[upbeat ukulele music] ♪ l: bubble guppies! - eeh, hee hee hee hee hee. t's me, molly, and.. [clock chimes] it's time for... - molly! - shh.

- hey, molly. it's time. - [giggles] molly? - boo! - aaah! [laughter] - it's time for bubble guppies. ♪ bub-bub-bubble ♪ gup-gup-guppies ♪ bubble bubble bubble - bubble! - bubble! - guppy! - guppy! clap! clap! all: bubble guppies! - i'm molly. - i'm gil. - i'm goby. - i'm deema. o - i'm nonny. arf! arf! both: bubble puppy! all: ♪ bub-bub-bubble ies ♪ ♪le bubble bubble ♪ guppy guppy guppy - guppy! - guppy! clap! clap! all: bubble guppies! clap! clap!

[thunder crashes] hello. arf! arf! arf! - bubble puppy? arf! arf! - there he is. - come on. - whoa. spooky. [thunder rumbles] - doe? - yeah. it looks like a haunted house. ts live there. - there's no such thing as ghosts, gil. gar arf! arf! - come on, bubble puppy. [door creaks]

both: aah! a ghost! - aah! arf! yikes! you guys startled me. - hey, you're not a ghost. - [chuckles] no, i'm not. - what's als - these are decorations for the party tonight. 're having a party? - that's right, a haunted house party. - whooooooo. - a g-g-g-g-g-g... both: ghost! both: aah! just igor. - hi. - hi. hi with the decora. we're going to have rubber bats, creepy spiders, . [thunder rumbles] ooh, igor, we better get inside ready for the party. we'll see you tonight.

and don't forget to wear a spooooky costume. both: cool! bye. [crow cawing] [spooky music] arf! [thunder rumbles] - come on! [upbeat music] - hello there. - hi. - hello there. - hello. [together] good morning, mr. grouper. both: oooooh. - what was that? - it sounded like a ghost. oth giggling] - wow, ho ho. you guys sounded really spooky. and there's going to be a haunted house party there tonight. with re gsts? - there's no such thing as ghosts,

are there, mr. grouper? but it sure is fun to pretend. - a g-g-g-g... ghost! there's no ghost there. - oh, boy, gil. you know, that was really spooky. haunted house before, mr. grouper? - i sure have. - t et's think about it. it was a dark and spooky night, [creaking] - a door. pop! all the lights went off. so it was really... - whoa, it was really dark.

pop! but a pumpkin isn't spooky. - it's not until you carve a spooky face on it. ll it a jack-o'-lantern. both: spooooky. [door creaks open] and things that take flight ♪ ♪ let's all go where the weird things are ♪ ♪ ♪ please don't leave me alone ♪ spooky, yeah chilled to the bone ♪ ♪ spooky ♪ and we'll be fine ♪ things you can't see lurk in the gloom ♪

♪ mummies wake up and come out of their tombs ♪ , howl, and bark ♪ ♪ so grab a flashlight ♪ 'cause it's spooky ♪ ♪ spooky, yeah ♪ i'm chilled to the bone ♪ spooky ♪ i got ♪st hold my hand we'll be fine ♪ i wake up at night feeling funny and strange ♪ thing's happening ♪ ♪ i'm starting to change ♪ my hair is beginning to grow in weird ways ♪ ♪ my eyes are bugged out ♪ i look kind of crazed ♪ i look in the mirror and get quite a fright ♪ ♪ it seems i've become the queen of the night ♪ ♪ - ♪ 'cause it's spooky ♪ ♪ spooky, yeah - ♪ 'cause it's spooky ♪ i'm chilled to the bone ♪

♪ just hold my hand ♪ and we'll be fine - ♪ spooky [applause] i need a potion for my pet. - hello. i need a potion for my kitty. she's making the wrong sounds. - hello, cat. - [barks] oh, my. a very hot potion. whoo, hot! okay. we got a bunch of hot ingredients here: dog, a bowl of soup, cheese, and a cup of hot cocoa. let's just mix these hot things toge--

a need your help. which one of these things is not hot? e soup, the cheese, or the hot cocoa? both: the cheese. - oh, yeah. pop! okay, one hot pet potion coming right up. boom!ng] whoo. that should do it. your cat should meow now. - [meows] - kitty! thank you. [clock chimes] - it's time for lunch. what time is it? ♪ [together] ♪ it's time for lunch! - ♪ what time is it? - ♪ it's time for lunch! - ♪ what time iime for lun♪ - ♪ it's lunchtime! - ♪ hey, what's for lunch?

i'm having lettuce and tomato on whole grain bread. t, werewolf? - i got tomato and cheese on whooooole wheat bread. what about you, vampire? it's a sand-witch. [laughter] [together] a sand-witch. - it's o with spooky stuff. ooh, a spiderweb. that looks spooky. a rubber spider. wow, a giant rubber bat. [squeaks] - [in deep voice] molly. - aah! - gil, wait. it's only pretend. arf! arf! mbles]

[all talking] ight. - look at my jack-o'-lantern, mr. grouper. - ooh, hoo hoo hoo. pretty spooky, eh? - don't get scared. me? scared? it's gonna take something t about that vampire? - what vampire? -you. - bleh. [laughter] - that's a good costume, nonny. mitating dracula] thank you very much. - are you gonna be a vampire for the haunted house party? - yes, i am. what are you going to be? - i don't know. what do you think i should be? - a g-g-g-g-g-ghost! reat idea, gil. a ghost is a great costume for the party.

- that's a great costume. - yeah, ghosts are spooky. rewolf. - maybe i'll be a witch. - what can i be, mr. grouper? some spooky costumes we can wear to the haunted house party. you could put a sheet over your head - ghost. - hoo hoo-hoo. spooky. you could and pretend to be a... ch. talk like this imitati] and wear a long black cape, you'd be a... - vampire. - you could also dress up like a zombie. pop! a zombie is a very spooky monster. erybody. let's dance. [upbeat dance music] ♪ flreally get 'em going ♪a ♪ flap your wings like a bat

♪ like a bat, flap, flap, flap ♪ s up and down ♪ ♪ and fly to the ceiling ♪ flap, flap, flap, flap, flap ♪ ♪low to the ground ♪ what a feeling ♪ be a ghost and scream boo ♪ ear it ♪ ♪ be a ♪ now you got the spirit ♪ be a spooky ghost ♪ come on and scream boo ♪ boo, boo, boo, boo, boo ♪ i'm talking to you ♪ boo, boo ♪ really feel your power ♪ be a zombie with an "arrr" ♪ ♪ feel like you nedows of eart ♪ you creepy creatures ♪ your breath is the worst ♪ but it's your best feature ♪ can't wait to meet you [applause]

li - it's time to go outside. - ♪ outside ♪ outside ♪ ou line up, everybody ♪ ♪ line up, line up ♪ line up my gup-gup-gup-gup guppies ♪ ♪ everybody get out ♪ get, get, get up get everybody ♪ ♪ here we go, here we go here we go ♪ ♪ everybody line up ♪ here we go outside ♪ everybody let's go go o t out ♪ bubble guppies! - once upon a time... - unnnhhh. - a zombie is a spooky monster. - unnnhhh. - one night, the zombie saw something spooky. !s a really spooky. i'm getting out of here. - so the zombie ran away as fast as she could. - hey, wait. come back. oh.

- spooky? well, what was it?

citizen and americans for finanancial reform. amanda has also dressed as rich uncle pennybags, with a top hat and monocle, and sat directly behind former equifax ceo richard smith during a recent senate hearing when he testified about a securityty breach that left sensitive information f for 143 million americans exposed to hackers. amanda w warner, welcome to democracy now! explain what the senate did on tuesday night that required, as all the social media is ablaze under cover of night, vice president trump, to break a a te

vote. >> unfortunately on tuesday night, republicans voted to take away our right to sue banks like wells fargo, companies like equifax, when they break the law. they did this by repealing a new rule that restored our right to join together in class-action lawsuits. nermeen: could you talk more rule, whatfpb exactly a restrained companies from doing? >> it ended the use of what we call>> ripoff clauses. essentially, these fine print clauses they stick in take it or leave it contracts that say when they break the law and we have a dispute with them, instead of going to court or joining with other consumers were similarly harmed, if you go into secret arbitration. in these receding's, the banker or lender gets to pick a firm to decide the case, a firm they work with risk -- repeatedly and have bias in their favor. we are block for presenting

evidence from a feeling about decision. a recent economic policy institute report found the average consumer is forced to pay their bank or lender almost $8,000 in arbitration. amy: elizabeth warren said republicans vote on tuesday makes it easasier as you said, r financial institutions to cheat people. >> the banks and their lobbyists have actually got the gall to claim they want to kill the rule because it is bad for their customers. you know, that claim is plain laugughable. according to a rigorous three-year long cfpb s study, coconsumers recovered an average from40 million annually class-action settlements. while they received less than $1 million annually in the arbitration cases the agency

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

what forced arbitration is and how it constrains people who want to hold financial institutions to account? with as a secret process biased decision-maker the bank takes. can't --ially means we we have to go one by one instead of joining together in a class-action when we have all been similarly harmed. let's take a carfax. 145 million americans per site formation -- let's take a carfax. 145 billion americans other personal information taken. they would each have to file arbitration's. there are not enough arbitrators in the world to handle that. it means equifax will not see any lawsuits if they don't see a class-action. amy: can you did when the equifax ceo was testifying, amanda? an opportunity for creative protest. this is an issue hard to get people to really care about because it is so legalistic in

many ways. we decided to get creative. i dressed up as the monopoly man. we chose that imagery because we see this bill as a get out of jail free card for equifax andd wells fao.o. tuxedo, bowtie, top hat. onat behind richard smith the c-span cameras. throughout his two hours of testimony, i was making silly faces, twirling my mustache. the reason for that was to make it more entertaining for folks, make sure folks were paying attention. this is one e of the most important hearings we have seen in the senate this year. amy: let's go to a clip of senator john kennedy questioning the ceo of equifax, in which we can see you behind smith. , which you mymy data have not paid me for. your earning a good living -- which i don't deny you.

but your earning your moneyy by selling my d data that you get r me and don't pay for two other peopople. but if the data is wrong that you have about me, i would think you would want to make it as easy ass possible to correct i , not as hard as possiblble. >> i understand your point. it is an important point for the entire industry to make the consumers really as possible. amy: if you can respond to that, amanda werner, and talk about how specifically equifax will be benefited by this striking of the rule that the vice p presidt was needed to break the tie vote. >> i think one of the things that frustrated people the most thet the data breach was day after equifax announced it, they put up this website were they were offering supposedly free credit monitoring as a way

to make up for the data breach. it buried in the terms and conditions of the website was a forced arbitration clause. people were completely outraged that they were taken advantage away their right to sue in court. what struck us about that moment, this is standard procedure. it was not just equifax try to get away with something. this is what all banks and lenders do all the time. nermeen: sarah huckabee sanders told nbc news this rule would "harm our community banks and credit unions by opening the door to frivolous lawsuits by special-interest lawyers." amanda, can you comment on what she said, and of course, the fact trump supports this? and you yourself were affected by the data breach by equifax. could you talk more about that? >> absolutely. one of the biggest talking points we see is trying to use

community banks and credit unions as a shield for these big companies that will actually benefit. community banks and credit unions by a large do not use these clauses at all. we have an enough from one of the heads of one of these credit union associations that actually admits their members do not use forced arbitration. i don't see why they would have a dog in this fight. the smaller banks and credit unions will actually benefit by having a level playing field where they can compete with angst like wells fargo who are using these arbitration clauses not only to get away with breaking the law, but have their profits when they still from millions of consumers. in the equifax data breach, it affected about three quarters of the adult population. i was affected, my friends were affected. i don't really know anyone who wasn't affected, to be quite honest. we're not going to build a do anything about that that we can't come together in a class-action. unfortunately, we're going in the congressional action. the congress can only seem to get together when they can take away our rights, not when we can

be useful. amy: that tuesday night you had some interesting outfits. not just the kind that you wear like uncle rich beanbags, but among the people who were on the floor was senator tom cotton in a full sexy over because this was a night vote and he was at an american enterprise institute gala. can you talk about what it looked like on the floor? >> it was appalling. the fact they would put on these checks he does, go to fundraising events for the conservative donors the same night they are taking away our rights to get our money back when banks rip us off is just shameful. i think it really shows why my monopoly man stuck resonated with so many people. t resosonated with so many people. i think it showed how out of touch all of these politicians are.

their only y accountable to ther corporate donors and do not care about the people. amy: amanda werner i thank you for being with us, arbitration campaign manager for public citizen and americans for financial reform. amanda has also dressed as rich with a top hat and monocle. when we come back, we look at sinclair broadcasting and then the story of the undocumented teenager who is in detention, prevailing over the trump adadministration and getting an abortion this s week. stay w with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: "blue monday" by fats domino who died tuesday in his home in louisiana just across the mississippi from new orleans at the age of 89. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. we turn now to a major decision by the federal communications commission to eliminate a decades-old rule

that ensures community residents can have a say in their local broadcast tv station. the regulation is known as the "main studio rule" and it requires broadcasters to have a physical studio near where they have a license to transmit. this comes as the fcc also announced plans to abolish longstanding media-ownership rules, including limits on how many stations or newspapers one company can own in a single market. fcc chairman ajit pai testified wednesday during a congressional hearining. >> if yoyou believeve as i did e federal government has no businessss intervening in n the news, then we must t stop thehe federal government from inintervening in the news business. and d that is why this aftererni shared with my fellowow commmmissioners s in order t thl reform our media ownership rules d help p pull the governmnment oncece and for all out of the newsroom. we will vote on this order at our november 16 meeting.

the mamarketplace today is n nog like it was in n 1975. newspapers are shutting dodown. many radio and tv statations a e struggliling, especicially in smalleler markets. onlinene competition for thehe collection and distribution of news is even grereater than it ever was.. and jusust teed have internet companies claim 100% every cent ononline adverertising growth. indeed, the d digital at revenue alone this year r will be greatr thanan the market cap of the entire broadcacasting industry. yet the f fcc' israel's say thte entirely byfined hope and rabbit ears. amy: but opponents say the change will accelerate the consolidation of the mediaia industry, allowing massive corporate media companies, such as the right-wing sinclair broadcast group, to buy y up and control evenen more locacal statations. earlieier this year r trump's fc appointees revived a regegulatoy loopholele that cocould allolow sisinclair to buy 42 tv stations from tribune media company, on top of the more than 170

stations it already owns. the deal means sinclair stations would reach about 72% of u.s. households. this c comes as foformer fox nes bill o'reililly has reportedly been n negotiatingng for a poson with sinclair broadcast group. o'reilly secretly settled d a sexual harasassment claim for $2 million in january, the sixth and d by far the largest such settlement during his tenure at fox. for more, we are joined in washington, d.c., by andy kroll, senior reporter at mother jones magazine where he has written extensively about the fcc. his story in the current issue is headlined, "ready for trump tv? inside sinclair broadcasting's plot to take over your local news." welcome back to democracy now! a lot of the game going around his trump can get anything done,

but it sure does look that way at the fcc this week. can you talk about what is happening? this week, as you describe, the commission voted along party lines, three republicans voting in favor, two in opposition, to eliminate the main studio rule. this rule from about 80 years ago saying that a local tv or radio station needs to have its studio, its primary studio, in or near the community it serves. and that serves a number of purposes, not only for the community to be able to interact with a station, but also tethering the station to the community in which it is reporting the news and delivering some value to the people who watch it. that rule has been eliminated. as we saw in the clip you just showed, the chairman of the fcc ajit pai, republican, former staffer to jeff sessions now the attorney general, has said there is a whole bunchch more deregulation in the works.

this comes in a year since president trump's integration in january in which the fcc has consistently knocked down one barrier after another to enabling a massive deal frenzy, consolidation in the broadcast business whihich is exacactly wt going like sinclair want forward so they can gobble up as many tv stations around the country as they can and basically dominate the local news business. get toen: before we sinclair broadcasting, i want to ask you about the context of or the overturning of the main studio rule. it is been in effect for several decades. has any other administration attempted toto overturn it? >> no. the rule has been tweaked several occasions as they say to modernize it, but the substance of the rule, having that studio in the community where the

viewers, where the people -- those who depepend on that tv or radio station is, that has not changed over time. the supporters of the rule say theree is a clear reason for that. yes, it is true with email and social media you can send a message to your tv station, but the rule also gave that sense of locality, gave that connection in the newsgatheriring and in -- just the connection to a community that is so vital to local news. that has been a bedrock of broadcast television for nearly 80 years, and has gone unchallenged and republican administrations and under democratic administrations. and now under president trump and with commissioner pai at the fcc, that rule is ancient history. explain andy, could you , because as a result of overturning this rule, all of these different stations, tv

stations and radio stations can be increasingly consolidated. one of the companies under which the stations have been consolidated is sinclair broaoadcasting. ,ut this media organization very few people know about. could you tell us about this broadcasting channel? >> i like to say that sinclair broadcast group is the most influential media organization that most americans have never heard of. it owns nearly -- owns or operates nearly 200 local tv stations arounund the country. it has a tremendous influence over the local news business. and it marries that influence, that size reaching in a fortress and households right now, just 40% households right now, with pro-trump agenda. you see that any kind of programming that sinclair

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

a pioneer in the "must run" segment. this is produced by sinclair's corporate headquarters here in the d.c. area and in maryland. then sendsduces and out to its stations around the country almost 200 of them and says "you are required to require this 92nd commentary or this two-minute editoriaial." that content that is being just related out around the country -- distributed out and around the country has an unequivocal conservative partisan bent to it and basically, a pro-trump bent to it. epstein, former trump campaign aide and former trump left theee aide, who administration a and immediately went into this role at sinclair, his segments are called "bottom

line with boris." their required to runun every dy at sinclair stations. these are e basicallyy trump talking points. you can go on youtube and watched all of his clips in a row. they are what hundred percent during the trump line. if they're not that, there saw all interviews with trump administration. boriseople might know who epstein is because during the campaign, he was one of the spokespeople always interviewed on tv. this is one of hisis recentt commentataries. >> it is important to note boat or fraud goes beyond stealing ballots will step intentionally improper voter registration is absolutely a type of voter fraud. the commission on election integrity has gotten to work. the extent of voter fraud in our elections has been hotly debated between the left and right. the president's commission has been established to come up with a factual, impartial answer to that question. the state shouuld do everything wiwithin their power to cooperae with the commission. anand that is the bottom line. amy: and that is required by

every station to run, jennifer dalven --andy kroll? >> yes list of amy: this is another featuring trump advisor sesebastian gorka. the show was broadcast earlier this month. >> you do nott make legislatatin out of outliers. our big issue is blalack african gun n crime against like e afri. it is a tragedy. go to o chicago. gogo to the e cities run by democrats for 40 years. black young men are murdering each other by the bushel. amy: go by the bushel." gorkais sebastian talking about black african crime on black african crime saying black men are killing each other by the bushel. andy kroll? >> sebastian gorka is another alumnus of the trump white house who upon leaving went immediately to sinclair and is

now a talking head at sinclair. so you see this trend of trump officials going to sinclair broadcast group and them being put on the airwaves and either crazyg a completely message that sebastian gorka just did on a segment that was supposed to be about -- amy: i think outright racist is a more a accurate way to descrie it. >> it is hard to find the words to describe what that was. yet boboris epstein as well, his segment that we just listen to come is basically advocacacy for the trump administration on the commission investigating voter fraud, which in most cases doesn't exist. so you have this message and you stations around the country that a lot of cases just want to do local news. but as thehey come under the sinclair amber alert, they are being told by headquarters google you will run the segmgments."

in boris epstein's case, sinclair tripled the number of times that boris epstein was required to be run by its stations. so this is the progression we're seeing this year. message.o-trump but the same time that sinclair is looking to gobble up more stations and c consolidate e its control. nermeen: could you talk about the founder of sinclair broadcasting group, david smith? >> david smith is a media mogul with an incredible amount of sway over what goes on in the local airwaves. he is not well-known on the level of, say, rupert murdoch, for instance, even of the two men i think would consider themselves contemporaries or competitors. david smith built a s small famy company that had three tv stations starting in the mid-1980's based out of baltimore. lawinding ways around the and taking advantage of ways that the law was changed -- in

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

states, crisscross the united states. givive 42l would television stations from sinclair or from tribune intoo sinclair. it would add more of those dots on the map, as you mentioned for step sinclair has no presence right now in colorado. this would give it a major presence in colorado. it would also briring stations n ththese three largest media markets in the country into the ,inclair company -- new york , one of the and wgn most famous broadcast companies in america, in chicago. so this would really seal sinclair's position as the sort of dominant broadcast company. of course, given that many more tens of millions of people who would be potentially saying force epstein, sebastian gorka potentially bill o'reilly.

when we were talking about sebastian gorka, just understand if he's talking about black african violets here in the united states some who he is, the whole controversy around him wearing that pin at the the newspaperf the forward reporting that members of the attendee rent the order confirmed gorka took a lifelong oath to defend their in farming -- far right wing group under thenaz government of germany during world war ii. ijust the significance of what is being required by these local stations to run all over the country. >> and gorka, if you watch that clip or the roundtable that clip comes from which is available on sinclair's website, sebastian gorka is more or less given an open mic to say what he thinks

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

a fox host for sexual harassment? >> what i've heard and what i've seen reported in the past week is there are negotiations underway between sinclair and y'reilly around -- where the it would be bringing them it as a host or commentator or some kind of arrangement or partnership between o'reilly having his own program, his own platform, and sinclair as the megaphone, if you will, projecting that program, projecting o'reilly out using its empire the stations. now, sinclair has denied it is talking with o'reilly and has repeatedly done that.

though the reporting would suggest otherwise. i will say i talked to people in and around sinclair, and among the rank-and-file, if you will, there is kind of shock and disgust that in light of o'reilly's sexual-harassment settlement and all of the allegations at fox that sinclair would be thinking about considering a partnership with him has a lot of people there upset, concerned about their futures whether they want to work there if bill o'reilly joints the company in some capacity. , thank you for being with us, senenior reporter at mother jones magazine where he has written extensively about the fcc and sinclair broadcasting. his piece published earlier this week is headlined, "ready for trump tv? inside sinclair broadcasting's plot to take over your local news." when we cocome back, an undocumented teenager in prevails overexas the trump administration. she finally this week gets the

abortion she has been seeking for weeks. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

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

month trying to stop her from accessing an abortion. her lawyer says the staff at the refugee shelter in brownsville, texas, forced the girl to call her abusive parents to tell them about her pregnancy despite the fact that her parents allegedly beat the girl's older sister until she miscarried for getting pregnant out of wedlock. the lawyer also says the staff retaliated against the girl after learning about her plans to have an abortion, limiting her time with other kids at the shelter and allegedly repeatedly asking her what she planned to name the baby. in an interview with hbo's vice news wednesday night, jane doe described when she decided to have an abortion. >> when i first arrived at the shelter, i decided to do it because i don't feel capable of being a mature woman. wording g strong were old enougg to be able to take care of it. and i don't feel sure about

having a child. nermeen: jane doe also issued a statement via her guardian, saying -- "while the government provides for most of my needs at the shelter, they have not allowed me to leave to get an abortion. instead, they made me see a doctor that tried to convince me not to abort and to look at sonograms. people i don't even know are trying to make me change my mind. i made my decision and that is between me and god. through all of this, i have never changed my mind." amy: the american civil liberties union has filed a lawsuit on behalf of jane doe against the u.s. department of health and human services and its office of refugee resettlement, which oversees facilities for unaccompanied and undocumented minors who enter the united states. for more, we are joined by two guests. in new york, jennifer dalven is director of the aclu's reproductive freedom project, and one of the attorneys representing jane doe. and joining us from las vegas, nevada, susan hays is the legal director of jane's due process, a legal referral service for minors facing unintended pregnancy in texas. we welcome you both to democracy

now! jennifer dalven, lay out the suit and what took place this week. jane came here without her parents looking for a better life. she was in a shelter where she learned she was pregnant. from the v very beginning, she said she wanted an abortion. with the help some lawyers from jane's due process, she would to the texas court and got a judicial permission to get an abortion. but since then, every step of the way, the trump administration tested to block her from exercising her decision . ininstead of taking her to her appointments, what they've done is taken her to a r religious crisis pregnancy center where folks tried to stop her, convince her not to have an abortion, force her to look a sonograms. and they would not let her go to her procedure. from month now they y were tryig to stop her r from getting the procedure she wanted. the law inat is texas for others, people not undocumented? in other words, people who are minors seeking abortion, do they

face similar obstacles or no? >> they do. texas requires that teenagers get the consent of their parents. and most kids do that. but unfortunately, we know some young women cannot make -- cannot go to their parents so folks like a jane's due process helped him women like that go to court. the constitutionon requires youo be able to go to court and get a judicial waiver. amy: explain how the courts played out. >> so she got judicial permission. then we went to court after court, and the government would not back down. at every step, the court said, yes, this is a constitutional right that she has, but the government have appealing and appealing until we were finally able to get her the procedure she needed. amy: susan hays, described hu jintao is. obviously, not giving her man, but talk about a young, and document a teenager in detention in texas.

>> jane is like hundreds of other girls who come out from latin america seeking a better life. a significant percentage of them are sexual assaulted on the way. jane's due process has been working with them for many years now anytime one of these janes are in detention and choose to have an abortion, we help her. working with local lawyers, file her judicial bypassing quebec court order who gives for not only the right to consent to abortion, but also the right to do so without anyone notifying her parent or legal guardiann that she is pregnant or has ever desired an abortion. it was that first order she got all the way back in september 20 said that the office of refugee resettlement order the sheltered not to honor and a hold her hostage and not allow her to go to her abortion appointment back in september. nermeen: i want to ask you about the officewho heads

of refefugee resettlement scott lloyd. could you tell us about him and how he f figures in whatat has hahappened i in jane does case? >> the abrupt change of the practices go back to scott lloyd hitting that office sometime in march of this year. he is using that office to inflict his personal religious believes on unaccompanied minors all across the country. and use of the cannot do that under the first amendment. the government does n not get to pick a side and religious fight. and an individual cannot constitutionally use government power and government money to do that. how does he play in here? talk about the significance of his position in the trump administration. >> the office of refugegee settlement is part of the health and human services department. it is not a position that is subject to senate confirmation. president trump appointed scott

lloyoyd to that position in late march. however, in the emails the aclu has obtained for litigation, his name shows up in eararly march s part of a new what i will call of double top secret policy no one gets an abortion without scott lloyd permission. in the shelters were ordered not to do anything to help any minor wanted an abortion take steps toward that. such as complying with state laws by seeking a judicial bypass order. scott lloyd has also done things like flight to texas to go to shelters to personally minister, talk to, control pregnant unaccompanied minors. and presumably on the government dime post of this is highly unusual for the head of an agency to act that way and be so personally involved in individual cases. and personally directing individual cases to the outcome that he wants, not the outcomeme that is right for that jane. amy: jennifer, how common is

this jane? >> unfortunately, it is all too common. as susan said,d, when young womn come to this country searching for a better life, there often subject to sexual assault. there may be hundreds of pregnant young women every year. so although yesterday jane was able to get her procedure, it is incredibibly impmportant peoeopt think this i is over.. this is s scott lloyd's popolic. andpplieses to all the jane's we will continue fighting until we do this policy not down. had the jane dough has abortion, but you said justice for jane also needs immigration really. can you expand what you think should happen? >> yesterday was a victory f for jane, but only in n part. jane is stitill in a government shelter. and so are t thousands and thousands of other people in this country. breathed a small sigh of relief, but there is still tremendous w work to be de both on the access to

reproductive health care and on the immigration side. amy: i want to ask susan hays about how the george w. bush administration changed legally has custody of an unaccompanied minor and what you understand the former secretary of health and human services, the now disgraced tom price, has to do with that. >> back in the george w. bush administration, the legal custody of these minors was held by the shelters. that meant under statete judicil bypassss laws, shelters that cod consent to an abortion. back toward the end of the second administration, there was an incident in virginia where some stuff to consent to an abortion in a shelter affiliated with the catholic church. the catholic church through a fit. the george w. bush administration changed the designation of legal custody so that orr itself has legal custody, bureaucrats in washington, instead of the social workers and staff on the

ground in the shelters who care for these children. the net effect of that is kids in shelter have to go through the judicial bypass process, which is kind of hard to get to a poorhouse and file a case when you're in a shelter. you u have to have the help of someone on the outside to do that. for 17done these cases years now. at the time, i remember really hitting that policy as being unfair and a burden on these and become the minors who choose ababortion. flash for do now with scott lloyd, that very policy that george w. bush put in place in 2008, scott lloyd is now violating because it is very specific you must follow state law. here the standoff does s here ts to get thewas able process. the office of refugee resettlement defied ththat court order. amy: we have to leave it there. amy: thank you so much for being

with us. susan hays, legal director of jane's due process and also thank you to jennifer dalven of the aclu reproductive freedom project. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed

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