Transcripts For KCSM Democracy Now 20141031

Fire at a chevron refinery plant in richmond, california, the oil tont spending 3 million oust its latest city officials who pushed to hold the company accountable. If chevron china trying to buy the City Government . We will speak with our going ring party mayor Gayle Mclaughlin and go across the country to speak to another Green Party Candidate, howie hawkins, who is challenging new york Governor Andrew Cuomo. Im running for governor to go to the work for the 99 of us, the working class, middle class people who are overtaxed, underserved, and underpaid by government that has been run by for1 with a big campaign divisions. Then the nazis next door how america became a safe haven for hitlers men. Pulitzer prizewinning New York Times reporter Eric Lichtblau and how the cia, fbi and military put hitlers minions to work as spies, intelligence assets command leading scientists and engineers whitewashing their history. All that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now, democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Israel has reopened the al aqsa mosque compound in jerusalems old city after its closure sparked protests and calls to reopen from countries including the United States. Muslim men under the age of 50 are barred from praying today over supposed security concerns. Israel shut down the compound thursday for the first time in years following the shooting of farright activist yehuda glick. Hours after glick was shot and wounded, Israeli Forces shot and killed a palestinian man suspected in the shooting, accusing him of opening fire when they sought to arrest him. But the Palestinian Maan news agency gave a different account, citing eyewitnesses. They report the suspect, mutaz hijazi, was shot and injured but still alive when Israeli Soldiers entered his home and went to the rooftop, where they dropped a water tank on him, killing him. The Fatah Movement in jerusalem has called for a day of protest today over the killing. U. S. Secretary of state john kerry has publicly blasted the unnamed Senior Obama Administration official who recently called israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a chickenst. Speaking to the atlantic magazine, the official said netanyahu wont do anything to reach an accommodation with the palestinians or with the sunni arab states. Kerry called the remarks disgraceful. I think we need to work quietly and effectively and we condemn anybody who uses language such as was used in this article, it does not respect reflect a president or me. It is disgraceful, unacceptable, think neitheri have everobama nor i heard that word around me or the white house. I dont know who these anonymous people are they keep hitting quoted in things. They make life much more difficult. In iraq, bodies of 150 members of a sunni tribe which battled the Islamic State have reportedly been found in mass graves. Officials told reuters the militants took the men from their villages to the city of ramadi, killed them and buried them. The discovery came as u. S. Chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, general martin dempsey, called for the expansion of a u. S. Training and Advisory Mission into anbar province, but said the Iraqi Government would first need to arm the sunni tribes. Meanwhile in syria, the wave of first Iraqi Kurdish troops have passed through turkey to aid in the defensive against isis militants in the besieged city of kobani. A Monitoring Group says bombings by the regime of stern president Bashar Alassad has killed more than 200 civilians over the past 10 days alone. On thursday, u. S. Defense secretary chuck hagel acknowledged u. S. Airstrikes in syria may be aiding the alassad regime. As we in the coalition go sfter isil, to help the iraqi suit secure the government and also the middle east, assad derives some benefit of that, of course, but what were talking about is a longerterm strategy that is effective in doing what we think and the people of the middle east as to what is required to stabilize and secure that part of the world ineffective in inclusive governments. The United Nations is warning foreign fighters are flocking to militant groups in iraq and syria on a unprecedented scale. A u. N. Report obtained by the guardian finds 15,000 people from more than 80 countries have are fighting alongside the Islamic State and similar groups. In egypt, the mother and daughter of a prodemocracy activist are on Hunger Strike to demand his release and the , release of his imprisoned sister. Laila soueif and mona seif have been on a partial Hunger Strike since september. They stopped eating and Drinking Water on monday when Alaa Abdel Fattah was detained yet again for breaking an antiprotest law. Fattah has been imprisoned multiple times since egypts 2011 revolution, missing the birth of his child, and more recently, the death of his father. His sister sanaa has been sentenced to three years in prison for violating the same antiprotest law. She has been on Hunger Strike in prison for over 60 days. Kaci hickox, the nurse who was quarantined in new jersey after returning from treating ebola patients in sierra leone, has violated state quarantine rules in maine. After hickox went on a bike ride with her boyfriend, maine Governor Paul Lepage vowed to use the full extent of his authority allowable by law to keep her in her home. Well talk more about kaci hickox after headlines. In nigeria, the Islamist Militant Group boko haram has captured the northeastern town of mubi, forcing thousands to flee. Reuters reports the militants burned down the main market and killed dozens of people, including a University Lecturer and his entire family. Protesters opposed to the president s 27 year rule have gathered in the capital a day after setting parliament ablaze. The protests erupted over a plan by president Blaise Compaore to extend his rule. The military opened fire on demonstrators and up to 30 people have been reported killed in the unrest. President compaore has agreed not to seek reelection, but he has defied calls to step down. A military spokesperson announced the current government would be dissolved and a curfew imposed overnight thursday. The National Assembly has dissolved. The government is dissolved. The transitional body will be set up in consultation with all the forces of the nation in order to prepare for the return to normal Constitutional Order within a. Of 12 months of the latest. A curfew is in place across the country starting today from 7 00 p. M. To 6 00 a. M. To preserve the safety of persons and property. Plans toy has canceled tax internet use after tens of thousands of hungary ands took to the streets in protest. Estimate stations began sunday when demonstrators flung computer parts at the headquarters of hungarys ruling rty. Russia, ukraine and the European Union have reached a deal to resume the flow of russian gas to ukraine. The 4. 6 billion accord secures gas supplies until march, both for ukraine and European Countries on the receiving end of its pipelines. The gas will be paid for with help from the International Monetary fund and what the European Commission called unprecedented levels of aid from the European Union. The deal comes amidst escalating tensions as prorussian separatists plan to hold elections sunday in eastern ukraine. Lawmakers in argentina have passed legislation to attract foreign oil and gas companies. Argentina has the Third Largest deposits of shale oil and natural gas in the world. The measure provides longer contracts and other incentives for multinationals to exploit those reserves. In related news, Mexicos Supreme Court has rejected a request to hold a National Referendum on reforms passed earlier this year that opened mexicos oil and gas sector to private multinationals for the first time in 76 years. Three american siblings who went missing in the mexican state of tamaulipas nearly three weeks ago have been confirmed dead after their bodies were identified. Witnesses reported seeing the victims being abused and then seized by members of a local police unit called hercules, which provides security to officials in the city of matamoros. A new probe finds federal officials severely botched the investigation of a suspected arms smuggler and allowed him to funnel grenade parts into mexico. The probe by the Justice Department Inspector General involved the phoenix, Arizona Division of the bureau of alcohol, tobacco, firearms and explosives the same unit involved in the botched gunsting operation fast and furious. In this case, federal agents intercepted shipments of grenade parts, but allowed them to be delivered to alleged smuggler Jean Baptiste kingery. Some of the parts later turned up at a crime scene in mexico. The fbi is quietly seeking a broad expansion of its power to hack into, spy on, and control computers in the United States and around the world. The guardian reports the Justice Department is seeking the change before an obscure regulatory body called the Advisory Committee on criminal rules. Civil liberties groups say the change, which is being sought without congressional approval or public debate, would effectively give the fbi a green light to hack into computers anywhere in the world. In pennsylvania, prosecutors say they will seek the Death Penalty against a survivalist who has been on the run for seven weeks after ambushing state troopers, killing one of them. Eric frein was captured by police on thursday. South Carolina Republican senator Lindsay Graham is facing controversy over remarks he made at allmale dinner at a private club. Cnn played an audio recording of grahams comments earlier this month. Help you withto hack your tax statuses. [blee[p] senator grahams Campaign Said the statement about helping white men was a joke that was taken out of context. Graham is seeking reelection to a third term on tuesday. Apple ceo tim cook has come out publicly as gay. In an article for bloomberg businessweek, cook wrote im proud to be gay, and i consider being gay among the greatest gifts god has given me. A top lobbyist has been caught on tape Encouraging Oil and gas industry executives to dig up embarassing details about environmentalists and to exploit emotions like fear. An executive gave the New York Times a secret recording of the speech by richard berman, a lobbyist who creates nonprofits, then covertly uses them to advance a range of corporate agendas. Berman made the speech in june as he raised millions to fund an ad campaign called big green radicals, which has run profracking ads in colorado and pennsylvania. And warren anderson, who was ceo of Union Carbide during one of the worst industrial disasters in history, has died at the age of 92. On december 3, 1984, about 40 metric tons of toxic gases leaked from a Union Carbide plant in bhopal, india. While the official death toll is nearly 4,000, campaigners say its closer to 25,000 with many still suffering. Anderson never faced trial for the disaster although india tried multiple times to extradite him. In 2012, activists rallied in new york to call for anderson to go to india to face charges. Twelveyearold akash viswanath mehta of the group kids for a Better Future addressed anderson directly. I would like today to appeal to warren andersons conscious, his tilt and grief and asked him to stand beside me. If used truly haunted by the disaster that happened on his watch, which destroyed an entire community, i ask them to come forward and make a moral statement about what thright thing is. Directing us to do. Warren anderson died in september at a nursing home in vero beach, florida. His family did not announce his death and it nearly went unnoticed until the New York Times noticed an obituary in the weekly newspaper in vero beach. The headline was, warren anderson, 93, dies here in obscurity. And those are some of the headlines, this is democracy now, democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. Welcome to all our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. Before we move onto our first segment, you wrote an interesting piece in the New York Daily News quarantined nurse kaci hickox. Interviewed yesterday norm siegel, the attorney for kaci hickox, one of the two attorneys, and he told me the story basically of how she suddenly contacted him on saturday afternoon, which was in forcedolation isolation and newark hospital, after reading a, tn made on a times the new york website. First her boyfriend called her and then she called him and asked for his help in trying to make get out of the forced isolation new Jersey Governor Chris Christie had put her in. A longtime civil rights attorney here in new york city. He remembers precisely the same kind of panic that occurred back in the mid1980s when he took over the new York Civil Liberties Union and that was over aids and the demands of Many Americans that aids patients be quarantined. So hes very familiar with this kind of hysteria or panic, and he immediately offered to go out threatennew jersey and the state of new jersey with a lawsuit. Of course, Chris Christie back down and released kaci hickox so she could go home to maine and new yorks Governor Andrew Cuomo then backed off a little bit on his own quarantine saying people returning Health Workers from west africa could be quarantined at home. But the reality is, these two governors are still insisting that even know you may not have symptoms, you can be quarantined under their powers in new york state and new jersey, and now the governor in maine for the tea party candidate, facing a tough reelection on tuesday, has also insisted that she be quarantined. And shes continuing to defy the quarantine and basically, welcoming a lawsuit, which norm siegel feels she is a very good chance, there is a lawsuit ,iled, to get her to maintain that he believes he can win. Kaci hickox went back to maine and Chris Christie also went to maine that same day the campaign for lepage. There are many Health Workers who have just gone home in the United States, and she is tested negative for ebola. Not only that, Governor Cuomo admitted in an interview this week that as many as 30 to 50 people are entering jfk Health Workers from west africa every day, but the governor refuses to say how many of those he has also insisted he put on home quarantine. It is basically politicians who know nothing about Public Health interfering in what the cdc, doctors without borders, and even the new england journal of medicine said should be the proper policy. Lets go to kaci hickox, just wrapping up the segment, which he made headlines thursday as she took a bike ride with her boyfriend. Several journalists attended to interview her while she rode. Going out on a bike ride while the state police are here. Actione is no legal against me, so i free to go on a bike ride. What does it say of the court order . When you find out, you tell me. How does it feel to be on the road . It feels amazing. Did you talk about taking the step last night . Know, just this morning. Something you do often . Yes. Thank you. I have to go speak with the Health Department out. Looks these reporters were following as she rode the bike. Troopers,y, the federal authorities, are also there, not clear well, they did not tackle her when she went out. Her bravery going into west africa to treat ebola patients, but now also standing up eloquently to the bullying of some of these politicians. Richmond,w to california where chevron is being accused of buying the government. The comedy has spent one and 3 million to back a slate of pro candidates. According to a report in the los angeles times, chevron has paid for tv attack ads, purchase based on virtually every billboard in town, funded a flood of mailers and financed a fake news webte run by chevron employees. The move comes two years after a massive fire at chevrons oil refinery in richmond sent 15,000 residents to the hospital. It was a third refinery fire since 1989 in a city. The city of richmond responded to the latest fire by suing chevron am accusing officials of placing profits and executive pay over public safety. Now chevrons attempt in to defeat some of its critics in City Government. Theres one recent political ad paid for by chevron. Seems like whenever richmond faces a tough problem, mayor Gayle Mclaughlin packs her suitcase and flies away. When richmond needed someone to fight crime, she flew to ecuador. Publicsomeone to fix housing, she flew to cuba. When richmond needed someone to attract new businesses and jobs, she flew to d. C. To try to free convicted foreign spies. Mayor Gayle Mclaughlin ran away when we needed her the most. What would we elect her to city council . An ad by chevrons Campaign Committee moving forward. In 2006, she was a late was elected mayor. She is now running for city council. She was not allowed to run for third term as mayor due to term limits. Richmond mayor Gayle Mclaughlin now joins us from san francisco. Welcome back to democracy now can you explain this for our global audience that may not understand what is going on in richmond right now, the extent to which chevron is a player in your municipal elections. Thank you. It is a pleasure to be here. What is happening in richmond now is that we have made remarkable a remarkable transformation over the past 10 years since i have been in office, with other progressive electors and a progressive committed he. Over the past 100 years, we were known as a company town, which chevron had control of the cy council, having the City Council Bought out, in their pocke. We had among the highest rates in the nation of violence. We were known for widespread corruption. Richmond the refinery situation, of allowing it to theinue to pollute without refinery payinits fair share of taxes, without hiring locally , without upgrading the refinery in a responsible way in terms of having safety for our residents. In fact, they have thousands of claims holding corroded pipes together. And that is what led to the fire of 2012. Firee damage caused by the . The progressive alliance, that Richmond Progressive Alliance ran people for elected office. We 15 lol eltion including my mayoraleat. And we set about making the peoples priorities the focus of our work as elected officials. To many, manyed games. We won a 114 million Tax Settlement chevron. We renovated our park. Many, many urban renewal projects. We reduced our crime dramatically. 70 reduction in homicides. We are continuing to put forward sustainable projects. Number one in the bay area for solar insult per capita. Solar per capita. We are reversing that downward spiral. Chevron feels very threatened by that. They want to stop us as progressives. They want to continue and regain the city council in their pockets. So we are standing tall and making it clear we are a community that defines its own destiny, and will continue to do so. I want to read from a statement chevron made to msnbc in response to reports it has spent 3 Million Dollars in richmonds local elections this year. The amount of money we spend to inform voters must be viewed in the context of the more than 500 million in local taxes, social investment and spending on local vendors from chevron over the past five years, and our 90 million social and environmental commitment to the city that will follow once our 1 billion refinery modernization is allowed to proceed. Your response . Sure, chevron does some good things in the city of richmond, but it comes at a price. First and foremost, they require all the money that they give to to come with this requirement that these nonprofits utilize chevrons logo in the press releases, and their press conferences where chevron gets to do its pr campaign. So it comes at a price. Yes, we think those are good projects that there contributed to, but it is no excuse for one domineering company to try and buy a citys elections. What about the fire that led to your counsel and your government seeking redress from chevron . Could you talk about the impact on your community . The 2012 horrific fire caused great damage to our community. It was a situation where 15,000 people went to local hospitals for respiratory ailments. We had damages to our local economy in terms of our Property Values being lowered. There was a slowdown in attraction of new businesses to richmond. So we feel there was a huge trauma and huge impact on the health and Economic Future of richmond. So we are taking them to court. We have a lawsuit, the firstever lawsuit that the city of richmond has waged against chevron. And we think we deserve a city council that will stand strong and not drop this lawsuit. If chevronfriendly candidates get into city council, we fear that is exactly what will happen, the lawsuit will be dropped were very weak settlement will come about. We want to stand strong and get the kind of compensation that the community deserves. And we want to make it clear that chevrons Corporate Culture must change, that they must put the health and wellbeing of our community before their corporate profits. Mayor, can you talk about the richmond standard website which describes itself as committed driven news, but it is actually unded entirely by chevron . The richmond standard website tries to promote itself as a news website, but in fact, it is a Public Relations chevron Public Relations website. All of the articles in their are chevronfriendly articles, articles that promote chevrons agenda. It is not anywhere near even a mainstream new service that pretends to be somewhat neutral. It is clearly a chevron pr website. I want to thank you very much for being with us. Mayor Gayle Mclaughlin, mayor of shed, the green mayor is the mayor of the largest it is the largest city, richmond, to have a green mayor. Her term is ending. She is term limited out and now running for the Richmond City council. We will continue with Green Party Politics in a moment here in new york. Stay with us. [music break] what are we gonna do, by dramarama this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. We continue our election coverage, were joined by another Green Party Candidate, howie hawkins, running for new york governor against andrew cuomo, rob astorino, and michael mcdermott. Hawkins is a number of green candidates running for office across the country on tuesday. We welcome you to democracy now talk about your platform. We were just speaking with the Green Party Mayor of richmond, california. We call it a Green New Deal for new york. It involves five basic economic human rights that have been on the table since the mid1930s. Calling for second economic to live right in the Civil Rights Movement brought it up between the march on washington in the poor peoples campaign. Wage, affordable housing, health care, and a good education. We call it the Green New Deal because the centerpiece of our program is to fight Climate Change by banning fracking and committing to 100 clean energy by 2030. We think that addresses the problems we face in the state. We are the state with the most unequal distribution of income of any state in the United States. We the most segregated by both race and clouds class in housing and schools. I want to turn back to the debate, the only thing televised debate in the state that took place last week. Juan gonzalez, asked the theopening statement about Moreland Commission. You appointed a special panel , the moreland position, to root out corruption in albany but suddenly abolish her own panel less than the your ago your own panel less than a year later and press accounts a your aides pressured its members to squash certain investigations. Manhattan u. S. Attorney is now how do you respond to those who call this the darkest stain of your first term, and can you assure us tonight that your office never sought to interfere with the Moreland Commission or any attorney general investigations prompted by it, or even the current federal probe . Yes, thank you for bringing up because theres been a lot of misinformation. Two basic points. Number one, we appointed a commission and i said to the chairman of the commission who happens to be the preeminent District Attorney in the state of new york, in my opinion, happen to be a republican chairman fitzpatrick. You make all the decisions. Yes, people gave him advice, public ends, my staff talked to him and everyone staff talked to him, but he has repeatedly said he made all the decisions independently. He is been saying that for months. There was not abrupt stopping. I wanted the commission to get a law passed. That is why i and panel did. A set of the legislation, when you pass the law, the commission go away. They passed the law. The law has in independent enforcement agent, redefined bribery the was applauded by all the das, and that is what we needed was a new law so the das could actually prosecute. And that is what we produced. That is Governor Cuomo in the statewide debate that was held. One gonzalez throwing out the first question on the Moreland Commission. It was interesting the governors response, how howie hawkins, you also respond with the other candidates, but also the fracking question that came as well. You raised a similar problem to what is being alleged in the Moreland Commission coverup, which is the Governors Office attempt to squash some findings of the u. S. Geological survey report on fracking. Could you expand on that and also with the governor said about the Moreland Commission . Governor cuomo is nixonian in the way he covers up. Corruption,e public which he was saying was independent, but when he shut it down he said, its mine, i can shut it down. The next week he says it is independent. There was an earlier Moreland Commission that was written up the New York Times yesterday on public utilities, he tried to get that change. He did not like the results of the study that said fracking to pollute the water through various infrastructure. I think that signals what he is going to do. But according to the report in capital new york website, his people directed them to change her pressured the federal scientists to change their findings. Right. And that rolls up the argument he is waiting on the science to define fracking. On common core, another thing come he said, whom he . I had nothing to do with it. When in fact he signed things with the National Governments association, putting new york into that program and appointed john kane, who spend through forceful advocate for that. You cant trust what he says. What is it like to run for statewide office as a Green Party Candidate, for people who are watching this around the country and for people outside this country where more parties are involved in electoral politics . And for a ups driver, a regular life . Frankly, it is a lot of fun. We get to talk to a lot of fun. We are a rainbow ticket. I running mate is enough economic and teacher. Our candidate for attorney general has been a peoples lawyer in the south bronx for 40 years. Our candidate for comptroller has been a union member working with juvenile justice issues with csca for 40 years. It is like running for local election. We cant afford all the broadcast advertising that cuomo has got. Ofwas given millions dollars. A tiny fraction of the 1 . S is the 99 . We get a good reception. Doing a Grassroots Campaign is a real task. We are growing and getting stronger. How do you get on the ballot . Pucks i ran four years ago and got over 50,000 votes, that gives automatic ballot slot. Are able to start campaigning back in the spring, instead of doing a big addition over the summer, which we had to do before. Four years ago, you got about 1 of the vote but some of the polls are showing you close to 10 of support among registered voters. Of do you explain this surge support for your candidacy . Partly, we are organized as a party. Andrew cuomo has been my best campaign worker. He has pushed people. The teachers are angry. The Public Workers are upset with him. The parents are upset with his common core highstakes testing regime across the board. Schools are underfunded. My city lost one quarter of its Teaching Staff and cuomo is about go into his fifth austerity budget. In the fracking issue is huge. I think after the election, he is going to go with fracking. That is what this signals say. Im the only candidate for a ban on fracking and a commitment to clean energy. All of those things is pushing people our way. Oruomo created a new party help support the creation of a new party, the Womens Equality Party. And many people believe he is trying to do a counterweight to the working families party, which, ironically, endorsed him, but he really is not seeking their support. Could you talk about the Womens Equality Party . It is a new wrapper for the old package. In terms of womens equality, he is said nothing about childcare are paid family leave are raising the minimum wage. Most minimumwage workers are women. So his womens equality agenda doesnt address the problems, particularly of workingclass women. He has other packages. He is on the independent line but he is not independent. The working families party, just because he is that wrapper, doesnt make him a champion of the working class. His whole term in office has been an attack on working people. How do you get covered by the media . How much coverage do you get . And what other advice do give nunnally to Green Party Candidates, but thirdparty candidates . I got 40 for City Council Race a couple of years ago. We come close. My vices, develop relationships with your local media and keep feeding them information, media journalists, help them do their job. They like getting information. Just keep plugging away. We have done well. Particularly upstate and the smaller markets, we are covered. When we show up, they want to cover us. I think were interesting to them. We are serious. We made breakthroughs in the city of new york. New york times, the post have covered us in the past, newsday. When i ran four years ago, my name was not mentioned in those journals. Were still working more on the Network Broadcast media. But i think were doing good. The problem is, we cant compete with cuomos advertising which swamps the airwaves. Big parties have big organization. Were still building hours at the grassroots. But we are growing. Talks i want to ask you about Charter Schools. I asked that question in the debate. You and the libertarian candidate inserted by the republican and Democratic Candidates basically avoided it and talked about other things. Well, i did answer it and i was thinking of articles you had written a long time ago about four years ago, about how the Hedge Fund Investors in the Charter Schools are making money using tax credits and used albany as an excuse example. I wish i had done what they are done when we got the question on are you going to surf for years. I said yes. What i shouldve done is then turned to our platform for civil rights and Racial Justice cause cuomo was pointing the finger at rob astorino for not applying to a court order but cuomo doesnt have a positive program. We do. We want to do with the massive segregation we have in new york state. We want a new Public Housing program that can begin to desegregate with mixed income, scattered housing. Then we have the criminal Justice System. This government has been very hardhearted. If you clement sees. We have tens of thousands of listeners in for nonviolent drug offenses and we need to get them out of prison and expunge the record so they can have access to jobs, housing, and employment. The disparities in the criminal Justice System are the worst segregation we have got. We want to thank you for joining us, howie hawkins, Green Party Candidate for new york governor running against libertarian, republican, and incumbent Governor Cuomo. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Speaking of elections, on tuesday, democracy now will be doing a five hour broadcast, Midterm Election night. We will be beginning at 7 00 eastern standard time. There are many stations that will be running it. You can also go to our website democracynow. Org. Covering the ballots, the close races, and the not so close races. We will be covering Midterm Election 2014. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. When we come back, the Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Eric Lichtblau on his new book called, the nazis next door how america became a safe haven for hitlers men. You can read the prologue on our website. It is a fascinating book that looks at how even after world and others in the concentration camps were held in these camps as displaced persons. As they were held, so many of them turned away from the United States. A number of some of hitlers top man were allowed in. Among them, the top scientist recruited by the cia and the fbi. That is what Eric Lichtblau will be talking about in just a moment. We will be back in a moment. [music break] this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. Now the problemt we just heard as we have a problem with the audio line to the New York Times studios in washington, d. C. So we are going to say that interview for next week and turn to the second part of the interview that we have done this week on genetically modified organisms. Colorado and oregon could soon become the first state in the nation to pass Ballot Initiatives mandating the labeling of Food Products containing genetically modified organisms. Earlier this year, vermont became the first day to approve gmo labeling through the legislative process, but the decision is now being challenged in the court. Numerous items are already sold in Grocery Stores containing genetically modified soy and corn, become phase are not required to inform consumers. The proposition say gmo foods can be harmful to human health due to pesticide residues and the altered crop genetics. Earlier this week, we spoke. O professor Sheldon Krimsky europeans operate on the precautionary principle. They save you introduce a new product on the market, you should of i you waited before the consumers get a chance to purchase it. In america, we made a decision that genetically modified foods are safe before you even have to test it. So the government never required tests for gmos. Who made the decision . It was made by commission, first of all, the United States headed by dan quayle and then the Vice President after president bush. Correct. Decisione 1990s, the was made how to divide the Regulatory Authority over ,enetically modified organisms plants, animals, etc. There were three agencies. The epa would deal with incremental effects, usda would be dealing with how it affects agriculture, and the fda would be addressing the questions of human health. Why are you concerned . Because we have some evidence that Animal Studies cant produce adverse effects when fed gmos. There have been many studies. Isy of them have said there no effect. But a few of them i found 22 studies give an example. One of these was published in one of the most important journals in International Journals that started publishing the british medical journal. It is among the most prestigious journals in the world. 1999 by aublished in scientist who lived in britain for 50 years, originally was born in hungary. He was a researcher and published a study which showed his animals were harmed when fed genetically modified potato. That is Sheldon Krimsky, editor of the gmo deception, what you need to know about the food corporations and Government Agencies putting our families and our environment at risk. To see the whole interview, part one and two, go to democracynow. Org. It looks like we have the audio fixed. We end todays show with Investigative Reporter Eric Lichtblau, author of a new book that unveils the secret history of how america became a safe haven for thousands of nazi war criminals. Many of them were brought here after world war ii by the cia, and got support from fbi director j. Edgar hoover. Lichtblau first broke the story in 2010, based on newly declassified documents. Now, after interviews with dozens of agents for the first time, he has published his new book. It is called the nazis next door how america became a safe haven for hitlers men. You can read the prologue on our website. Eric lichtblau was last on democracy now in 2008 after he and fellow reporter james risen won the Pulitzer Prize for exposing the nsas warrantless wiretapping, despite white house pressure to kill the story. He joins us now from the the New York Times d. C. Bureau. Welcome back. This is a fascinating book. You open the book by telling us the story of a man in new jersey. Why dont you tell us about him. His name is tom. Who had many bosses over the years who worked for the fbi, the cia, and before that, he worked for the naziss. That opening senior talking about takes place in the mid1970s when people at the Justice Department were first starting to become aware that s and he was. Nazi he and come under investigation. Hidden living in the u. S. For 20 years at that point. He went back to his old handlers at the cia, somewhat frantically, because the heat was really being put on him over his past and the accusations that he was in fact a nazi, which he vehemently denied. In the declassified documents from the cia, there is memo after memo or the cias were counting these frantic phone calls and conversations with him where he is saying, what am i going to do . The cia is honest as frantically then meeting amongst themselves to say we have a little problem on our hands here and it is going to get worse. Head allenut the cia dulles, secretary of state under eisenhower, and his role in shaping this policy. He was one of the intelligence titans of the 1950s, one of the original cold warriors. He is someone who believed that nazis andmoderate actively recruited them himself and in a number of cases, intervened on their behalf when you were facing accusations about their past, about their were crumbs. N nazi he and J Edgar Hoover were the two linchpins in developing the strategy of recruiting exnazis as cold warriors, as antisoviet assets who they believed could gather intelligence for the u. S. The irony is, a lot of these exnazis used as spies by the cia and fbi turned out to be bad spies. There were all sorts of files i sxamined showing that the nazi were found to be liars and cheats, embezzlers, and even found to be soviet Double Agents in a couple of cases. Not only do they have the incredible baggage of being nazi s, but they were not even good spies. The story you tell of allen dulles meeting with nazi general in switzerland, he was the number two man. Explain the deal they were making, and then talk about the scientist that were recruited. I just flew back from austria and sat next to a man who lives in vienna who grew up in northern new jersey, and he said his father was brought from to northernhe cia new jersey because he was a scientist and they wanted him here, not in russia. Right. It started with a scientist. We brought them over some thing called program paperclip, 1600 nazi scientists. These were engineers, doctors, jet propulsion experts, things like that. The most famous was one of the guiding hands and getting us to the moon 1969. Officially under the policies put in place by human and eisenhower after the war, these were not supposed to be nazis whatever that means. Thousands of people died in making hitlers rockets. These were doctors who were killed. Many became honored for their work in the United States. Roler as allen dulles, his in having negotiations and conversations with nazis began even before the war was over, believe it or not. A few months before the war ended, theres a meeting i talk about in the book where he met a safe house in zurich with s ex chief of staff who is try to save his own skin. He relies to his war was about to be over in three months and he was understandably afraid of being charged in war crimes. He was involved in setting up the Train Network that led millions of jews and others to their deaths. General, general carl wolf, could help end the war earlier. As it turned out, they ended the war may be two weeks earlier in the region in italy that wolf controlled, but as part of these negotiations, they were sipping scotch over a lovely fireside in zurich for months and months after the war, even for the first couple of years. Dulles effectively protected general wolf from war crimes charges. Being a chief defendant, one of the top nazi defendants at nuremberg, to being merely a witness and servers no time in prison. In fact, he was nominally a prisoner as a pow, he was allowed to wear a gun, went boating on the weekends and austria, let sort of veterans life after the war thanks to the health of allen dulles who went on to become the first director of the cia. One of the heroes of your story hour of your book is a reporter named chuck allen who first began exposing this underground railroad of evildoers into the United States, but at first for many years he was ignored. Talk about him. Right, right. Chuck allen became sort of a hero of mine as i was writing this book. He was a leftwing journalist and early 1960s, writing for obscure jewish publications, sometimes communistmeaning publications. He started running exhaustively in the 1960s about the fact, which was really unknown at the time, that there were nazis and living openlytors in the United States. He wrote a 40page piece for jewishne called currents which was affiliated with the commonest party. Of,t, he documents the role for instance, a bishop in chicago and a state Department Analyst who had clear ties to the nazis and atrocities. He was not only ignored, as you say, sort of written off as some fbi,wing kook, but at the they started paying attention to report J Edgar Hoover ordered him to be wiretapped for number of years, and that fbi agents trailed him as he would try to gather evidence on nazi atrocities by people inside the United States. So he was seen as a subversive, as a communist plant. Was either ignored or shun or actually retaliated against for writing these things in the 1960s. This is a time when really no one else noticed or cared that at that point there were hundreds, thousands of nazis living openly in the United States. He may have been ignored by the public, but he was being harassed by the fbi at the same time the fbi and the cia were protecting these nazis. Another amazing part of the story is how so many of those in the concentration camps afterwards, the allies were running these concentration camps. And the jews were there. And often, the nazi yoda bees in these camps would be part in charge of them by the United States would be put in charge m by the United States. That was one of the most alarming things that i did not know before started writing this book will step the most republican of all was the treatment of the survivors, not just the jews, but communists, survived others who the holocaust buffer in months, and even years after the end of the war, were still kept inside the concentration camps themselves under her behind barbed wire, under armed guard, sometimes under the supervision of other nazi pows. I learned it was general patton, a war hero, all blood and guts they called him, who oversaw the cams. He was the supreme allied commander after the war. I looked at his journals. He was a verily antisemi. Antisemite. There was a scathing report to truman by an emissary of germans , girl harrison, that compared the camps the United States was running after the war to the nazis attrition camps. Harrison wrote the only difference is that were not exterminating the jews for which you think of that in hindsight. ToEric Lichtblau, we have end the show, but we want you to stay and we will put part 2 online at democracynow. Org. Eric lichtblau, his new book published this week, the nazis next door how america became a safe haven for hitlers men. You can read the prologue at democracynow. Org. Democracy now is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. Email your comments to outreach democracynow. Org or mail them to democracy now p. O. Box 693 new york, new york 10013. [captioning made possible by democracy now ] dundon irelansteeped in traditions that stretch far back into the distant past. For 10,000 years, humans have lived on this island located off the western edge of europe, once at the edge of the known world and now a stepping stone to the new. We were building these vast temples in stone a thousand years before the egyptians built the pyramids. Our next parish is new york or boston, across the wild and deep atlantic ocean. Ireland is a land of contrasts, defined by beautiful, rolling countryside and rugged, savage cliffs. Its a country that has a profound respect for the land. Farming started here 6,000 years ago, and weve never looked back. We produce the best beef in the world,