12/14/17 12/14/17 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now! >> it was a real sckck whealll of thehe sudden his has werellll over me. when he started putting s s hand upup m skirt, ththat was it. that was it. amy:essica leeds is one of 1 women o have accused psisident trump of sexual miscouct. this week she antwo others calledn presidt trump to be inveigigatedy congress. thisomomes a trump tweeteded he

isis never m met oknowown e womn who haveccused him. we will talk witjejessicleededs abououwhat hapned to h h when she sat next to donald trump in firstlass on a plane. then republicansnn congrs say they he reached dl on finalax leglation tt gives masse cutto major corpations in thee rhest ericans,ncludi president trumand his owfamily pr. trump: a tax cs will eak dn and ty will bak down fast,ll forms o gornmentnd all fms of government barriers, and breathed new life into the american economy. in the code into yemen. there are signs of blockade of the ports by saudi led military coalition has not eased to allow millions to reach -- items to reach millions. .e will speak with iona craig all of that and more, coming up.

welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. republicans in congress say they've reached a deal on final tax legislation that would slash $1.5 billion in taxes with major corporations and the richest americans, including president trump and his own family, reaping the most dramatic benefits. decreaselation would taxes for wealthy business owners. protest took place throughout capitol hill wednesday. the move clears away way for final vote next week. we'll have more on the tax plan after headlines. in alabama, republican senate candidate roy moore has refused to concede in the special election, despite the fact that democrat doug jones beat moore on tuesday. this is roy moore speaking wednesday night. the struggleeed in

to preserve our republic, our civilization, and our religion and to set free a suffering humanity. the battle rages on. in this race, we're not received the final count to include military and provisional ballots . this has been a very close race, and we are waiting certification by the secretary of state. amy: during his speech wednesday, moore expressed his support for president trump and painted an apocalyptic picture of american society. >> abortion, sodomy, and materialism have taken the place of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. we have murdered over 60 million of our unborn chchildren. we redefined marriage and destroyed the babasis of family. which is the building block of our coununtry. we have even begugun to recognie the right of a man to claim to be a woman and vice versa. immorality sweeps ovover our la. amy: even president t trump, who supported the e accused child molester, has acknowledged roy moore lost the senate race.

three women have accused music industry mogul russell simmons of rape. simmons is the co-founder of the hugely influential label def jam recordings and a major figure in the music, entertainment, media, and fashion industries. drew dixon, a former executive for def jam recordings, told "the new york times" simmons repeatedly sexually harassed her and then raped her in 1995. a singer, tina baker, said simmons raped her in the early 1990's, derailing her career. music journalist toni sallie also says simmons raped her in the late 1980's. simmons denies the accusations. pbs has suspended award-winning journalist and talk-show host tavis smiley amidst accusations smiley had sexual relationships with multiple subordinates and that he created a workplace that was verbally abusive and threatening. multiple women said they were concerned their job security was linked to the status of a sexual relationship with smiley. smiley has denied the accusations. award-winning mexican-american

actress salma hayek has written a seararing op-e-ed for "the new york times" in w which she detas how she suffered years of sexual harassment and abuse by harvey weinstein. in the piece headlined "harvey weinstein is my monster, too," hayek details how weinstein relentlessly pursued her sexually, bullied her, and verbally abused her when she rejected his advances, retaliated against her professionally, and even threatened to kill her. salma hayek writes -- "in his eyes, i was not an artist. i wasn't even a person. i was a thing: not a nobody, but a body." in kentucky, republican state representative dan johnson was found dead from an apparent suicide only two days after the kentucky center for investigative reporting published an expose about him molesting a 17-year-old girl who was a member of his church.

according to the expose, in 2013 johnson woke up his daughter's friend while the girls were having a sleepover and then sexually assaulted the teenager, touching her breasts and forcing his fingers into her vagina. the girl wrote to johnson in a facebook message after the attack -- "what you did was beyond mean, it was evil." kentucky state representative dan johnson's body was found wednesday with a single gunshot to his head. new york state governor andrew cuomo has unveiled new legislation aimed at making it illegal for people convicted of domestic violence to own a gun in new york state. in announcing the legislation, governor cuomo called 2017 "the year of reckoning, when both the tragedy of mass shootings and cultural and institutional harassment of women became impossible to ignore." the chairman of the senate judiciary committee, iowa senator chuck grassley, said

president trump's lifetime judicial nominee jeff mateer will not be appointed for a lifetime federal judgeship. mateer is a lawyer for the state of texas and a right-wing religious extremist who has called transgender children evidence of satan's plan. senator grassley also said a second trump judicial nominee, brett talley, will also not be confirmed. talley is a blogger who has never argued a case in federal court in his life. he was rated unanimously unqualified for the post by the american bar association. in washington, d.c., a superior court judge has thrown out the felony charge of inciting a riot for six people who are arrested for protesting during president trump's inauguration. the six are the first of more than 150 people slated to go on on trial over the protests.

the each have faced up to 60 years in prison. in greece, a nationwide 24 hour general strike has crippled key industries, , including transportation, education, health care, and shipping. the workers are protesting against a new government proposal to limit people's ability to strike, as well as against years of austerity measures. this is christina skaloubati, president of the federation of women of greece. >> these measures after medically affected the lives of women because they make part-time work, laura minimum wages a permanent thing, which means women cannot support their families and such wages. amy: in yemen, the u.s.-babacked saudi-led coalition has bombed a houthi military police camp, killing at least 30 people, most of whom were imprisoned inside the camp. one official said at least 35 bodies had been recovered from

the blast site so far. we'll have more on the ongoing u.s.-backed saudi-led war r in yemen later in the broadcast. we will be speaking with journalist iona craig. back in the united states, disney is buying a major part of 20 for century fox for $52.4 billion. the messenger would consolidate two of the biggest players and hollywood and would reshape the media and entertainment industries. in texas, immigration officials have detained an award winning mexican journalist emilio gutierrez soto and his son in . gutierrez first sought asylum in the united states in 2008 after receiving death threats for reportrting on alleged corruptin in the mexican military. he was detained last week after his asylum appeal was denied. he now faces deportation back to mexico, one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists. this is gutierrez speaking by phone through a translator from the for-profit west texas detention center in sierra

blanca during an event monday night at the national press club in washington, d.c. >> please, please do not forget us. publish thet to pain, terrifying situation i am in any terrifying manner in which journalists have to work in mexico. amy: that's mexican journalist emilio gutierrez soto speaking from detention, addressing an audience at the national press clclub in washington, d.c. in london, survivors of the deadly grenfell tower fire in at st. paul's cathedral for a memorial service, along with british prime minister theresa may, labor leader jeremy corbyn, and the royal family. the fire killed 71 people when it swept through a poorly built public housing tower.

it was the worst fire in britain since world war ii. and haiti's beloveved folk singr and troubadour emmanueuel "mann" charlemagne has died in a miami beach hospital at the age of 69. through his music, charlemagne helped inspire a generation of haitians to rebel against longtime dictator francois duvalier. he was often called the haitian bob marley. he briefly served as mayor of port au prince in the 1990's. >> ♪ is haiti's beloved folk s singer emmanuel "manno" charlemont who died at the age of 69. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!,

democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. nermeen: and i'm nermeen shaikh. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. republicans encumbers it ever reached a deal on final tax legislation that would cut taxes for wealthy americans and lower the tax rate for corporations. the move clears the way for final vote next week. in the tax plan agreed on by the house and the senate, the corporate tax rate would be reduced to 21% from the current 35%. middle and low-income families would receive smaller, temporary, tax cuts. president trump touted the bill at the white house on wednesday. pres. trump: tax cuts will break down and they will break it down fast. all forms of government and all forms of government barriers and breathe new life into the american economy. they will unleash the american worker. they will tear down the restraints on discovery,

innovation, and creation. and they will restore the hopes entrance of the american family. millions of middle-class families will win under our plan. we will have very little democrat support, probably none. that is purely for political reasons. they like it alive and they can't say it. -- some they went to come together and do bipartisan and hopefully it can happen soon. republicans say they have enough votes to pass the measure and send it to trump by the end of the year, offering him first major legislative victory. meanwhile, vermont senator bernie sanders on wednesday congratulated republicans for being honest that the gop tax bill was written for wealthy campaign contributors. >> this legislation that will have a major impact on our economy has not t had one public hearing. sot hearing from economist

governors,s, the businesss committed, ordinarary americicas to what the impact of this legislation will be. this is legislation written for wewealthy campaign conontributos and i want to congratulate some of my republican colleagues for being honest about that. ift they said publicly is they don't pass this bill, their wealthy friends. contributing. i appreciate that t honesty. amy: democrats are demanding that a final vote be delayed until newly elected alabama senator doug jones is seated. protests took place throughout capitol hill on wednesday. members of the center for popular democracy demonstrated outside the office of republican senator susan collins of maine until they were granted a meeting to discuss their concerns the bill would repeal the affordable care act requirement that most americans have health insurance or pay a penalty. for more, we're joinened in rochesteter, new york, b by davd cay johnston, pulitzer prize-winning investigative

specializes in taxes and the economy. now he is founder and editor of dcreport.org. johnston's biography of donald trump is titled "the making of donald trump." his forthcoming book is "it's worse than you think" and will be out in january. david cay johnston, is this tax bill worse than most people think? explain what it is you understand that the house and senate have agreed on. >> this is a fantastically wonderful tax bill if you are a billionaire, hedge fund manager, or one of the 143 americans whose job last year paid over $100 million. you are going to just enjoy this bill to the hilt. on the other hand, the republicans have managed with this bill to do what i would have thought was impossible. they are about to enact a tax cut that is wildly unpopular.

shows majority of americans oppose it because they understand this is a tax bill of, by, and for the political donor class. and it clearly reveals something you have heard me say before about the real republican agenda. that the republicans believe that america's pressing them overwhelming, economic problem is the rich don't have nearly enough. and they have got to get more to the rich. so here's how they are doing it. they're going to cut the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%. they're going to lower the top toginal tax rate from 39% 37%. if you make $100 million the year, if you are one of those 143 highest-paid americans, you're about to get a $2 million annual tax cut. and there when a raise taxes on many families, particularly, in the high tax days like new york, new jersey, connecticut, california -- which just happened to be the state that also paid a higher wages in this

country. that the republicans could pass a bill that will be unpopular with the majority of americans is just astonishing, but it lolooks like they are about to o that. nermeen: david, could you talk about whether trump and members of his cabinet are likely to benefit from this bill? and if there are any republicans who have voted against it? personallynald trump is one of the biggest beneficiaries of this bill. he owns over 500 enterprises. in his tax rate, assuming he is really paying taxes -- and we don't know because he is the only presidential candidate or president since the late 1970's who has not shown us his tax returns -- he is likely to see his tax rate fall by somewhere between 30% to 50%. so he is a huge beneficiary, despite all of his claims "i

will pay more." it is just not true. other members of his cabinet like multimillionaires wilbur ross and betsy devos are going theire enormously on investments. at the same time, it will create a lot more work for lawyers. any businesses, because of the new partnership rules, are going to split themselves into two parts or three. that will require a lot of legal and accounting work to reorganize these businesses. it will make them less efficient, but it will save them taxes. the way to think about this bill is, this is a shopping list for the clients of goldman sachs. donald trump ran for president saying he was going to drain the swamp in washington. what he has really done is turn it into a paradise for goldman sachs and its clients. amy: this is senatator bernie sanders speaking about the impact of the republican tax bill. >> after he raised the deficit by $1.4 trtrillion by giving hue

tax part to the wealthy and large corporations, , you're g g to c come back and you'rere goio cucut versusecurity, medicare, and medicaid, and education and the needs of working families. what kind of decency is there when we have legislation that gives massive tax breaks to billionaires and then comes back and wants to cut social security, medicare, medicaid? this bill must not be passed. amy: what about social security? how does this bill relate to that? >> remember that donald trump ran for office saying, unlike the republicans overall, i will not have any cuts to social security or medicare. we are about to see that promise go down the tubes, too. they're going to borrow 1.5 trillion dollars, given to the wealthiest people in the country, then they're going to come back and say, there is no money. we have to make other cuts. orrin hatch has already done this. he was one of the original sponsors of the children's

health insurance program that covers about 9 million kids. and what did he say the other day? "well, there is no money." we have money for billionaires and people in the trunk cabinet, money for the president of the united states, but there is no money to take care of children who need health care. and pretty sosoon, they will coe for your social security. amy: what about the graduate students? to say the least come over the last week, they have been extremely active walking out on campuses across the country. talk about, in fact, what they are now calling a great victory. at d.c. report, i described education provisions in this bill as the idiots the tax act. what we're doing to give the iseady rich more cash today starting our future. we are taking away the -- we were, i haven't seen the latest version of the bill, nobody has.

the $250 item for teachers to buy supplies. and we're going to tax graduate students on their tuition waivers. we have not seen the final version of the bill, so we don't know of there's a victory there or not or whether it is a seeming victory. remember, we have had a number of tax bills passed that supposedly fix problems, including problems are revealed that turned out to be not really fixes when you read them. they just were apparently fixed. amy: doug jones has just won the election in alabama. a lot of democrats are now demanding that he be seated, since they're saying alabama has spoken, before the tax vote happens. they're using the example of president obama right before obamacare vote saying "of course whoill wait for scott brown of the elected republican

massachusetts, the senator, because the people of massachusetts have spoken." johnston, this is clearly not going to happen, at least at this point. >> well, this is an unfortunate development in our country in the short run, which is that the democrats and the president obama example with scott brown where we're going to play ethically and thoughtfully, and mitch mcconnell's attitude is one of "we've got the power. we're going to use it as long as we have it." the election of the democrat in alabama means there is only a one-vote majority once he is seated. so if two republicans lose their seats in the 2018 election, the senate would swing to the democrats or the democrats together will be independence. this is just an example of the contempt we're seeing for the constitution. ourld trump holds

constitution and utter contempt. mitch mcconnell's attitude is "anything i can get away with, i'm going to do. i'm not going to respect the senate as an institution." this is not good for the country and not good economically for us in the short run. david cay johnson, thank you for being with us pulitzer , prize-winning investigative reporter previously with "the new york times," now founder and edititor of f dcreport.org. his biography of donald trump is titled "the making of donald trump." his forthcoming book on trump is titled " "it's worse than you think" and will be out in january. when we come back, one of president trump's accusers speaks out. we will speak with jessica leeds about what happened to her in 1979 when a flight attendant went back to coach on the plane and invited her forward to sit in first class. she would be seated next to donald trump. find out what happened, next. stay with us.

♪ [music break]

amy: emmanuel "manno" charlemagne, who died on sunday in a miami beach hospital at the age of 69. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. nermeen: we turn now to the mounting calls for donald trump to resign and the escalating war of wordsetetweenrumpmp a his accusersvever muiple clas ofof sexual hasassmenand d asult. this week, newew york senator kirsten gillibrand became the fifth senator to call for trump to step down. in response, trump attacked gillibrand, tweeting -- "lightweight senator kirsten gillibrand, a total flunky for chuck schumer and someone who would come to my office 'begging' for campaign contributions not so long ago, and would do anything for them, is now in the ring fighting trump." on tuesday, gillibrand fired

back, saying trump's attack was sexist. anit was a sexist smear in attempt to silence my voice. i will not be silenced, neither will the women who stood up to the president yesterday or the millions who have been marching sisince the womemen's march to d up against policies they do not agree with. the "usa today" editorial nermeen: board jumped in with an unusually forceful editorial writing -- "a president who would all but call senator kirsten gillibrand a whore is not fit to clean the toilets in the barack obama presidential library or to shine the shoes of george w. bush." amy: that again a "usa today" editorial. meanwhile, three of the 16 women who have publicly accused trump of sexual harassment held a news conference monday in new york, demanding congress take action. the women shared accounts in which they said trump groped, fondled, and forcibly kissed them..

monday's press conference was held bbrbrave w fifilm whichch releas t the documentaryry16 women and donald trumpinin vember. this i ian e excer. >> the person of might, omins s to m wasas dald tmp.

y: thais in excerpt fm "16 women a donald ump," releas by bravnew films. response these ausations , fromow 16 wen, prident ump twted tuesda-- wasd, tusands hou d many milons of doars

spt, the demrats have unle to show any clusion th rusao now the're moving oto the fse accutions and bricated storieof womenho i do't know andr have ner met fakeews." fomore we're joid by o of trp'accusersone of the women oave dided to spk t. we're joid by jsica leeds who says dold tru groped r in the fst classabin of a commeral flight. i reselngs rered, the mher of tw grandmher of eht and jns hanow inur new york udio. welcome to demoacy no thanyou fobravely king is timime tell yo story. ne us ba to that day 1979 >> i w travelior a per coany as aales rep. the rira a fewomen athat me workingn the ro. the notnusual for ewardess tcome bacand as

me if wantedo come up first class foos delited becausehe was tter, thseats we more comfortae. i me up and the gentleman sitting on the window side and -- i sayt the bulkhead down and he introduced himself as donald trump. at that time, i knew nothing about the trump organization, donald trump, or anything. i did not work out of new york city. i was based in connecticut. i flew in and out of new york. well, they serve the meal. after he was cleared, he jumped all over me. started groping me and kissing me and this. at the time i remember thinking, why doesn't the guy across from the aisle come to my aid? nothing was said. i did not say anything. i don't remember him -- amy: you have been talking while eating? >> a little bit.

not a lot. amy: and he just turned to you and did what? >> started grasping me and pulling me and groping my breast and trying to kiss me. but it is when he started to put his hand up my skirt that i managed to wiggle out -- i am not a small person -- and also managed to remember my purse and went to the back of the airplane and that was the rest of the flight. amy: you into the very back for the flight attendants are? right. i major everyone was off the plane before i did because i did not want to run into him again. i did not complain to the airlines. i did not complain to my boss. that was not done. they're all sorts of silly things that would happen on airplanes. guys "do you want to join the mile high club?" these were things that at that time, we tolerated. so fast-forward.

i came to new york city. this was in 1981, 1982. i got a job with the humane society of new york. they were having this fundraising gala at saks fifth avenue. i am the new kid on the block, so i'm really, really thrilled to be involved with this. it was a wonderful new york sparkly night. i got to meet all of these designers who are now since gone. oscar de la renta, bill blass, jeffrey been primary mcfadden -- all of them. tabletcomes -- i'm at the they gave out the table assignments. up comes trump with his wife .vana, was very pregnant i look at him, at this time, having worked with the humane society, i was aware who this

guy was. the trump family and everybody on the society scene was very important to the humane society to bring them in. so i am remembering him, but i can him is chip and he says "i remember you. you are that -- and use the "c" word -- on the airplane." amy: used to refer to a woman. >> yes. it have been a crowded scene around the table, but it was like all of a sudden, everybody just sort of disappeared. it is not that i felt threatened, but i felt very much alone. his stick and went on. 2015 and 16.to what are realize that trump was actually going to run for president, i started telling stand for -- would liste

my family, my friends, anybody and everybody, my book club, my neighbors, everybody, i would say, listen, let me tell you what kind of a person donald trump is. this was my experience with them. they werest part, women. for the most part, they believed me. there were some that did not because it was a long time ago. but coming up to the debates, it was the second debate and when anderson cooper challenged trump, have you ever groped a woman, he said "no, no, no, let's talk about syria." off the did not let him hook. "have you everer groped d a wom" " nope, nope, nope."

i'm on my feet yelling "yes, you did." i did not sleepep well and i got up i in the morning and i took y newspaper and i thought, i know what i will do. i will write a letter to the editor. i opened up my computer and my email was flying out the wall. it was incredible. all of my friends saying "you've got to say something now." i compose this letter to the editor. i sent it off to "the new york times." went swimming. came back a couple of hours later, and there was a message from "the times" asking me to call them. reporter,this woman megan to eat, question me -- we talked for over an hour. then she said, can i send a reporter? this for a letter to the editor? she sends a reporter. he and i talked for about two hours. he took the names of the people

i had told, like my son, like my nephew, like my friends, like my neighbor, and they called them and said -- and asked them, "did jessica tell you the story over the past year?" they all confirmed that that is what i had done. asked ifthe times" they could do a video. , this time i'm going, wow is getting pretty strange. they did a video and i came out wednesday night. then thursday morning, i opened my door and pick up my newspaper and it is below the fold, but there is my picture. and i remember thinking, holy shit. for a couple of months, there was this interview with anderson cooper. i agreed to that bececause he ws the guy who asked the question. and he treated me, i thought, very well.

and we had a good conversation. but then my kids insisted i therethe city because were people hanging around the door. and since i'm too old to know how to do the internet and the facebook and all of that, i have no idea of the hate mail that came in. and we disconnected the phone. i left town for a couple of days in which a small town in pennsylvania. and the next day, we go to the women in thend the post office, to me and they say .thank you you're so brave." we go to the bank. the tellers and the customers come out and say "thank you. you're so brave." we go to the farmers market, the grocery store. the neighbors and robin's neighborhood all come in when they find out i am there. and they are a the same thing.

they say "thank you. you're so brave." i come back to the city. i go to the y for swimming and for exercise. and the women started coming up said " "i they also have a story." so i began to hear all of these stories. some of them really horrific. some of them very minor. this guy in my office came in my breast. holy, he did what? it went on for a while and things calmed down. and then trump got elected. it was extremely disappointing. amy: i want to go to two clips. this is president trump speaking before he was president on the campaign trail on october 2016.

he said all of the women who had accucused him, youou come out this point, sexual miscondnduct were liaiars. preses. trump: e everywoman lied when t they came forward to hurt my campaign. total fabrication. happened. never never. all of these liars will be sued after the election is over. amy: that was donald trump in 2016 who said he would sue all of the women, the liars, who had come out and made allegations against him. now let's go to comments president trump made about our guest jessica leeds on the campaign trail last october. pres. trump: the only way they figure they can slow it down is to come up with people that are willing to say "oh, i was with donald trump in 1980.0. i was sitting with himim on an airplane and he went after me on

the plane." yeah, i'm going to go after -- believe me, she would not be my first choice. that i can tell you. man. amy: that was donald trump. and you're laughing, jessica leeds. that -- forabsurd him, beauty is the primary attraction. he did not pick me. i was there. i was available. he was bored. so i have to be totally -- i'm 75 years old now and everybody sees a 75-year-old grandndmother. but i was ok when i was in my 30's. i was presentable. and the jobs that i had, like a

sales job, i got because i was pretty enough. amy: i'm just thinking about the woman who spoke alongside you, rachel crooks, who also just happened to be there. she was in the building of her landlord. her landlord was donald trump. she worked in that building. this is rachel speaking at monday's news conference, along with jessica, who says trump foforcibly kissesed her againstr will in 2005 when shshe was head to work.k. >> about 12 yearars ago as a yog 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 since impacted my life well beyond the initial occurrence and feelings of self-doubt and insignificance i had. mr. trump'sy, given notoriety and the fact that he was a partnener of my employers, not to mention the owner of the building, i felt there was nothing i could do. given this hostile work environment, my only solution at

the time was distantly avoid additional encounters with him. i do realize that in the grand scheme o of things, therere arer worse cases s of sexual harassmt , misconduct, and assault. but make no mistake, there's no 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, tt ours. which, believe m is s a ugh lesson learned. in my case, only fe the redemptionf knknowg itit w not my own flaws to o ame when ad theccount of a story that has so mer my own that i finally felt absveved the gut ththat is somehow projecd an ima that ma me an eastarget. instead, this was serial misconduct and perversion on the part of mr. trump. amy: that is rachel crooks. you did not know her until now. 16, originally was like 10 or 12 and more have come forward, but as far as i am

aware in the input i have gotten, none of us have talked to each other. so the thing i found for myself comforting was the fact the stories were basically similar. amy: rachel ended up quitting and going home. >> rachel quit her job and went back to ohio. we lost somebody in the city n.cause of the aggressio amy: your conference national investigation? >> yes. amy: e explain. >> the problem with the political scene is trump really feels like he doesn't have anybody over him. there is nobody telling him -- nobody is the boss of the white house except trump. it is up to congress to bring andto task for who he is what he is. i'm hoping the robert mueller

investigation will do it, but at this point, i have to do -- have to continue doing what i feel is important about the sexual aggression issues. so i think it is up to congress to step forward. amy: 56 women in congress. five senator, four t the men, oe of them kirsten gillibrand, who he just verbally attacked, have called for his resignation. >> yes. well, that would be something else, too. -- it isever, i think just like he doesn't remember these things anymore. as i said, he remembered me after a couple of years. i am sure why. but he doesn't remember because he has done it all his life. if some investigator -- investigative power could go back and check with his high school and college years, i bet the women that he dated than had

the same experience. and so clearly, this is not just about dating. no.>> this is labeled sexual aggression. it really is. it is control over something -- i love it when he says he appreciates women. but he doesn't. what he wants is some arm candy. nermeen: you talk about the massive discrepancy between women survivors remembering every single detail of what happened and male abusers completely forgetting. >> yeah. women remember in exquisite detail when it happened, how it happened, where it happened, how they got out of it, how they got home. most of them talked about throwing their clothes away. most of them said they felt responsible for what happened and did not want to tell anyone, even their parents or their spouses. they remember it whether they were eight years old or they were 30 years old.

amy: you said you never wore a dress on a plane again. >> i stopped wearing skirts. amy: because he reached under your skirt. >> yet -- and i cut my hair from being long to short. it was one of those things where you as -- this is what object to. you as the victim take on responsibilities to somehow or another prevent these situations from happening. amy: rod rosenstein testified before the h house, lose good tears was one of the congress members questioning him. this was about robert mueller. luis gutierrez said to the deputy attorney general, "if a man did this to a woman and dedescribed as well, let's go to that moment with ththe chicago congressman questioning deputy attorney general rod rosenstein. >> when the question is s donald trump, there really should be no further discussion bececause regardless of ththeir political affiliations or partisanship can

clearly see, we have a man a and the presidency is a very difficult relationship with the truth. in this case, we have women who are made to feel powerless and personalficant, great cost and risisk, came forwrward. anand i believe ththem. i do. i think were he on the subway or in a restaurant, wowould nonot either or both of these incidents be enough to get him arrested in your experience as the number two most important law enfnforcement o officer in e united states? luis gutierrez and a hearing yesterday. your final comment? >> i am amazed. andeed more men coming out saying things like this congress person. i am really hopeful. the problem is, the men that perpetrate this, for them it is like scratching an itch. it doesn't mean anything. and they don't comprehend the

psychological damage that they are doing to their victims. some of them never recover in their basket cases for the rest of their lives. some are well grounded, like samantha -- amy: samantha holvey. we had on the show on tuesday. >> she is absolutely right on based and doing just fine. but there are a lot of women who experienced all sorts of -- that never recover. amy: do you want president trump to resign? >> resign, be taken out, absolutely. amy: be taken out by the congressman was calling for this -- >>'s administration is a mess. we don't even have an embassy person in south korea. it is on that note, i would do say thank you so much and we're going to move on to an international issue next come the issue of yemen. but what of 16

women who have accused president trump of sexual misconduct. jessica leeds and two others spoke out at a press conference in manhattan monday. you can see samantha holvey discussion on democracy now! from tuesday. she participated in the contest on our president trump. she talks about what he did in those pageants. jessica leeds has recently retired after working 30 years as a stockbroker, mother of two, grandmother of eight. when we come back, yemen. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: nina simone, one of five artists who will soon be inducted into the rock 'n roll hall of fame. this is democracy now! with nermeen shaikh. nermeen: on wednesday, a saudi-led coalition aircraft struck a military police camp in the houthi-controlled yemeni capital sana'a, killing at least 39 people and wounding 90 others, including several prisoners. the strike was part of an air

campaign by the western-backed coalition against the houthis that has intensified since the houthis suppressed an uprising last week led by former yememeni president ali abdullah saleh and killed him. before his death, the longtime leader had switched sides in the ongoing war and threw his support behind the saudi-led coalition. amy: he was escaping sana'a when he was killed. the united nations has wararned over 8 million people are "a step away y from famine." we go to london where we're joined by iona craig, a journalist who was based in sana'a from 2010 to 2015 as the yemen correspondent for "the times of london." her new piece for the guardian is headlined, "bombed into famine: how saudi air campaign targets yeyemen's food supplies" iona craig was awarded the 2016 orwell prize for her reporting on yemen. welcome to democracy now! can you talk about the latest

news out of yemen? blockade, what is saudi arabia doing, and what is the role of the united states? >> since the beginning of november, the saudi's have imposed an even stricter locket on yemen and its ports, most notably the red seaea port. that was in retaliation for ballistic missile fired by the d.uthis toward riha that is had a devastating impact on aid agencies to take food in the yemen, to take medical equipment and supplies into the country. and although the blockade has been used somewhat toward the end of november, the aid agencies still don't have full access a and full use of a port that is the main access point for the houthi controlled territory in the most densely part of yemen.

yemen, there was still plenty of food in the markets. bu because of f this blockade, that food is having to come by land or from other ports much further away. people simply can't afford to buy the food now. the use involvement has been both a just a glee, politically, and the support of the saudi led coalition, the feel supplies of the fighter jets that are used in daily air rates now in yemem. and obviously heavily backed the saudi led coalition all along, both in reality -- re-add as well as the supply lines of your for those fighter jets being usused in yemen every day. nermeen: earlier this month, trump did issue a brief statement in which he said that he was asking administration officials him his a ministration officials, to urge saudi arabia to lift the blockade.

why did he say that and what has happened since? >> well, that was all must a month after the blockade had been tightened by the saudi led coalition. i think the timing says a lot about why that statement was made. this was after president trump had announced the planned move of the american embassy to jerusalem from tel aviv and the recognition of jerusalem as the capital of israel and the saudis response to that have been negative. this appeared to be a slight war of words on the part of the trump administration. and trump himself, by responding with a c call on saudi arabia to ease the blockade. i think is all about timing g ad other events within the region, ther thann perhaps a genuine concern about the yemeni civilians on the ground who were suffering so much. amy: can you talk about the killing of the yemeni president saleh, the former president?

explain this strange shift and then he was leaving sana'a and was stopped? -- his caravan? and he was killed? >> it wasn't that strange. saleh had been enemies with the houthis in the past. there have been six wars between 2004-2010. the alliance the two parties had reached in 2014 was never going to last forever. nobody thought it was eveven -- evenen the houthis didn't exexpt it to. this move e when saleh turned on was expected, but i think it can earlier than most thought it would. certainly, it appears in hindsight now, to have been a huge miscalculation on saleh's part about the strength he had militarily to counter the houthi s and the support he might get

in such conditions from the saudi led coalition to rise up against the houthis. how he died in the end, i think there's a lot of questions about that. certainly, the video and images released came from the houthis. was killed saleh while trying to flee the capital. there are a lot of questions about the validity of those videos, about whether they were staged or not, and perhaps he was killed actually much earlier in the day when the houthis gone to his house. in fact, those imagers were staged to make it look like saleh was fleeing the capital and abandoning is a loyalist. it is not really clear the exact circrcumstances under which he died. but from what the houthis were showing, it was from him fleeing the capital. amy: we only have a minute. >> stageged videos to show that. amy: and only have a minute and onl be part two and put it

her website. how dire is the situation right now in yemen? >> it is very dire. now the number of people on the brink of famine has reached more than 8 million. you have children starving to death across the country, not just in the houthi-controlled territory, but even elsewhere. this is 27 million people that are being strangulated by the coalition tactics of creating this blockade and blocking of humanitarian access and this is creating disease. we have seen cholera and out of theory of breaking out in yemen. it is really the civilian people whwho are sufferering the mo.. many tens of thoususands of peoe are dying as a result of the humanitarian crisis. many more dying than violence in the war. amy: iona craig thank you for being with us. we will do part two of the conversation of posted online under web exclusives. iona craig for journalist who was based in sana'a for years,

yemen correspondent for "the times of london." we willing to your piece for the guardian is titled, "bombed into famine: how saudi air campaign targets yemen's food supplies." that does it for our show. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed