Transcripts For KCSM Democracy Now 20160519

Church where a father of five usborn children who has lived in the country for more than 15 years has sought sanctuary to avoid deportation back to mexico. Maybe it would be a psychological, for my children and my wife to visit me very often. It would be very difficult if ice came for me, difficult for them. But we hope this doesnt happen. Amy and we remember the late rebel reporter john ross who died five years ago. I could have not been close to the 1970s movement if i had not spent so many years living in an Indigenous Community and understanding dynamic of the indigenous life in rural mexico. Amy we will speak to norm stockwell, editor of a new rosssion of john lectures. All that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now, democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. French president holland and greek officials have said the egypt air passenger jet the disappeared this morning en route from paris to cairo has crashed. Egyptian and greek authorities are searching for the jet, which has 66 people aboard. There is no information yet about what caused the crash. Last november, a Russian Airlines plane was brought down over egypt, killing all 224 people on board. The selfproclaimed Islamic State claimed responsibility for taking down that plane. Meanwhile, an azerbaijani plane has crashed in southern afghanistan, killing 7 of the 9 people on board. The pentagon says the plane crashed during takeoff when one of the planes wings clipped the runway. Ecuador, venezuela, and el salvador have announced a are recalling their investors from brazil over the suspension of democratically elected president Dilma Rousseff. She faces impeachment proceedings over accusations of tampering with government accounts to hide a budget deficit. But she has accused her rightwing opponents of fomenting a coup. Salvadoran president Sanchez Ceren said he would not recognize the government of interim president michel temer, who himself faces corruption charges. The salvadoran president said we respect democracy and the peoples will. In brazil an act was done that was once done through military coups. Meanwhile, president Dilma Rousseff has criticized Michel Temers decision to install an allwhite male cabinet, during an interview with journalist glenn greenwald. How did you react when you saw his team . Look, i think that it seems to me this interim and illegitimate government will be very conservative in every aspect. One of which is the fact it is a government of white men, without blacks, in a country that in the last census in 2010 and i think this is very important more than 50 of the population self identified as income of african origin. I think not having any women or black people in the government shows a lack of care. Amy in washington, d. C. , Senate Democrats held a mock confirmation hearing wednesday for judge merrick garland, president obamas nominee to replace Justice Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court. No republican senators showed up to the mock hearing. Meanwhile, Presumptive Republican president ial nominee donald trump has unveiled a list of 11 candidates he would consider to fill scalias seat on the Supreme Court if he were elected president. The judges are overwhelmingly conservative and the majority are white men. The list includes judge william pryor, who has argued for the criminalization of consensual sex between gay and lesbian partners and who opposes abortions, including in cases of rape and incest. During law school, pryor said his inspiration for becoming a lawyer was because i wanted to fight the aclu. The list also includes judge thomas hardiman, who has supported strengthening mandatory minimum sentences, and judge raymond gruender, who ruled a 1978 pregnancy law does not give female employees the right to contraceptive coverage. Curiously, the list also includes judge don willett, who is known for his extensive commentary on twitter, where he has mocked donald trump multiple times, including in a donald trump haiku that read who would the donald name to scotus . The mind reels. Weepscant finish tweet meanwhile, donald trump met with former secretary of state Henry Kissinger in new york to discuss foreign policy. During his time in office, Henry Kissinger oversaw a massive expansion of the war in vietnam and the secret bombings of laos and cambodia. He also presided over secret he also orchestrated secret u. S. Military interventions across latin america, from bolivia to uruguay to chile to argentina. In nigeria, family members say one of 219 schoolgirls abducted by boko haram from their dormitory in chibok two years ago has returned home. 19yearold Amina Ali Darsha Nkeki is the first of the group to be rescued. 57 other girls managed to escape soon after the 2014 attack. Her return sparked renewed hope for the family members of other girls who are still missing. This is nkeki mutah. Hereu can imagine, we are every day of every day i have been here because of the hope. Has been kind to me because of the rescue of the one i got news today. Amy afghan Officials Say 5 people were killed in a u. S. Drone strike in Zabul Province tuesday. The Officials Say the victims were alqaeda militants, including one commander. The pentagon confirmed the strike but refused to say , whether anyone was killed. The parliament of the seychelles has voted to decriminalized sex decriminalize sex between consensual gay and lesbian partners. Before wednesdays vote, homosexuality was a crime punishable by up to 14 years in prison in the seychelles. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has formally apologized for the 1914 Komagata Maru incident in which canada turned away a japanese steamship in order to prevent more than 300 sikhs from immigrating to the country. The move was widely acknowledged to be aimed at keeping sikhs out of canada. Then premier of British Columbia sir Richard Mcbride said at the time we always have in mind the necessity of keeping this a white mans country. On wednesday, more than 100 years after the boat was turned away, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau finally apologized. No words can erase pain, suffering that they experienced. Regrettably, the passage of time means that none are alive to hear our apology today. Still, we offer it fully and sincerely. For our indifference to her plight, for our failure to recognize all that you had to offer, for the laws that discriminated against you so senselessly, and for not for all ofoner these things, we are truly sorry. We willorrow, friday, be broadcasting from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation studios in toronto, canada. Kentucky has elected the first African American to the state legislature in 20 years. On tuesday, attica scott won the democratic primary for state representative of the 41st district. She has no republican challenger for the falls general election. During the primary, scott overwhelmingly defeated longtime incumbent tom riner, best known for his support of kentucky county clerk kim davis, who was briefly jailed for refusing to issue marriage licenses to samesex couples following the Supreme Court decision legalizing Marriage Equality nationwide. Attica scott, in contrast, has been a longtime social justice activist and a vocal supporter of the black lives matter movement. In south carolina, the legislature has passed a bill banning abortion past 20 weeks, even in the case of rape and incest. Governor nikki haley has said she will sign the bill. The highest court in massachusetts has dealt a victory to four teenage plaintiffs in a lawsuit over climate change. In a case brought by the teenagers and environmental loops, the massachusetts Supreme Court found massachusetts failed to fulfill its legal obligations to reduce Greenhouse Gas emissions that are warming the planet. In a statement, 17yearold plaintiff Shamus Miller called the ruling a historic victory for young generations advocating for changes to be made by the government. The Global Climate change crisis is a threat to the well being of humanity, and to my generation, that has been ignored for too long, miller said. Here in madison, wisconsin the , graduate Student Union at the university of wisconsinmadison has voted to join the global boycott, divestment and sanctions movement. The 9000member union is the oldest graduate Student Union in the u. S. It becomes the third Student Union in about a month to vote to divest from israeli state institutions and corporations who do business in the israelioccupied palestinian territories. And today would have been the 95th birthday of civil rights activist yuri kochiyama. Until her death in 2014, kochiyama championed civil rights, protested racial inequality and fought for causes , of social justice. Her activism began after the bombing of pearl harbor, when she and her family were held in a japaneseamerican internment camp. She was with mathematics malcolm x the day he was gunned down in harlems audubon ballroom, cradling his head as he lay dying on the stage. Today, google marked her birthday with an illustration of the civil rights activist on its homepage. To see our interview, go to democracynow. Org. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. We are on the road, on our 100 city tour, today broadcasting from madison, wisconsin. On wednesday, democratic president ial candidate Bernie Sanders rallied supporters in san jose, california, emphasizing the importance of next months primary in the delegaterich state. All of you know that as part of the democratic nominating process, california has by far the most delegates at stake 475 of them. [cheers] the vast, let us win majority of those delegates. ,f we have a high voter turnout we will not only win, we can win by a lot, which is what we have to do. [cheers] and my hope is that this great state, one of the most progressive states in the country [cheers] , andmake it loud and clear say to the American People and the world, california is on board for a political revolution. Amy on tuesday, sanders won the democratic primary in oregon, while Hillary Clinton declared victory in kentucky with a razorthin. 5 lead. Meanwhile, over the weekend, Bernie Sanders supporters erupted in protest at the nevada state democratic convention. They say rules were abruptly changed and 64 sanders supporters were wrongly denied delegate status. Clinton ultimately won 20 pledged delegates to sanders 15. The state party chair, roberta lange, said she received Death Threats while state Party Headquarters were vandalized. Lange told cnn about the threats. We want you hung. We know where you live. We know where your grandson goes to school. We know where you work. And we are going to get you. That is a pretty huge threat. Amy Senate Minority leader harry reid urged sanders to condemn the behavior of some of his supporters, saying he faced a test of leadership. In a statement, sanders rejected violence, and noted that during the nevada campaign, shots were fired into his Campaign Office in the state, and his staffs housing complex was broken into and ransacked. He also accused Nevada Democratic leadership of using its power to prevent a fair and transparent process at the convention on saturday. This is Sanders Campaign manager jeff weaver speaking on cnn. He does not condone any kind of violence or threats. That language. But were not going to accept the millions of people who supported Bernie Sanders to be sort of rolled over in places like nevada by the way they handled that convention. Amy much disagreement remains over what actually happened or the Nevada Convention during the Nevada Convention. For more we are joined here in madison, wisconsin, by longtime media analyst, robert mcchesney. He is a professor at the university of illinois at urbanachampaign in the department of communication. He cofounded free press, a National Media reform organization. Mcchesney and john nichols recently cowrote the book, People Get Ready the fight against a jobless economy and a citizenless democracy. Bob mcchesney, welcome to democracy now mediasyou think of the coverage of the president ial race . It is been deplorable. We have talked about this in past years coming great in the current, allowing for that coverage is a rule, and this is an alltime low by main street corporate media. I would toss in pr in there. As a journalist, youre looking at one of the most distort stories in decades historic stories in decades. Entirely different vision of our society like no other candidate in decades. You would think this is the greatest story you could cover. You look to the sky and say, thank you for putting me here in 2016. We assume the Sanders Campaign is largely been neglected. It is barely covered. The coverage of the framing has been largely through the eyes of the establishment through the Hillary Clinton campaign. This guy is a nuisance, he is getting in the way up front of the real candidate for presumptive nominee. Presumptive going back to the beginning. When you see sanders or one of your surrogates on the air, generally it is, what would hillarys people want to ask him . It hasput it altogether, been pretty distressing. The source of special frustration for a lot of people that they have not really had a fair hearing and a fair exposure to people who rely upon Cable News Networks and the Mainstream Media to learn about. The other issue that is crucial, it gets to the nevada issue, it is also brought to the front how little extra journalism goes on. How much of it is simply regurgitating what people in power tell them, how much of the predictions that are mindless you know, there is all sorts of crucial issues everywhere you turn. Journalist diving into looking at like the claims about nevada. We had all of this reporting about purported threats and violence in nevada, but it has been basically taking a face fire the words of ones lied and is missing the words of the other side for this is videotape. They could go in an interview people and get to the bottom of it before they announced the results. Amy lets turn to their clintons press secretary who spoke on cnn and april. Today, ted ago divine from the Sanders Campaign was talking to you and you asked him, why doesnt senator sanders decide to run as an independent . For simplesaid that reasons, he decided to run as a democrat, he did not want to be a ralph nader. He did not want to be a spoiler. If you did not win the democratic nomination, he did not want to spoil the chance for the democrats to take the white house. , that is exactly what he will be doing. This is been an extraordinary effort the Sanders Campaign has embarked upon a brought so many people into the process but yesterday the tone of the attacks was suggesting the Democratic Party does not see fit to nominate Bernie Sanders, then it is not a party worth supporting. That would seriously impair our party to come together in these closing weeks. Amy Bob Mcchesney . That has also been the meme in virtually every store for the last month, they got their marching orders from the Hillary Campaign. It is an outrageous and absurd charge. All it takes for journalists is to look at 2000 and when Hillary Clinton was in a similar position. In the last two months, she refused to get out. In fact, Debbie Wasserman chair of they the Democratic National committee, argued even if she did not win the most elected delegates, the superdelegates should pick hillary because she would do better in november. She was making that argument then. That she should stay in and not worry about hurting obamas chances. There was as much evidence then that Hillary Clinton was doing damage their radically to obamas november chances than there is to data sanders is doing damage to Hillary Clintons november chances. Amy on saturday, roger stone acsed cnn of censoring stories about bill clintons treatment of women, suggested trump should shut cnn down if he is elected president. Organizations like cnn, which is not a News Organization but an advocacy group, and if you attempt to discuss this on the air, nothing is done. Pulled the cord on your microphone. They turn you off. Trump should turn off their fcc license. Theyre not a News Organization. They are about censorship. Any code that is roger stone, who is also the source nationals against Donald Trumps opponents. Amy dont get it fcc explain. Is a cable channel. Their deal is with the cable companies. It is not a direct license by the government. But the idea you would censor to solve a problem like this is to anyand antithetical tradition im interested in. I think he raises important point, which is a real concern in the case of Hillary Clinton, she did, for example, a massive corporate shake down tour after leaving the state department and before formally announcing for president in 2015, did 90 talks for at least 100,000 a pop that all went to a private ring. She made 21 million in personal profit while planning her run for president unofficially. No one is ever done this before. It is not just three Goldman Sachs talks, it is 90 talks to the largest corporations in america and some in canada. This has been reported once or twice and will show up periodically, but then it drops to the bottom of the ocean. Good journalists should not let it drop to the bottom of the ocean. I think our legitimate concerns i have not pursue the issues they could have and i think is right to make that point. This touches on another issue, the Hillary Campaign and the corporate media, but labor the point bernie has been so hard on her, so mean to her, unfair to her and weakening her for donald trump in the fall. He only mentions her briefly in his speeches, and never in a derogatory sense. If Hillary Clinton thinks Bernie Sanders is tough on her, wait until she sees what is coming round the corner. Amy donald trump is reportedly considering suing the New York Times after a major report on terms has treatment of women. At a cane can rally, he vowed to make it easier to sue News Organizations. Im going to open up our libel laws so when they write purposefully negative and horrible and false articles, we can sue them and when lots of money. We are going to open up those libel laws. New yorken the times writes a hit his, which is a total disgrace or when the Washington Post which is that for other reasons, rice a hit these, we can sue them and win money. Amy that is donald trump. Bob mcchesney . It sounds like something on a bar stool or something, just come up with some idea. Also, he wants to use litigation ensuing, which is his specialty. That is what his history is, winning through lawsuit. I think it is an outrage. You know i am probably as article of these news medias as anyone, but the solution is not to tie them up in lawsuits with lots of lawyers and legal fees and try to intimidate them and shut down news media, what remained of news media. Instead, should broaden it, create new voices and find new voices so we have a diverse marketplace of ideas and people who normally are cut out of the picture have an opportunity to produce. Donald trumps view is the exact opposite. It is either my way or the highway. Completely outrageous. Amy after the New York Times piece about his attitude toward women, he has escalated and on fox last night talking to sean hannity, talking about president clintons past behavior and now using the word rape when it comes to allegations of president clinton and what he did. Is there a clip for me to listen to . Usually they have a clip. Donald trump, if nothing else, is a master controlling the media dialogue. He knows what they want. He knows how to view bbs. Stories they would not touch with a 100 foot pole, donald makes front and center and is quite a keep them there as long as he wants. The solution if you have journalists, is to investigate the charges and report on them. And also to do the same for Donald Trumps side, so it is an equal playing field. Their specialty them on the other hand, is to announce the charges in this case trump makes then allow Hillary Clinton to deny them. Because back and forth, but no real journalism in the process. That is what is missing in action in the campaign coverage. Amy i want to ask about facebook. On wednesday, the Facebook Ceo Mark Zuckerberg network top media activists including glenn formerana perino, the bush spokesperson, and tucker carlson. The meeting took place a week after facebook was accused of suppressing news stories on political grounds. Former facebook workers told the suppresshey routinely news stories of interest to conservative readers by keeping them out of the trending stories section on the sidebar. It is a real problem in the sense that the issue here is the one that is not being talked about, the elephant in the room, which is facebook is a monopoly. They have a lot ballistic power power. Polistic what facebook or google or amazon does, has him at influence over how people see the world and understand the world. So the concerns are legitimate. The real question is, should we have a private monopoly that has so much political influence of political power . I think democratic theory is unequivocal at this point, no. This is antithetical to anything remotely close to a free press and a free society. Youre going to have this private monopoly no matter how lovely you think people are around it or how much you trust them are benevolent you might think they are, in our society and most others, what you get are the people the squeaky wheel gives them the attention are powerful people. It will naturally gravitate to soothing the interests of those who can arrange a private meeting, you are politically and economically influential. I dont think facebook is with homelessgs or peace activists and make sure their sides are covered. Regarding development, i dont think theyre getting covered with facebook, either. Amy what should happen to facebook . This is the great discussion of the next generation. As a society, we have to concern 4, 5,t as we afford 6 Companies Dominating terms of market value and they own the politicians, is this acceptable . If it isnt, where do we go from here . The status quo isnt going to work. Amy what about nationalizing . That is the traditional method. That means if you have a company so big that you cannot allow it to exist but it is an industry where it cannot be broken up. You cannot break it into 12 competing parts because of theorks, you take it out of market system like he had the post office outside the market system, not a private monopoly. You take it so it is a source of profit making. You make it municipally run, generally nationalized in some form. It then not only benefit the society as a whole but moeller businesses that are not getting ripped off by these monopolies to pay higher rates for their services that they would have to pay otherwise. Amy what about surveillance . That is another issue. We have these Digital Companies that are not just monopolies in the sense of a trading copy, but they are doing surveillance on have all of the data on all of us, and have strong interest in being good to the federal government and national government. They are really joined at the hip. The national government, once you get away from election time, has a clear record of not especially interested in Civil Liberties of citizens. That seems to be a nuisance of getting in the way of doing her job. That is another reason why this is a marriage that is not made in heaven for democracy. Amy how could facebook manipulate the president ial race or political race . Im not capable speculating on that. Think it is possible. I mean, subtle things. Maybe not even always intentional. One thing they do, regurgitating existing general is him. Regurgitating the stories coming down the pipe from the Mainstream Media, which are largely the problems then become amplified and become the problems worldwide. That is how they see issues. And we got to talk about some other media news. Charter communications announced when they it has completed its acquisition of Time Warner Cable and bright house networks, creating the second largest u. S. Broadband provider and thirdlargest paytv provider. Talk about the significance of this. This is your specialty, media consolidation. Cable companies and Telephone Companies and cell phone companies, these companies all are really government created monopolies. These are not free Market Companies that were tinkering in the garage in palo alto and came up with a great idea and lucked out. From the beginning, they have gotten the power by having the best lobbyists in town and getting licenses and not having competition. There monopolies by nature. We gravitated this is where the crony capitalism, the corruption of our system becomes so transparent were these copies have gobbled up all of the licenses and got rid of many of the regulations that prohibited concentration, and now we have two companies that are going to have about two thirds of all landline Broadband Internet access. Close to that in terms of Cable Television access as well. This is something antithetical in our entire history until quite receny, allowing these companies this much power. When we say they have two thirds, it is not like you have an option. That means in two thirds of the country, they havent a monopoly. They are not competing with each other. Facebook, save the but the representative of the people to allow there to be even t industry,trationis theres no justification. There is no benefit for the citizens of the country to do this. It is just the text the case of tremendous lobbying. These guys, their competitive advantage and economics is they have the best lobbying in the ,orld and that is it, period not that they serve consumers well. The lobbyists are getting huge bonuses for pulling off this deal. Amy what do you think should have happened . They should have prohibited it. We need a serious discussion about why we pay so much more for brand Broadband Access and Cell Phone Service an any other country in the world, sometimes by double, triple the rates for crappier service. Equivalent to the Health Insurance companies that exuberant high prices and paying off the regulators and politicians, a rational way for free society. The central component of our syndication infrastructure control. Amy your report card on president obama when it comes to media policy and how it compared to president bush . Bar youthat is a low are giving me right there. He is better than president bush, no question, in many respects. It has been mixed. I think it was a low priority. He got elected in 2008 running on a progressive platform, which you pretty much largely forgot most of ashley his first term. His first term. Basically, did not want to make waves or ruffle feathers. The second term under wheeler, implement it a great Net Neutrality policy. Has been good on some of the mergers to stop them, but still through a boat to charter with the time warner merger. Still a disappointment. For some one who ran in 2008 with a very progressive platform, internet, public idea, media consolidation, on community media, he basically has dropped the ball y i want to thank you, robert mcchesney, professor at the university of illinois at urbanachampaign in the department of communication. He cofounded free press, a National Media reform organization. Bob mcchesney and john nichols recently cowrote the book, People Get Ready the fight against a jobless economy and a citizenless democracy. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. When we come back, democracy now s like burke goes into a Chicago Church where a mexican immigrant has taken refuge after living in this country for more than 16 years. He has five usborn children. He is trying to prevent his deportation to mexico. Stay with us. [music break] amy this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. We are broadcasting from madison, wisconsin today, headed to toronto, canada, for the next two nights and then we will be back in new york in troy upstate. We are talking now about the immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, known as ice. It is reportedly preparing to launch a monthlong campaign of raids specifically aimed at rounding up and deporting undocumented Central American mothers and children. This follows a Similar Campaign of raids against parents and children in georgia, texas, and North Carolina earlier this year. While the raids have spread fear across neighborhoods, theyve also inspired communities to organize against deportations, including president obamas very own neighborhood of hyde park in chicago. As obama nears the end of his eight years in office, hes facing a unique legacy the president to deport more people than any other president in u. S. History. But less than a mile from his chicago home one undocumented , father has decided to fight his deportation to mexico by seeking sanctuary in a church. Jose juan has been living inside University Church for more than a month polls. He is the father of five u. S. Born children. He faces deportation because he was arrested seven years ago for driving under the influence. While we were in chicago earlier this week, democracy now mike burke went University Church to speak with jose juan and his supporters. I am an organizer with organize communities against deportations, chicagobased organization that supports people, families and individuals in deportation proceedings and fighting their cases. Right here behind me is University Church, which has become the home of jose juan, the father of five u. S. Citizen declaredwho sanctuary after he decided he will not leave the country as ice have been forcing him to do. What does that mean he has sought sanctuary inside this church . What that means is, he did not leave the country on the date that ice told him to leave the country. Ice is calling him an immigration fugitive. However, what jose juan says is, they made him a fugitive. Can you describe how the community has organized around this case . Of course. There is been Community Support here behind me at the church, and that means from people being with him 24 7, taking shifts to be at the church, making sure that he is ok, checking in on him. Also as a preventative step, we know that ice is not supposed to show up in sensitive locations as our churches, hospitals, and schools. However, we also know ice can be deceptive in their tactics, and we believe we have to be prepared in case ice comes here. We have extended and asked for Community Members to come here to meet jose juan, but also to volunteer and either host events or get to know him can you talk about how you personally got involved with organizing around immigrant rights . Ini became involved organizing because i myself was undocumented. I came here into the United States when i was nine years old and the story of jose juan and his family is not very far from the reality my reality. I am here because now i see the privilege that i have now being able to work with a work permit and drive the drivers license, and i dont have the same fear now that other people do, but i do believe if there is going to be change, if were going to stop deportations, it is going to take not just people that are aware of this issue, but it is going to take people that are directly affected to come out and to organize and it is also going to take people like myself to support and making sure the people that are directly affected are leading the way on this fight. Are in the hyde park section of chicago. I understand, you know, president obamas home is a mile or lesthan a mile from this church. Im wondering, what is your message to him . To stopessage has been deportations. We have been saying this since 2012 and even before that. It is unfortunate that president obama started his presidency in 2008 with promises to the immigrant community, which very soon ended up in deportations. That is basically what happened. Obama knows that and he has done it, yes the power to stop deportations, not just to give early to a specific group of people like he has done with dapa. And he can do more than that. We are hoping that with the president ial elections, both the president and the candidates running crop is will see that what is happening here is the representation also of the resistance that immigrants are taking on, the way that immigrants are resisting across the country. Lets go inside and meet the and theuan pastor. I have been living here in the United States for 16 years. Im a husband and father of five children. Citizens. S. My oldest daughter is about to turn 14 and my youngest son is two years old. Where are they right now . They lived in bolingbrook and they go to school in bolingbrook. They come to visit frequently, but not every day because i dont want them to miss school. If ice came and reported you, what would that mean to your family . Maybe it would be a psychological trauma for my children and my wife who visit me very often. It would be very difficult if ice came for me, difficult for them. That we hope this would not happen. What happened a month ago that forced you to seek sanctuary here in the church . I tried to do everything that ice told me to do. I tried to do everything they required, but they were not in the support i was receiving from Different Community groups. I know i made a mistake seven years ago for which i am very sorry for, but i think that this has made me learn more about life. What was that mistake seven years ago . Driving under the influence of alcohol. Offense,e of the one the United States government is threatening to deport you . Yes, for this offense, which i committed seven years ago. My case was an aggravated dui because i did not have a license, but none of us undocumented people could get licenses seven years ago, so it was very difficult for us. Behind you is a sign that says, or to signs that say, i stand witho. To the broadernt community and the dust what is it meant for the church and the Broader Community to be supportive of your case . It means a lot me. Im so thankful to the church and the community, to the groups that are with me. This means a lot to me and to my family. I am the pastor here at University Church. The tradition of sanctuary has gone back hundreds of years and for the church, we became involved in 1985 when there was civil war in guatemala and el salvador and people were coming up to the states and the states had once welcomed them but then we sent them all back into what was certain persecution. So for us at that moment, we welcomed to families to come and stay here and to be an side of the church, to be protected while they were fighting to have documentation and to be able to stay in the country which they ended up receiving and are still part of our churches life. Once we heard about jose juan and what was going on and talked to our partners, we knew this was a perfect opportunity for us to again become involved in something that is really a national crisis. What would happen if ice agents showed up right now with the intent of taking jose juan . What ice does is up to them. We cannot control what they will or wont do. We know if they do come, that there will be people here to serve as a witness to the extremes the government is willing to go to to separate a father from his family. Other than that, jose juan is welcome to be here and to live here and to receive the love of the church. And we hope that ice will not come into this place that they call a sensitive location. We call it a sacred space. The reality is, communities and homes are sacred spaces as well and the ways in which immigration policy is being enforced and set up right now, are are being raids having right now inside of those communities that are also sacred spaces. We should look at this as an opportunity to look at everything that is happening right now, not just for jose juan, the for millions of others to do something better, to see that im doing the right thing as a country right now. What is the response from the parish, to the church becoming a Sanctuary Church . Very supportive. I think folks not only inside the church are committed to this but around the community have been supportive and have sent us letters and voicemails to let us know that they appreciate her courage. Which urges begin to think about it in that sort of way, whether it is a church, temple, or mosque, or whatever, when they see this is the opportunity, like us has, welcome the stranger, this is a way to live that out in a real way and not a theoretical way. That other churches and faith communities are starting to ask the question of how they can live into that in a more meaningful and tangible way, and this is one of them. Amy that is reverend julian, pastor of the University Church in chicago, which opened its doors last month as a Sanctuary Church to house jose Juan Federico moreno, attempting to avoid deportation to mexico. All interviewed by democracy now s mike burke. Go to democracynow. Org to see where we interviewed mr. Garcia who sought sanctuary in Denver Church until ice assured him he was not a priority for deportation. He is still living here in the united dates. Rememberome back, we john ross, who covered mexico and the United States for decades. Stay with us. [music break] amy la Bamba Rebelde by las cafeteras. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. We are on the road in madison, wisconsin, headed to toronto, canada, today. This week mexican president president Enrique Pena Nieto proposed legalizing samesex marriage nationwide. Its currently legal only in certain states and mexico city. The announcement came as pena nieto faces renewed pressure over the disappearance of 43 students in mexico in september 2014. Multiple reports have pointed to a role by federal authorities and cast doubt on mexicos claim the students were killed by a drug gang. Well, if anyone understood the beauty and contradictions of mexico, it was the late independent reporter, activist and poet john ross. , ross covered social movements in mexico and latin america for nearly half a century. This is john ross during a visit to democracy now in 2010, shortly after the publication of his book el monstruo dread and , redemption in mexico city. I asked him about the title of the book. Mexico city is a monster of a city, and possibly in the world, 23 Million People living on a piece of land that does not really support them. There is no water, where there is very bad air. Her struggle to stay on this land i think has been epic. The city is a monstruo in itself. They characterize the beginnings it was called tenochtitlan, as an animal itself, and as the population grew, it acquired this name. But its our querido monstruo, its our beloved monstruo, and this new book is really a defensive place of a totally indefensible place. Amy that is john ross speaking to democracy now in 2010. He authored 10 nonfiction books, 10 books of poetry as well before he died in 2011. Now a new book captures some of the lectures ross gave to journalism students to teach them how to cover stories and create change. Its called, rebel reporting john ross speaks to independent journalists. In lecture one, the first chapter of the book, ross writes a good rebel reporter doesnt just take notes on rebellion. A good rebel reporter incites rebellion, makes people angry, encourages organization, offers them hope that another world is possible. A rebel reporter is a participant in rebellion or resistance or revolution or whatever you want to call the struggle for social change. Like the zapatistas, our words are our weapons. Well, were joined now by norm stockwell, coeditor of rebel reporting. Hes also Operations Coordinator with wort Community Radio in madison, wisconsin. A gem in the Community Radio movement in this country and around the world. Norm stockwell, great to have you with us. Glad to be here. Amy talk about why you decided to put together these lectures of john ross. It was actually johns project. John had done these lectures initially in San Francisco at new college. He developed this series for journalism students. He then traveled around the country and did them and several other places, including here in madison. He said, i want to publish these. His original title was handing rebel reporting. He wanted to reduce this as a book. We looked for a publisher and then john tragically passed away five years ago in january. For me, it became a mission to bring this book out and had a great crew of people working on it, including an introduction by yourself from a forward by Bob Mcchesney who was on earlier this morning, and some wonderful contributors that helped put this book together. Amy john ross was as much a poet as a journalist. I want to go to a clip of john reading a poem titled, journalism, which also appears in the book rebel reporting. This is john ross back in march 2010 at Madison College. You have to stay with me on this poem. Doing is a way of stories, but this is basically about journalism. I wrote this because i was teaching a class a graduate class in media studies at new college. I wanted to kind of shock people into thinking about what they were doing. The Midnight Special burrows into the battles of the north american nightmare because sweet silver tapeworm, consuming the body fat the most overstuffed nation on earth report all suspicious activity do not leave luggage unattended alltimesur back at from suicide bombers, home and security, jimbo corn, aids, anthrax, the antichrist, the New York Times i scratch out a map in a wilderness of white paper the bloodys the nation with crimson headlines from sea just thinking see. I can no longer first the horror. From iles have gone snake eyes and my serpentine shed its skin. There is no one lie worth dying for. Place where it happens. This is the first rule of the findings. They will not want you there, but you will learn much from their fury write it all down right away in your head do not let the details leak out no matter how badly they beat you do not forget their faces do not believe everything they say readt believe anything you journalism. [applause] amy that is journalist john ross, his palm journalism. Norm stockwell has just published rebel reporting. That was john ross in 2010. And that was rerded by a student in that class were john delivered these lectures, and that is how crystal became part of this project. She was a journalism student at Madison College and went on to do journalism on her own. Amy talk about john ross in the few minutes we had left have left, his reporting in mexico for more than a quarter of a century. Style was to go to the bottom, to go to the people that were affected by the oficies of the corporations, the politicians, and tell their stories, to give voice to those of you are presented and underrepresented voices. In 1985 when the earthquake occurred in mexico city, said of going to the large hotels where a lot of the other reporters were in the unaffected parts of the city, he moved into the central Historic District of mexico, which was very affected by the earth wake and moved into a hotel called hotel is about an lived there for most of the rest of his life. And from there he covered the daytoday life of the people of mexico after the earthquake, the movement of people rising up, calling for Government Services and response to the earthquake, then of course, the batista uprising in 1994, and all of the other things that affected the people of mexico, telling their stories to a global audience. Amy i want to go back to john ross and his own words. This was april 2010. I asked him about the effects of u. S. Immigration laws and the war on drugs. These are hot button issues in the u. S. Press, immigration and drugs. Washington uses these issues to pressure mexico, to win concessions. Theyre not necessarily concessions in terms of drug or immigration at all. You look at security and they look at economy and basically, energy. Washington wants to see mexico privatized its oil industry pemex. Theyd allies this pressure, comes through in order to win those concessions. Greater control over mexicos sehings like the aspan, the security and prosperity agreement, to be able to which would integrate Security Forces throughout the entire continent under washingtons control. They use things like the north command, which now penetrates mexicos airspace, because mexico has been declared the southern security perimeter of the United States. So those are the two aims of washington at this point to gain control over the Mexican Security apparatus and the privatization of pemex. And all of this mexico bashing that comes out of immigration and comes out of the drug war is really directed at that. And thats how the white house has operated in mexico as long as ive been there and much longer than ive been there. Amy that is john ross. Expand on that ,norm. I think what johns commitment was to the everyday would go toxico, he places where no one else was. He would ask everyday people, the workers, the families you know, what is going on here . That is how he would tell the story and that is how he responded to all of these global issues, was to go to the bottom and look up. Amy tips and tricks for journalists. When we put this together, we wanted to include something for students because what i hope for this book is that it will become a recommended reading for journalism students across the country. News and anh radio putrn at wort and i together this appendix, its web links, its resources, something to basically take what you learned in his lectures and get going and go out and do it yourself. Amy i want to thank you and congratulate you on this book. Youre certainly doing john ross and order. Rebel reporting coedited by norm stockwell, who has been at wort here in madison, the Community Radio station, for 33 years. Congratulations. That does it for our program. Happy birthday to Simin Farkhondeh i will be speaking tonight and friday night in toronto, canada. Chk 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 ] rallo on this episode of eat drink italy tony verdoni and i shop in, lets call it, a rice boutique. Then we learn how a renowned winemaker cherrypicks his grapes. I talk to one of the royal families of italian wine, a family thats in transition. And ill show you some great tips for making the perfect risotto. My name is vic rallo, and i believe that italy is the best place on earth to eat and drink. Follow me, and ill prove it. Eat drink italy is brought to you by the asaro line of sicilian extravirgin and organic extravirgin olive oils, tomatoes, olives, and more. From the asaro family to yours. Martinscott wines, providing wines from around the world. Banville jones, importers of italian wines