thank you to lina sergie attar who joined us earlier from boston. when we come back, the nuclear option. no, we're not talking about syria. we're talking about choosing a supreme court justice. stay with us. ♪ [music break] amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we turn now to capitol hill where senators voted along party , lines thursday for a historic rule change that will allow supreme court justices to be confirmed by a simple majority. the 52-48 vote ended a democratic-led filibuster aimed at blocking neil gorsuch's confirmation, clearing the way for a senate vote today on president trump's pick for the supreme court. republican senate majority leader mitch mcconnell said the move was necessary to break a stalemate. independent and he is fair. he is beyond qualified, and he will make a stellar addition to the supreme court. hardly anyone in the legal community seems to argue otherwise. and yet, our democratic colleagues appear poised to block this incredible nominee with the first successful

to talk more about the situation we go to boston to speak to lina , sergie attar, a syrian-american writer from aleppo. she is co-founder and head of the karam foundation, a charitable group assisting syrians inside and outside country. welcome to democracy now! can you talk about what you understand happened on tuesday? >> thank you for having me. what we saw on tuesday was one of the most severe chemical weapons attacks we have seen inside syria since 2013. and the death toll is over 80 people. hundreds of wounded. many women and children dead, again.to death once it is a series of attacks that really hasn't stopped in the past six years. it was more intense. the death toll was higher, but across syria, we have seen death in every single form every day. we have seen death by barrel bombs. death by thermal bombs. death by torture. so many forms of death you cannot even count anymore what we have witnessed in the past six years of this endless nightmare of loss. and tuesday's attack was more intense, moree severe. we have to find a way to end these attacks on syrian civilians and families.

sergie attar, syrian-american writer from aleppo. co-founder and head of the karam foundation, a charitable organization assisting syrians inside and outside country. speaking to us from boston. this is democracy now! when we come back, president trump says fox host bill o'reilly did nothing wrong as revelations come out of one settlement after another around women charging him with sexual harassment. out over'reilly hang $13 million, at least what we know to this point. we will speak with a lawyer for one of the women who have accused o'reilly of sexual harassment. stay with us. ♪ [music break] amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. rico president donald trump is lending his support to bill o'reilly as a number of advertisers boycotting the fox news host's program increased to at least 52, following revelations that fox paid out at least $13 million to pay out lawsuits a five women who accused o'reilly of sexual harassment and inappropriate sexual behavior. other women have made s