09/07/18 09/07/18 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now! >> i come from a long line of understand what that can of civil disobedience is and understand the consequence. i am rightht now before her process is finished, i am going to release the mouse about racial profiling. i understand ththat is the penay comes on the potential ousting of the senate. the confirmation hearing for amy:the confirmation hearing for supreme court justice nominee brett kavanaugh took a dramatic

turn thursday when cory booker and other democratic senators began releasing confidential documents from kavanaugh's work at the george w. bush white house. the move came shortly after the leak of 2003 email of kavanaugh saying he did not deem roe v. wade to the "settled law of the land." during the hearing, kavanaugh also described birth control as abortion-inducing drugs. we will get the latest on the kavanaugh hearing. then as over immigrant children 400 remain separated from their parents, t the trump administration proposes a plan to allow for the indefinite detention. we will speak to the head of justice in motion, a groroup grp spearheading an effort to fi parentof d detaid chililen. we are really suffering right now. my son h alreadydy beeeein

detention for threree months. hehe i is a little k kid. he is eight years old, locked up in there likike a crimininal. amy: then to syria.. as t the leaders o of russia, in and turkey meet in tehehran, the syrian military is threatening a mamassive invasion of the rebel held city of idlib. we will speak with rania abouzeid, author of "no turning back. life, loss, and hope in wartime syria." all thatat and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. supreme court justice nominee brett kavanaugh faces a final day of senate confirmation hearings on capitol hill today, one day after the proceedings took a dramatic turn when democratic senators began releasing confidential documents from kavanaugh's work at the george w. bush white house. the release was begun by new

jersey senator cory booker, who said he was willing to risk his senate career by deliberately violating rules against releasing protected information. booker was responding to the trump administration's decision to withhold more than 100,000 pages of kavanaugh's records on the basis ofof presidential privilege. >> i come from a long line, as all of us do, understand what that, civil disobedience -- i understand the consequences. the right now, before process is finished, i'm going to release the mail about racial profiling. i understand pitilessly comes with potential ousting from the desk penalty comes with potential ousting from the senate. amy: the drama came as the new york times reported that kavanaugh, as a white house attorney, wrote in an email in 2003 that he did not deem the supreme court's landmark roe v. wade abortion rights decision to be "settled law of the land." that contradicts kavanaugh's statement during sworn testimony wednesday that described roe v. wade's right to abortion as settled and an important

precedent. other newly released documents appear to show kavanaugh may have lied under oath during hearings for his nomination to the u.s. court of appeals in 2004 and 2006. the documents suggest kavanaugh may have falsely testified he did not know about confidential communications and documents stolen from democratic senators. meanwhile, women's rights groups are blasting capital statement thursday conflating contraception with abortion. pro-choice america tweeted -- "kavanaugh just referred to birth control as abortion-inducing drugs, which is not only an anti-science lie, it is an anti-choice extremist phrase that shows our right to access both abortion and contntraception would be in serious danger if he is confirmed." we will have more on judge kavanaugh's nomination to the us -- u.s. supreme court after headlines. the trump administration moved thursday to remove court-imposed time limits on the detention of immigrant children.

the administration's proposal would allow immigrant families toto be held in detention indefinitetely, ending the long-standing 1997 flores agreement which says that children cannot be jailed for more than 20 days. over children remain separated 400 from their parents more than a month after a court-imposed deadline requiring thehe trump admininistration t to reunite af the sepateted famililies. this comes as a top american civivil liberties union lawyer said it appears ice officials had access to the phone numbers of hundreds of parents of separated children before the june 26 family reunification deadline, but intentionally withheld the phone numbers for months. we will have more on the trump administration's family separation police later in the broadcast. the justice department and ice immigration and customs , enforcement, have subpoenaed records are prompting fears s of bureaucratic gridlock just weeks

before the midterm election. the unprecedented demand forr documents came afterer federal officials said 19 noncitizens voted illegally in north carolina during the 2016 election. president trump has repeatedly made the false claim that millions of people illegally voted nationwide in 2016. john carella, a voting rights attorney with the southern coalition for social justice, told reporters -- "it is an attempt to stoke the fires and to create this idea that voter id and other kind of restrictions would be appropriate." the white house has reportedly crafted a list of a dozen possible officials who might be behind an anonymous op-ed column published in thursday's new york times claiming there's a quiet resistance underway within the trump administration aimed at reigning in the president's impulsive behavior. in the extraordinary op-ed, the unnamed official writes that trump is amoral, erratic, ill-informed and reckless, with half-baked ideas. on thursday, a flood of trump

administration officials issued denials that they wewere the author of f the op-ed. they include pentagon chief james mattis, treasury secretary steven mnuchin, vice president mike pence, director of national intelligence dan coats, national security adviser john bolton, homeland security secretary kirstjen nielsen, and others. kentucky republican senator rand paul said thursday the white house should require administration officials to take a lie detetector test. in washingtoton, d.c., a federal court jury deadlocked thursday over whether to convict former blackwater contractor nicholas slatten on murder charges for his role in the 2007 nisoor square massacre in central baghdad, where contractors for ---- where blackwater r contracs killed 17 civilians after opening fire with machine guns and grenades on a crowded public square. the attack has been called the "my lai massacre of iraq." in 2014, slatten was convicted on murder charges over the massacre and sentenced to life in prison. but an appeals court voided thtt conviction and ordered a new trial for slatten, which ended in thursday'y's huhung jury.

in cincinnati, ohio, a gunman opened fire at a downtown bank thursday, killing three people and injuring two others before he was shot and killed by police. cincinnati police chief eliot isaac said gunman fired more than a dozen shots from a legally purchased 9 millimeter semi-automatic pistol. in a statement, cincinnati mayor john cranley said -- "random mass shootings, which plague our nation, are not normal and we as a country can't allow them to be normalized." thursday's killings came after cincinnati police chief isaac said he's launched an internal review of f an offfficer who usd his taser weapon to electrocute an 11-year-old african american girl for allegedly shoplifting from a supermarket. body cam video released this week shohows the immmmediate aftermath of the incident, as officer kevin brown, who's also african-american, scolds the girl, telling her -- "this is why there aren't any grocery stores in the black

community." >> sweetheart, the last thing i want to do is tase you like that. when i say stop, he stop. you u know you are caught. just stotop. that to you. then i got to listen to all of these idiots outut in a paparkig lot t tell me howow i wasas wror tatasting you.u. you broke the law. and you fled. you know what, sweethearart? this is what ththere are not any grocerery stores in the black community because of all of this going on. amy: another portion of video shows fire department medics wearing latex gloves as they pull taser barbs out of the flesh of the 11-year-old girl's back. cincinnati's policehihief says officer brbrown appearars to hae viviolated f four department policies. he will now face a pre-disciplinary hearing, and will have the right to appeal any punishment. in charlottesville, virginia, a jury has affirmed a misdemeanor assaulult charge against anti-racist protester jeffreyy

winder, who was convicted of punching unite the right organizer jason kessler in the head one day after a white supremacist drove his car through a crowd of counter protesters, killing 32-year-old heather heyer. on tuesday, the jury handed out its punishment to winder -- a $1 fine. that's far short of the maximum possible sentence of a $2500 finene and a year in jail. in brazil, far-right presidential candidate jair bolsonaro was hospitalized thursday after he was stabbed in the abdomen during a campaign rally in southern brazil. bolsonaro is expected to spend a week at the hospital with a perforated intestine. he has a long history of making racist and homophobic comments. he has routinely praised brazil's former military dictatorship, saying it should have killed more people. the stabbing c came as jailed former president luiz inacio lula da silva appears poised to give up his presidential

campaign after a supreme court judge thursday rejected his latest appeal, saying lula can not run from prison. is differentla from candidate for the october presidential elections. on york's attorney general thursday subpoenaed alall eightf the state's catholic dioceses, as part of a massive civil investigation into whether the church covered up the abuse of children by priests. the probe comes just weeks after a a grand jury in n pennsylvania reported morore than 300 catathc priests sexually abubused 100000 children, and possibly thousands more, over seven decades and that church leadership covered it up. twitter said thursday it has permanently suspended far-right conspiracy theorist alex jones and his infowars program. the decision came after twitter came under fire for not following other sites run by apple, google, facebook, youtube and spotify -- all of which banned jones last month for "glorifying violence" and "using dehumanizing language to describe people who are

transgenender, mususlims, and imimmigrants." in northern california, a massive wildfire tripled in size overnight, amid high temperatures and dry conditions. the delta fire in shasta county has consumed more than 34 square miles of trees and brush and forced the closure of interstate 5, where some truck drivers were forced to abandon their rigs to flee oncoming flames. the fire comes amid a record fire season in california that climate scientists say is likely exacerbated by global warming. demomocracy now! will be in san francisco all week next weeeek o cover governor brown's eco-susummit, the climate change summit, the counter summits, as well as the march onon meanwhih, saturday.. some schools across the u.s. east coast canceled classes during the opening d days of the school year amid an intense september heat wave. in baltimore alone, officials said some 60 school buildings lacked adequate air r nditioning to holclclasse and in new yk k citythouousas of protests s marcd ththroh lower maatattan mamandinactition

to tackle imimate anange. protesters demanded citytynd statofficials do mortoto sto foss f fuel ojojectssuppppor renewable energy, and penalize coorate pouters. rord-seingen wildfires in califninia. we assume the arcticururning weave experienced punisng he waves right here n new york. sustainable not inevitable! and thiss not aeptable! amy: and thosere some the headnes. is is democracy w!, decracynowrg, the r and peacreport. i'amy goodn. supreme court sticice minee etett kanaugh's confirtion hearintook a dmatic turn ursday wn demoatic natorsrsegan releasing confidential docents fro kavaugh'work at e george w. bush ite hous the momove came in response to e trump administration withholding

more than 100,000 pages of kavanaugh's records on the basis of presidential privilege. the democrats move came shortly after "the new york times" broke a major story thursday morning revealing kavanaugh, as a white house attorney, wrote in 2003 that he did not deem the supreme court's landmark roe v. wade abortion rights decision to be settled law of the land. kavanaugh wrote -- "i am not sure that all legal scholars refer to roe as the settled law of the land at the supreme court level since court can always overrule its precedent, and three current justices on the court would do so." california senator dianne feinstein questioning kavanaugh thursday about the email. >> we have in email that was previously marked confidential, but is now public and shows you asked about making edits to an op-ed that read the following -- "first of all, it is widely

understood, accepted by legal scholars across the board, that roe v. wade and it progeny are the settled law of the land." you responded i saying -- "i am not sure that all legal scholars refer to roe as the settled law of the land at the supreme court level since court can always overrule its precedent, and three current justices on the court would do so." this has been viviewed, as you saying you don't think roe is settled. amy: judge brett kavanaugh dismissed the significance of his 2003 email. >> the broader point was simply that i think it was overstating something about legal scholars. i am always concerned with accuracy. i thought that was not quite accurate description of legal -- all legal scholars.

in ago during thursday's hearing, judge kavanaugh also alarmed any rude productive rights activists by describing contraception as abortion-inducing drugs. he made the comment and a question about his 2015 dissent in the priests for life versus hhs case. >> that was a group being forced to provide certain kind of health coverage over the religious objection to their employees. under the religious freedom restoration act, the question was the first, was this a substantial burden on the religious exercise? and it seemed to me quite clearly it was. it was a technical matter of filling out a form in that case. they said filling out the form would make them complicit in the provision of the abortion-inducing drugs, that they work as a religious matter,

objected to. amy: in another dramatic moment from thursday's hearing democratic senator cory booker , released to the public a document that was previously considered committee confidential. the document described kavanaugh's views as a white house aide under george w. bush on the use of racial profiling in the aftermath of the september 11, 2001, attacks on the u.s. this is an exchange between booker, committee chair chuck grassley, and texas senator john cornyn. the knowingly violated rules that were put forth, and i'm fully committee confidential knowing consequences. serve, i come from a long line, as all of us do as americans, understand that civil disobedience and i understand the consequences. i am right now, before the process is finished, i am going to release the mail about racial profiling. and i understand the penalty

comes with potential ousting from the senate. and a senator cornyn believes that i violated senate rules, i openly invite and accept the consequences of my team releasing that email right now. i am releasing it to expose that, number one, the e.u. mails are being withheld from the public have nothing to do with national security. how long you're going to say the same thing three or four timemes? >> sir, i'm saying right now i am releasing committee confidential documents. >> knows editor deserves to sit on this committee or serve in the senate in my view if they decide to be a law under themselves and willingly flout the rules of the senate and the determination of confidentiality and classification. that is irresponsible and conduct unbecoming a senator. amy: in the document mentioned by senator booker, kavanaugh said that althouough he favoredd race-neutral policies inin

policing, there was an "interim question of what to do before a truly effective and comprehensive race-neutral system is developed and implemented." well, for more, we are joined by kristen clarke, president and executive director of the lawyers' committee for civil rights under law. last week the organization released a damning report on kavanaugh's record on cases concerning civil rights, criminal justice, voting rights, fair housing, education, reproductive rights, environmnmental justice, and access to justice overall. and also issued a statement opposing kavanaugh's s nominatin to the supreme court. we spoke to you right before the hearings began. today, supposedly the last day of these hearings. talk about significance of what happened yesterday with senator booker saying he was willing to risk expxpulsion from the senate to release these documents. kristin, i don't know i if you

heard the question. it seems our guest has just lost the audio sound as she sits in washington. --sten clarke am a let me go i think you are there now. i was asking the significance of senator booker of new jersey saying he would risk expulsion to release these documents that were being held back. stretchis by no small one of the most covert and nontransparent supreme court hearings that we have seen in modern time. it is really important to reflect back on what happened in prior nominations with respect to the nominations of justice kagan, sotomayor, alito, roberts. the standard has always been 100% transparency on both sides of the aisle. there has been great insistence on seeing the record and documents that really explain

who those nominees are before the senate would move forward. it is astounding to see what is happening now with respect to brett kavanaugh. the rules of the game have changed in the senate is essentially being forced to proceed, despite the fact that more than 90% of mr. kavanaugh's records have not been disclosed. and at insult on top of injury of the small number of documents that are available, we see both this administration with the acquiescence of chairman grassley slapping privilege claims and confidentiality labels onto documents that make it even more difficult for the senators to do their job. i am really pleased that senators booker and her roe no and others pushed back yesterday. it is virtually impossible to question a nominee about their

views when you have a committee confidential label slapped onto a document that prevents you from airing the document with the public, from giving it to the nominee so the nominee can see what you are questioning him yesterday iow, thought was a transformative moment in these hearings because this is not business as usual. we have not seen a process where the administration has deeply entangled itself and how the senate judiciary committee goes about its gravely important task of vetting this nominee. and we are saying the sweeping use of executive privilege. and on top of that, this committee confidential claim labeled on documents that are not controversial at all, really because chairman grassley and his colleagues want to railroad mr. kavanaugh onto the court.

they want to avoid a discussion about his real views on issues like racial profiling and roe v. wade and not complicate hisis after the court. at the end of the day -- amy: explain the significance of what the document show from 2003, kavanaugh own you know as a white house counsel talking about roe v. wade not being settled law and also in the contraceptiveg abortion-inducing drugs. folks these documents are game changers. but we have to remember that more than 90% of mr. kavanaugh's record has been kept in the dark. had we had these documents from tuesday -- and i have been in that hearing room every single day -- i think the tenor of these hearings would have been very different. i think senators on both sides of the iowa would have been in a position to really probe and

figure out whether mr. kavanaugh is prepared to it hereto and uphold the supreme court's precedent when it comes to roe v. wade. compounds somely of the other evidence that has come forth. the garza case, for example, in which mr. kavanaugh seems to go to great lengths to deny an undocumented teen access to an abortion. another case where he allowed employers to invoke religious reasons as grounds to deny employees access to contraceptive care and reproductive access. when you put all of this evidence together, it really starts to paint a picture of who mr. kavanaugh is. a picture that we could complete if we had the other 90% of his record that the senators have been denied access to during this process. amy: i want to go to senator kamala harris of california questioning kavanaugh on

wednesday about whether he discussed the mueller invevestigation with anyone at kasowitz b benson torres law fi. marc kasasowitz is a persosonal attorney for donald trump. ?> did you talk with anyone at cats with? and torres >> i need to know who works there. >> i think you can answer the question without me giving you a list of all employees about law firm. >> i can't. >> why not? >> because i don't know who works there. only way you the would know who you spoke with? i want to understand your response to my question because it is a very direct one. did he speak with anyone at that law firm about the mueller investigation? it is a direct question. >> i would be surprised, but i don't know -- i don't knoww everyone who works of the law firm, so i want to be careful because your question was and/or. i want to be very liberal. >> i will ask a more direct

question of that is helpful. did you speak with anyone at the law firm about the mueller investigation? >> i'm not remembering anything like that, but want to know a roster of people and i want to know more. >> so you're not denying you spoke -- >> i don't remember anything like that. amy: senator harris on thursday again asked kavanangh if hehe hd discussed the mueller investigation with anyone at kasowitz benson torres law firm. kristen clarke, let me go to you on this. what is the significance here? what is the point that senator harris is making? >> we need justices on our nation's highest court who will be truthful of the highest integrity. justices where there is no

question about their veracity and ability to always be forthcoming and honest. i must say that it was painful listening to senator harris ask very clear questions about kavanaugh and his contact with lawyers from that firm. at e every turn, he seemed to be incredibly evasive. amy: let's s go to another turnf kavanaugh on thurursday. >> were you a party to a conversation that occurred regagaing speciaial counsel mueller investigation and simply yes or no is fine. cooks about his investigation. are you referring to a specific person? >> i'm referring to a specific subject and a specific person i'm referring to is you. >> who was the c conversation wiwith? you said you had information. >> that is that the subject of the question, sir. the subject of t the questioions you and whether you were part of a conversation regarding special -- special counsel

mueller's investigation. >> the answer is no. amy: if you u could explain why she is a asksking this question. trump made very clear this is the only list he would d use and he was not on the list and this issue that came upup that kavanaugh was added after the miller investigation began and was he speaking with president from's personal lawyer? explain. >> it raises important question. he did not show up on president from's first or second shortlist in which the president claimed he was erring to the public all of the people he was considering for this most important position. when we look at the trajectory of what he was doing during that time period, it is almost as if you were auditioning for the role. he is giving speeches to the federalist society in the

heritage foundation and law schools. where he is airing his views about rehnquist, who issued the dissenting opinion and roe v. wade. he is talking about executive power. it is almost as if he were auditioning the president. i think the president selected him in part because he finds --fort in coverage kavanaugh the provincial privilege. again, senator harris really i think was getting to his ability to be truthful, which is perhaps the most important characteristic on a supreme court justice. amy: what is happening today? different people will be testifying for an against him, heart wrenenching survivor, condoleezza rice will be testifying for him. you think this is going to end today? >> i think it will end today. chairman grassley has been moving at lightning speed to kind of move this forward as

quickly as possible. we'll hear from cedric from the head of the congressional black caucus who will raise questions about kavanaugh civil rights record. the parkman survivor, we will hear from the attorney for the young undocumented teen who was almost denied access to an abortion because of mr. kavanaugh. and a number ofkavanaugh. and a number of witnesses -- john amy: we just t lost kristen clarke on a satellite. but that is today, what will be taking place at the kavanaugh confirmation hearings. kristen clarke, presidident and executive e director of thee lawyers' committee for civil rights under law. we will link to the report that her group released last week, a damming report on kavanaugh's record concerning civil rights and criminal justice, voting rights, fair housing, productive rights, informal justice, as well as the statement they issued opposing judge kavanaugh's nomination to the desk confirmation to the supreme court. whenen we come bacack, thehe trp administration has just said,

issued a rule they will hold children indefinitely,y, define the flores agreeeement will stop over 400 kids, number ofof themm under five years old, are still being detained by the u.s. government, separated at the border. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy gogoodman. we n now turn to the ongoioing crisis of family s separation at the border, as the trump administration is attempting to remove court-imposed time limits on the detention of immigrant children. the trump administration's proposal would allow immigrant families to be held in detention indefinitely, ending the long-standing 1997 flores agreement whwhich says thahat chilildren canannot be jaiailedr more than 20 days. over 400 kids remain sepeparated from their parents more than a month afafr a court-t-imposed deadlinene requiring the trump administration t to reunite allf the separateted familieses. the american civil liberties union said it appears ice officials had access to the phone numbers of hdrdreds of parents of s separated c childrn before a federalal court's june

26 family reunification deadline, but intentionally withheld the phone numbers for months. for more, we're joined by a cathleene in new york, caron is founder & executive director of justice in motion, an advocacy group for r migrant. welcome to democracy now! proposedle is the regulatory changes, so there'll be 60 days for the public to comment on it, and it is when you put into effect in a supposedly, the flores agreement, which will then and that agreement but the idea that -- that is the concern. 416 the government says children still remain separated frfrom their parents? >> right. our focus is searching for the deported parents. that is our role in this search. ththere is roughlyly around 400 parents that werere deported to

their countries of origin, mostly guatemala. and soso we are part o of a steg .ommittee to the aclu lawsuit it is comprised of women's refugee commission, kind, a law firm, anand jusustice in motiti. we have a defenderer network of4 human rights organizations and human rights lawyers in mexico and central amererica that arere being mobilized to search for these parents. amy: the aclu just said it turns out the government has withheld hundreds of phone number is of parents, numbers they knew well, to make it more difficult to reunite children with their parents. >> it is been really difficult and that new information just shows how it is kind of intentional infliction of emotional harm and distress on these families. it has nothing to do with preventing migration to central america. this is just a damming policy to hurt a population that comes many voted for it because they were into immigrant. it is made it difficult.

when the court ordered this lawsuit at the end of june, for the first six weeks, and was pretty chaotic with her on the ground t team and justicice in motion network, proactively going out to look for the deported parents. we were doing advertisements on registrations. we had set up phone numbers. we have set up emails. the e government was p providing scant information without phone numbers for us to facilitate the search. it was not really until august 10 with the judge really laid it down to say six weeks is enough. these children are being harmed come and we neneed these phone numbers now. the steering committee was formed and things hahave been me organized since then. amy: i want to turn to a new video produced by human rights with justice in motion about parents who have been deported while ththeir children remain in u.s. c custody. the video features claire along a human rights watch and two fathers who were deported from the u.s. to guatemala. was with my daughter. we were holding hands.

en they seseparated .. they put me in a a jail cell. and they b brought my y daughteo a differere jail as well. >ver the pasast few monthshse u.s.s. governmentt separated thousands s of children frfrom r parentnts at the bordeder come n know many ofof those famililiese bebeen reunifieded in thee u.s.n about 360 cases, the kids remain detained in n the united s stats while the parent h has been deported back to h homome untry.y. we went to guatemala to try to see what we could find these papants and talk to t tm about what their experience has been.

>> whethese kids are sepateted, the go into a system ofof s shelters or detention centers. the conditionons vary w widely. that i iorts l lk, we know there have been serious allegations of abusee and mistreatment, cling sexual assault, physical abuse, and inappropririate use of psychotropic drugs. >> every d day that goeses by fr ese e familieses is s another df harm. the e first and momost important thing is t these filieies be reunified immediaialy. it m more t than that, ththere a realal need for a accountabilitr

the family separation policy. the people who devise and implement these policies need to answer for them. amy: that is claire along of human rights watch together with justice emotion up about these videos. explain this collaboration. the collaboration witith human rights w watch is a new collaboration and a wonderful one that we hope to continue. they also reacted really quickly to help search for the deported parents. you will see one of -- one of our defenders going out and assisting human rights watch. there are two stories i would like to share. one they have been deemed different categories of parents, ineligible to reunified with their families. whoexample our defenders identified and picked up in this process is a woman who left the country because her teenaged daughter was targeted to be a sex slave to the local gang. they took off in a shot at her house. she came to the u.s. seeking

asylum. when she arrived at the border, she was told they saw a criminal record in her history. what they failed to do was ask russians beyond that, that was because she was a domestic violence victim and d it was an act t of self-defense. they told her she was a danger to her daughter. thatis a complicated case we're working on right now so she can get -- because she is a criminal record, she will l hava didifficultt time reunifying wih her family. another story is a father whoho left witith his four-year-old sn after his cousin was murdered by local drug gang. he took off to the u.s. to seek asylum. he asked for asylum at the bordrder. another part of this issue you'll see further down the road is people that were denied credible fear hearings at the border when they expressed fear, as opposed to being mocked, people were mocked and denied the ability to seek safety. he was detained with his four-year-old son. they can to tatake a son away fm him. he was holding on to the panel leg of his father and his father

demanded they stop and put his child and a car and he was taken away.. the father was actively participating in the child feels abandoned.d. -- and the child feels abandoned. the father deserves a chance to return to ththe u.s. and be safe in the u.s. wiwith his son, noto be sepeparated. his choice and will likely be to leave his son in the u.s. because he is safer in the u.s. pursuing his own immigration claim as opposed to being returned to the country of origin where his life was threatened. amy: the trump administration is now in this role change, we try to end the flores agreement that says kids can't be held for more than 20 days. clearly, the top administration once this out of judge dolly gee's court was repeatedly said no to extending the time kids can be held in detention. the trump administration wanting it in an appellate court or ultimately the supreme court to get their way.

reunited.of kids were this more than 400 have not been. what is the timeline here? >> right now as part of ththe steering committee under the lawsuit, we're supposed to identify the parents -- now we have the phone numbers. august 10 we were provided the phone numbers. children were separated for a long time before they were provided. it is not even complplete. for 38 of the families, there is no working phone number or phone number. we're doing difficult searches to find those parents. every paired deserves to be told what their options are, to be evaluated for what was the reason for the separation, and for them to make a decision whether they want the child to be returned to the country of origin or they want their child to remain in the u.s. the trump administration is desperate to have no boundaries but to be a validity what they want with these families.. amy: cathleen caron, thank you for being with us, founder & executive director of justice in motion. when we come b back, what will

happen in n idlib, syria. we will speak with rania abouzeid i ibeirut, lelebanon. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. as reteturn to syria, the leades of leaders of russia, iran and turkey are meeting today in tehran as the syrian military is threatening a massive invasion of the rebel held city of idlib. russia and iran are close allies to syria, while turkey has been a key susupporter of the opposition. this comes as the u.s. will chair a u.n. security council meeting today on the crisis in syria. the united nations has warned an assault on idlib could lead to a humanitarian catastrophe. u.n. special envoy for syria said if talksks in tehran fill s many as 800,000 citizens may flee the region and that panic is spreading among idlib's 3 million residents.

post isthe washington reporting preresident trump has agreed to any strategy that indefinitely extend the e u.s. military effort in syria in part to push out irananian forces frm syria. for more, we go to beirut, lebanon, were we are joined by rania abouzeid, award-winning journalist and author. the author of "no turning back. life, loss, anand hope in wartie syriria." she's repoported extensively frm syria since the uprising began in 2011.1. shshe has received multiple pris -- she has received the george polk award in 2014 and the michael kelly award in 2015. can you talk about the situation in idlib right now with the syrian elite guard being reported, have surrounded it, and we are reports of russian airstrikes as early as this morning? is basically the last real estate the revolution owns. this is going to be a decisive battle full step as you mention, the leaders of turkey, russia, and iran are meeting.

the russian leader has rejected the turkish leaders plea for cease-fire in idlib. the stakes are very high. there are about 3 million people in idlib, and they're not just the residents of idlib. they include people from homs and aleppo and other areas evacuated to idlib in evacuation deal with the syrian regime. these are people who did not want to reconcile with the regime or surrender, depending on your point of view, whether itit is a receconciliation n ora surrender. and they were given the option .o be blessed to idlib the problem is, they have no were left to be busussed. this is going to be decisive in terms of what happens next. amy: can you talk about the situation there and geographically, place it for as an explain further its significance. largeib is a very

province and importers turkey. it was key in the syrian uprising. it was the engine of the revolution in many ways. is home to millions of people. there are many hundreds of thousands of people who are displaced inside idlib. i remember when i was there in the spring of 2016 to finish reporting on my book, along the turkish foothills there used to be apple orchards, all of growth the first far as the eye could see. the last time i was there, those orchards were replaced with tents. kansas city's heads hung up as before displaced by russian and syrian airstrikes, sought safety along the turkish border, hoping the planes that had driven them out of their towns and villages would not chase them so close to the turkish border. are people saying

inside? you spent a lot of time there. you are outside of it right now. how many people live their? where are they saying they will go? >> i'm sorry, i missed the last part of your question. people i know -- amy: where are they saying they will go? >> certainly, the people that i am in contact with are saying they will fight to the end, that they will defend their towns and villages. the men i'm talking to say they will evacuate their families to the turkish border if they can and they will stay behind. the thing is, the turkish border is still shut and has been for years. the turks erected massive concrete walls, topped with barb wire and adopted issued to kill policy for anyone trying to traverse the massive barrier. it is a sealed border. human of the end up on the turkish border, design clear

whether turkey will open the border and allow the hundreds of thousands of people who are amassed there in the many hundreds of thousands more who may flee their once this offensive starts, it is unclear turkey will allow them in. turkey is already home to more than 3 million silly -- syrian refugees. it is a myth in terms of what will happen if this offensive starts. just from the preliminary report from this meeting between the turkish, iranian, and russian leaders today it is clear the russians and the iranians have rejected any calls for a cease-fire. al-assad'sbazaar desire to reclaim every inch of syrian territory and that includes idlib. amy: talk about idlib's significance and the original uprising of 2011. >> the uprising kicked off in the southern city bordering

jordan. however, idlib was key to the uprising. there were so many events. the armed uprising, many battalions they came from idlib. it is and remains key to the revolution. it is a very large agricultural province. as i said, importers turkey. -- it orders turkey. in terms of where people can flee if they don't try to turn towards turkey, the other is regime-held territory, which is not an option for many. amy: can you talk about the rebel groups that are in idlib? talk about the political andnd coconfiguration of this last rel 's hold as it is described. have been --ps they form coalitions. for the past two years, a group

has been dominating the providence and that is a hard-core islamist group and led by the former al qaeda affiliate al-nusra. they have sway, but they are not the only group. there are many forces that oppose them and oppose the regime as well. with what is expected to be an overwhelming regime assault, they are trying to -- everery man with the gun is goig to try to defend his home, regardless of f political affiliation. amy: in your book "no turning back," you profile different people to give us a sense of syria, the humanity of syria. can you talk about mohammed? mohammed is an islamist fighter. he was a man who was radicalized in his youth.

he was radicalized when he witnessed the effects of the al-assad'sd, bashar father in the late 1970's and early 1980's. mohammed grew up witnessing the results of that "what he called ofa liege and -- results what he called "humiliation." in 2011, when the protest kicked off, he saw much darker motive in becoming unrest. he went on to become a leader. he is a man who still believes in al qaeda's beliefs. he holds -- that is his creed. he is one element of what happened in syria, but sadly not the main element. when it started -- that's remember, it is difficult to remember some of his later that this started with peaceful protests.

this started with people who took to the streets with nothing but their voices. given the news today, we can see what it has evolved into. amy: this week veteran journalist bob woodward revealed in a net served of his forthcoming book "fear: trump in the white house," that president trump ordered pentagon chief james mattis to assassinate syrian president bashar al-assad in april 2017. matt is repoportedly ignored the order. this week trump denied woodward's report. pres. trump: the book is fiction. i heard somewhere where they said the assassination of chararlotte sought by the u.s. never even discussed. the book is total fiction. amy: rania abouzeid, your response? >> i don't know. i was not there. i don't know posted i'm not privy to what was happening in d.c. and in those circles. i was on the ground in syria. theainly, in terms of

reaction to u.s. policy in syria, it has been very confused , a confused policy at times many of the syrian rebels i talked to were not sure whether or not washington really wanted to remove president al-assad or so simply in plea talk -- empty talk. president trump said he wanted to completely withdraw from syria who months ago. there is a report today saying he is asked lee talking about staying there indefinitely. it is a very wishy-washy policy, at least in terms of what i'm hearing from peoplple on the ground and on the receiving end. amy: can you talk about the u.s. ford toor's visit, from obama to trump in terms of u.s. policy in syria? ambassador went to the city in central syria. he attended some of the protests with the french ambassador.

i was there shortly after the ambassador was there. i snuck into the city. many of the people interpreted the u.s. ambassador or the trip by the ambassador come almost i could greenlight to the revolution that the u.s. and france, the western powers, or backing their peaceful movement to try and get rid of their longtime leader bashar al-assad. when not a small thing people around the world think the u.s. is backing their movement. trip wasilly how forex interpreted by the people that were there. -- that was certainly how for a pottery a strip was intricate a strip was intricate of other people that were there. mikko covert meetings, manipulating the rebels to the highest levels of the islamic militancy in the formation of isis. just give us a sense of this. i wanted to show -- so often

we see people for a moment in time, see them in news reports -- and thinking, for example, the young toddler who washed up on a beach as the family tried to escape to cross the mediterranean to safety. we saw that young child's lifeless body on the beach. but that was it. we did not really know what happened before the family got on the boat and what happened to the family afterwards. in my book, i wanted to present a longer spectrum. i wanted to show real people in a place over six years secret understand something of motivations and get a broader spectrum of their experience. at the same time, i went back and investigated many of the key sort of moments in terms of the islamisti the later zation. i wanted to speak with them to

see what was being promised, what was being said, the arms that were supplied, when that happened, where they came through. and to map out the trajectory on an investigative level, not just a human level, of what happened in syria over the past six years. amy: and the formation of isisi? that based on the accounts of a number of insiders. the manner referred to earlier, mohammed, one of the people whose trajectory you also learn about islamic state was formed. but i also had an insider and many other senior islamists who i know for years who also helped me understand how islamic state formed and the split between islamic state and al qaeda in syria. and how the syrian uprising was an opportunity for al qaeda to rejuvenate itself, , and that is

all explained in the book. amy: how did you get around? this is based on years of your reporting. you are not granted permission by the syrian government. what risks did you take? where did you travel? >> unfortunately, i learned i had been blacklisted by the searing regime in the summer of 2011. i was in damascus in february 2011. i witnessed some of the first digit of protests in the syrian capital, and i have been covering it ever since quite intensively. the fact i was blacklisted and want to buy three of the four main intelligence agency obviously meant i could not risk going into damascus and i could not tell that side of the story. having said that, i did manage to trips, one in 2013 and one in 2016, to that site. i had to focus on the rebel side and that meant being smuggled and across the same turkish border we were just talking about.

and being as low-key as i could be, traveling very carefully to really understanding the terrain i was entering, the political, religious, the social, the military terrain to understand who was who. just in order to keep safe. you know, that is nothing cap had to the syrians who have been living there for 6, 7, and we're in the eighth year now. the relentless airstrikes and all of the other difficulties that they have faced in what is one of the bloodiest conflicts to date. at least conservatively, we're talking about half a million dead. half of the country of 23 million people has been displaced user internally or externally. these numbers are massive. every number is a person with a family, with the community, and that is the tragedy of syria. amy: rania abouzeid, , thank you fofor being g with us, awardrd-g journalist and author. author of the new book "no turning back. life, loss, and hope in wartime

syria." that does it for our broadcast. democracy now! has a job opening for a broadcast engineer here in our new york city studio. 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 çkçç??

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,