12/27/18 12/27/18 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democrcracy now! > it is becauause of the p py people are migrating away from here. there are no opportunities here. the crops we grow are not enough to support a family. amy: as the government remains partially shut down for a sixth that over president trump's request for border wall funding, we go to the u.s. have a mexico

border following the deaths of two children in recent weeks in u.s. custody. we will speak to dylan corbett of the hope border institute who has been assisting hundreds of migrant asylum seekers, who have dropped off by ice officials outside a grgreyhound bus termil in el l paso, without any plan o house e them. then as supreme court justice ruth bader ginsburg is released from hospital after lung cancer surgery, we revisit the documenty "rbg." it haseen shoristed fothe cars. the cou,e urge theosition in837, not abitionistnd advoce of ual righ for menndomen, who said "i ask no favor f my sex. take ask i that they

eir feetff our necks." amy: we will speak to the directors of "rbg," betsy west and julie cohen. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. president donald trump paid a surprise visit wednesday to u.s. troops at a sprawling military base in western iraq. president trump was joined by first lady melania trump as the president posed for selfies with troops and autographed red "make america great again" hats. it was trump's first visit to an active war zone since he took office nearly two years ago. during his speech to troops, trump defended his plans to withdraw all u.s. troops from syria and about halalf the neary 7000 u.s. troops in afghanistan. pres. trump: america a shouldldt be doing the fighting for every , not beiningth reimbursed in mamany cases att .

if they want us to do the fighting, they also have to pay a price. and sometimes that is also a monetary price. so we are not the suckers of the world. we are no longer be suckers. and people are not looking at as as suckers. trump said he has no plans to withdraw the more than 5000 u.s. troops who remain in iraq. during his trip to iraq, president trump did not meet with i iraqi prime minisister al abdul-l-mahdi or any otherer iri officials. in a statement, a bloc of iraqi parliamentarians condemned trump's surprise visit as a "flagrant and clear violation of diplomatic norms." president trump's visit came as "the new york times" reported that a podiatrist in queens, new york, helped donald trump avoid the vietnam war in 1968 as a favor to trump's father, the real estate magnate fred trump.

the foot dr., larry braunstein, died in 2007, but his daughters told "the new york times" their father often recounted how he helped donald trump get one of this five draft deferments with a diagnosis of bone spurs. in return, dr. braunstein was reportedly given direct access to his landlord, fred trump, who helped braunstein quickly repair any problems with the building he rented from the trump family. the federal government has entered a sixth day of a partial shutdown with no resolution in sight as president trump continues demand for billions of dollars in new funding for an expanded wall on the u.s.-mexico border. this is trump responding to a reporter during his trip to iraq on wednesday. pres. trump: whatever it takes. we are going to have a wall. we're going to have safety. we need safety from our country. we have terrorists coming in through the southern border. there also coming in from the

southern border. amy: the shutdown has left some 800,000 federal workers either furloughed or working without pay during the christmas holiday season. meanwhile funding has expired , for programs aimed at helping women n who'veve survived dodomc violence a and sexual l assault. ththe violence against women act expired on saturday as the government shutdown took hold, and its programs will remain unfunded unless, and until, congress reauthorizes it. in el paso, texas, immigration and customs enforcement officers released hundreds of migrants wednesday night at a downtown bus station, bringing the number of people released this week to more than 1000. local nonprofits that assist the migrants said this time, they wewere given some advance wawarg of the drop-offs, unlike over the christmas holiday when ice stranded hundreds of people in the cold -- including young children -- with no warning and no plans for accommodations.

immigration activists say the drop-offs were part of the trump administration's deliberate strategy of sowing chaos at the border as a deterrent to asylum-seekers. this is dylan corbett, director of the hope border institute, an el paso-basesed charity that assists migrants. >> the majority of thehem don't even know that they are not t in the hands of the government. although, we are a commumunity group, thehe m migrants to not w with us they are not i in detention, they arare not with p or ice. they need information. they need to get informed. some of them do not even know they are in el paso. amy: after e headlines, we will speak with dylan corbett. in guatemala, friends and family of the indigenous girl who died in u.s. border patrol custody on december 8, jakelin caal maquin, mourned the 7-year-old at her funeral on christmas day. about 150 people gathered around an open casket for the little

girl before lowering her into the ground in the impoverished mountain village of san antonio secortez. caal's her mother was so despondent, she couldn't bear to attend the funeral. the girl's uncle, jose manuel caal, said poverty and hunger drove the gigirl's fathther to g her r to the united states to apply foasasylum. >> it is because of the poverty people are migrating away from here. there are no opportunitities he. the crops we grow are not enough to support a family. call died two days after crossing into the u.s. in a remote part of new mexico on december 6. she had a fever of nearly 106 degrees at the time of her death. it was actually december 8. human rights groups and democratic lawmakers havee demanded an impartial, independent investigation into

her death. we will have more on nestor after headlines. this comes as a new investigation found pervasive sexual a assaults at detention centers for immigrant children with both staff and other residents, sometimes acting as predators. in one case, a youth care worker in arizona who was convicted of molesting seven boys spent months working at a detention center without a full background check. in sudan, human rights groups say government forces have killed at least 37 people as protesters continue to demand the ouster of long-time authoritarian president omar al-bashir. on tuesday, government forces opened fire with tear gas and live ammunition on peaceful protesters in the capital khartoum as they chanted, "the people want to bring down the regime" -- a popular slogan during the arab spring uprisings. similar scenes have played out in cities across sudan in recent days. the protests erupted after al-bashir's government ended

subsidies for fuel and wheat, causing bread prices to triple, even as sudan's inflation rate nears 70%. russian president vladimirirutin said wednesdsday that t russia's mitary will begin deploying a new hypersonic misissile capable of delivering nuclear warheads at 20 titimes thspeeeed of soun. putin cacalled a recent t succel test of the missile sysyem a perfect new yeyear's gift for te countrtry. >> the new missisi system is invincible for today's and future air defense systems and missile defefense systems. thisis is a big success a and ag victory. amamy: russia's s reported successfulul test of itsts new hypersonic missilele came afaftr the trumump administratition san october it plalans to leavave te inf,f,r intermedediate-range nuclear forces treaty. signed in 1987 by former president ronald reagan and soviet premier mikikhail gorbacachev, the treaty helped o

eliminate thousands of laland-based missiles in europo. in yemen, a united nations official tasked with overseeing a fragile ceasefire in the strategic port city of hodeida is calling on houthi rebels and fighters with yemen's saudi-backed government to maintain their truce. patrick cammaert, a retired dutch general, spoke to representatives of the warring parties after a u.n. team arrived in the besieged city on monday. >> if you readad the agreement, the timelines are very titight. that means the cease-fire started on the 18th of december at midnight. it is extremely importantnthat bothth sides are holding that ad not toth s sides shohow blame you and he blames him and everybody limimbs everybodody. breaking a cease-firiris going

back and not afford. amamy: the ceasefire has larargy held sincece it began on decembr 18. humanitarian g groups warn a return to fighghting could cut f shipments ofof desperately needd food and aid as s half of yeme's 28 million peoplple are on the brink of famine. israel's defense ministry has advanced plans to construct 2200 new homes s in a jewish-only settlement in the occupied west bank. israel's continued settlement expansion violates international law and multiple u.n. resolutions. this comes as israel's parliament, the knesset, formally set april 9 as the date for a new electition after t the riright-wing coalitition governt led by pririme minister r benjan netanyahahu collapapsed. japan's governmentnt said wednesday it is pulling out of the international whaling commission and will resusume commercial whaling. the move ends a program that allowed japanese vessels to hunt and kill whales on a limited basis under the pretext of scientific research. thisis is japan's s cabinet secretary announcing the withdrawal on wednesday.

>> japan's basic policy of promoting sustainable use of aquatic living resources taste onon scientific evidence has not changed. under that policy, we have decided to resume commercial whaling. amy: in a statement, greenpeace condemned the move and called on japan to recommit t to the international whaling commission. but the antiti-whaling direct action group sea shepherd hailed the withdrawal a victory that would end japanese whaling in the antarctic, while revealing japan as a pirate whaling nation. sea shephard pledged its boats would continue to confront japanese whaling vessels on the high seas. the actor kevin spacey has been charged with sexually assaulting a teenager in a bar in massachusetts in 2016. spacey is due in court on january 7 to face a felony charge that could bring him up to five years in prison. kevin spacey has denied the charges. on mony,y, he steded arypticic videonon socl memediposingngs the chacacter fraranknderwowo

from t netflixhow "hou of cards,where hepent five seonons bere h he s firere after more tn n a don memen acsesed spey of seallyly harassg or asslting th. anin buenanew jers, the family oafrican-erican hh scho wrestleandrew jnson says rism drova white referee to demand that the teenager cut his dreadlocks before he could compete in a match. video of the incident taken just before the december 19 match shows a sports trainer publicly and clumsily cutting the hair of the 16-year-old student-athlete, who's dressed in a wrestling uniform and is visibly shaken to have his dreadlocks sheared off. johnson was told he just had 19 seconds to agree to the haircut or he would be forced to forfeit the match. just out of the frame of the video -- which has since gone viral -- the referee, alan

maloney, demanded the trainer keep cutting johnson's hair until he was satisfied with its length. maloney had arrived late to the match and missed a way in, where referees would typically raise objections to a wrestler's appearance. in 2016, alan maloney admitted n-word" during a conversation with other sports officials, and later apologized for the racist slur. johnson's family said -- and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. nermeen: and i'm nermeen shaikh. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. u.s. customs and border protection have ordered medical

checks on every child in its custody following the death of two guatemalan children in recent weeks. on christmas eve, an eight-year-old guatemalan boy named felipe gomez alonzo died in new mexico while in the custody of cbp. the child was admitted to a hospital earlier on christmas eve, diagnosed with a common cold, given ibuprofen and antibiotics, and released. but the boy continued to become more ill throughout the day. after he began vomiting, the boy was sent back to the same hospital, but fell unconscious along the way. he was pronounced dead 12 minutes before christmtmas. the cause of death is not yet known. the boy was first detained along with his father on december 18 after they crossed the border west of el paso, texas. this follows the death of a seven-year-old indigenous guatemalan girl jakelin caal , maquin, who died on december 8

-- also in new mexico -- two days after she and her father presented themselves at the border in a bid for asylum. on christmas day, about 150 people gathered for her funeral in impoverished guatemalan mountain village of san antonio secortez. amy: in more immigration news, authorities in el paso, texas, scrambled over the christmas holiday to assist hundreds of migrant asylum-seekers, who were dumped suddenly by ice officials outside a greyhound bus terminal, without any plan to house them. local shelters say they weren't told in advance of ice's plans, as is customary, leaving them struggling to find accommodations for hundreds of migrants, including young children. on sunday, greyhound brought in buses where migrants could shelter overnight into the christmas eve holiday. sergeant robert gomez of the el paso police department said -- "we weren't going to put 200 people on the streets of el paso on a cold night. we wouldn't do that." on wednesday night, immigration

authorities released hundreds of more migrants at a downtown el paso bus station, bringing the number of people released this week to more than 1000. well, for more, we go now to el paso, texas, where we're joined by dylan corbett, executive director of hope border institute. dylan, welcome to democracy now! can you explalain what has beenn happening in el paso? why are so many hundreds s of migrantnts bg dumpedt t the buss station by ice?e? >> it is rather confusing. since december 23,3, what hahapd is i a again t to release, as yu said dumped, many migrants downtown on a cold night in el paso. these were migrants who had just border.m cbp across our when they were releleased, they were confused, hungry, tired.

they had been in cramped conditions. sick. of them werere it is inexpxplicable asas to whe chose to do this. normally, there's a lot ofof c cooperation in providing for the humanitarian needs of migrants. but t ice chose not to do this around the christmas holiday. released 200they people at night. on christmas eve, another 200 folks and then on christmas day, they continued to do it and released 200 folks. yesterday they's a been a that practice and 500 folks were released into our community, but there was greater collaboration with the netetworks. we hope this isn't something that repeats itself. this has never happened. the only other time this happened was the week before elections, at the very end of

october. it is hard not to see it as a political character. -- s hard to see that the amy: this as the backdrop, let's look at the death of two guatemalan children in three weeks. in u.s. custody. example of selelena alonzo,of -- selena gomez who on christmas eve, explain what you understand happened. yet, over the border with his dad. he was held by gord patrol -- there was jusust under r a week. how did he get sick and die? what is happening? you are in elel paso. he was i in new mexicoco. he died in a hospital. >> surure. the case of the eieight euro

guatememalan boy who died d on riststmas evee was chilling to e because on christmas day when 200 migigrants s come all of them or familieies. all ofof them were fathers which open o or mothers with chiren.n. when they released those children off the bus, when they essentially kicked them off the bus into downtown el paso, one of those kids wasas about sevenr eieight years old, t the same as selena gomez alonzo -- felipe gomez alonzo. thank k god nearby there were and theyire d departments were able e to offer first aid o that childld and we were able to send him to the hospital in an ambulance. but these e childrenen are being held -- these families are b beg held i in terrib conditions s in cbp and border patatrol cells anywhere between four anand eigt dadays before they are released eitherer into ice custody or ino

our community. ththe conditions arere not good. we're hearing from migrants there are very cramped conditions. many people in very small cells. people not having the ability to bathe for several days. food is minimal. bathroom ise minimal. we are told they're not even to go to the bathroom with any real privacy. in these conditions, itt is to e expepected that chilen a are goi toto get sick. that is what we saw with jakelin into cymer, that she presented ,ehydration s symptoms, feverish i very high fever. she is been in the border patrol custody forr almost ninene hours before she finally expired. to thelonzo was taken border patrol chececkpoint compy highghway checkpoint abobout 100 miles away.

is that is unacceptable children are not supposed to be in border patrol checkpoint onon ththe highwaway. those e facilities are not apprpropriate for children. i hope that did not contribute to his sickness. i hope t that did not contribute to his death. it we should notot be holding children and families in these conditions. ththis has beeeen going on for a long time.e. this wastately, i think toe e expecteded. it is unfortunatate we have gone to the point were there has been the death of two children before the government is starting to act. it is that it had to comome to this, , but wewe n need insnstil reform now. we neeeed actions on the part of cbcbp t to chew the safety and security of the families and children in their custody. nermeen: on december 20, homeland security secretary kirstjen nielsen was grilled at a heated congressional hearing about the trump administration's border and immigration policies. she was questioned by democratic congreressmembers dadavid cicile

and hank johnson. >> how many childldren 17 years dhs, or younger have died in ice, or cbp custody since you took office? >> i will get back to on that figure. what i can to you is we have saved 4200 migrants -- >> approximately, how many have died? >> i understand your question, sir. i will get back to you. >> can you give me an approximate figure? >> i'm not going to guess under oath. >> as you sit here today, you don't know how many human beings have died at the custody of the department that you lead and in preparation for today's hearing, you did not ascertain that number? you don't know it t today? >> i don't have an exact figure for you. >> do you have a rough idea? we are talking about people who died in your custody. you don't have the number? >> i will get back to with a number.

nermeen: congressmember johnson went on to ask nielsen, "do you view those you call 'illegal aliens' to be human or subhuman?" dylan, could you respond t to wt kristin nelson said and what she did not say? >> it is unacceptable the department of -- the secretary for the department of homeland security does not knowow how m y children have died in her custody. but t that is a peace of the lak of transparency, the lack of accountability in these institutions. ice and cbp are rife with the lack of accountability and transparency. something else that is troubling with jack lane, cbp under federal law, is obliged to inform congress within 24 hours of his child dying in her custody. commissioner of cbp did not inform congress until severaral daysys later, effectively y breg ththe law. if cbp, if d dhs cannot guarante e sasafe andnd surity y of the families and the childreren in

their custody, if they're are not going to be accountable to congress -- at this point, i don't see how the cbp commissioner or dhs secretary can be called on to resign this point. nermeen: to o clarify, have childrenen ever didied in i ice custody before? during the obamama administrati? > this is something that is new. adul h have died whilile in custody, but thihis is something new and something that is troubling. cbcbp effectively is not able to guarantee their health or security. the conditions they are in are not meant to house families. true that what we're seeing -- although when you look at the past 34 years, relatively low in terms of border crossings, it is true what has happened as of late is that there aree -- the nunumber of families crossing the bordrder s spiked. , november, 60% of all border a apprehensions were families.

what the government's response has been in the trump administrationon and over the lt several decades -- this is bipartisan. this is on both thee presisidens and the congress - -- has bebeeo respspond tohehe problemem at te border by criminalizing migrants and d militaririzing thehe bord. it is to be expected when n your only response is to criminalize people, when your only response is to deploy racism and to militatarize, that you c can'tt respond to a humanitarian situatation like we hahave right now. cbp, despite t their credible budget and resources that they have, despite 18,000 border patrol agents at the b border, e are unable to respond to o whats actually happening at the border bebecause we e are treating migs as criminalsls and threatso o or country whihich they y are not. these are families seeking refuge, safety, and security. they are being driven by forced migration. amy: i want to t turn to illinos congressmemeber luis gutierrez. he addressed homeland security secretary kirstjen nielsen at the december 20 hearing.

>> specifically in the area of homeland security, lying has become elevated to an astounding level. president trump dissesented the golden escscalators at trump tor to announce his candidacy by saying mexico was sending us the , murderers.s then he said he was required to break up migrant families because of bad laws that the democrats gave us. how about the one about mexico paying for the wall? you want $5 billion and the american public to pay for it. is it mexico supposed to pay for it? wasn't that the campaign promise? that is just another lie. i have to say the all-time record of lying was a tweet you, madam secretarary, sent out on june 17. it said "we do not have a policy of separating families at the border period."

that is what you put out. yet yoyou can herere today to tl us exactly is your policy of separating families and children from their families, another lie. i know i have 45 seconds. i won't take them all. but it is repugnant to me an astonishing to me that during -- i hahave to call them the holiday seasons to be exclusive. -- but duringtmas christmas come a time in which we celebrate the birth of jesus christ who had to flee for his life with mary and joseph, thank god there wasn't a wall that stopped him from seeking refuge in egypt. amy: that was commerce member lose gutierrez after which he walked out of the hearing with the head of the department of homeland security cures to

nelson. as congressmember after congressmember demanded to know how many people had died in border custody, she refused to answer. afterwards, they did release a number. they said, in the last year from october 1, 2017 to september 30 2018, 6 adults have died and since october 1, two children have died. , is it true what is happening right now is that migrants are being picked up, immigrants are being picked up with such speed to be deported and they need those ice detention centers to put the men on their way to deportation, that the children and other immigrants who are not supposed bpc custody for more

ththan 72 2 hours, are being hed much longer, and a as you saidi, much more primitive conditions? >> t that is true. you mention at the top of the program we were in the midst off a vevernment s shutdown. ththis is a government shutdown that has beeeen instigated by prpresident t trump ovever precy bordrder funding, funding for te border walll from increased militarization of f the border. what we've seeeen over 2018 was with agagents whoece are preventing people e from lawfully accessing a asylum, pushshing them away, forcing thm to go to more remomote and dangererous parts of the b bordr where theyey have to croross illegally in more for kerry's conditio. that is exactlwhatat happenenedo jakake lein. she and heher father were forced to go into other parts of the

border. that has contributed to her death. familyd about separation. this year over 2000 children were separated from their families also family separation continues. there was a gentleman, a macro father and his child who was kicked off the bus by ice who had been separated from his spouse. tornve the reality of the illo to teaching camp. this politicization of the border, these border politics, shutting down the government in order to get your way on militarizing the border, what we're seeing is all of these tactics, these policies and practices by cbp, ice, and to permit of homeland security ststemming f from decicisions tn from t the white house are h hag deadly consequences. people have to wake up to this is not -- we neeeed to do militaririze. de-militarize.

we need to recognize we are responsible for the forced migration. amy: and you have a situation where president trump has shut down t the government over gettg $5 billion for the border wall. and in this shutdown, hundreds, if notot thousands -- i don't kw agents arare not being paid. they arere part of the p prograf their salariries being cut at ts point to be paid in the fufutur. >> that's right. and it is all about a border wall. it has to be said, this i is noa solution t to a proboblem. this is an expensive sololutiono a prproblemm that does not exis. the border wall will not makakes more safafe. seeidide my window i can mexico.

safest cities of the country. we do't need a border wall l to keep u us safe. terrorists have not passed through our southern border. a wall wilill not addreress -- peopople w will cocontinue to ce guatemala,tries like honduras, el salvador into we address the root causes of migration. amy: we want to thank you for being with us. cbp is customs and border protection. that is what it stands for. dylan corbett is the executive director of hope border institute in el paso, texas. when we come back, supreme court justice ruth bader ginsburg has just been released from the hospital after cancer surgery. she voted from her bed in a supreme court decision this past friday. we will get the latest on her condition and talk about her life. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: : "space" by galt mamacde. macdermot died last week, a day shy of his 90th birthday. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. nermeen: supreme court justice ruth bader ginsburg has been discharged from the hospital following surgery for lung cancer. she is recovering from the procedure at home. she was hospitalized last week atat the memorial sln n kettingg cancer center in new york, where surgeons on friday removed two malignant growthths in her lt lung. doctors called t the surgery a success and said there's no sign that ginsburg's cancer has spread. while in the hospital friday, ginsburg cast her vote blocking the trump administration's asylum ban. the health of the liberal 85-year-old justice, the oldest sitting justice on the supreme court bench, has come under increased scrutiny in recent years. in november, she was hospitalized after a fall that resulted in three fractured ribs. she previously fractured two

ribs in 2012 and has twice survived cancer. pancreatic cancer in 2009 and colon cancer in 1999. amy: despite her illnesses, in her 25 years on the bench, justice ginsburg has never missed a day of oral argument. the court next meets on january 7. her return home on christmas day coincided with the release of the biopic on her life titled "on the basis of sex." we turn now to a remarkable, award-winning documentary released earlier this year at the sundance film festival. the film has been shshortlisted for an academy award for best documentary. it's called "rbg." this is thtrtraile my sex. no favor for all i ask ofur breren is that thetake the feet of our necks.

♪ >> we welcome day justice ruth badeginsnsbu. she is become such an icon. >> wouldou mind signing this copy? >> i am 84 years old a everodody was toto te a cture e th me. >> wheyou comeown to i the osest thg to a superro i ow. >> ruth bader ginsbu changed e world for ameranan wom. whenbecame a lawyer -- won n were notant to buy the legal ofofessi. thsands oftatete a federal laws discriminated on thbabasis ofof gder. she was followingn the footsts ofof t battle r raal equaly. shwanted eal proteion for women. >> mennd women are perns of equal diity and ey shoul counequally fore theaw. she captud f the mal mbers ofhe core,hat it w likeo be a sond-class tizen. >> the dcriminaty line

almost inetably hus women. of a see myself as kind kindergaen teacher in ose ysys becse t theudges dinot thk sesex scrimimition existe i've had areat goodd fortune to share life with a partner, uly traordiny, for h genetion. he was the first boy e ever ew whcarere tt i hahaa brain. she is the center of power, on and off the court. >> every time sherote a a dissent, the iernet wod exple. >> i camup with a coupleff slanans. spell truth witut ruth. > i would not be in is room today thout thdetermin effos of mennd women who kept dams ali. the tiler forrbg." 'reoined byhe film's

directorbetsy we and jul cohen. julie, let's begin with you with the latest on ruth bader condition. she was just released from the hospital. >> i'm not been known colleges, but we do know justice ginsburg had the two cancerous nodules removed from her lung, actually a lobe of her lung was removed. .com of the hospital after just a few days, about five days total in the hospital, and is now resting, recovering, and with a view toward being on the bench as soon as possible. note she scheduled her surgery for the friday before a long holiday. it is a long tradition, she is done the same thing with chemotherapy with the idea that you want to have as little possible work downtime so you can get right back to work. amy: friday was a very busy day.

she had the operation, vichy alsoruled -- but she ruled, participated on a s supre coururt decision.n. >> all nine justices had to vote on this brief order that came out. it ended up with a five to four vote. there are a lot of double negatives. the question basically was, does donald trump's administration asylum ban, restrictions on asylum for immigrants stand while -- during the period the courts are trying to work out the merits of the issue? the court voted that the ban does not stand with roberts voting with the courts liberal wing on this procedural issue. a five to four vote is a reminder of the huge importance of each of those nine votes and the importance of justice ginsburg weighing in on -- even during her illness. her surgerynews of became public am supporters took to twitter with messages like --

"she can have my lung. hell, she can even have both of them." year, fans tweeted similar support after she fractured her three ribs. at the time, actress alyssa milano wrote -- on "ruth bader ginsburg and have my ribs and my kidneys and a long and anything else she needs. she can even have my husband on thursdays." out last week as or earlier this week as news of her surgeries. betsy west, could you explain why her position on the supreme court now is so crucial? >> nina totenberg crafted maybe we could solve the organ donation problem in this country by taking all of those offers. become ainsburg has rallying cry for many people in this c country who are dismayedy

the supreme court's move to the right. obviously, as julie just said, the court is nowow divided very narrowly. and the fact that chief justice robeberts joined with the four liberal justices does not always happen. there are many decisions thatt come dowown or expected toto coe down five to f four on the conservative sidide. so she is critical. people see her longevity as absolutely necessary in this time. nermeen: she just recently hired two law clerks for at least two more terms. so the idea is she will stay until 2020. >> yes. she keeps moving the goal post here. she has said that, in addition to hirininher clerks for the coming two years, which is something that you don't have to do, she has now started talking

her to0 is a goal for retire. she is 85 now, so that gives her another five years. you mention all of her illnesses. it is funny in a way because when julie and i were following her around the country, you would not have known this was a frail person. of, she is small and kind bent over, but she has extraordinary stamina. she sometimes tired us out by the end of the day. we were ready to go to bed and choose like, oh, i'm going to go back and do a little bit of work. amy: we're going to go to break and then really recap her life, talk about her history of activism, legal prowess, how she came to be on the supreme court and has served there for the last quarter of a century. we're talking to betsy west and julie cohen, directors of the now oscacar-nominatedd documenty "r"rbg." stay with us.

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amy: "ruth bader ginsburg" by ann reed. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. we are talking about the health and the life of ruth gator been spurred -- ruth bader ginsburg on the court for the last 20 five years and speaking with the directors of a documentary that has just been shortlisted for an oscar. happens, thehat shortlist is 15 documentaries and the nomination process that happens by the end of january will leave to five documentaries chosen. ruth bader ginsburg was nominated by president clinton in 1993 during her senate

confirmation hearing, she openly defended a woman's right to have an abortion. >> this is something central to a woman's life, , to her dignit. it is a decision that she must herself.r and when government controls that decision for her, she is being treated a as lessss than a fully adult human responsible for her own choices. hearing,uring the rerepublican senator orrrrin hah of utah questioned her o on abortition. >> yesterdrday you endorsed the so-called conststitutional right toto abortion, a right which ma, including myself, was created out of thin air by the court. >> but you asked me the question in relation to the supreme court's precedent.

i know you ask me another question in relation to the supreme court's precedent, the supreme c court's precedent is that access to abortion is part of the liberty guaranteed by -- >> that was just affirmed. nermeen: that isis ruth bader ginsburg in 1993 during her confirmation hearing. she was ultimately confirmed 96-3 and among the people who voted to confirm her was orrin hatch, who is anti-choice. hatchspoke with senator for the documentary. we wondered if in any way he regretted that vote or he wanted, you know, make any qualifications. .e is a very staunch republican but i have to say, he told us, "i love justice ginsburg." he made the point during the hearings that he disagreed with her on some issues, but not with

her qualifications to be a justice. he said, look, she was appointed by a liberal president. .e has that right she deserves to be on the court. it is obviously a very different time. nermeen: one of the things you document so well in the film is her relationship, her very close friendship, with antonin scalia up. it says something if you could talk a little bit about where she fell or she falls people --y and what and you point this out in the document, too -- she is kind of accommodation is. she works with both conservatives and liberals. >> she is very collegial. i was a she is on the justogical opposite sides just as scalia. as she believes in talking about your differences and a and havig a good relationship with all of her colleagues on the court. let's face it, it there are only

nine of them in that chamber and they are talking. shee is very praractical. how is she going to convince people to come over to her side if they are mad at her or don't like her? i think many people said to us beforehand, you know, she's not really friends with justice scalia. happy to be friends with a guy like that? and the e reality is, they were extremely good friends. oera.eally loved oer o opera. acted in >> she loved his sense of f hum. she respspected him intellectuay and thought talking things over with him sharpened her own argument. amy: i i want to turn to another clip of your documentary "rbg," where she talks about the first time she argued before the 1972 in thet in case centered on a female air

force lieutenant who have been denied the same housing and medical benefits as her male colleagues. ginsburg argued the air force's statute for housing allowances treated women as inferior and ththe supreme e court ruled in h favor eight to one. >> there was not ainingle ququeson. just wentn speaki. wdered are they just iululging me? and not listening? or am i telling them sometng th have noheard bere? and arthey payg atttion? the jusces wereustlued her. i n't ink theyere pecting have too with something as powerful as a shear force of her argument that was justll-encomssing. theyere therto talk about a litt statute in the vernment code. we seethe mome to chang ameran socie.

>> andsking thcourt to declarsex a sususpe criterion, inurge oppition sted 1837y a note abotionist a advote of eql rightsor men and women she id, "i ask no favor r r my sex. all i ask of our brothe andnds that they t take eir feetffff ouecks." amy:n excerp fro"rbg." welso hearfrom bnda agin, corector wh ginsbu of t aclu's women's righ projt. julie,f you catalk mor about her activism, her legal prowess. she went to harvard. everything she did she had to challenge her way because her husband moved to new york. she was first in her class at harvard, but she had to leave because they would not let her

go to school there from new york. right. she wanted to finish her senior year at columbia law school, which she did and graduated from columbia. rbgnumber of obstacles thahat has faced in her life, personal, legal, societal, are absolutely enormous. the fascinating thing about her and really what prompted betsy and i do make this film about her is as much as people are interested in her now and obsessed with her current editorials rbg persona, the story of her history and what she achieved for equal rights for women under the u.s. view,tution was, in our not as widely known as it should be. it is an incredible story, one of those pieces of h history tht somehow get left out of the schoolbooks like, how is it not common knowledge how women's equal rights under the law were achieved? a big part was rude eight or ginsburg -- ruth bader ginsburg as a young lawyer working for

the women's rights project, which she was a cofounder of them arguing six cases before the u.s. supreme court, arguing that under the equal protection clause, men and women should be equals. it seems down like not such a radical proposition.. at the time she was arguing these cases in the early 1970's, believe you me, it was a radical notion. she took that idea and made it aal and also made it kind of mainstream concept. yes, women and men should be equal under the law. the battleso felt not only had be waged in the courts. i want to turn to a moment at the premier at the sundance film festival earlier this year when you all came out after the film and it was quite something because justice ginsburg was there i believe seeing the film for the first time, and she, too, came down to the front of the theater. i had a chance to ask justice ginsburg about the #metoo

movement and the continuing fight for gender equality. as you flew into sundance on saturday, thousands of women around the country w were marching, rallying and saying #metoo and #timesup. i'm wondering your thoughts on this movement and whether that demand you made so many decades ago you feel still stands, "take the boots off our necks"? >> [indiscernible] the first march was usually attended. i wondered if it would stop or the movement would continue. the more women out there doing things, the better off all of us

will be. [indiscernible] the responsibility of women is get out there and make a good show. and the more people are out there doing things,s, the more gegeneral wowomen will have the courage to go on. i amameartened b by the number f women who will be in r races for our congress and state legislative positions. a favorite expxpression of maran luther king "the ark of thee moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice."

if there are people who will strive with all of their might to see it happen. amy: and there is ruth bader ginsburg speaking about the important of movements. of course, it was before this election, as she is referring to the significance of elections. and famously, though she apologized for, at of the 2016 election, justice ginsburg called donald trump a faker who says whatever comes into his head at t the moment. >> well, yes, she later said she wished -- she regretted having made those comments. i think it is interesting to see her take on the world. she is a very optimistic person. she is looking at the women who are running and saying, look, here is some progress. look at is what is going to happen. we now have over 100 women who are going to be going in the congress. itis still not parity, butt is an improvement over what it was. i think that is kind of the way justice ginsburg approaches

everything. she is in the minority now and she says, i would rather be writing majority opinions but if i have to, i will write in dissent will stop she will do her job. it poignant and inspiring the way she is always has the glass has full approach to life. amy: and working out. the reasonon they found the tums on her lungs is that she felt in her offices at the supreme court as she broke some ribs. at that may well have saved her. >> because it led to schism which the nodules on her lung were detected. amy: but the week before, she was planking. >> and in between -- amy: what that means. -- doelry to demonstrate you wawant me to demonstratete? >amy: she works out with a trainer. >> brian johnson whose main fitness training is actually

with members of dust with soldiers because he is in the u.s. army reseserves. he is not being facetious and says justice ginsburg is tougher than the young soldiers he works out because she never gives them any lip. he tells her to do something and she just wants to get right. between the rib f fracture and this recent cancer surgery, she was back in the gym trying to keep yourself fit. amy: and you two are paving the way with us women led team, this document, the most, what, 22nd-most successful documentary all time. congratulations, you just won anddupont columbia award are shortlisted for an oscar. .ongratulations to both of you very significant film. it is streaming also on hulu. >> yes, thank you. amy: betsy west and julie cohen, producers of the documentary "rbg." to see ho our withu them at

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♪ hello and welcome to nhk "newsline." i'm yoshi ogasawara in tokyo with the latest at this hour. let start with a look at the markets. the tokyo stock exchange opened lower on the final trading day of the year after the u.s. and european markets showed a strong volatility on thursday. the benchmark nikkei average opened friday's