05/24/13 05/24/13 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] >> from pacifica, this is democracy now! america test out take strikes to punish individuals. we act against terrorism. are no othere governments capable of effectively addressing the threat. >> president obama delivers the first major counterterrorism address of his second term, interrupted several times by codepink's mehdi benjamin. >> can you tell the people their lives are as precious as our

lives? can you take the drones at of the hands of the cia? can you to stop the signature strikes under killing people on the basis of signature people? >> the voice of that woman is worth paying attention to. >> we will speak with medea benjamin, founder of codepink and her co-founder diane wilson who is on day 25 of a hunger strike on for the closure of guantanamo. then, who is jude kenan mohammad? eric holder named him into a letter of congress as one of the four killed in u.s. drone strikes overseas. we will speak with a longtime friend who knew him growing up in raleigh, north carolina. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. in a major policy address on thursday, president obama defended the secret overseas drone war but said the u.s. cannot continue waging what he

described as a boundless global war on terror. obama's comments came one day after attorney general eric holder confirmed u.s. drone strikes had killed four u.s. citizens in yemen and pakistan. >> simply put, the strikes have saved lives. moreover, america's actions are illegal. we were attacked on 9/11. within a week, congress ovwhelmingly authorized the use of force. under domestic law and international law, the united states is at war with al qaeda. the taliban, and their associated forces. >> according to a gun to newspapers, and the speech appeared to expand those who could be targeted in drone strikes and other undisclosed legal -- legal actions. up until thursday, obama and his top aides have said drone strikes are restricted to killing confirmed "senior operational leaders of al qaeda and associated forces close >> plotting imminent violent attacks against u.s.

of of treatment -- but obama dropped that wording thursday, making references at all to senior operational leaders. >> we act against terrorists who propose an imminent threat to the american people. when there are no other governments capable of of that beverly addressing the threat. >> president obama's speech at the national defense university in washington, d.c. was interrupted multiple times by the founder of codepink, medea benjamin. >> can you tell the muslim people their lives are as precious as our lives? can you take the drones out of the hands of the cia and? can you stop the signature strikes they're killing people on the basis of suspicious activity? >> we are addressing that, manfred >> will you compensate the innocent families of the victims? >> president obama later referenced tour when he renewed

his 4-year-old promise to close the military prison at guantanamo. >> look at the current situation where we are forcing detainees who are being held on a hunger strike. to cut the young lady who interrupted me some slack because it is worth being passionate about. is this who we are? is that something our founders foresaw? that the america want to leave our children? >> we will play more of the speech and be joined by medea benjamin after the headlines. what president obama spoke on thursday about the future of or, wired jaw, is reporting the pentagon is preparing to launch a miniature communications satellites that will be used by elite forces of the u.s. special operations command, designed to stay aloft for three years or more and will be used to hunt down people overseas. in a major development in the

ongoing scandal over the obama administration spying on journalists, nbc news is reporting attorney general eric holder personally signed off on a controversial search warrant that identified fox does reporter james rosen as a possible co-conspirator and violations of the as been not to act. the search warrant enabled justice department investigators to secretly seize his private emails. on thursday, president obama ordered a review of the justice department's procedures for legal investigations involving reporters. >> as commander in chief, i believe we must keep information secret that protect our operations and our people in the field. to do so, we must enforce consequences for those who break the law and breach their commitment to collect -- protect classified information. but a free press is also essential for our democracy. that is who we are. i am troubled by the possibility leak investigations may chill the investigative journalism that holds government

accountable. >> and another press freedom case, the aclu has sued the fbi on behalf of the editors of the website into war.com. once secret documents show an fbi analyst had recommended opening an investigation and continued fbi monitoring of the site after they published a terrorist suspect list they have found using a google search. the editors of anti-war doc, are asking the fbi to turn over relevant documents and to stop collecting records of their constitutionally protected speech. the boy scouts of america has voted to lift a century-old ban on openly gay scouts. within 60% of the group's national council voted in favor of ending the ban effective january 1, 2014. the national commissioner of the boy scouts of america said a prohibition on openly gay adult leaders remains in place. >> our adult membership standard has not changed. any case count to remain in

scouting so long as they meet in the by the scout oath and law. the membership standards for adults are different. when a child reaches the age of 18, a boy 21 in venturing, they have to change their role in this movement. >> the head of the internal revenue service division at the heart of the scandal over the targeted vetting of right-wing groups has been placed on administrative leave after she reportedly refused to resign. the move was made one day after lois lerner refused to testify before congress. the billionaire business tycoon penny pritzker appears headed for confirmation as commerce secretary. her family started the hyatt hotel chain. she's a" president obama and served as the national finance chair of his 2000 presidential campaign. thursday, republican senator john tune south dakota asked about her ties to superior bank, a chicago-based bank owned by her family that failed after she and her family expanded subprime lending there. >> all to millet, there were a

number of banks that claimed they lost over $100,000 in savings including one who deposited her internment cow was superior a month before it failed. what the have to say to those who lost significant sums of money because of this venture? >> senator, i regret the failure of superior bank. it was not an outcome or situation i feel -- i felt very badly about that. >> if confirmed, penny pritzker, with a net worth over $1.5 billion, would become one of the wealthiest cabinet secretaries in u.s. history. bloomberg news reported she inadvertently understated a portion of income by at least $80 million in a disclosure form required for nomination. last year she received over $53 fromon and income consulting fees from an offshore trust in the bahamas. lobbyists from citigroup essentially wrote a recent bill

approved by the house financial services committee that would exempt broad swathes of trades from new regulations according to the new york times. citigroup recommendations were reflected in more than 70 lines of the house committee's 85-line bill. two crucial paragraphs, prepared by citigroup in contention with other wall street banks, were copied nearly word for word. senator elizabeth warren of massachusetts is warning wall street has begun trendies international trade deals to quietly stop or alter parts of the dodd-frank act. warren said there are growing murmurs about wall street's the u.s. is- currently negotiating three major trade is including the trans-pacific partnership. on capitol hill lawmakers of both chambers are moving to drastically cut the nation's food stamp program through the farm bill. and a democrat-controlled senate, the agriculture

committee has approved a proposal by republican david vitter to permanently drop anyone convicted of violent crime from ever getting food stamps. meanwhile, the house agriculture committee has approved over $20 billion in cuts to food stamps program over the next decade. the cuts could result in nearly 2 million people losing access to food stamps and 200,000 schoolchildren losing free school lunches. a russian court has denied parole to a jailed member of the russian feminist punk group pussy riot. maria alyokhina announced this week she is going on a hunger strike after she was barred from attending her own parole hearing. a fellow crew member was also denied parole last month. both women are serving two-year sentences in remote penal colonies for the group's protest against russian leader vladimir putin in an orthodox cathedral last year. student inld honor florida who was expelled from her high school after a science

experiment went awry has received a full scholarship to u.s. space academy, courtesy of a nasa vet who, as a teen, was accused of starting a forest fire during a science experiment. wilmot wasiera arrested and charged with two felonies after she blew up a small water bottle on the grounds of verse school. the charges were later dropped. in an america, the president of el salvador met pope francis on thursday to urge him to put the slain archbishop oscar romero on the road to roman catholic sainthood. in 1980, romero, an advocate of liberation theology, was assassinated by a right-wing death squad while -- celebrated mass in a hospital chapel. farm workers from the coalition of a motley farm workers rallied thursday in front of wendy's corporate shareholders meeting in manhattan to demand improved working conditions for those who pick its tomatoes. human rights activist kerry kennedy, the daughter of the

late senator robert kennedy, joined the protests. with four of the five largest food corporations in america to follow the fair food agreement all signed by except wendy's. >> the ceo was confronted inside the shareholders meeting. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. >> welcome to all our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. >> we begin today's show with president obama's first major counterterrorism address of his second term. in his speech thursday, he defended the secret overseas drone war but said the u.s. cannot continue waging what he described as a boundless global war on terror. obama's comments came one day after attorney general eric colder confirmed u.s. drone strikes had killed four u.s. citizens in yemen and pakistan.

according to mcclatchy newspapers, obama speech appeared to expand those who could be targeted in drone strikes and other undisclosed legal actions. until thursday, obama and his top aides have said that drone strikes are restricted to killing confirmed senior operational leaders of al qaeda and associated forces plotting imminent violent attacks against the u.s. but obama dropped that wording thursday, making no reference at all to senior operational leaders. with ane at war organization that right now would kill as many americans as they could if we did not stop them first. so this is a just war, a war waged proportionally in last resort and in self-defense. fight enters a new phase, and it is legitimate claim of self-defense cannot be

the end of the discussion. to say military tactic is legal or even effective is not to say it is wise or moral in every instance. for the same progress that gives us the technology to strike out a world away also demands the discipline to constrain that power or risk of using it. lasthat is what over the four years, might administration has worked vigorously to establish a framework that governs our use of force against terrorists, insisting upon clear guidelines, oversight, and accountability that is now codified and presidential policy guidance i signed yesterday published guidelines i signed yesterday. >> he also discussed his efforts to close down guantanamo bay, and was interrupted multiple times by medea benjamin from codepink.

this is their complete exchange. >> when i ran for president the first time, john mccain supported closing gitmo. this was a bipartisan issue. no person has ever escaped one of our supermax or military prisons here in the united states, ever. our courts have convicted hundreds of people for terrorism or terrorism-related offenses, including some folks who are more dangerous than most gitmo detainee is. they are in our prisons. and given my administration's relentless pursuit of al qaeda as leadership, there is no justification beyond politics for congress to prevent us from closing a facility that should never have been opened. >> president obama -- >> today -- >> [applause]

so let me finish, ma'am. -- so today -- >> there are 102 people [indiscernible] >> [indiscernible] i will say exactly what i'm going to do -- >> [indiscernible] >> thank you, thank you. ma'am, thank you. you should let me finish my sentence. today i once again call on congress to let -- lift the restrictions on detainee transfers from gitmo. [applause]

ofave as the department defense to designate a site in the united states where we can hold the military commissions. i am appointing a new senior envoy at the state department and defense department whose sole responsibility will be to achieve the transfer of detainees to third countries. i am lifting the moratorium on detainee transfers to yemen so we can review them on a case by case basis. to the greatest extent possible, we will transfer detainees who have been cleared to go to other countries where we -- >> release them today. >> where appropriate, we will bring terrorists to justice and our courts and our military justice system and suggest a judicial review be available for every detainee. now, ma'am, let me finish. let me finish, ma'am. this is part of free-speech, you

been able to speak but also you listening and me being able to speak. [applause] now, even after we take the steps, one issue will remain, how to deal with those detainees we know have participated in dangerous plots or attacks but cannot be prosecuted, for example, because the evidence has been compromised or is inadmissible in a court of law. but once we commit to a process of closing gitmo, i am confident this legacy problem can be resolved consistent with our commitment to the rule of law. and i know the politics are hard, but history will pass a

harsh judgment on those of us who fell to in this terrorism rid imagine a future 10 years from now or 20 years from now when the united states of america is still holding people who have been charged with no crime on a piece of land that is not part of our country. look at the current situation where we are force feeding detainees who are being held on hunger strike. to cut the young lady who interrupted me some slack because it is worth being passionate about. is this who we are? is that something our founders for soft? that the aunt -- is that the america we want to leave our children? our sense of justice is stronger than that. ofhave prosecuted scores

terrorists in our courts. that includes the man who tried to blow up an airplane over detroit, the man who but a car bomb in times square. it is a court of law we will try dzhokhar tsarnaev, accused bostoning the marathon. the issue bomber as we speak is serving a life sentence in a maximum-security prison here in the united states. and judge william told him, the way we treat you is the measure of our own liberty. --ab > abu f >> we went -- >> [indiscernible] --he went on -- we went on

>> can you tell the muslim people their lives are as precious as our lives in? can you take the drugs out of the hands of the cia? can you stop his signature strikes that are killing people on the basis of suspicious activities? >> we are addressing that, ma'am. >> [indiscernible] will you compensate the innocent family victims back, that will make us safer here a hundred i love my country rid i love the rule of law. [indiscernible] abide by the rule of law. going off -- i'm script as you expect -- [laughter] [applause]

the voice of that woman is worth paying attention to. [applause] do not agree with much of what she said and obviously, she was not listening to me and much of what i said, but these are tough issues. the suggestion that we can gloss over them is wrong. >> that was president obama speaking thursday after he was interrupted repeatedly by medea benjamin during his major address on counterterrorism strategy. when we come back, we will speak with co-founder of codepink medea benjamin as well as the other co-founder of codepink, diane wilson, who is in the midst of a hunger fast to close guantanamo bay. it is day 25. stay with us.

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>> this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. discuss president obama's first major address on counterterrorism strategy since been reelected, we're joined now by three guests. in washington, d.c., co-founder of codepink medea benjamin and author of, "drone warfare: killing by remote control." >> she repeatedly interrupted president obama speech thursday in an exchange that ended with him san "the voice of that woman is worth paying attention to." welcome to democracy now! talk about what happened yesterday. first of all, how to get into the national defense university for this address? i would assume your face is one of the most famous on capitol hill. >> there are some secrets that

cannot be disclosed. but it was great to get in there. president obama, when i just listened to that segment, he said i was not listening to him read i was hanging on every single word. i really expected years a major policy changes and i did not know whether i was going to speak up or not. if he had said something like, to show my commitment to guantanamo next week we will start releasing those prisoners that have been cleared, or if he had said, we're taking drones out of the hands of the cia and immediately or we're going to immediately say the signature strikes where people are killed on the basis of suspicious behavior will no longer be allowed, if he had said anything like that significantly, i would not have spoken up. >> you told the new york times that you don't like being called a heckler. why not a? is a negative term and i think it is a positive thing when people find the

courage to speak up to leaders who are not leading. i did not do what i did to embarrass the president. i did it because i feel he needs to be pushed more, that it has been over four years now policies that have been killing innocent people with drones, now it has been over 11 years that innocent people are still being held in guantanamo and in force fed now. these are crisis situations and requires more from us as citizens. >> having watched interruptions the president's over many decades, i was struck by the fact you got to interrupt him three different times in that speech. i am wondering, do you get or did you get a sense -- usually after the first time are many the second time the secret service would move in to drive people away. did you get a sense of and to some degree his people did not mind interruptions to the degree

he was then able to show he is confronting opposition on the left his policies? >> not all. that is not the way it went down. what you did not see is what was happening behind the scenes of the secret service, the fbi, the people from the base coming over and saying, you must come with us immediately or you'll be under arrest, and tried to grab me. i was saying, don't touch me, i will screen. you don't want to make a scene of an of the president. you will regret this. they were confused about what to do. >> so no order came down immediately to remove you after the first interruption? >> that all came down immediately and did not know what to do so they sat down next to me. they sat down behind me. they got up again and tell me i must leave. i said, no, i am not leaving. this was going on in between the three interruptions. >> i would ask your assessment

of what president obama said around the issue of drones. you have written a book about drone warfare. do you feel he has laid out a different course for drone attacks? >> no, i don't think so. i was very disappointed. he said his policy is to capture, not kill. that is not true. i know personally of the incidents where it would of been easy to capture people like the 16-year-old in pakistan who was in islamabad at a well-known hotel but instead was killed by a drone strike two days later. or we have the cases in yemen where the activist speaking before congress said, his village would have been very simple to capture the person or after, but instead they sent a drone. the drone strikes are lessening in pakistan. we don't really know yet what is happening in yemen, but there

are drone base is being built all over the world including places like saudi arabia that are making us less safe here at home. i think the president is justifying the use of drones, which will continue to happen under his in ministration and be passed on to the next. >> at a press conference following of in his speech, republican senator saxby chambliss of georgia said he believe guantanamo bay should remain open. >> i have been one to advocate maintaining guantanamo bay. my reason is pretty simple. if we were to capture some of the benghazi terrorists who we a running free, what are we going to do with them? we have no place to take them. are we going to bring them into an article 3 court? are we going to trust the libyans to try them? that is just one simple question. the other one is, we have 166 of the meanest, nasserist killers

in the world located at guantanamo bay today. what the president said is, we're going to move toward closure and that means the release of presumably 86 of those individuals that have already been authorized for transfer but were not transferred because a number of them are going to yemen. 56 are yemenis. following the 2009 and christmas day bombing incident, all transfers to yemen were stopped because we did not have confidence the yemeni government could handle them. well, guess what? between december 2009 and today, has yemen shown any indication that they are more capable of looking after those individuals? absolutely not. if we were to transfer those individuals to yemen, we would be just like turning them loose. i just don't think that is the right thing to do. >> that was sexy chambliss from georgia. we're also joined by codepink co-founder diane wilson who is on day 25 of a water and salt

only hunger strike in solidarity with the guantanamo prisoners. she was arrested earlier this month after chaining herself to the white house fence and a demonstration urging the president to close the guantanamo prison. she is a fourth generation fisherwoman from the texas gulf coast. welcome to democracy now! we're also joined by pardiss .ebriaei, senior staff attorney her client, ghaleb al-bihani, is one of the detainees currently on hunger strike. she is lead counsel for ccr in the al-awlaki's case that seeks accountability for the killing of three american citizens in u.s. drone strikes in yemen. welcome to democracy now! response?briaei, your >> it is unfortunate that this of everyone at guantanamo is still there, still being perpetuated. i think part of what was disappointing about president obama speech yesterday despite his restated commitment of

closing the prison and despite the allied necessary steps or the right things to do like lifting the ban on all transfers to yemen which discriminates on people solely on the basis of their national origin, was to explain who we have there, was to explain what it means that his administration has approved for release 86 of the 166 men remain and to counter some of what people oppose the closure like mr. chambliss are saying, to perpetuate justify keeping guantanamo open. >> people like to? >> people like my clients who is from nigeria at guantanamo because he was captured while fleeing fighting, captured by non-u.s. forces and transferred to guantanamo and has been cleared for release for years. he remains detained simply because he cannot return to algeria.

of the 86 people who have been cleared for release, 56 are from yemen. as we have been saying for months, what it means to be cleared for release is that every government agency -- intelligence, law enforcement, justice, homeland security -- under the obama administration, they have said these people do not need to be there. these people do not pose a security threat to the u.s. or any kind of threat. that is what president obama has never explained and should have explained yesterday. >> i want to turn to part of his speech yesterday where he mentions force feeding prisoners at guantanamo. >> look at the current situation. we are force feeding detainees who are being held on hunger strike. to cut the young lady who interrupted me some slack because it is worth being passionate about. is this who we are?

is that something our founders foresaw? is that the america we want to leave our children? >> that is president obama and his address last night published yesterday. we're also joined by diane wilson, who is on a hunger strike calling for the closure of guantanamo. she chained herself to the fans of the white house and was arrested. this is day 25 of her water and salt only fast. your response, diane wilson? do you feel president obama is on his way to closing guantanamo? >> i believe president obama has spoke about closing guantanamo many, many times. i know last night i read an article that said the guantanamo prisoners had watched the speech by president obama and there was no apparent response. i think that says it very well.

they have heard this before. now's the time for action. were times i was real isrtened and i saw it there definitely progress. i think especially about lifting the ban and bringing the prisoners to the united states, although, i don't leave the military commission is the proper avenue at all. i also know -- and this is something i really wondered about during the whole speech is, are the men still on a hunger strike? are they still being force fed? and until we actually see them making those transfers, that is when i will believe id. >> what is your hope through your hunger strike and you have a sense the prisoners in guantanamo are aware of your

actions and the solidarity of some americans here with their condition? >> i think it is real difficult to meet with some of the prisoners. i even know some of the lawyers for having a difficult time. i do know when codepink had a press conference at the national press club, i believe last week lawyerse, one of the for one of the detainees, to me and said he was going to make sure my solidarity with them became known to them. i think it is real important that they know it because i think hundred strikes are powerful instrument. i never would have heard of them unless they did that hunger strike. it is unfortunate but that is how i heard from them. i believe in the power of voices

like that. >> obama suggested the possibility of establishing a court or executive board to oversee targeted killings in the future. >> i have as my administration to view proposals of actions taken outside war zones like to be on our reporting to congress. option has virtues and theory but poses difficulties in practice. for example, the establishment of a special court to evaluate hasauthorize lethal action the benefit of bringing a third branch of government into process raises serious constitutional issues about presidential and judicial authority. another idea that is adjusted, the establishment of an independent oversight board and the executive branch avoid those problems and may introduce a layer of bureaucracy and the national security decision making without inspiring

additional public confidence in the process. but despite these challenges, i look forward to actively engage in congress to explore these and other options for increased oversight. >> pardiss kebriaei, can you respond to this? >> i think the idea of a special court, a special secret court to go the special sticker program is misguided. he was right to discuss the importance of accountability and oversight. i did not hear any clear proposals about how that is going to happen. the most obvious route of claims of violation after the fact of judicial review is an obvious one that was not addressed at all. the justice department acknowledged the killing of four u.s. citizens the day before, three of those individuals we behalflawsuit pending on of the are of knowledge in the dust and defending it in a letter to action and to be prepared to defend it in court

instead of to dismiss that case. it is an obvious route for review, for oversight, for accountability that was omitted from president obama's speech. >> but the idea of establishing a special court to authorize what our innocence assassinations? it seems to be a bizarre idea to begin with, to get the legal system involved in authorizing killings before any trial or adjudication of evidence is brought forth. >> if the u.s., if the administration are following the right law here, the standard is imminent last resort, if you are following that standard, before the fact review and some sort of court would be invisible. so the very idea there would be a special court to effectively issue death warrants before the fact, i think demonstrates the

administration is not following the right law, outside of the right paradigm. that is not at all the right way to go forward on accountability and. >> and setting up military tribunal on u.s. soil for the prisoners at guantanamo? >> we've always said the ministration should charge those people in federal court. that is the inappropriate route. -- that is the appropriate route. the idea of bringing military commissions here when we have federal courts that can do it is not the past forward. moving people to supermax facilities and shifting the location of guantanamo from one place to another is also not the right way to close the prison. more than half the population has been cleared for transfer. they can go home. they can go to third countries if they need resettlement. the remaining man whom the administration has said it will not charge and does not plan to

charge but are too dangerous to release, that is a made a standard by the administration. the loss of war do not support that kind of a standard and as man should be released as well. president obama at a few weeks ago said detaining people indefinitely without charge is not sustainable. if there is a very small number of people the administration never plans to charge. it is about 30. -- there is a very small number of people the administration ever plans to charge, which is just about 30. that speaks for itself. >> diane wilson, you're in the 25th day of this extreme hunger fast. how're you doing? how did de texas fisherwoman end of chaining herself to the gates of the white house and going on this fast for the prisoners at guantanamo? dallas at the bush library to protest.

medea benjamin was there and she had just come back from london and have been talking with the group that had been trying to get the british citizen back from guantanamo. >> the british government said it would receive because is not in charge but has not been released and has been cleared for release for a long time. >> yes, he is the line. they were doing a hunger fast and medea brought that idea back. do aediately said i would long-term hunker fast. i said that because i know the at your witsnd the and feeling and frustration that will drive the to a hunger strike. that is not your first resort,

that is your last resort. i did a hunger strike on the texas gulf coast, so i understood that. i also understood the jalics prints because i have been jailed for mass civil disobedience in texas. i even inform them based on the horrific conditions within the i knew a i nato -- tiny sense of what those men must be experiencing. for them to be doing a hunger strike, i was or felt very compelled and i also was very ashamed what our government was doing and i did not feel this was anything about the america that i believed in. washington,w to d.c. and stood in front of the white house. >> what would end this fast?

>> i think when we finally starting to see the detainees being released. like i said, there has been so many words, so many promises broken that now is the time for action. when i actually see the detainee's coming home and also the guys on the hunger strike, are they still on the hunger strike are they still being force fed? those are the type of questions i want to know. excuse me for keep going on, but we are pleading for the people, for the american people to come out and support it until it is the last leg of closing guantanamo now. we cannot stop now. we need people to continue. i'm making a public plea to,

please, join us for it if you are interested, go to codepink. >> pardiss kebriaei? >> in answer to your question, yes, the hunger strike continues, force feeding continues. at least over 30 men are being forcibly fed right now. president obama is not powerless there. he talked movingly about force feeding. it is his administration that is authorizing those scores feedings, authorized the move of people into solitary confinement at guantanamo. those are conditions he absolutely has power to affect. that is part of what should happen going for. >> the american medical association has also come out against force feeding. thank you all for being with us, pardiss kebriaei, senior staff attorney representing prisoners at guantanamo, diane wilson on the 25th day of 400 strike and medea benjamin who interrupted president obama's address a number of times yesterday. he concluded by saying she

deserves to be listened to. when we come back, we will find out just to jude kenan mohammad is, one of the four americans that this week the american government announced they killed in a drone strike. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

>> this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. on wednesday, attorney general eric holder sent a letter to congress that it needed for the first on the image ration the -- obama at administration and killed four u.s. citizens in drone strikes. today we learn about one of those killed, jude kenan mohammad. killed by they u.s. in november 2011. mohammed was born in florida and grew up in raleigh, north carolina with his mother and four sisters after his parents divorced and his father returned to pakistan. friends say he grew up radicalized under the influence

of a local man named daniel boyd who had converted to islam at a young age and was later charged as the ringleader of a group of men -- including mohammad -- who recused in the 2009 stockpiling weapons and plotting to carry out terrorist attacks overseas. >> when boyd and the others rested on the allegations, mohammad was no longer living in the u.s. he had gone to pakistan hero for he lived with his father. at one point was briefly detained by pakistani authorities for lacking proper travel documents to try to enter the tribal region along the afghan border. the next time his name surfaced was in the days ahead of the 10th anniversary of 9/11 when the fbi warned of an unconfirmed tip that al qaeda plan to set off a car bomb in new york city or washington, d.c. the alleged terror plot was supposedly initiated by the then at al qaeda chief, osama bin laden's successor. ae fbi said three so-called

creditors could be involved. they included 22-year old jude kenan mohammad. this is how it was reported in september 2011. >> have learned new details of the source of this troubling information route michael reports the source overseas is well known and trusted by u.s. officials but that in this case is information about the vehicle bomb plot made up as the second hand, even so officials at this point they have no choice but to act as if the threat is real and the clock is ticking. >> it was only 48 hours ago on wednesday in pakistan that officials say the cia developed the information's 33 men, including a least one american citizen, had traveled to the u.s. in mid august from pakistan through dubai, deciding to attack new york or washington with a vehicle bomb and september 10, 11, or 12. officials call the source credible. the information, specific but

still unconfirmed. uncorroborated means there is only the one source. none of our other sources are saying the same thing. and so far, we have not been able to actually find any evidence in the real world that the report is true. >> that last voice and brian ross abc news report was richard carr, former national coordinator for security counter-terrorism under the george w. bush administration. about a month after the fbi said jude kenan mohammad was the to the plot, his wife called and said he and killed in a pakistan drone strike. his family was unable to confirm his death with u.s. officials. this is all local news show reported a. >> jude kenan mohammad with a high school here, then dangerously -- disappeared and a dangerous part of pakistan known for bringing care. kelsey cross and on the question is not only where is he, but

whether or not he is dead or alive. >> in november, they heard jude kenan mohammad was killed in a drone strike. news that was delivered by his pregnant wife in pakistan to his mother back here in the triangle. the u.s. government has not confirmed his death. but the people who knew him here believed it is probably true. >> no one has heard from him since then. >> to learn more about jude kenan mohammad, we go to raleigh, north carolina where he grew up to speak with khalilah sabra. she knew him as a child and stayed in touch with him when he moved to pakistan as a teenager after dropping out of high school. she is still close with his mother. khalilah sabra is also director of the muslim american society immigrant justice center. welcome. >> thank you for having me. >> could you tell us something about judith mohammed and his early years in the times you knew him? an all-american boy

with the exception of the fact that he was what we call the other but them of 9/11. jude grew up in a climate of islamophobia, religious profiling, and made it very difficult for him to stay here or to find any basis for trust of the american government. in the end, he decided that he would leave this country. >> what is the reaction, what is your reaction, khalilah sabra, and the reaction of his family, of his mother who lives in north carolina, to this news a day ago that the obama administration admits now that they killed jude kenan mohammad in a drone strike? >> it is more than just a little bit too late. the government had an obligation to inform his mother that he had been killed. and especially they have a

responsibility to tell her why he was killed. jude kenan mohammad was not a senior leader of al qaeda. despite the reasons he went there, there are no indications, no evidence has been shown to us that he rose above the level from transition of going to pakistan. where is the evidence that links him to al qaeda and who made the decision to target him for that? none of those questions have been answered. it is wrong. i think the community in raleigh, north carolina as well as his parents deserve an answer to those questions. >> for his mother, these two years since they first got word he might be dead and now this official word, how has she been able to deal with this uncertainty of not knowing for sure what had happened to him? >> i think she accepted the fact that he was dead a long

time ago, but in the absence of confirmation, it is perfectly normal to have a little bit of hope that somehow he might be alive. if the government purposely withheld disinformation, then they did a great disservice. shias severed behind the fact that his death has not -- she has suffered behind the back of his death has not been it knowledge. she deserves to know what happened them. >> khalilah sabra, can you tell us what you understand happened? how was he killed in a strong attack that the u.s. government is in meeting this week despite the back but even after the attorney general eric holder's letter, saying, yes, they killed jude kenan mohammad, that his face and and was up on the fbi most wanted list? >> first of all, the fact he was on the fbi's most wanted list does not mean he perceived to process and have been convicted

of anything. i think -- like i said, they had an obligation to say why he was there, who he was with, why he was -- what we know he was with a group of people and a drone was dropped on top of him. or he can be targeted allowed to be killed with this group of people is still not known to us. >> what about this group was accused of being a co- conspirator with, the david boyd group. can you talk about that case and its impact in your city? convictedboyd was along with a group of youths for conspiring to commit acts of terrorism. jude i think should be considered a separate entity. first of all, when he was

indicted, he was not here. he had been gone for a very long time. we don't know exactly what the allegations are against him. and the fact he has not been convicted of anything says a lot about his rights. just because the other ones were convicted, daniel boyd took a plea deal and basically through the other ones under the bus, but, you know, there are still a lot of unanswered questions about what was the role of jude kenan mohammad and that entire situation. >> did you ever see any evidence against jude mohammed? >> no, no. >> can you talk about jude kenan mohammad's wife that the she was pregnant when he was killed? is she wast his wife pregnant when he was killed. she called his mother.

she gave her the news that her son had in fact died in a drone attack. so the fact was killed by a drone is not unknown to his parents and to the community. that was established or known by the community a long time ago, but without confirmation, he could not even receive what is the customary funeral prayer without confirmation of that. histhat had an effect on mother, too. >> you mentioned earlier the impact of islamophobia on jude kenan mohammad. could you talk about in charlotte, the atmosphere post 9/11, that the muslim community confronted? >> the atmosphere was rough like it was all over america. you had people being detained. you had people being arrested on

immigration violations that had no criminal history. you had profiling. you had extensive investigations of people with muslim last names, muslim first names. you had students being harassed and bullied in school. we hear a lot about students being bullied in school these days, but to have the experience of being a muslim and being bullied in school for political reasons is something else. it was very difficult, especially for that generation, the kids that grew up with jude, to be able to deal with and have that and not be protected in the educational institutions across america is a crime in itself. >> khalilah sabra, to curbing with us, new jude kenan mohammad, one of the four americans the u.s. government has admitted killing in drone strikes. al awlaki and his son were also named as well as americana --

samir khan. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to outreach@democracynow.org or mail them to democracy now! p.o. box 693 new york, new york 10013. [captioning made possible by democracy now!] >> this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. we're asking you to go to the fund to become a member of link tv. we cannot do this work without you. bring you the voices of the people across this country and among the world today. in the special addition, we wanted to turn to a canadian physician, bestselling author throughout canada. we break the sound barrier gabor mate bring you a compilation of our interviews with the canadian position. in our first conversation, he talks about his work as a staff position at the portland hotel

in vancouver, canada, at a one of the downtown, densest concentration of people addicted to drugs. he goes on to talk about attention deficit disorder. he wrote a book called "scattered" about what you should know about attention deficit disorder and he talks about the drugging of children. where we areok is going to start, where he talks about the patients he has worked with for so many years. >> hard-core drug addicts that i treat, according to studies, without exception, leave extraordinary lives. the commonality is child abuse. these people all enter life under extremely adverse circumstances. not only did they