election. we will get the latest. then as president trump moves to expand his travel ban to seven more countries, we will speak to the oscar-winning actor tim robbins about his new play traveling the country about immigration and refugees calleld "t"the new colosossus." >> i was born in moscow in the soviet union. >> iran. >> germamany. >> yugoslavia. >> mexico. >> i am a refugee in the year 1979. >> i am a refugee in 20. amy: we eak to t r robbi about his rentnt fil "dark ters," tt tells thstory of rob bilo's twenty-year fight with dupon us as bilott will join well. >> the chemical is emitted from manufacturing plants, goes up into the air from smokestacks. can get up into water droplets into the clouds a and transfefer over the entiree planet. it is now in the blood of not just 99% of americans, but the entire globe. everybody on the planet. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. in the first day of oral arguments in the historic impeachment trial of president donald trump, democratic lawmakers accused the president of abusing his power in order to cheat an election. the senate trial comes a month after the house impeached trump for withholding congressionally-approved military aid to ukraine as part of his effort to pressure the ukrainian president to investigate trump's political rival, democratic presidential candidate joe biden. this is democratic congressmember adam schiff, the lead impeachment manager. >> if president trump is not held to account, we send the message to future presidents, compasses, generations of americans that the personal interests of the president can take precedent over those of the nation. the domestic effects of this dissent from democracy will be a we can trust of the integrity of our elections and the rule of law and a steady decline of the spspread of democratic values throughout the world. amy: while the impeachment trial was taking place in the senate, president trump was across the atlantic at the world economic forum in davos. where he dismissed the impeachment trial as a hoax and bragged about how the white house has withheld documents and other information from democratic lawmakers. pres. trump: we're doing very well. i got to watch another. i thought our team did a very good job. honestly, we have all of the material. they don't have the material. amy: president trump tweeted yesterday 140 times, a record for even him as president. we'll have momore on trump's impeachment trial after headlines. the supreme court has decided not to take up a high-stakes legal challenge to obamacare at this time. on tuesday, the court said it would not take a fast-tracked decision on the case, which challenges the constitutionality of the affordable care act. tuesday's decision still leaves open the possibilityty the court will take up the case at a later date. but it won't happen before the election. the district of columbia is suing president trump's inaugural committee over its decision to spend $1 million to rent event space at trump's own hotel in washington. district of columbia attorney general karl racine says the cost was far above o our good value and aimed at enriching the president's family during trump's ininauguration. the ballroom they rented they hardly used. the international court of justice at the hague has ordered burma, otherwise known as myanmar, to protect rohingya muslims from genocide. the significant ruling comes after the burmese military killed and raped thousands of rohingya and forced more than 700,000 to flee into neighboring bangladesh in a brutal army crackdown in 2017. the court's decision is a sharp rebuke to burma's de facto leader aung san suu kyi, a nobel prize winner who last month persrsonally traveled to the hae to ask the court to drop the genocide case. president trump says he is planning to add more countries to his highly controversial travel ban, which already prohibits citizens of iran, syria, yemen, libya, somalia, north korea, and venezuela from entering the united states. trump is reportedly considering adding travel restrictions for citizens of nigeria, sudan, tanzania, eritrea, myanmar, kyrgyzstan, and belarus. details are expected to be announced monday. this comes as the state department separately says it is planning to issue new rules that could make it more difficult for pregnant women to receive visas to visit the united states and what the trump administration claims is a crackdown on so-called birth tourism. trump also said wednesday he may cut plans -- social safety net benefits. during his 2016 presidential campaign, trump vowed to oppose any cuts to social security and medicare. trump also announced wednesday that he plans to attend and speak at friday's anti-abortion march for life in washington, d.c. no president has ever attended the anti-abortion march in its 47-year history. trump's move comes only days after the anti-abortion political action group susan b anthony y list said it wouldld d over $50 million to support trump and other republican candidates. in china, authorities have sealed off the city of wuhan,, the epicenter of the new coronavirus outbreak that has killed at least 17 people and sickened more than 500. the virus has also spread to taiwiwan, japan, thailand, south kokorea, and thehe united stata. the world health organization call the lockdown of the city of 11 million people unprecedented. twtwo smaller chinese cities, huanggang and ezhou, have also impoposed travel resestrictions. the world health orgrganizations weighing whetherer to declare a global public health emergency. this is dr. anthony fauci, the director of the u.s. national institute of allergy and infectious diseases. >> the risk to the united states for thisis to be a big problem r even a problem at all is very low. that does not mean we should not take it seriously. we are taking it veryy seriousl. all of thee various agencies tht are involved in the federal government response is taking this very seriously. but the mesessage to the general public is this is something that you should not be woworrying abt at night that this is going to be some sort of serious issue for r you. amy: democratic presidential candidate tulsi gabbard has sued former secretary of state hillary clinton for defamation after clinton suggested the hawaii congressmember is a russian asset in an interview last year. congressmember gabbard said she's filing the $50 million defamation lawsuit because clinton's comments harmed her presidential campaign. in central america, the world food programme says that crop failures driven by climate-fueled drought are driving forced migration from guatemala, el salvador, honduras, and nicaragua. the world food programme says at least 1.4 million people need urgent food assistance as extreme weather led to a poor harvest for the fifth straight year in central america. in an internal report, cbp -- that's the u.s. customs and border protection agency -- also acknowledged that crop shortages in guatemala were the overwhelming factor behind the forced migration that has driven guatemalans to seek asylumum in the united statates. in mexico, 26-yeyear-old artist, activist, and feminist isabel cabanillas de la torre has been assassinated in the border city of juarez. she was an outspoken advocate for women's rights and a member of the feminist collective daughters of maquila worker mothers. fellow activists are demanding justice for her murder and an end to the femicides and disappearances of women that have plagued juarez since it became a center of cheap manufacturing for american companies under the 1994 north america free trade agreement. known as nafta. in indonesia, american journalist philip jacobson is facing up to five years in prison after being detained on borneo island and accused of carrying out journalistic activities that were not covered by his business visa. jacobson is an award winning journalist with the news outlet mongabay. he has reported on deforestation in borneo and has examined indonesian president joko widodo record on environmental issues. united nations experts are accusing the saudi crown prince mohammed bin salman of personally hacking jeff bezos' cell phone in 2018 in order to influence or silence "the washington post's" coverage of saudi arabia. bezos is the owner of "the washington post." at the time of the hack, the newspaper was reporting critically on the assassination of its columnist jamal khashoggi, whose murder has been linked to the crown prince. this is the u.n. special rapparteur on extrajudicial killingsgs, agnes callamard. again story places yet the crown prince of saudi a araa atat the heartrt of the campaign that resulted d into the k killg of j jamal khashoggigi. and as you may r recall,l, my investigation into the killing shortal k khashoggi stopped of determining the natature and the extent t of the role e of te crown prince. i suguggested there were several options from him ordering ththe killing t to him engaging in n e rt of criminal negligence by failing to protect mr. khashoggi. amy: a new study shows the tapwater in 43 cities across the united states is contaminated with toxic chemicals known as pfa's, which have been linked to cancer and lower fertility. miami, newinclude orleans, philadelphia, washington, d.c., and chicago. the new study comes as thee supreme court has clcleared the way for residents of flilint, michigigan, to sue c citynd stae officials over t the leadd contaminination crisis in the drinking water there. anymore news on water contamination, the trump administration is expected to finalize a rule today to remove environmental protections for more than half the nation's wetlands and hundreds of thousands of small waterways acroross the united states. the removal of the protections will now allow people to dump pesticides, fertilizers, and other pollutants directly into streams. it will also allow developers to destroy wetlands for construction projects. and in san francisco, newly sworn-in district attorney chesa boudin has ended cash bail, saying his office will no longer ask for cash as a condition for people's pretrial release. boudin and many others have long criticized cash bail as disproportionately punishing defendants who are poor and people of color. the san francisco district attorney's office says cash bail has also been applied unfairly, with african american defendants paying an average of 12 times more per year for pretrial release compared to white defendants. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. nermeen: and i'm nermeen shaikh. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. in the first day of oral arguments in the historic impeachment trial of president trump, democratic lawmakers accused the president of abusing his power to cheat an election. house impeachment managers spent wednesday laying out their case eight hours for why president trump should be removed from office. democrats will continue to argue their case today and tomorrow. the senate trial comes a month after the house impeached trump for withholding congressionally-approved military aid to ukraine as part of an effort to pressure the ukrainian president to investigate trump's political rival, democratic presidential candidate joe biden. democratic congressman adam schiff, the lead impeachment manager, outlined the case against president trump. >> a president has the right to hold a call with a foreign leader and to decide the time and location of a meeting with that leader. he has a right to withhold funding to that leader should the law be followed in the purpose be just. lawse does not, under our and under our constitution, have a right to ease the powers of his office to corruptly solicit , prohibited foreign aid, in his reelection. he does not. he does not have the right to withhold official presidential act to secure that assistance, and he certainly does not have the right to undermine our elections and place our security at risk for his own personal benefit. no president, republican or democrat, can be permitted to do that. amy: the house intelligence chair and lead house manager congressman adam schiff went on to warn that president trump's actions put the country on what he described as the road towards tyranny. >> when a leader takes the reins of the highest office in our land and uses that awesome power to solicit the help of a foreign country to gain an unfair advantage in our free and fair elections, we all -- democrats and republicans alike -- must ask ourselves whether our loyalty is to our party or whether it is to our constitution. if we say that we will align ourselves with that leader, allowing our sense of duty to be usurped by an absolute executive , that is not democracy. it is not even factionalism. it is a step on the road toward tyranny. nermeen: while the impeachment trial was taking place in the senate, presesident trump was acroross the atlantic at the wod economic forum in davos where he tweeted more than 140 times -- a new record for him as president. at a preress conference e in da, trump dismissesed the impeachmet trial as a a hoax. pres. trump: we're doing very well. i got to watch enough. i thought our team did a very good job. honestly, we have all of the material. they don't have the material. amy: after trump spoke, one of the house impeachment managers demings tweeted -- "the second article of impeachment was for obstruction of congress -- covering up witnesses and documents from the american people. this morning the president not only confessed to it, he bragged about it." we are joined now by dahlia lithwick, senior editor at slate.com, where she is their senior legal correspondent and supreme court reporter. it is great to have you back. talk about the significance of what trump admitted yesterday and then overall, talk about this opening day of oral arguments in the senate. >> it is such an amazing moment, amy, where you actually have the reason that everything is playing out as it is in the senate is because of that second charge, that obstruction charge. so the r reason we don't have witnesses testifying for the first impeachment trial in history, the reason we don't have the documents that were sought including some documents that now really are owed -- all of that is because the white house utterly and completely obstructed the inquiry in the house. so to have the president then crowing about it overseas -- we have everything, they have nothing -- it really is quiteten astonishingg moment we are in. -- the the response republicans have been kind of coordinating their talking point. and the response to all of the event the last two days in the senate is to say this is boring, we are not saying anything new. it is quite an amazing piece of brazeness. overwhelmingly what you're saying is what i think we all expected, which is brick by brick, laying out of the case everything that was established in the house impeachment investigation, everything that was established in the lev parnas document dump last week, simply being laid out systematically by one impeachment manager after another. and they're just trying to reconstruct and assemble the story of these two articles, both the abuse that you described and the obstruction. and they're doing it over these three long eight hour days in the senate with the hopes that senators who are hearing it for the very first time, some of them, might be moved. amy: and if you can tell us in a nutshell what they are alleging and what they have charged the president with? elaborating on those articles of impeachment. >> in a nutshell, the two articles are, one, this abuse of residential power. the quid pro quo that adam schiff was talking about where both a visit for zelenskiy and aid to ukraine were withheld by this president and mick mulvaney pending a promise that the president of ukraine would go on television and announced he was intong an investigation hunter biden, burisma, and joe biden. and that promise, that almost amounts to bribery, the withholding of desperately sought a by ukraine, in exchange for just political research to benefit the president and the 2020 election. that is the first. as val demings said in the tweet, the second is obstruction of congress. this is an unprecedented moment. even nixon agreed to work with congress when investigated him for impeachment. even clinton extensively cooperated with the house impeachment step this is the first time we have seen a white house absolutely say we will not cooperate with any part of this. we want nothing to do with it. no witness may testify. that is the second article is obstruction of congress come in effect, saying, come and get it most of is not how impeachment is meant to happen. the second article is the withholding of any possibility that congressional oversight could happen. nermeen: let's go back to president trump speaking in davos. pres. trump: i would rather go a long way. i would rather interview bolton. i would rather interview a lot of people. the problem with john is that it is an initial security problem. you can't have somebody who is at national security -- if you think about it, john knows some of my thoughts, he knows what i think about leaders. what happens if he reveals what i think about a certain leader and it is not very positive and then i have to deal on behalf of the country? nermeen: could you talk about arguing theyns are can't vote just yet on witnesses , and trump saying he would like to hear from john bolton and many others and yet it would be a national security threat to do so? >> i would step back for one second and just flagged that this is the same donald trump who said "i will not let any of these people testify before the house because the house process is compromised, it is a witch hunt, but i will be happy too have them testify in the senate. here we are at the senate and now they are also -- the arargument is, well, we have a problem. we have to assert immunity, assert privilege. it is part of this very, very consistent bait and switch where there is a promise that we are going to accommodate you down the road, we want this information to come out. and then once the context changes and presumably now they can come forward and testify, we're told, oh, now there is a new rationale for why he cannot testify in the senate. i think the constitutional claim that is being made and has been made throughout, which is absolute immunity, that no one who has ever served as an advisor to the president can be called to testify -- certainly, it is an argument. it has never prevailed. it has never been seen as a legitimate constitutional claim to bar people from coming forward. moreover, if you're going to claim certain things are privileged, the witness has to come forward and assert the privilege. so we're not even having that. we're not even having witnesses come forward and say, well, i can talk about this but not this and i have to stop here. even that has not happened. we are getting an absolute blackout. for the president to say, oh, i wish they could but my hands are tied because of the law, is another piece of bait and switchery we have been saying all along. the endgame is going to be find a reason to say atat the end of the day we can't have any witnesses so you may as well vote to have no witnesses because this whole thing was a hoax. amy: you also have president trump saying, i would love to go before the senate -- just as he said he would speak to robert mueller. in the end, not doing so and only answering written questions -- or at least his lawyers answering those questions. i want to go to democratic presidential candidate joe biden who said during a campaign stop in iowa wednesday that he would not participate in a witness swap as part of the senate impeachment trial. biden's comments were in response to a voter's question. according to reports, biden said -- "the reason i would not make the deal, the bottom line is, this is a constitutional issue. we're not going to turn it into a farce or to some kind of political theater. they're trying to do that. i want no part of that. i'm not going to play his game. the senate job is now to try him. my job is to beat him." if you can talk about this issue of what senator ted cruz called tradings reciprocity, one were reciprocal witnesses. the whole e issue of biden or hs son hunter biden having to testify if alton does. and also, are democrats pututtig all of their eggs in one basket to get bolton there? who knows action with the former national security advisor would say. some say that trump assassinated solemani frame as a kind of bunk iran hot,o this balding, who tweeted right after the assassination "this is what we have been working on for a long time." >> as a reciprocity, the best what he think about it is what we saw in the house during house impeachment process, which was not a sober consideration of these climes about ukraine, sober consideration of whether the president abused his power but a whole lot of clown show about hunter biden and burisma roundinger, very much -- debunk because there's a climes about how it wasn't russia who intervened in the 2016 election. in fact, it was ukraine. all of that was being serviced every day. i think mitch mcconnell has been really clear that was not going to happen in the senate, that the senate was not going to be a place where whole bunch of lunatic fringe debunk conspiracy theories about hunter biden and burisma were going to be played out again. and one of the reasons that mark meadows and jim jordan, who have been put on the president's defense team but are not speaking in the well of the senate, is thahat mitch mcconnel does not want this to turn into a circus. he wanted to be a sober narrow consideration of these two articles. i think when ted cruz was flooding this reciprocity deal, it was very much sounding in the key of let's just open the doors and bring in the clowns. is's have this turn -- that not in joe biden's interest for the reasons you just heard. i don't think it is in mitch mcconnell's interest, either to have this be a place where every single wacky conspiracy theory that has ever appeared on fox .ews is going to be surfaced i think was in both sides interest in some way to shut it down. as to the question of the democrat when he says, look, they want john bolton and mick two advisors.ant they have not asked for everyone who was a material witness. i think it goes to an interesting problem the democrats to have because they are simultaneously climbing, look, this is an open and shut case. it was made in the house. we have enough document area evidence and witness testimony to end this right now. it is clear he did it. and also we want more. i think in some ways those two arguments work against each other. do you need more witnesses or do you not? what we're seeing happen now is adam schiff and the other impeachment managers doing their level best to say, ok, we will go with door number one. we have enough and we will show video for the next three days, making the case. i think it is also true they have said and they have said all along, if you don't give us mick mulvaney, if you don't give us john bolton, we only know a part of the story. we know a small part of the story. i think in some sense, at the end of the day, it is an attempt to refute the republican talking point, which is done of these witnesses were in the room. it is all hearsay. they want people who were in the room where it happened. and to be denied that and told you don't have any first-hand witnesses feels like a trap to them. amy: we are about to have actor and director tim robbins on. i want to go to the issue of their framing of the senate. this whole issue that no longer can cameras be in the senate, but the republicans are determining the frame of what we are seeing. c-span cannot even do this. they all have to take republicans frame of this trial, which is only looking forward. you cannot generally see the senators. the significance of this? and you are a long time to test e a long chiefar justice watcher, supreme court reporter. yet the chief justice presiding of the trial. close on the media question, no better than anyone what it means to have media limitations on a consequential hearing like this. it is not just that the cameras have been removed from the room. it is reporters cannot engage and walk and talks and do the kinds of things they should be allowed to do in the halls of the senate. i sit on the steering committee for the reporters committee for the freedom of the press. it is really unconscionable the lack of press access that we are having and that is addressed as a security problem. on the issue of john roberts, we have talked about this prior to this. has tried as much as possible to fade into the bushes, to be a potted plant. he had one brief moment on tuesday night where he reviewed both sides for intemperate speech.. i think anyone who saw that john roberts -- amy: and brought the word petty fogging back. >> and i think try to do some both sideism to take control of the topics. i don't think we will see a john roberts who is eager to rush in and make rululgs and be e a tiebreaker. he really is waiting this out and hoping it goes away. amy: dahlia lithwick, thank you for bebeing with us, senior eder at slate.com, where she is their senior legal correspondent and supreme court reporter. when we come back, president trump moves to expand his travel and a seven more cities. we will l speak to tim robbinins about his new play on immigration called "the new colossus." stay with us. ♪ [music break] amy: this is democracy now!, i'm amy goodman. trump saidesident wednesday he would expand his highly controversial travel ban, which already bars citizens from mainly muslim majority countries seven from entering the u.s. trump made the comment to reporters at the worldld economc forum in davos, switzerland. pres. trump: we have to be safe. our country has to be safe. you see what is going on in the world. we have a very strong travel ban and we will be adding a few countries to it. amy: trump's widely condemned travel ban currently bars citizens of libya, iran, somalia, syria, yemen, north korea, and venezuela from entering the u.s. trump signed it almost exactly three years ago in one of his first major acts as president, sparking widespread outrage. politico reports that the expanded ban could implement immigration restrictions on seven more countries -- belarus, burma, eritrea, kyrgyzstan, nigeria, sudan, and tanzania, according to two sources. nermeen: well, we turn now to an acclaimed actor, director, and activist whose recent work has focused on immigration to the united states, academy award winner tim robbins. tim has starred in many movies, including "the shawshank redemption," "mystic river," and "dark waters." he also wrote and directed the highly acclaimed film "dead man walking." but he's also the director of a new play about immigration called "the new colossus." the play's title is borrowed from the 1883 emma lazarus sonnet which was inscribed on the statue of liberty in 1903. here's the play's trailer. >> i am 25 years old. >> i am 34 years old. >> i am 68 years old. >> i am 42 years old. >> i i am 33 yeaears old. >> i am nine years old. >> i was born in moscow and the soviet union. >> iraran. >> germany. >> yugoslavia. >> mexico. i am a refugee> in the year 1979. >> i am a refugee and 2017. amy: that's the trailer for tim robbins's new play "the new colossus." he joins us now in our new york city studio. welcome to democracy now! it is great to have you back. so "the new colossus." in addition to this travel ban, pregnant women coming to the united states will have to be tested -- the state department plans to post travel restrictions on pregnant women? to curb what is known as birth tourism? the women who are pregnant, otherwise eligible for u.s. tourist visas, will have to prove they are visiting for other reasons other than to have their child. >> a slippery slope. a friend of mine passed through the border and they were going through her texts and so she was being friendly with another woman will stop amy: what you mean, they were going to the text? >> the border patrol people. amy: where was this? clubs in the south. i don't specifically say where. they see a text where she's being friendly with another woman. they succumb are you involved with the woman -- they said, are you involved in a lesbian relationship witith a woman? paranoia about everyone coming into our country south of the border, they must be trying to take something from us, it is really denigrating not only to the individuals involved on both sides, the border guard and the emigrant, but also to our country itself. it is not what i think of when i think of us as a country that is a welcoming -- we started "the new colossus" during the obama years during the syrians refugee crisis. we asked ourselves the question, who are we as a country? who are we as a theater company? i had 12 actors from various parts of the world, some of whom english is a second language. i asked them to write their story of either their immigration or their parents or grandparents immigration. story of 12ith this different people from 12 different time periods speaking 12 different languages telling the story of the arduous journey toward freedom. something that unites us, by the way, as a country. i don't think we often think about that. these times that are so divisive , it is exciting to be able to go out into the u.s. intel this story. because at the end of the day, i come out and say, i want to talk to you, the audience. we start discovering who the audience is. i first ask, is there anyone in the audience that is indigenous for dissented from indigenous. some hands go up. what nation? cherokee, etc.. i asked, is anyone here descended from people that were brought here against their will? african-americans. do you know from where and what year? no. one of our great original sense has never been atoned for. robbing an entire people of their history. then i asked, are there any immigrants or refugees, what year did you come and from where? where from? hands come up. i asked, sons or daughters of immigrants of refugees? more hands,. grandsons, granddaughters. more hands come up. it's all right the whole crowd. the whole audience. in our theater in los angeles, every time we do it -- amy: actors gang. close we put a map up in our lobby. we have magnetic pins were people can place where they are from in the world. in los angeles in our small theater come every time we do the play, the entire world is represented. reflective of who we are as a culture. something probably nowhere else in the world -- which is something unique and fantastic about what it is to be here. -- this play has led us to think about, what is this being that we all share together in this country? this dna, if you will? first of all, it is the dna that said, no, i will not tolerate religious oppression, fascism, or famine or nazi-ism. i risk my life to get out of here because i do not accept it. first, that dna. and the people that stay behind did not make it. and then the dna of the person that is strong enough to have survived that journey. and then a journey overseas, over the sea in boats a lot died on the way. then that kind of character that survived once they got here with nothing and then created a future for their family? this is our blood. this is what we are made up. this is something that we share that i think should be celebrated, and that is why we are going out on the road to tell this story. nermeen: i want to ask about how it is that conceptions of immigration in the u.s. might have changed. last year, over all of these decades, you have spoken to people through your play, several generations, who have come to the u.s.. last year following condemnation of the trump administration rule limiting permanent status for low-income immigrants, acting director of citizenship and immigration services ken cuccinelli attempted to defend the new policy by rewriting the iconic emma lazarus poem on the statue of liberty. this is cuccinelli speaking to npr's rachel martin. >> would you also agree emma lazarus' words edged the statue of liberty are also part of the american be those? >> they certainly are. give me your tired and poor who can state on the own two feet and will not become a public charge. that plaque was put on the statue of liberty at almost the same time as the first public charge law was passed. very interesting time. nermeen: he later defended his comments in a cnn interview suggesting emma lazarus's poem was written about "people coming from europe." this, could respond to this two points he makes. first of all, low-income immigrants who appear in his view not to be welcome, and also initially immigrants to america were of course european. >> first of all, always distrust any person in politics try to rewrite poetry. [laughter] a couple of lines were left out. refuse ofe wretched your teeming shore. the homeless. give them to me. what this is is a story of strength that is saying we are strong enough country to accept people that are hurt, that are hurting. we are strong enough to hold you up. strong we are as an country. it is upon that tells what it is to be compassionate, to be pathetic, and hold power. lamp beside the golden door. i will guide your safe passage into these harbors. you who are hurt. you who are urging. this rewriting of history, first of all, every single immigrant has been demononized. with the second-generation of italians and irish in new york city. the irish need not apply. these are kids that were descendents from people who were .alled the worst they held onto their dignity. a similargrant has story. this is nothing new. because the now differences are being weapon iced -- weaponized. i think it is tragic for our country in that is why we want to tell the story and hear the audience's stories, to reaffirm who we are, to really tell the story of -- the person sitting next to is probably from somewhere else. if you are not an immigrant or refugee, or not that far removed. you are a couple of generations removed from that. we should be holding up these people. it takes great courage -- this is a hero's journey. it has always been a hero's journey to say no to something that is violent or oppressive and to risk your life to come here. we had a matinee in los angeles. the map we put up in the lobby, this is the one particular day, a matinee for high school students in los angeles, and the map was predominantly mexico, central america, and south america. we talked that day about the rhetoric that is going around about immigration right now, the demonization of the "other." one of the children was talking about their parents and another one was talking about their grandparents. we started talking about how we look at your appearance and your grandparents. let's stop thinking about them the way they want to talk about it, the way they've been using rhetoric to demonize it and let's talk about the hero journey, the mythic journey, the courage it takes to leave behind your home. no one wants to leave ththeir home. who would want to leave their home? there is something in their home that is creating trouble and a danger for their children. miles for awalk 500 future. this is a noble effort. this is a hero's journey. we have to stop thinking about it in a way the media is portraying it and talk about it in mythic terms. this is our history. my ancestors, your ancestors. this is the mythic heroes journey. amy: we're going to gotta break and come back to another journey you recently took starring "in dark waters," but i want to ask about your recent endorsement of bernie sanders. i don't know if a lot of f peope heard about it, although there was a massive rally in california. alexandria ocasio-cortez was there, cornell west. how many people would you say were at the rally? >> 25,000 or 30,000. amy: this is not so much about you as it is him and the erasing of bernie sanders that the corporate media does. there are huge risers with cameras? tens of thousands of people? >> there were cameras and someone has it on tape, yeah. i know you can find it on youtube. [laughter] amy: not getting much coverage. >> but that is par for the course. the reason why i support bernie is despite all of this, he still has immense numbers. he is leading in the polls, despite being erased or ignored. i believe he is the only one of them that can defeat trump. i truly believe he is the best shot we have of getting rid of this guy. the centrist democrats have run with the strategy for years that tried to appeal to suburban housewives that might be conservative. we get a few of those votes, we will shift the votes and be able to win the election. amy: and may not be so conservative. >> maybe not. here's the thing. it did not work for gore or kerry or clinton. obama ran a progressive campaign. i don't know why they believe the strategy will somehow change now. now if we run to the center, everything will be fine. restless.rate is they have rejected it in the past. and you see how strong their support for bernie is. i believe he has the best shot. amy: just yesterday, president trump went against his own promises in 2016 in a cnbc interview and said he is weighing cutting social security, medicare, and these are the key issues of the sanders campaign. medicare for all and preserving social security. >> yes. i am going to be campaigning for him in north carolina next week. campaign can win. amy: we're going to go to break and talk about a new report that is just come out and "dark waters," this new realm that tim robbins is starring in and how they converge. tim robbins, the oscar-winning actor. we continue with him and we will be joioined by the attorney rob bilott. the film "dark waters" is about dupont.t with what is the latest news about teflon contamination in this world. rob bilott will also be joining us. stay with us. ♪ [music break] amy: "the cradle will rock" from the film of the same name, directed by tim robbins. this is democracy now!, i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. i wanted to mention where we are going to be on tour in charlotte, north carolina, january 28 at the ninth theater. schenectady, new york, detroit, michigan, to ringo, colorado, i was city, folsom, california, nashville, tennessee. and because has like it might be going beyond that we will see. we're going to turn right now to something else you have just been focusing on, but a leaf study, new study that is just come out. nermeen: the new study shows tapwater in 43 cities across the united states is contaminated with toxic chemicals known as pfas, which have been late to cancer and lower fertility. miami, newinclude orleans, philadelphia, washington, d.c., and chicago. the report was released by the environmental working group. water contamination is the subject of the recent hollywood film "dark waters," which stars are guest tim robbins, as well as mark ruffalo and anne hathaway. the film tells the story of attorney rob bilott's 20 year battle with dupont over contaminated drinking water in west virginia from toxic chemicals used to make teflon. mark ruffalo place rob bilott. tim robbinsplaces boss. isis is e film's trailer. >>, corpate defee attttory. cle so? >> i defend chemical mpanies. >> well,ow you c defend . >> howanany diyou le? >> 190 >> 1 cattl is a small matteror a mily fend come help a guy oo needs it. >> the farmer? >> thais chemils, i'm teing you. >> they are ding something. thathemical. what if you dran it? > that is like saying, what f i i swalwedd attire? >> what if whevers kikillg the cows iin the drinking war? >> at dupo. better living through chemisy.y. is s oudna. dupont is knowing poining ,0,000 lal resesents for the last 4 years. you knew and still y d did noththin > you want to flush your carr dodown t toilet for some cow hand yo wanant to take everytngng you aknownd trun against nikon -- turn ainst an iconi company like an arartmen clubs theyave all the firepowe they will use it i know. i was one of them. our govevement i is ptive e to dupont thth're trying force y t ma me stst. >> risking his job, faly, for a stranger who needed hp. the s stem is rigged. >> we protect us. we do. amy: that is the trailer for "dark waters," based on the work of attorney rob bilott who is joining us now from los angeles. he has just published a new book tiled "exposure: poisoned water, corporate greed, and one lawyer's twenty-year battle against dupont." still with us is director and actor tim robbins, who stars in film. rob, the latest news of the new report that finds -- has detected highly toxic pfas chemicals in the drinking waters of dozens of major cities across the country? >> yeah. we'relly highlights talking about chemical contamination that goes far farmer partially has property and -- farmers property in west virginia, even one crudity. it is all across the country and now all around the world. amy: explain what this chemical is and how it got there. >> were talking about a completely man-made chemical, something that did not exist on the planet prior to world war ii. it was developed right after the war but the 3m company. it was sent down to dupont who used it in the manufacturiring f teflon outside the west virginia plant for about 60 years. unfortunately, a lot of that occurred in the decades before the u.s. epa even existed. the u.s. epa did not come into being until 1970. tons of this chemical were being used at the plant, emitted out into the environment into the air come into the water come into the soils of the surrounding community, and sent to facilities all over the country and all over the world that uses product in making a wide variety of consumer products. not just cookware, stain resistant clothing, fabric coating, microwave popcorn bags, stain resistatant materials of l kinds, fast food wrappers, you name it. so by the time we finally figured out this chemical was being used, that it was being emitted into our environment a d gegetting into drinking water al over the country and the blood of virtually every living creature in the planet, it had already been out there and being pumped out into our environment really the regulators and the public being completely unaware. it has taken quite some time to get that story out and for people to start realizing the scope of this contamination. we are talking about something that contamination of really an unprecedented scale. worldwidide contamination of water, soil, blood of humans and animals all over the planet. andd most t of us, unfortunateli just now learning about this, even though the information about the toxicity of these chemicals, the fact it was getting out in the environment and would get into us and stay and as was known by the companies using these materials for decades. that information was not shared with t the rest of us. in theat is amazing is, film, the plaintiffs in west virginia, the people who were poisoned by this dupont factory go to rob bilott because his grandmother lived in the area and they understood he was a corporate lawyer, so he would take on the corporations as opposed to the fact that, no, he represented the corporations. and you were his boss. >> that's right. this is a true story. his boss saw the merit and it and said to rob, who i just become a partner in the law firm, go ahead and do it step 12 years later, rob was still going on and it was costing the firm a lot of money. it was counterintuitive for the firm to do it, but he saw the moral obligation that all of themem had once they knew the truth of this to pursue the case most of america rob, the lawsuit that you brought, he represented and what people one, though the woworld has lost s so much in ts case continues? >> we started off with the farmer and west virginia, mr. tennant, representing him and his family, then realizing it was in the dririnking water of e entire community, represented about the 70,000 people along the ohio riverer, ohio and west virginia. and as this contamination, the awareness of it is spreading around the country, we are now bringing a new case where we are seeking to represent everyone in the country who now has these chemicals in their blood and hopefully we can require independent scientific study to confirm exactly what this broad group of chemicals will do to us. we focused on one of them, pfoa, and that is the chemical you see focused on in the movie and in my book as well. but what we know now is pfoa is just one of many of these man-made synthetic chemicals that are getting out in our water come in our blood, and unfortunately, the rest of us don't have much information about what these other chemicals are doing. so we are trying to get indedependent scientific studies to confirm that and to have it so the rest of us are not paying for that. >> rob did probably the most extensive blood work study in farmer was.t the amy: in west virginia. to talkmaybe you want about that. amy: we have 10 seconds. close the epa has recently been -- a secret memo was discovered trying to get t rid of the science. >> the study we did and west virginia ended up being g one of the largest studs ever done of a chemical. we had 70,000 people and 12 different studies spanning seven years, costing tens of millions of dollars and the end result was independent scientific confirmations that this chemical causes diseases, including cancers. amy: we will do part two and democracynow.org. rob bilott, thank you for joining us. his new book is called ♪ hellolo and welcome to nhk "newsline." i'm keiko kitagawa in tokyo. we start with the latest on the coronavirus spreading in china. the country's death toll from pneumonia likely caused from the virus has risen to 18. but the world health organization says it's too early to call the outbreak an international health emergency. >> make no mistake. this is no emergency in china. but it has