Transcripts For KCSM Democracy Now 20170724

Who are manmade leading, supply, fighting, perpetuating the fear and the fighting. Amy an absolute shame on humanity. Thats how the International Aid organization care is describing the deepening humanitarian crisis in yemen. Over 1800 people have died of a massive cholera outbreak. We will go to sanaa for the latest. Then we look at how the Trump Administration is looking at ways to withdraw from the Iranian Nuclear deal. All that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. In the west bank and jerusalem, seven people four palestinians and three israelis have been killed amid a wave of violence and protests over israels refusal to remove metal detectors from the holy alaqsa mosque. On friday, 18yearold Muhammad Sharaf was killed by an israeli settler, while 17yearold Muhammad Khalaf and 20yearold Muhammad Ghanam were killed by israeli soldiers. On saturday, 21yearold Yousef Abbas Kashour was killed by an israeli soldier. About 400 more palestinians were wounded as israeli troops opened fire against protesters with live bullets and tear gas. Meanwhile, on friday night, a palestinian teenager killed a man and his two Adult Children in their home in an israelionly settlement in the west bank. The three victims, whose names have not been released, were sitting down to shabat dinner when they were stabbed to death. This is Abed Aljaleel alabed, the father of the palestinian teenager who killed the 3d israelis. I have no idea what happened. Im against any attack. Our children are young and the occupation is responsible for the attacks, not my son. The occupation caused the attack. Amy on sunday, the violence appeared to spread to the Israeli Embassy in jordan, where Israeli Security officer killed two jordanians, after one stabbed him. Israel has deployed more troops to the occupiedwest bank, amid the growing protests. The u. N. Security council is set to convene an emergency meeting. In yemen, oxfam is warning the spiraling cholera outbreak could become the largest ever recorded in any country in a single year since records began. The World Health Organization says as many as 5000 yemenis are being infected every day and that the disease will only spread further as the rainy season begins. The cholera outbreak comes as more than two years of u. S. Backed saudiled bombing in yemen has devastated the countrys health, water, and sanitation systems. This is u. N. Human Rights Agency spokesman rupert colville. The fighting hugely exacerbating the ability to stop this epidemic of cholera and of disintegration of the Health System in yemen as a result of the conflict at the time of cholera is a lethal combination. Amy we will go to yemen for more on the cholera epidemic and the u. S. Backed Bombing Campaign later in the broadcast. In the United States in texas, at least nine have people died from heat exposure and asphyxiation after they and 30 others were crammed into the back of a sweltering tractortrailer as part of their journey to enter the United States from mexico. When the group of migrants were discovered in a walmart parking lot in san antonio, eight men were already dead. One more man died later in the hospital. Authorities say they are investigating it as a Human Trafficking case. Survivors say as many as 100 people were sandwiched into the back of the truck at times to the deadly journey. This is fire chief charles hood. Extricating patients out the back of a semi truck. The airconditioning was not working, so everyone was removed. During that time, we had a patients that were deceased. We had another 20 patients that were either in extremely Critical Condition were very serious condition. They have been transferred to a number of hospitals. Amy reuters is reporting immigrations and Customs Enforcement agency, or ice, is planning to launch as there is of nationwide raids this week targeting undocumented teenagers for deportation. According to an internal ice memo, the raids will target 16 and 17yearolds who are accused of having ties to gangs. The criteria ice is using to assess possible gang affiliation includes whether teenagers have tattoos, Wear Clothing typical to a gang, or even spend time in an area thats known to have gangs. The National Immigration law center in los angeles has criticized Law Enforcements methods, saying we have seen babies labeled as potential gang members. On capitol hill, President Trumps soninlaw and Senior Adviser Jared Kushner is set to testify before the Senate Intelligence committee today in a closeddoor session about trumps ties to russia. Ahead of todays testimony, he released an 11page statement saying he had four separate meetings with russians during the 2016 campaign and transition period meetings with the russian , two ambassador, one with ahead head of a russian Stateowned Bank and one with a russian lawyer promising damaging information on hillary clinton. Kushner released new information about as many as 70 investments and assets that he failed to disclose in previous filings. His wife, trumps daughter and Senior Adviser ivanka trump, disclosed that she received up to from a trust that holds her 5 million ivankabranded clothing and fashion label, even as she joined the white house and promised to distance herself from her fashion label. All this comes as President Trump said saturday he has the complete power to issue pardons, including for himself or for his family members. In more news from capitol hill, wall street financer Anthony Scaramucci has become President Trumps new communications director, sparking the resignation of White House Press secretary sean spicer. Scaramucci, who is nicknamed the mooch, has been a vocal critic of trump in the past, and disagrees with a slew of trumps policies. He has, for example, issued support for gun control, the end of the death penalty, action to mitigate climate change, and prochoice policies. Hes also called trump a hack and antiamerican. That is another hack politician. You called donald trump a hack . With comets antiamerican. You can tell donald i said this, he will be the president of the Queens County bully association. You have to stop all this crazy rhetoric. Amy that was Anthony Scaramucci speaking on Fox Business Network and august 2015. After sean spicers resignation, Sarah Huckabee sanders will serve as press secretary. The Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth Macdonough has determined some parts of the republicans healthcare billincluding the plan to defund planned parenthood for a year violate an obscure 1985 law known as the byrd rule. This means these provisions cannot pass the Senate Without a full 60 votes. Republicans currently hold on 52 seats in the senate. President trump is continuing to demand republicans pass a plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care act, despite the fact that Senate Republicans have now failed to pass multiple versions of the bill because of dissent within their own party. Last night trump tweeted if republicans dont repeal and replace the disastrous obamacare, the repercussions will be far greater than any of them understand in afghanistan, a taliban suicide bomb attack has killed at least 35 people in the capital kabul. The majority of the victims were government workers with the Afghan Ministry of mines and petroleum. A taliban spokesman said the target of the attack were members of the Afghan Intelligence agency. In poland, the president says he will veto controversial judicial reforms after days of massive protests against the proposals, which opponents said would have ended the separation of powers between the executive and the judiciary. The proposed measures would have allowed the polish parliament to appoint Supreme Court judges. The European Union had threatened to bring sanctions over the measures. In germany, thousands of people marched saturday in berlin for the christopher street day parade for lgbt rights. The annual march commemorates the 1969 stonewall riot in new york city, when transgender people of color fought back against a police raid of manhattans stonewall inn, launching the modern gay and lesbian rights movement. Back in the United States in minneapolis, police chief Janee Harteau has resigned amid growing protests over the Police Killing of the unarmed australian woman Justine Ruszczyk. Many residents are now calling for the resignation of the mayor, betsy hodges, saying the killing of ruszczyk, which came after she called 911 twice to report a possible Sexual Assault near her home, shows an institutional problem with the citys police. This is one of the protesters. Her job, but we understand it is beyond the chief. The problem is the institution. If it was not institutional, then those cameras those body cameras would have been on the police the other day. Amy Justine Ruszczyk was shot dead by Police Officer mohamed noor, who was responding to her emergency calls as ruszczyk approached his Police Cruiser in her pajamas. Noor was sitting in the passenger side. He shot across his partner who was in the drivers seat, and shot justine through the abdomen throughgh her abdomen the window. Well go to minneapolis for more on the growing protests after headlines. In tennessee, a judge is under fire after it was revealed he was offering to shorten prison sentences for people who agreed to get sterilized. In may, judge Sam Benningfield issued an order saying that any prisoners who agreed to undergo a vasectomy or receive longterm contraceptive implants would receive 30 days of credit off their sentences. The aclu says the practice is unconstitutional, saying such a choice violates the fundamental constitutional right to reproductive autonomy and bodily integrity by interfering with the intimate decision of whether and when to have a child, imposing an intrusive medical procedure on individuals who are not in a position to reject it. And in connecticut, an undocumented mother has taken sanctuary in a Pentecostal Church in new haven in order to avoid deportation to guatemala. Nury chavarria is the mother of four children who has been in the United States for 24 years. She has been attending regular checkins with the immigrations and Customs Enforcement agency since 2011. But at her most recent checkin this spring, she was ordered to leave the country by this is july 20. Nury chavarria and her daughter, hayley, speaking at a press conference outside the church thursday. My mother is someone i love more than anyone in the world. She is not a criminal. I was in shock. I tell him, im not a criminal. I am a mother. I have four children. Amy and those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Juan and im juan gonzalez. Welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. We begin today in minneapolis, where fallout continues following the Fatal Police Shooting of an unarmed australian woman. Transcripts reveal 40yearold resident Justine Ruszczyk called 911 twice to report a possible Sexual Assault outside her home a week ago before she was shot dead by an officer responding to the emergency calls. The citys Beleaguered Police chief, Janee Harteau, resigned friday at the request of the mayor amid growing calls by activists. This is minneapolis mayor betsy hodges. As far as we have come, chief harteau is not in a position to lead us further. From the many conversations ive had with people around our city, especially this week, i know that some in minneapolis have lost confidence in police leadership. For us to continue to transform policing and Community Trust in policing, both the chief and i concluded we need new leadership at mpd. In conversation with the chief today, she and i agreed she would step aside to make way for new leadership. I asked the chief for her resignation. She tendered it and i have accepted it. Juan according to the Minnesota Department of public safety, officer mohamed noor was startled by a loud sound shortly before ruszczyk approached his Police Cruiser. Noor, who was seated in the passenger seat, shot ruszczyk through the open driversside window of the vehicle. Noor has apologized to the family of Justine Ruszczyk, who often went by her fiances last name, damond. Noor has declined to speak with investigators and has hired an attorney. Amy the killing came just weeks after a suburban twin cities officer, jeronimo yanez, was acquitted on manslaughter charges for shooting africanamerican motorist Philando Castile in 2016. During the mayors announcement, antipolice violence activists stormed the News Conference demanding hodges also step down. They said her leadership was ineffective and that the Minneapolis Police department had terrorized them enough. We dont want you as our mayor of minneapolis anymore. We ask we dont want you to appoint anybody anymore. Your leadership has been very ineffective. If you dont remove yourself, were going to put somebody in place to remove you. We do not want you as the mayor ever again. Your Police Department has terrorized us enough. The former chief was not doing her job, but we understand it is beyond the chief. The problem is institutional. If it was not institutional, then those cameras those body cameras would have been on the police the other day. Amy officer noor and his partner have been placed on administrative leave while the shooting is investigated. Noor is the first somaliamerican officer in his precinct. For more, we are joined by two guests. Samantha preestinson is an organizer with the twin Cities Movement to end Police Killing and police brutality, and a Green Party Candidate for city council in minneapolis. Phil stinson, no relation, is a criminologist and associate professor at criminal Justice Program at Bowling Green state university. We welcome you both to democracy now samantha preestinson, can you start off by explaining when this happened and what you understand took place . Story, very surprising as this woman thinks she is hearing a rate outside, calls the police, waits another kumble of minutes, calls again. When they come come it is like 1 00 in the morning. She comes out in her pajamas to speak to the police. She comes to the driversside Police Cruiser. She is immediately shot in the abdomen by Mohammed Noor, the Police Officer in the passenger sheet shooting across and in front of his police partner. This is apparently what has been said because they had video cameras on them, each officer, but they did not turn it on. Can you talk take it from there and what is been the response and why we dont know more . For one thing, we dont know more because there is no visual evidence. As you stated, the officer has chosen not to speak and to execute his constitutional right not to. The bca, who is investigating it, cannot force him to speak. The officer who was in the drivers seat spoke very little about what he knew. But what we have within just the last couple of days, what we have come to know is some residents have come forward that did see something. What they saw we still dont know. In addition to that, the report of the tournament on the bicycle who was reported to have been in the alley at the time of the incident also has come forward. We have also learned a citizen did record some video. But those details outside of that, other details, have not developed at this point. I do find it very interesting this bead of the information that has come out, which we have never seen anything like this before in minneapolis with previous cases to include plaintiff has the, and now all of a sudden now that there is video that has surfaced and witnesses that have stepped forward, we have stopped hearing anything. It is very interesting and telling, and it has residents very heightened. A Historic Movement has started here, boots on the ground, in minneapolis as a result, starting from the verdict of Philando Castile moving forward to what we have seen with justine damond. Samantha, i want to ask you, in terms of the protests that have developed, some claiming initially that the black lives matter move it would not get involved in this particular case since it was the death of a white woman at the hands of a Police Officer, but that has proven to be false. Can you talk about that as well . Yes, that is correct. Citiesives matter twin has been involved. The reason why is this. The reason why the black lives Matter Organization started to begin with was because we know that black lives are not treated we know they matter, but they are not treated as if they are. We have factual evidence to prove where that has been happening time and time again where black lives have been treated as secondary. But that is just the reason for why the group formed. Their overall reason for existing as far as the work that they do pertains to police and justice as far as killings and brutality overall, regardless of the identity of the victims. It made perfect sense for us to that they would get involved and that they did show up. So that wasnt surprising to me. The other thing is, we have had an issue with reporting locally, which does feed in nationally as well. Because with this movement, there are rallies that happened before the actual marches occur. At these rallies, there are local speakers, some are faithbase, some are candidatesd that come together to bring the Community Together so that everyone can have a chance to speak and share their boys and bring us together share their voice and bring us together so we can heal as a community. That is before we start these protests or marches. That is usually never covered. The case of the recent one that occurred over this last friday, when we got to city hall marching from the park to city hall, we found the doors were lock. That is unacceptable. It is a public building paid for by the taxpayers. So for the mayor to lock the public out of a public conference was unacceptable. It was completely unacceptable, but we were able to strategically put our minds together and we were able to get into city hall and then you saw what happened as a result where the demands were placed upon the mayor that not only was the symbolic resignation of the chief not enough, but we expect for her to go as well in november when we have our election. A nickel i want to turn to the tatement by Minnesota State representative ilhan omar, who is the countrys first somaliamerican muslim legislator. The state representative omar writes the idealist in me continues to be surprised, but i know this incident is another result of Excessive Force and violencebased training for supposed peace officers. Changing the body camera policy wont solve the inherent problem. The current officer Training Program indoctrinates individuals of all races into a system that teaches them to act first, think later, and justify with fear. Its time we explore Solutions Beyond improved training and cameras to capture evidence. We need to look at a complete shift in the culture of the Police Department, away from the use of lethal force and deadly weapons. That is the commentary of the Minnesota State representative ilhan omar. I want to go back to our guest samantha preestinson to ask your response to what she said. Absolutely. What people need to remember, they need to go back in history and realize it is Law Enforcement. They were never meant to be peacekeepers. If you go back to the beginning of when lawenforcement started, their purpose was to keep the slaves on the plantation. They were meant to control and keep people in line. Rank and file, just like we see today with our Minneapolis Police department. That has not changed. This is a militarized culture. I am a veteran. It is similar to what happens in basic training. You are part of a collective in a group and you act the same, think the same, because the unit. If anybody does their own thing, there are repercussions for that. Our Police Department is similar in that mindset and that is the culture of policing. Simply changing the culture of policing is not one to be good enough because the existence and the reason for why we have Law Enforcement, again, is to keep people in line and to control people and to enforce the law. What the problem with that is there is zero accountability. And even within the law that the way it is written, the beginning sounds just fine to make you believe there is some accountability. However, they have included the word fear. Fear is something that a body cam cannot detect. It is very hard to prove regardless of what you see on a camera that an officer did not feel fear. We have to start with changing the law. We have to change the entire way that we look at what our community needs. Do we need Law Enforcement in the way that it has been driven into our heads to believe we need . The answer is no. All answers need to be on the table. We need to have all voices at the table in this. This is not about being left or right, but moving forward. We need to have all solutions at the table. They should all be valid and relevant and be looked into further as far as how they can be applied to our communities to best serve our residents and keep us say thank you to our communities healthy and thriving. Juan samantha preestinson, i want to ask about mayor hodges. She was elected four years ago at the head of a liberal progressive coalition. There were a lot of folks. And then she came under increasing attack from the police union as well. After the Philando Castile for a justicesked department investigation. What has gone wrong with betsy hodges as you mention, shes up for reelection in november. There has been a lot of scrutiny of betsy or major hodges and people believing this is an issue of her being a woman. Gender. Youre either a good leader or a bad leader. You are a leader who is moving forward or a leader who is an aft. We have seen multiple examples of ineptitude, not only with mayor hodges, but within city council as a whole. There is a lack of accountability. The fact they dont listen to the community. The issue that happened at the fourth precinct was a result of communities coming together, different organizations, residents coming together to have their voices amplified, to bring up things that they know as an residents, as being people of color, people who are oppressed. That lack of just listening that is all that needed to be done was to listen and bring those voices to the table. But instead, it was escalated, really, for no reason. Occurred. Stigation the report has been back for seven months. We have seen little to no Movement Since the doj report came out to address what they found was going well and what wasnt going so well. What was discovered is that one of the main issues is that we have a communication breakdown. What people need to realize about minneapolis, we have three separate unit of police that answer to different authorities. We have our Metro Transit Police so. Answer to the met town the council is appointed by governor dayton. We have our Minneapolis Police department who essentially answers to city leadership, the mayor and the council. Then you have the parks police, which is a separate entity. They operate under the parks board, to a certain extent, which is a separate entity that of elected officials that do not answer to city leadership. You have three separate that does that even count the sheriff of hennepin county. You have three separate authorities that are not communicating. There is no intergovernmental to medication. We have not seen any prioritization as far as what was seen in the doj report and listening to our communities, those of color and those in general, our residents and our communities. As a result, you see exactly what has happened. There is been more than enough opportunities for us to step up to the plate and acknowledge the fact minneapolis is the third worst metro and the station for people of color. And nobody wants to own that metric, prioritize it into the work we need to do to this city. In speaking about progressiveness, the favorite people doalking about better when we all do better. Well, if that is the case, then we should definitely be prioritizing this diversity metric of being the third worst metro because if that is true, when we recognize this is as a true fact were the third worst metro and we prioritize it to change these days for our city and invest in every corner of our city and not just the affluent ones, we will all be doing inherently better. We have to stop with his symbolic changes. We have to start not trimming the leaves off the plants, begin to the root of it. We have to rip it out. We have to put in new seats and cultivated. That starts with listening and our communities and setting real priorities about the race issues we have in the city and the double standards such as we see with noor. Amy samantha preestinson, thank you for being with us, organizer with the twin Cities Movement to end Police Killing and police brutality, and a Green Party Candidate for city council in minneapolis. ,e are joined by phil stinson criminologist and associate professor at criminal Justice Program at Bowling Green state university. Professor, thank you for joining us. You are a former cop. When you heard the description of what took place in annapolis, Mohammed Noor i might have said he was the first and only american Police Officer in the country, but i believe it is in precinct and minneapolis shooting across his partner through the window after hearing this is what we hear because the story has not come fully out a loud sound. Your thought . I think we have to be careful. We dont know all the facts yet. We have to be careful with conjecture and speculation. But what we have heard is the officer shot across his partner, apparently, they had heard a loud noise and there is some speculation they thought they were going to be ambushed in the alleyway. This raises a lot of vegans. I have questions even before we get to the officers arriving on these aint. I dont know why the 911 call taker did not keep the witness on the phone until the officers arrived so they could gather more information about what was going on. They could tell them when to go outside and meet the officers or not to go outside to meet the officers. Why did it take 14 minutes for Police Officers to arrive . It is bizarre that an officer would have in an holstered weapon sitting in the front of a police car and this ridiculous it is ridiculous the officer shot across his partner. Many questions. One of the things im concerned with is it possibly was an accidental shooting . We dont know that yet. Juan this issue the officer who fired his weapon, not making any statements, and his partner making a limited statement that we have really no clear knowledge of exactly what he said. What are the rules and regulations and what are the legal rights of officers in these cases . If i were the officers attorney, i would devise them not to give a statement, especially in the immediate aftermath of a shooting. They still have Constitutional Rights as Police Officers. There is a u. S. Supreme court from the 1960s that every Police Officer in the countrys friendlier with. If an officer is required to make a statement after a shooting or anything to do with their job, it cannot be used against them criminally if they are required to make a statement. It isannot be forced that unusual, in my mind, the officers have not given statement at this time. It is unfortunate. We have seen a number of these cases, frankly, more than just a few, where the narratives that the officers give either in written reports or verbally if they tell what happens, is inconsistent with the Video Evidence. It is concerning we dont have, apparently, Video Evidence in this instance to tell us exactly what happened. Amy this is interesting. A local tv station did a study and they found a minneapolis where it is that automatic video camera goes on but the police have to initiate it themselves. That the average amount of time these video cameras are on is Something Like five hours a month. How unusual is this, phil stinson . I dont think it is unusual at all at this time. There are several things to keep in mind. The technology is still fairly new. The Police Officers are wearing body worn cameras in this country. Bestly, there are not practices promulgated by the justice department. Police departments across the country are left to their own devices to figure out what the policies should be. We have to consider a lot of the digital issues as well. A cost money to maintain the recordings. How are we going to be in to keep all the recordings from all the video footage . How long will we be able to do that . I think there is a flawed policy and practice where you have officers who can decide when the iferas should be turned on they think theres going to be some sort of problem situation. At that point, they have waited too long. There are new cameras coming out of the market where the on off switch is controlled by a onervisor, not the officers the street. In my view, officers on the street should have the body cameras rolling at all times. If they have dashcams, they should be recording on a loop as well. Is inexcusable they have on body cameras and they were not turned on. Juan phil stinson, you have been developing a database on Police Shootings nationwide. Can you talk about that database and what your preliminary findings are and how big of a problem is Police Shootings in this country, say, compared to other nations . Well, one of the problems is we simply dont have good data going back to many years. The best estimate i can give you is over the last several years, onduty Police Officers shoot and kill someone between 900 1000 times each year. So today three times a day in this country someone is shot and killed. That is not even including the nonfatal shootings. I have been tracking officers who were charged with murder or manslaughter since the beginning of 2005. Tothat timeframe have been chard with murder or manslaughter resulting from an onduty shooting. Of those 80 officers, only 30 have actually been convicted of a crime. One thing that is interesting that i just had related recently, and those 30 cases where an officer was convicted, having been charged with murder or manslaughter, some times they are convicted of a lesser event such as official misconduct of that sort. But in those 30 cases, non 15 had a victim that were africanamerican. We dont have a lot of data. These cases are outliers and we need a lot more data points, lot more years of data. I can say we do have a problem in this country. Far too many people are shot by Police Officers. Police officers are too quick to draw their weapons. It is not getting any better. Amy we want to thank you, phil stinson, for joining us, criminologist and associate professor at criminal Justice Program at Bowling Green state university. When we come back, we go to yemen. A catastrophic situation with an outbreak of cholera after the constant bombing of this country for two years, of yemen. Back in a minute. [music break] amy this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. Juan an absolute shame on humanity. Thats how the International Aid organization care is describing the deepening humanitarian crisis in yemen. The number of cholera cases in that country has now topped 368,000 with 1828 deaths. The World Health Organization, estimates some 5000 yemenis are falling sick each day and oxfam projects the number of suspected cases of cholera could rise to more than 600,000, making the epidemic the largest ever recorded in any country in a single year since records began. Aid groups are warning the risk of disease spreading will increase with yemens monsoon season as the ongoing u. S. Backed saudiled Bombing Campaign has devastated the countrys health, water, and sanitation systems. This is a spokesperson for the World Health Organization speaking on friday. Yemens cholera outbreak is far from being controlled. The rainy season has just started. It may increase the path of transmission. Sustained efforts are record the stop the spread of this disease. Amy the cholera epidemic comes amid a looming famine with the United Nations warning 19 million of yemens 28 Million People are in need of some form of aid. This is the u. N. Emergency relief coordinator Stephen Obrien speaking on wednesday. 7 Million People, including 2. 3 million malnourished children of whom 500,000 are severely or militarist under the age of five, are on the cusp of famine. Vulnerable to disease, at risk of a slow and painful death. Juan on wednesday, the United Nations demanded media access to report on the humanitarian crisis in yemen after the Saudiled Coalition blocked three foreign journalists from traveling on a u. N. Aid flight to the capital sanaa. This is u. N. Spokesperson fahran haq. We do want not just to be able to bring in aid, which is, of course, a crucial aspect of the work we do, but we also want the world to know what is going on. And so steps like this do not help because, again, this has been a large manmade humanitarian problem. The world needs to know and journalists need to have access. As our colleagues have said, this partially explains why yemen is not getting enough attention in international media. The lack of coverage is hindering humanitarian workers efforts to draw the attention of the International Community and donors to the manmade catastrophe that the country is experiencing. Amy for more, we go directly to sanaa, yemen, where were joined by Shabia Mantoo. She is the spokesperson for the United Nations high commissioner for refugees, or unhcr, in yemen joining us from london, oxfams regional manager for middle east in yemen. We welcome you both. Lets start in yemens capital. Lets start in sanaa. Shabia mantoo, how that is the catastrophe right now . That is exactly it. It is catastrophic. Yemen is entering its third year of conflict. We see humanitarian needs are escalating every single day. Every single day, the situation on the ground gets worse. We are contending to see and hear reports of civilian casualties. We have an unprecedented outbreak of cholera. The country is also on the brink of famine. We are millions of people displaced from their homes trying to seek safety. The situation is abysmal on the ground. We as humanitarians are truly overwhelmed in trying to respond the best we can. Juan what has been the response of the western nations as well as of the arab countries of the region to this deepening catastrophe . We have been saying yemen is a forgotten crisis. At present, it is the largest you manager in crisis in the world based on the amount of people in need. There are about 20 million yemenis who require humanitarian assistance in the country. Across the world, it receives very little attention in comparison. We have been calling for more support to urgently address humanitarian needs in yemen. At the same time, calling for more attention on the crisis. More attention on the human suffering and the people bearing the brunt of the conflict, which are civilians. Yemen,ent, if we look at it is less than 35 funded. We do require urgent support. Half a year is gone and we have many more humanitarian needs arising. Amy can you talk about the effects of u. S. Backed saudi Bombing Campaign against yemen . As a humanitarian organization, we are ensuring there is peace in yemen as long as military action continues between the parties, were going to seek humanitarian needs arise. We have been advocating for peace. We need more recent more support. We do need a peaceful solution. There needs to be an end to the war. There needs to be the Peace Process needs to be forward. Has had to pull back on its plans for a cholera Vaccination Program because of dangers toof the medical workers in the region. Could you talk about that . To be honest, i mean, those decisions are made by each of the parties responsible for leading that response. We are concerned primarily with the placement displacement and those displaced. Amy lets bring in suspected cases of cholera could rise to more than 600,000 . It would make the epidemic the largest ever recorded in any country in a single year since records began . That is correct. The latest number i saw today was 390,000 cases just since the 27th of april. So in less than three months, 390 thousands is acted cholera suspected cholera cases. We know the rainy season is coming up. The rainy season is basically july to september. With the rain, we suspect the caseload will continue to rise. Theave seen some indication deaths are slowing down and were happy for that, but we think the worst might not be over. We dont know. We have to prepare for the worst in every possible way. When you are massive effort to respond to these cases. Is itast week, it was about 5000 new suspected cholera cases every day. Aid effort toive stop the cholera crisis in yemen and we also need a massive eight effort to respond to the wider crisis and seven people are on the brink of famine. 50 Million People have no access to clean Drinking Water or sufficient sanitation and hygiene facilities. Ceasefirewe need a to be able to travel and access the whole country safely. We need a ceasefire in yemen. Month on capitol hill, the senate voted 53 to to 47 approve the sale of 500 million in precisionguided munitions to saudi arabia. A surprising number of senators voted against the deal. The vote came just weeks after trump traveled to saudi arabia, his first foreign trip abroad as president. During the trip, he signed an arms deals totaling 110 billion. This is President Trump speaking in saudi arabia. Pres. Trump every country in the region has an absolute duty to ensure that terrorists find no sanctuary on their soil. Many are already making significant contributions to regional security. Jordanian pilot are crucial partners against isis in syria and iraq. Saudi arabia and a Regional Coalition have taken strong action against houthi militants in yemen. Kjetil ostnor, what about these new arms deals . Endhave been calling for an saudis. Deals with the to be honest, we think it is shameful both the u. K. Government and the u. S. Government are selling arms to the saudi led coalition, arms that are used in yemen. On several occasions, we have called for the suspension of arms sales. We call on the international committee, u. S. , u. K. , and other arms brokers, to become peace brokers instead of arms brokers. That is what is needed. We dont need more weaponry. Bonds will only fuel the will only fuelbs the conflict. Partners need to come to the table to find a peaceful solution, not to sell more bombs. Amy we want to thank you both for being with us. Kjetil ostnor speaking to us from london and Shabia Mantoo from the spokesperson for the United Nations high commissioner for refugees, or unhcr, in yemen back, we will be talking about a ran. Stay with us. [music break] amy this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. The state department has announced new sanctions against iran over allegedly supporting terrorism and the countrys Ballistic Missile program. The move will blacklist 18 people accused of having ties to irans military, freezing any of their u. S. Assets. The new u. S. Sanctions came just after the Trump Administration begrudgingly certified that iran has complied with its obligations under the obamabrokered nuclear agreement. According to the magazine foreignpolicy, trump has instructed a group of his trusted white house staffers to make the potential case for withholding certification of iran at the next 90 day review of the nuclear deal. Amy the move was made after President Trump reportedly had a contentious meeting with rex tillerson, who recertified irans compliance with the nuear deal. As aresidential candidate, donald trumpromid to rip up the iran nuclear deal, calling it the worst youll ever. For more, were joined by ervand abrahamian, a retired professor of history at baruch college, City University of new york. He is the author of several books, including the coup 1953, the cia, and the roots of modern u. S. Iran relations. We welcome you to democracy now start off by responding to what just happened last week. Trump certified in the deal and saying he is increasing sanctions, now looking how to sanction iran more. To borrow his own word am it is sad. It is an incoherent policy. The idea before he was going to tear up the whole agreement, and has discovered it is far more complicated than that. It is an agreement between iran and not just the u. S. , but the Major Economies of the world. If the u. S. Once to pull out wants to pull out or at sanctions, what iran will do is go ahead with its own policy of trying to improve relations with europe. It are ready has good relations with china and russia. The net result i think will be the loss for revenues for the United States corporations because once iran begins to produce a lot of income from gas, it will sign contracts with the europeans, the chinese, russians, and the u. S. Corporations are going to be left out in the cold. Juan and the significance of several members of his own administration pushing back on the president , on his Campaign Promises with iran . On both sides. I would guess from the extreme right, he would tear up the whole agreement. That is not going to work. Now he is in there. He knows the agreement is actually a very good agreement for the United States as well as for iran. But there are others who are arguing i think that it would be better to have good relations or at least normal relations because there would be an opening for u. S. Businesses there. Amy what do you make of, again, we dont have original sources on this, but this conflict between rex tillerson, former ceo of exxonmobil who is the secretary of state and as had many deals with a ran over the years as the ceo, versus trump . Im sure he sees it from exxons point of view that if exxon is not in the running, there are other Companies Total has a resign a major agreement. If not total, the Chinese Company or shell. It is a question of diehard business interests, versus some sort of incoherent ideology. Juan oil has always been at the center of western policy toward iran. You have written about some recently released documents that date back to the 1953 coup of organized by the cia against the democratically elected leader of iran. Alsoou talk about that and why it is taken so long for these latest documents to be released . As you say, it is so long ago. Actually, according to rules theres a 30 year rule, so documents can be released. It has taken three decades of beyond that before the state Department Released these. It is like pulling teeth out. The reason when you look at it, well, there are two reasons. One is what the documents show is actually the importance of oil in the coup. The conventional wisdom is the cold war scare, communism. But here you see when eisenhower intervenes in the discussion, it is about question of Oil Contracts and someone and how nationalization would disrupt the whole International Framework and would be a threat to u. S. Interests Oil Interests elsewhere. That another reason i think they have been so reluctant to publish these documents is that it shows how involved the u. S. Internally in iranian affairs. Ambassador acts like a viceroy involved in many different internal he often says, oh, it is not my business to be involved in internally, then he goes ahead and impact does get involved. This downing discovery oh surprised is how the cia was involved in the elections that were held in 1952. What their strategy was to undermine through parliament. A lot of money went into basically getting what the cia thought would be there favorable candidate elected. In this we did not know before. When they see talk about, well, we need to get rid of mohammad mosaddegh, they have 18 candidates the u. S. Discusses who is suitable. Amy when he talked about what wasnt known and what was coming your has her, but most people dont even know what was known with the deep u. S. Cia involvement with allen dulles, the brother of john foster dulles. And then there is eisenhower and others who engineered this crew using Teddy Roosevelts grandson as the bad guy, the guy who comes with bags of money and actually overthrows mohammad mosaddegh, the democratically elected leader. Even there, the conventional wisdom was you had the treatment a administration and then when eisenhower came, the machinery for the coup, and it was the Eisenhower Administration what these documents show, which is astounding, before eisenhower , under the truman administration, there was a deep state. Deep state and the cia from 1951, long before the eisenhower. So they were pushing for real action in iran before eisenhower came in. They were working closely with the british before the Eisenhower Administration. Amy and they try to get coming roosevelt to do the same thing in 1954 in guatemala. He refused, but they did it anyway and overthrew the democratically elected leadership. I think its important for people to understand u. S. History. The New York Times naming the socalled dark prince to run the iran operations. Saying your thoughts when you heard this and the Trump Administration of revealing his name . I dont know the politics of that. Theyre very confused about what to do with iran. This is a reflection of that. Juan im wondering, and the documents, you can across the name donald wilhelm, cia guy who would you ran after the overthrow of mohammad mosaddegh, who was mayor bill de blasios uncle. It would be interesting to i dont think a review much political discussions between this part of the family and that part. The cia and academic. Amy we will leave it there. Ervand abrahamian, thank you for being with us retired professor , of history at baruch college, City University of new york. Democracy now is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. Email your comments to outreach democracynow. Org or mail them to democracy now p. O. Box 693 new today on americas test kitchen, julia and bridget reveal a classic recipe for paella on the grill. Adam reviews paella pans with bridget. And dan makes julia an authentic spanish version of patatas bravas. Its all coming up right here on americas test kitchen. Is brought to you by the following. Fisher paykel. Since 1934, Fisher Paykel has been designing a wide range of kitchen appliances,