07/16/13 07/16/13 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] >> from pacifica, this is democracy now! we are also mindful of the pain felt by our nation surrounding the tragic, unnecessary shooting death of trayvon martin in sanford, florida last year. [applause] and we are cognizant of the fact the state trial reaches its -- reached its conclusion over the weekend. >> as eric holder speaks out about the killing of trayvon martin, will the justice

department file civil rights charges against george zimmerman following his acquittal? we will speak with ben jealous about the case in the first post all comments of the juror a trayvon martin's friend rachel jeantel. then we go to egypt or seven people died and over 260 were winded last night between clashes -- were wounded last night in clashes. >> we do not kneel for anyone and we do not respond to pressure from anyone. of course the rule of the people is more important in any visit or representative and more important in any state or it of course i reject the visit of the american representative because they are the reason for the military to. >> we will speak with democracy kouddous inf abdel cairo. all of that and more coming up. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. crow tests against the acquittal

of george zimmerman in the shooting death of unarmed african-american teenager trayvon martin continued across the country monday. in los angeles, at least 13 people were arrested overnight as police accused some protesters vandalizing cars, breaking windows, and setting fires. the los angeles police first declared a tactical alert and then an unlawful assembly, allowing them to arrest protesters who did not clear the streets. in oakland, hundreds of protesters blocked traffic on interstate 880 during rush hour on monday evening. at least six people were arrested. attorney general eric holder address the zimmerman verdict monday during remarks before the african-americans are rorty delta sigma theta. >> we are my and full of the pain by our nation surrounding the tragic, unnecessary shooting death of trayvon martin in sanford, florida last year. [applause] and we are cognizant of the fact the state trial reached its conclusion over the weekend.

engaged citizens, and as leaders who stand vigilant against violence in communities across the country, the deltas are deeply and rightly concerned about this case. the justice department shares your concern. i share your concern. [applause] and as we first acknowledged last spring, we have opened an investigation into this matter. >> more on the zimmerman verdict with naacp president ben jealous nsar the headlines. whistleblower edward snowden has been nominated for the nobel peace prize. in a letter to the prize committee, a swedish sociology professor sites snowden's "heroic effort at great personal cost," saying he has helped to make the world a little better and safer. he also suggests giving the award to snowden might make up for the "disrepute" incurred by

the committee's ill-conceived incision the president obama the award in 2009. snowden announced friday he would seek temporary asylum in russia until he could get to latin america. russian president vladimir putin has previously said snowden must abandon work harmful to the u.s. in order to stay free at on monday, he accused the u.s. of trapping him in russia. >> he arrived in our country without an indication. we did not invite him and he was not flying to us, he was flying in transit to other countries. but as soon as he got in the air, it became known our american partners actually blocked his flight. they themselves scared other countries. >> guardian columnist glenn greenwald, who has revealed snowden sleep's, is hitting back it isters article saying aimed at distracting attention from revelations about the nsa's massive secret spying at home and abroad.

saying -- in a piece for the guardian, glenn greenwald says they were taken out of context and misconstrued as threats. greenwald wrote -- he went on -- in egypt, new clashes have erupted after week of relative quiet. at least seven people were killed and more than 260 wounded

in overnight violence spurred by the ouster of president mohamed morsi. supporters of morsi in the muslim brotherhood blocked traffic and marched on the key square, angering local residents. police fired tear gas and bird shot into the crowds while protesters threw rocks. it came as william burns became the first u.s. official to go to egypt since morsi's ouster and addressed a news conference monday. >> only egyptians can determine their future. i did not come with american solutions nor did i come to lecture anyone. we know egyptians must forge their own have to democracy. we know this will not mirror our own and we will not try to impose our model on egypt. what the united states will do is stand behind certain asic principles, not any particular persons or personalities. issueddge in georgia has a last-minute stay of execution

for men diagnosed as mentally disabled. warren hill was due to be executed monday night. under the law -- warren hill was sentenced to death for killing a fellow prisoner while serving a life sentence for murdering his girlfriend. all medical experts who have examined him agree he meets the definition of mental retardation. three who initially disagreed have since recanted. hill's lawyers have asked for the u.s. supreme court to intervene, saying his execution would violate its 2002 decision banning the execution of prisoners deemed mentally retarded. war and hill's execution could still go forward with this week pending the outcome of hearing set for thursday. lawyers for bradley manning argued monday seven of the charges against him should be thrown out, including the charge of aiding the enemy,

which could carry a life sentence. colonel denise land said she would rule on the motions thursday. defense lawyers of the prosecution has failed to show manning had actual knowledge the documents he gave to wikileaks would end up unseen by u.s. enemies of including al qaeda. they say prosecution arguments imply anyone who gives information to a news outlet that publishes it could be deemed to have given it to the enemy. haspresident of burma promised to release all political prisoners by the end of the year. he made the comments during a visit to britain. oh democracy groups have expressed skepticism noting many activists in burma are still facing trial re-at mexican authorities say they have captured the head of the notorious drug cartel in the border city of nuevo laredo. of a slew of charges including torture, murder, money laundering and importing guns typically used only by the military. in new york, a student occupation of the presidents

office at cooper union has come come to an end after more than two months. students were protesting the school's decision to begin charging tuition. the occupiers say they reached a deal with the administration to form a working group to seek alternatives to charging tuition and secure a new, space for working on the campaign. a new york activist is walking 133 miles from albany to begin tend to bring a federal judge signed petitions on behalf of of an imprisoned him on named yassin aref who was sentenced to 15 years in prison along with another mosque leader in 2007 for laundering money as part of a fake terror plot invented by the fbi. his lawyers now say secret evidence revealed by freedom of information act request shows the fbi targeted yassin aref because they mistook him for an al qaeda agent named mohammed yasin who was reportedly killed in israeli strike in 2010. now lynne jackson has launched a journey for justice to deliver a "seriouscalling for --

consideration of yassin aref's assertion that the government targeted and convicted an innocent man. the evidence was kept secret during the trial, the defense was unable to challenge the evidence. this is why secret evidence is so bad. we have filed a petition today and i'm going to hand deliver signed petitions in support of yassin aref. >> those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with aaron maté. >> welcome to all our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. protests are continuing across the country over the acquittal of george zimmerman in the shooting death of 17-year-old trayvon martin last year in florida. in los angeles, at least 13 people were arrested overnight after a tense evening in the crenshaw neighborhood. police

accused protesters of setting fires and breaking windows. in oakland, hundreds of protesters blocked traffic on interstate during the afternoon rush hour on monday. rocks attorney general eric holder described the killing of trayvon martin is tragic and unnecessary but he did not indicate whether he intended to bring a federal case. we're joined by naacp president ben jealous who has been leading the push for the justice department to file civil rights charges against george zimmerman. he joins us from orlando, florida where the naacp is holding its annual invention. welcome. what would it mean for the justice department to bring civil charges? criminal charges. we are looking for them to bring criminal charges under the matthew shepard james byrd hate crime law. ,art of the standard for that the high bar aspect is, you have to prove that race was a factor

in the bodily injured was done. we believe both can be proved. because they went to this surreal trial where the judge blocked all discussion of racism, racial profiling, we have not focused in a long time and witness number nine, for instance, who was torch zimmerman's own cousin who called the police a few days believed that witness the cousin george had done this , racialacial motivation hatred, if you will. much about talked those young boys who lived in his neighborhood who felt like they were targeted by him because of their color. and so there is a lot here and the doj has been looking into this. they suspended things and put them on hold during the trial. they have assured us they have renewed their look into this case and it is ongoing.

frankly, it is likely it will continue to be ongoing as things continue to move through the courts here in florida. they often wait until things are done in the state court. >> what about zimmerman's phone calls in the years before the trayvon incident? do you think he showed a pattern of profiling? >> yes. it is pretty clear that he primarily called the cops, a young man of color, that he was worried about. when you put that together with the young men of color who lived in his own neighborhood who felt he was stalking them and harassing them, well, there you go. it seems every time he was worried -- the reality is, if an followedaid, hey, i that young innocent black kid and i confronted him and i was in plainnd i

clothes so he did not know i was an officer, then i shot and -- if him, we would say we said, why? he would say, because there have been a lot of break-ins in the neighborhood done by young black man and he was a young black man. that is not good enough. we don't accept racial profiling whenounds for our officers they do something like this, and we shouldn't accept it from citizens, either. hardis why we pushed so for the matthew shepard james byrd hate crime because when citizens target each other because of their race, someone .ets killed been that person should be held accounted for. >> what about eric holder saying it takes a very high bar to bring these charges? >> look, it does, but the reality is, that high bar can be met. whenever criminal charges are brought, it is should take a high bar. the reality is here, again, we have this young man whose parents will never even hear him

breathe again. a boy, really, he was 17. he did nothing wrong. he was targeted by someone who frankly appear to be fixated on young men of color, overly fearful of young men of color. and we know this boy was telling his friend, this guy is creeping me out, i'm trying to get away from him. we know he got out of the car saying, what are you doing around here? we know he sought to engage in even though the cops told them to stay in the car. he pulled out a gun he intentionally selected because it had no shave -- safety and he shot and killed him. to reality is, if it happens one of our sons of any color in this country, we expect someone to be held accountable. federal is why we have laws. some people say, the courts have ruled, let that be it. you know what? we encourage people to put their faith in the justice system, but

that means you have to go through the entire sentence. you cannot stop at the comma. the full sentence includes a federal options wish to be utilized in this case. >> on monday, cnn anderson cooper did the first interview with one of the six woman jury's from the trial. she was identified only as juror b37. talked about trayvon martin's friend rachel jeantel who appeared as a witness. she was on the phone with martin just before he was shot dead. cooper asked her specifically what she thought of the testimony. >> i did not think it was very credible, but i felt very sorry for her. she did not ask to be in this place. she wanted to go. she wanted to leave. she did not want to be any part of this jury. i think she felt inadequate toward everyone because of her education and her communication skills. i just felt sadness for her. >> you felt she was in over her

head? >> know, but she just didn't want to be there and she was embarrassed by being there because of her education and her communication skills that she just wasn't a good witness. >> you do find it hard at times to understand what she was saying? >> a lot of the time because much of the time she was using phrases i have never heard before and what they meant. >> so that term, creepy ass cracka that she said trayvon used, you are saying that simply how trayvon and rachel talk to each other. >> sure. that is the way they talk. >> did you see that as a racial or negative statement as the defense suggested? >> i don't think it is really racial, i just think it is everyday life. andtype of life they live how they are living in the environment they're living in.

>> so you did not find her credible as a witness? >> no. >> that as juror b37 speaking about rachel jeantel. your response? >> what we're hearing, what we're finding out about this jury is cause for concern. it appears the five white jurors made up their mind and winter of color tried to resist. and ultimately, went with them. the reality is, we are all guaranteed a jury of our peers andall the men were struck the black men were struck and perhaps all the black jurors were struck. of color andror she was latino. some say she was another race three at it is not clear trayvon martin had any peers on that jury. there could have been a racial -- has come into

play. when i saw her on the show last night, frankly, it just raised more concerns. >> ben jealous, it was quite astounding to see this, first time a juror spoke and were 65 of them white, one latina. she said when they went into the jury room, they were equally divided, three for acquittal and three to charge, two manslaughter, one second-degree murder. now they had to go down to acquittal, which alternately happened, which is astounding. this is another clip of juror b37 with anderson cooper who asks her if she feels sorry for trayvon martin. sorry for trayvon martin? >> i feel sorry for both of them. i feel sorry for trayvon and the situation he was in and i feel sorry for george because of the situation he got himself in. >> that is pretty astounding, that her immediate response to,

did you feel sorry for trayvon martin, was, i felt sorry for both, and in talking about george zimmerman. >> the reality is, i think the defense did a very good job of moving the goal post really into the middle of the struggle. not beginning with george zimmerman state of mind, why it was he was doing what he was doing, but getting it to the place where he had already tracked and taunted and confronted a young man for no apparent reason other than his race and the fact george was concerned about young men of color in his community. they got it past all that and into the struggle where this young man was defending himself, from the the man with the gun. it all seemed to be about that, wrestling on the concrete. and the judge, quite frankly, kept at least half reality out of this trial by not letting folks talk about racial profiling.

and the reality is -- >> only allowing them to use the word "profiling." >> and those are different things. criminal profiling is based on hatred, racial profiling is based on color, race. it appears george zimmerman had a pattern of confusing color with grounds for suspicion. >> would you say this is a failure of the prosecution? you could say or were racist response of the jury or you could say fill your prosecution. one thing this said was she was most impressed by seeing the ,ideo of george zimmerman replaying what it happened he walked to the scene. at was not introduced by the defense, that was introduced by the prosecution. we canknow, i think monday morning quarterback this all day long. george most important is zimmerman needs to be brought to justice and the justice needs to move forward.

there are other options on the table and we have to continue to move forward as a movement and make this country safer for our children. we have already succeeded whether it is in sanford ward avenue chief who was actually -- in sanford where there is a new chief who was working together on the new process or in new york city where we passed powerful anti- profiling legislation and we have an ig for the first time for the nypd. that would have happened without trayvon martin's family standing up and millions of people standing up with them. since the verdict came down, even though our servers were shut down for 12 hours of purely because of the volume coming in, we have signed up all must one million people across this country calling on doj to finish their jobs, to look seriously into this case and bring charges. that is where we have got to

stay focused. we have to stay focused on the justice for trayvon and making sure most importantly there are no more trayvons. >> anderson cooper also as the unidentified juror if she would one george zimmerman as a neighborhood watch. have ad you like to neighborhood watch in your community? >> if he did not go too far. i mean, you can always go too far. he just did not stop at the limitations he should have stopped at. i would feel comfortable having george, but i think he has learned a good lesson. >> so you would feel comfortable having him now because you think he is learned a lesson from all of this? >> exactly. i think you just did not know when to stop. he was frustrated and things just got out of hand. >> people have remarked subsequently he gets his gun back and there are some who said the idea he can have a gun worries them. you?that worry

>> it doesn't worry me. i think you would be more responsible than anyone else on this planet right now. >> i know you have to go in a minute, but this key point that george zimmerman gets his gun back, his brother robert zimmerman, his lawyer says he needs it more than ever. >> look, we cannot afford to give george zimmerman the right to go patrol any community. our young people aren't safe. and that has just been proven to the young person who is dead. whoink our young people were at the naacp convention this week are frankly entitled to ask questions like how how is it that vick got 2.5 years or killing a dog and george zimmerman walks free? how is it a black woman shot warning shots over the head of the man who had been her several times at home and feared he was about to kill her and got george

--got 20 years and george zimmerman walks free? we hope to finally filed charges. we don't need george zimmerman where anybody's child of any color lives when he has already killed one. >> that was a case you're describing, the woman who got 20 is a prison that was prosecuted by angela corey herself, the special prosecutor in this case, where she shot into a wall read she did not kill anyone and she got 20 years. >> yes. that is exactly right for you at the reality is, angela corey can be a very effective prosecutor and it is disappointing that in this instance, this is the way the justice system works. you have a chance at justice, you don't have a guarantee. >> ben jealous, what do you say

to the protesters around the country? 10,000 have marched around the country and there have been a number of arrest, a handful of arrests, and the protest keep on happening. what is your message? >> we say, please, keep on doing the right thing. keep on getting out there, lifting up your voice. do it peacefully. express outrage, but commitment with your friends, commitment to make this world safer for our kids. if you don't have kids yet or you don't have kids in your house, do it for all kids read the reality is, it is the people, we the people who make this country better. our country has a long way to go. by coming together, signing petitions, going to press -- protests and lifting our voices peacefully in the tradition of dr. king and so many others, we can make this country better yet for our kids. >> ben jealous, thank you for being with us, president of the naacp and at the annual meeting

of the naacp in orlando, florida , not that far from sanford. thank you so much, ben jealous. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. back in a minute. ♪ [music break]

>> this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with aaron maté. we turn now to egypt where new clashes have erupted. at least seven people were killed and more than 260 wounded in overnight violence spurred by the ouster president mohamed morsi. supporters blocked traffic and marched on a key square, angering local residents. police fired tear gas and birdshot into the crowd. it was the worst outbreak of violence since 53 morsi supporters were killed weeks ago. the new unrest came just as the obama administration resumed the

political divide. in the first visit by the u.s., burns held talks. he told the news conference the u.s. does not want to interfere with the political process but hopes all parties will be included. future. i did not come with american solutions, nor did i come to lecture anyone area did we know egyptians must forge their own path to democracy. we know this will not mirror our own and we will not try to impose our model on egypt. what the united states will do is stand behind certain asic principles, not any particular personality are parties. representatives from some of the largest in egypt are excluded. has saidnment itself he wants inclusion of all political streams. we have called on the military to avoid any politically motivated arrests and we have also called upon those who

differ with the government to adhere to their absolute obligation to participate peacefully. >> in his remarks, liam burns continued the obama administration's refusal to labor -- label morsi's ouster a coup, thereby protecting the $1.5 billion in u.s. aid. the muslim brotherhood says it , asefusing to meet burns has the youth group tamarod, which have helped drive morsi from power. the muslim brotherhood has maintained a daily visual calling for morsi's release from military custody and reinstated to office. it has also rejected a role in the interim egyptian government, complicate an ongoing efforts to form a new cabinet. egypt's public prosecutor on monday ordered the arrest of seven senior muslim brotherhood and islamist figures on allegations of inciting violence.

top officials were indicted on similar charges last week read from or we go to cairo, egypt, where we are joined by democracy sharif abdelnded kouddous. talk about the violence overnight. >> there were clashes last night i came after the sun set meal that marks the breaking of the fast during the month of ramadan. i think these clashes, they were the first since the violence last week that left over 50 morsi supporters dead. they came out to what looked like an escalation of the brotherhood and morsi supporters -- the protests have largely been at a neighborhood mosque in cairo. they seemed to want to make their voices heard and go to different parts of the city. yesterday, they close down the sixth of october bridge, which

is the main artery through cairo and closed other main thoroughfares and bridges down to my creating a traffic standstill. then police and local residents got into clashes with the brotherhood and morsi supporters, so we saw a lot of tear gas and shotguns and things of this nature. over 400 people were arrested as well. it seems morsi supporters want to continue to escalate their protest. they are getting a lot of coverage on the private tv network that are more supportive of the military area did i think their continued insistence on morsi and reinstated is not a realistic demand for but it is one that helps and mobilize their base to keep the people in the squares, and, frankly, it avoids the movement asking difficult internal questions about the leadership of the muslim brotherhood that brought it to this political crisis.

>> when you reported on the ouster of morsi earlier this month, you said egypt was back to square one, back to the day of the ouster of mubarak in february 2011. and you compare today's square one back with that time, back with when mubarak was overthrown? >> i said that in reference to the procedural democratic transition that we had been going through, so it erased all these elections we had of the referenda on constitutional amendments and finally the constitution. so the difference now is we're going through another transition that is very similar to the last one, and i think it is making similar mistakes. it is a very rushed timetable. the constitutional declaration was issued without any consultations from opposition parties who were pushing for morsi's ouster. not a reale is

process that we can see. there is a national reconciliation that is supposed to be starting with the interim president at the monsoon were -- adley masour. but with his continued crackdown not just on brotherhood members but other figures, it is very difficult to see how real reconciliation can happen. finally, we're seeing a resurgence of this nationalism and national amnesia, almost, that is a plotting the army and the security forces to crack and leave thety country in this transition. you have to remember this is the same army that really mismanaged the first transition, helped lead us to this political crisis in the first place, that is guilty on many crimes itself that were documented by the ousted president.

the jailers themselves should be jailed. that is the situation we are in, but it is a very pulverizing atmosphere, much more paul for rising -- polarizing than what we had where islamists and non- islamist came together. polarizingery vitriolic atmosphere which is dangerous and can usher in a new kind of were deeper authoritarianism. >> associated press reported matley challenged to say explicitly the u.s. urged egypt to release president mohammed .orsi read she would not oblige. >> our positions are the same .hree a >> including president morsi?

can you say that russia mark >> i think i said it. i don't think we need to play this game. >> you do said burns was very careful not to mention his name, so i would like to know, can you just say i'm a your position is the same as last week when he said we think he should be pleased, can you say the same thing today? crux do you just enjoy the sound of my voice? >> i do. this is a serious question. >> [inaudible] >> what do you think should happen? >> can i just finish? can you say -- >> the question was, do we agree with the fall of the germans and i said, yes. the position is the same. >> why can't you say -- >> i'm not playing this game. >> is off of what he is saying, what do you think should happen to the former president? >> it is not for us to decide, but the egyptian people to decide what his role will be moving forward.

>> [inaudible] white lettering president morsi's name is taboo? >> there you have the back-and- forth at the state department the associated press reporter matley questioning state department spokesperson. sharif, your response? fax the obama administration folks are jumping through hoops to try and not really stake out any position that looks to be favoring one side or the other. they say the word coup or the military ousted morsi triggers requirements of u.s. to halt the aid, which is that cornerstone in the middle east, billions which goes to the military. the military is the main benefactor from the u.s. aid. just a few days after the ouster of morsi, american officials

said they were going to go ahead with the delivery of four f-16 jets. we know the ties between the military in egypt and the pentagon are very close and have been for many years. i don't perceive u.s. cutting soon, but there are a lot of people who are pushing for this. some in congress, including john mccain, and calling for holt to the aid so they can move back to civilian government. i think the head of the armed forces was smart to very quickly at least procedurally hand over .ower to an interim president i don't think anyone has misgivings about who is actually pulling the strings and who is in power, and that is the military. >> what about the role of the old regime? we have reports that basic

services that were active during morsi are coming back all of a sudden. do you think there was a deliberate effort to destabilize morsi's government? and how is that playing out now? >> i think there's no question of the former regime that worked in the very beginning to undermine the muslim brotherhood, to undermine the morsi presidency -- i mean, this is politics. elected, youama is see the republicans working to undermine his presidency. but there are claims the conspiracy, the fuel shortages we saw, especially the long lines in the lead up to the june somehowsts were manipulated by the old state bureaucracy. i don't think we have any smoking gun evidence of that yet. it may very well be the case given the timing. it may also be a simple case of

porting of gas. we have seen several instances in these crises happen. broader point am i think, yes, of course we're seeing this now, the elements of the former regime in the state security apparatus, the military looking to write a very legitimate wave of popular anger and unrest of morsi and looking to reassert itself into the post-morsi period. we're seeing that happen right now with the crackdown on islamists, with its intense propaganda campaign to criticize the military. anyone who speaks out is vilified as being supporting the islamists. and again, the revolution, and so forth. it is very complicated situation and i think there's a very fine line of people and i think it may be growing.

people who support june 30 in the popular uprising against morsi but were against july 3, the military coup that overthrew him, would have liked to have seen as a popular uprising continues not be halted by this coup in the army in the roadmap. but i think they are in the minority right now. if recent history is any judge in egypt, the people we have seen so many times as authoritarian continues, we will see another mass mobilization to look to overcome that authoritarianism. >> one of the people is focused on reportedly playing a key role in the protest, a billionaire an muslimt of morsi's brotherhood. he said he donated offices, boosting immediate average, even a music video without the group realizing he was involved. they talk about him being involved with the energy shortages and the minute morsi was out, suddenly the gas was flowing. what is the significance of him?

where does he fit into the political landscape in this connection? >> in some ways, i think this is being overplayed, but he is egypt's richest businessman, a telecommunications tycoon who had comfortable relations with the mubarak regime. he made much of his fortune during that time. party and a political ran a postsed -- and against morsi. the fact he helped fund tamarod without their knowledge, i don't find that surprising. again, i think it speaks to the larger point, were there figures to look to benefit from morsi's ouster that were either tied to

the former regime or would benefit economically or politically? of course there was. i think we saw them manipulate and aggravate existing tensions against morsi government to help topple him. however, i don't think that takes away -- there were over 9000 protest, strikes against morsi is your in office. it was a legitimate uprising happening as well. and like we have seen so many times in the past, the state the leads are riding this wave of anger to document themselves into power and keep essentially the structure of the authoritarian state intact. this has happened time and again. unfortunately, i don't think a lot of people have learned from the experience in the past and the military has come back [indiscernible] so we will have to see what happens going forward. >> the muslim brotherhood has said it will not meet u.s.

officials until it strains are met. this is a senior official. >> americans are the ones who carried out the military coup. they are the ones who carried it out. we are aware and we have specific information about the communications that preceded the who with proof america made the coup and generala-sisi. they are the ones who carried out the coup. >> that was a senior official of the muslim brotherhood. sharif, what is the muslim look?rhood's >> it is difficult to say. senioraim in the media officials say they're not in negotiations, however, there have been some reports that some of their members are negotiating with the military, negotiating with the interim government.

i think that is probably likely the case, very pragmatic movement. here, one,wo things to keep this mobilization they have going and appeal to their base they are insisting on the illegitimacy of a new government and the reinstatement of morsi, just a very unlikely prospect. so that helps rally their base and also helps, as i said before, to avoid very difficult questions about their political decisions in the past year that helped lead them to this crisis. that is on the one front. they have decided not to meet with u.s. officials, but as you mentioned in the beginning of the segment, both sides blame the united states for what they see as backing the other side. so the morsi government and the muslim brotherhood cannot see a scenario in which the military

steps in without getting a green light from its u.s. paymaster. on the other side, the tamarod group and other groups are very critical of what they see as a warm embrace from the obama administration of the muslim brotherhood and morsi very quickly. so we have this very probable anger against the united states that i have not seen at this level before since i have been here. muslimas the mothe brotherhood going forward, i think this is a pivotal moment. i think what they're fighting for is not to go back to the repression a were under for 30 years or really for 60 years under these autocratic regimes. to be able to participate in the political process and i think if the army continues to try to crack town on them and finish them off, he will only really hard-line them to -- for them to be more hard-line and marginalize reformist voices within the movement.

we've seen it happen so many times. this latest conservative wing has taken over the leadership of the past three years i think as a result of so much oppression under mubarak and if this repression continues under this military regime, and i think we're going to see -- we will not see much reform or reform will be held off within the movement. >> very quickly, sharif, the top story of "the new york times," egypt liberals embracing armies in a turnaround. in the pro-democracy group, the youth groups, where are they now? are they in the streets or are they working with the government? where are they? >> as i said, it is a very divisive atmosphere and we're seeing some people who were very, very vertical of the military when it had to write administration the country, some of the protesters from the streets were jailed.

very critical of anyone who speaks out. those who speak out are vilified, attacked viciously. it is a very worrying sign. this kind of atmosphere that allows institutions like the army and the state security apparatus to really flex their muscles and coming strong and say they're providing security -- >> very quickly, not to interrupt, but we want to play this one clip of deputy secretary of state william burns . >> we support the adoption of reforms that can lead to an while sustaining funding for social safety net programs. we believe these measures off for a path to address entirely justifiable aspirations of the revolution and realize the economic potential of egypt and its people. >> 20 seconds for your response, where egypt is going. >> in terms of the economy, we saw this huge injection of cash

and loans and grants and gas confirm saudi arabia, united emirates and kuwait, which totaled $12 billion. and the new member of the minister of planning has said they're not going to pursue the imf loan which requires a very difficult restructuring of subsidies because this money will [indiscernible] before that a popularly elected government. as you know, egypt changes from day to day, week to week, so it is very unpredictable. >> sharif abdel kouddous, democracy now! correspondent in cairo, also a nation fellow. we will have a link to his articles on democracynow.org. the bradley back, manning trial. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

>> weekend today show with the update on the trial of bradley manning. the judge said she will decide thursday on his lawyers requested to miss seven of the charges he faces including allegations he aided the enemy when he provided hundreds of thousands of classified documents to wikileaks. the defense of the prosecution is not provided efficient evidence that manning had actual knowledge that the information would end up with the enemy. the lawyers for the government have said based on his training, private manning knew al qaeda and other groups have access to the documents. talks on wednesday, we spoke about the trial with kevin gosztola from firedoglake who has been covering the trial.

he is the co-author of, "truth and consequences: the u.s. vs bradley manning." he joined us via democracy now video stream from his car in the fort meade parking lot. i interviewed him along with cohost during shaikh and we began by asking another the trial has been covered by the media. really is only being covered when the outlets in the u.s. media feel have an obligation to cover something read or example, this is the first day of the trial, that is something important. this is the first day of bradley manning's defense, that feels like something important. other than that, we are not going to see a lot of outlets. we have seen a small dedicated core group of individuals, which i have been a part, or independent journalist, courthouse news reporter who works in new york city, we have had a sketch artist who also happens to be the driver of the wikileaks draft ash which is quite remarkable does see that drive onto the base every single

day. we have nathan fuller who is a reporter for the bradley manning support network. these are the people who have been showing up every single day and many of us don't even live in the d.c.. it baffles me that in the city of washington, d.c. where i assume there are thousands of journalists, there are monopoly reporters who feel they should be here regularly. we have had the associated press doing good work you read like -- doing good work. occasionally we see the post and the new york times that shows up because they were shamed by their editor read we don't have this wall-to-wall coverage that the zimmerman trial has are these other more sensational trials. >> can you explain what the significance is of the way in which wikileaks is being characterized in the trial, that is that manning leaked these documents to the website wikileaks and not to a mainstream media outlet like the new york times?

>> there is an army intelligence report that manning is accused of leaking from the army counterintelligence center. it is adjusted wikileaks might pose a threat to the u.s. military. that was not a question that was answer by the report. he were able to find the enemy in fact would use wikileaks to go find u.s. government information. but in that report, describes wikileaks as an organization intent on basically stealing proprietary data of the united states government or even corporations. and doing this because they feel they have a commitment or desire to expose wrongdoing of governments. so they see manning as working on behalf of this organization. today, after we're done with this interview, professor ringler is going to be taking the stand for the defense. he is being put on the stand to talk about what is wikileaks? it is very important in this case that the defense gets out that wikileaks is a media organization read that one

bradley manning engaged in his act, which i consider my sick whistleblowing based on a statement on february 28, that wikileaks is in fact a media organization and not some sort of organization that would have been possibly working and doing so for the benefit of foreign intelligence services were adversaries like terrorist organizations. >> the fact is, wikileaks collaborated with the new york times, the guardian of britain, other germany, and many very mainstream news organizations in releasing these documents. kevin, that picture you described of the court artist? he is the one driving the wikileaks truck question mark >> correct. he was in story visitors parking on monday and a police officer approached him and said, whenever report your report your disseminating top- secret information on fort meade ace.

they went over to his car and even asked to search a but he said you have to get a warrant to do that area did he is a very fun individual the have and the press pool with us, clark stokely, and has done some amazing sketches. you can see them in every single post i do on the court-martial. >> kevin gosztola, what is the significance of this being a court-martial, a military trial, rather than a trial in civilian court? how is that being played out? >> i think the difference is getting blurred because we have the national security state really taking over a lot of the legal processes in the united states, but what i fundamentally see is they haven't upheld the battle -- is that coombs has an uphill battle. judgee making a case to a that is basically appointed by the government. there's a culture to this whole process we have to overcome and nearly impossible,

which really increases the possibility that manning is going to get some kind of a harsh sentence and in fact get convicted of some of these charges that to an outside observer, a regular reporter who has been following this process for about two years now, that it looks like there is no evidence for any of these charges and yet one can also see the judge hedging and deciding she's going to split the difference and give manning some kind of a sentence where he would not get out of jail until he was 50 or 60 years old. >> what you are most surprised case the prosecution's against bradley manning? >> what is been so surprising is they don't have a lot of evidence. they have mostly circumstantial evidence. they can prove what manning confessed to, that he willfully communicated this information to persons unauthorized to receive it, which in a sense is a violation of the espionage act, although i will say there are other ways to prosecute and go after individuals who violate

this act. you don't have to treat them as spies, as our government is doing. the obama administration has done such a record number of individuals. they want to say he exceeded authorized access on his computer, when he did not do any hacking. a want to say he stole the information, when he had regular access to the material and fully in his privileges as an intelligence analyst to have the information on his computer. so that is why we're seeing in this court-martial right now now, the defense is pushing to get dismissed or to get finding of not guilty on about half of the charges. >> kevin gosztola, civil liberties blogger at firedoglake, has been covering rally manning's trial at fort meade, maryland every day since it has begun. he is the co-author of, "truth and consequences: the u.s. vs bradley manning." the judge hearing the case against private bradley manning at fort meade said she would decide thursday on manning's

lawyers request to dismiss seven of the charges, including allegations he aided the enemy when he provided hundreds of thousands of classified documents to wikileaks. you can go to democracynow.org to visit all of our past coverage on bradley manning and wikileaks. also go there to see our extended interviews with glenn greenwald, michael ratner who is the attorney for julian assange and wikileaks and others. that is democracynow.org. you can also visit our facebook page and tweet about us. ouryour friends know about newshour. 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!]