Transcripts For LINKTV Democracy Now 20150323

Actuate its remaining personnel, including 100 special Operations Forces from a military base seen as key and the drone war against al qaeda. We will get an update from reporter iona craig. Then, we remember that i nearing author, filmmaker, and media reform activist Danny Schechter, the news dissector. You are known as the news dissector. What does that mean . It means i can look at the news from the inside out, chop it up, find out what are the sources, what are the biases of the different sources, what can you expect from a given news outlet as opposed to another one, what is theirs spend . News doesnt make any context if you dont have background to make meaning out of fax. Amy well speak with two of Danny Schechters longtime friends and colleagues, South African filmmaker anant singh and globalvision cofounder rory oconnor who worked with danny on the groundbreaking television series, south africa now that aired on 150 stations in the late 1980s and early 1990s at the height of the antiapartheid struggle. We will play exit from the newly digitized archives. Covering south africa, abc news blasts Nelson Mandela. We will dissect the report. While things like the new constitution and the right to vote or bottle concerns, they sometimes seem secondary to more urgent needs. Not even the men such high as perhaps an realistic hopes were pinned on. Amy all that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Yemen could be on the brink of civil war amidst escalating clashes between Government Forces and shia Houthi Rebels, and an attack on two mosques that killed dozens. Houthi rebels seized the countrys Third Largest city taiz, and its military airport. In recent days, unidentified warplanes have reportedly bombed the aden headquarters of president Abdrabbu Mansour hadi. He has asked the United Nations for urgent intervention to defend his government against the houthis advance. Briefing the Security Council on sunday, u. N. Envoy Jamel Benomar warned the situation in yemen could become a iraqlibyasyria scenario. It would be an allusion to think the houthis could mount an offensive and succeed in taking control of the entire country including [indiscernible] it would be equally false to think the president hadi could a civil sufficient forces against the hadis. Houthis. [indiscernible] amy the latest unrest comes after suicide bombers attacked two mosques in the capital sanaa on friday, killing more than 130 worshipers and wounding hundreds. The socalled Islamic State took credit for the coordinated attacks. The u. S. Has evacuated its remaining personnel from yemen and recalled approximately 100 special Operations Forces from a Southern Military base seen as key in the drone war against alqaeda. Well have more on yemen after headlines. President obama says hes personally confronted israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about his rejection of Palestinian Statehood and antiarab racebaiting. Netanyahu was reelected last week after vowing to prevent a palestinian state and bemoaning a high turnout of arab voters. Speaking to the huffington post, obama said he personally rebuked netanyahu in their first postelection phone call. President obama i indicated to him we continue to believe a two state solution is the only way for the longterm security of israel, if it wants to stay both a jewish state and democrat. And i indicated to him that given histamines prior to the election, it is going to be hard to find a path where people are seriously believing that negotiations are possible. We take him at his word when he says it wouldnt happen during his Prime Minister ship, so that is why we have to evaluate what other options are available to make sure that we dont see a chaotic situation. Amy in response to netanyahus comments, the Obama Administration is considering not blocking a u. N. Security Council Resolution that would call for a twostate solution based on an israeli withdrawal from the occupied territories. That would mean president obama would formally support official u. S. Policy for the first time after previously vetoing similar u. N. Resolutions. But despite the potential shift white house officials have vowed the billions of dollars in u. S. Military aid to israel will continue unimpeded. Talks over a nuclear deal with iran are approaching their final week before an end of the month deadline. Both sides have reported progress, but differences remain over the timeline for ending u. N. Sanctions and the expansiveness of international inspections. Speaking ahead of a meeting with european counterparts in london, secretary of state john kerry said after substantial progress, tough decisions will be made in the days ahead. We have not yet reached the finish line. Make no mistake, we have the opportunity to try to get this right. It is a matter of clinical will and tough decision political will and tough decision. It is a matter of choices and we must all choose wisely in the days ahead. Over the past months, the p5 plus one has made substantial progress towards that fundamental goal. Though important gaps remain. Amy iran has demanded an immediate end to all United Nations sanctions that have crippled its economy and health sector. In a public address, irans Supreme Leader ayatollah ali khamenei, said an end to the sanctions is nonnegotiable. Iranian negotiators have also reportedly rejected u. S. Demands for inspections of any potential nuclear site, including Iranian Military bases. If a framework deal is reached in the next week, the talks would continue for a final agreement by june. Jailed kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan is calling on his group to consider ending a threedecade uprising against turkey. Ocalan is serving a life sentence after leading the pkk in its struggle for autonomy in turkeys southeast. Peace talks have faltered since their launch in late 2012. In a Statement Read to tens of thousands of supporters, ocalan called for a formal congress to consider ending the armed struggle, but stopped short of declaring an immediate halt. We have a duty to kick off a new phase needed for the pkk. Designate a new social and Strategic Moves were this new period is articulated in a joint declaration. Amy thousands of people have marched in the spanish capital of madrid in the latest rally against europeanbacked austerity. The dignity march drew residents from across spain to protest worsening poverty and demand basics like jobs and affordable housing. We are asking for food, jobs, housing, and dignity. That is what we deserve dignity. Because we dont have that at the moment. There are no jobs and they are evicting us from our homes. ; amy the march comes as the spanish Political Party podemos has made strong gains in a regional vote. Podemos went from zero to 15 seats in the region of andalusia, cutting into the share of spains two traditional parties, the socialists and the peoples party. Podemos has ridden a wave of antiausterity sentiment to become a major contender in Upcoming National elections. The founder of modern singapore, lee kuan yew, has died at the age of 91. Lee pioneered what came to be known as soft authoritarianism restricting free speech and Political Freedom while expanding economic prosperity. Singapore will celebrate its 50th anniversary in august. A mass grave has been discovered in a nigerian town following the ouster of the boko haram. Nigerian and chadian forces found more than 70 bodies after expelling boko haram fighters from damasak. Nigeria is Holding National elections later this week after postponing them in the wake of boko haram attacks. The record outbreak of ebola has marched its First Anniversary with more than 10,000 people dead. Library announced its first confirmed case of ebola in weeks friday, quashing hopes the country had eliminated the virus. Guinea and sierra leone have continued to report about 100 to 200 new cases combined each week. Any recently reported a doubling of cases over the course of a month with three doctors among those falling ill. Sierra leone has announced plans for a two day quarantine this week when nearly the entire country will be told to remain indoors. Reflecting on the anniversary of the outbreak, the Group Doctors without borders criticized the slow international response, saying the selfproclaimed Islamic State has published the names and addresses of dozens of people whom it claims are u. S. Marines and that it wants supporters to kill. Socalled Islamic State hacker group says it stole the personal information from government services, but u. S. Officials say it was publicly available. The marine corps has advised its forces and their families to be diligent in protecting their privacy online. Hundreds of protesters rallied in front of the white house on saturday to oppose what organizers called perpetual war in the middle east. The rally from the antiwar group answer comes as Congress Weighs president obamas request for authority to strike isis anywhere in the world. I am here to take a stance against [indiscernible] war on the middle east as well as obamas continued war on the middle east. Amy on friday, Amnesty International led a march against the brooklyn bridge. The reason we chose these three cases were focusing on is because it is right here in new york city. They were all unarmed, allblack im all between 20 and 40 years of age. In all three instances, violent death. Were asking for some accountability. Amy the protest came one day after Staten Island judge refused to release testimony heard by the grand jury that failed to indict an officer for the chokehold death of unarmed africanamerican eric garner. Parents and colleagues of 43 students missing for nearly six months in guerrero, mexico have launched a caravan inside the United States. The students families question the mexican governments claims local police turned the students over to drug gang members, who killed and incinerated them. Only one students remains have been identified, and mexican media reports have tied federal authorities to the attack. On sunday, a crowd of mexican caravan members and their supporters rallied in new york city. These students were taken alive by both druglords and Police Forces and have disappeared ever since. Obviously, we know due to the war on drugs, there is close to 20,000 people who have died, who are disappeared in the country. Close to 100,000 people have died because of the respect policies. Amy one of the caravan organizers. And a federal judge has struck down a Wisconsin Law requiring abortion providers to obtain admitting privileges at a nearby hospital, ruling it unconstitutional. While antichoice proponents argue the bill makes patients safer, u. S. District judge William Conley wrote the court is, if anything, more convinced that the admitting privileges requirement. remains a solution in search of a problem, unless that problem is access to abortion itself. Providers had argued the law would shatter at least one of wisconsins quattro abortion clinics, possibly causing waiting periods of up to 10 weeks at the remaining facilities. Courts have blocked similar laws in a number of other states. And those are some of the headlines, this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. We begin in yemen where the government is on the edge of civil war amidst intense clashes with shia Houthi Rebels, and an attack on two mosques that left more than 130 dead. Over the weekend, rebels took over the countrys Third Largest city, taiz, and its military airport. Now the United States has evacuated its remaining military personnel citing the countrys deteriorating security situation. Meanwhile, the u. S. Has recalled approximately 100 special Operations Forces from a Southern Military base seen as key in its Drone Campaign against alqaeda militants. The Obama Administration had previously praised the Yemeni Government as being a model for successful counterterrorism partnerships. But it closed its embassy in the capital city of sanaa earlier this year after Houthi Rebels overtook the city and deposed president Abdrabbuh Mansour hadi. In recent days, unidentified warplanes have reportedly bombed hadis aden headquarters. He recently wrote a letter to the United Nations requesting urgent intervention. On sunday, the u. N. Security council convened an emergency meeting to discuss yemens political crisis. The u. N. Special adviser to the country, Jamel Benomar, warned the situation could become a iraqlibyasyria scenario. It would be an illusion to think the houthis could mount an offensive and succeed in taking control of the entire country including taiz and the south. He would be equally false to think president hadi to assemble sufficient forces to liberate the country from the houthis. Any side that would want to push the country in either direction would be inviting a protracted conflict in the vein of an iraqlibyasyria combined scenario. Amy meanwhile, during friday prayers, suicide bombers attacked two mosques in sanaa, killing more than 130 worshipers and wounding hundreds. The socalled Islamic State took credit for the coordinated attacks. State Department Spokesman jeff rathke denounced both the mosque attacks and the ongoing attacks on u. S. Backed president hadi. We express our condolences to the families of the victims and a poor the brutality of the terrorists who perpetrated todays unprovoked attack on yemeni citizens who were peacefully engaging in friday prayers in their places of worship. We also strongly condemned the march 19 airstrike targeting the president ial palace in aden. We call upon all actors within yemen to hold all unilateral and offensive military actions. Specifically call on the houthi s, forward or former president saleh. The way forward for yemen must be through a political solution. Amy well, for more, we go to london, where were joined by iona craig. Shes a journalist who was based in sanaa, yemen, for four years as the yemen correspondent for the times of london, was awarded the Martha Gellhorn prize for journalism in 2014. Iona, welcome back to democracy now please, just describe what is happening in yemen today. At the moment, you have a complex fracturing of various different political groups. In the north, you have the houthis in control and sanaa and hadi is in aden. You have trouble groups. Aligning themselves one way or the other. Yet the succession is, the Southern Movement calling for independence. Some of the militia groups have aligned themselves to hadi. But really, a lot of them are looking for this opportunity to fight the north, they really see the houthis as saleh in disguise and have longheld grievances against him. Factions are ready to fight, some of them are already fighting. Different motivations. Amy can you tell us how it has come to this point at this point . Well, really, this has been a car crash in slow motion to watch it. This is, after the arab spring in 2011 when sale signed over power, he was granted immunity from that point and allowed to stay in yemen. He was allowed to still continue in politics, really, and keep manipulating as he always had done, but from then on, from the side. And really this doesnt seem to be a plan of action and to use the houthis as a way of getting revenge and creating the scenario that we are now noncode in yemen. Hadi has been forced into a corner as a result of all of this. It is really a result of after the arab spring the transition deal that was then signed, did not address the grievances of the houthis or the Southern Movement and others. Despite the International Community pushing on with the transition, it was a must inevitable this was going to come to a head at some point. Amy on saturday, yemeni president Abdrabbu Mansour hadi accused the houthi militia of staging a coup against him. He said he would raise yemens flag in the houthis northern stronghold. Hadi called on all political groups to attend peace talks in saudi arabia. I call on all Political Parties to feel the seriousness of the current phase and ignore inadequate partisan views. I call on them to actively participate in the talks to be held in the secretarygeneral of the gulf cooperation council, to come up with resolutions in order to avoid yemens plunging into secession and violence and have determination to correct the tract of the political process. Aamy who in yemen supports them, iona craig . At the moment, and hadis position in aden he has been encouraging and employing local militias. They were set up to fight al qaeda in 2011 an answer of sharia. And now, aligned to hadi. More recently, after the bombing of his compound in aden a couple of days ago, there have been units of the air force that of also aligned themselves withh. There were fighter jets flown from the Eastern Province down to aden. Obviously, without air power, he is also going to be struggling to defend himself. So who is stronger militarily . It really looks like the houthis and the supporters and synthesizers of saleh are. They have the heavier weapons. They did have the complete control of the air force although, that is now divided. The military still remains divided. But if it came down to an allout fight, it probably looks like the houthis and saleh. Amy on friday, a journalist asked state Department Spokesman jeff rathke if the u. S. Is worried about yemen collapsing. Lets go to rathkes response. Courts well, civil war would be a Terrible Development for yemen, but that is why we believe it is central for all of the parties and groups to avoid unilateral actions, to avoid island violence, as i mentioned at the top. That is why we are long with International Partners are supporting a yemeni little transition process, political instability is a threat to the wellbeing of all yemenis. Amy your response, iona . Well, i mean, of course the main concern of america, really, is the counterterrorism issue. And certainly, the only way out of a gymnastic we in yemen is negotiations domestically in yemen is negotiations. It looks like theres going to be more conflict and war. Really, the International Community has very little now influence in the outcome of that. The americans, along with other western embassies, all left earlier this year, let their embassies in sanaa. Jamal benomar is the front and trying to arrange these talks. And yet the regional powers who also have an interest. The american focus is always in yemen, primary, one of counterterrorism and that is sort of model for the washington now has all been raised. Amy lets talk about the regional interests. He of saudi arabia and also iran. What role are they playing . Well, the houthis have said there supported by iran and certainly, the rhetoric of a recent months from tehran has adjusted and made very clear they do support the houthis. Once the houthis took sanaa daily flights started between tehran and sanaa. A saudi arabia interest, they have a concern of the rise of the houthis. Their them before. The same time, they run something of a risk by supporting hadi if he is not going to survive. The factories have been for a much involved in backing and supporting some of the tribal groups who are looking to oppose the houthisexpansion and preparing to fight the houthis if they move into their areas. So the saudis are concerned because of the complete collapse in yemen not only raises the issue of terrorism issues, but it also means they have the risk of yemenis running over the border looking for money employment, and also when you get the worsening humanitarian situation, which there is in yemen, if it does fall into an allout war and a civil war theyre going to be many people looking to flee yemen over the border into saudi arabia. Amy lastly, property Yemeni Journalist was assassinated in the capital. Abdul kareem alkhaiwani was reportedly shot dead near his home by gunmen riding a motorbike. This is a clip of him speaking in 2010 at the oslo freedom forum, talking about the Yemeni Governments crackdown on journalists. Considered treasonous for its allegedly to foreign powers whenever it deviates from the official personality cold around president saleh. I have been a journalist since 1990. Im not the most brilliant journalist in yemen, but an example of what journalists are subjected to oppression kidnapping readings, newspaper bands or even closures and internet website censorship. We didnt give up on our ability for Democratic Values as we believe initially the governments promises of toryism. However, as journalists we warned against dangers envisioned the future. As strong as we were with dreams of liberty, we exposed corruption, rights abused, and cold things as they were. We discussed publicly have the country is ruled and pointed to the root causes of terrorism. We shared with yemeni the whispers from under the rulers table. The government response came even tougher repression for journalists, kidnappings, and newspaper closures. Amy that was Yemeni Journalist who was assassinated last week near his home. Iona craig, you worked in yemen particularly in sanaa for years did you know him . Yes, i think everybody knew him. He was something of a legend amongst the Journalist Community in sanna. He was a houthi activist, but he was also very outspoken critic of saleh. Given a journalist for 25 years and during the war in the north against the houthis from 2004, he had really tried to cover that conflict and show the atrocities that of an carried out by the government when they had been bombing their own population, when was a very difficult place to access. Journalists could not get there even the u. N. Agencies cannot gain access to the area. He ended up in jail as a result of criticizing saleh. Although he was a houthi supporter and activist, he was much more than that. In a very outspoken voice for long, long time against the old regime and against saleh. Amy any thoughts on who killed him . Well, he was one of the last moderate voices of the houthi movement. Al qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula claimed responsibility for his assassination but really, it has got to be viewed as a politically motivated assassination. As i said before, he was a very outspoken critic of saleh. He certainly did not pose a threat to al qaeda in any way. He wasnt a fighter, he was a journalist. For him to be assassinated in this way and for al qaeda to claimant, it certainly doesnt seem to appear that it happen in isolation. The result was some kind of political motivation behind that killing as well. Amy iona craig, the u. S. Says it has pulled out 100 special Operations Forces that ran a drone base in yemen. Can you talk about the significance of that base . In southern yemen, it is between where hadis position now and the houthis have taken control of taiz. Strategically important air base as well. It is an important pays for hadi to have control of reviews going to be able to protect himself in aden. When they withdrew, it was not just a consequence of apparent attack while al qaeda in a town just the road, but it was also about the domestic political struggle and who was in command of that phase, which had been base, which have been led by commander loyal to saleh and hadi had an interest in making sure yet control of that phase so became part of the domestic political struggle. The american troops there were really stuck in the middle. So they had little option but to withdraw by that stage. Amy the u. N. Had a rare un Security Council meeting on sunday to talk about the situation in yemen. What came out of that and where do you think yemen will be going from here right now . What do you think can be done . Well, a lot of what was said at the un Security Council meeting is nothing new. It is not really going to change the situation on the ground. The houthis arent really hearing to or listening to anything the Security Council have got to say. All about calling for dialogue, which is kind of essential but is really struggling to progress at the moment. There was a call for the use of force under the chapter seven, which the community has been doing anyway, but nothing is, that. Really, most immediately now in yemen, is certainly looking inevitable theres going to be more conflict. The way the houthis are progressing, the way hadi is trying to build up militias on his side, and every day were seeing more and more conflict in rural areas as well as regional points, and that seems to be becoming more common and widespread. The prospect of a peaceful resolution is looking remote at the moment, but honestly, benomar is trying to do his best to initiate those talks and get a resolution at the end of it. Even with the agreements that have been made before, there was an agreement made in september when the houthis took over sanaa and that is all but collapsed. It is banished. And the houthis did not adhere to that agreement. From hadis point of view and the leader of the houthis the speeches they been making over the past few days have both been mentioning the dialogue, but really have been posturing for war and really looking like conflict is going to be inevitable on both sides. Amy i iona craig, thank you for being with us a journalist who , was based in sanaa, yemen for four years as the yemen correspondent for the times of london. She was awarded the Martha Gellhorn prize for journalism in 2014. When we come back, we will remember Danny Schechter, the news the sector. We will speak with anant singh who made the film, the long walk to freedom and Danny Schechters longtime colleague and friend rory oconnor. We will be back in a minute. [music break] amy sun city, by artists united against apartheid, a group formed in 1985 by musician Steven Van Zandt and record producer arthur baker to protest apartheid in south africa. Danny schechter was heavily involved in the project. This is democracy now democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Today we spend the rest of the hour remembering the pioneering author, filmmaker and media reform activist Danny Schechter, who died last thursday of pancreatic cancer at the age of 72. Danny got his start and his famous moniker, the news dissector, on bostons wbcn radio in the 1970s. Fans of the show included mit professor noam chomsky who told Common Dreams no one who was in boston during the days of Danny Schechter your news dissector can ever forget the exhilaration of those marvelous broadcasts, their enlightenment and insight and humor, often in dark days, a legacy that danny left behind him when he went on to a remarkable career of critical analysis and breaking through media and doctrinal barriers. This is a clip from the biopic a work in progress Danny Schechter and the journalism of change. Chronicling a media life in the trenches from the sixties to 60. Danny explains how he got his nickname. I got involved in the underground newspaper movement. And from there, by accident and by chance, i got an opportunity to work at wbcn radio and later when the news director left, took his job. I became the news dissector when one of the djs was running the news for told me he could not read what i had written and i should read it myself. He had to go to the toilet, so i was thrown on the air and he introduced me, and now, ladies and judgment, the news inspector, the news digester the news dissector. I thought it sounded pretty good. So basically latched on to it and im still known as the news dissector journalism all around the world and no write a blog under that name. And now write a blog under that name. [inaudible] not resignations, not even an impeachment can do that. Watergate is a symptom crocs there can be no whitewash but the white house. Amy thats a clip from, a work in progress produced by Marie Sullivan and billed as a Danny Schechter selfdissection. Danny went on to work as a Television Producer at abcs 20 20, where he won two emmy awards, and at the newly launched cnn. He wrote 12 books, including the more you watch, the less you know. He was also a leading activist and journalist against apartheid in south africa, making six documentaries about Nelson Mandela. Introducing south africa now turco. To pursue his antiapartheid work he left Corporate Media to lead mediachannel. Org and Global Vision with rory oconnor, who will join us in a minute. At globalvision they produced the groundbreaking television series, south africa now, which was broadcast on 150 public tv stations in United States, and 16 other countries including mozambique. This is a clip from the opening of the show in november 1990. We will play that clip in a moment. Again, Danny Schechter died thursday at the age of 72. In he had just published a new january, book titled, when south africa called, we answered how International Solidarity helped topple apartheid. Well, we remember his work today with two of his closest friends. First, were going to go to the beginning of south africa now. The Television Newsmagazine Southern Africa news. News. News. Frontline focus. Indepth analysis. Covering the coverage. Cultural features. This week, reporting these stories. Remember the song sun city . The scene of near the reported human rights abuses. We will explain. Democratic functioning doesnt exist at all in the government. Covering south africa, abc news blasts Nelson Mandela. We will dissect the report. While things like a new constitution in the right to vote or vital concerns are they sometimes seem secondary to more urgent needs. Nobody is helping us. Not even the man such high hopes were penned on pinned on. And in our culture section from zimbabwe, the sounds of all of these stories and more on South Africanow first, the uncensored news. Amy that was the beginning of the south africa now Program People watched around the world. Rory oconnor is with us here in new york, cofounder of the tv and Film Production company, globalvision with Danny Schechter, where they made the weekly tv series south africa now , and another series called rights wrongs Human Rights Television as well as many documentaries about Nelson Mandela, including mandela in america. And in durban, south africa, anant singh is a highly acclaimed South African filmmaker who has produced more than 80 films, including the feature film, mandela long walk to freedom, in 2013, based on Nelson Mandelas autobiography. He brought Danny Schechter to south africa to produce a behind the scenes documentary on that project, and the two worked together on other films as well, including, countdown to freedom, which documented the first democratic elections in south africa, and a hero for all seasons, which they produced as a tribute to mandela when he stepped down as president of south africa in june 1999. Singh is responsible for many of the antiapartheid films made in south africa, including, place of weeping, and sarafina which tells the story of the 1976 soweto uprisings and stars Whoopi Goldberg and miriam makeba. He also made, cry, the beloved country, starring James Earl Jones and alfre woodard. On friday, singh remembered his friend with an article published online, a tribute to Danny Schechter. Anant singh and rory oconnor welcome both of you to democracy now anant singh, first her reflections on Danny Schechters life and career . He was a remarkable human being just captured the news dissector moment as part of his early life on radio, but he was such a passionate person about radio and about telling stories and telling the stories with truth. I think that was the thing that really captivated me. He was very humble and very passionate and very aggressively passionate in a way that i have never seen. I think he has such a joy in telling stories and being honest about it. That was the beginning of it and thereafter, we collaborated on some new things together. To have danny now gone and a have the legacy of the material he produced, whether it is writing, on film books, is a celebration of his life. I think we should remember him for all of these many achievements that he can to be did to liberation can treated to liberation and democracy around the world. Amy you had just spoken to him the sunday before yesterday . Yes, i was in new york on the fourth of this month and he came over to private screening i held that i had just produced. We chatted about the film. We talked about how he was feeling. I did since he was in some pain, but you would never know it. It was a miserable day in new york and he wanted to come out and watch the movie. Then we chatted about his health. He did indicate he was having some difficulties. But, you know, he was always so of be upbeat. On sunday, i sent him a few emails. He was always quick to respond and he hadnt responded to an email in two days. I just decided, let me give him a call. I spoke to him and it was a very quick conversation. I sensed from that he was in difficulties. But at the same time, my son was with me and he is 12, and he and my son had a very good relationship. My son spoke to him to say hi and wish them well. It was a very poignant moment when on thursday we found out he had passed. Amy rory oconnor, your life and dannys has been intermeshed for decades. We just played that clip from south africa now that Public Television watchers who watched in the 1980s and 1990s knew very well. Talk about how significant that show being on Public Television was, the struggle for it to be there and what happened after. It was a great struggle to get it on the air. One of the first things that surprised us the most is, i guess institutions in the would be supportive and we thought would be our allies, for example, the public broadcasting system pbs. Instead, rejected the program when we brought it to them. Because it was a babbling antiapartheid. Validly enter apartheid antiapartheid. Right from the very beginning, we were branded with the scarlet a if you will. We saw it as struggle for liberation in south africa. Remember, this is decades ago. There was a white minority racist regime that ran that whole country and was oppressing literally millions and millions of people. We saw this as a great moral crusade, but we also saw it as a wonderful journalistic opportunity, a story that needed to be told. And largely wasnt being told, at least, here in the west. I what is now called the Mainstream Media. So we were moved to try both danny and i worked in the socalled Mainstream Media at abc and cnn we knew these places from the inside. What we knew is that responded much more to competition than to criticism. So rather than stand outside and criticize them, we decided lets start a program and do just a few shows to goad the networks into doing what they shouldve been doing already, which is covering this wonderful story. Amy and more than 150 Public Television stations took it. As you know, sure from euro program and distribution, it is possible to circumvent pbs. It is a lot easier to work with pbs if they will have you, but if they wont have you, you can still go station to station to the hundreds of Public Television stations. Amy talk about the significance of the footage you got from south africa that no one saw anywhere else. Again we were on Public Television and they had high technical standards. We were getting footage from all over the place. 1. 0 want to make amy this is during the time Nelson Mandela is in prison. When we started the program, Nelson Mandela had been imprisoned for decades literally, and had not been seen. The problem of doing a Television Show with the leader of the Liberation Movement who nobody had seen for literally more than 20 years. There are a lot of challenges. One of the main ones, we were not allowed into south africa. We were banned. We do not get visas. We had to figure out, how can we cover this country thousands of miles away that we cant even get into . We were forced by necessity into creating a new way of reporting. It has formed our work ever since. What we call inside out journalism. We began sending cameras into south africa, very cheap, not even professional video cameras. We got some image, some picture is better than no picture. That is what we ended up putting on the air footage that was shot by South Africans and it would be sent to new york where we would put the program together. Amy the regime objecting every step of the way. Every step of the way. There werent many people as i said, american broadcasters but the british and irish, the english were covering this on almost a weekly basis. We also got a lot of support from people who work for the mainstream American Networks who were frustrated with the fact that the American Networks were shooting a lot of footage, but were not putting it on air. We got a lot of help from people on the sly and if you will. Amy anant singh the archives have just been digitized and now residing in south africa . That is correct. We want to have it as a platform to celebrate all of the content that was banned in south africa asrory had mentioned, and to be able to let south africa and set access to this because i think that is what rory and danny wanted. This was such an important part of liberation because it was a time when, as he said, the democracy of the world was not really interested in south africa but this content in the cultural boycott, all of the things you now know as daily information, was unavailable. I think the show south africa now was a very important turning point to the awareness of what was going on in south africa. So were very pleased that, one, danny and rory put this together, and more importantly that it is available today for people to know what really happened. Amy we have to go to break the only come back, we will hear Danny Schechter confronting or interviewing Henry Kissinger. Stay with us. [music break] amy danny boy, by roy orbison, one of the songs on Danny Schechters partial soundtrack of life and struggle. After he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2014, he wrote one of my first purchases was a new turntable to find comfort in some of the music that made up the soundtrack for a life now at risk. I wanted to give Something Back by sharing some of the many songs that influenced me, kept me dancing and echoed my joy and outrage. Especially for radio listeners you can go to democracynow. Org and see the images we were showing during danny boy [captioning made possible by democracy now ] one of those pictures was Danny Schechter interviewing john lennon and your coowner. This is democracy now democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. As we turn to a clip when Henry Kissinger came to boston to receive the world peace medal and Danny Schechter got an unexpected chance to interview him and kept the recorder rolling. Do you have any regrets . [indiscernible] any confessions . On that hes with myself. My confessions will take too long. Amy that was Danny Schechter trying to interview Henry Kissinger. Rory oconnor, explain that moment. I was actually at that moment. I remember it as if it was yesterday. Danny and i outraged a gone to this event where Henry Kissinger was receiving a peace award from the World Affairs council. Of course, given the tender of the times, was impossible for any of the press to get near dr. Kissinger. The rest of the press was hobbled by the front door trying to hear what they could. Danny and i gave up and we went to the back door and we started talking with the secret Service Agents would just come back from jamaica, which is a place that danny and i travel too many times and we loved. And all of a sudden, out of the back door, Henry Kissinger pops in to avoid the press. Right in front of us come as close as you and i are now. Danny one thing i must say, was the most quick on his feet person i ever knew. That was one of his great strengths. So when kissinger popped out danny spread his arms and said dr. Kissinger in this wonderfully warm and welcoming tone. So kissinger came, to my astonishment, and bear hugged danny. I was standing behind him. Danny, by the way, was miced live said, do you have any regrets . Kissinger realized what was going on and he said, well, why would i have chile . Kissinger looked at me and i said, vietnam . The rest you heard. Then they broke into the morning show and worldwide exclusive interview with dr. Kissinger talking about how culpable he was. Amy i want to turn back to 2011 when i bumped into Danny Schechter at occupy wall street. He was holding a sign. This is a clip of that interview. I think i see Danny Schechter in the crowd with a major poster he has got there. And a tshirt that says, we love tv. This is Danny Schechter, the news dissector. The Corporate Media has been very quick to revoke to ridicule, to mock, to show the face of the clown, to tear apart or more poorly say theres no message. What do you think is the message . Initial reaction is, ignore it, it will go away. After Police Arrested people, they determined theres a story in a first ridicule people, but now more and more reluctantly you find the New York Times and others writing editorials supporting what is happening here, right are saying they are impressed by the sincerity of the people here. Fox has been beating up on these people, and theres good reason for it, they realize it is effective. I dont think they would go into attack mode the way they have if they thought this was something that could be ignored. The longer this goes on, the more people turn out, the more people support them, the more interest there is in the issue. Amy that was Danny Schechter in 2011 at occupy wall Street Holding a major sign. You would then produce his book plunder. You also made a film along those lines. I worked with danny on the predecessor from to that, in debt we trust america before the bubble burst that. The film came in 2006. One of the Amazing Things about danny is the breath of what he was involved in, the issues he tackled, beginning with chile in vietnam, working with me with bosnia and human rights. Later, the american economy, which he was impression about. But the other thing that really informed his work in our work at Global Vision throughout, is his belief that whatever the story is, the other story is always the media story. That was a big through line, starting with south africa now amy i want to ask about the last rookie didnt finish, which is a book on cancer. Before do that, anant singh, his legacy for south africa . It is so important that in 1967, he made his first trip to south africa. The head of the anc had just died, and he decided he was coming to the funeral. If you look back at all those years and to this day, that amazing commitment that he had to our country and its people not in my opinion, not enough credit. But he was always, whether it was pretty democracy oppose democracy, so much in love with our country and that was really something i think, as his daughter sarah said, his first love was new york, but then we became in love with south africa. I think we as South Africans, the free south africa, oh a huge debt to him. As youre talking about the Henry Kissinger moment, i was with him at the inauguration of Nelson Mandela. He has that ability to just command the moment. We met yasser arafat, fidel castro, and all of these people he put onto film for that documentary. But adding to that issues like aids, and we did a document or together on a nineyearold boy who was inflicted with aids and his journey. It really traversed not only political issues, but also anything that he felt passionate about. I think as we remember danny, we must not only think about south africa, but the many things he was always involved in always being alert. Amy he was working on a book dealing with cancer. He produced more media than Major Networks could do, and thousands of people. And to the very end, he was documenting his life and working on a book of cancer that will be coming out soon. Amy we willing to all of our interviews withs. Thank you so much rory oconnor and anant singh. 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