smiling. missions now in the palm of your. i am. not going to be alone a show where you get the real headlines with none of the mercy if you live in washington d.c. now tonight we've got a special show for you right wall street is going strong and new york but right here in washington occupy d.c. is joining with another movement that starts today october two thousand and eleven protesting the ten years of war in afghanistan and the corporate control of our country for not interviews from on the ground with organizer kevin zeese and journalist and author chris hedges but a number of economists have suggested for giving up personal debts as

a way to jumpstart the economy again that sounds really nice but is it actually possible and he ran down those going to join us for that one i have all that and more for tonight including a dose of happy hour but first let's take a look at the mainstream media has decided to miss. sallie last night we heard the news that just fifty six years old steve jobs apple co-founder of passed away after a long battle with pancreatic cancer innovations changed the way we live work play and communicate steve jobs died too soon he's the man who brought us in the words of buzz lightyear to infinity and beyond he's been compared to legendary innovators thomas edison henry ford walt disney this value that this area would be so much different. you know without all without steve jobs he was always trying to think of somebody else and look at the newest little building parts and what could you. with

those he had an impact on our lives with ten years of almost unmatchable products and innovation i mean let's face it life in one thousand nine hundred eighty six when he co-founded apple in his garage is a far cry from life in two thousand and eleven. steve jobs really was an incredible innovator he had the knack for marketing that made you want a product that you didn't even know that you need it and he should hold a place in history as a key player in the technological revolution that we saw over the last thirty years let me provide a little bit of commentary for a minute i think the mainstream media missed and commemorating this man peter starters the second the news broke last night coverage of everything else stopped including that of occupy wall street where the biggest numbers have yet to come out where police got violent i want to get into the details of that later but then i saw commentators come on and talk about how the products that jobs spearheaded that somehow touched us all i pods i phones i pads handheld technology computers right at your fingertips and i heard them commemorating how this type of technology has

now helped fuel revolutions real political change in arab nations steve jobs didn't invent twitter or facebook but i think it's fair to say that he played a part in getting smartphones and personal computers to a wider consumer base so then well once you have those devices you could use twitter and facebook or whatever else to communicate spread messages organize rallies to get more people involved in what would become a revolution now our mainstream media celebrates that you saw the coverage of egypt you saw the coverage of tunisia and the support that they gave but when it comes to the movements here in the u.s. you don't quite see the same thing just remember that clip that i played yesterday now cnn's erin burnett mocking the protesters for having math books and i phones and of course in yoga pants so why would it's happening somewhere else in the arab world we think that it's magnificent and these people have smartphones and laptops and we cry out when their governments try to shut down social networks or the internet but what if the american people they're discouraged they're frustrated

with the greed and corruption they see in their own country and asking for change it's not ok how dare they use technology to start a movement in this digital age it's just hypocritical it's kind of sending it just one more thing that makes the mainstream media look back on more thing where they miss. well it's now the twentieth day of the occupy wall street protests and it's clear the movement has changed the protest began in september just a few thousand showed up movement is growing zuccotti park is filled with more protestors by the day and campsites are popping up the stations for media medical supplies and food as you mentioned yesterday support has been growing too few major labor unions are on board and a.f.l.-cio president richard trumka also spoke out in favor of occupy wall street some politicians have also publicly supported the message of the protests people like congress members don't is considered ellison russ feingold and even g.o.p.

presidential candidates buddy roemer and ron paul the number of arrests have increased over the past few weeks as well most notably the seven hundred people who were detained while the brooklyn bridge having a standoff against the police but last night's academy park also got violent or perhaps this comet for a member of the n.y.p.d. foreshadows what was to come. just. right. yeah you heard him right that officer said he was excited to use his nightstick just a short while later seems other officers were sharing the same sentiments about their weapons when demonstrators started spilling over a barricade it became clear that nobody will say from the n.y.p.d. as night sticks or pepper spray. oh in that clash twenty eight people were arrested and although wednesday was

a violent night the movement still continues the number of arrests continue to go up acts of violence by police are on the rise but the anti-corporate protest is growing too raw stories reporting that similar demonstrations are now taking place in four hundred forty seven cities nationwide and as today washington d.c. is also one of them which brings us to our next story. today is october sixth two thousand and eleven tomorrow is going to be exactly ten years since we've been at war in afghanistan the beginning of the eleventh year also this month cuts to programs were agreed to during the spring to avert a government shutdown things like cutting aid for low income families for heating assistance are going to go into effect so starting today there is a movement to occupy freedom plaza here in washington d.c. one that was planned months ago before occupy wall street even begun and earlier today i went down to freedom plaza i caught up with kevin zeese one of the lead organizers of october two thousand and eleven i first asked him to explain what this event what this movement in particular is all about. it's part it's

a part of the occupation when we're trying to bring the occupation who's the next step we have a great turnout the first day of several thousand people work day which is incredible and i think what is what it's about is ending corporate rule we've brought the people here to washington d.c. which is corporate occupied territory we want to liberate the city by bringing the people in and ending corporate rule but occupy wall street just kind of sprung up even planning this movement for months so how did that come together were you surprised that suddenly all my wall street was doing so well getting so much traction we heard about occupy wall street in july when i had buzz about their story and then we join immediately endorse it and we join with those who are organizing going to some of their assemblies to help organize it went to the events as well so we've had a presence at the whole time we've always been supportive of it we saw it as synergistic and we really hope that there was exceed because we wanted that to be a stronger doctrine to occupy washington d.c. and it has been i think that the police action in new york the abuse of police

actually new york really backfired against them and really helped to propel this issue to a higher level and i think now we see that result in d.c. even more press coverage more people turning out i suspect you'll see us grow that's right across the country you know there's the occupy should occupy together movement last week there were sixty six people organizations signed up to do occupations you know is one hundred eleven yes there's over three hundred so the american people want this they want to find a way to get control of their country out of having your professional organizer want to be critiqued so far about occupy wall street is completely grassroots and there is no organizational structure no hierarchy here to think that you can help them and i think they're doing great i mean i don't know i think one of the great strengths about them is that they're not professional but there are people who just care and are coming out from make it happen i think be a death to that movement if the professional liberals a lot of democratic party co-opted them that would totally end it. important to

keep their independence and the two parys keep doing their own thing i need to do next one job you know what we really had more invention that we had was we had more time we had like three months more i suspect advance me most more they would also be doing a better job as well but they're doing a great job i really are them well for what they've accomplished do you think that something is happening that the movement is becoming co-opted by maybe as it were guys labor is it move on guy or are you the band down the street backing three conference i think all those things have the potential i don't think any questions have been yet my hope is that the occupy movement will stay independent of that kind of thing i was interviewed by an australian media outlet yesterday they said that up at the rebuild the dream conference they were saying that the outcome was great now they need to ally with professional left and i said that would be the end of occupy movement if they did that so i really hope they don't do that i mean the factional well left as well who joined in the support of participating they cannot dominate this business being run from the grassroots up we're going to run our our

project in the grass and so that's how these to be the people need to move this thing we can't count on a you know we are here on the white horse we have to crown ourselves to build our own movement and make our own make our own country so not sense you can say that president obama a lot of people thought you'd be right here out on a white horse and he came from change promising to be struck down the war in iraq right down the war in afghanistan and yet this one man if anything i think it's policies really of bodies corporatism and militarism that they are upset about it is i mean all these people here are going to vote for obama it's money well you know they can do it why is it with a bomb i know we're not the electoral group we're staying out of politics i do think that obama's rising people's hopes and then dashing them with his corporatist and militarist all cities is one reason why they are going to is developed i think people are looking for a real solution and now realize that this is not the election elections in fact are elections are manipulated you know you're only allowed to choose one super. so to

prove candidate obama was well funded by wall street well funded by the health insurance industry his policies reflect that when you have a mirage election we have united states where voters only get to choose from corporate approved candidates funded by the corporations allowed on the corporate t.v. stations a lot of the corporate sponsored debates and everybody else is kept out you know with a collection and that's why you have less than half americans resident of o. and of those races less than half of those vote so you people want to legislate about fifteen percent of the vote if they have a landslide that's not a legitimate government i think more people realize we need to take over this government the people good rueben the elites we have in our front page of occupy washington d.c. dot org we want to front page seven issues where the super majority of americans support specific policies and all those policies the government's going the opposite direction if those pauses reported place this country be much better shape the people can rule better than the elites and that's what these people feel that's they know that's going to build on how do you actually see the funding how long do

you think people are going to be willing to stay out here i was free to occupy boston chicago l.a. san francisco washington d.c. what happens if you know it gets cold they'll go home it will evolve you know there are lots of things we can do beyond occupy times town squares in the winter a lot more fun things occupying town squares in the winter but it will evolve and continue i said where you can see how this is a mass independent movement that to me demands radical change transformative change in our government in our courts in our democracy in our in our university system in our media system is the battle right now is participatory democracy versus concentrating for the well that's the battle look at where we are right we're right here in washington d.c. where you can say there's a big concentration of the wealth of our capitol building in that way the last hour here is right behind us so how do you actually take america how do we fight a two party system and i think we're doing it i think is the. getting it out

happening we're going to see the two prices i'm showing by this movement and may not be in flames well that's because soon what we're going to see down the road as we move grows we'll see independent parties which are americans don't trust democratic party don't trust republican worries don't trust congress they failed and people know that sonu all terms will develop and make most of. our coverage of the protest in washington continues in just a moment i'll ask if civil disobedience is the only way to take america back my conversation with pulitzer prize winning reporter and author chris hedges after the break. let's not forget that we have an apartheid regime right now. i think the evil one well.

whatever government says they're for keep him safe get ready because of the your freedom. you know sometimes you see a story and it seems so sleep you think you understand it and then he glimpse something else and she hears you some other part of it and realized everything you thought you knew you don't know i'm trying hard luck comes a big should. just put a picture of me when i was like nine years old and just tell the truth. yes

and i am a total get over i'll cry because he's like the and. i do yes. i'm very. old without you it's like. a little. now between occupy wall street in new york and the other cities it's spread to as well as october twentieth of the movement that just began right here in d.c. something seems to be happening in this country but well could it actually lead to more earlier i spoke with chris hedges pulitzer prize winning reporter and author

of the world as it is dispatches on the myth of human progress and he was also in freedom plaza in d.c. today and how does somebody that's sad that civil disobedience is our only hope for the future of this country so i ask them if they will disobedience is what he thinks we're seeing right now. yeah. i think people have finally woken up to the talk or see that we live in. the fact that the only world that these corporations know is more there are no impediments to patients reconfiguring of the united states and the global economy into a form of deal feudalism they recognize that the political system is broken that the commercial press the judiciary the elected officials. are essentially wholly owned subsidiaries of the corporate state and we're seeing a reaction and it's of course for those of us who have been calling for acts of

civil disobedience and physical defiance of the corporate state it's deeply heartening what about those that are part of the corporate media you could say especially we're seeing a lot of this on fox news or elected officials people that want to be elected officials like herman cain they're saying that this is anti-american because if you are anti corporation you're anti free markets and you're anti american you're anti freedom overall well of course i mean and who owns those networks general electric . rupert murdoch's news corp. disney. there's about a half dozen corporations that control almost everything most americans see watch read or hear and they're going to make damn sure that the people who get on the airwaves that they control disseminate the message they want and that's precisely the message but i think an increasing number of americans across the political spectrum are seeing through that mendacity and i think i think the corporate states in trouble if you think about playing into perhaps the division that we see right

now with the tea party movement which you could say it was somewhere along the way they originally came out of this restoration that a lot of american power is the bailouts right then later on president obama's health care plan and is that message we're. to divide the groups in the tea party have the same thing in common as occupy wall street. you know like the tea party i think when you look closely at its origins was from the beginning a creation of the corporatists like the koch brothers and others and it functions as america's fascist party it celebrates the gun culture the language of violence the undercurrents of racism the scapegoating of people who are vulnerable and weak within the society muslims undocumented workers homosexuals intellectuals it has all the hallmarks of a classically fascist organization including the fact that it's bankrolled by the most retrograde elements within american society and the people who bankroll it

have turned anger and of course you're right that they are tapping into a legitimate rage but they have to like it that rage away from where it should be directed which is well straight towards government because corporations want government to become weaker more anemic to destroy what keep it controls and regulations are left and there isn't of course much luck so you don't blame government do you think that perhaps individual politicians people like president barack obama i think has played for the system essentially because they depend on campaign donations they depend on the money and there's no way to get out of it i wouldn't call them slaves to the system i mean barack obama is certainly intelligent enough to understand where power lies and what he has to do in order to stay in office whose interests he has to serve anyhow serve those interests as assume through asli as did george w. bush the fact is there is no way within the american political system to vote against the interests of goldman sachs it doesn't matter whether it's bush or obama

or mccain or anyone else. we we live in a in a in a society. in which the citizenry has been utterly disempowered rendered impotent. and it doesn't matter what citizens want even when we vote for instance in two thousand and six. against the war in iraq and turn the control of congress back over to the democrats what does the democratic party do it continues to not only fund the war but increase troop levels in iraq by thirty thousand obamacare ends up being two thousand pages written by corporate lobbyists the equivalent of the bank bailout bill for the pharmaceutical and insurance industry four hundred billion dollars in subsidies obama has expanded the reach of imperial wars including proxy wars in somalia yemen pakistan has not restored a b.s. corpus on all of the major structural issues there is no difference there's a complete continuity and of course the working class and the poor and increasingly

the middle class have to pay the price and it to end it doesn't matter whether it's democrat or republican and that's the fuel of these movements so how do you see this playing out do you think i mean for example let's look back at the occupy wall street and that's going on in new york right now yesterday they saw some of the largest numbers that they had gas car and they were met with a police presence right people were arrested never been times that worth around there was pepper spray does that have to be violence or can it be done peaceful of the more frightened the power elite becomes the more violent and track only and will be the measures of control and the security and surveillance state in this country is profound deep immense and brutal. and growing and where is the movement going i've covered movements all around the world i covered all of the revolutions in eastern europe east germany czechoslovakia romania all the uprisings against milosevic in belgrade when movements like these

begin you never know where they're going even the leaders don't know where they're going i was sitting in a room in leipzig on the afternoon of november night nine hundred eighty nine with the leaders of the east german opposition and they were saying that perhaps within a year there would be free. passage back and forth across the berlin wall within a few hours the wall didn't exist so i mean that's a small illustration of the fact that even the purported leaders of populist movements like this one i've no idea where it's going to go we're all hoping that it becomes so powerful and so immense that it begins to shift power away from the one percent back to the rest of the citizenry when you compare this moment to what we saw going on in the one nine hundred sixty s. here in america. i think the sixty's were different. the the new left in the sixty's was largely a middle class phenomenon. it was severed from labor labor did not support. the

new left. including the fact that the f l c i o supported nixon's warning to try and end announce to the kids in the street is hippies and i think what we're seeing now is something different i think that the commonality of interests against the corporate state is a kind of unifying factor they can bring together everyone from a libertarian people like myself who. worked in two thousand and eight for ralph nader who we're still seeing of course they hit a very being thrown around right now the protesters on the if you look around you can see it's not just young people it's an older generation as well here inspiring really younger but would you say eyes there here let's say it does finally rebound gets back on track my ways might we see the same thing as those sixty's are these people moving to the suburbs they get jobs and they're now the ones working and i have heard that the fact is there are no jobs i mean real wages for american workers since the early seventy's have remained stagnant or decline we maintained

both a level of consumption and an empire through credit that credit has dried up. in the manufacturing base has been decimated. wall street speculators were number in the seventeenth century speculation was a crime. speculators are wrong. they control our financial system and and so the idea that we're going to rebound i mean we're watching the european banking system as i speak stand on the edge of collapse it's not just greece that's going to default but most likely italy portugal spain and the repercussions of that are going to reach our shores so you know there were no restrictions placed on wall street they looted the u.s. treasury in two thousand and eight they went right back to their old games and we're headed most likely for another crash unless we stand up and stop him they'll come back and help themselves to whatever money we have left now of course it's not proper to have a lot of movement it's about corporatism it's also about militarism and now it's

been ten years but the war in afghanistan do you think it's ever going to end yeah because we're losing the war. the taliban controls about seventy seventy five percent of afghanistan. we have replicated the disastrous occupation of the red army where we control the urban centers sort of i mean we see attacks even in kabul but only twenty percent of the afghans live in urban centers the rest of the country is either controlled by the taliban or in dispute and. it's an unsustainable war both financially and militarily both in iraq and afghanistan we bought a kind of temporary graveyard piece after one point two million iraqis were killed i spent a lot of time in iraq and i can assure you that that also over the long term is not sustainable so these are wars we can't win we've wasted what four trillion dollars absurd sums of money that could have been used to put every american in this country to work. gave us the best public education in the world as well as access

to the finest health care in the world and we just poured it down a rathole press thank you so much for joining us now thanks robert. now i spoke with the organizers of the occupy d.c. and new york events about their hopes for the movement but what's driving every day americans to get involved and we saw a lot of show producer countries in a sense you know the rally to find out maybe wondering why freedom plaza well you could say it's the center of power check this out you have the capitol about nine blocks away and right on the street is the white house so we decided to ask people what is driving them here when the privileged people stop receiving their purse which is that some we come out of the woodwork and start complaining i'm saying that the student loan crisis is as big a deal as the mortgage crisis in the financial crisis i don't believe that capitalism is the major problem is greed but if i should personally i want to see an end to the wars in iraq you case and afghanistan iraq and stop the drone bombing

of pakistan somalia libya and yemen we have to tax or corporates we have to tax the wealthy and people have to vote people have to vote into congress the people who will do the job do you think obama is to blame for this. i don't know if he's to blame but you know certainly private interests have been fighting him more mercilessly than i've ever seen them fight any president but he hasn't done enough to fight back you would rather see this country go down the tubes then to look at the administration that's in power be successful for the people that we're we're here to represent the one lesson that he should have learned is that he fought for us that we would fight for him the last couple years i haven't seen a democracy that is being led by what the people want i've been seeing a democracy that is not a democracy but led by a lot of corporate interests and the one percent of the people in america who hold all the wealth but would you say to that one percent. you need to learn to share

join us join us be a part of the future that we're building here i want to work for my country i love my country but the people who are running are listening to me and i think they can all go. we don't need their money any way they can live without it. now we thank everybody there first sharing your thoughts with us still to come tonight we have our thursday edition of show and tell and then but for giving the person all that there in that city the answer to moving into the world the suspects that anthony ran. into that only the military mechanisms do the work to bring justice work out. i have every right to know what my government should do if you want to know why i

pay taxes. i would characterize obama as a charismatic version of american exceptionalism. you know sometimes you see a story and it seems so easy to understand it and then you glimpse something else here see some other part of it and realize that everything you saw you don't know i'm sorry is a big picture. let's not forget that we had an apartheid regime regularly. i think the wrong.