Wednesday, August 2, 2000

• Ed Herman Behind the News

  
  

  Ed Herman looks at the coverage of the Republican Convention.

• Frank Sesno On Psyops Interns at CNN

  
  

  You never know who you are going to run into at the Republican National Convention. Roaming around the non-unionized First Union Center where the convention is taking place, Democracy Now! caught up with Frank Sesno, Vice President of CNN News. We asked him about recently exposed story that CNN was using Army Psychological Operations, or Psyops people as news interns.

• Oliver North, Msnbc Talk Show Host

  
  

  Lt. Colonel Oliver North was in the media tent just outside the convention center. He now has a talk show on MSNBC. Oliver North, of course, was the point man on the Iran-Contra scandal—the Reagan Administration’s circumvention of the congressional ban on funding for the Contras by secretly selling arms to Iran, then funneling the profits to the Contras.

• Michael Franti, Cultural Jam!

  
  

  He’s a cultural icon, an outspoken voice on many issues like the death Penalty and has captured the hearts of many young women around the country. No Juan, I’m not talking about George W Bush, or even his nephew George P. I’m talking about hip hop artist and spoken word poet Michael Franti. Pushing music, lyrical and social boundaries is what Michael Franti has been doing for many years now, and he is one of the foremost artists of conscience in the country. Whether it is issues relating to HIV/AIDS, encouraging his community to go and get checked, singing out against sexual violence towards women or rapping about what he calls the hypocrisy of the United States government, Michael Franti is known around the world for his intellectual and socially conscious music.

• Unlike Father, Unlike Son

  
  

  There were protests throughout Philadelphia yesterday, as police arrested hundreds of demonstrators. Hundreds of delegates were prevented from boarding buses to go to the convention center, as activists conducted sit-ins on main streets and blockades in front of hotel doors. Today, we are going to talk to a father and son from South Carolina. The father is a delegate to the convention and the son is a protester.

• Protesters Call in From Jail

  
  

  Approximately 400 protesters were arrested yesterday during the direct action lock downs and the police raid on the Ministry of Puppetganda. We’ll talk to two of the young women who were arrested and witnessed another protester being hog-tied and dragged away while he was bleeding and wearing only boxer shorts at the jail.

• Drug War Prisoners

  
  

  They call themselves "drug war prisoners" because their lives have been gravely affected by the government’s present drug policy. This so-called "war on drugs," which we have looked at extensively on Democracy Now, effects more than just the people incarcerated. Today we hear from the mothers, sisters and children who are the victims of low level and non-violent drug use.

• Newt Gingrich

  
  

  After talking to Hoffa and RNC Chairman Jim Nicholson, we spotted a familiar mop of white hair. No, it wasn’t Phil Donahue, it was Newt Gingrich. The issue of reproductive rights has been raised consistently here in the protests in the streets of Philadelphia, as demonstrators attempted to block delegates from boarding buses for the convention. Newt Gingrich himself was even surrounded by protesters before being rescued by police.

• Jimmy Hoffa and Rnc Chair Jim Nicholson

  
  

  Nearby at one of the convention hotels, the Republicans sponsored a party for Teamsters president Jimmy Hoffa.