Transcripts For KCSM Democracy Now 20170310

Back against the israeli states policies. Arabic israeli rapper . I would say so. My songs are not political. I just describe the place i live. Amy we will also speak with tamer nafar, the lead actor in junction 48. Hes a palestinian citizen of israel and founder of the palestinian hiphop group dam. Then we look at the lastest trove of documents published by wikileaks this week. On tuesday, march 7, wikileaks gained its new series of leaks on the Central Intelligence agency codenamed vault 7. This series of publications is the largest ever publication of providential documents of the agency. Amy thousands of documents published by wikileaks describe cia programs to hack into both apple and android cellphones, smart tvs, and even cars and. Well speak with cindy cohen, executive director of the Electronic Frontier foundation. All that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. South Koreas Constitutional Court removed President Park goon0hye from Office Friday over charges of graft and corruption. He clears the way for her to face criminal charges. Parks shower have been reduced power had been reduced. Outside the courthouse in the capital seoul, thousands of parks supporters tried to break through police barricades. At least two people were killed in the violence. South koreas Prime Minister and acting president , hwang kyoahn, appealed for calm. In order to stop internal conflicts from intensifying, we should manage the social order and keep a stable government so that National Anxiety in the international societys concerns could be settled. Amy a new election will be held in 60 days. Parks conservative party appears headed to defeat, and its fall from power could mean south koreas next leader will take a more conciliatory approach toward north korea. The upheaval comes days after north korea testfired several ballistic missiles, and as the Trump Administration began deploying a Missile Defense system to south korea. Chinese officials warn the u. S. Is escalating a regional arms race. In washington, d. C. House , lawmakers advanced legislation thursday to repeal and replace the Affordable Care act. The energy and Commerce Committee cleared the measure on a 3123 vote along party lines, capping a hearing that lasted over 27 hours. It followed a similar marathon session in the ways and means committee, which also voted along party lines. This is texas republican and Committee Chair kevin brady. This is obamacare gone. This is the first and most important step to giving relief to americans from this terrible law and to begin the replacement principles of restoring state control and restoring the free market the conservatives, moderates and all republicans have built consensus around. Amy House Republicans are moving rapidly to pass their healthcare legislation, with committee markups coming less than two days after the bill was made public. Democrats objected to the pace of the republican push, noting it took months of debate to craft the Affordable Care act in 2009. They say the gop is ramming through the legislation ahead of a Congressional Budget Office report expected monday that will assess the cost and impact of the bill. This is Georgia Democratic Congress Member john lewis. Mr. Chairman, the bill we have been considering today is fundamentally flawed. Tax cuts for the rich, wealthy, and cooperation are the priority. Elderly, the middle class, and working americans are left out and left behind. Amy the legislation would end the Affordable Care acts expansion of medicaid by 2020. On thursday, the White House Pressed lawmakers to sunset Medicaid Expansion even sooner. The move could put medical treatment, nursing care and other benefits out of reach for millions of poor and disabled americans. Meanwhile, several republican senators questioned whether the house bill has the support to pass the senate. Arkansas senator tom cotton tweeted house healthcare bill cant pass Senate Without major changes. To my friends in house pause, start over. Get it right, dont get it fast. In climate news, the newly confirmed head of the Environmental Protection agency, scott pruitt, said thursday that Carbon Dioxide emissions are not a major contributor to Global Warming. Pruitt made the comment during an interview with cnbc host joe kernen. Do you believe that it has been proven that co2 is the primary control knob for climate . Do you believe that . No, i think that measuring with precision human activity on the climate something very challenging to do and there is tremendous disagreement about the degree of impact. So, no, i would not agree it is a primary contributor to Global Warming that we see. But we dont know that yet. We need to continue the review and analysis. Amy Scott Pruitts comment defies Scientific Consensus about the laws of physics, and could put him at odds with u. S. Law. Federal courts have ruled the epa is obligated to regulate Carbon Dioxide under the clean air act. The epas own website even features a fact sheet declaring Greenhouse Gases act like a blanket around the earth, trapping energy in the atmosphere and causing it to warm. Meanwhile, a top official at the epa has resigned in protest of a Trump Administration proposal to entirely defund his office. Mustafa ali helped found the epas office of Environmental Justice in and served under both 1992 republican and democratic administrations. Ali told inside climate news my values and priorities seem to be different than our current leadership and because of that i feel that its best if i take my talents elsewhere. In more climate news, the Trump Administration asked a federal judge this week to halt a landmark trial brought by 21 young people who say the federal government is denying their Constitutional Rights by promoting fossil fuel extraction and Greenhouse Gas emissions. On capitol hill, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 129 thursday to advance the nomination of David Friedman for u. S. Ambassador to israel. Friedman has no diplomatic experience. He worked as a bankruptcy lawyer for donald trump over the last 15 years. He is a longtime supporter of illegal jewish settlements in the occupied west bank who has called president barack obama an antisemite. He has also compared liberal American Jews to nazi collaborators. New jersey Democrat Robert menendez joined every Committee Republican in support of friedman, sending his confirmation to a vote by the full senate. The Top Commander of u. S. Forces deployed in war zones told Congress Thursday he wants to send more troops to afghanistan to break a stalemate with the taliban. General joseph votel, head of u. S. Central command, was speaking to the Senate Armed Services committee. I do believe it will involve Additional Forces to ensure that we can make the advise and assist mission more effective. Amy the u. S. Currently has 8400 troops deployed in afghanistan, alongside roughly three times as many contractors. General votel said he believes a few thousand more troops were needed but did not commit to an , exact number. The testimony came as the pentagon began deploying 400 additional marines to syria. Former National Security adviser Michael Flynn worked as a Foreign Agent for the turkish government last fall even as he served as a top adviser to to Donald Trumps campaign and failed to disclose his lobbying efforts as required by law. The revelation came in a retroactive filing by flynn with the Justice Department on tuesday. It reveals he was paid more than to lobby on behalf of a firm 500,000 linked to the turkish government. By failing to register with the federal government, flynn violated the Foreign Agent registration act. On election day, flynn authored an oped in the newspaper the hill calling for the extradition , to turkey of a prominent opponent of president Reccep Erdogan whos lived in pennsylvania since 1999. At the white house, press Secretary Sean Spicer was asked if donald trump knew of flynns work as a Foreign Agent. I dont believe that was known. I would refer you to general flynn and to the department of justice in terms of the filing set have been made. Had the president had known that, would he have appointed i dont know what he discussed prior to the appointment, his background. I dont know any of that. Amy last month, the white house fired Michael Flynn as National Security adviser, following revelations he discussed u. S. Sanctions against russia with the Russian Ambassador before Donald Trumps inauguration. And did not reveal this fact to Vice President pence. Fbi director james comey met top senators on capitol hill amid mounting calls for an thursday investigation into ties between the Trump Administration and russia. Comey held separate meetings with Senate Majority leader mitch mcconnell, minority leader chuck schumer, and senior members of the Senate Intelligence committee. Its not clear what was discussed, but the talks followed President Trumps unsubstantiated claims last weekend that president Obama Wiretapped trump tower. Wikileaks founder Julian Assange said thursday he will help highTech Companies protect consumers against cia spying. The offer came two days after wikileaks published thousands of documents describing cia programs to hack into both apple and android cellphones, smart tvs, and even cars and trucks. Assange spoke in an online News Conference from the Ecuadorian Embassy in london. The Central Intelligence of itslost control entire Cyber Weapons arsenal. Historic act of devastating incompetence to have created such an arsenal and stored it all in one place and not secured it. Amy after headlines, well speak with cindy cohen of the Electronic Frontier foundation about the largest leak of classified material in cia history. In washington, d. C. , the owners of a local restaurant filed suit thursday against President Donald Trump, alleging theyre losing business due to unfair competition from the Trump International hotel. The owners of cork wine bar say theyve lost patrons who seek to curry favor with the president. This is steven schooner, lawyer for the plaintiffs. Today, whether you are a foreign government, a lobbyist, or a special interest group, there is no easier way to funnel money directly to the president of the United States with no transparency whatsoever than by spending money in the president s hotel or his restaurants or through an event hosted in that facility. Amy at the white house, press Secretary Sean Spicer was asked about the lawsuit. The president has made very clear in the december press conference at trump tower, he does not have conflicts and the us and every thing in accordance with he has gone well beyond what he ever needed to do. Amy as president , trump has rejected advice from ethics experts to divest his vast Business Holdings or create a completely blind trust, and instead handed over management of the Trump Organization to his sons. The head of the office of government ethics slammed that decision as wholly inadequate. A former contributor to fox news has reportedly settled a lawsuit charging she was sexually assaulted by an executive at the network. Tamara holder says fox news latino Vice President Francisco Cortes tried to force her to perform oral sex when the two were alone in his office in february 2015. The New York Times reports holder won a settlement of more than 2. 5 million. The settlement follows the resignation of fox news chair roger ailes last july, who stepped down amid multiple accusations that he sexually harassed women at the network. Mother jones reporter shane bauer will share this years izzy award with seth freed wessler of the nation institute, after the two worked independently to reveal major abuses at forprofit u. S. Prisons. The annual award is presented by the park center for independent media and named for legendary dissident journalist i. F. Stone. Other winners include nation writer ari berman. He exposed republican efforts to suppress the vote, collecting a special documentary on her prize is america divided. Tuesday interviews with all of this years award winners, go to. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Nermeen welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. We begin to they show with an update on the case of prominent immigrant rights advocate ravi ragbir, who we interviewed thursday on democracy now right before his checkin with a deportation officer. Ragbir, originally from trinidad, immigrated to the u. S. Legally, but has a 15yearold criminal conviction. He has avoided deportation since 2011 due to a series of stays that could end under trump. Amy after he left our studios, conference a news and rally yesterday where hundreds gathered to support him before he went inside, unsure if he would come back out. As he spoke, he was flanked by his wife, his attorney, pastors, and at least four elected officials. They were the city council speaker, two city council members, and a state senator, who would also accompany him inside. When i look out here, when i look get you, each and everyone , it who have come up to me i am overwhelmed. What this is, this is a sea of love. This will overtake any wall that will be built. This sea of love is going to make that change. There will be a delegation accompanying mr. Ravi inside. Thank you. Thank you. Handwe walk hand in we will walk hand in hand [indiscernible] we are going to be Walking Around and praying. Amy can you expand the jericho walked . This is around fully square and the federal building. It is an act of solidarity. It is to be seven times around the building. They start with a prayer and ask for immigrant justice, justice for all workers, immigrant and nonimmigrant. It is a prayer during down the walls. Like border walls, the walls of 26 Federal Plaza where people have to check in and face deportation every day. Ravi is out. He is ok. Amy immigrant rights activist to win into his checkin not knowing whether he would be detained or released is coming out in just a few minutes. Rene felt, maybe you can explain. Like many immigrants facing went in with avi support group that included people who had set up a text alert system and we all just received a very good text alert. It says, everything is ok for now. Thank you probably support. We believe he is about to come out any minute now. Im very out to be rqavis friend, colleague, a lawyer. Im here to report that we are very grateful and humbled that he is here with us. Out thatle to check appointment as a return to his family, we know from what we saw, from loved ones we talked to, that not everyone is that lucky. There are people there right now who are facing detention and deportation. However, we are saddened by the news that we received in the checkin appointment where they asked ravi to come back in one month to check in again and to make efforts to get a travel document. We dont know what this means. A stay of removal that is in place and remains in place until 2018. How do i feel about coming out . You would think i would be happy. I am happy to be back here with my family, to sing with you, to talk to you will step yes, i am. But i have to go through this gain take your time. Its all right. We love you, ravi. We will be there. How do ihow do i live with this guillotine over my neck . Friends,fe and my aowing that they asked me for travel document. They asked me for a passport. When they ask for that, usually means one thing, right . They say, no, were not going to use anything. Everything stays the same. But if everything stays the same, i should not be checking in the month. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but i am a realist. I need to know what could happen. I have to prepare for what could happen. I hope i am wrong. We were hoping we were expecting november 9 when we saw november 8, womb we saw the election results, we knew what was going to happen. We knew that today was going to be a hard day. We prepared for that. But we were wrong. I am glad to be wrong. I am glad to be wrong this time. I hope i am wrong on april 11. No matter what, we are going to be ready. I am going to be ready. I am not going to sit back takely and just let them me away. I am going to stand up and fight. I am going to speak about it. Im going to invite you all to join me. [applause] it is not right for anyone. You have to remember, i have support. I have you guys. I have met you guys. You all are here for me. But imagine those who do not i am the focus right now, but the focus should be on to everyone. What are we going to do . Who are we . Ravi amy immigrant rights advocate ravi ragbir speaking upon his release on thursday after he checked in with his deportation officer. Although his stay of deportation last another year, they have told him to come back with travel documents in one month, april 11. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. A special thanks to andre lewis and renee feltz. Back in a moment. [music break] amy the theme song from junction 48. We will be joined by tamer nafar in a moment. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. Amy while President Trump has made International Headlines for his attempt to temporarily ban refugees and residents of some muslim majority nations, one of washingtons closest allies has instituted a travel ban of its own. Earlier this week, israeli lawmakers approved a law barring supporters of the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement, known as bds, from entering israel. The bds movement is an International Campaign to pressure israel to comply with International Law and respect palestinian rights. The Israeli Parliament voted to ban nonisraelis from entering the country if they, or any organizations they are a part of, support the boycott. After the law was passed, the Israeli Parliament posted a message on its site reading in recent years calls to boycott israel have been growing. It seems this is a new front in the war against israel, which until now the country had not prepared for properly. Amy the ban has been widely criticized even by critics of bds. The American Jewish committee which opposes the boycott , movement said the law will not , defeat bds nor will it help israels image as the beacon of democracy in the middle east it is. The publication inside higher public ed reports a group of jewish studies scholars are preparing to release an open letter opposing the law describing it as a further blow , to the democratic foundations of israel. Professor Mara Benjamin of st. Olaf college, who opposes bds, said the ban will have a Chilling Effect on scholarship as well as on all people who care about having a healthy democracy in the state of israel. Well, today we begin our discussion with three guests. Rebecca vilkomerson is executive director of jewish voice for peace. Also with us are two guests who are involved with a new film that has just premiered in new york called junction 48. The israeli filmmaker udi aloni is with us. He directed the film. And the palestinian actor tamer nafar is the films star. We welcome you all to democracy now at first we were going to just be talking about the film. A given the fact while tamer and udi came to the United States this ban was passed, we thought we would start by asking you, what is your response . Udi, you are in israeli american. Your mother a famous first lady of human rights, longtime member of the israeli element. Parliament. Your thoughts on the ban . The ban is worse than you described it. He then, someone boycott only so if somebody here in america is against war crime and against killing of palestinians by jews, not allowed into america. Amy into america . Into israel, sorry. It is important to mention it. Governor cuomor people who supported bds are not allowing to receive money from the state of new york. When como look in the mayor, he should see trump. The true antisemitic. They believe that we, israeli juice, do not have the right to change our system. This is horrific. On the one hand im happy that now we reseal does reveal something about the true israel because now we know once we used to have a liberal mask. The most famous mask now in israel is the mask of the soldier who murder in cold blood , wounded prisoner of war. Those are the masks that most of the israeli kids are using. Now with the mask true is the same, it is time for democrats or to stop supporting israel if they care about jews. Nermeen , can you talk about the impact here in america who are also supporting bds and opposed to settlements . I can start with myself. Im a proud supporter of the bds movement. Organization supports bds. I have not really strong ties to israel. I have family there. I am married to an israeli. My kids are israeli. I have a lot of friends and , palestinians on both sides of the green line. This bill is basically saying im not welcome to come back. For myself personally, it is a sad moment. I want to emphasize the real impact will be on palestinians. Of, palestinians in the diaspora or willing tuesday governor their rights, they will not be a look come in. Palestinians in the west bank, gaza, even western resell them. If theyre married to palestinians inside the do not have permanent residency, they may not be able to reunite with families. If they leave the country, they may not be able to come back. Just because theyre speaking up for their rights. This is a real shift. It makes overt policy that was already to a certain extent and place but a little underwater. As people try to come into israel, based on racial profiling, people would be rejected at the border usually palestinians, arabs, other people of color would be taken aside and often deported. Now there is a categorical ban that is very overt. It takes the mask off and shows how antidemocratic israel is becoming. Amy is it the first time jews will not be a 2 some will be stopped. This a first . Is yes. Noam chomsky. He was the first. Jews who have certain political standards, youre not welcome, this is absolutely a first. Amy i want to go to tamer nafar whos joining us. He was just in new york for the premiere of junction 48 digital director and star of the from, hiphop artist wellknown for his group dam. You are palestinian, but you are also in israeli citizen. You live in the city that is featured in junction 48, which is right near tel aviv airport. How will this affect you . I think we have a very long delay in linking up with him. I think palestinians have banned it is an unhuman act. For me, it is a crime issue. Evere has punished israel since they were banning palestinians. Israel right now feels the power they can just move on with it. We do not put israel to that spot and put it on a place, it is going to get bigger and bigger. That is the whole thing with israel. When they do things and people are not punishing them or even criticizing them, it will give them the power to continue doing whatever they do. Comment udi, could you on the fact many have drawn comparisons between trumps must reason, although the second version of it, executive order that bans refugees and muslims and people from six muslim majority countries from coming into the u. S. , the comparison between that ban and what israel has just instituted . I want to say it is maybe worse. The real law that israel passed a few weeks ago said legally, jews allowed to steal land from palestinians only because they are jews and those are palestinians. I want to repeat it because people in america do not believe it. We have a new law that settlers are loudest beall Steel Private lands of arabs and take it to jews. This is official law. Now theyre going to ban everyone. In a way, it is horrific. It is only everyone who stands for civil rights at the minimum level is not allowed to israel. Are in trump and bb competition, who is getting worse and who is getting more weird about antidemocratic laws. They are very similar and they enjoy each other too much. Amy rebecca . I would completely agree. Both bans are completely xenophobic. The securityd on culture, the sense of fear, and lawsy cruel, cruel excluding refugees, including people who have rights to enter these lands. I think this mirroring is really problematic. The thing i want to come back to, it is a sign that i think we are winning globally and the fear that israel has of bds and the fact they felt the need to legislate against this law, it is not going to work. People are not going to stay silent. As the movement grows, theyre going to try to shut it down. This is the next step. Amy i want to ask tamer nafar about israel introducing another bill on wednesday to limit muslim calls to prayer. The bill has won the luminary approval, though critics have denounced the measure as racist. Supporters say it is aimed at improving the quality of life of People Living near mosques who have been losing sleep. Opponents say the legislation, which was sponsored by rightwing parties, impinges on the religious freedom of Israels Muslim minority. This is a lawmaker. This law is racist. This is its fate. To be torn apart. Islam and the call to prayer are stronger than all of you. And the proponents of the bill called the muslim call to prayer noise pollution. Tamer nafar, your response . This is things that this place is heading to. I would not be i would not be surprised or shocked if 10 years from now or 20 years from now muslims or christians or nonjews would be scared to leave their religion and walking without, you know, hiding their religion. But again, these things are being revealed now. But i live in a place where masse that, you have demolitions. You have islamic places being demolished. It is always happening. This time it is happening louder. The volume is up and the cameras are on, but it is always happening. With the trump era, it is like a stage. It is easier for them to do it. Like, it is legit now. These things have been happening since forever. Oureen we continue conversation by looking at the film that has just been released titled junction 48. Who lives on kareem in an impoverished mixed palestinian jewish city near tel aviv. Junction 48 shows how kareem and his palestinian girlfriend and their friends use hiphop to fight back against israels policies. The role of kareem is played by tamer nafar, a rap artist with the group dam. This is the films trailer. Amy that is the trailer for junction 48. To talk more about the film, were joined by the director udi aloni and the lead actor and musical director tamer nafar. Udi is an awardwinning film maker, the director of producer of junction 48. His previous films include local angel, forgiveness and art violence. He is the author of what does a jew want . On binationalism and other specters. Tamer nafar is the lead actor in junction 48. He is the music director of the film and also coauthored th screenplay. He is a rap artist with the palestinian hiphop group dam. Tamer is a palestinian citizen ,f israel who lives in lourd this community that the film is based in just near tel aviv airport. Udi, talk about this film. You have not gotten enormously positive reviews from the New York Times in the past. They have now written five pieces since this one, what, won the Audience Award here at tribeca film festival. The first award. Berlin. Irst one was in amy and you just got the New York Times did it as a critics pic. This is a fascinating film. I think the first time in a feature film includes a housing demolition. Me have been Close Friends for 15 years. Were doing a lot of stuff together. I think we are following the call to a national language. Not only we create art together, we held we try to work between art, theory, and action. , when i think about houston motion, the quality has to be perfect because were not only demolishing house of palestinians, it is a coulter demolition. Culture demolition. The minister of culture tried to destroy every show of tamer around the country. She stepped out when he performed our oscarwinning. The house demolition for us also has to be it is an ongoing demolition. It is an ongoing disaster from the palestinians. Verye shooting at was important for me, the details. The details the way i experience it. Tamer and me work, even the way the people speak, the way they react, the day after they can go on the demolition and do a song. People here in america dont understand how they can sing after the house was demolished, how they can smile. It is an ongoing fight. You cannot regret the israeli let the israelis destroyed your spirit. The house demolition, and also the performance after saying, we will rebuild this house again. That they village built already i think 17 times again and again after israel demolished their house. In israel, the demolished bedouin village, just in order to bring jews not for any other reason. Arabseplace jews with the on a place that air of lived for 50 years already. Nermeen lets go to a clip from the film[. In the scene, kareem is being interviewed on an israeli news program. Their minco gold to another clip from the film junction 48. Nermeen those are clips from the film junction 48. Udi aloni, you directed the film. Can you talk about what the character kareem says in the first clip about his songs responding to a question about whether his work is political . And in the last scene betwee kareem and his girlfriend . It is very important. The film is fun. We want to create high art. When tame saidr im not political, it is the wish to be a political. Only the privileged can say, im doing pure art. We have a great song that means, the if i come with a bag on bus, i become a political entity because everyone looks at me. To i want to ask tamer respond to this. ,amer nafar who is with us since he is farther way because of the long delay, but he is in the studios of will and sure in urbana, he said my phones are not political, they does describe the place i come from. Can you talk about what that means to you . First off, the screenplay was a corporation with me and many things artist. This specific interview in the movie when he says im not political, it becomes a song, like udi said. You can get it on itunes now from junction 48. When he says, im not political, i think he really means he is not political. There demolishing his friends house and he is going to stand up for his friend. Or him, it is the political. At the reasons for them demolishing the house is political. Maybe that is the turning point he needs to start to understand he has some responsibility because of the place he is living in an we cannot be political because it is not a said. Ege thing, like udi being a palestinian, living see yousrael, i cannot not being political. Telling someone not being political is like telling women not to be feminists after the hasl quotations that trump said. Amy i also want to ask you ,tamer, about the house you all built for the film that you would then demolish any coincidence of wants you built it, you got a message from tel aviv, from the israeli government, that this house would have to be demolished . Is that right . What was that like in your community, what it meant to demolish this house . Udi decided to build a whole house with the furniture in it just so you could feel the cinema of it, so you could feel the dust in your eyes when the house was demolished, just so you could feel what these people we go through. I live in an israeli city. It has around 30,000 palestinians who pay taxes, who vote like this whole democracy thing, and we still get our house demolished. We are talking about more than 300 houses being demolished. While we talk now, we have almost 5000, 6000 houses with war and second happen at any minute. Governmentraeli decides. Or my people in my city to watch this, it was very tearful and hard to see it coming, to see a finally getting document a because normally, the they do not show you the physical occupation. They do not show you the house demolition. You normally, if you want to see something bad, it is always the arabic who is bad. Extreme explosion. You can start with the physical, but they want to be, like liberals, they will talk about the occupation, but they will not show how ugly it is. Im very proud we did that. I am very proud that udi directed this way. And you can see and i remember, that was one of the hardest scenes for us on the set. Even the jews on the set who are not politically 100 with me or udi, it was hard for them to see that. It was good for me, satisfying for me to look and show them, this is what is happening every day. That is one of the most scenes that influences me in the movie. Amy this film is not only opening in new york, youre going to be flying to chicago tonight, opening on the west coast as well. And the west coast people can order screenings all over the country the way people can order screenings all over the country, if you go to junction 48. Film, you can see the whole system how it works. On the second part, this film really fight for womens rights very strong inside the community. That is why was so beautiful to hear Linda Sarsour saying hijabsm doesnt accept fighting for womens rights and against israeli oppression is the same fight. Amy i want to thank you for being with us udi aloni is an , awardwinning israeli filmmaker. Tamer nafar is the lead actor in junction 48. He is the music director of the film and a rap artist with the palestinian hiphop group dam. , the head ofback Electronic Frontier foundation. Stay with us. [music break] amy a shout out to the John Jay College of criminal justice which is joining us today, watching the broadcast. I am amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. Nermeen we end todays show by looking at the publication of what wikileaks says is the largest leak of secret cia documents in history. On tuesday, wikileaks published the thousands of documents, dubbed vault 7. They describe cia programs to hack into both apple and android cellphones, smart tvs, and even cars and trucks. This is wikileaks founder Julian Assange speaking at an Online Press Conference on thursday from the Ecuadorian Embassy in london. The Central Intelligence agency lost control of its entire Cyber Weapons arsenal. S is in his stork act historic act of devastating incompetence to have created such an arsenal and stores it all in one place. And not secured it. Nermeen some of the released documents describe tools to take over entire phones, allowing cia to then bypass encrypted messenger programs such as signal, telegram, and whatsapp. Other documents outline a cia and British Intelligence program called weeping angel, through which the spy agency can hack into a Samsung Smart television and turn it into a surveillance device that records audio conversations, even when it appears to be off. The leak also shows the cia has reportedly looked for ways to hack into cars and trucks, which wikileaks said would permit the cia to engage in nearly undetectable assassinations. Amy other documents outline how the cia has used the u. S. Consulate in frankfurt, germany, as a covert base to spy on europe, the middle east and release totals close to web pages and 943 8000 attachments, which wikileaks says comes from the cias center for Cyber Intelligence in langley, virginia. While the material was redacted by wikileaks to avoid releasing the actual computer code used in the programs, on thursday, wikileaks founder Julian Assange said the organization would be sharing some of the code exclusively with Tech Companies so they can fix the vulnerabilities in their software. On the campaign trail, now President Donald Trump once said he loved wikileaks. Pres. Trump this just came out. This just came out. Wikileaks. I love wikileaks. Amy but on thursday, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer condemned the leaks, saying they threaten National Security. Well, for more, we go to San Francisco where were joined by cindy cohn, executive director of the Electronic Frontier foundation. We dont have much time, but if you can respond to this massive release a be the largest release of cia documents in u. S. History. It certainly seems like it is a lot of information and externally troubling the cia was keeping all of this information, rather than giving it to the tech company so that they could fix these problems and make us all safer. Amy can you talk about their significance . What most shocked you . Can you talk about the iphones, the android come even cars taking over a car electronically and causing it to crash . Yeah, i have to say there is not much in this trove that shows any new attacks. These are all things that people outside of the cia have been talking about and even doing some demonstrations of for a long time. So the particular techniques in here, i say for people who follow what is going on in digital security, they are not particularly surprising. Theres nothing really all that new in here. In fact, to the extent there were some might surprising but good news for us, the encrypted apps like signal and whatsapp, the government does not appear to be able to crack those. They can get a hold of your phone and take over your phone in a way such that they can read the messages at the same time you do were the same time you type it in, so there is still work to be done on operating systems and the underlying hardware, but the encrypted apps that people are increasingly relying on to do political activity or human rights activities come in the apps themselves so far it looks like this cia could not break them, which is good news. Nermeen some reports have suggested the documents do not contain information on the most highly sensitive cia cyber espionage. None appear to be classified above the level of secret, which is a relatively low level of classification. Is that the case . It is the case there only marked secret. The guess that maybe theres something more secret that has not been released and was not in this trove, it seems reasonable to me, but i dont think we really know. We just know what got released. We dont really have a good picture of what might still thatat has not been did not leak. Amy what can you tell us about what the documents reveal about what u. S. Consulate in frankfurt, germany . Again this is something that was not that surprising. We know the cia has operations oliver the world. This has some specific information about a facility in frankfurt that looks to have been focused well, it is not fair what it was focused on. The information talks about spying on iran, which is, again, where they spy on iran, little bit news that this place in frankfurt. The fact that cia has listening spots scattered around the world in secret locations itself is not news. But i think the germans are rightly concerned. I dont think it should be comfortable for them that the cia is engaging in spying. I suspect, not just on iran, but on germany itself. Amy we just have 10 seconds. Julian assange saying he will share the code with Tech Companies so they can close their vulnerabilities. That is good news. The cia should have done it a long time ago. The fact that the cia know about this problem that this information got out of their control last year and does not appear to have told the Tech Companies, i think it shameful and people need to really turn to the cia and ask them why they arent standing with Tech Companies and with the American People and people around the world to have secure products. Amy cindy cohn, thank you for being with us executive director , of the Electronic Frontier foundation. That does it for the broadcast. Democracy now is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. Email your comments to outreach democracynow. Org or p. Allen smiths garden to table is brought to you by. Mountain Valley Spring water. Mountain Valley Spring water, americas premium water since 1871, has been bottled in glass at the same Natural Spring source for 140 years. More about mountain Valley Spring water at mountainvalleyspring. Com hey, its a pizza party right out of the garden coming up right after this