Amy as a humanitarian catastrophe in syria deepens, aid workers describe scenes of chaos and devastation, with families scrambling for shelter as temperatures fall below freezing and children freeze to death. We will get an update on idlib executive benoioit, director of Doctors Without Borders. We will also talk about coronavirus and talk about their new report called no way out on how immigration policies imposed by the u. S. And mexico trapped thousands of Central American migrants in dangerous conditions. A very difficult life of violence. Mistrtreated and forced to sell drugs. Have very bad memories because i already have two dead brothers for the same reason, because they did not want to be involved in that positive amy that to the Dominican Republic or thousands took to the streets thursday to protest the abrupt suspension of local elections. We want to know what happened. We what answers. Young people are 40 of voters this year and we deserve justice as we have demanded in recent days. Amy and we look at the fight to save a new Jersey Elementary School from the Health Care Industry and gentrification. All that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. California governor gavin newsom said thursday that 33 people in california have tested positive for coronavirus and that officials are monitoring 8400 other people for possible exposure. Newsoms warning came after Health Officials in Northern California identified the first u. S. Case of coronavirus found in a person who had not traveled or had no contact with anyone else that had coronavirus, raising fears the virus is spreading among the general public for the first time in the u. S. We knew this was never double as it relates to the nature of the nature of these viruses that this i incident woululd occur. Amy the warning came as a whistleblower complainined the department of health and Human Services senent more than n a dn workers toto receive the f fir americans evacuated from wuhan, china, w without pror r training for r infection cocontrol or appropriate protective gear. Those workers reportedly were not tested foror the virus. Acroross the u. S. , officials are reporting a severe shortage of test kits for the virus. New york o Officials Say theyre preparing their own kits after kits distributed by the centers for Disease Control failed validation tests. Meanwhile, new cases of coronavirus continue to spring up worldwide, with nigeria reporting its first case and one of irans Vice President s testing positive. At the vatican, pope francis canceled a planned mass aftetere became ill from an unknown ailment, raising jitters in italaly where 1717 people haveid of coronavirus. Fears over the virus have hammered stock markets worldwide, with the Dow Jones Industrial average dropping nearly 1200 points thursday the e single largest poioint drn its history. In syria, 33 turkish soldiers were killed thursday in an airstrike by russianbacked Syrian Forces in rebelheld Idlib Province in a major escalation in the allout offensive by bashar alassads regime. Turkey vowed to respond in kind, u. N. Secretarygeneral Antonio Guterres called for an immediate ceasefire. Saint the risk of even greater escacalation g grows by the hou fighting in idlib b has displayd some 900,000 people since december. Many children have frozen to death. This is the executive director henrietta forere who testified ththursday to the u. N. Security council. Tens of thousands are now living in makekeshift tents and public buildings openair, huddled under trees, exposeded o rain and snow in subzero cold of the harsh syrian winter. The recent strikes on these makeshift camps in idlib and on the children and teachers horrifically killed just two days ago as 10 schools were attacked are both reprehensible and morally repugnant. Also these acts clclearly demonstrate the terrifying daily conditions of those living through this nightmare. Amy we will have more on the humanitarianan catastrophe in syria after headlines. We will speak with the head of Doctors Without Borders usa. Immigrant Rights Groups are expressing outrage after the Trump Administration said wednesday its creating a task force to strip the citizenship of naturalized americans who were born abroad. Critics say the justice departments socalled denaturalization section is likely unconstitutional. The immigrant rights group chirla said in response trump is weaponizing the doj to make naturalized immigrants look like secondclass citizens. Former Vice President joe biden is continuing to Campaign Today across South Carolina ahead of saturdays president ial primary. This week, biden picked up an endorsement from Democratic House whip jim clyburn, South Carolinas most prominent African American lawmaker. Clyburns endorsement came as bidens campaign admitted that thensenator biden was not arrested in south africa during a congressional delegation trip in the 1970s as biden falsely claimed from the campaign trail at least three times this month. Biden first made the claim in 2013, saying he had the great honor of being arrested with our u. N. Ambassador on the streets of soweto as they tried to reach mandela in his prison on robben island. Robben island is over 750 miles from the township of soweto. Bidens campaign now says he was separated from his black colleagues at the airport in johannesburg. Meanwhile, frontrunner Bernie Sanders held a massive rally thursday morning in spartanburg, South Carolina, where he called his campaign a movement that cannot be stopped. It is a movement for economic justice, forsocial racial justice, for environmental justice. And when millions of people stand up and fight back, nothing on earth can stop us. Amy senator sanders went on to a rally at Winstonsalem State University in north carolina, where he led a march of hundreds of students to an early voting site. Later thursday, thousands of sanders supporters packed a rally in richmond, virginia another super tuesday state. Sanders surging popularity comes as the New York Times interviewed dozens of democratic establishment leaders who will serve as superdelegates at the partys nominating convention in july and found the vast majority are so opposed to Bernie Sanders candidacy, theyre willing to risk damage to the democratic party. Of 93 superdelegates surveyed by the times, nearly all said they would vote against sanders in a brokered convention if sanders were to arrive with a plurality, and not a majority, of pledged delegates. Many of the superdelegates are corporate lobbyists with Health Care Clients opposing sanders medicare for all legislation. The intercepts lee fang reports one of them, Democratic NationalCommittee Member william owen, donated exclusively to Republican Senate candidates during the last election cycle, including a 8500 contribution to a joint Fundraising Committee designed to benefit Senate Majority leader mitch mcconnell. Owen is backing former Vice President joe biden for the democratic nomination in 2020. Billionaire president ial hopeful and former new york city mayor Michael Bloomberg refused to apologize thursday for his oversight of a secret nypd Intelligence Program that targeted muslim communities. For years, the nypds socalled demographics unit secretly infiltrated Muslim Student groups, sent informants into mosques, eavesdropped on conversations in restaurants, barber shops and gyms, and built a vast database of information. The program was established with help from the cia, even though the agency is barred from domestic spying. The former head of the nypds Intelligence Division testified in 2012 that the Muslim Surveillance Program failed to yield a single criminal lead. This is mayor bloomberg speaking to Judy Woodruff of pbs newshour. Youre talking about right after 9 11 when everybodydy was pepetrified about another terrorist attack. We were super careful to always obey the law. Number one, it was t the right thing to do. Number two, you knew people would be looking at it. We sent them officers into some mosque to listen to the sermon the imam gave. The courts ruled it was within the law, and that is the kind of thing we should be doing. Amy Arab American Institute executive director maya berry wrote in response as mayor, Michael Bloomberg surveilled where american muslims ate, socialized, gathered, prayed and studied. The nypd literally mapped our communities across three states, causing systemic selfcensoring, distrust of any interaction with the government, and untold harm to our communities, maya berry wrote. Meanwhile, a newly resurfaced audio tape from 2009 captured thenmayor bloomberg comparing Social Security to the Investment Company of wall street fraudster bernie madoff. Social security. It is a ponzi scheme. I dont know if bernie made got his idea from that. Social security. Amy thenmayor bloomberg made the comment in 2009 on his Radio Program live from city hall, where he repeatedly called for cuts to Social Security, medicare, and medicaid. Meanwhile, propublica reports Michael Bloomberg met in 2017 with mortimer sackler, son of a cofounder of oxycontin producer purdue pharma, to discuss ways the billionaire Sackler Family could combat growing outrage over the companys role in the opioid crisis. Blbloomberg reportedly steered e family to a Crisis Communications specialist who had been his mayoral press secretary. In georgia, newly surfaced emails show thensecretary of state brian kemp mocked reports of Voter Suppression during the 2018 gubernatorial race. Kemp is a republican who went on to narrowly win the election over Stacey Abrams for governor, who was vying to become the first black woman governor in the United States. The race was marred by widespread allegations of Voter Suppression carried out by kemp. In one email, kemp used a laughingfromcrying emoji to reply to a press release by a lawmaker who warned georgia had canceled a halfmillion voter registrations in a purge that systematically targeted democrats. In another email, kemp praised Campaign Officials for blunting an article on Voter Suppression in the atlanta journalconstitution, writing good work, this story is so complex folks will not make it all the way through it. The veterans administrations Inspector General is probing allegations that v. A. Secretary Robert Wilkie sought damaging information to smear the reputation of a Senior Veteran Affairs policy advisor after she reported she was sexually assaulted at a v. A. Hospital in washington, d. C. Andrea goldstein, a staff member of the Women Veterans task force of the house veterans committee, reported last september that a man slammed her below the waist and pressed his body against hers as she tried to buy a snack at the medical centers cafeteria. At the time of the alleged assault, goldstein had just come from capitol hill where she was working on a bill designed to curb Sexual Assault and harassment. In january, v. A. Secretary wilkie called the Sexual Assault claims unsubstantiated in a letter to goldsteins boss. Goldstein responded in an oped, writing on the website jezebel he used coded language, but the words still stung. The secretary of the second Largest Federal Agency knew how his words would resonate. He was implying that i was a liar. Meanwhile, a federal investigation has concluded the university of Southern California mishandled dozens of reports of Sexual Assault by Student Health center gynecologist george tyndall, which may have allowed the abuse to continue for decades. Dr. 400 survivors say tyndall raped or forcibly touched them and made racist and misogynistic comments while he sexually abused them. In colombibia, 51yearoold sol leader Cristobal Anaya gonzalez was found dead with a gunshot to the head on monday, four days after he disappeared in rural area in colombias santander region. Anaya gonzalez was cofounder of an organization that serves victims of antipersonnel landmines in eastern colombia. This week, the office of the u. N. High commissioner for human rights reported there were 108 murders of human rights defendnders in colombibia last , including g 15 women and two members of t the lgb commumunit. That was a n nearly 50 rise frm 2018. And so far this year, more thn 50 social leaders have been murdered. In costa rica, 45yearold land defender yehry rivera of the broran Indigenous Community was murdered monday by an armed mob after he joined a campaign by indigenous families to reoccupy their ancestral lands. It was the second murder of an indigenous land defender in the past year. Under a law passed in 1977, costa ricas 24 legally recognized indigenous groups are entitled to reclaim lands taken from their ancestors, but the law has never been implemented. In mexico, one of the men who participated in the murder of awardwinning journalist Javier Valdez was sentenced thursday to nearly 15 years in prison. Heriberto Picos Barraza served as a getaway driver for two other men who are charged with draggiging valdez fromom his cad shooting him 12 times. The murder in may 2017 came less than a block from the office of riodoce, the newspaper valdez cofounded in the mexican state of sinaloa. And in california, hundreds of unionizedght graduate student workers at the university of californiasanta barbara walked out of classes and onto picket lines thursday to demand a cola, or costofliving adjustment. The grad students, who work as teachers assistants, say theyre severely burdened by high rents and low wages. Meanwhile grad student workers at uc davis say theyll refuse to submit grades unless administrators agree to a monthly housing stipend to help offset skyrocketing rents in davis. 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 syria, where soldiers stationed there were killed in an airstrike by russianbacked Syrian Forces in rebelheld idlib on thursday. Its a major escalation in the allout offensive by bashar alassads regime and its russian allies that has displaced some 900,000 people from northwestern syria since december. Turkey, which has long back rebel forces in syria, has vowed to respond in kind as u. N. Secretarygeneral Antonio Guterres calls for an immediate ceasefire, saying, the risk of even greater escalation grows by the hour. Russian president Vladimir Putin and turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan reportedly spoke by phone on friday to discuss the crisis as nato urged rapid deescalation. This comes as turkey has temporarily opened its border for fleeing Syrian Refugees to cross through the country to europe. Amy of the nearly one Million People displaced from syria since december alone, at least half of them are children. Its the single largest didisplacement in a nineyear wr that has forced 13 million to flflee and left t hundreds off thousands s dead. As thehe humanitariaian catastre deepens,s, aid workers a are describibing scecenes of chaos d devastation on the ground, with hundreds of thousands of families scrambling for shelter as temperatures fall below freezing. Childr have frozozen