07/01/14 07/01/14 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] >> from the global media forum in bonn, germany, this is democracy now! >> a year ago today, i was with edward snowden at the airport in moscow. we arrived on the 23rd of june and were looking at possibilities for him around the world for asylum. i have arrived in berlin where i now reside in germany, and able to go home due to the tourism

activation into snowden. >> now global exclusive, sarah harrison of wikileaks give interviewoadcast since accompanying edward snowden from hong kong to russia. the first, u.s. supreme court has ruled as private companies that claim religious objections can refuse to provide birth control in their employee health plans as required by the affordable care act. we will speak with the president of planned parenthood federation of america cecile richards. all of that and more coming up. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. in a closely watched case, u.s. supreme court has ruled most private companies that claim religious objections can refuse to provide birth control coverage to employees as required by obamacare. in a five to four ruling opposed

by all three women on the court, the justices ruled requiring closely held corporations to pay for contraception violates a federal law protecting religious freedom. the title closely held corporation applies to about 90% of u.s. businesses. the case concerned two companies, hobby lobby and conestoga wood, which objected to certain methods of birth control on religious grounds for claiming they are akin to abortion, despite scientific consensus to the contrary. in a biting dissent, ruth bader ginsburg objected to what she called the decision of startling breadth, which could open the door for corporations to opt out of practically any law they say conflicts with their religious beliefs. josh house spokesperson earnest responded to the ruling. >> today's decision jeopardizes the health of women who are in played by these companies. know first of women hand, contraception is often vital to their health and

well-being. that is why the affordable care act ensures that women have coverage for contraceptive care along with other preventative care act vaccines and cancer screenings. we will work with congress to make sure that any woman affected by this decision will still have the same coverage of vital health services as everyone else. >> we will have more on the decision with cecile richards, head of planned parenthood federation of america, after the headlines. in a setback for public sector unions, the supreme court ruled monday in another five to four decision that thousands of home health care workers in illinois do not need to pay fees to cover the cost of union bargaining. the court found requiring the workers to pay union costs violates their first amendment rights. the decision does not affect private workers and leaves intact a precedent requiring public employees, like teachers, the pay union fees. instead, the justices considered the health care workers separately as arsenal public employees, who work for

individual patients but are paid by the state. the united states is deploying another 300 u.s. troops to iraq to protect the u.s. embassy and other interests amidst an onslaught by sunni militants. the pentagon says the move brings the total u.s. troop presence in iraq to 750. in an interview with chinese television on monday, the secretary of state john kerry criticized the u.s. occupation of iraq. ,> i'm on record historically not only and saying it was a great mistake, but in running against the president who ordered it, and offering alternative. of ducking capable that squarely, yes, i think it was a grave mistake and i think we're still working through many of the problems associated with it, even today. there's a huge residual hangover, a cloud that hangs over the region as a consequence

of that decision. >> israel has bombed more than dirty targets across gaza and shot dead at least one palestinian just hours after the bodies of three missing israeli teenagers were found in the west bank. the teens went missing 19 days ago, sparking a crack down that has seen hundreds of palestinians arrested and seven killed. on monday, the teenagers were found dead near the city of hebron.-- israel has blamed hamas. richmond then should not who has vowed "hamas will pay." -- benjamin netanyahu vowed hamas will pay. >> israel mourns the three teenagers brutally murdered by the hamas terrorists. unfortunately, this atrocity is the direct result of the decision by president abbas to

reunite with hamas, allowing them to reestablish their presence in the west bank. abbasl upon president to immediately break his alliance with hamas. he can't claim to be a partner in peace if yes a packed with these murderers of children. >> the israeli military says it bombed gaza in response to palestinian rocket fire. earlier today, forces killed a man they say was a hamas militant crew threw a grenade. ukraine has launched a renewed military assault on pro-russian rebels in eastern part of the country after suspending a 10-day cease-fire. russia has condemned the end of the truce and blamed ukrainian forces for an attack on a bus that killed a russian journalist on monday. anatoly cayenne -- klyan is the fifth journalist killed since fighting erupted in april. president obama says he will take executive action to reform

the nation's immigration system. speaking monday, obama said he would no longer wait for congress after republican house speaker john boehner told him the house will not vote on immigration reform this year. foreverca cannot wait for them to act. that is why today i'm beginning a new effort to fix as much of our immigration system as i can on my own without congress. directing step, i'm the director of homeland security and the attorney general to move available and appropriate resources from our interior to the border, protecting public safety and deporting dangerous criminals has been and will remain the top priority, but we are going to refocus our efforts where we can to make sure we do what it takes to keep our borders secure. president obama's remarks come as he has asked congress for fast-track authority and

additional funding to speed up the deportation of children fleeing violence and poverty in central america. obama has already deported about 2 million immigrants, more than any other president in u.s. history. hass. appeals court reinstated a lawsuit by four former iraqi prisoners who say they were tortured with sexual violence, electrical shocks, and beatings at abu ghraib prison. the lawsuit accuses employees of the private military contractor caci international of ordering military staff to torture prisoners in order to weaken them for questioning. a federal judge dismissed the lawsuit last year, saying he did not have jurisdiction. but monday's decision reinstates the suit and sends it back to that judge. general motors is recalling another 8.4 million vehicles, most of them for ignition switch problems that can lead cars to suddenly shut down. gm says the vehicles have been involved in at least three deaths. in total, gm has now recalled

more than 29 million vehicles in north america this year, more than the entire he industry last year. earlier on monday, kenneth tonberg, who was hired by gm handle victim compensation, said the company would pay at least $1 million for each person who died as a result of the previous ignition switch flaw tied to at least 13 and perhaps hundreds of deaths. in chile, court has ruled that u.s. military intelligence services played a fundamental role in the 1973 killings of two americans in the days after inusto pinochet seized power the u.s.-backed coup. the court ruling released monday finds former u.s. navy captain ray davis, who was then commander of the u.s. military mission in chile, gave chilean officials information that led to the deaths of journalist charles horman and student frank teruggi. in chiled last year where he lived even as a chilean court approved his extradition, believing he was in florida.

charles horman's widow joyce horman told the associated press she was delighted to see the case moving ahead, but outraged delay, aough death and key indicted u.s. official, captain ray davis, has escaped his prosecutorial process." to see our interview with joyce horman last year around the 40th anniversary of the killings and the coup, you can go to democracynow.org. argentina has missed a deadline for repaying its debts after a u.s. supreme court ruling put it on track for possible default. last month, the court sided with u.s. hedge funds and purchased argentina's debt for bargain prices after its financial crisis, then refused to cut the value of their holdings as most other creditors did. a u.s. judge then barred argentina from repaying the majority of its creditors without also repaying the so-called vulture funds, which are led by billionaire paul capital.nml

the organization of american states will hold an emergency meeting on the crisis this week after it was requested by the argentine representative julio cesar ayala. >> there is no international legal proceedings for the restructuring of sovereign debt. today, argentina is under siege. however, any country that may face of future debt restructuring could be in the same dilemma, even if 99.9% of voluntary compliance with the debt exchange, the .01% of bondholders would be in the position to invalidate the entire restructuring. >> france possible are just bank has agreed to pay a record $8.9 billion and plead guilty to criminal charges for violating u.s. economic sanctions. officials say bnp parabolic engaged in an elaborate scheme over this course of at least a decade hide billions of dollars in transactions with clients in

cuba. also iran and sudan. the penalty also involves a year-long ban on some transactions. a victory,ronment new york's highest court has upheld the right of local towns and cities to ban the controversial drilling technique known as fracking. fracking is currently barred statewide under a 2008 moratorium, but more than 75 towns have block it in case governor andrew cuomo lifts the ban. fracking involves blasting chemicals into cracks and shell rock to extract oil and gas, process critics warn can poison water supplies, destroy land, and fuel climate change. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we are broadcasting from the global media forum in, germany. first, this national news in the united states. in a closely watched case, the u.s. supreme court has ruled most private companies that

claim religious objections can refuse to provide birth control in their employee health plans as required by the affordable care act. in a five to four ruling opposed by all three women on the court, the justices ruled that requiring closely held corporations to pay for contraception violates a federal law protecting religious freedom. the title closely held corporation applies to about 90% of u.s. businesses employing more than half of the u.s. workforce. the case concerns two companies, hobby lobby and conestoga wood, which objected to certain methods of birth control on religious grounds, claiming they are akin to abortion, despite scientific consensus to the contrary. critics say the ruling legalizes discrimination against women. 99% of whom will use birth control at some point in their lives. in a biting dissent, ruth bader ginsburg objected to what she called a decision of startling breadth, which could open the

door for corporations to opt out of practically any law they say conflicts with their religious beliefs. white house spokesperson josh earnest spoke after the ruling. >> today's decision jeopardizes the health of women who are employed by these companies. as millions of women know first hand, contraception is often vital to their health and well-being. that is why the affordable care act ensures that women have coverage for contraceptive care along with other preventative care like vaccines and cancer screenings. we will work with congress to make sure that any woman affected by this decision will still have the same coverage a vital health services as everyone else. meanwhile, mother jones magazine reports that at the same time hobby lobby argued the affordable care act contraception mandate forced them to violate their religious beliefs, the company spent millions of dollars on an employee return plan that invested in the manufacturers of

the same contraceptive products cited in its lawsuit. records show it made large matching contributions to plans that included companies that produce emergency contraceptive pills, iud's, and drugs commonly used in abortions. on monday, women's rights groups spoke out against the supreme court's decision. >> when i first of the ruling today, i felt angry and disgusted. the supreme court should not have the right to decide women's personal health issues. and for companies to impose its own religious beliefs on its employees, is not right. contraception is a basic right of women in health-care. that is why it was included in the affordable care act by president obama, the basic right that women should have. low income families and women, if they don't have access to that, they're not going to be up to support their growing families. if you -- it is your personal

decision to decide when and if you want of a family, not your boss's or your boss's religious beliefs. >> for more we're joined in new york by cecile richards, the president of the planned parenthood federation of america and the planned parenthood action fund. welcome back to democracy now! can you respond to this supreme court ruling? >> sure. and i'm glad you covered that young woman here in new york. i think she represents thousands of people we heard from yesterday all across the country who are outraged about this decision. i think she captures exactly correctly which is the decision ,ow allows a ceo of the company based on his or her own personal beliefs, to deny coverage of birth control for their employees. this is a shocking decision and one which i think opens widely the door to challenging laws that employers don't want to

comply with based on their own religious views. >> i want to read from justice ruth bader ginsburg's scathing 35-page dissent, in which she argued that a woman's decision to claim birth control benefits is not equivalent to a moral action on the part of her employer. she noted that even if hobby lobby was burdened by the contraception mandate, the government has shown that providing no-cost birth control to women is "a compelling interest in public health and women's well being." she added -- can you respond to this, cecile richards? >> absolutely. three things. one comment planned parenthood, we have made enormous progress in this country in reducing unintended pregnancy and teen pregnancy. frankly, the up turn on birth control has been tremendous.

secondly, we are going to work with those in congress. many senators are eager to introduce legislation that would address the issues raised in the supreme court decision. the third, i think it is very important for folks to understand, is despite the ruling yesterday, more than 30 million women in this country, because of the affordable care act, are now getting or are eligible for birth control at no cost from their employer. we just look at the numbers from last year. women in america saved $483 million war on birth control last of the never before, meaning we are finally addressing the fact for too many years, birth control has been stigmatized and not covered by insurance plans. about thiso ask you latest mother jones report that says when hobby lobby filed its case against obamacare's contraception mandate, its retirement plan had more than $73 million invested in funds

with stakes in contraception makers. what does that say to you, cecile richards? >> well, there is a lot of hypocrisy in this entire case. hobby lobby used a cover for their employees from the same types of contraception there so exercised about. i think what we're seeing is there has been a concerted effort. we have dozens of lawsuits by challenge thiso birth control benefit, wanting to take it away from women, even many of whom are already covered -- who already covered it. as you said earlier, 99% of women in america use birth control at some point in their lifetime. for women, this is not a controversial issue. it is a basic health care and economic issue. the only controversy is why in the world in 2014 are we still fighting to get birth control covered by insurance plans? thatat about the argument

if women use contraception, abortions will be greatly reduced? >> well, it is absolutely true. i think that is where we are making such progress in the u.s. the abortion rate is down, the unintended pregnancy rate is down. birth seen through the control benefit under the affordable care act, warm -- more women who struggle to afford birth control can now actually get it at no cost under their insurance plan. it is a great public health advance. it is too bad in 2014 that we have five justices on the supreme court, all men by the way, make a decision that takes away benefit from women that is good for their health. one of the things that was interesting yesterday is, we saw every major medical association -- ama, and wrecking college of obstetricians and colleges, come out against this decision saying he gets between women and their doctors about what care is the best for them.

so practically, what does this mean? you're on a health-care plan, you have an employer. how do you find out that contraception is not covered by that health care land -- plan? >> in these two companies, they will not have to cover the kinds of contraception they oppose. now, i don't know -- that is the immediate implication for the employees of hobby lobby and conestoga wood. 'st as justice ginsburg dissent said, this really opens the door to all kinds of objections to any type of contraceptive. i think what is important now and what we have seen with this outrage of women across the country, it is really important now to be making sure that every employer understand that women that work for them need contraceptive coverage, and we campaign across the country to ensure that it is covered for women. >> ruth bader ginsburg also

noted , it bears note that the cost ofan iud is duly equivalent to a months full-time pay for workers earning the minimum wage. cecile richards? >> that is correct. one of the things that was a big topic in oral argument was the fact where many women -- for many women in this country, birth control is something they could not afford. more than one third of the women in this country say they struggle to pay for birth control and had to forgo it because they needed money for rent or groceries. i think justice ginsburg hits it on the head which is, one of the most effective forms of birth upfront an iud, the costs are sometimes prohibitive for women making minimum wage and yet it is a very good form of birth control that is very effective in preventing unintended pregnancy. unfortunately, this decision means women who work for hobby lobby will be unable to have

that covered in their insurance plan. >> so this is the highest court in the land. what does this mean for women around the country and it comes to reproductive health care in these years to come? this means,hat' women need to pay attention and was running for office come november. as we know, the senate will determine the next nominees and confirmations on the supreme court. we can't afford anymore folks, justices on the supreme court who are so out of touch with women's needs the women's health care, and women's rights. i think this is a mcclary and call for women and men who care about women's health, to make sure they vote this november. youecile richards, thank for being with us, president of the planned parenthood federation of america and the planned parenthood action fund. speaking to us from new york. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. back, democracy

now! global broadcast exclusive. we speak to sarah harrison here in, germany. she was the wikileaks best to accompaniedr who edward snowden from hong kong to russia where he got political asylum. stay with us.

>> this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we are broadcasting from bonn, and germany, from the global media forum.

"the washington post" has revealed the foreign intelligence surveillance court secretly gave the national security agency sweeping power to intercept information "concerning all but four countries around the world. a classified 2010 document leaked by edward snowden lists 193 countries that would be a valid interest for your us intelligence. only four were protected from nsa spying. australia, and, new zealand. the nsa was also given permission to gather intelligence about the world bank from the international monetary fund, the european union, and international atomic energy agency. according to "the washington post," the secret document indicates academics, journalists , and human rights rechargers dutch researchers hitting in the abroad could be targeted under the order.

we now to a democracy now! global broadcast exclusive. we are here in germany with sarah harrison. she spent 39 days with edward snowden in the transit zone of an airport in moscow what she assisted in his legal application to 21 countries for asylum. sarah harrison remained with edward snowden for about three more months after russia granted him temporary asylum. she is investigative editor of wikileaks and acting director of the newly formed courage foundation. we welcome you to democracy now! thanks so much for doing this interview. berlin,living in germany right now, but your from britain. why not go home? >> britain has a terrorism act, which has in it a portion called schedule seven, which is quite unique. it gives officials the ability to detain people at the border as they go in or out or even transit through the country. this allows them to question people on no more than a hunch. silence,em no right to

and also was the case of no rights to a lawyer as well. though, that is starting to be changed. your compelled to answer their questions. although legal advice is it was very likely that i would be schedule seven detained under this and question because of my work with wikileaks and snowden. there are questions that i would not be able to answer due to source reasons, which would be making the committing a crime. >> this is what happened with glenn greenwald's partner david miranda. glenn greenwald wrote the first articles about the documents. >> yes, he was just transiting through the country. he went through the u.k. he had been in berlin and was going back to glenn in rio, in brazil. he was just transiting through the u.k. and officials got intel he might have some information that was of benefit so they decided a terrorism

investigation and detained him under this. he was compelled to answer their questions. >> and helper many hours. roxie was held for the for old nine hours. -- >> he was held for the full nine hours. how did you end up with edward snowden on that flight from hong kong to russia? >> well, he reached out for help and we were uniquely in a position to help for several reasons. we have a history and understanding of what appears to be a position where you're being persecuted, where you are dealing with the government of the united states getting their -- we have a number of connections around the world. i have a lot of contacts in hong kong, so i've been there many times. i was able to operate their knowing the city and maybe others would be unable. >> you got there after he was speaking to glenn greenwald and laura poitras?

>> yes. >> them what happened? you're meeting him for the first time? >> yes, i had not met him before. we work to find out the legal options, to negotiate his ability to exit the country. and to ensure that he would have as high probability of asylum and safe passage in other places around the world. >> he was at the hotel with glenn and laura was taken by human rights lawyers to be protected as the media found where they were. how did you even make it to the airport? were you concerned that he would be arrested in hong kong at the behest of the united states? >> when we left, the united states had just put in an extradition request. the process that this has to go through the court system there and be approved or be denied and we left before it finished going

through the hong kong court system. so there was no illegality about his departing the country. arrested he had been in hong kong, what would have happened? >> there were two things that play. he had the ability to put in an asylum request. kong they would have had to decided what the decision on the asylum request was. have a history of deciding how to do this. the problem with his gaze, as a did, the extradition case came in when it was approved and he would have to be arrested and then held in prison whilst either the extradition request or the asylum was being decided, which avenue they would be -- and decide which avenue they would take. because asylum would take so long, he would be held in prison for an awful long time. >> so you get on the plane with him in hong kong. why did you end up in moscow? >> choosing the route to take,

the aim was to get to latin america. ecuador, specifically -- >> because they were granting him asylum? >> they were positive toward the granting of asylum -- >> as they had done with julian assange. and was he helping you with this whole -- >> very much so. >> so wikileaks and julian facilitated snowden making it out of hong kong. >> and gaining asylum, yes. the reason for going by russia was, obviously, we needed to have a safe flight. you can't get directly from hong kong to an america. normally, the flights go through the united states or western europe. this obviously was not an option in this case, so the seemingly bizarre route to russia was the case. >> what happened? >> whilst we were in the air, hong kong announced he left an

inability to say, stop hassling us, he's gone, he's not here anymore. states made very public announcements how they had canceled his passport and if -- any onward travel would be without proper documentation. >> any state in the airport for -- >> 39 days. we did not have a visa. you can transit through without needing a visa as long as you're under 24 hours in the airport. hence, we are no visa to remain in russia. he could not just walk on through. we spent 39 days trying to get asylum in various places around the world, including germany. they were either turned down or ignored, the request, for the most part. latin america was very supportive, but the ability to get there safely at this stage

was impossible. hence, applying for temporary asylum in russia. >> i want to turn to an interview i just did in berlin when i interviewed edward snowden's european lawyer, wolfgang kaleck, about the role ,f wikileaks and sarah harrison our guests come in helping snowden. >> i think wikileaks was theemely helpful in beginning of the snowden revelations, especially sarah is a person was extremely courageous because going to moscow is not -- i mean, that is not the easiest place in the world. it's not that they are -- they're waiting for us. so i'm going into this unsecure situation, was extremely brave for sarah. i'm very happy she is living now in berlin, but i would be happier to know she's not facing a criminal charge because of

what she did for edward snowden. >> is she facing criminal charges? >> we don't know. many of these criminal investigations are secret. we have no indication is or if not a criminal investigation is on the way, but the risk at the moment is too high for her to travel back to the u.k., so she better stay in germany. i hope this is not the end of the story. >> that is wolfgang kaleck, the european lawyer for edward snowden. i was speaking to him in berlin, germany this weekend. he is saying the stakes are too high for you to go home. in made a big decision engaging in this, and now you're living in germany. what made to make that decision? >> a few reasons. one can't sort of a general poetical point that someone done

something so brave and they should be supported and i felt natural human empathy. then there's also the fact, i mean, i work for publishing organization and we rely a lot on sources and believe in source protection. the last example that the world had of how the u.s. government isats high valued source chelsea manning, who was put into a cage, tortured, sentenced to prison for 35 years in the end. i think it is important for the world that you can speak the truth, you can blow the whistle, and you don't have to end up in a cage, that there are people who will support you. that there are people who will take risks for you when you have risked so much. and you can have asylum in a country. >> i'm looking at the letter that eric holder, the us attorney general, wrote to the minister of justice of russia

requesting edward snowden be extradited to the united states. among the things attorney general holder says is, first the united states would not seek the death penalty for mr. snowden should he return to the united states. the charges he faces do not trade a possibility and the united states would not seek the death penalty even if mr. stow and were charged with additional death penalty eligible crimes. writes, mr. snowden will not be tortured. torture is unlawful in the united states. sarah harrison? >> i mean, when that letter came out, it was sort of rather extraordinary when you're looking at a country that has guantanamo bay, chelsea manning was found by the human special rockets were in torture at the time that she had been tortured -- by the human rights special repertoire in torture the time

she had been tortured. we were looking at asylum in other countries and they preemptively put in extradition request to those countries, even though he wasn't there and did not have asylum. i think it is an obvious pattern the u.s. government chooses to try and initiate a preemptive attack to prevent people's legal rights. >> explain what happened to the bolivian president evo morales as we go back, a year now, that you accompanied edward snowden. when was it within this period of going to russia that the bolivian presidents airplane was forced down in austria by the u.s. government? >> we were still in the airport. there have been a number of presidents that have been russia -- in russia meeting with putin. morales was one of them. when his plane took off, there

was the allegation that snowden was on the flight and the airspace around europe shut down while he was trying to get across the continent. see an extra an example of the u.s. dominance, where they're able to get a supposedly sovereign nation to close their airspace because of supposed intel they have and the president's plane violating international agreements was forced to come down -- >> all of these different countries participated? >> yes. there was spain, portugal, france -- a number of countries. >> and austria had to accept them at the airport. >> i don't think they would go quite so far as having his plane ran out of fuel and crashed to the ground. >> what was your response and what was edward snowden's response as you sat in the airport lounge where you're forced to be for five weeks? >> obviously, extraordinary and still is that the president's

plane would be down. i think it is something that these sorts of extraordinary actions is something that wikileaks has seen on a number of occasions. the financial blockade we were publishing the warlocks that was about with cable gate, there was , financial blockade against us the fact that supposedly independent financial companies were cut off because dutch cut off the publishing organization because of the pressure from u.s. government. it is another extraordinary act with back you're talking about paypal -- >> paypal -- >> cutting off any ability for wikileaks to get money for to receive -- bydirect u.s. or third-party. this is next ranieri against the rule of law action that was taken due to pressure of the united states government and another example of this type of action can be seen with the downing of the plane. yet you set up the courage

foundation as you live here in germany to be able to support edward snowden's defense fund. >> yes, for edward snowden's defense and for future snowdens, we want to show there is an organization that will do what we did for snowden and as much as also bowl and raising money for legal defense, public advocacy for whistleblower so they know if they come forward, there is a support group there for them. >> i want to turn to a clip of mike rogers. this is in january. the house intelligence chair mike rogers come and not to be confused with michael rogers of the head of the nsa come appeared on "meet the press" and suggested that edward snowden is a russian spy. >> this was a thief who we believe has some help who stole information the vast majority had nothing to do with privacy.

our army, navy, air force commemorations have been incredibly harmed by the data he has taken with him, and we believe now is in the hands of nation state. i believe there's a reason he ended up in the hands or the loving arms of an agent in moscow. i don't think that is a coincidence. >> that is mike rogers, the head of the house intelligence committee. sarah harrison, your response, calling edward snowden a thief who purposefully ended up in moscow? >> he certainly did not purposefully end up in moscow. he is not a spy or any of these words. i think they come forward with the type of rhetoric to paint a picture, which is completely of the and the facts case speak against that. what edward snowden did was inherently a patriotic act. information tos show to the american public that they are being spied on by their

own government, and the government of the united states is breaking its own constitution. cts they is backs -- fa should know. so to call him a spy, well, if he is only for the american public. >> you got to know him very well, though you did not know him before, and the five weeks he spent together at the airport and then months afterwards before you left for germany. can you talk about how ed snowden described to you his motivations, where he had them , joining the us military, wanting to be in the special forces? >> his history, i think sort of speaks for itself, and that his always had a desire to serve his country. he is always been very patriotic. at the beginning, this played out with an understanding that the war in iraq was legitimate, and he wants to help and fight for his nation. through his work and at the nsa and working as a contractor for

the intelligence agency, he was able to understand that this they're notarily -- necessarily doing the right thing in telling the public the truth. and so, although his same motives have always been the same come to serve his country and up all the constitution, the method with which this was appropriate to actually act out the chemistry different one, and in this case, having to explain to the markham public what was actually being done to them. >> had he reached out to wikileaks before? >> we don't talk about any contact like that. >> we are going to take a break and we'll we come back, we're going to talk about wikileaks, what it needs to be the investigative editor for wikileaks, the fact that julian assange is now holed up in the ecuadorian embassy in london. he was granted political asylum in ecuador but cannot manage to get to ecuador because the british government promises to have him arrested and extradited to sweden if he steps outside

the embassy. we are talking to sarah harrison of wikileaks. this is her first global broadcast interview about that journey that she took from hong kong to russia, now to berlin where she lives, though her home is in britain where she is concerned she will be arrested if she tries to go home. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

>> this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we are on the road in bonn, germany, where we are attending the global media forum where our guest today will be giving a keynote address on wednesday. our guest is sarah harrison, the

investigative editor of wikileaks. i want to turn now to wikileaks founder julian assange to just mark two years of confinement at the ecuadorian embassy in london. he has been holed up there since june 2012 to avoid extradition to sweden where he faces questioning on allegations of sexual assault. actually, he says he is not trying to avoid extradition to sweden, but concerned if he ends up in sweden, he will be extradited to the united states. speaking via satellite to a news conference in ecuador, julian assange thanks the ecuadorian government and his supporters. >> i am proud of keeping my neveres to my sources, buckling to pressure to censor kept aerial, and having publishing organization going in spite of significant pressure over the last four years, despiteup in the black

an unlawful financial blockade similar to the blockade of cuba. similarly, the ecuadorian people can be proud that their country has stood up to intense pressure over myself and, indeed, many slanders from the press associated with the united states and some associated with the united kingdom. i am thankful for that resistance and also to the loyalty and resistance of my staff. >> that is julian assange speaking on the day before the stayd anniversary of his

at the ecuadorian embassy in london. inah harrison is our guest this global clock -- broadcast exclusive, investigative editor of wikileaks and acting director of the newly formed courage foundation. in 2013, she accompanied nsa whistleblower edward snowden on his flight from hong kong to doubt and spent four months -- to moscow and spent four month with them before going to live in berlin, germany, though her home is in london. you -- we have talked about the courage -- to do this, but also to sign up with wikileaks? you are the investigative editor. what does that mean? how did you end up working with wikileaks? >> i had previously been working as an investigative journalist. wikileaks, for me, has not only that element in it of turn alyssum publishing, but also the way in which it does it with the concept we have of scientific journalism.

i find it very appealing that all the source documents should be there. creatingpt of archives, making them as usable public toe for the have access. i think allows the public the ability to engage their own history and we have actually larger stories that have come out about publications who areof people involved and maybe a court case and they have more evidence for the court case, they're able to try and get justice. for me, this is a very important ethic that is very dear to wikileaks heart that few others have. >> how did your parents raised you? >> they raised me to think for myself, question everything, and do what i thought was right. >> have they visited you here in germany? >> they have. they would probably agree [indiscernible] berlin and are in

also running the courage foundation. julian assange is confined to the ecuadoran embassy. talk about how you are able to do the work you have done. what have you done since he has been in jail and you can't go home -- not in jail, but in the embassy? work.l, we can still much of our work takes place online, so we are still able -- i'm still able to do that work. and then on top of that, have been involved in the setting up the courage foundation. i've been kept very busy here in berlin. but in terms of releasing information, can you talk about what wikileaks has released? >> we have still been releasing information. we have released the syria files, which are e-mails from some sections of the steering government. we carried on releasing the g.i. files which are e-mails from global intelligence agency

stratfor which showed violations on activists. also the transpacific partnership, a secret agreement taking place covering trade. and very high levels of data sharing that despite the rhetoric, they're doing very little to actually combat environment will protections or to keep environmental protections. our most recent lease was of the trade and services agreement, the financial and accept that, which is another secret trade taking place which affects over world trade and services. >> can you talk about how wikileaks handles documents like the iraq war logs and -- >> how we handle them. our own assessment. we get them ready for publication. we do our own journalism on them

, and write our own stories. we also make large international collaborations and, cable gate, we had 80 media more organizations around the world -- >> the state department cables over decades? it comes to large international publications like that, you do need local partners to be able to get the expertise and full understanding of what is going on in those regions. of course, published in the language of those countries so the people it is affecting -- for the people it is affecting. we try to put together as large a media court nation -- as possible.group >> can you talk about the situation julian assange faces right now? it seems the climate is changing a bit in britain, the people saying, for example, why are poundsending millions of

to keep him confined when he has not even been indicted? not that an indictment means are guilty, but the swedish government has not indicted him on charges of sexual mistreatment, but is simply leveled allegations. >> is interesting. here is a man that there are obvious threats from the united grand juryecret jan jur taken place. but how do you know this? >> there were documents that came out in the chelsea manning trial, the alleged wikileaks source that was just sentenced to prison. it shows categorically a secret grand jury is taking place. there's an obvious threat. there been politicians talking about were calling for his assassination. his asylum is against the united states threat. since the beginning of the swedish allegations, julian and

now the ecuadorian government have been asking for sweden to come and question him at the embassy. of course, he would like nothing more than to clear his name and for this case to be ended, but the swedes, despite the fact it is a regular legal practice, refuse to do so. the problem is if you were to be extradited to sweden, the prosecutor there has but titian for him to be put straight from solitary confinement and then with regardless of what was happening with the u.s. case, he would not have the ability to take asylum. he really needed to take a protection from the us whilst it was still an available avenue. >> and there is those who say he could have been extradited as easily from london as sweden? >> his asylum is more on his ability to take asylum. he would be put straight into inton within sweden, solitary confinement. he would be unable, even if the u.s. puts in the next edition order, he would be unable to take asylum from jail there so

it really was the last moment for him to be up to take up his legal right. >> what is wikileaks and stern about him coming to the u.s.? what would be the charges he would face? >> they're trying to indict him for a number of charges. it is difficult to understand exactly what are's because it is a secret grand jury and they're letting out as little as possible. it seems they're trying to indict him for his publishing actions. they would like to work up an espionage charge against him. it is difficult to tell exactly, but a secret grand jury is they're trying to indict him and that only happens when it is serious allegations. >> you said you set up the courage foundation to protect or help defend edward snowden and future edward snowden's. what should future edward snowdens do? >> it is important for them to understand there are people that will support them. i think they should reach out to organizations like the courage

foundation that can help them, primitively, ideally, it would tobetter if we did not have save some own from their face a lever the newspapers of the world. i think it is important that they understand that there is a public desire for the truth and they will hopefully [indiscernible] >> sarah harrison, thank you for being with us. investigative is editor of wikileaks, acting director of the newly formed courage foundation. last year, she accompanied nsa whistleblower edward snowden on his flight from hong kong to moscow and spent four months with him in russia. if you would like a copy of today's broadcast, you can go to democracynow.org. we have job openings at democracy now! you can apply for a minister at of director or limit system administrator.

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