Steal This Story, Please! (2025) Movie Script

1
(people chattering)
(people chattering)
[AMY] He's a representative
of the Trump administration.
[PRODUCER] He's the senior adviser.
[PRODUCER] Yeah, he's the top guy.
[AMY] Okay, let's go.
(people chattering)
[AMY] Hi.
I'm Amy Goodman
from "Democracy Now!"
[AMY] Can you tell me-
[WELLS]
I gotta go to another meeting.
[AMY] Can you tell us what you think
about President Trump saying
climate change is a hoax?
[AMY] You can answer the question.
[AMY] Are you not
speaking to the press here?
[WELLS] Excuse me.
I'm sorry. I'm running late
for a meeting, thanks.
[AMY] Right, but you weren't running lat
like when you're
just standing there, so.
[AMY] Can you talk about
President Trump's
saying that climate
change is a Chinese hoax?
(gentle orchestral music)
[AMY] Are you not talking to
the press while you're here?
(gentle orchestral
music continues)
[AMY] Can you talk
about why the US is here
since President Trump
is saying
he's pulling the US out
of the Paris Climate Accord?
(gentle orchestral
music continues)
Can you talk about
why you are pushing coal?
[AMY] No answer on any issue?
[AMY] Can you explain why the
US joined with Saudi Arabia
in watering down
language around the UN report?
(gentle orchestral
music continues)
[AMY] Wells Griffith,
can you explain
why you won't answer
any questions on the issue
of climate change
or why the US is here?
[WELLS] If you would like
to set up an interview,
we could do that.
[WELLS] But you're
actually harassing me.
[AMY] A reporter asking you
a question, Sir, is not harassment.
[AMY] Why not answer
a few simple questions?
[WELLS] We can set something up,
if you would give me
your contact information.
[AMY] So you're saying
you will do an interview.
[WELLS] I'm saying I will connect
you with our press folks
and, excuse me.
[AMY] Why don't
you give me your card
and we'll set something up.
(gentle orchestral
music continues)
[AMY] Oh, thank you. Okay.
You want...
I thought you wanna give
me your contact information?
[AMY] Hi.
Can you say who you are?
[ASSISTANT] Email at-
[AMY] I'll take it.
Let me take the card.
[ASSISTANT] ClimateCon-
[AMY] You're not going
to give me the card?
He said someone
would give me a card.
Sir.
Well, we're standing in front
of the United States of
America Delegation Office.
We followed Wells Griffith,
who is the representative
of the Trump administration.
Wait I have to take my breath.
(gentle orchestral
music continues)
(audience applauding)
[REGIS] I went to
the annual Christmas party.
[KELLY] Yes, tell me.
On my right was Amy Goodman,
and so I didn't, I was
unfamiliar with the name.
"What do you do, Amy?"
She says,
"Well I have a show on PBS."
Okay.
"We cover global events."
Oh my gosh.
Global news.
No wonder we haven't seen it.
(audience laughing)
Well now, excuse
me, but what am I going
to have in common with someone
who covers global news?
-What is global news?
-The beautiful baby contest?
That ain't gonna do it!
You realize then-
-Your lack of contribution
-What you are doing!
You're doing-
Nothing!
(audience laughing)
(upbeat rock music)
With us, Amy Goodman.
She's the host of
the "Democracy Now!"
A daily independent news program.
Goodman has received the
Robert F Kennedy
Journalism Award and the
Overseas Press Club Award.
[AMY] What do you
say to those who say
that you are a war criminal
for the bombing of Iraq?
I've never heard anybody
ever say that before!
[AMY] Don't push me.
I'm a journalist here.
You're an activist
and a journalist
who say you can do both.
Her program is
the only platform
that has given us a voice.
Now, you're
a communist, right?
(audience laughing)
You're as
mainstream as anybody.
What do
you mean by independent?
Independent in
contrast to what?
How can you use my
name and anti-immigrant
in the same breath?
Radical, leftist,TV program
called "Democracy Now!"
[COP] I'm not asking you again.
That way or you get arrested.
[AMY] From Ground Zero.
From East Timor.
As we deplane in Haiti.
In Georgia's death row prison.
We're in
occupied Western Sahara.
We've walked
across the border.
We're in
the middle of Trump Tower.
This is "Democracy Now!"
The War and Peace Report.
I'm Amy Goodman.
Okay, a shipment of US arms.
Roll forward.
Forward, forward.
And we're going
to change this one.
Death toll in Israel, and
at least, and 1,000 killed.
[AMY] Okay, the majority
of Palestinian deaths.
I don't know if
you can fix that, Mike.
Keep going.
Meanwhile the scale
of atrocities
committed against civilians
is coming to light.
Over 100 bodies were
found at the Be'eri kibbutz
near Israel's
separation barrier with Gaza.
Yeah, no!
Kibbutzim is the plural.
[AMY] Can you go to the headline,
President Biden did not refer
to slain Pales...
To, forward, forward, forward.
[CREW] We're live in five,
four, three, two, one.
(upbeat music)
I'm Amy Goodman.
The death toll in
Israel and Palestine
has soared to over 2,200
with at least 1,200 Israelis
and 1,000 Palestinians killed
since Hamas' surprise attack
on Southern Israel Saturday.
[NEWS ANCHOR 1] Israel has more
than 28 villages within two kilometers
of the Israel Lebanese border.
[NEWS ANCHOR 2] There are
hospitals struggling to keep up,
amid air strikes
from Israel are trying
to take out Hamas' leadership.
We have so much work to do.
[AMY] Tomorrow, I see that someone's
already booked in Tel Aviv.
Right?
[MIKE] I have to review
what's been done already, but-
Let me see.
I'm looking right now.
[AMY] I would aim to
get Sharone Lipschitz.
Her parents are in their 80s
and they are hostages.
[AMY] Major peace activists.
And then
we should try to get someone
in Gaza because they just
turned off the electricity.
[AMY] Oh, God.
Oh, my God, look at this.
(children chattering)
(Amy laughing)
She's a girl,
but she marks everywhere.
Oh, that pizza
is not for you, Zazy.
[AMY] So Zazou is
the name of the anti-Nazi,
anti-fascist youth
of occupied France.
They loved jazz and swing,
they went to
underground nightclubs
and they fought the Nazis.
And they were
called the Zazou.
Now, the problem is,
every time I say to someone,
"Her name is Zazu,"
they say, "Oh, 'Lion King!'"
I didn't know
that until after.
But I go, "Yeah, whatever."
Feminist,
Feminazi trading cards.
You don't have these.
We're thinking about it.
Female impersonation
is not going to go away.
For those of you who are
a little uncomfortable
with this, they pack 'em in.
[AMY] I was a big fan
of the Phil Donahue
show, from college on.
[PHIL] I have here a
collection of some of your quotes.
"If people screw me,
I screw back in spades."
Phil, is there
something wrong with that?
[AMY] Some of it was
the sensational stuff,
but a lot of
it were deep issues.
(audience applauding)
And it was the best
I saw on commercial media.
I was on this
program in 1981.
Phil did the first
program about AIDS
anywhere in the world.
I'm on it 10 years later
and I'm still
saying the same thing!
(audience applauding)
[PHIL] I suppose
we shouldn't be surprised
that prejudice does not
go away on the occasion
of one Donahue show, however
powerful may be my platform.
(gentle music)
[AMY] When I came back
from college, I decided,
"I want to work for
the Phil Donahue show.
I will be a producer for
"The Phil Donahue Show"
I didn't know who to write
to tell them
I would be their producer.
So for two
weeks I would handwrite,
handwrite as fast as I could,
the names of
every person listed
at the end of the show.
And I mailed them
my extremely thin resume.
And then
I just waited to hear.
(audience applauding)
(upbeat music)
Finally, "The Phil Donahue Show" called.
And they said, "Can
you come in tomorrow morning?"
"Absolutely."
And they said, "Great,
because we're doing a show
on the unemployed
and we'd like you to be
in the audience."
(audience applauding)
So, here's the point.
[AMY] I was devastated,
but really I am grateful
to Phil Donahue
because instead I found my way
to independent
media and WBAI radio.
It's bike week, coming up
next on the WBAI morning show.
And I began working
with my beloved
colleague Bernard White.
My name is Bernard White.
I'm Amy Goodman.
[BERNARD] And until next time.
Stay strong and
pay close attention.
We have a great time.
Me and Bernard hang,
we talk, we shoot the beep.
(gentle orchestral music)
[DAVE]
WBAI was a special place.
And Amy made it feel like home.
She was all about
inviting people in,
and she gave
permission to experiment
and try to create
something beautiful,
something
meaningful, something true.
[DAVE] The first
interviews I ever did
were with Amy's
pushing and encouragement.
She was giving me
advice all the way along,
teaching me my craft.
[PRISON GUARD]
Wake Up Call!
Let's go, get up.
Out of bed, let's go!
[DAVE] I was interviewing
African American men
at the Louisiana
State Penitentiary in Angola.
There was this
guy, Moreese Bickham,
and he shouldn't
have been in prison.
[MOREESE BICKHAM]
My number's 75251.
And I'm 72 years old.
I've been in
prison ever since 1958.
[DAVE]
Myself and an attorney,
we did everything
we could to get him out.
And nothing worked.
(gentle orchestral music)
[WBAI ANNOUNCER]
This is "Wake Up Call"
with hosts
Amy Goodman and Bernard White.
[DAVE] Who was
I going to go to but Amy?
I knew that she was
going to get it,
wrap her arms
around it, and be unrelenting
until the job was done.
So we went on "The Morning
Show" with Amy and Bernard
over and over and over again
to try and get
Moreese Bickham out.
[AMY] In the summer of 1958,
two white sheriff's
deputies in the deep South
in Louisiana came to
his home in the middle
of the night and
they shot Moreese Bickham
and he loaded
his rifle, and he shot back.
People who witnessed
what had happened
were afraid to come forward
because
he lived in Klan country.
[BERNARD]
Right now he's very ill.
He has prostate cancer.
[AMY] He could get out,
but he needs the approval
of the Louisiana Governor.
And his number if
people are interested
in letting him
know how you feel is 225-
The governor was
getting so many phone calls
that they had to
change his phone number.
(all chattering)
[DAVE] And finally the governor
commuted his sentence.
Moreese, I'm Amy Goodman.
How are you?
Oh my god.
It's a great, great pleasure!
[MOREESE]
Right on me!
[DAVE] Moreese knew it was
because of Amy and Bernard
that he had been freed.
[AMY] Look who's here!
(clapping)
[DAVE]
We went right up to New York
and into the studio together.
[MOREESE]
-Oh yeah.
[AMY]
And as you speak Moreese,
I'm thinking, you've
been in jail at Angola Prison
for 38 years.
You've been in jail
for my entire lifetime.
[BERNARD] You know, Moreese,
if you put on those headphones
I got something
that you might like.
[AMY] Oh yeah, we did
promise you something
that day in Mississippi,
when you got out of Angola.
I wish I knew how
it would feel to be free
I wish I could break
all the chains holding me
[DAVE]
I think of radio as a medium
of connection and love.
That's the essence of Amy.
She believes that journalism
put to its highest use
can be the greatest force for
good that the world has seen.
(light piano music)
[AMY]
1988, 1991, 1987, 1992.
A little deck of cards.
November 12th, 1991, the day
of the massacre in Timor.
[DIRECTOR]
(whispers under breath)
Oh god.
(dramatic orchestral music)
[AMY] I went to East Timor for
WBAI along with my colleague,
journalist Allan Nairn.
He was doing
a piece for "The New Yorker."
And we learned
about the horror
that had been
going on for years.
(dramatic orchestral music)
(screaming)
(distant gunshots)
(screaming)
[AMY] Indonesia invaded East Timor,
December 7th, 1975,
and for the next 17 years,
they systematically killed
a third of the population.
(gun firing)
(dramatic orchestral
music continues)
90% of the weapons used
were from the United States.
We had armed, financed and
trained the Indonesian army.
(dramatic orchestral
music continues)
Most Americans
never heard of this.
(person
speaking foreign language)
Pure hell on earth.
(dramatic orchestral
music continues)
-[ALLEN] Is that the police?
-[AMY] Yeah
[AMY] That morning,
Allan and I went
to the main
catholic church in Dili.
Two weeks before,
the Indonesian military
had surrounded the church
and killed a young man
named Sebastian Gomez.
(people singing)
On the two-week
anniversary of the killing,
there were so many
people there that the priest
had to give communion
outside under the trees.
(people singing)
(dramatic orchestral music)
After the mass, thousands
marched to the cemetery,
where they would
honor the dead.
(all chattering)
More and more people joined
from workplaces, from homes.
(all chattering)
Allan and I were in the middle
of the crowd
interviewing people.
(dramatic orchestral
music continues)
And then we saw
hundreds of Indonesian
soldiers marching up,
their US M16s at the ready.
We walked to
the front of the crowd.
We wanted to make clear
that journalists were here.
I held the microphone
up like a flag.
Allan put
the camera above his head.
The soldiers marched up.
Without any
warning, they swept past us
and opened fire on the crowd.
(guns firing)
(siren wailing)
The first to die was
a little boy behind us.
He exploded from the gunfire,
and they just
kept on shooting.
(siren wailing)
(guns firing)
There was another journalist
there filming as people ran.
He buried his video
tapes in a fresh grave
and would come out
under the cover of darkness
and dig them up.
(siren wailing)
A group of
soldiers surrounded us.
They beat me to the ground.
Allan threw himself
on top of me to protect me.
And they used their US M16s
like baseball bats,
and they slammed
them against his skull.
They put
the guns to our heads.
Western reporters witnessing
this was a problem for them.
They killed more than
270 Timorese on that day.
This is a day I'll
never forget for the
rest of my life.
I live with every single day.
If we could somehow report
it to the outside world,
maybe that would be
a way for the killing to stop.
[WBAI REPORTER] In the
news tonight, protestors on East Timor
are shot and killed by
Indonesian military forces.
WBAI news editor Amy Goodman
and journalist Allan Nairn
who are on assignment in
East Timor, are also injured
by Indonesian security forces.
[AMY]
[ALLAN] There were some people
still standing up trying
to get away and
the soldiers were shooting
at their backs and those
people were falling as well.
It was massive carnage.
[BBC REPORTER] Incidents in
Dili was witnessed
by two American journalists-
[CBC REPORTER]
This is CBC radio
[REPORTER] The massacre of
100 unarmed Timorese-
[CBS REPORTER] Suddenly,
and without provocation,
say Western reporters, the
street became a killing field.
A killing ground
in a remote area of
the Far East is beginning,
just beginning to
get the world's attention.
That is because
Western reporters
were inside Indonesia
when soldiers opened fire
on a group of civilians.
We have a report tonight
about a very small corner
of the world to
which no one pays
very much attention,
even though the government
and American oil companies
have been involved there
for a long time.
[AMY]
The massacre was horrific.
It would change us forever,
and it taught
me how critical it was
that we expose
what is done in our name.
(dramatic orchestral music)
[AMY] US administrations,
one after another,
Democrat and Republican,
had ensured the misery
and annihilation of a people.
Yet there was not one mention
of East Timor
on the ABC, NBC, CBS
evening news
for 17 years,
from the day after
Indonesia invaded East Timor
to the day of the massacre.
Free East Timor!
Free East Timor!
[AMY] After the massacre,
one congress member said,
"More people have
called me on the issue
of East Timor than
any foreign policy issue."
[ABC REPORTER] Following
the November massacre,
the House voted to cut
off all military assistance.
It will be the first American
sanction against Indonesia
in all of the 17 years
since it occupied East Timor.
(all chattering)
[MIKE]
Good morning, everyone.
Nice to be
here on a quiet day.
The President of the United
States and his lovely bride,
celebrating their 21st
wedding anniversary today.
That's the big
news at the White House.
[AMY] Will President Clinton
push for the sale of F-16s
to Indonesia when
Congress returns in January?
[AMY] Jose Ramos-Horta
says it's like selling weapons
to Saddam Hussein.
Well, that's not the view of
the United States government.
We make arms
transfers of that nature
when they are in the interest
of the United States.
[AMY] But you are supporting
the military dictatorship
by doing it.
Well, you are also advancing
US strategic interests
in the region.
Chuck.
[AMY] Will you invite
Jose Ramos-Horta-
[JUAN] My first
impressions of Amy were
at press
conferences, she always tended
to ask the most
provocative questions
to whoever was conducting
the press conference.
[AMY] Back to the issue
of Timor for a second.
President Clinton is
not only going to push
for the F-16s.
[JUAN]
In the commercial media,
it is accepted that the
tougher you are on questions,
the less access you will have.
[AMY] And that was cut
off after the massacre
of November 1991 which
I witnessed and survived.
Why is President Clinton
considering restoring
that military training aid?
I remember thinking,
"Man, she doesn't
care what anybody thinks.
She's going to ask whatever
she feels is necessary."
(reporters laughing)
(dramatic orchestral music)
(dramatic orchestral
music continues)
(knuckles rapping)
Hello Daniel,
how are you?
Good.
-Very nice to meet you.
-You too!
[AMY] I'm very nervous
about this interview.
You're nervous?
[AMY] I was trying to
prepare all night
reading everything I could.
For my Bar Mitzvah,
you have to choose a hero
and a role model.
And I chose you as my hero.
And my role
model is Billy Crystal.
[AMY] Billy Crystal.
Very interesting.
Should I start
with the questions?
[AMY]
Sure.
All right.
How would
you describe your personal
approach to journalism?
[AMY]
That's a very good question.
I actually was first inspired
by my younger brother, David.
He started a press
called Dave's Press,
this family
newspaper, and I was the one
who made sure that everyone
paid their penny subscription.
One day he said, "On
this date, Mom spanked Amy."
And so my mother said,
"No, you can't do anything
personal in this paper.
No dirty laundry."
David cried censorship.
And he really cried because
he was eight years old.
And he said,
"It's my right to do this."
(gentle orchestral music)
(gentle orchestral
music continues)
[AMY]
The Letters to the Editor
were where the whole
family fought about issues.
Then it was
the war in Vietnam.
My grandfather
would write and say,
"Dear Duvidle,
you know how much I love you,
but I don't agree
with your views on war."
And David would write back,
"From the Editor, Grandpa,
it means so much to me
that you were
my first subscriber,
but your views
on war are stupid."
And then my
uncle would write in,
"Shlemi,
how could you criticize
your beautiful grandson?"
And then my great
aunt would write in and say...
So that's how it went.
But that was the way
that we had conversations
about the big
issues of the day.
It came from
my Jewish education
that you ask questions.
And you take
nothing for granted.
And the way
you deal with the world
is with intense
curiosity and not being afraid
to stand by your principles.
(gentle orchestral music)
I was active in my
high school newspaper.
Then we were holding
the principal accountable.
I'd write editorials about him
and what the policy should be,
and I saw
they really paid attention.
And then we just went onto
a bigger stage after that.
(upbeat music)
From Pacifica Radio,
this is "Democracy Now!"
Welcome to the maiden
voyage of "Democracy Now!"
Greetings to our audiences in
California, Texas, New York,
Pennsylvania, Washington DC,
Washington State, Kansas City.
"Democracy Now!" began on
nine radio stations in 1996.
We were a daily
morning show providing a forum
to challenge those in power
and to bring out
the voices of people
who are not usually heard.
[AMY] Juan Gonzalez
is a columnist
with the "Daily News"
in New York.
He is also my co-host here.
The "Village Voice" calls
him "the most radical person
in the above-it-all world
of New York daily journalism."
[JUAN]
The human rights abuses
that occur,
especially in the maquiladoras
and in Tijuana
and yet Vicente Fox-
[Juan]
When we first started
as a little radio
show, my colleagues
in the commercial media
would constantly tell me,
"What are you doing working
with that little
radical radio station
that nobody
listens to," you know,
and "why are you wasting
your time with that?"
And I would say, "Listen, the
audience for 'Democracy Now!'
is completely
different than the readership
of the "New York Daily News."
You have no idea
who we are reaching!"
[JUAN] I always saw my role
in journalism as helping
to shape
a different narrative.
I knew from the beginning,
I can only see
the world with my eyes.
Up until this time it wasn't
a real radical movement.
It was a movement
of the mouth.
And now
there's a real movement
and a sense of people
committed to social change.
(gentle orchestral music)
I was one of
the founding members
of the Young Lords
in New York City.
(gentle orchestral
music continues)
We probably got the most
favorable news coverage
of any revolutionary
organization of
the 1960s and '70s.
But it was no accident.
We cultivated that image.
[ABC REPORTER] The Lords have
a strong sense of community,
and while they may
be regarded as a threat
to the white
establishment downtown,
their stock here in
El Barrio is rising rapidly.
[JUAN] We understood
the importance of being able
to package
our message and our stories
for the commercial
and corporate media,
and we learned that if
you don't fashion
your own narrative,
others will do it for you.
[GUEST CALLER] I don't hear the
business community complaining
about the fact that they have
inexpensive labor.
[JUAN] The key thing
about "Democracy Now!"
is that we just
let people talk.
[GUEST CALLER] Members of the local
police department admitted.
[JUAN]
The more you hear people talk,
you get a better
sense of what they stand for,
and you can make
up your mind yourself.
[GUEST CALLER]
It's an opportunityto point fingers
and to blame people who are
different, who look different,
who act different.
[JEREMY] This show was totally
swimming against the current.
At a moment when
you had right-wing Republicans
and far-right evangelical
Christians coming together
to try to, essentially,
take over the United States.
Early in the week
we talked about whether
or not it was time to
rethink this whole business
of women in the military.
[ANNOUNCER] Radio free D.C.,
with G. Gordon Liddy.
He's on board
the conservative
freight train.
[RADIO HOST]
It's the liberal
sissy booger-eating
nose-pickers.
Welcome to
the Rush Limbaugh program,
a program exclusively designed
for rich conservatives
and right-minded Republicans.
[JUAN] When Rush Limbaugh
was at his height,
the Republican Party
National Committee, every day,
would send a list
of its key talking points
to Rush Limbaugh,
and then Rush
would basically
parrot those talking points.
(upbeat music)
It was a complete
merger of the commentators
with the political parties.
(upbeat music)
[JEREMY]
This is happening at a time
when powerful Democrats
and powerful
Republicans are allowing fewer
and fewer corporations
to own more and more means
of communicating
over the public airwaves.
(dramatic orchestral music)
[JUAN]
The Telecommunications Act
of 1996
created
the giant conglomerates,
the Viacom's and the Fox
News's and the Time Warners,
with a responsibility
to their shareholders
and to their investors
to deliver profit.
And not only
to deliver profit,
but its maximum profit.
(dramatic orchestral music)
That laid the basis
for the privatization
of the internet, where
this incredible invention,
completely financed
by the American people,
has been given
away to the private market.
[C-SPAN HOST] Amy Goodman is
the host of "Democracy Now!"
Thanks for being with us.
It's great to be with you.
An unprecedented
wave of consolidation.
How is news affected
by this corporate ownership?
Oh, in all sorts of ways.
You have really
a homogenization
of a message, of an agenda.
We see towing
a corporate line,
we see the lack of
criticism, for example,
of corporations, in fact.
[JEREMY] In the midst
of this unprecedented
media consolidation,
you have
"Democracy Now!" starting up,
the moral bizarro world
of what these very powerful
right wing forces were doing.
From Pacifica Radio,
this is "Democracy Now!"
[JEREMY] This is a
independent, non-corporate,
community radio
show that depends
on begging ordinary people
for money to stay on the air.
(gentle music)
[JEREMY] In 1996,
I was living and working
at the Catholic Worker
in New York City.
We had a soup line and
then we also would give baths,
showers, haircuts to
guys who lived in the subways.
I loved doing
the morning shifts there.
We'd go down to the kitchen,
we'd be smoking cigarettes
and we'd be waiting
for Amy Goodman to start.
"Is Amy on yet?"
"What time is it?"
"When does Amy come on?"
Will you apologize
to American women
for calling
the First Lady a bitch?
[JEREMY]
On one segment.
-That's just plain false.
Amy would be confronting
an American politician.
And then she's covering
indigenous rights' protests
in Mexico.
And then she's
interviewing rebels
in the mountains of Congo.
[AMY] That's our flag
of neutrality.
I didn't know
who Amy Goodman was,
but I knew there
was something incredible
about what I had heard.
And I just knew this was what
I wanted to do with my life.
I didn't have
a college degree.
I didn't have
a CV or a resume.
I would write her things
like, "if you have a dog,
I'll walk your dog.
If you have windows,
I'll wash your windows.
I'll go and get
coffee, like I'll do anything.
I just want to
be a part of this."
And eventually Amy
had to make a decision.
"Do I get a restraining
order against this guy,
or do I, you know,
give him a chance?"
The elevator opens
and a plume of smoke
just comes into the elevator
from the radio station,
and I see what I think
is Amy, and she's got a pair
of headphones on one
ear, she's carrying a stack
in both hands of newspapers.
And then she has like maybe
a half a dozen big round reel
to reel tapes that we used
to use to record audio.
And she's running
and I was like, "Amy!,"
and she sees
me and she couldn't
have looked less
excited to see me.
She says, "Oh,
right, come with me."
[AMY] It's cold here.
(printer whirring)
[JEREMY] So we go into a tiny
supply closet that has stacks
from floor to ceiling,
newspapers and tapes.
She said, "Go through
this whole stack of newspapers
from the past several
months and clip everything
about Iraq and
make a folder for her."
I was like, "Great."
And I said,
"Where's your office?"
And she said, "You're in it."
[AMY]
Where's the lead?
And can we close the door?
(chaotic music)
[Jeremy] I had imagined an
entire newsroom of people working
to create what I was
listening to every morning
because it was that good.
And then
it turns out it's just her.
Amy and three other people,
making this every single day.
That was "Democracy Now!"
(people chattering)
[ NERMEEN ]
I know, I know.
It's hard to say
but his guy
should have arrived.
-No no, it wasn't in there.
-So he's just arriving?
Wait, should we put it in.
Oh no!
My phone died,
which'll take 10 minutes.
-Here, here Amy.
-I might need, no, no, no.
I might need a computer.
A Palestinian
child screams out,
"We did nothing
wrong, we did nothing wrong"
as Israel
bombs for a third day?
This time hitting
(coughs) a school by
the UN Refugee Agency!
[ Nermeen] Very soon after
I joined "Democracy Now!,"
a few months,
if that, Amy asked,
"Would you be interested
in co-hosting the show?"
From New York,
this is "Democracy Now!"
And I thought, "Wow,
I mean, yes what an honor,
and thank you so much."
She was like,
"Okay how about tomorrow?"
And I was
like, "Uh." (laughing)
I'm Amy Goodman
joined by "Democracy Now!"
producer Nermeen Shaikh,
who will be
co-hosting with me today.
Welcome, Nermeen.
Thank you, Amy.
In Libya, rebel forces say
Moummar Gaddafi's strong-
I've never been
in front of a camera.
I've never
read a teleprompter.
Forget doing
these things live!
I felt completely terrified.
But in the breaks, she said,
"You're doing a great job,
just relax, it's just like
we're having a conversation."
He was, he was so
good in the pre-interview.
I thought, this guy's
gonna be great on the show.
The strength of
"Democracy Now!"
and also
its singularity is speaking
with people
who have no platform.
If you think
of media as a frame,
you are framing a story.
The problem
with a lot of media
is that so much is
excluded from the frame.
There's a kind of erasure.
It's as though
those people, they simply,
the people don't exist.
Right, so "Democracy Now!,"
what we do is expand
the frame so those things
that are on
its margins are allowed in.
And not only allowed
in, we center those voices.
[MUMIA]
My name is Mumia Abu-Jamal.
I'm a journalist,
a husband, a father,
a grandfather,
and an African American.
In 1981, I was a
reporter for WUHY
and president of the
Philadelphia Association
of Black Journalists.
I've been a resident on
Pennsylvania's death row
for 11 years.
[AMY] The second day
of the commentaries
of Mumia Abu-Jamal recorded
on death row in Pennsylvania.
[JEREMY] Just as I was
starting to work with her,
Amy had made a decision
to air the prison commentaries
of Mumia Abu-Jamal,
who had been
a journalist in Philadelphia,
convicted of murdering
a Philadelphia police officer,
but maintained his innocence.
[AMY]
We didn't originate the idea
to air the commentaries.
The credit for
that goes to NPR.
(gentle music)
[Mumia] Tune in to hear
my regular reports.
From death row,
this is Mumia Abu-Jamal
on your public radio station.
[AMY] But right before
they were going to air,
the Fraternal Order of Police
were meeting in Washington,
and they put
enormous pressure on NPR.
[SENATOR] The last time I checked,
we were trying to fight crime,
not subsidize it or
promote the fortunes
of convicted murderers
through taxpayer-supported
public broadcasting.
[AMY]
And that was the end of it.
It was then we thought,
"We have to pick up the baton here."
Mumia Abu-Jamal did
not talk about his own case.
He talked about what
life was like behind bars.
[MUMIA] As over a million
persons serve sentences,
many set to expire, if
at all, into the next century.
US prisons, far from
being a place of restoration,
are social sinkholes
of despair, of degradation,
of spiritual death.
As we went to air, we heard
that Jazz FM had dropped us.
[AMY]
(on radio)
Radio station WRTI in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, unilaterally
canceled "Democracy Now!"
Also affected were
11 other radio stations
across Pennsylvania, Southern
New Jersey and Delaware.
[AMY] Just hearing his voice,
why was that so dangerous?
(dramatic orchestral music)
We are alone in
the industrialized world
in executing people.
It's our job,
as journalists, to ensure
that these voices get heard.
[JEREMY]
She just wouldn't back down
and continued to
air those commentaries.
And there was a real question
of whether "Democracy Now!"
was going to be able
to continue on because
of the emerging
reputation it was getting,
that this is
a problematic entity.
That Amy is not really a
journalist, she's an activist.
[DAVID] If she believes
something, she's gonna fight for it,
and get it out to the world.
And to me that's
just straight up journalism.
It's not advocacy, it's just
a pure belief in what's good.
And fighting for that with
everything you've got.
[AMY]
This is my office.
I never really
had an office before
so I don't even
know what to say.
It's amazing
every time I walk into it!
This is my father
with a stethoscope,
and in that stethoscope is
the image of a nuclear bomb.
"Your doctor is worried."
My dad was with Physicians
for Social Responsibility.
My mom started the first
chapter of Sane Freeze,
a peace group
on Long Island.
They were a mighty duo.
This poster appeared
in all the Long
Island Railroad stations.
My dad said the hardest
part of the photo shoot
was not being able to smile.
(gentle orchestral music)
He was just a man
who deeply believed in justice
and that everyone deserved
a chance in the world.
(gentle orchestral
music continues)
In 1970, my dad was
asked to lead a task force
to integrate
the schools of Bay Shore.
(gentle orchestral
music continues)
We had a diverse
community, but segregated.
I would go with him to the
cafeterias and the auditoriums
of the local schools.
Thousands of
screaming parents.
People moved to a community
to be next to a school
and they didn't wanna change.
(gentle orchestral
music continues)
There were
death threats against
my dad and other members
of the task force,
but he just kept moving on.
And he guided this community
to a more just system.
I have a Letter to
the Editor from Dad.
"Dear Dave,
I enjoy all the publications
of Dave's Press very much.
An occasional
cartoon or humorous poem,
just two lines would
do, might be a nice addition.
Another idea would be
to include a famous quotation
at the end of an issue.
But these are
just extra ideas.
The publications
are really great.
Dr. George Goodman."
(Amy laughing)
I do remember
getting a call while you were
in detention in Indonesia,
trying to get into East Timor.
[STEVE]
That's exactly right.
It was Thanksgiving.
And so Thanksgiving
was transformed
into working the phones
and finally getting
through to you.
And I may have said
something about calling
from the State Department.
[AMY] Yes, it was in
an Indonesian military base.
We were being interrogated.
And the person said,
"Ambassador Dave is
on the phone." (laughing)
I said, "Ambassador David?
David?"
And then I took the phone
and you said, "Hi, it's me."
I remember when you were
going to go to Nigeria.
She didn't want you to go.
-Mom and Dad.
-Right.
And she said,
"Okay, if you go, I go."
And she bought tickets.
From then on, I only
called them from the airport,
and I said, "Hi,
I just want to say
I'll be back in a few weeks.
I'm just
heading off to wherever."
(birds chirping)
(tense music)
(crowd cheering)
We are going to
demand our rights peacefully,
non-violently,
and we shall win.
[AMY]
You're listening to WBAI.
This is "Wake Up Call."
I'm Amy Goodman.
We're joined in the studio
by Nigerian Ken Saro-Wiwa.
I got a call that the Nigerian
activist Ken Saro-Wiwa
was in town and
they'd like to bring him in.
I said,
"Oh my gosh I'm so sorry,
the show is booked solid."
And so we said,
"Okay, a couple of minutes."
And as Ken Saro-Wiwa talked
about what was happening
in Nigeria, the destruction
of Ogoni land
by Shell Oil,
we canceled the rest
of the guests on the show.
[KEN]
[AMY] Who is the
government now of Nigeria?
[KEN]
[AMY]
How do the oil companies,
how do Shell and
Chevron deal with you?
[KEN]
(gentle orchestral music)
[JEREMY] Amy was deeply moved
by meeting Ken Saro-Wiwa
and then
reporting on his execution.
[AMY] Ken Saro-Wiwa
and eight other activists
were hung earlier today.
Yes, I do take it personally.
I feel like a failure.
You should think
about what you want
to do with
your Shell credit card folks.
You should think if you want
that blood put
into your gas tank,
if it will
serve your car well!
Ken Saro-Wiwa
had been executed
for taking this story
abroad, trying to put pressure
on this oil giant
from the outside.
You know they care.
Just listen to
Ken Saro-Wiwa's brother
who had secret talks
with top officials at Shell.
They said, "If you call off
the international protests,
we will save
your brother's life."
I decided to go to Nigeria.
It was the summer of '98.
I had just met Jeremy.
And he said, "I want to come.
I want to be a part of it."
I said, "only if
you stop smoking."
Which he did for I think
for two days before we went.
Hey yeah
Everybody run, run, run
Hey yeah
Everybody scatter, scatter
Hey yeah
Some people lost
some bread
Hey yeah
Someone nearly die
Hey yeah
Someone just die
Hey yeah
Police dey
come, army dey come
Hey yeah
Confusion everywhere
[JEREMY]
We're going there
to do the most forbidden
thing journalists could do.
We're going to
go to the Niger Delta,
the oil epicenter of Nigeria,
to do an investigation
of the relationship
between American
and multinational oil
corporations
and a very brutal,
murderous dictatorship.
(tense music)
This was extremely
dangerous, not just for us,
but for the Nigerians
who took us there.
I had just turned
22, 23 years old.
I'd only been out of
the US once in my life.
We had to smuggle in
our recording equipment.
The whole thing was crazy,
but Amy was
totally chaotically
brilliant at the spy game.
She's a magician.
That's how I saw her.
(dramatic orchestral music)
(dramatic orchestral
music continues)
While we're on the ground,
we hear that there
has been this incident
with
the Chevron Oil Corporation.
[AMY] People were
protesting the oil leaks
that were destroying
their mangrove forests.
We learned Chevron had flown
in the Nigerian Kill'n'Go.
That's Kill and Go.
And the military
opened fire on the protesters.
They killed two,
critically wounded another,
rounded up
others and jailed them.
The survivors
told us it was Chevron
who flew the military in.
[JEREMY]
So Amy says,
"Let's just go to
Chevron headquarters."
It's like
entering a military base.
And the armed guard
comes out, "Can I help you?"
And Amy says, "Oh,
yes, we're here to see,"
and she gives
the name of this guy.
Said, "Do
you have an appointment?"
And, "No, no, we we we've
been talking to his office.
We're here to see him."
"Where are you from?"
"America."
Amy says, "America."
"Yeah, but what?
Who do you represent?"
And she says, "America."
And then she's like,
takes out her passport.
And she said, "You know,
we're here to see him.
We're from America."
And he's looking at
her and she's looking at him
and she's just as though,
it's like just as clear
as day that that's a perfect
answer to the question.
"We're from America."
And somehow the gate opens.
We end up sitting
face to face with the head
of Chevron's media
operations in Nigeria,
and Amy starts
confronting him with questions
and Amy starts
confronting him with questions
and Amy starts
confronting him with questions
and Amy starts
confronting him with questions
about these
operations, and he admits
to basically everything.
We had all the proof.
We had the people saying
they recognized
the Chevron helicopters
and we had Chevron
themselves saying proudly,
"We brought them in."
[JEREMY]
We hightailed it out of there.
We managed to
smuggle out our tapes.
We came back
to the United States,
asked for an interview with
Chevron, based in California,
and they said,
"We're not going to
waste our time on you.
You already
talked to our chief
spokesperson in Nigeria."
[AMY]
(on radio)
Drilling and killing:
Chevron and
Nigeria's oil dictatorship.
A special report, coming up.
[JEREMY]
We're about to go on air live
with this high stakes thing
where we're accusing a
powerful American corporation
of murder.
(upbeat music)
You couldn't have been
in a bigger pressure cooker.
The theme music is starting,
and Amy wasn't
even finished editing it
when it started
to play on the air.
[AMY]
(on radio)
From Pacifica Radio, this is-
[JEREMY] And it wasn't like
you have it in a computer.
It was on reel to reel tapes.
[RADIO VOICE]
Chevron, just like Shell-
[JEREMY]
She cuts the documentary
literally with a
razor blade in half,
and she puts the
first half of it on one set
of reel to reels,
knowing that she has
to read the headlines
and then immediately go
and edit the end
while we're live on the air.
[PROTESTERS]
For oil money.
[JEREMY] And we can see
the counter clicking downwards
of how many minutes are left.
And now she cuts
the second half into half
and starts playing that
so that she can edit
the end of the documentary.
And she pulled it off.
[JEREMY] And Chevron
eventually did try to go after us,
and they lost.
[DIRECTOR]
Do you have a trick
to get these kinds
of admissions on tape?
It's just showing up
and asking the questions.
No one had
bothered to ask him.
Tricks is an interesting word.
One thing that I just
have seen Amy do over
and over again-
[AMY] Mr. Mayor,
we all packed in there
to ask you questions.
It's okay, I'm from New York.
[JEREMY] If she has
zeroed in on a target,
she always finds a way
to ask the questions
no one else will ask.
Whether its powerful
corporate people
or the president
of the United States.
(upbeat music)
[AMY]
(on radio)
$25 or $30 gets you the DVD
of our Sunday night event
as we talk about independent
media in a time of elections.
It's Election Day 2000.
This is the presidential
race between George W. Bush
and Al Gore.
We got a call.
I thought they said,
"the White Horse calling."
That's a historic
bar in Greenwich Village
where Dylan Thomas
drank himself to death.
And they said, "The President
would like to speak to you."
I said,
"the President of what?"
And they said, "The President
of the United States."
"Oh, the White House,
not the White Horse!"
So we go
running into master control
and it's an alternative
Latino music show.
Gonzalo Aburto
is at the controls.
You hear salsa music loud,
and underneath
it all President Clinton
is saying, "Hello, hello.
Is anyone there?"
-Mr. President, are you there?
-I am.
[PRESIDENT CLINTON]
Can you hear me?
[AMY]
Yes, we can.
You're calling radio
stations to tell people
to get out and vote.
What do you say to people
who feel that the two parties
are bought by corporations
and that their vote
doesn't make a difference?
[PRESIDENT CLINTON]
That there's nota shred of evidence
to support that.
That's what I would say.
It's true that both parties
have wealthy supporters.
[AMY] It was very interesting
talking to the leader
of the free world.
President Clinton,
Amnesty International
has described what
the Israeli forces
are now doing in
the occupied territories is-
[PRESIDENT CLINTON]
Listen, I can't do
a whole press conference here.
It's election day and
I've got a lot of people
and places to call.
[AMY] Well I guess
these are the questions
that are very
important to our listeners.
[PRESIDENT CLINTON]
Now, let me just tell you,
on the Israeli-Palestinian thing,
the only
answer is an agreement
that covers all the issues
that the Palestinians
feel aggrieved by,
that guarantees the Israeli's
security and acceptance
within the region, and
is a just and lasting peace.
He was animated,
he was angry, he was forceful,
and he was
staying on the phone.
Many people say
that you've been responsible
for taking the
Democratic Party to the right.
[PRESIDENT CLINTON] What is the
measure of taking the Democratic Party
to the right?
That we cut
the welfare rolls in half?
That we have
the lowest African-American,
the lowest Latino unemployment
rate in the history.
-[AMY] Some people-
-Now let me just finish.
-[AMY] Let me just say
- Let me, now wait a minute.
You started this and
every question you've asked
has been
hostile and combative.
So you listen to my answer.
Will you do that?
[AMY]
They've been critical-
[PRESDIENT CLINTON]
Now, now you just listen to me.
You have asked questions
in a hostile, combative,
and even disrespectful tone
and you have never been able
to combat
the facts I have given you.
People can say
whatever they want to.
Those are the facts.
[AMY] What people say is
that you pushed through NAFTA,
that we have the highest
population of prisoners
in the industrialized
world, that more people
are on death row in this
country than anywhere else
and that people are-
[PRESIDENT CLINTON]
Well, all right.
I disagree.
I think NAFTA has
been good for America.
Now, I've talked
to you a long time,
-It's Election Day.
-[AMY] We appreciate that.
There are a lot of
other people in America
and I've got to go.
[AMY] Thank you for spending
the time, President Clinton.
[PRESIDENT CLINTON]
Thank you!
-Goodbye.
-Goodbye.
[GONZALO] Hasta la vista,
President Clinton.
[AMY] I go into my office
and I get a furious call.
"You broke all
the ground rules."
And they were weighing whether
to ban me from
the White House.
I said, "what are
you talking about?
He called me!
I didn't call him."
"We told
you he had a few minutes.
You kept him on the phone
for more than half an hour."
I said, "He's
the leader of the free world.
He could hang
up if he wanted to.
Did no one ask questions
outside getting out the vote?"
And they said, "No one did."
(gentle orchestral music)
[AMY] My mother's father
was an Orthodox Rabbi.
But he would
accept all questioning,
fundamental questioning.
We would
argue about everything.
I would walk
with my grandfather
through
the streets of Brooklyn
and we would go
into shuls, synagogues.
And on the first floor
the men would be praying,
and on the second floor
the women would be praying.
I'd say, "Zadie, I'm
going to pray next to you."
And he would
say, "No you are not.
You are going to go upstairs."
I'd say, "No.
There's no reason to
separate men and women."
He said, "Don't be ridiculous.
The men are very observant
and filled with prayer,
and the women, they gossip."
And so I'd have to
go to the second floor
and I'd be with the women,
they would be
(speaking Hebrew).
The women.
And we would
look down at the men
and they would be slapping
each other on the back.
And I would say, "Yeah, who
are the observant ones Zadie,
and who are the ones
that are filled with prayer?
I think I know
why you don't want us
to see what's
going on down there."
(train clattering)
(train clattering)
Hi, it's Amy.
Is grandmamma there?
I forgot to tell
her I was coming.
I don't like to give
her too much advance warning
because from the minute I tell
her she thinks I'm late.
She was a refugee
from Russia and Poland
and she came over
by boat through Ellis Island
with her husband,
my grandfather.
She is a woman
of three centuries.
(knuckles rapping)
She doesn't like
it when my hair is messy.
-Bonjour!
-Hello!
[AMY] I brought some
friends from New York City.
[AMY] Our friends here,
we're finding it very difficult
to believe how old you're
going to be, 106 years old.
Can you hear me?
No.
Maybe we could
try a little experiment.
Can you hear me fine?
[AMY]
Well, more or less?
Yes.
(Amy laughs)
[SONIA]
[AMY] There was a time in
my grandmother's life,
they had no money.
And on the side as
a Rebbetzin, a rabbi's wife,
she got
a beautician's license.
[SONIA]
Yeah, that's right.
This is the best gift
I could give to my grandmother
on a Sunday
afternoon is to comb my hair.
I always try to
do it just in her honor
at least once a week.
Do you know
who George Bush is?
(Amy laughs)
Can you hear me better now?
Yes.
(Amy laughing)
Oh well, so
much for technology.
(door clicking)
(door clicking)
(traffic humming)
[JUAN] When we set up at
Downtown Community Television,
we started with
this little cubby hole up
on the top floor.
Literally,
it was a cubby hole.
[JEREMY] We were becoming
more popular as a radio show
and we started
flirting with the idea
of doing
television journalism.
What if people
looked in at something?
Like in a frame of a radio?
[JEREMY] And Amy was stuck
in this zone at the beginning
of it being a TV show
that's about a radio show.
I think one person
with a handheld
would be more interesting.
[AMY] Radio was
the heart of what we did.
I said, "As long as
the TV cameras that you set up
at Downtown
Community Television don't get
in the way of the sound."
[AMY]
(on radio) How do you,
as a woman political activist,
deal with
the voice of the government?
[RADIO GUEST] The voice of
the government or the voice
of the citizens.
[AMY] I'm going to interrupt
this taped conversation.
Just a little
while ago, we heard
a loud sonic boom-like
crash, and we heard sirens.
Well, it appears
that planes crashed
into the upper floors
of both World Trade Center
towers, minutes apart.
We're in Chinatown.
We're not far from the
World Trade Center buildings.
This is all unfolding as
this broadcast takes place.
Clouds of smoke engulfing
the World Trade Center.
[JUAN] I was actually
there the day of the attack,
covering it for the newspaper
as well as for
"Democracy Now!"
All of lower Manhattan
turned dark in the middle
of the cloudless, sunny day.
(dramatic orchestral music)
[AMY]
(on radio) You are
listening to Ground Zero,
The War and Peace Report.
We're broadcasting
just blocks from what used
to be the towers of
the World Trade Center.
This weekend, not much
luck with finding anyone alive
in the rubble.
We spent last week
since the attacks here
because we were afraid
we would not be able to come
in to broadcast if
we ever left the site.
We are in the evacuation zone.
[JUAN] That whole area was
off limits after the attack.
But Amy managed to
keep producing the show.
(clearing throat)
Military- (coughing)
There's a lot of smoke
around here. (coughing)
[JUAN] There were so
many toxic chemicals
in those buildings,
all pulverized and burning
at Ground Zero for months.
[PRESIDENT GW BUSH]
This nation stands with the good people
of New York City
and New Jersey,
It was George Bush
who personally
ordered the reopening
of the financial district
within a week of the attacks,
sending hundreds of thousands
of people back to work,
into that toxic area.
(dramatic orchestral music)
[NYSE SPEAKER] Ladies and
gentlemen, our heroes
will now open the marketplace.
(bell ringing)
(dramatic orchestral
music continues)
[JUAN]
There was a concerted effort
of the business community,
the national
leaders and the local leaders
to quell the idea that there
were problems at Ground Zero.
The air quality is
safe and acceptable.
Everything we're getting back
from the sampling
that we're doing
is below background levels.
[JUAN] And the press
bought the official narrative.
[NEWS ANCHOR] Tests conducted by
the EPA say that once again
no hazardous substances
have been detected in the air.
If the Mayor says it's okay,
then I believe him, it's okay.
[AMY]
(on radio)
Co-host Juan Gonzalez has a cover story
in today's Daily News.
He says toxic chemicals
and metals are being
released into the environment
around lower Manhattan.
Dioxins, PCBs, benzene, lead.
[JUAN] No one else was
following the story,
and all
the government officials
were denying
what I was saying.
My editor was removed
just because he continued
to defend me.
They buried me back in
the back pages of the paper.
But I continued reporting the
story, and at "Democracy Now!"
we continued to
get information into
the hands of the public.
No one tested
the dust clouds that came down
on tens of
thousands of people.
So no one can
say what the impact
of such a massive dose of-
The only thing
that I was wrong about
was that it didn't
take 20 years for people
to start dying.
It only took five years.
[AMY] Search and rescue workers
are experiencing a high level
of respiratory illness.
But it's not only
the rescue workers.
Chronic coughs,
upper respiratory infections,
bronchitis, pneumonia,
asthma are plaguing residents
and students at Ground Zero.
(dramatic orchestral music)
I think about, wow,
what it was like then.
And how it's this ritzy
area and how so many people
had to have gotten very
sick and they don't (coughing)
think of that. (coughing)
I say as I'm coughing.
[NERMEEN] Yeah, cough is
also related to 9/11.
[AMY] The emergency
cough button is right here.
Whenever I have to cough
on the air I just hit it.
[AMY] I remember the day
when the elevator came up
to the garret of
the firehouse and opened
and for some
reason at that moment,
there was this kind of
gust of wind that came out
of the elevator and I had
an absolute-
Dust-
Coughing attack.
It was my first
that I can remember,
and I think it was on
the air, and we went to break.
And from
that moment on I've coughed.
I've discussed
it with Dr. Zazu, but-
And what's Dr. Zazu's take?
She didn't have
a formal enough education
to really understand it.
Okay, Baba.
[PRESIDENT GW BUSH] Either you
are with us or you are with the terroris
(audience applauding)
[ATTORNEY GENERAL]
The Department of Justice
is waging a deliberate campaign
of arrest and detention,
removing suspected terrorists
from our streets to prevent
further terrorist attack.
[SHARIF] After 9/11, someone
turned me on to "Democracy Now!"
and I started to listen.
And it was the first place,
there were people who were
from my region
speaking on the air.
There was deeper analysis.
What about the relationship
between US Intelligence,
which helped to
train Osama Bin Laden
and other Islamic
militants in Afghanistan?
[SHARIF] When I started
working with Amy,
I would stay up all
night following all the news
and writing headlines.
Once in a while, Amy
would read one of my headlines
and I would be very excited.
Where is the lead?
I need the lead.
[AMY] I believe I'm
missing the first page?
[SHARIF] I had just quit a job
at an investment bank,
structuring deals for
multinational corporations.
So I had to write a lead about
the World Trade Organization.
It said something like,
"Leaders of
the world's richest nations
are gathering to solve the
problems of the world's poor."
I handed it to
Amy during the break.
And then she looks
and she goes "I'm not
reading this shit!"
[PRODUCER] We go back to it and
then we go to the song.
And she threw it and she goes,
"I'm going to wing it!"
We are going to
go briefly to the streets
of Cancun where thousands
are protesting
the World Trade Organization.
[SHARIF]
I was just horrified.
It was the first
time that anything
like that had happened to me.
And afterwards
she came and she said,
"Look, you need to read up."
I was learning
an alternative history,
an alternative
economics, an alternative way
of seeing the world.
(all chattering)
Many of those
who lost loved ones
in the World Trade Center
attacks are saying,
"Not in my name."
[RITA] It is in my brother's
name that I pray that we,
this country,
that has been so deeply hurt,
not do something
that will unleash forces
we will not have
the power to call back.
(dramatic orchestral music)
[AMY] Why did George W. Bush
invade Iraq in 2003?
If you asked most people
at the time they would say,
"Well, for 9/11 of course!"
9/11 had
nothing to do with Iraq.
But the US was
on a mission of war.
[JEREMY]
The first big video
field reporting
that "Democracy Now!" did
was Iraq after 9/11.
(on TV)
This is Jeremy Scahill,
with Jaquie Soohen,
on the highway into Baghdad.
We figured
out a way to circumvent
Saddam Hussein's
secret police,
and we're
interviewing Iraqi civilians
about how they see
this impending attack,
and we're telling
stories about ordinary Iraqis.
[AMY] When you hear someone
speaking from their own experience,
it makes it much less likely
you'll want to destroy them.
Tens of millions of
people took to the streets
over the weekend
in some 600 cities
around the world to protest
the Bush Administration's
plans to attack Iraq.
Over and over again,
the world is saying no to war.
Pay no heed to the peaceniks
and the left-wing rock stars.
They've had
their 15 minutes of fame.
[AMY] The corporate media
has become a recruiting arm
for the military.
The advanced
troops for the Pentagon,
waging war on
another innocent population.
[BILL O'REILLY] Once the war
against Saddam begins.
We expect every American
to support our military,
and if they can't
do that, to shut up.
[PRESIDENT GW BUSH]
The United States and our allies are aut
to use force in
ridding Iraq of weapons
of mass destruction.
This is not
a question of authority,
it is a question of will.
[DENNIS] We have an ill-informed
populace in this country
who are seeing
war being turned
into a game-made attractive,
exciting, romantic almost.
It's bizarre to
see this happening.
Dennis Halliday,
former assistant
UN Secretary General,
there for more than 30 years.
Now on the outside
speaking out.
You are listening
to "Democracy Now!,"
back in a minute.
[DENNIS] I don't think I've
ever been so depressed
as I am now about what's
about to happen this week?
It's just...
I still think it's conceivable
it's not going to happen.
[DAN RATHER] American reporters
have now joined US military units
in Kuwait as part
of the Pentagon's effort
to make any war with Iraq
what the Pentagon calls
a media friendly campaign.
[SHEP SMITH] We have a number
of correspondents in bed
with our troops
across the region.
Very deeply
embedded in a personal way
with the marines
that he is traveling with.
[AMY] The embedding
process brought the media
to an all-time low.
US Army's 7th cavalry-
[AMY] How do you think
a reporter's gonna feel
when they're
eating with the troops,
sleeping with the troops, when
your life is in their hands.
You have
a certain perspective,
but from only
the trigger end of the war.
[REPORTER]
The clock is ticking
for the end of that ultimatum.
[REPORTER] And the oil fields
are left largely intact.
Let's not just stop
at a couple of
cruise missiles.
[NBC ANALYST] We have been
told so many times, shock and awe,
to just bomb a few
targets and then back off
for 14 hours while
we wait for darkness
is not my idea
of shock and awe.
I mean, it's just a bloodlust.
Let's call Baghdad.
[DN! REPORTER] Are there any
other Americans there?
Hello?
[AMY] They said
they're going to engage
in the largest
bombing campaign in
the history of the world.
On a civilian center?
(dramatic orchestral music)
[SHARIF] The first day of the Iraq
war, the show was live.
And it was just
absolute mayhem.
The onslaught began.
Buildings are on fire.
Plumes of
smoke can be seen rising
from the heart of the city.
[JEREMY] This area where
the heavy attacks appear
to be taking place
is also a very
crowded residential area.
It is not just an area
where there are
government buildings.
(explosions booming)
(dramatic orchestral music)
I really naively felt,
"We are gonna do this,
we're going to stop this war!"
(dramatic orchestral music)
[JEREMY] We were
working 18, 20 hour days.
(dramatic orchestral
music continues)
(dramatic orchestral
music continues)
[JEREMY] There was a lot of
sorrow and sadness and anger.
We failed.
We didn't stop the war.
And in fact, it was worse
than we could have imagined.
(dramatic orchestral
music continues)
(crowd chanting)
Mothers and
fathers are crying
Because
their children are dying
Why don't y'all
send 'em back home
This is where they belong
This is a rich man's war
We are the veterans
The anti-war veterans
The anti-war veterans
The pissed-off veterans
The pissed off veterans
Amy, Amy, nice to see you.
(all shouting)
(crowd chanting)
This is what democracy looks like.
(phone ringing)
[SHARIF]
Nicole and I were
at the TV station
where "Democracy Now!"
was based
during the convention.
And we looked out the window
and saw just
a massive phalanx of police
in riot gear
walking down the streets.
[PROTESTORS] Whose streets?
Our Streets!
Whose streets?
Our Streets!
Whose streets?
Our Streets!
Whose streets?
Our Streets!
Whose streets?
Our Streets!
(gun cocking)
(tense music)
(guns firing)
(all yelling)
(can spraying)
Ow!
(all shouting)
[SHARIF] The police very
violently arrested Nicole.
And then they beat
me up and arrested me.
(siren wailing)
And then God
bless her, Amy came.
[DENIS] Release
the accredited journalists!
Release the accredited
journalists now!
[RIOT COP]
You're under arrest.
Stay right there.
Back up.
Back up.
Let go.
[DENIS] Release
that accredited journalist.
[JOURNALIST] Hey Max,
they just arrested Amy Goodman,
Nicole Salazar and
Sharif Abdel Kouddous.
(upbeat music)
Celebrate
good times, come on
There's a party
goin' on right here
A celebration to
last throughout the years
So bring your good
times and your laughter too
[KATIE] Lookie here, I've been
joined by another white male
here on the platform.
But you're always welcome.
[AMY] I was just wondering if
you were doing any coverage
of the reporters, who were
getting arrested here.
I was just arrested on Monday.
You were?
I have actually,
I will actually do
it very quickly, you know,
we haven't done very much
on the reporters
who're getting arrested
or the protestors
and I actually asked
about that the other day.
Unfortunately, you know
they are packing in speeches
and a lot of videos
that people wanna see,
but I'm definitely following
it and paying attention to it.
The whole world is watching.
The whole world is watching,
the whole world is watching.
Media.
B-I-N-I-O.
[PROTESTOR]
You're arresting reporters.
You don't give a shit.
You're arresting reporters.
[JEREMY] That's the
difference between Amy
and so many
corporate journalists.
For her, the center of the
action is what is happening
in the street.
Those are the people
that are mocked, made fun of,
dismissed, not allowed on TV.
Amy takes
those people seriously.
She's rooted
among people of conscience,
people of struggle,
people that dare to say no
during a time
of universal yes.
(dramatic orchestral music)
[AMY] We turn to a growing
protest in North Dakota
where hundreds
of Indigenous activists
have shut down construction
on the 3.8 billion dollar
Dakota Access Pipeline.
The oil pipeline threatens
to contaminate
the Missouri River,
which provides
water not only for thousands
of residents
on the reservation,
but also for
millions living downstream.
[AMY]
One man in a hard hat threw one
of the protestors down.
Protesters on
horseback have just ridden up.
The security with dogs.
The dog has blood
at its nose and its mouth.
He just maced me in the face.
[AMY] Sir, what are
you spraying people with?
I haven't
sprayed anything, ma'am.
[AMY]
But what is that?
[AMY]
We kept our cameras rolling.
We had the videotape.
We posted
it online that night.
Within 24 hours,
there were 14 million views.
(dramatic orchestral music)
All the networks
used our video.
A standoff in
the Great Plains.
200 native American tribes
are fighting construction
of an oil pipeline.
Protesters stormed
the site and private security
for the pipeline
company, Energy Transfer,
responded with
dogs and pepper spray.
Anger over a new
pipeline in North Dakota
[JOY]
Here's a report
from the scene
courtesy of "Democracy Now!"
[SCOTT]
Captured by Amy Goodman
and her crew at
"Democracy Now!"
[REPORTER] Protestors
accused security guards
for the construction
site of using dogs.
[AMY] A few days later they
issued an arrest warrant for me.
This wasn't personal.
The authorities in
North Dakota were sending out
a warning to all journalists:
"Do not come to North Dakota."
It may be one of
the most important civil
and environmental
rights stories of our time.
So, has it been under-covered?
Amy Goodman, the host
and executive producer
of "Democracy Now!" says yes.
She joins me now here-
[AMY] Often when I had
gone into CNN and MSNBC,
I would say to the host,
"Why don't
you cover the climate issue?"
And they'd say,
"The executives upstairs say
it makes people's eyes roll
and we care about eyeballs.
Right?
We care about
people watching."
This gave the lie to that.
[AMY] Why is this such
an important fight to you?
Because water is life.
Thank you,
we appreciate your being here!
Our philosophy is,
"Steal this Story, Please."
If the media covers
the climate emergency,
that is fantastic.
The problem is, do they
connect the dots?
[REPORTER] Overnight,
an apocalyptic scene
across Southern California.
[FOX ANCHOR]
Do we know how this happened?
I don't think we do!
And have we ruled
out all outside agitators?
No.
It truly is
a really tough situation
to wrap your mind around.
It actually looks pretty.
Nine feet, that's
enough to completely submerge
some buildings.
[JUAN] It's part of the entire
way of being of the media.
If you try to make
sense of the world,
if you're trying to figure out
hot to solve
the problems, that's boring.
If there's
terror, if there's fright,
if there's a sense that
the world is out of control,
that's when
people will tune in.
(camera shutters clicking)
(dramatic orchestral music)
[AMY] Donald Trump used
the media masterfully.
In 2016, they rolled
out the red carpet for him.
Five billion dollars
worth of free media.
(crowd cheering)
(dramatic orchestral music)
Go ahead.
[AMY]
Sure, he questioned the media.
He viciously
attacked the media.
[TRUMP] You're the enemy of
the people. The press.
[AMY] Journalists needed
security guards to go out
and cover his rallies.
But he understood
that the networks
would do anything
for those ratings to bring
in the advertisers
who would pay ever more money.
(bell ringing)
If you stoke fear
and insecurity enough,
you're going to get a reaction
from the masses of people
that you feed that to.
[TRUMP] We will root
out the communist,
Marxists, fascists,
and the radical left
thugs that live like vermin!
They're poisoning
the blood of our country!
(all shouting)
Let's go.
[AMY] This is where my
grandmother was born.
Something like a third of
the city or more was Jewish.
The Nazi headquarters of
all of Ukraine was right here.
(gentle orchestral music)
All my grandparents
were from Eastern Europe.
Our whole life was infused
with the sense of people
who were persecuted,
people who escaped,
and people who didn't.
On November 7th, 1941,
the Jews of Ruvna were called
to the town square and
they were told they were going
to be transported to a place
that they would have to work.
But instead
they were brought here.
The Nazis, with Ukrainian
police help, dug ditches
and over three days,
they slaughtered 25,000 Jews.
My grandmother,
Sonia Shoukat Bachelchok,
she left with her husband,
Benjamin Bachelchok,
because of the pogroms
leading into World War II.
But some of
her family didn't leave,
and we believe that they were
slaughtered here.
This is like le, la, Rayla.
(speaker
speaking foreign language)
It could be Raisle.
They were 30.
They were 30.
And their baby was four.
This is the family Shokat.
And each of these
stones are another family?
(Amy praying in Hebrew)
Amen.
Thank you.
Thank you.
(person
speaking foreign language)
(no audio)
[AMY]
It's so terrifying finding out
what hostages
are out, what aren't.
There's a little
girl who's three,
who's gonna be released.
Her fourth
birthday is Friday, tomorrow.
-[DENIS] Abigail.
-Abigail, that's so sad.
Let me know
when you're recording.
As Israel's seven-week
bombardment of the Gaza strip
has killed over
14,000 Palestinians,
more than 5,000 of
whom were children,
courageous Palestinian
journalists working
in Gaza under
unbelievably difficult
and dangerous circumstances
are being killed one by one.
The US media has
primarily relied on reporting
from inside Israel,
venturing into Gaza only
when embedded
with the Israeli military.
[CNN REPORTER]
Journalists embedded
with the IDF in Gaza have
to submit all
materials and footage
to the Israeli military for
review prior to publication.
The Israeli military
is taking us into Gaza.
We are inside
an armored personnel carrier.
[FOX REPORTER]
Driving into Gaza,
we're embedded
with the IDF's 55th brigade.
known as the tip of the
spear brigade...
(gentle orchestral music)
[AMY]
1988.
I went to Israel
and to the West Bank
and Gaza to investigate
the situation there.
It was terrible.
How could people
tolerate how repressive it was
in the occupied territories?
Certainly people in
Israel knew what it meant
to need a safe homeland.
And it's exactly what
the Palestinians wanted
and were fighting for.
(gentle orchestral
music continues)
In that sense
they weren't so far apart.
But they were worlds apart.
Many members
of my family had gone
to Israel,
fleeing persecution.
And so as a kid I went
there to visit my family
and saw it as
a place that was a refuge.
And then as
a grown-up, I go back
and I see that very same place
that I had those
childhood identifications
with as a refuge for some.
But for others,
they were being persecuted.
It seems to run
against everything
I was raised to
believe Judaism represents,
warmth and protection,
belief in the highest ideals.
It's so important
that this is not seen
as something
inherent in a religion,
but this is
a terrible political problem.
[AMY] Sharif, can you talk
about what happened
since we last
spoke 24 hours ago?
Well Amy, right after
I spoke to you, news broke
of that shelling
of the UN school in-
[SHARIF]
We covered Palestine
and Israel over
the years, and through it all,
Amy covered it as
she would anything else.
She covered it as
she would cover Iraq
or as she would
cover Minneapolis.
21 people have been
wounded in a bus bombing
in the Israeli
city of Tel Aviv.
Tuesday saw an unrelenting
wave of Israeli strikes
on the Gaza strip,
[SHARIF] She taught me who to
talk to, how to talk to them.
How to cover a story properly.
It's speak to
the people on the ground,
speak to the people at
the target end of the bomb.
Speak to those who are
being deliberately silenced.
And yeah, put
those voices on the air.
(dramatic orchestral music)
[SHARIF] Israeli victims of
Hamas, we know their names,
we know their stories.
We know about their families
and how they are suffering.
And we should!
We do not know the other side.
When you see
who Amy is having on,
she's not ignoring all the
civilians that Hamas killed.
She's speaking to
the relatives of hostages,
she's speaking to people
who have had relatives killed.
[MOAZ] The cycle of blood
between Israelis and Palestinians.
My cry, my cry
is to stop the cycle.
[SHARIF] She's just
covering the whole story!
The bombardments
were relentless.
There is no safe
passage for people to move
from the North to the South.
If you say Gazan
should leave Gaza.
To go where to?
It's not enough, the words
that I need do not exist
in our dictionaries
to describe the horror
that my friends in
Gaza now go through.
Three generations
of one side
of my family
were all killed.
My cousin
Jamad Farra, his son
who was a physician
Dr. Tofir Al Farah.
His wife who was pregnant,
two of their beautiful
daughters Reem and Hannah,
Jamad's brother,
Asam, his wife, Samad,
their daughters
Rosa Tokah and Adian Tokah,
her wedding day
was the day she was killed.
Couple days
later, one child out
of that whole three
generations survived, Hamza.
His siblings, his parents,
his uncles and his aunts, his
grandparents, all had died.
Excuse me.
And then he died himself.
[DN! GUEST] In Shifa hospital,
100 burn patients
with more than 40%
burned body surface area,
most of them children.
Infections in
these burns are fatal.
They get septacemia.
So to cut off the water
to 2.8 million people...
(dramatic orchestral music)
Oh god!
Sorry, I'm in no
condition after a show.
(dramatic orchestral
music continues)
(siren wailing)
(dramatic orchestral
music continues)
(protestors
chanting indistinctly)
Ceasefire now,
ceasefire now, ceasefire now,
[AMY]
Thousands of people converged
at Grand Central Station
for the largest sit-in protest
the city's seen in
over two decades.
[POLICE] I am ordering you to
leave the premises now.
You will be arrested on the
charge of criminal trespass.
As a Jew, I believe
it is absolutely imperative
that we stand up today.
Right now I believe
that Palestinian rights
are inextricably
tied to Jewish safety.
[AMY]
Why are you getting arrested?
I was horrified by
what Hamas did to Israel,
but I am horrified now by
what Israel is doing to Gaza.
So many of
the Jewish New Yorkers here
are struggling through
heartbreak and mourning
of October 7th, and
they have made it very clear,
do not use their heartbreak,
their tragedy,
as the justification for
the genocide of Palestinians.
My parents were
Holocaust survivors,
and there's
one thing I learned.
Never again means
never again for anyone!
Ceasefire now!
[SECURITY]
You gotta stay out of the way.
You have to
stay out of the way!
[AMY]
I've got to do my job!
Just getting this video in.
As you can see,
virulent, widespread hatred,
anti-semitism at a level that
beyond shocks the conscience.
I'm 81.
What do I have to lose?
Let's go then!
(dramatic orchestral music)
(dramatic orchestral
music continues)
I was saved by God to
make America great again.
(crowd cheering)
(upbeat rock music)
Donald J Trump
has been sworn in
as the 47th President
of the United States.
I think we're
going to do things
that people
will be shocked at!
There was
a wicked messenger
From Eli he did come
With a mind that multiplied
the smallest matter
The White House
Correspondents Association
has long dictated
which journalists get
to ask questions
of the President
of the United States in
these most intimate spaces.
Not anymore!
You are
an obnoxious, a terrible,
actually, a terrible reporter!
I think the license
should be taken away from ABC!
Are you stupid?
Putting American people first,
your thoughts on that.
We are, thank you.
I like that question.
Boy, I want more
questions like that.
[REPORTER] What has made
you and your team so effective
in finding
locating, apprehending
and deporting these
violent, illegal migrants?
I love this guy!
(crowd cheering)
USA, USA, USA, USA.
A number of major news
organizations face accusations
of already
bending a knee to Trump.
ABC settled a defamation suit
by making a
$15 million donation
to his future
presidential library.
The parent company
of CBS News has agreed
to pay $16 million to
settle a lawsuit brought
by Donald Trump as Paramount
seeks federal approval
for its $8 billion
merger with Skydance media.
[NERMEEN] "Out with
the fact checkers!"
That was the message delivered
by META CEO Mark Zukerberg,
as he announced
sweeping changes at Facebook,
Instagram and Threads.
The decision
comes a week after META
donated a million dollars
to Trump's inauguration.
[JUAN] A system of knowledge
and information unparalleled
in the history of
the world has been hijacked
by companies who just
want to sell you stuff.
They don't want to inform you.
They want to increase
their wealth and their power.
[DAVID]
Ownership really matters,
and you know we're not
just another widget company,
This is not a time
in American history
where anybody can
remain silent or neutral.
The media has
to reflect on itself.
What it allowed to happen.
And what still could happen!
(all chattering)
You don't have the authority
to arrest US citizens!
[WOMAN]
I'm gonna give you my ID back,
you give me my daughter back.
One more.
You go back there and I'm
gonna put you under arrest.
This is United States
federal government.
I will arrest you.
(person screaming)
I was just trying
to get to the doctor
and I'm autistic.
It takes me
a second to understand.
[ICE]
Get back!
(door banging)
[WOMAN]
My son is a citizen.
We have all the paperwork!
What rights you lose
today, you will not get back!
(dramatic orchestral music)
[AMY]
Hans and Sophie Scholl.
They were a brother
and sister in Nazi Germany.
And they thought,
"What can we do in the face
of the Nazi atrocities?"
And together with their
professor and other students
and workers, they formed
the White Rose Collective.
They published six pamphlets.
On the fourth
was written the words,
"We will not be silent."
They were
beheaded by the Nazis.
"We will not be silent."
Those words should
be the hippocratic oath
of the media today.
Should be the hippocratic
oath of us all today.
We will not be silent!
Democracy now!
(audience applauding)
(upbeat rock music)
I was
dreaming in my dreaming
Of an aspect
bright and fair
And my
sleeping, it was broken
But my
dream, it lingered near
In the form of
shining valleys
Where
the pure air recognized
And my senses newly opened
I awakened into the cry
That the people
have the power
To redeem
the work of fools
Upon the meek
the graces shower
It's decreed
The people rule
People have the power
People have the power
People have the power
People have the power
Vengeful
aspects became suspect
And bending
low as if to hear
And the armies
ceased advancing
Because
the people had their ear
And the shepherds
and the soldiers
Well they lay
beneath the stars
Exchanging
visions and laying arms
To waste in the dust
In the form of
shining valleys
Where
the pure air recognized
And my senses newly
opened I awakened to the cry
Come on
People have the power
People have the power
To occupy
To vote
To strike
To rise up
To act
To dream
(crowd cheering)
[PATTI SMITH]
Use your voice.
Democracy now!
(crowd cheering)