02/11/13 02/11/13 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] >> from pacifica, this is "democracy now!" >> collectively, this group is posting a reward of $1 million for information that will lead to mr. dorner's capture. we will not tolerate anyone undermining the security, the tranquillity of our neighborhoods and our communities. >> as the manhunt continues for former l.a. police officer

christopher dorner, the city offers its largest reward ever for the man accused of killing three. in his online manifesto, dorner threaten to wage and conventional and asymmetrical warfare against the police department he accused of racism and corruption. the united states ratchets up this economic war against iran ahead of this month's nuclear talks. >> i want to underscore to iran, the window for diplomacy is still open and we have agreed to meet iran again in two weeks. we have made our position clear. the choice is really up to iran. >> will speak with president of the national iranian american council. and historian on the largest and unconventional life of misses

paul robeson. this is "democracy now!," democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the vatican has announced pope an addict will step down as head of the catholic church later this month. it's a surprise move makes benedict the first pontiff to resign in nearly six centuries his policy has been marked by a range of issues and a number of child molestation scandal and the catholic church including allegations he ignored at least one case of abuse while serving as a cardinal. in a statement, benedict, 85, cited ill health of some reason for his departure. the conclave to elect a new pope will be held by the end of march. president obama reportedly is preparing to announce new reductions to the country's arsenal of nuclear weapons. in his state of the union address tuesday night, obama is expected to announce plans to cut the number of deployed warheads to just over 1000.

one-third reduction from the current number of around 1700. a former l.a. police officer accused of killing three people after posting a revenge and a faster online remains on the loose in california. on friday, the lapd announced it would reopen a probe into the incident that caused the former officer, christopher dorner, to lose his job. dorner was fired in 2008 for making false statements after he complained his training officer had kicked a mentally ill suspect during an arrest. in a statement announcing the new investigation, the lapd to said it would be reexamined. at a news conference, commander smith said the police department is not seeking to appease dorner, but encouraging transparency. >> we're not opening it up because of the accusations or the musings of someone who is a multiple murder, he is doing it because he wants to assure the

public knows that the lapd is fair and transparent. >> on sunday, the l.a. mayor announced a record $1 million reward for information dorner's. more on this story after the headlines. at least nine people killed in the weekend blizzard that's what large parts of the northeast. the storm brought over 3 feet of snow in some areas and not without electricity to hundreds of thousands of people, mostly in massachusetts and connecticut. many are still without power grid roads and public transit were shut down in boston, which saw its first travel ban since 1978. another storm is brewing across the northern plains, bringing more snow and high winds. a series of tornadoes has hit areas of alabama and mississippi, injuring at least 10 people and badly damaging hundreds of homes and buildings. syria's capital of damascus is

seeing its heaviest violence and months. the fighting in damascus comes as rebels have launched offenses in several syrian areas. activists with the local coordination committee set out the 77 people were killed nationwide sunday. a spokesperson at the u.n. said 5000 syrians are fleeing the country each day. >> 5000 people now crossing the border of syria and other countries every single day. this is really a fool on crisis right at the moment. today's figure, 787,000 syrians are registered were being assisted as refugees. if you go back to 1957 -- december 19 when we issue our region response plan, the figures were 515,000 rid there is a huge increase in january alone. we're talking of a 25% increase

in registered refugee numbers every single month. >> a marine general has assumed control of the as led nato occupation force in afghanistan replacing john allen. dunford is expected to be the last commander of nato troops before combat operations end in 2014. all the thousands of soldiers will remain behind. in his outgoing address, john allen said the u.s. is winning the war in afghanistan. >> afghan forces defending afghan people and enabling the governments of this country to serve its citizens, this is victory. this is what winning looks like. we should not shrink from using these words. i've lived afghanistan will never again be a safe haven to terrorists -- i believe afghanistan will never again be a safe haven to terrorists and the scourge of the plague of the world. >> the obama administration plans to nominate alan to serve as the next supreme allied

commander after he was cleared of misconduct in the scandal of the ousted david petraeus. israeli forces have dismantled a number -- another palestinian encampment challenging the settlement growth in the west bank. activists erected tents near have been saturday in a bid to protect their town. there were forcibly -- they were forcibly arrested. bahrain's government holding reconciliation talks about opposition parties for the first time in over a year. the negotiations last broke down in july 2011 after opposition groups accused the u.s.-backed monarchy of obstruction and failing to address their grievances. public protests remain barred in cyber rain and the market's attempt to crush a two-year uprising -- part in rain's in an

attempt to crush a two-year uprising. the demonstrations were held under the banner of lift the burden, a call to in the public bailout of ireland's's banking debts. first lady michelle obama was among the mourners at a chicago funeral saturday for a 15-year- old girl killed in a random shooting just days after performing a president obama's inauguration. hadiya pendleton was with a group of friends when a gunman fired from nearby. she recently had returned from washington where s performed with her school marching band during the and our role festivities. the obama's home is about 1 mile from the park or she was killed. during the service, michelle flytilla of the grain harvest baptist church and hadiya's mother decried gun violence and warned the girl's death. >> we're here because of an innocent victim of gun violence. anthony and cleo, your angel has

become the face and the tragic reality of this epidemic of gun violence that has cost fewer possessions of our children. >> you don't know how hard this really is. and those of you that to know how hard this is, i am sorry. i'm sorry. no mother, no father should ever have to experience this. >> on sunday, the day after her daughter's funeral, two men were taken into custody did in another case of gun violence drawn national attention, four people were wounded in new orleans on saturday when shooting erupted during the annual celebration of mardi gras. one of the victims is in critical condition. in arizona, the armed posse of maricopa county sheriff joe arpaio held a training session over the weekend on using guns to protect schools from attack. the share of record of the

hollywood action film star stevens a golf to train his volunteers. they used guns, firing non- lethal rounds and had children come in to pose as scared students. and arpaio dismissed those protesting across the street. >> i am here to try and teach the posse firearms and martial arts to try to help them learn how to respond quicker and help protect our children. >> i don't know what these protesters are talking about. i am going to say it again. we are here to protect the children. that is the main mission. they can say whatever they want, but i'm not going to stop. >> secretary of state john kerry has made his first public comments on the proposed keystone xl pipeline since replacing hillary clinton. known for being in the

environmental advocate while serving in the senate, john kerry will carry out president of a mass decision on whether to approve the massive oil pipeline that critics warn will bring, catastrophe. speaking alongside canadian foreign minister, john kerry vowed a decision in the near term. >> with respect to the keystone, secretary clinton has put in place a very open and transparent process, which i am committed to seeing through, i can guarantee that it will be fair and transparent, accountable. and we hope we will be able to be in a position to make an announcement in the near term. i will not hand out precisely when, but i say in the near term. >> a new report has found china and other countries are engaging in rampant cyber attacks against u.s. businesses and institutions for potential economic gain. according to the washington post, a national intelligence estimate warns the u.s. is "the

target of a massive, sustained a spinoff campaign threatening the country's economic competitiveness." attacks from china have been the most widespread with other countries, including russia, france, and israel. the potential cost of the hacks has been estimated in tens of billions of dollars. china's attacks are at dylan with effort technology. the obama administration recently granted itself broad authority to carry out cyberattacks on other countries. those are some of the headlines. this is "democracy now!," democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the city of los angeles is offering a $1 million reward for information leading to the capture of christopher dorner, former lapd officer. dorner is wanted in the three recent killings targeting fellow

officers and their families. during sunday afternoon press conference, the l.a. mayor announced the bounty. >> collectively, this group, led by my office, is posting a reward of $1 million for information that will lead to mr. dorner's capture. we will not tolerate anyone undermining the security, the tranquillity of our neighborhoods and our communities. we will not tolerate this reign of terror that has robbed us of the peace of mind the residents of southern california desert. >> the mayor made the announcement after a massive manhunt failed to find the former police officer. christopher dorner was fired from the police department 2008 after being accused of making false statements that his training officer had kicked a mentally ill suspect in the

course of an arrest. testimony by the suspect's father supported dorner's claim. in an online manifesto, dorner claims he was unjustly fired. he also accused the department of racism, corruption, and other abuses. in this message he threatened to wage and conventional and asymmetrical warfare to those in lapd uniform. on friday, the l.a. police chief charlie beck announced to reopen an investigation into dorner's firing. an lapd smith says it was about maintaining public trust in the police force. >> he is not opening it up because of the accusations or the musings of someone who is a multiple murderer now, but he wants to assure the public knows that the l.a. police department is fair and transparent. >> the manhunt for dorner began last week after he allegedly shot dead monica quan, the daughter of the former police captain who represented dorner

during his disciplinary action as well as her fiancee. dorner is also accused of shooting several police officers, one of them fatally. police pursuing dorner as part of a multi agency hunt were involved in at least two separate shootings, injuring two people thursday after they came across vehicles that looked similar to the suspects. dorner's truck was found abandoned and on fire. for more go to california to berkeley where we're joined by a journalist who runs the popular websites . he is an adjunct professor at san francisco state. welcome to "democracy now!" start off by what is most important you think understand about this case and christopher dorner at this point? >> i think what really has captured people's imagination is through his manifesto is

waging war against the l.a. police department. i think for most people in my seem to be an open and shut case in terms of how people's emotions would sign read what you found is once you read a manifesto, it is either opened up old wins or reaffirmed what people have long suspected or have experienced in terms of brutality. i think what stands out for me and many of the people i deal with is the fact that there are these troubling allegations. those things need to be further investigated. here regardless of what we feel about dorner, whether or not he is a psychopath or any of the words of one to put on him, i am curious as to whether or not these allegations that he has raised renames dates, times, places and names, whether or not the actual check out. i think that needs to be really investigated, above and beyond the immediate scenario which led to his firing, which was a dispute between his sergeant, is

supervising sergeant, teresa evans free to >> for those not following the case in the greater los angeles area, if you can explain exactly what you understand has happened, what this manhunt is about, and what this manifesto is. >> the main thing with the manifesto, he points out that he is going to wage war on the police officers who done him dirty. with that, you see an unprecedented amount of manpower, resources, reward, and language that says all of our security is under mine. the security that is undermined is the police department. what you are releasing at the end of the day is higher value placed on the lives of the police and you're seeing them pull all the stops out to find this one individual. granted, with the murders of the two people, the captain's

daughter and her fiancee, how do we know he did it? i am not defending this. we know he said this in the manifesto, but what is the evidence they have they are pursuing is the question i would ask. going above and beyond that, i am still concerned -- people are concerned that his charges that the lapd is to corrupt and still very violent i think resonates with a lot of folks. that is something that needs to be checked out. we saw that come to the forefront when we saw the two women emma hernandez and her daughter, that were shot in their back. there were 30 or 40 rounds. it did not fit the description. we hear there were given no warnings or commands. for many people, that is business as usual in l.a. >> explain how that happens. >> they were delivering newspapers the night the officer

in riverside county was shot. there was this manhunt. against two undercover cops that were assigned to protect officers that were under threat from dorner approached this truck and shot them rid they shot them from the back. what you got was an apology and a new truck being offered. how about people being arrested for negligence? how about the transparency in the procedures they followed or did not follow in terms of how they went about shooting innocent people? we know there was a man shot. he was driving a truck that was similar but not the same color. we don't even know his name and he was shot by another department, the torrance police department. for many people when you hear that, that is like, ok, shoot first and ask questions later. that goes back to a deep sorted history in los angeles. i say that a summit has lived in

l.a. for a longtime critic rex i want to read an exit from the manifesto writing "i know i will be villified by the lapd and the media. this is a necessary evil that i do not enjoy but must partake and complete for substantial change to occur within the lapd and reclaim my name. the department has not changed since the ramparts and rodney king days. it has gotten worse. the consent decree should never have been lifted. the only thing that has evolved from the decree as those officers involved in the ramparts scandal and rodney king incidents have since been promoted to supervisor, commanders, and command staff. he went on to say he would use "every bit of small arms training, demolition, survival training i have been given to bring warfare to the lapd and its families." the police department itself is saying it is reopening,

investigating why exactly dorner was fired. which is very interesting, given what has happened. dorner is challenging reporters in this 11-page manifesto to get information about particular cases that he believes he has documentation on. >> there are few things going on. first of all, anybody who would kill innocent folks up the is a hero. let's get that off the table because i think when the question is raised about, let's look at what is going on here, what he is raising, let's investigate that, then the responses, are you supporting a killer of innocent people? he named dates, times, and places. let's check these out. those allegations are pretty serious. the other thing you have is that initially, they said this manifesto was described by chief back as something that was

ramblings on the internet. it was not wranglings when he decided to put 40 to 50 securities wants to protect his officers. he took that seriously. obviously we are going to reexamine the allegations that he raced around his firing. they're taking us seriously. the fact that he kind of implicated himself as being the killer of monica quan and her fiance, keith lawrence, they're taking this seriously. but the allegations they want to say our ramblings. it we should take all that seriously. not just teresa evans, but the allegations of recruits or officers singing nazi songs, he gives names of police officers still on the beat that use the "n" word. if they're still on the beach, why? we should talk about the rodney king scenario where the ramparts

scandal, have been expanded -- have been promoted critics explain what ramparts is pretty >> ramparts was the big scandal that this country has ever seen the police departments, deftly in california. a lot of people were falsely accused, arrested, a lot of people did jail time, all the sort of stuff before it was shown about 10 years ago to find out there was a lot of myths deeds. public -- misdeeds. public trust was severely compromised. when these allegations,, for people who long mistrusted the lapd going on a back to the 1950's, the kind of continuation of what is going on. the other thing i would add is the allegations that he has put here were his damning of people stands, people say, ok, check it out. the other thing that to remember about in california, they have a policeman's bill of rights. that bill of rights is something the upper tax police

said you cannot get access to their records. you have no idea that a long history of violence as he alleges in his manifesto. you don't know if they done wrong doing. maybe if you're in a court of law and suing or are the victim, he might have some access, but for the most part, there are laws on the books that have been real enhanced as recently as last year that gives the police absolute protection and privacy of their personal records. so we don't know who is out there, what they're doing, what their records are, what their mindset is. the fact that we have that, that needs to be something that people push back on. we should have total transparency when it comes to the police. when allegations like this are raised as journalists, instead of cheerleading, which you saw lot of media do in l.a., we should be checking it out. he and dates, times, places. we should find out if he was lying. if he was not, we should ask those are questions as to how

this culture was allowed to continue. the last thing i would end with is not just l.a. a lot of times we think of the l.a. police department, but just last week we have seven deputies fired from the l.a. sheriff's department because they had a road gang called the jump out boys were there celebrating the shooting of black and latinos. we of the situation in anaheim we had seven people killed last year and protests that have gone on to this day. you have a culture of police misconduct or police terrorism, as many people call it, that exists throughout southern california. when incidents like this,, give a very divided community. we want to get all the police departments checked out. more important, have trust restored, a zero tolerance policy, not something where they talk about things have improved over the last five to 10 years, not as bad as 20 years ago. how about zero tolerance?

how about if you cross the line in terms of abuse, if you are using anti-semitic or racist type of words, you're off the force entirely. what we're seeing right now is the lapd trying to save face. they will do this investigation, make sure the whole world sees them try to find out whether not the surgeon had a dispute with was line were not lying. a disputergeant he had hi with was lying or not line. he named of many things in the manifesto that think are very disturbing. there are a lot of questions, including the shootings, of officers who had not been arrested. are they going to be punished? why did they opened fire? of those sorts of things -- >> you mean shooting by the officers of innocent people.

>> yes. 71-year-old emma hernandez and her daughter and the unnamed person -- >> i think his name was david perdue. >> thank you. >> who also happens to be about 100 pounds less than dorner and is white, not black. >> the other thing were doing down here in l.a. was actually instead of asking hard questions about why the police would shoot first and ask questions later, there were telling people if you have pickup trucks, stay home or if you look like christopher dorner, maybe you might want to lay low. everybody cooperate with the police. i am understanding have that sort of situation that tensions are high. it is unprecedented, but it is no excuse to roll on the citizens in such a callous type

of form. all of us have a right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, not just the police. we should not have to fear from the people who our tax dollars go to protect and serve. >> you are saying we don't absolutely know if he is the shooter, though he has claimed he is in his manifesto. it has been a murderous rampage. oddly in the manifesto, he explicitly calls for tighter gun control saying his spree would not have been possible with a law regulated assault weapons ban. >> his own opinions about gun- control and whether or not michelle obama's bangs look nice, comedians and journalists he likes, i think we can have those discussions and debates, i mean, that is his opinion. i guess he is entitled to them,

but what we should really be focused on are the names, dates, times and places with how lapd is conducting itself that he alleges. we would like to believe when the decree was lifted after chief bratton took over, there was marked improvement that this was a new department. you heard the mayor, you heard the chief beck say it is a new department. if it is, let's check that out. that is what we should be focused on. the have officers using racial epithets still walking the streets? we know of one of the local l.a. newscasts, the former training officer confirmed that incident were he talks about having the fight for the officers were using the "n" word to place three what is the zero tolerance policy around that? we should look into the conflict of interest regarding his sergeant because he said the

people that were on his hearing had longstanding relationships that people work for each other, that there were partners. if that is true, we need to check it out. just for people around the country people watching in california, we need to ask our questions about what is up to the policemen's bill of rights for all of the police officers, conduct more promotions, the sort of things are hidden from the public. you do not have access to them. even when a trial it is hard to get those things on the table. we found that out in the oscar grant case where there were allegations of police misconduct for person accused of shooting him. they were not allowed in the court of law. that is incredible. usually do not have the right to privacy when we're the ones in people's salaries. i think that is to be challenged. we want to open doors to the public to have more confidence in lapd.

how about the officers say, we waved our rights to the policemen's bill of rights. >> dav ey d, thank you for being with us. he is co-host of hard-rock radio on pacifica station -- hard knock radio in berkeley. he is also an adjunct professor at san francisco state. thank you, davey d. we will be back in a moment. ♪ [music break]

>> this is "democracy now!," democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we turn to iran which mark the 34th anniversary of the islamic revolution and mass rallies on sunday and its increasing pressure from the u.s. over its nuclear program. in its final letter addressed to the iranian nation had a presidential elections in june which will in his eight-year

term, president ahmadinejad explain the conditions under which he would engage in direct talks with the and on it states. >> as the supreme leader said, would have only put a gun to the nation and expected to hold negotiations negotiations are for what? to resolve misunderstandings. changing the language is needed, but not enough. you put down the gun, i myself will talk to you. >> last week the obama administration announced an expansion of sanctions against iran, a move described as economic war. the treasury department said it would pressure countries buying iran's oil to withhold direct payments and instead force iran to purchase their goods. the treasury also widened a sanctions list to include iranian state media. iran said its english-language press tv channel had been dropped from the satellite platform that allowed it to broadcast in the u.s. and canada.

on friday, secretary of state john kerry commented on the program in the prospects for negotiations. >> the announcement the iranians themselves that made in a letter to the iaea in which they have announced a different kind of centrifuge is concerning. it is disturbing. i want to underscore to iran the window for diplomacy is still open. and we have agreed to meet iran again in two weeks in kyrgyzstan. we made our position clear. the choice is really ultimately up to iran. the international community is ready to respond if iran comes prepared to talk real substance and to address the concerns which could not be more clear about their nuclear program. then they will

choose themselves more isolated. >> john kerry speaking friday. we go to washington, d.c., talk to the national training council. his new book is called "a single roll of the dice." welcome to "democracy now!" you are just back from britain. why were you there? what i was testifying the british parliament foreign relations committee. >> about? >> this issue with iran. there was a keen interest in a lot of thinking going on in europe to see whether the strategy that has been pursued that is so pressure centric really is working and if it will not work, what is the trajectory we're headed towards? what is the end result of this path? talk about the u.s. saying they would have direct talks with

iran, as you just heard john kerry say. >> i think obama administration is serious. they do desired have diplomacy but i think the approach to diplomacy is such an which the belief is the only way to really get a deal is to put maximum pressure on the iranian regime. i think that is an approach that may sound good on paper, may sound logical on paper, but in practice it really has word. if iran is under criminal in this -- tremendous sanctions. the iranian group has died down more than 50%, all income has -- the iranian rial has died down more than 50%. we're starting to see the early signs of a medicine crisis in iran. the report was issued by the woodrow wilson center in washington, d.c. that showed although government corruption and mismanagement is also

important, this crisis has been caused by the sanctions. as a result, the young people dying in hospitals simply because of lack of medicine. i would say pressure alone will not work. there has to be negotiations put on the table viewed as strategically valuable by the other side. only then will we be able to really say that diplomacy has been tested. >> president of his nominee for cia director john brennan accused iran of pursuing nuclear weapons in made the comment during his confirmation hearing. tehran and in taez o brennanhn enbridge >> john read your response? >> this has been the position

for quite some time. even though the intelligence of all of the p-5 indicates there is not been a decision to weaponized, the belief is the iranians are moving toward a nuclear weapons capability, but in everything in order to be able to make that decision if they so choose. as a result, there is the impression the window is closing in order to be able to address this peacefully. in order to really exhaust all of the options to resolve this peacefully, there has to negotiations that are far more intense, far more serious from both sides. both sides have so far gone to the table and essentially offer the other side ultimatums' rather than engaging in proper negotiations. both sides have been working on taking or more accepting of taking a risk for the status quo or even escalation in accepting risks for peace making. >> a want ask about chuck hagel.

during his confirmation hearing, chuck hagel said this about iran. >> i support the president's strong position on containment, as i said. by the way, i have been handed a note that i misspoke and said i supported the president's position on containment. if i said that, i meant to say we don't have a position on containment. >> this got a lot of the tensions and chuck hagel was stumbling all over the place during his hearing. talk about the significance of the substance of what he said. >> because the debate and the conversation in washington has been hysterical, there has been the effort to eliminate options at a very early stage. this a strong effort to make the containment option, essentially a dirty word in washington, d.c.

equating content with the acceptance of iran getting a nuclear weapon. signaling the u.s. at the end of the day will not try to prevent a nuclear weapon in iran, but try to find ways to live with it. while the obama administration's policy is not containment, i think it is important to point out that we still have time to be able to find people solutions to this. it is almost a fetus to go to whether containment will work or not because we are not in a position where we have to choose between either accepting an iranian nuclear bomb were going to war with iran. they're plenty of fleetan to peaceful options. diplomacy has not yet been completed yet. >> last week president ahmadinejad responded to a reporter's question about vice- president joe biden's comment earlier suggesting the u.s. is

ready for direct dialogue with iran. >> for the past 34 years, the americans have been confronting us. they have to change their attitude. they say and claim they will use the stick to force iran to dialogue. this is bad. they ship with the stick aside and start the dialogue. dialogue and a fair conditions and with mutual respect. the dialogue resolve's everything and not impose positions. >> that it was the air rang president ahmadinejad -- during president ahmadinejad. trita parsi, your response? >> we're not sing either side take the type of serious approach of diplomacy that is really needed. the iranians to complain on one hand the sanctions approach is not the way to conduct diplomacy. on the other hand, the iranians have missed opportunities to except the bilateral conversation with the u.s. prior to many of these sanctions were

imposed and try to find a way to resolve this issue. i think there's a lot of fear in the region and beyond that unless both sides to mend their ways, we will continue to gravitate towards form fro-- >> can you reflect on this anniversary of the iranian revolution and what it means? >> i think the islamic republic in many ways is increases through the the behavior of the government right now seems to give the impression that are quite nervous. the ruby elections in iran and a couple of months, rivalries and infighting within the regime is reaching an unprecedented level and taking place very openly. the regime is doing something it usually does not departure elections. it usually opens up the political space a little in order to give the impression there's going to be a real and valid choice. this time they're done the opposite, starting to rest

journalists, rumors children of some of the opposition leaders are being arrested. there seems to be an intimidation campaign going on which most likely is rooted in the fact regime is very, very nervous about its own political survival. >> is britain, where you just returned from, or testifying in their parliament, does britain deal with iran in a different way? does the british media deal with iran and a different way than the u.s. media? >> there seems to be a dialogue, a conversation about iran and europe that is a little more nuanced, little less hysterical. a less panicked. not to say the europeans are not taking the potential threat from iran seriously. on the contrary, imposed some of the toughest sanctions on the iranians. but there's a conversation that seems to be a little more in debt, a little more nuanced, a little more insightful than what we see over here. i think the hegel nomination

hearing is an indication of how superficial, how much grandstanding we're having in that conversation about iran in the u.s. that is unhelpful. when you elevate the conversation to this level, you essentially eliminate policy options and leaders of only with negative policy options. that is a process i think unfortunately we have been involved in in the u.s. for the past couple of years. >> thank you, trita parsi, for joining us. >> thank you for having me. >> trita parsi is just back from britain and is author of several books on the united states and iran trita parsi, founder and president of the national iranian american council. his latest book is called "a single roll of the dice: obama's diplomacy with iran." this is "democracy now!," democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. back in a moment. ♪ [music break]

>> this is "democracy now!," democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. last week the ability of u.s. government to jail people without charge or trial was back in court. a group including chris hedges and noam chomsky are suing obama administration sandy ndaa could

lead to the holding without reason. san the ruling would hamper its ability to fight terrorism read the obama administration has won an emergency freeze of the ruling of the case is appealed. on the same day on wednesday, an event just after the court hearing was held in new york, featuring a panel of some of those in the courtroom to oppose the ndaa, joining them was fimaker and activist michael moore. and a pulitzer prize-winning journalist chris hedges. we end today with their remarks. the case is known as hedges vs. obama. michael moore began by responding to a question about how he got involved. >> i have been involved in this sort of thing for a very long time. in general, in terms of these issues, i was the chair of the

american civil liberties union influence. i was 19 or 20 years old. what chris said in the last panel here about the corporate couldn't talk, something i've been talking or try to talk about for a couple of decades since roger and me, that something was afoot and we're going to have our democratic way absconded with. i agree with him that it has been successful. but i remain an optimist because i know history and i know coup d'etats the successful efforts were eventually overthrown. i want to use that word "overthrown" publicly tonight so this can be replayed at my trial. [applause]

[phone rings] should we get that? who ordered the pizza? >> really, let's ignore it. >> i have had to deal with the issue of the police tried to suppress information or cause harm on any of those levels so those who tried to bring out the truth -- at a small alternative paper in flint in the 1970's. our printer was raided by the police. they took our paper off the press and searched and seized everything. it was because we had done an article on the mayor using federal moneys for his campaign re-election so he went to a local judge and the judge approved the search warrant and they grabbed all of our stuff.

one of my first experiences, that particular incident along the same year was a cbs affiliate in boise, idaho was also raided by the police. the reporters committee for freedom of the press asked me to work with them. the shield law was passed the following year to essentially prohibit police raids of newsrooms unless there is an actual crime, murder, or something going on. i could talk about this all night in terms of what my own personal experience has been. official government things to just sort of the propaganda that they put out on me to gather to stir the pot of the unhinged.

i wrote about this in my last book. up to and including an individual planning to blow up our house in michigan and was only, because one of his weapons went off at his home. a neighbor heard it and call the cops. the came in front of the fertilizer bomb stuff. a small group of the liberal left he would like to assassinate, with me at the top of the list, and there was rosie o'donnell [laughter] janet reno and hillary clinton. i don't know how i ended up on the lesbian list, but i am happy and proud to be there. that is a joke. [laughter]

any time i tried to talk about this, it is obviously not a pleasant thing to talk about. i am happy to hear about this lawsuit. i have been a huge fan of chris for a long time. please, read his books. pass these books around. this man is our -- [applause] he is our 21st century noam chomsky. no not thatam is not still in the 21st century. of course an honor to sit here with daniel ellsberg, who always think about the other day. i don't know if you've seen the documentary "hearts and minds" about the vietnam war. it is a great documentary. they won the oscar for best documentary. when they went to collect it, they read from a telegram from the north vietnamese, thinking

americans, which of course in these days, you'd never think of such a thing. in the way things are conflated now, that you'd be reading something from al qaeda or whatever. in this movie, daniel appears and provides some very important lessons about vietnam not only what you want to personally, but what this country was led through in terms of the lies told and not having a press that was active at first to expose the lies, we lost a lot of lives and participated in the slaughter of anywhere from 2 million to 3 million southeast asians. but he said something and i was thinking about this watching the news on egypt today, talking about whether the u.s., we were for mubarak and then against mubarak and it is like -- someone asks, which side is right? are we on the right side? the same question was asked during vietnam.

are we on the right side? daniel said the question as night whether we're on the right side still-is not whether we're on the right side, the only question her point is we are the wrong side. that is it. we're behind a lot of this madness. our corporations are benefiting from a great league. people who live in the flint, michigans of this world are suffering considerably. i am proud to be part of this and supportive of it and very supportive of bradley manning, from the beginning, helping to fund the fight -- [laughter] [applause] and i put up some of the bill money for julian assange. [applause] >> we will get to wikileaks and

was a blind and imminent. before we do that, i want to ask my question from the last panel again about this drones memo. what is the end game with the lawsuit here a restaurant if you win a lawsuit in the administration retains the power to assassinate american citizens how is that victory? >> the memo is fascinating to read. it looks like it is written -- >> they will not release the memos that critics the free white papers. it is so amateurish. it looks like it is written by a first-year law student. what every think of john yoo -- and i hope he brings in hell. [applause] he had a much more sophisticated legal argument to torture human beings. look, the drone wars -- it is

not an example -- and i think this is true with the nba and the fisa amendment act, all the way back -- what they're trying to do is legally justify what they're already doing. they have argued that under the 2001 authorization they have a right to assassinate american citizens. i have read that act many times and bruce and curl did and none of us find that in the back. that is to be generous, a radical interpretation of the aumf. what they're seeking to do is legally justified in the same way that you -- yoo with looking to justify torture, they're looking for legal cover. i think it is all connected. it is all a part of this very rapid descent into a frightening form of corporate totalitarianism.

and that is just large across the landscape. it as they go down -- and they know we're going down. these forces are cannibalistic. watching the death throes of the planet and is corporations like shall look at it like a business opportunity. the only no one word. they will put -- push and push and push and it makes "moby dick was >> the most study of the american people. we're all on the ship. as ahab said, by means and at that are saying and i object is mad. they're not going to stop themselves. it is up to us.

literally, i have a 5-year-old and his favorite book is "out of the blue." everytime i see him do it, and rips my heart out. i know if there is not a radical change in our relationship to each other, into the planet, every single one of the sea creatures will be dead within his lifetime. in theological terms, as a seminary graduate, these are forces of death. >> which is the corporation arguing or lopping four section 1021? >> all of them. who writes our legislation but corporate lobbyists. look, we have not far from here, just a few blocks from here, a joint command center with the nypd and goldman sachs. i was arrested in front of goldman sachs with the occupy

movement. [applause] let me tell you, when the security came out, it was a mixed security of goldman sachs security and nypd security. these corporations have created 70% -- with 16 intelligence agencies and as jeremy scahill has pointed out, 70% of their work are outsourced operations. we've had the capacity for security and surveillance state to private corporations. >> chris hedges is the pulitzer prize-winning former new york times correspondent who has sued president obama over the national defense authorization act, the ndaa. others involved in the suit are known chomsky, cornel west, daniel ellsberg. the suit is known as hedges reverses obama. before that, you're listening to oscar-winning filmmaker michael moore.

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