Hundreds are wounded following a weekend of violence in iraq. A series of bombings aimed at shiites killed dozens of people over the weekend. Families were celebrating eid alfitr, which marks the end of ramadan. According to a private monitoring group, an al qaeda affiliate has claimed responsibility for the bombings. On sunday, at least seven people died. Three u. S. Soldiers died in afghanistan on sunday. The u. S. Official said that they were killed by insurgents in paktia province. Attorney general eric holder is set to unveil a key new policy aimed at curbing lengthy sentences for drug violations. The policy shift will bar prosecutors from noting the specific quantity of drugs involved when drafting cases for minor drug incidents. Holder will also announce policies aimed at turning over crimes to state courts and expanding drug treatment as an alternative. Has spokenatt damon against president obamas policy on drone strikes. There are a lot of things that i really question, the legality of the drone strikes, these nsa revelations. If jimmy carter came out and said we do not live in a democracy that is a little intense. He has got some explaining to do, particularly for a constitutional law professor. In egypt, supporters of Mohamed Morsi how continue to be separated in two camps. The Israeli Government has approved the construction of nearly 1200 new settlements. The approval comes three days before peace talks between israel and palestinian authorities are due to resume. The last talks broke down over the issue of settlements. Meanwhile, saturday, israeli troops shot an unarmed palestinian guard along the border of gaza. Barred a leading rights human activists, maryam alkhawaja, from entering the country ahead of prodemocracy actions this week. She was barred from boarding a flight back home. She is the acting president for the Bahrain Center for human rights. Hersays she wants to visit father and sister. Interview withnt maryam alkhawaja, go to democracynow. Org. Police in canada have arrested two people in connection with the case of rehtaeh parsons, a 17yearold who committed suicide after voters of her rape or posted online. 18ce have arrested two yearold on child pornography charges. A 22yearold bangladeshi man has been sentenced to prison on accusations of trying to blow up the federal deserve in new york city with a fake bomb. Quazi nafis pleaded guilty to terrorism charges. The rightwing American Legislative Exchange council has wrapped up its 40th annual conference in chicago, illinois. The meeting hosts corporate. Obbyists according to the center for alecand democracy, 466 influence the bills were introduced in 2013. Thousands of protesters gathered during alecs meeting last week to protest their stance on workers rights, the environment, and other issues. Florida republican governor rick scott is reviving his bid to purge noncitizen from the voter rolls. It began before last years president ial election but stalled amid claims of discrimination. The probe initially involved the noncitizens who were suspected, which ultimately resulted in just one prosecution for fraud. The u. S. Supreme courts decision in june to strike down parts of the Voting Rights act has allowed certain states to new rules for voting. The dream defenders have been camped out in the governors suite for a month demanding changes in their lot. Law. To register the people that are forgotten, the black, brown, indigent, 4, lgbt community. We will meet them where they are, in their classrooms, at the mall, at the club, on the corner, at the bus stop. We want to encourage them to vote in the name of their issues, not in the name of any candidate. We will incur them to use their power not for any party, not for any promises or pandering, but in a way that builds power for people of color, poor people in the state of florida. A new report said shares in oklahoma spied on a Training Camp for activists protesting. Gainst the tar sands were pulledpants over even before they reached the site. Two Law Enforcement officers infiltrated the resistance camp and wrote a detailed summary about the people there. According to a report published today, the infiltration is part of a wider pattern of surveillance by government officials who routinely share information with transcanada, the firm behind the keystone xl pipeline. A federal judge has denied a request for compassionate release four jailed civil rights attorney lynne stewart, who is dying from fourth stage breast cancer. She has served four years of a 10year prison sentence for distributing press releases on behalf of her trial her client. Her releaseested by loved ones. He has said that she was not sick enough. Since then, her doctors have said that she has 18 months to live. And judge koeltl said he would give consideration if the Bureau Report approved a request. Where democracy now has been broadcast, has laid off two thirds of its staff, including the entire News Department following a series of crippling financial problems. Include 19 of 29 employees. Walllost its studios on street during Superstorm Sandy and have traveled to pay rent for its transmitter. They announced the layoffs in an address following talks on friday. Heart inwith a heavy great difficulty that we will be laying off virtually everyone whose voice you recognize on the air who is a paid programmer. This includes the vast majority of paid programming in the daytime. It will include the news broadcast, which i know from feedback from the listening public, is important to the new york city audience. We do not have the ability to continue payroll without making these layoffs. Wbai is one in five stations in the nationwide pacifica network. Wbai went on the air in 1960. , the formerips manager of the california berkeley station will be taking over as Program Director of wbai. Those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. The Guardian Newspaper has revealed that National Security agency has a backdoor into its databases to search for emails and phone calls of american citizens without a warrant. According to documents leaked by Edward Snowden, operatives can search for individual communications using their name or other identifying information. The article was published on friday, hours before president obama held a News Conference about the nsa. He repeatedly defended the surveillance operations and outlined four proposals for reforming the programs. I will work with congress to pursue a program of reforms to section 215 of the patriot act, the program that collects telephone records. This program is an important tool in our effort to disrupt terrorist plots and does not allow the government to listen in to any phone calls without a warrant. Given the scale of the program, i understand the concerns of those who were read it could be subject to abuse. After having a dialogue with members of congress and civil libertarians, i believe there are steps we can take to give the American People confidence that there are safeguards against abuse. For instance, we can put in place greater oversight, transparency, and constraints on the use of this authority. I look forward to looking with congress to meet those objectives. Second, i will work to improve the publics confidence in the oversight conducted by the Foreign Intelligence Service court. Fisc was created by congress to provide additional review so that a federal judge must find our actions are consistent with the constitution. However, to build greater confidence, we should consider some additional changes. One of the concerns that people raised is that a judge reviewing a request from the government to conduct programmatic surveillance only heres one side of the story. It may not pay enough attention to liberty. While i have confidence in the court, i think we can provide greater assurances that the court is looking at these issues from both perspective, security and privacy. We can take steps to make sure Civil Liberties concerns have an independent voice inappropriate cases by insuring the governments position is challenged by an adversary. Number three, we can and must be more transparent. Intelligenceed the community to make public as much information about these programs as possible. Declassifieddy unprecedented information about the and as a, but we can go further. The department of justice will make public to rationales for their programs. Finally, the Intelligence Committee is creating a website devil served as a hub for further transparency. This will give americans and the world the ability to learn about what our Intelligence Community does and does not do, how it carries out its mission, and why it does so. Fourth, reform in a highlevel group of outside experts to review our intelligence and communications technologies. We need new thinking for a new era. Terrostave to unravel plots by finding a needle in a haystack of global telecommunications, and meanwhile, technology has given our governments unprecedented capability to monitor communications. President obama speaking on friday. To discuss his remarks, we go to los angeles to speak to jennifer hoelzer. One of the senates leading critics of the nsa. Jennifer hoelzer went to school at the Naval Academy and spent two years in turning for the National Security council. Jennifer, welcome to democracy now your response to what the president outlined about changes to surveillance . If i had heard the speech five years ago i would be standing up and applauding. He said some terrific things, definitely a step in the right direction. My concern is over the past five years, his actions have painted a much different picture. We need more than rhetoric and promises of transparency. It is encouraging we are moving in this direction, but i would like to see more. President obama said in his News Conference he talked about Edward Snowden. This is what he had to say. I do not think mr. Snowden was a patriot. As i said in my opening remarks, i call for a thorough review of our surveillance operations before mr. Snowden made these leaks. My preference, and i think the American Peoples preference, would have been for a lawful, orderly examination of these walls laws. A thoughtful, fatbased debate that would then lead us to a better place. Because i never made claims that all of the surveillance have developedat since the time that these will these laws were put in place some have did not require some additional reforms. That is exactly what i called for. That mr. Snowden has been charged with three felonies. Fact, he believes that what he did was right, then like every american citizen, he can come here, appeared before the court with a lawyer, and make his case. The concern was that somehow this was the only way to get this information out to the public, i signed an executive order well before mr. Snowden leaked this information that provided whistleblower protection to the Intelligence Community for the first time. So there were other avenues available for someone whos conscious was stirred and thought they needed to question government actions. That was president obama on friday. Jennifer hoelzer, your response . It is very hard to hear that comment to be honest. To know about me, i worked for senator ron wyden for six years. His conscious moved him to speak of about these things into try to start a debate, and there were no other avenues to bring this information to light. When the president tries to make it sound like he was already moving as in that direction, he had five years to do that. Center see it on wideneds website, senator a time line of transparent to make these rules, these things that the administration claimed to have. I am fairly confident, having worked for him and keep in mind, i was his deputy chief of staff, and he could not tell me what programs he was conducting oversight over. I think we left no stone unturned to try to bring these issues to life. I am concerned, the only way we seem to be able to have this debate is through an unauthorized disclosure. Our National Security policy should be such that we have a respect for classified procedures and whistleblower do not feel the need to come forward with this information. It would have been much better, hade have had this debate under more rational circumstances. The fact is, the president had five years to make that happen, and he did not. I find that concerning, glad he is coming to the table now, and i hope he will be sincere and put the muscle behind this that he claims to be doing. I think his track record thus far does not show a personal commitment from him or members of his administration to make this happen. You think this is happening because of Edward Snowden . Yes, i do. This information had been brought to light. I was speaking to a former colleague about this. For many years, we tried to have a debate on these issues. When the public does not know what is happening, when they are theoretical arguments, reporters do not cover that. They cover facts. The American People grab onto facts. That is when we call members of congress and have a debate. No facts are being brought to life. Weking for senator wyden, were trying to bring these sources back to life. We are not talking about sensitive materials. We are talking about whats they believe in the law allowed them to do. That is up to the American People to say yes or no, this is what we want the government to be doing. Unfortunately, Edward Snowden was the only means by which we have had this debate. Lets go to your former boss, senator ron wyden. He warned about interpretations of the surveillance act. When the people find out how the government has secretly interpreted the patriot act, they will be stunned and angry. And they will ask centers, did you know what this law actually permits . Why did you know before you voted on it . The fact is, anyone can read the plaintext of the patriot act, yet many members of congress have no idea how the law is being secretly interpreted by the executive branch, because that interpretation is classified. It is almost as if there were two patriot acts, and many members of congress have not read the one that matters. Our constituents, of course, are totally in the dark. Members of the public have no access to the secret, legal interpretations, so they have no idea what their government believes the law actually means. Ron wyden inenator 2011. Jennifer hoelzer, you quote president obama i thought it was so amazing, your piece, how you described how you were able to talk, or not talk about, these issues, when president obama says we do with open debate and democratic process. The piece that i wrote, if i stepped back, i think i may have pulled back a bit. I was quite angry when i read that remark. I spent close to 1000 hours of my life trying to draw attention and push for exactly that, a public debate on these issues. On what the administration believes an unclassified law that you and i can read. Congress writes these laws and Congress Needs to know how these laws are being interpreted. Are they being interpreted the way they were intended to be . Believe the president has committed to on classifying that. I believe it is a misuse of the classification system, to classify things that could be embarrassing or inconvenient, or just a legal interpretation. I think that is mayor we need actual classification reforms, so that we are classifying national secrets, not information that might be embarrassing or lead to a debate that could take away authorities that they think they should have. Write if your administration was committed to those things, they would not block an effort to have an open debate on these programsch time these came up for reauthorization. Likehen you give examples, in june 2009, six months before congress would have had to reauthorize the patriot act. Explain. Exactly. These laws, the patriot act, the fisa amendments act, were bh past and sunset provisions. The idea was that these were controversial positions going into new areas of law and Congress Wants to revisit those laws in a few years to see how they are working. Do we need to finetune it, do we need to add or take away powers . In each of these cases, when the patriot act came up for reauthorization first in 2009, and again in 2011, there was no ability to have that debate. Right when president obama came into office, i do not know the full extent of my bosses work on this because it was the cause of by setting but there were a number of letters and conversations. Lets not forget, the president came into office promising a new era of transparency. That he was opposed to many of these programs in theory and practice. I think they assumed that he would be moving in a different direction, and when he did not thehat, november 2009, senator and his Intelligence Committee staffer came to me and said we need to start drawing attention to these issues. It was a difficult conversation, as it was for the following four years. We needed to draw attention to these things that we could then get details on. Wereat point, before they about to vote, they stressed that members of congress would be voting on something that they did not know the full extent of. That is why we started to come forward and put public pressure on the administration to declassify the information. They did not do it then, it did not do it when it was brought to their attention in 2009, and again in 2011, and then a few months ago when senator wyden act the director of National Intelligence a direct question, was the nsa collecting data on hundreds of millions of americans . The president did not speak to correct him them, so we can have a debate about the facts that he believes are important. It is troubling, in my mind. We tried everything we could and there was no give on that side. Haydensl characterization of those that want more information and are critical. You write about this in your piece. Find most troubling and it is hard i know members in congress are not in a position to do what i am doing. Since september 11, there has been a push in the around the debate National Security is to consign the toughest on National Security policy . The only way to be tough is to demonstrate a willingness to go to extreme measures. Is the most life extreme approach to the smartest, best way to handle any situation . Often times it creates more problems than it solves. But we have this political debate about who can sound more extreme, more tough. I do not want us to sound tough, i want us to sound smart. That is the problem. When folks like general hayden step in, you question them, make it offended and talk about their patriotism, talk about doing whatever is necessary to keep the country safe. I do, too, but it is important to step back and the valley with that. That is what oversight is about. Evaluating that. Is this the best approach to this situation . Americans save in the best and smartest way possible. Ofo not think a bunch trumped up but shes no is the best way to do it. Machismo is the best way to do it. It leads to people believing that they do not care about National Security. The response that you get in some of those communities and these are patriotic americans and go to work every day to keep americans safe but i am troubled about the response to those expressing concerns, and to treat them as a threat equal to allocate a. Alqaeda. You called the critics nihilists and activists. Jennifer hoelzer, thank you for being with us. Former chief of staff for Democratic Center of oregon ron wyden. Senator of oregon ron wyden. Back, and the obama ,dministration, president obama will award by your rustin the president ial medal of freedom. We will talk about who he was as we move in on the 50th anniversary of the march on washington, which he organized. [music break] this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. White house has announced it will posthumously award the highest civilian honor in the United States come the president ial medal of freedom, to civil rights activist Bayard Rustin. Obama will award him and 16 others at the white house later this year. In his own day, Bayard Rustin was a minority within the minority who tirelessly agitated for change. , awas an africanamerican gay man fighting against homophobia, and a pacifist fighting against endless war. He was a key advisor to Martin Luther king and introduced him to teachings of gondi and nonviolence. He helped to found the southern leadership conference. He was later the chief organizer of the historic march on washington for jobs and freedom, rallying hundreds of thousands of people for economic justice, full employment Voting Rights, and people opportunity. Segregation shall be ended in every district in the year 1963. [applause] we have affected Global Civil Rights legislation. No compromise, no filibuster. And that includes public accommodation, and decent housing, integrated education, and the right to vote. What do you say . [applause] we demand the withholding of federal funds from all programs in which discrimination exists. What do you say . [applause] that was Bayard Rustin speaking 50 years ago this month at a march on washington. In later years, Bayard Rustin spoke publicly about the importance of equal rights for and women. Y men he was survived by his partner walter naegle. We are joined by three guests right now, including walter he is now an archivist of the Bayard Rustin estate. In colorado, we have john demilio, professor of gender studies, author of the Award Winning biography lost prophet the life and times of Bayard Rustin. Intimate matters a history of sexuality in america. Julian bond is also with us. Juliano to florida to bond. When you heard president obama would be awarding Bayard Rustin the highest civilian honor, the president ial medal of freedom, your thoughts, having known bayard for many years . I was overcome, it seemed long overdue, happy to hear it, surprised to hear it, but glad to hear it. Guest in go to our chicago, and john demilio, wrote the book about Bayard Rustin. Audience, Bayard Rustin is not a household name, yet he was the main organizer, together with a philip randolph, of the march on washington, but his activism goes way back. He was jailed for refusing to fight in world war two. Could you give is a brief history . Forever, but in wont. The mosts one of important social justice activists in the 20 century. As a teenager in west chester pa. , he stood up against racial segregation. He moved to new york and join the communist party for a while, got a sense of the injustices of capitalism, but then in the 1940s, 50s, and 1960s, made his home in the had a time when we were not only faced with the world war and the cold war, but when peace activists were beginning to realize you cannot have peace without Racial Justice. In the 1940s an 1950s, he pioneered the use of gandhi and nonviolence as a way of calling attention to segregation and other forms of racism in the United States. So he organized a freedom ride long before the freedom rides that we know about from the 1960s. Againstion to his work nuclear weapons, when the montgomery bus boycott started at the end of 1955 and word traveled north and this was went down toustin montgomery alabama, introduced himself to dr. King, and begin a process of began a process of entering and tutoring him so that gaudy and nonviolence would become central to have dr. King conduct these freedom struggles. Brought up the plans for Southern Cone pitched in christian leadership conference. By 1963, when there was a convergence on this idea of arching on washington, rustin was better prepared than anyone to be the organizer of that event. Early in his life, Bayard Rustin challenged segregation, arrested from a Movie Theater balcony. Outsider,brother rustin response to how he dealt with racism. I went inside, and could do believe it . There was absolute consternation. That was the first time i knew that they had three police cars. And surrounded the place thought we were going to destroy a motherhood. I purposely got arrested, and then i made an appeal at all black people and white people who were decentminded should 10 cents to help me get out of here. The Bayard Rustin work with nonviolence. Here is another clip from the film brother outsider. Receive anrtunate to invitation. I thought deep in my understanding of civil disobedience. Gondi set aside an injured need set aside an inner need in me. Bayard came to india to attend the first world conference. Gandhi hadly, already been assassinated. He meant almost everybody. The work in the United States about nonviolence. He said we have to turn conflicts into creative conflicts, and that has remained in my mind. Fromat is another clip broader outsider. Break andng to take a then come back to talk about Bayard Rustin, who has been awarded the president ial medal of freedom. Stay with us. [music break] this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Is john demilio, who wrote the book lost prophet the life and times of Bayard Rustin. Chair of theformer naacp. When you heard the announcement last week about Bayard Rustin being honored along with 15 others with the president ial medal of freedom, what were your thoughts, what do you think bayards would have been . Is special and important, before the anniversary of the march. He would have been elated and surprise that we would have had an africanamerican president so soon after he died. Of the big six Civil Rights Organization that issued a call for the march, mr. Randolph, dr. King, mr. Lewis, mr. Farmer, they have all received a medal of freedom. Always hidden, behind the scenes, organizing with dedicated volunteers. He did to do it by himself. Life look at the magazine cover from march. Others. Ot dr. King, but gave a wonderful speech, dr. King, but people did not recognize it until a couple of years later. About thed to talk controversies around this. Three weeks before the march on washington, South Carolina congressman Strom Thurmond publicly attacked by rustin on the floor of the senate. Accuses rustin of immoral behavior. Immoral behavior. The morals charge is true, but this is a clearcut case of toning down the charge. The conviction was sex perversion. The center is not interested me if i were a murderer, a thief, liar, for a person. Is interested in attacking me because he is interested in destroying the movement. He will not get away with this. Bayard rustin responding to the segregation of Strom Thurmond. What was soe, unusual about Bayard Rustin, he was open as a gay man, a decade before the 1940s. Betweenain difference him and senator thurmond, he of raised in an environment openness, raised as a quaker, which includes being open and searching for the truth. We all know that senator thurmond had secrets of his own which he was not open about. John demilio, isnt it true that Bayard Rustin i should say, dr. King had to distance himself from ruston, because of his concern, whether he was being described as a communist or a gay man . Yes, at some point, there was distance between dr. King and bayard, but in different ways. Bayard was very aware, given social attitudes toward home also ship homosexual allen, gay men and lesbians, homosexuality, gay men and lesbians, he could not be out there. He was happy to keep this in the background and moved out of the way, if that was going to be good for the movement. Happy, what made him feel like he had been done was when people disavowed him. There was a point, in 1960, when king, mr. Randolph, dr. Were part of organizing major demonstrations at the president ial conventions, republican and democrat. Representative adam clayton from harlan harlem, did not like that someone but bayard was getting attention and moving into the party. He put the word out to dr. King, if you do not distance yourself, i will claim that there is something going on between the two of you. Dr. King, and bayard made the decision to resign from his position, but he also expected at that point to be defended. At that point, it was very painful when he was not. He spent a couple of years in the early 1960s mostly involved in the peace movement, rather than the civil rights movement, because of that ruptured. It was the march on washington that brought him back to the center of things. Julian bond, can you describe his role . He was just super been getting people together. I cannot think of anyone who could have stepped forth and taken hold of this march on washington, pull together these hundreds of thousands of people. Recently on that day they made 800,000 sandwiches. One thing that we are not hearing about Bayard Rustin is his history his sense of humor. He knew he was an organizer and was wonderful at getting people to do things that they did nothing they could do or that they did not want to do. Walter naegle, there is a funny scene in brother insider of rustin on the mall with the press and saying that nobody was here. He pulled out a blank piece of paper and said, everything is going according to plan right now. He said he had no idea of how many people would come. That shows the sense of humor that bayard had. There was a press conference 10 days ago or so and he thought maybe 100,000 people. When you are out there and just surrounded by the people that you were working with, it got scary. It did not take long before people started pulling out of penn station, buses came up to the parking. I think they got a strong sense by 8 00 or 9 00 at this would be something big. And then there was the union organizing. Julian bond, i also want to ask you about a. Philip randolph. His protege was Bayard Rustin. Ran thatstin institute, bringing together label labor and civilrights. It is interesting for me to philipalter hear waltera. A. Philip randolph as mr. Randolph. We would all prefer to him in such a way, concerned about his dignity, he is that kind of person. He was the perfect mentor. Someone who could say, try this, do not do this, do that. He shaped his political of look. Was af his life, rustin believer and defender in organized labor and fought for could. Uch as he it is a shame we do not have a spokesperson now working so hard for working people. Throughout his life, gay rights were so important, but it began because of the movement growing around him. He started to speak about his own experiences as a gay man. He was invited to conferences and organizations and he became more open about what his experiences had been. I think he was a little surprised and delighted. At that point, he was in his 70s. The gay movement, when it first started, it was largely a movement of young people. I think they saw him as a senior figure. Was another critical influence. John demilio, if you could just summarize who this pacifist was. He was one of the most important pacifists of the 20th century, brought a sense that Racial Justice and world peace were interconnected, so pacifists should fight against colonialism, as well as against war. Bayard. Mentor to we are going to leave it there but we will continue to talk about the march on washington, and then put it on our website. Thank you very much. Democracy now is looking for feedback from people who tavis good evening. From los angeles, i am tavis tonight a conversation with Grace Lee Boggs, who nearly 98 years old, has affect did change. She worked alongside her husband, activist james talks. Are glad you could join us. A fascinating conversation with Grace Lee Boggs is coming up now. There is a saying that dr. King had that said there is always the right time to do the right thing. I try to live my life every day by doing the right thing. We know that we are only halfway to completely eliminating hunger and we have work to do. Walmart committed 2 billion to fighting hunger in the u. S. As we work together, we can stamp hunger out. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Tavis at almost 98 years old Grace Lee Boggs has been a witness to so many changes, but she has also been a participant. She has learned important lessons she is sharing with new generations through her can tame youd work in her home cap continued work in her hometown of detroit. I feel so sorry for people not living in detroit. Detroit gives a sense of civilization in a way you do not get in a city like new york. Obvious what was does not work. Striving forways giant, and this is how giants fall. To have youhonored on this program. I am glad you are here. I am glad to be here. Let me ask you what it is about detroit that makes you hopeful. Aboute you so optimistic detroits future . Was a picture of the packard motor company. It is now 38 years