06/20/13 06/20/13 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] >> from pacifica, this is democracy now! primary conclusion was the explosive her forces came from outside the airplane, not the center fuel tank. >> with that statement have been in your analysis? >> if i had got the right one. >> 17 years ago, twa flight 800 crashed off long island, killing all 230 people on board. the official government investigation blamed mechanical

failure. now a group of former investigators are petitioning the national transportation safety board to reopen the probe saying the original report was falsified. was the plane accidentally shot down by the u.s. navy conducting a nearby exercise or was it a terrorist attack? we will speak with the filmmakers behind a new documentary on the crash including former cbs news producer kristina borjesson. meeting of into this news executives and said, why are recovering as? one guy goes, [indiscernible] i said, i don't know what it is, but it is not a straightforward thing. there is something going on here. there was this silence. ofas looking at this sea white shirts and i turned around and left. i was like, my god, my goose is

cooked. and it was spread across a victory for the radio movement. the fcc will soon begin accepting applications for hundreds of new low-power fm radio stations in october. all of that and more coming up. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. talks between the u.s. and taliban are now in limbo just one day after they were announced. state department one house officials were due to meet with taliban delegates in qatar today for the first to goshens and every year. but hours after the talks were announced, the afghan government said it would withdraw from the process as well from ongoing negotiations on security cooperation with the united states. and afghan government spokesperson said the u.s. violated a pledge to withhold official recognition of the taliban the taliban has named its new political office in qatar the islamic emirate of

afghanistan. the diplomatic uncertainty amidst taliban attacks inside afghanistan on the u.s.-led nato occupation. four u.s. soldiers were killed wednesday in a rocket attack on the bagram military base. president obama is calling for the reduction of u.s. and russian nuclear stockpiles by up to one-third. speaking before thousands of berlin pause brennan per day, obama said he will seek for the reduction of nuclear weapons on top of the 2010 new start treaty with russia. >> i have determined we can ensure the security of america and our allies and maintain a strong and credible strategic deterrent while deploying -- reducing our nuclear weapons by up to one-third. i intend to seek negotiated cuts with russia to move beyond cold war nuclear postures. administration is preparing to unveil what it calls a major initiative on tackling climate change.

the white house says president obama will soon announce the first limits on greenhouse gas emissions from new and existing power plants. wednesday in berlin, president obama pledged action on global warming. >> the effort to slow climate change requires bold action. on this, germany and europe have led. in the u.s., which recently doubled our renewable energy from clean sources like wind and solar power, doubling fuel efficiency on our cars, and are dangerous carbon emissions have come down but we know we have to do more. and we will do more. >> in washington, the white house coordinator for energy and climate change said obama will impose the new emissions limits through environmental protection agency authority under the clean air act. the move would not require congressional approval, meaning obama could bypass the expected republican-led opposition. describing the approach by obama to global warming, she said --

has abolished the use of drones to carry out surveillance within the u.s. under questioning by republican senator chuck grassley of the senate judiciary committee, the fbi director robert mueller confirmed the domestic use of drones but called it very seldom. he also said the bureau is still drafting regulations to address privacy concerns. >> we are in the initial stages of doing that and i will tell small. footprint is very we have very few and limited use and we are exploring not only the use, but also the necessary guidelines for that use. >> does the fbi used drones for surveillance on u.s. soil? >> yes. >> i want to go onto a question -- >> let me put it in context. a very, very minimal way and

very seldom read >> ok. >> democratic senator mark udall questioned whether drone spying is constitutional in a statement, saying -- he and ron wyden of oregon continue to question the role of nsa surveillance programs in foiling militant plots in the u.s. and overseas. top intelligence officials told congress this week the nsa has helped thwart 50 potential terrorist events including -- >> including 10 within the u.s., but in a statement on wednesday, the senators took specific issue with the claims the mass collection of telephone records played a role.

they said -- republican senator rand paul is openly accusing the nation's chief intelligence officer of lying to lawmakers in statements earlier this year -- week. james clapper told a senate hearing in march that the nsa does not wittingly amass the personal data of millions of americans. speaking to cnn, senator paul said clapper lied outright. >> what i am saying is the director of national intelligence in march did directly by the congress, which is against all. he said they were not collecting any data on american citizens --

>> you're talking about james clapper? >> it turns out there collecting billions of data on phone calls every day, so it was a lie. i am saying by lying to congress, which is against the law, he severely damaged the credibility of the entire intelligence committee -- community. >> after the recent nsa revelations emerged, clapper said his answer was the least untruthful response to to provide at the time. the internet giant google has as the foreign intelligence surveillance court to lift its longstanding gag orders on the disclosure of government requests for customer information. citing the need for greater transparency, google says it wants permission to publicly disclose aggregate numbers of national secure requests, including fisa disclosures. google was one of nine tech companies named in leaked nsa documents as providing the government with direct access to users information through the surveillance program chrism.

the whistleblower group wikileaks says it does make contact with edward snowden's legal team to help him with asylum in iceland. julian assange disclosed the news in a phone call with reporters. he also urged president obama to drop reported grand jury investigation of wikileaks for publishing leaked u.s. documents. >> president obama must do the right thing. dropped thediately immoral investigation against wikileaks [indiscernible] before the president is set [indiscernible] we are in touch with mr. snowden's legal team and are involved in the process of brokering his asylum in iceland.

>> and another disclosure from wikileaks, the group is claiming the late journalist michael hastings said he was under fbi investigation just before he died. hastings was killed in an early morning car wreck on tuesday in los angeles. in a twitter message on wednesday, wikileaks said -- two of brazil's largest cities have revoked the public transit fare hikes that helped set off the country's largest protests in several decades. sao paulo and rio de janeiro made the announcement on wednesday as protests continued nationwide. the rallies are expected to continue as part of a spiraling movement against government corruption, inequality, failing public services, police brutality, and government spending on the 2014 world cup and the 2016 summer olympics. on wednesday, police fired tear

gas at demonstrators trying to block a bridge in rio de janeiro. protesters also marched on an international soccer match at a stadium in the city of fortaleza. .efugee day announcing a plea for $1.7 billion in aid, the u.n. high commissioner for refugees said the conflict in syria marks one of the worst humanitarian crises of the last 20 years. the syrian crisis is not mayor terry and -- humanitarian crisis since the cold war, but the most dangerous one. there is a spillover in the risks of negative impact on the countries of the region are enormous. support fromeds the international community.

what absolutely essential we're witnessing in villages like this, that the needs are met. >> the u.n. says syria possible war has pushed the number of ,efugees to an 18-year high 45.2 million across the globe. at least 22 people were killed wednesday in a militant attack on u.n. compound in somalia's capital of mogadishu. fighters raided with guns after setting off a car bomb. somalia's militant islamist al- shabab rebel group has claimed responsibility and threatening further attacks. democratic senator dianne feinstein is calling for an end to the force feeding of hunger strike in prisoners at guantanamo. lawyers say at least 130 of the 166 remaining prisoners at guantanamo are refusing even protest of their indefinite imprisonment. 43 prisoners are being force fed through tubes four months after the strike began. in a letter to the pentagon,

senator feinstein, the chair of the senate intelligence committee, said -- feinstein is one of the most senior u.s. lawmakers to oppose force feeding at guantanamo. during his speech wednesday in berlin, president obama highlighted his pledge to seek guantanamo's closure. >> even as to remain vigilant about the threat of terrorism, we must move beyond the mindset of potential [indiscernible] in america, that means redoubling our efforts to close the prisons at guantanamo. a >> new figures show the immigration bill up for debate in the senate would cut federal deficits by nearly $200 billion over the next decade. the congressional budget office said the financial gains of

adding millions of new taxpayers to the rolls would far outweigh any potential costs in paying out health-care and welfare benefits, as well as the tab for the measure's new spending on border enforcement. a keynclusion undeucuts claim of opponents to immigration reform. the bureau has been founded has cleared its agents in every single shooting incident dating back 20 years. from 1993 until today, fbi shootings were deemed justified in the fatal shootings of 70 people and wounding of 80 others. out of 289 shootings have to be delivered, no agent was disciplined except for letters of censure in five cases. the issue of fbi accountability has recently re-emerged following last month's fatal todashevthe ibragim who was interrogated over his ties to one of the suspects in

the boston marathon bombing. the fbi later admitted he was not armed. the actor james gandolfini has died at the age of 51. he reportedly suffered a heart attack while on vacation with his family in italy. best known for plan the troubled mob boss tony soprano and the acclaimed television series, gandolfini was a fixture of the stage and screen in new york. he was a board member of new york's downtown community television and produced two documentary films on wounded u.s. soldiers. in a statement, the film's said -- james gandolfini loved community, media and hated war. 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.

we begin with a look at shocking new claims about an airplane crash that happened 17 years ago. more than 200 people were killed when twa flight 800 burst into flames just minutes after taking off from new york on july 17, 1996.- july government investigators say it was most likely triggered by a failure in the plant's electrical system. but many witnesses said they saw a streak of light move toward the plane before the explosion. now six investigators who participated in the original probe of the crash have come four to request that the case be reopened. they have petitioned the national transportation safety board to reactivate its domestication. their stories are featured in a new film directed by kristina borjesson, a former cbs news producer. we will be joined by her later in the broadcast. first, we look at her 17-year struggle to discover what

happened on the night twa flight 800 went down. her story is featured in the film "shadows of liberty" directed by jean-philippe tremblay. this clip also includes former assistant fbi director james kallstrom, former new york congressional aide kelly o'meara and journalist phillip weiss. >> july 17, 1996, flight twa 800 was on route from new york city to paris carrying 230 passengers when disaster struck. aircraft, has 747 gone down. >> in the water down there, that is the burning wreckage from the airplane. >> that day i was at cbs. my executive producer called me down and tell me to look into it. it completely changed my life. it shifted my paradigm.

>> as kristina borjesson investigated the crash for cbs news, many people reported something disturbing they had seen in the night sky. >> all of these eyewitnesses said they seen something go up and followed it up to the airplane and in the air plant exploded. .- then the airplane exploded >> with different reports emerging, the fbi declared the area of crime scene. terrorist event, we of the challenge to find out who the perpetrators were, who the cowards word that did this. >> as navy divers were called to recover the plane's wreckage, rumors of friendly fire emerge. >> that first fbi press conference i went to, some guy

raised his hand and said, why is the navy involved in the recovery when they are suspects? >> the navy is a suspect. >> kallstrom pointed him and says, "remove him." then everybody continues as if it had not have. in my mind, we should have all pressed on that question. >> friendly fire was not involved in this incident and i use the strongest terms i could use, i said it was highly, highly, highly, highly unlikely. >> despite the denials by fbi, kristina borjesson's research uncovered a different scenario based on the navy's activity on the night of the disaster. >> when they released the radar

information, they only gave half of it. they cut it off right when you could see there were all of these military vessels in this exercise zone. it was right there. not only were their ships there, but there was live fire exercises going on off the coast that night. that is why they had closed down the flight corridor that is parallel to the commercial flight path. >> twa 800. twa 800. twa 800. >> that was him. >> i think so. >> god bless. bywhen there is a distress, law of the sea or supposed to go and try and help. these ships when in the opposite

direction away from the crash site and at 30 knots. >> the search for clear-cut evidence continued. kristina borjesson was offered a piece of seat fabric from the plane that had undergone preliminary testing. >> the test revealed there were heavy metals in it that were consistent with a missile strike that went through the airplane at a certain point where the seat was very close to. kristina borjesson received a sample to do independent verification. how mean, it was amazing often do get hard evidence from something? i had no idea there were be any problem whatsoever. >> cbs news gave kristina borjesson the go-ahead to accept the seat fabric, but she was close to discovering whether a missile strike had gone down the airplane.

-- had brought down the airplane. >> i was looking for a laugh and that is when the fbi called and said, you have a piece of stolen evidence. to my great disappointment and dismay, cbs just gave it right back. cbs has given federal investigators a peak of cough reportedly from the downed twa flight 800. >> cbs folded like an ice cube in the sun. they decided this is not a story we are going to vie for. it was a great moment of spineless does on the corporate media is part. >> no evidence has been found that would indicate any criminal act crossed the tragedy of flight twa 800. law enforcement team has looked at every theory and has left no stone unturned. >> with eyewitness accounts of a

possible missile strike still unexplained, the cia produced an animation that was broadcast nationally. >> when they show the animation, it was not like they then went out and talk to the fishing boat captain who had seen something completely different. i did. they said, this is ridiculous. this does not describe what i saw. shown on network tv, it was shown nationally, shown over and over. >> to think there is no evidence that any eyewitness saw a missile shoots down a flight 800. >> the press bought the government's version of events. disaster,time of the westinghouse, a nuclear power company a major defense contractor, owned cbs news.

>> any logical person would go, well, where does the vast majority of their money come from? government contracting. if kristina borjesson were getting too close to the truth, when they shut down the investigation or will they lose their government contracts? these are logical questions you have to wonder. what is more important to cbs? >> ultimately, kristina borjesson's pursuit of what happened that night challenged the power is of corporate media. meeting of into this news executives and said, why are we covering this? one guy goes, you think it is a missile, don't you? i said, i don't know what it is. but i will tell you, it is not a straightforward thing. there's something going on. there was just this silence.

i was looking at this sea of white shirts. as i turned and left i was like, my goose is cooked here. and it was. i was out a few weeks later. the government's official explanation of the disaster, mechanical failure, has not been proven and questions still remain. >> i cannot tell you with absolute certainty what happened. when that many people die, you owe it to them and to the other people who are getting on those airplanes every day to find out what really happened. >> that was kristina borjesson from the film "shadows of liberty" directed by jean- philippe tremblay. kristina borjesson has just made a new documentary along with physicist tom stalcup called, "twa flight 800." they will join us after the

break to talk about their new film and the call for reopening of the twa crash domestication. we will also play excerpts from the new film. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

>> this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. >> we continue our coverage over shocking new claims about the crash of flight twa 800 that killed 230 people on july 17, 1996. the plane burst into flames off the coast of new york just minutes after takeoff. a government investigation concluded the cause of the explosion was a mechanical failure. but on wednesday, a group of investigators who participated in that probe submitted a petition to the national transportation safety board

asking them to reopen the case. the investigators say they have -- among those who've come forward is former senior ntsb accident investigator hank hughes. he is featured in a new film " that, "twa flight 800 premieres on the premium tv channel epix next month. >> a report was over 400 pages was cut and amanda without my knowledge. what i did find out -- was cut and amended without my knowledge. write anrdered not to analysis after producing fax. >> could you say that again? >> we were directed to write a

factual report but not an analysis. >> what would your analysis have been? conclusion was the explosive forces came from outside the airplane, not the center fuel tank. >> with that statement have been in your analysis? >> if i got the right one. >> the senior accident investigator hank hughes from the new documentary, "twa flight 800" which premieres on epix july 17, exactly 17 years after the crash. for more we're joined in new york by the film's director, investigative reporter and former cbs producer kristina borjesson, and also joined by tom stalcup, the film's co- we welcome you both to democracy now! tom just made it here from "today." kristina borjesson, it has been

a long haul for you from investigating this for cbs news were you were ultimately forced out as she tried this investigation. talk about the significance of the latest information and why the investigators are petitioning to reopen this investigation. >> the significance of it is, the hard evidence that has been reviewed and is being presented by the government's own former members of the official investigation. and the other thing is, for the first time, the eye witnesses are brought in as a credible piece of the investigation. as you know in any investigation, it does not matter whether it is cops or reporters or whatever, the key to those investigations are firsthand sources, evidence, and i witnesses.

and these have been brought together, and that is what is significant. under the ntsb's on regulations, if there is thestation -- evidence that conclusion was erroneous previously, they have the ability to reopen the investigation. thesearticular is are investigators raising? >> i think tom is the science guy on the film. >> the most significant piece of evidence we have analyzed the ntsb has not is the destination that caused the crash. it was recorded by multiple faa sites. it was corroborated by eyewitness reports. eyewitnesses saw it in a perpendicular motion, the undetonated. particles then fly along the

same trajectory. you expected that happens, you see evidence. the radar sites along long island picked up that exact even read supersonic debris exiting the right side of the aircraft, consistent with the trajectory of the object. >> i want to turn to a clip from your new found featuring a former actor investigator for airline pilots association, talking about how he took a piece of the airplane and brought it to the fbi field lab for testing. >> i knocked on the door and said, i hear you have a machine to test for nitrates. they said, yes, we do. they showed me how it works. they said they would run a test sample. i said, how about you run a test sample of mine? so they did. sure enough, it tested positive, which i was sure it would do. positive for residue of high explosions. they picked up the phone and

call someone. in seconds, three fbi agents ran in the room and physically pushed me aside and would not let me hear the conversation. then they turned the man said, the machine has frequent false positives. >> tom stalcup? >> what we found throughout this documentary by interviewing the fbi chemists aware of that machine that had the explosive detections, they do not have frequent false positives. the positive detection he fell within a week of the crash was a confirmed explosive hit on the right wing. it made the new york times, but quickly physically disappeared from the investigation. >> the final conclusion of the ntsb was there believe the cause was an electrical spark that ended up causing an explosion of the fuel tank in the plane? >> that is correct.

again, it is important to iterstand they said it was was more of an eruption. it was a ford moving, low-speed irruption read what we have is a sideways moving, high-speed that nation four times the speed of sound. >> as good a one of the eyewitnesses from your film, "twa flight 800." go outside, turn to the left -- >> i happen to look up and i see something going across right in my line of sight. >> i actually see something behind the tree line broke open the air. >> i saw what appeared to be cheap fireworks. >> and noticed a streak of light heading in the sky. this rocketthis -- went in the air. >> i see this white light. >> it look like a flare.

the next day, the fbi came and talked to me. it was almost abusive in a sense. they took me into a back room and said, well, we heard you saw something. it tell us what you saw. i told them and then look me straight in the face and said, you did not see that. you saw nothing. >> and other eye witnesses talked about that kind of abuse. one of the women we just saw said, kristina borjesson, when they came to her, the fbi to take testimony about what she saw, after she said this, what did they tell her? >> they said to her, well, you have your papers to become an american citizen, don't you? they said, well, if you want to become an american citizen, the best be very quiet about this. she said she kept quiet and never spoke about it. >> the cia but released an animated film about the explosion and investigation of twa flight 800.

>> particular concern to at the investigation reports of dozens of by witnesses to an evening of july 17 recalled seeing an object usually described as a flare or firework a cent and culminate in an explosion read was that a missile? did foreign terrorists destroy the aircraft? at the request of the fbi, some cia weapons analysts look into this. the conclusion that though the eye witnesses did not seek a missile. just after the aircraft exploded, it pitched abruptly and climbed several thousand feet from 13,800 feet to about 17,000 feet. those who said they saw something as sand and culminate in an explosion probably saw the burning aircraft the sand and erupt into a fireball, not a missile. to date, there is no evidence that anyone saw a missile shoots down twa flight 800.

was aca film. tom stalcup, that film is what got you involved in this case. where were you when you saw that? >> on my couch watching tv. the fbi came on and i thought, i will watch them talk about this plane crash. they announced this video. the cia came on and it struck me as on. they kept saying "not a nossel." i turned to my girlfriend said, "must have been a missile." ever since then we'll look into the crash and it appears it really was. >> it is extraordinary to have the cia doing what is in essence a propaganda video on an internal domestic incidents here in the u.s. they say has nothing to do with terrorism or any direct attack. >> i agree. i think it is illegal to do domestic propaganda.

there were presenting this video at the end of the investigation? >> basically he presented that video as a reason for the fbi backing out. speaking of the cia involvement, i think is important that people fromthe cia was involved handle of the crash to the eyewitnesses. >> and not the fbi? >> not the -- what, the fbi was collecting witness statements, which, by the way, is interesting because they do not record the statements when they get them. they just write up notes and then write up their nets in the investigation as opposed to actually recording the interviews, which the ntsb does do. >> wouldn't the cia be involved if there were looking to see if

it was foreign terrorists? as witnesss, but analysts? >> you questioning the analysts? >> yes. >> in the beginning, they were giving advice like a foreign terrorist missile would do this. but within a couple of weeks, their focus changed to providing technical assistance to the fbi to explaining what the eye witnesses all. that is contrary to what the fbi investigators were doing. they said it was the most likely a missile. >> let's look at a clip of a former fbi assistant director james kallstrom who led the criminal investigation into twa flight 800. here he is speaking on cnn's "the lead" with "or on wednesday responding to a question about the claims made by the former investigators in your film. >> i think it is preposterous.

i understand from what i read, if they felt that way back then, they could come to me. i was designed to get back to the bottom of this thing, believe me. i had a reputation for not pussyfooting around read yet it seems like they waited until they have their pensions before they became whistleblowers. i think is a bunch of bull crap. i understand that. if they felt that strongly. knowing the people at ntsb and the science they brought to it, for them to disregard something that was in port more correct, i don't see that as possible. i've no idea why they came forward now other than the fact it is a good time for this idea of blowing whistles and making documentaries. >> could you respond to james kallstrom's comments about the investigators in the film, kristina borjesson, and talk about the claim they came fourth

because this was "a good time" for the idea of whistleblowing? >> let me just say, if he says they could have come to him, these guys, hank hughes act to testify before a judicial committee of the out the problems with the fbi's investigation. example, tom, for thurman was going around pulling out pieces of debris from the seeds without any regard for trajectory, which is very important, part of mr. kallstrom's team who was banging on pieces of debris, which is altering evidence. so why would they want to come to mr. kallstrom and his team? they were deeply troubled by what they were doing. and they did try and speak out at that time reid he is wrong on both of those counts. >> what he might be right about,

they waited until they got their pensions before they spoke out. maybe that is true when you see what happens to people today, that they were afraid for their livelihoods. >> i think that was only one piece of it. if you're trying to blow the whistle and you get smacked while doing it, you're not inclined to keep doing it until you retire. >> let's go to a clip of the naval air warfare center responding to the claim and missile could have cost explosion. this is also from the film, "twa flight 800." >> it is possible to several types of missiles could be in the vicinity of twa flight 800 buthe time of the mishap, the possibility that occurred is hard to imagine. >> what about that, tom stalcup? >> there was a report for the

ntsb where he says, there is no evidence except there is a hole and left side of the plan that seems if anything it was a missile coming down from above. that is what the eye witnesses reported. >> we reached out to the fbi and ntsb asking them to join us. it the fbi has not responded. the ntsb declined to join this, however, they did release a statement wednesday saying it would review the petition asking them to reopen the investigation into the explosion. they wrote --

according to the ntsb's report on the explosion -- now i want to play a clip from the film, "twa flight 800" of rocky miller, accident investigator for the flight attendants union, and jim speer, accident investigator for the airline pilots association, responding to that finding. >> we never found any of that. we did not find any evidence on the wiring of the aircraft that would have indicated a spark occurred to blow it up. >> did anyone in the investigation fineness wiring? >> not to my knowledge.

the only wiring is to the quantity gauge and that is -- the main power is 115. it would have taken 1,200 volts to park the fuel. there is now 1200 fault the electricity on the airplane outside of the engine batteries, and that is the individual to each engine. so the cause of the ignition of the center fuel tank had to be something other than airplane electronics. >> that was jim speer of the airline pilots association. your response to some of the ntsb's claims? >> the center wing tank vapors could have exploded, but this is not news. boeing knew this. they design their tanks to always assume the have explosive vapors in those tanks so no weight high-voltage can get into them as have their design. the wires that go to those lines

is talking about are protected by a nylon sheet and prevent it with a varnish. -- surrounded with varnish. issue of the naval exercise that was taking place kristina borjesson kristina? that in the circumstantial evidence piled. we don't discuss it because it is not hard evidence. and that is why we are submitting this petition, because it is something that should be examined further. >> what was going on at the time? >> there was a military exercise going on at the time in the area. they had activated some warning areas there. there were all kinds of vessels out there. but again, we don't go there

because we don't have any hard evidence. >> so why call to reopen this? >> because it needs to be looked at. because the actual cause of the crash is in explosion outside the airplane. that is not a central wing fuel tank explosion. >> you do have factual evidence of the role the navy played in the original investigation, don't you come in terms of what you found out about their role? >> they where a huge part of the recovery. they recovered the wreckage. it was very interesting that navy divers went and go by themselves for a few days before they're allowed the ntsb or nypd divers to go in.

cbs law enforcement consultant who was friendly with those guys, they told him that. so there were some odd things going on from the very beginning. >> this film will air, kristina borjesson and tom stalcup, july 17, 17 years after the explosion of twa flight 800. that is the name of the film, "twa flight 800." it will air on epix july 17. that does it for this segment. we will continue to follow this story. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

>> this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. we turn now to a major victory the fight for media democratization. in response to a 15-year campaign, the federal communications commission has openly application process for thousands of new noncommercial fm radio licenses, including those in urban areas. this means nonprofits, labor unions, and community groups have a one-time-only chance this year to own a bit of the broadcast airwaves. it is being heralded as to cut the largest expansion of community radio and u.s. history." the short application window will run from october 15 to october 29. >> the philadelphia based nonprofit prometheus radio project has led the 15-year

campaign to challenge corporate control of the media and open up this space on the dial. the clip features vietnamese american young leaders association, then concerned citizens for justice, and project south. median we don't have the or the media is controlled by another group that does not have our side of the story, our perspective, our community interest and other people hear from them and we have nothing to combat that. we don't have our own radio station, our own newspaper to put out our version, our perspective out there in a way they control the battle. >> we have to fight for those spaces. we a social justice movement builders need to own spaces and be able to control narrative because we believe people need

tell their own stories. >> how did it accurate in formation to our folks? how do we have authentic communications across the borders and boundaries that divide us? >> for more we're joined by jeff rousset from the prometheus radio project and ramon ramirez, the president of pay-coon, the largest latino organization in oregon. in 2006, prometheus helped the organization establish a low- power fm station called movement radio with the slogan "the voice of the people." that use the station to inform farm workers about labor rights as well as larger latino community about immigration reform efforts, health issues, and other commodity related topics. talk about this window in october. >> it is a historic opportunity for communities across the country have a voice over their airwaves areas that are supposed to belong to the public.

a culmination of a 15- organization campaign. what the fcc did this because launch the application process for nonprofit organizations labor unions, schools, native american tribes and community groups to apply for a slice of the airwaves in their community locally. it is the biggest chance in decades for communities of color, women, workers, immigrants, environmentalist, veterans, other communities who have been marginalized or systematically ignored to only control their own outlets and use it to share local news and provide a platform for local artists on the air. >> what has made it possible now to do this? is it changes in terms of digital broadcasting that makes it more possible to avoid interference that the what precisely has made this happen now. >> there has always been this

broadcastersut big to offer more than a decade to keep it in the hands of a few big corporations. but a grassroots movement in the last 15 years has been voting to open up this space on the dial. when you're flipping the radio dial between commercials and you hear static, we're squeezing small crustaceans into the radio dial in those places, so we will turn that static into sound and use it to amplify people's voices. >> this is an important victory. but we are part of the struggle to convince our congress to open to communityes organizations and labor unions and democrat rights groups so they can use it as an organizing tool. azaria station was developed with the help of the prometheus radio project. we have been using it not only

to organize farm workers, but also to provide information and give people that never had a voice, for example, we are americating in central and mexico and giving those folks a voice in the community they never had. the idea we can expand that, this medium of radio, to hundreds of community organizations and immigrants rights groups throughout the country is just a wonderful victory for us. we want to be part of that and share our experiences and victories and our successes to help other groups. i will tell you that having your own control of your media outlet is awesome read it is a powerful that only about putting information out and using it as an organizing tool, but building the leadership -- leadership capacity in your community. these folks know how to put

together -- the research, learn how to program. they're also getting their communities involved and providing information that is valuable on a number of topics of that particular community. this is a very important victory. >> jeff, those listening in various cities and communities around the country that may be have never been involved in a radio station, how would they take advantage of this? what kind of some assistance does prometheus provide them -- what kind of assistance does prometheus provide them? >> most of the groups we work with don't have experience using radio, producing radial. that is what we're here for, to help groups that only navigate the fcc process, but develop the kinds of skills and training and connect people and resources so groups can actually get on the air and be successful. >> how did they find if there is a space on the dial in their

community? >> we encourage folks to go to our website, prometheusradio dak.org. we will help shape the media landscape for the next 40 years. we have tools developed. we have a website where you can put in your zip code and see what frequencies are available. >> how many frequencies are available across the country? >> more than 1000 for the first time ever, they're available in some of the biggest cities. los angeles, chicago, miami. one of the stations can reach over 1000 -- 100,000 locally. this is a one-shot opportunity, so we want folks to get involved. you can sign up with us if you want to start a station yourself or support others to expand independent media. many broadcast democracy now! and this is a platform to keep producing local coverage, local

news and also to open up space for more outlets like democracy to! for nowamys and juans popup. it is a onetime chance. >> and the impact this has had on your organizing? >> we have been able to use it as a mobilizing tool. oregon, for example, recently was one of those states that reinstated driver's license for undocumented workers. a major, major victory. how did we do that? radiohead part to do with it. we mobilized thousands. we ask people, how did you hear about this? they said, by their radio. it is a powerful tool. it has benefited us. we want to be able to share that with other community organizations. prior to this, we did not know anything. >> we will continue to follow this. ,eff rousset and ramon ramirez

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