01/29/14 01/29/14 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] >> from pacifica, this is democracy now! i offer a set of concrete, practical proposals to speed up road, strengthen the middle class, and build new ladders of opportunity into the middle class. some require congressional action. i am eager to work with all of you. but america does not stand still and neither will i. so wherever and whenever i can take steps without legislation

to expand opportunity for more american families, that is what i'm going to do. thes in his fifth state of union, president obama vows to use his authority to act without u.s. congressional approval including raising the minimum wage for federal contractors. he also repeated his plan to pull troops out of afghanistan this year, but admitted some u.s. forces would stay behind to carry out counterterrorism attacks. we will get reaction from jeremy scahill whose film "dirty wars" was just nominated for an academy award. also bob herbert and lorella praeli. all of that and more coming up. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. president obama deliver the fifth state of the union of his time in office with a vow to take action on his own should

congress stonewall progress on key issues. obama pledged to reform nsa surveillance programs and veto new sanctions on iran while there are germ nuclear deal is in effect. he also renewed his call for the closure of guantánamo bay prison. >> with the afghan war ending, this needs to be the year congress lifts the remaining restrictions on detainee transfers and we close the prison at guantánamo bay. because we counterterrorism not just through intelligence and military action, but by remaining true to our constitutional ideals and setting the example for the rest of the world. the sanctions we put in place helmet this opportunity possible. but let me be clear. if this congress sends me a new sanctions bill now that threatens to derail these talks, i will veto it. [applause] for the sake of our national security, we must give diplomacy

a chance to succeed. >> on the domestic front, president obama announced an executive order lifting the minimum wage for federal contractors to $10.10 an hour. he also called on congress to look the minimum wage for all workers to the same amount and urged ceos to act voluntarily with the same increase for their employees. republicans have already hinted at legal action to stop some of obama stated plans to take action on his own. house speaker john boehner said he does not think the lifting of the minimum wage will help workers. >> i suspect the president has the authority to raise the minimum wage for those dealing with federal contracts. let's understand something. this affects not one current contract. it only affects future contracts with the federal government. and so i think the question is, how many people, mr. president, will this executive action

actually help? i suspect the answer is somewhere close to zero. >> we will spend the rest of the hour after the headlines on president obama's state of the union address. the syrian peace talks have resumed in switzerland today after a breakdown in negotiations. the un's suspended the sessions on tuesday after the syrian government demanded the conference criticize the u.s. for arming what it called tourist groups in the syrian opposition. envoy lakhdar brahimi said despite high tensions, the talks will continue. todayy haven't been easy or these past days, and it will probably not be easy in the coming few days. but i am glad you have been told by representatives of the two sides that they intend to stay

and continue these discussions set. friday as originally nobody is walking out. nobody is running away. >> the syrian government claimed earlier this week it is prepared to grant humanitarian access to the the siege civilians in the city of hio -- of homs. but a you and spokesperson said they have yet to receive the needed her mission to send in the needed supplies. they're preparing for the convoys to deliver humanitarian assistance to besieged families in the city of homs not receiving humanitarian assistance promised to years. [indiscernible] is also prepared to provide ready-to-eat food rations to women and children who choose to be evacuated from homs.

>> egypt's top prosecutor has moved to force 20 journalists the news network al jazeera to stand trial. the group of 16 egyptians and four forcharges of aiding a terrorist group and spreading false news. it is the first case of terror related charges against turn list and foreigner since the government declared the muslim brotherhood a terrorist organization last month. the un security counl has approved a new deployment of european soldiers to the central african republic. the news comes amidst continued warnings the country sectarian conflict between christian the muslims would turn into a genocide. audnch you an ambassador ar said european forces will take control of a camp for displaced residents in the capital. that islizing situation very fragile. we really do need the arrival of

the forces because our contingent for the moment has been largely limited to the protection of the 100,000 idp who are or who have taken refuge on the airport. that is really a city. the european union will protect these people and it will allow the french forces to deploy more strongly to the city of bangui. forsecond annual summit group that excludes the was in canada. the community of latin american and kirby and states held its first gathering last year as a counterweight to fornes that exclude cuba. the organization of american states admitted cuba in 2009, but cuba has refused to join so long as u.s. embargo continues. on monday, the cuban president

castro said latin american and cribbing countries are forging greater ties after years of u.s. domination. independently from our progress am a we continue to live in a world regulated by an unfair and selective world order in which external meddling in the region continues. we cannot forget the long history of intervention in internal affairs, military invasions, and bloody coup d'états. the so-called centers of power do not resigned to the fact that they have lost control and is rich region, nor will they resign their attempts to change the course of history in our to recovern order their lost influence and benefit from its resources. >> tunisia has approved its first constitution says that 2011 uprising that ousted president ben ali. the charter passed the national assembly by an overwhelming

majority following a months long deadlock. seen as one of the most progressive obstetricians in the region, it designates islam as the national religion but guarantees freedom of worship and recognizes gender equality. the world 85ays richest people have as much wealth as the 3.5 billion poorest people -- half of the global population. according to oxfam, the wealth of the world's richest one thing percent amounts to $110 trillion. seven out of 10 people worldwide live in countries where inequality has grown over the last three decades. republican congress member trey radel of florida has resigned two months after pleading guilty to misdemeanor possession of cocaine. he was arrested in october followed by a stint in rehab. he voiced his intention to remain in office, but came under pressure from fellow republicans to step down.

his arrest came just weeks after he voted for provision that would force food stamp recipients to undergo drug testing. dozens of u.s. postal service workers rallied in san francisco tuesday in protest of government plans to expand postal services to the office retail giant staples, despite its use of nonunion workers. postal workers say they intend to hold a number of ongoing rallies against the move. in sporting news, two historic firsts have come out of the world of college football. nlayers at northwester university have filed papers to become recognized as a union. the players are not seeking a salary from the billions in revenue generated by the ncaa, but what protections -- medical protections for concussions and other injuries as well as guarantees on academic scholarships. university oregon's football team has become the first active player to come out as openly gay.

conner merchants, who is bisexual, said he went public in order to help closeted gays avoid feeling stigmatized. he said "i made the decision that if i could help anyone else avoid feeling the way i felt, i would." the supreme court has halted the execution of the missouri prisoner after state officials reserved to disclose the source of the drug that was to be used to take his life. herbert smalls was to be executed at midnight wednesday for 1991 murder. it is attorneys won a stay after arguing missouri should be forced to name the compound pharmacy used to reduce the legal drug which is not subject to federal oversight. at least 11 people were arrested tuesday in protest outside the annual shareholders meeting of the agribusiness giant monsanto. inside the meeting, activist shareholders presented resolutions calling for the labeling of genetically engineered products and the completion of a report accounting for the environmental

and social impacts of gmo production. the measures were voted down. outside the meeting, activist were placed in handcuffs after carrying out a sit in. to labelng efforts genetically modified food. we are here to let monsanto know they cannot go around the country fighting americans rights to know what we are eating. we have a right to know. we need to label gmo foods. >> monsanto won a key victory earlier this month after the supreme court refused to hear an appeal by organic farmers seeking to prevent the company from suing if of -- of crops are inadvertently contaminated with its genetically modified seeds. one central pursued more than 800 patent cases against farmers for allegedly using its seeds without paying. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. >> welcome to all our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world.

in his fifth state of the union address, president obama vowed tuesday to bypass a divided congress and take action on his own using his executive power. obama announced a wage hike for federal contractors come in the creation of a starter savings account to help millions of people save for retirement, and plans to establish new fuel efficiency standards for trucks. >> this is a year of action. that is what most americans want. for all of us in this chamber to focus on their lives, their hopes, their aspirations. i believe unites the people of this nation, regardless of race or region or party, young or old, rich or poor, is the simple profound belief in opportunity for all. the notion that if you work hard and take responsibility, you can get ahead in america. [applause]

now, let's face it: that belief has suffered some serious blows. over more than three decades, even before the great recession hit, massive shifts in technology and global competition had eliminated a lot of good, middle-class jobs, and weakened the economic foundations that families depend on. today, after four years of economic growth, corporate profits and stock prices have rarely been higher, and those at the top have never done better. but average wages have barely budged. inequality has deepened. upward mobility has stalled. the cold, hard fact is that even in the midst of recovery, too many americans are working more than ever just to get by; let alone to get ahead. and too many still aren't working at all. so our job is to reverse these trends.

it won't happen right away, and we won't agree on everything. but what i offer tonight is a set of concrete, practical proposals to speed up growth, strengthen the middle class and build new ladders of opportunity into the middle class. some require congressional action, and i'm eager to work with all of you. but america does not stand still, and neither will i. [applause] so wherever and whenever i can take steps without legislation to expand opportunity for more american families, that's what i'm going to do. topresident obama pledged veto new sanctions on iran while the internet cleared euro is in effect and renewed his call for the closure of guantánamo bay. on afghanistan, he said this year would see the end of u.s. war and he acknowledged some u.s. forces would remain in the country to train afghan troops and carry out counterterrorism attacks. >> and i took office nearly

180,000 americans were serving in iraq and afghanistan. today, all our troops are out of iraq. more than 60,000 of our troops have already come home from afghanistan. with afghan forces now in the lead for their own security, our troops have moved to a support role. together with our allies, we will complete our mission there by the end of this year, and america's longest war will finally be over.[applause] after 2014, we will support a unified afghanistan as it takes responsibility for its own future. if the afghan government signs a security agreement that we have negotiated, a small force of americans could remain in afghanistan with nato allies to carry out two narrow missions:

training and assisting afghan forces and counterterrorism operations to pursue any remnants of al-qaida. for while our relationship with afghanistan will change, one thing will not: our resolve that terrorists do not launch attacks against our country. [applause] >> we are joined by three guests, jeremy scahill is producer and writer of the documentary "dirty wars: the world is a battlefield." and author of the book by the same name. he is a senior investigative reporter at first look media, which will launch in the coming months. bob herbert is a distinguished senior fellow with the most. from 1993 to 2011, he was an op-ed columnist for "the new york times yurko lorella praeli is with us, director of advocacy and policy at the united we dream coalition. she attended the address at the

invitation of democratic lofgren ofmber zoe california. we welcome you to get reaction to the state of the union address. we will be playing excerpts of the speech. bob herbert, to begin, from each of you, let's get overall reaction. >> ihought the president had been dealt a tough hand and part because of republican obstructionism and in part of .issteps on his own i think he played that hand about as well as you could have expected last night. it was a pretty good speech, maybe a little too long. i think they are all too long. it was a pretty good speech. he highlighted a lot of things. you defended the affordable care defended the affordable care act in a way democrats have not done for a while. i give him pretty good marks on the speech. >> lorella praeli? >> good morning.

i think you could have done a lot better on immigration. i think the president started and used the framework of this is a year of action, whether or not congress acts, i can and will do more. manynk he recognized struggles, but did not really recognize the pain his deportation policies continue to cause in our community. we are about to hit julian deportations. there could've been a greater acknowledgment of the pain and reality in america that is a result of inaction in congress but also for president that has chosen to lead with deportation first policies. we think you could have done more. -- we think he could have done more. jeremy scahill? >> the state of the union address historically is sort of propaganda. i think there was on the issue of foreign policy, irrevocable is connect between what the

president was probably projecting and what his policies amount to on the ground. it was significant. i believe obama is the first president history to use the word drone during the state of the union speech. he said he has restricted the use of drones to cases only when it is prudent. yet a month ago, a drone strike in yemen on december 12 wiped out a wedding party and massacred people in yemen. it is being investigated by the u.s. government, but why did that strike cap and? what kind of breakdown led to the killing of the civilians? a few days ago the u.s. bombed somalia. the u.s. is increasingly involved in covert operations in mali. in afghanistan, when the president says we're going to draw down and focus on the counterterrorism mission, they really mean these hunt kill squads that come from the joint special operations command and the cia posture military

operation. i thought what wasn't mentioned was interesting. egypt. u.s. is supporting a coup by not labeling it a coup and supporting el-sisi. when el-sisi said morsi is no longer president and he was refused to label it a coup because then it would've been required to cut off the lee terry systems to egypt, which is a strategic importance to not only this white house but the us government at large. central african republic was not mentioned were there is a horrifying situation playing out with massacres left and right inside that country. and pakistan wasn't mentioned, a place where he was continues to engage in a covert war with a very, very high stakes. i think while the president is saying he doesn't want u.s. to be on a permanent war footing, everything his administration has done on the counterterrorism national security level, especially with john brennan, has been to ensure the u.s. is

going to continue to embrace operationson, covert as a central component of its national security policy. president obama addressed the national security agency and try to reassure the public, hey, we are not spying on you. yet he has done nothing to hold james clapper accountable for the perjury he committed in front of the united states congress. at the same time, his jailing of prosecuting whistleblower's. the fact is, if you read the stories that have come out via glenn greenwald and others, not committing the abuses of the national security agency against americans and non-americans, this is a major scandal and we would not be debating it if it wasn't for edward snowden. i think it is telling the heads of the cia torture program and people like donald rumsfeld, the war criminal, are on a book tour while edward snowden is in exile and thomas drake had his career ruined and a former cia operative was sent to federal prison after he blows -- have

blown the whistle. >> we're going to go to blake and get more reaction to president obama's state of the union address. our guests are bob herbert and lorella praeli and jeremy scahill. back in a moment. ♪ [music break]

>> this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. ,ur guests are jeremy scahill his film "dirty wars" has just been nominated for an oscar, bob herbert, former "new york times columnist" and lorella praeli with the united we dream coalition. >> we continue our coverage of president obama state of the union address. he announced an executive action to raise the minimum wage for

some federal contract workers from $7.25 an hour to $10.10 an hour. >> i will issue an executive order requiring federal contractors to pay their federally funded employees a fair wage of at least $10.10 an hour because if you cook our troops meals or wash their dishes, you should not have to live in poverty. [applause] of course, to reach millions more, congress needs to get on federal minimum wage is about 20% less than it was when ronald reagan first stood here. it is easy to remember, $10.10.

this will help families. customers will have more money to spend. it does not involve any new your credit program, so join the rest of the country. say yes. give america a raise. >> can you respond to that, the significance of this raise for some federal workers? >> i think it is symbolically significant. it is not going to take effect until new contracts come up. federal contract workers will have to be paid at least a minimum of $10 10 cents an hour. the reason i think it is a motley significant is because he keeps the spotlight on the issue of the minimum wage on the issue of employment going forward. to jeremy's point about the state of the union essentially being a propaganda speech, which is absolutely true, what you did not hear or there was what the state of the economy [laughter]

is for ordinary americans, for working people in this country. you did not hear anything about poverty. now, the american people have made it clear poll after poll and in other ways, employment is their top priority. people need jobs. , congress, whether it is in control of the republicans or democrats, have had a sustained, effective program in this country. united states is never going to get out of its morass until it is able to put people back to work. we now have nearly 50 million people who are officially poor in the united states according guidelines.al another 50 million people are just a notch or two above the official poverty rate. that is dearly 1/3 of the entire population that is poor or near poor. one out of every three black children in the united states is poor. if you just walk a few blocks from the studio every day, you

will see in him his lines wrapped around the corner for soup kitchens and that sort of thing. that is happening across this country. none of that was addressed. none of the initiatives the president has offered a nothing the republicans have offered in years would begin to address this state of distress among american working people, among the poor. talks just to give us an idea, bob herbert come how many employees does the federal government have through contractors? initiativehe demos to put the spotlight on this 1010 initiative because the most was the first organization to point out the federal government through its contractors employs million low-wage workers, which is more than walmart and mcdonalds combined. if you could get this initiative expanded to cover all of the

workers who are contracted to work with the federal government, then you would help me enormous number of people. -- you would help in enormous number of people. >> mention of unions? >> don't get me started on unions. one of the reasons american workers are in such a deep state of distress is because they have no clout in the workplace. they're not organized and they're not represented. they cannot fight for their own own interest. there tremendous amount of money. they have a lot a political clout and that sort of thing. workers go to work. it is just one man or one woman, you know, against an employer and a terrible job market. so you're afraid to even ask for a raise, even if you deserve a raise because you think the employer is going to say to you, take a hike. then you go out there in this terrible job market and there are no jobs to be had.

if workers were organized, they would be able to have clout and be able to bring pressure not just on employers for not just on corporations, but also on the federal government to get legislation passed that would be beneficial to workers. one of the most important things you could do is to just enforce the laws that are on the books that have to do with labor organizing. organization, corporation, a plant, where workers are not organized, do not belong to a labor union, ,hey want to organize corporations will fight you every step of the way. they use a tremendous amount of unfair tactics. that is illegal, but the federal government has not enforced the laws. >> let's talk about international trade policy. president obama also sought fast-track authority to give lawmakers an up or down vote on the trade deals such as tpp, the transatlantic or transpacific partnership. exporters areur

small businesses, new trade partnerships with europe and the asia-pacific will help them create even more jobs. we need to work together on tools like bipartisan trade promotion authority to protect our workers, protect our environment and open new markets to new goods stamped "made in the usa." [applause] we know that the nation that listen, china and europe aren't standing on the sidelines; and neither -- neither should we. we just returned from japan. there is a huge discussion about the transpacific partnership. most people would not even know what it is. >> one of the things that is a problem is the economic

situation has been so stagnant for most people for so long and because the government in washington has been so dysfunctional that americans have tuned out. i don't think the press has done a good job at all on trade agreements. if you go back to nafta in the 1990's. people essentially don't even understand these agreements. what they do understand is they have not been helpful to the vast majority of workers overall these years. >> can i make a comment? what obama was doing there in his last major address that he gave, it was at the united nations general a simile, he laid out the forceful defense of american empire. he even went so far to say the u.s. will use its military might to continue to seek here energy resources. it was a pretty forceful defense of a neoliberal economic agenda. what bob is saying about corporations resonates on a foreign policy level as well. what is widely been can seemed

-- when this u.s. army ranger was addressed in the crowd who was severely wounded and had done 10 to worse. think about that. 10 tours in these wars owns. his young american spent his entire adult life in these comb zones and the issue of how veterans are treated in this country is one thing but at the end of the day, did he benefit from these wars? does the average american benefit? no. who benefits? corporations. , citibank,rtons apache, boeing, coca-cola. you have this neoliberal economic agenda which is sort of the hidden hand in many ways of the was empire and then you have this iron fist of u.s. militarism that is being sold to the american public an

increasingly to the world as national security policy. when i see that army ranger who was wounded like that, the first thing that occurs to me is, who has benefited from this? when corporationcontrol our political process through a legalized form of corruption called campaign finance, what does that say about the state of our democracy? up to in artie been this country, but it has been a silent coup. kevin spacey's character in a movie says the greatest trick the devil ever pulled his convincing the world he doesn't exist. we have been pacified and taught to accept this is how things work. we have two parties in this country, the minimum wage will be the minimum wage, and corporations are in control. >> the flipside of who benefits is the suffering that is so tremendous out there among the warriors who have been sent over to fight these wars since late

2001. you have hundreds of thousands of people, men and women, who have come back from the combat zones who have terrible who had tonjuries, be cared for -- in many cases from a for the rest of their lives. it has been estimated now these wars will probably cost to ms. $4ie -- she was totally trillion or more. none of this has been explored clearly or properly explained to the american people. a side point, when we talk about the u.s. withdrawing from iraq and afghanistan, a store they very seldom does attention is the connection between the orrent militarization -- militarization and increasing use of what they call counterterrorism tactics on swat

style operations. the military is donating a lot of equipment to local police agencies and other so-called law-enforcement agencies and the communities that are most at risk here are communities of color and poor communities. everything is about war. militarizes some response and that is what we're seeing. this is deeply connected to the wars abroad and were said home. >> this is going into our public schools where you have that type of militarized behavior going on actually in public schools. that is how you get the school to prison pipeline people are talking about. presidentanistan, obama said if the afghan government signs a security agreement that we have ago should a small force of americans could remain in afghanistan with nato allies. thethe latest news says pentagon has proposed up to 10,000 troops many behind. >> if you look at the various senior officials have been

saying for several years, they have known the withdrawal is really not going to be a withdrawal. yes, we will see them are rings pull out and this thing where journalist can write on the tanks like they did, but this is an afghanization. you will have highly trained u.s. special ops in posts and accompanied and try to have the afghans to the dying and killing on behalf of u.s. policy. what should be a greater concern to the american public is you're going to have these strike forces in place. it has taken conventional wisdom u.s. is out of iraq. the u.s. is a massive paramilitary presence inside iraq and will have one inside afghanistan. these wars will continue on for at least another generation -- albeit on a covert manner of doing it. >> what is the justification for keeping troops in afghanistan? >> there are still

counterterrorism mission in afghanistan anymore. no one wants to talk about it. the taliban is not a terrorist organization with global aspirations. the taliban has a constituency, a greater constituency than the u.s., arguably than karzai who the u.s. recognizes as the president. i think the taliban is a morally reprehensible group of individuals, but they do have indigenous support. the reason are fighting right now is because the u.s. and nato are in their country. to sort of imply what we're doing there is capturing terrorist within the first months of the -- capturing terrorists, when his own national security adviser said there are less than 100 al qaeda operatives in afghanistan, we should be asking the question that john kerry asked in 1971, who wants to be the last to die for this failed war? what do they tell the families? >> the significance of that for people who don't remember, john ,erry, the secretary of state fought in vietnam and when he

came home, he was strongly opposed to the war in vietnam and he testified for congress asking the question. >> the 1971 john kerry asking 2014 john kerry about these policies he's having to sell. >> on the issue of immigration, a dream activist was among the guests invited by first lady michelle obama. and that was 23-year-old of arizona who fasted for 22 days to push for immigration reform as part of the fast for families campaign which took lace on the national mall. obama made no reference to him and limited his remarks to this short passage. >> if we're serious about economic growth, it is time to heed the call of business leaders, labor leaders, faith leaders, law enforcement and fix our broken immigration system. [applause]

republicans and democrats in the senate have acted, and i know that members of both parties in the house want to do the same. independent economists say immigration reform will grow our economy and shrink our deficits by almost $1 trillion in the next two decades. and for good reason: when people come here to fulfill their dreams -- to study, invent, contribute to our culture -- they make our country a more attractive place for businesses to locate and create jobs for everybody. let's get immigration reform done this year. >> lorella praeli, your response? >> this has been the same rhetoric we have been hearing for the last five years. president obama getting up and saying it is time for immigration reform, i'm committed to making it happen. i think some people interpret last night 121 words or one

paragraph on immigration by the president as his decision to belittle more cautious given that the republican party is about to release their principles on immigration reform and the way forward. frankly, for us, we don't need to give any room to the president on deportations and we don't need to give any more room to republicans on immigration, either, because we have been waiting and fighting to get something done. i think the president's remarks could have really gone in deeper somethe details and set legislative markers as well. he spent quite a bit of time talking about the meaning of citizenship. he spoke a lot -- i think you could've connected the current struggle and current conversation happening in americabout, what does it mean to be an american? what does it mean when we talk about citizenship? and integrate the 11 million people who are

undocumented? i don't think you did enough in this year state of the union, especially given he immigration was his top to mystic priority. >> lorella praeli, we want to talk about what it was like there. you were an invited guest. go more into detail about what is holding up any kind of vote on immigration reform. and also talk about your own story, lorella praeli, with the united we dream coalition. jeremy scahill has an oscar-nominated film this year called, "dirty wars", and bob herbert is with us. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

>> pete seeger and the almanac

singers. he died at the age of 94 on monday here in new york at columbia presbyterian. president obama issued a statement from the white house yesterday before the state of the union address about pete seeger, saying once called america's tuning fork, pete seeger believed deeply in the power of song but more important, he believed in the power of community to stand up for what is right, speak out against what's wrong, and move this country closer to the america he knew we could be. he said, over the years pete used his voice and his hammer to strike blows for workers rights and civil rights and world peace and environment will conservation. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. in the republican reaction to obama's state of the union cathys, how was woman mcmorris rodgers said securing our borders is a key part of immigration reform.

>> yes, it is time to honor our history of legal immigration. we're working on a step-by-step solution to immigration reform, by first securing our borders and making sure america will always attract the best and brightest, and hardest working from around the world. and with too many americans living paycheck to paycheck, we have solutions to help you take home more of your pay -- through lower taxes, cheaper energy costs, and affordable health care. , your responseli to what she said and also if you could say a little bit more about what you think is preventing president obama from taking further action on immigration? >> sure. for theaiting republicans. they are in their retreat in maryland and they're going to talk about and shop around the

republican principles, and i think it is great are making progress, but i really do think it is not enough. we have been fighting for this. we up and having a conversation about immigration for over a decade in this country. the senate was able to produce a bill by last june 2013 and since then, house republicans have really been trying to figure out how to move this issue forward, how to deal with it in their conference. they can continue to say it is a step-by-step approach, can continue to use the talking points of we need to secure our borders first, but the real question is, show us your plan, your bills, so we can begin to actually have a conversation about what the ultimate solution is going to be. , presidentpraeli obama talked about executive action, for example, increasing the minimum wage for workers who work for federal contractors. what about on the issue of immigration? he continually says his hands are tied. what can he do as president?

>> he can start by enforcing and plummeting his own priority policy -- and plummeting his own already policy. he said i'm only removing serious criminals from the united states. the truth is that is inaccurate. the president is going after families. his policies are separating families. we lost the father of two your to u.s. last month -- citizens last month. he was held for over a year all because of a minor traffic violation. he missed the birth of his second child and was then deported. he doesn't need any priority. him deportablede and that is what is happening. we think there's more the president can do to stop the pain in the separation. he can use his pen -- his pen. he came out and said dreamers are not a priority for my

administration. we're going to make sure they stay here for that they have an opportunity to work here until congress takes action. congress has been having a debate on immigration for a long time. we are committed to sing a legislative, permanent fix to this issue, but we cannot kid ourselves. since this debate started, after the 2012 election, over 400,000 people have been deported. we're coming to the president and saying, you also ought to in your pen to stop the pain the committed he. use it to make sure you're not supporng people who ought to be in the united states with her family. there is more you can do today and continue to fight for immigration reform. what's he talked about the deferred action for childhood arrivals. you your self gained legal status through this after fighting for this, fasting for this, marching for this among many other young immigrants. talk about your own personal experience.

last night, you were there. what is interesting about a young immigrant activists like you is you were very much on the outside, risking everything, risking deportation of yourselves and your families. and now you're being invited to the state of the union address. explain the feeling. you have access to at least speak to these people, whether or not their passing the legislation are pushing for. what was it like to be inside? >> it was kind of unreal, to be honest. i think about my own journey and the journey of all of the dreamers who we work with on a regular basis. i think about the sacrifices that our parents have made for yesterday to be possible. >> quickly tell us your story. >> i can hear when i was 11 years old. i had had a car accident. my right leg was amputated. i had treatment in shriners hospital in the united states. i was undocumented promised 13 years.

-- for almost 13 years. i was able to get my green card a year and half ago. i spent many years being afraid of living my life, a being who i am, and feeling very ashamed of being undocumented. it is because i found united we dream movement that i felt empowered and came out of the shadows and began to talk about what it meant or what it was like to be undocumented. and then worked to pass a tuition equity bill in connecticut, and then came to the dream act here. it has been a real evolution for many dreamers. we have gone from being undocumented and afraid to being documented and unafraid intimating what we think is .ight we are honoring the sacrifices our parents have made, amy, because i would not be here today speaking with you, speaking with america and sharing my story had it not been

for all of the sacrifices that my mom made for this to be possible. she pushed me what i wanted to give up. she left her own country, her own comfort zone, and every day risks deportation for my dreams to be true. that is what this conversation in 2014 ought to be about. we know there are proposals to secure the border. we know there is a conversation happening about creating a pathway to legalization and an opportunity for citizenship, but we have to remember who we are talking about. we're not talking about criminals. we're talking about people like my mother who raised me in america. >> let's go back to president obama. he talks about her counterterrorism strategy. pursue terrorist networks to more targeted efforts and by building the capacity of our foreign partners. america must move off a permanent war footing.

[applause] that's why i've imposed prudent limits on the use of drones, for we will not be safer if people abroad believe we strike within their countries without regard for the consequence. that's why, working with this congress, i will reform our surveillance programs because the vital work of our intelligence community depends on public confidence, here and abroad, that privacy of ordinary people is not being violated. [applause] and with the afghan war ending, this needs to be the year congress lifts the remaining restrictions on detainee transfers and we close the prison at guantanamo bay. [applause] because we counter terrorism not just through intelligence and military action but by remaining true to our constitutional ideals and setting an example for the rest of the world.

>> jeremy scahill? >> he gets hit a lot from the left in the united states for the failure to" on him over. part of it is i think a little disingenuous. i think obama has not fought hard enough to close guantanamo. there are ways he could have done it. republicans and some democrats have long been blocking the funding. the fact is, we had several dozen prisoners who have been cleared for release from guantánamo on a hunger strike. the president basically stood idly by while these individuals were being very brutally force-fed. you can go online and see the hip-hop artist being forced fed. he could not take more than a few seconds of the tube owing through his nose. i think -- i encourage people to watch that to get a sense of what it means when we talk about the forcing a prisoner's neck guantanamo.

on the one hand, obama has failed to close it and on the other hand, the republicans have obstructed it. i think it is accommodation of those two factors that lead to that. on the issue of the drones and the permanent war footing, obama has been the drone president. his line with the liberals is, trust me. i'm doing everything i can to make sure civilians aren't killed. time and again we see incidents were large numbers of civilians are being killed. there seems to be no public accounting for how this happened. they say they investigate when civilians are killed, and yet we are two years almost removed from the killing of the 16-year-old kid alone lackey who appears to have been killed because of who his father was. he was killed in a drone strike while having dinner with his teenage cousin and some other young people from their tribe. they were sitting down for dinner. >> two weeks after -- >> his father had been killed. his father is a separate issue. i think it was extraordinary that obama sentenced in american

to death without charging him of a crime related to terrorism. that is a separate issue from this kid. what was his crime that he committed other than sitting there having dinner with his cousin and other teenagers? the white house told me that when they review all cases when civilians are killed. where is that review? the white house won't confirm or deny there has been a review of that case. there are many unanswered questions. on the nsa issue. the panel empowered to investigate this was a setup from the beginning. it was largely made up of intelligence industry people. the end results are going to be largely a whitewashing of these operations. the republicans want obama to go further than the nsa is already going. the parameters of the debate in washington are, should we figure out a way to streamline this and sell it to the american people or do more surveillance? nsa, one issue of the

this issue being debated even within the white house, the attorney general eric holder question whether edward snowden should be pardoned. talk more about what is happening inside and then what he is demanding. >> first of all, mike rogers, the chair of the house intelligence committee, made a public allegation that edward snowden is an agent for the russian government and that the russian intelligence services may have been involved with snowden prior to snowden taking the documents and giving them to glenn greenwald and laura poitras. my understanding, and i work with glenn and laura, edward snowden did not take a single document with him to moscow. and that he is not cooperating at all with any aspects of the russian intelligence apparatus. so these are unfounded, unproven

allegations being made by the head of the most important committee and u.s. congress when it comes to these matters. , one ofnowden's lawyers them, was on "meet the press" and david gregory was basically saying, how is snowden suffering? this is a guy who gave up, probably forever, life in the free world. i would not want to be stuck in moscow if i were him. here's my question. don't you think he should be prosecuted for this? website, go to their did a major exposé with glenn greenwald on the british intelligence services tapping into pipelines and monitoring social media sites and youtube and other things. to sitregory should have in front of -- david gregory should ask richard esposito, don't you think you should be going to prison for having done the story? let's be fair here. they should have to ask tough

questions of their own people. >> on your film "dirty wars" which has been nominated for an oscar, what would that mean if you win? >> i was the only person with our stomach to watch the ceremony. i had to rewind a because i was shocked. the first thing i thought of, with his composite blue into this family in afghanistan were to pregnant women were killed in raid.hed u.s. night wad drone families of the strikes victims that you see in our film or the people who were in yemen in this village where 14 women and 21 children were killed. a win would mean their stories would be told and send a message that we do care in society about what happens on the other side of our missiles and bombs. >> i want to thank you all for ,eing with us, jeremy scahill starting a new news organization that will be launching the next weeks and his film "dirty wars" has been nominated for an oscar.

bob herbert has been with us, distinguished senior fellow with dimas, former "new york times" columnist. and lorella praeli with united we dream coalition. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to outreach