killing by remote." transgender african-american woman named cece mcdonald is facing trial for murder after she is harassed and physically attacked. she fought back. we will stick with her best friend and with katie burgess, executive director of trans youth support network. the vatican has reprimanded the largest of catholic nuns in the united states, accusing them of promoting radical feminist themes and focusing too much on issues of social justice. we will speak what sister simone campbell, head of one of the class -- catholic groups criticized by the vatican. >> let us not devastate the poor, disabled, the hungry. >> all of that and more coming up. this is "democracy now!," democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the house has passed a controversial cyber security measure in defiance of a veto threat from president obama. on thursday, 42 democrats joined 206 republicans who approve the seven intelligence sharing and protection act, or cispa, and a surprise vote. the measure would allow private internet companies like google, facebook, and microsoft to hand over troves of confidential customer records and communications to the national security agency, fbi, and department of homeland security, effectively legalizing a secret domestic surveillance program already run by the nsa. backers say the measure is needed to help private firms crackdown on foreign entities -- including the chinese and russian governments -- committing online economic espionage. but the bill has faced widespread opposition from online privacy advocates and drawn threats of a white house veto. the measure passed after lawmakers approved an amendment that would widely expand the government's ability to use the information it collects. michelle richardson of the american civil liberties union said the bill would severely undermine privacy rights. >> current law now creates a presumption of privacy in our phone calls, emails, and internet records. they say companies have to keep them private unless there is an emergency or the government serves them with a subpoena or warrant. in one fell swoop, this bill will say these privacy laws simply no longer apply. so all of the process afforded under those laws, the protections, the congressional reporting, the role of a judge -- all of that is swept away in one bill and will allow companies to decide how much, what type of information they want to turn over to the government. >> the u.s. and japan have finalized a deal that will scale back u.s. military presence on the island of okinawa by relocating soldiers to other asia-pacific bases. under the pact, 5000 soldiers will be moved to guam while another 4000 abuses to locations including hawaii and australia. at least four u.s. troops have died in two separate attacks in afghanistan. one service member was killed and three others were wounded when an afghan soldier opened fire in southern kandahar. it was the latest in a string of attacks against nato occupation forces by members of the afghan army. meanwhile, another three u.s. soldiers were killed in a bombing in an eastern conference in a separate incident, three afghan women were killed in the crossfire of fighting between nato soldiers and taliban fighters. it is not clear who fired the fatal shots. the the secret service is investigating reports that agents hired prostitutes in el salvador a year before it a similar scandal broke out in colombia this month. secret service agents reportedly got drunk at a strip club, paid for sexual acts, and brought escorts to their rooms, bragging that "did this all the time." the alleged incident happened in 2011, just days before president obama arrived for a state visit. secret service agents and military personnel were reportedly both and often the prostitution scandal in colombia. in brazil, a former sex worker said she plans to sue five u.s. embassy personnel for reportedly assaulting her outside of a strip club last year. she said she was badly injured after she was thrown out of an embassy van and run over. >> they grabbed me by the waist and threw me out of the van. that was when i tried to get up and i felt my leg burning because i had fallen under the van. one of the tires ran over me. they left me there and drove off. >> clashes erupt in bahrain thursday after the funeral for protest reportedly beaten to death by police. bahrain protesters threw molotov cocktails and police fired tear gas and stun grenades after mourners to prevent a march to honor the activist. opposition leaders say his body showed signs of torture. and other bahrain news, the bahrain activist and a daughter of the jailed hunger striker abdulhadi al-khawaja has been ordered to remain behind bars for seven days for protesting her father's imprisonment. the elder has been on hunger strike for more than two months while serving a life sentence for his role in the uprising. palestinian demonstrators marched in the occupied west bank thursday in another show solidarity with the growing number of palestinian prisoners staging a mass hunger strike in israeli jails. israeli protesters staged a rally near a military camp. at least 1003 entered 50 palestinian prisoners were launched a hunger strike earlier this month and supporters say the number has grown to over 2000. the white house continues to gear up for president obama's reelection campaign with mitt romney's emergence as the presumptive republican nominee. thursday, vice-president joe biden delivered a speech in new york touting president obama's foreign policy while criticizing romney as a throwback to the days of president george w. bush. >> if you're looking for a bumper sticker to sum up how president obama has handled what we inherited, it is pretty simple. osama bin laden is dead and general motors is alive. [applause] gov. romney's national-security policies, in our view, would return us to a past we have worked so hard to move beyond in this regard, there is -- there is no difference in what governor romney says and what he has proposed for our economy than he has done in foreign policy. in every instance, he takes us back to the failed policies that got us into the mess president obama has dug as out of. >> a paraplegic chicago man has filed a lawsuit accusing chicago police of wrongful arrest and physical abuse. reginald edwards, who is african-american, says he was free charging his electronic wheelchair in a restaurant and the clerk demanded he leave and called the police. edwards said two officers pushed him out on to the street and struck him in the face. the officers then allegedly demanded that edwards hide his injuries from their supervisor. a federal appeals court has overturned the conviction of an african-american mayor in louisiana whose prosecution had sparked accusations of racial bias. bobby higginbotham, the former mayor of the town of waterproof, was initially convicted on allegations of illegally raising his salary and other improprieties. supporters say higginbotham was targeted for china modernize the town's police department and in the process, and during the area's white sheriff and prosecutor. higginbotham was convicted in a trial that saw a number of irregularities including his lack of legal counsel after prosecutors blocked his attorney and the public defender had a conflict of interest. higginbotham has instead spent the last 10 months in jail, although one possible sentence was probation. the second circuit court of appeals reversed the former mayor's conviction and vacated his sentence. george zimmerman, the florida man charge in the killing of trayvon martin, has reportedly raised over $200,000 for his defense. the money was collected through his now-defunct website, which contained photos of pro- zimmerman slogans, including a sign at a rally by koran-burning pastor terry jones and a photo of a vandalized black cultural center at ohio state university where someone spray-painted the words "long live zimmerman." zimmerman was released on $150,000 bail earlier this week. climate change is accelerating. scientists in the u.s. and australia measured changing salt levels in the ocean over the past 50 years and concluded the water cycle over the ocean has intensified by about 4% as the world has been getting warmer. massive student protests against education cuts and tuition hikes continue in chile as well as the canadian province of quebec. wednesday, an estimated 50,000 students marched in santiago. in montreal, at least 85 people were arrested after protests erupted. the quebec student strike is in its 10th week. activists gathered in new york's union square thursday to announce plans for a mass of may day protests that will include immigrant groups, workers unions, and members of occupy wall street. the protesters called for the 99% to unify on may 1 and all our -- urged all workers to join them in union square. this is the secretary-treasurer of teamsters local 808. >> we want teamsters, laborers, we want the united food and commercial workers. this is a day that should be represented by hundreds of thousands marching like they did in 1886. we have to turn back the clock on mr. romney, on mr. obama, on the congress, on bloomberg. the 99% have to get their share. >> tens of thousands of people gathered in the rain in oslo, norway thursday to protest massacre suspect anders behring breivik by singing and norwegian version of the seeger's "my reno race." all across norway, and the region's flock to public squares to mark breivik's try with peaceful singing. he is charged with killing 77 people in a bomb and shooting rampage including 69 killed at a labor party youth camp, most of whom were teenagers. he said he targeted the ruling labor party because their policies were to open to muslim immigrants. a norwegian version, living together in harmony with specifically targeted by pratique last week -- the norwegian version of the song, which is about living together in harmony, was specifically targeted by breivik last week. protesters also marched on the courthouse in oslo and lined walkways with red and white flowers. >> ♪ who could ask for more ♪ >> those are some of the headlines. this is "democracy now!," democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. >> welcome to all our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. as the obama administration paves the way for a radical expansion of how it carries out drone strikes inside yemen, a major conference in washington, dc this weekend will highlight the human costs of this tsa's clandestine drone attacks. the drone summit, jointly organized by a group of human rights and advocacy organizations, aims to educate the american people on the exponential and lethal rise in the number of drone strikes during obama's presidency. the conference will also examine the rise in the use of drones for domestic surveillance. earlier this week, "washington post" reported president obama has granted a cia request to launch drone attacks, even if it does not know the identities of those who will be killed. the so-called signature strike policy went into effect earlier this month, and at least one attack has already been launched. it is widely expected the number of u.s. drone strikes will see a radical jump with a new policy in place. at least 40 civilians have been killed in 27 u.s. strikes inside yemen since 2009. the sweeping leeway for the strikes have already been in effect in pakistan. >> a pakistani lawyer who represents victims of u.s. drone strikes was granted a visa to the u.s. earlier this week. scheduled to address the drawn summit this weekend, shahzad akbar had previously been forced to cancel a trip to the u.s. after he was denied a visa. he will be joining us on the program. he filed the first case in pakistan on behalf of family members of civilian victims of drone strikes. >> i think people are scared. i have seen some people, interviewed some neighbors whose next-door house was hit. i could feel what they are feeling, because they are feeling this imminent threat. they are feeling helpless at the same time because they have no place to relocate. a lot of them have no skills, education, so they cannot relocate in any other part of pakistan. >> shahzad akbar is joining us from washington, d.c. he co-founder of the foundation for fundamental rights, an organization representing victims of drone strikes in pakistan the courts. we're also joined by medea benjamin, the co-founder of codepink, one of the organizers of this weekend's drone summit. her new book is called, "drone warfare: killing by remote." let's begin with media. talk about this drone conference and is active against of shahzad akbar finally making it to the united states, finally getting a visa. >> we are excited we are bringing together so many different kinds of people for this conference to look at the proliferation of drones not only in pakistan, yemen, somalia, but expansion of drone bases to places like to wait and ethiopia, australia, seychelles, turkey. this is a campaign that is out of control in the hands of the cia, joint special operations command, both in secret away from the eyes of the american public. we want to use this to shine a light on the program. we already know over 700 permits have been granted to u.s. agencies. that will expand exponentially in the coming years. we want americans to start in attention and do something to regulate, monitor, and rein in the use of drones. >> medea, in your book, one of the countries you mentioned is israeli use of drones. you said between 2006-2011, about 500 people were killed in gaza in the occupied territories by israeli drones? >> yes, israel is right behind the u.s. in the user of drones. there is a close collaboration between the united states and israel. the drums for use overseas to kill people were first developed by an engineer working for the israeli military. behind them in terms of producers is china. over 50 countries already have them. the proliferation is not just the united states and israel, but we should be worried about the worldwide proliferation. >> shahzad akbar, you have made it into the united states. can you talk about first trying to get here at 3 filed suit against the united states for drone attacks killing pakistani is that you represent? >> thank you for having me. it took me 14 months to get a visa to get to the u.s., because the main focus of visiting the u.s. after i started the drone of litigation in pakistan that i on behalf of the victims in pakistan wanted to reach out to americans so they can make an informed judgment on drones. their opinion matters. it will matter in the next election as well. they need to know what drones are doing to humans in pakistan. many of them are civilians. it has been said by independent groups and journalists as well, i higher number of civilian victims -- that has to be reported to the american public so they can make an informed judgment on drones. if the american government should let killing people overseas and their names. >> shahzad akbar, most of these attacks in pakistan are occurring in the tribal areas that are essentially cordoned off by the pakistani government to the outside world. could you talk about the particular conditions in these tribal areas? >> yes, most of the drone strikes are taking place in north waziristan, a trouble area on the western border of pakistan -- trial area on the western border of pakistan. there is the presence of over 40,000 troops in waziristan. drone strikes, why they're taking place so easily in that area is because this area is cordoned off by the military and no one from the rest of the country can go in and find out what is really going on. it is very difficult for information to get out of waziristan. and pakistan, we refer to it as the black hole of information. it takes as a long time to figure out that one particular drone strike had killed how many civilians and how many militants. that is the reason the cia as in pushing to keep it this way so that the rest of the world cannot know who are the victims. every time we have brought names and identities of victims from north waziristan, the civilian victims, we have been contradicted publicly by the cia if it's right or wrong affirmation. we have found from our investigation, even as people being taken out, they have been taking out these people on signature strikes based on their behavior or conduct. even the cia does not know the a dignity of most of the people there killing in waziristan >> can you talk specifically about the people you represented? last year, we talked about a news conference in pakistan of young people who were protesting the fact their family members, they called attention to the fact of family members were killed in drone strikes. i think one of the young man, teenager, was named tariq. he was there a this news conference organized by reprieve, the british human- rights group, then went back to his home and was killed in a drone strike, this after his family had been killed in a drone strike. his 12-year-old cousin was also killed. >> yes, this particular attack was really sad. tariq was getting training to become a photojournalist. he was going to work on a program,. we were distributing cameras among the youth and giving them specific training on how to use the cameras, and how to upload the pictures on to the internet to send to the rest of the world. he was one of the members of that group getting that training. it was october 27 retrained tariq and many others like him. he travels back to waziristan october 28. on october 30, he is killed in a drone strike while he was driving his mother to a clinic. fortunately, he was able to drive his mother to the clinic, but his younger cousin, probably 13 or 14, was also killed in the strike. it is interesting because the u.s. has never denied that have killed tariq. they say they have killed a youth and he is a military. they do not say anything further. we have been pushing the american government, specifically the ambassador and pakistan, that this particular individual was not a militant and have ample proof he was not. first of all, we should not be proving that and you should be proving he is a militant. but this person had been too -- killed. this person could have easily been arrested if he had anything against him, while he was at the conference, 1 mile away from the embassy for three days. there many other victims like tariq. another child victim we are representing, the house was attacked in 2009. it was reportedly said it was enough credit target. -- a cut a target. the boy was only 14 but he lost both his legs and an eye. he does not even go to school now because no one and his family and taken to school. he cannot walk. >> shahzad akbar, precisely on the issue of who is being hit, i wanted to president obama's comment earlier this year or he defended the administration's unprecedented use of armed drones to the so-called virtual interview conducted online. he also had knowledge the u.s. was carrying out drone strikes inside pakistan. obama made the comment after he was asked how he feels about the large number of civilians killed by drones since he took office. >> i want to make sure the people understand drones have not caused a huge number of civilian casualties. for the most part, they have been very precise, precision strikes against al qaeda and their affiliates. we are very careful in terms of how it has been applied. i think there is this perception somehow we're sending in a whole bunch of strikes willy-nilly. this is a targeted focused effort at people who are on a list of active terrorists who are trying to go in and harm americans, hit american facilities, american bases and so on. it is important for everyone to understand this thing is kept on a very tight leash. >> shahzad akbar, your response to the president's assessment of these drone strikes? >> this is precisely what i'll be talking about this weekend at the drone summit. starting from the first strike under president obama, and that first strike victim -- there is one surviving victim, a 17-year- old high-school student. having lost seven of his family members in the first strike president obama took. he has filed a case in islamabad against the americans for this strike. there are many others after that. what i see here is that either president obama is lying to the nation, or he is to naive to believe the reports the cia is presenting. the cia is saying to the president, we're taking out the right targets. this is something they need to assert their reasoning and see the people you're killing, what do you have against them? so far, none of the identities are known. tariq is the latest example of how randomly people are being targeted. there is a big number of civilians. march 17, 2011, another attack where the retired -- retaliated on a higher scale. many members of our retreat council were killed, trying to mediate a conflict between two some trials last year in north waziristan. all of them were taken out in a drone strike. pakistani president and prime minister, they all retaliated and condemned the attack. if we were to believe president obama, and means whenever we see is wrong and we just have to believe people who are remote control a killing people in pakistan even have the ample knowledge of their -- so the can take out these targets. >> medea benjamin, in your book you go into some of the behind- the-scenes action occurring among the soldiers and the cia operatives who are launching these strikes. kenny first clarify this issue of the signature of strike, what is different about that from the other targeted strikes of the administration? also, this entire issue of these attacks being made by people remotely, on civilians as well as supposed militants? >> they divide them between what is called the personality strikes, when you actually have a hit list and know the names of the people you're trying to take out, and the other is the signature strikes, where it is just by suspicious behavior. if you are with the group and carrying guns and you look like your militant. this is done by pilots thousands of miles away that do not know the culture or people, do not know the region. so they're given this tremendous responsibility. they killed by day, then are supposed to go home to their families at night. they're sitting in an air force base outside las vegas and are supposed to integrate themselves into their families and communities after spending the day watching remote control and using a playstation to kill people. we find these pilots have ptsd just like soldiers on the battlefield have as well. i think it is putting them in a terrible situation. i do want to say, so many people who spoke out against george bush's extraordinary rendition in guantanamo and indefinite detention have been very quiet when it comes to the obama administration, who is now putting people in the same kind of conditions but instead taking them out and killing them. we need to make people speak up and say when obama says this is on a tight leash, this is not true. it is a lie. the american people have to become aware of this and not be partisan about that. we don't care who is doing the killing, we just wanted to stop. >> what about the use of drones at home, medea benjamin? >> people should be aware the administration has already killed americans overseas. eric holder has said americans are not guaranteed judicial process, so there's nothing stopping them from killing americans here at home, either. when the head of the fbi was asked at a hearing with the drums to be used to kill americans at home, he said he was not sure about that. the drones are certainly coming back for surveillance. they're being used in experimental with police departments, but there's a very strong lobby of the drone of manufacturers who have 53 members of congress who formed their own drone of caucus and pressuring to get drones allowed and a much broader way in u.s. airspace. that will happen by 2015. every police department in this country wants its own drone. you have done so many great programs on the surveillance society. this will take it to another degree altogether if we have drones over head and they can come right into your window and look inside your home. get ready for another level of surveillance. not only that, they can be equipped -- they're talking about less than lethal means like stun grenades or hand grenades or all kinds of things on these drones. as i said, who knows whether they will be used to kill people in the u.s. as well. >> thank you both for being with us, medea benjamin, co-founder of codepink, author of the book, "drone warfare: killing by remote." i also want to thank our guest who has just come in from pakistan, shahzad akbar, a co- founder of foundation for fundamental rights. he was first denied a visa, but now in washington to attend the drone conference. medea benjamin, taking place in washington, d.c.. many people have been protesting the drone strikes. outside of syracuse at the hancock air field base, preach airport space from and where else? >> they can come -- people can still come to the conference on saturday or watch it live on the codepink web site. >> thank you both for being with us. this is "democracy now!," democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we will be back in a moment. ♪ [music break] ♪ [music break] >> you have been listening to "my rainbow race" sent by tens of thousands of norwegians yesterday. answering the man who massacred more than 70 norwegians last summer in a rampage, who is now on trial right now, anders breivik. this is "democracy now!," democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. >> the vatican has reprimanded the largest group of catholic nuns in the united states, accusing them of promoting radical feminist themes and challenging church teachings on homosexuality and male only priesthood. in a report issued last week, the vatican criticized the nuns for focusing too heavily on promoting issues of social justice, while failing to speak out enough about "issues of crucial importance to the life of the church and society," such as abortion and same-sex marriage. and archbishop and two bishops have been over pointed -- have been appointed to oversee the nuns and ensure their obedience to the church doctrine. this is not the first time a u.s. nun has been targeted for social justice activities. sister margaret mcbride was excommunicated for permitting an abortion to be performed in order to save a woman's life in 2009. she was later reinstated. critics have drawn a contrast between the churches harsh treatment of nuns and past attempts to cover up widespread sexual abuse of children by male clergy members. health care in the so-called war on women have become key issues in the 22 presidential race. the catholic church has strongly opposed obama's rule requiring health insurance coverage for contraception, accusing obama of infringing on religious liberty despite an exemption for religious institutions freed some have supported the rule but the leadership conference of religious which represents most catholic nuns in the u.s., declined to join us on the program but did release a statement last week saying they were stunned by the vatican's report. on wednesday, the issue the second statements and the national board would meet to discuss implementation of the vatican's plan in "and atmosphere of prayer, contemplation and dialogue." we're joined from washington, d.c., by sister simone campbell, head of the catholic social justice group network, which was also heavily criticized in last week's report. welcome to "democracy now!" what did the vatican say and what is your response? >> the vatican says they found our intensive work with people who live and party are speaking out for the poor to be insufficient for their lights. they were concerned we as celibate women were not focusing enough on some of the issues around abortion or gay marriage. to me, it is quite puzzling our work with the port, which jesus told us to do in the gospel, would be -- the source of such a criticism, i find it quite a badge of honor to be thought to be working so much for those who live at the margins of our society. that is what we are about. that is who we are. >> do you see this as somewhat of a shift in church policy? obviously, pope john paul who had very conservative the views on a number of issues similar to the current pope, also urged constant attention to social justice issues by members of the church. >> i think it evidences' some divisions within the leadership of the church because this pope has a fabulous encyclical letter sent to the church called charity and truth, or he talks about all of the basic principles of social justice -- where he talks of about the basic principles of social injustice. he said while you might have individual sense of justice, and links the life issues there, there is also the demand for engagement and social justice, which is the communitarian approach. he calls for both. i am totally puzzled the vatican, when we're working on one piece of it -- you cannot do everything -- what the vatican would criticize us for the the communitarian justice peace the pope was calling for. >> i want to go to a clip of father roy bourgeoise. he organized the annual protest against u.s. army school of the americans at fort benning, georgia. he has come under criticism for ordaining women. he compares the the silence to the outcry. >> three months after i attended the automation of [unintelligible] less than three months, i received a letter from the vatican demanding that i recant within 30 days or i would be excommunicated. the severity, the swiftness of the vatican's letter, i think, it calls into question just what is going on here? what really is the problem? i believe i did not commit a crime. i am following my conscience. it is amazing the thousands of priests in the many bishops were aware of these crimes of their priests and remained silent. these priests committing the crimes and the bishops remain silent have not been excommunicated -- yet. but many women who have been ordained to the priesthood and the priests and bishops who support their automation are excommunicated. i do believe there is a problem here. this is also a great injustice. >> father roy bourgeoise went on to explain why he thinks women priest are so important to have in the church. >> in the institution or organization are controlled in the hands of any particular group, whether it be banned or women, is not healthy. the catholic church is going to a real crisis. there are thousands of churches been shut down because there is a lack of priests. the sexual abuse crisis has really rocked the church to its roots. i am convinced if we had women priests and women bishops, the sexual abuse and the silence during those years would not have been possible. women simply would not have been silent. i am also convinced if we had women priests and bishops, there would not be such silence about this war in iraq. i am also convinced if we have women priests and bishops, they would have called for the closing of the school of the americas at fort benning, georgia. we need women for it to be complete and healthy. >> that was father roy bourgeoise. sister simone campbell, your thoughts? >> he has some good points. catholic sisters -- we were encouraged in the 1950's and in the 1960's to get educated, it advanced degrees, to enter into engaging the world. we have done that. i think that is part of what some of the challenge is. many of our hierarchy who have grown up in an all male clergy really do not know how to engage women who are thoughtful, prayerful, questioning, and willing to stand up for believes, even if it is not popular. i think they're not used to dealing with that level of candor. i think a lot of the tension experienced right now is around culture. if you will notice, none of the criticism -- they're not criticizing the court teachings of jesus. we follow the gospel. what they're criticizing is the engagement and culture. we come from a democratic culture. my community lives in a democratic culture. we elect our leadership. we nurture each other, are communitarian. we follow the rule of benedick . saying tod. listen to every member of the committee and the truth will emerge. this is a culture of monarchy or the vatican comes out of the european experience. where the monarch is always right. where dissidents -- where there is not room for a plurality of thought. the united states has an easing pluralism that is our gift because it creates such diversity like biodiversity. a create a vibrant society. i think of hybrid society really is running headlong into the culture of monarchies at this point. >> sister simone campbell, the father that -- the point father roy bourgeoise raced about sexual abuse in the catholic church. do you believe if there had been more women in leadership roles throughout the church worldwide that there would have been, over the past half century, somewhat of a different response by the elders of the church to this whole issue of sexual abuse, which really has created -- it is unbelievable the extent of it, country after country. >> is horrifying. the anguish this has caused to the victims, to their families, but also to the whole church, to the whole body of the church. we will never know whether or not women would have made a difference. i am a lawyer. i have practiced family law for 18 years in california. i know some of the cases i would most vigilant about, most protective about, i really rose up like the mama land to protect her cub for the cases were there was abuse. i have a hunch that maybe it would have made a difference. i think the thing is, going forward, the piece that is missing i think in the institutional response is thorough and repentance. while there has been apologies, they seem more paper apologies then engaged in the process. when you repent, you have to be sad. you have to sarraute, mourn. the fact my church is not able to mourn this horrible sent to gather, i think is a serious problem. women often are look to and our society as being able to express grief more easily. guys sort of seem to think they have to look tough and official witness is a problem. women know is the integrated full human person and i can only break open the sins if we weep and mourn. that is something our church needs to do both with regard to the center of women in the scandal of sexual abuse and all of the other ways the church is a very limited to an organization started by christ. it really need some help. >> i want to turn to a clip of you on fox news, bill o'reilly's show. you expressed support for president obama's healthcare plan. >> you believe in jesus were alive today would say, the government has an obligation to ensure a taxpayer expense every american gets quality health care and that is that? >> i think would jesus says over and over both in our lives and scripture is it is our response to make sure the these are cared for and it is a societal responsibility. therefore, we must as a nation make sure everyone has access to health care. >> simone campbell, how much of the vatican's criticism of your group network do you think has to do with your position on obama's healthcare plan? overall, what has been the catholic church's position not just on the issue of reproductive rights, the most recent controversy, federal support for reproductive health care, but overall for obama's healthcare plan? >> basically, catholic health association, the association of all the catholic health care providers in the u.s., and network, stood together in favor of the senate bill which was the one that eventually passed, the affordable care act. it is not perfect. it has a long way to go, but to get everybody health care, but we thought it was a significant step forward. i think this leadership is a direct contrast to what the bishops did. the staff did an analysis of the bill and more afraid there was maybe a dime that might go from federal money to fund abortion. because of their fear, they said they could not support the healthcare bill. the fact is, one federal court in cincinnati and i think a couple of others have looked at the issue and said as a matter of law, there is no federal funding of abortion in the air bill. in addition, it is very clear the pregnant women support act is to give women an alternative to provide them with an economic option they need in order to make a conscious choice. from our perspective, this was a significant step forward. the bishops, for reasons i do not understand, they continue to maintain they worry there might be some federal funding of abortion. i think this difference is a direct -- it appears to me to be directly related to what we got named. we are a political organization. we do not even have a formal ties with rum. live 18,000 people across the country who are activists. many are white folks, some are non-catholics, but i think they named us because we had a different position from the bishop. we took our one of faith. this is a political fight. i am a lawyer. it is not faith-based. their staff applied it in a different way. they like and we do service, but do not have thoughts or questions, don't have criticism. that is a real challenge in a political society when we have to do a deep new ones analysis in order to know the way ford, for the common good. >> thank you for being with us, sister simone campbell, executive director of network, a catholic social justice group. when we come back, we're going to minneapolis. stay with us. ♪ [music break] ♪ [music break] >> this is "democracy now!," democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. >> a transgender african- american woman is facing trial for murder after an incident outside a minneapolis bar where she was reportedly harassed and then physically attacked. chrishaun cece mcdonald is 23 years old and scheduled to stand trial later this month for second-degree murder. supporters say she was the victim on june 5, 2011 after two women and a man, all of them caucasian, began harassing her and her friends outside a bar, calling them racial and homophobic slurs. a youtube video posted by supporters of cece mcdonald describes what they say happened that night. >> chrishaun mcdonald is a student of fashion design and a community college. has a history of handling racism with grace. she was walking with three friends. people began yelling [bleep] sec and her friends. an argument took place and turned violent when one of the women broke a beer bottle on cece's face. it opened a large-traversal of again. a pair scissors worse the through -- were stuck in a swastika. >> all the events of that night remain unclear, the fight that ensued left 47-year-old dean schmitz dead after he was apparently stabbed by a pair of fabric scissors that have been in mcdonald's purse. police arrested mcdonald, the did not arrest anyone else at the scene. not only did dean schmitz had a swastika tattooed on his chest, but also had a prior criminal record. mcdonald supporters say the case is symptomatic of the bias against transgender people and african americans in the criminal-justice system. cece mcdonald could face up to 80 years in prison. for more, we're joined by a rai'vyn cross, one of cece mcdonald's best friends, and also katie burgess, executive director of trans geyouth support network. >> thank you for having us on. what is unique about this case, a work for the trans youth support network. we provide support and were founded out of this kind of violence we see against young transgender women of color, specifically. the types of violence that we see are not only pandemic within our community, but all across the nation. we would like to also point out the ways the violence plays out in the courtroom. we see these kinds of legal disparities. the fact that chrishaun is facing two counts of second- degree murder is just unheard of. we're asking the county attorney to drop the charges against her. the way myself and my organization got involved was that we had a relationship with cece prior to this because we are an organization founded because of this kind of violence against young trends women of color. we had a lot of connection with community leaders and were able to get the word out about cece's case fairly effectively. people were enraged about what happened to her. the refusal of the county to recognize her right to self- defense, and word has spread across the nation and across the world. we have seen local support around lgbt and national support as well. with a petition circulating with over 15,000 signatures asking an event county to drop these charges. -- asking hennepin county to drop these charges. we will be moving to trial on monday. today will be her final pretrial hearing. we're looking closely at that to see exactly what will be admitted into the trial. we have some concerns. >> an want to bring in rai'vyn cross, a friend of cece's. can you tell us about her and also the continuing harassment and problems that she and you have faced in years past? >> cece, chrishaun mcdonald is my best friend. she is a trance woman of color. she was walking along with a are also friends that gross african-american. they were attacked. yes, we have encountered this every day of our lives. we have a solid friendship of eight years. we express this on a daily basis when we wake up and go to sleep, in a public place or just outside period. transphobic slurs, racial slurs. i mean, we best deal with it by just wiping it off, just keep going on in staying strong. she is a fashion designer, an outspoken person, a person with a smile you cannot mess. she is a provider, a supporter of the community. i am here to tell the hennepin county attorney to drop the charges against chrishaun mcdonald. >> this kind of violence we have seen is not unusual. a lot of the young people i work with have experienced this type of violence in their lives, not only at the hands of the attackers, but in the justice system. both locally and nationally we see -- there is a report about in 2010 that shows transgender and people of color are likely to face twice the harassment and discrimination than white, non- tranche tender folks. >> katie burgess, what do expect to come out of this case? >> we're watching it closely, especially today. we're not sure what to expect, but what we're hoping to see is the whole story will be told in court. but today, cece will have her final pretrial hearing. we will see of key evidence will be allowed such as the swastika tattoo on the deceased as well as his prior record, but also this culture of violence the young trans women of color experience, whether not expert witness testimony will be told, such as the drastic way in which young trends women of color are murdered, which is, according to that report i mentioned, 44% of the murders in the u.s. are young trans women of color. >> we have to leave it there, katie burgess and rai'vyn cross will continue to follow that case. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to outreach@democracynow.org or mail them to democracy now! p.o. box 693 new york, new york 10013. 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