09/26/22 09/26/22 [captiong made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> this is surely for many people a night of pride, not a payback, surely a night of memories. amy: italy's first far right leader since benito mussolini, giorgia meloni, has declared victory. her brothers of italy party is

alive -- emerged out of the neo-nazi movement. we will look at the return of fascism in italy with professor ruth ben-ghiat, author of " strongmen, was lynched to the present." here at home, investigating the january 6 insurrection, we look at one of the key groups that helped plan and carry out the attacks. part of their goal, to normalize political violence. >> what you want to call them? >> proud boys. >> stand back and standby. >> individuals associated with two violent extremist groups have been charged with seditious conspiracy in connection with the january 6 attack. one is the oath keepers. they are group of armed antigovernment extremists. the other group is the proud

boys. amy: we will speak with reporter andy campbell, author of the book "we are proud boys: how a right wing street gang ushered in a new era of american extremism." all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. in iran, at least 41 people have been killed in a series of escalating protests, and injustice for 22-year-old kurdish woman named mahsa amini who died in the custody of iran's so-called morality police. the norway-based group iran human rights has put the death toll at 57, with hundreds arrested over the past 10 days. on saturday, iran's president ebrahim raisi vowed to decisively crack down on the protests. solidarity rallies were also held across the globe this weekend. in iraq, dozens of iraqi and iranian kurds rallied saturday to protest the death of mahsa amini.

>> you killed mahsa amini because of a piece of hair. we are asking for freedom. her rights for all of the people because everyone has the right to have dignity. the youth come the 15 and 16 euros are asking for rights or freedom but they kill us. they do not have a conscience. they are killing immediately. amy: in news from italy, giorgia meloni appears poised to become italy's first far-right leader since world war ii and end the -- in the reign of benito mussolini. projections show meloni's neo-fascist brothers of italy party placed first in sunday's elections with about 26% of th vote, up from just 4% in 2018. meloni campaigned on an anti-immigration platform and will become italy's first female prime minister. meloni spoke sunday night. >> when this night is over, we

have to remember, we must remember that we are not at the end point but the starting point. it is frotomorrow we must prove our worth. amy: we will have more on the italian election after headlines. a county judge in arizona has banned nearly all abortions in the state citing a law signed in 1864 when arizona was still a territory. under the 1864 law, there is no exception for rape or incest and anyone who helps a woman obtain an abortion could face two to five years in prison. the head of planned parenthood slammed the ban saying it was "sending arizonians back nearly 150 years." the judges ruling came a day before a new law went into effect in arizona banning abortions after the 15th week of pregnancy. the united states is warning russia that it will face catastrophic consequences if it uses nuclear weapons in ukraine.

u.s. national security advisor jake sullivan appeared on abc on sunday. >> we have communicated directly, probably to the russians had very high levels that will be catastrophic consequences for russia if they use nuclear weapons in ukraine. we have been clear with them and emphatic with them united states ll respond decisivel alongside our allies and partners, and we protected those counications which we have done privately to the russians, but they will understand what they would face if they went down that dark road. amy: jake sullivan's comment comes days after russian president vladadimir putin threatened to use nuclear weapons to protect russia. this comes as russia is moving toward annexing parts of occupied ukraine and vowing to protect the areas as if they were russian territory. referendums on joining russia are being held in four areas. in russia, police arrested at least 730 people across 32 cities on saturday alone as protesters demanded putin

reverse his decision to hold its first military draft since world war ii to call 300,000 to fight in ukraine. thousands of draft age men have attempted to flee russia, which faces accusations it is disproportionally drafting men from rural areas and from ethnic minorities. in siberia gunman was arrested , a for opening fire at a military draft office. some of the most intense protests have been in the predominantly muslim region of dagestan, where at least 100 protesters have been arrested. there are also reports authorities are drafting ukrainian men living in areas occupied by russia to fight ukraine. at the united nations saturday, the chinese foreign minister wang yi called for peace talks to end the war in ukraine. >> china supports all efforts conduce to the peaceful resolution of the ukraine crisis.

the present priority is to facilitate talks for people. the fundamental solution is to address the legitimate security concerns of all parties and build a balanced effective, sustainable security architecture. we call on all parties concerned to keep the crisis from spilling over and protect legitimate rights and interests of developing countries. amy: in other news from russia, a gunman opened fire at a school today killing at least 13 people, including seven children. the shooting occurred about 600 miles east of moscow. at least 97 asylum seekers have died after their boat sank off the coast of syria. the boat had left lebanon and was trying to reach italy. one survivor, ibrahim mansour, spoke to al jazeera from a hospital bed. >> i cry all the time. i am in shock. i saw bodies and horrible ages. i tried help children and another man.

i tried to their spirits aleppo could not. this is hurting me, especially because of the child was holding onto me before i lost them. they told me he died. amy: the dead included 24 children and 31 women. most of the boat's passengers were lebanese, syrians, and palestinians. it was one of the deadliest boat disasters in the eastern mediterranean. in the philippines, at least five people were killed after a typhoon slammed into the northern ireland sunday with -- northern ireland with suay sustained winds of 115 miles per hour. the storm brought flash flooding that damaged thousands of homes, forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of residents, and cut off electricity to millions of people across two provinces. the philippines' capital manila was largely spared the storm's wrath. in canada, hurricane fiona crashed into nova scotia saturday with record-setting ferocity, devastating coastal

communities with hurricane-force winds and leaving hundreds of thousands of people in the dark. fiona was fueled by anomalously warm ocean surface temperatures that allowed it to maintain its strength much farther north than usual. it made landfall with the lowest barometric pressure of any storm ever observed in canada. in newfoundland, the mayor of port aux basques said fiona had left the seaside town looking like a war zone, with at least one person missing and presumed dead after her home was washed out to sea. this is nova scotia's premier tim houston. >> we know the climate is changing for sure. you look around the world, we are seeing fires, storms. certainly, this is an historic straw for this province. the damage is significant. right now the priority is getting power back to people, getting people safe shelter, getting some return to normal. that will take time.

amy: in puerto rico, about half the island remains without electricity one week after hurricane fiona brought devastating flooding that overwhelmed e island's fragile electrical grid. officials say one-in-five households and businesses still have no running water. meanwhe, puerto rican farmers are warning of a food crisis after fiona flooded fields nea peak harst time, desoying crs of stae foods. a farmer's association stern erto ricsays 90%f the pltain crowas deroye a hurricane warning is in effect for parts of the caribbean with tropical srm ian forecast to strengthen before it is expected landfall in far-western cuba late this evening. in florida, governor ron desantis has declared a state-wide state of emergency ahead of the storm's expected arrival on wednesday. forecast models predict ian will strengthen to a major category 4 hurricane with 130-mile-per-hour winds before slamming into florida's panhandle late wednesday. leaders of the small island state of vanna white to have

made an urgent plea for nations to draft a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty. the proposal would see nations agree to end all new coal, oil and gas projects, while phasing out the use of fossil fuels. speaking to the u.n.'s general assembly on friday, the president also called for nations to make ecocide a crime punishable by the international criminal court, and he called on the u.n.'s international court of justice to rule that people have a right to be protected from the adverse impacts of the climate crisis. >> human rights are being violated as we begin measuring climate change not in degrees of celsius or tons of carbon, but in human rights. the time is up. action is required now. and that is why the nations of the blue pacific continent are leading a global initiative to

bring climate change to the international court of justice at the only principle u.n. oregon who is not yebeen given an opportunity to weigh in on the climate crisis. amy: here in new york, thousands of people marched through the streets friday to demand urgent action on the climate crisis as world leaders wrapped up the u.n. general assembly. it was one of 450 climate strike demonstrations held worldwide by the youth-led climate movement fridays for future. this is nemonte nenquimo, an indigenous activist from ecuador's amazon region and winner of the 2020 goldman environmental prize. >> as female defenders living in communities, we come debate visible our struggle because it is very important people out there such as in new york

understand our struggle. our need to defend ourselves. also we contribute light to the world. air. amy: authorities in colorado have released shocking video of a train crashing into a parked police car where a handcuffed woman was sitting inside. the incident occurred in platteville, colorado, on september 16. police had arrested 20-year-old yareni rios-gonzalez after a traffic stop. after officers drew a gun on her and placed her in handcuffs, they put her in a patrol car parked on the train tracks. this police video released friday, a train could be heard blasting its horn before crashing into the car. >> what is going on?

amy: according to her attorney, yareni rios-gonzalez suffered nine broken ribs, a fractured sternum and back, and head injuries. the wyer told the denver post -- "she saw it coming and could hear the horn. she was trying to get the police officers' attention, screaming at them. she tried unlocking the door. she had her hands behind her back and was frantically trying to unlock the door." the american civil liberties union is urging the biden administration to close the privately run torrance county

detention facility in new mexico where about 160 immigrants are being held in what the aclu calls atrocious conditions. a 23-year-old asylum seeker from brazil died by suicide at torrance last month. the detention center is run by the company corecivic, formerly the corrections corporation of america. and a property management partly owned by donald trump's son-in-law jared kushner has agreed to pay at least $3.25 million to the state of maryland and to reimburse tens of thousands of tenants in baltimore, maryland. maryland's attorney general brian frosh accused the company, westminster management, of deceiving and cheating tenants and subjected them to miserable living conditions. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. when we come back, italy's first

far right leader since the nature mussolini has declared victory in sunday's national election. we will look at the return of fascism in italy and it's right in europe with professor ruth ben-ghiat. stay with us.

♪♪ [music break] amy: the italian partisan song "the wind whistles" by fonola band. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we begin today's show in italy where the country's first far right leader since benito mussolini giorgia meloni has declared victory. as the right-wing alliance led by brothers of italy party looks set to win a clear majority in the next parliament. meloni is also allied with spain's far-right vox party, poland's ruling nationalist law and justice party, and sweden's newly formed coalition

government led by the anti-immigrant far-right sweden democrats party which emerged out of sweden's neo-nazi movement. far-right french politician marine le pen's party hailed meloni's strong-showing as a lesson in humility to the european union. meloni has vowed to shift the eu's politics sharply to the right. the progressive movement said in a statement -- "italians must now repeat what their ancestors once did -- defeat fascism. but not for the return of the politics-as-usual that brought the fascists to power in the first place." as leader of the biggest party in the winning alliance from sunday's election, meloni is expected to become italy's first woman prime minister after the new government is sworn in. she addressed supporters on sunday night. >> this is surely for many people a night of pride,

payback, a night of tears, and memories. amy: during her campaign, giorgia meloni tried to downplay her party's post-fascist roots and instead to portray it as a mainstream conservative party. for more, we are joined by ruth ben-ghiat, expert on fascism and authoritarianism, whose new article for the atlantic is headlined "the return of fascism in italy." author of "strongmen: mussolini to the present" and a professor of history and italian studies at new york university and she publishes lucid, a newsletter on threats to democracy. professor ruth ben-ghiat, welcome back to democracy now! can you start off meloni has declared victory. talk about her and her party, what they represent. >> meloni is somebody who was a hard-core neofascist, who was at

15 she joined the party that was founded right after benito mussolini's original party was banned in this become the fourth largest party, neofascist party called the italian social movement. she was not only a militant, she became the head of the student organization. the flame -- if you look at the logo of her party called others in italy today, which was founded in 2012, she insisted on keeping a tricolor flame under the logo. that is the flame that is the symbol of the original neofascist party. over the years, many people have told her to get rid of that flame but she won't. this tells us a lot about her loyalty. and she really sees her party is carrying the heritage of fascism into today, so much so a party

elder said a few days ago, we are all -- amy: let me go to a clip of giorgia meloni as a teenager, describing her support for the fascist dictator benito mussolini. >> i believe selena was a good politician which mns everything he did come he did for italy. amy: take her from her teenage years to the present and to this victory and the party that she represents. >> she is as much a creation of mussolini, let's say as this goni -- who gave her her real start as minister of youth in his very far right government in 2008, and his party fused with the former -- the italian social

movement renamed itself the national alliance. these two parties feud. the reason others have italy founded, and she was very active in the founding, is there was no more autonomous extreme right party in italy. that is important to know. many of her positions, which is now she's trying to say she is a conservative and moderate, she gave the replacement theory, the idea nonwhite births are going to extinguish white births. but she is so far right that some people espouse the theory as a natural outcome of demographic change. she actually is a conspiracy theorist. she believes and has many tweets and speeches on this, there is a plot, a plan by soros and the eu, to kind of force mass immigration onto europe and italy and extinguish everything thatakes us who we are, she says.

amy: talk about her views on immigration, as you talk about the great replacement theory. her views on reproductive rights , on her fierce opposition to the lgbtq community. >> a lot of what she espouses can be familiar if you follow the far right in hungary. again, the obsession with george soros, the opposition to what she calls lgbtq lobby w are ruining civilization, which she calls gender ideology. she is an example of what the political scientists call gender washing, when women politicians say they are for women and that they're going to improve female conditions but actually they after reproductive rights and they have a very specific idea of womanhood and the family, and that is very much rooted in the

far right ideology. she also is familiar if you follow gop politics. she is close to steve bannon. very close to the gop. she has been to the national prayer breakfast and so her position on abortion rights, reproductive rights in general approaches all of these far right parties. amy: the position of italy on abortion without meloni, just overall what the law is? >> it was a very hard one that'll. italy is a very catholic country. what she has done is made it more difficult to access abortion. she is made more complicated for women to exercise the

reproductive rights. amy: i want to go to giorgia meloni speaking to her supporters in spanish addressing the far right vox party of spain. >> the left defends the woman unless it encounters a criminal. because of their ideology, the criminal foreigner is re important than theomen. and they would say you a a dangerous extremist, racist, fascist, denier, homophobic. they would say you're not presentable. theyould sayt is useless to vote for you because you don't have a chance toin. but you know what? don't be afraid because they don't decide. you the people decide. the people of the first strength the party needs. amy: and this is more for addressing the vox party of spain. >> now is not the time for week thoughts. today, left-wing secularism

against this challenge. there's no middle ground. either you say yes or you say no. yes to the natural family, no to the lgbtq lobby. yes to sex identity. yes to the culture of life, not the abyss of death. yesterday university of the cross, no to the islamist violence. yes to secure borders, no to ma migration. yes to the work of our citizens, no to big international finance. yes to the sovereignty of peoples, no to the bureaucrats in brussels. yes to our civilization. amy: that was giorgia meloni, candidate for italian prime minister. she is now declared victory. ruth ben-ghiat, talk about the neofascist movement of italy and how it affects the vox, sweden, poland, how it affects hungry --

all of the leaders in these places have congratulated meloni on winning. >> i just want to mention the yes and the no band her style of speaking. she is a demagogue. at the end of my book "strongman ," i predicted there will be a female-let far right authoritarian government . we thought it would be le pen. again, come in the figure of a woman. she is part of this far right international, kind of you could call it a second fascist international. i studied and wrote about the first went and it a 1930's and 40's. hungary is a hub. they're active in trying to have this new political culture.

fascism has always been transnational. the fact that she speaks four language has helped her. she is a real european politician. she also speaks english, that will help her with the gop. but there's a transnational design to bring this new far right culture into being. it is absotely terrifying. he heard what she is saying. it is islamaphobic, racist. you can expect a very draconian treatment of immigrants. we will have to see what she does in terms of how constrained she is. she has a big majority in parliament. in terms of what ashley happens, we will have to see. but she is a female demagogue. italy has always been a political laboratory. between fascism -- now italy has

the first female far right prime minister. amy: especially for young people, and you teach young people at new york university, can you talk about who mussolini was to understand what she's embracing? and mussolini and hitler's connection? >> when he brought back neil fascism to the government, he also did a whole rehab, whitewashing job which affected generations of italians. he then called boris johnson in 2003, mussolini never killed anyone. instead, mussolini's dictatorship committed mass war crimes, genocide, participated in the holocaust. the first dictatorship. he was so successful in his repression and propaganda, he was a big star in america, had

syndicated columns in newspapers. hitler learned a lot from him, including mussolini was a fan of great replacement theory. hitler is the one who is remembered, but mussolini was important and innovative and we see meloni is part of his heritage. amy: can you talk about those who say, no, she's not fascist, she is conservative? and then let's talk about not only her influence in europe, but also in the united states and her relationship with donald trump. >> well, what do we call these things today? we call them fascist. there is this whitewashing going on where the door bond said for years -- viktor orban said for

years it was democracy. there these people like orban who is trying to have it both ways, he gets eu funds and then has this electoral autocracy. meloni is calling herself conservative, which is what we are hearing from the moderate republicans in our country, too. th call themselves conservative. as you s, go back to the speech, there's nothing conservative about meloni, nothing conservative about her party. her party was founded because there was no autonomous extreme right party to carry on the heritage of fascism. amy: again, if you can go to today, what is happening in the united states. talk about the violence of january 6, talk about trump advocating for everyone from qanon to the proud boys and then

we will be speaking to the author of a new book on the proud boys. >> it is a good segue because the gop has been saying for a long time it has to be seen as a far right authoritarian party in the model of european party. and what is going on with us right now is we are having history being made before our eyes. the party is remaking itself to support whatever form of illiberal rule it was to have in the u.s.. we are seeing this at the state level in texas and especially in florida. when a party is remaking itself, it pushes some people out, and these are say moderates like cheney. we saw the people who were anti-trump stop and who is being invited in, lawless people, violent people. that his wife you want to get ahead in the gop, your campaign ad has to have you and an assault rifle. people who participated in january 6, criminals, are being

invited to run for office. and actual extremists like an arizona, and oath keepers, very proud and public about being the nose keeper, a member of the violent extremist group. and so he is now there's only candidate for secretary of state. so getting ahead in today's gop, bei in extremistng is a help because they're making themselves as a far right party because there's going to be uprooted a lot of interchange between meloni's neofascist and the gop. amy: ruth ben-ghiat, expert on fascism and authoritarianism. author of the book "strongmen: mussolini to the present" and a professor of history and italian studies at new york university. we will connect to her new article for the atlantic titled "the return of fascism in italy." she also publishes lucid, a newsletter on threats to democracy.

next up, we continue with fascism or neil fascism to the far right here at home as the house committee investigating the january 6 capitol is said to hold another public hearing wednesday. we look at one of the key groups carried out the attacks, the proud boys. we will speak with the author of the new book "we are proud boys: how a right wing street gang ushered in a new era of american extremism." stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "the creator has a master plan" performed by pharoah sanders. the legendary saxophonist passed away saturday at the age of 81. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the house committee investigating the january 6 capitol insurrection is set to hold its first fall public hearing wednesday. democracy now! will be livestreaming starting at 1:00 p.m. eastern. the investigation is reportedly nearing its conclusion and the committee is preparing an interim report of its findings,

said to be released not clear when, whether it will be before the midterm elections were after. and it will apparently make the case that donald trump violated the law by refusing to take action to call off the capitol attack. the question is, will the recommended criminal charges to the department of justice? today we look at one of the far-right extremist groups that helped plan and carry out the insurrection as part of its goal to normalize political violence. yes, we are going to look at the proud boys. a document obtained by our next guest and just published for the first time last week in the guardian gives a very rare insight into how the proud boy to carry out a pro-trump maga march in new york city on january 10, 2021, just days after the attack on the capitol

in january 6 that they participated in. the plan was shared by the proud boys through telegram and was described as a "strategic security plan" and call to action for proud boys. it was apparently written by the president of the new york's branch and called for about 60 proud boys to be designated into seven tactical teams of five to eight men. andy campbell is a senior editor at huffpost. he discusses this and much more in his book "we are proud boys: how a right wing street gang ushered in a new era of american extremism." welcome to democracy now! congratulations on your new book. start off on this document you found and brought it to who the proud boys are. >> thank you. ththe proud boys put together ts document preparation, like you said, for the event in new york city on january 10. it was sent to them on january 5, right before january 6, and

it shows how meticulous the proud boys planning is before these events. in an, they are checking to see where police are, what positions they should be in, what they're allowed to bring in any jurisdiction, and how they can use their optics to get away with it after their violence. they certainly planned to clash with leftists at the event and they planned to "do the police's job for them." there's a lot of planning that goes into these. in that event actually fizzled out because of the carnage at the insurrection. but that is not to say the proud boys are done with their events. in fact, they've only increased the amount of events they are latching onto, bringing olence to all sorts of leftist events going forward. but the proud boys, i think january 6howed amecans the

proud wafor the rst time but they have been on a parade of vlencet the hest of trump inhe gopor six yrs w. theyere brout up by reactiary talkow hosgavin mcnes to fig the go's grvanc in the stre. heuilt theroud bs on his talkshow live and he peppered them with bigoted tenats. one was to venerate the housewife. he believes women and women in the for force particularly responsible for the end of masculinity. he also peppers them with racist tenets. he told them they have to understand and accept that white men are responsible for the

success of western culture. there's a weiser premises meaning here. it is with those tenants that gavin mcinnes told proud boys that need to go out and do what chris deal republicans cannot do and fight in the streets, take that rate you have about immigrants and muslims and lgbtq and fight it in the streets. and have done so time and time again. so many acts of political violence over the years. and they have normalized this political violence by sidling up to the top levels of the gop, including trump's confidant roger stone. they have friendships in the gop, friendships in the media -- fox news celebrates these guys -- and they have some pork from a small swath of the american right. so going forward, even though many of their top leaders sit in

jail waiting sedition charges following january 6, they are still working as planned. amy: i want to go to youtube video created by vic berger back in 2018 featuring gavin mcinnes, the founder of proud was, discussing the group's origins. he is talking with joe rogan. as well as calling for violence in the streets. >> i started this gang called the proud boys. >> the proud boys? what is that about? >> we will kill you. that is the proud boys in a nutshell. we will kill you. we look nice. we have boys in our names but like bill the butcher, we will assassinate you. part of the reason i agreed to do the talk, i was allowed to bring on my guys. we can fight our way in and out. i think it is our job to do it. [bleep] amy: that is gavin mcinnes, cofounder of vice media and

founder of the proud boys. if you can talk about both and also the origin of the name proud boys step very interesting. >> certainly. gavin was cofounder of vice news and he served as vice media's editorial voice until about 2008 when vice is becoming more and more popular and more beholden to advertisers. gavin mcinnes's voice was not good for that. he wrote these screeds, including a veritable guide for date rape. he gets kind of pushed out was to he is sort of a shock jock comedian type. he starts his own show where he doubles down on this divisive and bigoted rhetoric. where as his friends in the

comedy circles moved on from the misogynist bigoted rhetoric, he doubled down. he brings his audience, angry young man, over to his new show. again, he is molding them into himself and into what trump became. he builds the proud was literally out of his audience live on his show, and start describing his followers as disciples, drinking with them near his studio in manhattan and then he creates what he believes is a movement. he calls them the proud boys. i will tell you how he came up with that name just to show y who this guy is. he is sitting at his kids music recital in williamsburg, brooklyn. he sees come after his kids go on stage, he sees a young boy

maybe 12 years old with brown skin get up and sing a sg from the lead musical. he is reviled. he hates musicals. on his show he describes the kid as of fatherless puerto rican, describes him as gay, and mocks the boy. he mocks them by singing the light over and over again. that line "proud of a boy" becomes calling for his viewers. it is like first-time color, longtime lister on any other radio show. proud of your boy gets shortened and that is where you get the proud was named. gavin mcinnes wanted anyone to join. you have neo-nazis in the proud was alongside people of color. he cast a wide net, but the promise that all of these people

are gathering under is that ability to go out and fight -- gavin mcinnes is kind of like an alex jones character, but instead of spewing his peers he theories all day, he is pushing for political violence specifically in the name of gop and trump. amy: let's stick with trump. i would like to go back to 2020 to the first presidential debate. trump refused to condemn white supremacists after being questioned by debate moderator chris wallace of fox news. >> what you want to call them? give me a name. >> white supremacist. proud boys. >> stand back and stand by. i will tell you what, somebody's got to do something about antifa and the left. this is not a right wing problem -- this is a left-wing problem. amy: stand back and stand by, which became so famous. talk about this moment and the relationship between trump and

the proud boys. >> people argue over that line, whether or not trump intended to activate the proud boys. but it doesn't matter. the proud that as marching orders. they saw trump looking directly at them and saying, "fight for me." they began raising funds. one of their top leaders published a blog calling for civil war based on january 6 as her last stand for trump. and through their relationships with the gop, they had no reason not to believe that they were being given marching orders because in the previous six years and following january 6, they had full support from trump's inner circle. none of these people had rebuffed them. in fact, they have been on their side all along. i sat down with roger stone last year when he was under intense scrutiny for his proximity to

the insurrection, and he admitted to me in that conversation that he had been advising the proud boys politically for years. in fact, talked them through getting out of their charges after an assault on protesters here in manhattan in 2018. these guys were early on very connected politically to trump's circle. no surprise because trump is on most giddy about having people in the street for him regardless of what they're doing, if it is violence, it is violence. you notice that question he got on the stage that he immediately pivoted and said, this is a leftist problem, this is antifa. that is exactly the kind of rhetoric that keeps the proud boys around. a swath of the american public believes antifa and blm and left us are on par with the same left

as the far right and it makes them sort of a justified political option. it is the reason why they're able to stick around and the way they have normalized political violence. amy: i want to go to january 6 proud boy dominic pezzola was among the first rioters to breach the capitol, using a stolen riot shield to smash through a window. this is one of dominic pezzola's attorneys, martin tankleff, speaking to a wusa9 d.c. news reportrter back in june 2021. >> i think he is just inclusive. [indiscernible] this was an individual who wanted to express their feelings. our country is got in the last three years were people decide to the plate, use their voice

that is never been heard before, and isolate individuals like on january 6. it is a tragedy beyond comprehension that ethic most people cannot understand. amy: if you could respond to the lawyer for dominic pezzola? >> this is the framing that we are going to see as trump begins campaigning again. january 6 to the gop, the defendants there were a group of patriots. trump has already suggested that he, if he wins the presidency, is going to pardon everyone involved. following january 6, the right wing, especially right-wing media pundits, were already pushing the narrative that either january 6 was committed byantifa -- which is not true -- or they were patriots who wanted to do something for their country. and culture, sort of loathsome

be dependent, wrote an article "thank god for the proud boys" and said she use them for security at which left two showed up at the protest and she felt safer because of them. this is how these extremist groups are being characterized. and it is sanitizing them the rest of the country. this is the reason why the proud not dissolved despite having this outside role in january 6. not only were there dozens of proud boys there, but five of them are now awaiting seditious conspiracy trial, in jail for what the justice department believes is planning of january 6. so going forward, into this election and the next, we're going to see through the voters whether this kind of political

violence is something we accept. because there is a slight of extremist candidates all across the country, many of whom have direct ties to the people who committed* january 6. amy: looking at "the washington post" article that recently came out, five members of the extremist group oath keepers face trial for seditious conspiracy in which u.s. prosecutors will try to convince jurors that he called for an arm civil war to keep donald trump in power henry 62021 with literal and criminal, starting with jury selection on tuesday and opening statement as early as thursday. roads trial could reveal information about the quest to subvert the 2020 presidential election results as prosecutors continue to pro-trump conduct and that of his inner circle. florida and national leaders of the oath keepers were in contact with the proud boys leaders and also with trump political confit

out roger stone, he also reported on. so the beginning i was reading from "the washington post." if you can make all those connections for us? >> these seditious conspiracy trials are going to be super interesting. the oath keepers are tied in with the proud boys. they're both tied in with roger stone. and on the proud boys trial later this year, we have proud boys leadership who have already agreed to testify against their own to get out of seditious conspiracy charges. so we may learn a lot about their connections on january 6 but also their overall connections to trump's inner circle. and certainly we already know they were very close. stewart rhodes, the oath keepers and the current chairman of the proud boys henrique terrio, were both in a group text with roger stone on january 6 titled

"friends of stone." stone, he sees henrique terrio, he declared him his friend and is meant tivo step i'm super interested to see where these trials lead us down the rabbit hole of trump and what might be eliminated beyond what january 6 committee has already brought forward. i think we will learn a lot. amy: if you can talk about the proud boys and the number of people running for office at the local, state and federal level linked to the proud boys and these extremist movements that want to normalize political violence? >> absolutely. well, tarrio told me there were some 30 proud boys running for office, big and small this year. i don't know if that is true and i don't know that the crowd was are going to have a lot of success running for office.

but they have ties to the gop they have built over the years and the extremist slate of candidates support them all the way. i'm looking races like washington state running -- republican running for the house. he is tied to a number of extremist figures. he also sent $11,000 to our proud boy -- to the proud was for consulting fee. these guys are very well-connected. i'm also looking at places where proud boys have taken small feats of power to push their ideology. the miami-dade florida republican executive committee has something like six proud boys on it already. and the leader there already said, well, we have a diverse group of people. these guys want to influence politics on the local level so that they can then push for something bigger later on.

but any success they have in politics is -- speaks to how normalized this has become. you have places like arizona where republicans are calling for vigilantes like the oath keepers to show up at ballot boxes. so you can only imagine what it is going to feel like for voters out there when you have this extremist contingent that includes proud boys, oath keepers, and everyday americans on the right waiting and watching at the polls when all of these guys do is commit violence. it is going to be such a scary election season. it is not just at the ballot boxes, it is going into the future, the proud boys are being activated not just by trump but everything that fox news said. fox news was railing all summer

about drag queens and lgbtq and trans issues and the proud boys activated by that rhetoric have been showing up at abortion clinics and children's hospitals and libraries where there are drag queen story hours and adding violence and intimidation to that atmosphere. this political violence has spread from the maga rallies and blm alleys into everyday immaculate. amy: can you talk about how judd mastery on a fix into this picture, the candidate for governor in pennsylvania? >> certainly. doug mastery on oh is part of this machine of conspiracy and political violence and extremism. he has certain ties to extremists. what you're seeing is a cycle where say qanon conspiracy

theorists and alex jones types plant a seed that satanic pedophiles are coming up your children in the form of drag queens. the mastrianos and treumps of the world grow it for their audiences. the proud boys and other extremist show up in force to burn it all to the ground. mastriano follows trump on a lot of rhetoric so his success shows that they're not moving away at all from the extremist contingent and in fact the republican appears to be doubling down on it going for it. amy: andy campbell, you have spent a long time now writing this book "we are proud boys: how a right wing street gang ushered a new era of american extremism." what must shot you in your

research and the gop normalizing the political violence issue? >> after january six, that the crowd was only ramped up their violence and the fact that the gop only embrace them more, that was surprising to me. the fact they did not dissolve shows not only the resilience as a group, but where we are headed in the future of politics. political violence is normalized for the right. voters are going to have to decide whether this is what we want going forward. amy: january 6 insurrection becoming legitimate political discourse. what are you expecting from wednesday, the next public hearing of the january 6 committee? >> at think the committee has done a great job of surfacing the problem. this extremist crisis we have. but i also think we are 10 steps behind it with their leadership and with our law enforcement on

responding to the crisis. so i am hoping there is a culture shift over the next for years where we are not just understanding the problem but responding to a post of amy: andy campbell, thank you so much senior editor at huffpost. , ñl

♪ hello and welcome back to nhk "newsline." i'm takao minori in new york. thousands of russians have joined an exodus across their borders. men of military age fear they will be called up to fight in the war in ukraine. so they are trying to leave not knowing whether they will be able to or where they'll end up. russian president vladimir putin has ordered 300,000 reservists