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Crisis Over Iran's Nuclear Program Intensifies
Rebuilding New Orleans: The Struggle Continues
FCC vs. The League of Women Voters: A Look at the Case That
Pitted Samuel Alito Against Pacifica Radio
Crisis Over Iran's Nuclear Program Intensifies
Iran threatened to halt snap inspections of its nuclear
sites by the United Nations if its nuclear program is referred
to the Security Council. The move came after the United States,
Britain, France and Germany said Thursday that nuclear talks
with Iran were at a dead end and the issue should be brought
before the Council. We speak with Middle East and Iran expert
Ervand Abrahamian of Baruch College. [includes rush
transcript]
Iran threatened to halt snap inspections of its nuclear
sites by the United Nations if its nuclear program is referred
to the Security Council. The protocol allows intrusive and
short-notice inspections of the country's nuclear sites. The
move came after the United States, Britain, France and Germany
said Thursday that nuclear talks with Iran were at a dead
end and the issue should be brought before the Council.
The crisis over Iran's nuclear program intensified this week
after Iran removed seals at three nuclear facilities following
a two-year freeze. Iran says its nuclear programs are solely
for the peaceful generation of electricity.
- Hashemi Rafsanjani, former president of Iran:
"Now the subject is very serious and sensitive and
is the top issue. It seems that they, the West, don't want
the Islamic country to have the new technology and want
them to be backward. But we are determined to have this
technology."
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged the
UN Thursday to confront what she called Iran's "defiance"
over its nuclear program.
- Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of State:
"We also agree that the removal of seals by the Iranian
Government, in defiance of numerous IAEA Board resolutions,
demonstrates that it has chosen confrontation with the international
community over cooperation and negotiation. As the EU-3
and EU have declared, these provocative actions by the Iranian
regime have shattered the basis for negotiation.
We join the European Union and many other members of the
international community in condemning the Iranian Government's
deliberate escalation of this issue. There is simply no peaceful
rationale for the Iranian regime to resume uranium enrichment.
We're gravely concerned by Iran's long history of hiding sensitive
nuclear activities from the IAEA, in violation of its obligations,
its refusal to cooperate with the IAEA's investigation, its
rejection of diplomatic initiatives offered by the EU and
Russia and now its dangerous defiance of the entire international
community
This is Massachusetts Senator John Kerry.
- Sen. John Kerry (D - MA):
"Ultimately if we are not able to find any diplomatic
resolution in the next weeks I don't think we have any choice
but to take it to the international community. I think Iran
has made a very dangerous and a very silly decision and
it is inviting confrontation not with the United States
but with the global community that cares enormously about
the control of nuclear weapons."
Meanwhile, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan stressed
that diplomatic talks with Iran were still on the table.
- Kofi Annan, UN Secretary General:
"First of all, I think we should try and resolve it
if possible in the IAEA context and El Baradei is working
with the parties doing his best to try to resolve it there.
Once that process is exhausted it may end up in the council
and I would leave it to the council to decide what to do
if it were to come here. I wouldn't wan to preempt that.
And my own, I have been talking to all the parties to negotiate
a settlement and really keeping people at the table and
try to discourage escalation. My good offices are always
available if I need to do more and the parties so wish I
will do it."
For the latest on Iran we are joined by:
- Ervand Abrahamian, Middle East and Iran Expert at Baruch
College, City University of New York. He is the author of
several books and is the co-author of "Inventing the
Axis of Evil: The Truth About North Korea, Iran, and Syria"
Rebuilding New Orleans: The Struggle Continues
We look at the the ongoing struggles around rebuilding New
Orleans after the Hurricane Katrina disaster. We speak with
Marc Morial, president of the National Urban League and a
former mayor of New Orleans and Tracie Washington, an attorney
representing a number of evacuees in New Orleans who are staying
in hotels and are facing eviction. [includes rush
transcript]
We focus on New Orleans and the ongoing struggles around
rebuilding the city after the Hurricane Katrina disaster.
On a visit to the devastated city for the first time in three
months, President Bush said Thursday "I will tell you
the contrast between when I was last here and today is pretty
dramatic.
Earlier this week, Bring Back New Orleans, the city's rebuilding
commission, unveiled the first of seven reports that are part
of a sweeping re-development plan for the city. The committee's
proposal was presented at a meeting on Wednesday with hundreds
of residents in attendance. Most of the residents responded
to the proposal with anger and frustration when they heard
that it would give neighborhoods in low-lying parts of the
city four months to a year to prove that they should not be
bulldozed. Under the proposal, residents in the hardest-hit
neighborhoods would not be permitted to move back for at least
four months. During that time, leaders of each neighborhood
would have to submit a recovery plan that would have to be
approved before residents would be allowed to come back. Neighborhoods
that are not able to come up with a plan or that do not attract
enough development within a year, would be bull-dozed. The
proposal was put together by the commission's urban planning
committee, which is headed by the multi-millionaire real estate
developer Joseph Canizaro.
Also this week, a deal was reached to stall many evictions
of evacuees staying in hotels throughout the city. In the
last few weeks, a number of New Orleans Hotels had notified
evacuees that they would soon be evicted to make way for tourists
who had booked rooms during the Mardi Gras celebration at
the end of February. About 15,000 of the displaced are staying
in hotel rooms in Louisiana - most of them are located in
New Orleans.
- Tracie Washington, attorney focusing on civil rights
law, education and labor/employment law. She is currently
representing a number of evacuees in New Orleans who are
staying in hotels and are facing eviction.
FCC vs. The League of Women Voters: A Look at the
Case That Pitted Samuel Alito Against Pacifica Radio
On the final day of confirmation hearings for Supreme Court
nominee Samuel Alito on Capitol Hill, we look at the 1984
case of that pitted Samuel Alito against Pacifica Radio. The
case - known as the FCC v. League of Women Voters - centered
on the constitutionality of a law that prohibited the airing
of editorials by any public radio and TV outlet that received
funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. We speak
with the attorney in the case, Frederic Woocher. [includes
rush
transcript]
We turn now to the nomination of Supreme Court Samuel Alito.
Audio:
"We will hear arguments next in Federal Communications
Commission against The League of Women Voters. Mr. Alito,
I think you may proceed when you're ready."
Those were the words of Chief Justice Warren Burger in January
1984 as he opened a Supreme Court case that pitted Samuel
Alito against Pacifica Radio.
At the time Alito was working as an Assistant to Solicitor
General Rex Lee in the Reagan Justice Department. The case
centered on the constitutionality of a law that prohibited
the airing of editorials by any public radio and tv outlet
that received funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
The law was challenged Pacifica Radio as well as the League
of Women Voters of California and Democratic Congressman Henry
Waxman. The case was known as the FCC v. League of Women Voters.
Samuel Alito argued before the court in favor of the ban
on editorials in what the Los Angeles Times described at the
time as "one of the most important First Amendment cases
of the current Supreme Court term."
In a minute we will hear part of Alito's argument. But first
we will take a listen to attorney Frederic Woocher arguing
against the law.
- Frederic Woocher, Arguing Before Supreme Court, 1984.
At the time Woocher was working for the Center for Law in
the Public Interest. Earlier in the proceedings then assistant
solicitor general Samuel Alito argued in favor of the ban
on editorializing by public radio and TV stations that received
government funding. This is an excerpt of Alito's argument
before Supreme Court
- Justice John Paul Stevens questioning Samuel Alito, 1984.
Alito was defending a law prohibiting the broadcast of editorials
by public radio and TV broadcasters that received federal
ruling. Six months later the Supreme Court declared the editorial
ban unconstitutional because if violated First Amendment free-speech
guarantees. A series of outside groups also weighed in on
the issue. The National Association of Broadcasters, CBS and
the American Civil Liberties all backed Pacifica while the
oil giant Mobil defended the ban on editorials.
In the majority opinion, Justice William Brennan wrote that
the ban strikes "at the heart" of the First Amendment
because it "directly prohibits the broadcaster from speaking
out on public issues even in a balanced and fair manner."
Brennan was joined in the majority by Thurgood Marshall,
Harry Blackmun, Lewis Powell and Sandra Day O'Connor.
- Frederic Woocher, attorney who argued before the Supreme
Court in the case of FCC v. League of Woman Voters on January
16, 1984. He is now an attorney in private practice in Santa
Monica, California.
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press, Jeremy Scahill and Parvez Sharma.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Joe Murgio, John Randolph,
Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Eric Rweyemamu,
Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
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