10/26/17 10/26/17 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now! >> make no mistake. anyone who votes to reverse this rule is saying loud and clear that they stand with the banks instead of their constituents because bank lobbyists are the only people asking congress to reverse this rule. amy: after nine months of struggling to deliver on their legislative priorities, senate republicans found unity this week in overturning a rule that would have made it easier for americans to sue banks and credit card companies. we will get an update from public citizen's amanda werner, who has recently been seen dressed as rich uncle pennybags, with a top hat and monocle, sitting directly behind former

equifax ceo richard smith during -- rity breach then a major decision by the federal communications commission would eliminate a decades-old rule that ensures community residents can have a say in their local broadcast tv station. this comes as the fcc announced its plans to abolish long-standing media ownership rules. as i do thatieve the federal government has no business intervening in the news, then we must stop the federal government from intervening in the news business. and that is why this afternoon, i shared with my fellow commissioners in order that will reform our media ownership rules and helped hold e-government once and for all out of the newsroom. amy: opponents say the change

is say it will allow corporate media companies, such as the right-wing sinclair broadcast group, to buy up and control even more local stations. we'll speak with mother jones senior reporter andy kroll, whose new story is headlined: "ready for trump tv? inside sinclair broadcasting's plot to take over your local news." an undocumented teenager in detention gets the abortion she sought. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. questions are mounting about the relationship between the massive private prison contractor geo group and the trump administration. "the washington post" revealed geo group held its annual leadership conference last week at president trump's private miami-area golf resort, the trump national doral. geo group was a major backer of the trump campaign, giving $225,000 to a pro-trump super pac and then another $250,000 to trump's inaugural committee. the company secured a new

multimillion dollar contract from the trump administration, and its stock price has tripled since last year when the obama administration announced efforts to end the use of private prisons. "usa today" is reporting the trump administration is slated to declare the opioid crisis a publ health emgency today. the der uld low ates to shift federal funds to address the ioid crisis, which killed 64,000 americans last year. to see our full interview about the sacklers, the secretive family that made billions off the opioid crisis, go to democracynow.org. "the washington post" is reporting the establishment republican party has declared open warfare on president trump's former chief strategist steven bannon. bannon is the head of the whichght breitbart news, has been described as a haven for white nationalists. he is also the leading figure in the insurgent of the far right of the republican party.

the establishment wing of the republicans, led by senate majority leader mitch mcconnell, have now formed a super pac called the senate leadership fund ahead of the 2018 congressional elections, with the aim of specifically attacking and discrediting bannon. in more news from capitol hill, senate chaplain barry black indirectly called upon more lawmakers to speak out against president trump during his prayer before the senate morning session on wednesday. >> lord, we praise you for ,thically congruent lawmakers who in their innermost beings, are true and honest. give us more senators who are needle toty as the the pole. give us more legislators who are not afraid to call sin by its

right name. amy: the chaplain's prayer comes after two prominent republican lawmakers -- arizona senator jeff flake and tennessee senator bob corker -- slammed president trump tuesday, with flake calling trump's behavior reckless, outrageous, and undignified, and corker saying trump's lying and bullying is debasing to our country. wikileaks founder julian assange says he refused a request to help from a data from link to president trump ahead of the 2016 presidential election. the daily beast is reporting the head of cambridge analytica reached out to julian assange about working with wikileaks to really some of hillary clinton's in mouse. they worked for trump during the final months of the campaign. on wednesday, julian assange said he rejected the idea of working with the firm. in kenya, voters are heading to the polls for a rerun of the contested presidential election between incumbent president uhuru kenyatta and opposition leader raila odinga. odinga is boycotting the rerun, after his demands for changes in

the electoral process were not met. the supreme court overturned the results of the first election in august, citing mismanagement by the electoral commission. in tanzania, journalists are demanding president john magufuli overturn a 90-day ban on the popular daily newspaper the tanzania daima. it's the fourth newspaper to be shut down in recent months and its shutdown comes amid a mounting crackdown against the free press in tanzania. in brazil, president michel temer has narrowly avoided being put on trial for corruption. temer and his associates have been accused of pocketing nearly $200 million in bribes and covering up their crimes. on wednesday, brazil's lower house of congress voted not to try the president, even though a secretly recorded tape captured him approving hush-money payoffs for a powerful politician jailed on corruption charges. temer has pushed right-wing and neoliberal policies that are deeply unpopular, and he currently has an approval rating of about 3%.

in indonesia, dozens of people have been killed in an explosion at a firecracker factory outside the capital jakarta. the thursday morning fire has killed at least 47 people so far, with the death toll expected to rise. u.s. ambassador to the united nations nikki haley cut short her visit to south sudan after hundreds of people protested against the south sudanese president at her event. her departure came after haley said the u.s. has lost trust in his government, which the u.s. has supported since south sudan's independence in 2011. >> i'm disappointed by what we're seeing. this is not what we thought we were investing in. what we thought we were investing and was a free, fair society where people could be safe. and south sudan is the opposite of that. amy: the united nations warns and ethnic cleansing campaign carried out by the south sudanese government has killed thousands of civilians, triggering a massive refugee crisis.

in pakistan, officials say multiple u.s. drone strikes along the afghanistan-pakistan border killed more than two dozen people last week. officials told reuters four unmanned drones fired six missiles on october 16, killing up to 20 people. the same official said another round of strikes the following day killed another 11 people. puerto rico's federally imposed financial oversight board is planning manager to take control of the daily operations of puerto rico's electric power authority. on wednesday, the board said it plans to appoint retired air force colonel noel zamot to run puerto rico's power company, which is currently the largest publicly owned power utility in the united states. this comes after revelations that the tiny montana firm whitefish energy won a $300 million contract to rebuild the grid. whitefish energy is linked to interior secretary ryan zinke. the company is backed by the private equity firm hbc investments, whose founder was a trump campaign donor. the naacp has issued a advisory

warning black passengers about a pattern of racist incidents on american airlines. the naacp cites multiple instances in which african american women were removed from flights or switched from first-class to coach. it also cites an instance in which an african american man was forced off a flight for responding to the racist comments of fellow white passengers. the naacp says these events "suggest a corporate culture of racial insensitivity and possible racial bias on the part of american airlines." american airlines says it does not tolerate discrimination. former president george h.w. bush has apologized for repeatedly groping women, after being accused of sexual assault by two actresses. actress heather lind says that when she met the president in 2014 -- "he touched me from behind from his wheelchair. he told me a dirty joke. and then, all the while being photographed, touched me again."

actress jordana grolnick then also accused the former president of groping her during a photo in 2016, saying -- "he reached his right hand around to my behind, and as we smiled for the photo he asked the group, 'do you want to know who my favorite magician is?' as i felt his hand dig into my flesh, he said, 'david cop-a-feel!'" in response to the accusations, bush's spokesperson said -- "to try to put people at ease, the president routinely tells the same joke -- and on occasion, he has patted women's rears in what he intended to be a good-natured manner. some have seen it as innocent; others clearly view it as inappropriate. to anyone he has offended, president bush apologizes most sincerely." nbc senior political analyst, journalist mark halperin, has announced he is stepping back from his job after five women accused him of sexually harassing them when he was abc's top political journalist. meanwhile, the publisher of artforum magazine has resigned,

after nine women sued him for sexual harassment. knight landesman served as artforum's publisher for more than 30 years and was a major player in the international art world. following the revelations, artforum's editor-in-chief also resigned. in recent days, a slew of men have resigned or been blacklisted in the wake of sexual harassment accusations, including high-profile photographer terry richardson, celebrity chef john besh, influential tech industry figure robert scoble, and amazon studios programming chief roy price. all this after dozens of women came forward to accuse now disgraced movie producer harvey weinstein of sexual harassment, assault, and rape -- ending the career of one of hollywood's most powerful men. the long-awaited jfk assassination files, the federal government will begin releasing the final cache of secret documents about the 1963 assassination of former president john f. kennedy.

historians say the secret cia and fbi files could also reveal details about u.s. attempts to assassinate the late human president fidel castro. the undocumented teenager whom the trump administration attempted to prevent from having an abortion has finally obtained the procedure after having to fight the federal government for a month. the 17-year-old, known as jane doe, is detained in a refugee resettlement shelter. she had the abortion on wednesday after a u.s. appeals court ruled in her favor. we'll have more on her case later in the broadcast. and rock n' roll star fats domino has died at the age of 89. the creole french musician was born in new orleans lower ninth ward in 1928. he taught himself piano and became part of a group of black musicians in new orleans who pioneered the rhythm and blues style that became the foundation of rock and roll. throughout the 1950's and 1960's, fats domino sold 65 million singles, making him one of the most popular artists in the world.

he was inducted into the rock 'n' roll hall of fame in 1986 and won a grammy lifetime achievement award the following year. when hurricane katrina hit new orleans in 2005, fats domino refused to leave his beloved hometown. he was rescued from the floodwaters by family members. this is fats domino performing one of his most famous hits "ain't that a shame." >> ♪ you made me cry when you said goodbye ain't that a shame ain't that a shame ♪ amy: fats domino died on tuesday at his home in harvey, louisiana , just across the mississippi river from new orleans at the age of 89. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman.

nermeen: and i'm nermeen shaikh. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. after nine months of struggling to deliver on their legislative priorities, including failing to -- senate republicans found unity this week when they overturned a rule that would have made it easier for americans to sue banks and credit card companies. the measure passed with vice president mike pence breaking a 50-to-50 tie. this is senator sherrod brown speaking just before the vote tuesday night. >> the vice president of the united states is here. it looks like equifax and wall winet and wells fargo will again. the vice president only shows up in this body when the rich and the powerful need him. nermeen: republican senators lindsey graham and john kennedy of louisiana broke with their party to vote against the measure, which now heads to president trump, who is expected to sign it. the rule, developed by the consumer financial protection bureau, would have allowed people to file class action lawsuits that could have cost the banks billions of dollars.

it was set to go into effect next year. senator elizabeth warren argued tuesday that the vote represented "a giant wet kiss to wall street." >> millions of americans of all the game parties think in washington is rigged against them. in this vote is exhibit a. compass like equifax and wells fargo have heard millions of consumers. and then turn around and try to escape accountability using force arbitration clauses. republican congress hasn't done a thing to help the people hurt by wells fargo. the republican congress hasn't done a thing to help the people hurt by equifax. note. instead, tonight, they are actually taking away one of your few legal tools to hold companies like wells fargo and

equifax accountable. this is shameful. amy: well, for more, we are joined in washington, d.c., by amanda werner, arbitration campaign manager for public citizen and americans for financial reform. amanda has also dressed as rich uncle pennybags, with a top hat and monocle, and sat directly behind former equifax ceo richard smith during a recent senate hearing when he testified about a security breach that left sensitive information for 143 million americans exposed to hackers. amanda warner, welcome to democracy now! explain what the senate did on tuesday night that required, as all the social media is ablaze under cover of night, vice president trump, to break a tie vote. >> unfortunately on tuesday night, republicans voted to take away our right to sue banks like wells fargo, companies like

equifax, when they break the law. they did this by repealing a new rule that restored our right to join together in class-action lawsuits. nermeen: could you talk more rule, whatfpb exactly a restrained companies from doing? >> it ended the use of what we call>> ripoff clauses. essentially, these fine print clauses they stick in take it or leave it contracts that say when they break the law and we have a dispute with them, instead of going to court or joining with other consumers were similarly harmed, if you go into secret arbitration. in these receding's, the banker or lender gets to pick a firm to decide the case, a firm they work with risk -- repeatedly and have bias in their favor. we are block for presenting evidence from a feeling about decision. a recent ecomic policy institute report found the average consumer is forced to

pay their bank or lender almost $8,000 in arbitration. amy: elizabeth warren said republicans vote on tuesday makes it easier as you said, for financial institutions to cheat people. >> the banks and their lobbyists have actually got the gall to claim they want to kill the rule because it is bad for their customers. you know, that claim is plain laughable. according to a rigorous three-year long cfpb study, consumers recovered an average from40 million annually class-action settlements. while they received less than $1 million annually in the arbitration cases the agency reviewed. it is not even close. amy: can you explain exactly what elizabeth warren is saying? and also, the fact that this rule had just gone into effect a

few weeks ago that they have now just gotten rid of. >> i think that is really appalling. we have these rights restored after decades of this point of banks and lenders doing this to cover-up their misconduct and to stop us from being able to get our money back when they rip us off, and now they've taken it away again. it feels like health care all over again, except this time it actually passed. i think what senator warren is saying, class-action lawsuits, especially in the financial context, are essential for holding these banks accountable. as is always wells fargo, they open up millions of fake accounts. if those consumers who were harmed cannot join together in one lawsuit, it just means that wells fargo doesn't have to pay any of that money back and never has to pay for those crimes. you explain what forced arbitration is and how it constrains people who want to hold financial institutions to account? with as a secret process

biased decision-maker the bank takes. can't --ially means we we have to go one by one instead of joining together in a class-action when we have all been similarly harmed. let's take a carfax. 145 million americans per site formation -- let's take a carfax. 145 billion americans other personal information taken. they would each have to file arbitration's. there are not enough arbitrators in the world to handle that. it means equifax will not see any lawsuits if they don't see a class-action. amy: can you did when the equifax ceo was testifying, amanda? an opportunity for creative protest. this is an issue hard to get people to really care about because it is so legalistic in many ways. we decided to get creative. i dressed up as the monopoly man. we chose that imagery because we see this bill as a get out of jail free card for equifax and

wells fargo. tuxedo, bowtie, top hat. onat behind richard smith the c-span cameras. throughout his two hours of testimony, i was making silly faces, twirling my mustache. the reason for that was to make it more entertaining for folks, make sure folks were paying attention. this is one of the most important hearings we have seen in the senate this year. amy: let's go to a clip of senator john kennedy questioning the ceo of equifax, in which we can see you behind smith. , which you my data have not paid me for. your earning a good living -- which i don't deny you. but your earning your money by selling my data that you get for me and don't pay for two other people. but if the data is wrong that

you have about me, i would think you would want to make it as easy as possible to correct it, not as hard as possible. >> i understand your point. it is an important point for the entire industry to make the consumers really as possible. amy: if you can respond to that, amanda werner, and talk about how specifically equifax will be benefited by this striking of the rule that the vice president was needed to break the tie vote. >> i think one of the things that frustrated people the most thet the data breach was day after equifax announced it, they put up this website were they were offering supposedly free credit monitoring as a way to make up for the data breach. it buried in the terms and conditions of the website was a forced arbitration clause. people were completely outraged that they were taken advantage

away their right to sue in court. what struck us about that moment, this is standard procedure. it was not just equifax try to get away with something. this is what all banks and lenders do all the time. nermeen: sarah huckabee sanders told nbc news this rule would "harm our community banks and credit unions by opening the door to frivolous lawsuits by special-interest lawyers." amanda, can you comment on what she said, and of course, the fact trump supports this? and you yourself were affected by the data breach by equifax. could you talk more about that? >> absolutely. one of the biggest talking points we see is trying to use community banks and credit unions as a shield for these big companies that will actually benefit. community banks and credit unions by a large do not use these clauses at all. we have an enough from one of the heads of one of these credit

union associations that actually admits their members do not use forced arbitration. i don't see why they would have a dog in this fight. the smaller banks and credit unions will actually benefit by having a level playing field where they can compete with angst like wells fargo who are using these arbitration clauses not only to get away with breaking the law, but have their profits when they still from millions of consumers. in the equifax data breach, it affected about three quarters of the adult population. i was affected, my friends were affected. i don't really know anyone who wasn't affected, to be quite honest. we're not going to build a do anything about that that we can't come together in a class-action. unfortunately, we're going in the congressional action. the congress can only seem to get together when they can take away our rights, not when we can be useful. amy: that tuesday night you had some interesting outfits. not just the kind that you wear like uncle rich beanbags, but

among the people who were on the floor was senator tom cotton in a full sexy over because this was a night vote and he was at an american enterprise institute gala. can you talk about what it looked like on the floor? >> it was appalling. the fact they would put on these checks he does, go to fundraising events for the conservative donors the same night they are taking away our rights to get our money back when banks rip us off is just shameful. i think it really shows why my monopoly man stuck resonated with so many people. t resonated with so many people. i think it showed how out of touch all of these politicians are. their only accountable to their corporate donors and do not care about the people. amy: amanda werner i thank you for being with us, arbitration campaign manager for public

citizen and americans for financial reform. amanda has also dressed as rich with a top hat and monocle. when we come back, we look at sinclair broadcasting and then the story of the undocumented teenager who is in detention, prevailing over the trump administration and getting an abortion this week. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: "blue monday" by fats domino who died tuesday in his home in louisiana just across the mississippi from new orleans at the age of 89. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. we turn now to a major decision by the federal communications commission to eliminate a decades-old rule that ensures community residents can have a say in their local broadcast tv station. the regulation is known as the "main studio rule" and it

requires broadcasters to have a physical studio near where they have a license to transmit. this comes as the fcc also announced plans to abolish longstanding media-ownership rules, including limits on how many stations or newspapers one company can own in a single market. fcc chairman ajit pai testified wednesday during a congressional hearing. >> if you believe as i did the federal government has no business intervening in the news, then we must stop the federal government from intervening in the news business. and that is why this afternoon i shared with my fellow commissioners in order that will reform our media ownership rules and help pull the government once and for all out of the newsroom. we will vote on this order at our november 16 meeting. the marketplace today is nothing like it was in 1975. newspapers are shutting down. many radio and tv stations are

struggling, especially in smaller markets. online competition for the collection and distribution of news is even greater than it ever was. and just teed have internet companies claim 100% every cent online advertising growth. indeed, the digital at revenue alone this year will be greater than the market cap of the entire broadcasting industry. yet the fcc' israel's say the entirely byfined hope and rabbit ears. amy: but opponents say the change will accelerate the consolidation of the media industry, allowing massive corporate media companies, such as the right-wing sinclair broadcast group, to buy up and control even more local stations. earlier this year trump's fcc appointees revived a regulatory loophole that could allow sinclair to buy 42 tv stations from tribune media company, on top of the more than 170 stations it already owns. the deal means sinclair stations would reach about 72% of u.s. households.

this comes as former fox news bill o'reilly has reportedly been negotiating for a position with sinclair broadcast group. o'reilly secretly settled a sexual harassment claim for $32 million in january, the sixth and by far the largest such settlement during his tenure at fox. for more, we are joined in washington, d.c., by andy kroll, senior reporter at mother jones magazine where he has written extensively about the fcc. his story in the current issue is headlined, "ready for trump tv? inside sinclair broadcasting's plot to take over your local news." welcome back to democracy now! a lot of the game going around his trump can get anything done, but it sure does look that way at the fcc this week. can you talk about what is happening? this week, as you describe, the commission voted

along party lines, three republicans voting in favor, two in opposition, to eliminate the main studio rule. this rule from about 80 years ago saying that a local tv or radio station needs to have its studio, its primary studio, in or near the community it serves. and that serves a number of purposes, not only for the community to be able to interact with a station, but also tethering the station to the community in which it is reporting the news and delivering some value to the people who watch it. that rule has been eliminated. as we saw in the clip you just showed, the chairman of the fcc ajit pai, republican, former staffer to jeff sessions now the attorney general, has said there is a whole bunch more deregulation in the works. this comes in a year since president trump's integration in january in which the fcc has consistently knocked down one barrier after another to enabling a massive deal frenzy,

consolidation in the broadcast business which is exactly what going like sinclair want forward so they can gobble up as many tv stations around the country as they can and basically dominate the local news business. get to: before we sinclair broadcasting, i want to ask you about the context of or the overturning of the main studio rule. it is been in effect for several decades. has any other administration attempted to overturn it? >> no. the rule has been tweaked several occasions as they say to modernize it, but the substance of the rule, having that studio in the community where the viewers, where the people -- those who depend on that tv or radio station is, that has not changed over time. the supporters of the rule say

there is a clear reason for that. yes, it is true with email and social media you can send a message to your tv station, but the rule also gave that sense of locality, gave that connection in the newsgathering and in -- just the connection to a community that is so vital to local news. that has been a bedrock of broadcast television for nearly 80 years, and has gone unchallenged and republican administrations and under democratic administrations. and now under president trump and with commissioner pai at the fcc, that rule is ancient history. explain andy, could you , because as a result of overturning this rule, all of these different stations, tv stations and radio stations can be increasingly consolidated. one of the companies under which the stations have been consolidated is sinclair

broadcasting. ,ut this media organization very few people know about. could you tell us about this broadcasting channel? >> i like to say that sinclair broadcast group is the most influential media organization that most americans have never heard of. it owns nearly -- owns or operates nearly 200 local tv stations around the country. it has a tremendous influence over the local news business. and it marries that influence, that size reaching in a fortress and households right now, just 40% households right now, with pro-trump agenda. you see that any kind of programming that sinclair produces and sends out to its local stations called "must run" segments. they take a shamelessly pro-trump message repeating

talking points of the administration through its commentators and putting that into the local news. as you mentioned earlier, sinclair is eyeing a deal to acquire 42 new stations across the country, giving it a reach to almost record as of american households. this is a massive broadcast company set to get even bigger, and it has a distinct conservative viewpoint that is intent on protecting out to the millions of people who watch its television. amy: explain what you mean when you say "intent and bent on." the headline of your piece "ready for trump tv? inside sinclair broadcasting's plot to take over your local news." what are the next being handed down -- what are the edicts being handed down? a pioneer in the "must run" segment. this is produced by sinclair's corporate headquarters here in

the d.c. area and in maryland. then sendsduces and out to its stations around the country almost 200 of them and says "you are required to require this 92nd commentary or this two-minute editorial." that content that is being just related out around the country -- distributed out and around the country has an unequivocal conservative partisan bent to it and basically, a pro-trump bent to it. epstein, former trump campaign aide and former trump left these aide, who administration and immediately went into this role at sinclair, his segments are called "bottom line with boris." their required to run every day at sinclair stations. these are basically trump talking points. you can go on youtube and

watched all of his clips in a row. they are what hundred percent during the trump line. if they're not that, there saw all interviews with trump administration. boriseople might know who epstein is because during the campaign, he was one of the spokespeople always interviewed on tv. this is one of his recent commentaries. >> it is important to note boat or fraud goes beyond stealing ballots will step intentionally improper voter registration is absolutely a type of voter fraud. the commission on election integrity has gotten to work. the extent of voter fraud in our elections has been hotly debated between the left and right. the president's commission has been established to come up with a factual, impartial answer to that question. the state should do everything within their power to cooperate with the commission. and that is the bottom line. amy: and that is required by every station to run, jennifer dalven --andy kroll? >> yes list of amy: this is

another featuring trump advisor sebastian gorka. the show was broadcast earlier this month. >> you do not make legislation out of outliers. our big issue is black african gun crime against like africans. it is a tragedy. go to chicago. go to the cities run by democrats for 40 years. black young men are murdering each other by the bushel. amy: go by the bushel." gorkais sebastian talking about black african crime on black african crime saying black men are killing each other by the bushel. andy kroll? >> sebastian gorka is another alumnus of the trump white house who upon leaving went immediately to sinclair and is now a talking head at sinclair. so you see this trend of trump officials going to sinclair broadcast group and them being put on the airwaves and either

crazyg a completely message that sebastian gorka just did on a segment that was supposed to be about -- amy: i think outright racist is a more accurate way to describe it. >> it is hard to find the words to describe what that was. yet boris epstein as well, his segment that we just listen to come is basically advocacy for the trump administration on the commission investigating voter fraud, which in most cases doesn't exist. so you have this message and you stations around the country that a lot of cases just want to do local news. but as they come under the sinclair amber alert, they are being told by headquarters google you will run the segments." in boris epstein's case, sinclair tripled the number of times that boris epstein was required to be run by its stations. so this is the progression we're

seeing this year. message.o-trump but the same time that sinclair is looking to gobble up more stations and consolidate its control. nermeen: could you talk about the founder of sinclair broadcasting group, david smith? >> david smith is a media mogul with an incredible amount of sway over what goes on in the local airwaves. he is not well-known on the level of, say, rupert murdoch, for instance, even of the two men i think would consider themselves contemporaries or competitors. david smith built a small family company that had three tv stations starting in the mid-1980's based out of baltimore. lawinding ways around the and taking advantage of ways that the law was changed -- in this case, deregulated -- he has grown sinclair into this conservative tv behemoth that it is today.

and stands to get even bigger if the tribune media merger goes through. david smith, longtime donor to mostly republicans. democrats as well who are in a position to help his company. today, he throws a party for supreme court justice clarence thomas and travels in in an elite rarefied group of republican supporters. he is even bragged about dining at the white house with the president. so he is right at the top of republican industry donor pyramid, if you will. he is managed to avoid the amount of attention sa rupert murdoch or some other to national media moguls have attracted. amy: the merging of sinclair and tribune? these are the smaller local stations that. the united states, crisscross the united states. give 42eal would television stations from

sinclair or from tribune into sinclair. it would add more of those dots on the map, as you mentioned for step sinclair has no presence right now in colorado. this would give it a major presence in colorado. it would also bring stations in these three largest media markets in the country into the ,inclair company -- new york , one of the and wgn most famous broadcast companies in america, in chicago. so this would really seal sinclair's position as the sort of dominant broadcast company. of course, given that many more tens of millions of people who would be potentially saying force epstein, sebastian gorka potentially bill o'reilly. when we were talking about sebastian gorka, just understand if he's talking about black african violets here in the united states some who he is,

the whole controversy around him wearing that pin at the the newspaperf the forward reporting that members of the attendee rent the order confirmed gorka took a lifelong oath to defend their in farming -- far right wing group under thenaz government of germany during world war ii. ijust the significance of what is being required by these local stations to run all over the country. >> and gorka, if you watch that clip or the roundtable that clip comes from which is available on sinclair's website, sebastian gorka is more or less given an open mic to say what he thinks about, and this case, "guns in america." we see where he took that theme. he was a foreign-policy aide in

the trump white house. he was not a domestic will see expert. he was not someone working on the issue of guns, for all that we know, yet he is given this platform -- as he has been on several other occasions with sinclair. the company seems to have no qualms given the background you described, the fantastic reporting the forward is done on his past. they seem to have no problem giving him that platform. just as reportedly seem to be considering an arrangement with bill o'reilly, someone, as you mentioned, has several sexual harassment claims for tens of millions of dollars when he was at fox news to the point that fox fired him. amy: explained that last part. what do you understand is the state of these negotiations? by this latest news of his $32 million a fox host for sexual harassment? >> what i've heard and what i've seen reported in the past week

is there are negotiations underway between sinclair and y'reilly around -- where the it would be bringing them it as a host or commentator or some kind of arrangement or partnership between o'reilly having his own program, his own platform, and sinclair as the megaphone, if you will, projecting that program, projecting o'reilly out using its empire the stations. now, sinclair has denied it is talking with o'reilly and has repeatedly done that. though the reporting would suggest otherwise. i will say i talked to people in and around sinclair, and among the rank-and-file, if you will, there is kind of shock and

disgust that in light of o'reilly's sexual-harassment settlement and all of the allegations at fox that sinclair would be thinking about considering a partnership with him has a lot of people there upset, concerned about their futures whether they want to work there if bill o'reilly joints the company in some capacity. , thank you for being with us, senior reporter at mother jones magazine where he has written extensively about the fcc and sinclair broadcasting. his piece published earlier this week is headlined, "ready for trump tv? inside sinclair broadcasting's plot to take over your local news." when we come back, an undocumented teenager in prevails overexas the trump administration. she finally this week gets the abortion she has been seeking for weeks. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: actor and singer robert giom from the first black actor to win an emmy for best supporting actor in a comedy series in 1979 for his character benson dubois." he died on tuesday. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. nermeen: an undocumented teenager at the center of a lawsuit with the trump administration over her right to have an abortion has finally obtained the procedure she wanted. the 17-year-old is detained in a refugee resettlement shelter, and had the abortion on wednesday after a u.s. appeals court ruled in her favor. the teen is referred to in court documents as jane doe. the trump administration spent a month trying to stop her from accessing an abortion. her lawyer says the staff at the refugee shelter in brownsville, texas, forced the girl to call her abusive parents to tell them

about her pregnancy despite the fact that her parents allegedly beat the girl's older sister until she miscarried for getting pregnant out of wedlock. the lawyer also says the staff retaliated against the girl after learning about her plans to have an abortion, limiting her time with other kids at the shelter and allegedly repeatedly asking her what she planned to name the baby. in an interview with hbo's vice news wednesday night, jane doe described when she decided to have an abortion. >> when i first arrived at the shelter, i decided to do it because i don't feel capable of being a mature woman. wording strong were old enough to be able to take care of it. and i don't feel sure about having a child. nermeen: jane doe also issued a statement via her guardian, saying -- "while the government provides for most of my needs at the shelter, they have not allowed

me to leave to get an abortion. instead, they made me see a doctor that tried to convince me not to abort and to look at sonograms. people i don't even know are trying to make me change my mind. i made my decision and that is between me and god. through all of this, i have never changed my mind." amy: the american civil liberties union has filed a lawsuit on behalf of jane doe against the u.s. department of health and human services and its office of refugee resettlement, which oversees facilities for unaccompanied and undocumented minors who enter the united states. for more, we are joined by two guests. in new york, jennifer dalven is director of the aclu's reproductive freedom project, and one of the attorneys representing jane doe. and joining us from las vegas, nevada, susan hays is the legal director of jane's due process, a legal referral service for minors facing unintended pregnancy in texas. we welcome you both to democracy now! jennifer dalven, lay out the suit and what took place this week. jane came here without her

parents looking for a better life. she was in a shelter where she learned she was pregnant. from the very beginning, she said she wanted an abortion. with the help some lawyers from jane's due process, she would to the texas court and got a judicial permission to get an abortion. but since then, every step of the way, the trump administration tested to block her from exercising her decision . instead of taking her to her appointments, what they've done is taken her to a religious crisis pregnancy center where folks tried to stop her, convince her not to have an abortion, force her to look a sonograms. and they would not let her go to her procedure. from month now they were trying to stop her from getting the procedure she wanted. the law inat is texas for others, people not undocumented? in other words, people who are minors seeking abortion, do they face similar obstacles or no? >> they do. texas requires that teenagers get the consent of their parents. and most kids do that. but unfortunately, we know some

young women cannot make -- cannot go to their parents so folks like a jane's due process helped him women like that go to court. the constitution requires you to be able to go to court and get a judicial waiver. amy: explain how the courts played out. >> so she got judicial permission. then we went to court after court, and the government would not back down. at every step, the court said, yes, this is a constitutional right that she has, but the government have appealing and appealing until we were finally able to get her the procedure she needed. amy: susan hays, described hu jintao is. obviously, not giving her man, but talk about a young, and document a teenager in detention in texas. >> jane is like hundreds of other girls who come out from latin america seeking a better life.

a significant percentage of them are sexual assaulted on the way. jane's due process has been working with them for many years now anytime one of these janes are in detention and choose to have an abortion, we help her. working with local lawyers, file her judicial bypassing quebec court order who gives for not only the right to consent to abortion, but also the right to do so without anyone notifying her parent or legal guardian that she is pregnant or has ever desired an abortion. it was that first order she got all the way back in september 20 said that the office of refugee resettlement order the sheltered not to honor and a hold her hostage and not allow her to go to her abortion appointment back in september. nermeen: i want to ask you about the officewho heads of refugee resettlement scott lloyd. could you tell us about him and how he figures in what has happened in jane does case? >> the abrupt change of the

practices go back to scott lloyd hitting that office sometime in march of this year. he is using that office to inflict his personal religious believes on unaccompanied minors all across the country. and use of the cannot do that under the first amendment. the government does not get to pick a side and religious fight. and an individual cannot constitutionally use government power and government money to do that. how does he play in here? talk about the significance of his position in the trump administration. >> the office of refugee settlement is part of the health and human services department. it is not a position that is subject to senate confirmation. president trump appointed scott lloyd to that position in late march. however, in the emails the aclu has obtained for litigation, his name shows up in early march as part of a new what i will call

of double top secret policy no one gets an abortion without scott lloyd permission. in the shelters were ordered not to do anything to help any minor wanted an abortion take steps toward that. such as complying with state laws by seeking a judicial bypass order. scott lloyd has also done things like flight to texas to go to shelters to personally minister, talk to, control pregnant unaccompanied minors. and presumably on the government dime post of this is highly unusual for the head of an agency to act that way and be so personally involved in individual cases. and personally directing individual cases to the outcome that he wants, not the outcome that is right for that jane. amy: jennifer, how common is this jane? >> unfortunately, it is all too common. as susan said, when young women come to this country searching

for a better life, there often subject to sexual assault. there may be hundreds of pregnant young women every year. so although yesterday jane was able to get her procedure, it is incredibly important people not think this is over. this is scott lloyd's policy. andpplies to all the jane's we will continue fighting until we do this policy not down. had the jane dough has abortion, but you said justice for jane also needs immigration really. can you expand what you think should happen? >> yesterday was a victory for jane, but only in part. jane is still in a government shelter. and so are thousands and thousands of other people in this country. breathed a small sigh of relief, but there is still tremendous work to be done both on the access to reproductive health care and on the immigration side. amy: i want to ask susan hays about how the george w. bush administration changed legally

has custody of an unaccompanied minor and what you understand the former secretary of health and human services, the now disgraced tom price, has to do with that. >> back in the george w. bush administration, the legal custody of these minors was held by the shelters. that meant under state judicial bypass laws, shelters that could consent to an abortion. back toward the end of the second administration, there was an incident in virginia where some stuff to consent to an abortion in a shelter affiliated with the catholic church. the catholic church through a fit. the george w. bush administration changed the designation of legal custody so that orr itself has legal custody, bureaucrats in washington, instead of the social workers and staff on the ground in the shelters who care for these children. the net effect of that is kids in shelter have to go through the judicial bypass process, which is kind of hard to get to

a poorhouse and file a case when you're in a shelter. you have to have the help of someone on the outside to do that. for 17done these cases years now. at the time, i remember really hitting that policy as being unfair and a burden on these and become the minors who choose abortion. flash for do now with scott lloyd, that very policy that george w. bush put in place in 2008, scott lloyd is now violating because it is very specific you must follow state law. here the standoff does here this to get thes able process. the office of refugee resettlement defied that court order. amy: we have to leave it there. amy: thank you so much for being with us. susan hays, legal director of jane's due process and also thank you to jennifer dalven of the aclu reproductive freedom project.

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