02/07/23 02/07/23 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> we heard them calling out asking for help. we cannot rescue them. how can we rescue them? nobody has come since this morning. nobody. we have nobody. look around. look. amy: more than 5000 people have

died in turkiye and syria after a pair of earthquakes devastated the region. the death toll is expecting to dramatically keep rising as search and rescue efforts intensify. the strongest earthquake it turkiye since 1939 when 30,000 people died in the quake. we will get the latest. then to "the alphabet boys," a new podcast exposes how the fbi infiltrated black lives matter protests after the police killing of george floyd. >> the fbi infiltrated the raci justice movement in the summer of 2020 by hiring a violent felon to be an informant and then y to set up activists . amy: we will speak to investigative reporter trevor aaronson as well as a former fbi agent and a denver

activist who says he was entrapped by an fbi agent. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. turkish president recep tayyip erdogan has declared a three-month state of emergency as the death toll from monday's catastrophic earthquakes has topped 5000 and continues to rise exponentially. the world health organization warns the number of dead could ultimately increase eightfold with some 23 million people affected by two major earthquakes that struck southeastern turkiye and northern syria. hundreds of aftershocks followed. the >> caused thousands of buildings to collapse, trapping people under rubble and freezing temperatures in the early morning hours. residents anxiously searched for loved ones among the wreckage in

hatay. >> i relatives are dead. my sister's daughter died. she was 17. my sister's in-laws children are stranded under the rubble. she is there were three children. they are not rescued yet. god, please help us. please pray for us. i beg you, pray for us. pray for us. there are aftershocks. it is uncertain what will happen to us. and make of the earthquake struck as fighting continued along the turkiye-syria border. united nations reports more than formerly people in northwest syria where the adly earthquake struck already rely on humanitarian assistance. the humanitarian said is preventing aid workers from entering into the region. >> it has damaged roads used to

use for humanitarian work. we have to be creative and how to get to the people and how to get to them assistance. amy: we will have the latest on the earthquakes after headlines. ukrainian officials say russia's military is massing hundreds of thousands of troops for a renewed offensive in eastern ukraine set to begin as early as next week. this comes amid heavy fighting in the eastern donetsk region, where russian troops are attempting to encircle the city of bakhmut. here in the united states, nato secretary general jens stoltenberg is in washington, d.c., today for talks with senior biden administration officials and congressional leaders. this trip comes a day after the u.n. secretary general antonio guterres called for an end to the conflict in ukraine, saying he fears the world is sleepwalking into a wider war. in hong kong, authorities have opened a trial for 47 pro-democracy activists and politicians accused of violating

a sweeping national security law imposed in 2020. 16 of the activists have pleaded not guilty to the charges, which could see them sent to prison for life. chinese authorities have accused the activists of conspiring to commit subversion by holding an unofficial primary election. this is chan po-ying, a long-time activist with the league of social democrats and spouse of a former legislator who's among the 47 facing charges. >> the league of social democrats and many hong kong people, it would never have occurred to them participating in the primaries and participating in the legislative council in a peaceful manner would be consired illegal means. we will wait and see what the prosecution side says, but we think participation in the primary election is not guilty. so we think this is political repression and all those arrested should be released. amy: ohio governor mike dewine

ordered residents of the village of east palestine to evacuate their homes and businesses monday after a freight train crash spread smoke and toxic chemicals into the community 50 miles northwest of pittsburgh. >> you need to leave. you just need to leave. we are ordering you to leave. it is a matter of life and death. amy: on friday evening, a freight train derailment triggered a massive fire that engulfed the surrounding area in smoke and threatened to cause a major explosion. the wreckage contained poisonous chemicals including phosgene, hydrogen chloride, and vinyl chloride. on monday, the train's operator, norfolk southern, said it carried out a controlled release of the chemicals into the air. some residents of east palestine who packed into emergency shelters said they will be reluctant to return to their homes. >> the creek on my house has a very, very strong chemical smell

to it. i went in my house and it was worse. i gathered clothes up and left. when i left, the close stunk so bad even the ones in my dryer, i had to wash them at the hotel. i laptop for work stunk with chemicals. there's definitely something wrong with the water and i don't even know i want to go back when they lift the evacuation. amy: the accident brought renewed attention to so-called bomb trains transporting crude oil and other dangerous chemicals through communities across the united states. the white house has condemned a bid by house republicans to create a commission to explore cuts to social security and medicare as part of negotiations on raising the united states' debt ceiling. white house spokesperson andrew bates told bloomberg news -- "the american people want more jobs and lower costs, not a death panel for medicare and social security." this comes after house republicans introduced a bill to

repeal the inflation reduction act, which contains major climate investments and allows medicare to negotiate lower drug costs. president biden is delivering his annual state of the union speech tonight. several special guests have invited to attend, among them -- brett cross, whose son uziyah was one of 19 schoolchildren killed by a gunman at robb elementary in uvalde, texas, last may, and the parents of tyre nichols, who killing at the hands of memphis police this month prompted murder charges against five officers. biden will use his address to push for a ban on assault weapons and the george floyd justice in policing act. embattled new york republican congressmember george santos is facing fresh scrutiny after a prospective staffer in his capitol hill office accused him of sexual harassment. derek myers made the allegation on twitter, publishing a complaint filed with the office of congressional ethics. meanwhile, bloomberg reports santos told potential donors in

that he had been a producer for the broadway flop "spider-man: turn off the dark." a spokesperson for the short-lived musical responded -- "of all the tribulations the producers had to endure, we are very pleased, proud and relieved to report working with george santos was not one of them." in georgia, the family members of environmental activist manuel esteban paez terán said monday multiple atlanta police officers shot the 26-year-old at least 13 times, killing terán during a raid last month on a peaceful encampment of protesters opposed to the proposed construction of a $90-million police training complex in the weelaunee forest. the family conducted a private autopsy of terán, who went by the name tortuguita, and demanded access to the georgia

bureau of investigation's probe into the fatal shooting. terán's family, including their mother belkis, spoke out publicly for the first time at a news conference outside the dekalb county courthouse monday. they denounced charges of domestic terrorism against dozens of other atlanta forest defenders who've been arrested. this is terán's brother daniel paez. >> calling protesters only charged with -- raise your hand if you know of any terrorist known for their infamous trespassing. we have been lied to. that is the truth. my call to action goes to the police officers. find your moral courage and placer nation over loyalty individuals. amy: immigration rights advocates have released a series of newly-obtained documents revealing the racist and violent language used by immigration and customs enforcement officials

against black asylum seekers. the communications between ice agents are from 2020 and 2021 while the biden administration mass deported black asylum seekers to cameroon and other african countries in what became known as "death flights." dozens of cameroonian asylum seekers deported by the u.s. faced torture, sexual violence, and forced disappearances upon returning to their home country. at the time, cameroonian asylum seekers also denounced torture from ice agents who assaulted and restrained them and many times violently forced them to sign their deportation. in one email chain, an ice official compares deportations to sports, while a high-ranking ice official living in cameroon complained about finding a catholic church there that wasn't "africanized." in a statement, luz lópez of the southern poverty law center's immigrant justice project said -- "black migrants suffer unfair and cruel treatment by racist u.s. immigration policies when seeking safety from gang-related violence, political instability, and extreme disasters.

for decades, they have been denied due process rights and endured immoral and inhumane treatment in violation of u.s. and international laws, exposing them to further abuse, discrimination, and even death." in related news, over 150 people locked up at ice's northwest detention center in tacoma, washington, have ended their hunger strike after nearly a week but said they are ready to restart the peaceful demonstration if officials don't fulfill their promise to improve living conditions. their demands include nutritious meals, clean facilities, and proper medical care. hunger strikers reported retaliation from ice and the geo group, which runs the detention center. in maryland, two people, including a neo-nazi leader, were arrested and charged with plotting to attack marilyn's power grid. brandon russell appeared in a baltimore court monday while circling dell and was indicted in florida. the two face up to 22 years in prison. this is an fbi special agent.

>> sarabeth, brandon russell conspired to inflict maximum harm on the power grid, a key component of our infrastructure. the accused were not just talking but taking steps to fulfill theirhreats and further their extremist goals. amy: the white house is white supremacist and violent extremists malicious posts the most threat to the united states. supporters of leonard peltier rallied in cities and town across the u.s. and around the world monday calling for the release of the 78-year-old indigenous rights activist. the prests camas pelti entered to his 4h year hind barfor a cre he say he did not commit. his 1977 conviction for alleged involvement in killing two fbi agents in a shootout on the pine ridge reservation was riddled with irregularities and prosecutorial misconduct. last month, the former senior

fbi agent coleen rowley told the guardian in the 1990's she helped ghostwrite an op-ed arguing against peltier's release. she said that for years, new fbi agents were indoctrinated against peltier. this is christina castro, an indigenous activist from new mexico, speaking at a rally for leonard peltier monday in santa fe. >> now the government is admitting they don't know who shot these fbi agents, but they will not give him a new trial or grant him clemency or a compassionate release based on pure revenge and systemic racist agenda. amy: and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. when we come back, now since of people have died in turkiye and syria after a pair of earthquakes have devastated the region. we will get the latest. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "stay in my heart" by mohamad fityan. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman in new york, joined by democracy now!'s juan gonzález in chicago. hi, juan. juan: hi, amy. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. amy: the world health organization is warning some 23 million people could be affected by the 7.8 and 7.5 earthquakes that struck southeastern turkiye and northern syria on monday. along with hundreds of aftershocks. the death toll from the earthquakes has risen to more than 5000, expected to dramatically rise as search-and-rescue efforts intensify. more than 20,000 people have been injured. this is the strongest earthquake to hit turkiye since 1939 when

30,000 people died. turkish president recep tayyip erdogan has declared a three month state of emergency. in a nationally televised speech he said, "we are face-to-face with one of the biggest disasters ever for our region." thousands of buildings collapsed after the earthquakes and more than 30 countries have joined the united nations, norwegian refugee council, and others to help with rescue and recovery efforts, even as damaged buildings continue to fall and thousands slept outdoors in the freezing temperatures. in turkiye's border province of hatay, residents anxiously searched for loved ones among the rubble. >> i relatives are dead. my sister's daughter died. she was 17. my sisters in law's stranded in the rubble. she is there with three children. they are not rescued yet. god, please help us.

please pray for us. i beg you, pray for us. pray for us. there are aftershocks. it is uncertain what will happen to us. amy: in kahramanmaras, the epicenter of monday's deadly earthquake, 63-year-old hulusi ibrahim described being trapped under the rubble with his wife. >> i told myself this could be doomsday without having a chance to think about what we could do, the building collapsed on us. i was with my wife. my wife was trapped under me. i did not hear from her for a very long time. when i finally managed to create a little space for myself, i saw her lying unresponsive. i stayed with her for more or less three hours. amy: families in kahramanmaras gathered around a bonfire in order to stay warm in the freezing weather. this is local resident neset guler. >> we barely escaped from the

inside house. we have four children and we left the house with him at the last moment. several people were trapped inside. it was a huge disaster. our situation is very bad here. we are waiting without water or food. we are in a miserable state. amy: meanwhile, in aleppo, syrian survivors of the earthquake are helping rescue workers to clear the ruins of destroyed and damaged buildings, trying to break through cement to rescue other people. >> we have not slept all night. we are really scared. >> we are in the street. we don't have a place to go. there is either the mosque or the street. >> don't you want to go home? >> we are scared for the children. we went back home and a new earthquake took place so we went back to the street. we remember the days of the war, but this is god's will. amy: the u.n. office for the

coordination of humanitarian affairs says more than 4 million in northwest syria where the deadly earthquake struck already rely on manitarian assistance. for more, we are joined by evren uzer, associate professor of urban planning at the new school. she is originally from turkiye and has been living and working there until 2010. after the izmit earthquake of 1999, she worked to provide post-earthquake housing to survivors. welcome to democracy now! this horrific natural catastrophe, seven .8 magnitude and 7.5 magnitude earthquake on the richter scale, talk about what you understand is the damage right now and what will face. >> thank you, amy. it is a really grim situation right now in turkiye. the impact of the disaster is nothing compared to what we have experienced in the past. the main example was 1939

earthquake, which was just one of these and we have experienced two over seven magnitude on the richter scale. the area is quite wide so we are in a seismically active region. so earthquake preparedness is part of the protocols of institutions, students do drills, so on and so forth. it is part of culture. and happens frequent enough to keep that in mind. but what happened here is to earthquakes, one after the other, impacted areas more than 10 to 14 cities that have experienced collapse. everybody had to fend for themselves. there has been help from other cities has been interrupted and very slow due to the damage on the highways and airports. inside the cities also we have been hearing a lot about

structural damages like hospitals, which should be standing and providing service. so lots of things happened at once right after the earthquake. need to provide shelter and safety for those who are out and also there has to be very fast and you're racing with time here and hypothermia because it has been supercold in this area come around 20 fahrenheit degrees with even cooler temperatures with the winds. so those who are under the debris are also having shorter time. the first 24 hours has been very critical. and now we are going beyond there as well. it is unfolding. as you mentied, even though the numbers are around 3000 at the moment, we are expecting a much higher death toll in the area come around 6000 buildings have been confirmed.

even with simple calculation, we're talking about 25,000 people at least. the area in the southeastern region has higher household rates with more children and also elderly generational living. juan: in terms of cash we saw these frightening pictures of some buildings completely collapsing within seconds while the building next to them was still standing. what does that say about the building codes, knowing turkiye is prone to earthquakes and after the last big earthquake in 1999, what was done to ensure that buildings were able to withstand these types of earthquakes? >> 1999 earthquake has been --

the building codes have been updated with another revision in 2018. the process changed, so there has been an old process -- what we see exactly is new buildings collapsing that are very recent, which tells certain things that they might be up to code but maybe the soil and ground analysis was not adequate or the monitoring of construction has not been really up toate. so it tells a lot there has been the code and regulations has been up-to-date but there are other human errors. that's what it tells us in terms of construction quality. juan: and to what extent is the continuing conflict between the turkish government and kurdish rebels? what kind of effect will that

have on the continuing rescue operations and of course in the rebuilding that must come afterward? >> the conflict in the current economic situation, there has been a lot of issues that made the region really not prepared for anything at this extent. we are talking about certain things. it is not -- this area -- it is international in many ways. there is a large number of syrian refugees who have been gradually from the cams living in the cities. more than 20% of the residents are syrian refugees. before the conflict, language and search and rescue operations. i think there has been these --

these kinds of disasters or equalizers but they are not in the sense that those who are in mourning prior to these earthquakes will be in a more dark situation with less options. so i would think the existing conflicts will become more inflated in the sense it will slow the recovery, which is a very, very long road ahead of us. speaking from the 1999 recovery operations, the western part of turkiye and with a lot of resources at their disposal, while the southeastern region lacks most of that infrastructure in particular that will require a lot of effort to rebuild. amy: professor, the epicenter of the initial earthquake houses hundreds of thousands of syrian refugees.

it is where the u.n. high commissioner for refugees runs one of its largest operations. if you can talk about what this means for their and also over the border in syria, he hit both the last rebel held territory in syria and the rest of syria. and what kind of aid will get through but his syrian government to the rebel held area? >> like you said, holding more than 400,000 people, the city is around 2 million and more than 20% is syrian refugees who have been initially across the border and in camps and transition into bigger cities by the turkish government starting from 2018 so they have been living in the city mixed with the existing population. there has been an increase in the past years, that means new

construction or buildings as well so to accommodate all the newcomers. there has been conflicts because of the sudden change of -- drastic change of democratic in the area. for now, the main city still received a lot of resources of support while more closer to the border, hatay, for instance, has struggled much more hoosiers closing one of the temporary camps for refugees. we can't say the resources -- we can say the resources will be harder to reach. for this syria, the border crossing was not accessible. that means on the syrian side, the border situation is even rder in terms of search-and-rescubecause you

really need large construction machinery to work with the rebel and also lots of manpower, even though there are around 16,000, 18,000 rescue teams working in the area, it is not enough. thinking of the extent of the damage. this is really out of scale. thinking of whole new york state leveled and we cannot communicate with one another and to understand the extent of the damage. we talking about really large scale catastrophe. juan: from your experience with the 1999 earthquake, what is the ability of the turkish government officials to respond to catastrophe of this type, to build new housing for those who are displaced -- especially in light of the fact there are supposed to be national elections in just a few months in turkiye, what is your sense

of the government's capacity of what international -- what other countries can do to help the turkish people? >> so as i send, this is a long run. there are immediate things that need to be done right now, which is all around search-and-rescue and providing basic needs for the ones who are rescued. but we're talking about temporary permit housing that will go years and recover a probably replace as well some of these areas that cannot be resettled so they need to be relocations. so we're talking about a large-scale work will require a lot of aid that needs to come in and in a way that will help people with the least destruction to their livelihoods and communities. the government has the capacity in the sense that after 1999, we

have been having a special earthquake tax and prepared in the sense, as i mentioned, building codes and someone. so there is a lot of preparation. in terms of mobilizing, i think this extent was not something the local government was as prepared. we see a lot of decisions are much more centralized since we last experienced this. there's been a slowness in deploying the search and rescue teams or for teams to arrive from different places to go and find information about where are the highest needs. the 1999 earthquake was also followed by elections in early 2000, which the current ruling party came to power based on the work and the promises that came

with the earthquake preparation and risk reduction in general. it is very crucial. as i said, this is such a paralyzing moment for every part . it is not clear how the response will unfold, but so far it has been quite slow and it might have an impact on elections. amy: every minute and exit different -- every minute makes a difference right now. people living -- it was around 4:00 in the morning, but still people can survive if aid gets to them. professor, how would you like the media to cover this enormous tragedy? what is missing from the coverage you have seen so far and how can people help? >> there's a lot of misinformation going around.

it is hard to get health information. there are some groups working online right now to create real data. for instance, on mapping and rural, which we did not -- we are talking about bigger cities but the rural, hard to access areas are not necessarily, we don't have updated information so there are groups that are crowdsourcing information. there are groups that are working unclear information -- on clear information for those who are still under debris who they could reach with their phones and so on. there international groups come from the u.s., ways to support the local organizations that are working in the area. there is bridge to turkiye and turkiye philanthropy, organizations that have access to locals.

one way to support the turkish people, trying to save their loved ones and at the same time survive, those will be one of those options. amy: evren uzer, thank you for being with us, associate professor of urban planning at the new school. originally from turkiye and living and working there until 2010 after the izmit earthquake of 1999. she worked to provide post-earthquake housing to survivors. next up, the "alphabet boys come cove exposing how the fbi infiltrated black lives matter protest after the police killing of george floyd. we will speak with investigative reporter trevor aaronson who broke the story as well as a former fbi agent and a denver activist who says he was entrapped by the fbi informant.

stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. evidence has emerged that the fbi played a direct role in infiltrating racial justice protests after the police killing of george floyd in 2020. a new podcast out today called "alphabet boys" documents how the fbi paid a convicted felon at least $20,000 to infiltrate and spy on activist groups in denver, colorado. the informant also encouraged activists to purchase guns and commit violence.

this is the trailer to "alphabet boys." >> black lives matter! >> summer of 2020. millions protested for racial justice across the country. some of these protests turning violent. that summer, it felt like history in the making. big changes were coming. and then there protests just stopped. there were these rumors that government agents had infiltrated the movement, pushing it toward collapse. it sounded paranoid, right? you know what? august 20 8, 2020. approximately 4:02 p.m. it wasn't. i am trevor aaronson and i'm a journalist covering federal

law enforcement. >> sometimes you have to sacrifice a little guy to go after the big guy. >> a new series "alphabet boys." we will take you deep inside an undercover investigation. in season one, we are headed to denver. >> denver, colorado. august 25. >> fbi agents investigating political activists following the murder of george floyd. a mysterious man rolls into town wearing military fatigues, cigar dangling from his lips. the car he drives is unmistakable, a silver hearse. >> he was convincing but he explained he had a lot of guns. >> at the end of the day, come

to me. i've got something for you. play stupid games, win stupid prizes. >> or did he have a secret agenda? >> waiting for me to set the date, time, meeting spot and then -- >> bad guys attract bad guys. i feel like he is going to keep doing this forever. >> they want to cover up the fact that local, state, and federal law enforcement caught violence here. amy: the trailer to the new podcast "the alphabet boys," which is out today on apple podcast, spotify, or any other podcast platform. the podcast centers on a fbi informant named mickey windecker, a convicted felon who once fought with the kurdish peshmerga. this clip from "alphabet boys" begins with a denver racl justice activist named zebbodios hall talking about windecker. >> i did not know much about him

but he drove a hearse. inside this was a lot of guns. ar-15's this other kind of [bleep] i never held one before. and program but i never held anything like that. talked about he worked in the military and part of the black lives matter movement. it just seemed interesting. >> in august 2020 with minds of americans protesting across the country, activist zebbodios hall and that's one of the guys he met at the demonstrations to his apartment to talk about plans for the future. >> i look at like, something has to happen. like you said, [indiscernible] amy: an excerpt from the podcast "alphabet boys." the fbi informant mickey windecker played a key role in organizing the protests in denver. he would also go on to give the

activist zebbodios hall $1500 to buy a gun for him, which led to hall being arrested for transferring a firearm to a felon. some of the fbi's actions have been cared -- been compared to the fbi's covert cointelpro program, which targeted the civil rights movement and other activists movements in the 1950's and in a moment, 1960's. zebbodios hall will join us from denver. we will also be joined by former fbi agent mike german, who now works at the brennan center. but first, let's turn to trever aaronson, who created the "alphabet boys" podcast. trevor is an award-winning investigative journalist. he is a contributing writer for the intercept. he is author of the book "the terror factory: inside the fbi's manufactured war on terrorism." i mean, this is an astounding podcast series, trevor. you have got the undercover recordings of, for example, the

black activist speaking to this man mickey windecker, who would travel around in a silver hearse . first, if you can tell us where you got these recordings if you can, but lay out the story for us. >> sure. i can't talk about sourcing the recordings or the record but what i can say what is significant about this show it is the first behind the scenes look at how the fbi infiltrated an racial justice groups and movements during the summer of 2020, which for two years now has been an open question which is how did the fbi respond to the racial justice movement given the context the fbi had previously designated black political activists as so-called antigovernment extremists. what is significant about this is the fbi in denver according to internal recordings or reports and undercover recordings hired a convicted felon with a history of sexual

assault and menacing with a weapon to infiltrate these groups while being paid thousands of dollars. in the shades of cointelpro part of this rise from the fact mickey windecker, the informant, did a becoming a leader in the protest movement. just like we saw informants in the 1960's and 1970's become leaders and those movements. then accused the real leaders of these groups of being informants, a practice called snitch jketing. that is exactly what happened in denver. mickey became a leader of the racial justice movement and accused real leaders of being informants when they were not, then once he was in the position of leadership, tempted to entrap local activists in crimes, some cases violent crimes. mickey and the fbi went so far as to try to stitch together are supposed plot to assassinate colorado supior -- attorney general that ultimately went

nowhere but shows you the scare the -- scale the fbi had and try to manufacture plots that activist could get behind that would then reveal these activists as being violent. i think it is important to understand the context this happens. the trumpet administration of the time was beating the drum about antifa and black lives matter activists were violent. this was being echoed by right wing media. what you're saying in the undercover recordings, the fbi essentially trying to make that possible and happen. ultimately, it does not happen. there was no plot against the attorney general. at the fbi went to extreme lengths to try to make that happen. juan: trevor, as you mentioned, this was a tactic used often during cointelpro in the 1960's and 1970's but it has become standard practice for the fbi

and law enforcement. i think back the seattle wto protests. there were undercover agents try to spur action among the protesters most of during the period after the 9/11 attacks, there were undercover fbi agent's who tried to infiltrate muslim groups around the country trying to get them to participate in violent acts. so this has been a regular feature of the fbi. have you been able to see whether they were doing this to the same extent among the right-wing groups who were actually involved in a major terrorist attacks across the country? >> absolutely. this is a tactic became common and post on 11 era. the fbi would use undercover

agents to go into the lesson communities and find some and who might be interested in violence and make thing possible. providing the means, opportunities, and in most cases the bomb or weapon that would be used, and then arrest that person and announced to the public and terrorism plot was foiled. we are seeing a lot of the powers and tactics used against would-be terrorists or supposed terrorists being applied toward activists in the summer 2020. the reason that is significant is the internal fbi records show in the case in denver that the fbi launched its investigation based on nothing more than first amendment protected activities, which were essentially things that zebbodios hall and other activists had said, which in some cases were quite incendiary but ultimately were first amendment-protecd activity. yet they launched this activity based solely on that without any reason to believe any of these activist were moving toward

violence. obviously, there been other plots that have targeted right-wing activists, the most well-known right now is the plot that targeted a group of men in michigan and is supposed plot to kidnap governor whitmer. what is important now is we're entering this phase when jim jordan and the congress are about to launch this committee that is specifically looking to establish this narrative the fbi is solely focused on this type of tactic against right-wing groups and political activists when that is not true. what ultimately is true is the fbi has enormous amount of power that deserves a lot more oversight than it currently receives. and all sorts of groups from left to right are subjected to this kind of activity by the fbi , so this narrative the right-wing is attempting to establish the fbi's prejudice against right-wing groups and only sing this activity among right-wing groups -- there is evidence of that and no doubt jim jordan will see it, but it

is far more involved with many groups and in most cases i would argue if you look at the history prosecution in the post-9/11 era, these tactics are used more against left-wing activists and political groups that against right-wing political groups. amy: even though the intelligence groups i found it is domestic terrorism, far right wing, that is the greatest threat united states right now. you're talking about the committee on the weaponization shared by representative jim jordan of ohio eating on thursday. let's turn to a video capturing went fbi informant mickey windecker met with his fbi handlers -- denying he is an informant -- met with his fbi handlers before he met with the denver activist zebbodios hall. >> it is august 28, 2020, approximately 4:02 p.m. i am with special agent byron

mitchell to meet with zebbodios hall. >> my front pocket, right? good. video look good? >> yeah. >> not as handsome as that kid. amy: that is mickey windecker talking to his handlers, going out to meet the guest we're joined by right now zebbodios hall, a denver activist targeted by the fbi featured in the "alphabet boys" podcast going this from denver. zeb, this is such an amazing story. you would think if the fbi wanted to infiltrate a group, they would not have someone who just appears so different in every way, this white guy who is

blatantly driving this silver hearse filled with automatic weapons? it is amazing. talk about how you met up with him, your involvement in the black lives matter, and why you came to believe that he was, you know a fellow traveler, if you will. >> i first met -- thank you for having me. i first met mickey and one of the earlier protests early july or late june. he was around a lot of folks. it was quite odd. we were all confused. we did not know what to expect. it was very terrifying down the line when found out more about him. very dangerous history, this gentleman had. i think it is terrifying, especially the fact he was sent to our blm movement in hopes of tarnishing it. juan: what led yoto begin to

think he might not be on the up and up and why -- what was some of the examples of ways he tried to get people to do things they normally would not do? >> i would say toward -- there was a headquarters, the police department. people were just starting to get, how to say, getting more rowdy than usual. he is yelling at people. sometime down the line, it was evident when colorado springs an tifa released an article explaining more about this gentleman. it was very heinous. juan: so until that article came out, had no suspicion that he might be some agent provocateur or undercover informant?

>> it was very confusing. there was so much going on that summer we did not know what to expect but we never would have thought the fbi would have sent a gentleman like that to our movement. everything was really confusing. so hard to put things together looking back now, but i would say at the end of the day, i think most of the things that happened, either violent or confusion would have happened without the fbi informant. amy: let's hear the fbi informant in a recording he made after he was accused of being an informant. he spoke in front of a flag for the kurdistan workers party and an ar-15-style assault rifle was his background. >> a group or individual that is claiming they are antifa colorado springs. i believe there actually not antifa from colorado springs because i believe they are a cop

most of this individual has posted stuff discrediting other individuals fighting against the fascist in denver, colorado, such as other communist groups and individuals. i for one have not been used or placed about the [bleep] going on. amy: that is you windecker accusing antifa of being the and performance. zeb hall, talk about how you were entrapped, how he gave you money to buy a gun for him and what happened next. >> i will start off saying i was scared. i purchased the firearm. it was quite odd. the way i knew which he explained it to me, i didn't understand. i had never purchased a gun before. i get this gun for this gentleman and shortly after, the

information comes out about his criminal history and who he is. i am terrified at this point and around january, an article comes out with mr. shelby, who will be mentioned later on. at that point, i was absolutely terrified. this -- i was just afraid. i own what i did. i never thought i would be in situation like this but, you know, here we are. it was just a terrifying experience. we were all afraid. juan: out like to bring in former fbi special agent mike german, now a fellow at the brennan center for justice at new york university law school. he has written a book titled "disrupt, discredit, and divide: how the new fbi damages democracy." mike german, talk to us about these efforts by the fbi to

specially target social movements on the left. >> thanks for having me. trevor has spent a large part of his career covering this change in the fbi's undercover tactic where they have aggressively used in performance -- have been ving informant-driven operations targeting mostly muslim american terrorism investigations with a tactic that was not designed to uncover criminal activity that was ongoing but rather to manufacture criminal activity, to create a case where n case had existed before. what i think icritical about reporting on "alphabet boys" is in many of those cases, trevor had to rely on court documents

or freedom of information act records and statements the defendants and offenders of these tacti at the fbi and elsewhere would often say, well, the fbi probably had some kind of other information that justified these tactics that could not be released in court or discussed openly where here trevor has the entire investigative file and we can see the fbi here shows somebody with a serious criminal record to inftrate a social movement and target pple who we much less involved in any crinal activity and actually stoke violence. and that is a tactic, as discussed, straight out of the cointelpro playbook wher the tactics were meant to disrupt and divide the social movements rather than to uncover serious

crimes. amy: zeb, you were sentenced to three years probation. i am wondering with the police killing of tyre nichols and jill not only with gorge floyd but -- and dealing not only with george floyd in colorado the horrific police killing of elijah mcclain , with the massive crackdown on protesters after that as they would engage in violent vigils -- violent vigils because he played violin for cats and dogs at the local shelters. has this changed her approach to the world? are you afraid to be in activist? >> no, i am more committed. it was a terrifying experience but i know what i signed up for. this was a lifelong thing. even though it does affect black people more, i do understand the

situation that all people in america have to deal with. i am more committed than i was before. this is going to be a lifelong thing. amy: trevor aaronson, in the last dirty seconds, what you want people to take away from this podcast series dropping today? >> i think it is important to recognize not only did mickey windecker try to set of activists in specific crimes, but he played a large role in turning what were otherwise demonstrations and protests into what became full out assault on police stations in denver. some of the most violent incidents we saw in denver that summer and make his fingerprints all over them. he was typing them up, encouraging people to attend, encouraging people to become more and more violent. police endeavor, we have evidence the government agent was behind many of these protests that ultimately turned violent. amy: this is truly an astounding podcast series. trevor aaronson, the host of the new "alphabet boys" podcast.

zeb hall, thank you for joining us from denver, and activist targeted by the app you featured in the podcast post and mike german, a former fbi special agent, now fellow at the brennan

♪ hello and welcome back to nhk "newsline." i'm taco -- with time running s. they're working in freezing temperatures to find survivors of two earthquakes. at least 7,000 people have died. a magnitude 7.8 q