Transcripts For LINKTV Democracy Now 20240714

Trump administration, plus we go to alabama where prosecutors have dropped manslaughter charges against a pregnant woman whose pregnancy ended after she was shshot in the stomach by a coworkrker. That itit isetermined not ininhe best interest of justice to pursue prosecution of ms. Jones on the misdemeanor charge for which she was indicted by the grand jury. Amy and Billionaire Hedge Fund manager Jeffrey Epstein has been arrested on sex trafficking charges. This comes after more than a decade after he received what has been described as one of the most lenient dealsls for a seril child sex offender in history. All that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. In a stark reversal, President Trump and the Justice Department say they are still looking at ways to add a Citizenship Question in the 2020 census. Trump issued several tweets and comments late last week, starting just one day after the Justice Department said the census would go ahead without the Citizenship Question on tuesday following a Supreme Court ruling against the administration. Trump says he would consider an executive order to add the question, though its unclear if this would succeceed given the rececent rining. Meanwhile on friday, a federal judge in maryland said he is moviving ahead with a case t to dedetermine whether ththe trump administrationon added the questionon in order to discriminate agagainst immmmigrt communities. The acting head of citizenship and Immigration Services said sunday immigration and Customs Enforcement is ready to start rounding up and deporting one million people. The comments from Ken Cuccinelli echoed threats by trump last week, who said the raids would start sometime after the h holiy weekend. City officicials, police departments, and mayors from major cities, including los angeles, san francisco, atlanta, chicago, and new york said last month they would refuse to cooperate with ice when the mass if trump enacted mass deportations. Meanwhile the Washington Post , reports that immigration and Customs Enforcement and fbi officials have mined the databases of multiple state department of Motor Vehicles records using facial recognition technology. This includes at least three states where undocumented residents are allowed to obtain drivers licenses vermont, utah, and washington. Both republican and democratic lawmakers blasted the practice, which has not been authorized by congress. Immigrant and communities of color have warned that facial recognition can be easily weaponized to target and criminalize vulnerable populations. In more immigration news, President Trump dismissed widespread reports of dire conditions for locked up migrants over the weekend, saying many border facilities are clean and run beautifully. And the migrants are happy. Pres. Trump if you look, people that came from unbelievable erty, that had no water those are people that are very happy with what is going on because relatively speaking, they are in much better shape right now. Amy on sunday, trump accused the media on twitter of phony and exaggerated accounts of migrant detention centers,s, and again blamed democrats for failing to enact more effective immigration policies. This despite recent congressional visits to migrant jails and multiple accounts of abuse recorded by legal and other expertrts. Iran announced today it has breached the limit on enriched uranium permitted under landmark 2015 nuclear d deal. Iran says they will continue to up their production in response to the failure of other signatories of the deal to uphold their commitments following trumps withdrawal from the agreement last year and the reimposition of crippling sanctions. The u. S. Withdrew from the accord despite Widespread International l disapproval and evidence that t the agreement ws effective. In response, secretary of state mike pompeo warned of further sanctions and isolation. Trump said iran better be careful. In more news from iran, officials have denounced britains detention of an Iranian Oil Tanker last thurursy as an act of piracacy and are calling for its immediate release. British marines seized the vessel after they y suspected it of violating sanctions by carrying oil to syria. In sudan, the Transitional Military Council and leaders of the civilian opposition and protest movement have agreed to to a powowersharingngeal threee months after the oustingng of prpresident omar albashir. An africican uninion mediator nounced frfriday a j joint militarycivilian coununcil will be formed anand will run t the government by rotation for three years before hololding election. A military repreresentativive wl head the council for the first 21 months. Members of the civilian Coalition Forces for freedom and change said the deal was a victory for the revolution. Protesters in the streets of khartoum celebrated the news but vowed to keep up the pressure in the streets if the arrangement doesnt respond to their demands. Am sending a message to the freedom and change movement and to the military council. If you work well, fine. If you do not, look at the past four or five months. We will take to the streets for the fourth or fifth time into we find the sudan we want to live in. Amy in greece, conservative Kyriakos Mitsotakis is being sworn in as the new Prime Minister today after he defeated the outgoing Alexis Tsipras and his leftist syriza party by around eight Percentage Points in sundays snap general election. The elections were called after the city suffered major losses in mays European Parliament elections. Syriza came to power on an antiausterity platform in 2015 amid a crippling financial crisis, but ultimately signed on to a another bailout plan and failed to transform the greek economy. The conservative new Democracy Party now holds an outright majority in the 300member parliament. Former greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis and his recently formed antiausterity party mera25 scored nine legislative seats in the electitions. In france, roaring chance of equal pay broke out as the u. S. National womens soccer team won the World Cup Final sunday, holding on to their title by defeating netherlands 20. It was their recordbreaking fourth victory in the games and the second consecutive win. The team is likely to boost their genderbased pay discrimination battle with the u. S. Soccer federation. This is the outspoken cocaptain megan or pinot, who scored the teams first point in a penalty kick thomas speaking on saturday. Earlier the year, maybe last year, came out that i said fifa doesnt care about the womens game. That is what i mean. If you really care about each game in the same way, are you letting the gap grow. Amy she refused to sing the National Anthem ahead of games and went viral after she told reporters, i am not going to the fing white house, if invited by trump. Trump told reporters sunday he hadnt really thought about inviting the team to the white house despite an earlier tweet in which he took a jab at rapinoe for her comments, in which he did invite the whole team win or lose. House speaker nancy pelosi, however, has invited the team to visit the u. S. Capitol. Well have more on the u. S. Womens teams historymaking games after headlines. Two major eartrthquakes shook southernrn california a late lat week. Frfridays 7. 1 magnitude quake n ridgecrest, was the states biggest in 20 years and followed a 6. 4 quake one day earlier. The tremors could be felt as far north as sacramento and down into mexico. No casualties or serious injuries were reported as Recovery Efforts continue from damage to buildings and roads, as well as power cuts, and ruptured water and gas lines. Residents in the affected areas have been told that more tremors could be headed their way in the coming days. While in a Campaign Stop in South Carolina former vice , president and 2020 candidate joe biden apologized saturday for his comments last month about segregationist senators in the 1970s and 1980s, praising them for their civility. Now was i wrong a few weeks ago to somehow give the impression of people that i was praising those men who are successfully opposed time and again . Yes, i was. I regret it. I am sorry for any of ththe pain or misconception they may have caused anybody. Amy biden went on to say that his 50year record on issues of race should speak for itself and suggested he was being unfairly smeared. A number of other 2020 democrats took biden to task over his track record on civil rights, most notably california senator Kamala Harris, who challenged him over his opposition to desegregation busing. During his South Carolina address, biden also tried to distance himself from parts of the 1994 anticrime law that directed billions of dollars towards building state prisons even though he strongly supported such efforts. A number of 2020 democrats were in new orleans this weekend to attend the Essence Festival in where they made their case to the largely africanamerican audience. California senator Kamala Harris announced a 100 billion plan to reduce Racial Disparities in homeownership by helping black buyers secure homes in historically redlined areas, where they were previously denied loans by banks. The money would fund a housing and urban Development Grant to help with down payments and Closing Costs for up to 4 million homes. Harris also says she will also work to pass better protections against housing discrimination, and for changes to calculate Credit Scores more fairly. Meanwhile, massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren unveiled a plan that would require federal contractors to diversify their hiring and pay women of color equally. Warren also vowed to diversify the federal governments own work force and increase Small Business loans for people of color. Indiana mayor pete buttigieg, who is facing questions by his own constituents about his record on policing and racism in south bend, also announced a plan to invest in Small Business owned by people of color. Buttigieg also said he would sign off on a house bill to study the question of reparations for slavery, which is likely to be a key issue for black voters in 2020. Michigan congressmember justin amash announced thursday he was leaving the Republican Party to become an independent. In an oped for the Washington Post, he said that we are caught in a partisan death spiral, writing the twoparty system has evolved into an existential threat to american principles and institutions. Im asking you to join me in rejecting the partisan loyalties and rhetoric that divide and dehumanize us. In may, amash became the first republican lawmaker to express support for impeaching President Trump. In a cnn interview sunday, amash said high level members of the Republican Party thanked him privately for speaking out in favor of impeachment. He also did not rule out a 2020 president ial bid. Billionaire Hedge Fund Manager Jeffrey Epstein, who has long is set to appear in federal court today in manhattan facing sex trafficking charges. He was arrested on saturday. The New York Times reports epstein is accused of running a sextrafficking operation by luring underage girls some as young as 14 years old to his mansion in manhattan. Epstein was previously accused of molesting and trafficking dozens of potentially hundreds of underage girls in florida. But he ended up serving just 13 months in county jail after the u. S. Prosecutor in florida, now trumps labor secretary Alexander Acosta, cut whats been described as one of the most lenient deals for a serial child sex offender in history. Well have more on epstein after headlines. A new Jersey Family Court judge is under fire after he denied a motion to try a 16yearold for rape as an adult, justifying the decision by saying the perpetrator came from a good family, was an eagle scout, attended an Excellent School and is clearly a candidate for not just college but probably for a good college. Judge James Troiano also said he did not think the attack was rape, despite the attacker filming the assault on the 16yearold intoxicated girl and sharing the video with friends along with a text message that read, when your first time having sex was rape. The judge also rebuked the girl and her family for bringing charges that could have a devastating effect on the attackers life. An Appeals Court has, however, reversed troianos decision, citing his display of bias because of the teenagers privilege meaning the unnamed teen could now be indicted and tried in criminal court. And in alabama, prosecutors dropped charges against Marshae Jones a woman who was charged with manslaughter after she was shot in the stomach, causing her pregnancy to end. Jones case sparked widespread outrage. Nia martinrobinson of planned parenthood said following the decision, we must ensure that this doesnt happen again. Prosecuting someone for being the victim of a Violent Crime is not only alarming it signals an intent to target and criminalize black pregnant women. We will have more on that story later in the broadcast. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. The u. S. National womens soccer team made history by winning its record fourth world cup after defeating the netherlands 20 on sunday. Soon after the game ended, members of the crowd began chanting equal pay. Equal pay. Equal pay equal pay equal pay amy prize money for this years womens world cup is just 30 million, compared to 400 million for the 2018 mens world cup. The u. S. Women world cup victory came just months after members of the 2015 womens team sued the u. S. Soccer federation over gender discrimination. On sunday, cocaptain Megan Rapinoe spoke to the media shortly after she was awarded the golden ball and golden boot awards for best player and top goal scorer. We have done exactly what we set out toto do. We have done exactly what we want to do. We say what we feeeel stuck allf us, really. I know my voice sometimes is louder, but everybody is in this together. Strtrongch a proud and and Defiant Group of women. I dont think we have anything really to say. Amy Megan Rapinoe has been the center of attention throughout the world cup. Before games, she refused to sing the National Anthem or put her hand on her heart. She also made headlines for saying she would refuse to go to the white house if invited by President Trump. She first told eight by eight magazine, i am not going to the fing white house. Folks im not going to the white house. No. Im not going to the white house. Were not going to be invited. Ruffifino later defefended her comments at a prs conference. I stand by the comments i made about not wanting to go to the white house with the exception of t the expletitive. My mom will be very upupset abot that. But i think entering with a lot of passion, considering how much time and effort and pride we take in the platform that we have been using it for good and for leaving the game in a better place and hopefully and hopefully the world and a better place, i dont think i would want to go and i would encourage my teammates to think hard about lending that platform or having that coopted by an administration that doesnt feel the same way and doesnt fight for the same things that we fight for. Amy in 2016, megan or pinot became the first major white athletes one of the first major to kneel during the National Anthem before a game as a player with her team seattle reign. She is also an outspoken advocate for lgbtq writes. Thee House Speaker while House Speaker nancy pelosi has invited the team to capitol hill, it remains unclear a President Trump will extend an invitation to the white house. On sunday, he said, we havent really thought about it. Said d comeeviously he would i invite the womens tm whether they won or lost. Well, for more, were joined by two guests. Shireen ahmed is a writer, public speaker, and an awardwinning sports activist focusing on muslim women in sports and the intersections of racism and misogyny in sport. And Amira Rose Davis is an assistant professor of history and africanamerican studies at penn state university. She is currently working on a book entitled cant eat a medal the lives and labors of black women athletes in the age of jim crow. They both are part of a team of five women who created the weekly burn it all down sports podcast. We welcome you both to democracy now shireen ahmed, your responsnse o the womens soccer win . I think it was fantastic. The match itself was exciting. It has been an incredible five weeks. What i love most about the win is that the way this u. S. Womens National Team has brought forth the idea that sports are inherently political, that womens sports are in yearly political, sports for marginalized folks are political. It is a constant and not very subtle effective r reminder of that. And that is one of the biggest takeawaways of the entire tournament. Amira rose davis, your response to this . The womens soccer team has one for joe world cups. And if you think about the pressure they put on ththeir own children by gogoing into this world cup after filing a gender Discrimination Suit based largely on saying we are winning and we are not being paid equitably, they put enormous pressure on their shoulders. Much embracing the fact that sports is inherently political, as many athletes do. It i think this team in particular has aching awareness of the fact their platform by virtue of their overwhelming whiteness and the issues they are speaking about has the ability to really drive home how political sports are and what they are fighting for, both on and off the pitch. Amy i want to talk more about that in a minute. I want to go directly to megan or pinot who launched a scathing attack on fifa saying the organization does not respect the female game. Fifas decisision to allow the copa america final and the gold cup final to take place on the same day as the womens final was unbelievable. She also raised the issue of winnings for women players. It certainly is not fair. They should certainly double it now and use that to double or quadruple it for the next time, obviously. That is what i mean when we talk about do we feel respected. Earlier in the year, maybe it was last year, came out that i said fifa doesnt care about the womens game. And that is what i mean. If you really care about each game in the same way, are you letting the gap grow . Im not saying the prize money is 450 million this time or next time around. Understand for a lot of different reasons, the mens game financially is far more advanced than the womens game. But if you really care, are you letting the gap grow yet though are you scheduling three finals on the same day . Amy on friday, fifa president Gianni Infantino proposed doubling the total prize money of the world cup to 60 million. The mens games in russia last year, featuring 32 teams, had total prize money of 400 million. That amount for the men will rise to 440 million for the Qatar World Cup in 2022. , if you cand respond to this . It is quite astotounding, this convergence of events, the lawsuit against u. S. Soccer federation around equal pay, which will reverberate far beyond soccer, that call as, you know, coming at the time of this world cup win and clearly demonstrating that the womens sport is raising more money than the mens team that did not even qualify for the world cup. Amy, there are a couple of things. First of all, the record for the highest watch game in the history of the United States is from the womens team, a match 2015, against japan. The merchandise the women sell is the highest selling merchandise in the usa. It is not the mens. In response to record to what rubino said about equity, that is just one of the issues that fifa has managed to completely spoil consistently. Lack of planning and just to be clear, it was not only fifa that misplaced and mistimed three finals on the same day, two others are also responsible for this. This is just to reinforce the fact that federations all over the world, not just fifa, National Federations and organizations are responsible because, frankly, the head of these federations are men and making decisions that affect the womens game and negatively affect the players come the teams, the fans, and inconvenience them. Fifa has a history. I have a huge dossier on what they have done to do service the womens game. Everything from not supporting sexualized violence, not supporting women trying to take access to taking head on, everything from women and it is just one thing after the other that fifa is implicit in. Megan or a p know was clear. Are you growing the gap of the equity . Are you doing what you can to ensure an advocate for the players absolutely fifa is not. Amy explain the difference between fifa and the u. S. Soccer federation, which is the entity that the womens team is suing ussf. Womenen are suing the if you look at the pyramid, fifa is at the top. So ussf would be in charge of the women. They do fall under the umbrella of fifa. Fifa is not directly responsible for the contracts, that is s upo the federatition. Effectctively, the players are unhappy in setting an incredible precedent for women around the world to say we want equal pay, towant fairness, we want talk about rights, maternity leave, we want to talk about health care, antiracism, antihomophobia, antioppression. That is what theyre doing. It i is a really important case. Amy Amira Rose Davis, you mention the whiteness of the team. If you can talk more about this and also a number of the womens activism around this i mean, Megan Rapinoe beeeen one of the first what athletes to support Colin Kaepernick in bending the knee. Morphed seem to have into that amazing image before the game yesterday, which she has done over and over, when the starspangled banner is played. She does not sing like the other players and she does not put her hand on her heart. Amira . Certainly. I think it is also important nonote their gender discriminatn suit is but one of many women of multiple federations employing a wide range of protest tactitics. We assume women from argentina, puerto rico take the field and refuse to play. Weve seen the worlds best player right now refuse to even play in the world cup. To say the womens National Teams lawsuit is but one way that women in the global sport of womens football are pushing back against the federations who are not giving them the same resources and infrastructure. And to your question about the composition of this team, i think it is important to note that in the United States, the access issue to soccer is bad. It takes a lot of money barely on in youth sports. Very early on in youth sports. One of the consequences, we do not feel large amount of diversity, lower income players represented on the team. We have women of color on this team, more than in recent years. Were the locally underrepresented group in latinx players as well as Asian American players. That has not always been the case but i think it also points to the facact team has been vevy vocall about all of their intersecting identities whehen asked put names on the back of their jerseys to honor various women, for instance rapinoe chose audrey lord. One of the women of color on the team s said this is about pay equity, genender equauality, bue are also talking about racial equity. Were talking about what is going on in terms of why rapipie chose to kneel. She is clear about being an ally in saying, yes, these are my fight and im bringing visibility and talking a lot about pay equity, but i also am making acknowledging the fact i am n not policiced in the sasy and d i am not dealing with relatives being shot dead in the street. Feltwhen asked how she abouout patatriotism she is liki feel deeply american but we have to reckon with the fact this country was founded on slavery. That insistence on the fact what theyre talking about, even if pay equity might get more attention, theheyre notot divog it from struggles they are pickiking uphe wnba black lives matter, etc. They are not divorcing what theyre doing and how they aree pulling bringing political acactivism from these other strands of groups youre are saying, yeah, were going to use ports to talk about the things we seeee that are wrong in our country. Said being ainoe gay american, i know what it means to look at the flag and not have it protect all of your liberties. It was something small that i could do and something that i plan to keep doing in the future and hopefully spark some meaningful conversation around it. Its important to have white people stand in support of people of color on this. Also, this issue of going to washington. Shireen ahmed, let me e put that question to yoyou. President trump is confused. A little while ago, a week or two ago, he said he is inviting the womens soccer team win or lose. Then he was asked about it this weekend and he said he hasnt thought about inviting the womens soccer team to the white house. Meanwhile, nancy pelosi, the House Speaker, tweeted today that she is inviting the whole team to the capital. Can you talk about the significance of all of this, the team showing their support for Megan Rapinoe saying she would not go to the white house. You had, among those who spoke out, ali krieger, defending rapinoes, saying she refused to respect the man thahat warrantso respect. Yes. Just to reiterate what dr. Davis was saying, thehe intentionality of what is happening from this team is very much exemplified by Megan Rapinoe. What she is basically done is said that the e struggles, the resistance in the struggles of marginalized groups are very tightly bound together. So Megan Rapinoe doesnt only talk about lgbtqia issues, she talks about racial inequality, class structure. Donald trump has backtracked and backpedaled and been completely embarrassed because coming out and saying he actually tweeted Megan Rapinoe last week after the interview came out and he kept including statistics on how he has helped africanamericans because it was my impression, and that of other journalists, he was confusing her with an africanamerican. He did not even know who she was. Now he knows who she is. She is a world cup winner again. Andink not only has rapinoe this entire team, including ali krieger and others gone forward and said this is who we are, these are our identities and were not going to settle, i think it is brilliant for them to set a precedent. Megan rapinoe said it best, she does not want their action to be coopted. She is very much showing what it is not in terms of it just talk. It is action, mobilization. In addition to winning the most incredible tournament in womens football, this is what these pros are doing. It will be interesting to see how the administration response. Amy prorofessor amira rose dav, the possibility of there being a strike by this World Cup Winning Team as they move into the old x, if theyre not olympics, if theyre not satisfied with the deal around it will pay, and the possibility of legislation, invited to capital, will this lead to legislation around pay equity in general, maybe even passage of the goal rights amendment . Y yes, certrtainly. I think some o of the biggest labor victories we haveve seen over t the past three years has been in the arenana of womens sports, whether it is getting equal pay, maternity rights for women athletes come or the Womens National hockey team who also went onon strike before a g tournament to up their p pay. I thihink that is what were seeing in this momentt in this possibility. They know theyre taking calculated risks, but they are gettining out there e and sayint only a are we filing this, but e you could not ignore us. You are e right about the olympics. They are going into mediation. We will see. They have this bargaining chip because they know they hahave te eyes of the woworld upon themm going to a a t tournament next yeyear. They h have g good leverage rigt nonow. I think sosome of the things t y call foror go beyeyond pay e eq. It is also about are they getting the same p per diem papy for fofo . Are e they gettiting the same tl accommodations . Are they being f forced to playn tuturf . While we talk about equal pay, there is a lot to unpack and what theyre saying for gender discriminatition. And what theyre really pointing to it is about a full structure of resources, not just pay, that really disadvantages working women. Attentitionith more on this, t they have shown they are capable of taking that attention and powering it and other issues. It would be tremendous for them to connect this to other labor struggles and also push this forward into structuraral chang. And as you mentioned, perhaps finally getting that e. R. A. Past. Amy Amira Rose Davis, thank you for being with us from penn state university. And shireen ahmed, writer and awardwinning sports activist focusing on muslim women in sports, and the intersrsectionsf racism and misogyny in sport. Theyre both part of a team of five women who created the weekly burn it all down podcast. When we come back, Billionaire Hedge Fund manager jeffrey sexein has been arrested on trafficking charges. This comes more than a decade after he received what has been described as one of the most lenient deals for aa serial chid sex offender in history, facilitated by the man who is now President Trumps labor secretary. Stay with us. [music break] amy power of two by the indigo girls. This is democracy now , im amy goodman. Billionaire Hedge Fund Manager Jeffrey Epstein, who has been accused of sexually assaulting underage girls for more than a decade, was arrested on saturday on sex trafficking charges. He will appear in federal court today. The New York Times reports he is being accused of running a sextrafficking operation by luring underage girls some as young as 14 years old to his mansion in manhattan. He was previously accused of molesting and trafficking dozens, perhaps hundreds, of underage girls in florida. But epstein ended up serving just 13 months in county jail after the u. S. Prosecutor in florida, Alexander Acosta cut , whats been described as one of the most lenient deals for a serial child sex offender in history. The plea deal allowed epstein to avoid a federal trial and possible life in prison and effectively ended an fbi probe into the case. Alex acosta is now Donald Trumps labor secretary. Jeffrey epstein has counted president s donald trump and bill clinton among his friends. Trump told new York Magazine in 2002, ive known jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy. Hes a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as i do, and many of them are on the younger side. Trump said about his friend Jeffrey Epstein before the charges were brought. Trump was photographed with epstein. To talk about what led up to epsteins arrere and w what coms next, were joined by vicky ward, an investigative journalist who profiled Jeffrey Epstein for vanity fair in 2003 in a piece headlined the talented mr. Epstein. The magazines editor at the time, Graydon Carter, cut out the testimonies of two young women epstein allegedly molested who had spoken to ward on the record. Ward wrote about what happened with her epstein reporting for the daily beast in an article headlined, i tried to warn you about sleazy billionaire Jeffrey Epstein in 2003. Welcome back to democracy now great to have you with us. For people who do not understand who this man is, he is referred to as Billionaire Hedge Fund manager Jeffrey Epstein. Who is he and what do you believe he is being charged with right now, with the indictment about to be open . Is a hedgethink he fund manager. He is certainly very wealthy. There is great mystery as to how he actually made his money. Advises people that he he takes a percentage and advises billionaires only. You wont take anywhere poor than a billionaire. He takes a cut, which adds up to a lot of money. When i investigated him in 2002, really turned out to be untrue what was interesting was the man who claimed to have sort of taught jeffrey many financial tricks and who claims to this day that Jeffrey Asman is a gentleman who went to jail for 20 years for committing the biggest ponzi scheme prebernie made off. The e mystery of Jeffrey Epstein is never been clarified. Amy he started out as a teacher at a private school in manhattan. Absolutely. He then went to bear stearns and let bear stearns, the investment bank, under very mysterious circumstances. What is interesting about that have a curious power over the two gentlemen who andbear stearns, james cain ace greenberg. He was certainly question by the sec back in the day. Amy the securities and exchange commission. Yes, about what he might have known about an Insider Trading both ace greenberg and jimmy cain were also questioned. This is a man who definitely trades in the knowledge he has over the rich and famous and uses it for leverage. He also introduces rich and famous people like bill clinton, like donald trump, to girls. About thesked me charges today. I think what is so interesting about the charges today, they are the result the indictments that are going to be unsealed are the result not only of the fbis work, but of the public corruption unit. Which suggests, and i am speculating here, that bribery may have been involved. And why that is so important is, for me, who tried to expose this ior what he is back in was actually reporting it in late 2002, the piece ran in 2003 gots ever since then, he is away. He is been untouchable. His money has somehow bought him the ability to evade justice. And so i am fascinated by the fact that public corruption unit has been involved in this investigation, as well as the fbi. Amy in 2018, the miami herald published an awardwinning series of articles exposing epsteins crimes and the high powered people who protected him. Its called perversion of justice. This is a clip from a video accompanying the piece where we hear the voices of the women describing what happened to them. I went from a decent situation to being a runaway to living in foster homes to just already being hardened by life on the streets. He other girls i knew were coming frorom trailer parks,s, having gun shootings, drugs. My mother was on drugs at the titime. She could not provide for me, and a was prettyty much h homel. O one childld will be lord o, paid substantial sums of money, would be offered to further inducement of being paid a bounty for anybody else that she was able to bring to epstein. In network developed were many young girls in the same kinds of circumstance well deptpth being depth ofd well being victimized. We were put in the backseat of a cap. I remember driving down okeechobee boulevard and thinking how i had never been on Palm Beach Island before in my whole entire life. Looks by the time i was 16, i , 14, 15,p to 75 girls 16 result. From School Parties is where i would recruit them from. Secret about was, gofundme more girls. He wanted fresh, young faces every single day. Amy that video from the miami herald that did this incredible series perversion of justice. It was by julie brown. Vicky ward, how old are your 20 on his right now . Sons. 6 years old amy that a significant because you are pregnant at the time you are doing this piece. Can you describe what happened to you when you wrote this piece . You spoke to Jeffrey Epstein. Multiple times. Out all of these important bankers and academics and financiers to talk to me. He called me all the time, but he would threatening. He would talk and then he was a, vicky, i dont like thihis thes. Something is going to happen to your unborn children. It lightly of say but i would to the magazines general counsel at the time. Amy you actually put security in the nicu . Early, heey came asked me what hospital they were going to be born at, so i did put security on them. They were born two months prematurely. I think one of the reasons it thisme so long to revisit story is that it was obviously extremely traumatic, n not of te least that getting the two young women who talked to me to go on the record, verifying with sources around them their accounts of what happened to them, it is extraordinarily harrowing and difficult. Amy these are two sisters. Yes. And two sisters amy alleged. Alleged Jeffrey Epstein had assaulted them on separate occasions but one of them at the time was under age. It was a classic story of two young women who did not come from a particularly rich family. The younger one wanted to go to an ivy league school. Jeffrey offered to pay for this, but only if he got to know this young woman better. He was very plausible. , very his girlfriend charming, well educated, british socialite amy she is the daughter of the former owner of the new york daily news. She phoned these young womans mother t treassure her how safe they would be. The poor mother now blames herself terribly for what happened. To numerous people. A friend of the older daughter. They all verified they remembered these two women recounting their trauma at the time. So brave. And then to suddenly find at the 11th hour that somehow jeffrey got to the editor of the magazine. This story showing amy wait a second, he came into the offices . He came in. I was not told about this. He came in and had a private meeting with the magazines then editor Graydon Carter, after hech i was informed that believed Jeffrey Epstein. I was told that Jeffrey Epstein had told Graydon Carter that he as sensitive about the women so they would be pulled from the story. So now it would be a business story. Amy about what . A business story that explained Jeffrey Epstein was not who he claimed to be in his professional life. Powerful, also story of what happened to these women got taken out. Amy and these girls, are they involved with the case being opened today that he is being brought into a manhahattan cour . I dont know. I have not confirmed that. One source tells me possibly they are. Me, would be amy 16 years later. 16 years later. One thing that has haunted me, there i was trying to expose this man in 2003 and the original the first fbi investigation, the one that got 2006, did not begin until so it has always been on my ,onscience that for three years he molested hundreds of f sort f helpless, poor women who were in no position to fight back against him. Amy y alex acosta, we will endt with him, who is now President Trumps lalabor secretary, wasas u. S. Attorney in florida at the time. This sweetheart deal, to say the least i mean, Jeffrey Epstein, if found guilty at the time of molesting, assaulting the number of women who have brought cases, something around 40, could have gone to joe for life in prison. If Alexander Acosta had left it to the fbi to continue with its investigation. Meeting withad one a member of Jeffrey Epsteins powerhouse, massive legal team, and he later justified the plea deal that was cut, nonprosecution agreement. It was significant, not just couple to Jeffrey Epstein, but four conspirators who had enabled him. He claimed later, well, you know, the womens testimony might not have stood up. This is the best deal i could get. In fact, we now know that he actually broke the law. Youre not allowed to cut a deal like that and not tell victims whwho were cooperatingng with a separate fbi investigation which is what happened. They were completely blindsided by this thing. And finally this year, and i to ,ay thank you to julie brown the miami herald journalist, for highlighting the issue before congress and thank you to ben sasse, the republican senator from their breath for joining with democrats and going back to the Justice Department and saying, what honor happened . This is a clear miscarriage of justice. Investigate it will stop i think is against the Political Climate of goodwill that you now have the fbi saying, ok, lets go back to amy as we end, the relationship that Jeffrey Epstein had with president clinton, flew him numerous times around the world, and with President Trump . Yes. Planehe called that right, the lolita express. At that . Jeffrey epstein. Power, i think the whole reason he got away for so long is the extraordinary network that he could bring down with him. That is why he has remained untouchable for so long. His friendships are big part of the story. Amy well, we will certainly continue to follow this. Vicky ward investigative , journalist who profiled Jeffrey Epstein for vanity fair in 2003 in a piece headlined the talented mr. Epstein. Shockingome back, the case in alabama were prosecutors have dropped manslaughter charges against a pregnant woman whose pregnancy ended after she were shot in the stomach a coworker, then sheer self was charged with manslaughter. Stay with us. [music break] amy bim bom by joao gilberto. The legendary brazilian composer and performer and father of bossa nova died saturday at the age of 88. This is democracy now , im amy goodman. We turn now to alabama, where under immense public pressure prosecutors have dropped manslaughter charges against a pregnant womoman whose pregnanay ended after she was shot in the stomach by a coworker. Marshae jones, a 28yearold africanamerican woman, was charged with manslaughter because the shooting caused her pregnancy to end. She was shot. Local police accused jones of starting the fight that led to the shooting in the parking lot of a Dollar General store outside of birmingham. A grand jury blamed jones for initiating a fight knowing she was five months pregnant andd dismissed charges against the shooter. The case drew National Outcry from womens rights advocates concerned about the criminalization of pregnant women and the legal implications of socalled fetal personhood. The National Abortion federation along with the Yellowhammer Fund and other reproductive justice advocacy groups launched a Successful Campaign to get the charges against jones dropped. Alabama is one of 38 states to have a fetal homicide law. Well, for more, were joined now by lynn paltrow, fouounder and executive director of National Advocates for pregnant women. Welcome to democracy now it is great to have you with us. In his brief time we have, explain to us this case. 28yearold africanamerican pregnant woman, shot in the stomach and she is charged with manslaughter. That is what the world looks like. We tend to divide things u up ad say this is about abortion and this is about something else. It is the same thing. Our people with the capacity for . Regnancy secondclass citizens in november 2018, alabama past pururported tot just focus on abortion but included a statement t that undr all of Alabama State laws, it would be policy to protect and recognizize the sanctity of unbn life and the rights of unborn children. It was a month later this shooting happened in which a pregnant woman is a victim of what would otherwise be thought of as a crime and you h he the local policice lieutenant announcing that the only real victim in this case was the fetus. The result later on by the grand jury was to indict marshae e jos andd then what we see as a resut of the advocacy, nationally but also i local advocates, w was against a visionon of pregnant women in which they can be arrested for being victims themselves of crimes by being putting themselves in danger. And it was local statebased organizatitions with a supportie groups, the Yellowhammer Fund, the law firm of f white, arnolo, and doubt that had a motion to dismiss filed within a few days, and also we have to credit the Prosecutor Police washington, the first black elected prosecutor in alabama, for doing the right thing. Amy so the charges against marshae were dropped. Close a work. They should d never have been brought in the first place. Amy explain. A fetus in a place like alabama has the same rights as a child. Absolutely not. They have more rights than a child. No child has a right to have a carriage arrested for the work theyre doing or for putting themselves in a dangerous location. No child has the right to force a parent to undergo cistern section. But ifif you have unbornrn chil biggest the state control over pregnant women that is unlike anything any other person in the United States of america. Amy how unusual is this case . This got national attention, but that is because groups rallied around it. Twowo things. It is not the first case in which a woman h has experience f pregnancy loss that has been charged with manslaughter or murder. She is one of hundreds of women in alabama who have been arrested because of pregnancy. Hundreds of other women have been arrested as the result of chemical endangerment of a child law, child redefined by roy moore and the state Supreme Court to include the unborn from the moment of fertilization. But it is the first case of the many different permian amy meaning if you took a drug you would be charged with endangerment. And it included medications your doctor been provided to you. It included women who receiveved methadone trtreatment. It could applyly to women withot who got an epidural. Is one of hundreds of women in alabama but it is the first time we have seen a case where a woman has been arrested because she was unable to protect herself from an act of extreme violence. So she suffers a wounded to her stomach. She loses her pregnancy she wanted, because she wanted, and they turn around and turn her into a criminal. We are very grateful, very and aed by the activism prosecutor that they dropped the charges, but what we need to turn to now is the almost 600 other women in the state who have been arrested under the guise of the war on drugs war on drugs, which people are not very sympathetic to, but in fact these women overwhelmingly are giving birth to healthy babies. Drugs are not more dangerous than being in a f fight. They are less dangerous. Amy are women imprisoned . They have been imprisoned. They have had their children taken away. They go to the hospital for health care and doctors are working with local prosecutors. Women give birth and are taken to jail. Some of arrested while pregnant. This is an important step of activism on the behalf of Marshae Jones. We need to seat on b behalf of l of the pregnant women in alabama. Amy what about around the country . Alabama. Not unique to i think we want to dismiss alabama as some outlier southern state, but we have cases like this in new york will stop we were successful in getting a manslaughter charge overturned by the highest court in new york for a woman who was in a car accident while pregnant on which they blamed her for the car accident will stop amy we have partd but we will do two. Lynn paltrow. Democracy now is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. Email 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 ]