Transcripts For WHUT Democracy Now 20130118

As the Obama Administration agrees to aid frances military bombing in mali, over 20 foreign hostages remain unaccounted for in neighboring algeria in what has been described as one of the Biggest International hostage crises in decades. Then cycling legend Lance Armstrong admits to Oprah Winfrey he cheated his way to a record seven Tour De France titles. Yes or no. Did you ever take banned substances to enhance your cycling performance . Yes. Yes or no. Was one of those banned substances epo . Yes. Did you ever blood dope or use blood transfusions to enhance your cycling performance . Yes. Will speak to sportswriter dave zirin, author of, game over how politics has turned the sports world upside down. As the fourth anniversary of roe v. Wade approaches, we look at how antitrust legislation over the years has criminalize pregnancy, leaving hundreds of women to be forced to undergo unwanted medical procedures and locked up in jail or mental institutions all because there were pregnant . All that and more coming up. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. At least 22 foreign hostages remain unaccounted for in algeria in what is described as one of the Biggest International hostage crises in decades. On thursday, an algerian forces stormed a gas complex in the Sahara Desert to free hundreds of workers who have been taken hostage. Militants opposed to french electorate intervention in neighboring mali had seized the facility wednesday. In a statement carried by the media, the hostage takers said it remains unclear how many people died in thursdays raid, the estimates of the foreign casualties ranged from 4 to 35. A number of captives were reportedly freed in the offensive. The United States, britain, and japan were not warned of the algerian attack, even though their citizens were among those captured. Britain said friday the operation in algeria is still ongoing and reiterated an earlier claim by Prime Minister David Cameron that the news may be dire. Cameron made the remarks late thursday. We face a very bad situation at this bp gas compound in ontario. A number of british citizens have been taken hostage. We already know of one who has died. The Algerian Armed forces have attacked this compound. It is a very dangerous, very uncertain, a very fluid situation. I think we have to prepare ourselves for the possibility of bad news ahead. We will have more on developments in algeria and mali after the headlines. The United States ramped up its involvement in malis conflict thursday amid the hostage crisis. Crafting plans to use its cargo planes for shuttling french troops and equipment. Regional forces from west africa are turning the Armed Conflict against rebels who have occupied much of malis north since march. The European Union is planning to send about 500 soldiers and Security Forces to mali for a 15month training mission. The four ministers approved the plan and selected a french general to lead the mission during a special meeting thursday in brussels. After the meeting, French Foreign ministers the French Foreign minister said france had european backing for its military efforts. Of the eu have expressed their solidarity, both with mali and the intervention of france. All of my colleagues, without exception, have highlighted the full support the actions of friends and are thankful that france reacted so quickly. To quote the remarks of one of them, without france, there would have been no mali. Mali gained independence from france in 1960. More than 100 people have reportedly been stabbed, shot, or potentially burned to death by a massacre in the syrian city of homes. The attack in a poor area of the citys edge killed 106 people, some of them children, according to the britainbased syrian observatory for human rights. Many homes were set on fire and some of the victims bodies appeared to have been burned. It was unclear whether the attackers were part of the syrian army or members of a militia loyal to president bashar alassad. Widespread violence was reported thursday across syria, with continued bombings by government planes and clashes between troops and antigovernment rebels. The Obama Administration is continuing its push to rally support for sweeping plan to address gun violence. On thursday, vicepresident joe biden called for action before hundreds of u. S. Mayors gathered in washington, d. C. Foreign annual meeting. In his address, biden referenced the shooting rampage in newtown, connecticut that claimed the lives of 20 children, six school staff, and the shooters mother. We have to do something. I hope we all agree there is a need to respond to the carnage on our streets and in our schools. I hope we all agree that Mass Shootings like the one we witnessed in newtown 34 days ago cannot continue to be tolerated. That tragedy in all my years of public life i think is has affected the public psyche in a way i have never seen before. A new poll affirms Vice President joe bidens claim about the impact of new town, finding it affected the Public Opinion on guns or deeply than other shootings. A new poll says 54 of americans believe gun control laws should be tightened up from 39 last april. The increased support swept across party lines, with an 18 point rise among republicans. Nine in 10 people said the three favored requiring background checks on all gun purchases. Defense secretary leon panetta expressed his support for gun control thursday during an address u. S. Troops in italy. He told a group only soldiers need assault weapons. Who the hell these ar armor piercing bullets except for you guys . I am a hunter. I have done duck hunting since i was 10 years old. I loved to hunt. I love to be able to share that doing with my kids, but, i mean, for the life of me, i dont know why the hell people have that an assault weapon. And the report says students in mississippi are being expelled and incarcerated for minor offenses due to harsh School Policies that mainly affect youth of color. The report by groups including the aclu and naacp follows the filing of a Justice Department lawsuit alleging officials in meridian, mississippi have created a school to prison pipeline. Sending students to juvenile detention for violations like flatulence or breaking the dress code. The report says a fiveyear old boy was escorted home in a police car for dress code violation. The school required black shoes, but his mother had tried to cover other colors on his shoes with black marker. Researchers wrote the report comes as president obama is backing a plan to increase Police Officers in schools, a policy some fear could lead to even higher incarceration rates for students of color. To see our debate on armed guards in schools, go to democracynow. Org. A former superintendent at a West Virginia coal mine where an explosion killed 29 workers in 2010 has been sentenced to nearly two years in jail. Gary may had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the u. S. Government, admitting his role in tipping off miners about safety inspections, falsifying records, and disabling a methane detector. Regulators found Massey Energy failed to uphold basic safety standards, allowing the buildup of coal dust in the mine, which was ignited by a spark from faulty equipment. The 2010 explosion marked the worst coal mining disaster in 40 years. A new investigation says the Obama Administration cast aside the results of a probe into the effects of gas drilling on Drinking Water following pressure from the drilling company. The Associated Press reports the Environmental Protection Agency Issued an emergency order in 2010 saying a texas well saturated with flammable methane posed an immediate risk to homeowners. Regulators had Scientific Evidence against the driller, range resources, but backed down after the company threatened not to operate the National Study on the drilling process known as fracking. The threats prompted the agency to set aside their investigation, which found drilling could in fact have contaminated the water. One of the affected homeowners said his Drinking Water is so laced with methane that he can set it on fire. Steve lipsky said a u. S. Soldier accused of massacring 16 afghan civilians in march has been ordered to undergo a sanity review before his lawyers can wage a defense based on his Mental Health. Staff Sergeant Robert bales deferred entering a plea thursday on charges that could carry the death penalty. He is accused of killing nine children and seven adults during a nighttime attack on two villages in kandahar province. Lawyers say bales, who served four tours in iraq and afghanistan, may have suffered a traumatic brain injury and ptsd. Attorney John Henry Browne discussed the mental state of john bales robert bales. He is a strong person but i think he would agree with what i said, he feels abandoned by the army. A u. S. Marine is facing a likely demotion in rank after pleading guilty to urinating on the corpse of a man in afghanistan. Staff Sergeant Edward deptola was charged after video emerged in july 2011 showing u. S. Soldiers urinating on dead afghans. Deptola admitted he failed to supervise other marines, saying i was in a position to stop it and i did not. U. S. House republicans are continuing their fight to preserve the 1996 defense of marriage act or doma, which denies federal recognition of gay marriage. The Obama Administration refusing to enforce it after deeming it unconstitutional but republicans are seeking to keep it in effect through the courts. The Huffington Post is reporting republicans have allocated nearly 3 million in tax funds for their legal costs to challenge the administration in court. The Republican State Leadership Committee has released a shockingly honest report boasting about how it retained the partys majority in the u. S. House of representatives by gerrymandering congressional districts in traditionally democratic states. The report concedes Democratic Candidates for the u. S. House received 1. 1 million more votes than republicans in the last election cycle. But republicans still won a 33 seat grigoriy and house. How . The report says it goes on to detail how republicans but millions of dollars in those states feeling state level victories that allowed republicans to spearhead redistricting for the 2012 election to their partys advantage. The group says it raised 30 million for the initiative. And the United Nations is criticizing the u. S. Backed regime in saudi arabia for the beheading of a free lankan guest worker. Be heading of a sri lanka guest worker. She was decapitated over allegations of murdering the baby of her employer. The spokesperson for rights condemned the execution. We express our deep dismay at the execution of a young sri lanka and women on wednesday. A young woman on wednesday. She can to work as a house made in 2005, was charged for the murder of her employers pay the a week after her arrival. Despite a birth certificate that allegedly showed she was a minor at the time of the babys death, and repeated expressions of concern from the international community, she was convicted of murder, sentenced to death, and beheaded. Those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. Welcome to all our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. We begin todays show in algeria where at least 22 foreign hostages remained unaccounted for and what has been described as one of the Biggest International hostage crises in decades. On thursday, an algerian forces stormed a desert caught desert gas complex to free hundreds of workers who were employed at the site which is partially owned by british petroleum. Islamist militants opposed to the french airstrikes in neighboring mali had seized the gas facility near the libyan border on wednesday. It remains unclear how many people died in thursdays raid, but estimates of the foreign casualties ranged from 4 to 35. This is the of cheering communications minister. The information was successful in neutralizing a large number of terrorists and frame a large number of hostages freed unfortunately, there were some deaths and injuries. In a statement carried by the media, the hostage takers said on thursday, secretary of state Hillary Clinton defended the Obama Administrations decision to aid frances operation in mali. It is important to this latest incident into the broader context. We hope this will be resolved with a minimum loss of life. But when you deal with these relentless terrorists, life is not in any way precious to them. But when this incident is finally over, we know we face a continuing ongoing problem and were going to do everything we can to Work Together to confront and disrupt a credit. Were going to be working with our friends and partners in north africa. Were supporting the french operation in mali with intelligence and airlift. We are working with half a dozen african countries as we did with respect to somalia over so many years to help them be prepared to send an african troops. Earlier today, the nations refugees set up said many are to be uprooted. To talk more about the events in nigeria and mali, we go to washington, d. C. To speak with emira woods, a codirector of Foreign Policy in focus at the institute for policy studies. Welcome to democracy now lets start off with the hostage situation in algeria. What do you understand at this point . First, i think we have to extend condolences to those families of those to a lost life. Situation is fluid. Hostages reportedly have been taken coming from at least eight different countries, including britain, japan, ireland. There are still reports that not only those that have been killed coming potentially from britain, france, japan and other countries, but also this is a crisis that is still under way. The algerian military is still seeing this as an ongoing incident. The information is scant t and fluid, changing very rapidly. It is coming out very slowly because of remember, algeria is essentially a military state. Information is not flowing freely. There is a reluctance to share information with international actors, particularly former colonial powers, given the history of what has happened in algeria. The reports are coming out initially saying many of the western countries, governments, were angry about the that the algerians moved in without first discussing or talking to the countrys whose nationals were being held hostage. But the same time, the reality is when the french went into mali, which of course ended up provoking this hostage crisis here, no one consulted with the other syrians as to whether the consulted with the algerians. It leads to awful consequences. Clearly, what we see it goes back to the intervention in libya. Ousting muammar gaddafi. It essentially unleashed weapons coming both from the libyan side and also from the western side that was flooding libya with weapons. Those weapons made their way to mali and created an opportunity for ongoing conflicts in the north to really escalate. I think we see these unintended consequences of military intervention. We have to underscore that often what were doing is breeding more enemies, more extremists at every turn. I think clearly looking at the root causes of crises and trying to address concerns, particularly from people who are feeling marginalized communities that have vast resources on their land, but are suffering from complete economic isolation and political isolation . I think we have to address these root causes. We cannot meet extremists where they are through bombings and military attacks. We have to address issues of extremism, militarism, of insurgency by looking at Economic Opportunities in places that are long marginalized, looking at political expression for people who have long not have a voice. It can not only the interests in sort of Economic Resources and military might to secure access to those resources. Defense secretary leon panetta spoke to abc news on thursday as the hostage crisis was still unfolding. There is no question that when this kind of terrorist act takes place and it involves hostages, some of whom are american, that is a serious manner. Were looking at the necessary steps that we need to take in order to deal with that situation. Do you believe there held by Al Qaedaaffiliated militants . I dont think theres any question based on what we know that this was a terrorist act, and that the terrorists have affiliation with al qaeda. Do you believe this has something to do with mali and the action led by the french . When you are dealing with affiliates of al qaeda, there terrorists. They will do terrorist acts. That is what they have done here. Emira woods, you heard the defense secretarys explanation. There some reports the group that launched this attack is not affiliated with al qaeda, it is a Splinter Group that had major differences with the Al Qaeda Group in north africa. Could you talk about the group that supposedly the algerians have identified as being has done the attacking in this case . What you are right to say that the relationship with al qaeda, even the relationship with al qaeda and islam, is quite tenuous at best. What we have our clear reports that the leader that, of orchestrated this assault is not affiliated with al qaeda of the islamic bagram. He has distanced himself from aqim. We cannot draw with this broad brush this link to al qaeda. It is and balding, we have to understand the extremists are multiplying with a lot of different rationales. Those who are opposed to the french, the longtime colonizers in the region, you know, have seen this as an opportunity to express their antifrench and antiwestern sentiment. Those who are concerned about issues of sovereignty and independence of the region are seizing this opportunity. Essentially, what happened in mali began with the expression of people for greater self determination. This does not have anything really to do with al qaeda. We cannot oversimplified. We have to look at the root causes of these crises and look to not only military intervention, but really long term political measures, political negotiations and looking at longterm issues that will bring peace, that will bring a rebuilding of the social fabric that has been torn apart in the region in a number of ways. I think we have to begin to Pay Attention to those broader comprehensive just to be clear, where this hostage taking took place at an oil site, talking about natural resources, it was owned by bp or run by bp, Algerian State Oil Company and a norwegian company. If you could tell us where it is in relation to mali, just to give people a sense, especially also of geography, what is happening. Absolutely. It is in order to recognize what were talking about. It is important to recognize what were talking about. It isnt oilrich region and the saharan desert. North african and west africa has had long deposits of gold, of uranium, of oil. Some of the region, particularly libya and algeria, the building has been extracted for quite some time by a number of international actors. There are other parts of the region like mali or the Oil Exploration is heavily under way. I think we have to understand the resources the centrality of the resourced. It is the increasing significance of oil from africa that whether it is countries that have been longtime producers of oil or countries just getting under stream and just discovering oil, but it is increasing International Significance of africa for the global economy. I think this is often at the root of the crisis. People whose land on which this applies, are often the most marginalized economically. You talk about the 9 and 1 , they are the 99 and a cd he leaves, local and the Big Oil Companies will, as just a very narrow interests and ignoring the rights the people on the ground. It is a vast region, at the middle of the desert but it is an incredibly rich region in terms of natural resources. I think it is important to recognize particularly with algeria, that it is not long ago, just 50 years ago, intense battles were under way to fight the colonial power, to fight france, and colonialism. It is a very short history in terms of peoples fights for sovereignty and for liberation and for accessing control of their own land. I think it is important to understand the geography. Yes, a jury that neighbors libya and mali, but it is in order for us to understand the history and the incredible significance of that region. One of the interesting things about what has happened in the last few days is the for years, the odds Syrian Government was involved in a civil war as it sought to stamp out islamic resurgence within its own country. During that time, the islamic guerrillas and insurgents never attacked the western facilities that were producing oil and gas in the south of algeria. It is only now they have suddenly moved to attack and take hostages. I am wondering what your thoughts are about that . We have to understand that this history of extremism really started in the terms of algeria with an Opposition Party that was actually clamoring for greater rights in al jazeera in algeria. To really open up this space to opposition parties, trade unionists, to more political participation. The algerians responded swiftly and partially to that opposition. That has fermented even greater extremism, but drove the rebellion and those that orchestrated it across the borders and into neighboring countries outside of algeria. I think what is at play is still a sense that was within the country, i think it is a misnomer, but what is often called the arab spring. I think there was a sense the quest for greater Political Rights that started in tunisia and went on to egypt, there was a real demand, even in algeria as well, for greater political participation. Those demands are still very much on the table. I think theres a sense the very heavy hand of the government that says, we will not negotiate with extremists, that very heavy hand has led to a very complicated crisis from ongoing political crisis in algeria. I want to go to the white house spokesperson jay carney speaking yesterday about the balance in the algeria hostage crisis and theyre not likely to affect u. S. Negotiations on providing Logistical Support to the french bombing of mali. We share the french goal of the nine terrorists in mali a safe haven, denying those in the region a safe haven. We know there have asked for help. As you know, the government of france has asked for additional intelligence and Logistic Support from the United States. As i said the other day, we are considering as requests. We have some unique airlift capability and are working with the french and moving in troops and equipment. Were also providing intelligence support. That was the white house spokesperson jay carney. Emira woods, your final response on what u. S. Increasing involvement means . I think the u. S. Has been involved in mali and turning the military and equipping, barring the military of mali. I think we have to examine, especially u. S. Taxpayer dollars, where are they going and what are the results . It is a u. S. Trained army captain who launched the coup in mali and a series of coups since last march. The u. S. Has played a very heavy hand in terms of support for the military are ready. It has not brought the results intended. I think what is needed, with the community and others have been calling for is a comprehensive approach that will look at issues of political negotiation, understanding the concerns of the ethnic group in the north, those root causes of this crisis, those concerns must be acknowledged and addressed in order to actually bring about an end to this crisis. As you said, there is a dramatic humanitarian emergency under way. I think until the humanitarian crisis with hundreds of thousands of refugees flowing across borders as well as internally displaced, that the real longterm needs of economic livelihood for the people not only of the north, but the entire country of mali, those needs must be mad to bring about long term peace and stability must be met in order to bring about long term peace and stability. Emira woods, a teacher for joining us. I encourage people to go to democracynow. Org to see our interview with may ying welsh. When we come back, we will speak with sportswriter dave zirin. [music break] performing live in our studios back in 2010 while on her first u. S. Tour. She was from timbuktu. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. We turn now to sports news, to the unraveling of one of americas most renowned and revered athletes, Lance Armstrong. For the first time, armstrong has publicly admitted to doping, saying he won all seven Tour De France championships with the help of performance enhancing drugs. Speaking to Oprah Winfrey last night, the cyclist recounted how the abused banned substances to ensure the trees despite zealously denying allegations of doping for years. The muchanticipated interview opened with a rapidfire series of yes or no questions. Yes or no. In all seven of your Tour De France victories, did you ever banned substances or blood dope . Yes. In your opinion, was it humanly possible to win the Tour De France without doping . Seven times in a row . Not in my opinion. Yes or no, did you ever take banned substances to enhance your cycling performance is . Yes. Yes or no. Was one of those banned substances epo question of yes. Did you ever blood dope or use blood transfusions to enhance your cycling performance . Yes. Did you ever use any other banned substances like testosterone, cortisone or human growth hormones . Yes. During the interview, Lance Armstrong denied claims he was the kingpin of the doping program on his teams and insisted he never directly instructed teammates to take performance enhancing drugs, as claimed by the United States antidumping agency, or usada. Armstrong has now been stripped of every single cycling achievement since 1998, including an olympic bronze medal, and is banned from competition for life. And he no longer serves on the board of livestrong. We go now to washington, d. C. Where were joined by dave zirin, sports columnist for the nation magazine and host of edge of sports radio. His upcoming book is called, game over how politics has turned the sports world upside down. Dave zirin, welcome back to democracy now talk about the significance of Lance Armstrongs a mission. Why does it matter . Before i say anything, i have to say is says something certainly interesting, if not repugnant, the federal government has millions of dollars to figure out what a site listed or did not put in their body, yet are not prosecuting the people who their crashed the economy or were incurred were in charge of the torture program under the bush administration. As for Lance Armstrong, his interview with Oprah Winfrey . Disaster is not a Strong Enough word i would use to describe how that went. It was a disaster in form and content. Lance armstrong had two goals last night. They were very difficult goals. I described it as trying to cycle to the eye of a needle. He was tried to show the u. S. Antidumping agency that he was willing to play ball, that he was one of the contrite, would agree with their findings. In return, there would lift the lifetime ban that hangs over his head from ever competing again. At the same time, try to push back against that description of him as the tunney soprano of the cycling world, some who facilitated the doping through a whole host of other cyclists under penalty of ostracization or even physical threat against those cyclists who would not go as he did. He really felt on both counts. He strongly rebuked the findings of a as 88 saying absolutely not the facilitator when asked by oprah. At the same time, he admitted to bullying and use the word bullying anyone who stood in his way. He admitted he did for all his losses and tried to run people and life for all these years, defamed people, tried to bankrupt people. That did not do him a lot of favors and the Public Relations standpoint honestly, and think was asked about his masseuse, whether he was apologetic to her. He had sued her oprah asked if he had sued her. He said, i honestly cannot remember i said so many people. And said she told the truth. Still he sued her. And the resources to ruin this womans life. I want to make clear, this is not a situation like baseball doping were you have Baseball Players and then you have a Management Structure that benefits from them doping. Cycling is a very federalized world. Lance armstrong is not just a star cyclist, he is the boss of his team. He is in charge of who gets fired and hired. He can be in charge of whicwhat position people are in. He and social power over the other cyclists. This question of what he threatened to fire people, which over asked him directly, if they did not dope, is a very important question. A is ada have people testify under oath that was the case. For him to say absolutely not in this interview that is supposed to be destroyed confessional, he was accusing these other riders, his workers, if you will, of perjury. What about the intimations earlier on that he was appointed turn the tables on his regulators and point out that there was a correction not only on his part, but on the entire cycling apparatus . That is certainly true. That is something we knew before Lance Armstrong ever open his mouth. Lance armstrong won seven Tour De France titles. The reason why none of his been stripped of those titles that have not been given to the second place finishers in each of those seven races, the second place finishers have also been found to be using performance enhancing drugs. If you look at the top 10 finishers at each of his seven wins, 48 of 70 have been documented of having using performance and having drugs. Performance enhancing drugs. Cycling, most of the doping has to do with increasing the oxygenation of your blood, increasing your lung capacity. If as many people died in the nfl which has been under scrutiny as have died in cycling in the past 20 years, there would be weekly hearings on capitol hill. It is an incredibly dangerous and taxing sport. Cyclist talk about drug use as if it is survival. All that being said, the answer is not to dope your body. The answer is the reformation of the sport, tried to make the course is safer, unionize in the cycle so they have a collective voice. Lance armstrong has, striking strong against unionizing. That is to be the discussion, not how to get away with doping more effectively. Lets go back to Lance Armstrong a meeting he became a shalit in the course of defending themselves from accusations that he benefited from banned substances. I was a bully and a sense that i tried to control them in areas. If i did not live with somebody said, for whatever reason in my own head, whether there were being disloyal i viewed or a friend turning on you or whatever, i tried to say, that is a lie, they are liars. I want your comment on that and also ask possibly the doping was related to his testicular cancer . Works on the first question, i think with that statement, i can imagine all the plants armstrongs lawyers collectively clinching up when he said that about being a bully and going after people. I think over the next decade, there is going to be a macys thanksgiving day parade of lawyers outside his compound waiting to see Lance Armstrong. Everybody who feels detained by him, everybody who felt they had their earnings potential stripped by him and this is a very long list. As Lance Armstrong said, he cannot remember all of the people he sued. They will be countersuing for punitive damages as well, not just compensatory. Were the steroids connected to his recovery from cancer . Or getting cancer . That is certainly something that people have speculated. People have also speculated about instances of being a serious cyclists and getting testicular cancer, about links between those two practices. But the idea it cost him cancer is unknowable. The idea that steroids aided his recovery is also unknowable. This is worried it to the very nebulous territory that does not get talked about too much in our discussion about these drugs. There really is a difference between use and abuse. Theres a difference between taking these drugs under the auspices of a medical professional and doing them illegally and a back room or a bathroom stall. It seems this country is so far away from having this discussion of how medical technology can actually help people improve as opposed to how it just helps them exploit their bodies to the fullest so they can win races and then die earlier than the typical american male or female. Lets turn to another big sports story in the news this week involving manti teo, a star linebacker on the notre dame football team. I have covered a lot of stories that were emotional, a lot of stories that felt important if i have never covered a story this bizarre. Nothing even comes close. The story of the College Football season was enough for bains rise to prominence. The center of their team was the star linebacker manti teo, and the center of manti teos story was the fact he was playing for his grandmother and his girlfriend who both passed away within hours of each other on september 11 or so timber 12, the dates keep changing, which is part of the story. She died of leukemia, the story went. Manti teo was flying with a broken heart but inspired by her memory. The entire nation of fans were swept into the story. People raise thousands of dollars in her name to give money to cancer research. It turns out she never existed. And now here is where we get to two possibilities of what took place. Either manti teo was victim of a hoax that took place over the course of three years, what is called phishing, sunset of this identity online and question the feel he was in love with someone was not real, or manti teo was the architect of this hoax and did so for reasons that are frankly left to speculation. Maybe he was trying to give himself a narrative that would aid his chances to win the heisman trophy. Maybe he is trying to keep his personal life extremely private and did not want anyone to know about it. One way to do that is to say, i have his girlfriend that you dont know. I talk to her on the internet. What we know for sure is that manti teo misled the biggest sports Media Outlets in the country. Espn, sports illustrated, the establishment sports media has look like absolute fools and the aftermath of this story. This story was broken by deadspin, an online site that is seen as an ally of spy by the the and outlaw site, doing the job the big Media Outlets just did not do. Like i said, this story is so bizarre. Were learning more about it every single day. It is the sort of thing i once had an editor say, look, when the sun sets in the west, that is not a story. When the sun does not said, that is the story. This instant is so bizarre and different that it has captured the attention. The only people that matter the natural this has sapped all the air out of the room in terms of what people are talking about. This is an interview that took place before the sports website deadspin revealed that manti teos girlfriend never actually existed. I just lost everything. I never felt that way before. Six hours ago i found out my grandmother passed away. You take the love of my life. She said, i love you. And thats it. Youre justing this involves the big sports media, also the teams, Even Opposing teams, everyone standing for and for people whove not follow this story, did he ever say he met his girlfriend he was in love with that his father said would be his future daughterinlaw, that they apparently said they met after a Stanford University game . Yes. In many interviews he is very cagey about it. When you read them now, he does not act to talk about them being together physically in the same room. In some interviews he talks about their eyes meeting across the football field, their hands touching. On the football field after a game, he thanked her family specifically. Once again, there is no family. He thanked her family for the way they were there for him in the aftermath of her death. Let me be clear. Manti teo was an academic all american. This is not the case of someone who is dumb as a box of shamrocks, if you will, and unable to see what is happening. There are only one or two alternatives. Either manti teo is so sweet and trusting, so loving that he would nurse someone he had never been in the same room with through her leukemia and death of proclaiming his undying love without ever having meet her if this is the case, he should be isolated and studied in a lab for the good of humanity or he was the architect of a hoax that and snared the biggest folks in sports media and his school notre dame. This is where i think the story its important for the audience of democracy now notre dame has stood behind manti teo this whole thing. They said they hired private investigators to find out the truth about what happened. And they believed 100 he was a victim of a hoax. The Athletic Director cried in front of the media because he said manti teo is the most trusting person in the world and may never trust again. My goodness. The same school did not hire investigators when a scandal broke out about allegations of Sexual Assault and rape connected to the football team. The school did not hire private investigators were shed one tier 4 lizzy seeberg, a student at neighboring college, a freshman at st. Marys college, had allegations of Sexual Assault against the team. She was sent threatening messages from people connected to the team over her cellphone, and by the way, that is not an allegation. Those messages have been seen and documented. Then she took her own life. No tears for lizzy seeberg or other women who said anonymously there were attacked, but tears for manti teo. Its as a great deal about the culture of notre dame. Football above all else. In your book, came over, enormous problem with so many of the different sports in america and how politics keeps intruding into the games. Could you summarize the main theme throughout this book . Perhaps there is a whole chapter about the corruption of College Football. Thats as much about our Campus Culture by looking at College Football. It says some of our state universities, the College Coach is the highestpaid employee not just on campus, but in the state. Of course, tuitions are going out in the meantime, majors are being cut, students are being pushed out. I believe sports is like a weathervane. You dont look at a weather vane to determine whether, you look at it to determine which way the wind is blowing. If you look at sports of the past couple of years, it has mirrored the crisis taken place globally both in terms of economic and issues that have everything to do from the arab spring to the recessions your home to the occupy movement in ways that are quite profound. I wrote the book out of frustration because i felt so much of the sports media, even some of my favorite writers, or writing about this in strands, that maybe there were be a story about the role of the egyptian Soccer Fan Club in the egyptian revolution or maybe a story about the Miami Heat Basketball Team and the when it proclaimed their solidarity with Trayvon Martin and his family after the he was murdered by george zimmerman. Or perhaps thered be something about lgbt or trans athletes and how they were finally emerging from the closet and proclaiming their place on the planned field. There was no way to look at this as a totality and say, wow, if you look at sports right now, just at the sports page, you can see our society in 2013 right now is profoundly different than it was just five years ago. Were going to talk about your book when you come up to new york and the next few weeks, dave zirin, officially comes out. Author of a number of books, his latest coming out later this month, game over how politics has turned the sports world upside down. Stay with us. [music break] this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. Next week marks the 40th anniversary the Landmark Supreme Court case roe v. Wade the guaranteed the right to abortion, and right that has since faced major restrictions. New Research Shows hundreds of women in the u. S. Have been arrested, forced to undergo unwanted medical procedures, and locked up in jails or psychiatric institutions because they were pregnant. And one case, the Court Ordered a critically ill woman to undergo a c section against her will, knew she nor the baby survived. In another case, a judge in ohio kept a woman in prison to keep her from having an abortion. Researchers determined in this to a range of antichoice laws at the state level encouraging officials to treat a womans pregnancy as legally separate. For more were joined by lynn paltrow founder and executive director of National Advocates for pregnant women. She is coauthor of the report, arrest of and forced interventions of pregnant women in the United States. Locked into democracy now welcome to democracy now we knew these cases existed, but theyre often seen as rare and isolated. When we brought up these cases in response to propose personhood measures that would authorize the states to treat fertilized eggs, embryos, and fetuses as if there and target separate from the hon a woman, we said these will be used against women. It will be used to surveil pregnant women and too much more than just, as they claim, and the injustice of abortion. That is just scare tactics. We said, lets look at what is going on. When we sought to document cases we found 413 cases between 1973 2005. Weve picked up here. We know the outcome of the cases. We know from evidence that there were many more of those cases, but sometimes we were advising women who we were advising women to protect the unborn child, from drinking, for example. We found arrests, incarcerations, in prisons and jails, and some of these cases we have not heard about an even surprised us. A case for a woman was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. She did not comply with orders for secondary followup testing, so they got the civilly committed her in the hospital and said she was not insane or danger to yourself, but because they claimed her Mental Health situation did not enable her to go for prenatal testing the captor locked up in the hospital. When those things happen, it does not mean the woman or the baby is protected. She was locked in a hospital and they never did gestational testing. Part of what we found, too, as all of this we sort of talk about it in a very familiar language for the last 40 years. Roe v. Wade, the right to abortion, the criminalization of pregnancy. But what we have really learned is what is at stake is the person had a pregnant women. That when you look at what happens in these cases, women deprived of their physical liberty, the case of angela carter, the right to live, the due process of law by been put in jail, that is basically due process rights. We have had cases where lawyers have been appointed for a fetus before the woman ever gets a lawyer. Cases where they have ordered a procedure over womens religious objections. One court said, proud that women of course have a right to religious freedoms. Unless it interferes with what we believe is best for the fetus. Here in new york city, a Research Report that more than a dozen City Hospitals were routinely testing pregnant women for drugs without informing them. Absolutely. What we see in the criminal and civil context is a disproportionate focus for punitive measures on women of color, particularly African American women. We found this is personality includes a greater likelihood of felony charges of this proportionality includes a greater likelihood of felony charges. We found these cases all over the country across women of all races. What were seeing we have 10 seconds. Were talking not just about abortion rights, but not only about reproductive rights, but whether or not in the guise of trying to end an abortion, where one to remove a pregnant women from the community of constitutional person head. Lynn paltrow, we will have a link to your report on democracynow. Org. On monday we will be in washington, d. C. A for the five hour special for the inauguration. Democracy now is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. Email your mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm