answers the answers to these questions it's him right well absolutely it was actually the first ministration official to admit that the drone campaign was actually in use everybody knew it was no open secret it was a person that publicly admitted last year that drones were being used to kill people yes so rand paul he's got several questions thirty just in that letter that we mentioned earlier which one do you think j.d. is the most urgent what does the public deserve an answer to the most well the big one the whole isn't the you know i think the one that we really have a right to know is whether the administration thinks that drones can be used to mystically. it's a big issue already overseas people as i mentioned people are dying but we certainly should know with the administration thinks that they can use these tools within the united states according to the same rules or any rules that they've been using overseas. president obama he just had a state of the union address he did promise more transparency he said that before do you think that this could the beginning could be the beginning

the lyrics are from the torture memos of the bush a ministration. this is "democracy now!emocracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. >> we continue our coverage of the senate confirmation hearings for john brennan as director of the cia. looking at his role inside the cia under george w. bush. thursday he was repeatedly questioned about his views on interrogation and torture. this is carl levin of michigan. >> in your opinion, does waterboarding constitutes torture? >> the attorney general has referred to waterboarding as torture many have referred to as torture. as you well know and we've had this discussion, the term "torture" has a lot of legal implications. it is something that should have been banned long ago. in my view it never should have taken place. if i were go to the cia, it would never be brought back. >> to you have a personal opinion as to whether waterboarding is torture? >> i have the personal opinion that it is reprehensible and should not be done. i'm not a lawyer cannot address that question. >> you have read opinions

it was done to protect this of ministration. it in front of the problem before it began. goes to the new york times. that should raise. >> nbc. lou: instead of the new york times you have to say why was that? was the purpose. it is a time-honored tactic public-relations as well as propaganda. [talking over each other] >> the left for years, not just one day as we are seeing with this groan strike, every single day for years the left in the media in this country pounded president bush ver every single counter-terrorism policy, rendition, black said of interrogation, indefinite detention, data mining, or in this wiretapping, and with the exception of enhanced interrogation techniques president obama has accepted and then dropped it every single policy. taking it one step further. [talking over each other] >> this administration, and i have to say this clearly. more cia findings. that is kind of an interesting. the press is let him ge away with it. >> no more people who have been killed by drones than water boarding lou: that is a terrific point. the likelihood is we're goin

the fourteenth amendment due process of those and equal protection of the law and here with the ministration is doing here is they're usurping the constitutional right not meaning to the american citizens and saying that we can be judged jury and executioner we can kill american citizens abroad without them having their court we can say they are jurors and we can go there and the danger is this is when you look at ministration says we can determine who the jurors did and that means go anywhere and any american citizen without any drugs without any publicity and that is a very dangerous precedent. close to herring and now wait john brennan in order to and out sensitive technicalities but already speculation is rife with the direction he might take cia issue of drones his confirmation may only broaden the horizon for america's unmanned fleets what is going to chicago ports. in the shadows no more drones are moving into the mainstream was drone makers and the u.s. military pushing to defend the killing machine drones are more properly titled remotely piloted vehicles allow us to do is to projec

fourteenth amendment do grant so those are more an equal protection of the law and yet all the ministration is doing here is they're usurping the. united to the american citizens and so we can be judge jury and executioner we can show american citizens abroad without them having their court we can say they are jurors and we can go through the danger and this is one of the good ministrations is we can determine who the jurors . really were and julie american was the only drug without any problems. there is a very dangerous precedent. a close hearing awaits john brennan in order to iron out sensitive technicalities but already speculation is rife over what direction that he might take the cia but on the issue of drones as artie's granted she can reports his confirmation could only broaden the horizon for america's unmanned fiends. in the shadows no more drones are moving into the mainstream drone makers and the u.s. military pushing to defend the killing machine drones are more properly titled remotely piloted vehicles allow us to do is to project capability without projecting vulnerability a

do grants to those a war and equal protection of the law and yet within ministration is doing here is they're usurping the. united to the american citizens and so we can be judge jury and executioner we can show american citizens abroad without them having their court we can say they are jurors and we can go there and the dangerous this is one didn't look good ministrations says we can determine who the jurors. really go really were hurt and killed any american citizen without any drugs without any problem and that is a very dangerous precedent. drone warfare its consequences and the morality of it all are up for debate in cross talk today coming up at seven thirty g.m.t. we hear how drone strikes the may be breeding the very terror they seek to destroy . it's quite horrific in africa but it's getting worse i mean there's a new new drawn be a snow in nigeria close to mali so that you've got the west of african eye as well and so it's trucking up so that we're going to have drawn b.s. is all over africa and i'm not sure what to suppose really why are we doing this well isn't it. the mo

court we can say they are cheers and we can go there and the danger and this is one of the good ministrations is we can determine who the jurors did and that means go anywhere in any american citizen without any drugs without any problem and that is a very dangerous precedent they are close to herring and there await john brennan in order to iron out sensitive technicalities but already a speculation is rife with the direction he might take the cia issue of drones his confirmation merely broaden the horizon for america's unmanned fleets what is going to take care of ports. in the shadows no more drones are moving into the mainstream was drone makers and the u.s. military pushing to defend the killing machine drones are more properly titled remotely piloted vehicles allow us to do is to project capability without projecting vulnerability in their revolutionizing warfare by allowing us to see and kill from path a world away a major drone manufacturer lockheed martin has financed an hour long documentary on drones aired recently on u.s. public television counting the technological capabilities o

court we can say they are jurors and we can go there and the danger of this is when you look at ministrations says we can determine who the jurors then that means they go anywhere and kill any american citizen without any drought without any problems and that is a very dangerous precedent. well john brennan is now up for a closed door hearing to i doubt sensitive technicalities but the debate has already brewing about what direction he could take the cia so he's going to check out experience. in the shadows no more drones are moving into the mainstream was drone makers and the u.s. military pushing to defend the killing machine drones are more properly titled remotely piloted vehicles allow us to do is to project capability without projecting vulnerability in their revolutionizing warfare by allowing us to see and . from half a world away a major drone manufacturer lockheed martin has financed an hour long documentary on drones aired recently on u.s. public television touting the technological capabilities of the killing machine from trailers like this pilots of the predator and its larger co

and equal protection of the law and here within ministration is doing here is they're usurping the right denying it to the american citizens and saying that we can be just jury and executioner we can go back to the role without them in their court we can say they are yours and we can go there and the dangerous is when you look at ministrations we can determine who are the jurors did that mean go in the room or in any americans without any drugs without any problem and that is a very dangerous precedent john brennan is now up for a closed door hearing to iron out sensitive technicalities of the debate is already brewing about what direction he could take the cia as artie's gonna chicken explains. in the shadows no more drones are moving into the mainstream was drone makers in the u.s. military pushing to defend the killing machine drones are more properly titled remotely piloted vehicles allow us to do is to project capability without projecting vulnerability and their revolutionizing warfare by allowing us to see and kill from half a world away a major drone manufacturer lockheed martin

and even if they're not, whether that possibility is open for another and ministration in the future. >> jameel jaffer, thank you for being with us, deputy legal director for the aclu. coming up later, we will speak with daniel ellsberg from the pentagon papers and also jacob appelbaum, who just lost a case. he does not have the right, says a federal court, to know when the government is taking his twitter information or email information. next, the controversy in the boy scouts. will the boy scouts of america allow gay leaders, gay members? stay with us. ♪ [music break] >> this is "democracy now!," democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. >> the boy scouts of america board members opened a three-day meeting on monday in which they will consider lifting its controversial ban on openly gay members. the group's national executive board is expected to vote wednesday on the ban which was reaffirmed just last year. on monday group of current and former scouts -- and scout leaders -- rallied outside the boy scouts headquarters in dallas. among them wa

action was no us troops involved what he did not talk about was the limits for this war that gave ministration his waging with a remote control the justification that the administration gave in john brennan's words. don't punish people for past guilt strike before they take action that offers a very broad scope for the use of drones despite the u. when raising concerns about the legality of the use of drones washington is setting up new bases around the globe. even though drones are this administration's weapon of choice ghana's them president obama wants to leave some troops on the ground twenty fourteen when they're supposed to be all out in the speech he mentioned on the way to go with the afghan government on that issue and it's going to be a hard bargain because the afghan government risks further steering. their own population over foreign military presence especially after incidents like the one. that was reported just hours after the president's speech by nato strike killed ten afghan civilians one could sense a change maybe even your concern as the president on the results of the revo

direct negotiations do you think we could see direct negotiations any time soon with chuck hagel in ministration well i think that that former senator hagel has taken courageous positions on iran on a range of issues and i admire them and respect them and the concern i have is that he is being nominated for the wrong job to carry out those positions his defense secretary if he is a if he is if he's approved to be as defense secretary he will not be the person in charge of creating or implementing strategies of iran or any other foreign policy issue. he will be he will be at the defense department doing quintessentially defense secretary things in this environment which is to cut the budget and try to keep the united states out of another war now that peace try to keep the united states out of another war could have impact here but the problem is he what he could potentially try to keep united states out of another war without being able to either to offer a vision for another way to deal with this challenge the islamic republic poses a real challenge for the united states and a real challenge to

negotiations do you think we could see direct negotiations any time soon with chuck hagel in the ministration well if he i think that that former senator hagel has taken courageous positions on iran on a range of issues and i admire them and respect them and the concern i have is that he is being nominated for the wrong job to carry out those positions his defense secretary if he is or if he is if he's approved to be as defense secretary he will not be the person in charge of creating or implementing strategies of iran or any other foreign policy issue. he will be he will be at the defensive. i mean doing quintessentially defense secretary things in this environment which is to cut the budget and try to keep the united states out of another war now that peace try to keep the united states out of another war could have impact here but the problem is he what he could potentially try to keep united states out of another war without being able to either to offer a vision for another way to deal with this challenge the islamic republic poses a real challenge for the united states and a real challe

to the extent that the administration's legal theory remains mysterious to congress, the deal ministration should be appeared to explain and put down in writing what they can -- congress, the administration should be up here to explain and put down in writing what they can. of the americans who are dead, every single one of those fell within the aumf. the president of the united states is allowed to receive a particular memo on a particular day and rely on that. >> i was not a huge fan of the bush administration, as many of my colleagues know. we actually did get access to their memorandum laying out their rationale. i thought it was poorly written and miss advise, but at least we were -- misadvised, but we've received that and i would expect no less from the current thewe -- but we received that and i would expect no less from the current president. >> i would like to express my frustration at the d.o.j.'s absence today. some of my colleagues know that i worked there and i have plenty of friends there and i respect their work. not responding to a letter from some guy from south carolina -

as you know, the ministration moved -- the administration moved the defense systems from europe and put them on the back of the navy without additional resources. one of because we will see is the inability to do upgrades. we will have a right there. in terms of ships, part of that is increasing the deployment time to seven months from six. that is a deep thing on the backs of our men and women and uniform. that is without sequestration. by 2020, we will be outmanned in terms of summaries in the pacific 78-32 by the chinese. none of those are good pictures. what we are hoping is in addition to sequence ration, we will be looking at this in context that these cuts have already been taking -- taken. what can we afford to cut? what is the risk to you the united states of america by not supplying these questio? >> we've heard so much about who is to blame, but members of the super committee are long gone. they failed to reach an agreement. don't they share the blame, and why are we not hearing about them? >> i think we need to know where we come from to know where we are going. that is a fa

fourteenth amendment due process of those laws and equal protection of the law and here with the ministration is doing here is they're usurping the. united to the american citizens and saying that we can be judged jury and executioner we can show american citizens abroad without them having their court we can say they aren't yours and we can kill them and the danger of this is when you look at ministrations we can determine who are the jurors then that means go anywhere and any american citizen without any without any problem and that is a very dangerous precedent john brennan is now up for a closed door hearing to i doubt sensitive technicalities but the debate is already bring about what direction he can take the cia is out is going to change our experience. in the shadows no more drones are moving into the mainstream was drone makers in the u.s. military pushing to defend the killing machine drones are more properly titled remotely piloted vehicles allow us to do is to project capability without projecting vulnerability in their revolutionizing warfare by allowing us to see and kill from h

ministrations i'm going so when i have the possibility to go and live. for the private sector where i would decide myself. what i went to i thought that that's all. something for me. and then i just other. business around the open situation. started. to be lobbyists. you know we. everybody believe the bad. so will make those institutions and institutions in the european union is about the commission the council of ministers and the european parliament but there is also. another world behind that which is how to influence the institutions to make a text to give a good idea to. propose amendments to trying to fine tune the text depending on the interest of the people we are to push for. lobbying is it was originally envisioned is a good thing no lawmaker can be an expert in all the fields that he or she has to deal with and so they rely on other people giving them advice. but lobbying went from their field of expertise into what is more properly called hired guns so you now have people who may not be an expert in anything they're dealing with but they're p

ministrations and so when they want to have the possibility to go and live. off of the private sector where i would decide myself. what i went to i thought that that small. something. and then i discovered. business around the loop institutions. are starting. to be lobbyists. you know we. everybody believe that. the will make us institutions and institutions in the european union is about the commission the council of ministers and the european parliament but there is also. another word behind that which is how to influence the institutions to make a text to give a good idea to. propose amendments to trying to fine tune the text depending on the interest of the people and when you're to push more. loving is it was originally envisioned is a good thing no lawmaker can be an expert in all the fields that he or she has to deal with and so they rely on other people giving them advice. but lobbying went from their field of expertise into what is more properly called hired guns so you now have people who may not be an expert in anything they're dealing with but the

ministrations of so when they want to have the possibility to go. for the private sector where i would decide myself. what i went to i thought that that's all. something for me. and then i just all the business around the open situations. i'm starting. to be obese. you know we. everybody believe the bad. so we'll make the institutions and institutions in the european union is about the commission the council of ministers and the european parliament but there is also. i know the word behind that which is how to influence the institutions to make a text to give a good idea to. propose amendments to trying to fine tune the text depending on the interest of the people we are to push more. blubbing is it was originally envisioned is a good thing no lawmaker can be an expert in all the fields that he or she has to deal with and so they rely on other people giving them advice. but lobbying went from their field of expertise into what is more properly called hired guns so you now have people who may not be an expert in anything they're dealing with but they

it recalls the worst excess of rudy guiliani's the ministration the threat have funding terminated for brooklyn museum of art for the crime of exhibiting art that he as the mayor found offensive. the federal court said that was a profound violation of the first amendment and to court liberties breed that is what is taking place now with the threat to brooklyn college all in order to shield and support criticisms of israel. >> omar barghouti, this is not your first icy welcome in the u.s. you came here for a speaking tour and had a problem getting a visa for several weeks. i believe it took a public campaign to secure the visa. now you're here and there is this huge campaign to catch your event, the are receiving unlikely support. there was a "new york times" editorial supporting freedom of speech. do you think public opinion is shifting when it comes to bds? >> i absolutely think so. bds is spreading across campuses. many activist groups, feminists, antiwar movements, lgbt are joining the campaigns and the u.s. there are many campaigns on campuses. there is a major shift among a number

high-level bush a ministration officials themselves acknowledge there's only so much you can do it onceprisoners are out of your custody. the onus is on the obama administration to explain what its policy is and how it will work. >> what do you think of john brennan as president obama is nominee? >> i think as many questions to answer. i think rendition is a documented in this report from a source of great human rights violation. it damaged the reputation of u.s. around the world and coopted as many as 54 governments into torture programs. it is flagrantly illegal and requires a serious examination by the intelligence committee. >> i want to go to a clip of john brennan in 2006 when he appeared on "frontline" on pbs where he was questioned about the bush a ministration counterterrorism policies. >> the war will be a long one. -- the war against terrorism will be a long one. whether the iraq does not play by the queen's very rules. the u.s. has to take off the gloves and i think that is appropriate. i think we do have to take off the gloves in some areas, but in the right time, the right

ministrations and so when they want to have the possibility to go. for the private sector where i would decide myself. what i went to i thought that that's more. something for me. and then i discovered. business around the open situation. to be lobbyists. you know we. everybody believe the bad. the will make the institutions and institutions in the european union is about the commission the council of ministers and the european parliament but there is also. another world behind that which is how to influence the institutions to make a text to give a good idea to. propose amendments to trying to fine tune the text depending on the interest of the people we are to push more. blubbing is it was originally envisioned is a good thing no lawmaker can be an expert in all the fields that he or she has to deal with and so they rely on other people giving them advice. but lobbying went from their field of expertise into what is more properly called hired guns so you now have people who may not be an expert in anything they're dealing with but they're paid for

the mayor has to get rid of the of ministration, we all know that. have to get rid of alvarez. let him sleep out there with the tenants. right now the bottom line is the tenants. this audit will show that they are out of compliance; it would show that there are total violations and it is going to show the reason why i'm going to file an injunction, i'm going to hire angela alioto the stopple procedures in the city and county that relates to african-american tenants; you are playing around here like we are playing games. those tenants are the one suffering. the authority is out of compliance. >> chair: thank you. >> i will come back of another chance. >> chair: any of the speakers for item 2. seeing none public comment is closed. gvl(gavel) we have a motion on the motion? >> i make a motion to move this item with a positive recommendation. >> chair: supervisor cohen do you want to say a few words? we have a motion to set the item forward with recommendations, narrowing down the focus of this item, many members of this board whether on the committee or elsewhere will be feeding i

those whose political connections to president obama were measured in dollars rather than the ministration service had an increased chance of representing the united states and western europe and a smaller chance of serving in say central asia or sub-saharan africa donors and advisers involved in the diplomatic selection process say the competition this year has been so tight that those who have raised less than a million dollars are for the most part unlikely to be considered so what is the quote unquote price tag for the highly sought diplomatic posts according to this study friends and monaco topped the list with a level of personal contributions at six point two million dollars quote unquote the price for a position in the u.k. the authors find appears to lie between six hundred fifty thousand dollars and two point three million dollars a posting in luxembourg is valued as three point one million dollars and appointment to portugal was predicted to have a value of around six hundred thousand dollars like all modern presidents before him president obama has appointed friends and donors

just going to compare a little bit this administration with the previous and i think you said ministration we can say i think it's been more willing to negotiate with a ring and when obama came to power i think they extended their hand they sent letters to the supreme leader ayatollah khomeini and i think they didn't get a response and i think they tried to use diplomacy track to i think they they be much more willing than previous administration to use i think to engage iran interim solution but i think the problem here i think it's it's more deep i think we can't just cherry pick this event and focus on this and i think we have to look at the broader context and what is. happening i think the underlying principles of the islamic republic of iran and the reason for its own detail and therefore its survival it's the enmity toward the united states i think the iranian government cannot afford having a relationship any gauge with the united states and the reason is that if they if they have a relationship with the united states that would mean that they cannot suppress and they cannot crack

court we can say they are yours and we can kill them and the danger of this is when you look at ministrations we can determine who was your then that means go anywhere. without any draft without any problems and that is a very. very and is now up for a closed door hearing to iron out sensitive technicalities but debate has already brewing about what direction he could take the cia as artie's going to chicken express. in the shadows no more drones are moving into the mainstream was drone makers in the u.s. military pushing to defend the killing machine drones are more properly titled remotely piloted vehicles allow us to do is to project capability without projecting vulnerability and their revolutionizing warfare by allowing us to see and kill from half a world away a major drone manufacturer lockheed martin has financed an hour long documentary on drones aired recently on u.s. public television counting the technological capabilities of the killing machine from trailers like this pilots of the predator and its larger cousin the reaper have killed thousands of individuals since two thousand a

ministration well he i think that the former senator hagel has taken courageous positions on iran on a range of issues and i admire them and respect them and the concern i have is that he is being nominated for the wrong job to carry out those positions his defense secretary if he is a if he is if he's approved to be as defense secretary he will not be the person in charge of creating or implementing strategies of iran or any other foreign policy issue. he will be he will be at the defense department doing quintessentially defense secretary things in this environment which is to cut the budget and try to keep the united states out of another war now that peace try to keep the united states out of another war could have impact here but the problem is he what he could potentially try to keep united states out of another war without being able to either to offer a vision for another way to deal with this challenge the islamic republic poses a real challenge to the united states and a real challenge to israel in the region that challenges to significantly constrain both the united states

court we can say they are jurors and we can go there and the dangerousness is one hundred good ministrations so as we can determine who are the jurors didn't that really go we were hurt and guilty american citizen was only drug without any problems and that is a very dangerous precedent. journal warfare its consequences and the morality of it all up for debate in crosstalk today coming up later this hour we hear how drone strikes may be breeding the very terror they seek to destroy. is quite horrific in africa but it's getting worse i mean this is a new new drawn be a snow day in nigeria close to mali so that you've got the west of african i as well and so it's trucking up so that we're going to have drawn be a says all over africa i'm not sure what to suppose really why are we doing this well isn't it. the most effective recruitment tool for insurgents in the world david what do you think about that drones are an improvement on torture drones or an appointment or a ground war these are the arguments were being given and yet we didn't have a ground war in yemen we might need one eventually a

needs missile defense he also said it ministration will be seeking further reduction of nuclear arsenals with russia it's a foreign policy goal that president obama announced in his state of the union speech without going into details. during his speech obama announced the signing of a new cybersecurity it would on the state the proper so which is to boost the nation's defenses against time but the policy has been slammed by critics as an invasion of privacy and journalist and author tom gjelten says the cyberspace simply not transparent enough to be accountable we are moving into. an era where countries be all more and more free to attack each other and they very feel that they can do so without being caught the difficulty is there particularly here in the united states there is so much secrecy surrounding cyber war and cyber weaponry in general but particularly army officers there should be perhaps nor will govern our conduct is that worse some discussion about. how international laws of war. the u.n. will be found sanctions against north korea and an imagist meeting of the internation

court we can say they are jurors and we can go there and the danger and this is one of the good ministrations is we can determine who the jurors did and that means you know we were hurt in any american citizen without any drugs without any publicity and that is a very dangerous precedent. drone warfare is consequences and the reality of it all up for debate and cross talk today coming up next we get how drone strikes me breeding the very terror they seek to destroy. is quite horrific in africa but it's getting worse i mean this is a new new drawn be a snow in nigeria close to mali so that you've got the west of african as well and so it's trucking up so that we're going to have drawn be a says all over africa i'm not sure what to suppose really why are we doing this well isn't it. the most effective recruitment tool for insurgents in the world david what do you think about that drones are an improvement on torture drones or an appointment of a ground war these are the arguments were being given and yet we didn't have a ground war in yemen we might need one eventually left with the damage the