06/16/23 06/16/23 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> the plaintiffs invited the supreme court to not only strike it down but got it. yesterday in a stunning defeat for the plaintiffs, the supreme court said no. amy: in a surprise decision, the supreme court has voted to uphold the indian child welfare act in a major victory for tribal sovereignty. we will get the latest, then go to montana where calls are

growing for authorities to investigate the death of mika westwolf, a 22-year-old indigenous woman who died after being hit by a car driven by a suspected white nationalist whose children are named "aryan" and "nation." then we talk to democratic senator chris van hollen of maryland. he is calling on the biden administration to declassify its report on the death of palestinian-american journalist shireen abu akleh, who was shot dead by an israeli soldier. >> this is an american citizen. we have a duty to pursue the facts wherever they lead. amy: and we will look at the black maternal health crisis following the tragic death of olympic track and field star tori bowie, who died last month home alone after going into labor. >> it highlights the problem where black mothers are not

receiving the appropriate care and succumbing to issues that really are treat and would not have such awful outcomes. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. greek authorities have arrested nine egyptian nationals and charged them with people-smuggling after their overloaded fishing vessel capsized and sank in deep waters off the coast of southern greece on wednesday. over 100 people were rescued but hope is fading for an estimated 500 others who remain missing. that includes as many as 100 children who witnesses say were traveling below deck. it's the deadliest shipwreck off the greek coast this year, possibly among the deadliest ever in the central mediterranean. protests in support of the migrants have erupted across greece amid reports that a greek

coast guard vessel escorted the trawler for hours and failed to properly render aid as the vessel capsized. on thursday, greek opposition leader alexis tsipras visited with survivors at the port of kalamata where he condemned the european union's policies on refugees and migrants. >> i want to say there are huge responsibility. a migration policy that turns the mediterranean into watery graves. i think it is time to speak the truth because this policy has to change. amy: texas republican governor greg abbott has taken credit for sending dozens of migrants to los angeles in a move condemned by democrats as cruel and inhumane. it's the latest in a series of similar moves by republican governors in recent months. on wednesday afternoon, a busload of 42 migrants, including eight children,

arrived in los angeles after a 23-hour ride from mcallen, texas, without food. los angeles mayor karen bass blasted abbott, writing in a statement -- "it is abhorrent that an american elected official is using human beings as pawns in his cheap political games." los angeles city council member eunisses hernandez also condemned governor abbott. >> he is obviously a person who has been elected that is not strong enough to meet the moment in his state, but that is ok because all of these people here in us angels and in california are more than capable of welcoming these folks because los angeles is a place for everyone. we will keep pushing for century policies to make sure immigrants and migrants know they are safe here, they are welcome. 1.3 million immigrants make up the city of los angeles. they are the heart of the city. we have their back. amy: texas governor greg abbott signed a bill thursday barring transgender college athletes in texas from competing on sports

teams that align with their gender identities. this follows other anti-lgbtq legislation recently passed in texas, including a ban on gender-affirming care for transgender minors. in ohio, republican lawmakers have merged two anti-lgbtq bills into a single piece of legislation. the ohio house is set to vote next week on the combined bill which would ban puberty blockers or hormones for everyone under 18, bar transgender women and girls from female-only sports teams in ohio schools and colleges, and forbid medicaid from paying for gender-affirming care for youth. it would also limit discussions of gender identity and sexual orientation in classrooms. the aclu reports it's tracking 491 anti-lgbtq bills in the u.s. during this year's legislative session. the supreme court has upheld the indian child welfare act in a ruling that protects native children from being removed from their tribal communities for adoption or foster care in non-native homes.

in a stunning 7-2 ruling, justice amy coney barrett rejected an argument from republican-led states and white families who argued the system is based on race, writing -- "in sum, congress's power to legislate with respect to indians is well established and broad." indigenous leaders are celebrating thursday's ruling saying the 1978 law helps to preserve their families, traditions, and cultures. after headlines, we'll speak with rebecca nagle, cherokee writer, award-winning journalist, and host of "this land" podcast. in texas, at least three people were killed thursday as a tornado tore through a trailer park in panhandle city of perryton. more than 75 people were injured and about 200 homes destroyed. there's triple-digit heat in the forecast for the region this weekend, with temperature records set to fall in houston and new orleans and 10 million people under excessive heat warnings through saturday night. authorities on mexico's pacific

coast say hundreds of wild birds that have washed up along the shore died as a result of abnormally warm ocean waters resulting from the climate crisis and the warming trend known as el niño. mexico's health ministry reports at least six people have died this year from heat-related illnesses, with more extreme temperatures forecast for this weekend. on thursday, the european union's climate agency said global surface air temperatures briefly rose by more than 1.5 degrees celsius above pre-industrial levels earlier this month for the first time ever. that's the maximum global temperature rise agreed to under the 2015 paris climate agreement. here in new york, united nations secretary general antonio guterres said thursday that countries must immediately phase out the burning of coal, oil, and gas, calling them incompatible with human survival. guterres also accused fossil fuel companies of attempting to "knee-cap" progress on the climate crisis. >> current policies are taking the world to 2.5 degrees

temperature rise by the end of the century. that spells catastrophe. yet the collective response remains pitiful. we are hurtling toward disaster, eyes wide open, with far too many willing on silver bullet solutions. it is time to wake up and step up. amy: as secretary of state tony blinken goes to china, u.s. china relations and other issues on the discussion, russia has fired a fresh volley of missiles on ukraine's capital. earlier today, explosions rang out across kyiv where ukraine's military claims it shot down six hypersonic missiles, six cruise missiles, and two reconnaissance drones. the daytime attacks came as seven african heads of state led by south african president cyril ramaphosa visited kyiv in a bid to kick-start peace talks

between ukraine and russia. meanwhile, top pentagon officials called thursday for u.s. allies to continue pouring weapons into ukraine. speaking from a meeting of the ukraine defense contact group in belgium, defense secretary lloyd austin asked allies to "dig deep" to provide ukraine with air defense systems and more ammunition. joint chiefs of staff chair general mark milley acknowledged ukraine's military is suffering heavy losses as it presses a counteroffensive against entrenched forces in eastern ukraine. >> there are several hundred thousand russian troops died in and prepared positions all along the front line, and ukraine has begun their attack and they are making steady progress. this is a very difficult fight. it is a very violent fight. it will likely take a considerable amount of time and high cost. amy: a federal grand jury has indicted 21-year-old jack to shara on six counts of willful retention and transmission of classified

information over the recently got highly classified pentagon intelligence documents. he has been jailed since april. if convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison for each charge. he's accused of violating the same part of the espionage act used by federal prosecutors to charge donald trump over his mishandling of classified documents and mar-a-lago. trump was released without having to pay bond after pleading not guilty at his arraignment in a miami federal court on tuesday. back in the united states, the international longshore and warehouse union has reached a tentative agreement on a six year labor contract covering some 22,000 dockworkers at all 29 ports along the west coast. the deal, which is subject to ratification by members, caps more than a year of negotiations after the union's previous contract expired last july. and nevada governor joe lombardo has signed legislation allocating $380 million in public funds for a new major league baseball ballpark in las vegas.

the bill clears the way for the athletics to apply to the mlb to relocate from oakland, california, where the team has played for over half a century. oakland a's executives hired more than a dozen lobbyists to press lawmakers in nevada's capital carson city to approve a $1.5 billion stadium, arguing it will create jobs and boost las vegas' economy. writing about the move in the nation magazine, sports editor dave zirin commented -- "this is about billionaire sports owners demanding socialism for the rich and seasonal service industry work for the laboring class. they are urban hostage takers, demanding a king's ransom from the public trough." and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we begin today's show with a major victory at the supreme court in a case that could have gutted native american sovereignty. on thursday, the court upheld

the 1978 indian child welfare act that protects native children from being removed from their tribal communities for fostering or adoption in non-native homes. tribal leaders say the law helps to preserve their families, traditions, and cultures. in a stunning 7-2 ruling, justice amy coney barrett rejected an argument from republican-led states and white families who argued the system is based on race, writing -- "in sum, congress's power to legislate with respect to indians is well established and broad." justice neil gorsuch wrote in a concurring opinion -- "the indian child welfare act did not emerge from a vacuum. it came as a direct response to the mass removal of indian children from their families during the 1950's, 1960's, and 1970's by state officials and private parties." many are also taking note of the final paragraph of justice gorsuch's opinion. it reads -- "often, native american tribes

have come to this court seeking justice only to leave with bowed heads and empty hands. but that is not because this court has no justice to offer them. our constitution reserves for the tribes a place -- an enduring place -- in the structure of american life. it promises them sovereignty for as long as they wish to keep it. and it secures that promise by divesting states of authority over indian affairs and by giving the federal government certain significant powers -- significant but limited and enumerated powers aimed at building a lasting peace. in adopting the indian child welfare act, congress exercised that lawful authority to secure the right of indian parents to raise their families as they please, the right of indian children to grow in their culture, and the right of indian communities to resist fading into the twilight of history." gorsuch concluded, "all of that is in keeping with the constitution's original design."

meanwhile, justices samuel alito and clarence thomas both wrote dissents, with thomas objecting to "regulating state-court child custody proceedings of u.s. citizens, who may never have even set foot on indian lands, merely because the child involved happens to be an indian." for more on all of this, we are joined in oklahoma by rebecca nagle, a cherokee writer and award-winning journalist who followed this case closely in a piece for "the nation" headlined "the story of baby o -- and the case that could gut native sovereignty." she is also the host of "this land" podcast. in season 2, she has been reporting on how the far right is using native children to attack american indian tribes and advance a conservative agenda. rebecca, welcome back to democracy now! please, first respond to what shocked many native american tribes and communities and also tell us the story of baby o.

>> thank you for having me and for covering this important issue. really what happened with this case is for the past decade, special interest groups have used this law, the indian child welfare a vehicle to launch a broader attack on tribes and tribal sovereignty. the arguments that they invited the supreme court to adopt would have not only gotten rid of the indian child welfare act, but it would have destabilized the area of law a lot of people call federal. instead of taking that imitation, the supreme court responded with a very, very strong no. one of the ways that the special interest group had advanced these cases is by misrepresenting the facts on the ground and what happened when these non-native foster parents tried to adopt native children.

so it is a complicated case. there are multiple foster parents. one of those couples is a couple from nevada. when a child was placed with them through safe haven, within a few weeks, her father was identified, was identified her father was a descendant of a federally recognized tribe and she was eligible for enrollment. the process started for her to be placed with a family member. the couple's response was extraordinary. they wrote a letter to that child's grandmother asking her to disenroll so it would not apply. they managed to rope social workers into their plot who either refused to call relatives who are possible placements were when they made those calls tried to talk the relatives out. basically, nevada social workers strong-armed the tribe into entering the settlement. we found stories like that in

all of the underlying custody cases. so what really happened in this case is rather than non-native foster parents being able to adopt -- being prevented from adopting native kids, for the most part they won custody. the people who face the raw hurdles were the native relatives who wanted to keep the young relatives in their family. amy: what ultimately happened to baby o and how did this case make it to the supreme court? >> baby o like many of the children -- all of the children and the underlying custody cases have been adopted and those adoptions are final. baby o was adopted by the couple and that is who she is being raised by. despite there being several blood relatives that came forward during her case who wanted to raise her. that is one of the things i was relieved to see in the supreme court case. this case has been on stilts since it was filed in federal court.

all of the underlying adoptions have been long final. normally, when that happens, the lawsuit is over. 30's to be a controversy for lawsuit -- there needs to be a controversy for a lawsuit to move forward. one of the things the supreme court signaled in this really is that it is more dedicated to the rule of law and the rule of civil procedure than the politics of this case. because one of the things the plaintiffs invited the supreme court to do was ignore those things and instead make a political decision and they rejected that, which i think is good not just for native nations and families but for the rule of law. amy: rebecca nagle, can you talk about the comments of justice neil gorsuch, amy coney barrett? these are some of the most conservative members of the court. and the fact this shocked native americans around the country? also talk about why with, oh, organizations like gambling casinos be very invested in this

case we talk about, by the way, the indian child welfare act? >> the special interest groups that have been attacking for the past decade kind of followed a three buckets. it is a handful of private adoption attorneys. if you look at their private adoptions industry, they fought basically any regulation that was -- with less children being available for adoption. there are some right-wing organizations like the goldwater institute. we found a lot of money flowing into the campaign from the bradley foundation. and then who is really spearheading the effort now is a law firm called gibson dunn and a lawyer there. last january, the other shoe dropped so gibson dunn and matthew mcgill filed a lawsuit on behalf of of a casino developer saying that tribal gaming was racial discrimination against him because he could not

make as much money as the tribes. they basically used the exact same argument they're making to attack the indian child welfare act to attack gaming. w if theyon this case, they could have the follow-up case to attack tribal gaming and on virtually they were unsuccessful. -- fortunately, there were unsuccessful. a lot of people are surprised by neil gorsuch and amy coney barrett. i am not. i think barrett was positioning herself in the middle on this case. when i saw the opinion was authored by barrett, i had a sigh of relief with that news and then as i continued reading, i was even more relieved. we have had a lot of liberal justices that have sat on the bench that have not been friendly to tribal sovereignty because i think that they don't understand it. i think justice ginsburg is

somebody that people point to a lot. i think it is good for tribes to have justices that really understand the law now that law relates to the constitution. i think what gorsuch did in his concurring opinion almost never see, we almost never see was that he talked about the long history of the was government removing native children from their families. the reason that is important is that he is talking about why icwa is important from the perspective of native people. i think often our perspective and our stories and our histories are not told, so to see that coming from a justice is really powerful. amy: where does this case go from here in terms of native american law, u.s. law? >> so in the past decade, icwa

has been challenged almost as many times as the affordable care act. this case is the closest in the furthest they've ever gotten in their effort to overturn icwa. they got a very, very strong rejection from the supreme court. so i think time will tell whether or not they will bring other cases -- some cases are sort of -- sort of still in family court. they will continue to do that. what is next for the supreme court is -- the past three years we have had three decisions, bad decisions, it has been a bit of a roller coaster. but i think what is important about this case is that we are seeing not only the supreme court but the public show more of an interest and more of a knowledge about the constitution and tribal sovereignty and how these things work. i think some of our biggest barriers at the supreme court

has been ignorance. and i think seeing the knowledge come out in this opinion is a courage he. amy: rebecca nagle, thank you for being with us cherokee , writer and award-winning journalist. we will link to your piece in "the nation" headlined "the story of baby o -- and the case that could gut native sovereignty." she is also the host of "this land" podcast. coming up, montana, investigating the death of a 22-year-old indigenous woman who died after being hit by a car driven by a suspected white nationalist. her two children's names are "aryan" and "nation" and were in -- but first we will talk to chris van hollen of maryland stuck he is calling on the biden administration to declassify his report on the death of palestinian-american journalist shireen abu abba -- shireen abu akleh, shot dead by the israeli soldiers. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the biden administration is continuing to face criticism for its response to the killing last year of palestinian-american journalist shireen abu akleh, who was shot in the head by an israeli soldier as she was reporting on an israeli military raid just outside the jenin refugee camp in the occupied west bank. the al jazeera reporter was shot while wearing a blue helmet and blue flak jacket clearly emblazoned with the word "press." shireen abu akleh was one of the most prominent tv journalists in the arab world. she was also a u.s. citizen. nbc news recently reported the fbi has not yet spoken to any key witnesses in the case. israel has refused to cooperate with the probe and palestinian journalists who were with shireen at the time of her death

say the fbi has never contacted them. many of the journalists who witnessed her death spoke to al jazeera correspondent sharif abdel kouddous for the documentary "the killing of shireen abu akleh." it just won a george polk award. this is shireen's producer ali al-samoudi, who was also shot. >> when we made se there were no confrontations, we started walking slowly, slow steps. >> about 25 seconds later, here they are walking up the street all in their press jackets. just past the spot where they had a view of the military. >>uddenly, a random bullet was fired. i shouted, shireen, they're shoong at us, we ha to get out of he. just as i was saying "we have to get out of here" my shoulder

exploded. i shouted, they shot me. >> after the firstullet, i w able to jp behind short wall to take shelter. they reached me to get out of the place but they could not. >> they started firing at us. i immediately pressed record. shireen was behind the tree. i could see her hiding behind the tree. the last words that shireenaid was, "ali s been wounded." these year every day come all e time, her vce is repeing in mears. >> i steed forward again and they started saying, shireen, shireen, but they shot at us again. >> i have a blank spot in my mind. i don't remember how i got

behind theree. i got behind the tree and rned around to seef shireen could come to where i was. at that point, i saw shireen fall into the ground. i dinot undersnd she had been gravely wounded. >> i stepped forward and saw shireen on the grou. i'm holding the camera and i bent down. i want to walk toward shireen. >> the whole time wanted to shake her, to touch her, to move her. but i was also fied with fea because e tree washat was otecting us. if moved hermaybe she uld

be wounded again. remember when i saw the blood on the ground, when e blood started coming out, th is when rlized she had taken a bullet to the head and i started shouting "it is her head, her head." amy: an excerpt from "the killing of shireen abu akleh" from al jazeera english's current affairs program fault lines. the documentary recently won a george polk award for foreign television reporting. one of the highest awards in journalism. investigations by al jazeera, "the new york times" cnn and other news outlets have challenge the official israeli version of shireen's killing. we are joined now by democratic senator chris van hollen of maryland, who has called on the u.s. state department to declassify a report on shireen abu akleh's death conducted by the u.s. security coordinator for israel and the palestinian authority. senator chris van hollen joins us now from kensington, maryland.

thank you so much for being with us, senator. can you start off by explaining what this report is and what you're calling for? >> amy, it is good to be with you. this is a report conducted by the u.s. security coordinator for israel and the palestinian authority's and his team. he conducted an extensive review of what happened in the killing of shireen. i should emphasize that his report is not an independent investigation. he was not able to conduct an independent investigation because, as you indicated, israeli authorities have not cooperated with the government. that is information i have received from the state department. requests to deny the soldier in question or other members of the

unit have been denied. it is not an independent investigation, but it does shed very important light on the conduct of the unit in question on the day of the shooting of shireen. and more broadly, reaches conclusions about the conduct of other idf units in the west bank. it is my view that the report should be declassified because it is important to getting to accountability in the shooting death of shireen abu akleh and i believe is release will help save lives going forward. amy: what has the biden administration said about releasing this document? what process does it have to go through? >> they have not yet responded to the request to release the document. i should say in this particular

case, the final classification process has not yet been completed. the overall report that i reviewed after much insistence is classified "top secret," but it has has not gone through his final classification process. so we are very focused right now i'm making the case that it is important to release the findings of this document to ensure greater accountability in the shooting death of this american citizen and journalist. important information on the killing of shireen and because i believe that it will reveal additional information that would hopefully result in more accountability for idf units on the west bank. something that president biden has called for is something that

secretary blinken has called for. amy: senator van hollen, how does this report differ from the u.s. security coordinator's report from last year which you are very critical of? >> well, as it turns out, last year's report was just a very cursory finding, conclusion based on a very preliminary review not of independent information but formation that have been provided by the israel i government, by the palestinian authority. so it turned out there was no real report there when we asked for it. now the u.s. sc has conducted an extensive review of all the analyses that have been done and reached certain judgments about what happened that day and certain judgments again about the conduct of other idf units.

i just think it is really important that this report, which is not a paragraph like the original findings but an eight page report, i believe it should be released. amy: what is this report classified as "top-secret" in the first place? >> well, that is a good question. i think the findings are clearly critical of the conduct of the idf unit in question. again, this is why secretary blinken has also called upon the government of israel to review its rules of engagement on the west bank. he has been rebuffed. in other words, the government of israel told him to go take a hike. that is another reason it is really important this report be released. amy: i want to play for you

shireen abu akleh's niece. i interviewed her in december. this is lina abu akleh. >> we were very encouraged by the news the fbi will be investigating. this is something we have been calling on from day one, since shireen was a u.s. citizen and it is the duty of the united states to investigate any crimes carried out by a foreign army against a u.s. citizen. we stand ready to support the u.s. in conducting this independent and thorough investigation, following all the evidence, where it leads up and down the chain of command. and we have seen how israeli army is unable and unwilling to investigate themselves. that is why it is really important for the fbi be investating. we also hope the united states fbi will employ all tools

necessary to get the answers that we have been asking regarding the killing of shireen , but also to lead to accountability and justice. that is what we want. we want there to be accountability. we want there to be justice. amy: that is lina abu akleh. she is the niece of shireen abu akleh, who was killed may 11, 2022, as she covered an israeli raid on the jenin refugee camp in the occupied west bank. shireen is a u.s. citizen. she is a palestinian-american journalist. senator chris van hollen, what obligation does u.s. have when a -- when it believes another state, this case an ally, israel, has killed a u.s. citizen? >> well, it is my believe that the united states has an absolute obligation to get to

the bottom of what happened. to hold the individuals accountable or in this case, potentially, the idf unit accountable. and that is something that we should do when you have the wrongful killing of a u.s. citizen. look, president biden has been eloquent about calling for the release of u.s. journalists who are currently detained around the world. he has been eloquent about trying to get to the bottom of what happened to austin tice. as have i. determined to try to make sure american citizens and journalists are protected. that same protection needs to extend to american citizens and journalist shireen abu akleh. that is the obligation of the u.s. government and it is a

still unfulfilled obligation. amy: the fbi has also opened an investigation into the case. do you know anything about this investigation, senator? >> well, my understanding is the fbi investigation is ongoing. although, the fbi will not publicly confirm whether or not the investigation is ongoing. my understanding is the fbi investigators have talked to some people. but you raised a very important point, which is the fbi will also ultimately require the cooperation of the government of israel to be able to make any final conclusions with respect to an independent investigation, right? the investigation done by the u.s. security ordinate or was not -- coordinator was not an independent investigation because he was not allowed to interview witnesses, including

members of the idf unit in question. the fbi in my view is going to have a very difficult time making an independent judgment as to exactly what happened that day without the cooperation of the government of israel van hollen. that is another reason it is important that the biden administration press harder. amy: are you going to demand at least the fbi, even if they don't have access on israel's side, to the palestinian journalists who were there that day, one of whom was shot, who were not contacted for this report? >> well, the fbi certain should be interviewing all of the witnesses, including the witnesses they just mentioned, al jazeera journalists that were on the ground and others. yes, the fbi should be doing all of that. amy: did u.s. security

coordinator's report shed any light on israeli's claims of crossfire since that has been disputed by eyewitnesses? and since you read it, did the report confirm whether or not there is more body camera footage from the idf unit from the moments around the shooting? >> well, i can't get into the details of the report because it is still classified, but let me just say the conclusions of the report i believe if made public would result in saving lives. and i do believe it would bring more kind ability to this case because that sheds very important light on the conduct and misconduct of the idf unit in question. so this is exactly why i think it is important that the report

be declassified. amy: let me ask a final question. the first report found no reason to believe the killing of shireen abu akleh was intentional. does this new report come to a different conclusion? >> well, this new report cannot shed any new light on the question of intentionality because the ussc was denied access to the witnesses. it is my view you can only get to the state of mind of individuals by interviewing the individual who pulled the trigger as well as those that were immediately around that soldier. and so long as that access is denied, you can't shed any more new light on that question.

amy: senator chris van hollen, thank you for being with us, democratic senator from maryland, calling for the release of the u.s. government report on the shooting death of the palestinian-american journalist shireen abu akleh. coming up, we go to montana were calls are growing for authorities to investigate the death of mika westwolf, a 22-year-old indigenous woman who died after being hit by a car driven by a white nationalist. we will speak with mika's parents. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: that is mika westwolf playing the ukulele. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. this week community members in montana held a series of "justice to be seen" walks to demand justice for many indigenous people killed or hit by vehicles there along highway 93.

they are focusing on mika westwolf, a 22-year-old indigenous woman who was struck and killed in march by a driver as she was walking home along the highway in the early morning hours. the driver was identified as sunny white, a suspected white nationalist whose children are reportedly named "aryan" and "nation" and were in the car at the time of the crash. sunny white has not been charged in connection with mika's death. mika westwolf was a member of the blackfeet tribe and was also diné, cree, and klamath. she was an avid athlete and poet. >> in ms. mika westwolf. earning a high school diploma would mean that i could get into a good college help my people, get a good job. my mom's me a lot when i'm

struggling. shows gets after me to do my work and try my hardest and tells me i can do anything i want if i put my mind to it. i plans after graduation is to go to college. there is a program we can be like a dentist assistant. that is what i want to do. amy: mika westwolf speaking in 2016. her life was tragically going cut short in march. for more on the we are joined by in washington, d.c., by erica shelby, a tribal legal advocate for missing murdered indigenous women. we begin in arlee, montana, with mika's parents carissa heavy runner and michael power. our deep condolences for your loss. can you tell us a bit about your daughter? what kind of person was she and what were her aspirations?

and why you are walking out, why you are on this walk to demand justice? >> hi. yes, mika was very loud, curious, energetic, very intelligent, active little girl until she was a young woman. she read a lot. she did a lot of writing. she got to travel all the way to nepal. she had a love for being outdoors. she wanted to hike everywhere, cap in the mountains, travel. she wanted to go back to nepal. she fell in love with that there.

she was a strong, intelligent native woman. i know she would be right here if it were for someone else. she would be right beside me. she was a little activist. looks we're doing this walk -- we want the county to investigate these kinds of crimes, something in the past they have not done. if they are not going to do it, we are going to do it for them and we are going to force them to do it. amy: erica shelby, you are in washington, d.c. explain what you believe happened. was this an unintentional car crash? just a tragedy? or why you believe that mika westwolf may have been deliberately run down? >> well, when we spoke with the

county attorney, he explained to us the talks had come back on sunny. hit all roy that she had already taken it from mika. she had trace amounts of drugs. amy: that was sunny? >> yes, sunny white. the driver. it is not regulated like thc or alcohol where you can give it a dui at a certain percentage. how we understood it, it is legal to have these in your system and be on the road but if they're trying to tell us that that wasn't a factor in her driving, then it can only be this was intentional. amy: the fact there were not skidmarks, what does that say to you? >> you know when you hit a deer.

you know -- we live in montana. we hit here. you know when you hit something. the fact she did not break, that she did not swerve, that there is no sign of that tells me, indicates to me at least it needs further investigation. the county attorney said that nothing indicated that it was intentional to him. that is very superficial. he has explained to us he does not make determinations until he gets final reports, so how is he making determinations like that? amy: what are you doing in washington, erica shelby? what are your plans in bringing this case to the nation's capital? >> carissa and kevin started this walk. at the beginning, we did not know how big it was. and then we got there and there were so many people. everybody has the same story about the same players come the

same agencies come the same police come the same attorneys. it is enough. they've been alienated and there isolated and there made to look crazy. they eventually burn out. this system breaks as down. where they are supposed to serve and protect, they are victim blaming, over criminalizing us. we are overrepresented in prison, overrepresented in missing person cases, in the murder cases. we are only 5% of the state population but in 2021, we were 30% of the missing peoples population. something has to change. i am here to get the attention of people in d.c. everybody on that senate committee -- the president. everybody. he was the one who supported dasoo got the violence against women act.

he made sure indigenous women were included and we need him now. he spoke about the crisis at the state of the union. he needs to come and step up and see what is going on on our rez. this happening on others, too. amy: i want to give you the last words as mika's parents. if you can talk about the significance of ending at the steps of the lake county courthouse. we just have about a minute. >> for me personally and i imagine for everyone else, it is going to say a lot us walking all the way to outside of the courthouse because we want to hold them accountable. they need to step up. they need to hear us and see us.

the other families, hear their stories and frustration and not only them but the world to listen to our story and feel and see our pain that we are trying to make a difference and hold those in charge accountable. >> lake county has a long history of corruption and unfair blaming of native americans. it has got to be fair and equal, so we are going to hold lake county accountable and ensure that the montana how a patrol is accountable. they have a long history of not investigating crimes against native. if it were reversed, if it were a native on white crime, those are heavily investigated, heavily enforced. there is a disparity that needs to end. that is our goal. amy: i want to thank you both.

again, our condolences to both kevin howard and carissa heavy runner, parents of mika westwolf. and i want to thank erica shelby tribal legal advocate for , missing murdered indigenous women. this is democracy now! i'm amy goodman. we in today show looking at the death of trakstar tori bowie and the black maternal health crisis. tori was just 32 years old when she died at home last month was of the orange county examiner reported she was eight months pregnant and in labor when she died, most likely from eclampsia, cops -- come patient pregnancy. she won bronze, silver, and gold medals in the olympic games in rio de janeiro. the cdc recently marked black maternal health week in april noting black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy complications than white men. we're joined now by dr. carla williams, board-certified ob/gyn who opted to have home births

herself after her first hospital birthing experience. she also is a birth and postpartum doula. thank you so much for being with us. can you talk about the significance of this enormous disparity between white women and black dying in our before right after childbirth, dr. williams? >> thank you for having me. it is incredible the disparities you have mentioned and how black women are dying throughout the country, new york state, new york city especially, where it is 12 times more than white women. he goes to show that these patients, their concerns are not necessarily being heard. there is bias and racism within our medical institutions. something needs to change drastically. amy: i wanted to read olympic

teammate tianna tashelle bartoletta posted on twitter -- "as of june 2023, three of the four members of team usa's 4-by-100m relay team who, ran the second fastest time in history, and brought home three gold medals, have nearly died or did die in childbirth. we deserve better. #blackmaternalhealthcrisis" dr. williams? >> right. it is unacceptable. it is saddening and maddening at the same time that this is happening to black and brown women and that essentially nothing really can save you. you can be extremely well-educated, you could be "high-class," you can have all

the money in the world, you can be a record artist and olympic medal winning athletes and nothing can spare you. amy: the fact, dr. williams, that you are an ob/gyn, that you yourself had two births at home after your first hospital experience. why? how do you relate that to the disparities we are talking about? >> well, why essentially what made me make that decision was having a bad experience with the birth of my first child in the hospital and experiencing discrimination within that stay. so when that happened to me even being an ob/gyn at that time and feeling like i was getting subpar care and that my child was, i felt like definitely

moving forward out of hospital birth was what i wanted to choose for myself in order to have the best outcome. so when i think about that, i think that every woman, every birthing person deserves to have an experience where they are taken care of, there listened to, their concerns are validated, and their best interest -- amy: what is it that hospitals are not doing correctly and what does this have to do with recognizing the pain of black women? >> if you like what they are failing to do is listen to black women. i feel like they are not listening to their complaints. i feel like they are taking things to likely. i feel like they are intervening too much when maybe it is not necessary. i feel like there is not enough

collaboration in the care with, for example, midwives that could be taking care of low risk pregnancies and giving them more one-on-one attention that those patients need. i feel like there has to be -- more work needs to be done in order to take care of the birthing population the way it should be, you know, where high-risk pregnancies and whatnot is taken care of by more specialized providers and we are taking care of low risk nancy's with -- pregnancies with midwives. amy: i want to end your words. you wrote -- dr. carla williams, ob/gyn, birth and postpartum doula, had

two of her children at home after her first hospital experience. as we continue to cover the issue at the disparity in the lives of black and white women, mothers. that does it for our show. [captioning made possible by decracy now!]