10/08/18 10/08/18 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now! >> on this vote, the aye are 50 and thes nays are 48. the nomination of brett m. kavanaugh toto be an associate justice of the supreme court of the united states is confirmed. amy: the senate confirms brett kavanaugh is the night supreme court justice. he is expected to tilt power to conservatives for decades to

come. his confirmation comes despite several multiple -- several accusations of attempted rape and sexual assault. we will get reaction and look at what is next. close he refused to be intimidated by the mob of people that were coming after republican members at their homes and in the halls. i could not be prouder of this and republican conference. these things always blow over. >> now we take this anger and determinatioion and we realized that today is going to send a depth through politics as we we vote,nd we go home, and we run frogs. amy: we will go to washington, d.c., just the way it medea benjamin. protesters at the capital and with jodi jacobson. we will also speak with feminist author soraya chemaly. then fears are growing over the missing saudi journalist jamal khashoggi, who turkish officials

say they believe was murdered in the saudi consulate in the stumble last week. jamal khashoggi is a "washington post" columnist who lives in the united states and is a critic of the saudi regime. >> he is gathering all power within his hand. and it would be much better for him to allow breathing space for critics, for intellectuals, media to debate the most important needed transformation. " we will speak with mehdi hasan , who knows jamal khashoggi and interviewed him. we will also speak with medea benjamin. all of that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. brett kavanaugh was sworn in saturday as an associate justice of the united states supreme court just hours after the senate voted to confirm him.

the 53-year-old's lifetime appointment cements a right-wing majority on the court for the foreseeable future. the vote was 50 in favor, 48 agaiainst, and 1 present. republican senator lisa murkowski, who had promised to buck her party and vote "no" on kavanaugh, voted "present" so that repepublican senator steve daines of montana could attend his daughter's wedding. republican senator susan collins of maine, who was seen as a possible swing vote on kavanaugh's confirmation, announced her support for the candidate on friday afternoon. cloaked despite the turbulent, bitter fight surrounding his nomination, my fervent hope is workbrett kavanaugh will to lessen the divisions in the supreme court so that we have far fewer 5-4 decisions, and so

that public confidence in our judiciary and our highest court is restored. mr. president, i i will vote to confirm judge kavanaugh. amy: kavanaugh's nomination came under intense public scrutiny after three women accused him of sexual misconduct. he has denied the allegations made by dr. christine blasey ford, as well as two more accusers julie swetnick and his , former yale classmate deborah ramirez, who said he exposed himself to her during a party. in a statement released satuturday, ramirez said that by their vote the senatators were "deliberately ignoring kavanaugh's behavior" adding -- "i feel like i'm right back at yale where half the room is laughing and looking the other way. this is how victims are isolated and silenced." west virginia senator joe manchin was the only democratic senator to vote in favor of kavanaugh's confirmation. this is joe e manchin after

declaring his support for kavanaugh last friday. >> i am very much concerned with the sexual abuse people had to endure and very much concerned -- i had to deal with the facts i had in front of me. >> senator, do you think there is no a place for you in the democratic party after this? >> i am just a good old west virginia and. amy: protests against kavanaugh's confirmation raised in washington, d.c., and across the country. 164 demonstrators were arrested, including 150th u.s. capitol building and a handful of protesters who interrupted the senate rollcall vote. in new york city, protesesters took to the streets just as kavanaugh was confirmed. this is zakiyah ansari of alliance for quality education . >> i want to say this is way bigger. as a black muslim woman, i am clear that kavanaugh will not only overturn roe v. wade, but

many civil rights, many things ashe will overturn those well. what i also am clear is that as a black woman in society knowing that the struggles we have been up against that we, too, can rise above this. we, too, can fight back. amy: we will have more on the confirmation of rec kavanaugh to the supreme court after headlines. the united nations' climate panel warns in a new report that humanity has only a dozen years to mitigate climate change or face global catastrophe with severe drought, floods, sea level rise, and extreme heat set to cause mass displacement and poverty. the landmark report by the intergovernmental panel on climate change -- the ipcc -- warns dramatic action is needed over the next 12 years to hold global temperature rise below 1.5 degrees celsius, or 2.7 degrees fahrenheit, beyond which global crises could unfold at a rapid pace. the report comes as governor rick scott has declared a state

of emergency in florida, as forecasters predict tropical storm michael could strengthen to become a major hurricane as it makes landfall late wednesday. in indonesia, the death toll from last month's massive earthquake and tsunami has risen toto more thanan 1900, with some 6060,000 people displaced aftetn 18-foot wallll of water swswept mimiles into the island of sulawesi. authorities warn some 5000 people remain missing, many of them likely swept out to sea or trapped amid rubble that could take months or years to clear. in haiti, at least 12 people died and nearly 200 were injured after a 5.9-magnitude quake struck saturday evening in the country's northwest. many of the injuries came as unsafe cinderblock homes and structures collapsed on residents. in brazil, far right presidential candidate jair bolsonaro surged to first place in sunday's general election, but will face an october 28 runoff election after narrowly missing an outright win.

bolsonaro claimed 46% of votes. he'll face workers' party candidate fernando haddad, who won just under 30%. bolsonaro had a history of making racist, misogynistic, and homophobic comments. he's a former army officer who has openly praised brazil's military dictatorship. he has encouraged police to kill suspected drug dealers, and once told a female lawmaker she was too ugly to rape. ahead of the election, anti-bolsonaro protesters rallied in sao paolo and in other cities saturday, proclaiming "not him." >> my son is transgender and for his security, i am protesting. bolsonaro is homophobic and incites violence against those who were not heterosexual. fears are growing over the fate of missing saudi journalist jamal khashoggi after turkish officials said they believe he was murdered in the saudi consulate in istanbul last tuesday. khashoggi, a columnist for "the washington post" who had been living in self-imposed exile in the united states, entered the

saudi consulate in istanbul, turkey, seeking a document he needed to get married. he has not been seen since. "the washington post" reports a turkish investigation has revealed that a group of about 15 saudi men traveled to istanbul to kill him as he visited the consulate. saudi officials have denied the report and say they don't know khashoggi's whereabouts. democratatic senator chris murpy of connecticut tweeted sunday -- "if this is true -- that the saudis lured a u.s. resident into their consulate and murdered him -- it should represent a fundamental break in our relationship with saudi arabia." we'll have more on this story later in the broadcast. in afghanistan, at least 54 people were killed across the country on sunday, on the 17th anniversary of the start of the u.s. invasion. the death toll in afghanistan included at least 19 afghan civilians. american and afghan airstrikes have increased in recent months as the conflict shows no sign of

slowing down and the taliban remain undefeated. the united nations says the number of civilians killed in afghanistan reached a record high i in the first half of thte year, with some 1700 deaths reported. in new york, protesters gathered sunday to call for an end to the afghan war, the longest war in u.s. history. this is susan schnall of veterans for peace. >> this is about all of the wars .. and whwhat i've seen over the pt 50 years is the united states, multinational corporations, getting larger and larger and continuing to support the american military. it c can change the governance f in furtherance of the interest of thehe corprporations. amy: i in the gaza strip, israei forces shot dead three palestinians and injured 126 friday during weekly protests near israel's separation barrier. among the dead was a 12-year-old

boy, faris al-sersawi. israeli gunfire has killed at least 195 palestinians and has wounded some 18,000 since palestinians' great march of return protests began on march 30. in the west bank, israeli police say a 23-year-old palestinian man shot and killed two israelis and injured a third person at an industrial park near an israeli settlement on sunday. meanwhile, the wife of israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu appeared in a jerusalem courtroom on sunday, facing trial on charges of fraud and breach of trust. sara netanyahu is accused of spending about $100,000 to hire celebrity chefs to prepare meals for the netanyahus and their guests, even though the prime minister's residence has a full-time chef. the trial comes as prosecutors have recommended indictments against prime minister benjamin netanyahu for accepting bribes and trading political favors for positive news coverage. in bulgaria, police found the body o of a 30-y-year-old journt

saturday in the northern town of ruse after she disappeared shortly after reporting on alleged corruption by local authorities. police say viktoria marinova's body showed signs she'd been raped, bludgeoned to the head, and suffocated. she's the third journalist murdered in the european union over the past year. secretary of state mike pompeo says north korea will let international inspectors into nuclear sites and missile testing facilities. pompmpeo's comments came after e wrapped up talks with leader kim jong un in pyongyang on sunday. in western germany, more than 50,000 protesters converged on the hambach forest saturday, demanding an end to the planned expansion of a neighboring open-pit coal mine. the largest in europe. the protest came as a german coururt halted plans by y the re energy company to clear-r-cut me of the f forest toto make wawayr expanded minining. the court says it needs more time to determine whether the plans violate european union environmental laws, a decision that won't happen until at least late 2020.

last month, police raided a protest encampment in the hambach forest, arresting dozens of activists who'd been living in tree houses. to see our report from the forest, you can go to democracynow.org. in chicago, a jury on friday found whitite police officer jan van dyke guilty of second-degree murder for killing african american teenager laquan mcdonald in 2014. van dyke was also found guilty on 16 counts of aggravated battery -- one count for each of the 16 bullets he fired at mcdonald. a key piece of evidence for prosecutors was a police dash cam video showing mcdonald posed no threat and walked away from officers before van dyke fired at him, emptying an entire magazine from his handgun. jason van dyke was the first chicago cop to stand trial for a -- for an on-duty murder in 50 years. in charlotte, north carolina, nfl star eric reid, who helped spark league-wide protests in 2016 when he became the first player to kneel alongside colin kaepernick during the playing of

the national anthem, took a knee ahead of his first game with the carolina panthers on sunday. reid's protest against police brutality and racial injustice came after he spent the off-season as an unsigned free agent before he was finally picked up by the panthers late last month. both reid and kaepernick have filed grievances with the nfl, alleging owners conspired to deny them contracts over their protests. colin kaepernick is still unsigned. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. brett kavanaugh has been swororn in as an associate juste of the supreme court. just hours after the senate voted to confirm him, a massive protest outside the capital. casesl will begin hearing tuesday and could vote as early as tuesday or wednesday on a case that tests how much court -- power courts would wield over

the executive branch. his nomination came under intense public scrutiny after allegations surfaced. one of his accusers, dr. christine blasey ford, testified in front of the judiciary committee about kavanaugh's alleged rape attempt when she was 15 and he was 17. attorney deborah katz told msnbc dr. blasey ford is still living in hiding after her r testimony. >> this has been terrifyingng. her family has been through a lot. they are not living at home. it is s going to be quite e some time b before they are able to live at home. the threats have been unending. itit is deplorable. it has been very frightening. and she has also received extrtraordinary y letters of sut and encouragement. but these threats s are extremey distressing. amy: brett kavanaugh has denied allegations of sexual assault made by dr. blasey ford, as well as well as two more women julie , swetnick and his former yale classmate deborah ramirez who said kavanaugh exposed himself to her during a party.

in a statement released saturday, ramirez said that by their vote the senators were "deliberately ignoring kavanaugh's behavior" adding -- "i feel like i'm right back at yale where half the room is laughing and looking the other way. this is how victims are isolated and silenced." the senate voted saturday to confirm kavanaugh's lifetime appointment to the nation's highest court by a vote of 50-48. lisa murkowski of alaska was the lone republican to oppose kavanaugh's nomination. she voted "present" so that republican senator steve daines of montana could attend his daughter's wedding without voting. senator joe manchin of west virginia was the only democrat to break ranks and back the judge. vice president pence was in the senate gallery to oversee the vote as protesters shouted in opposition. vice pres. pence: sergeant at arms will restore order in a gallery.

>> [indiscernible] vice pres. pence: is there a sufficient second? there is a sufficient second. the clerk will call the roll. the sergeant at arms will restore order in the gallery. >> [inaudible] [indiscernible] amy: saturdaday's vote came aftr republican senator susan collins of maine announced friday that after weeks of suspense that she would vovote to confirm. >> despite the turbulent, bitter fight surrounding his nomominatn

, my fervent hope e is that bret kavanaugh will work to lessen the d divisions in the supreme court so that we have far fewer 5-4 decisions, and so that public confidence in our judiciary and our highest court is restored. mr. p president, i will vote e o confirm judge kavanaugh. amy: during collins' speech, so many users logged onto a crowdfunding website to raise e4 million to support her opponent that it crashed. meanwhile, senate majority leader mitch mcconnell said sunday on fox that the vote could help republicans in november. >> we stood up for the presumption of innocence. intimidated bye

the mob of people that were coming after republican members at their homes, in the halls. these things always blow over. our base is fired up. we finally discovered the one thing that would fire up the republican base, but we do not think of it -- the other side did it. amy: mitch mcconnell also said he was prepared to take up another nomination to supreme court by president trump in 2020, even though he blocked president obama's nomination of merrick garland to the supreme court in 2016 because it was an election year. this comes as trump is already touting kavanaugh's appointment to the supreme court as a major victory. speaking saturday at a rally in topeka, kansas, he urged voters to support republican candidates, saying democrats had become "too extreme and too dangerous to govern." pres. trump: you don't hand matches to an arsonist and you don't give power to an angry,

left-wing mob. anand that is whwhat they have become. amy: for more, we are joined by three guests in washington, d.c. medea benjamin is co-founder of codepink and took part in protests in front of the supreme court saturday against kavanaugh's confirmation. also with us is jodi jacobson, president and editor in chief of rewire. she wrote a piece this weekend headlined, "a 'titanic fraud': susan collins, the 'moderate' who never was." and soraya chemaly is a longtime writer and feminist activist and author of the new book "rage becomes her: the power of women's anger." she is also director of the women's media center speech project and organizer of the safety and free speech coalition. we welcome you all back to democracy now! so that moment at 3:00 on friday when susan collins announced that she would vote to confifirm judge kavanaugh is the next supreme court justice of the united states, jodi jacobson, that is what you focused on in

your column. talk about the significance of this. of course, senator murkowski of alaska announced she would not support judge kavanaugh. in the end, she simply voted "present" to balance out her home e to hiswent daughter's wedding. why do you call her a fraud? >> senator collins has often ,een portrayed as a moderate but that per trail is really an inside the beltway per trail. it is a convenient toll for media pundits use in order to have someone on the republican side they can use to side off with joe manchin. a susan collins is not a moderate. she has voted with mitch mcconnell and with no president trump, most of thehe time.. she has taken a step here -- it is really beyond just a vote. she went on the floor of the senate to literally gaslight the entire nation about the process

and about the nominee himself. she took republican talking process of thee fbi investigation, for example, which was far from complete and far from thorough, and did not even i include in interview with either brett kavanaugh or dr. blasey ford, and called it a complete investigation. it did not have -- there were many, many witnesses that were not called in many leads that were not followed. it was really the academy of windowdressing. so she tried to tell us that a full investigation has been carried out, that she had examined his record and found it to be far more centrist or liberal than other people -- mostly all of them -- have deemed it to be or have read it to be, rather. and then also she then went on to tell dr. blasey ford that she

did not know what she was talking about. in the republican line that goes, we believe dr. blasey ford but we don't think she really her. what happened to her. and if that is not the definition of trying to gaslight someone, i don't know what is. it was deeply, deeply painful. amy: i want to turn to -- i want to tururn to the fact that neitr blasey ford or kavanaugh was interviewed by the fbi. a very different situation than beining questioned at dissident- at the senate judiciary committee. had is what dr. blasey ford called for, an fbi investigation. the criticism at the beginning was, don't just interviewed the two of them, go beyond that. i think very few people thought, maybe mitch mcconnell did, that the two of them weren't going to

be interviewed. and it is particularly significant when it comes to write kavanaugh because he would be under oath. it would not be the democrats asking questions and he could attack them for being democrat and and the republicans simply supporting him. to answer directly fbi questions. can you explain how it was possible that the fbi investigation didn't include interviews with these two primary people? by the white house in conjunction with the republican side of the senate judiciary committee. and they decided together what would happen in the investigation. and literally, there were people that the fbi was not allowed to interview. and among those were kavanaugh and dr. blasey ford. you have a situation where kavanaugh, who lied under oath numerous times outside the scope of this issue of the sexual

assault, but on many other issues, was not being put under oath by the fbi. and if you watched the hearing, when he was questioned repeatedly -- i think was by dick durbin and several others -- would you call for an fbi investigation, he remained silent. so he clearly did not want to be put under oath and he did not want other people to be interviewed. and let's face it, he's spent the better part of the two weeks before the fbi investigation in the white house with don began. so there was no way there was going to be a fair and thorough fbi investigation because he was part of the group calling the shots. i think the key thing here to realize is if you want to justice and if you wanted to really understand if dr. blasey ford had merit and credibility and her claims were credible, then you would want to do a

thorough investigation and you would want to remove any questions. at the reality winner grapple with is they did not care and they did not want to understand. nd that is what -- amy: clearly, they deeply cared about putting him on the supreme court. i want to bring in democratic senator elizabeth moran who spoke on thursday, making a new contents of the fbi documents on kavanaugh that were reviewed by senators in the senate basasement, one after another, not being able to bring in a pen or r take out any note. this is what she said. muzzled.rs have been so i will now say three things the committee staff has explained arare permissible to y withoutt violating committee rule.. ststatements that i have also independentlyy verified as accurarate. one, this wawas not a full and fair investigation. itit was shaharply limited in se

and did not explore the relevant confirmingng f fax. two, the available documents do nott exact -- exonerate mr. kakavanaugh. and d three, the available documents contradict statements mr. kavanaugh made under oath. and because of that is extremely significant becauause people d't knowow what work in those documents that these senators reviewed. in she is saying they were not exonerating. >> right. because i think was very critical for her to say that clearly and loudly because what you have got has been on the other side of the i/o saying, well, these documents show there -- claims.ence if you know what it is like to be gaslight it, when you have been attacked -- and i do -- it is the most dehumanizing kind of

experience to have something happen to you, to try to press for help and have people dismiss you. i can't tell you how collective -- the collective pain of this episode has touched so many women. not only, of course, the women who were there throughout the two weeks protesting at the capital, giving their all, but women throughout this country who have been in the situation and have been gaslighted about it. it is deeply painful. from rewire.obson she wrote a piece this weekend headlined, "a 'titanic fraud': susan collins, the 'moderate' who never was." a crowdfunding site was set up after she said she was voting for kavanaugh. millions was raised for her opponent. the name bandied about was susan

wright and cecille richards. be back with reaction in the streets and in the senate chamber in a moment. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. brett kavanaugh was sworn in saturday as the ninth associate jujustice of the uniteted statea print court, just hours after the senate voted to confirm him amidst massive protests outside the capital that have been going outside.eks inside and as we continue with our guest, we're joined by soraya chemaly, who is author of a brand-new book called "rage becomes her: the power of women's anger." and medea benjamin was out on saturday, outside the u.s. supreme court at the capital, people protesting inside and out. describe the scene for us. >> it was an extraordinary outpouring of rage. and people were just flooding steps, the court

capital, people getting arrested in civil disobedience. in extremely diverse crowd. young people with their babies in strollers, older people, diverse in racial composition. it was quite extraordinary. i think while we knew donald trump was going to put somebody into the supreme court who was anti-choice, pro-corporate, pro-executive power, at least with this nomination, we raised the #metoo movement to another level. we have thousands and thousands of new activists, and hopefully, millions of people who will be fired up to go to the polls in november. amy: your response to the confirmation of now justice kavanaugh, who will begin tomorrow, the day after this national holiday? >> it is an outrage. it is an outrage because the people who voted for him, not listening to dr. ford.

it is an outrage because of the way he reacted during the hearing, which totally should have disqualified him, the sarcasm and nastiness, the disrespect. and i just hope that we really do have a movement, that people don't forget this moment because he is 53 years old. he will be on the score for decades to come, and doing rulings that are against the interest of us, whether it is on voting rights issues, immigrant rights, or per issues -- all of these issues. we need a movement that goes to the polls but organizes outside the electoral sphere as well and that is the only way we're going to counter this appoint a. you haveya chemaly, been traveling the country with your new book " becomes her: the rage becomes her: the power of women's anger." i don't know if it couould have been timed any better. talk about the response around the country and what has happened at this time. >> i think it is clear that women on the left are galvanized

by what is happening. is as well, but the momentum really coming from women as we have seen over and over again during these protest. on the right, there is similar anger. i would say it is looking backwards as opposed to looking forwards. there's a different sensibility. i clearly, women who were maybe complacent before who were willing to let things slide a little bit are no longer doing that. i think they are fed up. i think they are scared. i think they are worried. and they're interested in holding people accountable in a way maybe wasn't true even several years ago. amy: i want to turn to mitch mcconnell, the senate majority leader, speaking saturday about the impact of kavavanaugh's on e -- impact of kavanaugh's confirmation on the upcoming midterm elections. >> the tactics that have been employed by both democratic

senators and by the virtual mob that has assaulted all of us in hascourse of this process turned our base on fire. they managed to deliver the living we had not been able to figure out how to do, which was to get our f folks fired up. e other siside is obviously fired up. they have in all your. amy: he talked about the mob. medea benjamin, describe what you saw outside. >> it is not just what i saw outside, but what has been happening the last several weeks, particularly inside the offices of the senators. it has been extraordinary having people come -- hundreds of them from around the country -- just office, thekowski's people who came from alaska, the from maine, pouring hearts out. i've not seen so much emotion, the tears and love, for those telling her stories. sometimes for the first time in their lives, opening up like

this. so to call as a mob is such a level of disrespect. there is a new movement in this country that the #metoo has gone further and deeper and now giving voice to people who just feel they need to be heard. and the fact they demanded their senators listen to them, whether it was in the elevators, the hallways, in the halls, or the kind of speak out that were happening outdoors as well, this is unprecedented. and i hope that it is deep enough that it is forming a strong, cohesive movement among people that will resonate through this country and change the culture that our country the way that young people are brought up, the way carrots teach their children to respect -- respect for women and men. amy: this is #metoo founder tarana burke on sunday.

>> we're set a precedent in this country of not believing -- of thinking women in particular are lying when they come forward with these allegations. when people come forward with these allegations. it is about, can we start with people do not often lie about the pain and trauma of sexual violence. ifif we start with that premise, if you believe it is true, then yoyou can have an investstigati. you u can have an interrrrogatif the facts and that kind of thing. this is not to say believe people blanket andnd don't investigate and don't do anything else besides believe them. amy: soraya chemaly, can you respond to tarana burke, who in 2006 coined the term #metoo that alyssa milano, the actress, thtn that the on that day harvey weinstein article was first written about him attacking so many women and went to sleep and the response to her saying "if something has happened to you, please respond

with #metoo" and she was just inundated? >> i think it is very clear that while people are talking about the presumption of innocence, they are not talking about the presumption of innocence for survivors and people who have been assaulted. dr. christinethat o ory ford was confused lying unless you presume that she is guilty of lying or not knowing what she's talking about. and the whole sham of the investigation and the course of this confirmation, i think, a tests to the real fear with #metoo, which is not as the president said that women will lie and destroyed the lives of men, but that women are telling the truth. if women are telling the truth, then it is not just an indictment of a few bad apples, but an indictment of the entire system and the treatment of survivors and the women by men

with power, particularly on the right. and so this idea that people are lying, which is absurd on the face of it because no one has anything to gain ultimately by coming forward with the stores -- i mean, look at the outcome of this. dr. ford is hiding because of violent threats and brett kavanaugh is about to become a supreme court justice. amy: he has. >> never again should anyone fear that this is running a man's life, that boys are in danger -- in this case, young because that is really the only way you can interpret what the president has said. amy: you write in your book that rage is hard for women to express. i was wondering if you can talk about that? and also, syntel -- senator mcconnell's observation of the mobs? is useful for mitch mcconnell to talk about a

mob. these are citizens. they articulate in their needs and defending their rights. they happen mainly to be women, which means they're associated with unhinged emotions. and you can see that in multiple forms of commentary coming from his party. but i think we all understand them as certainly as women, that anger in the expression of anger comes with penalties for women. we're socialized to put others first, to restrain our expressions of negative emotions because it causes discomfort, and even as little girls, the reward is for being nice and pleasing, not for being assertive or aggressive -- neither which implies we are angry, by the way. it is just the assertiveness and aggression and anger are not separated and the behavior and responses to girls and women. so i think what we're seeing now in this explosion of women's upling is clearly a pent the to be listened to and

demand of the gas lighting stop, that the doubting stop, and the disregard for our right as citizens come to an end. about kavanaugh's in thersus blasey ford testimony. >> yes. youras so composed and in -- and demure. she went out of her way to try to put others at ease, which i think is fairly common for women in her situation, certainly, knowing with equal

dignity and with the knowledge that we have accrued some expertise, and then we are sort of slap in the face of the information that our amle peers do not feel that way at all. kavanaugh came in roaring and indignant and petulant. overwhelmednality

everything else in the room. he could do that because in our culture, there is an essential core of rationality that is associated with being a man. it asked the did not degrade the idea that he could think clearly. whereas if you are a woman, you don't have that -- people don't presume that about you. you are all emotionality and if by chance you think clearly, that is sort of layered on top feeling, orientation we're supposed to naturally have as women -- which is nonsense. or are no more rational logical than women are. and women are no more unhinged and emotional than men. that was very clear from the confirmation hearing. amy: a lot of the discussion has been about the midterm elections. .his has galvanized the right many republicans are saying. adjusting the, shortly after kavanaugh was confirmed to the supreme court, republican

congressman steve king tweeted a photo of a sleeping infant and said -- "soon, babies like this little angel will be protected in the womb by law." of course, referring to the overturning of roe v wade. as we wrap up, since you have just come from this book tour around the country, how people are continuing to organize -- or do you think this stops women in their tracks? >> oh, gosh, no. very clearly, i think that maybe one of the most formidable confrontations of what we have been living with is about to come. i think this is not stopping anything in its tracks. if we're looking at a 1212 hour clock, we're probably at second three or four. the truth is that a lot of people would like #metoo and any suggestions that #metoo has goled or come to an end to

away. it is not an end. it is a beginning. this is not a movement that is about to come to a close or is looking back. it really is an incredibly sustained and committed challenge to the systemic abuses. amy: soraya chemaly, thank you for being with us, "rage becomes her: the power of women's anger." medea benjamin, we are asking you to stay with us as we turn to a very different story right now. what has happened to jamal khashoggi. he walks into the saudi istanbul, turkey. he is a columnist for "the washington post." and he never comes out, as far as anyone knows. he is believed to be dead. what happened? stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. fears are growing over the missing saudi journalist jamal khashoggi as turkish officials say they believe he has been

murdered in the saudi consulate in istanbul, turkey last week. he was a columnist for "the washington post." he is been living in self-imposed exile in the united states. he entereded the consulate seekg a d dument to get marriried. "t"the washihington postst" reps the turkish investigation reveals about 15 saudi men travel to the symbol to kill jamal khashoggi as he visited the consulate. saudi officials have denied the report and say they don't know the journalists whereabouts. in an interview last week with bloomberg, the saudi crown prince said the saudi working to know what t happened to jajamal khkhashoggii wouldld allow turkh officials to enter the search the premises. when he was pressed about whether jamal khashoggi face charges in saudi arabia, he evaded questions. chris murphy tweeted --

last week "the washington post" , , printed a blank column in support of khashoggi. vote" titled "a missing with just his byline. thea missing voice" was headline. our next guest is mehdi hasan who interviewed khashoggi. , he said he is grading "an interesting form of dictatorship. how so? >> he is gathering all power within his hand will stop it would be much better for him to allow a breathing space for critic, foror saudi intellectua, media, to debate the most important needed transformation going into the country. what he is doing i called for and got fired for, allowing women to drive for for a woman

to be in power, or to limit the power of the religious establishment. i demand a that. but it is an important transformation that requires all of us to contribute to it metoo discuss it, a and no onone shoue jailed. amy: we go now to washington, d.c., where we're joined by mehdi hasan who was interviewing jamal khashoggi. is the host of "upfront" at al jazeera english. .lso with us, medea benjamin we welcomeme you both to democry now! talk about the latest news and what we understand at t this pot has happened to jamal khashoggi. >> over the weekend, amy, we had turkish government officials and police officers and advisors to erdogan stating to the media

cameassassination team from saudi arabia, 15 of them allegedly, to the consulate where jamal khashoggi inter-last tuesday to get this documentation for his marriage with his fiancee waiting outside. allegedly, killed him inside the consulate. there are reportsts s body may have been cut up and taken out of the embassy in boxes in a car.. it is horrific stuff we're hearing. the saudis deny this. interestingly, the consulate took a group of i think reuters journalists around the consulate, opening the doors of closets, very austin tatian's, to show he is not in the building -- ostentatious, to show he is not in the building. they have no video footage of him leaving. how convenient. the saudis are involved in the disappearance of jamal khashoggi . it is looking like he is dead. several days without no proof of life. this is a horrific escalation in

the crown prince's campaign to silence dissent, to silence any at home orrom saudis abroad. it is deeply concerning. not sit byhohould silently, but a speck they will. amy: talk about who jamal khashoggi -- i don't even know whether to say is or was. >> h he was one of thehe most prominentt saudi voices, journalists, everyone in the western media knew him. he was the access for the saudi royal family for a long time. he was an adviser to saudi royals like the ambassador to the u.s., former saudi intelligence chief. he was advdvisor to a prominent wealthy saudi prince. yet appeared on many tv shows. he was well known here in washington, d.c., where he lived in 2017 when he felt the new crown prince was not letting him speak freely on twitter, wasn't letting him write articles. and he was not in opposition

figure. he was down a dissident. he supported saudi arabia and the royal family. what he did not like was the autocracy, even by the standards of autocratic saudi rulers. calling fornot elections, just let me right. let me be a journalist. the people say what they want to say even if they are mildly critical. it just goes how to show how thin-skinned mbs is, that someone likike jamal l khashogga member off the sauaudi establisishment, not calling for elections, just saying, you know, let's have some better reforms and be part of this reform project you claim to be leading. if even he is seen as a threat and someone who can be taken out, says a native, extrajudicially killed in a foreign country, what does that and howt, a, mbs intolelerant he is, and, b, what does that say about saudis who want to be critical? we're living in a world where

journalists are being brutally murdered. that is why people need to say something about this. but we know -- amy, we have discussed the saudis get a pass. mbs is acting like colonel gaddafi. amy: and he is very close to jared kushner from the son-in-law and senior adviser to president trump. has the white house said anything about what is happening right now to jamal khashoggi? >> they are saying that are following the story, which is their way of sayining, we don't really want to say anything. trump and jared kushner are very close to mbs. they've backed him as he took out rival members of his family and basically took control of the kingdom. trump was an last recount much he loved the saudi king, they just wanted to she just wanted them to pay more for their defense. they're not when it say anything. the canadians put out a mild rightsriticizing women's

in saudi arabia. the saudis went crazy and checked out the canadian ambassador, launched an online campaign attacking canada. where was the u.s. when these two allies were having a rouh? they are staying out of it. if this. making more public accusations about saudi's role of the killings, that i suspect the americans will try to stay out of it as well because they don't want to upset the saudis. trump said d the monarchyhy would quickly collapse without u.s. support. inwas speaking mississippi. pres. trump: we protect saudi arabia. would you say they are rich? i love the king but i said, king, we're protecting you. you might not be there for two weeks without us. you have to pay for your military. you have to pay. amy: so that was president trump

speaking in mississippi. i want to bring medea benjamin from codepink. you also knew jamal khashoggi. can you talk about what has happened to him and what is happening with u.s.-saudi relationships? >> we don't know what happened to him but if indeed it turns out he was murdered inside the saudi consulate, this has to be a turning point. he is somebody who worked in the united states, a resident of the united states, worked for "the washington post." he is a well-known journalist, a mild critic, heart of the royal opposition. if they can do this to him, it is outrageous. i think it has to be put in the context of the saudi -- that the ofwn prince mbs is out control. what he is doing in yemen, the bombing of schoolchildren, the in lebanon, then throwing in prison of women activists, of scholars. he is crating and economic war

with qatar. he is out of control. at some point we have to break relations with saudi. it is just -- so much of this is about weapons sales. we have to say the weapons companies cannot control our policy. i was heartened to see over the weekend some tweets, not just by people like chris murphy who is been good on this issue, but also by marco rubio. we need our senators, and people to say enough is enough. if indeed this is true, there have to be severe consequences, sanctions is the saudis, and it has to be the beginning of our break and a relationship with saudi arabia. amy: reuters reported that turkey has asked for permission to search saudi arabia's consulate in istanbul after the saudi journalist jamal khashoggi went missing last week. jamal khashoggi's fiancee hatice cengiz is the reason he went into the embassy. accompanied him to the saudi

consulate in istanbul. she waited for him outside until after midnight, returning on wednesday morning. she tweeted saturday she would not believe anything until she receives official confirmation writing -- "jamal was not killed and i do not believe he was killed." the turkish officials say they see from closed circuit around, very busy area, around the consulate, they see he went in. they don't see him coming out. medea benjamin? certainly seems like he was killed inside the embassy. 15 people -- the consulate. 15 people came and. the turks know they flew in a flu out afterwards. they have footage of the 15 people. they have footage of the cars. they're going to be making statementsts very soon. we need to get the facts out but i think after all of these days, wewe can recognize that these saudi have e brought in a 15 5 o get t rid of a a credit, again,a

mild critic. as mehdi hasan said, what does this mean to journalists? what does this mean to saudis who are living in exile? what does it mean to saudis living here in the united states? they are full of fear. i have friends or that our freight for their lives. something has to be done to get at the truth. but also, something about accountability and u.s.s.-saudi relations. amy: mehdi hasan, i would ask about senator murphy's treat saying "if this is true, that the saudis lured a u.s. resident into their consulatete and murdered him, it should represent a phenomenal break in our relationship with saudi arabia." your final response -- also, that what he last said to you? >> i'm glad senator murphy said that. i interviewed him recently and he was not willing to say saudi arabia wasn't an ally in the way bernie sanders has, for example, but there is a shifting.

marco rubio as well. what are the libiberals going to say? b bezos, met zuckerbergrg and bill gates and all of these people falling over to meet him. are ththey going to say anytythg about this? my heart goes out to his fiancee. it is horrible news. when i last saw jamaal, we were joking in the green room of al jazeera about nbs being in town and did he feel safe. here is a man who wrote "i've a voice that people in saudi arabia don't and i'm going to use it." he knew the risks, but idle think even he thought this would happen -- but even i don'n't thk you gogot this wouldld happen. the united states government and the u.s. media stays quiet, i think that will be just astonishing. amy: i want to thank you both for being with us to talk about this.

"the washington post" also calling this an attack on journalism, demanding answers for their columnist. we will continue to follow the case of jamal khashoggi. medea benjamin and mehdi hasan, thank you for joining us. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed