Transcripts For KCSM Democracy Now 20170406

Tattered playbook. And that is attack, attack, attack, especially women who speak out against their moneymakers. Amy more than 50 advertisers showoycotting oreillys over his history of sexually harassing women, but the fox host has picked up the support from one big fan President Trump. He says he does not think oreilly did anything wrong. We will get the latest. Plus, we will look at u. S. China relations. Pres. Trump we cannot continue to allow china to rape our country. And that is what theyre doing. It is the greatest theft in history of the world. Amy that was donald trump on the campaign trail. Today, he is hosting chinese president xi jinping at his maralago golf resort. All of that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. President donald trump said wednesday a chemical weapons attack in syria this week that left at least 86 people dead had altered his position on syria and its leader bashar alassad. Speaking at the white house alongside King Abdullah of jordan, trump called the attack an affront to humanity, but offered no details about his planned response. Pres. Trump it crossed a lot of lines for me. When you kill innocent children innocent babies. Babies. Little babies. With a chemical gas that is so lethal. People were shocked dear what gas that was. That crosses any, many lines. Amy when trump was later asked whether he would consider military intervention in syria, he said he would not disclose his plans leaving open the , possibility of a surprise attack. Trumps remarks came just days after his administration said it would no longer seek the ouster of bashar alassad. On friday, the u. S. , france, and britain accused the Assad Government of carrying out a chemical attack. A spokesperson for russian president Vladimir Putin called the gassing of civilians a dangerous and monstrous crime, but they did not name anyone as the perpetrator. At the United Nations, u. S. Ambassador nikki haley told the Security Council wednesday the u. S. Was prepared to take unilateral action against syria. When the United Nations consistently fails in its duty to act collectively, there are times in the life of states that we are compelled to take our own action. Amy u. S. Ambassador haley held photographs of syrian children killed in tuesdays gas attack, asking, how many more children have to die before russia cares . The journalistic Monitoring Group airwars reports over 700 children have been killed in u. S. Coalition airstrikes in iraq and syria since august 2014. President trump has removed his chief strategist, steve bannon, from the Principals Committee of the national Security Council. The move reportedly came at the request of trumps National Security adviser, h. R. Mcmaster, who objected to trumps top political adviser shaping National Security policy. Bannon is the former editor of the web site breitbart. Com, which frequently publishes sexist, and white supremacist views. Trumps move will also restore will trumps move will also restore the chair of the joint chiefs of staff and the director of National Intelligence to the national Security Council after the pair were initially told they would attend meetings only when invited. Trump has also added cia director mike pompeo, u. N. Ambassador nikki haley, and Energy Secretary rick perry to the council. On capitol hill, Senate Democrats are preparing to mount a filibuster today against Supreme Court nominee neil gorsuch, as republican Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell prepared to change senate rules to confirm Supreme Court nominees by a simple majority, the socalled nuclear option. The move would pave the way for gorsuchs confirmation in an upordown vote friday, and could radically change how future Supreme Court appointees are selected. Ahead of todays showdown, oregon democratic senator jeff merkley held a filibusterlike session overnight tuesday, speaking for over 15 hours in protest of gorsuchs nomination. Merkley repeatedly cited the refusal of republicans to even consider president obamas nominee to the Supreme Court in march of last year, Merrick Garland. To confirm anyone but Merrick Garland to the seat confirms the senate as the thief who took the seat for the first time in u. S. History and transported to another president in an effort to pack the court. Amy meanwhile, politico is reporting Supreme Court nominee neil gorsuch borrowed heavily from several authors for his 2006 book and an academic article, without citing their work. In one chapter in the future of assisted suicide and euthanasia, gorsuch lifted entire passages from an indiana law journal article, with minor additions and changes to verb tenses. Syracuse University Writing professor Rebecca Moore howard told politico each of the individual incidents constitutes a violation of academic ethics. Ive never seen a college plagiarism code that this would not be in violation of. President donald trump travels today to the trump Maralago Club in palm beach, florida, to meet with chinese president xi jinping, the first meeting between the two leaders. Since taking office, trump has already spent 17 days at maralago at an estimated cost to taxpayers of 3. 3 million per trip. Ahead of the talks with xi, trump predicted a difficult meeting, promising to confront the chinese leader over trade deficits and currency manipulation. The pair are also expected to discuss north Koreas Nuclear weapons program. Trump has warned hes willing to take unilateral action against north korea. Well have more on the meeting between donald trump and xi jinping after headlines. President donald trump lent his is lending his support to bill oreilly wednesday as the number of advertisers boycotting the fox news hosts program has increased to at least 52 following revelations that fox news and bill oreilly paid out 13 million to settle lawsuits by five women who accused oreilly of Sexual Harassment and inappropriate sexual behavior. Other women have made similar accusations. In an Oval Office Interview with the New York Times trump said, wednesday, i dont think bill did anything wrong. I think hes a person i know well he is a good person. Trumps support for a rally came days after he issued a president ial statement proclaiming april to be National Sexual assault awareness month. In response, naral Communications Director Kaylie Hanson long tweeted a man who bragged about committing Sexual Assault and grabbing women by the pussy is defending bill oreilly. Enough said. Meanwhile, a third fox news employee has joined a lawsuit charging the network with Racial Discrimination. The suit claims top executives, including former ceo roger ailes, refused to intervene as African American women employees were forced to endure yearslong relentless racial animus at the hands of a white manager, judith slater. Fox news fired slater in march, just before the lawsuit was filed. In iraq, forces battled ices on the edges of mosuls old city today is a top iraqi general claimed his troops were slowing their offensive to prevent more civilian deaths. The fighting came as iraqi officials said wednesday theyve pulled nearly 300 bodies from the site where a march 17 airstrike buried civilians seeking shelter from the violence. The u. S. Commander in the fight against isis acknowledged theres at least a fair chance the u. S. Led coalition was responsible for the deaths. In pakistan, a suicide bomb blast killed six people and wounded at least 18 others in the city of lahore wednesday. The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the violence, which targeted census workers. Pakistan has deployed some 200,000 troops to provide security for this years census, the countrys first since 1998. In puerto rico, thousands of Striking University students packed a coliseum in san juan wednesday in an unprecedented National Assembly to discuss austerity cuts proposed by puerto ricos oversight Management Board in order to pay wall street bondholders. The students voted to strike indefinitely in protest of plans to cut 450 million of from the university of puerto rico general fund. This is striking student Veronica Figueroa huertas. We need to balance what we win versus what we lose, if we are in the fight or not. In the past, we have seen how other fellas have sacrificed themselves. If we need to lose the semester, something that is never happened before due to shutdowns and strikes, but one of the counter arguments. If this is the first time we lose a semester, we lose it and retake it, i think we can come transformanges and the system. When you to invest in tools such as education. Were the ones who need to put pressure to make that happen. Amy the striking students are demanding reforms including an end to budget cuts, no tuition increases, and an independent audit of puerto ricos debt. In new york city, mayor bill de blasio has said the jail on notorious Rikers Island will be closed within 10 years. The announcement comes after many years of organizing to close the jail, which has been the site of brutality by corrections officers. A commission has recommended replacing the Rikers Island jail with five new smaller jails, a plan that would cost 10 billion. Among the cases of injustice that have called attention to rikers is the story of Kalief Browder, who committed suicide in 2015 at the age of 22 after he was sent to rikers for nearly three years on suspicion of stealing a backpack. He always maintained his innocence and demanded a trial. Instead, he spent nearly 800 days in solitary confinement. This is rapper jay z, who produced the docuseries time the Kalief Browder story, when i asked him if you would call for Rikers Island to be closed. Do you think rikers should be closed . If anything like that has happened if that happens to one could come any place that that can happen to any could should be closed. Amy pepsi has pulled an advertisement featuring reality tv star Kendall Jenner following widespread ridicule and anger for attempting to coopt the black lives Matter Movement to sell soda. The commercial presented jenner as a hero after she offered a can of pepsi to a Police Officer in the middle of a peace march. Prompted a picture of Martin Luther king saying misstatement, pepsi apologized saying it missed the mark. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Nermeen and i am nermeen shaikh. Welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. In syria the death toll from a suspected chemical weapons attack in a rebelheld town in the province of idlib has risen to 86. The dead include at least 30 children. Dozens of civilians were also injured. Much of the International Community has accused the Syrian Military was responsible for the attack. Syria has denied the charge claiming the chemicals were released after a syrian airstrike hit a stockpile of chemical weapons controlled by rebel groups. On wednesday, the u. N. Security council held an emergency session where britain, france, and the United States put forward a resolution condemning syria. Amy meanwhile, at the white house, President Trump said the attack had transformed his views on the war in syria. Just last week, the Trump Administration was signaling it would not push for the removal of syrian president bashar al assad. But during a press conference on wednesday with King Abdullah of jordan trump struck a different , tone. The chemical attack crosses a red line for you . Pres. Trump it crossed a lot of lines for me. When you kill innocent children innocent babies. Babies. Little babies with a chemical gas that is so lethal. People were shocked deerwood gas it was. That crosses many, many lines. Beyond a red line. Many lines. I will try you that attack on children yesterday had a big impact on me. Big impact. It was a horrible, horrible thing. And i have been watching it and seeing it, and it doesnt get any worse than that. And i have that flexibility. And it is very, very possible and i will tell you, it has already happen that my attitude toward syria and assad has changed very much. And if you look back over the last few weeks, there were other attacks using gas. You are now talking about a holder for level. Nermeen when President Trump was asked whether he would consider greater military intervention in the conflict, he said he would not disclose his plans. Tuesdays attack has been described as the largest chemical attack in syria since 2013. A day after the attack in idlib, the United States, the european union, and middle eastern nations pledged 6 billion in aid to syria at a conference hosted by the eu and the United Nations in brussels to raise funds for humanitarian relief. Amy almost half a Million People have been killed in the war in syria, which has entered its seventh year with more than 6 million syrians displaced inside syria and 5 million Syrian Refugees living outside syrias borders. To talk more about the situation we go to boston to speak to na , sergie attar, a syrianamerican writer from aleppo. She is cofounder and head of the karam foundation, a Charitable Group assisting syrians inside and outside country. Welcome to democracy now can you talk about what you understand happened on tuesday . Thank you for having me. What we saw on tuesday was one of the most severe chemical weapons attacks we have seen inside syria since 2013. And the death toll is over 80 people. Hundreds of wounded. Many women and children dead, again. To death once it is a series of attacks that really hasnt stopped in the past six years. It was more intense. The death toll was higher, but across syria, we have seen death in every single form every day. We have seen death by barrel bombs. Death by thermal bombs. Death by torture. So many forms of death you cannot even count anymore what we have witnessed in the past six years of this endless nightmare of loss. And tuesdays attack was more intense, more severe. We have to find a way to end these attacks on syrian civilians and families. Nermeen you have been in touch with people in Khan Sheikhun in idlib where the attack took place. What have they been telling you about what is needed there now . A you know, we are humanitarian organization. When these kinds of attacks happen, we go into emergency mode. We reach out to people on the ,round to see what they need what is missing from them on the ground, how we can alleviate their suffering and pain. This time, the response was very stark, very bleak, and they said, nothing you can said will save us. Nothing you can send will help us. All we need is your prayers. Nermeen how do you respond to what trump said that his attitude as a consequence of this attack, his position on assad and syria has changed . And speaking wednesday, he faulted obama for not enforcing his redline on chemical weapons, following the 2013 attack. Trumka i think the Obama Administration had a great opportunity to solve this crisis a long time ago when he said the red line in the sand. When he did not cross that line after making the threat, i think that set us back a long ways, not only in syria, but in many other parts of the world because it was a blank threat. I think it was something that was not one of our better days as a country. Nermeen in 2013, trump himself had urged obama not to go to war with syria, tweeting the only reason president obama wants to attack syria is to save face over his very dumb red line statement. Do not attack syria, fix usa. Can you comment on that, what trump said in 2013, the extent you think to which some if at all, you think the obama and administration is responsible for what is happening in syria and the truck statement that has forced him or make him change his position on assad and the syria conflict . Absolutely. The red line statement in 2013 and after the chemical weapons attack and nothing happening to stop the assad regime and its allies from attacking syrians, killing syrians by chemical weapons and other means, definitely set a precedence for really a green light from the world, including the Obama Administration and this administration, that everything is ok in syria, attacking people is ok, killing people is ok, continue doing what youre doing. This is what we have sent the message to the assad regime and its allies. We are tired of hearing these empty promises, empty words, into red lines and condemnations from the previous administration. We heard it over six years. And now this administration is continuing to send mixed messages and messages that are filled with hypocrisy, which is not surprising from this administration. And the attitude changing, yes, maybe it has changed. But what does that mean for syrian lives . What does it actually mean for the future of syria . That is the biggest question. We are tired of the empty words and threats, and the talking about being sad about syrian children being killed. We want to see an end to our people suffering and an end to the senseless death of syrians. Amy on friday, the u. S. Ambassador to the u. N. Nikki haley, though she made a very strong statement yesterday, on friday she and Rex Tillerson, the secretary of state, said she said our priority is no longer to sit and focus on getting alassad out. Like marcoicans, rubio, the senator from florida, was saying, this what laid the groundwork, this gave a signal for a side to move ahead with this attack on tuesday. Do you agree with this . I dont know if that specifically caused this incident. I think that if you look at what has been happening every single day, there really is no logic to the way this regime has been attacking its own people since 2011. I think that statements like this make it easier to continue on. I think that the brussels conference happening also makes it easier to make these kinds of attacks happen. I think that questioning what led to this assault is very difficult because we see these kinds of assaults every single day. I mean, when people are talking only about Khan Sheikhun, were not talking about were over 120 barrel bombs were dropped on one area within just a few days. Hundreds of people have been killed across syria. In just in the treatise incident alone, we have a friend who is a Syrian American poet living in denver who lost nine people from her immediate family when in entire building collapsed on her family outside damascus. These attacks are happening every single day. Theres no logic to them. Every single day, syrians face death i some kind of form, by the syrian regime, its allies, by the u. S. Coalition now, by isis, by all of these forces that have declared the Syrian People their enemies. Amy Obama Administration people say it is wrong to say obama did nothing after the 2013 gas attack. , that he worked out a deal with of gas,or the removal weapons of mass destruction from syrias a small. What happen with that . Why is this gas available and do you know what it is . Know what itnt is. Some of the World Health Organizations are saying it is some kind of nerve gas, might be sarin plus chlorine. We dont know. We do not know how much the assad regime gave access to these organizations that investigated the arsenals and its destruction. , organizations and investigative authorities, have not been given access to syria to be able to remove chemical weapons, to be able to remove all sorts of weapons that have been killing syrians. And that is the problem. There are no investigative groups coming in from the u. N. , from other groups, to be able to really understand what is actually happening. And right now the people of idlib and elsewhere are asking syrian civil theyre asking for investigative groups to come in and investigate to see what kind of gas this was and where it came from. Nermeen lina, could you say what you know of the targets of the u. S. Led Coalition Airstrikes . Who are they kidding in syria . A lot of civilians have also been killed in u. S. Led airstrikes. So the u. S. Led airstrikes are targeting ices. Isis. Were seeing many of these acks being not targeted not being precise, if we want to use that kind of word of Precision Targeting of terrorists. And what were seeing instead are very large bombs being dropped. And in instances, hitting schools, hitting mosques where there are civilians, where there are children. And were seeing the death toll of civilians rise because of such a tax. Nermeen what do you think the Trump Administration should be doing . Do you think they should be pushing for assads removal . I think the Trump Administration and World Leaders and the u. N. Security council and, really, everybody should be working toward finding a way toward peace, justice, security, and freedom for the Syrian People. This includes bringing all of the perpetrators of the wars, the war crimes and syria, to justice, including the assad regime and its allies in the extremist groups who are responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of syrians. Amy let me ask you about President Trumps muslim ban. That no syrians, something he repeated on the campaign trail in mostly and then included in the van, that has been stopped by the courts at this point, no syrian refugee can come to this country. What about now . Well, our record on welcoming Syrian Refugees is very, very disappointing and shameful. Obamatarted with the administration. Right now we have around 14,000 Syrian Refugees in the u. S. Come out of well over 5 million Syrian Refugees that exist worldwide. Already we have a bleak record. Obviously, with this new administration, that number has halted. I think it is very shameful that the United States is not welcoming Syrian Refugees in much greater numbers to find safe haven and to be able to rebuild their lives and rebuild their futures, and have a safe place to raise their families, which is all syrians really want. The most important part is the war needs to stop in the violence needs to stop because Syrian Refugees ultimately want to go home. Syrians want to go home. They want to rebuild their lives inside syria. And as long as these kinds of attacks continued daily, what we are creating is more and more internally displaced with less places for them to be able to go to and less places in the host countries immediately outside syria to be able to accommodate. And we are creating a major catastrophe. It is the largest humanitarian crisis of our lifetime. The attitudes towards Syrian Refugees must change, but the war must stop. Amy finally, russia. Really, russia plays and actively key role. President trump has said he was to change the relationship with russia and of course, theres a whole scandal around that. But russia did say today that it was a monstrous crime that took place, not willing to attribute the fault to the syrian government, but did change in saying it was monstrous what took place. What could russia do, and you think if they took action and stop in support of assad, jackets independently bring down the regime that could single handedly bring down the regime . Absolutely. Russias support of the regime for the past couple of years, especially in the airstrike supports, has been one of the most devastating parts of this war and what destroyed aleppo and many other places inside syria. Stopping that kind of support would bring the death toll down and would at least be able to create some kind of save zone, some kind of place for syrians be afraid ofot what is falling from the sky, targeting them and their families. This is what is needed in syria. The bombs you to stop. All of the airstrikes need to stop to at least begin to work towards ceasefires that hold and try to begin to work toward ending of the violence, ending of the killing, and creating a place where syrians can live in freedom, dignity, justice, and most importantly, peaceful stop amy we want to thank you very much for being with us, lina sergie attar, syrianamerican writer from aleppo. Cofounder and head of the karam foundation, a Charitable Organization assisting syrians inside and outside country. Speaking to us from boston. This is democracy now when we come back, President Trump says fox Host Bill Oreilly did nothing wrong as revelations come out of one settlement after another around women charging him with Sexual Harassment. Out overreilly hang 13 million, at least what we know to this point. We will speak with a lawyer for one of the women who have accused oreilly of Sexual Harassment. Stay with us. [music break] amy this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Rico President Donald Trump is lending his support to bill oreilly as a number of advertisers boycotting the fox news hosts program increased to at least 52, following revelations that fox paid out at least 13 million to pay out lawsuits a five women who accused oreilly of Sexual Harassment and inappropriate sexual behavior. Other women have made similar accusations. In an Oval Office Interview with the New York Times trump said wednesday, i think hes a person i know well he is a good person. I think he shouldnt have settled; personally i think he shouldnt have settled. Because you should have taken it all the way. I dont think bill did anything wrong. Trump support for oreilly came just days after he issued a president ial statement proclaiming april to the assault sexual harassmen awareness month. Naral Communications Director Kaylie Hanson long tweeted a man who bragged about committing Sexual Assault and grabbing women by the pussy is defending bill oreilly. Enough said. Meanwhile, the National Organization for women is calling for oreilly to be fired and demanding an independent investigation into the culture of Sexual Harassment at fox news. Amy the New York Times recently reported fox news and bill oreilly have combined paid five women up to 13 million to settle Sexual Harassment claims. The women are rachel witlieb bernstein, andrea mackris, Rebecca Gomez diamond, laurie dhue, and juliet huddy. They have accused oreilly of making unwanted sexual comments, kissing or touching them without their consent, and retaliating against them professionally when they rejected his advances. And on monday, Television Commentator dr. Wendy walsh came forward to accuse fox news star bill oreilly of sexually harassing her, and then retaliating against her professionally when she rejected him. This is dr. Walsh, describing what happened after oreilly offered her a job at fox news over dinner. So when dinner was finished, he simply said, lets get out of here. I assumed he meant we should move to the bar to continue our conversation about my career at fox news. He caught up with me said, no, no, come back to my suite. At that point, you know, i am a woman of a certain age. Ive had situations like this in my life. I knew how to behave. I simply said, im sorry, i cant do that. And he immediately got defensive and said, what do you mean . You think im going to attack your something . Soon after, he of the executive producer of the show call me and say that theyre going to take a break from the segment for a little while but they would start again later. They did with the other psychologist, but not me. But i knew it was coming. Nermeen that was Television Commentator dr. Wendy walsh. Oreilly has denied all the claims against him. On sunday, the wall street journal reported fox news recently renewed oreillys contract. According to nielsen, the Oreilly Factor is fox news most watched program and just finished its highestrated First Quarter in its history, averaging 4 million viewers. Amy well, for more, were joined by lisa bloom, civil rights attorney at the bloom firm. She represents dr. Wendy walsh, one of the women who has publicly accused bill oreilly of unwanted sexual advances. Lisa bloom, welcome to democracy now can you start off by responding to what donald trump told the New York Times as he sat in the president ofs United States, he said about bill oreilly, i dont think bill did anything wrong. I think is a person. He is a good person. I dont think bill did anything wrong . I think is emphasize the important part of that statement. I dont think he did anything wrong. Donald trump did not say, i dont think he did it. He does not think the Sexual Harassment is wrong. I think that is a true statement coming from donald trump, a man who is right about Sexual Assault, who is been accused by over a dozen women publicly of sexual misconduct. I represented four women during the campaign who made those claims. Donald trump is choosing to stick with his crony buddy bill half therather than population of america, women, who are really crying out for justice in Sexual Harassment cases. Nermeen lisa bloom, can you tell us about your client dr. Wendy walsh and what she says exactly happened to her with bill oreilly . A she was recruited to be regular guest on his show. They created a segment around her. She is a psychologist and relationship expert. It was called are we crazy . After about three weeks of really an onair audition for the job, she got an email from mr. Oreillys executive assistant inviting her to dinner with him. She was excited because she thought it was the perfect chance to talk about getting the on air paid position. They had dinner at a restaurant at the Bel Air Hotel here in los angeles. She says during the dinner, he said, your fantastic, told her she was beautiful, and would love to have her be a paid contributor. She got the dinner was going well. After dinner, he invited her back to his room, she says she rebuffed him. He then immediately became very cold and angry. He said, you can forget about all of the career advice i gave you, youre on your own now. She was on a few times after that from los angeles. He was from new york. Theshe was being weaned off show and ultimately, she was taken off the show entirely. Needless to say, she never got the job. Amy she did not sue, though . She did not sue. This was back in 2013. Instead, she continued to persist and try to get the job. She does what a lot of working women do, which is she thought, i will be a professionally. I will be nonthreatening. I will be friendly. This will blow over and he will come back around to giving me the job. She sent him some friendly emails now and then, always very professional. Thanking him for helping her, getting her book out there and saying she really wanted to get the segment back up again. But it never happened. I also want to tell you, fox news has said him and nobody is ever called our hotline about the Sexual Harassment complaints against villa oreilly. So yesterday wendy walsh and i called the hotline. She called in her complaint. We made a video of it. It is posted on my twitter. Amy let us play that clip. Prompt, thorough investigation of her complaint. Amy let us play that clip, which begins with the hotline on a muted response. s automated response. In 2013, i experienced Sexual Harassment as a job applicant at Fox News Channel by an employee named mr. Bill oreilly. Hello, maam . Yes . Is this your first time calling . Yes. How did you become aware of our phone number . My attorney lisa bloom found your number in the Employee Ethics handbook. What state was this in . California. You said the person youre wishing to report is first name l . Ll b,il yes. How do you spell his last name . Oreilly. Clip,here you have that lisa bloom, that you posted. Also, on cnn this morning, allison who worked at fox for years, said she never heard of this hotline. She did not even know there was a hotline to call. Is not my first case of Sexual Harassment against fox news. They have raised this in previous cases. I dont know if anyone who really was aware of this hotline. Listen, the bottom line is, no employee is required to call a hotline. You dont even know who is going to be on the other and of it. The law does not require it. Since they make such an issue out of it, we decided to do it. Amy let us ask about the people you represent, not in the case of bill oreilly, but now that donald trump has jumped into the story by saying that his friend oreilly did nothing wrong, you represented women against donald trump who alleged he sexually harassed them. If you could tell us about jill harth. And then i much less wellknown case, a 13 year old who accuses donald trump of assault. Tell us those stories. Harth, i was very proud to represent. She was the first woman to come with her story16 of alleged Sexual Harassment against donald trump. She had filed a lawsuit against him and the 1990s. It was out there for anyone to see. Although he says bill oreilly should not have settled the case in fact, donald trump settled jill harth plus case three weeks after she filed it. So pretty quickly. Her allegations have never change that he grabbed her, groped her on a number of occasions. She was really shocked and offended. At one point at maralago, she says he took her into training ivankas room which is a little girl. Or olders to the 13 girl, she decided ultimately not to come forward. She had filed a lawsuit with it she decided she just good not take the heat, frankly, and the lawsuit was withdrawn and dismissed. She did not want to speak publicly about her allegations. Amy the 13yearold, the person who was 13 when she accused donald trump of rape. Donald trump said he would sue the women who alleged he sexually assaulted them after the election. Has he sued any of them . We all knew that was a lie at the time, just like so many of the things that come out of his mouth. Of course, he has not sued. Said, bring it on i represented four of the women. If you want to sue any of them listen, nobody wants to get sued, especially by a man as powerful and wealthy as donald trump. But i said online i would represent any of them. We would crowd fund defense cause. Im very happy to do it. I will stand by them, just like i told wendy walsh i will stand by you if you come forward with your claims. I think it is important for women to have a strong woman stand with them when they do this kind of thing. It is very scary to do this on your own. Anybody who has a Sexual Harassment claim against a powerful man, i encourage them to get a strong feminist attorney to stand by them. My attorney my clients feel very empowered after they walked to the fire. I think wendy feels good about what shes doing right now. This can be done. I think it has to be done if we are ever going to change the move for our daughters and the ball forward. There is too much Sexual Harassment, not just by famous men, that workplaces in general. It will not change of we do not oppose it and speak out and bring lawsuits where that is necessary. Amy can President Trump be sued as president . Absolutely. We all remember the case apologize against bill clinton in the 1990s. The Supreme Court ruled unanimously that no one in america is above the law, and that includes the president. There is a Defamation Case against donald trump brought by one of his accusers because he called her a liar after she came out with her claims. Donald trump is saying that case should not go forward, he has immunity. That is fake law. The case is going to go forward. I wish the woman the best. Nermeen were also joined by arisha hatch, managing director of campaigns at color of change, which has Just Launched a Major Campaign calling on advertisers to drop the Oreilly Factor. Welcome to democracy now can you talk about this campaign, what youre calling for . Yes. Thank you for having me. We have been running this campaign for several years now. The manning that advertisers divest demanding that advertisers divest from bill oreillys show. Given the level of language, the level of hostility that we see him pursue on a daily basis, and obviously, a number of claims that have come up from women and many others about the hostile Work Environment they are enduring at fox. Nermeen what has been the response to the campaign so far . Have lots of advertisers pulled out . Yes. I think the count this morning is over 50 us far, about 100 current advertisers. There is tons of progress that has been made. Were continuing to contact advertisers, to make our case about what what we dont think they should be enabling and type of behaviors settlements. Were focused on a number of corporations that still have not done the right thing. Amy a third Fox News Channel employee has just joined to colleagues in their lawsuit that says they were subjected to Racial Discrimination by an executive who just before they filed the lawsuit was fired in march. Can you talk about what happened and who these employees of fox are . Yes. It is butntly does recently been reported and we have been in contact with three black women who are making Racial Discrimination claims, not directly related to the oreilly show, but through other executives a fox. We are talking to them later, but they are describing tons of racial epithets, and just a general pervasive hostility toward black people, black women especially, that they have encountered. I think that is why the conversation around what oreilly has done and said in the past and the advertisers that support him really extends beyond the factor. Their moneyr moving away from oreilly show to another show on fox news does not really get the job done. What were seeing time and again is a pervasive, persistent hostile Work Environment stop for anybody that is considered in other or outside the norm. Amy on wednesday, one of the plaintiffs told Good Morning America her employers mockery of the black lives Matter Movement was the tipping point. Walking down the hallway, if you encountered judith slater, she would put up her hands in this motion, i guess, mocking the black lives Matter Movement, walking to the bathroom, even saying good night to her at night she required us to say good night at 6 00 or whatever time you are leaving. Instead of saying it back, it is, hands up, dont shoe. Nermeen arisha hatch, can you talk about what she said and what she alleges was happening at fox news . Yes. I think she described the incident many of these women are describing several incidents very articulately and very well. I think what shes describing is an existing racial bias that is targeted and creates in a sustainable Work Environment for people unsustainable people who are just trying to feed their families. While it is sad, incredibly sad that these women have had to endure this, it is not surprising. It is not surprising this is happening behind the camera because we see so much of this sort of hostility in front of the camera. That is why this sort of campaign is so important. That is why i think corporate advertisers should take a Second Thought about continuing to support and enable this type of behavior because consumers do not want it. And many of the things that were hearing coming out of fox news are behaviors that these own advertisers, these corporations would not tolerate. Amy arisha hatch, they can for being with us. On monday, another fox contributor Julie Roginsky sued roger ailes, the former head of fox, for repeated Sexual Harassment. Arisha hatch, managing director of campaigns at color of change, which has Just Launched a Major Campaign calling on advertisers to boycott the Oreilly Factor. Actually, it has been going on for some time. And lisa bloom, civil rights attorney at the bloom firm. She represents dr. Wendy walsh, one of the women who has publicly accused bill oreilly ofnwanted sexual advances. April, as declared by President Donald Trump, is Sexual Assault awareness month. We will be back on china in a minute. [music break] amy this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Donald trump is hosting chinese president xi jinping today at his for the resort maralago. It is the first meeting between the leaders of the world two largest economic powers. On the campaign truck, trump repeatedly attacked china. Pres. Trump we cannot continue ourllow china to rape country. And that is what they are doing. It is the greatest theft in the history of the world. Amy trump tweeted last week the meeting next week with china will be a very difficult one in that we can no longer have massive trade deficits and job losses. American Companies Must be prepared to look at other alternatives. The meeting comes just a day after north korea launched another Ballistic Missile test wednesday. In an interview in a President Trump warned he would be willing to take unilateral action against north korea saying if china is not going to solve north korea, we will. For more, were joined by Orville Schell director of the , center on u. S. China relations at the asia society. He is coauthor of wealth and power chinas long march to the twentyfirst century. His recent article in the wall street journal is chinas once and future democracy. Welcome to democracy now what do you expect from todays meeting at trumps golf resort maralago . What is sort of alarming is that we really dont know what to expect. And i think that grows out of the reality that trump has no obvious sort of spelledout comprehensive plan. We have a kind of collision between what trump says and then what more reasonable people in his administration often do. There is a kind of collusion going on between those two to principals, and we will have to wait to see what happens. Amy what about north korea . It seems to be the number one issue we cant know what will go on but with the Ballistic Missile once again being shot off . North korea somewhat of a paradox. On the one hand, clearly the most dangerous and pressing issue for the u. S. On the other hand, china has increasingly i think recognized it as its in its interest. Have a nuclear north korea. That made tremendous sort of advances in sort of that recognition amy are they providing materials . They are. They have not gone on the full measure in terms of squeezing off north korea, imposing sanctions, shutting down the oil pipeline, banks still do business, airlines fly back and forth north korean airlines. Theres much more they could do. I think there is a remote possibility that trump is desperate for a deal. This is a place where i think he has most prospect, actually, of getting some kind of a deal. As i said, still remote because there is a convergent interest, although, many things still divide the u. S. And china in regard to north korea. He goes into the summit, and if he cannot come out of it with something emblematic of his dealmaking ability, i think it will be a bit of a black eye for him. Nermeen use adjusted earlier it is difficult to anticipate what precisely will happen during this meeting. And that is partially because trump is apparently, in modern history, in a administration, is a administration has the most uncertain china policy. I want to ask you about one of the people who has been crucial in his administration, steve bannon, whos had a particularly antagonistic rate for position visavis china. He is just been removed from the national Security Council. Could you say what his positions have been and now his removal month how his removal might impact froms position . There is a group in the white house, steve bannon would be one, and Peter Navarro the head of the National Trade council, who have taken a very hard line on china. Ofn spoken of the prospect war with china as being more than just a phantom. I think we have seen them somewhat marginalized or set aside and people like secretary mattis am a tillerson, has come into the mix a bit more but he is still a nondescript. There are some level heads contending with these people who are in the white house and taking rather extreme positions. Nermeen who are those level or heads . I would say mattis, the new head of the national Security Council. Athink Rex Tillerson is least knows how to run a big company. At least knows how to have a strategy. But we simply dont know how all of the pieces are going to settle down. And we certainly dont have any conference of plan for dylan with china. Nermeen what about the trade deficit . That is likely to be discussed. Jenna president ial campaign, trump compared u. S. Trade deficit with china to rape saying we cannot continue to allow china to rape our country . He was going to impose acrosstheboard to against a currencyclare them manipulator. He has not done that. Those issues i think are less pressing than issues like north korea and also the own level Playing Field for trade and investment. China risks losing the support, which has been traditionally very strong of u. S. Business, supporters of the nofault china policy, if you will. s election,re trump the relationship was fraying. Now we have trump coming in and making these extreme statements, which throws a further offbalance. Amy it has been joked it is at a golf resort, that xi is , cause of the millionaires game. His or something deeper about this, that it is at his private Membership Club of millionaires in a golf place where they will not be playing golf and trump can control the press much more there because it is his own private property . Can control who gets in and who doesnt get in . We dont know because we do not get the logs of the maralago visitors . Have theer they would summit, it would be incredibly tightly controlled. But i do think theres a certain irony. Xi jinping, the Party General secretary of the Chinese Communist party, showing up at a place like maralago while he is conducting an attack or up she campaign. This is donald trump. Diplomatic donald trump. This is sort of the equivalent of bushs ranch for xi jinping. Democratic ideals have deep roots in modern chinese history. Which is to say china has a long tradition of democratic sentiment that bubbled up again and again over the last century. It also has a deep tradition photography. Nnia throughout history, these two things have collated, at least in modern history. China has a rich tradition of democratic sentiment that keeps returning. Amy we will continue this conversation and post it online at democracynow. Org. Orville schell is director of the center on u. S. China relations at the asia society and coauthor of wealth and power chinas long march to the twentyfirst century. His recent article in the wall street journal is chinas once and future democracy. That does it for our broadcast. 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. 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