01/27/20 01/27/20 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from the sundance film festival in park city, utah, this is democracy now! >> for all their talk about election interference, that they are here to perpetrate the most massive interference in an election in american history and we cannot allow that to happen. amy: as president trump's legal team accuses democrats of trying

to overturn an election, former national security advisor john bolton reveals in an unpublished book manuscript that trump personally told him he was freezing military assistance to ukraine until ukraine helped investigate trump's political rival joe biden. will the senate call bolton and other witnesses to testify? we will get the latest. then as democrats made the case to remove the president friday, just blocks away at the national mall, trump -- who once described himself as "pro-choice in every respect" -- became the first sitting president to attend the annual so-called "march for life" in washington. pres. trumump: we are here for a very simple reason, to defend the riright of every child born theirborn to fulfill god-gin n poteial.l. amy: t tn "ours to tell." a new short lmlm at ndanances

chlenging the stig surrndnding ortion. >> the people who e seeking abortion services, you areotot alone. there isn't anhihing wng w wit yoyo you deserve compassiotete care. you deserve loving relationships. amy: and basketball legend kobe bryant dies in a helicopter crash with his 13-year-old daughter and seven others. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. as the historic impeachment trial of president donald trump continues this week, explosive new revelations about trump's decision to freeze aid to ukraine emerged sunday. "the new york times" reports former national security adviser john bolton writes in his

forthcoming book that trump told him he wanted to continue withholding nearly $400 million in security aid until ukraine turned over materials on joe biden and supporters of hillary clinton. it is based on a leaked manuscript of bolton's book. trump took to twitter shortly after midnight monday to deny the claims, writing -- "i never told john bolton that the aid to ukraine was tied to investigations into democrats, including the bidens. in fact, he never complained about this at the time of his very public termination. if john bolton said this, it was only to sell a book." this comes as trump's defense team is resuming their opening arguments today after using just two hours of their allotted 24 hours on saturday. white house counsel pat cipollone argued that trump's july phone call with ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky did not explicitly tie aid to the

investigations and accused democrats of trying to "overturn the results of the last election." this is trump's longtime personal lawyer jay sekulow speaking on the senate floor saturday. thee intend to show over next several days that the evidence is really overwhelming that the president did nothing wrong. this case is really not about president's wrongdoing. entire impeachment process is about the house managers insistence that they are able to read everybody's thoughts, they can read everybody's intention, even when the principal speakers -- the witnesses themselves -- insist that those interpretations are wrong. amy: senators are preparing to vote this week on whether new evidence and witnesses can be introduced in trump's senate impeachment trial. four republicans would need to side with democrats and vote in favor of the move.

we'll have more on the impeachment trial after headlines with mother jones reporter dan friedman. the coronavirus outbreak continues to spread with the death toll now rising to at least 81 people in china. nearly 60 million people are now on partial or full lockdown as entire cities have been essentially quarantined with the residents u unable to travel outside of a g gernment designated arerea. the mayor and top government officials of the city of wuhan, which is at the center of the outbreak, have offered to resign in the face of criticism that the early response to the outbreak was too slow. wuhan is now attempting to build a 1000-bed hospital in just 10 days to treat infected patients. hong kong has shut down schools for several weeks.s. nearly 3000 cases of the disease have been identified around the world, though the number is expected to rise. five cases have been confirmed in the united states.

the pentagon said friday that 34 americican military members sustaiained traumatic brain injuries from iranian airstrikes on the al asad air base in iraq earlier this month. president trump had previously said no american troops were injured in the attack, which came in response to the targeted u.s. killing of top iranian general qassem soleimani. trump dismissed concerns about the troops' well-being last week, saying he thought their injuries were headaches and were not very serious. paul rieckhoff, the founder of iraq & afghahanistan veterans of america, called d out the misinformation about the troop'' injuries, tweeting -- "this is a big deal. the american people must be able to trust the government to share information about our sons and daughters in harm's way. nothing is more serious and sacred." in iraq, security forces and unidentified gunmen attacked protesters over the weekend, reportedly killing 12 people and

camps. protest andnd unidentified men came started firing randomly a protesters.. i was in m my car and my son was sitting beside me. the bullets came to the car's windshield out to the rear glass. amy: up to 600 protesters have been killed since the demonstrations erupted in a rack in october. protesters had the latest crackdown came after popular she a cleric announced he would no longer support the antigovernment demonstrations. earlier on friday, 200,000 people to part in a march in baghdad supported by elsinore -- al-sadr. in turkey, a 6.8-magnitude earthquake h has killeat l least 38 people anand injured atat let 1600 o others. the powerfuluauake hithe easterprovovincef elazigig friday, trping scores of people and collapsing at least

76 buildings. over 40 people have been rescued from the rubble, including a two-year-old girl. trtremors could be f felt as fas iriraq, syria, and l lebanon. ugandan climatate activistst vaa nakate is speaking out against racism in the media after she was cropped out of a photo featuring herself and other prominent climate activists in davos, switzerland. the other youth activists were white and included greta thunberg. the associated press, which published the cropped photo, said the photographer cut nakate out of it because he thought the building behind her was distracting. vanessa nakate said the move "erased a continent." this is nakate speaking about itit on social mededia. > this is the first time in y i understood the definition of the word " "racis" least emitter of

carbon's, but here we aree affefected most by clilimate crs bubut you a are erasing ourur fs won'n'tt change anything. amy: to see our interview with vanessssa nakate at last monon's u.n. climate summit in madrid, go to democracynow.org. president trump became the first sitting president to address the entire portion "march for life" -- anti-i-abortion "march for life" in washington, d.c., friday. he told supporters that "unborn children have never had a stronger defender in the white house," as he touted his judicial appoiointments and slammed momocrats, falalsely accusing virgiginia governor rah northam of supupporting a bill that would execute babies after birth. also on friday, the trump administration threatened to cut off federal funding for some health programs in california unless the state ends its requirement that private health insurers cover abortions. california governor gavin newsom said the state would not change its policy. meanwhile, education secretary betsy devos is coming under fire

for comparing the trump administration's fight to ban abortion to the fight to end slavery. the education secretary said -- "president lincoln, too, contended with the pro-choice arguments of his day. they suggested that a state's choice to be slave or to be free had no moral question in it. president lincoln reminded those pro-choicers that a vast portion of the american people look upon it as a vast moral evil." betsy devos made the comments at an event last week for colorado christian university held at t e museum of the bible in wawashington, d.c. massachusetts congressmember ayanna pressley tweeted in response -- "as a black woman and the chair of the abortion access task force, i invite you to come by the hill and say this to my face. would welcome the opportunity to educate you." addressing the education secretary betsy devos. in boston, the founder of insys therapeutics has been sentenced to 5.5 years in prison in a landmark case for the opioid

crisis. john kapoor and four other executives were convicted last may of a criminal conspiracy to bribe doctors to prescribe a highly addictive fentanyl spray to patients who didn't need it. one of the defendants allegedly gave a lap dance to a doctor at a company event in order to persuade him to prescribe the drug. legal experts say the sentencing should be e a warning to other drug company executives who have engaged in deceptive marketing practices and other schemes to push opioids. in new york city, a fire has destroyed tens of thousands of art pieces and historical materials belonging to the museum of f chinese in america. the fire e erupted thursday nigt on the eve of lunar r new year d tore through the a archives of e iconic chinatown m museum, which contained one-of-a-kind documents dating back t to the 1800s chronicling the history of chinese migration to the united states. in texas, anan explosion at anan inindustrial plant early friridy mornining killed two pple e and damaged over 200 homes northwest of houston. authorities are investigating

the cause of the blast a at the watstson grinding anand manufaururing plant.t. two workers of the company were killed in the explosion, which was so powerful it shattered windows in homes up to a half mile away.y. and basketball superstar k kobe bryant died sunday in a helicopter crash near los angeles at the age of 41. the crash killed all nine people on board, including bryant's 13-year-old daughter gianna, beloved college baseball coach john altobelli and his wife keri and their 13-year-old daughter alyssa. officials say the cause of the crash is being investigated but could take months to determine. bryant won five nba championships, two olympic gold medals, and was crowned an all-star 18 times. he played for the l.a. lakers for 20 years before retiring in 2016. he was also known for being an ardent supporter of women's basketball. his daughter gianna reportedly hoped d to one day play for the univiversity of connecticut

women's basketball team. tributes continue to pour in on social media from fans, athletes, and other public figures. musicians alicia keyes and lizzo and others remembered bryant at the grammys in los angeles sunday night and thousands gathered outside the staples center overnight to mourn his passing. but some are also calling on the media and supporters not to forget a sexual assault allegation from early in his career. in 2003, a 19-year-old woman who -- hotel worker where b bryant s staying in colorado accused him of r rape. bryant denied the charge, saying theyey had a consensnsual sexual encounter. the case was droppeded after the woman decided not to testify and a civil suit was settled out of courur many have cacalled out his accuser's treatment by the media and bryant's defense team.. the sexual assault allegations resurfaced in 2018 when his film "dear basketball" won an oscar for best animated short at the 2018 academy awards. wewe'll have e more on kobe bryn later in thehe broadcast witith author and sports journalist dave zirin.

and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. calls are growing for the senate to call witnesses in president trump's impeachment trial after "the new york times" published details about former national security advisor john bolton's forthcoming book. in an unpublished draft of the book, bolton writes that president trump personally told him in august that he wanted to maintain a freeze on $391 million in security assistance to ukraine until ukraine turned over materials related to former vice president joe biden and supporters of hillary clinton in ukraine. bolton sent a draft of the book to the white house for review in december. the democratic house impeachment managers issued a statement saying -- "there can be no doubt now that mr. bolton directly contradicts the heart of the president's defense and therefore must be called as a witness at the impeachment trial of president trump." "the new york times" broke the

story on sunday, one day after president trump's legal team began its defense of the president at the impeachment trial. during saturday's opening arguments, white house deputy counsel mike purpura claimed the democratic case for impeachment if based on assumptions. >> ambassador sondland used variations of the words "assume," "speculate" and quote believe" 30 times. that was my presusumption, mymy persononal presumption. that was my belief. that was my presumption. i presumed that might have to be done in order to get the aid released. it was presumption. i've been very clear as to when i was presumingng. and i was presuming on the eight. know,ld be pure, you guguess work on my part, speculation. that was t the problem. no one told me the aid was tied to anything.

i was presuming it was. >> all the democrats had support the alleged link between security assistance and investigations is ambassador sondland's assumptions and presumptions. amy: during saturday's opening argument, trump's attorney pat cipollone accused the democrats of attempting to overturn an election. >> for all their talk about election interference, that they are here to perpetrate the most massive i interference in an election in american history and we cannot allow that to happen. it would violate our constitution. it would violate our history. it wouould violate ourur o oblis to the futurure. amy: trump's lawyers will continue their opening arguments today. on friday, the democratic house impeachment managers wrapped up their three days of opening arguments.

this is democratic congress member adam schiff, the chair of the house intelligence committee. >> let's try to step into someone else's shoes for a moment. let's imagine it wasn't joe biden. let's imagine you was anyone of us. let's imagine the most powerful person in the world was asking a four nation to conduct a sham investigation into one of us. what would we think about it then? , that's good u.s. policy? would we think, he has every right to do it? would we think, that is a perfect call? it should not have mattered it was maria bonaventure. he should not matter that was joe biden. because i will tell you something, the next time it just may y be you. the to talk more about senate impeachment trial, we are joined by dan friedman, a

reporter in mother jones' d.c. bureau who focuses on foreign influence and national security. his recent piece is headlined "trump's legal team opened their impeachment defense with a blizzard of lies." first, this latest news that has bebeen released over thehe past4 hours, "the new york times" sign bolton in his book manuscript has said trump directly told him that he was withholding military aid to ukraine unless they would well?igate the bidens as if you can talk about this, the significance of this? yeah, a key argument that trump's lawyers s have made is that there is no evidence -- i think at some of your clip show -- they argue there is no evidence indicating that trump linked the hold on aid to ukraine to his push ukraine to

announce these investigations that would help him politically. s said the aideso was not related to his wish for investigations. so bolton'n's manuscript, as reported by "the times come cope completely falsifies the correct claim of their defense of him. it is hard to overestimate how bad i it is foror trump's defef. mickld alsoso point out mulvaney a a public c testimonye white e house chief of s staff - excuse me, in his press conference that he had back in october, also said he had direct conversations with trump in which trump linked the hold on aid to wanting ukraine to announce investigations. we should not forget that also mulvaney could be a witness linking -- cononnecting the push for aid to investigations. the senate is going to have an

opportunity to vote on whether they want to subpoena bolton, of any, and others. honestly, the report from "the times" makes that about a lot harder from republicans if they're going to try to continue to suppress this evidence. amy: talk about what this means and d what republicans you see - i mean, we will see today, as they are confronted with what bolton is going to say. and then also address the issue of the executive privilege that president trump will try to make. does that protect -- is it a broad shield or cannot be challenged? if bolton himself is subpoenaed once to testify, whether or not trump invokes executive privilege, can he say what he wants? >> i think the short answer is they can assert executive privilege. mf thehe senenate subpoenas hi

for information he has already reportedly put in the manuscript of a book that is going to be published d for anyone to reaea- of course, there still a review process for that. nevertheless, it is a difficult argument for them to make and i think ultimately it is a political question. to assertttempt executive privilege, both the senate subpoena and bolton wanting to testify, it is very difficult to suppress that information. the other point i would make trump in his tweet in which he denied that he told bolton he wanted to hold -- it is making the case for why bolton should be subpoenaed. if trump is saying bolton is lying, it is a very strong support of why bolton should be put under oath under penalty of perjury and asked whether industry trump made this -- it is true trump made this connection. republicans will have a hard time keeping bolton from testifying. i am sure they will try. dan, let's go to what

happened on saturday. managersratic house wrapped up their arguments on friday. talk about the gist of what you call the blizzard of lies, what the trump defense team said in their first-aid arguments and how little time they actually used. >> they did it a all in a few hours i mananaged to make a lotf claims that are false or deeply misleading. one of the claims, which was in the clip you played, was thahat there was no link established andeen the hold on aid investstigations by ukraine. one problem with that we just talklked about is that bolton hs contradicted that. another problem with that is they simply poured that there was testimony -- ignored that there was testimony by gordon sondland linking or official have a white house meeting with

zelenskiy to trying to force them to have these litigatations thatat would help trump politically. sondland elsewhere in hiss testimony said there was a quid pro quo. linking and vested -- excuse me, again whitite house meeting to investigation. trump's lawyers did not say, well, don't pay attention to that, it is not as important. they literally ignored it. i think that goes to the veracity of argument overall. another argument they make is the cranes were not aware of the hold on aid until i think september. that also ignored public statements by the former deputy foreign minister from ukraine who said, we did know about it. and also testimony by laura cooper who said she also heard the ukrainians were concerned about the hold on a act in july. both cases they knew about it in july. i think those are two big

examples, but there are a whole bunch of others. they talked about the call trump had with zelenskiy and repeatedly referred to the transcript of the call. i think anybody was paid attention as it is not actually a transcript. there may be important parts of that testimony, that conversation that are not included in that. it is a summary of whatat people are e listing remembmber. false and a lot of misleading claims to pick through if you were watching on saturday. amy: can you talk more about abc news obtaining that recording of what appears to show president trump saying that he wanted then u.s. ambassador to ukraine marie ottovich fired? let me go to -- before you respond, let me go to that clip.

[indiscernible] think -- the biggest problem i think where we need to start is we have to get rid of the ambassador. she is still left over from the -- pres. trump: the ambassador of ukraine? close she is saying, he is going to get impeached. just wait. [indiscernible] pres. trump: get rid of her. get her out. i don't care. take her out. ok? do it.

video was obtained from lev parnas' attorney. it begins with trump posing for photos then entering a private dining room and halfway through the e recording, one of the participants suggests yovanovitch is posing problems and you can hear trump saying "get her out tomorrow. i don't care. get her out tomorrow. take route, ok? do it." the video is sort of showing the ceiling. explain this whole thing. >> number one, lev parnas and the guy who took the video are associates of rudy giuliani. ththey were kind of running arod ukrainee as lev parnas claimed e was acting as an emissary of i is comesnce giulianani personal attorney, effectuating that scheme to have ukraine have

these investigations.. as parart of that, to get marie yovanovitch fired, the ambassador of ukraine. trump -- president trump said he does not know lev parnas or the man who was videoing. so he is lying. here's a video of them having a private meeting with him step there are picictures of thehem togegether on n other ocsionons. another important point about this meeting, which occurred in may 2018 at the trump hotel, is that lev parnas and igor fruman were there because they have plededged to give $1 million toa super pac supporting trump. $325,000d up giving through a shell compapany thahat they s set up in delaware. comome in people's assessment, pretty corrupt that they are able to influence u.s. policy toward ukraine, which is in a war of course, because they

gave -- pledged $1 million to trump super pac and dave $325,000. in addition, they have been indicted in manhattan for campaign finance violations that include allegations that they accepted money from foreign sources including an onion russian businessmen and used that money to make campaign donations in the united states to influence the u.s. political system. we don't know this particular donation came from a foreign source, but we don't know that it did not. it creates a suspicion foreign interests for possibly someone in ukraine who does not -- who is concerned that marie yovanovitch was an ardent opponent of corruption and therefore was making a harder to do some kind of potentially corrupt business, a person like that could quite easily be influencing u.s. policy toward ukraine through parnas and fruman in this case. i think one thing it shows is there's a lot more investigation to be done whether it is by the

house, the senate, the department of justice to figure out what was going on -- particularly, since these events occurred a little more than a year before most of the action that is at issue in the impeachment trial. amy: and finally,, if you can just comment quickly in 30 seconds i want some have called -- epstein dream team, trump his team defending him being ken starr and alan dershowitz? dershowitzr and alan are both very famous lawyers. i ththink the significant thing about ken starr is he ovoversaw the invevestigatation into bill clinton's relalationshipip with monica linsky and alan dershowitz was a m member ofof . simpson'n's drdream team that hd him get acacquitted d for murde. both of them have previously made arguments that are departures from what they will presumably be arguing thisis afternoon.n. dershowitz has said you do not

have to have committed a crime to be impeached. today dershowitz has indicated he will make the opppposite argument. ken starr, who was forced out of a job at baylor university because the football team had a , will harassment scandal be arguing against trump removal from office as well. that is obviously inconsistent with his position when he was going after clinton. i think there wiwill be trying o make the case to the public and i think is worth keeping in mind that even though their legal arguments may be dubious, they're going to be trying to give republican senators and trump supporters something to hang her hat on in terms of saying he should not be removed. amy: dan friedman, thank you for being with us reporter in mother , jones' d.c. bureau who focuses on foreign influence and national security, covering trump's impeachment trial. we will link to your piece "trump's legal team opened their

impeachment defense with a blizzard of lies." when we come back, basketball legend kobe bryant dies and helicopter crash with his 13-year-old daughter and seven others. we will speak with dave zarin and fatima goss graves. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is dememocracy now!, i'm m amy goodman. basketball superstar kobe bryant died in a helicopter crash near sunday los angeles at the age of 41. the crash killed all nine people on board, including bryant's 13-year-old daughter gianna, known as gg, and the beloved college baseball coach john altobelli and his wife keri and their 13-year-old daughter alyssa. they were all heading to a youth basketball game. bryant won five nba championships, two olympic gold medals, and was crowned an all-star 18 times. he played for the l.a. lakers for 20 years before retiring in 2016. he was also known for being an ardent supporter of women's basketball.

gigi bryant hoped to reportedly one day play for the university of connecticut women's basketball team. tributes continue to pour in on social media from fans, athletes, and other public figures. musicians alicia keyes and lizzo remembered kobe brbryant at the grammys in los angeles sunday night. thousands gathered outside the staples center overnight to mourn his passing. but some are also calling on the media and supporters not to forget a sexual assault allegation from early in his career. in 2003, a 19-year-old woman who worked at a hotel where bryant was staying in colorado accused him of rape. bryant denied ththe charge, sayg they had a consensual sexual encounter. the case was droropped after the -- the case was dropped after the woman decided not to testify and a civil suit was settled out of court. in a statement, bryant set in a 2004 "after months of reviewing

discovery come listings targeting them even her testimony in person, i now understand how she feels that she did not consent to this encounter." the sexual assault allegations resurfaced in 20 when kobe bryant' film "deaear basketball" won an oscar for best animated short at the 2018 academy awards. we're joined now by two people dave zirin, a sports editor for , the nation magazine. host of the edge of sports thehost of the edge of sports podcast. president goss graves , and ceo of the national women's law center. who kobert off with bryant was. >> absolutely. i think what people need to remember, particularly democracy now! listers who don't quite understand the scale of grief and outplaying that is taking place right now, is that kobe bryant first became part of the public consciousness at age 17 as a high school senior. any dies yesterday at the age of

41. that means for over half of kobe bryant's light, as part of the public eye. i think there is this tremendous association that people had with him and his career. kobe bryant wawas the kind of player that people felt passionate about. some people loved him and some hated him. some loved and hated him for things on the court and some for the court. over the course of his career, not only excelled as a player -- she was in 8:10 all-star, for goodness sakes -- but he was also a global athlete. his name was kobe because his father was a basketball player named joe bryant who traveled the world. he was named after kobe, japan. he grew up in italy and spoke fluent italian and spanish. he could speak slovenian. he had this global appeal, which is led to this outpouring of grief we see today. a lot of folks, people just thought the second act of his life was just getting started at

age 41. i think when you factor in the death of his daughter gigi who had aspirations to be a basketball player in her ownn right, t to some is like this feature that people solve for kobe was erased in the blink of an eye. i think that is what people are suffering with right now. amy: can you talk more about his daughter gigi who was also beloved and really got him into women's basketball? he said he wasn't even watching it. >> he wasn't watctching any basketball after he finished. he wanted to be the sort of athlete who did not hang around the game. but instead moved on to other challenges and other jobs. he wanted to be a creative producer in hollywood and a mogul, really. a lot of players were looking to kobe to blaze that pat is a mogul. at that his daughter became a basketball obsessive, not unlike her dad. obsessive the best possible

sense, just an absolute lover of the game. that brought kobe back into the game, particularly in the spirit women's basketball. he became a women's basketball coach. just this past month they news where he talked about their women who should be playing in the nba right now and that he was going to be someone who took it upon himself to champion the wnba going forward. of those dreams. there is an amazing clip of him going around someone coming up to them and saying, oh, it would be amazing if you had a son because your sign could carry on your legacy. and gigi interrupts thee conversation and says, no, no, i got this. gigi died inourse that helicopter crash as well.l. can you talk now about what happened in 2003, dave zirin? what happened in colorado? >> first and foremost, it is

difficult to discuss because you want to give people space to mourn right now. i feel like there is going to be time to discuss all this but i also understand that this is part of kobe's legacy and it does need to be discussed. in 2003, he was charged with sexual assault. in 2005, the charges were dropped when his accuser did not testify. kobe's lawyers engaged in a scorched-earth campaign against his accuser that was so intense, they change the rate shield laws in colorado because they were so vicious toward her. part of the settlement -- part of the deal that kobe in terms of the civil suit of writing a very large check to make the charges go away, involved kobe writing out an apology that was reading court where kobe acknowledged he did not think his accuser had offered consent in their encounter.

i have to tell you, speaking -- back then in 2005, that had not really been that seemed before -- that had not really been seen before. i don't know how we would look at it in 20 today, but in 2005, authoring that statement where he spoke about the issue of consent, i know for a lot of organizations that work in restorative justice circles, they have used that statement as a way to speak about the importance of understanding consent and the importance of fighting sexual assault and rig culture. amy: i would like to bring i in fatima goss graves, president and ceo of the national women's law center, going back to that whereoment in colorado the woman authorities said had injuries not consistent with consensual sex, her blood found on kobe bryant's t-shirt, and then that statement in the

2004ement that he made in after months of reviewing discovery, listening to her attorney and even her testimony in person, i now understand how she feels that she did not consent to this encounter. if you can share your thoughts today on kobe bryant's legacy? i offer my condolence to his family come to his friends. i was in college in l.a. when he first came to the lakers. it all seems too soooon. we have to time, think ababout how itit is that e talk about legacies. it is often too easy to erase the bad parts of legacy. but in this moment, it is especially imporortant that we contextualize everything about his legacy o on and off the e c, including the sexual violence

where the page was probably turned too soon. when we 15 years later think ababout this instance, we can thinink about it a little bt differently. we can think about how survivors are thinking this moment as well. amy: dave zirin, your final thoughts? so beautifully and eloquently. i have little to add except i think it is very impmportant we keep in mimind today and hold to our hearts the bryant family, the survivors and everybody who is processing this grief in their own way. it is important we not police people's greed. it is important instead we listen to what everybody has to say because this is something that is affecting people in a way that is far broader than basketball. amy: i want to thank you both for being with us. fatima goss graves, you are going to be staying with us as we talk about what is happening this last week with the first sitting president in history to

antichoiceaddress an march, the major so-called march for life and washington post of dave zirin, thank you for being with us,s, sports editor for the nation magazine. fatima goss graves, president of the national women's law center. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we are broadcasting from park city, utah. on friday, democrats -- let me talk about what happened this past week as we turn to the fight for reproductive rights as the trump p administration launched an all-out asassault abortion. on friday, democrats made the case for his removal from office

in the senatate, president trump became the first sitting president in u.s. history to attend and address the annual so-called "mararch for l life" n the national mall. pres. trump: i it is my profound honor to b be the first presidet in history to attend the march for life. [cheers] pres. trump: we're here for a very simplee reasoson, to defend the right of every child born and unborn to fulfill their god-given potential. amy: president trump, who "pro-choice in every respect" -- once described himself as "pro-choice in every respect" -- accused democrats of infanticide and falsely stated that virginia governor ralph northam supports an abortion bill that would "execute a baby after birth." the annual anti-abortion march began in 1974 in response to the

landmark 1973 supreme court case ruling roe v. wade, which guaranteed the constitutional right to abortion. past u.s. presidents who opposed abortion considered the march too extreme and divisive to attend, and instead sent a surrogate or joioined via video message. the same day trump addressed anti-abortion activists in washington, his administration threatened to cut off federal funding to california unless the state ends its requirement that private health insurers cover abortions. california governor gavin newsom said the state would not change its policy. this followed education secretary betsy devos comparing the antiabortion movement to the fight to end slavery. she reportedly told a crowd at the museum of the bible in washington "lincoln, too, contended with the pro-choice arguments of his day. they suggested that a state's choice to be slave or to be free had no moral question in it. lincoln was right about the slavery choice then, and he would be right about the life choice today.

she went on to tell the audience that she wants to make abortion "unconstitutional" and "unthinkable." in response, massachusetts congressmember ayanna pressley tweeted -- "dear betsy, as a black woman and the chair of the abortion access task force, i invite you to come by the hill and say this to my face. would welcome the opportunity to educate you." well for more, still with us is fatima goss graves, president and ceo of the national women's law center. can you talk about president trump, the first sitting president to address the so-called mamarch for life inn washington and its signififican? >> there's a reason that no other sitting president has actually attended that march. it is so outside the mainstream. it is filled with hateful ,hetoric around women reprodoductive justice.. that is why they hahave not actutually shown up in person. it also is a focal point -- it is a time to sort of amp up the

rhetoric, which we saw last week, and deliver harmful policy. this is all happening in the context of his impeachment, but it is really sending a dangerous precedent going forward. amy: i want to turn to tim russert interviewing donald trump in when he was considering 1999 a presidential run on the reform party ticket. >> partial-birth abortion. the eliminating of abortion in the third trimester. big isissue in washington post would presesident trtrump ban partial-birth abortion? mr. trump: i am very pro-choice. i had the concept of abortion. i hate it. i hate everything g stands for. i cringe on the subject. i believe in choice. again, it may be a little bit of a new york bacackground because there is some different attitude in different parts of the country. you know, , i was raised in new york and grew up in work and

everythihing in new york city. but i am strongly for choice and yett i hate e the concept of abortion. >>ut you wouould not ban it were partial-birth abortionon? mr. trump: i am pro-o-choice in every respect. as far as it goes. but i just hate it. amy: so that was president trump in 1999. fatima goss graves, talk about the significance -- saying "i am pro-choice in every way" and now he is the first sitting president ever to address the march for life march in washington. decadesa difference to makes in terms of his ability to play to his base. that is what this is about. the irony is seven in 10 do not want to see roe v. wade overturned. he is now out of step with the majority of people and has moved away from where most people are both in 1999, but certainly where they are right now.

go tof you could then what happened on wednesday where the education secretary betsy make says she wants to abortion unconstitutional andd unthinkable and compared abortion to slavery. >> it is outrageous. it is outrageous to really compare anything to slavery, but it is outrageous to especially comparare abobortion toto slave. in order to do so, have to fully ignore a key feature of slavery, which was reproductive coercion. both the rate that black women injured, forced pregnancy, forced childbirth, and then they could not determine whether when or h how their child wasas rais. so the insult o of actually comparing abortion to slavery is just absurd for the secretary. if the secretary was actually concerned about addressing the badges of s svery she i is the full authority to do so with her

role as secretary of education. she could be dismantling the school to prison pipeline. she could be focusing on and equities by race and by gender in school. it is this march for life that thised them to heap up rhetoric. in this rhetoric itself is dangerous. itself iss rhetoric dangerous. amy: and the significance of what is taking place now in california? it looks like a few weeks ago as the impeachment trial was about to happen, a president trump leadernating the iranian qassem soleimani. now as the impeachment trial is in full progress, unexpectedly for many, he announces he is going to speak at the march and then he goes after california. can you talk about the significance of saying they will cut federal funding for some programs if california continues

to require private insururers to cover abortion? >> i should begin by s saying there is no basis in law for him to do this thing. and the private insurers have said they don't have a problem covering abortion. the only people who have a problem with it are president trump and his need to ramp up the rhetoric this week and people were not insurance, bosses, basically, who want take away the right to have abortion care covered by insurance plans. but the results of this are going to be terrible for the state of california if it actually worked to go through. he is basically threatening to hold hostage billions of dollars, dollars i go to providining health c ce, dollars that are actually going to provide things like reducing maternal mortalility, dealing wh pregnancy and the full range of services that people need. these are harmful threats. their both anti-women and anti-

life and they're only coming out right now because of the need to rally up the base. , whatatima goss graves ultimately gives you hope at this point? we're in utah. the legislature is considering major cases around the so-called heart be built. it is often seen as the testing ground for the rest of the country. yet you see tremendous grassrsroots activism, which are going g talk about in a moment. >> we're in this really interesting point in history where 17 people do n n want to see -- seven in 10 people do not roe v. wade overturned. we have those trtrying to o raly theieir base and rollbacack our right in ways that are dangerous. so now is not the time for people to sit on the sidelines on this issue. ople understand that our lives and our futures are really at

stake. to do states race things like ban abortion, to do things that really put people in dangerous situations, it is time for everyone to come on the sidelines as we saw that happened last year. what we know is they'rere doing things that go directly against our competition. they are not valid under the law. we have courts saying that again and again. whwhat we really n need right ns also the peoeople power to remid people that seven into people do not with the steps to be taken. amy: i want to thank you, fatima goss graves, president and ceo of the national women's law center. we're going to turn now to a new short film that is challenging the stigma surrounding abortion through the stotories of four people reflecting on their own decisions to terminate a pregnancy. it is called "ours to tell." this is the film's trleler.

>> this s is a plea for love. freedom. that each of us isree not only d dream our b best life, but tt we he ththe freedom to livet. end to a demand fan dgment, end to shame. by --h it was directed amy: it was directed by rayka zehtabchi. wewe're j joined by the founderd executive director ofof the fi's executive producer. welcome. it is grgreat to have you with . explain your group. >> our organization is dedicated to the leadership and representation of people who had abortion. for too long, we have not seen

as experts in the conversation about abortion. we have been left out. we have been kept out of this as an abstract idea. we're the ones having abortions we're the ones who should be talking about it. we should be represented with respect on television and in the news. amy: talk about your own extremes. >> i had an abortion when i was 19. i was in an unsafe relationship. i simply did not feel like i was ready to become a parent. i was lucky seven that point i could just drive to the clinic 15 minutes from my home. i next out a credit card to pay for it. the procedure took all of 10 minutes. reality is most people today have to travel long distances, have a hard time paying for it. it is simply inaccessible despite it being legal. that is what we are hoping to bring light to and that people are having challenges in accessing a. amy: i want to go to a another clip ofof "ours to tell." eachch of the four people in ee

film reflect on the rent t to tetermate prprnancy. >> these a s some inings that i wre e when wasas 1yearss old. i believthat any person has freedom d do wh they wod li to o thr ownn body. not right or is the moths not ready, sh shou have thright to choose whether e e woullikeke thave a a child or not jusas i did >> i found out i was preanant in may. mething in me was alwaysikike, no, nogirl, this ain't it. you can move beyond itomomehow >> i remember closing my eyes, praying, a just before i knew it, t words we e comi o out. i i sa " "i can't." i was at peaceith that i knew my god was at acace wi it

i think one of the first major desisions made with no conseration a anyonelsese. i knew i needed to be e e best moer that i convened to the chilen t thai had. >> i was just not a a place where i codd physically or emotiolllly hale a a pregnancy, let onone a ildd stop i was feltin a position where i absolutelyrapped and terrified. i would not have beeabable t hale it. >> even then, i knethis was not e life that --ike, i wasn't myself yet. i was not ready to be a good parent. . tell.""lip from "ours to renee bracey sherman , talk about who the people are in the film and also storytelling as a form of resistance. amy: brittany >> they're talking about the

resistance and the power of trans-people having abortions. storytelling is extremely important in this time when we have the president going to the march for life, denigrating us. we have the secretary of education denigrating black people who have abortions. our voices need to be heard and we are speaking out that we had abortions. we are making this decision for ourselves, and that is what is most important. in going to thank you so much renee bracey sherman, award , winning activist, founder and executive director of we testify. executive producer of the new short film "ours to tell." also produced by planned parenthood. he could see the full film atourstotell.com. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to outreach@democracynow.org or mail them to democracy now! p.o. box 693 new york, new york 10013.

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