Transcripts For LINKTV Democracy Now 20170510

The 2016 election. Is this the beginning of another watergate . Senate democrats are calling for a special prosecutor. If Deputy Attorney general rosenstein does not appoint an independent special prosecutor, every american will rightly suspect that the decision to fire director comey was part of a coverup. Amy we will spend the hours between two Pulitzer Prizewinning journalist Glenn Greenwald of the intercept about the firing off comey, the future of the fbi, and more. All that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. President trump fired fbi director james comey tuesday , only weeks after comey confirmed the fbi was investigating whether Trumps Campaign collaborated with russia to sway the 2016 election. I have been authorized by the department of justice to confirm that the fbi, as part of our counterintelligence mission, is investigating the russian governments efforts to interfere in the 2016 president ial election. And that includes investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump Campaign and the russian government, and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and russias efforts. Amy that was james comey, testifying to the House Intelligence Committee hearing in march. He was four years into a 10yeyr term when trump fired him on tuesday. Trump claims he made the decision based on the recommendation of newly appointed Deputy Attorney general Rod Rosenstein and attorney general Jeff Sessions, who both faulted comeys handling of the investigation into Hillary Clintons emails in the lead up to the elections. The New York Times reports sesessionsns had been charged wh coming up with reasons to fire comey. In recent months, the fbi director had come under widespread criticism from Many Democrats for notifying lawmakerers just before the elecection that the fbi was once again investigating whether clinton had sent classified information from her private email server while she was secretary of state. Just last week, clinton said comeys actions factored in her loss. Still on tuesday, dozens of democrats spoke out against comeys firing, saying they did not believe it was over his handling of the investigation into clintons emails. This is virginia democratic senator mark warner. It is outrageous. I thought i could no longer be surprised by this administration. Cancel that out. I am shockeded by what the president did. I am shocked as well by the idea that the Deputy Attorney general put his name to a letter that doesnt passss any smell test, somehohow blaming comey for his actions to the clinton investigation. Amy Many Senate Democrats are now calling for a special prosecutor to investigate the Trump Administration. On tuesday, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer defended trumps move to fire comey. I also find it interesting the same individuals who are out there making these statements on the other side of the aisle are the same people, including the minority leader, who said very clearly just a few months ago, i have lost confidence in the fbi director. So the same people from nancy pelosi to Chuck Schumer to adam schiff over and over again questioned his ability to effectively lead the fbi. It seems a bit ironic that here now theyre questioning the president s decision to side with something that t they cleay articulated a a few months b ba. Amy this money, President Trump tweeted came on the same day cnn reported federal prosecutors hahave issued a grgd jury subpoenas to associates of trumps former National Security advisor general mike flynn as part of the ongoing probe of alleged russian meddling in last years election. Well have more on trumps decision to fire fbi director james comey after headlines with pulitzerer prize winning journalist Glenn Greenwald. President trump is meeting with Russian Foreign minister Sergey Lavrov at the white house today. Among the topics of conversation will be the ongoing conflict in syria. On tuesday, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer spoke about trumps arming of the Kurdish Peoples Protection units, known as the ypg, which are part of the u. S. Backed Syrian Democratic forces fighting isis. Yesterday, the president authorized the department of victoryto ensure clear syria. Is in raqqa the only forcece on thee ground that successfufully s seized raa minute future. Amy y the u. S. Alalso backed te ypg under presidident obama. Sergey lavrov will head to the arctic where he will also meet with secretary of state rex tillerson. The department of energy has declareded a state of emergencyt the Hanford Nuclear site in Washington State after a tunnel storing contaminated radioactive materials collapsed, forcing huhundreds of workers s to take cover to avoid potential exposure. Hanforord is the nations most polluted Nuclear Weapons production s site. The site hasas been leaking radioaoactive waste a and off r yeyears. The Energy Department claims no radidioactive cocontamination hs been r reported so far from tuesdays tunnel collapse, edwdn lyman from the union of concerned scientists said collapse of the earth covering the tunnels could lead to a considerable radiological release. We will be reporting from Washington State tomorrow on democracy now in south korea, voters elected human rights lawyer moon jay yin in to challenge the thaad Missile Defense system the u. S. Recently installed in south korea, and to open talks with north korea. His election comes after former prpresident park geunhye was ousted and jailed on charges of bribery, extortion, and abuse of power after massive street demonstrations in march. In floririda, at least teeee people w were arrerested when passengers staged a revolt at the Fort Lauderdale airport monday after Spirit Airlines canceled nine flights, stranding hundreds of people. Spirit canceled the flights in part because the Airline Company is also facing resistance from its pilots over the poor working conditions, low pay, lack of profit sharing, and the companys attempts to slow down contract negotiations. The latest cancellations came after hundreds of spiritt flighs were canceled. In new york city, hundreds of people protested against House Speaker paul ryans visit to a Harlem Charter school tuesday. The protesters were demonstrating against congressman ryans health care plan, which would strip health care from millions of americans, and his backing of Charter School c companies, such as success academy, which operates the Harlem School and 33 other schools across new york city. This is one of the protesters, Community Activist dr. Wilhelmina perry. I am a Community Activist and i represent lgbt faith leaders of african descent. I am here because i object to the policies that are regressive of this administration, and i believe that ryan and devoss should not come to harlem we are accepting. We are protesting against their being here. Amy the council on americanislamic relations says islamophobic attacks surged by 57 in 2016. The attacks include mosques being set on fire, muslim women being assaulted on the street and having their headscarves ripped off them,m, and muslims being ilillegally y targeted for interrogation by the fbi and other state agencies. Cair says the rise in hate crimes against muslims in the u. S. Was fueled in part by president Trumps Campaign rhetoric and his appointment of islalamophobes to top cabinet ad white house positions. The report is called into question as to whether President Trump wowould have actually wonn wisconsin duduring the 20166 president ial election without the states strict voterer id l. The study published by the Progressive Advocacy Group Priorities usa says the law suppressed the vote of more than 200,000 residents the majority of whom were African American and democraticleaning. President trump won only 22,748 more votes than hillllary clini. In wisconsin. In economic news, a new report by the aflcio says ceos of the biggest u. S. Companies are paying themselves, on average, 347 times more than the average u. S. Worker earns in a year. The ceos paid themselves an average of 13. 1 million in 2016. In ohio, the Environmental Protection agency has fined Energy Transfer partners the Company Behind the Dakota Access pipeline 400,000 for spilling millions of gallons of drilling chemicals and fluids onto the land amid construction of another pipeline, the 4. 2 billion gas rover pipeline, which is slated to stretch from appa there have been at least 18 spills, including one of up to 5 million gallonons of f fluids tt has contaminated a previously pristine wetland. Ohio epa director craig butler said this spill will kill just about everything in that wetland. Officials are currently trying to clean up the chemicals with a vacuum and by hand. This comes as Bloomberg News reports oil is slated to begin flowing through the Dakota Access pipeline on may 14. The pipeline faced months of resistance from the Standing Rock sioux tribe, hundreds of other indigenous nations, and other allies over concerns a pipeline spill could contaminate the missouri river, a drinking source for over 10 million people. The e north dakotaepartment t of health says there have been more than 700 oil and gasrelated spills in the last year alone or a spill ever 11 hours and 45 minutes on average. Meanwhile, in seattle, washington 26 activists were , arrested monday as they temporarily shut down 14 different Jpmorgan Chase branches across the city to demand the banrefuse to o do business with transcanada, the Company Behind the keystone xl pipeline. Which President Trump has promised too revivive. Imprisoned Army Whistleblower Chelsea Manning will be freed next week. In 2013, manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison for leaking more than 700,000 classified files and videos to wikileaks about the wars in iraq and afghanistan and u. S. Foreign policy. In january, the white house said she would be released on may 17 after president obama commuted her sentence. On tuesday, chelsea released a statement saying for the first time, i can see a future for myself as chelsea. I can imagine surviving and living as the person who i am and can finally be in the outside world. Freedom used to be something that i dreamed of but never allowed myself to fully imagine. Her attorneys say she is already the longestheld whistleblower in u. S. History. In new jersey, undocumented activist and student carimay andujar walked out of an ice checkin tuesday and celebrated with more than 100 supporters, who had gathered outside the Immigration Office to protest her possible deportation. Carimay is in her third year studying Chemical Engineering at rutgers university, where shes the president of undocurutgers. She was waiting for renewal of her daca status, which gives her permission to live, work, and study in the United States, when she received a letter from ice ordering her to report for the checkin tuesday. This is carimay, speaking to her supporters after she walked freely out of the Immigration Office in newark. Let me remind you of the powewer that you guys have. The peoples power will always be stronger than the people in power. Amy in West Virginia, journalist dan heyman of Public News Service was arrested after he repeatedly asked health and Human Services secretary tom price whether Domestic Violence would be categorized as a preexisting condition under the republicans new health care plan. The republicans plan does not protect people with preexisting conditions, instead allowing Insurance Companies to charge them dramatically higher rates for health insurance. Heyman was arrested, jailed on 5,000 bail, and charged with willful disruption of State Government processes after he repeatedly questioned price in the hallway of the West Virginia state capitol. The American Civil Liberties union has issued a travel alert warning potential travelers to texas they might be illegally stopped by police and asked about their immigration status, now that Texas Governor greg abbott has signed into law sb4, one of the harshest antiimmigrant laws in the country. The law bans sanctuary cities and allows Police Officers to check the immigration status of anyone they detain. To see our full interview about sb4, go to democracynow. Org. Meanwhile, the Homeland Security department has admitted it has been compiling lists of alleged crimes committed by haititians o received temporary protected status to legally reside and work in u. S. After an earthquake devastated haiti in 2010. Up to 55,000 haitians could be forcefully repatriated to haiti the Trump Administration refuses to extend the protected status on july 22. To see our full interview with ththe executive directctor of m, go to democracynow. Org. And in ferguson, missouri, family members and activists are mourning the death of 27yearold Edward Crawford, a father of four Young Children who took part in the 2014 ferguson uprising sparked by the Police Killing of unarmed africanamerican teenager michael brown. Crawford was the subject of an iconic photo, in which he is throwing a Police Tear Gas canister away from a group of protesters before it could explode. Missouri state senator maria chappellenadal tweeted Edward Crawford is dead. Found in his car shot to death. He is fergusons hero. For those of us teargassed, he was our local champion. Rip crawford died in his car from a gunshot wound on thursday. His father has rejected the polices initial claims that the death was a suicide. He is the third ferguson protester to have been found shot dead inside their own cars since the uprising. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Nermeen and im nermeen shaikh. Welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. President trump has set off a political firestorm after firing fbi director james comey just weeks after comey confirmed the fbi was investigating whether Trumps Campaign collaborated with russia to sway the 2016 election. Comey was four years into a 10year term. The firing came on the same day that cnn reported federal prosecutors have issued grand jury subpoenas to associates of trumps former National Security advisor Michael Flynn as part of the ongoing probe of russian meddling in last years election. This all comes as President Trump repairs to meet with Russian Foreign minister Sergey Lavrov at the white house today. It is his first visit to washington since 2013. The firing of james comey has led dozens of Senate Democrats to call for a special prosecutor to investigate the Trump Administration. Amy President Trump said he made the decision based on the recommendation of newly appointed Deputy Attorney general Rod Rosenstein and attorneyey general jeff sessioi, who both faulted comeys handling of the investigation into Hillary Clintons email server. Rosenstein faulted comeys remarks last july when he announced the fbi would not seek charges against clinton. The New York Times reports sessions had been charged with coming up with reasons to fire comey. Democratic senator al franken and others slammed sessions for participating in comeys firing after recusing himself from the russia investigation. Senator franken said this is a complete betrayal of his commitment to the public that he wouldnt be involved in the investigation. On tuesday, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer defended trumps firing of comey. I also find it interesting that the same individuals who are out there leaking these statements on the other side of the aisle are the same people, including the minority leader, who said very clearly a few months ago i have lost confidence in the fbi director. So the same people from nancy pelosi to Chuck Schumer to adam schiff, over and over again, question his ability to effectively lead the fbi. It seems a bit ironic that theyre now sort of questioning the president s decision to side was something that they clearly articulated a few months back. Amy this money, donald trump tweeted in recent months, james comey had come under widespread criticism from Many Democrats for notifying lawmakers just before the election that the fbi was once again investigating whether clinton had sent classified information from her private email server while she was secretary of state. Jujust last week, clinton said comeys actions factored into her loss. Amy but on tuesday, several of clintons closest aides slammed trumps decision to fire comey. Clintons former Campaign Manager robby mook wrote on twitter twilight zone. I was as disappointed and frustrated as anyone at how the email investigation was handled. But this terrifies me. To talk more about the firing of the fbi director james comey, the future of the fbi, and more we are joined by the pulitzer , prize winning journalist Glenn Greenwald, cofounder of the intercept. Thank you so much for being with us. Great to have you live in our studio here in new york. Your response to President Trumps firing james comey . Ofin the 100 plus short days the Trump Administration, there have been many things donald trump has done that have been inacing and even heinous, but dont think there are many things that he is done that you could say were shocking given the things he promised to do during the campaign, as well as who he revealed himself to be inh during the campaign and the decade preceding that. This, however, is the only word you can think of for it is shocking. Aside from the fact how rare it is for president s to fire fbi directors something typically tolerated only the most extreme circumstances when there are serious ethical is use that have arisen about the directors behavior for him just two weeks after james comey made huge news by announcing he was overseeing a criminal investigation into the Trump Campaigns potential collusion with russia, on top of which there have been very recent developments in that case of subpoenas being issued to close trump aides, it is incredibly it is stunning they would be so indifferent to the obvious appearance that this is about nothing more than trump directly interfering into an investigation targeting him by removing the person spearheading it. I think what is even more amazing is the rationale that they concocted in order to justify this. Because, of course, they needed to come up with a reason beyond we are firing, and because were concerned about the investigation into trump. For them to raise these criticisms of comey that were widespread, including Many Democrats, six months ago when it happened, namely that comey took it upon himself to make a decision about terminating Hillary Clintons criminal investigation because he thought Loretta Lynch could not do it, and even more so that comey did not just that were ending the investigation was had here are the reasons why Hillary Clinton did awful things. To pretend that is what offends them is an insult to everyones intelligence that it raises the real question about what is the actual reason. Amy so lets go back to october 201616 when trump was on the campaign trail and said comey had guts for r his handling of e investigation to h Hillary Clinn xenos server. Pres. Trump i have to give the fbi credit. It took guts for director comey to make the move that he made in light of the kind of opposititin he had where there tried to protect her from criminal prosecution. You know that. It took a lot of guts. I really disagreed with him. I was not his fan. But i will tell you what, what he did, he brought back his reputation. He brought it back. He is got to hang cap because there is a lot of people won him to do the wrong thing. What he did was the right thing. Amy that is trump speaking last year october 2016 on the campaign trail. In trumps letter to comey, he wrote while i greatly appreciate you informing me on three separate , occasions, that i am not under investigation, i nevertheless concur with the judgment of the department of justice that you are not able to effectively lead the bureau. White house officials refused to say anything more about the separatete occasions trump cited in the letter. Republican representative justin amash took to twitter saying claim was bizarre and calling for an independent commission to investigate trumps link to russia. He tweeted my staff and i are reviewing legislation to establish an independent commission on russia. The second paragraph of this letter is bizarre. Republican senator jeff flake tweeted ive spent the last several hours trying to find an acceptable rationale for the timing of comeys firing. I just cant do it. Glenn greenwald, can you talk about what trump was saying in october 2016 and what he said in the letter . Certainly. That clip we just watched them as you said, was from october. There he was praising comey for having sent that lastmininute letter to Congress Announcing the reopening of the investigation. That does not seem to be the reason they are pretending to have fired trump. There pretending to have fired trump is what they are nermeen fired comey. Yes, ask me. Is the press conference comey held in which he stood up and announced the criminal investigation into her clinton was coming to an end. But then he did something extraordinary for an fbi director in july which was he did not say were ending the criminal investigation, he then went on to opine on her conduct with his which you dont want it fbi director to ever do. Nermeen he said he was careless. He gave about 15 minutes of very harsh criticism. The reason that is so disturbing genuinely, you dont want an fbi investigator essentially trying someone in public but not charging them. The problem is that donald trump loved those comments. In fact, i think the only thing he quoted in the campaign more than the bible was that jim comey speech. To turn around six months later and say, we are firing him for the remarks that we actually loved in making at the time they all loved it i think that is what people are fighting so difficult to swallow. Amy and right through to the inauguration right the confirmation speech of the republican convention, he would make statements leading to that chorus of jail her. Right after james comey confirms he is investigating the Trump Administration, this is when this firing comes down. That speech youre talking about was in july. Why didnt he fire her why did he fire james comey day after the inauguration . And why werent republicans like Jeff Sessions s criticizing cocomey for the public, t made about Hillary Clinton . There was a debate at the time were democrats were saying what comey said was inappropriate, but republicans largely were saying what comey said was necessary and important to inform the public will stop i think because nobody nobody believed there is any plausibility to this rationale, it is clear what happened here. Amy were going to go to break and then come back to our discussion with the Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Glenn Greenwald, Founding Editor, one of the Founding Editors of the intercept. His latest piece, trumps support and praise of despots is central to the u. S. Tradition, not a deviation from it. This is democracy now donald trump has fired james comey. We will keep discussing it. Stay with us. [music break] amy rumors. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. SaidPresident Trump has off a political firestorm after firing fbi director james comey just weeks after comey confirmed the fbi was investigating whether Trumps Campaign collaborated with russia to sway the 2016 election. On tuesday, senator Chuck Schumer reiterated his call for the department of justice to appoint a special prosecutor to the pro into the 2016 election saying failure to do so would rightly make the American Public believe there had been a coverup in comeys firing. The only way the American People can have faith in this investigation is for it to be independent,less, special prosecutor. If Deputy Attorney general rosenstein does not appoint an independent special prosecutor, every americann will rightly suspect that the decision to fire director comey was part of a coverup. Nermeen that is democratic Chuck Schumer. Meanwhile in an interview with Cnns Anderson Cooper tuesday night, white house counselor Kellyanne Conway disputed that trump and his white house are under investigation by the fbi. Clearly, this white house is under investigation. The people around the president are under investigation. You would agree with that . No, i dont. I know some comey said there is an ongoing investigation. The president is not under investigation. Im around the president not under investigation. Youre saying there is the investigation by the fbi on going into the people around the president of the United States . I dont know that, but im saying the extent to any of that is true, the president excuse me. The president amy that is Kellyanne Conway speaking last night to anderson cooper. Glenn greenwald, can you respond to that and also, again, trump saying in his letter that he was i threeby james comey separate occasions that he was not under investigation. First, quickly on the Chuck Schumer comment, i think it is unlikely the most extreme theory that comeys firing was due to some desire to suppress some kind of smoking that evidence that the fbi was on the verge of discovering. Because obviously, if there was such evidence, many people besides james comey would know about it. There is still career justice investigators who are continuing to look into this, getting rid of james comey would not silence them. I think the broader point is the correct one, which is what trump wants is to make sure there is a loyalist to him directing the fbi as opposed to somebody who prides himself on being independent. As far as Kellyanne Conway is concerned, she is a lawyer. I think she is using legalistic terms to talk about who is a formal target of this investigation. According to james comey, it is the Trump Campaign itself along with individuals like carter page and Paul Manafort and roger stone and others who are the specific target of the investigation. So whether donald trump the individual, it makes no difference given it is his campaign and the people close to his white house are part of an targets of this investigation. Amy and given on the same day that trump fires comey, cnn reports federal prosecutors have issued grand jury subpoenas to associates of trans former National Security advisor Michael Flynn as part of their ongoing probe into the alleged russian meddling in the election. You are a constitutional lawyer as well as a reporter, glenn. So the significance of this, and also come Jeff Sessions, the attorney general weighing in here when he explicitly recused himself. Lets go to that moment in march when attorney general Jeff Sessions said he would recuse himself from any investigation into alleged russian meddling in the 2016 u. S. President ial election. R recusal. Recommended they said that since i had involvement with the campaign, i should not be involved in any campaign investigation. Ive studied the rules and andidered their comments evaluation. I believe those recommendations are right and just. Therefore, i have recused m mysf in the matters that deal with the Trump Campaign. The exact language ofof that recusal is in the press release that we will give to you. Ive said this i have now decided to recuse myself from any existing or future investigations of any matter relatiting in any way to the campaigns for president of the United States. Amy this is really stunning. Time, trumpt the was furious that sessions was recusing himself. Though, hugh harley has recused himself. Theyre saying this came from rosenstein. He has been there for a few weeks and the entire memo that came up with a justification for trump firing comey . Really come instigated by trump asking for this rationale. Even if the effort is for it the impetus for was rosenstein, their amended sessions endndorsed the letter. I suppose there excuses that because this firing was not about the Russian Investigation amy they claim. This is consistent with sessions promise to recuse himself of all Matters Regarding russia. Of course, removing the fbi director has a major impact on the very investigation that Jeff Sessions promised or recused himself from all matters concerning, which is the trump Russian Investigation. I then one of the people who have been urging skepticism on the question of trump and the broader questions, and i still do, but my position is been from the beginning, given how significant these questions are, it is in everybodys interest, if youre someone who believes trump is a kremlin puppet to believing that this is just a democratic conspiracy to avoid self critique come to everything in between, it is in everyones interest to have an investigation that at the end everyone says, i may not agree with thehe conclusions, but this is a fair investigation. What happened in the last 24 hours makes it utterly impossible. Which is why i think the reaction should be, let us construct an actual independent empowered body that can truly and finally get to the bottom of these questions. Nermeen in a piece in january for the intercept, you wrote in the wake of President Donald Trump to not duration, the fbi influence ittant has not fielded since to edgar hoovers death in 1972. You wrote this in january and here we are with trump having fired the fbi director. He is now in a position to appoint whomever he wants. What does that mean for the power of the fbi . That story was in conjunction with a major leak we were able to publish about these powers of the fbi, these vast farreaching domestic powers that people know about. We highlighted it by saying exactly that, namely, the fbi played in Important Role in the 2016 election. They continually leaked the paparts of the new y york office that are close to Rudy Giuliani and were supporting trump, information designed to damage Hillary Clinton. Donald trump clearly wanted to empower the fbi. What this is, because of exactly that, is a takeover of one of the most powerful agencies when it comes to the right to dissent , political activism in the u. S. , and the ability to apply the rule of law equally. So someone who is tried to tamp down the overreaction to a lot of trumps stories, this is one where i am fully on board in believing it is its imports cannot be overstated, primarily for the reason you just referenced. Amy on tuesday, Edward Snowden tweeted this fbi director has sought for years to jail me on account of my political activities. If i can oppose his firing, so can you. Set aside politics, every american should condemn such political interference in the bureaus work. I mean, this is pretty stunning. This is Edward Snowden who comey, as he said come has been trying to jail for years. And he says, if i can oppose this firing, so can you. Dojim comey has tried to not only of impossible to put Edward Snowden in a prison cell for four years, he has annouounced m as a traitor and called him a criminal and a felon, devoted huge amounts of resources to secure his apprehension. I think what snowden is trying to do is to say, look, well have very strong opinions, but there are times as americans when we say, there are certain lines we wont allow to be crossed. And firing the fbi director in order to influence criminal investigations directed at the white house has to be one of those lines. Amy angus king, an independent senator, who serves on the Senate Select committee on intelligence and a said he came up with an idea last night. He said, why dont we hire james comey to lead the investigation for us in the Senate Select committee on intelligence . He is now a free man to do whatever he wants to do. Now, this is very interesting proposal. This is what i was getting it earlier, the idea that the objective here was to suppress some smoking gun evidence by getting rid of jim comey makes no sense, even to the Trump White House. If anything, it would make it more likely it would service through service through a scheme like this or jim comey simply leaking it. What i think is interesting about jim comey is that over the last 12 months, there probably is nobody more hated in washington, first by the democrats first by the republicans, then the democrats begin by the republicans will stop in some sense, that is the kind of person that you want leading an investigation like this. Somebody who generally feels no guilty to any faction or political party. I think that is an ingenious idea. Nermeen as you mentioned, but democrats and republicans are not terribly on of comey. Hillary clinton claimed it cost her the u. S. Election during an interview last week. Mrs. Clinton i was on the way to winning until a combination of jim comeys letter on october 28 and russian wikileaks raised doubts in the minds of people who were inclined to vote for me, but got scared off. Had the election but on october 27, i would be your president. Amy that is Hillary Clinton speaking last week. Your comments . Onthe election was not october 27. It was in november. I think what of the important points to underscore about what she said there and you could do a whole show on that little snippet in a would probably be overjoyed to do it. I to focus on one point about it, it isnt just the democrats lost this election despite outspending donald trump to do one, despite facing the most popular legal candidate in history, 70 who broke every normal. You democrats across the board this is so important when you think of how to oppose donald trump has collapsed as a political force. They are the minority in the house and congress and have lost huge number of governorships under obama. Obama was a successful president , but the Democratic Party underneath them has completely collapsed. You would think and hope that when we think about how to stop this movement of White Nationalism and extreme nationalism that we think about how to fix the Democratic Party, how to fix the problems with its messaging and its inability to reach voters and the perception that it only serves the interest of corporate donors. When you have third clinton constantly shifting the focus and blaming everyone else besides herself and her own party for this defeat, i think it is incredibly counterproductive to the principal have does printable paths which is to figure how to construct a viable alternative to the Political Movement in the u. S. That is ascendant right now. Amy you have, this remarkable chronology. You have the comey speech in july that President Trump hailed at the time right through the election well, he held the fact that it was investigating clinton. He does not fire him when he comes in office. The ag recuses himself. And then you have the firing, which sessions also pushes. Questionoint, the among them is, who will donald trump replace james comey with . James comey is supposed to testify tomorrow in congress. Could he still testify . Equivalentk this is or the beginning of a new watergate . You hadnixon who five the special prosecutor, not the fbi director, but it is extremely significant. Extremely. There are parallels you can drop the saturday night massacre when nixon ordered the firing of the special prosecutor. It was a little different specialit was an actual prosecutor focused exclusively on the watergate investigations. Watergate did not really become a firstrate political scandal that threatened the e Trump Administration until there started emerging evidence of actual wrongdoing, of underlying criminality which to this day, it is important to note, we still dont have. Amy nix and thaton reelection, he won by a landslide. And watergate was not a in the voting. Ue people had not seen evidence of the underlying criminality. Ando not yet have evidence it may not exist or it might exist, that the Trump Campaign, meaning not carter page for people high up in the campaign, colluded with the russian to hack into the dnc or John Podestas emails. James clapper has said he has never seen any such evidence during his time in government. Dianne feinstein just last week wasnn after a cia briefing not aware of any such evidence. Amy clapper said he was not aware the fbi was investigating the Trump Administration. Right, but he is still a National Security official. He is said, you would think of there was sensitive National Security information it is publicly having it seemed that evidence and that is the forence that we need to see this to really escalate into a scandal that threatens the trump presidency. Obviously, the firing of comey raises the specter said he must perceive something significant at stake in order to fire comey. Maybe he just does not like comey. That is the cut of the e cut of impetuous decisionmaking trump is known for. But its really aims like this is a concerted effort to remove comey knowing it would create a political scandal. There must be a good reason for that. Amy are going to take a break. When we come back, who could he choose . Names are being floated like a former mayor of new york Rudy Giuliani, governor of new jersey chris christie. Glenn greenwald is with h us. We will be back in a moment. [music break] amy this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. Amy nbc is reporting this Morning House oversight Ranking Member of Elijah Cummings has called for emergency hearings with attorney general Jeff Sessions, deputy ag run roses , and fbi director comey Rod Rosenstein, and fbi director comey. Can you say with the significance of that meeting might be and also the speculation by some that this is really the beginning of the and of trumps presidency . This is what we were getting a earlier, which is if youre the Trump Administration and you really believe that jim comey has access to incriminating evidence come on some level, the last thing you would want to do is publicly fire him especially in the most humiliating manner possible. He did not notify him boast of amy he was briefing people in the l. A. Offers. It was on tv. They fired him in the most indicative manner possible. You could not have converted someone into an enemy more related than what they did more reliably than what they did. Come is a shrewd operator. He knows how to stick knives into peoples backs without think are principles of the last person you want as an enemy is jim comey. I think theres going to be all kinds of really Fascinating Development now that comey is free from what had been this kind of stifling role as fbi director where he could not spspeak publicly about much of anything. Nermeen why did not trump tell even senior white house officials that he was intending to do this . One of the most difficult tasks on the plan is to try to define the thinking of the Trump White House. You never know the ratio of malice versus ineptitude. Could just inept, it be that no idea how to do anything for it could be the way they did it to mitt romney, they wanted to humiliate him as publicly as possible. Amy donald trump fires the fbi director. Many say it is because he is investigating and he just recently said he was investment in the Trump White House possible collusion with russia around the election and today, President Trump is meeting with the Russian Foreign minister in the white house, with lavrov. As a journalist and a citizen, this is part of what has bothered me about this whole scandal from the beginning. I thing know chomsky was on your show last week or the week before and made this point well which is, unfortunately with this kennel has done, it has anen what ought to be aspiration that we all share as americans, which is to find a way to improve relations with this incredibly powerful Nuclear Armed state with whom we have a history of decades of animosity with, and we have almost come the civil war to nuclear war, and hope and look at better ofations, not as indicia loyalty or treason, but something we ought to support. What this kennel has done is pressured trump to prove he is not a lackey of the kremlin by ratcheting up tensions between moscow and washington. And i think people are telling the truth when they say relations between the two countries are as low as they have been in many years, maybe since the cold war. We ought not to let these legitimate questions surrounding comey and russia and interference in the election turned into something nefarious and sinister, efforts to have normal diplomatic elections u. S. Russia, we should still encourage that. Amy trump amy trumps sacking of comey will lead to the speculation of that confirmation that russia was involved in some way in the 2016 election in supporting trump. Amy and that trump decided the huge firestorm that would happen the tradeoff because what he did not want to happen was him getting at the truth. The obvious perception, that even if you are thick to wear a lens of skepticism to view these events coming up to take it into account. On the other hand, i think it is an extremely dangerous situation when you have countries like the u. S. And russia drowning men of great armed arsenal, to have it be politically radioactive on be able haveo constructive relations. I think it is imperative we keep these two things separarate. Amy lets talk about the possible replacements for the fbi director. For example, Rudy Giuliani. For example, new jersey governor chris christie. Reason why thehe firing of comey is so controversial, even among republicans, among pretty much everybody, because it creates the perception the fbi has lost its independence. So the last thing that trump can do to tamp down the perception is appoint someone viewed as his lackey. There is no more craven principle free corrupt prosecutor that you can think of in the c countryry that trump cd appoint other than Rudy Giuliani, except perhaps for chris christie. Those two are probably the worst possible selections that trump could make in order to put in charge of the fbi. I think if you do that, you would start to see a lot more defections, even among republicans, who would start to view this as a bridge way too far. Nermeen republicans have already criticized him for firing, in the first place. I do you think, to go back to my question earlier, that this could be the beginning of the end of trumps presidency . If you studied the watergate investigation, it began with these lies and these maneuverings that were about a coverup. But no one really knew w what ws being covered up, about who knew about the burglglary, who plannd it, but a new there was lying in an attempt t to suppress information. It was not until evidence of the derlying crime emerged that alally ban to threaten the xon presidency. That iwhwhat ihinknk aed avavue for the scandal to take the e ne step. P. , forts toen lyi obfuate. E. This is a huge escalation of ose e efrts. Seeuntil we actually eviden of colluon, of unrlying crinalityetween trump d russiai dont think it will reaten hresidency in the sce it uldause impeacent. It icertaiy will ctinue to pede his abity to dohings d perhapeven cpple his esidency amy other pple menoneded r kelly, david crk. But then tre is the scussi of theurrentndrew mcy, acti directoof the i, who s choseby james comey i 2016, noassumeuties ana faly was meeng witthe whithouse. T person o appoind james mey to bthe fbi directornd notwithanding h longti repubcanervice, cludinthe bush o admistration, s barack obama. Ere is a adition showi you want tout indepdent pele in e fbi directo. Think therwill ba lot of pressure otrump en from republicannot to me an apintment at tak this entrom humiating somethg even wor. Am people dog the instigatioat the f will ill keepoing it. There a career investators thatusticend the fb andhat is why say the is no way to re comeys a ans of suppresng incrinatinevidence, t it islsorue w leads t fbi, especial under t directi of jeff sessis, noithstandg his resal, those top officials can hatring vestigatns. They caneprive tm of sources. Ey can rirect tem in l kis of ways ought to rerd as undirable. Amy hat abouyourur reporng on the fbi sger rols to kno what youave stard talkin about, psidentrump inriting tsast toystic inlligence ancy wi extraoinary wers . Mean, ev if he w putting out theie thapresident oma wirepped him atrump ter, theyigned ofon a lawhat uld increa the sveillae power of eovernment. And th you go ck to this week thaled to this lea defing so mu aboutrevious fbis. He argent i us to ke to tryo convin republins to ce about bhs civil rties abus was to y, loo i know y trusteorge sh, bu igine Hilla Clinton wh thespowers. When oba w abung it, as a, docrats, dmagine sah palior newt ginich with these pors. On some lel, havindonald trum ierit ts sprawlg surveiance apparus, this incribly potenalmost limiteexecutiv brah from a framework that was constructed jointly by the republicans and the democrats in the wake of 9 11 and even before come is the ultimate vindication of that argument. The problem is, you cant celebrate the vindication because it means this incredibly dangerous individual now is in possession of this virtually unlimited set of authorities and powers that the republicans and democrats together built thinking that only responsible leaders with exercise. Nermeen i want to go back to a comment you made earlier about , and of. S. Relations course, the specter of possible nuclear war. One of these sites lavrov is meeting from today in the white house one of the possible is inof a direct conflict syria. Both russia in particular, backing the alassad regime, but the u. S. As well has carried out Something Like a thousand airstrikes in the country. Could you comment on what the situation is in syria and what you see as the possibility of the u. S. And russia somehow working together or not . One of the ironies of this attempt to depict trump as this puppet of the kremlin, both generally and with regards to syria, was that president obama was actually extremely accommodating ofputin and try to forge a path of better relations with russia, but generally by doing things like refusing to arm antirussian element in ukraine remember, he mocked mitt romney for depicting russia as this great deal political threat. Inin syria, despite some rhetorc about how you needed remove assad, the reality is the u. S. Is engaged in this Brutal Bombing Campaign for years not against assad, but against many of the elements fighting assad, particularly isis and al qaeda. There have been times when obama proposed partnerships with putin , bobombing partnenerships, were countries would or together to bomb an agreedupon target. For all of the e talk about trumps syria policy being this gigift of vladimimir putin becae it bololers assad in ofoffice, e reality is, it is not much difffferent from w what obama dn syria, or more broadlyly, in trying to have a Good Relationship with the kremlin. Remember, obama never bombed assad and trump did. It is sort of an irony that it is trump who gets to pick it is having a progressive policy in syria. Afghanistan,voving to sending thousands more troops, expanding the war in afghanistan . It is such a somber reminder of the fact that while there are huge differences between republicans and democrats, things like abortion and Marriage Equality and health care, there are also huge areas of continuity where it makes no difference who ends up winning. What is so remarkable is the Afghanistan War is now in its 17th year under its third president. Obama trump is the third president to escalated after campaigning against it. We barely ever talk about it anymore. Amy we will keep talking about this after the show and were going to post it online at democracynow. Org. Glenn greenwald, Pulitzer Prizewinning journalist, Founding Editor of the intercept. That does it for our broadcast. I will be on the road tonight speaking at seattles town hall in Washington State at 7 30. At 7 00ork on friday p. M. , saturday in all of you, washington, at 11 00. Ourtourmplete list of stops, go to democracynow. Org. [captioning made possible by democracy now ] reyes a mexican village that rose up against crime and violence and banished the bad guys. What does it take to keep the peace . Im elaine reyes in washington dc, and this is americas now. First up, they took back their own town after it was raravagedy racketeering. Now the resisidens rule t themselves, but autonomys not alwaysys easy. Then, costa ririca wants to bece the worlds first fossil fuelfree nation. Well take a look at the countrys piononeerg commitmentnt to clean erergy