05/30/13 05/30/13 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] >> from pacifica, this is democracy now! >> funding for our film because david koch a large donor and trust the of wnet. >> public television is to serve the public interest by giving differs viewpoint on the public airwaves. they should not be counted the interest of private donors. that is what our film "citizen koch"" is about.

>> the filmmakers behind a new film called "citizen koch" say plans for the documentary to air on public television have been quashed after billionaire david koch complained about the pbs broadcast of another film critical him read two weeks ago he resigned as a trusted to be in the t. he has given millions of dollars to pbs. we will speak with filmmakers tia lessin and carl deal. america.ger in >> i struggled a lot. most of the time it is because my stomach is hurting. >> my teacher told me to get focused and told me to write focus on my sticker. >> i start yawning. i am looking at the teacher and i look at her and i think about is boo'ed.

>> as republicans move to cut billions of dollars in funding for food stamps, and the report finds one in six americans, including 79 children, live in a household that cannot afford including 17 -- million children, live in houses that cannot afford adequate food. >this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the u.s. soldier accused of massacring 16 afghan civilians has reached a plea deal to avoid execution. staff sergeant robert bales will plead guilty to killing nine children and seven adults during a nighttime attack on two kandahar province of villages in march 2012. a sentencing hearing is set for september. he was drinking contraband on all in starting prescription medication at the time of the attack. his attorney say he may have suffered a traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder from four tours in iraq and afghanistan.

the massacre sparked national average in afghanistan and news of the plea deal could reignite protests. the british government has admitted to holding up to 85 people without charge in afghanistan. the prisoners have been gel that camp bastion for as long as 14 months, with no charges or indication of a pending trial fell shiner of britain's public interest lawyers denounced their imprisonment. >> people are being detained indefinitely. no one knows where they are. their relatives have not been able to see them. they had no access to lawyers. they have not been charged. they will not be brought before a court. our common law system has long recognized that is completely unlawful. >> a british court will convene a hearing on the prisoners' fate in july. both sides of syria's armed conflict are casting doubt on

the likelihood of international talks planned by the u.s. and russia for the coming weeks. on wednesday, the syrian government said president bashar al-assad will remain in office until next year's election and could seek another term. opposition leaders meanwhile said it would condition talks on a process to ensure al-assad's departure. in turkey, the steering coalition has also failed to decide whether it is even willing to attend the planned global conference in geneva and who it would send it to take part. the inn has comes amidst recent decisions by global actors to increase armed shipments to those sites. at the united nations, both secretary general ban ki-moon and navi pillay said more weapons will only increase syria's suffering. just providing arms to either side will not help this process. there is no such military

solution in this case. >> the solution must be political. it will not be military. outside forces, including some states, are reported to be actively fueling the conflict by providing weapons and ammunition to one side or the other. this emboldens [indiscernible] >> syrian president bashar al- assad confirmed he has received the first shipment of an air defense system from russia. he vowed to use it should is to launch more airstrikes like those earlier this month. in iraq, nearly 30 people have been killed in a series of bombings in baghdad and the northern city of baquba. most of the attacks struck sunni muslim areas. iraq is seeing some of its worst sectarian violence since the deadly period of 2006-2007. president obama is reported the preparing to nominate former justice department official james comey to head the fbi. the new york times reports obama will tap him to replace robert

mahler when he departs in september. comey is well-known for refusing to reauthorize the bush a ministration sworn the spy program of serving as acting attorney general in place of john ashcroft, who was recovering from surgery. comey alerted ashcroft after two top white house aides rushed to ashcroft's's hospital bed in a failed bid to win his approval for the spying. in 2003, comey came under criticism from the civil-rights attorney lynne stewart who accused him of pure vindictiveness in pursuing her and two co-defendants after the judge in the case threw out terrorism charges. law-enforcement officials have admitted a chechen man questioned for his ties to the boston marathon bombers was unarmed when fbi agents shot him dead in florida last week. ibragimere questioning todashev at his orlando apartment when he allegedly tried to attack them. but the washington post is

reporting he had neither a knife or gun. the council on american islamic relations is asking the justice department to review the killing. the news in florida comes as a bipartisan congressional delegation is in russia to conduct what it calls a fact- finding investigation into the circumstances that led up to the boston attacks. the fbi has come under scrutiny following news of russia had warned u.s. law enforcement about boston marathon suspect tamerlan tsarnaev in 2011. tsarnaev was questioned before going on to spend six months in chechnya and dagestan in 2012. republican congress member said the delegation will meet with a number of russian officials to seek answers. >> one of the things we want to find out is whether or not the fbi follow through on all of the information that was given to them. we will find that out.

maybe they have. we will be asking the various leaders here in russia that give us their assessment, we will be talking to their intelligence people and find out if there was information that was followed up on or was there a level of cooperation? richestigures show the 20% of u.s. taxpayers will reap the benefits of more than half the nation's tax breaks. a report by the congressional budget office says the richest 1%, those making over $327,000 a year, will also collect around 17% of total savings. the cbo concludes -- 12 undocumented youth activists have been arrested in chicago protesting record deportations under president obama. the activists locked arms to form a human chain that blocked

traffic outside the site of an obama fundraiser held wednesday night. they were surrounded by a banner reading 400,000, the number of immigrants set for deportation this year under federal quota. new details have emerged about a secret unit inside the national security agency called tailored access operations that hacks and of foreign computers to conduct cyberespionage. according to a bloomberg , theess week article harvest nearly 2.1 million gigabytes every hour. that is the equivalent of hundreds of millions of pages of text. for years the in as they did not acknowledge the in its existence but a pentagon official confirmed they do with a computer network explication. the u.s. cyber spies have also developed methods to obscure their tracks or disguise themselves as something else such as hackers from china. u.s. agriculture officials say

they're investigating how genetically modified wheat greeted by monsanto turned up on an oregon farm even though it was not approved for use. the plants were discovered after former attempted to kill the wheat with monsanto's herbicide but found some of the plants had survived. testing determined it was from an herbicide-resistant strain that was field tested several years ago before protests helped force monsanto to withdraw it from the regulatory process. the oil giant shell has admitted and oil drilling rig that ran aground late last year left alaskan waters in a bid to avoid paying millions in taxes. tried to pass to the gulf of alaska when it was pushed aground by severe winter storm. the coast guard had to rescue the ship's crew and the incident helped spark a review of offshore drilling in the arctic. testified to the coast guard of the weekend, sean churchfield, operations manager for royal dutch shell in alaska, said the

decision to leave alaska's dutch harbor before the storm hit was "driven by economic factors." shell would reportedly have had to pay over 6 $9 in taxes had it stayed through january 1. an african-american teenager is accusing miami police of brutality after being pushed to the ground and placed in a chokehold. 14-year-old tremaine mcmillian was carrying his young puppy when a miami dade police officer confronted him. police say tremaine appeared to be a threat because he give the officer "dehumanizing stares." the officer pushed tremaine to the ground and held him there in a chokehold. speaking to cbs miami, police detective alvaro tried to justify the incident by saying even though he tried to walk away, tremaine was accosted because his body language amounted to a threat. >> once his approach in the roadway, they grabbed him. once his body language of

closing the fists, flaring his hands, trying to pull away, now you are resisting an officer that point. we have to neutralize the threat and we have someone that is being resisted, someone pulling away, someone clinton their fists and flaring their arms, that is a threat. we're not dealing were concerned with a puppy, we're concerned about the immediate threat to the officer. >> tremaine says he was feeding his puppy with a bottle when the police attacked him. the puppy suffered an injury to his left paw. york city police said they had intercepted two letters sent to mayor michael bloomberg, potentially containing the deadly poison ricin. the letters reportedly referred to bloomberg's extensive efforts to back stricter gun control nationwide. the news comes one month after ricin was found and letters addressed to president obama and other government officials. protests are continuing at a cambodian garment factory where workers make clothes for nike.

the workers are seeking an additional $14 a month on top of their $74 per month minimum wage. thousands of workers are rallying at the site today over a week after going on strike. a crowd of around 3500 turned out for protest on wednesday. the latest protests follow the demonstration monday where police injured 23 workers, including a pregnant woman who lost her unborn baby after being stunned with a cattle prod and pushed to the ground. el salvador's top court has denied an ailing woman's request for what could be a life-saving abortion read the woman who uses the pseudonym beatriz suffers from lupus and kidney problems that her doctors say could kill her if she cannot end her pregnancy. the fetus is missing major parts of the brain and would almost certainly die after birth. in a 41 ruling, the supreme court rejected her appeal, saying the country's abortion ban is "absolute." supporters have raised the possibility of beatriz

obtaining an abortion abroad, but doctors say that even travel could harm her health. a canadian abortion provider of pro-choice pioneer has died at the age of 90. seen as one of the founders of the reproductive rights movement in canada, he endured death threats, physical assaults, and firebombing of a clinic rid he was arrested multiple times for performing abortions after canada's restrictive laws before winning the 1988 supreme court case that legalized abortion across canada. and those are some of the headlines. 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. rallies were held in 12 cities wednesday to protest the possible sale of the tribune newspaper chain to the koch brothers, the billionaire backers of the tea party and other right-wing causes. the koch brothers are reportedly considering making a bid for the newspaper chain which would give them control of two of the 10

largest his papers in the country, the l.a. times and the chicago tribune, and to keep papers in the battleground state of florida -- the orlando sentinel and the sun sentinel in fort lauderdale. other papers include the baltimore sun and the hartford current. the deal would also include hoy, of second-largest mannish language daily newspaper. according to the new york times, the coat brothers have quietly discussed purchasing media outlets as part of a longtime strategy to shifting the country toward a smaller government with less regulation and taxes. this is justin molito with the writers guild of america east at wednesday's protest in new york city. >> we are out here today calling on the equity firm that has stakes within the tribune company to not sell to the koch brothers and not have the l.a. times, the baltimore sun, the orlando sentinel and other publications go the way so much of the rest of our media is going, which is under corporate control. and to see what has happened recently with the "citizen

koch" film should be a warning to everyone the consolidation of corporate power and a free press do not mix in what should be a democracy. >> what happened to the "citizen koch" documentary he refers to is what will look at today. it tells the story of a landmark citizens united ruling by the supreme court that opened the door to unlimited campaign contributions from corporations. it focuses on the role the koch brothers-funded group americans for prosperity played in backing wisconsin governor scott walker, who was pushed to -- who pushed to slash union rights of the same time supporting tax breaks for large corporations. "citizen koch" was to air on pbs next fall until its agreement with the independent television service fell through. >> the story of how this happened is detailed in a piece published last week in the new yorker magazine. written by jane mayer, it is headlined "a word from our sponsor: public television's attempts to placate david koch." it describes another film critical of the koch brothers

that did air on pbs, academy award winning director alex gibney's documentary, "park avenue: money, power and the american dream," which contrasts the lives of residents who live a lot of the most expensive apartment buildings in manhattan -- 740 park avenue -- with those of poor people living at the other in a park avenue, in the bronx. this is a clip from that film. >> this stretch of park avenue on the upper east side of manhattan is the wealthiest neighborhood in new york city. this is where the people at the top with the latter live, the .pper crust, the ultra rich but the street is about a lot more than money. it is about political power.

the rich here have not just use their money to buy fancy cars, private jets and mansions, they have also used it to rig the game in their favor. over the last 30 years, the have enjoyed prosperity from a system increasingly control. >> an article, jane mayer decals on their shapiro, president of pbs station wnet here in new york city, called david koch, a resident of 740 park avenue, to warn him that the alex gibney film was "going to be controversial." david koch was a wnet board trustee at the time. over the years, his given $23 million to public television. jane mayer writes that shapiro offered to show him the trailer and include him in an on-air discussion that would air immediately after the film. the station ultimately took the unusual step of airing a thelaimer from koch after film called a disappointing and divisive.

near reports this exchange influenced what then happened to "citizen koch" which was set to be aired on the same pbs series called "independent lens." the film's funder and distributor itvs has said it has decided not to move for the project. we're joined by the film's two directors, tia lessin and carl deal. there 2008 documentary was nominated for academy award. it was about hurricane katrina. they also worked on michael moore's films "bowling for "fahrenheitnd 9/11." we reached out to wnet and itvs, but they declined to join the show. we will read statements they sent and play clips from the film "citizen koch." welcome tia lessin carl deal carl. we saw you at the sundance film festival. of those thatone was premiering at sundance.

what happened next? >> as we were racing to meet the deadline to get this on air is when we started to hear the first rumblings of problems at itvs. it was a week about after alex gibney's film aired. we got a series of frantic phone calls -- actually, after we decided to come up with the citizen coke." -- total "citizen koch." we got a frantic series of text messages and phone calls. they desperately wanted to see the film we're going to take the sundance. we were happy to give it to them. i guess a couple of days after that, we got on the phone with the head of production over there and they said, if you guys don't change the name of your film, then we're going to have to take funding away from me. we cannot have our relationship

with this film under that name. we were sort of stunned. we were open to other names, quite frankly, but we were curious about what was behind that. it took one google search to figure out david koch was a board member of wnet and wgbh and a contributor. we asked directly, does this have anything to do with the demands they were making? they were not very transparent, but it became clear in fact there was a client at -- that would find this name unacceptable. we said, we will be happy to change the name but not for political reasons. not because one of your donors will be angered by it. we took a principled stand. we thought everything would fall apart then and there. we went to sundance and we said -- this said, no, we still want

to see you through this. we are still in partnership. that is where the story left off. >> and jane mayer article in the new yorker has pointed out the key role played by neil shapiro and beginning to exert pressure on itvs. neil shapiro had a long career as a network executive act nbc before he came over to the pbs duopoly in new york. did you get an indication sikhara was directing to intervene? >> they were not being completely honest with us. it was clear they were afraid of somebody. >> we now know from the article is built shapiro called itvs directly and issued some threats including that wnet would pull out of their series "independent lens" in the aftermath of that gibney film. i guess they freaked out when they saw harpham coming down the pike.

they did not want to just change the title, they wanted as a to sanitize it, to scrub koch out of it altogether. >> can you explain the relationship between itvs and pbs? you are not automatically going on wnet or pbs, but it was your finding and distribution? >> independent television service is or exists to support financially support the work of independent filmmakers, and an advocate for those films it supports to go on the air and a number of ways including their flagship series which is really the premier showcase for high- quality documentary film, "independent lens." they are publicly funded. as we understand it, their entire budget comes from tax dollars.

who have aod people very important mission. we were really hopeful when all of this was going down they would join with us. we are willing to fight for this film and we want people to advocate for alongside us. this is a look at how big money and the money up ideologically driven money from the wealthiest americans is drowning out the rest of us. >> a want to ask about the itvs response. we invited someone to appear but they declined. they did issue a statement that said -- your response?

>> stunning. .e are really disappointed we have an opportunity right now for itvs to engage in a really important conversation about who has influence over what goes on the public airwaves. pbs was set up to serve the public interest, not private interest. we are really disappointed with that statement because when itvs came in and decided to become a production partner with us, we were a year into production. we had our characters, story lines, presented them with written proposals, video proposals that completely reflect the family delivered. the only thing that changed from the time they saw it as a rough cut and the time we got into sundance and these series of strained meeting started to happen was alex gibney's film aired. >> we asked both itvs and pbs to join as proof that me read the

response, the statement from the new york pbs station wnet that aired the alex scamming "park avenue." they did declined our invitation to come on the show but wrote -- your response? sought an.think koch that is how serious this is. david koch does not need to pick up the film and now at any one

-- >> in fact, he resigned from wnet just a week or two ago. , overallmajor donor has given something like $23 million. >> that's right, tax-deductible dollars. in exchange for that, apparently he has some role in programming decisions at wnet and i think that is unacceptable. >> what we're looking at is not necessarily a direct intervention by koch, but self- censorship by the public television community in an effort to prevent someone like koch from pulling out their dollars. one to someone like david koch make such a major contribution to public broadcasting when he is against public institutions like public broadcasting? i think it probably has to do with having some influence of what is out on the public airwaves. >> you read the protest yesterday in new york, protests

around the country, run the by newspapersochs like the los angeles times. what connection do you see here? >> we did not enter into this conversation lightly, but our experience we feel that our film was censored and it was due to the presence of david koch on the board. there's a lot of discussion right now over whether private ownership of newspapers has an influence on how the news is reported. we just feel our recent experience sheds light on that. if there were ever any doubts, in this case, whether or not david koch directly intervened, his mere presence had an impact on the public discourse. >> we're going to take a break. when we come back we will talk about the content of your film, "citizen koch." back in a moment. ♪ [music break]

>> this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez.

let's turn to the trailer of a new film, a new documentary called "citizen koch." is produced and directed by tia lessin and carl deal, the academy award winning filmmakers we've been speaking with. to look at how the wealthiest interests are working politics, there is no better place to look than the state level. >> money is a weapon. >> more than $3.5 billion has been spent making this election the most expensive on record. >> any chance we will ever get to be a completely red state? >> the koch brothers open a number of companies. >> how much have you put into wisconsin? >> since january of last year, just over $10 million. >> wisconsin is open for business.

>> the first question people ask -- why would you bet on what kind of country are we? >> i will tell you what, $10,000? >> i am not in the bedding business. the party think represents what it used to represent. >> if it wasn't for the union, i could not have retired. >> started talking $117 million worth of tax breaks to wealthy people and in contrast, doubling the taxes on the poorest parents. >> people were overpowered by money. buy a democratic congressman for $25 million. the highest court in the land has the lowest athelstan there. >> this is really finding a way

to spend money in elections without telling anyone who you are. we don't discuss our funding, but we -- >> mr. president, a game on. >> it is a power grab. that less an agenda than 1% want. the lobbyist is not in my budget. >> this cannot happen. this is wrong. >> it will just keep crushing the middle class, crushing the poor people. >> i want to thank charles scope. -- koch. >> listen to me, america. you are not important. they don't care about you. because you don't bring a check. before, inever voted

expect you will now. >> that was the trailer of "citizen koch" that was next fall onair pbs until the agreement with directors had independent television news fell through. >> citizens united was the supreme court decision in january 2010 that basically open the floodgates for corporate and labor money to flow into elections unlimited money, straight out of their coffers. film,try point into this when we saw citizens united out of the campers free-speech, it is a right-wing organization in washington that we had had a run in went through our work on " fahrenheit 9/11." they filed a complaint to block the trellis for that film airing in the run-up to george bush's

last election. when we saw them on the side of free speech, we were kind of suspicious. we wanted to look at how this was going to play out in the next election cycle. governor scott walker of wisconsin was elected in 2010, which was the first election cycle where this money was flowing from outside groups at unprecedented levels. as we started making the film, governor walker -- there was an uprising in wisconsin, essentially, in response to governor walker's attack on collective bargaining. so we wanted to see how this would play out on the state level. this is the journey that took us to where we are today. >> any focused on americans for prosperity. did you talk about the group and its relationship to koch? >> it is the chief political organizing arm of the kochs.

they founded the organization, they fund it. we don't know exactly how much money they get from the kochs because much of that is undisclosed, but they're out there on the ground in states and throughout this country and .all themselves the vital ones they also have a foundation arm. they were doing political organizing and election advocacy. i suspect the majority of their work is that, but it is hard to tell because they don't need to disclose all of their campaign spending. we ran into them quite a bit in the run-up to the recall election. there were spending a ton of money on the ground the head of americans for prosperity committed at least $10 million to help shore of scott walker and fight the recall. what we came to understand, the walker's efforts to bust the union, it was not about fiscal

crisis in wisconsin or pension reform or health care. it was an attempt by the extreme right to disenfranchise working people and take out their political funding for the democrats, for scott walker's opponent. >> you mentioned americans for prosperity, social well for 501(c)4 is a timely issue because your film also relates to the recent complaints by right-wing groups the irs unfairly scrutinized their political spending. the groups reportedly tested rules limiting political activities for certain tax- exempt organizations by sponsoring political ads and organizing members of the campaign in recent elections. it prevents them from participating in elections at primary activities. i want to turn to a clip of tim phillips, a conservative political strategist, president of americans for prosperity, which plans to spend $20 million and wisconsin during 2011-2012,

and reported spending another $36 million to defeat president obama in 2012. this is phillips speaking four days before the vote on whether to recall governor walker. madison, the days of the liberals of the left having this massive infrastructure that overwhelms us are over. it is a new day. [applause] model for the the country. and what we're saying in wisconsin to the two-party and americans for prosperity and everyone else and to all of you, we are saying to every governor in every state legislator that if you do the right thing, we got your back. we will be there for you. we will deliver the message and raise the money. we will put up tv ads and radio ads. we have got your back. >> that was tim phillips, president of americans for prosperity, speaking four days

before the vote on whether to recall governor walker. this is another clip of phillips from the film "citizen koch." >> let's make sure we do our part to move this day ford and keep moving it forward. >> i am a volunteer for americans for prosperity. a one to let you know mayor tom barrett has raised taxes and a walk every year but one since he became mayor. you very much for your time. >> i urge you to go to americans for prosperity. >> do you think you have more freedoms? >> it does that affect us at all. >> really? impactsens united americans for prosperity and no way shape or phonform. >> for our radio listeners, members of the americans for

prosperity in this clip were all wearing green t-shirts that said "november is coming." importance your focusing on the political activity for americans for prosperity in the found? >> we just observed what we saw and presented in the found -- and present it in the founder of if there's any doubt what americans for prosperity was up to in wisconsin, i think tim phillips ruling the tea party and saying if you do the right thing, state and local officials, we have got your back. this is one of the interesting things we learned along the way. citizens united had an impact on the federal election, no doubt, on federal election spending, but it is also part of the state-by-state strategy that has loosened up the activities of the sort of dark money outside groups that there's really a very little accountability for. that is what we saw. americans for prosperity itself

is a corporation. to some extent it is freed up by the decision of citizens united as are the corporations that donate money to americans for prosperity to sustain its political work on behalf of various candidates. >> one of the interesting aspects of the film is a lot of the people you speak to are not the traditional proponents. for example, of governor walker. he is a republican, said he would be introducing -- injured in the republicans. but let's go to one of those concerned about the role of money in elections. this is a lifelong republican and christian conservative who lives near the cross, wisconsin where she and her husband raise cattle. >> i don't want big money from out of state with a slick ad influencing me. i consider myself by fairly intelligent human being and i can figure things out for myself.

are you uppetting tonight? we feel if a back massage feels good to people, it probably feels good to cows, too. i was of the republican party was for the common man, the people. that is what i am. that is why i voted republican. think the republican party represents what it used to represent. the most important thing the republican party stands for that i will always agree with is the right to life. >> in this clip from "citizen koch, we need an air force veteran and proud at reagan republican who works as a registered nurse in wisconsin, and a member of the service

employees international union or seiu. in this excerpt she is collecting signatures to recall republican governor scott walker. >> a lot of people say, you're a republican, how can you recall republican that that it is like, governor walker is a two-part ier. the tea party and republicans are not the same thing. i personally do not espouse the tea party principles of cutting government service in order to balance our budget. it is not working. thank you so much. >> get rid of that guy. walker is a bully. i am a union man if it wasn't for the union, i could not have retired. i would have worked until i was 100. and our county workers. i took the job with the pickup for benefits, and i'm losing my it is hard

financially. >> how have you been doing? >> really good. we only have 900 people and we already have about 50 signatures. >> republicans talking about the effort to recall governor walker but ultimately, he prevailed and survived a recall. >> with a 36 million-dollar war chest and tens of millions of dollars in spending from outside groups. itvs to collect our broadcast on public television. that cycled -- stifled our forces, but also these working- class republicans who had a lot to say. it makes me sad their voices will not be heard on public television. >> what is your expectation on how your one to get the found out given the setback in terms of itvs and pbs and also what does a mean about the future of

public broadcasting in the u.s.? >> we are exploring every available avenue, including community screenings as an effective way to get the message out and helping people organize. but with this -- what this says, about the future public broadcasting, public television should be funded with public money. there is more accountability there. every time a politician does after big bird, there's a public outcry, probably often from working parents who need that our of quiet time in the morning with "sesame street," but there is some accountability you just don't get with private involvement. that is not to say that people should not be making their pledges and making their donations and participating in the conversation in that way, but it should not be beholden to private interest. >> i want to end with a ,tatement by the koch brothers

in response to jane mayer -- your final comment? >> it is just like how we operate in our electoral system grid they give a lot of money. they don't have to specify their demands, the politicians know answered that agenda of the koch brothers. the same thing goes with public television, apparently. the made a contribution and programmers make their decisions based on that. it is sad, but i think carl is

right, we need advocate for more money. >> where will it air? >> you can check out our web site and request community screening. we are scrambling right now to find a distributor. >> thank you both for tia lessin being with us tia and carl deal, academy award nominated filmmakers with their new filmic "citizen koch." when we come back, we will be talking about hunger in america. ♪ [music break]

>> this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. >> we turn now to the silent

crisis of hunger in america today. according to a new report, one in six americans lives and how so that cannot afford adequate food despite residing in one of the wealthiest nations in the world. of these 50 million individuals, nearly 17 million are children. the report was just released by international human rights clinic at new york university school of law and it is called, "nourishing change: fulfilling the right to food in the united states." >> according to the report, food insecurity in the u.s. has rocketed since the economic downturn, with an additional 14 million people classified as food insecure 2011 than in 2007. the report comes as congress is renegotiating the farm bill and proposing serious cuts to the supplemental nutrition system of -- assistance program, or snap, formerly known as the food stamp program. millions of americans currently rely on the program to feed themselves and their families. the authors of the new report are calling on u.s. government to strengthen such critical

programs. >> a recent documentary called, "a place at the table," shows the struggles of families facing food insecurity -- which means they don't know where their next meal is coming from. >> i am struggling so much every day to be able to even feed my kids. hunger is not just, and africa. it is right here in the united states. children four of our living in food insecure homes just doesn't make any sense at all. pizza menus read just to get rid of my hunger pains. >> i struggle lot because i am hungry or my stomach is hurting. >> there is a huge disconnect between the people suffering and people who can do something about it.

>> where the most prosperous nation in the world and yet we still have not found the political will to end hunger. on theanswer is, focus human being. >> there's something wrong when we have all of that knowledge and information and nobody is doing a dam thing about a. >> that was an excerpt from, "a place at the table." news,re on the latest we're joined by smita narula, co author of this report, "nourishing change." >> we are facing a furious suit .- food crisis 17 million are considered having a very low food security and what this means is people are regularly reducing the size of their meals, skipping them altogether, and in some cases going entire days without

eating. our report finds the key nutrition assistance programs which represent the government's response to food insecurity are failing to address this crisis adequately and instead of shoring up these programs, congress is threatening deep cuts to snap, or the food stamp program, which threatens to push millions of americans in the deeper crisis. >> what about this safety net the government has not only the wi food stamp thec, free school lunch, free breakfast program? how well are they tackling the problem right now? >> these programs are incredibly vital to millions of americans and have tremendous reach, but we find they fall short in three key respects -- first, the eligibility requirements which are often drawn along asset lines and income are too narrow. these programs are not reading of food insecure households. second, numerous burdensome certification and renewal process is are deterring applicants from a plan

altogether. finally, the amount provided by these programs are simply insufficient to meet a family's food-related needs. for example, a family of four entitled to the maximum the maximum-- stat benefit can only provide $1.90 per person per meal, less than $24 a day to feed the entire family. first of all, it does not stretch until the end of the month of people lined up at food pantries. second, it is insufficient to ensure nutritious food and many people turn to junk food which is cheaper and readily available. >> the heart of your report rather -- are the pictures and testimonies. >> these pictures were given to us and put real faces on the crisis of food insecurity in this country. for example, the story of john, a 10-year-old from michigan who wishes he could get a job and bring in some income so he does not have to see his parents push

food from their plates on to his. when he goes to school, his hunger keeps up from concentrating and his grades have plummeted. the family is on snap and john is on the school lunch program as a result of which things have improved. but if the house version goes through, he will be one of possibly 200,000 kids who will no longer be eligible for the school meals. and rhonda's father lost his job and her mother has a medical condition. she had to forgo going to college in order to make ends meet in the family. they lost their snap benefits because they cannot keep up with the burdensome paperwork while their mother was in the hospital and now that could choose between paying for food or medical bills. rhonda's parents ask her and her sister all the time, would you rather have the electricity back on or running water today? that is what food insecurity looks like. >> one of the main points you make is to begin refraining this

whole issue of food as a human right. could you talk about that? >> freedom from hunger and access to sufficient nutritious food is recognized as a basic fundamental human right, and these ballets are not foreign to the u.s. going back as far back as the fdr era, u.s. has been promoting freedom did it was that desired in the great depression that led to the inclusion of the right to food in the universal declaration of human rights. we're calling on america to reclaim those values to ensure all houses have access to sufficient and nutritious food and no one struggles to put food on the table. >> lawmakers on capitol hill in both chambers are moving to drastically cut the nation's food stamp program from the farm bill. in the 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 $20 billion in cuts to the 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. one of the most vocal supporters for cutting the budget for food stamps has been republican congressmember steve king of iowa recently crammed president obama is trying to expand what he calls the dependency class. >> we want to take care of the people that are hungry and we watched this program grow from a number i think the first memorized when i arrived here in congress about 19 million people, now about 49 million people. it appears to be the goal of this demonstration is to expand the roles of people on snap benefits and the purpose for doing so in part is because with the gentleman has said, another purpose for that that is just to expand the dependency class. >> that was congressmember steve king, republican of iowa.

>> this unfortunately is part of the political discourse that the natchez shame to participants of a switch attached is a shame to participants, which keeps people from a plan altogether. the view is backwards. we need to be fortified it instead of gutting it. and investment and the security is an investment in economic recovery. study after study shows children who are fit in secure struggle to learn the same rate their food secure appears to. that lifelong health problems. the centers for american progress notes hunger is extremely expensive for american america $167.5t billion a year in medical costs and in running private food programs among other costs, conversely expanding snap to cover all food insecure household costs only half as much. >> there's been a lot of focus

on children in the program, but also the elderly are a growing source of benefiting from the food stamp program because their social security or retirement income is not sufficient to lift them into an adequate living standard. >> this points to something that has become true of the snap program. not only is it the largest nutrition assistance program in the country, but the largest anti-poverty program in the country as the social safety net has been shredded over the past several years. the elderly, disabled, and so many others are increasingly relying on snap. cutting the legs under step prints to push the elderly and many others into an even deeper crisis of poverty. >> sequester? affect uphad the pulling funds away from the programs and we see just when we speak to individuals right here

in new york city, food pantries, is having a real impact on people's daily lives. we spoke to many customers lining up right here in new york city at food pantries that things are getting worse and worse and even the slightest change in benefits can push a family from being able to feed itself and push them into poverty. >> the most important recommendation? >> strengthen rather than undermine food safety net. we need to fill the plugs in the program rather than -- americans to adopt a national strategy for ensuring food for all americans and the time to do that is now when americans did it most. >> thank you, smita narula, for joining us. she co-authored the report, "nourishing change: fulfilling the right to food in the united states." we will have a link on democracynow.org. 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

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