Transcripts For LINKTV Democracy Now 20170322

Ruled against a truck driver who got fired after he abandoned his broken down trailer in order to avoid freezing to death in subzero temperatures. We will hear from the trucker and senator al franken. Companysurd to say this is in its rights to fire him because he made the choice of possibly dying from freezing to death or causing other people to die possibly by driving an unsafe vehicle. That is absurd. Amy we will also look at Neil Gorsuchs views on Citizens United and the 10 million spent in dark money to push his confirmation. Then we speak to two victims of racial profiling in the nations airports. When is a former nororth carolia police chief, the other is a lawyer suing the trump administratition over its targeting of sanctuary cities. Both men were recently detained and questioned. We will find out what happened. All that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Supreme Court Nominee neil gorsuch is heading to capitol hill today for his third day of confirmation hearings. On tuesday, he was questioned for over 10 hours by members of the Senate Judiciary committee. Gorsuch faced intense scrutiny over his decision to rule against a truck driver whose employer illegally fired him for deserting a trailer so he wouldnt freeze to death. This is minnesota democratic senator al franken. It is absurd. To say this company is in its because heire him made the choice of possibly dying from freezing to death or causing other people to die possibly by driving an unsafe vehicle. That is absurd. Now i had a career in identifying absurdity. [laughter] and i know it when i see it. And it makes me, you know, it makes me question your judgment. Amy Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer is calling on the senate to delay a a vote on gorsuch for as long as trumps as long as the fbi is investigating the Trump Campaign. Whats to be moving so forward on fast on confirming a Supreme Court justice with a lifetime appointment while this big gray cloud of an fbi investigation hangs over the presidency. Amy well have more on gorsuchs confirmation hearings after headlines. President trump is heading to capitol hill today to continue lobbying for the repubublican health carare plan, which is set for a fullll house vote thururs. Onon tuesday, trumump reportedly threatened republican lawmakers during a closeddoor meeting in efforts to convince them to vote for the bill. The Washington Post reportrts trump singled d out nonorth cara republican mark meadows, saying im gonna come after you, but i know i wont have to, because i know youll vote yes. meadowows is head of the far rit wing freedom caucus, the republican plan, calling it obamacare lite, saying it does not go far enough to dismantle the Affordable Care act. In an unprececedented move, thes government pulled out of a scheduled human rights hearing tuesday. The hearing was set to cover the Trump Administrations deportation plans its attempts , to ban people from six majority muslim nations, and its approval of the 3. 8 billion Dakota Access pipeline. The American Civil Liberties union wrote the Trump Administrations refusal to engage with an independent human rights body, which has played a historic role in fighting impunity and barbaric military dictatorships in the region, sets a dangerous precedent that mirrors the behavior of authoritarian regimes and will only serve to embolden them. Labor secretary nominee alex acosta is set to appear before a Senate Committee for his confirmation hearing today. The longtime republican lawyer is the second person trump has nominated to be labor secretary after his first pick, andrew puzder, withdrew amid reports of widespread Sexual Harassment and labor and safety violations at his chain restaurants, as well as allegations of Domestic Violence against his exwife. Acostas confirmation hearings open as a new lawsuit is raising questions about why he chose not to pursue federal charges against billionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein while acosta was the miami u. S. Attorney. Epstein was facing allegations hed sexually abused more than 40 underaged girls, some as young as 13 years old. Acostas staff had recommended pursuing federal charges that could carry a life sentence. But acosta overruled his staff and instead cut a nonprosecution deal with epstein, who ended up serving an 13month jail sentence. Trump has also praised epstein in the past, saying hes a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as i do, and many of them are on the younger side. Trump is also the witness list in the florida lawsuit over acostas handling of the case. The Associated Press is reporting President Trumps former campaign chairman, paul manafort, secretly worked for a russian billionaire in order to advance the agenda of russian president Vladimir Putin across the former soviet republics, europe, and in the United States during the mid2000s. The Ap Investigation reveals that in 2006, manafort signed a 10 million a Year Contract with putins close ally, russian aluminum magnate oleg deripaska, to promote putins interests. The ap report comes only days after fbi director james comey announced the fbi is investigating whether president Trumps Campaign collaborated with russia to sway the 2016 election. On monday, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer sought to distance Trumps Campaign from manafort. Even general flynn was a volunteer of the campaign, and then obviously, there has been discussion of all manafort who played a very limited role for a very limited amount of time. He was the chairman can you stop interrupting other peoples questions . Jonathan, summit is asking a question. Please call down. Are you saying the president is aware of the contact nothing thahat has not been loosely discussed. Amy the New York Times reports that longtime republican operative and trump associate roger stone is also under investigation as part of the agencys probe into russian interference in the 2016 election. Meanwhile, the state department has announced secretary of state Rex Tillerson has proposed new dates for an april nato meeting hehe initially said hed skip. His initial decision to skip the meeting had sparkeked concerns among european leaders, especially since tillerson plans to head to russia later in april. The Supreme Court ruled six to two tuesday to limit some highlevel officials to s serve positions. It comes from the 2011 appointment for the National Labor relations board. So to mayor and ginsburg dissented from the majority ruling, which rules a person cannot serve as acting head of federal agency while he or she is also waiting Senate Confirmation to fill the role permanently. The british based syrian observatory for humann rights says a u. S. Led Coalition Airstrike has killed dozens of civilians, after it hit a school near the isisheld city of raqqa. Both the observatory and local journalists say the school was being used to shelter displaced families. The u. S. Led coalition has been bombing raqqa for months. The pentagon has not confirmed the strike. However, the pentagon has announced a formal investigation intoto anothther recent u. S. Airstrike, which killed at least 49 people in a rebelheld village in aleppo province. Local journalists and monitoring groups say the dead were civilians who had gathered at a mosque to pray, while the pentagon has claimed the strike hit an alqaqaeda meeting. In o other news in syryria, rebs haveve launched an offensive on the governmentheld capital, damascus, seizing several government positions. The offensivive signals the sevenyearold civil war is far from over. In somalalia, at least five peoe have died afteter a car bomb exploded at a security checkpoint near the president ial palace in the capital mogadishu. 10 more people were wounded in the blast. Meanwhile, radio mogadishu is reporting at least 26 people have starved to death over the last day and a half in the Southern Region of jubaland, amid a severe drought. The United Nations is warning nearly 3 Million People are at risk of famine in somalia. More than 6000 refugees seeking to reach europe were rescued in the mediterrananean over the lat few days as warming weather is leading more people to attempt the dangerous crossing. An eststimated 500 refugeeees he already drowned in the mediterranean this year. This is joel millman of the International Organization for migration. Arrivals in italy this year have already passed 20,000, which is twice the 2015 rate through three months of the year and considerably ahead of 2016s through threemonth severe. We get to complete march and we already racing at a pace of arrivals that has exceeded anything we have seen before in the mediterranean. This is typical of spring, getting very busy, but not typical to have the numbers be soso high ththis early in a corresponding deaths that go with it. Amy in india, tens of thousands of auto workers are protesting the recent convictions of 13 workers over the 2012 uprising at a Maruti Suzuki plant in a district outside new dehli. The 13 Union Members have been sentenced to life in prison for the death of a plant manager during the 2012 uprising. Workers say the uprising began after a supervisor insulted one of the workers with casterelated slurs. The uprising occurred in the midst of the workers ongoing struggle to win an independent union at the plants of indias largest car maker. On saturday, 35,000 workers observed a onehour strike in protest of the convictions. Another mass protest has been called for tomorrow in the district. As many as 14,000 people took to the ststreets of brussels tuesdy to protest aususterity measures. The march included Health Care Workers calling for better conditions. This is Mental Health care worker bernard decelle. Honestly, we cannot take it anymore. We are experiencing burnout. They do not replace people when they get s sick. We have to be available when a colleague is sick, and we e dot get anything in return. Amy back in the United States, honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez was confronted by protesters when he arrived in washington, d. C. To meet with , lawmakers tuesday. The protesters chanted asesino the spanish word for murderer and held photographs of the murdered environmental activist Berta Caceres. She is one of more than 120 environmental and human rights activists who have been murdered in honduras since the 2009 u. S. Backed militaryoup. Dozens of lawmakers have signed on to cosponsor the Berta Caceres human rights in honduras act,t, which seeks to withhold u. S. Military aid to honduras until the honduran government addresses Human Rights Violations by its police and security forces. The white house is facing questions and criticism after photos surfaced showing the head of an antimuslim m hate Group Visiting the white house tuesday. Brigitte gabriel is the head of act for america, which the Southern Poverty Law Center says is the nations largest grassroots antimuslim group, Whose Mission is to advance antimuslim legislation at the local and federal level while flooding the American Public with wild hate speech demonizing muslims. In february, gabriel also posted a photo of herself posing with president trumump at maralago. And vigils were held across ireland tuesday to mourn the dedeath of politician and formrr ira leader Martin Mcguinness. Mcguinness served as the commander of the Irish Republican Army during northern irelands struggle for independence. He later served as the chief negotiator for sinn fein, the iras political arm, and helped broker the 1998 peace deal known as the good friday agreement. This is sinn fein presesident gerry adams. Margin was, as will note very passioionate irish republican. He believed in our people. People should be free. He believed in reconciliation. He worked very, veryry hard at l of that. So we are very, very sad that we lost him overnight. Amy Martin Mcguinness died tuesday at the age of 66. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. We turn now to the confirmation hearings of supreme Court Nominee neil gorsuch. On tuesday, gorsuch fafaced over 10 hours of questioning by members of the s senate judiciay committee. E. Gorsuch was tapped by President Trump to fill the seat left vacant by Antonin Scalia is death over a year ago. President obama nominated merrick p portland replace scala neararly a year ago, but republicans refused to even hold hearings during garland would tip the ideological balance of the court to the left. One of the most riveting moments in the gorsuch hearing occurred when minnesota senator our Franken Al Franken questioned gorsuch about his ruling in a case involving a truck driver who got fired after he disobeyed a supervisor and abandoned his trailer that he was driving because he was on the verge of freezing to death. The truck driver couldnt drive off with the trailer because the trailers brakes had frozen. In the case, judge gorsuch cast the sole dissent ruling in favor of the Trucking Company against the trucker. In a moment, we will hear franken questioning gorsuch about the case. But first, i want to turn to the truck drdriver himseself, alphoe maddin. He spoke in washington a few days ago at an event organized by senate democrats. In january 2009, i was working as a commercial truck drivereror Transam Trucking incorporateded of olathe, kansa. I was hauling a load of meat through the state of illinois. After stuffing to resolve the discrepancy of the locationon refuel, the brakes on the trailer froze. I contacted my employer and they arranged for a repair unit to come to my location. I expected help would arrive within an hour. I woke three hours later to discover that i could not feel my feet, my skin was burning and cracking, my speech was slurred, and i was having trouble breathing. The temperature that night was roughly 27 degrees fahrenheit below zero. The heater in the cabin was not producing g heat and the temperature gauge in the truck was reading minus seven degrees below zero. After forming my employer of my physical condition, they responded by telling me to simply hang in there. As i sat there physically suffering in the cold, i started having thoughts that i was going to die. My physical condition was fading rapidly. I decided to try to attach the trailer from the truck and drive to s safety. When i stepped out of the truck, i was concerned that i may fall because i was on the verge of passing out. I feared that if i fail, i would not have the strength to stand up and wouldld die. I walked to the back of the trailer to place a lock on the cargo doors. The distance that i walked to the back of the trailer seemed like an attorney as my feet absolutely had no feeling at all. I eventually was able to detach the tractor from the trailer. Before i left, i called my employer to notify them that i had decided to head to shelter. And they ordered me to either drag the trailer or stay put. Clearly, the, cargo was more important in my life. My employer fired me for disobeying their orders. I would like to make it clear detached theh i tractor from the trailer, i returned and i completed my job and i was still fired. I disputed my termination from transam chunky and ultimate trucking and ultimately won. This was a seveven year battle. 7070 for judges heard my case. One of those judges filed against me. That judge was neil gorsuch. Amy that was alphonse maddin, the truck driver in case involved supreme Court Nominee neil gorsuch. At tuesdsdays s hearing, senatl franken questioned gorsuch about his dissent in the case. There are two safety issues here. One, the possibility of freezing to death or driving with that rig in a very committed very dangerous way. Which would you have done now go oh, senator, i dont know what i wouldve done in issues and i dont blame him at all a moment for what he did do. I empathize with them entirely. We been talking about this case. You havent decided what you would have done . You havent thought about what you would done in the case . I thought a lot about it. I totally but dies please answer the questions. Trucks i was not in the mans shoes, but i understand i wouldve done exactly what he did. I think everybody would have done exactly what he did. This companyto say is in his rights to fire him because he made the choice of possibly dying from freezing to or causing other people to die possibly by driving an unsafe vehicle. That is absurd. Now i had a career in identifying absurdity. [laughter] and i know it when i see it. Know, itkes me, you makes me question your judgment. Amy that a senator franken questioning judge gorsuch. Were joined by Kristen Clarke president and executive director , of the Lawyers Committee for civil rights under law. She will be testifying before the senate judiciaiary committee on thursday. Elliot mincberg is a senior fellow at people for the american way. Kristen, lets begin with you. Can you talk about the significance of this case, judge gorsuch, the sole d dissenter sisiding with the company that this man should have remained in subfreezing weather in this broken down truck, even if it meant he would die . Well, it is not just this one case. At the Lawyers Committee for civil rights under law, what we historically do is review the full record of the nominees that are put forth for the Supreme Court. And we did that with judge gorsuch. We look at many of the cases that he authored or joined the opinion in during his tenure on the 10th circuit. And what we found was a pattern that suggests he is not someone who believes that victims should be using the courtroom as a place to vindicate their civil rights. He is a very narrow view of civil rights. This was a pattern that emerged for us as we evaluated the many cases that were issued were authored by judge gorsuch. This pattern especially pronounced in the criminal justice context. When we looked at cases involving police officers, for example, judge gorsuch is someone who has a very line order outlook. He is someone who is very proLaw Enforcement. There is one case that stands out from his record in which an officer sought quality thats qualified immunity after being sued in wrongful death matter after shooting a victim in the head at close range with a taser. The victim died. And there judge gorsuch determined the officer was entitled to qualified immunity. There were a number of cases like this. In a separate criminal justice matter, judge gorsuch throughout these hearings, has gone to great links to say he looks at people individually. But in some of the criminal justice cases, he talked about who we a General Group should not question or secondguess their judgment. He is somebody who is bringing to bear a very proLaw Enforcement perspective. I think that is important because victims in the trucking case, victims in criminal justice cases, often are, you know, going to the courts as a foreign of last resort for um as last resort. , thislliot mincberg particular case is stunning. Senator franken spent a lot of time on this, asking judge gorsuch would he want to be on the r road of a trucker who was experiencing hypothermia, who was not able to drive this road correctly not only would he be endangering himself, the trucker, but other people on the road. And you talk more about this case . Are exactly right. It is interesting and the excerpt you played, the judge continued to try to claim that he has empathy for this truck driver. That when the pedal hit the metal, so to speak, he did precisely the opposite. He did what he does in so many cases, sided with the corporation which claimed under the law that it had the ability to insist that that truck driver either drive the truck with the trailer attached or stay right where he is, a senator flake and pointed out. You do one of those, would likely have been his death. In the majority in that case and in all of the other judges that looked at it to massage very clearly that the Labor Department was correct and that there was no good justification for what the employer had done. Gorsuch disagreed, as he so often does, in cases involving corporations. Where he very consistently tense to favor the corporation over the individual employee, consumer, whatever the case may be. In fact, we found out of 11 dissents that he wrote regarding corporations, 10 of them, all that one, were in favor of the corporation. The only exception was a case where a local community when it to regulate an adult bookstore. Amy what happened in that case . He went along with the local community and what against the corporation. That was the only dissent in which he did that. He even in those cases that tried to talk about under usually republican questioning where he favored employees which he did occasionally most always, they tended to be against a municipal corporation. When it is a corporation, a private corporation involved, the kind of corporation he represented in private practice, he very, very consistently votes for the corporation, not the little guy. And that is not what we wawant n the Supreme Court. Amy Elliot Mincberg and Kristen Clarke, were going to go to break in a come back to look more at judge gorsuchs record. Stay with us. [music break] amy this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Supreme Court Nominee neil gorsuch is back on capitol hill for a second of questioning before the Senate Judiciary committee. Gorsuch is tapped by President Trump. President obobama nominated merrick g garland to replace Antonin Scaliaia at nearly a yer ago but republicans refused to eveven hold hearings, fearing garland would to get a logical balance. During tuesdays hearing, neil gorsuch faced russians about his views on the Supreme Court Citizens United ruling in the 10 million Dark Money Campaign that is supporting his nomination. This is democratic senator Sheldon Whitehouse of rhode island. How would you describe any differences that you may have in judicial philosophy with chief judge garland . I would leave that for others to characterize. I dont like when people characterize me, and i would not prefer to characterize him. He can characterize himself. What is interesting is this huge difference between you that i dont understand. The Dark Money Group that is spending money on your elections spent at least 7 million andnst him getting hearing a confirmation here, indeed, produced that result by spending now we haveand then 10 million going the other way that is a 17 million delta. And for the life of me, im trying to figure out what they see in you that makes that 17 million delta worth their spending. Do you have any answer to that . You would have to ask them. I cant, because i dont know who they are. It is just a front group. Amy senator Sheldon Whitehouse went on to ask about the man who has close ties to judge gorsuch. Is a question were to come up court,ng recusal on the thewould we know that partiality question in a recusal matter had been adequately addressed if we did not know who was spending all of this money to get you confirmed . It could be one individual. Hypothetically, it could be your friend. We dont know because it is dark money will stop is it any cause of concern to you that your a 10tion is the focus of million political spending effort and we dont know who is behind it . Theres a lot of other confirmation process today that i regret. Amy still with us is Kristen Clarke president and executive , director of the e Lawyers Committee for civil rights under law. She will testify before the Senate Judiciary committee on thursday. And Elliot Mincberg is a senior fellow at people for the american way. Elliot mincberg, what abouout ts issue of dark money . It also goes to issues, for example, of Citizens United. It even the campaign, in my shock people to know, it might shock you to know what is happening, 10 million around judge gorsuch. Think senator whitehouse was asking those questions, particularly to highlight the significance of Citizens United. And a part of gorsuchs refusal to state the way he thinks about the Decision Just as he refused to state what he thinks about virtually any other decision by the Supreme Court. And what i think the main point is is that as a result of Citizens United, we dont know anything at all about who has made these contributions, who has made theses miniatures, more portly, because the Supreme Court has ruled that we cannot find out and that congressional attempts at action to do that are unconstitutional. Showllustrations perfectly what is so dangerous about the Citizens United decision, judge gorsuch basically just shrugged his shoulders and said, thats not my problem. Thats not my concern. That is not what we want on the United States of record. Amy Kristen Clarke, what is the Lilly Ledbetter fair pay act and what is, do you know, judge gorsuchs views on it . This is one of the most important federal laws that was passed during president obamas tenure and fact, it was the very First Federal law he signed in 2009. It stands very simply for the principle of equal pay free cool work for equal work. In 2000, shortly after the law went into effect, there is a case that came before judge gorsuch, allman versus unified school district. And here we saw evidence yet again of judge gorsuch really narrowly interpreting civil mosts laws in truly the narrow way possible. In that case, you had a group of employees who brought this cremation claims. They were transferred and a mode to jobs that paid less demoted to jobs that pay less. It appeared to violate the fair pay act. Mr. Gore should mr. Gorsuch rather long narrowly and dismissed the claims, affirmed following outsidide the scope of the text. In his view, the Lilly Ledbetter fair pay act only made unlawful discriminatory compensation claims. So this transfer into motion of employees to a job that paid less fell beyond the scope of the law. It is emblematic of judge gorsuchs views to civil rights generally. He is not some who brings a broad view of civil rights. He is not someone who appears to understand the scope of discrimination that we continue to wrestle with in our country today. And so one of my hopes is that we see the senate really probe deeply into judge gorsuchs view on the Enforcement Powers of commerce under the 14th and 15th amendment, for example. We need a justice on the Supreme Court who understands the reality that we face today and that is one in which discrimination, sadly, is alive and well. Amy i want to turn to illinois democratic senator dick durbibin questioning judge gorsuch about lgbtq writes. And what about lgbtq individuals . Them . Ator, what about the point i made, they are people. Off course. Which said earlier, y you hae a record of f speaking out, standing up for those minorities you believe or not being treated fairly. Can you point to statements or cases you have ruled on relative to that . Ive tried to treat each case and each person as a person, not a this kind of person or that kind of person. A person. Equal justice under law is a radical promise. Does that refer to Sexual Orientation as well . The Suprememe Court of the United States has held that singlesex mararriage is protecd by the constitution. Amy Kristen Clarke, your response to his answer to dick durbin . You know, there is a 2005 article that judge gorsuch wrote in the National Review called liberals and lawsuits. In that article, judge gorsuch claims amererican liberals have become obsessed with using the courtrooms as a place to vindicate their rights they should be looking to elected officials. And i find that view deeply problematic. Throughout our nations history when we look at the role of the Supreme Court, this has been the place where we have seen rulings that have helped to transform our nation and breathe life into the constitutions text. This is the place where the battle against School Desegregation played out. This is the place where battle over interracial marriage and whether it is legal has played out. This is the place where Marriage Equality, where that battle was fought and won. It is not clear to me that judge gorsuch appreciates the centrality of the Supreme Court as a forum of last resort for victims of discrimination in our country. Responseudge gorsuchs during that exchange yesterday. I am sure he appreciates that there will be cases that seek to chip away at the Marriage Equality ruling that came down from the Supreme Court. And i think the senate should continue to press judge gorsuch to truly understand whether he theully prepared to uphold president s that have been set forth by the Supreme Court and some of these fragile areas. Amy the Voting Rights . Voting rights is another one of those core areas. The perhaps most devastating Ruling Issued by the Supreme Court in the last decade was the Shelby County alabama v holder case, which got a corporate vision, the heart of the Voting Rights act, the preclearance provision. We need to make sure that judge gorsuch is prepared to uphold what is left of the Voting Rights act. We need to understand whether judge gorsuch has a full appreciation for the fact that voting discrimination is alive and well across our country, and that the act, what remains of it, is our primary tool for fighting back against that discrimination. I cited that 2005 article, which i think is troubling, and he tried to distance himself from some of the statements in the article during the hearing yesterday, but he claims elected officials were discreet are where victims should turn to when they have a problem or encounter discrimination. Well, that does not work if voting discrimination remains unchallenged. So it is my hope that as we move forward that the senate will probe deeply to solicit judge nations views on our most important federal civil rights law, the Voting Rights act. Amy on tuesday, Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer called on the senate to delay a vote on gorsuch. For as long as the fbi is investigating the Trump Campaign. Shoe were bet if the on the other foot and a democratic president was under investigation by the fbi, the republicans would be howling at the moon about filling a Supreme Court seat in such circumstances. After all, they stopped president who wasnt under investigation from filling a seat with nearly a year left in his presidency. It is unseemly to be moving forward so fast on confirming a Supreme Court justice with a lifetime appointment while this big gray cloud of an fbi investigation hangs over the presidency. Amy Elliot Mincberg, what about this, to delay this whole thing while there is an fbi investigation . I think senator schumer has a very good point. The rush the republicans are pushing to get gorsuch on the Supreme Court, they want to get him on by early april, which would be a must record time, is quite unseemly under these circumstances. This is senator schumer point, that we need to take our time to make sure that we not only thoroughly explore judge gorsuchs record, but these other concerns. To add to one small point is made by kristin, in that same 2005 article, judge gorsuch specifically singled out for criticism liberals, as he put it, who were trying to produce equal marriage rights through litigation. And that, of course, is exactly what happened. They very negative attitude by him toward that and other issues is extremely disturbing. Frankly, two days of questioning is less than the number that, for example, judge forgot, who was questioned for several days. Why is there any to do this so quickly, particularly with this cloud that unfortunately hangs over this presidenency . Amy can you quickly address gorsuch backing the state of utah in his decision to defund planned parenthood last year . Plannened parenthood very much d the crosshairs. If this vote takes . Around Health Care Act . Im sir, i missed part of your question. Amy if you could talk about gorsuch tacking the state of utah in his decision to defund planned parenthood last year . Absolutely. We learned an important thing about it. In the planned parenthood case, the judges three judges on the court issued a preliminary injunction against the governor who had cut off funding for anned parenthood of utah, which does not itself do abortions. The judges found that he had done this as retaliation because of their promotion of abortion rights will stop he claimed it was because he was upset about what turned out to be the false videos of other planned parenthood affiliates dealing with sale of fetal tissue. Judge gorsuch, we learnedd yesterday, was not satisfied with that result. He was not on the panel. Even though the parties did not want to take the case any further, he insisted on pulling all of the judges on the circuit toto try to get that case rehea. And he argued in his dissent from the denial of rehearing, because most judges thought there was no good reason to rehearing, that we needed to give deference to the governor of utah, to his views about what he was doing it. Exactly the same argument thehe trTrump Administration is s makg right today on trying to uphold its immigration ban. Listen to our order that we are doing it for security, not our previous statements that said we were doing it because we are antimuslim, which several courts have found, violates the constitution. That kind of deference to a high executive official is exactly what judge gorsuch has shown, its kristin points out, even with respect to police officers. And we cannot afford that lack of independence, particicularly under President Trump. Amy Kristen Clarke, youre going to be testifying tomorrow. What are your thoughts on what the senator schumer said ababout this vote should be put off while trump and the Trump Campaign are under investigation by the fbi and considering what happened to Merrick Garland . So, you know, the hearing is happening inside the four walls of that senate room, but the reality is, everything that is happening in the outside world. There have been people who have been talked about, the andrience of mayor garland the political obstruction that prevented his nomination from being heard. There are looming questions about russias influence on the november election. And there are also deep concerns about the uptick in hate crimes that we are seeing rise in xenophobia. All of this looms over this incredibly important nomination. I think it makes it clear the stakes are high. The American Public deserves a justice on the Supreme Court who will be fair and impartial and truly committed to the principle of equal justice under law, and who will bring some sensitivity to the reality of ongoing discrimination and problems that truly threaten our democracy. We are on the verge of a constitutional crisis. And a justice on the court who will bring order and resolve the great controversies that come before the court in the years ahead is critical. It is my hope the Senate Continues to take the task of scouring judge gorsuchs record very, very carefully. The stakes could not be higher. Amy there are some who say the Democratic Senators should simply walk out and not participate. What are your thoughts on that . A you know, i represent nonpartisan civil rights organization, so the political actions that elected officials might take are not something that i can comment on. But what i do agree is that the president , president obama last year, carried out his constitutional job of putting forth a nominee who did not get a hearing and a vote. In some respects, it is hard to ignore the fact we should not be in this position today. We should have a ninemember Supreme Court that was able to carry out its work properly over the past year. So that is something that is looming. Nonetheless, here we are. Judge gorsuchs nomination is what is on the table. It is my hope that today, tomorrow, and in the days ahead we look very carefully to figure out whether judge gorsuch is the proper person to fill the vacant seat on the court. Amy Kristen Clarke, thank you for being with us, as well as Elliot Mincberg. When we come back,k, two men, a lawyer and a former police chief, are stopped at the airport, detained and questioned. Why . Stay with us. [music break] amy this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. We turn now to what seems to be growing chorus of u. S. Citizens sharing accounts of having been detained at airports across the country since the start of the Trump Administration. Bostonbased civil rights attorney i ivan espinozammadrl says he was returning home on march 12 from a vacation in portugal when he was detained at bostons logan airport. In an article in the huffington post, espinozamadrigal, who was born in costa rica, explains that he has lived in the u. S. For three decades and became a citizen 20 years ago in 1996. He writes it is disempowering and dehumanizing to have government officials question my citizenship and passport. My citizenship is not only a legal status; it is deeply rooted in my identity. If my personal experience at logan is any indication, airport inspections are now targeting not only muslims, but other minorities including u. S. Citizens for extreme vetting. A day later, the former police chief chief of greenville, North Carolina says he was detained , for over an hour by customs and Border Protection agents when he was flying into new york citys jfk airport after returning from visiting his mother in paris. In a facebook post, he wrote that he was a u. S. Citizen and had worked in Law Enforcement in the u. S. For nearly 30 years. Hassan aden wrote that after his detention this country now feels cold, unwelcoming, and in the beginning stages of a country that is isolating itself from the rest of the world and its own people in an unprecedented fashion. Espinozamadrigal and aden join us, along w with many other citizens, including a u. S. Olympic medalist, a nasa scientist, and the son of a boxing legend whwho have all ben detained at airports across the country since the start of the trump administratition. For more were joined by both , ivan espinozamadrigal and hassan aden. Hassan aden, lets beginin with you. Youre the former police chief of greenville, North Carolina. Talk about what happened you at jfk. Weekend in spent the paris celebrating my moms 80th birthday. Unitedurned back to the states. I was looking forward to seeing my family and getting back to work and doing my thing. Thing was business as usual. I got off my flight, went through the automated passport check, got my customs sheet printed out. I walked up and and a my passport desiccated my passport to a cbp agent who barely looked up at me. He scanned my passport, looked at me, asked me if i was traveling alone. I responded yes and then he stood up and said, lets take a walk. I first read flag that something the same as always. I travel frequently. I travel internationally. I travel nationally weekly multiple times. I have never, ever been stopped by cbp. Not to say that i dont support and really appreciate the mission of cbp they have a difficult job with lots of complexities. But the detention is the piece that i question. And the links of the detention. I was taken back to a room that was a makeshift office that appear to be some sort of a storage room. Half,e next hour and a they helped my passport. I questioned whether i was being detained. The original officer that took me back to her said, no, this is not a detention. Of differentts arguments about that. I was clearly not free to leave. Eventually, i was released. It took about 90 minutes. Andook one very respectful helpful customs agent or yeah, agent, that she started her shift and took an interest in my case because i imagine what she saw was a lot of foreign nationals being brought in and released in about five minutes after their passports were vetted. And i was just sitting there. For about 90 minutes. Finally, she helped me get my, whatever the vetting was, done, and i was on my way. The really, the issue for me and is the policies of cbp something has changed. As i have stated, i travel internationally frequently. And it has always been a welcoming home, something i look toward when i get off my flight. Customs agents have always been polite, welcome back to the United States. This was the first time i have traveled internationally in 2017. Amy they took your phone . No. Amy you had your phone in your possession at all times . I had my phone in my possession at all times. However, i was restricted from using it. That were two signs clear what they wanted you to do. One, remain seated at all times. Devices andmobile telephones strict the prohibited. Another sign i was being detained. Amy i want to bring in ivan espinozamadrigal. Talk about your own experience. Thahank you, amy. My experience was somewhat similar. I was returning home from a vacation in p portugal. I went throughgh the passport control line, like usual, and the difference heere is thahat instead of asksking me where we you . Are you bringing any fruit investables . What t the offir did is he looooked at me very sususpiciously as if i had done something wrong. Took my passport, left the kiosk and proceeded to confefer with a ,ouple of other cbp officers returned, asked me queststions like, where did yoyou get this passporort . Who gave you this passport . Where does this passport come from . Clearly inindicating the authenticity of my passport was at i issue, that there was some notion thahat my p passport maye. Ake orr invalid in some fashion and questioning my citizenship and the facaci have this u. S. Passportrt. At t that point, the passport ws scanned through the cbp system, clearly y identifyining me and t the passport wasas issued by t e u. S. Passport agency in new york. Instead of releasing me at that time, what the officer did was to escalate theatter by calling over another cbp officer to escort me to a separate security room where my vetting continued. And where i was asked to produce additional proof of identity so they could confirm who i was. This is the firsrst t time i traveled since the inauguration, and it was the First Time Ever that i had been subjected to this type off additional scrutiy and vetting. The last time i traveleded was n janunuary right befofore the inauguration. I came into the country perfectly fine, like any other u. S. Citizen. President group sued trump this year on behalf of of the cities of lawrence and chelsea in massachusetts over the president s exexecutive ordr defining sanctuary cities . Thatts right. We sued on february 8. No organization was the country to sue on behalf o of sanctuary cocommunities. We represesent two heavily immigrant towns in massachusetts that are b being threatened by e Trump Administration for defufunding based under immigrantfriendly policies. Ththe lawsuit isis the only onen the east coast at isis timime. Ththis litigagation was very important because we need to protect all families and children in our communities. Important for my organization to be out there right t now at a time of significant federal uncertaininy protecting families, and to be treaeated as suspect at the airport was incredibly, n not jt humiliating,g, but when my jb is to protect immigrant families. Amy last month, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said that the president wanted to take the shackles off of the nations immigration agents. The president needed to give guidance, especially after what they went through in the last of administration, that i say james and cbp had to figure out each individual whether or not they fit in a particular category and they could adjudicate that case. The president wanted to take the shackles of individuals in these agencies and say, you have a mission, there are laws that need to o be followed, he shouod do andnd follow the law. W. , your thoughtsn on what he is saying . You are Law Enforcement. Do you see this as an shackling of Law Enforcement . They took the shackles off cbp and place them on others for your citizens and others that are subjected to this kind of conduct now. It is humiliating, as ivan stated. It is a position of it makes you extremely vulnerable and you have no idea what is happening to you at the time it is happening. The reason why i really wanted to bring this up and very publicly was because there are so many people that are voiceless. Ivan and i both have voices and platform and i think it is our responsibility to shed light on this problem. , do ivan espinozamadrigal you think your targeted because of the lawsuitit im not sure. I dont knowow what they were thinking. But what i i know iss one of the greatest strenengths of this country is that we do not have clclasses of citizenenship. All citizezens have the same rirights and privileges. Anand that was certainly not myy experiencece at the airport. Soso for whatever rereason it w, whether i was targeted for my Civil Rights Advocacy or taste on the c color of my skin a andy identity, itit is unconstitutiol and unamerican. Amy hassan aden, youre famililiar with databases that w enforcement use, as a former police chief. What database do you think you are in . Im not sure. I believe i was never told that by cbp but i believe it i was told my name was used as an alias and that some database flagged it. I believe it is something to do with a terrorist watchlist or fusion center. But what i do know is one of three things is going on with this database. One, either the database o on amy w we have five seconds. Theres a problem with the database and the policies behind it. It should not take 90 minutes to clear someone holding the u. S. Passport. And ivanan aden espinozamadrigal detained at an eric in a ports. A reyes s ecuador has entered the Virtual Currency era, so are people cashing in or cashing out . Im elaine reyes in washington, d. C. , and this is americas now. First up, ecuador has given its Financial System an overhaul. It is now the first nation in latitin amererica to use electrc currency. How is thehe country responding to the revamp . And later, years of being hunted for its skin have made south americas orinoco crododile mostst extct. Onone n is trying to stop the population fromom declining f further. Meet