the american civil liberties union represents two women who sued over the ban. we're going to hear from a high ranking military woman coming up on abc 7 news at 6:00. >> secretary of state clinton clashed with republican critics today during hearings on at tack on the american consulate in libya. four americans were killed in that attack. today lawmakers zee manded answers about the september 11th attacks. republicans wanted to know why it was described as part of a protest. >> noun that that within day autos with all due respect, fact is that we have four dead americans. >> i understand. >> was it because of a protest or guys out for a walk deciding to kill americans? what difference at this point, does it make? it is our job to figure out what happened and do everything we can to prevent it from ever happening again, senator. >> the family says secretary clinton reached owl out several times to offer sympathyes they say they want to avoid discussion of whether security was adequate. >> there is more still to come on abc 7 news at 5:00 including hitting super b

we also have a legislative counsel for the american civil liberties union and the executive director of the bill of rights defense committee. before we begin the discussion, i want to play an interview i did a short while ago with a former senior executive at the national security agency. here is his take on what the extension of the fisa amendment act means for u.s. civil liberties. >> a whole series of acts have been passed that have gotten re -authorized without any amendments at all. that particular act is one element of a larger series of activities that the u.s. is engaged in in terms of surveillance. >> is there anything that has taken place or is there anything to justify this level of surveillance and monitoring that is taking place? >> not at all other than for reasons of counterterrorism and dealing with a threat. that has been the government's mem ever since before -- ever since post-9/11. >> has someone been apprehended before this legislation? >> anybody could have accepted the need to counter the threat. i get that because of what happened in -- on 9/11. the problem is

. >>> speaking of drone attacks, a new york judge rejected a request by the american civil liberties union to obtain the obama administration legal justification for such strikes for suspected terrorists overseas. >>> the united nations said the death toll for the war is now more than exiting,000, that's even higher than estimates made by rebel groups during the syrian army. >>> interesting in buying a civil launchpad. nasa is selling space in the building first used to put together rockets in the apollo program. >>> and for a first time, scientists discovering a new-formed star have found details forming around it. giant gas in the disk of materials surrounding the star using gravity surrounding the gap helping the star to grow. well, the first day of trading for 2013 had stocks on a tear following the fiscal cliff deals on capitol hill. the dow opens at 13,000412 after surging 308 points yesterday. the s&p shot up 36. and the nasdaq leaped 92. >>> over assess, the nikkei was closed for holiday, but the hang seng rose 86. moody's investor services warned that a viable plan to shrink our d

the american civil liberties union's national prison project praised the closure saying -- those are some of the headlines. this is "democracy now!," democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. president obama is expected today to nominate john brennan as the next director of the central intelligence agency and former republican senator chuck hagel as defense secretary. we begin by looking at john brennan. 25 year cia veteran who currently serves as obama's top counter-terrorism adviser. he has played a key role in the expansion of obama's secret drone war and has been dubbed by some to be the "assassination czar." he was a rumored pick when obama was first elected in 2008, but forced to withdraw from consideration amid protests over his role at the cia under george w. bush. brennan had publicly supported the ca's policies of so-called enhanced interrogation techniques and extraordinary rendition. joining us by videostream is marcy wheeler, investigative blogger who is written extensively about john brennan. she writes the website and joins us from michigan. tell us

the american civil liberties union and the new york times had filed a lawsuit under the freedom of information act demanding u.s. government disclose the legal basis for launching drone strikes overseas. the suit was filed after the u.s. kill the american-born cleric anwar al awlaki in yemen despite having never charged him with a crime. in upholding the obama at the ministration's right to secrecy, u.s. district judge colleen mcmahon expressed misgivings about the drone program itself writing -- the alice-in-wonderland nature some of the first details have emerged on the white house's effort to tackle gun control in the aftermath of last month's shooting massacre in newtown, connecticut. the washington buzz reports the task force overseen by vice- president joe biden is mulling proposals include some reinstatement of the expired ban on assault weapons and high- capacity magazines, universal background checks for all gun buyers, a database to track the trajectory arms nationwide, more detailed mental health checks, and harsher penalties for carrying a gun near a school or giving one to minors.

. >> deputy legal director of the american civil liberties union recently discussed the u.s. justice system at the new york public library. topics included mandatory minimum sentencing rules, prison overcrowding, the death penalty and racial disparities and incarceration rates. it is an hour and 10 minutes. [applause] >> good evening. thank you all for coming here this evening and thank you to the new york public library for inviting me. i am going to talk today about incarceration and the united states, necessarily detailed conversation about racial justice. i am going to talk about it through the lens of my own career path as an advocate for criminal justice reform who has worked national impact mitigation outfit and organizations my whole career. the evolution in my own thinking and strategies i work and use and employed to achieve criminal justice reform in some ways mirror the art of this issue in this country over the last ten years and i will explain that a little bit. as many of you know over the last 40 years the united states has adopted a tough on crime criminal-ju

the american civil liberties union filed the request under the freedom of information act asking for the justice department to review the f.b.i.'s guidelines their internal memos as to how and under what circumstances they track people as of now there is no clear understanding among americans of when they will be subjected to tracking possibly for months at a time or whether the government will first get a warrant this is the justice department's response more than one hundred pages of completely redacted material except for the title so to the question how when and why the government can track its citizens the f.b.i. responded with this takes a lot of ink to print out something like this some artistic souls may think of the painting black square by live each we're certainly not sure of the artistic intentions of the u.s. justice department or the meanings they put into these black pages but for civil liberties advocates here this is what government secrecy looks like actually it was last month when president obama signed a bill that essentially allows the government to spy on anyone

the ruling comes after the american civil liberties union said a new city ordinance and code enforcement guide trampled on free speech rights. >>> and there's been a rush to scoop up 49ers gear but much of the stuff you see being sold on the streets is counterfeit. one vendor told us his gear was licensed but customs confirmed it was counterfeit. one agent said the bargain prices are no bargain. >> downside is you're not getting a genuine product. the quality is probably not good. there may be chemicals that are not approved to be used. >> official nfl gear will have a hologram, tags and higher price. the nfl gets a cut of the sales and distributes it among the franchises including the 49ers. >>> there they are. >> i'm holding super bowl tickets for next sunday. i'm going! i'm going. i don't have any reservations just yet but that's in the works. >> one lucky guy. one of several 9ers fans who won the team's ticket lottery. they got to pick up those tickets this morning. now the question is, will they take the tickets and make their way to the game or will they sell them and keep the cash

the american civil liberties union filed the request under the freedom of information act asking for the justice department to reveal the f.b.i.'s guidelines their internal memos us to how and under what circumstances they track people as of now there is no clear.

the american civil liberties union got involved pretty quickly, and the prosecution was dropped. more recently, the, a film company own or tried to name -- owner tried to name his company i choose hell productions. and was denied under, denied in corporation under the state's incorporation laws because it was a blasphemous title for the company. and that, too, eventually was dismissed. >> host: professor gordon, why did it start to change in the early 20th century? >> guest: i think for several different reasons. one especially with the growth of the federal government in the new deal era. the other really was that the, um, the embrace of migration and pluralism, um, immigration began to cease a little bit after the restrictive immigration acts of the early 20th century, and then the new deal forced so many people on to the move. looking for work, um, having much greater contact with government. and the expansion of government power really highlighted the friction between a bigger government and the lives of believers. so there was a lot more attention. >> host: you write about t

we have to ask ourselves what have we created with the help of the american civil liberties union this shoshana is filing suit against the f.b.i. frontier airlines the t.s.a. ice and the customs and border protection agency she hopes her lawsuit will bring what she says quote accountability and changes so this type of thing doesn't happen again we can only hope. the fact is that we the people allow this war on terror to begin and to grow and if we the people don't put an end to it fast then it will eventually turn its guns on us. and that's the way it is tonight wednesday january twenty third twenty thirteen for more information check out our website to tom harkin dot com free speech dot org or to dot com and bullet dot com slash big picture at all forget democracy begins with you get out there get active tag your it see. what mistry is hidden deep the nice. visit to the north welcome here. traps laid for intruders. and the supernatural can arise from nowhere. can the human be possessed by the water spirit. mistress of the cave on auntie. limitation free liquid intake and free liquor s

we have to ask ourselves what have we created with the help of the american civil liberties union this shoshana is filing suit against the f.b.i. frontier airlines the t.s.a. ice and the customs and border protection she hopes her lawsuit will bring what she says quote accountability and changes so this type of thing doesn't happen again we can only hope. the fact is that we the people allow this war on terror to begin and to grow and if we the people don't put an end to it fast then it will eventually turn its guns on us. and that's the way it is tonight wednesday january twenty third two thousand and thirteen for more information check out our website to tom harkin dot com free speech dot org or to dot com and blue dot com slash big picture you know forget democracy begins with you get out there get active tag your it seal . download the official publication if you so choose your language stream quality and enjoy your favorite. if you're away from your television or it just doesn't work so well with your mobile device you can watch on t.v. anytime anywhere. well. it's technology inno

the american civil liberties union has a political alliance with mexico. ey signed an agreement to work against the u.s. government against the american border force. they have a formal agreement with this american group, american civil liberties union and how they get around border enforcement and when we do to undermine american sovereignty. i have a chapter on immigration and the assimilation of immigrants of the national identity invites important in this wave of increasing immigration. we have peach ergodic simulation is supposed to multiculturalism and yes it's the very same groups. in fact, the u.n. brought the tour, we have a professor at notre dame, but examining from the u.n. come without the authority of the u.s. government. but he met with the aclu, human rights international. so they want to promote global law. they're working with governments. so you're absolutely right. >> i think like most of this room, i agree the general sentiment here that lives in sovereignty for america to transnational entities is a dangerous thing. i'll ask a more the

. >> but critics including the american civil libertys union say the public promises conflict with hisl that attempts to set clear standard for use of drones in targeted killing missions. >> here you have a secret play book, a secret set of rules on how the president himself is going to make decisions on who the kill and who lives and who dies, including united states citizens. then you have, then you have a complete exception for the c.i.a.'s use of drones in pakistan. so, how is that not endless war and how is that compliance with the rule of law? >> today at the white house briefing spokesman jay carney was pushed to explain the apparent contradiction. >> we need to do everything we can to keep americans an america safe as well as our allies. we need to do it in ways consistent with the values and our laws. >> we have been briefed on drones. we have been briefed when the drones have been used. but there is no real strategy there. there are no guidelines there. >> the new chairman of the house homeland security committee mike mccall says the video stills are more evidence that al-qae

the american civil liberties union says the combat exclusion policy barred women.clu argued it was outdated, because it didn't match the reality of post-9/11 warfare. >>> a fix for the boeing dreamliner flit is imminent. congressman rick larsen of washington state says both the faa and boeing have told him the grounding of the planes should not last long. all dreamliners worldwide are grounded following overheating problems with the lithium-ion batteries. boeing's plant is in larsen's district. >>> some wicked wild weather in the great lakes is causing hazardous conditions. interstate 90 in ohio was shut down for 90 minutes today. a lake-effect snow warning is in effect for the area until thursday. that arctic air mass has been blamed for several deaths across the midwest. many locations have seen temperatures below zero. in chicago firefighters say frigid temperatures made a massive fire at a warehouse much more difficult to handle last night. in minnesota, a woman suffered frostbite after running out of gas on a highway. >>> despite the rain, the actually warming

the american civil liberties union joined the "new york times" in filing requests for more details onthe freedom of information act. >>> listen up. fast food addicts, including you, the price of some cheap seats at a popular fast food chain is going up. >> that can't be good. and big celebrity news this morning. brad pit and -- pitt and angelina jolie may have finally taken the big walk down the aisle. >> we'll have that and a live look at your traffic and weather when fox 5 morning news continues. (vo) they were married for... 53 years. she was his everything. he can't live alone anymore. but we don't have the room. so, we talked to suntrust... looked at our options... remodeled... for family, you make it work. he taught me that. (anncr) join the thousands of people switching to suntrust's award-winning service. how can we help you shine today? . >>> welcome back. tucker is here. you know what that means. time to do some weather. >> yeah. >> it is cold. temperatures falling back -- i mean -- it is noticeably colder than yesterday in my opinion. >> i felt it. >> back in the 20s and lo

four women along with the american civil liberties union, the aclu, sued the government over this banwhen the announcement came today they were shocked to hear the news. it is a policy change that could be life changing. >> pictures of me parachuting. >> reporter: in the eight years susan served in the u.s. air force, all but one of her dreams came true. that dream was a combat job from which women were banned. >> there are women who are extremely strong and have the ability and the skills they need to do well in this job. and to hold them back because of a stereotype is wrong. >> reporter: she now runs academy women, a support site dedicated to military women with 10,000 members. she says the ban often comes up. four women along with the national aclu and the northern california aclu chapters sued the government to overturn the ban. the announcement was a shock. >> the combat exclusion policy, one of the last vestiges of discrimination against women just because we're women. >> reporter: when the suit was filed in november, the military opened up 140,000 jobs and lifted the ban on wo

the american civil libertys union said despite raising concerns over the terrorism tactics of the whitethey should not move on the nomination until all senators can assess the role of the c.i.a. and any role by bren nan himself in forture. the choice of brennan the aclu sees a largeer program. >> much of the legal architecture that the bush administration used to justify so-called war on terror is being continued by the obama administration. >> with the 6,000-page classified investigation, including the c.i.a. program did not provide ballot intelligence,be the chair of the senate intelligence committee made clear she will press for answers. i will be discussing the intelligence committee recently completed report and will ask how he would respond to the reports findings and conclusions if confirmed. the republican senator john mccain said that it's further scrutiny, especially what role he played in the so-called enhanced interrogation program. brennan's public statement appear inconsistent. in a seven interview he said the program saved lives. year later he denounced the c.i.a. interro

. >> reporter: steven shapiro from the american civil liberties union on behalf of a man who had a warrantlesst in missouri in twechbl the state upheld an order throwing out the blood test. all 50 states have laws requiring those arrested on suspicion of drunk driving contest to a blood alcohol test. the aclu says 25 states also have laws requiring police to seek a warrant when drivers refuse. but lawyers for missouri and the obama administration don't think police should have to wait. many prosecutors agree. >> it's crucial for law enforcement to obtain the blood alcohol level in a timely fashion and the evidence is being destroyed every minute that we wait. >> reporter: 47 years ago, the supreme court ruled that officers could only forego go a warrant in special circumstances. today, justices struggled with whether the dissipation of alcohol in the blood over time meets the threshold. the supreme court is likely to rule on the case by summer. mcneeley had his license suspended for a year for refusing to consent to that blood test. reporting live on capitol hill, i'm danielle leigh, news4. >>

the american civil liberties union expressed concern about obama's call for more police officers in schools, saying -- you can go to democracynow.org for debate on the issue of armed officers in schools from wednesday's broadcast, as well as our other coverage of obama's gun-control plan. the judge overseeing the pre- trial hearing of alleged army whistleblower bradley manning has ruled the government must prove manning wanted to aid the enemy as prosecutors have alleged. on wednesday, colonel denise lind told prosecutors to prove that manning knew or should have known the documents he's accused of passing to wikileaks would end up being seen by members of al qaeda. lind also granted a defense request to present evidence that manning carefully selected documents he knew would not harm the united states. manning has previously offered to plead guilty to releasing documents if the government drops its most serious charges, including aiding the enemy. also on wednesday, defense attorneys tried to argue for the case's dismissal on the grounds manning has been denied the right to a speedy trial.

court of appeall rulee in land - pavor f the american civil liberties union and the n-double-- -c-p whichthe files shoold be turned over. over.the n-double-a-c-p says thh ruling givvs it the ability to determine if andd when repprts and commlaints are throughll investiggted. a subway customer files a federal lawsuit because she says the sandwich's "ffotlong ssbs""aren't eally a foot loog. long.you can see that these subs come up shoot by to twoo inches.now- a class action lawusit claims the sandwich chain acted "fraudulently and the subs to beeaafoot long.the million dollars in damages.the company says that "footlong" is a traaemark descriptive name for its sandwiches and is talk about dedicaaion.one postal worker is retiring... with quite a record.she hasnnt called out sick in the llst 44 years!that means she's worked more than 11-thousaad days withouttcalilng out.sse says serrous than aacold and just works throogh it. theepooar bear plunge is backkthis weekend... pust inntime for the snow. the annual event raises more ppecial olympics, and this - year those brave souls will be cold. joe

and chris anders, senior legislative council at the american civil liberties union. the a.c.l.u. has filed law-suits against the government challenging the legal basis for the drone program. welcome to both of you. i want to start, seth, with the effectiveness question. how effective are drones strikes? >> i think on the one hand, drones have been effective in taking off the battle field several individuals that have been actively involved in plotting attacks against the u.s. homeland. all of them plotting active attacks and the drone strikes severely disrupted those attacks. i would also say, though, that they are not sufficient. strikes in and of themselves don't hold territory. they don't deal with the root causes of terrorism. so one should never argue-- or it would be incorrect to argue that they are sufficient to ending how terrorist dwriewps operate orinding terrorism. >> brown: do you dispute the effectiveness in taking out some of the top leaders? >> the truth is that no one really knows exactly what's going on with their effectiveness or not because this is a program th

>> reporter: the reaction has been welcomed by those who joined the aclu, the american civil liberties union in suing panetta last year for these positions to open up. there were four service members who did sue panetta last year. secretary pa ne panetta had started this earlier in the year. he opened up 14,000 positions earlier this year. this is not new. i spoke to the first fighter pilot to fly in combat and she had this to say about the naysayers. >> the same arguments were being made back then that are being made now against this policy change that is happening in order to catch up with reality on the battlefield. and i know air combat is different from ground combat but they were making the same arguments back then, that women did not have the inch turns or the strength to be fighter pilots, and i had just completed the hawaii ironman triathlon, winning the division and beating most of the military men and they said i didn't have the endurance to be a fighter pilot. >> reporter: one marine garnered attention last year when she expressed concerns about this move is captain katie petroni

new allies that are, obviously, significant validaters to the kinds of messages that the american civil liberties union has been trying to work on for several years, and it is a positive development for the work that we're trying to do. get tough on crime politicians now are talking instead about being smart on crime. they're trying to enact bills that support evidence-based practices like diverting people charged with lower-level drug offenses into treatment and imposing nonprison sanctions on those who violate the technical terms of their probation and parole instead of simply returning them to prison. about a third of people who enter spriz are entering for technical parole violations. in california it's actually almost two-thirds. this is really the first sustained opportunity that we have as a country in 40 years to look at our incarceration policies and to do something radically different. i think that's going to take, though, a seismic shift in thinking. because i think the addiction to incarceration isn't going to be kind of -- this is, you know, mass incarceration or overincarceration has come

. >> the deputy legal director of the american civil liberties union recently said that three strike laws of mandatory minimum sentences are two reasons prison populations are exploding. she spoke at the newark public library in manhattan about the current state of the criminal justice system. this is just over an hour. >> thanks. good evening. thank you all for being here this evening. and thank you to the public library for inviting me. i'm going to talk today about overincarceration, mass incarceration and the united states. and necessarily this entails a conversation also about racial justice. i'm going to talk about it through the lens of my own career path as an advocate for criminal justice reform, who is worked in national impact litigation outfits and organizations her whole, my whole crew. the evolution in my own thinking of the strategies that i've worked and i use and i employed to achieve criminal justice reform in some ways near the arc of this issue in the country and over the last cercla 10 years, and i'm going to explain that a little bit. as many of you know, over th

lawyers from the american civil little bits union argued that that request was -- liberties union argued too broad. >>> a 6-year-old's act of kindness has reached a chain reaction that has reached further than anyone thought. >>> donna mckenzie is a volunteer with the refuge. a little girl donated everything in her piggy bank to help the homeless. it came out to 6.12. her generosity became a local news story that led other people to donate whatever they could. >>> i think we can all take something from this little girl because, you know, everybody can't do everything but everybody can do something. >> the donations from the community now top $1800 and more offers for help are still coming in. donna mckenzie says the little girl emma she called her a ray of sunshine is the only regret is she forgot to get the little girl's last name to be able to thank her. >> that's a great story. >>> 5:48 is the time right now. let's check in with sal. what are you keeping an eye on. >> we have a look at some of the east bay commutes pam and dave and also the south bay are going to start by looking at s