03/19/19 03/19/19 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now! 200e are a nation of ethnicities, 160 languages. we open our doors to others as a welcome. and the only thing that must change after the events of friday is that this same door must close on all of those who espouse hate and fear. amy: new zealand remains in the state of mourning four days after a white supremacist shot

dead 50 dozen worshipersrs at to mosques in christchurch. we will look at how the massacre has affected the nation's muslim community. many trump administration moves to block stuff from the international criminal court from entering the united states after the icc refused to drop were crimes probe targeting the u.s. and israel. are responsible for the proposed i icc investigation of u.s. personnel in connection with the situation in afghanistan, you should not assume you will still have or will get a visa or that you will be permitted to enter the united states. amy: the transportation department has launched an investigation into the faa' is approval of the boeing 737 max eight jet. we will look at the trump administration's close ties to boeing as the company faces internatational scrcrutiny follg two deadly airple crashes that

killed nearly 200 50 people. trump's acting defense secretary patrick shanahan spent 31 years as a boeing executiveve and trump's form u u.n. investor nikkkki haley has been nominated to the board of directors. all that and more, coming up. welcomome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. burials are beginning in new zealand as the country mourns the loss of 50 muslim worshipers gunned down by a white supremacist friday in the deadliest attack in new zealand's history. the worshipers killed in the christchurch massacre came from around the world. most of them were immigrants, or refugees who had come to new zealand seeking safety. six pakistanis, four jordanians, four egyptians, and at least three bangladeshis are among the dead. the palestinian authority's foreign ministry said that six of the victims were of palestinian origin. new zealand prime minister jacinda ardern has been calling

for unity and support for muslim cocommunities following the horrific attack. on friday, she was a asked abobt her phonone call with president trtrump. > i spoke with donanald trump thisis morning. he sought to call us dirirectly. he v very much w wished for hihs condolences to be papassed on to new zealand.. he asked w what offer ofof suppt the united states could providee loveage was sympathy and for all muslim communities. amy: prime minister ardern has been widely praised for her response to the attacks. in the immediate aftermath, the youngest female head of state in the world vowowed to reform n laws, visited with muslim communities in new zealand, wearing a hijab as a sign of respect. she also recently pledged to never use the terror suspect's name, instead calling on people to speak the names of those killed in the attacks. we will have more on the muslim community in new zealand after headlines.

the daily beast is reporting the house judiciary committee will hold a hearing in the coming weeks on the rise of white nationalism, hate crimes, and hate speech in the u.s. the southern poverty law center found that membership in white nationalist groups increased by nearly 50% last year. government agencies, including the fbi and the department of homeland security, have warned white nationalist attacks are on the rise and pose a major domestic threat. meanwhile, a recent huffpost -- huffington post investigation has found seven current members of the u.s. military belong to white nationalist group identity europa, which was founded by a former marine and was involved in organizing the deadly unite the right rally in charlottesville in 2017. the military says it is investigating the service members. in mozambibique, the p president said the deathth toll from

tropical cyclone idai could reach over 1000 people. the devastating cyclone brought winds of 110 miles per hour and massive flooding to mozambique and neighboring zimbabwe and malawi from thursday to saturday in what mozambique's environment minister called the biggest natural disaster the country has ever faced. aid agencies warned that idai destroyed 90% of the low-lying port city of beira, which has a population of over half a million people. meanwhile in other climate news, massive flooding has forced the closing of much of the air force base in nebraska. flooding some are just as many as 60 structures on the base, which is the headquarters of u.s. strategic command. in january, the pentagon released a report warning climate change could threaten two thirds of the nation's military installations. in october, hurricane michael some really damaged kindle air force base in florida. vice president pence is visiting nebraska today.

"the new york times" is reporting that saudi arabia's crown prince mohammed bin salman approved a covert campaign to silence opponents and critics of the saudi government. the campaign, which started in 2017 and whose acts were carried out by a group known as the saudi rapid intervention group, included surveillance, forcible repatriation, kidnapping, and torture of dissidents. some of the covert missions were reportedly carried out by the same individuals involved in the murder of "washington post" columnist jamal khashoggi in istanbul last october. a top aide to the crown prince, saud al-qahtani, is said to have overseen the campaign. the group is also believed to be involved in the jailing and abuse of at least a dozen women activists who campaigned against the kingdom's ban on female drivers. one e of those actctivists atted suicicide. in more news about saudi arabia, turkey said last week ththat inteterpol had issueued a rerede for ththe arrest of 20 sususpecn journalist jamal k khashoggi'ss

killing, including saud al-qahtani. a united nations commission presented its full report on israeli crimes in gaza to the human rights council monday. the panel called on israel to stop using live ammunition against unarmed protesters and investigate the shooting of thousands of palestinians. this is the chair of the u.n. workrooms commission speaking in geneva. >> we believe the situation so be severe into nature. if there individuals in the crowds that t may be a legitimae do not shoot in the crowd because you may shoot or kill in dissent -- innocent individuals. a report look at israel's

bloody response to weekly great march of return demonstrations launched by palestinians in gaza nearly a year ago, targeting israel's heavily militarized fence. it found israeli forces killed 189 palestinians, almost all of them with live ammunition. in britain, the speaker of the house of commons stilts a new blow monday to prime minister theresa may by barring another vote in parliament on her brexit agreement just 11 days before the u.k. is set to leave the european union. >> what the government cannot legitimately do is theresa may -- resubmit to the house the same p proposition as that of last week, which was rejected by 149 votes. amy: that was speaker john bercow. britain may now request an extension from european leaders. france has announced tough new

measures on yellow vest protesters as the antigovernment demonstrations entered their fourth month over the weekend, marked by clashes with the police nearly 200 arrests, and , damage to businesses by some protesters. police used tear gas and water cannons on crowds in paris. on monday, prime minister edouard philippe banned the yellow vests from the champs-elysees and in certain neighborhoods, as well as announced the shutdown of any protest that included violent groups. the prime minister also said the paris police chief would be replaced and police officers would be granted more autonomy. in the netherlands, 37 arrested a man suspected of shooting passengers on a tram and the city killing three people and injuring five others. gokmen tanis, who is originally from turkey, reportedly has a criminal record, including a possible rape charge. one of the victims of the shooting may be the gunman's ex-wife according to some

reports. dutch authorities initially bebeeved the a attack may have a terrorist motive but later said it was no longer being treated as such. another mexican journalist and radio host has been killed at his home in sonora, which lies on the u.s.-mexico, neighboring arizona. unidentified gunmen shot and killed santiago barroso friday, making him the fourth known reporter to be killed in mexico this year. shortly before his murder, barroso reported on smugglers attempting to bring a group of migrants across the border. human rights and press freedom groups are calling on the mexican government to investigate the killing and put in place measures to better protect journalists. british non-profit article 19 finds there is a 99% impunity rate for crimes against journalists in mexico. representatives of venezuelan opposition leadeder juan guaido took control of multiple diplomatic properties in the u.s. with the support of the monday u.s. state department,

including the consulate in new york and two diplomatic buildings in washington, d.c. the government of sitting president nicolas maduro, which cut diplomatic ties with the u.s. over its support for his ouster, called on u.s. officials to "reverse this forcible occupation." in nicaragua, police arrested over 100 people over the weekend after protesters took to the streets domain and the government of p president daniel ortetega release all pololitical prisisoners and following frid's relelease of 50 prisoners amidst an ongoing crackdown of critics. last month ortega vowed to reopen talks with political opponents. this is a protester speaking from managua saturday. >> we're calling for freedom for all our political prisoners. the governor -- government has accepted they are political prisoners. their only crime was to raise the flag and their voices for nicaragua. and he could house judiciary committee said it received tens of thousands of documents from some of the 81 individuals and

groups contacted as part of the committee's sweeping probe into president trump and his businesses over possible obstruction of justice, corruption, and other crimes and abuses of power. the committee did not reveal specifically who handed over records but judiciary chair jerrold nadler told msnbc on monday that former trump campaign adviser stephen bannon was one of the people who handed over a few thousand documents. meanwhile, the daily beast is reporting that trump's legal team told congressmember nadler they would not be handing over any requested documents. the house panel has said they would likely issue subpoenas to anyone who refused to comply with their request. a new report by reveal from m te center foror investigative repoporting founund that the u.. government operarates secret shelters to detained -- to detain some unaccompanied migrant minorsrs. the facicilities, which are ououtside of the regular offffif refugegee resettlent netetwork, reportedly specialize in hsising yoututh withental orehavioraral challenges. ththe practice may b be in v vin of aong-ststding agreeeement that says ththe governrnment mut

provide lawyers with accurate information on the whereabouts of all children in their care. it's unknown how many such h sis exist but reveal identified at least fiveve locations where at6 immigrant yoyouths are detained, some as young as nine years old. at least one of the facilities has previously been accused of numerous violations, including sexual and physical abuse. at a townhome on a knack of a senator in 2020: elizabeth warned called for voting reforms including doing away with the electoral college. >> every vote matters. and the way we can make that happen -- [applause] is we can have national voting and that means get rid of the electoral college. amy: senator warren was responding to a question from an

activist and former campaign manager for choke way lumumba, the former mayor of jackson, mississippi. in dallas, texas, former president george w. bush and first lady laura bush attended a ceremony.tion bush said "a midst of the complications of policy, may we never forget immigration is a blessising and the strength." his comments came as president trump signed his first veto frederick of overturning congress vote on blocking is national emergency to build a wall on the u.s.-mexico border. iowa congressmember and supporter of white nationalists steve king posted an image to facebook over the weekend showing two figures, formed by red and blue states in a fight with the words "one side has , about 8 trillion bullets, while the other side doesn't know which bathroom to use." steve king added the caption, "wonder who would win." the bathroom reference is an apparent mocking of transgender rights. the image was later removed from

king's page. the congress member was stripped of his h house committee assignments earlier this year over his support for white supremacy. two u.s. veterans for peace are being held in ireland after protesting u.s. warplanes refueling there. military planes regularly refuel at shannon airport before continuing on to u.s. wars in the middle east. veterans for peace ken mayers and tarak kauff, currently in limerick prison, could be held for up to two years pre-trial after entering the airfield carrying a large banner that said, "u.s. veterans say respect irish neutrality. u.s. war machine out of shannon airport. veterans for peace" ed horgan, coordinator of irish veterans for peace, said -- "this process is a clear attempt to punish the two vfp activists before any trial takes place. we are calling on all peace and human rights activists in ireland and internationally to campaign not only on behalf of ken mayers and tarak kauff, but more important, on behalf of all the innocent people being killed and injured by u.s. illegal wars."

and a correction. the mayor of jackson, mississippi, is choke lumumba. 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. burials are beginning in new zealand as the country mourns the loss of 50 muslim worshipers gunned down by a white supremacist friday. it was the deadliest attack in new zealand's history. the worshipers killed in the christchurch massacre came from around the world. most of them were immigrants or refugees who had come to new zealand seeking safety. six pakistanis, four jordanians, four egyptians, and at least three bangladeshis are among the dead. the palestinian authority's foreign ministry said that six of the victims were of palestinian origin. 16 year-old syrian refugee hamza mustafa was killed in the attack

alongside his brother khaled, who had come to new zealand to escape atrocities in syria. 71 year-old haji daoud nabi, who fled war in afghanistan and settled in new zealand 40 years ago, was killed while shielding a friend's body at the al noor mosque. the family of the youngest victim, three year-old mucad ibrahim, came from somalia as refugees fleeing violence decades before last week's attack. amy: 50-year old naeem rashid was killed at the al noor mosque after he tried to grab the shooter's gun. rashid was a teacher from pakistan who had been planning his son's spring wedding. his son, talha, was killed alongside his father. pakistan's prime minister announced that rashid would be presented with a national award for his bravery. new zealand football goalkeeper 33-year old atta elayyan, who had just become a father, was also among the 50 victims. so were 14-year-old sayyad

milne, 44 year-old husna ahmed, and father of two lilik abdul hamid. this is new zealand prime minister jacinda ardern speaking tuesday. >> we are a nation of 200 languages., 160 we open our doors to others and say welcome. and the only thing that must change after the events of friday is that this same dorm as close on all of those who espouse hate and fear. we wish for every member of our communities to also feel safe. safe means being free from the fear of violence. but it also means being free from the fear of those sentiments of racism and hate that create a place where violence can flourish. and every single one of us has the power to change that. minister jacinda

ardern has widely been praised for her respoponse. she wore a hijab while consoling survivors of the attack is a sign of respect. she also bad to reform gun laws and pledged to never use the terror suspect's name. instead, she is calling on people to speak the names of those killed in the attacks. more people died in friday's mass shooting than are typically murdered in an entire year in new zealand, which is the world's second safest country according to the 2018 global peace index. amy: for more, where joined by eva nisa, a lecturer in religious studies at victoria university of wellington, in new zealand. her recent article for middle east i is headlined "new zealand has been a home to muslims for centuries, and will remain so." first, our condolences for this terrible massacre, this atrocity committed against the muslim community, against the whole community of new z zealand.

can you talk aboutut the origins of the muslim community in yoyor countrtry? >> first o of all, thank you vey much for the deepest sympathy. muslims in new zealand basically sinince theliving here 18th century, 171769. could already see there are two muslimsms came wih the french vessesel. but at that time, islam was n nt we cannot see thehe clear face of islam because only two people and they did not settle -- only in the 1850's. then we could see one family

from india came to new zealand. and since then, we could see the number of muslims is also growing. also talk about what country's most of f the muslslims who have m migrated tw zealand cocome from? basasically, , muslims in new zealand -- i mean, theirir backgrgrounds is ethnically diversrse. but according - -- this is the very latest c census, 1991 1 ce, whwhen therere was a census regardrding the backgroununds of muslims. muslims,ioned 49%9% of they come from south asian background, especially the indian epic backgrounds. time, mostup to this muslims in new zealand, we can asian backgrounds. and then after that, followed by

,uslims from other countries other ethnicities. amy: i want to turn to the new zealand prime minister jacinda ardern speaking shortly after the attack about her phonene cal with president trump. >> i spokeke with donald trump thisis mororning. he sought to call us directly.. you very much wiwished for hisis condolences to be ssssed on too new z zealand. hehe asked what t offer of s sut the e united statetes could pro. lovessagege was sympathy and for all muslim communities. amy: eva nisa, your r response? > i think that is o one of te ththings that have been mentiond a lot by new zealalanders. needms are us, what do y you

-- they ask, what do you need? they w will say the same, , lovd supppport and also sympaththy. is, i think new shockedrs, we are very with this kind of thing because this never happened. jacinda ardern mentioned this is an unprecedented tragedy. say, , aneed, let's -- - iical kikind of comments meanan, i know some politicians have mentiononed som comments. some of them even used this tragedy as part of the political tools to show, look,k, there is this clashsh between islam and christianityty or islam -- we don't need that. we need love, support, and some

of the. amy: i also want to ask you about the response of new jacindas prime minister ardern and how she is being praised, wearing a hijab, comforting the victims families. and also, as you just said, talking about muslims as "us." this is the prime minister speaking on friday. >> many of those who will be does have been directly affected by the shooting may be migrants to new zealand. they may even be refugees here. they have chosen to make new zealand their home and it is their home. they are us. the person who has perpetuated this violence against us is not. they have no place in new zealand. amy: of course, the prime minister's comments are being contrasted with president trump. she made those comments on friday. it was not hours later that president trump signed the veto

on congress tried to stop his wall on the border where he used the same terms that were used in manifesto with the assassins manifesto, referring to immigrants as invaders, immigrants coming over the border as an invasion. eva nisa, can you t talk about e respsponse of your prime minist, the youngest womanan leader in e world? -- i mean,jacinda most new zealanders, we are very happy with the comments m made y our prime minister jacinda arden. #unityispower and new zealand is home to migrants, has always been repeated a lot. been veryand has committedd to open its gate for

i in 2015, theely, government committed that we 750 refugees and then after that, the government added the number of the quota to 1000 refugees. that is one of the things that needs to be underlined that new zealand is basically -- we are refugees to welcome and to make them feelel that new zealand is there home. it is very impmportant. the other thing regarding -acinda arden with v theeil, - with the veil, that is another

thing mentioned d a lot that may muslims feel a small gesture like this means a lot. one of the things that is quite n sunday, , there were these two young muslims who were verbally abused, attacked by this man. they said, you just go to your own country. the good thing is this man was drunk. it is one of the things that -- you know, when this kind of thing happened, what we know as gender islamophobia, the way women muslslim, especially those who wear t the veil, they are visibly more recogognizable as muslims so showing her support by weariring veil, it means a lt from any muslims here in new zealand. juan: eva nisa, i wanted to ask

you, new zealand has a relatively small muslim population, i think 1% of the country compared to australia that has a much larger percentage or even, obviously, all of western europe. have you seen a rise in white supremacist expressions or public statements in new zealand over the past few years? >> yes. many analysts and scholars have mentioned there is an increasase in this kind of hahate speecech, whiteally comes from supremacists, especially y for e last two decades. some scholars s mention ththat. and d me muslimsms come also especiallyfter 9/1/11

-- i i mean, that happens inin y countries. i know in the uninited states, this also happened. an increase e in hate speeeech. we are facing that, too. but it is very difficult to confirm because, of course, we don't have a record -- up to this time, we don't have hate law in new zealand. ay: i wanted to quote spokeswoman with the islamic women's council of new zealand -- wrote in an op-ed that like "we talked about the effects of discrimination, the issues and our communities, the rise of the alt right, and increasing level of vitriol we were seeing online and in person. we begged and pleaded, we demanded. we knocked on every door we could, we spoke at every forum we were invited to. my community wants and needs accountability."

and i wanted to end with the muslim h host of nostril you nes program "the project." here he is speaking jusust hours afafter the massacacre. the videdeo has received millios of views. >> you have to forgive me, thehe will bee my vetsts words. the truth is, i don't t want toe talking today.y. when a was asked if f it was something a w wanted to do, i resisted it all day until finally i had this overwhelming sense ththat it was somehow my responsibilityty to do so. i would to ththe mosque today. i do that every fridaday. exaxactly what those moments before thehe shooting began would have been like. i know how q quiet and s still d how i introspectitive those peoe would hahave been before there were suddenly gunned down.n. talk abobout being cap on terrorism for yearars in the cocommunities that allegedly support i it, shows how tough yu

arare now. for mine, i'm going to say the same thing is that about four years ago after horrific islamist attacks. now we come together. now we understand this is not a game. choose itsoeses not victims selectively. we are one communityty. everythihing we say to try totor people apart, demoninized togetr groups, set ththem against each consequencesll has . even if we are not the ones with our fingers on the trigger. amy: the muslim host of the australian news program "the project.t." we want to thank eva nisa, lecturer in religious studies at victoria university of wellington new zealand. ,we will link to her article for middle east eye is titled "new zealand has s been a home to muslims for centuries, and will remain so." this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman n with juan gonzalez. the u.s.ome back,

blocking members of the international criminal court. stay with us. ♪ [mumusic brbreak]

amy: thihis is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. juan: we turn now to the trump administration's decision on the barring entry of international criminal court investigators to the u.s. in september, national security advisor john bolton threatened u.s. sanctions against icc judges if they continued to investigate alleged war crimes committed by u.s. troops in afghanistan. a 2016 report by the icc accused the u.s. military of torturing at least 61 prisoners in afghanistan during the ongoing war. the report also accused the cia of subjecting at least 27 prisoners to torture, including rape, at cia prison sites in afghanistan, poland, romania and lithuania. secretary of state mike pompeo announced friday that the u.s.

will start denying visas to members of the icc who may be investigating alleged war crimes by the u.s. military in afghanistan. >> since 1998, the united states has declined to join the icc because of its broad, unaccountable prosecutorial powers and that threat it poses to national sovereignty. determined to protect the american and allied military and civilian personnel from living in fear of unjust prosecution for actions taken to defend our great nation. court could eventually pursue popolitically momotivated prosecutions of americans, and our fears were warranted. in november 2017, the icc prosecutor requeuested approvalo initiate investigation into "the situation in afghanistan" that could legitimately target american personnel for prosecutions and sentencing.

in septetember 20 18, the trump administration w warned that the icc that if i it tried to pursue an investigation of americans, there would be consequences. understand the prosecutors request for anan investigation remains pending. today, -- any ill and whose i'm announcing a policy of u.u.. visa restrictions on those individuals drug the responsible for any icc investigation of u.s. personnel. this includes persons who take or have taken action to request further such an investigation.. these visa restrictions may also be used to to to icc p pursued allied persosonnel includingng isisraelis, witithout allies consent. amy: secretary of state mike

pompeo. to talk more about u.s. decision to deny visas to those involved in international criminal court investigation, we're joined now by jamil dakwar, the director of the human rights program at the american civil liberties union. welcome back to democracy now! your response to this announcement? >> i think this is unprecedented. this is the first time the u.s. government is targeting foreign judges and prosecutors, personnel of international, one of the most respected judicial bodies in the world, with a travel ban. as far as we look back, there has not been any kind of precedent for such a thing. they are also saying anyone who assisted the icc, works or will work to push for accountability for investigigation befofore thc withth regard to the situation f afghanistan, particularly looking at u.s. involvement in war crimes, will be subject to

the same visa restrictions. of the countryct similar to authoritarian regime. when you're going after those who are disagreeing with youou, when you're trying to punish and retaliliate and intimidate those who are trying to hold you accountable, use those powers in order to limit the way they can do that. and that is really a very outrageous andnd concerning to s that this is reaching to this level. but it also speaks to what this administration has been doing. this administration threatened with prosecuting judges and the prosecutors of the icc for doing their jobs. united doing the job the stateses should have done. that is to investigate credibly and thoroughly war crimes and crimes against humanity that were committed in the course of the war in afghanistan, including the use of black sites not only in afghanistan -- this

is another important aspect of pendingestigation were investigation, because it has not really been fully authorized by the pretrial chamber -- is that it would cover not just what happened in afghanistan, but three countries that are linked to the conflict in afghanistan. that is poland, romania, and that the when you because they are state parties. they join the icc since 2002 when the court was starting to function. we will see -- we will see how this will play out. the responsesppy so far in just the last few days are members of particular european countries have been strong in condemning the trump administration and upholding the independence and legitimacy of the court, and that any actions to deter prosecutors and the judges, that would be rejected by u.s. allies, particularly in europe. juan: let me ask you. overallreflected of an

trump administration. last year the u.s. withdrew from the united natations human righs council as well and is to resistance over 20 requests by special repertoires of the united nations looking into reticular issues of human rights violations here. but this is a step further. this is not just refusing to cooperate. this is actually punishing people who are trying to get to the facts of what has happened. in terms of what can be done in response by the international community to what in essence is the united states saying no one has a right to judge what we do abroad. >> first of all, let's start with was secretary pompeo said. he said it is an attack on our sovereignty. i don't think anyone a attacked u.s. sovereignty. it was afghanistan sovereignty that has been the subject to

jurisdiction because afghanistan joined the icc in may 2003 and agreed if there would be war crimes or genocide, the worst crimes defined under the icc statute or their treaty, they would be jurisdiction for t the court. so it is not an issue of u.s. sovereignty or protecting the constitutional right of american citizens who could be tried abroad. that is not something we see again and again. if you committed a crime abroad, you could be committing it anywhere in the world and you could be held accountable by those countries where you violated the criminal laws. no suchefore, there is a thing of attacking orr undermining amamerican sovereignty. is, secretataryng pompeo is saying there is no consent of the governments, their nationals being prosecuted or investigated by the icc in the future.

since when were criminals have to get their consent to criminal investigation? that is unheard of. the nature of the attacks come as you said they are punitive, retaliatory, trying to go senena message nonot just to the icc personnel, but this s has consequences b beyond the united states situation of u.s. government officials who commission, ordered, or implementeted acts of torture in afghanistan and elsewhere. so it is really a serious threat ,o the system that we created the united states was responsible for creating after world war ii, after the horrible holocaust that would fight impunity that would come back the worst crimes. and now the u.s. is leading the charge in attacking the judges and being cheered by what countries? sedan, the philippines. juan: the philippines also just

pulled out of the international criminal court in the last few days. could i asask you also, this mut indicate there's a real fear here on the part of u.s. government about this investigation to take this kind of drastic action. could you talk about what some of the preliminary findings of the court are in terms of the war crimes committed here? >> first, it is important to highlight the court -- the icc is a court of last resort, meaning it does not jump in to a crimime just because it violates .he crimes defined by the icc it actually wait and sees what the countries that joined the court are doing. what have they done in order to investigate violations of the icc?c? important point. the icc people think the icc was opened toy

investigations. that is not true. in the case of the united states come the situation of afghanistan lasted for over a decade where was under so-called the luminary investigation. -- preliminary investigation. not useprosecutor would its investigative powers but rely on media reports, on u.n. reports come other ngo's reports, etc. and once it comes to the conclusion there is reasonable believe there were crimes committed in violation of the icc and it h has a jurisdiction and it has to also satisfy other requirements -- admits ability because this one was initiated by the prosecutor's office, it would have to get an authorization from the pretrial chamber, three judges of the icc , then examine the role of evidence. the evidence she has is relying heavily, we don't have access to

that information, but we believe her evevidence is based on the senate torture report. it will document it investigation of this cia involvement in the most brutal -- gruesome acts of human humiliation and torture against prisoners. and that torture report was released in december 2014, unitedly made -- - put the states on notice that if the u.s. is not acting in light of the declassified parts of the report -- the report itself was still classified, so we don't even have a clue what is in the details of the report because u.s. government, both under the obama administration and the trump administration, resisting declassification. but what is publicly available, there is enough to justify an investigation. so the prosecutor looked into that information. it looked at what the united states has done to hold

officials accountable, both at the level of the u.s. military and the cia officials, level of the chain of command meaning looking not just at the lower rank officers and military personnel, but the leaders w who sanctioned this policy. yet the highest level of the white house in the bush administration that ordered the torture program. so they looked at what the bush administration, the obama administration have done in order to investigate and they reached the conclusion that were not credible investigations and that is why they are stepping in. they're stepping in because this is important for the rule of law, important for upholding international principles against impunity, and also providing victims of torture their day in court. and that is where i think more than anything is important being sidelined by the whole response to pompeo. amy: can you talk about how the two psychologists could be implicated in the investigation, who reaped testimonies of dollars who design torture

techniques for the cia? >> these two psychologists in their private practice were hired by the cia after the terrorist attacks and 9/11 in order to help implement -- design and implement the torture program. they have come up with really, based on pseudoscience, junk science, a theory of how to break down detainees and how to break down those suspected in involvement inin the 9/11 attac. there has been clear evidence that we have exposed in our lawsuit against the two individuals that was settled a couple of years ago that showed the information they relied on, the science was really out of loan with any scientific -- whose purpose it was really to

lead detainees to say things that they may not have done. in fact, again, a torture report has confirmed the program, the whole program, not only was costly, not effective, it was also misleading in the way it presented as if those two individuals -- so these two individuals made over $80 million off this program. individuals, who acted on behalf of the u.s. government, may also be subject to the icc investigation if it is authorized. we don't know who will be authorized, but i think they should be worried. other people who were involved particularly in the worst part of this cia torture program should be worried. that does not mean the icc will rush into prioritizing investigation and prosecuting of u.s. officials. crimes beingther

investigated in the afghanistan situation, especially the crimes against afghan nationals and the civilian population by the taliban, by the afghan forces. the real serious challenge for the icc is none of those parties, afghan government, taliban, and the u.s. government, is willing to cooperate with the icc. so the real challenge is how if this investigation moves forward, how the icc will really be able to build cases based on life without cooperation with the other countries. amy: pompeo also named israel, the icc is also going to investigate israel. >> the secretary's announcement did not say was only about u.s. officials that will be targeted. he also alluded to u.s. allies, particularly israeli officials. there's a separate investigatatn called the palestine situation that was not the initiation of the prosecutor. it w was a request, a referral y

the palestine to investigate war crimes, crimes against humidity and situation in the gaza situation, the war in 2014, the recent attacks on protesters in the gaza border, as well as the legality of settlements and the west bank. to what extent they violated the icc statute. there's also the situation market impact, in our view, human rights defenders, lawyers, who were acting to hold officials, in this case is really officials, countablee before the icccc. they could be subject to visa restrictions. so this is a serious issue that has to be addressed by the u.s. congress, particularly the house foreign relations committee. we filed a freedom of information act to ask for the legal basisis for thiss policy. the u.s. goverernment is resistg . likely to file a lawsuit zynga forces information to be disclosed because it is not

really going after every u.s. citizen who served in the us military. that is not what we talking about here. this is talking about shutting a legitimate investigation into war crimes. fromis about deflecting scrutiny, deflecting from upholding international law, and giving not only u.s. officials the immunity and impunity they have enjoyed for years, but also giving other countries the same. and that is what emboldening other regimes we've seen over the past several months have been happy to withdraw from the icc amalek the philippines did just year ago, and came into thihisa couple of ago. jamil dakwar is director of the amy: human rights program at the american civil liberties union. when we come back, we look at the close relationship between the trump administration and billing. back in 30 seconds. ♪ [music break]

amy: the legendary lebanese-american musician dick dale who was known as the king of the surf guitar has died at the age of 81. his hit song "misirlou" was an adaptation of a traditional arabic folk tune. dale continued performing live into this year in part to papay his medical bills from bouts with cancer, renal failure, and diabetes. he once said, "i have to perform to save my life." juan: the trump administration's close ties to billing are facing new scrutiny in the wake of deadly plane crashes in indonesia and ethiopia involving

a boeing 737 max 8 jet. the transportation department has launched an investigation into the federal aviation administration's approval of the plane since ethiopian airlines flight through to crash last week, killing all 157 people on board. the ethiopian transport minister said olympus asia is have revealed clear similarities between the crash in ethiopia and indonesian line flight 610 killingshed in october 189 people. flight tracking data shows both flights seem to go through unpredictable climbs and dissent before crashing just minutes after takeoff. the u.s. did not immediately ground boeing 737 max 8 jet after the crash in if you win despite growing pressure. president trump eventually ordered u.s. airlines to ground all of the planes but continue to praise boeing. all boeing 737 max jets around the world h have now been

grounded. amy: president trump has publicly praised boeing hundreds of times in his two years in office and participated in efforts to sell its planes, including the 737 max series, to countries and airlines around the world. boeing ceo dennis muilenburg praised trump's support at a dinner last august at trump's bedminster, new jersey, golf club. acting defense secretary patrick shanahan, appointed by trump, spent 31 years as a boeing executive. and trump's former u.n. ambabassador, nikki haley, h has bebeen nominatated to the boeing board of directors. we go now to washington, d c, where we are to dust joined by william hartung the director of , the arms and security project at the center for international policy. do youou think it has some bearing, bill hartung, president trump dragging his feet on the grounding of the max series after almost 250 people were killed between indonesia and

max 8opia in the boeoeing planes? how donaldto know trump mind wororks, obviously, t boeing has such clout in washington, particularly on the defense i but also as a major commercial force in the airline business, that it is certainly possible. gun, so have a smoking to speak, but as you said, trump is so close to boeing, i wouldn't rule it out that at least he gave him pause about doing anything that would hurt boeing's interest. juan: what about the issue of the faa's role in green lighting the use of the 737 max 8 bang and basically depending on boeing to be the o one to leletm know everything was ok with the new plane? >> this is a common practice. sort of like companies capture the regulatory agencies and the

regular trade agencies become almost partners or supporters of industry instead of regulators of industry. i think that is part of what happened here. amy: bill hartung, can you talk to about shanahan, the longest acting defense secretary in history, his significance and his long history at boeing and what that means for u.s. foreign policy and the pentagon? >> well, this is what eisenhower had in my when he talked about unwarranted influence by the military-industrial complex. there could not be a better example of this. in his 31 years of boeing, shanahan worked at missile, oversaw the apache helicopter which is being used in yemen, he also worked on the airliner side. he spent a lot more time pushing boeing products and he is ever spent on defense policy. when it comes to the taxpayers versus boeing, in his mind, i think boeing wins ouout. amy: can you talk more about his

serving the interest of boeing even as acting g secretary of defense? >> he was supposed to recuse himself from boeing matters, but it is not possible to do that. second-biggest defense contract. he is been trashing lockheed martin saying boeing could run programs better like the f-35. even more egregious, he is been pushing a boeing plane, the f-15x, which the air force does not even want. c cled forups have ethics investigation rerelating to that. i issuesholole range of before himim that woululd beneft boeing. advocate ofof the space force. he is going to h have to decide about the u.s.s. role in yemen,r at leastst way and come andnd bg selllls bomb, attack helicopters

commmmitment case the planes beg used by saudi arabia to do the bombings in the war. aeir building a newicbm, ballistic missile. some suspect this is the most dangerous and the u.s. arsenal because it is on hairtrigger alert. the president would have minutes to decide whether to use one of these things. he is likely to weigh in if this becomes an issue. there is also the kc46, a tanker plane. it hasas been so screwed up that the air force has d decided they're not even surere they're going to accept t delivery yet. how is he going to weigh in on that? likely he is going to try to get boeing a break. there's a whole range of issues. hard to think of anything in the pentagon were there is not a connection that could benefit major contractors where shanahan is that t the middlele of that decision making. as i said, because his career has been really shielding for defense contractors, not making defense policy, it is a huge problem.

juan: you have also written he has been involved very much in trump's idea of developing a space force in a spaced of element agency them at which you call an authority on steroids, to shove more expensiveve contracts ouout the door. could d you expand on that? >> yes. the spaced of element agency basically wants to fast-track these weapons programs that deal with military space, the militarization of space, which means there can be technical problems, cost overruns. i think the bigger issue is this a administration is talking about teststing weapons in space -- laser b beams, particle lase, particle beams. these are the kinds of things that buck rorogers stuff t that ronald reagan talked about come all of which failed miserably. in fact, shanahan oversaw the airborne laser program, which is supposed to use 747 lasers to that enemy missiles in outer space. that program a lot. it was canceled, cost taxpayers

$5 billion. -- s basically pushing amy: we have to leave it there but we will continue to cover this, bill hartung, director of the arms and security project at the center for international policy.