Him to guantanamo. Pres. Trump would certainly consider that. Send him to gitmo. The driver in the halloween terror attack on the bike path in manhattan, we would not be talking about sending him to guantanamo if it werent for the fact that he is a muslim guy with a beard. Theres honest no rational reason to send somebody to guantanamo whether to be held indefinitely or tried in a military condition rather than putting them the meatgrinder that is the criminal Justice System here at home. Amy we will speak with Shayana Kadidal of the head of Muslim Advocates farhana khera. Trump attacked the Lottery Program that allowed Sayfullo Saipov to immigrate to the United States from uzbekistan. Pres. Trump diversity lottery. It sounds nice. It is not nice. It is not good. It hasnt been good. Amy we will look at the visa program that began under president s reagan and george h. W. Bush, and we will speak with scholars who dispute that Sayfullo Saipov cost risk country of uzbekistan is a hotbed of islamist terror. All of that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. President trump has told kompas to cancel the socalled Diversity Visa Program and the wake of the attack in new york city that left eight people dead and at least 11 more injured. Pres. Trump i am going to ask congress to immediately initiate work to get rid of this program. Ofersity lottery most diversity lottery. It sounds nice. It is not nice. It is not good. It hasnt been good. Amy President Trumps demand him after the suspect Sayfullo Saipov reportedly drove a rented home depot truck down a bike path along manhattans hudson river, killing multiple people before crashing into a school bus. He then reportedly jumped out of the car waiting a pellet gun and a paintball gun before being shot by police. Authorities say he has been planning the attack for about a year. Sayfullo saipov, and respect native who has lived in florida, ohio, and paterson, new jersey, has been charged with providing Material Support to iteris organization as well as violence and destruction with a motor vehicle. On wednesday, President Trump called for the execution of Sayfullo Saipov and called him an animal. Many have noted that he did not use words like animal to describe 64yearold white man Stephen Paddock who killed 59 people, including himself, in las vegas after that massacre trump said it was not time to talk about policy changes. For example, with gun control, although trump is calling for immigration policy changes after the new york city attack. Trump did not call for the Death Penalty after white supremacist james ilex field killed one woman, Heather Heyer, by also driving his car into a crowd of people who were protesting was supremacist rally in charlottesville, virginia in august. Trump did not call in an animal but said there was violence on both sides. President trump suggested wednesday he would consider sending Sayfullo Saipov to guantanamo bay. Mr. President , do you want the assailant from new york sent to gitmo . Pres. Trump i would consider that, yes. I would certainly consider that. Send him to gitmo. I would certainly consider that, yes. Amy this would mean sending Sayfullo Saipov to a military prison even though he is all ready been charged with crimes in u. S. Federal court. Sayfullo saipov as a green card, which means he is a permanent u. S. Resident. On wednesday, john mccain and Lindsey Graham also called for Sayfullo Saipov to be held as an enemy combatant under the laws of war, denied his pareto rights, and take into guantanamo bay. President trump claim the u. S. Does not prosecute terror suspects quickly enough, calling the u. S. Justice system a laughing stock during a televised white house Cabinet Meeting on wednesday. Pres. Trump we need quick justice and we need strong justice. Much quicker and much stronger than we have right now. Because what we have right now is a joke and it is a laughing stock. Amy but only hours later, White House Press secretary Sarah Huckabee sanders flatout denied trump made these comments, even though they had been broadcast on television. This is sanders being questioned by cnns jim acosta. Why did the president called the u. S. Justice system a joke and laughingstock during his comments . That is not what he said. He said the system of justice in this country he said the process has andle calling as a joke colonize a laughingstock. Amy white house present with terry Sarah Huckabee sanders refused to answer whether President Trump think slavery is wrong. Sanders being questioned wednesday by april ryan who referenced white house chief of staff general john kellys recent comments that it was a lack of an ability to compromise that led to the civil war. , rice, the issue of compromise. What is the definition of compromise as it relates to slavery and the civil war . Relitigategoing to the civil war. Like i told you yesterday, i think ive addressed the concerns that a lot of us had a new had and im not going to relitigate history. I will ask the question again. Why dont you ask it in the way you are currently accusing i am not accusing. Im asking a question. Does this Administration Believe does this president believe slavery is wrong . Before you answer, a historian said in 1860, there was a compromise. A compromise was to have Southern States keep slavery, but the confederacy fired on for sumter that caused the civil war. And because of the civil war, what happened . I think it is disgusting and absurd to suggest that anyone inside of this building would support slavery. Amy the Trump Administration continues to roll back former president Barack Obamas efforts to normalize relations between the u. S. And cuba. On wednesday, the United States voted against a u. N. General Assembly Resolution calling for an end to the u. S. Embargo on cuba. Last year, the u. S. Abstained from voting on a similar resolution. On wednesday, cubans expressed frustration with the continued embargo. This is cuban student yoel gonzalez. Obtain anlast year we abstention from the United States, and now back to the vote against with regards to trumps policies commode and say it is another maneuver that is being used by that u. S. President against cuban politics. But we still have hopes. There has always been hope. Lets say this year we reaffirm our hopes in later years the blockade against cuba, which has caused so much damage throughout betory, could possibly eliminated. Amy President Trump is expected to nominate republican multimillionaire Jerome Powell to be the next chair of the federal reserve. He is a former partner at the massive Investment Firm carlyle group, which is a major investor in military contractors, as well as telecommunications, fossil fuel companies, financial services, and other industries. It would be the first time in 40 , hes that a noneconomist is a banker, would become the head of the federal reserve. Men across the world are continuing to resign, be fired, or face intense criticism and backlash over a slew of allegations of Sexual Harassment and assault that have surfaced in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal. The wave of accusations has rocked not only hollywood, but also the media industry, universities, academia, restaurants, and the highest reaches of government. In britain, defense secretary Michael Fallon resigned wednesday amid multiple allegations of inappropriate past sexual conduct. This is fallon. Acceptable 10, 15 years ago is clearly not acceptable now. Parliament has to look at itself in the Prime Minister has made very clear the conduct needs to be improved and we need to protect the staff of westminster against any particular allegations of harassment. Amy in france, prosecutors are investigating multiple rape accusations against oxford professor and renowned islamic scholar tariq ramadan. One french official now says he knew ramadan was violent toward women, although he says hes stunned by the rape accusations. The official, bernard godard, said that girls were brought to the hotel at the end of his lectures, that he invited them to undress, that some resisted and that he could become violent and aggressive, yes, but i have never heard of rapes. Tariq ramadan has denied any wrongdoing. At dartmouth, three professors have been put on paid leave amid a criminal investigation into accusations of Sexual Harassment and misconduct. The professors, todd heatherton, william kelly, and paul whalen, are in dartmouths department of psychological and brain sciences. Hollywood star Dustin Hoffman has apologized after a former female intern named Anna Graham Hunter said hoffman touched her without her consent when she was working on the set of the death 17 of a salesman more than 30 years ago. In the media industry, michael oreskes, nprs Senior Vice President for news, has resigned after multiple women said that they were meeting with oreskes to talk about possible employment while he was Washington Bureau chief of the New York Times, when he instead kissed them without their consent and stuck his tongue in their mouths. Meanwhile, at least six women have accused filmmaker brett ratner of Sexual Assault and harassment, including accounts that he overpowered one woman and forced her to perform oral sex on him when she was only 19 years old. And questions are being raised about a 2000 memoir Rolling Stone journalist matt taibbi coauthored with mark ames about their time as reporters in russia. An excerpt of the book, which was sold as nonfiction, reads we have been pretty rough on our girls. Wed ask our russian staff to flash their breasts for us. Wed tell them that if they wanted to keep their jobs, theyd have to perform unprotected anal sex with us. Met matt taibbi has apologized for his editorial decisions and denied that any of the harassment in the book actually took place. In eritrea, an Opposition Group says Security Forces have killed 28 people and injured dozens more during protests in the capital asmara on monday and tuesday. The eritrean government has denied the casualties. Activists say the mass protest was sparked by the governments attempt to take control of an islamic school. Some activists say the protests may be a Tipping Point in eritrea, when a u. N. Special rapporteur says citizens face arbitrary arrest and enforced disappearances, and a military Conscription Program that amounts to enslavement. In india, an explosion at a coalfired power plant has killed at least 26 people and injured over 100 in the Northern State of Uttar Pradesh on wednesday. The plant is operated by the governmentowned Company National thermal power corporation. Back in the United States, in colorado, three people were killed during a mass shooting in a walmart in a suburb outside of denver on wednesday. Mass shootings happen nearly every day in the u. S. , on average, and about 12,000 people die from firearm related homicides every year. A white former student at the university of hartford has been arrested and charged with a hate crime after she admitted to constantly harassing her black roommate. Brianna rae brochu admitted she rubbed used tampons on her roommates backpack. She also wrote on social media after 1 and a half month of spitting in her coconut oil, putting moldy clam dip in her lotions, putting her toothbrush places where the sun doesnt shine, and so much more i can finally say goodbye jamaican barbie, the white student, who now faces charges of hate crimes, wrote. In arizona, musician, writer, and environmental activist katie lee has died at the age of 98. This is katie lee, speaking at the age of 95 about the fight against the Glen Canyon Dam on the colorado river. And that is when i started writing articles about it. I started singing, writing songs about it. I put out two or three cds about it. And from then on, it was just constantly working to bring down that dam. And i am still at it. I feel about that dam like a rose felt about it, i would like to blow it up. If i knew how, i would do that. I dont know how. And that is probably very fortunate. Rivers are supposed to run. Theyre not supposed to be dammed up. They are healthy that way. They feed the planet. Amy katie lee died on wednesday at her home in jerome, arizona. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. President trump has called for a crackdown on immigration, telling congress to cancel the socalled Diversity Visa Program in the wake of the attack in new york city that left eight people dead and at least 11 more injured. Pres. Trump i am going to ask congress to immediately initiate work to get rid of this program. Diversity lottery. Diversity lottery. It sounds nice. It is not nice. It is not good. It is not good. It hasnt been good. Amy s demand to matter the suspect Sayfullo Saipov reportedly drove a rented home depot truck down a bike path along manhattans hudson river, killing eight people before crashing into a school bus. He then reportedly jogged out of the car waiting a pellet gun and a pain all gun before being shot by police in the stomach. Authorities say Sayfullo Saipov has been planning the attack for more than a year. And chose halloween. Then got misinformation from his bedside in the hospital. Littleo saipov, who is in florida, ohio, and paterson, new jersey, has now been charged with providing Material Support to a terrorist organization as well as violence and destruction of a motor vehicle. On wednesday, President Trump called for his execution and called him an animal. Many of noted President Trump did not use words like animal to describe the 64yearold white man Stephen Paddock who killed 59 people, including himself, in las vegas. After that massacre, trump said it was not time to talk about policy changes on gun control come although he is now for immigration policy changes. For theso did not call Death Penalty after white supremacist james alex fields killed one woman, Heather Heyer, by also driving his car into a aowd of people protesting white supremacist rally in charlottesville, virginia, in august. Trump did not call him an animal is that instead, saying that was violence on both sides. President trump suggested wednesday who consider sending Sayfullo Saipov to guantanamo bay. Mr. President , you want the assailant from new yorks into gitmo . Sent to gitmo . Pres. Trump i would certainly consider that. Send him to gitmo. I would consider that, yes will stop him ago this would mean sending him to a military prison even though he has a ready been turse with crimes in u. S. Federal court. Sayfullo saipov as a green card, which means he is a permanent u. S. Resident. On wednesday, republican senators john mccain and Lindsey Graham also called for him to be held as an enemy combatant under the laws of war. Denied his miranda rights, and taken to guantanamo bay. Meanwhile wednesday night, new yorkers held in interfaith vigil for the victims of tuesdays attack and left flowers a memorials at the bike path where the rampage occurred. Today, we spend the hour looking at the attack in the unfolding response to it. We begin in new york with Shayana Kadidal, senior managing attorney at the center for rights. Tional i want to ask about guantanamo, about President Trumps comment that this man, Sayfullo Saipov, should be sent to guantanamo. Well, he called him an animal. We would not be talking about this at all and the president would not be talking about it if he werent a muslim guy with a beard. The premise of this is that somehow it is better to try somebody like this at guantanamo in a military commission at two try them at home in a ordinary criminal Justice System in a regular federal court. That is just absurd on its face. We have one of the most akoni and criminal drug conan criminal systems around. T is not fair procedurally it does not result in shorter sentences. The conditions of confinement after your convicted are typically worse. There is the rational reason to try somebody down there rather than up here. It is just more theatrics from the president. I suppose we have come to expect that. The real troubling thing is the Senior Leadership and his own political party, does we expect better of, are saying the same thing. Under obama for eight years they were saying the breaches for why we needed to keep guantanamo open at all, that somehow it is the means of making people travel so we can try at home. Amy lets talk about the significance of guantanamo. People may not realize even how many men are there. People whoppens to are tried in u. S. Courts . Already charges have been filed against Sayfullo Saipov. People like zorn avenue ts arnev. Where you have a video somebody carrying out the attack , the conviction rate is going to be higher, even in the 99. 2 rate that we have got for people who go to trial in the federal system. So they get convicted. The sentencing is extremely harsh because we have guidelines that at a massive enhancement for terrorism crimes. Minimums that a lot of cases in the federal system, not necessarily here, but the sentences available are very long whereas in the military commissions, a lot of people have got not basically with time served after convictions. , confinementtions are horrible for terrorism cases. Most people are sent to a place where they are kept in some of the most harsh solitary confinement that is known to man. It is basically putting people through a meat grinder to try them at home. Surely, the president , his advisers, although this. About the number of people at guantanamo. And in fact, if they are a guantanamo and go through a military trial, can they get the Death Penalty . A can in theory. The seven people on trial and i believe six of them, are on trial for their lives, including a man on trial for the coal bombing where his entire defense team was just discharged by the chief defense counsel because of really horrendous violations by the government. Defenseance of his team, potentially of his meetings with his own lawyers. Amy havent already Something Like three cases act guantanamo been overturned . These men have and held for almost 20 years now, a number without charge. The vast majority of people have not been charged, will never be charged. There are 10 people who have been convicted or are on trial right now out of the 41. The rest, there are no plans to charge or try. Five are cleared for release. Amy the cost . Some 10 million per individual. Dozens of thousands for holding someone. Amy and the fact that Sayfullo Saipov has a green card . It presents all sorts of legal hurdles. Noncitizens can theoretically be tried if they fit the alien enemy combatants standard in military commissions. Presumably, it would be a host of Constitutional Rights he would have in those trials. Right now theyre fighting whether the noncitizens on trial actually have the full constitutional amy i want to go from trump saying he must be set to guantanamo to what he said about the u. S. Not prosecuting terror suspects quickly enough, calling the u. S. Justice system a laughing stock. This was during a televised white house Cabinet Meeting on wednesday. Pres. Trump we need quick justice and we need strong justice. Much quicker and much stronger than we have right now. Because what we have right now laughing and it is a stock. Amy what we have now is a joke and a laughing stock. Shayana kadidal . A whole host of federal prosecutors would disagree with that. Again, it is the ethics. It plays into the idea that after the warring courts, kind of reforms to make the criminal Justice System at home even minimally sort of fair, to get police coercion and confessions out of the system that somehow the system has become completely tilted in favor of defendants. You know, he is playing on a whole host of ideas circulating the culture because of cheesy 1970s Police Dramas in the o. J. Simpson trial. The reality is far from it. Amy i will ask you to stay with us. We will go to break and then look at the diversity Lottery Program. And the way the media covers this attack versus, say, las vegas versus the killing in charlottesville. Shayana kadidal senior managing attorney at the center for Constitutional Rights. We will be back in a minute. [music break] amy one for the whistler by the late Muhal Richard abrams, jazz legend and one of the founders of the association for the advancement of creative musicians. Abrams died sunday at his home here in new york city. This is democracy now , democm amy goodman. Our guest is Shayana Kadidal. The attack itself, the assailant using a car . Attack the hightech like the Las Vegas Shooting with a guy with machine guns and bumper stocks, we always assume their technological means or policy changes we can make to make ourselves safer. The control and the rest of it, right yet coke with lowtech attacks, people throw up their hands and think, what can we do if someone is using knives or driving a car into a crowd . The reality is, we can do a lot to make ourselves harder targets. With this attack, advocacy groups, transportation alternatives in the city have an calling to put up metal rods that keep cars from being able to drive on the bike and pedestrian paths for years and years. That is a simple thing we can do to prevent attacks like we saw on halloween or in nice with the truck mowing down almost 100 people. Just generally, in a free society, it is hard to stop low technology attacks. At that doesnt mean theres nothing we can do. But that doesnt mean theres nothing we can do. Amy we are talking about the tuesday attack in new york city that left eight people dead, at least 11 people injured. President trump calling for a crack down on immigration, telling congress to cancel the socalled Diversity Visa Program. Pres. Trump im going to ask congress to immediately initiate work to get rid of this program. Diversary and diversity lottery. Diversity lottery. It sounds nice. It is not nice. It is not good. It hasnt been good. Amy but not everyone is on board. This is republican Congressmember Peter King of new york, a former House Homeland Security committee chairman, defended the diversity visa lottery during an interview on the fox business channel. To be honest, ive known a number of people in new york who have come in under the lottery system who have made outstanding contributions. They have become citizens. That is different from the vetting. Amy i want to bring in yolanda for thea staff attorney americanarab antidiscrimination committee, or adc. Talk about with this diversity visa lottery is. Essentially brought the idea that our country is diverse enough and that is all we know longer need a diversity visa. The Diversity Visa Program w inspired and pushed to provide access and opportunity that without this, many persons across the world with not have access to work hard and build toward the American Dream and provide for their families and get the innovation that only the United States can provide. And we see this throughout the country. But particularly, diversity visa holders i know as well as recipients are engineers and are. Hd doctors and linguistics this diversity visa process and removedshould not be based solely and replaced with the meritbased program. That is key to exclude people who are poor and people of color. Who doople essentially not have the access to wealth to ensure their parents consent to the top, top schools are especially excluded. Are excluded. Nationals, german nationals. It is not particularly a program about marriage. It is extremely expensive. In addition to report and reviews regarding peoples identity, 15 years of history resident employment as well as the family and relatives. And any diversity visa holder that despots or someone else our point of contact in of the country, of course, they go to the same immigrant immigration review process that all immigrants go through that into this country. Theres no special rule diversity visa holders. To suggest otherwise is to suggest in some instance, black and brown people just dont play by the same rules. That is the message, the undertones behind this word of use of security. This is not about security and merritt or employment is not a definitive factor to have security or safety. Amy i want to ask about trumps tweets about the socalled meritbased immigration program. He said the terrorists came into our country through what is called program. Sity leave visa a Chuck Schumer beauty. I want merit based. Trump also wrote we are fighting hard for merit based immigration, no more democrat lottery systems. We must get much tougher. After the attack, blaming Chuck Schumer for the attack. Yolanda rondon . Particularrat or politician should be blamed for the Diversity Visa Program. Particularly, it was a bipartisan bill and policy put into place to write access and opportunity. As many are aware, both mccain and grassley as well as even Mitch Mcconnell himself supported this bill and was signed into law by president george h. W. Bush in 1990. So essentially, the Diversity Visa Program has been operating for 27 years. There hasnt been a problem. The Diversity Visa Program is not the cause. Violence does not note immigration status or citizenship status. What is really a heart is this is not a debate about diversity versus safety or security. But theyre clearly shows a lapse of information sharing, a lapse in connecting the dots to prevent violence or attacks like the one that occurred in new york city. The fact remains is if someone does not have a criminal past or history, there is no way to know who is or who is not going to commit a crime. So to blame the Diversity Visa Program is essentially scapegoat ulnerable. Amy can you talk about how this was characterized in the media . You know, immediately calling this a terror attack. It was not so the media was not so ready to call james alex field in charlottesville a terror attack when he took the vehicle, rammed a car into a group of people, and killed a young woman named Heather Heyer. Yes, of course it wasnt covered like that because it falls into the same messaging that only people of color were the undesirables are or can be terrorists. Messaging, oh, hey, what happened to this guy in new york city that he wasnt a simulated enough. Well, was what happened in charlottesville, was that perpetrator simulated enough . It shows the fact that violence occurs across this country every ablee day, and we are not to pinpoint, were not going to remove people from this country or revoke people citizenship and say, hey, no more, no more. So, it is the same Media Coverage that they want to paint arab and muslims as terrorists. The same ties that, hey, we had this mass surveillance spy program in new york city that was extremely unconstitutional, right . So this do not be used as an excuse to revamp of those efforts. That is why the messaging is like that. They want to reengage and rehab start their profiling and try to use this as a licensed or profile arabs and muslims. This is part of a larger aspect of upping the surveillance and the Security Industry and the efforts and it targeting the people of color. Amy i want to bring another conversation farhana khera. Carter joined the group in 2005, was counsel to the u. S. Senate judiciary committee, subcommittee on the constitution , civil rights, and property rights. Stement,p put out a Muslim Advocates, put out a statement. Talk about your concerns about what is happening right now in the aftermath of this attack in new york city. Good morning, amy. First of all, i want to express since your thoughts and prayers to the victims of this horrific attack and send my support and strength to the people of new york. Our concern that Muslim Advocates are really focused on the responsby the president and other senior government officials. After the attack, we saw tremendous leadership from w york government officials, governor cuomo, mayor de blasio, calling on new yorkers to come together as we mourn and as we look for answers and understand exactly who was behind this attack. Are there others . And really find the answers about this. In contrast, the president immediately thought to try to divide americans and further his own political agenda. What do i mean by that. It is things like your discussing earlier. Trying to basically score political points, to feed his agenda, his longstanding policy to radically transform our immigration system, to significantly curtail if not outright stop the immigration of nonwhites to the United States. We could just see in contrast after the Las Vegas Shooting, after the charlottesville attack , we did not see the president calling for changes in policies like than control policies after the horrific attacks in las vegas. But here we see the president immediately calling for changes to the immigration system. The other concern we have is senator graham, Lindsey Graham of south carolina, claiming that he and the president had a phone call the evening of the attack and that they both agreed that this is a religious war. This was deeply disturbing to us because we know and i think all americans can agree that violence, unfortunately, has no single faith, race, or political ideology whether look no further than the charleston attacks, the Charleston South Carolina church shooting, the congressional baseball game attack, to know that violence, unfortunately im a it comes in various forms. So this is just deeply, deeply disturbing. And furthermore, the new York Police Departments own Deputy Commissioner john miller at a press conference very explicitly and clearly said, islam had no role in this attack. So lawenforcement officials work closest to this investigation are going out of their way to say, religion has no role. Yet the president and senior government officials of the United States government are trying to say this is a religious war. I think what is really disturbing is it plays into the propaganda of isis. This is not helpful. This is the time for the president in our government leaders to bring the American People together. Amy i want to ask you about how this is described. There has been a lot of discussion since tuesdays attack about the way the phrase is used in the media after with the media universally are generally describing as terror attacks. I want to read from a New York Times oped who said can you talk, farhana khera, about the use of that phrase and how often people will use that almost like,cribe oh, my god . It is arabic for god is great. It is an exclamation. It is professing love for god, acknowledgment of god in a kind of everyday activities or certainly to put an exclamation point when youre celebrating. It is part of the prayers for muslims. In the call to prayer as well as we recite our prayers. It has a religious connotation. It specifically is used by isis followers because they are trying to invoke religion, to andify their violent ands to recruit people to their cause. But i think i was pointed out, there are other violent groups, whether it is neonazis and white supremacist with their heil hitler and other phrases and chants that they use that are also demarcations of people who are parts of their movements. If i could just say, amy, what has been troubling to me last 24 to 48 hours is after an attack like this, there is immediate the wordss on that were uttered. But when it is not a muslim, there is to the same attention to understand, what words were uttered when james fields rammed his car into protesters in charlottesville, killing Heather Heyer . What was he thinking . What was in his internet history . There isnt that same kind of indepth investigation and reporting in trying to understand. But when the perpetrator is muslim, there is an immediate kind of fixation to want to say, well, what were these words used by the perpetrator . As i mentioned earlier, as the nypd acknowledges, religion is violenthe core of this conduct. Amy then you have the issue of the mispronunciation. A lot of people saying online people i laughing a lot about, yet even in this very difficult time, meaning potatoes are great. Yes. It is the word for potatoes. Some media folks and others are mispronouncing or misspelling the word and there actually spelling the word for potatoes. Amy Shayana Kadidal, would you like to weigh in here . Sure. , a person ofreyes color, drove a car at high speed into a crowd of people in times square earlier this year, nobody was saying send him to guantanamo even before we knew he was high on pcp. I worry with what were seeing is a cycle where rhetoric from the president , gratuitously cruel measures like immigration ban or whatever response to this they come up with, will in fact fuel more radicalization, more calls to violence from the other side, and it will just old on itself. This guy was a guy who wanted to come to the u. S. , allahu akbar. This was a guy who wanted to come to the u. S. , saipov. Amy what about that . The whole issue of he was politicized. He was radicalized here in this country. Yeah. I just want to underscore a number of things that my colleague said. Just a put a finer point on this, amy, after the attack in charlottesville where alex fields rammed a car into a group of protesters, we did not hear the president or other government officials saying that he should be sent to guantanamo. But that is immediately what were hearing from this president , from senator graham, and it is deeply disturbing because it is sending a signal that there are two systems of justice. That if youre a muslim, youre going to be treated outside of our constitution and outside of our Justice System, and that you are not going to be entitled to the same rights and protections as other americans. We saw the Bush Administration make an attempt to actually treat lawful residents and u. S. Citizens differently. And we saw the Obama Administration try to turn away from that. And this is a deeply disturbing signal that this Administration May be going back to some of those practices from the Bush Administration. I hope that is not the case. I understand the president was tweeting earlier this morning, perhaps he is having second thoughts about his initial toughts about sending saipov guantanamo. I hope he is getting some counseling from his attorney general and Justice Department officials that federal charges have been filed and we should follow and allow u. S. Criminal Justice System to take its course. Amy farhana khera, you facilitated the first and only meeting between Muslim Community advocates with president obama when you are at the Justice Department . That was while i was executive director, yes. Yeah. That was an important opportunity. I believe that was about two years ago. It was an opportunity to sit down with about a dozen or so and you can Muslim Community leaders from all walks of life, to have an opportunity to sit down with the president and share our concern about hate and bigotry. It was just the beginning of this new wave of increased hate and bigotry targeted to american muslims in the wave of hate crimes we have been saying, as well as to address concerns about the targeting of our community by federal Law Enforcement authorities. We appreciated that constructive conversation, and we did the increased leadership from the president after that, speaking out against antimuslim bigotry. We have not seen nearly that level of concern by this president or members of his white house. In fact, were synnex act opposite. The desire to demonize our community in an attempt to score political points. Amy Shayana Kadidal for the president just we did some more. He said would love is in the nyc terrorist to guantanamo for statistically that process takes much longer than going to the federal system. Theres also something appropriate about keeping them in the home of the horrible crime he committed. Should move fast. Death penalty theoes any of that apply to 9 11 attackers in guantanamo . You advocate them to be brought up into the u. S. Justice system . As a new yorker, absolutely. And go i want to thank you all for being with us. , executivera director of Muslim Advocates. You have been called one of 10 young muslim visionaries for leadership, innovative approaches, and the level of that bodes well for america. Shayana kadidal and yolanda rondon. Before we go, a very quick point, a quick question for yolanda. This issue of muslim families all over being so deeply concerned every time theres an attack in a country that leads so quickly to caricatures and stereotypes, feeling, oh, my gosh, what happens if the person is muslim . What will it mean for my family . Yolanda . Of course there is a legitimate reason behind us. We have to look no further than the recent deal statistics released on a hate crime released. We have to look no further than the mass reports adc receives about students bullying in their schools. And no further than the dojs essentially limitless cases that they have taken on this year targetinge is mass both violently as well is systematically to exclude and keep muslims and arabs out of certain communities. And so this is the backlash that people are talking about. It is not only the backlash of violent mechanisms, but in a systematic biases that play out when it comes to employment as well as in the Media Coverage of it, right . The backlash that people are painted, right . When some of its on a tray today, right . Theyre going to feel uneasy, right . Who should have to live like that, right . Who should have to worry about going to the Grocery Store just to buy food and worrying, hey, is someone going to, iteris today . Or is someone going to try to remove my headscarf, right . Know it should have to live like that. Especially in america. , thank youa rondon for joining us. This is democracy now stay with us. [music break] amy love song for glen canyon by katie lee. Musician, writer, environmental activist katie lee died at the age of 98 this week. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Federal prosecutors have filed criminal charges in the deadliest terror atck in new york city since september 11, accused Sayfullo Saipov of carrying out the attack in Lower Manhattan tuesday that killed at least eight people, injured about a dozen more. He drove a rented home depot ,ruck down a bicycle path striking pedestrians and cyclists, then crashed into a school bus. Eight people died. Sayfullo saipov is an immigrant from uzbekistan, country now the focus of much attention with some in the media calling it a hotbed of islamist terror. For more, were joined by two scholars who study the country. Iphone from Steve Swerdlow message asia researcher for human rights. Here in new york, edward lemon is a postdoctoral fellow at the Harriman Institute at columbia university. Steve, lets begin with you. Describe where you are and then talk about uzbekistan and how uzbekistan has been described since the attack here in new york. Good morning, amy, and good evening from here. I want to express my sympathy to the families and my thoughts are also with tens of thousands of usbek americans who are experiencing a great level of fear and apprehension about statements from the president that could affect them. Complicateds a picture and the fact it is a country with an atrocious human rights record, and there are thousands of political prisoners. There is widespread torture and honest no freedom of speech. At the reason i am even here is because there have been some changes going on in this country over the past few months. Theres a president they came into power about a year ago and is starting to make some modest small, positive improvements in the human rights situation. Overall, uzbekistan, for about 27 years, was ruled by a dictator whose policies on religion in suppressing religion suppressing freedom of speech in large measure caused and outmigration and millions of uzbeks to other countries. I think that affect immigration is relevant to this case and other cases. You asked about how the media is uzbekistan. I think it is been somewhat irresponsible in the past 24 hours, while the generalizations about the country as a hotbed of islamism and really the fact it is the opposite. The government has for years suppressed religion. In many ways, that authoritarianism is what is more relevant to this discussion. Amy talk about what we know about Sayfullo Saipovs background. He is a green card holder in the u. S. , originally born in uzbekistan. Youre in the capital of uzbekistan thats right. It is the capital of the largest the trouble is in central asia. 30 julian people. What we know about Sayfullo Saipov is sketchy, but we know he lived here. You love this country in 2010. At that time he left this country, it was a dark evening of time. Difficultys, it is a human rights situation but at that time especially, Human Rights Watch was closed down in 2010 from uzbekistan because of a repressive Security Apparatus which caused a lot of despair, terrible socioeconomic conditions, which caused this outflow flow of migrants to other countries. Most prominently, to russia. Amy Steve Swerdlow, can you talk about the role uzbekistan played after 9 11, facilitating what are known as renditions to cia black sites . This relationship between u. S. And uzbekistan and what happened in these black sites . That is a really important part of the story in the larger context of washingtons relationship with uzbekistan. This is a country that president bush cozied up to in the aftermath of 9 11 and pretty quickly they started rendering suspects to the capital where they were interrogated and torture was used, if many will remember, the revelations made by the former British Ambassador here in the capital craig murray, who revealed torture was a widespread practice in the Rendition Program here. That led to a lot of controversy and research were human rights was able to do about torture, including in some nutrients cases, some prisoners that were actually immersed in boiling water and killed. Amy explained that further. You are saying that prisoners were boiled by the uzbek government . Correct. One of the most egregious cases that we were able to document, and this was in 2002 but i should say that torture is a continuing practice posted even now, it is still widespread in uzbekistan presents. That was 2002. The was relationship with uzbekistan was to close its eyes to the terrible human rights record and cooperate in the war on terrorism. Amy were also joined by edward lemon. ,s we learn more about saipov the alleged assailant here he was shot by police. He was holding a pellet gun and gun. Ntball he adjusts come out of this vehicle where he had killed eight people. This had just come out of vehicle where he had killed eight people. How do you feel the conversation should be framed and the media when it comes to where he is from, uzbekistan . Uzbekistan is a bastion of torture, more than it is a hotbed of extremism. Looking at the cases of uzbeks who have let attacks abroad and been radicalized and join groups like islamic state, most of these are happening outside of uzbekistan. This man grew up in will was called the secular family, described as a relatively prosperous family in the capital. He graduated from Financial College in 2009, started a job in a hotel and then won the green card lottery and came to america. We need to look at what happened him after he came to america. He similarly came to pursue the American Dream. I think it is important we look at what happened to him after he migrated here. And to what about the radicalization here . From the emerging picture were getting from speaking to his friends and things that have been said by the fbi, i think he always lived a transitory existence, first moving to ohio then moving to tampa and fort myers and was a trucker and did in really find any Root Community here, from speaking to his friends. He struggled to find a job. This is important fact. Amy became an uber driver. Yes, in new jersey. When he first came here, i think he wanted to work in a hotel. Yet aspirations to live the American Dream and seemingly, due to his lack of english skills, he went from a position of relative prominence in uzbekistan to coming to america and living on the margins. Howink we need to look at those factors may be led him to take such an extreme amy the latest news out of the investigators, it was interesting he wasnt killed and their learning a lot about him just talking to him in the hospital. Steve swerdlow, in this last minute that we have, you are in uzbekistan. You are in the capital. What is the response of people there . I think people are shocked. Theres a certain amount of apprehension that the image of uzbeks across the entire world could be sullied by this. What is interesting is the president quickly sent condolences to President Trump, which was a sort of departure from earlier practices where problems were ignored. I think the fact it was big knowledged and done so quickly by the government is a good sign. But in general, uzbeks here and in the United States are fearing feeling a lot of fear and apprehension. It is important to hear the right message coming from the president. President trump. Amy and to be specific, 10 seconds, that message is . Green lottery, diversity program, i think offers hope to people. I know people are getting ready to participate in that from this country and i think it should not be discontinued. That would be a huge mistake. Amy Steve Swerdlow, thank you for calling a from uzbekistan. Central asiawatch researcher. And edward lemon is a postdoctoral fellow at the Harriman Institute at columbia university. That does it for our broadcast. Democracy now is accepting applications for internships. For more, go to democracynow. Org. Democracy now is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. Email your comments to outreach democracynow. Org or mail them to democracy now p. O. Box 693 new york, new york 10013. [captioning made possible by democracy now ] Laura Theodore fajitas, chili, nachos these are all cornerstones of texmex cuisine. And now for the star of the show, the real showstopper today is my fantastic seitan fajita. So on todays show, were gonna spice up the menu. Wow, that smells so good. Featuring our texmex recipes with a twist. Ooh, thats nice. So join me, right here on Jazzy Vegetarian. Jazzy youre gonna be healthy with the Jazzy Vegetarian jazzy, so snazzy were gonna cook something healthy and light [scatting] jazzy, so snazzy so join me in the kitchen right now. Were gonna cook something healthy and light thats right