there's a fair trial even possible at this point. and new york's finest might not be so honorable after all a new report shows they're actually profiling and monitoring muslim americans so what's the good cop bad cop act and whatever happened to a reasonable expectation of privacy. in this crucial block. on the case of director of operations. you want some advice don't get on this man's bad side that's right leave it to the republican candidates to assemble a ragtag team of neo conservatives to act as their political henchmen get ready to meet some questionable characters the g.o.p. has up its sleeve. it's thursday february twenty third here in washington d.c.

i'm liz wahl and you're watching r t well the man accused of the biggest leak and classified information in u.s. history had his day in court today twenty four year old army private bradley manning was arraigned in a military court in fort meade maryland he faces a slew of charges including aiding the enemy today manning the furred his plea he allegedly gave hundreds of thousands of secret documents and cables to the whistle blowing website wiki leaks some celebrate manning as a hero for exposing the truth behind military operations his critics say you put lives at risk by making the secret information public but as he faces a military judge some question if manning stands a chance at a fair trial especially when you have the president of the united states saying this.

so is a fair trial even possible at this point for the whistleblower to find out more about the trial we spoke to zack pays a vento press liaison for the bradley manning support network network here is his take. in an hour very fast today the proceedings were done in about an hour or so we made sure to pack the court room with supporters we want to be there every day for brad we had down here to day from occupy wall street we had logan price who actually shot that video you just showed there with president obama we also got a chance to speak with michael ratner from the center for constitutional rights he's down there acting as a pro bono attorney on behalf of julian assange of wiki leaks ok and that video that you were just referring to as president obama basically saying that bradley manning is guilty and when you have the commander in chief of the united states saying something like that how much of a fair how much of

a chance does manning have at a fair trial while. never side to give bradley manning a fair trial in that case in particular with the president's statement that represents undue command influence which is prohibited by the uniform code of military justice we have to remember that this court martial process is being conducted by members of the military and ultimately the president is their commander in chief and i doubt that any one of them would want to contradict their commander in chief on an issue like this and going along with that some say that manning has already faced harsh punishment. for nineteen months in solitary confinement forced nudity allegedly allegedly he was also tortured so is he already being punished before even being tried well exactly he's never technically had a real day in court yet these have only been pretrial hearings we're now

approaching something like six hundred some odd days that he's been held without without due process and so that's a violation of his rights there with the the other violations that you mentioned earlier i mean the obama administration is really making a mockery. of its obligations under the geneva conventions under the u.n. convention against torture treaties that have been ratified by congress and they have an obligation to allow the u.n. to do its work thus far they have been prohibiting one mendez the un's special repertoire on torture from being able to have a private meeting with bradley manning in order to investigate some of these claims of prisoner abuse and so it's it's really unconscionable you know i don't think we would want a foreign government to treat one of our troops this way let alone one of our own and you exactly like many regard bradley manning as

a hero he was recently nominated for a nobel peace prize but what about the argument that by releasing this classified information that he put american lives at risk when you joined the military your choir to take this oath of honor and some see him see this as him violating that oath what's your response to that well first of all everyone in the military and the president as well is required to take an oath also to defend the constitution of the united states and i don't believe that brad has ever violated that oath and regardless of whether or not these allegations against him are accurate now the pentagon itself along with the state department and some other agencies they conducted their own internal impact assessments of the wakey leaks materials and they found that there is no threat posed to our national security that our troops were never in harm's way they have refused to allow this evidence to be considered

in court. the reasoning you know not only you know if they were to allow this in court it would not only really sort of call the bluff on their. you know fear mongering about hypothetical monsters in the closet so to. week but more importantly because it would expose the wiki leaks materials as having been improperly classified and not only in the case allegedly of bradley manning but in so many other cases what whistleblowers are showing us here is that our government has a massive problem with overclassification and it is often being used to conceal crimes and to conceal corruption and what we now know beyond any reasonable doubt is that we have a nexus of corporate and military power that has really hijacked our government policy and they've been able to do that because they've been able to operate outside the reach of accountability to the american people ok is that them in your

opinion what would it take for a justice to be served in this case well we're demanding as we have that all charges be dropped there's no reason for the obama administration to be retaliating against someone who exposed countless crimes who exposed war crimes corruption goodness we have you know the secretary clinton authorized the theft of d.n.a. from members of the united nations and when will she be held accountable when will all these other folks be held accountable for the crimes that they've committed so far we're not seeing any of that and instead they'd rather use bradley manning as a scapegoat and lastly exact want to ask you what this case means for whistleblowers in the message that could possibly be set sent out that this case well you know that issue got raised yesterday we saw jake tapper from a.b.c. really grilling white house spokesman jay carney and saying you know the obama administration has now use the espionage act six times now to retaliate against

whistleblowers and that is twice as many as all previous presidents he's combined so i think the message that the obama administration is trying to send is very clear that if you see something don't say something we don't want to hear it and i think that that's unfortunate and we need to put a stop to that. and that was event so presley is on for the bradley manning support network and still ahead on r t to protect serve and profile the n.y.p.d. is going out of its way to monitor ordinary muslim americans so when the person's religion start to terminate which civil liberties they're entitled to some answers next. that first phrase that just burn gerard is right right i mean it's like a derivative of actual pepper it's a food product essentially. much stronger than anything you could buy absolutely coulson's of times was stronger than any one of the period they were putting in.

and what drives the world the fear mongering used by politicians who makes decisions to break through it's already been made who can you trust no one. is you have you with a global reach where we had a state controlled capitalism it's called nationals when nobody dares to ask we do our tea question more. well if you think racial profiling here in america is a thing of the past think again recent reports show that for years the n.y.p.d. has been secretly targeting and monitoring muslims and this includes gathering information on mosques and muslim owned businesses even spying on muslim college

students and apparently there doesn't need to be any suspicion of ties to terrorism in order to be tracked by law enforcement you simply need to be muslim so what does this mean for freedom of religion in america profiling on the basis of religion is alive and well well for answers i spoke with linda sarsour or executive director of the arab american association of new york take a listen. these revelations from the e.p. have basically just been a confirmation of something that our community has been saying for the past ten years and right now our community is are joining other communities have been affected by police brutality as well as racial profiling within the african-american and latino communities and building coalitions iraq demanding accountability and an oversight mechanism over the n.y.p.d. because while the n.y.p.d. spying and watching our communities we don't know who's watching the n.y.p.d. and as a muslim american yourself how does it fear how does it feel to have your fears and suspicions verified through this report i mean it's just unfortunate that many of

us as you can hear from my accent i am a born and raised brooklyn new york and to know that just because i'm a muslim that my everyday life is being monitored from what mosques we pray out to the stores we shop out to the bookstore and we attend to the cafe values that are unfortunately our resources are going to surveil an entire community based on religion instead of going after real imminent threats. doesn't make you wonder how racial profiling i mean this is the united states of america we are supposed to be a nation that is tolerant of different religions different ethnicities to appreciate diversity i mean how does it make you feel to see something like this happening and being allowed to happen here in the u.s. . this is happened throughout the history of our country our country was based on you know genocide on native americans based on slavery racial profiling has existed for centuries in this community as a matter of fact the chief bodyguard of malcolm x. was it and why p.b.

and foreman and we know that malcolm x. was assassinated in cooperation with the government so it's very it's for me it's just a continuation of history and it's very unfortunate that we continue to ignore the poor values of what this country supposed to stand for and here in the u.s. police before they do an investigation they are supposed to have probable cause does this just prove that just being muslim in itself is as probable cause mayor bloomberg and commissioner kelly have continued to defend their tactics and say that we just follow the leads but as you can see from the a.p. reports and from the secret documents that are being revealed to the public that the only leaves in those documents are the fact that we are muslim or muslim owned businesses or mosques that's the only thing that we have. an interest saying interestingly the polls show that new yorkers they do support the n.y.p.d. as you just said the new york mayor michael bloomberg he is defending the actions

of the n.y.p.d. what does that have to say about the mentality of some of the citizens even in new york city today. and why petey has instilled fear in new yorkers and has used talking points like the last fourteen foiled plots were by the n.y.p.d. which is absolutely incorrect it's actually been by citizens who have helped in that informing these pottsville this national security paradigm is really causing fear among people to believe that what the n.y.p.d. is doing is ok to profile and surveillance spy on an entire community in the name of national security so it's just a smokescreen and it's very unfortunate and if it were any other racial or ethnic group do you think that there would be even more of a public outcry than there is now i mean there isn't too much publicity over this do you think if it were another ethnic group that there would be more of more outrage over this i think the war on terror has made our country believe that we

are with this quote unquote enemy and the enemy of god i do represents this particular community i'm not sure because i feel like the police have been brutalizing and terrorizing african-american and latino communities for a very long time and there hasn't really been any outcry from mainstream america on that issue either perhaps if it was another community there might have been a larger outcry or public you know direct action and we're hoping that with more education and more a.p. revelations that there will be more outcry on this than a demand for accountability of the n.y.p.d. well the n.y.p.d. their response is that they're only tracking and monitoring people that they're in which there is probable cause and which there is potential ties to terrorist activity is this true. as you see in from the recent controversy around the third jihad movie which is the anti propaganda film that was being told the office there is paul brown deputy commissioner kelly lied multiple times to our community so as

a as a new yorker i would caution people from believing someone who has numerous times lied to the media lied to new yorkers and lied to commissioner kelly what would you like to see happen in order for this kind of mentality to change and do you think that maybe some leaders within the police department need to go that have allowed this to go on i absolutely believe one hundred percent that commissioner kelly and paul brown need to go that they are not fit to run the largest police force in the country i also believe that there needs to be an oversight mechanism put in immediately that does not only deal with the spying but deals with the stop and frisk on and deal with the harassment of journalist and the arrest of peaceful protesters and most recently in occupy wall street so these two guys have to go and there have to be an oversight mechanism immediately do you see that happening yes as a matter of fact there are some works right now between us some of the civil rights groups in new york that are going to be. presenting a oversight proposal that's going to be backed by multiple groups across new york city also we've seen mayor cory booker from newark new jersey demanding an

investigation into the spying on not only in new york new york muslim communities but also in new jersey and also in connecticut so we're seeing outcry from local states on this illegal spying on muslims across the tri state area and. i'm sorry in the wake of all this do you see this whole issue of profiling based on religion based on ethnicity as getting better or where do you see this issue heading in the future. looking at nine eleven which was ten years ago on where i see our community right now is actually in a more hostile environment than we've ever seen even days after nine eleven i don't see this issue getting any better as you watch the g.o.p. debate you see that the muslims and islam and radical islam is at the forefront of these debates so i don't see this going anytime soon unfortunately especially recently with the passing of the national defense authorization act which basically

says that we can a detained without charge even potentially american citizens so it's a very scary time in our country and i am sorry that you are dealing with this that was linda sarsour soar executive director of the arab american association of new york. well in the race to be the next republican presidential nominee we see candidates trying to outdo each other on who is more conservative but aside from ron paul of course if one of these guys beats obama we could see a repeat of a previous administration and its policies are to correspond honest aasia target and takes a look now at how bush era players are influencing the g.o.p. candidates scorer's a blast from the past rhetoric and a pretty good idea about america's enemies. been there done that any action of that nature will be considered an act of war an act of terror fear mongering on repeat dictatorships respond to strength they don't want to weakness the rest of the world

looks at it i don't laugh said it but basically thinks it's a theater of the absurd if you're just sort of fueled by republican candidates advisors my name is cofer black. i'm a case officer of the direction of operations of the central intelligence agency the tories for promising bush to leave terrorists with flies crawling across their eyeballs and the afghan enemies with their heads on pikes putin trying to put together the evil empire again reaching the neo cons john bolton even a small national missile defense capability would be a threat to their first strike to which i say hurrah torture and wiretapping defender michael hayden we've got to overthrow this guy iraq war supporter robert kagan is the right tactical thing to do and consistently amazed at how little responsibility any of these people have taken for the really truly terrific things that occurred during their watch michael chertoff dealing with hurricane katrina

and pushing through the civil liberties killing patriot act and so described medieval sort of guy and dick cheney's buddy david wurmser and look at all these guys they played very important roles. in the bush administration they don't seem to be particularly humbled from all the massive failures that they that they were responsible for while their track records are far from enviable how could any self respecting parsing bring in any of these people that brought us that great they whether the ass. oh that wasn't good enough how about the iraq war i got another one boy you how about the war on iraq these people are losers you are right it's good to know surprises when provocation resurfaces the president should have built credible threat of military action maximum covert operations. to block and disrupt the iranian program

including taking out their scientists most americans don't know the men behind the scenes they're not thinking about john bolton and what a weirdo he was and the un and how he. almost destroyed america's international reputation or. for that matter really any of the you know any of the people that romney wants to bring but some embrace the rhetoric of coersion there are still i'm sure many americans that would that would love to see flies and eyeballs and other things of people all over the world us versus the world and who should we demonize today mentality promoted by recycled cast of characters keeping americans in a perpetual state of war readiness and the rest of the world on edge. and i earlier today i spoke with michael hughes independent journalist and foreign policy strategist about who's advising the g.o.p. candidates and what it would mean for america if one of them were to be elected

take a look actually i think compared to george bush that there are two of these characters is even more frightening than bush which is which is amazing even you can say you know. for blacks i mean they based on their policies they want to see was on the. you know americans who. are almost obsession with the right wing christian. back and the whole thing is that in the israeli connection they have this obsession with armageddon kind of frightening and they're back and people like santorum and gingrich they want these guys in office. making these decisions frightening frightening. and it's it's funny to use the word armageddon because we saw words similar to that in last night's g.o.p. presidential debate where the candidates took turns kind of pandering to their base

and talking tough when it comes to cracking down on syria let's take a listen to what rick santorum had to say. we are going to have a cataclysmic situation with and a power that is the most. prolific political radar of terror in the world and here is mary romney celebrating the demise of the syrian leader one little piece of good news and that is the key ally of iran syria is is has a leader that's in real trouble and we have to grab a hold of that like it's the best thing we've ever seen. so michael when we hear things like that how can we expect their foreign policy approach to be like especially when it seems like they're not at all afraid of jumping into another war right or their authority is even more. even more are you going to her policy will mean what. you are still obama the military or the invaded libya you know under the

guise of humanitarian aid that you have and or killed an american citizen abroad and don't think you're going to show. that he doesn't he doesn't meet the. requirements when you come and you can work the way i think we're going in the wrong direction or are you and the founders going to further down that road. now it's interesting because that they would choose these guys because the bush administration wasn't exactly popular that you know that's why president obama was elected on a lot of the country was calling for hope and change a change from the bush administration so why would the candidates revert back to that. i think some of it is you know. when the g.o.p. nomination they believe they have to do this they're probably right but it will be interesting to hear their rhetorical in the general comes around i get a feeling don't hold it down but you know how they really think this is how they

really so it'll be interesting as they backpedal on well see him back along the general. course michael the exception to all of this is of ron paul as expected last night he used the opportunity as he has done and g.o.p. debates past to push his antiwar mass and let's take a listen to part of that the sanctions already back charring so what we're doing is literally in hand saying the power to think of the sanctions is what we did with castro fifty years in castro is still there it doesn't work. so why don't any of the other candidates they're all kind of looking at him like he's crazy there. but he does make a valid point why don't they seem to see this you know it's a good question and ron paul is a very interesting character of all all the candidates you have or his foreign policy. but the tranny with ron paul on the. years he was against civil rights

legislation you wouldn't mind or people died in the. so it's a tragedy that i like this more. we can have a guy like that not as for other reasons. and i have no idea why don't they see that and i think. there's interest like that sense industry is real and all types of other issues driving these other. militarist. and ron paul has had this consistent message of less government both when it comes to foreign policy and when it comes to domestic policy doesn't sound like you like his domestic policy at all what should ron paul do to appeal to more of the conservative base you know as this race continues we see the other candidates trying to appeal to more of to pull more votes what does ron paul need to do to expand his base even more so. right yes from the from the conservative and. you're

pretty consistent and you would technically meet a lot of the definitions of a true conservative but today's conservative and republican isn't your father this is. part of the conservative branch to day you have to bring a strong defense and it's. done a phobic you know racist undertones that that kind of goes along with it in order to win the primary and ron paul as you know it is far and as far as that goes you know you just need to step up his rhetorical you know against our enemies to. and then you know most to you know he's almost too relaxed and off the cuff about what which you know troops from around the world you don't want to ensuring that his report even though i agree with him there probably turns a lot of people off where they don't trust the middle thinking that you know he's going to reduce the military budget. so you know most to ensuring that his report

can you should tell it that many people. all right well that is an argument that people make when it comes to ron paul going back to the team for foreign policy team that mitt romney and some of the other candidates have haven't aligned themselves with coffee or black john ball and these guys and what are they pushing their candidates to say what kind of policy are they pushing. but unfortunately. you know this is why you know santorum is the perfect to have it's not a war on terror it's a war on islam you know that's the type of ideology i mean john bolton i mean his biggest criticism is always he comes forward when when the enemy is the muslim enemy and all these guys what is quite ironic is like a guy like. you guys for example create the message and now the taliban are all sort of the most evil thing in the world but back when there are

there are just you know a little bit extreme on religion but no one in there they are terrorism and they are they rightly are but they always were they always were and these guys love them . when they were the mujahideen were helping us kill so well that it was fine you know the want is for fine today. well michael you don't seem too happy with any of the candidates not even with president obama who is your best bet for this election well just pay excited about government government itself and the lesser of two evils it always comes down to that because you know what there can be and are you so you got to choose someone so ultimately almost a real action of what you're to evil then i would have to go with. well that is the argument that some people make that obama's special right now despite unemployment rates are his g.o.p. rivals michael thank you so much for coming on the show that was michael hughes independent journalist and foreign policy strategist. and that is going to do for

the news but tonight don't change the channel because the big picture is coming up in just half an hour the american auto industry might be ready to put the pedal to the metal again but there is just one hitch u.s. streets and bridges are falling into disrepair and roadside assistance isn't coming quickly enough so what's with all the infrastructure roadblocks and i hope tom hartman last former secretary of transportation. virginia showing your borrow what is with the hold up. but for more of the stories we covered you can head on over to r.t. dot com slash usa you can also follow me on twitter at liz wahl for now have a great night. max kaiser this is the kaiser report worried about domestic terrorists oh my god look at.