>> what do you do when the president lies? then it's repeated. a million times. c >> theritically acclaimed filmn' about one w's fight. >> i'm maria ressa. >> maria carries the torch of press freedom in a country held in thrall by a popullist president. >> it's going to be bloody. >> we demandedhe government be held accountable. >> the charges against ressa were aimed at intimidating those who challenged duterte's rule. >> this is not the philippines i knew. and i have done no crime. >> statuned after thfilm for a discussion with maria ressa and the rector ramona diaz. in a special edition of amanpour and company. >> if you don't use your rights you will lose them.

>> now on frontline - a thousand cuts. >> frontline is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. and by the corporation for public broadcasting. major support is provided by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur undation, committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. the ford fouation: working with visionaries on the worldwide.f social change additional support is provided by the abrams foundation, committed to excellence journalism... park foundation, dedicated to heightening public awareness of critical issues...g- the heismons foundation: unlocking knowledge, opportunitl and possies. and by the frontline journalism fund, with major support from jon and jo ann hagler. and additional support from laura debonis and sct nathan. additional support for thousand cuts was provided by the following:

>> morning! kg (people talking in bund) >> you want to be somewhere within reaching distance, because i will come to you fo.. propaganda. yeah. pia, you're my first strike. >> what will you aske? (giggles) >> i assuming i'm going to ask you at it was like to get banned from the palace. >> rambo, you, of course, numbers. drug war, what's changed, right? >> okay. >> because it's on t fronts, right? you have the, people expect... people think that's the main accomplishment, so what did they really acmplish? >> okay, breaking it down. >> yes.

>> okay. >> five... >> hello and welcome, i'm maria ressa. we are at the 2018n state of the natioaddress. use the hashtag #sona28. >> rodrigo roa duterte,. president of the republic of the philippines (audience applauding) >> let me begin by putting it bluntly. the illel drugs war will not be sidelined.d, instt will be as relentless anling, if you will, y as on the it began. your concern is human rights.

mine is human live >> wow... wow. ♪ >> (speaking filipino) >> award-winning filipina journalist maria ressa, the founder of the independent news site "rappler," vocal critic of philippine president rodrigo dute >> maria ressa, a gh-profile journalist in the philippines, she was named time magazine person of the year in 2018... >> maria ressa carries the torch of press freedom c inountry held in thrall by a populist president.

>> "rappler," since you are a, ke news outlet, then... ri your articles are fe with innuendos and pregnant with falsity. tell me where is our lies, and i'll tell you where are yours.

♪ ♪ (horns honking, vehicles moving in distance) >> okay. fantastic! it's, like, let me focus you firs on what's happening in the entire informati ecosystem. it's dark and light, lett e, let me use thaw, right? they're trying to actively form alternative news. it's dark and light, lett e, letand they've succeeded. trending news portal was a really good distribution. mocha is a really good distribution. that's why, all of a sudden, our society is so polarized, because that's what there doing. this group just amplifies, pounds, but they never share any of the traditional news sites.

and the traditional news sites are so blind that they don't even see they're getting killed here, right? is is fascinating-- it's a satpshot of our infon ecosystem today. (performing "buttons" by the pussycat dolls) i ever planned to be in politics. when i supported then-mayor duterte, it wasust volunty. we need an iron hand in dling with criminals. the reach of mocha uson blog, 50 million people. in (spefilipino): i entered the government helping with the ioinformation dissemin of different government agenciesci

for media. for a dancer like me, for an entertainer like me, to be appointed in malacañang, that's really something big. (speaking filipino): and last but not theeast... (speaking filipino): "duterte: journey to the presidency." (speaking filipino): >> 1,164 shares. >> (speaking filipino): >> reached 233,860. ♪

(crowd cheering) >> so i take this as a god-given mission to become president duterte's right-hand man stin his fight agarugs, criminality, and corruptiond . >> hims the first chief ementer of the govs.nment's war on dr after his retirement, he was chosen to clean up the correc, also plagued with illegal drug problems. ♪ (people talking in background) >> (speaking filipino): (clears throat)

(men chuckling) (men laughing)

a(men cheerinapplaung) trust me, i have my own way of stopping you from doing your illegal acts-- trust me, ah. believe you me, i can stop you, ah. so... (speaking filipino): (men respond) >> gentleman's agreement, huh? >> yes, sir! >> gentleman's agreement. li (speaking fino): >> yes, sir! >> (speaking filipino) >> yes, sir! >> (speaking filipino): >> yes, sir! >>speaking filipino): (man coughing) (speaking filipino):(m cheer and applaud) ♪ ♪

thank you for joining us. davao mayor rody duterte. >> (speaking filipino): >> can you please, you are the man of the hour, people wanting to know whether you're running for psident, vice president, yes, no? ere are you? >> i told you to avoid me. i'm telling the filipino people... (speaks filipino) it's gonna be bloody. >> so no qualms about killing killers? >> yes, of course, i, i must admit, i have, i have killed. (stammers) thi,e months early on, killed, what... three people? >> the lev of poverty on the ground is phenomenal.

they've had other presidents and other governments, and their lives have not gotten better. >> (speaking filipino): it is not for the . >> duterte comes in, he o he offers revenge. "whoever did this to you, i will stop it." >> (speaking filipino): he offers revenge. four months fr now... (speaking filipino): (crowd cheers and applauds) >> rodrigo duterte and alan peter cayetano campaigned in cainta, one of the most... towns in rizal. a ve covered duterte fong time. i covered duterte when he was still the mayor, who nobody really, who everybody thoughwas ju. (speaking filipino): >> usually salted fi and eggs, sunny side up. >> he had a reputation of being an iron-fisted mayor. he had a lot of nicknames,

er like, peoplecalling him dirty harry, >> just becausre a urnalist, or the dirty harry of mindanao.o you think you're exempted from assassination?si >> but.. >> (speaking filipino): it's all wrong. >> he may have been a politician, but he was an outsider litici, like, a small-time politician. so his messagingbe wag someone cut out from political elite circles in manila. "i'm an outsider, and i'm here to change everything." (crowd cheering and chanting) >> (speaking filipino): (crowd cheering and applauding) >> (performing pop campai song) (song continues)

>> i, rodrigo roa duterte... >> president duterte, right after his inauration, stood on a platform and said, "if you're into drugs, "sometime in the next few years, you will make a mistake and i will kill you." it took three hours. the firsocbody was found a few away from where he spoke. ♪ >> please, sir. >> tst time. y >>r-- actually, that's what i'm going to start off with. and i'll just say that, a year ago this is what we, we talked then, and you've done everything you said. >> in thhindsight, did you really believe that... i had a good chance of making it? >> all of our surveys showed it. had-- i'll show you all the... yeah.

>> (speaking filipino) >> we knew by february. >> by what standard... (speaking filipino) >> social media. >> it'a powerful thing. >> by february we knew. in 2016, "rappler" foutyt two levels of impu the war on drugs became the a war on the poor. war. we hathey would come homed go out ewith at least nieight dead bodies a t. the narrative of the government is that they fought back. these are extra-judicial killings or murder. >> (speaking filipino): you can criticize us to high heavens. (speaking filipino): inside you ru >> "impunity" in the dwar was a continuing series.

we put faces and nameshe toeople being kied. we demanded the government be held accountable. anyone on fabook who question the people who were being killed was automatically bashed. we began to gather data. we began to look at the accounts attacking all of media. we stumbled onto something-- disinformation networks. when you see the network that spreads it, you can followther networks, and then you can see its growth. mid-september, i started writing. first, the weaponization of the internet.as the second p how facebook algorithms impact democracy. as soon as pe released it, we gotounded. an i was gettinverage of 90 hate messages per hour. mocha uson blog, shattacked "rappler," said, "oh, 'rappler's' c.i.a." followed by another blogger, thinking pinoy,

who seeded the ideas that we're foreign-controlled. >> "rappler" is misrepresenting itself... >> (speaking filipino): >> it was the second state of the nation address. it comes out of president duterte's own mouth. >> "rappler." try to pierce the identity, and you will end up american ownerships. you're supsed to be 100% filipino. >> of course, we were covering it live. i automatically tweeted, "mr. president, you're wrong." i was told later on that offended him. wret do you do when thedent lies, then it's repeated a million times so people have no idea what t truth is? this set the stage. a week after the president did that,

we got our first subpoena. january 2018, the govesement tried to clorappler." tried to revoke our license to operate. in a little more than a year, we faced 11 cases. (people talking in background) >> oh, hi, sir, sir, earlier in your speech, you inid that the issue he sec ruling against "rappler" is not an issue of press freedom. but at the same time during your speech, you were giving comments about the media anabout "rappler." (speaking filipino): >> so what ds that mean, sir? you say that this is not an attack on media, but you also have attacks on media in your own speec.. >> let me give you an example. your inquisitive mind gopr beyond its normaortions. one of these days, i'll file a plunder case. but when i go plunder case, you will go to jail without the bail. d >> 'cause the al is to actually make you doub the facts.

>> (chanting): mocha! mocha! >> (speaking filipino): >> (speaking filipino): (drummin (crowd cheers) (people talking background) >> good morning, we're joined today by former philippine national police chief ronald bato dela rosa, who's now, of course, the bureau of crections chief, also. now, as soon as you file your c.o.c.,

you'll be deemed resigned... >> yes. >> now, what made you decide to actually n for senator? >> uh... (speaking filipino): .. at the same ti (speaking filipino): >> but other people also see it as the way of the president to put loyal lieutenants in the senate. that's why supposedly he wants you there. (speaking filipino) loyal to the president, to protect his interests, not just his... agenda of governance. >> (speaking fipino): anybody who'd like to, to bring down the president... g (speaklipino): (crowd shouting) ♪

>> (speaking filipino): >> duterte! duterte! (crowd shouting and chanting) >> duterte! duterte! duterte! ♪ (speaking filipino): >> your boss is already talking to us, no need for that. (cameras clicking) >> a prominent critic of plippine president rodrigo duterte has been arrested. maria ressa is c.e.o.... >> a warrant for a cyber-libel case was served past 5:00 p.m.

inside "rappler's" office in pasig city. >> press freedom advocates say the government's charges against her are retaliation for her critical reporting of authorits in the philippes. >> (speaking filipino) >> we'll go, we'll go to nbi now. we'll go to the nbi, can you guys come? (people talking in background, cameras clicking) >> it's a shwek, it's a shock, but 're going. ♪ (people talking in background) >> no further comment. ♪

>> (speaking filipino) >> excuse us, excuse us. (cameras clicking) >> they're running the clock. what do they think they can do by keeping movernight? >> can you go to the nbi team and ask them why they are not talking to us? to>> we have until 9:00 e able to post bail. without the right documents, we cannot post bail, so they're... stumbling blocks to prevent... it's a nightison, it's a night here, but apparently the delay is on purpose. >> free maria ressa! >> demand press freedom! >> fremaria ressa! >> demand press freedom! >> free maria ressa! d >>and press freedom! (audio fades) >> free maria ressa! >> my stay last night at the nbi

really made me think about what this is all about, right? and for me, it's about two things: abuse of poweriz and weaponion of the law. this isn't just about me and it's not just about "rappler." i'll be very transparent. (voice breaking): because i have done nothing... sorry. this case, the cyber-libel case, the national bureau of investigations' own lawyers threw it out. but they reversed their position, and the department of justice and the government prosecutors now are taking thith e story which supposedly violated the cyber-libel laws published seven years ago, four months before tpo actual law we ssedly violated had even been enacted. they're applying (people talking in background)

>> internation journalists' organizations are saying edis is an attack on the mia. >> blaming the administration for it. >> (speaking filipino): ti your policy on cl media? >> (spilipino): >> thank you, thank yo>> (s: it means nothing to me. ♪ gs >> when the war on d started, a lot people were dying. the government wasn't quick enough to show how ny people were dying. how many people were gunned down in police operations. how many people were gunned down by vigilante-style killers. so there's this counting by the government. 4,500 gunned down within police operations. and human rights aates estimate the killings 2including the killings which were at least inspired

by the war on drugs of president duterte. >> tonight, we are following a team of policemen conducting a smeultaneous anti-c and law enforcement operations to seize people who are violating city ordinances, following the order of president rodrigo duterte to go after tambays. we will see how they execute the order of the president. (speaking filipino): (dog barking) >> (speaking filipino):

>> (speaking filipino): >> (speaking filipino): >> congratulations, sir. >> (speaking filipino): >> man: >> talabong: m >>: (music playing) (audience applauding) >> otso diretso candidate, the sole woman in our lineup of nine candidates, samira gutoc coming in... (audience applauds and cheers)l >> (speakingino): is a woman who stands without fear without threat to her life, that she is willing to run alongside giants and along honorable men.

(marching band playing, man calling on microphone) ♪ otso diretso! o ♪ oretso! >> morning! (speaking filipino) (laughs) ) (trumpet pying it's a trial for our country, it's a trial for our democracy. there needs to be genuine opposition. the excuse that people say is, like, "we're tired, we want results. "wlywant people who realight drugs. to want people to, look at safe streets."

i understand tt, of course, everyone wants that. but you cann kill the young. you cannot kill youths. you cannot kill a man for the sake of, you know, like, cleaning up the streets. cannot be judge and executioner at one time. (engine revving) >> (speaking filipino): (crowd cheers) (clears throat)

♪ what would i do without your smart mouth ♪ ♪ drawing me in and you kicking me out ♪ ♪ got my head spinning, no kidding ♪ ♪ i can't pin you down ♪ what's ing on in that beautiful mind ♪ ♪ i'm on your magic mystery ride ♪ (speaking filipino): >>calling out) i love you, bato! ♪ ♪ (thunder rumbling) >> we were in a place called cessna.

there's a murder. so, one body on the ground. sprawled, his eyes were open, he was dead. and they were shooting, everyone was shooting, and the brothers showed up and they were screaming. (speaking filipino) (bleep) because he was dead. and... uh... the... we were all crowded, and i remember someone from "playboy" magazi asking someone to translate, so i said, "(bleep) you." i didn't mean "(bleep) you" to the guy, but the brothers really were saying, "(bleep) you." and i remember that, i don't kn why i remember that. but two seconds after that, we he r a wailing from her side of the alley, and... i'm not sure they were words. the mother had discoadred her son was and in the narrowest alley that i had ever seen, there was a woman who was crawling along the wall of the shanties,n

hangin grills, trying to pull herself to her son, because her legs wouldn't work. she, she was trembling and she was screaming. and on top of all the screaming, al there were jouts who were also screaming. s ur son an addict?" "how do you feel?" "what's his name?", "what's your me?", all of that. it was one of my first days. and i didn't know what to do. i didn't know if i was supposed to step in. if i was supposed to... i didn't know what i was supposed to do. so i just recorded and then the... the l ther, who was streaming, heard the questions, and, being filipino, answered them. at a wail, "no, my son is good. "no, he's a good boy, he's a good boy, he's a good boy, he's..."

i can't, i can't rget the scream. the story was called "execution at cessna." >> (speaking filipino): we submit to his authority. we respect the government, we respect the president. (speaking filipino): (laughs) ♪

>> hi, guys.re so we'ow here at "rappler" office. to prove to ms. ressa, that, you know, we're not trolls. that we are here to express our outrage. >> and fight for our country. >> yes. >> 'cause they are destroying our country and we're not going to sit here and let them do it. >> (speaking filipino): and this is what we're going to say to ms. ressa and to t people at "rappler." >> tell your boss she ins no business destroythe country. she's american. you take your orders from an american. how can you live with yourselves? (speaking filipino)

♪ >> this one, this is why, because that account posted, and then it was amplified by what's-his-nam by mocha. everything can be turned upside down. (woman murmurs i just let facebook know. hi! ♪ just this morning, they said, "come to coffee bean and tea leaf." yeah, for a physical protest at our office. f the worst thing,urse, is, the governr nt amplified theicall. well, we don't even know whether we can trust pr the police tect us.

our security will now be ramped up, one, two, six times. i also am going to deal with that. and i want you guys ou be very aware ofsurroundings. we've always been like that, anyway, and please report immediately if there is anything, um, that you see that is strange, rht? they wanted to come to prove they weren't trolls, but then their very action is actually proving they're trolls, and then that is what incited all the comments. so that's the liability that we think they have. because it would, those threats would never have happened if they never did the facebook live outside our office.

>> i see. um, taking the devil's advocate position... >> please. >> they will argue that they're just exercising their right to free speech and they don't have any hold over their dds supporters or... >> but they have hold over their timeline. they could have deleted it, they cld have toldthheir people, "hey's not good. you shouldn't say things like that." or, ey, that's illegal." the fact that they didn't an in fact, even encouraged it, t facebok it down because this is inciting to hate and inciting to violence. that's the policy they violated. >> we'd liur to continue withour live... our live facebook. >> you know who's this for, right? >> who is it for? (laughs) >> ♪ maria, maria (men speaking in video) >> all right... >> losers! (people talking in background)

>> hello! >> uh, (blou, ressa.roll?p) >> (laughs): are you a troll? >> no, i'm not a troll, you look like a tree troll, though. bitch. >> yeah,ell her, tell her. we are at the devil's lair, people. okay, we'll continue later. >> is any of it being shared? where's mocha? >> mocha wasn't there. >> oy. >> but she amplified long e call to... >> go to here. >> yeah. i >> but the timing why now? >> (mumbles) elections. (music playing) (singing) >> (speaking filipino):

(applauding) >> when i dropped out fromed school, my parents were really hurt.in (speakfilipino): one night... he cal on the phone. (speing filipino): "i love you... no maer what." (saking filipino): finally he's accepted the pathhat i chose.

y.so i went to bed very ha the next day, we got call, he's dead. shot six times. he was assassinated. (speaking filipino) riding in tandem. because he was a judge. and he was handing a mayoral electoral protest. so it was political. (speaking filipino): there are criminals pretending to be politicians. (speaking filipino): ♪ >> violence. and you say this, um, you know, violence is okay. >> violence is my strength. >> is it necessary, to lead? >> there is a need because there's a war. and with that kind of problem in my hands now,

until i see the last pusher out of the street, until the last drug lord is killed, this campaign will continue to the very last day of my term. >> is it important that people be afrd of you? fear? >> yes. >> but mr. president, as president, you now alsotiefend the consti. >> yes. >> and so, again, this, this is a contradiction from our last interview. you break the law, you threaten to break the laid you ou had killed, a year ago, right? you told me that, and yet you nohave the task of keeping the rule of law, and you said you wowld do that also--o you...? >> because the rule of law, there must be fear. >> thank you for having me. >> we are so honored. it's about time. >> no, i mean-- and thank you for the statement, saw you got trolled. >> right away! >> you got trolled there!

>> and we had a bomb threat yesterday. so that's a good sign. (laughs) (audience applauding) >> at a time when our basic rights are constantly being threatened, human lives are being disregarded,fr and oudoms are under attack, maria ressa's resilience has become revolutionary. in our moments of doubt, allow us to draw strength and courage om you. (aience applauds) >> (speaks filipino) my arrest doesn't hurt me. because it only mas me more resolut because i see firsthand how the law is bent en the point that it is br what we're seeing is deh by a thousand cuts of our democracy, and it is done... then think about the bleeding, ght? little cuts. little cuts to the body politic,

to the body of philippine democracy. and when you have enough of these cuts, you are so weakened that you will die. we at "rappler," i've said this, it's been a year now since i' said this. we will not duck, we will not hide.ld we will he line-- join us. (audience applauds and cheers) (live music playing, crowd cheering) (man rapping) >> (speaking filipino):

(cheering and applauding) (cheering) ng >> (speakiilipino): (crowd laughing) (crowd laughing and eering) (crowd laughing)

(crowd laughing) (people shouting, music playing) ki >> (sp filipino):

(cheering and applauding) (cheering and applauding) ♪ the trolls, they hate me because i attack the president. it'she president, he's talking about his penis, i mean, isn't that something to be, like, mindful about? it's, like, appalling.li it's appal to have this kind of language, so we cannot have this six-year presidency or administration hijack all the values that we fought for, tt we cherish.

we cannot. >> what do you know about bong go intervening? >> sir, as far as we're concerned, we've already addressed the ise of fairness on that article-- can you just answer, please, the question? >> (speaking filipino): just because you have the power of, what, press freedom? you are a filipino who is allowed to abuse our country. and you are an active participant of that. (speaking filipino): in the name of the holy grail of pressreedom. (speaking filipino): young, young reporter, they will be allowed to criticize us, but you'll go to jail for your crimes.

>> (speaki filipino): >> ranada: >> man: >> ranada: duterte banned me from malacañang because he was "annoyed by our reporting." it hurts, that's really been demoralizing. i mean, i'm a reporter, i want access. >> so, why should you care about what happens in the philipnes? for one, we spend the most time on the internet. more than tehours a day. we spend the most time on social media globally. and as we found out, an lies laced with angehate spread fastest. when you only look at content, it's a whac-a-mole game. i want to figure out what the l is,

then look at the network that spreadthe lies. that's the nervous system. we started looking at one account that was attacking, "all journalists are corrupt." one account that had 25 followers. they were all following each other. we fact-checked every single item. these were all fake accounts. we began26o count and found that ake accounts can influence up to three million other accounts. i think the first attacks, this word "presstitutes," you can even track this word. mocha uson starts to poparize "presstitutes," thinking pinoy picks it up, then it's repeated a million times. to make you distrust institutions, shift the way you think. in may 2017, we did a story on the transcript of trump's call with president duterte. "'raler' jus the philippines a legitimate target

of north korean nuclear missiles." it's laughable, but people believe it. it jumped to, "i can sll an arrest and possible closure of rappler.com." then from ther we go to sexuized attacks. fuel#arrestmariaressa.are a favorite easy target. d it didn't trend, at's probably why it took them another two years to actually arrest me. that was the end goal. >> court is now in session. (gavel bangs) (people talking in background) (cameras clicking) >> we can go that way? (cameras clicking, reporters clamoring)

ou i know many of yeceived press releases that this is a private citizen. please understand that it is the department of justice that is actually going against... this is the philippine governnt. it's the philippine government that is filing this. the department of thstice prosecutors are. this is your tax pesos at work. thank you. ♪ (an speaking in background) (woman speaking filipino): are you ready? let's all welcome mocha uson! >> (speaking filino):

hip-hip! >> (faintly): hooray. >> hip-hip! >> hooray. >> (speaking filipino): hip-hip! >> hooray. >> >> hip-hip! hooray. >> (speaking filipino): (cheersduterte!lause) >> (chanting weakly): duterte! duterte! (woman speakinin background) i really messed up. because i didn't have a message. i have my message, but i wasn't able to focus on the message. i was just there to entertain. (laughs) so i've learned my lesson. ♪ >> okay, you (uys keep eating! er phone): okay! >> i'm taking you out, dad. (laughs) ryi think we should just t to find a weekend and do a beach. >> yes, a beach. >> hold on, let me look at my calendar.

there's a human rights awards thin and then fcc thing. >> oh, just another award. >> and then i go to new york.en and 'm in new york until the 24th, and i come home on the 25th, saturday night, though, at, like, 11:00 at night. we could do-- oh, no, i can't. because after saturday night, then i have sunday, monday, tuesday, wedsday in manila. then i leave at, like, 11:30 at night on thursday for glasgow. >> that's, this is impossible. (laughs) >> unless we do... unless we do sunday-monday. we could do sunday-monday. sunday the 26th to 27th. then i'm in geneva on the third. am i happy to be leaving?

op it's just a non-starathon. i'm upset one court put a half a million peso bond on top. now i'm almost up at three million pesos that the government has asked for, for me to be free, right? because if i didn't do that, ti i'd lose my constitual right to travel. (music playing in ckground) (song continues) >> mayor inday sara duterte! (music playing)

(man speaking filipino) >> (speaking filipino): and they're asking for an explanation. >> (speaking filipino): ♪

>> maria ressa, executivapeditor and c.e.o. of pler," with matt thompson, the editor-in-chief of thee enter for investigatporting. (audience cheers and applauds) good morning. i can tell you that cosstless editors ache country are asking the question, "what would maria ressa do?" >> that's scary. oth laugh) >> you've gotten to see a democracy slide into increasing authoritarian present. what lessons do you have from that experience, from witnessing that, that we should be really attentive to, sitting here in washington, dc? >> i think first is, what hapns in america happens to the rest of the world., i me order to solve this, you have to act. and i'll tell you two reasons, right? just earlier this month, w i spent tih the cambridge analytica whistleblower,

christopher wylie. the whistleblower said they tested the tactics of how to manipulate you in our countries. and in other countries in the global south. and the reason why he said that was because ou we don't, we don't have strong governments. they can get away with impunity, and then if it worked in our countries, then they would, his word was, "port" it over to you. so the first step is, i think we have to realize that something horrific has already happened. and that we are at this existentl moment where, if nothing significant is done, journalism is only the first part. journalism, and democracy as we know it, is dead. we're in your dystian future. i think the last part i forgot to say is that data is plutonium, right? we go back to nuclear war. >> yeah.t' >> tthe only thing. >> (responds)

>> this was where we went to elementary school... and walnut street. i never rely knew where home was. my parents were both filipinos. my real father died when i was a year old. my mom went to the state an so i guess l overseas filipino worker. my stepfather, my dad, now,ot they came back and us. my prima language is tagalog. so when i landed in new jeey, i had to learn how to speak english. you try to lean. behind being br you try to understand what you're walking into. ou and the best way ieal with that was, you work really, really hard. 150%, it's proving that i belong.

you have to prove you deserve it. what can you say, right? what can you say? (laughs) >> wre are we going? (people talkinin background) >> we'll go, i think we'll go into... right? well, i would like to post bail, but i've been served warrant. a >>rominent philippines journalist, maria ressa, has been arrested on fraud charges. st month, ms. ressa, the executive editor of a news website, "rappler," was arrested over an alleged internet libel case. >> prosecutors filed the latest charges ainst her

while ressa was on a trip in the u.s. media watchdogs say the charges against ressa were aimed at intimidating those who challenge duterte's rule and his war on drugs. >> right now, she's undergoing booking now. and after this... (murmuring) >> so thone are... charges, for anti-dummy, one for securities and regulation code. so it, the warrant is for thye anti-dummy issueerday. (people clamoring)

(car door shuts) (police rens chirping) >> the seventh time i've posted bail. the second timeve been . it's obviously clear i am not a travel risk, right? 'cause i came home. even after the new charges were laid out and thisarrest warrant waed. this is not the philippines i knew. this is not the philpines i voluntarily chose as my home cntry. and it's shocking that after a 14-hour flight, you're, you know-- and i have done no crime. i'm certainly not a flight risk,

but i'm greeted by police who will take me (electric bell ringing) in >> (speaking filo) go in the back, gockn the back, go in th. (object slamming) >> did i say toouch? oh, my god! (laughs) >> (speaking filipino): >> ressa: joseph... we have to be extra-careful now. the people power revolt happened. not a shot was fired and a government was changed. as a kid just comi out of school and feeling the exuberancef that, i wanted to come back to the philippines. this country was actively creatinghe

what tuture was going to look like. we we building institutions. i felt, 20 years later, go the philippines was ing to be an amazing country. i worked at urn, i ran the manila bu for almost a decade, and in 1995, i opened the jakarta bureau. i was there until 2005. we had covered every single country in southeast asi as ty transitioned from authoritarian one-man rule to democracy-- that was incredible. i decided i would make the philippines my home. (music ponying, man speaking ruck speakers) (car horhonking)

(child shouting) (music, horn continue) (clamoring) ♪ >> you would expect a government to use subtle means to stifle dissent. you do not expect a government to outriy, "i am banning you," and then start implementing it.

u're actually... standing in the line of fire, that's what we call it. we always say that the line fire is a place of honor.at and what you're doing right now for your profession, e pecially under thrcumstances. this is not one of those simple cases. if i have a problem already, nding lawyers to take it on, then you know how different your case is. they want you to hide. so this is actually the reverse of what they want. >> (cheers softly) >> they want the palace to be able to say, "oh, this is only about pia, this... "brat who keeps on pestering the presiden with hard questions." yeah? they can't say that now because apparently it's not just about pia. ♪

>> (speaking filipino): we are journalists. physical presence in a newsworthy event is integral to our work. asking officials questions, face-to-face, is integral to our work.ng malaca ban prevents us from doing our jobs. press freedom, free speech, due process, and equaprotection are guaranteed by the constitution. we're asking the supreme court to affirm these fundamental rights. (cheering and applauding) >> (speaking filipino):

♪ >> (sighs): this is just insane. the palace is now coming out with a press release saying tha d confirming their ouerte coup plot.

i mean.. how could you ev >> who briefed you abo the matrix? >> (speaking filipino): >> so the president told you... >> press secretary: >> reporter: >> press secretary: >> reporter 2: >> press secretary: >> reporter 2: >> press secretary:

>> reporter 1: >> they're laying the groundwork for a non-bailable charge. it's, like, it's fantasy. o >> oh, i'm goingow you the gown, maria, come here. i'll show you. can you see it? so this is a nice material. >> oh, i'm not going to wear that.ar >>, try it first. >> no, no, no... >> it's a gown, my gosh, come on... >> no, no, no... >> look, oh, my god, it's going to be so beautiful. >> no, number one, number two, it's also long. >> it's okay, you can pick it up. let me see what you... let me see... >> there's not enough tian to have it fixed. >> you don't gett fixed, that's the thing. they just flow. >> what? >> seriousou, let me see whatot. i think you should try it on.

u think she should try it on? i think u should try it on. >> i'll trip on it. (laughs) >> maria, when you have it on... >> what'll happen? and th i? >> when you haon and you're walking, you lift it. >> (laughs): and then you trip on it. o, >> and then, when you lift it, then you can walk with your l>> (laughs): n way... >> maria, why don't you try >> first?ok... you don't even know, it's so beautiful. you have a great shape for it. >> you can wear it. >> no, i'm not, this is, this is a small.be >> i'lold. i'll be cold, 'cause i want, like, a jacket. >> it's not 75 degrees tomorrow. >> it's>> yes, it is!morrow. >> and this does itch my neck. >> let me see whyou're wear. >> here. >> then i guess we have to gen to rthe runway now. >> i told you i brought two. >> (laughs): i've seen you in that. >> like, a lo time ago,his, but i ha decade ago.t sinceng it works! >> do you even want to see or do you care?

>> i don't want... >> because the shoe makes the ouit. >> (laughs): these shoes e okay. >> check ts out. >> ah... no. mary jane, i can't wear heels. >> you can wear heels, that would be, like, awesome. look at it. >> no thanks. >> that way when you-- maria ressa... (botlaughing) .at's why this is shorter this is like a fla >> no, no, no. i don't wear those. >> maria, this'll be so nice. >> i've never worn things like that. you k>> go out box.worn things >> no thanks. >> we're 50s now. >> no thanks. >> we're no longerafe. (laughs) >> she and i were born in the philippines, but we made different choices. starti with the place we call home. for mary jane, home is he in new york. i choose my home in manila, the philippines. for better or worse, i hope not... (chuckles)

it's ironic that even though our t, choices are differen our two nations e w have the same t leaders. macho, populist, sexist at bes misogynistic at wot. they both use anger and fear to divide and conquer. they've created a politics of hate. we need to put hope and love, but i'm going to sound so schmaltzy. it's not with hate, but with hope and love we hold the line. is that o much? >> no.>> is it corn? >> maria, it has to be yours, it's you. you're corny, then. (laughs) >> shut up-a you face, let's go, let's go. >> what'd you say, eck my face? >> i said shut up-a you face. (laughs) (laughs): we stupidly believe goodness wins over evil.

may the force be with you. (laughs) >> are you going to say that? >> (laughio.ally going >> oh, my god.: (people talking in background) >> s maria ressa. (cheering and applauding) >> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome journalist and "rappler" c.e.o. maria ressa. (cheering and applauding) >> wllt an increble room f people. i mean, moe energy from the er of dragons, nancy pelosi, i, it is... i don't know what to do with it. (laughs) it's a completchy chaotic time where logy has helped make facts disputable, eroded truth, and crippled trust.♪ ♪ it at the moment, incredibly easy

for governments toinet away with thisof behavior. that why they're using trials,a e it gives them a way to silence dissent and yet have a veil of legitimacy.ow you one of the things i take away from today having heard people who were behind bars speak out is, you know, apathy is the enemy, and we need people to be ang and to care, and if you go to trialwatch.org, you will see a "get involved" button. and that doesn't mean send money, it actually means tell us about tria that you're worried about. so please help usr make this a success. >> yeah, i would also say, just, my takeaway from today, we had all these panels, and we were with president nasheed, who spent time in jail for telling the truth, and mohamed fahmy, who also spent time in jail for telling the truth. and jan rezaian, you kno spent time in jail for telling the truth. maria is, um, where is she? oh, there maria is.

is going back to the philippines, she's been arrested twice in the last five weeks. um, the rest of yoare out. maria is about to risk goi back, and she's going back because she believes that shining a light on crime, and she's going back because shining a light in general,he isest and most important thing, and she won't be afraid. i'm afraid for her. and all of us re are so proud of the, yourbility to shine a light. and we're all going to do everythi we can to make sure it stays loud for you. (all applauding) >> (chuckles): thank you. sorry about that. (laughs): okay, thank you again.

>> reach out anytime. >> i'll do it through david. is that alright? >> yes, no, he should give you my direct email address. >> oh, yeah, sur>> or i'll . let me... how about on here? can you write it on there? thank you. >> i'm going to get going.th >> yesk you. i'll write you and i'll answer the questions you ask. >> do, and, look, whichever way is most helpful to you. >> yh... thank you. thanks so much. too many things happening. have you heard about this? >> yeah. >> this happened this week. so the palace released a matrix of coup plotters. and it includes my organization, as well as other independent news groups. >> and you? >> and me. and now the philippine national police say

ig they will investate the journalists on that list. do i have more support outside than inside the philippines? i think we have a lot of support in the philippines. but i think anyone who stands up has a lot to lose. our country needs the mission of journalism even more today than at any other time. (birds chirping) >> it's a big irony on my part to be a religious person, and at the same time waging the war on drugs that resulted to deaths of thousands. the anti-government forces, yocan never satisfy them. everything that the government does is... wrong for them. so... i don't carebout them. i care about the ordinary people

who have been suffering from this drug menace. y,these ordinary people sasir, it's okay, "thank you for what you're doing. "our streets now are safer. "our communities are a lot safer. "w can have, we can jt let ourk "going to the school "without being molestenaby the drug persoties, by the drug addicts, by the drug pushers." >> what i saw out on the streets never really escaped me, it never really left me. >>i still remember vividly howts bodies are left in the streets and how families are traumatized. and the trauma of the family isn't just theirs. they also, it also to some extent, gets passed on to me.

and i remember how they feel the feeling of losing someone so brutally. it affected me, and sometimes it also appears in my dreams. (people talking in background) >> i'm terrified daily, because i'm so close to thground. the concern isn't getting hit from above. it's getting hit from below. it's not that the person will name me, but that a story i did wrong, or a person i shouldn't have named would die because of what i did. and half of me is a journaorst who wants the and the other half is, i do not want to be party to anything like this. it sort of leaks into liery part of your fe, the paranoia.

sorry. (sniffles) see, maria says a lot, she doesn't scare easily. i do. i can't not go back. i mean, that sounds really... ay it's easy tot, but i actually did think about this. to there's, i haveturn, and part of it is also regardless of what happens, then, you know, chronicling what does happen.

(music playing over plane intercom) thankth's good.k you. no... none! we're okay, we're good. (chuckles) that's where they picked upefore. kg (people talking in bacround) >> ladies cod gentlemen, let us w miss pia ranada. >> (applding) >> it's quite challenging to be a journalist now. we feel like we're criminals for being journalists. okay, next... but we're fighting it. other "rappler" reporters and i went to the supreme court, and we filed a petition asking the supreme court to lift the ban.

this is our first offensive against the governnt. because previously, we've always just been at the receiving end of these legal cases. and i'm just so proud of my company, that despite all of our attacks...ce (vreaking): all of the legal cases against us, they still... sorry... they still muster the resources and the willpower to file a case on our behalf. and you know, you,do yot have a boss like that every day that... it takes a certain kind of boss grto stand up against ter power when they're already themselves on the receiving end so thank you, maria, and the rest of "rappler," for standing up for us. and, we know, we're just praying... (audience applauding) thank you. (pulsing music pying)

>> (rapping) >> (spking filipino): (cheering and applauding) do not do ugs, because i will kill you. (speaking filipino): (applause) you know it's not an easy job, president. you have contend with this son of a bitch, and with the bitch in media.

>> my question is, the victims are th27,000 victims of ejk e marginalized filipinos the drug runners, and of course the media.t w about the rest of us? do we feel victims? i myself, i don't feel a victim. in fact, my retirement pay went up. (chuckles) in fact, we feel safe. what are you going to do abo making us feel also victims? ru we don't buy. >> i'll quote to you one of the most famous holocaust poems of all time. "first they came for the soalists "and i did not speak out. "because i was not a socialist. "then they came for the trade unionists. "and i did not speak out because i was not a trade unionist. hen they came for the jews. o "and i did not spe because i was not a jew.

"then they came for me and there was no one left to speak for me." this was a poem by martin niemöller. and the "enquirer" pushed it down to e sentence for today. t we don't kat happened after that.".w ♪ (cheers and applause) >> i have been appointed as counsel for another award-winninjournal. ms. ressa was one of four journalists named as "time" magazine's person of the year for another award-winninjournal. "great risks in pursuit of greater truth." the government's response has been to arrest h that eose her to a maximumivil sentence of 63 years in prison.

>> colleen was asking if we've had to make adjustmentn basehat's happening with you and... your safety. e and are we safe, tually asked, you know, "are you guys safe?" and i think that your friends didn't even realize how... how dangerous is for you. >> it's all relative. >> relative, ay funny that you that way, because i did tell her you dismiss... mi >> i'm not ding it, it's just done. we dealt with it, we know what can happen. and i'm okay with it.an .. we just... >> well, even that resignation. you know, that. look, i know you don't want to worry mom and dad, or the siblings or... >> because no one else really needs to know, right?

>> that your life is in danger? >> all we need to know is just we're doing our work, that's... it's not that it's anyone's, anyo says, right? we're not different from anyone else, except a little bit more. (laughs) ugh... this year when, at the trialwatch, jason rezaian who was like in prison for 500 something days, and then mohamed fahmy was in egypt. >> mhm >> and he was in prison for nearly 348 days. t and t was like the first time where i really had to figure out, okay, i haven't... am okay with this? i this happens, caal with it? and it took me a little bit, but i can deal with it. anso we keep going and, argh, i forgot this! bummer... shucks. how could i forget it? >> it's a very real possibility. hmm... your actions, at i do will determine how realt is.

i mean, intent is always there. and i think part of what will make us, give us a better defense is if we're not afraid.th becausfirst factor is to make you afraid. and you shouldn't be afraid. and if i'm not afraid, i'll be a much better... um, i'll actually thepare better for e worst case if i'm not afraid. and the only way to not be afraid is to understand the worst-case scenario and embrace it. >> i mean, you're prepared to go to jail? are you prepared to... >> look, the point is i never want to get there. >> i don't want to s you becoming a martyr in all of this. >> this is a stupid conversation. hi i don't like i think you're talking about reality. >> no, but i've already done this. i've dealt with it... >> not with me. >> i know, but you don't need to deal with it.an you shouldn't deal with it. >> well, that's not fair. >> oh...

>> why are you crying? >> because i'm scared for you. >> yeah... but you shouldn't. we're okay. we're, we're ready. (crowd chanting) >> we will be asking general bato dela rosa where are we on the war on drugs? can you give us your assessment? >> (speaking filipino) your war on drugs has failed. (bell rings) (cheers and applause) >> (speaking filipino) >> modator:

>> a reminder to the audience, please behave. please shospect to all the candidates. thank you very much. >> the big problem is (speaking filipino) >> (speaking filipino) >> if u wage a war on drugs, you cannot be selective in the implementation of justice. (speaking filipino) (cheers and applause) >> sir, very calmly. >> (speaki filipino) (cheers and applause) >> time's up, sir. (speaking filipino) >> it will become a narco state. >> it's not the pnp's joble to kill pe it is to protect the people. there is overstretch of power

en journalists are arrested. there is an overstretch of power when local governments are afraid to host the otso diretso in their locations. there is an overstretch of powe when not question his rape jokes and statements against women. (cheers and applause) silence, silence of the public means there is an overstretch of too much power by our executive, the president. ♪ >> we are in the last few days and i asked jodez how she was doing. you know what she sa?sh herehas to tell you, i said, "jodez, how are you?" >> i'm enjoying the last days of democracy. (laughter, groans) >> (speang filipino) (laughs) i am enjoying the last days of democracy... all right.

hi we still t there is hope. we not? (laughter) look, (speaks filipino)co promise, id be surprising. (chuckles) ♪ (music playing faintly) (door chimes) we have 61.8 million registered voters. they're going to the polls for 12 hours

to chooseright up top,,000 12 members of the senate. 12 senators are going in. >> number 83... (people talking in background) >> the senate rpeful, bato delaosa has actually voted. this is pia's photo of him voting. >> there's aowo this, i don't fragmented opposition, for instance, because otso diretso, right? so uh... >> right. the duterte children set to sweep local elections, that doesn't seem like too much of a surprise, right? >> vote buying as well as obstction of justice. these arquestions that we are going to ask the... >> and he is set to consolidate his power. >> you know, that's why the senate race is so important becae that will, we'll see if we can, actually balance what the president is doing.at >> the sis the last standing independent body in terms of voting for what president duterte wants...

wait, guys, i have a hearing tomorrow. ah, arraignment. (people talking in background) and the headline, "opposition bets fail to get in the magic 12." op (pusic playing)

president duterte is president. the institution has morphed. the man hasn't changed, the legislature, the executive, the judiciary, the checks and balances, well, they're bending to the man. there we go. (people talking inackground) 2019 was a difficult year, right? i never had any doubt that "rappler" had my back. and i hope you guyall know, i think our nation has our back. you can't fight monsters by becoming monsters.

i'm quoting bono. and what prevents us from becoming monsters is one word. . it starts with (crowd, together) >> love! . it>> i love you guys! (cheering) ♪ >> i'm here at the manila regional trial court, where a branch court has just convicted maria ressa over cyber-libel charges. sentence, up to six years. >> we are meant to be a cautionary tale. we are meant to make you afraid, right? so i appeal again. don't be afraid. because ht you don't use your r you will lose em. ♪

♪ if i fall i stand up, break these walls i rise up ♪ ♪ even when i lose it all but i'll never give up ♪♪prayinl ♪ a thousand cuts won't be enough ♪ ♪ to keep my fist in these cuffs ♪ ♪ and i'm never breaking down with the odds against me ♪ ♪ brown girl, gold crown with the gods within me ♪ ♪ i was the flower that bloomed in the backroom ♪ oo ♪ flows like mo from the womb and the right moves ♪ ♪ ruins that resume my roots that lie soon ♪ ♪ pray to many moons that my ruins would not bloom ♪ ♪ where we from death looms t so we hum with thees ♪ ♪ and hope it sparks light like a night in mid-june ♪ ♪ my heart's consumed by hate here ♪ ♪ it's harder when you live fear ♪ ♪ how can you see clear when you don't see you in the mirror? ♪o ♪ i losmany peers they seem to disappear ♪ ♪ but they living through these words that i putting here ♪ ♪ so tell me you'll remember me ♪ ♪ i here to blow the legacy ♪ i got the ground moving under me ♪ ♪ a thousand cuts ain't never stopping me ♪ ♪ and that's why i'm never giving up ♪ ♪ where i am or where i'm standing up ♪ ♪ and i ain't never need no ounce of luck ♪

♪ to understand myself 'cause that's enough ♪ ♪ yeah that's enoh ♪ i can live a thousand cuts ♪ i can live a thousand cuts ♪ i can live a thousand cuts ♪ and live a life that's♪ ♪ and i swear i'm never giving up ♪ re♪ who i am, or w'm standing up ♪ ♪ and i ain't ever need no ounce of luck ♪ ♪ to understand myself 'cause that's enough ♪ ♪ yeah, that's enough ♪ ian live a thousand cuts ♪ i can live a thousand cuts ♪ i can live a thousand cuts ♪ and live a life that's covering up ♪ ♪ ♪ i can live a thousand cuts ♪ ♪ if i fall, i stand up, break these walls, i rise up ♪ ♪ even when i lose it all i always got my eyes up ♪ ♪ they praying i'mma downfall but i'll never give up ♪ a ♪housand cuts won't be enough ♪ ♪ to keep my fists in these cuffs ♪

>> i'm christiane amanpour in london. thank you for joining us for this special "frontline"/ "amanpour and company" collaboration. the film that you've jt se, "a thousand cuts," is a searing look at the threats posed to v democratues and to the journalists who are fighting to uphold them.ch as happened since filming concluded in 2019. so joining me now is dr ramona diaz and maria ressa, the e.o. of rappler. welcome, both of you, to the program. maria, you're an old a longstanding colleague of mine from your days and years at cnn. ramona, good to have you here. let me just asyou, maria, you know, you're not known as a sort of a cult-of-personality journalist.fo how did it feeyou to have yourself followed and for you to be the, e center character in this story on film now? >> difficult at the beginning, t until i realizt my rights were... my rights were being abused and rat i needed to stand up myself. so a lot of things happened

simultaneously, really. a shift in thinking from our ol way of think journalism, which is to take yourself out of i was in it, and then the second one was, what do i do to protect my rights? that's also unfamiliar. >> kay, so that's really interesting. let's bring ramona in. ramona, i wonder whether you also feel potentially a bit of that burden and responsibility, that putting out maria's story and the story of rappler is alsn tethe world and putting the world on notice that we have her back.wh ever happens to her will not happen in darkness or in silence. >> hi, christiane. thanks for having us. um, i always feel the burden of respsibility because i am a filipina american. i film a lot of filipino stories and basically what i do is i unpack or decode what'sin happin the philippines to the rest of the world. so i always feel that anyway. but more so in, you know, "a

thousand cuts," because it was fe unfolding before the lens. i had no idea where it was going to go, but neither did maria. so that was sort of thnt exploration, joint journey. but you do, you feel it. you, you know it's happening onr thnd, and you know that you are also... i also had, like, a first role histo in a way, like always do, but more so with "a thousand cuts." >> you know whatit's really interesting that you identify for everyby as filipino american. because, also, you are, as well, maria.it and i guesust be harder to be a, you know, a resident of the country that you're reporting on so bravely and, you know, in a form of sort of opposition. maria, you, since this film was completed, are appealing what was, what is known as a cyber libel conviction. you have several other cases pending against you. you were denied ur, your request to leave the philippines to visit your mother in the

united stateand yo relatives. tell me where your legal status standsight now. >> uh, ongoing. i mean, the court cases continue. there are eight when the film was going on, and just on november 27, i had to ail for a ninth case. that's a ninth criminal case. so it's a new cyber libel r this time stina screen grab of a newspaper article. tweeting it. so now i'm facing another charge. nine criminal cases. where is it going to go? um, christiane, you know, it... i just keep doing my job, and i put one footn front of the other, and i knoe, the way this will play out will depend on how well i do my job now. >> maria, in an interview several years ago, when duterte was styor, before he was president, he admitted to youha

that hkilled. i mean, it was quite startling. t and you aris throat now for what you call, and what many in the internaonal community call, extra-judicial killings. you, then, what was goingnt to through your min >> shock, but disbelief. and then, you know, as a, as a onreporter asking the ques kind of like watching a car crash, right? you can't believe that you were looking at this and listening to it, uh... we refreshing in d way. uh, but of course, after fourhi years of and we see this every day, we live through the kind of impunity, um, that you've seen in the film, and it gets worse, so we know what's at stake. and i guess... i told you, you know, i feel like i'm fighting for my rights. that's only the fit part. i feel like, um, we have to hold

the line, because if we don't, uh, our democracy will ndamentally change. it will... it's dying in front of our eyes. it's... the crash happened in plain view. so can we resuscitate it?d can we uphr rights? and that's a lot ofsp sibility. and i guess that's part of the reason the fight is worth it. >> and i guess... as you say, your democra looks like it's dying in front of your eyes. ntthat's the, that's the pf using the title "a thousand cuts." each cut is another cut into the, into the muscle and the brain of democracy.i so, ramonaow you don't talk about trump in this. and, of course, trump is moving on into the sunset as we speak right now, but it has been as period of yeen democracies, even in the western world, have en under threat. and i found it really fascinatinhow you found two main characters who were very

passionate duterte supporters and who... you know, they were, they were lobbying for him and they didn't seem to equate the risk to their democracy, or they, or they equated as him, him upholding it. it >> oh, defy. i mean, they really bought into , but i don't think... you know, for people like e general and mocha, they have to believe in something good, right? they have to bieve that what they're doing is good for the country, and because it's... and that's why i really, i thought it was importanto have them in the film, because no anti-heroes.f themselves as one thinks of themselves as te ones that will destroy democracy, so thnk of it as the opposite, as the, the ones who will uphold democracy. and i, i just, i, i found them scining, especially, i think, with the general. he was both, uh, he's... he's also a jester, like, he

does karaoke, he sings. but he's also menacing, because underneath all that joking, you ow, is, like... he says, "well, if you don't clapor me, you're a drug dealer," right? there's always that threat. and i thought that contradictio in bato was what was, what was very interesting.se and, of comocha. obviously, i knew she had a persal story she, she couldn't have had. everyone has a personal story. i wanted to know what it was for her that kept hevery loyal to duterte, right? she put, iean, she had considerable following on sociap media, and s all that, um, you know, to campaign. enshe, to support the presin the beginning, she was one of the first ones, and he paid her handsomely for it by, by offering her a spot in the administration. and, and, of course, she has her personal history. her father was a judge who was sassinated. so she saw duterte as someone who would, um, you know, avenge her father, her father's death,

because she lt like no one ever did. >> and it's also interesting, because one ofaria's investigative reporters, she is quoted in there, patricia evangelia, who's saying about duterte's popularity during that campaign, "he offers not just change, he offers revenge." i do think it's incredibly interestincase history in what's kind of become known as the, almost thvictimhood of politics. everybody is a victim. everybody's looking for their savior, and everybody, you know, suit their narrative. maria, talk to me out that desire for revenge among people. >> it's the haves versus have- nots, right? i mean, there's... the gap between the rich and the poor in the philippines, for example, has always been large. and this is cades of trickled down far enough.sn't and of what

president duterte appeals to. >> you know, the philippines is unusual, in terms of, it offers one six-year presidential term, not re-election. you think that duterte, frodutm everything that hewnen and himself to be, will step down after the six-year term? he's got a couple of years left, at least. >> mean, what we've seen during the pandemic, we've had the longest lockdown, right? cowe still haven't really out of the first one. and during this time period, the consolidated power.ion a lot of power. shut down the largest brdcaster, lots of attacks against the press, and they are gearing up for presidentials. electi so even though it may not be president duterte running, his proxieare all in place. uh, candidates. his daughter is a pote candidate for president. um, the man who is a close aide who's become a senator also now seems to be putting his hat in the ring. you know, power consolidates power, and this is still about

power and money. and this administration has amassed a lot of that.a, >> ramou did put a clip of president duterte's daughter in the film. and you've spoken about her. i want to know what you make of her. wh is she like? is it like the apple, you know, dropping from the ee? m here different f father? what is the realistic possibility of, of duterte's dauger? >> sara duterte is sara zimmerman duterte. she is, um, biracial. she is, her mother is jesh american, actually. she's like her father, because i think she's tough, you know? she is known as "the slugger," because she, she punched the sheriff once for not doing her bidding. and she loves that story. she tells that story all the time, and she goes arod davao in her harley.as she is, so shehis tough image, but she doesn't have the dirty mouth of her father. shhas a very clean... you

know, she, she stays away from that, but i think she will be as tough. and she has already la groundwork. let's talk about what's really at the heart of all this crisis, and that is an inability to separate, you know, truth from fiction, um, an inability to separate real news from what's on social media. the ilippines, along with parts of india, along with myanmar, are notable for the fact that news equals social media. it's almost like your newspapero or televstations, news stations, just have zero impact whatsoever. in fact, reporters without borders ranks the philippines 136 out of 180 for press freedom, but it is called... back in 2018, even facebook called the philippines patient zero in the global spread of misinformation.ap so thiies to the united states. it applies to europe. it applies to many, many parts of the world. tell me why it is soestructive

in country like the philippines. or is it just thsame as it is in the u.s maria? >> absolutely.e me-- more destructive in a country like the philippines, because our institutions are weaker. sok, jumping off your conversation aboa duterte, facebook on september 22 did two takedowns of influence operations, one of them from china, the other from the philippines that was linked to the police and the military. the one from china that was also creating fake accounts for the u.s. elections was also campaigning for sara duterte for president, right? if we don't deal with this, news organizations, an human endeavor will become impossible if you cannot tell fact from fiction, and that isfo unately the reality we have. regardless of whether bidenth wins system, the world's

largest distributor of news, can't tell the difference between fact and fiction. >> one of the great moments that ramona captures is you justbe re an event, where you're with your sister in a hotel room in the united states. and she's trying to convince you to wear this special dress that shhad picked out, these glittery high els. but you were being, also, you didn't want to do that. that wasn't what, yoook. but u also were trying to reassure her about how you have made your peace with t possible danger, not to mentione the possong-term sentences you might receive. u just ewith how you make your peace with this. >> uh, i... the way i've dlt with the last four years is to prepare myself for worst-case scenarios. it's like going on coverage, right? you think of the absolute worst thing that can happen, and then you prepare for it.

and then everything else that happens is actually gravy compared to this worst thing at you're prepared for. um, look, i... gh strangely endespite my anger, you know, once the vaccine is out and we can go out again, um, the world is fundamentally different. and the exciting part about this time period is that it matters, right? what we are doing, fighting for our rights, fighting for our democracy, fighting for the facts. i mean, christiane, this is...td then beyond that, to be part of helping create a new world, a better world-- that's an incredible privilege. that's wt i look forward to. >> well, and everybody can see it in "a thousand ts." maria ressa, ramona diaz, thank you both very much for joining us. >> thank you for having us. >> thank you for joining us for this special "frontline"/ "amanpour and company" collaboration. for more, please check out both programs on youtube and twitter,

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(theme music plays) rubenstein: i'm at the tisch wnet studios today with walter isaacson. walter thank you very much for coming here. we are gonna talceabout walter's most book on leonardo da vinci. now walter, led like you to tell pebout your background because, uh, you have written books, about people who are polymaths, geniuses, renaissance men. you're obviously attracted to them, but there are some people who say that maybe you are a genius polymath or naissance man. so, let's talk about why some people might say that. let's talk about your background. grew up in new orleans? isaacson: yeah and the atperson who's the polh, who loved everything from m engineering to art aic was my father and he lived einstein, he was an electrical engineer.