07/12/13 07/12/13 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] >> from pacifica, this is democracy now! as scientific and from a link between fracking and earthquakes, we will speak with josh fox, director of "gasland part ii." hownew film looks at natural gas drilling is leading to water contamination, air pollution and health problems. >> my throat would start swelling, i was gasping for air read i started stuttering, stumbling. my face drew up on my left side.

>> then we get to north carolina where over 700 people have been arrested in the past 10 weeks in a weekly protest called moral monday. >> it means using bills to suggest their pro-life when in fact they are pro-hypocrisy. >> we will look at moral mondays and a move by north carolina lawmakers to shut down abortion clinics by adding anti-choice restrictions to a bill on motorcycle safety. prisonersover 12,000 in california enter their fifth day on hunger strike to protest solitary confinement, we will speak with a reporter who survived solitary in iran, shane bauer, author of, "solitary in iran nearly broke me. then i went inside america's prisons." all of that and more coming up. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman.

national security agency whistleblower edward snowden is reportedly set to meet today with international human rights groups in the transit area of a moscow airport or he has been holed up for nearly three weeks. he has received asylum offers from venezuela, nicaragua, and bolivia. in an e-mail invitation purportedly sent by snow to the groups, he condemns -- the united states has been exerting heavy pressure on latin american countries not to help him. leaked by documents snowden reveal how microsoft collaborated with u.s. intelligence agencies to facilitate the interception of online communications. the guardian reports microsoft worked closely with the nsa, even helping its current the company's own encryption on outlook.com web chats. the firm reportedly worked with the fbi to facilitate nsa access

to its popular cloud storage service sky drive. the documents also relate to skype, the microsoft owned internet phone service. a document in july shows the nsa bragged the number of video calls been collected through its top-secret prism program had tripled due to a new capability. microsoft issued a statement in response to the revelation, saying -- the leading u.s. diplomat on afghanistan has dismissed the possibility of the united states might withdraw all troops from afghanistan at the end of the combat mission next year. the remarks by james thompson's came after reports president obama is seriously considering a total withdrawal following tensions with afghan president karzai over peace talks with the taliban and. dobbins spoke before senate committee thursday. >> without an agreement on our presence in afghanistan, we

would not remain, but we don't believe that is the likely outcome of these negotiations. emma to whichk comparisons are often made, the afghans actually need us to stay . >> in egypt, supporters of president morsi are holding rival rallies today. the muslim brotherhood is refusing to halt protest until morsi resumes power, even though many of the groups leaders have been detained by the egyptian .rmy which to our last week the new york times is reporting there is increasing evidence that allies of egypt's military establishment and former president mubarak helped fill the popular uprising that led to morsi's ouster. orsi supporters say fuel shortages and blackouts were orchestrated purposefully to incite public outcry. the times reports --

one man who reportedly played a key role in the protests was a billionaire and opponent of morsi's muslim brotherhood who said he backed the opposition by donatingd offices, boosting media coverage, and commissioning a music video without the group realizing he was involved. despite the military's ouster morsi, the u.s. is reportedly planning to move ahead with the delivery of f-16 fighter jets to egypt's military. trial united states, the of george zimmerman for the fatal shooting of unarmed african-american teenager trayvon martin is wrapping up in florida. in his closing remarks thursday, the prosecutor accused zimmerman , a self-appointed neighborhood watch captain, of profiling trayvon martin as the 17-year- ring only skittles and iced tea.

the prosecutor opened his final statement with these words. >> a teenager is dead. he is dead through no fault of his own. mans dead because another made assumptions. george zimmerman could face up to life in prison if convicted of second-degree murder. on thursday, the judge told jurors they could also find zimmerman guilty of a lesser charge of manslaughter, which could carry up to 30 years in prison. the defense will make its closing statement today followed by rebuttal from prosecutors. then a jury of six women, five of them white, will deliberate zimmerman's fate. the texas senate committee has approved an anti-choice bill opponents that could in abortion access in the state for setting the stage for a showdown at the state capitol today is the full senate debates the bill. protesters successfully blocked

the sweeping restrictions last month following a nearly 11 hour filibuster by texas state senator wendy davis. the north carolina house meanwhile has passed sweeping anti-choice restrictions attached to motorcycle safety bill, prompting some opponents to arrive for the vote wearing motorcycle helmet. e bill now goes to the senate. in another defeat for abortion rights, the illinois supreme court has ruled the state can enforce a law requiring abortion providers to notify the parents of girls under 18 at least 48 hours before an abortion. 30 eight other states require some form of parental notification for minors. and washington, d.c., house subcommittee has slipped a writer into a general appropriations bill that would ban d.c. from using its own tax revenues to fund abortions for low income women through medicaid area did we will have more on anti-choice restrictions are protest sweeping texas and north carolina later in the broadcast. house lawmakers have passed it

portion of the -- version of the farm bill that expands government subsidies to agribusiness, but for the first time in 40 years does not include funding for the food stamp program. republican said it will seek a separate bill on food stamps. has ordereddge commanders at guantánamo bay prison to stop conducting invasive tunable searches of prisoners seeking to meet with their lawyers. ruled the searches were aimed at hindering prisoners access to legal counsel. the judge also said prisoners weakened an ongoing hunger strike must be allowed to meet with attorneys at their housing camp instead of being forced to travel. on thursday, the military counted 104 hunger strikers at the prison, claiming two had ended their strike. 45 are still being force fed.

six climbers with the environmental group reviews were arrested thursday for scaling the tallest building western europe in order to protest shells plans to drill in the arctic. the all woman climbing team topped the more than 1000 foot shard tower over 15 hours. a greenpeace spokesperson said they chose the building because it is in full view of shells london offices. >> one of our biggest factions ever, and it really is a huge into the00 10 meters air. hopefully this will bring home to show we will not be ignored. japan's lead nuclear regulator has admitted the fukushima day to nuclear power plant has likely been leaking water contaminated with radioactive material for the past two years, ever since it was heavily damaged by a massive earthquake and tsunami. japan's nuclear regulation authority contest

neither operators nor regulators know the origin of the leaks or how to stop them. meanwhile, the manager of the plant to lead the hazardous fight to staunch the 2011 nuclear disaster has died of esophageal cancer at the age of 58. the state of georgia is set to put a mentally disabled prisoner to death on monday unless the u.s. supreme court intervenes. warn hill was sentenced to death for murdering a fellow prisoner while serving a life sentence for fatally shooting his girlfriend. he was granted a last-minute reprieve before his last scheduled execution in february. at 2002 supreme court ruling bans execution of people deemed mentally retarded, but george is the only state that requires group of such disabilities the on a reasonable doubt. three experts who once testified hill did not meet the criteria have since recanted. the new york times wrote in an editorial thursday --

worn hill will die on monday at 7:00 p.m. from a single injection of pentobarbital unless the supreme court stays his execution. those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. >> welcome to all our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. more than 12 thousand prisoners in california have entered their fifth day of a hunger strike in a pushed in on terms solitary confinement, which they call a form of indefinite state sanctioned torture. in addition to refusing meals, more than 1000 prisoners are also missing classes in prison work programs. this is the third large-scale hunger strike in the past two years. the current fast began a pelican bay state prison and has spread to two thirds of the states 33 prisons. corrections officials have reportedly responded by threatening to search prisoners cells, subject them to mental health evaluations, and deny

them access to visitors and mail. while this is a video produced hunger strikers solitary the committee listing their demands. it includes a response from terry thornton, a spokeswoman for the california department of corrections. >> in long-term confinement. into >> there are some things we cannot do. some of the other things like calendar, those are things that may be doable, i cap. i don't know we will be pressured or coerced into doing these things. >> the hunger strike comes as california has asked the supreme court to release it from an order to reduce its prison population by about 10,000 prisoners this year due to inhumane conditions. documents, atourt

least one california prisoner needlessly dies every six or seven days due to constitutional deficiencies. california has had a prisoner suicide rate that at times has been 80% higher than the national average. >> reporter shane bauer, was held in solitary confinement in a ran, when inside california's pelican bay prison last year. this is a clip from of radio report he made last year when officials gave him a tour of one of the 11 by seven foot solitary confinement cells in the security housing unit or shu. >> why don't they have windows? >> i cannot explain that. >> you may be in a cell and a food tray will be released through the opening. >> they will be stripped naked, wait for the door to be opened. come out and get exercise. >> prisoners only get one hour

in this concrete run every day. guestt report was by our journalist shane bauer, who joins us now from san francisco. he spent 26 months in prison in iran, many in solitary. he began investigating solitary confinement in the u.s. when released. withs covered stories mother jones with his article entitled, "solitary in iran nearly broke me. then i went inside america's prisons." he found that california prisoners are being held for years in isolation based on allegations they're connected to prison gangs. it is great to have you with us. talk about this strike going on throughout california prison systems. >> thank you for having me. californiahe department of corrections is reporting about 2400 people are on hunger strike.

by their criteria, this means people have refused meals -- nine consecutive meals. the numbers could be higher of those on hunger strike. the issue is indefinite detainment in solitary confinement. the way it works now, in inmate is deemed a gang affiliate and placed in the shu for an indeterminate amount of time. and pelican bay, the average amount of time spent there is seven and a half years for but there are around 80 people who have been in a prison for 20 years or more. one man has been there for 42 years. >> shane, the prison authorities definition of gangs seems to be pretty elastic, not having to do with any actual activities or illegal acts of the prisoners within the system. would you talk about how they define these "gangs"?

ago, until about a year there were seven gangs that qualified for placement in the shu, prison gangs. really dangerous games like mexican mafia that can really run crime out onto the streets. but the criteria for determining whether someone is a member or an associate of the gangs is notoriously loose. i have seen cases of people who are put in the shu and deemed gang members because they have academic books on the black panthers or journal writings about african-american history, for gangmaterials investigators teach the use of or father inle spanish. someone does not have to do anything to get put in their.

they don't have to hurt someone to get in indefinite shu term. since the last hunger strike about a year and half ago, the department of corrections has been reforming its policy to who isow in inmate considered an associate, not a member, but someone who associates with one of these gangs, has to commit a serious rules violation to get put in the shu. at the same time, they have changed the rules for what that means. in the past, that would mean an inmate tried to escape, stab someone, something like that. now it can include the possession of these books or drawings by an inmate that show gang symbols. it is the same kind of stuff that has always been used to put people in the shu indefinitely. >> in your major report you examine how hard it is for prisoners who are in solitary confinement due to alleged gang affiliation to appeal for the release to a less restrictive

area. this is a clip from the video that accompanied your report when he spoke with officials at pelican bay prison. broughtof the evidence by gang investigators comes from informants. it is confidential and cannot be refuted. trucks there are multiple avenues to review the material and used against them and challenge it. >> but he says he is never seen a successful appeal and his 15 years at pelican bay. the only inmates allowed to talk to us are those informing. they don't like me asking why. they take me out of the shu to meet a man who is in solitary

for 12 years. >> it is punishment. >> he got out by informing on other prisoners, a process called the briefing, which means death among prisoners. >> you'll be target for assault, possibly murder. >> that report from shane bauer with mother jones. shane is with us in the studio in san francisco. he himself was imprisoned in initary confinement in iran 2009. shane, talk about the demands right now of the prisoners who are on hunger strike. >> one of the core demands the video clip you're just showing, in and to the debriefing process. the way it is set up now, on of two ways to get out is to inform another prisoners or snitch. and that involves giving a roster of names of people who are involved to the person

alleged to be affiliated with pre-at it is extremely dangerous. if someone does this, they are marked for death by actual gang members. a lot of prisoners faced this dilemma where they either have to stay in solitary confinement for years at a time, four years is minimum for case to to be reviewed, or give up names. it creates a revolving door scenario where people are giving up names to get out and other people will be brought in. in a case where someone is not an actual gang affiliate and they want to get out, there is a lot of pressure to give up something, you know, to get out of this difficult situation. also right now with this hunger strike as opposed to the one a year and a half ago, while the solitary confinement is that the core of it, it is kind of about a lot of other issues. it has become a much more widespread hunger strike.

each prison has its own demands. there are demands you see for rise in wages from $.13 an hour to one dollar an hour, a demand for the return of educational classes and really the demand for the return of a lot of the services that have been cut in california prisons over the past years. >> shane, given his remarkable level of resistance now over several years by the inmates, how have they been able to organize statewide and be able to maintain their networks or their collectives within the prisons, even to the point now of producing a video explaining some of their demands? ofthere is a lot coordination with groups inside and outside that are kind of connected throughout the system that are making this communication possible. it is extremely difficult in solitary confinement to

communicate with people outside eight inmates, let alone across the state. >> i want to play a comment from sarah short, who with you, were arrested in 2009 along with josh for tall. you are both married now. you and sarah got married. you were released after spending months in solitary confinement. laster she spoke at amnesty international conference and described the prison conditions she underwent. over 13 months as a political hostage in iran, i was held in solitary confinement after being imprisoned in tehran. after just two months, my mind began to slip pre-at i would spend large portions of my day crouched down on my hands and knees by a small slot in my cell door, listening for any sounds that might distract me from the terror of my isolation.

i suffered from insomnia, emotional detachment and violent panic attacks. i began screaming and beating at the walls until my knuckles bled. perhaps the most unbearable mental torture was not knowing when i would see my family again. sometimes whirring about my mother would keep me from sleeping for days at a time. it was eight months before they even let me call her and tell her i was alive. even then the phone call lasted about five minutes. >> that was sarah shourd describing iran, her imprisonment there. shane, as you go from your imprisonment in iran to the prison system in california, the about what you find, similarities and differences in the significance of the strike today. >> the conditions in the arabian prison are awful. we were at a political prison,

pro-democracy activists, people are physically tortured their. but what really shocked me about pelican bay compared to my experience in iran is, one, the length of time people spend their. months.pent 13.5 in pelican bay, that is nothing. smaller andells are there is no windows in them. inmates never see the outside. when they could exercise, they go to a larger cell with a plexiglass roof. i spoke to an inmate who had not seen a tree in 12 years. there is no comparison to that situation in iran. >> could you relate that to this

astonishingly higher suicide ine that has become endemic the california prison system? around 40% ofia, suicides are happening in isolation units. , when yout majority take into account the population which is around 11,000 or 12,000 people in isolation in california, the rate of suicide is far higher. namedlogists have kind of the syndrome that comes with long-term isolation called the shu syndrome, which includes violent outbursts, suicidal thoughts, hallucinations. people really lose their minds in these places. a lot of inmates i've corresponded with have talked ,bout people cutting themselves throwing feces around the cells, and just hearing constant

screens. it is the kind of situation that human beings are not intended to endure. we need social contacts, we need to interact with other human beings to have her own identity to maintain our sanity. >> shane, they give for being with us, award-winning investigative journalist. he himself was imprisoned in solitary confinement in iran, now back talking about the massive strike that is taking place throughout the prison system in california. we will continue to follow this strike. you can go to democracynow.org to see a discussion about another hunger strike, and that is guantanamo. you can hear an interview with former guantánamo prosecutor colonel morris davis about the ongoing hunger strike. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

>> this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. >> scientists are warning the controversial practice of fracking may lead to far more powerful earthquakes than previously thought. fracking injects millions of gallons of water, sand, and chemicals deep into the earth in order to break up shale rock and release natural gas. published thursday in the journal science by one of the world's leading seismology labs warns that pumping water underground can induce dangerous earthquakes even in regions not

otherwise prone to tremors. long-search also reveals term water pumping makes sites more vulnerable to sizable tremors triggered by earthquakes occurring in other parts of the world. >> the new report comes as academy award nominated director josh fox has released the sequel to his highly acclaimed acumen documentary " gasland" and "solitary in iran nearly broke me. then i went inside america's prisons." it is called it shows that frack time andably leak over can then contaminate the environment, sicken residents, and exacerbate climate change. >> i name is josh fox. health problems across the u.s., not just the numbers i get you dizzy. >> this is where we eat, sleep, live free at the gas industry --

>> we have found no instance of it harming. >> they want a street fight. >> never underestimate the power of money. you complain about the price of gas, wait into your paying twice that for the price of water. >> that was the trailer of "gasland part ii." documentaryvious was nominated for an academy award. welcome back to democracy now! what did you find in part ii/ talk about the science journal study. huge shale play in california, and the legacy oil field in the center of los angeles which is being drilled and frack right on top of a fault line. the earthquake study showed

earthquakes far away on the other side of the planet could trigger bigger earthquakes were they have injection well facilities. they are used for fracking waste. fracking creates an enormous amount of waste. back upd has to come and be disposed of somehow. the industry has a huge problem figuring out how to dispose of it, so they injected back into the ground and fault lines are said to be coming quickly stressed. it says the fracking itself can cause minor earthquakes. >> your original film has provoked quite a bit of effort to discredit some portions of the film, especially the now legendary portion of people's faucets catching fire. can you talk about the efforts of the industry to discredit your work? me,hey have been attacking

the families in the film, consistently. they are at it again with this new film. it is disheartening to see this is their strategy, to deny, deny, try to influence politicians and spend lots of money to convince americans it is a great idea to drill one to 2 million new gas wells. the oil and gas industry has leased more land than the total landmass of california and florida combined. that means a lot of the adjacent states are also influenced. it could be twice that amount of area. shocking that what they're saying similar to to the way they attacked climate science that some of these things are a hoax, that they are not true. this is a really blatant attack on the science, on the way this issue has been reported for the last three and a half years.

they reveal themselves to be doing some dastardly things in the background without us knowing it. inlet's go to jeremiah gee pennsylvania, explaining what it is like to live next door to leased for gas drilling. >> to were running onto his property and killing his family spawned. under the ground, methane had migrated into their water well . >> he shows how he can light his tap water on fire. >> this is common. gas migrates into aquifers and people using the groundwater. >> he explains it with his water supply. >> i will get a phone call in a few minutes asking why i was up here with the guy with the camera. we were told point blank the word freshwater does not mean what you think it means. freshwater means fresh to this site.

every bit of water that will be coming here and used in the frack tank has already been used at a different site. >> josh fox, talk about how the industry deals with communities. you have an astounding section ofyour film that has audio industry talking to each other, talking about how they're using military, and how they consider you and the people who are fighting back insurgents. >> this is audio recorded by a blogger who was at an oil and gas industry conference where they were discussing all of the bad pr they were getting and how to counter it. they go on to explain how they're using informer psyops officers who are coming back from iraq and afghanistan to write local laws and develop techniques to divide local land owners.

chesapeake. then goes on to talk about people who are fighting the gas industry like land owners like you just saw jeremiah gee as insurgents. one of the spokespeople for another huge petroleum company says i'm a what they should do is download the counterinsurgency manual -- says what they should do is download the counterinsurgency manual which is about how to deal with an insurgent in iraq and afghanistan. these are terms of war. it was shocking to see that. it goes hand-in-hand with the strategy that is overt in the media, which is to -- you cannot turn on the tv except for this show were you're not going to see ads from the natural gas industry. we seeing editorials and these kinds of things to try to discredit the very clear science , in most cases, the science industry itself did. this is following the tobacco

industry's playbook. the tobacco industry for decades sponsored bogus science, which it try to create out in the media as to whether or not cigarettes were harmful to people, and that strategy was that was by a pr firm hired in 2009 to create a false debate. the formero turn to governor of pennsylvania tom ridge, the first secretary of homeland security and an outspoken supporter of the natural gas industry. he said natural gas as a matter of economic security and energy independence. i want to go to a clip of his interview. >> pennsylvania is sitting on top of something i think could be or could lead a renaissance in america with regarding energy that only in terms of creating jobs but making us more secure, less dependent on foreign sources.

my job, and i do have a paid job as a consultant with the industry, is to make sure in pennsylvania we take advantage of every resource and develop it in a way consistent with workplace safety, environmentally sound principles, and help us to create great jobs in pennsylvania and become less dependent on foreign sources of fuel. >> the host then asked tom ridge about the phenomena of flaming water. or not you want to spend a billion dollars a day to foreign countries, some of whom are unstable or unfriendly countries, it is a matter of whether or not you want to have a bunch of leaders deciding they're not going to increase the production of oil, which means our gas rises go through the roof. it is a matter of economic and national security. , anhat was tom ridge outspoken supporter of the natural gas industry. >> he had a $900,000 contract. we noticed at the same time the department of homeland security,

which was the first chair, the pennsylvania department of homeland security started circulating bulletins to law enforcement that lifted anti- fracking organizations as possible ecoterrorists, which had no basis in reality. there had been nothing -- these people are doing democratic organizations. we discover the department of homeland security was circulating those bulletins directly to the marseilles shall coalition and other gas industry lobbyists and stakeholders. this was a scandal in pennsylvania which ended up with the dhs head resigning. tom ridge and a lot of -- three pennsylvania governors in a row have heavy ties to the gas to advocate for drilling and fracking without disclosing those ties in the media. describingreport

purgatory agencies in democracy itself taken away from the citizens and that is really the journey and the question behind the new film. the first film featured a lot of people lighting water on fire, and this one is -- >> it is not just the industry. tom ridge was the head of homeland security, former pennsylvania governor, now pay to speak for the energy industry. but yet president obama who last month delivered a major address on global warming and held natural gas drilling. >> even as we are producing more domestic oil, we are also producing more cleaner burning natural gas than any other country on earth. sometimes there are disputes about natural gas. let me say this, we should strengthen our position as the top natural gas producer because in the medium term, at least, it not only can provide safe, cheap power, but it can also help

reduce our carbon emissions. >> that was president obama. >> he is advocating for fracking, without saying the word "fracking." what is really disappointing about this is this is a moment when an american president has spoken about climate change and limited obvious desire to take on the problem, however, the emphasis on fracked gas makes this thing entirely wrong. the plan focuses on carbon dioxide but how we count global warming potential he is in carbon dioxide equivalent and methane, which is leaking out of the sites in very large quantities is a super greenhouse gas, 100 times more potent than co2 in the atmosphere. seeing sevenwe're to 17% of total production

methane leaking into the atmosphere, moving from coal to fracked gas does not give you any climate benefit at all. the plan should be how we are moving off fossil fuels and into renewable energies. >> what is stopping that? >> this administration has done a lot of meetings with the natural gas industry. ofre is an undue influence their promotion of themselves on the policy. what we're doing is asking president obama, please, meet with the families and the scientists and engineers in the new film and give us an opportunity to make the case for equal time. this president's legacy should not be just one of meeting with corporations, but he should meet with the people. thousands are suffering. they have submitted letters to the white house, to the energy secretary, to valerie jarrett and done it in a public way.

listen, you cannot advocate for fracked gas and yield climate change at the same time. >> speaking with the people, new york state continues to have an ongoing vocal and extensive popular campaign that has been preventing governor cuomo from doing what a lot of people think he wants to do, which is go- ahead with fracking here. >> new york did something unusual, they used democracy. they did an environmental impact ,udy, which has, in -- sessions. the latest review got 200-4000 public comments by new yorkers. the last record for pre-fracking issue study was 1000 comments. it is not over. and i think people are seeing the citizens of new york and the way the government in new york

has handled it by allowing citizen participation and hoping that is something that inspires people around the world. >> this is from "solitary in iran nearly broke me. then i went inside america's prisons." lisa explains how her family dish aerated in texas after natural gas began around her home. >> my daughter looks at the rash all over her face. she has nosebleed. nosebleed. throats burning,, eyes. i had a rash that went through my entire body literally to the bottoms of my feet. my throat would start swelling. i started gasping for air. i started stuttering and stumbling. my face drew up on my left side. >> an excerpt from "gasland part ii." it premiered earlier this week on hbo. josh fox's previous documentary, " gasland" was documented for -- documentary was no need for an

academy award. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. >> we turn now to the war on women's health which took a major turn thursday as two states against far-reaching legislation to restrict abortion. a showdown is expected in texas today after a state senate committee approved a bill critics say would virtually and abortion access in the state. an earlier attempt to pass the bill was thwarted last month when protesters raise their voices to drown out the proceedings following a nearly 11 hour filibuster by texas state senator wendy davis. another hero to emerge from the battle in texas this week was sarah slamen. the video of her testimony monday went viral. for being you, texas legislature. you have radicalized hundreds of thousands of us. no matter what you do for the next 22 days, women and their allies are coming for you. senator campbell, you're an ophthalmologist so i won't be making you the expert on reproductive health.

we can give you all of the children with chlamydia and herpes in their eyes since we don't have sex at in the state. senator hegar, you're about as -- >> wait a minute. >> is is my government. i will judge you, man. his this counting against my time? ?he senator talking against me >> yes, it is. >> i will just talk over her. this is how big of a fraud i knew you were for being so proud of these proceedings all night, the low bar you hold to that you simply allowed us to speak. i will speak against an ophthalmologist who said everyone on the internet can see what you're doing right now. this is a farce. the texas legislators are bunch of liars. these men are-- >> is gary oldham here? go ahead. that was sarah slamen testifying before a texas state committee on monday.

she was hold away from the chamber by state troopers. in north carolina, house republicans advanced antitrust restrictions by attaching them to a bill on motorcycle safety. on thursday, the state house voted 74 to 41 to approve the bill which imposes a series of restrictions critics say are aimed at shutting down clinics. republican lawmakers claim the new rules for abortion clinics will make women safer. the provisions are similar to those passed by the north carolina state senate last week without a public hearing as part of a bill ostensibly designed to bar sharia law in the state. republican governor patrick cory of that and give each other the bill -- pat mccrory threatened to veto the bill. than 60nday, more people were arrested as the so- called steak attack on women's rights became the focus of ongoing moral monday protest the north carolina. on of those arrested is our next guest joining us from raleigh,

north carolina, janet colm. can you explain how the anti- choice bill was attached to the motorcycle safety bill? well, it is a complicated maneuvering having to do with some of the legislative rules, but basically, it comes down to just another sneak attack on women's health where they gutted one bill, substituted language, then passed it through yesterday afternoon. it goes to the senate, we think come in next week. >> and what is likely to happen in the senate? >> well, i don't know. we now have two bills. one the senate snuck through and won the house snuck through. same.ially they are the almost certainly one of them will end up on the desk of governor mccrory. we are hoping he will stick to his campaign promise not to sign

in july any further restrictions on abortion. in north carolina, one of the challenges we face is this law can also go into effect if he doesn't sign it. certainly looking at increased restrictions on abortion providers. >> this is extremely significant treated there in the debate in his 2012 campaign, north carolina governor patrick cory said he wouldn't support any for the restrictions on abortion access when he was asked by the moderator. >> speaking of women's health issue, state lawmakers passed a woman's right to know act, a new law that as restrictions and some say make it more difficult for women to get abortions in north carolina. if elected governor, what for the restrictions abortion would you agree to sign? >> none. >> there you have it, that is north carolina governor patrick cory. , what is in this bill that just passed?

>> it is not totally clear. it really is a laundry list of all of the abortion restrictions they would hope to pass, theuding allowing department of health and human services to increase restrictions on abortion facilities, but it is not clear what those are. or the timetable for implementation. one of the big objections we have is this bill at this point is very, very vague. there is no question they're going to increase restrictions and it will cause severe hardship to the women who seek abortion in the state. >> given what has happened in texas and now in north carolina, your sense of whether there is a tipping point approaching in terms of state efforts to restrict choice among women? well, i thought you're going to be talking about the tipping

point in terms of of the reaction to these laws because that is what i see. we certainly saw in texas and we have seen it in north carolina, that this has lit a fuse. the supporters of a woman's right to choose and all the other issues that are connected with this, including prenatal care and medicaid expansion, which our state also cut off, which means half a million people in the state will not have access to insurance under the affordable care act. so i think all of these issues are connected and are infuriating the majority of north carolina and's. >> is this the occupy wall street moment for the pro-choice movement? you are the ceo of planned parenthood and you got arrested on monday. >> yes. i think it is the moral monday moment for the pro-choice movement. we are really proud and happy to be in the coalition that is

forming, spearheaded by the naacp. as reverend barber often says, we are in this together from voting rights to healthcare, unemployment and education. these are all issues that affect women and our families, and we're going to stand arm in arm. >> is it true, rumor has it you have the same sneakers come a janet, as wendy davis, the pink sneakers shoes for for her 11 are filibuster? >> the rumor is true and i are them to jail. >> janet colm, thank you for being with us, president, ceo and founder of planned central north carolina. after the break, we go to reverend barber to talk about moral mondays. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

>> this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. look at north to carolina. for weeks, thousands have been gathering at the north carolina legislative building for the tokly moral monday protest protest the agenda of the republican-led state legislature. 700 people have been arrested over the past 10 weeks. in a moment, we will be joined by one of the leaders of the more ominous protests, president of the north carolina naacp, reverend william barber. hirst, these are some of the voices who spoke out before they were arrested. >> many of our legislators think bought and paid their positions and they don't have to listen to us anymore. i'm here to tell them, this is not their house, this is our house. >> just take a look around you. they have not divided us, but united us. >> their day of recall will come

read i hope you show them the same attitude at the voting polls that they have shown us here in north carolina. >> we stand today for what is right because it is right. actions speak louder than words. it is time for all good women to stand up, to speak up. >> some of us are here because of women's rights, others because of unemployment or fracking. it matter what the issue, we are standing together. >> some of the voices speaking before the north carolina state legislature during the moral monday protest. we returned to north carolina where we are joined by one of the leaders of these protests, reverend william barber. theust talked about antichoice legislation that moral mondays has taken on. reverend dr. william barber, talk about the other issues that

are causing, well, this point, over 700 people to get arrested. >> thank you so much and thank you to your audience. moral mondays is not a spontaneous speech. it has grown out of eight years , groups like planned parenthood and others have been involved all along. we know in the south what changes the dynamic is fusion politics. saying sincebeen january, this legislature, is to cut 500,000 people from medicaid , disabled children, is immoral, extreme, and bad policies to 170,000 people unemployment who lost their jobs with no fault of their -- through no fault of their own.

poor but i'm doing -- by undoing their earned income. giving wealthy families tax cut is extreme and immoral. to attack women's rights, voting rights, to undermine public education. all of these are part of what is extreme -- i don't even call them republican or democrat, but extreme legislators. we are forcing a new conversation in the public arena. it is not republican or democrat, the role versus conservative, but talking about what is moral and immoral, what is extreme and what is bad policy. this, it is constitutionally inconsistent, morally indefensible, and economically insane what they are doing. >> and your decision to focus in on the state legislature?

why was that made and what has been the impact of the result among the citizens of north carolina? >> now they're down to less than one person out of five feels the leadership is good in the state. the numbers have plummeted. we have known for quite some time the real fight in this country is at the state capitals, particularly in the south. in the state capitals, that is were election laws are passed, labor rights, educational rights. all of those issues grow out of the state capital. this particular legislature is a reaction to our success. the last few years we were able to win things like same-day registration, early voting and sunday voting, earned income tax , more focus on public education. we did it with a different electorate, a fusion electorate, a coming together that takes

advantage of the new demographic where whites and blacks and latinos and gay and straight and people of faith and labor and women and men in rule and irving come together. that is why we are focused on the state capitol because of the power at the state capitol. if you want to change the nation, you have to change the south. if you want to change the south, you have to change the state capitol. we believe this extreme ideological group understands their narrowminded agenda does not have much longer in the public arena. demographicss, the are changing. people are coming together. what they're trying to do is reshape public policy, but also not only reshuffle policy, but try to restructure even how people have access to voting as a desperation to hold power. >> we want to thank you for being with us, dr. reverend william barber.

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