hottest year on record in the east coast continues to dig out from one of its worst storms in history, we look at the new documentary by josh fox of "gasland." we will speak to tim dechristopher of the climate disobedience center and aria doe who played a key role in relief efforts after hurricane sandy in fared her home rockaway, queens. then to robert redford on playing dan rather in his film "truth." >> three things that used to be separate came together. i felt that was a story worth telling. we will speak with the oscar-winning filmmaker and actor robert redford about the call for an oscars boycott, the future of the sundance film festival, climate change and more. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. in a surprising reversal, a grand jury tasked with investigating planned parenthood has instead indicted two anti-abortion activists who filmed undercover and highly edited videos of planned parenthood officials. the grand jury had been set up to investigate allegations that planned parenthood sells fetal tissue, a claim the organization has repeatedly denied. but on monday in texas, harris county distrt attorn devon anderson instead announced anti-abortion activist david daleiden had been indicted on a felony charge of tampering with a government record and a misdemeanor charge related to e purcha of human organs. daleiden is the director of the anti-choice group the center for medical progress. he pretended to be a biotechnology representative to covertly record the videos of planned parenthood officials explaining how they share fetal tissue with researers. the videos were then highly edited to falsely suggest the tissue is sold for profit, not shared. sandra merritt, another employee of the center for medical progress, was also indicted on a charge of tampering with a governmental record. planned parenthood executive vice president dawn laguens spoke about the indictments. >> at planned parenthood, we were always very confident the grand jury would find no wrongdoing by planned parenthood, but the indictment today begins to unravel the criminal links that david aladdin and the so-called center for medical progress went to to perpetrate this fraud. and i think there will be more charges to come in the future. amy: president obama says he is banning the use of solitary confinement for juveniles and low-level offenders in federal prisons. obama outlined the new measures in a "washington post" op-ed, writing -- "how can we subject prisoners to unnecessary solitary confinement, knowing its effects, and then expect them to return to our communities as whole people? it doesn't make us safer. it's an affront to our common humanity." this comes as the supreme court has ruled that prisoners convicted of muder as juveniles will have a chance at parole. in 2012, the supreme court struck down mandatory life sentences for juveniles, but left open to interpretation whether this would be applied retroactively to people convicted of murder. in a 6-3 decision monday, the supreme court ruled the new law does apply retroactively, offering more than 1000 people currently serving such life sentences the opportunity for parole. a new study suggests warmer water temperatures are causing the seas to expand twice as fast as previously thought, leading to greater sea level rise. the study analyzed more than a decade of satellite data. it was published in the peer-reviewed proceedings of the national academy of sciences. thstudy al found sea level rise varied by location, with the philippines experiencing sea level rise at five times the average global rate. denmark's parliament is scheduled to vote tuesday on a series of controversial measures curbing refugee rights, including a proposal to confiscate money and valuables to pay for their stay in asylum centers. many have compared the measure tohe confiation of property from jews dung the ni holocaust. the plan also includes a proposal to delay family reunification for three years. the measures are expected to pass. a survivor of the first drone strike ever launched by president obama is speaking out. in an interview with the guardian, faheem qureshi said -- "if there is a list of tyrants in the world, to me, obama will be put on that list by his drone program." the strike hit then 14-year-old qureshi's family's home in north waziristan on 23 january 2009. it was president obama's third day in office. the strike permanently blinded qureshi in his left eye. he spent 40 days in the hospital recovering from burns and lacerations from shrapnel. two of his uncles and his 21-year-old cousin were killed in the attack. the strike reportedly targeted top taliban and al qaeda commanders, but available evidence suggests it instead hit the wrong target. members of qureshi's family were part of a pro-government peace committee. the former president of the maldives, mohamed nasheed, has called on the u.s. and european nations to levy sanctions against maldivian officials for human rights abuses in the maldives. nasheed was the maldives' first democratically elected president, known internationally for his work on climate change. he was ousted in 2012 in what he called an armed coup by supporters of his predecessor, maumoon abdul gayoom. he is now serving a 13-year sentence under anti-terrorism laws. he has been permitted to travel to london for back surgery, where he spoke. >> it easy to topple a dictator, but not so easy to uproot a dictatorship. [indiscernible] cntry's inhe soeties faonger th we thk we kw. am that wamohamed sheed speakinglongside his lawyer, amal clooney. in flint, michigan, undocumented residents say they have been blocked from accessing free bottled water and filters as flint's drinking water remains poisoned with lead. the water poisoning began when the unelected, state-appointed emergency manager of flint switched the source of the flint's drinking water to the highly corrosive flint river. the national guard has been mobilized to distribute water, but some officials have required residents to show identification. undocumented people in michigan are barred from receiving drivers licenses or state i.d.'s. the national guard has also been going door to door distributing water, but many undocumented immigrants are afraid to open the door for fear of deportation. in detroit, dozens of students have staged a walkout in solidarity with teachers who have been protesting underfunding, black mold, rat infestations, crumbling buildings and inadequate , staffing. detroit public schools are under the control of unelected emergency manager darnell earley -- none other than the unelected emergency manager who presided over the water contamination in flint. this comes as a judge has again denied the school district's request for a temporary restraining order to force the teachers to end their sickout protests. a north carolina district court has begun hearing a challenge to north carolina's voter i.d. laws, which are among the strictest in the nation. the naacp and the justice department argue north carolina's 2013 laws violate the voting rights act and discriminate against people of color by requiring voters to show photo identification at the polls. the lawyers say the law was implemented to curb the increasing political power of voters of color in north carolina. the case could have legal ramifications for voting rights laws across the country headed into the 2016 presidential race. in iowa, democratic presidential candidates bernie sanders, hillary clinton, and martin o'malley faced off at a cnn-hosted town hall monday. the most recent poll cnn shows sanders leading clinton by 2 points with the iowa caucus less than a week away, although clinton retains her lead in national polls. at the town hall, sanders drew applause when he said he had opposed to the keystone xl pipeline since day one. >> in terms of climate change, which everybody here knows and apparently everyone in the world knows except republican candidates for president, is one of the great and terminal crises facing this nation. on day one, i said the keystone pipeline is a dumb idea. [applause] >> senator -- >> i think the balkan pipeline of pipelines in vermont in a hamsher are dumb. we have to break our dependence on fossil fuel. why did it take hillary clinton such a long time before she came into our position to the keystone pipeline? amy: sanders also attacked clinton for voting for the iraq war and for being absent on the fight against wall street deregulation. the criminal trial has begun for the new york city police officer accused in the november 2014 killing of unarmed african american akai gurley. gurley was in the dimly lit stairwell of a brooklyn housing project when officer peter liang opened fire. liang faces charges of manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, assault and official misconduct. defense attorneys say the shooting was accidental. at monday's opening hearing, prosecutors said liang was more concerned with protecting his job than he was about saving gurley's life as he lay dying. liang reportedly did not call for help or respond to police radio contact for several minutes after opening fire. akai gurley was in the stairwell with his girlfriend because the elevator was out of order. and peace activist and anti-nuclear protester concepcion picciotto has died. she is known for camping outside the white house continuously since 1981 to protest nuclear weapons and war. hepeace vigil is widely believed to have been the longest running protest in u.s. history. this is picciotto speaking in 2014. >> i am in front of the white maintaining a nuclear peace vigil since 1981. we used to 1981, [indiscernible] my colleagues, who is very committed by facing beating up by marines, police, arrested many times -- amy: that was peace activist concepcion picciotto. she died monday at a housing facility for homeless women in washington, d.c. she was believed to be 80 years old. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we are broadcasting from the sundance film festival in park city, utah. the death toll from a record-breaking snowstorm that pummeled the eastern seaboard has risen to more than 40. in washington, d.c., federal government offices remain closed again today. the house of representatives has postponed all votes this week. snowstorm jonas was the single biggest snowstorm on record for at least six locations across the east coast, including baltimore, maryland and , harrisburg, pennsylvania. the highest total snowfall recorded was 42 inches -- or 3.5 feet -- in glengary, west virginia. the weather channel's lead meteorologist michael palmer said, "it's likely to go down as one of the most impressive blizzards we've seen on the eastern seaboard in recorded history." the record snowstorm in the united states came as parts of asia also experienced record-cold weather. hong kong experienced its coldest day in 60 years sunday. islands across japan also experienced their coldest days in decades, with one island, amami oshima, receiving snow for the first time in 115 years. in vietnam, farmers are grappling with the coldest winter in more than 40 years. meanwhile, a new study suggests that warmer water temperatures are causing the seas to expand twice as fast as previously thought, leading to greater sea level rise. the study in the peer-reviewed proceedings of the national academy of sciences also found sea level rise varied by location, with the philippines experiencing sea level rise at five times the average global rate. we turn to a new film on climate change that just premiered here at the sundance film festival from josh fox, director of the academy award-nominated film , "gasland," which exposed the dangers of fracking. this new film is called, "how to let go of the world and love all the things climate can't change." >> can a person stop a wave? could you stand on the shore and stop a wave from crashing? what are the things that climate change can't destroy? what are those parts of us that are so deep that no storm can take them away? amy: that is the trailer for josh fox's new film, "how to let go of the world and love all the things climate can't change." josh fox joins us now here in park city, utah. we welcome you to democracy now! great to be with you. talk about your travels around the world for the last three years. >> this film starts with me and my own backyard having won against the fracking industry -- welcome and not just me, but the movement -- and realizing -- amy: how did you win? >> throw whole lot of creative protest, civil disobedience, educating the commission about how dangerous and contaminated the fracking process is. finally after years and years of campaigning, they relented and took the river basin off the table. that was a huge victory as many people watched "gasland" the fear was the watershed would start to get drilled. but realizing as i saw the ecosystem collapse under the weight of, change, the hemlock force being eaten by parasite in advance and because its images are warming, that we can lose everything in our region to climate change. just a few months later, new york city getting the same wake-up call with hurricane sandy, that these extreme weather events will continue to get worse as your sigma this incredible, crazy snowstorm only a few weeks after we and 60 degree temperatures on christmas. amy: the hottest christmas on record. and the effect of the snowstorm? >> the extreme weather change with climate, right? that led me to a real discovery that we are so late in this game, we have already warmed the earth by one degree, another .5 degrees already in the pipeline. at two degrees warming, we're talking about fe to ni metersf sea lel rise being engendered. that is lethal for new york city. in philadelphia and washington, d.c., boston, florida, san francio. is alrey so lat in the game, ma would s too late to avoid some of the most destructive aspects of climate change. that sent me out on the road from this place a really deep despair to find all of the things climate c't ange. d what tse are o suit the resilience,tues, creativity, innovation. that led me all across the world to six continents, two countries, places like the amazon with indigenous environmental monitors or the pacific climate warriors who are blockading the cold ports in australia to stop their islands from being submerged by sea level rise. people speaking out in china for human rights and against climate change at peril of being imprisoned. these are the thin that ar incredlymotional, in se case sritual, hical examples of people who never say die, the most inspiring individuals i have met. a couple of them sitting next to me on this show, which am so excited to hear what they have the say. as late as it is, we have to inspire within ourselves the sense of generosity, community, the civic virtues that we are going to need if we're going to win in of these climate battles, but we are one of the them even more if we start losing. amy: before we go to the other guests, climate activists from around this country, i want to turn to a clip from "how to let go of the world and love all the things climate can't change." pacificat group of islanders you described from nations including the marshall islands, fiji, the solomon islands, set out in handcarved canoes to blockade one of the world's largest cold ports in newcastle, australia. this clip is narrated by josh fox. it begins with the pacific climate warriors chanting, "we are not drowning, we are fighting." >> we are not drowning, we are fighting. we're not drowning, we are fighting. we are not drowning, we are fighting. >> before us anything else about this sequence, you should probably know the downside of a we're about to do -- this is the short list, drowning, rest, run over by votes, all kinds of sharks, jellyfish, getting punched, sea creatures, drifting away in the currents, big waves. you get the idea. was the closest i've ever been to feeling like i was in that last scene in "star wars." we did not know what would happen, but a massive coal port in the -- kay granger the port. of australian kayaking protesters flooding the channel. nothing like us had ever happened before. tiny canoes like little x wing fighters up against the death star. our strong and police swarming and just use -- jet skis intentionally try to capsize voters. the first confrontation was upon us. >> this is amazing. this has worked. they've stop the coal ship. i can't describe the feeling of and handcarved canoes. it was true bravery. >> we are fighting. >> we are not drowning, we are fighting. protestis where the tipped out of the symbolic and into something actual. this was the fight. this is how you stop a wave from crashing and destroying her home, pulling her family out to sea. this is how you do it. amy: a clip from josh fox's new film, "how to let go of the world and love all the things climate can't change." >> "we are fighting." this could be an anthe for new yorkers, people in san francisco. what we're going to do with this film before it goes on hbo in the summertime, is tour it all across america to 100 of the -- but inike you see america, were people are fighting pipelines, compressor stations, mountaintop removal, tar sands come all of the places were the fossil fuel industry is invading america call the "let go and love" tour where we work to the with communities to provide them with alternatives on the ground and also mobilize. you can learn more about that at our facebook page or we actually are running a kick start a campaign to help us get all across america. amy: we will talk about the 100 city tour and the activism our guests today are involved with. whether we're talking about the connections between -- well, how climate change affects people differently depending on their socioeconomic status or learning about people, environmentalists on trial in what is happening to them in this country. we will be joined by aria doe and tim dechristopher in addition to filmmaker josh fox in a moment. ♪ [music break] amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we are broadcasting live from the sundance film festival in park city, utah, as we return to our conversation about josh fox 's new film, "how to let go of the world and love all the things climate can't change." josh fox is the director of the academy award donated film "gasland" which exposed the dangers of fracking. he is joining us here along with two of his subjects in his film who are activist around the country, aria doe is co-founder and executive director of the action center for education and community development far rockaway, queens, in new york city. and tim dechristopher is a climate activist and founder of the climate disobedience center. he spent 21 months in federal custody for posing as a bidder in 2008 to prevent oil and gas drilling on thousands of acres of public land in his home state of utah. he was charged under the bush administration, but sentenced and tried under the obama administration. we welcome you all to democracy now! this terrible storm that has just blanketed the east coast brings us back to other storms, different kinds like hurricane ,andy, and that is something, you are deeply involved with an storms don't affect all people equally. >> absolutely not. one hurricane sandy hit, of course everyone got wet. when you live in areas such as the rockaway, it affects people differently. this is a perfect example. on one side, multimillionaires on the other side middle class. in the middle, the populace that we deal with, 65% live below poverty level. this is all within 11.5 miles spectrum. but the millionaires were able to get up and go, so they had homes in our homes were destroyed, but they have people in brooklyn or france or wherever that they could go to. on the middle class, their home was destroyed, you did have options. you had choices. we deal with the voiceless and the choiceless. inall of your family lives project housing, where you going to go? if you live with your family and you need a little bit to get through the rest of the week in you all have lost your jobs, what are you going to do? prior to sandy, we did not have lines of people have to feed 25,000 -- provide 25,000 plates of food a month. we're still doing that. amy: why are you doing that 1000 days later? >> after sandy when you five people and your family that have lost their jobs, you know where to go to. when you have to deal with choosing between shoes for your kids or a meal for your baby or clothing for yourself, you need to come and have those plates replaced because paint because the storm has washed away the coverage that was there, we have more dr. bills and deductible of $20, when you have nothing, might as well be $200 or $2 million. even if you all get wet, when you don't have choices, 1000 days later, you are still impacted for generations to come. amy: how do you organize around the issue of poverty? what we're seeing is this dramatically changing climate, and fossil fuel economy that does not seem to change that much? you work on connecting the dots. there is no one more powerful than apparent fighting for the child, and no one stronger than court in impoverished mustang on the line to make sure and put aside their pride that folks get said. we have to speak the lingo to the poor a fossil fuel and connect the dots, how does solar energy affect you? why is it important? if it will help you get further in the week and be able to get more for your kids, then you're going to come and you're going to fight -- all of the sudden, solar energy is important to you. we have the example on may 18 and rockaway were we had a gathering of 200 people and josh was there leading the call. of course, 50% of them were those who understand about solar energy and fracking and why it is bad. and normally, and too often, that is all who is in the room, the choir preaching to the choir. we also had 50% of folks who are worried about getting to the pta the next day, worried about getting shoes for their kids because now they understood that if we are empowered and if someone sees this picture of us being activated, that my child has a better future and i'm on board for that. amy: tim dechristopher, talk about your activism in this time when report just came out 2015 by far the hottest on record surpassing only 2014, the euro for. this storm, a massive epic storm the east coast is still digging out from under. we spoke you a few weeks ago. you are in seattle, not where you are based, but you are there to support a group of climate activists who went on trial, the delta 5. tell us what happened with them and why you are involved with them. >> yes, i was there working with the climate disobedience in her to support the delta 5 who are going to trial. we were there to give whatever kind of support they needed and that ended up being media support in organizing support and financial support. amy: what were they on trial for? >> blockading an oil train about a year and a half ago. they were the first ones able to present the necessity defense. they had climate activist on the stand, oil train safety activists -- amy: explain what an oil train is, what they were trying to block. >> they were blocking a mile and a half long oil train carrying balkan oil out of north dakota, which is a fairly new phenomenon of all oil tanker cars on one big long train rresents massive new risks to the communities they roll through and so they were blockading that. they were able to present really the most conference of case for climate action over the course of four days in a courtroom that i've ever seen in an american courtroom and perhaps the strongest case i've seen anywhere over 4.5 days and then they had an amazing result would jurors coming out and supporting them afterwards, signing up with the lead defendant to go to her next lobby date -- amy: what happened? what was the verdict? >> it was split that acquitted them of the train charge and convicted them of trespass. things got complicated where they were not able to make the necessity defense argument in their closing statements, the judge actually asked the jurors to ignore all of the expert testimony they had heard for three days. so it was an interesting and confiscated case that taught us a lot about how to do that case better the next time. i'm going to continue supporting folks that are taking their case to trial and engaging in civil disobedience. amy: what does the verdict mean for oil trains? some call them bombed trains? why? explosivee extremely as we've seen with oil train disasters around north america. i think i'll let means for the oil train shipping is that people are going to continue to stand up against it and so we're going to continue working with the folks who are standing against it. i am working with them and the keep it in the ground campaign that is calling for an end of fossil fuel leasing on public lands. i'm kind of involved in different things to remain as independent as possible in the climate movement because it is such a rapidly shifting crisis. amy: we had a conversation about what is going on in oregon. there are developments, these standoff that is taking place or the occupation of federal lands by the right-wing militia with guns. talk about that in comparison to what you faced, for example. explain what you did, why you ended up in prison from west two well, n inah -- ut, but yo action s in ut. >> with the occupation in oregon, there's a lot of the country that is kind of just trying to laugh at it and hope if they laugh at them, they will go away. but there are folks who were also seeing this as a real threat that is part of a consistent challenge to the idea of public lands and the idea public goods in our country. there are folks from the center biological diversity who are up there right now making their presence known as people who do care about our public lands and who are standing up to this threat of violence in order to get their way. amy: they are standing up against the militia that is there? >> yeah. i think they're about the only people in the whole county. there standing up nonviolently against this violent -- amy: how do you frame this is an anti-federal lands encounter that is going on? explain what you are seeing, the trend. >> well, i think it is something that has grown out of the wise use movement funded by the fossil fuel industry and the mining industry for the last couple of decades that has challenged the very idea of public lands and public resources. and so i think there are people trying to support that idea of public lands in a lot of different ways. it is also what has kind of supporting the public trust doctrine cases that the young people are taking the courts. there are all these different efforts throughout the climate movement trying to approach things in new and creative ways, which i think -- don amy: and what you did in utah? >> rapidly developing crisis that where we are up against an opponent, the fossil fuel industry that is also adapting to what we're doing. i think trying all of these new things and a lot of different new ways is critical. part of the reason i'm an independent activist is what we're seeing is our institutions have this inner shaft, whether that is big climate -- and are sure, whether it is the big climate organizations that i spent a couple of years with, they're not keeping up with the pace of the crisis. they're not adapting. they get bogged down in this inertia. part of the reasons i'm involved in this film, was able to tell the truth in a different way than either of the climate organizations that i had been involved with who are scared to talk about what it means to be too late to stop climate change. or even the academic institutions that i've been a are of that also, i think, not keeping up with the pace. amy: my last question has to do with, you sir promise to your some prison for trying to participate in an auction, auctioning off public land to be drilled. you ended up preventing that option from going forward, but you went to prison for almost two years. >> yes. amy: now you are trying to stop drilling on public land all over the country. >> yeah, and there are a lot of people working with me on that. there is actually a lot of big organizations in the climate movement which have gotten to that point -- amy: what is it called? >> the keep it in the ground campaign with rain forest action network, a lot of big organizations, now challenging that whole system. they are trying to move past this one at a time, stop this destructive project, try to fight off that district a project, and say the whole system is broken. it is all ignoring this overwhelming threat of climate change, and we need to stop the whole system. you're talking with people in the rockaways in providing service to people who have been made homeless, who are still dealing with the effects -- not only of sandi years ago, but now with the newest storm -- how do you address the issue, an issue close to your heart of climate change, when someone is just trying to feed their kid? >> you educate. educate and activate. our motto is, act now, cry later. we have to get to the act understand what that plate of food needs. if you don't start acting with the things that can contaminate that plate of food, yes, you can eat, but what are you doing to your body? we activate, educate, and act now. cry later. it is working. amy: and, josh, the actions you been documenting not only in our country, but around the world? i want to go to another clip of, "how to let go of the world and love all the things climate can't change." josh fox speaking to environmentalist named ella chou. >> i believe there's something called a moral imagination. i think the moral imagination forces us to get out of our box of thinking about, for instance, what is being successful? you shouldl you, work for mckinsey or goldman sachs or whatever, as a college graduate, you should find a job that is your top priority, by house. the moral imagination allows us ,o think outside of this box having a moral value about what as annt is a person come individual, what you want out of your own humanity what do you want to do for the world for yourself? that there is any idea could rocket you often at the stratosphere, this was it. the moral imagination wrote the bill of rights coming came up with the idea of democracy, dreamed up all of the core values that are emerging iall of the climatearriors ound the globe and all across the earth, the movement was being imagine. in, "how to let go of the world and love all the things climate can't change." is includedhy ella in this film. >> she is remarkable. she works at the only part of the department of energy that doesn't have to do with the nuclear stock file. the national renewable energy -- amy: where is that? >> olden, colorado. she is our envoy to china, to advise china on community solar. that means challenging the possibility hold different way. power you replace these plants and pipelines and bombed trains? you do this with renewable energy and what the science tells us, we can get 100% from renewable sources right now, we don't need to shift to anything else. ella talks about renewables, but al remarkably on the great wall of china, talks about this call to a moral imagination. and what i think tim and i are doing is imagining the next steps of our society that all across america, that movement is being imagined all across the world. amy: aria, do you use solar panels and rockaway? >> [indiscernible] >> it is hard. we have been working on it. >> we want to. >> but in rockaway, some of those who only had power during sanding had solar panels. they came in from greenpeace list of amy: we have a minute, sieve you want to talk about this new journey are going on across the country. >> absolutely. those are protesting and 300king in their backyard, really proposed in the u.s., if we do that, we will never make a paris climate target. we're taking this film, the let r to supporttou those grassroots actions. we are calling for people. we are making the map of where we are going, what hundred cities around the u.s., offering the film. charge to those communities as a rallying point. please, support the tour on kickstarter, but this is something about galvanizing a movement on the ground. and that has worked. workve seen this activism in new york state. amy: you're an oscar-nominated film maker for "gasland." you believe in a boycott of the oscars the cousin of its lack of diversity? >> i think we have a huge problem. their amazing films that have been made over the last two years by black filmmakers. i support them, of course, and i support all of these things within our system is so makers has to become much more conscious and much more aware. amy: want to thank you for being with us, aria doe, co-founder and executive director of the action center for education and community development in queens. tim dechristopher is a climate activist and founder of the climate disobedience center. and, josh fox, director of "how to let go of the world and love all the things climate can't change." when we come back, robert redford. stay with us. ♪ [music break] amy: the theme from "all the presidents men." this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we turn to robert redford, the legendary actor 40 years ago in 1976, the legendary actor robert redford starred in one of the most celebrated journalism films of all time, "all the president's men." he and dustin hoffman portrayed "washington post" reporters bob woodward and carl bernstein investigating the watergate scandal that eventually brought down president nixon. well, in his most recent film, "truth," robert redford portrays another journalist -- this time, cbs reporter dan rather. the film is based on cbs producer mary mapes' 2005 memoir about how she was fired and rather was forced to resign after they reported that george w. bush received special treatment in the u.s. air national guard during the vietnam war. this is the film's trailer. >> how did you get into journalism? >> curiosity. why did you get into it? >> you. >> ladies and gentlemen, my friend, dan rather. >> i am the producer. i put the team together. mike smith, a researcher back in 2000. >> what is our next move? >> the president of the united states may have gone awol from the military. >> he never even showed up. >> those parts of the file they did not like, they tossed in the waste basket. >> these are the holy grail of documents. >> you've got three hours. >> we're out of time. >> go. >> go, go, go! >> here is to a great story. >> hey, mary, these can be re-created in microsoft word. >> federal experts have raised serious questions. >> they're going to start an investigation. >> this is bad. >> they don't get to smack us for asking the question. >> they want to talk your source. >> it's bad. >> should have asked questions. >> you have to fight. >> somebody has got to confirm those memos. >> this is in a child, it is a hunt -- this is in a trial, it is a hunt. what we're talking about is you bringing your politics and to repor amy: i did nothing of the kind. our story was about whether the president served. they want to talk about font and forgery and they hope to god the truth gets lost in the scrum. amy: that is the trailer to robert redford's most recent film called "truth." , i met up with the legendary director on monday in utah where he founded the sundance film festival in 1978. >> it was about dan and mary mapes and what happened during a time when he got fired. what i remember at that time, i think it was working doing a film, and what i remember was he was at the top of his game. he followed cronkhite and then there was brokaw and then jennings. he was the top dog. had a huge following. , vaguely,ember was they're going after a story about bush's international air guard record which was full of holes. they were beginning to dig into that and it was threatening the administration, which was bush at that time. wasbush and administration putting pressure on cbs to back off. i did not know the details on all of this. all i knew if there's a story coming out and it stopped. up and shut and always thought, welcome i wonder if there's more to that story? here was the story because vanderbilt opened up to tell the story. wasn't going to put cbs in a rosy position, so you expect them to go after, which they did. but for me, it was a chance to say, ok, so i don't know if it was the first time, if you're thinking about "all the president's men," i don't know who was the first time he had a conjunction between corporate , --ica, journalism corporate america, journalism, and entertainment. those three things that used to be separate, came together. so i thought that was a story that was really worth telling. amy: i want to show you back playing bob ward word in "all the president's men." >> people's lives are in danger, maybe even hours. >> what happened at a source of yours? >> he thought i said, "hang up" when i just said "hang on." >> sloan would have told the grand jury. >> why didn't he? >> nobody asked him. protect. to >> did deep throat say lives were in danger? >> yes. >> what else did he say? >> he said everyone's involved. amy: that is you, robert redford, playing bob woodward in "all the president's men" as journalist try to take on the presidency. it worked in that film. here, dan rather, was crushed. >> the difference i could president'sll the men" these two reporters were doing very much what dan and mary were trying to do, trying to dig underneath what was being covered up and trying to get underneath the coverups to say, what is the real truth? what is the real story? they succeeded because they were given permission and they were given license by the washington post. so their bosses stood behind them. in dan's case, his boss did not. so cbs did not stand behind him, behind anna mary. amy: in fact, there are going through corporate takeover. >> that's right. in "all the president's men" did but coulds not have done if they had not had the support of the paper because they're going against the administration, trying to knock them out. amy: having our media institution behind you. >> support you. amy: in the power of the media holding those in power accountable. do you think there's a problem with that these days, specially -- not only when it comes to government, but when it comes to corporations and corporate power? >> i think it speaks for self, doesn't it? yes, i do. i think it is change drastically, not for the better, but changed drastically. position of the media and the position of corporate control, to me, and the when it comes to politics, you can see what that is about. i think things are always changing. it is inevitable things will change. so what happened here, yes citizen united which changed the picture, so now you have pacs and things like that. so money did step in a politics in a major way, which i don't think is healthy. and then you have the political division between the two parties. there is no longer a time when the two parties come together to work on something, which during the watergate time, they did. that is gone. so we have this polarization. it is like a war zone, and it makes me sad for journalism, but it makes me sad for my country to see how it has been divided up by this vitriol. amy: we just came from paris from the u.n. climate summer -- summit which recovered for two weeks. the environment list from england said about the agreement, it is a miracle that an agreement happened, but catastrophe for what really needs to be done. he said, for what could've happened, this amerco. for what should have happened, it is a catastrophe. >> i agree with him 100%. being an environmentalist, which i am, i been more radicalized over time is of seen the consequence of how the environment has been treated. so climate change is a big part of that. i got pretty involved with the subject when was asked to speak at the u.n., i think is last april. a sickly, going to paris was a follow-up because i was asked by in rdc to go to paris and follow that up about focusing on the mayors. was, get toissue the people that are closest to the ground, meaning, the people that are closest to the leaders that are closest to the people. so i felt mayors was the place to go. the second part was indigenous coulters. i felt such an ignorance and ignoring of indigenous cultures, which are so fundamental to our history. i thought, i want to focus on that. are they being treated fairly? are they being included in the bate? e they being includein the conversation? i d not fe they we, s going paris was ttry to p focus the mays a the value oindigeno cltures - like t people the marall isnds. how they are being affected. so that was my focus. amy: what you think of the whole to vestment movement across college campuses, the movement to divest foundations to divest, corporations to divest from investment in oil, coal, and fossil fuels overall? do you endorse this? >> totally. it is a start. i think there's much more that needs to be done, but that is a great start. amy: let me ask you about the oscars and diversities. extremely significant. i just came from interviewing don porter has a film here called "trapped" about abortion providers in the south, and also spoke to stanley nelson, who often features his film sera, gray civil rights documentarian. both of them indoors a boycott of the oscars because we see it twice in a row, no actors of nominated for an oscar, yet so many are acting in the industry. what do you say about this? do endorse a boycott? >> no, because i don't get involved in that discussion. i probably would if i had started -- starting sundance was my way of dealing with the issue with the mainstream has a lot of control and to any old white people or not -- because i was a member of the academy, i'm not going to turn my back on it. i've been very fortunate to do films i am proud of to be part of the academy. i decided i'm not going to get into that argument. that is for others. all i can say is, look, in terms of diversity, which are really believe in, that is always started something called independent film festivals, it is about independence. and because diversity comes out of independence, all we have to do is just show diversity -- all colors, women, you know, promoting under voiced people like in the early 1990's we had people like townsend they came through we promoted, pushed look,films post of said, ethnic films, black films, are important, so we're going to put them out there, make them part of our showcase. then the next question was, women. said, it is been dominated by men. and they're beginning to emerge. you are getting these william film maker stepping -- women fell maker stepping up. let's put focus on them and say they are important. so that is what sundance history has been, take areas that don't get enough attention and we bring the men and give them a lot of attention here. but that is what we do. in other words, in contrast to maybe what the economy is doing, i'm not going to boycott, i just not going to get involved in a, we will just do what we do. amy: spike lee says he is not endorsing a boycott, but he is just not going. >> that's his choice will stop i probably won't go because i haven't been invited. i just focus on this. but without denigrating that. to me, a lot of people in the beginning -- i received a lot of criticism, but it was -- there's a tendency to label and subjugate things. in the beginning, i was characterized as somebody who was against the mainstream, starting something here in the mountains like an insurgent ready to come down and attack. i said, no, no, it's not that at all. what it is, it is taking another category that doesn't get much voice, doesn't get any attention , and there are whole a lot of people that could come into if you have a chance, and build that up. and what that does, it extends the category of film. it is not against the academy, just broadens the category. i don't think that is ever come through to people. amy: what is going to happen with sundance? the film festival is getting huge. we have covered it for a number of years. >> i know you have. amy: how does park city sustain this? how many films every year? >> 12,000. amy:, near chosen? >> -- i did not think is going to work. i was told it wouldn't. i just assumed it wouldn't but i thought, why not try? so we had one theater available to us, the yptian, which thought s great because it was run down, anhen the were mae three restauras in tow sohe first fesval, i w out the with mbe we h 25 films and maybe five or six documentaries. i would be standing outside the theater trying to get people in. maybe 100, 200 people wandering around wondering, what is going on? i said, why don't you come in and find out? i never dreamed -- i did not think would work, quite honestly. but i thought it was worth a try. -- i think the thing that kicked it into succeeding possum "sex,h lies, and videotape." word-of-mouth that move things along because it started here. grow to the size it is now. i never dreamed -- now i think they have a problem because so many films, so little time, so little space, at the same time park city is developing like crazy. sooner or later, the twin will not meet. it will be a crunch. amy: what would happen? >> i don't know the solution is, but maybe it might be breaking up the peninsula. january, committed january like we have now, and you only show narrative films. and maybe in february yet another section of the festival that opens up a new show document is and then you have shorts and online. i don't know if that works or not, but something we are -- we have to think about it. amy: that is oscar-winning director and act your robert redford, founder of the sundance film festival. that does it for our show. a special thanks to our team and sundance -- in sundance. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to outreach@democracynow.org or mail them >> you are watching original video by truthdig.com. for more information and resources, visit us on the web at www.truthdig.com. [cheering and applause] >> thank you. thank you, um, bob, slade, kpfk, uh, and all the other people who made this ssible.