07/122 07/18/22 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> what was his response about khashoggi? pres. biden: he basically said he was not personally responsible for it. i indicated he was. he said he was not personal responsible for and he took action against those who were responsible. amy: president biden greeted

mohammed bin salman with a fist bump and more. even after biden previously vowed to make saudi arabia pariah for the state-sponsored killing of washington post columnist, khashoggi. we will get an update. in jeddah, another leader of human rights violations, sisi as egypt is set to host the next u.n. climate summit. we will speak with bill mckibben. his new yorker article. he will also speak about senator manchin scheduling the was climate bill and the heatwave raging across europe. >> at 40 degrees celsius, it is only making the more difficult to distinguish -- excuse the fire. it is becoming very hot like the

south, amy: than about a dozen republican-led states have moved to ban nearly all abortion since the supreme court overturned roe . shocking cases are surfacing like the 10-year-old ohio girl who became pregnant after she was raped had to travel to indiana to get an abortion. we will speak with the editor of the nieman journalism lab about how unimaginable --"unimaginable abortion stories will become more common. is american journalism ready?" all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. president biden has returned from his trip to the middle east where he met with saudi crown prince mohammed bin salman on friday. the two men greeted each other with a friendly fist bump. the meeting comes three years after biden vowed as a presidential candidate to make saudi arabia a pariah for the state-sponsored killing of "the

washington post" columnist jamal khashoggi in istanbul. the publisher of "the washington post," fred ryan, criticized biden saying -- "the fist bump between president biden and mohammed bin salman was worse than a handshake -- it was shameful. it projected a level of intimacy and comfort that delivers to mbs the unwarranted redemption he has been desperately seeking." during a news conference after their meeting, biden said he confronted bin salman over khashoggi's murder. pres. biden: i raised at the top of the many what i thought at the time and what i think of it now, and knows exactly how straightforward and direct under discussing i i made my view crystal clear. amy: a top saudi official later appeared to contradict biden saying that he never heard the president telling the crown prince he was responsible for khashoggi'murder. during biden's visit, the saudis

agreed to increase oil production and to open its airspace to israeli commercial flights. the u.s. agreed to remove troops from tiran, a strategically located island in the red sea in a move that will help pave the way for saudi arabia to take control of the island. while in saudi arabia, biden also met with other leaders from the region, including the president of the united arab emirates. the meeting came on the same day that a court in the uae sentenced the civil rights attorney asim ghafoor to three years in prison. ghafoor is a u.s. citizen who worked as a lawyer for jamal khashoggi. he was arrested on thursday during a stopover in dubai. he has been accused of tax evasion and money laundering. charges he says are not true. we will have more on president biden's trip to the middle east after headlines. a scorching heat wave continues to fuel wildfires across southern europe and parts of north africa. in france, thousands of people have been forced to evacuate fires that have scorched over

27,000 acres. meanwhile, the governments of spain and portugal said hundreds of people died from heat-related causes during the second week of july. in britain, the government has issued its first-ever "red" extreme heat national severe weather warning with forecasters predicting high temperatures will top 40 degrees celsius, or 105 degrees fahrenheit, for the first time ever. this is tracy nicholls, chief executive at the college of paramedics. >> we could see people who are particularly vulnerable, young people and elderly people, frail people, people of dementia who real do suffer. this is not like a lovely hot day where we can put a bit of sunscreen on and go out and enjoy a swim and a meal outside. this is serious heat that could absolutely and in people's death because it is so ferocious.

amy: president biden has conceded defeat in his efforts to pass legislation tackling the climate crisis all raising raising taxes on wealthy corporations and individuals. this comes after west virginia democratic senator joe manchin walked away from negotiations over a scaled-back package of biden's tax and climate initiatives. vermont independent senator bernie sanders said manchin was never serious about advancing biden's climate agenda. he spoke to abc on sunday. >> people like manchin, sinema to a lesser degree, who are intentionally sabotaging the president's agenda, what the american people want, what a majority of us and it the democratic caucus want. nothing new about this. the problem was we continued to talk to manchin like he was serious. he was not. this is a guy who is a major recipient of fossil fuel money, a guy who has received campaign contributions from 25 republican billionaires. in my humble opinion, manchin

represents the very wealthiest people in this country, not working families in west virginia or america. amy: independent senator bernie sanders. political reports a number of executives maxed out campaign contributions to senator joe manchin, including baker warned stevens, hotel ecutiveom baltimore, morola ceo greg brown, homdepot ceo edward deckeryum! brands ceo, and robert kraft, the owner of the new england patriots. ukrainian president vladimir zelenskyy has fired the head of the ukraine domestic security agency, the sbu, as well as ukraine's top prosecutor. during a televised address, volodymyr zelenskyy said dozens of officials who worked in the sbu or under the prosecutor had committed treason by collaborating with russian forces. >> such an array of crimes against the foundations have the national security of the state

and the connections to -- between employees of the security forces have ukraine and the special services of russia posed very serious questions to the relevant leaders. each of these questions will receive a proper answer. today, the decision to dismiss the prosecutor general from office and the head of the secret service of ukraine. amy: the house committee investigating the january 6 insurrection has subpoenaed the u.s. secret service for more information about text messages from january 5 and january 6, 2021, that were reportedly erased or deleted. last week, a government watchdog with the homeland security department, the inspector general, said in a letter to lawmakers that the erasure took place shortly after oversight officials requested electronic communications from the agency. meanwhile, "the new york times" has revealed details about how a little known right-wing attorney named william olson urged trump to effectively declare martial law in december of 2020 as part of a sweeping attempt to overturn the election. the house january 6 committee will hold its final scheduled

public hearing on thursday. the hearing will focus on donald trump's 187 minutes of inaction on january 6 when his supporters stormed the capitol after he gave a speech near the white house. democracy now! will stream the hearing live at 8:00 p.m. eastern at democracynow.org. in reled news, jury selection is expected to begin today in the trial of former trump advisor steve bannon for criminal contempt of congress. nearly 400. that is the number of law enforcement officials who rushed to robb elementary school and uvalde, texas, may 20 fourth after they got word of a mass shooting. a new report from the state -- texas state legislator cites egregiously poor decisions made by the officers more than an hour to engage the gunman who killed 19 fourth graders and

their two teachers. investigators determined "law enforcement responders failed to adhere to their active shooter training, and they failed to prioritize saving innocent lives ov their own safety." texas state representative dustin burrows chairs the texas house mmittee onhe robb elementa shooting. >> if there's only one thing i can tell you is there were multiple systemic failures. i would advise everybody to read the entire report. you cannot cherry pick one sentence and use it to say everything without reading it altogether and with context. but if we need a simple phrase to describe what the report says, again, i wiltell you multiple systemic failures. amy: in greenwood, indiana, a gunman opened fire inside a shopping mall food court sunday evening, killing three people and injuring two others bere he was shot dead by an armed bystander.

"the indianapolis star" reports the shooter had a rifle and several maganes of ammunition. in charlottenorth carolina, comedian craig robinson canceled an appearance at a comedy club saturday night after a man brandishing a gun threatened audience members and fired at least one shot, forcing a panicked evacuation. in news from washington, d.c., the house has passed two new bills to protect abortion access but both bills are expected to fail in the senate. california congress member judy chu sponsored the women's health protection act which would codify abortion rights protections into federal law. >> make no mistake, if republicans have their way, this would be a country of forced births. that is why we need to pass the women's health protection act because every person, no matter what the circumstances, no matter how they become present pregnant, deserves safety and

care in seeking an abortion. amy: the other house bill, the ensuring access to abortion act, protects the rights of people to cross state lines for medical care. in related news, president biden has dropped plans to nominate an anti-abortion republican lawyer named chad meredith for a lifetime appointment as a federal judge in kentucky as part of a deal senate minority leader mitch mcconnell. the white house says the plan fell apart due to opposition from kentucky's other republican senator rand paul. today is the final full day of campaigning before tuesday's primary election in maryland. in one closely watched race, former congressmember donna edwards is seeking to win back her old seat in maryland's fourth congressional district outside of washington, d.c. she is facing the corporate attorney glenn ivey, who has raised seven times as much money. "the new york times" reports a new super pac run by aipac, the american israel public affairs committee, has spent nearly $6 million on the primary race in an attempt to defeat edwards. another group with ties to aipac, democratic majority for israel, has spent over $425,000 to back edwards' opponent.

the two groups also poured money into efforts to defeat other progressive democrats, including nina turner in ohio and jessica cisneros in texas. in news from ohio, a preliminary autopsy has been released for jayland walker, the 25-year-old black man who was fatally shot by police in akron, ohio, in june after a traffic stop. summit county medical examiner dr. lisa kohler said walker suffered 46 gunshot wounds -- 41 entry wounds and five wounds from bullets that grazed walker. >> the photographic record shows more than 46 labeled wounds because there are exit wounds, bullets beneath the skin, and abrasions that were numbered for the purpose of identifying specific injuries in the photographs and to permit clarity. his toxicology screen was negative for drugs and alcohol. jayland walker's death was due to blood loss from his internal

injuries. the cause of death ruling was multiple gunshot wounds. the manner of death was ruled homicide, shot by others. amy: the naacp has called on u.s. attorney general merrick garland to launch a federal civil-rights investigation into the killing of jayland walker, who was shot while unarmed. in guatemala, relatives have buried two migrant teenagers who died last month in a sweltering trailer in texas as they attempted to reunite with family in the united states. 14-year-old wilmer tulul and 13-year-old melvin guachiac were laid to rest in the town of nahuala on saturday. they were among 53 asylum seekers who died of heat stroke and suffocation in the back of an 18-wheeler abandoned on the side of a road in san antonio, texas, last month. >> my name died. my namesake had a dream to go in search of his life. he dreamed of getting a house, a

piece of land. amy: and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. president biden has returned from his trip to the middle east where he met with saudi crown prince mohammed bin salman on friday. the two men greeted each other with a fist bump. the meeting comes three years after biden vowed as a presidential candidate to make saudi arabia a pariah for the state-sponsored killing of "the washington post" columnist jamal khashoggi in istanbul. the publisher of "the washington post," fred ryan, criticized biden saying -- "the fist bump between president biden and mohammed bin salman was worse than a handshake -- it was shameful. it projected a level of intimacy and comfort that delivers to mbs the unwarranted redemption he has been desperately seeking." during a news conference after their meeting, biden said he told saudi arabia's crown prince mohammed bin salman that he held him responsible for khashoggi's murder. pres. biden: with respect to the

murder of khashoggi, i raised it at the top of the meeting making it clear what i thought of at the time and what i think of it now, and knows exactly how straightforward and direct in discussing it. i made my view crystal clear. amy: a top saudi official later appeared to contradict biden saying that he never heard the president telling the crown prince he was responsible for khashoggi's murder. during biden's visit, the saudis -- saudi arabia agreed to increase oil production and to open its airspace to israeli commercial flights. the u.s. agreed to remove troops from tiran, a strategically located island in the red sea in a move that will help pave the way for saudi arabia to take control of the island. in saudi arabia, biden that with other leaders including the president of the united arab emirates. the meeting came on the same day the sentences civil-rights attorney to three years in prison. he worked as a lawyer for jamal khashoggi and arrested thursday during a stopover flight in dubai. he had been heading on to

wedding in turkey. he has been accused by the government of alleged tax evasion and money laundering. here in the u.s., vermont independent senator bernie sanders had sunday on abc "this week" biden shod not have gone to saudi arabia. >> should biden have gone? >> i don't think so. yet the leader of that country who was involved in the murder of "the watched and i don't think that type of government should be rewarded with a visit by the president of the united states. you have a family that is worth $100 billion which crushes democracy, which treats women as third class citizens, which murders and imprisons its opponents. and if this country believes in anything, we believe in human rights, democracy. i don't believe we should be maintaining a warm relationship with a dictatorship like that. amy: for more, we're joined by

sarah leah whitson, executive director of democracy for the arab world now or dawn. her recent article in the american prospect is headlined "america's middle east 'withdrawal' breathes its last breath." we just spoke to you last week ahead of biden's trip. great to have you back. can you respond now to what actually has taken place, the meeting of the man who u.s. intelligence has said was responsible for the murder of "the washington post" columnist jamal khashoggi, mohammed bin salman? >> i would have to agree with "the washington post" the fist bump seen around the world will live in infamy, will become the legacy of president biden as a man who broke his promises and broke them in such a disgraceful manner, bumping fists with them

and he promised to the american people he would make a pariah. that is one hell of a way to be remembered. amy: i want to get your comment on this comment when cnn's wolf blitzer was sitting with the saudi foreign minister who was in the room during president biden's meeting with the crown prince about the murder of journalist jamal khashoggi. >> the u.s. intelligence community concluded that the crown prince ordered the killing of jamal khashgi. >> i don't believe it was specied in those terms. number t, it was an assassin. number three, we know what the intelligence community settlement was with regards to saddam hussein with weapons of mass the kingdom investigated this crime post of the kingdom of saudi arabia all those responsible for accountae and

they are paying the crime -- the price of the crime. we investigated, punished, and put in place procedures to ensure this doesn't haen again. this is what untries do it situations like this. this is what twisted when the mistake of abu ghraib was committed -- what the u.s. did when the mistake of abu ghraib was committed. amy: that is saudi foreign minister adel al-jubeir on cnn. >> i think his credibility is zero. he is a lying liar. previously went on international media to claim saudi arabia had not killed jamal khashoggi, that in fact he had left the embassy -- rather the consulate on his own accord. he represents the government that had someone dressed up as jamal khashoggi to walk out of thconsulate to prend that

jamal left. i think we can't take anything that adel al-jubeir says with a boulder of salt because he has a tragic record of lying. at the same time, we have to understand that this is the price of non-accountability. this is the price we pay when our president fist bumps a murderer. we are giving them license to say, "oh, well, really can't be that bad if you're president is fist bumping with a murderer." president biden has put us in an impossible decision, to tell the mac and people that he told him that he believed he was responsible but proceeded to fist bump with him and have a chummy relationship with him. what is the message that that sends? it says if you are a wealthy, oil-producing country, the united states will look away and fist bump with you if you have

something to offer us. if you think -- if we think of something to offer like billions of dollars of weapons purchasers. it is really something that is going to harm american standing and reputation, harm american interests and, frankly, it means no one will take and america's fiercely anyre when it talks about accountability. with what straightfaced can the united states be sanctioning iranian leaders resentencing unjustly, for example, a wrestler to death when in the same moment united states is fist bumping with a man who ordered the most brutal and heinous and shocking murder of a journalist who was working for the most published newspaper in our country and treats it as, "oh, well, all this well and done now"? i wanted -- give out any updates on the sentencing of one of your board members at dawn in the

united arab emirates, a scene before woody was making his way to the airport to fly to turkiye? >> we are shocked and should prized -- surprised by this. we understand there has been in absentia conviction against him on the basis of what evidence and what charges we have absolutely no idea because it is not been communicated. at a very basic minimum, he is entitled to basic due process, something the uae has never shown any good record in. we are concerned about his health and well-being given the very well-documented record of torture, abuse, arbitrary arrest and detention in the uae and we are standing by to learn more information posted a mako he was sentenced to three years in prison? >> this is what we have read in the uae's mouthpiece, official

statement, saying a court in the uae had convicted him in absentia for three years in prison and a fine of $800,000. we have no idea what the basis for this is. mr. ghafoor i said if he had any inkling there was uae against him, he would not have voluntarily chosen to travel to the uae as he just did a few days ago. amy: sarah leah whitson, thank you for joining us, executive director of democracy for the arab world now and we will link to your piece and up with america prospect headlined "america's middle east 'withdrawal' breathes its last breath." in jeddah, present biden that what the egyptian president as

they are set to host the next u.n. climate summit. we will speak with bill mckibben who just wrote "if egypt won't free alaa abd el-fattah, it had better brace for an angry climate conference." also the historic heatwave raging through europe. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. as president biden faced widespread criticism over his meeting with saudi crown prince mohammed bin salman in jeddah, on saturday, biden met another leader accused of severe human rights violations, egyptian president abdel fattah el-sisi.

it was the first encounter between biden and el-sisi. the two heads of state reaffirmed their shared commitment of a strong partnership between the united states and egypt, and biden reiterated that the u.s. will continue its military support in egypt. el-sisi thanked biden for the military equipment and security assistance provided by the u.s. government. their meeting came as "the new york times" published a harrowing investigation into el-sisi's violent crackdown on government critics, journalists and human rights advocates, and el-sisi's regime mass detention of those who dissent. in an analysis of handwritten court logs kept by volunteer defense lawyers, "the times" found that in just six months, from september 2020 to february 2021, there were about 4500 people held in pretrial detention in egypt, though the figure is likely much higher. human rights groups estimate that egypt currently detains 60,000 political prisoners, including people in pretrial detention and those who've been tried and sentenced, many

accused of terrorism. one of the most high-profile political prisoners is human rights advocate and blogger alaa abd el-fattah, who is currently -- who serving a five-year is prison sentence accused of "undermining national security." el-fattah has been imprisoned several times for most of the past decade over his activism. in 2014, democracy now! spoke to him in cairo, when he had been released on bail after nearly 4 months in prison. >> there have been activists sentence for five years at think, no, two years. and it was confirmed in appeals process. there been several that have been sentenced anything from one year to five. a couple of cases wh crazy

like 14 years and 17 years and 11 years and so on. so they are on a sentencing frenzy. i mean, thiss not just about me. and it's almost as if it's a war on a whole generation. amy: his family has says he believes he won't come out of prison ally. he has been on a hunger strike for well over 100 days since april protesting his captivity and the horrific conditions faced by political prisoners in egypt, including torture. in just a few months in november, egypt is scheduled to host the u.n. climate summit cop27 in the coastal resort town of sharm el-sheikh. this comes as calls are mounting for egyptian president el-sisi's government to release alaa abdel fattah and other political prisoners. we are joined by environmentalist and climate activist bill mckibben was written a new piece for "the new

yorker" headlined "if egypt won't free alaa abd el-fattah, it had better brace for an angry climate conference." author, educator, founder of third act, which organizes people over 60 years old for progressive change. one of the founders of 350.org. his new book out "the flagthe , cross, andhe station wagon: a graying american lks back at his suburban boyhood and wonders what the hell happened." welcome back to democracy now! let's start with alaa abdel fattah and egypt and why you as environmentalist have taken on coming champion his case as he wastes away in an egyptian prison on a hunger strike for more than 100 days. >> the spread of authoritarian governments around the world as one of the things making it difficult to do with the existential challenge of climate change and the climate meant may not be strong enough -- certainly is not strong

enough to end global warming but in november it will be strong enougho at least put the spotlight on the egyptian government that they can even bring themselves to release this one heroic guy who is now half dead from being on hunger strike and has done nothing more than write and blog for the last 15 years. this one seems like a no-brainer. civil society, there will be thousands of activists and egypt for the cop from all over the world. we don't have to worry and at the same with that egyptians do about protesting their government. alaa abdel fattah's name will be on people's lips, his face will be on people's t-shirts. it will be a big deal if the government does not do the nominally right thing. amy: is there any word coming out of the summit that biden

raised with el-sisi? >> i don't know. amy: you right at the beginning of your piece -- alaa abdel fattah understands absent responsive government commit is hard to achieve any change in a society's status quo. explain. >> we were both in paris, amy, for the storic climate talks. when i was in glasgow last november, were there. it struck me how mh had changed since paris. we had country after country really we can't work anymore, bolsonaro's brazil, turkey. it is not ke russia and china were free back in 2015 but they have got much worse since. modi's india. civil society, the work gets harder and harr to put the pressure on the fossil fuel industry for change because fossil fuel an autocrats go

together all too neatly. amy: his mother, alaa abdel fattah's mother was egyptian but born in london and he just became a british citizen as well. the family is pleaded for the government to release them to live in britain if they won't allow him to live free in egypt, bill. >> egypt has an easy out in this case. the guy is a british citizen. brits were the host of the last climate conference in glasgow. so it is the easiest of gestures to do the right thing. it won't get everybody else out of jail in egypt, but one at a time. we will do the best we can. amy: bill mckibben, i also -- good about the scorching heat wave that continues to fuel wildfires across southern europe parts of north africa and france. thousands have been forced to evacuate fires that have scorched over 22,000 acres.

the government of spain and portugal said hundreds of people died from heat related causes during the second week of july. in the united kingdom, the british government has issued its first-ever "red" extreme heat national severe weather warning with forecaster predicting high temperatures will up 40 degrees celsius, 105 degrees darren heitner, for the first time ever -- 105 degrees fahrenheit, for the first time ever. joe manchin told democratic leaders on capitol hill he will not support legislation to combat the climate emergency, or any tax increases on the wealthy and large corporations. the youth-led climate justice group, the sunrise movement, called manchin's decision "nothing short of a death sentence." and you tweeted in response -- "manchin has taken more money from the fossil fuel industry than anyone else in d.c. and the return on that investment has been enormous. big oil got its money worth a thousand times over." talk more about what is happening in the world with the

scorching heat waves and what the u.s. is not doing about it. >> let's talk first about the heat. britain has the longest temperature record in the world was the people have been looking at thermometers there unger that any other part of the planet. the temperatures sing today and tomorrow in britain will smash those records. not even just by attentive a degree but a full one or two degrees celsius, three or four degrees fahrenheit. that should not be statistically possible but it is because we are living on a different world than the old monitors were on. the scariest thing really about what is happening this week, not just in europe, but also in china where there is an extraordinary heat wave underway and across much of the u.s., the temperature is going to be 104 in minneapolis today, the scariest thing is we are in the middle of a la nina, a cold cycle on this planet.

we break new global temperature records normally and we are in an el niño phase in the pacific. but june it was the hottest june ever recorded on earth. the numbers are going be completely off the charts the next el niño. this is very, very scary. what makes it scarier is the lack of a real political response from most places around the world. the u.s., in particular. joe manchin choosing his moment to sabotage finally the climate legislation the president had put forward is particularly gaunt. this is the third time in the last 30 years the u.s. congress has considered serious climate legislation. kyoto back in 1990's, that cap and trade stuff in 2000 9-2010, and now this build back better bill and groups like the sunrise movement have fought for years to get through.

i am afraid in retrospect, it is pretty clear manchin was going to do this all along. you remember the secret hidden videotape that came out last year, exn chief lobbyist described manchin as their kingmaker and said they met with him every week to discuss policy . it is pretty clear how those meetings have be going. he has played this very well by stringing it out all these many, many months, 18 months and catch the biden administration from being able to take executive action. it is appalling not unexpected. it is why we have to keep building movements bigger. we need more pressure on the system in order to make change where we're going to be stuck just where we are. the one upside? we know and we get more confirmation with each passing week that renewable energy is getting cheaper and cheaper and

cheaper. an auction last week in the united kingd for new tenders for electricity provision. the cost of offshore wind was coming in at one quarter the price of burning gas to produce electricity. we can do this. we can get out of a world where we have to go kowtow fist bump the idiot king of saudi arabia. we can do it but only if we are willing to make the effort that joe manchin has kept us from making this week. amy: let's name some names. i am looking at a politico piece that talks about where senator manchin, who chairs the senate energy committee, the top recipient of oil and gas funds gets his money. last quarter's campaign financed data shows the trend is continuing, this editor received donations from executives at

georgia power, including the utility cfo aaron abramovitz, from dominion energy ceo robert blue come energy services firm concord energy ceo matthew flavin, gave manchin the maximum allowable amount of $5,800 the southern company, southern company's chair and ceo gave manchin $2000 while three comedy executives gave at least $1000, and more. it goes on. manchin took in. -- $1900 from others and their trade groups, including many energy companies.

your response, bill? >> you know what is pathetic? it is pathetic how cheap it is to buy these guys. for a few hundred thousand dollars, if you can afford -- you n afford a senator a he is able to put the kibosh on hundreds of blades o dollars in renewable energy spending. it is a list of all the people who don't with the status quo to change. who want to slow down that change as much as theyan. that is what they are paying for and that is what they got. this was money well spent from their point of view. amy: antonio guterres said today the u.n. secretary-general, have humidity is in a danger zone from floods, droughts, extreme storms, and wildfires. no nation is immune yet we continue to feed our fossil fuel addiction. we have a choice, collective action or collective suicide. it is in our hands. billckibben, your final comments? >> he has been hero and he is exactly right.

it is not that hard. there are four big banks that are big funders to the possible industry in their all-american. that is why at third act we are working so hard to try and cut off that flow of funding to the fossil fuel industry. there is a handful of people who are keeping us on a path toward existential destruction, and we have got to stand up to them and we have to do it now. amy: your final comment about saudi arabia and other countries the u.s. is relying on to increase oil production when in fact, now gas prices are dropping but more importantly, it looks like these oil companies -- while people think it is because there's a lack of oil and gas, it is that they're using this moment, this opportunity, this where i ukraine, these corporations, to gouge consumers that are making more than they ever have in their history? >> if you don't like the oil companies, you should not like them, if you don't want the saudis and i sure don't,

electric vehicles -- the day we have a bunch of them on the road is that guy we can take -- tell these guys to go take a jump in the late. amy:ill mckben, educator, environmentalist, the founder of the ganization third act, which organizes people over 60 years old for progressive change, also a founder of 350.org. we will link to your piece in "the new yorker was quote "if egypt won't free alaa abd el-fattah, it had better brace for an angry climate conference." his book is just out, "the flag, the cross, and the station wagon: a graying american looks back at his suburban boyhood and wonders what the hell happened." next up, banning nearly all abortions since the u.s. supreme court overturned roe, we will speak with laura hazard owens, editor at at the nieman journalism lab at harvard university. her recent article is titled "unimaginable abortion stories

will become more common. is american journalism ready?" ♪♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. a warning, this next segment is with the topic sexual assault. roughly a dozen republican-led states have moved to ban nearly all abortion since late june and the u.s. supreme court overturned roe v. wade, which had legalized abortion nationwide since 1973, almost 53 years ago. more states are expected to enact more ban soon. these laws take effect, shocking cases are surfacing, such as the 10-year-old ohio girl who became pregnant after she was raped had to travel to indiana to get abortion care because she was three days past ohio's six-week limit, which does not include exceptions for rape or incest. at first anti-choice legislators and the ohio general denied any event was true. then when a man was arrted who admitted to raping the 10-year-old at least twice, they

moved on to attack e ob/gyn who had helped her get an abortion. indiana's republican attorney general todd rokita said he was investigating whether or not the provider reported the rape to the state. it turns out she had in fact done so in accordance with state law and she wrote a letter to him, cease-and-desist letter so he stopped threatening her for the moment. abortion access workers say the new state-level anti-abortion laws threaten the ability of abortion providers to assist child rape and incest victims. "prism" reporter tina vasquez said such services are commonly sought, tweeting -- "this morning i interviewed a person who does abortion access work in the midwest. i asked about the story of the 10 year old rape victim in ohio who had to travel to indiana for abortion care. the worker said they have helped two 11 year olds access care this week."

meanwhile, a colleague of indiana doctor caitlin bernard who assisted the 10-year old wrote an op-ed in "the new york times" about threats bernard has since faced. dr. trace wilkinson, an assistant professor of pediatrics at indiana university school of medicine, wrote -- "the attacks on her were instantaneous and fierce. multiple state attorneys general and high-profile conservatives suggested that dr. bernard was a liar. pundits questioned her integrity, and articles in numerous news outlets cast doubt on the story, with 'the wall street journal' editorial board declaring it a 'fanciful tale' that was 'too good to confirm'." dr. wilkinson continued -- "this moment, post-roe v. wade, feels particularly frightening and is chilling to anyone who cares for patients, especially anyone providing reproductive health care. this saga has had real-world repercussions for dr. bernard. the local police have been alerted to concerns for her physical safety."

this comes as house lawmakers voted mostly along party lines to pass two abortion bills and friday, including one that would safeguard the right to travel across state lines to seek an abortion. this is democrat judy chu of california. >> if republicans had their way, this would be a country of forced births. they have already openly discussed a national abortion ban. when asked about that pregnant 10-year-old, the antiabortion lawyer said that this child would one day see the benefit of being forced to carry her rapist's baby. can you imagine? they think it is ok that a 10-year-old is raved as long as she produces a baby. that is why we need to pass the women's health protection act

because every person no matter what the circumstances, no matter how they become pregnant, deserves dignity, safety, and care in seekg an abortion. amy: for more, we are joined by laura hazard owens editor at the , nieman journalism lab at harvard university where her new pieces is headlined "unimaginable abortion stories will become more common. is american journalism ready?" laura, welcome to democracy now! what do you mean? >> thank you so much for having me. i wrote that story after a fact check appeared in "the washington post" basically before it had come out that the story was true -- amy: about the two neural girl getting an abortion. >> yes. this is when biden had cited the story, the report in a speech that he gave accompanying an

executive action that he was giving on to sort of help people access abortion. he mentions the case and "the washington post" columnist picked it up and try to fact check the story saying did this really happen and because, for example, the dr., doctor bernard would not do things like an the location the child or police report had been filed, basically said it wasn't really possible to confirm this had happened. he also said rape and nancy of 18-year-old is -- pregnancy of a 10-year-old is rare at a time once under 15-year-old a week in ohio was getting an abortion. so it is not rare. amy: i wanted to turn to an

interview with the attorney of dr. caitlin bernard. this is kathleen delaney, who appeared on cnn last week. >> first, we want mr. rokita to stop lying about dr. bernard and stop spinning her reputation and making ridiculously unsupported accusations when even the barest minimum of homework on his part would have found that report have been timely done. so we want him to stop the smear and we want him to stop this dangerous rhetoric that he is using where he is whipping people up into a frenzy at a very unsettled time in our nation's history. we want to make sure our clients stay safe. amy: if you can talk about this? we are talking about the doctor worrying about her own safety and of course there is the children -- if tina vasquez, and

a prison, talking about talking to two people were involved in abortions for two 11-year-olds. this was a 10-year-old who had a medication abortion in indiana and even if the indiana attorney general is not going after her because she fought back against him and his lies about whether she had reported to the state, the issue for journalists. you're not a doctor or lawyer, laura, you are journalism analyst and what this means for journalism when you're talking about 10-year-olds and 11-year-olds. >> sure. journalists are trained they should get as many people on the record, speaking under their real names in the story as possible, quoted using real names and other corroborating details about who they are that

they are trained to try to get both sides in a story so if one sideays one thing, you want to get somebody on the others to say often something from an opposite viewpoint. those are some of the things that journalists are trained traditionally to do. so with abortion becoming illegal in lots of american states, with doctors needing to protect their patient's privacy, with the attacks we have seen on doctors, employees, volunteers at abortion clinics, just considering the fact that we are going to be talking about minors, so children in this case, getting abortions, that all cancer privacy laws designed to protect their identities --

my article is about how reporters are going to need to accept that it is going to be really hard to sort of do the things they have been trained to do when they're writing about these cases. like, you cannot reveal a 10-year-old rape victim's name and a news article or get the doctor who performs the abortion to give you details that will go into your article about who that child is and where they live. you need to sort of consider the fact the people that you're going to be writing about who are providing abortions or working or volunteering at these clinics that they may be harassed or attacked if you reveal their identities. they are just a lot of things as abortion becomes a legal in

america that reporters are going to have to think about as they decide how to fairly and accurately report these stories. and often that is going to mean that you're going to be writing about people who don't want to be quoted on the record. you're going to have to be writing about people who need to keep their identities secret because in some cases they will be writing the law. journalists are going to need to sort of get out of this mindframe that people on one side of the debate are activists . so "the washington post" columnist in his response to me about this column described -- described dr. bernard as an activist on one side of the debate. and if we're going to be thinking about doctors who

provide abortion and patients who receive abortions as activists, it just sort of shows how crazy this framing can be. we need to be writing about doctors and patients and they're going to be giving and receiving abortions and it is going to be illegal in some cases and we have to just -- journalists need to figure out a way to write about this that is kind of getting away from the both sides -- join amy: as you point out "glenn cussler wrote a one stores story about a 10-year-old and an abortion goes viral. i want to underscore what you said earlier. you wrote "definitions of rare a very but a 52 under 15-year-olds got an abortion, that is one a

week, i just abortions reported during a pandemic when a lot of abortion clinics were closed," laura hazard owens, talk about this issue and also, i mean, you have the situation where doctors in training are not even going to be learning how to do abortion if they are in medical school in states where it is illegal. >> yeah. i mean, i think -- there are a lot of issues that journalists are not necessarily prepared to write about and people who have not been kind of reporting you know rape, sexual harassment, abortion for a long time may not be aware of some of the hurdles they're going to be when they're writing about this now. so i think it is a really good time for journalists who are just coming into this to take a look at people -- some of the people that reporters in the

field have been tackling these subjects for a long time, like really listen to them about what they have learned, how hard this can be, how laws are in place that make it very hard to corroborate some of this information. you know, just take lessons from people who been reporting on this stuff for a long time because it is not something you can kind of just bumble your way into and do it, do it right or to the top of justice. amy: you write "in america after the end of roe v. wade, one brave source on the record in the final story will often be the best we can get." and you write "countless abortion stories will never be told at all. it won't because they are lies, it will be because telling them is too risky because patients and doctors and staffers and volunteers will face arrest for coming forward."

your final recommendations and advice as the editor of the newman journalism lab at harvard university? >> so i would definitely -- i would ask people to think about sort of what they want to do in their stories if they want to make -- if the point of journalism is to shine a light on untold stories, you need to be thinking about doing that at a time when a lot of -- when the people are receiving abortions their writing about are going to be doing something that is illegal in their state. so you need to come into it with the thought that a lot of these people -- amy: 20 seconds. >> are not going to want to talk to you. you need to think about -- you're not going to want to put their name on the record because they will be breaking the law and you need to be thinking about how to tell their stories in a way that is fair and accurate and how you can do that at a time when you're not

writing about something that is going to be illegal in many states. amy: and the question is, will journalists be considered aiding and abetting if they give information about how people can get abortion in for example neighboring states. laura hazard owens,"@@4zñ■?

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