Democracy Now! Audio - Democracy Now! 2026-07-17 Friday

Episode Date: July 17, 2026

Democracy Now! Friday, July 17, 2026

From New York, this is Democracy Now. But most importantly, addressing this crisis of election security demands that Congress must pass the Save America Act. How easy is that to do unless you want to cheat? In a prime time address, President Trump calls on Congress again to overhaul U.S. elections by passing a law that could disenfranchise millions of elections. eligible voters. Trump's call came after he accused China of election meddling. Critics are accusing him of spreading lies about the U.S. election system ahead of the midterms. Then Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House advisor Stephen Miller are pushing for a global crackdown on leftist organizations. This is a fatal cancer to civilization. And the greatest

risk that we have is that our institutions have grown too soft and too cowardly to be able to defend themselves against a mortal threat. Plus, we go to Houston, Texas, where hundreds gathered Thursday for a public viewing of the body of Lorenzo Salgado Arraoujo, the Mexican father shot and killed by an ICE agent last week. And we look at calls to boycott Christopher Nolan's blockbuster new film The Odyssey because part of it was filmed in Western Sahara, land occupied by Morocco for the past half century. We'll speak with a Saharaway filmmaker. All that and more coming up. Welcome to Democracy Now, Democracy Now.org, the War and Peace Report. I'm Amy Goodman. Iran's government says at least eight people were killed as the U.S. carried out a six straight day of attacks.

targets included a railway station, six bridges and other civilian infrastructure. Iran's energy ministry is calling on citizens to reduce their electricity use after Iran's energy grid came under attack, despite sweltering summer heat with temperatures well into triple digits. In another bombing, the U.S. struck near a children's cancer hospital in the southwestern city of Avaz. The attack sparked the panicked evacuation of more than 200 people, including young patients undergoing chemotherapy. In response, Aram claimed a 13th wave of retaliatory strikes against U.S. bases. Missile and drone attacks were reported in Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Syria, and Qatar,

where officials say a child was injured by falling missile debris. Here in the United States, dense smoke from Canadian wildfires brought air quality alerts to people in more than 20 states in the Northeast and Upper Midwest Thursday with more smoke in the forecast this weekend. The Air Quality Index in Toledo, Ohio, climbed to over 600 that compares to a good air quality score of 50 or less. In Detroit, Michigan, at top 720 more than double what's needed to trigger a hazardous air alert here in New York. Mayor Zoran Mamdani spoke his readings top 250, a level he says. said poses a health risk for everyone, regardless of their health status. Whether we're speaking about the heat, whether we're speaking about the air quality,

or whether we're even speaking about the levels of rainwater and flooding in our city, I am concerned. And I'm concerned because what we see is that the climate crisis exacerbates so much of what our city is facing. Meanwhile, in Texas, at least two people died as dangerous flooding swept through the central part of the state, the same area were more than 130 people, including 25 children at a Christian girl's summer camp, died in flash floods last summer. President Trump used a primetime address Thursday to accuse China of interfering in the 2020 election, despite a U.S. intelligence assessment, finding no evidence to support his claim. A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said Trump's accusations were, quote,

totally fabricated and a malicious smear, unquote. President Trump also urge Republicans in Congress to pass the Save America Act, which requires IDs at the polls and proof of citizenship during voter registration. Tonight, I'm announcing the immediate declassification and release of critical intelligence, revealing shocking vulnerabilities in our election infrastructure. This evidence shows that the election system, we have dangerous. exposes and really exposes, like, levels never thought possible, to hacking, exploitation and foreign interference. Federal investigators have found President Trump's long-time teleprompter

operator, Gabriel Perez, made more than $100,000 by betting on Trump's speeches. He allegedly used the prediction market Kalshi to place the bets. The company alerted the commodity futures Trading Commission to Perez's suspicious activity on its mentions market, where users can bet on whether specific words or phrases are uttered during public remarks. White House Press Secretary Carolyn Levitt was questioned Thursday about the scandal. Obviously, I'm aware of the report. The president is too. I spoke with him about it. He believes it's deeply unfortunate and frankly a disgrace. This comes as President Trump's company Truth Social announced plans to charge for special high-speed access to Trump's social media posts, including statements on national security

and financial topics. In response, Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal wrote, quote, the president's social media posts covering war and peace and government regulations move markets. Truth social selling preferential access is yet another example of flagrant corruption, trading access to the White House for Trump's self-enrichment, Blumenthal said. Meanwhile, a senior Iranian official told drop-site news, Iran had informed Vice President J.D. Vance that Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and his Middle East envoy, Steve Whitkoff, were more interested in exploiting insider knowledge of the ceasefire negotiations to potentially profit than they weren't reaching a deal. Iran provided drop-site written documentation of evidence that Kushner and Whitkoff were using diplomatic developments to manipulate financial markets. The White House flatly denied the allegations. In Maine, the ICE agent who fatally shot Joe on Sebastian Duran Guerrero during a traffic stop in Biddeford Monday has been identified as David Brulette, a former police officer in U.S. Army veteran.

His ex-wife Ashley told the Portland Press Herald, he called her and admitted he was the officer behind Monday shooting. Ashley Brulette described abusive behavior both during and after her marriage to David Brulet. She said she wanted to speak out publicly because she'd previously reported concerns about her husband's mental health to his superiors in the military. Separately, the Associated Press report several of David Brulette's close relatives say he struggled with serious mental health issues since early childhood and never should have been given access to a badge and a gun. Speaking anonymously, one relative said, quote, Afghanistan destroyed him, trained him to be a killing monster, a machine. they took someone who was extremely mentally ill and turned him into a killing machine, the relative said. On Thursday, the widow of Joanne Sebastian Doran Guerrero spoke publicly for the first time since her husband was killed as he set off for work Monday morning. Carolina Rojas-Varra said the loss of her husband has been devastating for their three-year-old daughter.

day before he took her to the park, and they had a wonderful time. That Monday afternoon was supposed to be her day with her dad. But he never came home. And now my daughter is asking about her father, and I don't have the strength to tell her that he's not coming, that she can't hug him anymore, or say, Daddy, I love you. In Nevada, rights groups are demanding an investigation into the The violent attempted arrest of an elderly man by plainclothes ice agents at the Las Vegas International Airport. Video of Monday's incident shows two people in plain clothes, one mask, the other hooded, pushing a man to the floor and handcuffing him as he cries out for help. One of the agents then tries to swat away and observe his camera as he approaches.

What's going on? What's going on? What's going on? What's going on? We can sell the rights that there was going on. Responding to the video, Nevada Democratic Senator Jackie Rosen called for ICE to follow the same guardrails as other law enforcement agencies. She wrote, quote, plain clothes, no uniforms, no body cameras, no identification, unquote. The White House's so-called borders are Tom Holman has issued a warning to Democrats who are critical of ICE, its mass deportation campaign, or its violent encounters with.

the public, shut your mouth or the quote-unquote bloodshed will continue. Home and issued the threat during an appearance Wednesday in Fox News. I said, if the hateful rhetoric didn't stop, there will be bloodshed. And I'm saying it right now. There's still going to be more bloodshed unless they shut their mouth and let ICE enforce the laws that they enacted. The Trump administration moved to Titan visa rules for foreign students, journalists, and cultural exchange visitors.

and cultural exchange visas would be limited to four years. Vizas for journalists, which previously lasted for years, would now last up to 240 days. In the case of Chinese nationals, journalist visas would last up to 90 days. And Denise Oliver Veles, long-time activist, organizer and educator, has died at the age of 78. She was a central figure in the civil rights movements of the 60s and 70s, was the first woman elected to the Young Lord's Central Committee, radical Puerto Rican civil and human rights organization. She was also a member of the Black Panther Party and later became the first black female program director in public radio and taught at Sunni New Paltz. This is Denise Oliver Veles describing the legacy of the young lords during a

2019 appearance on Democracy Now. I think that what is so revolutionary about the young lords was we created a bridge. We broke down a lot of barriers. between groups that were dealing with their individual communities. And that also has a lot to do with, when you talk about Spanish Harlem, El Barrio, you had about a third of the population in El Barrio was African American. And you also had marriages between Black Americans and Puerto Ricans. So we had people in the Lords who identified us both. And those are some of the headlines,

This is Democracy Now.comocracy now.org, the Warren Peace Report. I'm Amy Goodman in New York with Democracy Now's Juan Gonzalez in Chicago, Juan. Our deepest condolences on the death of Denise Oliver, the two of you were both in the young lords. You helped to found the young lords here in New York. Yes, Amy, thanks. Well, it's impossible really to overstate the impact that Denise had, not only in her early years as a brilliant, articulate and fearless member of two iconic revolutionary groups, the Young Lord's Party and the Black Panther Party, but on thousands of young people who for decades were inspired by her example, by her writings on music, culture, politics, by her scholarship and her teaching.

And her work continued until just days before her death. As you mentioned, she was the first woman in the top leadership of the young lords, first as Minister of Finance and then of economic development. She helped develop many of our Served People programs and helped to shape and write some of the key literature we produced back then. She played a pivotal role in the design and production of our newspaper, Palante, and our weekly radio program on WBAI, and she was a co-founder with Edis Morales of the Women's Caucus. that battled against oppression of women both in the broader society within the movement itself. And of course, she joined the Panthers in 71 following the disastrous split in that organization

between the U.N. Newton and Bobby Seal wings and the Eldridge and Kathleen Kleever wings. And for a while, she lived in Algeria and other parts of Africa with Eldridge and Kathleen. But Denise was never afraid to speak her mind to challenge authority. and to tell her comrades what they needed to hear, not what they wanted to hear. And she always did it with love and kindness. And that was instilled in her by her parents. And most people don't know that both of her parents were really activists and traveled in left-wing circles in the 1940s.

Her mother, Marjorie Roberts Oliver, was from Philadelphia. Her father, George Bodine Oliver, from Chicago. They both met at Western Virginia State College. Her father was a Tuskegee Airman and a tremendous athlete and a tennis player. And after the war, they moved to New York City so he could pursue an acting career. And there he met many prominent African-American activists of the day, Paul Robeson. And he got his first major break with the great Puerto Rican actor, Jose Fere, who cast him in Lillian Smith's Broadway.

was show, strange fruit. And then in Cyrano de Bergerac, but with so few roles for African-Americans, her father ended up becoming a professor of dramatic literature. And Denise really got to know many of the giants of the African-American community of those days. She was in college at Howard University with Rat Brown. She brought Fannie Lou Hamer to speak at Howard, whether it was Maria Baraka, Sonia Sanchez, all the giants of 20th century African-American legacy, all new Denise. And yet she did her most important and I guess most lasting work in the young lords, advocating for the Puerto Rican community.

And she was also for 20 years a contributing editor to the Daily Coast. And I just want to read the Daily Coast did a great memorial for her yesterday. yesterday, and the editor said this. For literal decades, every difficult decision about the direction of Daily Coast has included the same question. What is Denise going to think about this? Denise has been the voice in the back of my mind, advising me, guiding me, oftentimes scolding me. If I was going to ignore what I knew Denise would tell me, I had better have a damn good reason. And so Denise, we're all going to miss her. We're all better for having known her. and the legacy she left behind is immeasurable.

Again, our deepest condolences, and for our audience around the world, you can see our full interview with Denise Alivavelas at DemocracyNow.org. Yes, this is Democracy Now. When we come back, the president's prime time address, stay with us. Elado Negrino

And the reina tropical. Today, their new album is released, their first collaboration, Elado Tropical. It was a pleasure to spend the morning with them yesterday soon at our website, DemocracyNow.org, you'll be able to see their performances as well as the interview. This is Democracy Now, Democracy Now.org. I'm Amy Goodman with Juan Gonzalez. President Trump used a primetime address Thursday night to accuse China of interfering with the 2020

election, despite a U.S. intelligence assessment, finding no evidence to support his claim. A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said Trump's accusations were, quote, totally, fabricated and a malicious smear, unquote. During the speech, Trump announced he was declassifying documents that show what he called shocking vulnerabilities on our election infrastructure, but Trump offered no evidence that China or any other nation had directly interfered with the recent elections, including in 2020, when President Trump lost to Joe Biden. This is part of what Trump said last night. Put together these disclosures reveal an election system, so broken and so vulnerable

that no one can possibly defend it. It is not defensible. Hundreds of millions of U.S. voters files are in the hands of foreign governments. Our machines and ballot counting systems are exposed to hacking and

manipulation and corruption. China and other countries have been trying to meddle in our elections. Evidence of fraud has been buried. Hundreds of thousands of non-citizens and dead people are listed and active on the voter rolls, and yet we still have elections with no voter ID, no proof of citizenship, and tens of millions of ballots flowing aimlessly through the mail.

After the speech, all 24 Democratic governors in the United States issued a joint statement, saying, quote, it's deeply alarming President Trump continues to try to undermine free and fair elections, no amount of lies and conspiracy theories can change the fact that our country's elections have repeatedly been proven to be safe and secure. These attacks are intended to intimidate and silence voters, the governors wrote. President Trump ended his speech by urging lawmakers to pass the Save America Act. But most importantly, addressing this crisis of election security demands that Congress must pass the Save America Act. How easy is that to do? unless you want to cheat.

The only reason you wouldn't do it is you want to cheat because your policies are so bad and your candidates are so pathetic that you can't get away or can't get elected any other way. Voting rights activists have warned the Save America could disenfranchise millions of eligible voters. We're joined now by Ari Berman, the National Voting Rights correspondent for Mother Jones, author of the book Minority Rule, the right-wing attack on the will of the people and the fight to resist it. Ari, what were your takeaways from last night's prime time address? Fascinatingly, a number of news outlets did not run it live or pulled away to it, away from it,

to counter what they said were President Trump's lies, that they weren't just going to give him a platform for them. Hi, Amy. Well, thank you for having me back on the show. It's an honor to be on twice in one week. But I have to say that Trump's speech was shockingly weak. It had no new evidence, despite him claiming that there would be really big news. No new evidence about the 2020 election.

No evidence that votes were tampered in some kind of way, that election equipment was accessed in some kind of way. The declassified documents did not show what Trump claimed they purported to show. And so really, if Trump was trying to build another case, because he's been making this argument for six years, but was trying to build a smoking gun case that the 2020 election was stolen, he failed miserably. That said, I am still very concerned that this speech is intended to lay the groundwork for the administration to interfere in the midterms and that his speech is going to ratchet up pressure to interfere in the midterms. and he's going to point to all the things he's done, all the intelligence, he's just classified, and say, now I have evidence, even though he doesn't have the evidence, but he's going to claim he has the evidence to do things like attempt to seize voting machines, stop mail voting, require proof of citizenship to register to vote. And so even though the speech itself was very underwhelming, the threats to fair elections remain, and if anything, have gotten more dire in the wake of the speech. Ari, I'm wondering if you'd comment on two things. One, this whole issue of this president talking about interference in elections, when he's directly

tried to influence or interfere elections recently in Argentina, in Colombia, in Honduras, actually threatening voters in those countries if they didn't vote for what the United States would do if they didn't vote for his candidate. And also, this whole issue of... dead people. He keeps raising dead people voting. Well, anybody who knows anything about elections knows the last thing a family thinks about when a loved one dies is removing them from the voter rolls. So it usually will take about two years or more for any state to actually purge people who have passed away from their voter rolls. He doesn't talk about dead people voting. He talks about

dead people being on the rolls. Wondering your thoughts. Yeah, Juan, those are all really good points. I want to make a few comments in response to them. Number one, if anyone has benefited from foreign interference in U.S. elections, it's been Donald Trump. He benefited from Russian interference in the 2016 election. He benefited from Russia interference in the 2020 election. He totally ignored the evidence of that. So the extent that there was interference in elections, it was Russia helping Trump. Secondly, America is the last country in the world that should talk about foreign election

interference, given what America has done all across the world for so many decades overturning elections, and in particular what Trump has done to overturn elections, to just oust leaders altogether, to invade countries unprovoked. I mean, it's the height of hypocrisy for him to say we're concerned about foreign election meddling, given that the U.S. under Trump is the one that's doing all the foreign election meddling. And then to your last point, yes, there may be some dead people that are still on the voter rolls because they have not been removed. There may be some, small number of non-citizens who are on the voter rolls accidentally. That does not mean they are voting in American elections. There is no evidence dead people are voting in elections. There is very,

very little evidence that non-citizens are voting in American elections. I'll just give you one example. Trump claimed in his speech 278,000 non-citizens were registered to vote. It turned out that number was actually 10,000 when they released the data. That number is likely wildly inflated because of false positives and inaccuracies in DHS databases. So we know American elections are secure because the results are audited extensively at the state level. They're reviewed at the federal level. The 2020 election was met, was reviewed and found to be the most secure in American history. Trump keeps talking about the 2020 election, A, because he's a petty narcissist who can't get over his defeat,

but B, because he wants to create the predicate to interfere in the midterms. and I believe that's what this speech was ultimately all about. Let's go to Trump threatening NBC and ABC for not fully airing the speech. In a rare move, NBC and ABC fake news have both said that they would not cover this speech. They knew what it was about because of the fact that they don't like the topic, because they know how corrupt our system is and they don't want to reveal it. They and others in the media are part of a plot. They want to continue this for all.

for whatever reason. They want to keep it going. They want to protect the radical left. They can't have a great country. And that's true, you can't have a great country without free and fair elections. Fraud like this should mean a revocation of their licenses. They use our public multi-billion dollar in value airways for absolutely no money. They pay nothing. So that was President Trump last night, threatening the licenses once again. This of NBC and ABC, the significance of this. And also, he keeps talking about the voter rolls being for sale and foreign countries taking them, though the documents he declassified do not reveal this. But the fact is voting rolls are for sale, is that right? Ari, people have access to them.

Yeah, Amy, so first I'll just talk about the media. I mean, it's chilling that Trump threatened the broadcast licenses of networks that did not show this speech. However, it was heartening that so many networks chose not to show this speech. Trump has tried to intimidate the media in so many different ways. And it felt like finally, some elements of the corporate funded media have said, we've had enough. We've had enough of Trump. We've had enough of Trump's lies. And obviously, that's going to drive Trump crazy, but it was ultimately good for democracy that they didn't show his speech. In terms of the voter rolls, yes, you can purchase publicly available information. candidates can purchase it, other entities can purchase it.

That is different than saying that foreign countries hacked into voter rolls or somehow manipulated election systems. That's what Trump wanted you to believe. He wanted you to believe that China somehow accessed illegally election system, somehow changed votes or did something else to manipulate the outcome. That's not true. And that would be very, very difficult to do in our system. There are some vulnerabilities that remain in American elections.

Ironically, Trump has made those worse. He's gutted the cyber security agencies. He's disbanded task forces aimed at stopping foreign election interference. He has put cronies and political hacks in charge of things like the FBI and DHS and the DOJ. And so if Trump was really serious about stopping foreign election interference, which he isn't, he would not have gutted all the protections against that. And Ari, briefly, if you could respond to your reaction to the testimony of Todd Blanche before Congress over his confirmation as Attorney General?

Well, I would just say in general, it was really shocking to me that Blanche described himself still as Trump's lawyer when he's supposed to be head of the Department of Justice. I would also argue it was extremely concerning to hear Jay Clayton when he was the nominee to be Director of National Intelligence, refusing to say that Joe Biden won the election. And it's such a basic question that Biden won the 2020 election. The fact that you still have, even the, quote, unquote, reasonable Trump people, refusing to say that Biden won the election just shows how far down the rabbit hole we've gone and how much the election deniers have taken over every aspect of the federal government in Trump's

second term. Ari Berman, thanks so much for being with us, national voting rights correspondent from Mother Jones, author of Minority Rule, the right-wing attack on the will of the people, on the fight to resist it. This is Democracy Now, Democracy Now.org. I'm Amy Goodman with Juan Gonzalez, just within the same hours as President Trump giving his address. In Houston, Texas, hundreds of community members gathered Thursday evening for a public viewing of Lorenzo Salgado O'Rajo, the 52-year-old Mexican father of three U.S. citizens shot and killed by an ICE agent on July 7th. Members of the public lined up outside the chapel at Ferris Park, Lawndale funeral home in Houston's predominantly Latino East End District before making their way inside, where the body of Lorenzo Salgado Araro was laid in an open casket, his son.

standing by their father's casket for hours, greeting mourners, who wore different shades of blue at the family's request, many of them in tears. A mariachi band wearing all black stood by the casket, filling the room with music. Photos and videos of some of the family's most joyful moments were projected in the background. Several altars also adorned the chapel. One table held Salgado aroused. Salgado Araujo's construction tools,

including two of his white hard hats while another displayed two of his Mexico soccer jerseys. Democracy Now's Maria Nez Tarasena spoke to some of the people who attended. She was outside the funeral home because recording was not permitted inside.

My name is Cesaris Pinoza and I am the executive director of Fiel. The feeling inside is it paints a picture of a man who loved his family who loved his kids, who loved life. And his life should have never been taken away on that fateful Tuesday morning, July 7th, you know, three days after our Independence Day, on the streets of Magnolia Park. He should still be alive today at this time right now. He should be having dinner at home. He should have been listening to his music, getting ready for the next workday, which he would have done regardless. I think it's the feeling and there's one of somberness,

but it's also a very peaceful kind of, you know, atmosphere. There's a lot of people wearing blue, which apparently was his favorite color. There's jerseys. There's pictures, family pictures, shrines, things that the people have brought for the family. They're giving away these little soccer balls. Because just a few days before he was killed on our streets, he was watching the World Cup. And according to his sons, up until the moment where he died,

he was still upset the Mexico had lost. Looking back in history, it brought back memories of Emmett Till, when his mom also let the community grieve with them, and she wanted to show the world what they had done to her son. And I think today, this family also wanted to show the world what they had done to their father. Ruby Powers, you are the attorney for Victor Salgado, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo's younger brother who witnessed the fatal shooting.

We were just at the public viewing with the family, with community members. Earlier today, you were visiting Victor in an announcement. ICE jail here in Texas about an hour from Houston. You know, I went there to work on our paperwork, but also to check in with him because I'd been a few days and wanting to make sure he was doing well. But yes, to see him and know that he's wanting to be here, but he's only here in spirit at the moment. Earlier in the week, we requested that Victor be able to come to his brother's visitation to pay his last respects. And we heard that ICE granted that request. We weren't yet. given the when or where are the details, but we're hoping that it happens soon. And so, you know,

he was looking forward to that. But I know that it's hard for him because even if he is allowed, it'll be very brief encounter and he won't be able to interact with a lot of his family. And also if he's allowed to come to the public viewing, it'll be with the presence of law enforcement, of ICE agents. Well, my understanding that if and when it happens, it'll be very private. And so, But yes, there's definitely conditions on that visit. But having practice for 18 years, I've never heard of someone being released for a situation like this, but this is a very unique situation. But you're right. You know, it's challenging.

But I think that he'd rather be here even if it's with those conditions than not having a chance. Hi, my name is Hi, hi, Bowie. I'm the founder. We, the people organized. When I walked in, the families are on both sides. full, full, amazing, big family. And of course, they told me, go to the fund to give respect.

And as a Buddhist, I pray for his, you know, good wishes and be here to help to fight justice for him. And we do whatever it takes to stick with this case. Every week, we always pray that this wouldn't happen, to be honest with you.

We just, we knew that the numbers, because our city has the highest immigrant. And we just knew that we just prayed it won't happen. And it did happen. That was Highbury, Ruby Powers, and Cesar Espinoza, who attended the public viewing of the body of Lorenzo Salgado Arauj in Houston Thursday evening. Special thanks to our team at Democracy Now, Marienez, Tarcena, Hannesud, and Nicole Salazar. After the viewing, Lorenzo's eldest son, Ronaldo, posted a note of thanks on Facebook, saying in part, quote, Houston is such a wonderful place full of love. My dad made the right choice in choosing this place to spend the rest of his

life and raise his family, surrounded by a strong community that supports and watches each other's backs. May my dad, Lorenzo Salgado O'Raljo, rest in peace. And with y'all's love and support, may his legacy live forever, Ronaldo said. On Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security said it would reverse plans to halt traffic stops following the shooting deaths of two immigrants by ICE agents in less than a week in Houston and Bitterford, Maine. The U-turn came after President Trump wrote on social media, we cannot give up one of ICE's most important and effective crime-fighting tools. The traffic stop.

Trump added, it won't happen on my watch. Coming up, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, White House advisor, Stephen Miller, are pushing for a global crackdown on leftist organizations. Stay with us. Sensaceone by Elado Negro and Reina Tropical. Today, their new album is released. It's called Elado Tropical. This is Democracy Now, Democracy Now.org.

I'm Amy Goodman with Juan Gonzalez. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, White House advisor Stephen Miller, are pushing for global crackdown on leftist organizations. On Thursday, hours before President Trump's prime time address, the State Department hosted an international summit where Miller described the left as, quote, enemies of civilization. This is part of Stephen Miller's speech. Here in the United States, we have taken the necessary and essential action of formally recognizing left-wing violence as a form of political terrorism that is a direct threat to our national security, and the survival of our Republican form of government. President Trump issued a directive in our parlance. It's called a National Security Presidential Memorandum, or NSPM, NSPM 7, to be exact.

The directs, for the first time in American history, all of our law enforcement and intelligence agencies to work together to disrupt, identify, defund, debank, arrest, prosecute these political terrorists that are operating in our country. It's very important to understand that left-wing political terrorism seeks, as its ultimate end, the overthrow of our system and form of government. On Thursday, the State Department announced new visa restrictions targeting what it calls, quote, members of far-left terrorist and other aligned groups.

Secretary of State Rubio talked about targeting anti-fascist organizations. The president signed National Security Presidential Memorandum number seven, outlining a comprehensive strategy to investigate and disrupt Antifa terror networks and their allies. Last November, the State Department designated four violent, far-left extremist groups as foreign terrorist organizations. And there will be more designations soon. We're joined now by two guests, Mike German, former FBI special agents specializing in domestic terrorism and covert operations, his latest book, Policing White Supremacy, The Enemy Within,

also author of Disrupt, Discredit, and Divide, How the New FBI Damages Democracy. And we're joined by Ken Klippenstein in Madison, Wisconsin, Independent Investigative journalist, who's been closely following the Trump administration's designation of left-wing activism as terrorism. Ken, let's begin with you. Lay out what happened at the so-called terrorism summit yesterday and what caused you most alarm? Well, it was an extraordinary event because it pulled in representatives over 65 different countries to discuss the supposed threat of political terrorism, and that's kind of how it was touted to the press and the run-up to the event. But any pretense that this was going to be

a neutral look at the threat of different political groups quickly fell by the wayside as they introduced a term which I have never heard before, which is far-left terrorism or F-L-T is the acronym they're using to describe this new purported threat. And if you look at the language they've used to describe this event, the White House put out an admirably

frank press release yesterday describing the event as prioritizing a counter-terrorism approach that treats the political left with the same, quote, ferocity as we have fought traditional jihadi groups

in the past. So they're putting left-wing political groups in the United States and abroad on the same footing as groups like al-Qaeda and ISIS. And can the legal basis of requiring intelligence organizations that are directed abroad to begin to do internal investigations and internal repression within the U.S.? Yeah, so there's actually no domestic terrorism statute, but that doesn't stop the FBI from using that distinction internally for them to predicate and open investigations into these groups and bringing up charges unrelated to that against the individuals. And that's an important distinction worth noting because I think early on the press kind of overlooked, a lot of the mainstream press

overlooked the story saying, oh, there's no domestic terrorism statute, nothing can happen. That means you can't be charged for domestic terrorism. That doesn't mean that domestic terrorism can't be used as the predicate for the FBI to go and open up investigations into these groups. that they might not be able to open up otherwise. We saw a great example of that in the sentences that were handed down to the anti-ice protesters in Texas recently, in Prairieville, Texas. If you look at the sentences, they were extraordinary. It was almost, I'm not exaggerating, half a millennium of federal years in federal prison,

including 30 years for somebody who wasn't even present at the thing for moving left-wing literature around, which they alleged to be obstruction of justice. So this is very real. This is not just Trump rhetoric that I think it was regarded as early on. This is a policy that they're very serious about pursuing, and they have the legal architecture to do so, particularly because of the global war on terror and the system that that created. I'd like to bring in Mike German into the conversation of former FBI special agent, your most recent book, Policing White Supremacy, The Enemy Within.

Talk about the historic role of the FBI and other law enforcement agencies in terms of dealing with far-right extremists in this country. Thanks for having me. So it's a bit of a misnomer that there isn't a domestic terrorism statute. There's an entire chapter of the U.S. Criminal Code called Terrorism. and it lists 57 federal crimes of terrorism, 52 of which apply to domestic terrorists. As an FBI agent in the 1990s, I investigated neo-Nazi groups engaged in violent and criminal activity. I investigated anti-government militia groups.

Nobody suggested we didn't have sufficient laws to address this issue. The laws distinguish, however, international terrorism from domestic terrorism and give investigators greater access to investigative tools and allow investigators to target not just terrorists, not just people who are committing crimes or assisting those committing crimes or committing violent acts. but to attack people two or three degrees separated. And that's what I think this meeting is about because it's focusing on the designation of left-wing groups as foreign terrorist groups. And that's what will allow them to start targeting civil society in a way that, in the same way that the Bush administration targeted Muslim and Arab civil society in the United States during the global war on terror. So basically the purpose of this meeting is to reframe the discussion around domestic terrorism to imagine that it has these foreign connections that justify the use of these much more aggressive tools to target. Again, people look at the material support for terrorism statute and think that it helps target terrorists. But the purpose of it is to target people who are not terrorists, who are engaging in activities that are not criminal, but the government alleges that they, through a series of arguments, in the end, benefit terrorist groups abroad.

And that's what's dangerous because we saw how those laws were employed in the United States during the global war on terrorism, where Muslim American charities were shut down, where Muslim American charities were shut down, where Muslim, Muslim American Civil Rights Group were denigrated by the FBI director and law enforcement officials without giving them a forum in which they could defend themselves without laying actual criminal charges and basically seizing assets without ever showing evidence of wrongdoing. And, you know, in your book, Mike German, policing white supremacy, as you talk about FBI and law enforcement not collecting data around far-right extremist violence using their resources to target left-wing political organizations. It's intensifying now, but it's been going on, even though the State Department and other

government's own reports say white nationalists are the greatest threats, commit the vast majority of political violence in this country. And the last minute we have, can you predict where this? is all going now? I think what we're going to see is a serious escalation of Trump's campaign of retribution against his perceived political enemies. So we've already seen organizations like the Southern Poverty Law Center, which investigates and publishes information about far-right extremists, be charged with

criminal offenses. We've seen 15 anti-ice agents. anti-ice protesters in Minneapolis charged with very serious terrorism-related crimes. And these, this effort to designate left-wing groups as foreign terrorists, again, using these broad terms like Antifa, will allow them to go after people who are not committing violence, but who are simply engaging in the political process. Mike German, we want to thank you for being with us, former FBI special agents specializing in domestic terrorism and covert operations, his latest book, policing, white supremacy, the enemy within. And Ken Clippenstein, independent investigative journalist based in Madison, Wisconsin, we will link to your substact newsletter.

This is Democracy Now, Democracy Now.org. I'm Amy Goodman with Juan Gonzalez. Hollywood's blockbuster adaptation of the ancient Greek poem, The Odyssey, premieres on movie screens around the world today amidst growing calls for a boycott. Human rights campaigners are criticizing director Christopher Nolan over his decision to film a part of the film in Western Sahara, a vast territory in northwestern Africa that Morocco has occupied for the past half century. This is a trailer for The Odyssey. It features scenes that are believed to have been filmed in the Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara. Don't you remember? The trailer, a part of it for The Odyssey. Sahrawi campaigners and filmmakers are demanding a boycott.

Earlier this month, they held a protest during the London premiere of the Odyssey. Free, Free Sahara! For more, we're not. We're joined by two guests, Maria Carillon, former Democracy Now producer. She lives in Madrid, Spain. She's executive director of Fisahara, the Sahara International Film Festival. And Abidine Mohamed Hamudi, filmmaker from Western Sahara, born and raised in the Sahrawi refugee camps in Tinduf, Algeria. He's part of Sahrawi voice, a collective of Saharawi filmmakers and journalists.

Maria, let's begin with you. if you can talk about how you found out about the making where part of the film was made and your efforts to reach out to Christopher Nolan. Yes, we found out exactly one year ago. Some activists from Dachla, which is in southern Western Sahara, alerted us to the fact that Christopher Nolan and his team were in Dachla in the white dune filming part of the movie. As a result, we asked them to leave.

We asked Universal to stop the shoot and Nolan to leave with his team. However, instead of leaving, Nolan, well, he was first photographed with the Moroccan Minister of Culture, Merti Ben Saeed. Then the Moroccan Minister of Culture went on to say that this shoot was going to be just what Morocco needed in order to promote Dachla as a filming. destination, in addition to it being a tourist destination. Now, this occupying force is practicing cultural genocide against the Sahara'i people, ethnic cleansing, especially in Dachla, where people are being routinely ousted from their homeland. And it's the site of mega projects, big port resorts, wind farms, agriculture, roads.

And so by staying silent for one year and then using. This footage, Nolan, has basically become an accomplice to Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara. The real odyssey being that of the Saharawe people who, for 50 years, have tried to liberate their homeland. They are separated by a wall, as you've covered extensively in democracy now. The people in Western Sahara are repressed, arbitrarily arrested, imprisoned, imprisoned, there's actually a Saharawi prisoner now, political prisoner on hunger strike facing death. And the only thing he wants is to be released as the United Nations has called for him to be along with all of the other political prisoners from the Gadami Zee protest camp. And his name is Namas Fari, and he is fighting for self-determination in Moroccan prison.

So what we've done is first we call for them to leave, then for them not to edit the scenes into the film. And now that the film has been released and clearly they have used these stolen images from Dachla. We're calling on a campaign by the public not to go see the film. And instead, watch films about Western Sahara and become aware that it's an occupied territory, also supported by the Trump administration. And I'd like to ask Aviddin Mohamed, how did Donald Trump's President Trump's 2020 decision to recognize Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara as part of the Abraham Accords paved the way for universal pictures and Christopher Nolan to do this filming in Western Sahara?

I mean, to be honest, we were very surprised because the United States was respected widely and especially at the United Nations for their stance of respecting international law. And the sudden decision really surprised all of us. And I think that, as you have mentioned, it has opened the door to all these international companies because if the government that claims to be a reference worldwide for respecting human rights, for respecting democracy,

for defending it, for being the land where the people came to seek freedom, stands and steps over international law and does such a thing, I think that it opens the door to all these people to take Western Sahara as if it is a territory where they can decide to who it belongs, to who to give it to, and where they can decide whether to go filming it or not, while the Sahrawis are denied of all of the rights,

and as known, international law recognizes the right of the Sahara people to be the only ones to decide on Western Sahara. But, Dean, we're speaking to you in Tinduff in Algeria, in the refugee camps there, where the Fisahara Film Festival is held, tens of thousands of Sahrawis there. Can you go home? Could you go, for example, to Dachla? Absolutely not. Actually, my parents were born in Dachla. They always tell me all about how they grew up in Western Sahara, in Dachla specifically.

and to think that Christopher Nolan, backed by Universal Pictures and his own production company, can just go there and film and be complicit in the occupation of my homeland and then me being denied of going there, my parents being denied, and the actual Sahara is who live under occupation

going through all these repression. It is such a metaphor of how the Western world uses human rights, democracy narratives whenever they want and then ignore it in other parts of the world. You know, we covered East Timor for years, the same year. It was occupied by Indonesia. It would ultimately win its freedom with a referendum and they become one, came one of the newest nations of the world, the Democratic Republic of East Timor. They've always had great affinity with the people of the Western Sahara, occupied Western Sahara. What are you calling for,

Muhammad? What are the people of the refugee camps? What are the Sahara are we calling for? What we're calling for is very simple, and I think it's very easy to implement, is to respect international law, respect to UN resolutions, give the Sahara people the right to self-determinations. We are the legal owners of Western Sahara, of the territory of Western Sahara. And obviously, as you mentioned, Istymour is a great example of people struggling to gain their freedom, and what we are demanding, and we will keep struggling for, is to gain our right to self-determination and independence, and we will use it.

film, in my case, and all the other tools available to the Sahara people, whether it's in the refugee camps or in the occupied territories, to keep struggling. And we are aware of the difficulty of all this process. We have given sacrifices and we're willing to give everything in our hands to gain our freedom. And last 10 seconds, if you were in Western Sahara occupied and you were filming, can you talk about what would happen? If I was, first of all, I'll be denied to Interwisan Sahara. I was there and I was filming, the first thing is I'll be repressed by the police taken to jail,

just like Nama Lass Fari, who Maria has mentioned and many other Saharais, from giving their lives to defend the society. Mohamed Hamoudi, we want to thank you for being with us, filmmaker from Western Sahara, part of Sahara, we voice a collective Sahrawi filmmakers and journalists, and Maria Carillon, executive director of Fisarra, the Sahara International Film Festival. You can go to Democracy now to see our documentary four days in Western Sahara, Africa, America's last colony, including an interview with the Saharaway activist, Nahasfar, who's been on hunger strike since early June.

That does it for our show. I'll be in Kansas City this weekend for the screening of Steal the Story, please. I'm Amy Goodman with Juan Gonzalez.