Transcripts For KCSM Democracy Now 20140729

Omer. Then the secret book for labeling you a terrorist. Finally, how largescale surveillance is harming journalism, law, and american democracy. The American Government is collecting huge amount of information, emails, chat conversations, photographs. There ists are afraid a record of their communication and interaction, and that will feed into a leaked investigation. We will speak with alex sinha. All of that and more coming up. Welcome to democracy now, democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Israel has intensified its attack on the gaza strip, bombing more than 150 sites overnight including gazas only. Palestinian Health Officials say more than 110 people have died in 24 hours, bringing the Palestinian Death toll to more than 1,100. 53 Israeli Soldiers have been reported killed, including 10 on monday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned of a protracted campaign against hamas even as the United Nations has called for an immediate end to violence in the name of humanity. Among those killed monday were 10 people including eight children. Israel denied responsibility, i witnesses say the vix lotion came from say the explosion came from an israeli are strike. Five of the children killed were from the same family. Children were playing on the swings when a rocket hit them had five children from the same family. All of them died. One of them my nephew. What does israel want from us to do this to our children . Protests both supporting and condemning israels actions in gaza have continued around the world, including here in new york city. On monday, an estimated 10,000 Israeli Government supporters rallied near the United Nations. Among the attendees were members of new yorks congressional delegation, including u. S. Democratic Congress Member steve israel, who said he is sending the un a letter signed by more than 100 Congress Members to demand it not investigate israel for war crimes. Nearby, a group of Jewish American peace activists gathered outside the office of the conference of president s of major jewish organizations, a coalition of about 50 jewish groups, including the powerful American Israeli Public Affairs committee, or aipac. Nine people were arrested for an peaceful act of civil disobedience against israels killing of palestinians, including joshua leifer. Part of the history of the victimseople is being of oppression, and that also means we are obligated to fight against oppression. We are free. We are not free until everybody elses free. Fighting in Eastern Ukraine has prevented a team of International Investigators from reaching the crash site of Malaysia Airlines flight 17 for the third day in a row. According to reuters, at least 19 civilians have died in the latest round of fighting. A u. N. Tally monday showed about 800 civilians have been killed since midapril when ukraine launched an offensive to oust the rebels. The latest violence comes as the United States and European Union are poised to impose the harshest sanctions to date against russia for its support of the rebels, whom they accuse of shooting down the plane with russiansupplied missiles. Europe could unveil its sanctions against russias financial, technology and Arms Industries as early as today. Deputy National Security adviser tony blinken said the us would follow suit. We expect the European Union to take significant additional steps this week, including in two sectors of the russian economy. In turn, and in full coordination with europe, the United States will augment additional measures itself. The purpose here is not to punish russia, but make clear it might must cease support to the separatists. In another escalation of u. S. Russia tensions, the United States has accused russia of violating a cold warera arms treaty by testing a groundlaunched Cruise Missile that is banned under the 1987 accord. The New York Times reports russia began testing the missile as far back as 2008. Alf oing predent hamidin and key ide bomb attack in the sohern city of kdahar. Hashmat karzai served as a Campaign Manager for araf ghani, one of two candidates in afghanistans disputed president ial eleion. Preliminary results showed ghani won the vote, but his opponent Abdullah Abdullah has claimed fraud and a u. S. Brokered audit is underway. The news comes as a new report has found the pentagon failed to adequately track hundreds of thousands of weapons sent to afghanistan, raising concerns they may be in the hands of militants. The report by the u. S. Special Inspector General for afghanistan found that in one database, more than 200,000 weapons or 43 percent had missing or duplicate information. It also found the u. S. Supplied far more weapons than afghanistan requested or needed. In syria, more than 2,000 people have reportedly died in one of the deadliest twoweek periods of the threeyear civil war. The londonbased syrian observatory for human rights reports nearly half the dead are forces loyal to the regime of syrian president bashar alassad. Assads forces have faced an increasing challenge from the islamic state, a sunni Extremist Group that has seized key cities in iraq and is also battling moderate syrian rebels. And west africa is facing the worst outbreak of the deadly ebola virus in history. Since february more than 1,200 people have been infected in liberia, sierra leone, and guinea 672 have died. Liberia has shut its borders, banned funerals and other large gatherings and is considering quarantining certain neighborhoods. One of liberias top doctor died of ebola over the weekend, and two Us Health Workers in liberia have also fallen ill. Stephan monroe, Deputy Director of the us centers for Disease Control and prevention, confirmed the infections in a conference call. Two American Healthcare liberiain a hospital in have been infected with ebola virus. One is a position that worked with ebola patients in the hospital. He is symptomatic and in isolation. The other Healthcare Work at developed fever, but no other signs. The likelihood of this outbreak spreading outside of west africa is very low. A liberian man died of ebola on friday in the nigerian city of lagos after arriving there by plane, marking the first recoed case in nigeria, africas most populous country. Ebola is highly infectious, has no known cure and can kill up to 90 percent of those afflicted. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now, democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. I am during the tech. Despite a Un Security Council call for a ceasefire, israel has intensified its attack on gaza and warned of a protracted campaign. Palestinian Officials Say more than 110 people have been killed in the past 24 hours, bringing the Palestinian Death toll to over 1100 since the offensive began 22 days ago. Most of the dead have been vilians. Monday was said to be the most intensive night of bombing so far. More than 180,000 palestinians have been displaced over the past three weeks thats roughly 10 percent of the population of gaza. Meanwhile ten israeil soldiers were killed on monday. 53 israel soldiers, 2 israeli civilians and a thai farmworker have died in the past three weeks. Israel bombed more than 150 sites last night including gazas only power station and a media center that houses the broadcasting headquarters of hamas and number of other arab satellite news channels. Also on monday ten people, including eight children, were killed and 40 others wounded by an explosion in a park near the beach in the shati refugee camp in gaza city. The child victims were said to be playing on a playground swing when they were hit. Israel denied carrying out the attack but eyewitnesses said the explosion was caused by an israel airstrike. Another israeli bombing reportedly hit an outpatient building at al shifa, gazas main hospital. We go now to gaza city to speak with democracy now correspondent sharif abdel kouddous. He has just written a piece for the nation on the alshati refugee camp strike. You recently came from there, can you tell us what happened . Yesterday, at about 4 30 p. M. , while children were playing in the streets, there was an airstrike, and several eyewitnesses debunked claims that israel is saying this was an errant elephant rocket. All of the eyewitnesses say the same thing, there was a loud explosion, and the children on a swing, running through a grocery shop, buying sweets, celebrating wereiod of relative calm blown apart. 10 people were killed. Eight of them were children. According to the health ministry, 40 were injured. Over 30 were children. The hospital had tragic scenes men openly weeping, women screaming, children being wheeled on stretchers, and this appearedew apart what to be a relative winding down of the violence. Overnight was some of the fiercest bombardment that gaza has witnessed over this threeweek war. If you look behind me, you can see that gaza power plant on fire. It was hit in an airstrike last night. This power provides about 30 of gets electricity, and most four hours or less of electricity a day. It is crucial to the pump stations for water, and they are suffering a very severe water crisis. The power station was hit last week. The Israeli Military claimed it was an errant strike by a shell, but it was certainly hit today. Dozens of places were hit last , four three mosques of aries, and the house leader. We saw Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced this would be a protracted war. This came after Palestinian Militants killed five Israeli Soldiers after tunneling through on the other side of the border. 22 of thisady on day assault. It appears it will be longer than the 20082009 brutal Israeli Attack on gaza, and we heard the now we are the me minister ben yahoo Benjamin Netanyahu saying this is no work. Killed hadadults been displaced from the neighborhood in east gaza city. He had left his home after it was bombed by the Israeli Military, killing his mother, 78 years old. He had fled to this neighborhood in west gaza to avoid the israeli bombings. He wrought with him 13 members of his family, and despite that, he died yesterday in this attack. It is not just that civilians are being killed by these israeli bombs, but civilians trying to flee are also dying. The Israeli Military last night sent out recorded messages to residents in various neighborhoods telling them to evacuate their homes. 44 of theeady after gaza strip has been declared a military buffer zone. There is literally nowhere for people to go. There are over 200,000 displaced by the u. N. s own count. If you go to homes in gaza, dozens will be sitting in apartments, unfinished schools. Over 170,000 people are being hosted. There is literally nowhere for people to go and it seems there is nowhere safe to be. Sharif, as he said, the hospital will start on monday. You have been every day. What is the scene like inside . It has been transformed into a makeshift refugee camp. It is the biggest hospital and a place of refuge a place where the dead and the wounded are sent, but also in place for people that are evacuating their homes. There are many people sleeping there day and night in the grassy area, and on the sidewalk. There was an attack yesterday on the joining Outpatient Clinic where two people were injured and they blew out heart of the wall. Some think it was a warning by the Israeli Military, this was a place where you could speak to hamas folks people. They are often there to where you can interview them, but these really military and the Israeli Military claims it was an errant rocket that hit that site. Way forf, is there any people to leave, for example, journalists to leave gaza . A border opening was open today. Several journalists came in and several left. Four palestinians, there is no way out. This is not a war like others in iraq where refugees can flee across the border to a place of relative safety. Here, they cannot. The borders are controlled mostly by israel and also by egypt, and they are sealed. There is nowhere to go. Israel has pushed and to the center and to the west. They have shelled hospitals, u. N. Schools, bombed people in their homes there is literally nowhere for people to run to. , monday, a former israeli showed revealed that have beenipers shooting dead palestinians as an act of revenge for killing fellow soldiers. On facebook he referred specifically to a shooting of a palestinian man shot dead as he looks for family members. He writes i can report the official command handed down to soldiers was to capture palestinian homes as outposts. From these posts, the soldiers drew an imaginary red line, and amongst themselves decided to shoot to death anyone who crosses the. This is the official reason. The unofficial reason is to take out their frustration in pain in losing their fellow soldiers out on the palestinians and the neighborhood. Have you heard any accounts of sniper attacks were 72 people were killed in one of the worst . Ttacks so far well, residents fleeing the area spoke of snipers, and there is the video where activists with the International Solidarity movement were accompanying a Young Palestinian man as he was looking for his family. It is caught on tape. Ground,ot, falls to the and then shot another time. He died in the attack. I spoke to an activist who describe in great detail the sniper attack. The family of that palestinian had it turned out they fled, and they found out about his death by watching the video online. That is how they found out he had died looking for them. Tragedy that we always hear. The targeting of civilians has occurred since the beginning of this war. They have paid the highest price. By the u. N. s count, over 77 of the dead are civilians and over 220 children have died. Sharif, thank you. When we come back, well be joined by another journalist, mom and omar. Mohammed moammar. It might take a wild for the transition as sharif has to take off his bullet proof vest. This is democracy now, democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. We will be back in a minute. Use break music break neverending this neverending night pickup neverending night. Im amy goodman. Lets turn to john snell made this emotional the pavement appeal. What i know is the people that live in gaza are mainly the unbelievably young. The average age is 17. That means about one quarter of a million are under time. There was one specific moment that stood out above all others, and that was penetrating the third floor of the hospital, one of two floors dedicated to children. Maha,is where i met terribly crippled by shrapnel and it penetrated her spine. That is where i saw this little two and a half year old with pandasized wounds. They were the consequence of a broken skull and a fractured nose. Out oft get those images my mind, and i do not think you can either. They have been everywhere. They are the essence of what is happening in gaza. Broadcaster john snell. Gaza or we are joined by Mohammed Omer. Described as ae humane record on an injustice imposed on a community forgotten by most of the world. This was the most intensive bombing period, the last 24 hours. You are not only a journalist, but a resident of gaza. You are palestinian. . Alk about what happened thank you. Ist has happened in gaza absolutely terrifying. In my last 29 years living in the gaza strip, this is the worst kind of comparison. By no comparison. I used to tell people to avoid areas where hamas people are living, and i said i changed to say try to avoid places where children are leaving. Most of the bombs that targets people is mostly children. Also, on the humanitarian side, since sharif focused more on the ground, the only power plant in gaza is bound. Tot means according officials we will have about one year of no electricity and light if they are not able to slow the crisis soon. There is nowhere to hide, nowhere to run to, unlike many war zones. Crisis istarian growing in the gaza strip. The people are not able to make phone calls. Wheressacre this morning 18 family members were killed was a catastrophe, and people were not able to make one single phone call to call an ambulance or a rescue team to evacuate what was under the ground. Willafraid the situation get much worse in the coming hours. As i said, the target is mostly children. We hear bombs now and then. I do not know if you hear right now in the background, but there is more bombing happening as i speak. Three weeks ago as the bombing was beginning. What has this period been like for you . One of the things that strikes me is the spirit of the people in gaza. It is quite high, they are very strong, but the human cost is great. The damages are quite great. A father of a child and i know how it feels to think about the safety of your family counseling. The israeli bombings can attack us anywhere, basically, the same with the tank and the gun bullets. F16 over your head 24 seven. Nine to 10 it was hours of constant bombing. There is nothing to do but wait for the moment where you die, basically. Cbsn a comment to close the news show face the nation Bob Schieffer suggested hamas forces israel to murder children. East, they aree in the grip of a terrorist group embarking on a test to get children killed to build sympathy for its own cause, a strategy that might be working. I found a quote by golda maier one of israels early leaders that might have been said yesterday we can forgive the arabs for killing our children, but we can never forgive them by forcing for forcing us to kill their children. That was cbss Bob Schieffer. You respond . , can policy,has been their targeting civilians and people that are defenseless. If you look at the cases of people that are killed, i would obamao invite president just for a single hour to see the people that are killed. Those are People Killed by u. S. Taxpayer money. They are falling on peoples homes while they are trying to sleep or seek shelter. This is one of the most terrifying words i have covered as a journalist and as a National Living in the gaza strip. It is a policy where israel knows what they are doing. I believe israel wants to make people turn against the resistance. Way of course, there is no to turn against the resistance. It is the other way around. People in the street say we support resistance because that thehe only way to end occupation. People feel they are disowned by the arab world and they are not being cared for by the International Community. It is rightfully so. Ban kimoon went to a lot of places in israel, and gaza is less than an hour, and he did not come to see the real destruction. He was coming here for a cease fire, but there is no way he can do a ceasefire without involving the direct talk of with hamas, the people that are part of the problem and should be part of a solution have been ignored. I do not see this ending anytime soon because the International Community refuses to talk to hamas, but the bombing will continue, more killing will continue, and the humanitarian crisis will grow further. If that grows further, we do not know who will be next, me, one of my family members, one of my friends we really do not know. What is new, you really do not know who is being killed, even your nextdoor neighbor. The ambulance and the crew takes a long time to get inside to evacuate. There is so much demand on rescue teams that are not able to move in and outside of the cities, camps, and what is never thought i would hear israeli officials commenting on how they justify. They say hamas is using civilians as shields. I take this argument, but tell me how many hamas members are killed. Not so many. 77 are civilians according to United Nations. I argue that it is more. Target somebody with children, i do not believe it is a military target. Main issue for hamass ending the blockade of gaza. Can you talk about why this is such a critical issue for those willing to sacrifice their lives for the cs to be lifted . A member, this is not a demand by hamas. It is a demand by the International Community. They have always called on the the lifting of blockades. It is a pretty easy equation. Whennuary, 2008, palestinians knocked on the wall between the gaza strip and egypt, there was not single rocket that was fired into israel. If that indicate something, it shows that palestinians want open borders, and want to enjoy their life like their neighbors, and israel is not giving a chance for palestinians to basically get in and out of the gaza strip. Im afraid were going to have more radical gymnast rations generations, and i fear for the future of the region if the International Community is not acting now to end the blockade and the operation in gaza, and to make sure people are safe and secure. We are being bombed constantly by israeli f16s and tank shells, and the International Community is waiting. It is 1000 1200 People Killed, but each one is a story, a memory, and narrative that we have to understand. I was at the cemetery yesterday were a mother was screaming over the body of her son. Why . Israel targeted one of the graveyards, and she was collecting the bones of her son killed years ago. Happening around the world, what the reaction of the International Community would be because it is in gaza, there is no reaction. ,larks Mohammed Omer thank you for being with us. He is reporting to us from gaza city. You can follow his reports on twitter. Backgrounding in the. You can see the power plant still smoking. This is democracy now, democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. N mate. Ro the Obama Administration has expanded the National Terrorist system on who can be targeted. The guidebook says to be deemed a terrorist, irrefutable evidence or concrete facts are not necessary. Terrorism is so broadly defined it includes people accused of damaging property belonging to the government or financial institutions. Other factors could include postings on social media or having a relative deemed a terrorist. In a statement, the American Civil Liberties union said instead of a watchlist limited terrorists, the government is secretly blacklisting people as known terrorists and giving them an Impossible Task of having themselves prove themselves innocent. Invited them,ow and said without speaking to the contents of the article, the wife system is an important part of the defense to protect americans against additional attacks. Before an american may be included additional layers of screening are applied to make appropriate. For more, we are joined by jeremy scale. Jeremy, well, for more, were joined now by Jeremy Scahill and Ryan Devereaux of the intercept. Their new article is, the secret government rulebook for labeling you a terrorist. Ofst, how did you get a hold this book . We need to be careful and protecting our sources, so we will not talk about the way we got the documents, that the document itself has been fiercely and actively cap secret by the Obama Administration, and the principles upon which this document was based were fiercely guarded as well by the bush administration. Eric holder went so far to say in a sworn affidavit in a court suit brought by an american citizen challenging their watchlist status, that it was state secrets privilege covered, and if this were really it would provide a roadmap for undermining the watchlist system. It is tantamount to a global stop and Frisk Program because the standard for putting people on a list where they will be designated as known or suspected t, there is no way of determining whether there is actual evidence against him to suggest they are involved in a terror plot, or the phone in the phonep records of someone that is suspected of being a terror suspect. The standard they used is called reasonable suspicion. Agents, to former fbi one of whom was a Los Angeles Police officer. I cannot findf reasonable suspicion to stop anyone i want, i am not a good cop. When they are saying is that someone within the Intelligence Community thinks someone is suspicious, maybe posting something on facebook or twitter that they think in decades they have sympathies in favor of a jihadist group, lets designate them as a suspected terrorist. Imagine what could happen. The implication for all sorts of communities, the way that muslims, arabs, pakistanis are 9 11ted in this post world. Imagine if you are an arab man and you have a beer driving your car and a Rural Community and you have a beard and you are driving your car in a Rural Community, the sheriff pulls you over because of a busted tail andt, he runs your license, he sees that he has someone as a known or suspected terrorist, he could of danger he be in . Whats it is in my stack and identity mistaken identity, the likelihood of the sheriff thinking he has a scide bomber and the car is probably pretty high, so this could have realized locations for the liberty and the life of people. Sense, this designation can see really be used in court proceedings. It can prevent you from getting employment. You can be designated as a representative of a terrorist organization, even if youre not affiliated with a terrorist organization. Of can have a designation being part of a terrorist group, even if the u. S. Government has not designated that group as a terrorist organization. When you take the reasonable suspicions ended, which is like stop and frisk these kids will compare up to no good, i , when you take that, to the wideranging definition of what constitutes terrorist activity, there is so much room open for massive violation of civil liberties. The other component that ryan and i discovered that theres a lot of scrutiny is that all of these principles in this previously undisclosed watchlist and guidance were shared in some form or another with at least 22 foreign governments, with a network of private contractors. Tc would not tell us the corporate entities or the foreign governments. Our government is sharing this information, including designating citizens as known terrorists, parallel shadow legal system that we are not allowed to know the rules, what it would be that we would do that would have the government secretly designate us as a known or suspected terrorist. , who decides the people that get on this list, and what are the implications for combating crime having such broad criteria for inclusion . The washington community, foreign governments, a broad range of agencies, cia, fbi local Law Enforcement all of them Work Together to share information about known or suspected terrorists and disseminate that broadly. The Law Enforcement impact and counterterrorist impacts are important to look at. Has been this criticized for giving too much information, basically creating a huge haystack which makes it much more difficult to find the needle. Basically, you have people within the watchlist community complaining they are drowning and information drowning in information. This is information that has surfaced for many years. How many are on the list . It depends on the list you are talking about. The watchlist has increased to several hundred thousand people. The largest repository for information is much larger than the actual watchlist. That information is kept classified. The number, jeremy, at the time of 9 11. To give you a sense of how this has grown, there was no such thing as a nofly list when 9 11 happened. There were 16 people designated as no transport, meaning they would be prevented from flying on aircraft in the United States were coming to the United States. There were 16 people on the list and now it has exploded and it has reached its highest point under president obama. What ryan is describing is an inverse pyramid. It has a database with phone intercepts, text messages, metadata, identities of people from a wide range of sources, some of them clandestine. The cia or the nsa has hacked into a system and they have all of this information. From that, they drill it down to what is traditionally known as the watchlist, the terrorist screening database. Everyone on that list is considered to be watchlist and and it is well into the hundreds of thousands. Then you have a selectee list. These are people that are pulled aside for additional screening at the airport, and then you have the actual nofly list. The u. S. Government it has been years since they give anything resembling hard statistics on how many people are in these databases. When you have this kind of and you are pulled aside, one of things we discovered is the screeners, the people that will encounter you in person or have some sort of digital contact with you applying for a visa, federal employment, or a grant, which is a more scandalous little piece, it is part of the system feeding intelligence that has to do with the grants that are supposedly about promoting democracy. They have a long history of working as a front for the cia. Usaid confirmed they participate in this program. Explained what they would do crexendo document, it says usaid has its own intelligence analysts stationed with the watchlist and community that is governing this whole system, and fromare collecting data people applying for grants, contractors they are working with. Of course they will do diligence to make sure the people they are giving grants to our not terrorists are not terrorists. Theres nothing scandalous about that, but theyre taking this information for people applying for something that has to do with agriculture in india, and translating that to people but that can be suspected as known or suspected terrorists means is activelyusaid engaged. Among the items that can be copied, collected, noted, the condition of books in your car, are there notations, your ez pass, Health Insurance ormation, your health card we have gone through and look at this over and over. The message that is sent to people that are socalled screeners is basically there is nothing no such thing as the Fourth Amendment if you are on this list. We can collect it all. This should be a scandal. The tea party should be up in arms about this for all of the things they have said about the tsa and obama like chairman mao zedong in power. We are essentially empowering a network of people including private contractors to actively violate Fourth Amendment rights against illegal search and see seizure. While the system is not perfect for countering terrorism, it is useful for creating situations in which Law Enforcement, fbi agents can have somebody sitting in a room waiting to travel, get underway, and they are there. The fbi can use his person as an informant. There was a report about the fbi using informants for its counterterrorism cases. This create situations in which will have to deal with Law Enforcement. April, democracynow spoke to that filed a lawsuit. He explained what happened to him. Rexam late february of 2012i got in late february of 2012, i was trying to obtain a boarding pass. My flight was to houston. I was denied a boarding pass in dubai. I was told i have to go outside and meet with the immigration u. S. Immigration, or the consulate. I had to obtain a temporary visa , and my mother and i went out of the airport. Interrogated by two fbi agent for roughly four hours, and i was pressured to give them everything i know in order to go back home. The more that i gave them, the better chances of me coming back home. Courtjune there was a ruling saying the nofly list was unconstitutional. And wholly ineffective. The judge ruled that the process for getting off of the lists was unconstitutional and wholly ineffective and that is because there is no way for you to confirm whether you are on the list, and the process in which you get off is done internally. You submit a form, not bounced around. If all of the agencies have to are removed,n you you did not get any notification whatsoever. What about this threatbased upgrade, the tbu . It is one of the most striking elements. It is an amazing power vested in a Senior White House Administration official who has not been elected to their position, and it affords that officials the authority to upgrade the watchlist instead of seven entire category of people for up to 72 hours without confirming with any of their peers and the upgrade can be continued for another 30 days , a sicklyw by obama his interest basically, his interest circle, and the status cannot be removed until the Intelligence Agency determines whatever threat is out there is gone. We have asked the government about what constitutes the category and we are getting no information. We do know this has been used and it seems to be driven at a certain age group. Most thee biggest power grabs in American History was enacted by john brennan. One obama was first elected he ciaed john brennan to be director, and some democrats had held upback then and the nomination, so they created a post specifically for john brennan so that he could effectively serve as those are in charge of all of these policies when it came to counterterrorism, homeland security, and others and he was basically running the show. This position was created by john brennan for john brennan, so he then gave himself to him because he was in charge of when the watchlist guidance and coordinating it, he gave himself the power to unilaterally upgrade an entire category of people. We try to understand how they define category and they would not say to us. The best we have on the record is Pete Williams on nbc news, a former spokesperson for the pentagon, he exited a solid report on this and it is a minor note in the story, but he said it could be males of a certain age from a certain area of yemen. Is as ryan said, there nothing democratic about this process at all. Courts are not revolve involved. There is no review of your status. It is internal oversight. How do you get off of this list if youre constantly stopped, if you understand youre on the list . The government would say they have this thing called the dhs trip to graham, and if you think youre on the list, you will be able to submit it, and if it is appropriate, you will not be stopped anymore. In reality, it is almost impossible. I do not want to talk about future reporting that we are doing, but we are staying on this week, and we have learned information that even if you think you are removed from the list, you might end up on another part of the list. Once you are sucked up into the vortex, it is almost impossible to come up for air. Ryan devereaux and Jeremy Scahill is a Staff Reporter with the intercept. The secret government rulebook the new articlethe secret government rulebook for labeling , you a terrorist. When we come back, how largescale u. S. Surveillance is harming journalism, law, and american democracy. Stay with us. [music break] this is democracy now, democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Sincehas been over a year Edward Snowden nsa. Exposed mass surveillance by the nsa. Now comes the most comprehensive look to date at how unchecked government spying is impacting two fields we all rely on to curb abuses of power and defend basic rights. The results are chilling. In a new report, Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties union, warn that largescale surveillance is seriously hampering u. S. Based journalists and lawyers in their work. The report is based on interviews with dozens of reporters and lawyers. This is ryan ross, chief investigative correspondent for abc news. Feel sometimes feel, or i like we are operating like someone in the mafia. You have to go around with a bag of quarters, or that drug dealers, throw away the learner phones. These are steps to take to give trail. N electronic it makes joualists feel like we are criminals, like we are doing something wrong, and i do not think we are. We are providing a useful service. That is brian ross. Lawyers, the threat has sources are afraid of talking, and human right watch and the aclu conclude that this climate undermines press freedom, the publics right to information, and the right to counsel all human rights essential to a healthy democracy. For more we are joined by alex sinha. An aryeh neier fellow at Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties union, he is the us, jeremyl with scahill. Tell us about what you found. We have been having this debate about what surveillance means for society and what we should do about it, but we focus a lot on abstract times to privacy, and while those are important as well, it is important to have something to point to to say this is what we are losing, journalists losing sources, so less information reaches the public. Attorneys is the ability to be secure in the committee cant. Give us communications. Give us an example. Many attorneys have not had an opportunity to warn clients that the information is not takedential, somebody can the information, and to Exchange Basic facts they need to meet in person, in ways that are secure, and journalists reported similar things, and instead of using conventional measures, you have to meet the person facetoface, find a way to do that without leaving a electronic trail. Lets go to another that Human Rights Watch and the aclu spoke to for for this report. These are some of the concerns. What we found out was that the United States government was collecting all of the metadata that shows who your social and professional networks are, where you are at a particular time, where, perhaps, a source is. They do not need to know what you are what youre talking about. They have enough to say why were you lking to this journalist. Aen it comes to protecting source, i have yet to teach myself using an encryption engine, this kind of thing. I do not take my iphone with me when i meet a source. Unless you take the battery out, you can still be tracked. I was leaked classified Intelligence Community documents last year that cataloged quite a few years of u. S. Drone strikes in pakistan. I went to considerable lengths to detect my source and i will not tell you what i did. That is jonathan landay. You cannot take the battery out. That is why he tends to leave it behind. Jeremy scahill my colleagues said we are forced to act like we are spies and we are not spies. We are journalists, but there is a war on journalism around the world, and in some countries it comes in the form of journalists being murdered. Your comment it comes in the form of medications being surveilled, home records been seized, communications being monitored. There is something a little bit funny about this, but it is also creepy. When we spoke to the National Terrorism center, one of the things they said isnt we know you have been making about one of the things they said is we know you have been making a lot of calls throughout washington, d. C. , today. Thank you for knowledge and that, but the Obama Administrations posture is only state propaganda belongs in the Public Domain and if you want to cultivate your own sources and challenge we will go after you with the full extent of the law. The reform bills currently before congress do anything to address the concerns in your report . The usa freedom act does almost nothing that would like to see. The debate in the senate is potentially better. There is a bill that might be stronger. We would like to see beyond to largescale collection of metadata, and a bill that has no Data Retention mandate. Ive not seen the language of the Current Senate bill, so i am not sure if it is in there. Talk about section 215 of the patriot act. Section 215 has been used to collect massive numbers of domestic phone call records, among other things. This is one of things that many of the journalists in particular are worried about in theory, the government has access to detailed records of who they are calling, when they are coming, how long they have spoken, and in the case of a leak investigation or an internal investigation that some federal agency, it is enough for the government to know you were , why,g to journalist xy and what were you saying . X something really interesting quick something really interesting that is too much something really interesting that is too much to get into detail right now, online, go what the government did to justify seizing james rosens gmail, not his fox news account, but they basic said james rosen was in a conspiracy to commit a serious crime and we need to get all of his emails. He was also an imbecile and how he dealt with his source, and that is clear in the want, but if you read that, it is showing for press freedom. We will have to leave it there. Jeremy scahill. Alex sinha. And humanhe aclu rights watch. That does it for our broadcast. On ave a job opening, Graphic Designer and cg operator. 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, ny 10013. [captioning made possible by democracy now ] female announcer on todays show, our chefs are cooking up a storm for the holidays. Everyone at your table will enjoy these vegan versions of traditional holiday dishes. Terry hope romero puts together a thanksliving dinner on the farm for 300 people. Then, back in the kitchen, she makes her delicious chipotle sweet potato bisque. Our special guest restaurateur, cathi dicocco, whips up holiday fritters. 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