01/07/19 01/07/19 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now! >> they want us to clean up washington, fix the system, and give them their voice back. they want to be up to get to the ballot box without having to run an obstacle course. they won it to be easy -- they wanted to be easy, not hard, to register and vote in america. and hr1 will address that concern. amy: in their first act in power, house democrats have introduced a major bill to expand voting rights in the

united states. we will speak to ari berman of mother jones, who calls the legislation the most far-reaching democracy reform plan introduced in congress since the watergate era. can we look at why some green new deal advocates are criticizing house speaker nancy pelosi's new committee on climate change. theno "surving r. lly." whad the st powerl ithe afcan-ameran communit and tn you ha a viim that body car about. the grter soctyraduates stertypes abt black men that iernal yostart to believ will beeve it iit is aonvenit excuse to not have tdeal witthe realy of r. kelly and how we have been supporting and enabling him for decades. amy: we will look at the stunning new tv documentary that chronicles celebrated r&b singer/producer r. kelly. he is been accused for decades of abuse. editorial behavior and

pedophilia, but been able to avoid criminal conviction. we will speak to the founder of the #muterkelly campaign and to a father alleges his daughter has become part of what he calls kelly's sex cult. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the partial government shutdown is now in its third week, as the impasse over president trump's demand for $5.7 billion in border wall funding showed no signs of abating over the weekend. trump threatened to call a national emergency if no agreement is made. pres. trump: we are looking at a national emergency. just read the papers. we have a crisis at the border of drugs, of human beings being trafficked all of the world. they are coming through. and we have an absolute crisis

and criminals and gang members coming through. it is national security. it is a national emergency. -- rather,usalem democratic lawmakers swiftly condemned the idea, calling into question the legality of the move. chairman of the house intelligence committee adam schiff called the idea a nonstarter sunday, saying "if harry truman could not nationalize the steel industry during wartime, this president doesn't have the power to declare an emergency and build a multibillion-dollar wall on the border." on sunday, trump said he'd push for the construction of a steel barrier instead of concrete, presenting the idea as a compromise for democrats. he also repeated the idea that mexico would pay for the wall through the new usmca trade deal, which would create billions in revenue for the united states. it has yet to be ratified by congress. thorough agencies have been ordered to suspend pay raises

for top officials. the races had been set to go into effect on sunday after a long-standing pay freeze for senior officials lapsed. 800,000 federal workers have either been furloughed or have been working without pay since the government shutdown started. 380,000 furloughed workers will not receive back pay. trump canceled a january 1 raise. in jerusalem, national security adviser john bolton said that u.s. military withdrawal from syria would happen only after isis is defeated and if turkey would guarantee they would not try to destroy u.s.-trained syrian kurdish fighters. bolton's comments contradicted trump's initial announcement from december 19, ordering an immediate withdrawal and declaring that the u.s. had won against isis. at a cabinet meeting last week, trump also contradicted his december announcement stating, "i never said fast or slow." bolton also said the u.s. would absolutely assure the secury of israel and other regional

allies. bolton is set to meet with officials in turkey today. while at a joint news conference with bolton, israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu called on the u.s. to recognize israeli sovereignty over the occupied golan heights. >> we will go up to the golan heights, again, depending on the weather. the golan heights is tremendously important for our security. and i think when you were there, you will be able to understand perfectly why we will never leave the golan heights and why it is important that all countries recognize israel's sovereignty over the golan heights. amy: israel annexed the golan heights in 1981 after capturing the territory from syria during the 1967 war, but the international community does not recognize its sovereignty. in november, the u.s. said it planned to vote against a u.n. resolution calling for israel to end its occupation of the golan heights. in yemen, a u.s. airstrike killed one of the suspected

masterminds behind the suicide bombing of the uss cole in 2000, which killed 17 sailors and wounded at least 40 others. al qaeda militant jamal al-badawi was indicted on terrorism charges in 2003 but twice escaped prison in yemen. the airstrike and al-badawi's death, which reportedly occurred on january 1, was confirmed sunday in tweets by president trump and u.s. ceral command. meanwhile, pentagon chief of staff kevin sweeney announced he was resigning saturday. sweeney's resignation comes just over two weeks after mattis stepped down as secretary of defense, publicly rebuking trump's foreign policy moves. he is the third senior pentagon official to resign since trump announced the u.s. would withdraw troops from syria. pentagon spokesperson dana white also left her position last week. white was being investigated for ethics violations at the time of her departure. in france, the yellow vest protesters took to the streets again over the weekend. on saturday, a group of

protesters in paris rammed a forklift into a government ministry building, while violent confrontations between some demonstrators and police took place in the capital. a reported 50,000 people across france came out as the movement heads towards its second month of protests. on sunday, hundreds of women organized their own yellow vest demonstrations in an effort to counter the recent violence and to highlight the economic issues faced by working women. this is protester sophie tissier. >> there are folks who slip into the protests and there mainly men. we said we want to call for our women's rights to protest and to take part in the struggle. womenvery, very hard for in this society. it is mainly us who look after the children. we have lower salaries than men. it is much harder for women in today's society.

it is a lot more difficult. amy: the intercept is reporting that the senate, in its first legislative act, will take up a bill that aims to prevent opposition to the israeli government by allowing state and local governments to boycott any u.s. companies which are engaged in a boycott against israel. the combating bds act is part of multiple foreign policy measures contained in bill s.1. it's sponsored by florida republican senator marco rubio and is similar to, though reportedly less extreme than, a measure introduced last year by democratic senator ben cardin, where it was met with condemnation from free speech advocates. the intercept reports that 26 states currently have laws sanctioning entities which support a boycott of israel, which can entail punishment of individuals working for employers subject to anti-boycott laws. pope francis appealed to italy and malta to allow a group of nearly 50 migrants aboard two rescue ships to disembark at their ports. the migrants have been stranded on the ships in the mediterranean for two weeks and leaders in italy and malta are refusing to let the boats dock. pope francis asked for the

countries to show concrete solidarity to the migrants. meanwhile, spanish authorities say they rescued nearly 550 migrants at sea over the weekend. new clues are emerging in the mysterious case of u.s. diplomats in cuba, who experienced health problems after being exposed to an unidentified high pitch sound in their homes. scientists said friday that the high pitch sounds, released in a recording by the associated press, were made by crickets rather than a sonic or microwave weapon, as some have speculated. in 2016, staff at the u.s. embassy in cuba began reporting unexplained symptoms, including hearing loss, dizziness, nausea, and memory loss after hearing the sound. last month, doctors in florida said the diplomats had suffered physical damage to their years, though the cause of the damage remains unknown. the state department withdrew much of its diplomatic staff from havana and expelled cuban diplomats from the u.s. following what they believe to be a targeted attack.

in a rare move, the justice department acknowledged flaws and errors in a january 2018 report that linked terrorism and immigration, however they are refusing to retract or edit the report. the report, entitled protecting the nation from foreign terrorist entry into the united states was released to support trump's march 2017 travel ban, barring entry to citizens from six majority-muslim countries. among the errors, the report confounds arrests with convictions, misrepresents the timespan it covers, and misleadingly counts people charged with non-terrorist related offenses. a man has been arrested and charged with capital murder over the killing last week of seven-year-old jazmine barnes, who was shot while in a car with her mother and three of her sisters. the suspect was originally believed to be a white man in a possibly racially-motivated shooting, but police now say

that eric black, jr., was responsible in what is likely a case of mistaken identity. police say black was driving the car where the deadly shot came from. they apprehended him after receiving a tip from journalist shaun king. a second suspect is thought to be in custody, but his identity is yet to be confirmed by police. in nevada, death row prisoner scott dozier died of an apparent suicide saturday. dozier had been scheduled to die by lethal injection in july 2018, but a judge halted the execution just hours beforehand after a pharmaceutical company successfully sued to prevent the use of its drug, midazolam, to be used as part of a three-drug lethal cocktail. the cocktail would have also included the drug fentanyl. dozier, who was convicted of two murders, had been placed on suicide watch after previous suicide attempts. he was found hanging from a bed sheet inside his prison cell. in torrance, california, three men were killed and four others wounded after shots were fired at a bowling alley late friday night. the victims were identified as astin edwards, robert meekins, and michael radford.

police have not yet publicly identified any suspects. in south carolina, two sheriff's deputies will be charged over the deaths of two women who drowned in a van that flooded during hurricane florence. 45-year-old windy newton and 43-year-old nicolette green were in law enforcement custody at the time of their deaths after they had both gone to hospitals, where they were involuntarily committed and detained. joshua bishop is charged with involuntary manslaughter, and stephen flood is charged with involuntary manslaughter and reckless homicide. you can go to our website at democracynow.org to see our coverage of this story. in washington, d.c., a court of appeals ruled in favor of president's trump's ban on transgender people serving in the military. the decision overturned an earlier ruling by a d.c. federal judge blocking the policy for being unconstitutional. the ban, which seeks to restrict military service for transgender people who experience gender dysphoria, replaced an earlier

ban on all transgender service members that was announced in july of 2017. other injunctions against the ban are still in effect. the trump administration has asked the supreme court to take on the case. in new york city, a trial kicks off today challenging the trump administration's attempt to end temporary protected status, known as tps, for 50,000 haitians living in the u.s. tens of thousands of haitians were given tps after an earthquake devastated haiti in 2010. in november 2017, the trump administration announced it would revoke tps for haitians. the move was met with protests and multiple lawsuits. in october, a federal judge temporarily blocked the trump effort which also affects immigrants from sudan, el salvador, and nicaragua, citing a discriminatory motivation. haitian tps recipients and their supporters are expected to rally outside the brooklyn courthouse this morning.

indigenous land defenders in western canada say a raid on their encampments is imminent. members of the unist'ot'en and the gidumden clan have been physically blocking entry to native territory where transcanada corporation plan to build the massive $4.7 billion coastal gaslink pipeline. last month, a judge granted a temporary injunction for access by coastal gaslink workers. reports emerged over the weekend of chartered police buses arriving in the area to defy the two road blocks. this is molly wickham speaking saturday nig. >> people ke to thk that thingsave gott a lot bter. ino-calledanada anour mmunitie and this that e the me that ey were 0 ars ago buthat is justallacy. falls. we knoright noin this ality thathe sta is

lling ancapable usi the me kinf vionce th they used agast our pple for e st 150 yrs. n ago aga, molly wkham weern cana speakinsaturday night. and the are so of the headnes. is is decracy no, decracynowrg, the r and peacreport. i'm amy goman. voting rhts actists ar hailing new housbill tha aims to store vong rightto miions, crk down othe inuence ofark monein potics, reore the ndmark vong rightact, estlish aumatic ansame-dayoter gistrati, and otr measur. democrac congressmember friday, john sarbanes of maryland introduced the bill. >> we heard loud and clear from the american people that they feel left out and locked out too often from their own democracy, that they want us to fight the culture of corruption, want us to clean up washington, fix the

system, and give them their voice back. they want to really get to the ballot box without having to run an obstacle course. they wanted to be easy, not hard, to register and vote in america. and hr1 will address that concern. amy: the bill has been dubbed the "for the people act." it is the first piece of legislation introduced by the new democratic majority in the house. longtime civil rights and congressman john lewis praised the legislation. >> i said on many occasions that the vote is the most powerful nonviolent instrument of transformation we have in our democracy. we have in a demratic society. and at the foundation of our system, it must be strictly preserved. they are trying to make it harder and more difficult for people to participate post up and we must drown out these forces.

amy: meanwhile in other voting rights news, the supreme court agreed on friday to hear two cases involving partisan gerrymandering in the states of north carolina and maryland. voting rights activists fear the court may uphold partisan gerrymandering and could even bar states from forming independent commissions to draw congressional districts. we're joined now by ari berman, senior writer at mother jones, a reporting fellow at the nation institute, and author of "give us the ballot: the modern struggle for voting rights in america." his latest fees, -- his latest piece "democrats' first order of , business: making it easier to vote and harder to buy elections." explain this first act in the democratic house. >> it is a huge bill. it basically includes so many things that democracy reform advocates have been arguing for decades are necessary. it really is the most important reform bill introduced since the watergate era. on voting rights, it would include things like automatic voter registration, election day registration, restoring ex-

felons. this is the most significant voting rights bill probably since the introduction of the voting rights act in 1965. on money and politics, it would include public financing of congressional elections, which would be huge to try to counteract the amount of dark money that we see in the system right now. the corporate money we see in the system right now. on ethics and lobbying reform, one of the things is is is any sitting president and vice president has to release their tax returns, which is so important because donald trump the first candidate and first president in 40 years not to release his taxes. taking together massive expansion of voting rights, a crackdown on dark money come huge lobbying and ethics reforms. it is incredibly significant. this is the first thing that house democrats are they wanted to do out of the gate. amy: what are its chances of not just passing in the house, but being an actor because it is president trump that has to sign off on it. >> it has no ance right now. all of the things i just talked

trump andresident mitch mcconnell who controls the senate. it has a good chance of passing in the house. when it comes to the senate and president trump, this is as much document as a legislative document. house democrats want to say, this is what we's and four and this is what our democracy needs. and by discussing it and holding hearings -- remember, they will hold hearings on voter suppression and on dark money and hearings on president trump's taxes. all of that stuff will get attention to things that have been often dismissed as "good government issues." these are issues that get to the core of our democracy, the core of our politics. america on friday, the supreme court agreed to revisit this question of whether the constitution prohibits extreme partisan gerrymandering. talk about the significance of is. >> gerrymandering has completely warped our democracy. state after it in state.

americans are getting a minority of votes but a majority of seats. thehink of politics as person who gets the most votes wins the election. that is not happening. you look at the last election. in wisconsin, republicans got 46% of the votes in eight assembly and 64% of the seats. that is because of gerrymandering. democrats do it, too. the supreme court will hear these cases from two states. a reasonable person would look at this and say, ok, you republicans gerrymandering in north carolina and democrats in maryland. this must be a problem that we have to deal with. the supreme court looks to be taking the opposite approach. they seem to be saying that we don't believe partisan gerrymandering is a problem, despite all of the factors that we see, despite all of the evidence we see of gerrymandering. they basically have said, we don't care. they took these cases in 2016 and basically sent them back to

the lower courts. the lower court struck these down in north carolina and wisconsin, maryland. now it is going back to the supreme court. the worry here is the five-member sick -- majority will say it isk. we'll on the door to rampant gerrymandering, even more so following the 2020 election when the next census comes out. amy: what is happening in the ninth congressional district? and explain where it is. >> it basically goes from charlott all the way down to eastern north carolina. what we saw there was essentially massive election frau committed by the republican candidate mark karas and his allies in that race to try to win a congressional race. it is ironic that you have republicans across the country screaming voter fraud during the last election but it was their party and their candidate that committed massive election fraud to try to win congressional race. the state board of election in

north carolina has not certified that race. ink harris was not seated the new congress. the state board of election will will seearing, and we what happens. my guess is there's almost certainly going to be a new election in north carolina at some point this year. amy: talk about what is happening in florida. tomorrow is a major deadline. >> huge day. in the last election, florida voters restored voting rights to ex-felons. 64.5% of the public approved it, which was the huge number, basically saying people who have paid their debt to society should get their voting rights back. that can lead up to 1.4 million people getting the right to vote back. tomorrow is the day in which canelons in florida register to vote for the first time. however, there is a lot of confusion surrounding this because the new republican governor, the new republican legislature, they have not said whether people should be up to

register tomorrow. the amendment is clear. starting january 8 ex,-felons should be able to register to vote. however, the governor has basically second the legislature needs to pass a bill implementing the law. what voting rights supporters say this is clear, if you have paid your debt to society, if you have a clean record, you should be able to register to vote tomorrow. the people that led the effort to try to pass this law, the ex-felons themselves, they're going to go to their local board of elections tomorrow and are going to try to register to vote for the first time. amy: let me turn to desmond meade, president of the florida rights restoration coalition and chair of floridians for a fair democracy. i spoke to him in november after amendment 4 past. >> what we have seen in florida was love prevailing. love prevails. we had over 5 million votes for amendment 4, and those votes were votes of love also people

voting for their loved ones and friends who made mistakes and pay their debt and wanted to move on with their lives. so we are very excited when we think that this victory can serve as a bright spot for this country and should serve as a launching had for how we conduct business and how we can move issues along the lines of humanity and transcend above partisan politics, transcend above the racial anxieties. amy: that is desmond meade, who is really the major force, the amendment,nd this this referendum that they voted on that would set an example for states around the country. interestingly, the deadline tomorrow, people cannot -- not deadline exactly, because people can start to register, which means they can register for 2020. we're talking about over one million people. it begins tomorrow, the day the

man who is trying to stop this from happening, the new governor ron desantis, will be sworn in. >> it is important no that florida had the worst felon disenfranchisement law in the country. one in five m african-american's cannot vote under this law, which is astonishing. voters across the ideological in them repealed this last election. every single congressional district in florida voted to repeal the state's felon disenfranchisement law. this was not a democratic versus republican issue. this was voters across the spectrum, many of them conservative law and order republicans, who said if you have paid your debt to society, you should have a second chance. i hope this doesn'tecome republicans versus democrats. i would hope every politician in florida would encourage people to register to vote. you know what? you're going to see a lot of white republicans, amy, show up

tomorrow and what to register to vote, just like you're going to see black democrats or latino independents. this is across the political spectrum. we've had such a problem with mass incarceration across florida. the most important swing state in the country to potentially restore voting rights over a million people, that can have a transformative impact on our democracy. amy: finally, the issues you're looking at around voting rights you think are the most important leading into the 2020 election? >> it is an fortinet was so rampant voter suppression in the last election. we saw thousands of people turned away from the polls in places like georgia and florida and north dakota. we have not dealt with that yet. we have not investigated that yet. that is why this bill we were isking about earlier, hr1, so important. we have disabled her suppression is wrong, is illegal, is immoral. we have to commit to everyone having a chance to vote in 2020. that did not happen in 2018. there were way too many stories

of people that could not vote for one reason or another. i am concerned unless we do with this, both in terms of bringing attention but also passing new laws to make it easier to vote some of that history will repeat itself in 2020 and we will see far too many barriers at the ballot box erected in advance of the next presidential election. amy: ari berman is a senior writer at mother jones, a reporting fellow at the nation institute, and author of "give us the ballot: the modern struggle for voting rights in america." when we come back, what are some advocates of the green new deal critical of house speaker nancy pelosi's new committee on climate change? stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. house speaker nancy pelosi is facing criticism from climate activists for failing to back a green new deal. last week pelosi announced the , formation of a new select committee on the climate crisis headed by long-standing florida congressmember kathy castor. but the committee is far weaker than what backers of a green new deal had envisioned.

the committee will not have subpoena power or the power to draft legislation. one of the most prominent backers of the green new deal has been newly sworn in new york congresswoman alexandra ocasio-cortez. on sunday, she was interviewed on "60 minutes" last night by anderson cooper. you're talking about zero carbon emissions, no use of fossil fuels within 12 years? >> that is the goal. it is ambitious. >> how's that possible? everyone needs to drive an electric car? >> it will require a lot of rapid change that we don't even conceive as possible right now. >> what is the problem with trying to push our technological capacity to the furthest extent possible? close this would quire raising taxes. >> there is an element -- yeah, people are going to have to start paying their fair share of taxes. >> do you have any specifics? >> you look at our tax rates

back in the 1960's, and when you you say fromtem, zero to $75,000 may be 10% or 15%, etc. but once you get to the tiptop on your 10 millionth dollar, sometimes you see tax rates as or 70%.60% amy: for more, we go to boston, where we're joined by varshini prakash, founder of sunrise movement. the youth-led climate group has occupied and lobbied at congressional offices, including with pelosi's last month, alexandria ocasio-cortez. varshini prakash, welcome to democracy now! talk about what has been proposed, you know, when nancy pelosi did that historic gaveling in with the children and grandchildren of congress

members as well as her own. in her speech, she called out the select committee on the climate crisis. what do you think is -- works about that committee and what are you disappointed by? >> sure. wet we saw last week was were very glad to see that nancy pelosi mentioned the climate crisis and her dress, but calling it a crisis in an axis dental threat and treating it -- existential threat and treating it like one or two different things. essentially, she is revising a 10-year-old committee, the select committee for the climate crisis, but we find that it is actually woefully and an exclusively falls short -- inexcusably false short in the terms of climate ambition in this crucial juncture in history. mainly, if all short entryways. as you mentioned. it does not include anything about creating a blueprint for a plan for a green new deal over

the next year, ahead of the next presidential election. it does not include any provision that actually bars people who are taking money from oil and gas executives and lobbyists who are jeopardizing my generation were sitting on the committee, who we frankly find a conflict of interest. thirdly, does not include any power to subpoena, which actually renders this committee less powerful than the one we had even a decade ago. so we were feeling really disappointed that nancy pelosi had failed to follow the leadership of the 45 members of congress, including some of the freshest faces of the democratic .arty calling for a select committee for a green new deal. we've seen me hurricanes get bigger. we have seen fires level entire cities and towns.

we've seen people struggling to breathe clean air entering fresh water, fresh and clean water, and are not seeing the democratic party step up with the level of climate ambition we actually need that has been mandated by u.n. scientists. month, alexandria ocasio-cortez tweeted -- your response? >> absolutely. putting somebody who takes oil and gas money on a committee to stop the climate crisis is akin to pouring oil on a fire and expecting to put it out. we're talking about a fundamental conflict of interest. people who are taking money from the corporations and individuals who have spent the last 50 years misinforming the public on the

science, misleading the public on the science woefully, and by now politicians on both sides of the aisles, for sure the gop but also large number of democrats, should not be having a seat at the table in crafting and holding these public hearings and informing the public about the severity of the crisis and building the consensus around the solutions to do it. we would be hard-pressed to support somebody to seven this committee who hasn't taken the no fossil fuel money pledge, which is why we have been acting -- why we have pushed and have been pushing for kathy castor to take the pledge. congressmembert alexandria cortez to head this committee? >> we think it would be a positive if alexandria cortez were able to participate and push this committee in some way. but frankly, we are seeing our

options through institutional means, through this committee, are not really going to happen in the ways that we wanted. so we are actually looking at not just pushing this select committee on it climate crisis to be better and push for the real solutions to the climate sciences areu.n. saying and president levels of change to our economy and our society over the next -- unprecedented levels of change to our economy in our society over the next years, we need to take this fight beyond the beltway and to the american people. amy: pelosi's office said they would meet with you. have they? >> yes. we met with them prior to the announcement about this committee. amy: what came out of that discussion? >> largely, they said they were supportive our aims and created the select committee for a climate crisis. it feels a little bit of a contradiction to say they are on the same page but not to include

any of the clear demands and provisions we had asked for previously. it is clear the select committee for the climate crisis is largely going to be a number of public hearings or information gathering, frankly, the time to raise awareness about the crisis is over. and at this poinin histo, we ed to stt developing a plan to actuay confnt the crisis and lay the groundwork. we are clear we're not going to able ramrod gislation thugh in 11h congss. thats obvious. th a tru adminisation th is cometely boht and sd by fossil fuel executives and a climatdenyingenate. but we ca start to lay the groundwork in these next two yes for wh an actu pn mit look like. and th is an oortunity that democrats are missinright w. am you d not getour demand for ssil fl funded lawmake not serve othe commtee.

willou prote those o highght those that are chosen for this committee? will you ask that they stop accepting that money? >> absolutely. i think we will ask every summer -- every single member on this committee to reject oil and gas andributions, oil an prioritize the health and well-being of our democracy, society, and climate instead. amy: varshini prakash, thank you for being with us, founder of the sunrise movement speaking to us from boston. when we come back, a stunning six part documentary series that is just airing on showtime called -- just airing on lifetime called "surviving r. kelly." stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman.

we end today's show with the shocking lifetime documentary series called "surviving r. kelly." the series, which aired over three nights this past weekend, chronicles two decades of allegations of sexual assault and misconduct against celebrated r&b singer/producer r. kelly. this is part of the trailer for the series. >> ther's a fferenceetween r. kellynd rober. is th fun, ughing, lovinguy. robert? is thdevil. ax r kel is at t topf thchartsut he mabe in fo a fa. heas arresd on 21 untsf chd photogphy. lks key is acced o videoting himsf havingex wi an undeged girl clictaking aantage ominors will not b tolated. ot guiltfound

on a charges >> sme on you she on you mute r. kelly! amy: that was the trailer for the documentary series "surviving r. kelly." accused ofs been abus abuse, predatory behavior, and pedophilia, throughout his career. but despite damning evidence and multiple witnesses, he has been able to avoid criminal conviction. kelly married the late singer aaliyah in 1994 when she was just 15 and he was 27. the couple denied the marriage took place. it was later annulled. in 2002, kelly was indicted for possession of child pornography after a tape surfaced that appeared to show him having sex with a teenage girl. a jury found him not guilty in 2008 after deciding they could not identify the girl. for many years, kelly reached out-of-court settlements with

women who accused him of abuse, some who signed non-disclosure agreements that kept them from speaking out about the allegations. however, after a 2017 buzzfeed article reporting that r. kelly is keeping women against their will in an abusive cult, survivors and parents of victims have come forward with new allegations about his sexual, mental, and physical abuse. this is angelo and alice clary, parents of azriel clary, who met r. kelly when she was 17. >> the w they d to exiwas rough th back. during that time, wwere waiting d waitinand waitg, geing a lile nervo. we to theorner wi the v was, a that ishere she ited from the baside of the stage. , heiked heroave r a numb to contt him. he 11tgrade.in

we did n findut rightway, t she seetly wasalling a textg him. shhad beenalking thim on the phon one daythe time she was supposedo be home, i called and she s not he yet. finall we get phone call and e said, , i'in a hel in kiimmee eting with r kelly. i was like, how did this happen? i was really shocked. amy: that was from the documentary series "surviving r. kelly." the series will re-air in its entirety on lifetime on friday, january 11. for more, we're going to the ,ofounder of #muterkelly oronike odeleye, who is also featured in this documentary. welcome to democracy now!

justseries is heartrending, horrifying. for people were not so familiar with r kelly, tell us who he is and when the allegations started surfacing, why you are so deeply concerned about him and cofounded a movement against him. is anl, r. kelly internationally recognized singer/songwriter/producer who is had a number of hits over the last couple of decades that have cemented him in a lot of people's minds as the king of r&b. he is beloved in the african-american community. for some of the more inspiring and uplifting songs he is written like "i believe i can fly." stapleongs at aduationand ddings. is stped in t culture

first ard the allations - joinmy: r. kly is ort for robert kelly >> i can remember thinking the marriage to aaliyahas trageous ny yea passed d i did t hearnything se reall. i went owith my life,ust apped up another circles. i had not heard anything else until jun2017 when the legationcame out abo what the mediwas calng sexults in his homight outde of atlanta. at theime i wasitting my fice. i heard this on the news. i did a ogle seah. i was likewhat is th? search, tt google founarticle ter artie afr articlafter aicle abouall of t allegatns co all of e court ses that had co up sincaaliyah we're talkingbout 25 ars rth owomen cong outnd sang that this peon abuse me, is persois viote.

th started sexual relatiship witme when was derage. ey were kingor the communits help a were beg laely ignod. i becamencensed. fuming, le,ce how daree let th go on for 25 yea at thexpense doze of dozs of bla women. iid not kw what tdo. i'not an aivist byny kind of traing,ut i wasike, i' gointo start petitio a hule petitno try toet hioff of atlaa radio. atlaa, specily, cannot afford to suprt child molests. weave a huge cld sex trafficking oblem intlanta. was likewe all know this to be tru rardless of theact we he to sayalleged" in ont of a of thes accutions. everyoneaw him on the te was regardlesof wheth not he was coicted, 21 do stances himself enged in sex withnderage rls we

founin his he. well know forged documents mary 15-yearld aaliy wm heave beenentoringince she was 12 we aaommunityeed is say, we a not goi toive him our ney anyme. w're n going t financily suort the festyle know he is livg. i stted the tition. woman rehed out me when she samen on t ns and said, i ve to reh out telp. gether w ford #muterlly. weere gointo try to t his concerts cceled anwe were going try to t him off of staming. we were ing to me it possibleor other artis to nt t wk with h. weere gointo cut o the ney at ery turn cld cause its hisoney sulating them omhe conseqnces of e crime if y stop the money, you sp s abilit thide. amy: iant to gto anoth clip from the do-series "surving r. lly."

th is survor lisa n allen, follow by sing and forr r. lly prote, spark. spare's ece is aegedly t 14ear-old the sexape vio for whh r. kel faced but was acquitd ochild pornogray charge ias surpred when it end upeeting h because i thoug i wod be theast one would try to tk to becse ias prably theoungest e there. rob wasitting ar the pl. he waseing reay nice. hesked me how old i w. td him i s 17. he asked m whawill you moth let youome to ccago? least 3as at i thought wn i said7 that h woulbe like,ou know, tha was ing to bthe dealeaker. but itasn' >> young gls are impressiable. like, hes r. kel. lo who i g. loing issug the intest. he is charismatic, funny, and h

is an l aroundice guy. t robert maste manilator. eryone kws it no ey did n know itack then rob's hrd abo reputaon, abouhim dati aaliya, but i did not assume he liked younger roles. i just thought it that moment he liked me. lisa van allen. talk about the significance of this and sparkle's news, the person sparkle who was a singer her r. kelly alleges is niecde. >> it is such are documentary to watch, to see so many known women fall into this trap over and over again. but sparkle is absolutely right. women are very impressionable.

we say young women especially, but everyone is impressionable and is able to be manipulated by somebody that they look up to, they admire, they worship. there are grown people right now who have a celebrity that is that celebrity dropped out of the sky and shown their spotlight on them, would leave their husbands, wives, children and run off to l.a. tomorrow. i think to think that children would be less susceptible to that type of temptation is ridiculous. he has honed his trap at this point. when you hear all of those ladies stories, it is the same story over and over and over again. he is using his charm, his looks, his fame, his money, his owner ability as bait. he flips the script. amy: this is to rhonda pace from the documentary "surviving r. kelly."

this is just an amazing story because she actually met him while she went to his trial on most every day. and he saw her as he was walking into court. she says she was 15 when she met kelly. to his trial because i was a super fan at the time. i did not believe he was tilting and i did not want to believe h was guilty. i was a fresan in hi sool. he wasld for m to likeim, t i felln love wh his music. ter robes trial,is frien aemi-a meage in aita me t r. kly' pty. and rob actulyalled myhone ile i watexting m. he sai "i remeer you." he said, "u came tmy trial thanyou for ur suppo." i wish shock. -- i was shocked. i felt like i was on top of the world. amy: that was survivor jerhonda pace, who alleges she was later sexually, mentally, and physically abused while living in a cult-like atmosphere in

kelly's home. pace is now speaking out despite having received a cash settlement from r. kelly in return for signing a nondisclosure agreement. ,alk about, oronike odeleye these nondisclosure agreements. >> that is how he is been able to cover his tracks for years. there is a lot of talk about women except in these cash settlements, but not talk about him making these cash settlements. part of it is, when these cases come up, your lawyer takes a look at them and goes, you need to make this go away, right? this is not something we wanted the public. so he offers the money for their silence. i think they are judged for that unfairly because if we all think about our daughters, our nieces, the young people that we love in our life, would we want their in aand their image terribly humiliating things that have happened to them all over the news forever? andn are forever judged

found guilty for any sexual indiscretion that they have for the rest of their lives. at this point, monica lewinsky could cure cancer and there is still going to be a footnote on her legacy for something that happened decades ago. and who wants that for their child? what you want is for the person to pay for what they did. if you're not able to get that in court for whatever reason for statute of limitations, lack of evidence, you want them to pay however they can. many people took the cash settlement to make it go away and to save their daughter's that humiliation of having their name drug to the mud. i think if we want to create a society where people don't take money and they find it in court and they fight to get justice, we have to create a society where victims are not one to be blamed and judged for the things that happened to them. we have to create a society where this is not going to follow you for the rest of your life and be the defining moment

of your childhood. we have to create a society where people actually look at the facts and the evidence and not the same in the smokescreen that money and fame are able to create in order to really kind of see the merits of the case and judge it on that. so i don't judge any of these women for taking money for their silence. i don't know that i would be able to put myself in their position. they are extremely brave for coming out in this documentary and telling their most humiliating, degrading moment of their life to the entire world. i don't know many of us who would want to do that. amy: i want to bring angelo clary into this discussion, the father of azriel who met r kelly at 17 and moved in with him in hopes of advancing her career. he is not seen his daughter and i was four years. angelo, thank you for joining us from las vegas. can you talk about what is happened to azriel, what you

understand took place? yes, i think the situation where azriel was more of a personal situation at the world don't really know about. it was a lot going on with azriel prior to meeting r. kelly . that is what led up to her being able to go to the show with us and had to be at the show with us, for her to even attend the show. moving right -- she never moved right in. we had an open conversation with r. kelly after the event took place. he gave her his phone number. they started talking i think on a sunday to each other. and on that sunday, we had no idea they were texting and already starting a relationship. that monday, she was supposed to

be in school. she wound up not being in class. she drives to school. she always drove to high school. she did not report home at the right time. my wife called. then she called me and told me that she was not home. i called my son who also went to school, and that is how we figured out she was not at school. we found out she left school early. good we blew up her phone. cap calling and calling and calling. no answer. when we finally got an answer from her phone, she said her mother a text who said she had an audition with r. kelly. she had to leave school and meet with him. tell myre like -- she wife that. my wife called me and said she is at a hotel with r. kelly. we need to get there. i leave work and she leaves work and we wound up meeting at the hotel and kissimmee, florida,

where we see his tour bus most of our daughter called. we go in there. we went to the registration asking for r. kelly. was.y knew where he or he was under that name. they don't have a celebrity here. we understood that. so we went in and started going door-to-door. security was called. the police were called. it was for us disturbing the hotel. the secured he finally went up and found our daughter, went door-to-door, pulled the rooms. yet the top floor with about seven or eight rooms. they found him and my daughter in the room together. they brought her down. some kind of way -- they did not bring him down. the next thing we ask the officer there, where was r. kelly? he was like, he is supposed to be on his way down, but he never

came down. you went out the back for whatever. he was gone. we were more concerned about our daughter at the time. -- she put on this show for us will "hey, this is my career. he called me. he asked me for an audition." we were like, yeah, be your not supposed to go without telling one of us. we already talked about who he was, his background on the way home when she told us he gave her his number after the show. sungshe went on stage and for him. after that, we talked to her and went home. what we did not know, they had intercoursea sexual that day. we found out a year later. amy: your daughter was 17 years old? >> she was 17. wrap up thisto segment of our interview,

angelo, but we will put part two online at democracynow.org. that you don'tid think this could continue if these children we not black girls and young women. can you explain, as we end with this comment? was think the comment straight blunt that if the females was caucasian, this would have been -- it would not have been to this amount of women or young girls, kids, or anything. it would have stopped at one, maybe two tops. i think in the black community, we want heroes. demolish scared to summative because of the good they make us feel with whatever talent they have, that we don't want to be the one that says, hey, we have to destroy you. i think this is why it has drug

on as long as it did and he was so successful at getting away with it. like,really believe that, now, with more people understanding -- i don't think daschle and amy: we have to leave it there but we will continue the discussion in par

chen: all right. well... good evening and welcome. it's great to be with all of you. i'm lanhee chen, the david and diane steffy research fellow at the hoover institution at stanford university, and i'm just really pleased to be onstage with amy chua tonight. amy is the john m. duff, jr. professor of law at yale law school and acclaimed author. many of you may know her for her parenting advice, but we're not going to talk about parenting tonight. we're going to talk about a subject that, you know, i think is very difficult for a lot of people. obviously, we have a society now