11/19/18 11/19/18 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now! pres. trump: when you report does a lot,hwhh cncnn you are the enemy of the people. n news, and d'make -- surprisised amy: as president trump launches an unprecedented attack on the press, we turn to another world

leader cracking down on the media -- philippines president rodrigo duterte. he is attempting to shut down a leading independent news site that has helped to expose his deadlyly war on drugs. we will speak with the site's founder and editor, renowned filipino journalist maria ressa . >> organanization and philippine democracy are struggling to survive. we have written a lot about our two battle fronts -- a brutal drug war, tens of thousands killed, and the exponential lies on social media that incite hate spiteful free speech. amy: but first, as the death toll from california's deadly camp fire cocontinues to rise ad nearly 1000 0 people r remain missing,g, we travel to a california prison camp to speak withth the hidden n heroeses cog the massive wildfires --

prisoner firefighters. how w much money do you make? >> a dollar an hour. amy: when you're fighting the fire. what do think ofof that? course, i think -- of anybody that has a job, you think you should make more. amy: is this modern day slavery? all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the death toll from the devastating camp fire in northern california has risen to at least 77 as the number of missing people jumped to nearly 1000. the wildfire, by far the deadliest in california's history, is now 65% contained after scorching close to 150,000 acres. in southern california, the woolsey fire, which killed three people, is now almost 90% contained after burning g closeo

100,000 acres. as air quality monitors ranked parts of california as ththe dirtiest in the world, many low-wage workers, including farm workers, poorer residents, andnd homeless populations, are unable to leave or remain indoors and haveve been forced to breathe in the toxic air with little means of protection. president trump toured the devastation around the decimated town of paradise saturday with governor jerry brown. and governor-elect gavin newsom. pres. trump: you don't release you the gravity of it. as big as a look on the two, you don't see what is going on until you come here. and what we saw at pleasure, what a name right now, but what we just saw, we just left pleasure -- >> paradise. pres. trump: what we just saw a paradise is not accepeptable. amy: that was president trump, mistakenly referring to the city of paradise as pleasure.

trump, who initially threatened to cut funding to california, reiterated his attack on forest management after his visit to paradise, though he did grant california's requests for federal funds. trump,p, who is a climate chchae denier s said california shohoud follow the lead d of finland by raking and cleaning its forests. pres. trump: i was with the president of finland and he said , with a much different -- he called it for station. they spent a lot of time on breaking and cleaning and doing things. they don't have any problem. amy: trump's comments appeared to baffle finland's presididt, who told the helsinki newspaper he did not remember discussing raking forests with trump during a meeting earlier this month. trump's comment drew ridicule on social media, spawning the hashtag #makeamericarakeagain. this comes as the media moninitoring non-profit media matters for america found that national b broadcast news mentioned climate change in less

than 4% of their coverage of the deadly california wildfires. those broadcast news outlets include msnbc and cnn. in florida, democrats have conceded both the senate and gubernatorial races after recounts maintained narrow republican leads. incumbent democratic senator bill nelson conceded to republican opponent and outgoing governor rock scott sunday, becoming the fourth democrat to lose a senate seat in the midterm election. the republicans now have 52 senate seats with mississippi heading to a runoff next week. democrat andrew gillum conceded saturday to republican ron de -- ron desantis in florida's race for governor. in georgia, democrat stacey abrams ended her bid friday to become the state's next governor and the first black woman governor in the united states. abram's defeat by republican brian kemp puts an end to one the most closely watched and contested races of the midterms.

the rarace was m marred by widespspread allegations of votr suppression carried out by kemp, who was georgia's secretary of state until he resigned just after the midterm elections. abrams has refused to call kemp the legitimate winner during interviews. this is abrams speaking friday. >> pundits and hyper partisans will hear my words of the rejection of the normal order. i am supposed to say nice things and accept my fate. they will complain i should not use this moment to recap what was done wrong or to demand a remedy. as a leader, i should be stoic in my outrage and silent in myy rebuke. but stoicism is a luxury. in silence is a w weapon for the who would quiet the people. i will not concede because the erosion of our democracy is not right. amy: abrams announced friday she would be suing the state of georgia for gross mismanagement during the elections. she also launched the initiative

fair fight georgia in an effort to continue her fight for election integrity and against voter suppression. in california, democrat gil cisneros has defeated republican young kim, gaining a 37th congressional seat for the democrats. cisneros' win means that the traditional republican stronghold of orange county is now entirely represented by democrats for the first time in almost 80 years. the cia has concluded that saudi crown prince mohammed bin salman ordered the murder of journalist jamal khashoggi, who entered the saudi consulate in istanbul, turkey, on october 2 and was never seen again. cia directctor gina haspel was played the audio tape of khashoggi's murder while in istanbul last month, but president trump has said he doesn't want to listen to the recording, "because it's a suffering tape." president trump responded to the cia's findings saturday, calling them very premature, while conceding that it was possibible that crown prince bin salman was responsible for khashoggi's

death. trump has repeatedly echoed saudi claims that the crown prince had no knowledge of khashoggi's murder. the state department said it has -- the u.s. government has not yet reached a conclusion about the killining. mike pompeo, is the former head of the cia. this came as a top white house official involved in u.s. policy toward saudi arabia resigned friday evening. kirsten fontenrose had pushed for tough sanctions against the saudis in response to khashoggi's murder. jamal khashoggi was a "washington post" columnist. in yemen, a houthi rebel leader said sunday that houthi fighters would support a ceasefire if saudi coalition forces also -- halt attacks. last month, the u.s. called for a ceasefire in yemen, as the diplomatic crisis deepened over the killing of saudi journalist jamal khashoggi. the united states is the largest supplier of arms to the

saudi have a led coalition, which has killed at least 57,000 peopople since the beginning off 2016 according to a recent study and has brought 14 million yemenis to the brink of famine. last week, house republicans quashed debate on a resolution that aims to end u.s. military support for the saudi-led war in yemen. in turkey, 14 academics and activists were detained friday over t the 2013 anti-g-governmet protests in istanbul's gezi park. they included the board members of a cultural organization founded by philanthropist osman kavala. he has been held in prison for over a year after he was arrested in connection with a failed coup against president recep tayyip e erdogan's government in n 2016. isistanbul has asserted that u.s.-based cleric fethullah gulen is responsible for orchestrating the attempted overthrow. 12 of the prisoners were released since friday, while one academic has been jailed and another is still beieing

ququestiononed accordi to o locl reports. president trump said friday he plans to nominate acting epa chief andrew wheheeler as the agency's next administrator. wheeler is a former coal lobbyist and has been the acting head of the epa since scott pruitt resigned in july amid an onslaught of financial and ethics scandals. wheeler has regularly engaged with right-wing conspiracy accounts on social media and "liked" a racist post featuring the obamas in 2013. president trump is coming under fire after he attacked former navy seal william mcraven -- who oversaw the u.s. operation that assassinated osama bin laden -- calling him a "hillary clinton fan" and an "obama-backer" during an interview with fox news sunday. in addition, trump wondered why it took so long for the u.s. to find bin laden telling host chris wallace -- "wouldn't it have been nice if we got osama bin laden a lot sooner than that?" admiral mcraven has condemned trump's attacks on the media,

saying last year that they present "the greatest threat to democracy in my lifetime." the white house has vowed to reimpose a ban on cnn reporter jim acosta after a judge is temporary order to restore his press credentials expires in two weeks. the judge who ruled on the case friday called out the trump administration for its decision to ban acosta earlier this month as bing shrouded in mystery. hours after acosta clashed with the president at a news conference the day after the midterm elections, the white house announced the ban, claiming it was because acosta laid his hands on an intern during the press conference. the white house later said the reason for the ban was because he refused to yield to his fellow reporters after video of the event appeared to contradict their original assertion. in response to the ruling friday, president trump he is -- said he is drafting new rules and regulations for reporters at the white house saying, "people

have to behave." he also told reporters, "we have to practice decorum." the judge who ruled against the trump administration is a trump appointee. amy: president trump attacked california democratic congressmember adam schiff sunday, misspelling his last name. trump tweeted -- "so funny to see little adam s-c-h-i-t-t talking about the fact that acting attorney general matt whitaker was not approved by the senate, but not mentioning the fact that bob bob mueller, who was highly conflicted, was not approved by the senate!" schiff is poised to head the house intelligence committee after democrats retook control of the house in january. he vowed to take action against acting attorney general matt whitaker if he intervenes to halt special counsel robert mueller's probe. adam schiff also called whitaker's appointment after the forced resignation of jeff sessions unconstitutional. in response to trump's attack, schiff tweeted -- "wow, mr. president, that's a good one. was that like your answers to

mr. mueller's questions, or did you write this one yourself?" the education department proposed new rules friday that would further roll back the provisions of title ix, the federal l law that prohibibits sex-based d discrimination att schools. the new rules would severely narrow the definition of sexual harassment, diminish the liability of schools, and provide additional protections for those accused of sexual assault or misconduct. it would potentially allow them to cross-examine their accusers through an intermediary. a grououp of so-called men's rights groups reportedly lobbied education secretary betsy devos to pass the new rules. in libya, a group of nearly 80 refugees is refusing to leave a docked ship in the libyan port of misrata, saying they fear torture and imprisonment. the refugees were headed to europe by boat earlier this month before being returned to libya on november 10, starting a nine-day stand-off with libyan authorities. amnesty international's middle east and north africa director, said of the situation --

"the protest on board the ship now docked in misrata gives a clear indication of the horrifying conditions refugees and migrants face in libya's detention centers where they are routinely exposed to torture, rape, beatings, extortion and other abuse. under international law, no-one should be sent to a place where their life is at risk." in the gaza strip, israeli forces wounded 40 palestinian protesters friday at weekly demonstrations calling for an end to israel's blockade of the impoverished palestinian territory.y. at least 18 of the wounded were hit by live rounds fired by israeli snipers. this comes as prime minister benjamin netanyahu's government survived a leadership challenge by a right-wing party that broke away from his ruling coalition after it said netanyahu wasn't doing enough to punish gaza. netanyahu will maintain a one-seat majority in israel's parliament. in haiti, six people were killed sunday as thousands of protesters marched against government corruption in the

capital port-au-prince and other parts of the country. demonstrators are demanding a probe into whether officials embezzled funds from the nearly $4 billion haiti received from a venezuelan oil subsidy program. many are calling for the resignation of president jovenel moise. a u.n.-backed court ruled friday that the khmer rouge committed genocide during their rule in cambodia in the 1970's. two surviving leaders of the khmer rouge were found guilty of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimemes directed against c cambodia's vietnamese and cham muslim minoritities. from 1975 to 1 1979, the khmer rouge, led by pol pot, exterminatated up to 2 25% of te population of cambodia. in india, the powerful cyclone gaja has killed at least 45 people and damaged 100,000 homes after it battered the coast of the southern state of tamil nadu friday. tens of thousands of people took shelter in nearby camps while search and rescue efforts continue.

in london, thousands of climate activists took to the streets saturday, in the latest action organized by the group extinction rebellion. 85 people were arrested at saturday's demonstrations, which shut down traffic on five major bridges in central london. over 60 people have been arrested during protests over the past two weeks, with more public actions planned. this is one of the demonstrators speaking saturday. >> having someone like donald trump coming into power and denying climate change, we are in a dire strait of events. something needs to happen soon. the demands of the rebellion are achievable. we're looking for zero net carbon's by 2025 so we can have is reasonable demand and something that we can achieve. amy: and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. as california continues to fight the deadliest wildfire in state

history in the death toll from the camp fire rises to 77, we begin today's show with the hidden heroes on the frontlines of california's raging climate-fueled wildfires -- prisoner firefighters. 1500 of the 9400 firefighters battling fires in california are incarcerated. one dollar an hour, but are rarely eligible to get jobs as firefighters after their release. california saves up to $100 million year by using prison labor to fight its biggest environment oh problem. cal fire reports two prisoner firefighters were injured during northern california's wildfire in the first 24 hours. prisoner firefighters are more than four times as likely to be injured than other firefighters, this according to "time"

magazine which reports more than 1000 prisoner firefighters rick art hospital care between june 2013 and august 2018. incarcerated firefighters live in 44 low security field camps throughout california, including three camps for women prisonenes and one for juveniles the detainees.s. in 2017, prisoner firefighters spent 4 million hours on active fires.s. in september, the democracy now! team traveled to the delta consnservation camp about an hor north of san francisco to a low-security prison wherere more than 100 men are imprisoned. we interviewed incarcerated firefighters who had just returned from a 24-hour shift fighting the snell fire in napa county. we spoke to them under the close surveillance of prison administrators. i began by talking to some of the officials from the california department of corrections and rehabilitation.

assistant camp commander. and to how important are these fire camps of incarcerated people to fighting firesesn california? >> they'rere the backbone of cacalifornia. assigignmenttouough there is. amy: what is the toughest assignment? >> whatever they're asked to do. usually it is cutting line where a dozer can't go. iny get detailed assignments the worst conditions, 110 degrees in the middle of the sun coming wearing two layers of clothing, carrying in 40 pounds of gear. and then they have to carry all their food and water for a 24-hour shift, and then swing a tool the whole time. amy: and you're saying they do the toughehest jobs? >> they get the toughest assignments there is. amy: how much do they get paid? >> a dollar an hour. amy: so the state is really dependent on these prisonerr firefighters. >> definitely, yes.

they save a lot t of money for e state. amy: do you know about how much? >> i've heard anywhere from $60 million to $100 million a year. >> my name is tracy snyder. i'm a correctional captain with cdcr, california department of corrections and rehabilitation. amy: and talk about what happens here. how often do they fight fires? how often are they just here at camp? >> so, obviously, fighting fires, that's unpredictable. last year was one of our biggest fire seasons. 2015 was another big fire season. last year, obviously, fire season lasted for somewhere around six to eight months. the santa rosa fire, the napa fire, these guys responded to that. the thomas fire down in southern california. amy: would you call these men heroes? >> i would, yes. they do an excellent job for the state of california. when you see the devastation in santa rosa and napa last y year, and montecito down in soututhern california witith the thomas fi, these guys, as the sergeant said, they're the backbone. they do a great job. a great job.

and i appreciate them. amy: after the returning firefighters have breakfast, i sit down with a few of them under the e watchf e eye of prin officials. >> my name is dante youngbloloo. i came to camp 14 months ago. i've been in jail nine years. amy: how much more time do you have to serve? > one more year. amy: s so talk about the work yu do here. are you risking your life? > i went inin -- well, i gues you could say y you're risking your life, yes, but you're not really in life-threatening situations. 95% of the time, you're not in a life-t-threatening situation. you are in a controlllled environment. it for ave been doing while, you know to do. but it is a hard job, for sure, because we have got to cut line. the fire could be right there, and then we be cutting line on the fire to stop it from coming. amy: what do you mean, cutting line?

>> well, we cut a line with a mcleod. amy: what is a mcleod? >> it is a tool. it is a tool. it is something like a hoe, like you would use in your garden. and we cut line with it, 4-foot line, to stop the fire from coming. amy: so you've had the fire as close asas like a couple feet fm where we are? >> yes. amy: is it scary? >> well, i guess it gets -- it used to -- when you first start it, you will be scary. some of the inmates, some of the other people be scary, some of the crew members. but, to me, no, it's not. it's just regular to me. to me, it's just regular work. i done already program myself to just -- whenever we go, we just go. it don't even bother me. it's jusust all right. it's jusust work. amy: lasast night, one of f thes fell down the hill? >> yes. amy: what happened? >> well, just -- it just -- it's slippery, rocks. rocks are slippery. he didn't fell that bad. it just was a little fall. he just sprained his ankle or something. but it h happens. it do happens. the trees fall on you. all of thahat. like the last fire we was at, i think, what, a month ago, a

firefighter died because a tree fell on him. amy: a free fifirefighteter? >> yeah, a free firefighter, because a tree fell on him. that's how it goes. it gets crazy out there sometimes, but most of the time we know what's going on. amy: are you shoulder to shoulder w with the cal fire firefighters? >> yes. yeah, we cut line together. we be out there. we don't -- they don't -- we're not split up from them. like we're not like, "oh, bring the inmates over here." nah, it's not like that. we all out there together. we all out there helping each other. like if i walk by one, and i see a cal fire or any firefighter and he need help or something with the hose or something like that, i help him.. because they'll help us, too. we're all here to help each other and make sure everybody's safe. amy: how much money do you make? >> a dollar an hour. amy: when you're fighting the fire?? >> yes, whwhen you're fighting a fire, a dollar an hourur. amy: so, how -- for example, last night, how long were you fighting the fire? >> probably 20-something hours, so we probably made $20, $22, $24.

amy: what do you think of that? >> well, i don't think -- i think we should make -- of course, i would say, anybody that got a job, you would think you should make more. i always thought we was -- i thought we was getting $2 until i came to fire camp. but, you know, it's cool, though. i mean, we're making money for something that we would probably do for free anyway j just for te time cut. so it's all right. but i would prefer, yes, we get more money, of course. anybody in a working position would want to make more money. amy go so you are saving the state, to say the least, a lot of money. some say it's something like $100 million a year. >> i don't know. i mean, of course that, i'm sure. but, i mean, we don't even -- some people don't even -- we look at it as getting the time. the time cut is more than the money to us. we would rather make the money, for sure, because wewe still can send money to ouour families. we still send money home. yeah, w we only make a dollar an hour on the fires. amy: s so how old were you when you first went to prison?

>> it t was nine years ago. i think i was 27. amy: do you want to talk about what happened? >> nah. i just made bad choices. amy: has being here at camp changed your thinking about the world? >> y yes. i mean, i could say i've learned a lot, just that i can do more than what i used to do, that i can do right. i can do better things with my life than just commit crime and do things like that. i figured out i can do a job. i could work. i never had a job a day in my life. i never cashed a check. literally, i ain't never cashed a check in my life. i ain't never used a credit card. it's crazy. i just sound like i'm from the mountains or something. amamy: what made y you decide to this interview? it's the first time you've talked to a journalist? >> because i might want to go to hollywood and be an actor or something. i want to see if i can do it. i'm serious. plus, i wanted y'all to get our perspective. because i know you can hear it from the guards, from the captains, but -- and then i know

a lot of people here probably don't want to do the interview, probably scared or just don't want to do it, but i'm not. i do whatever i want to do. amy: can you vote? >> no felons can vote. amy: you know, that's interesting, because in vermont and maine, they can vote from jail. >> no felons can vote in california. amy: would you like e to see tht change? >> yes. but we can't talk pol -- we don't need to talk politics. >> this is -- guys -- camp only. amy: ok. let me tell you, the reason i asked -- at this point in the interview, sergeant reeder steps in to end the conversation with dante, telling us political questions aren't allowed. later, the commander comes over. >> yes, i'm lieutenant sid turner. i'm the camp commander here at delta conservation camp. amy: talk about how hardrd this work is. >> this is -- for an inmate in the state of california, this is the hardest work that you're going to finind when they're out there on the line doing the work that they're expected to do.

it's extremely physically demanding. the hours can be exhausting at times. for example, lasast year, when e had the napa fires, they were actually out for three days straight because the resources within the state were so tapped that it took that long just to geget them relieved and off the lines. amy: and they make just a dollar an hour r fighting tsese fires next to cal fifire firefighters? >> that is correct, but understand there's a big difference between cal fire firefighters and an inmate firefighter. amy: do you think they should be paid more, the prisoners? >> i believe that they should make more than the dollar an hour. they've been at that rate of pay for many decades now at this point in time. amy: so it seems like the state would be threatened if people's time was even cut or if as a result of overcrowded prisons, more prisoners were released. of course, they would be the prisoners who had the lowest

sentences, and those are exactly the prisoners who get into these kind of camps. they would lose that kind of labor, the firefighting labor. >> potentially, very much so. there is definitely a need for this type of a resource -- the as hand crews to go out and cut line in areas that aren't accessible to equipment such as bulldozers and things of that type. so california needs hand crews. if we don't have the inmates to perform that function, then they've got to find the labor from someplace else. amy: sergeant reeder, do you think the prisoners should be paid more for fighting fires? >> yes. amy: they're doing the same work as cal fire, the firefighters who are free. >> i think we do harder work. i think we get the harder assignments. nobody else can touch us. amy: the question of how much california relies on prison labor, particularly when it comes to fighting wildfires, came under scrutiny in 2014.

lawyers in the state attorney general's office argued in federal court that a program to parole more prisoners would drain the state's source of cheap labor. the california attorney general at the time was, well, now u.s. senator kamala harris. she later said lawyers in her office argued the case without her knowledge. harris said the idea of incarcerating people as a source of labor evokes images of chain gangs. i sit down with another prisoner who just came back from fighting the snell fire. >> my name is marty vinson. i'm 25 years old. i came to this camp about mid-d-ly of this year. amy: what has been the most difficult fire that you've fought? >> at first i wawanted to say at eel river, when i went to detwiler last t year. dedetwiler was a pretty babad f. but the river fifire this year t delta, i think, topped it, because it was the most like, i

guess, harm's way i've been in. it was a situation where we was back burning, and they had one of our saw teams, which was my saw, me, bump down with crew 3 to cut on the other side on the green to whehere if ththere are embers c coming across, , it's l pushed back more to where it just doesn't catchch. and d it led to a int where itit flared up more than it had to on the fire that was burning. and when it did that, it jumped the line. so when it jumumped the line, md you, the puller -- i left out we carry a gallon of gas on our back. soso when that happepened, we py much immediately have to run down the mountain. and as we ran down the mountain, we ran into the highway. as we ran into the highway, one ofof the captains escortrted usn the street. but as we was going down the street, now the fire jumped from where it was burning at, where it was supposed to burn at, to the green across the road. and within seconds, the whole highway wewent from a a nice brt

day to just dark smoke and fire everywhere. so we had to run as far pretty much down that highway until it was green again. and then as it continued to burn and the black was there and it was safe to go back, we actually had to walk back in there. so just being put in a bad predicament like that to where that adrenaline is really pumping and you try to figure out the best thing to do because possibly youour life is on thehe line, , i would want to sasay te river fifire this year was the worsrst one for me.. amy: you are risking your life here. >> it is exactly what is going on. one'shing we do, no really promised to come back. amy: and how much do you make? >> a dollar an hour. amy: when you're fighting a fire. >> when you're fighting a fire, a dollar an hour. when you're on typical grade, you make $1.45 a day. amy: some have called it slave labor.r. what do you think of that? >> i don't really want to call the work slave work, but i feel

like it's their whole mentality and what they're thinking about at the end of the day. no matter whether we're incarcerated or we're free, we're getting paid a dollar an hour. amy: p prisoner firefighter mary vinson. to see all of our crew -- coverage of prisoner firefighters, you can go to democracynow.org. when we come back, we speak with the renowned filipinas journalist maria ressa. duterte is attemptining to shut down her new site rappler, a leading independent new site that has helped to expose his deadly war on drugs. stay with us. ♪ [ [music break]

amy: music by the late hours coal train. coltraine. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we turn now to look at attacks on the press here at home and abroad. the white house is threatening

to once again revoke the press press for cnn's jim acosta days after cnn won a temporary restraining order. white house officials have told acosta he will be suspended again once the two-week restraining order expires. acosta was initially stripped of his press pass after questioning trump during a live televised press conference. on sunday, trump defended his attacks on the media during an interview on fox news with chris wallace. >> last year you tweeted this, "the fake news media is not my enemy,y, it is thehe ene of the americanan people." pres. trump: what had percent true. >> n no presidident has liked hs press coverage. jojohn kennedy cancel the susubscription to the new york herald tribune. nobody calalled it t the americn enemy. pres. trump: fake news is -- it

is fake, phony. i don't mind getting bad news if i am wrong. >> leaders and author terry and cocountries like russia, c chin, venezuela, now repressed the media usining your words. preses. trump: i can't talk for other r people. i can only talk for me. >> but you are seen around the world as a reason for -- >> you sometimes, maybe, but i'm not talking about you. the news about me is largely phony. it i is false. any co-op president trump cocontinues toto attack the med, we turn now to look at another world leader doing the same, cracking down on the press. in the philippines, president rodrigo duterte is attempting to shut down the leading independent filipino news site the rappler, which has published groundbreaking work on duterte's deadly war on drugs which has killed morore than 12,000 peopl.

duterte has repeatedly described the site as fake news. newss outlelet.ake -- - not sururprised amy: philippines president duterte describing rappler is a fake news outlet, saying its articles are also fake. last week the fililipino gogovernment indicted d maria r, the founder of the rappler, for tax evasion in what is widely seen as the government's latest attempt to shut down the website. in january, the philippines securities and exchange commission also revoked rappler's license to operate, on charges that the website is foreign-owned, even though the website is owned by filipinos. the government then banned the news website from the presidential palace, claiming duterte to hadad lost trtrust ie publication and characterized

its s coverage as fake news. duterte has also calledd reporters s who ask him tough questions spies and when that "just because you are a journalist, you're not exempted from assassination." well -- while the filipino government has attempted to silence maria ressa, her journalism has been praised around the world. last week she received the 2018 knight international journalism award. >> our problems are fast becoming your problems. boundaries around the world have collapsed. and we can begin to see a kind of global playbook. when president trump band jim acosta last night, he followed president duterte's actions -- i'm a reporter and me not reported, but i am banned from earlierce this year. of course, when trump called cnn and "the new york times" fake

news of week later, duterte called rappler fake news. versessrrupts, it could and co-ops. amy: on tuesday, the committee to protect journalists will honor maria ressa with its 2018 gwen ifill press freedom award. well, maria ressa joins us now in our new york studio. prior to launching rapplerer in 2011, maria ressa worked at cnn and abs-cbn. welcome to democracy now! i met you and we were both covering east timor. you worked for cnn for close to two decades. congratulations on your work. noware you operating right in t the philippines? you have a also expanded to indonesia with these relentless attacks by the president of the philippines, close ally of

president trump. >> i would say we hold the line, write? these are all political attacks against us. they have not shut us down. we continue operating. but we are fighting any cases, six or seven different investigations, legal cases. these cases -- it is like a war of attrition. our legal fees have gone up. money that i would have wanted to use to expand rappler, particularly in this age of looking for new business models, looking for new technology solutions. all of that is going to legal fees. only place ourhe government has succeeded. we continue to do investigative work and we continue to expose impunity that is happeningng at all levels. amy: so you just learned that the philippines government plans to indict you. >> yes. it was within 12 hours of journalism knight award, the department of justice gave a press release -- no other documents -- saying they would

and that me, rappler, and our accountant. what that means is i could you just by being a journalist, face up to 10 years in prison. it is also ludicrous. i've run out of either -- adjectives because the basis of this charge is a reclassification of rappler from a newsgroup to a dealer in securities. amy: a dealer in securities? we own themaying taxes because we are a dealer in securities. so we evaded taxes because we are now a stockbroker charm. we are not, obviviously. if the government pushes through with this, our lawyer, the former president of the philippine stock exchange, has already said there is no legal basis. he said it would have impact on the markets because we're not the only company that issued .his financial instrument the two largest television stations have and the two

telecommunications firms have it. we will see. i guess we operate with having a sword hanging over our heads. the intent ofs the government, to make as careful, to make us pull back, to intimidate us to silence. president trump and president duterte have many qualities in common. the bullying aspect, the attacking when they don't like when a mirror is being held up to their faces. our response is not to take it personally and to continunue dog the report. amy: and his attack on journalists as spies, s saying just because you're a journalist, you're not exempted from assassination? thihink it ise to hyhyperbole. in october 2015 before president duterte decided to run for office, he admitted d he killeld peopople in an interview i did with him.

john oliver actually used that clip. it is rare you will have somebody on camera admit they have killed three people. his, i'm going to use the word "charm" and positive and negative ways. the fact that he says things like trump that you don't expect to, from a leader, a politician. andd that gave permission to others to act in the same way thomas a we've seen an increase, for example, and sexist statements, with such an is to statements -- amy: like? >> associate media. the impunity with government goes hand-in-hand with impunity media, on facebook. i have been very vocal because in the philippines, facebook is our internet. 97% of filipinos on the internet are on facebook. so free basics, you know, everyone can get it on their cell phone, but when you click through to read the news article, you have to pay.

so people do not click through. it's all propaganda machine, which we exposed as early as august 2016, is very effective. the impunity and thehe attacks against women and misogogynistic attacks againsnst women are a prelude to attacks against any perceived critics of the administration. amy: facebook. i want to go to that issue of how duterte learned to work facebook and what happened in the lead up to the election. talk to us about the duterte diehard supporters known as dds -- which happens to be the same initials as duterte's death squad, which has been thought to have killed hundreds of people. >> that is a perfect example of how you can use social media to turn the world upside down. death squad.

instead of denying it like a normal politician would, set of saying, oh, no, i did not do that, they owned it. they committed it. so now it is instead of a negative of the davow death squad killings, it becomes dutertrte the heart supporters. ivotted.sit -- p beginning in january, he had those does a survey said for those in the real world, they actually trust -- 86% trust traditional media but for the survey of social media, and the trust survey, 83% distrust traditional l media. how are they able to do that? precisely because of the information warfare on facebookk that has happened. right before duterte was elected, he admitted he was linked, as you say, to the death squad in the philippines. speaking on a local tv show in a

-- of english >> to me, they're saying i am part o of a death squauad. >> how do you react to thahat? >> that is t true. when i become prpresident, i wan yoyou, i don't c come a at the position but if i become president, the 1000 will become 50,000. i will kill all of you who make the lives of filipinos miserable. i will really kill you. i won because o of the breakdown in law and order. any go kill all of you. he was the mayor of davao for many, many years. >> on and off since 1998. amy: explain dds, diehard supporters, and what happened in the lead up to the election and how he worked with facebook. >> so facebook -- let me start with facebook and rappler our partners.

we know the best and the worst of what can happen. in 2012, we used social media for social good. we helped filipinos get on facebook for step so it is partly our fault, i suppose, along with facebook. in 2016 when the anger was used in the campaign -- there was s a campaign machinery that helped duterte win. in july after he won 2016 with a drug war began, that was when it was weaponize. amy: and before the election, facebook employees came to the philippines to work with the candidates on how they can use facebook. >> absolutely. this is something i think facebook did not understand, did not realize the connection between what they were doing in the virtual world and the real world, but they offer their services to any political campaign. just like in the u.s., trump took it up, dutere took it up. another thing we have in co analytica.ridge and a

we are the canary in the coal mine. amy: explain what you mean by the compromised accounts. grablembridge analytica to get the private data and manipulate it. that is by -- if you look at what they were able to do -- joint amy: steve bannon was involved. the most interesting part for me as i think of what you're looking at now in the united states the old hat to us in the philippines. the president of cameras analytic a came to the philippines and had a photo with associated campaign manager of duterte in 2015. global. i think what we're seeing, the disinformation that is using hate to incite violence, that is using the algorithms that are actually dividing us, that is

tearing down our democracies. as early -- so we had all of this data that we had pulled down because we were facebook partners. in august 2016, i gave that to facebook. i said, this is really alarming. you have to do something about this. we're going to do a story. i did not get any response back. at the end of the meeting, as a joke i said, you know, you have elections in the united states. trump could win. we all laughed. i was the three people talking with in singapore are no longer with facebook. in november after trump won, they asked me for the data again. i think it is different now. obviously, they're on a hotspot and taking some action. still, too little, too late. hopefully now that they know it, we're pushing very hard for them to do more. amy: so ononce duterte takes the presidency in 2016, you say he weaponize to facebook. how? >> taking the campaign machinery

and then using hate. fractureded on the line for society, for us, it is the gap between the rich and the poor, the gap between the capital imperial manila and the countryside. and they incited hatred. the first targets of attacks were anyone who questioned the killings in the drug war. the second targets were journalists. the third were perceived critics of the government. it happened so quickly that we did not understand that we were being manipulated when we came out with our series in october 2016, a three person race, propaganda war, weaponizing me internet, we became a target of attack. that is s when i realized -- i d horrific ithow could get. after we came out with a three-part series, we were bombarded.

come at the mean beginning i was still trying to respond to people -- forget it. they were not responding back. at one point, i just accounting how many hate messages are was getting. amy: you were making a database. >> 90 hate messages per hour and it lasted exactly a month, meaning like a payroll a month. this continues. and that is meant to cripple believe, truth, right? amy: one of these messages was "i want maria ressa to be repeatedly -- was to be raped repeatedly to that." >> and that was tame compared to some of them. see this, it impacts values. in the target, which is a middle-class that does not -- is called astroturfing. they don't know what to think. when they think an overwhelming number of people believe in president duterte and president trump, then they jump. it is a bandwagon. the problem for us, when you

allies onexponent social media and you take the presidential megaphone, the vast powers of government, and you combine them, a lie told a million times is a truth. when it is reinforced by the vast powers of government, we have no defense. you can keep doing the stories, but t the questionn is, will the media belilieve you? amy: there were so many attacks in general. >> in the philippines, they used bots as alerts. labor is so cheap that it all largely fake accounts. even if you look at the facebook disclosures last her, there's a little footnote that says the philippines had higher than average number of fake accounts. , one of of the messages the more aggressive messages was , a fake endorsement by pope

francis with the words "even the pope admires duterte." the catholics bishop conference, the philippines posted a statement -- is not true. this we beg everyone to stop spreading this. it just became a kind of truth." highesident duterte had favorable ratings, one point of to 85%. part of that is because of the groundswell of social media. people can't tell the difference between fact and fiction. that is the other casualty. what is true. if you have crippled all of the truth tellers, then who will people believe? amy: we're going to go to break. when we come back, why you're under attack. we will talk about your explosive series on the war on drugs. maria ressa is our guest, under attack by the philippines president but here nonetheless to receive major journalism award.

♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. withntinue our discussion maria ressa, the founder, ceo, and executive editor of rappler, an acclaimed philippine news website repeatedly attacked by rodrigo duterte. last week she was indicted, at least announced their intention to indict her for tax evasion, to shut down the website. rappler has helped to expose his deadly war on drugs. i like to turn to a clip from the rappler's impunity series that documents the drug war. it is entitled "day of the dead." >>hehe sai motothe mother, and i ha 5 50 pes? i asked her why and e e said she was just goingo. when oh when upsirs to take a bath, a neighbor came. she id, , yo daughghr is dead. what?

i told her she should surrender. she idid, i'mm not a dealer. jujust u bececause of mymy friendnd stop sooni'm going now that duterte is in power. amy: that video titled "day of the dead" just a clip of your series. maria, talk about what you are doing and your coverage of the war on drugs and how many people have been killed since duterte took power. number, we will never know for sure because that is the first casualty in our war for truth. right now the philippine police claim they have shot or killed 5000 people. just for reference, in nine years list?

we have seen. we've done a whole and punitive series from the eyes of the victims, their families, and most recently, we finished a seven part series from the killer's perspectives. and the kilis reinterviewed, it took six months to do. the killers admit they were paid by the police to kill. impunity.

amy: maria, and the last minutes we have left, a group of women reporters founded rappler. is that right? >> rappler is about 63% women. we keep looking for a man. amy: what gives you the strength and the courage to continue after you receive these awards, headed back to the philippines? >> i think our line is we hold the line. #holdtheline. the thing that is great about rappler, the founders are older. i am in my 50's. we have experience. we have lived through many different things. our reporters are in their 20's. they have this fresh idealistic energy. the sense of mission in rappler has never been higheher. the reason why they're going there day after day is because, now more than ever, the mission of journalism is necessary. it is this combination, trying to figure out what the future of journalism will look like.

i am proud and i love being part of rappler because it takes what we've learned over the years -- amy: worded to get the name? >> we made it up. the 1980's, let's talk, plus rebel, let's make waves. we wanted to build community's of action. in our country, institutions are endemic corruption and the institutions are weak. we wanted to stop waiting for government and help build communities bottom of using technology. that dream is still there. we succeeded at it up until 2016. amy: how do you protect yourself? >> experience from the past helps. but now what we have done is the first new ththreat is actually e psychological threat. the attacks against our reporters, the people on the front line on social media. you have to deal with that. it is something that is completely new. so we send our social media team, our reporters on the frontlines to counsel them. at the counselors also need to

learn added to that, so we bring help therk center to trainers. amy: we have to leave it there but we will continue our discussion and post it on democracynow.org. maria ressa founder, ceo, and , executive editor of rappler,

evan: ladies and gentlemen, would you please join me in giving a warm silicon valley welcome to the van jones. audience: [applause] van: hey. oh, that feels good. that is good for my self-esteem. evan: so you're lucky you're not a politician. you don't get a round of applause just by walking on a stage like that, too. in some other threshold. van: i'm keeping that in mind. evan: well, welcome to silicon valley, van. it's great to see you here. van: glad to be here. evan: we want to be respectful of time, so we want to o get rit into the meat of what we're discussing. van: good. evan: so tell us, what did we liberals in sin