WEBVTT

1
00:00:05.530 --> 00:00:17.720
From the Republican National Convention

2
00:00:17.720 --> 00:00:21.810
in Cleveland, Ohio,
this is Democracy Now!

3
00:00:22.390 --> 00:00:26.880
And until we come
together as a nation,

4
00:00:26.880 --> 00:00:28.390
as a people,

5
00:00:28.390 --> 00:00:30.280
to heal as a people,

6
00:00:31.170 --> 00:00:34.730
if we don’t do that
and this madness continues,

7
00:00:35.510 --> 00:00:38.180
we will surely
perish as a people.

8
00:00:39.390 --> 00:00:42.200
Three police officers in Baton

9
00:00:42.200 --> 00:00:44.310
Rouge were shot dead Sunday,

10
00:00:44.310 --> 00:00:47.420
just over a week
after five officers

11
00:00:47.420 --> 00:00:48.720
were killed in Dallas

12
00:00:48.720 --> 00:00:49.950
and less than two weeks

13
00:00:49.950 --> 00:00:53.280
after Baton Rouge police
shot dead Alton Sterling,

14
00:00:53.280 --> 00:00:56.540
a killing that’s sparked protests
across the country.

15
00:00:56.540 --> 00:00:59.140
We’ll go to Baton Rouge
for the latest.

16
00:00:59.140 --> 00:01:02.830
We’ll also speak with Cornel
West about Baton Rouge,

17
00:01:02.830 --> 00:01:04.250
Black Lives Matter

18
00:01:04.250 --> 00:01:07.610
and why he’s supporting
the Green Party’s presidential

19
00:01:07.610 --> 00:01:09.630
candidate,
Dr. Jill Stein.

20
00:01:10.690 --> 00:01:13.650
Brother Donald Trump
is a neofascist catastrophe,

21
00:01:13.650 --> 00:01:16.750
and Sister Hillary Clinton
is a neoliberal disaster.

22
00:01:17.910 --> 00:01:21.710
And I refuse to
support any candidate

23
00:01:21.710 --> 00:01:24.820
who has militaristic
policies abroad

24
00:01:25.340 --> 00:01:26.790
that could lead to war.

25
00:01:28.870 --> 00:01:30.690
And we’ll go to Turkey,

26
00:01:30.690 --> 00:01:33.900
where close to 300
people were killed,

27
00:01:33.900 --> 00:01:36.410
around 1,400 wounded,

28
00:01:36.410 --> 00:01:39.910
in a failed military coup
over the weekend.

29
00:01:39.910 --> 00:01:41.700
All that and more, coming up.

30
00:01:50.200 --> 00:01:51.980
Welcome to Democracy Now!,

31
00:01:51.980 --> 00:01:54.820
democracynow.org,
The War and Peace Report.

32
00:01:54.820 --> 00:01:58.590
I’m Amy Goodman. We’re broadcasting
from Cleveland, Ohio.

33
00:01:58.590 --> 00:02:00.230
In Baton Rouge, Louisiana,

34
00:02:00.230 --> 00:02:03.150
a former marine has killed
three police officers.

35
00:02:03.150 --> 00:02:05.790
The shooting began
just before 9 a.m.

36
00:02:05.790 --> 00:02:08.890
on Sunday at a gas station
on the city’s Airline

37
00:02:08.890 --> 00:02:10.530
Highway, a mile from the Baton

38
00:02:10.530 --> 00:02:12.860
Rouge Police Department headquarters.

39
00:02:12.860 --> 00:02:15.210
The police department
has been the site of more

40
00:02:15.210 --> 00:02:18.130
than a week of protests
against police violence.

41
00:02:18.130 --> 00:02:19.490
The demonstrations were sparked

42
00:02:19.490 --> 00:02:21.530
by the fatal shooting
of Baton Rouge resident

43
00:02:21.530 --> 00:02:23.480
Alton Sterling by police.

44
00:02:23.480 --> 00:02:25.460
On Sunday, Baton Rouge officers

45
00:02:25.460 --> 00:02:27.080
were reportedly responding

46
00:02:27.080 --> 00:02:30.380
to a 911 call of shots fired

47
00:02:30.380 --> 00:02:32.440
when they were ambushed by a gunman.

48
00:02:32.440 --> 00:02:35.940
Three officers were killed,
and three others were wounded.

49
00:02:35.940 --> 00:02:37.910
One is in critical condition.

50
00:02:37.910 --> 00:02:41.870
Police have identified
the shooter as Gavin Long,

51
00:02:41.870 --> 00:02:44.090
a resident of Kansas City, Missouri.

52
00:02:44.090 --> 00:02:47.030
Long served in Iraq
and was discharged

53
00:02:47.030 --> 00:02:50.500
at the rank of sergeant in 2010.

54
00:02:50.500 --> 00:02:52.710
In the week before the shooting,
Long, who is African-American,

55
00:02:52.710 --> 00:02:56.530
recorded a video in which he discusses
his anger toward police

56
00:02:56.530 --> 00:02:58.810
for the killing
of African Americans.

57
00:02:59.360 --> 00:03:02.710
Using the alias Cosmo Setepenra,

58
00:03:02.710 --> 00:03:05.110
Long urges African-American men

59
00:03:05.110 --> 00:03:07.610
to "fight back"
against the police.

60
00:03:07.610 --> 00:03:09.650
Meanwhile, Montrell Jackson,

61
00:03:09.650 --> 00:03:11.480
one of the slain officers,

62
00:03:11.480 --> 00:03:13.940
had posted recently on Facebook

63
00:03:13.940 --> 00:03:15.890
about the atmosphere in Baton Rouge

64
00:03:15.890 --> 00:03:19.440
after Alton Sterling’s
killing, writing,

65
00:03:19.980 --> 00:03:21.980
"I swear to God I love this city,

66
00:03:21.980 --> 00:03:24.270
but I wonder
if this city loves me.

67
00:03:24.270 --> 00:03:26.140
In uniform I get nasty,

68
00:03:26.140 --> 00:03:30.420
hateful looks and out of uniform
some consider me a threat.

69
00:03:30.420 --> 00:03:32.090
... These are trying times.

70
00:03:32.090 --> 00:03:35.180
Please don’t let hate
infect your heart."

71
00:03:37.060 --> 00:03:40.430
Alton Sterling’s
aunt Veda Washington-Abusaleh

72
00:03:40.430 --> 00:03:43.400
appealed for calm
after Sunday’s shooting.

73
00:03:44.360 --> 00:03:47.280
Veda Washington-Abusaleh: 
"We don’t call for no bloodshed.

74
00:03:47.280 --> 00:03:50.750
That’s how this
all started—with bloodshed.

75
00:03:50.750 --> 00:03:52.070
We don’t want no more bloodshed.

76
00:03:52.070 --> 00:03:55.380
So if you’re not
in accord with us,

77
00:03:55.380 --> 00:03:57.220
leave, go home,

78
00:03:57.220 --> 00:03:58.860
go wherever you come from.

79
00:03:58.860 --> 00:04:00.190
This is our house.

80
00:04:00.190 --> 00:04:03.630
You can’t come
in our house, killing us.

81
00:04:03.630 --> 00:04:06.640
That’s what you’re doing,
because at the end of the day,

82
00:04:06.640 --> 00:04:08.850
when these people
call these families

83
00:04:09.390 --> 00:04:10.980
and they tell them that their daddies

84
00:04:10.980 --> 00:04:13.030
and their mamas
not coming home no more,

85
00:04:13.550 --> 00:04:14.840
I know how they feel,

86
00:04:14.840 --> 00:04:17.490
because I got the same phone call.

87
00:04:17.490 --> 00:04:19.010
No justice.

88
00:04:19.010 --> 00:04:21.450
No justice, no peace!

89
00:04:21.450 --> 00:04:23.500
That’s what we’re calling for.

90
00:04:23.500 --> 00:04:25.000
Stop this killing!

91
00:04:25.550 --> 00:04:26.810
Stop this killing!

92
00:04:27.460 --> 00:04:29.010
Stop this killing!"

93
00:04:34.620 --> 00:04:37.070
Sunday’s shooting
came only two days

94
00:04:37.070 --> 00:04:38.450
after hundreds of people

95
00:04:38.450 --> 00:04:40.680
gathered for the funeral
of Alton Sterling.

96
00:04:40.680 --> 00:04:44.070
Baton Rouge Mayor
Kip Holden did not attend.

97
00:04:44.070 --> 00:04:48.480
Holden has reportedly not even
called the Sterling family yet.

98
00:04:48.480 --> 00:04:51.710
Hundreds of people protested
outside the Mayor’s Office,

99
00:04:51.710 --> 00:04:54.640
demanding his resignation
in the wake of Sterling’s death.

100
00:04:54.640 --> 00:04:56.440
Other prominent officials,

101
00:04:56.440 --> 00:04:59.540
including staff of Louisiana
Governor John Bel Edwards

102
00:04:59.540 --> 00:05:03.220
and Louisiana
Congressmember Cedric Richmond,

103
00:05:03.750 --> 00:05:07.760
did attend Alton Sterling’s
funeral on Friday.

104
00:05:08.380 --> 00:05:10.480
Meanwhile, in the wake
of Sunday’s fatal

105
00:05:10.480 --> 00:05:13.040
shooting of three police officers,

106
00:05:13.040 --> 00:05:16.090
presumptive Republican presidential
nominee Donald Trump

107
00:05:16.090 --> 00:05:18.100
repeated his claim
that he is the law

108
00:05:18.100 --> 00:05:19.610
and order candidate,

109
00:05:19.610 --> 00:05:22.260
while Democratic presidential
candidate Hillary Clinton

110
00:05:22.260 --> 00:05:25.190
said the attack was
"an assault on all of us."

111
00:05:25.990 --> 00:05:28.950
In May, Louisiana Governor
John Bel Edwards

112
00:05:28.950 --> 00:05:31.740
signed a so-called
Blue Lives Matter law,

113
00:05:31.740 --> 00:05:34.560
which expands Louisiana’s
hate crimes statute

114
00:05:34.560 --> 00:05:36.050
to include police officers,

115
00:05:36.050 --> 00:05:38.670
firefighters and EMS personnel.

116
00:05:38.670 --> 00:05:41.870
Following the shooting,
multiple politicians used the phrases

117
00:05:41.870 --> 00:05:45.350
"Blue Lives Matter"
and "All Lives Matter,"

118
00:05:45.350 --> 00:05:48.010
including former Louisiana Governor

119
00:05:48.010 --> 00:05:50.010
Bobby Jindal.

120
00:05:55.660 --> 00:05:57.490
Bobby Jindal: "We’ve got to say
that all lives matter.

121
00:05:57.490 --> 00:06:01.010
It doesn’t matter what color you
are—black, white, brown, red.

122
00:06:01.010 --> 00:06:03.320
It doesn’t matter.
All lives matter.

123
00:06:03.320 --> 00:06:05.450
We’ve got to protect
and value our police."

124
00:06:05.450 --> 00:06:07.730
Shepard Smith: "Governor,
you know that that phrase you

125
00:06:07.730 --> 00:06:10.270
just used is one that’s seen by many

126
00:06:10.270 --> 00:06:12.900
as derogatory, right?

127
00:06:12.900 --> 00:06:16.260
And I just wonder why it
is that you use that phrase,

128
00:06:16.260 --> 00:06:18.710
when there’s a certain
segment of the population

129
00:06:18.710 --> 00:06:20.440
that believes
it’s a real dig on them?"

130
00:06:20.950 --> 00:06:22.290
Bobby Jindal: "Well, Shepard,
it’s not meant to be.

131
00:06:22.290 --> 00:06:24.690
The point is this:
We’ve got to move beyond race."

132
00:06:24.690 --> 00:06:28.370
In response, some Fox News viewers

133
00:06:28.370 --> 00:06:30.720
called for Shepard Smith
to be fired.

134
00:06:36.730 --> 00:06:40.240
The government of Turkey
has arrested more than 6,000 people

135
00:06:40.240 --> 00:06:43.130
accused of participating
in a failed military coup

136
00:06:43.130 --> 00:06:44.620
over the weekend.

137
00:06:44.620 --> 00:06:47.320
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan

138
00:06:47.320 --> 00:06:51.090
has accused Fethullah Gülen,

139
00:06:51.090 --> 00:06:53.930
a Turkish cleric living
in Pennsylvania,

140
00:06:53.930 --> 00:06:55.710
of masterminding the coup.

141
00:06:55.710 --> 00:06:59.680
Gülen has lived in the U.S.
since 1999,

142
00:06:59.680 --> 00:07:02.330
when he fled Turkey
after being accused of organizing

143
00:07:02.330 --> 00:07:05.440
religious extremists
against the government.

144
00:07:05.440 --> 00:07:08.040
He had been an
ally of Erdogan

145
00:07:08.040 --> 00:07:09.770
until a few years ago.

146
00:07:17.500 --> 00:07:19.620
U.S. Secretary of State
John Kerry said

147
00:07:19.620 --> 00:07:21.350
that the U.S. still has not received

148
00:07:21.350 --> 00:07:24.120
a formal extradition
request for Gülen.

149
00:07:24.120 --> 00:07:26.150
Secretary
of State John Kerry:

150
00:07:26.150 --> 00:07:28.760
"We have not had a formal
request for extradition.

151
00:07:28.760 --> 00:07:31.150
That has to come
in a formal package.

152
00:07:31.150 --> 00:07:34.280
It has to come with documentation
for the request,

153
00:07:34.280 --> 00:07:36.050
and go to the Justice Department.

154
00:07:36.050 --> 00:07:38.050
And we will deal with it."

155
00:07:39.440 --> 00:07:42.800
Erdogan attended funerals
over the weekend

156
00:07:42.800 --> 00:07:45.070
for some of the nearly 200 civilians

157
00:07:45.070 --> 00:07:47.250
killed in Friday’s
attempted coup.

158
00:07:47.250 --> 00:07:50.130
Supporters of Erdogan
continued to celebrate

159
00:07:50.130 --> 00:07:51.980
across the country today.

160
00:07:51.980 --> 00:07:54.990
Other citizens found
an uneasy calm on Monday

161
00:07:54.990 --> 00:07:58.380
as the coup appeared to have
been definitively defeated.

162
00:07:58.380 --> 00:07:59.770
There is fear that Erdogan,

163
00:07:59.770 --> 00:08:02.490
who before the coup was accused
of becoming an autocrat,

164
00:08:02.490 --> 00:08:05.380
will use the coup
to justify further actions

165
00:08:05.380 --> 00:08:07.260
against his political opponents.

166
00:08:12.430 --> 00:08:14.300
The Republican National
Convention opens

167
00:08:14.300 --> 00:08:15.550
in Cleveland,
Ohio, today,

168
00:08:15.550 --> 00:08:18.350
with more than 50,000 people
flooding into Cleveland

169
00:08:18.350 --> 00:08:20.290
for the convention,
where the Republican Party

170
00:08:20.290 --> 00:08:23.950
is slated to formally nominate
real estate mogul Donald Trump

171
00:08:23.950 --> 00:08:25.840
to be the party’s presidential nominee,

172
00:08:25.840 --> 00:08:28.170
and to ratify the party platform.

173
00:08:28.170 --> 00:08:30.430
More than a dozen
Republican leaders

174
00:08:30.430 --> 00:08:32.920
have decided to skip the RNC.

175
00:08:32.920 --> 00:08:35.250
South Carolina Senator
Lindsey Graham says

176
00:08:35.250 --> 00:08:38.110
he’s not coming because
he doesn’t support Donald Trump.

177
00:08:38.110 --> 00:08:41.050
Arizona Senator Jeff
Flake says he’s staying home

178
00:08:41.050 --> 00:08:43.220
because he’d rather mow his lawn.

179
00:08:43.220 --> 00:08:46.330
Florida Congressmember Dennis
Ross is skipping the RNC

180
00:08:46.330 --> 00:08:49.250
because "It’s a good time
to be fishing in Montana."

181
00:08:50.240 --> 00:08:52.340
Florida Senator Marco Rubio,

182
00:08:52.340 --> 00:08:54.050
Arizona Senator John McCain

183
00:08:54.050 --> 00:08:56.190
and Kentucky Senator Rand Paul

184
00:08:56.190 --> 00:08:58.040
will be skipping the convention.

185
00:08:58.040 --> 00:08:59.490
But many other party leaders

186
00:08:59.490 --> 00:09:01.210
and operatives are thrilled about
the opening of the 2016 RNC,

187
00:09:01.210 --> 00:09:02.780
including Georgia
Congressmember Rob

188
00:09:02.780 --> 00:09:04.150
Woodall, who said,

189
00:09:04.150 --> 00:09:07.010
"The place we’re going to pick
the next leader of the free world?

190
00:09:07.010 --> 00:09:08.570
Heck yeah, I’m going!"

191
00:09:10.550 --> 00:09:11.850
Thousands of police,

192
00:09:11.850 --> 00:09:13.720
federal agents and military personnel

193
00:09:13.720 --> 00:09:15.670
are also flooding
into Cleveland,

194
00:09:15.670 --> 00:09:18.620
which has received nearly
$50 million in federal

195
00:09:18.620 --> 00:09:20.460
funding to beef up security.

196
00:09:22.610 --> 00:09:25.860
At least 3,000 FBI,
Secret Service

197
00:09:25.860 --> 00:09:27.640
and other federal agents
have been sent to Cleveland,

198
00:09:27.640 --> 00:09:30.910
in addition to 1,500
county police officers

199
00:09:30.910 --> 00:09:32.210
and state troopers.

200
00:09:34.520 --> 00:09:36.360
The Pentagon has also deployed

201
00:09:36.360 --> 00:09:39.430
Ohio National Guardsmen,
U.S. Coast Guard officers,

202
00:09:39.430 --> 00:09:42.340
military personnel
from U.S. Northern Command.

203
00:09:42.340 --> 00:09:44.050
The Cleveland Police Department

204
00:09:44.050 --> 00:09:47.040
ordered an additional
2,000 sets of riot armor

205
00:09:47.040 --> 00:09:49.130
in advance of the convention.

206
00:09:49.130 --> 00:09:50.910
Police officers
have also begun

207
00:09:50.910 --> 00:09:53.550
carrying AR-15 semiautomatic rifles

208
00:09:53.550 --> 00:09:56.260
and military-style M-14 rifles,

209
00:09:56.260 --> 00:09:59.270
which are typically
reserved for snipers.

210
00:10:00.090 --> 00:10:03.490
Civilians may also be
carrying military-grade weapons

211
00:10:03.490 --> 00:10:05.760
in downtown
Cleveland this week.

212
00:10:05.760 --> 00:10:09.740
Like Louisiana and Texas,
Ohio is an open-carry state.

213
00:10:09.740 --> 00:10:12.160
The head of Cleveland’s
largest police union,

214
00:10:12.160 --> 00:10:13.710
Steve Loomis, has called

215
00:10:13.710 --> 00:10:15.550
on Ohio Governor John Kasich

216
00:10:15.550 --> 00:10:17.900
to suspend open-carry laws

217
00:10:17.900 --> 00:10:20.150
for the week of the RNC, saying:

218
00:10:20.150 --> 00:10:23.940
"I don’t care if it’s constitutional
or not at this point."

219
00:10:23.940 --> 00:10:26.340
Loomis spoke further on CNN.

220
00:10:27.200 --> 00:10:28.940
Steve Loomis: "It’s absolute
insanity to me.

221
00:10:30.430 --> 00:10:32.730
This is an open-carry state.

222
00:10:32.730 --> 00:10:36.320
Most police officers, generally,

223
00:10:36.320 --> 00:10:37.610
love the Constitution

224
00:10:37.610 --> 00:10:39.180
and will take a bullet
to defend it,

225
00:10:39.180 --> 00:10:42.270
as we saw, you know,
admirably in Dallas.

226
00:10:42.270 --> 00:10:45.060
But at the end of the day,
it’s not responsible.

227
00:10:45.060 --> 00:10:47.860
It’s legal to bring your guns,
but it’s not responsible."

228
00:10:47.860 --> 00:10:48.560
Michael Smerconish: "You don’t
want them doing it?"

229
00:10:48.560 --> 00:10:48.940
Steve Loomis: "Absolutely not."

230
00:10:48.940 --> 00:10:50.410
Michael Smerconish: "You don’t
want them exercising their,

231
00:10:50.410 --> 00:10:52.620
quote-unquote, 'right'?"
Steve Loomis: "Absolutely not.

232
00:10:52.620 --> 00:10:54.190
That makes for mayhem."

233
00:10:55.770 --> 00:10:59.620
In response, Ohio Governor
John Kasich said,

234
00:11:00.270 --> 00:11:02.170
"Ohio governors
do not have the power

235
00:11:02.170 --> 00:11:03.940
to arbitrarily suspend federal

236
00:11:03.940 --> 00:11:05.420
and state constitutional rights

237
00:11:05.420 --> 00:11:07.520
or state laws as suggested."

238
00:11:08.840 --> 00:11:10.310
After weeks of speculation,

239
00:11:10.310 --> 00:11:13.160
Donald Trump has named
Indiana Governor Mike Pence

240
00:11:13.160 --> 00:11:15.160
as his running mate.

241
00:11:16.060 --> 00:11:17.690
Donald Trump: "I’ve found the leader

242
00:11:17.690 --> 00:11:21.490
who will help us
deliver a safe society

243
00:11:21.490 --> 00:11:22.870
and a prosperous,

244
00:11:22.870 --> 00:11:26.330
really prosperous society
for all Americans.

245
00:11:26.960 --> 00:11:32.340
Indiana Governor Mike
Pence was my first choice.

246
00:11:33.800 --> 00:11:35.530
I’ve admired the work he’s done,

247
00:11:36.100 --> 00:11:38.970
especially in the state of Indiana."

248
00:11:45.770 --> 00:11:49.220
Governor Pence joined Trump
on stage to accept

249
00:11:49.220 --> 00:11:51.830
the vice-presidential nomination.

250
00:11:51.830 --> 00:11:56.040
In his speech, he highlighted
his conservative values.

251
00:11:57.040 --> 00:11:58.490
Gov. Mike Pence: "People
who know me well know

252
00:11:58.490 --> 00:11:59.850
I’m a pretty basic guy.

253
00:12:01.060 --> 00:12:02.550
I’m a Christian,
a conservative

254
00:12:02.550 --> 00:12:04.710
and a Republican, in that order.

255
00:12:10.100 --> 00:12:11.820
Now, while I’m currently—I

256
00:12:11.820 --> 00:12:14.350
currently have the privilege
of serving the state that I love,

257
00:12:14.350 --> 00:12:17.260
I’m really—I’m really
just a small-town boy

258
00:12:17.940 --> 00:12:21.420
who grew up in southern Indiana
with a big family

259
00:12:21.420 --> 00:12:22.870
and a cornfield
in the backyard."

260
00:12:24.790 --> 00:12:27.670
Mike Pence was first elected
to Congress in 2000,

261
00:12:27.670 --> 00:12:30.700
then was elected
governor in 2012.

262
00:12:30.700 --> 00:12:33.910
In 2015, he signed into law
the highly controversial

263
00:12:33.910 --> 00:12:37.190
anti-LGBT Religious Freedom
Restoration Act,

264
00:12:37.190 --> 00:12:38.960
which gave businesses license

265
00:12:38.960 --> 00:12:42.670
to discriminate against LGBT people.

266
00:12:42.670 --> 00:12:45.800
The law caused
a nationwide backlash.

267
00:12:45.800 --> 00:12:47.450
Dozens of companies

268
00:12:47.450 --> 00:12:49.780
and professional sports
teams and leagues,

269
00:12:49.780 --> 00:12:53.260
including the Indianapolis
-headquartered NCAA,

270
00:12:53.260 --> 00:12:55.220
threatened to boycott Indiana.

271
00:12:55.220 --> 00:12:57.990
Apple CEO Tim Cook slammed the law,

272
00:12:57.990 --> 00:13:00.200
likening it to the Jim Crow laws

273
00:13:00.200 --> 00:13:01.730
of the American South.

274
00:13:01.730 --> 00:13:05.220
Ultimately, Pence was forced
to enact a revision

275
00:13:05.220 --> 00:13:11.260
specifying the law does not authorize
anti-LGBT discrimination.

276
00:13:11.260 --> 00:13:12.860
As governor, Pence also oversaw

277
00:13:12.860 --> 00:13:14.910
a cut in Planned Parenthood
funding in the state

278
00:13:14.910 --> 00:13:17.350
and signed legislation,
since blocked,

279
00:13:17.350 --> 00:13:20.450
that would have restricted
abortion access statewide.

280
00:13:20.450 --> 00:13:23.290
He was also a co-sponsor
of the bill that authorized

281
00:13:23.290 --> 00:13:26.670
the U.S. invasion
of Iraq in 2003.

282
00:13:26.670 --> 00:13:28.330
Meanwhile, Democratic presidential
candidate Hillary Clinton

283
00:13:28.330 --> 00:13:29.660
is expected to announce
her running mate this week,

284
00:13:29.660 --> 00:13:31.750
ahead of the Democratic National
Convention in Philadelphia next week.

285
00:13:31.750 --> 00:13:33.250
Some of the people
on her short list reportedly

286
00:13:33.250 --> 00:13:35.180
include Virginia Senator Tim Kaine,
Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper,

287
00:13:35.180 --> 00:13:36.580
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture
Tom Vilsack and Secretary

288
00:13:36.580 --> 00:13:38.080
of Housing and Urban Development
Julián Castro.

289
00:13:38.080 --> 00:13:39.900
Clinton also met with Massachusetts
Senator Elizabeth Warren on Friday,

290
00:13:39.900 --> 00:13:40.820
although many are speculating Warren

291
00:13:40.820 --> 00:13:42.020
will not be chosen
as Clinton’s running mate,

292
00:13:42.020 --> 00:13:43.610
because she’s been asked to speak
on the first night of the DNC.

293
00:13:43.610 --> 00:13:44.820
Running mates usually speak later
in the conventions.

294
00:13:44.820 --> 00:13:46.680
The Obama administration
has finally declassified 28 pages

295
00:13:46.680 --> 00:13:48.820
from the September 11 report
detailing possible ties

296
00:13:48.820 --> 00:13:50.520
between the Saudi government
and the 9/11 attacks.

297
00:13:50.520 --> 00:13:51.910
The report states,
"Prior to September 11,

298
00:13:51.910 --> 00:13:53.940
the FBI apparently did not
focus investigative resources on

299
00:13:53.940 --> 00:13:54.980
[redacted text]
Saudi nationals in the United States

300
00:13:54.980 --> 00:13:56.960
due to Saudi Arabia’s status
as an American ally."

301
00:13:56.960 --> 00:13:58.620
The declassified document
raises new questions

302
00:13:58.620 --> 00:14:00.180
about the role of
a Saudi consular official

303
00:14:00.180 --> 00:14:02.140
based in the Los Angeles area.

304
00:14:03.010 --> 00:14:06.140
He personally helped two
of the hijackers

305
00:14:06.140 --> 00:14:08.140
after they arrived
in Los Angeles

306
00:14:08.140 --> 00:14:09.900
in early 2000.

307
00:14:09.900 --> 00:14:12.730
The document also reveals
details about an incident

308
00:14:12.730 --> 00:14:14.220
in 1999

309
00:14:14.220 --> 00:14:17.000
when a flight from Phoenix
to Washington, D.C.,

310
00:14:17.000 --> 00:14:18.880
was forced to make
an emergency landing

311
00:14:18.880 --> 00:14:21.540
due to suspicious activity
by two Saudi men,

312
00:14:21.540 --> 00:14:24.110
including one who attempted
to enter the cockpit twice.

313
00:14:24.110 --> 00:14:25.520
In news from France,
police say they have made

314
00:14:25.520 --> 00:14:26.760
two more arrests in connection
to the attack last week

315
00:14:26.760 --> 00:14:27.860
that left 84 people dead
in the city of Nice.

316
00:14:27.860 --> 00:14:30.090
The attacker, 31-year-old French
citizen Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel,

317
00:14:30.090 --> 00:14:32.150
was shot dead by police
after driving a truck

318
00:14:32.150 --> 00:14:33.450
through crowds of people
celebrating Bastille Day.

319
00:14:33.450 --> 00:14:35.330
Police say they have made a total
of six arrests in connection

320
00:14:35.330 --> 00:14:37.380
to the attacks, including Bouhlel’s
estranged wife and an Albanian couple.

321
00:14:37.380 --> 00:14:38.390
A website affiliated with ISIL

322
00:14:38.390 --> 00:14:39.690
claimed responsibility for the attack
over the weekend,

323
00:14:39.690 --> 00:14:41.820
but police say there is no evidence
Bouhlel acted on behalf of the group.

324
00:14:41.820 --> 00:14:43.830
In news from Kashmir, a curfew continues
for a 10th day amid massive protests

325
00:14:43.830 --> 00:14:45.110
and the worst violence
in the disputed territory

326
00:14:45.110 --> 00:14:46.560
in more than five years.
Human rights groups say

327
00:14:46.560 --> 00:14:47.790
at least 40 people have died
in the ongoing clashes.

328
00:14:47.790 --> 00:14:49.330
Protests began 10 days ago
after Indian security forces

329
00:14:49.330 --> 00:14:51.130
shot dead Kashmiri independence activist
Burhan Muzaffar Wani.

330
00:14:51.130 --> 00:14:52.500
India has shut down
printing presses and imposed

331
00:14:52.500 --> 00:14:53.770
a ban
on some newspapers in Kashmir

332
00:14:53.770 --> 00:14:55.260
from printing amid
the ongoing protests.

333
00:14:55.260 --> 00:14:56.960
In Baltimore, Maryland,
police arrested 65 protesters

334
00:14:56.960 --> 00:14:58.830
during an anti-police
brutality march Saturday.

335
00:14:58.830 --> 00:15:00.360
The protesters attempted
to shut down Interstate 83.

336
00:15:00.360 --> 00:15:01.830
Protests have erupted
in dozens of cities

337
00:15:01.830 --> 00:15:03.280
following the killings by police
of two African-American men,

338
00:15:03.280 --> 00:15:03.960
Alton Sterling in Baton

339
00:15:03.960 --> 00:15:05.480
Rouge, Louisiana, and Philando Castile
in Falcon Heights, Minnesota.

340
00:15:05.480 --> 00:15:06.940
Baltimore is currently
awaiting the decision in the trial

341
00:15:06.940 --> 00:15:08.430
of a police officer charged
in the death of Freddie Gray.

342
00:15:08.430 --> 00:15:09.720
Gray died of injuries
sustained in police custody

343
00:15:09.720 --> 00:15:11.120
last year,
sparking nationwide demonstrations.

344
00:15:11.120 --> 00:15:12.370
And on Staten Island,
hundreds marched Sunday

345
00:15:12.370 --> 00:15:13.980
to mark the second anniversary
of the death of Eric Garner,

346
00:15:13.980 --> 00:15:16.370
who died in a fatal police
chokehold on July 17, 2014.

347
00:15:16.370 --> 00:15:17.610
At the march, one of
the protesters spoke out.

348
00:15:17.610 --> 00:15:19.690
Darius Alonzo: "My name is
Darius Alonzo, from Brooklyn, New York.

349
00:15:19.690 --> 00:15:22.380
And I’m here because this is the second
anniversary of the death of Eric Garner,

350
00:15:22.380 --> 00:15:24.150
and I just want
to pay respect to the man

351
00:15:24.150 --> 00:15:25.980
who lost his life foolishly
on these very streets.

352
00:15:25.980 --> 00:15:27.480
It’s a shame that in this country
we see the same thing time

353
00:15:27.480 --> 00:15:29.010
and time again
with no answers for it.

354
00:15:29.010 --> 00:15:30.510
And the only thing I can
demand is for revolution,

355
00:15:30.510 --> 00:15:32.020
because nothing that we’ve been
doing has been working.

356
00:15:32.020 --> 00:15:33.920
We need real, legitimate change
that’s going to do something.

357
00:15:33.920 --> 00:15:35.450
But this isn’t it.
We need to do more than just marching.

358
00:15:35.450 --> 00:15:38.350
We need to do more than just posting
on Facebook. We need a revolution."

359
00:15:38.350 --> 00:15:41.430
The march was organized
by Eric Garner’s daughter, Erica.

360
00:15:41.430 --> 00:15:43.420
Click here see our full interview
with Erica Garner.

361
00:15:43.420 --> 00:15:45.580
And those are some of the headlines
this is Democracy Now,

362
00:15:45.580 --> 00:15:48.660
Democracynow.org,
the War and Peace Report.

363
00:15:48.660 --> 00:15:49.960
I’m Amy Goodman.

364
00:15:49.960 --> 00:15:52.680
AMY GOODMAN: In Baton Rouge,
three police officers

365
00:15:52.680 --> 00:15:54.670
were killed and three others wounded

366
00:15:54.670 --> 00:15:56.940
in a shooting rampage Sunday.

367
00:15:56.940 --> 00:15:59.220
The shooting began
just before 9:00 a.m.

368
00:15:59.220 --> 00:16:01.180
at a gas station
on the city’s Airline

369
00:16:01.180 --> 00:16:03.130
Highway, a mile from the Baton

370
00:16:03.130 --> 00:16:05.060
Rouge Police Department headquarters.

371
00:16:05.060 --> 00:16:08.310
The police department
has been the site of more

372
00:16:08.310 --> 00:16:10.890
than a week of protests
against police violence.

373
00:16:10.890 --> 00:16:12.170
The demonstrations were sparked

374
00:16:12.170 --> 00:16:14.120
by the fatal shooting
of Baton Rouge resident

375
00:16:14.120 --> 00:16:16.030
Alton Sterling by police.

376
00:16:16.030 --> 00:16:18.020
According to reports,
Baton Rouge officers

377
00:16:18.020 --> 00:16:21.220
were responding to
a 911 call of shots fired

378
00:16:21.220 --> 00:16:23.240
when they were ambushed
by a gunman.

379
00:16:23.240 --> 00:16:25.940
Colonel Michael Edmonson
of the Louisiana State Police

380
00:16:25.940 --> 00:16:27.410
described the scene.

381
00:16:28.770 --> 00:16:30.900
COL. MICHAEL EDMONSON: At approximately
8:40 a.m.,

382
00:16:30.900 --> 00:16:33.330
Baton Rouge PD officers
at a convenience store

383
00:16:33.330 --> 00:16:34.740
observed the individual.

384
00:16:34.740 --> 00:16:36.240
He was wearing all black,

385
00:16:36.240 --> 00:16:38.260
standing behind
a beauty supply store,

386
00:16:38.260 --> 00:16:39.790
holding a rifle.

387
00:16:39.790 --> 00:16:41.750
At approximately 8:42 a.m.,

388
00:16:41.750 --> 00:16:44.290
reports received
of shots fired.

389
00:16:44.290 --> 00:16:46.660
At approximately 8:44 a.m.,

390
00:16:46.660 --> 00:16:49.680
reports received of officers
down on the scene.

391
00:16:49.680 --> 00:16:54.220
At 8:45, reports received
of more shots being fired.

392
00:16:54.220 --> 00:16:57.870
At 8:46 a.m., reports received
of the suspect,

393
00:16:57.870 --> 00:16:59.130
again, that was wearing all black,

394
00:16:59.130 --> 00:17:01.530
standing near a car wash located

395
00:17:01.530 --> 00:17:03.290
right next to the convenience store.

396
00:17:03.290 --> 00:17:05.080
At 8:48, our emergency

397
00:17:05.080 --> 00:17:07.700
EMS units started
arriving at the scene.

398
00:17:07.700 --> 00:17:10.610
They were staging so they
could start approaching

399
00:17:10.610 --> 00:17:12.850
and getting the bodies
that were at the scene

400
00:17:12.850 --> 00:17:14.400
to render first aid.

401
00:17:14.400 --> 00:17:17.610
Officers engaged in subject
at that particular time,

402
00:17:17.610 --> 00:17:19.250
and he ultimately died at the scene.

403
00:17:19.250 --> 00:17:22.460
That was officers that were
responding to the scene itself.

404
00:17:23.840 --> 00:17:26.110
AMY GOODMAN: The slain officers
were identified

405
00:17:26.110 --> 00:17:27.570
as Montrell Jackson

406
00:17:27.570 --> 00:17:29.280
and Matthew Gerald of the Baton

407
00:17:29.280 --> 00:17:30.580
Rouge Police Department

408
00:17:30.580 --> 00:17:33.120
and Deputy Brad Garafola
of the East Baton

409
00:17:33.120 --> 00:17:35.200
Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office.

410
00:17:35.200 --> 00:17:36.740
Officials identified the gunman

411
00:17:36.740 --> 00:17:39.680
as Gavin Long of Kansas City,
Missouri.

412
00:17:39.680 --> 00:17:41.390
Long, who was African-American,

413
00:17:41.390 --> 00:17:44.940
served in the Marines
from 2005 to 2010,

414
00:17:44.940 --> 00:17:46.570
reaching the rank of sergeant.

415
00:17:46.570 --> 00:17:49.600
He deployed to Iraq
from June 2008

416
00:17:49.600 --> 00:17:51.400
to January 2009,

417
00:17:51.400 --> 00:17:53.690
according to military records.

418
00:17:53.690 --> 00:17:55.510
Long was awarded several medals,

419
00:17:55.510 --> 00:17:57.200
including one
for good conduct,

420
00:17:57.200 --> 00:17:59.070
and received
an honorable discharge.

421
00:17:59.070 --> 00:18:01.770
Initial reports
were that two persons

422
00:18:01.770 --> 00:18:03.660
of interest had been detained.

423
00:18:03.660 --> 00:18:05.810
But late on Sunday,
the Louisiana State Police

424
00:18:05.810 --> 00:18:08.270
said they were released
without charge.

425
00:18:08.270 --> 00:18:10.090
Authorities are now
looking into Long’s

426
00:18:10.090 --> 00:18:13.390
online identity, Cosmo Setepenra.

427
00:18:13.390 --> 00:18:15.630
On a website published
under the alias,

428
00:18:15.630 --> 00:18:17.410
Long described himself as, quote,

429
00:18:17.410 --> 00:18:18.690
"Freedom Strategist,

430
00:18:18.690 --> 00:18:20.890
Mental Game Coach,
Nutritionist,

431
00:18:20.890 --> 00:18:23.590
Author and Spiritual Advisor."

432
00:18:23.590 --> 00:18:26.450
Long turned 29 on Sunday,

433
00:18:26.450 --> 00:18:28.310
the day of the rampage.

434
00:18:28.310 --> 00:18:30.240
Earlier this month,
after Army veteran

435
00:18:30.240 --> 00:18:33.530
Micah Johnson shot dead
five police officers in Dallas,

436
00:18:33.530 --> 00:18:36.270
Long wrote a message
online saying, quote,

437
00:18:36.270 --> 00:18:37.940
"With a brother
killing the police

438
00:18:37.940 --> 00:18:40.490
you get what I’m saying—it’s justice."

439
00:18:41.040 --> 00:18:43.530
The shootings of the officers
in Baton Rouge

440
00:18:43.530 --> 00:18:45.510
and Dallas follow
the police killings

441
00:18:45.510 --> 00:18:48.560
earlier this month of Alton Sterling
in Baton Rouge, Louisiana,

442
00:18:48.560 --> 00:18:51.760
and Philando Castile
in Falcon Heights, Minnesota.

443
00:18:51.760 --> 00:18:55.650
Speaking Sunday, President Obama
called for national unity.

444
00:18:56.960 --> 00:18:58.670
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: We, as a nation,
have to be loud

445
00:18:58.670 --> 00:19:01.640
and clear that nothing
justifies violence

446
00:19:01.640 --> 00:19:03.830
against law enforcement.

447
00:19:03.830 --> 00:19:07.280
Attacks on police
are an attack on all of us.

448
00:19:08.500 --> 00:19:10.130
AMY GOODMAN: We go now
to Baton Rouge,

449
00:19:10.130 --> 00:19:11.970
where we’re joined
by LaMont Cole,

450
00:19:11.970 --> 00:19:14.460
city councilman for District
7 in Baton Rouge.

451
00:19:14.460 --> 00:19:16.430
It’s the area where Alton Sterling

452
00:19:16.430 --> 00:19:18.620
was killed by police this month.

453
00:19:18.620 --> 00:19:20.250
We welcome you to Democracy Now!

454
00:19:20.250 --> 00:19:22.720
Can you talk about
what happened this weekend,

455
00:19:22.720 --> 00:19:25.090
just yesterday,
Sunday, Baton Rouge time

456
00:19:25.090 --> 00:19:27.050
about 9:00 in the morning,

457
00:19:27.050 --> 00:19:29.410
the killing of the three officers?

458
00:19:31.530 --> 00:19:33.210
LAMONT COLE: Good morning.
Thank you for having me.

459
00:19:33.210 --> 00:19:34.570
Yes, on yesterday,

460
00:19:34.570 --> 00:19:36.400
I was—I had
just left church.

461
00:19:36.400 --> 00:19:39.320
I went to the early service,
and I was driving down the street,

462
00:19:39.320 --> 00:19:41.940
and a friend of mine who works
in law enforcement called me

463
00:19:41.940 --> 00:19:43.730
and said,
"Have you heard?"

464
00:19:43.730 --> 00:19:45.330
And I said, "Heard what?"

465
00:19:45.330 --> 00:19:47.770
And he told me that there was
a shooting taking place

466
00:19:47.770 --> 00:19:50.420
right then and there
with officers down on the scene,

467
00:19:50.420 --> 00:19:53.290
and that if he could, he would give me
a call back a little bit later.

468
00:19:53.290 --> 00:19:55.030
I got home, I turned the television on,

469
00:19:55.030 --> 00:19:58.310
and the local news stations
were already reporting,

470
00:19:58.310 --> 00:20:00.190
and then the national news
stations picked it up.

471
00:20:00.190 --> 00:20:02.500
And so, I followed it
on television

472
00:20:02.500 --> 00:20:04.290
like everyone else.

473
00:20:04.290 --> 00:20:07.160
Immediately, I was disturbed
by the images.

474
00:20:07.160 --> 00:20:08.760
I was disturbed
by the information

475
00:20:08.760 --> 00:20:10.420
we were receiving relative

476
00:20:10.420 --> 00:20:12.420
to the officers being down.

477
00:20:12.420 --> 00:20:14.830
And before I jumped to judgment,

478
00:20:14.830 --> 00:20:16.380
I took my phone out

479
00:20:16.380 --> 00:20:18.710
and started texting officers

480
00:20:18.710 --> 00:20:20.320
that I know who are friends of mine

481
00:20:20.320 --> 00:20:21.930
that work for the state police,

482
00:20:21.930 --> 00:20:23.960
the East Baton Rouge
Parish Sheriff’s Office,

483
00:20:23.960 --> 00:20:26.730
as well as the Baton
Rouge City Police Department,

484
00:20:26.730 --> 00:20:28.240
just to make sure
they were OK.

485
00:20:28.240 --> 00:20:30.870
I soon realized
I have over 20 friends

486
00:20:30.870 --> 00:20:32.790
that work in law enforcement
here in the city.

487
00:20:32.790 --> 00:20:35.080
And all of them,
fortunately, were OK.

488
00:20:35.080 --> 00:20:37.660
Of course, we recognize now
that three officers

489
00:20:37.660 --> 00:20:39.660
were gunned down
in our streets,

490
00:20:39.660 --> 00:20:42.800
and we’re sympathetic,
empathetic and saddened

491
00:20:42.800 --> 00:20:44.620
by this tragedy in our city,

492
00:20:44.620 --> 00:20:46.190
and our hearts and prayers

493
00:20:46.190 --> 00:20:47.880
are with the families
of those officers.

494
00:20:47.880 --> 00:20:51.590
And I think, for our city,
it’s challenging,

495
00:20:51.590 --> 00:20:54.020
because we’ve experienced two killings

496
00:20:54.020 --> 00:20:56.580
in the streets
over the last two weeks,

497
00:20:56.580 --> 00:20:59.150
13 days, that have received
national attention,

498
00:20:59.150 --> 00:21:01.690
and I think it speaks
to some of the ills

499
00:21:01.690 --> 00:21:03.950
that we have in
our society at large.

500
00:21:03.950 --> 00:21:06.260
But more importantly, when things
like this happen in your city,

501
00:21:06.260 --> 00:21:07.990
it’s an opportunity
for us to move forward

502
00:21:07.990 --> 00:21:09.780
and be better
as a result of it.

503
00:21:14.040 --> 00:21:17.680
AMY GOODMAN: I wanted to
turn to this clip,

504
00:21:18.950 --> 00:21:22.730
turn to Alton Sterling’s aunt,

505
00:21:22.730 --> 00:21:24.700
Veda Washington-Abusaleh,

506
00:21:24.700 --> 00:21:28.230
speaking on Sunday
after learning about the shooting

507
00:21:28.230 --> 00:21:30.360
that left the three officers dead

508
00:21:30.360 --> 00:21:32.680
and the others wounded, one critically.

509
00:21:32.680 --> 00:21:34.700
This is what she said.

510
00:21:34.700 --> 00:21:37.610
VEDA WASHINGTON-ABUSALEH: 
We don’t call for no bloodshed.

511
00:21:37.610 --> 00:21:41.080
That’s how this
all started—with bloodshed.

512
00:21:41.080 --> 00:21:43.350
We don’t want no more bloodshed.

513
00:21:43.350 --> 00:21:45.720
So if you’re not
in accord with us,

514
00:21:45.720 --> 00:21:47.320
leave, go home,

515
00:21:47.320 --> 00:21:49.140
go wherever you come from.

516
00:21:49.140 --> 00:21:50.520
This is our house.

517
00:21:50.520 --> 00:21:53.970
You can’t come
in our house, killing us.

518
00:21:53.970 --> 00:21:56.460
That’s what you’re doing,
because at the end of the day,

519
00:21:56.980 --> 00:21:59.270
when these people
call these families

520
00:21:59.270 --> 00:22:01.320
and they tell them that their daddies

521
00:22:01.320 --> 00:22:03.880
and their mamas
not coming home no more,

522
00:22:03.880 --> 00:22:05.180
I know how they feel,

523
00:22:05.180 --> 00:22:07.820
because I got the same phone call.

524
00:22:07.820 --> 00:22:09.360
No justice.

525
00:22:09.360 --> 00:22:11.790
No justice, no peace!

526
00:22:11.790 --> 00:22:13.830
That’s what we’re calling for.

527
00:22:13.830 --> 00:22:17.190
Stop this killing! Stop this killing!

528
00:22:17.800 --> 00:22:19.840
Stop this killing!

529
00:22:19.840 --> 00:22:23.660
AMY GOODMAN: That is Veda
Washington-Abusaleh,

530
00:22:23.660 --> 00:22:28.310
who is the aunt of Alton Sterling.

531
00:22:28.310 --> 00:22:34.190
LaMont Cole, can you talk about her
call for peace and for justice?

532
00:22:36.170 --> 00:22:38.990
LAMONT COLE: You know,
my heart goes out to she,

533
00:22:38.990 --> 00:22:43.010
as well as the other members
of the Sterling family.

534
00:22:43.010 --> 00:22:45.490
Sandra Sterling, one of his aunts,

535
00:22:45.490 --> 00:22:48.400
and I are very good friends
and have talked every day since.

536
00:22:48.400 --> 00:22:52.270
And, you know, I agree
with her that bloodshed

537
00:22:52.270 --> 00:22:56.540
is what is leading to many
of the tense nature

538
00:22:56.540 --> 00:22:58.060
that we have in the city,

539
00:22:58.060 --> 00:23:00.960
and is leading to some
of the challenging times

540
00:23:00.960 --> 00:23:03.150
that we’re experiencing in our country,

541
00:23:03.150 --> 00:23:04.570
and is leading to more bloodshed.

542
00:23:04.570 --> 00:23:07.700
So I agree with her that this
is not what we want to see.

543
00:23:07.700 --> 00:23:10.030
This is not with the family
wanted to see.

544
00:23:10.030 --> 00:23:12.070
This is not what they are about.

545
00:23:12.070 --> 00:23:15.320
The Sterling family is
extremely large here in our city,

546
00:23:15.320 --> 00:23:17.300
and they’re a great group of people.

547
00:23:17.300 --> 00:23:19.640
All of the Sterlings that I know
are a great group of people.

548
00:23:19.640 --> 00:23:21.890
And this is nothing
that any of them would want.

549
00:23:21.890 --> 00:23:24.890
So, the passion, the pain in her voice,

550
00:23:24.890 --> 00:23:26.290
the tears, they’re real.

551
00:23:26.290 --> 00:23:28.730
And she feels for those families,

552
00:23:28.730 --> 00:23:31.150
and she understands
what they’re experiencing,

553
00:23:31.150 --> 00:23:33.160
because, you know, 13 days ago,

554
00:23:33.160 --> 00:23:35.560
she and her family
experienced the same thing.

555
00:23:35.560 --> 00:23:37.420
So I think we’re all on the same page

556
00:23:37.420 --> 00:23:41.050
in terms of not wanting to see this type

557
00:23:41.050 --> 00:23:43.170
of tragedy take place in our city

558
00:23:43.170 --> 00:23:46.220
on behalf of the police department
as well as our citizens.

559
00:23:46.220 --> 00:23:47.500
I think we have to get to a point

560
00:23:47.500 --> 00:23:50.050
where we work to keep
our communities safe,

561
00:23:50.050 --> 00:23:53.640
and then we have to work extremely hard
to keep our police officers say.

562
00:23:53.640 --> 00:23:56.900
I mean, this may sound a bit selfish,
but, ultimately,

563
00:23:56.900 --> 00:24:00.170
who am I supposed to call
when I feel unsafe,

564
00:24:00.170 --> 00:24:02.260
if I can’t make sure,
if I’m not working

565
00:24:02.260 --> 00:24:05.160
or if I’m not discussing how we keep
those who have been charged

566
00:24:05.160 --> 00:24:07.890
with protecting us—how
we keep those individuals safe?

567
00:24:07.890 --> 00:24:11.670
And as I said before, so many friends
of mine work in law enforcement,

568
00:24:11.670 --> 00:24:14.970
and I don’t want to see
any of them killed in the street,

569
00:24:14.970 --> 00:24:17.100
doing such a dangerous job

570
00:24:17.100 --> 00:24:19.480
and putting their life
on the line every single day.

571
00:24:19.480 --> 00:24:22.120
So I echo what Miss Sterling is saying,

572
00:24:22.120 --> 00:24:24.970
and I sincerely hope
that we can work together

573
00:24:24.970 --> 00:24:27.170
to make sure
that we come up with solutions

574
00:24:27.170 --> 00:24:28.690
that are going to make
our community better.

575
00:24:30.550 --> 00:24:32.770
AMY GOODMAN: Let me ask you
about the mayor.

576
00:24:32.770 --> 00:24:35.930
Many are calling for him
to resign, Kip Holden,

577
00:24:36.750 --> 00:24:39.660
protests outside the police department.

578
00:24:40.520 --> 00:24:45.020
So many attended Alton Sterling’s
funeral on Friday,

579
00:24:45.020 --> 00:24:46.560
the memorial service,

580
00:24:46.560 --> 00:24:51.010
but not the mayor—inexplicable absence.

581
00:24:52.840 --> 00:24:54.380
Do you think he should have been there?

582
00:24:54.380 --> 00:24:56.830
Do you feel he should resign,
City Councilman?

583
00:24:59.560 --> 00:25:00.810
LAMONT COLE: That’s a tough question.

584
00:25:00.810 --> 00:25:03.270
I know the mayor very well.

585
00:25:03.270 --> 00:25:04.890
I’ve known him a long time.

586
00:25:04.890 --> 00:25:08.170
And I think it’s just
a very challenging position for him

587
00:25:08.170 --> 00:25:11.240
to be in as the leader of this city,

588
00:25:11.240 --> 00:25:13.590
as the three-term—as
the first three-term mayor,

589
00:25:13.590 --> 00:25:15.600
as the first African-American mayor.

590
00:25:15.600 --> 00:25:17.660
And so, I do understand

591
00:25:17.660 --> 00:25:21.110
the frustration some may have
with the decision that he made.

592
00:25:21.110 --> 00:25:23.730
But I will say this:
I can’t speak for him.

593
00:25:23.730 --> 00:25:25.210
I was at the funeral.

594
00:25:25.210 --> 00:25:28.470
I have attended many
of the protests here in the city.

595
00:25:29.200 --> 00:25:32.830
All of the protests that I’ve attended
have been extremely peaceful.

596
00:25:32.830 --> 00:25:34.610
I’ve visited with the family.

597
00:25:34.610 --> 00:25:37.990
I’ve attended the store,
visited the store at least

598
00:25:37.990 --> 00:25:41.240
eight of the last 13 days,
to be there with the people.

599
00:25:41.240 --> 00:25:42.900
And I think, in leadership,

600
00:25:42.900 --> 00:25:45.930
the right move to make
is always to be with the people

601
00:25:45.930 --> 00:25:47.860
that elected you to be in office.

602
00:25:48.390 --> 00:25:51.750
As it relates to him choosing to resign,

603
00:25:51.750 --> 00:25:54.210
that’s a tough decision for him.

604
00:25:54.210 --> 00:25:57.910
He’s said publicly that that’s
something he’s not going to do.

605
00:25:57.910 --> 00:26:00.050
He’s not going to resign from office.

606
00:26:00.050 --> 00:26:01.250
And I know people are angry,

607
00:26:01.250 --> 00:26:04.730
and I know people are frustrated
with some of the choices he’s making.

608
00:26:04.730 --> 00:26:06.070
But I will simply say this:

609
00:26:06.070 --> 00:26:08.470
Decisions we make dictate
the life we lead,

610
00:26:08.470 --> 00:26:10.840
and I wouldn’t want to be him
right now at this moment.

611
00:26:12.680 --> 00:26:14.510
AMY GOODMAN: Do you know why,
since you know him well,

612
00:26:14.510 --> 00:26:15.870
he chose not to attend?

613
00:26:15.870 --> 00:26:18.470
And apparently,
though I can’t confirm this,

614
00:26:18.470 --> 00:26:20.640
he hasn’t even called
the Sterling family.

615
00:26:20.640 --> 00:26:22.860
President Obama called the family.

616
00:26:25.570 --> 00:26:27.000
LAMONT COLE: No, you know,
I do know him well,

617
00:26:27.000 --> 00:26:31.320
but we’ve not spoken
in about two-and-a-half months.

618
00:26:31.320 --> 00:26:35.640
So I’m not sure why he’s choosing to do
some of the things that he’s doing.

619
00:26:35.640 --> 00:26:38.100
And I’m not judging.
Please understand,

620
00:26:38.100 --> 00:26:41.040
I’m not judging any of the decisions
that our mayor is making.

621
00:26:41.040 --> 00:26:43.710
But what I am saying
is that in a situation

622
00:26:43.710 --> 00:26:46.070
like this—I myself
have been in a position

623
00:26:46.070 --> 00:26:47.910
where I was elected by the people

624
00:26:47.910 --> 00:26:50.010
who live in that community—I

625
00:26:50.010 --> 00:26:52.170
made sure I visited with the family,

626
00:26:52.170 --> 00:26:55.020
I contacted the family,
I offered my condolences,

627
00:26:55.020 --> 00:26:58.430
I made sure that we sent something
from our office to the funeral.

628
00:26:58.430 --> 00:27:01.030
I made sure to be with the family
on the day of the funeral,

629
00:27:01.030 --> 00:27:03.160
just to offer condolences and support.

630
00:27:03.160 --> 00:27:04.760
And I’ve made sure to stay in contact

631
00:27:04.760 --> 00:27:06.830
with those members of the family
that I know well.

632
00:27:06.830 --> 00:27:10.600
So, you know, again, I can’t speak
to any decisions he’s made.

633
00:27:10.600 --> 00:27:12.550
He’d have to answer
for those himself.

634
00:27:12.550 --> 00:27:14.610
But what I will say is that, you know,

635
00:27:14.610 --> 00:27:16.160
during the rest of his term,

636
00:27:16.160 --> 00:27:18.060
with three months left on his term,

637
00:27:18.060 --> 00:27:21.680
I think that he and the rest
of us need to start working

638
00:27:21.680 --> 00:27:22.900
towards real solutions

639
00:27:22.900 --> 00:27:25.270
in terms of how to keep
our community safe

640
00:27:25.270 --> 00:27:27.810
and as well how to keep
our police department safe.

641
00:27:29.260 --> 00:27:31.010
AMY GOODMAN: One of the officers
killed in Baton

642
00:27:31.010 --> 00:27:32.310
Rouge has been identified

643
00:27:32.310 --> 00:27:34.510
as 32-year-old Montrell Jackson,

644
00:27:34.510 --> 00:27:37.250
married father
of a new baby boy.

645
00:27:37.250 --> 00:27:39.080
Jackson, who described himself

646
00:27:39.080 --> 00:27:41.260
as humble and kind,
was a 10-year veteran

647
00:27:41.260 --> 00:27:42.800
of the Baton
Rouge Police Department.

648
00:27:42.800 --> 00:27:44.370
He responded
to the police killing

649
00:27:44.370 --> 00:27:45.990
of Alton Sterling
in Baton Rouge

650
00:27:45.990 --> 00:27:48.890
as well as the shooting
of Dallas police officers,

651
00:27:48.890 --> 00:27:52.480
in a Facebook post,
which was dated July 8th.

652
00:27:52.480 --> 00:27:54.330
He wrote, quote,

653
00:27:54.330 --> 00:27:56.530
"I’m tired physically
and emotionally.

654
00:27:56.530 --> 00:27:58.270
... Thank you to everyone
that has reached out

655
00:27:58.270 --> 00:28:01.030
to me or my wife it was needed
and much appreciated.

656
00:28:01.030 --> 00:28:02.490
I swear to God I love this city

657
00:28:02.490 --> 00:28:04.300
but I wonder if this city loves me.

658
00:28:04.300 --> 00:28:06.660
In uniform, I get nasty hateful looks

659
00:28:06.660 --> 00:28:09.380
and out of uniform
some consider me a threat.

660
00:28:09.380 --> 00:28:11.690
I’ve experienced so much
in my short life

661
00:28:11.690 --> 00:28:15.070
and these last 3 days
have tested me to the core.

662
00:28:15.070 --> 00:28:18.010
... Finally I personally want
to send prayers out to everyone

663
00:28:18.010 --> 00:28:19.930
directly affected by this tragedy.

664
00:28:19.930 --> 00:28:21.230
These are trying times.

665
00:28:21.230 --> 00:28:23.610
Please don’t let hate infect your heart.

666
00:28:23.610 --> 00:28:25.530
This city MUST and WILL get better.

667
00:28:25.530 --> 00:28:28.780
I’m working in these streets
so any protesters,

668
00:28:28.780 --> 00:28:30.140
officers,
friends, family,

669
00:28:30.140 --> 00:28:32.390
or whoever, if you see me
and need a hug

670
00:28:32.390 --> 00:28:34.600
or want to say a prayer, I got you."

671
00:28:35.310 --> 00:28:37.960
Again, those are the words
of the officer

672
00:28:37.960 --> 00:28:40.950
who was gunned down on Sunday.

673
00:28:41.770 --> 00:28:45.070
Your thoughts on this,
City Councilmember LaMont Cole?

674
00:28:46.800 --> 00:28:51.010
LAMONT COLE: Every single time
someone reads that on television

675
00:28:51.010 --> 00:28:53.630
or I read it myself,
I get a lump in my throat.

676
00:28:54.150 --> 00:28:58.470
He summed up the situation
so eloquently.

677
00:28:58.470 --> 00:29:01.720
I think the passion
in his words is evident.

678
00:29:01.720 --> 00:29:05.190
I think that officer cared
about this city,

679
00:29:05.190 --> 00:29:08.590
cared about the people
he was charged with working with.

680
00:29:08.590 --> 00:29:10.080
And I think it was
extremely challenging.

681
00:29:10.080 --> 00:29:12.780
And I understand
some of what he was saying,

682
00:29:12.780 --> 00:29:15.490
being an African-American male
living in the city

683
00:29:15.490 --> 00:29:18.230
who does work every day
with young people and tries

684
00:29:18.230 --> 00:29:20.250
to make sure we’re doing
the right types of things

685
00:29:20.250 --> 00:29:21.700
to move the city forward.

686
00:29:21.700 --> 00:29:25.730
I’ve seen Montrell on duty
and working in the community.

687
00:29:25.730 --> 00:29:27.990
I don’t know him personally,
but I’ve seen him.

688
00:29:27.990 --> 00:29:30.110
Baton Rouge is a big small town.

689
00:29:30.110 --> 00:29:34.550
And so, I recognized that everyone
he came in contact with,

690
00:29:34.550 --> 00:29:36.160
from my observation,

691
00:29:36.160 --> 00:29:38.450
he was—he treated
with the ultimate respect.

692
00:29:38.450 --> 00:29:41.280
I think that—I work in the school system
here in the city, as well,

693
00:29:41.280 --> 00:29:42.540
and so I come in contact

694
00:29:42.540 --> 00:29:44.200
with law enforcement quite often

695
00:29:44.200 --> 00:29:46.360
at various different
extracurricular activities.

696
00:29:46.360 --> 00:29:48.560
And so I’ve seen him
at various different events.

697
00:29:48.560 --> 00:29:50.810
He was a good man, from observation.

698
00:29:50.810 --> 00:29:53.680
And I think his words spoke
to his character,

699
00:29:53.680 --> 00:29:57.000
the integrity that he carried
as he wore the uniform,

700
00:29:57.000 --> 00:29:59.240
and the way he carried himself
in our community.

701
00:29:59.240 --> 00:30:03.360
And so, I think this city
has lost a great individual,

702
00:30:03.360 --> 00:30:05.770
has lost it from a tragic incident.

703
00:30:06.580 --> 00:30:10.680
A young baby won’t grow up
knowing his father.

704
00:30:10.680 --> 00:30:12.610
And I think it’s extremely unfortunate.

705
00:30:12.610 --> 00:30:14.940
But to sum up his words,

706
00:30:16.950 --> 00:30:18.880
it’s amazing to me that he had

707
00:30:18.880 --> 00:30:21.370
that thought process so soon

708
00:30:21.370 --> 00:30:23.880
after such tragic events

709
00:30:23.880 --> 00:30:27.820
and not knowing what his fate
would be, going forward.

710
00:30:27.820 --> 00:30:30.770
And so, it’s great to have

711
00:30:30.770 --> 00:30:33.950
an individual express himself so well

712
00:30:33.950 --> 00:30:35.820
and to be remembered
by those words.

713
00:30:35.820 --> 00:30:38.680
And so, I commend him
for the life that he lived,

714
00:30:38.680 --> 00:30:40.650
and I hope that we can
celebrate him in death.

715
00:30:42.680 --> 00:30:46.910
AMY GOODMAN: Very quickly,
can you respond to the so-called

716
00:30:46.910 --> 00:30:50.830
Blue Lives Matter law
and also the fact

717
00:30:50.830 --> 00:30:54.620
that after Sterling—
Alton Sterling’s death,

718
00:30:54.620 --> 00:30:56.720
close to 200 people
were arrested?

719
00:30:56.720 --> 00:30:58.490
The ACLU has filed suit,

720
00:30:58.490 --> 00:31:02.310
saying unnecessary force,
excessive arrests.

721
00:31:02.310 --> 00:31:04.170
What are your thoughts
on this, Councilman?

722
00:31:06.150 --> 00:31:10.480
LAMONT COLE: Well, I think
that this is the first time

723
00:31:10.480 --> 00:31:13.220
that we have experienced anything

724
00:31:13.220 --> 00:31:15.160
like this in our city.

725
00:31:15.660 --> 00:31:17.740
And I think people were on edge

726
00:31:17.740 --> 00:31:20.700
and responded the best way
they knew how.

727
00:31:20.700 --> 00:31:23.130
And I take caution

728
00:31:23.130 --> 00:31:26.140
with what I observed
in news media,

729
00:31:26.140 --> 00:31:28.240
what I saw on social media videos,

730
00:31:28.240 --> 00:31:31.850
in terms of how police
were interacting with our residents.

731
00:31:31.850 --> 00:31:33.470
And I had some concerns about that.

732
00:31:33.470 --> 00:31:36.110
I think it was extremely tough,

733
00:31:36.110 --> 00:31:37.970
not only for the police department,

734
00:31:37.970 --> 00:31:39.720
but for the protesters, as well.

735
00:31:39.720 --> 00:31:42.270
I think people were angry.
I think people were frustrated.

736
00:31:42.270 --> 00:31:44.640
I know I was angry.
I know I was frustrated.

737
00:31:44.640 --> 00:31:47.960
I know I was one of the participants
of many protests.

738
00:31:47.960 --> 00:31:52.370
And I just think that people reacted
in a way based on emotion.

739
00:31:52.370 --> 00:31:54.800
And I think oftentimes
when we act on emotion

740
00:31:54.800 --> 00:31:56.560
without the benefit of intellect,

741
00:31:56.560 --> 00:31:59.100
we make decisions
sometimes that we regret.

742
00:31:59.100 --> 00:32:02.190
And I think that over 180 people

743
00:32:02.190 --> 00:32:04.580
being arrested was a bit excessive

744
00:32:04.580 --> 00:32:07.500
in terms of trying
to keep our city safe.

745
00:32:07.500 --> 00:32:10.710
But I also recognize
that the police department

746
00:32:10.710 --> 00:32:14.150
was doing the best it could during this
extremely challenging time.

747
00:32:14.150 --> 00:32:17.970
Do I agree with 180 people
being arrested during a protest?

748
00:32:17.970 --> 00:32:21.100
Not at all. Let me state that
for the record: not at all.

749
00:32:21.100 --> 00:32:23.540
But I do understand
that they were doing the best

750
00:32:23.540 --> 00:32:26.550
that they could based on
all of the information

751
00:32:26.550 --> 00:32:28.620
they were receiving
about the protests.

752
00:32:28.620 --> 00:32:31.030
I’ve met with the chief of police,
state superintendent,

753
00:32:31.030 --> 00:32:32.500
as well as our sheriff,

754
00:32:32.500 --> 00:32:35.110
to discuss our concerns
about what was happening.

755
00:32:35.110 --> 00:32:37.180
And based on their conversation,

756
00:32:37.180 --> 00:32:39.000
you know, I may not agree with the way

757
00:32:39.000 --> 00:32:41.320
they went about
addressing the matter,

758
00:32:41.320 --> 00:32:44.460
but I do understand,
in those positions of leadership,

759
00:32:44.460 --> 00:32:45.980
there are tough
decisions to be made,

760
00:32:45.980 --> 00:32:47.290
and they made the ones
that they thought

761
00:32:47.290 --> 00:32:48.710
were going to
keep the community safe.

762
00:32:50.950 --> 00:32:52.750
AMY GOODMAN: LaMont Cole, I want to
thank you for being with us,

763
00:32:52.750 --> 00:32:54.030
city councilman in Baton Rouge,

764
00:32:54.030 --> 00:32:56.900
where Alton Sterling
was killed by police.

765
00:32:56.900 --> 00:32:58.260
I want to thank you
for being with us.

766
00:32:58.260 --> 00:32:59.490
When we come back from break,

767
00:32:59.490 --> 00:33:01.110
Dr. Cornel West joins us,

768
00:33:01.110 --> 00:33:03.500
professor at Union
Theological Seminary.

769
00:33:03.500 --> 00:33:05.380
He is here in Cleveland

770
00:33:05.380 --> 00:33:07.160
at the Republican National Convention.

771
00:33:07.160 --> 00:33:09.160
We’ll find out why.
Stay with us.

772
00:34:38.820 --> 00:34:40.060
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!,

773
00:34:40.060 --> 00:34:42.660
democracynow.org,
The War and Peace Report.

774
00:34:42.660 --> 00:34:45.630
I’m Amy Goodman.
We are "Breaking with Convention:

775
00:34:45.630 --> 00:34:48.390
Power, Politics
and the Presidency."

776
00:34:48.390 --> 00:34:51.740
Every day, we’re broadcasting
for two hours,

777
00:34:51.740 --> 00:34:53.460
this week from Cleveland

778
00:34:53.460 --> 00:34:55.490
during the Republican
National Convention,

779
00:34:55.490 --> 00:34:58.190
which opens later this afternoon,

780
00:34:58.190 --> 00:35:00.930
and next week from Philadelphia.

781
00:35:01.530 --> 00:35:03.440
To talk more about the killing

782
00:35:03.440 --> 00:35:06.050
of the three police officers
in Baton Rouge

783
00:35:06.050 --> 00:35:07.690
and the recent
nationwide protests

784
00:35:07.690 --> 00:35:09.190
against police brutality

785
00:35:09.190 --> 00:35:11.500
and why he’s here in Cleveland

786
00:35:11.500 --> 00:35:13.740
at the Republican National
Convention for the week,

787
00:35:13.740 --> 00:35:16.620
we’re joined by professor
Cornel West.

788
00:35:16.620 --> 00:35:19.510
Dr. West is a professor
at Union Theological Seminary.

789
00:35:19.510 --> 00:35:22.170
He endorsed Bernie Sanders
for president last summer,

790
00:35:22.170 --> 00:35:23.690
was appointed by Sanders to serve

791
00:35:23.690 --> 00:35:26.220
on the Democratic platform committee,
author of numerous books,

792
00:35:26.220 --> 00:35:29.640
including Black Prophetic Fire.
Welcome to Democracy Now!

793
00:35:29.640 --> 00:35:32.200
It’s great to have you with us
right here in Cleveland.

794
00:35:32.200 --> 00:35:34.970
CORNEL WEST: In the midst of the madness
here, my dear sister.

795
00:35:34.970 --> 00:35:37.270
AMY GOODMAN: The killings—the killings

796
00:35:37.270 --> 00:35:39.610
of the police officers
in Baton Rouge,

797
00:35:39.610 --> 00:35:40.940
before that, in Dallas,

798
00:35:40.940 --> 00:35:43.300
the killing of
the African-American

799
00:35:43.300 --> 00:35:45.780
residents Alton Sterling

800
00:35:45.780 --> 00:35:47.850
as well as Philando Castile?

801
00:35:47.850 --> 00:35:49.310
CORNEL WEST: Yeah, yeah.

802
00:35:49.310 --> 00:35:50.720
Well, there will never,

803
00:35:50.720 --> 00:35:53.330
ever be peace without justice.

804
00:35:53.330 --> 00:35:56.920
There will never be calmness
without accountability.

805
00:35:56.920 --> 00:35:59.830
There will never be order
without fairness.

806
00:35:59.830 --> 00:36:03.560
So when I hear
the authorities call for peace

807
00:36:03.560 --> 00:36:05.830
and call for calmness
and call for order,

808
00:36:06.610 --> 00:36:10.540
I say, yes, but it’s not
the absence of tension.

809
00:36:10.540 --> 00:36:12.780
It’s got to be the presence
of that justice

810
00:36:12.780 --> 00:36:15.210
and accountability
and that fairness.

811
00:36:15.810 --> 00:36:18.820
When I hear the authorities—
even President Obama says,

812
00:36:18.820 --> 00:36:21.900
well, the attack on the police
is an attack on all of us.

813
00:36:21.900 --> 00:36:26.370
I said, OK, but an attack
on black people,

814
00:36:26.370 --> 00:36:27.640
especially black youth,

815
00:36:27.640 --> 00:36:30.840
is also attack
on all of us.

816
00:36:30.840 --> 00:36:33.790
If, in fact,
the attack on the police

817
00:36:33.790 --> 00:36:36.190
is an assault on all of us,

818
00:36:36.190 --> 00:36:39.900
then when the police unfairly maims

819
00:36:39.900 --> 00:36:42.550
and murders civilians,

820
00:36:42.550 --> 00:36:45.170
the police is killing
on behalf of all of us.

821
00:36:45.170 --> 00:36:47.250
Well, I don’t want the police
killing on behalf of me.

822
00:36:47.780 --> 00:36:50.470
I want the police to be treated
with respect and fairly,

823
00:36:51.270 --> 00:36:53.830
and I want black youth
and brown youth,

824
00:36:54.380 --> 00:36:56.990
black men and black women
to be treated fairly.

825
00:36:56.990 --> 00:36:58.920
And that’s why I came here to Cleveland.
I’ve come here.

826
00:36:58.920 --> 00:37:01.990
We’ve already marched
with Brother Malik Zulu Shabazz,

827
00:37:01.990 --> 00:37:04.500
with my precious black nationalist
brothers and sisters.

828
00:37:04.500 --> 00:37:07.080
We marched Ninth Avenue

829
00:37:07.080 --> 00:37:08.440
all the way to—from
12th Avenue

830
00:37:08.440 --> 00:37:09.720
all the way to 71st Avenue,

831
00:37:09.720 --> 00:37:12.840
Second Ebenezer Baptist Church,
Reverend A.L. Owens.

832
00:37:12.840 --> 00:37:15.130
I’m here with Reverend Jawanza Colvin

833
00:37:15.750 --> 00:37:17.670
at the great historic Mount Olivet

834
00:37:17.670 --> 00:37:19.390
Institutional Baptist Church.

835
00:37:19.390 --> 00:37:21.080
We’re going to have a gathering
with Sister Nina,

836
00:37:22.720 --> 00:37:23.920
our dear sister Nina,

837
00:37:23.920 --> 00:37:27.670
who’s here, who’s just magnificent
in terms of her presence,

838
00:37:27.670 --> 00:37:29.140
you know, here in Cleveland.
AMY GOODMAN: Nina Turner?

839
00:37:29.140 --> 00:37:30.620
CORNEL WEST: Yeah,
the great Nina Turner.

840
00:37:30.620 --> 00:37:34.350
And then the AIDS
Healthcare Foundation last night,

841
00:37:34.350 --> 00:37:36.850
with Raheem DeVaughn and Mary Mary

842
00:37:36.850 --> 00:37:38.140
and The Roots.

843
00:37:38.140 --> 00:37:41.050
You know, and, see,
49 years ago yesterday

844
00:37:41.050 --> 00:37:42.950
was the death of John Coltrane.

845
00:37:43.980 --> 00:37:45.480
And for me, that’s crucial,

846
00:37:45.480 --> 00:37:47.680
because it’s really about
a love supreme,

847
00:37:47.680 --> 00:37:50.770
it’s really about the giant steps
that we have to take.

848
00:37:50.770 --> 00:37:52.440
But we have to hit the streets.

849
00:37:52.440 --> 00:37:55.180
We’ve got to preserve the resistance

850
00:37:55.180 --> 00:37:57.370
and let the young folk know,

851
00:37:57.370 --> 00:37:59.210
see the tears
of our dear sister, the aunt.

852
00:37:59.740 --> 00:38:01.740
You know, stop the killing.

853
00:38:01.740 --> 00:38:03.510
Stop killing black people.

854
00:38:03.510 --> 00:38:05.810
Stop killing working people.

855
00:38:05.810 --> 00:38:07.230
Because it’s not just a racial thing.

856
00:38:07.230 --> 00:38:09.410
They’re killing a lot of white
brothers and sisters, too,

857
00:38:09.410 --> 00:38:11.330
but it’s disproportionately chocolate.

858
00:38:11.970 --> 00:38:14.090
And, yes, you’ve got
to stop killing the police,

859
00:38:14.090 --> 00:38:15.660
but we’re in this together.

860
00:38:15.660 --> 00:38:18.490
We got social neglect.
You’ve got economic abandonment.

861
00:38:18.490 --> 00:38:21.030
Every day, you’ve got poor black people

862
00:38:21.030 --> 00:38:24.660
who are wrestling with unbelievably
oppressive conditions.

863
00:38:25.270 --> 00:38:28.940
And we’ve got to be able
to speak candidly

864
00:38:28.940 --> 00:38:30.510
and honestly about that and come up

865
00:38:30.510 --> 00:38:33.920
with some ways of rechanneling
a lot of this rage and anger.

866
00:38:36.110 --> 00:38:39.520
AMY GOODMAN: You are
endorsing Dr. Jill Stein.

867
00:38:39.520 --> 00:38:41.840
You were a surrogate
for Bernie Sanders.

868
00:38:41.840 --> 00:38:43.760
You spoke all over
the country for him.

869
00:38:43.760 --> 00:38:45.140
CORNEL WEST: Yes, yes, yes.

870
00:38:45.140 --> 00:38:46.870
AMY GOODMAN: What made you decide

871
00:38:46.870 --> 00:38:50.410
to support the Green Party
presidential candidate

872
00:38:50.410 --> 00:38:52.280
as opposed to Hillary Clinton?

873
00:38:52.280 --> 00:38:54.140
CORNEL WEST: Well, I’ve never been
tied to one party

874
00:38:54.140 --> 00:38:57.190
or one candidate
or even one institution.

875
00:38:57.190 --> 00:39:00.000
And that’s true even
with one church as a Christian.

876
00:39:00.000 --> 00:39:01.610
I’m committed to truth and justice.

877
00:39:02.200 --> 00:39:04.280
And Brother Bernie, no doubt,

878
00:39:04.280 --> 00:39:06.150
was the standard-bearer
for truth

879
00:39:06.150 --> 00:39:09.990
and justice during the primary
at a national level,

880
00:39:09.990 --> 00:39:11.740
at a highly visible level.

881
00:39:11.740 --> 00:39:15.240
Once he endorsed
Hillary Clinton, who, for me,

882
00:39:15.240 --> 00:39:18.520
is a neoliberal disaster,
it was clear—

883
00:39:18.520 --> 00:39:19.700
AMY GOODMAN: What do mean by that?

884
00:39:19.700 --> 00:39:20.910
CORNEL WEST: A neoliberal disaster

885
00:39:20.910 --> 00:39:24.900
is one who generates
a mass incarceration regime,

886
00:39:24.900 --> 00:39:27.620
who deregulates banks and markets,

887
00:39:27.620 --> 00:39:33.710
who promotes chaos
of regime change in Libya,

888
00:39:33.710 --> 00:39:36.600
supports military coups
in Honduras,

889
00:39:37.430 --> 00:39:41.900
undermines some of
the magnificent efforts

890
00:39:41.900 --> 00:39:45.090
in Haiti of working people,
and so forth.

891
00:39:45.090 --> 00:39:47.310
That’s the record
of Hillary Clinton.

892
00:39:47.310 --> 00:39:49.180
So there was no way—when
my dear brother,

893
00:39:49.180 --> 00:39:50.910
who I love very deeply,
Bernie Sanders said

894
00:39:50.910 --> 00:39:52.380
she will make
an outstanding president,

895
00:39:52.380 --> 00:39:54.680
I said, "Oh, I disagree with my brother.

896
00:39:54.680 --> 00:39:56.020
I think she’ll—I don’t think

897
00:39:56.020 --> 00:39:58.900
she’ll make an outstanding
president at all."

898
00:39:58.900 --> 00:40:00.600
She’s a militarist.

899
00:40:00.600 --> 00:40:02.230
She’s a hawk.

900
00:40:02.230 --> 00:40:03.970
She could take us
into war with Russia.

901
00:40:03.970 --> 00:40:08.170
She could take us
into war with Iran.

902
00:40:08.170 --> 00:40:12.080
So, I mean, I think
she’s—she’s dangerous

903
00:40:12.080 --> 00:40:15.010
in terms of her neoliberal
ideology—not

904
00:40:15.010 --> 00:40:16.220
as a woman,
because I’m supporting,

905
00:40:16.220 --> 00:40:18.190
of course,
my dear sister Jill Stein.

906
00:40:18.190 --> 00:40:22.790
I think after a magnificent campaign
of Bernie Sanders,

907
00:40:22.790 --> 00:40:24.320
the next step
is a green step.

908
00:40:24.320 --> 00:40:26.510
The next step
is a progressive step.

909
00:40:26.510 --> 00:40:28.030
And when you’re calling
for reparations,

910
00:40:28.030 --> 00:40:30.280
you’re calling for
the release of prisoners

911
00:40:30.280 --> 00:40:34.080
who have been historically
unfairly treated,

912
00:40:34.080 --> 00:40:37.650
especially tied to nonviolent crimes,

913
00:40:38.210 --> 00:40:39.530
and then saying they should vote

914
00:40:39.530 --> 00:40:41.450
and that vote should
never be taken away,

915
00:40:41.450 --> 00:40:44.420
when you’re calling—putting people
and planet and peace

916
00:40:44.420 --> 00:40:47.620
before profits,
Sister Jill Stein,

917
00:40:47.620 --> 00:40:50.680
for me, is somebody
that’s worth fighting for.

918
00:40:50.680 --> 00:40:51.830
And she’s not a spoiler.

919
00:40:51.830 --> 00:40:54.120
You know, a lot of people use
that term "spoiler."

920
00:40:54.120 --> 00:40:57.480
If Hillary Clinton can’t make
the case to progressives,

921
00:40:57.480 --> 00:40:59.090
she doesn’t deserve our vote.

922
00:40:59.090 --> 00:41:01.260
Now, Trump is a neofascist
in the making.

923
00:41:01.260 --> 00:41:03.130
There’s no doubt about that.
AMY GOODMAN: Donald Trump.

924
00:41:03.130 --> 00:41:05.620
CORNEL WEST: Yeah.
Oh, there’s no doubt about that.

925
00:41:05.620 --> 00:41:10.120
But the thing is, is that you
can’t just be a non-Trump

926
00:41:10.120 --> 00:41:11.780
and deserve one’s vote.

927
00:41:11.780 --> 00:41:13.980
If Hillary Clinton
wants the vote of progressives,

928
00:41:13.980 --> 00:41:15.340
she better be
real about it.

929
00:41:15.340 --> 00:41:18.290
But I don’t think she has
the capacity to be real about it.

930
00:41:18.290 --> 00:41:19.550
She’s so tied to Wall Street.

931
00:41:19.550 --> 00:41:21.700
She’s so tied
to the corporate elite.

932
00:41:21.700 --> 00:41:24.490
AMY GOODMAN: Why do you say
he’s a neofascist, Donald Trump, the—

933
00:41:24.490 --> 00:41:26.550
CORNEL WEST: Because neofascism
in the United States

934
00:41:26.550 --> 00:41:29.430
takes the form of big money,
big banks, big corporations,

935
00:41:29.430 --> 00:41:31.970
tied to xenophobic scapegoating
of the vulnerable,

936
00:41:31.970 --> 00:41:33.420
like Mexicans and Muslims

937
00:41:34.630 --> 00:41:36.420
and women and black folk,

938
00:41:36.420 --> 00:41:39.990
and militaristic
policies abroad,

939
00:41:39.990 --> 00:41:42.190
with strongman, charismatic,

940
00:41:42.190 --> 00:41:44.340
autocratic personality,

941
00:41:44.340 --> 00:41:46.270
and that’s what Donald Trump is.
And we should know.

942
00:41:46.270 --> 00:41:48.450
This is why I salute you,
my dear sister.

943
00:41:48.450 --> 00:41:51.360
Corporate media has played
a fundamental role

944
00:41:51.360 --> 00:41:56.030
in the making of Donald Trump—$2
billion free time.

945
00:41:56.030 --> 00:41:57.390
They made big profits.

946
00:41:57.390 --> 00:41:59.920
They put their profits
ahead of the public interest.

947
00:42:00.640 --> 00:42:01.940
They covered every speech,

948
00:42:01.940 --> 00:42:05.150
every word in Twitter
for the last 14 months,

949
00:42:05.150 --> 00:42:06.440
just to make big money.

950
00:42:06.440 --> 00:42:09.620
Even this convention,
even this—they can’t wait.

951
00:42:09.620 --> 00:42:12.650
They’re salivating for the profits.
And what do they do?

952
00:42:12.650 --> 00:42:14.390
They throw out this mediocre,

953
00:42:14.390 --> 00:42:18.000
dumbed-down xenophobic-speaking brother,

954
00:42:18.000 --> 00:42:20.020
who—I mean, he’s a human being
like anybody else,

955
00:42:20.020 --> 00:42:21.640
so, I mean, you know,
he’s made in the image of God,

956
00:42:21.640 --> 00:42:23.970
in terms of my own Christian
faith and so forth,

957
00:42:23.970 --> 00:42:25.500
but he’s a neofascist
in the making.

958
00:42:25.500 --> 00:42:28.560
And corporate media is going
to have to acknowledge

959
00:42:28.560 --> 00:42:30.710
the tremendous responsibility

960
00:42:30.710 --> 00:42:34.040
they have of making sure
Donald Trump was center stage.

961
00:42:34.040 --> 00:42:36.170
If Bernie Sanders
had received one-half

962
00:42:36.170 --> 00:42:38.410
of that kind of attention,

963
00:42:38.410 --> 00:42:40.210
we’d be in a very different place.

964
00:42:40.210 --> 00:42:42.660
If they would put more stress
on what Jill Stein

965
00:42:42.660 --> 00:42:46.220
is saying, the unbelievable fairness,

966
00:42:46.940 --> 00:42:48.860
subtlety of analysis,

967
00:42:48.860 --> 00:42:51.890
moral passion of Sister
Jill—corporate media

968
00:42:53.050 --> 00:42:55.010
won’t touch her with a 10-foot pole,
for the most part.

969
00:42:55.010 --> 00:42:56.860
But it’s changing.
It’s going to change.

970
00:42:56.860 --> 00:42:58.760
AMY GOODMAN: What does Dr.
Jill Stein represent?

971
00:42:58.760 --> 00:43:01.560
What—why are you drawn
to the Green Party platform,

972
00:43:01.560 --> 00:43:03.750
now that Bernie Sanders
has conceded?

973
00:43:03.750 --> 00:43:05.750
CORNEL WEST: Well, one,
in the language of Coltrane,

974
00:43:05.750 --> 00:43:07.490
she’s a major force for good,

975
00:43:07.490 --> 00:43:09.190
accenting the role of poor

976
00:43:09.190 --> 00:43:11.970
and working people
being center stage.

977
00:43:11.970 --> 00:43:14.440
She’s green in terms of trying
to save the planet

978
00:43:14.440 --> 00:43:16.950
in the face of corporate greed.

979
00:43:16.950 --> 00:43:19.460
She’s fundamentally concerned
with issues of racial justice,

980
00:43:19.460 --> 00:43:22.250
legacies of white supremacy
as well as male supremacy.

981
00:43:22.250 --> 00:43:25.660
She’s concerned about
empowering working people.

982
00:43:25.660 --> 00:43:28.240
She opposes TPP,
trying to make sure

983
00:43:28.240 --> 00:43:30.010
we don’t have the corporate
reshaping of the world

984
00:43:30.010 --> 00:43:31.910
economy—the kind
of policies,

985
00:43:31.910 --> 00:43:33.560
of course, Democratic Party
has supported,

986
00:43:33.560 --> 00:43:35.570
President Obama
has supported.

987
00:43:36.880 --> 00:43:40.540
It’s hard to find somebody
at the national level

988
00:43:40.540 --> 00:43:43.110
who provides
a certain kind of hope,

989
00:43:43.110 --> 00:43:45.930
given the unbelievable
spiritual decline

990
00:43:45.930 --> 00:43:47.190
and moral decay.

991
00:43:47.190 --> 00:43:48.930
And by spiritual decline
and moral decay,

992
00:43:48.930 --> 00:43:51.310
I mean greed and indifference

993
00:43:51.310 --> 00:43:52.690
and contempt

994
00:43:52.690 --> 00:43:55.860
in the driver seat among
our elites vis-à-vis

995
00:43:55.860 --> 00:43:58.030
all working people
and poor people.

996
00:43:58.030 --> 00:44:03.180
It’s just sad to see
so many fellow working people

997
00:44:03.180 --> 00:44:06.320
and fellow citizens
supporting a pseudo-populist

998
00:44:06.320 --> 00:44:08.770
and neofascist like Donald Trump.

999
00:44:08.770 --> 00:44:10.730
They’re in pain.
The pain is very real,

1000
00:44:10.730 --> 00:44:13.570
but they’re moving in
a right-wing direction.

1001
00:44:13.570 --> 00:44:15.410
AMY GOODMAN: What happened
with the Democratic platform?

1002
00:44:15.410 --> 00:44:17.320
You were one of the people
on the committee.

1003
00:44:17.320 --> 00:44:19.790
A lot of people don’t know
how this stuff is made,

1004
00:44:19.790 --> 00:44:23.240
how the sausage is made.
Explain what happened.

1005
00:44:23.240 --> 00:44:24.690
What did you win?
What did you lose?

1006
00:44:24.690 --> 00:44:26.650
CORNEL WEST: Well, I was blessed
to be put on the committee

1007
00:44:26.650 --> 00:44:28.450
by Brother Bernie Sanders.

1008
00:44:28.450 --> 00:44:30.640
We had wonderful deliberations.

1009
00:44:30.640 --> 00:44:32.590
Brother Elijah Cummings
was very fair.

1010
00:44:32.590 --> 00:44:34.020
He was the chairperson.

1011
00:44:34.020 --> 00:44:35.730
But we lost TPP.

1012
00:44:35.730 --> 00:44:38.200
We lost Medicare for all.

1013
00:44:38.200 --> 00:44:40.890
We lost, of course,
Israeli occupation

1014
00:44:40.890 --> 00:44:43.780
and Israeli settlements included
within the platform,

1015
00:44:43.780 --> 00:44:46.460
keeping track while
precious Palestinian brothers

1016
00:44:46.460 --> 00:44:47.200
and sisters—
AMY GOODMAN: What about them?

1017
00:44:47.200 --> 00:44:48.620
You lost—what do you mean,
you lost them?

1018
00:44:48.620 --> 00:44:50.610
CORNEL WEST: We lost them,
in that we made the case,

1019
00:44:50.610 --> 00:44:52.640
and we lost the vote.
AMY GOODMAN: What were you looking for?

1020
00:44:52.640 --> 00:44:55.170
CORNEL WEST: We were looking
to include them within the platform,

1021
00:44:55.170 --> 00:44:57.220
so at least it was on paper.

1022
00:44:57.220 --> 00:44:58.510
Now, of course,
putting it on paper

1023
00:44:58.510 --> 00:45:00.450
is different
than putting it in practice.

1024
00:45:00.450 --> 00:45:02.780
A declaration is different
from the execution.

1025
00:45:02.780 --> 00:45:04.440
But we lost over
and over again,

1026
00:45:04.440 --> 00:45:07.680
because the Clinton people
lined up and voted against it.

1027
00:45:07.680 --> 00:45:10.650
That’s why I, of course,
abstained, initially,

1028
00:45:10.650 --> 00:45:14.430
at the move
from writing the draft,

1029
00:45:14.430 --> 00:45:16.880
and then we took it
to the platform committee in Orlando.

1030
00:45:16.880 --> 00:45:18.980
I was also a member
of the platform committee.

1031
00:45:18.980 --> 00:45:20.510
And I had to abstain again,

1032
00:45:20.510 --> 00:45:22.940
because—even though
they didn’t allow for abstention;

1033
00:45:22.940 --> 00:45:24.410
it was just no or yes.

1034
00:45:24.410 --> 00:45:27.660
But there’s no way,
based on moral grounds,

1035
00:45:27.660 --> 00:45:30.120
those based on my own
moral conscience,

1036
00:45:30.120 --> 00:45:31.980
that I could support
that platform.

1037
00:45:31.980 --> 00:45:37.280
And once my dear brother
moved into his endorsement,

1038
00:45:37.280 --> 00:45:40.660
his strong endorsement
of the neoliberal disaster

1039
00:45:40.660 --> 00:45:42.620
that Sister Hillary represents,

1040
00:45:42.620 --> 00:45:44.680
there was no way
that I could stay

1041
00:45:44.680 --> 00:45:46.570
with Bernie Sanders any longer,

1042
00:45:47.200 --> 00:45:49.060
had to break with
the two-party system.

1043
00:45:49.060 --> 00:45:51.830
The duopoly has
to come to an end.

1044
00:45:51.830 --> 00:45:54.860
I was hoping we could bring
the neoliberal era to a close,

1045
00:45:55.370 --> 00:45:57.880
because a year ago, populist,

1046
00:45:57.880 --> 00:45:59.170
Bernie Sanders;

1047
00:45:59.170 --> 00:46:00.380
neofascist with Trump,

1048
00:46:01.170 --> 00:46:03.790
or neoliberalism limps on
with Hillary Clinton.

1049
00:46:03.790 --> 00:46:05.340
Right now the Democratic Party

1050
00:46:05.340 --> 00:46:06.760
still run by big corporations,

1051
00:46:06.760 --> 00:46:08.380
big lobbyists and so forth,

1052
00:46:08.380 --> 00:46:12.380
from AIPAC to a host of other
lobbyists of big money,

1053
00:46:13.390 --> 00:46:15.680
and it looks like they want
to hold on for dear life.

1054
00:46:15.680 --> 00:46:17.360
And it’s a sad thing to see,

1055
00:46:17.360 --> 00:46:20.100
because the country
is having a nervous breakdown.

1056
00:46:20.940 --> 00:46:23.340
And you just hope
that there can be

1057
00:46:23.340 --> 00:46:25.410
enough people with compassion

1058
00:46:25.930 --> 00:46:28.480
and courage
to hold onto justice,

1059
00:46:28.480 --> 00:46:31.460
keep the legacy
of Martin Luther King Jr.

1060
00:46:31.460 --> 00:46:33.470
and Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel

1061
00:46:33.470 --> 00:46:35.560
and Edward Said
and Dorothy Day alive.

1062
00:46:36.610 --> 00:46:39.130
AMY GOODMAN: Finally, when you look
at what Donald Trump

1063
00:46:39.130 --> 00:46:42.790
is calling for—the wall
on the border with Mexico,

1064
00:46:42.790 --> 00:46:44.090
banning Muslims

1065
00:46:44.090 --> 00:46:45.770
from coming in—barring Muslims

1066
00:46:45.770 --> 00:46:47.600
from coming into the country,

1067
00:46:48.810 --> 00:46:51.790
hesitating to disavow the support

1068
00:46:51.790 --> 00:46:53.610
of the white supremacist David Duke

1069
00:46:53.610 --> 00:46:55.750
and other issues—for those

1070
00:46:55.750 --> 00:46:58.390
who say it’s only
Hillary Clinton

1071
00:46:58.390 --> 00:47:01.220
who could defeat that,
what is your response?

1072
00:47:01.220 --> 00:47:03.460
CORNEL WEST: My response is,
and when you actually look

1073
00:47:03.460 --> 00:47:05.650
at the mass incarceration policies,

1074
00:47:05.650 --> 00:47:08.040
when you actually look
at the reinforcement

1075
00:47:08.040 --> 00:47:09.470
of the new Jim Crow

1076
00:47:09.470 --> 00:47:12.960
and the segregation
of our educational systems

1077
00:47:12.960 --> 00:47:14.860
and so forth, that occurred
under Democrats.

1078
00:47:15.510 --> 00:47:18.010
It would persist
under Hillary Clinton.

1079
00:47:18.590 --> 00:47:21.040
What Donald Trump talks about
in the abstract

1080
00:47:21.040 --> 00:47:23.170
has actually been
concretely enacted

1081
00:47:23.170 --> 00:47:26.730
under neoliberal regimes
of the Democratic Party.

1082
00:47:26.730 --> 00:47:28.690
Same would be true
in terms of foreign policy.

1083
00:47:28.690 --> 00:47:30.500
Foreign policy, for me, is very,

1084
00:47:30.500 --> 00:47:33.490
very important in terms
of the no-fly zones

1085
00:47:33.490 --> 00:47:36.060
in Syria that can lead toward war,

1086
00:47:36.060 --> 00:47:38.660
the kind of encirclement of Russia.

1087
00:47:38.660 --> 00:47:40.680
I mean, can you
imagine Russian troops

1088
00:47:40.680 --> 00:47:42.630
in Mexico and Canada?

1089
00:47:42.630 --> 00:47:45.430
What would the U.S. response be?
Oh, my god.

1090
00:47:45.430 --> 00:47:47.860
Well, that’s very much what NATO
troops are vis-à-vis Russia.

1091
00:47:47.860 --> 00:47:50.770
Now, we know Russia is run
by autocratic Putin,

1092
00:47:50.770 --> 00:47:53.590
but that kind of provocation
for Russia,

1093
00:47:53.590 --> 00:47:57.060
who has nuclear arms,

1094
00:47:57.060 --> 00:48:00.170
is the kind of thing that
Hillary Clinton, of course, supported.

1095
00:48:00.170 --> 00:48:01.890
And her connection
to the Robert Kagans

1096
00:48:01.890 --> 00:48:03.160
and Henry Kissingers,

1097
00:48:03.160 --> 00:48:05.920
of course, are just
frightening in regard

1098
00:48:05.920 --> 00:48:08.050
to militaristic orientations.

1099
00:48:08.050 --> 00:48:10.510
And so, this idea that
somehow we’ve got to opt

1100
00:48:10.510 --> 00:48:11.830
for a neoliberal disaster

1101
00:48:11.830 --> 00:48:15.650
as the only option vis-à-vis
the neofascist catastrophe,

1102
00:48:15.650 --> 00:48:17.980
as a blues man, I appreciate
you playing that blues,

1103
00:48:18.490 --> 00:48:21.320
said I can deal
with catastrophe,

1104
00:48:21.320 --> 00:48:25.500
not by panicking
and being driven by fear,

1105
00:48:25.500 --> 00:48:27.470
but I can look
the catastrophe in the face

1106
00:48:27.470 --> 00:48:29.070
and still tell the truth

1107
00:48:29.070 --> 00:48:31.380
and still go down swinging
with a smile and,

1108
00:48:31.380 --> 00:48:33.710
most importantly, love,

1109
00:48:33.710 --> 00:48:35.840
Coltrane’s love—and for me,

1110
00:48:35.840 --> 00:48:39.640
Jesus’s love—at the center
of how we proceed.

1111
00:48:40.200 --> 00:48:42.270
AMY GOODMAN: We’re going to leave
it there, but we’ll be talking to you

1112
00:48:42.270 --> 00:48:43.700
through the week,
Dr. Cornel West,

1113
00:48:43.700 --> 00:48:45.640
professor at Union
Theological Seminary.

1114
00:48:45.640 --> 00:48:47.660
He endorsed Bernie Sanders

1115
00:48:47.660 --> 00:48:50.760
for president last summer

1116
00:48:50.760 --> 00:48:52.290
and was appointed
by Sanders to serve

1117
00:48:52.290 --> 00:48:53.720
on the Democratic platform committee,

1118
00:48:53.720 --> 00:48:54.920
author of a number
of books,

1119
00:48:54.920 --> 00:48:56.720
most recently
Black Prophetic Fire,

1120
00:48:56.720 --> 00:48:58.210
now is endorsing Dr.

1121
00:48:58.210 --> 00:49:01.510
Jill Stein, Green Party
presidential candidate.

1122
00:49:01.510 --> 00:49:04.340
This is Democracy Now!
When we come back, we go to Istanbul

1123
00:49:04.340 --> 00:49:06.070
and stay right here to talk about

1124
00:49:06.070 --> 00:49:07.930
the attempted coup
over the weekend.

1125
00:50:45.290 --> 00:50:47.290
Stay with us.

1126
00:51:01.360 --> 00:51:04.880
AMY GOODMAN: Turkey remains
in a state of crisis

1127
00:51:04.880 --> 00:51:06.620
three days after soldiers

1128
00:51:06.620 --> 00:51:08.160
staged
an attempted coup,

1129
00:51:08.160 --> 00:51:10.890
commandeering tanks,
attack helicopters

1130
00:51:10.890 --> 00:51:12.790
and fighter jets
in a bid to seize power.

1131
00:51:12.790 --> 00:51:15.310
More than 290 people
were killed,

1132
00:51:15.310 --> 00:51:17.500
around 1,400 wounded, Friday night.

1133
00:51:17.500 --> 00:51:20.390
The coup began while
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan,

1134
00:51:20.390 --> 00:51:22.170
Recep Tayypip Erdogan,

1135
00:51:22.170 --> 00:51:24.620
was vacationing
at a seaside resort.

1136
00:51:24.620 --> 00:51:26.830
The mutinous faction
of the military said

1137
00:51:26.830 --> 00:51:30.090
it had taken action
to protect democracy from Erdogan.

1138
00:51:30.090 --> 00:51:31.480
In the midst of the coup,

1139
00:51:31.480 --> 00:51:32.680
Erdogan spoke to the nation

1140
00:51:32.680 --> 00:51:35.350
via the FaceTime app on his iPhone

1141
00:51:35.350 --> 00:51:37.610
after he narrowly escaped
being captured by soldiers,

1142
00:51:37.610 --> 00:51:40.440
who arrived at his seaside hotel
just after he left.

1143
00:51:40.440 --> 00:51:41.720
Once the coup was defeated,

1144
00:51:41.720 --> 00:51:43.340
he addressed the nation again.

1145
00:51:43.340 --> 00:51:45.070
PRESIDENT RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN: 
[translated]

1146
00:51:45.070 --> 00:51:48.430
There is no power

1147
00:51:48.430 --> 00:51:51.660
that is above national
will in this country.

1148
00:51:51.660 --> 00:51:53.870
As the president of this country,

1149
00:51:53.870 --> 00:51:55.940
I can say that members of the party

1150
00:51:55.940 --> 00:51:59.370
that I am the founder
of will be hand in hand

1151
00:51:59.370 --> 00:52:01.620
with our people
in the city squares,

1152
00:52:02.140 --> 00:52:04.670
and punish those
that are responsible.

1153
00:52:04.670 --> 00:52:08.190
The people of this country
also want to punish them,

1154
00:52:08.190 --> 00:52:11.230
and custody orders are out also.

1155
00:52:11.230 --> 00:52:12.800
Turkey is neither a country

1156
00:52:12.800 --> 00:52:15.430
that can be celled easily
with these riots,

1157
00:52:15.430 --> 00:52:18.470
nor a country that can be
managed by Pennsylvania.

1158
00:52:19.230 --> 00:52:23.310
Only our 45 million voters
can manage this country.

1159
00:52:23.310 --> 00:52:25.400
Like our prime minister just said,

1160
00:52:25.400 --> 00:52:27.630
these tanks are not theirs.

1161
00:52:27.630 --> 00:52:29.590
They are this country’s.

1162
00:52:29.590 --> 00:52:31.950
And we know how to stop them.

1163
00:52:31.950 --> 00:52:33.860
We are not afraid of them.

1164
00:52:35.170 --> 00:52:36.500
AMY GOODMAN: Since the coup failed,

1165
00:52:36.500 --> 00:52:38.580
Turkey has arrested
6,000 people,

1166
00:52:38.580 --> 00:52:41.810
including senior members
of the judiciary and military.

1167
00:52:41.810 --> 00:52:44.730
President Erdogan blamed
U.S.-based Muslim

1168
00:52:44.730 --> 00:52:46.800
cleric Fethullah Gülen

1169
00:52:46.800 --> 00:52:49.630
for orchestrating
the attempted coup.

1170
00:52:49.630 --> 00:52:52.040
Gülen, who lives
in Pennsylvania,

1171
00:52:52.040 --> 00:52:54.090
has denied any involvement.

1172
00:52:54.710 --> 00:52:56.930
President Erdogan has said
his government may consider

1173
00:52:56.930 --> 00:52:58.360
reinstating the death penalty

1174
00:52:58.360 --> 00:53:00.900
to punish those responsible.

1175
00:53:00.900 --> 00:53:03.770
More than 6,000 people
were arrested.

1176
00:53:03.770 --> 00:53:05.190
To talk more about
the attempted coup

1177
00:53:05.190 --> 00:53:06.600
and its implications,

1178
00:53:06.600 --> 00:53:08.210
we’re going directly
to Istanbul,

1179
00:53:08.210 --> 00:53:10.620
where we’re joined
by Koray Çaliskan,

1180
00:53:10.620 --> 00:53:14.620
professor of political science
at Bogaziçi University.

1181
00:53:14.620 --> 00:53:17.140
Welcome back to Democracy Now!,
Koray Çaliskan.

1182
00:53:17.140 --> 00:53:17.790
KORAY ÇALISKAN: Good morning, Amy.

1183
00:53:17.790 --> 00:53:20.020
AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk about
what happened this weekend?

1184
00:53:20.670 --> 00:53:22.670
KORAY ÇALISKAN: Good morning, Amy.

1185
00:53:24.390 --> 00:53:25.430
AMY GOODMAN: It’s good
to have you with us.

1186
00:53:25.430 --> 00:53:27.750
Can you talk about what
happened over the weekend,

1187
00:53:27.750 --> 00:53:29.060
the attempted coup?

1188
00:53:29.060 --> 00:53:31.710
KORAY ÇALISKAN: On Friday night
at around 10:00,

1189
00:53:31.710 --> 00:53:34.180
we began to hear rumors

1190
00:53:34.180 --> 00:53:35.720
that the army blocked

1191
00:53:35.720 --> 00:53:39.850
the main bridges
in Istanbul,

1192
00:53:39.850 --> 00:53:41.840
the two bridges,
which are like Verrazano

1193
00:53:41.840 --> 00:53:43.870
and George Washington
bridges in New York,

1194
00:53:44.380 --> 00:53:48.070
which was kind of strange
because of traffic blocks.

1195
00:53:48.070 --> 00:53:49.750
I mean, these bridges
are only blocks;

1196
00:53:49.750 --> 00:53:53.520
no one can cross them
because of the traffic.

1197
00:53:54.550 --> 00:53:57.210
And then it turned out
that a small group

1198
00:53:57.210 --> 00:54:01.090
within the army
kidnapped chiefs of staff

1199
00:54:02.880 --> 00:54:06.900
and plotted a coup in the country

1200
00:54:06.900 --> 00:54:10.740
by controlling parts
of the gendarmerie—rural police,

1201
00:54:10.740 --> 00:54:12.310
rural military police force

1202
00:54:12.310 --> 00:54:14.010
and a part of the air force.

1203
00:54:15.020 --> 00:54:17.360
Immediately after
they tried that,

1204
00:54:17.360 --> 00:54:19.300
the head of the army in Istanbul,

1205
00:54:19.300 --> 00:54:23.620
the general who is commanding
the largest army in Istanbul,

1206
00:54:23.620 --> 00:54:26.240
said that the army
was against the coup,

1207
00:54:26.240 --> 00:54:28.280
and they did not
represent soldiers

1208
00:54:28.280 --> 00:54:29.590
and the chiefs of staff.

1209
00:54:30.680 --> 00:54:35.470
And he single-handedly
cleaned the airport in Istanbul

1210
00:54:35.470 --> 00:54:37.500
and contacted Erdogan,

1211
00:54:37.500 --> 00:54:40.070
while he was vacationing
with his family,

1212
00:54:40.070 --> 00:54:41.970
to leave the place

1213
00:54:42.950 --> 00:54:44.650
and then move to Istanbul,

1214
00:54:45.230 --> 00:54:47.680
escorted by F-16 fighter jets.

1215
00:54:47.680 --> 00:54:52.570
And this is how they managed
to save Erdogan

1216
00:54:52.570 --> 00:54:55.540
and bring him to Istanbul.

1217
00:54:55.540 --> 00:54:58.180
If they didn’t,
we learned later,

1218
00:54:58.180 --> 00:55:01.410
that 62 minutes
after Erdogan left,

1219
00:55:01.410 --> 00:55:04.350
three Sikorsky helicopters

1220
00:55:04.350 --> 00:55:05.950
arrived in the hotel

1221
00:55:05.950 --> 00:55:08.910
that he was staying
and stormed the hotel,

1222
00:55:09.590 --> 00:55:11.160
killed two security guards

1223
00:55:11.160 --> 00:55:13.010
and tried to find
where Erdogan was,

1224
00:55:13.010 --> 00:55:15.600
and bombed the place
where he stayed.

1225
00:55:15.600 --> 00:55:20.290
So, this coup, actually,
the first aim of the coup

1226
00:55:20.290 --> 00:55:22.380
was not to control
the entire country,

1227
00:55:22.380 --> 00:55:24.500
because the Gülenist plotters

1228
00:55:24.500 --> 00:55:28.360
were not powerful enough
to control the country,

1229
00:55:28.360 --> 00:55:31.210
even put together a coup,

1230
00:55:31.210 --> 00:55:34.020
even to convince
the majority of the army

1231
00:55:34.020 --> 00:55:36.430
to be able to pursue their ends.

1232
00:55:36.430 --> 00:55:38.920
I believe their main objective

1233
00:55:38.920 --> 00:55:40.670
was to create chaos

1234
00:55:40.670 --> 00:55:42.090
by either kidnapping

1235
00:55:42.090 --> 00:55:44.080
or assassinating the president,

1236
00:55:44.080 --> 00:55:47.900
so that the country
could be in turmoil,

1237
00:55:49.160 --> 00:55:54.410
after which they hoped
to control the government

1238
00:55:54.410 --> 00:55:55.820
and the rest of the army,

1239
00:55:56.970 --> 00:55:59.010
which wouldn’t happen in any case,

1240
00:55:59.010 --> 00:56:01.900
because Turkish civil society,

1241
00:56:01.900 --> 00:56:05.010
Turkish political society,
pro-Kurdish party,

1242
00:56:05.010 --> 00:56:08.000
Nationalist party,
Social Democratic Party,

1243
00:56:08.000 --> 00:56:12.480
they all sided with democracy,
condemned the coup attempt,

1244
00:56:12.480 --> 00:56:17.130
and they showed a great
democratic maturity

1245
00:56:17.130 --> 00:56:18.960
to stand against the coup.

1246
00:56:18.960 --> 00:56:21.060
All they could have managed was

1247
00:56:21.060 --> 00:56:22.540
to create a huge turmoil,

1248
00:56:22.540 --> 00:56:25.600
an unbelievable turmoil
in this country,

1249
00:56:25.600 --> 00:56:28.500
and careless, which would claim
thousands of people

1250
00:56:28.500 --> 00:56:31.060
in front of tanks,
panicking soldiers.

1251
00:56:31.060 --> 00:56:32.980
Many of the soldiers
who were on the streets

1252
00:56:32.980 --> 00:56:34.880
didn’t know that it was a coup.

1253
00:56:34.880 --> 00:56:37.260
They were told that there
was a terror attack.

1254
00:56:37.260 --> 00:56:40.470
They were told that there
were military maneuvers.

1255
00:56:40.470 --> 00:56:43.140
And they were also
clearly shocked.

1256
00:56:43.140 --> 00:56:45.890
So this was mostly planned,
it seems,

1257
00:56:45.890 --> 00:56:51.280
by elite Gülenist officers
in the army,

1258
00:56:51.280 --> 00:56:54.710
supported some by officers

1259
00:56:54.710 --> 00:56:59.200
who thought that they might have
benefited from this coup d’état.

1260
00:56:59.200 --> 00:57:02.050
However, the majority of the army,

1261
00:57:02.050 --> 00:57:04.010
the entire civil society,

1262
00:57:04.010 --> 00:57:06.700
the media, pro or
against Erdogan media,

1263
00:57:07.570 --> 00:57:10.240
and the political society
stood firmly

1264
00:57:10.240 --> 00:57:12.020
against this coup attempt.

1265
00:57:12.020 --> 00:57:15.930
And this was the second
failed coup attempt

1266
00:57:15.930 --> 00:57:17.460
in the history of Europe

1267
00:57:17.460 --> 00:57:20.800
after 1981 coup attempt,

1268
00:57:20.800 --> 00:57:24.400
a failed coup attempt,
in Spain, as you’d remember.

1269
00:57:24.400 --> 00:57:28.900
So, I believe we saved
this beautiful country,

1270
00:57:29.940 --> 00:57:33.570
and things may develop differently.

1271
00:57:33.570 --> 00:57:37.220
After today, it may
be an opportunity

1272
00:57:37.220 --> 00:57:40.260
to build democratic institutions
of this country,

1273
00:57:40.260 --> 00:57:43.590
after the country
stood firmly together

1274
00:57:43.590 --> 00:57:45.490
against this terrible coup

1275
00:57:45.490 --> 00:57:48.630
attempt that started
on Friday night

1276
00:57:48.630 --> 00:57:51.610
and ended in the early hours
of Saturday.

1277
00:57:53.290 --> 00:57:56.430
AMY GOODMAN: Finally—finally,
the call by Erdogan

1278
00:57:56.430 --> 00:57:58.290
for the extradition of Gülen

1279
00:57:58.290 --> 00:58:00.130
from the Poconos
in Pennsylvania,

1280
00:58:00.130 --> 00:58:01.720
who he says is behind the coup?

1281
00:58:01.720 --> 00:58:03.320
And we just have 30 seconds.

1282
00:58:05.090 --> 00:58:08.160
KORAY ÇALISKAN: United States
already told Turkish government

1283
00:58:08.160 --> 00:58:10.700
that they are expecting a firm proof

1284
00:58:10.700 --> 00:58:12.960
that Gülenists were against it.

1285
00:58:12.960 --> 00:58:16.090
I don’t recall any large critique

1286
00:58:16.090 --> 00:58:21.240
of such a perspective
in the country.

1287
00:58:21.240 --> 00:58:24.850
Those who are pro
or against Erdogan

1288
00:58:24.850 --> 00:58:27.860
seem to be—arrived
at the conclusion

1289
00:58:27.860 --> 00:58:30.210
that Gülenists were
behind that coup.

1290
00:58:30.210 --> 00:58:32.160
And the government
is going to present

1291
00:58:32.160 --> 00:58:35.800
the U.S. government with proofs

1292
00:58:35.800 --> 00:58:37.090
of that plot.

1293
00:58:37.090 --> 00:58:39.010
If this happens,
I believe the United States

1294
00:58:39.010 --> 00:58:41.540
should have to send
Gülen to Turkey.

1295
00:58:42.440 --> 00:58:45.070
AMY GOODMAN: Koray Çaliskan, we want
thank you very much for being with us,

1296
00:58:45.070 --> 00:58:46.710
associate professor
of political science

1297
00:58:46.710 --> 00:58:48.560
at Bogaziçi University in Istanbul.

1298
00:58:48.560 --> 00:58:51.230
In our second hour,
we’ll get another perspective.

1299
00:58:51.230 --> 00:58:53.830
That does it for our show.
Happy birthday to Paul Huckeby.

1300
00:58:53.830 --> 00:58:56.510
I’m Amy Goodman.
Thanks so much for joining us.

1301
00:59:21.240 --> 00:59:23.240
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!,

1302
01:01:04.010 --> 01:01:06.190
democracynow.org.

1303
01:12:35.820 --> 01:12:38.280
This is "Breaking with Convention:

1304
01:12:38.280 --> 01:12:40.120
War, Peace and the Presidency."

1305
01:12:40.120 --> 01:12:41.590
I’m Amy Goodman.

1306
01:12:41.590 --> 01:12:43.590
In Baton Rouge,
three police officers

1307
01:12:43.590 --> 01:12:46.400
were killed, three others wounded,
in a shooting rampage Sunday.

1308
01:12:46.400 --> 01:12:48.420
The shooting began
just before 9:00 a.m.

1309
01:12:48.420 --> 01:12:50.190
at a gas station
on the city’s Airline

1310
01:12:50.190 --> 01:12:53.210
Highway, a mile from the Baton
Rouge police headquarters.

1311
01:12:53.210 --> 01:12:55.410
According to reports,
Baton Rouge officers

1312
01:12:55.410 --> 01:12:59.540
were responding to
a 911 call of shots fired

1313
01:12:59.540 --> 01:13:01.370
when they were
ambushed the gunman.

1314
01:13:01.370 --> 01:13:03.280
The slain officers
were identified

1315
01:13:03.280 --> 01:13:04.610
as Montrell Jackson

1316
01:13:04.610 --> 01:13:07.360
and Matthew Gerald of the Baton
Rouge Police Department

1317
01:13:07.360 --> 01:13:09.730
and Deputy Brad Garafola
of the East Baton

1318
01:13:09.730 --> 01:13:11.490
Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office.

1319
01:13:11.490 --> 01:13:12.860
Officials identified the gunman

1320
01:13:12.860 --> 01:13:15.740
as Gavin Long of Kansas City,
Missouri.

1321
01:13:15.740 --> 01:13:17.360
Long, who’s African-American,

1322
01:13:17.360 --> 01:13:20.660
served in the Marines
from 2005 to 2010,

1323
01:13:20.660 --> 01:13:21.990
reaching the rank of sergeant.

1324
01:13:21.990 --> 01:13:25.730
He deployed to Iraq
from 2008 to 2009.

1325
01:13:25.730 --> 01:13:27.730
Long had a prolific online presence.

1326
01:13:27.730 --> 01:13:29.790
Earlier this month,
he commented on the killing

1327
01:13:29.790 --> 01:13:31.090
of five police officers

1328
01:13:31.090 --> 01:13:33.090
in Dallas,
writing, quote,

1329
01:13:33.090 --> 01:13:34.870
"With a brother
killing the police

1330
01:13:34.870 --> 01:13:37.490
you get what I’m saying
—it’s justice,"

1331
01:13:37.490 --> 01:13:38.740
unquote.

1332
01:13:38.740 --> 01:13:40.830
On Sunday afternoon,
I spoke with former

1333
01:13:40.830 --> 01:13:43.820
Ohio State Senator Nina Turner
here in Cleveland.

1334
01:13:43.820 --> 01:13:46.480
I met up with her at her
former high school,

1335
01:13:46.480 --> 01:13:48.210
John F. Kennedy High School.

1336
01:13:48.210 --> 01:13:50.060
Her son is a police officer,

1337
01:13:50.060 --> 01:13:53.310
and her husband is
a retired police officer.

1338
01:13:53.310 --> 01:13:56.380
I asked her to talk about
what happened in Baton Rouge.

1339
01:13:57.420 --> 01:13:58.870
NINA TURNER: My son is
in law enforcement,

1340
01:13:58.870 --> 01:14:00.150
and my heart just skipped beats.

1341
01:14:00.150 --> 01:14:03.590
And the first thing that I did was
my mother instinct kicked in,

1342
01:14:03.590 --> 01:14:05.470
and I called my son.

1343
01:14:05.470 --> 01:14:06.830
I just wanted to make sure
he’s all right.

1344
01:14:06.830 --> 01:14:09.080
He is here right now with the RNC.

1345
01:14:09.080 --> 01:14:11.230
And, you know, that was already,
in some ways,

1346
01:14:11.230 --> 01:14:13.560
probably going to be
—I won’t say—well,

1347
01:14:13.560 --> 01:14:14.940
"volatile" is not
necessarily the word,

1348
01:14:14.940 --> 01:14:17.130
but, you know, charged.

1349
01:14:17.130 --> 01:14:19.830
And then, to have this happen
on the heels of Dallas,

1350
01:14:19.830 --> 01:14:21.610
on the heels of what
happened to Sterling

1351
01:14:21.610 --> 01:14:23.340
and what happened to Castile, you know,

1352
01:14:23.340 --> 01:14:25.550
my son could have been
in any of those scenarios.

1353
01:14:25.550 --> 01:14:28.160
He is a young African-American
man in America.

1354
01:14:28.160 --> 01:14:31.030
He could have been Sterling.
He could have been Castile.

1355
01:14:31.030 --> 01:14:33.020
He could have been
those Dallas police officers.

1356
01:14:33.020 --> 01:14:34.470
And, my god, today,
he could have been

1357
01:14:34.470 --> 01:14:37.210
the law enforcement officers
in Baton Rouge.

1358
01:14:37.210 --> 01:14:41.040
My heart aches beyond
what I can put into words,

1359
01:14:41.040 --> 01:14:44.760
in terms of people
targeting police officers.

1360
01:14:44.760 --> 01:14:47.330
That cannot happen
in a civilized society.

1361
01:14:47.330 --> 01:14:51.090
And all of the concerns,
the legitimate concerns

1362
01:14:51.090 --> 01:14:53.570
that the African-American community
has about injustice

1363
01:14:53.570 --> 01:14:56.470
within the justice system, it is valid.

1364
01:14:56.470 --> 01:14:59.060
It’s been valid for a very,
very long time;

1365
01:14:59.060 --> 01:15:02.090
I would say since my—since
the first Africans

1366
01:15:02.090 --> 01:15:04.650
were shipped over here,
it has been valid.

1367
01:15:04.650 --> 01:15:07.400
And we have never quite dealt
with it as a nation.

1368
01:15:07.400 --> 01:15:12.190
But for anybody to target
law enforcement officers

1369
01:15:12.190 --> 01:15:14.460
is absolutely wrong
and totally unacceptable.

1370
01:15:14.460 --> 01:15:16.490
So I grieve. I mean,
I almost started crying.

1371
01:15:16.490 --> 01:15:18.950
I had just gotten off the set
with Joy Reid this morning,

1372
01:15:18.950 --> 01:15:21.610
and I had to keep
myself from crying,

1373
01:15:21.610 --> 01:15:23.740
because I thought
about those families,

1374
01:15:23.740 --> 01:15:25.200
but I thought about my son.

1375
01:15:25.200 --> 01:15:26.710
And my husband was
a former police officer,

1376
01:15:26.710 --> 01:15:28.190
so I get this on both sides.

1377
01:15:28.190 --> 01:15:30.310
I get it from the pain, you know,

1378
01:15:30.310 --> 01:15:33.000
the things my son
has to endure out of uniform

1379
01:15:33.000 --> 01:15:35.470
and now the things that he has
to endure in uniform.

1380
01:15:35.470 --> 01:15:37.120
And so, my heart goes out
to all the law

1381
01:15:37.120 --> 01:15:39.700
enforcement folks
all over this country.

1382
01:15:39.700 --> 01:15:41.140
It is wrong.
And we’ve got to get it together.

1383
01:15:41.140 --> 01:15:43.520
And, Amy, this is
more than talk now.

1384
01:15:43.520 --> 01:15:47.060
What else has to happen
before people understand?

1385
01:15:47.060 --> 01:15:49.060
It is a powder keg.
It almost reminded me of Lyndon B.

1386
01:15:49.060 --> 01:15:52.090
Johnson, remember, when he
commissioned the Kerner Report.

1387
01:15:52.090 --> 01:15:53.570
And if you read
that report today,

1388
01:15:53.570 --> 01:15:56.450
they talked about
the volatile situation

1389
01:15:56.450 --> 01:15:58.650
between the African-American
community and police.

1390
01:15:58.650 --> 01:16:01.920
It is the same thing in 2016.

1391
01:16:01.920 --> 01:16:05.220
But what is totally
unacceptable is the gunning

1392
01:16:05.220 --> 01:16:07.330
down of law enforcement officers.

1393
01:16:07.330 --> 01:16:08.820
It just cannot be tolerated.

1394
01:16:08.820 --> 01:16:10.680
AMY GOODMAN: What do you think
needs to happen?

1395
01:16:10.680 --> 01:16:12.420
I mean, we’re about to go with you

1396
01:16:12.420 --> 01:16:15.560
to see where Tamir Rice
was killed by police.

1397
01:16:17.160 --> 01:16:18.850
NINA TURNER: Power brokers
in this country

1398
01:16:18.850 --> 01:16:21.390
have to come together
with civic-minded folks

1399
01:16:21.390 --> 01:16:23.710
and our faith leaders, and do something.

1400
01:16:23.710 --> 01:16:26.020
People are really tired
of all the talk.

1401
01:16:26.020 --> 01:16:28.650
And that’s all they’ve gotten,
until another situation happens,

1402
01:16:28.650 --> 01:16:31.860
and then another situation happens,
and then another situation happens.

1403
01:16:31.860 --> 01:16:34.210
How many flipping situations

1404
01:16:34.210 --> 01:16:35.750
do we have to have happen

1405
01:16:35.750 --> 01:16:38.050
before people come together
and take action?

1406
01:16:38.050 --> 01:16:41.270
You know, I’m fortunate
that Governor John Kasich

1407
01:16:41.270 --> 01:16:43.110
created a task force,

1408
01:16:43.110 --> 01:16:45.700
at my request and two
of my other colleagues

1409
01:16:45.700 --> 01:16:48.120
in the Legislature,
after the death,

1410
01:16:48.120 --> 01:16:49.910
the shooting of Tamir Rice

1411
01:16:49.910 --> 01:16:52.820
and John Crawford III in Beavercreek,

1412
01:16:52.820 --> 01:16:56.110
outside of Cincinnati—or Dayton area,
outside of the Dayton area.

1413
01:16:56.110 --> 01:16:58.310
And we said, "Governor,
you have to do something."

1414
01:16:58.310 --> 01:17:00.770
And the governor didn’t hesitate, Amy.
He created that task force.

1415
01:17:00.770 --> 01:17:03.020
You and I have talked
about that task force before,

1416
01:17:03.020 --> 01:17:05.920
where we got together
and traveled this entire state

1417
01:17:05.920 --> 01:17:08.360
to give people the opportunity
to have voice,

1418
01:17:08.360 --> 01:17:10.310
not people on high,
not people on titles,

1419
01:17:10.310 --> 01:17:12.890
talking to them,
but them talking to us.

1420
01:17:12.890 --> 01:17:14.810
And from that 600-page report,

1421
01:17:14.810 --> 01:17:17.950
we put together a list of
recommendations to the governor,

1422
01:17:17.950 --> 01:17:19.610
and then the governor
turned that task force

1423
01:17:19.610 --> 01:17:21.970
into a collaborative,
so that we have action.

1424
01:17:21.970 --> 01:17:23.840
And for the first time
in Ohio’s history,

1425
01:17:23.840 --> 01:17:25.620
our police,
our law enforcement agencies,

1426
01:17:25.620 --> 01:17:27.570
which there are almost
1,000 of them,

1427
01:17:27.570 --> 01:17:29.600
will have standards
about the use of force,

1428
01:17:29.600 --> 01:17:31.000
the use of deadly force.

1429
01:17:31.000 --> 01:17:32.350
We’re now looking at cameras.

1430
01:17:32.350 --> 01:17:34.370
And we’re also looking
at implicit bias,

1431
01:17:34.370 --> 01:17:37.350
which brings me to what
happened to Tamir Rice

1432
01:17:37.350 --> 01:17:39.080
and what happened
to John Crawford III

1433
01:17:39.080 --> 01:17:42.570
and what happened
to Mr. Sterling and Castile.

1434
01:17:42.570 --> 01:17:45.810
A lot of that may have to do
with some implicit biases

1435
01:17:45.810 --> 01:17:48.050
that some law enforcement officers—and,

1436
01:17:48.050 --> 01:17:49.350
dare I say, the entire country,

1437
01:17:49.350 --> 01:17:51.060
because it really is unfair,

1438
01:17:51.060 --> 01:17:53.570
in a way, to put all this
at the feet of law enforcement,

1439
01:17:53.570 --> 01:17:57.280
when all of us
are recovering—recovering

1440
01:17:57.280 --> 01:18:01.410
in this country in terms of how we see
African-American men, in particular,

1441
01:18:01.410 --> 01:18:03.110
but it happens to women, too.

1442
01:18:03.110 --> 01:18:05.180
And so, African—the
police officers

1443
01:18:05.180 --> 01:18:07.150
are faced with having to deal

1444
01:18:07.150 --> 01:18:09.860
with those implicit biases
in everyday actions.

1445
01:18:09.860 --> 01:18:12.010
They have taken an oath
of office to protect and serve,

1446
01:18:12.010 --> 01:18:15.930
but oftentimes that protecting
and serving stops

1447
01:18:15.930 --> 01:18:17.870
when it comes to
the African-American community.

1448
01:18:17.870 --> 01:18:20.330
But I’m proud in Ohio
that we’ve had no incidences

1449
01:18:20.330 --> 01:18:22.870
or outbreaks of violence or anything,

1450
01:18:22.870 --> 01:18:24.510
even after the Brelo case.

1451
01:18:24.510 --> 01:18:26.700
You may recall that
in Cleveland in 2012

1452
01:18:26.700 --> 01:18:29.220
two unarmed
African Americans,

1453
01:18:29.220 --> 01:18:34.070
a woman and a man, 137 shots
into their car.

1454
01:18:34.770 --> 01:18:36.540
Officers said they thought
they were shooting at them,

1455
01:18:36.540 --> 01:18:38.620
and it turns out that
the car was—backfired.

1456
01:18:38.620 --> 01:18:41.140
But you shoot at them 137 times?

1457
01:18:41.140 --> 01:18:42.480
The last time something like that

1458
01:18:42.480 --> 01:18:43.710
happened in the United States
of America—

1459
01:18:43.710 --> 01:18:44.840
AMY GOODMAN: These were police officers
shooting at them.

1460
01:18:44.840 --> 01:18:46.230
NINA TURNER: These were
police officers shooting.

1461
01:18:46.230 --> 01:18:49.130
Cleveland police officers
followed this car.

1462
01:18:49.870 --> 01:18:53.160
At some point, you had to realize
you were not being shot at.

1463
01:18:54.090 --> 01:18:56.980
But two African Americans,
unarmed, 137 shots.

1464
01:18:56.980 --> 01:18:58.890
The last time something like
that happened in this country,

1465
01:18:58.890 --> 01:19:00.770
it was Bonnie and Clyde.

1466
01:19:00.770 --> 01:19:02.890
This happened in 2012.

1467
01:19:02.890 --> 01:19:06.590
Only one officer was brought
to trial, Officer Brelo,

1468
01:19:06.590 --> 01:19:08.020
and he was acquitted.

1469
01:19:08.020 --> 01:19:09.540
So, time and time again,

1470
01:19:09.540 --> 01:19:12.660
the African-American community
is feeling like, "Where is the justice?"

1471
01:19:12.660 --> 01:19:15.230
AMY GOODMAN: That case,
where both of those individuals

1472
01:19:15.230 --> 01:19:16.830
were killed in the car,

1473
01:19:16.830 --> 01:19:19.650
gunned down more
than a hundred times,

1474
01:19:19.650 --> 01:19:21.020
led to the consent decree

1475
01:19:21.020 --> 01:19:23.350
between Justice Department
and Cleveland police,

1476
01:19:23.350 --> 01:19:25.640
which they’re under today.
NINA TURNER: They’re under today.

1477
01:19:25.640 --> 01:19:28.100
But people don’t see
that consent decree.

1478
01:19:28.100 --> 01:19:30.910
And even though there’s
a group of people working,

1479
01:19:30.910 --> 01:19:33.340
a group of everyday citizens
working with police

1480
01:19:33.340 --> 01:19:34.870
and with the federal government,

1481
01:19:34.870 --> 01:19:38.100
everyday people don’t even know
that that is going on.

1482
01:19:38.100 --> 01:19:41.090
And so, that is why we need
tangible things to happen.

1483
01:19:41.090 --> 01:19:42.820
One of the recommendations
from the task force

1484
01:19:42.820 --> 01:19:46.440
that came from the people
was accountability and transparency.

1485
01:19:46.440 --> 01:19:49.260
Folks are not asking for more
than what they deserve.

1486
01:19:49.260 --> 01:19:50.610
They do deserve that.

1487
01:19:50.610 --> 01:19:52.280
And one of the things,
Amy, I will never forget

1488
01:19:52.280 --> 01:19:54.750
that a young millennial said
to us as we were traveling the state,

1489
01:19:54.750 --> 01:19:58.370
he said, "There is a no-snitch culture
among the criminal element,

1490
01:19:58.370 --> 01:20:01.060
and law enforcement
always want us

1491
01:20:01.060 --> 01:20:03.200
to kind of penetrate
that: Tell.

1492
01:20:03.200 --> 01:20:04.410
If you see something,
say something.

1493
01:20:04.410 --> 01:20:06.020
If somebody’s breaking
the law, say something."

1494
01:20:06.020 --> 01:20:09.430
He said, "But what about the no
-snitch culture in the police?"

1495
01:20:09.430 --> 01:20:11.590
That, in other words,
good police officers

1496
01:20:11.590 --> 01:20:13.450
prop up bad police officers,

1497
01:20:13.450 --> 01:20:14.790
and they won’t tell.

1498
01:20:14.790 --> 01:20:18.210
They won’t talk about
what is wrong within this system.

1499
01:20:18.210 --> 01:20:22.070
I believe another thing
that we have to do is—to repair

1500
01:20:22.070 --> 01:20:25.200
that divide is to have
good police officers

1501
01:20:25.200 --> 01:20:28.590
call out their sisters and brothers
who may doing things wrong.

1502
01:20:30.200 --> 01:20:35.030
AMY GOODMAN: That’s former Ohio
State Senator Nina Turner,

1503
01:20:35.030 --> 01:20:37.330
who represents Cleveland.

1504
01:20:37.330 --> 01:20:39.720
I met up with her
at her old high school,

1505
01:20:39.720 --> 01:20:41.180
John F. Kennedy High School.

1506
01:20:41.180 --> 01:20:44.440
Her son is a police officer,
as was her husband.

1507
01:20:44.440 --> 01:20:49.800
We then went over to where
Tamir Rice was killed;

1508
01:20:49.800 --> 01:20:52.500
we’ll be playing
that later in the week.

1509
01:20:52.500 --> 01:20:57.480
Tamir Rice would have
turned 14 on June 25th.

1510
01:20:57.480 --> 01:20:58.700
This is Democracy Now!,

1511
01:20:58.700 --> 01:21:00.840
democracynow.org,
The War and Peace Report.

1512
01:21:00.840 --> 01:21:04.220
When we come back,
we’ll be talking about Turkey,

1513
01:21:04.220 --> 01:21:06.110
the attempted coup this weekend.

1514
01:21:06.110 --> 01:21:09.550
We’ll be talking about
the FBI visiting homes of people

1515
01:21:09.550 --> 01:21:12.920
they thought might be protesting
this week here in Cleveland.

1516
01:21:12.920 --> 01:21:16.010
We’ll talk about the corporations
that have refused to support

1517
01:21:16.010 --> 01:21:18.080
the Republican convention here.

1518
01:21:18.080 --> 01:21:21.350
And we’re going to talk about
the newly released document,

1519
01:21:21.350 --> 01:21:24.430
something like 13 years in the waiting,

1520
01:21:24.430 --> 01:21:27.100
around Saudi Arabia
and 9/11.

1521
01:21:27.100 --> 01:21:29.100
Stay with us.

1522
01:22:56.970 --> 01:22:59.060
AMY GOODMAN: Turkey remains
in a state of crisis

1523
01:22:59.060 --> 01:23:01.360
three days after soldiers
staged an attempted coup,

1524
01:23:01.360 --> 01:23:03.270
commandeering tanks,
attack helicopters,

1525
01:23:03.270 --> 01:23:05.530
fighter jets
in a bid to seize power.

1526
01:23:05.530 --> 01:23:07.930
Close to 300 people were killed,

1527
01:23:07.930 --> 01:23:10.240
around 1,400 wounded, Friday night.

1528
01:23:10.240 --> 01:23:13.350
The coup began when
the Turkish president,

1529
01:23:13.350 --> 01:23:14.970
Recep Tayyip Erdogan,

1530
01:23:14.970 --> 01:23:17.220
was vacationing
at a seaside resort.

1531
01:23:17.220 --> 01:23:18.960
The mutinous faction
in the military said

1532
01:23:18.960 --> 01:23:22.000
it had taken action
to protect democracy from Erdogan.

1533
01:23:22.000 --> 01:23:25.180
Since the coup failed,
Turkey has arrested 6,000 people,

1534
01:23:25.180 --> 01:23:27.650
including senior members
of the judiciary and the military.

1535
01:23:27.650 --> 01:23:29.630
Erdogan blamed U.S.-based Muslim

1536
01:23:29.630 --> 01:23:31.930
cleric Fethullah Gülen

1537
01:23:31.930 --> 01:23:34.440
for orchestrating
the attempted coup.

1538
01:23:34.440 --> 01:23:36.480
Gülen, who lives in the Poconos

1539
01:23:36.480 --> 01:23:37.960
in Pennsylvania—yes,

1540
01:23:37.960 --> 01:23:40.770
here in the United States—has
denied any involvement.

1541
01:23:40.770 --> 01:23:42.970
President Erdogan has said
his government may consider

1542
01:23:42.970 --> 01:23:44.530
reinstating the death penalty

1543
01:23:44.530 --> 01:23:46.140
to punish those responsible,

1544
01:23:46.140 --> 01:23:48.200
and he’s asking for Gülen

1545
01:23:48.200 --> 01:23:50.400
to be extradited back to Turkey.

1546
01:23:50.400 --> 01:23:52.740
To talk more about
all these issues,

1547
01:23:52.740 --> 01:23:55.790
we’re joined here
in Cleveland by Kani Xulam,

1548
01:23:55.790 --> 01:23:58.760
who is director of the American
Kurdish Information Network.

1549
01:23:58.760 --> 01:23:59.900
Welcome to Democracy Now!

1550
01:23:59.900 --> 01:24:01.250
It’s great to have you back again

1551
01:24:01.250 --> 01:24:02.270
with us, Kani.
KANI XULAM: Thank you.

1552
01:24:02.270 --> 01:24:03.890
AMY GOODMAN: Talk about
what happened in Turkey.

1553
01:24:04.970 --> 01:24:06.980
KANI XULAM: A coup happened.

1554
01:24:06.980 --> 01:24:09.840
Its object was to take
over the government.

1555
01:24:10.650 --> 01:24:13.270
It wanted to topple
Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

1556
01:24:15.420 --> 01:24:18.320
Even the best of the Turkish generals

1557
01:24:18.320 --> 01:24:20.620
would have been a disaster for Turkey,

1558
01:24:20.620 --> 01:24:22.160
even though Erdogan

1559
01:24:22.860 --> 01:24:26.010
is a dictator-wanna-be leader right now.

1560
01:24:26.690 --> 01:24:28.380
So, the fact that the coup failed

1561
01:24:28.380 --> 01:24:30.290
is good news
for the people of Turkey.

1562
01:24:31.430 --> 01:24:34.520
But the people that should
have led the coup

1563
01:24:34.520 --> 01:24:37.110
would have been
the people themselves.

1564
01:24:37.110 --> 01:24:40.430
If they had led this attempt
to topple Erdogan,

1565
01:24:40.430 --> 01:24:44.410
who was acting like a dictator,
it would have been better,

1566
01:24:44.410 --> 01:24:46.900
like in Philippines,
like in Romania.

1567
01:24:47.640 --> 01:24:49.640
That didn’t happen.

1568
01:24:50.800 --> 01:24:54.850
Erdogan now is—feels like
he’s the sultan.

1569
01:24:54.850 --> 01:24:57.470
He wants to—he is
arresting people,

1570
01:24:57.470 --> 01:24:59.260
left and right.

1571
01:24:59.260 --> 01:25:00.990
Internet access
has been suspended.

1572
01:25:02.310 --> 01:25:05.620
My hunch is he will
continue acting like this.

1573
01:25:06.340 --> 01:25:08.810
Just this morning,
John Kerry said,

1574
01:25:08.810 --> 01:25:10.610
if he continues like this,

1575
01:25:10.610 --> 01:25:13.860
NATO’s—Turkey’s membership of NATO
could be suspended.

1576
01:25:14.640 --> 01:25:17.210
I wish he had
also said the same

1577
01:25:17.210 --> 01:25:21.360
when some five cities
were bombarded last year,

1578
01:25:22.760 --> 01:25:24.560
turned into rubbles.

1579
01:25:24.560 --> 01:25:27.410
Some 7,000 people
were killed—Kurds,

1580
01:25:27.410 --> 01:25:29.020
some fighters.

1581
01:25:29.020 --> 01:25:32.060
He didn’t say anything
about suspending Turkey’s membership

1582
01:25:32.060 --> 01:25:33.510
in NATO then,

1583
01:25:33.510 --> 01:25:35.300
and now that some of
the military officers

1584
01:25:35.300 --> 01:25:37.360
and some of the judges are arrested,

1585
01:25:37.960 --> 01:25:40.300
he’s talking about Turkey
needs to be a democracy

1586
01:25:40.300 --> 01:25:41.710
to be a part of NATO.

1587
01:25:43.570 --> 01:25:45.630
AMY GOODMAN: Where do the Kurds
fit into this picture?

1588
01:25:45.630 --> 01:25:50.270
KANI XULAM: The Kurds, they didn’t want
this military coup, either.

1589
01:25:50.270 --> 01:25:52.340
They came out against it.

1590
01:25:53.530 --> 01:25:57.010
But there’s a war going on,
for a whole year now.

1591
01:25:58.150 --> 01:26:00.850
Erdogan wants
to consolidate his power,

1592
01:26:00.850 --> 01:26:03.050
and he wants to—he kind

1593
01:26:03.050 --> 01:26:04.920
of thinks that,
in adversity,

1594
01:26:04.920 --> 01:26:06.530
people come together.

1595
01:26:06.530 --> 01:26:08.620
And if there’s a war
against the Kurds,

1596
01:26:08.620 --> 01:26:10.270
if some soldiers die,

1597
01:26:10.270 --> 01:26:12.970
then the country
will unite behind him.

1598
01:26:13.520 --> 01:26:15.230
That’s his strategy.

1599
01:26:15.230 --> 01:26:18.430
But you don’t make progress
by declaring war

1600
01:26:18.430 --> 01:26:19.840
on a minority
like the Kurds.

1601
01:26:19.840 --> 01:26:23.040
AMY GOODMAN: Where—what
is Erdogan’s Syria policy?

1602
01:26:23.040 --> 01:26:25.420
And is that what
motivated the generals?

1603
01:26:26.130 --> 01:26:28.400
KANI XULAM: Well, the generals
have been unhappy with him,

1604
01:26:28.400 --> 01:26:30.670
because he has tried to reorient

1605
01:26:31.230 --> 01:26:33.860
the direction of the country
towards Mecca

1606
01:26:33.860 --> 01:26:35.400
and Medina,
if you will.

1607
01:26:35.400 --> 01:26:36.920
Atatürk, the founder of Turkey,

1608
01:26:36.920 --> 01:26:39.820
a general with many shortcomings,

1609
01:26:39.820 --> 01:26:41.250
but he at least
said the country

1610
01:26:41.250 --> 01:26:44.450
should reorient itself
towards Europe,

1611
01:26:44.450 --> 01:26:46.970
should separate the mosque
from the state.

1612
01:26:46.970 --> 01:26:50.680
On his watch, he served for life,

1613
01:26:50.680 --> 01:26:55.510
but he at least had
some semblance of institutions

1614
01:26:55.510 --> 01:26:57.020
that you could say were working

1615
01:26:57.020 --> 01:26:58.530
and were making progress

1616
01:26:58.530 --> 01:27:02.040
towards a European
open society,

1617
01:27:02.040 --> 01:27:04.260
rule of law.

1618
01:27:04.260 --> 01:27:06.130
But with Erdogan’s
coming to power,

1619
01:27:06.130 --> 01:27:07.670
initially he was open to that,

1620
01:27:08.350 --> 01:27:12.210
but after his breakup
with Fethullah Gülen,

1621
01:27:12.210 --> 01:27:15.760
he is now literally acting
like a one-man show.

1622
01:27:16.340 --> 01:27:18.510
And he doesn’t like criticism.

1623
01:27:18.510 --> 01:27:19.930
He doesn’t like—

1624
01:27:19.930 --> 01:27:21.550
AMY GOODMAN: Now, let’s talk
about Fethullah Gülen,

1625
01:27:21.550 --> 01:27:23.210
who lives in the Poconos
in Pennsylvania.

1626
01:27:23.210 --> 01:27:24.830
He’s demanding his extradition.

1627
01:27:24.830 --> 01:27:26.650
KANI XULAM: Correct.

1628
01:27:26.650 --> 01:27:29.010
AMY GOODMAN: Kerry says
he hasn’t—the secretary of state—put

1629
01:27:29.010 --> 01:27:32.550
in the requisite documents
for his extradition.

1630
01:27:32.550 --> 01:27:36.360
But you just pointed out
that Gülen and Erdogan

1631
01:27:36.360 --> 01:27:39.570
were close allies
until just a few years ago.

1632
01:27:39.570 --> 01:27:42.590
KANI XULAM: They were.
They actually defanged the military.

1633
01:27:43.160 --> 01:27:47.450
A lot of Gülen’s supporters
were in the Turkish police,

1634
01:27:47.450 --> 01:27:48.910
and they helped Erdogan

1635
01:27:49.810 --> 01:27:52.420
to send the army
back to the barracks,

1636
01:27:52.420 --> 01:27:54.580
if you will.
And that was good.

1637
01:27:54.580 --> 01:27:58.320
The bad news came when Erdogan
then—he and Erdogan broke up,

1638
01:27:58.850 --> 01:28:01.650
and then Erdogan decided
to act like a dictator,

1639
01:28:01.650 --> 01:28:05.480
to throw journalists in prison,

1640
01:28:05.480 --> 01:28:08.830
to open a war,
declare a war on the Kurds.

1641
01:28:08.830 --> 01:28:10.740
And then, in terms
of his Syria policy,

1642
01:28:12.050 --> 01:28:14.900
Turkey became a jihadi highway,
if you will.

1643
01:28:14.900 --> 01:28:18.180
Some 35,000 foreign troops,
foreign fighters,

1644
01:28:18.180 --> 01:28:19.600
many from Southeast Asia,

1645
01:28:19.600 --> 01:28:21.690
from Africa, from Europe,
some from Europe,

1646
01:28:21.690 --> 01:28:24.870
some from Caucasus
in the former Soviet Union,

1647
01:28:24.870 --> 01:28:27.940
they would come to Turkey,
they would then cross the border.

1648
01:28:29.400 --> 01:28:32.560
Erdogan didn’t like Assad.
He’s an Alawite.

1649
01:28:32.560 --> 01:28:35.040
He’s a minority
Alawite sect.

1650
01:28:35.040 --> 01:28:36.870
Erdogan himself is Sunni.

1651
01:28:36.870 --> 01:28:40.420
He thought he would—Syria
would become a satellite state.

1652
01:28:41.060 --> 01:28:42.860
That didn’t work out.

1653
01:28:42.860 --> 01:28:47.640
And now there are talks that
he might actually talk to us,

1654
01:28:47.640 --> 01:28:48.840
so that the two could put

1655
01:28:48.840 --> 01:28:52.170
the Kurdish autonomy
six feet under,

1656
01:28:52.170 --> 01:28:53.440
if you will, because the Kurds

1657
01:28:53.440 --> 01:28:55.070
in the north of the country

1658
01:28:55.070 --> 01:28:58.600
have established
a federal entity

1659
01:28:58.600 --> 01:29:00.180
where two-and-a-half million Kurds live.

1660
01:29:01.190 --> 01:29:03.260
AMY GOODMAN: Finally, the death
penalty—Erdogan

1661
01:29:03.260 --> 01:29:05.100
has arrested 6,000 people

1662
01:29:05.100 --> 01:29:07.180
and is calling for reinstatement
of the death penalty.

1663
01:29:07.180 --> 01:29:08.490
What do you see happening?

1664
01:29:08.490 --> 01:29:11.450
KANI XULAM: Well, if he—he says
the people want this.

1665
01:29:12.510 --> 01:29:13.810
His fans came out,

1666
01:29:13.810 --> 01:29:16.920
and many of them didn’t really
say, "Long live democracy."

1667
01:29:16.920 --> 01:29:20.710
Many of them would say,
you know, "Sharia."

1668
01:29:20.710 --> 01:29:22.530
Some would say, "Allahu Akbar."

1669
01:29:22.530 --> 01:29:24.200
So the signs aren’t really good.

1670
01:29:24.200 --> 01:29:26.930
This mood, this democracy,
was saved,

1671
01:29:26.930 --> 01:29:28.710
but democracy
itself is sick.

1672
01:29:28.710 --> 01:29:30.480
Democracy itself
is not really healthy.

1673
01:29:31.620 --> 01:29:33.010
If he hangs these generals,

1674
01:29:33.010 --> 01:29:34.520
I think the army,

1675
01:29:34.520 --> 01:29:37.090
which remains
a bastion of Kemalist,

1676
01:29:37.090 --> 01:29:40.170
Atatürkist secular commanders,

1677
01:29:40.170 --> 01:29:42.830
I think the country will go further

1678
01:29:42.830 --> 01:29:44.090
towards a crisis and break up.

1679
01:29:44.800 --> 01:29:46.070
AMY GOODMAN: Well, Kani Xulam,

1680
01:29:46.070 --> 01:29:47.810
I want to thank you very much
for being with us,

1681
01:29:47.810 --> 01:29:50.410
director of the American
Kurdish Information Network.

1682
01:29:50.410 --> 01:29:51.590
Why are you here, by the way?

1683
01:29:51.590 --> 01:29:54.300
KANI XULAM: I’m here to
educate the Americans

1684
01:29:54.300 --> 01:29:56.550
who are here
to elect a leader,

1685
01:29:56.550 --> 01:29:59.050
who then will become—will

1686
01:29:59.050 --> 01:30:01.720
be voted as the president
of this country.

1687
01:30:01.720 --> 01:30:04.190
And I thought they should know about
the Kurds, about the Middle East.

1688
01:30:04.190 --> 01:30:07.360
And, unfortunately,
I fear that the world

1689
01:30:07.360 --> 01:30:08.910
is going towards that crisis,

1690
01:30:09.920 --> 01:30:13.310
and many people think Trump
could address these issues.

1691
01:30:13.310 --> 01:30:15.250
And I thought, if that
becomes the reality,

1692
01:30:15.250 --> 01:30:17.530
then his people should know
who the Kurds are,

1693
01:30:17.530 --> 01:30:19.570
what the Kurds want
in the Middle East.

1694
01:30:19.570 --> 01:30:22.110
AMY GOODMAN: Kani Xulam,
thanks so much for being with us.

1695
01:30:22.110 --> 01:30:25.700
AMY GOODMAN: We move from Turkey
to Saudi Arabia.

1696
01:30:25.700 --> 01:30:26.990
This is Democracy Now!,

1697
01:30:26.990 --> 01:30:29.730
democracynow.org,
The War and Peace Report.

1698
01:30:29.730 --> 01:30:31.070
I’m Amy Goodman.

1699
01:30:31.070 --> 01:30:32.290
The Obama administration

1700
01:30:32.290 --> 01:30:35.290
has finally declassified 28 pages

1701
01:30:35.290 --> 01:30:38.040
from the September 11th report

1702
01:30:38.040 --> 01:30:40.050
detailing possible ties

1703
01:30:40.050 --> 01:30:43.790
between the Saudi government
and the 9/11 attacks.

1704
01:30:43.790 --> 01:30:45.380
The report states, quote,

1705
01:30:45.380 --> 01:30:47.250
"Prior to September 11th,

1706
01:30:47.250 --> 01:30:49.900
the FBI apparently
did not focus

1707
01:30:49.900 --> 01:30:51.530
investigative resources on

1708
01:30:51.530 --> 01:30:53.980
[redacted text]
Saudi nationals in the United States

1709
01:30:53.980 --> 01:30:56.090
due to Saudi Arabia’s status

1710
01:30:56.090 --> 01:30:58.390
as an American 'ally.'"

1711
01:30:58.390 --> 01:31:02.070
Fifteen of the 19 men
who hijacked planes

1712
01:31:02.070 --> 01:31:04.490
on 9/11 were
from Saudi Arabia.

1713
01:31:04.490 --> 01:31:07.810
Speaking Friday, White House
Press Secretary Josh Earnest

1714
01:31:07.810 --> 01:31:10.790
downplayed the importance
of the declassified document.

1715
01:31:11.580 --> 01:31:13.010
PRESS SECRETARY JOSH EARNEST: 
And the conclusion

1716
01:31:13.010 --> 01:31:14.960
of the 9/11 Commission

1717
01:31:14.960 --> 01:31:18.270
is—or was,

1718
01:31:18.270 --> 01:31:21.340
as they wrote, they found, quote,

1719
01:31:21.340 --> 01:31:23.470
"no evidence that
the Saudi government

1720
01:31:23.470 --> 01:31:24.900
as an institution or senior

1721
01:31:24.900 --> 01:31:29.090
Saudi officials
individually funded" al-Qaeda.

1722
01:31:29.090 --> 01:31:31.910
And the 9/11 Commission was able
to draw on the information

1723
01:31:31.910 --> 01:31:34.680
that’s been declassified today,
as they wrote their report.

1724
01:31:34.680 --> 01:31:36.870
They were able to do
follow-up interviews

1725
01:31:36.870 --> 01:31:38.810
and to further
investigate those leads.

1726
01:31:39.370 --> 01:31:41.000
Those leads didn’t really
turn up anything

1727
01:31:41.000 --> 01:31:43.030
as it relates
to specific evidence

1728
01:31:43.030 --> 01:31:44.780
about the Saudi government,
as an institution,

1729
01:31:44.780 --> 01:31:47.830
or senior Saudi officials
individually funding al-Qaeda.

1730
01:31:49.300 --> 01:31:54.030
AMY GOODMAN: The declassified document
raises new questions

1731
01:31:54.030 --> 01:31:56.300
about the role of Fahad al-Thumairy,

1732
01:31:56.300 --> 01:32:00.150
a Saudi consular official
based in the Los Angeles area.

1733
01:32:00.150 --> 01:32:03.390
Al-Thumairy personally
helped two of the hijackers

1734
01:32:03.390 --> 01:32:05.790
after they arrived
in Los Angeles in early 2000.

1735
01:32:05.790 --> 01:32:09.550
The document also reveals details
about an incident in 1999

1736
01:32:09.550 --> 01:32:12.490
when a flight from Phoenix
to Washington, D.C.,

1737
01:32:12.490 --> 01:32:14.310
was forced to make
an emergency landing

1738
01:32:14.310 --> 01:32:18.430
after a Saudi man attempted
to enter the cockpit twice.

1739
01:32:18.430 --> 01:32:19.650
Despite these findings,

1740
01:32:19.650 --> 01:32:21.400
Josh Earnest said
the report found

1741
01:32:21.400 --> 01:32:23.840
no links between the Saudis
and al-Qaeda.

1742
01:32:25.230 --> 01:32:26.350
PRESS SECRETARY JOSH EARNEST: 
This information,

1743
01:32:26.350 --> 01:32:28.190
even as it’s now
publicly available,

1744
01:32:28.190 --> 01:32:32.980
does not change the assessment
of the U.S. government

1745
01:32:33.990 --> 01:32:37.230
that there’s no evidence

1746
01:32:37.230 --> 01:32:39.170
that the Saudi government,
as an institution,

1747
01:32:39.170 --> 01:32:42.350
or senior Saudi officials
individually funded al-Qaeda.

1748
01:32:44.230 --> 01:32:46.730
AMY GOODMAN: We are now
joined by Medea Benjamin.

1749
01:32:46.730 --> 01:32:48.190
She’s co-founder of CodePink.

1750
01:32:48.190 --> 01:32:51.250
Her new book is called Kingdom
of the Unjust:

1751
01:32:51.250 --> 01:32:53.270
Behind the U.S.-Saudi Connection.

1752
01:32:53.270 --> 01:32:54.540
It will be out in August.

1753
01:32:54.540 --> 01:32:56.120
Welcome to Democracy Now!,
Medea.

1754
01:32:56.120 --> 01:32:57.370
MEDEA BENJAMIN: Thank you, Amy.

1755
01:32:57.370 --> 01:32:58.950
AMY GOODMAN: I saw you
outside protesting,

1756
01:32:58.950 --> 01:33:02.300
quite a major scene there with police

1757
01:33:02.300 --> 01:33:05.220
on horseback pushing you women

1758
01:33:05.220 --> 01:33:07.930
of CodePink forward

1759
01:33:08.470 --> 01:33:11.070
with their horses as you
were singing for peace.

1760
01:33:11.070 --> 01:33:12.300
But we’ll talk about
that in a minute.

1761
01:33:12.300 --> 01:33:14.940
Let’s talk about
Saudi Arabia first.

1762
01:33:14.940 --> 01:33:17.180
This is hardly
getting any attention,

1763
01:33:17.180 --> 01:33:20.660
clearly deliberately by
the Obama administration,

1764
01:33:20.660 --> 01:33:24.480
because it came out
on Friday, when, at the time—this is

1765
01:33:24.480 --> 01:33:27.400
before so much took place

1766
01:33:27.400 --> 01:33:29.060
on Friday—but
at the time,

1767
01:33:29.060 --> 01:33:31.100
it was believed Donald Trump

1768
01:33:31.100 --> 01:33:33.540
was going to be announcing
his running mate,

1769
01:33:33.540 --> 01:33:35.000
Governor Pence.

1770
01:33:35.000 --> 01:33:36.930
Talk about the 28 pages

1771
01:33:36.930 --> 01:33:39.650
that you have been demanding,
among many people,

1772
01:33:39.650 --> 01:33:41.080
including the former governor

1773
01:33:41.080 --> 01:33:44.080
and senator from Florida,
Bob Graham, released.

1774
01:33:44.080 --> 01:33:45.400
It finally was.

1775
01:33:46.070 --> 01:33:47.980
MEDEA BENJAMIN: Well, you’re right
to put it in the context

1776
01:33:47.980 --> 01:33:50.250
of they tried to hide this
as much as they could.

1777
01:33:50.250 --> 01:33:51.450
I mean, a Friday afternoon,

1778
01:33:51.450 --> 01:33:53.680
when Congress is going
on its summer vacation,

1779
01:33:53.680 --> 01:33:55.710
when the conventions are starting.

1780
01:33:55.710 --> 01:33:57.940
They really wanted
to bury this.

1781
01:33:57.940 --> 01:34:00.390
What is in the 28 pages?

1782
01:34:00.390 --> 01:34:03.090
Well, I think the way
the administration

1783
01:34:03.090 --> 01:34:06.730
and the Saudi officials tried
to downplay it, you have to question:

1784
01:34:06.730 --> 01:34:09.310
Well, then why they were
hiding it for 14 years?

1785
01:34:09.310 --> 01:34:11.410
What we see in the 28 pages

1786
01:34:11.410 --> 01:34:14.050
is 10 different Saudi individuals

1787
01:34:14.050 --> 01:34:15.840
who were named and details

1788
01:34:15.840 --> 01:34:18.350
about their connections
to the Saudi government

1789
01:34:18.350 --> 01:34:20.500
and their connections
to helping the hijackers.

1790
01:34:20.500 --> 01:34:24.110
This is mostly, Amy, the ones
that were living in San Diego.

1791
01:34:24.110 --> 01:34:27.180
Two-thirds of the hijackers, though,
were living in Florida.

1792
01:34:27.180 --> 01:34:31.200
We don’t have any information
that’s released about them.

1793
01:34:31.200 --> 01:34:32.810
And there’s, according
to Bob Graham,

1794
01:34:32.810 --> 01:34:35.280
8,000 pages of documents

1795
01:34:35.280 --> 01:34:38.140
that he and others are still
trying to get released.

1796
01:34:38.140 --> 01:34:41.010
You talked about the dry
run that was in 1999.

1797
01:34:41.010 --> 01:34:43.570
It was actually two
Saudis that were on their way

1798
01:34:43.570 --> 01:34:46.050
to a party at the Saudi Embassy,

1799
01:34:46.050 --> 01:34:48.850
with tickets paid for by
the Saudi government,

1800
01:34:48.850 --> 01:34:51.370
that tried to get
into the cockpit twice,

1801
01:34:51.370 --> 01:34:53.250
with an emergency landing,

1802
01:34:53.250 --> 01:34:57.150
and then the FBI decided not
to further investigate it.

1803
01:34:57.150 --> 01:34:58.230
You mentioned Thumairy.

1804
01:34:58.230 --> 01:35:01.040
Thumairy was allowed
to go back to Saudi Arabia.

1805
01:35:01.040 --> 01:35:05.120
When he was interviewed again
in Riyadh in 2004,

1806
01:35:05.120 --> 01:35:08.080
he denied that he had any contact
with the hijackers,

1807
01:35:08.080 --> 01:35:11.110
despite being presented
with phone records.

1808
01:35:11.110 --> 01:35:13.050
There are so many connections

1809
01:35:13.050 --> 01:35:16.000
between individuals related

1810
01:35:16.000 --> 01:35:17.910
to the Saudi government

1811
01:35:17.910 --> 01:35:20.670
and these hijackers that it’s hard

1812
01:35:20.670 --> 01:35:24.030
to even see why
the U.S. government,

1813
01:35:24.030 --> 01:35:26.010
whether it’s under
the Bush administration

1814
01:35:26.010 --> 01:35:27.730
or the Obama administration,

1815
01:35:27.730 --> 01:35:30.310
continues to consider
Saudi Arabia an ally.

1816
01:35:30.310 --> 01:35:31.890
Of course, if you look
deeper into it,

1817
01:35:31.890 --> 01:35:35.410
you see things like $97 billion
worth of weapon sales,

1818
01:35:35.410 --> 01:35:38.010
so there’s a lot of money
involved in this alliance.

1819
01:35:38.010 --> 01:35:40.970
AMY GOODMAN: Talk about that.
Talk about the U.S.-Saudi relationship.

1820
01:35:40.970 --> 01:35:43.490
MEDEA BENJAMIN: The U.S.-Saudi
relationship right now,

1821
01:35:43.490 --> 01:35:45.330
I would say, is not based on oil,

1822
01:35:45.330 --> 01:35:47.400
because only 12 percent of the oil

1823
01:35:47.400 --> 01:35:49.600
from the United States
comes from Saudi Arabia.

1824
01:35:49.600 --> 01:35:51.220
It’s based on weapon sales.

1825
01:35:51.220 --> 01:35:54.280
It’s the largest purchaser, by far,

1826
01:35:54.280 --> 01:35:59.060
of U.S. weapons—$97 billion
worth now in the works;

1827
01:35:59.060 --> 01:36:00.790
under the Obama administration,

1828
01:36:00.790 --> 01:36:03.260
the largest sales of weapons
to any country ever

1829
01:36:03.260 --> 01:36:05.110
in the history
of the United States

1830
01:36:05.110 --> 01:36:06.330
going to Saudi Arabia,

1831
01:36:06.330 --> 01:36:08.050
Saudi Arabia using those weapons

1832
01:36:08.050 --> 01:36:09.850
to commit war crimes in Yemen,

1833
01:36:09.850 --> 01:36:11.540
with not only U.S. weapons,

1834
01:36:11.540 --> 01:36:14.240
but the logistical support
of the United States.

1835
01:36:14.240 --> 01:36:16.210
And Saudi Arabia, let’s remember,

1836
01:36:16.210 --> 01:36:20.270
is the country that is spreading
extremism throughout the world.

1837
01:36:20.270 --> 01:36:22.360
It is a country that is based on

1838
01:36:22.360 --> 01:36:26.410
the most intolerant form
of Islam, Wahhabism,

1839
01:36:26.410 --> 01:36:30.100
and it has been using billions
of dollars of petrodollars

1840
01:36:30.100 --> 01:36:33.970
to spread that extremism
all over the world.

1841
01:36:33.970 --> 01:36:35.480
So, it is quite extraordinary.

1842
01:36:35.480 --> 01:36:37.610
AMY GOODMAN: I want to turn
to the Saudi foreign minister,

1843
01:36:37.610 --> 01:36:39.010
Adel al-Jubeir,

1844
01:36:39.010 --> 01:36:42.950
speaking after the 28 pages
were released on Friday.

1845
01:36:44.080 --> 01:36:47.140
ADEL AL-JUBEIR: The CIA director,
the director of national intelligence

1846
01:36:47.750 --> 01:36:49.050
came out and said
that there

1847
01:36:49.050 --> 01:36:51.080
is no involvement
of the Saudi government,

1848
01:36:51.080 --> 01:36:52.400
of Saudi officials,

1849
01:36:52.400 --> 01:36:53.700
in the events of 9/11.

1850
01:36:54.650 --> 01:36:57.570
The Senate Intelligence Committee
did its own investigation,

1851
01:36:57.570 --> 01:36:58.950
came to the same conclusion.

1852
01:36:58.950 --> 01:37:02.540
And so, the matter is now finished.

1853
01:37:05.330 --> 01:37:07.290
AMY GOODMAN: There you have
the Saudi foreign minister.

1854
01:37:07.290 --> 01:37:10.040
Your response to what he’s saying,

1855
01:37:10.040 --> 01:37:12.400
that this proves
that there isn’t a connection?

1856
01:37:12.400 --> 01:37:14.110
MEDEA BENJAMIN: I think
it’s insane.

1857
01:37:14.110 --> 01:37:15.770
I think the Saudi government

1858
01:37:15.770 --> 01:37:17.800
employs eight different lobby

1859
01:37:17.800 --> 01:37:19.330
groups in the United States.

1860
01:37:19.330 --> 01:37:21.570
The foreign minister
came to the U.S.

1861
01:37:21.570 --> 01:37:23.210
when this was being released.

1862
01:37:23.210 --> 01:37:25.120
They had a full-court press out

1863
01:37:25.120 --> 01:37:29.080
to get the mainstream press
to downplay this.

1864
01:37:29.080 --> 01:37:31.480
I think the only thing I saw
was The New York Times

1865
01:37:31.480 --> 01:37:32.970
had actually said it was

1866
01:37:32.970 --> 01:37:35.010
a far more substantial document

1867
01:37:35.010 --> 01:37:37.510
than the Saudi
and the American officials

1868
01:37:37.510 --> 01:37:38.840
tried to indicate.

1869
01:37:38.840 --> 01:37:40.650
But for most of the press,

1870
01:37:40.650 --> 01:37:42.460
they either didn’t even cover this,

1871
01:37:42.460 --> 01:37:44.650
or they covered it the way
the U.S. government

1872
01:37:44.650 --> 01:37:46.980
and the Saudi government
wanted it to be covered,

1873
01:37:46.980 --> 01:37:49.390
not the way
the 9/11 families

1874
01:37:49.390 --> 01:37:52.140
or people like Senator
Graham himself wanted it to.

1875
01:37:52.140 --> 01:37:52.840
AMY GOODMAN: Let me
ask you this.

1876
01:37:52.840 --> 01:37:55.500
You’re here protesting
at the Republican convention.

1877
01:37:55.500 --> 01:37:56.700
We’ll talk about that in a minute.

1878
01:37:56.700 --> 01:37:58.930
I saw you last night
out on the streets.

1879
01:37:59.590 --> 01:38:05.100
But it’s Donald Trump
who has called out the Saudi regime.

1880
01:38:05.100 --> 01:38:09.520
Talk about Donald Trump versus
Hillary Clinton on this issue,

1881
01:38:09.520 --> 01:38:11.040
not to mention the Libertarians

1882
01:38:11.040 --> 01:38:12.870
and Green Party candidate, as well.

1883
01:38:12.870 --> 01:38:15.620
MEDEA BENJAMIN: Donald Trump really
wants the Saudis to just pay more.

1884
01:38:15.620 --> 01:38:17.310
I mean, Donald Trump would be happy

1885
01:38:17.310 --> 01:38:19.590
with the relationship
with Saudi Arabia

1886
01:38:20.180 --> 01:38:21.970
as long as the Saudis paid more

1887
01:38:21.970 --> 01:38:24.680
for their own

1888
01:38:24.680 --> 01:38:26.440
—what he calls their defense.

1889
01:38:26.440 --> 01:38:31.330
He wants the Saudis to get more involved
in the Middle East conflicts.

1890
01:38:31.330 --> 01:38:34.670
So, yes, he has said
some things about wondering

1891
01:38:34.670 --> 01:38:36.910
if they really are friends
of the United States.

1892
01:38:36.910 --> 01:38:40.140
But in the end, I don’t think
we should be under any illusion

1893
01:38:40.140 --> 01:38:41.640
that Donald Trump

1894
01:38:41.640 --> 01:38:44.040
is going to cut off the Saudis.

1895
01:38:44.040 --> 01:38:45.590
He just wants a better deal.

1896
01:38:45.590 --> 01:38:48.520
In fact, Donald Trump
has many dealings himself

1897
01:38:48.520 --> 01:38:52.280
personally with the Saudi government
and Saudi princes.

1898
01:38:52.280 --> 01:38:53.590
AMY GOODMAN: The—Hillary Clinton?

1899
01:38:53.590 --> 01:38:56.610
MEDEA BENJAMIN: Hillary Clinton
has an even worse record.

1900
01:38:56.610 --> 01:39:00.700
In fact, her foundation has received
somewhere between $10

1901
01:39:00.700 --> 01:39:04.290
[million] and $25 million
from the Saudi government.

1902
01:39:04.290 --> 01:39:08.200
She has had very intimate
dealings with the Saudis,

1903
01:39:08.200 --> 01:39:10.900
calls them the great
ally of the United States.

1904
01:39:10.900 --> 01:39:12.940
And it was when she was
secretary of state

1905
01:39:12.940 --> 01:39:16.260
that the highest amount of weapon sales

1906
01:39:16.260 --> 01:39:18.710
was approved to the Saudi government.

1907
01:39:18.710 --> 01:39:21.380
AMY GOODMAN: And why you’re here
in Cleveland, Medea Benjamin?

1908
01:39:21.380 --> 01:39:24.620
MEDEA BENJAMIN: I’m here because
I’m protesting both Donald Trump,

1909
01:39:24.620 --> 01:39:28.310
the RNC, and I’ll be protesting
Hillary Clinton at the DNC.

1910
01:39:28.310 --> 01:39:31.520
I think we have a terrible choice
of presidential candidates,

1911
01:39:31.520 --> 01:39:34.060
and we have a system
that is so corrupt.

1912
01:39:34.060 --> 01:39:37.800
And one little part of that
is this continued alliance

1913
01:39:37.800 --> 01:39:39.570
with a repressive

1914
01:39:39.570 --> 01:39:42.700
Saudi regime that’s
repressing its own people,

1915
01:39:42.700 --> 01:39:46.090
that is spreading
extremism around the world.

1916
01:39:46.090 --> 01:39:49.420
And we have to question:
Why in the world is our government

1917
01:39:49.420 --> 01:39:52.540
and our two political parties
continuing this alliance?

1918
01:39:52.540 --> 01:39:55.190
AMY GOODMAN: The approach
that the police took to you,

1919
01:39:55.190 --> 01:39:57.390
all dressed up as pink
Lady Liberties,

1920
01:39:57.390 --> 01:39:59.040
the CodePink women,

1921
01:39:59.040 --> 01:40:01.600
with signs that talked
about immigration rights

1922
01:40:01.600 --> 01:40:03.620
and ending endless war,

1923
01:40:03.620 --> 01:40:06.660
and then moving in on you
on horseback last night?

1924
01:40:06.660 --> 01:40:11.200
MEDEA BENJAMIN: Quite extraordinary.
I mean, we very consciously tried

1925
01:40:11.200 --> 01:40:14.260
to look very welcoming and warm.

1926
01:40:14.260 --> 01:40:15.970
In fact, we were welcoming the people

1927
01:40:15.970 --> 01:40:17.450
who were coming to the convention,

1928
01:40:17.450 --> 01:40:19.660
but we were saying,
"Let’s stop the hatred.

1929
01:40:19.660 --> 01:40:23.220
Let’s open our arms to people
who are fleeing oppression,

1930
01:40:23.220 --> 01:40:27.430
whether it’s from Syria
or people fleeing from Latin America."

1931
01:40:27.430 --> 01:40:32.040
And the response of the police
was overwhelming and ridiculous.

1932
01:40:32.040 --> 01:40:34.470
AMY GOODMAN: Well, we will continue
to follow the protests,

1933
01:40:34.470 --> 01:40:36.350
of course, on the ground this week.

1934
01:40:36.350 --> 01:40:38.790
Medea Benjamin, thanks for being
with us, co-founder of CodePink.

1935
01:40:38.790 --> 01:40:42.600
Her latest book, coming out in August,
Kingdom of the Unjust:

1936
01:40:42.600 --> 01:40:44.440
Behind the U.S.-Saudi Connection.

1937
01:40:44.440 --> 01:40:47.640
When we come back,
FBI knocking on the door

1938
01:40:47.640 --> 01:40:49.180
of people they perceive

1939
01:40:49.180 --> 01:40:52.050
to be would-be protesters
here in Cleveland.

1940
01:40:52.050 --> 01:40:55.200
Then Rashad Robinson of Color of Change

1941
01:40:55.200 --> 01:40:56.410
on the corporations

1942
01:40:56.410 --> 01:40:58.380
that won’t be supporting
the Republicans.

1943
01:40:58.380 --> 01:41:00.380
Stay with us.

1944
01:42:25.850 --> 01:42:29.710
AMY GOODMAN: We are
"Breaking with Convention:

1945
01:42:29.710 --> 01:42:31.350
Power, Peace and the Presidency,"

1946
01:42:31.350 --> 01:42:34.740
two weeks of two-hour daily coverage,

1947
01:42:34.740 --> 01:42:37.610
first from the Cleveland
Republican convention

1948
01:42:37.610 --> 01:42:39.450
all this week
and then from Philadelphia,

1949
01:42:39.450 --> 01:42:42.370
the Democratic convention next week.
I’m Amy Goodman.

1950
01:42:42.370 --> 01:42:45.160
As the Republican convention
opens today here in Cleveland,

1951
01:42:45.160 --> 01:42:47.190
we look now at the protests
in the streets.

1952
01:42:47.190 --> 01:42:49.270
The FBI, the Department
of Homeland Security

1953
01:42:49.270 --> 01:42:51.840
and the Secret Service
have reportedly knocked

1954
01:42:51.840 --> 01:42:54.150
on the doors of dozens
of Cleveland activists,

1955
01:42:54.150 --> 01:42:57.920
demanding to know if they’re
organizing protests here the RNC.

1956
01:42:57.920 --> 01:42:59.990
Law enforcement agents
have reportedly also

1957
01:42:59.990 --> 01:43:01.380
made phone calls
to relatives,

1958
01:43:01.380 --> 01:43:02.960
neighbors and places
of employment,

1959
01:43:02.960 --> 01:43:05.210
asking about the activists’ whereabouts.

1960
01:43:05.210 --> 01:43:08.280
Many of the activists say they have
no involvement in the RNC protests

1961
01:43:08.280 --> 01:43:10.490
and are being targeted
for their prior work

1962
01:43:10.490 --> 01:43:12.750
with the local chapter
of Black Lives Matter

1963
01:43:12.750 --> 01:43:14.600
and the Occupy Wall Street movement.

1964
01:43:14.600 --> 01:43:16.260
Several activists say they believe

1965
01:43:16.260 --> 01:43:18.730
they came on the radar
of local law enforcement

1966
01:43:18.730 --> 01:43:21.490
after attending a 2015 protest

1967
01:43:21.490 --> 01:43:24.330
following the acquittal
of Cleveland police officer

1968
01:43:24.330 --> 01:43:26.460
Michael Brelo for a fatal
shooting of two

1969
01:43:26.460 --> 01:43:28.490
[unarmed]
African Americans in their car,

1970
01:43:28.490 --> 01:43:30.460
Timothy Russell
and Malissa Williams.

1971
01:43:30.460 --> 01:43:32.620
In a statement to
The Cleveland Plain Dealer,

1972
01:43:32.620 --> 01:43:34.960
FBI spokeswoman said agents

1973
01:43:34.960 --> 01:43:36.470
were conducting community outreach

1974
01:43:36.470 --> 01:43:38.920
as a part of their security
planning for the RNC.

1975
01:43:38.920 --> 01:43:41.170
However, activists say
the visits are intimidating

1976
01:43:41.170 --> 01:43:42.830
and designed to discourage people

1977
01:43:42.830 --> 01:43:45.250
from engaging in lawful
First Amendment activities,

1978
01:43:45.250 --> 01:43:47.510
a claim supported by
the Ohio chapters

1979
01:43:47.510 --> 01:43:49.230
of the National Lawyers Guild,

1980
01:43:49.230 --> 01:43:51.950
the ACLU and the NAACP.

1981
01:43:51.950 --> 01:43:53.850
Well, on Sunday, Democracy Now!
’s Deena Guzder

1982
01:43:53.850 --> 01:43:55.440
and Elizabeth Press spoke to activists

1983
01:43:55.440 --> 01:43:57.810
who say they were
targeted by the FBI.

1984
01:43:58.910 --> 01:44:00.190
ROBIN ADELMANN: My name
is Robin Adelmann.

1985
01:44:00.740 --> 01:44:02.330
And a few years back,

1986
01:44:02.330 --> 01:44:05.050
I was part of Occupy
Cleveland, doing activism.

1987
01:44:05.050 --> 01:44:06.310
And most recently, a year ago,

1988
01:44:06.310 --> 01:44:09.140
I was arrested downtown
for protesting

1989
01:44:09.140 --> 01:44:10.360
the Michael Brelo verdict,

1990
01:44:10.970 --> 01:44:14.250
and was a part of that activism.

1991
01:44:14.880 --> 01:44:16.400
And then, so, just recently,

1992
01:44:16.400 --> 01:44:20.060
the FBI and the Cleveland
detectives, two weeks ago,

1993
01:44:20.060 --> 01:44:23.420
came to my apartment
looking for information.

1994
01:44:23.420 --> 01:44:24.530
They knocked on my door right

1995
01:44:24.530 --> 01:44:26.330
when I was walking to open it
to leave for work,

1996
01:44:26.330 --> 01:44:27.550
and they had a clipboard

1997
01:44:27.550 --> 01:44:29.650
with my mugshots on it,
because I’d been arrested before.

1998
01:44:29.650 --> 01:44:32.200
So, I instantly
saw that and thought

1999
01:44:32.200 --> 01:44:35.230
that they were there for me,
so I was instantly scared.

2000
01:44:35.230 --> 01:44:38.000
And in my kind of like panicky feeling,

2001
01:44:38.000 --> 01:44:39.470
I like invited them
right in and stuff.

2002
01:44:39.470 --> 01:44:44.320
And I was really cooperative,
but they just didn’t seem to—like,

2003
01:44:44.320 --> 01:44:45.860
when I was telling them
that I didn’t really

2004
01:44:45.860 --> 01:44:47.870
—they wanted information,
like what’s going to happen.

2005
01:44:47.870 --> 01:44:49.440
"Do you know where there’s
going to be protests?

2006
01:44:49.440 --> 01:44:51.400
Like, where is this going to be?
Where is that going to be?"

2007
01:44:51.400 --> 01:44:54.030
And I honestly didn’t know.
So I was like, "I don’t know."

2008
01:44:54.030 --> 01:44:55.580
SAMUEL CARPENTER: My name
is Samuel Carpenter.

2009
01:44:55.580 --> 01:44:58.930
I work at the bookstore
named Guide to Kulchur.

2010
01:44:58.930 --> 01:45:02.800
We have a press,
and we print books of poetry.

2011
01:45:02.800 --> 01:45:06.440
We have a couple of novels,
a magazine and a creative journal.

2012
01:45:08.110 --> 01:45:12.510
I’ve done work with Food
Not Bombs before in the past.

2013
01:45:12.510 --> 01:45:14.280
It’s a volunteer gig.

2014
01:45:14.280 --> 01:45:18.030
You’re just giving people food
that can’t always get it.

2015
01:45:18.030 --> 01:45:20.710
DEENA GUZDER: Samuel,
what happened late last month,

2016
01:45:20.710 --> 01:45:24.730
when an FBI agent and a police
detective came to your house?

2017
01:45:24.730 --> 01:45:26.940
SAMUEL CARPENTER: They came to my house,

2018
01:45:26.940 --> 01:45:28.190
expressed that they were canvassing

2019
01:45:28.190 --> 01:45:30.970
about this anarchist bookstore
named Guide to Kulchur,

2020
01:45:31.960 --> 01:45:36.460
which it is not, and basically

2021
01:45:36.460 --> 01:45:39.850
just like scared my mother,
freaked her out,

2022
01:45:39.850 --> 01:45:42.020
because, you know, they’re saying

2023
01:45:42.020 --> 01:45:43.780
that they’re looking
for radical anarchists.

2024
01:45:43.780 --> 01:45:49.090
The FBI agent expressed that he’s done
counterterrorist unit work overseas.

2025
01:45:50.040 --> 01:45:53.470
And, you know,
it was just like ridiculous.

2026
01:45:54.630 --> 01:45:57.140
Is it 1984 now,
that we’ve—we’re

2027
01:45:57.140 --> 01:46:01.260
getting approached
by people of the law

2028
01:46:01.260 --> 01:46:04.050
because you read books?

2029
01:46:04.050 --> 01:46:05.490
MICHAEL NELSON: Michael Nelson,
president,

2030
01:46:05.490 --> 01:46:07.570
the Cleveland branch, NAACP.

2031
01:46:08.120 --> 01:46:11.720
I’ve been asked whether
or not I believe police

2032
01:46:11.720 --> 01:46:13.120
and other law enforcement

2033
01:46:13.120 --> 01:46:16.470
are targeting Black Lives Matter
and other activists.

2034
01:46:16.470 --> 01:46:18.140
No doubt.

2035
01:46:18.140 --> 01:46:21.930
DEENA GUZDER: I want to ask you about
one of your clients, Jasmine Bruce.

2036
01:46:21.930 --> 01:46:24.650
Can you tell us who she is
and what happened to her?

2037
01:46:25.980 --> 01:46:27.780
MICHAEL NELSON: A Cleveland
police officer,

2038
01:46:27.780 --> 01:46:29.140
along with a partner,

2039
01:46:29.140 --> 01:46:31.210
went to the home of her parents,

2040
01:46:32.740 --> 01:46:35.080
knocked on the door,
asked to speak to Jasmine.

2041
01:46:36.170 --> 01:46:40.080
Her stepfather came to the door to ask,
"Well, is she in trouble?"

2042
01:46:40.080 --> 01:46:42.350
"Oh, no, no, she’s not in trouble.
We just want to talk to her."

2043
01:46:43.080 --> 01:46:44.950
"Well, she’s not here."

2044
01:46:44.950 --> 01:46:47.770
The mother overheard this conversation,
came to the door and said,

2045
01:46:47.770 --> 01:46:49.940
"Why do you want
to talk to my daughter?"

2046
01:46:49.940 --> 01:46:51.360
"Well, we just want to ask
some questions

2047
01:46:51.360 --> 01:46:54.130
about anything she knows
about protests."

2048
01:46:54.650 --> 01:46:56.860
She says, "What do you mean?
My daughter is in school."

2049
01:46:58.680 --> 01:47:02.200
As I indicated,
Jasmine was involved in one protest,

2050
01:47:03.300 --> 01:47:07.250
that was brought on by
the outrage of this Brelo acquittal.

2051
01:47:08.630 --> 01:47:11.240
She’s not been involved
in anything since then.

2052
01:47:12.250 --> 01:47:14.660
And if she did know,
she wasn’t going to tell them.

2053
01:47:14.660 --> 01:47:17.190
But the fact of the matter,
she was not aware of anything,

2054
01:47:17.190 --> 01:47:21.100
nor is she active
with respect to the RNC.

2055
01:47:21.100 --> 01:47:22.520
JOCELYN ROSNICK: My name
is Jocelyn Rosnick,

2056
01:47:22.520 --> 01:47:25.790
and I’m co-coordinator of the Ohio
chapter of the National Lawyers Guild.

2057
01:47:26.330 --> 01:47:29.590
About three weeks ago, prior to the RNC,

2058
01:47:29.590 --> 01:47:32.200
we started to receive messages

2059
01:47:32.200 --> 01:47:35.360
from a variety of different
community members and activists,

2060
01:47:35.360 --> 01:47:38.590
letting us know that
various special agents

2061
01:47:38.590 --> 01:47:42.530
were showing up at their door
asking them questions.

2062
01:47:42.530 --> 01:47:45.720
We know that they have cast
a pretty wide net

2063
01:47:45.720 --> 01:47:48.440
in their so-called
intelligence gathering.

2064
01:47:48.440 --> 01:47:50.930
It’s not just the FBI special agents,

2065
01:47:50.930 --> 01:47:52.630
but also agents with the Department

2066
01:47:52.630 --> 01:47:55.010
of Homeland Security,
the Secret Service,

2067
01:47:55.010 --> 01:47:57.820
as well as Cleveland Division
of Police officers.

2068
01:47:57.820 --> 01:48:02.790
And they’re reaching out to a number
of different groups and organizations.

2069
01:48:02.790 --> 01:48:05.410
Some individuals who have
received door knocks

2070
01:48:05.410 --> 01:48:08.160
simply hang out at the wrong bookstore.

2071
01:48:08.160 --> 01:48:12.930
Other individuals who have been targeted
by these door knocks are individuals

2072
01:48:12.930 --> 01:48:17.340
who were arrested after
the acquittal of Michael

2073
01:48:17.340 --> 01:48:20.740
Brelo, May of 2015,

2074
01:48:20.740 --> 01:48:24.050
as well as some individuals
who really haven’t been active in

2075
01:48:24.050 --> 01:48:27.520
any sort of protest activity
for a number of years.

2076
01:48:27.520 --> 01:48:29.960
So the fact that law
enforcement agencies

2077
01:48:29.960 --> 01:48:31.780
is asking individuals questions

2078
01:48:31.780 --> 01:48:34.660
and simply knocking on doors
is not illegal,

2079
01:48:34.660 --> 01:48:36.450
it’s not unconstitutional;

2080
01:48:36.450 --> 01:48:39.940
however, we are concerned
that their intelligence gathering

2081
01:48:39.940 --> 01:48:43.440
has crossed the line
from asking questions

2082
01:48:43.440 --> 01:48:47.990
and trying to gather information
to intimidation and,

2083
01:48:47.990 --> 01:48:49.710
in some cases, harassment,

2084
01:48:49.710 --> 01:48:52.670
where they are repeatedly
knocking on the same door,

2085
01:48:52.670 --> 01:48:54.910
very loud,
very aggressively,

2086
01:48:54.910 --> 01:48:58.160
as well as returning
to the same home

2087
01:48:58.160 --> 01:48:59.740
multiple days in a row.

2088
01:48:59.740 --> 01:49:02.210
DEENA GUZDER: Jocelyn, the RNC
is about to kick off,

2089
01:49:02.210 --> 01:49:04.510
and your group has been
giving legal advice

2090
01:49:04.510 --> 01:49:06.470
and holding civil rights trainings

2091
01:49:06.470 --> 01:49:08.570
for protesters
who are going to be involved

2092
01:49:08.570 --> 01:49:11.250
in the numerous demonstrations
throughout the week.

2093
01:49:11.250 --> 01:49:14.950
What should a protester
who has a run-in with a cop do?

2094
01:49:15.590 --> 01:49:18.000
JOCELYN ROSNICK: So,
individuals should do everything

2095
01:49:18.000 --> 01:49:22.050
they can to de-escalate
the situation themselves.

2096
01:49:22.050 --> 01:49:24.740
If they are stuck
in a bad situation,

2097
01:49:24.740 --> 01:49:26.320
if things have escalated

2098
01:49:26.320 --> 01:49:28.800
and there might be
a mass arrest

2099
01:49:29.550 --> 01:49:33.020
and they’re trapped and they cannot
get out of that situation,

2100
01:49:33.020 --> 01:49:35.130
then they should know to call

2101
01:49:35.130 --> 01:49:37.290
the jail support hotline
at (216)

2102
01:49:37.290 --> 01:49:40.320
5050-654,
or NLG.

2103
01:49:40.320 --> 01:49:42.770
Additionally, we do have individuals

2104
01:49:42.770 --> 01:49:45.540
that will be out on the streets
with demonstrators.

2105
01:49:45.540 --> 01:49:48.120
We train and dispatch
legal observers,

2106
01:49:48.120 --> 01:49:50.710
who are the eyes and the ears
of the legal team.

2107
01:49:50.710 --> 01:49:53.000
They’re not out there
demonstrating themselves.

2108
01:49:53.000 --> 01:49:55.300
They’re third-party observers,

2109
01:49:55.300 --> 01:49:57.380
and they are identifiable by wearing

2110
01:49:57.380 --> 01:49:59.990
a bright lime green
baseball hat that says

2111
01:49:59.990 --> 01:50:02.270
"National Lawyers
Guild Legal Observer,"

2112
01:50:02.270 --> 01:50:04.670
or a bright lime green T-shirt.

2113
01:50:06.850 --> 01:50:09.800
AMY GOODMAN: National Lawyers Guild,
Jocelyn Rosnick.

2114
01:50:09.800 --> 01:50:11.150
Special thanks to Democracy

2115
01:50:11.150 --> 01:50:12.650
Now!’s Deena Guzder

2116
01:50:12.650 --> 01:50:14.000
and Elizabeth Press.

2117
01:50:14.000 --> 01:50:16.070
AMY GOODMAN: We are broadcasting
from the Republican National

2118
01:50:16.070 --> 01:50:18.090
Convention here in Cleveland,

2119
01:50:18.090 --> 01:50:20.040
Ohio, for the week.

2120
01:50:21.040 --> 01:50:23.530
This is "Breaking with Convention:

2121
01:50:23.530 --> 01:50:25.700
War, Peace and the Presidency."

2122
01:50:25.700 --> 01:50:27.900
At least 19 corporations

2123
01:50:27.900 --> 01:50:30.970
that usually sponsor the RNC

2124
01:50:30.970 --> 01:50:32.930
have dramatically scaled back

2125
01:50:32.930 --> 01:50:34.850
or canceled their commitments,

2126
01:50:34.850 --> 01:50:36.670
citing the presumptive

2127
01:50:36.670 --> 01:50:38.080
nominee Donald Trump’s

2128
01:50:38.080 --> 01:50:40.640
controversial comments
about women,

2129
01:50:40.640 --> 01:50:42.380
immigrants and people of color.

2130
01:50:42.900 --> 01:50:45.280
Last week, a leaked letter
from the Cleveland

2131
01:50:45.280 --> 01:50:48.350
host committee asked
billionaire backer Sheldon Adelson

2132
01:50:48.350 --> 01:50:51.690
to help cover a $6 million shortfall,

2133
01:50:51.690 --> 01:50:54.710
and listed more than a dozen
corporate and individual donors

2134
01:50:54.710 --> 01:50:55.990
who have withdrawn
their pledges,

2135
01:50:55.990 --> 01:50:59.550
including Coca-Cola,
Pepsi, FedEx and Visa.

2136
01:50:59.550 --> 01:51:02.600
Other companies
who sponsored the 2012 RNC,

2137
01:51:02.600 --> 01:51:04.950
but say they won’t be returning
this year, include Apple,

2138
01:51:04.950 --> 01:51:06.700
Wells Fargo, UPS, Motorola,

2139
01:51:06.700 --> 01:51:09.540
JPMorgan Chase,
Walgreens and Ford.

2140
01:51:09.540 --> 01:51:12.060
This comes as the civil rights
group Color of Change

2141
01:51:12.060 --> 01:51:15.440
has pressured corporations
not to endorse Trump’s, quote,

2142
01:51:15.440 --> 01:51:19.080
"hateful and racist rhetoric," unquote,
or face a boycott.

2143
01:51:19.080 --> 01:51:20.300
For more, we’re joined by

2144
01:51:20.300 --> 01:51:23.380
Color of Change’s
executive director, Rashad Robinson.

2145
01:51:23.380 --> 01:51:25.370
Welcome back to Democracy Now!
RASHAD ROBINSON: Thanks for having me.

2146
01:51:25.370 --> 01:51:27.100
AMY GOODMAN: So, tell as
what you did, Rashad.

2147
01:51:27.100 --> 01:51:28.960
RASHAD ROBINSON: Well, back in February,
early february,

2148
01:51:28.960 --> 01:51:31.880
we started to see the tea
leaves of Donald Trump.

2149
01:51:31.880 --> 01:51:33.770
And we’ve been watching
Donald Trump for years.

2150
01:51:33.770 --> 01:51:37.310
Five years ago, we ran our first
campaign against Donald Trump,

2151
01:51:37.310 --> 01:51:39.820
when he was doing
his birther rant

2152
01:51:39.820 --> 01:51:43.080
and asking for transcripts
from President Obama.

2153
01:51:43.080 --> 01:51:45.300
But his work spans
even before that,

2154
01:51:45.300 --> 01:51:46.930
with the Central Park Five.

2155
01:51:46.930 --> 01:51:48.890
And so, we recognized

2156
01:51:48.890 --> 01:51:51.210
that this convention
was going to be coming up.

2157
01:51:51.210 --> 01:51:53.930
And even if he wasn’t
the winner at the time,

2158
01:51:53.930 --> 01:51:57.210
he was threatening riots if he wasn’t.

2159
01:51:57.210 --> 01:51:58.770
He was saying there
could be potentially riots.

2160
01:51:58.770 --> 01:52:00.970
And we were looking
at the list of corporations,

2161
01:52:00.970 --> 01:52:03.050
so we started to do some research,

2162
01:52:03.050 --> 01:52:04.980
and we looked into the corporations

2163
01:52:04.980 --> 01:52:06.980
that had sponsored four years ago

2164
01:52:06.980 --> 01:52:08.330
and eight years ago.

2165
01:52:08.330 --> 01:52:11.400
We have a big problem
with campaign finance.

2166
01:52:11.400 --> 01:52:14.670
And we have—we need a systemic,
long-term work around this,

2167
01:52:14.670 --> 01:52:16.510
not just this particular campaign,

2168
01:52:16.510 --> 01:52:19.250
because most corporations—
any corporation

2169
01:52:19.250 --> 01:52:22.410
doesn’t have to disclose 'til
60 days after the convention.

2170
01:52:22.410 --> 01:52:24.390
So we had to spend
a lot of time researching.

2171
01:52:24.390 --> 01:52:26.880
But we started
behind-the-scenes conversations.

2172
01:52:26.880 --> 01:52:28.420
We would send letters,
and then we would start

2173
01:52:28.420 --> 01:52:29.950
with conversations
behind the scenes,

2174
01:52:29.950 --> 01:52:31.610
with Coca-Cola and others,

2175
01:52:31.610 --> 01:52:34.470
while also starting
a public campaign with our members,

2176
01:52:34.470 --> 01:52:36.350
telling them about what
these corporations do,

2177
01:52:36.350 --> 01:52:38.920
the access they're trying to buy
and the relationship

2178
01:52:38.920 --> 01:52:40.150
that they’re
trying to have.

2179
01:52:40.150 --> 01:52:42.240
And through the back-
and-forth conversations,

2180
01:52:42.240 --> 01:52:44.760
we were able
to get Coca-Cola to leave.

2181
01:52:44.760 --> 01:52:46.650
We actually had
to go public on Coca-Cola

2182
01:52:46.650 --> 01:52:48.230
a little bit, as well.

2183
01:52:48.230 --> 01:52:49.900
And after Coca-Cola decided

2184
01:52:49.900 --> 01:52:52.920
that they were going to
pull out over $500,000

2185
01:52:52.920 --> 01:52:55.610
less than sort of what they had
given previously,

2186
01:52:55.610 --> 01:52:58.750
we moved to Microsoft
and other corporations.

2187
01:52:58.750 --> 01:53:00.720
As we started to hear back
from corporations,

2188
01:53:00.720 --> 01:53:02.440
corporations would say
things to us like,

2189
01:53:02.440 --> 01:53:03.830
"We give to both sides.

2190
01:53:03.830 --> 01:53:05.440
This is about
civic engagement."

2191
01:53:05.440 --> 01:53:07.620
And we would say, "This is not
about left or right,

2192
01:53:07.620 --> 01:53:09.090
but about right or wrong."

2193
01:53:09.090 --> 01:53:11.470
We used a whole lot
of really creative tactics,

2194
01:53:11.470 --> 01:53:14.540
everything from running ads

2195
01:53:14.540 --> 01:53:17.330
through IP addresses
to Silicon—within Silicon

2196
01:53:17.330 --> 01:53:20.600
Valley to employees
of corporations.

2197
01:53:20.600 --> 01:53:22.030
Where we didn’t get
what—we didn’t hear

2198
01:53:22.030 --> 01:53:23.500
what we wanted to hear
from the leadership,

2199
01:53:23.500 --> 01:53:25.340
we would go in directly
to the staff,

2200
01:53:25.340 --> 01:53:26.880
and we would say, you know,

2201
01:53:26.880 --> 01:53:28.460
"You all are working
for a place.

2202
01:53:28.460 --> 01:53:31.360
You may care about climate.
You may care about diversity.

2203
01:53:31.360 --> 01:53:32.640
You may care about women’s rights

2204
01:53:32.640 --> 01:53:34.740
or LGBT rights or Black Lives Matter.

2205
01:53:34.740 --> 01:53:37.150
But you all are
working for a place

2206
01:53:37.150 --> 01:53:38.350
that’s supporting Donald Trump

2207
01:53:38.350 --> 01:53:41.320
and is going to be helping
to support a celebration."

2208
01:53:41.320 --> 01:53:42.930
AMY GOODMAN: And so,
how did these corporations

2209
01:53:42.930 --> 01:53:44.130
tell you they were pulling out?

2210
01:53:44.130 --> 01:53:47.070
And did all pull out—and
we named Ford, Walgreens,

2211
01:53:47.070 --> 01:53:48.360
JPMorgan Chase, Motorola,

2212
01:53:48.360 --> 01:53:53.350
UPS, Wells Fargo Apple—
or did they simply give less?

2213
01:53:53.350 --> 01:53:55.430
RASHAD ROBINSON: So,
a mix of them gave less.

2214
01:53:55.430 --> 01:53:56.720
A mix of them,
by the time

2215
01:53:56.720 --> 01:53:58.800
our corporate campaign had started,

2216
01:53:58.800 --> 01:54:00.260
had already given some cash

2217
01:54:00.260 --> 01:54:01.590
or had already
moved some money,

2218
01:54:01.590 --> 01:54:03.170
and so they couldn’t
get the money back.

2219
01:54:03.170 --> 01:54:04.630
So, Coca-Cola was an example

2220
01:54:04.630 --> 01:54:06.730
where they had given $75,000 back

2221
01:54:06.730 --> 01:54:08.860
in 2015 to start off

2222
01:54:08.860 --> 01:54:12.550
and had probably a plan of giving
upwards of a million dollars total.

2223
01:54:12.550 --> 01:54:14.190
Once we started our campaign,

2224
01:54:14.190 --> 01:54:16.800
they shut off all additional money.

2225
01:54:16.800 --> 01:54:20.160
Some corporations had already
committed to giving things

2226
01:54:20.160 --> 01:54:23.060
that were in kind and who already signed
contracts around that,

2227
01:54:23.060 --> 01:54:25.530
but we were able to get them
to pull back on cash.

2228
01:54:25.530 --> 01:54:28.230
And then some corporations,
like Apple and others,

2229
01:54:28.230 --> 01:54:31.480
HP, decided no money
whatsoever and gave nothing.

2230
01:54:31.480 --> 01:54:33.190
AMY GOODMAN: And then you had
a hundred executives

2231
01:54:33.190 --> 01:54:35.530
from tech companies
writing an open letter

2232
01:54:35.530 --> 01:54:38.050
against Donald Trump’s nomination?

2233
01:54:38.050 --> 01:54:39.150
RASHAD ROBINSON: And leveraging
that, right?

2234
01:54:39.150 --> 01:54:41.340
When they started
to write these letters

2235
01:54:41.340 --> 01:54:43.180
and then—and then, at the same time,

2236
01:54:43.180 --> 01:54:45.390
we’re seeing these corporations
still give money,

2237
01:54:45.390 --> 01:54:48.560
we say there’s a disconnect
between your language of saying,

2238
01:54:48.560 --> 01:54:50.040
"We don’t like Donald Trump,"

2239
01:54:50.040 --> 01:54:53.710
but that you’re going to actually
support a celebration for him,

2240
01:54:53.710 --> 01:54:56.500
with streamers and balloons
and Confederate flags.

2241
01:54:56.500 --> 01:54:58.080
And we were very clear.

2242
01:54:58.080 --> 01:55:00.290
We drew up ads
that we never had to run.

2243
01:55:00.290 --> 01:55:02.650
We ran billboards
in Silicon Valley.

2244
01:55:02.650 --> 01:55:06.020
At every point, corporations
would try to find a way

2245
01:55:06.020 --> 01:55:07.830
to sort of slow-walk us or say,

2246
01:55:07.830 --> 01:55:09.930
"You know, we’re still trying
to make our decision,"

2247
01:55:09.930 --> 01:55:11.880
and we would give them
timelines and deadlines.

2248
01:55:11.880 --> 01:55:16.040
We also worked to build
a multiracial coalition of organizations

2249
01:55:16.040 --> 01:55:17.770
to really support
this campaign,

2250
01:55:17.770 --> 01:55:20.080
from Muslim advocates
to Latino Victory

2251
01:55:20.080 --> 01:55:21.840
Fund to UltraViolet,

2252
01:55:21.840 --> 01:55:24.410
a women’s organization,
LGBT organizations

2253
01:55:24.410 --> 01:55:26.930
and progressive groups
like MoveOn and CREDO,

2254
01:55:26.930 --> 01:55:29.180
building a coalition of folks that,

2255
01:55:29.180 --> 01:55:30.590
once we started this campaign,

2256
01:55:30.590 --> 01:55:32.070
came on board and helped

2257
01:55:32.070 --> 01:55:35.610
to build a movement
to say to corporations,

2258
01:55:35.610 --> 01:55:38.230
"You can’t come for our money
by day and support Trump by night."

2259
01:55:38.770 --> 01:55:41.780
AMY GOODMAN: Rashad Robinson,
after the Dallas shootings,

2260
01:55:41.780 --> 01:55:44.460
and now we have the Baton
Rouge police shootings,

2261
01:55:44.460 --> 01:55:47.800
not to mention
the shootings of residents,

2262
01:55:48.480 --> 01:55:51.050
you were invited
to the White House

2263
01:55:51.050 --> 01:55:53.330
for a summit
with President Obama

2264
01:55:53.330 --> 01:55:55.680
when he came back
from the Dallas memorial service.

2265
01:55:55.680 --> 01:55:57.160
RASHAD ROBINSON: Mm-hmm.
What happened there?

2266
01:55:57.160 --> 01:55:58.330
And what are you demanding?

2267
01:55:58.330 --> 01:55:59.830
RASHAD ROBINSON: You know,
it was a four-hour meeting

2268
01:55:59.830 --> 01:56:02.050
with law enforcement
and civil rights leaders.

2269
01:56:02.050 --> 01:56:03.710
I specifically
brought the demands

2270
01:56:03.710 --> 01:56:04.910
that Color of Change has,

2271
01:56:04.910 --> 01:56:07.670
which is to defund
police departments

2272
01:56:07.670 --> 01:56:11.800
that are simply unable
to value black lives.

2273
01:56:11.800 --> 01:56:14.610
We’re here in Cleveland,
where the Cleveland Police Department

2274
01:56:14.610 --> 01:56:17.100
now has riot gear
that they’re going to get

2275
01:56:17.100 --> 01:56:18.990
to keep afterwards,
even though they’re under

2276
01:56:18.990 --> 01:56:20.310
[consent] decree.
You know, we—

2277
01:56:20.310 --> 01:56:21.400
AMY GOODMAN: So let’s just
talk about that.

2278
01:56:21.400 --> 01:56:21.490
RASHAD ROBINSON: Yes.

2279
01:56:21.490 --> 01:56:22.740
AMY GOODMAN: They’re under a Justice

2280
01:56:22.740 --> 01:56:23.960
Department consent decree.
RASHAD ROBINSON: Yes.

2281
01:56:23.960 --> 01:56:27.070
AMY GOODMAN: They’re being watched
by the Justice Department.

2282
01:56:27.070 --> 01:56:29.400
They got $50 million
for the Republican

2283
01:56:29.400 --> 01:56:30.750
National Convention,
covering it.

2284
01:56:30.750 --> 01:56:32.570
Twenty million will go
to the riot gear,

2285
01:56:32.570 --> 01:56:34.330
that they get to keep afterwards.

2286
01:56:34.330 --> 01:56:35.080
RASHAD ROBINSON: Absolutely.

2287
01:56:35.080 --> 01:56:36.320
And, you know,
we’ve—I’ve been

2288
01:56:36.320 --> 01:56:38.400
on the ground in places

2289
01:56:38.400 --> 01:56:39.710
like Ferguson
and Baltimore,

2290
01:56:39.710 --> 01:56:42.940
and watched the militarization
of our police departments.

2291
01:56:42.940 --> 01:56:46.320
We’ve watched Baton Rouge—the Baton
Rouge—the police department

2292
01:56:46.320 --> 01:56:49.140
has gotten $3 million
from the Justice Department

2293
01:56:49.140 --> 01:56:50.450
over the last five years,

2294
01:56:50.450 --> 01:56:53.320
even while having multiple
civil rights investigations.

2295
01:56:53.320 --> 01:56:54.940
We continue to see the fact

2296
01:56:54.940 --> 01:56:57.480
that we are not changing
the incentive structure

2297
01:56:57.480 --> 01:56:59.760
between federal
government money

2298
01:56:59.760 --> 01:57:01.340
and what local enforcement do.

2299
01:57:01.340 --> 01:57:02.910
So we went to the White House

2300
01:57:02.910 --> 01:57:05.840
because we continue to bring
demands to the White House,

2301
01:57:05.840 --> 01:57:09.440
and we’re always willing
to have conversation and dialogue.

2302
01:57:09.440 --> 01:57:11.570
But more than conversation
and dialogue,

2303
01:57:11.570 --> 01:57:14.390
we need action, because without action,

2304
01:57:14.390 --> 01:57:16.580
we will continue to be
in this place five,

2305
01:57:16.580 --> 01:57:17.900
10, 15 years from now.

2306
01:57:17.900 --> 01:57:20.130
So, as we work
to mobilize our members,

2307
01:57:20.130 --> 01:57:22.850
I brought the concerns
of our—and I also had a real back

2308
01:57:22.850 --> 01:57:25.520
and forth with the head
of Fraternal Order of Police,

2309
01:57:25.520 --> 01:57:28.870
who unfortunately will continue
to come to these conversations,

2310
01:57:28.870 --> 01:57:30.540
but never offer up
a demand.

2311
01:57:30.540 --> 01:57:32.360
AMY GOODMAN: We’re going to find out
what you said and post it online

2312
01:57:32.360 --> 01:57:33.610
at democracynow.org.
RASHAD ROBINSON: Yes.

2313
01:57:33.610 --> 01:57:36.040
AMY GOODMAN: Rashad Robinson,
executive director of Color of Change,

2314
01:57:36.040 --> 01:57:37.430
thanks so much
for being with us.

2315
01:57:37.430 --> 01:57:39.430
That concludes our two hours

2316
01:57:39.430 --> 01:57:41.560
of daily broadcast the first day

2317
01:57:41.560 --> 01:57:45.120
from the Republican National
Convention here in Cleveland.

2318
01:57:45.120 --> 01:57:46.980
Tune in every day
and tell your friends.

2319
01:57:46.980 --> 01:57:51.360
Special thanks to David
Prude and Denis Moynihan.

2320
01:57:51.360 --> 01:57:54.320
Happy birthday to Laura Gottesdiener
and Paul Huckeby.

2321
01:57:54.320 --> 01:57:56.610
I’m Amy Goodman.
Thanks so much for joining us.