\ 02/18/20 02/18/20 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, , this is democracy now! >> all of the women who testified as witnesses in this the took the oath to tell truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help them god. they also objected themselves to -- subjected themselves to cross examination. what they testified to is

evidence that can be weighed by the jury. amy: jurors begin denigration sedate and whether to find disgraced movie mogul harvey weinstein guilty of rape and sexual assault. he pleaded not guilty in the case that has become a flash point in the #metoo movement. we will get an update from irin carmon who interviewed more than a dozen of weinstein's 100 accusers. then as bernie sanders polls at number one, mike bloomberg qualifies for the next debate in former vice president joe biden hopes for a comeback in the next round of democratic primaries. we will look at a new film that documents binds extensive role in advocating the iraq war. quote joe biden so much more than book for the war. heas the crp the powerfu sena committ on foren retions anhe reallused h control over tt t commtee to makeure that a majory y of t u.s. senate voted touthorize the r. it is questionable wheth the

authoration totart the work would have even passed congress without all biden did t to get t approved. amy: all of that and more, coming out. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. over 2000 former justice department officials are now calling on attorney general william barr to resign after he intervened to reduce the sentencing recommendation for president trump's longtime friend and former campaign adviser roger stone. the federal judges association has called an emergency meeting as the fallout over barr's actions mounts. meanwhile, u.s. district judge amy berman jackson is holding a conference call today to discuss the status of roger stone's case, two days before he is due to be sentenced. last year, stone posted a photo on instagram of judge berman jackson with crosshairs near her head. last week, trump attacked judge

berman jackson on twitter. the chief judge of the u.s. district court for d.c. responded in defense of berman jackson, saying, "public criticism or pressure is not a factor." mike bloomberg has qualified for the next democratic debate, after receiving 19% in a national npr, pbs newshour and marist poll. he needed at least 10% to qualify. the democratic national committee was recently widelyly criticized for overhauling its debate requirements to elilimine the need for candidates to obtain a significant number of small donations. bloomberg has poured over $400 million of his own money into his campaigngn. the debate will take place wednesday night in nevada ahead of saturday's caucuses. bloomberg is not on the ballot in nevada. senator bernie sanders leads in the same poll with 31%. in related news, bloomberg is

coming under fire yet again for his past remarks. this time, the former new york city mayor can be seen telling an audience at oxford university in 2016 that farming requires less gray matter than working in the information economy. teach anybody, even people in this room, no offense intended, , to be a primemer. you dig g a holole, put a seaea, put dirt in. you cacan learn that. 300 years of thehe industrial societety. you put the pieiece of the metal inin the lake, t turn the crankd the directioion of the arrow, ad you can have a job. we created a lot of jobs. 9090% of the w world worked d ir cultural today, 2% in the united states. now comes the information economy.. the informatioion economy is fundamentally d different becece it is built aroround replacing and theith technolology

skskill setss that t u have to learn our how to think and analyze. and that is a whole degree level different. you have to have a different skill set. you have to have a lot more gray matter. amy: the now viral video comes as bloomberg is facing a barrage of criticism over his past comments and actions on policing, race-based housing discrimination, stop and frisk, and sexual harassment and discrimination at his company. a 1998 lawsuit details an interaction with a female employee he shouted at in front of others after she expressed trouble finding a nanny. bloomberg allegedly yelled -- "it's a [bleep] baby! all it does is eat and [bleep] all you need is some black, who doesn't even have to speak english, to rescue it from a burning building!" in another incident, bloomberg

allegedly told a pregnant worker to "kill it." and in another lawsuit in which an employee accused her superior of rape, bloomberg was asked in a deposition what evidence would be necessary in the case. he responded, "i guess an unimpeachable third-party witness." he said would be no way of knowing who was telling the truth in a rape case. these come from a piece in "the washington post" this weekend. calls are mounting for the resignation of manhattan district attorney cy vance as 40 more women accuse former columbia university ob/gyn robert hadden of sexual assault. the accusations follow recent revelations by evelyn yang, wife of former presidential candidate andrew yang, that hadden assaulted her when she was pregegnant. cy vance let hadden off with a plea deal in 2016 that enabled him to avoid jail time. evelyn yang was attacked just six weeks after hadden had been

arrested in another case but was allowed to return to his practice. the total number of accusers is now around 70. the allegations include vaginal exams without gloves, forceful touching, and forced oral sex. joining the call for cy vance to resign are all 12 members of new york city council's women's caucus. co-chair carlina rivera said -- "there's a long history of district attorney vance's office failing to effectively prosecute other powerful white men." this, as jury deliberations begin today for harvey weinstein's rape trial in new york. we'll have more on that story after headlines with new york magazine's irin carmon. at least 150 million people in china, over 10% of the population, now face some level of restrictions s on their movements s because of t the government-imposed l lockdown it attemempts to slow down the spread of the e coronavirus. over 72,000 cases have been

confirmed with nearly 1900 fatalitities. most of these in china.. today, a noted neurolologist and director of a hospital in wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, died from coronavirus. meanwhile, the quarantine aboard the diamond princess cruise ship that has been docked in yokohamama, japan, f ovever two weeks is set to end tomorrow. over 540 cases have been linked to the ship. over 300 americans werere repapatriated from japan yesterday, with 14 testing positive for the disease. they will be quarantined on u.s. bases for two weeks. in business news, apple says they will not meet their revenue t thebecause and part of coronavirus impact on production. in pakistan, suicide bomb attack at a religious rally in the northern city of quetta has killed at least eight people and wounded at least 16 others. no group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.

in mexico, the brutal killing of a seven-year-old girl has triggered more protests in mexico city as anger mounts over the epidemic of murdered women and girls. the girl, fatima, was kidnapped last week. her body was found by authorities in the outskirts of mexico city this past weekend wrapped in a plastic bag. her killing came just two days after a 25-year-old woman, ingrid escamilla, was murdered and mutilated by her boyfriend. this is one of the protesters monday. >> that is what we voted for this president, for this president who's going to end corruption. but what has the president done? leave the airplane alone already. start thinking abobout the p por people andnd leave the airplanae alone. amy: the second strongest non-tropical ever recorded in the north atlantic ocean is wreaking havoc in towns across the united kingdom. british authorities have issued over 300 warnings as bomb cyclone dennis has produced -foot waveves and winds reaching

up to 90 miles perer hour. the recocord rains and flooding disrupteted air and train travel andnd killed at l least twowo p. amidid the catatastrophic weathr event, the british environment agency will reportedly announce homeowners shohould no longerr expect to be protected from major floods because they will be seen as inevitable dudue to e worsening climate crisis. backck in the united states, residents of mississippi are bracing for more heavy rains as hihistoric flooding from thehe swollen pearl river has affected hundreds of homes. mississippi governor tate reeves declared a state of emergency the pearl river crested monday at its third highest recorded level. california is set to apologize this week for the internment of over 110,000 japanese-americans during world war ii. lawmakers are expecteded to pasa resolution thursday apologizing for supporting the "unjust exclusion, removal, and incarceration of japanese americans and for its failure to support and defend the civil rights and civil liberties of

japanese-americans." in virginia, state senators rejected a ban on assault weapons after four democrats sided with republicans to defeat the ban in committee. the measure would have prohibited the sale of magazines that hold over 12 rounds, and some semi-automatic guns, including ar-15 style assault rifles, which have been used in the majority of mass shootings in the u.s. democratic governor ralph northam called for gun control reforms following last may's mass shooting in virginia beach that killed 13 people. virginia democrats, who took control of the legislature in november, have passed other gun gun control measures, including universal background checks, limits on handgun purchases to once a month, and a red flag bill allowing authorities to confiscate guns from individuals who may pose a danger to themselves or others. the boy scouts of america has filed for r bankruptcy protectin as it faces hundreds of lawsuits for sexual abuse. several states have changed their laws to temporarily remove statutes of limitations on

sexu abuse, which previously protected organizations like the boy scouts. at least 12,000 cases of abuse at the hands of boy scout masters and volunteers have been identified. and over 150 youth climate activists with sunrise movement took over the capitol building in washington, d.c. to hold a , monday teach-in on the green new deal, calling on lawmakers to immediately adopt the measure. 20 teenagers, one as young as 13, were arrested during the demonstration. this is a student protester speaking at the action. >> no matter who you are, you have a place at the table. senators toi ask my cosponsor this green new deal. want any change in 5, 10, 20, 50 years, i want it [bleep] now. amy: and those arere some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman.

a jury of seven men and five women meet today in new york supreme court to begin deliberations on whether to find disgraced movie mogul harvey weinstein guilty of sexual assault. the case has drawn international attention amid the #metoo movement. if the jurors find weinstein guilty, he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. weinstein has been accused of sexual misconduct by more than 100 women. in this case, he faces five charges based on evidence relating to two main accusers. one woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, alleges she was raped by weinstein in a new york hotel. he has been charged with rape in the first and third degrees. the second main accuser is former "project runway" production assistant miriam haley, who alleges weinstein forced oral sex on her in 2006. for this, weinstein faces a count of criminal sex act. if the jury finds weinstein guilty of the charges relating to either or both of the main accusers, then it can consider

two counts of predatory sexual assault. these charges would require the jurors to find weinstein guilty of sexually assaulting more than one woman. weinstein has pleaded not guilty. for more, we are joined in our new york studio by irin carmon, senior correspondent for "new york magazine" who has followed the allegations against harvey weinstein. she spoke to more than a dozen of his accusers in her article "100 women vs. harvey weinstein" and wrote a 57-page powerpoint harvey weinstein's team sent to thise wrote about powerpoint sent to reporters that smeared his alleged victims. her new piece out today is headlined "the woman who taped harvey weinstein." it features an interview with ambra gutierrez, the filipina-italian model who reported weinstein to the new york police department in 2015 for allegedly groping her during a meeting at his office. she then went back wearing a recording device for an arranged

meet-up at a hotel and in the tape. weinstein admits that he groped her and tries to get her to come to his room. but the manhattan district attorney cyrus vance decided not to pursue the case and said, "a criminal charge is not supported." we are going to talk about all of these issues. irin carmo, it is great to have you back at democracy now! let's start with the weinstein case. the closing arguments last week and now this case goes to the jury. what should we understand about it? >> more than any other case, this case has become synonymous with the #metoo movement, and that is not a coincidence. it was stories about harvey once published that helped open up the floodgates from thousands, even millions of people telling stories of sexual assault. what changed from ambra battilana gutierrez agreeing to wear a wire, 22 years old, secretly taping harvey weinstein, putting yourself at risk, yet being hung out to dry

by the new york da? what changed between then and here we are five years later and the same manhattan district attorney's office headed by cy vance has brought these charges that are quite complex against harvey weinstein? what changed is there was a lot -- a flood organizing. there was a flood of voices, not just about harvey weinstein. the criminal law is a separate tool from public awareness, from journalism as you well know. the question that is going to be at the heart of this case as we wait for the verdict and is the jury begins its deliberations is , have they proven their case beyond a reasonable doubt? and that is not going to be the same thing as, do you believe the 100 plus women who have come forward? amy: i want to go back to the story you just dropped today for the cut, working for "new york magazine." many people may remember, but explained to us what happened. this is not what is at issue in this case right now. what happened with ambra?

what is amazing, she worked with the police was up she put herself in serious danger. explain her bravery from the beginning. 2017 when these stories were published, there was this great surprise. who knew there were rumors? to my knowledge, she is the first person, years before, to have gone to the police with a report to have done everything the authorities asked her to do. she was 22 years old. she was in a country that she did not grow up in. she is from the philippines and italy. she says harvey weinstein second -- stuck a hand up her skirt and groped her breast. he then called her while she was sitting at the tribeca precinct completely distraught, special victims unit sent her and with a wire. him,so she -- i'm in us to she is sitting in the police precinct. close she allows the police to

listen to the call and agrees the next day, despite being deeply shaken by her experience, agrees to go back and meet with this man again wearing a wire and recording on her phone a backup in case if failed, which it did fail. just imagine what is going through her head as she is in his hotel lobby. harvey weinstein badgers her to go upstairs. later publishese this recording where he admits groping her breast, apologizes. he is begging her to come into the room in the same kind of what ashley judd described as coercive reckoning that many of the women who have come forward about weinstein have described, which is dangling job opportunities and then implying that in some way this means that women have to consent to sexual activity that many women have said they did not consent to. amy: explain what happened to her. recordrding this, she has got it in the bag were in the bug, she

returns and then what happens next? >> she believed she had done everything they asked her to do. but then she describes it as she was interrogated by cy vance's office. at this point, she really feels like i put her on trial. this is something that when folks report on sex crimes have heard a million times. sometimes it is just the da wants to make sure is this someone whoo is going to be comfortable being cross-examined on the stand, but nonetheless, she without she herself was being put on trial despite the fact she had recorded evidence of harvey weinstein admitting to groping her without her consent. she left that meeting feeling uneasy. at the same time, harvey weinstein and lists powerful people -- rudy giuliani, linda fairstein, are often pressured not to bring charges against her. a public relations campaign is waged against her as well.

she has worked as a model, photographs of her the most suggestive come out of context manner and up on the front pages of "the new york post" and "the daily news." she's accused of being a sex worker. things from her past are dragged out as if she's been put on trial in public opinion. eventually, she learns from reading the newspaper, she says she did not hear from the das office, that they're not going to bring charges against harvey weinstein. it will take 2.5 to three years for any charges to be brought in connection with more than 100 womemen. who have accused harvey weinstein. " arthur bassford is that you pass a cuter who is now after 40 years -- close to the sex crimes unit. and who just announced she is retiring. where did linda fairstein fit into the story? close she was part of harvey weinstein's team and she said to have a close relationship with martha bash furred.

thesee how he also used press as a tool. you suddenly have harvey weinstein been described as a married father of five and hurting described as this sort extorting.er who is now we have this recording that took years to come out, despite the fact that ambra --she did sign a nondisclosure agreement because she feared for her family. she was supposed to hand over all of the evidence to harvey weinstein's attorneys, but she decided she needed what she described to me as an escape plan. she held onto one of the recordings. 22 years old, alone in this country, and she subsequently get that recording to ronan farrow and it helped buttress the e recording that was already being done in "the new york times" and "the new yorker" about the cascade of allegations against harvey weinstein. amy: before we go on to this case, we had in the headlights a

story of dr. haddon, who i think 70 women have come forward saying he forcefully sexily ynsaulted the and is ob/g office. and the women's caucus has called for cy vance's resignation. one of the heads of the caucus said that they want to be sure that the district attorney is going to be involved in -- in aggressively dealing with sexual assault and not privileging white men. >> does anybody believe that if robert hadden were harvey weinstein were low-wage workers, men of color who w were lower on the social total pole, that they would not be sitting in jail right now based on the evidence against them? i think it is quite clear in sex crimes and other crimes that we have an unequal system of

justice. now there are some efforts to even the skills, but it is challenging. the job of a powerful personon o wants to get out of a possible charge against them is to make price so high. prosecutors are not known for wanting to bring cases they are going to lose, right? they brag about the conviction rates. they don't take risks if they don't have to. powerful people understand how to make the price so high that they may well lose the case. prosecutors may well lose the case. with a make benefit analysis and powerful people are in their ear and he is a wonderful pillar of the community or he has given so much money to these causes, that becomes a consideration. it is only the last couple of years the voices of other people saying, this happened to me, this is my evidence, i agreed to testify, is even making a dent in that. amy: you have this remarkable cover story in "new york magazine" with one woman after another, have interviewed about 12 of the nearly 100 who have accused harvey weinstein, though

to be clear, in this case, he is being charged in the case of two different women. we will talk about that in a minute. we are with irin carmon. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. as we turn right now back to the case of harvey weinstein in a new york courtroom today with jury deliberation. the disgraced movie mogul harvey weinstein has pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting former production assistant miriam haley and raping jessica mann in 2013. this is one of weinstein's lawyers donna rotunno. >> i think the issue is if you look at all of the evidence, the evidence shows consensual relationships. if you claim that what you say happened happened, it is common sense you would then go out and send emails, have the contact,

continue relationship, send your phone number? that is consent. the evidence shows consent. amy: for more, we continue with irin carmon, senior correspondent for "new york magazine" who had an amazing story were women dressed in black linked arms. the article called "100 women vs. harvey weinstein." she also wrote about the 57-page powerpoint harvey weinstein's team sent to reporters that smeared his alleged victims. she is the author of the new york times" bestseller "notorious rbg: the life and times of ruth bader ginsberg." let's talk about this case and how you think it has gone is the today.gins to deliberate close it is so interesting because we from the beginning, #metoo going viral, having weinstein to be this untouchable monster by which all other accusations are measured. at the truth is, it is really

complicated to bring a criminal case, especially years after many of these allegations were said to take place. so if you can imagine a big final where there are 100 and possibly more women out there, but then how many of them have chargeable cases just from the point of your statutes of limitation? have any have evidence? how many are willing to talk to prosecutors? because participating in a criminal case like this is wrenching. they brought cases -- they brought a case on behalf of, in new york, lucia evans that was later dropped, even though she also cooperated with cy vance's office. you don't even know if your case will see the light of day. from that, we have two womemen, jessica mann and miriam haley, whose charges form the basis of the new york case, and there's also going to be a los angeles case. one of the reasons there is a lot of complexity is because the jury is being asked to understand something that experts will tell you is typical but that society does not

generally understand, which is how can it be that on one day somebody use basically assaults you but then further down the line, you continue to have consensual contact with them -- whether it is friendly conversation in the form of an eye now or asking them for professional opportunity? prosecutors have tried to square the circle which again experts say is incredibly typical. you can think of it as being akin to a domestic violence situation. while the jury understand that? this is how the prosecutors have tried to explain it that this is a man who helped so much economic power in the industry, the who they saw as holding keys to their future, and also that they were terrified of him. they were terrified of his rage and the violence and they wanted to tell the story to themselves that this was consensual. the defense has actually seen this case as not just a war

about the facts, not just does harvey weinstein deserve due process, they are waging a war against the entire #metoo movement. donna rotunno and the rest of the team are saying, actually, harvey weinstein is a victim and a target of a cause and a movement. they have tried to make this as much about the backlash to that movement as possible. amy: how do you think the prosecutors have done in this case? >> it is a tough case. it would not have been brought had there not been such raised awareness about the complex dynamics around sexual assault. i do not know whether there are just members of the jury willing to convict based on facts that again, experts will tell you are of extremes,pical but relatively new ideas for society at large to accept. they pursued a strategy that i think is risky, which is they have focused on harvey weinstein's body. they distributed photos of him to the jury naked, which were then drawn by a court artist. they have asked several of the

women who testified, because in addition to the two women who testified whose case formed the basis of the chargrges, there he been other w women like annabela sciorra and other individuals who say they were assaulted by harvey but whose cases cannot be charged as context. a couple have spoken how they found his body disgusting, specifics about his genitalia. listening to this, you do wonder whether this focus, because nobody denies sexual contact took place, might risk playing into the defense's argument that he is a victim or might look like the prosecutors are trying to humiliate him. i do wonder whether the jury will listen to that and actually feel bad for harvey, who has been coming into the courtroom every day with a walker. they have been spinning the story he is a loser beautiful women exploited. will that work for the prosecutors? i think we're about to find out. amy: with the presidential race,

michael bloomberg coming under major scrutiny around his comments about women and scores of lawsuits against him and his company related to women and sexual harassment. let me ask you about specifically a case that you have looked particularly at and that is the story of charlie rose who worked out of bloomberg's big building in new york city, where his studios were, a very close friend of bloomberg and what bloomberg's comments have been about him. >> bloomberg has said they had no idea that any allegations. there is no record. we investigated as well. but he has repeatedly said there are two sides to every story and he is not sure if he believes that. over the years, they have been reported to be very close frieiends. the 1990's they talked about how charlie said, we had a lot of locker room talk. definitely a warm relationship that he then came out and defended charlie rose. there is litigation ongoing in the charlie rose case, for this

former makeup artist and three of his former assistant are continuing to sue him and he has been deposed in that case. michael bloomberg set at the time that nothing of improvement in a court of law but as we saw from our weinstein conversation, the role of journalism and the role of the criminal system are slightly different. not everything fits into a criminal case. amy: irin carmon, thank you so much for your excellent reporting, senior correspondent for "new york magazine" who has followed the allegations against harvey weinstein. we will link to her piece today that has just come out and their previous peace where she looked at a number of the hundred women who have longed allegations against harvey one steam. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the democratic presidential candidates will face off in las vegas wednesday night ahead of the nevada caucuses. it will be the first debate with billionaire michael bloomberg on the stage. nevada could be a decisive state for candidates who performed poorly in iowa and new

hampshire, including former vice president joe biden. as biden hopes for a comeback, a new short documentary sheds light on his extensive role in war,vocating for the iraq an issue that has been raised repeatedly on the campaign trail. biden has apologized for supporting the war. but we bring a film directed by the center for economic and policy research's mark weisbrot. central roleden's in pushing for an iraqi invasion called "worth the price? joe biden and the launch of the iraq war." the documentary is narrated by danny glover. but before we go to it, we are going to the director himself, mark weisbrot, to talk as we go back and time some 16, 17 years, mark. just give us a little introduction to why you decided to make this film now about the u.s. invasion of iraq.

mark? >> yes, i cannot hear you. amy: if you can just do a little introduction to this film. why you decided to go back 16, 17 years to bring as a film about a current presidential candidate joe biden, why you think it is so significant, his stance on the iraq w war in 200. >> first, a lot of people think he is going to lose and maybe it doesn't matatter, but he is s sl in the race. even iff he loses, and i think you prprobably will, he still could very easily play a role if there's a brokokered c conventi, which we talked about on the show. you can play a role in the decision of who the candidate is . i think that is one of the reasons he is stayining in n the racece, trying to get through super tuesday and so on. the second thing is, this is vitally importatant. he really y has not been discusd on television -- i want to thank you for havingng this show.

you had his vote for the iraq war that hasas been broughght u. but ththere never has been a presentation of what he actually did, which was he wawas the momt important t elected official in this countryry after george w.w. bush and dicick cheney in enablg and allowing and getting the authorization for the war through congress. that was a huge role in bringing us this war. it wasn't just a vote for the war. he was the chair of the senate foreign relations committee. when i was going through this footage, it was amazing all the things that he did. he argued very strongly from the war. amy: and we are going to hear that in one minute and then talk to the other side. mark weisbrot is co-director of the center for economic and policy research. his documentary "worth the , price? joe biden and the launch of the iraq war." we will bring it to you in 30 seconds.

♪ [music break] goodman as we turn now to the new documentary short "worth the price? joe biden and the launch of the iraq war." it is s narrated b by danny glo. > amamerican and coalition fs aree in ththe early ststages of militaryry operationons.

♪ the cost ofhe iraq war wer enormous, mo t than 00 amicanan soldiers as well as thousands m mility coractctorwere killed. tens of thousands of u.s. sosoldie werere wounded. hundredsf f thoundss of iraqis. by some estimates, morehahan an mimilln werereilled. in the war created massive instabilit including more wars and terrorisbrbroughthe e mile st and north africa. fast-forward to th202020 presidenal race. there's only oneanandida foror the nononation of the democratic party who played a ldiding role in actually king theraraq war happed. >> in my judgment, presintnt bush's righto be concerned ababout ddamamussein partially

is renentlespursuit weans of mass deruructio anthe popoibility he may use th o or she them with terrorists orer rimes already have seek to acquire weapons of ma inruction. >> this was joe den inn 200 spkiking achchair the u uted ates a a a committee on foreign relations. a few months later when t senate was datating ether to geget esidenengeorge w bush the auority totart a w with iraq, biden argued stronglyn favor of grantinththis authory. >> the objective ito c coml ir to destroy its illegal weweaponof m mas destruction and itits ogram m develop and produce misses and me of ose weaps. saddais dangeus. thworld wod be a bter ace witht him but the reason he poses growg g dang to the united statesndnd its allies ishahat he poposssess chemical and biological weapons and is

seeking nucleaweapapon unlike my colleague om west virginia and maryland, i do not believe this is a rush t war.. i believe it is a march to peace and secutyty. i bebelie thatat failulu to overwhelmilyly support thi resolution is likely to enhae th pspects t war wil occu >> joeiden dido much me th vote for the war. heasas thehair of e powful nate comttee on foign relatis. he rely used h contl over tt committee to make sure that a aajority ofof e u.s. sene voted to authorizize e w war. and that i is a vevery serio thing. >> hihistorian barbara inince priebus topcoatat that is estionablehether t authorization to start the work could have even passed congress without all that biden did to get it approved. he reay did pl a major role in bringing into thiriraq war , this tririble, terble war. this was much mo respsisibili.

he bears much more reonsibili than many other senato w who splyy ved for. of coue, the stement aut chemical, biological, nueaear weapaponwere fal. d expertalready concled th at the me of t t arings, but bidedid not allow thesexpertstso testif at is reayigninifint. chairirf the foign relationcommitte biden w able t controlhe senat debaten the war and trefore much of e informion that most sators recved and that most media outlets reported was really distorted. >> other democratsnn the senate wantedo put limits on bush's ability to start w war iiraq. for examame, if there was no imminent teaeat tohe u unid ates and the unid nations dinonot auorizize war, and presenent bu wououldave to come bk to congress for another resoluonon. butt biden shut this wn. >> theeaeason y ii opposed the endment my frie from michan is because the bacc emise up whihich began is

consistent wh where my friend from cnecticut began -- and ths the threat need not be immint fors to take action. that is autrity w ware about to delegate to thpresiden >> t fact heould t te such a prpro-r posision, he wld usese thatat ree t limit the debate thwaway he did plad a major factor in getting enoughs defection from the democrat majori to jojo with alst unananims republican suprtrt to ke t thearar resution passed.. as aesesult, don'ththink woulbe unfnfr to say biden play aore important role thanrorobablanybybodin coress a a making the iraq war possible. e e ideahat t ir, which had be r rid of its nonconventional weapons and weapo programand weapon systems from under th strictest sanctions of y nation hasver experieed, it

was sohohow a thread to the ununited states, the far sid of the rld, is tatally surdrd. tolly ridiculou the fact and educated person likeoe b bid with h reign policy experience would belie at reay defies the imaginatio >> b t the wnesses mostly reinforce the pro-war arguments. >> the qstion bere us relyly should e ununit states dese saddam hussein? my answer clearly yes. stated u.s. change lilicy wld b be rrect.t. a way toeal with this problem. >> in my opinion, weapon inspecons are t t the swer thehe rl problem, which is the regime. the people want a regime change. lelet's hehe thehem make e is change andiberate iraq f fro thth oppressor. generateouou t fofor the nunuclr weapaps by 05. it is diffict to see how any measure short of a resumehahange wiwille effective.

>> a nuclear arms sadda sometimeistake iis a ris we cannot choose to ignore. >> it isssential to recognize the claims made s sadd's reprprentatives that iraq has no weapons ofasass destruction is fafalse. > wknow thatresent aqaeda members to livend move eely out in iq. , ttold that is e case thal qaeda groups are welce ,ntheyey a bng supported the familiesrere bei supported. desperately wt tbe free of ddam husinin andheyy also k kw the only count that can help them wi t this is the united stas. they' ready to welcomththe u.s.s. aliberarars. >> lincoln chafee ofhohode island pushed ba a again thehe witnesses. bu bididenut him off. >> and i d thinkhat it would

ve been good to ve that , foreive on tsanel better balce. i thinwewe havgot t fr thiss panel perspective thathe that is ve realo mentor immedie, and maybe wld ask you to cment on so of the seniorilitary officis, cluding, according to the artie,e, memrs o of e joinin chiefs of staff -- enatorpoloze, but the from florida is going to chair e hearin i ha to leavfofor a w minus. after th panel iover, , will recess dish time for lun? 45 minutes f lunch. i'm not suggesti w we fish now. whwh the panel is finished, we wi recesesfor 45inutes. i assure you, senator, there are othewiwitness cocomi a alo who thk the policy containment is just fine so i hope u will find this is extremely balanced when we finishhe wholewowo

ys o of aringsgs i thank you for letting me interrupt. >> biden never returneto the problem that senor chafee raised abouthe biased of the wiesesses at w wer allowed to testify. >> i was in the iraq war twice and efghan waonce. have anns, these wars impact that lasts for whwhole -- our whe e live the ir war, must 4600 americ soldrs were killed i think as of the first month of 2020 i thinthe totanumber is 4575. the direct nuerer lleded. war has beeprivatized and contraeded out and companies a maki money off of it. e e estitess are that a similar number, abt t 4500ontrtracrs, meandd women who are dng js

in the militarthat in past wars solers would h have en doin were al killed iraq. when y look at theumber lled, geaa looooat maybe000 rather than almost 00. accounts not ta i into the suicides. thsusuicid frorom esears runs between 9000 and 10,000 killed by suicide. we have also had tens of thousas s of m andnd women wounded in action. i had marines inyy command who were hit broroadsi bombs, 9, 10 teses during the deployme.. this is why i thinsoso manof us who were in these wars are so disgusd d by t pololital stem, so upset and furious thateoplple o werereesponsible ar thes w wars,ho had constutution responsilitity for r ersight,t, jusust went alg

withhehe group thing. just got rid of y intelltual hosty or moral honesty. >> direct outgrowtofof al edaa in iraq that grew out ofur invasion, which is aexexampl of unintended consequence which isis why we should generally a before we sht. >> decapitated the government. lefto o indinoususeadership. anthat notnly alled all sortofof groups within iraq to revolt against what theyaw as illegitimate occupie but it fromctedihadist fanatics around theorld. theyey lk at irand saw, here' a place where we can go kill americasosoldie. antheyey were in. theyrere gaing e expience e r fure wars. thout the sin of t iraq

invasion, we woulbebe alining th thihitoday. >> first time i'vevever hed ofof a viceceresident going out to the a a and ttining wn with desk lev analysts indivialal juor lev analystandd shing th to nd suppo for something he persolly belves , that sedan was try to acirire uranium. to me that his pressur and tt is intimidioion. they're not going to say, m vice president, you are llll of itit. >> manufacturing the ce inin t bowe of f th cia for saddam hussein's possession of weapons of masdestructn.n. ne of the false stories the bu a admintratatio used to promote the r r withraqq was that sdadam hsein was actually coecected th a al qda, the perprators of the 9/ a attac insistingn i keep ththat tre w was relatiohip tween ir and saddam and al

eda is bause the was a relationip betwe iraq a al eda. al qaa was inuded in the resoluon that den push through th sene, which gave bush t authority to go to r.r. >> anybodyho had the slighst knleledge out that region wowoul realizthe absurdity of the connection between saddam hussn anand qaeda -- who actually were bitternenemies i s in i iq when saddam hussei was in power. he did not tolerate any form of allegis extremm.m. if you were sittg g in a cafe and you saido the peonon next to com "r government reayy n'n'religiou enough," or we should havmomore piety, ululd prprobably have en aested thin an hour. there s s no cnce e ofl qaeded wereny kind of religious exememist oup p fr getting a foothold in iraq while saddam was in power. >> biden continue to sportrt t wafor y yrs. some ofhe own party hav

said it was a stake too to aqaq ithe first place d blknkness t worth theosost, atever benefit m flow omom our engagement in iraq. but t thcost of not aingg againssaddam ihink w wld ha b been ch g greer.. and so is the cost and so will behehe cost of not finishgg this job the president of t united states as a leader and he is popular. the akeses a high and thneneed r leadership is great. i wish you would useome of this sort of popularity to make what admdmit is not a very polalar case, but i and many hehers wl susuppt him. nineonths ago, i voted with my colleagues to givehe preredent thehe uted stat of a arica the authory to u fce, and i would ve that way again today. it was a right vote then and it would be a crect oneoday.

his.icly told me september 10, 2015, he started off the conversation wh h thes wos,there is bias inhis wn towar w." i most fe offy seat. then he told us for t next 20, 25inutes, he did not know atat do ababout it. there's a in this town toward r,r, saithe e prident t the united stes. have a machine in washington that consists of predato capilist like lockheed martin and exn n mobiand all ey reesenent most exxon mobil cells re fossi fuels to dod then uu gather entity in thwoworld. -- than any other enti in the world. ckckheedartitin kes aa fortune off rkrk, sooess raytheon, eing. as long as you have these doars rolling income you're goining ve constanendless war. >> biden represents a ki o long-snding bipartisan commitment to u. criminal in ththe glal s sta in whi thehe

u.s. acts as a policeman othe world. i i thina lolot of americans are frtrtratedyy this position. theyantt to have a dfeferent kind o relatiohip with the rld ananthey wanthe lead of the president and congress, thatanan present a visioofof osperity forll americans. ii think tt only hpens whe we bak with the cle of endless wars. isoing to v very diffulult, i think, r a mocraticararty candadate w basilly reitetes the atus o of dless lu p perry interventions, endssss warin the ddddle et cocouny wentnt against donald trump. >> i was a member of the senate inteigigenceommimitt and i would adad the headlines the papaper in the morning and wat the tevision nscast ani would shake my heabebecausyouu see just few hundd feet away from here in a closed roo, carefullguarded, the intelligence commiee w was meetetg on a dly basis for top-cret briinings aut t the infofoation weere receiving and the formation we h the

intelligenceommitteeas not the same infortion being gen the amecacan pelele. cacannotelieievet. >>lear evince of pil. we cannot wait f t the fal proof. the smokg gun it could come in the forofof a mushshro c cloud >> so what happened? looseaded, turned hureds if t thousands of ople scoing iraq for the weaponof mass structio nevefound onof them. look for new glare wpopons. no evidence whatsoever when into our intelligcece files and said, ok, saddam ssssein d al qaeda, let's get th linkage put tether on and for all. no evidence at a o of a linkage the erican pple were deived intthis war closi tell y wt, i do't understaow any othese politicis who claim tsupport the troops a s suppo theheir don't undersnd how

anyone cld hold a mher at the funel of heron who just killed eitherwas in the wars war becausofof both -- and i have don --ndnd the is s noiffereree if theother, and act as somehow ere is see benefit to the. when you're oveththere d fighting and you're takg part it, and as an oicer i was responsiblfofor my marines and rr my sailors and i had their lis and i s rponsible to their falilies f that. and you d you think, can gogo home and say to the families that it s s wort it? at it was worth it at their son was killed, the husband was kieded, thbrotothewas kikied

for something thatasas good or somethinththat w benenefial? if wean make the case which i think ion'say what think because the hearingarare not finied, butf we canake a case that thehreat is real an de, that a free and democratic iraq cld be accolilishedouldld have a eansing impact on that pa o of the world and make oulilife easier significantly down the road -- which i think codde an ideal circumstance, that it is worth the price? amy: that is the broadcast exclusive of "worth the price? joe biden and the launch of the iraq war." fromweisbrot is joining us washington, d.c. on the campaign trail, presidential candidate biden has said in one form or another he made a mistake on iraq.

your response? >> well, i think that is too little, too late. it is not enough. this really has to be an i issu. this can't be swepept under the rug. wewe're entering a different period right now. i think it is crucial. we could have anotother wawar en before the e election. yet president trump come close to a war with iran when he order the assassination of general soleimani just a month ago. this is s something that also te other part of it on the positive side, there is enormous resistance to this in congress. you have bernie sanders for instance, introduce the no war with iran act. he also led the fight which was successful to get both houses of congress -- using the war powers resolution for the first time in 45 years, both houses of congress voted to order the u.s. military to get out of this war in yemen, which has killed

hundreds of thousands of people. so there is a real strong toement now to putan end these endless wars. these e words will go on fororer if we don't allow this to even be discussed. we have to havee this discscuss. this is somebody who i is runnig for president of the united states, and he played a major war in brininging about this that killed, by the best estimates, a million people and thousands of u.s. -- over 4500 u.s. sololdiers. here it is, h his role has nott evenen been discscussed. at the very leleast, people votg in the democratic primary should know what he did. amy: interestingly, mark weisbrot, "the e los angeles times" recently had a pieiece, here y you have joe biden apologizing for what he did and you really lay out clearly how hehe was not only y supporting e war, but leadingng the support. mayor bloomberg, when interviewed by "the los angeles

times," said he did not regret backing the iraq war back then. >> yes, that is another reason. because of bloomberg, too. this is an issue in the race. this is s even bigger than that because for the last 50 years, the peacece movement has always pointed out when you build a fifighter plane, or gingng up on healalth care for thousands of people. but it is even worse than that now because now the intellectuals -- amy:y: we have five seconds. >> they are talking about an arms race with china. you can forgrget about the grern neww deal, medicare for r all, d eveverything elslse. theirr economy is already 30% bigger than ours and it will be twice as big within 10 years. so this affects everything that anybody who cares about this presidential election wants. amy: mark weisbrot, thank you for being with us, codirector of the center for economic and policy research. that does it for our show. i will be speaking at purdue

university and west lafayette, indiana, wednesday night at 6:00. moderating a panel with mahatma and presidentson reagan's son ronald reagan, junior, and more. check out democracynow.org.