03/23/16 03/23/16 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now! >> after what happened in france, we said to ourselves, the capital of europe must had at one time or another, and it was today that it was hit. amy: belgium begins three days of mourning after a pair of bombings targeting the brussels airport and a central subway station killing at least 31 , people and injure over 200. isis has claimed responsibility. president obama responded during his trip to cuba. >> the notion that any political agenda would justify the killing of innocent people like this is

something that is beyond the pale. we are going to continue with the over 60 nations that are compounding isil and going to go after them. amy: then in the race for the white house, hillary clinton wins big in arizona as sanders takes utah and idaho while trump utah in thekes republican race. all that and more coming up greeting welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. belgium has begun three days of mourning after at least 31 people died and more than 230 others were injured tuesday in bombings targeting the brussels airport and a crowded subway station near the headquarters of the european union. isis claimed responsibility for the bombings and claimed more would follow. the attacks took place just days after authorities arrested salah abdeslam.

a massive manhunt is now underway for belgian man named najim laachraoui. he suspected of being involved above tuesday's attack as well as the paris bombings. belgian media has reported two brothers, khalid el bakraoui and ibrahim el bakraoui, as being involved in the bombing. both are believed to have blown themselves up in the attack. the belgian prime minister condemned the explosions. i really want to say with the greatest force to those who have chosen to support and in many -- enemy of fundamental values to say we will remain united, that today we will be fully mobilized with the profound pain in our hearts that is full and hold a determination to act to protect liberty, to protect our way of life. amy: we will go to brussels for more on the attacks after headlines. in response to tuesday's attacks in brussels, republican presidential candidate and texas

senator ted cruz released a a statement saying -- "we need to empower law enforcement to patrol and secure muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalized." among those to criticize his comments was new york city police commissioner william bratton. >> we don't need a president that doesn't respect the values that form the foundation of this country. amy: republican frontrunner donald trump called for closing the border and doubled down on his vow to bring back torture. democratic candidate hillary clinton warned against insulting muslim americans in the wake of the attacks while her rival, senator sanders, said the u.s. is fighting crisis not islam. ,>> we are fighting a terrorist organization, a barbaric organization that is killing innocent people. we are not fighting a religion. amy: senator sanders won the democratic caucuses in utah and idaho by a wide margin with about 80% support in each state.

clinton and trump both won their party's respective arizona primaries. ted cruz defeated trump in the utah caucus. we'll have more on the results later in the broadcast and host a debate between former mayor of salt lake city rocky anderson and one of the leading human rights and migrant worker activists dolores huerta. president obama has wrapped up his historic visit to cuba after delivering an address to the cuban people. it was the first-ever live address by a sitting u.s. president to the people of cuba. >> i have come here to bury the and remnant of the cold war the americas. in many ways, the u.s. and cuba are like two brothers who have been estranged for many years, even as we share the same blood. we both live in a new world, colonized by europeans. cuba, like the united states, was built in part by slaves

brought here from africa. like the united states, the cuban people can trade -- trace their heritage to both slaves and slave owners. amy: president obama attended a baseball game between the tampa bay rays and a cuban team with cuban president raul castro. also present at the game were members of colombia's farc rebel group, including leader rodrigo londono. on secretary of state john kerry monday, held an unprecedented meeting with farc leaders in havana. thefarc in columbia government are said to be nearing an agreement after three years of talks to end the five-decade-long conflict. president obama has now arrived in argentina, where he will seek to renew ties with the country under its new pro-corporate, right-wing president mauricio macri. the now eight-member supreme court has deadlocked in a four-four tie for the first time since the death of justice antonin scalia last month. the tie left in tact the decision of a lower appeals court in a bankruptcy case. senate republicans have vowed to block obama's nomination of

merrick garland to replace scalia. this comes as the court is set to hear arguments today in a key case concerning birth control coverage under obama's signature healthcare law. the obama administration has already exempted churches and other houses of worship from a rule requiring employer health plans to provide free birth control coverage to employees. for religiously affiliated nonprofits, they simply need to notify the health insurer or the government that they object to providing birth control coverage, at which point the government takes over and the nonprofit has no further role. but a number of nonprofits said the mere act of communicating their objection would make them complicit in providing contraception, and therefore violate their religious freedom. if the court deadlocks in the case, it would leave intact appeals court rulings that have largely supported the birth control mandate. a mexican activist has launched a hunger strike here in new york city to call for the indictment of mexican president enrique peña nieto and the return of the 43 students missing in mexico for 18 months.

leobardo santillan has launched similar actions in dallas and houston. he began his fast monday in a plaza near the united nations. ahead of his fast, santillan spoke in times square, where he went to show support for antonio tizapa, the father of one of the missing students, who ran sunday's new york city half marathon. santillan explained the reason for his hunger strike. >> we are taking action because the double standard in andington has privatized pleased corporations are in mexico. really, it is a double standard of the united nations. they have become an organization of delinquents, an organization of mercenaries. it serves the corporations. we are very bothered because the u.s. double standard to say they're going to get rid of isis, and we have ice is over here. the mexican government and the mexican cartels are working together in the new cartel is the cartel of opinion yet joe.

amy: in a victory for reproductive rights and tennessee, a law that criminalizes people who use drugs during pregnancy, allowing them to be jailed for up to 15 years, will expire after an july 1 effort to extend the measure failed in a state house subcommittee. alabama and wisconsin have prosecuted women under similar measures as part of what advocates say is an increasing criminalization of pregnancy. in other news from tennessee, a bill banning transgender students from using bathrooms that correspond to their gender identity has died in a house committee after transgender students packed the meeting. this comes after charlotte, north carolina passed an , ordinance protecting the right of transgender people to use the bathroom that matches their gender identity. but north carolina lawmakers are now taking action not only to overturn that ordinance but to , ban local governments statewide from prohibiting discrimination against lgbt people in public accommodations. conagra has become the latest food giant to announce plans to use labels disclosing the presence of genetically modified organisms or gmo's in foods throughout the united states.

campbell soup co., general mills , and catalog have also announced plans to apply the labels in order to comply with a new vermont law requiring gmo labeling that will take effect in july. former toronto mor rob ford has died of a rare and aggressive form of cancer at the age of 46. ford is best known for admitting to using crack cocaine "probably in one of my drunken stupors." a number of his exploits were caught on video, including a profanity-laced tirade about how he wanted to murder an unidentified person as well as homophobic remarks and lewd comments about a female opponent. ford refused to step down, and the toronto city council voted to curb his powers. he filed to run for re-election, but dropped his bid after his cancer diagnosis in 2014. he leaves behind a wife and two children. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. juan: and i am juan gonzalez.

welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. belgium has begun three days of mourning after at least 31 people died and over 230 were injured tuesday in bombings targeting the brussels airport and a crowded subway station near the headquarters of the european union. isis took responsibility for the brussels bombings and claimed more would follow. the attacks took place just days ater authorities arrested suspect in the november terrorist attacks that killed 130 people. a massive manhunt is underway for 24-year-old belgian man named najim laachraoui. he is suspected of being involved in both tuesday's attacks as well as the paris bombings. amy: according to press accounts, laachraoui went to syria in 2013. he is believed to be one of three men seen in security camera footage at the brussels airport prior to the bombing.

belgian media has also reported two brothers, khalid el bakraoui and ibrahim el bakraoui is being involved in the bombings, both are believed to have blown themselves up in the attack. over the past decade hundreds of , young belgian men have left their home to fight with isil and other militant groups in the middle east. belgium reportedly provided the most isis fighters per capita of all eu countries last year. the belgian prime minister has announced the country had raised executed level to maximum. units ofordinating threat analysis has decided to bring the security level to level four, which means additional safety measures. the reinforcement of border controls and limits on public transports. in a reinforcement a military presence in key sites. we're studying further measures. griefresidents expressed after the bombings. >> after the past months, i believe that we have not really

been prepared, but there has always been this sense of dread that something might happen. it honestly really has not sank in yet for me personally because i never really believed that something could happen here in it is clearly here. amy: president obama addressed the bombings during history to cuba. >> this is just one more example of why the entire world has to unite against these terrorists. the notion that any political agenda will justify the killing of innocent people like this is something that is beyond the pale. we're going to continue with the over 60 nations that are confounding isil and going to go after them. amy: we begin in brussels belgium where we are joined by frank barat, author and activist. you are in brussels right now. can you talk about this last 24

hours, what has happened in response to it, frank? >> good morning. first, as an update for you guys, there are reports this ,orning that najim laachraoui one of the major suspects in this attack, has been arrested in the suburb. it is that confirmed yet, but there are some reports saying he had been arrested. hours have been sort of able or, i guess, when a number those things that -- trying to make sense of it all. inhink as much as belgians the government and the police may be expected something to happen, the scale of what happened was totally unexpected, so people were left in shock and in a way, the response of the politicians and the police forces, etc., took a while to

arrive because i think it was a big shock for everybody. juan: what is life right now like in brussels after the attacks in terms of the situation locally with the schools and other businesses? ok, i mean, the schools and the businesses and stuff were closed after paris, after november and the bataclan attack. brussels was in a lot down with everything pretty much closed. it is different now. schools are open. a few businesses are open, not all of them. the european -- we're in the european quarter, very close to where the bomb or the suicide bomber happened in maelbeek. lots of police and journalists and cameras and press. about 200silence

yards away from where i am now. lots of police. lots of media person in the streets. a few rows are closed. a few shots are opened. -- a few shops are open. people are pretty much trying to live normal life, even if everyone is talking about what happened yesterday. i was in a taxi and we talked about it. i was in a shop this morning and everybody talked about it. people are in shock. amy: so the significance of the subway station maelbeek, which is right next to the european union and down the road from the european parliament, can you talk about that? and also, the attacks coming as lah was arrested and what you think is happening here, frank? >> it is hard to make any sort

of conclusions now because we don't have a lot of the facts. what we know is paris, the paris attacks and the brussels attacks are linked. it has now been established. what we know for sure is that two of the most major hub of life and brussels and a political life in brussels, the national airport and the european quarter have been attacked. i guess these targets, these two targets, you know, are the terrorist wish list -- on the top of the terrorists wish list. the symbol of europe, the symbol of many national events being there. and the european quarter is the symbol of the european union and european commission and the rest. so the target chosen were very powerful and hence the situation

here, the fact that even the police and the army from the reports that we had yesterday felt completely lost. the question is, we have to try to explain how this happened. we have security personnel in the streets since january 2015 after charlie hebdo, military is all over the place. the police, we're on the highest level of security alert. despite all of this, two of the biggest targets have been hit yesterday. a lot of questions need to be asked and answered, hopefully. juan: frank, one of the points you have made is that you believe a lot of the radicalization of muslim youth in belgium is occurring not through the mosques or troops to syria, but through stints in prison in belgium. could you talk about that? >> i mean, i don't to

generalize, of course, and it is a mixture of a lot of things, but if you see -- i mean, when i was talking about jails and prison, the people that did the spents in paris have years in jail together. they were radicalized through jail and also to the people they met in jail, including a radical islamist preacher. but it is a mixture. what we see in the families have often talk about is they came to jail as smalltime dilly what's and they came out completely transformed and radicalized. so sometimes this happened in a couple of years, the family just could not sort of recognize it. so it is obviously a lot more to

know, radicalyou islam is also a factor. but we're talking about disenfranchised youth and paris and brussels. therefore, left opened to being led into such paths by actuallym something that they are never been offered before a sort of society. , yourrank barat coordinated of the russell tribunal on palestine and president of the palestine legal action network. whatou talk about political ideology is espoused by these young men and what you think is important to bring out? >> i mean, it is important to

bring out -- we have to look at it as two options. we either continue the status quo, continue and follow so-called leaders are saying this morning and have been saying since even before dozens subject were 11, -- september 11, those people hate our freedoms, he our culture, they do not like life the way we do, and they're waiting to go to everise to meet how many virgin's. so either do this and continue to sort of eye for an eye, to for a tooth war and more sort of revenge type of things that have led to nothing but more terrorism on the ground, i mean, the end of al qaeda and the killing of bin laden was celebrated, but only traded something more powerful in isis.

so we either do this and we follow sort of a maybe fox news analogy of donald trump analogy or we decide to stop and ask the tough questions. and the questions that need to be answered. as an example, in norway, a country most trump supporters don't know exist, after the attacks in 2011, which killed more than 70 people, the prime minister of norway said that norway's response to terror would be more openness, greater political participation, and more democracy. it is words we don't hear nowadays. the prime minister of belgium has announced more security in the streets, more security at airports. so either they don't want to look at the real problem and don't want to face the responsibility and it, or they

are simply lying. so now civil society has to be clear that we need answers from them and we need to look -- othersoung muslims and that were radicalized, it did not come out of nowhere. it came out of radicalization through what is happening in syria, which is actually key to understanding the creation of isis, syria, and what is happening in syria in the last two years, and the total betrayal of the western world. fight itsing to oppressor and the west sort of turning its back on them, allowing slaughter. this created so much anger and when you put this on top of the failure of u.s. foreign-policy and u.s. imperialism, when you put this on top the sort of ambitions of the west in terms

of oil, in terms of trade routes and in terms of supporting dictators in israel, you know, a great powerful and very dangerous mixture that then manifests in the form of isis or al qaeda or any other terrorist organization. so we have to ask the tough questions. and we need answers. amy: frank, we're going to take a break -- >> more wars. amy: we're going to take a break and come back to this discussion. frank barat is an author and activist based in brussels, belgium. he is president of the palestine legal action network. we will also be discussing with joshua hersh who reported from brussels following the paris attacks in november. he wrote a piece headlined, "what they missed: the anti-terror raid that asked all the wrong questions." we will also be joined by yasser louati, a french arab

spokesperson for the international relations desk for the collective against islamophobia in france. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: it was announced today one has to weighappers the age of 45. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. we have a round table to talk about what is happening in brussels, belgium. here in new york, we're joined reported hersh, who from brussels following the paris attacks in wrote a piece november, headlined, "what they missed: the anti-terror raid that asked all the wrong questions." at the time, he was the buzz feet news michael hastings fellow. what did they mess? >> that was a particular story about a raid that took place in eastern belgium in january of last year and it was in the aftermath of the charlie hebdo attacks.

it did not get a lot of attention at the time. i went back and looked at it and noticed the description of it, the reporting on it, the way the prosecutor talked about it fit with the pattern that we tend to hear about these. some it is a psychopath of some sort who goes to syria, returns back to brussels, he is a very islamist radical and wants to blow himself up and kill everyone. that made some sense, but there was a third guy in that house. they grouped them together in a category, but he didn't really fit there. yet never gone to syria. everyone i met said he was not radicalized at all. some people said he may have had no idea what he was doing. amy: this was which raid? >> were they killed everyone except him, and this guy jumped out the window and the prosecor conceded that he did not seem prepared to die like the other two. juan: and he killed everyone in a fierce firefight. theou may have heard about firefight after the attacks in paris, was exactly the same thing. many minutes long.

amy: this was after charlie hebdo. earlier.o it was much i relies that people like this guy seem to exist. they come up all the time in these attacks. there people who play smaller support roles, who have connections to people who we think of as the terrorists through childhood, through growing up together through pretty criminality, but they are not terrorists in the way we think of it. if we realize those are the people we need to focus on helps us understand the foundation for the terrorism structure that exists in cities like brussels and in paris, people are going abroad and coming back. is may be much more monday than the hybrid are going here about people trying to defeat democracy and they hate our freedoms and things like that. this people who exist in a lower spectrum of local grievances and criminality and things that maybe are easier to deal with that also more complicated to try to understand. juan: in this neighborhood of salah abdeslam -- maelbeek that

we've heard about in recent months, it is quite distinct from other arab or muslim neighborhoods in europe and that it is right in the center of brussels, isn't it? >> yes, just to metro stops away from the central station. it was siking to me. is in the middle of the city more or less. but it is still really isolated and people who grow up there will tell you they feel like they cannot really access other parts of the city. the other parts of the city feel like a foreign land to them. they cannot get apartments there, cannot really get jobs in other places. i spoke to one young man who told me, people always say we refuse to leave, we're for use -- we refuse to integrate. he said, we're not allowed to integrate. amy: explain. >> he was characteristic -- mohammed was in the piece i wrote. he was describing -- this is a young man who is very well

educated, studying at one of the higher colleges in the city. he was able through his education to get out. i think he is the only nonwhite lgium in his school. he still feels like he can ever really be belgium -- belgian news at school. he was working at a department store in utah me was the best job he could get. he tried for years to get another job. he speaks english and french. at the job, he was responsible for folding clothes and cleaning up. the people he worked with refused to learn his damage is called him "worker." this is a daily reflection of how distant he was always going to be from society. juan: what is it from what you have been able to see in terms of the particular social and political realities of belgium that has made it such a hotbed for the development of radicalized muslim fighters now? >> it is hard -- belgium, one of

the things that happens in western eure that we don't deal with quite as much in the u.s. come although, we have our faults, but integration is really hard to pull off in some of these countries in western europe. and it has to do with a very strong sense of identity that these countries bring to the table. so when you arrive from north africa or when you are the child or grandchild of people who arrived from north africa, which is more often the case, you find yourself butting up against this reality that you just cannot be considered belgian. it happens in france and i think it will happen quite a lot in germany. that creates a real tension and a sense of the feeling of opportunity for you is rather low. i think that ultimately got exploited by people. we have to remember early in the war in syria, many people were going off to syria to fight and it was before i says. it was not about radicalization. i think to some extent it was welcomed by the belgian government, by its policy, supported the rebels against the assad.

it was welcomed with the french government. it created an opening for people who wanted to exploit it. amy: i want to bring yasser louati into the conversation, a spokesman against the -- spokesman against the attacks with the collective against islamophobia in france. whatabout your response to has happened over these last months, particularly to the arab community of france. >> hi, amy. it is a feeling of deja vu. i have been following the news with her brussels attacks, and it is the exact same feeling. shock and horror, people crying, people dead. we have -- problemacing the same

and we still refuse to address the question, why do these things keep happening? what would make someone hate his or her country so much to the point of acting on behalf of a foreign terrorist organization? so now the feeling is the government's -- i can speak for the french government, especially, for month after the november attacks, is not doing what should be done in addressing the root causes of terrorism. every single guest on your program that has gone on before me spoke about them. as long as you have foreign domination, wars, social injustice, exclusion, shrunk identity against the minorities, etc., you'll definitely push one of the weakest elements in the hands of these terrorist groups. and you don't need 1000 of them. one or two are enough. brussels was just a demonstration of it. juan: in terms of what you expect now, considering what happened after the attacks in paris in terms of dragnet and

community,e muslim what are your fears? >> we hope the belgian government will not act like the french government did come a meaning brutality against the muslim population and holding it responsible directly or indirectly for what happened. so far, the belgian government is sending positive signals and we hope it won't go down the path -- to give you a clear example of the french failure in the aftermath of the november 13 attacks, so far, after four months, 3400 raids have been cared against homes, mosques, muslim restaurants, etc. willingness to humiliate people. in the end, only four or five inquiries have been opened against -- on the terror charges. that means for four months, you have terrorizing innocent people and holding them accountable for

your own failures. i hope the belgian government will look at the french failures and take another path, meaning showing more solidarity, more unity in the face of the threats. amy: i want to get your response, yasser, to our own politicians here in the united states. following the attacks in belgium, republican presidential contender ted cruz, who is a senator from texas, issued a statement saying -- later on tuesday, senator cruz spoke to cnn. >> if you have a neighborhood where there's a high level of gang activity, the way to prevent it is you increase the law enforcement presence there and you target the gang members to get them off the streets. wherealking about an area

there is a higher incidence of radical islamic terrorism. if you look at europe, europe's failed immigration law has allowed islamic terrorists into europe and they are now in isolated neighborhoods where radicalism festers. amy: that is senator cruz speaking on cnn. meanwhile, donald trump, the republican front runner, was asked on the "today show" about what belgium officials should do to get information from salah abdeslam who was captured last week. >> frankly, the waterboarding, if it was up to me and if we change the laws or have the laws, waterboarding would be fine. if they want -- as long as it -- we work within laws. they don't work within laws. we work within laws. the waterboarding would be fine. if they could expand the loss, i would do a lot more than waterboarding. you have to get information from these people. we have to be smart and we have to be tough, and we cannot be soft and weak, which is what we

are right now. amy: that was donald trump and before him, ted cruz, calling formore waterboarding and the monitoring of and police going into muslim communities in the united states. yasser louati, your response? is not waitinge for ted cruz to give us policy advice will stop if he wants to patrol neighborhoods, ask them to go patrol neighborhoods where you have white-collar criminality to put millions of americans out of their homes and lost their jobs. let's start with the secondary of his idiot you call donald trump. what does he know about foreign policy? the drone war?g how about ending the war against terrorism? how about things of the consequences of the clients iraq does all the emergence of the so-called islamic state. every single war abroad carried

by superpowers is strictly related to terrorist attacks. to quote one of your cia officials who said, being a test attacks is a small price for being a superpower, so how about addressing that? when it comes to policies, yes, we need to address our policies, increasing dramatically in inequalities of the exclusions of people. again, it does not take more than 10 individuals to carry out massive terrorist attacks. unfortunately, for america, you dumbest options, politicians running for president and i should be ashamed for every person in america. juan: i saw your smile. your response? >> it is always sleep and emotional and somewhat ludicrous response, but at the same time, there is a law enforcement response. we have to recognize that there is a role for law enforcement will stop law enforcement

instead of the military. law enforcement in the way we're learning we have to apply launch for spent in smart and engaged weights in american cities. ted cruz mentioned if we have a neighborhood full of things, we would not send tanks down the street or blow up apartment buildings, we wouldry to figure out smart, intelligent ways to get information to work with neighbors to build relationships with people who might be able to inform under the us option that most of the residents of that neighborhood do not want the gangs there, either. amy: frank barat, your response to listening to the presidential candidates in the u.s. -- ashley, the new york police commissioner bratton lashed out against the patrolling of muslim communities, but your response to ted cruz and to donald trump, frank, in brussels? >> i mean, it is ridiculous on so many levels. maybe they should rate the reports by intelligence agencies who have showed the use of torture is actually pretty

useless and getting information or good, solid information out of people or terrorists. -- most ofe people the politicians are not interested by the facts, right? otherwise, they would completely change their policies. i want to say something about paris and france. interesting in the scary thing is the state of emergency and the repression of the sort of muslim and their communities, most of them being french, has also been used against social movements, against students, unions. they're using -like the shock doctrine. they're using this terrible thing that happened in paris and using the circular -- structurally repressed for any sort of political movement that

in tents on changing the narrative and changing the power in place. so this is something we have seen happening over and over around the world. amy: i want to thank you all for being with us, frank barat speaking to us from brussels, belgium. he is an author and activist, was the coordinator of the russell tribunal on palestine and president of the palestine legal action network. and i want to thank joshua hersh for joining us. we will link to your piece. you reported from brussels following the paris attacks in november. he wrote a piece headlined, "what they missed: the anti-terror raid that asked all the wrong questions." at the time, he was buzz feed news michael hastings fellow . and thank you toy -- thank you to yasser louati for joining us spokesperson and head of the , international relations desk for the collective against islamophobia in france. when we come back, the primaries in the caucuses in the united

states. idaho.rizona, stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: a shout out to the journalism club joining us here at democracy now!, watching the broadcast. it was announced today a tribe member passed away today at the age of 45. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. before we go to the results of the primaries and caucuses, you wrote an interesting piece in "the new york daily news." juan: amidst all of the news about the terrorist attack yesterday, not much attention was paid to the fact the supreme court held a hearing, and oral argument on a case involving puerto rico, specifically related to its financial problems and its bankruptcy. in 2014, the legislature of

puerto rico past it's on restructuring our bankruptcy act. this was in response to the fact the federal government did not allow puerto rico to use federal bankruptcy laws in a law in 1984, the porter can facing major financial problems passed its own bankruptcy law. several hedge funds that held bonds or puerto rican bonds, then went to court in 2014 and last year the u.s. district court overturned the puerto rico law, said the government of puerto rico did not have the constitutional right to have its own bankruptcy law. that was appealed so the court of appeals in boston that upheld it, the original decision, and before so the hearing the sueme court was over the puerto rico government's appeal of the striking down of its bankruptcy law. it was an interesting hearing. first of all, because in this particular case, only seven justices will rule.

not only obviously is just as scalia the longer on the court, but justice alito has recused himself, presumably because he has -- he and his wife have investments in puerto rico bonds. only seven justices are hearing this case. and heard the whirl arguments yesterday between the government of puerto rico and the bondholders lawyers. interestingly, the four liberal justices, in this particular case have a majority, seem to be in their comments sympathetic to puerto rico's position, especially justice ginsburg and sonia sotomayor, question when congress eliminated the ability of puerto rico to use federal bankruptcy laws, and intended not to allow it to have any kind of bankruptcy laws, which is really the issue at hand. so you have the court will have to rule before june or by the

end of june on this case presumably, may be more some pathetic than commerce because congress still has not acted. speaker ryan promised in december he would have a bill in the house passed by the house by march 31. well, congress goes out of session today for easter recess and does not come back until april 12 or 13th, i think, and ryan has now postponed his promised legislation until then. and even then, still not clear the republicans will approve a bankruptcy provision for puerto rico. is still leaves the government of puerto rico facing massive debt payments, i think $440 million due on may 1, and unable to pay. the secretary of education of puerto rico just sent a letter to speaker wright yesterday saying, look, we don't have money in our schools. securityt paid for our guards for months and a security guard company is straining to pull all of the security guards out of the public schools. there's an influenza epidemic,

the zika virus. not enough money to provide proper health care for the public school students. all of this the government reporter guy says they need action from the u.s. government and it looks like the supreme court may be the only branch of government that will act very soon. amy: and while you're in puerto rico last week, students were protesting saying, you're paying more money on the interest of the debt than investing in our education. we are suddenly going to continue to cover this and will link to your piece at democracynow.org. juan: we turn now to the race for the white house. on tuesday, bernie sanders won the democratic caucuses in utah and idaho by wide margin with about 80% support in each state. hillary clinton expanded her lead with a victory in the arizona primary. meanwhile, in the republican race, ted cruz one utah republican caucus while donald trump took arizona. amy: we're joined by dolores huerta civil rights activist and , co-founder of the united farm workers of america with cesar

chavez. she has endorsed hillary clinton for president. rocky anderson is the former democratic mayor of salt lake city, utah. he has endorsed bernie sanders. in 2012, he ran for president on the justice party ticket. we welcome you both to democracy now! last night, hillary clinton had a big win in arizona and bernie sanders had big wins both in utah and in idaho. so let's start in salix in utah, the significance of the when and utah, although recently still remains behind hundreds -- hundreds of delegates behind clinton, rocky anderson. about 79%sanders won of the vote. the reason we see these enormous wins, it was about the same in idaho, is because the democratic parties in utah and idaho alsoed the independence to vote in the caucuses, whereas in arizona, it was closed. it was far less democratic and

far less reflective of what is going to happen in the general election because the independence overwhelmingly will support bernie sanders if he is the candidate, and that is just simply not true that hillary clinton is the candidate. utah,gly enough, amy, and and it is the most republican state in the country, george bush won by the widest margin in the country in both of his elections in utah, the polls now show if bernie sanders is the democratic candidate, he will 37%, 11%p by 40% to margin, whereas hillary clinton is barely shown as prevailing over trump. he is far more electable, bernie sanders, against trump then hillary clinton. and i think what we are seeing now is the independents who do

not trust hillary clinton. her honesty and trustworthiness are in the toilet among independents and her favorability ratings are the same. we have got to get the message out that bernie sanders is the candidate who can beat trump if he is the republican nominee. , why do youanderson think there's such a mistrust on the part of the independents toward hillary clinton? >> there's a huge mistrust private larger over -- with the independents. she voted for the iraq war and helped george bush make his phony claims in support of the iraq war. she supported that vote when she ran against obama last time around, and now she is saying, oh, it was a mistake. she supports fracking. she is trying to back off that a little bit. she said the transpacific partnership was the gold

standard until she had a face bernieanders, and she w he base-ers disad with her on that. she opposed marriage equality until the polls changed. there's no reason to trust this woman. and that is showing in all of the polls. statesthat those in the that are going to be voting will recognize that a vote for bernie sanders is going to help the democrats prevail against trump where is hillary clinton is not doing well -- whereas hillary clinton is not doing well. in utah, all of these republicans are saying they would support bernie sanders 37%.trump 40% to and most of the people, well, some 16% are saying they won't even vote if it is hillary clinton versus trump. we're seeing the same thing nationally. and a for bernie sanders

1% lead by hillary. and the trajectory is certainly against hillary because her numbers keep getting worse and worse in terms of her favorability ratings and voters perception of her honesty and trustworthiness. amy: though bernie sanders won in utah and idaho, the lines in idaho i think they said they were like a mile-long to get into the caucuses. >> yes, i waited 2.5 hours, amy, and it was cold. people were wondering, is this -- amy: but hillary clinton swept in the primary in arizona. dolores huerta, your strong supporter of hillary clinton, traveling the country supporting her. why? because iirst of all, do believe she is the best candidate. i think she is competent stop she is intelligent. she is incredible amounts of experience. she has the skills, the knowledge, everything we need to have for the president of the

united states that can get things done. i think that is very, very important to really focus on that. hillary is a doer. she will make things happen. i know i just are the gentleman speaking about how republicans love hillary, well, i know the republican party is doing a lot to make sure that bernie gets tons support and sending of money supporting bernie sanders because they know when it comes to the general elections in november, they know that bernie sanders will be a lot easier to beat in the general election than hillary. so i can understand their motivation and their support for hillary, but i do believe hillary is the best candidate. it is interesting when you talk about arizona because here you latinoery progressive role grijalva, but even with his support and -- bernie had a very strong base in arizona.

i was in arizona and they did a lot of door-to-door work a lot of mailing and stuff on the media. hillary still one very handily in the state of arizona. juan: what about the criticisms of the flip-flops and hurry clinton's position on a variety of issues like marriage equality and also about -- also in terms of the tpp? >> i think we want a president that can be evolved in their thinking, the same thing was said about bernie sanders would support the support of begun lobby, you know? bernie in the past has also made some mistakes. i think my last update, -- his immigration reform that he came out against the ted kennedy bill in 2007, but we thought we were very close to build a get immigration reform because we after thepport of --

marches in 2006. i think we want a president that is going to use vault in their thinking and we don't want anybody that is stuck in the past, so i have great confidence that hillary clinton will be there and she will react to what the public needs. and she is always had a lot of compassion. the one thing i do want to say, at the end of the day, the person we want to beat his donald trump. i know many of the values of bernie sanders and that hillary has are the same. the big difference between the two candidates is that hillary is a person a can make things happen. she made things happen even before she was in office when she was the first lady. she is the first convening of a health care convention for latino youth and children. she was able -- with republicans and democrats, to pass a health care bill for children. 8 million children covered under health care. even before we had the affordable care act. then she would afford with that.

passed forll was immigrant and migrant children covered under health care. amy: i want to go to an , compared tooll front runners in previous presidential primaries, trump and clinton's unfavorable ratings, 57% and 52% unfavorable, 57% for trump and 52% for clinton, are the highest in cbs news/new york times polls going back to 1984 when cbs first ask the question. both of their of favorability is. but i want to ask mayor -- former rocky anderson also lake city, this point that dolores huerta makes that you want a leader who is evolving, who is willing to change her mind. she does it right when she is running for election. bernie sanders has been there his entire career to help

promote the interests of the public. he is against fracking. hillary clinton is not. hillary clinton, which was secretary of state, leaned toward approving the xl pipeline. and the corruption issues. we know that her brother who received hundreds of thousands of dollars to get a pardon for a couple of his clients. you know, this whole clinton so anathemamic is to most people and certainly, among independents. independents are going to control the outcome of this election. they don't trust hillary clinton. her and favorability ratings are horrible will step bernie sanders is the only candidate running for president right now that has a positive favorability rating. that is amazing to me that people don't realize this and

when you say we want somebody who can beat trump, the only person according to the polls, that has a good lead over trump in poll after poll after poll is bernie sanders. and hillary clinton could easily lose this race, especially given the trajectory that we're seeing an terms of people's lack of trust for her. on so many issues will step juan: i would like to ask -- >> pocketing $400,000. juan: if i could interrupt, i want to ask dolores huerta, democraticiated with socialists of america. your response to the fact that an independent and a devout socialist is running for president and racking up so many votes, but your supporting his opponent? >> first, i want to respond to the issue that the java just

mentioned. i want to say, when you assign hillary clinton what her brother did, that is so sexist. it is so typical of that come always to blame women for something that somebody else did. women have to clean up the mess the way obama had to clean up george bush's mess. >> no, no, that was her brother. pocketed hundreds of thousands of dollars for clinton to grab a pardon to his clients. it is like chelsea clinton -- >> wait a minute, i stick by what i said. amy: we have 10 seconds to go. again, i think bernie has a strong message. i think hillary can make it happen. ton it comes to being able have affordable college for students, i think hillary can make it happen to improve the affordable care act. she can make it happen. that is the big difference between the two candidates. amy: we have to leave it there. thank you for being with us, dolores huerta and former saw

lake city mayor rocky anderson. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-

>> i am lidia bastianich, and teaching you about italian food has always been my passion. i want to always make it prettier and better and tastier, but this doesn't need a single thing. now it's time to learn the basics of the italian kitchen. so join mend master all things italian. tutti a tavola a mangiare! >> at cento fine foods, we're dedicated to preserving the culinary heritage of authentic italian foods by offering over 100 specialty italian products for the american kitchen. cento -- trust your family with our family. >> gna padano, made with passion for almost 1,000 years, helps bring authentic flavor to meals. grana padano -- italian excellence. >> beautiful vegetables and a hot oven make a great marriage, and in my kitchen, i happen to have both. l