07/16/14 07/16/14 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] >> from pacifica, this is democracy now! two blasts happened here. one here in the second one there. some people are still missing. we are still searching for them. we hold parliament, the government, and prime minister a leaky responsible. >> at least 27 people dime bag that as lawmakers moved toward forming a power coalition by naming a moderate semi-islamist as speaker of the parliament.

is iraq still on the verge of disintegration? we will go to baghdad to speak with journalist hannah allam of mcclatchy newspapers and patrick cockburn, author of the new book, "the jihadis return: isis and the new sunni uprising." it would look at the iran nuclear talks. but as i said, we have made progress and there still work to do and we believe there is a path forward for my soul let's see what happens in the next hours and days. deceive you.nt to serious differences remain and they need to be overcome. >> filter prize-winning journalist turned immigrant rights activist jose vargas is detained by border patrol in mcallen, texas. he was released after being ordered to appear before an immigration judge. vargas traveled to the texas border to document the crisis of thousands of immigrant children from central america fleeing poverty and violence. >> these children are not illegal. they are human beings. they are not a national security

threat. the only threat these children pose to us is the threat of testing our own conscience. >> after reporting for "the washington post" and other outlets for years, jose vargas revealed he himself was undocumented. all of that and more coming up. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. israel has resumed airstrikes on the gaza strip following the collapse of an egyptian cease-fire. israel had accepted the egyptian proposal but hamas never formally responded. the group's members say the plan was a nonstarter because it would have maintained the status quo of before the ongoing assault, when israel maintained a crippling siege on gaza and bombed it at will. hamas also wants the release of prisoners initially freed as part of the 2011 prisoner swap him a but who were rearrested in israeli raid last month.

hamas officials also criticize the egyptian government for failing to consult with them in formulating the proposal. egyptian president sisi is a valid hamas opponent. in response to hamas rejection, israeli prime minister pitchman netanyahu says he has no choice but to expand the attack on gaza. preferable've been to of salt this diplomatically. this is what we try to do when we accepted the egyptian proposal for a cease-fire. but hamas leaves us no choice but to expand and intensify the campaign against it. >> israel resume the bombing of gaza several hours after the cease-fire was to take effect at least seven palestinians were killed in attacks earlier today. one strike destroyed a home of top hamas leader mahmoud zahar. it was the first apparent targeting of a hamas leader

since the assault on gaza began over a week ago. more strikes on the homes of hamas figures have followed today. the palestinian death toll stands at over 200, quitting 31. on tuesday, funerals continued for the victims in gaza, including a 10-year-old boy. two members of a family spoke out about an israeli bombing that killed a family members, including two parents and five siblings. parents losing both my and my brothers and sisters, i am now all by myself. i have no one except a sister who is married and lives in rafah, and that is far away. life will be difficult from here on out. >> imagine the feeling when someone treats his sister and her sons and daughters who were and 14 years 16, old. i carry them when their bodies were ripped apart. it was horrifying. >> militants in gaza have fired over 150 rockets into israel since tuesday. one israeli civilian was killed as he volunteered handing out

food to israeli soldiers stationed near gaza. he was the first israeli to be killed by the rocket fire since the conflict began. a paramedic described his death. >> unfortunately, 30 minutes ago, an israeli citizen working near the crossing border was hit by shrapnel due to a mortar attack on the crossing. he was severely injured, treated at the scene by our medics and evacuated to the hospital where they, unfortunately, had pronounced him dead. >> in addition to bombing homes, israel's attack has further decimated a civilian infrastructure already in crisis after years of a crippling blockade. on tuesday, the international committee of the red cross warned the more than weeklong israeli bombings have pushed gaza to the brink of a new water crisis. >> there is a problem and it can quickly turn into a. we have hundreds of thousands of

people without water. water engineers have been killed. this hampered a lot of the work. there's already a difficult to tear it in infrastructure. 1.5 million-1.7 million people living in a small area. the infrastructure is already bad with all of the shellings and bombings going on. they can only be even worse. >> u.s. drones fox and pakistan have reportedly killed up to 15 people. the attack had a vehicle and adjacent compound in north waziristan. it is at least the fifth u.s. drone strike in pakistan since the obama administration ended a six-month pause last month. at least 10 people have died in a typhoon turning across the philippines. nearly 370,000 people have been forced to evacuate their homes as the cyclone makes its way to the capital manila. the typhoon is the strongest to

hit the philippine since typhoon haiyan lester, one of the worst ever recorded. the official death toll from haiyan stands at over 6100 people dead. the death toll from tuesday's massive bombing in afghanistan has reached 89, also lesions. the blast at a crowded market in the eastern province of paktika. it is said to be the deadliest militant attack on afghan civilians since the u.s. invasion of 2001. a group of five countries have launched their own development bank to challenge the u.s. -dominated world bank and international monetary fund. leaders from the so-called brics countries -- result, russia, india, china, and south africa -- unveiled the new development bank of the summit in the brazilian city of fortaleza. the bank will be headquartered in shanghai. together, the countries account for 25% of the global gdp and 40% of the world's population.

a navy medical officer stationed at guantánamo bay has become the first him prison official to refuse to force-feed hunger striking prisoners. the unidentified officer stance was revealed in the phone call from a guantánamo bay prisoner to his attorney. iab,prisoner, abu wael dh said vendors refuse to force-feed the hunger strike or sometimes before -- sometime before the fourth of july. the navy says the officer has been reassigned to alternative duties, away from the prisons detention center. one of the countries most well-known undocumented immigrants has been released. , a pulitzer prize-winning journalist, first came to the u.s. from the philippines in 1993. in 2011, he became a leading undocumented activist after revealing his status in a widely read essay. vargas had recently traveled to the texas border to document the crisis of thousands of central american children fleeing

poverty and violence, but says he soon realized he might have trouble leaving with justice philippine passport due to a heavy presence of border patrol agents and checkpoints throughout mcallen. on tuesday as he attempted to fly to houston on his way to los angeles, vargas was arrested by immigration authorities for the first time in his life and held for most of the day. the department of homeland security eventually released vargas, saying he did not have a prior record and their priority was to remove criminal individuals. he has been given a notice to appear before an immigration judge. we will have more on the story later in the broadcast. a district court judge has stayed the execution of the missouri prisoner advocate of three murders. john middleton was scheduled to die by lethal injection just after midnight. the judge issued a stay after rolling he meets the standard for mental capacity, showing he is incompetent to be executed. the trial of four former blackwater guards accused of massacring seven iraqi syrians

at baghdad's knees were square is continuing this week with former employees offering an inside account of the killings. one witness described how one of his colleagues shot an unarmed iraqi who was holding his hands up in an apparent gesture of surrender. another said he saw people hiding in their cars, trying to shield their children. a third recalled waving to iraqi's him and telling them to duck down as his own colleagues shower the area with all its. the trial for the 2007 massacre began last month after years of delay. the private security form blackwater has undergone several renaming and rebranding attempts , most recently merging with former competitor triple canopy, under the name can still us holding. global experts have submitted a report to the when and how the world's top economies can help avoid climate disaster. the study for secretary general ban ki-moon details specific steps countries can take to help

keep warming below two degrees celsius, the target level for staving off devastating global warming. the pathways to dd carbonization project is being billed as the most comprehensive of its kind to outline practical measures to counter climate change. project member jeffrey sachs, director of columbia university's earth institute, said if countries do not adapt, the world is on pace for a temperature hike of four degrees or higher. >> what is concerning about this report is we are way off track. and to get on track will require major cooperative efforts that are, right now, not in place. two degrees centigrade limit is not easily achieved. we are in a trajectory of some four degrees centigrade or more, depending on exactly the assumptions that one makes. and all of the evidence is the

business as usual path would be an absolutely reckless and unforgivable campbell with this planet -- gamble with this planet. >> cuny hold a climate change summit in new york and part of -- in september as part of a negotiation for a global agreement by the end of next year. a swedish court is holding court on whether to lift the arrest warrant on join us on, wanted in sweden for questioning on allegations of sexual misconduct, though no charges ever been filed. you can visit our website. the day for the latest details on the hearing and to watch our extended interview with julian assange, when we were delighted to interview him inside the ecuadoran embassy where he has political asylum. that is democracynow.org. those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. >> welcome to all our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world.

iraq remains on the verge of splintering into three separate states as sunni militants continue to maintain their stronghold in the north and west of iraq. on tuesday, iraqi security forces were forced to abandon an effort to retake the city of tikrit, the hometown of former iraqi leader saddam hussein. fighters aligned with isis, the islamic state of iraq and syria, seized tikrit last month. last month, at least 27 people died -- meanwhile in baghdad, at least 27 people died tuesday in a series of attacks including two bombs. isis now controls large parts of northern and western iraq and much of eastern syria. >> on the political front, iraqi politicians are scrambling to form a power-sharing government in an effort to save iraq from splintering into separate shiite, sunni, and kurdish states. in the first up, iraqi politicians named moderate sunni islamist celine -- salim

al-jabouri to be iraq's new speaker of the parliament. to talk more about iraq, we go to baghdad to speak with hannah allam for reporting from iraq from the last two weeks. she served as the baghdad bureau chief for knight ridder newspapers from 2003 to 2005. welcome to democracy now! can you talk about the latest happening in baghdad right now as well as the choosing of the parliament leader? >> sure. hi. for a country on the verge of feelsse, the capital deceptively calm. people are going out and going about their business, restaurants are packed that night, families are out. you can't even find a space at the parking mall. that is not to say people are not terrified. they are. they're not immune to the violence that we're hearing about, assassinations, car bombings, massacre just the other day in a compound of

several women. iraqi's are aware of these things. residents here these things. unfortunately, they have become so resigned to a level of violence, that it hasn't yet spiraled into the kind of bloodshed that would keep most iraqis endorse. unfortunately, they don't doubt that moment will come. they see it as a slow escalation decadence blowed -- could explode at any moment. there's the sense of a pretty unpredictability. then you have this parallel reality of the political process where the parliament has been delayed two or three times now before meeting yesterday to decide on a speaker. iraqi's throw their hands up and say, sure, what's the rush when you've got the country on the

verge of collapse? we've got the kurds in the north moving toward greater independence. we have the sunni militants of the islamic state having seized up to half of the country. and people are really concerned about this glacial pace of government formation. yesterday was a sign there was some movement toward easing the political deadlock, but they are to go. long way o >> can you talk about who salim al-jabouri is? >> salim al-jabouri is the youngest speaker of parliament ever named in iraq. he is a moderate sunni islamist. his nomination was delayed for a while because there was some

brokering behind the scenes. lawsupporters, the state block of maliki, wanted to change their support for salim al-jabouri's nomination to the sunni's backing of a third, four-year term for the prime minister. he was named in the end yesterday overwhelmingly, parliament voted in favor of his post as speaker. but that doesn't mean that there is yet a broader political deal that will form the kind of power-sharing government that the united states and most iraqis would like to see to get the country out of this crisis. >> hannah allam, after the islamic state took over such large parts of iraq, the maliki government made a call for volunteers to help the iraqi

military, since much of the military abandon their posts. can you talk about some of the people who are volunteering, the shiite militias who are patrolling baghdad, who these people are, how many volunteers there are, and what the impact of the isis takeover has been? and how close they are to baghdad. >> sure, sure. some of their positions, there are only a few miles from the capital. that doesn't mean they would have an easy way in. they are certain protecting baghdad, that is the government's property. they know the implications of what it would mean to have a concerted isis attack on the capital. but there's also this element of predictability. will the iraqi forces that are now backed by all these tens of thousands of volunteers, will they be able to defend the capital? so far they haven't made really

any military gains in the north to recapture some of the territory that isis. at best, they're only fending off further encroachment. so there is that. even more important in the prime minister's call to arms was an issue by the shia highest authority in iraq, who issued a asked allms that iraqis's to come in defense of the nation. he and his office and officials around him have stressed several times that was not a sectarian called arms, but the patriotic national duty. but that is not how it is an interpreted on the ground or how it is playing out on the ground. it is given religious cover to the relocalization of militias that the government -- renewable is a and of the militias that the government and u.s. spent

several years trying to disband. we're talking about the army militia, a splinter group of the army trained by iran, close ties iran.an on top of that, you have tribes that are offering tens of thousands of their members in just these ordinary teenagers and young man who are answering the call on religious grounds. it is this hodgepodge of forces. they really lack central command. so far they have said they would all play fair an answer to the government, work within the government structure. but that is sadly not the case. there are just too many people with arms roaming around with disparate leaders. >> last month democracy now! interviewed former un's special envoy from syria ambassador

lakhdar brahimi. she was previously viewing human special representative to iraq. he suggested sectarianism in iraq was fostered an early years of the u.s. invasion and occupation. >> the impression one had was people that were preferred by the occupying powers were the most sectarian shia in the most pro-iranian shia. so that iraq is very close to iran. again, from another point of view, somebody who looks and outside, hasrom absolutely no knowledge of what fears ofn the highest -- spheres of power in washington. the impression is that these people who are put in charge

--her out of total ignorance and that is difficult to accept -- or intentionally -- the fact the system that was established was very sectarian. >> hannah allam, that was lakhdar brahimi, the former un's special envoy for syria. he was priebus of the special representative -- she was previously the human special representative for iraq. can you comment on what he said and also reports of the islamic state violence in the atrocities, really, against sunni muslims in addition to shia and kurds? >> the islamic state is not doing this land grab, this insurgency alone. it has a lot of support. crucial support, especially for holding

territories is seized, from, again, this mixture of former from the, ex military old regime, some trams. the reason they have been able to cultivate some support among the community, well, some are just against the whole political system that was established under the u.s. occupation. some haven't come to terms with the loss of their former power and prestige. but then there are a wide swath of sunni communities who are simply fed up with the sectarian policies. they have seen this under the maliki administration. he first ran on a platform that was considered nationalist. he went after shia militias in the south and people thought, ok, maybe this isn't going to be a sectarian as we feared. unfortunately, as most analysts or observers can tell you, he changed and is pursuing an

increasingly sectarian agenda that has led to what we have now, which is simultaneous sunni uprising that is preceded the isis defense of of last month, then on top of that commie you're the isis often said that created the strange bedfellows that when they were together in the past, it hasn't lasted very long because her ideologies and goals are so different. for now they are working in tandem and some of these areas. but we are already seeing signs of the frank appel fragile alliance because isis is a ready targeted and executed former baathists and a whole village of tribe are the only suspected they were forming a rival force. so we are seeing now incidents of some sunni push back against

isis. i think it is also important to remember that does not equate the government of maladie. they still le have their grievances. for now, isis is turning out to be the means to that goal. >> we will continue to talk about this after the break. hannah allam has been reporting from iraq for the last two weeks. she has been there for years covering iraq. her most recent peace talks about how baghdad residents are trying to maintain a semblance of normal life as the conflict approaches baghdad. we will also be joined by patrick cockburn, just back from iraq. this is democracy now! back in a moment. ♪ [music break]

>> this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. , whouests are hannah allam is in baghdad, and patrick cockburn joins us from london, middle east correspondent for the independent and just returned from 10 days of reporting in iraq and has a new book just coming out called, "the jihadis return: isis and the new sunni uprising." patrick, you and your latest piece say that as much as the world attention is focused on the bombardment of gaza, that isis has captured much of eastern syria. can you explain? caliphate declared

to recently has just gotten a lot bigger. and rather amazingly, the world hasn't paid much attention because of gaza. toward a bigacked province with a lot of oil wells in eastern syria. they probably hold about 98% of it now. whichof the capital city is run by the al-assad government. otherwise, they have routed the opposition -- syrian opposition, aside from themselves. they've also launched another offensive toward one of the kurdish enclaves right up on the turkish border. there are about half a million people there. i was talking to people yesterday and the isis have about 5000 fighters there, but they also have tanks and artillery. they're driving around in american humvees. they're putting a lot of

pressure on them. they're taking the whole eastern side of syria to the east of the city of aleppo. they probably will advance toward their in the future. it is a major success for them, following the takeover of mozilla and northern and western -- mosul in northern and western iraq. surprisingly after the publicity of the falling of mosul, this hasn't gathered much attention in the rest of the region or in europe or america. >> patrick cockburn, hannah allam was speaking earlier about the support that isis or the islamic state has among disenfranchised sunnis who feel they were marginalized under the maliki government. he suggested in the pc wrote earlier that you feel isis is likely to get much more mass support than al qaeda did.

could you explain why that is the case given it has been so brutal? >> there also victorious. i mean, the vanguard of the , oppressed byy the government, feeling persecuted and they may not like the method deployed by isis, but , one, there isn't much they can do about it. but isis so far has delivered victory. i think down the road they're going to find they made a pact with the devil. that they can get rid of isis. the area will be impoverished. an extraordinarily pathologically violent movement. but for the moment, the isis movement is attracting a lot of young sunni. they get paid. they also feel there joining the victorious army. the same is true in eastern

syria. their recruiting people from the over -- the other rebel movements. so nothing is really succeeding -- he is you talk about who and the declaration of the caliphate and what that means? >> baghdadi comes out of the al qaeda movement. there's some evidence he was in afghanistan. with the man who set up al qaeda in iraq. at the time of the american-u.s. invasion, it was against the occupation but there is a bubble against shia. it is a deeply bigoted movement. very sectarian. to thatmewhat similar

out of saudi arabia. it's method was the suicide bomber and its targets were often civilians. so he has come out of that. he was in jail under the americans for a bit. he took over al qaeda in iraq when it was at a very low point in 2010. but above all, what made him the success that he is now is the start of the revolt in syria, which he stabilized the situation in iraq will stop and the fact that the prime minister of iraq, maliki, dated the whole sunni community. they were willing to unite. the groups were willing to unite under the banner of isis. maybe they want to get rid of them in the future, but they will find that israel difficult. >> i want to go back to hannah allam in baghdad.

could you talk about the u.s. military advisers who were sent to iraq last month and major who is danapittard overseeing this effort? what exactly are u.s. military advisers doing their? could use a little bit about that? >> sure, there are couple hundred u.s. military personnel in the country. whatare trying to decide the u.s. role should be going forward. i should note that when the u.s. was preparing to withdraw and wanted to tout all its successes in training and equipping the iraqi army, there were plenty of spokespeople around. in 2010, i did an imbed along the iranian border. you hear rank-and-file soldiers say, we are not sure our iraqi counterparts are ready. we're worried about corruption. we're worried about all the things that have since come to

light in the collapse last month. vision, that wasn't the or the outlook you got from washington at the time. they said training is on track will stop we're going to be able to turn this thing over to the iraqi's and every thing will be fine. now i have asked for an interview with major general p all thinkd i was told worries must go through the pentagon in washington, even though i'm just a few miles away from those in the green zone. the pentagon assessment of this, there have been leaks from that. it has shown there are very deep concerns that even if there is a forcesn to advise these in a more meaningful way going out with them, trying to rebuild them, there are only half of the operational units are able to even accept that kind of help

from the u.s., and only about half of the forces are operational. certainly, they melted away in the north. there is also a great fear of infiltration among the forces, according to the pentagon, and that is a fear that is on both the shia militia side with the iranian backed militiamen of treading the security forces as well as sunni insurgents. >> patrick cockburn, d.c. iraq disintegrating, dividing into three parts? also, what is the role of saudi arabia in all of this? >> iraq really has disintegrated already. it is still called iraq. in may go on being called iraq, but if you are in baghdad, particularly shia, you cannot move far north or west of the city without being in isis controlled territory where you might be killed. in isis controlled

territory, you can move to baghdad or into the kurdish , which is just expanded. he really has disintegrated. it is always rather amazing people talk about, we are on the edge of disintegration. it is a fact. it has already happened. i think of saudi arabia has been crucial in the past. saudi arabia and the sunni mornin monarchies has never really accepted the shia-dominated government in baghdad. they have given support to jihadis in the past, private donors in saudi arabia have supported these movements. these days, they may be regretting it. there is always a division in saudi policy from the former ambassador in washington and had

of saudi intelligence who had a very forward policy for supporting jihadi movements in syria. and those in saudi arabia said, no, no, this is a disaster. this is according to people who basically want to get rid of the we make the middle east. now it is the latter group that turned out to be right. it may be too late. isis is very strong now. it doesn't mean money. it doesn't really need the weapons will stop it is advancing on all fronts. it is really question of legitimacy of the saudi monarchy and the other governments in the region. so i think the saudi's are very much regretting their policy in the past. that isn't much they can do about it at this stage. >> patrick cockburn, do you think the islamic state is going to advance onto baghdad? that they don't

necessarily have to try and take bad, which is difficult in the city of 7 million people. shia.jority are there are things they can do that they haven't done yet. the sunni enclaves could rise up. some are close to the center of the capital. they could have a car bombing campaign, suicide bombing. we have had bombs today. they could increase that many times over. or they could try and encircle the capital, cutting the roads to the towns and villages south of baghdad. so their whole range of things -- there are a whole range of things they can do. one thing i find most chilling an impressive is they haven't done it yet will stop as hannah panic,after the initial after the close of mosul, life in baghdad has a curious normality about it. that means nobody has pressed the button yet on the isis side

to unleash violence in baghdad. and that really underlines the degree of command and control and good organization that isis has in parallel with being a ferocious and fanatic organization. >> hannah allam, there was a report in "the washington free beacon" earlier this month that isis leaders are on the u.s. kill list. given the pentagon has leaked out about the capacity of the iraqi army that the u.s. is advising, do you expect these u.s. strikes to start happening in iraq? i think it is still too early to tell. i think there are some very, very serious concerns among u.s. military leaders about getting back involved -- you know, getting involved again in this conflict. i think it is still too soon to tell. the understand,

assessments are ongoing in dvisors,on as well as a ground. they have ramped up u.s. surveillance along key routes, in particular, airport roads, the roads to the baghdad international airport, which, of course, would be key for any mass evacuation effort or security at the capital. also airport road. it is a route through which if you crossed that, go straight to the green zone, the heart of the government power and home to the u.s. embassy. those are very strong concerns they are weighing. >> attorney general eric holder expressed concern about the number of european and u.s. citizens going to fight in iraq. are you seeing that? >> we certainly see the videos. isis definitely likes to put

these videos out of fluent english speakers were europeans who have committed to this cause. i think part to send a message of terror to the west, but can recruit there. also to drive recruits and say this is the caliphate for all muslims here in this caliphate, a land where we don't see race and nationality. what is important the muslim nation. and by muslim, they mean sunni. they exclude shia. in fact, they marked him for dead. so that is part of the recruitment drive. it certainly is chilling to governments in the west, particularly, if they see any sort of return flight of some of these all in tears from western -- volunteers from western countries. >> hannah allam, thank you for being with us, foreign affairs correspondent for mcclatchy

newspapers. she's been reporting from iraq. we want to thank patrick cockburn, his new book coming out in a few weeks, "the jihadis return: isis and the new sunni uprising." this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. when we come back, we will look at the iran nuclear talks. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

for those are listening on the radio, you can go to democracynow.org to see them

performing in our studios. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. >> secretary of state john kerry says he is returning to washington, d.c. to consult with president obama following talks with his iranian counterpart over iran's nuclear program. on tuesday, john kerry cited "tangible progress" on key issues but said "very real gaps" remain ahead of a sunday deadline. in an interview with "the new " iran's foreign minister said that six world powers are leaning towards extending nuclear talks with iran as the deadline, but the already still hope to reach an agreement over the next five days. >> our next guest has a new book old, "manufactured crisis: the untold story of the iran nuclear scare." he has just returned from a trip to tehran where he interviewed iran's foreign minister and the nuclear chief.

his most recent article is called, "u.s. demand for deep centrifuge cut is a diplomatic ploy." , why do you say that and can you assess the latest developments in the iran nuclear talks? john kerry just returned from vienna. >> this set of negotiations has been portrayed the last few months, particularly by the obama administration, as very, very difficult because the united states has been making its most extreme demands, really, on iran in terms of the level of enrichment capabilities that would be allowed under the agreement. the united states has been conveying the idea that iran would have to accept very, very deep cuts in its enrichment capability under the deal, and

that has really portrayed the talks as are a difficult to reach agreement on. and i think that has been -- that is been the dominant impression conveyed by the news media over the last few months. those signals have changed dramatically just in the last few days. what has now appeared to be true is that the united states and iran are really close enough to a deal so that if the united states were to make a political decision in the next few days, i think it is still possible they could reach agreement by the deadline on sunday. so i think that situation has really changed quite dramatically. the problem that we have seen in the past few months has indeed been the united states has made 500 to for as few as 1000 centrifuges out of a total

of nearly 20,000. that, of course, would have been unacceptable to iran. the reality is, iran has already been -- always been ready to roughly 10,000 a visitor futures remaining in operation under the deal because that is how many have actually been operating for the last few years. half of their centrifuge force has been, in fact, inoperable. it has not been hooked up and it is clear the iranians have always been ready to make a deal car really to trade off roughly half of its centrifuges in return for being able to, in the longer run, have an industrial strength centrifuge force. and that is really the question that remains unresolved. how long is this deal going to last? i think that is the final question that has to be

negotiated. i think the united states and iran have in effect already agreed that they can come to a compromise roughly at around 10,000, maybe a little less, centrifuges or what they call severed of work units, which is the equivalent -- separate work units, which is the equivalent of a permit of centrifuges iran has in operation now. >> the minister of foreign affairs mohammad javad zarif reaffirmed iran's claim to peaceful nuclear program and defended building underground facilities and light of repeated threats from the u.s. and israel. >> i will commit to everything and anything that would provide credible assurances from the international community that iran is not seeking nuclear weapons. because we are not. we don't see any benefit in iran developing a nuclear weapon. the united states talking about

bombing. what do you expect iran to do? iran would create a facility that is not susceptible to being bombed. that is what any rational country would do. >> at was the arena foreign minister mohammad javad zarif. as we begin to wrap up thomas gareth porter, could you give us a sense of how much iran's negotiating position has shifted since the rouhani government came to power and also give us the parallel sense of the shift in the u.s. position with the obama administration on these nuclear talks. >> first of all, the iranian government, as i suggested earlier, was already clearly thinking about a deal for trading off roughly half of their centrifuges in return for recognition of its nuclear rights in a deal. that was before the rouhani government can office. but what the rouhani government has added to that is a proposal told me about in

tehran last month, which would guarantee there would be no of low of any stockpile enriched uranium that could then be used to enrich at robert -- weapons grade level to achieve with the united states has been calling the breakout to the ability to build nuclear weapons or have enough uranium at high levels or high level of enrichment for nuclear weapons. the proposal was put on the table in june when the negotiations reached the stage of drafting. so the u.s. has been aware of that for some weeks now. the problem with the news media coverage is that has never been made public until "the new york times" covered it just a couple of days ago. so i think that really is a proposal that makes it possible for the united states to be assured there won't be a

breakout to nuclear weapon for years because the iranians have been prepared to send off the lowest enriched uranium in the form of oxide powder to russia to be converted into fuel plates for the reactor, which will happen for the next seven years at least. the real question is, will the united states except a relatively short period of duration for this agreement, as little as perhaps 10 years, rather than 20 years the united states has proposed or at least announced it was proposing some months ago? >> gareth porter, we have to leave it there. thank you for being with us and author of, "manufactured crisis: the untold story of the iran nuclear scare." as to move into our last segment. >> one of the country's best-known undocumented immigrants has been released following his detention at the texas airport.

jose antonio vargas, pulitzer prize-winning journalist, first came to the u.s. from the philippines in 1993. in 2011, he became the leading undocumented activist after revealing his status in a widely read essay. yet recently traveled to the texas border to document the crisis of thousands of central american children fleeing poverty and violence. but he says he soon realized he might have trouble leaving with justice philippine passport due to the heavy presence of her patrol agents and checkpoints. on tuesday as he attempted to fly to houston on is what los angeles, farkas was arrested by immigration authorities for the first time in his life and health for most of the day. the department of homeland security officially released vargas saying he did not have her prior record and their party was to remove "criminal individuals." >> five days before his arrest on july 10, vargas spoke at a news conference in mcallen, texas in front of the sacred heart church were immigrant children are being sheltered. he began by telling his story. >> when i was 12, my mother put

me on a plane with coyotes and semi-to america. to grapplemany years with that experience. the journey of being with a strange man but i have never met before who my family paid off to accompany me on my first plane ride, the sacrifice of my mother, whom i haven't seen a person from his 21 years, that dramatic experience of being operated as a 12-year-old and being told by my mother that if anybody asked me when i got here or where was going, should tell the mom's going to disneyland. and the closest i've been to the border, my border was the pacific ocean. i got here from the philippines on the plane. so in these past few days and weeks, seeing the images of the central american children, i

cannot fully imagine -- i cannot fully imagine the treacherous, dangerous, desperate, and long trek to safety, freedom, and some kind of peace that these children are going through. when you are nine or 10 or 11, you worry about summer camp and playstation. but right now, when you're nine or 10 or 11, you don't know what it means to be called illegal. and you don't understand how your life is being played with by the political crossfire that is happening. but that is exactly what has been happening. the way many news organizations and many pundits to the media and the way many politicians, particularly in the republican party, are talking about this humanitarian crisis, it is on the front to america and to americans. story,ays ago, headline the headline was, is the surge

of illegal child immigrants a national security threat? that was the headline. these children are not illegal will stop their human beings. there are not a national security threat. the only threat these children pose to us, are the threat of testing our own conscience. i just heard from senator coburn in oklahoma that just said we should fly all of these kids first class. i said they managed to make this track so they could get on a plane to get a first-class seat. shame on you, senator. and since we are here in texas, we cannot speak of today without talking about governor perry. who has been in the news quite a lot to past few days now. with many republican leaders like senator ted cruz and

senator cornyn here from texas, governor perry has been saying ist a directive called daca ofountable for the surge the central american children. knowing, by the way, this is the same governor, governor perry, who has said that these surges haven't it happen in three years. before daca, before it was even instituted. a lot of these republican leaders are saying that this is happening because president obama is not enforcing immigration laws. even the same president obama that supported nearly julian immigrants in five years -- deported nearly 2 million immigrants and five years? if that is not clear to you but then you're not paying attention. politics aside, texans across this great state have defined

americans by opening up their hearts, and in some instances, their homes. i was just told a judge from definingunty is america by making plays for 2000 refugee children in dallas. that is how i define america. ,hree years ago, governor perry in defending in-state tuition for undocumented texans, governor perry said "if you say that we should not educate children who have come into our state for no reason that have been brought there by no fault of their own, i don't think you have a heart." the question now here is, when it comes to these refugee children, governor perry, where is your heart? where is your compassion? these children are not coming here to go to disneyland. they are coming here for their lives. thank you so much for having me.

>> jose antonio vargas colliculus or prize-winning journalist, one of the best-known undocumented immigrants aching last week. yesterday was detained by the border patrol. he revealed his undocumented status in an essay for "the new york times" magazine in 2011. vargas issued a statement after his release saying -- a special thanks for that footage. that does it for our show. democracy now! is looking for

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ç >> we all know who chris hedges is, that's why you're here. big draw. i just want to say a few things . i worked at the "l.a. times" for 30 years and -- so i know something about mainstream journalism. and i have a particular respect for chris hedges coming out of that environment, trying to work in these institutions, trying to maintain your integrity and up against everything from