11/13/14 11/13/14 from pacifica, this is democracy now! >> let's create awareness. we demand a return of the students. we are marching in peace but the government has started to repress us. the government is here and it has no capacity to give the people a solution. the people are angry. outrage continues to mount in mexico over the apparent massacre of 43 students in the

southern state of guerrero by police and a drug gang. the testers set ablaze the guerrero state congress in southern mexico. the parents of the missing students continue to hold out hope that their loved ones are still alive. we will go to guerrero and mexico city for the latest. u.s., attorney general nominee loretta lynch. >> if i have the honor of being confirmed by the senate, i will wake up every morning with the protection of the american people my first thought. as senate democrats consider putting off her confirmation hearing to the shock of many until next year am a when the republicans are in control. we will speak to her former law school classmate, kimberle crenshaw, of the african-american policy forum. we will also talk about crenshaw's campaign to include

girls and women of color in president obama's my brother's keeper initiative. interesting meeting led by valerie jarrett yesterday. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. death toll from the ebola outbreak in west africa has topped 5000 with another 14,000 stricken with ebola. the world health organization says there are signs infections have slowed overhaul in liberia and guinea, while the outbreak in sierra leone is getting worse. envoy discussed the mixed picture. africa,rts of west where the elements are in place, where communities are fully involved in the response, there

is a slowing of the outbreak, fewer cases appearing each week. that is a real source of are othern, but there parts of liberia, sierra leone, and guinea, where transmission is still fierce, where there are many new cases emerging each day. >> here in the united states, the obama administration went before congress on tuesday for approval of 6.2 billion dollars in emergency funding to contain ebola. health and human services said that theell u.s. is ramping up training of u.s. personnel. than a quarter million personnel have been trained by the cdc and the assistant secretary for her characters and response. we need to continue the training and make sure that it

is getting through. >> the obama administration has endorsed a proposal that would give partial debt relief to three countries worst hit by a ball that. in a statement, treasury secretary jack lew said that the imf should forgive around $100 million in debt held by liberia, guinea, and sierra leone, about a third of what they collectively oh. meanwhile, three countries have lost more money to corporate dodging him -- tax a then they do to aid. sierra leone and guinea lost an estimated 286 billion dollars through corporate tax dodging in 2011 while spending $37 million on health care. an african union report earlier this year says it cost the continent $60 billion each year. the family of thomas eric duncan

, who became the only person to die of ebola in the united states, has reached a settlement with the hospital that mishandled his care. duncan, who was uninsured, was despitey sent home suffering from a high temperature and telling a nurse that he had recently been to west africa. a foundation will be established in his name to support respect for african life and the promotion of better treatment. deal we reached is outstanding and we have a foundation that needs our support. everyone here can do your part. africa and africans are not a virus. lostde a mistake and we one, but we can save a thousand. that is my goal. i can never replace thomas eric duncan, but i can make sure that everything that happens from here, makes it better for everybody else. >> the settlement comes as

nurses across the country have held a one-day strike to protest what they call the inadequate protection of health workers treating patients hospitalized over ebola. national nurses united say hospital still lacked proper equipment and protocols weeks after dallas versus contracting the disease from duncan. the protest included a rally outside of congress in washington. >> we know that other epidemics may reach our soil. we want to be protected. the best way to protect the community is to protect the nurses. >> the un security council has met over the situation in ukraine. the separatist stronghold of donetsk has seen its heaviest shelling since pro-russian rebels and the government in kiev reached a cease-fire in september. nato is accusing russia of a major military escalation inside ukraine, sending pants,

weaponry, and combat troops across the border. samanthaambassador powers said russia is violating its commitment. is what we, the international community, will do. agreement was brokered under the auspices of the international community. as such, there must be consequences when russia continues to destabilize its neighbor. >> the free syrian army has rejected a u.s. proposal to halt fighting in the city of aleppo. the plan laid out would allow for the delivery of humanitarian aid and a potential launch of water peace talks between the rebels and the regina bashar al-assad. they need focusing on the , as threat of terrorism

defined by the resolution of the security council. second, either to reduce violence -- and i will come back to that one -- and through the reduction of violence try to reach as many people as possible in syria and outside syria who have been suffering from this ongoing conflict. theygh that, hopefully, can use that as a bloc in the direction of -- a building block in political solution. speaking to al jazeera, a commander with the free syrian army rejected the you introduce offer, saying it would only strengthen assad.

new figures meanwhile show u.s.-led airstrikes in syria have killed 865 people since they began nearly two months ago. the toll includes nearly 750 islamic state fighters and 50 civilians. the british-based syrian observatory for human rights says the actual number could be much higher. round has approved a new of the illegal settlement construction in east jerusalem. the israeli government authorized the building of 200 new homes in the area neighborhood. the move comes amid continued unrest in the west bank. in washington, the state department spokesperson said the u.s. is deeply concerned by the decision. concerned byply this decision, particularly given the tense situation in

jerusalem, as well as the unequivocal and unanimous decision of the u.s. and others in the international community opposing such constructions in jerusalem. these decisions have the potential to exacerbate this difficult situation on the ground and will not contribute to efforts to reduce the tension. is in burma obama today, the second stop of his asia tour. his visit comes amidst a renewed crackdown by the ruling junta on journalists and dissidents and continued oppression of muslims. six of the world's largest banks have been find a collective $4.3 billion for manipulating a foreign-exchange market. hsbc, royal bank of scotland, j.p. morgan chase, citigroup, ubs ag, and bank of america were proud to be negligent in traders collusion to run global currencies.

the british financial conduct authority unveil the penalties. >> they put their own interest ahead of their customers, they manipulated the market and abused the trust, i think, of the public, certainly, plus as regulators. the bank's failure to establish adequate controls is what allowed the traders to manipulate the fixed rates around the world, and failings like this seriously undermine confidence in the market and undermine the intent to perform banking culture. new figures show u.s. police forces were responsible for the highest number of shooting deaths in 20 years. according to the fbi, police across the united states fatally shot 461 people last year. the news comes as the family of michael brown appears before a u.n. panel in geneva investigating the u.s. record on torture. the family attorney called for

reforming u.s. law enforcement toward community policing. we are here to say that michael brown junior deserves justice, number one. number two, that michael brown junior's life mattered. number three, that there has to be something done to make people listing in our country, a serious look at it. that process is starting and i want to encourage the government to take the stance that they continue to be for proper community policing. maybe a police commission to make sure that we have the proper things taking place. >> meanwhile in missouri, the grand jury in the michael brown case will hear testimony today from the forensic pathologist who performed a private autopsy on the teenager's body. found that brown was shot at least six times,

including twice in the head. two generic drug manufacturers have been subpoenaed in a federal probe into price hikes. the justice department is seeking information from the two firms on their interactions with competitors. generic drugs have seen a major price jump in the past year. a medication for congestive heart failure, digoxin, now costs over one dollar a pill, up from $.11 two years ago. independent senator bernie sanders of vermont has submitted questions to 14 pharmaceutical companies ahead of a senate hearing on generic drug pricing next week. the british group reprieve has revealed the u.s. has made secret compensation payments to the families of two yemeni civilians mistakenly killed in a drone strike. a relative of the victim, faisal

bin ali jaber, was given a bag containing $100,000 in a meeting with yemeni officials. the u.s. made the payments despite never confirming its responsibility for the killing, nor issuing an apology. former deathand row prisoner darby tillis has died of an apparent aneurysm. tillis was sent to death in illinois in 1979 for the murder of a hotdog stand employee. he was freed in 1987 after new and 14 yearsged later became one of the first death row prisoners to be exonerated. 2011, hours 20 1, before the execution of troy anthony davis, darby tillis came on democracy now! to talk about his commitment to abolishing the death penalty. >> i was released from death

row, but i will never be free from it. it lives within the. i will always continue, as long as there is a man anywhere on death row, to fight for the abolishment. >> darby tillis died in a chicago hospital over the weekend. those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. >> i'm there mean shaikh. welcome to our listeners around the world. we begin in mexico where protesters in the southern state of guerrero have set fire to government buildings including the state legislature as outrage spreads over the disappearance of 43 students. the student from ayotzinapa teachers college have been this -- missing for over seven weeks. the initial series of attacks killed six people, one of whom was found with the skin of his face peeled off. unrest has intensified since the mexican attorney general jesus

murillo karam announced that suspects in the case admitted to killing the students and incinerating their bodies at a trash dump, leading investigators to the remains. he says the mayor ordered the attack with police who then turned the students over to local drug gangs. >> tens of thousands have taken to the streets in peaceful protests by groups of demonstrators have laid siege to government buildings, burned cars, blocked highways across mexico. on wednesday, students blocked access to an airport and took over highways in the southern states of oaxaca and chiapas. guerrero, alterable mass graves have been uncovered by authorities, searching for the students. but a team of argentine forensic experts have said none of the remains they have examined so far matched the students. the most recent set of remains found in trash bags, which

authorities say were burned at a garbage dump, have yet to be analyzed. the missingts of students distrust the authorities account and continue to hold out hope their loved ones are alive. on wednesday, the family announced they will be traveling across the country in caravans to demand their loved ones return. the father of a missing student and a spoke person for the families announced a caravan. we demand punishment for the material and intellectual assessment and the disappearance of our boys. more than 45 days have passed and we do not know anything about them. yesterday, our argentinian friends gave us some hope, some ussh air, when they informed that 30 bodies that they took from the clandestine graves buried by the police, not one of the students belongs to ayotzinapa.

they took them alive and we want them alive. the disappearance is among the worst human rights crisis to hit the country since 1968 when there was a student massacre, but it is not an isolated incident. at least eight soldiers have been detained for an alleged massacre of 22 people. the army claimed the victims were suspected gang members who died in a firefight, but it appeared they surrendered. last month, three american siblings were found in the northern border states after witnesses saw them taken away by a local police unit. >> for the latest on the missing 43 students from the rural teachers college, and the roots of the violence in mexico, we go to chilpancingo, the capital of guerrero state, where we are joined by john gibler, author, independent journalist, who has

been interviewing the survivors of the police attacks. he is the author of "mexico unconquered: chronicles of power and more recently, "to die in mexico: dispatches from inside the drug war." welcome back. layout for us what is happening where you are in guerrero. >> good morning and thanks for having me. i am here in chilpancingo. far,u have outlined so there has been a massive upsurge in protests since the attorney general's announcement of their version of the events, their theory that the students were murdered and their remains burned at a trash jump -- dump. you heard the representatives of the kids saying they do not accept that. after they made that announcement, i attended a highway blockade here in chilpancingo, where one of the

mothers of one of the students said to me, these are theatrics that the government is mounting to distract us. even though we are humble and poor, we are capable of understanding what is going on. they took our students alive and may want them alive. at every stage of the protest, at least here in guerrero, the parents themselves participate, as well as the classmates of the students. it is the reiteration of the demand that they were taken alive, so it is the police's responsibility to return them alive. there have been blockades, destruction of buildings, setting cars on fire. attack theple, they government palace in chilpancingo. across the highway there is a very large federal auditorium

administered by the government, entirely built by glass. they have never thrown a single rock at that theater. across the street, they make the seat of government their target. >> you say there is reason to doubt what the government has said occurred. what are the people saying on the ground? >> first off, in terms of what into the night, the 43 disappeared students, the government is basing all of their theories and actions on the confessions of people they have detained. these diversions that the students were burned is now the third round of supposedly trustworthy confessions made by people. we should recall come initially on october 4, there was a discovery of mass graves in the outskirts of a city.

state prosecutors later said that they had direct purchase testimony describing how they took the students there, murdered them, doug graves, and then burned them with the diesel in the graves. now it turns out that the argentine forensic anthropology specialist confirmed that 24 of the remains found were confirmed not to be the students who are missing. pattern of thea government saying we have credible witnesses in custody who have described what they did, and then two weeks later, the scenario they described turns out not to be true. the statement that they had been murdered and their bodies found in plastic bags in a river outside of a trash dump in cocula should be met with this -- a suspicion.

i was there the other day and was a little -- unable to find anyone in the area who could describe having seen unusual smoke or an unusual amount of traffic on the very desolate, isolated roads. it should also be recalled that on the evening of the 26th, two the morning of the 27th of september, when the events occurred, it was raining consistently. numerous testimonies of people arriving from chilpancingo and local journalists describing the rain that night, which has also meteorologicalby institutions, which makes it hard to believe that 43 human beings were murdered and their bodies were completely obliterated through a massive

expiredng diesel and tires, considering it was raining all night. >> we are going to come back to this discussion and hear from a first year student at the teachers college who survived the initial attack. it is astounding what you're describing. it reminds me of the early 1960's when mcleish warner, james chaney, and andrew goodman, their bodies were discovered in mississippi, klan, andthe clan -- how when they were looking for those bodies in the summer, kept turning up the bodies of other african-americans who had been killed that no one had known about before. when you talk about this search for the bodies and his endless discovery of mass graves. we are speaking to john gibler, author and independent

journalist. he is in guerrero right now. we will be back with him in a moment. [♪]

is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. >> we are talking about the disappearance of 43 students at the hands of police in the southern mexican state of guerrero. this is a first year student at ayotzinapa teachers college, who survived the police attack. he is responding to the claim by the attorney general jesus murillo karam that the students were killed and burned by a local drug gang. >> he is just doing this to wash his hands of the problem and appear that he is doing something. it is obvious that it is not

that way. it is obvious that he is just looking for something. one problem for me, all the people in charge of looking for them, are looking for them as if they are dead instead of alive. if they took them alive, why are they looking for them dead? , athat was ernesto che cano first-year teacher at ayotzinapa teachers college. this is another student who survived the first police attack. >> we hope the actions get more intense so that it is not all just talk. .e need real action we do not have anything against the buildings or the street a fit. we have everything against the institution, against the government structure. we want to change this country. we want people who are within these institutions to be honest

people, people from our communities, not just people who are there for their own interests. right now they are just making it a political issue, pitting one against the other, saying you knew the mayor, i went to a dance with him, or you went drinking with him. all are involved in some ways, society, we, as a have been accomplices in closing our eyes and keeping silent. we had to end this complicity. john gibler is with us, independent author, author of "mexico unconquered: chronicles of power and revolt," and more recently "to die in mexico: dispatches from inside the drug war." as you hear these students talking, the students of the teachers college that was attacked, we still do not understand, on the day that this happened, why did the mayor have the police round up these

students, what was going on that day in town? we still do not know what the mayor was thinking. his statements to the press have lies.ynical, labeled as there was never a protest even though that has been widely repeated in english language press. there was no plan to go to iguala to interrupt the mayor's wife ceremony. most of the students that were attacked last -- that night were freshmen. they had been at ayotzinapa for only a few weeks. that friday, for many of them, it was their first day of classes. many of these people come from some of the most economically battered areas of mexico and they had no idea. speaks toat happened two things. between the full merger

local government and organized crime. it is no longer possible to talk about corruption. what we have our two sectors of an industry that have fully merged. the police and the organized crime gangs, and the confluence of two forms of violence. the classic state violence of oppression and the new forms of narco brutality, violence associated with organized crime associations here. to obtain,attack rest, perhaps shoot a few students. this has been happening to the ayotzinapa students for years. in 2011, state police shot and two students on the

highway during a protest. in that case currently is still in the impunity. no one has been punished. the with the terror, history of state violence in mexico, and particularly in guerrero, which during the dirty wars in the 1970's, half of the people in mexico disappeared in that state. their actions have shown the merger, the confluence of state violence and so-called narco violence. generalexican attorney gave out a new rallying cry. when he ended his news conference in mexico city by saying ya me cansé, enough, i'm tired. the remark has been taken up by protesters.

a filmmaker was among hundreds who posted videos with the hashtag #yamecansé. i, too, am tired, i am tired of disappeared mexicans. of the dead, the decapitated, the bodies hanging from bridges, the broken families come on the mothers without children, the children without parents. i'm tired of the political class that has captured my country and the class that corrupts, lies, and kills. i, too, am tired. the attorney general appeared on national television and said he does not regret his gaffe. >> i was tired and it was the truth. >> would you say it again? >> i am as human as anybody and i get tired.

i have been sleeping only four hours for the past 30 days. i have also traveled from chilpancingo. when you listen to the relatives of the students, it affects you when you are faced with helplessness, not able to give them an immediate truth. >> there is the mexican attorney general. the president, and ricci peña nieto, went to china, for the meetings of apec. can you talk about what is happening at the state level in mexico facing enormous criticism for leaving in the midst of this crisis to attend this summit in china? also,eighing -- revelations that they have a $7 million mansion with a government contractor, grupo higa, that was part of a

consortium that won a lucrative high-speed rail contracts. last week, the government after it cameeal out that they were the ones that build the mansion. can you put this in broader context? how does this crisis reflect on him and what is happening in mexico, as the mexico ambassador to the u.s. said this morning that we are all together holding interestingtable, -- arresting everyone, including the mayor and his wife. really thethis is first major crack in peña nieto. he had been enjoying sort of an international affair with the press, as seen with his cover photo. he had energy, education

reforms, had busted an old corruption union boss. it seemed like anybody, everybody in the english line would press, seemed to love him. now with the mayor rounding up and kidnapping students, six people dead, 43 disappeared, the army three miles away and never interceding on behalf of the victims -- it completely destroys the myth of a mexico that had been saved, according to "time" magazine. the young survivor of the attack the biggest outrage was specifically after weeks of ineptitude and foot dragging once they started looking for the students, they looked for them in mass graves, dead, in the forms of bone and ash.

the parents are very intense and clear in their demands that the students were taken away a live by the police, bring them back alive. the attorney general's statements that he is tired can only seem ridiculous. imagine how the 43 families feel, how much sleep do they get at night? insane luxurys home, officially registered with this company who he has gotten contracts for, that news breaking as these families are looking for their children. -- frommilies are some some of the most marginalized places in mexico. the state of guerrero has the top ranking poorest municipalities in the country. families live in adobe and wood constructions, small rural communities, and you have the president's slick, multimillion dollar home displayed on

televisions and magazines at a time when people are camping out on a basketball court at a college waiting for their children to be returned alive. >> i want to turn to the u.s. role in the violence that is ravaging mexico. since the war on drugs began under resident philippe a keller on in 2006, more than 100,000 people have been killed in drug-related violence. we are joined now in mexico city by laura carlsen, director of the american policy program of the center for international policy. can you talk about the role of the u.s. in the crisis that is unfolding in mexico today? >> good morning. the united states has a fairly direct role in what is happening people begin to analyze it, it has become a

major issue in terms of how far they will be able to change the model. that hashe $3 billion come through the american initiative, there is also department of defense money. that money is going to train police forces and armed forces that we now find are directly involved in attacks on the people. particularly, attacks on use. .- youth there were evidences that students were killed, executed by the armed forces. the state department admitted that in the italian -- although they will not give us names -- there were some individuals trained in the united states. the weather has been a call to stop the initiative because of this, because it would john mentioned. state agents, at this point in mexico, and organized crime, are one and the same in many parts of the country.

presumably, president obama spoke with president pena nieto in china during this meeting that they are having. what do you think needs to be done, where is the accountability for where this this connection between the police forces, drug gangs, and often indistinguishable, and how high up does it go? pointthis point, the main of president obama and peña nieto, he seemed to be more concerned about damage control than to resolving the problem. there is a reason for that. the main thing that both are concerned with is foreign investment. under, with its reforms peña nieto -- and by the way, the ayotzinapa area was very

active in their protests, which is why they have been targeted. obama and the mexican government and the transnational corporations based in the u.s. have been pushing this. it is one of the reasons they created this false image of everything is great and modern and peña nieto is the great reformer in mexico. that has been shattered by the revelations of not just the 43 students but the mass graves, disappearances, corruption and collusion throughout the country. u.s., all in the funding to these police and military forces through this and drug war model, which is militarize the country and created a new model for andession against the youth opposition, must be cut off it will be or responsible for future crimes. on the mexican side, the call in all of these marches -- i have been to huge marches.

students are planning what to do to force the resignation of pena nieto. if there is a country where they can be mass graves, where 43 students can go missing at the hands of state agents, then something is so deeply wrong, the government needs to be changed completely, and the whole system needs to be changed. there are constant discussions to figure out how to do that but there is a very firm commitment on the part of these protests that whatever happens in terms of the fate of the students, it will not end there. >> do you think the police in iguala could have benefited from u.s. funds? >> it is possible. there is a fund for municipal security where they have received 80 million pesos, but we are having a hard time tracking it because we cannot

get the information from the state department or the mexican government to make direct ties. but it does not matter in the broader sense. what we know is the u.s. is funding this drug war to support security forces that it turns out are in deep collusion with the criminal forces, and in fact, this collusion is directed at the population. even if you do not find the smoking gun or the exact ties between this dollar going to this government agency, we know it's there. hasmerida initiative lately expressively gone toward more municipal funding, which is more problematic in mexico, because that is where you find the highest levels of direct collusion. >> can you explain what the merida initiative is? by the busharted administration in 2007, announced that the counter

narcotics, counterterrorism, and border security initiative. the obama administration, instead of coming in after the initiative ran out and said, what are the results of this? we already knew that there was increased violence in mexico. they announced that it would be extended indefinitely. it goes to training police forces at the beginning, funding a lot of big-ticket military equipment. there is a constant lobbying effort on the part of defense companies, intelligence companies, private security firms in the united states to perpetuate the merida initiative as a perpetuate the drug war in mexico and it seemed to have no impact whatsoever where we can say to congress, there is a direct correlation between this model and 100,000 people dead. this is not working and it is completely dangerously

counterproductive. no matter how often that is said, there is still this impetus to continue because of the money involved and because of the pentagon's interest through this vehicle of the drug war, to have a stronger hand in mexico. it is part of this concept that mexico now forms part of the u.s. security perimeter, which says a lot about the disregard for mexican sovereignty, and has put mexico in a position of irtyg the united states' d work to enforce prohibition laws in the united states at the incredibly high cost for mexico. hailed programs of pena nieto around energy, which so benefits u.s. multinational corporations, oil companies in particular, how will this impact how the u.s. deals with mexico on this issue? how do you see this resolving? >> it will have a tremendous

impact. means is, in the first place, in mexico, where there are concessions for oil, just as inhave seen with mining recent years, it means the government will want to have complete territorial control that guarantees those businesses and corporations will be able to extract and make a lot of money off of mexican natural resources. this is a problem because they will be taking over resources that belong to the people, and we will see resistance. the mexican people in the farming communities are not going to just allow this to happen with their land. in terms of what is happening with the binational relationship, we have talked about this process of arming nafta, which means there are a series of mechanisms, the drug war being the most important, that are really aimed at militarizing the comp -- country

in an effort to protect investment. as that becomes more intensified , with more investment in oil and gas, tracking, other things that will be just -- devastating to the environment and the community, there will be more emphasis not to fight the drug cartels. certainly, they have not been doing that, but to fight the resistance of the people to the takeover of their lands and resources. gibler, final comments, as you take is home to guerrero, where there is so much strife, not to say that this has not ignited all of mexico. >> her point about lobbyist continuing to push for the continuation of the merida initiative is excellent. we have to analyze how the drug war is designed to perpetuate itself. it is built to fuel the drug war, not to stop drug

production, trafficking, or consumption, not addressing real public health issues, but to create these forms of violence which require further military intervention. the last point come a i would like to recall some of the words from the open letter from protesters in ferguson, which have been resonating for me, where they wrote, we are not concerned if this inconveniences you. dead children are more than an inconvenience. freedom outweighs that privilege. john gibler, thank you for being with us. he is the author of "mexico unconquered: chronicles of power and revolt," and more recently "to die in mexico: dispatches from inside the drug war." well, thank you as director of the policy program for international policy. this is democracy now!,

democracynow.org, the war and peace report. speaking of ferguson, as the parents of michael brown testified in geneva before the un's human rights council around areissue of torture, we going to come back home in our next segment and look at the issue that african-americans face in this country with professor kimberle crenshaw. stay with us. [♪]

>> this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. from washington, democratic lawmakers will meet today to debate the way forward in the postelection lame-duck session. one key issue will be the timing of the senate judiciary's commissions on permission of

loretta lynch. it looks increasingly likely that the hearing will not begin until next year, after the republicans take control of the senate. on saturday, president obama nominated lynch to replace outgoing attorney general eric holder. it is pretty hard to be more qualified for this job than loretta. career,ut her 30-year she has distinguished herself as tough, fair, and independent lawyer who has twice headed one of the most prominent u.s. attorney's office in the country. she has spent years in the trenches as a prosecutor aggressively fighting terrorism, financial fraud, cyber crimes, all while vigorously defending civil rights. confirmed, loretta lynch would be the first african-american woman to hold the position. lynch has served as district

attorney in the eastern district since 2007. she also served the top post from 1990 92 2001. in her first stint as the attorney general's office, she worked with new york city police officers who were convicted in connection with the torture of that haitian immigrant. she was a member of the federal board -- reserve board in new york. we are joined by kimberle crenshaw, percent per -- professor of law at ucla. she went to harvard law school with loretta lynch. kimberle crenshaw has led the campaign to include girls and women of color in president obama's my brother's keeper, which calls on community groups and businesses to help women of color out of the criminal justice system. -- you knowwith loretta lynch, you are in law

school together, in a small class together. >> yes. we are all delighted that president obama has seen the good was done in nominating loretta lynch. it could not come at a better time for him, given how much should the administration has been under over the last 10 months, two recognize that women of color do exist. his addresses on my brother's keeper, one of the things he said was that boys need role models, they need to be able to look up and see the possibility that they could become the attorney general of the united states. most boys of color already had that role model. the question was, would you recognize that the one constituency that has not yet had an opportunity to see someone look like them in that position had been women of color. as, whyched our heads

doesn't he make this as an opportunity to provide a role model? thankfully, now he has done so. this is loretta lynch speaking last week after president obama announced her nomination. and thedge to you american people that if i have the honor of being confirmed by the senate, i will wake up every morning with the protection of the american people my first thought. and i will work every day to safeguard our citizens, our liberties, our rights, and this great nation, which is given so much to me and my family. could you explain why he is not going to put her forward as the nominee until after the lame-duck session ends and republicans are in control of the senate? >> it is difficult for any of us to intuit why. at this point, when the

leadership of the attorney general is so important, and when the importance of moving this particular candidate serves to many purposes, it seems like low hanging fruit. ,he failure to grab onto that actually, is a cause of some concern. we do not want the first african-american nominee to this important position to be subject to politics. such an intersection a moment. we have had women, they broke glass ceilings, african-american men. he broke a glass ceiling. this is an important moment. one would think that one message the administration may want to give, given they have been soft on supporting their most solid to say,ency -- as if

this one is in the back, we are going to make this happen. there is a degree of disappointment. on the one hand there is this wonderful package but you will have to wait until you get in the middle of a dogfight to open it. the fact that they are not using these weeks that they have , democrats in control, where they just need a majority to approve loretta lynch, that they are putting this off -- i'm sure the republicans will do it. >> for many of us that have watched the administration closely, this seems to be one of the gestures that has gotten the administration in trouble in the past. we will show that we will play nice, that we are not anxious to exercise power in a way that would force people away from the table, and that seems to not have worked. this is not one of those situations where we want to play politics. it is a most important thing to happen so they should go ahead with it. >> yesterday there was an

important meeting at the white house led by valerie jarrett. many people may not know what my brother's keeper is. if you could talk about the significance of what president obama put forward and what is happening with it now? brother's keeper has been the president racial justice initiative, coming out of trayvon martin, his basic approach is we need to send a message to men and boys of color that they are valued and loved. andsed his bully pulpit brought together private corporations and other funds to say we have a serious commitment to making sure that boys are not left behind. all the statistics show that they are insignificant trouble and he ordered the departments of the administration to look how boys were situated, what could be done to make their lives better. that was the point of departure. many of us have been concerned about this.

we thought, of course it's important to send a message that people of color are in crisis, but it is not just boys of color. 1600 women, 300 african-american men, wrote letters saying we cannot stand by while we exclude half of our population who are living in the same neighborhoods, going to the same schools, having the same police encounters that men are. and watch as if those issues are not happening to them. asfinally we see this somewhat of a response. the white house issued a report. i was a big event to indicate that the white house had been listening. here are some of the things that the white house has done for women and girls. the problem is, most of these things are simply public relations accounts for the white house. they are not things based on the fact that african-american women are the only group that has not

achieved any kind of advance through the economic recovery. they are doing worse now than ever before. about why it is that black girls are six times more likely to be suspended from school. they acknowledge it but do not say it is largely because of racial stereotypes. they are more likely to be suspended for objective infractions, more likely to be sent home because they have a bad attitude. this is a moment where girls experience a particular kind of race discrimination. >> are you hopeful because the meeting was held yesterday? >> we are hopeful because finally be attention is back. people across the country in my brothers keepers and cities, including in new york, are signing letters, asking mayors to include women and girls, including in ferguson, missouri. they are a partner with the obama administration. professor kimberle crenshaw,

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