The problem across the city Casey is the. From the Pacific This is Democracy Now. For the people of this country I think what's dangerous is to ignore the continued threads if the previous administration had done anything and dealt with North Korea dealt with Iran instead of sitting back and doing nothing we wouldn't have to clean up their mess new President Trump tweets his nuclear button is much bigger and more powerful than North Korean leader Kim Jong un's Meanwhile North and South Korea have open lines of communication saying they're open to direct negotiations we'll speak with Bruce Connick sprit pastor of history at the University of Chicago author of North Korea another country then t.m. And where a u.s. Backed Saudi air campaign has killed more than 10000 civilians this week Norway says it will stop supplying weapons and ammunition to the coalition we'll speak with reporter Iona Craig Elmsley the primary weapons sales becoming a weapon sells a coming from the u.s. To Saudi Arabia Britain is also involved other European countries are also involved Canada is also involved I think it's a very lucrative business for the u.s. And the. Then we look at it case it highlights what some are calling the Palestine exception to free speech on college campuses across the United States. Try to stop the supposed finder of boredom to educate unity about these calls to the rights holder not quite so far because just among their peers I'm hoping that for the other process to come that they did not come into are the same 40 issues that I once heard. We'll speak with a student a model law who has sued Ford in University here in New York and Dean Holliday director of Palestine legal all that and more coming up. Welcome to Democracy Now Democracy Now dot org The War and Peace Report I mean the goodman president trumps former chief strategist Steve Bannon has portrayed as former boss was wholly unprepared for the presidency predicting President Trump's administration could unravel a special counsel Robert Muller finds evidence of money laundering while accusing Donald Trump Jr of treason over a 2016 meeting and Trump Tower with Russian officials that's according to explosive excerpts from the new book fire and fury by journalist Michael Wolff made public Wednesday in the book banning is quoted predicting Robert Muller's Russia investigation will find strong evidence of money laundering saying quote They're going to crack down Junior like an egg on national t.v. Unquote speaking about a 2016 meeting and Trump Tower between a Russian lawyer and top campaign officials Donald Trump Jr chair of Kushner and Paul man of Fort Bannon is quoted as saying the 3 senior guys in the campaign thought it was a good idea to meet with a foreign government inside Trump Tower in the conference room on the 25th floor with no lawyers they didn't have any lawyers even if you thought that this was not treasonous or unpatriotic or bad expletive and I happen to think it's all of that you should have called the f.b.i. Immediately unquote Bannon's comments prompted President Trump's lawyers to issue a cease and desist letter saying Bannon violated a non-disclosure agreement in a statement President Trump wrote Steve Benen has nothing to do with me or my presidency when he was fired he not only lost his job he lost his mind Steve doesn't represent my base he's only in it for himself Trump said at the White House . Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders called the book trashy tabloid fiction as reporters grilled her over its revelations. In the presence of adult children trees I think that is a ridiculous accusation and one that I'm pretty sure we've addressed many times from here before if that's in reference to comments made by Mr Bennett I'd refer you back to the ones that he made previously on 60 Minutes were a cold collusion with Russia about this president a total force so I think I would look back at that if anybody's been inconsistent it's been him certainly has been the president or this administration or President Trump's former campaign chair Paul man of Ford filed suit in federal court Wednesday seeking to limit the power of Special Counsel Robert Muller accusing the investigation and 2 alleged Trump Russia ties of overstretching its authority last October Miller indicted man a Ford and his former business associate Rick Gates on 12 counts including money laundering acting as unregistered agents of Ukraine's former pro Russian government and conspiracy against the United States President Trump abruptly shut down his advisory commission on Election Integrity Wednesday after it failed to provide any evidence of voter fraud civil rights groups say the commission's true aim was laying the groundwork for a nationwide voter suppression effort the commission's chair Kris Kobach blamed quote barrage of meritless lawsuits for the investigations closure after most us States and the District of Columbia refused to share data with the commission Kobach has a long record of employing voter suppression tactics as secretary of state of Kansas and as a Republican consultant President Trump has repeatedly falsely asserted he lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton in 2016 because 3 to 5000000 unauthorized votes were cast in the election. A major winter storm is raking the Atlantic seaboard bringing high winds coastal flooding and heavy snow to cities as far south as Savannah Georgia and parts of northern Florida meteorologists describe the storm as hyper Bamma Genesis that rapidly drop pressure and quickly intensified over the Atlantic forecasters predict the storm will be followed by bone chilling temperatures as a polar vortex returns to much of the u.s. Later this week last month President Trump cited cold winter weather in the u.s. To repeat his claim that global warming is a hoax but climate scientists say greenhouse gas emissions may be contributing to such weather events in Baltimore Maryland parents teachers and students are protesting frigid conditions at public schools with schoolchildren left shivering in classrooms and temperatures barely rising above freezing photos shared widely on social media show children bundled in winter parkas seated on a classroom floor a high school classroom and a gymnasium left badly damaged after they were flooded by burst pipes and a thermometer measuring one classroom's temperature at $42.00 degrees the Baltimore teachers union condemned the conditions as unfair and inhumane and called on officials to close schools for the rest of the week State Sen Bill Ferguson a former Baltimore public school teacher said Baltimore schools requested funds for heating and air conditioning but were denied due to fiscal constraints Ferguson blasted Republican governor Bill Hogan in a tweet writing gov Hogan suggests enough money has gone to Baltimore City additional resources not needed unquote. In the occupied West Bank Israeli forces shot and killed Palestinian the sob to me during a protest near Ramallah Wednesday making the 17 year old the 1st teenager to be killed by Israel in 2018 to mean he was also the 16th Palestinian to be killed in demonstrations since President Trump declared last month that the us recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital witnesses say too many was unarmed when he was shot in the neck this is my sop to Mimi's father fear us to me. More to. The soldiers arrested a mentally ill boy and when I tried to release of the officer said to me we want to kill someone and I moved backward to disperse youths away because I saw the bad will in their eyes I was close to the u.s. When the soldiers shot my boy in the neck and killed 2 of those 5 or 6 meters away from the Thank God he is a martyr to me was a relative of another Palestinian teenager 16 year old I had to meet me who is in Israeli custody awaiting trial before a military court and she was filmed in a viral video slapping and Israeli soldier Israel's government has ordered thousands of African migrants to leave Israel within 90 days or face arrest the plan was announced as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called African migrants infiltrators during a cabinet meeting on Wednesday. Do you feel traitors have a simple choice cooperate with us and leave voluntarily respectfully humanely and legally we will have to use the many other tools at our disposal which are also according to the law I hope that they will choose to cooperate with us most of the estimated 40000 migrants in Israel are refugees from Eritrea and Sudan fleeing war and persecution although Israel considers them economic migrants Meanwhile members of Israel's parliament the Knesset erupted in a shouting match Wednesday as Prime Minister Netanyahu and right wing lawmakers advanced legislation that would make it easier to carry out the death sentences against. Palestinians being treated on terrorism charges capital punishment is illegal in Israel but has not been implemented since 1962 when Nazi leader Adolf Eichmann was put to death for his role in the Holocaust in Iran tens of thousands of people took to the streets of cities across Iran Wednesday for pro-government rallies the state sanctioned demonstrations were held one week after anti-government protests are rapid across Iran targeting high unemployment inequality and housing costs on Wednesday the head of Iran's Aslambek Revolutionary Guard Corps said there would be no more sedition and that protest leaders had been arrested state media has reported the detention of over 500 people across Iran any Theo be a prime minister highly Moller aim to solving said on Wednesday he would release all of Ethiopia's political prisoners and close the notorious prison that human rights groups have labeled a torture chamber Amnesty International welcome the surprise announcement saying if authorities follow through it will mark the quote end of an era of bloody repression in Ethiopia unquote Ethiopia remains a major u.s. Ally in Africa despite its long history of human rights abuses and its record of silencing journalists protesters and opposition political parties in Nigeria a suicide bomber struck a mosque in the northeastern Borno state Wednesday killing 11 worshippers during morning prayers no group has claimed responsibility for the bombing which occurred in an area where the military group Boko Haram remains active back in the United States the acting director of ice that's the u.s. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency says politicians who resist the trumpet ministrations immigration policy should be arrested and charged with crimes Thomas Homan made the comment during an appearance on Fox News Tuesday one day after California formally declared itself a sanctuary state for immigrants. Well for the whole there are bold see a lot more special needs a lot more deportation always in the state of California it's a politicians in California don't want to protect their communities will Homans comment came as the trump of ministration continues its campaign to force local police officers to cooperate with the federal government's mass deportation plans Washington state filed suit against the budget hotel chain motel 6 Wednesday accusing it of violating anti discrimination and privacy laws by handing over personal information of hotel guests to ice Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson says hotel managers gave the names dates of birth driver's license numbers and license plate numbers of some 9000 guest immigration officers who scrutinized the list for a Latino sounding names leading to the arrests of at least 6 people the lawsuit comes 4 months after the Phoenix New Times reported Motel 6 managers in Arizona had a similar cooperation agreement with ice in New York City the daughter of Haitian immigrant John Montreaux says her father was arrested Wednesday by a chance outside his home in Far Rockaway in Queens and was taken to the Essex County Jail in New Jersey Jon nontrivial came to the United States from Haiti with a green card in 1906 at the age of 17 last June when he went to his 1st check in under President Trump nontrivial was detained handcuffed processed to be deported until calls from his supporters apparently prompted his release speaking on Democracy Now last summer nontrivial described the dangers he could face if he's deported to Haiti. Want to do the porn for me 1000000000 is a process you go through in the movie. About 12. Minute almost So I mean there's always a little. Bit of money to give the McKinney moment both both cool to pull to the. Mantra Hills arrest by ice on Wednesday came after the trumpet ministration said it's revoking a special immigration program for nearly $60000.00 Haitians including many who came to the United States after the devastating earthquake of 2010 their temporary protected status or t.p.s. Will now end in July next year on Capitol Hill vice president Mike Pence swore in 2 Democrats to the Senate on Thursday giving the Democratic Caucus $49.00 seats to the Republicans $51.00 Democrats are now 2 seats shy of a Senate majority after former federal prosecutor Doug Jones beat Republican Roy Moore in a special election last month Jones was seated Wednesday along with Tina Smith of Minnesota who was appointed by Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton to replace former Senator Al Franken Franken formally resigned Tuesday after at least 7 women said he groped them or forcibly tried to kiss them without their consent. And Connecticut Senators Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy have wrapped up a 2 day trip to Puerto Rico warning the island remains in deplorable shape more than $100.00 days after Hurricane Maria made landfall Senator Murphy noted Congress approved a $36500000000.00 disaster relief package for hurricane devastated states and Puerto Rico but said much of the needed funds including Community Development Block Grants have not yet reached the island the White House is nickel Ling and dining the Puerto Rican government in making them go through all sorts of bureaucracy and red tape that is unnecessary and the result is that the economy is still hemorrhaging and those are some of the headlines This is Democracy Now Democracy Now dot org The War and Peace Report I mean the men and I met in the Welcome to our listeners and viewers around the country and around the world. We begin today's show with North Korea President Trump took to Twitter this morning to take credit for a new communications between North and South Korea Trump tweeted quote with all of the failed experts weighing in does anybody really believe that talks and dialogue would be going on between North and South Korea right now if I wasn't firm strong and willing to commit our total might against the North fools but talks are a good thing this comes after North Korean leader Kim Jong un ordered the real printing of a hotline with South Korea's leaders bringing the biggest 0 in relations between the countries in 2 years the overture came after South Korean president and said he's open to talks with the North next week in the so-called truce village in the demilitarized zone earlier this week President Trump drew international attention when he tweeted a threat to North Korea that was steeped in sexual bravado writing quote North Korean leader Kim Jong un just stated that the nuclear button is on his desk at all times will someone from his depleted and food starved regime Please inform him that I too have a nuclear button but it is much bigger and more powerful than his and my button works unquote during the press conference on Wednesday White House press secretary Sara Sanders addressed questions about Trump's taunting of North Korean leader. I don't think that it's tontines to stand up for the people of this country I think what's dangerous is to ignore the continued threats if the previous administration had done anything and dealt with North Korea dealt with Iran instead of sitting behind doing nothing we wouldn't have to clean up their mess no knowledge of us is Americans here and there is a taunting tweet to say that he has a larger number than he is of that. Trumps tweet came after North Korean leader Kim Jong un declared his nation a fully fledged nuclear power Monday saying in a televised New Year's Day speech he was prepared to launch a nuclear attack against his enemies including South Korea Japan or the United States you want the entire United States is within range before a nuclear weapon is a nuclear button is always on my desk this is reality not a threat you'll be an instance of the world Kim said North Korea would now focus on mass producing nuclear warheads and ballistic missiles for operational deployment for more we're joined in Chicago by Bruce Cummings professor of history at the University of Chicago author of several books on Korea including Korea's place in the sun of modern history and North Korea another country perfessor Cummings Welcome back to Democracy Now why don't we start off with the breaking news this week of communications being opened between South and North Korea what does this mean and the possibility that as early as next week they will somehow meet it truce village in the demilitarized zone. Well it's very important. Particularly the tone of Kim Jong un statement which was very conciliatory toward the south and was followed up by a high official who was even more conciliatory talking about North Korea's hopes for the South Korean winter Olympics going well and of course Kim Jong un offered to send a delegation. To the Olympics this is in great contrast to the for example the 1988 Olympics which the North Koreans tried to disrupt with terrorist attacks so it's a very good sign and I would add that Kim Jong un did say he had a big button with a lot of nuclear weapons but he very clearly said that North Korean nuclear weapons are for defensive purposes and would not be used unless North Korea was attacked. And secondly he said something that North Korean officials have been saying for the last 6 months without a lot of attention and that is words to the effect that their nuclear program is nearly completed which would mean they don't have to test so much they tested a great deal in 2017 particularly missiles and then a very large h. Bomb test last September so I think on all 3 counts this was generally. A welcome statement a conciliatory statement. President Trump's tweet this morning is trying to take credit for these talks going forward that's fine the fact is the trumpet administration was very opposed to President Mungy in of South Korea's proposals for talks. The north the Trump administration position is that there can be no talks until North Korea commits to denuclearization. That's their only hole card so they're not going to do that before talks open I would give a lot of credit to President moon in Seoul for. Opening up these talks next January 9th next week in spite of tremendous opposition that the mention almost daily provocations coming from President Trump and this morning there was a call on that hotline the South Koreans reached out to the noise do we know anything about the content of that call. No I actually was all I could do to get through the New York Times a bit before coming down here early in the morning so I don't know what the content was but. That line was closed 2 years ago in the context of then South Korean president Park. Shutting down a very large industrial zone just across the d.m.z. In North Korea in the case of industrial zone where about 60000 North Koreans were working for mostly South Korean firms and it was the last and biggest fruit of really more than a decade of attempts at reconciliation between north and south so I have hopes that this communication line but the. Export zone will be reopened so you I don't know that but I hope that the u.n. Ambassador Nikki Haley said Tuesday North Korea might be preparing for another missile test and warns such a move would necessitate tougher steps against Pyongyang as we hear reports that North Korea might be preparing for another missile test I hope that does not happen but if it does we must bring even more measures to bear on the North Korean regime the civilized world must remain united and vigilant against the rogue states development of a nuclear arsenal we will never accept a nuclear North Korea we won't take any of the talk seriously if they don't do something to ban all nuclear weapons in North Korea we consider this to be a very reckless regime we don't think we need a Band-Aid we don't think we need to smile and take a picture we think that we need to have them stop nuclear weapons and they need to stop it now so the North Korea can talk with anyone they want but the u.s. Is not going to recognize it or acknowledge it until they agree to ban the nuclear weapons that they have so if you can respond to this coming they're saying respond to. The u.s. Setting preconditions but this is direct negotiations between South and North Korea and then talk about the tweet of Trump talking about his button bigger than they give than the North Korean leaders and also his taking credit for this coming together. Well I think you're right that this initiative came from the 2 Koreas. The u.s. Wasn't involved as far as we know in this initiative and the unfortunate fact is that not just the trumpet ministration but many many administrations going back decades. Scuse me have not wanted the 2 Koreas to be alone together they always want the u.s. In a supervisory role over over South Korea this morning a high state department official in the Obama administration. He was quoted as saying North South Korea needs to be on a tight leash and that kind of condescending crap as it's coming out of the mouths of. A bipartisan coalition of American officials for a long long time president moon is a very experienced. Politician he was chief of staff to know me here on who did the deepest reconciliation with North Korea when he was in office and I think the u.s. Should trust to conduct these talks and make whatever deals might be possible with North Korea as to Trump's tweet like everything else even the 17 inches of snow that Boston is going to get from. Essentially says you know it's his doing and no matter what it is Donald Trump is snapping his fingers and making everything happen but the hidden lining in that statement is that trump support supports the talks he said right at the end that he supports the talks talks are good. I'm not a psychiatrist and so I don't know why Donald Trump throughout his campaign and this president has constantly showed his Freud Ian insecurities about the size of his. Whatever. And in this case he's basically bringing Kim Jong un up to his level or bringing himself down to Kim Jong un's level but any case focusing attention on North Korea in a way that no previous president would ever do it's childish about. A possible nuclear war that could literally destroy the planet and I I wish I knew what the North Koreans think of it but I would guess that after all these months of starting not to take him very seriously last summer they were asking Republicans in Washington you know what distrust mean when he says fire and fury or he's going to totally destroy us because in North Korea every statement coming out of the government is carefully vetted right up the line whereas Trump isn't vetted at all . So it's a dangerous situation but it also demeans the United States and as I said bring this truck basically to Kim Jong un's level given the fact that Trump has been tweeting as much as he has activists in San Francisco are questioning Twitters and force much of its policy against violent threats after Trump used the platform to taunt North Korean leader Kim Jong learn members of a group called resistance as projected an image on the outside of Twitter headquarters in San Francisco on Wednesday directed at Twitter c.e.o. Jack Dorsey which read Jack is complicit a spokesperson for Twitter said Trump did not violate its policy when the president boasted that his nuclear button was bigger and more powerful than on Twitter as rules page reads quote we consider violent threats to be explicit statements of one's intent to kill or inflict serious physical harm against another person please note that wishing or hoping that someone experiences serious physical harm making vague threats or threatening less serious forms of physical harm would not fall under the specific policy Twitter rolled so Bruce Cummings Can you respond to that and what you think if anything should be done to prevent a Trump from escalating the situation between the u.s. And North Korea Well his latest statements were the ones yesterday about how big his button was might violate obscenity statutes but certainly has a. Very bellicose statements last summer about totally destroying North Korea would seem to be outside Twitter's guidelines. North Korea was totally destroyed by the us during the Korean War 3 your opinion that left almost nothing standing. Every North Korean is taught about this very bitter about it. But what you can say to Trump is we totally destroyed North Korea already and still didn't win the war so it's very irresponsible talk but I imagine just about everybody in the White House including the custom audience cleaning his bathrooms would like to grab his Twitter and throw it as far as i Phone and throw it as far away as they can because he's unsettled relations with our friends and allies and our enemies time and time again I mean by lining up with the Iranian demonstrators against the idea of toll as he puts them in a position where the ayatollah is can easily claim their foreign agents he blasted Pakistan for coddling terrorists and protecting them inside the country. Pakistan has been doing that for decades and the us has known all about it and as tolerated it for other reasons so he's basically a kind of wrecking crew. But the in his case the mallet The Rock The Wrecking Crew is is Twitter I think we'd all be really happy if Twitter would just cut him off but that's obviously not going to happen and we just have 30 seconds but what kind counted these direct talks between North and South Korea. Well I think it's very probable that a North Korean delegation will come to China for the Olympics that begin on February 9th and that may include athletes who would participate in some. Official Form there was a there were 2 North Korean skaters who qualified for the Olympics in Canada some weeks ago but apparently the North Koreans didn't put in an application or failed to meet a deadline or something so that they can't participate as a limb pick athletes but I think it will be a time when the world can breathe a sigh of relief that at least there won't be missiles or. Vicious tweets going off during the Olympics and that. Could be a start to things like reopening the case on his own and just reducing the terrible tension that has been racking the Korean Peninsula ever since Donald Trump was inaugurated Bruce Cummings want to thank you for being with us professor of history inner city Chicago among his books Korea's place in the sun of modern history and North Korea another country this is Democracy Now when we come back Norway says it's cutting off weapon sales to Saudi Arabia because of the u.s. Backed So Saudi bombing campaign against Yemen Stay with us. Back to you. That. Little bit. Of the. Ring ring ring by Saul Happy Birthday This is Democracy Now I mean a Good Man Wisner We turn now to Yemen on Wednesday Norway's Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the country will stop supplying weapons and ammunition to the United Arab Emirates citing great concern over the humanitarian crisis in Yemen the u.a.e. Is part of the Saudi led coalition that has been carrying out air strikes in Yemen for nearly 3 years in 2016 Norway's sold nearly $10000000.00 worth of weapons to the u.a.e. Meanwhile the u.s. And Britain continue to supply the Saudis with billions of dollars worth of weapons the u.s. Also provides logistical military support to Saudi Arabia the Saudi air campaign has killed more than 10000 civilians in Yemen which is the world's Arab world's poorest country and displaced more than 3000000 in December Doctors Without Borders said it suspected an outbreak of diphtheria in the country for the 1st time since 1928 tests reported since August Meanwhile the International Committee of the Red Cross says the number of suspected collar cases in Yemen has reached 1000000 making it the worst cholera epidemic on record in the United Nations is warning over 8000000 people are a step away from famine more than 80 percent of Yemenis now lack food fuel water and access to health care well recently no rain shaken I sat down with a Journalist Iona Craig who is based in Sanaa from 2010 to 15 is a Yemen correspondent for The Times of London awarded the 2016 Orwell Prize for her reporting on Yemen I started by asking her what the world needs to know about the crisis in Yemen. I think it's really how manmade the humanitarian crisis is the Saudi Coalition's policy of not just blockade in the country and restricting food imports and and Yemen imports 90 percent of its food in peace time but it's also the bombing campaign that I mentioned in that report for The Guardian has been used to systematically target Yemenis ability to grow their own food or supply food for themselves so there is a clear pattern of a strategy to bomb farmland to target the areas where farmers are trying to grow food and again as well targeting fisherman where people have become increasingly increasingly reliant on you know fish and fisherman and supplies to feed themselves and so in that reports I spoke to fisherman are on the Red Sea coast and the head of the fisherman's Union and to farmers and there has also been academic research done on the dates of the air strike campaign since 20 $15.00 show a pattern of society coalition apparently targeting Yemen's food supply as its own farmers and and and fisherman in order to prevent them from being able to provide food for themselves in addition to this blockade so this is what is largely responsible for the humanitarian crisis that we're seeing now with more than 8000000 people facing famine with hundreds of thousands of children now starving to death and this has been a policy of the Saudi coalition which is of course backed by western nations including the us and so they are complicit in mass starvation of $27000000.00 people let's go to a 1st person account by a young woman living in Sana'a the capital of Yemen the 26 year. Goes by the pseudonym Saddam are to protect her identity for fear for her safety she spoke to the world last week we just staying inside our houses because you don't know the airstrike going to come like all these going to have it. It's like a saver for you and your family to stay close to your house since 2011 we have this kind of. Ugly experience of like down in our houses for days and days. To this was different this one it's like most of the people just like they are sad really sad and even myself I have like since I was student I have issues like with the old regime and you know the troubles in education and everything but when any solace could kill I cried most of the people really cry men and women feel like you know this summer and has been our leader for almost over 35 years. 26 a point and he's still like you know he was the president and I think the school and he's still the president we always look up to him and he's our father for my generation but now the thing that I noticed and it's I had no had me inside for real it's like people like I don't know the last pope. Does breaks every single one in the country. Because. There is no prediction you know more so that's a young woman who goes by the name. 26 year old speaking from Sun of the capital of Yemen speaking of course about former Yemeni president. So I don't know could you respond to what she said in particular that his death as deaths breaks every single one in the country because they sink there's no protection anymore. Everybody in Yemen even those who hated Ali Abdullah Saleh was shocked when he died . That it happened at school but also the way in which he died and. I'm not sure everybody would hold that same voice there are people particular and southern Yemen who were very pleased to see Ali Abdullah Saleh go but I think everybody now there is some certainty of what happens next that's everybody's question is what happens now that Ali Abdullah Saleh is dead and his political party appears to be crumbling those who are still loyal to him as well I think particularly and so on are people the last 10 days are incredibly scared trying to communicate with people there is very difficult off to solve these tests that he's cracked down on the Internet it's not possible to access social media Twitter Facebook whatsapp without d.p.n. . And people's ability to communicate to the outside world has been silenced and even when you do when you already will to communicate with people they're very scared they don't want to talk about politics they don't want to tell you about what's going on because they fear that there will be reprisals and the he's going to be cracking down on anybody who shows still loyalty to Ali Abdullah Saleh and that has been a lot of talk of tensions in Sanaa over the last 10 days since Ali died but it's unclear how many people have have effectively disappeared into the prisoners in Sanaa and how bad that crackdown is because getting information out of Sanaa is so difficult because of the restrictions that he's had placed on Internet access over the last 10 days so yes people there are incredibly incredibly scared and you know sort of holding their breath really of what's going to happen next in Yemen off to solve these death I don't know could you talk about speaking of the Who It is the fact that now the trumpet ministrations says that they're going to share proof that Iran is arming the rebels what are the implications of that and why is the trumpet ministration making this claim now. Yeah I think the most important part of that is why why is the White House going to be showing this evidence why is Saudi Arabia not showing that the d.m. The government sharing that evidence and I think the concern is about the answer to that question is this going to be is this rhetoric and this this narrative going to be used as some form of pretext for more u.s. Involvement in the war in Yemen to support any ground operations by the Saudi led coalition that have been movement since Salis death on the Red Sea coast towards a day. A ground operation against the data port had been talked about for more than a year but under the previous u.s. Administration they had advised the side led coalition against that and so the concern is that this kind of rhetoric coming out of the White House may be some form a way to support the coalition in any upcoming ground offensive and to increase the u.s. Involvement in the war in Yemen and of course then brings the prospect of escalation because it's highly likely if that did happen Ron would retaliate by not retaliate in Yemen they could retaliate in Syria or Iran and that of course brings the prospect of enormous proxy conflict between the u.s. And Iran so it's incredibly dangerous and I think. The timing of it now is also you know it's dangerous for Yemen in the sense that aid agencies have warned for a long time now about the dangers of pushing militarily on the data because they rely so heavily on the poor to bring in aid to the enemies at the moment but the consequences could be far reaching you know beyond the borders of Yemen and for the rest of the region if this is going to be now uses some form of narrative for more u.s. Involvement in targeting that he sees in Yemen Saudi Arabia of course see very much as a proxy for Iran. Certainly seems to be the seas have increased their capabilities on the weapons side Yemeni all still didn't contain ballistic missiles that could reach as far as Riyadh's before the war and all the indications are that they've received training and maybe in military parts as well that have been shipped into smuggled into Yemen in order for them to be able to modify the ballistic missiles that they did have in order to follow them into Riyadh as they claim as well the duties of plane to fly towards the u.a.e. As well yes there is this kind of talk really points towards escalation which could be incredibly dangerous for the region is and we only have 30 seconds and. Recently went again meeting with his dear friend in Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Solomon Thomas Friedman held him as a visionary the crown prince of Saudi Arabia his role and what's happening here and what you feel the u.s. Should be doing right now. I think the problem is now it's with the u.s. Cozying up more to Saudi Arabia being very much on side with the Saudi coalition. Being more hostile towards Iran really means that getting some kind of dialogue going on the war in Yemen to bring an end to the conflict is less and less likely and actually u.s. Actions at the moment of pointing towards. The sort of never ending complex trying to find an end to the conflict becomes more difficult and the u.s. Is actually making it more difficult by this kind of relationship very close relationship with Saudi Arabia whilst being much more aggressive in their rhetoric towards Iran and that has a direct consequence on the civilian population now who are literally starving to death in Yemen and the u.s. Policies at the moment and their activities are making that worse the Yemenis on the ground and will do if they can get to the point of some form of political discussion or a cease fire to to at least bring a whole trial still a siege in some way and so yes the u.s. Is actually making the situation worse in Yemen rather than better and the effect of cholera how many people have cholera and how is that affected by the Saudi u.s. Backside bombing of Yemen. Well the she would call or actually the numbers were improving although they're expected to reach a 1000000 by the end of this year with more than 2000 people now having died from from the disease. The bombing of the infrastructure of water supplies. Has had an impact on that on hospitals the blockading of medical supplies bringing them into the country the blockading of water purification into the country the aid agencies have been bringing in supplies for that all has an impact on their ability to help the cholera situation in Yemen but now you're seeing outbreak of more disease we're hearing in the last few days about theory or in Yemen which hadn't been recorded for for decades in the country and this is all because less than 50 percent of the country's medical facilities are now operating and those are operating under massive strain they can't get the supplies that they need in the aid agencies can't bring in the help that they need to for those kind of situations so yes it's not just hunger it's disease and I think that it's not just going to be restricted to cholera now whilst. Hospitals and medical centers in Yemen struggle to cope with basically the situation that they're in because of the conflict because of hospitals that have been bombed because of medical facilities been put out of action because of the war and the health care system is basically collapsing in Yemen at the moment and there's no way to rectify that if they didn't seize can't get help into them at the moment I wonder could you also explain I mean as far as this bombing campaign goes who are the principal countries I mean the u.s. And the u.k. Who are supplying arms to Saudi Arabia and why there isn't more pressure on them given the situation in Yemen to seize all sales or at least to limit them. Right I mean obviously the primary weapons sales coming a weapon sales are coming from the u.s. To Saudi Arabia Britain is also involved the other European countries are also involved Canada is also involved I think it's very lucrative business for the u.s. And the a and particular in the u.k. As well it's not just weapons sales it's other investments from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries who are part of the coalition particularly in the Bric City area when the British government is going to be looking beyond Europe now for you know more and more investment in the country so it's about maintaining relationships that have a financial interest ultimately. This is going on despite clear evidence of violations of international humanitarian law that I've seen on the ground in Yemen and the evidence has been collected by human rights organizations and that doesn't look like it's going to stop anytime soon there have been ongoing calls both in the u.s. And the u.k. For suspensions of weapons sales the was a partial suspension of precision guided weapons in the u.s. a Year ago but that has since been lifted and they are now selling precision guided weapons back to the Saudis again so there are no indications the government the u.s. Or the u.k. Is going to change that policy any time soon but it is a point of leverage and they could use that in order to push for dialogue and this will but it's not being used and obviously the consequences of devastating for Yemenis and what is the Trump family gain by this very close relationship with Saudi Arabia not to diminish the Obama administration and the number of times he went to study Arabia and what he had done but clearly you know the 1st foreign trip President Trump truck was just starting Arabia Jared Kushner has been there a number of times this closeness with the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Solomon What do the Trump again. Again this is a lot of bases based on on financial interests and economic interests and this is the really disheartening thing about it because the expense of millions of Yemenis who are literally starving to death that the interests of those people in the lives of those people is being is being seen as inferior to the economic interests of the u.s. And the financial interests of the trumpet ministration. Brings a lot of questions about. Just the moral compass really all of societies and and all governments really the u.s. And the u.k. In this about the direction that this takes because we are all now where the way the humanitarian situation in Yemen right now and how many millions of people suffering the situation of famine on the ground and the like the numbers of people who are going to starve to death death but yet all governments to still willing to hold very close relationships with Saudi Arabia and for financial interests maintain that relationship the costs of many hundreds of thousands of lives in Yemen award winning journalist Iona Craig has your poor kid from Yemen for years was the correspondent for The Times of London this is democracy now to see part one of our discussion go to Democracy Now when we come back Columbia University has 100 college has one Rector's University New York University they all have students for justice in Palestine groups on campus so why did Fordham say no stay with us. a. Reputation right here in China this is Democracy Now I mean the good men with Nermeen Shaikh we end today's show with a case that highlights what some are calling the Palestine exception to free speech on college campuses here in New York students at Fordham universities Lincoln Center Tempus are fighting in court for their right to start a students for justice in Palestine group the student government approved the group unanimously but the dean of students overruled the approval saying the group would quote stir up controversy and be polarizing while on Wednesday the students were in court here in New York asking a judge to reinstate the student government's unanimous approval one of the students who is suing to allow the club to be on campus is joining us now to watt is has now graduated from Fordham University he initiated the process to get approval for the group and as the lead petitioner in the case against for them he's now a law student at Rutgers University also joining us Dana holiday director of Palestine legal we asked for demeanor versity to join us but they said they're not providing any statements while the case is in litigation we welcome you both to Democracy Now so I'm at tell us what you did I mean what you did is does not sound very unusual here. For a club to be on campus not unusual at all it was the simple part of the college experience I entered into school I had an interest in students for justice in Palestine from the beginning I had friends who were older than me that were contributing to the cause at other universities so I thought it would only be right to have a group on campus so in the fall of 2015 we began the process of getting approval to have the club status on campus where other universities in the in New York for example have this group Oh yeah there's many universities in New York that have this group Columbia and why you Hunter Rutgers University New Jersey Montclair State in New Jersey the list goes on there's over $180.00 chapters around this country either under the name j.p. Or under other names that also work with us j.p. So you went to the student government I went to the city government and when there's we got all the necessary documentation that we needed to fill out we filled everything out properly we got the signatures we needed we filled in all the positions we started to meet with the administration to explain our mission our goals we had our constitution written up we revised it according to school policy and eventually we went up for a vote after a year of waiting and the student government unanimously approved our club and granted us club status but unfortunately months later we were told that Dean Keith Eldridge would veto the club he believes that the club was polarizing on college campuses and it would be necessary for them to have a club is that the only justification you've received from the university administration why they overturned the student government's decision yeah it's mainly to do with the fact that they believe that the group would be polarizing on campus it may make other students upset. On comb through banner they determine this based off of speaking with other professors reviewing other cases from around the continue or skeptical 140 professors and a 114 professors wrote in support of our cause and in support of allowing us to repeat on campus and in addition numbers dozens of Catholic clergy members from churches and universities around this country wrote an open letter to Fordham condemning dean of the Jews decision and telling for them that they should revise and of the can you talk about whether there's been any precedent to this at any other university in other words a student government approving a group and then the university administration overturning that approval Well that's why this case is so important this is really the 1st instance we've seen of a university banning a student group like this especially after getting approval we have seen. Other student groups face a lot of pressure censorship even punishment for protesting for Palestinian human rights but this is the 1st time a university has censored to this point to this level without any debate even happening. A group like this so it's critical that we challenge this this kind of sense blatant censorship what is Article 78 article 78 is a procedure specific to New York law that allows. Challenging private institutions when they violate their own rules and regulations so it's a. Because private institutions are not bound by the 1st Amendment in this case we are challenging the university's decision based on the fact that it's an it was an arbitrary and capricious decision it was a bad faith decision. And violated Fordham's own guarantees to use to its students that it would respect their free expression and dissenting views etc. What do you think the broader community out what is the broader significance of this case I mean it extends far beyond Fordham University that's right we are seeing around the country a very broad based consistent and concerted effort to undermine the growing movement for Palestinian rights we saw in your earlier segment what's happening in Palestine the kinds of human rights abuses that are happening to children and otherwise and people are upset about it with Trump's true some decision and with this growing movement Israel and its supporters in the us are increasingly trying to shut down this conversation so this is what's happening at Fordham and in order to support our right to dissent in this country to take these kinds of important positions we have to ensure that universities don't get away with this kind of blatant censorship do to other student groups support you in addition to the student government unanimously voting for us we did have support from a number of other groups including the Muslim Students Association who was extremely supportive and helpful in our process moving forward and students around the campus even just speaking with students friends that I have of all their classmates everyone was interested to see what this has to offer because there was no other. Area where people could discuss this conflict on forums campus did you expect there to be any controversy I didn't think there would be controversy at all mostly because it's a college campus and many many people go to colleges knowing that they're going to be able to speak with their mind say what they want and also be able to learn in the experience so what happens now. Both Center for Constitutional Rights Palestine . Well took this to court you went before a judge yesterday what happens next well the hearing yesterday was on Fordham's motion to dismiss and our motion for a preliminary injunction asking the university to reinstate the student government's decision so the judge at the hearing did not make a ruling and we're waiting for that ruling if we are hopeful that she 10 2nd she really understood the issues at stake and you know we could expect it in the next weeks or or even months but well this is quite a lesson in law and now that you're a law student was I want to thank you both for being with us Awad a graduate of Fordham University who started the process to get approval for a students for justice and Palestine group at Fordham University like so many universities and colleges have and I want to thank the Mohamedi of Palestine legal cooperating Council the Center for Constitutional Rights not just for a show to March now is accepting applications for a page year long news production fellowship details of Democracy Now dot org democracy now produced by Renee Feldstein against her Nermeen Shaikh the world's largest donor Sam How come I mean the good men with Nermeen Shaikh. You are team didn't you k c s b f and Barbara thank you 13 Any today on wings women after disaster. Welcome to winning a series of news and current affairs programs by and about women around the world produced and distributed by the Women's International news gathering service. The 145th annual meeting of the American Public Health Association.