01/08/24 01/08/24 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> we are in a multi-front war and are coming under attack from several different bidders -- gaza, lebanon, area, west bank, iraq, yemen, and iran. we have responded to six of these theaters.

anyone who acts against us is a potential target. there is no immunity for anyone. amy: will war israel drive the u.s. into another war as antony blinken makes his fourth or fifth visit to saudi arabia and israel. we will speak with the quincy institute's trita parsi says biden refuses to pursue the most obvious way of easing the tension, a cease-fire. two more journalists were killed by an israeli strike sunday. among them was the eldest son of al jazeera's gaza bureau chief wael al-dahdouh who had already lost several family members in an israeli airstrike in october. >> how can someone receive the death of their oldest son and everything in my life after i lost some of my family members? my wife, son, and -- how can i

receive this? amy: then hundreds of boeing 737 max 9 jetliners have been grounded or canceled after a door blew off and left a gaping hole in alaska airlines airplane friday. we will speak with the head of the foundation for aviation safety, a former boeing senior manager who previously raised concerns to supervisor and with passing sage regulations after her daughter was killed along with 156 others when ethiopian airlines flight 302, a boeing 737 max, crashed in 2019. >> has created dangerous circumstances, has risked people's lives often in these

three years. you have just seen the most egregious example of that. the blow a lot in the plane could have killed people, but there are quite a few other circumstances reported by pilots that also could have killed people. and they happened monthly, at least. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. israel's bombardment of gaza has entered its fourth month as the united nations' top humanitarian official warns the relentless assault has left gaza uninhabitable. according to palestinian health officials, the death toll in gaza has topped 23,000, including almost 10,000 children. u.n. emergency relief chief martin griffiths said gaza has become a "place of death and

despair." he said gaza is on the verge of famine as it faces the "highest levels of food insecurity ever recorded." israel's war continues to take a devastating toll on palestinian journalists. by one count, 110 palestinians journalists have been killed so far. on sunday, an israeli air strike in southern gaza killed two journalists, mustafa thuraya and hamza al-dahdouh. hamza was the eldest son of al jazeera's gaza bureau chief wael al-dahdouh who had already lost his wife, daughter, another son, and a grandson in a israeli air strike in october. in december, he was injured himself in a drone strike that killed his cameraman. on sunday, wael al-dahdouh decried the israeli attacks on his family and the people of gaza. >> the world must see with their own eyes and not with israel's

eyes. it must listen, watch all that is happening to the palestinian people. what has i family done to them? what have civilians in gaza strip done to them? they have not done anything. the world is blinded by what is going on in gaza. amy: al jazeera journalist hind khoudary broke down crying on air as she talked about the death of her friend and colleague hamza al-dahdouh. >> hamza was a very beautiful man and journalist and friend and i don't want to cry but i am reporting this right now because if hamza was here, he would want this report, the reporters to continue reporting. i'm so proud of hamza and everything he did and during the more than 90 days and how he was very strong despite everything

he went through. we miss him and we are going to miss him. amy: al jazeera's hamza al-dahdouh was killed on the day antony blinken went to. meanwhile, the united nations reports there are just five doctors remaining at al-aqsa hospital, the largest hospital in central gaza which is coming under repeated attacks by israel. the world health organizations says 600 patients and health workers have been forced to evacuate the hospital. sean casey, the who medical team coordinator, spoke from inside the hospital. >> there are patients coming in every few minutes. the hospital director just spoke to us and sent his one request is this hospital be protected.

even though many of the staff have left, even though the hospital is under enormous pressure, the one request is the international community needs to make sure this hospital and others like it be protect it -- be protected. that they're able to keep functioning. that is the critical message today. amy: the israeli newspaper haaretz is reporting a group of family members of israelis who were killed in kibbutz be'eri on october 7 are demanding a probe into how their relatives died. an israeli brigadier general recently admitted that he ordered an israeli tank commander to fire on a home where hamas fighters were holding 15 israeli hostages. brigadier general barak hiram told "the new york times" that he had ordered the tank commander to "break in, even at the cost of civilian casualties." only two of the 15 israeli hostages survived. a suspected israeli strike in southern lebanon killed a senior commander in an elite unit of

hezbollah earlier today in a move that further escalate tension in the region. security sources told reuters israel struck a car carrying wissam al-tawil and another hezbollah fighter. last week, israel assassinated a hamas leader outside of beirut. u.s. secretary of state tony blinken is back in the middle east to meet with leaders across the region. during a stop in qatar, blinken warned the war in gaza could "easily metastasize into a regional war." while blinken is publicly calling for de-escalation, the biden administration continues to face criticism for sending more weapons to israel while carrying out its own attacks in iraq and syria as well as targeting houthi forces from yemen. on friday, the prime minister of iraq threatened to kick out u.s. troops after a u.s. drone strike in baghdad killed a leader of an iranian-backed militia. u.s. defense secretary lloyd

austin is facing growing questions about why he did not inform president biden or top pentagon officials after he was admitted into the intensive care unit of walter reed national military medical center. austin had been hospitalized monday but biden didn't find out until thursday. austin's top deputy also did not know, even though she had assumed some of his duties. the pentagon said austin was first hospitalized on december 22 for an elective surgery. after being discharged a day later, he was admitted again on new year's day after experiencing severe pain. he remains hospitalized. hundreds of boeing 737 max 9 flights have been canceled or grounded after a refrigerator-sized fuselage door plug blew off an alaska airlines plane near portland, oregon, on friday.

the incident, which occurred at 16,000 feet, forced the plane to make an emergency landing. the national transportation safety board has revealed alaska airlines had concerns about the plane prior to the incident but kept using it. during three recent flights, the plane's auto pressurization fail light had illuminated. in response, alaska airlines had restricted the plane from flying over water to increase the chances the pilots could "return very quickly to an airport." in 2019, all boeing 737 max 9 -- max 8 jets were grounded after 346 people died in crashes in ethiopia and indonesia. we will speak with the mother of one of those victims who died in the ethiopian crash, as well as a former boeing supervisor later

in the broadcast. in bangladesh, prime minister sheikh hasina has been elected to her fourth straight term in an election marred with controversy after bangladesh's main opposition party boycotted the elections. the opposition bangladesh nationalist party says as many as 20,000 of its members have been jailed in recent months in a nationwide crackdown. many are speculating whether she's trying to turn bangladesh into a one-party state. she is the daughter of the founding president of bangladesh. wayne lapierre, the longtime head of the national rifle association, has announced he is resigning ahead of opening arguments in a major corruption trial. new york attorney general letitia james sued lapierre and other top nra executives for using the group as a "personal piggy bank." the trial could result in the nra being dissolved. lapierre has led the nra since 1991.

meanwhile, new york attorney general letitia james has asked a judge to issue a $370 million fine against donald trump, his two adult sons, and the trump organization for committing decades of financial fraud. in a new court filing, james also asked for trump to be barred from the new york real estate industry. in other legal news, the u.s. supreme court has agreed to hear an appeal from trump after judges in colorado ruled the former president is ineligible to appear on the state's primary ballot. the justices will decide whether trump violated the insurrectionist clause of the u.s. constitution for his role in the january 6 insurrection. oral arguments will be held on february 8. meanwhile, president biden has denounced trump as a threat to democracy. in his first campaign speech of 2024, biden spoke in valley forge, pennsylvania, on the eve of the third anniversary of the

january 6 insurrection. pres. biden: donald trump's campaign is about him, not you. his campaign is obsessed with the past, not the future. he is willing to sacrifice our democracy, put himself in power. amy: biden is heading to charleston, south carolina, today to speak at the mother emanuel ame church where the white supremacist dylann roof shot dead nine black parishioners in 2015. the supreme court is allowing idaho to enforce its strict abortion ban, lifting an injunction that protected emergency room physicians from prosecution if they provide the procedure to save a pregnant person's life. friday's ruling rolled back a lower court's decision temporarily blocking the idaho law which makes it a crime to perform or assist in an abortion, punishable with up to five years in prison. the aclu said in response -- "let's be very clear, the result

will be that we will see more women like kate cox from texas who was forced to flee her home state to get the critical care she needed. other women won't have that option, and some will die as a result of the abortion bans." the government of azerbaijan has picked a former oil executive to be the president of the next u.n. climate summit which will be held in the oil-rich country later this year. mukhtar babayev spent 26 years at azerbaijan's state oil company before becoming the country's ecology and natural resources minister. the recent u.n. climate summit was also headed by an oil executive, sultan al jaber, ceo of the abu dhabi national oil company. and the acclaimed tv broadcaster mehdi hassan has announced he is ow was canceled. hassan was one of the most prominent muslim voices on american television. in october, the news outlet semafor reported msnbc had reduced the roles of hassan and

two other muslim broadcasters on the network, ayman mohyeldin and ali velshi, following the october 7 hamas attack on israel. then in november, msnbc announced it was canceling mehdi hassan's show shortly after he conducted this interview with mark regev, an advisor to prime minister benjamin netanyahu. >> i have seen lots of children being pulled from the rubble. >> it is what you -- what it wants you to see. >> do you accept you have killed children? >> i do not. first of all, don't know how those children died. amy: mehdi hassan announced he was resigning from msnbc last night during the final episode of his program. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. secretary of state antony blinken is back in the u.s.. during the stop in cutter, he

wanted war in gaza could easily metastasize into regional war. while he publicly is calling for de-escalation, the biden administration continues to face criticism for sending more weapons to israel while carrying out its own attacks in iraq and syria as well as targeting houthi forces in yemen as israel's bombardment of gaza has entered its fourth month -- entered its fourth month. according to palestinian health officials, the death gaza is nearing 23,000. israel's attacks continue to take a devastating toll on palestinian journalisby one cous journalists have been killed so far since october 7. on sunday, an israeli airstrike in southern gaza killed two journalists. mustafa thuraya and hamza al-dahdouh. hamza was the eldest son of al

jazeera's gaza bureau chief wael al-dahdouh, who had already lost his wife, daughter, another son, and a grandson in an israeli air strike in october. was wounded and another strike that killed his cameraman. on sunday, wael al-dahdouh -- >> al jazeera operating in gaza legitimate journalists, as far as israel is concerned? >> i'm not sure what standard we are using for a -- >> the israeli government is not a fan of al jazeera. is that what you're saying? >> correct. we must refer to bbc. >> you would possibly prefer al jazeera not to have a presence

in gaza? >> would prefer for hamas to not have a presence. >> i'm talking about al jazeera. you would prefer al jazeera not to have a presence in gaza. >> we would prefer that all media reported about this conflict accurate and not spread lies and disinformation in the way al jazeera has been doing. amy: for more we are joint in washington, d.c., by trita parsi, executive vice president of the quincy institute for responsible statecraft. his piece for the nation is headlined "will israel drag the u.s. into another ruinous war?" welcome back to democracy now! we are talking to you on the blinken trip to the middle east, something like the fifth time he will be going back to israel and the west bank, and when he was in qatar this weekend, the day he arrived, al jazeera's reporter hamza al-dahdouh, the

son of the gaza bureau chief of al jazeera, was killed in a u.s. air strike on a car that also killed an afp reporter. can you talk about the significance of this? >> this is the conflict in which we have seen or journalists being killed and in any other recent conflict. it increasingly appears as if those are not accidents but actually targeted. particularly in the case of this journalist, as you mentioned in your program, his family has been targeted, he has been targeted, and now his son has been killed as well. it increasingly looks as if israel is desiring to make sure al jazeera can no longer operate in gaza. it is largely thanks to al jazeera we know so much about what has been happening in gaza because they had a presence therefrom before the war began. this is a tremendous danger because with what the south

africans are accusing israel of when it comes to genocide, not having eyes and ears on the ground completely changes the picture in terms of what the israelis can and cannot do. amy: talk about what this means in terms of an escalation -- not a de-escalation, although, tony blinken keeps talking about de-escalation -- of a wider war in the middle east. why he is in the middle east, having gone from turkey and greece to qatar, going to saudi arabia today, to israel, and to the west bank and beyond. >> i think the biden administration clearly do not want an escalation. they do not want to see a widening of the war. but the approach they have pursued is one in which they are trying to maximize israel's ability to continue to bomb gaza while putting pressure on other actors in the region for them

not to escalate. while the administration itself admits there is no desire in hezbollah, in iran for a wider war. it is not as if they want the war yet the pressure supposed to be on them while not putting pressure on the israelis. this is not going to work the long run. we have seen day by day we're getting closer and closer toward a military confrontation that is much larger than just gaza. unless the biden administration is willing to also stop material support on israel, we will likely move further into that escalation. this is what is so perplexing about the biden administration's position. the fastest and easiest way to get a de-escalation is most likely a cease-fire in gaza. the groups such as the iraqi militias, the who these have made it clear they will see their attacks. we have evidence of that as well because when there was a

cease-fire in the end of november last year, for six days, there were no attacks whatsoever from the iraqi militia. they completely stopped their attack. there were six attacks the day before the cease-fire. once there was a cease-fire, it completely stopped. when it comes to the houthis, there's only one attack we can contribute instead of daily. we have clear evidence if there is a cease-fire, there will be a de-escalation. that is the option the biden administration is unwilling to pursue. instead it is going around the region asking other countries to put more pressure on iran, hezbollah, on other actors. some of that pressure is probably needed. in the absence of a cease-fire, it will -- amy: as tony blinken, as president biden calls for a de-escalation, they continue to provide weapons, circumventing congress twice providing artillery shells for israel's

bombardment of gaza, you quote in your nation peace retired is really -- israeli military who conceded in november all of our missiles, they've edition, the precision guided bombs, all of the airplanes and bombs, it is all from the u.s. can you talk further about this? this contradiction between what the u.s. is saying and actually how much power it has? give us the history lesson going back to president reagan and lebanon when the u.s. says stop. >> the biden administration i think has been pushing a narrative that essentially says biden doesn't have the leverage, the u.s. doesn't have the leverage to be able to stop. it doesn't seem to be compatible with reality. as you pointed out, the israeli major general admits all of these weapons are coming from the u.s. and if the u.s. were to put a stop to these shipments,

the israelis not be able to continue the fight for much longer. the question is not whether the u.s. has leverage -- it clearly does. the question is whether biden is willing to use it and so far he has not been willing to use it because he is buying into supporting the israeli objective of completely feeding hamas. it seems to want to see you -- to see israeli due to hamas. eventually, ronald reagan, publicly and in a private conversation, essentially told that we have to stop otherwise i'm going to freeze the shipments of f-16 airplanes to israel. within 20 minutes, they called back and ordered a retreat of the israeli's out of lebanon. a clear example in the past in which pressure, particularly

public pressure, has been effective. the reason why biden is not using it is he is bought into the israeli objective. amy: all of the polls in the u.s. show the overwhelming number of young voters are opposed to his position right now when it comes to israel and the west bank. people of color as well. can you explain is a pervert who understands a lot about what goes on inside the beltway why biden is refusing in any way stand up, not just signal on the outside calling for de-escalation, but actually making those calls since he has had, to say the least, so many with netanyahu? >> i think the biden administration made a huge miscalculation from the outset. they did not think there would be this type of a backlash amongst the american public, including his own supporters, against the israeli campaign. now when it has happened, it

appears the conclusion of the white house is they have already lost these votes, they will not be able to gain them back but if they shipped your position, they will likely lose some of the voters that are in support of israel's campaign. that calculation seems to leave out a very important component. which is there's also another block of voters, a blo ofc voters that have not yet given up on biden but if this work continues, particularly if it enlarges, then biden risks losing that bloc. and if that group is larger, then biden is compounding his initial miscalculation by further undermining his own ability to get reelected. amy: the iraqi government is blasting the united states after a u.s. drone strike in baghdad killed a top commander in an iran-backed militia. on friday, the iraqi government announced plans to expel

u.s.-led forces from the iraq. can you talk about the significance of this? >> this is very important because this is highly problematic for the iraqi government. they have tried to walk a fine balancing act. they wanted to keep a certain degree of u.s. military presence in iraq at least for the next few years at the same time balancing that against the pressure of those who want to see the u.s. beat. once the u.s. is assassinating leaders of those militias inside of iraq -- previous weeks, they were taking place in syria. this is highly problematic. it is a violation of iraq sovereignty and further increases the pressure on the iraqi government asked the was to leave, which i believe will happen in the next years or so. it is not sustainable to have

the u.s. troops there. ultimately, from the u.s. perspective, i think that is a good thing. those troops are essentially sitting ducks and targets of these iraqi militias. you take them out and you don't have the tripwire for the u.s. to get dragged into. amy: let me ask you, suspected israeli strike in southern lebanon has killed a senior commander in an elite unit of hezbollah earlier today and a move that further escalates tension in the region. the significance of this from iraq to southern lebanon? >> you have three major fronts in which the risk of escalation is significant. you have the red sea with the houthis attacking ships, the iraqi and syrian , and then you have the desire of the israelis to expand the war into lebanon and try to take out hezbollah as well. the last one is getting really

heated up right now. the attack this morning is another one. there is already been a bit of a shooting war but it is a lower level between israel and hezbollah ever since the start of the war after october 7. but it is getting deeper into both israeli and lebanese territory. one thing i think is highly problematic in the way the mainstream media has covered this is it talks about how biden is grappling with how to avoid an escalation of this war. i believe the biden administration doesn't want that. but these reports don't seem to mention the demand of some of these groups is a cease-fire. if there's a cease-fire, they would then de-escalate their attacks on u.s. troops, etc. the reporting doesn't have to say this is what is going to happen, should be scrutinizing the statements. but at a minimum, it needs to mention that is there demand so the american public is aware it

appears to exist an option for de-escalation through cease-fire. the fact it is not mentioned in most mainstream media is highly problematic because it leaves the public without -- the only way biden can de-escalate is by further increasing the deterrence and attacking whether it is the houthis or iraqi militias. it is a major mistake. amy: trita parsi, thank you for being with us executive vice , president of the quincy institute for responsible statecraft. we will link to your piece in the nation "will israel drag the u.s. into another ruinous war?" we were just talking about lebanon. a reuters reporter was also killed there. reuters did an investigation saying it was an israeli artillery strike that killed him . more than 100 palestinian journalists have died since

october 7. coming up, we will go to the occupied west bank to speak with a palestinian journalist syndicate. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. as we've reported, two more journalists and gaza were killed in an israeli airstrike this weekend. among the victims, the eldest son of al jazeera's gaza bureau chief wael al-dahdouh -- who just a few months ago, in october, he lost 12 family members including his wife, 15-year-old son, seven-year-old daughter, and his infant grandson in an israeli airstrike. like his father, hamza al-dahdouh worked for al jazeera. he was 27 years old. hamza was reportedly driving in a car with other journalists on a road in khan younis when the vehicle was hit.

freelance journalist mustafa thuraya was also killed, while a third, hazem rajab, was seriously injured. a video showed wael al-dahdouh crying next to his son's body and holding his hand. wael spoke on sunday. >> how can someone receive the death of their oldest son and everything in my life after i lost some of my family members? my wife, son, and others? how can i receive this? the world must see with their own eyes and not with israel's eyes. it must listen and watch all that is happening to the palestinian people. what has hamza tendered them?

what has my family done to them? what have civilians in gaza strip done to them? they have not 10 anything. the world is blinded by what is going on. amy: just last month, wael al-dahdouh was injured in an israeli drone attack while covering the aftermath of israeli strikes on a u.n. school sheltering displaced people in khan younis. his cameraman, al jazeera photojournalist samer abudaqa, bled to death over the course of more than five hours as israeli forces reportedly prevented rescue workers and ambulances from reaching him. the palestinian journalists syndicate says israel has killed at least 102 journalists in gaza since october 7. for more, we go to the west bank where we're joined by anan quzmar, a palestinian journalist and volunteer at the palestinian journalists' syndicate. it has filed an amicus brief in support of the center for constitutional rights and aside

lawsuit against israel citing the unprecedented number of palestinian journalists killed in gaza saying they had been deliberately targeted for assassination by the israeli military. welcome to democracy now! can you talk about the journalists who were killed this weekend, al jazeera's hamza al-dahdouh, amazingly killed when blinken arrived in qatar? and mustafa thuraya? put them in the broader context of how many palestinians -- we have not seen this anytime in war, more than 100 palestinian journalists, estimates from 70 to over 100 dead since october 7. >> thank you for having me to speak about this. it is a very important issue. hamza al-dahdouh and mustafa thuraya just the latest victims

of the campaign against palestinian journalists that has been going on for about three months. at the time we release the number, we had to update it. our indications so far, 109 journalists up to this moment have been killed by israel's genocidal military campaign. indicates at least 96 of those were deliberate and specifically targeted by israeli strikes against them at home or in the line of duty. 22 were killed using stepper fire, drones, -- sniper fire, drones. the two journalists were targeted in their car. munition used was big enough for damage the car and kill everybody inside.

he did not hurt anyone around and they were targeted at a moment there's nobody close to the vehicle, so it is clearly indicating they were specifically targeted. other thinness, there is at least -- other than this, at least 74 cases of journalists killed at home, specifically hit their flats. some are in big apartment blocks where they are on the fifth or sixth floor and their flat is targeted and no damage or limited damage to other nearby flats or homes. and the remaining 15 cases, we were not able to determine who exactly was targeted. we excluded any cases where more than 10 people were killed. we excluded cases were people who were not at their flat or location with journalists where there is an element -- what israel likes to call collateral

damage. we also excluded from the 96 we suggest were -- at least 96 specifically targeted cases like one a couple of days ago passed away because he was not allowed or had no access to health care. at least at the moment, 25 of our journalists are in threatening situations because of lack of access to medical health care. also the wider context of what is happening now is an indication that journalists are being targeted as the previous guest alluded to, israel's interest is to shut down the coverage. our journalists play a key role in uncovering the ongoing military campaign by israel. many of our journalists received

direct and indirect threats, incitement's against them that they had personally supported either publicly or privately due to fear these provocations, such reports or threats would escalate the situation and put them higher up bank of target for israel. amy: you said 9% of all posting journalists in the gaza strip have been killed since october seven and either you feel press freedom organizations around the world have let palestinian journalists down. how? >> after 190 journalists have been killed, we're still hearing the same statements that are calling for investigations. there are clear patterns. yes, we have not been able to establish every single case, but i am sorry, three months into a

genocidal campaign that has made journalists our primary target for them, 9% of our journalists and gaza have been killed. this is eight points higher than the average across the gaza strip. talking about the threats and specific targeting and we are still hearing the same thing. press freedom organizations -- outreach they have shown, let alone action that would save the lives of palestinian journalists, then we should question the very purpose of their existence if that is the best they can do. amy: can you explain the lawsuit of the center for constitutional rights that you have filed an amicus brief on behalf of the palestinian journalists? the significance of this and what this would mean? >> this lawsuit aims to block any further diplomatic and military support of israel.

it is one and many things we are trying. unfortunately, this assassination campaign has continued. we have seen a part of a wider escalation, of violence against palestinian journalists. that since the last three months, 47 palestinian journalists and the west bank have been arrested, 53 are still in prison. 18 under detention. the rest not faced with any charges at all. this level of escalation of use of force is seen also in regular israeli targets medical staff and journalists. for example, where i am, incursions that have emerging pattern of trying to maintain continued presence and curfew over palestinian cities almost

as a practice in order for eventual needed to control such cities for extended period of times like i explained. the focus of these attacks is collective punishment. digging out, for example -- cutting the water from locals, shooting at the electricity grid to cut the electricity, and also this comes with a huge price in our local institutions that israel is trying to destroy. this also goes back to the attack on palestinian journalists in gaza. if you look at the profile of those who are targeted, you see they're not just targeted for being journalists but for being an important part of the social fabric. not what you would expect from an elite journalist sitting outside, they are humble people that have been the foundations

of our society for a long time. alongside our journalists, lecturers, for example, most journalists lecturers -- there are media lectures as well being killed. poets targeted. you name it. one needs to look at the israeli bank of targets seriously and the deliberate nature of this. i would like to end with i think one of the most striking things is when you speak to palestinian journalists in gaza, they never complained about their own suffering or what they're going through as journalists. they want to continue to do their work. they want to bring an end to this, just up the genocide. amy: anan quzmar,, thank you for being with us palestinian , journalist with the palestinian journalists' syndicate. next up, hundreds of boeing 737

max 9 jet liners have been either canceled were grounded after a door plug blew off, leaving a gaping hole in an alaska airlines plane friday. we will speak with a former boeing senior manager who raised safety concerns and with wael -- nadia milleron, whose daughter died in avoiding plane as she flew over ethiopia. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we end today's show looking at how hundreds of boeing 737 max 9 i seven grounded or canceled after a refrigerator-sized fuselage door plug blew off in alaska airlines plane above portland, oregon, friday. the incident, which occurred at 16,000 feet, forced the plane to make an emergency landing. the national transportation safety board has revealed alaska airlines had concerns about the plane prior to the incident but kept flying it. during three recent flights, the plane's auto pressurization fail light had illuminated. in response, alaska airlines had restricted the plane from flying over water to increase the chances of pilots could "return very quickly to an airport." in 2019, all boeing 737 max 8 jets were grounded after 346

people died in crashes in ethiopia and indonesia. all people on board both flights died. after those accidents, the department of justice charged boeing with felony fraud. in february, federal judge in texas did not request by families of those killed of the two crashes to throw out where just settlement and the case. for more on that case and this new incident, we're joined by two guests. in seattle ed pierson is the , executive director of the foundation for aviation safety and a former boeing senior manager. also with this is nadia milleron . she became a aviation safety advocate after her daughter samya rose stumo was killed along with 156 others when ethiopian airlines flight 302, a boeing 737 max, crashed in 2019. we welcome you both. ed pierson, analyze what you

think happened here and what needs to be done. at this point, all max 9's apparently are either canceled or grounded for further inspection. >> thank you for inviting me. i think right now obviously there is an investigation been conducted and we still don't know a whole lot but certainly, needs to be -- seems to be leaning toward a manufacturing problem. as far as what you get done, as you talked about earlier, this is an virtually a tip of the iceberg cap situation so there has been quite a few serious incidents that have occurred. amy: talked about your warnings as a former senior manager at the boeing 737 factory in washington -- we are speaking to

you in seattle. you pushed going leadership to shut down production operations before both crashes in 2019. >> right. this unfortunately has been a long standing issue. it is not a new thing. the incidence -- excuse me, the accident in 2018 and 2019, as you mentioned, we had a lot of problems in the factory. everything being rushed. we had shortages of skilled employees. we are having all kinds of quality problems. just incredible schedule pressure. there's a saying the factory they call it -- as we are going to those issues, myself and others verbalized our concerns and did our best to try to stop the production system at that point. unfortunately, we were unable to do that. what i had been told from employees that currently work at that location, despite the two

crashes that killed 346 people come despite the billions of dollars of losses to the company, criminal behavior and all that, the situation is as bad or worse that it was when i was there. which is very hard to believe. right now i would say it seems like the faa is certainly not doing their job, continuing to fall down on the job. they are responsible for making sure the boeing company complies with all the regulations. it is very concerning. i would say this incident with alaska, shocking to passengers, but for those of us who have been watching this for a while, it is really not a surprise at all. ever since the max has been put back in service, over 20 series production defects have serviced. we're not talking trey tables. the public is unaware of this. these are reports that go through the faa database.

it is not something the airlines want to talk about and certainly not something the faa and boeing were to talk about. the other thing we are seeing is there is lots of requests for engineering exemptions, which is shocking when you think after all that, why are we having the boeing company asked for delays for engineering exemptions? basically, there is at least three or four in the last couple of months where the company has made requests, petition for exemptions for design standards. these are fklight control management. just recently, engine icing. these are important systems. after all of this, where are we trying to give them special treatment? it is not what the faa should even consider. amy: i want to bring nadia milleron into the conversation,

aviation safety advocate. on friday we spoke to your uncle , ralph nader, and i asked him about your daughter about samya and her death in 2019, along with 156 others over ethiopia. she was a public health advocate. this was ethiopian flight 302 which was a max 8. what was your response when you heard about what happened on friday? it is astounding, this area the size of a door, the size of a refrigerator, just blew out and only by chance this almost full flight did not have people sitting right there. the seats were ripped from what took place. the whole wall going out. now a portland teacher has found

that in their backyard. talk about your response. >> first, i was so grateful and all of the families were so grateful no one died. this is a huge wake-up call for the american people. we have been trying --ed pierson and joe jacobson -- have been trying to highlight all of these pilot reports that have been happening over the last tworiouh these max planes and they have caused your accidents on repeated occasions. we tried to get the press to cover this so the american people and all passengers around the world can choose whether or not to get on this flight. my daughter had no idea. we had no idea this was a dangerous plane. even though there have been a crash in indonesia before, but it had been downplayed and said it was the pilot's fault which

in the end was not true. we could not choose. she could not choose whether or not to get on the plane. now passengers should have the information that these planes have repeated problems. a lot of them are manufacturing problems. boeing is trying to evade safety regulations. last year in december 2022, they went to congress because the faa -- all of the safety regulations are written in blood. all of them are there because people have died. so the regulations in response to the death and trying to prevent more deaths. so boeing took congress, and through the military authorization act, they got another exemption for themselves. so going to congress to get exemptions for safety? the only thing that can be done i think is the passenger has to be able to choose. yesterday was the deadline for

the agreement. so boeing has criminal charges against them from the doj. the doj and boeing made an agreement that is a legal because they did not consult the victims. in the united states, we have the crime victims rights act. when there's any kind of negotiations or procedure going on in a criminal case, the prosecutor has to contact the victims. we reached out to the doj and said, we are victims. they said, no, no, there's nothing going on. in the trump administration, the day after the attack in the capitol, january 6, the day after when all of the press focus was not on boeing, they made a deal which was a deferred prosecution agreement where boeing had to behave well, not risking one's life, not defraud anyone, not live to anyone for

three years and they would apply to the court, the judge, for a dismissal of these charges. well, this is a very clear example of how they have not been behaving, how they do risk people's lives. we have this murderer out there in the world that has already killed 346 people and has not changed their behavior. the only way they're going to change their behavior, in my view, is it there is accountability and if the judge does not let -- sign the agreement and say, yes, we're going to dismiss the charges. we need to have a trial and accountability on the part of the responsible executives and also they need to feel it in their pocketbook. you should not fly the max just for your own safety. amy: ed pierson, can you talk about why you quit boeing? >> first, i want to say everything that nadia said i

100% agree with. there is so much to unravel. we really need accountability because that is going to drive the changes we need. why i quit is, honestly, some of the same things we are seeing today. it is even worse than you probably know. boeing removed production quality inspections and removed large numbers of them, thousands of them they removed. we have evidence and information that indicates this was done without the faa's knowledge. i am including the max airplanes. this is also for other airplanes that boeing like the 777, 767. it is astonishing. there has been removal of these control inspections. there were internal whistleblower a reported this. the faa substantiated this. this was after two fatal crashes of over 300 people. it is insanity.

what you'll hear from boeing and the faa is the airplane has flown millions of miles safely. that is not correct. i would add that type of data, metrics provides zero insight into the quality of individual airplanes. it has never prevented a crash. those statistics are old and worn out i don't really mean anything. i quit because i believe the boeing company can be better than it is. historically, it has been an incredible company. i know there are incredible people. but the leadership is horrible and the pressure to produce and put airplanes out and take chances like this with people's lives, it is unacceptable. the faa -- i want to make a very clear point the department of transportation, sec. pete buttigieg, we have written to him on several occasions and have not received a response.

he oversees the faa. we are very concerned. i've talked with pilots and mechanics and other people. it is very concerning. the whole picture. i did not want to quit boeing. i actually retired early. i could not continue to work for a company that did that and put that kind of pressure on employees to produce. it is not healthy or good for the passengers. amy: we just have a few seconds, but the ceo of boeing has called for a critical safety meeting scheduled for january 9 at the copies washington factory construction the need for transparency in collaboration . do you have faith in this? >> look, he should be in the factory heck of a lot more than he is now.

he barely comes to the factory. he acts like he is on the factory floor all the time. that is not accurate. he needs to get out of his corporate headquarters. amy: we have to leave it there. we will continue to follow this case. ed pierson with the foundation for aviation safety and nadia milleron on