Executives will be prosecuted. Too big to jail . We will speak to a woman whose 16yearold daughter died in a crash caused by a faulty ignition switch, as well as longime consumer advocate ralph nader. 50 years ago he wrote the Ground Breaking book, unsafe at any speed the designedin dangers of the american automobile. Motors knew about the defect in 2004. They kept getting feedback of fatalities, crashes, airbags not going off, engines being shut off. They covered it up. Amy and we will speak to university of Maryland School of law professor Rena Steinzor, author of, why not jail . industrial catastrophes, corporate malfeasance, and government inaction. All that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Federal prosecutors have agreed to settle a criminal investigation into General Motors for concealing an ignition switch defect linked to at least 124 deaths. Under the deal General Motors , agreed to pay 900 million as part of a deferred prosecution agreement, but no gm executives will be prosecuted for covering up the deadly defect. Well speak with ralph nadar and the mother of a crash victim caused by the faulty ignition switch after headlines. In news from europe, croatia has closed the majority of its border crossings with serbia following the influx of more than 13,000 refugees this week. This comes after hungarys violent crackdown at its border. The European Union commissioner for migration condemned the continents borders crackdown thursday. There is no wall you would not climb, no sea you wouldnt cross if you are fleeing violence and terror. I believe we have a moral duty to offer them protection. Inscribed in international and your p and laws. Amy donald trump is facing hall q a during a town when some and stood up and asked when the United States would get rid of muslims. Ok, i like this guy. Im from white plains. We have a problem in this country, its called muslims. We know our current president is one. You know he is not even an american. We need to question. But anyway, we have training to killere they want us. That is my question, when can we get rid where going to be looking at a lot of different things. A lot of people are saying that and saying that bad things are happening out there. Were going to be looking at that them plenty of other things. Amy Hillary Clinton tweeted donald trump not denouncing false statements about potus hateful rhetoric about muslims is disturbing, just plain wrong. Cut it out. Later, Trumps Campaign issued a statement to the Washington Post saying about 100 people gathered in front of Macarthur High School in irving, texas thursday night for a rally in support of the 14yearold Muslim Student who was arrested after bringing a homemade clock to school. After the teachers said the device looked like a bomb police , interrogated, handcuffed, and arrested mohamed and took him to a juvenile detention center, and he said it reminded him of times was bullied in middle school. I felt like it was a criminal , i felt like a was a terrorist. I felt like all of the names i was called. What do mean all of the names you were called . And always called in middle school i was called a terrorist, called a lawn maker, just because of my race and religion. Ahmed story has gone viral. President obama tweeted cool clock, ahmed. He is been invited to visit m. I. T. He says he will be transferring schools. For most senator Bernie Sanders has introduced new legislation aimed at banning government contracts with private prisons. The president ial candidate said thursday that banning forprofit incarceration is the first step to ending the system of mass incarceration. As a first step, we need to start treating prisoners like human beings. Private companies, private corporations should not be profiteering from their incarceration. Amy House Republicans have voted for legislation to end government funding for planned parenthood for setting up a budgetary showdown that could force a Government Shutdown by the end of the month. Senate republicans are also proposing antichoice legislation that would outlaw all abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. This comes after Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell failed to secure enough votes to defund planned parenthood last month. A recent reuters poll shows the majority of americans support federal funding for planned parenthood. Pope francis will arrive in cuba saturday for a visit he says he hopes will help end the u. S. Trade embargo on cuba. New regulations to lessen the u. S. Trade embargo are expected to be released today by the white house. Pope francis will spend four ysysysdays in cuba, where he mat with fidel castro, depending on his health. In burkina faso, at least three people have been killed during protests as the military authorities sealed the borders, canceled flights and imposed a night curfew following an apparent military coup. On wednesday, the president ial guard, which is loyal to Burkina Fasos former longtime president blaise compaore, detained interim president Michel Kafando and dissolved the transitional government. In south sudan, at least 182 people have died in an Oil Tank Explosion in the western town of maridi. Officials are warning the death toll could continue to rise given the lack of nearby facilities equipped to treat the burns. Pakistani Officials Say at least seven people have been killed in a u. S. Drone strike in pakistan today. The strike hit a vehicle in south waziristan. Meanwhile, also in pakistan, military Officials Say at least 16 people have died after taliban attacked a mosque near an air force base friday. Air force base. Voters in greece are headed to the polls for a snap general election sunday. Syriza party leader Alexis Tsipras and conservative new Democracy Party leader Vangelis Meimarakis are nearly tied in the polls. Meanwhile, dozens of former syriza lawmakers, frustrated with tsipras, are now running with the new antibailout Party Popular unity. Former Prime MinisterAlexis Tsipras forced the snap elections after he resigned last month. The secondhighest ranking official at fifa has been placed on immediate leave and is facing an investigation over the alleged blackmarket sale of world cup tickets. Jerome valcke had served as the secretary general of fifa for 8 years. He is the latest official to be investigated in the growing Corruption Scandal that has thrown the world soccer governing body into turmoil. In mexico, authorities have arrested a gang leader known as el gil who they say was involved in the disappearance of the 43 students from the Southern State of guerrero nearly one year ago. The families of the missing students and an International Group of experts have rejected the governments accounts of events. The experts report earlier this month said the mexican governments investigation was deeply flawed, and pointed to the role the federal police and military played in the student disappearance. In iceland, the city council of the capital reykjavik has voted in favor of a motion to boycott israelimade goods for as long as the occupation of palestinian territories continues. A local elected official said in a local radio interview that the goal of the boycott is to pressure israel to stop the occupation, which is illegal under international law. Betty blake, the mother of retired tennis star james blake, has written about her sons being tackled by nypd officer james frascatore. Video footage shows like, who is biracial, standing outside manhattans Grand Hyatt Hotel when the officer approaches him, wraps an arm around his neck, tackles him down, digs his knee into his back, and handcuffs him. Police say they mistakenly identified blake as a suspect in a credit card fraud probe. In an editorial for the new york daily news, betty, who is white and grew up in england, wrote it seems theres no end to racism in this country. In fact it seems to get worse. , and the legendary media activist Everett Parker died thursday at the age of 102. In the he led an effort to have 1960s, the license of a jackson, mississippi, tv station revoked for attempting to squelch the voices of the civil rights movement. At the time, parker was director of communications of the United Church of christ. Parker filed a petition to deny renewal with the fcc, initiating a process that eventually got the stations license revoked by a federal court and had farreaching consequences in american broadcasting. You can go to our website at democracy now to see our interview with Everett Parker. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Federal prosecutors have agreed to settle a criminal probe into General Motors for concealing an ignition switch defect linked to at least 124 deaths. Under the deal, General Motors agreed to pay 900 million as part of a deferred prosecution agreement, but no gm executives will be prosecuted for covering up the deadly defect. Last year, gm recalled 1. 6 million cars containing faulty ignition switches that could cause their engines to stall while cutting power to brakes, airbags, and steering systems. On thursday, u. S. Attorney preet bharra announced the gm settlement. Were here to announce the filing of criminal charges against General MotorsCompany Related to the companys failure to disclose the safety defect from its regulator and from certain purchasers of its preowned cars. At the same time, this office and gm have entered into a deferred prosecution agreement to resolve those charges. As part of the agreement, gm has agreed to pay a 900 million penalty or forfeiture am a the appointment of an independent federal monitor for a period of three years, and make critical factual admissions. The statement of fact details how gm designed the missing switch for the cobalt another compact cars with such low torque that it could slip out of the run position into accessory or off while the car was driving. Cutting power to the engine can also cut off power to the front airbags. So if the key slipped out of the run position during the crash, the driver and front passenger can lose the protection of those airbags. Amy the Justice Departments deal with the gm has been widely criticized by consumer advocates and families who lost loved ones. Clarence ditlow, head of the center for auto safety, said gm killed over a 100 people by knowingly putting a defective ignition switch into over 1 million vehicles. Today, thanks to its lobbyists, gm officials walk off scotfree while its customers are 6 feet under. The 900 million gm settlement is 25 less than the record 1. 2 billion toyota agreed to pay last year to concealing safety defects. To talk more about gm, we are joined by three guests. Ralph nader is a longtime consumer advocate and former president ial candidate. 50 years ago he published the Ground Breaking book, unsafe at any speed the designedin dangers of the american automobile. Rena steinzor is a professor at the university of Maryland School of law and immediate past president of the center for progressive reform. Her latest book is called, why not jail . industrial catastrophes, corporate malfeasance, and government inaction. And Laura Christian is with us. She is the mother of amber rose who died after her 2005 , Chevrolet Cobalt crashed and the air bag failed to deploy on july 29, 2005. Amber was 16 years old. Since then, Laura Christian has become an autosafety advocate. She runs the Facebook Page gm recall survivors. Let us begin with you, Laura Christian. Can you go back to that day i hate to make you do this, but the day of your daughter amber roses debt and talk about what happened. Where was she . And sheas at a party was on her way out and hit an incline. Her car went airborne, struck multiple trees and she was and down by the dashboard itself. Unfortunately, she did not make it. I got the call early that morning. I can still imagine it, it is like i am still there some days, standing by the glass door and hearing that just screaming, no us at youou tell understood at th time haened . Shortly after, at her funeral, emts approached us and told us the airbags did not deploy and should have deployed. In investigator was hired shortly after, which told us that the car was actually in the accessory position, which we now know shut down the power brakes, power steering, and also caused the airbags never to deploy. Amy dyou think it is the ignition defect caused her death . Absolutely. That has been confirmed by our investigat and later on, finally, by gm. Amy what is your response to 900 billion settlement 900 million settlement . I would love to know how they come up with that number. It is ludicrous that gm can write a check to get away with what is tantamount to murder, in my opinion. The fact there are going to be absolutely no individual prosecutions, i mean, that means all of our loved ones that died, they will have died in vain. I cant comprehend this. Has the u. S. Attorney spoken with you . Will your family be compensated . And how do you feel about the compensation . Bute did settle with gm, this is not about the money. Speaking with i did speak with the department of justice previously. They let me know that they were finding it very difficult to find ways to prosecute individuals. Now, im not a legal scholar. I cant really voice opinion to this, but having worked in Law Enforcement before, i know there are ways. This is not the first tima corporation has done acts of evil doing. And others have been prosecuted for it. Why not this time . I really want the answer to that question. Amy on thursday, General MotorsCeo Mary Barra held a 15 minute News Conference in which she discussed gms agreement to pay 900 million to end u. S. Criminal in Mission Ignition switch probe. We let those customers down in that situation. We did not do our job. And as part of our apology to the victims, we promise to take responsibility for our actions. Beingaccept the penalties announced today becae that is what it means to be held countable. But apologies and account ability wont count for much if we dont change our behavior. But we can be proud that we have. Amy that is general mors ceo. I wanto turn to lph nader. Ralph nade, your response to this settlement . It is absurd settlement. It doesnt do terror future behavior by General Motors. Nobody went to jail, nobody is indicted. The company wasnt indicted. The Justice Department under attorney general Loretta Lynch and the Obama Administration created a new doctrine called crimes without criminals. They charge gm with a crime, but the company was not indicted and no officials were indicted. Imagine individuals being able to get away from that. That is a double standard between the privileges and immunities that are dedicated to corporations by the u. S. Government and the way individuals are treated. That therefar, amy, are motorists who were charged with vehicle or manslaughter because they were involved in crashes due to gms defect. As the corporate Crime Reporter pointed out, gm did the crime, the drivers do the time. I think the focus has got to be on congress, the pending highway bill has to include criminal penalties for Auto Companies for violating Safety Standards for cars and parts if they do so willfully knowingly. As Rena Steinzor said, they can be prosecuted and sent to jail. Amy let me ask you about the times piece today points out the u. S. Attorney site in internal investigation conducted for gm a survey verbal in determining the penalties paid by the automaker. The two law firms hired for that inquiry had previously done legal work for gm in Court Papers Show the chair of the firm helped recommend represent the automaker in the talks with the Justice Department. Your response . As professor of law already set from stanford, this is a strange situation where gm takes itindependent reviewer is quite condemnatory then he gets hired as the defense counsel against the Justice Department will step that does not pass the smell test. Theres a lot involved here, amy. U. S. Taxpayer bill 50 billion after the collapse in 2009 or so d the government inet