Transcripts For ALJAZAM America Tonight 20130906

Biden used the chairman used to be the chairman of the Foreign Relations committee. Egypts interior ministry survived an assassination after his convoy was struck by a bomb in cairo. 22 were injured. Walmart workers protested demanding a raise and better work conditions. Three protesters were arrested in new york when trying to deliver a petition to a board member. That is the news in this hour. America tonight with joie chen is next. Ill see you here at 11 eastern time, and you can get your news at aljazeera. Come. On america tonight at an end the monthlong Hunger Strike by california prisoners and the grim isolated conditions that led to their protest. Its lonely. Everybody has their own experience. Some people go stark raving mad immediately. And the people speak on the question of a strike against syria law makers ready themselves for a tough vote in washington and get an earful back home. We are sick to death of war. Also walmart wages a new round of protest by some of americas lowest paid workers, and what they hope to get out of this strike. Sh good evening, welcome to america tonight. Im joie chen. We begin tonight with an end. After nearly two months without food, california prisoners today halted a Hunger Strike where many refused to eat. The prisoners were protesting conditions like holding prisoners in solitary for years. State law planners are planning hearings, and say the allegations amount to torture. First a review by michael okwu. Maria works in her home, the same home she grew up with, with a brother she adored. Shes haunted by time. My brother is 10 months older than i am. You are almost twins. Her brother, ronny dew bri is 55, he hasnt seen the house in over three decades because for the last 33 years dewbury has been doing time for murder at pelly can bay, a supermax prison. Time that has transformed him. This is him at san quintin. Is that the same guy . Is that your brother. Almost two different men. Thats the age. I look at these pictures it makes me think about the time we didnt have. Its not just that her brother has been in lockup for call that time. For 20 of those years hes been living or what passes for it in pelican bays notorious security housing unit, better known on the inside as the shoe. Human rights activists call it solidary confine. Me ment. The United Nations calls it torture. This dr cared for hundreds of inmates in the california prison system and sees the effects of the shoe first hand. There were symptoms which are stunningly frequent on the prisoners. For instance, sleep loss, high anxiety, including panic attacks. Distorted thinking they start to get confused and are frightened by their confusion, and their confusion becomes paranoia. Californiian inmates are calling for reform by a massive Hunger Strike. Dewbury is a leader. They are demanding time limits in the shoe, making it a punishment of last resort. They are asking for more medical attention, food and access to sunlight. For now inmates can stretch out in an exercise yard with partial light for about 90 minutes a day. The rest of the time they are in their cells. Its true that the pelican bay shoe does not have a window within the cell. However, these are, again, a minimum of eight men in a pod who communicate with each other all day long. They may have a cellmate. You know, its not solitary. Michael steiner runs the adult prison facilities in california and disputes the use of the word solitary to describe the shoe and said the department met the prisoners demands following a Hunger Strike in 2011. Why, given the fact you made the reforms, as you put it, does the group continue to do this year after year . They wants to reestablish what they had in the 70s, and 80s control of the population. The Department Took the position that the strike was not about improving living conditions, but about exerting power. Each of the four inmates represent one of the four prison gangs. You know this to be true, without hesitation. Absolutely. No doubt . Yes, i do. Todd is as todd asker is a leader of a brotherhood. He committed murder in briften. G urks. Guellen is a leader. Robert dewbury is in prison for murder. They committed crime, but cruel and unusual punishment is unconstitutional. The question is whether the shoe is cruel and unusual. The average cell is eight by 10 feet. Its a tight squeeze for any man, let alone a large one. I can take about four steps length wise before i run out of real estate. Look at the beds. This is made to spec. The beds would usually be concrete slabs, slabs that are so cold in the winter time that most prisoners take the matt reses off and throw them on the floor. Imagine spending more than 22 hours a day, every day in here, for 10, 20, 30 even 40 years . Its lonely. Everybody has their own experience. You know, some people go stark raving mad immediately. Steven is 38, and he spent nearly half his life in prison. He landed in the shoe for fighting with another prisoner before he was even eligible for a drivers licence. I did my first burglary at nine years old. Then i did my first car burglary at 10, and another at 11 and im stealing cars by 12. By 15 im robbing people. What was your darkest day, if you can remember . The darkest moment you had in solitary. I had several. I think probably what stands out for me is i was caught talking by an officer after a certain hour if they catch you talking the next day they come in and mace you, pull you out of your cell, take your stuff and call it the chilly willy. I was probably 16 at the time. I was in the cell in my boxers. So i ripped the waste waist band of my boxers, put it around my neck and tried to kill myself. They found me choking, sedated me and tied me up. 50 of success successful suic. Des in suicides occur. Prisoners in segregated housing are likely to commit crimes upon release, and return to prison. There are economic cost. Housing prisoners in the shoe costs 12,000 more per year than general population. Still the california officers say they need the shoe to separate violent prisoners and refuse to negotiate with the strikers. They protest across california, and sel ebb rities, jay lehno, Susan Sara Don show support. Eight stakes have restrictions on solitary because of law suits or cuts. Those states reported no significant increase in violence. Did you look at the policies of others . Not every state has the type of prisoner we have. The fact is that quite a few states, and we developed our policy based on what we thought would work best here. The federal government is taking up the issue as well. In june senator dick durbin democrat of illinois held congressional hearings on solitary confine. United states holds far more prisoners in segregation or solitary confine. Than any other democratic nation on earth. What do americas prisons say about our nation and its values . Senator durbin is drafting legislation to impose new reg lieulations on solitary. As the Hunger Strike wore on tension mounted went the state won a court order on august 23rd, to forcefeed the prisoners if necessary. We were with marie when she received a call from her friend, telling her about the court decision. Attorneys representing the inmates are fearful that some inmates will die as vital organs fail. Right now you hope that he ends the strike and starts eating i would imagine. In the end marie did get what she was hoping for. The Hunger Strike stopped before prisoners had to be force fed. Marie told us she was relieved that they had decided to start eating, but said she and other family members would fight to get rid of the shoe. This is a deep, dark wound in our community. This isnt who we should be, like this isnt what we should strive for. For his part, steven is striving to turn his own life around. Two years after leaving prison he got clean. Hes a student at uc berkley, majoring in us literature. And also a devoted father to a sixyearold son shane. He says he is still haunted by his time in solitary. And that not a day goes by that he doesnt think about the people who are still there perhaps for a lifetime. We were able to talk to the Major Players in this story today, from prison officials, along to lawyers for some of the prisoners, as well as some relatives. Basically what we infer from those conversations is that this strike is over today. Its essentially because the prisoners believe their voices are being heard, theyve been able to sway Public Opinion to some degree, and they believe that prison officials are becoming much more collaborative with them about the process here. A Key Development last week, of course, two state law makers announced theyd take up public hearings on the issue of solitary confine. Michael steiner, the prison official, met with prisoners on tuesday, and had a 90 minute talk, heart to matter, promising that theyd have ongoing dial og, conversation in the future. At this point the strike is over, the strikers met yesterday and decided to vote it down. Make no mistake about it. The socalled practice of soltry confine. Is still very much in place. Can i ask you a little more about how california compares and uses a solitary policy as compared with other states . Well, you know, there are some uniform practices across the nation in terms of solitary. The reason why theres so much focus on california is because you have some of the longest serving prisoners behind bars. Officials will tell you the reason they do this is because gang life and Gang Violence in californias prisons are much higher than in most places across the country. So the shoe was originally designed not only to take some of the most difficult prisoners and try to curtail the violence, but to cut off supposed gang leaders from the rest of the general population. As a result they end up staying a little longer in the shoe, an average of more than six years in some cases, as you heard in the report, as long as four decades than in some other states. That is what was being referred to when they talked about the differences between the calvian prisoners. Michael okwu for us from california this evening. Now we want to turn to a lawmaker that michael mentioned, who was instrumental in bringing an end to the Hunger Strike. Tom joins us from sack ramento. Can you talk about what you have planned. Its a public hearing. Are you in a position as legislators to change policy within the prison . Absolutely. Particularly in the area of putting sunshine on the issue, i had a bill that increased media access to prisons, and prisoners, and unfortunately it was vetoed. I think a way around putting some gravitas our having hearings we know that hearings are limited, but when you here the egregious misuse of solitary confine. I mean, people put away for 20, 30, 40 years. That does not wash. Can i understand, at a gut level when you hear decades referred to, its understandable that would be seen as too egregious to be institute. Within the context of mr steiner and mr okwu was talking about, these were gang communities that might want to exploit their relationships in the broader community, and its not truly solitary. How do you answer that. Its a little disingenious. I visited pelican bay. The process for who is a gang member and who is not, i think, is dangerously flawed. Theres a lot of profiling there. This is not a demographic that people feel warm and fuzzy about. There are many egregious crimes committed. However, the judge of our society, how do we treat people like that. Do we sink to the level of torture, as some people intimated . Look at the International Standards for solitary confine. For whatever punitive measures may be taken. I think we are way over the line. I think weve been in denial for a long time. Well be interested to see what comes out of your hearings. Thank you so much for being with us much. Thank you very much. When we return, taking the pulse of america tonight what voters have to say about a strike against syria. Well fix this by we are not going to fix this by lobbing a few miss isles into a third rated country. Keep us out of war. The warning shops from the people at home and across america next. People at home and across. Syria it appears Public Opinion is not divided. Latest polls are clear six in 10 americans are against against military intervention in syria. Doesnt matter if you are a democrat or republican. President obama has not explained why military action is necessary. With Congress Days away from a vote, law makers are listening to their constituents. And Sheila Macvicar found the folks back home had a lot to say. In the mountains in new york, in the green hills, this town is home to about 15,000 people. It was once a booming oil town. It has a more colourful pass as a prohibition era boot leggers par adice. It is in the 23 rld district. People 23rd district. And voted for bush. In 2008 they went for barack obama and voted for republican congressman tom reed he is on a listening tour, gauging views on us military intervention in syria. His voters are not shy telling him what they think. Average American People the regular joes and janes have a better sense of where the government has to go. We are sick of war. Carl edwards is a county legislator and vietnam veteran. There are a lot of vetterans in this room. You need to listen to the American People, not the bozos of the nsa and state department. You will not fix this by lobbing a few missiles into a third rate country. Keep us out of war. We are sick to death of war. This is the hardest decision that has come in my tenure. Alqaeda and Muslim Brotherhood will take over and will kill christians. Do you want a primary fight next september . If you do, go ahead and vote for this. Dont change your mind because i will see to it that you have a primary fight next september if you vote for this. I cant say it any stronger. Strong words from david dekker another vietnam vet. Everyone pointed out we have had iraq and other conflicts before that. No more, we are done. Doing nothing runs risks. Eyes wide open, so we are on the same there is a serious questioning of american credibility around the world as we stand aside. Im telling you what the counterpoints are so that when it potentially could lead to a situation where assad feels emboldened, where iran feels emboldened because we are sitting on the sideline. That is a message that is a credibility issue that needs to be dealt with. You have people in the room that dont agree on politics coming together saying, this is bad. When it was time for a show of hands. All those in favour of authorising the use of force in syria raise your hand. All those opposed to authorising the use of force in syria, please raise your hand . The room was unanimous no to intervention much. Phone calls, email, facebook and the town hall has been significantly overwhelm overwhelmingly opposed. People are passionate, they are concerned. When you are talking about milty engagement and men and women, sons and military engagement, and men and women, sons and daughters being put in danger. You pretty well threaten the congressman with a primary fight. Why did you express yourself so strongly . To make him understand how i feel. Its a grave concern. We dont have all the information. Some people pointed out we have benghazi, we dont have answers there. Libya we dont have all the answers there. I asked about the chemical attack. I am sure you saw the pictures. I saw the pictures. Its terrible. Bashar alassad is a madman. Hes going to continue to do what he wants to do. We do not need to be in another civil war where we dont know what side we are supporting. We have no reason to be in iraq. Im not an nambypamby on this. I served two years in combat, i know what its like. So, its not like im against all fighting. But i want i want some i want symmetry. I want a plan in place. Theres no plan in place. We dont know what were doing. Our administration doesnt know what its going. Congressman reed made up his mind. If american interests are attacked, thats a total different situation that needs to be dealt with. Now, knowing what we know, and the risk that i see for it, i believe in my opinion, and when we cast the vote we wont go in. No vote from mr reed. Hes not alone. A lot of folks have to make decisions. Hes not alone. A lot of organisations are tracking how members of the senate and house are feeling. At the moment the senate is pretty much equally divided. Theres probably it looks like they may get the vote. The house is a different story. Here is what the the Washington Post found a couple of hours ago when they checked the numbers. Leading no or no 204. Undecided 143, and yes thats a big 24. Thats 371 members of the house. They are keeping a close watch on the members and senators. Polling in the us is different to polling on the ground in syria. Is there any way to measure Public Opinion there . Astonishing enough, the gallop organisation, an International Organisation conducted a face to face poll, 123,000 interviewed in july before the crisis developed. 50 of those interviewed said they thought the war would ask for another one to two years, and 47 of those interviews said if they could leave they would. Unfortunately a lot are becoming refugees. Sheila macvicar, thank you. Next, the fight for better wages. Why store workers from boston the workers and their fight for wages what it means for others when we return. c]. Now stories making headlines on america tonight. Egyptian Officials Say interior minister survived a suspected car bomb explosion in cairo on thursday. A parked car packed with explosives blew up. One person was killed. Its the first assassination attempt since the ousting of president mursi. What set off the rim fire in californias yosemite it was a hunter. It is now mostly contained. In a one on one meeting president obama and his russian counterpart Vladimir Putin said a quick hello 15 second quick. Tensions between the two men, and Edward Snowden and the strike on syria. Walmart workers took to the streets in a protest over pay. They want the retail giant to increase salaries to a minimum of 25,000 a year. Todays protest was not the first. Several workers claim they were fired for speaking out. Inside green came no washington dc from her home in los angeles to spread the word about walmart wages. Like others circulating partitions shes backed by the uscw. What was your story . I worked for walmart for three years, i was severely injured and whilst injured i got a call from a brother from uscw and told me that he was making a change at walmart and i was all in. I knew that, you know, we werent the problem, walmart was. Green spoke to newspapers, appeared on tv and attended rallies protesting walmart working conditions. Green heard nothing from her employer until she marched with thousand of walmart workers and supporters to protest a new store in downtown los angeles. After speaking out about the conditions in my store. Six days later i was term nated through the mail. You think you were fired as a reprisal for speaking out . Of course. Ms green is not the only one claiming that walmart fought back by firing outspoken employees. We support other workers and stand up for our rights. Brandon garrett says walmart fired him for protesting at their headquarters. These employees say they were let go. Im barbara colins from california. Im here even though i got fired for going on a ulp strike, ill fight for what is right. Im pamela davis. Im from richmond store. I was fired two weeks ago for standing up for what i believe in. Im alex from florida. Its time to go on, lets fight back. Walmart insists the employees were fired for reasons not related to the protest. A Company Official says walmart has a strict policy against retaliation and no associates were terminated for involvement in a protest campaign called our walmart. Dan directs the Newest Campaign to protest the companys wages making change at walmart. He put the former walmart workers on the front line. We have a right to protest, demonstrate, use our voice and power to alter and shift the free market economy so that it works for us. Thats what we are doing. Most walmart workers do not earn enough money to support a household. We need jobs that people can live on and enjoy the american dream. Our managers make anything from 50,000 to 170,000 a year. Alex is the washington dc regional manager for walmart. At a store opening near vienna, virginia he insisted lowerpaid jobs lead to successful careers like marty. What was your starting wage . 8. 8 an hour. Congratulations. Again, its not just a marty story. There are so many stories like martys out there. We need to make sure that folks understand when we come to a Community Like vienna or washington dc, we can charge lives. Why target walmart when others pay similar wages and fastfood chains less. Because, critics say, with wall marts size comes walmarts size comes influence. Walmart as 1. 4 million employees and has a huge impact on the economy, the retail economy specifically. Right now that economy is not creating jobs and opportunities for people working in retail. We want to change that. Today ms green was back, protesting walmarts wages, along with former workers and supporters around the country. Her hope is future employees can benefit from the sacrifice she made by speaking out. That report came from correspondent chris burey. The fight for a living wage goes behind the walls of walmart. Bill joins us from the retail justice alliance. We appreciate you being here. We were talking about fastfood workers and their strike a couple of months ago, and now walmart. What is happening . We are seeing a frontage of what i call the movement of the unemployed. Thats what we are looking at. Not the unemployed, the underemployed. Thats right. Its a segment of the population that gets little intention. Its a segment that has parttime jobs, temporary jobs and has to put a life together using pieces of employment. We are seeing that increasingly. People putting together multiple parttime jobs. For the last 30 years with the structure of the economy, what has happened is the companies have narrowed a core workforce, creating a periphery, and that includes people like those we see in walmart, those that we see in the fastfood companies. And so what is happening is that this segment of the population is getting angrier and angrier because they cant keep up. They are bringing attention badly needed attention to this direction. Protests are the way to do it, but we are seeing if from the topdown. The new labor secretary mr peres said he supported not a particular wage but supported the protesters coming out and striking. Its fantastic, rarely do we have a secretary of labour speaking out for workers. Its good. The protests are insufficient if theres not organisation to sustain it. The protest is important. We know how this country operates you have a protest one day and its forgotten the next. The workers are looking for an increase in wages, organisation and the right to unionise. Look at the organisation, the groups coming together and doing this. Is there evidence that this is a union mann ipulation, to say to generate higher membership. Its a fair question. Its a bias question. Union mann ipulation what is it is that unions exist to raise Living Standards of working people. That is not mann ipulation, its justice. Are unions involved, absolutely. If not, it would be curious. Have workers made the case that their minimum wage needs to be higher and businesses can afford that . Absolutely. What businesses have to understand is if they dont raise the wages, the question is who will buy the products . This goes back to the 1960s when Walter Ruther was given a tour of an autoplant and run by robots. He was asked, what will you do when rob ots make the cars . He said, who will buy your cars . Have you seen pressure or openness by some businesses to raise wages to levels more aligned with the minimum . Historically yes. In the Retail Industry slowly. Some companies in retail are willing to raise wages. On their own. On their own. The problem is as long as you have a big elephant in the living room walmart that has reshaped the Retail Industry. Its the nations biggest retailer. There you go. They set the pattern. We can win victories in smaller places. Until we crack this one, until walmart understands that they have an interest in changing the way they relate to the workforce, the other victories are temporary. Do we know how much is enough . People say raise you here, a dollar here, a dollar there. How much is enough . You look at the cost of living. You look at what does it take for a family of four, thre three four, to survive. The issue is not about the calculation, the issue continually raised is whether or not companies can afford it. Thank you bill fletcher from the retail justice alliance. Appreciate you being here. Ahead friction along the border turns deadly. Angry communities blaming us Border Patrols is ahead. And welcome back. As the immigration debate hits up the boarder between mexico and the United States is becoming stained by the blood of mexican citizens. A report by the Nation Institute says that over the past five years unidentified us Border Agents fired over the fence at least 10 times, killing six mexicans. The Agency Responsible for policing the borders now, under heavy scrutiny yet seemingly immune from prosecution. Our correspondent reports. Jose was 16 when he was killed with a bullet through the head by the United States Border Patrol. Nine more shots went into his body. As he lay on the ground in his home town in mexico. The bullets, fired from the top of this cliff in arizona travelled through an International Boundary and an illegal vacuum. The agent has never been named. Antonio was found on a sidewalk. The report indicated he did not have a weapon in his hand, a rock or any type of nothing. He had a cell phone in his pocket. His brother was shot in the centre of town. He would meet him to help mop the floor before closing. That night he never made it. Jose was shot to death on the street corner. The walls on the Doctors Office are riddled still with bullet holes. The Border Patrols explanation hinges on the fact that they say their agents were threatened by somebody throwing rocks on this side of the fence. Standing here the first thing you ask yourself is could a 16yearold threaten someone on top of a 20 foot cliff, and on the other side of that fence . Whatever took place here that night therefore video cameras there which recorded everything that happened. But the Border Patrol and the fbi refused to share that surveillance video. So we are left to piece together the clues. From the night jose died the Police Report describes Border Agents pursuing two menace they climbed the fence back into mexico. At the same time, on the street below the fence, this man was walking home from work. Where were the agents when you saw them firing . So it would seem the agents meant to fire at the fleeing men. A questionable use of force to begin with. Jose was just walking down the street as the boys ran away. Attorney roberto took us to the spot the agents fired from on the us side. There is no way that the officer that was on top of this hill was in any kind of danger. First of all, i dont think you can hurl a rock from where jose antonio was, over an 18 foot fence, which is pure steel. This was 15 shots fired into and at a young man who was walking down the street. How do you describe that . What is it that took place here . At best, its negligent homicide. At worse, it could be murder. Joses death is part of a disturbing new trend us Border Agents shooting across the line to kill mexican citizens in their own country. This womans son was killed by an agent in 2011. The Us Government closed the investigation. Selma was never contacted. In 2012, this man was picnicking on the banks of the rio grande when gunned down by agents. He died in his 9yearold daughters airports. Juan was shot two months earlier. In 2011, in tiuana a witness said jose was killed or using his cell phone to record an agent beating a migrant. And sergio was shot between the eyes under a bridge. In each case the Border Patrol justified the killings, saying they were threatened by rock throwers. Getting them to speak on the record about anything proved difficult. Hi, bill, im calling from al jazeera english. We are in the area now. Would we be able to arrange an interview and a ridealong with an agent out here . We sent emails, about six weeks ago. Why is that . Why is that . Right, it just seems a little opaque. Im trying to understand why the request was declined. Whats happened is the Border Patrol, a large organisation, they are not like a police force in the same community that deals with upset residents that are upset and vote. Its a population that almost everyone is going to be kicked out and wind up in mexico. Because of that, there hasnt been a way in which they have to modify their activities. Theres almost no oversight, compounded by an idea that its part of the national security. When someone looks at Jose Antonios case, this is not anything to do with national security. The full report on cross border killings airs sunday night an faultlines when we come back on america tonight we have access to a place few americans have been. The story there and amazing images are ahead. Finally shooting in the korean war ended 60 years ago. The conflict between the two koreas simmers. Recently the north korean government granted an american journalist access to the secretive nation to tell the story of daily life in north korea. Here is mark edward harris. 2005 was the first time i stepped foot in north korea and it was very sur eel. Whenever i arrive somewhere i try to go in with an empty cup. Coming in from the airport i was fascinated to see daily life going on. When you first arrive the people have suspicion who are you, what are you going to do, will you go in with the freedom to say, lets stop here, lets shoot this. Its difficult. But as the days go by that im with the people taking me around, and i speak some corian, they get more relaxed and im able to shoot more and they are a little more hands off. The people are cordial. I think when you treat i think the key thing is if you treat people respectfully, you get that back. It would be very dangerous for me to engage locals who speak english in a political discussion. They would not be free to really say what they think, if they thought something other than the dear leader or the great leader is great. It would put them in danger. I would not want to get into that discussion. Those discussions have to be in a different forum. They would ask all the time, you know where do you live, what is it like there . they were interested in the outside world. And not afraid to ask those questions at all. Youll see that the people are not just robots, marching to a single tune. There are still serious issues, but the daily life going on we want to photograph families, they are proud of their kids, concerned about their kids doing homework, getting good school. They are very proud of their School System there, and the people well educated. I think they have more of an awareness of the west than we necessarily give them credit for. Outside the capital, in a couple of cities, i went to some schools. They were not unannounced visits. Obviously they put the kids in the best outfits they had and put a little stage performance on for us. For kids, you do see a purity that would be nice if we all held on to a little bit longer. Im really trying to as i say, go in with an empty cup and shoot what im seeing. Im trying to get as much access as i can to the entire country. That is not easy. The biggest breakthrough for me was 2008, with the new york phil harmonic. The deal was, when they were invited, that they could invite the journalist they wanted to have, and we would not be restrained from shooting what we wanted to shoot, for the most part. It gave me the most freedom to get around. I mean, i have lots of shots of the monuments and things thats what they want to show. Its the people shots that mean the most to me. It is the people shots indeed. That collection of photographs coming to us from mark edward harris. That is it from us on america tonight. If you would like to comment on the stories, log on to our website. Youll be able to meet our team, preview the stories we are working on and tell us what you would like to see in our nightly Current Affairs program. Join the conversation on twitter or at our facebook page. Have a great night. See you tomorrow. Welcome to ankle. Here are the top stories. President obama is in russia right now with the g20 summit but hes still trying to get congress on board for a military strike in syria. The president S National Security adviser said he has been making phone calls to u. S. Lawmakers while at the economic summit. He spoke to five of them yesterday. And Vice President joe biden is briefing congressmen while the president is overseas and also worked the telephones to try to drum up support for a military strike in syria. We now know what caused the massive fire burning in Yosemite National park. A hr