07/24/17 07/24/17 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy nonow! >> we don't want you as our mayor of minneapolis anymore. your leadership has been very ineffective. amy: as protesters shout down the mayor of minneapolis following the recent fatal police shooting of an australian woman who called 911.

the minneapolis police chief has resigned. some protesters are calling for the mayor to resign as well. then to the crisis in yemen. quite this cholera scandal is w who arean-made leading, supply, fighting, perpetuating the fear and the fighting. amy:y: "an absolute e shame on humanity." that's hohow the international d organization care is describing the deepening humanitarian crisis in yemen. over 1800 people have died of a massive cholera a outbreak. we will go to sana'a for the latest. then we look at how the trump administration is looking at ways to withdraw from the iraniaian nuclear deal. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. in the west bank and jerusalem, seven people -- four

palestinians andnd three israels -- have been killed amid a wave of violence and protests over israel's refusal to remove metal detectors from the holy al-aqsa mosque. on friday, 18-year-old muhammad sharaf was killed by an israeli settler, while 17-year-old muhammad khalaf and 20-year-old muhammad ghanam were killed by israeli soldiers. on saturday, 21-year-old yousef abbas kashour was killed by an israeli soldier. about 400 more palestinians were wounded as israeli troops opened fire against protesters with live bullets and tear gas. meanwhile, on friday night, a palestinian teenager killed a man and his two adult children in their home in an israeli-only settlement in the west bank. the three victims, whose names have not been released, were sitting down to shabat dinner when they were stabbed to death. this is abed al-jaleel alabed, the father of the palestinian teenager who killed the 3-d israelis. >> i have no idea what happened.

i'm against any attack. our children are young and the occupation is responsible for the attacks, not my son. the occupation caused the attack. amy: on sunday, the violence appeared to spread to the israeli embassy in jordan, where israeli security officer killed two jordanians, after one stabbed him.m. israel has d deployed morere trs to the occupupied-westst bank, d the growing protests. the u.n. security council is set to convene an emergency meeting. in yemen, oxfam is warning the spiraling cholera outbreak could become "the largesest ever recordeded in any coununtry in a single year since recocords bebegan." the world health organization says as many as 5000 yemenis are being infected every day and that thehe disease will l only spread further as the rarainy seasonon begins. the cholera outbreak comes as more than two years of u.s.-bacacked saudi-led bombingn yemen hahas devastated the country's health, water, and sanitation systems. this is u.n. human rights agency

spokesman rupert colville. >> the fighting hugely exacerbating the ability to stop this epidemic of cholera and of disintegration of the health system in yemen as a result of the conflict at the time of cholera is a lethal combination. amy: we will go to o yemen for rere on the cholera epidemic and the u u.s.-backed bombingng camn later in the broadcast. in the united states in texas, at least nine have people died from h heat exposure and asphyxiation after they and 30 others were crammed into the back of a sweltering tractor-trailer as part of their journey to enter the united states from mexico. when the group of migrants were discovered in a walmart parking lot in san antonio, eight men were already dead. one more man died later in the hospital. authorities say they are investigating it as a human trafficking case.

survivors say as many as 100 people were sandwiched into the back of the truck at times to the dedeadly journey. this is fifire chief charles ho. >> extricating patients out the back of a semi truck. the air-conditioningng was notot working, so everyone was removed . during that time, we had a patients that wewere deceased.d. we had another 2 20 patients tht were either in extremely crititical condition were very serious condition. they have been transferred to a number of hospitals. amy: reuters is reporting immigrations and customs enforcement agency, or ice, is planning to launch as there is of nationwide raids this week targeting undocumented teenagers for deportation. according to an internal ice memo, the raids will target 16- and 17-year-olds who are accused of having ties to gangs. the criteria ice is using to assess possible gang affiliation includes whether teenagers have tattoos, wear clothing typical to a gang, or even spend time in an area that's known to have gangs. the national immigration law center in los angeles has

criticized law enforcement's methods, saying -- "we have seen babies labeled as potential gang members." on capitol hill, president trump's son-in-law and senior adviser jared kushner is set to testify before the senate intelligence committee today in a closed-door session about trump's ties to russia. ahead of today's testimony, he released an 11-page statement saying he had four separate meetings with russians during the 2016 campaign and transition period meetings with the russian , two ambassador, one with ahead head of a russian state-owned bank and one with a russian lawyer promising damaging information on hillary clinton. kushner released new information about as many as 70 investments and asassets that he failed to disclose in previous filings. his wifife, trumpmp's dadaughted senior adviser ivanknka trump, disclosed that she received up to from a trtrust that holds her $5 million ivanka-branded clothing and fashion label, even as she joined the white house and promised to distance herself from her fashion label.

all this comes as president trump said saturday he has the complete power to issue pardons, including for himself or for his family members. in more news from capitol hill, wall street financer anthony scaramucci has become president trump's new communications director, sparking the resignation ofof white house prs secretary sean spicer. scaramuccici, who is nicknamed "the mooch," has been a vocal critic of trump in the past, and disagrees with a slew of trump's policies. he has, for example, issued support for gun control, the end of the death penalty, action to mitigate climate change, and pro-choice policies. he's also called trump a "hack" and "anti-american." >> that is another hack politician. >> you called donald trump a hack? >> with comets -- anti-american. you can tell donald i said this, he will be the president of the queens county bully association.

you have to stop all this crazy rhetoric. amy: that was anthony scaramucci speaking on fox business network and august 2015. after sean spicer's resignation, sarah huckabee sanders will serve as press secretary. the senate parliamentarian elizabeth macdonough has determined some parts of the republicans' healthcare bill--including the plan to defund planned parenthood for a year -- violate an obscure 198585 law known as s the byrd . this means these provisions cannot pass the senate without a full 60 votes. republicans currently hold on 52 seats in the senate. president trump is continuing to demand republicans pass a plan to repeal and replace the affordable care act, despite the fact that senate republicans have now failed to pass multiple versions of the bill because of dissent within their own party. last night trump tweeted -- "if republicans don't repeal and replace the disastrous obamacare, the repercussions will be far greater than any of them understand!" in afghanistan, a taliban

suicide bomb attack has killed at least 35 people in the capital kabul. the majority of the victims were government workers w with the afghan m ministry of mines and petroleum. a taliban spokesman said the tatarget of the attack were members of the afghan intelligence agency. in poland, the president says he will veto controversial judicial reforms after days of massive protests against the proposals, which opponents said would have ended the separation of powers between the executive and the judiciary. the proposed measures would have allowed the polish parliament to appoint supreme court judges. the european union had threatened to bring sanctions over the measures. in germany, thousands of people marched saturday in berlin for the christopher street day parade for lgbt rights. the annual march commemorates the 1969 stonewall riot in new york city, when transgender people of color fought back against a police raid of manhattan's stonewall inn, launching the modern gay and lesbian rights movement.

back in the united states in minneapolis, police chief janee harteau has resigned amid growing protests over the police killing of the unarmed australian woman justine ruszczyk. many residents are now calling for the resignation of the mayor, betsy hodges, saying the killing of ruszczyk, which came after she called 911 twice to report a possible sexual assault near her home, shows an institutional problem with the city's police. this is one of the protesters. >>

her job, but we understand it is beyond the chief. the problem is the institution. if it was not institutional, then those cameras -- those body cameras would have been on the police the other day. amy: justine ruszczyk was shot dead by police officer mohamed noor, who was responding to her emergency calls as ruszczyk approached his pololice cruisern her pajamas. noor was s sitting in the passenger side. he shot across his partner who was in the drivers seat, and shot justine through the abdomen thrhrough h her abdomen the window. we'll go to minneapolis for more on the growing protests after headlines. in tennessee, a judge is under fire after it was revealed he was offering to shorten prison sentences for people who agreed to get sterilized. in may, judge sam benningfield issued an order saying that any prisoners who agreed to undergo a vasectomy or receive long-term contraceptive implants would receive 30 days of credit off their sentences. the aclu says the practice is unconstitutional, saying -- "such a choice violates the fundamental constitutional right to reproductive autonomy and bodily integrity by interfering with the intimate decision of whether and when to have a child, imposing an intrusive medical procedure on individuals who are not in a position to reject it." and in connecticut, an undocumented mother has taken sanctuary in a pentecostal church in new haven in order to avoid deportation to guatemala. nury chavarria is the mother of four children who has been

in the united states for 24 years. she has been attending regular check-ins with the immigrations and customs enforcement agency since 2011. but at her most recent check-in this spring, she was ordered to leave the country by this is july 20. nury chavarria and her daughter, hayley, speaking at a press conference outside the church thursday. >> my mother is someone i love more than anyone in the world. she is not a criminal. >> i was in shock. i tell him, i'm nonot a crimina. i am a mother. i have four children. amy: 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'm juan gonzalez. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. we begin today in minneapolis, where fallout continues following the fatal police shootingng of an unarmed australian woman. transcripts reveal 40-year-old resident justine ruszczyk called

911 twice to report a possible sexual assault outside her home a week ago before she was shot dead by an officer responding to the emergency calls. the city's beleaguered police chief, janee harteau, resigned friday at the request of the mayor amid growing calls by activists. this is minneapolis mayor betsy hodges. >> as far as we have come, chief harteau is not in a position to lead us further. from the many conversations i've had with people around our city, especially this week, i know that some in minneapolis have lost confidence in police leadership. for us to continue to transform policing and community trust in policing, both the chief and i concluded we need new leadership at mpd. in conversation with the chief today, she and i agreed she would step aside to make way for new leadership. i asked the chief for her

resignation. she tendered it and i have accepted it. juan: according to the minnesota department of public safety, officer mohamed noor was startled by a loud sound shortly before ruszczyk approached his police cruiser. noor, who was seated in the passenger seat, shot ruszczyk through the open driver's-side window of the vehicle. noor has apologized to the family of justine ruszczyk, who often went by her fiance's last name, damond. noor has declined to speak with investigators and has hired an attorney. amy: the killing came just weeks after a suburban twin cities officer, jeronimo yanez, was acquitted on manslaughter charges for shooting african-american motoristt philanando castilele in 2016. duriring the mayor's announceme, anti-police violence activists stormed the news conference demanding hodges also step down. they said her leadership was ineffective and that the minneapolis police department had terrorized them enough.

>> we don't want you as our mayor of minneapolis anymore. we ask -- we don't want you to appoint anybody anymore. your leadership has been very ineffective. if you don't remove yourself, we're going to put somebody in place to remove you. we do not want you as the mayor ever again. your police department has terrorized us enough. the former chief was not doing her job, but we understand it is beyond the chief. the problem is institutional. if it was not institutional, then those cameras -- those body cameras would have been on the police the other day. amy: officer noor and his partner have been placed on administrative leave while the shooting is investigated. noor is the first somali-american officer in his precinct. for more, we a are joined by two guests. samantha pree-stinson is an organizer with the twin cities movement to end police killing and police brutality, and a green party candidate for city council in minneapolis. phil stinson, no relation, is a

criminologist and associate professor at criminal justice program at bowling green state university. we welcome you both to democracy now! samantha pree-stinson, can youu start off by explaining when this happened and what you understand took place? story, very surprising as this woman thinks she is hearing a rate outside, calls the police, waits another kumble of minutes, calls again. when they come come it i is like 1:00 in the morning. she comes out in her pajamas to speak to the police. she comes to the driver's-side police cruiser. she is immediately shot in the abdomen by mohammed noor, the police officer in the passenger sheet shooting across and in front of his police partner. this is apparently what has been said because they had video cameras on them, each officer,

but they did not turn it on. can you talk -- take it from there and what is been the response and why we don't know more? for one thing, we don't know more because there is no visual evidence. as you stated, the officer has chosen not to speak and to execute his constitutional right not to. the bca, who is investigating it, cannot force him to speak. the officer who was in the drivers seat spoke very little about what he knew. but what we have within just the last couple of days, what we have come to know is some residents have come forward that did see something. what they saw we still don't know. in addition to that, the report of the tournament on the bicycle who was reported to have been in the alley at the time of the incident also has come forward. we have also learned a citizen did record some video. but those details outside of that, other details, have not developed at this point.

i do find it very interesting this bead of the information that has come out, which we have never seen anything like this before in minneapolis with previous cases to include plaintiff has the, and now all of a sudden now that there is video that has surfaced and witnesses that have stepped forward, we have stopped hearing anything. it is very interesting and telling, and it has residents very heightened. a historic movement has started here, boots on the ground, in minneapolis as a result, starting from the verdict of philando castile moving forward to what we have seen with justine damond. samantha, i want to ask you, in terms of the protests that have developed, some claiming initially that the black lives matter move it would not get involved in this particular case since it was the death of a white woman at the hands of a police officer, but

that has proven to be false. can you talk about that as well? >> yes, that is correct. citiesives matter twin has been involved. the reason why is this. the reason why the black lives matter organization started to begin with was becaususe we know that black lives are not treated -- we know they matter, but they are not treated as if they are. we have factual evidence to prove where that has been happening time and time again where black lives have been treated as secondary. but that is just the reason for why the group formed. their overall reason for existing as far as the work that they do pertains to police and justice as far as killings and brutality overall, regardless of the identity of the victims. it made perfect sense for us to -- that they would get involved and that they did show up.

so that wasn't surprising to me. the other thing is, we have had an issue with reporting locally, which does feed in nationally as well. because with this movement, there are rallies that happened before the actual marches occur. at these rallies, there are local speakers, some are faith-base, some are candidatesd that come together to bring the community together so that everyone can have a chance to speak and share their boys and bring us together -- share their voice and bring us together so we can heal as a community. that is before we start these protests or marches. that is usually never covered. the case of the recent one that occurred over this last friday, when we got to city hall marching from the park to city hall, we found the doors were lock. that is unacceptable. itits a publicic building paid r by the taxpayers.

so for the mayor to lock the public out of a public conference was unacceptable. it was completely unacceptable, but we were able to strategicalllly p put our minds togegether and we wewere able et into city hall and then n you sw what happened asas a result whee the demands were p placed upon e mayor that not only was the symbolic resignation of the chief not enough, but we expect for her to go as well in november when we have our election. a nickel i want to turn to the tatement by minnesota state representative ilhan omar, who is the c count's first somali-american muslim legislator. the state representative omar writes -- "the idealist in me continues to be surprised, but i know this incident is another result of excessive force and violence-based training for supposed peace officers.

changing the body camera policy won't solve the inherent problem. the current officer training program indoctrinates individuals of all races into a system that teaches them to act first, think later, and justify with fear. it's time we explore solutions beyond improved training and cameras to capture evidence. we need to look at a complete shift in the culture of the police department, away from the use of lethal force and deadly weapons." that is the commentary of the minnesota state representative ilhan omar. i want to o go back to o our gut samantha pree-stinson to ask your response to what she said. absolutely. what people need to remember, they need to go back in history and realize it is law

enforcement. they were never meant to be peacekeepers. if you go back to the beginning of when law-enforcement started, their purpose was to keep the slaves on the plantation. they were meant to control and keep people in line. rank and file, just like we see today with our minneapolis police department. that has not changed. this is a militarized culture. i am a veteran. it is similar to what happens in basic training. you are part of a collective in a group and you act the same, think the same, because the unit. if anybody does their own thing, there are repercussions for that. our police d department is simir in that mindset and that is the culture of policing. simply changing the culture of policing is not one to be good enough because the existence and the reason for why we have law enforcement, again, is to keep people in line and to control people and to enforce the law. what the problem with that is

there is zero accountability. and even within the law that -- the way it is written, the beginning sounds just fine to make you believe there is some accountability. however, they have included the word "fear." fear is something that a body cam cannot detect. it is very hard to prove regardless of what you see on a camera that an officer did not feel fear. we have to start with changing the law. we have to changnge the entire y that w we look at what our community needs. do we need law enforcement in the w way that it hasas been drn into our heads to believe we need? the answer is no. all answers need to be on the table. we need to have all voices at the table in this. this is not about being left or right, but moving forward. we need to have all solutions at the table. they should all be valid and relevant and be looked into further as far as how they can be applied to our communities to best serve our residents and

keep us say thank you to our communities healthy and thriving. juan: samantha pree-stinson, i want to ask about mayor r hodge. she was elected four years ago at the head of a liberal progressive coalition. there were a lot of folks. and then she came under increasing attack from the police union as well. afteter the philando castile for a justicesked department investigation. what has gone wrong with betsy hodges -- as you mention, she's up for reelection in november. >> there has been a lot of scrutiny of betsy or major hodges and people believing this is an issue of her being a woman.

gender. you're either a good leader or a bad leader. you are a leader who is moving forward or a leader who is an aft. we have seen multiple examples of ineptitude, not only with mayor hodges, but within city council as a whole. there is a lack of accountability. the fact they don't listen to the community. the issue that happened at the fourth precinct was a result of communities coming together, different organizations, residents coming together to have their voices amplified, to bring up things that they know as an residents, as being people of color, people who are oppressed. that lack of just listening -- that is all that needed to be done was to listen and bring those voices to the table. but instead, it was escalated, really, for no reason. occurred.stigation the report has been back for seven months. we have seen little to no movement since the doj report came out to address what they found was going well and what wasn't going so well. what was discovered is that one of the main issues is that we have a communication breakdown. what people need to realize about minneapolis, we have three separate unit of police that

answer to different authorities. we have our metro transit police so.answer to the met town the council is appointed by governor dayton. we have our minneapolis police department who essentially answers to city leadership, the mayor and the council. then you have the parks police, which is a separate entity. they operate under the parks board, to a certain extent, which is a separate entity that -- of elected officials that do not answer to city leadership. you have three separate -- that does that even count the sheriff of hennepin county. you have three separate authorities that are not communicating. there is no intergovernmental to medication. we have not seen any prioritization as far as what was seen in the doj report and listening to our communities, those of color a and those in general, our residents and our communities. as a result, you see exactly what has happened. there is been more than enough opportunities for us to step up

to the plate and acknowledge the fact minneapolis is the third worsrst metro and the station fr people of color. and nobobody wants to own that metric, , prioritize itit into e work we need to do to this city. in speaking about progressiveness, the favorite people doalking about better when we all do better. well, if that is the case, then we s should definitely be prioritizing this diversity metric of being the third worst metro because if that is true, when we recognize this is as a true fact we're the third worst metro and we prioritize it to change these days for our city and invest in every corner of our city and not just the affluent ones, we will all be doing inherently better. we have to stop with his symbolic changes. we have to start not trimming the leaves off the plants, begin

to the root of it. we have to rip it out. we have to put in new seats and cultivated. that starts with listening and our communities and setting real priorities about the race issues we have in the city and the double standards sucuch as we se with noor. amy: samanantha pree-stinson, thank you for being with us, organizer with the twin cities movement to end police killing and police brutality, and a green party candidate for city council in minneapolis. ,e are j joined b by phil stinsn criminologist and associate professor at criminal justice program at bowling green state university. professosor, thank you for joing us. you are a former cop. when you heard the description of what took place in annapolis, mohammed noor -- i might have said he was the first and only american police officer in the country, but i believe it is in -- precinct and minneapolis shooting across his partner through the window after hearing -- this is what we hear because the story has not come fully out -- a loud sound. your thought? >> i think we have to be

careful. we don't know all the facts yet. we have to be careful with conjecture and speculation. but what we have heard is the officer shot across his partner, apparently, they had heard a loud noise and there i is some spececulation they thought they were going to be ambushed in the alleyway. this raises a lot of vegans. i have questions even before we get to the officers arriving on these ain't. i don't know why the 911 call taker did not keep the witness on the phone until the officers arrived so they could gather more informatition about what ws going on. they could tell them when to go outside and meet the officers or not to go outside to meet the officers. why did it take 14 minutes for police officers to arrive? it is bizarre that an officer would have in an holstered weapon sitting in the front of a police car and this ridiculous -- it is ridiculous the officer shot across his partner. many questions.

one of the things i'm concerned with is it possibly was an accidental shooting? we don't know that yet. juan: this issue the officer who fired his weapon, not making any statements, and his partner making a limited statement that we have really no clear knowledge of exactly what he said. what are the rules and regulations and what are the legal rights of officers inin these cases? >> if i were the officer's attorney, i would devise themm not to g give a statatement, espepecially in the immediate aftermath of a shooting. they still have constitutional rights as police officers. there is a u.s. supreme court from the 1 1960's that every police officer in the country's friendlier with. if an officer is required to make a statement after a shooting or anything to do w wih their job, it cannot be used against them criminally if they are required to make a statemenent. it is cannot be forced --

that unusual, in my y mind, the officers have not given statement at thihis time. it is unfortunate. we have seen a number of these cases, frankly, more than just a few, where the narratives that ththe officers give eieither in written rereports or verbally if they tell what happens, is inconsistent with the video evidence. it is concerning we don't have, apparently, video evidence in this instance to tell us exactly what happened. amy: this is interesting. a local tv station did a study and they found a minneapolis where it is that automatic video camera goes on but the police have to initiate it themselves. that the average amount of time these video cameras are on is something like five hours a month. how unusual is this,s, phil ststinson? >> i don't think it is unusual at all at ththis time. there are several things to keep in mind. the technology i is still fairly new. the police officers are wearing

body worn cameras in this country. bestly, there are not practices promulgated by the justice department. police department's across the country are left to their own devices to figure out what ththe policicies should d be. we have e to consider a lott ofe digital issues as well. a cost money y to maintain the recordings. how w are we going to be in toto keep a all the recordings from l the video footage? how long will we be able to do that? i think there is a flawed policy and practice where you have officers who c can decide when e iferas should be tuturned on they think there's going to be some sort of problem situation. at that point, they have waited too long. there are n new cameras coming t of the market where the on/off switch is controlled by a onervisor, nonot the officers ththe street. in my view, officers on the street should have the body cameras rolling at all times. if they have dashcams, they should be recording on a loop as well.

is inexcusable they have on body cameras and they were not turned on. juan: phil stinson, you have been developing a database on police shootings nationwide. can you talk about that database and what your preliminary findings are and how big of a problem is police shootings in this country, say, compared to other nations? well, one of the problems is we simply don't have good data going back to many years. the best estimate i can give you is over the last several years, on-duty police officers shoot and kill someone between 9 900 -1000 t times each year. so today three times a day in this country someone is shot and killed. that is not even including the nonfatal shootings. i have been tracking officers who were charged with murder or manslaughter since the beginning of 2005. to date, only 83 officers during that timeframe havave been chard with murder or m manslaughter resulting from an on-duty shooting. of those 80 officers, only 30

have a actually been convicted f a crimime. one thing that is interesting that i just had relelated recently, and those 30 cases where an officer was convicted, having been charged with murder or manslaughter, some times they are convicted of a lesser event such as official misconduct of that sort. but in those 30 cases, non--- 15 had a victim that werere african-americanan. we d don't have a lot of data. these cases are outliers and we need a lot more data points, lot more years of data. i can say we do have a problem in this country. far too many people are shot by police officers. policece officers are tooo quico draw their weapons. it is not getting any better. amy: we want to thank you, phil stinson, for joining us, criminologist and associate professor at criminal justice program at bowling green state university. when we come back, we go to yemen.

a catastrophic situation with an outbreak of cholera after the constant bombing of this country for two years, of yemen. back in a minute. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan

gonzalez. juan: "an absolute shame on humanity." that's how the international aid organization care is describing the deepening humanitarian crisis in yemen. the number of cholera cases in that country has now topped 368,000 with 1828 deaths. the world health organization, estimates some 5000 yemenis are falling sick each day andnd oxfm projojects the numbeber of suspd cases of cholera could r rise to more than 600,000, making the epidemic "the largest ever recorded in any country in a single year since records began." aid groups are warning thehe rik of disease spreading will increase with yemen's monsoon season a as the onining u.s.-backed saudi-leled bombing campaign has devastatated the country's health, water, and sanitation systems. this is a spokesperson for the world health organization speaking on friday. >> yemen's cholera outbreak is far from being controlled.

the rainy season has just started. it may increase the path of transmission. sustained efforts are record the stop the spread of this disease. amy: the cholera epidemic comes amid a looming famine with the united nations warning 19 million of yemen's 28 million people are in need of some form of aid. this is the u.n. emergency relief coordinator stephen o'brien speaking on wednesday. >> 7 million people, including 2.3 million malnourished children of whom 500,000 are severely or militarist under the age of five, are on the cusp of famine. vulnerable to disease, at risk of a slow and painful death. juan: on wednesday, the united nations demanded media access to report on the huhumanitarian crisis in yemen after the saudi-led coalitition blocked three foreign journalists s from traveleling on a u.n. aid flight to t the capital sanana'a.a. this is u.n. s spokesperson fahn haq. >> we do want not just t to be

able to bring in aid, which is, of course, a crucial aspect of the work we do, but we also want the world to know what is going on. and so steteps like this do nont help because, again, this has been a large man-made humanitarian problem. the world needs to know and journalists need to have access. as our colleagues have said, this partially explains why yemen is not getting enough attention in international media. the lack of coverage is hindering humanitarian workers efforts to draw the attention of the international community and donors to the man-made catastrophe that the country is experiencing. amy: for more, we go directly to sana'a, yemen, where we're joined by shabia mantoo. she is the spokesperson for the united nations high commissioner for refugees, or unhcr, in yemen joining us from london, oxfam's

regional manager for middle east in yemen. we welcome you both. let's start in yemen's capital. let's start in sana'a. shabia mantoo, how that is the catastrophe right now? >> that is exactly it. it is catastrophic. yemen is entering its third year of conflict. we see humanitarian needs are escalating every single day. every single day, the situation on the ground gets worse. we are contending to see and hear reports of civilian casualties. we have an unprecedented outbreak of cholera. the country is also on the brink of famine. we are millions of people displaced from their homes trying to seek safety. the situation is abysmal on the ground. we as humanitarians are truly overwhelmed in trying to respond the best we can. juan: what has been the response of the western nations as well as of the arab countries of the region to this deepening catastrophe?

>> we have been saying yemen is a forgotten crisis. at present, it is the largest you manager in crisis in the world based on the amount of people in need. there are about 20 million yemenis who require humanitarian assistance in the country. across the world, it receives very little attention in comparison. we have been calling for more support to urgently address humanitarian needs in yemen. at the same time, calling for more attention on the crisis. more attention on the human suffering and the people bearing the brunt of the conflict, which are civilians. yemen,ent, if we lookok at i is less than 35% fuunded. we doo r require urgent support. half a year is gone and we have many more humanitarian needs arising. amy: can you talk about the effects of u.s.-backed saudi bombing campaign against yemen? >> as a humanitarian

organization, we are ensuring there is peace in yemen as long as military action continues between the parties, we're going to seek humanitarian needs arise. we have been advocating for peace. we need more recent -- more support. we do need a peaceful solution. there needs to be an end to the war. there needs to be -- the peace process needs to be forward. has had to pull back on its plans for a cholelea vaccination program because of dangers toof the medical workers in the region. could you talk about that? >> to be honest, i mean, those decisions are made by each of the parties responsible for leading that response. we are concerned primarily with the placement -- displacement and those displaced. amy: let's bring in

suspected cacases of cholera cod rise to more than 600,000? it would m make the epidemic the largest ever recorded in any country in a single year since records began? >> that is correct. the latest number i saw today was 390,000 cases just since the 27th of april. so in less than three months, 390 thousands is acted cholera -- suspected cholera cases. we know the rainy season is coming up. the rainy season is basically july to september. with the rain, we suspect the caseload will continue to rise. thehee seen some indication

deaths arere slowing d dn and we''re happypy for tt, b but w think the worst might not be over. we don't know. we have to prepare for the worst in every possible way. when you are massive efffforto respond to these c cases. is -- ittlast week, it wawas about 500000 new suspected cholera cases every day. aid effort toive stop the cholera crisis in yemen and we also need a massive eight effort to respond to the wider crisis and seven people are on the brink of famine. 50 million people have no access to clean drinking waterer or sufficient sanitation and hygiene facilities. c cse-firewe need a to be able t to travel andnd acs the whole couountry safely. we need d a cease-fire in yemen. month on capitol

hill, the senanate voted 53 to o 47 approve the sale of $500 million in precision-guided munititions to saudi arabia. a surprising number of senators voted against the deal. the vote came just weeks after trump traveled to saudi arabia, his first foreign trip abroad as president. during the trip, he signed an arms deals totaling $110 billion. this is president trump p speakg in saudi arabia. pres. trump: every country in the region has an absolute duty to ensure that terrorists find no sanctuary on their soil. manyny are already making signifificant contributions to regional security. jordanian pilot are crucial partners against isis in syria and iraq. saudi arabia and a regional coalition have taken strong action against houthi militanans in yemen.

kjetil ostnor, what about these new arms deals? endhave been calling for an saudis. deals with the >> to be honest, we think it is shameful both the u.k. government and the u.s. government are selling arms to the saudi led coalition, arms that are used in yemen. on several occasions, we have called for the suspension of arms sales. we call l on the intnternational committee, u.s., u.k., and other arms brokers, to become peace brokers instead of arms brokers. that is what is needed. we don't need more weaponry. bonds will only fuel the will only fuelbs the conflict. partners need to come to the table to find a peaceful solution, not to sell more

bombs. amy: we want to thank you both for being with us. kjetil ostnor speaking to us from london and shabia mantoo from the spokesperson for the united nations high commissioner for refugees, or unhcr, in yemen back, we will be talking about a ran. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. the state department has announced new sanctions against iran over allegedly supporting terrorism and the country's ballistic missile program. the move will blacklist 18 people accused of having ties to iran's military, freezing any of their r u.s. assets.

the new u.s. sanctions came just after the trump administration begrudgingly certified that iran has complied with its obligations under the obama-brokered nuclear agreement . according to the magazine foreign-policy, trump has instructed a group of his trusted white house staffers to make the potential case for withholding certification of iran at the next 90 day review of the nuclear deal. amy: the move was made after president trump reportedly had a contentious meeting with rex tillerson, who recertified iran's compliance with the nuclear deal. as a presidential candidate, donald trump promised to rip up the iran nuclear deal, calling it the worst you'll ever. for more, we're joined by ervand abrahamian, a retired professor of history at baruch college, city university of new york. he is the author of several books, including "the coup: 1953, the cia, and the roots of modern u.s.-iran relations." we welcome you to democracy now! start off by responding t to wht just happenened last w week.

trump certified in the deal and saying he is increasing sanctitions, now looking howow o sanction iran more. >> to borrow his own word am it is "sad." it is an incoherent policy. the idea -- before he was going to tear up the whole agreement, and has discovered it is far more complicated than ththat. it is an agreement between iran and not just the u.s., but the major economies of the world. if the u.s. once to pull out -- wants to pull out or at sanctions, what iran will do is go ahead with itss own policy of trying to improve relations with europe. it are ready has good relations with china and russia. the net result i think will be the loss for revenues for the united states corporations because once iran begins to produce a lot of income from

gas, it will sign contracts with the europeans, the chinese, russians, and the u.s. corporations are going to be left out in the cold. juan: and the significance of several members of his own administration pushing g back on thee president, on his campaign promises with iran? >> on both sides. i would guess from the extreme right, he would tear up p the whole agreeeement. that is not going to work. now he is in there. he knows the agreement is actually a very good agreement for the united states as well as for iran. but there are others who are arguing -- i think that it would be better to have good relations or at least normal relations because there would be an opening for u.s. businesses there. amy: what do you make of, again, we don't have original sources on this, but ththis conflict between rex tillerson, former

ceceo of exxonmobibil who is the secretary of state and as had many deaeals with a ran n over e years as the ceo, versus trump? >> i'm sure he sees it f from exxon's point of view that if exxon is not in the running, there are other companies -- tototal has a resign a major agreement. if not total, the chinese company or shell. it is a question of diehard business interests, versus some sort of incoherent ideology. juan: oil has always been at the center of western policy toward iran. you have written about some recently released documents that date back to the 1953 coup of -- organized by the cia against the democratically elected leader of iran. alsoou talk about that and why it is taken so long for

these latest documents to be released? >> as you say, it t is so long ago. actually, according to rules -- there's a 30 year rule, so documents can be released. it h hasaken t tee decades of bebeyondhatt before the state partrtme released these. it is like pulling tee out. the rean -- when you lk at it, well, there are two reasons. one is what the documentshohow actually thimportance of oil in the coup. the conventional wisdom is the co w war scare, comnism. but here you see when eisenhower intervenes in the scscussi, it is about question ofilil ntractctand somne a and how nationalization would disrupt thwhwhole international frameworand would be a threaeat u.s.s.nterests -- oi intests elseere. at anoth reason think ey haveeen so reltant t

publish tse documts is th it showsow invved the s. iernally in iraniaaffairs. ambasdor acts like a viceroy inlved imany dierent inteal -- he ofte saysoh, it is not my busines to benvolved internay, then he go ahead a iact es get invved. th downi discove oh surpsed i howhe ciaas involvedn the elections th were heldn 1952. wh theirtrategyaso undeine throh parlment. a t ofoney wen into sicallyetting what e cia thought uld be the favable caidate elted. inhis we d not knobefore -- wh they see

lk aboutwell, we nd to get d of mammad mosaegh, th have 1 candites thu.s. discses who suitabl am when he talkeabout wh was'tnown and wt w coming ur haser, but st people don't even knowhat w known wi the dep u.scia invoement wh all dulle the brotrf john ster dues. andhen the is eisenwer a othe who enginredhis crew using tey roosevt' grandn ashe bad guythe guwho comewith bs of mon and actuly ovehrows mohaad mosaegh, the mocraticly elted lead. >> even ere, the coentional wisdomas you had thereatment a admistratioand then wn eiseower camthe machery fohe coup,nd it wathe einhowerdministrion-

wh these duments sho which is astoundg, beforisenhowe , under thtruman adminiratitionthere w a deep ststat - deep state a the cia fr 1951, lg beforehe eisenhow. so ty were phing for rl acon in iran bere eisenwer ca in. ey were rking clely with th british befo the einhower ainistratn. amy: andhey tryo get ming rooselt to dthe samehing in954 in gtemala. he refused, but they did it anyway and overthrew the democratically elected leadership. i think it's important for people to understand u.s. history. the new york times naming the so-called dark prince to run the

iran operations. saying -- your thoughts when you heard this and the trump administration of revealing his name? >> i don't know the politics of that. they're very confused about what to do with iran. this is a reflection of that. juan: i'm wondering, and the documents, you can across the name donald wilhelm, cia guy who would you ran after the overthrow of mohammad mosaddegh, who was mayor bill de blasio's uncle. >> it would be interesting to i don't think -- a review much political discussions between this part of the family and that part. the cia and academic.

amy: we will leave it there. ervand abrahamian, thank you for being with us retired professor , of history at baruch college, city university of new york. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to outreach@democracynow.org or mail them to democracy now! p.o. box 693 new york, new york 10013.

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