Transcripts For KCSM Democracy Now 20170321

Announce the healer Clinton Program just before the election but keep silent about the trump investigation until now . We will get the latest. First, to the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Nominee neil gorsuch. How much of a fight will democrats put . In the hobby lobby was fifth circuit, you held for corporation having religious rights over its employees health care. Your record on corporate versus hun litigantcomes in bone count 21two. For corporations. Tellingly, big special interests and the fragrance are spinning minds of dollars in a dark Many Campaign to push your confirmation. Amy we will air highlights from day one of the confirmation hearing and look at how the rightwing Federalist Society is helping President Trump reshape the judiciary. The societys Vice President , leonard leo, is now on leave to help the white house shepherd the gorsuch nominaon. All of that and more coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Fbi director james comey has confirmed the fbi is investigating whether President Trumps campaign collaborated colluded with russia to sway the 2016 election. I been authorized by the department of justice to confirm that the fbi, as part of our counterintelligence mission, is investigating the russian governments efforts to interfere in the 2016 president ial election. And that includes investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump Campaign and the russian therement, and whether was any court nation between a campaign and russias efforts. Amy thats fbi director james comey speaking before the House Intelligence Committee monday, issuing the first public confirmation of the agencys investigation into the relationship between Trumps Campaign and russia. Comey also said the fbi has no information that supports trumps unsubstantiated claims that president obama tapped trumps phones in trump tower during the election. With respect to the president s tweets about alleged wiretapping directed at him by the prior administration, i have no information that supports those tweets and we have looked carefully inside the fbi. The department of justice has asked me to share with you that the answer is the same for the department of justice in all of its components, the department has no information that supports those tweets. Amy during the hearing, the director of the National Security agency Michael Rogers also refuted President Trumps claims that president obama asked the British Intelligence agency gchq to carry out the wiretap on trump tower. This is rogers beinga democratic congressman adam schiff. The british allies have called the president s suggestion that they wiretapped him for obama nonsense and utterly ridiculous. Would you agree . Yes, sir. Amy President Trump appears to have issued the unfounded claims that the British Intelligence agency gchq carried out the alleged wiretap after watching a fox news report last week. Fox has pulled its senior legal analyst andrew napolitano, who made the claims last week, off following the hearing, President Trump refused to heed mounting calls for him to apologize for his unsubstantiated claims that obama tapped his phones. Instead, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said the white house was still looking into the possibility of surveillance. Meanwhile, the New York Times reported monday that former Trump Campaign chair Paul Manafort is facing a new round of accusations in ukraine after evidence emerged that he sought to hide payments hed received while doing Political Consulting work for former president viktor yanukovych. Manafort was ousted as Trumps Campaign chair in august after handwritten ledgers unearthed in ukraine showed 12. 7 million of Cash Payments from a prorussian party that were slated to go to manafort, though it is not known , whether he ever received the money. Reuters also reported monday trumps secretary of state Rex Tillerson is planning to skip an april meeting with nato Foreign Ministers then head to russia , later in the month. Supreme Court Nominee neil gorsuch is back on capitol hill today for day two of his confirmation hearing. During mondays hearing, Democratic Senators repeatedly criticized gorsuchs record, as well as their republican coterp obamas pick him a judge Merrick Garland, to replace the late Supreme Court justice antonin scalia. Judge gorsuch has a long history of ruling against employees in cases involving federal race, sex, age, disability and political discrimination, and retaliation claims. Well have more on his confirmation hearings after headlines. President trump is expected to seek security clearances so his daughter, ivanka trump, can access classified information. Ivanka is also expected to receive an office in the west wing and governmentissued communication devices. Ivanka trump has been one of her fathers most trusted advisers, despite having no official government role. Her husband, jared kushner, is a senior white house adviser. Top republican lawmakers have announced a slew of amendments to the Republican Health care plan ahead of the house vote thursday. Many of the amendments were pushed by conservatives within the republican party. One amendment seeks to immediately halt the Medicaid Expansion program. Another would allow states to make it harder for people to receive medicaid by imposing requirements that people have a ablebodied people have a job or participate in job training programs. A third amendment would allow states to choose to receive less federal funding for medicaid. The Trump Administration has enacted new rules prohibiting some passengers flying to the United States on Foreign Airlines from carrying on any Electronic Devices larger than a cell phone. The new rules apply to passengers flying from airports in cairo, istanbul, kuwait city, amman, jordan, casablanca, morocco, doha, qatar, jeddah and riyadh in saudi arabia, and dubai and abu dhabi in the united arab emirates. The Electronic Devices are still allowed to be packed into passengers checked luggage. A new report by the world meorological Organization Warns the planet is experiencing unprecedented increases in Global Temperatures and rising sea levels that smash all previous measurements. David carlson, director of the World Meteorological organizations World Climate research program, said we are seeing other remarkable changes across the planet that are challenging the limits of our understanding of the climate system. We are now in truly uncharted territory. A high court in india has granted the ganges and yamuna rivers the same legal rights as human beings. The ruling comes after the new Zealand Parliament passed a law granting the Whanganui River full legal rights last week. President trump met with iraqi Prime Minister Haider Alabadi at the white house monday, on the 14th anniversary of the u. S. Invasion of iraq on march 20, 2003. During their meeting, trump pledged continued u. S. Military support for the Ongoing Campaign against isis militants, including in the city of mosul. On monday, the Iraqi Government said as many as 180,000 people have been displaced from west mosul, amid the ongoing fighting. More than 100,000 of those who have fled are now in temporary refugee camps. Mexican journalist Ricardo Monlui cabrera has been murdered in the mexican state of veracruz. He was the editorial director of the newspaper el politico and the president of the local Journalists Association in the city of cordoba. Hes the second journalist to be murdered this month after Cecilio Pineda was killed in the mexican state of guerrero. On the same day as monluis murder, a mass grave containing nearly 50 corpses was discovered in veracruz, only days after another mass grave of more than 250 bodies was discovered in the same state. Meanwhile, parents of the 43 missing students from the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers College in guerrero met with officials from the teramerican commission on on han rights in washington, d. C. , on friday to demand action in the investigation into their missing children, who disappeared more than two years ago after being kidnapped by local police. In florida, the orangeosceola state attorney aramis ayala has received Death Threats from another Government Employee after she announced she would not seek the Death Penalty in any murder cases, including in a case of a Police Officers killing. After her announcement, the assistant finance director of the Seminole County Clerks Office Stan Mccullars wrote on facebook maybe she should get the Death Penalty. She should be tarred and feathered if not hung from a tree. States attorney ayala is the first African American states attorney in floridas history. The Orlando Sentinel reports that from 1877 to 1950, more black people were lynched by whites in florida, the most lynchings per capita of any u. S. State. In california, a threeday african trade conference at the university of Southern California was held without a Single Person from africa after the u. S. Government denied the visas of every single african seeking to attend. Organizers of the african Global Economic and Development Summit say between 60 and 100 potential attendees from africa all had their visas denied. Organizer mary flowers said i dont know if its trump or if its the fact that the embassies that have been discriminating for a long time see this as an opportunity, because of talk of the travel ban, to blatantly reject everyone. Forbes magazine has published its annual billionaires list. According to forbes, president Donald Trumps net worth has dropped by 1 billion. His fortune is now reportedly 3. 5 billion, making him the 544th richest person in the world. In more news on billionaires, banker David Rockefeller died monday at the age of 101. One of the heirs to the Rockefeller Oil fortune, he also exerted extensive political influence worldwide. He was the longest serving member of the council on foreign relations. He was a strong promoter of neoliberalism and involved in u. S. Political interventions, lesuding the ouster of chi leader allende. Peter kwong, a leading scholar of asianamerican studies and immigration, has died. Worn in taiwan in 1941, he was a distinct professor of urban affairs and planning at Hunter College in new york and a professor of sociology at the Graduate Center of city of new york. His work was twice nominated for the pulitzer prize. In 2010, he appeared on democracy now to talk about his oscarnominated film chinas unnatural disaster the 10 years of sichuan province. His is peter kwong ironically, ours is the only document of history this is the only thing left. So it is, therefore, very, very important for us to continue to push people in china are pushing, but we have to do our task. This is really verimportant because the parents knew, were building once good let the rest of the world no. Amy peter kwong talking about the film chinas unnatural disaster the tears of sichuan province. Peter kwong died this past weekend. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Juan and im juan gonzalez. Welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. Supreme Court Nominee neil gorsuch is back on capitol hill today for day two of his confirmation hearing. Each senator on the Senate Judiciary committee will be allotted 30 minutes to question the federal judge who was tapped by President Trump to fill the seat left vacant by antonin scalias death over a year ago. President obama nominated Merrick Garland to replace scalia, but republicans refused to even hold hearings, fearing that garland would tip the ideological balance of the court to the left. During Opening Statements on monday, Democratic Senators repeatedly criticized their discourse it is record and took aim at the republican counterparts for refusing to take up the nomination of garland. This is democratic senator Sheldon Whitehouse of rhode island. Now, where do you fit in . When hobby lobby was in the 10th circuit, you help for corporation having religious rights over its employees health care. A record on corba versus human litigants comes in by one count at 212. For corporations. Tellingly, big special interest in their front groups are spending millions of dollars in a Dark Money Campaign to push your confirmation. We have a predicament. In ordinary circumstances, you should have the benefit of the doubt based on your qualifications but several things have gone wrong a shift the benefit of the doubt. One, Justice Roberts sat in that very seat, told us he just called balls and strikes and then let his five person republican majority on that activist five before political shopping spree. Once burned, twice shy. Confirmation etiquette has been unhinged from the truth. Two, republican senators deny any semblance of due legislative. Rocess to our last nominee one, i would say even more qualified than you, and that is saying something. Why go through the unprecedented political trouble to deny so qualified a judge, even a hearing, if you dont expect something more amenable to come down the pipe . Those political expectations also color the benefit of the doubt. Amy that is rhode island democrat Sheldon Whitehouse. In his opening statement, neil gorsuch warned against judges being secret legislators. On the rope, i am also reminded that under our constitutions for this body, the peoples representatives, to make new laws. For the executive to ensure those laws are faithfully executed and for neutral and independent judges to apply the law in peoples disputes. If judges were just secret legislators declaring that with the law is but what they would like a to b, the very idea of a government by the people and for the people would be at risk. And those again before the court would live in fear. Never sure exactly what the law requires of them except for the judges will. As Alexander Hamilton said, liberty can have nothing to fear from judges who apply the law, but liberty has everything to fear if judges try to legislate, too. Amy that a Supreme Court Justice Nominee neil gorsuch. To talk more about the judge, were joined by ian millhiser. He is a senior fellow at the center for American Progress action fund and the editor of thinkprogress justice. He is the author of the book, injustices the Supreme Courts history of comforting the comfortable and afflicting the afflicted. So, ian, what to get your view of the first day of the hearing. The judge was not questioned, the senators just made their statements. Youtalk about what what thought was most important came out of yesterdays hearing. Sure. I was really struck by the difference between judge gorsuchs rhetoric at the hearing and what i see in his record as a judge. Judge gorsuch comes out over tradition that has become particularly problem on the right since barack obama was sworn in. It calls for judges to be more active, more aggressive in pushing a conservative agenda, more Hostile Agency regulation, more hostile to laws like the Affordable Care act. And everything i see in george gorsuchs record suggests he very much believes in that agenda, whether you look at his hobby lobby decision, his efforts to dismantle many of the powers that agencies like the epa has. This looks like he is going to be a very aggressive judge. I was surprised to hear him talk about judicial modesty and not behaving like a super legislature. Record, theat his modesty does not seem to be what he is interested in. One cup lets go back to part of the Opening Statements by neil gorsuch before that Senate Judiciary committee. In my decade on the bench, i try to treat all caps or me fairly and with respect. And afford equal rights to pour into the rich. Ive decided cases for native americans seeking to protect for class actions like one that ensured compensation for victims of Large Nuclear waste, pollution problem, produced by corporations in colorado. Ive ruled for disabled students, for prisoners, for the accused, for workers alleging civil Rights Violations and for undocumented immigrants. I ruled against such persons. My decisions have never reflected a judgment about the people before me. Only a judgment about the law and the facts at issue in each particular case. A good judge can promise no more than that and a good judge should guarantee no less. For a judge who likes every outcome he reaches, probably a pretty bad judge, stretching for policy results he prefers rather than those the law compels. , whatian millhiser about these particular words of neil gorsuch and could you talk about later on in the hearing, he also talked about his admiration or Justice Robert jackson and how he compares to that former justice . Sure. I think it is important to note gorsuch is right about this. Judges tend to operate with broad ideological brushes. A bad judge is someone who looks at each individual case and figures of the result they want in a individual case. Gorsuch does not seem like someone who does that. What he does do, though, is he believes in a comprehensive, very conservative ideology which will sometime reach results that are good, but very often reaches results that a very sweeping implications, that i at least think are pretty bad. To give an example of that, there was a case involving an immigrant, someone who was sent back to mexico and wanted to reach her the United States reenter the United States and was very poorly treated by the federal government. Gorsuch ruled in favor of this very mistreated immigrant. But in the process of doing so, he laid out a broad rule, which is or taken up by the Supreme Court, would make a difficult for the epa to operate, would make it difficult for the department of labor to enact a number of regulations protecting workers, who potentially would have implitions for food safety and other areas of the law. He painted with a broad brush and the breath of his opinion was broad enough doubt this one immigrant. Broadt of his opinion was enough to help this one immigrant. The much bigger implications that i think should be frightening. , justice jackson, he aised jacksoin his hearing. Jackson is somho ine w associated very much with judicial restraint. It was another example of gorsuch trying to paint himself as the picture of judicial modesty. But again, i look at his record as a judge and i just ocv modesty that he describes in his testimony there. Amy lets go to utahs republican senator mike lee. You have the resume of a Supreme Court justice, but i think what is most impressive, and for our purposes what is most important about your career and about the approach you take to the law, is your fierce independence from partisan influence and any personal biases that you might otherwise be inclined to harbor. Amy several Democratic Senators, including dick durbin of illinois, talked about how republicans blocked obamas nomination of judge mayer arland. Judgment garland. President obama met his constitutionally required obligation by nominating judge Merrick Portland to fill that vacancy in march 2016. Senate republican leader Mitch Mcconnell announces for the first time in the history of the United States senate he would refuse judge garland a hearing and a vote. He went further and said he would refuse to even meet with the judge. It was clear that senator mcconnell was making a political decision, hoping for republican president would be elected. He was willing to ignore the of theon and precedent senate so you consider this witness table today. Amy that was senator dick durbin. Millhiser, as we wrap up next we will be talking about the Federalist Society but what about what is going to happen right now . Garlandover 320 days, never had a hearing. They are talking about fast tracking this when would be the vote . Were probably looking at sometime in april. They want to get this done as quick as possible so something like, say, for example, an fbi investigation into the president of the United States does not derail this confirmation. Republicans know what is at stake. Theres a big gerrymandering case that will be heard by the Supreme Court next term. There is a bunch of cases involving the future of Voter Suppression laws in places like north carolina. Amy the travel ban. Right. These guys have done a great deal to manipulate the way that our elections are held and make it easier for republicans and harder for democrats. If the Supreme Court takes that away from them and if mayor girling had been confirmed Merrick Garland have been confirmed, they would say, no more, you dont get to me to relate elections, the republicans would be a difficult position. They want their conservative majority that will protect these laws that allow them to manipulate how our elections are held. Amy ian millhiser, thank you for being with us. We will check back with you, senior fellow for the center of American Progress action fund and the editor of thinkprogress justice. Piece, we your will link to your piece the , judge gorsuch who spoke in the senate today is nothing like the man who wrote his opinions. En is the author of the book, injustices the Supreme Courts history of comforting the comfortable and afflicting the afflicted. When we come back, eric lipton on the Federalist Society, particularly its Vice President who is on leave now, coordinating the whole presentation of justice gorsuch. This is democracy now stay with us. [music break] amy this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. As we continue our coverage of Supreme Court nominee neil gorsuch, were joined by New York Times investigative journalist eric lipton. He recently cowrote a piece headlined, in gorsuch, conservative activist sees test case for reshaping the judiciary. The piece looks at how a top official at the Federalist Society named leonard leo is playing a key role in helping trump behind the scenes. Amy leonard leo is currently on leave from the Federalist Society to help shepherd gorsuchs nomination, in addition to nominating gorsuch to the Supreme Court, President Trump has 123 other judgeships to fill because in a republicans blocked many of obamas nominees. Eric lipton, welcome to democracy now why dont you start off by talking about the conservative shaping of the judiciary, in particular the role of the Federalist Society. First off, you introduced them once by describing them as a rightwing group. I would not call them a rightwing group. I think our group of conservative legal scholars who see themselves as an alternative voice and they really got started through law schools in thereited states where was some concern by law professors that there was not a forum for conservative people to sort of, you know, meet and disc theories relative to the court that could sort of be an teative tohe more liberal dominant thought in the core system. At the Federalist Society has grown into an organization that has incredible influence in the u. S. It has many lawyers are lawyers working for different corporations and it has judges that are members and it has gatherings around the United States that pull together conservative lal minds. It is funded by a combination of conservative foundations that want to try to change various standards in american society, as well as corporations that like the ideas of the Federalist Society in terms of limited governing as sort of trying to knock down federal regulations. So the thing that a sort of interesting at this moment is the judicial philosophy of the Federalist Society and of groups that are related to it in the conservative world, they are better positioned at this moment than they probably have ever been in modern times. And because of a series of events that have occurred. You have the president who is essentially allowing them to help pick Supreme Court nominees and told him that he is going to also allow them to provide input to other judges. You have a congress that is controlled by republicans. You have state governments throughout the u. S. Where the majority of the governors and legislatures are under republican control. D you have board vacancies pointed to this twoterm president and you have more vacancies going back to carter. President trump and republicans are better position at this moment to reshape both the federal and state judiciarys than they probably have ever been. The Federalist Society and letter leo are sitting there rey to help that process. Amy and can you talk about the foundations that are supporting the Federalist Society . Like the Koch Brothers . Yes. You have everything from google and microsoft, which are donors to the Federalist Society, as well as Major Energy Companies like chevron for devon, especially devon, try to challenge much of the obama administrations regulatory agenda when it comes to the environment. You also have very conservative Family Foundations like the Mercer Foundation or the Koch Brothers foundation that see their giving, if you look at her donor patterns, as a way to try to influence american society. Mean, the Federalist Society is a forum for these lawyers to discuss legal approaches that they can then use an to finetune them and they the Federalist Society argues it is a nonpartisan, 501 c 3 that does not is not an Advocacy Organization. It is pretty clear they have a very conservative eagle philosophy when you look at the forms they hold in the debates they hold and the people that are members of it. You look at the judges that they align themselves with. Almost has a medical status almost an illegal mythical status in legal status. Leonard leo is helping organize. You are likely to encounter, at least when judge scalia was alive judge scalia, judge thomas. He is very well respected among that circle and has a great deal of influence. Juan how did he get to have this influence . He is almost like the goto guy. He also shepherded through the confirmation of Justice Roberts and samuel alito as well. How did he get to that position . , Federalist Society basically, fraternity, good seo sorority, of likeminded lawyers. It is a club. Ofis essentially a club likeminded lawyers. Maybe they judges or corporate lawyers or academic lawyers, their regular meetings and conferences and leonard leo is sort of like the head counselor of this group. Respectedwere guy, very intelligent guy. For washington, very lowkey. Wasdo not hear his in the debates. He is very much beyond the scenes, but has a great deal of respect among this universe of folks. He came to prominence at first in george w. Bushs administration when he was named to serve as a sort of intermediary for catholics and the republican party. And he himself is catholic and very serious about his beliefs. He transitioned from that role too early in the bush administration, their trouble getting through some Supreme Court nominees, and Harriet Miers was nominated and backed out. There was frustration among conservatives that bush was not taking advantage of the power that he had to fill the federal courts. Leonard came in and, leonard leo, and he helped set up a process that not only identified candidates that were conservative and they could get confirmed, but also a process to then build public support across the United States to execute on those dominations what they were made. Leo has also been associated with this. He helps fund the money. They began a Public Relations campaign nationally to get the conservative judges confirmed, once folks like leonard had help them get nominated. Eric,ou begin your piece, by saying deep in the senate 20 page questionnaire judge gorsuch, the Supreme Court nominee was asked how he come to President Trumps attention and he said i was contacted by leonard leo. Can you also talk him as you are now, talking about the allied organizations and those that leonard leo works with, like john balchem at the heritage orkery, whoann c oversees the Judicial Crisis Network with her husband, and you say related dark any groups that also support the cause. Yeah, i mean come as a reporter, as a person that believes in transparency and also someone who likes to decipher riddles, i find it interesting to observe this kind of aligned parties and the various roles they have set up. Yet the Federalist Society in leonard playing a role in helping identify candidates to nominate and to bring them to the administration and to get the process started. Then you essentially have a handoff because he is a 501 c 3 . He comes from that world. Then you have his hand off to this group, judicialrisis network, which is an Advocacy Organization spending somewhere upwards of 4 million on Television Commercials and radio and other media, particularly, in the states where there is in a democrats who are up for reelection next year and states where trump won. These are democrats that live in red states were vulnerable. Gorsuch will need their votes in order to get confirmed. Otherwise, unless the 60 vote rule is overturned in order to get desperate and the dust he does not need it for maturity, he needs it to get the vote of the floor. That is where Judicial Crisis Network comes in. This is organization set up in approximately 2005 and it is a dark many group. They will not tell you who their donors are. If you look at their 990, their tax form, which i have a copy here, and the thing that is so interesting about it to me is they show they had a budget of not that much, but one of many allied organizations. Then you go to the page that shows who their donors are and it is called the schedule b of the 990. If you look in the normal tax records, you wont find it, but you can ask for it. Youll see all of their money can from to donors. Although, the names are not there. 5. 75 million came from two people. You look at the 990 in you say, how many people work for you . How many volunteers . Zero employees, zero volunteers. So what is this group . All of it is money that comes from two donations. How much of this is a Grassroots Organization and how much is it an organization that takes checks from players who wanted influence the federal judiciary and funnel the money through this organization to try to create an appearance it is a Grassroots Organization . Amy do you know who those two people are if you reverse engineer the irs records, which i did, you could backward you could find his Organization Called the wellspring committee. The wellspring committee, which based in virginia, is run this is their 990 it is ann corkery. On the Judicial Crisis Network, this document, who signed the . Her husband. Her husband helps run the Judicial Crisis Network. Look at the back of their who does the wellspring committee give money to . Million to the Judicial Crisis Network in 2014. That is exactly the same amount of money that the Judicial Crisis Network spent in 2014. Ann corkery gave all of the money you wonder, where does well spring get its money from . You begin the process, because of the federal government does that require disclosure of donors, you end up at an old brick wall. You cannot find out where wellspring committee gets its money from and you end up in the dark money circle. Basically, what you see is this is an interconnected network that is moving money around in a way to try to hide who the original donors were. And the connections between the Federalist Society and the Judicial Crisis Network and ann and neal corkery and letter leo and wellspring committee, theyre all interconnected. They certainly have the right to influence this process. I mean, it is a democracy. You raise money, you spend money. I think its interestinto brinlighto this and to examine this network. That is their righ do it and they are doing it. , honestly,lipton there are now using this entire machinery dealt get judge gorsuch to help get judge gorsuch approvedor the Supreme Court. I would ask about the article , the potential impact of judge gorsuchs views on federal regulatory policy in terms of how he might shift the court in this direction. Theo me, forgetting all of tweets and the headlines that trump has generated so far in his administration, there are two really big things that are happening. Im sorry, i one more caveat, besides the immigration fight. And those are regulatory policy, which there are major things happening on the regulatory front. Gorsuch is just the start. There are 120 four vacancies. There is major stuff about to happen. On the regulatory policy, gorsuch, you know, it will be interesting to watch. This is a guy who in terms of the famous chevron deference decision, took the position to oppose the chevron deference which allows that federal agencies have the right to interpret the law in a way to then write a regulation that is offered essentially there to rotation. Chevron deference from the court ruled, they have the right to do that. He has ruled against that. That is like a fundamental ruling that really has shaped the powers of federal agencies to interpret the actions by congress, therefore, to build off of that legal action. If chevron deference is overturned, then we will have a very different regulatory system in the u. S. To further that answer, you look at Judicial Crisis Network. Who, in addition to spending millions of dollars on ads to get gorsuch confirmed, what else does the judicial crisis spent money on . Millions to get republicans elected a states attorneys general. The reason that is, they wont republican attorneys general to bring cases in state and federal court that challenge federal regulations which they think are overreaching. And then to get those cases into the court in which they then help pick the judges and have more conservative judges. And then will have decisions with which limit federal powers. Gorsuch if you look at his record, it is reasonable to expect he will believe in a more now into rotation of the law and that anytime a federal agency goes too far, it is appropriate for the courts to review it and decide if it is a step beyond its ground. Watch. Be interesting to that said, were going back to a fivefour court, which is where was before. Willoughby that radically different from the what we had before Justice Scalia died . Probab not. Amy in your piece on conservives using the Gorsuch Nomination to press overhaul and judiciary, you mentioned attorney general, the Oklahoma Attorney general scott pruitt, who is now head of the epa. You talk about how hes sort of quit when quipped when leo leonard calls that you answer. Scott pruitt stayed. You talk about who was at that dinner. Again, shows you what incredible status leonard the ohio. Scott pruitt was in town for Federalist Society meeting. Scott pruitt is very active in the Federalist Society. These are people with likeminded philosophies about the benefits of limited government. Leonard approached scott and said, scott trust over friday night for dinner. I think youll enjoy. Scott pruitt shows up for the dinner it is in a basement, which is interesting. They dont specify why it was held in the basement location and washington, d. C. And who is at the dinner table but Justice Scalia and justice thomas. These are the kind of folks when leonard leo has a friday night dinner and a vice the attorney general from oklahoma to join them, these are the folks he has around the table. One of the interesting things, this little anecdote, which scott pruitt mention in a speech he gave in michigan last year, this came up during scott pruitt confirmation hearing because this momenoccurred at a time was attorneyuitt general and he had a number of cases in federal court, including several that had reached the Supreme Court. You have to wonder, here it is the attorney general of oklahoma with a number of matters pending before the Supreme Court, is it appropriate for him to be having have a conversations in a dinner in an undisclosed location with two members of the Supreme Court . Scott pruitt was asked that in the questions, written questions, that were presented to his confirmation. He said he does not remember the specifics of what was discussed, but he is certain he did not discuss pending court matters. Again, it sort of shows you leonard leos really pretty unprecedented and underappreciated reach in conservative legal world of the United States that he could bring together the attorney general of oklahoma and two sitting members of the Supreme Court for dinner. Amy eric lipton, we will ask you to stay with us Investigative Reporter at the , New York Times. We will link to your piece in , gorsuch, conservative activist sees test case for reshaping the judiciary. You have also written about what is going on right now around fbi director james comey and other issues. We would like you to stay with us when we talk about this extraordinary moment yesterday when the director of the fbi james comey revealed the agency is investigating links between the Trump Campaign and russia. Stay with us. [music break] amy this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. In an extraordinary disclosure, fbi director james comey confirmed on monday that the fbi is investigating whether President Trumps campaign collaborated with russia to sway the 2016 election. As you know, our practice is not to confirm the existence of Ongoing Investigations. Especially, those investigations that involve pacified matters. But in unusual circumstances where it is in the public interest, it may be appropriate to do so. As Justice Department policies recognize. This is one of those circumstances. I have been authorized by the department of justice to confirm that the fbi, as part of our counterintelligence mission, is investigating the russian governments efforts to interfere in the 2016 president ial election. And that includes investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump Campaign and the russian therement, and whether was any coordination between the campaign andrussias efforts. As with any town or intelligence investigation, this will also include an assessment of whether any crimes were committed. Amy james comey also said the fbi has no information that supports trumps unsubstantiated claims that president obama tapped trumps phones in trump tower during the election. With respect to the president s tweets about alleged wiretapping directed at them by the prior administration, i have no information that supports those tweets and we have looked carefully inside the fbi. The department of justice has asked me to share with you that the answer is the same for the department of justice and all its components, the department has not information that supports those tweets. Amy comey testified on monday along with nsa director admiral mike rogers. To talk about the hearing, we are joined by National Security reporter Marcy Wheeler who runs the site emptywheel. Net. And still with us is pulitzer prizewinning New York Times Investigative Reporter eric lipton. In he coauthored a major december, investigation headlined, the perfect weapon how russian cyberpower invaded the u. S. The hearingover closely yesterday. Talk about how unusual it is and what you thought was most significant. It is actually the hearing we have had on the russian investigation. The confirmation, which we already knew, but the explicit confirmation that Trumps Campaign is part of that was an important part of that, but i think even more interesting was way at the end of the hearing in exchange between commerce woman from upstate new york and james comey where she asked why the fbi had not briefed congress about this investigation until the last month, she said, and he explained they had not followed the normal policy, which is he , youibed you go to the dni go to justice, go to the white house and then you brief sogress because it was sensitive. He sort of suggested the order there could not be done with this investigation. So i think that provided in addition to the confirmation he gave early in the hearing. Someense of just h sensitive , as the conesswoman said, how serious this investigation i shall he is. Juan we have a clip of that exchange with republican your commerce woman Elise Stefanik questioning director comey about when he notified the congressional leadership about the agencys investigation, which the investigation began in july. Just to drill down on this, if the open investigation began in july and a briefing of congressional leadership only occurred recently, why was there no notification prior to the recent the past month . I think our decision was, it was a matter of such sensitivity we would not included in the quarterly briefings. When you say our decision, is that your decision . Is that usually your decision, what gets briefed and those quarterly updates . No, it is usually the head of our counterintelligence division. Again, to get the details on the record, why was the decision made not to brief senior congressional leadership until recently when the investigation , ae been open since july very Serious Investigation, why was the decision made to wait months . The sensitivity of the matter. Juan that was republican new york congresswoman elise to phonic questioning james comey, director comey yesterday. Marcy wheeler, your reaction . Said, one of the implicit things is the fbi was keeping, at least for a period, possibly at the beginning of the Trump Administration, was keeping the description of this investigation so narrowly held such that they were not willing to not even talking the full intelligence committees. Were talking just the gang of four. So devin nunes, adam schiff, richard burr, and now congressman senator warner from virginia. Four people they were not willing to brief because they were keeping it so closely held. That suggests how concerned they were that the investigation might be compromised by it leaking. Amy as the fbi confirms its inveigating the donald Trump Campaign, the white house is attempting to distance itself from judah former top aides for general Michael Flynn and Paul Manafort, who both have established ties to russia. This is White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer sterday. Even general flynn was a volunteer of the campaign. Obviously, discussion of all manafort who played a very limited role for a very limited amount of time. Can he stop interrupting other people . Jonathan, somebody is asking a question. It is not your press briefing. Julie is asking a question. Please call down. Raising the president is aware not beeng that has grievously discussed. Amy Marcy Wheeler, better sean spicer trying to say, oh, this guy general flynn was just a volunteer and manafort did not spin much time with. Right, and we have confirmation from one of erics colleagues last night of details that had been leaking on the internet in the last two months about 750,000 that was laundered to manafort. There are a couple of other shoes i think about to drop on manafort. So we have details now fleshing out about manafort taking money from russian favorable people in ukraine presumably giving what comey testified to yesterday, at least some people the white house, have now been briefed on the spe of the investigation. I find it interesting that at the precise moment that comey was laying this out before the hotellenceuse in committee, sean spicer was here tried to distance himself from these two people who would be among the first people targeted in the investigation. It certainly seems like confirmations from the white house as well that of the direction the fbi is going in. Juan i would like to get back to eric lipton. Your reaction to yesterdays stunning testimony from the fbi director, both in terms of the Ongoing Investigation of the potential links of some key Trump Campaign officials to the russian efforts to sway the us election and also his discounting of trumps claims that president obama tapped his phones . You call them stunning. I was quite unimpressed with the hearing and did not find much about it stunning. Or that surprising more informative. I think that the fbi is investigating russian interference in the election and that it would be looking as part of that investigation, which we are known for months is going on, of course it would have to address questions as to whether or not there was any coordination with the Trump Campaign, even if it concludes there was not, these are questions that they honestly would have to address. That the trump tower have been wiretap is something both the democrats im sorry, the republicans and the house and senate have said. That was not that surprising. To me, what was most evident through that hearing was the steps in which the democrats and republicans were seeing is an opportunity to pontificate and share their points of view as opposed to really diggi more deeply into the questions that are out there relative to exactlwhat happened during the 2016 election. Is unfortunate that we even calling comey in a public setting like that before you have made much progress in your investigation, i think, to me, i would be much more interested in having a Serious Investigation that would draw new fax out that they then could question comey on the record. I know see any evidence of our they have the staff or the use of subpoenas to really dig more deeply into exactly what happened. I think that is unfortunate because there are a lot of open questions, a lot of ground that a powerful committee could really dig into. So far i dont see they are doing it. Amy what about sibley the question, he chose to publicly announce they were possibly clintonating hillary even at that time, saying at the same time, were looking at the other candidate donald trump and the campaigns ties to russia . Your point is well taken as to why, if you felt the need to publicly announce that in a letter to congress and its investigation although, at the time in july, what they begin was an investigation of the russian hacking. So it is unclear exactly when they began to address questions as to what role and potentially any trump candidate folks played in that. You dont know that became a part of the examination until potentially after the election was over. For him simply to have said in the fall of 2016 that they were examining the potential for russian interference in the election would not have been, i dont think that wouldve answered your point. Amy then you have comey addressing the issue that u investigated, eric, which is, would he have done things differently when it came to alerting the dnc, lowlevel person ending up talking to a consultant at the dnc said, yes, i would have sent out a larger flare. We just would have cap banging and banging on the door for stuff i guess i should have walked over there myself. Even the fact they did not begin formally investigating the apparent interference by russia in the American Election until july of 2016, that they had october 2015ort of that there was Russian Hackers that had gone into the Computer System of the dnc. That is when an fbi agent first notified a low level technical the tech help guy. That is who they called on the phone to say, by the way, it looks like basically you have Russian Hackers inside the dncs Computer System. It took months and months before it really got elevated at the dnc. It was not until may 2016 that the dnc confirmed they were present in a Computer System and they have been hacked and compromised. That began a whole series of disclosures that ultimately brought down the leadership of the dnc and it was months of documents that then became public. Why the fbi did not escalate the investednd why formal investigation was not announced and why it was not a treated to russia earlier than october, which was the first of the federal government attributed it, those are all important questions we still dont have answers to. In go we will have to leave it there but look at all of these issues. Andant to thank eric lipton Marcy Wheeler. Hello, im hubert keller. Today on secrets of a chef, were going to brazil with its rich, colorful cuisine and deep flavors. You cannot miss it. First were making one of the national treasures, a feijoada. It uses a rich array of slowly cooked meats, and with black beans and greens, youve got one of the best stews you will ever try. Then i take you to the north. Were making a moqueca, a brazilian fish stew made with a beautiful array of seafood cooked in a fragrant, delicious coconut broth. Were topping it off with another brazilian treasure, a caipirinha, and ive got a good one for you. Its some great brazilian cooking starting now on secrets of a chef