01/23/24 01/23/24 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> we have in our lifetime from iraq to the last 20 years in afghanistan, wars that everybody gets now. spectacular moral and military failures for no other reason than anything else would have

cut into the $6.5 trillion profit of the defense industry. amy: it is primary day in new hampshire and donald trump and nikki haley square off in republican race. we will speak with democratic presidential candidate marianne williamson about her longshot campaign against president biden . she is calling for a department of peace. her name is on today's hamsher ballot but biden's is not. biden opted out of running in new hampshire after the state refused to move its primary until after south carolina's. we will also speak to the acclaimed chinese artist ai weiwei who recently had an exhibition in london canceled after he publicly criticized israel's assault on gaza. first, we go to a tent facility in new york where migrants face several easing temperatures. >> we are in this tent.

we don't have a bed but at least we have cots. if not, we would be sleeping in the streets. we don't have a way to wash our clothes. the food is not great but at least it is a warm deal. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. israel has reportedly proposed halting its assault on gaza for two months in exchange for the release of more than hostages 100 being held in gaza. according to axios, the proposed deal would also involve the release of palestinians imprisoned by israel, but the -- it would not end the war in gaza. axios reports israel has given the proposal to hamas through mediators from qatar and egypt. separately, cnn reports israel opposed allowing top hamas officials to leave gaza as part of a broader negotiation. president biden's middle east coordinator brett mcgurk is in

egypt and will soon head to qatar. this comes as israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu faces increasing political pressure to bring home the hostages. earlier today, israel announced 24 of its soldiers were killed in gaza on monday in the deadliest day for israeli forces since hamas attacked israel on october 7. bringing the number of israeli soldier casualties to over meanwhile, the humanitarian 200. crisis in gaza continues to worsen. the united nations is warning 570,000 palestinians face catastrophic hunger. health officials in gaza say 190 palestinians were killed in israeli strikes over the past 24 hours. israeli forces have reportedly surrounded the city of khan younis while attacking areas where thousands of palestinians have sought shelter, including at al aqsa university. this is a palestinian child who fled the school with his family. >> we hardly made it out of the

university under the shelling. we did not expect the tanks at the gates. we hardly made it out. every day i see children die. every day children die. many of my friends died last night at the university. amy: according to the gaza health ministry, over 25,000 palestinians have died in gaza, more than 10,000 of them are children. in other news from the region, the 18-year-old israeli war resister tal mitnick has been sentenced to an additional 30 days in military prison. visit democracynow.org to see our interview with him last week. he is the first israeli resistor in the gaza assault. the u.s. and u.k. launched fresh strikes on eight houthi targets in yemen monday. it's the second time the two countries conducted a joint attack and the eighth strike by u.s. forces against the iran-backed houthi movement in yemen over the past two weeks in retaliation for houthi targeting -- forces targeting ships in the gulf of aden and red sea to protest israel's war on gaza.

massive protests have filled the streets of yemen since the foreign attacks started in after the u.s. recently redesignated the houthi movement as a terrorist group. this is journalist and activist issa al-sayani. >> we say to the united states this classification will not cause the yemeni people any fears regarding their support of gaza. this classification is an invasion and cover-up by the united states and israel for the crimes they committed against the palestinian people. amy: here in the united states, the service employs international union, seiu, has become the largest u.s. union to call for an immediate gaza ceasefire. union president mary kay henry said, "seiu's almost two million members believe that wherever violence, fear and hatred thrive, working people cannot." adding israel must also "end decades of occupation, blockades and lack of freedom endured by the palestinian people." the u.s. supreme court has

declined to hear a case brought against the organization u.s. campaign for palestinian rights. the decision upholds lower court rulings that rejected baseless claims the palestinian advocacy group provides material support for terrorism. the center for constitutional rights, which represents the group, welcomed the supreme court move and said "as the government of israel is carrying out an unfolding genocide against palestinians in gaza, it is more important than ever that activists be free to speak out without fear." in more supreme court news, justices agreed monday to hear an appeal from oklahoma death row prisoner richard glossip. he has maintained his innocence for over 25 years after being convicted as the mastermind behind the 1997 murder-for-hire of his former employer, the owner of a motel glossip managed. he has narrowly escaped execution three times. oklahoma's republican attorney general gentner drummond has said glossip's conviction should be vacated due to an unfair trial. in immigration news, the supreme

court sided with the biden administration, allowing border patrol agents to cut down razor wire put up by texas troopers along its border with mexico. texas governor greg abbott had previously ignored orders to remove the wire, asserting state authority over the border area. new hampshire voters are casting ballots today in the first primary of the 2024 presidential election. former south carolina governor nikki haley appeared at a flurry of campaign events monday in what analysts say could be a final attempt to shore up her campaign against frontrunner donald trump. on the democratic side, president biden will not be on the primary ballot after state democrats went ahead with january primaries despite the dnc switching up the voting calendar. to prevent iowa and new hampshire, two of the whitest states in the country, from being the first to hold their primaries and caucuses. a write-in campaign for biden

still seeks to deliver the president a victory in new hampshire. meanwhile, organizers are urging democrats to instead write in their vote as "ceasefire" to send a message to biden over his support for israel's assault on gaza. one presidential candidate who is on new hampshire's democratic ticket is author and activist marianne williamson. she will be joining us to discuss her campaign later in the broadcast. the biden administration announced new measures to strengthen access to reproductive care on the 51st anniversary of roe v. wade. these include making contraception more accessible and free under the affordable care and ensuring hospitals provide emergency abortions nationwide. both president biden and vice president kamala harris gave addresses monday excoriating republicans for their continued attack on abortion rights as democrats seek to harness persistent voter rage over the supreme court's undoing of roe v. wade in 2022. this is vice president harris speaking from the battleground state of wisconsin as she kicked off a national tour on abortion rights. vice pres. harris: in the last

19 months in states across our nation, extremists have proposed and passed laws that criminalize doctors and punish women. today in america, one in three women of reproductive age live a state with an abortion ban. one in three. amy: in france, tens of thousands of people took to the streets in cities across the country on sunday urging president emmanuel macron to reject a hardline immigration bill. the measure strengthens deportation authority and makes it more difficult for non-citizens to access social welfare and other benefits. the legislation has been widely condemned as anti-immigrant amid fears of a turn to the far-right. this is a migrant worker from mali at the rally in paris. >> myself, for example, i work. i don't have social security or anything at all stop even though i pay taxes. this is difficult. when we work, we can be -- we

are afraid to lose the jobs we have. we work the overtime hours we do can go unpaid and we can't complain. you complain, you get fired. amy: in illinois, at least eight people were found fatally shot at three separate locations in the city of joliet sunday and monday. the suspected gunman fled to texas where police said he shot himself after a confrontation with law enforcement monday evening. one of the victims was a 28-year-old nigerian immigrant who had been living in the u.s. for about three years. there's been nearly two dozen mass shootings in the u.s. just in the first three weeks of this year according to the gun violence archive. dexter scott king, the youngest son of martin luther king jr. has died of prostate cancer at 62. he served as chair of the king

center where he dedicated his life's work to preserving his parents life's work. and in california, faculty at cal state university, the country's largest public university system, are returning to the classroom today as they reached a tentative agreement late monday after just one day on strike. the deal grants pay raises and extended parental leave, among other things. the california faculty association union celebrated the deal, posting on social media, "in case anyone forgot, strikes work!" and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman in new york, joined by democracy now!'s juan gonzález in chicago. hi, juan. juan: hi, amy. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. amy: as nine democratic governors led by new york's governor kathy hochul have joined together to call on president biden and congress to address the humanitarian crisis

faced by migrants, we begin today's show in new york looking at the conditions endured by tens of thousands of asylum seekers who've arrived in the city over the last year, many on buses from texas as part of republican governor greg abbott's anti-immigrant efforts. on sunday, a three-month-old girl staying in a migrant shelter with her family in queens died after suffering a heart of cap those -- heart attack. this comes as there's an ongoing housing crisis for migrants and asylum seekers. many were left scrambling for a safe place to live after mayor eric adams imposed a 60-day limit for families to stay in shelters and 30 days for single men. around 2000 migrant men, women, and children staying in a remote tent shelter at floyd bennett field have faced below-freezing temperatures for days. democracy now! went there saturday and spoke to fabiola mendieta-cuapio, a brooklyn

resident and immigrant justice activist organizing essential needs and resources. >> the conditions inside are not the best condition for families. we've been receiving complaints about people getting sick because it's cold. they put the heat -- they have heat inside. but still, you know, it's just in the area, is -- the area is cold, isolated. i feel like one of the biggest things right now is not just clothes and food, sometimes people just need to get access to information about the school district, where to go, if they need medical insurance. i know the city has been working with families but also i think language access is a huge need inside.

we find out a lot of the families don't get service because they don't speak spanish. people assume because i look like me they speak spanish, which is not the case. we have a lot of indigenous families inside these tents. they are from around the world that speak other languages. i think the language barrier prevents families getting the services they need. another big ask that they have's mental health services. people are traumatized. amy: that was immigrant justice activist fabiola mendieta-cuapio. she was speaking with democracy now! democracy now! also spoke to an asylum seeker and single mother from ecuador who's been staying at the floyd bennett field tent camp with her two young daughters since late december. she said her partner died as they crossed the treacherous

darien jungle between colombia and panama en route to the united states. she said she fled ecuador after receiving threats from a gang and surviving years of domestic violence. she asked we hide her identity for safety. >> i left ecuador august 4. it took me five months to get here. on my journey to the united states, i was robbed, i was even left without shoes. in mexico, my six-year-old daughter was almost kidnapped. i am grateful to the people who helped me get my daughter back. i did not have any money. i slept in the streets with my daughters, in the cold. now i am here in new york with my two daughters. they are both going to school. i have not been able to look for

work because it is very difficult to drop them off at school and then come back all the way here and go back out again to pick them up. it takes me all day. i need help to go out and look for a job so i can start having some stability with my daughters and move on. i am alone here. i don't know anyone. i have worked very hard ever since i was a little girl. people who know me tell me i'm very hard-working, that i am a fighter who has always taking care of her children. one of my daughters is six and the other is 11 years old. i had to take one of them to the hospital recently because she was burning with fever. i got really scared.

>> can you please share or describe with conditions are inside this tent facility? how long have you been here for? can you describe how isolated it is? it is about 20 degrees. it is freezing today. what is it like to be sleeping and to be inside the facility? >> to be honest, i don't think i can complain. we are in this tent where we don't have a bed but at least we have cots to sleep. if not, we would be sleeping in the streets. we don't have a way to wash our clothes. the food is not great, but at least it is a warm meal. amy: that was democracy now! producer maría taracena speaking with an asylum seeker and mother from ecuador. she said after arriving in new york, she asked the father of one of her daughters to please send her money for school supplies and other urgent needs, but she was scammed by a woman she thought was willing to help her.

>> because i don't have a phone number in the united states or a passport, this woman told me to take her information so my daughter's father could send the money. she withdrew the money and i begged her to please bring it to me but she never did. amy: she described as she cried enduring years of domestic violence from her father and several partners in ecuador. she spoke about her first husband and the father of her older children who are still in ecuador. >> the father of one of my children beat me and humiliated me and forced me to sleep outside in the cold. before i left him, he tried to stab me and said he would kill me. i was just 12 years old when i was given to him. he was 23 years old. i suffered a lot. i barely grew up with my mom and

dad. my father was also very evil towards me. i have asked for help here and ask to be able to speak to a psychologist because the truth is that sometimes i have wanted to die. amy: for more on the humanitarian crisis endured by asylum seekers in new york and chicago, we're joined by two guests. in albany, new york, murad awowdah is the executive director of the new york immigration coalition and nyic action. his albany times union is about -- headlined "an opportunity for new york to lead on immigration policy." and in chicago, oscar chacon is executive director of alianza americas, an immigrant rights group that has been addressing the influx of thousands of migrants in chicago as well. we welcome you both to democracy now! we will begin in albany. can you talk about what we just saw, these conversations, what

is happening not only in queens but the death of the three-month-old, what is happening to asylum-seekers here, and what you feel needs to be done? >> thank you for having me on your show today. it is a pleasure to be in your company. it is incredibly unfortunate we continue to find ourselves in this response moment where we have in welcoming folks not just for the past 18 months but a city of immigrants, a state of immigrants, a state built by every wave of immigration -- our state and city has been unprepared and continue to stay this rapid response moment instead of bringing together plans to integrate people better. that is why we are in albany today. we are fighting for our state legislative platform which is to invest in immigration services, expanding housing access, as well as language justice. what is happening in new york city with mayor adams is not the

ramifications of a migrant crisis. i think we have a crisis of leadership. every instance of action this mayor has taken over the past 18 months has not been something based on passion -- compassion, but more so as building more barriers and making it harder for people to become self-sufficient. the more we support people, the better they are able to stand up on their own without having to be pushed out and evicted from shelters. even before they put their 30 day rule into place, we were seeing a good majority of singles were getting out within 30 to 45 days. this is just another burden and bureaucratic hurdle in their way to standing up on their own feet. we have been with affordability crisis not just in new york but across the country for years. we are not seeing any action being taken on that from the

federal level nor state nor cities. this is an opportunity for every level of government to step up and lead and lead in the arena they can have power over. juan: i wanted to ask you, you mentioned you don't believe there is a crisis with the arrival of these asylum-seekers. most people are not aware new york city in the two years after the pandemic started lost nearly 500,000 residents who left the city. so you would think all of those people leaving means there are empty apartments, empty office buildings. why has it been so hard for the city to find housing for these asylum-seekers? >> that is a great question. we lost over 400,000 people since the pandemic. we have had a huge amount of people living the state,

specifically working-class people, because of the affordability crisis. we have apartments that are being boarded. over 40,000 apartments that are rent-stabilized. we have public housing units available. this is not an issue of is there availability. we should always be building more affordable housing. in this moment, we have enough to house everyone who is currently living in our homeless shelters as well as those who need supportive housing. we have enormous announce -- amounts of supportive housing available. this administration continues to fumble the ball and fail in leading. they put in measures that don't help anyone in the city of new york such as hiring freezes. now we are seeing the mayor scapegoat migrants and immigrants and saying yes to make these massive budget cuts

when we know he stored in a norma's amount of surplus money -- an enormous amount of surplus money and recently through our efforts the governor announced she's dedicated over $2.4 billion to the city. yet he continues to push his austerity measures. this is someone who came in that continues to push that today even with receiving the resources he needs to ensure there are no cuts, continues to champion cutting more social services, essential services, pretty much harming new yorkers in the way we have been living in new york. this is our golden opportunity. we have a huge population coming in like they do every year, and we need the workforce. we need to continue to build our city and state. that has only been done by every wave of immigration over the past two centuries here. juan: i would like to bring

oscar chacon in. chicago has received about 34,000 asylum-seekers in the city from buses and planes sent by texas in the last year and a half. there are lots of reports that many employers in the chicago area creating more divisions even among the undocumented community, hiring venezuelans off the books and getting rid of mexican and guatemalan and other undocumented workers. could you talk about that process? how that has affected the community's involved? >> i think it is important to understand at the core of the problem is the fact we have millions of people, longtime residents of chicago and many other cities across the nation, without status, without the ability to work legally in the

u.s. that is a situation that is taking advantage of by employers who just want to squeeze workers even more. this is something that happens not only in the context of this particular crisis, but the case that people employers consider are going to be more docile and willing to work for less get employed. this is important also to look at from the perspective of how we normally debate about immigrants in the u.s. who are here without authorization and working because we tend to blame them but we never look at the employer's. the fact is, there is clearly a reason behind why people are employed the way they are employed. it is because employers want axmen profit but we never actually look at the employer angle. we just blame immigrants. at the end of all, we need to

understand we have a major failure of leadership from the federal to the state to the city level governments. it is not a crisis that began the last couple of years. this is a crisis that has been in many ways growing for decades. we have created the conditions that makes it easy at this point in time to blame, scapegoat newly arrived asylum-seekers as if they were the ones that caused the realities we are seeing. the fact is, we are society that doesn't really care about people. that is what is playing out within the context of people arriving desperately seeking support and protection. amy: oscar chacon, can you talk about how both new york and chicago are dealing with the migrant crisis? when i say that, not talking about crisis caused by migrants, for example, chicago is suing the bus companies or the bus

companies are suing chicago for not letting the buses that these governors in the south are sending north. and new york is suing the bus company. is this a diversion? what do you think needs to happen? >> i think it is important to understand that in many ways, this is a perfect storm, not from the perspective of emigrants causing it, but a perfect storm in the sense that migrants are a reality that has been put in place, as i mentioned before, over decades, and essentially, we are still failing to really deal with the root causes of the problem. we -- i think cities like chicago and new york in many ways, not so much in terms of government leadership but in

terms of community-based organizations really stepping up and trying to help in the best way they can. but the reality is, we have a big failure in terms of not counting with the rights of policies in place to be able to be helpful. bus companies in the end are just trying to make money out of the situation. i think cities like new york in particular are very easy moving into blaming immigrants as if they were the ones that caused these difficulties. the reality is, again, a big crisis in terms of not having been really cared about providing people housing, conditions that are adequate, that are dignified. not providing people access to health care, including mental health care. again, migrants are simply making these failures in our society very visible.

the easy thing to do is blame immigrants. in reality, it is the compounding effect of decades of neglect when it comes to public policy that really puts at the center of everything the well-being of populations. juan: oscar, this summer the democratic national convention will be in chicago. the eyes of the political world will be on the city. your sense of what immigrant rights groups around the country are preparing for when the convention comes to chicago? >> well, i think the preparation , it is hardly happening from the perspective of people trying to deal with the immediate realities of what people often see as a crisis -- which i completely disagree it is. but the bottom line is, it is important to understand the reason why chicago will probably become increasingly important in terms of republican governors

such as abbott in texas sending more people to chicago, is precisely because the goal of these people are to create more chaos, create more divisions, and to use the context of conflict and difficulties as a backdrop to the democratic party convention coming up in chicago. in the end, it is important to highlight people that are motivated by white supremacy, xenophobia, basically trying to use migrants as a way of expanding the perception of a crisis and using it electorally to try to minimize the chances of democrats succeeding in keeping the white house in their hands next year. amy: murad awawdeh, you are in albany, where the new york state governor sits, where the legislature is. talk about what you feel could be the single most important way

in washington the democrats and republicans, from biden to trump before him, can you evaluate what they have done and what they need to do? >> well come on immigration reform, real immigration reform that is going to help people historic emigrants as well as newcomers, making sure people have a pathway to legalization but also making sure their processes to come into the united states that are significantly more equitable, humane, and efficient. that is the piece we are missing in this moment. as we're speaking right now, the senate and president biden have been negotiating a border deal in exchange for ukraine military aid. our community is being held hostage by the most extremist congressional class we have ever had in a moment where the biden

administration is ready to give up our community's rights to continue to support foreign aid. if you want to do that, do that to separate but separate these issues from each other. we are looking at potentially losing immigrant rights in this country. the president losing executive order on humanitarian control and other powers he can help as he has done in the past when we have situations like when afghanistan fell, when ukrainians were coming into the united states. he used his executive authority to provide humanitarian control. he has not use it as expansively as other areas but we do know you create more legal pathways for people to come into the united states, they use it and we currently don't have the systems in place right now. instead of being solutions-oriented from president biden to congress, they're looking to have a scapegoat in this moment, as my brother oscar mentioned. this is not -- our community

should not be the issue. they are trying to find a different villain in the story and they are the villains because they have not address the concerns of americans and all who call the u.s. home for the past couple of decades. instead of resolving the issues people have in facing, they continue to look for other ways to lash out and look for someone to say it is their fault we are in this place but it is not. they are the ones in power. they have the tools and the power to deliver the solutions we all need. amy: murad awawdeh, thank you for being with us, executive director of the new york immigration coalition. and oscar chacon is executive director of alianza americas. ai weiwei joins us as his exhibit was canceled and london. he also has a new graphic novel. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: "mayors a cop" by mike and wiki. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. we turn now to the acclaimed artist and activist ai weiwei. he had an exhibit in london canceled after he wrote a social media post where he criticize the united states for his longtime financial support of israel. ai weiwei has previously expressed support her palestinians and made a 2016 documentary that includes gaza

and the global refugee crisis called "human flow." ai weiwei is one of the world's most acclaimed artist. in 2011 he was arrested at the beijing airport and helper 81 days without charge. he has been living in exile since 2015 and joins us in new york city had of his event tonight at townhall that is part of pen america's pen out loud series. he will discuss his due graphic memoir "zodiac." ai weiwei, welcome back to democracy now! let's start with the canceled london exhibit. what happened? >> after i post a single line on twitter, i never noticed people really become so sensitive or so crazy about my posts describing the situation about the israelis

relations with the u.s., which is very subjective. it is not from my point of view but it is really a general fact. the gallery -- actually, not one gallery but galleries in paris got very worried. i still don't know the exact reason why they worried about how an artist's single line but they said they want to avoid this kind of argument, trying to protect my interest. so the post of my chosen not -- altogether, four shows. i guess that proves what i'm saying on twitter is correct

because all over the world this strong censorship about different voices toward these kinds of conflicts. continues getting so massive and it is not going to stop. so by doing that, yes, many of my shows have been canceled. juan: were you surprised by the reaction given that you have been -- not only are you one of the most celebrated artists from china and the west but you have been a vocal supporter of the palestinians for years. >> i am surprised. more free society, which

catalogs the different opinions. but to have this case in dealing with art community, not only art community but also films, literature, i think it shows a really very bad -- backwards in terms of freedom of expression, human rights, you know, all those issues. amy: there are not many chinese artists as celebrated and are braced by the west as you are, ai weiwei. we surprised by the swift allegation against your position, which is really critiquing the west, london, britain, and the u.s. when it comes to supporting the israeli

government, when it comes to the assault on gaza? >> i think maybe i was celebrated for the wrong reason. as an artist, have to fight for the human dignity and also basic human rights, freedom of speech. that is why i am here. amy: can i ask about your graphic novel ai weiwei ai weiwei,? talk about "zodiac" and the message you're conveying in this graphic memoir. >> i came to new york to be part of this graphic novel, how do say, promotion. the novel is about -- took about two or three years with two

other persons involved. made the drawing and the storyline and, you know, i think it is pretty unique. also telling my personal stories cry chinese classic stories, but also current events in china and the west. it is very detailed. very visual narratives about the stories. amy: ai weiwei, your message to the world right now -- you are a dissident when it comes to china. you cannot live inside china. you are in exile. and now when you come and are embraced by the west, you find

yourself canceled again and again. your thoughts? >> well, i think their living in a very crucial time -- we are living in a very crucial time globally. it is not only a challenge for artists, but also for the states. we are gradually losing the ground of democracy or personal freedom or even we are still placing crisis -- economic crisis, immigration crisis. also we are possibly at the edge of world war iii. this is not an exaggeration. it can happen. i am afraid this is the facts. but calling for every individual to defend the humanity and human

rights. amy: i want to thank you for being with us ai weiwei, , world-renowned chinese artist and activist. as a new graphic memoir called "zodiac." he will be speaking tonight at new townhall. coming up, it is primary day in new hampshire as donald trump and nikki haley square off in the republican race, we will speak to a democratic presidential candidate marianne williamson about her campaign against president biden. her name is on today's ballot in new hampshire, though biden's is not. back in 20 seconds. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. voting has begun in new hampshire in the nation's first primary election. on the republican side, former south carolina governor nikki haley is hoping to pull off an upset over former president donald trump who won last week's caucus in iowa by a record margin. on the democratic side, there is a primary today in new hampshire, but it has received little attention in part because president joe biden's name will not be on the ballot. the democratic national committee stripped new hampshire of its delegates after it refused to move its primary until after south carolina. historically, iowa and new hampshire have held the first contests, giving two of the whitest states in the nation

considerable clout in the nominating process. in 2022 come the dnc voted to hold the first primary in south carolina which has a significant population of color. iowa agreed to the changes stop the democratic iowa caucus will take place later. but new hampshire did not and went ahead anyway with the primary of the democratic party as well as the republicans. over two dozen other candidates will be on the democratic ballot -- most prominently, congressmember dean phillips of minnesota and our next guest marianne williamson, a best-selling author and self-described spiritual thought leader who also ran for president in 2020. williamson has campaigned for a single payer healthcare system, cutting the pentagon's budget, creating a u.s. department of peace, and boldly addressing the climate crisis. she has also supported a ceasefire in gaza. marianne williamson joins us now from manchester, new hampshire.

welcome to democracy now! can you talk about the fact you are the only person on the democratic ticket right now of the major democratic candidates who is supporting a gaza cease-fire? and then go into your call for a department of peace. >> the cease-fire, even before the invasion of gaza, by the israelis, i was on a video saying i thought it was a bad idea. i have been calling for a cease-fire since moment it began. obviously, there's a big difference between supporting israel and the israeli government. i have been very sorry to see the u.s. government go along with this policy and this war. i think this a terrible idea. terrible for israel, the palestinians, the region, and the world. in terms of the department of

peace, franklin roosevelt says we need to end the beginnings of all wars. just like with health and sick is, don't just treat sickness, learn to cultivate health. we need to not just drop bombs and put people in prison when there is conflict, we need to learn to prevent conflict, to proactively create peace. there are four main factors involved in what is called peace building. when these factors are present, statistically, that means there's were to be a higher incidence of peace and lower incidence of conflict. this is true whether it is a corner of an american city or anywhere in the world. greater economic opportunities for women, greater educational opportunities for children, a reduction of violence against women, and italy ration of unnecessary human despair. -- annually ration of unnecessary human despair.

just like we have an army of military personnel, we need armies of peace builders. we need to have that same kind of serious focus and resources placed in creating peace that we now have on fighting wars. this forever war machine that the u.s. has is a path to disaster in this century. juan: marianne williamson, can you talk about your decision to run as a democrat rather than as an independent given how much you diverge many of your positions i guess from the democratic -- against the democratic party elite? >> that is the point. i don't diverge from the traditional values of the democratic party. they do. i am a roosevelt democrat. i believe the policies of the u.s. government should be used to help people. that elite you just referred to, look at some like myself or any other progressive come as if we are try to hijack the party. in fact, they hijack the party.

they are budge of economic royalists. that democratic elite you're talking about and the democratic party, when i was growing up, they would have been called republicans. i am where in my youth and my growing up and my perspective, i am where the center of the democratic party should and would have been had it not been for this profound influx of corporate money that has infused both parties. juan: you often evoke the idea of traditional values in your speeches. good you talk a little more about what you mean by those traditional values? >> i think there's common sense involved in trying to be better people. no matter whether someone is approaching this from a religious or secular perspective, we all know if you try to be a person of integrity, of generosity, of ferdinand, owning your of mistakes but forgiving others there's, your

life works better. i think those same values and considerations and reflections on what it means to good should apply to public policy as much as it applies to our personal behavior. our public policy is guided by an essentially bankrupt on a moral level economic paradigm. there is no sense of ethics. no sense of owing anything to anyone. it is all to share responsibility to the stockholder. that is been going on for 50 years and devastated this country. it has hollowed out our middle class. it has led to a 50 choice dollar transfer of wealth from the bottom 90% of the top 1%. if all you care about is the stockholder value at the expense of every other worker, community, environment, what happens? what happens is what has happened to this country where a majority of americans the paycheck-to-paycheck.

now 39% of americans claim they regularly skip meals in order to pay their rents. this is unacceptable. we need a president who will say so. amy: i want to talk about you being on democratic primary ballot. at a presidential form you are at that i co-moderated in south carolina in 2019, i question the democratic presidential candidate elizabeth warren during that for them in south carolina about their primary calendar. just 30 seconds left, but speaking about racial injustice, do you think the order of the primary states should change? you have iowa and new hampshire -- >> are you aqsa going to ask me to criticize iowa and new hampshire? amy: i am asking about the

order. >> that is what it is all about. amy: they are two of the whitest states of the country and then we moved to south carolina with a very significant population of people of color. it means the candidates spend so much of their time catering to those first two states. overall, do you think that should change? >> i am just a player in the game on this one. i am delighted to be in south carolina. thank you. amy: thank you so much. that was massachusetts senator and then presidential candidate elizabeth warren. if you could respond to that question, marianne williamson? the dnc wasn't canceling the new hampshire primary, they just had iowa and new hampshire should come after, later, especially south carolina, which has a larger community of color.

talk about your decision to be on the new hampshire ballot. >> well, if the dnc was honestly authentically and sincerely, of -- coming from a place of concern about racial diversity, that would be one thing. i don't think that is what happen here and i don't know anyone in south carolina here really thinks that is what happened here. what happened is joe biden came in fourth or fifth place last time and they wanted to avoid an embarrassment. obviously, racial diversity matters. let me tell you what else matters, economic diversity. when you want to talk about the experience of the average american, the working-class americans in the united states, new hampshire is as much a ground zero as any other state. i don't think any of us should be getting -- thinking of playing favorites with the states. i'm just showing up where there are people.

you have your said, no, we are having a primary. that is the way it is. i am here because they're having a primary. i am taking my cue from the people and not the dmc. -- d&c. juan: i would ask about supporting the cease-fire in gaza. you've supported that since october. do you a the failure of the democratic party leadership of president biden to take a clearer stand in defense of the palestinian people is going to result in large numbers of young people, especially, turning away from this election? >> i think it is a risk. unless we nominate someone like myself who has been very clear about all of this from the beginning. the president showed great moral clarity on october 7, but he needs to show the same moral clarity regarding what has happened to the palestinians. i think out people particularly

see a deep injustice. i think that is a good reason for the democrats to nominate somebody who represents not just greater justice for the palestinians, but for all american leadership to make sure we are robustly and equally committed to the peace, safety, security, and sovereignty of both israelis and palestinians. amy: can you talk about new hampshire about cease-fire campaign? even though president biden is that all the ballots, there is a write-in campaign for him and also to just say "ceasefire." your thoughts on this? >> well, i believe that if we are really concerned about the citizens of gaza, if we are most deeply concerned about what action would most at joe biden's attention and make him reconsider his policies, i think

it would be voting for a candidate who actually stands for a cease-fire. i would think my getting a lot of votes, given the fact i in fact to stand for a cease-fire, would get more of a raised eyebrow from the president then would a write-in campaign for "ceasefire." in all things like this, the citizen, the voter gets to make the decision for themselves. i hope people who are considering writing in "ceasefire" from that position, which i know is a sincere desire to help the people of gaza, i hope they will consider the possibility, which i believe is the reality, that a vote for me would bear a stronger stance. amy: ask you what happened in davos. the government corporate elite seem to say they think president trump is going to win this next election. when the stakes are this high, the two main contenders, biden versus trump, course, i was

thrown around in the united states for any third party or another democratic presidential candidate like yourself, is you could be the spoiler in this high-stakes election. your response to that? >> first of all, it is important to remember today is our primary. cannot be a spoiler in a primary. in terms of the general election, i think all of us who are committed to donald trump not returning to the white house have a lot to think about. i would never do anything i think would increase the possibility of donald trump returning to the presidency. juan: we have less than a minute, that i want to ask about immigration which has become a major issue once again in this presidential race. your stance on the whole issue of sealing the border and reducing undocumented migration into the country and limiting the number of asylum-seekers? >> asylum to me is a sacrosanct

principle. honestly, congress has failed. we need greater infrastructure. we need more judges, more interviewers, more people who can establish credible fear, move people on in the process of integrating into american society if they do meet that standard. others need to go back to their home countries to begin the process legally from there. however, in this issue, as in so many others, my candidacy represents an intention to root cause and not just symptom. we need to ask ourselves, why do so many people feel such a desperate need to make their way to the united states from latin america in particular? if we look at that, we see america's fingerprints and far too many ways. i want to help the american people wisely and compassionately look in their mirror. if you look at the ways our own foreign policy over the last 40, 50, 60 years has contributed to the economic stabilization of so

many of these countries, i want to see the u.s. help re-stabilize what we into many ways helped destabilize. that is removing sanctions. amy: we have to leave it there. marianne williamson,