at the fact that trumps education secretary betsy to vos is the sister of the founder of blackwater erik prince now there's also been a lot of outrage about who is not on the list of trump's pardons among the 15 people pardon and 5 sentence commute meant the names that were missing that many were optimistic and hopeful about were julian a son gen edward snowden these prominent whistleblowers had many people calling for the trump white house to grant them clemency among those who called for them were not just activists and advocates of civil liberties and for the protection of whistleblowers but also representatives of the united nations take a listen if president trump is true to its values i think the least thing to could do is to end the suffering the purity the songs to pardon him this man has suffered enough for the interest of the public and was donald trump since you're given pardons to people please consider pardoning those who at great personal sacrifice expose the deception and criminality of those in the deep state now trump still has time to grant a pardon to edward snowden and to ju

i was contacted to represent them and others in a civil lawsuit against blackwater, erik prince, and ur that were convicted of these murder and manslaughter charges. we proceeded with a civil lawsuit in north carolina against blackwater and the men, the shooters. that case was removed from state court to federal court. we fought to have it back in state court. it was in a court of appeals, the 4th circuit court of appeals in richmond, virginia. and we eventually resolved the case favorably for all parties without the necessity of trial. and i represented the kinani family and several others. >> there was reporting today about the families. obviously this was a profound, profound trauma for everyone that lived through this, t including the family you represent and lost people in it. there is reporting today that the pardons have reduced american talk of human rights to mere slogans, a brother of one of the victims said. obviously there's a place for mercy. there's a place for pardon. obviously people do incredibly heinous things, but i do wonder what the reverberations of this pardon a

blackwater was founded by erik prince, close ally president trump. sister, betsy devos, serves as education secretary. supporters of the blackwater guards refer to the been as the biden four. in 2010, then vice president joe biden announced justice department would appeal the dismissal of a criminal case against the blackwater mercenaries involved in the nisour square sticker. the men would later be tried and convicted. paulore, we're joined by dickinson, served as the lawyer of the family of ali kinani and five other victims of the blackwater contractors who were convicted of killing at least 14 innocent iraqi citizens in the attack. his recent piece in the intercept is headlined "i sued blackwater for the massacre of iraqi civilians. trump just pardoned those convicted killers." paul dickinson, welcome to democracy now! could you respond to the pardon and its significance? >> good morning, amy. thank you for having me. i will admit it has been quite a tole since i have listened that gripping interview with mohammed. i was sitting in the room when h

mohammed and his family mourned the death of ali, half a world away in washington, d.c., blackwater's owner erik princes summoned before the u.s. congress. blackwater, prince said, had been the victim of an armed ambush by iraqi insurgents at nisour square and he defended the conduct of his men, saying they had "acted appropriately at all times." >> you do admit that blackwater personnel have shot and killed innocent civilians, don't you? >> no, sir. i disagree with that. i thinthere's been times when guys are using defensive force to protect themselves, to protect the package. they're trying to get away from danger. there could be ricochets. there are traffic accidents, yes. is is war. jeremy: mohammed watched those hearings live and was outraged. >> i wish they would ask the head of blackwater, did he think that this child was a threat to his company? this giant company with all the biggest weapons, guns and planes -- was this boy a threat to them? jeremy: at the heari, a state department document was produced revealing that before nisour square, the department had coordinated with blackwater to set

in connection to the massacre of iraqi civilians, those contractors from the firm blackwater which is run by erik prince the brother of education secretary betsy devos. >>> meantime the other big story this morning, the virus, as it has been for months and the president as he has for some time still largely ignoring it. more than 3,400 deaths were reported on tuesday, that is the second highest daily death toll since the start of the pandemic. >> let's begin with the fate of the stimulus bill and what we know about what might happen. joining us john harwood, cnn white house correspondent and seung min kim white house reporter for the "washington post." john, let's start with what we know about what might happen next. is the president going to sign this? >> we don't know, and the question is is this the president just fulminating -- you know, he has been raging in private, mostly in private, because he has been hiding out from reporters, raging against his defeat and, you know, jeremy diamond, our colleague, reported an adviser told him yesterday this is a child having a temper tantrum. i'm reminded of a

blackwater was a company founded by erik prince, a trump supporter and the brother of education secretary betsy devos. and back to that coronavirus relief bill, it passed with overwhelming support in both the house and the senate, so congress could override trump's veto. however, democrats are indicating they might take trump up on his offer to increase the payment since for months they've been asking for $2,000 checks. mona, will. >>> thank you, faith. >>> california secretary of state has been chosen to replace senator kamala harris as she steps up to become vice president. alex padilla, the son of mexican immigrants, will be the first latino senator in california's history. the selection means there will be no black women in the senate. >>> white house coronavirus task force coordinator dr. deborah birx has announced plans to retire. she's been under scrutiny after traveling out of state with family during the thanksgiving holiday despite her own guidelines. dr. birx gave no time line for her departure and said she would first help the incoming biden administration. >>> two health care