02/20/19 02/20/19 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is demomocracy now! >> despite the warnings of etethics lawyers and security experts, thehe trump administrationon has plowewed ad with this idea of sharing nuclear power technology with saudi arabia. and the reason they got so excited about this idea has a lot to do it to people close to the president who potentially had a financial interest in that idea. amy: house democrats are accusing several trump administration officials and

allies of pushing a plan of pushing highly sensitive nuclear energy technology to saudi arabia in potential violation of u.s. law. critics say the deal could use the technology to build a nuclear bomb and spark nuclear arms race in the middle east. then we speak to a saudi scar lurk whose father is in jail facing a possible death sentence for speaking out ainst the monarc. anwe gto portld where inveigation the orenian wspaper s revealed a number of saudi students living in the united states ha vananisd whe facing sereriousriminal charges, i inclung manslauteter d rape. >> what we are essentially looking at here is the possibility that a foreign government has systematically subverted the crimiminal justice totem in the united states help its citizens escape prosecution. amy: all that and more, coming

up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. democrats on the house oversight committee have opened an investigation into claims that top white house officials, including former national security adviser michael flynn, pursued a plan to open nuclear power plants in saudi arabia, despite potential conflicts of interest and objections from national security advisers. before joining trump's white house, flynn worked for the company behind the nuclear plan. top advisers warned that the export of nuclear technology could be considered illegal if used as part of a weapons program. the plan could also be in violation of a nuclear non-proliferation act. according to a report by the congressional committee, the white house may still be discussing the plan. we will have more on the story with congressmember ro khanna after headlines. teachers in west virginia

celebrated a major victory tuesday when a conontested educatioion reform bilill was blocked by house delegegates jut hours into a statewide strike protesting the legislation. the bill would have legalized charter schools, which are currently not allowed in west virginia. teachers' unions say they were not consulted in the drafting of the legislation and that it was retaliation for last year's historic strike, which was credited with launching a wave of teacher walkouts in other red states. teachers are set to continue their strike for now. a report by "the new york times" details a number of possible obstruction of justice efforts by president trump as he tried to suppress or contain multiple investigations about him. "the times" says trump asked former acting attorney general matthew whitaker to place a loyalist in charge of an investigation into hush money payments made to women who allegedly had affairs with trump by his former personal attorney michael cohen.

trump reportedly asked for new york federal prosecutor geoffrey berman to head the investigation, but berman had alalready recused d himself froe case. whitaker testified to congress earlier this month that trump never pressured him to intervene in an investigation. did he perjure himself? the report also says trump's ongoing efforts to undermine special counsel robert mueller's russia investigation, which he publicly attacked over 1100 titimes. the white house says trump plans to nominate deputy transportation secretary jeffrey rosen to replace rod rosenstein as the next deputy u.s. attorney general. rosenstein is set to leave the justice department in the coming weeks following the confirmation of william barr to the attorney general. he was confirmed last week. barr and rosen previously worked together at a law firm. president trump is moving forward with his plan to establish a space force, which would be set up as part of the

u.s. air force. trump originally announced the space force would be its own military branch, separate from the air force, which currently oversees all outer space-related military activity. this is trump speaking to reporters in the oval office tuesday as he signed the space force policy directive. pres. trump: america must be fully equipped to defend our adversaries, training forces and developing technology to undermine our security in space. they are working very hard at that. that is why my administration is recognizing space as a war fighting d domain and made ththe creation of the space force a national security priority. amy: the president will need congressional approval to create the space force. it's unclear for now how much it would cost, though the white house said this information would be revealed in the upupcoming 2020 budgetet propos. critics fear t the establishmemt of a u.s. space force will trigger an arms race i in space. in france, an estimated 20,000

protesters took the streets of paris tuesday night to denounce a surge in anti-semitic attacks across france. the protest came hours after french president emmanuel macron visited a jewish cemetery in alsace that was desecrated overnight monday. around 80 tombstones were found with swastikas painted on them. this is a protester speaking at last night's mass demonstration. >> i think that anti-semitic actions arare on the rise. it is something that strikes fear, that brings back bad memorieses. we want to show youngerer generations there's another th to take other than this one. amy: the interior minister said there was a 74% increase in anti-semitics attacks last year. france is home to the largest jewish population in europe. in haiti, police have arrested multiple foreign nationals, including five americans, for possessing illegal weapons. three of those are reportedly former u.s. military and a

fourth previously worked as a federal contractor. authorities are still investigating why the americans were in haiti. the arrests come after days of anti-government protests which resulted in at least seven deaths. as pope francis convenes a vatican summit on sexual abuse in the catholic church, explosive new revelations of abuse and cover-up by members of the clergy continue to make -- to emerge. a new "washington post" investigation repoports pope francis was personally aware of multiple sexual abuse allegations at three catholic schools for deaf children in italy and argentina, yet did not intervene to stop the abuse or punish those responsible. survivors wrote letters to pope francis and even visited him at the vatican in 2015. ex-students say they were repeatedly molested, raped, tied up, and slapped. onon tuesday, a group of women, including survivors of sexual abuse from church leaders, held a news conferencnce in rome ahed of thehe vatican''s summit.. this is survivor and advocatee barbara dorris. >> officicials have framed thiss a homosexual issue. for a couple of reasons.

it takes away from t the real focus of the problem, which is criminal sexual assault. and it acts as a smokescreen. people are now discussining homosexuality rather than the crimes them selves. and homosexual issues automamatically remove the women from the discussion and magically h half the victims hae been made to disappear. amy: arkansas governor asa hutchinson signed into law a measure that would automatically trigger an abortion ban if the supreme court overturns the landmark 1973 roe v. wade ruling. the bill does not include exceptions for rape or incest. arkansas is now the 5th state to sign in the so-called "trigger" abortion ban bill. illinois became the latest state to adopt the call for a $15 minimum wage when governor j.b. pritzker signed a bill tuesday to reach that goal by 2025. workers celebrated the news after a years-long campaign for fair wages in the state. this is fast-food worker and a member of the group fight for

15, ieshia townsend, speaking at the bill signing. 1 15, ie the fight for felt voiceless. all araround me was overwhelming messages that i did n notatter as a fast food worker, as a single mom. not even matter as a black woman. amy: cnn is coming under fire after news broke tuesday that the network tapped a republican operative and former justice department spokesperson as its new political editor overseeing coveverage of the 2020 presidential elections. prior to her job at the justice department -- where she worked under then-attorney general jeff sessions -- sarah isgur flores was an advisor to senator ted cruz and mitt romney, and was carly fiorina's deputy campaign manager for her 2016 republican primary bid. isgur flores, who has no experience in journalism, has been critical of cnn in the past, including in 2014 when she retweeted a conservative website

referring to cnn as clinton news network. on tuesday, new york congressmember alexandria ocasio-cortez tweeted -- "sorry, didn't get the latest memo after 1000 experienced + qualified journalists of all stripes were let go w/o warning a few weeks ago and still looking for work: are we still pretending that hires like these are evidence of a meritocracy?" lawyers for high school student nick sandmann, who last month appearedn a viral video as he faced off with omaha elder nathan phillips at a d.c. rally, have filed a defamation lawsuit against "the washington post." they are seeking $250 million in damages. the lawsuit claims that sandmann was "wrongfully targeted and bullied because he was the white, catholic student wearing a red 'make america great again' cap." sandmann's lawyers say he was targeted as a trump supporter as part of the washington post's biased agenda against the president. they also say the $250 million

is based on the amount jeff bezos paid to acquire the post in 23 and write that the goal of the action is to "punish, deter, and teach the post a lesson it will never forget." the january interaction took place after the indigenous peoples march in washington, d.c., when nathan phillips, who is seen peacefully playing his drum and singing, was encircled by covington catholic high school students who appear to be taunting and mocking him. sandmann and philipps stand face to face with each other in the video, with sandmann smiling as philipps sings an indigenous prayer song. to see our interview with omaha elder nathan phillips, go to democracynow.org. democratic alabama lawmakersrs e calling for the editor and publisher of a local alabama newspaper to resign after he penned an op-ed last week calling for the ku klux klan to raid and lynch democrats in washington, d.c. goodloe sutton, once a widely

respected reporter, has confirmed he authored the piece in the print-only publication, which was headlined "klan needs to ride again." in the editorial, sutton wrote -- "democrats in the republican party and democrats are plotting to raise taxes in alabama. this socialist-communist ideology sounds good to the ignorant, the uneducated, and the simple-minded people." supreme court justice clarence thomas is calling for the court to reconsider the landmark 1964 new york times v. sullivan case. the case involved an interpretation of the first amendment, and made it more challengining for public figures toto claim libelel. justicice thomasas wrote - -- "new york titimes and the cour's decisions extending it were policy-driven decisions masquerading as constitutional law." presidident trump has also calld for libel laws against public figures to be reconsidered. in 2017, he tweeted -- "the failing @nytimes has disgraced the media world.

gotten me wrong for two solid years. change libel laws?" anand renowned geophysicist, columbia professor, and climate scientist wallace broecker dd on monday at the age of 87 in new york. broecker is credited with popularizing the term "global warming" and was one of the first scientists to demonstrate the link between carbon emissions and rising temperatures in the 1970's. he also advanced scientific understanding of the oceans' effect on the atmosphere, which he termed the "ocean conveyor belt." in 1975, he published a research paper titled "climate change: are we on the brink of a pronounced global warming?" outlining the role of human activity on the climate. broecker famously said -- "the climate system is an angry beast and we are poking it with sticks." and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. juan: and i'm juan gonzalez. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world.

house democrats are accusing the trump administration of moving toward transferring highly sensitive nuclear technology to saudi arabia in potential violation of u.s. law. critics say the deal could endanger national security while enriching close allies of president trump. saudi arabia is considering building as many as 16 nuclear power plants by 2030, but many critics fear the kingdom could use the nuclear technology to develop nuclear weapons and lead to a nuclear arms race in the middle east. during an interview with "60 minutes" last year, saudi crown prince mohammed bin salman made clear that if iran acquired nuclear weapons, saudi arabia would do the same. >> saudi arabia does not want to acquire any nuclear bomb. but without about, if arent develops a nuclear bomb, we will follow suit as soon as possible.

juan: committee issued an -- on thursday, the house oversight committee issued an interim report on the proposed saudi deal after multiple whistleblowers came forward accusing several top white house advisers and allies of trump of attempting to push through the transfer of the nuclear technonology despite r repeated legal and ethical warnings. at the center of the controversy is the company ip3, which was formed to help u.s. companies build nuclear plants in saudi arabia and elsewhere in the region in what they dubbed a middle east marshall plan. former national security advisor mike flynn worked as an advisor for a subsidiary of the firm before entering the white house and reportedly continued to advocate on behalf of the company once in office. ip3 was co-founded by former reagan official bud mcfarlane who pleaded guilty to participating in the iran-contra cover-up in 1988. amy: the house report also names several other high ranking trump officials and allieses reportedy involved in the proposed saudi deal, including trump's son-in-law jared kushner, energy

secretary rick perry, and trump's billionaire friend thomas barrack who served as chair of trump's inaugural committee. according to the report by the congressional committee, the white house may still be discussing the plan. we are joined now by two guests. in washington, d.c. democratic , congressman ro khanna of california joins us. he serves on the house oversight committee. and here in new york isaac , arnsdorf, a reporter with propublica. he first wrote about the intense and secretive lobbying effort to give nuclear technology to saudi arabia in 2017. his reporting was cited in the house report. we welcome you both to democracy now! congressmembmber ro khanna, what are you doing on the house oversight committee? what is the leadership doing their? >> it is a very serious matter. here is why people should care. the saudi's have been giving arms to al qaeda in yemen.

there are reports of that. no last thing we want to do as a country is to transfer nuclear secrets to saudi arabia, which could lead to proliferation and a threat to our security. as the journalist you have on has reported, there is a lot of financial conflict of interest year. tom barrick, who headed up the presidents inaugural committee to raise $100 million plus, is also pushing for this deal and has fifinancial interest in the deal. so the oversight committee is going to have an investigation to see what are the financial thisests that are driving administration to potentially sell nuclear secrets to the saudis and what laws have been violated. as you know, they have to come the congress under the atomic energy act and offer certain guidelines, which they have not done. , this attemptman by the administration is still very much alive. there was a meeting february 12, just last week, in the white house between president trump and some e nuclear power

developers. what do you know about that meeting and what came out of their? >> we need to find out more facts. that is what we need an investigation. we need to know who was in that meeting, what was just as, whether they followed the law that the atomic energy act requires. even when we transfer nuclear technology to allies such as india when george bush did that come it requires years of process. it requires the consultation of congress. here you're talking about the potential sale of nuclear secrets to the saudis who having gauged in the proliferation of weapons that are being used against our own troops, and there is no process for notification of congress. and you have extensive reporting of people who gain -- stand to gain billions of dollars from the investmentnts. report cites a reporting, isaac arnsdorf. explain first what the middle east marshall plan is and then the financial interest of people like, well, trump," but

outspoken republican national convention time baruch, headed the inaugural committee, michael flynn, and others. >> the middle east marshall plan bubbled up in this company you mentioned ip3, which is they can strengthen economic and political ties between the u.s. and saudi arabia by having the u.s. companies export nuclear power technology to saudi arabia. they started lobbying the trump administration and initially the trump transition about how this would fit with trump's about his approach to the middle east and make america great car restoring american jobs in american industry. tom barrick was very receptive to this idea because he was promoting a similar kind of economic outreach to the region. he had a lot of ties with the leader there. things to the support of time baruch and general flynn, who was involved in the project before he was in the white house, the idea gained a lot of traction in the early days of the administration. amy: take it through to now.

>> initially the first three month as detailed by the whistleblowers who spoke to the house oversight committttee, ths was something that was happening in kind of a -- kind of being rushed to the national security council. and it was not complying with the atomic energy act that review. all kinds of obviously, the u.s. tightly controls this technology because it can be misused to build nuclear weapons. more recently, the administration has been taking steps to go through the formal process and haveve negotiations with the saudis about reaching a formal agreement to share nuclear power technology. if that were to happen, congress would not have to ratify the treaty but it would have 90 days to pass a joint resolution that could block it. juan: you would think with all that is happening in relationships with saudi arabia, the murder of journalist jamal khashoggi, the decision by congre to cut off military aid

to the war in yemen, that there would bebe some reconsiderationf the trump administration of such a controroversial move. what is your sense of the thinking going on? >> there was a lot of bipartisan skepticism about the idea of sharing the technology and calls to tell congress more about what was happening and those negotiations or even call off the negotiations, and you have seen an escalation since all of the things you mentioned of members of both parties saying we need to put a cause on this and get more information. amy: let's turn to rick perry speaking last are at a meeting ofof t the house science, spaced technology committee. perry was asasked to resespond o concerns about n nuclear proliferation in light of u.s. negotiations with saudi arabia on nuclear energy. >> that goes right to the point t the saudid to make crowown prince, in our conversations with him and his team, that not only will it send a powerful mesessage if they go

acceptable 1, 2, 3 with additional protocols, but that they do that because if they don't, the message that is sent -- if the chinese or the russians, which don't require any of that, not only does it send the message -- i think the wrong message by the kingdom of saudi arabia, but it also sends the message to o the united stas that we are no longer the leader in the world when it comes to civil nuclear power. westinghouse, best reactor builder in the w world. the second point we tried to really drive home to the crown prince was that if you want the best reactors in the world, you have to come to the united states and have to use westinghouse. amy: commerce member ro khanna, the significance of the testimony every harry, the energy secretary, and his involvement here? >> i think it is a worldview of

how the trumpet administration looks at the relationship with the saudis. it is all about money, whether it is selling them arms sales or selling nuclear secrets. there is no moral consideration. tom barrick, as recently as a week ago, was out there defending the khashoggi murder and offending the saudi regime's murder of khashoggi. he actually said the united states has done worse, which i totally disagree with. but he gives you a sense of what is driving this. it is financial interest, it is selling interest into the saudis for money and no concern for our security or the morality of the saudi's policy. in that clip, the energy secretary referred to the 1, 2, three. a lot of people are not familiar with that. could you talk about illegal him and his -- the mutations of what the administration can and cannot do in terms of tranansferring nuclear technolo? >> that refers to a section that requires these agreeeements befe

sharing this technology. with the secretary was describing is a very challenging policy problem with the saudis wanting nuclear power from a maybe they have a legitimate interest, but as you heard the crown prince described in the clip you played, maybe they also want to keep up with their neighbor iran and potential the litter implications. the saudis are pursuing nuclear power. if the u.s. does not help them get it, wiwill they turn t to ra or chihina and then it will be even less secure sure it is than they would have with the u.s.? problem thaty reall security experts struggle with. but what you are seeing with the trump administration is they are arriving at an answer to that policy problem based on what we have seen out of the house oversight committee was to a large extent based on people with conflicts of interest promoting this. amy: i want to talk about your christians connection. the house report states in january 2018, brookfield

business partners, a subsidiary of brookfield asset management, announced its plans to acquire westinghouse electric for $4.6 billion. westinghouse electric is the bankrupt nuclear services company that is part of ip3's proposed consortium to build nuclear reactors in saudi arabia, and which stands to benefit from the middle east marshall plan. in august 2018, brookfield asset management purchased a partnership stake in 666 fifth avenue, a building owned by jared kushner's family company." isaac? interestingspecially given jared kushner is on his way to the region very shortly. there is a lot of discussion in the house oversight committee's report about materials being prepared for conversations between kushner and the president, and obviously jared kushner has developed a close relationship with mbs, the crown prince, and rereportedly was described as in his cop -- pocket. ro khanna?

>> here is one thing the president and the administration could do to show some distance from the saudi regime, and that is to sign the war powers resolution that will stop u.s. support for the saudi war crimes in yemen. we p passed it through the hous, next week the senate will take it up. i hope the president will sign it and at least put some distance between u.s. policy with the saudis. we need to understand all of the financial interests of the admiministration officials and their frieiends have w with the saudis and what isis driving our policy. amamy: congress member ro khann, you u are a leader in congress around the issue of yemen. talk about the legislation just passed and how getting nuclear power to saudi arabia, which could conceivably be turn into new their weapons, plays into this picture of the worst humanitarian crisis in the world. >> i appreciate your reporting

on this. there are nearly 14 million yemenis who face the potential of famine because the saudis have embalming the port cities and food and medicine is not being allowed in.. it is being inspepected and that is leading t to hyperinflation. people do not have food or medicine. we passed in the house the war powers resolution that would stop the u.s. . support for thte saudi bombing in yemen. it is expected to pass the senate next week or in the next couple of weeks. that will be the first time in the history of this country the war powers resolution has ever passed since 1973. what that will do is make it clear the united states does not support the saudi bombing. as it is, since we passed the house resolution, we have seen a temporary cease-fire in the bombing campaign and some hopeful signs food and medicine will go inin. i think it would be the exact wrong message for us to be selling nuclear secretsts to the

saudis, especially given the reporting the saudis are transferring some of these weapons to al qaeda in yemen. in terms of f e point thth rurussia or r china y y supply e sasaudis, the united states has preventeted that typype of actie want to. we p prevented it t in iran ande trying to prevent it in other countries. there's a reason the u.s. should tolerate any sale of nuclear weapons to the saudis. amy: we will he but thereby continue to follow this issue. ro khanna, democratic congressmember from california. member of the house committee on .versight committee also with us, isaac arnsdorf, reporter from propublica. who first wrote about the intense and secretive lobbying effort to give nuclear technology to saudi arabia in 2017. his reporting was cited in the house report. we will link to your latest report "house panel probes trump advisers' push for saudi nuclear deal." this is democracy now! when we come back, we will be

joined by a man his father possibly faces the death penalty in saudi arabia. he is in prison. stay with us. ♪ [music break] amy: "gasolina" daddy yankee.

this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. juan: we turn now to look at saudi arabia's ongoing crackdown on dissent. while the murder of saudi journalist jamal khashoggi inside the saudi consulate in istanbul in october sparked international outrage, far less attention has been paid to the ongoing saudi repression at home. our next guest's father has been locked up in solitary confinement in saudi arabia for his political activism since september of 2017. prior to his arrest, prominent islamic scholar salman alodah had been a vocal critic of the saudi monarchy and had called for elections. and his voice was wide heard. on twitter alone, he had 14 million followers. but for the past 17 months, salman alodah has been silenced. amy: salman's son abdullah alaoudh is now speaking out about his father's imprisonment. in a a recent "newew york times"

op-ed headlined "my father faces the death penalty. this is justice in saudi arabia," he writes -- "he was chained and handcuffed for months inside his cell, deprived of sleep and medical help and repeatedly interrogated throughout the day and night. his deteriorating health -- high blood pressure and cholesterol that he developed in prison -- was ignored until he had to be hospitalized. until the trial, about a year after his arrest, he was denied access to lawyers." salman alodah was one of dozens of religious figures, writers, journalists, academics and civic activists arrested as part of a crackdown on dissent in 2017 overseen by saudi crown prince mohammad bin salman. we turn now to salman alodah's son abdullah, who joins us from chicago. abdullah alaoudh is a senior fellow at georgetown university in the center for muslim-christian understanding. welcome to democracy now! can you talk about why your father was firstst arrested, his condition now? >> thank you for hosting me.

he was actually part of a movement demanding and asking prosecution monarchy in saudi arabia in 2011. he, alalong with other c collea, signed a petition and called the saudi public to sign a petition asking and commanding civil and more democratic change in saudi arabia. , , theetethe arab spring saudii regime e did not seek to tolelera such a discourse -- mean, the relationship between my fheher and thetate deteriorated. prince, when the crown came to power, he actually started to crack down on the reformist figures like my father and others.

and at the same time, taking their ideas and presenting it to the west as his own. but at the same time, moderate voices of the kingdom that have been historically spearheading the campaign against terrorism and extremism in saudi arabia. arrest started, seekinged reconciliation between the two rulers, but the crown prince took this to be a confrontation. in a few hours just after his tweet, he was arrested by the and wascurity forces locked up in solitary confinement until today.

now the attorney general is seeking the death penalty against him on 37 charges, including corrupting the earth ,nd disagreeing with a ruler you know, vague and very general charges like this. even having books that are banned by the kingdom. juan: your father before his arrest was extremely popular, not only millions of twitter followers, but also had a tv show. could you talk about what his tv the addressed, and was government's attempt -- well, the jailing of him a clear attempt to silence his voice? >> very true. he had a tv show on the state-sponsored tv channel in saudi arabia called mbc. discourse,d civil

seeking social change. he supported political rise in basic liberties and subject -- saudi arabia. at that time it was tolerated corruption inmned the capital city riyadh. riyadh, the then of prince, then prince salman who is king now, asked somebody in andoffice to call my father disagreed with him and said, you should not talk about corruption in saudi arabia. and after that episode, the show was canceled and then the arab spring corrupted and my father joined the calls for a civil and peaceful transformation in saudi arabia toward a more open and inclusive approach in politics

in saudi arabia. amy: i would like to turn to next up from the video of yoyour father salman alodah, produced in 2013. the video has more than 3 millioion views on y youtube. >> had aetrium to feed a all of thee darark come is rarather the racist colonizers. mandelelhad a dream tear r the voice e of africans s chanting r nationalal anthem. l luther expresessed his dream in his s speech "i havavea beam" that portraiture n not treated based d on their cololo. let's have herer own dreream toe our light shining fr within, not from witho.. in combined are bearing colors into a beautiful painting. like you, i long for the place were i played as a a child and cherished as a man. like you, full of ambition and expectation in the desire to be remembered when i'm gone.

like youou, stung by words s thy judge me in a country i do not recognize. and in a place i do not belong to. amy: that is your father's was translated. can you talk about this video and the message your father wanted to convey and what kind of response did he receive to it? >> the message was to condemn the discrimination, the social discrimination, political discrimination, racial and religious's termination and saudi arabia. he wanted to spread awareness in saudi arabia to the saudi public. this discourse is the veve discououe that they're fighting agait. th same rogue opetives whwho khashoggi i ined the consnsulate are seeking the same death penalty against my father for s similar reasons. polilitical and cicivil activis. in o other vidideos, my fatatr

,hanted for political change for social change. so it was a pattern in the past year and a half that the saudi crown prince -- since the saudi crown prince dissented of power, the reformist voices are attacked while at the same time, the same discourse that the beormists presented will presented -- like if it is the crown prince's ideas, just for pr campaigns without any real reforms were real change in saudi arabia. i will give you just a few examples. the crown prince talks about empowering women while at the same time, he locked up in jail . very prominent activist there are reportsts from credibe

reports know about sexual harassment and other human rights violations inside prison. so at the same time with the crown prince tried to promulgate to the west he is supporting moderate islam, he locked up the moderate voices of the kingdom while embracing extremist voices that call for killing any dissidenent. one who said anyone who isagrees with the doctrine an infidel and calls for secluded and those voices who are not within the same sect of islam, let alone islam itstself. one: me ask -- >> just add one more, while the conference also try to present the economic transformation like it is his own, he locked up in jail the very economist who presented to him and others for the past, you know him a for the

past 10 years, a plan to transform and diversify the saudi economy. so he used all of that. -- to raise superficial do a pr campaign to the west while locking of the very voices that actually wananted to change thee kingdom toward a more civil and civilized society. you, yourme ask father has been held in solitary confinement, in prison in saudi arabia. have you been able to communicate with him at all or other members of your family? what is his conditioion like there? >> a few members of my father have communicated with him. know, healthl, you issues. issuesdeveleloped spinal

because of the way they transferred him froroone room to another, one cell to another. ththey did not c care about hihs health, his age. he is 6161r 62 years old. they did not carare abobo his backgrnd, his popurity, his family, his beloved ones. they just did not care about anything. he was handcuffed. chains were put on his feet. he was interrogated more than 24 hours continuously, like for a few days. they wanted him to elucidate at some point so he would just sign anything they wanted him to. they just treated him like hell. juan: jamal khashoggi, e saudi , was aist who was killed friend of yours. can you talk about the impact of his death and also, are you worried, speaking out this way,

given how the saudi government treats dissidents, even those abroad? >> right. actually, the case of jamal khashoggi is a demonstration of would do, hown the pattern would practice the authoritarian practices in saudi arabia. how the crown prince -- i mean, how far with the crown prince go? the saudi someone in consulate in istanbul. and they did not care about the outcry of the west. they did not care about the -- they just cared about how to putolidate how are, how to all l of the powower in one sine handnd. the incident of jamal khashoggi that welarm the west tolerated -- if we tolerated such practices, we are

mean, with the same conditions, we tolerated saddam hussein because we could support him to fight their rent. now we're doing the same exact mistake with the crown prince. we tolerate every catastrophe that he has done during the past years. he launched strikes against civilians in yemen. he put the prime minister of lebanon under house arrest in 2018. in 2017, november. he actually killed jamal khashoggi, a veteran journalist insidede the saudi consulate ina stumble. we tolerated all of thesee atrocities. over itses with canada wheat, forgot sese and we tolerateted all of that. we thought, well, we could be an ally with this crown prince in order to fight iran. guess what gecko that is the

same exact ground we had supported saddam hussein for and look what we did and what hahappened. amy: are you afraid of speaking out, as we wrap up right now? jamal khashoggi was murdered outside of saudi arabia, albeit in the saudi consulate in turkey. you are speaking out here on behalf of your father and for reform in saudi arabia, in the united states. can you go home? do you feel safe in the united states? >> i feel safe here. i don't know -- and we witness how far the saudi crown prince went. they reached outside. there are intercepted calls and reports of his calling the saudi intelligence to lure dissidents

and figures who disagree with him from outside to saudi arabia. they have no limits. i mean, i know w i am taking a high risk, but it is worth taking becauause we have no choice. we have to speak out. at stake.s life is and not just my father, the feminist are sexually harassed, abused, and human rights violations are practiced inside prison. and hundreds of activists, intellectuals, public figures, economiststs, their health and freedom is at stake. taking to risk worth speak for all of these people. amy: thank you very much for being with us. abdullah alaoudh is a senior fellow at georgetown university in the center for muslim-christian understanding.

we will link to your piece in "the new york times" is headlined, "my father faces the death penalty. this is justice in saudi arabia." this is democracy now! ton we come back, we go portland, oregon. stay with us. ♪ [music break] amymy: "running" by helado nen. this is democracy now!,

democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. juan: "the oregonian" newspaper is reporting federal law enforcement officials have launched an investigation after a number of saudi students living in the united states vanished while they were facing serious criminal charges, including manslaughter and rape. the paper found that in at least four cases, the saudi government paid the defendant's bail and legal fees before they disappeared. in one case, police believe saudi officials spirited a saudi national out of the country on a private plane using a fake passport so he could avoid being tried for killing a 15-year-old portland teenager in a hit and run. amy: democratic senator ron wyden of oregon has called on the trump administration to share informrmation about thee saudi government's suspected role in the students' disappearance. last week, wyden met with customs and border protection commissioner kevin mcaleenan who reportedly informed d the senatr ththat his agency and others are

now investigating how the saudi students fled the united states when awaiting trial. this is senator wyden speaking to "the oregonian" on monday. >> i'm not going to let the saudis operate as if there's some medieval regime that can flout modern diplomatic -- my sense is there is a lot more .ere than people realize i intend to use my seat on the intelligence committee and as ranking democrat on the finance committee to make it clear that justays of the country getting a slap on the wrist when they violate diplomatic norms -- those days are over. i propose legislation that would tax the sovereign wealth funds at a significant rate. and i have also made it clear that under my legislation, the core saudi family, if they continue to engage in this kind of conduct, will not be able to use the united states as a

playground if they think they are above the law. amy: well, for more, we go now to portland, oregon, where we're joined by shane dixon kavanaugh, the "oregonian" reporter who broke the story of saudi students fleeingng the u.s. justice system, possibly with the assistance of the saudi government shane welcome to democracy now! ,explain how you got tipped off to the story and then how it grew. juan, forou, amy and having me on the show and happy belated birthday to democracy now! from federal law enforcement back in october 2018, specifically with the case involving the saudi national who was accused of fatally hitting 15-year-old boy in portland, oregon. at the time we learned that noorah, who disappeared two weeks before his manslaughter trial here, federal law enforcement believes the saudi

government helped him escape prosecution in return to saudi arabia in kind of an external reman are. law enforcement believed the saudi government likely furnished mr.noorah with the illicit passport and possibly got him out of the country on a private plane. once we started looking at that particular case, we soon found there were at least four other cases here in oregon where young saudi students who were studying at public university, universities or colleges here, were accused of serious crimes from rape to possession of child photography. by t one were built out the saudi government and all of them have since disappeared. juan: shame, most people are not aware there is a considerable number of saudi universities here in the united states. most o of them actually paid thr expenses and tuition, paid by the saudi government.

can you talk about that? the numbers involved, if you have an idea? >> absolutely. wherelowing 9/11 relations between the saudi government and the u.s. government were immensely strained, back in about 2005 or 2006, george w. bush thinking of bill a reached an agreement that would create sort of a massive scholarship program funded by the saudi government to allow tens of thousands of saudi students come over to the united states to study here in the u.s.. last year in 2018, there were 40,000 university students from saudi arabia here at american universities and colleges. that was down from a high even if years before of about 70,000. one thing we have tried to make clear in our reporting is even though we are looking at criminal cases here in oregon and other parts of the country

were saudi students have been accused of crimes and have vanished while facing prosecution, it is just a tiny fraction of the tens of thousands of saudi students studying in the u.s. each year. amy: i want to go back to the saudi student abdulrahman sameer norah who was accused of hitting and killing fallon smart while speeding in portland, oregon. before his trial, he reportedly obtained a fake passport, boarded a plane, and left the country. i want to turn to smart's parents responding to the news. this is her mother, fawn lengvenis, and father, seth smart, speaking to "the oregonian." likeur child dies, it is all laws of physics go out the door. you spend months trtrying too pt those things t that you trustedy together. -- and haveethat

her killer escape. wound.eopened the it i is insult to injury. now it allows thehe imaginationo run wild a again. like, is he just liviving s normal l life you echo does he even tnknk about it?t? does he carry echo our families are forever changed. any code that is fallon smart's parents. she died in a hit and run. the saudi student responsible for killing her fled the country. how you link about up with people across the country, finding their stories, and what exactly is happening. trump has made a hallmark of his presidency talking about immigrants in this country who kill people. we all know that the rate is extremely low compared to the

general population, but he has not mention any of these people who have actually fled the country, perhaps with the support of his very close ally saudi arabia. >> right. so after we found these five cases here in oregon that appear to be part of a pattern, we wanted to start looking to see we can find other cases like them around the country. we just started looking into this over the last few weeks, and we have already found cases like the ones we reported on here in oregon and seven other states, as well as canada -- again, all of them involving young saudi students accused of serious crimes who then have managed to escape prosecution in the u.s. some of them have manageded to leave the country, even though their passports had been surrendered to authorities. a number of them, like the ones

in oregon, have been bailed out by the saudi government. we're just try to figure out exactly what is going on with these particular cases and just how many more we might expect to find around the country. juan: the saudi embassy responds in washington, d.c., released a statement saying -- "the notion the saudi government actively helps citizens evade justice after they have been implicated in legal wrongdoing in the u.s. is not true. contrary to some media reports, saudi diplomatic missions in the united states do not issue travel documents to citizens engaged in legal proceedings." your reaction to their statement? >> well, again, as of right now, we don't know -- or i would like to figure out how somebody w who does not have a passport because they have turned it over either to the courts or the department of homeland security manages to

leave the united states and return to their home country. that is certain is the question that -- one of the many questions that needs to be answered in our ongoing investigation. and that is certain he won we would like to ask the saudi embassy. we have reached out to the saudi consulate in los angeles that was involved in a number of these cases here in oregon, as well as the saudi embassy, with very detailed questions about these particular cases. and that statement, in fact, was given to cnn and not to our news organanization last week. juan: is there any indication anyone within the immigration services of the united states was aware of these people leaving the country or somehow greenlighted them or are they just as baffled as you are? >> well, that is one of the questions that senator ron wyden here in oregon has been asking for weeks.

he has been reaching out to a number of agencies within the trump administration, trying to seek answers with regards to the students who are disappearing. so far, he hasas gotten not many responses -- although, he did get to meet with the customs and border protection commissioner last week. so it is not exactly clear who knows what within the u.s. government. the other thing i want to point out and emphasized as well in terms of the cases we're looking at around the countrtry and in oregon, even though the case of heulrahman sameer noorah, disappeared in the trump administration, we have criminal cases like these going back as far as 1988. and so far, we have found 17 here in the u.s. and canada. i can also say we expect to find more and are looking at more and will likely have a list updated by the end of this week. it is an issue that goes back across many presidential

administrations. and it is really hard to believe or to think that somebody within the u.s. government has not known about these for some time. shane dixon, what is the most import question you're looking to have answered right now? and what can senators merkley do as well as w wyden? >> i think the most important question that we have right now is, what role, if any, has the u.s. government played in helping to facilitate the departure of maybe not all, but some of these students. amy: of course, what this brings to mind is after 9/11, it was president george w. bush at the time, and private planes picking up the bin laden family in various places in the united states and spiriting them back to saudi arabia. that does it for today's program. we will link to shane dixon kavanaugh's excellent reporting

that "the oregonian." he broke the story of saudi students fleeing the u.s. justice system, possibly with the assistance of the saudi government.