12/07/15 12/07/15 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from the u.n. climate summit in paris, france, this is democracy now! >> our military will continue to hunt down to rest plotters in any country where it is necessary, iraq and syria, airstrikes are taking out isil leaders, heavy weapons oil tankers, infrastructure. amy: president obama gives a

rare oval address. we speak with former isis hostage and french journalist nicolas henin. >> the problem is with all of these bombings, because everybody at the moment is bombing syria -- all of these bombings have terrible side effects. basically, westerners, not only what sinners come also the russians, the regime are pushing the syrian people into the hands of isis. amy: here at the u.n. climate summit, taking on corporate power. , pushingok around natural gas. others are pushing coal. all coming to be solutions. everyone here to try to present themselves as part of the solution of climate change, but i don't think anyone is buying it. amy: and as u.n. negotiators reach a draft climate agreement, indigenous leaders fear their people will be left unprotected. the first onslaught of the

settlers came with bayonets, with rifles, but now they come with refining, with fracking, with pipelines. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we are broadcasting from paris, france. in a rare live speech from the oval office sunday night, president obama called wednesday's mass shooting in san bernardino, california, an act of terrorism. the shooting killed 14 people at the inland regional center, a facility that provides services to people with disabilities. obama said in response to the attack, he will increase airstrikes against isis in iraq and syria, even though he acknowledged there was "no evidence" that isis had directed

the attack. >> so far we have no evidence that the killers were directed by a terrorist organization overseas or that they were part of a broader conspiracy here at home. amy: president obama also cautioned against islamophobia and vowed not to get pulled into a ground war in iraq or syria. >> we should not be drawn once more into a long and costly ground war in iraq or syria. that is what groups like isil want. amy: we will get response from isis hostage nicolas hénin, a french journalist who was held in syria for more than 10 months , later in the broadcast. meanwhile in london police are , investigating saturday's knife attack on a man at an east london metro station as a terrorist attack. the police say they were told the attacker shouted "this is , for syria." richard walton, counter terrorism police chief, said the attacker's motives are still unknown.

>> it is too early to be absolutely certain the motive for this attack -- we are investigating it. we have a number of lines of whatry to determine happened, how it happened, and particular, the motive that lies behind the attack. amy: in syria, dozens of people have died in airstrikes over the weekend. syrian government airstrikes killed at least 14 people in douma and aleppo. u.s.-led airstrikes have killed at least three syrian government soldiers in damascus, according to assad's government. u.s.-led strikes have also killed more than 30 people in raqqa, whom the syrian observatory for human rights says were isis fighters. meanwhile, the observatory says that since september 30, russian airstrikes have killed more than 400 civilians, including nearly 100 children. in france, marine le pen's far-right party, the national front, secured 30% of the vote in the first round of regional elections on sunday, marking a

major boost for the anti-immigration party. one poll showed the party coming in first place in at least six out of france's 13 regions. recent polls have shown anti-immigration parties gaining support across europe, including in austria, czech republic, holland, poland, slovakia, sweden, and switzerland. meanwhile, in venezuela, the right-wing opposition party seized a majority in the national assembly for the first time in years, winning 99 out of the 167 seats in sunday's elections. the ruling socialist party won only 46 seats. venezuelan president nicolas maduro accepted the election results, saying they did not signal an end to the bolivarian revolution that began when hugo chavez was elected in 1999. here at the u.n. climate change summit in paris, france, negotiators have approved draft text with a hopeful form an accord to curb global carbon

emissions by the end of this week. d-link the document still contains more than 900 square brackets to signify areas of disagreement that still need to be resolved. contentious issues include financing for developing countries, the precise carbon emissions reduction targets, and whether or not the text will outline different responsibilities for developing and developed countries. we will have more on the cop 20 later in the broadcast. 10,000 people marched in the belgian city of ostend on sunday, calling for an ambitious accord at the u.n. climate summit. hundreds more people also marched saturday in the eastern suburbs of paris. protests are still banned in downtown paris and the area surrounding the u.n. climate summit itself. in india, the air force has continued rescue operations in the southern state of tamil nadu, as heavy rains and flooding continue.

more than 250 people are being killed so far. prime minister narendra modi has blamed the flooding on climate change. this comes as britain has also mobilized the army to respond to heavy flooding in the hard-hit, northwest town of cumbria. local officials say it's the worst flooding they've ever seen. off the coast of azerbaijan, 32 people have died after an offshore oil platform went up in flames in the caspian sea saturday. the rig is operated by azerbaijan's state energy company socar. the fire started after heavy winds damaged a gas pipeline on the platform. a severe storm hampered rescue operations. swedish foreign minister margot wallström has condemned israel's response to recent palestinian knife attacks, saying -- "the response cannot be extrajudicial executions." this comes as israeli authorities have killed a palestinian man whom authorities say lightly wounded a man in west jerusalem. 109 palestinians and 19 israelis have been killed over the last

two months. in raleigh, north carolina, republican frontrunner donald trump ended a campaign speech and walked off stage after protesters interrupted him 10 separate times. some of the protesters chanted, "all lives will matter when black lives matter." others called on trump to "stop the hate." trump repeatedly stopped his speech to respond to the protests. >> these are not people. just remember that. oh, here's another one. here's another one. look at this guy. get him out. amy: the justice department plans to launch a wide-ranging investigation into the chicago police department following protests over the police killing of the 17-year-old laquan mcdonald, who was shot 16 times by white police officer jason van dyke more than a year ago. order, clearly contradicts

-- dashcam video only recently released by court order, clearly contradicts police claims about the shooting, instead showing the teenager posing no threat and walking away from the officers at a distance as officer van dyke jumps out of his police car and opens fire. the controversy has ousted the chicago police chief and led to growing calls for chicago mayor rahm emanuel's resignation. in australia, an immigration lawyer has posted an open letter signed by hundreds of asylum seekers imprisoned at the manus island detention center on an australian naval base in papua , new guinea calling for mass assisted suicide by gas chamber, poison injection, or being dumped at sea, because -- -- and asylum-seekers said he wrote the open letter because detention authorities recently told him and others that no country in the world would accept them. he said -- "so when we found out they will keep doing this and we will be experiencing gradual death for the rest of our lives in here why not ask them to execute us instead?" and former u.s. president jimmy carter says his recent brain scan showed no signs of cancer.

the 91-year-old carter has been undergoing treatment for liver cancer that had spread to his brain. he revealed his cancer-free scan just before teaching sunday school class at a baptist church in his hometown of plains, georgia. >> they could not find any cancer at all, so i have good news. [applause] so a lot of people prayed for me and i appreciate that. so that is what we have been doing. i wanted to tell you the good news because that happened this week. amy: 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 paris, france, at the united nations climate summit were negotiations from 195 countries have approved draft text or what they hope will form a global accord to curb carbon emissions by the end of this week. the document still contains more

than 900 square brackets to signify areas of disagreement, contentious issues that will need to be resolved include financing for developing countries, the precise carbon emission reduction targets, and whether or not the text will explicitly outline different responsibilities are developing and developed countries that are responsible for the majority of carbon emissions to date. a day after negotiators reached the agreement, indigenous people from around the world took to the waters here in paris to demand their rights included in the final accord. while indigenous committees are often at the frontlines of climate change, indigenous leaders here in paris say they fear their rights may be left out of the deal. on sunday, the indigenous group staged a kayak flotilla paddling along the canal unabridged over the canal, they unfurled banners to demand the end of oil drilling on indigenous lands in the defense of water. standing on the bridge as kayakers celfin he does, i spoke with an activist from canada.

>> we have indigenous people from dozens of first nations and indigenous nations from the amazon to the arctic that are all here on this canal in paris, coming down the river to really demonstrate our commitment to protect mother earth. we are very, very concerned about the fact that reference to indigenous rights and human rights have been moved into an annex and that harris text. amy: what does that mean? language oftional the paris agreement, the european union, the u.k. and norway and the united states have been meddling in having indigenous peoples rights protected in the agreement and the new climate agreement. amy: what does it mean to put them into an annex? >> they've been put aside to be discussed after the weekend. so we are extremely concerned. today's action is about asserting our territorial jurisdiction and sovereignty as indigenous peoples. we have rights, priority rights. today's action is about sharing our connection to the sacredness of mother earth with the world.

amy: cree activist speaking at a kayak flotilla here in paris, france. her indigenous people from across the americas described the threats they face to their lands and livelihoods. his people of brazil are fighting a series of mega-dam second bring massive deforestation, flooding, and displacement while the beaver lake cree nation in alberta, tar sands extraction. amy littlefield spoke to some of the participants. >> my name is crystal, i am a member of the beaver lake cree nation from alberta, canada. the goal of our people coming here today to be on the water is , as indigenous peoples, we have an understanding with our one true mother that water is life.

we are the first to experience the cause and effect of climate change. when we are pulling fish from the water -- we don't live in third world country. we live in canada. what is supposed to be a developed first world country, and the indigenous peoples in that country are having to fight for their basic human rights to breathe clean air and drink clean water. >> what role do you have a negotiations? >> we don't have a role. we walk around with badges that say "observer." we are not allowed into the negotiating spaces. [singing] we have come to paris to bring our struggle to the world

for the recognition of our rights. the brazilian government intends to build seven large dams on our this will first -- kill indigenous peoples and our river. we are suffering the great threat to our life, to our river him and our mother is screaming for help. [singing] >> i am a member of the ponca nation of oklahoma, my colonized name is casey. i want to acknowledge the pain

of the people of france from the tragedy that was here on november 13. as we have said often, we indigenous people understand what it feels to be attacked. the ponca people in north-central oklahoma are suffering from environmental genocide. the first onslaught of the settlers came with bayonets, with rifles, with smallpox blankets. but now they come with refineries, with fracking, with pipelines and they kill the air, they kill the earth, they killed the water. and that kills my people. [singing]

>> all friends. in fact, we are all family. all of humanity his family. and so we appeal to the government to stop violating their own laws, to stop violating our rights, to stop alleging and exploiting our lands and territories. we do not want to die in silence. we want to be heard. we want to be -- is in your best interest as well. amy: the leader of the people of

brazil. they call themselves -- the chief wears a traditional large wooden disc in his lower lip. yes played a leading role in the struggle against the hydroelectric dam which is now under construction in brazil. a special thanks to amy littlefield for that report. when we come back, we will go to activists taking on corporate power at cop21 and then to french journalist who was held for 10 months. he will respond to president obama's address. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. frome broadcasting live

cop21, from the u.n. climate summit here in paris, france, as we turn to the issue of corporate sponsorship at the summit. on friday, climate activists gathered at the grand palais in paris protesting the cop21 solutions exhibition where businesses were pushing for corporate and private has responses to climate change. tens of protesters were evicted from the premises by the large security presence there. democracy now!'s hany massoud and nermeen shaikh were there. pascoe sabido of the corporate europe observatory held organize the action. >> look at the ceiling for a start. reallyor, it holds high-level stuff. at the moment, it is holding solutions cop21, which is a massive corporate expo. pushing natural gas, banks are pushing coal.

the airports. you have all sorts of stuff going on there, all coming to be solutions. everyone here to try to green wash your image and present themselves as part of the solution to climate change, but i don't think anyone is buying it. security. walking in here, i was a bit terrified. you have because with their body armor. they are quite threatening. hopefully, we can avoid them. we will see what happens. undercover cops are everywhere. what we plan to do is -- will we toe enough people in here, call out with these companies are really doing. we're going to have people -- a lot of frontline communities coming with present struggles to those fighting tar sands in canada to gas fracking fights. really coming out here and hearing stories about how the solutions are not part of a climate future.

with rising tide north america. this is a toxic tour of the solutions cop21. live a number of folks from frontline committed is the been battling with some of the companies that are sponsoring the cop21 and sponsoring this solutions 21 with their pavilions were going to beginning a tour of their communities and what they're fighting. at first we have ng, which is actually one of france's largest coal companies, lobbying heavily against emission standards in france. 2014 alone, they spent 2.5 million euros lobbying against emission standards. and here they paid to enter the cop 21 solutions 21 solution, to pay for access to negotiators and influence the cop process and green wash their image. these have been fighting engie in australia who want to tell you little bit about what ng has been doing. i will pass it over.

>> activists in australia continue to fight to shut this coal mine down, the dirtiest in the world. and ng is making billions for people in my local community. enough is enough. pay the bill ,engie. >> they won't let us go over there, so we're going to stay here. fracking across europe, one of the largest organizations and pushing fracking in europe. we have folks from the united states, indigenous folks who have been fighting fracking. i will pass this over the canyon moffett. >> they're talking about fracking as a solution to the future. i am from north dakota where their fracking my homeland and killing our people in the name of a false solution for climate

justice. we're looking for renewables will step fracking is not one of them. over here.ed walking the police and security formed a line that prevented us from going to their booth. we're going to head over this way because it looks like more police are coming. kandi, we're coming this way. security has threatened us. they have formed a line. they tried to grab me. people are cheering and support because we are calling out these false solutions. police have a surrounded. they are with their arms. people are ducking under their arms to get out. all we are doing here is we are speaking the truth about what is going on. people have been speaking to reporters all day at these booths and giving interviews. but when we speak about the false solutions and expose the truth of what is happening, we get coupled by police and shut down. >> let let's go.

>> they're arresting people who are turned to speak the truth. >> [indiscernible] if we're sears about tackling climate change, we did to make sure security is on our side. they're doing what they're paid to do, but enforcement, money can buy you quite a lot of security. we're going to be taken out. we're going to continue. we're going to be in the streets. we are going to be on the frontlines. we're going to take down engie and others whilst there in our community. we're going to make sure our common future -- the people are not big business. >> i'm a journalist. going on here is the policeman are actually taking all of the activists that came big copies are doing greenwashing. this more like a commercial fair

than anything else. these people are protesting. it is freedom of speech in our country. we have policeman taking all of these people one by one and taking them out because they don't want any disturbance. it is the police state all over the place because of the terrorist attacks. we're going to see that more and ore, suppression. freedom of speech being breached. >> i don't understand. i'm not an activist or journalist. i am being detained by the police were just trying to learn about what is going on around me . i don't belong to any organization. i'm not doing anything but coming to this exhibition, and now for some reason, the police of france have decided to hold on to me and i cannot leave. i'm not sure if this is the reason that i came to france. i don't believe it was. i came here to learn about how to do something about climate change.

yet -- this is amazing, a voice of dissent is raised and the immediate response is to try and to arrest people and to try and stop them from speaking postop look at me. >> there are a number of people who just sat down in protest. and now a person who was participating in the city and has been escorted out. the police have surrounded the area and are now blocking our shot. and trying to get -- journalists or try to take pictures and trying to film are being prevented from doing so. to speak. want they're making a sleeve. we can't speak. i'm so angry. i can't tell you. i'm a french journalist. you have seen me before, right

yet though i've not seen that in my whole life. the first time i've seen that -- happening in france. i think it is really preposterous. i don't know what word to use. these him people who came here just to engage in a dialogue with the big companies who are not doing that good in environmental issues, they were taken out by police huge police force, one by one. these are students, activists, old people, journalists. -- it is telling a lot about what is actually going on in this place. it is a commercial fair. it is everybody defending its brand. it is major investments. in considering climate change is a political business and not an opportunity for opening up your mind and taking consciousness of what is really at statke.

>> what were you saying? she was asking, let me take [indiscernible] she shouted, let me take my -- it is a very well-known medicine for asthma. >> [indiscernible] >> what shocked me today is the policeman grabbing people with cameras. it is shocking. i mean, people can't do that in a democracy. but there is an emergency state and maybe they think they can do anything. it is not -- i mean,

a good way to maintain -- i mean, all the days are violent. th journalists, they know how to do this. i guess they don't care. they do what they want to do because they know they have no judge in front of them. so they can act like this with journalists. you can see beautiful presentations, nice people, gentle -- yeah, everybody is gentle will step but the reality is not gentle. the reality -- a guy was describing from india where he knows that engie is working on a factory, i don't exactly know the term, but the reality is not gentle. some people are protesting here and saying the reality is not the way you see things here.

yeah, people don't want to hear that voice. amy: that was a french writer and phil maker speaking after climate activists gathered at the grand palace in paris to protest the cop21 solutions corporate expo on climate change, number of protesters were evicted by security. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report, we are broadcasting live from paris, france, from the u.n. summit. and washington, d.c., in a rare televised oval office address on sunday, president obama laid out a defense of u.s. war against the self-proclaimed islamic state. obama said the threat posed by isil has evolved into a new phase. he described the recent shooting in san bernardino, california, which killed 14 people as "an act of terrorism designed to kill innocent people." called on congress to authorize the continued use of military force and outlined his plan to continue bombing iraq and syria areas held by the soap claimed -- so parkland

islamic state. books are military will continue to head down terrorist plotters in any country where it is necessary. in iraq and syria, airstrikes are taking out isil leaders, heavy weapons, oil tankers, infrastructure. and since the attacks in paris, our closest allies, quitting france, germany, and the united kingdom, have ramped up their contributions to our military campaign, which will help us destroyte our effort to isil. any code that is president obama speaking on sunday night. hours after the speech i interviewed french journalist , nicolas hénin. he was held hostage by isis inside syria for 10 months spending much of the time locked up in a dungeon. he was held alongside u.s. journalists james foley and steven sotloff, who were later beheaded. their deaths were videotaped and aired across the world. while in captivity, nicolas hénin also briefly met american aid worker kayla mueller who also died in captivity, possibly from a us-led coalition

airstrike. nicolas henin was released in april 2014 along with three other french journalists. i began by asking him if air strikes are the answer to combating the islamic state. >> airstrikes in syria, the way they are done, are a mistake. i'm not saying that our countries should deprive themselves from any military option. no. the military action should remain in the panel of the strategy. it should be kept as one way to counterterrorism. at the point is that in a counterterrorism strategy, military shall remain a very little part of the overall strategy. because eventually, what kind of fight are we fighting? that is a fight for propaganda. so basically, the side -- the party that will win this war is

not the party that will fight harder or have the most expensive or the newest weaponry or the bravest fighters, it will be the party that will manage to have the people on its side. and the problem is, with all of this bombings -- anybody at the moment is bombing syria. all of these bombings have terrible side effects and basically, we, westerners, not only westerners, the regime are pushing the syrian people into the hands of isis. we are ready for them. i'm not saying no, absolutely for any strike, but strikes should remain minimal because we should keep in mind what are the consequences and the side effects of them. amy: you have called these strikes a trap. >> yes, very much. in thed them, especially

french environment. because just two months ago, president hollande, the french president, had okayed the strikes and announced to my fellow countrymen that these strikes were aiming at securing our country, making it safer. because he said it is better to fight the terrorists of isis in syria, so that we don't have to fight them here at home. and what was the consequence? we have seen the paris attacks, these extracts can treated dust can treated -- contributed to nameeople of france as a for terrorists. amy: what is the answer? >> to engage the people, to cry forespecially their

freedom and democracy and first -- overas a short-term the last few years, syrian atple have been massacred 200 people per day. that is even higher than the death toll of the paris attack. this is something that we have to address first because these 200 people killed every day are the reason -- the primary reason for the success of isis. amy: talk about what happened to you in june 2013. isthat memory, i mean, it [indiscernible] amy: where were you? >> in raqqa, the syrian capital city of the islamic state.

i was reporting. that was my fifth trip to syria since the beginning of the revolution. and they had taken me. i tried to escape. of course, they were not happy. i was moved and moved and moved. and some of the people that were moved with me, eventually, we hostages western together, journalists -- amy: why did you open your book with james foley? >> james was the first to be murdered. it was a personal trauma to me, but also for the world. this is why i opened my book with him because the aim of the islamic state by murdering him open anden a trap wide under our feet. they wanted to impose their

agenda on us. to stone us, that we are so much shocked that we stop acting rationally. there's something very specific with a terror action. the success, the completion of a terrorist attack does not depend on the perpetrators, but it victims.n its the beautiful example for that is the aftermath of 9/11. i mean, how did the bush administration react after 9/11? we had the invasion of afghanistan and iraq the later became the birthplace of the islamic state. we had guantanamo, extraordinary rendition, and the patriot act.

totallyone must be stupid to believe that we punished osama bin laden and al qaeda by invading iraq and afghanistan. and even the opposite, the real success on 9/11 -- this is not the collapse of the twin towers, the real success of 9/11 was the invasion of afghanistan and iraq. this success is only due to the victims, the americans were victims of the terrorist, but they offered to the aggressors their success. and this is something that we shall always keep in mind every by a terrorist attack. what would our aggressors want us to do? what would you like me to do and

-- how shall i react to displease him? amy: french journalist, isis hostage, nicolas hénin. we will be back with him in 15 seconds. ♪ [music break] amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we are broadcasting from paris, france, finishing our conversation with french journalist nicolas hénin, held hostage and serve himself proclaimed islamic state for 10 months. beheaded, foley was how did you find out? where was he beheaded? -- i recognized the

it is where iran --i ran. placevery close from this on the night i escaped, at the very beginning of my captivity. so i recognized the landscape. and i was, of course, very much shocked because i did not believe that would happen. i was maybe a bit naïve. we fueled ourselves -- filled ourselves with hope, with desperate hope during the months of captivity.

we had to hope because if you stopped hoping, then you have no reason to survive. -- yes,was maybe a big for some of us it may be more difficult than for others, but that we would eventually come all of us, make it out. murder was the evidence that that wasn't true and that actually some of us, some of our group would not make it out. amy: how did you ultimately get freed? well, i believe there have been negotiations for that. i don't know the terms of the negotiations. i don't know what i was exchanged for. the only thing i know is was the , the frenchrities

president, they did not pay any money. amy: what happened after 10 months? you are held and then tell us about the day you were freed. >> well, it was a bit strange. we were moved to a different jail, away from the group. we had this be -- on the day before they said, well, you will be freed. [indiscernible] amy: what do you mean, you had to speak? >> they brought her to ourselves. we had five minutes to change. honestly, they wanted us to report that she was alive. amy: what did you say to kayla? what was her conversation? >> she's blamed -- she explained a little bit what she of through. amy: what did she say? >> she said, -- she was

incredibly courageous. at that time, i don't believe that she had been mishandled yet. apparently, she had been afterwards. amy: [indiscernible] >> may be. but she spent several months in isolation. but she was impressive. -- she waseautiful strong inside. shortly have been through some tough moments, but she managed very well to overcome them. i was just impressed. she was beautiful. she was strong. i mean, to the point that jihadi john believed that she converted

to islam. she said, oh, i just want to correct you and i did not convert. and i mean, no one would dare to contradict him, but she did. she was never aggressive. she was just like, no, please, let me correct you. i did not convert. and she was just like that. very calm, but very decided. and she even spoke to us -- her french was quite good. she -- yeah. she was really impressive. amy: and who were you released with? >> we were four french journalists together. we had been released together.

after some days and a transit place near the turkish border, then they delivered us to the turkish military. amy: were there other women held there? >> yes, there were a few, but they were in a separate cell. amy: did you know who they were? >> yes. amy: who were they? >> i cannot say. these cases are under blackout. amy: blackout because? and these of their will will of their own player and families. amy: we just came from about two hours north of paris. there were thousands and thousands of refugees there. explosion the largest of refugees since world war ii and how the west is dealing with them. >> well, this huge flow of

is a major recruiting argument for political parties across europe. and that is another trap. because actually, this refugee crisis was a major blow to the islamic state and to its propaganda because what does it stop at -- atomic state recognize? first, western society is not suitable for a muslim to live in. a muslim should emigrate to a muslim land and preferably to the caliphate because this caliphate that we are landlishing is the gene for all muslims. and the other aspect, the other

key point of isis propaganda is based on the fact that muslimsrs marginalize current racism and hatred. and basically, what we have witnessed last summer? first, hundreds of thousands of this dreamland of syria. loadsjust like if you had of jews fleeing israel just a couple of years after the state of israel is established. i mean, it contradicts all of the speech the state is based on. that, they leave this land of shame, that is a dreamland for isis, to immigrate

to lands of unbelievers and on top of that, they are welcomed with open arms by the western societies who and by many people in europe who say, well, you are our brothers and we will protect you. and that was so much a blow that i believe one of the reasons behind the paris attacks was to distract this and to make us close our doors to the refugees. because welcoming refugees is not a terror threat to our country, it is like a vaccine to protect us from terrorism because the more interactions we have between societies, between tensions.s, the less

the islamic state believes in a global confrontation. what they want eventually is civil wars in our countries, or at least, large unrest. in the middle east, a large-scale war. this is what they look for. this is what they struggle for. so we have two kill the narrative and actually to welcome refugees, totally destroy the narrative. if you kill the narrative, it is more efficient than if you dropped some bombs and kill some of the fighters. amy: the far right national front party here in france has just surged in the election yesterday. now, these are regional elections. calle.e is what does this mean? fromll, she benefits a lot

the recent events. of course, one of the reasons for this surge is the high unemployment rate that we have the economy crisis that is continuing. but she benefits a lot from, first, the refugee crisis, with a surge also in xenophobia and she is for a much islamic phobic and she plays with that. in the second is the paris attacks. with the fear of the people. amy: can you talk about the rise of the national front and the rise of isis? >> well, it is surprising to see the parallel somehow and some it cant but to isis -- sound a bit provocative to say

it like that, but the point is, the paris attacks just a few weeks before the first round of the elections that have seen the surge of the national front. these events are probably related, just like this surge is probably also related to the refugee crisis because marine le the just like all of populist leaders across europe, played a lot with the fear of the people following this refugee crisis. they pretended this influx of refugees threatened our identity that it would jeopardize our security. this is totally stupid. you know in france we will 20,000 this year between

to 22,000 refugees. 70are a country of almost million inhabitants. i was in sweden last week. they have 9 million inhabitants. they will welcome 190,000 refugees this year alone. i mean, and they are not afraid for their identity. they are not afraid for their security. they're just concerned -- well, with the accommodation of all of these people and much more logistical and practical mean,n, but in issue -- i we could welcome even more refugees than we are welcoming. and actually, welcoming refugees is a beautiful way to fight the islamic state.

amy: because? >> because this kills the narrative. because all the narrative is based on the fact that they are building the holy land for muslims, the supper claimed caliphate on one way, and it is also made on the islamophobia. i heard during my time in captivity once, discussion between french-speaking to hotties -- jihadis. ofnch farmer maybe of mix french and belgium. in that discussion was about islamophobia in europe. and obviously, islamophobia was which the businesses for decided to join the islamic state. -- the the people islamic state fighters go there and join the group in an attempt to kind of restore the muslim

pride. amy: did you feel the jihadis were steeped in islam? >> very little. and by the way, most of the jihadis i know, the people i met during my time in captivity or that i followed on the social media are exchanged with on the social media, are just new muslims. i mean, either converted or they are kind of born-again muslims. so to be provocative, a good muslim will not become a jihadi. i did not meet any jihadi who had a religious childhood. and the religion is always kind of vaccine and religion seems to be always almost a vaccine

against terrorism because a good religious people will never become a terrorist. amy: your message to the republican presidential candidates now, donald trump and others, who are saying the refugee flow must be cut off? >> well, they're playing the game of isis. they are just playing it. amy: because? >> because they -- welcoming refugees is kind of a stand against terrorism. amy: why so many jihadist come from france? >> that is a difficult question to answer. maybe because of the proximity of syria. it is more difficult to travel from france to syria, from western europe to syria. and also it is probably a sociology.

it is probably also the result of social problems that we can have in france. it is also probably, to some extent, the result of bad policies with, indeed, marginalization of muslims and from the been -- security services. amy: what would you say to young europeans who want to join, who what to become jihadists? >> this is a very important message. isis will recruit you, telling you jihadi is cool. yes, it is cool, you have no life, no girlfriend, no job, no money, nothing in your home country, and isis promises you,

what, adventure him engage meant , a girl, car, weapon, power, money, whatever. they all play like jihad is cool. -- becauses, isis isis doesn't really fight assad, doesn't reject the muslims in syria. extent? ato what number of muslims in syria. isis is a disaster for the syrian people. for those who want to join isis, i tell them, i understand the reason for your rage because, yes, there are many reasons actually to be unhappy about both your life and the

west or but the situation in syria and civilians being massacred in huge numbers. you makewill just make this crisis -- non-amy: french journalist nicolas hénin held for 10