03/29/24 03/29/24 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! pres. biden: if there was an insurrection -- >> shame on you, joe biden! shame on you! amy: as president biden holds the largest one at fundraiser in

presidential campaign history with presidents obama and clinton, raising over $25 million, protesters chanted inside and outside radio city music hall in new york. we'll hear some of their voices. then we go to gaza to speak with james elder. >> i saw a roomful of mothers and carers, shuddering over children who are paperthin. absolutely paperthin. give baders desk incubators full of babies born prematurely and a nurse. amy: but first, the remains of two of the six workers killed in the key bridge collapse are recovered. coax the victims were identified as alejandro hernandez fuentes, 35 years old a baltimore, and dorlian ronial castillo cabrera,

26 years old. amy: we'll speak with the head of casa, an immigrants rights group in baltimore. he knew some of the men who died. two of their members were killed, salvadoran father of three and a honduran father of two. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the international court of justice has ordered israel to ensure unhindered aid can get into gaza. the legally binding order was issued after a request by south africa, which brought the genocide case against israel to the icj in january. the court noted in its latest order, "palestinians in gaza are no longer facing only a risk of famine, but famine is setting in."

the judges also cite u.n. data which finds "at least 31 people, including 27 children, having already died of malnutrition and dehydration." israel is required to submit a report to the icj in a month showing how it has implemented the order. in northern gaza, where the u.n. warns famine is imminent, the kamal adwan hospital is seeing an increasing number of extremely underweight babies and children. this is nurse ahmed al-ali. >> we received this case about an hour ago, a malnutrition case. we have gotten used to receiving such cases. you can tell her age does not match her weight. she is two-month old and only two kilos and some fractions.

my shift in the intensive care unit does not go without three or four cases of this kind, from bad to worse, and the result is death. amy: the official death toll in gaza has now topped 32,600. in syria, israeli airstrikes near aleppo killed some 40 people according to the u.k.-based syrian observatory for human rights. state media reports civilians are among the dead and injured. the attacks struck missile depots used by hezbollah and reportedly killed at least five hezbollah fighters. israel and hezbollah have engaged in nearly-daily skirmishes across the israel-lebanon border since october 7. hebrew university in jerusalem has reinstated professor nadera shalhoub-kevorkian, the internationally renowned feminist palestinian professor who was suspended earlier this month after saying in an interview israel was committing genocide in gaza. hebrew university reportedly did not demand she recant those

remarks, but did reinstate her after she clarified her remarks on reports of sexual assaults during the october 7 attacks. her suspension had been met with protests from students and faculty of the school. you can see our interview with nadera shalhoub-kevorkian at democracynow.org. here in new york, president biden appeared with former presidents barack obama and bill clinton in a massive campaign fundraiser at radio city music hall thursday night. the star-studded event featured musical performances and the conversation with the three presidents was moderated by "the late show" host stephen colbert. outside the venue, thousands of activists gathered to protest u.s. support for israel's war on gaza. >> it is an issue of them funding and facilitating this genocide that is carried out by israel. they are supporting the deaths of over 40,000 people. this is not the first time they have supported that and war.

people are sick of that. people are going hungry in this city. people don't have a place to sleep. all the while, we are sending billions of dollars to israel to kill palestinians and to steal their land. amy: inside the event, the largest campaign presidential fundraiser in history, activists repeatedly disrupted biden's conversation, shouting "stop arming israel!" "let gaza live!" and "shame on you!" we will hear more of those voices later in the broadcast. a new gallup poll found that 55% of americans disapprove of israel's military actions in gaza, up 10 percentage points from november. earlier in the day, activists held a vigil on the steps of new york city hall, organized by the slow factory. activists read out names of palestinians killed since october 7. this is vivien sansour from the palestine heirloom seed library.

>> -- the amount of bombs, white phosphorus, other ammunition. there is sewage. there is so many diseases. a lot of trees -- amy: in voting news, a federal court ruled south carolina can use a republican gerrymandered congressional map for the upcoming u.s. house election. this, despite the same court ruling last year it was unconstitutional and that it exiled more than 30,000 black residents from the charleston-area district. the u.s. supreme court has yet to issue a decision on the ruling's challenge, allowing it to stay in place at least through the 2024 elections.

the seat is currently held by the trump-endorsed congressmember nancy mace, who is running for re-election. meanwhile, in florida, a federal court allowed a gerrymandered map that sidelines black voters to remain in place. the map was created in 2022 after republican governor ron desantis set out to dismantle the northern district of former congressmember al lawson, a black democrat. in other voting news, a texas court of appeals has reversed the conviction of crystal mason, a black woman who faced five years in prison for submitting a provisional ballot in 2016 even though she was barred from voting due to a past felony conviction. mason was unaware she was not eligible to vote and the provisional ballot was never counted as a vote. crystal mason celebrated the win thursday, saying -- "i was thrown into this fight for voting rights and will keep swinging to ensure no one else has to face what i've endured

for over six years, a political ploy where minority voting rights are under attack." to see our interview with crystal mason, go to democracynow.org. the biden administration has restored a series of wildlife protections under the endangered species act that were rolled back under trump. this includes reinstating certain protections for species classified as threatened with extinction and taking into greater consideration the threat of climate change when issuing protections. sam bankman-fried, the disgraced founder of the now defunct cryptocurrency exchange ftx, was sentenced to 25 years in prison for fraud and conspiracy. district judge lewis kaplan noted bankman-fried's "apparent lack of any remorse" for defrauding ftx customers out of at least $8 billion.

bankman-fried's lawyer said they plan to appeal. a federal judge has tossed elon musk's lawsuit against the watchdog center for countering digital hate, writing in his ruling "this case is about punishing the defendants for their speech." elon musk sued the non-profit after they reported that hate speech, racism, and misinformation soared on the social media platform x, formerly known as twitter, after the billionaire took ownership of the site in 2022. the center for countering digital hate welcomed the lawsuit's dismissal, writing on x -- "we'll continue exposing hate and lies on x, and campaigning for social media bosses like musk to be held accountable." to see our interview about this case with the head of the center for countering digital hate, go to democracynow.org. colombia has expelled its

argentine diplomats as tensions between the argentine president javier milei and his leftist latin american counterparts reached new heights this week. excerpts from a new cnn interview with milei show the right-wing leader lashing out at colombian president gustavo petro and mexican president andrés manuel lópez obrador and attacking venezuela and cuba. >> the butcher in venezuela is unheard of, same with the jail that is cuba. there other cases on the way to become like venezuela such as colombia with mr. petro. we cannot expect much from someone who is a murderer, terrorist, and communist. amy: president milei was referencing petro's history as a former member of the m-19 rebel movement. milei also called lopez obrador "ignorant." among other things, the leaders are at odds over their support

-- for israel support on gaza. milei is a staunch supporter of israel, while petro earlier this week threatened to sever diplomatic ties with israel if it ignores the u.n. security council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in gaza. and saudi arabia was chosen to chair the u.n. commission on the status of women. rights groups expressed outrage at the news. amnesty international's deputy director of advocacy sherine tadros said -- "saudi arabia's abysmal record when it comes to protecting and promoting the rights of women puts a spotlight on the vast gulf between the lived reality for women and girls in saudi arabia, and the aspirations of the commission." earlier this week, amnesty international released a report condemning a leaked draft of saudi arabia's first written penal code, which amnesty says criminalizes free speech,

homosexuality, and abortion and fails to protect women and girls from all forms of gender-based violence. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we begin today's show in baltimore, where divers have recovered the remains of two of the six workers who were missing and presumed dead after the key bridge was struck by a massive cargo ship tuesday and collapsed under them without warning. the men were migrants from mexico, guatemala, honduras, and el salvador. they were filling potholes and had reportedly taken a break in their vehicles. this is maryland state police superintendent roland butler. close shortly before 10:00 a.m., divers located a red pickup truck submerged in approximately 25 feet of water in the area of the middle span of the bridge.

divers recovered two victims of this tragedy trapped within the vehicle. the victims were identified as alejandro hernandez fuentes, already five years old, of baltimore -- 35 years old baltimore, and dorlian ronial castillo cabrera, 26 years old. amy: since the bridge collapsed, just two of workers' bodies have been recovered. on wednesday, the brother of maynor suazo sandoval, one of the men still missing, asked -- said they were in tremendous agony and asked officials to continue their search. this is his brother martin suazo. >> we were informed the government had decided to stop the search to begin removing debris from the bridge. it means the search for bodies is being put on the back burner. we understand the u.s.

government is losing lanes of dollars because the bows are not moving, but we believe they should not forget the suffering of the families of four victims is bodies have not yet been found. we are still waiting with faith and hope they will find the body of our brother so we can start the repatriation process, which we are most interested in. amy: for more, we are joined in baltimore by gustavo torres, executive director of casa, an immigrant rights non-profit founded in 1986 to build solidarity with those impacted by the u.s.-backed violence in central america. two of their members were killed in the francis scott key bridge collapse, a salvadoran father of three named miguel luna and a honduran father of two named maynor yassir suazo sandoval, whose brother you just heard. gustavo, welcome to democracy now! our deepest condolences to your

loss to casa and your community. ,>> i really appreciate that. amy: can you talk about the members of casa who you knew, what they did, what these men were doing on the bridge filling potholes? tell us the story of these workers before they died. >> these two construction workers were longtime members. yelena -- miguel luna left for work. he was a husband, a father of three and has called maryland home for over 19 years. reengaged in gaza activities. -- he was very engaged in casa to what is. dorlian ronial castillo cabrera

immigrated over 17 years ago most i remembered carlos mentioned he was always so full of joy and brought so much humor to his family. he was a husband most of his family -- they were engaged in so many events. amy: you have said maynor was about to celebrate his 35th birthday on april 27? >> that is correct. amy: the family was going to gather? >> yes. amy: can you talk about the risks they face as construction workers and the large immigrant

population of the greater baltimore area? >> construction workers are absolutely essential. they work on the night shift to repair bridges and roads that millions of people use every day to get to work, to the cities and towns. [indiscernible] baltimore and so many other cities and countries around our country. and you know what? this is not an ins insulated tragedy. almost a year ago on 695, six workers were killed, and three were latinos. the kind of situation we face all the time with these families. construction is the most dangerous job in the united states.

[indiscernible] we have around 130,000 immigrants that worked in construction in the baltimore and washington, d.c., area. amy: the governor announced they have i think quested and gotten approval from president biden for $60 million to start the rebuilding of the bridge. can you talk about what is happening for these families? >> right now we're working with these families. they request privacy and we

are protecting them in solidarity with the families, but they face big challenges right now. we are working with them to make sure we provide as much as we can in coordination with the city and the state. at a time there so much hatred against the immigrant community, we look to the quiet leadership of -- we believe it is so important we keep protecting these families, we keep helping these families as much as we can. we're calling the president biden that it is time to provide tps, temporarily protected status to provide opportunities to these families and these communities that are working hard. people like miguel and maynor

are building bridges to bring together communities, not building walls. we honor them and their sacrifice. amy: i am wondering if you can comment on the larger immigration debate in this country? you have president trump once again talking about immigrants as not being human and presidential campaign fundraising events, poisoning the blood of this country. and then you have this competition between the democrats and republicans when it comes to the southern border around shutting it down. the democrats adopting the republican proposal and trump not wanting it to go forward even though it was republican and so congress did not pass the republican plan the democrats had supported. your thoughts now on what we can learn as hard working man died on the bridge? >> totally.

we expect that and worse from trump but now you receive the same type of treatment from the democrats. estimating the u.s. economy will go up $7 trillion the next 10 years and that is imparted to immigration. in 2021, $525 billion in taxes to help support the nation. what we need right now is comprehensive immigration reform. we do not need more attacks against the immigrant community, more racist attacks. what we need is both parties come together and pass comprehensive immigration reform to solve the crisis we face in the station and to make sure the nation --

amy: gustavo torres, thank you so much for being with us, executive director of casa. two of casa's members were killed in the key bridge collapse. millions of enslaved people who also built this country together with immigrants come a point worth remembering, as we mourn those killed on the bridge. the bridge was named after francis scott key bridge stuck watching the navy bombard not far from where the bridge was built in the 1970's, key wrote the poem that would become the national anthem. his poem has four stanzas. the first made famous as "the star-spangled banner." he was a slave owner and denounced those who fled enslaved men in 1814 to fight against the united states for

the british who promised the enslaved people freedom in return. no refuge could save the hireling enslaved from the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave, key wrote in his poem . words left out of "the national anthem" but which nevertheless noticeably rhyme with "land of the free and home of the brave." just an interesting fact as this key bridge is rebuilt. when we come back come as president biden holds the largest one night fundraiser in presidential campaign history with president obama and clinton, raising over $25 million, protesters chant inside and outside radio city music hall. we will hear some of their voices. and then to unicef spokesperson james elder in rafah. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. pro-palestine protesters disrupted what was billed as the biggest fundraiser in presidential history here in new york city yesterday. the star-studded event at radio city music hall in manhattan featured president biden alongside former presidents barack obama and bill clinton and raised a record $25 million for biden's reelection campaign. more than 5000 people paid to attend, with tickets costing up to $500,000 each. for $100,000, guests could get a picture with the three u.s. presidents taken by renowned photographer annie leibovitz. celebrities in attendance included queen latifah, mindy kaling, and lizzo. the main event was an onstage conversation with the three u.s. presidents moderated by late-night talk show host stephen colbert. just 10 minutes into their

conversation, as biden was talking, protesters began disrupting the event, calling on the president to stop arming israel and to call for a ceasefire in gaza. pres. biden: we had no president on january 6. there was an insurrection -- >> shame on you, joe biden! shame on you! [bleep] genocide of palestine! you have blood on your hands! blood on your hands! [indiscernible]

>> palestinians are dying right now because of what you are doing! >> stop brutalizing him. amy: the protesters were all physically escorted outside. the event disruption was organized by a coalition, including adalah justice project, palestinian youth movement, jewish voice for peace, and the sunrise movement. meanwhile, outside the event, thousands of protesters took to the streets to protest the biden does president biden support for israel's assault on gaza. protesters gathered at bryant park and marched up to radio city music hall.

democracy now! spoke to some of the protesters about why they were there. >> presently you're working for the upcoming primary happening april 2. you're asking people to leave it blank because there is no "uncommitted" option in new york city. we would let them stamp their ballot as is and it would count as "uncommitted" or show genocide joe we're not going to stand by while we watch our brothers and sisters be genocided. >> i am a first-generation american palestinian. we have had enough. my family has voted democrat for as long as we have lived in the u.s. it is heartbreaking. we feel guilty. we feel awful. i feel like i voted for my own people's genocide. i am done letting democrats get away with it just because we are

scared of the alternative. >> i am running for vice president of the united states with i conrad -- with my comrade. we're here today and have been through all of these protest for palestine because we understand our government is orchestrating this genocide. without their support and financing, israel could not be doing what they're doing to the palestinian people. it is important for us to come together and not allow these were criminals like biden or clanton or were obama to use these moments to be a new york city to raise money. the people are saying the democratic party's -- people have to build a new government for the working class, for the people of this country, that we cannot allow them to drag us into the 1800s, dragged us into a nuclear war. >> the fact we were able to see for ourselves these people are liars, that everything they have

told us about palestine and the middle east has been a lie means we are able to admit and also able to make the connection -- young people are able to make the connection between what is happening in palestine and migrants in the u.s., what is happening to queer and trans people in the u.s. and we are saying free palestine. >> anybody who sees this, no matter who you are, you have to take part in this. you cannot be silent. everyone must become involved. there are lives being lost. pregnant women are being run over by tanks. this is abominable. we cannot learn about the holocaust and watch movies about the holocaust and then say, "oh, well, you know, i would've done something then." yet to do it now. it is like what aaron bushnell said, what would you be doing during those times? you doing it now.

amy: voices of some of the protesters outside radio music hall. more than $25 million was raised. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. in gaza, the death toll has now topped 32,600, including 14,000 children, with over 75,000 wounded. at least 31 people, including 27 children, have already died of malnutrition and dehydration. for more, we go to rafah in gaza where we are joined by james elder, spokesperson for unicef. united nations international children's emergency fund. welcome to democracy now! thank you so much for joining us

as you stand outside a hospital in rafah. talk about where you have a in gaza and what you found. >> i have been south to north, north to south. this is the city that is normally 300,000 people and it is about 1.5 million. you can imagine the congestion. the number of times i walk around and think this place is like a war zone. it is a war zone. i am at a hospital. you talk about being in a hospital. it is caving with people. the corridors are no longer corridors. thousands and thousands of people trying to take refuge in hospitals. thousands upon thousands of people with the wounds of war in hospital. this is a city of children. this is where most people from

gaza have fled with a very real fear. when you go further north come to the very north as i have been , first you see the devastation. amy, entire cities turned to rubble. things i have never seen before. every street. drivers who grew up in that city and who simply don't know how to get around anymore because they have lost those landmarks to direct them. you see the nutritional status. those children you spoke about. more people died overnight the last couple of days of malnutrition and dehydration. i've seen mothers in tears scratched over -- crouched over davies paperthin. some since north to south, whatever it is, exhaustion. people of done everything.

i've set with families this morning. they are exhausted. there confused as to why they don't have the world's attention. amy: i want to get your response to the latest news, the international court of justice has ordered israel to ensure unhindered aid to get into gaza. the legally binding order was issued after a request by south africa, which brought the genocide case to israel in january. the court noted in its latest order, "palestinians in gaza are no longer facing only a risk of famine, but famine is setting in." the judges also cited u.n. data which finds "at least 31 people, including 27 children, having already died of malnutrition and dehydration." the court is ordering israel to submit a report within a month

showing how it has implemented the order. the significance of this as the u.n. warns famine is imminent in northern gaza? any number of children who have been affected, james? >> we saw a report almost two weeks oago. it is talking about more people now being a what we call the catastrophic food insecurity than in the 20 years of reporting. if we look at the north of gaza, where before this war, less than 1% of children under the age of five, suffered acute malnutrition. now it is one and three. this is the speed at which we have seen this catastrophic decline. the united nations for my own --

to the executive director calling for unhindered safe access for aid. the most efficient and effective way to get supplies, life-saving supplies, food, water, medicines is on the road network. not just from the south. that can be difficult. it is 30 miles. it doesn't; way but it is a long way when there are thousands of people in the street stop there are crossings 10 minutes away from those mothers cradling children who are severely honors. 10 minutes away. in the same way this crisis, this nutritional crisis affecting children and civilians in gaza is man-made and preventable, can be turned around. if you want to be glass half-full, this can be reversed but we do need those decisions to be made. we need all obstructions gone. we need safety.

no united nations colleagues have been killed in this war than any war since the creation of the united nations. -- we know there have been more united nations colleagues that have been killed in this war than any war since the creation of the united nations. desperate people being killed accessing food. there are crossings in the north. they've those are open, we can flood the gaza strip with eight and this is solved in a matter of weeks. but we are not seeing that. instead, unrwa, the backbone of humanitarian aid on the gaza strip that was sending 50% of the food to the north, they have been blocked. we have to be clear and honest in terms of what restrictions are. the restrictions are why we are saying this level of malnutrition, particularly among children. amy: so why -- what is israel

saying to you, to the international body, the united nations to particularly at unicef, why they're not letting this aid go and particularly saying they will not work with unrwa at all in northern gaza? >> yes, obviously, we function here based on our impartiality and we talked to anyone. you are right to ask. i'm not privy to the exact conversations. you hear the statements made that there is limitless access here. the reality on the ground says differently. in the first three weeks of march, one quarter of aid convoys were denied. as i say, the restrictions on unrwa arguments. i can speak of the complexities of getting that food aid to the north which is why if you come in from the north and those are things, that is a game changer. the same way the world is

focused on airdrops and ships, obviously, the desperation is so great that those people who have been forcibly put into this position will take food aid wherever it comes from. that should not be the case. in the north, and that was -- an area that was famous for strawberries. when a ship comes in, if it has the equivalent of around 12 trucks. there are and hundreds and hundreds of trucks five miles from where i am now. you could get hundreds of trucks within 10 minutes if that border crossing was open in the north to those people who are cut off. when i was in the north, amy, those people are cut off past last checkpoint. when we access those people, when i'm on the street, every person, the first thing they want to tell me is "we need food." i know this is my work but i listen to them.

what is revealing is why they're saying that. they are saying that because the assumption is the world doesn't know because how would this be allowed to happen of the world new? amy: can you talk about the effects of children? malnutrition of children? the effects the dehydration mn nutrition they are expressing -- malnutrition they are experiencing now? >> one of the saddest things you will see. malnutritioned child. as my executive director said when she had remembered malnutrition children around the world, from sudan to ethiopia, she spoke at the silence. these babies do not have the energy to cry. what usually kills children with the most severe form of malnutrition is disease.

simple childhood disease. children with acute malnutrition are 10 times more likely to be killed by that. that is something unicef has been warning about here for months. rafah has become a city of children. it is impossible to have the services here that children need. health care. never before in gaza have so many children needed health care. only one in three hospitals are partially functioning. toilets, in terms of dignity but sanitation come the global stand in an emergency is one toilet for 20 people. here we are looking about one toilet for 800. for shower? multiply that by four. imagine for a teenage girl, much less a pregnant woman or child, great fear, which we are starting to see, is when you have severe malnutrition and add in disease, this is the perfect

storm. this is where the horror chauffeur children -- show for children. amy: i think that number has topped 14,000 children who have died, uncounted number of them still in the rubble. if you can talk about this debt goal and also compared gaza to other conflict zones you have been in, james elder. you have been all over the world, to say the least. >> for me, in a way, i'm loath to make the comparison simply because for unicef and myself, a child as a child wherever they are. you see what is happened to children from ukraine to afghanistan, it is horrendous and that is why my colleagues are front-line workers in all of these places. there's something particular here. the intensity of devastation.

it is such a big child population in a compact space with, let's be clear, indiscriminate attacks. it is unprecedented. and when you see in a hospital those wounds of war to children, amy, remembering when there is a missile or bomb on a family home, it is not just one injury to a child. it is the broken bones, the burns. it is very hard to look but we must keep looking. and it is the shrapnel. these are the images every time i turn around in a hospital and i don't think i've seen that -- you have these rare moments of clutching onto some hope. there was a little boy in the hospital who had bad burns but as i walked to mohammed, he made a little thumbs-up. i thought, wow, what a character. the adult explained mohammed was

the best suited in school, showed me photographs of this beautiful little boy receiving awards. i thought, this little guy's going to be ok. you hold onto these moments. in the adult explained to me when the missile hit mohammed's home, killed everyone. everyone. mohammed did not know this yet. but mohammed is the last surviving member of his entire family. these horror stories are being normalized here. i did not think i would ever hear such a thing and gaza. i am hearing it time and again. yes, these wounds of war, i should add in the last two days, i made a point to go to hospitals since the ceasefire decision which was great hope here. well, that hope has been truly drowned out by bombs. i saw many children who doctors did not think would still be alive today based on the bombings that have occurred

since monday's decision. amy: you are standing, james elder, in rafah. if you can talk about what is happening right now in rafah. yet prime minister benjamin netanyahu saying it absolutely, ground invasion will happen. it is not a matter of if, it is a matter of when. you have talked about a possible ground invasion in rafah. what would this mean? >> the horrors in gaza -- it would be a catastrophe. that word has been rightly used many times. this is a city of children. rafah now has twice the population density of new york city.

this is ground level. most people are in tents, street corners, on beaches, what was agriculture. they are ground-level. 600,000 children here. we are in uncharted territory when it comes to the mental health of these children. night after night, even for me, and i get to leave this place. i lie in bed and you hear the bombardment and you'll either feeling like your lying in a coffin of what are the chances of wiki tomorrow morning? children go through that with their families every night. there's no lullaby yousing to a child to drown that out. for those people here, not only are they just hoping on, coping mechanisms -- they have nowhere to go. we have to understand that. social services are devastated. khan younis, the city next, i've never seen that level of

annihilation. gaza city, the same. at the beach, would be doubling the population density again. it is a terrifying thought, amy. i did not imagine it would come to this but as you rightly say, the conversation is very commonplace now. i wish people could see the density of people here, could see the exhaustion, listen to a doctor as he is treating a child with massive head wounds and the doctor is in tears saying, "what did this child do?" we will see that on a scale i don't think anyone can imagine. amy: what would an immediate ceasefire mean for the children of gaza, for the whole population there? >> i am glad you end like that because that gives me a chill. everyone asks, do we have hope?

is there hope? most people hold on to this idea come as i mother said, i have lost two children, i've lost my home, my ability to income, my ability to feed my remaining child. all i have is hope. a ceasefire is a game change. first, let's get the hostages home. end the torment of they and their families. the ceasefire enables us to flood the gaza strip with aid and bring this nutritional crisis, imminent famine. and ceasefire means those families i spoke of which tonight will again endure what i mentioned, they will go to bed if there's a ceasefire, a mother and her child, and they will know for the first time in months they will wake up tomorrow. amy: james elder, unicef spokesperson. unicef stands for the united

nations international children's emergency fund most of joining us today from rafah. thank you so much and the say. when we come back, we speak to the head of a corporate activist group who was just subpoenaed before jim jordan's house panel. we will talk about shareholder and corporate responsibility. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. on thursday, the head of a leading shareholder advocate non-profit testified for the house judiciary committee's legal counsel after his group was subpoenaed as part of a house probe into whether socially-responsible investing and shareholder advocacy violates federal antitrust laws. andrew behar, the ceo of "as you sow," says his group is being investigated by the house judiciary committee for alleged antitrust activity as part of an orchestrated republican crackdown on socially responsible investing. republicans currently have introduced 145 bills in 27 states making it illegal to work with banks and asset managers that use environmental, social, and governance, or esg, policies in their investment practices. so far, 18 states have adopted these laws, leading to financial losses at state pension funds

and forcing state treasurers to pay premiums on interest for state bonds. the crusade against socially-responsible investing is backed by the right-wing judicial activist and federalist society co-chair leonard leo. for more, we go to washington, d.c., where we're joined by andrew behar. i assume you are tired after hours of testifying yesterday. can you explain what are esg funds? and explain what is happening in congress right now and around the country. >> esg stands for environmental, social, and governance. basically, every successful business person an investor assesses and addresses risks. any a company that is making prisons cotton shirts needs to assess climate risk in their supply chain because we are having droughts in texas. we are having floods in pakistan. they are social risks.

how do you attract and retain the best and brightest. basically what they're saying in these state laws are not allowing the states to work with any asset managers or banks that princes believe climate change is real. what it has done so far is lead to the pension funds underperforming, which is impacting the ability to retire for firefighters, teachers, policemen across these states. it is also according to the texas state chamber of commerce which includes exxon and chevron, put out reports in a texas bill because the state 600 million dollars and lost them thousand jobs. these anti-esg, this crusade is antibusiness, anti-freedom, whereas basically good business as you want to assess and address good risk and that is what they're trying to suppress. amy: what would've happened if he did not testify?

you were subpoenaed? >> i was subpoenaed. i would have been i guess -- i don't know. put in jail or something. i voluntarily -- the way it worked, they filed this antitrust action against as you sow and ask us for a lot of documents. since we are nonprofit, we did not quite understand because antitrust has with setting pricing and we don't have a price or product. so we asked for clarification and they send a subpoena saying we need all your documents. we sent them 12,000 pages of documents. they said, not enough. we had our president chief counsel testified in january. they said not enough. i said i would testify. they said the march 20 date. within a week, they threatened us with contempt of congress. i voluntarily was coming in and they sent a subpoena last week. amy: talk about this momentum

that the chair of the committee jim jordan, how -- at the federal level and the states pushing, particularly talk about the attempt to protect the fossil fuel industry from the accelerating divestment and green investment movements. the kind of progress you have made over the years and now how it is being turned back. >> just understand this anti--- the letter we got also went to 13 other groups for antitrust. those include the largest pension fund in the country calpers, blackrock, state street, vanguard, iss, as well as gfans which is 500 of the world's biggest banks. they are investigating the entire global economy. what they're saying -- they are saying shareholders cannot have a conversation. and by asking companies to reduce their carbon emissions,

that we are threatening their freedom of all americans. that is a quote from the subpoena. they are basically trying to suppress information. we talked to a lot of companies. as you sow is a nonprofit. we engage hundreds of companies. we do a great deal of research. we sit down with companies and try to help them find ways to reduce material risk for all stakeholders and also to improve their long-term profit maximization, their long-term -- just becoming a better company. we have great working with these companies, have had great success. that is a threat. they're trying to stop people from looking at the climate risk . they're saying, put your head in the ground. we are saying, we need the freedom to invest. like they are trying to suppress our freedom to be able to make

logical, good business choices. and in doing so, at the state level, their harming their own citizens. this anti-esg is antibusiness, it is leading to -- amy: talk about leonard leo's role in this of the federalist society. talk about the trillions of dollars that could go to climate action unless it is banned by this. >> leonard leo is the cochair of the federalist society. those are the folks come all of the right wing edges, particularly the supreme court come across the whole landscape. he was given $1.6 billion in mid 2022 to lead this crusade. it is a very orchestrated campaign. they have put out a lot of communications tainting the acronym esg saying it is somehow a bad thing to do. even though in a recent survey

by ibm, 5000 c suite executives in 22 countries across 22 industries, 79% of them said they use sustainability and esg in order to maximize their profits. this is a market. the market has spoken. 181 companies in this roundtable sign in agreement for stakeholder capitalism. that means you take care of your employees, take care of your customers. the communities we operate in your supply chains. and that leads to greater competitive strength and profits for your shareholders. that was in 2019. the bottom line is, the pro-esg fits all about profit maximization, long-term sustainable growth, and the anti-esg is -- they are losing money and it is antibusiness, anti-freedom, and frankly, anti-capitalists. amy: andrew behar is the ceo of

"as you sow," a non-profit promoting environmental and social corporate responsibility through shareholder advocacy. his group is being investigated by the house judiciary committee for alleged antitrust activity. [cap