Transcripts For KCSM Democracy Now 20170515

Resignation, and we will speak with former congresswoman elizabeth holtzman, the young number to several the House Judiciary Committee that voted to impeach net send. We look at Jeff Sessionss collation on the war on drugs. Going for, i have an hard our prosecutors to charge and pursue the most serious offense is i believe the law requires the most serious readily provable offense. Amy massive Hunger Strike enters its 28th day. We will speak to the son of strike leader Marwan Barghouti, who has been imprisoned in israeli jails for over 15 years. He has been called the palestinian Nelson Mandela. My father come along with 1700 palestinian political prisoners, start of the Hunger Strike for freedom and dignity in demand of humanitarian Living Conditions in prison. Amy all of that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. We are broadcasting from San Francisco. A global computer hack, using a cyberweapon developed by the National Security agency, has disrupted hospitals, universities, government offices, gas stations, atm machines, and more than 200,000 computers worldwide. It is expected to grow worse as people return to work this morning. On friday, the cyberattacks began to ripple through more than 150 countries, locking medical workers out of the Computer Systems at dozens of british and indonesian hospitals, disrupting train schedules in germany preventing , Chinese Students from accessing their final papers and , freezing Government Computers from Russias Interior Ministry to police stations in india. Experts say its the first time a cyberweapon developed by the nsa has been stolen and released by hackers. The cyberweapon exploits weaknesses in microsoft software. It appears the u. S. Government knew for years about this weakness in the software, but only told microsoft about the vulnerability recently, meaning microsoft had little time to fix the problem and for Software Users worldwide to update their systems. The cyberweapon is transmitted by email, and then encrypts a computer, locking people out of their data and then threatening to destroy it unless a ransom is paid. On sunday, microsoft president brad smith confirmed the cyberweapon used in the attack was developed by the nsa, writing finally, this attack provides yet another example of why the stockpiling of vulnerabilities by governments is such a problem. An equivalent scenario with conventional weapons would be the u. S. Military having some of its tomahawk missiles stolen. Nsa whistleblower Edward Snowden tweeted despite warnings, nsagov built dangerous attack tools that could target western software. Today we see the cost. On capitol hill, u. S. Lawmakers are demanding President Trump turn over any recordings of conversations he had with fired fbi director james comey. The demand comes after President Trump threatened comey in a twitter rant on friday, writing james comey better hope that there are no tapes of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press. Late last week, trump acknowledged in an nbc interview that hed fired comey, in part, over the investigation into whether the Trump Campaign colluded with russia to alleged allegedly hack the 2016 election. Comey has been invited to meet with the Senate Intelligence committee on tuesday. Democrats have said they will not vote on a new fbi director until a special prosecutor is appointed to preside over the investigation into trumps ties to russia. On sunday, former director of National Intelligence James Clapper said trumps decision to fire comey represents an assault on u. S. Institutions. Many ways, our institutions are under assault, both externally that is the big news here, is russian interference in our election system. And i think as well our institutions are under assault internally. From the president . Exactly. Amy the New York Times reports Senate Republicans are starting to distance themselves from President Trump amid increasing frustration about the firing of james comey. On thursday, maine senator Susan Collins said it does seem like we have an upheaval, a crisis almost every day in washington. President trump threatened friday to end daily news briefings, suggesting he may simply host his own News Conference every few weeks. On twitter, trump also acknowledged White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer and Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee sanders had issued false statements to the press last week, writing as a very active president with lots of things happening, it is not possible for my surrogates to stand at the podium with perfect accuracy meanwhile, lawn ornaments have begun popping up depicting White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer hiding among the bushes. After spicer spent several minutes tempting to hide himself in the shrubbery outside the white house while Huckabee Sanders and trump advisor Kellyanne Conway were doing interviews on tuesday about the firing of james comey. Unnamed Officials Say the white house is close to finalizing a 100 billion worth of arms deals with saudi arabia ahead of trumps planned visit to riyadh on friday, the first stop on trumps First International trip as president. After riyadh, trump will visit israel and then the vatican. North korea launched a new Ballistic Missile sunday morning. The missile flew 430 miles, and north korea says the United States military bases across the pacific are now within striking range and that the missile is designed to carry a nuclear warhead. The test comes amid rising tensions between north korea and the United States, tensions that were also fueled by the u. S. s massive spring military drills on the korean peninsula. In a major immigrant rights victory, immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have granted stays of deportation to two prominent undocumented denver residents Jeanette Vizguerra and Arturo Hernandez garcia. Vizguerra sought sanctuary in the First Unitarian Society of Denver Church shortly after trump took office. She is one of the founders of the Metro Denver Sanctuary Coalition and was recently named one of time magazines 100 most influential people of 2017. This is Jeanette Vizguerra speaking on friday morning after she left the church for the first time in 86 days. Meit is a special day for because i will be able to celebrate mothers day with my children and my grandchildren. Amy Arturo Hernandez garcia spent nine months in the same Sanctuary Church two years ago. He was recently arrested by ice, even though the Obama Administration had told him he was not considered a priority for removal. Meanwhile, in vermont, 23yearold activist and dairy worker Cesar Alex Carrillo has been deported. Carillo was arrested in march, along with two other activists with the group migrant justice, enrique balcazar, and zully palacios. He was deported on the socalled voluntary departure order, which will give him a better chance of winning the right to return to the u. S. To reunite with his wife and their 4yearold daughter solmarie. To see our full coverage of Jeanette Vizguerra, Arturo Hernandez garcia, and Cesar Alex Carrillo, go to democracynow. Org. Meanwhile, in atlanta, another immigration activist, dreamer jessica colotl, is fighting her possible deportation after the Trump Administration revoked her daca status, which gives her permission to live, work and study in the United States. In 2010, while colotl was a student at Kennesaw State university, she was arrested, jailed for 37 days, and threatened with deportation for driving without a license. After a Successful Campaign by her fellow students to win her freedom, she became one of the faces of the movement to pass the dream act to protect undocumented students. Colotl is now working as an immigration paralegal, and shes suing to get her daca reinstated. In yemen, officials have declared a state of emergency in the capital sanaa over a cholera outbreak that has already killed 115 people. Yemens health, water, and Sanitation Services have been severely impacted by the ongoing u. S. Backed saudi led war on yemen. This is dr. Hussein el haddad, the director of one of the few hospitals in sanaa that is still functioning. The situation is very bad. The children are suffering from cholera and there are not enough beds. The technical knowhow in the hospital is insufficient to deal with the situation we are facing. Amy in pakistan, at least 25 people were killed and 30 more were wounded in an attack targeting the convoy of a senior pakistani politician in the Southwest Province of baluchistan friday. Isis claimed responsibility for the attack, but local officials have blamed local militants. In the democratic republic of congo, the World Health Organization says ebola has killed at least three people in the past three weeks, raising fears of another widespread outbreak on the continent. In 2014, ebola killed more than 11,000 people across west africa. In northern mexico, an activist for parents whose children have gone missing was assassinated by armed gunmen on wednesday, mothers day in mexico. Miriam rodriguez was the director of the san fernando collective of missing people. Her own daughter, karen, had gone missing in 2012. Meanwhile, in the Southern State of guerrero, a group of reporters were attacked, robbed and threatened by a group of , armed men saturday. The attack occurred outside iguala, where 43 students were disappeared from the Ayotzinapa Teachers College in 2014. The journalists, who all survived the attack, said the men threatened to burn them alive. In hong kong, three families who offered refuge to nsa whistleblower Edward Snowden when he was in hiding in 2013 are facing possible deportation after their asylum claims were rejected. The families are from the philippines and sri lanka. Their lawyers say hong kong authorities intentionally targeted the three families for expedited immigration screening. And in charlottesville, virginia, dozens of torchbearing white tionalists gathered saturday for two rallies to protest plans to remove a confederate monument. White nationalist Richard Spencer led the protesters, who chanted we will not be replaced. While the torchbearing mob evoked the long, bloody history of white terrorism against african americans, some took to twitter to mock spencer and the other white nationalists for using party storestyle tiki torches at the rally. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. We are on the road in San Francisco. I will be speaking today in santa cruz and in palo alto. Fallout continues to grow over President Trumps firing of fbi director james comey last week. The firing came just days after comey requested more resources to probe russias meddling in the 2016 election. The Senate Democrats are now threatening to refuse to vote on a new fbi director unless a special prosecutor is named to investigate possible ties between the Trump Campaign and russia. On sunday, Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer appeared on meet the press. A special prosecutor appointed by the Justice Department has the ability to actually prosecute people for violations of law. And they go in tandem. One should not step on the other. I know they are talking to each other right now. The fbi was with the Intelligence Committee to make sure no one is granted immunity, but it is two separate issues. We very much need a special prosecutor, chuck. We need someone who is independent of the Justice Department to get to the bottom of this. Amy on the same program, secretary of state Rex Tillerson admitted russia did in fact interfere with the election. I have seen the intelligence reports, chuck will step yes, i dont think theres any question that the russians were playing around in our electoral process. Those intelligence reports also indicated it is zynga inclusive as to what if any effect it had. Amy meanwhile, pressure is growing on the administration to reveal whether trump has been secretly recording conversations at the white house. On friday, trump tweeted james comey better hope that there are no tapes of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press lawmakers are now calling on trump to hand over any such tapes. On friday, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer refused to rule out the existence of the tapes. Moving on to the news of the week, of the day, they President Trump record his conversations with former fbi director comey . I assume youre referring to tweet. The president has nothing further to add. What should we interpret from that . As i mentioned, the president has nothing further to add. Are the recording devices in the oval office or the residents . There is nothing further to add. Does he think it is appropriate to threaten someone like mr. Comey not to speak . That is not a threat. He stated a fact. The week espresso. I am moving on. Trumps possible recording of amy white house conversations has led many comparisons between trump and former president Richard Nixon who resigned on august 8, 1974 three days after the release of an audio recording of nixon discussing the watergate breakin. Nixon had fought off congressional subpoenas to release the tape but eventually , the Supreme Court forced him to hand it over. It later became known as the smoking gun tape. We are joined now by elizabeth holtzman, former u. S. Congresswoman from new york who served on the House Judiciary Committee that voted to impeach Richard Nixon. Welcome back to democracy now can you talk about the significance of what President Trump threatened in one of his tweet storms against james comey after he fired him as fbi director . Well, the threat is an absurdity. The president was saying that comey should hope the was no tape recording before he talked about the meeting . The president knows whether there is a taperecording were not. He is the one who knows. This is just nonsense. If President Trump once the truth out, if comey was lying about the meeting, the president should just release the tape. He is just playing games with the American People. The real connection with watergate is the firing of comey by President Trump, which all of thebe given circumstance around it, an effort to coverup and to prevent an investigation of whether russia colluded with him and his campaign over interference in the American Election will stop and whether he is still colluding with the russians. What is involved in the firing is a question really of whether we have a president of the United States who is under the influence of and working in collusion with their president hostile foreign government. And we have to get to the bottom of that. Attrumps actions prevent us this point from making sure that we can get the truth. Amy i want to turn to an interview last week when donald trump, once again, changed his story about why he fired fbi director james comey, admitting on nbc that he made the decision in part due to comeys probe of russias meddling in the 2016 election. Trumps comment directly contradicts numerous statements by white house aides, as well as trumps own claims that he had fired comey over his handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton and her use of private email servers. Pres. Trump but regardless of recommendation, i was going to fire comey. Knowing there was no good time to do it. And in fact, when i decided to just do it, i said to myself, i said, you know, this russia thing with trump and russia is a madeup story. It is an excuse by the democrats for having lost an election that they should have won. This,an you talk about the astounding original story that President Trump did not appreciate how Hillary Clinton was treated come although, throughout the campaign, he congratulated james comey for going after clinton . Look, everything we have seen about trump in connection with the firing of comey has been one misstatement, one pretext, one lie after the other. It is totally incredible to think that President Trump was so concerned about comeys treatment of Hillary Clinton that he fired him months later for doing that. Nobody can believe that. What really was at stake, and we know that later, he said, i made up my mind before i ever heard from the Justice Department. I was going to fire him anyway. What was on his mind . The Russian Investigation. Trump has been attacking this Russian Investigation from the getgo. He even called the cia nazis over that. We know he was not happy and wanted to stop it. And stopping it could mean we have in place are president of u. S. In cahoots with amy i want to turn to senator mark warner, virginia democrat, speaking on Fox News Sunday about trumps threat of a tape of a conversation with james comey. This sure seems to have reverberations of past history when we have seen president s who secretly tape, that usually does not end up being a good outcome for a president. The whole notion the president can sell out these kinds of claims and then not either confirm or deny them come is outrageous in my mind. If there is the existence of tapes, i want to make sure, one, there preserved and not destroyed in the coming days, and then, 2, 1 way or the other, congress will have to get a look at those tapes. Amy so that was senator warren. Senator warner of virginia. Elizabeth holtzman, take us back through what happened to Richard Nixon. There are a lot of references, including the saturday night massacre and parallels have been made to what happened with the firing of james comey, but especially for young people, to understand what happened then. Also, how long it took. Explain the chronology when you were a young congresswoman from new york, the youngest member to serve on the House Judiciary Committee. I will try to do this in 25 words or less. 1972,lly, in june of there was a breakin into the Democratic National committee headquarters. Apprehended and they were connected to Richard Nixons campaign and to the white house. Nixon had a special surveillance operation in the white house that was illegal from the get go. These people were caught. Nixon was terrified that they would get to the presidency and that his election in november would be jeopardized. So they had this big coverup. And that worked. 1972 ins reelected in november with one of the biggest margins in a like twhirl history. After that, the burglars cracked. Weref them said there higherups involved in the start to have investigations. Richard nixon had a taping system in the white house. Of 1973, the taping system became public as you had a Bipartisan Senate investigation, watergate committee, and they asked, are there tapes . The person who set up the taping system said, there were tips. Tapes. Recorded all of the conversations. At that time, the question was, did nixon participate in the coverup or not . The tapes could prove it. There was a special prosecutor who was appointed. The special prosecutor wanted to get the tapes. Of 1973. In october the special prosecutor said, im getting the tapes. Nixon have the special prosecutor fired. He said, you are not getting my tapes. Was on thewhat tapes. Just as trump knows if there are tapes. Over that. Big fight you Supreme Court, the Supreme Court ultimately required the tapes to be released. The tapes showed out of Richard Nixons own mouth that he obstructed justice and he ordered the watergate coverup from almost the day the breakin took place. So you have a repetition of a aesident claiming there was tape recording system and the tapes could exonerate him or not. My view is, comey, not only is a very careful prosecutor and never would have said things that were improper in that meeting with trump, but im sure he suspected that he could have been taperecorded so he was doubly or triply careful. But the person who knows whether there are tapes and what is on those tapes is the president. And why is he playing games with the American People over this issue . Not so muchue is that he tapes, but that it was tapes,nating what he that is what he was concerned about. Let me ask you, does every president tape in the oval office . I hope not, but we know there are a few who did. We know nixon had the most elaborate system. I believe johnson had some kind of taping system. I do not know if it was as systematic as this, but he had some kind of system. I mean, systematic as nixons. Amy i want to turn to a conversation we had in february with president Richard Nixons white House Counsel john dean. I asked him about where trump stood just over a month into his presidency in comparison with his boss Richard Nixon. About 900 days. It went on for years, starting with a bungled burglary at the Democratic National committee and right up to Richard Nixons resignation followed by the conviction of his top aides. So it ran a long time. What were seeing is very accelerated. Partially responsible because of the media and the technology today, but it is also the ,ehavior of trump and his aides as well as the medias vigilance on this. Were seeing things accelerated. What i see or hear are echoes of watergate. We dont have watergate 2. 0 yet, but we have something that is beginning to look like it could go there. Amy that was john dean. Your response . Interesting, to say the least, youre on very different sides back in the 1970s when your congressman and john dean works for nixon. You may share a lot of use right now. Yes, i think were getting very close to watergate. I think donald trump is deep in the watergate territory. I think the firing of james comey with the apparent intention to squelch an investigation into his Campaign Activities and his activities resonates deeply with the issues and watergate. I want to make one point about what teens said. When Richard Nixon took office, it was only a matter of two or three months before he started into his illegal activities. The illegal bombing of cambodia started in march of his first year in office. Crime and a crime against the constitution. Unfortunately, nixon was not impeached for that. Lets not get carried away with how nixon was really a good guy up to the very end. He wasnt. Bad stuff started right away. Illegal surveillance started right away. I think we have here a similar kind of idea that the president is above the law. And once you get that idea in your head, that is trouble, not just for the president , but for the American People. Amy the last question in this last minute, when the republicans turned on Richard Nixon, the republicans in congress, talk about what you are seeing today. Many say with the republican majority in both houses, there is just no way that President Trump would be impeached. I think what happened during watergate was that the checks and Balance System worked. It worked for the judiciary. The first person who stood up was very conservative republican judge johnson riga who smelled something wrong with the burglary and imposed tough sentences because he knew there was something fishy going on. As a result, one of the burglars broke and said higherups were involved. That led to the whole rest of the investigation. The second thing was when you had the Senate Select committee on watergate. You had sam ervin, a democrat, southern democrat, constitutional scholar, as the chair. Howard baker, the republican from tennessee, was the vice chair. He started out as a total partisan for Richard Nixon. He came up with a series of questions. What does the president know and when did he know it . He thought those questions would show that nixon had nothing to do with the breakin, with a coverup. So he asked those questions of the witnesses. When he asked those questions, the answers repeated and repeated and repeated, shows that nixon was aware, the white house was aware, and showed his involvement. As a result of the facts, they curve became an advocate for the rule of law. On the house side, House Judiciary Committee, i think most of the republicans, if not all of them, were advocates for the president. But the facts came out. In the end, most of the republicans voted for the articles of impeachment because they put country above party. In the end, all of them, when the smoking gun tape came out, all of the republicans announced they were going to be in favor of impeachment, even those who had voted against it. Very conservative republicans. Why . Because the facts were clear, the constitution was clear, the law was clear. Im hoping that will happen here. It may take longer for republicans to come to their senses on this, but they did in watergate. Lets not lose hope. They take an oath to uphold the constitution. Opportunity. Amy elizabeth holtzman, thank you for being with us former , u. S. Congresswoman from new york who served on the House Judiciary Committee that voted to impeach Richard Nixon. This is democracy now when we come back, we talk about Jeff Sessions escalating the war on drugs in this country, the attorney general of the United States. Stay with us. [music break] amy this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. We are broadcasting from San Francisco as he continued to travel the country covering the movements changing america. Now to the Trump Administrations escalation of the war on drugs. On friday, attorney general sessions spoke at the department of justice headquarters in washington and announced the new sentencing guidelines. Going forward, i have empowered our prosecutors to charge and pursue the most serious offense, as i believe the law requires, most serious, readily, provable offense. It means were going to meet our responsibility to enforce the law with judgment and fairness. It is simply the right and moral thing to do. And we know that drugs and crime go handinhand. They just do. The facts prove that so. Drug trafficking is an inherently dangerous and violent business. If you want to collect a drug debt, you can follow lawsuit in court. You collect it with a barrel of a gun. Amy Jeff Sessions has long backed lengthy prison sentences and mandatory minimum sentences for drug crimes, including for marijuana use, which is now legal for either medical or Recreational Purposes in many states. Sessions escalation of the socalled war on drugs was met with widespread al qaeda widespread outcry. Former attorney general eric holder told msnbc in a statement the policy announced today is not tough on crime. It is dumb on crime. Under the gallons of the Obama Administration, the number of drug offenders given mandatory minimum sentences plummeted, contributing to a 14 decline in the total federal prison population. The announcement comes at a time of growing bipartisan support for sentencing reform. In recent years, the liberal leaning center for American Progress and the right leaning freedomworks have partnered with groups as varied as the Koch Industries and the naacp to bridge ideological divides and push for reduced mandatory minimums for lowlevel nonviolent drug offenses. Well, for more, we are joined by two guests. Anthony papa is the author of this side of freedom life after clemency. Hes an antidrugwar activist, painter and author. ,in 1985, anthony papa agreed to deliver an envelope of cocaine in a police sting operation in return for 500. His rst and on criminal offense cost him a 15year to life sentenc in 1996, papa won a sentence commutation from thennew york governor george pataki. In 2016, papa received a pardon from new york governor andrew cuomo. Hes believed to be the first person in new york state history to receive both a sentence commutation and a pardon. And we are joined by carl hart, chair of the department of psychology and a professor of psychiatry at columbia university. Hes the author of igh price a neuroscientists journey of selfdiscovery that challenges everything you know about drugs and society. Professor hart just returned from the philippines where he participated in a twoday Drug Policy Forum conference. Tony papa and carl hart, welcome to democracy now whathart, First Responder Jeff Sessions is doing come this escalation of the war on drugs in the United States. Well, lets just be clear. I mean, one of the things we heard outrage about what Jeff Sessions is doing. Lets be clear, Everybody Knows that the war on drugs as it has been fought since the 1980s has had a disproportionate negative impact on specific communities. Black communities, latino communities. Everyone knows that. What Jeff Sessions is doing is advocatingor he is being engaged in racial discrimination. So lets call Jeff Sessions what he is. Jeff sessions is a racist if he takes on this action. It is clear. We know it, so lets stop lying around with it. Anthony papa, what is your understanding of what the attorney general is calling for right now . Ericy, i agree with holder, this is totally dumb on crime. To go back to a failed proven toicy and two and the and tell prosecutors to convict people at the harshest possible sentence is totally wrong will stop myself as an example, firsttime nonviolent offender, i was asked a sentence to two 15 a life sentences under the rockefeller drug laws which was mandated by mandatory minimum sentences from the same sentencing laws that became in the federal system that now sessions wants prosecutors to use to sentence even lowlevel, nonviolent drug offenders or even people who are addicted to years inmany, many prison. It is a proven fact that this oficy wastes billions dollars and more importantly, iny human lives are wasted this action in the past. Amy i want to go back to carl hart. Attorney general Jeff Sessions has released this memo that tells Justice Department prosecutors to pursue the most serious charges for drug offenses. So explain exactly how this changes policy and what it will mean. What it means is that as you know, under eric holder eric holder has suggested or his memo said that we should not should not engage in the mandatory minimums. He gave judges flexibility, whereas Jeff Sessions is in courage and the judges to go back to mandatory minimum. That means people will get harsher sentences for drugrelated violations. Ast that means ultimately papa i said, we all know the drug war did not work. That is not entirely true because the drug or did work for certain segments of our population. And that is where the crux of this policy really needs to be interrogated. It allows Jeff Sessions is allowing or using drug policy to separate the people who we like from the people who we dont like. And it provides a way to go after those people we dont like , usually poor and minority folks, without explicitly saying we dont like those people. And that is how drug policy has been enforced in this country. So if we allow sessions to turn , thenhe hands of time shame on all of us. The blood is on all of our hands because we know the consequences of his proposed actions. Ew onJeff Sessions vi drugs have a long history. He famously was quoted as joking in the 1980s about the white terrorist organization the kkk ok until i found out they smoked pot. Your response . That is an interesting thing because one of the things that is happen in the country since that time, we now have eight states that have legalized Recreational Marijuana use. In the states were concerned that Jeff Sessions percent after them on the one hand. Jeff sessions has not come after them because there is a lot of money involved. There are a lot of wealthy white people involved. I dont want to pit white people against other groups such a, but lets be honest. He wont go after them. I know people have some anxieties about it, but Jeff Sessions is ignorant, but not stupid. He wont go after those folks. Even though he made his comment about marijuana, we should see actually what his actions are. He can make these comments to kind of get a wink and nod to people supporting him so he lets them know im against drugs, but he is not going after marijuana. He is going after all of the. Ther sort of drug offenses and i hope the people who are engaged in the Marijuana Industry and this business make theirnnection about how substance was once vilified it is no longer vilified in the u. S. , particularly as these aids liberalize their marijuana policy. I wish it would make the connection so they can to be how boxing. 42012, we were arresting people for marijuana in colorado and other states. Were no longer doing that. Now we are saying it is ok. It was always ok. It is just that our laws were not in line. Now weird arresting people for things like cocaine, here one does now we are arresting people for things like cocaine. This is not to say we should legalize drugs. That is not the argument. Recently should not be sending people to jail for those extended periods that Jeff Sessions is advocating for. And he is doing so because he is going after people who we dont care for in the United States. Amy in a statement, contact republican senator rand paul criticized sessions change in drug policy. Paul, who is a doctor, said mandatory minimum sentences have unfairly and disproportionately incarcerated too many minorities for too long. Attorney general sessions new policy will accentuate that injustice. Rand added instead, we should treat our nations drug epidemic as a Health Crisis and less as a lock em up and throw away the key problem. That is the republican senator rand paul. I agree with rand paul on know, wet, but, you have to be carefulbout our language in terms of epidemic. Because all of those sorts of things kind of provide cover for folks to behave like Jeff Sessions. If were really concerned, for example, like the opioids and oin, we need to tell people how to stay safe if were worried about overdoses. We do not ban automobiles. We have regulations and we try to make sure that people stay safe. We have speed limits. We of seatbelts. We have these sorts of things. But with the opioids, were talking about arresting people by the way, for the opioids at the federal level, 80 of the people arrested are latino and black. And we know this. Or a went to be smart want to save our people or help people, we would not take the approach someone like Jeff Sessions, who wants to take us back to the 1980s and experience all of the bad things of the 1980s. Amy anthony papa, can you briefly tell us what happened to you, the amount of time you served in prison and what this change could mean now . I spent 12 years in a 15 a life sentence for firsttime nonviolent drug offense. An envelope of four ounces of cocaine from the bronx to mount vernon. I was roped into a police sting operation. 20 cups came out of nowhere, placed under arrest. I wound up getting sentenced to two 15 the licenses for firsttime nonviolent drug offense under the mandatory provision of the rockefeller drug laws. Sentencing is a poison that has broken the criminal justice system. This is a fact. Under president obama, he tried to fix this broken system by incorporating changes. Eric holder, in his memo in 2013, said to prosecutors, dont use mandatory minimum sentencing laws. Now sessions is reversing this policy. Hard, longor a hard, road ahead because people are going to be put in prison, nonviolent offenders, the prisons are going to be flooded. Theyre going to break the banks of many states and the federal system incarcerating lowlevel nonviolent drug offenders. And many of those offenders has Substance Abuse problems and they need to be treated medically, not punitively. And to have sessions come out with this law is a travesty of justice. Mistakehey realize this and they dont follow through on this memo that he wrote telling prosecutors to use mandatory minimum sentencing laws and to throw the book at lowlevel, nonviolent drug offenders no matter how small the crime is. And dr. Carl hart, i would ask about the philippines were you just came back from. President trump recently visited invited the philippine president duterte to visit the white house, despite massive criticism from human Rights Groups over dutertes socalled war on drugs, during which thousands of people have been extrajudicially killed by police and vigilantes. Can you tell us what you found their . Windows in the philippines and the thing that i when i was in the philippines, i discovered it was a lot worse than originally thought it was. Duterte operate in a and so not only is he the problem, but there are other political officials afraid to speak out. They are the problem. Duterte has taken a page out of the 1980s u. S. Drug war in that he is using drugs to separate people. The issue of drugs to separate the poor people from the people who have means. And he is allowing or providing the environment so people could kill, as you pointed out, kill people who are engaged in drug use and drug trafficking. And people are afraid to speak out against this wrong because duterte has no qualms about having peoples lives be threatened. I discovered people are being 100. For his little as it ranges from about 100 to 500 to have someone killed. Actually, i love the philippines early because my life was threatened because of me speaking out against what duterte was saying about drugs and what he is doing. So we have it that in the United States, but the philippines ive never seen anything like the philippines. Amy professor, explain more what happened to you and your response to President Trump, to the shock of many, inviting the philippines president duterte to the white house. I gave a talk basically saying what duterte they had said, he said methamphetamine showing sure brain. This provided justification for people to kill people who use methamphetamine. I said that was ludicrous, there is no science to support that. He was upset about it. He responded. His people online responded with threats and that sort of thing. I did not think my statement was controversial, but it turns out it was because this is justification for killing people. Duterte trump to invite to the United States, given that this sort of thing is happening, it is just consistent with what trump has been doing. Trump has shown himself to be the most ignorant president that we have ever had. He has shown himself to be the one that disregards law more so than any other president we have had. So it is just consistent it would be nice if democrats and people who were in power, particularly people who know something about the law, to figure out a legal way to restrain him or get rid of him. It is just inappropriate for him to behave like that at that level. , thankpressor carl hart you for being with us the much of the department of psychology, professor of psychiatry at columbia university, author of high price a neuroscientists journey of selfdiscovery that challenges everything you know about drugs and society. Professor hart just returned from the philippines where he life. Reatened with his and anthony papa, thank you so much for being with us. Author of this side of freedom life after clemency. Hes an antidrugwar activist, picture and author. ,when we come back, the massive palestinian Hunger Strike. We will speak with the son of the leader of that strike, the son of Marwan Barghouti who is been imprisoned by israel for more than 15 years. Stay with us. [music break] amy performed by terry oneill. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. I am in San Francisco. I will be speaking in santa cruz and then palo alto, then on to san diego and los angeles. The right now were going to talk with a guest here in San Francisco. It has been almost a month since over 1500 palestinian prisoners have been on Hunger Strike inside israeli jails. The strike, which began on april 17, was called by Marwan Barghouti to protest poor Living Conditions in prison and the administrative detention law, which allows palestinians to be held without charge. Barghouti is the most highprofile palestinian in israeli detention. In a New York Times oped announcing the strike last month, Marwan Barghouti wrote having spent the last 15 years in an israeli prison, i have been both a witness to and a victim of israels illegal system of mass arbitrary arrests and illtreatment of palestinian prisoners. After exhausting all other options, i decided there was no choice but to resist these abuses by going on a Hunger Strike. To talk more about the Hunger Strike and Marwan Barghouti, who has been described as the palestinian Nelson Mandela, we are joined now by his son, arab barghouti. He recently launched the salt water challenge, asking supporters to express their solidarity with the Hunger Strikers by posting videos online drinking salt water. Welcome to democracy now why drink saltwater . Well, thank you, first of all, for having me. Salt water is the only thing that these prisoners are living on as they have not taken anything other than salt and water. It is a symbolic act. We just wanted to be creative outside of the box to raise the awareness and let everyone know what is going on. It has been going well and it went viral. Here it is growing more and more. Amy tell us about your father marwan. My father is a political leader that has been struggling and fighting for his freedom and his peoples freedom for more than four decades. He spent more than 21 years of his life in israeli jails. Twice as a member of the palestinian parliament. He is a member of the centrist committee, the highest committee of the fatah party. My father is very well supported nationally and internationally. He is supported by icons like Nelson Mandela himself who met with my mother and showed his support to my fathers campaign, International Campaign for his release. The former u. S. President jimmy carter happens to be one of the biggest supporters of my father and sent us a video asking for the release of Marwan Barghouti personally. My father is nominated for the imes. Peace prize seven laureates nobel prize did the salt water challenge and happen to be one of the main supporters of my father. Amy so talk about why your father Marwan Barghouti started this Hunger Strike. Alls he said, he exhausted of the ways to negotiate with officials onrison their very basic human rights. This is exactly why the Hunger Strike is called freedom and dignity. My father was visited by my sister for the first time in one before the month Hunger Strike. She told him, dad, we cant do this anymore because your health is the only thing that keeps us going. He looked at her and told her, i havent seen your brothers in years. Been there for your wedding, for your brothers weddings. I dont know your daughters. Her daughter is four years old. He told her, this is exactly why im going for Hunger Strike. Injustice that has been practiced against me and my fellow prisoners is something that we have to raise our voice four. Amy arab, when did you last see your father . Yourften can you and brothers and sister see your dad as well as your mother . I was 11 years old when he was arrested. I used to see him twice a month until i turned 16. After 16, i would see him maybe once every two years. I havent seen my father in two years. Amy why . They dont give me permission to go. This happens also to my one year brother has seen him only three times. Imprisoned for 3. 5 years for basically no reason, for being guilty of being the son of Marwan Barghouti. My mother would see him once a month, sometimes they just dont give her permission for three and four months. Amy the Israel Prison Service released footage of marwan or could it were purportedly eating in his cell. Barghouti supporters have said it is an attempt to discredit the Hunger Strike. His wife spoke out against the footage and warned that Israel Intends to defeat the Hunger Strike by all means. The level of the occupation is reached, my opinion, is a deterioration. Instead of focusing on the video, the world should blame and punish israel for its ethical deterioration where they are fabricating jim i last visited him, i heard from him that they will launch a serious battle against a strike using all tools and methods to defeat it. Amy can you comment on this . Today is your Moms Birthday . Yes, it is her birthday and i send her my love and energy. Amy where is she . And roma law. Ramallah. She is the reason why my father is recognized internationally. Hopefully, next year, i will celebrate her birthday with my father. Regarding the video, let me tell am his son and i cannot tell it is him in the video. Even if it is him, my father stands more than three years in solitary confinement. It could have been taken anytime. On the other side, this shows you the amount of desperation the Israeli Government got to to put such a cheap and low quality video. And here ive just want to say that, they put him in solitary confinement to punish him for the New York Times article and they did torture him. The only thing they did not do is just meet demands. Amy i have 15 seconds. The conditions in the prison . It is really bad. We have sick prisoners. Minister detention, which is holding prisoners for years without even visiting the visitingrt with not the families. I have not touched my father in 15 years. This tells you what the Hunger Strike is all about. Arab or could he, thank you for being here the son of , palestinian political leader and Hunger Strike organizer Marwan Barghouti. Arab recently launched the salt water challenge, asking supporters to express their solidarity with the Hunger Strikers by posting videos online drinking salt water. That does it for our show. Today on americas test kitchen, bridget and julia cook up authentic pasta e ceci, jack challenges julia to a tasting of parmesan, dan discovers some surprising cheese science, and elle makes bridget perfect penne arrabbiata right here on americas test kitchen. Americas test kitchen is brought to you by the following Fisher Paykel. Since 1934, Fisher Paykel has been designing