05/11/18 05/11/18 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now!w! >> iran crossed a red line. our response wasas appropriate. rried outt a very broad strike because the iranian targets in syria. amy: tensiononounts betwtween israel a and iran a day after israel launches massive airsikikes againinst iranian targetets inside syria. israel s said the e attack was n

reresponse to no iranian rocket attack, but is that true? just hours a after presidedent p pulled out of the e iranian nuclclear agreement, it was isrl who bobombed iranian targets ner damascus. we will get the latest. then to black mama's bail out day. >> to be able to free our people from t these cageses using the conditions from our ancestors that brought each other's collective freedom to get our folks back home and to higighlit ththe crisis arounund the cash failed systetem, put preressuren all of these institutions were making money off about people's suffering. but most importantly, restore the life that this cash failed system has taken froouour peopople amam and as the trum admistrationfficiall announs it wildetain alum seers and parate tm from eir chilen at thborder 'llook a ca that shs how me minorwho arrid alone ek asyluwere putn adult tention. all that and more, coming up.

welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the white house has set june 12 as the date for a meeting between president trump and north korean leader kim jong-un, to be held in singapore. the unprecedented summit comes just months after trump and kim traded insults -- "little rocket man" and "dotard" -- and after trump threatened to totally destroy north korea, a nation of 25 million people. in yemen, at least 11 civilians were killed in a 24-hour period in separate airstrikes by the u.s.-backed, saudi-led coalition. in the first attack, an airstrike hit a home in yemen's northern province of sa'ada late wednesday, k killing five people inside. this is eyewitness abdallah al-fasly. >> we heard the sound missiles at 2:00 a.m., but we did not expect it was a strike. we went outside to investigate and found it had hit this building here.

we waited for a little bit and then entered the building. what we saw inside was painful. something that will make you hate your self. we saw children underneath the rubble. amy: in a second assault, bombs ripped through a residential area of the capital sana'a early thurursday, killing a familyly f four and two other civilians. the kikillings come as the u.s. continues to support the saudi-led coalition in its war on yemen's houhti rebels, and after "the new york times" reported that u.s. army green berets secretly deployed to yemen late last year. saudi-led airstrikes have devastated yemen's health, water and sanitation systems, sparking a massive cholera outbreak, leading to more than a million cases and pushing millions of yemenis to the brink of starvation. former vice president dick cheney said thursday that the u.s. should restart torture interrogation tactics, telling a fox business anchor "if it were my call, i'd do it again." call, i wouldmy

not discontinue this program. i would have them active and ready to go. i would go back -- amy: cheney's comment comes a day after president trump's nominee e to head the cia, gina haspel, repeatedly refused to call the cia's post-9/11 treatment of prisoners torture and declined to state whether she believes torture is immoral. gina haspel's prospects for confirmation remain in doubt, after republican senators rand paul of kentucky and john mccain of arizona issued statements opposing her nomination. mccain, who is battling stage 4 brain cancer from his home in arizona, is a former prisoner of war who was tortured by his vietnamese captors in the 1960's and 1970's. on twitter he wrote -- "haspel's role in overseeing the use of torture is disturbing & her refusal to acknowledge torturure's immorality is disqualifying." mccain's opposition set off a backlash among republicans. this is fox news military analyst lieutenant thomas

mcinerneney speakingng on fox business n network thursday. >> the factt i john mccacain -- it worked j john. that i is why they call him songbird j john. the fact is, those methods can work and they are e effective as formrmer vice president cheney said. amy: fox newews later apapologi, saying mcicinerney, who's known for his birther and islamophobic -- anti-islamic comments, will no longer comment on the network. his comments came as the hill newspaper reported that kelly sadler, a member of the white house communications team, dismissed mccain's criticism, saying -- "it doesn't matter, he's dying anyway." in 2015, then-candidate donald trump mocked john mccain, saying -- "he's not a war hero. he's a war hero because he was captured. i like people that weren't captured." the british government has formrmally apologized to a formr libyan rebel leader and his then-pregnant wife, who were

kidnapped by cia agents in 2004 with the help of the british intelligence service mi6, and rendered to libya, where they faced severe torture in one of muammar gaddafi's prisons. britain's attorney general read a formal statement of apology from the house of commons thursday, saying the government was profoundly sorry for the treatment of abdelhakim belhaj and fatima boudchar. the couple rejected an offer of a half-million pound payout and instead spent years fighting for an apology. belhaj said thursday his case should serve as a warning to other torturers. >> my message is to all governments to carry out torture and who do not recognize human rights and violate this legitimate right. we must all unite together and raise our voices and work towards achieving this humanitarian requirement, which is the implementation of human rights. amy: his wife, fatima boudchar, was pregnant at the time of her kidnapping and rendition. op-eded, she calleded on

trump's nominee for cia chief to account for her role in the agency's torture and rendition program. "the w washington post" repopors that presisident trump's personl lawyer and fixer michael cohen's covenant was paid $600,000 just days after trump's inauguration to advise the telecom giant over its planned merger with time warner. this follows reports that cohen used the promise of white house access as he brought in a total of $4.4 million in payments to his shell company, essential consultants llc, the same company that cohen used to pay hush money to the adult film star stormy daniels, also known as stephanie clifford, who says she had an affair with donald trump in 2006. the powerful law firm greenberg traurig said thursday that former new york city mayor rudy giuliani no longer works there. giuliani says he took a leave of absence from the law firm last month to join president trump's legal team in robert mueller's speciaial counsel investigation. but partners at greenberg

traurig were reportedly rankled by giuliani's recent comments on fox news, in whihich he admitted that a $130,000 hush money payment to stormy daniels was funneled through michael cohen's law firm before trump personally repaid the funds. in a statement, the law firm's communications chief jill perry said -- "speaking for ourselves, we would not condone payments of the nature alleged to have been made." the united states has apologized to canadian cabinet minister navdeep bains after transportation security agents ordered him to remove his turban during a screening at detroit's international airport. a travel policy issued in 2007 allows members of the sikh faith, like bains, to keep their turbans on as they pass through metal detectors or other airport scanners. in immigration news, a viral video shows the moment that -

california, viral video shows the moment heavily armed immigration and customs enforcement officers raided the san diego home of an immigrant family, mocking residents for demanding to see a warrant, as an officer pried the door open with a crowbar. the raid was captured in a dramatic cell phone video captured by an 11-year-old girl, one of seven children inside the home. >> i want to see the warrant. they don't want to show us the warrant. we have to see the warrant. >> ma'am, you're watching too much movies. amy: the ice officers then forced their way through the door and entered the home with guns drawn and a riot shield raised.

>> let me see your hands! turnaround! turn around. don't move! amy: the ice officers arrested 31-year-old alberto alonso-hernandez, an undocumented immigrant who had returned to san diego to rejoin his family after being deported. under federal rules of criminal procedure, officers are required to show an arrest warrant to anyone they take into custody at the time of their arrest. hawaii's governor has readied plans for a mass evacuation of state's big island, as an eruption at kilauea volcano ststrengthened thursday. officials say levels of toxic sulfur dioxide are rising, as is the threat of an explosion that could send lava, rocks and even large boulders into residential areas. in beaumont, texas, a bomb exploded on the front steps of st. stephen's episcopal church overnight, shattering windows and sending shrapnel flying into office walls. no one was hurt in the explosion, which came as police were heading to the church to investigate reports of a

suspicious package. the explosion came two weeks after police say they found a suspicious package in a beaumont starbucks store with a threatening note inside. in sudan, a court has issued a death sentence to a 19-year-old sudanese former child bride who killed her husband as he tried to rape her. noura hussein was forced into marriage at age 16 by her family. she escaped the marriage and fled to her aunt's home, where she remained for three years before she was tricked by her family into returning home. she was then forced to return to her husband, who recruited his family members to hold hussein down while he raped her. when he attempted to rape her again the following day, hussein fended the man off with a knifi, stabbing him to death. noura hussein's case has drawn international attention, with the hashtag #justicefornoura trending on social media. back in the united states, a new survey finds sexual harassment is rampant in the airline industry. the association of flight attendants survey found more than a third of flight attendants experienced verbal sexual harassment within the last year. 18% said they'd been subjected to physical harassment or

assault. novelist junot diaz is stepping down as chair of the board of the pulitzer prize just weeks into his term, as the board said thursday it has opened an independent review of sexual abuse allegations against diaz. the author was publicly accused of sexual misconduct during the sydney writers' festival, when diaz was confronted by the writer zinzi clemmons, who said diaz had forcibly kissed her when she was a graduate student. meanwhile, the streaming music service spotify has announced that it will stop promoting or recommending r. kelly's music after a growing number of women of color demanded the music and entertainment industries cut all ties with the musician. a number of women of color accused him of rape and sexual assault in cases that stretch back decades. the federal election commission ruled thursday that candidates can now use campaign funds for childcare expenses. the ruling came after new york congressional candidate grechen shirley requested that the fec allow her to use campaign donations to pay for childcare.

shirley said the unanimous decision in her favor was "a game changer for women and parents considering a run for office." in mexico city, hundreds marched in the streets f m moth's y on thursy,y, demdingng jtice for tensf f thounds s of mexicanshoho havgonene msing since the nation decred its war onrurug trfickckerin 20000 mothers t the dappepear, an organizaonon of therers ose childrenre missi, , askethee government act to st t the crisis. this is luececia galiciaia rodriguez, one o of the marcher. >> i am arching for my who leftjacqueline homendnd nev came back. she has urur children and is 3 years old. i wanted to come to this march so tyy would help me find my daught.. e hahas en disispeared for a year and half and her ildren are wting for the mother co bacack. thatats why i me to th protott. they invitede and i came the rch.

y: and tse are se of the headlis. th is demoacy now! demoacynow.o, the waand ace repo. i'm amy odman. we beg today's shown syria where teion is mnting between rael andran. n thursy, israebombed dozens oiranian rgets inde sya in theargest aack by israelince figing begain ria in 21. iseli authitities id the attackas in reonse to irann forcesiring 20ockets at isrli forcein the israi-occupi golan hghts. israi prime nister bjamin netanyahsaid iran had c croed a reine, tugh isra has offered no evidence the rocket attacks were carried out by iran. the international community must prevent the entrenchment of iran's quds forces in syria. we must unite so we can stotop e evil. i repeat, whoever hits us, we will hit back sevenfold. whoeoever prepares to strike a t usus, we will act to strike at them before hand. this is what we have done and this is what we will continue to

do. amy: earlier today iran's , foreign ministry said israel's claim about an iranian rocket attack is "freely invented and baseless." meanwhile, more evididence is emerging that it was israel, not iran, that began the escalation this week. "the new york times" reports an israeli missile strike on wednesday hit a village in the syrian golan heights. the syrian observatory for human rights also reports israel carried out a missile strike on tuesday near damascus killing at least 15 people, including 8 iranians. that strike occurred just hours after president trump announced the united states would pull out ofof the iran nuclear agreement. to talk more about the rising tension between israel and iran and what is happening in syria as well as israel and gaza, we go to london where we are joined by the iranian-american professor laleh khalili. she is a professor at soas university of london. she's the author of a number of books, including "time in the shadows: confinement in counterinsurgencies." welcome to democracy now! can you start off by talking about these latest developments

between israel and iran in syria? >> yes. thank you very much for having me. i think it is really important to note two things about this. there's one element that has directly to do the trump announcement about the u.s. pulling out of the nuclear deal. before i get to that, i want to mention that what israel has done over the course of the last few days -- as you mentioned, just in your preceding introductory remarks -- israel's modus operandi is to try to provoking,nflict by by acting group or rockabilly. this is a long-standing activity of israel. what they boasted about, their ability to actually get the syrians to shoot at them between 1948 and 1967 when golan was a demilitarized zone. famously talked about the israelis would send tractors

into the demilitarized zone and if the syrians would not to back, they would in them and further in order to provoke an encounter. this is quite a familiar activity of the israeli military. it is not something they havave just started doing. having said that, it is important t to note this is in this particular moment a very trump,us outcome of president trump, pulling out of the nuclear deal with iran. in effect, what his pulling out of the deal has done has s givea green light to israel to do as it wishes. as you mentioned, just hours after trump announced this withdrawal from the deal, be israelis started attacking. we have no idea whether the rockets fired into the occupied iranianwere actually rockets or syrian rockets. if they are it iranian rockets, than there probably more than anything else a kind of symbolic

activity by the hard-line military advisers that are in syria. tellinge is really no that this is in iranian activity, especially given the weakness of the firing. i mean, if they wanted to attack, they probably could have done a lot more damage than just a bunch of rockets and probably would have gone farther than occupied golan. it is said that, interesting because i was reading this morning before extensivelyria so with a number of airplanes and hitting something like 50 military bases and depots, that , netanyahuovernment himself, specifically warn the russians about what was coming. apparently, the russians flew to iran and warned them about what was happening after the firing of the rockets. parart of the reason that we see so few casualties on these military hits. the numbers range between --

well, three syrians have been killed in them between 10 to 20 iranians apparently haven't killed as well, but we don't ask we know the exact numbers and the iranians have not acknowledged any kind of casualties in this. there's a lot of stuff going on in the background that we don't hear about. what we see on the stage is a lot of posturing by the in thist active parties quite sordid drama, really. amy: let me go back to benjamin yahoo! speaking yeyesterday. -- benjamin netanyahu speaking yesterday. crossed a redline. our response was appropriate. the idea carried out a broad strike against the iranian targets in syria thanks to correct preparedness of our forces both in attack and defense. the and iranian action failed. no rockekets landed in israeli areas. the people of israel are proud of the idea and the people of israel trust the idea of. we're in the midsdst of a

protracted battle in our policy is clear. we will not allow iran to introduce self in syria. yesterday i sent a clear message to the assad regime. we are aiming a at i iranian tas in syria but a syrian army will attack against us, we will act against it. this is exactly what happened yesterday. batteries of the syrian army fired ground to air missiles against us and we had them. they make a professor, your response? >> it is quite interesting because on the one hand, this is quite frank on his behalf. these really military very often attacks and a moment when internally domestically there some sort of dispute or some sort of conflict. yet t know who is been under investigation to the military often attacks in order to make some domestic gains. i think there's something else at work. there is increasing and happiness in ways israel conducts itself both internally and in the region. we see a lot of that with gaza. this kind of militant activity

byby the israeli security establishment is a standardrd modus operandi in the sense the onaelis keep the operation side by engaging in acts of war. having said that, i also have to say the state of israel is not exactly worried about those millions of s syrians that have been attttacked by the syriaian iraniansported by and russians. they a a displaced. they don't care about the inteternal repression in syria. what t they're really worried about is the balance of the power of region -- powewer in te region. for a time it was the only arab ally iran had in the region. it has acted as a kind of lands of probably -- whwhen supply bridge to hezbollahah. has lost an enorormous amount of f credibilityy becausf the ways in which it has supported the syrian regime but

nevevertheless, it does popose a threat to israel and part of the activity that israel has this.aken is precisely there is another element of this that does have to do with the trump announcement of withdrawal. as your viewers know very well, after h.r. mcmaster stepped down or was fired as the national security adviser to president trump, president trump choice of national security adviser has been john bolton -- one of the most long-standing neoconservative proponents of some sort of a head on confrontation with iran. given a head-on confrontation with iran is not only books right now, certainly, i don't think the u.s. military would support such a thing, what we see is a kind of two-pronged action by the trump regime, trump administration. and that is putting economic pressure on iran by the sanctions, which are going to be reinstated now or strengthened

now because a lot of the sanctions were not removed yet. it is important to note that as well. and the second is to actually -- tory good implant conduct military activities against iran. it is not like israel has started conducting military activities against iran. there is been a long period of israeli assassination of scientists, for example. there have been proxy wars between iran and israel, again, primarily by hezbollah in lebanon. i think this is part of a longer range strategy of people like john bolton and his allies and supporters within the u.s. in order to sort of generate a degree of instability for i iran both economically and militarily. what would be interesting is the extent to which iran would be willing to take the bait on this. there has been some interesting response of very divided responses from iran.

i was looking at some of the iranian newspapers and it seems some of the revolutionary g guad commanders in iran have been quite celebratory about trump pulling out of the nuclear deal because they feel this essentially lays out clearly .here the u.s. stands whereas, president rouhani and others who support him have been conciliatory and have tried in some ways to maintain the nuclear deal with the other five signatories. the three european states plus china and russia. so what is interesting is in some ways, this is 11 dimensional tests. are all sorts of calculations going on by all sorts of actors. to be totally honest, none of the actors, whether they are states or government are acting as unitary, cohesive unit. in the u.s., there's going to be some pushback. or sample, if trump wants to start a full on war, there is

going to be pushed back from the military. the same is true, i think, a in israel and of course syria does not act with one voice and it rent is divided. there is quite a lot of politicking that is going on behind the scenes, which is at the moment quite murky to actually cut through and things by become a little more clear in the future. i think it's important to note the europeans are also playing a very interesting role in this. i have been reading the germans have spoken about extending lines of credit to the businesses that might be heard by the new sanctions regime. there has been at least drawn up of what sorts of support or protection can be put up against extraterritorial censures the trump administration may be enforcing against european powers. there is been some a waiver for european firms engaging in business in iran.

amy: this is extremely significant when you talk about for people to understand about european businesses. the european countries who are part of the iran nuclear deal say they're wholeheartedly behind it, they came to the u.s. to lobby trump notot to pull ou. he did. i this means those european companies that are doing business in iran becausese they can and it is legal wiwill now e afraid of being sanctioned by the u.s. for doing this. >> yes. that is correct. at the moment, the only sanction that has been revoked in some senses, put in place, has been a sanction against a sensibly a number of businesses that are in some way, the trumpet administration claims, tied to the revolutionary guard. but there is been very big concern and the european side about what might happen to companies like to tell, the french petroleum company that has deals, or with ranult or

audi. airbus. it is really important to note that although some of this anxious have been softened up the jake the coa went into effect, not all of them have been removed. a lot of iranians would talk about how difficult it was to still get any money transfer to iran, for example. in some ways, what the trump administration is doing is ensuring that no more of softening of the sanctions happens and of course europeans are quite concerned about this. who might be the beneficiary is the chinese and the russian businesses that tend to have workarounds around these formsms of sanctions. it would be interesting to see whether a, the trump administration will really take its trade work rhetoric further and implement these sanctions against european countries -- not just iranians, but european countries and businesses -- and, the, whether there would be

other non-atlantic states like russia and china that w would benefifit from t tse reinstititn of sanctions should they happen to the extent that many fear. amy: w we have to go to break tt we will come back to this discussion. let me ask you one more question. do you think there's going to be a war between israel iran and iran in syria? >> i really, really hope not. -- one thing, if the arena the series have suffered enough from the repression is as a regime, from the bombing from all sides, from it opposition divided and quite little and from all external powers that have been using it as a kind of proxy for their warfare. i hope there is no warfare between iran because ultimately, the victims will end up being the people who have nothing to do with the decision-making process that are being made right now. less --o be slightly part of the reason i am less optimistic is both iran and

israel recognize the extent to which such war had actually damage them internally. there might be some who think such a work could bolster the power of the hardliners on both sides, but i really do think part of the clear heads -- clear heads will prevail. amy: we're going to go to break anand come back to the discussi. we want to also talk about what has happened in gaza. 47 people have been killed by is really forces. thousands shot. laleh khalili is a professor soas university of london. we will be back with her in a moment. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. row,eventh within a pelletets and protesters are gathering and gaza near the israeli border as part of an ongoing nonviolent t protest

called the great march of return. since the protest began, israeli forces have killed at least 47 palestinians, wounded nearly 7000 palestinians. the protest are leading up p toa massssive rally next w week timo the 70th annnniversary of f whas called the day of catastrophehe when palestinians, more than 700,000, were forced too flee or were expelled from their homes. still with us, laleh khalili, professor at soas university of london. she's the e author of a number f books, including "time in the shadows: confinement in counterinsurgencies." can you talk about what is happening -- in the united states -- but there's a list no coverage of this mass killings by the israeli military of these nonviolent protesters. 47usands in addition to the israelis killed, thousands shot. -- 47 killed, thousands shot.

>> i'm surprised this is not covered often. littlerobably covered more here than in the u.s., but this is something that those of us who study israel and palestine are quite accustomed to. and your audience probably are aware, the demonstrations began on what is called the land day, which is number of 1976 when a palestinian citizens of israel, not refugees and gaza were west bank or elsewhere, but palestinian citizens of israel demonstrated against the confiscation of their land, despite the palestinians had not left and were still there. in that demonstration, number of palestinian citizens were shot by the israeli state. that date was chosen by palestinian grassroots organizations inside gaza as a kind of demonstration of the palestinian will to resist the israeli constant expropriation and imprisonment with the help of egypt by sealing the borders

of gaza in gaza. those demonstrations began every friday. the reason the demonstrations occur on fridays is because that is a a kind of weekenend day, ay that meant the sabbath, if you will. so people are gathering and it is a peaceful demonstration. what is interesting is this movement has been organized by grassroooots organizations and have nothing to do with hamas and what the israeli state has tried to do is trying to continually call them supported by hamas in order to paint them as being, i don't know, the usual kind of epithets that israel throws at hamas. one has also been quite terrible about this, but what has revealed -- again, noting that -- in addition to the 40 something people that have been shot dead, often by sniper fire, often through the eye or the

forehead, has been a number, the vast number, surprising number of people who have been injured, many of them maimed permanently. some have been shot in their spine and therefore they will not ever be able to walk again. this has also been modus operandi of the israeli state. such casualties often don't get too.ch attention as deaths it places an enormous economic cost as well as emotional and those who on not only have been injured, but t also on their fafamilies. ththis is a cocomplete and total anddus opeperandi of insurgency enengages inin military warfarae along withth other kinds of activivities that tend to have enenormous economic and social costs. what has been quite interesting is the extent to which this has upon.ncommented

in london there are ngos that address these kinds of specific medical needs. they then tried to highlight some of these enormous economic and social costs that come from the injuries of palestinians but we don't hear much of it. again, in sosome ways s it is profoundlyly disappointing t tht the e press is that more interested in ththis. one ofof the stupid cliches w we often hear is "where's the palestinian gandhi?" they are rejecting their own leadership who are profoundly problematic. and yet nobody is taking notice of this. it is for a disconcerting and disheartening. in some ways it is quite important. palestinians are ultimately going to be the ones were able to remove this system of apartheid. amy: quickly as you talk about the palestinian youth and the people leading this, talk about the conventional, traditional as well just overall

of the plo. >> the plo is a much more complex body. itits supposeded to include exie leadership who tend to be far more radical and less compromise and those sitting in the west bank and run a lot. -- ramallah. it has had little credibility. the leadership of fatah has been kept in place not because he is popular or supported by palestinians, but precisely because he makes the perfect kind of foil for israelis. he has acted as a kind of subcontractor f for israeli security. when he says anti-semiticic crat like he did a couple of weeks ago, he exactly fulfills the kind of still typical role the israelis would like to show is being palestinian. but it has nothing to do with the majority of the palestinians who are struggling for their own dignity and freedom.

in gaza, palestinians are led by hamas. ms has a little more support probably because they have not capitulate it so completely to the israeli state. it is important to note in gaza, there is a vast majority of younger people who are disillusioned with the inability of their leadership to organize them in such a way the inability of thehe leadership to come up with i innovative and new methos of mobilization. so there has been grassroots organization in order to try to highlight the plight of palestinians. it is been very disappointing that there is not enough attention being paid outside of israel have in palestine. amy: the significance of u.s. moving their embassy on monday from tel aviv to jerusalem and in what amal was inspired, they've announced t to do the same? >> yeah. significant and it is not significant. symbolically it shows the u.s.

is essentially giving up any pretense whatsoever of even believing in a two state solution any longer because one of the fundamental issues at stake in the two-state negotiations were -- was the final status of jerusalem. on the other hand, it is not that significant. anybody was been following the negotiation's no or the oslo peace process, has long been dead. the complete inflexibility shows there's nothing going on and certainly the u.s. is not ever been a never going to be a kind of honest broker or objective mediator between these groups. on the one hand, it is profoundly important symbolically showing u.s. hass absolutely no compunctions about setting aside international laws , the occupied status of jerusalem to ignore all of that and move their embassy there.

but on the other hand, ineffective terms, it just goes to show oslo is dead. amy: laleh khalili, finally, the issue of gina haspel to be had of the cia. you have written a number of specifically your book "time in the shadows" is about torture. --r thoughts on what she is shee has done yet go you specifically look at black sites. >> i do. it is incredibly harrowing. what is devastating about what her nomination has done is to essentially rubberstamp the use of completely and utterly brutal and harrowing modalities of torture on people, whether or not they're guilty. legals never sort of a process that will allow us to adjudicate whether these people are in any way culpable of anything. loads of innocent people have been subjected to these black sites. what is ironic is gina haspel's

confirmation hearing, what is happening on december the british government was apologizing, was issuing an official apology to a man and his wife --fatima boudchar have --n four months pregnant sorry, several months or number for four month she even held in thailand -- presumably under the reign of gina haspel while she ran a black site there. her confirmation is going to signal should it proceed, all of those countries in the world that acted as black sites, a number of those countries are members of nato and there is turn your the and states, members of nato, but also -- among thee eu most specifically, poland and romania. but those that are not part of the eu and were engaged in these to beof -- they allowed used by black sites, thailand

for most among them but there were others, as well as those countries that did as extraordinary -- that acted as countries of which were near rendition, even syria, all of these cocountries are essentialy cartetoto see this as a blanche for conducting torture. another they ever really needed it, but this is essentially -- one of the things one hears all the time in the middle east is, well, if the u.s. is doing it, why doesn't anybody care about why sisi we do it? in some ways it would be an utter travesty, but completely unsurprising, if gina haspel is chosen to head the cia. amy: laleh khalili, they can us, professosor at soas university f london. author of a number of books, including "time in the shadows: confinement in counterinsurgencies." we askeded you to o stay with u. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. sundayay is mother's day. racial justice groroups around e country a are bailing blalack wn out of jail so they can spend the holiday with tirir famies.s. for the second year in r row, "b"bla mama'a's bail out day" is isising ney y toail ououas many black women fm jail a popoible. theffort is taking place in dozensf f cities t to ll tention to the injustice of cash bl.l. is i is rena s sring, an organizer wi s southnersrs o neneground, or song, which spearhead d the fortrt. this is vio o fromong'g's lebratiolast y yr in durham, north calilina. >> song has been sararheadg th effffor because mary hos had drdream. shthought,hat if we came together with our local and national partners and elected our resourcetoto baias m man blblac mama's s out jail the week bore moth's day.

its part oa a larg criritie of the system, whi w we kn thehe system in cages when we believe ththat nody y shld livivin cage y: sincehe effor launcd la yea there's been owing naonal movent to eliminat c casfor fromhe crcrinal justice sysm. ju this wee google d fabook annncnced ty will n longer te money om ameri's foprofit bl bond ancies. still, t cash ba system eps millns of pele who have n been coicted ofny crime prisonedn jails ery day tionwidehile theawait trial. for mo, we go to ry hooks, co-direcr of souerners o new ound witthe movent for black lis. shis an ornizer ofational blk mama's bailut day. welcome to democracy now! mary, talk about the significance of this day and exactly what you are doing around the country. day to be a powerful able to celebrate mothers is critical and to be of to do it shows what is

happening to our people in terms of the cash bill system. it is so critical in this is there for our community. will stopsing money we are bailing people out. we're throwing homecomings to welcome our people home. we are unifying people with their families. and also helping to provide stababilization n cause we kw that once peopople s in a cagege for so long, thahat they're so much t that has been l lost. so it is our responsibility to help put the pieces back together. amy: explain how the system works and talk about the women you have been bailing out. why are they in jail? >> essentially, when someone is arrested and if you're not killed by the police, the other lynching begins in the courtroom. when someone goes before a judge, oftentimes they are levied a bail that never considers their income, never considers is there eligible to

pay or not. facing detention is not legitimate of whether or not someone will come into court or not. you often see poor black people who languish in cages because they cannot afford their bail. some and women we have build out, we are seeing ridiculous stories. there is someone that we met who was picked up on an old charge from 10 years ago, someone who had been sitting since march with two children at home and have lost their job, had lost their housing for ridiculous violations. yeah, that is what we're trying to highlight. amy: i want to go to the story of ebony thomas, one of the women who was bail out last year throu y your ograram. she e a mother of three from atlanta whosststory s highlighteonon thelackck ma's bail outacebook page. >> i was going to the store to

get snacks for my n.n. my tagline was out and g got pulllled over. minoes to me, licensead be's been a om an unid to get tt also ge me a theyre appearecause had nody to gein touchith so i dinot know hado apar for crt. get lock up. faure e toppear.r. my 17 year old didotot kno whe i wawa i cried another first three days i watherere. couy. to th i ayed there, freezi cold, for about 36 hours befori i was even booked in. they give you think 72 hours t see if u can ma bail. i could t. th they mod me. then i eed upn wilams

ty. at was a bad. it was b. it wasot only ld, it w dirty. a dungeone being in with yr r hand tied behind you back. first of all, i d not ha the neney fosomeme sond ofofll, e failure to appear, andhehe haveyes, you're rea onfailure a appe's e nott going to give your sigture ndnd so at y youay not sw up again so y have toay a bonor get a bill smithr howeve but you'rere goi to o ha to face a we know you will come th time. there wano way iould pay it seemed like it wa just a consracy, a ney thing. we're goingo keep h stuck your because we are one you get paid r regardless. her as longto keeeep as we can. amy: that is ebony thomas, one of the women you bailed out last year through your program. right now you have, for example, google and the koch brothers announcing a partnership to address dealt reform. what do you want to see change

even as you engage in change of song and bailout women from other -- for mother's day? >> i think it is commendable to see google and the koch brothers take a stand on this issue. at the same time, i think it calls for a deeper development -- divestment from mass incarceration and those companies and others have to look at their practices, look at ways they are making money off our people and actually really, really cut ties with mass incarceration in the prison industrial complex, just to be honest. i think what we are seeing in that we are women bailing out, i think what we know to be true is that they are experts at their own lives. wewe are experts at t our own l. so when we arere looking at solutions to dismantle the system of money bail, we have to go back to those pre-women who said -- that in those cages to say, how do we build something

new? had week dismantle the system in a way that doesn't come back to us 10 years later because wewe are doing i it wror taking half measures? oftentimes, a lot of our work is making sure we build the alternatives we need. will we provide stabilization and support, we're saying we don't need cages. and community-b-based solutitions in order to do that. so we're not going to wait on the state or big businesess to find an interest in this hot topic, we're going to take matters into our communities are suffering. amy: how many people do you think are being bailed out? how many mothers are being billed out for sunday? >> may be over 20 cities rigight now ththat are e engaging in baililouts. so over 100 and over sure. but for us, -- and that gets me excited. and even if we just bailed out one, that is enough. even if we just bailout one, we

know one mother, one caretaker is g going to impactct and haveo much impact in communities where hundreds are going to be impacted by y the very fact shes out of the cage. orwe will take one but 100 more would be good. amy: mary hooks, thanks for joining us co-director of , southerners on new ground with the movement for black lives and an organizer of national black mama's bail out day. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. our last segment today, this week the trump administration officially announced it will detain asylum seekers and separate them from their children at the border. we turn now to a case that shows how some minors who arrived alone at the border to seek asylum have been put in adult detention. in california, immigration authorities are refusing to release an afghan asylum seeker from an adult detention center after five months, even though a federal court had determined he is a child. his lawyers say he is 17 years old. but ice used a disputed pseudoscience age test based on

a dental exam to insist he is over 18. the teen says he fled afghanistan using a forged passport after the taliban murdered his father. on tuesday, the detainee, who uses the name hamid for privacy and protection, spoke to democracy now! in his first phone interview from the mesa verde detention center, a former prison owned by geo group in bakersfield, california. the young man detained there who spoke pashto interpreted hamid's responses as democracy now! producer renee feltz asked him questions. he saidid mechanician is nott good. -- he said mechanician is not good. >> can he describe what it is like being held with adults instead of with young immigrants and young asylum-seekers? [indiscernible]

every time i cry with myself. >> i think he said it was lonely. can he describe what is like not to be able to speak to others with his language while in detention? >> he said [indiscernible] >> ok, thank you. can he say what he is asking for from the united states now? >> he said, i want from the judge that they release me from here because what i come here, my life was in danger so i want a beautiful and bright future here. amy: that is an afghan detainee who uses the name hamid to protect his identity, speaking to democracy now! producer renee feltz in a phone interview from the mesa verde detention center where he has been held for five months with adults after he sought asylum at the border as an unaccompanied minor. for more, his attorney mariel villarreal joins us in our new york studio. she's with pangea legal services, an immigrant defense organization based in san

franciscsco. tell us what is happening here and what is this science that ice is saying they're using to determine that children are adults? >> i would call it a pseudoscience, but essentially, fled afghanistan , serious violence against his family, came to the u.s. border, turned himself in, asked for asylum, and was originally designated a minor. what he told customs and border patrol officials when he got here. then they conducted this dental a sevenich estimated year age range for my client between 16 and 23 years old. and based on that determination, they transferred him out of custody, care and custody of minors, which is overseen by office of refugee resettlement

and placed in adult ice custody. and to be clear, the u.s. government denies climate science expected by messes -- except invite massive scientists in the world, but they use her own science -- with a they do, they checked his teeth? took x-rays ofrr his teeth and actually sent them over to a doctor at the university of texas who has a contract with ice. we've seen otother reports this man has made any never examined my claim. amy: ice has previously been told to stop using dental and bone scans to determine the age acacause "using radidiographs f person's bones or teeth cannot produce a specific age two to a range of factors affecting an individual's growth. these include normal biological variation, as well as cultural and ethnic differences." that is from a federal audit. the news site reveal repeportedn september that ice's own internal handbook says dental

and bone scans must be used only as "a last resort." she also reported the san antonio dentist who does the dedental test for ice never nees to people in person to physically examine their teeth in and said uses x-rays and photos? >> thahat is cororrect. he never met my client. wasppears one of the x-rays missing. he remains detained today. it has been five months he is been in adult detention. amy: we just heard him say he is scared and cries a lot and does that feel he is a voice. he is lonely. no one there speaks his language. he does not have the proper diet. what happens now? >> we have resubmitted a third and areequest to ice awaiting a decision on that. essentially, h he is had a sponr i was ever the last month who is willing to let him live with him and will financially support him. we've seen how the current trump

administration is responding to asylum seekers. we have seen it with essential american caravan and out of their singapore to separate families at the border. they are making an example of my client. they think that if no one is watching were doing anything about it and they can do whatever they want. amy: an immigration judge that he is review the evidence and hamid should be released? >> he initially determine my client was a minor. considering all of the evidence, we have an identity document for him. two weeks later, the government came up with some evidence that had been sitting in our files for five months and the judge rescinded that order. so we have another parole request out to ice and we have seen cases like this resolved, but t really only went political officials with power leadership -- amy: who are you asking? >> senator kamala harris to get involved to put pressure on ice

and do something about the fact there is a child in adult detention most of and every time he is gone before an immigration judge, three different judges at this point, he has cried on the video teleconference screenn teach judge and pleaded with them to let him out. he is terrified of being with adults. he is a small child. bakersfield,d in which is five hours away from san francisco, which is where i work. it is awful. kamala harris' office to do something about it. amy: we will certainly continue to follow hamid'ss story. mariel villarreal is an attorney representing hamid, with pangea legal services, an immigrant defense organization based in san francisco. that does it for our show. democracy now! is accepting applications for our paid video production fellowships as well as a variety of paid internships. find out more at democracynow.org. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to outreach@democracynow.org or mail them to democracy now! p.o. box 693 new york, new york 10013.

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smith: everything is changing,veverywhe. and it's changgg fafast and f fter. it's hard toeeeep upand it's rd to o e where it's going. we've ililt thmost cocompx sociciy in hisry, but crcreasily, impoantt par. d many pple now feel that their voice unt for ththing. they've cocome ary,, oror. there isonflict all overhehe wor. extreme polical l paiess ara. populism and nationalism are expanding. it feels lee wewe'rlivingngn the brink. i'm dee smh, i run global ielliligee compmpy,