07/25/23 07/25/23 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> it is a sad day for the israeli democracy. put a person regardless of their

skills or background and we are going to fight back. amy: mass protests in israel after lawmakers approved a divisive bill to got the power of the supreme court. we will speak to two israeli journalists who have criticized both benjamin netanyahu's government for pushing the judicial reform as well as the mass protest movement which has organized months of demonstrations. then we look at the fight for reproductive rights. >> 19 attorneys general are demanding access to people's private medical records to evaluate whether someone has had an abortion out of their state. this is a disgusting overreach of government authority designed only to terrorize and intimidate patients seeking legal health care. amy: we will go to kentucky to speak with planned parenthood, and then we will talk to a leading kurdish-american activist who just walked from washington, d.c., to the united

nations to rally support for kurdish rights. >> my name is kani xulam. i am a kurd. i am one of the organizers of our long walk for freedom. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. a new study finds this month's record-shattering global heat wave would not have been possible without the continuing buildup of greenhouse gasses in the earth's atmosphere due to human activity. scientists at world weather attribution say a rapid analysis of weather data taken this month across china, southern europe, and the american southwest show high levels of carbon dioxide and other gases helped drive temperatures by as much as

4.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels. the researchers warn the past 20 days have likely been the hottest such stretch in more than 100,000 years. this comes as new research finds sea ice around antarctica is in sharp decline and may never recover. data from the university of maine's climate change institute show almost 2 million square kilometers less sea ice has accumulated so far during the southern hemisphere's winter compared to any previous year. in sweden, climate activist greta thunberg was arrested monday as she joined a nonviolent civil disobedience protest outside an oil terminal in the southern city of malmö. thunberg's arrest came just hours after she was fined by a swedish court for disobeying police during a protest at the same oil terminal in june. she called her repeated protests

an act of self-defense against a rapidly-worsening climate catastrophe. >> right now we don't have any laws that hold carbon in the ground, any laws that long-term protect us against the self-destructing greed we have let in full control over the world. the laws have to be changed. we know we cannot save the world i played by the rules because the rules have to be changed. amy: algeria says at least 34 people have been killed and thousands more evacuated as nearly 100 wildfires burn across 16 provinces. the fires were fueled by extreme heat in north africa, which has added to the misery of migrants attempting to cross the mediterranean to apply for asylum in europe. in tunisia, asylum seekers, mostly from sub-saharan africa, forced to live in makeshift tent camps are languishing under a sweltering heat wave with temperatures reaching 122 degrees fahrenheit. meanwhile, dozens of migrants,

who were rounded up by tunisian authorities and stranded in a desolate militarized area in the tunisian border with libya, have described harrowing conditions in the heat wave. many have been stuck there for at least two weeks without any food, fresh drinking water, or shelter from the rising temperatures. this is an asylum seeker from nigeria. >> no food, no water. nowhere to sleep. nothing to eat. we are begging to please come to our aid. no treatment, no food. amy: the biden administration filed a lawsuit monday against texas republican governor greg abbott over the state's installation of barrels wrapped in razor wire in the rio grande as an attempt to block asylum seekers from crossing the river. the suit comes after abbott ignored a request from the justice department to remove the

floating barrels and vowed to fight in court to keep them in place. dozens of migrants, including children, have suffered severe injuries and lacerations after being cut by the razor wire which is often underwater and not visible. the blistering heatwave in texas has also been deadly for migrants crossing through the region. a whistleblower recently revealed border officials were ordered to deny migrants drinking water even in the brutal heat. israeli lawmakers have approved a highly contested bill to gut the power of the supreme court by preventing it from blocking government decisions it deems unreasonable. the bill is part of a broader set of judicial reforms pushed by the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu that have sparked months of unprecedented protests.

amy: ahead of monday's vote, opposition lawmakers erupted in jeers and shouts of "shame!" before storming out of the knesset, leaving the far-right majority led by benjamin netanyahu to pass the bill on a vote of 64-0. later in the day, netanyahu defended the legislation in a nationally televised address. >> today we carried out the required democratic rule aimed at restoring a degree of balance between the authorities which was here for 50 years. amy: netanyahu had just come out of the hospital where he had a pacemaker implanted. massive protests against the judicial reforms are continuing in tel aviv, where on monday police fired water cannons and noxious chemical known as skunk at protesters. it's believed to be the first time israeli police have deployed the chemical agent against israeli citizens. since 2008, israel has

repeatedly deployed skunk against palestinians in the occupied west bank. meanwhile, israel's military says it shot and killed three palestinians in the west bank city of nablus. 17 palestinians were also arrested in overnight raids. after headlines, we'll go to israel for the latest. in sudan, army officials on monday rejected a proposal from kenya to send east african peacekeepers as other regional and international mediation efforts to end the violence have also failed. meanwhile, fighting between the sudanese army and the paramilitary rapid support forces continued to escalate as the war marked 100 days sunday. in russia, kremlin officials say a ukrainian drone attack monday struck two buildings near the defense ministry's main headquarters in moscow. this followed a ukrainian drone attack on saturday that hit and ammunition depot in the russian-and next territory of

crimea. -- russian-annexed territory of crimea. in southern ukraine, russian drones struck a town on the danube river in southern ukraine, destroying a grain hangar. the drones struck less than 1000 feet from ukraine's border with romania, a nato member nation that the u.s. and other members of the military alliance have vowed to defend. the attack suggests the kremlin is targeting sites that provide an alternative route for ukraine to export food and fertilizer after russia pulled out of a deal, allowing ukraine to ship its grain across the black sea. this follows overnight attacks sunday on the ukrainian black sea port city of odesa that killed one person, injured 19, and damaged an orthodox cathedral that's listed as a world heritage site. this is a survivor of the assault. >> i child was enrolled here. we regularly attended the services. the priests here are wonderful. people need to stop being so cruel.

amy: guatemalan police raided the offices of the progressive semilla party friday as semilla's presidential candidate bernardo arévalo blasted the attorney general's office for the illegal and spurious action and political persecution. ever since placing second in june's first round of the election, the anticorruption semilla party and bernardo arévalo have been targeted by presidential front, former first lady sandra torres and her allies who are backed by the business and political elites. the election's second round is scheduled for august 20. back in the united states, a truck driver from arkansas who was filmed assaulting a police officer during the january 6, 2021 insurrection in the capitol was sentenced monday to 52 months in federal prison. video of the incident shows peter stager watched as rioters attacked a police line and dragged metropolitan police

department officer blake miller into the crowd, where stager repeatedly beat him with a flag pole. monday's sentencing came amid signs that special counsel jack smith will soon announce another indictment against former president donald trump over trump's role in inciting the insurrection as he attempted to remain in power following his november 2020 election loss. and president biden has designated a national monument across three locations in illinois and mississippi honoring emmett till and his mother. on august 28, 1955, a white mob dragged emmett till from his great uncles home and lynched him. the 14 euro african-american boy had traveled that summer to the segregated south from his home in chicago. today would have been emmett till's 82nd birthday.

residence celebrated the occasion with an ice cream social outside his childhood home and they paid homage to him at the roberts church of christ which has just been designated a national monument. it was inside the church that till's body was displayed in an open casket at his funeral. this is a chicago resident. >> i want to say it is a blessing because so often they went to a race the events that happened to african-americans. you can't erase it if it is a landmark. amy: and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman in new york, joined by democracy now!'s juan gonzález in chicago. hi, juan. juan: hi, amy. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. amy: mass protests are continuing in israel after

lawmakers passed a highly contested bill that would gut the power of the supreme court by preventing it from blocking government decisions it deems unreasonable. the bill is part of a broader set of judicial reforms pushed by israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu that has sparked months of unprecedented protests. on monday night, israeli police fired water cannons at protesters in tel aviv. meanwhile, israel's medical association has begun a 24-hour strike to protest the judicial -- the gutting of the judiciary. in addition, more than 10,000 idf reservists have pledge not to report to duty in protest. the push to weaken the judiciary has been so divisive that former israeli prime minister ehud olmert says israel could be entering a civil war. prior to the vote on monday, israeli opposition leader and former prime minister yair lapid spoke in the knesset. >> we are on our way to a

disaster. if you're voting for this bill today, you bring an end to the army you arm the state of israel's security. amy: moments before the vote took place, opposition lawmakers began chanting "shame!" as some lawmakers tore up the text of the legislation. amy: after israeli opposition lawmakers walked out of the knesset, supporters of the judicial reform passed the measure by a vote of 64-0. later in the day, prime minister benjamin netanyahu, who had just been released from the hospital, gave a pre-recorded address on television. >> today we carried out the

required democratic move, a move aimed at restoring the degree of balance between the authorities which was here for 50 years. we pass the bill of reasonableness so the elected government could lead the policy in accordance with the decision of the majority of the country citizens. amy: palestinian leaders have criticized both netanyahu's government for gutting the judiciary as well as the massive protest movement for not speaking up for palestinian rights. monday's vote came as israel continues its deadly crackdown in the west bank. earlier today, israeli forces killed three palestinian men in nablus. 17 palestinians were also arrested in overnight raids. in related news, the american anthropological association has voted to boycott israeli academic institutions in a major victory for the palestinian-led boycott, divestment, and sanctions, bds, movement. we are joined now by two israel journalists in tel aviv. haggai matar is executive

director of 972 -- advancement of citizen journalism, the nonprofit that publishes +972 magazine. matar is a conscientious objector who refused to serve in the israeli army. gideon levy is a columnist for the newspaper haaretz and a member of its editorial board. one of his recent pieces is headlined "israeli protest against the judicial coup has militaristic characteristics." we welcome you both to democracy now! i want to start with haggai matar. you are a conscientious objector. you are a writer for +972 magazine, the executive director of 972. can you respond to what happened in the knesset after the opposition walked out, it was a vote of, what was it, 64-0 for gutting the judiciary, and also these massive protests,

including today, the health care association and the reservists saying they won't serve as a result of this legislation? >> yes, thank you for having me in this very troubling time. the bill was passed shortly before -- shortly before it was passed, one of the champions went on stage and attempted to give all the reasons why this measure should be passed. he gave a list of supreme court rulings in which he thought the use of reasonableness was unreasonable. all of the examples were connected to the palestinian struggles. there was an example of the court allowing palestinian families to come to share a ceremonial to mourn their dead.

palestinian-american citizen who want to come to israel and was stopped for being a bds activist and that was struck down by the court. the israeli court is an ally -- and if you instances where it has put guardrails on occupation practices, that is what the government is targeting as well as trying to approve all sorts of political corruption that the court has served as a guardrail to. juan: haggai matar, how exactly has a legislation that was just past weakened the court? we have not heard much about the concrete legislation that was passed. >> israel does not have the constitution and it is very weak generally. a lot of what we see in the fabric of israeli law and

society is based on precedent. judicial precedent sometimes relies on this issue of reasonableness. a recent example was netanyahu won't appoint a minister of finance, someone was convicted for the third time for tax evasion -- once to appoint a minister of finance, someone who is convicted for the third time of tax evasion and theft. this is extremely unreasonable to put someone like that in charge of the ministry of finance. this is a good example and motivation for this initiative. there are other reasons the government to push forward with this administration. i think these examples kind of show what the court has been doing and what the government does not want it to do in terms of gutting it and suppressing and restraining that government's power. juan: there is been talk of

further so-called reforms that the allies of netanyahu want to pass. what are those reforms? >> it is important to remember in january, they announced a whole package of judicial overhaul of quite a few hills the government committed to pass within two to three months in the winter. he massive protest movement is what forced the government to narrow down to just one bill at the time, something we here call the salami method. slicing it into thin little pieces of legislation. this is the first went to pass, but there are many more on the way. some are meant to allow netanyahu to escape his current trial for political corruption. other measures are meant to allow the government to annex territories and basically do whatever it wants with any kind of supervision from the side of

the court. there are many other pieces that legislation that altogether, basically, are meant to ensure the government both can do whatever it wants in this current term and can persecute local rivals and ensure its reelection in the future by disqualifying political rivals, especially palestinian citizens whose parties might be disqualified if the judicial overhaul comes through. amy: i want to bring gideon levy into this conversation. talk about this piece you wrote about the militaristic nature of these protests. explain what you mean. >> i have all the sympathy of the protest movement, the biggest ever in israel. i can appreciate how those hundreds of thousands of israel is who are going to the streets regularly, week after week, day after day, spending a lot of

time, energy, sweat, and many times even blood, in order to express their protest. but i am also criticizing -- critics about this movement. one you just mentioned, amy, the fact they totally ignored deliberately the occupation and the apartheid. but not less than this, the structure and combination of people who lead this protest and are really running it. finally, it is about old boys from the army. i don't say they're the only ones, by no means, but they are giving the toll. generals who had the state and now, all of the sudden the state is being taken from them by the right-wingers and they go to protest. it is very problematic if

figures like heads of the secret service of israel, who are quite well known, in its brutal methods of blackmailing people and doing all kinds of antidemocratic actions in the west bank, including kidnapping people without any supervision, legal supervision. so those are the people who speak about democracy. those are part of the leadership of this protest movement. those are the heroes of this movement. i have a problem with this. generals and head of secret service is cannot teach anyone anything about democracy. they should learn it by themselves before they teach others. juan: could you comment also come as you have in some of your writings about the irony of talking about preserving

democracy while both sides in this battle continue to assume and expect that the oppression of the palestinians will continue? >> you can compare it to south africa, apartheid south africa. the struggle among -- it is a struggle over democracy. by the way, they had democracy. they had elections, quite free press in a way. they had democracy. but it was a democracy only to a very small part of the population of south africa. the democracy that we are now struggling over is a democracy only for the jewish citizens of israel and partially for the palestinian citizens of israel. what about finely people who live under the control of the

same institutions who have no civil rights whatsoever, who don't even possess a citizenship of any country in the world? how can you speak about democracy and ignore this? what kind of democracy can exist in an apartheid state? i mean, those things, i understand the desire, the ambition to try to recruit as many people as possible to this protest -- which is a just protest. but the way they ignore is for me unacceptable and unbearable. amy: haggai matar, as a conscientious objector, the move of the, what, 10,000 idf reservists to go on this strike today, the significance of this? and their response to what

gideon levy is saying? >> i very much agree with gideon. obviously, i think it is very meaningful this is happening, that people are using this tool. until recently, both conscientious objection and tools like the bds campaign were seen completely beyond the pale. outside of legitimacy in israeli politics. people from the mainstream of israeli society using both conscientious objection and calling major national community use bds to save democracy in israel, ignoring the palestinian struggle that using these tools the palestinians have been using for so long. i think first it is very impressive there is such a mobilization of resistance and it is troubling people are not aware enough of what they have

been missing in terms of the ike patient, apartheid, and some are supporting a. at the same time, what we're seeing is a new openness within this protest movement, alongside the nationalism, an openness to rethink questions of democracy and equality in a meaningful way. we are seeing many more people talking about the occupation of apartheid now then we have i would say for almost 20 years. there is a willingness this crisis is creating which we as journalists are trying to capture on and educate people about what they have been missing in these are the tools to start understanding what the real problems of democracy have been here and for decades. juan: gideon levy, i want to ask you, what degree do you believe all of this judicial overhaul is a direct result of prime minister netanyahu trying to escape his legal troubles and the possibility of going to

jail? >> i would never put everything on this. netanyahu is quite a signal go -- cynical politician, very sophisticated and shrewd, but i would not put everything on this. tell forget the real engine of the so-called reform or revolution is the minister of justice. he is the genuine ideological hard-core right-winger, nothing to do with netanyahu's trial. i think you could not care less about the results of the troubles to mr. levine has a very clear ideology. he has a very clear ideology and he is trying to present it. netanyahu is using it for his

own personal purposes. but he cannot be -- the whole reform only by the trial of netanyahu, bow means, no. amy: the white house press secretary karine jean-pierre called monday's knesset vote unfortunate but reiterated the biden administration's support for israel. this is what she said. >> our commitment to israel's security is ironclad. one of the things you have heard us say before and i will rid rate, at the core of that relationship is democratic values, shared democratic values and interests and that will continue to be the case. president biden has had -- has been a friend of israel for decades, is a personal relationship, a lifelong friend of israel as i mentioned in my statement that cannot moments ago. we are going to continue to engage our israeli counterparts to try to strengthen that special bond and that certainly will be the plan going forward. amy: gideon, if you could talk about the significance in the

midst of these mass protests, president biden inviting and celebrating the israeli president herzog at the white house. he gave an address to the joint session of congress. and president biden spoke with netanyahu on the phone and invited him to the united states, not clear when or where. >> unfortunately, it is time to ask the united states -- for how long will this going? is not thrilled with what israel is doing but does nothing to change. how long will taxpayers in the united states spent so much money [indiscernible] whose social needs are very,

very low, his military is one of the strongest and well-equipped in the world, and doing all of this without any kind of conditions, terms. everything is given to israel israel can do whatever it wants without any consideration of what the united states is asking. why the united states is not serious about it. all the united states really believes the talking's and condemnations, israel will change. this is also disappointing because after 55 years of occupation, violating any resolution in the international community, by ignoring american policy, israel continues to do whatever it wants. it means the united states is very happy about everything the

israel is doing and prove that the united states does nothing to change it, including obama's administration and now the biden administration, which has, i'm sure, very good intentions but this is not enough when it comes to israel. juan: finally, haggai matar, i would like to ask you, how do you see this crisis potentially developing? what are the prospects for it to being resolved? do you think the massive protest will prevent any further overhauls of the court? >> i think the government is in trouble. it might not seem like that, but i do think they are in trouble. they have been limited from doing what they had initially set out to do, which is full judicial overhaul. they have basically been prevented from doing that.

with the latest measure and the responses we are seeing from so many different parts of the israeli economy and security systems and the unions are not talking about potentially going on strike, and the demonstrators in the streets, and there is just so much going on that i don't think what the government is doing is sustainable. they might take a pause now to reassess. they might try to push forward -- i think it will probably fail. and there is a chance this government at some point will collapse and be replaced with a new one, very much like the previous one we had come the so-called government of change, which will put a stop to this whole judicial reform and move toward full authoritarianism. at the same time, there's a serious risk if that happens, there will be a feeling of vindication, the victory of democracy or palestinians will continue paying the price under such a government as well. i think we have to be very, very careful of either the scenario

of this government continuing to do what it wants and of the scenario of the government failing and being replaced by another that is better for democracy for jews but just as bad for democracy for palestinians. amy: gideon levy, the news of the last hours that israeli forces killed three palestinian men in novelist, 70 were arrested in overnight rate. however where is the israeli population? we are seeing water cannons, some of the methods the israeli government uses in the west bank apply to the protesters but only some. when you see this level of killing of palestinians just in the past year, talk about what is the awareness in israel and what you think is to be done about this? >> this may be the core of the

issue. the fact the israeli society is living in total denial, the media is the best collaborator to supply this denial, and israelis don't know anything, don't want to know anything about what is going on. the killing of three palestinians today is hardly covered. if it is covered, it is covered in the most minimal way you can cover post of the killing of the dog of an army is covered in bigger ways than killing three palestinians. so this daily killing is going --israeli society could care less. the only way to make it change is when israelis will have to pay and be punished for those crimes.

as long as this doesn't happen, they can continue to protest against damage to their own democracy and ignore the fact their living in a an apartheid state. amy: gideon levy, thank you for being with us, columnist for the newspaper haaretz and a member of its editorial board. and haggai matar is an israeli journalist executive director of , 972 -- advancement of citizen journalism. we will go to kentucky to speak with planned parenthood when we return. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. we turn now to a shocking development in the rollback of abortion access in the united states. 19 republican attorneys general are demanding the right for local governments in states where abortion is illegal to access the private medical records of patients in order to see if they obtained reproductive health care services, including abortions, out of state. the letter was signed by daniel cameron of kentucky and todd

rokita of indiana, among others, and critics say it could intimidate patients from seeking legal health care. abortion is set to be banned in indiana with limited exceptions starting august 1. meanwhile, more than a year after the reversal of roe v. wade, abortion providers report many kentucky residents are crossing state lines to access abortion care due to the state's near-total abortion ban. to be clear, it is legal for anyone in the united states to access abortion care in a state where that care is legal. that comes after related news out of tennessee, where the state attorney general has demanded vanderbilt university medical center hand over medical records of patients at its clinic for gender-affirming care. a ban on surgical and nonsurgical care that helps people transition toward their self-identified gender just took effect in tennessee. meanwhile in at prescott, a teenager who used abortion pills to terminate her pregnancy was

sentenced to 90 days in jail. police charged 19-year-old celeste burgess and her mother jessica burgess, who assisted her in getting the pills and disposing of the fetus, after facebook handed over their private messages. celeste was just 17 when her mother ordered the pills online. the events took place before the supreme court overturned roe v. wade last year. at the time, abortion in nebraska was banned after 20 weeks. earlier this year, governor jim pillen signed a 12-week ban into law. for more on all of this, we go to louisville kentucky. we are joined by tamarra wieder, kentucky state director for planned parenthood alliance advocates. welcome to democracy now! why don't you begin with this first story of attorneys general's, republicans attorneys general demanding medical care records of people who have gone to other states for abortion and what exactly is happening in

your state of kentucky. >> thank you so much for having me. it is really troubling, daniel cameron, along with 18 others, have demanded they turn over medical records, entire medical records, in states where abortion is legal to hostile states. this is deeply troubling. this goes against hippo laws. this is your private medical records being turned over to hostile attorneys general. what else are they going to do with it? it is likely they're going to look for a case to prosecute, either providers, patients, or those helping people trust state lines who are -- where abortion is legal seeking care. juan: are they looking for blanket records or are they wanting the right to look at

individual records that they somehow suspect somebody may have violated the abortion bans? that is a good question. they're asking for medical records from people we believe that our from their state but asking for the entire record. that is what is deeply troubling. right now and 70 does have an abortion, there is a terminated pregnancy report which gives just vital statistics that protects the person private medical history and identity. that should be enough statistical information for the state to know how many people from say kentucky are getting an abortion. we know from indiana's recent reporting on abortion that over 90% of their out-of-state care for abortion in indiana went to kentucky this last year. that should be enough information for daniel cameron. that is across the country with a terminated pregnancy reports.

but they are asking for your entire medical record. that is going to be scrutinized. every decision your doctor has made for you over your entire medical history is going to be scrutinized, and that is deeply troubling. everybody across the country should be alarmed that your medical history, your choices, your provider's choices are up for grabs. amy: has the attorney general daniel cameron of kentucky demanded the information from planned parenthood clinic? >> not yet to my knowledge. but that doesn't mean it won't happen in the future. he is running for governor so we hope that he does not seek that information. right now no planned parenthoods and kentucky are providing abortions because we are under the ban. amy: i want to ask about this astounding story of facebook handing over their private

communication between a mother and a 17-year-old daughter who was seeking an abortion. the mom got abortion pills for her daughter and the daughter took these pills. now both the mother and daughter -- the daughter faces, she is 19 now -- she faces 90 days in prison. >> it is deeply troubling that communication we are having in times where we don't know what is legal in our community's around health care. if we're just asking questions, if we are seeking out health care advice, it can be used against us. this information, via it text messages, facebook messages, search histories, should not be turned against us. people are scared. they are desperate. they need health care. if you are asking questions, if you are searching for support,

this should not be turned against anybody. but this is what happens health care is politicized and it is criminalized. people become scared and desperate. health care should be safe for people to search and demand respect from. they should be able to get health care from their providers and talk to their parents about it. they should not be criminalized for seeking support. juan: to go back for a second to this request by the republican attorney general's, you mentioned the hipaa law. that is a federal law. shouldn't judge go without saying federal law trumps any efforts by local states to access these records? >> you know, i hope you will find relief from the court. but the courts have become more politicized in the last decade. there is fear as we go forward in relief, if they seek judicial

-- if they seek the courts to uphold what they seeking on these records, we don't know what circuit they will go for. will they go to the judge in texas? we don't know how this will play out. but one thing i think is really important to focus on is it sends a -- sets a chilling precedents. this scares patients, scares providers. that is a big component of this core dated attack is to set a precedent of fear. if i leave my community, will i be arrested? will my records be released? if i'm a provider, will i be arrested in kentucky? should i provide care to out-of-state patients from ban ned states? it is setting a precedent after that will chill care. amy: i want to turn to a court in austin, texas, last week who heard testimony from women who

are suing over texas' abortion ban, which put their lives in danger when they were unable to end their pregnancies even when they were non-viable. in a dramatic moment, plaintiff samantha casiano vomited on the stand as she recounted her -- how she was forced to carry out her pregnancy even after receiving a diagnosis of anencephaly, a severe congenital disorder that results in a baby being born without portions of its brain and skull. this is another plaintiff, elizabeth weller. >> i was sit home to wait for my baby to die or by infection to start showing physical symptoms even though they were already there. but i was not sick enough to get the care i needed. there is no statement of pro-life in this state when you send me home to wait for my baby to die inside me and for me to wait for myself to get to appoint where i have to gamble my uterus and gamble my life and gamble any future possibility of

becoming pregnant. that is not pro-life. in a sense, to is a sense, dishonest pro torture. amy: that news conference was held by the center for reproductive rights, which brought the lawsuit on behalf of 13 patients and two doctors. if you can tell us what you think what the biden administration should be doing as state after state run by republicans are cracking down or composing almost complete abortion bans. what can the federal government do? >> i know that story all too well here in kentucky. there 70 that are nearly identical. we face the same barriers here. the federal government needs to do better by us. they need to protect us, protect kentuckians, protect americans seeking abortion care. we should not be fleeing from our homes to access care that we

should be able to get at home. now in kentucky, we are going to lose our second closest state for abortion care next tuesday. indiana is going to go dark for abortion care on august 1. 90% of kentuckians are going to indiana this last year. we will have to go further away for care, and it puts more people in jeopardy, especially in emergent needs were even in a crisis, we have to leave our state. more needs to be done because this is all too familiar story for so many of us across this country. amy: tamarra wieder, thank you for being with us, kentucky state director for planned parenthood alliance advocates. next up, we speak to a leading kurdish activist you just walked from washington, d.c., to the united nations. stay with us.

♪♪ [music break] amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. we end today's show with peace activist kani xulam, who is the director of the american kurdish information network. he has just arrived in new york

city after his solo 300-mile, 24-day walk from the lincoln memorial in washington, d.c., to the united nations headquarters. monday marked the 100th anniversary of the partitioning of kurdistan into four parts -- british iraq and french syria, turkey, and iran. all of this was done without the consent of the kurdish people. they were left without a recognized sovereign state. what happened since has been called a cultural genocide. this comes as the kurds of syria raise all threats from -- threats from all sides after devastating earthquakes and really listen attacks by the syrian president bashar al-assad and the turkish president. kani xulam is joining us here in new york for more. welcome back to democracy now! the latest news of globally around kurds was sweden, in order to get into nato, making a deal with the turkish president

around what should happen to the kurds who he so often calls terrorists, those who fled turkey and now live in sweden. your response? >> when nato was conceived, it was supposed to beat an alliance for freedom and kurds don't have freedom. on top of it, their leg which is banned. they are subject to cultural genocide. if nato wants to reassess its aims, future aspirations, it needs to address this issue. it could not cave-in to erdogan and his racist policies that are trying to eradicate the name of the kurds from the geography of the middle east. juan: could you talk a little about the history, especially of this treaty 100 years ago, that petition the kurdish people into

four different states? >> when the war started, an imperialist war, when america entered it, at least president wilson said he wanted to make the world safe for democracy. what happened afterwards was anything but to make the world safe for democracy. france, they joined turkey and iran basically partitioning the land through fraud, force, without the consent of any of the kurds on the ground. it was a deal done in the heart of europe. we have been living with its effects. in iraq, we've been gas. in syria, we have had three different laws apply to our citizenship rights. in turkey, our very name has been eradicated from the land,

if you will, our mountains have acquired turkish names, rivers and villages have acquired turkish names. we have been struggling ever since to have a say. i walked from washington, d.c., to the united nations to say we exist, we have a voice, we have a history, we have a culture, we are no different than our neighbors, and we need to solve this issue through peaceful means, through civil discourse. in the heart of the middle east, we have the presence of the kurds. it is like the presence of all and europe, the -- it is an objective fact and yet our neighbors are saying there are no kurds and there try to pretend the kurds don't exist and try to assimilate every single card on the ground as we speak. amy: kani xulam,, 1997,

you were one of two americans and four kurds who fasted for peace in kurdistan and for the freedom of kurdish parliamentarians who had been arrested and imprisoned. this is you speaking while fasting on the steps of capitol hill in washington, d.c., in 1997. >> today with some guarded optimism, we can report you are fast did have the intended effect on policymakers in washington. we also want to reach out to the mainstream media. although the washington post and chicago tribune did pay some homage to our fast, the rest of the mainstream media cap distance from us. they failed to document our message for peace and freedom. they did a disservice to our people longing for peace and to their people longing for the truth. frankly, we are not disappointed, we are committed to our cause more than ever before. amy: that was kani xulam in

1997. kani, has been progress made? what do you think needs to happen now? >> the progress has been slow. we are trying to make america kurdish-friendly, d.c. kurdish-fairly. i'm reminded of a quote by dr. king, the whites need the blacks to come clean, to get rid of their guilt. the blacks need the whites to heal, to lose their fear. the british, the french, the turks, the persians partitioned our homeland. they need to come clean and they need -- they need to reach out to us so they can live in conscience, in good faith with her children.

we need them to help us lose our fear and lose our hurt, the pain and suffering that has been inflicted on us for the last 100 years since the treaty. we have to respect the kurds and accept the kurds. they deserve a seat at the united nations, too. to pretend they don't exist is to pretend the world is flat. juan: kani xulam, could you talk about the role of the united states, for instance, during the invasion of iraq and the iraq war u.s.-backed autonomy as a means of achieving its own -- the white house's own goals in the middle east but of course has said nothing about the kurds in turkey for the other middle east states? >> in the course of my walk for freedom across the founding heartland of america, i came

across a sign saying "americans who have died for the cause of iraqi freedom." many died, true, but the kurds did not really want to have anything to do with the arab majority in iraq. they desperately wanted to be on their own. in 2017, they voted to be on their own and yet neither the united nations nor the u.s. honored them inspite of the effort to topple saddam. in syria, 11,000 kurds have died together with their arab comrades to get rid of isis threats not just in the middle east but also from europe and the world. the relationship within the united states and the kurds in syria still a military one. the kurds desperately want the relationship to be a political one. we need political status. we cannot depend on our neighbors who are bent on

destruction. this is a crime against humanity, and it needs to be stated. i appreciate democracy now! for allowing me to say this on the air. amy: kani xulam, accu for being with us director of the american , kurdish information network which has just completed a solo walk from washington, d.c., to the united nations. that does it for our show. democracy now! is currently accepting applications for interns in our archive and development departments. learn more and apply at democracynow.org. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to outreach@democracynow.org or mail them to democracy now! p.o. box 693 new york, new york 10013. [captioning made possible by democracy now!]

♪ hello and welcome back to nhk "newsline." i'm takao minori in new york. city leaders in paris are counting down the days until the 2024 summer olympics and paralympics. they'll be following in the footsteps of tokyo, which held the event in 2021. the opening ceremony takes place in exactly one year's time, and organizers have unveiled the torch that will be used to light