07/19/17 07/19/17 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now! pres. trump: i think we were are probably in that position where we will let obamacare fail. we're not gng to own it. let obamacare fail. we're not going to own it. i can tell you the republicans are not going to own it. we will let obamacare fail and the democrats are going to say, how do we fix it? or, how to come up with a new plan? says itch mcconnell will try to push through legislation to repeal the affordable care act and wait until after the 2018 mid-term elections to propose a replacement. meanwhile, proponents of a single-payer healthcare plan are organizing to urge congress not

only to stop the effort to repeal obamacare, but to pass a bill that would guarantee medicare for all. we'll speak with dr. carol paris, president of physicians for a national health program. she was arrested monday during a protest against the republican healthcare bill. then, how israel's tenure blockade brought gaza to the brink of collapse. >>very dicator from eney to water to health care to employment to poverty to food insecurity- every indicator is declining. gazans have been going through dedevelopment.n amy: we will go directly to gaza to speak with award-winning human rights lawyer raji sourani . then to new york. a haitian immigrant facing deportation who has lived in

this country for decades. he now has four u.s. born children. >> my daughter is going to college now. -- if i'mhe one deported, how is she going to finish? amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. president donald trump said tuesday he plans to let obamacare fail after senate republican leaders failed in a bid to repeal parts of the affordable care act without a replacement in place. the move was opposed by four republicans, including three women -- senators susan collins, shelley moore capito, and lisa murkowski -- who, along with rob portman, said the effort would deprive millions of americans of health insurance. all three republican women were left out of a senate working group comprised of 13 white men that drafted the initial healthcare bill. on tuesday, president trump suggested he might let insurance

markets created under obamacare go under and then try to work with democrats on a rescue. pres. trump: i think we are probably in that position where we will just let obamacare fail. we're not going to own it. i'm not going to own it. the republicans are not going to own it. we will let obamacare fail and then the democrats will come to us and say, how do we fix it? or, how do we come up with a new plan? amy: president trump invited all 52 republican senators to the white house today for lunchtime talks aimed at reviving efforts to repeal and replace the affordable care act. meanwhile, proponents of a single-payer healthcare plan are organizing to urge congress not only to stop the effort to repeal obamacare, but to pass a bill that would guarantee medicare for all. on tuesday, former vice president al gore became the latest prominent democrat to speak in favor of single-payer. >> the private sector has not aown any ability to provide

good, accessible, affordable health care for all. i believe, for example, we ought to have a single-payer health care plan. amy: we'll have more on the republicans failed push on healthcare and the growing fight for single payer after headlines. the republican-controlled house budget committee is set to vote today on a draft budget that would slash welfare spending, gut financial regulations, rewrite the tax code to favor the wealthy, and slash $500 billion from medicare and $1.5 trillion from medicaid and obamacare over the next decade. the budget would also add another $30 billion to trump's record-setting $668 billion request for pentagon spending. president trump held a second, previously undisclosed meeting with russian president vladimir putin during the g20 summit in germany earlier this month. on tuesday, the white house acknowledged the meeting, saying there was nothing unusual about it. but world leaders who witnessed the discussion called it highly

unusual for president trump to single out an adversary while snubbing u.s. allies at a g20 dinner. trump reportedly spoke for about an hour with putin over dinner during their second face-to-face talk on july 7, relying on a russian government translator because president trump's interpreter did not speak russian. the conversation took place out of earshot of nearby observers, and there's no sign the u.s. recorded a transcript of the conversation. meanwhile, the identity of an eighth person present at a meeting in 2016 between a russian lawyer and top trump campaign officials has been revealed. ike kaveladze, a soviet-born u.s. citizen, attended as a representative of the father-and-son russian developers who asked for the meeting. in 2000, the u.s. government accused kaveladze of helping launder $1.4 billion of russian and eastern european money through u.s. banks, though he was never charged with a crime. the meeting in june of last year was organized after president

trump's oldest son, donald trump junior -- donald trump jr., embraced an apparent effort by the russian government to peddle information incriminating hillary clinton in an attempt to help trump win the presidency. secretary of state rex tillerson has moved to close the state department's office tasked with holding war criminals accountable. this week, the head of the office of global criminal justice told his staff he was being reassigned elsewhere and that the office's work would be rolled into another part of the state department. david scheffer, who was the first u.s. ambassador-at-large for war crimes issues, said -- "this sends a strong signal to perpetrators of mass atrocities that the united states is not watching you anymore." in yemen, at least 20 civilians were killed tuesday as they attempted to flee u.s.-backed saudi-led airstrikes. witnesses said a warplane bombed a vehicle packed with families fleeing intense fighting near the city of taiz. the latest civilian deaths came amid a massive cholera epidemic brought on by the destruction of

human sanitation, health care infrastructure after saudi-led airstrikes leveled hospitals and clinics across the country. since april, cholera has sickened a third of a million people and killed over 1700. meanwhile, the saudi-led military coalition prevented a united nations flight carrying aid workers from reaching the capital sana'a tuesday after grounding the flight in djibouti because three journalists were aboard. saudi authorities on tuesday arrested a woman seen in a widely-shared social media video wearing a miniskirt and crop-top as she walked through an archaeological site outside the capital riyadh. authorities with the committee for the promotion of virtue and the prevention of vice said they had arrested the woman for running afoul of the kingdom's strict dress code for women, but offered few other details. the arrest came as 14 men accused of taking part in pro-democracy rallies are reportedly facing imminent execution, including mujtaba'a

al-sweikat, who was just 17 years old and scheduled to fly to michigan to attend college in the u.s. when he was arrested. in the gaza strip, medical workers warn electricity shortages imposed by israel are threatening the lives of the sick and elderly. this month, gazans have received between two and four hours of power per day after the palestinian authority cut payments to israel for electricity in a bid to isolate and weaken its political rival, hamas. that's left hospitals scrambling to keep vulnerable patients alive. this is ritta al-jalees, whose children suffer from cystic fibrosis. >> the electricity shortage affects their treatment very much because they need a machine to help them breathe and they need a cool place. they can't use a machine to breathe because we are mostly without electricity. when we have it, i can't deal with the three of them because it comes for a short time. amy: in 2012, the world health organization warned that gaza would be uninhabitable by 2020

, but now the u.n. says living conditions in gaza have deteriorated faster than expected and the area has already become unlivable. we'll have more on the humanitarian catastrophe in gaza later in the broadcast would we speak with the human rights lawyer raji sourani. the u.s. state department on tuesday announced new sanctions against iran over alleged support for terrorism and iran's ballistic missile program. the move will blacklist 18 people accused of having ties to iran's military, freezing any of their u.s. assets. the sanctions came one day after president trump begrudgingly certified that iran has complied with its obligations under the obama-brokered nuclear agreement. as a presidential candidate, trump promised to rip up the iran nuclear deal, calling it the worst deal ever. in moroccan occupied western sahara, moroccan court has sentenced 20 independence activists with harsh prison sentences for their role in a 2010 uprising outside the city.l

both amnesty international and human rights watch are concerned moroccan authorities use torture confessions from the men, who were sentenced up to 30 years in prison. western sahara's indigenous population of overwhelmingly depended -- demand independent since morocco took over western sahara 1975. the trial took place in rabat, morocco. in turkey, a state prosecutor on tuesday remanded six human rights activists, including amnesty international's turkish director, idil eser, on charges of membership in a terrorist group. the move means the activists could languish in jail for up to two years while awaiting a trial. the arrests came as turkish president recep tayyip erdogan continued to crack down on political opponents in the wake of a failed coup last year. this is amnesty international's director for central asia, john dalhuisen, who called the detentions an attack on the core of turkish civil society. >> there is no room in turkey of today for an independent,

.ritical, civil society this is to be removed from erdogan's turkey. turkey is on a one-way track to a dark and dangerous place right now. amy: in the school curriculum evolution.aching of the head of the teachers union called it an assault on science and secularism by the government. in venezuela, it was maduro tuesday condemned the trump administration for considering new sanctions against its government over plans for a vote later this month on any legislative body. on tuesday, the white house promised strong and swift economic actions of maduro proceeds with the plan. this is president maduro. >> what do we do, compatriots? do we give up? do we give in? we let us be governed by the right wing fascism of this continent or walk with our test i, lift our honor and say, "we are the children of simone de

beauvoir and we will govern ourselves"? electionsezuela has in december that would have the power to rewrite the constitution. the move comes amidst massive protest street clashes and increasing antigovernment violence. back in the u.s., a prosecutor in cincinnati, ohio, said tuesday he would not pursue a third murder trial for white former police officer ray tensing, who shot african-american samuel dubose in the head in july 2015 after pulling him over for having a missing front license plate. two previous trials ended with hung juries. this is hamilton county prosecutor joseph deters. >> after discussing this matter with multiple jurors, both black they have said to us "we will never get a

conviction in this case." amy: deter's decision was condemned by the family of samuel dubose. this is trina allen speaking outside hamilton county courthouse just after learning there would be no retrial of officer tensing. >> if you are black in the united states of america they're not going to bother with this anymore. that is what they're pretty much saying. they would like to have him go to jail, but they will not be aying to do anything if it is popularity contest. that is basically what we were told. since we have more racist and hamilton county than not, we can't get a conviction. that is basically what the prosecutor told us. amy: samuel dubose was shot exactly two years ago today. after the killing, officer tensing stated he opened fire after his arm was caught in dubose's car door while dubose drove away. the statement was directly contradicted by tensing's body cam video. at the time of the killing, tensing was wearing a t-shirt under his uniform emblazoned with a confederate battle flag .

wnba seattlee, the storm basketball team has partnered with planned parenthood to raise funds and fight back against republican-led attack on the women's health organization. on tuesday night, the storm donated five dollars from each ticket purchased for its gaming is the chicago sky toward planned parenthood in storm players joined a rally ahead of the game. in a statement, planned parenthood said -- and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. senate republicans are trying to regroup after their latest efforts to overhaul or repeal obamacare failed, dealing a sharp setback to donald trump and the gop's seven-year quest to kill president barack obama' signature healthcare law. the defeat shook financial markets tuesday. the dollar fell to a 10-month low over doubts that trump could push other domestic policy priorities, such as tax reform,

through a divided congress. expressing disappointment, trump suggested he might let insurance markets created under obamacare go under and then try to work with democrats on a rescue. pres. trump: i think we're probably in that position where we will just let obamacare fail. we're not going to own it. i'm not going to own it. the republicans are not going to own it. we will let obamacare fail, then the democrats will come to us in their when you say, how do we fix it? or, how do we come up with a new plan? amy: the senate republican plan to repeal and replace the affordable care act collapsed monday night after republican senators jerry moran of kansas and mike lee of utah announced they would not support the latest version of the bill, ensuring republicans would not have enough votes to pass it. their announcement came at the same time president trump, who has heavily backed the senate bill, was meeting with seven republican senators who did support the measure. the legislation would have cut $700 billion from medicaid. it faced opposition from all senate democrats, a slew of governors from both parties, the majority of the healthcare

industry, the american medical association, hospitals, doctors, nurses, patient advocacy groups and the u.s. conference of catholic bishops. speaking on tuesday, house democratic leader nancy pelosi applauded voters for standing up in town hall meetings and demanding their representatives reject the republican healthcare bill. >> the president in a statement said today, his health care -- did not have the cooperation of any of the democrats and some of the republicans. no, he is never really been about increasing access, lowering costs, improving benefits will stop that is what the affordable care act is about. so the reason the republicans in the leadership in the senate found themselves in such -- and the situation is because people have spoken out. amy: mitch mcconnell says he will try to push through legislation to repeal the affordable care act and wait until after the 2018 mid-term elections to propose a replacement. meanwhile, proponents of a single-payer healthcare plan are organizing to urge congress not

only to stop the effort to repeal obamacare, but to pass a bill that would guarantee medicare for all. on tuesday, former vice president al gore became the latest prominent democrat to speak in favor of single-payer healthcare. >> the private sector has not shown any ability to provide a good, accessible, affordable health care for all. i believe, for example, we ought to have a single-payer health care land. amy: well, for more, we go to washington, d.c., where we're joined by dr. carol paris, president of physicians for a national health program. she was arrested monday at the hart senate office during a protest against the republican health care bill. in march, she spoke out during a donald trump rally where she lives in nashville. dr. paris, welcome to democracy now! can you talk about your latest arrest? you got arrested monday by before the republican health

care bill collapsed. but talk abouthat you are calling for then and still calling for today. >> i would be happy to. the reason that i decided to get arrested was to really make it clear that as physicians, we not only oppose any bill that is going to be hurtful to americans is -- this bill clearly hurtful, leaving 22 million people off of insurance -- but it inventsmpion an medicare for all. that is a plan that is going to accomplish what both president obama and president trump have said that they support, which is better benefits, lower cost, and more coverage. it is just that the aca has not been able to accomplish that, and neither is what the republicans are doing.

clearly, that is not going to accomplish it. the only thing that is going to now to moving forward medicare for all. and so that was the messaging on monday. kill the bill, medicare for all. amy: a senator bernie sanders said on msnbc's chris hayes last night, that while the american health care act is not perfect, it should be improved, not destroyed. he laid out his suggestions for how. is, among need to do other things, in my view, lowered the cost of prescription drugs, save consumers, say the government substantial sums of money. we need to provide for a public option in every state in this country. we need to lower the cost, lower medicare eligibility from 65 to 55, and then begin the process of doing what every other major country on earth is doing, and that is guaranteeing health care

all people as a right through a medicare for all single-payer program. amy: dr. carol paris, first of all, is that what you are calling for? and explain what this would mean, what it means to save obamacare and then move forward with single-payer or medicare for all. it means to save obamacare or to save the aca is to continue the cost sharing subsidies, to continue to support medicaid expansion. but by absolutely, i don't agree with senator sanders that the the desk have how the public option and lower the medicare age from 65 to 55. that is more incremental steps and it absolutely fails to accomplish what a national

single-payer medicare for all plan does. which is put everyone in the same risk fool. -- risk pool. that is how we garner the $500 billion of savings in administrative waste and profit of the for-profit insurance industry. if we create a public option, we are just creating another opportunity for the insurance companies, the health insurance companies, to put all the sickest people in the public option and keep all the in theirt young people plans. no, i don't agree that doing this incrementally is a good idea. noweally need to go forward to a national improved medicare for all. really, the bill in congress,

go.6, is the way we need to amy: so what exactly would it look like? on the one hand, president trump is saying, o, care fail. first, tell us what that would mean and what it would mean if the government left -- let obamacare fail. and then what it would need to institute medicare for all, how you would go about doing this. >> let obamacare fail, i think, is what the president has implied that he could do pretty easily. the next cost-sharing subsidy payment is due out thursday. fund doesn't continue to that, the insurance companies are going to go into even more chaos and uncertainty. and what that is going to translate into is increases in

premiums, not just for people on the subsidies, but everyone in the individual market is going to see their insurance premiums go up by double digits. i have heard as high as even 52%. so that is what is going to happen if -- in the short term, if the president just allows the aca to languish and fail. how to go forward to a medicare for all? ed medicare in 1965. and in one year from the date in one year passed, it was implemented. and it happened with a computer system in 1965 that was a whole lot less sophisticated than what we have now. so i think what we are lacking

is the political will to make it happen. we sure aren't lacking the popular will to have it happen. the american people want this. is a growinging interest -- i live in nashville, tennessee. that is a red state. cooper, is an, jim blue dog democrat. 676 in never supported hr the past. this past year, he became a cosponsor. i was glad to hear that al gore, another tennessean, is saying, we need a national improved medicare for all. this is coming from legislators and former legislators in a red state. that makes me very proud to be from nashville. also, elizabeth warren of

massachusetts has expressed her support for single-payer. but we don't see that movement in the senate or the house, even with 676, which has been produced for years. it would take political capital on the part of many senators and congress members to push this ford. >> it would. and i think the way we're going to do this is, we're not going to wait around for our members of congress to say, now it is politically feasible. if we wait for that, we are one to be waiting for the rest of my life, your life, and many more lives. what we have to do is more of what is happening in congress right now. it is like occupy congress. that is having the american people join in a movement of movements. i got arrested -- i was sitting in the paddy wagon with four other people, including three

young millennials, incredibly energetic young people, and we discovered that we all represented different organizations and did not know anything about each other's organizations. and yet we had all been arrested , opposinghampioning championing medicare for all. take a movement of movements, and it is going to take gimmick and people making it toxic for our elected officials not to get on board with this. amy: well -- >> we have to take the lead and they will follow. quick dr. carol paris, thank you for joining us president of , physicians for a national health program, arrested monday at the hart senate office during a protest against the republican health care bill. when we come back, we go to gaza. barely four hours, if that, of

electricity per day. the u.n. says it is unlivable. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we turn now to gaza, where israeli-imposed restrictions continue to limit electricity to barely four hours a day, creating a humanitarian catastrophe for its 2 million residents. the palestinian authority has backed the israeli siege in an attempt to isolate and weaken its political rival, hamas, the group that has controlled gaza for the last 10 years. gaza has been under israeli siege for more tn a decade. in 2012, the world health organization warned that gaza would be uninhabitable by 2020 u.n. says living conditions in gaza have deteriorated faster than expected and the area has already become unlivable. this is the u.n. humanitarian coordinator for occupied palestinian territory robert piper. >> i see this extraordinarily inhuman and unjust process of strangling gradually 2 million

civilians in gaza that really pose a threat to nobody. i don't know -- we talk about the deliverability of gaza. when you're down to two hours a day of electricity, which is the case earlier this week, when you have 60% use -- use on a planet rates in a you really do have such little horizon, for me, and you probably, and most people watching, that threshold has been passed quite a long time ago. amy: to talk more about the situation, we go directly to gaza where we're joined by raji sourani, an award winning human rights lawyer. he is e director of the palestinian center for human rights in gaza. he is on the executive board of the international federation for human rights. he received the robert f. kennedy human rights award in 1991. he was also twice named an amnesty international prisoner of conscience. to democracy now! we welcome youto democracy now!

-- we welcome you to democracy now! the talk about what is happening right now? >> 11 years since the siege on gaza has been imposed, which is inhuman.and human -- at this moment, we are living the biggest man-made disaster. they promised they would turn us to the middle ages. and they do. gaza is completely disconnected from the outside world. subjugated [indiscernible] civilian and civilian targets. after all these years, we're unable to rebuild or construct most of these constructions. this led us to a situation where -- 65% areersons

unemployed. population depends on journal of organizations. effectively, they're making gaza -- dumping some food and medicine. we cannot treat our water. we cannot treat our sewage. it is polluted. our water is not treatable. -- our water is not drinkable. people for tomorrow and on the verge of collapse. there are 2 million people suffering this for the last 11 years. the last thing we are having is electricity. only two hours.

you can imagine the drastic care, on life, medical operations, on people who are .uffering gaza oncts of life in the verge of collapse. and we are sure the worst is yet to come. every day, bringing evil practice to this part of the world. amy: can you describe, even in more detail, what it means not to have electricity? i mean, for people in any city like new york years ago, we suffered a blackout. obviously, it is catastrophic. but explain what it means to have two, if you're lucky, four

hours, a day. how it affects the daily living, the hospitals, the clean water, etc. gaza is one of the most -- on earth. with 14,ving buildings 16 stories now. it is mission impossible. i mean, just send water. to need electricity even come this unusable water. factories don't work. if it works, it works like two hours, which is not enough. minimum it should work 20 hours a day to supply gaza with water. the sewage factories cannot work. because it cannot work, it cannot be treated. raw sewage dumped into the sea. .his affects the entire sea

nobody can swim in it because it is totally polluted. to the meat store, you -- they will send it to the garbage because most of the people here, because they are poor, they depend on frozen meat and frozen fish imported from outside. they cannot store it. it just gets bad and it is not for human use. -- iu go to the hospital mean, it is a real disaster. operation theaters can't work. the operations cannot be

carried. the machines, most of the time because they are stopped, you know, interrupted, broken. those who are on oromatic respiratory systems in intensive care units. you can imagine with the lack of electricity -- even, i mean, simple things like housewives. they cannot use laundry. they cannot store food. factories -- it is mission impossible. to make it work. -- for the with no time being were other kinds of food stuff, you know, electricity. like 20,aza, i mean,

22 hours a day, it is dark. height, you cannot really have the light in the street. and that makes even the number andar accidents happen here people, i mean, as a result of pay with their lives. education. people who just want to go back from their school and work, they stories back14, 16 and forth. you can't imagine people who are sick and he or she have her surgery, want to get back, you know, go to the hospital or to be treated -- it is not normal life. we are in the middle centuries. -- the billpaying

of electricity. , speaking torani us from gaza city. in the background, you hear a generator. can you talk about how the situation has gotten to this point? talk about what the israeli government is saying, what they're saying about hamas and how you see some kind of solution coming-out of all of this. >> gaza, beautiful shores, i mean, we're having one of the gas was in the mediterranean. all we need is a small type --pipe coming to gaza and then we can have a

factory for the region, maybe. we are not lack of business people, lack of professionals. we are lack of opportunity. us to be living in such conditions. they want to shift gaza to be but isis country. when you put productivity, and 2 million people, under such oppression, nobody can leave or come in, movement of individuals is mission impossible. when you make them and able to receive medical care, when you make them unable to receive their basic needs of goods, when fromake them disconnected the outside world, when you make them unable to go and receive medical care or education outside, when they are not

allowed to import and a sport normally -- import and export normally, when you make the death and destruction around them day and night, when you make them lose hope of tomorrow -- this is the recipe for isis. men, to exist in this part of the world. is the're having here rule of -- that is what we're having here. and all we're asking, nothing more. there are 2 million civilians living in this part of the world. ify are subjugated and even human rights watch, amnesty international say in the international community, this is illegal, and human. -- in human. they should give people the right of movement. we're not asking anything more than what their rights enjoyed

and should be ensured by the international community. the right has been guaranteed in international law. not a crime. this is a crime against humanity am a but we're seeing nobody moving in this regard. nobody thinks after 50 years of having an occupation, if not an end of occupation, which is our right onr absolute individual and collective -- at least, give us the right of movement, the right to be basically enjoying minimal conditions of human being. we are not. we are not. , has the sourani situation changed in any way?

of effect has the new president in the united states, president trump, had on the situation? what do you feel americans can do? americans can do a lot. america is a great country. they can contribute positively. president eisenhower in 1957, .hen israel occupied gaza in one day, he ordered them to be out and they were out. obviously, since president trump thinko his presidency, i one of the scapegoats for his policy and we are paying dearly and heavily because he is giving i00% support to criminal israel policy against the people. he does not talk about and of occupation or end of palestinian

suffering. he doesn't talk about a two state solution. he is just living when hundred percent control for the israelis over the palestinians. he didn't criticize what dorican government used to by condemning settlement policy and the siege policy. houston nothing except endorsing and supporting the israeli policy, even criticizing israel in the u.s. [indiscernible] security council said we will not allow anything to happen against the state of --ael as in fact, what we're saying , forget whatl

palestinian human rights organizations are saying against israel, look what the israeli human rights organizations is saying about the policies of israel. look what they're saying against israel. look at what international human rights limitations with no restrictions criticizing israel and the policies about were crumbs, crimes against humanity. even if we want to go to the icc could international criminal court, to hold israel accountable, the u.s. is threatening. trump giving lysis to kill -- license to kill. there giving them the authorization to do whatever they want against the palestinian civilians. we're not in the defense of hamas or others. we are in defense of the palestinian civilians who are in

international law should enjoy absolute protection. and they are called in geneva to be protected, meaning there is real obligation by law to palestinian civilians in the occupied territories. and they are in the eye of the storm for the israeli criminal policies and occupied territories. amy: i want to thank you, raji sourani, for joining us from gaza city under these extremely difficult conditions, what the u.n. is calling unlivable. the final 30 seconds that we have on the satellite with you, for your final comment? have no right to give up and we will not give up. enougha strong -- strong because we are fighting for the rule of law, not for the rule of israel.

of moraleep our level superiority on the criminal occupation. we know we are not alone. people across the globe are standing with us, standing with justice, rule of law, and dignity of human beings. amy: raji sourani, joining us from gaza city, award winning human rights lawyer. he is the director of the palestinian center for human rights in gaza. he is on the executive board of the international federation for human rights. he received the robert f. kennedy human rights award in 1991. he was also twice named an amnesty international prisoner of conscience. in new york, we're joined by tareq baconi, the author of the forthcoming book, "hamas contained: the rise & pacification of palestinian resistance." he is a policy fellow at al-shabaka: the palestinian policy network. he has written a new article for the nation titled "how israel's , 10-year blockade brought gaza to the brink of collapse."

briefly, you are here in the united states, but have also been in gaza, but there is a must no coverage of what is happening in gaza here. most americans have no idea. >> i think that is absolutely right. the way gaza gets portrayed in american media is in one of two ways, either as nothing more than a humanitarian catastrophe, you know, some sort of apocalyptic reality where life is catastrophic -- which, that is one side of the situation in gaza. the other way it is often portrayed as a terrorist haven. as in enclave on the mediterranean that is ruled by terrorist organizations. and both of those ways of portraying gaza are extremely simplistic. they leave no room for understanding the complexities of the situation, for understanding what people in gaza are facing on a human level , on a day-to-day basis.

it dehumanizes everything about the gaza strip. it removes any move for -- room fact thaty and the this is a political problem that is man-made. amy: has things got more since president trump took office? a absolutely, much worse, and short period of time. her number of reasons. what we're seeing happening between the gcc and qatar is mirrored in gaza or the palestinian territories as the way these countries have taken solace in the trump administration, as the way they've started to move against against "islamic extremism." we see that happening on a small scale. president trump -- president abbas a plus decision to tighten the blockade, very much a signal to the trump administration to say, you know, i am taking a tough stance against islamic extremism and against the mass

that there's a --hamas. thisis message plays into rationale of isolating the gaza strip and refusing to million -- using 2 million inhabitants as political pawns. amy: your sense of right now, israel, vis-a-vis, hamas and the victims being the 2 million people who are in gaza right now , what do you see as the solution? >> look, i think gaza has long been a problem for israel, even letre hamas was created, alone,, to power. the idea that israeli policies for the gaza strip are somehow is a misreading of the history of the situation. the reason they present such a problem for the israelis because their majority refugees, have political rights, demanding their political rights. a hamas presents israel with

fig leaf as an excuse to maintain the policies of isolation and containment. removedhamas were to be from the equation tomorrow, the policies in gaza are not necessarily going to change. to my mind, until we start dealing with gaza as a political problem, rather than an economic or religious problem, until we start addressing the political drivers that -- the right of return, the right of self-determination. eloquentlyi spoke about the freedom of movement. and still we start talking about these rights, the situation isn't going to change. the u.s. has a big role to play in that. not just under the trump administration, but previous administrations, has played a strong role in supporting israel i policies to divide the country and prevent any form of unity government are merging. do blockade is not criticized at all by the u.s. even though it is a form of

collective punishment and even though it also comes with three military -- thousands of deaths, civilian deaths that are disproportionate of crimes against humanity. until we start addressing gaza as a political problem, not as you military problem, an until then, nothing will change. amy: tareq baconi, thank you for coming in speaking with the. -- speaking with us. his new book "hamas contained: , the rise & pacification of palestinian resistance." when we come back, haitian resident of new york with four u.s. citizen children has a check in with immigration authorities thursday morning. he fears he will be deported. we will speak with him and his daughter. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we end today's show with a guest who says he made a mistake when he was a teenager that could lead to his deportation to nearly three decades later. jean montrevil came to the u.s. from haiti with a green card in 1986 at the age of 17. during the height of the crack epidemic, he was convicted of possession of cocaine and sentenced to 11 years in prison.

he served that time. upon his release, he married a u.s. citizen and had four children and became a successful small businessman, as well as an immigrant rights activist. he has had no further interaction with the criminal justice system. but because of his earlier conviction, jean is required to check in with immigration officers regularly under a supervision program. jean joined us in 2010 after he was detained at one of these check-ins and came very close to being deported to haiti. but when a fellow detainee bound for haiti on the plane had a fever, his illness halted the flight, and then the 2010 earthquake struck. with the country to devastated to deport them he was released. since then, he has continued to check-in with no further threats of deportation until last month, when he went to his first check-in under president trump. without any advance notice, he was detained, handcuffed, and processed to be deported until calls from his supporters apparently prompted immigration officials to release him. thursday, tomorrow, he must check-in again and is concerned he will again be detained.

this comes as haiti, the poorest nation in the western hemisphere, continues to recover from the devastating 2010 earthquake. it has also suffered from a disastrous hurricane and cholera outbreak. this week, president trump's top immigration official warned members of congress that haitians living in the united states under a special temporary protected status may soon be placed in line for deportation. last week, about 50 of jean's supporters participated in a jericho walk organized by the new sanctuary coalition and marched silently around the federal building where he will check in. another jericho walk is scheduled for tomorrow when he returns. for more, we are joined by jean montrevil in studio, along with his eldest daughter, 18-year-old janiah heard, and his lawyer joshua bardavid. welcome all of you to democracy now! talk about what you face tomorrow. --tomorrow is my second ice second check-in under trump.

last month, they had another one and they tried to keep me. i really don't know what is going to happen tomorrow because of what happened last month when they tried to keep me to support me. guess,w, it is anyone's you know yet the amy: you have lived here for 30 years. >> yes host of 31. amy: janiah heard, you wrote a poignant letter about your father. you're in college now. talk about what this means for family, for you and your siblings. >> i don't think they realize, you come into people's lives, basically, turn our lives upside down because no one should have to wake up thinking, am i going to be deported tomorrow or the next day. i don't take my brothers and sisters understand it because maybe my little brother does, but my little sister was a baby when this first happened, so she doesn't really get it. this is going to be different

for her. she is a daddy's girl. it is going to be hard for her to go to school every day -- amy: digital brother just undergo an operation? >> yes the membrane surgery. -- yes, brain surgery. he is doing well now. amy: where are you going to college? mercy college. this would mean i would have to find a way to basically apply ir financial aid because would have to find a way to pay for college out-of-pocket, which is really expensive. i go to a private college so i'm not under free tuition. it is either transfer or i would have to maybe take a semester off to think about things. is iceshua bardavid targeting jean montrevil? >> i don't think they're necessarily singling him out. i think some of the reddick -- frederick from the senior

administration, including the president himself them have resulted in an increase enforcement across the board. unfortunately, there's been a lot of rhetoric regarding haitians. as a result, i think there is been an increased targeting of haitian nationals. amy: there is a stay of haitians until january. why is this happening now to jeanne? >> i think november is why it is happening now to jean, the election has resulted in a change of policy towards haitians that separately. amy: does jean go to jail in haiti if he is deported? >> that is our concern. there have been reports -- amy: what would that mean? >> as a criminal alien, there a process you have to go through in haiti. yet to be interviewed by the haitian government, and then you have to have a family member to come and sign you up. i have no family in haiti. they all live here. if you can't get out -- you have

to pay money to get out. the haitiandied in jails. amy: i remember the jail collapsing at the time -- the earthquake. >> i talked to a friend of mine in haiti last week. he said, people are dying in those jails. and used to have 50 people now 400. amy: what can happen tomorrow in the ice check-in? >> we're asking for ice allow jean to continue to check in as he has for years without incident. >> for 12 years. once a month. we started once a month and then every six months until last month when they asked me, we will give you another month. i want to be able to stay here, get the kids -- amy: we have to leave it there but we will continue to cover this case. i want to thank jean montrevil, janiah heard, and joshua bardavid.

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