12/12/17 12/12/17 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now! >> as a little girl, i wouldld watch ththe miss usasa padgett r yearar and reamm of being ononef those beautiful successful, incrededibly confident womenen. these dreams never included a man lining us all up to look us over like we were pieces of meat. amy: the women who have accused president trump of sexual harassment and assault are back, and this time they're demanding that congress investigate as

therere are at l least 56 congrs members. we will speak with samantha holvey from a former miss usa contestant, when trump owned the pageant, and we will stick with planned parenthood president cecile richards. >> this first year has been probably the worst year for inen of any administration history, but it so has been e momostmazing yr of ganizing and resilience and resistance. y: we will al speak with cilllle chardsdsbout accused dophile yy moore running for setete in alaba, as ll as thstate reproducte rights in ameca today hav neay 1200 iigrants lost tir legal status nce president trump ended daca. now thousandnds are calling on commerce t to p pass the dream t before the e end of the year.. >> my mom m is a dreamer. i have very y terrified. cymer 22n2nd, she will l not have her daca status ananymore.

and d she will be at riskk o of deportation. if congrgress doesn't take actcn for i will have my mommy the holidays. amy: we will speak with congressmember luis gutierrez, democrat of illinois who was arrested wednesday calling for a vote on the dream act. last month, he announced he will not seek reelection next year after 13 t terms in the house. hehe says he wants to focus on recovery in puerto rico. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. in alabama, voters are heading to the polls today in a special election for a u.s. senate seat that could determine the fate of president trump's legislative agenda, as well as the future makeup of the supreme court. the election pits democrat doug jones againsnst roy moore, who's been accused by at least nine women of sexually harassing or assaulting them when they were teenagers, one as young as 14. on monday, moore made a final

pitch in a campaign rally that featured texas tea party republican congress member louie gohmert, former milwaukee county sheriff david clarke, and steve bannon, president trump's former chief strategist and editor of the far-right website breitbart. roy moore was introduced by his wife kayla moore, who pushed back against media reports about her husband's racist, sexist, and anti-semitic views. >> fake news would tell you that we don't care for jews. i tell you all of this because i've seen it all caps i want to set the record straight while they are here. [applause] one of our attorneys is a jew. amy: a fox news poll on monday showed democrat doug jones leading by 10 points, but civil -- voting rights activists are warning that alabama has one of the most restrictive voter id laws in the

u.s., which civil rights groups disproportionately affect african americans, students, and others who are far more likely to vote against republicans. after it implemented the law in 2014, alabama ordered the closure of 31 dmv offices in mostly-black parts of the state, including in every county where african americans make up at least three-quarters of the population. the closures were partly reversed after a civil rights probe by the department of transportation. alabama also closed 7% of its polling places in recent years, even as its population rose. in new york, three of the 16 women who have publicly accused donald trump of sexual abuse called on congress monday to investigate the president. in a press conference in manhattan, the women shared accounts in which they said trump groped, fondled, or otherwise made unwanted sexual

advances toward them. this is rachel crooks, who says trump forcibly kissed her against her will in 2005. >> i wantt to believe that as americicans, we e can puasidider political inclinations and it meant that something's infected transcend politics, that we will hold mr. trump to the same standard as harveyy weinstein ad the other men who were held accountable for the reprehensible behavior. amy: on monday, 56 house lawmakers with the democratic women's working group wrote a joint letter calling for a congressional investigation into the allegations against president trump. they are joined by five u.s. senators -- cory booker, bernie sanders, jeff merkley, ron wyden, and new york democrcrat kirsten gillibrand, who spoke on cnn. >> president trump should resign. these allegations are credible. they are numerous. i have heard these women's testimony. many of them are heartbreaking.

amy: at the white house, press secretary sarah huckabee sanders responded to questions about the claims of women who say they were sexual harassed or assaulted by trump. >> the president has addressed these accusations directly and tonight all of these allegations. theseied all of allegations. this took place long before he was elected to be president. the people of this country at a decisive election supported president trump. and we feel like these allegations have an answer to through that process. amy: after headlines, we will be joined by samantha holvey, a formrmer miss usa contestantnt's one of 16 women who've accused presesident trump of sexexual misconduct. we will also be joined by plananned parenthood president cecile richards. celebrity chef mario batali has stepped down from his tv and restaurant empire after multiple women accused him of habitual sexual harassment and groping the breasts and buttocks of female employees. in a statement, batali

acknowledged what he called personal failures, but did not address specific accusations. meanwhile, "the new yorker" has fired its washington correspondent ryan lizza over what the magazine called improper sexual conduct. "the new yorker" said it would -- could not detail the allegations due to privacy concerns, but a lawyer for a woman accusing lizza of sexual misconduct disputed lizza's defense that the pair shared a respectful relationship. in new york city, police have identified the suspect in monday morning's bombing in a midtown manhattan subway station as 27-year-old d brooklklyn residit and bangladeshi immigrant akayed ullah. police say ullah was carrying a pipe bomb strapped to his body with velcro and zip ties when the device exploded prematurely in a tunnel connecting the busy port authority and times square terminals. ullah was injured in the blast, along with three other people who suffered headaches and

ringing ears. new york mayor bill de blasio said monday the outcome could have been a lot worse. >> let's also be clear this was an attempted terrorist attack. thank god the perpetrator did not achieve his ultimate goals. thank god our first responders were there so quickly to a addrs the situation to make sure people were say. amy: on monday, "the newew york times" cited unnamed law enforcement officials who said ullah was inspired to set off a bomb in retaliation for u.s. attacks against isis in syria. at the white house, press secretary sarah huckabee sanders seized on news of the bombing to defend president trump's crackdown on immigration, saying in the occupied west bank, scores of palestinians have been injured as protests continue to rage over president trump's decision to recognize jerusalem as israel's capital and to move the u.s. embassy there. in ramallah, four protesters

were wounded by live fire, as israeli security forces fired bullets and tear gas at palestinians who burned tires and threw stones. dozens more were wounded in the gaza strip, including three palestinians hit by live rounds. in occupied east jerusalem, protesters marched on the u.s. consulate amid a massisive security crarackdown. this is jerusalem resident hatem abeded al-qader. >> we are here to sesend a messe to the united states and all the musust beat jerusalem capital of the palestinian state. we are against the decision of mr. trump. this decision is illegal. it is against international law. amy: in jakarta, indonesia, some 10,000 protesters gathered outside the u.s. embassy to protest trump's decision. there were similar protests in santiago, beirut, brussels, and

dhaka, among other cities. in the turkish capital, ankara, president recep erdogan accused condemned israel as a terrorist state, while visiting russian president vladimir putin said the u.s. decision on jerusalem threatens to further destabilize the mimiddle east. in iraq prprime miminister haidr , al-abadi proclaiaimed victoryn the fight against isis during a military parade sunday in baghdad's heavily fortified green zone. the claim came as iraqi forces sasaid they had secured the last rural areas held by isis. the three-year battle to recapture territory held by isis left m most of theitity of mosul in r ruins, , and the joururnalc moninitoring groroup airwars sas nearly 6000 civilians have been killed in iraq and syria by thee u.s.-led coalition fighting isis. in nepal, a coalition of two communist parties has taken a strong lead as officials count ballots in landmark parliamentary and provincial elections. early returns show the communist party of nepal, united marxist leninists and former maoist

rebels, poised to take control of parliament with at least 91 out of 165 seats. the world trade organization has convened in buenosos aires for s 11th ministerial amid heavy security, as argentina deported two o people planning to attend the talks. british journalist sally burch was stopped at the airport saturday and forced to return to ecuador, while a norwegian activist who was planning to join protests against the wto was deported to brazil. last month, argentina revoked the credentials of 63 environmentalists and trade activists who had been accredited by y the wto, promptg protests. back in the u.s., san francisco, mayor ed lee died unexpectedly overnight of a reported heart attack at the age of 65. mayor lee was appointed as san francisco's first asian american mayor in 2011 after his predecessor, gavin newsom, was elected lieutenant governor. he went on to win elections in 2011 and 2015. under the city's charter, board of supervisors president london

breed will become acting mayor. in washington, lawyers for president are pressing the justice department to appoint a special counsel, went to investigate robert mueller for the special counsel probing alleged ties between president trump's campaign in russia. speaking with thee website monday, trump's personal attorney accused robert mueller's team of holding conflict of interest as saying "these two revelations require the appointment of a special counsel to investigate." in tacoma, whihingto a a paiof prestersrshained themselves to cranane nday at the nstructi sitite a masasve new 8 milln-gagall liquefied naturagas store e plan the vivil dibebedien actioio ut dowow work athe site fo muchf the day. activistsay the ant wod pose a teat to aearby residentianeighborod and t the ear's imate. and athe u.smexico borr, familili gathed at the wl separang sunla park, new mexico, from ciudad juez on sunday, lling g r an e to present trump's imimgration

crackdown and for the preservation of daca -- or deferred action for childhood arrivals -- which allows some young undocumented immigrants to live and work in the united states. president trump has said he'll end daca in march unless congress acts. at the border wall, dozens of family members held hands and d shared hugugthrough memetl bars, many of thememeeping. >> i don't want the government attacking uss, our parents,, because they were the dreamers or the original dreamers. they did an act of love upon bringing us without no onene wht could happen when leaving their family behind. they can, gathered a lot of strength, and now it is my turn to fight for them. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. juan: and i'm juan gonzalez. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. five senators are now calling on president trump to resign over allegations that he sexually harassed or assaulted women. this is new york democrat

kirsten gillibrand speaking monday on cnn. >> president trump should resign . these allegations are credible. they are numerous. i have h heard these womenen's testimony. many of them are heartbreaking. juan: senator gillibrand joins senators cory booker, bernie sanders, jeff merkley, and ron wyden in calling on president trump to step down. meanwhile, 56 house lawmakers with the democratic women's working group are calling for a congressional investigation into the allegations against trump. amy: this comes as three of the 16 women who have publicly accused president trump of sexual harassment held a news conference monday in new york, demanding that congress take action. the women shared accounts in which they said trump groped, fondled, and forcibly kissed them. monday's news conference was held by brave new films, which released the documenentary "16 women d d dona trump," in november. >> he absololely gred me.

slipped hihand there, uching mprivate rts. >>e turned me and embraced me a and kissed me on the lips a remberer bei scked bececause i just would have thought to shake somebody's hand. his first respoe -- it waa rerealhock when al of aududden hihahandwere all over me. en he started putting hihahand up myy skirt, that was it. thatas it. >> the person am i rig, , who unbebeownst totoe at that time wawas nald tru, put their hand my skt. he did tou mvagina through u underarar. >> as the womewalkedcross e table, donald trp woul and,up under their skirts yoknow, commt on wthther ey had underwe or dinot ha underwe. i did not want to have to wal acrosshe table. i want to get out of there. then hihi h hd touched the

righinsisidef my breast. elteltntimided and i powerless. >> i was standinright next to him when he touched my butt. >> he grabbed me tightly and a k kisd each without --

amy: that is an excerpt from the documentary "16 women and donald trump." the women are calling for congressional investigation into sexual misconduct by president trump. last year, several republican lawmakers distanced thememselves from donald trump's presidential campaign following the release of a 2005 videotape showing trump boasting about sexually assaulting women. trump responded this morning on twitter to the allegations, writing -- "despite thousands of hours wasted and many millions of

dollars spent, the democrats have been unable to show any collusion with russia -- so now they are moving on to the false accusations and fabricated stories of women who i don't know and/or have never met. fake news!" well, for more we are joined by samantha holvey, a former miss north carolina. contestant.miss usa she is one of 16 women who has accused president trump of sexual misconduct and spoke out at the news conference on monday. welcome to democracy now! so you just -- we just play the video of which you are a part. can you talk about your experience of donald trump and in what he is saying "i don't know them, never met them"? time i met donald trump, we were in new york city during a media tour come all 51 of the miss usa contestants. they lined us all up. so he could meet all of us.

i am thinking this is going to be a meeting great, lots of eye contact. he just looked me up and down like i was a piece of meat. there is no "hi, how are you doing? are you excited to be here?" i was just a piece of meat that was his property. i thought them i hope i never have to deal with them again. i don't want to be around him. then finals night rolls around. i am inherent makeup, curlers in my hair, nothing but a robe on. just 20 years old. he comes waltzing into hair and makeup and is just looking around, not talking to us, asking us how we are doing. not myway, miss usa was first pageant. i've competed in others. no men were ever backstage. so this is not something that happens. i see him walk into hair and makeup and he is looking us all over. he waltzes into the dressing room where we have two big

security guards making sure nobody but female contestants and chaperones are allowed in there. if he walks right on in. him talking about he has never met any of us, this is what happens every year. it wasn't just 2006. he bragged about this s on howad stern. silly me, i should've been watching howard stern. he bragged about it the year i -- the euro for a competed in miss usa. amazing to call me a liar when i'm just verifying his own words. one cope white house sarah sanders responded during monday's press briefing. >> the president said himself he thinks it is a good thing that women are coming forward, but he also feels strongly that emir allegation should not determine thecourse, in this case, president has denied any of these allegations come as have

eyewitnesses and several reports of shown those eyewitnesses also backup the president's claim in this process. again, the a american people knw this and voted for the president, and we feel like we are e ready to move forward in that process. one cope samantha, your response to that statement? you initially raises allegations as did many of the women last year during the campaign. what is the change now, the decision out of this press conference yesterday? >> it was a tech decision to come out because i did receive a lot of backlash last year when i spoke out. i wasn't sure i wanted to go through that all again. when the idea was that all of us would come together, that all 16 women would come to gather and seeing us as a group, seeing us supporting each other as well as telling our stories, power in numbers, and that is what i was just hoping that maybe this year it would be different since the

climate is different. amy: yesterday onto the news conference. you were there along with jessica leeds, a man who said donald trump attacked her sitting next to her in first class sitting on a plane, groping her until she got up and left. this is rachel crooks, who also spoke at the news conference with you who said trump forcibly kissed her against her will in 2005.. a young 122 years agogo as receptionist in trump tower, i was forcibly kissed by mr. trump during our first introduction. mr. trump repeatedly kissed my cheeks and ultimately my lips in an encounter that has its impact in my life well belonged in national occurrence -- well beyond the initial occurrence. unfortunately, given mr. trump's notoriety and the fact he was a partner of my employers, not to mention the owner of the building, i felt there was nothing i could do. hostile work environment, my only solution at the time was to simply avoid

additional encounters with him. i do realize that in the grand scheme of t things,s, there a ar worse cacaseof s sexual harassmt , misconduct, and assault. there's no mistake, acceptable level of such behavior. that simon think they can use their power, position, or notoriety to demean an attack women speaks to their character, noouours. lesson me, is a touough lef learnened. ira ththe story ofof one that nd my own and i i finally f felt absolved o of the guilt i i is somehow projected an image thatt made me e an easy tatarget. this was serial misconduct and perversion on the part of mr. trump. amy: that was rachel crooks. donald trump has just fired back this morning on tweet. five senators have called for him to resign. you fired d back at kirsteten

atlibrandnd -- he fired back kirsten gillibrand. at least 56 lawmakers in the house of call for congressional investigation into the sexual misconduct accusation against them. this morning, trump tweeted -- "lightweight senator kirsten oh i want to bring cecille richards into this conversation, president of planned parenthood federation of america and the ceo as well. as you listen to samantha and rachel, some of the 16 women who have accused donald trump, and then see what he is tweeting today, attacking the senators, particularly the female senator of the five who are calling for

him to resign, with sexual innuendo in his tweets, your thoughts? think samanthat is extraordinarily brave and the other 15 women because you can see now why women don't come forward. obviously, it is time for an investigation of donald trump. the fact he is in fact going after women i think is going to embolden women. todifficult as this is experience, the outpouring of women now supporting each other and telling their stories is like nothing i've ever seen in my lifetime, including women we see at planned parenthood. juan: and the impacts across the spectrum in terms of washington itself, terms of lawmakers now as more and more calalls for investigations of individual lawmakers are occurring. >> right. i think the story amy referred to of now women in congress finally saying, who have basically suffered at this kind of treatment for their entire careers are now saying it is

time to investigate this and holding people to a standadard s incredibly important -- i don't think any of us saw this happening. ironically, i believe the president is actually encouraging more women to now stand up and come forward, particularly -- i'm sorry he said is about samantha, the fact he is actually saying he doesn't even know who these women are, trying to essentially you raise them in every way. way.ase them in every isis because women are sayaying enough is standing together that we will see change. amy: we want to get both of your comments on roy moore samantha, you're from north carolina. >> i grew up it was virginia. i was born in texas. in northollege carolina. i'm a southern girl. amy: which makes it even more relevant to talk about roy moore now. your thoughts on president trump endorsing this accused pedophile, accused child molester? >> i was disgusted, but not surprised. o., that is a testament

to his character. it doesn't matter that women come out with evidence -- to make sure everybody knows, this is not a he said/she said thing. this is a he said/she verify what he said and then he said she didn't say that. not a surprise that he came out for one more, but what i would love to see, i would love to see republicans take a stand because women's issues, the treatment of women, that is. a partisan issue. something only democrats should believe in. this is something every woman and man in america needs to stand up and say, no, we're no longer accepting this type of behavior. juan: cecille richards, i want to ask about roy moore, especially the race in alabama has got a lot of attention over the allegations against moore of abusing young women, but also another big issue has been abortion and what roy moore's

stand historically spent on abortion. >> in an effort to distract any attention from his own behavior, is now trying to make extreme accusations against doug jones around the issue of of abortion. what we have seen is that issue is not the primary issue in this race. i think more women are drawn to be engaged in this race because of the support that doug jones has for women's rights. the difficulty of this race and why i guess the president is down there and trying -- there's a huge partisan disadvantage. the fact that doug jones is even competitive in this race says how weak a candidate roy moore is and how desperate republicans are to win the senate seat that he has sitting members of the senate willing to stand by a man who has been accused by so many women, including underaged women, sexual harassment and asassault. it is absolutely astounding. i was really glad to see senator flake saying we

have to put our country ahead of our party. amy: i want to play this clip from "meet the press" it would tim chuck todd. single woman should have the freedom to choose what happens to her own body. >> i'm a firm believer that a woman should have the freedom to choose what happens to her own body. i'm going to stand up for that and i'm going to make sure that continues to happen. i want to make sure that as we go forward, people have access to contraception, access to the abortion that they might need. if that is what they choose to do. i think that is going to be an issue we can work with and talk to people about from both sides of the aisle. >> so you would not be a favor of legislation is said than abortion after 20 weeks or something like that? >> i'm not going -- i'm not in favor of anything that is going to infringe on a woman's right and her freedom to choose. that is just the position i've had for many years.

it is the position i continue to have. i want to make sure people understand that once a baby is born, i'm going to be there for that child. that is where become a right to life or. amy: that is alabama democratic ,enatorial candidate doug jones who is competing right now against roy moore in today's election. the special election called for decembmber 12. cecille richards? >> what is important understand, people in alabama who are completely agagainst women's access to safe and legal abortion or not voting for doug jones anyway. this is really not the issue. i think the important thing g is what mr. jones says which is people in this country believe -- i including in the south.h. i'm from texas, too. they believe a woman and her doctor should be the ones m makg ththe decision about her pregnancy, and other government and certainlnly not the statate legislature. i got to blue for the majority of women in alabama, certainly not roy moore. amy: before samantha leaves as

you're congratulating her, cecicille richards, you, too, ce out a few days ago in an event in texas when tina brown asked about whether you were ever sexually harassed or assaulted. >> i guess i grew up in a time in which, of course, remember my first job out of college whereas an intern this summer and being sexy assaulted by my boss. that was before -- who are you supposed to say it to, report it to? i think we all think back and say, i should have done more. frankly, that is why i'm m so incredibly proud of samantntha d the women who are risking taking on the president of the united states and telling their stories. i just want to say on behalf of the millions of women around the country who haveve been assault, them for the courage. amy: cecille richards, we would like you to stay with us to talk about the state of women in record active rights in the

psalmist year under president. thank you so much to samantha holvey for sharingng your story today and bravely being a part of that news conference yesterday. samantha holvey is a former miss usa contestant. trump then owned the pageant. she is one of 16 women who last year accused president trump of sesexual misconduct. would we come back, we will continue with cecille richards, of plannednt a pla parenthood federation of america. then a man who has spent by 13 terms in office, announced he is resigning. we will speak with luis gutierrez. ♪ [music break]

amy: lady gaga performing "till it happens to you" at the oscars in 2016 postop lady gaga herself, a sexual assault survivor. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. as we mark nearly one year under president trump, our next guest says this may be the worst you for women than any other presidential administration history. she knows it has also been a year organizing and resistance by women and their allies. amy: we continue our conversation with cecille richards, president t of the planned parenthood federation of america and the planned parenthood action fund. i want to ask you about the me too movement. you talk about movement and the power -- this was started 10 years ago by tarana burke, who cared about sexual assault, she herself survivor,

african-american woman. we have had her on several times. talking ababout how girls anand women can take power to step thing you see what happens today. not only in the united states, it has coursed the globe. can you start there and then talk about the games and the losses in this country the last there>> this movement -- are some parallels in the reproductive health movement in that for years womenen have been ashamed of sharing their own stories, including about abortion. abortion stories. it is only now that women are sharing them on social media and being covered in the news as actually part of women's health care, part of what happens in women's lives that i think we're beginning to a race of some of the stigma. amy, ofeen a year, extraordinary assault on women, onon pnned p penthood, on won's access thehealthare.e. i have neverlier, se --- i have been an gaganizer myntire e fetime. i've never seen e e outpringng of activism, not only by ung

won anand ung men,ut women who have ver been involveinin poticscs oorganining befor see it every single day not only in new york and shingtonndnd san francisco, the ut, , michan, , sa , wisconsin. juan: can you talk about the wins and losses that have occurred in the trump administraration? >> in january, speaker paul ryan said that by february, there would be a bill on president's desk that would defund planned parenthood and repeal ththe affordable care act. here we are in december and our doors are still open all across the united states of america because we were able to beat that back. people in because congress suddenly saw the light, it is because literally, the outpouring of grassroots organizing across the country primarily from women, some estimates are that 86% of the

congress were coming from women, and also because, frankly, to republican women, susan collins theira murkowski, bucked party, stood up for planned parenthood and against the repeal of women's reproductive rights and access to planned parenthood. but it is tenuous. that is a huge victory. i know going into 2018 we're going to be fighting it all over again. amy: you had the vice president actually addressing what they call the march for life january 22 that has been going on since 1973 when the court ruled in roe v. wade, making sure abortion was legal. how significant was this? whwhen people are calling for te resignation of president trump, his impeachment, mike pence is the vice president who would be president. >> look, what is important, amy, when we have had a chance to actually have a public conversation and a public fight like over the defining of planned parenthood, we can win.

the danger is what this administration is doing and vice president mike pence is the orchestra master on this, of putting people into places of authority that will now repeall and take away wowomen's rights where we have actually no public discourse. you can look at health and human services now. it has completely been stopped with people against not only planned parenthood and safe and legal abortion, they are against birth control. that is what we're s seeing from these memos from the white house. they want to take away family-planning money and redirect it -- juan: who specifically are some of those people? >> teresa manning, the head of what is called a title 10 the national family-planning program , signed into law by a republican president. it serves 4 million women, mainly low income women across the country. she doesn't even believe i in birth control.l. she is not a suprter o of contraception. what we're seeing now is they're going to try to unravel a program that hasas led to two

important victories. we're the lowest teen pregnancy in the history of the united states of america and a 30 year low for unintended pregnancy.y. what i fear frfrom this s a admiministration is they're putting their politics ahead of women'n's health and d we will e those rates begin to rise again. amy: then you have the case of scott lloyd. explain who he is and how he tried to weigh in on a young , teenager,oman who had gotten permission to have an abortion in texas. he went down to texas to try to stop this from happening. >> he's a perfect example of the kind of folks being appointed by this administration that no one has ever heard of. jane don't in my home state of texas had been apprehended at ,he border, put into custody found out she was pregnant because so many young women who are trying to make it across the border are victims of sexual assault. she didid all ofof the things necessary to actually get permisission for access to abortion, which is very hard for

a minor in the state of texas. scott lloyd did everything he could to try to prevent her from accessing an abortion. amy: he was the head of the office of refugee resettlement. >> exactly. this is a case we know about, but something that is happening across the country to young women who are now havave absolutely no access to power. thank goodness for the aclu and my colleagues there who are able to fight this case. juan: what about the judgeships? some would argue perhaps the donald trump's longest lasting legacy will be his importance to the federal benches. >> planned parenthood, we are litigating in five different district courts. there are vacancies everywhere. and because of suspended the rules of the united states senate now, these nominees, lifetime appoint us to the federal bench, are now running through. we just had one yesterday. they moved to cloture on so many was been basically said, unanimous decision by the

american bar associatition, completely unqualified who takes a position completely opposed to reproductive rights. those are the kind of folks now being appointed to and confirmed her lifetime appoint us to the federal bench. you are right, that is going to be a legacy that decades of women are going to have to suffffer under and endure. thatwe just got this word merriam-webster's dictionary just named his word of the year for 2017, "feminism." >> it's about time. amy: i want to ask about republican arizona congressman trent franks who suddenly last week in the midst of other people announcing the resignation, announced he would be resigning from thousand representatives. this came in the midst of the scandal that a number of women in his office said he had pressured them to bear his children. one woman saying he at

approached or at least four times and offered her $5 million to carry his child. can you talk about the significance of this? who is trent franks? among the things css, he called president obama the enemy of humanity. in thee is so much irony folks who are now being exposed for what they have done because trent franks is one of the most adamant anti-women's rights, antiabortion members of the united states house of representatives. thank goodness this story came out. womenunimaginable what have suffered under trent franks. i think this is only the tip of the iceberg. we are going to see the stories come out, i think, every week. now. amy: we're seeing women come out in these red cloaks from "hand made still" that was made into a tv series. you could not help think about handmaids tale" when hearing what had just taken

place with trent franks. >> i just got to present the left them acachievement award to margararet atwood and we were bh remarking on the fact that now everything she has written is coming true to life. it is unimaginable. amy: can you talk about roy moore and his significance when it comes to both sexual assault, acknowledging stories, and what his record is on reproductive rights? we talked d about doug jones in his support for abortion. >> that is the other disturbing thing about roy moore, even if you put aside his own past and his sexual assault past, his posisions on womomen, on gay people, i'm pretty much any group that has been under attack but is administration, that has been roy moore's position. he is unqualified for all of those reasons, before we even get to his own personal -- him makingsking

america great again, he referred to slavery. >> this is one thing that is been so disturbing about what is happening this year. it is one thing have donald positions, bute have republicans in the united states senate and congress who actually know better, support this gentleman coming to the senate, i think it is going to be really important if he e wins today to see what position the united s states senators take unseating him in the senate. he is unqualified in every way. i think it is going to be a stain on their party. frankly,y, i saw today that presidents trump's numbers are the lowest they've ever been in polling. i think women are fed up. amy: president trump's position on planned parenthood ever-changing? >> i don't think it is really changed. during the presidential primary, he was the one republican who i think in a moment of probably eithther weakness or not really

focused -- focusing, said, of course, he knew many, many women who have been helped by planned parenthood. republicans come to planned parenthood does like everyone else. and since he has become president, he has basically said he wants to block everyone from coming to planned parenthood. he exquisitely said, back to your question about the judiciary, he said he will only appoint justices not only to the supreme court in these other federal benches, that the federal bench that oppose reproductive rights and access. amy, o one of the deepep concers for us at planned parenthood's we're the largest provider of reproductive health care in the country, one in five women have come to us in many areas. we're the only area of safe and legal abortion -- one of five women have come to us, in many areas, where the only area of safe and legal abortion. i'm so glad samantha w was on. inccess to reproductive health the south is becoming harder and harder.

affects theislation affordable care act? how that legislation, what they're trying to do affects women and their access to health care? >> repealing the affordable care access toocking planned parenthood, not only could women not come to us for family planning, they wanted to get rid of maternity benefits and prenatal care and women's access to birth control across the board. of course, the first women are going to feel the brunt of this are women of low income who need access to health care the very, very most. amy: cecille richards, thank you for being with us, president of the planned parenthood federation of america and the planned parenthood action fund. when we come back, we will be joined by luis gutierrez. he is just announced he is retiring. it doesn't mean he wants continue his actions. he was just arrested last wins a around immigration and fighting passed bym act to be his u.s. congress. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. juan: in one of the biggest immigration rallies of the air, on wednesdayhered

on capitol hill to demand congress passed the dream act before the end of 2018. activist say democrats could use their leverage to include the measure in the year-end government spending bill. demand a cleano dream act without concessions on funding for the border wall or enhanced border security. since president trump announced he was ending the deferred action for childhood arrivals ingram known as daca september, nearly 1200 immigrants have lost her legal status. this include parents off thousands of y your citizen children. 11-year-old jasmine e spoke weesdaday. cloaks my mommy is a d dreamer. i very t terrified. i don'wantnt to lose her.. on decembeber 22, she will n not have her dacaa status anymore. and d she will be at risk of deportation. if congress doesn't take action now, i won't have my mommy for

the holidays. amy: about 100 people arrested in an act of civil disobedience wednesday, putting our next guest, illinois congressman luis , democrat of illinois, member of the judiciary committee and cochair of the immigration task force of the congressional hispanic caucus. last month he e announced he wil not secret electioion next year after 13 terms in the house. congress member gutierrez, welcome back to democracy now! tell us why you were arrested and why you're not running for your 14th term. >> look, it has been 25 years in congngress. 64, i got a last chapter. i want to make sure that i live with fully and as engaged the american people as possible. so i am not going to seek reelection. look, amy, it was pretty easy once a wonderful public servant, community organizer named jesus

garcia and i talked. he said he was ready and willing to seek the nomination. he comes tested and ready, as you know. he is a leader, lieutenant in the bernie sanders revolution, to make america a more just and safer place for all of us to live in. him'm just excited about entering the halls of congress. that was first. there was a clear replacement that i know could not only do what i have done, but expand on that. that is number one. number two, the island of puerto rico c calls to me. and i knknow that d donald -- we donald trump is president of the united states, she will not be completetely rebuilt and restor. amy, last week we learned 200,000 puerto ricans have fled to florida alone. not to talk about the tens of thousands of others that are in

hartford and providence and philadelphia, chicago and across this country. we need to give them an opportunity to return to puerto rico. and we need to rebuild the island and end the suffering that exists there. lastly, conference of immigration reform -- comprehensive immigration reform is important to me. i want to travel across the country in the first six months. yes, i'm retiring and not seeking reelection, but i'm not retiring from public service and from community activism. that is why i am here in phoenix today broadcasting from phoenix with immigrant groups from across the country -- which i'm excited to meet with. i was just listening to your wonderful interview with cecille richards. gete are women that rarely spoken about, and those are the women who work in the fields each and every day undocumented

women who provide you and me and all of us with the food that we eat. i want to raise them -- i want to make sure that we don't forget about our muslim community, whether they are in dearborn or new jersey. i want to make sure we don't forget about the haitians. 58,000 of them, most of them in florida, who have been ordered returned home to haiti. that is an abuse of the inhumane action of president trump. i want to raise those issues and do that -- i believe that the best use of my time, my energy and my leadership is making sure that we defeat donald trump in 2020. juan: i want to ask you terms of what can be a conflict in congress before the end of this onr, on two issues, one is immigration, what you think the prospects are for a clean daca bill to be somehow put into this

overall tax bill. and d then also -- i'm sorry, te financial on them is bill. of puertothe issue rico. there's been a lot of discussion latelyly of how congress may actually, in exchange for providing or eight to puerto rico, tighten the control of the financial control board, add more powers to the finanancial control board that has already been established. on both of those issues, decision has to be made very soon. >> first of all, i am proud of my democrats, juan. ever since nancy and check sat together with donald trump after labor day and agreed to a 90 day continuing resolution to keep andgovernment open financed, i have been saying, you can not allow the year to end, you cannot allow this holiday season to come upon us without a clean dream act. last week, over 160 democrats

said no to a two-week continuing resolution -- financing of the government. here is principally why. there was no dream act. daca is broken. we need a replacement and a dream act so our dreamers are no longer held hostage. they are allowed green cards, loud danger. most of those dreamers a lot of those dreamers have gone through three background checks. almost all of them have gone through to. it is about time to end the background checks and allow them to enter fully into our democracy. i say no budget, no vote on the budget, republican controlled house of representatives. there are 240 strong -- they need to hundred 18. if they presented was a republican budget that does not share our views on america, our value about america and does not

include a dream act, then i say democrats should not vote for the budget. let them -- if they need our help, then it must also share our values. look, this year that exists in the immigrant community i have not seen it since i have been in endress, and it is time to the abuse against her immigrant community. i voted against the physical control board. always thought it was an imposition of unelected, unaccountable people. most of whom are from the financial servivices industry, n order to tighten the grip around the working men and women of puerto rico to pay off wall street. soso i spoke a at the heararing agaiainst them h having any more power.r. i want to make susure that we pt that down paymentnt on the rebuilding of the island of puerto rico.o. look, itit seems you foror me, s so heartbreaking,, juan. on t the one hand, hundreds of

puererto ricans s arrive in n my of chicago. thousands arrive everyry day in the united statess fleeing thehe island of puerto rico. this is the richest, most powewerful nation in the earth. how can a be four months into the still half the population is without electricity and hundreds of thousands without water? that is unconscionable that is happening. on the other hand, 122 dreamers lose their work permit every day. that is tens of thousands already undocumented because of the actions of donald trump. i say, a, let's make sure we pass the dream act and stand firm as democrats. if they need our help, we must tell them we also need help for our dreamer community. amy: you said you're pushing for this by the end of this year, by 2017? >> yes. amy: do you see any prospects that is possiblele? and are you weighing running for higher office like president of the united states? >> here's what i'm going to do, amy.

number one, yes, by december 22, we need toto pass another spendg bill. we need government authorization bill to keep the government funded. so i say, let's sit back and lets the goucher very firmly with the republicans. fundingyou recall, this bill that we operated under until last week, neither republicans voted against -- 90 republicans voted against given the government open, raising the debt ceiling even for harder relief 90 voted against it. yes, there majority of 240, but they are the functional majority. 90 of them don't clearly believe that government has any principal role in our life. and many of them came to washington, d.c. come to destroy the government and to stop you from operating. i say if you do not have the 218 boats and need our help, this is our time for standing tall and

standing for justice is in for immigrant community. no more just talking by the democrats about how much they love immigrants. it is time to stand up for immigrants through your actions. here's what i'm going to do. i am here at an immigrant conference here in phoenixix today. i will be receiving an award and addressing them at noon. what i want to do is i want to travel to georgia and to alabama , yes, to florida, and meet with farmworkers and listen to their stories and what it is we should be doing as a democratic party. i want to also listen to muslims and across this country, listen to them and hear their stories. i want to raise the issue of haitians. what i want to do is take those groups that are under attack by visit with them, talk with them. if it is 50, to run for president of the united states -- and that is the best way i can raise their issues, and make

sure that the democratic party is engaged in those committees, i will do that. amy: congressman luis gutierrez, democrat of illinois. ththis is [captioning made possible by democracy now!]