05/25/18 05/25/18 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now! based on the recent statement of north korea, i've decided to terminate the planned summit in singapore and june 12. amy: as president trump pulls out of a historic nuclear disarmament summit with north korea, we go to seoul, south korea, where peace activists gathered outside the u.s. embassy condemning trump's decision.

>> we believe it is important for camp and trump to pick up the phone and get back to talks and have a summit, and we believe that in the use process, women must be included in the peace process and we want more people to people engagement, but we are not waiting for that to happen. amy: then disgraced hollywood mogul harvey weinstein has turned himself in to new york police on charges of raping one woman and forcing another to perform oral sex on him. in total, more than 100 women have come forward to accuse weinstein of rape, sexual assault, and sexual harassment in cases that stretch back decades. we will speak to one of weinstein's victims, louise godbold. confused,been frozen, scared, embarrassed. primarily, embarrassed. because i had friends waiting downstairs in the lobby, i was able to make excuses and get out of there.

never told anybody because i did want to get my start in the industry, and it would have been suicide to have said anything. amy: plus, we will speak with lili bernard, one of the women who accused bill cosby of drugging and raping her. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. president trump has canceled plans for a summit with north june 12 korean leader kim jong-un to be held in singapore. in a letter signed by trump and addressed to kim, trump cited kim's tremendous anger and open hostility in recent comments as his reason for canceling the talks. trump went on to write -- "you talk about nuclear capabilities, but ours are so massive and powerful that i pray to god they will never have to be used." trump's withdrawal came after north korea blasted recent comments by vice president mike

pence who suggested kim jong-un will end up like slain libyan leader muammar gaddafi if he doesn't denuclearize north korea. on thursday, president trump said the u.s. stood ready to attack. pres. trump: i believe this is a tremendous setback for north korea, and indeed, a setback for the world. i have spoken to general mattis and the joint chiefs of staff, and our military, which is by far the most powerful anywhere in the world, and has been greatly enhanced recently, as you all know, is ready, if necessary. amy: north korea's foreign ministry called trump's decision extremely regrettable but said it stands ready to talk if the white house reverses its position. after headlines, we will go to seoul, south korea. president trump signed a bill thursday exempting thousands of banks from key regulations in the dodd-frank wall street 2010.eform bill -- the

under the new law, the vast majority of banks will no longer have to follow the regulations aimed at preventing another financial meltdown like the 2008 financial crisis. the white house held separate classified briefings thursday with senior congressional leaders on the fbi's use of a confidential informant to investigate alleged ties to the trump campaign dustup democrats were furious that emmet flood, president trump's lawyer in th russia investigation, attended both classified meetings, along with white house chief of staff john kelly. house intelligence committee ranking democrat adam schiff said flood's involvement was entirely improper. he also said the briefing provided no evidence that the fbi was spying directly on the trump campaign, as the president alleged. >> nothing we heard today has changed our view that there is no evidence to support any allegation that the fbi or any intelligence agency placed a spy in the trump campaign or otherwise failed to follow appropriate pcedures and protocols. amy: meanwhile, new york democratic congressmember jerrold nadler said thursday it appears someone in the trump administration or congress broke the intelligence identities

protection act when they revealed the name of the fbi's confidential informant, stefan halper, a retired professor tapped in 2016 to instigate the trump campaign. in new york city, disgraced hollywood producer harvey weinstein surrendered himself to police this morning as a manhattan prosecutor brings charges that weinstein sexually assaulted two women. one of them, former aspiring actress lucia evans, says weinstein invited her to his miramax office, where he physically overpowered her and forced her to perform oral sex. in another case involving a woman who has not been named, weinstein faces charges that include first-degree rape. his lawyers have reportedly negotiated a agreement that will see him surrender his passport and wear a movement-tracking device. his bail is expected to be set at $2 million. in total, more than 100 women have come forward to accuse weinstein of rape, sexual assault, and sexual harassment in cases that stretch back decades. among them is rose mcgowan, who says weinstein raped her at the sundance film festival in 1997.

mcgowan said in a statement thursday -- "i, and so many of harvey weinstein's survivors, had given up hope that our rapist would be held accountable by law. 20 years ago, i swore that i would right this wrong. today we are one step closer to justice." we'll have more on harvey weinstein's arrest later the broadcast. cnn reports that eight women have accused oscar-winning movie star morgan freeman of sexual harassment. one of the women says freeman repeatedly put his hands on her lower back, and tried to lift her skirt, asking if she was wearing underwear. another woman accused freeman of -- and another woman told cnn that she and others stopped wearing form-fitting clothing after freeman repeatedly commented on their bodies. freeman responded quickly after cnn's report broke thursday, writing in a statement -- "anyone who knows me or has worked with me knows i am not someone who would intentionally offend or knowingly make anyone feel uneasy. i apologize to anyone who felt uncomfortable or disrespected -- that was never my intent." in georgia, a jury has awarded a

record $1 billion in damages to survivor after finding a security company was negligent when it hired the man who raped her. hope cheston was just 14 years old when she was approached by 22-year-old armed security guard who was later convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison for the crime. jurors were brought in to award damages in the civil suit after a judge found zachary's employer, crime prevention agency, failed to properly train and screen its officers. after the $1 billion settlement verdict, cheston's lawyer l. chris stewart told "the new york times" -- "a jury, from now on, will know there is no ceiling on the damages that rape causes to a woman." in nigeria, a new report by amnesty international finds thousas of womennd girls w surviv sexual asult and kidnapng by bo haram militants faced widespread hung and starvation as well further sexual abuse by the nigerian security forces who claimed to be rescuing them. amsty's port foundhat since 2015, thousands of women

and girls died of malnutrition and starvation in camps for internally displaced people in nigeria's borno state due to a lack of food, while soldiers demanded sex in exchange for humanitarian assistance. this is one woman who asked to remain anonymous as she described the abuses to amnesty researchers. and hell sea soldier would sayif you lik me, take this fd. th would say, co with us and would tnk of ou chilen cryinfor food if we accept the foo he uld comeack to he inrcourse wi you. if you refused, he would rape you. in syria, government forces have recaptured the yarmouk camp for palestinian refugees outside damascus, after a brutal month-long campaign drove isis from the area. the assault reportedly killed scores of civilians and left most of the camp in ruins. with its capture, syria's military now controls all the areas around damascus for the first time in seven years. in benghazi, lya, a car bomb exploded outside a hotel on a busy road in the city's nter

late thursday, killing at least seven people and injuring others. no group has yet claimed responsibility, which was the latest in a series of bombings in libya that followed the 2011 nato bombing campaign that helped u.s.-backed rebels overthrow and kill muammar gaddafi. in the gaza strip, a 22-year-old palestinian man has his cap -- succumbed to his wins and died after he publicly set himself on fire to protest israel's stifling blockade of the territory and its massacre of over 100 palestinians in recent nonviolent protests. more than half his body following his self immolation on sunday. his death came as israel's military chief said thursday the government is preparing to green-light an additional 2500 new homes in 30 jewish-only settlements in the occupied west bank, in defiance of international law and multiple u.n. resolions. palestinian-american activist linda sarsour and her family were the targets of an intelligence-gathering campaign

by a secretive israeli firm that was acting on behalf of an american-israeli organization established to combat the movement to boycott and divest from israel. that's according to an investigative report by the israeli newspaper haaretz, which found the company, israel cyber shield, which has ties to israel's strategic affairs ministry, compiled a dossier on linda sarsour that it gave to the organization act.il. it is an anti-bds group that receives much of its funding from billionaire casino magnate sheldon adelson. the group distributed the dossier to u.s. college campuses in an effort to bar sarsour from speaking to university students. last june, a number of prominent new york lawmakers called on the city university of new york to cancel a commencement address by sarsour, who says she faced a barrage of death threats ahead of her speech. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman.

we begin today's show on the korean peninsula, one day after president trump canceled plans for a june 12 summit with north korean leader kim jong-un. earlier today, a top official in north korea's foreign ministry said kim jong-un is still willing to meet with trump at any time, saying the cancellation of the summit was extremely regrettable. in a letter to kim jong-un, president trump cited kim's tremendous anger and open hostility in recent comments as his reason for canceling the talks. trump went on to write -- "you talk about nuclear capabilities, but ours are so massive and powerful that i pray to god they will never have to be used." president trump sent the letter at 9:43 a.m. on thursday, just hours after north korea declared it had destroyed one of its nuclear weapons test sites. according to a report from nbc, the decision was made so abruptly, the trump administration did not have time to notify congressional leaders or foreign allies including south korean president moon jae-in.

who had just been in washington. nbc reports secretary of state mike pompeo has privately blamed national security advisor john bolton for torpedoing the talks. north korea first threatened to pull out of the talks after bolton said the u.s. should use the libyan model for denuclearization. in 2003, libya negotiated sanctions relief from the united states in exchange for renouncing its nuclear program and welcoming international inspectors to verify the dismantlement. eight years later, the u.s. and other nations attacked libya, toppling and killing libyan leader muammar gaddafi. vice president mike pence and president trump have also talked about the libyan model in recent weeks. on thursday, president trump warned the u.s. military is ready to act if north korea should take any foolish acts. pres. trump: i've spoken to general mattis and the joint chiefs of staff, and our military -- which is by far the most powerful anywhere in the world, that has been greatly

enhanced recently, as you all know -- is ready if necessary. likewise, i've spoken to south , and they aren not only ready should foolish or reckless acts be taken by north korea, but they are willing to show -- shoulder much of the ,ost of any financial burden any of the costs associated, by operationsstates in situation unfortunate is forced upon us. amy: we are joined now by two guests. from seoul, south korea christine ahn, founder and , international coordinator of women cross dmz, a global movement of women mobilizing to end the korean war. and and washington, d.c., we are joined by investigative journalist tim shorrock. he grew up in tokyo and seoul and has been writing about the

u.s. role in korea since the late 197'0s. he is a correspondent for the nation and the korea center for investigative journalism in seoul. let's go to seoul first. christine ahn, talk about your reaction to president trump canceling the summit. >> hello, amy. it is quite a time to be in south korea. as you know, i have been leading got with 30 women can is activists from 16 countries including russia, china, mongolia, japan, guam, hawaii. we come from all around the world. there's a huge delegation from the u.s. to be here in south korea at this historic juncture since the declaration leading up to the june 12 summit. we're here to support the korea peace process. it was quite devastating news to learn last night, you know, moon

jae-in, basically, was notified that this letter had been sent to north korea. and it is -- it started out very werei mean, a lot of tears shed. we have been spending several days with the south korean women . we are organizing another women's peace walk along the dmz tomorrow. 80 million hearts are broken across the korean peninsula. the korean peoe -- moon jae-in has about 85% support rate in south korea. the people are very heartened by the gestures of peace and diplomacy by the two korean leaders. to suddenly pull the carpet that way, you know, i just came from a candlelight vigil in the square. a lot of the speakers at the demonstration were angry. i mean, you know, it is --

basically, throwing sand in the gears of a train that is already in motion. i would say that is the upside to this is that we know that the declaration is a bold agreement, a sweeping agreement. and since the joint war drills between the u.s. and south korea heardome to an end, live the inter-korean peace talks will resume. this train has left the station. the people of north and south toea want very much peace prevail on the korean peninsula, and i think that is our role as international community, as ashley from the united states is to supporthem in this critical hour. amy: last week president trump said north korean leader kim jong-il and could suffer the same fate as former libyan leader moammar could off the few refuses to give up his nuclear

weapons. pres. trump: if you look at that afi, that was a total decimation. that model would take place if we don't make a deal, most likely. but if we make a deal, i think kim jong-un is going to be very, very happy. amy: that was president trump. let's bring tim shorrock into this discussion. who do you feel is to blame for the cancellation of the summit yet i do think it could possibly move forward? and also, what does this mean for the south korean president who was just in washington to meet with trump to try to move the summit forward? does this delegitimize him, bring china into a more prominent role? >> this is a terrible insult of the south korean leadership and president moon in particular. the fact they did not tell him in advance when he had been there just a few hours before the that is incredibly -- i mean, it is his stork

incompetence in the part of pres. trump: on the part of bolton, the part of vice president pence to repeat the libya solution, which is basically regime change on steroids, for the north koreans. they keep talking about this sort of libya option as if it is not going to phase north korea. of course it will. they spoke out very strongly. i think it is very, very damaging for u.s.-south korean relations, for one thing. i think there's a hotline between moon and kim. i'm hopeful they will be using it. i'm not quite sure about how this is going to affect china, but certainly, by just abruptly pulling out like this for a very odd reasons, it is going to tell countries like china that have been enforcing sanctions that the u.s. is simply not serious. altogether, it is a fiasco. but i do think there are signs. you read the north korean

statement and you also you read through the lines of what trump wrote yesterday, there is still open is to talks. moon is a very skilled politician, very skilled negotiator. i have a feeling he can get things on track, but i think the meeting in singapore is clearly going to be delayed or never happen. it will happen somewhere else. letter in the announcement of the letter came out yesterday within hours after, well, it has not been completely verified, but kim jong-un had international journalists there a would not allow international nuclear inspectors, but they blew up one of the nuclear testing sites. and soon after, the north korean u.s.rs released three prisoners. can you talk about the significance of this? >> well, yeah. this was like the first step towards denuclearization. they made it public.

they had all cans of reporters there -- all kinds of reporters there. this is a signal they are beginning this process. cameact the dis-invitation almost at exactly the same time this was happening, was, at least you could say it is quite ironic, isn't it most significantly, right after both of those actions took place on part of north korea, preparing for the summit. >> exactly. before all of this blew up in trump's phase, the north koreans unilaterally stopped their nuclear test and missile tests. as you said, they closed the test site and release these people. they also said they're not opposed to normal military exercises, meaning without strategic mbers anwithout strategic aircraft carriers. what did the u.s. do? it tried to bring in b-52 for these exercises. itth korea called them on

and they withdrew the b-52's it shows this hostile policy that the north koreans keep talking about, they will negotiate if the u.s. removes its hostile policy. well, the hostile policy has yet to change. we see it with bolton and pence. and the fact that pompeo, the secretary of state, actually told news outlets that he hebled in was respond as doubled and was responsible for this collapse and it was bolton who engineered this withdrawal from the talks, is very, very significant. so i think pompeo and probably in the cia, which just left, is going to try to put the pieces together again. , you saidtine ahn you're headed to the demilitarized zone with a group of women. explain. >> three years ago, as you know, amy, i helped lead a delegation of 30 women activists, including gloria steinem and nobel peace laureates across the

demilitarized zone from north korea to south korea, calling for a peace treaty to end the korean war, the reunion of families and leadership in the peace building process. three years later, this is also significant year then was the 70th anniversary of korea's division. this is the 70th anniversary of the creation of two separate rates. may 24's international women's stay for peace and disarmament. we are in a critical window. we wanted to bring to the world's attention that not only do the people of the korean peninsula want peace, women support the peace process. we are calling for our inclusion in the peace process. we know that when women's groups are involved in a peace process, that they're actually leads to a peace agreement. when we help drafted, leads to a far more to her of sustainable one. here we are we that with the u.s. embassy this morning before we held a protest outside of the embassy.

were here in the service. we're here to help all sites between the dprk and the u.s. try to come to some understanding. because clearly, we know that there is within the trump administration, tremends fissures. on the one hand you have the bolton and the pence hardliners that want to derail the process and then you have the pompeos on the other side. clearly, this round they won. but the message that we got from the u.s. embassy is, you know, we see -- we want you much for there to be talks. there is a part of me that we know trump is very unhinged and tweets, buty wild mike pence is very calculated. so there must have been a reason they brought up the bolton statement -- yeah, sorry, yeah, the bolton statement about

libya. i think that is probably because they are not prepared because they still do not have a u.s. ambassador to south korea. we know just from the last year of having rex tillerson completely decimate the state department, they don't have an adequate diplomatic corps. i think the way they have spun it, north korean is not responding to our calls, that they are the ones that reneges on their part of the deal. astutely pointed out come all of the sinks have taken place that definitely is not preparing the table for peace talks. tim shorrock, the issue of mike pence, the vice president, reiterating what john bolton --d about the libyan model again, if people remember, after the denuclearization deal, u.s. allies attacked libya and

moammar qaddafi was not only overthrown, he was murdered in the streets of libya by u.s.-backed rebels. pence,story with mike the vice president and north korea, can you talk about that? >> i call him the grouch of the olympics. he is the guy who went to the old limbic's and refused to make any kind of eye contact, shake things up the north koreans that were there, insulted his hosts. this is a very simpleminded, hard-line guy. clearly, bolton understand when he talks about the libya solution, there are two parts to it. libya gave up its nuclear weapons without making -- they've up its nuclear weapons before receiving any kind of economic aid or support. that was one part. after he did give them up, his regime was ovehrown by the u.s. and nato. it is a two edged sword he is

throwing at the north koreans, and they reject them both. he talks about this -- he knows how the north koreans are going to react. i am assuming the vice president pence is intelligent enough to have gotten the kind of briefings that he knows exactly what bolton's line means to the north koreans, and that is why he is saying it. this is what i mean by colossal, colossal incompetence. you can't have people saying these kinds of things and expect the north koreans to just respond in a friendly way. amy: colossal or deliberate seven touching of this? office, national security adviser, not approved by the senate. he has two major issues he has parked on for years, attacking iran and dismantling the nuclear deal there. that he succeeded in getting done. and not making a deal with north korea. >> well, yeah. i think it is sabotage on the

part of bolton. when i talk about incompetence, i'm talking about the very top with trump. to have people saying one thing on one hand and completely opposite on the other. that is in confidence. just to withdraw because bolton came running in at 10:00 p.m. saying, "look at what they said. look at the main things north korea saying about vice president pence." it is childish. a childke having president and shall national security adviser. amy: do you have hope, tim shorrock come at this summit could get back on track? >> i do. i want to say i was there three years ago when women crossed the dmz. they helped put this on the map. i think all credit must be due to these women activists for doing this. i think, actually, that kind of push is necessary to keep these talks on track. yes, i do believe they can get back. amy: christine ahn, how do you see that happening?

30 seconds. movement.s a global let's forget the korean war was an international conflict, 24 countries were dissipated in this war. we need to build the people's movement, just like the candlelight revolutionists running a light to the world, let's shut a light back to korea and support the peace process july 12 -- ramzi, june 12 is a global day of solidarity with the korean people for peace on the korean peninsula. let's sign a peace treaty now. amy: christine ahn, founder and international coordinator of women cross dmz, a global movement of women mobilizing to end the korean war. speaking to us from seoul, south korea. and tim shorrock washington-based investigative , journalist, we will link to your peace in the nation. for the nation and the korea correspondentfor the nation and the korea center for investigative journalism in seoul. when we come back, harvey weinstein has turned himself

into police on charges of raping a woman and performing another -- and forcing another to perform oral sex on him. we will speak with one of his victims. ♪ [music break]

amy: "mr. weinstein will see you now" by amanda palmer and jasmine power. this song was released a few days ago to raise money for the timesup legal defense fund. the musician said, "this song is dedicated to every woman everywhere around the world who has been trapped in a room with a man who used his power to rip her mind in two." this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the former hollywood mogul harvey weinstein has surrendered to police this morning at the manhattan prosecutor brings charges that weinstein sexually assaulted two women. his bail is expected to be set at $2 million. law enforcement officials say weinstein will be charged with first-degree rape and third-degree rape in one case,

and with first-degree criminal sex act in a second. it is the latest stunning development in weinstein's downfall, which rocked hollywood and helped spark a global movement of women coming forward to accuse men of rape, sexual assault, and harassment. her decades of a weinstein was one of the most powerful and politically connected people in the u.s. stemming from -- the latter case stems from the accusations of former aspiring actress lucia evans, who says weinstein sexually assaulted her back in 2004. she had just finished her junior year at middlebury college when she was invited to a daytime meeting with weinstein at the miramax office. there, she says, weinstein pushed her head down and forced her to perform oral sex on him. she told "the new yorker" magazine -- "i said, over and over, 'i don't want to do this, stop, don't.' i tried to get away. he's a big guy. he overpowered me." the accuser in the first case against weinstein has not yet been named. in total, more than 100 women have come forward to accuse weinstein of rape, sexual

assault, and harassment in cases that stretch back decades. his serial abuse was protected and even facilitated by a slew of people across hollywood. "the new yorker" magazine also reports weinstein hired the secretive company black cube, whh is run by former israeli intelligence officers, in order to intimidate women and suppress allegations weinstein about his abuse. his arrest today comes only one month after another extremely powerful man in entertainment -- comedian bill cosby -- was convicted of three counts of aggravated indecent assault for drugging and sexually assaulting andrea constand back in 2004. she was the former director of operations for the women's basketball team at temple university. like weinstein, cosby has been accused of rape and sexual assault by dozens of women, also in cases stretching back decades. the 80-year-old comedian is now facing up to 30 years in prison and will be sentenced later this summer.

for more, we are joined by two of the brave women who have come forward to accuse weinstein and cosby. from paris, france, we're joined by louise godbold the executive , director of echo parenting & education, and author of the blog post, "my encounter with harvey weinstein and what it tells us about trauma." and from los angeles, visual artist and actor lili bernard. she has accused bill cosby of drugging and raping her in the early 1990's when he mentored her in preparation for her guest starring role on the cosby show. welcome to democracy now! let's begin in paris with louise godbold. your reaction to what is happening as we broadcast this show right now. harvey weinstein is in custody facing rape charges. is, it is about bloody time. we have been waiting for a long time for this to happen. there has been this awful void between the allegations becoming

public and actually something happening about it. of course, we are really glad the police have taken the time to put together a very strong case, but it has felt awful in his interim because harvey was out there in scottsdale, seemingly not that affected. whereas, all of us that came forward have been living a shaming and victim horrible trolls. it is about time that something happened and statements made that you can't behave like this. this is not good old boy behavior that you can get away with. there is an accounting. amy: back in october, you wrote a blog post titled "my counter with hary weinstein: what it tells us about trauma." can you tell us what happened to you? your's is not one of these

cases that he is being charged with right now, but explain what happened. >> it is not one of the cases because of the statute of limitation wil. my first assault was in new york, actually. he took me on a tour of the building and at some point put my hand on his crotch. as i try to get away, he followed me to the elevators and then kissed me in front of all of his staff, just hugely embarrassing. , in i met him in l.a. thought, for him to make amends and give me some contacts to follow-up with, you then tried -- he then tried what we now know is a very time-honored m.o. for him of asking me for massage. basically, presenting himself naked, trying to massage me, a

which point i made a quick escape. wrote in your post, "the predators continue unaccountable because society, the comets on the internet, the friends and families who urge silence, the conditioning of women to be nice an excuse misbehavior or take the blame on themselves and allows the predators to transfer their shame on to their victims." do you think this dynamic is changing? do you think today suggests a new chapter? at least at the point of this broadcast, they're saying he may does a $2 million bond may be set, but possible he will be free with an ankle bracelet. i love the idea of harvey walking around with an ankle bracelet. as for whether this changes things, we will have to see if there is a conviction. arrest does not guarantee a conviction. i think the important thing for

course, seeing a rapist behind bars is a high priority, but the important thing is to have some acknowledgment that this happened and that it was very harmful. and i think sexual assault victims all over the world feel the same way because it is kind of like gas lighting. if the perpetrator is saying this never happened, then all of your pain, all of your suffering, all of the crazy tics you develop, then why are they there if nothing happened? it is a real slap in the face. i think it is very, very important that harvey does come to account. what i would really love to see is some remorse. i don't know if that is possible or not, but i loved what happened with the case where he had to sit there and listen to the victims reading out their

letters, and really understand what he had done. and if somebody does not have the potential for remorse, it still does not matter because the message has been given to society that this kind of behavior is not acceptable. if it once was, those days are long over. and really, get a clue. amy: i want to bring lili bernard into this conversation. you are an actor. your visual artist. you accused the cosby of theging and raping you and 1990's. bill cosby was just convicted of three counts of aggravated indecent assault in another case. can you talk about your reaction to the news about harvey weinstein being arrested on charges of sexual assault and rape in the first and third degree, and then your response to what happened to bill cosby in court, his conviction? >> sure. well, if you will indulge me in speaking to the lens of black

women heard, because black women's lives matter, too, what this harvey weinstein dimon has , thedoes indictment linchpin of colonization and slavery the sustained the colonization and bill looks aree that black women programmed historically to be the sexual latrines of both powerful white men and disempowered black men. and this is critically important because from a cold truth perspective -- cultural perspective, it is against the status quo for black women to speak out against a rapist, particularly when it is a beloved iconic, black, powerful father figure such as bill cosby. more than one third of us cosby ofusers are black women, 26 us are black women. this has come with great burden since the cosby verdict, the vitriol that i and my sisters had been receiving from black to

my adoring, rape apologists, i'm sorry to say the majority are black men, has increased tenfold and this vitriol is fueled by bill cause these impudence and paralleling himself to the audacity in likening us to modern-day lynch mobs, likening us to really white supremacist thugs who target and murder innocent children, women, and men. this is important what harvey indictment does for me personally is it actually quiets these black men who are attacking me. it redirects the focus to what the real problem is. in the real problem is a rape problem, not a race problem. and hollywood has perpetuated that rape problem by creating this version of femininity that

-- you know, the damsel in part.ss, the sex and women are subjected to that. and this disempowered form of feminism affects all corners of hollywood and what hollywood actually is is like an amplified of theof these centuries disempowerment of women, a centuries of the objectification of women. what we as actors have to do in the industry is we have to whilete these parameters powerful men like cosby and weinstein exploit this and hide behind their pockets and are met with impunity because of the silencing culture of rape. while it is empowering for victims to speak out and actors mirrork that amplified am a you run the risk of being met with cuts, being cut.

in this revitalization of the brave victim who will speak out can only be changed and dealt e.r.a.ce we ratify the and protect the rights of women under the constitution. amy: lili bernard, can you talk about what happened you know what you say bill cosby did you 1990's? you were an actress? >> yes, i was an actress. i was doing quite well when i met bill cosby. he groomed me like he groomed a lot of women. he endeared himself to my family. he met my father, invited my father to the studios, spoke to my mother on the phone. invited the grandfather of my boyfriend at the time, now my husband, to the studios. he ingratiated himself to the family. he praised me to people whom he introduced me. i looked upon him as a father figure.

and once again my total trust them he drugged me and raped me and it is during the mentoring process. gas lighting was mentioned. he did gaslight me prior to the sexual assault. he would put me through these exercises. during one of the theater exercises, he camera behind me and grabbed my breast. i guess entered run quickly and , youes dana said, mr. c grabbed my breast was to be said, no, i didn't. i said, you grabbed my breast, mr. c. when he saw was displeased, he said, no, i was trying to grab your rib cage. i was try to show you to lift up your rib cage and project through your diaphragm. this caused me to doubt myself. ,here was this rate calculating masterful manipulation of the mind that bill cosby enacted in order to subdue dozens and dozens of women to the point of being able to drag and rape. amy: you are in the courtroom

when the conviction was announced? again, that conviction in the case of one woman, andrea constand from temple university, his all my moderate, he was convicted of drugging and sexually assaulting her at his home in a philadelphia suburb in 2004. how many other women were there with you, survivors like you, and what did it mean? >> oh, well. at the retrial, or six survivors who took the stand. one was under constant and there were five others from all sexualrs of bill cosby's crimes. in the audience, there was victoria, aell as survivor of cosby, and charisse -- and my missing anybody else? oh, yes, linda kirkpatrick can come another cosby survivor. but the first trial, there were about six of us including jewel allison and barbara bowman.

what that meant for us, what it meant personally for me, it was the purpose for which i attended the trial was to provide emotional support and to get a show of solidarity to the victims on the stand that i am here, that i believe you, that you're not alone, that you're ok, and you are strong. it was like this kind of a zen, cosmic display of energy and support for my sisters on the stand -- who are being just attacked by these machiavellian of cosby. it was a character assassination. it was like a case study of rape culture 101. without shaking and they were righteous and strong. there were so many beautifully displays of--

absolute strength and power these victims displayed on the stand. to: i want to go back also harvey weinstein. this is from. dozens of women have accused weinstein of your storms of harassment over the past room us weinstein only directly issuing statement of denial about some a claims in a new interview with for writing. some height believes it is because they're not white. she said "we are the easiest to get discredited. it is well known fact. so we were back, checking the two women of color in hopes that if you could discredit us, now is the time for action. has is the second time she discussed it. she revealed how she felt ashamed waiting so long to tell her story because she said, it felt like my pain was so small compared to all of the other stories." i want to bring louise godbold back into the conversation. your response to hearing what and others described

as their expenses with harvey weinstein, his assault on them? well, obviously, anyone who has been through that experience, my heart is out to them. but to feel that you also now have to represent the token latino or token african-american must be doubly damaging. as it is, you are objective five when you are sexual assaulted just objective fight when you're sexually assaulted. the abuser is not connecting with who you are as a human being. i don't know either of these beautiful ladies, but i imagine it is just adding insult to and just mind-boggling. going back to what i was saying before, that acknowledgment that something has happened is so

important because otherwise, you are made to feel like you are crazy. and part of healing from trauma is being able to construct a narrative. if you're being told at every turn that never happened, i never did that, then you do begin to think that you are going crazy. amy: and today, do you feel that way? >> that i'm going crazy? a bit from jet like, but other than that, no. i am -- i feel extremely we now are at a point in history where this has moved on from stories in the press to an actual court case. i look forward to seeing something being settled by the means our society settle things, through the court. amy: a 2015 new york's thing operation recorded weinstein admitting to groping filipina italian model, but the district

attorney cyrus vance, who is over what happened today to weinstein, refused to press charges. one of the lawyers of weinstein donated to the campaign only days after vance decided not to prosecute this case. i want to end with the closing ceremony of the cannes film festival this past weekend, which was rocked by a powerful speech by asia argento. >> in 1997, i was raped by harvey weitein here at cannes. i was 21 years old. this festil was his nting ground. i want to make a prediction. harvey weinstein will never be welcomed here ever again.

he will live in disgrace, shunned by a community that once embraced him and covered up for hisrimes. and even tonight, sitting among you, there are those who still have to be held accountable for their conductgainst women, for behavior that does not belong in this industry, does not belong in any industry or workplace. you know who you are. but most importantly, we know who you are. anwe are not going to aow y to get aw with it any longer. argentot was asia speaking last week and at the closing ceremony of the cannes film festival. i want to thank louise godbold of echo parenting & education. speaking to us from where she just arrived in paris, france.

and lili bernard, visual artist and actor who accused bill cosby of drugging and raping her in the 1990's. joining so many other women right now in this #metoo moment. when we come back, we go to cuba. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. former say operative and cuban exile luis posada carriles died wednesday just outside miami. he was 90 years old. posada carriles is best known as the suspected mastermind of the 1976 bombing of a cubana airline jet. for decades, the u.s. refused to extradite posada carriles to face terrorism charges, despite demands by cuba and venezuela. he later publicly admitted ties to a series of hotel bombings in cuba in 1997 was up in 2000 coming was arrested in panama city for plotting to blowup and auditorium where fidel castro would be speaking. despite his record, he got a free man in florida. for more, we're joined by jose pertierra, a cuban attorney

based in washington, d.c. he represented the venezuelan government in its efforts to extradite luis posada carriles and also represented elian gonzalez in 2000-2001. jose, if you could start out by talking just about the kuban 1976, howombing in many people died in the significance of who this man is who has died in miami today? >> good morning. the airline disaster in 1976, at the time, was the worst airline passenger disaster or act of terrorism against a passenger airline in the history of aviation. it killed 73 innocent people, including 24 members of the

juvenile fencing team from cuba that was -- there was a little nine year old girl on board. she also died. theda carriles was mastermind of the bombing. he mastermind the placing of two bombs. one in the front of the plane and one in the back. it exploded in midair. the plane crashed into a bay called paradise beach in trinidad. some bodies were recovered, but most were not. they want to the bottom of the sea where they are still lying. venezuela presented charges against posada carriles because there was overwhelming evidence of his involvement. there's even a confession by the persons who planted the bombs, who were arrested in trinidad. they were interrogated and they

confessed to having worked for posada carriles. the even try to do mitigate with posada carriles by telephone -- communicate with posada carriles by telephone. this was enough for venezuela to charge him with 73 counts of first-degree murder. amy: we don't have much time, and i want to ask you, so that happened, 73 people dead. how did he end up dying a free man in miami this past wednesday? >> amy, venezuela -- well, he escaped from jail in panama where he was being held for trying to bomb and auditorium full of people. jail inr getting out of panama, receiving a pardon, he came to the united states to miami host of venezuela presented a request for extradition. the united states simply refused to extradite him. instead of charge to with violating immigration law, lying on immigration forms, for which

it was ultimately equated, even though there were omissions by posada carriles that he had masterminded a string of bombings in havana that resulted in the murder of an italian businessman. and he lied about those on immigration forms. it even though there was of that, including a taped confession of posada carriles to correspondent," nonetheless, he was acquitted of that in the u.s. refused to extradite him. why? because he was the united states man in caracas. he worked for the cia, by his own admission, for over 24 years. it just does to show you if you have friends in high places, even though you may be a terrorist, the united states will protect you. amy: i want to get to luis posada carriles' death came after a crash in havana, killing

111 people, another cuba airline jet. critics say it is partly due to the decades-old u.s. trade embargo which makes it so difficult for cuba to acquire new aircraft. i believe this plane was something like 40 years old. in this last minute we have, can you talk about the fallout from this tragic crash? >> the investigation is going on. there's no evidence the was an act of terrorism. it was either pilot error or something wrong with the plane. what you are saying is true, however. cuba has a fleet of aging planes simply because they cannot buy new planes that either are made in the united states or contain parts that are made in the united states. and most jet planes today have parts that were made in the united states. it is a brutal blockade that has been imposed by the united dates against cuba since 1961. that result in tragedy, lack of medicine sometimes, lack of

playing parts. this tragedy probably stems from that. cuba is doing everything in its power right now to investigate what happened. two survivo are in itical condition. the prognosis is not good for one of them. sure, we'll try to prevent this from happening again. but the best way for the united stateso respond is not t give prayers and condolences, b to lift the embargo and allow cuba to purchase planes with american parts and fly safely over cuban skies. amy: jose pertierra, they can for being with us cuban attorney , based in washington, d.c. represented the venezuelan government in its efforts to extradite luis posada carriles who died on wednesday a freeman in miami. 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. [captioning made possible by democracy now!]

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