america is great. >> i'm amy goodman. has just landed.er husband flying in from dallas, fort worth, freed after four years in prison. the crowd is only growing, insecurity here is warning people to step aside -- security here is warning people to step aside. >> you cannot block this area. >> her family is here, her daughter, grandchildren. we will talk to some of them. what are you doing at laguardia airport on new year's day. >> i am coming to see my grandma. >> how old are you? >> nine and three quarters. >> who is your grandma? .ynne stewart >> what you have in your hand? >> flowers. >> who else do we have? >> my name is dante. >> how do you feel? >> great. excited?u >> yes. programrted at the bai and four years ago we started sending cards to lynne stewart because she was part of our electeda board member by the people, so she was part of these committees we were on. we have been sending cards. whenever we get together, we fill them out and send them to her so she is always in the room with us. >> i see you brought some of them today.

i am amy goodman with juan gonzalez. happy new year. ♪

i'm amy goodman. one of the great mysteries of the vietnam war era has been solved. in 1971, group of peace activists broke into an fbi office in pennsylvania and lifted files that helped reveal the fbi's elaborate program of illegally spying on political groups. a documents, given to journalists at the time, provided the first hints of going tell pro, the fbi sticker program to infiltrate, monitor, and disrupt social movements. the burglars call themselves the citizens commission to investigate the fbi. they were never caught. decades later, a number of them are coming forward for the first time. the idea for the burglary came from a physics professor and leader of civil disobedience against the vietnam war, william davidon. he died last year. also involved for a social worker named bob williamson and john and bonnie raines, married couple with children. convinced the fbi was infiltrating groups, they hatched a plan to stage the break-in on the night of a major championship boxing match. another of t

i'm amy goodman. from tokyo,casting japan. members of the white house panel reviewing government surveillance have publicly rejected some of the nsa's key claims in justifying warrantless, mass buying. appearing before a senate hearing, former cia deputy director michael morell and former cia deputy -- house counterterrorism aide richard clarke refuted assertions the bulk election of phone data could have prevented 9/11. programs true the 215 has not played a significant role in disrupting the terraced attacks to this point. statementdifferent than saying the program is not important. thef the information federal agencies had at the time had been shared among the agencies, then one of them, the fbi, could have gone to the fisa court and could have, in a very timely manner, gotten a warrant to monitor the appropriate telephone use. they didn't because they were unaware of the information that existed elsewhere in the government at the time. of overe was a period two years were that information was avai

i'm amy goodman.his is the third day of our broadcast from tokyo, japan, in the final days. we're talking about moving in on the third anniversary of the fukushima disaster. 19,000 people died or went missing on that day march 11, 2011, and the days afterwards when the earthquake triggered a tsunami and three of the reactors at the fukushima nuclear power plant melted down. we're joined right now by futaba's former mayor, katsutaka idogawa. it clear he embraced power. now he has become a vocal critic. he is featured in the film "nuclear nation." we welcome you to democracy now! and thank you for traveling two hours to join us here at the studios of nhk international for this conversation. mayor, explain what happened on that day. a special thanks to mary joyce who is translating for you today. a march 11, 2011, in the days afterwards, when you decided it was time for the thousands of people who lived in your town, futaba, to leave. >> on that day there was an earthquake on the scale we have never expe

i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. >> welcome to all our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. we begin today's show with a historic development in the campaign to end the controversial police policy of stop and frisk. new york city's duly elected mayor bill de blasio has announced the state he will -- newly elected mayor bill de blasio has announced the state will settle an ongoing lawsuit. in august, judge shirer .cheindlin criticize the police mikes former mayor bloomberg had criticize the court ruling saying it made officers impassive and scared to frisk suspects. innocent new yorkers were subjected to more than 4 million stops and frisks. mayor de blasio deliver the news at a community center in brownsville, brooklyn, predominantly african-american community, that has had more stop and frisk's in any other part of the city. >> we're here today to turn the page on one of the most divisive problems in our city. in thisve administration, and i think the reflects the value of the people p

i'm amy goodman. officials have now disclosed a second chemical was part of the spill that contaminated the state's water supply last week. some 300,000 people had to go without tap water for days after an agent used in coal extraction leaked into the elk river. on wednesday, the company line the spill, freedom industries, told authorities the chemical leak assad included ppc, which includes dangerous glycol that there's. friedman industries had never reported it in its filings with the state. west virginia's water has been declared safe to drink in all areas since the weekend, except for pregnant women, but has are still ongoing. the first day of the peace conference ended with deep divisions between all sides. syria's foreign minister described rubble groups as terrorists while an opposition leader called the regime of bashar al-assad a disease that should be finished. the unitedasid or to nations criticized the u.n. for bowing to the u.s.-led call for withdrawing iran's invitation. todayhad 40 coun

i'm amy goodman. siege toitants laid two key cities in western iraq on thursday, liberating prisoners, occupying buildings, and setting police stations on fire. the iraqi military has pushed back with airstrikes. iraq is embroiled in a sectarian crisis fueled by the civil war in neighboring syria. the recent attacks took place in an bar province, the side of the 2007 surge of u.s. troops and an area where nearly one third of u.s. war casualties lost their lives. more than 7800 iraqi civilians died last year, returned to levels seen during the height of u.s. occupation. the united nations is warning spiraling crisis in the central african republic, also south sudan and syria.

i'm amy goodman. siege toitants laid two key cities in western iraq on thursday, liberating prisoners, occupying buildings, and setting police stations on fire. the iraqi military has pushed back with airstrikes. iraq is embroiled in a sectarian crisis fueled by the civil war in neighboring syria. the recent attacks took place in an bar province, the side of the 2007 surge of u.s. troops and an area where nearly one third of u.s. war casualties lost their lives. more than 7800 iraqi civilians died last year, returned to levels seen during the height of u.s. occupation. the united nations is warning spiraling crisis in the central african republic, also south sudan and syria. they're testing the limits of the global humanitarian system. the u.n. humanitarian chief valerie amos said more than one in six central africans are now internally displaced to to the violence there. in south sudan, nearly 200 thousand people have been driven from their homes in recent weeks. amos said the global picture has wors

i'm amy goodman. at least 13 people have been killed and another 30 wounded in a suicide attack on a police station in baghdad. the bombing comes as the iraqi government is preparing for an offensive to retake the city of falluja from sunni militants. fighters from the al qaeda- linked islamic state of iraq and the love aunt seized parts of falluja as well as ramadi last week. the iraqi red crescent says over 13,000 people -- families have fled to escape the violence in the past few days. the united nations is warning anbar faces a critical humanitarian situation with 250 people killed already this month. iraq is facing its worst violence in six years, with over 7000 dead in 2013. we will ve more on iraq and falluja later in the broadcast. in syria, antigovernment rebels have forced an al qaeda-linked group to withdraw from its base in the northern city of aleppo. clashes among rebels have left hundreds dead in recent days, marking the deadliest infighting between the groups since the syrian conflict

i'm amy goodman. iraq's prime minister is urging residents of falluja to rise up against al qaeda-linked militants after the government lost control of the city. swaths of falluja are now reportedly in the hands of militants with the islamic state . shifting loyalties among tribal militias fighting alongside the government are complicating the picture. militants are also holding parts of the nearby provincial capital ramadi. it is the first time militants have so overtly claimed key cities since the peak of fighting after the 2003 u.s. invasion. on sunday, secretary of state john kerry ruled out any possibility of sending in u.s. troops. >> we are going to do everything ,hat is possible to help them and i will not go into the details except to say that we are in contact with the tribal leaders from the mr province and we know and are showing great courage in standing up against this as they reject terrorist groups from their cities. is a fight that belongs to the iraq use. that is exactly what the pre

i'm amy goodman.he international peace conference on syria opened today with deep divisions over the fate of president bashar al- assad. meeting in switzerland, armed and the -- armed rebels assad regime are holding their first direct talks with representatives of the u.n., u.s., russia, and other world powers. secretary of state john kerry rolled out the inclusion of assad in the conference's stated goal of a transitional government. >> mutual consent, which is what has brought us here, for a transition government, means that that government cannot be formed with someone that is objected to by one side or the other. assadmeans that bashar al- will not be part of that transition government. there is no way -- no way possible in the imagination that the man who has led a brutal response to his own people could regain the legitimacy to govern. those riffs supported him, can no longer hold an entire nation and a region hostage. >> the steering regime has scoffed at commands for out -- al-assad's departur

i'm amy goodman. hundreds of thousands of west virginia residents are on their fifth day without safe cap water after a chemical spill in the elk river. the company freedom industries leaked up to 7500 gallons of an agent used in coal extraction on thursday. residents have been barred from drinking, cooking, or bathing with water from their taps. scores of schools and businesses have enclosed, including in the state capital am a. the head of the west virginia water company told residents to only use water for flushing toilets. >> right now, no water is safe. under the do not use as the governor mentioned, do not use it for anything other than sanitation. dozens of people have been hospitalized since the spill, with symptoms including nausea, vomiting, dizziness, rashes, and written skin. on sunday, the west virginia governor said the amounts of chemicals in the water is on the decline, but offered no timeline on when it will be safe. good. numbers looked like last time, they are encouraging. i believe

i'm amy goodman. legendary folk singer and activist pete seeger has died at the age of 94. he helped found the american folk music movement. he played with woody guthrie and the almanac singers in the 1940's, stood up against senator joseph mccarthy's witchhunt in the 1950's, and oppose the vietnam war in the 1960's. he inspired generations of protest singers to come. we will spend the hour remembering pete seeger after headlines. ukraine's parliament has voted to repeal around of anti-dissent laws in an effort to calm opposition protests that have gripped the country. the measures are unlikely to appease protesters who have demanded the resignation of president yanukovich. earlier today, ukrainian prime minister mykola azarov offered to resign. yanukovich had previously offered mykola azarov's poston opposition leader, who rejected it. talks in geneva between the two sides in syria's conflict remain deadlocked over the future role of president bashar al-assad. another issue at stake is the delivery o

i'm amy goodman.e are broadcasting from park city tv in utah. president obama has unveiled his long-awaited review of the nsa's surveillance programs over six months since edward snowden exposed them to global scrutiny. in a move denounced by privacy advocates, obama refused to end the bulk collection of telephone metadata, saying only he will modify it from "how it currently exists." >> i am therefore ordering a transition that will end the section 215 bulk metadata program as it currently exists and establishes a mechanism that preserves the capabilities we need without the government holding this bulk metadata. this will not be simple. >> undernder -- obama's proposal, nsa officials would require court orders to access calling records, except in cases of emergency. but it will be up to the justice department and congress to work out the details. in his remarks, obama also pledged to stop the spying on foreign leaders, and to increase privacy protections for foreign citizens overseas. x let me be cl

i'm amy goodman. an independent congressional panel has concluded the nsa's bulk collection of phone records is illegal. privacy andort, the civil liberties oversight board says the program has had only minimal benefits in stopping terrorism and should be brought to an end. the panel says the program -- president obama said last week he intends to reform the bulk collection, but his plan would preserve his capabilities. the panel's conclusion will likely reinforce calls to the granting of comments he to edward snowden, the whistleblower who brought all collection and other surveillance programs to light. at a public event on thursday, attorney general eric holder continue to rollout clemency for snowden. holder said he is only open to discussing a plea deal of snowden returns home and pleads guilty. >> the notion of comments he was not something we were willing to consider. as i said, were he to come back to the united states and enter a plea, we would engage with his lawyers. >> presumably, that woul

i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. >> welcome to all our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. today we will spend the rest of the hour unraveling one of the greatest -- great mysteries of the vietnam war era. on march 8, 1970 one, group of eight activists including a cab driver, a daycare director, and two professors, broke into an fbi office in media, pennsylvania, installed every document they found. the activist, calling themselves the citizens commission to investigate the fbi, soon began leaking shocking details about fbi abuses to the media. among the documents was one that bore the mysterious word cointelpro. >> no one involved in the break- in was ever caught and their identities remained a secret until this week. today, three of the fbi burglars will join us on the show. but first, i want to turn to a new short film produced by the nonprofit news organization retro reports for "the new york times." it is titled, "stealing j. edgar hoover's secrets." greatest heist you have never

i'm amy goodman. president obama deliver the fifth state of the union of his time in office with a vow to take action on his own should congress stonewall progress on key issues. obama pledged to reform nsa surveillance programs and veto new sanctions on iran while there are germ nuclear deal is in effect. he also renewed his call for the closure of guantÁnamo bay prison. >> with the afghan war ending, this needs to be the year congress lifts the remaining restrictions on detainee transfers and we close the prison at guantÁnamo bay. because we counterterrorism not just through intelligence and military action, but by remaining true to our constitutional ideals and setting the example for the rest of the world. the sanctions we put in place helmet this opportunity possible. but let me be clear. if this congress sends me a new sanctions bill now that threatens to derail these talks, i will veto it. [applause] for the sake of our national security, we must give diplomacy a chance to succeed. >> on the do

i'm amy goodman. more than 200 south sudanese civilians have drowned in the white now river while attending to flee violence. an army spokesperson told afp as many as 300 people died in the accident on an overloaded ferry including children. hundreds of thousands have been displaced by the conflict in south sudan. talks between the government and rebels are underway in ethiopia. egypt has begun a two-day referendum on a new constitution. the vote is seen as a possible precursor to her presidential bid at egypt's top military general. it takes place amidst an ongoing track down on dissent including the arrests of those who oppose the charter. hundreds of thousands of police and soldiers were deployed across egypt. before polling began, an explosion rocked a cairo neighborhood. the muslim brotherhood has called for a boycott. an activist with the april 6 democratic front said his group is also rejecting the vote. >> we can never purchase a paid and give legitimacy to regime which tries to act like it is

i'm amy goodman. over 60 people were killed in egypt is weakened in clashes around the third anniversary of the uprising that ousted hosni mubarak. thousands turned out in her rear square, the epicenter of the revolution, but fighting broke out between members of the muslim brotherhood and state backers. over 1000 people were detained by sunday night. in a sign of growing activity by militants and aged russian army helicopter was shot down in the desert killing all five soldiers aboard. group ansar beit al-maqdis has claimed responsibility. the military government said it would hold presidential elections earlier than its political roadmap had called for before the races to select a new parliament. egyptian military leader general abdel-fattah el-sissi who led the coup to overthrow morsi, is expected to run. the syrian government and opposition leaders are holding face-to-face talks for the first time in geneva. the weekends session is focused on humanitarian gestures after initially facing potential

i'm amy goodman. egypt's military government has announced 20 outages or journalist will go on trial for endangering national security and belonging to orating a ."errorist organization the military has accused al jazeera of supporting the muslim brotherhood, which has been protesting against the government since the army toppled resident morsi in july. three of the journalists --peter greste, mohamed fahmy, and baher mohamed have been detained since the summer 29. peter greste's father condemned the move. >> it is unbecoming of a great nation like egypt. it is unbecoming of any civil society to behave like this. it is the meaning of any community which even pretends to be democratic and fair. >> the news comes just days after the third anniversary of the revolution that ousted egyptian dictator mubarak. than 60 weekend, more people were killed in clashes surrounding the anniversary. some 1000 people were detained by sunday night. in a sign of growing and active -- in a sign of growing activity by mil

i'm amy goodman. atcontinue our look back 2013.newly disclosed court order shows the telecom giant verizon is handing over the phone records of millions of subscribers to the u.s. government without individual warrants. the guardian of london reports the fbi obtained a three-month authorization from the foreign intelligence surveillance court in april. it compels verizon to provide the national security agency with metadata of all subscriber phone calls, who they spoke to, where and what time they made the call, and for how long. this appears to mark the broadest act of government surveillance known to date. we're now joined by two former employees of the national security agency. and william binney. >> it is or lan extension of what i've been trying to say that we were on a slippery slope to a totalitarian state to and that was censored based on the idea that government was collecting so much information about all the citizens inside the country that he gave them so much power. >> i think what people are now realizing is this just

i'm amy goodman.are spending the hour remembering the poet and playwright and political organizer amiri baraka. baraka was a leading force in the black arts movement of the 1960s and 1970s. to talk more about his legacy, we are joined by four guests. in philadelphia, sonia sanche. a renowned poet, playwright, activist, one of the leaders of the black studies movement. she is the author of more than a books.outes -- here in new york, we are joined ,y three people, felipe luciano my longtime comrade, poet, journalist, and writer. he knew amiri baraka for 43 years. he was an original group of the group the last poets. komozi woodard is a professor of history at sarah lawrence college, author of "a nation within a nation: amiri baraka and black power politics." is with us, chairman of the people's organization for progress. to start with sonya sanchez. your reaction to the news of amiri baraka's death. >> good morning to you, my brothers and sisters. how are you doing? it is good hearing all of you. juan,

i'm amy goodman, as we return to dr. martin luther king's speech "beyond vietnam."t was april 4th, 1967 at riverside church in new york. >> these are revolutionary times. all over the globe men are revolting against old systems of exploitation and oppression, and out of the wombs of a frail world new systems of justice and equality are being born. the shirtless and barefoot people of the land are rising up as never before. "the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light." we in the west must support these revolutions. it is a sad fact that, because of comfort, complacency, a morbid fear of communism, and our proneness to adjust to injustice, the western nations that initiated so much of the revolutionary spirit of the modern world have now become the arch anti-revolutionaries. this has driven many to feel that only marxism has a revolutionary spirit. therefore, communism is a judgment against our failure to make democracy real and follow through on the revolutions that we initiated. our only hope today lies in our ability to recapture the revolutionary spiri

i'm amy goodman.e are broadcasting from tokyo, japan. tens of thousands of west virginia residents remain without tap water one week after a chemical spill in the elk river. the state's water ban has been lifted in stages over the past several days for about half the 300,000 residents in the effected areas. but that still leaves close to 150,000 without tap water for drinking, bathing, or cooking. dozens of people have been hospitalized with symptoms related to chemical exposure. speaking to cnn, west virginia attorney general patrick morrisey vowed a probe of the spill and the company behind it, freedom industries. >> the reality here is that no one could argue that the water supply should not be protected. we had an absolute, unmitigated disaster here for six days where people are without water area this is not only utterly unacceptable, it is outrageous on every level. whenever we are engaging in a conversation about chemicals, we need to make sure basic protections are put in place. part of this r

amy goodman, host of democracy now. public tv and radio "newshour." she's a syndicated columnist and best-selling author. her latest book is "the story of majority." also with us, dorian warren with columbia university. and susan del percio, republican strategist and msnbc contributor. thank you all for being here. >> good morning. >> i want to start with you, susan, on the question of the republican leadership's agenda item, and the fact that unemployment insurance does not appear there. is this primarily an ideological position or a set of beliefs, or is it about believing politically that it would be harmful to them, given this is the start of an election year, to take up unemployment? >> i think it's based on the fact that there's been no mention of a pay -for here. i think this is something that is going to have to be addressed immediately. like everything else that you discussed in your introductions, this is happening now. these unemployment benefits within if they're going to be addressed, have to be addressed now. not in a month. you can't do

things like tom hartman show in the big picture which are tireless right your own no doubt and and amy goodman she's in control of geography. and the beware young turks and all the web sites truthout include again common dreams and also in it and perhaps the biggest media story a year. back when greenwald and jeremy scahill and laura poitras the journalist independent journalist who's been all over the surveillance story and obama dirty wars and drone strikes these three journalists will be next year heading a new independent media company a journalism company backed by the owner the founder. and they wouldn't have got involved with that unless they had a lot of freedom for running out news organizations. clear global climate change is in my opinion the the biggest story that we've ever faced and we're here where we passed one hundred parts per million this is never happened in the history of the human race there's a possibility that methane hydrates could melt and i mean in fact a study just came out a couple of weeks ago that where we found that fifty five or sixty five fifty five million ye