10/02/18 10/02/18 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now! that wed a good saying referred to as the dean was reminding me before the talk, which is what happens in georgetown prep stays at georgetown prep. that has been a good thing for all of us i think. amy: as the fbi expands the scope of its probe into supreme

court nominee brett kavanaugh, we will speak to a former student at kavanaugh's high school who is calling on fellow graduates to come forward if they have information about any sexual assaults possibly committed by brett kavanaugh. then we speak to the american civil liberties union, which for the only the fourth time in its history, has come out opposed to a supreme court nominee. now the aclu is running ads in key states against brett kavanaugh. >> we have seen ththis before. i did not have sexual relations with that woman. >> i have never seen anything like this. >> i unequivocally denied the allegation against me by dr. ford. >> america is watching. and as we choose a lifetime seat on our highest court, integrity matters and we cannot have any doubt. amy: and we will look at the new trade deal between the united states, canada, and mexico. will it t benefit workers and protect the environment? we will speak with lori wallach

of public citizen's global trade watch. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. president trump said monday he wants the fbi to expand the scope of its investigation into brett kavanaugh, even as he said he supreme court nominee had been treated unfairly by the media and promised the bureau would work quickly to complete its probe. prpres. trump: i want themem toa very comprehensive investitigatn . whwhatever that means accordingo the senators and republicans and the republican majoritity. i want them do that. i wanted to be comprehensive. amy: the washington post" reports the slightly expanded investigigation will now includa look into allegations by a third kavanaugh accuser, julie swetnick, who says she observed

kavanaugh at high school parties in the 1980's joining efforts to inebriate girls so they could be gang-raped. the fbi won't have much time to complete its work. republican senate majority leader mitch mcconnell said he's planning a vote on kavanaugh's confirmation by the end of the week. this comes as nbc news is reporting kavanaugh and his team worked behind the scenes to refute claims of sexual misconduct by his former yale classmate deborah ramirez before her claims went public. ramirez told "the new yorker" kavanaugh exposed himself to her by thrusting his genitals in her face at a drunken dorm party when they were both freshmen. nbc reports kavanaugh personally contacted former classmates ahead of publication by "the new yorker," urging them to go on the record in his defense. this contradicts judge kavanaugh's sworn statement to senator orrin hatch on thursday

that he only learned about ramirez's allegations from the "new yorker" article. a former classmate of kavanaugh said on monday he watched as a drunken brett kavanaugh got into a bar fight near the campus of yale university after the pair attended a reggae concert in 1985. this is chad ludinington speakig on cnn.. you ort said [blee[] sosomething to that effectt ande guys understandablbly, even thoh he event aggressive in his respsponse, found that was one step too farar so he t took a sg at brerett and they were kind of two guys fighting. amy: the fbi is investigating the 1985 bar fight, in which kavanaugh was questioned by new haven police but not arrested. protests against kavanaugh's nomination continue to rage across the country.

in west virginia, 17 women gatherered inside the charlesto, west virginia, office of democratic senator joe manchin monday, saying they'll occupy the space until manchin pledges to vote "no" on kavanaugh's confirmation. at washington, d.c.'s, national airport, women survivors of sexual assault tried to speak with senator mitch mcconnell monday as he walked across a terminal, but were ignored by the republican majority leader. >> why do women have to bear their soul to you? >> how many stories of sexual violence do you need to hear in order to believe women? amy: in new york city, hundreds of protesters gathered outside the yale club in manhattan monday before marching to grand central station to protest kavanaugh's nomination. this is tre kwon, an activist with the new york state nurses association and editor of "left voice." some of us recall and need a

hill. we have to make sure another anita hill does not go down. dissected in front of a stony face wall of white men. thewas humiliated with sexual harassment from clarence thomas and again by a system that does not allow the truth to be heard and does not allow truth to be spoken to power. we are here today to make sure that does not happen again. amy: president trump is under fire for belittling women reporters at monday's press conference in the rose garden. this is trump calling on abc news's cecilia vega for the first question of the news conference. pres. trump: ok, question? sure. she is shocked that i picked her. .he is in a state of shock that's ok, i know you're not thinking. you never do. >> am sorry?

saying "i president know you''re not t thinking, you never do." the white house is coming under fire editing it saying "i know you are not thanking." the supreme court began a new session on monday amid the ongoing saga of brett kavanaugh's nomination to the 9th seat on the bench. the court opened the session by hearing a case involving the preservation of an endangered frog species, the dusky gopher, which pits the government against the timber giant weyerhaeuser, which is seeeeking to develop land that has been designated as critical habitat for the frog. the court also rejected an appeal to review a 2017 case upholding the legality of a ban on new uranium mining near the grand canyon, a decision celebrated by environmental and native american groups who live in the protected area. in indononesia, the death toll from f friday's massive earthque and tsunami is at over 1200 people and expected to continue rising as the united nations' humanitarian organization said more than 190,000 people are in

urgent need of aid. among the dead are 34 students whose bodies were found monday buried after a landslide engulfed their church. another 52 at the site remain missing. critics say officials were caught off guard by the unexpected strength of a tsunami resulting from a 7.5 magnitude quake and called off a tsunami warning too early. iran's revolutionary guard said monday it fired a barrage of missiles into eastern syria in retaliation for the deadly attack in ahvaz last month. iran believes the ahvaz attack, which killed 29 people and wounded 70 others at a military parade in the southwestern city of iran, is the responsibility of separatists supported by the united states and saudi arabia. reports on casualties from monday's strike a are unconfirm. scores of protesters were injured monday in the west bank, gaza strip, as citizens crashed with israeli forces during a strike to protest israel's nation state law. the law, which passed in july, declares that only jews have the

right to national self-determination and established hebrew as the official language. this is protesteter husni sulta. >> we're here united in our message is one message against the nationstate law, which aims at separating us from the lands of our fathers and grandparents. amy: first lady melania trump arrived in ghana as part of her first major solo international trip. the first lady will visit ghana, kenya, malawi and egypt over the coming week. in january, democratic lawmakers said president trump referred to haiti, el salvador, and unspecified african nations as being "s-hole countries" during a closed-door meeting at the white house. trump hahas denied making the remarks. in barcelona, spain, baton-wielding police broke up demonstrations and sit-in proteststs by catalonian independence activists monday, as an estimated 180,000 people marched on the first anniversary of a referendum on independence that was banned by spanish authorities. riot police clashed with demonstrators outside the headquarters of spain's national police after activists occupied

roads, a highway, and a high-speed rail line, stopping traffic for hours. a year ago, more than 800 people were injured after spanish police stormed polling stations and tried to forcibly prevent people from voting in an independence referendum, firing tear gas and physically attacking prospective voters. in japan, voters in okinawa have elected a new governor who's promised to oppose the long-running u.s. military presence on the japanese island. denny tamaki has vowed to block the controversial relocation of a u.s. military base on okinawa which is a move likely to upset both the central government and the united states, which has long depended on okinawa to accommodate its military bases and personnel. many residents of the small island have opposed the u.s. military's presence for decades. this is governor elect tamaki. >> over two generations, governors have protested the new bases and have been ignored.

but now the gubernatorial government has are ready withdrawn its permission for the bases land reclamation project in a prefecturural government hs used the proper process based on what is best for the good of the public. i will continue to let this a joint t government understand tt not abiding by this process is undemocratic and is against the rule of law. statas,k in the united mourners canan together in las vegas, nevada, to commemorate one year since 58 people were killed and more than 850 others wounded at a country music festival in the worst mass shooting in modern u.s. history. hotels along the famed las vegas strip dimmed their marquee lights, as officials read the names of the victims at the dedication of a memorial garden, and survivors formed a human chain around the site of the deadly attack. the anniversary came and went as president trump and the republican-led congress have enacted no major new gun control policies. in march, the justice department proposed a rule that would ban

, but president trump has yet to sign an executive order. on monday, he declared that bump stocks ban would take effect i in two or three weeks. pres. trump: in order to eliminate, terminate bump stocks, we have to go through a procedure. we'rere now at the final stagesf the procedure. in fact, the lawyers were just telling me in the next couple of the -- you can't just write it out. rules and regulations in this country are really tough, even for something like that. so we're knocking out bump stocks. i have told ththe nra. bump stocks are gone. amy: a number of states have implemented gun control treasures recently, including california which increases the minimum age for purchasing guns from 18 to 21 and then a possession of firearms for people convicted of domestic violence and those who have been hospitalized for mental l health issues more than o once in a a e yearerioiod. in sweden, prominent

french-swedish photographer jean-claude arnault has been convicted of rape and sentenced to two years in prison. the case created a firestorm around the swedish academy, the organization that awards the nobel prize in literature, and resulted in the postponement of this year's top prize for authors. arnault is married to one of the swedish academy's members and the academy has admitted that it was aware e of sexual assault allegagations against him in 196 but took no action. inin sports news, carorolina papanthers safety eric reieid returned to practice for the first time in nine months after the football player spent the better part of a year as an unsigned free agent following his participation in protests during the national anthem led by san francisco 49ers quarterback colin kaepernick. speaking to reporters monday wearing a shirt that read "#imwithkap, reid sasaid he wouldn't rule out further protests. >> next year will be 2019.

400 years of systemic oppression , slavery, jim crow, new jim , you mass incarceration name it. the great depression. they come out with a new deal. black people did not have access to those government stimulus packages. the new deal set up what is known as the modern-day middle-class. we did not have access to those programs, the g.i. bill, social security, home loans, none of that. so this has been happening since my people have gotten here. amy: online retail giant amazon says it's raising its companywide minimum wage to $15 per hour, for all of its u.s. employees. the announcement comes amid a union organizing effort at whole foods grocery store, which are owned by amazon, and amid mounting complaints over labor conditions at amazon's warehouses. and congratulations to democracy now! correspondent sharif abdel kouddous who won an emmy last night alongside journalist laila al arian for their reporting on

the trump administration's travel ban for al jazeera english's faultlines. this is al arian at the awards ceremony monday night. travelstory is about the ban, how it unfolded andnd who t affectcted. we tell the story of the syrian refugee family that was supposed to come to the u.s., but ultimately could not because of the ban. as the policy was being challenged in court, their six-year-old died in a hospital in turkey. his parents hope he would be up to get american treatment here. this award is dedicated to his memory. amy: 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. the white house has authorized the fbi to partially expand its investigation into supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh, but the agency is still being forced to wrap up its probe this week. the focus of the investigation is on allegations made by dr.

christine blasey ford that kavanaugh attempted to rape her in 1982. but the fbi has also reached out to deborah ramirez, a former classmate of kavanaugh's at yale who says he thrust his genitals into her face during a party. while the fbi has talked to ramirez, nbc news reports agents have not followed up on claims by their mutual friends that kavanaugh asked them to go on the record in his defense prior to the publication of an article in "the new yorker" outlining her allegations. former yale classmate kerry berchem says she tried to give the fbi text messages proving that kavanaugh and/or his friends "may have initiated an anticipatory narrative" as early as july in order to "conceal or discredit" ramirez. amy: nbc reports brett kavanaugh tried to obtain a photograph at -- from a 1997 wedding "in order to show himself smiling alongside ramirez 10 years after they graduated."

while the two did appear in the same group photo, a friend of ramirez said she attempted to stay far away from kavanaugh and his friends during the wedding. kavanaugh reportedly initiated the contact with former classmates before "the new yorker" published its report about ramirez on september 23rd. this seems to contradict his testimony thursday, when he was quenator orin hatch. >> when was the first time the ranking member asked you about these allegations? >> today. >> we did you hear a first ramirez's allegations against you? the period since then, the "new yorker" story. >> did the staff ask you about ms. ramirez's allegations before they were really to the press? >> no. >> when was the first on the

ranking member or any of her colleagues or any of their staff ask you about ms. ramirez's allegations? >> today. "the this comes as washington post" reports the slightly expanded investigation will look into allegations by a third kavanaugh accuser, julie swetnick, who said she observed kavanaugh at high school parties in the 1980's joining efforts to inebriate girls so they could be gang raped. recently resurfaced 1983 yearbooks from georgetown prep show students bragging about the use of "killer q's" during beach week -- a possible reference to quaaludes, the sedative bill cosby used to drug women in order to rape them. amy: now a group of alumni from brett kavanaugh's all-male school high school has issued a call for fellow graduates to come forward if they have information about any sexual assaults possibly committed by the supreme court nominee, saying in a petition -- "please do not remain silent,

even if speaking out comes at some personal cost." in a minute, we will be joined by one of those alumni, but first i want to turn to comments of judge kavanaugh made about georgetown prep. he was speaking at catholic university's columbus school of law in 2015. >> fortunately, we had a good saying that we of held firm to to this day as the dean was reminding me before the talk, which is what happens at georgetown prep stays at georgetown prep. that has been a good thing for all of us. amy: for more, we're joined by bill barbot, who was a freshman at the all-male georgetown prep high school when brett kavanaugh was a senior. after kavanaugh's testimony thursday, barbot co-authored a petition calling on fellow graduates to come forward if they have information about any sexual assaultlts possibly committed by the supreme court nominee. us byarbot is joining

phone from the washington, d.c., area. welcome to democracy now! can you talk about why you started this petition and how many people have signed on so far? >> yeah.h. we were first moved to do this because we felt that it was stunning to me that we as a community, i believe, no so much about what was going on during there are and that many graduates of the class of 1983 who were close to brett, but who have not shown their faces. they have not spoken out about what was going on, either in his defense or dr. ford's defense. i was stunned by that silence and felt we have to try to do something to shake my classmates and my schoolmates up and get them to think this is an opportunity for you to do the right thing. and if our little petition an hour drive to get them to speak

get even one of them to say something, then i feel it has been a success. juan: bill barbeau, you are a freshman when brett kavanaugh was a senior at the school. how will did you know him and when you saw the testimony, how did that jive with your recollections of what he was like? >> i did not know brett personally and i think it is important to note i don't consider myself a witness in this case anyway the shape, or form. i was a freshman and he was a senior. personality onig campus. he was captain of the basketball team. it was hard not to know who the real social leaders were even as a freshman, so i knew him and his group more by reputation observation. however, it just rocked me during his testimony that given what i know aboutprep's party colter in the 1980's and knowing

that he bright openly on his yearbook page about his participation in that party colter, that he would rule out categorically the possibility that something untoward or downright illegal could have happened when he was under the influence of alcohol. that just felt wrong to me. -- there mustre be people who are closer to him, closer in age and in social combing going, that have to know more about what was going on. i think we have been feeling that from his yale classmate and i will like to see that from his prep classmates. amamy: in 199090, "the washingtn post" reported that headmasters from seven prestigious washington, d.c.-area private schools -- including georgetown prep -- had sent a letter to warnrn parents about a party culture among their children which included heavy drinking leading to "sexual or violent behavior." the article quotes the headmaster at holton-arms saying

-- "a number of parents and kids have expressed dismay over some of the situations at weekend parties. we're concerned about the potential for tragedy." bill barbot, can you respond to that? >> i enforce lewis stuff earlier with that article when it was printed in 1990. that is when i was graduating from college. but what i read yesterday when it was first reported to me shocked me in some way because it was an acknowledgment on the part of the administrations of the schools that we all went to that there was a severe problem. it was a severe problem. but what is shocking and upsetting to me is that as i understand it, not much institutionally has been done to really put a stop to it. i know there's a very, very steep hill look like for educators in managing teenage kids. i knknow as a parent of f a teer

myself -- my son is 17 -- it is not easy for parents to gett involved. wow, that feel like, was a long time ago and we're still fighting the same battle with underage drinking and drug use, as a party culture that seems to be accepting of illegal behavior and dangerous behavior. i just wish there was something more that we could have done in the 28 years plus that have transpired since that letter came out. juan: you have close to 70 names on this letter that you issued. what do you hope to do with it -- are all ofou the people who have signed the petition willing to go public with their names? now. is closer to 100 i actually did not look at the number this morning. it has been growing. we released it on saturday, which is probably a tricky day to get people to pay attention to it. but we have been getting more

and more signatories. and we have been very judicious with how we're going to proceed because there are a number of folks who signed who, for various reasons such as they are employed by the federal government, can't have the earnings released publicly, but they did sign it and that they wanted to indicate support. we are having to be very thoughtful and contacting everyone individually to make sure they are aware we intend to go public with their name, make sure they are who they say they are and we did not end up with some false entries. the concern i have right now is that i am not all that sure how interested the fbi is in our list. they have their hands full. and that is what is so urgent about the situation to me is a week is not very much time for the fbi to conduct a very thorough investigation. they have to identify, locate, and interview a lot of people if they really want to get to the bottom of this. so they may have their hands

full, which leads me to believe the press may be a more effective way to get the word out and get our letter to see the light of day and for them the alumni to take the action of saying, you know what? i do have a story and i do think it important it be heard. amy: bill barbot, you said in an conceptw, consent is a did not even exist. it was not in our lexicon at georgetown prep. explain. culturally, it is important to recognize the 1980's were very different time and place for the country at large, not just in private schools, private all boys schools. everywhere, we were not talking a whole lot about the sexual dynamic between boys and girls at the high school level. it just was not part of the conversation. when you compound that i having

an all boys private school that is catholic, the likelihood of meaningful conversations between administrators, between parents and kids, coming up to try to recognize the fact that there are thousands of shades of gray between the gentlemanly conduct, which was the shorthand at the time to tell us how we were supposed to behave around girls, and down and out rape, there's so much nuance in there. it is a lot to cover and there retrospect, ain more concerted effort on the parts of parents, administrators, the school itself, to lock horns with the fact that good kids do bad things, especially when alcohol is involved. and i think it is easy to criticize them now through the lens of 2018, but just to be t themililieuout we're operating in, we were not

talking about the subtleties of sexual dynamics. we were barely talking about the mechanics of sexuality. a learned most of what i do about sexuality from my middle school health and sex education class, not from conversations i was having in high school about how you know when it is ok to have sex and how you know when and how to stop yourself when it is not ok. juan: brett kavanaugh senior yearbook page refers to him as ande city club treasurer" says he was "the biggest contributor to the "beach week ralph club," as well as a reference to the "renate alumnus." could you talk about these references you sought in the yearbook, what they would mean to you as some of who is part of the school? >> sure. as with many private schools that have a whole page dedicated to each kid, it is a place for you to commemorate your time at schoolol. it is a way of writing your name in the wet cement so for r all

attorney you are locked down. it is a way to commemorate inside jokes you have with your friends and just basically have a laugh host of we did not have instagram or facebook then, so you could not go back and take a look at the old photos rainy other means besides looking at your yearbook. collectively, we all made up a lot of stuff. some of it could have been exaggerated. some of it could have been entirely faked. what i saw on brett's page was a championing of the drinking culture. if you're an innocent choirboy who occasionally likes to have a beer, you don't call yourself city orain of keg whatever he said it was. these are things that just don't sit right with the instructor me as very much at odds with how he portrayed himself in the interview on fox and how he portrayed himself in front of

the senate on thursday. amy: bill barbot, the editors of a national weekly published the jesuits of the united -- published by the jesuits of the united states, called for kavanaugh's nomination to be withdrawn. your school, georgetown prep, where kavanaugh was a student when he allegedly assaulted christine blasey ford is a jesuit high school. can you talk about what that meant to you and the jesuits came out against kavanaugh? very powerfulas a statement. i think there are a lot of folks were probably listening to me speak right now who are saying, why are you doing this? why are you trying to take down your school? i'm not. i'm try to stand up for my school. i'm try to stand up for all of the goodman who have gone through that school. i am trying to stand up for what i believe were the values instilled in us as students there, of truth, honesty, integrity. i felt vindicated in a way by the jesuits choosing to withdraw the nomination, because i think

that record nice, as do i, that in brett, we have, like all of us, a flawed human being. but he is not acknowledging those flaws were embracing the s,ct that we all have past you lock horns with them, you acknowledge them, you realize you could have caused pain toward another human being. you don't run away from it. you don't hide behind verbal gymnastics, as he was doing on thursday. i felt proud that the jesuits chose to recognize that and realize that we as a community of students and coming from that history and that legacy can do better and should do better. gone bill barbot, you of out publicly with this petition. you have done interviews, but air forlining to be on seen publicly. can you talk about why? >> dr. ford has received death

threats. she is obviously the key person in all of this will stop so i don't like to overstate that i assomehow unequal importance she is, but i am very concerned that this battle for judge kavanaugh's nomination is seen by many in the community as a proxy battle for other larger wars, such as the war against roe v. wade. numerous, obviously, historical precedence for violence being done to those who are willing to speak out against these things. i am a parent of three kids. i'm a teenager and two small children. i have a wife who i love dealer. does dearly. putting them in danger just because my face these to be seen in public does that seem wise and i would rather my voice carry the message we're trying to get across. amy: neil gorsuch was also a

student at georgetown prep. is that right? between you and brett kavanaugh. avanaugh a senior come you freshman with gorsuch the above you? >> yes. amy: any comments? >> when he was first nominated and put onto the court, i accepted it as a pretty vanilla nomination on the part of the president. he wants to pack the court with reliable conservatives. for as long as i have known neil gorsuch, he was a conservative. he made no bones about that in high school. i think the process through which neil was nominated in the words he usedd to describe his past and his experience are very different from how brett has been acting and what he has been saying. l's. no fan of nei

i would love to see much more progressive supreme court freshly, but i accept the fact we did not win the election and it is the prerogative of the president to nominate who he wants. but what i do want to see is someone of the deepest and most unimpeachable character and integrity on the court. i feel neil can embody that, even if his politics differ from mine. amy: we want to thank you for being with us, bill barbot, freshman of the all boy georgetown high school when kavanaugh was a senior. after kavanaugh testified thursday, he co-authored a petition calling on fellow graduates to come forward if they have information about any sexual assaults possibly committed by the supreme court nominee. this is democracy now! when we come back, the aclu rarely takes a position on a supreme court nominee. when brett kavanaugh was first nominated, they would not take a

position. they have changed their minds. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: "i believe her" in support of christine blasey ford and all sexual assault survivors. this is democracy now! i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. in code the aclu has come out against the confirmation of judge brett kavanaugh to the supreme court. it is only the fourth time in the organization's 98-year history that its national board of directors has voted to oppose a supreme court nominee. aclu president susan herman said in a statement -- "there are credible allegations that judge kavanaugh has engaged in serious misconduct that have not been adequately investigated by the senate. dr. christine blasey ford's

credible testimony, subsequent allegations of sexual misconduct, the inadequate investigation, and judge kavanaugh's testimony at the hearing lead us to doubt judge kavanaugh's fitness to serve as an associate justice of the supreme court. as a nonpartisan organization, the aclu does not oppose judge kavanaugh based on predictions about how he would vote as a justice. we oppose him in light of the credible allegations of sexual assault against him." amy: on the heels of the announcement, the aclu launched a $1-million ad campaign across four states urging key swiwing vote senenators to votote againt kavanaugh's confirmation. this ad targets colorado republican senator cory gardner. >> we haveve seen this before.e. denials from powowerful men. >> i did not have sexual relations with that woman. >> i've never seen anything like this. >> i u unequivocally denenied te allegation against me by dr. ford.

.> america's watching and as we choose a lifetime seat on our highest court, integrity matters and we cannot have any doubt. senator garardner oppose the confirmation of judge kavanaugh. amy: similar aclu ads address senators deb fischer, joe mansion, and shelley moore senator lisaa murkowski and senator dan sullivan, urging them to vote "no" on kavanaugh. the last time the aclu publicly opposed a supreme court nominee was over a decade e ago in 2006, when george w. bush nominanated jujustice samuel alito. in 1987, the aclu opposed president ronald reagan's nomination of justice robert h. bork and in 1971, it opposed president richard nixon's nomination of justice william rehnquist.

welcome a for more, we are joined by louise melling, deputy legal director at the aclu and director of its center for liberty which encompasses the aclu's work on reproductive freedom, women's rights, lesbian and gay, bisexual, and transgender rights, freedom of welcome to democracy now! nyc: religion. welcome to democracy now! nyc: >> i would say in brief extruder times call for external measures, as he talked about before, we did not oppose judge kavanaugh when he was first nominated. we did not oppose as the proceedings went forward. we issued a report talking about his record. we raised concerns, but we adhere to our long-standing policy will stop but now in light of the sexual assault allegations, we have come out to oppose judge kavanaugh, believing those raised serious questions that are fundamentally different. they r raised serious ququestios ababout the integrity of the course should he be on the court. amy: what are those concerns? >> i will point to the code of

judicial conduct which talks about the importance of a judge behaving in a way that inspires public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the court. when we look at judge kavanaugh's record in these proceedings or what has come out, he is behaving in a manner that will advance the public confidence in the integrity will stop i would point where credible allegations of sexual assault. we have a judge who is resisted calling for a full investigation, what we would think of as central to any fair proceedings, and we have a judge who now in the hearings last thursday talked about the allegations as a political hit in response to pay that, i believe was his word, for trump and for clinton. that just speaks more of a partisan than a judicial to ferment. juan: i want to ask about that because the hearing was really stunning in terms of the damages judge kavanaugh did in his testimony in terms of the

belligerence that he showed to the senate and also the lack of -- judicial restraint in the way he approached the questions that were tossed at him. i am wondering to what degree those hearings really galvanize the board to make this decision of the aclu? >> the board was concerned seriously -- considering sisley accusations. have shareder some concerns about what kinds of investigations, how robust the hearing's and whether there's a fair chance for both of them to tell their stories robustly. and in light of the allegations, as susan herrmann statement says come in light of the allegations, in light of the hearings, we came out to oppose. juan: and a decision to launch an ad campaign at the same time? >> that decision followed the board's vote that we would oppose, but now that we are

opposing, it is incredibly important we stand up and stand up because of the message that any confirmationon of judge kavanaugh would send to sexual assault survivors. it is important we stand up giveven what this would say abot the integrity of the court. i cannot reiterate and up how important it is that we believe in our systems and to believe in the court requires us to believe are people, albeit human, working as hard as they can to be impartial and fair. amy: let's go to judge brett kavanaugh giving his opening statement thursday. >> this whole two-week effort has been a calculated and orchestrated political hit, fueled with apparent pent-up anger about president trump and , fear that hason been unfairly stoked about my judicial record, revenge on behalf of the clintons, and millions of dollars in money from outside left-wing opposition groups. this is a circus.

he talked about the clinton conspiracy, etc., the millions spent, talked about left-wing spent, talked about left-wing conspiracies, his rage was almost uncontained. does this mean that progressive groups that go before the supreme court should ask him to recuse himself? right-wing groups have also spent millions of dollars. he is not raisising this. that we had a lot of conversation about, we the public, and discourse around nominations, about how they have become so partisan. what we saw here was the nominee himself engaging in partisan yourct will stop i think question, of course, raises for us a serious question about how will the public perceive a question it comes out about a group like planned parenthood or naacp, for example how will we assess the fairness and stand by

the fairness of a decision that opponents"mocratic that might run to political gerrymandering or campaign-finance or the census? this is about how important it is for judges to really conduct themselves in a way to gives us confidence, that they're doing a thing they can to be impartial as they hear cases before them. juan: nbc news is reporting there are some text messages that suggest brett kavanaugh reached out to acquaintances to try to refute deborah ramirez's sexual assault claim before he became public. if that is true, are there any concerns about his conduct leading up to the hearings? >> i certainly think>> that it is incredibly important that we have a hearing and we have a full investigation. and a full investigation seems important both for the integrity of the opportunity for judge kavavanaugh to clear his name should that t be the casase, fo.

blazing ford's allegations to be robustlyly heard andnd tested, d for the public to have confidence, confidence and a candidate. as our ad said, this is too important. we can have no doubt. it is important for an investigation to look for the facts and to test the veracity of the statements that have been made. amy: i want to switch to another gear in the last minute we have with you and that is the aclu's involvlvement with the m migranf an issue. "the new york times" is reporting the trump administration has begegun transferring detained migrant children from m shelters across the countrtry to a barren tent city in west texas. "the times" reports hundreds of children are being sent each week from shelters to the tent city, which currently houses 1600 children. the facility reportedly has no school and children have limited access to legal services. the u.s. government is now detaining a record 13,000 migrant children. your thoughts on this latest news and what it means for these unaccompanied children? we're talking about a aost 2000

children if the government is he being telling us the truth on that number. >> it is incredibly important this story breakthrough, even in the midst of the incredibly important hearings about the supreme court. is au've indicated, it horrific story. we have more children in detention now than ever before. we have children without school. this is all being done with our tax dollars. this is another reason to be reaching out to your members of congress to be urging them to standcongress to be urging themo stand up am including to withhold and withdraw money from dhs. amy: then you have the convergence of that issue with kavanaugh post up when judge kavanaugh as a federal court , actively got involved with the case of a migrant minor, 17 years old, the garza case, and try to prevent her from getting an abortion. that decision was overruled and this young woman, jane go, got the abortion, but it was judge kavanaugh now who intervened.

folks yes, he issued a decision that was going t to come in a fe of a ban on dish in effect ban .ane doe's access it meant for the delay, time that did not respect the fact that the government's obligation is not to bar any of us from having access to abortion. amy: louise melling, thank you for joining us deputy legal , director at the aclu. in a rare move, the group is opposing judge brett kavanaugh's nomination to the supreme court. they are now running an ad campaign in key states to target senators on their position on judge kavanaugh. this is democracy now! when we come back, a new nafta? we will talk to lori wallach. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!,

democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. juan: the united states and canada have reached a tentative deal to save nafta, the north american free trade agreement. the new trilateral deal will be known as the united states-mexico-canada agreementn. president trump celebrated the dealal monday. preses. trump: it t is my great honor toto announce we hee successfullyly completed negotiations on a brand-new d dl to termiminate and replace naft. and the nafta trade agreement with an incredible new u.s. mexico canada agreement called u.s. u --smca. onhave negotiated this fairness and rubber saw city also to meet is the most -- riversrside city. we are changing.

once approved by congress, this new deal will be the momost modn up-to-date and balance trade agreement and history of our country with the most advanced protections for workers ever developed. juan: the trump administration is touting the agreement as a victory for american dairy farmers since canada has agreed to open part of its dairy market to u.s. imports. but the trans-pacific partnership which trump withdrew from last year would have provided the same opening. the new deal does not resolve a dispute over u.s. tariffs on canada's steel and aluminumum exports. the proposed agreement must now be ratified by lawmakers in the three countries. on monday, canadian prime minister justin trudeau hailed the tentative deal. >> it is an agreement that when enacted will be good for canadian workers. good for canadian business, and good for canadian families. it is an agreement that removes

uncertainty for our manufactcturers and investors ad improves labor rights for all north americans. amy: mexican president enrique pena nieto outlined the benefits of the deal. >> the new deal promotes more ,esponsible regional commerce drives the creation of more jobs and better salaries to the benefit of the workers of the three countries will stop it grants full certainty to international commerce and investment. it promotes the use of new technology and businesess, financial services, and other sectors. it strengthens the competitiveness of north america as an industrial platform. amy: to talk more about the agreement, we go to washington, where we're joined by lori wallach, director of publilic cititizen's global trade watch d author of "the rise and fall of fast-track trade authority." i've not seen as explained in any conference of away. what is this new deal? how does it differ from nafta? re: supporting it?

>> i think the jury is still out. groups like the look citizen will be in democrats in congress because it is still a work in progress. the way over to scribble -- describe it is is not a transformational replacement of the old corporate rate system of trade agreement that really nafta #in the 1990's -- hatched in the 1990's, but there actually are some improvements, particularly with respect to those investor tribunals, the investor state dispute settlements. it on the other hand, there are some new problems, really outrageous giveaways to big pharma, and there's a bunch of business that is that completed. there's a fairly impressive u.s.-mexico labor rights agreement. but it is not yet subject to swift and certain enforcement, which ask all of the difference. i would say if there had to be a

position taken right now on this tax, you would not see support from unions or most democrats. but there is still a ways to go, not just what eventual text will be in congress -- because not until next are in the democrats will be in majority, but also what might happen with implementing legislation, for instance, to fix the labor enforcement. juan: i want to ask about two aspects. when you mentioned that pharma, what is going to be the impact from what you can tell on this on the fact that many americans have been going for years now to canada for cheap generic drugs that they otherwise have to pay much more for in the united states? also, what is the deal saying about the oil industry of mexico? because the incoming president over door has made it very clear that he does not want to open up the mexican oil industry to outside investors. what happened with that?

>> he signed off on this deal. yet a negotiator there for the last three months. to be 100% frank, i am surprised in the way they did. because there is some locking in of the existing of the privatization. they give some disiscretion to reverse any theater this further privatization. but the thing that is really peculiar and the mexican hasas a far movement has come out about this, is even though his guy was at the table, they did not do anything to change the rules in agriculture that would probably be necessary for amlo to be able to deliver on his campaign promises to help support more smaller family, rural economies. nafta in mexico get rid of whole set o of subsidies.s. there was no change to that part of the agreement. so several of the present farm groups, big supporters ofamlo,

says that has to chahange. amlo says he is happy with the deal. as first the pharma stuff. this is one of the worst parts of the agreement. the way i would describe it in a way is if the enforcement of the labor and environmental chapters was made much better -- and the environmental chapter was fixed up some -- and given they have largely removed investor state dispute settlements -- more that later -- then this could be a deal that was heading in the right direction, but for some bad things that got added in. and that is to say the pharma stuff would give a 10 year exclusivity for biologic medicines -- those are the drugs that right now are the cutting edge cancer drugs, drugs that are used for crohn's disease, rheumatoid arthritis -- and those drugs in the u.s. can be $100,000 per person per year. so the u.s. are ready has a ridiculous, outrageous 12 year

exclusive the tea. obviously, we need to fight that. putting this into nafta could handcuff the space congress needs the future to fix our problem. but exporting it to mexico and canada is really bad news. for mexico, they have no exclusivity. in canada, which is one of the countries that far back up won,st this in the tpp and totally caved. for canada, they have an eight year exclusivity. so for people who go over to canada get those mets, these are not those mets. these are injectables. their large molecule drugs. but they're all kinds of other things in that chapter that could make medicine in canada more expensive, things called ever greening, ways to get longer patents after a patent runs out, it is bad stuff. it is a bad chapter. any go jerry farmers, on the workers. can you explain what happens in each case? >> the agreement basically gives

a little more access for u.s. dairy farmers. i don't know if that is good or bad because basically it undermines what is called the supply management system in canada, which is a s system that has led for much more stable and better prices for canadian small dairy farmers. we used to have that in the u.s. and nafta and wto killed it. on balance, better for the u.s. farmers. on auto workers so one of the things that is innovative in the agreement, new and interesting, if it works the way it is written, is for certain chair of completed autos and auto parts, the workers have to make $16 an hour or more in the job in order for those products to qualify for the nafta benefits. it is the first time there has been a wage link between the privileged of the trade agreement and what workers make. however, we had to see how that

works in practice. there is also a really -- probably the best thing in the whole agreement is they get rid of the broad investor rights that promote outsourcing, that make it cheaper and less risky. so rules like the minimum standard of treatment are gone. with respect to the u.s. and canada, the whole investor state dispute settlement system is eliminated, terminated. it phases out in three years. with the u.s. and mexico, they basically rollback a system as far as the corporate rights, and then you can only get compensation, for instance, the government actually taking your stuff, not just because an investor's expectation was undermined. and then there are some new procedures. for instance, damages. seconds for the most important aspect of this. >> i was at the punchline is, stay tuned and keep fighting. if we don't get members of commerce to push on the administration, the necessary labor and environmental enforcement isn't going to

happen and then we will have to stop. if we can get these things fixed and next year we can get some of it improved, unwashed it can help stop the ongoing damage. we will see. it is work in progress. amy: lori wallach, thank you for being with us. our website is democracynow.org.