06/10/16 06/10/16 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from washington, d.c., this is democracy now! >> i don't thk there haever en someone so qualified to hold this office.. she has got th couragege, the cocompsion, , d the heart to get the job done. i say that as somebody who had to debate her more than 20 times. >> what this campaign is about is making it clear, together we are going to change our national priorities. amy: president obama endorses

hillary clinton's white house bid after meeting with her rival bernie sanders in the oval office. where does mr. sanders: next? we will speak with one of his superdelegates, former cwa , anddent larry cohen michelle chan, one of the first environmental groups to endorse bernie sanders. then we will go to louisville, kentucky, where thousands are gathering for the funeral of mohammed ali am a one of the most iconic figures of the 20th century. muslimmay have been a desk made in a muslim relevant. in a way that no one could challenge.. took the question of whether a person can be a muslim and american to rest.

amy: we will speak with sports commentator dave zirin was written extensively about the heavyweight champ, and dalia mogahed, one of the few speakers at his islamic funeral on thursday. all of that and more coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we're broadcasting from washington, d.c., where president barack obama formally endorsed hillary clinton's white house bid on thursday and called for democrats to unite behind her, two days after she claimed victory in the democrac c race > i want cononatulate hillarclininton makakin history ashehe psumptive democratic nominin forresidede of t u united states. look, knknow h harard th jobob can be. that iwhy i know hillary will s so go att it. in fac i don't think ere ha ever been somne quafied

totooes so qualified to head this office. amy: in his video endorsement of clinton, president obama also praised her challenger bernie sanders for bringing out millions of first-time voters. >> a a lot of ththat is thanks o bernie sandersrs who has run an incredible campaign. i had a great meeting with hihim and ii thanknkim for shihining a spotlight t onssues s ke econonomic inequality in thee outside e influence e of money n our politics and bnging g young pepeople into o the processss. embracing that message will help us win in november. after the white house meeting, sanders vowed to work with hillary clinton to help defeat donald trump but he said his campaign is not over. >> we should not be having a situation where wall street corporate america and

billionaires are failing to pay their fair share of taxes. these are some of the issues that many millions of americans have supported during my campaign. these are the issues that we will take to the democratic national convention in philadelphia at the end of july. amy: following president obama's endorsement, senator elizabeth warren publicly endorsed hillary clinton. warren's name has been tossed around as a possible vice presidential candidate. she announced her endorsement on the rachel maddow show last night. >> this is about what we need to survive. this is about whether or not we're going to have a country that just works for the donald trumps of the world, that just works for a handful of the largest corporations in the world, or a country that really is a link and economic future for all of us. and i think having a fighter in the lead, a female fighter in

the lead, is exactly what this country needs. amy: earlier in the day, elizabeth warren called trump a thin-skinned, racist bully. we will have a discussion about presidential politics after the headlines. in other trump news, an investigation by usa today has found that more than 3500 lawsuits have been filed against donald trump and his business entities over the past 30 years. according to the paper hundreds , of former employees and contractors have accused trump and his businesses of failing to pay them for their work. victims have included a dishwasher in florida, a glass company in new jersey a carpet company, a plumber, 48 waiters, dozens of bartenders at his resorts and clubs, and even several law firms that once represented him in labor these lawsuits. according to u.s. department of labor data, trump's companies have also been cited for 24 violations of the fair labor standards act since 2005 for failing to pay overtime or

minimum wage. meanwhile, there are new developments into the fbi probe around hillary clinton's use of unsecured, private email account while she was secretary of state. "the wall street journal" is reporting the federal probe is focusing on a series of emails from 2011 and 2012 dealing with cia drone strikes in pakistan. the emails were written by u.s. diplomats in islamabad and state department officials in washington and some were , forwarded to clinton's personal unsecured email account. the house of representatives voted thursday to create a federal control board to help puerto rico cope with crippling debt crisis. the bill passed by a vote of 297 to 127. the bill now moves on to the senate. the bill would impose a seven-member oversight board with sweeping powers to run puerto rico's economy. democratic congressman luis guitterez spoke e out against te bill. >> we are engaged today in a

wholly undemocratic activity in the world's greatest democracy. we are debating hohow we willl e power from the people who are virtually powerless already. think about it. you are imposing a junta. that is what they're calling it. there will be no difference junta and the junta in chile. amy: united nations secretary general ban ki moon has acknowledged he was coerced into removing saudi arabia from a blacklist of forces responsible for killing children after the kingdom threatened to cut off funding to the u.n. an annual u.n. report found nearly 2 2000 children were kild i injured i in yemen last yeaea sisifold increase overer the previous year. 60% of those casualties were blamed on the u.s.-backed, saudi-led coalition. ban ki moon described the decision to remove the saudi-led coalition from the blacklist as one of the most painful and difficult decisions i have had

to make. >> the report describes horrors no child should have to face. at the same time, i also have to consider the very real prospect that millions of other children would suffer grievously if, as it has to do -- suggested to me, if countries would defund many u.n. programs. children already at risk in palestine, south sudan, syria, yemen, andnd so many other placs would fall further into this bear. it is unacceptable for member states to exert undue pressure. amy: and news from afghanistan, president obama has approved giving the u.s. military greater ability to conduct airstrikes and assist afghan forces fighting the taliban. the decision came after monts of debate.

-- months of debate. npr is reporting the department of education's office of civil rights is now investigating five sexual violence cases at stanford university. that's more than any other school in the country. the five do not include the 2015 rape committed by star stanford swimmer brock turner which has , made headlines this month after a judge sentenced him to just six months in jail for raping an unconscious inebriated woman on campus. in a major gun ruling, the 9th circuit court of appeals has ruled gun owners have no constitutional right to carry a concealed gun in public. in a 7 to 4 ruling the court found two california counties did not violate the second amendment when they denied some applicants a concealed firearm license. in an update on the freddie gray case, prosecutors have accused baltltimore police o officer car goodson of fatally injuring gray byby giving him a "rough ride" n a police van.

gray died ofpinal injujuries lastst year after r he was arred and trtransported inin the polie van.n. his death spsparked a seriries f proteststs in baltimimore. goodson, who drove the police van, is the third officer to go on trial. for the first time the world , health organization is advising people living in all regions where the zika virus has spread to consider delaying pregnancy to avoid having babies with birth defects. the advice affects millions of couples in 46 countries across latin america and ththe caribben where zika has been reported . british prosecutors have announced no charges will be brought against mi6 officials who took part in a joint cia operation targeting a libyan dissident and his wife. in 2004, abdul-hakim belhaj and his pregnant wife were secretly detained at a secret cia prison in thailand and then rendered to libya where they were jailed and tortured in one of muammar gaddafi's prisons. belhaj's wife fatima boudchar spoke to the bbc.

>> myy h hands and l legs were d and my eyes were covered.. ththey injected me with somethi. i i did not know where i was going. i was six months pregnant. i was so scared that i was going to die. amy: details of mi6's role in the cia operation emerged after human rights watch found documents related to the case in libya after the fall of gaddafi's government. in related news the european , parliament has passed a non-binding resolution urging member states to investigate the cia's use of secret prisons inside europe in the years after the september 11 attacks. the resolution specifically names four countries -- lithuania, poland, italy, and britain. activists in eastern pennsylvania are claiming victory after nestle dropped plans to extract 200,000 gallons of water from a spring in monroe county. residents sued the water giant in january and held a series of protests.

here in new york and over 100 people gathered outside of governor andrew cuomo's office thursday -- this is in new york state -- to protest his signing of an executive order forcing state agencies to divest from any organizations aligned with the boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement. bds is an international campaign to pressure israel to comply with international law and respect palestinian rights. professor rani allan criticized cuomo's order. >> this order demonstrates our success as a palestine solidarity movement. it shows it has been expanding, getting larger, has been actually putting pressures on u.s. government and on these economy. israeli we will continue to boycott until we achieve human rights

and social justice for the palestinian people. amy: and a michigan man has been freed from prison after serving more than eight years bebehind r bars for murders he didn't commit. two weeks after davontae sanford was sentenced to 90 years in jail, a professional hit man, vincent smothers confessed to , the killings. but sanford remained in jail until now. after his release, he shared a brief message to others wrongly incarcerated. >> keep fighting. don't give up. you have to stay strong mentally, spiritually, emotionally. if you know you are in prison for something you did not do, don't rollover. like, don't rollover. don't give in. don't let them break you. 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 washington, d.c. before heading to louisville for the funeral of mohammed ali, we begin with the 2016 presidential race. on thursday come here in the nation's capital, president obama met with democratic presidential candidate bernie sanders in the oval office. the meeting came two days after several media outlets reported clinton had reached the number of delegates needed to capture the nomination, putting her on a path to be the first woman ever nominated by major party to run for the white house. less than an hour and a half after meeting with sanders, president obama endorsed clinton in a video posted on her campaign's facebook page. >> i w wt to congratulat hillary clinn on makin hiory asashe presumivee mocratat nomineeoror preredent ofof the unid states ok, i know how hd d this job ca be. that is y inow hillary will bebe sgood a at . in ft, i d't ink there s evereen seone so alified

hd this offffe. she has goththe c crage, the compassion, and the heart to get the job done. amy: the president's video message was aimed in part at millions of sanders supporters. obama said sanders could play a central role in shaping the democratic agenda. > i had a great meeting w wih him m this week k and i i thankm for r shining a spotlight t issueses like econonomic inequay and the outsize influence of money in our politicics, and brbringing yououng people into e process. embracing that message is going to help us win in november. amy: hillary clinton picked up another endorsement thursday from a progressive favorite, massachusetts senator elizabeth warren. on thursday, bernie sanders also met with senate minority leader harry reid of nevada. while reporters took pictures, sanders ignored three questions about obama's endorsement of clinton. later, he delivered a nearly hour-long speech to thousands of supporters at a rally ahead in washington, d.c., ahead of the district's primary election on

tuesday. sanders did not mention clinton by name. >> we can bail out wall street, no problem. we can get tax break for billionaires, no problem. as somehow when it comes to rebuilding inner cities in america, providing good education, good health care, affordable housing, somehow we seem not to have the money. and what this campaign is about is making it clear, together we are going to change our national priorities. based on aaign is vision that our countntry must focus on social justice, on economic justice, on racial justice, on environmental

justice. -- when the oval overwhelming majority of young people support that vision, that will be the future of america. amy: bernie sanders has said he wants the democratic party to adopt much of his platform at the democratic national convention. he has been allowed to appoint five people to the 15-member platform drafting committee, which has been meeting for the first time this week here in washington, d.c. for more, we are joined here in d.c. b by two guesests. larry cohen is senior advisor to bernie sanders and past president of communications workers of america. first superdelegate for bernie sanders. and michelle chan is spokesperson for friends of the earth action. she is working on recommendations fofor enenvironmentalist andnd 350.org co-fouounder bill mckibben, onef sanders' selectitions on the democratic platform drafting committee. we welcome you both to democracy now!

larry cohen, what happened yesterday after president obama met with bernie sanders and then endorsed hillary clinton. what is bernie sanders position right now him as he says, yes, he is running in the democratic -- in the primary in d.c. next tuesday, then what? >> from the beginning, our message has been every voter, every delegate. it was not just about bernie being the next president, was also about building a force for change inside and outside the democratic party will stop and as historic as hillary's campaign has been, bernie's campaign is also historic in that, you know, without any super pacs, without the billionaires building this kind of massive voter base of almostt 1111 million voters, raising $20 million -- we will c come to philadelphia with not only a message, but proposals to change the party, the platform that

michelle is working on in many ays we expect it to be different platform. we want to see the democratic party be a populist party, not a party of the financial elite. amy: what is your reaction to president obama and then, elizabeth warren, the massachusetts senator meeting with hillary clinton today and all sorts of talk it should be a should be aal -- vice presidential running mate. what is your reaction of hillary clinton yesterday? this is t toon is, be expected, to some extent, given what has happenened this week and that at the same t tim, our supporters are quite energetic about continuing on -- again, inside the democratic party and beyond, , focusing on issues other candidates, as well as bernie's own nomination and his own support. amy: michelle chan, your group, friends of the earth action, was

one of the first environment of groups to endorse bernie sanders. e are here in washington, d.c. these days, it has been the first meeting of the platform committee, what come happening at the assange and court hotel? people are going from morning till night. your writing suggestions for recommendations for one of bernie sanders hit -- picks on the form committee, bill mckibben. first i want to go to ththe mckibben speaking at the first hearing a wednesday. >> i am bill mckibben from the green mountain state of vermont. it is good to be here in what is the hottest year we have ever recorded on this planet. great pleasure for me the last few times i have come to washington, d.c., have ended up in jail, so this is a much nicer -- [laughter] a much nicer surroundings.

we're in a country with a lot of people who are distrustful of our political system. and i hohope that as a committe, we are able to provide them with some reasons to be less distrustful going forward. amy: michelle chan, talk about what is being hammered out. larry cohen just mentioned a very different platform, democratic platform. what does that look like now? what are you recommending? >> from the environmental point of view, we hope we can sesee through ththe platform,m, the didifferences we have se betwewn bernie s sanders and hillary clininton on environment issues. one of the huge differences betweenn t the two is with respt to fracking. sanders has b been clear from te beginning that he supports a moratorium on all fracking in the united states. that is a very bold, proenvironment stance. the difference is that hillary of supported regulation

fracking. if we are able to see that kind of bold anti-fracking moratorium integrated into the party platform, that would be huge. a second coordinate -- priority would be with this new emerging grassroots call to keep it in the ground, particular that is referring to an end to all new fossil fuel leases on public lands. this is a call that sanders himself has backed. he is cosponsored legislation to this effect. it really is the new rallying cry for climate activists in this country. fossil fuell new leases on public lands would be the kind of thing we would need, keeping 450 billion tons of co2 in the ground. it is the kind of thing we need to do in order to check climate change. amy: climate activists have delivered more than 90,000 petitions to the democratic national committee demanding

that the platform include a nationwide ban on fracking. but as you said, hillary clinton is not for that. bernie sanders is. bernie sanders just has five of the 15 members of the platform committee. so why do you think that something like that would go through? i mean, the presumptive nominee is not for it. >> right. certaiainly, this is going to be negotiation, probably a v vy heated negototiation between all of the members of the drafting committee. it is not going to be easy ii thinink for bill mckibben to advance the kikind of bold environmental agenda that sanderers has stood for and fout for, especially when it comes to against thes democratic establishment. we know that. fuel and oil and gas interests have given heavily to party candidates, so we don't expect this to be a very easy fight.

but overall,l, sanders entirire campaign, the movement that has built around him, it has been courageous. it is something -- it is a future that people are willing to figight for. so we do expect it to be a difficult road, but we expect it to be fought valiantly. amy: let me ask you ababout something bernie sanders said, larry cohen. rally, he at his said, the final results of the california primary is not official yet. on thursday, toll-free secretary of state alex padilla said at least 2 million votes have yet to be counted. hillary clinton is currently votes. by about 440,000 so california is not a done dealal? well, i think that our supporters in california are quite adamant that every vote be

counted. there have been problblems all throrough the primary and caucus process. one of the issues we will definitely take to the convention and beyond is the way this whole process has worked. it has not worked welell in stae after state, including, as you mentioned, california. and days before, puerto rico, which is still not counted. really, the bigger issue in terms ofof transparency has been places like iowa at the begiginning where there is not even a a tally of how money pepe showed u up at e eh precinct, oy the democratic party has it. we n need reform i in this procs and more attention to it. we need the superdelegates out. that is one of the main things we will be fighting for. amy: talk about this. you are one of those superdelegates. i think you are sanders first superdelegate. how long have you been a superdelegate, something like 11 years? >> 11 years. howard dean. it goes back to that period.

amy: explain how it works and why you're calling for -- well, making your position obsolete, essentially. >> well, first of all, the process of how people get on the democratic national committee, which then becomes so-called superdelegates, is totally -- there is no transparency at all about it. more importantly, we go through this long dramatic process f frm iowa to the district of columbia , meanwhile, 15% of the delegates whwho come to o the convention in philadelphia have nothing to do with that process. so even in a state like washington, where i think bernie got 72% of the vote, we don't have a s single superdelegatete. some ways, more and d portly, te democratic establishment their backs the tpp, were overwhelmimingly dememocratsts e against the transpacific partnership, as are most republicans. we have this disconnect between

the financial elite and what they do to the democratic party in terms of the financncial control they have veveus the people when they vote. democracy should be about the people when they vote. the whole superdelegate process is flawed fundamentally. earlier this week when the associated press announces, now, there's a new superdedelegates that have come out and we are not goining to tell you who they are. in cononfidence, they have tolds they are supporting hillarary so now hillary has a majority of the convention delegates. again, that is not what democracy looks like. it is just one more in a series of roadblocks along the way that any insurgent candidate faces, including bernie sanders. , canquickly, michelle chan you talk about the tpp? platformalling for planks that deal witith the tpp?

michelle? >> hello? amy: hi, michele. on the issue of the tptpp and te democratic platftform? >> i would certainly hope that we are able to use this opportunity to essentially get the democratic party platform more in n line with what the majority o of americans, certaiy the people in the democratic party, believe on trade. currently, i think the 2012 democratic platform describes support for free and fair trade. i think peperhaps whwhat we mige able to see is s a littlele bitf scrubbing of the word "free," because what we have seen that term mean when it comes to the free trade deals being brougught before congress, when it comes to fast track is, deeply flawed, very anti-environmental tradee deals that in-depth threateninig not t only current environmemenl

decision, policies, and regulations, but have a chilling effect on the kinds of environment t or that we need to see. ist a trade deals mean now actually not really trade at all. it means anti-regulation, dederegulation, and when environmental and public health regulations themselves are treated as a barrier to trade and therefore need to be taken down, these kindnds of deals are ababsolutely not in the interest of the united states, nor any of the countries that end up signing them, certainly not in the interest of the planet. amy: i want to talk about donald trump. elizabeth warren criticized donald trump in a speech thursday, singling out his repeated claims that a federal judge's mexican heritage could make him biased against trump, which is why he should recuse himself, trump says. >> donald trump says, judge curiel should be ashamed of himself. note, donald, you should be ashamed of yourself.f.

ashamed. megaphoner using the of a presidential campaign to attack a judge's character and integrity simply because you think you have some god-given right to steal people's money and get away with it. you shshamed ourselveses and you shame this great country. small, not allow a insecure, thin-skinned, one of the tyrant or his allies in the senate to destroy the rule of law in the united states of america. .e will not any code that was elizabeth warren on thursday. on thursday also, donald trump and henry clinton engaged in a twitter war. trump began by --

trump: obama just endorsed crooked hillary. he wants four more years of obama -- but nobody else does! hello clinton responded -- clinton: delete your account. amy: sanders has been saying, he is the one who comes out ahead more polls. yesterday, after coming out of the white house, he said he will be coordinating with hilillary clinton in defeating trumpmp and that is the most important issue. it sounded like code for he is, you know, giving in. what do you think? >> bernie is not giving in. again, we are fighting in the platform drafting commimittee on alall of the issues we have just discussed. we are pushing for reform as a party. he will be talking more to hillary clinton. they talked briefly tuesday night. he will be meeting with her. the meeting with the president, the meeting with senate leaders

-- what berninie is trying to figure out, is there a wayay to have a democtic c party that iss a populist party and so that supporters -- more than 10 million voters can be enthusiastic not just about the nominee for president, but also that where this party is headed as opposed to feeling like e ths is a party wherere, you know, te voters are taken for granted and controlled by the people who raise the money. amy: we had jill stein on yesterday who is hoping to be another woman on the presidential ballot in november. she has called for bernie sanders to perhaps join her in running in the green party ticket. ththat may be ruleles can be chd that he e could be the presidential candidate of the green party, that he should give up on this two-party duopoly in the united states. your thoughts? >> bernie, as you know, for 25

years in congress, has run as an independent will stop on ththe other handnd, he is been in thee democrcratic caucus the whole time. what he would say is, we are inside and outside the democratic party, fighghting foa democracy, fighting for economic and environmental and racial justice. he has made a pledge to support the democratic candidate this year. i believeve he will stick to th. we think jill is a wonderful person and champion of economic and social justice, but bernie's pledge is to support the democratic nominee. amy: michelle chan, there is talk today of a meeting between hillary clinton and elizabeth warren. elizabeth warren, like bernie sanders, holding up the progressive wing flag of the democratic party. do you see a war happening now, a battle within the party for which wing well when out?

and would you like to see if hillary clinton is the presidential nominee, even if bernie sanders were, elizabeth warren on the ticket? >> i think t that elizababeth wn on the ticket will certainly be exciting for many, many people. i think a lot of progressives would be support -- support the vision and views of both candidates -- i'm sorry, both people. and so if that were to occur, i think a lot of progressives, friends of thehe earth actioion, would strongly consider what that would look like and would likely, i think, be excited about that kind of a prospect. certainly, i think what bernie has inspired in people is a vision and a set of values, and i think he himself has been pretetty clear that this politil revolution isn't about a person or one decision and that in

order to see t these visions a d values live fourth, it will take many, many different forms on many, many different political levels and lots of different kinds of political engagement. and so i don't think that bernie supporters would feel like -- or many bernie supporters would feel like if he dropped out of the presidential or vp slot that they would never, ever consider any other progressive to put their support behind t them will step amy: larry cohen, this was bernie sanders just last sunday speaking with jake tapper on cnn's state of the union. collects do i have a problem when a sitting secretary of state and a foundation run by her husband collects many millions of dollars from foreign governments, governments which are dictatorships?

of civil have a lot liberties or democratic rights in saudi arabia. you don't have a lot of respectthere -- respect there for opposition points of view, for gay rights, women's rights. driver problem with that? yeah, i do.o. >> do think it creates an appearance of conflict of interest? ay: singh hillary clinton has conflict of interest of the clinton foundation receiving means of dollars from countries like saudi arabia and the secretary of state's work. are we going to see comments , donald trumpore said he is going to get a major address on the clintons thiss weweek, perhaps as early a as monday. your thoughts >> i think bernie is going to shift more toward inus on donald t trump because

elections with choices, not necessarily the choices we want. so probably not many more of those comments. i do think the campaign is an important terms of pointing out the differences between berniee and secretary clintnton. that is part of what t this campaiaign is about. more of it is, as michellele sa, a different t vision for americ, and inclusive vision that excites young people and people of all ages and from all backgrounds about a new american dream, about growth in the country. about getting rid of student continuity,y,f let's just keep p things the way they are.. talking about workererrights and fighting for w workers rigight d internal justice and endnding fracking.. that campaign will go on. we're going to support lotots of campaigns that carry thahat forward. this is not just a caampaign for

the e presidency, but a campmpan for social justice and for social change. this campaign will go on. amy: i want to thank you both for being with us, larry cohen senior advisor to bernie sanders , and past president of communications workers of america. first superdelegate for bernie michelle chan spokesperson for friends of the earth action working on recommendations for bill mckibben to bring to the platform committee for the dnc. when we come back, we are in washington, d.c. come the nation's capital, but we're heading to louisville, kentucky, the funeral of mohammed ali. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. thousands are e thering inin louisville, kentucky, for the funeral of muhammad ali, one of the most iconic figures of the 20th century. ali died friday in arizona after suffering for decades from parkinson's syndrome. he was considered by many to be

the greatest boxer of all time, but he will also be remembered for his activism against racism and war. this morning in louisville, where ali was born and raised, a funeral motorcade willll pass by his boyhood homeme. later today, mourners across the world will gather for an interfaith serervice to pay ther final respects. former president bill clinton, comedian bill crystal, and journalist bryant gumbel are expected to deliver eulogies. on thursday, an estimated 14,000 attended ali's islamic prayer service. muslim scholar dr. sherman jackson addressed the mourners. made a cultural icon, ali being muslim cool. ali made being a muslim dignified. ali he made being a muslim relevant. all of this he did in a way that no one could challenge -- he put the question of whether a person can be a muslim and

american to rest. that question. with his passing, let's hope that question will nowow be entered with his precious remains. amy: dalia mogahed alsoo but thed the mourners islamic funeral and we will hear from h inn a moment. in his primeme, mohammed alili a n outspoken advocate of the black muslim movement and critic of the vietnam war. he first b became known toto the world d in 1960 when he won thte olympic c ld med foror boxin four years l ler, he became the heavyweighght champion of the world. on the next day, the then-cassius c clay shocked the spororts world and annnnounced e was joining the nation of islam and chananging his name. afafter brieiefly being named cassius x, nation of islam leader elijah muhammad renamamed him muhammad ali. for years, many news outlets refused to refer to the boxer by his new name, instead using what ali called his slave name. muhammad ali grew close to malcolm x, and he became a vocal

critic of u.s. actions at home and abroad. after his conscientious objector status request was denied in april 1967, he refused induction. ali's title was taken away from him. he was sentenced to a five-year prison term. he appealed all the way to the u.s. supreme court and in 1971, his conviction was finally reversed. he did not go to prison, but was forced to wait four years before regaining his boxing license. in 1974, ali reclaimed the world heavyweight champion title. in addition to fighting several matches overseas, muhammad ali became involved in world affairs. you can see our hour long special about his life and legacy on our website, democracynow.org. right now we go to his hometown of louisville, kentucky, where the funeral is about to begin. we are joined by two of the guests that will be there. dalia mogahed was one of the speakers at muhammad ali's islamic prayer service on thursday. mogahed is the director of research at the institute for social policy and understanding. one of two muslim members of president obama's faith advisory

council. and dave zirin is a sports editor for the nation magazine. his recent article is called, "i just wanted to be free: the radical reverberations of muhammad ali." he's the author of the ali-themed book, "what's my name, fool? sports and resistance in the united states." dalia mogahed, you are only o oe of three, including the imam, who spoke at the islamic funeral, the person is yesterday. what did you say? >> what i said was that mohammed ali taught us how to be free. he taught us how to be free by linquishining our a attachmentso the world. he owned fame and fortunune and never allowed it to own him, a a that is why y he was able to std with principal about popularity and chose conscience above conformity. itit was in n this way that he d himself and acted as a symbol and an example for how we can

all free ourselves through his spirituality. amy: can you talk about his name, mohammed ali, what it means and how he got it? >> absolutely. he got his name because it was given to him by h his religioios leader a lesser mohammed. the name means praise in the heavens and the earth. one of the themes of my brief remarks yesterday was that that funeral with people from all over the wororld, every color ad creed, or a teststimony to the fact he was praraised in thee heavens anand the earth. with that he wasn't always that way. for some time, he wasas rejected by the public, wasas demonized.. witith hisse he stood prininciples, , god's promisisee true, which said it you putut gd first, he will make the people love you and his name actually was a testimony to that, praised

by god and by the people. amy: what is the legacy, dalia, of african-americans accepting islam in america? talk about mohammed ali and islam. it seems very much to use the term "white elephant in the room." >> it is interesting, amy, how much we are commemorating mohammed ali, praising his stance and this conscientious objector status, as principal, and completely ignoring the source of that strength, which was his islamic faith. intereststingly, at the time, islam was being blamed for his stancece, which was the onee popular. today, we are praising it but not giving islam and his spirituality any credit.t. this faith was central to his

worldview. it was whehere he drew his strength from. ofhink that that legacacy indigenous in islam, making islam part of mainstream america is so important today. is a reminder that islamam in riches america. that america would be a weaker, lessss prosperous, l less safe country if islam was not part of story. amy: it is interesting that people, if there's anyone like mohammed ali, are marginalizing -- marginalized in their prime years, but later idolized. are you concerned the aiken's asia and of mohammed ali -- i condensation of mom and ali will

leave out what your most drawn to about him and if you could talk about with that is? >> what i am most drawn to is his strength of character. that evenmoral, this in the hardest timimes of his life, even when he had to walk away from things he had worked for his whole life, he was able to do that. today we look back on him and it is this whitewashing. who hehis revisionism of was. or we wawant to be comparable. so many things about mohammed ali today would make us uncomfortable. the first being his muslim faith , something where we as a country are so comfortable demonizing and so we cannot both love ali and honor him and say we should ban muslims from america. it is not possible. we can have both of those

realities coexist. so if we honor ali tododay, we have to at the samee time recognize the contribibution of islam and muslims to thehe unitd states. honoroncern is not thahat we him as an icon, i think we should and he is -- he was the sportsman of the century by sports illustrated. he is an icon. but with that, we have to take the whole ali. we c cannot pick and choose and resides -- revise them to what makes us comparable. amy: we're going to go to break and come back to this discussion. very quickly, dalia, you are one of the speakers including the imam at the islamic funeral jenazah. can you explain what that is, how that is different from what will happen today? mohammed ali left strict inststructions that he wanted fr his funeral.

first and foremost, for it to be open to the public. >> it was exactly that. simple,zah prayer is a basicacally, a ritual. it is a prayer that m muslims offer for the dececeased. it is something that the right on thea community that we have together and offer this prayer for people when they die. -- a veryy strict strict outline of how that should be and it should d be opn toto anyone who wantnts to atte. it wasn't just muslims. it was p people of all faiths attended the service. muslims are the ones who engaged in the actual prayer and everyone else was there welcome to observe. it was done in freedom hall where he fought his first professional fight unlawful. mewas quite stunning to

standing there waiting to speak. one of three speakers. and looking at the front row of this funeral prayer, it was a who's who of celebrities, heads of state, president erdogan and others, and yet the three people asked to give remarks were three ordinary people. we were not heads of state or celebrities. i thought, only at mohammed ali's funeral would this be possiblele it was truly a testimony to his character. amy: dalia mogahed, one of the three speakers at mohammed ali's funeral thursday, one of feet of muslim members of president obama's faith advisory council. when we come back, we will also be joined by dave zirin him a who's written extensively about mohammed ali. among his books, "what's my name, fool? sports and resistance in the united states."

stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: amy: "morning has broken," by yusuf islam, the artist formerly known as cat stevens. yusuf islam was one of the pallbearers at muhammad ali's jenazah, thehe traditional islac prayer service, the funeral that was held yesterday. today, the interfaith service. dave zirin is in louisville along with dalia mogahed. dave zirin is sports editor for the nation. article "i just , wanted to be free: thehe radil reverberations of muhammad ali." he's the author of the ali-themed book, "what's my name, fool? sports and resistance in the united states." dave, , you're going to thee fufuneral. talk about what you feel is most important for people to understand about mohammed ali. >> it is stunning to be in louisville. louisville, and so many respects, is a microcosm of the mohammed ali story glolobally because global is a place that mohammed ali protested in life.

he went to fair housing protest. he said, my people in louisville are being treated by dogs. the city council voted to renounce him as a cicitizen of louisville, and yet t as recenty -- actually, just a couple of years after they renounced his name, they named one of the boulevards and mobile muhammad ali boulevard. whenen i landed at the airport yesterday, there's a huge sign welcoming people to muhammmmad ali's funeral. the buses say "goodbye to the champ"p" and there are commemorations all ovever the place. i do believe to ec dalia's comments, this is his s last active resistance. because what he is doioing is pushing the coununtry to come together to honor the most famous muslim in the world at ta time when a presidentitial candidate e is running on a program of abject b bigotry against the muslim people. and the other presidential candidate is somebody who has

proudly y stood with the ws s in the middle east anand the suppression of palestinian rights. in amidst t all of thaha presidents, heads of state, leaderss -- e everydy, cleaning donald trump, has to tip ththeir hat and respect mohammed ali. and there's something beautiful about that. and what it t shows is that mohammed ali could not be broken. they tried, but they could not break him. amy: i want to turn to an article by kareem of joel sevare -- kareem abdul-jabbar, a six-time nba champion and fellow convert to islam. his article for time.com is called, "muhammad ali became a big brother to me -- and to all african-americans." in it he writes -- "as the draft extended to include more white, middle-class boys, opposition to the war grew in popularity. but despite our passion, we few athletes were unable to do anything significant to fight the draft. we left feeling powerless, especially knowing that had muhammad allowed himself to be drafted, he would have never faced combat and would have still earned his millions. instead, he would face the punishment for his convictions

alone. that's when i realized he wasn't just my big brother, but a big brother to all african americans. he willingly stood up for us whenever and wherever bigotry or injustice are, without regard for the personal cost. he was like an american version of the comic-book hero black panther." kareem of dave zirin? >> mohammed ali is the most famous d draft resistor and history of war, and that is something that will never be up to take away. one of t the white washings that has taken n place since e his dh isis that commentators just that mohammed ali was for peaeace, he was s against war. it was asked a far more radical than that. he was against empire. the home at ali believed in solidaririty with the b black, brown, and poor people of the united states go with the poor people of vietnam, and the people who were being killed in vietnam. as dalia was saying before we came on air, mohammed ali saw commonality between the death of emmett till and the young people

in vietnam. that seared itself into h his brain, this idea he could not support a society that he viewed isuniquely brutal.kareemem correct. if mom a and ali had agreed to o in the draft, he would not h hae been in southeast asia with a gun in his hand, he just what have been asked to be a symbol in favor of the war. even that was too much for him. itit also has s to be mentionedt mohammed ali, what he did was he gave a very young, very white middle-class antiwar movement confidence and he gave young black civil rights activists the confidence to come out against the war. i spoke to the student nonviolent court any committee and she said to me, we were all against the war but what mohammed ali did was he cleared the space for us to stand up and connect ththe war at home with e war abroad. , might t mohammed ali be the best argument against

boxing ever? intnterestingng argument because it is also true if it wasn't for boxing, we may never have known who mohammedd ali was. and that is one of the great contradictions of our society and also the opportunities that are often available to working-class black families. yes, in s so many respects,s, hahammed ali represents not just the brutalality of boxing andd e tragedy of boxing and what it does tpeoplebubut he alsoo rerepresents the way boxing always, whether we're talking about joe lewis, sugar ray robinson, the great jack johnson, it hahas always represented a morality play about the affordeded ambitions f black erica a and the e ways in which boxing has o often been a symbol. as maya angelou set of joe lewis, a symbol of the way that we can have some form of jujuste and equalityty in our society. amy: dave zirin, the thoughts on who is giving the eulogy, which i think is what mohammed ali wanted him about president clinton, billy crystal, bryant

gumbel? >> firstst of all,l, bryant guml is one of the most lucid analysts of mohammed ali's historory. he is the one who said mohammad ali allow the blalack freedom struggle to move forward because he made people less afraid. billy crysystal, longtime friend of m mohammed alali. i will be honest, the bill clinton, the presence there, it hurts given mohamed alili's historic place as a great figure against war r and against bigot, that the person who signgned the welfare e bill, the person who signgned the crime bill, the persrson who w was in chcharge e sanctions and iraq - -- it wille painful to see him up there. but in many ways, in some respects, that is mohammed ali's last victory. the same presidents that ususedo bug hihis phone and harass them and subject him to cointelpro. amy: we have to leave it there. dave zirin and dalia mogahed, thank you for being with us.

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