10/15/18 10/15/18 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now! pres. trump: there is something really terrible and disgusting about that, if that were the case. where going to have to sesee. we are g going to the bottom of it. and there are or to be severe punishments. amy: joururnalist jamal khashogi entered the sasaudi arabiaian consulate in istanbul nearly two weeks ago and was never seen again. despite suspicion khashoggi was murdered inside, president trump says he still opposes ending

billions in weapons sales to the kingdom. we'll get response from longtime saudi dissident ali al-ahmed, who was a political prisoner in saudi arabia when he was 14 years old. he's now director of the institute for gulf affairs. then amnesty international says immigration officials forcibly separated as many as 6000 migrant families at the u.s.-mexico border, much more than previously estimated. now as thousands continue to flee violence and seek asylum, trump says he may resume the family separation policy. we'll get an update from aclu lalawyer lee gelernt. >> that is exactly what the administration's plan was, stop people from coming over here because the e word will get out that you will lose your children. even if f you have a legitimate asylum claim, they want you to give it up so you can see your child again. it is as b bad as anything i hae

ever seen. amy: and we go to el salvador, where thousands celebrate the canonization of archbishop oscar romero, a champion for the poor and oppressed who was murdered by a u.s.-backed right-wing death squad in 1980. >> it is wonderful that together with pop paul and other saints, there's archbishop romero. safety in order to give his life according to the gospel, with a heart drawn to jesus and his brothers and sisters. amy: the pope was speaking at the vatican. we will speak with human rights lawyer matt eisenbrandt, author of "assassination of a saint: the plot to murder oscar romero and the ququest to bring his killers to justice." all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. saudi arabia will allow turkey

to search its consulate in istanbul monday afternoon, nearly two weeks after prominent jojournalist and "washington po" columnist jamal khashoggi entered ththe consulate on octor 2 and has not been seen since. this news comes amid mounting international demands that saudi arabia explain the shocking disappearance after turkish officials accused the saudis of assassinating khashoggi, dismembering him, and smuggling body parts out of the consulate. in an interview with cbs's "60 minutes come copresident trump said saudi arabia would suffer severe consequences if was found responsible. but trump has repeatedly said he opposes ending u.s. weapons sales to the kingdom, which he claims are worth $110 billion to u.s. companies. pres. trump: there are many other things we could do, but $110 billionaway

of purchases from our country, that h hurts our workers, our factories, hurts all of our companies -- you are talking about 500,000 jobs. so we do that, we are really hurting our country a lot more than we are hurting saudi arabia. amy: over the weekend, dick durban, the senate's number-two ranking democrat, called on trump to cancel the u.s. arms deal with saudi arabia. some republicans appear open to the idea. this is republican senator marco rubio of florida speaking on nbc's "meet the press." to be true,s proven there is going to be a response from congress. it will be nearly unanimous. itit will be swept. it could include arm sales, but it could include a bunch of other things as well. amy: top executives at jpmorgan chase, ford, uber, viacom, and other companies have pulled out of a planned investors' conference in saudi arabia next week nicknamed davos in the desert. u.s. treasury secretary steven mnuchin, whose department

stilles u.s. sanctions, plans to attend, despite cynicism from both parties. -- criticism from both parties. we will have more after the headlines. in yemen, at least 19 people were killed and another 30 people injured saturday, as a u.s.-backed saudi-led d rstrike , , struck a convoy of buses ful of civilians fleeing an assault on y yemen's port city of hodei. among the dead were women and children, including five members ofof the same family. a similar u.s.-backed assault on yemen in august killed 51 people, including 40 children. e united nations has warnened the saudi-leled bombing mpaiaign has brought 13 million people to the brink of starvation, as yemen's fofood crisis coululd sn become the world's worst famine in a century. back in the united states, president trump is traveling to georgia and florida today to tour devastation l left behind

afafter hurricane michaeael hite florida panhandle as one of the most powerful storms ever to strike the u.s. mainland. the hurricane left 13 people dead in central america. the death toll in the u.s. has reached 19, with another 46 people missing and unaccounted for in mexico beach, florida, where entire blocks of houses were flattened by the storm. on sunday, president trump once again questioned the overwhelming scientific consensus that human activity is driving global temperatures higher and leading to more powerful storms. this is trump p being questioned by lesley stahl of cbs's "60 minutes." >> do you ststill think that climate change is a hoax? pres. trump: look, i think something is happening, it is changing, and it will change back again. i don't think it is a hoax, but i don't know that it is man-made. i will say this,s, i don't wanto

give trillions and trillions of dollars -- i don't to lose millions and millions of jobs. i don't want to be put at a disadvantage. amy: last week, a u.n.-appointed panel of climate scientists warned in a landmark report that humanity has only a dozen years to mitigate climate change or face global catastrophe, with severe droughts, floods, sea level rise, and extreme heat set to cause mass displacement and poverty. the senate has confirmed the lawyer who defended oil giant bp from lawsuits over the 2010 deepwater horizon oil spill as the trump administration's top environmental lawyer. jeffrey bossert clark was approved on a 52-to-45 vote thursday after democrats joe manchin and claire mccaskill sided with republicans to appoint him as assistant attorney general for environment and natural resources. clark has repeatedly challenged the science of climate change, calling it contestable.

tens of thousands of people marched in paris a and in other major cities across france saturday demanding meaningful action on climate change. thousands more marched in geneva, switzerland. this is greenpeace switzerland spokesperson mathias schlegel. climate getsthe warmer, even by 1/10 of a degree, it has a lot of consequences. for example, if the client gets warmer by 1.5 degrees, we can save certain glaciers in switzerland. by two degrees, we can't save any. if the climate gets warmer by 1.5 degrees, with tens of up to one third of the coral reefs. if you gets warmer by two degrees, we can't. amy: in somalia, a pair of suicide bombers struck in the southern somali city of baidoa on saturday, killing 20 people and wounding 40 others. the militant group al shabaab claimed responsibility for the blasts, which targeted two restaurants s frequented by government soldiers.

in nigeria, a militia fighting boko haram has released 833 children from its ranks as part of a deal signed last year to end the group's recruitment of child soldiers. this comes as the international committee of the red cross released an urgent appeal for two aid workers who are being held captive by boko haram and could be killed on monday according to a deadline issued by the militant group. in t the gaza strip, isrsraeli foforces shot and killeded seven palestinians friday as they protested near israel's heavily militarized separation barrier. gaza's health ministry reported more than 250 others were wounded as israeli troops opened fire with live ammunition on some 15,000 palestinians who joined weekly "great march of return" protests. the latest deaths bring the number of palestinians killed to over 200 since the protests began in march. in western turkey, at least 22

mimigrants d died and 13 otherse injured sunday after a truck they were riding in crashed through a barrier and landed in an irrigation canal. the migrants had reportedly arranged f for traffickers to te them by boat to the nearby greek island of sasamos, where they hoped to apply for asylum in the e.u. in germany, the party of chancellor angela merkel suffered losses in bavarian regional elections sunday that saw big gains for the green party, while the far-right afd, or alternative for germany party, won enough votes to enter the state assembly for the first time. the election threatens merkel's 13-year hold on power as german voters increasingly polarize over whether to allow in refugees and asylum-seekers. the bavarian elections came as nearly a quarter million people rallied in the german capital berlin on saturdayay, protesting against racism, xenophobia and the rise of the afd partrty. at the vatican pope francis has , named salvlvadoran archbishohp

oscar romero a s saint, 38 years after he was murdered by a u.s.-backed righght-wing death sqsquad at the beginning of the brutal u.s.-backed war in el salvador. only weeks before his assassination, romero wrote a letter to president jimmy carter, calling on him to nonot provide military aid to ththe riright-wing s salvadoran mility governmement. in the archbishop's final and now-famous sermon, he made a direct appeal to salvadoran soldiers to lay down their weapons. >> in his name, in the name of our tormented people who have suffered so much and whose laments cry out to heaven, i am floor you, i beg you, i order you to stop the repression. amy: the next day come oscar romero was fatally shot from a car at the church were he was giving mass. we'll have more on oscar romero's canonization later in the broadcast.

we will have the author of "assassination of a saint." back in the united states, the trump administration is considering plans to resume forcibly separating migrant children from their families along the u.s.-mexico border. the washington post reported friday that one white house plan saidhe washington post" stephen miller is asking for tougher measures for those who continue to seek asylum in the u.s. after fleeing violence in guatemala, el salvador, and honduras. one plan would see asylum seeking families detained together for up to 20 days after which parents would be forced to decide whether tuesday detained for months or years while the immigration case proceed or to allow the children to be taken to a government shelter where their relatives or others could seek custody. we will have more on trump's family separation policy later in the broadcast. "the new york times" reports that president trump's

son-in-law and senior adviser jared kushner appears to have paid almost no federal income taxes over the past several years, even as his net worth quintupled to over $320 million. "the times" reports the tax dodge appears to have been legal, based on kushner's claims of depreciation on millions of dollars of real estate holdings that in fact gained market value. last year, the republican-led congress approved a sweeping tax bill that expanded benefits to real estate investors, including the trump and kushner families. a government accountability watchdog says white house press secretary sarah huckabee sanders violated federal law when she posted a photo of rapper kanye west on her official white house twitter account. in the photo, sanders is seen smiling is she poses next to west, who's wearing a red "make america great again" hat.

in march, the u.s. office of special counsel said that any official white house communication promoting trump's signature campaign slogan is a clear violation of the hatch act, which restricts employees from using their official government positions for partisan political purposes. massachusetts senator elizabeth warren has released a dna test that provides strong evidence of partial native american lineage in her family tree dating back 6 to 10 generations. she released the test results monday, alalong with t the video about heher family h heritage. the move c comes in reresponse o president trp'p'repepeat mocking of senat w warr's previoustatementon her native hitage. trump has repeatedly rererred her p pocahtas,s, iludingngs cently alast wee st monthsenator warren said a town ll meeti that she woul"take a rd look"t a 2020residentl run afr the midter.

the ump admistrations consering nerestrictns on free eression tside th white use thatould see demonstrators forced to pay to hold protests. a proposal filed by interior secretary ryan zinke would see the national parks service close 80% of the sidewalks around the presidential mansion, including barring protests along the sidewalk north of the white house, while requiring protest organizers to cover the cost of police and support services. today, october 15, is the last day open to publicly comment on the plan. senate democrats have agreed to a republican plan to fast-track the approval of 15 of president trump's nominees to lifetime appointments on federal courts. the agreement, made in a closed-door meeting late thursday between senate minority leader chuck schumer and republican leader mitch mcconnell, will allow vulnerable senate democrats to return to their home states to campaign for november's midterm

elections. critics say democrats could have fought the nominations and forced 30 hours of debate on each candidate. in new york city, members of the white supremacist group known as the proud boys violently attacked people on a manhattan street friday night after attending a talk by the group's founder gavin mcinnes. in video captured of the incident, dozens of members of the extremist group can be seen kicking and punching anti-fascist protesters while shouting homophobic expletives. the southern poverty law center classifies the proud boys as a hate group, and some of its members participated in the deadly unite the right rally in charlottesville last august. and in washington, d.c., episcopal church leaders have interred the ashes of matthew shepard in the national cathedral. in 1998, shepard, who was just

lured from a was laramie, wyoming, bar, robbed for $20 cash, lashed to a fence, bludgeoned in the head with a pistol and left to die on the prairie. his killing shocked the conscience of the nation and spurred the lgbt rights movement. in 2009, congress passed the matthew shepard act, which expanded hate crimes laws to cover those targeted over their sexual orientation. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. saudi arabia will allow turkey to search its consulate in istanbul monday afternoon, nearly two weeks after prominent journalist, "washington post" columnist jamal khashoggi entered the coulate october 2 and has not been seen since. this news comes amid mounting

international outcry that saudi arabia explain khashoggi's shocking disappearance after turkish officials accused the saudis of assassinatating khashoggi, dismemembering him, d smuggling body parts out of the consulate. in an inteterview with cbs's "60 minutes," trump said saudi arabia would suffer severe consequences if it was found responsible, but he has repeatedly said he opposes ending u.s. weapons sales to the kingdom, which he claims are worth $110 billion to u.s. companies. pres. trump: there is a lot at stake. becausespecially so this man was a reporter. really terrible and disgusting about that, if that were the case. we're going to have to see. we're goioing to go to the bottm of it and there will be severe punishment. amy: the saudi foreign ministry has responded to trump's threat

saying if it "receives any action, it will respond with greater action." the saudis deny khashoggi was killed in their consulate. over the weekend, dick durbin, the senate's number-two ranking democrat, called on trump to cancel the u.s. arms deal with saudi arabia. some republicans appear open to the idea. this is republican senator marco rubio of florida speaking on nbc's "meet the press." >> what i do think a shocking is an in fact he was lured into a diplomatic facility, murdered, body chopped up, and they sent a group of people down there to carry this out, that would be an outrage. that would be an atrocity. there would be a swift response, surly from congress. amy: top executives at several companies including jpmorgan chase, ford, uber, viacom, and other major companies have pulled out of a planned investors' conference in saudi arabia next week nicknamed . most in the desert. u.s. treasury secretary steven mnuchin, whose department enforces u.s. sanctions, has not

announced plans to pull out. this comes as the united nations reports yemen could face the worst famine in 100 years if the u.s.-bacacked saudi coalalitions not halt airstrikes. three quarters of yemenis, some 22 million people, are dependent onon international aid with the estimated 8.4 million people on the brink of starvation. for more, we go to washington, d.c., where we are joined by ali al-ahmed, saudi dissident. he is the founder and director of the institute for gulf affairs. he was a political prisoner in saudi arabia when he was 14 years old, the youngest political prisoner at that time. we welcome you back to democracy now! can you start off by talking about what we know at this point? i mean, what is public knowledge, what "washington post" and the turkish government has talked about so far is that

on october 2, jamal khashoggi consulate in saudi istanbul. he had originally gone into the saudi embassy in washington, d.c.. he was told to go to the one in turkey. he was applying for marriage papers. his fiancee is turkish. she waited outside for him in istanbul will stop he went to the turkish consulate. they told him to come back a week later. he flew out, went to a meeting, conference in london, flew back and it was then on october 2, as she waited outside and would wait for many, many hours that day outside the consulate, he walked inside. that is the last time we havave seen video, closed circuit tv, of jamal khashoggi. talk about what is known after that point, ali al-ahmed. >> as we have known from the turkishh sources, and my sources

close to the government and the investigation, is that -- and the person i spoke to is a person who actually heard the audio of the murder. he said everything is clear. they may be negotiating about releasing it with the saudis. it shows the collection of videos in the audio specifically shows mr. khashoggi was killed just hours after he entered the consulate, and thenen dismember. the audio shows who actually did act,ork or this gruesosome thisis isis-style murder. disistributedts werere in different bags and moved througugh the house of the consulate e and other places. and maybe some were taken out of the country as well. so you are looking at a very

convincing e evidence of this murder happening inside the saudii consulate, with the knowledge of the consusular saudis who those 15 tow in on saudi royal jets carry the work. and they did not cover their tracks. they did not try. they wanted this message to be known. they wanted the w world and ther followers, specifically, given that mr. khashoggi was a loyalist and continue to be a supporter of the monarchy, you -- they wanted to send a gruesome message that if you oppose us, if you criticize us, we will do this to you in public . remember, in saudi arabia, every week the saudi government carries out public executions that they don't need to do in the streets, but to cut people and behead them in the streets

is intended to spread fear among the population. what happened to mr. khashoggi is just another example. it is a mistake public beheading -- it is almost a public the heading of a loyalist turn critic to scare those loyalists in the palace from doing the same. that message is intended, premeditated murder of khashoggi, is intended to do that. they have enabled this by supporting this dictatorship for 60 years. you is the result what have. amy: i want to go to the spececifics of what you are saying. "the washington post" reporting the turkish government told u.s. officials it has audio and video evidence that khashoggi, jamal killed inside the saudi consulate in istanbul. officials saying the recordings confirm a saudi security team to

tame khashoggi as he walked into the consulate october 2 before killing him and dismembering his body. the full audio and video recordings have not yet been released. one person with knowledge of the auto recordings told "the washington post" you can hear his voice and the voices of men speaking arabic. you can hear how he was tortured and then murdered. "the washington post" has reported based on u.s. intelligence intercepts the crown prince had directly ordered an operation to lurk khashoggi back to saudi arabia. the turkish government has accused saudi arabia flying to play did it turkey carrying 15 minutes assassination squad to carry out the murder. one was reportedly a forensic rapid known for applying autopsies. the men used a bone saw to dismember khashoggi's body before smuggling body parts out of the consulate. according to "the washington post," at least seven of the other 15 saudi men have ties to the saudi militatary.

the plane said left istanbul with dust within eight hours of khashoggi entering the consulate . one of them going through egypt, back to saudi arabia. the significance of this? >> one flew through egypt and want to the uae. let's remember in the region, uae, egypt to saudi arabia, allah is against turkey. there is already sort of two sides to the story. so the saudi egyptians, and variety alliance, -- emira allies has ate problem of turkey. they host dissidents from these countries, especially from egypt or the even have tv stations and so on. this has happened after the coup in egypt in 2013. there is an intention to have this split and increasing class with turkey with these countries. i think that is why they chose turkey. you're absolutely right.

my information so far indicates that mr. khashoggi who lives in washington, did try to get these papers donone in washingtoton ae could have in normal circumstances. but he was told to go to turkey. and that indicates the embassy here and the ambassador here is somewhat involved in this murder. that is why i don't think the u.s. government should let him come back again. this was a plan that took a while. they thought about it. at the killed team here was connected to mohammed someone. two of his bodyguards are part of that team that killed. one of them is the person who cut up the body. there are two ofofhem that d did that. i think one of them is mbs' own bodyguard. amy: i want to read from an fianceeamal khashoggi's wrote for "the new york times [captioning made possible by democracy now!] in it she writes --

and you have saudi arabia most recently on twitter congratulating the trump administration for not jumping to any conclusions and awaiting their own investigation. ali al-ahmed, then you have the close relationship between the many call mbs, and the senior adviser to president , who some,d kushner i understand, in a region called the crown prince mbs and the clown prince. if you could talk about that and whether the united states had information that they should have released because khashoggi

was a resident in the united states, to him, about threats to him by the saudi regime, their close ally? >> yes, the u.s. definitely had that information and did not share it with them. they bear part of the responsibility. because a man is dead in a horrific manner. those people sitting in washington knew something was being planned. i am afraid that there is a desire sometimes in the circus in washington to have these -- i wasne because told that many times, we don't want to complicate our relationship with saudi arabia. why are you saying these things? because that makes it hard for us. mr. khashoggi was not working for the u.s. government. my reaction, i don't work for you, i can write whatever i want.

if it bothers you, tough luck. in ank this are should be mystic -- i think there should be an investigation. the fact he was not being told about these plans. saudis was athe big mistake. unfortunately, the last mistake of his life. you cannot trust the saudis. they have done this before and they will do it again. enablers of the house of sauud must apologize and do something to rectify past decades of support. i know some people in washington and around the united states will support the saudi monarchy ever to the saudi monarchy is , have parts ine this crime and other crimes the saudis are committing in yemen, the worst manager in catastrophe, the starvation of the m&a people, the killing of tens of thousands of yemeni children.

that is most outrageous. it should receive the attention. i think the american people have an opportunity to show their true nature by making sure that government is not supporting the war in yemen and not suppressing the oppressive monarchy. americans, you removed an absolute monarchy to build the united states of america. please, think about that when you talk about my people who are being oppressed by an absolute monarchy that is even more aggressive than the british monarchy that took over this land hundreds of years ago. amy: i want to thank you very much for being with us. what do you think will be the next step, ali al-ahmed? i mean, if the saudi government is conducting the investigation, what prevents them f from saying anyone that they want to blame it on? the turkish government

conducting the investigation. what do you think would be an independent investigation? and what do you think is the most important for the u.s. government to make, not only the trump administration, the right now congress? ,e just introduced ro khanna leading one of those come along with bernie sanders, leading the charge to stop funding the saudi regime in its war against yemen. we have our headline just today, in yemen, at least 19 people killed and another 30 injured in the u.s.-backed, saudi led airstrike. a convoy fleeing hodeida. what would be the most important move right now? >> i think the most important point now is to target the saudi senior leadership with sanctions. we don't want in iraq-style that kills our people. , targetednctions

sanctions against mbs. amy: it is interesting you should raise the abacus steve mnuchin, whose department is in charge of that, treasury secretary, has still not said he will not go to the davos in the manyt conference despite corporations, because it enormous pressure was put on them, pulling out of this conference. -- american people can pressure those companies that are supporting -- when mr. salman came to the united states, he now with bloomberg and zuckerberg and bill gates and us people who basically whitewashed a dictator, and they played into his hand or they theseted him to make crimes happen. it is important to pressure the private sector to pullout from the saudi arabia and supporting mbs as a dictator.

it must be weakening. we must weaken the monarchy. america, honestly, should rethink the saudi monarchy. reportershave -- some say, maybe mbs is that and we get another prince. it is un-american to suggest a dictator in a place of another dictator. it is disgusting. we must really though everything because they have caused you 9/11 and they will cause you greater problems if they stick around. really, anything you c c do, pressure the saudi monarchy. they are the proroblem. it is the momonarchy that are te problem, not a peoeople. that is w why they shouldld be targeted with sanctions, with freezing their assetsecause the money then given to americans, it is stolen money from the coffers of the people of my country. so anybody in america who gets paid from saudi prince and the saudi government, that is stolen

money from the people of our country who suffer greatly. amy: ali al-ahmed, thank you for being with us, saudi dissident and founder and director of the institute for gulf affairs. at the time, he was the youngest local prisoner in saudi arabia when he e was 14 years old. when we come back, is president trump planning to once again separate children from their parents when they come across the border? aclu's leeak to o the gelernt. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the trump administration is reportedly considering plans to resume its policy of forcibly separating children from their parents along the u.s.-mexico border, even as the full number of people torn apart the last time it carried out the widely condemned practice remains unclear. a new report by amnesty international suggests immigration officials separated some 6000 families between april and august, a far higher number

of children and parents torn apart than previously thought. on friday, "the washington post" reported senior white house adviser stephen miller is advocating for tougher measures in response to thousands parents with children who continue to seek asylum in the united states after fleeing violence in honduras, guatemala, and el salvador. miller said the separations were an effective deterrent. on saturday, president trump said he agreed. pres. trump: in many cases, they don't come. but also in many cases coming up really bad people coming in and using children. they are not theheir children. they don't even know the children. childrenn't known the for 20 minutes, and they grandchildren and they use them to come into our country. you've got some really bad people out there. we are doing an incredible job, but the one thing i willll say, the country is doing so will economically in every other way, that more people want to come in

than ever before. amy: trump administration officials are now considering plans to detain asylum-seeking families together for up to 20 days, and then force parents to choose to either stay detained together for months or years while their immigration case proceeds, or allow their children to be taken to a government shelter where their relatives or others can seek custody. this comes as an associated press investigation has revealed that parents were were deported from the u.s. after being separated from their children may lose their children to adoption without their knowledge. the ap found holes in the system that allow for state judges to put children of deported central american immigrants in the custody of u.s. families without notifying the parents. meanwhile, a tent city in desert outside of el paso, texas, that was set up to hold migrant children has expanded its capacity by nearly 10 times since it opened in june, and now has a capacity of nearly 4000 beds. for more, we are joined by lee gelernt, deputy director of the aclu immigrants' rights project. he is the lead lawyer on the aclu's national challenge to the trump administration's family

separation practice. he also presented the first challenge to president trump's travel ban order. his argument resulted in a nationwide injunction. welcome back to democracy now! it is great to have you with us. we have been trying for a while. i know you have been traveling around the country, particularly in california were you are intimately involved with the negotiation around getting these kids back together with their parents to meet the judge's deadline. at many were not brought back together. what are the numbers? shiftingmbers are because the government's numbers are shifting. we believe there somewhere between 100 and 200 kids who still need to be reunited. that is the crazy thing about it. they are talking about a new family separation policy, haven't even got all of the children back together from the first separation policy. these kids are so traumatized. little children are going to be

potentially permanently, ties and other talking about having new family separation. andermanently traumatized now ththey're arere talking abot having new family separatition. i cannot believe they're actually talking about another family separation. amy: how is it possible? after you have the judges ruling they have to be reunited, isn't this defying the courts? >> they willll tweak i it a lite bit and d say this is different. whateverer they want t to call , we will be back in court.t. amy:y: what about amamnesty's numbers saying it is 6000 families separated. >> we have been concerned for a while there may have been more family separated and the government is revealing. i don't know what amnesty's numbers are correct or not. what we're waiting for is the government to respond. all they're doing is categorically denying saying it is inaccurate. we need more specifics, and we will keep pressing the government on the specifics and

wait to see. we have no reason to distrust amnesty's numbers, but we would like to see the government response specifically to them. amy: you talk about the several hundred children. where are they? >> they are in government facilities in the u.s. what we've been fighting now for about eight weeks is they deported roughly 400 parents without their children. those parents are all over the world, largely in central america. we have been trying to track those parents to find them to ask them, what do you want to do? these are your legal options. i was in water mullah talking to some of the parents and it is an agonizing situation. -- i was in guatemala talking to some of the parents and it was an agonizing situation. they have to decide, do i leave my child in the u.s. to pursue asylum and keep them safe or do i bring them back and reunite them? about two thirds of the parents are leaving her children in the u.s., which shows you how

dangerous it is. say, look, these parents are abandoning their children. nothing could be further from the tree. when i look in their eyes, these agony making in such these decisions, but they say to me, i can't bring my child back here because it is too dangerous. my life is over. if i am killed, i am killed, but i can't my child back here. amy: i want to go to a top health and human services official who told law makers the senate -- at a senate judiciary committee hearing that he had repeatedly warned the trump administration against separating immigrant families at the border. this is jonathan white, commander of the public health service commissioned corps, a branch of hhs. he referred to orr, which stands for the office of refugee resettlement. >> during the deliberative process over the previous year, we raised a number of concerns about any program policy which would result in family separation. theto concerns we had about

best interest of the child as well is about whether there would be operationally supportable with the bed capacity we have. amy: during the hearing, connecticut democratic senator richard blumenthal also questioned johnathan white about the psychological impact of separating children from their parents. >> separation of children from their parents until significant risk to harm to children. >> it is traumatic for any child separated from his or her parents, and my correct? question the separation of children from parents entails significant potential for traumatic psychological injury to the child. amy: despite johnathan white's testimony, a top official with ice, that's the immigratioion ad customs enforcement agency, tried to defend the trump administration's practice of separating children from their parents by comparing the child detention facilities to "summer camp." this is matthew albence, head of enforcement and removal operations for ice. >> i think the best way to

describe them is to be more like a summer camp. these individuals have access to 7 food and water, educational opportunities, recreational opportunities -- both structured as well is unstructured. there are basketball courts, exercise classes, soccer fields. amy: a veritable summer camp. >> i think when we see the administration's own kids going to the summer camps, we will know they are really summer camps. i'm so glad you played that clip of commander white talking about the trauma. in some ways, it is just starting or the next phase is just starting. these kids are so bad and the government is doing nothing to provide trauma relief. we're going to try to get doctors to see these children pro bono, but when i talked to a mother who had a four-year-old and a 10 euros separated, the four-year-old keeps asking, are they going to take me away again? that is the vulnerability for all of these children. amy: the government is tried to stop or expand the 20 day limit on parents and kids that are in

prison. >> right. what they're basically saying is, you have a choice. you thank you for talk with you and essentially immigration jail, or leisure child and let your child go out. that is no choice at all. the government knows very well have another choice, which is to release the family under supervision. even if they want to take a harsh step of putting ankle bracelets on. the trump administration abandon the obama administration's use of a program that was 97% effective in assuring appearance. now there's a merely choice they have is to keep them in immigration jail or two separate. that is absolutely wrong. they can release these asylum seeking families underer supervision.n. amy: what are these kids and families facing? why it caret would make the decisionon to remain separated from their child because they feel for the child lives? >> take this one father we want

to see. we said we want to come see you. we will see you anytime for the day. he said, i can't get off work stuff we said we will, night. they said, no, they gangs have close down the town. i am not allowed out of my house. you certainly can't come here. this is the danger. what parent would live in -- willingly give up their child? lot you were in san diego a bigger shooting with the government. >> and in court. amy: trying to get the government to release the children. the first set under five and then the others going up into the teen years. what wasn't the government giving you? and what if they admitted now? when it came to giving information that in fact they had but they said, you go look for yourself? >> it was like pulling teeth every single step. the first up was, look, they

actually said in court, we don't have a budget item to bring the kids back to their parents. they had a budget item to separate them. the judge said, absolutely not. these parents are not paid to get their own children. they will was that we can find information without these children they said, no, you go find them. the judge said no. have phonet they numbers. we're driving around central america and there were sititting on the phone numbebers. finally, we have the phone numbers. we are calling the parents. as oft 10 of the parents the last report have been reached, but only because we have had to do the legwork. amy: what house to happen now -- what has to happen now? >> we wowould like to see the children get relief and fair asylum proceedings, and we certainly don't want to see more separations. we don't want to see a substitute for family separations be long-term, indefinite detention of these families. the medical community has said, if you to tame these families, to the cause severe harm

children, long-term detention. we don't the four-year-old and long-term detention in this country. trump saw ivanka interviewed. she said the family separation with the low point of the presidency. not just the president's daughter, but she is a senior advisor to the president. and now the president, once again, even with hundreds of children still separated from their parents, saying they're going to separate them again. >> it is remarkable. it,ody who was opposed to hopefully, spoke out at the time. people need to speak out in real time and stop it, not after the fact. thennot believe administration is thinking about going back to this. this is the only place the administration's ever pulled back and that is because of the public outcry. i am merging the public data as saying outcry if they try it again. the aclu will be in court, for the public outcry is critical. amy: one of the things that president trump continually said that they have to come over the

border illegally. we went on the border at the bridges. mothers with their two-year-old children day after day in the high blazing sun, not being allowed -- which was the trump administration being illegal, breaking federal and international law -- not allowing them into the country. >> absolutely. first of all, the lead plaintiff in our case presented herself lawfully at the border. did not cross illegally. she had her child taken and many others. the mayor to have their putting out was -- the narrative they were putting out is wrong. the lines are endless. with theirsitting little children. ultimately, they have no choice but to cross. they're not going to sit out there for a month with a three-yearar-old. it is her red this what is going on. amy: who would force the administration to engage in lawful activity? >> i think it is going to have to be the court. but like all civil rights torses -- cases, there has

be an outcry. there has to be this atmosphere. i think what you saw on the summer, the public pushing back, not just liberals and democrats, but conservatives and others saying, we don't do this to children. we have to see the public outcry can. we have to amy: lee gelernt, deputy director of the aclu immigrants' rights project. he is the lead lawyer on the aclu's national challenge to the trump administration's family separation practice. he preresented the first challee to president trump's travel ban order. his argument resulted in a nationwide injunction. this is democracy now! oscar romero, the archbishop of el salvador, has been declared a saint by the pope. we will go to british columbia to stick with the author ofof "assasassinatition of a sasaint" the killing of an archbishop and what was the u.s. role in that? stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: "romero" by the project. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we end the show with the canonization of salvadoran archbishop oscar romero. archbishop romero was a champion for the poor and oppressed who was murdered by a u.s.-backed right-wing death squad in 1980 at the beginning of the brutal, u.s.-backed war in el salvador. on sunday, pope francis made romero a saint along with pope paul vi and five others. wearing the blood-stained rope belt that romero wore when he was assassinated, pope francis praised romero for disregarding his own life to be close to the poor and to hihis people. >> it is wonderful that together otherope paulul vi and the new saints today, there's archbishop romero, who left the security of the world, even his own safety, in order to give his

life according to the gospel, close to the poor and to his people with a heart drawn too jesus and his brbrothers and sierers. amy: only weeks before his assassination, archbishop romero wrote a letter to president jimmy carter, calling on him not provide military aid to the right-wing salvadoran military government. then in the archbishop's final and now famous sermonon, he mada direct appppeal to salvadoran soldiers to lay down their weapons. >> in his name come in the name of our tormented people who have suffered so much and whose limits cry out to have an, i implore you, i beg you, i order you to stop the repression. amy: the next day, a driver and a gunman pulled up in a red volkswagen passat outside of the church where archbishop romero was giving mass.s. the gunman fired a single shot from the car, killing him. romero's murder was one of the most shocking of the long conflict between a series of u.u.s.-bacacked governments and

leftist rebels in which thousandnds of dissidents and everyday civilians in salvador were killed by right-wing and military death squads. activists continue to call for justice in romero's assassinatation. last year a salvadoran judge reopened the case. for more, we are joined by matt eisenbrandt, a human rights lawyer and the author of "assassination of a saint: the plot to murder oscar romero and the quest to bring his killers to justice." the book won the 2017 juan e. mendez book award for human righghts in latin america. matt eisenbrandt served on the trial team that brought the only court verdict ever reached for romero's murder. welcome to democracy now! it is great to have you with us, joining us from british columbia. can you talk about what happened to oscar romero, who was responsible for his assassination? >> romero was killed by a death

squad that was headed by d'aubuisson, a very important military intelligence figure in el salvador in the late 1970's who was backed by some of the wealthiest families in el salvador who were very outspoken against archbishop romero for his condemnation of the repression that they underwrote in el salvador. occurred, as you are just saying, a day after romero's most stringent call in his homily to stop the repression. squad carried out his murder and roberto d'aubuisson, rather than ending up in jail, ended up becoming one of the most powerful polititical figures in el salvar throughout the 1980's. relationshipson's

with u.s. government and the school of the americas at fort benning, georgia, matt eisenbrandt? so i mean there is a long history of u.s. government training of salvadoran military officials. d'aubuisson did attend an international police academy in washington, d.c., and there was some connection to the school of the americas. now, his trainining as far as i know, was not as extensive as some o of the other connnnectioo even high-ranking s salvadoran military figures. t certainly, hehe did have some connectionons to the u.s. government. and he and is sort of political backers had close connections to politicians and political groups in washington, d.c. and it is also important to note that the death squad that d'aubuisson headed and other

death squads in el salvador, occurred as a result of u.s. policies starting back in the 1960's of training latin american militaries. so there is u.s. responsibility in terms of building up that structure that led to the death squad and the horrific violence that occurred in el salvador that time. amy: matt eisenbrandt, your response to the hope -- popee's making oscar romero a saint and what this means is thousands celebrated in el salvador? >> it is a tremendously important moment for el salvador and -- you know, romero's canonization took decades. and for it to finally happen and for him to be declared a saint is -- it cannot be overstated how important this is for el

salvador and just really a tremendous, tremendous moment. he would not be -- regardless for el salvador, but especially after decades of resistance to him being declared a saint, both in the vatican and in el salvador for his cause to fifinally overcocome all of thee challenges i is tremendously important. but i also do make a note that as big of an achievement as an important date was yesterday for el salvador, there is still a second peace, which is justice for his killersrs. and to this point, otherer than the civil lawsuit that i was involved in in the united states against one of his killers, nobody has been held accountable for his killing and no one has gone to jail in el salvador or even been put on trial there. as important as the canonization was, now there is the second piece that has to be achieved after all of these years. amy: we're going to do part two and posted at democracynow.org.

matt eisenbrandt, please, stay with us, author of "assassination of a saint." andll be speaking tonight elsewhere. [captioning made possible by democracy now!]