09/26/18 09/26/18 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacificaca, this is dedemocracy now! >> inn less than two years, my administration has accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country. true. expect the reaction, but that is ok. amy: world leaders and dignitaries in the united

nations general assembly burst into laughter whwhen president trump boasted about his accomplishments. trump accuses iran of "sowing chaos, death, and destruction," drawing scorn from iranian president hassan r rouhani. >> it is ironic that the u.s. government does not even conceal its plan for overthrowing the same government it invites to talks. amy: we'll get response to trumpmp's threats to iran from .uan cole wroten miller reportedly trump's you an address. we will speak with this uncle david gloucester, who calls his nephew in immigration to the grid, saying his family would not have made it to the united states if the u.s. did not accept refugees.

and comedian bill cosby is sentenced to three to 10 years for aggravated indecent assault for drugging and sexually assaulting andrea constand, one of about 60 women accusers. >> i am very happy to know that mr. cosby will do time in .rison, that he is touchable we got justice! amy: we will get response from lili bernard who was in the courtroooom when bill cosbyby ws sentenced. she says he drugged and d raped her r in the earlyly 1990's whee meant totoward her in preparatin for her guest starring role on "the cosby show." all of that in more, comoming u. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. president trump addressed the united nations general assembly

tuesday, praising his administration's "america first" policies, assailing the international criminal court, and accusing nicolas maduro of corruption, and accusing iran of sowing "chaos, death, and destruction." many of the world leaders and dignitaries in the general assesembly erupted into laughter when trump boasted aboutut his accomplishments as u.s. presesident. pres. trump: in less than two years, my administration has accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country. america -- so true. [l[laughter] trump: didn't expect that reaction, but that's ok. [laughter] amy: trump's appearance came as his national security adviser issued another dire warning agagainst iran. speaking at a forum for opponents of the iranian regime on the sidelines of the general assembly, john bolton threatened

there would be "hell to pay" if iran crosses the u.s. the threat came after the trump administration defied u.s. allies last may by reneging on the iran nuclear deal and unilaterally reimposing sanctions against iran. and it came as trump claimed he had turned down requests that he meet with iranian president hassan rouhani at the general assembly, tweeting -- "i am sure he is an absolutely lovely man!" on tuesday, rouhani responded to the threats, saying the u.s. is guilty of recklessness and economic terrorism. >> it is ironic that the u.s. government does not even conceal its plan for overthrowing the same government it invites to talks. amy: president rouhani also said he did not request to meet with president trump. we'll have more on trump's appearance at the general assembly and growing u.s. threats against iran after

headlines with university of michigan professor juan cole. republicans on the senate judiciary committee will turn to an outside counsel to question supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh perseus accuser christine blasey ford during a high-stakes hearing on thursday, as blasey ford is set to testify that kavanaugh attempted to rape her when she was 15 years old. "the w washington post" reports republicans have selected rachel mitchell, sex crimes bureau chief for the maricopa county attorney's office in phoenix, arizona, and a long-time registered republican. senate majority leader mitch mcconnell confirmed tuesday the committee had hired a "female assistant" to "ask these questions in a respectful and professional way." all 11 republicans on the senate judiciary committee are men. there has never been a republican woman on the senate judiciary committee. this comes as "usa today" reports dr. christine blasey

ford has submitted four affidavits to the senate corroborating her claims that kavanaugh sexually assaulted her. the declarations from ford's husband and three of her friends say she told them of the assault before kavanaugh's nomination to the supreme court. meanwhile, senate judiciary committee chair, republican chuck grassley, said tuesday he would not delay kavanaugh's confirmation process until the fbi could investigate accusations by a second kavanaugh accuser, deborah ramirez, who says kavanaugh exposed himself and thrust his genitals in her face during a college party in a dorm room when they were both students at yale university. on tuesday, president trump lashed out against ramirez, at the united nations, questioning her account and saying the charges are part of a game.atic party con pres. trump: and now a new charge comes up and she said, well, it might not be him, and there were gaps, and she said she was totally inebriated and she was all messed up, that she

doesn't know it was him but it might have been him. oh, gee, let's not make him a supreme court judge because of that? this is a con game being played by the democrats. amy: trump's attack comes as over 2200 yale women alumni have signed an open letter supporting deborah ramirez. republican leaders have set a senate judiciary committee vote on kavanaugh's nomination for friday, just one day after christine blasey ford is set to testify.y. this all comes as attorney michael avenatti says a third woman will come forward before thursday with new evidence against kavanaugh. and officials in montgomery countyty, maryland, are reportey looking into a fourth potential allegation of sexual assault by brett kavanaugh during his senior year in high school. a pennsylvania judge has sentenced comedian bill cosby to three years to 10 years in prison, labeling him a "sexually

violent predator" and after the verdict, cosby's publicist and spokesperson, andrew wyatt, compared cosby's case to the persecution of jesus, and compared judge steven o'neill's sentence to the sexual assault accusations against supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh. >> what is going on today, the judge o'neill and his wife are a part of. amy: in april, a jury found cosby guilty of three counts of aggravated indecent assault for drugging and sexually assaulting andrea constand, one of about 60 women who have accused cosby of sexual assaults dating back decades. constand's was the only case still within the statute of limitations. another cosby accuser, chelan lasha, spoke just ahead of cosby's sentencing. >> is 17 years old, he took a way my future, my financial gum everything about me, and lived his life on over and over and over again with no regard. i thinking used to pay for what he is done to everyone.

i have nightmares about it to this very day. i wantnt them to go away, jujust like him. amy: later in a broadcast, we will speak with another of cosby's accusers, lili bernard. in the gaza strip, hundreds of palestinians held a funeral tuesday for a man who was shot and killed a day earlier near israel's separation barrier with the besieged palestinian territory. gaza's health ministry says 90 others were injured after israeli forces used tear gas and live bullets to disperse monday's protests. palestinians in the gaza s strip have been protesting since march 30 under the banner of the great march of return. since then, israeli forces have killed at least 174 palestinians and wounded over 18,000 others. tuesday's funeral came as the world bank said in a new report gaza's economy is in free fall and collapsing due to israel's 11-year blockade of the palestinian territory. the report found youth unemployment in gaza is about 70%, adding -- "a situation where people struggle to make ends meet, suffer from worsening poverty,

rising unemployment and deteriorating public services such as health care, water and sanitation, calls for urgent, real, and sustainable solutions." argentina's central bank president resigned unexpectedly tuesday, just three months after taking the post. luis caputo's departure comes as president mauricio macri attempts to win a loan from the international monetary fund in exchange for harsh austerity measures. those measures have spawned massive protests across argentina, including a 24-hour general strike this week that idled airports, shut down public transportation, and halted other sectors of the economy. this is protester delfina grinstein in buenos aires. >> where here to protest the imf deal because we know we are facing a very bad economic situation, and we're also against and down the debtbt because e all of that money coud be used for education and health care. amy: back in the united states, a federal judge has restored endangered species status to grizzly bears in and around wyoming's famed yellowstone national park.

tuesday's ruling by district court judge dana christensen in montana reverses an ordeder by interioror secretary ryayan zink that threatened yellowstone's estitimated 700 bears,hohose population has grown from just zinknke's move wouldld have alld for the firsrst legal grizzly br huhunts in decades and in chihicago, the lelegal tm defendining police offfficer jan van dyke from murder chaharges presented a computer-generated video in court tuesdayay, callig thfour-minutute depictioion of e death of laquan mcdonald evevidence that t the officecerd in self-defense e when he e shoe unarmed african-americanan teenager in a hail of gunfire in october 2014. the computer-generated video did

not t reflect what was rececordn a police dash h cam video of the actualal incident. it d did not include the imagesf other officers at the scene, and it showed van dyke shooting just a fraction of the 16 bullets he actually fired at mcdonald. jason van dyke faces two counts of first-degree murder. he is the first police officer in chicago to stand trial for killing someone on duty in 50 years. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. juan: and i'm juan gonzalez. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. president trump has repeatedly attacked his political opponents by saying the world is "laughing" at the united states. but on tuesday as he addressed the united nations, many in the global assembly laughed at him when he boboasted of his administration's accomplishments.s. pres. trump: in less than two years, myy administrtration hahs accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country. america -- so true. [laughter] trump: did next of that

reaction, but that's ok. [laughter] juan: trump later sasaid his comment was "meant to get some laughter so it was great." during is addressed, he assailed the international criminal court , accused venezuela presesident nicholas maduro of corruption, and announced new sanctions against members of maduro's intersection -- circle and accused iran of sewing "chaos, death, destruction" across the middle east. wres. trump: iran's leaders, so chaos, death, and destruction. they do not respect their neighbors or borders or the sovereign rightsts of nations. leaders plunders the e nation's resources to enrh themselves and to spread mayhem across the middle east and far beyond. we cannot allow thehe world's leading sponsor of terrorism to

possess the planet's most dangerous weapons. we ask all nations to isolate iran'ss regime as longng as it's aggression continu, and we ask all nationons to support iran's people as they struggle to reclaim the religious and righteous destiny. amy: just hours after trump's speech, national security advisor john bolton issued a dire warning to iran. >> according to iran, we are the great satan, lord of the underworld, master of the raging inferno. so i might imagine they would take me seriously that -- when i ensure them today that if you cross us, our allies, or our partners, if you harm our citizens, if you continunu to lie, cheat, and deceive, yes, there will indeed be held to pay.

the murders regime and its supporters will face significant consequences if they do not change their behavior. what my message -- let my message today be very clear. we are watching and we will come after you. amy: today president trump i is such a chair a meeting of the u.n. security council on nuclear proliferation. to talk more about trump's , that the united nations, particularly on iran, we go to ann arbor, michigan, to speak with juan cole, professor of history at the university of michigan. his blog is called informed consent. informed comment, rather. he's the author of many books including "engaging the muslim world." his forthcoming book is titled "muhammad: prophet of peace amid the clash of empires." it's out in october. we welcome you back to dememocry now! let's start were president trump started his speech. let's start with the last of t e world leaderers when trump talkd about -- boasted about his accomplishments of the last two years.

>> this was a hall full of world leaders that have actually run administrations. of theve seen the chaos trump administration for the past two years, and i think what is amazing is not that this hall of seasoned professionals laughed at him, but that he doesn't get more laughter in the united states. these cable news programs taken seriously. they normalize him. he has told thousands of lives -- lies. his rate of line has increased recently. i think you should be laughed off the screen everywhere. i want to ask you all the president was giving this speech the same week, there was a key announcement, which i think is not gotten a whole lot of publicity, that the governments of the united kingdom, germany,

france, china, and russia have all supported an idea to basically break away from the sanctions that president trump , and to greetn some kind of a special purpose be a call, a financial bank in europe that would allow companies to do -- to conduct trade with iran and not be able to suffer from sanctions. i'm wondering if you could comment on the imports of this sort of declaration of financial independence by these major world powers? >> i think in some ways, it is one of the more significant developments in the relationship of the united states to europe since the end of world war ii. taken its most often lead from the united states on world affairs. and here it is directly define washington's will, the u.s. department of the treasury is

instrument used by administrations to impose sanctions come and those sanctions can be imposed on trade that is conducted in dollars or three u.s. banks. and so what the europeans is saying, we will set up a vehicle for iran to do business with european firms, which will be in banks and sidestep u.s. and international exchanges so as to ensure that some of the economic relief that was promised to iran for mothballing most of its civilian nuclear enrichment research, would come through. amy: i want to go back to a rainy president rouhani speaking at the united nations general assembly for suggesting the u.u. under umump haadadopted a nazi disposition. he did not mention trump by

name. >> it is unfortunate that we are witnessing rulers in the world who think they can secure their interests better, or at least in the short term, gain popular support through the fomenting of extremists, nationalism, and xenophobic tendencies representing a nazi d dispositi, as well as undermining international institutions. it is ironic that the u.s. government does not even conceal its plan for overthrowing the same government it invites to talks. amy: so that was president rouhani. your response, juan cole? >> i am a critic of the human rights conditions under this regime in iran, but you have to admit that rouhani has a point.

trump has made white nationalism a key element, and open elements, of american policy both foreign policy and domestic. dismissively of many of the countries in the world that are struggling to develop as poor, and he has implemented policies in the united states a clearly our race-based and has spoken dismissively of minorities. one of the reasons back in the 1960's that the u.s. government was so nervous about the civil rights movement was that they were afraid enemies of the u.s. and especially the c communists, would take advantage of the back of jim crow and the racist regime in the united states to turn the world against the country. and i think we're at a juncture where this threats is there

again. that is to say, much of the world is in the category that trump looks down on. and iran has had a kind of third worldist foreign policy, and it is going to use this to do politics on the global scale against the united states. juanan: professor cole, while he was dismisses dish dismissive of many, he declare sort of a pantheon of nations he believed were making progress in the world, which included saudi arabiaia, which the last time i looked, was a complete absolute monarchy. poland, the most right-wing government today, and israel. i'm wondering about his selection of countries that people should look to for inspiration. >> sure. well, all of the countries you mentioned have severe human rights problems and i think poland is just on the cusp of

being sanctioned in the way that hungary has been for departing from european human rights norms and judiciary norms. saudi arabia is an absolute monarchy. and despite some cosmetic recent reforms, they do things like sentence bloggers to 1000 lashes for criticizing the government. even some of the women who have led the charge on getting the right to drive have now been arrested now that it is a government achievement in their being denied the credit, and they are in jail. yes, trump exalts these right-wing tendencies. poland has a very strong , which isrant policy part of what trump in myers about them. and it is, you know, if it is not naziism, it is certainly

racial superiority of what trump would, you know, categorize as white people. amy: early tuesday morning, president trump tweeted -- "despite requests, i have no plans to meet iranian president hassan rouhani. maybe someday in the future. i am sure he is an absolutely lovely manan!" later in an interview with cnn's tuesday christiane amanpour, rouhani denied iran had requested a meeting with trump. >> not this year, nor last year. we have never madee such a request for a meeting with the president of the united states. , fromrse, last year american officials, we received eight requests for a meeeeting. and i did not see that as being an appropriate meetingng, as i o see itit as being appropriate n. a meeting must take place at a

can servethat meeting a purpose, can be beneficial, can serve the benefits of both countries. but under the current conditions, when it comes to a meeting and dialogue, i do not see it does beneficial, nor appropriate. .ut you u should ask him amy: here is trump saying despite iran's recruit -- repeated requests, and rouhani sang we may note such request. talk about this as president trump declares he is going of a ,econd summit with north korea his relationship with rouhani, and what this means for even places like syria. the danger of some of ms. frankly unbalanced as the president of the united states. he is a pathological liar. everything that comes out of his mouth is a lie. and to have somebody at the helm

of the country who consistently tells these falsehoods is embarrassing. it is very obvious that the iranians don't want to meet with him and never have wanted to meet with him because they had spent all of 2014 and 2015 .egotiating this nuclear deal they finally had a breakthrough. they had an international agreement. it is a deal not with the united states, but with the u.n. security council, plus the european union represented by germany. in trump violated that treaty. he withdrew from it and has put the united states on a war to the extentran members of his a administration are openly admitting that they are the great state. we always took that as an insult. john bolton seems to enjoy that. of course, the iranians don't want to meet with trump. and what good would it do --

does he want to renegotiate the deal that already has taken years and years of diplomacy, and trump just withdrew from it? why wouldn't they expect him to withdraw from the next deal? if you have to make a judgment of who is riright here, it is obviously rouhani. but the other thing to say is that it is dangerous to have somebody who lies like this in charge of

we are nuclear power. we're doing diplomacy. we are relationship with other countries. this can go to war. amy: we want to thank you, juan cole, for joining us. professor of history at the university of michigan. his blog, "informed comment" is online at juancole.com. he's the author of many books including "engaging the muslim world." his forthcoming book is "muhammad: prophet of peace amid the clash of empires." it's out in october. when we come back, the man who is credited with crafting president trump's u.n. address, stephen miller. we will speak with miller's uncle. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace repoport. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. juan: we turn now to take a closer look at the author of trump's speech at the united nation's white house senior tuesday, adviser stephen miller, architect of widely condemned immigration policies such as family separation. miller also pushed for the recent decision to significantly cut the number of refugees the united states will accept, as well as a proposal that will make it harder for immigrants to become citizens or get green cards if they have ever used a range of public benefit programs, including obamacare, children's health insurance, and food stamps. this is part of trump's address that miller wrote. pres. trump: illegal immigration exploits vulnerable populations, kurds hard-working citizens -- hurts hard-working citizens, and

has produced a vicious cycle of crimime, violence, and poverty. in kabul, comes into immigrant rhetoric and policies, many handcrafted by stephen miller, are leading some in n miller's n family to speak out against his -- stephen miller. this includes dr. david glosser, the uncle of stephen miller who recently wrote a piece for politico magazine titled "stephen miller is an immigration hypocrite. i know because i'm his uncle." in it, he wrote -- "if my nephew's ideas on immigration had been in force a century ago, our family would have been wiped out." for more, we go to philadelphia to speak with dr. glosser. he is a retired neuropsychologist and former faculty member at boston university school of medicine and jefferson medical college. he now works as a volunteer with refugees in philadelphia. dr. glosser, welcome to democracy now! talk about stephen miller. wifeabout your family and

-- and stephen miller's policies. >> i would be happy to talk about it. as you have alluded to, i wrote an article for political about a month or so ago in response to what i regard to as intolerable policies in the united states government for the treatment of refugees. it was a decision i made not likely just lightly in light of the family next. excuse my voice, i've been a little bit under the weather. i will do the best i can. i made the decision to write this article for two main reasons. one was to make it clear that our family stood for the rights of asylum seekers and refugees and also because the policies which are being advanced by the trump administration in terms of

the management and treatment of refugees represent a significant danger to american citizens as well since it entails a serious attack on democracy. we see here now that american law and policy are being officially made on the basis of race, religion, national origin, ethnicity. this is a great danger to american citizens, as well as the refugees. it becomes normalized in political discussion of make laws and regulations on the basis of this nature, then it exposes all of us to danger of being targeted next. today it is them, it could be me, it could be you, it could be anyone. juan: have you had occasion to discuss with your nephew some of these policies at all? and your sense of his direct involvement in shaping them? >> as i have e made clear with

other interviews and publications, i have only met stephen miller perhaps 10 times throughout his childhood. the last time i had a meaningful discussion with it was probably five years ago. so i don't have any insight into this, nor has he specifically discussed anything of this nature with me. what i know about his positions on immigration, migration, other policies are entirely from his public persona. amy: can you talk about your own family and what would have theened to your family if immigration policies that stephen miller is pushing for were in place when they came to this country? >> that is a pretty simple question to answer. one that is not uncommon. my family originated -- as far as we can trace -- from an area of the former russian empire, which is now the country of

belarus. my great great grandfather and his family we believe had been there for a couple of hundred years until the early 1900s. my great-grandfather and his family were dirt poor, lived in town, barelytiny -- basically, farmers and traders. lots of children, some of whom survived in adulthood and some of whom did not. in a lean -- late 1800s, early 1900s, the regime made it a point of public policy to ramp up persecution of jewish people living in what was called the pill of settlement. this took the form of organized attacks by state-sponsored encouragedwell as and unpunished attacks by gangs

and other rabble-rousers. so the atmosphere of and testament his and was extremely strong. angrandfather -- sam, lost eye and one of these attacks. not long after, my great grandfather made the decision the was no real viable future for them and that part of the world. so in 1903, he took passage -- scraped up enough money to take passage to the united states where he followed his older brother. he and his older brother did sweatshop work and peddling fruit on street corners in new york city until they were able to bring enough money to bring over the balance of the immediate family. that happened in 1906. the family prospered. we settled in johnstown, pennsylvania. a business, which

ultimately was listed on the american stock exchange, which hired thousands of people over the years. juan: dr. glosser, what kind of immigration restrictions existed at the time when your family came in terms of -- as refugees fleeing those conditions in their home country? states, the united essentially had no serious immigration laws at all until roughly 1882 when the chinese exclusion act was put into place. at that time, as now, immigration policy in the united states was determined to a great extent upon labor needs and on racial preferences. after the chinese exclusion act, the next major immigration law had to -- was in 1924. the american firsters of the day who described themselves in that -- hade essentially

adopted a nativist position saying the only real americans were those that were already there, white americans. theywanted to also -- wanted to reduce the number of immigrants coming in entirely, and they wanted to bar regionsts from certain and certain countries. so in 1924, the exclusion act of those years essentially barred catholics from southern europe and from ireland and jews from the russian empire. accordingly, the 74 members of our family that had decided earlier not to come to the united states were unable to go. when war broke out in europe in the late 1930's, they were unable to come to the united states. we could not bring them over. in our family, there were 74 members that we could trace. none of them survived the war.

they were all white doubt and murdered, exterminated. there have been 5000 jews in the town at its height before -- at the start of world war ii, their work 2000. after the war, there were 74 who survived. so it is not a theoretical question what would've happened to the family. israel question about what did have an of the famamily. and the answer is, they were old murdered. the no place to go. nobody would take them. amy: i was wondering your reaction when stephen miller's childhood rabbi rabbi n neil , , comess-daniels of beth shir shalom, denounced miller during his sermon for the jewish new year earlier this month, calling miller a purveyor of "negativity, violence, malice and brutality." he said -- "mr. miller, you've set back the jewish contribution to making the world spiritually whole through your arbitrary division of these desperate people. the actions that you now encourage president trump to take make it obvious to me that you didn't get my, or our, jejewish message." addressing him by name.

your thoughts about what he is saying about your sister's son? >> i'm not an extremely religiously observant person, but i takes years leave the admonitions which our faith has given us to protect the refugee and welcome the stranger. so i find myself not in disagreement with stephen miller's rabbi. is a greatstates country, a large country, a wealthy country. we have wonderful expertise in absorbing refugees and immigrants. the u.s. also has treaty obligations and laws, which enable us and regululate the management of refugee applications in the united states. the current administration is doing everything it can in order to reduce the total number of immigrants, be it legal or illegal. i think i do it for frankly democratic, political reasons.

politicalphic, reasons. most think by 1945, people are origin,ately european white european origin, are no longer going to be a majority in the united states. they will remain a plurality, but not a majority. demonstrating the fact that nonwhite people are less likely to vote republican. accordingly, i think this fits in very well with -- this is one of the reasons why think the republican party, which had once been the party of family values and the moral majority, are willing to tolerate trumpism. couldi'm wondering if you talk about some of the volunteer work that you have been doing and also you have worked with some refugees, specifically one from eritrea that you talked about in the past. >> since my retirement, i have decided to act as a volunteer in these issues. i felt the immigration issue is very important post up my own

family was helped by one of these volunteer organizations. my great-grandfather was the first beneficiary. i volunteered with the organization as a neuropsychologist. people who are coming to the notice states that make legal application for asylum, called a silenus, they are able anyway they come, be it at the border legally or whether they just infiltrate the country illegally, people who report and ask for asylum, according to america welcome our love to do so. they must have a hearing. part of what they have to do according to u.s. law and dust u.s. is also signatory to u.n. mission rules and treaties. according to our laws, part of what they have to do is demonstrate that a reasonable fear of persecution if they remain in or return to their country, persecution, or danger. people like the german in my story, joseph, who was grossly

tortured and mistreated as a child story in his home country of eritrea, managed to escape with his life. upon his exit from eritrea, they do not provide them with a certificate documenting given a victim of torture and persecution. so when he gets to the u.s. , he isis 10 year journey got to make a case that he has a ofd reason to be afraid going back to eritrea. accordingly, there are voluntary agencies, such as the ones i've been volunteering for which are doctors, nurses, psychologists, lawyers, and so forth, who helped these people to make -- to establish whether or not they have a reasonable fear of return.

in my case neuropsychologists, will listen to the story and see if there's evidence that people have suffered persecution, torture, and the like, with physical and as well as the biological as well as the mental scars. amy: do you see your work as a kind of atonement for your nephew stephen miller? >> not at all. i don't have any obligation for anybody else's sins to the event that i enact an intimate with my own faults. amy: did many -- juan: i see this as part of my duty as an ethical human being and an american citizen. amy: did people in our family want you to come forward? >> it is an interesting question. prior to this, i had been writing and speaking on the subject to some degree, but various members of my family implored me to seek a wider audience of our name not be associated with these policies. after the political article came out, i received no less than 100 phone calls, letters, emails, public and social media comments

and so forth, from family members, both close numbers and those i don't even know, thanking me for the piece. the other interesting part, after the story went to more or less viral on the web, i received literally thousands of contacts through social media, email, and telephone and postal mail from people thanking me for having written it. so many people have a story just like ours. and just like that of other immigrants trying to come to another country to escape persecution. the thing that really surprised me was i had expected a flight of trolls and negative comments and death threats of the like. there were only four or five people who were white supremacists and admitted nazis kkkers who trolled me. of the hundreds of thousands of people, it was a tremendous wave of support. nothing people looking for some

sort of, how shall we say, a moral clarity on the subject, so they not be associated with acts like the impressment of these 2500 or 3000 children at our borders. amy: dr. glosser, we want to thank you for being with us. dr. david glosser, uncle of stephen miller. stephen miller, well-known for his anti-immigrant views to president trump who, among others, believe crafted trump's u.n. speech yesterday. dr. glosser, retired neuropsychologist and former faculty member at boston university school of medicine and jefferson medical college. we will link to your piece at -- politico "stephen , miller is an immigration hypocrite. dr. glosser worked with refugees now in philadelphia. wewe continue to look at immigration. juan: we look at the white house miller'svisor stephen policy and now we turn to a widely condemned proposal by the

trump administration that would make it truly difficult for many immigrants to come to the u.s. or receive green cards if they are considered likely to use public benefits like food stamps or medicaid. amy: it was unveiled saturday is during protest. for more, we go to lake arrowhead, california to marielena hincapie, executive director, national immigration law center. welcome back to democracy now! can you focus on this latest proposal by the trump administration after last week they floated t the proposal to p the number of refugees to an all-time low that wewe haven't seen like this in dedecades inin this country? >> thank y you. good morning. this is just the latest t radicl extrememist anti-immigrant attak against families by the e trump administration. it has beenn drafted by stephen miller. he h has talked about this a and

issue that they believe is going to excite e their base b beforee novevember elelections.. whwhat this role results in basically, an expansion of the public charge definition, which hahas been used in our history o excludee people e like j jewish refugees, including catholics from ireland and italy. and here were concecerned about the propososed rule, which could affect m millions of peoplple ir country -- children, their families -- who are basasically tryiying to make ins made. how we live our life and how we contribubute our families and our communities should be how we are judged in this country, rather than what we look like and how much money we have. this is bagel -- basically a wealth test of who belongs in this country and who can come to this country. juan: can you be specific in terms of whether regulations would entail? as you mentioned, ,here's been a public charge

stipulation that a person cannot have more than a majority of their incomome from government sources, but now t this is being changed thomas any kind of support from government sources. can you talk about that? >> for decades now, the public charge definitionn is if you are an immigrant and youou primarily depend on two types of programs, either long-term institututional programs or cash assistance. here they're trying to e expand this to a rarange of programs, including food stamps, incncludg housusing supportsts like secti8 housing voucher, including the low income subsidy for medicare part d. 447 pages we are still analyzing. the text of the rule has not been formally publicized -- published. a 60 day comment even will commence and we urge everyone listening and watchching on your show today to please go to

protecectingimmigrantfamilies.o. we will have templates w where everyone can comment. physicians, psychologiststs, educatorors, ste and ogle leaderers, b especially immigranants whoan tell l their storie p peopllike me -- when we came in the 1970's, we relied on food stamps whehen my pantsts wewere laid off b between facay jobs. either.ld not be here, i know my story is the american story and there are hundreds of thousands of people who consume it, said hopefully we can stop this in its tracks. amy:y: marielena hincapie, thank you for being with us. we will have you back on to continue to talk about these issues and these regulations as they unfold. marielena hincapie, executive director, national immigration law center. this is democracy now! when we come back, the sentencing of bill cosby. we will talk about it in 30 seconds. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. juan: comedian bill cosby is behind bars after a pennsylvania judge sentenced him tuesday to 3 to 10 years in prison. in jury found cosby guilty of april, a three counts of aggravated indecent assault for drugging and sexually assaulting andrea constand, the former director of operations for the women's basketball team at temple university, at cosby's home in 2004.

constand is one of some 60 women who have accused cosby of sexual assaults dating back decades. cosby had been out on bail since his conviction. and on montgomery county judge tuesday, steven o'neill ordered him to be jailed immediately. the judge also upheld a state board's finding that cosby is a "sexually violent predator," meaning cosby will have to undergo monthly counseling and register as a sex offender with police for the rest of his life, and neighbors and schools will be notified of his address and crimes. cosby was first arrested in december 2015 for assaulting constand. the first trial in 2017 ended with a hung jury. during this trial, the judge allowed five additional cosby accusers to give statements. this is chelan lasha, who testified that cosby sexually assaulted her in 1986. >> he ruined my life at 17 years old. he to go in my future, my

financial -- everything about me , and lived his life on over and over again with no regard. i think he needs to pay for what he is done to everyone. i have nightmares about it this very day. i want them to go away, just like him. amy: cosby's lawyers have already said they planned to appeal his conviction, and he has denied any wrongdoing. this is bill cosby spokesperson andrew wyatt speaking tuesday after sentencing. >> mr. cosby is doing great and mr. cosbygod is watching over him. he knows that these are lies. the persecuted jesus, and look what happened. nothing mr. cosby is jesus, but we know what this country is done to black men for centuries. mr. cosby is doing fine. he is holding up well. and everybody wants to say anything negative, you are a joke as well. thank you. amy: bill cosby is the first celebrity to be convicted of sexual abuse since the start of the #metoo movement. for more, we're joined by 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 back to democracy now! as i watched tv yesterday, i saw you coming out of the courtroom. the significance of bill cosby being sentenced to three years to 10 years and being imprisoned right away? >> that torrential rain that was pouring down as we were emerging for the courthouse was so serendipitous because judge steven o'neill delivered a tsunami of a sentence. somethingnot only as that signals a shift and rape culture away from misogyny and toward believing and valuing women, but i also see it as an absolute mark in terms of gender equality in the history of women's rights toward a positive direction. so it is momentous. juan: and given how long this battle has gone on, did you ever expect it would get to this

particular point now? >> absolutely not. i was certain that bill cosby would die a free man. i want to say that -- i'm an african immigrant. by naturalizedy american citizenship. i don't take it for granted. this democracy we call the united states, at the helm of it, we have this white hetero patriarchy that has sustained itself for generations, for hundreds of years, by oppressing women, by rape, by dominating people of color and lgbt communities. so this is much greater than bill cosby. it talks about that. it talks about this festering wound of patriarchy that is now finally being punctured by brave women on the front line. amy: interestingly, andrew white, the publicist for bill cosby, stood in the pouring rain and said this is the most racist and sexist trial in history. >> that is a joke. this is not about race. it is about rape.

i heard him intimate it is a war, that he is suffering a kind of war. he said that because he is accurate. this is a war. i view bill cosby is one of the greatest war criminals in history because he waged warfare on the landscapes, on the landscape of the bodies of so many women and girls, including me. the weapons he used may not have been tear gassed or grenades and guns, but they were drugs that incapacitated me, they were his mouth, his penis from a fellow that he questioned to my face when i was screaming no. this is a war. juan: can you talk about your experiences in terms of his try to present himself as a father figure or as a mentor? >> he is duplicitous. s duplicity.se i view him as donnelly were crcriminal, but a slaver. he incapacitated me. amy: what year was this? >> in t the 1990's.

he praised me. he lifted me up. you posted aboutut my skilllls s not only an actor, but a painter, to his friends. amamy:? how old were you? >> a mid-20's. amy: you're going to go on the cosby show? >> this happened during preparation of my guest starring on the cosby show. it was the most difficult job i've ever done in my life. amy: after he raped you? >> correct. amy: and he did this at his home? >> i don't want to get into the details because it is too much to say, but suffice to say of a plethora of evidence absent even able to present because of the statute of limitations. were it not for that, bill cosby would be receiving a sentence that actually reflects the magnitude of the havoc he is redone 70 lives. amy: let's go to gloria allred right after the sentencing, surrounded by so many of the people. this is only a case about one woman, andrea constand, but

glory already represents a number of bill cosby's accusers. >> we're glad that judgment day is finally come for mr. cosby. mr. cosby has shown no remorse. justice forn no many of the accusers who were barred from a court b by the arbitrary time limits imposed by the statute of limitations. amy: raising the issue of the statute of limitations that also prevented you -- talk about this and the 60 women, many of them african-american women. >> over one third. this is not about race. the united states is comprised of about 5% of the test 5% of the population is comprised of black women. over one third of us, about 27 of us, our black women, that means bill cosby is actually disproportionally targeting black women. this is not about race. it is not.

in prison. he went to jail immediately. the judge stood up when he spoke. folks i consider the judge to be a great feministst. i do. it is phenomenal. i am grateful that he delivered the maximum 10 year sentence and has to serve at least three years before he can even be considered for parole. i will be there every step of the way to testify to the parole board for why you should continue to serve the maximum sentence. amy: and andrea constand's statement in the courtroom? bill cosby never spoke so he never apologized, but andrea did speak. >> bill cosby has no remorse. if he continues to show no remorse, it is not likely he will be paroled in three years. he is not a stupid man. he is a manipulator. intelligentely serial rapist. he will probably figure out if he wants to get out from behind bars coming is going after pretend to care. cosby'sur reaction to

spouse: for investigation of the judge? >> that is not the only thing she has done. she is also paralleled us to lynch mobs. us, thearalyzed victims, sexual assault, to lynch mobs. she has been verbally attacking females, many of whom are black women, and just loving this up , racistgs who murder thugs, white supremacists who murder innocent people. then they parallel bill cosby to emmett till and now to jesus christ. this is not only blasphemous, it shows the profundity of their depravity. amy: what this means for andrea constand? you asas women stotood together during this trial. >> andrea constand is the joan of arc in the war on rape. she has an outstanding family who has held her up with tremendous strength and unity.

i think she's going to go down in history. amy: judge o'neill said to andrea constand, you took her beautiful young spirit and crushed it. no one is above the law. no one should be treated differently or disproportionately, he said