05/10/19 05/10/19 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is demoacacy no but he it com to high targetin e every mission is to gogo aft one person. but anybody else th is killed inhehe strikis jt blanant leassumed to be e an associate of the targeted d indivial. amy: the u.s. drone war whistleblower ha been charged with violating the espnanage act. we wl l hearrom m foer airir

force airman daniel ha i in hi own rdrds anspeaeak the pulitz prize wnining journalist jeses ris, didireor of fstst loomedia's prpres freem dedefee fund. daniel hale ist t leasthee sixth alleged journaststic source charged by the trpp adminirarationver r thpast t t years. then as the nati p prepas toto lebrate ther's day, wlook at black mamama's bail out day. >> have set out with an intention to bail out as many black moments as possible. of black women0% that are sitting in cages right now are single parents and caretakers. amy: and we look at the turmoil within the national rifle association following the ouster of former iran-contra figure oliver north as the group's president. >> the national rifle association is deeply troubled, and it is telling people it is deeply troubled because of overzealous prosecutors,

regulators, democrats. it is saying we are in financial peril because we are being attacked from the outside, when it actually the nra's problems are e om within.n. amy: is the nra and floating as mass shootings -- imploding as mass shootings continue across the country? all of that a more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the trump administration has 25% on overffs of $200 billion of chinese goods even as trade talks between thee u.s. and china continue in washington, d.c. the new tougher tariffs went into effect just after midninigt eaststern time today, prompting chinese trade officials to promise immediate countermeasures against u.s. exports. at the white house, president trump claimed china undermined trade talks by seeking a renegotiation. pres. trump: i did get last that

a very beautiful letter from president xi, let's work together, let's see if we can get something done. but they renegotiated the deala. whether it is intellectual propoperty theft -- they took many, many parts of that deal and renegotiated again. you can't do that. amy: trump says he's preparing to order tariffs on virtually all chinese imports, some $540 billion worth of products brought into the u.s. each year. talks between the u.s. trade talks continue today. president trump has nominated patrick shanahan to become the next secretary of defense. shanahan has been acting pentagon chief since trump fired james mattis at the start of the year. last month, an internal pentagon ethics investigation cleared shanahan following accusations that he unfairly favored the weapons contractor boeing, where he spent over three decades as an executive. a former u.s. intelligence analyst was arresteded thursday

and charged with violating the espionage act for allegedly leaking documements about the secretive u.s.rorone progrgram. 31-year-old daniel hale was arrested inanashvie, teessesee. he f fes up to0 years in prison. hahale w enlnlisd in t t air foee from 20 22013, durg icich heorkeked th thehe natialal secity agen and the jointpecial orations task rcrce athe b bagm air r se in afghanistan wherhe helpe identi targets for assassatation. he lat w workeas a a ctractoto fothe national geospati-i-intelgencnce ency.. hale iacaccused of d disosing 11 top secret or cretet dumentsts to a repteter. the inctctmentoes s noname the report b but uameded gernmenen sources have tolmemedia outletes the repoerer is veststigive urnalisteremy y ahill of the intercep after helilines,e' go toto maryland to spspeak with the inteept'senior nional securityorresponnt, jame risen.n.

in northn virgin, famed s. army w wstleblow chelsea manning wareleasedrom a deral pron thursy after spending2 days bind barsor resing to stify to grand jury. nning had en subpoaed to aner questns abouter lea of hdreds ofhousandsf secr state dartment d peagon docents to kileaks, includg eviden of u.s.ar imes. the grd jury uimately disband. maing'freedom uld be short-ved. helawyers id in a atement that sheill agairefuse to stify inesponse a serate sububpoena. in nththwestn syria,ozens of peop have be reportekilleded amideavyvy astrikekeby russian and syrian warplanes. among the dead, the parents and siblings of two-year-old khadija al-hamdan, who was the sole survivor of an airstrike that flattened her home in idlib province. the u.k.-based syrian observatory for human rights says syrian forces have dropped over a dozen barrel l bombs in recent days on idlib, backed by scores of russian airstrikes

which have hit schools and hospitals. the united nations has called for an urgent de-escalation of fighting. in iraq, the islamic state claimed responsibility for a bombing in baghdad's sadr city district thursday that it says killed eight people and wounded more than 10 others. the attack came just two days after secretary of state mike pompeo made a surprise visit to baghdad to discuss iran's presence in iraq. in northern france, human rights activists are attempting too block authorities from loading french weapons onto a saudi vessel, saying the shipment would be used to kill civilians in yemen in violation of an international arms treaty. about 100 protesters turned out thursday at the port of le havre ahead of the arrival of the saudi ship, as lawyers for two separate human rights groups sued to prevent the shipment. the protest came after a frerenh news sitite reported that french-made tanks and laser-guided missile systems were being used by the saudi-led coalition against civilians in yemen's war. this is jean-paul,l, a membeberf

ththe french national assembly o joined thursday's protest. >> the war in yemen is a difficult war. we are turned into supporters of saudi arabia. and if we do not act, if we do not stop arms sales, we will end up as accessories to this business. we do not want this. the french president should not be allowed to decide on his own in france can sell or not sell weapons. this decision should be long to european democracies and parliament. amy: the trump administration said thursday it seized a north korean cargo vessel that was being used to transport coal in violation of u.s. and united nations sanctions. the ship was first seized by indonesia over than a year ago. it's now being moved to u.s. territory in american samoa. the announced seizure of the ship came just after north korea test-fired a pair of short-range missiles, amid a breakdown inn denuclearization talks with the u.s. in washington, d.c., authorities have cut off water and electricity to venezuela's

embassy as activists with codepink and other organizations continue a round-the-clock occupation in order to prevent a takeover of the building by venezuela's u.s.-backed opposition. the activists entered the embassy in late april at the invitation of venezuela's government. opposition groups led by juan guaido and backed by the trump administration have pledged to take over the building. so far, police and secret service agents have arrested nine activists, including gerry condone, a 72 year-old vietnam war veteran and the president of veterans for peace, who was violently tackled and pressed to the pavement wednesday by five officers after he tried to bring food to protesters occupying the embassy. condone was left bleeding from the head and needed medical treatment. he's been charged with throwing a missile, resisting arrest, and assaulting a police officer. he was attempting to get food inside the building. alabama's state senate delayed a vote thursday on a law that would ban virtually all abortions after a rancorous

floor debate that saw lawmakers repeatedly shout in protest. the bill would make providing an abortion a class a felony punishable by up to 99 years in prison. alabama sesenate minority leader bobby singleton objected after republican leaders sought to remove amendments from the abortion ban that would have allowed exemptions in cases of rape or incest. >> you do not even make a motion, mr. president. >> he made a motion to table. >> there was no motion from the other side. amy: singleton and other democrats also protetested when republican leaders attempted to pass amendments on a voice vote. they demanded a roll-call so that l lawmakers' votes would be put on the record. this is andrdrea mililler, prest of the natational institute of reproducuctive health. >> t the reality is what happend inin the alabama senate just shs how high the stakes are right now when a state is planning to ban allll abortions out right. and not only illuminate acaccess to abortion care for the people in theheir state, but in an efft

to eliminate it f for everyone across the c country becausese y hope they will be the ones to bring the case to the supreme court that will overturn or severely eviscerate roe v. wade. amy: in colorado, the mother of a student at the stem school highlands ranch h ys she triried to warn school offfficials last year about the potential for violence at the denver-area high school but was ignored. the school was the site of a mass shooting tuesday, when a pair of students armed with handguns went on a shooting spree, killing 18-year-old student kendrick castillo and injuring eight others. cnn reports the mother, who's remaining anonymous, called the school board in december warning of a crushing academic workload leading to violence, sexual assault, and bullying on campus. she said -- "those are the elements that we need for the perfect storm, for something like a columbine, or some kind of imminent threat to our children's safety in the school, whether it be a bomb or an active shooter, or a suicide."

stem school officials disputed the claim and even filed a lawsuit against the unnamed mother in januaryry over what ty calllled defamatory statements. fafacebook c co-founder chris hs is calling on the federal government to break up the social media giant. writing in a lengthy "new york times" opinion piece published hughes cited past anti-trust thursday, actions that broke up standard oil and at&t. he wrote -- "i'm disappointed in myself and the early facebook team for not thinking more about how the news feed algorithm could change our culture, influence elections and empower nationalist leaders. and i'm worried that mark has surrounded himself with a team that reinforces his beliefs instead of challenging them." hugh's op-ed comes just weeks after massachusetts senator and 2020 hopeful elizabeth warren unveiled a plan to break up tech giants, including facebook,

google, and amazon. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. a former u.s. intelligence analyst was arrested thursday and charged with violating the espionage act for allegedly leaking documents about the secrivive u. droronerogramam 31-year-old niniel he wawas arrest in nashlllle, tennnnese. faces up to 50 years in pris. hale was enlisted in t a air forcfrfrom 29 toto 23, during which w workewithth t national security agencyndnd the jot spspecl opererions task foe at theagraram r basesen afghantan wherhehe held identify targetso o be assassineded. he laterorked as contracr for e nation ospatialntelligee agency hale i iaccused disclosing 11 tosecret osecret duments to a rororter. the indictntnt doenot t na the rerterer, b unnamedovernmen sours hahaveold memea outlets that the repter is vestigate journast jeremy scahahl of the intercept.

in 2015, the intercept published a special report called the drone papers exposing the inner workings of the u.s. military's assassination program in afghananistan, yemen, and somal. the publication's findings were later turned into a book called "the assassination complex: inside the government's secret drone warfare program." in a statement, the intercept's editor-in-chief betsy reed said, "the intercept does not comment on matters relating to the identity of anonymous sources. in an indictment unsealed on may 9, the government alleges that documents on the u.s. drone program were leaked to a news organization. these documents detailed a secret, unaccountable process for targeting and killing people around the world, including u.s. citizens, through drone strikes. they are of vital public importance, and activity related to their disclosure is protected by the first amendment." reed went on to say, "the alleged whistleblower faces up to 50 years in prison. no one has ever been held

accountable for killing civilians in drone strikes." after leavinththe air force e in 2013, daniel hale began publicly speaking out againsthehe dro progm.m. in nemember 13, , hepoke a aa dre summitn washinon, d.c.organized codepin >> befori begigi one last ththini would like in a way say am sorry -- i am not up here forny good reasons. and d to the people in the victims, whoare are families of victims, or have families who live in countries whwhere s. militarism is specificically unmanned systetes aree conductcting kinetic strik, i am sorry bececause i am up hee because i was,s, for a time,e, a

short periodod of time during my mililitary career as an and a lt workingg with unmanned systems and employeyed to afgfghanistan. at the very least, you all dervrve anpolology janary 2014, danielale oke at aalally osiside t whe house calling for the closing of u.s. military prison at guantanamo. hale.name is daniel through my experience in my deployment to afghanistan where i was primarily tasked with pursuing high-value targets to the utilization of unmanned systems or what is known as drones, i came to learn of the thousands of prisoners who remain at the prison in bagram air force base to this day who are in similar situations to those back guantanamo who are continually held indefinitely, denied or otherwise petty

offenses come or reasons not given to them whatsoever. amy:anieiel le wasaslso featured in the cucumenty "nionanal rd" ababt drone warfare whiseblowers. it was dirteted by soniaia kennebeck. >> peoe defend drones in th way eyey aresed, thealwaways say,y,hey protect american lives by notuttitinghem m inarm's way. whathey real do is jt emldldenedommanderwill stop they embolden decision-maks.s. because there is no threat. there is no immediate coconseqnce.e. they c c do the strike and poteially ki t the rsrson theyey're s sdesperate to get to and luminate because of how ngerous -- eliminate because of how dangerous and potenalally dangerous they cane e to the u.s. it shappppenthey d dnot kill that person. other people get killed. there's no consequenceoror it. when it comes to higvavalue tatarging, every mission is to

goftfter o p pson. buanybody else that is kildd lyhat stke i is just blanket assumed b be an associate of the targeted individual sos long athey can reasabably identify all of the peop i in thfieleld view w the mera ourilitary-ed males, meeting anyone to bid 16 or older, they are aegegitime taet u und the r res of engagement. if that strike occurs ankikills alall them, they just say they got t them a. am drorone whistleblower daniel hale speaking in the docenentary "nationabibird." in august 1414, thfbi i raid haha's house but the obama juste e depamentnt ner fililed charges. in theililm, he spspokaboutt the possibily y of bng incteded. >> personay,y, i jt lilivevery day trying to become more a

more comrtableleith ththidea that it probably going happ, i'm p probay gogointo t t indied t theprobabab going get c crged with a crime and tthat there's prabably aeall chancece will hahave to fight to stayutut of prison. y: those are theorords of dani h hale oo was arrested in nashville on thursday. afteteappearing in cou, he was releasednder preial survision. s next crt hearing is may 17. acrding tohe freed of the press foundati, , hales at let ththe xth alled journastic soue charged by the trp adminiration or the pastwo years. we a joined w by the pulitz prize wning urnalistames ris. hes a form "new yo times" rerter whos now th inrcept's seniorational secuty correondent. he is also dirtor r ofirst look mia'press frdom defense nd. firslook is e parentompany of the iercept. risen mself wainvolvedn a hi-profileress freom case volving rmer ciafficer

jeffy sterli, who wasailed after beg convicd under e esonage acfor speang with risen. jas risen,elcome bk to demoacy now! is gat to ha you wh us. first, can y respondo the arrest of daniel hale? think i can't comment on this case but what i can say yet another is escalation of the war r on the press by the trump administration. donald trump has taken the war on the press that george bush and barack obama started and is now escalated by noland -- beyond anything we have seen. the justice department under trump has been so thoroughly politicized that they are going after every possible whistleblower and reporter and any kind of leak they can find in order to silence the press

and silence whistleblowers who are trying to reveal the truth about both the national security state and other aspects of the trump administration. amy: can you explain why it is you think he was arrested now? what they're alleging happened something like five years ago under the obama justice department, which decided not to charge daniel hale. >> that is why i am sayingng i ththink this is papart of trum's escalation of the war on the presss beyond anything we have seen before. going back over every possible leak they can find over every trying toase e and escalate things beyond what obama did. i think you saw that with the julian assange cas, werehe

obama administraonon had ininveigatededim for years and ner taken e fina step of indiining him, and en the trumpdministrion did . so think y are sayg tha thjustice partmentwhich has beennder sucenormous pressure fm tru on wide nge of iues, pticularly the ssia invtigation where he isonstantlbeen preuring one attoey gener after other, ihink theustice depament fin it muchasier to give to him on lea inveigationshan on oer thgs. they areappy to a after urnalist and tir sourc, sohey are tisfyingrump's .end to push the press does no like bapress. he geta lot ofad press so his goingfter -- trng to pish the press in the ways he knows he can.

amy: you know that daniel hale faces up to 50 years in prison. while no one has been accountable or held accountable for the killing of civilians in drone strikes. let's specifically talk about what daniel hale is accused of revealing, what his time in afghanistan was all about, the significance of his revelations. things we one of the have to understand is that there is virtually bn n no daten the united state over the drone prraram, or ththe sassininion ograms thathe unit states ahanistan both and iraq and elsewhere, since the war on terror began. -- thethe only things only ways we understand what has happened is througugh the press

and through disclosures from people in the government who have told us w what the seeker programs arere like. if it wasn't for people like daniel hale, whistleblblowers wo ca forward, you would have oftually no understanding the enre war on terror, in rtrticul, the dre strike progra it is on through the disclores in t press tt we have understood what is happening. and thats the only reason we have h had anyebate at allll. people in congreress havbeen ry reluctant to engage in an kind of discussion of classifdd formrmatn untitiit is inhe esess. so most of theveversig thahat you u e on these programs is only because there have be discsusures in thehe press people have stepped fward wit some courage to expinin whahas ppenened.

if you look back thentire- athe beginng, thentire wa on terror was classieded. and d its onlylyhrough a lot of differenisclosur in the prs that w understand at the r on terror has really be aut. am i wand to turto inrcept counder, yr colliejeremy shill speing out t drone pers. not w, the iestigati at the inteept it. jeremycahill w not nam in e iictment. but th is jeremy speaking about the drone papers on democracy now! in 2015. >> what we published is an extensive look into how this program has operated historically, but specifically under president obama. one of the most significant mydings of this, and colleague doug deep into this, we published for the first time to kill chain. what the bureaucracy of assassination looks like.

what you see is all of these officials, including people like the treasury secretary, are part of signing off on this. where they havave thessecret istings and they discuss who gogog to live anand die around e world. atat the end of the process, its the president of the united states who signs what amounts to a death warrant for whoever they decided should die based on what amounts to a p parallel secret judicial system in the u.s. that is not really subjected to any kind of judicial review, where the president asked sort of as emperor.r. what w we show, and d this is te first documentary evidence of this, the president gives the military is 60 d day window to hunt down anand kill these individuals. can rauf from human rights watch pointed out tododay if the standard is the people are being targeted for assassination is that they represent an imminent threat, which is whether president says the u.s. policy is, then why do they have 60

days to do it? that is because they have redefined the term "imminent" to be so vagueue as to not even resemble its actual commonly understood definition. amy: during his 2015 interview on democracy now!, i asked jeremy scahill about his sources for the drone papers expose. >> this is a very brave whistleblower. this administration has been relentless in its war against whistleblowers. chelsea manning is running right now in a prison cell for exposing u.s. war crimes. edward snowden is in exile. , strike and bill binney were smeared in public and had the reputations ruruined. jeffrey sterling is in prison. our sources have been incredibly brave -- our source has been incredibly brave. i worry because this government has been relentless in its

pursuit of people of conscience who blow the whistle and characterize them as traitors and spies and in the process has criminalized the ability to do independent journalism that has meant to hold the government accountable without fear your sources, or some cases the journalist themselves, will be put in the crosshairs of the so-called justice system. amy: that is jeremy scahill in 2015 when the whole drone expose was printed in the intercept. notjustice department does name the intercept or jeremy scahill in the 17 page indictment, but media outlets have quoted senior top administration officials saying it is jeremy scahill and the intercept. it is also interesting that jeremy references chelsea manning being in jail. that was then in 2015. she was sent back to jail. she just came out yesterday after 62 days after a grand jury

disbanded and she could not be held in the longer. , if you can talk about the emphasis that media outlets around this coununtry ae putting on -- who was daniel hale? who did he week the documents to as oppososed to the content of what he was leaking? and what you're saying at the intercept? >> right. i think one of the things that for many years has really bothered me is the way them media, the mainstream media covers these stories. they cover it as if there is a hunt for a criminal rather than a story about a whistleblower coming forward to perform a public service. and d that has always bothered e in a way the press covers these things. it is as if they are joining in with the justice department and the prosecutor in hunting down a

bank robber or something. so i think that is a fundamental flaw in the way the press covers these things, is that they look at it as a crime rather than as an attack by the justice department on the press in the united states -- which is what this is. this is yet another attempt by trump following up on t the obaa and bush administration's to do similar things, to silence the press and to silence whistleblowers on a very important issue, which is how does the united states go about deciding who lives and dies around the world? it is a frightening power that we in the united states have somehow by default given the president and to the cia and the air force. it is very scary to me that so few people, both in the memedia and in the general public, have been willing to engage in a real

significant debate about this fundamental issue w who lives ad dies. i think part of it is that thedrone program allows united states to do this with very low casualty rates and to engage in wars around the world by remote control. and we have allow that to vytinue becauset is convenie and easforr americics to forget it i happening. i think e drone paps projec by t intercept was a maj public service to expe the wayy this occurs. amy: diel hale bemes the third pern charge with allegedlleaking formatioto thintercep the hers are rlity winr and ter albury,ho lead classied infortion abo how e fbi aggreively tgets

potentl inrmants. interestgly, the iictment does name the intcept or jeremy scahillwhichuggests theyon'actuallyave the idence. but thtrump adnistrati is leakintheir nas. doou thinkhey are ying to targ, to takdown the intercepby makin it annsafe place r whistllowers tturn ? i do't kn about tt and i c't coent specifical, as i said, onhis case. but at i canay is th inteept hasontinuedo do ry aggreivive naononal securityepeporti throught thlast few yea and i contuing to so now. we're stillorking on major, very aggssive, vy sensite naonalal securit procts that hofully wi appear in the

futu. and i ink if abody tnks that iis possible to silee us t thethey d d't ow anhing abo us. y: what the sigficanc o hale bng charg under t espiage actpecificay? >> t t espiona a act h been ed boty this a adminiration a the oba admistration- it is very creeapon fr the wor war era in whh the gornment is ab to takehis very vagueaw th was designeor redbaing ter worlwar ind then r th mccthy era oonductin commist e invesgationon and d ey have rned it itead it -- steadf ususinit

againsspies, ty use it againspeopleleho talk the press. wh basasicly theheessage they'rere seing ishat talkg to reporte is the sames beg apy, whicis a diculous ase of thlegal system d it is mething that i feel very songly about that has to chanange in this country. if we're going to maintain an independent press. just the way in which the espionage act is used -- it is a very crude weapon to try to silence people. co: "the new york times come "the washington post" had been held as heroes when it comes to the pentagon papers. daniel ellsberg. it wasn't, how dare these papers do this, it is that these papers dare to defy those they hold accountable and those in power at the time it was richard nixon. can you talk about the difference than and also briefly tell us what happened to you.

this was not during the trump years. this is what happened to you during the obama years. are at thet when you intercept, but at "the new york times." >> right. subpoenaed by the justice department for a grand jury subpoena several times. i refused to testify in a leak investigation involving stories i did on iran and the cia. goally, i was subpoenaed to to both the grand jury and trial and i fought those for seven years and appealed to the supreme court. i lost, ultimately, but i decided to continue to fight it even though we had lost in the courts. in 2015, the government finally back down and decided not to put

me in jail. for not testifying. -- that experience, which lasted seven or eight years, led me to feel very strongly that we have to have some organizations in this country that protect journalists and their sources and we have to have more aggressive news organizations that continue to investigate the national security state in ways that some news organizations are no longer willing -- are reluctant to do. and that is one reason i'm very proud of the intercept. i think we have continued very aggressive investigative reporting in the face of a lot of obstacles and at a time when a lot of other news organizations are not doing so. amy: jim risen, do you think the

other news organizations are hanging the intercept out to dry? do you feel you're getting enoughgh support from other news organizations? matter., that does not frankly, i don't care what other thele say about me or about intercept. i think we're just one to keep doing our jobs. i think we should let our work speak for itself. and i think that is what i'm going to try to do. in the future, people can try to match our stories. amy: let's end with the words of daniel hale himself, speaking in the 2016 documentary "national bird." >> when the president ts u up frfrt of the nation and says ththat ty' doingngverything theyan to enre that ere is a near certain, that tre

wi be no cilians kled, he is sayg thatecause he n'n' say oerwise. because atime an tition i tan to f fish a cerinin amot of guesswo in that action because it is only in the afteath of a kind of ordinae being d dropp t that u know just homuch actl l dama wa d done. and ofttitimes thentelligee mmunititis - the cia inududed, relelia on telligigce comingftfterwas that cfirms t that who ththey we targeting was killed in that strike or that they were not killed in that struck. amy: that is daniel hale. , before what 2016 happened yesterday, the former u.s. intelligence analyst arrested thursday and charged with violating the espionage act for allegedly leaking documents about the secretive u.s. drone

program. he was arrested in nashville and faces up to 50 years in prison. the film came out in 2016. this is democracy now! when we come back, this weekend it is national black mama's bail out day. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: performing in our democracy now! studios. visit democracynow.org for the full performance and interview. this is democracy now!, i'm amy goodman. it's mother's day this weekend, and racial justice groups around the country are bailing black women out of jail so they can spend the holiday with their families. for the third year in a row, "black mama's bail out day" is raising money to bail out as many black women from jail as possible. the effort is taking place in dozens of cities to call attention to the injustice of cash bail. on thursdaday afternoon, two organizers -- kyla hartsfied and serena sebring -- chained themselves to a gate at the durham county jail to protest cash bail policies. one of their supporters, grace nichols, spoke to local station wncn. >> folks are stuck in jail because they cannot afford to get out, not because they have been convicted of a crime.

we would like to bring attention to this ran some and show folks it is unjust. amy: that was north carolina, the national bail out collective has helped post bail for more than 300 individuals across the country. since "black mama's bail out day" launched, there has been a growing national movement to eliminate cash b bail from the crimin justice s system. for more, we go to atlanta, georgia, where we're joined by mary hooks, the co-director of southerners on new ground, which is part of the national bail out collective and the movement for black lives. mary hooks, welcome to democracy now! talk about mother's day and what you are doing. >> so wewe are excited to kickcf our third annual black mother's day bailout to continue to highlight the crisis of what is happening g to black w women whe stuffed in cages because they don't have money to pay their bail. we see this growing movement is an indication that so many people want to see changes happen as it relates to pretrial detention.

this opportunity to bail out people and collectivize our resources is an indication that many people are seeing the solutions to the issues that are happening in our community actually lie within our communities. we have been able to do so much over the last two years together to the national bail out collective and several organizations who have built political alignment around what we en meand when we say we want to cash bail and pretrial detention. we want to see a need-spaced approach to ending cash bail and that people can get back to court and it continues to floor me the ways in which people continue to show up for this initiative. yeah, we're looking to change policy. we are also looking to change hearts and minds as we continue to movee through this prorocessf bailing mothers out and continuing to build infrastructure we needed in our communities to get our people

out of cages and support our people as they go through the court system. amy: you have certainly kicked off a national movement. reality television star kim kardashian west has reportedly helped release 17 people from prison in the last three months. as part of a 90 days of freedom campaign, kakardashian westt quietly helped fund a team of female attorneys working to free first-time nonviolent drug offenders. she is also reportedly studying 18 hours a week to take the bar exam and become a lawyer herself. talk about the significance of this and kim kardashian has the ear of president trump, was in the white house. >> as you stated, kim kardashian has quietly done this. that continues to draw attention to her efforts. but i want to take the time to ms.t out ms. cody and burnett who have been doing this for years.

they have put a lot of sweat in the game to continue to free folks from cages. to cash in on kim her white coleridge to do what must be done -- privilege to do what must be done. we should see other entertainers and celebrities get up under grassroots movements in the work being led by black women, queer and trans people to free our people. amy: talk about what happened and during, north carolina. >> durham was in gauged in a mother's day bailil out as well. as we continue to bail out peopop out becauause we must do what must be done, we oftentimes see local policymakers, judges, etc., who continue to shell out small solutions to a very big problem. durham right now, there are judges who want to continue to use bail schedules. ththose things do not benefit or community. part of our work is to agitate and escalate the crisis.

what my two comrades did yesterday, chained themselves to the gates of the jail, was to say "not today." not today. if we can intervene and interrupt that violence that is taking place, then that is what we're going to do. the brave comrades there and all who did a sit in inside the jail, folks to the streets and shut down the streets like, yes, we want to bail out black mothers and show love in that way but we also want to show the resistance that we bring to o the streets and bring to this issue to continue to push policymakers -- local police statewide, nationally, to continue to listen to what we have to say and really take heed to the solutions in a community-based solutions as we call for developmentnt from the

courts, cops, in cages and investment in community-based community-based support for our people. amy: the family of sandra bland is calling for authorities to reopen its investigation into her death. the 28-year-old african-american woman died in a texas jail cell in 2015, three days after she was arrested for allegedly failing to signal a lane change. authororities have claimed sanda bland took her own life e whilen jail by y nging hersrself with a garbage bag, but her family has long rejected this claim. on monday, the dallas tv station wfaa aired cell phone video filmed by sandra bland herself capturing the moment whehen she was pulled over. in the 39-second video you can see the officer, brian encinia, drawing his stun gun and saying, "i will light you up." >> get out of the car now. >> why my being apprehended? door.st opened my car

you are threading to drag me out of my own car? >> get out of the car. i will light you up. get out now. >> for failure to signal? >> get over there. >> let's take this to court. let's do it. for failure to signal. >> get off the phone. >> i have the right to record. this is my property. >> put your phone down. >> sir? >> put your phone down. amy: attorneys for the bland family say the cell phone video proves the officer lied when he hahad claimed d he felt his sasy was in jeopardy when he pulled over sandra bland. she was then put in jail. she could not afford the $500 bail. a $5,000t was like bond. in gel for three days and then they said she took her own life, which are family disputes. mary hooks? >> this is unacceptable.

the same was in which our people do not and have every right to didistrust the police come that same level of distrust is also for the court system. that every daoul prosecutor in any one else who put their hands on thisis case d investigated this case, they know about the cell phone video. they knew she was not a threat. they knew his life was not in danger. and they manipulated the laws and rules on his behalf in order for him to get a sweet deal and eventually get his charges dismissed. i believe he eventually signed a workr saying i would never in law-enforcement again. this is unacceptable. inasmuch as we are at a time whwhen people think we are movi, bending the arc as it relates to the police and the relationship to black communities, let us not be full. we have no reason to trust the police or the cops or the

courts. sure that weke take care of ourselves and that we support and take care of our own people. and until further notice, we should continue to make sure we demand justice for people who are stuck in c cages because thy theirot afford bail because lives are at stake and we oftentimes see, you u know, fofr folklks who are sitting g in ca, the decimation of their health whether that is there is a killing by guards, the abuse that is happening. right now i'm sitting in fulton county and we have a jail here called union city and there is a lawsuit that has been filed against them because women are showering in black mold. they have masks over their face. there are being abused in so many ways. those who experience mental health are literally stuffed dead than cage and never come stuffed in a cage and

never come out. this breaks my heart. as someone who is been in that situation before. i've had my face beaten by the police before. i think we have to continue to dispel that myth that the police provide some level of public safety. public safety is when our people have adequate housing, adequate jobs that are dignified, that people can thrive and have wellness. that is how we get public safety. anything else is a lie. i send my condolences to sandra bland's family and all of the people who have lost their loved ones to o heinous police violene havell of those who participated in situations like this where we know justice has not been served. the reality of it is, we note can never be found in this criminal injustice system. amy: mary hooks, thank you for being with us, codirector of southerners on new ground, which is part of the national bail out

collective and the movement for black lives. she's an organizer of nanational black mama's bail out day. which is mother's day, on sunday. when we come back, the nra inn turmoil. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: performing an hour democracy now! studio. check out her interview and music at democracynow.org. as a national rifle association imploding echo as the nation grieves over another deadly mass school shooting, we turn to look at how internal turmoil inside the nra threatens the future of the gun lobbying group, a new report published by the trace in partnership with "the new yorker" finds while the nra has blamed its recent financial woes on left-wing attacks on the second amendment, the real damage to the organization comes from within. reporter michael spies writes --

chief f among the nra'a's probls is its three-decades-long relationship with oklahoma-based public relations firm ackerman mcqueen. the report comes as previous nra head oliver north was recently ousted after he threatened to reveal evidence of corruption against longtime chief executive wayne e lapierre. ththis comes as new york's attorney general letitia james has opened an investigation into the nra's tax-exempt status. for more, we're joined by mike spies, staff writer at "the trace." explain what happened over these last few weeks. you have this mass shooting after mass shooting from the university of north carolina, the san diego synagogue shooting, and then you have right near columbine, another high school shooting. all of this happening as the nra -- welcome to what happened oliver north and this showdown with wayne lapierre? >> you mention the nra's

long-term firm ackerman queen has been the largest, most significant illustration of a larger institutional problem. oliver north came to be president of the nra about a year ago. he also separately held a contract with ackerman mcqueen, the pr firm you were just mentioning for some million dollars a year. which posed some kind of conflict of interest. still, despite that, oliver north tried -- i think honestly -- take the high road and was concerned about larger institutional issues at the organization that go beyond that firm, and he wanted wayne lapierre, who i think is very much part of that institutional problem, to address those issues and was pushing him to do so. the response was, of course, to file a lawsuit against ackerman mcqueen that largely targeted oliver north, putting them in an impossible position and

effectively forcing him to resign his post as president of the nra. overstate how crazy this is. modernrm created the national rifle association as you know it. whatever the case may be, whatever issues have been going payments,atuitous vague billings -- "issues that are not just specifific to that firm but a wide vavariety of contractors and people connected to senior management, that firm made wayne lapierre -- he is ,ffectively saying right now the wool was being pulled over my eyes. i did not know this was happening. i did not know oliver north had his contract. i did not understand the business arrangements that weree playing out for r the last few decades. do that justifies gradual

you never possible way. amy: explain more what you have uncovered about the nra's financial dealings and corruptions. you have oliver north accusing wayne lapierre of gross corruption and vice versa. lack of alear, for better phrase, no one's hands are really clean right now. this game of thrones scenario where everyone is trying to fight for their own survival and be the one who comes out victorious, sitting on the throne. but what i found came from internal documents, a righty of different public filings, stuff that is really hard to find in state charity bureaus that involves vendor contracts, that sort of thing. what i found was there was an atmosphere that was pervaded by secrecy, greed, self-dealing. and you had a number of long-standing vendor arrangements where the nra is

paying lots of money -- as you said, hundreds of millions of dollars -- for contractors that have some kind of special connection to senior management of the organization, often senior management -- it is not often. there are people in senior management who are getting paid multiple ways, not just through the nra itself. they have their own conflicts of interest. there also handing out contracts at times to their dad or their ex girlfriends or their firm hires their significant other. amy: whited the nra spent so much money on the 2016 election? >> there seems to not be a very satisfactory answer to that question in part because the money they spent they did not have to spend. i can only speculate. to be clear, that amount of money came toward $50 million. that is coming from anan organization that was already in financial trouble.

most of that went for the election of donald trump. i think the thought was, there's no way donald trump is going to win. every other outside conservative group is essentially staying out of this race. we are not going to back donald trump. donald trump was polling well among the nra's core members. i think the e thought was, he is going to lose and we will be able to fund raise off of that. amy: are we talking about the curtain being pulled back and sing the wizard of oz? you have one mass shooting after another. politician after politician will say they themselves and the others are being captured by the nra and not taking it on. the democratic candidates running for the 2020 presidential race. one after another is saying we do have to take this tower on. but is there a power their? >> this is the most important question anyone can ask. yes, the curtain has been pulled back. for a very long time, because it

is convenient for some lawmakers to toe the line in order to create a wedge issue, the organization's power is largely mythological. the myth has worked well for them. it has intimidated lawmakers, especially at the state level. it has been a useful tool. but is a real? do they have any more power than anybody else? i think the answer is actually no. just the idea that you're willing to challenge it. the republicans -- here's a perfect example. who asott, somebody governor of florida did everything the nra wanted. there was never a time he was not counting -- amy: your 20 secondsds. >> at the end of his term, he does not do with the nra o once and he still gets elected d to e u.s. senate anyway. amy:y: we will conontinue this discussion and post it online as a post-show. michael spies is a staff writer at "the trace" and a contributor to "the new yorker." his major expose of the nra's finances is headlined, "secrecy, self-dealing, and greed at the nra."

we will link to it. that does it for our show. democracy now! is currently accepting applications for paid six-month internships here in our new york city studio. learn more and apply at democracynow.org. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to outreach@democracynow.org or mail them to