[captioning made possible by democracy now!] ♪ amy: from m the republican national convention in clcleveland, ohihio, this is demomocracy now! mr.rump: americanism, not globalalism, will be our credod. [applause] mr. trump: as s long as we are d by politicicians who will not pt america first, then we can be assured that other nations will not treat amemerica with respec,

the respect that we deserve. amy: donald trump accepts the republican presidential nomination giving what was described as "one of the darkest, most foreboding, and aggressively fearmongering speeches in modern political memory." we will get response. he spoke in the quicken loans arena. rolell look at the firm's in the subprime mortgage crisis. we will also look at paypal co-founder peter thiel, the bibillionaire investoror whoadae history y at the rnc. >> i'm proud to be gay. i'm proud to be a republican. most of all, i'm proud to be an american. we will look at his role in the lawsuit that might take down a website. all that and more, coming up.

welcome to democracy now, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. this is "breakining with convention." i'm m amy goodman. donald trump accepted the republican presidential nomination. his hour and 1 15 minute speech portrayed the nation under threat at home and abroad. mr. trump: ourur conventntion os prices foforf try -- our nation. the attacks on police and the terrorism in ourur cities threan our very wayay of life. i have a message for all of you. cre and violence that,t, today afafflict our violence -- our nation, will soon and very soon come to an end. [applause]

mr.. trump: beginning on january 20, 2017, safety will be restored. during his speech, donald banningiterated immigration from countries where there have been terrorist attacks and building a wall on the border. mr. trump: we must immediately suspend immigration from any troubled byhas been terrorism. we don't want them in our country. we are going to build a great border wall to stop illegal immigration, to stop the gangs, and the violence, and to stop the drugs from pouring into our community. speechnald trump's included multiple factual

inaccuracies. the speech was "a compendium of doomsday stats that fall apart under close scrutiny," the washington post wrote. many criticized his speech, saying it had undertones appear mongering and demagoguery. it did receive praise from former head of the ku klux klan david duke. he tweeted "great speech, america first, could not have said it betetter." we w will have more after headlines. mededeank cofounder bebenjin disruptpted donald trup last night holding a bananner reading "build bridges, not walllls." securityemoved by after the disruption. democracy now! spoke to her on the street afterward. >> i had read the speech before

hand. i wanted to interrupt when he said "i have your voice -- i am your voice." i wanted to get up and say, you are not my voice. your one is -- your voice is one of hatred, anti-immigration, islamophobia. amy: to hear the full interview with medea benjamin, you can go to democracynow.org. activists are disputing the account after a protester attempted to burn an american flag. one caught onno fire and it was an excuse to make arrests. one of those arrested wednesday was gregory lee "joey" johnson, who had also burned a flag during a protest at the 1984 republican national convention in dallas, texas. that flag burning led to a 1989 supreme court case that set the prprecedent that flag burnrnings protected speech.

memeanwhile, texas s senator ted cruz stood b by his rereful to endorse nald trumpmp while speakiking at a public breakfast for delegates. >> when i addressed the convenention, i i addresseded it because naldld tmp a asked me to. when donald asked me to, he didd not asask me to endorse and, indeed, three days ago, i told him on the phone, i'm not going to endorse you. i'm not in the habit of supporting people who attack my wife and attack my father. amy: instead of endorsing trump in his speech, he instead said "vote your conscience," which prompted boos from the crowd. ohio governor john kasich is also's oaken out about why he has not set foot inside quicken loans arena although he has been all over cleveland. said,ng on thursday, he "when you stand on principles, sometimes you standalone."

fox news chair roger ailes has resigned amidst multiple accusations of sexual harassment. he is the most powerful person at the conservative media fox news. that he willrting receive a $40 million severance package. former anchorer gretchen carlson accused him of sexual harassment. many others have alleged sexual harassment. he was unelected, but mighty, ruling by force and fear. carlson's extraordinary courage has caused a seismic shift inn the mediaia world. black lives mamatter groups held demonstrationsns and a number of cities. in oaklandnd, hundreds rallilien fronont of city hall. demomonstrators chained themsels

to the raiailing outside the durham police department. in pittsburgh, demonststrators blocked a b busy street at rush hour and demanded an end to the use of police dogs and arrests. >> we have great people that get should be ableat to feel safe in their neighborhood. of: meanwnwhile, the mamayor somerville, massachusetts is refusing to remove a banner reading "black lives matter" despite a demand by the local .olice union the national basketball association has announced it

will not play its annual all-star game in north carolina next year. charlotte was slated to host the event, but the nba commissioner adam silver said that the game would be played elsewhere after north carolina lawmakers failed to change the state law known as house bill 2. it is the law that f forces transgender people to use what they were signed -- assigned at birth. the united nations sponsored peace talks have failed to produce a lasting cease-fire. the conflict in yemen has left -- left thousands dead. with u.s. backing, saudi arabia has responded with an aerial bombing campaign that has

resulteded in a majority of the conflict'ss civilian casualties. new york city mayor bill de blasio has announced rikers island will no longer house adolescent inmates. the move comomes three years afr an invtitigati by y the u.s. attorney general's office deemed the jail unfit for adolescents due to a "systemic culture of violence." before the years move takes place. states ins one of two the united states that charges 16 and 17-year-olds as adults. there are currently about 200 juvenile pririsoners at ririkers island.. this final news from north miami in florida. the police officer who shot an unarmed africacan-american therapist tryiying to calm his patient who had autism said he

hit the therapist t by accident and that he actually meant to shoot the autistic man, who was cradling a toy truck. workershot social charles kinsey in thee leg o on monday as he was attempting to help the autistic man, who wandered away from a group h ho. in t the video, he is seen lying on the grounwith handsds in the air when police shoot him. police have said they weree responding to a 911 call about a man with a gun. in a cell phphone video released this week. kinsey can be hearard telling police, "all he has is a toy truck, i'm a behavivioral therapist at a group home." john rivera, president of the police benevolent association" said that it appearered to the officers the white male was trying to do harm to mr. kinsey. fearing for mr. kinsey's life, the officecer dischargedd hisis firearm trying to save mr. kinsey's life and he missed.

those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. real estate local -- mogul donald trump has accepted the republican presidential nomination. in his record our and 15 speech, he portrayed the nation as one in danger abroad and at home. mr. trump: the most important anderence between our plann our opponents is that our plan will put america first. [applause] americanism, not globobalism, will bebe our creds led byas we are politicians who will not put america first, then we can be

willed that other nations not treat america with respepec, the respect that we deserve. [applause] the american people will come first once again.. my plan n will begin with fety at homome, which means safe neighborhoods, secure borders,, and prototection from terroriri. there e can be no prosperity without law and order. amy: donald trump also spoke about how he would change u.s. policy in the middle east. mr. trump: we must abandon the failed policy of nationbuilding

and regime change that hillary clinton pushed in iraq, in libya, in egypt, and in syria. instead, w we must work with all of our allies who share our goal of destroying isis and stamping out islamic terrorism and doing it now, doing it quickly. we are going to win, we are going to win fast. donald trump also pushed for putting new limits on immigration. mr. trump: lastly, and very importantly, we must immediately suspend immigration from any nation that has been compromised by terrorism until such time as proven vetting mechanisms have been put in place. anyone who endorses violence, hatred, or oppression is not

welcome in our country and never, ever will be. amy: to talk more about donald , we are joined -- >> i think it was a good conclusion of the few days. especially when it came to the rhetoric. many muslim americans, including myself, have been hearing these sentiments in the last few years, but now these concepts and ideas and hatred against a more is becoming mainstream than it used to be in the past. the fact that donald trump can stand out there and bash muslims

and call for banning muslims from coming from the country indicates that we have crossed a new threshold. it is actively trying to discriminate against them when they are in the country. amy: anything surprise you this week? a new tone? pushing forward? by myi was surprised interaction with the delegates coming in and out. i was standing outside the main gate. i had a few interactions. i was also surprised by the lack of diversity of the gop a large. there is an obsession with issues that have to do with

muslims and muslim americans and i did not see any muslim americans going through. many of the extreme positions in the past have become mainstream positions within the gop. i was holding a sign that said "resist white supremacy." i got in many discussions with people who want to do either convince me that white people are superior or attacked me because i had the sign. the fact that white supremacy is being defended on the gates of the gop is r really scary. amy: you have been criticizing the iraq war from the beginning. , raised born in iraq there, you came here, you are an iriraqi american right now. that went through the bush years and through the obama-clinton years. we just played a clip of donald

trump saying we must abandndon e failed policy of nationbuilding. you have been critical of it also. raed: i agree with that half of the sentence. thathe said, let's replace with a policy of working our -- to in the region by take out islamic extremists. the obama administration has been relying on our so-called allies in the region. these forces have been committing mass atrocities against their own people and their neighbors. the fact that the u.s. is not directly bombing are sending that these not mean crimes are not our moral obligation to deal with. the u.s. is justifying them. it is not the trump was saying,

let's change this policy to a policy where the u.s. would stop inteterfering inin the region ad messing with people's domomtic issues. he's saying, let's stop these policieses by relying on corrupt regimes in the region that are even worse in dealing with human rights than our own. amy: raed jarrar, i want to thank you for being with us. this is democracy now! when we comeme back, we talk wih some of the chief anchors of the networks about the rival network , about fox news, and the resignation of one of the most powerful people in the republican and conservative movement and media, roger ailes. they with us. ♪ [music break]

this is "breaking with convention," i'm amy gogoodman. fox news chair roger ailes has amidst multiple accusations of sexual harassment. he is the most powerful person in can of media. death conservative media. many outlets are reporting -- conservative media. many outlets are reporting that es will receive a $40 million severance payment. of thesday, on the floor convention and outside before during the day, i had a chance to talk about the fall of roger ailes with several of the top tv news host across the corporate networks, including jake taber

of cnn, shepard smith of fox john heilman.g's i first spoke to chris matthews. can i ask you about your thoughts about roger ailes? me.e hired that is when i started. amy: what do you think? .> he hired me, i worked there i think i will leave it up to the witnesses to read sure people are being honest. amy: jake, would you like to say something about roger ailes being out? what it means for fox? >> i don't know what it means for fox. the bottom line is that he was a mastermind of that organization and whatever you think of the politics and the business decision, it was very, very successful. it was a billion dollar per year business for news corp.

ramificationsan and the human rights ramifications, it is a very important business story and i'm glad i work as cnn. amy: we have just come into the quicken loans arena. i think i see fox news' shepard smith. i want to ask him about his boss being forced out over sexual harassment. shepard smith, your thoughts on mr. ailes departure. >> i'd really rather not talk today. we are doing our job look we done every day for 20 years. glad to be here and be part of the process. amy: your newsroom is going through a major change. >> i had -- i don't have anything to say. we are doing great. amy: i wanted to ask you what you think of roger ailes being out. >> i don't of the details of the story, but it's hard to imagine the media world without him leading fox. idon't know what happened,

don't know anything more than i read in the paper. it is pretty shocking. how do you think he changed the media? >> he turned a cable news network into something that gave a voice to a section of the country that thought it never had a voice in the media. politically, he was able to help candidates, help a party, help a movement, help and ideology. probably the most powerful guy in the media. amy: do you think there is an interesting convergence of roger ailes out, one of the most powerful people in the conservative media, and what is happening here? a i would say it is remarkable week. donald trump becoming the week of the -- becoming the leader of the republican party and roger ailes leaving as leader of fox news. amy: can i ask you a question? >> how's it going? amy: what do you think of roger ailes being out? >> i think that in the world of

the factive politics, that the republican party's nominating donald trump and the fact that roger ailes is out of fox news on the same day is like a tectonic shift in our world. both of them were almost unimaginable a year ago. donald trump was not a republican two years ago. he doesn't believe in most things republicans believe in. roger ailes has been in some ways the most powerful republican in the country for three decades, for decades. so, we are looking at a new world. in a way, it is exciting. it opens up the doors to that which is unpredictable. fox news could become a much underonventional network the much more conventional television executives that are likely to take over. amy: isn't rupert murdoch taking

over? >> he is taking over on interim basis, but he will not be running fox news three months from now. there are five or six top contenders and many of them are conservativey people, some of them are much more straightforward news executives. the president of cbs news right now might get the job and he is not particularly ideological at all. if he got the job, fox news would be a very different thing a year from now. amy: what do you think of all these women saying they were sexually harassed? you know, i've read a lot of reporting on it, i've spoken to none of them. , thely, the weight of it consistency of some of the stories as reported over generations, let women through the 1960's through the 1980's

telling the same story, there is kind of a prima fascia of gravity to the stories. certainly makes it possible. i'm not judge, i'm not jury. i i can't make a defininitive ruling. bloomberg's john heilman. nbc's willy giese. giest. this is democracy now! ,e are breaking with convention war, peace, , and presidency. we were speaking to them on the floor of the quicken loans arena. we are going to turn to look at a billionaire who owns casinos, facing a pending lawsuit, and s a reputation for launching attacks s journalisism. we are not talking about donald trump, we are talking about dan gilbert, owner of quicken loans. republicanthe

convention has taken place at the q. that's short for cleveland's quicken loans arena, home of the republican national convention, which concluded thursday. >> the iron he -- irony is lost on the press corps, which has characteristically has this remarkable lack of self-awareness about a lot of things. quicken loans was one of the symbols of the subprime crisis. they have reinvented themselves with rocket mortgage, which is a sub company, as far as i understand. there are people on wall street who won't tell you the same problems with active bubbles in the real estate market. cleveland was one of the ground zeros of the foreclosure crisis, but we are not here to cover that. of: that is matt taibbi

"rollingng stone." that is just the beginning of the story. fofor more, we are joined by per pattakos peter pattakos is anan ohio attorney and publisher of the sports website "cleveland frowns." didn't gilbert is a self-made billionaire who came up in the momortgage bubblble. the mortgage bubble and he is one of the largest landowners and powerful citizens in cleveland and d detroit. even if you gave him the benefit of the doubt on the predatory lending, on quicken loans and the allegations. assuming he happened to be in the right place at the right time, there are issues beyond that that are concerning about dan gilbert.

the first one in my mind is the lack of accountability that he has around town. for cleveland and also in detroit. that there are so few politicians who will stand up to him. nobobody seems to be able to say anything to him to the contrary, including questionable things like a $300 million subsidy on cigarettes and alcohohol that wt right into his and his fellow pro s srts owners pockets in cleveland. he did that without ever opening his books and explaining just how much profit he took out of this public trust. we ended up having to have a citizen-led campaign against that. it was a ballot issue. there was not a single prominent politician, not a single councilmen, nono elected officil in ohio except a few local

mayors in working-class suburbs. amy: he changed the ohio constitution? peter: there is another one. he did it after ohoh voters hahe rejected i it twice before by narrow margins. it is very hard not to think that while the cleveland cavaliers are successful, he is bombarding the airwaves with vote yes on issue 3. lebron james paid well and people felt good about dan gilberert and they passed the casino referendum by a narrow margin. it is interesting how the good feelings about dan gilbert replace an analysis of the words that he actually says. amy: the departmtment of j juste has launched an investigation into quicken loans. talk about the significance of the rnc. being in the quicken loans arena. .t is not just branded dan gigilbert runs it.

peter: right. dan gilbert will be making more money than anyone off this convention. amy: how? peter: just from the rental of the arena and, i understand, someone said the bulk of the profits would be going to quicken loans. amy: we have been talking to a lot of the shop owowners in downtown cleveland, set aside the poorer communities in the outlying areas, and they are devastated by this week. their bubusinesseses have almost come to a halt. peter:r: i've experienced the se thing. people have said the same thing and that is consistent with my observation. it raises a lot of questions about who is benefiting herere. you have t the big barriers between the citizens and quicken loans arenana and a big barrierf analysis of what is being said in that arena and whahat people really t think aboutut it.t.

they have such a big megaphone. amy: didn't gilbert's relationship with the press. we are talking about donald , no longeger do we use the word presumptive nominee, but the republican presidential nominee. there are a number of interesting parallels. among them, journalists have been banned from donald trump's press conferences. they could not ban them from the rnc, but d dan gilbert's relationship with journalism. peter: it is well known. when anyone in a local paper write something critical of dan gilbert, he will place an angry phone call, at least one. it has c certainly had a chillig effect, in my opinion. i go back to the sports subsidy. they bombed the airwaves with $3 million of advertising. "keep cleveland

strong." this was at a time when the consensus was infant mortality werewas very high and we one of the most economically segregated cities. at the same time, he is saying at the same time that we should keep cleveland strong by giving him and his fellow owners $3$300 million,n, when they don't tells why they need it. it is quite stunning and it reminds me of "make america great again" in a way. how do we expect him really to do that and what he is saying about how he is going to do that? amy: peter pattakos, i want to thanank you for being with us. ohio attorney and publisher off the e sports webebsite "clevelad frowns." this is democracynow! held alofters here posters. we are going to turn right now to actions that were taking place in the streets.

,e went to the public square where a group of cleveland residents help posters featuring tweets decrying what is taking place. delegates and media workers filed in. this was the big night of donald trump. these young cleveland activist gathered at the public square talking about their concerns about their city and how it has been decimated. economic policies have left in its wake. cleveland is one of the most segregated cities in the u.s. a police force that is known around the country as the one two years ago where to officers came to a local recreational park and one shot dead a a 12-year-olold boy named tamir re within two seconds of pulling up

as he played with his toy gun. protesters held aloft their posters that featured tweets decrying these policies. >> my name is amanda king. my sign basically says that we are tired of being an afterthought for safety. platform was "make america safe again" but some of us are not safe. i'm holding this sign for young people who are gunned down in the street. i'm holding the sign for young clevelanders who don't have a voice at the rnc. these are twitter discussions we have been having all week. in my tweet, i said, how do you make america work when you are lining your pockets with money from privately owned prisons instead of creating jobs? that is the contradiction. >> the sign says $50 million spent on the renovation of a park, but the school is failing.

i went to cleveland public schools. even before the whole school choice thing came, it was already failing. better whenutely no the charter schools moved in. it got no better. it actually got a little bit worse. i keep hearing republicans talking about school choice, but the school system is still failing, whether it is privately or publicly owned. they don't care about black people or black students at all. it seems to me. amy: can you read me yours? >> i do not want the media to paint cleveland out to be this upbeat, lively city when there are so many injustices going on. >> my sign says the black unemployment rate in cleveland is higher than the black unemployment rate in the country. >> my sign talks about tamir rice. it is not about any candidate.

i'm standing here holding this is a mother. my sons are six and nine. tamir was 12. i'm standing your for all the mothers all over the country and all over the world that have lost their children to state violence, to police brutality. it is time for mothers to stand lined put our lives on the for our children. this is what we are doing now. amy: can you read me your sign? are openingte men carrying assault rifles in a city where one black child with a toy gun was killed by police. tamir rice was 12 years old, he had a toy gun. you have grown white men waving assault weapons all over the place. >> the most segregated city in the whole country is still affected by redlining and gentrification. in a suburb of

cleveland. this is east cleveland. we asked one of our friends to take pictures of her neighborhood. she took a whole bunch of pictures that came out a amazin. these are the potholes on the tracks that fill the city. >> my name is jennifer longstreet. my point with the issue is that all of these accommodations were , for thethis event republican national convention, yet our city, the parts they are not showing are falling apart. we have potholes the size of minivans. the inner city is falling apart. we have boarded up houses, abandoned houses on every corner , especially in the predominantly black neighborhoods. nobody is doing anything about it. but we spent millions and so the republicans could come here for their convention. this is our city. who cleveland residents formed the group #cleoverrnc.

ththis is democracy now! this and next week am a we are breaking with convention, peace, and the presidency. we will be back in a minute. ♪ [music break]

"b movieie" by gilil scott-heron . with convention. war, peace, and the presidency. this is our last day in cleveland, ohio, covering the republican national convention. on wednesday, members of the international press were spoken to to find out how other countries view donald trump. >> hello my fellow republicans.

>> i have traveled from new zealand. it took 12 hours to los angeles and another four hours. , aork with news hub television radio and digital broadcast in new zealand. --what are your republican impressions of the republican national convention? >> i think it is truly insane, it is crazy. it is crazier than i thought. actually froze yesterday, looking at the scenes in their. i have never seen anything like it, people acting like it, that kind of worship that borders on brainwashing, in my opinion. that scene alone blew my mind. let alone bringing in the donald trump factor. the supporters alone blew my mind and t then we bring in what is actually happening with donald trump and the presidency and the potential for him to become the most powerful man in the world and is is a truly insane experience.

>> out of people back home look at donald trump and what is happening back here in america? >> it is like a morbid fascination. people can't look away. people in new zealand don't really feel like it is real. i think there is still a feeling like this can't be happening to america, this name can't be getting so far. it new zealand, a high percentage of people would be against him becoming president. i'm guessing somewhere around 80% or 90% would be concerned about donald trump becoming president of the united states. we look at america as our world leader. people know that. becomingld trump president, people will be concerned about the stability of america and the stability of the world. >> we are from los angeles. the tv station is the tv news. world from all over the

in the chinese community can watch it. >> what has your experience been so far at the republican national convention? >> i think we saw a lot of mostly white delegates, white male. minority groups representing at the convention. >> how do you think people in china antiwar and view donald and how and taiwan would they view a donald trump presidency? >> what they can see from the mainstream media, of course, they think he is anti-immigrant. ginny a journalist from -- guinea. africa. hillary clinton was part of

toppling mama gaddafi. he was controversial, but he was finally part of the tradition. overthrow the regime definitely contributed to the expansion of international terrorism. donald trump says he is not into nationbuilding. he's not going to go into other countries affairs. i think that is a good thing. >> to the people of guinea have any concerns about donald trump? he is not the kind of leader who has a clear understanding of international relations. york and id in new cover u.s. for new delhi television. we broadcast to about 78 countries.

india,untries, including are not so positive in their perceptions about donald trump. it has been interesting to get that perspective. despite the polls suggesting that only 40% of indians support donald trump's foreign policy. obviously, he is a very polarizing figure. tend -- do tend to have a negative perception. there are lots of comparisons between narendra modi and donald trump. i had a chance to speak to newt gingrich. they are very similar, both very practical guys, they are focused on the same things, they will build a similar leadership style. whether that is good news or bad news or whether that is intrinsically true is debatable. >> i'm a news anchor out of sky

news arabia based in abu dhabi. >> how did the people of the united arab emirates perceive donald trump? >> we broadcast to the middle east region. the general impression is that he is a bit extremist and he does not represent the mainstream republicans. >> what are some concerns the arab world would have if donald trump became the next president of the united states of america? >> the concerns include that he might be trigger-happy. he might be involved directly militarily in the region and that causes some concern. other concerns have to do with admitting immigrants to the united states and maybe putting restrictions on muslims and the people from muslim countries. >> i'm a reporter, a correspondent. >> which country do you report

for? >> mexico. this is a worldwide news television network in spanish. how do the people of mexico view donald trump? trumpbelieve that mr. uses very hard terms to describe mexican workers here. we know the majority of workers are coming to work, searching for resources to feed and maintain their families. and not with any crimes. like in every society, there is crime in my country. it does not necessarily mean that all people are like that. we are talking to him to find out exactly what he was referring to, but we have not received any answer.

>> by media outlet is the austrian press agency. austriado the people of think about donald trump? they all honesty, mostly, are afraid of what is going to happen to the states and to the world. when donald trump becomes president. we can't grasp or understand what this all movement is about, honestly. , butels like reality tv not like reality. >> what are some of their main concerns about donald trump? extreme, outlandish, not knowledgeable enough in the fields he is an. i think this is it mostly. , we have ain austria far right that is getting stronger and stronger and it is not so far from the views donald trump is supporting. go tv fromchief of

pakistan. i have been here covering the united nations and the state department for the last 40 years. >> what would a donald trump presidency mean to the people of pakistan? what concerns do they have in particular about donald trump? >>'s statements about the muslim world. for the simple reason the way he is talking and he is trying to build a wall on the mexican side. he is tryingng to stop all that. that the crime does not have any religious identity. a criminal is a criminal, no a matter he is white, he is black, he is ethnic, whatever he is. identityuld not be an or identification of the crime by somebody with a muslim name.

every society has criminals. american jails are full of criminals that are not muslims. from otherriminals societies. every society has got criminals. every society, by and large, is a peaceful one. peaceful people should not be stigmatized. amy: internationon journalists covering the republican national convention. this is democracy now! i'm amy goodman. last night, the last side of the convention, paypal cofounder peter thihiel made e history by declaring that he was brought to beget. gay. beget a -- be >> the great debate was about how to defeat the soviet union and we won. now we are told that the great debate is about who gets to use .hich bathroom

this is a distraction from our real problems. who cares? [applause] peter: of course every american has a unique identity. , i'm proudo b bege gay to be a republican, but most of all, i'm proud to be an american. amy: that was peter thiel speaking thursday night. earlier this year, he made headlines when he confirmed that he personally spent $10 million to secretly fund a controversial lawsuit by roessler hulk hogan against gawker media. jury awarded the roessler $140 million, a decision that shocked many in the media.a. gawker was forced to declare bankruptcy. said the an article bankruptcy is how a free press

dies. hisis sights on gawker after they posted an article titled "peter thiel is totally gay." sam, welcome to democracy now! let's talk about who peter thiel is. >> he is known mostly for cofounding paypal. he is also known for being the first investor and facebook. those are his business credentials. massivew a pretty venture capitalist in silicon valley. amy: tell us what happened. how did he take down gawker. sam: he spent a lot of his money to secretly fund lawsuits that

would be ruinous for any organization. even frivolous lawsuits cost money to defend and when you are facing multiple suits, it is a pretty failsafe way to destroy an organization. about hisou talk speech, the history y he madade, comimi out as gay at a republican national convention, the significance of this? sam: sure. his background ideologically is all over the place. he stated that democracy and freedom are incompatible. he has said that women should never have had the right to vote in the united states. he believes in the construction of man-made islands where the u.s.overnment t has no sovereignty and now he is a trump delegate.

it is really a natural progression in the series of fringe, silly, radical ideas. i think it is great to see anyone saying they are proud to beget a on a stage -- be gay on a stage. the republican national convention stage is a little troubling. the parties official platform is that men should not have the same rights -- men like him should not have the same rights in american society. you have to remember the history and direction of the republican party. then he follows it immediately by dismissing transgender rights as a distraction. i'm not really sure how progressive any of that really was. amy: in 2009, peter thiel suggested american democracy suffered when the right to vote

was extended to women. sam: yes. that's right. amy: explain. sam: what can you say? i believe he said the last time you could speak optimistically about american politics was 1920's. america was a very different and dramatically worse place for a lot of people. it was a tough time in the united states. civil rights to not really exist. to harken back to that as a romantic period in american history shows you the kind of person he is and what true values he holds. it is great to be a white billionaire. amy: sam biddle, what has been the reaction in the media to his funding of the gawker lawsuit? sam: i think even people who are critical of gawker and there are

many are terrified. he has p presented a blueprint r anyone with enough money to .ilence a critical voice you can use enough money to put a journalistic outlet out of business or disrupt them. coming from people who have never liked gawker, they are saying, we could be next. it had come from the left or the right. amy: what about donald trump's attitude toward a free press? sam: that is one place where they are aligned. he wants to open up libel laws themke it easier to sue for ruinous amounts of money. public figures can sue for defamation under the current

system. trump has made a villain out of the press. he has called for boos against reporters at his rallies. he has demonized cnn, the washington post, etc. whenever he says something foolish or extreme -- his first scapegoat is the press. he has done a lot to make things in this country even more hostile toward the media than they ever were. amy: sam biddle, we want to thank you for being with us. that does it for us. for our show. inare wrapping up here cleveland. we are going to move on to philadelphia. i will be doing a talk back from the convention, to talks.

i will be doing the 30th in martha's vineyard. follow our team for the latest updates on the convention. democracy