03/04/14 03/04/14 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] >> from pacifica, this is democracy now! >> we understand there are concerns about blasting materials -- plastic materials the consumers use everyday. those products include water bottles, baby bottles, and food storage containers. we can see how available information can be confusing and how difficult it could be for consumers to tell what is really say. >> are any plastics safe? that is an exposé by mother jones, looking how the chemical

industry is using big tobacco-style campaigning to bury the disturbing evidence about the products you use everyday. scientists are now revealing that bpa-free products may be just as dangerous. then we go to the middle east to speak with code pink founder medea benjamin. she was just reported to turkey from egypt where she was to tame and held overnight. andhey came in the morning five scary looking man said, come with us. they did not tell me where. then they threw me down on the floor, got on my back, grabbed my arms, hands cupped so tight that my arms came out of its socket. >> all of that and more coming up. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. states has suspended all military ties with russia and preparing possible sanctions on top russian officials amid

the ongoing crisis in ukraine. over the weekend, russian troops seized parts of ukraine's armenian peninsula following the ouster of the pro-russian president viktor yanukovych. speaking earlier today, russian president vladimir putin said yanukovich is ukraine's only legitimate leader. >> the definition of what is happening in kiev in ukraine as a whole, the definition could be the only one. it is an unconstitutional coup and military seizure of power. nobody is arguing with that. who is arguing with that? >> ukraine's new government said russia had employed 16,000 troops in the crimean peninsula and had called for ukrainian forces to surrender. usen said russia would military force only as a last resort and would take action or to protect the ukrainian people. on monday, president obama said the united states is considering a range of steps against russia. >> i think the strong

condemnation that it has received from countries around the world indicates the degree to which russia is on the wrong side of history on this. we are strongly supportive of the interim ukrainian government. don terry will be traveling to kiev to indicate our support for the ukrainian people, to offer their specific and concrete packages of economic aid. one of the things were concerned about the stabilizing the economy, even in the midst of this crisis. >> secretary of state john kerry is meeting with interim leaders in ukraine today. earlier today, the ukrainian parliament approved a deal to receive 839 million dollars in loans from the european union, while russia's state gas company said it would cancel its discount for ukraine. the u.s. drone strike has reportedly killed at least three people in humans province to the town of shebwan.

tribal sources said a drone hit the vehicle of a suspected al qaeda fighter, killing him and to other occupants. two civilians tending sheep nearby were would did. reportedly wounded. reuters reported there was a second drone strike in yemen, saying at least four people have been killed in the strikes. last week, european parliament voted overwhelmingly to condemn the drone strikes him a passing a resolution calls for member states to ban extrajudicial killings. the vote was 534 to 49. u.s. peace activist video benjamin says she was detained at cairo's airport by egyptian police who broke her arm and held her without explanation. benjamin had intended to meet up with international delegates before traveling to gaza for a women's conference, but says she was detained upon arrival and held overnight before being deported to turkey where she is now seeking medical treatment. heard attention came as egypt and all activities of the palestinian group hamas.

we will hear from her later in the broadcast. new data from the afghan government shows afghan forces have borne the brunt of u.s.-led invasion with nearly 14,000 afghan soldiers and police killed in the war, are far higher toll than previously known. most of the deaths happened in the past three years as the united states transferred more authority to the afghans. more than 16,000 afghan forces were winded. the afghan death toll is four times higher than that of the u.s.-led coalition, which were seen just over 3400 soldiers killed, about 2300 of them american. the report follows afghan president hamid karzai's statement to "the washington post" that "afghans died in a war that is not ours." >> [indiscernible]

>> president karzai has so far refused to sign a deal to keep u.s. troops in afghanistan beyond what he 14, leading obama to threaten a total withdrawal. iraq is also continuing to see increased levels of violence. the united nations confirmed more than 700 people died in iraq in february alone, most of them civilians, a higher told in the same month last year. the total does not include nearly 300 deaths reported in an bar province were security forces are fighting rebels. proposedd nations has a nearly 12,000-member peacekeeping force for central african republic where sectarian conflict has raised fears of a possible genocide.

at least 2000 people have died and more than 700,000 have been displaced since december amidst fighting between muslim rebels and christian vigilantes. the european union is preparing to deploy hundreds of soldiers to join thousands of african and french troops already on the ground. say allies in china eight suspects who attacked a train station armed with knives have either been arrested or killed. four alleged assailants were shot by police after the attack which killed 29 people and wounded many more. another four suspects have been arrested. the government has blamed separatist members. in the southeastern african country, officials are warning more than 300,000 people are facing famine this year. agriculture minister jose pach eco said the condition stem from factors including plagues of insects, floods, and drought. president obama met with his

close ally, per minister benjamin netanyahu, at the white house on monday. obama said he assured him of his "absolute commitment" to preventing iran from developing a nuclear weapon and also urged him to embrace the u.s.-brokered peace process with the palestinians. netanyahu took a firm stance. >> the only piece that will endure is one that we can defend. we have learned from our history, jewish history, and i think from general history, that the best way to guarantee peace is to be strong. that is what the people of israel expect me to do, stand strong against criticism, against pressure, stand strong to secure the future of the one in knowing jewish state. barack obama's meeting him as israeli government figures showed israel initiated more than twice as many west bank settlement homes last year that it did the previous year. israel central bureau of statistics say construction began on more than 2500 settlement housing units in

2013, compared to just over 1100 the year before. last year's number is the highest in a decade. in the west bank stored in valley, posting and residents and local officials say israel has demolished hundreds of homes. >> the israeli occupation forces came here on the 29th in the morning while we were sleeping. minutes to leave the buildings we lived in and then they demolished them all at once. without any warning at all. the occupation has demolished more than 500 structures in the past year alone in this area, and now the easterly army and occupation is carrying out all these policies in order to pressure the people and drive them out. they have demolished these tents and driven out the inhabitants and plan to have exercises in this area and to build more settlements and military camps. >> in israeli contractor that

provides surveillance systems along israel's separation wall in the west bank has won of $145 million contract to provide similar technology along u.s.-mexico border. bloomberg reports the contract reachlbit systems could $1 billion if an immigration bill passes. the news comes as u.s. border agents are facing scrutiny for killing migrants with 21 civilian deaths reported since 2010. the los angeles times obtained a report by law enforcement experts that criticized the border patrol's lack of diligence investigations and found agents to literally stepped into the paths of cars, apparently to justify shooting the drivers. u.s. customs and border protection tried to suppress the report, omitting key findings when it was released to members of congress. in its response to the report, the government rejected its two central recommendations -- stopping agents from shooting at

cars unless some insiders trying to kill them, and blocking them from firing at people who are throwing things that cannot cause serious injuries. reported, mcclatchy that in january, a border agent shot and killed a migrant in arizona who appeared to be on his knees. the agent claimed the victim lunged for his gun. mexico's human rights commission is investigating possible medical negligence over the care of indigenous women giving birth in the southern state ofx. case of an indigenous woman died from an infection after scissors were left in her uterus. a second woman was refused care at a hospital and gave birth in a nearby bathroom. a wave of reports of indigenous people and turn away from hospitals has highlighted discrimination in mexico's medical system. mcclatchy reports women have given birth on the lawns or steps of hospitals at least seven times since the middle of last year. in chile, the daughter of ousted president salvador allende is

poised to become the first female leader of the senate. senator isabel allende will take up the post next week after she was selected by lawmakers from the party a president-elect michele bachelet. her father led the senate before he was elected president in 1970. he was overthrown in the september 11,up 1973. allende salvadorallende died in the palace that day. do a supreme court heard arguments monday in a key death penalty case concerning the execution of prisoners with mental disabilities. convictede hall, and th murderer, who professionals is mentally disabled, is challenging florida's strict use of an iq test to determine whether he lives or dies. the supreme court and the execution of mentally disabled prisoners in 2002, but allow states to determine who needs that definition.

florida is among the states where prisoners whose were 70 or higher on an iq test to be executed. hall scored above 70, but multiple medical professionals say he is disabled in an earlier judge ruled he "had a mentally retarded his entire life." during arguments monday, a majority of supreme court justices appeared skeptical of florida's rigid use of the iq test. the supreme court is expected to rule soon on the key campaign-finance case that has been dubbed the next citizens united. the case, mccutchen versus federal election commission, is named for shaw mccutchen, republican donor who wants the court to throw out the aggregate limits on what an individual can donate in a single election cycle. critics say striking down the caps would do for individuals what citizens united did for corporations, opening the floodgates for unlimited spending an. week,are action last campaign-finance activists interrupted proceedings inside the supreme court chamber.

newkirk spoke out in what is reportedly the only known figure of the supreme court in session. >> i rise on behalf of the vast majority of the american people. >> a number of groups including public citizen are planning to hold more than 100 actions across the country on the day the mccutchen ruling is issued. of 78 organizations are asking federal regulators to address problems caused by private equity firms are buying up local housing markets. the groups say the bulk sale of foreclosed homes in an influx of wall street money is displacing renters, pricing out first-time homebuyers, and laying the grounds for another mortgage crisis. they say the drive for higher

profits coupled with a lack of oversight is particularly hurting low-income borrowers and people of color. young people in the united states will now have an easier time purchasing emergency contraception to prevent unwanted pregnancy. the obama administration says it will allow generic rands of the morning-after pill to be purchased over-the-counter without age restrictions. previously, only the more plan b onerand-name step was available without a prescription the people of all ages. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. are any plastics safe? that is the title, that is the question of an exposé by mother jones that may shock anyone who drinks out of plastic bottles, just their children plastic cups, or eats out of plastic containers. for years, public campaigns have been waged against plastic containing epa, a controversial

plastic additive. but a new investigation by mother jones magazine has revealed that chemicals used to replace bpa may be just as, if not more, dangerous to your health than their cousin compound. bpa is still widely used in everything from the lining of soup cans to printed receipts, even though studies show it mimics the behavior of estrogen in the human body and have linked it to breast cancer, diabetes, obesity, and heart disease. last week a study estimated the use of bpa and food and beverage containers is responsible for in healthllion a year care costs. reinecause bpa can hamper in organ development in young children, it has been banned in bottles and sippy cups since 2012. no new studies show the plastic products and advertised as bpa-free and sold by companies such as evenflo and tupperware,

are still releasing synthetic estrogen. the mother jones report looks at how the plastics industry has used a big tobacco-stopped and painted very the disturbing evidence. rejoin them washington, d.c. by mariah blake, staff reporter with mother jones magazine. welcome to democracy now! lay out what you found. >> welcome essentially, relatively new research shows the vast majority of plastics, at least commercially available plastics, are used for food bpa-like, contain michaels, so chemicals that are what they call estrogenic. >> explain what bpa is. that mimicschemical the hormone estrogen. we all have estrogen in our bodies.

it plays a central role in various bodily function and also is important in human development, the development of our brain and organs. however, too much or too little of this hormone, especially could,early childhood, or prenatally, could set you up for disease later on in life. so exposure -- research shows thenure in the womb can lead to breast cancer or aggression,creased really sort of a staggering list of health problems later on in life. >> and so talk about what has happened since bpa has been banned. inmany people will recall 2008, the dangers of bpa became very widely known. there was a scare, major

retailers pulled bpa from their shelves. customers began demanding bpa-free products, especially for children. any manufacturers began introducing products that were bpa-free. all of us who have children have these products in our home, most likely. in many cases, it turns out the chemicals that were used to replace bpa or the plastics contain chemicals that were anyway, manya -- of these chemicals had not been tested. they had not been tested to see if that similar properties to bpa, whether they mimicked estrogen. it turns out that many of them do. >> you begin your article by

telling us the story of michael green and his daughter. talk about that experience. >> michael green had a two-year-old daughter. he works in the environmental health field. he had seen -- research suggesting bpa-free plastics may have posed the same problems to human health. but he told me this very moving story about himself and his two-year-old daughter, seminars and the family had given his two-year-old daughter this pink plastic cup with a picture of a princess on it, which you just love. and every night at dinner time, they would have this battle of the wills over this pink lasted sippy cup. he wanted to give her the stainless steel cup and she wanted the pink plastic one. in the interest of maintaining peace in the household, occasionally he gave in and gave her this pink plastic sippy cup

of the decision really weighed on him. he said, i have a three-year-old us withe said those of children can relate to this where you do the expedia thing in the interest of peace, but you wonder if it is the best thing for your child. in this case he decided that he would try to answer that question and he runs this environment will help program and collected sippy cups from and sentnd toys "r" us them to an independent lab in texas to be tested. he found out in fact roughly 1/3 of them did contain estrogen-like chemicals. >> in that pink sippy cup? >> his daughter's sippy cup was reaching estrogenic chemicals. his fears were founded. >> what can i do to her? >> this is the big question. we know a lot about bpa. it is one of the most of the

chemicals on the planet. and we know these chemicals generally are associated with a range of negative health effects. but the specific effect of any slightlymical varies from chemical to chemical. we actually don't know what chemical is leaching out of that sippy cup. it is impossible to know. there is a high correlation with rest cancer -- with breast cancer. other specific diseases vary from chemical to chemical. michael green, the way he describes it as an implant science experiment that we are on our families all of the time. >> we're going to take a break and then come back to this discussion. we will talk about big tobacco, what big plastic has learned from big tobacco. we are talking to mariah blake, staff reporter with mother jones. her story is in the new issue of the magazine called "the scary new evidence on epa-free

plastics." stay with us. ♪ [music break]

>> this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. , staffwith mariah blake reporter for mother jones magazine. "the scary new evidence on bpa-free plastics, and the big tobacco-style campaign to bury it." that is her new piece. what is the campaign to bury the new information, mariah blake? >> there are multiple facets to the campaign, but the primary objective is to cast doubt on the scientific evidence linking

these chemicals to human health problems. and there are various ways this is done. in the case of bpa, for example, the industry-funded study, which were bias studies have found the chemical was not harmful to health and there is this sort of network -- they publish them in certain journals that in many cases had links to the tobacco industry. they relied on scientists that in many cases had helped to discredit the science linking smoking and secondhand smoke to disease. , they did nots only borrow strategy and tactics from big tobacco, they are actually relying on the same cadre of experts that big tobacco relied on to bury the truth about smoking. >> i want to turn to a video made by the classics -- caustics

--plastics industry. a pregnant woman is one of the people shown by an plastic products as he speaks. >> we understand there are concerns about plastic turtles that are used in consumer products that consumers use everyday. those products include water bottles, baby bottles, and food storage containers. we can see how available information about plastic materials can be confusing and now i can be difficult for consumers to tell what is really safe. we want the consumer to know the facts behind it. consumers can fill coffers of the material used in their product is free of estrogenic activity. consumers should have high expectations of the products they use and no one is tougher on products than the researchers and engineers at eastman chemical. most importantly, we have used reputable third-party laboratories that have used well-recognized scientific methods to prove this. numerous electric agencies

around the world have independently reviewed our data and never prove the product we're using food contact applications. some of the world's most recognized brands trust triton as their ingredient. >> he is president of eastman chemical specialty plastics division. can you respond to this, mariah blake? product the easement called triton, which is the product that he is speaking about in this video, is actually on of the primary focuses of my investigation. a number of independent scientists have tested this product and found it is actually more estrogenic than polycarbonate, which is the plastic that contains bpa. totman chemical, according internal documents which were released as part of a lawsuit, has taken pains to suppress the evidence. suppress the evidence showing its products or that this

product in particular is in fact estrogenic. how is it the epa is a regulating this? >> this is one of the most surprising things to me when i read -- when i was reporting the story. there are about 80,000 chemicals in circulation in the united states. virtually none of those chemicals has been tested for safety -- or very small fraction has been tested for safety. in general, chemicals are presumed safe until proven otherwise under the respiratory system. dust under the u.s. regulatory system. when a chemical like epa is removed from a chemical line, the industry will substitute another chemical that is untested. in many cases, we just don't know the effects of that chemical. an unregulated realm. >> tell us about george bittner.

george bittner is a neuroscientist at the university of texas. he has launched an independent .ab it tests products for estrogenic activity. working with the prominent georgetown professor and he and his staff tested i think it was 455 commercially available plastics that are on the market, and published a paper in an environment of health perspectives, which is the premier nih journal which found virtually all commercially available plastics have estrogenic activity. among the plastics he tested were tritan products, several tritan products. and this publication, this finding prompted pretty big backlash from the industry. so he ended up being targeted by

the industry as a result. in fact, was sued by eastman, that any of the documents formed the basis of my story were released as a result of that lawsuit. >> i want to read from a memo that eastman's senior chemist wrote after customers began asking about george bittner's test that showed tritan may still be estrogenic. he describes a meeting with whole foods executives who are considering replacing their polycarbonate bulk food bins with once made from tritan. he wrote --

can you respond to that, mariah blake? >> i think you chose the most telling possible quote. this was the strategy they used. first, they work to discredit bittner and it is the campaign of personal character assassination -- and did this campaign of personal character assassination and calling his business practices into question. and secondly, they worked to discredit science. one of the things that eastman did was claimed the test that bittner is using, which relies on a specialized line of breast cancer cells, have been rejected by the epa, when in fact it had not. the epa is considering using this very line of rest cancer cells for its own screening program for what they call endocrine constructing chemicals.

the other thing they did was they commissioned their own research so they paid labs to perform research which found tritan was not estrogenic. at the research -- the, you will see studies are essentially designed in a way that guarantee that estrogenic activity will not be found. for instance, they used a type of rat called the charles river sprawl belly rat. insensitive tobe estrogen. they can withstand 100 times higher than human female can withstand and to absolutely no effect. he also used doses that are below what is known as the noaa observing the effect levels. known notes that are to cause and effect.

published their own study in a scientific journal, which has numerous tobacco industry ties, finding that tritan was not estrogenic. that is essentially how they responded to the finding that their products contain these chemicals that are potentially harmful to human health. they attempted to cover it up. >> your report cites some leaked minutes from a 2009 meeting of the bpa joint trade association, whose numbers include the american chemical -- erik and chemistry council, coca-cola, dell monte. during the meeting, the export messaging strategies that included using what they called "fear tactics." the attendees agreed that the holy grail spokesperson was a "pregnant young mother who would be willing to speak around the country about the benefits of

bpa." mariah? >> this is one of the most disturbing ends a discovered, that in their efforts to put trey plastics as safe, they oftentimes target the groups who are most vulnerable to the effects of these chemicals. so prenatal exposure and exposure during early childhood is potentially the most harmful. and oftentimes the marketing of these products targets pregnant women, targets families with children, and also eastman, for example, in their efforts to portray their products as safe, also targeted these specific groups. >> can you talk about now gene bottles, evenflo, tupperware, rubbermaid, camelback? >> yes, all of these companies

produce at least some products made in tritan. and they're not alone. there are hundreds, probably hundreds of companies that use this. this is the only plastic on the market that markets itself as bpa-free of all estrogenic chemicals. so consumers who are concerned about their health, and many of the high-end consumer brands, have started using this plastic. i think the thing to keep in mind is that eastman misrepresented their product to their customers as well. these brands are not necessarily to blame for this. they have been told by eastman that eastman performed independent third-party testing and found no evidence of estrogenic activity. in many cases, it appears these companies are trying to do the best thing for the customers. but they were not given accurate

information. they were not given accurate information about the plastic they used in the product. >> last week, npr did a report, "maybe that bpa in your canned food isn't so bad after all." can you talk about that? >> this is based on a recent study that was performed by fda scientists. this is a $30 million tax funded study. the fda used many of the same tactics the industry uses. for instance, they used the charles river sprawl dolly rat. the other thing about this study is that the lab appears to have been contaminated. the control group of rats, the rats that are not supposed to be exposed to bpa so you have some sort of a baseline to measure the animals who have been exposed to the chemicals, they

were somehow accidentally exposed to bpa. i have been talking about this and planning to write about this later this week. the academic scientist i have been speaking to say this essentially raises very serious questions about the validity of the finding. and it is unclear whether any conclusion can be drawn based on the study. >> what most shock to in all of your research? >> that is a good question. there are a lot of shocking things i discovered. there are couple of things. one, the fact that so few of the chemicals that are in the products we use every day have been tested for safety. as i said, there are 80,000 chemicals that are commercially used in the u.s. and only a tiny fraction of those have been tested for safety. , how easy it is for the

industry to bias the safety testing in their favor. about big know tobacco and the way they were able to essentially buy science sing their products were safe. but i was not aware that was happening on such a grand scale today. and it really is. as i worked on the story, it became evident to me that plastics -- this is not the only industry that is using these tactics. these tactics are fairly widespread. i guess on a micro level, one of the things that surprised me testing, hener's looked at various types of commercial plastics. one of the types of plastics that was most frequently the corn-based

plastic. the plastic that is biodegradable, that you often find in restaurants -- health food restaurant in health food stores. this is potentially one of the most harmful types of plastics. >> explain that again. >>bittner looked at various kinds of plastic, he and his colleagues in the tested plastic there's a variety of different types. , polycarbonate and all of these different types of plastics. you broke it down by types of plastic and tested a number of samples of each one. in the final paper, they showed which -- what percentage of each type of plastic tested positive in their tests. that is a type of plastic is for girlie found in whole foods and health food stores. -- there is a type of plastic that is freakily found in whole foods and health food stores.

it is marketed as biodegradable. oftentimes there are forks made out of this in health food restaurants. i believe the statistic was 95% of samples made out of this kind of plastic tested positive for estrogenic activity. >> so what are you going to do with your three-year-old? >> what i've already done is removed all plastic from my home. i switched to match the materials, use glass or stainless steel for our tupperware, four hours to be cups -- for everything we possibly can. plastic is unavoidable so we in elasticfoods containers -- >> what about saran wrap? >> i believe it was around 99% to 100% of plastic wraps tested positive for estrogenic activity.

and where does that uba come down when you question them about when they're going to be regulating some of this in the way they regulated bpa? >> the epa still does not regulate bpa. the fda banned bpa in sippy cups and bottles at the request of the industry. and the agency still insists that bpa is safe. the industry asked fda to ban it because they wanted to reassure parents their products were safe. meaningfuleen no regulation of any of these chemicals with the exception of -- in the case of the epa, they have a program which was supposed to screen these 80,000 chemicals for what is called in to cram disruption. those are chemicals that mimic hormones like bpa.

this was supposed to be at least partially done by 2000. they still have not fully vetted a single chemical. the industry has managed to throw stumbling blocks in their path. delay is the name of the game, essentially. >> how much does the plastic and water bottles and juices leach into the water and the juices? used water commonly bottle, i believe come a 75% of samples in the study leached estrogenic activity. there's another study performed by scientists in germany which also found this particular type of product was estrogenic. it seems based on the available evidence that many or most of these bottles leach estrogen. >> and the longer the bottle of

water you buy sits, the water becoming increasingly contaminated? >> there are certain factors that increase the risk of these chemicals being released. exposure to uv rays, heat, if they're put in a dishwasher. these are the things that are known to increase the risks these chemicals leach out of plastics. inh a reasonable plastics, particular this is a concern. if you boil them, put them in your dishwasher, the leave them in your car, that causes plastics to break down and were likely that estrogenic chemicals leak into whatever those containers contain. >> mariah blake, thank you for your research. staff reporter with mother jones magazine, her story is just out in the new issue called, "the scary new evidence on bpa-free plastics, and the big tobacco-style campaign to bury it."

we will have a link to it at democracynow.org. you can also follow her on twitter. later today she will be doing a twitter chat with readers. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. when we come back, we will try to reach medea benjamin who has just been deported from egypt to turkey. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

>> this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. as we turn now to u.s. peace activist medea benjamin who is just attain that cairo's airport i egyptian police. she was there to meet up with an international delegation before traveling to gaza for a women's conference, but she says she was detained upon arrival and held overnight before being deported to turkey where she is now

seeking medical treatment. she joins us on the phone from turkey. how are you? >> well, i am in a lot of pain. i have gotten two shots of pain killer, but it is not enough. they fractured my arm, dislocated my shoulder, tore the ligaments, jumped on top of me. never telling me what was the problem. it was a very brutal attack. i am in a lot of pain. happened. what your right at the airport in cairo and were attacked there? airport arrived at the and i was taken aside, brought into a separate room where i was held for seven hours without anybody telling me what was wrong. i was put into a jail cell in the airport and held overnight and in the morning, five scary looking man came in and wanted to take me away. i said the embassy is coming, the embassy is coming. they were supposed to have her

eyes. instead they dragged me out, tackled me to the ground, jumped on the, handcuffed my wrist so tight they started bleeding and dislocated my shoulder. they kept me like that, grabbing my arm. the hallway i was screaming in pain throughout the airport. i demand it to get medical attention. the egyptian doctors came and said this woman cannot travel. she isn't too much pain, she needs to go to the hospital. the egyptian security refused to take me to the hospital. they threw me on the plane. thank god there was an orthopedic surgeon on the playing who get another shot at the arm in back in the shoulde. embassyhe u.s. representative ever come to see you at the airport? >> no. some of the delegates, including dan wright who had already delegation, have

been calling the embassy nonstop. d.c.ode pink people in were calling nonstop. they never showed up. i was on the tarmac. the turkish airline who was forced to take me, but delayed an hour while they were debating what to do -- there were about 20 men there. the embassy never showed up the entire time. the usmong we held at is he that was supposed to protect u.s. citizens that never showed up? 8:30 in thed from evening until the next day at about 11:00 a.m. as i said, we put in so many calls. they even knew then i was attacked and i was in excruciating pain and wanted their help to get to a hospital. they still do not show up.

they were missing in action the entire time. >> medea, talk about what your intention was, talk about why you're going to gaza. >> we had plans for marching international women's day to go on a 100-women delegation to gaza to show our support for women who feel really abandoned since the upheaval in egypt. [indiscernible] has been closed much of the time and people are feeling very desperate in gaza. this was to highlight the situation. we had a nobel peace prize a verycoming with us, well known were presented it in the arab world, many other well-known women. i was one of the main organizers of the delegation. >> and this meeting is taking isce as benjamin netanyahu

an washington, d.c., the israeli prime minister, meeting with president obama. what were you calling for? what is codepink: four? >> we have been calling for the lifting of the siege on gaza and calling for the stop of the settlements, calling for basic human rights for palestinians. we were out in front of aipac protesting during their policy conference on sunday. we have been very vocal in our support for the palestinians and a call for israel and now egypt to open up those borders, especially for gaza, for goods to come in and out so people can have more electricity and more of the goods they need just to survive. >> and now what is your intention now that -- where are you in turkey? >> i am in a hospital in the airport right now.

the doctors just gave me another shot. they're going to do an mri on my shoulder. they're going to continue with the deportation. there is not a plane until tomorrow, so i will be here overnight. and i will be leaving tomorrow back to the u.s. >> all of the best to you,medea. i want to let people know about the four al jazeera reporters are currently being held in egypt, three of whom have been charged with belonging to a terrorist group and spreading false news. any thousands of activists are being held in egypt right now. thank you so much for joining us. >> thanks for having me on, amy. >> medea benjamin, founder of code pink. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we turn now to iraq. a new report has revealed doctors, residents, and ngo workers in the city of falluja

are accusing the iraqi government of war crimes and crimes against humanity in its ongoing attack against the city. according to one account, at least 109 civilians have been killed and 632 wounded since january and iraqi government forces began shelling falluja in its fight against militants. for more, we're joined by the staff reporter at truthout. tell us what you found. >> by phoning in to several doctors in falluja, one of them in fact who had to flee because her home was being shelled associated take her family and leave, but after speaking with all three, i found the very shocking numbers that you just discussed as far as the total numbers of dead and wounded but in addition to that, they're all claiming from different parts of the city that it is indiscriminate fing, the asitary, they're referred to melekeok the prime minister's

lee terry, that malik eplus army has been shelling the city and is criminally and the art sing any official targets or anything military for them to targets, that the main hospital has been shelled. we have a situation where apparently several mosques have been shelled and unknown numbers of civilian homes have also been shelled in addition to the numbers you just spoke of, had or theo the chief resident of doctors at the general hospital, or has been at , 40t 10 children killed wounded, and in addition to that, five women killed at least 35 wounded and those statistics are now a few days out of date and the shelling has continued since i wrote this report. take us back to 2004 in falluja, 10 years ago, and talk

about what has happened in the city for the past decade. >> what is happening now is very disturbing because there are so many parallels between what happened in 2004. remember, by the time we got to 2003 in the u.s. occupation, falluja was essentially a no go zone for the u.s. military. i managed to go in a couple of againin december 2003 and a little bit later than that and found people there were very opposed to the u.s. military occupation. stories were already coming out of abu ghraib. there were a lot of fears and resistance against the military. by the time it got to this point, this is before the the blackwater mercenaries were believe, april 2004, i that was a situation the bush administration used to say, ok, we're going to take advantage of this and go full on into the city. so the first siege was launched

in april. i reported inside the city from a small clinic where the same thing was happening then, indiscriminate bombings, ambulances being targeted, medical supplies were not being allowed into the city. that is happening now as well with no medical supplies been allowed in. women being killed, children. i saw a lot of this with my own eyes. that siege went on for about a month before the military realized they could not take the city, so, basically, we had about six months between may for i believe until november 8 when again the military was just softening of the city. artillery strikes, airstrikes, funeral processions were being hit, wedding parties are being hit. november 8, after the presidential election of the toted states, they were told invade the city.

a full-scale invasion was launched. again, to root out terrorists. he were climbing jordanian terrorists were in the city, despite the fact there was never any evidence that showed his presence in the city at the time. that was the pretense used, just like now it is the city is controlled by terrorists, people belonging to the islamic state of iraq and syria. while there is a small presence in the city, all reports i have been getting, including from the doctors themselves, say it is the opel tribes who are in charge of the city. they're just trying to keep the military out because the military has been -- i reported on this in march when i was in iraq that the malik jaramillo is being accused of widespread torture, rape in the prisons. >> is the u.s. involved in any way anymore in iraq? >> to date, according to the

congressional research service, the u.s. has sold over $20 billion of arms into iraq. when the situation in falluja arose, if you remember, i believe it was reported on democracy now!, the obama administration was russian armaments and militants into the iraqi military to be used in the situation directly. >> what are the people of falluja calling for? saying they just want peace. they just what the military to leave them alone. they can handle the small amount of the members of the isis that are in the city -- similar parallels to what i saw in 2004. they want the military to stop the indiscriminate shelling and calling on the u.n. to investigate. and then to allow medical supplies and other supplies back into the city as well as to allow all the hundreds of thousands of refugees back home. >> justice report right now, armed men wearing military

uniforms seized the city council headquarters in samarra and briefly took employees hostage. >> we have unrest all around the anbar province because of unmet demands from people in the tribes and religious leaders maliki'se province to government. we will keep seeing this until some of these demands stop the home rates, the illegal detentions, this will continue to be ongoing until some of these demands are met. , thank youail from for speaking to us. we will have a link to his report. we will be on the road next week march 11 at the university of massachusetts amherst. flagstaffe will be at at northern arizona university. march 14 in santa fe. saturday come a in denver, colorado. check our website at

democracynow.org. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to outreach@democracynow.org or mail them to mail them to

mail them to (narrator) toward the end of the first millennium b.c., a complex society sprang to life in mesoamerica-- imaginative, literate, philosophically-inclined tholvi cture and sophisticated. out of the primordial forest and sunk its roots into the soil. today, we know the region by its countries-- mexico, honduras, el salvador, belize, and guatemala.