democracynow--2020-02-18--Journalist: Harvey Weinstein's Defense Team Is Waging a War Against the #MeToo Movement

This is a rush transcript .
Copy may not be in its final form .
AMY GOODMAN : This is Democracy Now !
, democracynow.org , The War and Peace Report .
I ’ m Amy Goodman , as we turn right now back to the case of Harvey Weinstein in a New York courtroom today with jury deliberations .
The disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein has pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting former production assistant Mimi Haley and raping Jessica Mann , one-time aspiring actress , in 2013 .
This is one of Weinstein ’ s lawyers , Donna @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , we are continuing with Irin Carmon , senior correspondent for New York magazine , who has been writing about the Harvey Weinstein case for some time , had an amazing cover story where women , dressed in black , linked arms , the article called “ 100 Women vs. Harvey Weinstein.
” She also wrote about the 57-page PowerPoint Harvey Weinstein ’ s team sent to reporters that smeared his alleged victims .
She ’ s the author of The New York Times best-seller Notorious RBG : The Life and Times of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s talk about this case and how you think it ’ s gone , as the jury begins to deliberate today .
IRIN CARMON : It ’ s so interesting , because we , from the beginning of # MeToo going viral , have considered Harvey Weinstein to be this kind of untouchable monster by which all other accusations are measured .
But the truth is , it ’ s really complicated to bring a criminal case , especially years after many of these allegations were said to take place .
So @ @ @ @ @ @ @ funnel , where there are a hundred and possibly more women out there , but then how many of them have chargeable cases just from the point of view of statutes of limitations ?
Have many of them have evidence ?
How many of them are willing to talk to prosecutors ?
Because participating in a criminal case like this is wrenching .
And , in fact , they brought cases — they brought a case on behalf of , in New York , Lucia Evans , that was later dropped , even @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s office .
So you don ’ t even know if your case will see the light of day .
From that , we have two women , Jessica Mann and Mimi Haley , whose charges form the basis of the New York case , and there ’ s also going to be a Los Angeles case .
And one of the reasons that there is a lot of complexity is because the jury is being asked to understand something that experts will tell you is typical , but that society doesn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : How can it be that on one day somebody , you say , sexually assaults you , but then , further down the line , you continue to have consensual contact with them , whether it ’ s friendly conversation in the form of an email or asking them for a professional opportunity ?
Now , the prosecutors have tried to square this circle , which , again , experts say , is incredibly typical .
You could think of it as being kind of akin to a domestic violence situation .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ This is how the prosecutors have tried to explain it , that this is a man who held so much economic power in the industry , a man who they saw as holding the keys to their future , and also that they were terrified of him .
They were terrified of his rage and the violence , and they wanted to tell a story to themselves that this was consensual .
The defense has actually seen this case as not just a war about the facts , not just does Harvey Weinstein @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a war against the entire # MeToo movement .
Donna Rotunno and the rest of the team are coming out and saying , “ Actually , it ’ s not — Harvey Weinstein is a victim of these women and a target of a cause and a movement.
” So , they have tried to make this as much about the backlash to that movement as possible .
AMY GOODMAN : And how do you think the prosecutors have done in this case ?
IRIN CARMON : You know , it ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not have been brought had there not been such raised awareness about the complex dynamics around sexual assault .
I do not know whether there are members of a jury willing to unanimously convict based on facts , that , again , experts will tell you , are completely typical of people who experience trauma , but are relatively new ideas for society at large to accept .
They ’ ve also pursued a strategy that I think is risky , which is that they have focused on Harvey Weinstein ’ s body @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the jury , naked , which were then drawn by court artists .
And they have asked several of the women who have testified , because in addition to the two women who testified whose case formed the basis of the charges , there have also been other women , like Annabella Sciorra and other individuals , who say they were assaulted by Harvey but whose cases can ’ t be criminally charged in this context .
And a couple of them have spoken about how disgusting they found Harvey Weinstein ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
And listening to this , you do wonder whether this focus , because nobody denies that sexual contact took place , might risk playing into the defense ’ s argument that he ’ s a victim , or might look like the prosecutors are trying to humiliate him .
And I do wonder whether the jury will listen to that and actually kind of feel bad for Harvey , who has been coming into the courtroom every day with a walker , right ?
They ’ ve been spinning the story that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ beautiful women exploited .
So , will that work for the prosecutors ?
I think we ’ re about to find out .
AMY GOODMAN : And very quickly , with the presidential race , Michael Bloomberg coming under major scrutiny around his comments about women , and scores of lawsuits against him and his company related to women and sexual harassment .
Let me ask you about specifically a case that you have looked particularly at , and that ’ s the story of Charlie Rose , who worked out of Bloomberg @ @ @ @ @ @ @ City — that ’ s where his studios were — was a very close friend of Bloomberg , and what Bloomberg ’ s comments have been about him .
IRIN CARMON : So , Bloomberg has said that they had no idea about any allegations .
There ’ s no records .
We investigated , as well .
They told us there were no records .
But he has also repeatedly said that there are two sides to every story , and he ’ s not sure if he believes it .
Over @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reported to be very close friends .
There was a piece in The Washington Post in the '90s where they talked about how , I think , Charlie said , you know , “ There 's a lot of locker room talk .
We ’ re both bachelors together.
” Definitely a warm relationship , that he then came out and defended Charlie Rose .
There is litigation ongoing in the Charlie Rose case .
Both his former makeup artist and three of his former assistants are continuing to sue him , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ case .
Michael Bloomberg said at the time that he — that nothing had been proven in a court of law , but as we saw from our Weinstein conversation , you know , the role of journalism and the role of the criminal system are slightly different , and not everything fits into a criminal case .
AMY GOODMAN : Well , Irin Carmon , thank you so much for your excellent reporting , senior correspondent for New York magazine who ’ s followed the allegations against Harvey Weinstein .
We will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ just come out and the previous piece , where she looked at a number of the hundred women who have accusations against Harvey Weinstein .

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman, as we turn right now back to the case of Harvey Weinstein in a New York courtroom today with jury deliberations. The disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein has pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting former production assistant Mimi Haley and raping Jessica Mann, one-time aspiring actress, in 2013. This is one of Weinstein’s lawyers, Donna Rotunno.
DONNA ROTUNNO: Well, I think the issue is, if you look at all the evidence, the evidence shows consensual relationships. So, if you claim that what you say happened happened, it belies common sense that you would then go out and send the emails, have the contact, continue relationship, send your phone numbers? So, that’s the reason that is consent. The evidence shows consent.
AMY GOODMAN: For more, we are continuing with Irin Carmon, senior correspondent for New York magazine, who has been writing about the Harvey Weinstein case for some time, had an amazing cover story where women, dressed in black, linked arms, the article called “100 Women vs. Harvey Weinstein.” She also wrote about the 57-page PowerPoint Harvey Weinstein’s team sent to reporters that smeared his alleged victims. She’s the author of The New York Times best-seller Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsberg.
So, let’s talk about this case and how you think it’s gone, as the jury begins to deliberate today.
IRIN CARMON: It’s so interesting, because we, from the beginning of #MeToo going viral, have considered Harvey Weinstein to be this kind of untouchable monster by which all other accusations are measured. But the truth is, it’s really complicated to bring a criminal case, especially years after many of these allegations were said to take place. So, if you could imagine a big funnel, where there are a hundred and possibly more women out there, but then how many of them have chargeable cases just from the point of view of statutes of limitations? Have many of them have evidence? How many of them are willing to talk to prosecutors? Because participating in a criminal case like this is wrenching. And, in fact, they brought cases — they brought a case on behalf of, in New York, Lucia Evans, that was later dropped, even though she also cooperated with Cy Vance’s office. So you don’t even know if your case will see the light of day. From that, we have two women, Jessica Mann and Mimi Haley, whose charges form the basis of the New York case, and there’s also going to be a Los Angeles case.
And one of the reasons that there is a lot of complexity is because the jury is being asked to understand something that experts will tell you is typical, but that society doesn’t generally understand, which is: How can it be that on one day somebody, you say, sexually assaults you, but then, further down the line, you continue to have consensual contact with them, whether it’s friendly conversation in the form of an email or asking them for a professional opportunity? Now, the prosecutors have tried to square this circle, which, again, experts say, is incredibly typical. You could think of it as being kind of akin to a domestic violence situation. But will the jury understand it? This is how the prosecutors have tried to explain it, that this is a man who held so much economic power in the industry, a man who they saw as holding the keys to their future, and also that they were terrified of him. They were terrified of his rage and the violence, and they wanted to tell a story to themselves that this was consensual.
The defense has actually seen this case as not just a war about the facts, not just does Harvey Weinstein deserve due process; they are waging a war against the entire #MeToo movement. Donna Rotunno and the rest of the team are coming out and saying, “Actually, it’s not — Harvey Weinstein is a victim of these women and a target of a cause and a movement.” So, they have tried to make this as much about the backlash to that movement as possible.
AMY GOODMAN: And how do you think the prosecutors have done in this case?
IRIN CARMON: You know, it’s a tough case, because it would not have been brought had there not been such raised awareness about the complex dynamics around sexual assault. I do not know whether there are members of a jury willing to unanimously convict based on facts, that, again, experts will tell you, are completely typical of people who experience trauma, but are relatively new ideas for society at large to accept.
They’ve also pursued a strategy that I think is risky, which is that they have focused on Harvey Weinstein’s body. They distributed photos of him to the jury, naked, which were then drawn by court artists. And they have asked several of the women who have testified, because in addition to the two women who testified whose case formed the basis of the charges, there have also been other women, like Annabella Sciorra and other individuals, who say they were assaulted by Harvey but whose cases can’t be criminally charged in this context. And a couple of them have spoken about how disgusting they found Harvey Weinstein’s body, specific details about his genitalia. And listening to this, you do wonder whether this focus, because nobody denies that sexual contact took place, might risk playing into the defense’s argument that he’s a victim, or might look like the prosecutors are trying to humiliate him. And I do wonder whether the jury will listen to that and actually kind of feel bad for Harvey, who has been coming into the courtroom every day with a walker, right? They’ve been spinning the story that he’s just a loser who beautiful women exploited. So, will that work for the prosecutors? I think we’re about to find out.
AMY GOODMAN: And very quickly, with the presidential race, Michael Bloomberg coming under major scrutiny around his comments about women, and scores of lawsuits against him and his company related to women and sexual harassment. Let me ask you about specifically a case that you have looked particularly at, and that’s the story of Charlie Rose, who worked out of Bloomberg’s big building in New York City — that’s where his studios were — was a very close friend of Bloomberg, and what Bloomberg’s comments have been about him.
IRIN CARMON: So, Bloomberg has said that they had no idea about any allegations. There’s no records. We investigated, as well. They told us there were no records. But he has also repeatedly said that there are two sides to every story, and he’s not sure if he believes it. Over the years, they’ve been reported to be very close friends. There was a piece in The Washington Post in the '90s where they talked about how, I think, Charlie said, you know, “There's a lot of locker room talk. We’re both bachelors together.” Definitely a warm relationship, that he then came out and defended Charlie Rose. There is litigation ongoing in the Charlie Rose case. Both his former makeup artist and three of his former assistants are continuing to sue him, and he’s been deposed in that case. Michael Bloomberg said at the time that he — that nothing had been proven in a court of law, but as we saw from our Weinstein conversation, you know, the role of journalism and the role of the criminal system are slightly different, and not everything fits into a criminal case.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, Irin Carmon, thank you so much for your excellent reporting, senior correspondent for New York magazine who’s followed the allegations against Harvey Weinstein. We will link to her piece today that has just come out and the previous piece, where she looked at a number of the hundred women who have accusations against Harvey Weinstein.


democracynow--2020-02-18--Ambra Gutierrez Recorded Harvey Weinstein Admitting Sexual Assault in 2015. Why Wasn't He Charged?

This is a rush transcript .
Copy may not be in its final form .
AMY GOODMAN : A jury of seven men and five women meet today in New York Supreme Court to begin deliberations on whether to find disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein guilty of rape and sexual assault .
The case has drawn international attention amidst the # MeToo movement .
If the jurors find Weinstein guilty , he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison .
Weinstein has been accused of sexual misconduct by more than 100 women .
In this case , he faces @ @ @ @ @ @ @ two main accusers .
One woman , who wishes to remain anonymous , alleges she was raped by Weinstein in a New York hotel .
He ’ s been charged with rape in the first and third degrees in her case .
The second main accuser is former Project Runway production assistant Miriam Haley , who alleges Weinstein forced oral sex on her in 2006 .
For this , Weinstein faces a count of criminal sex act .
If the jury finds Weinstein guilty of charges relating to either or both of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ two counts of predatory sexual assault .
These charges would require the jurors to find Weinstein guilty of sexually assaulting more than one woman .
Weinstein has pleaded not guilty .
For more , we ’ re joined in our New York studio by Irin Carmon , senior correspondent for New York magazine who has followed the allegations against Harvey Weinstein .
She spoke to more than a dozen of his accusers in her article “ 100 Women vs. Harvey Weinstein ” and wrote a 57-page PowerPoint Harvey Weinstein ’ s team — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to reporters , that smeared his alleged victims .
Her new piece , out today , is headlined “ The Woman Who Taped Harvey Weinstein.
” It features an interview with Ambra Gutierrez , the Filipina-Italian model who reported Weinstein to the New York Police Department in 2015 for allegedly groping her during a meeting at his office .
She then went back wearing a recording device for an arranged meetup at a hotel .
In the tape , Weinstein admits he groped her and tries to get her to come into his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Cyrus Vance decided not to pursue the case and said , quote , “ a criminal charge is not supported.
” We ’ re going to talk about all of these issues .
Irin Carmon , it ’ s great to have you back at Democracy Now !
IRIN CARMON : Thanks for having me , Amy .
AMY GOODMAN : So , let ’ s start with the Weinstein case today , the closing arguments last week , and now this case goes to the jury .
What should we understand about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ almost any other case , this case has become synonymous with the # MeToo movement , and that is not a coincidence .
It was stories about Harvey Weinstein that were published in The New York Times and in The New Yorker that helped open up the floodgates from thousands , even millions , of people telling stories of sexual assault .
What changed , from Ambra Gutierrez agreeing to wear a wire , 22 years old , taping Harvey Weinstein secretly , putting herself at risk , yet being hung out to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ What changed between then and , here we are , five years later , and the New York — the same Manhattan District Attorney ’ s Office , headed by Cy Vance , has brought these charges that are quite complex against Harvey Weinstein ?
What changed is that there was a lot — a flood of organizing .
There were a flood of voices , not just about Harvey Weinstein .
But , you know , the criminal law is a separate tool from public awareness , from journalism , as you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ question that is going to be at the heart of this case , as we wait for the verdict and as the jury begins its deliberations , is : Have they proven their case beyond a reasonable doubt ?
And that is not going to be the same thing as : Do you believe the 100-plus women who have come forward ?
AMY GOODMAN : I want to go back to the story that you just dropped today for The Cut , for — you ’ re working for New York magazine .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ to us what happened .
Now , this is not what ’ s at issue right now — AMY GOODMAN : — in this case .
What happened with Ambra ?
I mean , what ’ s amazing about this , she didn ’ t record herself .
She worked with the police .
AMY GOODMAN : She put herself in serious danger here .
AMY GOODMAN : Explain her bravery from the beginning .
IRIN CARMON : Well , it ’ s interesting , right ?
Because in 2017 , when these @ @ @ @ @ @ @ great surprise .
Wow !
Who knew ?
There were rumors , but people did not know the extent .
But , to my knowledge , she is the first person , years before , to have gone to the police with a report , to have done everything that the authorities asked her to do .
She was 22 years old .
She was in a country that she didn ’ t grow up in .
She ’ s from the Philippines and from Italy .
She says that Harvey Weinstein stuck @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her breasts .
He then called her , while she was sitting at the Tribeca precinct completely distraught .
The Special Victims Unit sent her in with a wire .
She was also secretly — AMY GOODMAN : Wait .
So , he calls her .
Unbeknownst to him , she ’ s sitting in the police precinct .
IRIN CARMON : Yes .
And she allows the cops to listen to the call .
She then agrees , the very next day , despite being deeply shaken by her experience , agrees @ @ @ @ @ @ @ man again , wearing a wire and recording on her phone a backup in case it failed , which it did fail .
So , just imagine what ’ s going through her head as she ’ s in this hotel lobby .
Harvey Weinstein badgers her to go upstairs .
Ronan Farrow later publishes this recording , a portion of which you hear Harvey Weinstein admitting that he groped her breasts , apologizing for it , saying he ’ s used to it .
She ’ s upset .
He ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , in the same kind of — what Ashley Judd described as “ coercive bargaining , ” that many of the women who have come forward about Weinstein have described , which is dangling job opportunities and then implying that in some way this means that women have to consent to sexual activity , that many women have said they did not consent to .
AMY GOODMAN : And so , then explain what happened to her , doing the police ’ s bidding — AMY GOODMAN : She ’ s got it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bug .
AMY GOODMAN : She returns .
And then what happens next ?
IRIN CARMON : So , Amber believed she had done everything that they asked her to do .
But then she was also , she describes it as , interrogated by Cy Vance ’ s office , specifically by Martha Bashford .
And at this point she really feels like they put her on trial , though this is something that when folks report on sex crimes have heard a million times .
Sometimes it is just that the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Is this somebody who ’ s going to be comfortable being cross-examined on the stand ?
But nonetheless , she felt that she herself was being put on trial , despite the fact that she had recorded evidence of Harvey Weinstein admitting to groping her without her consent .
And she left that meeting feeling uneasy .
At the same time , Harvey Weinstein enlists powerful people .
Ronan Farrow has reported Rudy Giuliani , Linda Fairstein , who was the former head of the Sex Crimes Unit , are all putting pressure @ @ @ @ @ @ @ against her .
A public relations campaign is waged against her , as well .
She has worked as a model .
Photographs of her in the most suggestive , out-of-context manner end up on the front page of the New York Post and the Daily News .
She is accused of being a sex worker , which she says she was not .
Things from her past are dragged out as if she herself is being put on trial in public opinion .
And eventually , she learns , from reading the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t hear it from the DA ’ s Office — that they ’ re not going to bring charges against Harvey Weinstein .
And it will take two-and-a-half to three years for any charges to be brought in connection with more than a hundred women who have accused Harvey Weinstein .
AMY GOODMAN : Martha Bashford was the chief prosecutor at the time , who is now , after 40 years — AMY GOODMAN : In the Sex Crimes Unit — who has now said she is retiring .
AMY GOODMAN : And @ @ @ @ @ @ @ story ?
IRIN CARMON : Well , Linda Fairstein was part of Harvey Weinstein ’ s team , and she is said to have had a close relationship with Martha Bashford , and who have called her on Harvey Weinstein ’ s behalf .
And it ’ s fascinating , because you see how he also used the press as a tool .
So , you also suddenly have Harvey Weinstein being described as a married father of five , and her being described as this sort of sex worker who is extorting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that we have the recording , which took years to come out , despite the fact that Ambra signed — she did sign a nondisclosure agreement for a million dollars .
She said she feared for her family .
She was supposed to hand over all evidence to Harvey Weinstein ’ s attorneys .
But she decided that she needed what she described to me as an “ escape plan.
” She held onto one of those recordings , through kind of a spy games operation — again , 22 years old , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ subsequently gave that recording to Ronan Farrow .
And it helped buttress the reporting that was already being done in The New York Times and The New Yorker about the cascade of allegations against Harvey Weinstein .
AMY GOODMAN : And very interestingly , before we go on to this case , we had in headlines the story of Dr. Hadden , who ’ s now — I think 70 women have come forward saying he forcibly sexually assaulted them in his OB-GYN office .
He ’ s a Columbia University doctor .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Women ’ s Caucus has called for Cy Vance ’ s resignation .
And one of the heads of the caucus said that they want to be sure that the district attorney is going to be involved in aggressive — in aggressively dealing with sexual assault and not privileging white men .
IRIN CARMON : You know , Amy , does anybody believe that if Robert Hadden or Harvey Weinstein were low-wage workers , men of color who were lower on the social totem pole , that they wouldn ’ t be sitting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ evidence against them ?
I think it is quite clear , in sex crimes and in other crimes , that we have an unequal system of justice .
And now there are some efforts to even the scales , but it ’ s challenging , because the job of a powerful person who wants to get out of a possible charge against them is to make the price so high .
Prosecutors are not known for wanting to bring cases that they ’ re going to lose , right ?
They brag about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t take risks if they don ’ t have to .
And powerful people understand how to make the price so high that they may well lose the case — the prosecutors may well lose the case .
And when they make that cost-benefit analysis and powerful people are in their ear , and “ He ’ s a wonderful pillar of the community , ” or “ He ’ s given so much money to these causes , ” that becomes a consideration .
And it ’ s only in the last @ @ @ @ @ @ @ other people saying , “ This happened to me , this is my evidence , I agree to testify , ” is even making a dent in that .
AMY GOODMAN : So , you had this remarkable cover story in New York magazine with women , one after another — you ’ ve interviewed about 12 of the nearly hundred who have accused Harvey Weinstein , though , to be clear , in this case , he ’ s being charged in the case of two different women .
And we ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a minute .
We ’ re talking with New York magazine ’ s Irin Carmon .
Stay with us .

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: A jury of seven men and five women meet today in New York Supreme Court to begin deliberations on whether to find disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein guilty of rape and sexual assault. The case has drawn international attention amidst the #MeToo movement. If the jurors find Weinstein guilty, he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. Weinstein has been accused of sexual misconduct by more than 100 women. In this case, he faces five charges based on evidence relating to two main accusers. One woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, alleges she was raped by Weinstein in a New York hotel. He’s been charged with rape in the first and third degrees in her case. The second main accuser is former Project Runway production assistant Miriam Haley, who alleges Weinstein forced oral sex on her in 2006. For this, Weinstein faces a count of criminal sex act. If the jury finds Weinstein guilty of charges relating to either or both of the main accusers, then it can consider two counts of predatory sexual assault. These charges would require the jurors to find Weinstein guilty of sexually assaulting more than one woman. Weinstein has pleaded not guilty.
For more, we’re joined in our New York studio by Irin Carmon, senior correspondent for New York magazine who has followed the allegations against Harvey Weinstein. She spoke to more than a dozen of his accusers in her article “100 Women vs. Harvey Weinstein” and wrote a 57-page PowerPoint Harvey Weinstein’s team — she wrote about this PowerPoint, sent to reporters, that smeared his alleged victims. Her new piece, out today, is headlined “The Woman Who Taped Harvey Weinstein.” It features an interview with Ambra Gutierrez, the Filipina-Italian model who reported Weinstein to the New York Police Department in 2015 for allegedly groping her during a meeting at his office. She then went back wearing a recording device for an arranged meetup at a hotel. In the tape, Weinstein admits he groped her and tries to get her to come into his room. But the Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance decided not to pursue the case and said, quote, “a criminal charge is not supported.” We’re going to talk about all of these issues.
Irin Carmon, it’s great to have you back at Democracy Now!
IRIN CARMON: Thanks for having me, Amy.
AMY GOODMAN: So, let’s start with the Weinstein case today, the closing arguments last week, and now this case goes to the jury. What should we understand about it?
IRIN CARMON: More than almost any other case, this case has become synonymous with the #MeToo movement, and that is not a coincidence. It was stories about Harvey Weinstein that were published in The New York Times and in The New Yorker that helped open up the floodgates from thousands, even millions, of people telling stories of sexual assault. What changed, from Ambra Gutierrez agreeing to wear a wire, 22 years old, taping Harvey Weinstein secretly, putting herself at risk, yet being hung out to dry by the New York DA? What changed between then and, here we are, five years later, and the New York — the same Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, headed by Cy Vance, has brought these charges that are quite complex against Harvey Weinstein? What changed is that there was a lot — a flood of organizing. There were a flood of voices, not just about Harvey Weinstein.
But, you know, the criminal law is a separate tool from public awareness, from journalism, as you well know. And so, the question that is going to be at the heart of this case, as we wait for the verdict and as the jury begins its deliberations, is: Have they proven their case beyond a reasonable doubt? And that is not going to be the same thing as: Do you believe the 100-plus women who have come forward?
AMY GOODMAN: I want to go back to the story that you just dropped today for The Cut, for — you’re working for New York magazine. Many people may remember, but explained to us what happened. Now, this is not what’s at issue right now —
IRIN CARMON: Right.
AMY GOODMAN: — in this case. What happened with Ambra? I mean, what’s amazing about this, she didn’t record herself. She worked with the police.
IRIN CARMON: Yes.
AMY GOODMAN: She put herself in serious danger here.
IRIN CARMON: Right.
AMY GOODMAN: Explain her bravery from the beginning.
IRIN CARMON: Well, it’s interesting, right? Because in 2017, when these stories were published, there was this great surprise. Wow! Who knew? There were rumors, but people did not know the extent. But, to my knowledge, she is the first person, years before, to have gone to the police with a report, to have done everything that the authorities asked her to do. She was 22 years old. She was in a country that she didn’t grow up in. She’s from the Philippines and from Italy. She says that Harvey Weinstein stuck his hand up her skirt and groped her breasts. He then called her, while she was sitting at the Tribeca precinct completely distraught. The Special Victims Unit sent her in with a wire. She was also secretly —
AMY GOODMAN: Wait. So, he calls her. Unbeknownst to him, she’s sitting in the police precinct.
IRIN CARMON: Yes. And she allows the cops to listen to the call. She then agrees, the very next day, despite being deeply shaken by her experience, agrees to go back and meet with this man again, wearing a wire and recording on her phone a backup in case it failed, which it did fail. So, just imagine what’s going through her head as she’s in this hotel lobby. Harvey Weinstein badgers her to go upstairs. Ronan Farrow later publishes this recording, a portion of which you hear Harvey Weinstein admitting that he groped her breasts, apologizing for it, saying he’s used to it. She’s upset. He’s begging her to come into the room, in the same kind of — what Ashley Judd described as “coercive bargaining,” that many of the women who have come forward about Weinstein have described, which is dangling job opportunities and then implying that in some way this means that women have to consent to sexual activity, that many women have said they did not consent to.
AMY GOODMAN: And so, then explain what happened to her, doing the police’s bidding —
IRIN CARMON: Yeah.
AMY GOODMAN: — recording this.
IRIN CARMON: Right.
AMY GOODMAN: She’s got it in the bag, or in the bug.
IRIN CARMON: Yes.
AMY GOODMAN: She returns. And then what happens next?
IRIN CARMON: So, Amber believed she had done everything that they asked her to do. But then she was also, she describes it as, interrogated by Cy Vance’s office, specifically by Martha Bashford. And at this point she really feels like they put her on trial, though this is something that when folks report on sex crimes have heard a million times. Sometimes it is just that the DA really wants to make sure: Is this somebody who’s going to be comfortable being cross-examined on the stand? But nonetheless, she felt that she herself was being put on trial, despite the fact that she had recorded evidence of Harvey Weinstein admitting to groping her without her consent. And she left that meeting feeling uneasy.
At the same time, Harvey Weinstein enlists powerful people. Ronan Farrow has reported Rudy Giuliani, Linda Fairstein, who was the former head of the Sex Crimes Unit, are all putting pressure on the office not to bring charges against her. A public relations campaign is waged against her, as well. She has worked as a model. Photographs of her in the most suggestive, out-of-context manner end up on the front page of the New York Post and the Daily News. She is accused of being a sex worker, which she says she was not. Things from her past are dragged out as if she herself is being put on trial in public opinion. And eventually, she learns, from reading the newspaper — she says she didn’t hear it from the DA’s Office — that they’re not going to bring charges against Harvey Weinstein. And it will take two-and-a-half to three years for any charges to be brought in connection with more than a hundred women who have accused Harvey Weinstein.
AMY GOODMAN: Martha Bashford was the chief prosecutor at the time, who is now, after 40 years —
IRIN CARMON: In the Sex Crimes Unit.
AMY GOODMAN: In the Sex Crimes Unit — who has now said she is retiring.
IRIN CARMON: Yes.
AMY GOODMAN: She just announced.
IRIN CARMON: That’s true.
AMY GOODMAN: And where did Linda Fairstein fit into this story?
IRIN CARMON: Well, Linda Fairstein was part of Harvey Weinstein’s team, and she is said to have had a close relationship with Martha Bashford, and who have called her on Harvey Weinstein’s behalf. And it’s fascinating, because you see how he also used the press as a tool. So, you also suddenly have Harvey Weinstein being described as a married father of five, and her being described as this sort of sex worker who is extorting poor Harvey Weinstein.
Now, now that we have the recording, which took years to come out, despite the fact that Ambra signed — she did sign a nondisclosure agreement for a million dollars. She said she feared for her family. She was supposed to hand over all evidence to Harvey Weinstein’s attorneys. But she decided that she needed what she described to me as an “escape plan.” She held onto one of those recordings, through kind of a spy games operation — again, 22 years old, alone in this country — and she subsequently gave that recording to Ronan Farrow. And it helped buttress the reporting that was already being done in The New York Times and The New Yorker about the cascade of allegations against Harvey Weinstein.
AMY GOODMAN: And very interestingly, before we go on to this case, we had in headlines the story of Dr. Hadden, who’s now — I think 70 women have come forward saying he forcibly sexually assaulted them in his OB-GYN office. He’s a Columbia University doctor. And the entire New York City Council Women’s Caucus has called for Cy Vance’s resignation. And one of the heads of the caucus said that they want to be sure that the district attorney is going to be involved in aggressive — in aggressively dealing with sexual assault and not privileging white men.
IRIN CARMON: You know, Amy, does anybody believe that if Robert Hadden or Harvey Weinstein were low-wage workers, men of color who were lower on the social totem pole, that they wouldn’t be sitting in jail right now based on the evidence against them? I think it is quite clear, in sex crimes and in other crimes, that we have an unequal system of justice. And now there are some efforts to even the scales, but it’s challenging, because the job of a powerful person who wants to get out of a possible charge against them is to make the price so high. Prosecutors are not known for wanting to bring cases that they’re going to lose, right? They brag about their conviction rate. They don’t take risks if they don’t have to. And powerful people understand how to make the price so high that they may well lose the case — the prosecutors may well lose the case. And when they make that cost-benefit analysis and powerful people are in their ear, and “He’s a wonderful pillar of the community,” or “He’s given so much money to these causes,” that becomes a consideration. And it’s only in the last couple of years that the voices of other people saying, “This happened to me, this is my evidence, I agree to testify,” is even making a dent in that.
AMY GOODMAN: So, you had this remarkable cover story in New York magazine with women, one after another — you’ve interviewed about 12 of the nearly hundred who have accused Harvey Weinstein, though, to be clear, in this case, he’s being charged in the case of two different women. And we’re going to talk about that in a minute. We’re talking with New York magazine’s Irin Carmon. Stay with us.


democracynow--2020-02-18--Headlines for February 18, 2020

Headlines for February 18, 2020

At least 150 million people in China — over 10 % of the population — now face some level of @ @ @ @ @ of the government-imposed lockdown as it attempts to slow down the spread of the coronavirus @ @ @ @ @ been confirmed , with nearly 1,900 fatalities — most of these in China .
Today @ @ @ @ @ director of a hospital in Wuhan , the epicenter of the outbreak , died from @ @ @ @ @ quarantine aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship that has been docked in Yokohama , Japan @ @ @ @ @ is set to end tomorrow .
More than 540 cases have been linked to the @ @ @ @ @ were repatriated from Japan yesterday , with 14 testing positive for the disease .
They @ @ @ @ @ U.S. bases for two weeks .
In business news , Apple says it will not @ @ @ @ @ of the impact of coronavirus on production in China .

At least 150 million people in China — over 10% of the population — now face some level of restrictions on their movements because of the government-imposed lockdown as it attempts to slow down the spread of the coronavirus. Over 72,000 cases have been confirmed, with nearly 1,900 fatalities — most of these in China. Today, a noted neurologist and director of a hospital in Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, died from coronavirus.
Meanwhile, the quarantine aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship that has been docked in Yokohama, Japan, for over two weeks is set to end tomorrow. More than 540 cases have been linked to the ship. Over 300 Americans were repatriated from Japan yesterday, with 14 testing positive for the disease. They will now be quarantined on U.S. bases for two weeks.
In business news, Apple says it will not meet its revenue goals because of the impact of coronavirus on production in China.


democracynow--2020-02-20--Bernie Sanders Says "Will of the People" Should Decide Democratic Nomination, Not Party Insiders

As the primary season heads into the Nevada caucuses on Saturday , we unpack the ninth Democratic presidential debate in @ @ @ @ @ at work on the Las Vegas debate stage .
Senator Bernie Sanders , currently the @ @ @ @ @ said the candidate with the most delegates should become the nominee ; all his rivals @ @ @ @ @ be open to a brokered convention , with superdelegates and other party insiders potentially deciding @ @ @ @ @ our discussion with Katrina vanden Heuvel , editorial director and publisher of The Nation ; @ @ @ @ @ activist and executive editor of Out magazine ; Ana María Archila , co-executive director of @ @ @ @ @ ; and Annise Parker , former mayor of Houston and president of the Victory Fund @

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now! I’m Amy Goodman, broadcasting to you from Indiana, as we debrief on the Democratic presidential primary debate last night in Las Vegas, where the six leading candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination squared off. Let’s go to a question from MSNBC’s Chuck Todd on delegates to the Democratic National Convention.
CHUCK TODD: Should the person with the most delegates at the end of this primary season be the nominee, even if they are short of a majority? Senator Sanders, I’m going to let you go last here, because I know your view on this. So instead, I will start with you, Mayor Bloomberg.
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG: Whatever the rules of the Democratic Party are, they should be followed. And if they have a process, which I believe they do —
CHUCK TODD: OK, I’m trying to do this yes or no to make it fast.
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG: — so that everybody else — everybody can —
CHUCK TODD: So you want the convention to work its will?
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG: Yes.
CHUCK TODD: Senator Warren?
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN: But a convention working its will means that people have the delegates that are pledged to them, and they keep those delegates until you come to the convention.
CHUCK TODD: Should the leading person?
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN: All of the people.
CHUCK TODD: No. OK, all righty. Vice President Biden?
JOE BIDEN: Play by the rules.
CHUCK TODD: Yes or no, leading person with the delegates, should they be the nominee or not?
JOE BIDEN: No, let the process work its way out.
CHUCK TODD: Mayor Buttigieg?
PETE BUTTIGIEG: Not necessarily. Not 'til there's a majority.
CHUCK TODD: Senator Klobuchar?
SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR: Let the process work.
CHUCK TODD: Senator Sanders?
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS: Well, the process includes 500 superdelegates on the second ballot. So I think —
CHUCK TODD: All right.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS: — that the will of the people should prevail, yes.
CHUCK TODD: OK, all right. Thank you, guys.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS: The person who has the most votes should become the nominee.
AMY GOODMAN: That last voice, of course, Senator Bernie Sanders, who at this point, according to all the polls, is the front-runner, with the Nevada caucus on Saturday. Katrina vanden Heuvel, editorial director and publisher of The Nation, explain the brokered convention and what Bernie Sanders was saying and what the other candidates were saying.
KATRINA VANDEN HEUVEL: Let me step back for a minute, though, if I might, Amy. One reason The Nation is holding a debate this coming Monday, February 24th, Sanders versus Warren, “Sanders and Warren: Time to Choose,” is that The Nation has not endorsed a candidate yet, except we’ve endorsed the deepening of the left lane in our politics, the deepening of issues, of bold issues that both Sanders and Warren have pushed, in the belief that in solidarity — and you saw last night at the debate a kind of tacit truce between them. When the moderator asked Warren to talk about Bernie Sanders’ supporters and the alleged abuse online, she said, “No, I’m going to talk about Bloomberg. He’s the real threat to what we believe.”
And I think that solidarity is important, moving forward to the convention, because if Bernie Sanders comes in and doesn’t have enough delegates — he is winning pluralities, but the size of the turnout is going to be critical in these next states to bring him enough delegates to get into that convention with 50-plus — he’s going to need to turn to allies. If you don’t win on that first ballot, as Bernie Sanders said — he got it a little wrong, because I think it’s 700 superdelegates, not 500 — it will get thrown to the superdelegates, who are — you know, they are the establishment of the Democratic Party. In some cases, they’re also organizers. Ai-jen Poo of the domestic care workers is a superdelegate, which surprises some. But for the most part, they are the electeds, the establishment, those who really were for Hillary Clinton in 2016. So if you have a contested election, it goes to a second ballot, and the superdelegates throw it not to the one with the most delegates — maybe Bernie Sanders, with support from Warren. You could see a outrage and a sense of a rigged convention, that would deflate enthusiasm, deflate turnout in the general. And I think that is a real concern for many. And I think that’s why the process should play out fairly and why people should come to our debate on the 24th to hear two candidates, their views. We will have their surrogates, too, Zephyr Teachout, great expert on corruption who ran for attorney general recently, Bhaskar Sunkara of Jacobin, and on the side of Elizabeth Warren, Maurice Mitchell of the Working Families Party, Brad Lander of the City Council. But I think this is a moment, arguably, where America is really eager for bold leadership, bold progressive ideas.
I will say one more thing about Chuck Todd and the moderation. This is something that you have talked a lot about, Amy: the media coverage. The media coverage almost seems, especially television panels, cable panels, or these moderated debates — people seem to have a hard time with the framework for understanding progressive politics. There is a rootedness in the status quo and a failure of imagination, to imagine a world beyond the status quo. And I think that really hurts our discussion, our politics. Imagine if a moderator asked Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren, “What are the costs of not doing the Green New Deal or Medicare for All?” Or why are there no questions from the moderators often, Amy, about the cost of endless war, but there is always a question about the cost of doing major bold programs that would improve the lives of the people?
AMY GOODMAN: In fact, there were no major questions on foreign policy. But I wanted to go — to end with Ana María Archila, who has just come back from Nevada and going back there. In 2016, although Hillary Clinton won, I believe that Bernie Sanders polled a great deal higher among the Latino community. And the Latino community is coming out in force in Nevada, which is about something like almost 30% of the vote, a third of the vote. Your final thoughts as we move into the Nevada caucus on Saturday?
ANA MARÍA ARCHILA: Well, Latino communities — the Latino community has been under intense attack by this president, by President Trump, but also has been at the bottom of our economy, has been at the bottom of school graduations. And I think what Sanders speaks to my community is this idea that he is committed to building a country that includes all of us. So, when he says that we’re going have healthcare for all, and that includes everybody, including undocumented people, that’s what my people hear. When he says that he’s committed to making sure that we have debt-free college, and that will include also young people who are new in this country, that speaks volumes to my community. I think what we are seeing — a big difference that we’re seeing from 2016 to now is that Bernie Sanders has really been able to create the most multiracial, most diverse coalition of young people, people of color, black folks, Latinx folks, immigrants, who see in his —
AMY GOODMAN: Ana María Archila, I’m going to have to end it there, but I want to thank you so much for being with us.
ANA MARÍA ARCHILA: Thank you.
AMY GOODMAN: Ana María Archila, co-director of the Center for Popular Democracy; Katrina vanden Heuvel, publisher of The Nation magazine; activist and editor Raquel Willis, executive editor of Out magazine; and former Houston Mayor Annise Parker, I want to thank you all for being with us.
Democracy Now! is currently accepting applications for a development manager position and news production fellowship and news producer. Check our website at democracynow.org.
Tomorrow, it’s the anniversary of the assassination of Malcolm X. The case is being reopened. I’m Amy Goodman, from Indiana. Thanks so much.


democracynow--2020-02-20--Mayor Pete Attacked by Rush Limbaugh Amid Debate Over Whether He is an LGBTQ Trailblazer

Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh , just awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Donald Trump , has attacked former South Bend , Indiana , Mayor Pete Buttigieg in recent days as a “ 37-year-old gay guy kissing his husband onstage , ” suggesting the Democrat would look weak next to Trump , whom he described as “ Mr .
Man.
” Buttigieg condemned the radio host ’ s homophobic comments , saying he would take no lessons on family values from Limbaugh or Trump .
“ One thing about my marriage is it ’ s never involved me having @ @ @ @ @ @ @ star after cheating on my spouse , ” Buttigieg told CNN ’ s Erin Burnett this week .
Buttigieg is the first openly gay candidate ever to win delegates in a presidential nominating contest , but his candidacy has been criticized by many progressive LGBTQ Democrats who say his centrist politics do not reflect the needs of the queer community .
We continue our roundtable discussion on Wednesday ’ s Democratic debate in Nevada .
Our guests are Katrina vanden Heuvel , editorial director and publisher of The Nation , America ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for WashingtonPost.com ; journalist and activist Raquel Willis , executive editor of Out magazine , who has endorsed Senator Elizabeth Warren for president ; Ana María Archila , co-executive director of the Center for Popular Democracy , a progressive advocacy group that has endorsed Senator Bernie Sanders ; Annise Parker , the former mayor of Houston , now president of the Victory Fund , which works to increase the number of openly LGBTQ officials in government and has endorsed Pete Buttigieg for president .

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: I wanted to bring Annise Parker into the conversation, former mayor of Houston, Texas, president of the LGBTQ Victory Fund, which works on increasing the number of openly LGBTQ officials in government and has endorsed Mayor Pete Buttigieg for president. As Amy Klobuchar tried to defend herself for forgetting the Mexican president’s name by saying to Pete Buttigieg, “Are you suggesting that I’m dumb?” your thoughts, Annise Parker?
ANNISE PARKER: I think in the heat of the moment, a lot of things were said last night. What I appreciated about Mayor Buttigieg is that, as he has done in every one of the debates, he continued to not just attempt to speak to Democratic primary voters. He was trying to speak to the broader American electorate and to keep focused on the priority in this campaign, which is to ultimately beat Donald Trump. It’s unfortunate that we’ve reached the point in the campaign where people are throwing elbows on stage and not staying focused on: Let’s have a robust policy debate so that we can prepare ourselves for a win in November.
AMY GOODMAN: And why did you endorse, and the Victory Fund endorse, South Bend former Mayor Pete Buttigieg?
ANNISE PARKER: Mayor Pete’s candidacy, Mayor Buttigieg’s candidacy, is why we exist as an organization. We are focused on achieving more equal representation of the LGBTQ community in American political life at all levels of government. We didn’t endorse him when he first entered the campaign. In fact, I had a conversation with him and said, “You’re going to have to get out there and compete on a level playing field and show that you belong on the national stage as a candidate for president.” He did that over and over again. And last June, we endorsed him. I believe personally, and I believe as the head of my organization, that he is the best candidate for this job.
AMY GOODMAN: I wanted to go to a moment that wasn’t last night but was the night before, when Pete Buttigieg was being questioned by Erin Burnett. He was in a CNN town hall, and he was being asked about the horrific homophobic comments, you know, of the conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh, who went into a homophobic rampage against Pete Buttigieg. This was Limbaugh on his radio show.
RUSH LIMBAUGH: They’re looking at Mayor Pete, 37-year-old gay guy, mayor of South Bend, loves to kiss his husband on the debate stage. And they’re saying, “OK, how is this going to look? Thirty-seven-year-old gay guy kissing his husband on stage next to Mr. Man, Donald Trump. What’s going to happen there?” And they got to be looking at that, and they’ve got to be saying that despite all the great progress and despite all the great wokeness and despite all the great ground that’s been covered, America’s still not ready to elect a gay guy kissing his husband on the debate stage president.
AMY GOODMAN: So, this was Erin Burnett questioning Pete Buttigieg about this in a town hall the night before the debate.
PETE BUTTIGIEG: The idea of the likes of Rush Limbaugh or Donald Trump lecturing anybody on family values? I mean, … one thing about my marriage is it’s never involved me having to send hush money to a porn star after cheating on my spouse, with him or her. So, they want to debate family values? Let’s debate family values. I’m ready.
AMY GOODMAN: Annise Parker, if you’d like to respond?
ANNISE PARKER: Well, you have Rush Limbaugh doing the same shtick Rush Limbaugh has done for a couple of decades now and Pete Buttigieg going directly to that. We know as an organization, and I know personally, that Americans will vote for capable, qualified LGBT candidates when they are the right candidate for the job and they have the good policies and they are prepared to lead. We have elected LGBTQ leaders at every level of government in America, every state, every level, every position, except president of the United States. That’s just the next step. I happen to believe that Pete Buttigieg is ready for that next step, and he’s positioned himself. And he’s not going to take the bait. That’s what’s so amazing about Pete’s ability to focus on the issues and let the attacks fall away.
Do I believe that Americans are ready for an LGBT president? Yes. Do I believe Americans are ready for a woman president? Yes. Do I believe Americans are ready to vote Donald Trump out of office? Yet, and one of the people — yes. And yet, one of the people on that stage last night has to be ready to step up and take the mantle. I am proud of all of the candidates. I am particularly proud that, as a body, as a party, Democrats have advanced so far on LGBTQ issues. But they’re not that far away from where the American population is, as well.
AMY GOODMAN: Raquel Willis, you’re the executive editor of Out magazine. Your thoughts on Pete Buttigieg, and why you chose to endorse Senator Warren?
RAQUEL WILLIS: So, I think that it’s great, you know, that he is an openly gay candidate. However, I do think that it’s important for us to remember that your identity isn’t enough. And exactly what was just said, as a black trans woman, it doesn’t necessarily tell me what you stand for when you tell me that we’re in the same community. And for me, it was important to really endorse someone that I feel has been very intentional about their outreach particularly to LGBTQ organizers, black and brown organizers who are on the ground. And so, the campaigns that have done that work have really spoken to me, and I think Senator Warren has done that probably better than — actually, I would say she’s definitely done that better than the other campaigns.
The other thing I will say is that I think what also is important is, when I really look at what Mayor Buttigieg stands for, he stands for the status quo. He stands for us kind of not really rocking the boat enough. He feels that particularly someone like Senator Elizabeth Warren, who is really out there interested in tackling corruption on all levels in the government, is really gunning for a fight that isn’t necessary, and I think that that is so necessary. I think that we really have to have a conversation about how even when you are of a marginalized group, you may have many privileges. And so, the way that the world operated in 2016, before Trump was in office, may have been fine for you. I mean, you know, I think that for a lot of LGBTQ folks, particularly those who are black and brown and more marginalized, we need more. We do need a revolution. People were hurting before. We need people who are fighting for those who are incarcerated, fighting for those who are detained, fighting for those who are trying to access a healthcare system that has really ignored them for so long. And I think that someone like Senator Elizabeth Warren, who is really trying to uproot and get out of here all of that corruption, is who we need to be standing behind in this moment, because, as you will notice in particularly the mayor’s closing statement last night, he made a statement that he’s gunning for people who are interested in the status quo and aren’t interested in a revolution. That really makes no sense. You know, I think that you have to be very clear about where you stand. And for me, I think maybe he’s afraid to say that he stands for the status quo, but I know what the people that I roll with in the LGBTQ community are looking for, and they’re looking for something that is going to blow past the status quo that has forgotten us for so long.
AMY GOODMAN: Or another way Pete Buttigieg put it was “We shouldn’t have to choose between one candidate who wants to burn this party down and another who wants to buy this party out.” We have to go to break, and then we’re going to come back to the discussion. This is Democracy Now! Stay with us.


democracynow--2020-02-20--"Most Important Issue for Most People": Split on Healthcare Continues to Define 2020 Race

Healthcare continues to be a central issue of the Democratic nomination fight , with Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren @ @ @ @ @ for All on the debate stage Wednesday night while their rivals proposed more incremental approaches @ @ @ @ @ discussion on Wednesday ’ s Democratic debate in Nevada .
Our guests are Katrina vanden @ @ @ @ @ publisher of The Nation , America ’ s oldest weekly magazine , and a columnist @ @ @ @ @ activist Raquel Willis , executive editor of Out magazine , who has endorsed Senator Elizabeth @ @ @ @ @ María Archila , co-executive director of the Center for Popular Democracy , a progressive advocacy @ @ @ @ @ Bernie Sanders ; Annise Parker , the former mayor of Houston , now president of @ @ @ @ @ works to increase the number of openly LGBTQ officials in government and has endorsed Pete @ @ @ @

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman, broadcasting from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, as we’re looking at that debate in Nevada last night. Yes, the Democratic debate in Las Vegas, where the six leading Democratic candidates faced off in one of the most contentious debates of the long primary season. This is Senator Elizabeth Warren criticizing her opponents’ healthcare plans.
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN: Mayor Buttigieg really has a slogan that was thought up by his consultants to paper over a thin version of a plan that would leave millions of people unable to afford their healthcare. It’s not a plan; it’s a PowerPoint. And Amy’s plan is even less. It’s like a Post-It note: “Insert Plan Here.” Bernie has started very much — has a good start, but instead of expanding and bringing in more people to help, instead, his campaign relentlessly attacks everyone who asks a question or tries to fill in details about how to actually make this work. And then his own advisers say, “Eh, probably won’t happen anyway.”
AMY GOODMAN: And this is a moderator, well, MSNBC’s Chuck Todd, questioning Bernie Sanders.
CHUCK TODD: There are some Democrats who like you a lot but worry that this plan, Medicare for All, is going to take away private insurance and that it goes too far. Are they right?
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS: No. Let me be very clear. Two points. For a hundred years, from Teddy Roosevelt to Barack Obama, this country has been talking about the need to guarantee healthcare for all people. And yet, today, despite spending twice as much per capita, Chuck, twice as much as any other major country on Earth, we got 87 million who are uninsured or underinsured. We got over 60,000 people who die every year because they don’t get to a doctor on time. We’re getting ripped off outrageously by the greed and corruption of the pharmaceutical industry, which in some cases charges us 10 times more for the same drugs because of their price fixing. Five hundred thousand people go bankrupt every year because they can’t afford medical bills.
So let me be very clear to my good friends in the Culinary Workers Union, a great union: I will never sign a bill that will reduce the healthcare benefits they have. We will only expand it for them, for every union in the America and for the working class of this country.
AMY GOODMAN: And this is MSNBC moderator Chuck Todd questioning Senator Sanders. Oh, that was what we just heard. We’re going to go now to Ana María Archila, co-executive director of the Center for Popular Democracy. That’s the progressive advocacy group that has endorsed Senator Sanders. Ana María, respond to the debate last night, and particularly talk about healthcare.
ANA MARÍA ARCHILA: Well, healthcare continues to be the most important issue for most people in this country. I knocked on doors in New Hampshire leading up to the primaries there. I knocked on doors in Nevada just a few days ago. And every person I spoke to said that healthcare was their number one issue. I met a young woman, Puerto Rican woman in New Hampshire, who told me that she pays $11,000 in premiums. She makes around $35,000 a year. And then she has to pay $5,000 deductible. And the health insurance that she has does not cover the things she needs.
What Senator Sanders has committed to do is to make sure that everyone in this country can access healthcare without having to pay anything at the point of service, that all of us are going to contribute something to make sure that everyone can go to the doctor, that no one goes bankrupt because they have an illness, that no one has to choose between paying their rent and paying their healthcare. This is the most important issue for people across this country. And a commitment, a clear-eyed commitment, to Medicare for All is the only way to make sure that we stop having this morally bankrupt system that prioritizes profit for insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies over the lives of people.
There was a study recently published by Yale University that documents how Medicare for All will save over $400 million a year for people in this country, and 60,000 lives. The debate that is happening inside the Democratic Party about healthcare is actually about — it’s not just about healthcare; it’s about what kind of democracy we have, what role does government play in people’s lives. Bernie says the role that government should play is one of making sure that people have everything they need to live with dignity — healthcare, access to college without having to be burdened by debt forever, access to housing, the ability to take care of their families. And what centrist Democrats and billionaires like Mike Bloomberg say is, “No, we need to — the party should focus on still continuing to prioritize the needs of the 1%.” And that is not what people want. And that’s why millions and millions of people in this country are excited by Bernie Sanders’ campaign and see themselves reflected in his platform and see in him someone they can trust, someone who they believe, because he has been very consistent for decades about the kinds of politics that he believes our country and our people deserve.
AMY GOODMAN: I wanted to also ask you, Ana María Archila, who’s just back from Nevada, then you’re heading to go back there right away —
ANA MARÍA ARCHILA: Yes.
AMY GOODMAN: — about this questioning of Senator Amy Klobuchar.
VANESSA HAUC: Senator Klobuchar, you’re running on your Washington experience. But last week in a Telemundo interview, you could not name the president of Mexico or discuss any of his policies. Last night, you defended yourself, saying, quote, “This isn’t Jeopardy!” But my question to you is: Shouldn’t our next president know more about one of our largest trading partners?
SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR: Of course. Of course. And I don’t think that that momentary forgetfulness actually reflects what I know about Mexico and how much I care about it. And I first want to say greetings to President López Obrador. Secondly, I — what I meant by the game of Jeopardy! is that I think we could all come up with things. You know, how many members are there in the Israeli Knesset? One hundred twenty. Who is the president of Honduras?
VANESSA HAUC: Senator Klobuchar —
SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR: Hernández.
PETE BUTTIGIEG: I wouldn’t liken this to trivia. I actually didn’t know how many members were in the Knesset, so you got me there.
SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR: Well, there you go.
PETE BUTTIGIEG: But you’re staking your candidacy on your Washington experience. You’re on the committee that oversees border security. You’re on the committee that does trade. You’re literally in part of the committee that’s overseeing these things, and were not able to speak to literally the first thing about the politics of the country to our south.
SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR: Are you — are you trying to say that I’m dumb? Or are you mocking me here, Pete? I said —
PETE BUTTIGIEG: I’m saying that you shouldn’t trivialize that knowledge.
SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR: — I made an error. People sometimes forget names. I am the one that has — number one, has the experience based on passing over 100 bills.
VANESSA HAUC: Thank you, Senator.
SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR: If I could respond? This was a pretty big allegation.
VANESSA HAUC: Quickly, please.
SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR: He’s basically saying that I don’t have the experience to be president of the United States. I have passed over 100 bills as the lead Democrat since being in the U.S. Senate. I am the one, not you, that has won statewide in congressional district after congressional district. And I will say, when you tried in Indiana, Pete, to run, what happened to you? You lost by over 20 points to someone who later lost to my friend Joe Donnelly. So don’t tell me about experience. What unites us here is we want to win.
PETE BUTTIGIEG: All right.
SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR: And I think we should put a proven winner in charge of the ticket.
PETE BUTTIGIEG: This is a race for —
VANESSA HAUC: A quick response, Mayor Buttigieg.
PETE BUTTIGIEG: This is a race for president. If winning a race for Senate in Minnesota translated directly to becoming president, I would have grown up under the presidency of Walter Mondale. This is different. … This is important.
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN: Can I just defend Senator Klobuchar for a minute? This is not right. I understand that she forgot a name. It happens. It happens to everybody on this stage. Look, you want to ask about whether or not you understand trade policy with Mexico, have at it. And if you get it wrong, man, you ought to be held accountable for that. You want to ask about the economy and you get it wrong, you ought to be held accountable. You want to ask about a thousand different issues and you get it wrong, you ought to be held accountable. But let’s just be clear: Missing a name all by itself does not indicate that you do not understand what’s going on. And I just think this is unfair.
AMY GOODMAN: So, that was Senator Elizabeth Warren; before that, former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg and, of course, Senator Amy Klobuchar. Ana María Archila, your response to her forgetting? Also, Tom Steyer, the billionaire presidential candidate, also said he could not remember AMLO’s name.
ANA MARÍA ARCHILA: I mean, listen, we’re not talking about a country far away from here. We’re talking about the biggest neighbor, the country that — with whom we have been negotiating border policy, the country from where most immigrants in this country come from. You have to know the name of the president of Mexico. You have to know who he is and what he stands for. López Obrador represents a whole transformation of Mexican politics. You cannot run for president and not know the basic facts. I understand people forget things in a moment. It did not seem like Senator Klobuchar had much to say about who López Obrador is or what he represents.
It also speaks to the lack of attention to international policy, to border policy, to migration policy in all of these debates. We saw one question on immigration, the very last question. Only Senator Klobuchar was asked, and she was allowed to speak for several minutes on just platitudes about DREAMers, when, in reality, my community, immigrant communities, have been under attack in this administration relentlessly. People have been separated from their children at the border. People have been terrorized all over the country. There is a steady attack against local elected officials that are trying to protect residents of cities, in sanctuary cities. And the debate last night was basically just allowing Amy Klobuchar, who just a few days before made really disparaging and silly, pandering jokes in her conversation with the culinary workers — to allow her to just speak about DREAMers without talking about the importance of undoing the immigration enforcement system that’s hurting families and terrorizing communities, without asking her or any of the other candidates about how they will use their executive power to protect immigrants, to abolish ICE, to break up Border Patrol, to stop deportations. There was so much more to discuss, and the debate, again, like many of the other debates, did not go there.
AMY GOODMAN: As you said, there was only one question on immigration, but there were protesters —
ANA MARÍA ARCHILA: That’s right.
AMY GOODMAN: — who interrupted Vice President Biden at the end, as they chanted “You deported 3 million people,” “No kids in cages,” “Don’t look away.”


democracynow--2020-02-20--Bloomberg Takes Debate Stage for First Time & Struggles to Face His History of Misogyny & Racism

Tensions flared at the ninth Democratic presidential debate in Las Vegas on Wednesday .
Senator Bernie Sanders sought to defend his position as front-runner in the Democrats ’ nomination fight , and former Vice President Joe Biden , former Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Senator Amy Klobuchar tried to attract more supporters .
Senator Elizabeth Warren led a night full of attacks on the new person on stage : billionaire former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg .
Bloomberg faced questions about his vast wealth , his defense of stop-and-frisk and his treatment of women .
We host a roundtable on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ caucuses : Katrina vanden Heuvel is editorial director and publisher of The Nation , America ’ s oldest weekly magazine , and a columnist for WashingtonPost.com ; journalist and activist Raquel Willis is executive editor of Out magazine , as well as a supporter of Senator Elizabeth Warren ; Ana María Archila is co-executive director of the Center for Popular Democracy , a progressive advocacy group that has endorsed Senator Bernie Sanders ; Annise Parker is the former mayor of Houston , now president of the Victory Fund , which works to increase @ @ @ @ @ @ @ government and has endorsed Pete Buttigieg for president .
The Victory Fund is the largest LGBTQ political action committee in the United States .

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: In Las Vegas, Nevada, the six leading candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination squared off Wednesday night in one of the most contentious debates of the long primary season. Senator Bernie Sanders defended his position as front-runner in the Democrats’ nomination fight, and former Vice President Joe Biden, Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Senator Amy Klobuchar tried to attract more supporters. Senator Elizabeth Warren led a night full of attacks on the new person on the stage: Billionaire former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, who struggled to address questions about his vast wealth, his defense of stop-and-frisk, and treatment of women. The debate began with a question from moderator Lester Holt.
LESTER HOLT: A majority of Democratic voters still say their top priority is beating President Trump. Senator Sanders, the first question to you. Mayor Bloomberg is pitching himself as a centrist, who says he’s best positioned to win in November. Why is your revolution a better bet?
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS: In order to beat Donald Trump, we’re going to need the largest voter turnout in the history of the United States. Mr. Bloomberg had policies in New York City of stop-and-frisk which went after African-American and Latino people in an outrageous way. That is not a way you’re going to grow voter turnout. What our movement is about is bringing working-class people together, black and white and Latino, Native American, Asian-American, around an agenda that works for all of us and not just the billionaire class.
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN: I’d like to talk about who we’re running against: a billionaire who calls women fat broads and horse-faced lesbians. And no, I’m not talking about Donald Trump; I’m talking about Mayor Bloomberg. Democrats are not going to win if we have a nominee who has a history of hiding his tax returns, of harassing women and of supporting racist policies like redlining and stop-and-frisk. Look, I’ll support whoever the Democratic nominee is. But understand this: Democrats take a huge risk if we just substitute one arrogant billionaire for another. This country has worked for the rich for a long time and left everyone else in the dirt. It is time to have a president who will be on the side of working families and be willing to get out there and fight for them. That is why I am in this race, and that is how I will beat Donald Trump.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, to unpack all of this and so much more from the Las Vegas debate, we’re hosting a roundtable discussion. I’m in Indiana. That’s right. That’s the home state of Pete Buttigieg. But joining me from New York is Katrina vanden Heuvel, editorial director and publisher of The Nation, America’s oldest weekly magazine. She’s also a columnist for TheWashingtonPost.com. Raquel Willis is an activist and journalist based in New York City. She’s endorsed Senator Elizabeth Warren. Ana María Archila is co-executive director of the Center for Popular Democracy, which has endorsed Senator Bernie Sanders in December. And in Houston, Texas, Annise Parker is with us, former mayor of Houston, now president of the Victory Fund, which works to increase the number of openly LGBTQ officials in government and has endorsed Mayor Pete Buttigieg for president. The Victory Fund is the largest LGBTQ political action committee in the United States.
We welcome you all to this Democracy Now! roundtable. Katrina vanden Heuvel, let’s begin with you. I mean, to say the least, it seems to me that Bernie Sanders was very lucky last night because usually the guns are sort of focused on the number one candidate, but instead they were all focused on the person who’s not on the ballot in Nevada, and that is the newcomer to the stage, billionaire Michael Bloomberg.
KATRINA VANDEN HEUVEL: That was one of the most fiery Democratic debates I think we’ve all lived through. Mayor Bloomberg seemed to amp everything up. And it’s right that the targets were focused on Mayor Bloomberg. What was important was it seemed that all the candidates, especially Elizabeth Warren — Elizabeth Warren, warrior, back. You didn’t hear the unity. And if debates are any measure, she is the comeback woman of last night. But I think, you know, Bernie Sanders spoke eloquently about what he’s doing. I mean, he is building a majority coalition of workers across race and region. And Elizabeth Warren came out fighting and rightly took on Mayor Bloomberg for his comments about women and, more important, what’s going on not only in his workplace — Bloomberg, the allegations of sexual harassment workplace abuse — but, as The Nation reported, Amy, and you spoke of this earlier, our D.C. correspondent, Ken [Klippenstein], received an NDA, campaign nondisclosure agreement, that transparency experts say is so broad that it could really prohibit campaign staffers from reporting incidents of sexual harassment or workplace abuse.
But I think last night you had, in Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, the progressive wing of the party, they have won the ideas primary. Ideas once considered radical are at the center of this Democratic debate. Bernie Sanders is winning the money primary with small donors, a great counter to the orgy of political spending Mayor Bloomberg is pushing out on this country. And you got to wonder: With all that money, where was the debate prep for this guy? I mean, it was lousy. So, we don’t need two dueling plutocrats, as Elizabeth Warren said eloquently. We need people who represent what the Democratic Party could be. So I think it was an important night. And we will see, moving forward, but as we talk this morning, it does look — and one hates to put too much on polls, because they’re unpredictable — but Bernie Sanders is leading across racial, ideological and educational grounds, and certainly leading among a younger cohort. We’ll see what the turnout looks like, Amy, because you heard Sanders. His theory of change is expanding the electorate and bringing in new voters and expanding a turnout that has to be huge in order to overcome the president in — the president.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, I mean, as I understand it, the early voting in Nevada, which is a little confusing since it is a caucus state, more people, something like 70,000 people, have voted. That’s about equal to all that came out in the 2016 caucus. But let’s go to part of the extended exchange between Mike Bloomberg and Elizabeth Warren on those allegations of sexual harassment. This begins with a question from Hallie Jackson.
HALLIE JACKSON: Several former employees have claimed that your company was a hostile workplace for women. When you were confronted about it, you admitted making sexually suggestive remarks, saying, quote, “That’s the way I grew up.” In a lawsuit in the 1990s, according to The Washington Post, one former female employee alleged that you said, quote, “I would do you in a second.” Should Democrats expect better from their nominee?
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG: Look, let me say a couple things, and if I can have my full minute and a quarter? Thank you. I have no tolerance for the kind of behavior that the #MeToo movement has exposed. And anybody that does anything wrong in our company, we investigate it, and if it’s appropriate, they’re gone that day.
But let me tell you what I do in my company and my foundation and in city government when I was there. In my foundation, the person that runs it’s a woman. Seventy percent of the people there are women. In my company, lots and lots of women have big responsibilities. They get paid exactly the same as men. And in my — in City Hall, the person that’s the top person, my deputy mayor, was a woman, and 40% of our commissioners were women. I am very proud of the fact that about two weeks ago we were awarded — we were voted the most — the best place to work, second-best place in America. If that doesn’t say something about our employees and how happy they are, I don’t know what does.
HALLIE JACKSON: Senator Warren, you’ve been critical of Mayor Bloomberg on this issue.
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN: Yes, I have. And I hope you heard what his defense was: “I’ve been nice to some women.” That just doesn’t cut it. The mayor has to stand on his record. And what we need to know is exactly what’s lurking out there. He has gotten some number of women — dozens? who knows? — to sign nondisclosure agreements both for sexual harassment and for gender discrimination in the workplace. So, Mr. Mayor, are you willing to release all of those women from those nondisclosure agreements, so we can hear their side of the story?
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG: We have a very few nondisclosure agreements.
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN: How many is that?
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG: Let me finish.
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN: How many is that?
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG: None of them accuse me of doing anything, other than maybe they didn’t like a joke I told. And let me just — and let me — there’s agreements between two parties that wanted to keep it quiet, and that’s up to them. They signed those agreements, and we’ll live with it.
JOE BIDEN: Come on.
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN: So, wait, when you say it is up to — I just want to be clear. “Some” is how many? And when you — and when you say they signed them and they wanted them, if they wish now to speak out and tell their side of the story about what it is they allege, that’s now OK with you? You’re releasing them on television tonight?
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG: Senator, no.
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN: Is that right?
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG: Senator —
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN: Is that right? Tonight?
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG: Senator, the company and somebody else, in this case the man or a woman, or could be more than that, they decided, when they made an agreement, they wanted to keep it quiet for everybody’s interests.
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN: No.
JOE BIDEN: Come on.
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG: They signed the agreements, and that’s what we’re going to live with.
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN: I’m sorry.
PETE BUTTIGIEG: They could release them now.
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN: No, the question is —
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG: I heard your question.
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN: — Are the women bound by being muzzled by you? And you could release them from that immediately. Because, understand, this is not just a question of the mayor’s character. This is also a question about electability. We are not going to beat Donald Trump with a man who has — who knows how many? — nondisclosure agreements and the drip, drip, drip of stories of women saying they have been harassed and discriminated against. That’s not what we do as Democrats.
HALLIE JACKSON: Mr. Vice President? … Mayor Bloomberg, final word to you.
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG: I’ve said we’re not going to get — to end these agreements, because they were made consensually, and they have every right to expect that they will stay private.
JOE BIDEN: If they want to release it, they should be able to release themselves.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS: Could I add a word to this?
JOE BIDEN: Say yes.
AMY GOODMAN: The last voice was former Vice President Joe Biden, but the main part, of course, billionaire Mayor Mike Bloomberg being attacked and criticized by Senator Elizabeth Warren. We are also joined by Raquel Willis. She is the executive editor of Out magazine, and she personally has endorsed Elizabeth Warren. Can you respond to this back-and-forth?
RAQUEL WILLIS: Absolutely. I feel like Senator Warren came out swinging last night. She was not afraid. And if we’re really going to talk about electability, she really demonstrated that last night. I mean, a lot of the conversation around her as a candidate has been whether people think that she could actually be elected or whether she could actually hold someone like Trump accountable. And we really saw also the failings of Mike Bloomberg. I mean, we see just how much of a demagogue, how disgusting Trump has been in his history and also currently in the policies that he has enacted. And so, why would we think so much would change under a Bloomberg administration? And so, I think Senator Warren really deftly came at him, made sure to hold him accountable in the moment, and really made a point about us not electing leaders who want to silence marginalized people, particularly women.
AMY GOODMAN: And, of course, this is a key debate for Senator Warren, who has been slipping in the polls and fundraising, made a lot of money just last night as this debate was going on and afterwards.
RAQUEL WILLIS: Absolutely, absolutely. I think that this was the night that all of the supporters for Senator Warren have been wanting. I saw a lot of people saying on social media how — you know, “Where has this Senator Warren been?” And she’s always been there. I think now she is really taking a new strategy. She’s making sure that people understand she’s not just going to be there only to present her plans, but she’s going to hold people accountable for what they have or have not put out plan-wise.
I really think she had another strong moment particularly around healthcare. I think she’s garnered a lot of ire from the progressive wing of our electorate around her plan for Medicare for All, particularly in comparison to Senator Sanders. And I think she really made some great points about not thinking that Klobuchar really had a plan, you know, really thinking that Pete was kind of blowing — Mayor Buttigieg was really kind of blowing past some of the finer notes on what the people actually want. And people want healthcare. People want to be covered.
So I think it was a great night for her. And I think that it also was just important that Bloomberg was fully held accountable fresh out the gate. I think a lot of folks have been worried about what his presence in the election season means. Folks have been very worried and saying, you know, he’s buying the election. And, of course, I think a lot more of it is about buying delegates, more than anything else. But I think it was important for his first showing on the national stage to be one where he was really held to the fire. And we’ll see what it looks like for him to maybe recover, if he tries to do that. But I think Senator Warren had a great night.
AMY GOODMAN: If last night was a dress rehearsal for taking on Trump, with Bloomberg as the stand-in — of course, former Republican — Warren clearly had a very good night, though very interesting how little Trump was raised last night. We’re going to go to a break and then come back to more of this, what some are calling, well, much more than the “Rumble in the Jungle,” perhaps, yeah, Mayor Bloomberg, the piñata in Nevada. Stay with us.


democracynow--2020-02-20--Headlines for February 20, 2020

Headlines for February 20, 2020

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In honor of our 24th birthday , a generous supporter will DOUBLE every donation to Democracy Now !
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The United Nations is warning of an unfolding humanitarian catastrophe in Syria’s Idlib province as hundreds of thousands of people fleeing a Russian-backed Syrian offensive are being forced into an ever-shrinking area near the Turkish border. On Wednesday, U.N. humanitarian affairs chief Mark Lowcock pleaded to the U.N. Security Council for an immediate ceasefire.
Mark Lowcock: “But in Idlib, nowhere is safe. Almost 50,000 are sheltering under trees or in other open spaces. I am getting daily reports of babies and other young children dying in the cold. Imagine the grief of a parent who escaped a war zone with their child, only to watch that child freeze to death.”
The U.N.'s warning came as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to launch his own military offensive in Idlib by the end of the month unless Syrian troops withdraw behind a line of Turkish observation posts. Erdogan's warning drew a sharp rebuke from Russia’s government, which supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.