02/01/17 02/01/17 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now! pres. trump: in justice scalia passed away suddenly last february, i made a promise to the american people. if i were elected president, i would find the very best judge in the country for the supreme court. amy: president trump nominates conservative federal judge neil gorsuch to the supreme court. of the law.s a lion

agree or disagree with him, all of his colleagues on the bench cherished his wisdom and humor. and like them, i miss him. amy: senate democrats have vowed to filibuster or such's nomination. we will look at his record of the federal bench with ian millhiser and nan aron. then we look at steve bannon trump's powerfrful aid credited with writing the controversial order closing the border to refugees and citizens of seven muslim nations. is this just the beginning of bannon's efforts to reshape the country's immigration laws? >> i don't understand, vet. why don't you stop? the cost of vwetting? >> is important. ifcommander, you only vet you're going to let them in. amy: we will hear bannon from

his old breitbart radio show and speak to josh harkinson a mother jones and speakak with reverend jesse jackson about why he opposeses jeff sessions as attorney general. all that and momore, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. president donald trump has announced his nominee to replace the late justice antonin scalia on the supreme court -- judge neil gorsuch. senate democrats have vowed to filibuster the nomination of the conservative jurist. as a judge on the tenth circuit, gorsuch ruled in favor of hobby lobby in the case deciding whether the company could refuse to provide birth control coverage to employees as required by obamacare. judge gorsuch also has a long history of ruling against employees in cases involving federal race, sex, age, disability, and political discrimination and retaliation claims. gorsuch reportedly upheld a decision that denied long-term insurance benefits to a worker who sustained a work-related

injury that required spinal surgery. he also reportedly dissented from a ruling in favor of a truck driver whose employer illegally fired him for deserting a trailer so he wouldn't freeze to death. gorsuch is a member of the ultra-conservative federalist society, which believes in severely restricting the power that federal agencies like the environmental protection agency, or epa, have to regulate businesses. gorsuch's own mother, anne gorsuch burford, briefly served as president reagan's epa administrator where she slashed staff and eviscerated anti-pollution regulations before resigning amidst scandal. we'll have more on judge neil gorsuch after headlines. opposition to donald trump's cabinet nominations mounted on capitol hihill and across the country tuesday, as senate dedemocrats boycototted two scheduled committee votes and dozens of people were arrested at a series of protests nationwide. led by senator ron wyden of oregon, democratic lawmakers on the senate finance committee

stalled the confirmations of treasury secretary nominee steven mnuchin and health and human services secretary nominee tom price by refusing to attend the committee meeting, denying . the lawmakers accused by mnuchin and price of lying to the committees during their nomination hearings. amid the democratic boycott, protesters staged a sit-in to block the entrance to the office of finance committee chairman orrin hatch, the republican senator from utah, as a protest against tom price's nomination. at least 47 people were arrested. democratic lawmakers on the senate judiciary committee also delayed a vote on thee confirmation of senator jeff sessions for attorney general tuesday by making extended speeches. this is democratic senator diannene feinstein o of califor. >> instead, he has been n the fiercest, most dedicated and most loyal promoter in congress

of the trump agenda, and has played a critical role in the clearinghouse for policy and philosophy to undergirdrdhe implementation of that agenda. with this in mind, i must vote no. amy: senator sessions' confirmation has faced a series of protests over his opposition to the voting rights act and his history of making racist comments. on monday, about 30 members of the naacp, including president cornell william brooks, were arrested at a sit-in at sessions' office in mobile, alabama. it is the second naacp sit-in where brooks was arrested. on tuesday, retired army colonel ann wright disrupted the senate judiciary committee in protest of sessions. >> no to the baban on refuguge. i wio o outbubut u do not need to ag me.e. i 70 yearsld and ian make

it outn my own, t no racism, no to hateno to ff sesons. amy:ore prests again jeff sessionsndnd tru's heher canet nominaons erupd tuesday. in new yk city, thsands of protters gatred outse the me of setor chucschumer, lling onim to opse trum's cabit picks. in a separate protest also in new york, 11 protesters -- including gwen carr, the mother of eric garner -- were arrested blocking traraffic outside trump tower to oppose the nominations. in chicago, at least seven protesters were arrested after hundreds staged a sit-in at the federal building to demand illinois senators dick durbin and tammy duckworth vote against billionaire betsy devos for education secretary. which they did. nevertheless, devos was among three of trump's cabinet picks who were approved by senate committees tueuesday. the senate education committee voted 12-11 to approve devevos; it was a straight party vote

come even though "the washington post" reports devos appeared to have plagiarized answers committed to the senate committee. also on the senate energy and tuesday, natural resources committee voted 16-7 to approve former texas governor rick perry as energy secretary, and voted 16-6 to approve montana congressman ryan zinke to head the interior department. devos, perry, and zinke will now all face full senate votes on their confirmation. the full senate also voted tuesday to confirm elaine chao to become transportation secretary. protests also continued in cities nationwide against trump's executive order banning temporarily all refugees, as well as all citizezens from m sn muslim majority nations -- iran, iraq, libya, somomalia, sudan, -- fromnd yemen enentering t the uted d states. in minneapolis, a an estimated 5000 p people flooded intoto the

streets araround thehe federalal building. the anti-war committee, which organized the protest, said -- "it is criminal for the u.s. to bomb and attack other countries and then turn away refugees when the u.s. has destroyed their homelands." in columbia, south carolina, over 600 people gathered at the state house to denounce trump's muslim ban. legal challenges to the ban also grew tuesday, as the states of washington, massachusetts, virginia, and new w york allll joined lawsuits against trtrum's executive ororder. this is massachusetts attorney general maura healey. >> the executive order is andful, discriminatory, unconstitutional. it discriminates on the basis of religion and national origin, denies our residents access to due process and equal protection of the law, violates federal immigration law. the role of this office is to uphold the law and the consnstitution of this state and of the united states.

amy: as many as 1000 s state department diplomats and officials have signed onto a dissent memo that condemns trump's muslim ban. that's far more signatures than any other dissent memo signed in recent years. on tuesday, white house press secretary sean spicer repeatedly tried to claim the executive order is not a ban. that's despite the fact that boboth spicer and president trup have repeatedly called the executive order a baban, includg multiple times on monday. on spicer also tried to defend tuesday, authorities' decision to handcuff a five-year-old u.s. cicitizen for hours at t the dus international airport in virginia after the boy returned from a trip to iran, by claiming the boy could have posed a security threat. trump has falsely claimed that only 109 people have been denied entry to the u.s. since the ban was imposed. in fact, officials with customs and border protection said tuesday at least 7 721 people he been denied entry into the united states.

among those who has been denied entry into the u.s. was a 75-year-old iraqi i american grn card holder who died after she fell ill on a family trip to iraq and was then was not allowed to return back home to the u.s. for medical treatment following the executive order. she died a day after she was not allowed to board the plane. this is her son, mike hager. he lives in detroit and is a u.s. citizen. >> they destroyed us. i came back by myself. they destroyed our family. i was shocked. in a to put my momm back wheelchair and call an ambulance. she was s very, very upset. she knewew right there if we sed her back to the hospital, she is going to pass away. amy:'s mother had been living in the united states since 1995. president trump has canceled his

planned trip to milwaukee amid mass planned protests. the white house announced tuesday trump will not tour a harley-davidson factory on thursday, as scheduled. in response, the milwaukee coalition against trump said -- "trump's unpopular policies have ignited an unprecedented resistance movement that will block his every move. we hope our success in milwaukee sets the tone for the rest of trump's presency, wherever he goes, there will be resistance!" more anti-protest laws are being pushed by lawmakers across the country admitted the wave of mass demonstrations against donald trump's presidency. in iowa, lawmakers havee introduced a a bill l that would make blockining traffic a a fely punishshable up to five years in prison. minnesota lawmakerers are pushig an anti-prototest bill thahat wd allow cities to sue e protesters in order to charge thehem for te cost of popolicing the demonsnstrations. in north dakota, lawmake h have introduceded a bill thatat would alallow drivers to accidentataly

rurun over and kill protesteters blking trafficic. washingtonon state lawmake are pushing a bill thahat would labl protests as s economic terroris. and d in indiana, , republican legislators have introducing a bill that would empower police to remove protesters blocking traffic using any means necessary, legislation activists have dubbed the" block traffic and you die" bill. the new bills come as more than 200 activists are facing up to 10 years in prison on felony riot charges for protesting against donald trump's inauguration in washington, d.c. in romania, over 20,000 people protested in the capital bucharest and other cities cross the country after the government passed an emergency ordinance decriminalizing official misconduct. protesters say the move sanctions corruption. this is one of the protesters. >> we can to protest against these mafia type methods.

stealing 44,000 euros to the politicians of public officers who are serving them. amy: back in the united states, republican lawmakers have introduced new legislation that proposes to sell off 3.3 million acres of public land, an area about the size of the state of connecticut. the land spans 1 10 different ststates. the bill is being pushed by utah republican congressman jason chaffetz. and the army corps of engineers appears poised to approve the final permit required to build the $3.8 billion dakota access pipeline, which has faced months of resistance from hundreds of indigenous nations and non-native allies. on tuesday, senator said he is spoken with acting secretary of speer and he has directed the court issued the easement for energy transfer partners. that is the covoveted by the pipeline. the standing rock sioux and many more fear of pipeline spill to contaminate the river which it

shares -- serves as a drinking source for many. if the easement is granted, they say the government would be illegally circumventing the process of an environmental impact statement which was ordered in december under president obama's administration. the standing rock sioux tribe said "to abandon the environment impact statement would amount to a wholly unexplained and arbitrary change based on the president's personal views and potentially personanal investments." members of the resesistance camp sacred stone on the standing rock sioux reservation in north dakota have called for water protectors to come to support the resistance to the dadakota access pipeline.e. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. in a primetime address on tuesday night, president donald trump announced his pick for the supreme court to replace the late justice antonin scalia who died nearly a year ago. pres. trump: millions of voters

said this was the single most important issue to them when they voted for me for president. i am a man of my word. i will do as i say. something that thehe american people havave been asking for fm washington for a very, very long time. today -- [applause] pres. trump: thank you. today, i am keeping anotother promise to the american people. by nominanating judge neil gorsh of the united states supreme court to be of the united states of room court. amy: neil gorsuch is a 49-year-old federal judge, member of the federalist society, widely seen as a conservative jurist. trump was able to nominate scalia's replacement only because republican-led senate

refused to consider obama style many of the post. on march 16 last year, obabama nominated garland, but republican senators refused to hold confirmation hearings. as a judge on the 10th circuit, neil gorsuch ruled in favor of hobby lobby in the case deciding whether the company could refuse to provide birth control coverage to employees as required by obamacare. judge gorsuch also has a long history of ruling against employees in cases involving federal race, sex, age, disability, and political disco nation and retaliation claims. senate democrats have vowed to filibuster's nomination. last night, judge gorsuch described antonin scalia as a lion of the law. >> i've worked as a federal judge in a court that spans six western states, sererving about 20% of the continental united they and about 18 million people. the men and women i have worked with at every level in our

circuit are an inspiraration to me. i have watched them tending to the rule of law. in forcing the promises of our constitution and living out daily y their judicial oathsoo administer justice equally to rich and poor alike. ollowing the law is a -- i think of them tonight. the supreme court's work is vital not just to a region n of the e country, butut to thehe w. a vital to the protection of the people's liberties under law and the continuity of our coconstitution. the greatest charter of human ever them. world has the towering judges that have served in this particular seat of the supreme court, including antonin scalia and robert jackson, are much in my mind at this moment. of the scalia was a lion law. agree or d disagree with him, al of his colleagues on the bench cherished his wisdom and humor. and like them, i miss him.

more about jujudge gorsuch, we're going to go to washington, d.c. where we're , joined by two guests. ian millhiser, senior fellow at the centnter for american progrs action fund and the editor of thinkprogress justice. his new article is titled, "who is neil gorsuch?" he is also the author of the book, "injustices: the supreme court's history of comforting the comfortable and afflicting the afflicted." we're also joined by nan aron, president of alliance for justice. , let's begin with you. yoyour overall response to president trump's choice of judge gorsucuch to be the next supreme court justice? >> this is a terrible pick. this is someone who will probably be to scalia's right. scalia was very that on choice. i think gore such will match that. scully was bad on issues like birth control. neil gorsuch will match that. but in addition to that, what makes neil gorsuch unusual is

that he wants to dismantle the difference that courts have typically played the federal agencies. it is a very technical issue but it is also very important. it goes to whether or not when the people elected -- elect the democratic president, that democratic president is going to be able to protect the environment, to protect workers, to make wages go up, or whether they will be at the mercy of a republican-controlled court. so his primary agenda is to shift power toward the judiciary at the very moment that the republican party is consolidating its control over the judiciary. and i think that leads to very dangerous places. amy: he has been hailed as a man who is deeply. i'd, a great writer, a classmate of presidentnt obama a at harvad law school. this, across the spectrum, your

thoughts? >> he is a very smart guy. to some extent, that is what makes him dangerous. this is someone who is going to a great precision, great intelligence, look for ways to implement a very conservative agenda. and that person, frankly, scares me more than someone who is dumb. this guy is extraordinarily confident, extraordinarily talented. he is going to put all of his considerable brainpower towards implementing a very right-wing agenda. amy: neil gorsuch tro in an essay foror the national review what she said -- "american liberals have become addicted to the courtroom, relying on judges and lawyers rather than elected leaders and the ballot box, as the primary means of effecting their social agenda on everything from gay marriage to assisted suicide too the ususe of vouchers s for prprivate-school education." he continued -- "this overweening addiction to the courtroom as the place to debate social policy is bad for the country and bad for the judiciary."

your response? >> i would feel better if the views he expressed a that article matched his record on the bench. at least if using the course of the less involved generally, that means that when liberals watch something they don't get it, but when conservatives want something, they don't get it, either. what i see from gorsuch is something else. what i've seen from neil gorsuch is that when liberals want something, regardless of whether there is president in his favor, he is looking for ways to dismantle those will stop and when conservatives want something, he is going out of their way to give them their wish list, and that is even juster than someone who wants to dismantle the court's role in society. amy: reproductive rights, ian? >> as you said, he voted the wrong way and hobby lobby. to say a woman's boss has a degree of control over their access to birth control. he also went out of his way to try to defund planned parenthood in a very odd case in which he

used the courts rules in a way that they're really not supposed to be used. so i don't think there's any question that not only is he going to vote the way he voted in hobby lobby over and over again, but he is anti-choice and will vote to dismantle -- don amy: what do you mean on the planned parenthood front? can you explain that case? >> it was a fairly minor case. there was a question of whether or not planned parenthood funds could be cut off by the utah governor. the reason i call it a minor case is because it was really just a case about the governor's motivation. it was a totally fact-based inquiry. there was no grand legal question in play. gorsuch invoked a process that is used to make the whole court hear a case. invokedpically -- it is rarely. when it is, it is because there is some sort of grand legal principle in place.

so the fact he would try to do this in a case that legally was very small, even though politically it matters a great deal what happens to planned parenthood, suggests to me he is willing to use every tool at his disposal and he is willing to break with tradition and break with ordinary process in order to push an agenda that will restrict access to reflect of rights. amy: neil gorsuch has long opposed assiststed suicide, whih colorado legalized last year. he wrote a 2006 book called "the future of assisted suicide and euthanasia." in it, he outlines his argument for retaining current laws banning assisted suicide and euthanasia saying -- "all human beings are intrinsically valuable and the intentional taking of human life by private persons is always wrong." what is the significance of this, ian millhiser, both on assisted suicide and what it means for reproductive rights. itit is significant because

tells you immediately what he will do in assisted suicide case. but the rhetoric that he uses is the rhetoric that abortion opponents are using. you know, the anti-choice rhetoric is to present the fetus as a human life and say exactly what neil gorsuch said about human life in his book. when you look at his full record , his vote in hobby lobby and the planned parenthood case, his adoption of the rhetoric of people who call themselves pro-life, i think it is very, very clear what he is going to do when he has an abortion c cae inin front of him. amy: are going to go to break and come back to this discussion and nan aron.iser stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: "dead man walking" david bowie. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and

peace report. i'm amy goodman. continuing to look at judge neil gorsuch, president trump's nominee to the supreme court. we're joined by nan aron, president of alliance for justice. stilill with us, ianan millhise, editor of the progress justice. picaron, when you saw the announced in a kind of reality tv way -- no one knew who he was going to be, but at 8:00 eastern standard time, president obama announced that neil gorsuch was his choice and he came out with his wife, gorsuch did. talk about what you are most concerned about right now. >> we expected either neil gorsuch or tom hardiman. by they, neil gorsuch afternoon was considered the front runner. obviouslyy we were

very disappointed, but not surprised. the events of the past several urgency toadded new this discussion and to the debate that will ensue over the supreme court. we now know we have a president donald trump, steve bannon, mike pence, who would love to dismantle the social economic, political progress made in this country for over 100 years. and what is so critically important at this particular moment in time is to have court -- in particular, the, that can operate as an independent check power,residence excesses, and even impulses. this discussion, this focus on the court is critically important because

after all, while donald trump will be in office four years, eight years, supreme court justices are on the court for life. and so this inquiry that will be taken by the senate is really an important one,. but at the end of the day, we do know no corsets, we know his record. yes, he is very smart. yes, he is very collegial. but that is not the end of the inquiry when you consider a supreme court justice. what you need to look at is the done and wean has have done, and it shows an individual who will limit the ability of government to protect americans's air, water, medicines, food, workers rights,

civil rights, limit abortion -- do away with abortion. he has even criticized the courts for advancing lgbtq rights. really is a man who is out of sync with america at the moment. he is not out of sync with jackson or the federal society -- don amy: with the federalist society is. >> it is an organization principally of law students, law teachers, lawyers. funded in part by the koch brothers. rolespoused a very limited for the courts. their view is the courts cannot protect, can't safeguard, will allow our agencies to ensure that we have protections -- which really places people's lives in peril. it is considered a right-wing organization. in fact, the trump

administration outsourced the selection of its judges and neil gorsuch to the federalist society and heritage action. phenomenon atd the moment. we also know this president, as stated several times during the campaign, was looking for an individual who would both expand gun rights and overturn roe v wade. so we know the president is very assured that neil gorsuch will compliment, will carry out, will implement his agenda on those two things. there is even more to be worried about. and that is really the ability of our government and its provide protection for all americans. amy: ian millhiser, jujudge

gorsucuch was a clerk for a anty kennedy, another supreme court justice. there was discussion thahat because anthony kennedy would feel so comfortable with judge gorsuch at his side, he might be more willing to retire, which would mean president trump chooses another supreme court justice. can you talk about this? >> lord, i hope not. here is the thing. anthony kennedy is conservative, but he is much more moderate than neil gorsuch. and anthony kennedy does have a libertarian streak. he is supportive of some restrictions on police. you know, sometimes votes with the liberals in criminal justice cases. i think he is cautious about executive power and he might be particularly cautious about this executive's power. gay rights.ood on

when you look at anthony kennedy's record, a lot of what he cares about is going to be lost if he gives his seat to donald trump. he is not going to beginning it to neil gorsuch. he will beginning at two whoever donald trump kicks. -- picks. only anthony kennedy can know what anthony kennedy is thinking, but i hope he realizes that he is the only thing standing between donald trump right now and trump being able to do more or less whatever he wants. and if he wants to continue to be a check on this president, he neededs to not give the presidit the supreme court. amy: i want to ask about what happened last year with merrick garland, president obama's scalia afterplace he died. this is president obama speaking last march when he made the nomination. prpres. obama: ask republicans n the senate to give him a fair hearing, and then an up or down

vote. if you don't, then it will not only be an abdication of the senate's constitutional duty, it will indicate a process for nominating and confirming judges that is beyond repair. the reputation of the supreme court will inevitably suffer. faith in our justice system will inevitably suffer. ultimimately will suffer as s well. amy: that was president obama last march when he nominated merrick garland. nan aron, the significance of what took place over this last year? senators, the american people are just anguished over the mistreatment of merrick garland

by republicans. here you had a nominee who enjoyed support from both democrats and republican ,enators, had a moderate record and in fact, not one republican senator during the time they blocked a hearing and a vote indicated that he or she had any particular criticisms of his record. so here you had a sterling candidate with a sterling record, and yet republicans failed to give him a hearing, failed to give him a vote, hoping a republican president would be voted into office and that president would then named his own supreme court justice. of course, that is exactly what happened. note thatimportant to not one republican senator last year criticized anything about merrick garland's record.

so it was simply a disgraceful, a shameful abuse of power. the senate will remember it. but it is important to know and to note that the senate will not of tit-for-tats on what happened to merrick garland. that is the past. the senate should be focused and will be focused on neil gorsuch's record and whether or not he is the proper appropriate person to take a seat on that supreme court. that is what this discussion and this debate will focus on. not merrick garland. amy: ian millhiser, on environmental issues, this colorado jurist neil gorsuch. decision on the

defense counsel and whether or ,anneu think his mother gorsuch, ultimately forced out over corruption scandal, has relevance here. >> i am cautious about imputing the views of the mother to the sun, but when you look at your for such's record, it looks like the apple to not fall far from the tree. what the chevron case is, the abron -- chevron doctrine is doctrine of modesty. it says courts should recognize they're not elected initiative for too much of what the agencies do when those agencies try to do their job. what is going to happen is gorsuch succeeds in dismantling chevron, able shift power from the federal agencies, which are responsible to an elected president to the unelected judiciary at the moment when

republicans are consolidating their control over the judiciary. and that means if four years from now there is a democratic president, that democratic president could find it very hard to govern, could find it very hard to put environmental regulations in place, very hard to put labor relations in place because every y time they want o do it, they have to ask permission from neil gorsuch. amy: and his standing cases on labor rights? >> this chevron issue goes to virtually any subject. if you look at how president obama governed, largely due to gerrymandering it was impossible for him or for democrats to take back the house, so he had to look to the regulatory agency. so he tried to fight global warming through the agencies. you try to expand access to overtime pay to the agencies. he tried to prevent lgbtq's coronation through the agencies

-- discrimination through the agencies. of course it gets is what i'm chevron, the next them a credit president is going to lose all that power, or at the least, will have to go begging for permission to republican-controlled court every time they want their agencies to do some e sort of regulatory action. amy: i want to read quickly from "the new york daily news, and response. president trump stomata to the supreme court expressed disdain for part-time protesters in a series of columnist published by color university newspaper and at what time had to retract a fabricated story about a student activist. neil gorsuch, nominated by trump tuesday night, graduated from the ivy league school of columbia in 1988 with a political science degree while enrolled he penned columns the columbia daily spectator about what he perceived as liberal bias plaguing the student body. in one column, gorsuch blasted student coalitions protesting american companies profiting off of south africa's segregation of apartheid system."

he was very young, but your thoughts? >> i am cautious about imputing the police the people had in college today are as an adult. i think if any of my college friends who i was appearing on this show, they would be shocked to learn that. some people do change. but when you look at neil issuch's record, i think it clear from how yes behaved as an adult, as a judge, that he still holds a very conservative ideology and that when you look at his record when he was in college, it is clear he has held very conservative views for a very long time. amy: ian millhiser, i won't askk why they would be shocked. thank you for joining us. senior fellow at the center for american progress action fund and the editor of thinkprogress justice. and nan aron, president of alliance for justice. when we come back, we take a look at stephen bannon, who has become the top aide to president

trump. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. as protests continue across the country and globe over donald trump's order closing the borders to refugees and citizens of seven majority muslim nations, we turn to look at the man largely credited with writing the executive order -- steve bannon, trump's chief strategist. over the first two weeks of the trump administration, bannon has emerged as one of the most powerful figures in the white house. on the "new york times" ran an tuesday, editorial posing the question "president bannon?" , the times wrote -- "we've never witnessed a political aide move as brazenly to consolidate power as stephen bannon -- nor have we seen one do quite so much damage so quickly to his putative boss's popular standing or pretenses of competence." bannon is the former head of breitbart news, a site that has

been described as online haven for white nationalalists. he left the job in august to run trump's campaign. last week trump took the , unprecedented step of putting bannon a full seat on the principals committee of the national security council. while bannon has given few interviews since trump's election, many journalists have been scouring the archives of breitbart where bannon once hosted a radio show. in a piece today, the "washington post" highlights a program from 2015 when bannon questioned republican congressman ryan zinke who is now trump's nominee to be interior secretary. this is steve bannon. >> level of frustration and anger here in the united states that we're not prosecuting this war and we are actually in discussions about wringing over muslim refugees into this country with a president who is now mocking the talk radio people, mocking the audience on talk video, mocking sites like breitbart bringing up these issues. what say you? threehink we need to do

things. one, put a stop on refugees until weekend that. we have been through a number of classified -- >> what do you mean, vet? what are you going to all of this vetting? >> vetting is important because we do not know -- >> commander, you only vet if you're going to let them in. amy: the words of steve bannon interviewing ryan zinke. in another program from bannon 2015, interviewed senator jeff sessions, trump's nominee to be attorney general. sessionsns praised a 1924 immigratation law which imposeda racist quota system. this is steve bannon. >> as it exists today with the current laws on the books, this is what our current laws would actually allow to happen, that we would have at the end of this time period, basically an increase of the population of

150 million people, 14 million, basically, from the nativeborn population in 103 million with come from outside. >> and seven years, we will have the highest percentage of americans, non-native born, since the founding of the republic. some people think, well, we have always had these numbers. but it is not so. this is very unusual. it is a radical change. and the numbers reach about this high in 1924, the president and congress changed the policy. it slowed down immigration significantly. we then assimilated through the 1965, and created really a solid middle-class of america with assimilated immigrants. it was good for america. we passed this law that went far beyond what anybody realized in 1965, and we pass now to surge far past what the situation was

in 1924. amy: that was jeff sessions, who could now be voted to be the attorney general. he was being interviewed by stephen bannon nn 2015. to top are, we're joined by josh harkinson for senior reporter at mother jones. his recent article is headlined, "the dark history of the white house aides who crafted trump's muslim ban." welcome back to democracy now! can you lay out who stephphen bannon's and then we will ask you about stephen miller. >> think at heart, steve bannon is a nationalist who does he turned breitbart news into an eempire that is reaeally one ofe preeminent platforms for the alt-right. as he told us thisis past summe. he is deeply opposed to islam on many levels will stop he is basically a demagogue in the mold of -- from past eras.

he is risen to power in the trump administration based on his ability to inflame racial fears and xenophobia. amy: talk about what happened this weekend, the ban through two executive orders that now the press secretary sean spicer is saying is not a ban, although, he himselflf used the teterm any timimes as the presit trump. >> right. as we did at mother jones. we looked at his radio interviews shortly after hee became trump's campaign manager fact last summer. he has a long history of interviewing to islam activist and promoting this paranoid vision of islam as a religion bent on the destruction of western civilization. in that context, there is no

doubt this policy is really about venting g muslims from cocoming to the united states. amy: i want to talk to stephen bannon via skype in a conference held inside the vatican in 2014. thatalked about the crisis capitatalism conononts in the wr againsnst f fascism. >> pubublic the worldld, particularly the jududeo-christn west is at a c crisis and it is the gaganizing principiple of hw we built b breitbabart newews ta platfoform to ring news and information n to people ththrout the wororld, princicipally inine west,, but we are expandiding internationally, tooet people undersrstand the g gaps of this crisis. it is a crisis both of capitatalism, but alally the ununderpinnings s of t the judeo-christiann wesest in our beliefs. we're in an oututright war agait jihadiststs, islam, islamic fascism.

thth war is i i think metatastasizing farar quicker tn governments can handle it. in: there is stephen bannon an address in a conference inside the vatican a few years ago. the significance of what he is saying here, josh harkininson? >> as you are p probably awarer, president obabama declilined ton ,se the term islamic terrororism because you haveve stephphen ban framing the babattle agagainst terrorism as a religiousus war, which is exactly what radical terrorists want. they want to present themselves as a representativive of islam, agendaan fac i it is the of millions s of people that is very m moderate. that is evident in our allies in the islamic world and their approach to governance. stephen bannon is playing into the hands of actual terrorists. the most recent

information that he has been made a principal on the national security council. what exactly this means, this man who came out of goldman sachs who is that a breitbart news, a news haven for white supremacists and nationalists. what is he doing on the national security council and the sisignificance of this, as wells the demoting of two of the traditional positions on the national security council -- the head of the joint chiefs of staff joseph dunford as well as the director of national -- those two positions. >> rigight. this is s unprecedented. david axelrod, obama'a's politil advisorr, sometimemes it's sasan on these meetings, but he had nothing close e to a permanent position.. bannon's elevation, while these other officials are demoted, really tells us he is goioing to

be playing a key role here on this council -- which should be deeply disturbing, not just because of his radical ideology, his views on islam, but also because he is a political operative. use policy asn to an arm of politics, his arm of winning over his adversaries. it is scary. he could start a war just for political gain. amy: interesting to hear david axelrod's response to sean spicer. david axelrod said, it is amazing go to sleep and wake up as an alterernative facact. i did not participate in thesese meetings. sometimes i would going to hear what people were saying about afghanisistan, for example, but said it is very different from being a prininpal at thehe tabl. >> rightht.

i think ththat is the key point. bannon is -- look at his behavior of breitbart news. he had no o qualms about using xenophobia to gain readers and clout. his behavior -- he has a famously confrontational style where he views himself at war with his adversaries. he h has a very black anand whie view of the world. this suggests he will encourage trump to clash even more than he already does with foreign leaders around the world. amy: i want to turn to comments bannon made about the media in an interview last week with "the new york times" or he said -- "the media should be embarrassed and humiliated and keep its mouth shut and just listen for a while." bannon added -- "i want you to quote this. the media here is the opposition party. they don't understand this country. they still do not t undersrstany donanald trump is the e presidef thununited statates. >> so this war a against t the a

is a claic a authoritatarian tactic,, discrediting the people who tell you what is going on in the world, queuestioning their authority to give you the facts, which c causes basically t the people do not k know what is up and what is s down, to question- that allows him to do whatever he wants with impunity, ultimately. any cup quickly, stephen miller. who exactly he is, this former head -- chief of staff of senator sessions who is now one of the top a advisers to presist trump. anstephen milleler is interesting guguy. he i is very you, 31 yearsrs ol. he wasas formally jeff session'' top aide. he has been describeded as hahag a mind meld with sessions, very much opposed to multiculturalism and ththe nativist in the sessis ' strain.

he has a history from his earliest days and politics at duke university where he was a columnist at the campus bedsaper, of writing these that are just very far right and appealing basically -- he is a mini steve bannon. amamy: and his r relatioionshipa well-known white supremacist? >> he and richard spencer, who i spent a lot of time with a few montnths ago, were both membersf the duke conservative union. bringorked together to peter brimelow, a very ininfluential l white nationali, to c campus to talk aboutt immigrionn issues.s. spencer told me basically that he thought he was a mentotor to miller. miller vehemently denies this, but other members of the duke

union, they did work together on this event. amy: j josh harkinson, thank you for being with us. we will link to your piece at mother jones headlined "the dark , history of the white house aides who crafted trump's muslim ban." we spend the rest of the show wiwith a civil rights leaderer o has been at the forefront of the movement for equality for decades, reverend jesse jackson. i caught up with the two-time democratic presidential candidate at the women's march in washington, and now he joins us here in new york. we just have a few minutes then we will do part two of this discussion. let's focus right now on jeff sessions and the opposition to him. they have put off the vote on him until today. the head of the naacp just got arrested again this week -- >> for the right reasons. 1965, blacks did not have the right to vote e for 85 years, ,t

women could not serve on juries. he calls the interventions supreme court to protect people's rights as intrusion. end.o danger to justice. of: and the significance sessions in question -- well, you had cory booker, the first time a sitting senator challenged a sitting senator and a confirmation hearing, john lewis, you know, one of the most respected congressmember's a longtime civil rights activist, as well as congressmember cedric richmond, who questioned why these three men spoke not at the beginning of the hearing as is

but at the end, saying we feel like we're the back of the bus. >> it is not enough to call him racist, but some culmination of federalist society and the confederates. he has a point of view about women in labor and people of color. it is the most powerful job in the country, just like tillerson it would stick a knife in the crown jewel of dr. king's work, inhibiting the protected right to vote. any cup what do you think should happen? the vote has not taken place. you're a man long engaged in civil disobedience, not to mention other kinds of protests. >> the senators have an obligation, one, to stand tall against his nomination. even those republicans who would

see the world through -- they have an obligation to break ranks. they cannot justify their ignoring his record to vote for him -- they cannot choose party unity over patriotism. johndonald trump calling lewis all talk, talk, talk, no action. >> we should get beyond the name-calling. john lewis is about action and change. we are a better nation because of the sacrifice of john lewis and jose williams and dr. king. we are a bigger, better nation because -- it right now is on the chopping block. we must not surrender our spirits. amy: your response to the choice of neil gorsuch? >> he is a constructionist, construction of women's rights. women are not going to allow controlled byo be someone else.

women have the right to own their home bodies. that is a dimension. it is not just women's rights, it is women's rights, workers rights, the rights of consumers. he is to the right of scalia. that should say a lot about the court. to color the amy: and the muslim ban, people protesting all over the country right or today? >> and the world. when you push off on the mexicans in latin america, two thirds of our hemisphere, you push off on china, one fourth of the asian race in the world today, you push off on europe and make them unsettled about putin and push off on refugees -- moral and political i should less secure,e made not more secure. amy: reverend jackson, thank you for being with us. >> and it is a ban. amy: so you agree with donald

trump sean spicer with that one. jesse jackson civil rights , leader. thank you for joining us. [captioning made possible by democracy now!] u18186ñ/ú