presidential candidate paul ryan? michelle goldberg is with newsweek and the daily beast. last year, todd akin and brian co-sponsor the no taxpayer funding for abortion act that attempted to redefine rape. >> rape is rape. the idea that we should be qualifying and slicing what types of rape we're talking about, does not make sense to the american people. it certainly does not make sense to me. >> then, "the invisible wounds of war: coming home from iraq and afghanistan." marguerite guzmán bouvard and the record number of soldiers committing suicide. >> this issue, suicide, is perhaps the most frustrating challenge that i have come across since becoming secretary of defense last year. >> we will go to south africa where police shot dead 34 striking mineworkers at a mine owned by lonmin, the world's third largest platinum producer. >> the history i read about the massacre was a history and never thought in 2012 we would experience the same massacre under a democratically elected government. >> all of that and more coming up. this is "democracy now!," democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. republican congressmember todd akin is found to remain in missouri's senate race despite widespread calls from and then his own party to drop out. he sparked a national controversy after he told an interviewer that women are somehow a couple of blocking an unwanted pregnancy during what he called "legitimate rape." on monday, and it romney joined top republican leaders in denouncing his comments and asking him to out of the race. the national republican senatorial committee also declared it would withdraw support from todd akin, as did the republican advocacy group, cross for its gps. today's the deadline for missouri senate hopefuls to withdraw from contention, meaning republicans could field a different candidate if todd akin complies with their demands. but instead, he has vowed to remain in the race. more after the headlines. president obama and mitt romney continue to trade barbs on tax issues. namely, romney's refusal to release his returns and obama's contention that romney's tax policies would burden the middle class. at a town hall event in new hampshire, romney accused obama of falsely claiming the republican tax plan would favor the wealthy. >> it seems as if the first victim of an obama campaign is the truth. [laughter] [applause] it has been sad and disappointing. frankly, when i became the presumptive nominee, the president called me and congratulated me on becoming the presumptive nominee, and said that america deserves an honest debate about the future course of the country. i agree. i am waiting to hear him again that. all we have heard so far is one attack after the other. frankly, they're not honest. >> speaking to reporters at the white house president obama defended his repeated calls for romney to release his tax returns. >> the american people have assumed if you want to be president of the united states, that your life is an open book. when it comes to things like your finances. i am not asking to disclose every detail of his medical records, although, we normally do that as well. [laughter] you know? i mean, this is not overly personal here, guys, this is pretty standard stuff. i do not think we're being mean and asking you to do what every other presidential candidate has done. >> a brand president rafael correa has warned britain risks diplomatic suicide should it decide to raid ecuador's london embassy to nab wikileaks founder julian assange. on monday, he said any violation of ecuador's diplomatic rights would undermine the status of british consular offices worldwide. >> it would be suicide for the united kingdom to enter the ecuadorean embassy. it was set a precedent to be violated in every corner of the planet. it would be a disastrous. >> britain has threatened to enter the embassy to seize julian assange on ecuador's approval of his bid for political asylum. on monday, a group of demonstrators marched in ecuador to support their government's decision. >> his life is practically at risk, and ecuador is one of the countries that must respect human rights. we are backing this decision and welcome julian assange to our country. >> to an assange is fighting extradition to sweden. he and his supporters say he is ultimately seeking to avoid being handed over to the united states to face punishment for publishing leaked u.s. government documents. on monday, victoria nuland rejected to in assange's concerns. >> let me start with the fact he is making all kinds of wild assertions about us when in fact, his issue with the government of the united kingdom has to do with whether he is going to go stand, face justice in sweden for something that has nothing to do with wikileaks. it has to do with charges of sexual misconduct. so he is clearly trying to deflect attention away from the real issue, which is whether he is going to face justice in sweden, which is the immediate issue. that case has nothing to do with us. it is a matter between the uk, sweden, and not ecuador. >> president obama has warned syria of u.s. military action should the regime of bashar al- assad use chemical weapons. speaking at the white house on monday, obama said any chemical warfare by syria would be his red line. >> we have put together a range of contingency plans. we have communicated, in no uncertain terms, what every player in the region that that is a red line for us and there would be enormous consequences if we start seeing movement on the chemical weapons front or the use of chemical weapons. that would change my calculations significantly. >> a japanese reporter covering the country's civil war has been killed in the syrian city of aleppo. he was embedded with the opposition free syrian army when she was caught in the middle of a gun battle monday. she was the fourth foreign journalist to die in syria since march 2011. ethiopian prime minister son now has died of an undisclosed illness was seeking medical treatment abroad. the 57-year-old leader was the key u.s. government ally in africa could been criticized for his record on human rights and opponents of rigging elections. at least 20 people have been killed in a gunbattle between prisoners in a venezuelan jail. it is not clear how the violence began or how the prisoners were able to obtain weapons. the killings marked the latest incident in a spate of prison riots inside venezuela and a mixed ruling, federal appeals court has struck down key parts of two immigration laws in alabama and georgia, but upheld other controversial sections, including "show your papers" provision. it struck down alabama's law requiring public schools to check the immigration status of students to enroll, and blocked the state's requirement that immigrants. a registration document at all times. judges also said the law's opponents were likely to succeed and challenging provisions in both states that would make it a crime under certain circumstances to knowingly transports or harbor undocumented people. but the court ruled alabama police could continue demanding immigration documents during stops from those they suspect of being in the country illegally, and paved the way for georgia to begin enforcing a similar "show me your papers" provision. it follows a similar mixed ruling by the supreme court in june that overturned some parts of arizona's anti-immigrant law sb1070, but upheld the "show me your papers >> provision, which critics say legalizes racial profiling. the third of eight u.s. soldiers court-martialed strolled in the death of army private danny chen has been demoted to sergeant and sentenced to three months confinement with credit for 90 days already served. in 19-year-old chinese-american chen allegedly took his life does weeks after he was deployed last october to afghanistan. his family says chen had been abused by comrades on an almost daily basis including racist hazing, with soldiers throwing rocks at him, calling him ethnic slurs and forcing them to do pushups or hang upside down with his mouth full of water. on friday, staff sergeant lamb dugas was found guilty of dereliction of duty for failing to prevent chen's hazing and making false statements to investigators. in response to the punishment, president of the civil rights group oca ny said -- republican congress member has apologized to his constituents after report emerged saying he had gone skinny dipping in the sea of galilee to in a fact- finding trip to israel last year. several republican members of congress reportedly took a late- night swim in the sea, some reportedly motivated by religious fervor. but congress member kevin yoder of kansas apparent when a step further by jumping into the sea naked. the late-night incident, which also involved alcohol, trace strong rebuke from eric cantor and reportedly prompted the at the night to investigate inappropriate behavior. more than 80 members of congress were on the trip, which was on to buy charity affiliated with the pro-israeli government lobbying group aipac. newly disclosed records from the fbi claim a longtime civil- rights activist who died in 2009 served as a government informant. according to the center for investigative reporting, richard aoki covertly filed intelligence reports on his fellow activists in the bay area after first being recruited by an fbi agent in the 1950's. aoki was an early member of the black panther party and later served as a field marshal for the panthers. he helped train panther members in handling firearms before the group's infamous shootouts with oakland police in the 1960's. he went on to become an educator, working for 25 years of a community college before his suicide in 2009. two years before his death, richard aoki had denied being an informant when asked in an interview. a number of his fellow activists have also cast doubt on the claims. but intelligence records released by the fbi list aoki as an informant dating back to 1967. those are some of the headlines. this is "democracy now!," democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. republicans are mounting increasing pressure on missouri congressman todd akin's to in his bid to unseat democratic senator claire mccaskill after he claimed women's bodies can prevent pregnancies in cases of what he called a legitimate rape. republicans had been hoping a victory by todd akin would help the party regain control of the senate. his a six-term congressman. the controversy began sunday when a local tv reporter asked him about his opposition to abortion in all cases. >> what about in the case of rape? should it be legal or not? >> people want to try to make that as one of those things, how you slice this particularly tough at go question? first of all, from what i understand from doctors, that is really rare. if it is a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. >> let's assume that did not work. >> i think there should the punishment, but it should be in the rapist and not attacking the child. >> after the interview, todd akin issued a statement saying he -- political revealed this morning that todd akin has also recorded a tv ad to apologize for his comments. >> i am todd akin and i approved this message. rape is an evil act. i used the wrong words in in the wrong way and for that i apologize. as the father of two daughters, i want tough justice for predators. i have a compassionate heart for victims of sexual assault and i pray for them. the fact is, rape can lead to pregnancy. the truth is, rape has many victims. the mistake i made was in the words i said, not in the heart i hold. i asked for your forgiveness. >> despite his apologies, republican establishment has unleashed a campaign to drive todd akin out of their race. the national republican senatorial committee declared it would withdraw support for a can, as to the republican advocacy group, a crossroads gps. and a missouri law, candidates can withdraw 11 weeks before election day. that deadline is 5:00 p.m. today missouri time. what presidential hopeful mitt romney has criticized todd akin 's remarks, questions have been raised about ties between him and paul ryan. in 2011, the co-sponsor the no taxpayer funding for abortion act. on monday, president obama addressed the controversy during a surprise briefing at the white house. >> rape is rape. the idea that we should be parsing and qualifying and slicing what types of rape we're talking about this not make sense to the american people, and certainly does not make sense to me. so what i think these comments do _ is why we should not have a bunch of politicians. a majority of whom are men, making health care decisions on behalf of women. >> for more we're joined by michelle goldberg, senior writer for newsweek/the daily beast. her latest piece is entitled, "todd akin's rape comment was bad, but his abortion views are much worse." she is also author of, "kingdom coming: the rise of christian nationalism." welcome back to "democracy now!" let's go everything todd akin said, what his views are, and let's go beyond sunday, but we will start there. >> what he said that was controversial and that differs from the vast majority of his republican colleagues is only his views about the kind of magic powers of the uterus to activate in cases of rape and somehow kill sperm this has floated around the far right. the reason it is so toxic is because it suggests -- it is not just because his view that women should be forced to carry pregnancies to term, even if they are the result of rape, but because he essentially is arguing women who had been and recommended by rape, and according to studies, that is about 32,000 women a year, that he is suggesting they were not really rate or that some of the other people who huddled this junk science says, "well, the juices don't flow if she is raped." the implication is if she gets pregnant, she somehow enjoyed it. there is the medieval superstition that a woman cannot conceive unless she has an. so that is the part that is toxic across the board. but what there is no difference between, there is no difference between todd akin's views on abortion policy and on abortion law than that of paul ryan and many other republicans, including headliners at the rnc next week. i think one reason there such a huge push to get him out of the race, is it is not something the republican party wants to highlight right now. >> let's talk about todd akin and the man who is charged to call him and tell him to get out of their race, the presumptive vice-president republican nominee paul ryan. >> paul ryan, like todd akin, does not believe there should be any exceptions to a total abortion ban for cases of rape and incest. his only supported a procedure that would save a mother's life. he has sponsored legislation to the fact that a woman gets pregnant through rate should be forced by the government to carry that baby to term. they have collaborated on several pieces of legislation and co-sponsored -- they co- sponsored basically a federal personhood amendment, that would give the full rights of an american citizen to a fertilized egg in which a lot of legal scholars would not only outlaw all forms of abortion, but would outlaw the morning i'll kill, other forms of birth control -- morning after pill, other forms of birth control and in vitro fertilization. they co-sponsored the no taxpayer funding for abortion act. there was a lot of provisions in that act, hr3. one of the interesting provisions, right now there is a federal law and and federal funding for abortion for women and government employees and military service members. actually, it is interestingakin and ryan oppose legislation that would allow funding for abortions for female service members who have been raped. but federal law right now bans federal funding for abortion in cases of rape and incest. they try to change the to federal funding bans abortion except in cases of clinical forceable rape. if you heard todd akin speaking yesterday, he said by legitimate rape him to say forceable rape. >> let's go to mike huckabee's show, to that comment of todd akin. >> it made a couple of serious mistakes that were just wrong and i need to apologize for those. first, i might say i have always been committed to pro-life and it was because i did not want to harm the most vulnerable, but likewise, i care deeply for the victims of people who have been raped and are equally vulnerable rate is equally tragic. i made that statement and error. let me be clear, rape is never legitimate. it is an evil act committed by violent predators. i used the wrong words in the wrong way. what i said was ill-conceived and wrong. and for that i apologize. >> that was todd akin on mike huckabee's radio show critics mike huckabee is speaking at the rnc and also believes that abortion should be banned in cases of rape and incest. here's why the phrase forceable rape is interesting. in 1999, john willke wrote an article and my guess is the article where todd akin got his ideas about female reproductive biology, because it makes the same argument he made that when feminists are pro-choice advocates talk about an abortion except in race, -- inception in rate, it is extremely rare because the trauma of rape is an undercurrent response that makes primacy impossible. one of the things he talks about in the article is he says, pro-5 advocates should always make a distinction or should always talk about forceable rape as opposed to rate. for a couple of reasons. partly to distinguish between statutory rate and argues a lot of women simply claim rate after they become pregnant from consensual sex. the fact this phrase has entered not just the republican lexicon, but they have tried to write into law is significant. what it implies is that there is real rape or legitimate rape, and then there are lesser forms of rape. >> if you talk about forcible rape, which was in the legislation co-sponsored by paul ryan and todd akin, that suggests there's something called voluntary rape. >> exactly. part of what they're talking about a statutory rate coming home because there is a massive gap in people's ages, but that is essentially a 13-old girl and 30-year-old man, she would not be entitled to any sort of federal protection if she gets pregnant. beyond that, it is not clear. forcible rape is a term a lot of state penal codes, but unclear at the federal level of what that mean in terms of funding, whether it would, say, a bar funding in the case for a woman was dragged or threatened. the point to me is it was clearly an attempt to narrow the rape exemption and say that some forms of rape are not as serious as others and do not really count. >> i want to stay with john willke. the article he wrote called "assault rape pregnancies are rare." in it he argues that rape statistics are uncertain because some women are "pregnant from consensual intercourse have letter claimed rape." he also writes "to get and stay pregnant a woman's body must produce a very sophisticated mix of hormones. crummel production is controlled by a part of the brain that is easily influenced by emotions. there's no greater emotional trauma that could express by women and assault rape." you also reports that he endorsed governor romney for president. >> not just that he endorsed. but the romney campaign rally touted him as a major surrogate and a credible voice to the anti-abortion committee. >> and he is not the only one. in july 2010, nevada senate candidate sharon angle asking and a conservative radio show what he would say to a young girl who is raped by her father, that's she's pregnant, how to explain this to her in terms of wanting to go to the process of having a baby? she says, i think two wrongs don't make a right. i have been in the situation of counseling young girls who have had a very at risk di