to "prevent further irreparable harm" to the region's delicate ecosystems while court challenges proceed. energy transfer orders owns the dakota pipeline as well. graham will be laid to rest at a funeral in north carolina today after his death last month at the age of 99. on wednesday, his body was laying in honor in the capitol

rotunda in washington, where politicians, including president trump, and mitch mcconnell, paid their respects. really graham is the first religious leader to lay in state in the capital in the first private citizens and civil rights leader rosa parks was honored there in 2005. the decision to honor billy graham through five for many civil rights activist who say the religious leader was an apologist for racist and sexist views among evangelicals. wrote --ng a butler professor butler wrote -- u.s. treasury secretary steven the releaselocking of a video showing protesters confronting him over the trump administration's policies during an appearance at the university of california-los angeles. about 400 people attended monday's free event at a ucla lecture hall, which the

university filmed as it typically does for guest speakers. but mnuchin withdrew his consent to have the video posted online after he was repeatedly confronted by protesters who called out mnuchin's support for president trump's tax cuts and his record of foreclosing on homes during his tenure as ceo of onewest bank. parts of mnuchin's appearance were captured on cell phone cameras and posted to social media. this is ucla geography major tala deloria, who was lifted from her seat and hauled away by campus police after she confronted mnuchin. >> we note this is a tax bill and what that represents sentencing people to death, including children. 9 billion children who are going to be left without health care. so this victim that is putting people in this position in the first place that actually moved the jobs overseas, it was an black people and brown people in the inner cities who did this, and yet you are punishing them for being in that position.

you are punishing them for the misery that this system, the system that you are enforcing -- >> it is time for you to leave. any government that point, the geography major was hold off by police on campus. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we begin today's show with updates in the case of former u.s. intelligence contractor reality leigh winner, who is facing up to 10 years in prison on charges she violated the espionage act. winner is a former national security agency contractor who has pleaded not guilty to charges she leaked a top-secret document to the intercept about russian interference in the 2016 election. reality winner was arrested by fbi agents at her home in augusta, georgia, on june 3 -- two days before the intercept published an expose revealing

russian military intelligence conducted a cyberattack on at least one u.s. voting software company just days before the u.s. presidential election last november. the expose was based on a classified nsa report from may 5, 2017, that shows that the agency is convinced the russian general staff main intelligence directorate, or gru, was responsible for interfering in the 2016 presidential election. reality is the first whistleblower to be accused of violating the espionage act under the trump administration. she has been denied bail and has been jailed since june. on tuesday, she appeared in court in augusta, georgia, where her lawyers asked the judge to exclude her statements to fbi agents on the day she was arrested, arguing she was denied her miranda rights. well, we're joined now by two guests. in chicago, kevin gosztola,

managing editor of shadowproof press. he has been covering reality winner's case and has covered several whistleblower cases, including chelsea manning's. he was in the courtroom in augusta on tuesday. and his recent article is titled, "in reality winner's case, defense seizes upon fbi testimony to bolster motion to suppress statements." first we go to augusta, georgia, where we are joined by reality winner's mother billie winner-davis. she's joining us from her daughter's home, where reality was questioned and arrested by fbi agents on june 3. we welcome you both to democracy now! billie winner-davis, let's begin with you. as you sit in reality's home, talk about what you understood happened that first weekend of june in 2017. walked us through this -- walk us through this. on june 3, reality returned

from a trip to the grocery store and she was immediately approached by mail fbi agents at her home. they advised her that they had a search warrant -- search warrant's for her home, car, and her person. fully.perated with them they took her cell phone. they took her keys. they asked her if she had a place -- if she basically wanted to be interviewed here at her home or if she wanted to go down to the fbi office. she agreed to the interview here at her home. they asked if she had a place that they could interview her that was away from everything. she advised them that she did have a spare backroom, a bedroom here in the house. she advised them she was not comfortable going into that room. she called the room creepy and weird. they nevertheless letter to that led herinterview her --

to that room to interview her. this week in court, her lawyers argued that, basically, the actions the fbi agents took were actions that can find her. their custody. she never felt at any time that she was free to leave. in fact, her actions during the interview and during the whole process told them that she felt like she was not free to leave. she asked for permission to move about. she asked for permission to even use the restroom, which they gave her. she was at all times accompanied by agents. and on that day, he was 11 fbi agents they came into this home. agents they came into this home. this small home. basically, i get the impression that it was very frightening.

it was very intimidating for her that day. amy: the fbi agents were armed? , from what we have learned, nine of the 11 fbi agents and personnel here at her home that they were armed. amy: and they immediately took her cell phone and her car keys and they said -- and they took her into that room that she has described as creepy? >> yes, that is correct. and at no point did they return her cell phone to her, return her car keys to her. we saw photographs which definitely showed her car was surrounded. there would have been no physical way for her to even leave it her vehicle if she wanted to. the argument that the defense made this week was a strong one. that she was basically being held here. amy: was she read her miranda rights? >> no. the fbi agents did admit to

that. they did admit a no time did rights orher miranda feel they had to do that. amy: this is what is at issue, is that right? her lawyers want to suppress her statements to the fbi saying she was not read her miranda rights, not told she could remain silent or have a lawyer with her. >> that is correct. that is correct. havekevin gosztola, you covered not only this trial, but others. can you talk about this further, what happened to reality on that day? it goes to, you know, due process issues and whether a person has the right to remain silent. one of the aspects of the law that is at issue here is something i did not really know until this case existed, a concept called custodial interrogation. fbi agents and apparently can

come into your home and if you are not in a police-dominated atmosphere, if a court of law does not determine police took over this area, then in fact you were never detained or arrested and they can basically manipulate or have their way with you. what the judge is looking at here is whether enough factors appear where she had actually was in custody. if that is the case, if the judge agrees with the defense, what they are listed off and what billie was talking about, the judge may rule her rights were violated. and some other things that were talked about is the fact that she had a search warrant for her person or the fbi had a search warrant for her person. and when they came there, the government wants to maintain that they executed it when they took the cell phone. but about 28 minutes into this whole encounter, another agent, who did not take the stand, wally taylor, said something about still having a search warrant for her person.

nobody is free to leave if the fbi still has a search warrant to execute against you. clearly, she could not have left her home and just wondered to the convenience store as the government talked during the hearing. another aspect that is important is she was regarded even before this encounter as someone who was a danger to the community. that is how the fbi viewed her. they also viewed her as a dental target of foreign intelligence. one way the defense tried to poke at the government's argument that they did not do anything wrong was to say that if you have somebody in their home and they are isolated in this way and surrounded by a surveillance team, you're not really going to let them leave and go into the community. if we're going to follow your logic, you would not have let reality winner leave her house. amy: billie winner-davis, you know your daughter well. she is an air force veteran. her last duty, cryptologic language analyst. at fortbeen stationed

meade, maryland, before working in augusta. , havingitary training the fbi coming in, what would be her assumption, now stripped of phone, car keys, asking to go to the bathroom? right. all of her actions that day and when you read the transcript and we heard clips of the audio, all of her actions that day told us that she did -- she never felt like she was free to leave. i know in talking with her shortly after the incident, she did indicate to me she was frightened. i heard her voice on the audio. i heard it shaking. the prosecution tried to make a scene that this was a very casual encounter them almost like one that would occur at starbucks. but what i heard on the audio was far from that. her voice was shaking.

yes, she was making small talk and making jokes and she was laughing, but that is out of nervousness. they twisted a lot of things to try to make it look like this mild encounter that she had with fbi agents at her home. but anyone puts their cells an -- puts themselves in her situation, 11 male fbi agents have come into your home, two have taken you to the back room in your house where you have already told them you are not comfortable, you are asking permission to make any movements , she was never under the impression that she was free to leave. and therefore, i believe she was in their custody. amy: billie winner-davis and kevin gosztola, we have to go to

break. we will come back to this discussion. billie winner-davis is the mother of reality leigh winner, who faces 10 years in prison and has been jailed now for nine months, brought into a courtroom this week in an orange jumpsuit and shackles. we will also continue with kevin gosztola, just back from augusta or the courtroom scene played out this week. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: "last leaf" by joan baez from her new album "whistle down the wind" released today. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we are continuing to cover the case of former u.s. intelligence contractor reality leigh winner, who is facing up to 10 years in prison on charges of violating the espionage act. she has now been jailed or nine month on charges she leaked a top-secret document to the intercept about russian interference in the september --

in the u.s. elections. we're joined by her mother billie winner-davis and kevin gosztola, a journalist covering the trial. was just in the courtroom this week in augusta. i want to turn to billie winner-davis showing democracy now! this morning the room where the fbi questioned her daughter. the fbi agents and my daughter, she was with her back up against this wall and there would have been an agent standing here on this an agent either on this will or this wall. they're not sure. she was triangled in by the agents, her back up against that wall. according to her, the door was nearly shut. the agents were not clear in their recollection as to whether the door was shut or not. when you think about this room, you think about it empty, think about her in here with two fbi

agents with her back against the wall. to me, it felt very intimidating. it would've been almost like a jail cell. amy: that is billie winner-davis , mother of reality, in that back room that reality called creepy, where the fbi held her and questioned her. kevin gosztola, you were in court with billie's family this week. asked toity's lawyers suppress her statements, believing she was not read her rights, which fbi agreed she was not, saying she was not free to leave -- at least she did not believe she was -- can you describe how unusual it was that reality was brought in in shackles and orange jumpsuit? you have covered a number of these trials. stunned to see

her brought into the room in an orange jumpsuit. i had covered other cases similar to this. i was under the assumption that she would be brought into a back room, allowed to change into whatever she wanted to wear, and then brought out in those clothes. when she entered, she at shackles on her feet. she had cuffs. they brought her all the way up to the defense table and then took the handcuffs off. i believe they kept the shackles on her legs. so she sat down with those. then another aspect that i found striking was that a martial -- marshalse two u.s. escorting her. one of them sat right in front of heard during the entire hearing as it enfolded. he was in her face. never staring her down, but he was seated in a way where his body was turned and he was looking toward a corner of the courtroom. this, to me, seemed to be really overboard.

i compared it to what i experienced covering chelsea manning's trial. i know it is far, far different, but my memory of that was so vivid of chelsea just walking in, the marshall allowing her to take her seat. there were not any handcuffs, never any shackles on chelsea's feet. it just seems to me what is going on here is some serious dehumanization of summitt arrived before a judge's very eyes. amy: talk about the fact she has been held in gel for nine months, denied bail, and how that compares to previous cases. comeis is very remarkable even if we just look at federal cases. i know you have covered the jeffrey sterling case, the cia wastleblower who prosecuted. he just got out of prison, in fact, before he went to trial, he was not in jail. i know you covered cia whistleblower john kiriakou.

he has been on this program. he was not in pretrial detention before he went to trial or before he had a chance to go through some of his pretrial hearings. eventually he played guilty to a charge. in this case, she has been put behind bars because the government wants to argue that she could be a target of foreign intelligence and a danger to the community. and even more troubling, even more disturbing to me, the judge is allowing the government to argue that she probably hates america. and that makes her someone who should be kept in jail. i don't know regulations as well as a lawyer, but to me, it seems like that kind of an opinion should not make you someone who is denied bail. on top of that, there are several ways in which you can control the movement of a person so they can be guaranteed to show up to hearings or to their trial. you can put an ankle bracelet on

them, which is one thing that she is willing to do. you can have your passport seized. reality is willing to go through that. i understand her parents were willing to put up collateral in order to cover the home and then she would be put on home confinement, and now would be a way to ensure she did not flee. the government has crafted the story of reality is some kind of super spy, even though the fbi agents said in their interrogation they did not believe she was this kind of a person. they've created this narrative of some kind of super spy who possibly sympathizes with the taliban, even. they were talking in court about how she done searches on her computer for how to follow the taliban without the government detecting that. so they are really trying to keep her in jail and really go after her in similar ways they've dead other

whistleblowers. amy: the federal judge who said his decision to deny bail was based in part on social media comments by reality, that she "admires edward snowden and julian assange." , can you, kevin gosztola talk about exactly what reality winner is charged with, what the government is saying she did. >> accused of gathering and releasing classified information without authorization. it is under the espionage act. this is a 1910-era law. we're going back over a century. originally, this would have been used against defenders of this period as a way to go after people, i understand, were accused of seditious crime. in this case, there's no evidence at all that she had any communication with any agent of a foreign power. there's no evidence that she was providing anything to any spies.

and none of the agents make that allegation at all. interestshe could of with a misdemeanor. just like david portray us was charged with a misdemeanor of ofuthorized removal classified information. they chose to go after her with his tony charge and continue the same process that was perfected by the justice department under president barack obama and used against several individuals while he was president. and they have chosen to really make an example out of her list of i don't think it has anything to do necessarily with the content of the information. it has to do with the zealous view that the justice department has about individuals who are low-level employees of the government who engage in this kind of action. we also know that attorney general jeff sessions is somebody who has a particular disdain for leaks, has always been supremely disgusted by

this. in fact, one of the things he announced back in august of 2017 is they were starting a counterintelligence division inside the fbi that would be particularly handling these cases. that was after reality winner's arrest and after this case can to their attention, but have almost tripled the number of unauthorized disclosure cases that they are pursuing at the justice department just in the first years of the trump administration when you compare it to the obama administration. sessions' own words. they're really going after her here. they intend to put as much pressure on her. i believe that what they're doing by keeping her in prison is intended to make her plead guilty in not go to trial, and they would like her to roll over and accept some time in jail and not defend herself. amy: so i want to go through the timeline, kevin and billie. fbihe day that trump fired director james,, may 9, 2017,

reality would later be charged with finding and printing a lassified report entitled the next day was may 10. trump celebrated with russian officials in the white house, bragging he had fired nut job comey in order to end any russiagate investigation. hours later, reality allegedly sent the nsa report to the media. the quote of reality "why do i , have this job if i'm just going to sit back and be helpless. i just thought that was the final straw," that is what reality allegedly explained under interrogation saying "i felt really hopeless seeing that information contested. why isn't this out there? why can't this be public?" again, this is allegedly what she said. we were not there. she -- only she was there with

the fbi agents, and this is all material that her lawyers are asking to suppress. but talk about the significance of this timeline and the document that the intercept published that the government alleges is from reality winner, although, turns out now that the government learned because they can figure out these things that this was printed by a number of different people, printed something like six times. kevin? >> yes, that is -- i'm sorry. amy: that may go to kevin and then, billie, back to you. >> the government said it was printed six times in the indictment. they also claim none of those individuals had emailed the intercept, so it has to be reality winner. of course, that does not consider the possibility that maybe those other individuals were able to conceal the communications in ways that are probably far too well-known to

the government. but i think what is important is this document was something where it showed alleged hackers were targeting voter registration. it raised issues that were actually prominent in the media. this was something that people were discussing and in fact this very story was something that was back in the press not only through or four weeks ago we were talking about it because other news media were confirming details of this report and pursuing it. i think it is really important for this information to be out and i also think it is important we talk about what it was that she revealed because it shows you that what she did was in fact a whistleblower act. because it is not like she was just reckless. it is not like she was just inside her office and using the access she had in order to gain some kind of popularity. she actually read the document

and was concerned about it. in fact, if we are to believe the concession -- confession, the agents even recognize she is probably somebody who is angry about politics and they recognize that she is somebody who is frustrated by donald trump's election, and that impact the reason why she probably released this document has something to do with that. amy: before we lose the satellite feed to you in augusta, georgia, in reality's home where you are now, just talk about your daughter. tell us about reality. you are not able to have contact visits with her this last nine months, last seeing her in the courtroom in the orange jumpsuit? how do you visit her? how do you talk to her? who is listening? >> they are listening. the prosecution is monitoring everything, the nsa is monitoring everything. all of her incoming and outgoing mail is sent to the nsa for scanning. all of our conversations of

course are recorded. she is able to call me freely as long as we keep funds on her books at the jail. she is able to purchase calling cards and call us. so she does call me daily. i am able to visit with her as long as i'm in georgia. i can visit with her on saturday and sunday mornings. each visit is capped at 30 minutes. it is between glass. it is over a phone. it is being monitored. you are correct, during this entire time, she is that i had to have -- she is not been allowed to have any contact visits whatsoever. we have not been able to touch our daughter. i have not been able to hug her. seeing her in the courtroom brought in in the orange it, "inmate" onogle in seeing how they are treating her, it is something that really

causes me a lot of pain, a lot of emotional pain to see her treated like that. it has been very, very difficult. these last nine months have been extremely difficult. and we know we have a long road ahead of us. , talk about reality and her chosen profession. i mean, she is an air force veteran. she is a cyber security expert. just talk about her career. when did she go into the military? and then, what did she do from there to now? >> she joined the military right after high school graduation will step in fact, she was looking into the military while she was still in high school. she went into the air force directly after her high school december 2010, i want to say. and she went into the military.

she wanted to be a linguist. she wanted to be a middle eastern linguist. they did train her. they trained her to speak three languages. she was very good at her job. she's served her country very well. prior to her honorable discharge from the air force, she did receive a commendation medal for the work that she did. it specifies all that she did for her country. it specifies how important she was. out that she was instrumental in identifying and capturing over 600 targets while she was employed as a linguist for the air force. following her discharge from the air force, she did look into ways that she could actually go , to iran,dle east afghanistan, syria, to actually help. she wanted to do humanitarian aid their.

she had applied to different organizations that she had not been able to secure a job with those humanitarian organizations . so she did relocate back to augusta where she had been deployed. you been deployed -- shia been deployed to augusta before. she relocated back to augusta. she had friends. she knew she had a job teaching spinning and yoga here in augustine. and she did again employment with contract agency in augustine began her employment 2017, nsa in february of i believe. kind of get mixed up, so i apologize if i'm not correct with that. reality is extremely passionate and compassionate. she goes out of her way to better her community will step she is done volunteer work.

she has done community service work. and she was in maryland, she was part of a group called athlete serving athletes, where she ran marathons with disabled youths. she was fostering a dog here while she was in augusta. she is always been very involved in service work, and that is to she is. always trying to better her world, better her planet, better her country. we are very proud of reality. i am very proud. amy: kevin gosztola, the issue of not releasing her, suggesting she is a threat. can you talk about this? in no russian interference the elections was not her specialty, why this might have concerned her? concerned she was because she is a citizen, just like everybody else in this country. and if it looks like our voter registration systems are vulnerable to hacking by

russians or chinese or iranian's or any other country, that is something to be concerned about. one way to tie it to the current news here is if the government really wants to pursue this logic that reality winner can be a target of foreign intelligence because of the way she allegedly mishandled or made this unauthorized disclosure of classified information, the possibly we should have jared kushner or ivanka trump holding to a jail cell to they cannot be targeted and manipulative by foreign intelligence. that is really the logic the government has been using here is that because of what is in her head and because she knows and because of the service that she has done for this country, she is someone who is vulnerable to attacks by people. so they are not only upset with her views, but also upset by the fact that she knows secrets and

they lost control of her. , we arelie winner-davis going to and with you. i want to ask you about your daughter's name, reality winner. why did you choose reality? >> it wasn't me. it was her dad. when we had our first child, i , i washe first child able to pick out her name. so when i became pregnant with reality and we found out it was a girl, their data that time he said, well, you named her first child, i get to and in the second child. the last name is winner, which is rather unique. he stated he wanted a real winner. so he named her reality. throughout her life, it has just fit her perfectly. she is a very unique, special person. it is a beautiful name. it fits her personality. it fits who she is.

amy: what do you want for your daughter right now? what i want for her, what i need is for everybody to keep her in the focus. say her name. i want everybody to know who reality winner is and what is happening to reality winner. it is very, very important that she be remembered and that people not forget what she is going through, the battle she faces, that she is being silenced, that she is been locked away. and i really want everyone to remember her name, to speak her name, to talk about her. amy: billie winner-davis, thank you so much for joining us, inviting us into your daughter's home. your daughter reality winner, now currently jailed in georgia. the trial for reality is set for what date?

we do not have a trial date at this point. the trial was originally scheduled for october, then it was pushed to march. but as of right now, we do not have a new trial date. so we don't know when she will be -- phase the jury. what i'm being told is it will be late 2018, if not early february 2019. amy: which was she could continue to be in prison until that time. correct.t is that is correct. we lost the appeal for bail. she no longer has any other options to fight for bond or bail. billie winner-davis, zinke for being with us, reality winner's mother. and kevin gosztola, covering the case. he is covered a number of them

and we willing to his piece titled "in reality winner's , case, defense seizes upon fbi testimony to bolster motion to suppress statements." in 1961, an back, 18-year-old african-american student walked out of the campus of the university of georgia and into the history books. desegregating the university of georgia. her name, charlayne hunter-gault . in a moment, we will speak to her about surviving the school desegregation. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. from school desegregation to #neveragain. as a student-led movement for gun control sweeps the country, led by the marjory stoneman douglas high school students who survived the mass shooting that killed 17 of their classmates and teachers, we're going to spend the rest of the hour looking back at one of the history, another historic student movement -- desegregation. thats january 9, 1961, students charlayne hunter-gault and hamilton holmes walked onto the campus of the university of georgia to register for classes, as a howling mob of white students screamed racial epithets at them. it was a pivotal movement in the african american student-led movement to desegregate america's public high schools and universities. on that day, charlayne hunter was just shy of 19 years

old, one of the first two african american students to enroll at the university of georgia after winning a landmark legal case. she had long dreamed of being a journalist. and at the time, the university of georgia had the best journalism program in the state. two days after she registered for classes, a white mob gathered outside her dorm room, hurling bricks at the building and smashing windows. the university suspended her and hamilton holmes, supposedly for their own safety. again, the students took their battle to the courts, and soon returned to campus. charlayne hunter graduated in 1963, and took her first job in journalism as an editorial assistant at the new yorker. she went on to have an award-winning career in journalism, working for pbs, npr, and cnn. she's won two emmy awards and two peabody awards. and in 1988, the legendary journalist now charlayne hunter-gault, returned to the university of georgia's campus to make more history -- becoming the university's first african american graduation speaker.

well, charlayne hunter-gault joins us now from sarasota, florida, award-winning journalist and author of many books, including "in my place," a memoir of her childhood and her years at the university of georgia. it is great to speak to you again. talk about that moment, as we look at the student led movement that has been rocking this country, march 24, the march for our lives, which democracy now! will be covering in washington, d.c. let's go back to the movement that you began on the university of georgia campus. walk us through it as you walk on campus that day. let me first say it is nice to see you again. the last time i saw you was on martha's vineyard. it was a very wonderful experience. the things that went on back in 1961, it was a wonderful experience. i think it prepared me for what i call my journey to the horizons. hamilton holmes and i felt

paytled because our parents taxes, the university of georgia was a state institution and our parents taxes paid for it. for 100 70 all white something years. it we felt entitled. we were citizens of the state of georgia. at the same time that we were applying to the university of georgia, a student movement, not only an atlanta, but across the south, was challenging the what was called separate but equal. -- vernonn the case is the one remaining legal person who was involved with our case. the others are now our ancestors. but they were very much alive then and very determined to right what was wrong with the laws in georgia, particularly as

it related to the university. we paid very little attention to the students who were yelling at us and calling us ugly words because we had a mission. our mission was to enroll at the university of georgia and pursue our dreams. a doctor,anted to be which eventually became, graduating from the university of georgia under all that pressure is a phi beta kappa. he wanted to play football, but initially -- he played football at our high school in atlanta, turner high school, but the officials told him that if he played, he could either be hurt by his own football players or by the all white players at all of the other schools. because the university of first school toforce desegregate.

so that was a big disappointment to him. but he concentrated than on his studies. as i said, he graduated with top honors in his class. outsiders to to have been a trying time in the night the students rated outside our dormitory, throwing a brick or two through my window, it was a little bit trying because i was told -- hamilton did not going onriot was because the girls had to live on campus. boys did not. that was the southern way of doing things in those days. but the one slightly fear something was that we did not -- i did not know what was going on outside. the police managed to take your time getting there to disperse the rioters. they did it with tear gas. so going into that dark night

with officials whom i did not know whether i could trust or not, was a little bit strange. but it was not frightening, somehow. we got through it. i got through it. i met hamilton, who lived about five minutes away from the campus with a black family who are brave enough to take him in. sked in state georgia patrol cars. i think that was on a wednesday night. our lawyers went immediately to court the following morning and got us readmitted. it was close to the weekend, so the lawyers and our parents and other adults involved with us decided to give us the weekend off so that we could return refreshed on monday. and we did. they say, is history. amy: you integrated the university of georgia. what was it like to go back decades later, and again make

history, as university of georgia's first black graduation speaker? >> well, it was a challenge. and i think i probably spoke a little too long, but i had a lot to say. it was quite wonderful, actually. it was closing a page officially , for many, andn a pleasant history. it was a victorious history for us. it was a great experience. since that time, even before that, hamilton and i had made our peace with the past and were very supportive of the university. in fact, we called ourselves mama dog and pop a dog after the football team, the georgia bulldogs. amy: in this last minute we have on the national broadcast, but then we will keep you if you

don't mind, to continue the conversation, talk about your activism then and what you see in the parkland students today. these students who are survivors , and if the same time they are mourning the loss of their loved ones, teachers and classmates, their leading a movement, taking on one of the most powerful lobbies, the nra. >> obviously, when i was at the university of georgia a few days ago, i the journalism class i was speaking to to take a moment and say her prayer and wish the young people who were survivors of -- that they don't have to livesll sadness in their the rest of their lives. of course, they will never, i imagine, forget that moment. it is something i can't even imagine. but as my friend don harris,

former businessman who was a part of the larger civil rights movement, the citizens, voter registration and all of that, as he said, it is their time. there were young people back in the day when we were there that were older people that thought we were on the wrong path. some were afraid for us, not bad they disagreed with our aims and ambitions, but they were afraid. and then there are others who just did not believe we should be doing what we were doing. it goes way back to that debate between booker t. washington and w.e.b. the boys. -- deboise. amy: we're five seconds. >> as we look at these of people, i look back at it say it is time for them to pick up the baton and carry it forward looking for justice and freedom and all of the things that they are -- john amy: charlayne hunter-gault, thank you so much.

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