11/18/19 11/18/19 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! please, we ask for help from the international community. amy: in bolivia, at least 23 have died amid escalating violence since the military forced out bolivia's first indigenous president evo morales. we will go to cochabamba, where military forces opened fire on

indigenous pro-morales demonstrators, killing at least nine people and injuring more than 100. but first t to iran. the leak k of intelligence files sheds onon how iran has takenen contrf much off thehe iraqi governmentd wake up the 2003 u.s. invasion. .> we invaded in iran that is a lesson to be learned today and how we operate in the middle east, what we do in the middle east. it is a warning against further aggression in the r rion. amy:y: we will speak to the intercepts murtaza hussain who helped break the story. and we g go to texas, where the texas court of criminal appeals has halted the execution of rodney reed who was scheduled to die wednesday. we will speak to rodney's family and lawyer. all that and more, coming up.

welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. in bolivia, at least 23 people have died amidst escalating violence since president evo morales resigned at the demand of the military last week, in what he and many others have called a military coup. in cochabamba, military forces opened fire on indigenous pro-morales demonstrators friday, killing at least ninine people and injuring more than 100. the violence began soon after thousands of indigenous coca leaf growers and others gathered for a peaceful march in the town of sacaba. the massacre came one day after self-proclaimed president jeanine anez issued a decree protecting the military from prosecution for violent acts. protesters are demanding she step down. we will have more on the crisis in bolivia later in the broadcast. an unprecedented leak of secret

intelligence documents from inside the iranian government has shed new light on how iran has taken control of much of t e iraqi gogovernment in the wake f the 2003 u.s. invasion. the 700 pages of d documents frm iran's ministry of intelligence and securirity were leleaked toe intercept which then partnered with "the new york times" to report the story. meanwhile, protests over a gasoline hike rocked iran over the weekend. at least 12 people have been killed. on sunday, iran imposed an almost complete internet blblackout. the iranian economy has been hard-hit by u.s. sanctions, which president trump imposed after deciding to withdraw from the landmark 2015 nuclear deal. after heaeadlines, we will spspk with one of the leadad reporters on t the major expose of leakeda intelligence documents, the intercept's murtaza hussain. on capitol hill, the former u.s. ambassador to ukraine marie yovanovitch testified friday as part of the televised impeachment hearings into whether president trump withheld

military aid from ukraine in order to pressure the ukrainian president to investigate president trump's political rival joe biden and his son. yovanovitch was abruptly recalled from her post in may as part of a smear campaign to discredit t her led by presisidt trump's persrsonal attorney rudy giuliani. this is a clip of yovanovitch's opening statement. >> perhaps it was not surprising when our anticorruption efforts got in the way of desire for process or power come ukrainians who preferred to play by the old corrupt rule sought to remove me. what continues to amaze me is that they found americans willing to partner with them and working together they apparently succeeded inin orchestrating the removal of a u.s. ambassador. fail likeour system this? how is that foreign, corrupt interest can manipulate our government? which country's interests are served when the very corrupt

behavior we have been criticizing is allowed to prevail? has ambassador yovanovitch repeatedly said she felt threatened by trump, who called her "bad news" in his now-infamous july 25 call with ukrainian president zelensky. during that call, trump also said of yovanovitch, "she's going to go through some things." on friday, yovanovitch testified she felt "shocked, appalled and devastated" when shehe learneded what trump h had said about hern the phphone callll. whililyovanovitctch was testifying, , trump again attacd her, writing on twitter -- "everywhere marie yovanovitch went turned bad." house intelligence committee chair adam schiff asked yovanovitch about trump's latest atattacks on her during her testimony friday. >> the president personally -- implicitly threatened you in that call record and other president in real time is attacking you. what effect do you think that has on other witnesses willingness to come forward and

expopose wrongdoing? well,l, it is very intimidating. amy: later on friday, state department official david holmes confirmed during a closed-door testimony to house impeachment investigators that he overheard trump asking u.s. ambassador to the european union gordon sondland about political investigations trump was seeking from the president of ukraine. this confirms a key part of ambassador william taylor's testimony last week, in which he revealed details about the previously unknown phone call. also friday, the house intelligence committee released the testimony of jennifer williams, a special advisor to vice president mike pence and a member of his national security council staff. in her testimony, she called the july 25 phone call between trump and the crane president unusual and inappropriate. in response, president trump attacked her on twitter, accusing her of being a never trumper. president trump's ally and

former adviser roger stone was found guilty friday of seven counts, including witness tampering, obstruction and making false statements. he now faces up to 20 years in -- he now faces up to 50 years in prison. stone is the sixth trump aide or adviser who has been convicted of charges brought as part of robert mueller's investigation. stone will be sentenced in february. president trump has pardoned three u.s. service members who have been accused or convicted of war crimes. clint lorance had been serving a 19-year murder sentence in the military prison in fort leavenworth, kansas, for ordering soldiers to open fire on unarmed afghan motorcyclists in 2012. he walked free from prison on friday night after trump's pardon. mathew golsteyn was facing murder charges related to the 2010 killing of an unarmed afghan man. he reportedly told cia interviewers he had shot the man and then destroyed his body in a burn pit on the military base. trump also restored the rank of

navy seal eddie gallagher, who had been accused of multiple war crimes, including shooting two iraqi civilians and fatally stabbing a captive teenager in the neck. a california jury acquitted him of murder charges in july, but convicted him of a lesser offense. president t trump took an unplanned trip to walter reed national military medical center saturday, sparking widespread questions about the state of trump's physical health. the white house has claimed there was nothing unusual about the unscheduled medical visit. president trump is the oldest president to take office and there have been repeated questions about his physical and mental fitness. in lebanon, tens of thousands of people took to the streets sunday to mark the one-month anniversary of the massive anti-government protests that have swept the country and ousted the prime minister. the demonstrators are protesting government corruption and mismanagement, lack of jobs and electricity, and economic austerity.

in hong kong, police have besieged student protesters occupying hong kong polytechnic university in a major escalation in the ongoing pro-democracy protests. early monday, police tried to storm the campus, but the students fought back with molotov cocktails, slingshots, and arrows. over 100 people were arrested in recent days. dozens of protesters have been injured by rubber bullets and tear gas. at least one police officer was injured by an arrow. there have been thousands of students who have been arrested overall. kong the law that hong legislature had passed outlawed byasks was a court. in nigeria, security forces opened fire on journalists at a protest in the capital abuja last week as fears mount about the possible disappearance of

another prominent nigerian journalist, sowore omoyele. the founder of the outlet sahara reporters was arrested by nigeria's intelligence agency in august and has been detained since then, despite twice being granted bail. his wife says she has not seen or spoken to him since his arrest august 3. omoyele has been a frequent guest on democracy now!, including in after hundreds were 2008 killed following a disputed election. >> what has happened in nigeria we had since 1999 when this return of democracy, so to speak, there has been consistent violation of democratic tenets and principles, especially election rigging. the nigerian people have not had a chance to choose their leaders and have not had a chance to theess their anger whenever few who run the country, members of the elite, decide to turn

elections against the choices of the people. amy: to see our most recent omoyele'swith sowrore wife after he was arrested go to democracynow.org. prince a andrew was grilleled at his longtime frienendship with deceased serial sexual predator jeffrey epstein during an interview with the bbc that aired sunday night. the duke of york was friends with epstein for years and visited epstein's upper east side mansion in 2010. virginia roberts giuffre has accused prince andrew of having sex with her when she was 17 years old, saying that epstein lent her to prince andrew on multiple occasions. during the bbc interview, the prince denied the accusations and said he had no recollection of meeting her, even though she's released a photograph in which prince andrew is standing beside her with his hand around her bare stomach. "the washington n post" reports president trump abruptly reversed course and refused to sign a memo banning most flavored e-cigarettes, despite having promised to do so only two months earlier. he refused to sign the one-page

decision memo while on a flight to a campaign rally in lexington, kentucky, earlier this month. he reportedly refused to sign the memo over fears that angry vape shop owners and their customers could hurt his presidential reelection prospects. louisiana democratic governor john bel edwards has narrowly won reelection, beating out his republican challenger eddie rispone. he wasas backed by president trump, who held two rallies in louisiana this month to support him. but high turnout by african american voters in louisiana, particularly in new orleans, propelled john bel edwards to reelection. in arizona, cell phone video footage has surfaced showing a sheriff's deputy tackling and pinning a 15-year-old quadruple amputee to the ground. the boy was abandoned by his parents and lives in a group home in tucson. the pima county sheriff's deputy was responding to calllls from e facility about the teenager

allelegedly knockingng ovea trashcan. the deputy has since been placed on administrative leave. in fresno, california, four people were killed and another six were wounded after at least one gunman opened fire during a backyard party on sunday. the shooter fled the scene. the police have not yet made any arrests. sunday's shooting comes amid a string of massss shootings in california, including at a high school in santa clarita and at two halloween parties. and in a stunning decision handed down friday, the texas court of criminal appeals haltld the execution of rodney reed, an african american death row prisoner who was s scheduled toe executed on n wednesday foa murder he saysys he did not commit.. in 1998, an all-white jury sentenced reed to die for the murder of stacey stites, a 19-year-old white woman, after his dna was found inside her body. the two were having an affair at the time of her death. but new and previously ignored

details in the case indicate stites' then-fiancee, a white police officer named jimmy fennell, may in fact be responsible for the killing. we'll have more on decision to halt rodney reed's execution later in the broadcast. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. an unprecedented leak of secret intelligence reports from inside the iranian government has shed new light on how iran has taken control of much of the iraqi government in the wake of the 2003 u.s. invasion. the documents from iran's ministry of intelligence and security were leaked to the intercept, which then partnered wiwith "the new york times" rept the story. the leak includes 700 pages of intelligence documents from 2014 to 2015. in one document, iraq's current prime minister adel abdul-mahdi is described as having a

"special relationship" with iran. the e documents also reveaeal ta numbmber of iraqis who o once wd wiwith the cia wenon to wowork wiwith iraan intelliligence. they exposed detailed information about the cia's activity interact. in a moment, we will be joined by one of the reporters who worked on the story. but first, we turn to excerpts from a video produced by the intercept about this massive set of leaeaks. the video features pulitzer prize winning reporter james risen of the intercept and vanessa gezari, the intercept's national s security editoror. >> it really shows in very concrete and spepecific terms hw iran has woven itself into every especiallyycts life, since e the 2003 u.s.s. invasio. so when the u.s.s. went in and toppled saddam hussein, jujust

opened the d door for iran to do something in rack it had always wanted to do, which essentially was to get in there and control everything. the u.s. government is very short-term in terms of how it views these kinds of conflicts and indeed these places. the u.s. went in and the cia cultivated this whole massive then assetsts, sources, and they leaveve >> you see in the documents several people w who were e iras who had worked with h the cia wo are nonow unemployed. so they go to the iranians and say, i would be hahappy to work with you if you pay me. and the iraninis in thesese documements are e interested in talking toto thehem, but the fit requirement they have is that they tell them everything they ever did with the cia. to me, the message of these documents, and i hope this is the way we have presented d it,s unitited states invasion of iraq was anan historic mistatake.

strategic blunder of massive proportions. wonnvaded in -- and iran the war. that is a lesson to be learned today in how we operate in the middle east, what we do in the middle east. it is a warning against further aggression in the region. iran had t two adversaries on is borders. one was the talibiban and the other was the iraqiqi g governm, saddam hussein. both were enemies of iran. both of them. it is such a huge thing to admit country, thatata everything we have done in iraq for the last 15 years was a mistake. all of these lives lost were in vain. all of the mononey pourered in their has gone for a misbegotten

tragic mistake. what weweve benefited now considerer one of our bigget enemies. it is almost like it is such a huge thing to admit thahat noboy wants to admit it. and i think that is the real power in these documents. amy: james risen and vanessa gezari of the intercept discussing the intercept's major expose on leaked iranian intelligence documents. they work together with "the new york times." we are joined now by the intercept's murtaza hussain who worked on the project. welcome back to democracy now! this is a massive project, a massive set of documents that are being seen for the first time. why don't you give us an overview of the significance and just how long the team of you at the intercept has been working on this. >> the iranian government is one of the most secretive governments in the world, particularly security

apparatuses. we have never seen innerworkings of iranian military or intelligence operations until today. this is a trove of about 700 documents we received written in farsi, which translated and reported from iraq. these documents show us how following u.s. invasion and then following the rise of isis thereafter iran rose to a position of hegemony enabled by the american deposition of the previous regime. amy: talk about where you think these documents are from. is identities are known to us. they identify themselves of someone upset about the iranian role in iraq today. as many of us know, iran has a very powerful role in iraqi politics. these documents shed light on what the source described. ways, they have negated the sovereignty of that country and manipulated in such a way

that their interests are predominant over the interest of the iraqi people. we are seeing this today manifest in ongoing protest in iraq against the political elite, which is viewed as beholden to iran. it has not been seen in black and white untitil this day. its the u.s. considers iran enemy. they would have an interest in destabilizing the government and making iran look bad. how dodo you k know this isn't e kind of u.s. source for these documents? showcuments, although they any manipulation of iraqi politics, do not portray iran in a negative ligightper s thee impression i is ofe. professisionalism, pragmatism, d not in interest of destabilizing right but rather in stabilizing the country in a way which facilitates their interest. it is not of certain groups or because the p pnge in chahaos, they want t a stable iraraqi and

went all the different minority andunities are reconciled they want to defeat extremist groups and they want a stable iraqi economy, which is in their own interest as well, too. so while the documents shed light on the radiant activities, the activities are very much like u.s. government aims. they have similar aims, although their means in some sense are different. amy: so you have these leaked documents that exposed arends vast influence in iraq, detailing years of painstaking work iranian agents to co-opt the country's leaders and infiltrate every aspect of political life. and you have this happening after 2003, after the u.s. invasion. and talk about the assets that the u.s. had, the cia working with iraqis, why the u.s. let them go and how they moved over then to iran. they were out of a job. >> i think the macro story is

the united states shattered iraqi society and then iran came in to pick up the pieces. so when the u.s. deposed saddam hussein, there were huge numbers of public servants from a former military officials who were out of a job. many of them started working for the americans, some started fighting the americans. when the americans left in 2011, the bulk of their forces, these people again needed work, way to survive. the old system had been destroyed. iran became the new player in town. many the individuals the document show, when the americans came they worked for the americans. when the americans left, they were unemployed. then when the iranians came to fill the void, they began working for a rainy and intelligigence. they brought the skills and training with the americans over to the irani inside. in many cases they also brought software and technology, covert systems given to them by

american handlers. they provided that to the irradiance. we saw the irradiance inheriting infrastructure left behind by the u.s. occupation. amy: talk about the five sections of this massive rerelee that you have posted at the intercept, the intercept as posted and "the new york times" has done a major story also in partnership with you. >> the first story is an overview of iran's over -- influence. it lays out the significance of the documents. the whole of that story is posted jointly by "the times" and the intercept. the second part is about the iranian covert war betweenen 203 and 2015. it shows how iranian spies traded isis at the highest leadership level. they had assets giving them communications at isis leader's. they were arming isis' enemies. they were trying to rake up other groups to fight against isis. it shows a picture of professionalism and ruthlessness

of irradiance spies who while the u.s. was bombing isis in the air, they were working behind the lines to undermine the groups inside. amy: together? folks they were not coordinating. while they viewed the american presence with wariness, there were also upset that the americans and other powers were not coordinating their efforts more effectively to fight isis together. they were concerned about arends isolation in the world, which did come to greater prominence was the war ended. amy: and you h have in that article iran shadow war in isis, tehran funneling arms to the kurdish and penetrating the inner circle, as you said, the isis leadership. >> the iranian relationship with the iraqi kurds in some ways mimics the american relationship with her kurds in syria, and that they armed them to fight isis, supported them, but then later had a falling out over political differences. the documents paint a very vivid picture of how iran fought this

covert war while the americans were fighting it more overtly from the air. the third story is about a secret summit that took place in turkey between the irani and revolutionary guard in the muslim brotherhood. this summit was intended to forge a joint front over sectarian differences to combat what was seen as a shared enemy of saudi arabia. the summit also -- ultimately did not lead to the goals that it set out but it show the interest in both these forces in combating a saudi government which was hostile to about their interest. amy: talked about this and talk more about saudi arabia and were saudi arabia fits into this picture, an ally of the u.s., and then we have iran. from 2014cument is and some things have changed to some degree since then. saudi arabia may be coming around to they cannot fight iran on its own. at that time, there is a very fears proxy war raging between saudi arabia and iran.

more intimately, in egypt and other countries with the brotherhood that has a big presence. saudi arabia supporting local dictatorships fighting the brotherhood. so while the brotherhood in iran have differences, they sought to put those differences aside at this meeting to see if they could forge a common front to combat saudi arabia as a shared enemy. it did not overtly create such an alliance, but logically it made sense. sectarian differences aside, saudi arabia was the prime enemy of both these parties and to some degree continues to be today. amy: the changing of the overlords. articleiv. >> this story is an op-ed written by myself and my colleague jeremy scahill laying out everything that is happened in iraq since 2003, since the u.s. invasion, which was basically an extinction level event for the old iraq. the iraqi regime was destroyed by the united states. it was shattered into pieces. come outthose pieces

of them came extremist groups, came irani and proxies. we have not seen the end to violence that began in 2003 to this day. i think the short story, which are documents layout in very great detail is that the u.s. began the war that it was iran which is winning. they have a position of -- interact with full dominance, which would be very difficult for any foreign power to contest. we are seeing protests in iraq against irani and influence but iran's presence economically and politically is so pervasive in iraq today, it is hard to see that influence being rolled back in the foreseeable future. whatever goals the u.s. had innovating iraq in advancing its own strategic interest has benefited far more clearly iran, which is considered by the u.s. to be a stated enemy. amy: talk about the leadership of iraq a and how close they are to iran right now. mentionedqi leaders

in these documents. the current pm is described as having a shuttle relationship with the irradiance. there are many irani ministers as well described as being of iran, butoxies closely tied to iran. also the previous iraqi prime minister is mentioned as having a conversation with an iranian intelligence agent, discussing the future of iraq and closely identifying his own interest with the irradiance or sing the world in the same way anorak and the same ways they did. iran has as close and likely closer relationships with irani and -- iraqi leaders in the united states and they have relationships with them, which seemed to privilege iran's interest over the iraqi people or some segments of the iraqi people. they have access to iraq in a way that no other country does. amy: murtaza hussain, talk about your reporting of the stories.

you actually went to iraq. to verify theraq veracity of the documents, to visit many of the sitites on the ground, to retrace the steps of irani and spies. particularly, to map out the irani and were against isis behind-the-scenes as it is happening in 2014-2015. especially northern iraq of the iranian presence. at the time iran had a better reputation. it was helping iraqi kurds fight isis. it then there was a fallout over the independence. now there is a bitter legacy of the irani and presence there and the training and weapons and intelligence support they provided is mostly washed over by the role they play in forming the central iraqi government and crushing kurdish independence. the traces are still there but the political landscape has changed and continues to change as the time goes on. amy: at the same time your stories have come out, cnn is reporting that a top iraqi

military chief says isis is coming back strong. >> this is the unfortunate legacy that isis would defeat militarily but many of the same areas where we saw iraqi and kurdish ground forces come in many cases backed by iran or backed by the u.s. military, defeat isis in those same areas we are seeing a resurgence of isis in the shadows. in some towns, isis has a presence at night. in certain areas, on government spaces, rural areas, there is a revival of the insurgency. the political crisis still exists in anorak and becomes more acute as time goes on. amy: did the u.s. ok in reletting turkey invading syria on what you're looking at today? >> it is likely to have an impact. proliferation of ungoverned spaces interact is the main

terrorist groups. in the destabilization of northern syria and especially the impact on people in prison camps, isis members being let out or going out in an area where there is not much security, is likely to lay the seed for resurgence of a new group in the future. amy: what surprised you most? you have been working on this story for many months, over a year. this is the first time there has been this kind of document release -- hundreds and hundreds of pages of iranian intelligence that has never been seen before. >> the fact the leak is the most surprising most remarkable part of this leak in my opinion. never seen the inner workings of the iranian government at this level. we have never seen how iranian intelligence, hohow iranian spis operate. they are very professional. they are very pragmatic. they are a formidable adversary

for the u.s. or any local power which comes up against them. amy: i want to thank you very much for being with us. if people go to the intercept.com, you will see the stories laid out in full. also "the new york times" partnered with the intercept and has also released that story at the same time early this morning at 12:11 this morning, just after midnight. murtaza hussain, reported the -- reporter at the intercept, worked on the new expose on leaked iranian cables. when we come back, we go to bolivia to cochabamba were indigenous people were gunned down on friday. stay with us. ♪ [music c break]

amy: this is democracy now!, i'm amy goodman. as we turn to the coup in

bolivia, where at least 23 have died amid escalating violence since president evo morales resigned at the demand of the military last week. growing unrest quickly turned to violent chaos on friday outside cochabamba when military forces opened fire on indigenous pro-morale is protesters, killing at least nine people and injuring more than 100. the violence began soon after thousands of protesters -- many indigenous coca leaf growers -- gathered for a peaceful march in the town of sacaba and then attempted to cross a military checkpoint into cochabamba. this is a demonstrator. >> they're saying that people from the mosque are attacking, but this is not true. they have come peacefully in the journalist of bolivia are not talking to people from here because they know they're going to tell the truth and they do not want to unveil the truth. we're just asking for peace for bolivia. we do not want more debt. you can see by ourselves how many people have died. amy: the massacre came one day

after supper and president jeanine anez issued a decree protecting the military from prosecution for violent acts. amid this escalating violence and reports of widespread anti-i-indigenous racism, protesters are demanding the resignation of anez -- a right-wing bolivian legigislator who nanamed herself presidenenta legislative session without quorumum last week. she then sworere in a new cabint with no indigenous m members. she e has since added inindigens people to her cabinet under pressure. anez has previously called indigenous communities "satanic" and has declared that her presidency will bring the bible back to bolivia. she said last week that exiled socialist presidident evo morals -- who fled to mexico after he was deposed by thehe military on sunday -- would not be allowed to compete in a new round of elections and he would face prosecution if he returned to bolivia. morales is bolivia's first indigenous president. bolivia has a majority indigenous population. on sunday, u.n. special envoy

jean arnault called for talks between jeanine anez and leaders of m morales's polititical party movement toward socialism -- or mas. a date has not been set. four for more, we go to cochabamba where we're joined by kathryn ledebur via democracy now! video stream. the director of the andean information network and a she isis information network ana researcher, activist, and analyst with over two decades of experience in bolivia. welcome back to democracy now! can you describe what y you understand took k place on frid? w we went and we investigated ---- we werere there fridayy ni. it is very clear we did over 300 interviews witith a clinic that protesters had been babanned -- anyone from m the tropopical ara has been blocked from entering cochabamba. searched at gunpoint. they attttempted to march peacefully. all witnesses state they had taken their surgical masks off.

people are wearing surgical masks because there is a great deal of tear gas. they were unarmed and marching peacefully. the military and police combine forces, fired tear gas. and as they were escaping, fired from bridges, fired directly at them, fired from a helelicopter. we havave photos of the helicopr with the snipers, pepeople with gunshot wounds at the top of their head come in the forehead. people shot directly in the heart. gross use of excessive use of force. it is targeting indigenous people. it really is a clear sign of a military brutal dictatorship. amy: i want to turn to a clip from a rally in cochabamba over the weekend. here a man is denouncing the bolivia media's lack of coverage of military and policece violene against the pro-morales indigenous protesters.

journalists come here to show the truth of my fallen brothers and sisters? why do police justify the violence sang we're going to attack them? my people are not going to attack you. my people are searching for peace. i'm asking the press to come here and show the reality. do not distort the information. stop generating more violence. we are searching for peace and justice. what we want? justice. we want justice now. amy: this is a woman at the funeral of one of the nine confirmed victims after the bolivia military f forces opened fire at the indigenous pro-morales protesters in the town of sacaba on friday. >> no one is showing what people are going through right now. i thank the people who are here to provide us with food. we will keep fighting, brothers and sisters.

we want her to resign. , take usryn ledebur through this we can. yet the horror of the massacre on friday. how was the military armed? >> the military -- we d did not see - -- we got at the side o oe massacre dururing our investigation friday night hundreds of teargas cananisters, u.s. issue teargas, two different kinds. militaryeds have spent bullets. it is interesting to note the self-proclaimed bolivian government claims that coca growers were armed and they had firearms. that is patently false. coca growers the for over 20 years. some of them have muskets that they use to hunt animals. there's only one kind of bullet. it was a military issued bullet. i think the medical reports will comeme out today and confirm th.

amy: can you talk about the massacre coming one day after the supper claim president jeanine anez issued this decree protecting the military from prosecution for violent acts? and then tell us exaxactly who anezez is. >> this decree -- this is very important to n note in n periods undemocratic period and peperios of great violence in bolivia, that this is a supreme decrcree that issue that is not public. it is not published in the ecree.g of thehe something passeded without pubuc knowowledge and the m movement r excessive use of fororce and now they'rere targeting mosque senators first addition, something that is very shocking. it is important to n note the american human rights commission has called this license to kill ,,aranteed impunity decree

profofound violation of human rights. it is the kind of systematic steps to smother democracy, to smother alternative voices. yet understand that coca grower radio stations, the facebook pages and other community radios have been burned, shut d down, e frequency block. what we are seeing is a silencing that is systematic of indigenous people and their rights and this process. and that all of the affected people in the massacre highlighted that focus against them as indigenous people. jeanine anez is a senator. she was the second secretary of the second vice president of the senate and has no constitutional right in the line of succession at all. the self-proclaimed senator from is focusedd region on the extreme right an extreme form of christianity.

her tweets that have been veverified, although erase point toocking indndigenous people, mockcking indigenous religionsn, veryry discrimininatory as haver other ministers said. thisis cabinet and this focus is not beginning as a transitional -- w we had a transitional government in 2005. i think it is very dramatic that as anez's first act as self or claim president was to name a new military high commmmand. now the day after morales resigns, the military has been out on the street and we have seen indigenous people killed and hundreds of indigenous pepeople shot with live ammunition. amy: can you talk more about the people who fill the vacuum since morales was forced out? can you talk about camacho, part of a group of people fiercely

fundamentalist, christian, proro-fascist -- for camacho?, lewis >> in the electoral procece, the opposition although it was not united, the mainin candidate w s carlosos mesa, w who was suppopo be a centrist opposition leader. camacho was nenever a candidate. camacho increasinglyly in the pt theweeks has begun to drive discourse of the oppositition. you see these centrist leaders folding intoto this s far right extreme approaoach. it is important to note camacho, senanator cruz later, got his start as the yoututh league, an organization that uses the nazai salute in their meetings. this is sosomething that is terrifyingng. he then became president off

pacific committee. he wasas elected by y less than0 people.. christiana charismatic gloss on a message of hatate, lalaying of hands on o oppositin leaders, statatements ththat gos grantedd mesa the right to be president. our virtual controrol of santa cruz w where citizens are forcrd to obtain from this committee that has n no legal r right to t permissionon to go frfrom one pe to t the next and permission to actually go to t the airport. this is a a terrifyingng situat. [indiscernible] andle's fundamenental rights due process and human righghts have been smothered in a perioid of a week. it is quite terrifying and something the international community needs to attend to. amy: i wanted her to the exiled bolivian president evo morales speaking to "the washington post" about onone of thehe reass friday he was forced to resign. >> i proposed a new supreme

.lectoral tribunal new political actors and new elections without evo morales. they did not accept it. for the aggressions continued. the burning of houses, aggression toward our authorities. , threats to lynch our wives, relatives, children. it wasas unbearable. to prevent such aggressioions fm the right,t, the violentnt onesi stepped down. amy: that is s president marella speaking from mexico. he also said in an interview with al jazeera that if he was allowed to go back, he would not seek to run in the next elections but he wants to finish the last two months of his term. we just have 30 seconds. your response and what you see happening going foforward? the arean cochabamba, of the massacre that just took place.

>> itt i is not clear. at this s rate, i would say if there is not an urgegent diaiale and d more democraratic behavion ththe part of the right,t, we're goining to see escalatining viololence, the tensions of opposition leadeders and t the opposition a acting on the vioit threats they have made against human rights defenders. amy: kathryn ledebur, thank you for being with us director of , the andean information network speaking to us from cochabamba. she is a researcher, activist, an analyst and has been in bolivia for more than 20 years. when we come back, the texas court of criminal appeals has halted the execution of rodney reed. we will speak k with his family and his lawyer. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: "dead man walkin'" by bruce springsteen. this is democracy now!, i'm amy goodman. in a stunning decision handed down friday, the texas court of criminal appeals halted the

execution of rodney reed, an african american death row prisoner who was scheduled to be executed this wedndnesday for a murderer he saysys he did not commitit. millions of f people around thte country y had joined the famam's cause in recent weeks, amid mounting evidence that another man may be responsible for the 1996 murder of stacey stites, a 19-year-old white woman. among the celebrities who have taken up reed's cause is kim kardashian west, who happened to in the room, who happened to be meeting with rodney reed when he was informed he would not be executed -- at least, for now. on friday, kim kardashian tweeted -- "today, i had the honor of meeting #rodneyreed in person and the privilege of sitting with him when he got the news that the highest court in texas had issued a stay of execution and remanded the case back to the trial court for further consideration. so grateful for the commitment and passion of everyone who

voiced their support, the texas board of pardons and paroles for their recommendation to issue a 120 day reprieve, and the courts for issuing a stay!" kim kardashian west later sat down with "the today show" and described reed's response to the news that his execution had been stayed. >> it was emotional. it w was extremely emotional. and he said, "praise jesus." amy: in 1998, an all-white jury sentenced rodney reed to die for stites' murder after his dna was found inside her body. but the two were having a relationship at the time of her death. but new and previously ignored details in the case indicate that stites' then-fiancee, a white police officer named j jiy fennell, may in fact be responsible for stacy's murder. fennell was later jailed on kidnapping and rape charges in another case. last monthth, a man who spent te in jail with fennell signed an affidavit saying fennell had admitted in prison to killing

his fiancee because she was having an affair with a black man. well, for more, we're joined by bryce benjet, a senior attorney at the innocence project, who has been representing reed. he has been working on the case for 18 years. we are also joined by rodney reed's brother rodrick reed, and his sister-in-law uwana akpan. we welcome you all back to democracy now! rodrick, i'm going to begin with you. you are almost twins of your brother. you are that close. talk about where you were when you heard that your brother would not be murdered were killed by the state of texas, at least fofor now. was at the, i airport. we were traveling back from washington, d.c. when i got them news. it was just all i could do to hold back tears of joy and thank for him getting this stay,

giving us a chance to do all that we can do to prove his innocence. , you have beenn working on this case for a number of years. your response? >> we were traveling with sister helen's spokesperson griffin hardy and he is the one who told us about the board of pardons and parole's 120 day reprieve. when we got on the plalane, thee was an issue with our plane and air traffic controllers were not ready yet or whatever and i had my phone on airplane mode. i took it off airplane mode and immediately, bryce called us and he is the one who told us that the court of criminal appeals did the indefinite stay. i was just like, oh, my goodness. i told rodrick and we were kind of in shock because of the stuff that had happened with the previously and just thankful to

god that we did not have to wait over the weekend, until monday, to get a decision that we had it prior to the weekend starting. it was a blessing. amy: have you talk to your brother? >> know, i have not talked to him. i'm scheduled to see him next week. i have not talked to him yet. amy: bryce benjet, you have worked on this case for 18 yearars. can you explain what exactly this decision means? >> this is a decision we have for decades,o get really. this is an opportunity for us, obobviously, to avoid the execution but more importantly, to present all of the evidence in this case that shows that rodney reed did not commit the crime. so everything that we were asking for from the court was granted in this order. we are very pleased with the

order and we are getting ready now to go to court and present all of this evidence, which both anderates rodney reed implicates somebody else in the murder. amy: we are not than just talking about rodney reed not being executed -- because if he is not executed, it is going to be because of evidence of innocence, which would mean he would be free. talk about what you asked for. >> we really presented three different kinds of evidence. there is first scientific evidence that shows rodney's guilt is physically impossible. that this crime took place at a time that jimmy fennell testified he was alone with stacey. amy: the fiancee, white police going to marrys stacey stites, apparently. >> in fact, was also a prime suspect in the murder and tell rodney reed was associated with stacey stites.

this type of evidence, scientific evidence that shows rodney's guilt is impossible. there's a second, we of evidence, which is evidence that shows rodney and stacey had a relationship. .hese are coworkers of stacey and even her couousin. and thenen there is -- amy: who they say she told him about her relationship with rodney. >> she told about the relationship to coworkers and she also was seen with rodney by her own cousin. third, there is a relationship -- excuse me, there is evidence guilt, being his statements, confessing to the crime stuff amy: where did that statement go? he was in prison for raping and kidnapping after the murder of stacey stites, but they never even tested the murder weapon, a belt, for dna, though they have it. where did that statement go? did you know about it? >> that was a statement made

while fennell was in prison for another crime and made to a leader of the arian brotherhood in the prison he was in. and so it is somewhat extraordinary statement that we are continuing to investigate. as we have investigated this case, evidence continues to mount that shows rodney did not commit the crime and implicates fennell. this is an open investigation. we continue to investigate leave and we look forward to presenting all of this in court. amy: stacey clearly said she was afraid of jimmy pennell, her -- >> those are statements attributed to her from a variety of witnesses that we have talked to and that there was an air of intimidation throughout this trial. amy: talk about the belt. explain what happened. how was stacy murdered?

>> stacey stites was murdered with a belt. at the time, the technology for dna testing was not available to test skin cells or things like that which were handled by the murderer. today we can. amy: explain where her body was found. >> her body was found off the side of the road in rural bastrop county. one of the most important things about her body was that it indicates she had been killed for hours prior to being left at that scene. which again places the time of death at a time that jimmy fennell testified that you were alone in her apartment. amy: and that he possibly would have took that body. >> and that body was then transported in the truck. we cd compositional fluid in the truck. we know she was dead for hours before she left that truck. that places her death at a time hours earlier than what was presented at the trial. that implicates jimmy fennell and not runny. -- not rodney reed. amy: how do you get this bill tested? >> we have presented this to

numerous courts. we are in the federal court system asking for that dna testing. we're continuing to pursue that. and we certainly encourage the state, the district attorney, the ag to really look at this case because i think when you look at these facts, the only conclusion you can reach is that rodney reed did not commit the crime and somebody else did. amy: i want to turn to rodney reed in his own words. here he is speaking in an interview with the popular daytime tv host dr. phil, who visiteted him in prisoson on deh row. this aired in september. >> i am absolutely innocent of this case. i absolutely had nothing to do with stacy's death. i want to be a father to my kids. i want to be a grandfather to my grandchildren. sonnt to be able to be the to look after my motother and a brother to my brothers.s. i wawant to be a part of my famy and my friends lives again. amy: so that is rodney reed.

rodrick, we just have about 30 seconds. what are you calling for right now? what exactlyly does this mean to you, the stopping of the execution for at least 120 days, and where this case goes from here? what are you going to say to her brother when you see him next week? >> i'm going to tell him that we are not going to stop applying the pressure to get him a new trial, to exonerate his name. and that god has been working through all of us to get justice not just for him, but for stacey stites as well. that is what we are committed to and we are not going to stop until it is done. amy: i want to thank you all -- go ahead >> a and just we love him and we can't wait until our familily is whole again. amy: rodrick reed, brother of rodney reed, uwana akpan, sister-in-law of rodney reed.

bryce benjet, a senior attorney at the innocence project, who has been working on the case for 18 years. that does it for our broadcast democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to outreach@democ