07/17/18 07/17/18 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democrcracy now! pres. trump: president putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today. and what he did is incredible. he offered to have the people working on the case, and work with their investigators with respect to the 12 people. i think that is an incredible offer. amy: president trump meets with russian president vladimir putin in helsinki, lashing out at his own intelligence agencies over the investigation of alleged russian interference in the 2016

election and drawing bipartisan outrage. we will get response from katrina vanden heuvel and speak with sam husseini, who was credential to cover the summit for the nation. before monday's news conference, he was dragged out while holding a piece of paper that read "nuclear weapon ban treaty." >> oh, my god. for what? i am telling you what i'm dog. i am being totally open. amy: then we spend the rest of the hour with boots riley, director of the new film "sorry to bother you." >> action. an aurdist dark comedy ipipired by the world of telemarketing. >> that is intriguing. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report.

i'm amy goodman. president trump is meeting with congressional lawmakers on capitol hill today as he faces bipartisan crititicism over r hs decision to lash out at his own intelligence agencies over the investigation of alleged russian interference in the 2016 election, while speaking at a joint news conference with russian president vladimir putin following their summit in helsinki. have trump: i do feel we both made some steaks. is a disasterobe for our country. i think it has kept us apart. it has kept us separated. there was no collusion at all. everybody knows it. --:'s comments infuriated his commmment infuriated many. john mccain called them one of the most disgraceful performances by an american president in memory. formrmer cia director john brenn

tweeted -- john "it was nothing short of treasonous." trump's oh national security adviser, director of national intelligence dan coats, said in the statement that was reportedly not cleared by the white house "we have been clear in our assessments of russian meddling in the 2016 election and their ongoing pervasive efforts to undermine our democracy, and we will continue to provide unvarnished and objective intelligence in support of our national security." even fox news joined in the course of criticism with newco video of foxbusiness calling trump's comments disgusting and fox news anchor greg bear calling it surreal. we will have more on trump's summit with russian president vladimir putin after headlines with katrina vanden heuvel, editor and publisher of the nation magazine, and we will go to helsinki to speak with sam husseini, credentialed to cover the summit for the nation magazine but dragged out of the press room before monday's press

conference while he held a piece of paper that read "nuclear weapon ban treaty." in san diego, federal judge dana sabraw has ordered a one-week halt to the deportation of migrant families who have been reunited after being separated by immigration officials at the border. the ruling came after the american civil liberties union raraised concernrn about mass deportations following the reunification of migrant children and their parents, many of whom are seeking asylum in the united states. in total, up to 3000 children were separated from their parents. hundreds of whom may have already been deported. israel has further tightened its blockade of the gaza strip, announcing monday a suspension of all fuel and gas deliveries. this comes after israel and the mass rocard a cease-fire late saturday. the ceasefire came after the israeli military launched the heaviest bombing assault on gaza

since the 2014 war, killing two children. and hamas fired a series of rockets toward israel, wounding four israelis. meanwhile, the israeli knesset has approved controversial legislation that would ban groups from entering schools if they are critical of the israeli military. this is avner gvaryahu, executive director of breaking the silence, one of the groups that would be affected b by the ban. >> i can promise that we are going to do whatever we can to fight against this dangerous government. and i am pretty sure that thee students that t for this last yr and the principals and teachers that invited us will contitinueo do thahat in support our work. and as long as t there will b bn occupation, or will be soldiers who choose to speak out against this. in southern iraq, massive

protests are continuing, denouncing the lack of access to electricity, clean water, and jobs, in the oil-rich region. police have cracked down on the mounting protests, firing live ammunition into the crowds. at least eight people have been killed. while iraq's oil sector accounts for 99% of the country's exports, it represents only 1% of iraq's jobs, as the vast majority of the positions are held by foreigners. egypt's parliament has approved a law that could give senior military commanders immunity from future prosecution over the deadly crackdown following the 2013 overthrow of president mohammed morsi. more than 1000 protesters were killed when soldiers opened fire on a sit-in in cairo protesting morsi's ouster. in nicaragua, the organization of american states says the death toll from mounting anti-government protests has risen to at least 273 people since the uprising erupted in april. both opposition groups and pro-government forces have been accused of violence, including kidnappings and killings. on monday, hundreds marched in the streets ofof managua to demd

justice for studentsts killed friday during an hours-long standoff at the national autonomous university of nicaragua between pro-government forces and opposition protesters who had seized control of the university campus. >> today we are here at this march after what happened at the university of negron work, the massacre on friday, july 13, due to how the government attacked them in a cowardly way. amy: the nicaraguan says the official death toll is 51 and accuses opposition protests of using violence to overthrow the elected leftist government. on sunday, nicaragua's national police accused the opposition of kidnapping, torturing, and incinerating a police officer. thousands of amazon workers in germany, poland, and spain are on strike today to protest poor working conditions. today's strike was timed to coincide with amazon's promotional holiday called "prime day," which the company useses to try to drive sales..

uber is under federal investigation for gender discrimimination. the u.s. equal employment opportunity commission iss probining uber's hiring practic, wages, and other evidence of gender-based discrimination. the revelalations of this probe were first reported by the "wall street journal" and come only ya weweek after uber's head of humn resourceces liane hohornsey, , resigned over her r handling f racial discrimination claims within uber. president trump's son-in-law and senior adviser jared kushner is facing more scrutiny over his family's real estate empire, kushner companies. on monday, 20 current and former tenants of a kushner companies-owned property in new york city filed a $10 million lawsuit claiming they were harassed into leaving their rent-regulated apartments so the kushners could turn the property into luxury condominiums. the tenants say the kushners used harassment like loud and obnoxious drilling and a constant cloud of toxic smoke and dust in order to force tenants out. and the e new york pololice departmentnt told the juststice

partment that it will soon move forward with disciplinary proceedings against ththe police officers invololved in killing eric garner unless the justice department annouounces its own crcrinal chargeses by august 31. eric garner, an african american father a and staten island resident, was killed when police officers wrestled him to thehe ground, pinned him dn, and applied a fatal l chokehol exexactly four years agogo toda. on monday, the new y york police department criticized the justice department for the extraordinary passage of time in its investigation. the nypd's disciplinary proceedings would include officer daniel pantaleo, who applied the fatal chokeholold, d sergeant kizzy adonis, onene of ththe first supervrvisors at the scene. officer pantaleoeo is still an officer with the new york police department, w working paid desk duty, and he's received multiple raises since eric garner's death. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman.

juan: and i'm juan gonzalez. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. president trump is back in the united states and set to meet with lawmakers today after his joint summit with russian president vladimir putin in helsinki. during a joint press confeferene monday, trump stood next to putin as he lashed out at his own intelligence agencies over the investigation of alleged russian interference in the 2016 electition. pres. trump: i think the probe is a disaster for our country. i think it has kept us apart. it is kept us separated. there was no collusion at all. everybody knows it. people are being brought out to that i know can never truly none of it related to the campaign. they're going after try really hard to find somebody that did relate to the campaign. it was a clean campaign. i beat hillary clinton easily. and frankly, we beat her -- and

i'm not even saying from the that race. we won it is a shame that there can even be a little bit of a cloud over it. people know that. people understand it. the main thing, and we discussed this also, zero collusion. it has had a negative impact upon the relationship of the two largest nuclear powers in the world. we have 90% of nuclear power between the two countries. it is ridiculous. juan: president trump's remarks drew bipartisan outrage, with senate armed services committee chair john mccain calling them "one of the most disgraceful performances by an american prpresident in memory," and forr cia director john brennan tweeting that they exceeded "the threshold of 'high crimes & misdemeanors.' it was nothing short of treasonous." trump on director said it was not clear by the white house, "we have been there and our assessments of russian meddling in the 2016 election

and our ongoing pervasive efforts to undermine our democracy and we will continue to provide unvarnished and objective intelligence in support of our natational security. even fox news joint in the course of criticism with no computer of foxbusiness calling trump's comment "disgusting" and fox nenews anchor callining it "surreal." amy: president trump later defended his remarks, tweeting -- "i have great confidence in my intelligence people." however, i also recognize that in order to build a brighter future, we cannot exclusively focus on the past -- as the world's two largest nuclear powers, , we must get along!" meanwhile, putin acknowledged that he had wanted trump to win the 2016 election but reiterated his denial of meddling. pres >> it is obvious to everyone that our bilateteral relalations are going through aa difficult t period. but thesee difficultlties and te atmosphere have no objective

grounds. the cold war is long over. amy: before monday's press conference began, one of the reporters in the room was forcibly removed. sam husseini was credentialed to cover the summit for the nation magazine. earlier in the day, he tweeted " the issue isn't trump, the issue isn't putin, the issue is the issue." before they spoke at the news conference, video shows sam husseini holding a piece of paper that read "nuclear weapon ban treaty." a security official aggressively tries to take the sign from him. sam husseini can be heard saying he's looking for his glasses which were knocked off his face before guards dragged him out. listen carefully. >> [indiscernible] sam husseini. sam husseini.

i am being opened. oh, my god. you are grabbing me for what? i'm telling you what i'm doing. i'm being totally open. amy: for morore on thihis and te outcome of the u.s.-russia summit, we're going to helsinki tuesday with sam husseini. he is just outside the palace where he was removed on he is a monday. contributing writer to the nationon and senior analyst with the institute for public accuracy. sam, it is great to have you here. and firstly, you did not witness the news conference or get to ask a question because you were dragged out as we watched on television as people did all over the world, just before the news conference began. can you tell us what happened? , not as ahe sign

protest, but an attempt to grab the attention of either trump or me toto get them to allow ask a question about nuclear policy. they postured themselves a news conference, which owe i was able to later here, stalwarts of statesmen that they want to stop nuclear proliferation. the headline here should be as these guys are threatening the planet with her nuclear weapons, most of the planet through the weapons ban treaty wants to get rid of the nuclear weapons, and they're refusing to do so. instead, we're focusing on what i would have to argue our minor issues. journalists told him i had this piece of paper. i was escorted out of the room. i was given assurance i would be

let back in. thethen when i showed them paper -- i expect them to say, oh, ok, you're not a protester. it is fine. or, we don't want the two holed up a paper, please don't do that or give us the paper. instead, journalists were asking me what was going on. i was trying to openly say i was can hold of this paper to try to get a question in. me for theunched at paper, shoved me out of the room, held me in detention -- i believe, until the news event was over. speak to let me anybody in authority. would not let me have access to my phone or anything like that. would not give me anybody's names. ,fter the conference was over they took me outside and there were some people outside.

i said, this is repressed freedom in finland. there are signs all over town about how finland is for press freedom. and is in opposition to trump and putin's authoritarianism. so i felt it was rather ironic officials were directing a journalist out of a news conference that finnish officials were manhandling me in many ways. and when i shouted that, they shoved me to the ground, handcuffed me behind and on my legs and threw me the back of a police vehicle, took me to a detention facility north of the city, and help me there until theight -- which is when media centers closed. i don't think that is a coincidence. juan: sam, you're beeeen coverig white house press conferences for decades. and you're saying that some reporters notified security that you're holding up -- that you had a sign in your hands?

was it american reporters who did this or what? >> i don't know who it was. when the officials came to me and said, c can we speak to you? i did not know what it was about. assuranances i would be let back into the room. asking,t of people were why is this person being singled out? withd, i am sam husseini the nation magazine -- in case i was not let back into the room. i would through a room where dignitaries were the so-called dignitaries. they questioned me and they said somebody told us, implied it was a journalist, that you dispute the pace her -- he's a paper. i said, oh, that. here, let me show you with a piece of paper is. i would back into the room. what iseporter said, going on?

i was attempting to explain. people were still waiting for trump and putin to come into the room. it was a very chaotic situation in general. as i was in the midst of starting to explain what was going on or what i have planned, that it was not a protest, just an attempt to do serious, aggressive journalism -- which is what i think we need. the more substantial journalism, the more focused it is, i think more peaceful the outside world would be. that was my motivation. they lunged at me. they dragged me to the floor. i was trying to get my glasses. they dragged me out of the room and continue to manhandle me on and off. they wanted to take a picture of my passport. i said ok, i will let you if you let me at least listen to the news conference that you dragged me out of. they were like, no! can you explain what the nuclear weapons ban treaty is that you were holding in your hand? , have to say, in watching cnn

there were saying looks like a protester, she said, it actually may just be a reporter who wants to ask a question. . that wouldvel be. the you ands past voted for a nuclear ban treaty. -- the u.n. voted for nuclear ban treaty. this is the attempt to fix the problem. since the, 50 years nuclear nonproliferation treaty. which was supposed to strike a deal. the nuclear powers, the u.s., russia, and the others, would agree that they would move toward elimination, good faith efforts at elimination of their nuclear weapons in return for the other countries not acquiring nuclear weapons. the u.s. has totally reneged on that. so after this has become evident, country's mood to this

nuclear ban treaty, the group behind it won the nobel peace prize last year. this has gotten ridiculously little coverage and understanding in the u.s. and elsewhere. that is what i was highlighting, that these men w who would go on to talk about proliferation and how reresponsible they are -- liberation, nonproliferation is million -- orjust will he and his him. we maintain the violence of the world. we will threaten for our strategic instance. they can scream at each other. this establishment and russian establishment, just as the democratic establishment and republican establishment scream at each other. and meanwhile, the wars that they both want continue. the economic exportation they want continues. volume of alleged screaming when you're talking about democratic pharisees and

such does not indicate actual animosity in my view. it is a way of drowning out some people who might be attempting to divine a measure of truth and freedom in our current circumstances. amy: sam husseinini speaking tos from healthy key, contracting writer to the nation and senior analyst with the institute for public accuracy. i want to thank him for being with us. dragged out yesterday just before the news conference after the summit between president trump and president putin. katrina vanden heuvel, you are the person who are your news orgaganization c credentialed te same. can you talk about what happened yesterday? >> i can talk about the importance of a journalist like sam husseini or like amy goodman or juan gonzalez in a culture in which have questions are rarely asked.

these are times with a comfortable should be afflicted by tough, tough questions. press conference with george w, the run-up to the iraq war. there was not a single tough question -- maybe helen thomas tried. i think the idea of journalists as lapdogs or stenographers to power is a failure, well function of our democracy, which is already come as we have learned, under siege. i think sam husseini as a long record of asking tough questions. he goes to state department conferences. he does of the quite clever. stakeout.com, he would go to the done no-- you have shows, amy, the sunday talk shows. you don't learn much. he would try to ask tough questions. i believe he got suspended from the national press coverage in 2011 for asking pointed questions of a saudi foreign minister or saudi minister. there is a role in our democracy for tough, public accountability

journalism. i want to thank you and democracy now! in the context of this moment because the nation is with you in the idea of not policing, but fostering debate, unconventional views often viewed as heresy in our media colter. a the debate you held about the summit, about engagement with russia, about meddling in the election and all of these related issues was done at a level which our media culture would benefit from because we have seen a lot of name. and a kind of moral media political panic on the eve of the summit. in the wake of the summit. but "the new york times" had a headline i think "putin comes -- "by meeting him, trump comes out ahead." it is a zero-sum game. when you do with the summit, and

a summit has been held since 1943. , to deescalate conflict, to find resolution, and to try to avoid hot war in the context of the summit. amy: let's talk about the summit. folks, you can go to democracynow.org to see the debate both on the air and after the air between joe cirincione sharesesident of plough fund, has been a longtime anti-nuclear activist, but did not feel the summit should take place, that trump made the wrong decision. and when greenwald, who felt exactly the opposite. go to democracynow.org [captioning made possible by democracy now!] but the summit, the outcry across the united states. it is not just cnn and msnbc. >> it is not across the united states, it is across the media universe of the united states. amy: and fox as well.

the bipartisan between the democrats and republicans attack on what just it place on president trumpmp saying he believed president putin''s denial of russian interference in 2016 elections over his own intelligence agencies must specifically calling out dan coats. >> there's a kind of maniacal defensiveness to defend the legitimacy of his election, which leads to -- what we sought the press conference, which was kind of bizarre and surreal. was a treasonous? was it surrender? was it again the 9/11 were per harbor as some have called? i think the rhetoric was disproportionate to what we saw. we saw a trump who we've already seen bully his way across europe, who could very well look -- ited, and it was not was kind of ugly and shameful to watch, but i think the people kind of lost their bearing.

two me, there were three points i come out of. one is that the investigation into russian interference in our election must continue, must be protected. that our electoral system must be strengthened so it is free and fair. that will be a lot of work. and number three is that don't isolate russia, we engage. and that does not mean legitimizing and author terry and leader -- authoritarian leader. but it does mean understanding the context of two countries holding 90% of the nuclear ofpons that the bulletin atomic scientist moved the doomsday clock a minute or so ahead, midnight is doomsday, we're careless situation and we have been in since the cuban missile crisis. i think we need to step back. i think it is worth asking in wherentext of the media,

are the alternative voices? there are alternative voices in this country which could have touched a different note -- the nuclear ban treaty or what do we do about to truly resolve the conflict in syria and not just let putin and trump issue talking points about what they were going to do. how do we resolve ukraine? these were issues that came up, but partly because it was a summit of such low expectations under siege from the beginning, but also lose planning, that the press comforts became talk. how it moves forward is hard considering sing the assault on the idea of u.s.-russian engagement process moving forward. juan: apart from the media fixation on the personality figures here, putin and trump, does your sense in terms of

where trump is trying to take u.s. foreign-policy away from international groupings and more into bilateral relationships between powers -- >> that is such an interesting question. we filed a piece last night that is just a that point, which is to move away from those international institutions. we are ready see the assault. the eu he has assaulted. 4% mores assaulted but gdp spending. to pull it out so these superpowers organized the world as they see, but i don't think that is possible because trump is undisciplined, to say the least, untethered often from reality. and while there may be some strategy coming out of this -- it may look like some strategy coming out of this summit, i think it is going to be incoherent. i think what trump did on this

trip between europe and the helsinki summit is he played to his base. he is reconfiguring the republican party so it becomes more consistent with its isolationist roots. going it alone, not tethered by international institutions. and also sympathetic to strongmen. i think trump is more of a con man that are strongmen, but he certainly has an affinity. i don't have much use for those who say, look, he is guilty because he never says a bad word about putin. the problem is, he never says about the saudi leaders or netanyahu or the murderous duterte in the philippines. he does have an affinity for those strongmen -- which i think does guide him in a foreign-policy. we need democrats to counter and not accept what i talked to any

about last week, the field bipartisan foreign-policy establishment as our default. we should not go back to policing the world indispensable nation, but instead have a demilitarized foreign-policy that truly deals with the challenges of our time -- which most of our not going to be met with a military solution. amy: and the delegitimizing of that question, for example, well, rand paul, who may actually -- the intercept just reported this morning may be one of those who votes against the new supreme court nominee concerns around issues of privacy and surveillance. but even on the issue of russian comparing russia and the united states. >> the vilification of alternative, dissenting views or linking those views to a foreign ,ower, and many people's views is the degradation of our political media culture. when rand paul -- who is

interesting on foreign-policy -- reminds, as "the new york times" that america has meddled in other countries elections, has interfered, has overthrown countries governments, and msnbc "?ntributors tweet "traitor mention glenn greenwald. malcolm nance. glenn -- an agent of trump in moscow deep in the kremlin's pocket. -- we've seen this in our history before. dangerous when you have a suffocating consensus instead of a full, robust debate. it should be about issues. juan is right. we are feeding the beast. obliteration of

the line between news and entertainment. the conglomerate -- the decimation of local news. these are issues which collide with an administration which o delegitimize any check on abuses. and we as representatives of a media, which seek to speak to to issues, seek debate need stand up and continue to do our --k despite these fake news people are despairing about the facts, --ews, about anyway. i think the tweeting, to call someone a traitor because they have a point of you don't agree with? we are in dangerous territory. facts, -- anyway. juan: at the same time, looking at it from the truck supporters , thetrump supporters reality of the endemic came out last friday just before trump

headed to the nato summit and then to meet with putin -- the trump supporters see this as the deep state trying to affect the work of president trump. from the point of view of prosecuting, you could choose to think of -- often -- july, hot friday in d.c. july, this came down. listen, the investigation should proceed, must often -- july, p's integrity must be protected. of there is a long history summits being derailed by these kinds of last-minute interventions. so no wonder teeing up that announcement of elite 11:30 on friday, no wonder you come into a summit where instead of maybe nuclear weapons ban treaty being a top question, it is all framed by the russian meddling.

i don't about deep state. i don't know what that means. why people have used it and tried to analyze it. swamp wasou know, the certainly see and the idea that donald trump was going to drain the swamp. anyway, i think we need -- again, i come back. let us find ways to proceed to engage and have dialogue and diplomacy because the alternative is again, i come back. let us find ways to nuclear catastrophe. as we said in a open letter, which, by the way, has received secure for secure elections for true national security over 30,000 people have signed from around the country. it is interesting to hear people and their thoughts and not just the media establishment. amy: katrina vanden heuvel, thank you for being with us. when we come back, a man who critiques every level of the state. and their thoughts and not just thekatrina vanden heuvel is edir

and publisher of the nation.and. she's also a co-signer of the magazine's open letter: "common ground: for secure elections and true national security." the letter is also signed by daniel ellsbsberg, gloria stein, noam chomsky, governor bill richardson, reverend dr. william barber and michael moore, among others. we will link to it at democracynow.org. when we comeme back, boots rile. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: "pimps" performed by the coup and produced by boots riley. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. we spend the rest of the hour with boots riley, director of "sorry to bother you," the dystopian social satire that follows one oakland man's rise to the upper echelons of an evil

telemarketing company, only to discover a secret that threatens all of humankind. here is the crically acclaimed film's aiailer. >> how ch longer i got to wait for myononey? > greedy people like yowantnt to hog ito your lf and your family. >> me m my family? i am your uncle. i just really need a job. >> telemarketing. >> stick to the scrip >> mr. davon, sorrto bothe -- >> want to make someoney? use yo white voice. i'm not talking about will smith. hey, mr. cramer- - >> as ways, we will be getting thatut to yorighght ay.

so good with the voi thing you're goi upstair >> they ev have thr own evator. juan: "sor to both you" priered th year athe sundan film feival. the fi's ars incle lakeit stanfiel tessa tmpson, aie mmer, tey crews,nd danny glover. thfilm recved raveeviews anis beingailed asne of thbest movs of theummer. amy:or more,e are joed in studio by ots rile writer d direct of the itically acclaid film "rry to bher u." po, rappersongwrit, prucer, scenwriter humoristpoliticaorganize communitactivistlecturer and publ speakerbest kno as the ld vocali of the up and stet sweep social ub. he ithe author of oots riley: tl homela securitwe arthe bomb "sorryo botherou" is bts riley's first ature film. ots, welme back democra now! it is eat to he you wi us. wi this asunding

acmplishmentdescribet for us. this an absurdi dark medy insred by t world o lemarketg. pys a leith stanfld ack telerketer with self-eeem issueand disvers a metricaleight toake his voice undike it is white actor, and harity enes. an:hat telerketing? actualldid telerketing a coup of time one me in scol while was tually gng to fi sool, oureanother me after second aum, i hakind of 24-yr-old miife cris where i decidei have bn an aist o long d i quitnd the a someriends cated an organition cald the yog coades. to do that, and i

was good at sales so i did telemarketing. amy: you talked about the white voice. i want to turn to a clip from "sorry to bother you." caches green has just started whenob as a telemarketer an older employee played by none other than your friend danny glover them gives him some adadvice. >> the me e give you a a tip. usually white voice. >> pingot no white voice. go to know whai mean. you veve a voice itheir. use it is like getting lled ovebyby e police my regular use voic >> i'm just tryg g to ge yoyou sipt withread yo white voic >> people say i ta with a white voice anyw. we're talking abouthe real

deal. cook's y, mr.ramer. i did not catch at the wrong time, did i? >> for people listing on the radio, that was danny glover who isis voicing that. talk about a white voice and what that means. >> in the film, then it glover's character lengthen, that is -- the full piece he explains the white voice does not really exist. white people don't even have it. they use it and it is a performance. there's a performance of whiteness that is all about saying that everything is ok, that -- bills paid, and you know, this kind of smooth and easy thing. at the very least, the idea of what black folks have to do in hide their identity

sometime over the phone or to say they're safe. it is like the opposite of the racist black troops out there -- which are there they say, ok, black folks and people of color are savage or somehow their culture is insufficient, and that is s why they are poor. , peoplee racist tropes of color, have a utility because we live in a system that necessitates poverty, must have a certain number of unemployed --ple to exist, and there is but the explanation is that it is nothing to do the economic system but every thing to do with poor people and these racist tropes come. ice is almost a reaction to that. anyway -- and there are levels in there, what is also left out, just so people know, the full-line is "i'm not talking about will smith white.

that is not white, that is just proper." juan: and he rockets up the chain to success and the conflict begins with his girlfriend? >> there is conflict all through the movie. i don't know when it begins. but, yeah. yeah, devilish. "detroit"pson place who is an artist in the bay area trying to use her art to expose a lot of the injustices. kind of what this film deals characterou know, her is probably thclosest to me of dealwith theueststio what they can do if they need to. amy: expxpand on that. tessa thompson, her job in life is dancing with signs in front

of stores. >> i don't of think her charactr is her job and life. that is how she gets money to pay the bills. she is a sign twirler. is her jobfor money. but she is a gallery artist and know, at of, i don't prop arts group that does things somewhat clandestine. --h, i think her character character ander the character played by stephen yuen have somewhat of a conflict and an alliance because stephen yuen character and the character played plays a un. amy: and that goes to the issue of what is happening, where they work at regal view.

i want to turn back to the film "sorry to bother you" when ca green is promoted thin t take darkrk tn. >>ou are asome. make "sorry bother you," part of the trailer. boots riley, so he is pushed upstairs at people -- as people are starting to organize.

you have this big norm array moment in the film -- norma ray moment in the film. talk about that. we're talking about this, as just today, amazon prime day, there are people who are protesting where in poland and spain and germany to protest working conditions at amazon workplaces. and this morning, i don't know if you did this deliberately, but you are on cbs this mornrni, they tweeted out their schedule for the morning post up so you reach we did it because of the in his has boots riley discusses "sorry to bother you." before, they were discussing amazon's best prime day. payf course i do not attention to that until afterward. so i did not do that on purpose, but i will say what is happening on purpose is the confluence of what is being talked about in this film and the movements that

are growing. protestsng to say the are taking place, taking the and if work stoppages think that is something that is a toolward in my film as a tool that we need to use. i believe that since the beginning of the new left, progressives and radicals have turned more to spectacle and gone away from actually organizing at the actual point in capitalism,n which is the explication of labor, which is also where the working class has its power.

and we have gone in favor of demonstrations that don't necessarily have teeth, but they show where our head is that. and i feel like we have to give these demonstrations more teeth by being able to affect the know, line and say, you say you can make no money today money and make less get us whahat we want. juan: you set the film in oakland where you grew up. the importance of oakland? it has a was been a hotbed of radical politics and radical organizing. how you featured the city in the film? >> i'm sorry, could you rephrase the question? juan: what you decide is so much to future oakland in the film? >> i think that is just a great high product of wanting to make a good film. i come from oakland, so i'm going to write about what i know

i i believe my ways of -- and believe my ways of storytelling or making art have a lot to do with the details that make people up. and those are the details that surround us. and then i also just happen to, living in a place, you have great ideas of what you want to shoot. i also know so many people in oakland and the bay area that we could get some of the locations for free. so all of my art has to do with where i am, which is one reason to l.a. or new york because it is just part of what makes me. amy: we have been doing a lot this year on the 50th anniversary of all of the various events of 1968, like columbialved in the student strike. you have danny glover, teaching youngblood a few things at the telemarketing firm another telemarketer in your film.

but he was one of those 50 years ago protesting a san francisco state, as was your dad. >> danny glover and my father walter riley met at san francisco state, agitating and , being organizers of the san francisco state strike -- not the organizers, but some of them. so that strike created the first ethnic studies program now, school, in the united states. so we did not get it because did pass they right measures, but they were forced to. great, i don't know, ---- other thansomething the white voice to get what they wanted.

>> maybe somebody did use that along the way, but they had a backup of shutting down the school in order to force the hand. --: if you could talk about regal view, the telemarketer -- and then you have worry free. talk about worry free and then go on to talk about labor -- >> it is interesting because, so, in the film, there's a company called worry free that guarantees you housing and employment for life. they house their workers in the same place -- one way they save money is they house the workers in the same place they produce whatever they produce. it is a lifetime contract. so from purposes, it is slavery. what is weird is i don't know if that company is a legal right

now. it would be an interesting research topic to see if the free and "sorry to bother you" is actually legal. however, what i am a little scared of is that then somebody will try it. you know? amy: we have to go to break for a second, with your own music. boots riley is with us, writer and director of the critically acclaimed film "sorry to bother you." ♪ [music brk]k]

amy: the coup, oyahytt, from the soundtrack to "sorry to bother you." ththis is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. our guest is boots riley. >> it stands for oh, yeah, all

all right. the justice department saying this is way too long to officersrges against who put eric garner in a chokehold, struggled him did at. your thoughts? this is an issue, police brutality, that you have taken on for many, many years. >> yes. personally, i still help out campaigns against police brutality. i am a little personally burned out on them because i don't know where we can go with it, you know? like, what happens after you get a whole community to spend a year of their lives coming together, you know, sometimes in aeat numbers, to get

officer fired and then they get transferred to some other n thetment and get pats o back. i don't know. this is not some well-thought-out thing, but i likeknow -- i feel campaigns against police brutality may become more effective with other parts of -- forement also grow instance, the mike brown killing, if we -- if radicals and progressives had been organizing labor. i don't mean the existing labor organizations. that is fine. i'm talking about the rest of the working class, the 93% that is not organized.

if we had a way to say, ok, we're shutting down the city. we're going to have a general strike until this guy gets indicted. you know, maybe that would have been a shorter campaign. i don't know. but i feel like we're operating right now from a place where we are not -- we're not putting out a clear analysis about power works. i don't know, it is little feel likeg to me. i something has to be said about it. however, i think we need to tied in with other movements so that we have some l leverage -- t tyt in with other movements we have some leverage. juan: what you hope folks will take away from your movie, terms of capitalism -- ok, one,k what -- there are a lot of things i want people to take away from this movie. that into do something

my mind was more akin the literature, where there is -- there are a lot of ideas. if you take any piece of literature that you love and say, what is the one thing about it, you would be lying by omission, you know. i wanted that to feel like that. there are all of these things. but i would say over arching, i wanted there to be a sense of optimism that although things are messed up and all of these things are going on, if there is winght with a clear way to if there is a fight going on, then that is the optimism, the hope right there. i don't to give it away too much of what happens in the movie, strange odyssey. amy: is certainly is.

"sorry to bother you," but we have to end.  riley, writer and director

hello, and welcome to nhk "newsline." i'm keiko kitagawa in tokyo. we start this hour in the u.s. president trump is trying to dispel widespread criticism that he hinted russia may not have meddled if in the 2016 presidential election.