amy: from york, this is democracy now. ontoday is the day we embark economic and social justice in the united states of america. that's what this is all about. and ourchange environmental challenges are one of the biggest existential threats to our way of life. amy: congressmember alexandria

ocasio-cortez and senator ed markey introduce a resolution for the much-anticipated "green new deal" to combat the climate crisis, with a sweeping plan for a national mobilization to phase out fossil fuels. we'll speak with journalist kate aronoff. then the supreme court has struck down a louisiana law imposing strict regulations on abortion clinics from going into effect just days after trump attacked abortion legislation in new york and virginia in his state of the union address. >> to defend the dignity of every person, i'm asking congress to pass legislation to prohibit the late term abortions . we'll speak w with plannedd parenthood president dr. leana wen. then to the ongoing crisis of family separation. they did not dispute they are

making thousands more missing kids separated from their parents that originally reported. we speak with lee gelernt, the lead lawyer on the aclu's national challenge to the trump administstration's family separation practice. all of that and more is coming up. it welcome to democracy now, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. in a major victory for reproductive rights, the supreme court has blocked a restrictive louisiana anti-choice law from going into effect. the case was seen as a litmus test for determining whether millions of women across the nation will have continued access to abortions. the divided court ruled 5-4 in favor of an emergency appeal by a louisiana-based abortion provider to block the law which would have required doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of their clinics. chief justice john roberts joined the court's four liberal justices in the 5-4 decision. we will have more on the ruling

later in the program. justice brent kavanagh wrotete e dissent.t. new york congressmember alexandria ocasio-cortez and massachusetts senator ed markey have formally introduced their green new deal, a sweeping plan to transform the nation's economy and achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in 10 years. on thursday, alexandria ocasio-cortez spoke outside the capitol. and noe is no justice combating climate change without addressing what happened to indigenous communities. that means there is no fixing our economy without addressing the racial wealth gap. we are not going to transition to renewable energies without transitioning frontline communities and coal communities into economic opportunity. amy: we'll have more on the green new deal after headlines. the new york times is reporting u.s. intelligence agencies have

uncovered a 2017 conversation in which saudi crown prince mohammed bin salman told a top aide that he would go after jamal khashoggi "with a bullet" if the exiled journalist could not be brought back to saudi arabia. thirteen months later, in october 2018, khashoggi was murdered inside the saudi consulate in istanbul. the discovery was made as the national security agency and other u.s. spy agencies are reviewing years of intercepted saudi voice and text communications. according to the times, mohammed bin salman made the comment about khashoggi in september 2017, the same month when khashoggi began writing columns in the washington post critical of the saudi government. the white house faces a deadline today to determine whether the saudi crown prince was personal responsible for the murder.

the world's richest man, amazon ceo jeff bezos, has publicly accused the owner of the national enquirer of "extortion and blackmail." bezos recently hired a private investigator to determine how the tabloid newspaper obtained private text messages between him and his lover and whether the paper's actions were politically motivated. for years the national inquirer's top editor david pecker has had a close relationship with president trump who frequently attacks bezos and the washington post , which bezos owns. on thursday night a reporter at the washington post told msnbc that bezos' security and legal team believe the private texts might have been accessed by a "government entity." the national inquirer's parent company company, american media inc., responded to bezos' investigation by threatening to publish revealing photos of bezos if he did not agree to publicly state that the enquirer's coverage was not politically motivated or influenced by political forces.

in a blog post on the site medium, bezos suggests the leak of his text messages might be connected to his ownership of the post. jeff bezos wrote, "it's unavoidable that certain powerful people who experience washington post news coverage will wrongly conclude i am their enemy. president trump is one of those people, obvious by his many tweets. also, the post's essential and unrelenting coverage of the murder of its columnist jamal khashoggi is undoubtedly unpopular in certain circles." in his blog post, bezos went on to write, "for reasons still to be better understood, the saudi angle seems to hit a particularly sensitive nerve." meanwhile pulitzer prize winning journalist ronan farrow of the new yorker has also revealed that he was threatened with blackmail over his reporting on the national enquirer and

president trump. mcclatchy is reporting venezuelan authorities have uncovered 19 assault weapons,, 118 ammunition cartridges, and 90 military-grade radio antennas on board u.s.-owned plane that had flown from miami into valencia, venezuela's third largest cicity. the boeing 767 is owned by a company called 21 air based in greensboro, north carolina. the plane has made nearly 40 round trips flights between miami and spots in venezuela and colombia since jan. 11, the day after venezuelan president nicolas maduro was sworn into a second term. bolivarian national guard general endes palencia ortiz said, "this materiel was destined for criminal groups and terrorist actions in the country, financed by the fascist extreme right and the government of the united states."

this comes as the united states is openly pushing for the toppling of maduro's government. on thursday, the new us special envoy to venezezuela elliott abrarams ruled out any negotiations with maduro. >> he has proven he will manipulate any c calls for negotiations to his advantage. he has often used dialogue as a way to place a time. we urge all involved to deal with the government. can -- conversation has ended. elliot abrams is a right-wing hawk who was convicted in 1991 for lying to congress during the iran-contra scandal, but he was later pardoned. amy: abrams also defended guatemalan dictator general efraín rios montt as he oversaw a campaign of mass murder and torture of indigenous people in guatemala in the 1980s. the senate judiciary committee has narrowly voted to approve william barr's nomination to

become attorney general. every democrat on the committee voted against barr who previously served as george h.w. bush's attorney general. during that time, he was involved in the pardon of six reagan officials, including elliott abrams, for the iran-contra scandal. he also oversaw the opening of the guantánamo bay military prison, which was initially used to indefinititely detain h haitn asylum seekers. democratic senator amy klobuchar of minnesota said, "this is not the time to install an attorney general who has repeatedly espoused a view of unfettered executive power." in related news, acting attorney general matthew whitaker is heading to capitol hill today to testify before the house judiciary committee ending a standoff between the justice department and house democrats. the hearing is expected to focus in part on special counsel robert mueller's russia probe

and whether president trump attempted to interfere in the investigation. the phoenix new times is reporting a prisoner in arizona has died just six weeks after he filed a court document claiming he was "being killed" due to inadequate medical care. 64-year-old richard washington, who is african-american, died on january 31 from complications related to diabetes, hypertension, and hepatitis c. on december 15, he filed a document accusing prison officials of "actively refusing" to give him the medication he needed. his legal filing was titled "notice i am being killed." in other prison news, dozens of protesters rallied outside the federal metropolitan detention center in brooklyn new york on , thursday. during last week's polor vortexx 1,600 prisoners were held at the prison without heat, hot meals or electricity. , the protest came one day after a judge visited the prison to inspect conditions at the jail.

>> i am out here in support of behavior the government is doing it cannot be accepted. people are here to hold them accountable. we understood it that the government was going to do what they do. they are going to show that the cells were personally fine. it's going to c come back to the original plan of hurting black amybrown people and not school authorities in hazelton : pennsylvania are facing criticism after a video was posted online showing a whwhite schoolol police offificer attacg an african-american teenage girl. the video shows four school offificials surrounding g the gl as one officer punches her in the leg, then grabs her hair and

violently pushes her head onto a cafeteria table. in the video dozens of nearby , students can be seen screaming at the officers to stop. hazezelton school officicials sd the officers were deescalating a student brawl which resulted in the suspension of four students. the video was posteded online on monday as schools across the country began to mark black lives matter at school week. in sports, hall of fame baseball player frank robinson has died at age 83. he became the first african-american manager in major league history. congressmanratic from michigan has died at the age of 92. a longtime champion of universal health care, he served in the house for 59 years. .e is survived by his wife

and those are some of the headlines this is democracy now, , democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. in a major victory for reproductive rights advocates, the case was seen asas a litmus test for determining whether millions of women across the nation will continue to have access to abortion. the divided court ruled 5-4 in favor of an emergency appeal by a louisiana-based abortion provider. they blocked a republican backed law that would have left the state was just one single doctor legally allowed to perform abortions. the log requires doctors who perform abortions to have

admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles. pro-choice groups called the statute a trap law. in two, the supreme court struck down a nearly identical texas law in a 5-3 ruling. the now retired justice kennedy ruled with the majority in that decision. his replacement voted with the minority on thursday. john roberts joined the liberals to block the antiabortion law from taking effect. the news came days after the president attacked reproductive rights in the state of the union address. he criticized new york for passing a law codifying a right to an abortion. contrastis no greater

of a mother holding her infant child than the chilling displays our nation saw in recent days. lawmakers in new york cheered with the light upon the passage of legislation that would allow a baby to be ripped from the mother's womb, moments from birth. these are beautiful babies who will never get the chance to share their love and dreams with the world. case of the the governor of virginia, where he stated he would execute a baby after birth to defend the .ignity of every person i am asking congress to pass legislation to prohibit the late-term abortion of children who can feel pain in a mother's womb.

let's work together to build a culture that cherishes innocent life. let's reaffirm a fundamental truth, all children born and unborn, are made in the holy image of god. the new york governor

responded on twitter by writing, just for polling -- proposing rolling back laws for 46 years affirmed and reaffirmed by numerous supreme court's. new york has a message to those who spread lies and fear to control reproductive health. it's not going to happen. not now. not ever. wen.e joined by dr. lena the first physician to lead planned parenthood in nearly 50 years. she is the first asian american to hold the office. she is a practicing emergency room doctor who has served in baltimore. school atred medical the age of 18 after coming to the united states from china.

in 2018, she was one of the 50 most influential people in health care. when doctorshor of don't listen: how to avoid miss diagnoses. welcome to democracy now. lena: it's a pleasure to join you. amy: let's start off with the supreme court decision. how significant is it? lena: it is significant to the women of louisiana who have a temporary but important ruling that would allow them to continue to get access to health care. legalon is a safe, medical procedure that one in four women will have in their lifetimes. we have to talk about it in the context of reproductive health care. women's health care as health care.

the supreme court issued this blocking, it's important to note that justice brent kavanaugh was among those who defended it. all of us who were concerned , roe v.s nomination wade hangs in the balance. : talk about john roberts weighing in with the liberals. this is a temporary decision. 4s, this is about -- for us, this is about health care. this is the will of the people. 73% of the public is pro-choice. we saw that in the last midterm election. women rose up to vote for a strongly pro-reproductive health majority in the house of

representatives. we have 25 governors and 19 state legislatures that will protect women's rights and reproductive health care. it's time for everyone to respect that women's health care is just what it is. it's a fundamental human right. amy: were you surprised by justice roberts weighing in with the liberal justices? lena: we need the supreme court to overturn the rule. let's move to title x. countryple in this probably don't know what it is. talk about why you are so focused on it and what is an eminent decision. lena: i want to address what the president said during the state of the union.

i watched it from the balcony of the capital as a guest of nancy pelosi. i was angry and disgusted. the president of the united states deliberately lied to the people as a way to manipulate, to spread misinformation, to distract from his ultimate objective, which is overturning roe v. wade and cutting access to women's health care, reproductive health care, to restrict women's rights. we see what he is doing. we see what he is doing with program the only grant that provides for cancer care,ings, hiv reproductive health care to millions of people. we expect any day now that the trump administration will issue their final rules to gag

doctors. we will be prevented from providing patients with accurate information. if a woman goes to a clinic that receives public funding and she information, the doctor will not be able to provide her with a referral, even if her life is in danger. it's ridiculous. it's unethihical. administration, we will fight with the ruling we have. it is our job to contact women's health. be c clear, ifif you were asked as a doctor by a woman saying you would like to terminate your pregnancy, what could you legally respond? say that wet to don't have the final rule by the trump administration yet.

is they willstand prevent doctors from giving women their options. specifically, if a woman says she would like to have a abortion,o receive an a doctor working in a clinic that receives title x funding would not be able to give that referral, even if her life is in danger. our ethics ases doctors and nurses. made, tomises the of i help my patients make the best decisions for themselves. it's my job to trust women. politicians like donald trump have no rule register rating -- legislating. ethics, planned parenthood will not stand for that. amy: we are going to come back

to our d discussssion with the w presidenent of planned. hood. -- planned parenthood. now, we willracy be back in a minute.

amy: this is democracy now. i want to turn to virginia where a reckoning about racism and sexual assault is left the state government in disarray with the top three elected officials facing political crises. the controversy that has enveloped virginia since the governor admitted last week to wearing blackface took a shocking turn wednesday when the attorney general also admitted to wearing blackface at a college paparty. thes second in line for governorship. he called for the governor to resign. governor is also

embroiled in scandal after a woman has accused him of sexual assault. she had details of the encounter. we are going to turn right now and continue our conversation with the president of the planned parenthood federation of america. she is the first doctor to serve as president in half a century. she is the first asian american to hold that office. before being head of planned parenthood was commissioner of health for the city of baltimore. planned parenthood was one of of first when the governor virginia admitted to wearing blackface, you demanded that he resign. planned parenthood had been a longtime supporter of governor northam. why did you take that stance? leana: he is not just a

governor. he's a doctor. there is profound racism in medical care. huge health to disparities for african-americans, emigrants, people of color. i thought a lot about what it was like to be a medical school classmate of his who is a person of color. what is the care they delivered to their patients? we will never stand for racism, bigotry, harassment, discrimination of any kind. organization,re it was important for us to speak out. racism is something that deeply affects the health outcomes of our patients. amy: if all three of the

,emocratic politicians resign it's a little complicated, but the republican speaker of the house of delegates in virginia would be next in line to become the governor. fetusesompared aborted to dead soldiers. this is him speaking against abortion just last week. we are no accident. how ababout a baby? are forming. norms that retina i just began to talk about is forming. week 16, the optics of light. it can see light.

flashlight on a mother's stomach, you might get a kick. with the miracle of modern weeks, wewe have a 20% survival rate. that is the virginia republican speaker of the house of delegates. he is in the chain of succession consideringgovernor, what might happen. can you respond to what he said? also, what the governor said about abortion. leana: i think it's important for us to talk about medicine and science and facts. i don't even want to respond to these things said that are not medically accurate. here are the facts. , it'soctor and scientist

a fact that abortion is a safe, legal medical procedure that is common. one in four women will have one in their lifetime. about 99% of abortions occur before 21 weeks. those that occur later are because of extreme circumstances , such as danger to the woman's health. there are things like on survivable fetal anomalies. i had a patient who found out in her second trimester she was carrying twins that would be born without lungs. she carried them to term. they would've suffocated on birth. medicine is complex. it's extremely difficult for women to make very personal painful decisions.

it's my job as a doctor to provide the information they need to make the best decision eyeyeythey can. it should be up to any politician to make that decision for a woman. tot they are doing is trying restrict access to health care. as a doctor, i know what the cost is going to be. the american people who shown that we want more health care and not less. that's what we demand of our elected officials, to respect that health care should be treated no differently than any other aspect of health care. we should really be looking hard at what we are doing as a health care system. we have a health care system many political system that does

not value women's lives. it does s not give us bodily economy. foundeds ago, we were on t the idea that your body is your own. you can't be free or equal if it's not. it's the same f fight we are fighting out. year, one in three women couldld be living in stats where abortion is banned. bans asf past abortion early as six weeks. this is what is it stake right now. amy: as you talk about health care being a human right, are you for medicare for all? leana: i am for universal access to health care. there are multiple models that deserve examination and careful analysis and debate. medicare for all is one of those proposals.

it's important for us to hold our values. at planned parenthood, everyone must begin in teed affordable -- guaranteed affordable health care regardless of who you are, what you look like, whether you can pay. health care must be a guaranteed right, not a privilege. reproductive health care, women's health care, should be treated no differently. think about the gag rule, how much outrage would there be if they said to doctors you can't tell your patients with diabetes anything about insulin. reproductive health care has been singled out and attacked. it's the same thing as any other aspect of health care. that's what planned parenthood believes. we will always fight for that. our northstar -- it's not about

the what. we fight for our patients. that's what we dodo every day. go, your lifeu story is quite remarkable. i was wondering if you could share some of it. talk about coming to this country. leana: when i was seven years old, my parents brought me here from china. we were able to stay on political asylum. my parents and i really struggled. we depended on medicaid. we depended on food stamps. i think a lot about what this president is trying to do to attack people like me. medicaid, food stamps, they were not an entitlement.

they were our lifeline. they enabled us to stay in this country. i truly believe now as i am a new mom myself, i believe i am while the parents' streams. -- wildest dreams. was alsoarenthood our lifeline. it's what enabled me to be able to pursue my while the streams. i will always fight for this organization. amy: you went to college when you were 14 years old? leana: when i was 13. i was in college when i was 14. amy: when did you to medical school? was 18.hen i i was very fortunate to be able to do that.

i always dreamt of being a doctor. i didn't know it was something i could do. dococtor is the greatest privilege of my life. i am able toto take care of peoe and their families in their time of greatest need. seenblic health, i have how it's a crisis, this attack on women's health care and the attack on reproductive health care, the attack on lgbtq people. it's a public health crisis. that's what i am supporting. amy: you were diagnosed with cervical cancer at age 27? leana: that's right. i only told the story for the first time a few weeks ago. it's a deeply personal story. i didn't share it. when i was 27, i was diagnosed with early cervical cancer.

i was very lucky that it was caught early. i underwent the procedure. i knewew it wowould affect my fertility. my husband and i really wanted to have children. it is something we did not talk about, our struggle with fertility and the cancer diagnosis. i decided to tell it for the first time two weeks ago. story,not sharing the with the platform that i have, how can i encourage others to get the hpv vaccine, to get early detection and that saved my life. i would encourage others to tell their stories as well. it's important to talk about how programs like title x are so important. they are literally life-saving services that we offer to nearly

2.5 million patients every single year. i want to thank you so much for being with us. she is the first physician to head planned parenthood in 50 years. she has served as commissioner of health for the city of baltimore. we will have you back on to talk about your fight against opipios and the work you did there. time magazine named her one of the most influential people in health care. alexandriae back, zero cortez has introduced the green new dedeal. we will speak with kate aronoff.

amy: this is democracy now. i am amy goodman. after months of anticipation. aoc and ed markey introduced a newlution for the green deal. it was a sweeping plan to

achieve net zero greenhouse gases in 10 years and create economic prosperity for all. introducing the resolution. justice in embark on the united states of america. that is what this agenda is about. and ourchange environmental challenges are one of the biggest existential threats to our way of life. not just as a nation, as a world. aimsthe blueprint laid out to overhaul the u.s. economy with green initiatives that will transition the u.s. to clean energy while guaranteeing all americans clean air & water, food and housing security, and robust healthcare. nancyinterview wednesday, pelosi it seemed to mock the green new deal.

it would be one of many suggestions we receive. the green dream, or whatever they call it, nobody knows what it is, but they're for it, right? ocasio-cortez addressed what some are calling a slight by pelosi in an interview on msnbc on thursday with chuhuck todd. >> whahat introduced today was a resolution. it just has to pass the house. plan,bstance is not a it's e e scope of t the plan. in terms of the scope of the planet, i think we will get there. 6 60 cosponsors in the house. that's pretty crazy. wewe were able to lalaunch on dy one with 60 cosponsors. i think we may get a majority of caucus onatic cop -- board. that was rep. alexandria ocasio cortez talkingng about the green

new deal. 2020 democratic presidential hopefuls kamala harris, elizabeth warren, kirsten gillibrand, bernie sanders and cory booker have all signed on as co-sponsors of the resolution. well for more we're joined by kate aronoff, a fellow at the type media center and a contributing writer to the intercept and jacobin. her most recent article for the intercept is titled the green new deal takes its first congressional baby step, as pelosi mocks green dream or whatever. welcome to democracy now! yesesterday,ppened they really took the first steps toward what it would mean to pass legislation for a green new deal. as the representative said in that clip, this is not the planet to implement the green new deal. what it does do is lay out broad principles by which the plan would be implemented. it ramps up pressure on the committee on climate.

members were named to it yesterday. them andhe pressure on on politics more generally. it puts pressure on 2020 candidates to endorse a very specific version of what a green new deal is. amy: many people are wondering s she -- this is the issue she is really pushing for. she is not on the committee. yesterday, the news that she had been snubbed was false. she turned them down. i'm not totally sure why. she said yesterday she didn't need to do that. be that sheld thinks she can do better elsewhere. she is on two very powerful

committees. they have real power. she can get valuable work done there. she can get work done doing what she did yesterday, which is stand with people who are pushing for a green new deal outside and pushing that in the public conversation. amy: i assume nancy pelosi is bothered by this. aocof the first things that did before she became a congress member was protest outside her office. how significant is it that she was mocking it? i think it's significant because of how much of an outlier it seems like itt politicians for so long have fashioned themselves as is this friendly centrists. in the last year because of the rising popularity of progressive

ideas and bernie sanders coming out and supporting plans for pelosing this ambitious, looks like an outsider, even when she talks about climate and when she says she is committed. her solutions are not up to the task. ♪ [music break] what is the green new deal? committee and the green new deal are separate things. she asked for a select committee. she wanted to figure out how we would implement this. resolution lays up 14 projects and several principles over which the process can be carried out. decarbonization of transit,ty, public

things like preventing the abuse of eminent domain, informed insent for indigenous people infrastructure built on indigenous land, it's a sweeping legislation that puts the meat on the bones. amy: let's turned to aoc speaking on 60 minutes witith anderson cooper about how to pay for the green new deal. >> you are talking about zero, and -- zero carbon emissions. how is that possible? require a lotto of rapid change that we don't even conceive of as possible right now. what is the problem with trying to push our r technologicall capacity to the firsrst extent possible? >> it would require raising taxes.s.

>> people will start having to pay their fafa share. rates look at our tax back in the 60's, there was a progressive tax rate system. zero to rate from $75,000 may have been 15%. once you get to the tippy top, dollar,10th millionth you could see tax rates as high as 70 percent. $10 doesn't mean all million are taxed at that rate. as you climb the ladder, you should contribute more. minutest is her on 60 and she is talking about how to fund the green new deal. out, as she rightly points we never asked this question when we decide on national priorities. whether it was the new deal during world war ii, we don't

talk about who we will have to tax or who will have to pay. shoulds n no reason w why we hold this conversation hostage about dealing with the climate change. also worth bringing up his the conversation we've never had in relief to the massive amount of costs that climate change will bring about if we don't do anything. it could be in the trillions of dollars. that has to be part of the conversation. how much will it cost us if we don't do anything about it? amy: we will leave it there for now as an arctic chill descends on the united states. thank you very much. we will link to her latest piece.

this is democracy now. i am amy goodman. as we and the show with the ongoing crisis of family separation o of the border. after officials at a hearingng d not dispute there would be thousands more missing kids separated from their parents than originally reported. the hearing by the energy and commerce subcommittee on onceeght and investigation to investigatete the role in carrying out the zero tolerance policy. separation ate the border. it revealed a chaotic system with no measure to track family units. the health and human services director may not have non-about the zero tolerance policy before

when into effect area this is brett guthrie of kentucky questioning the hhs office of refugee resettlement. did you ever met the policy? i would never have supported such a policy. a democratic congress member also questioned jonathan whitet, hehe is formally of thee hhs ofe of refugee resettlement. areoes anyone know how many still seseparated from theheir parents? >> nobody knows. those in ourw that custody, there is no way to know how to divide up those children. >> i want to be very clear. children in our customer --

have worked to identify them. >> i understand that. receive a list t or indicacation of the list of separated children. we worked hard to identify e evy one of t those kids. >> thank you. i just feel like with been happening is more than irresponsible and sloppy. i really think that what we are talking about is state-sponsored child abuse. i would go so far as to say kidnapping. state-sponsored rallies in kidnapping of children. she was questioning the commander. lead lawyerd by our

on the challenge to the trump administration. he was there yesterday. he testified. thank you for flying in early this morning. what are we talking about here? at this point, they are admitting that there are thousands more children, they don't even know what happened to them. remarkablee developments one year into the litigation. we are still getting bombshells. an internal report said there may have been thousands more. they can't put a number on it because no one tracked the kids. yesterday, they did not dispute that there may be thousands. they said it would take too long to try to find them. they would have to go through individual files. they had no tracking system. they knew the kids were given to sponsors, that could mean foster care or relative.

we want to make sure these kids are ok and they can get back with their parents. say that would take too long and t they don't wantnt too itit absent a court order. we are going back to court to seek that order. amy: how could thousands of children be taken that no one has records of? >> i wish i had an answer for you. that is the same stunning thing that happened earlier. kids,aid there were 2700 they could not track them. the judge said the government tracks property better. now, there could be thousands more.. amy: these hearings did not take place before it is democrats were not in power. abuse, what to do testify yesterday?

thingsid there are few critical for congress to do now. what is to create funds for these families. a lot of people think if they are reunified, that's the end of the matter. it's just starting, the trauma is so severe. medical professionals were testifying that said the kids may be traumatized for the rest of their lives. we think congress should allocate funds in medical care. what they did not dispute yesterday was these are ongoing separations. they know there is a court order so they can't just do it, this parent is dangerous, they are asserting that unilaterally without any standards or ability for the parent to push back. we need congress to set standards or the courts to set standards. we need these kids to be found. amy: the health and human

services secretary may not have known about the zero tolerance policy when it was instituted? kate: that's what they testified. -- he was not given information about it. what else was given. the secretary refused to show up. -- the secretary for hhs. they asked for documents in advance. they did n not provide document. the house is goingng to commuteo seek those documenents. -- continunuto seek those documentnts. hhs new this wasas happening. there were hundreds s and hundrs of kids s showing up. whetether or not they say they were forormally told, they knew something was going on. amy: we are talking about

thousands of children currently potentially. how do you find out where they are? >> it's going to be painstaking. the lives of children are at meant --a eight jhs is state. hhs says they have no database. they said they could do it if they went through the files. they say it is too many hours. we say they have to do it. how could you just say it's not worth the effort? he wouldcommander says never recommend family separation is a policy. he talked about the trauma. another revelation was there were no standards in the law for when separation should occur. what is the legislation that has to pass now? >> we have established in court

now a standard that can be used. saying,ander white was there is no legislation setting out standards. it might be worth while for congress to make it clear. this is what we want you to follow. congress is never set standards. it would be good if they did it, that's no excuse for what happened. child welfare law in every state has a standard. you leave a child with their parents unless the parents are a danger to the child. that's not what they were doing. they were taking children away in hope that would deter asylum-seekers from coming to the country. amy: you are suggesting they are still l doing it. >> yes. we know they are still doing it. do you believe many children right now will never be read on with their parents? if someone is watching this, a young person is watching this,

what do they do to let someone know they are alone or how they find their parents? litigation, is have never said i don't believe we will get the task done. i am hopeful that we will reunite every child and parent. if there are relatives out there, they should let people know. of aately, it's too big task for self-help. if we the government to give us any information they have. we will start calling these parents. amy: the you think kristin gillibrand lied -- kirstjen nielsen? >> i'm not going to characterize it. we haven't gotten the whole truth from the administration. i think there are bombshells still to come. amy: i want to thank you for

being with us. you're the lead lawyer for the aclu. we have a job opening. it's a news production fell us of. check out democracynow.org

ruben martinez: los angeles, from the early 20th century all the way until today, is a city defined by immigrants arriving here in wave after wave. we're e a city of f immigrants. it's all coming in a h human migration, a human journey, ultimatelyy. that's how food gets around the world. we carry it with us in our stomachs and our bodies and in our cululture. those kinds of journeys, those kinds of migrations, are very los angelino. so, stuff starts to shift culturally in all kinds of different ways. people start learning the language... but it's not just the immigrants that are changed. the immigrants are chchanging the natives. and you can literally track a people's history and the