01/04/18 01/04/18 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now! >> for the people e of this country, i think what is dangerous is to it nor the contininued threats. if the previous administration had done anything and dealt with north korea and dealt with iran instead of sitting by and done nothing, we would not have to clean up their mess now. amy: president trump tweeps's nuclear button is more bigger and more powerful than north korean leader kim jong-un's.

north and south korea have open lines of medication saying they are open to direct negotiations. we will speak with bruce cumings from the university of chicago, author of "north korea: another country." been to yemen where u.s. act saudi air campaign has killed more t than 10,000 civilians. this rig norway says it will stop supplying weapons and ammunition to the coalition. we will speak with reporter iona craig. ,> the primary weapon sales armed sales are coming from u.s., saudi arabia. britain, other european countries are involved. canada is involved. i think it is very lucrative business for the u.s. and the u.k. amy: we look at a case that highlights was some are calling the palestine exception to free speech on college campuses across the united states. your fordham to

educate the community about palestinian human rights, knows denied that right i am hoping g that for the other clclasses to come, they wiwill t have to endure the same heartache and issues that i went through. amy: we will speak with student ahmad awad, who assumed fordham diversity in new york, and dima khalidi, director of palestine legal. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. president trump's former strategist steve that predicting president trump's administration could unravel as robert mueller finds evidence of money laundering. while accusing donald trump, junior of treason over a 2016 meeting in trump tower with russian officials. that is according to explplosive

excerpts from the new book "fire madeury" by michael wolff public wednesday. in the book, bannon is quoted predicting robert mueller's russia investigation will find strong evidence of money laundering saying -- "they're going to crack don jr like an egg on national tv." meeting,about another donald trump, jr., christian, and manafort, he is quoted as saying -- "the three senior guys in the campaign thought it was a good idea to meet with a foreign government inside trump tower in the conference room on the 25th floor -- with no lawyers. they didn't have any lawyers. even if you thought that this was not treasonous, or unpatriotic, or bad, and i happen to think it's all of that, you should have called the fbi immediately." bannon''s comments prompted president trump's lawyers to issue a cease-and-desist letter saying been violated a nondisclosure agreement.

in a statement, president trump wrote -- "steve bannon has nothing to do with me or my presidency. when he was fired, he not only lost his job, he lost his mind. steve doesn't represent my base -- he's only in it for himself." at the white house, press secretary sarah huckabee sanders called the book trashy tabloid fiction, as reporters grilled her over its revelations. >> did the president son donald trump, jr. commit treason? >> i think that is a ridiculous accusation and won a pretty sure we have addressed many times from here before. if that is in reference to comments made by visitor bannon, i refer you back to the once he may grievously on "60 minutes" recall the collusion with russia about this president a total farce. i think ii would back at that if ananybody has beenen inconsiste, it is in him. it hasn't been the president or this a administration. amy: president trump's former campaign chair, paul manafort, asked a federal court wednesday to limit the power of special

counsel robert mueller, accusing the investigation into alleged trump-russia ties of overstretching its authority. last october, mueller indicted manafort and his former business assosociate rick gates on 12 counts, including money laundering, acting a as ununregistered agents of ukrkr's former pro-russian government , and conspiracy against the united states. president trump abruptly shut down his advisory commission on election integrity on wednesday, after it failed to provide any evidence of voter fraud. civil rights groups say the commission's true aim was laying the groundwork for a nationwide voter suppression effort. the commission's chair, kris kobach, blamed a "barrage of meritless lawsuits" for the investigations closure after most u.s. states and the district of columbia refused to share data with the commission. kobach has a long record of employing voter suppression tactics as secretary of state of kansas and as a republican consultant. president trump has repeatedly,

falsely asserted that he lost the popular vote to hillary clinton in 2016 mackris 3 million to 5 million unauthorized votes were cast in the election. a major winter storm is wrecking the atlantic seaboard, bringing high winds, coastal flooding, and heavy snow to cities as far south as savannah, georgia, and parts of northern florida. meteorologists describe the storm as hyper bomb and genesis that rapidly dropped pressure and quickly intensified over the atlantic. forecasters preredict the storm will be followed by bone chilling temperatures as a polar vortex returns too much of the u.s. later this week. last month, president trump cited cold winter weather in the u.s. to repeat his claim that global warming is a hoax, but, scientists say greenhouse gas emissions may be contribute into such weather events.

in baltimore, maryland, parents, teachers, and's do does protesting frigid conditions at public schools with schoolchildren left shivering in classrooms and temperatures barely rising above freezing. photos shared widely on social media show children bundled in winter parkas seated on a classroom floor, a high school classroom and a gymnasium left badly damaged after they were flooded by burst pipes, and a thermometer measuring one classroom's temperature at 42 degrees. the baltimore teachers union condemned the conditions as unfair and inhumane and called on officials to close schools for the rest of the week. state senator bill ferguson, a former baltimore public school teacher, said the city's schools requested funds for heating and air conditioning but were denied due to fiscal constraints. ferguson blasted republican governor bill hogan in a tweet, writing -- "governor hogan suggests enough money has gone to baltimore city, additional resources not needed."

in the occupied west bank, israeli forces shot and killed palestinian musab tamimi during a protest near ramallah wednesday, making the 17-year-old the first teenager to be e killed by israel in 201. tamimi was also the 16th palelestinian to be killed in demonstrations since president trump declared last month that the u.s. would recognize jerusalem as israel's capital. witnesses say tamimi was unarmed when he was shot in the neck. this is musab tamimi's father, firas tamimi. >> the soldiers arrested a mentally ill boy. when i try to relelease him, the officer said to me, we want to kill somomeone. i moved backward to this verse away. -- dispersed yououths i was clclose to them went they shot my boboy and killed him. thank god he is a martyr. amy: musab tamimi was a relative of another palestinian teenager, 16-year-old ahed tamimi, who is in israeli custody awaiting

trial before a military court after she was filmed in a viral video slapping an israeli soldier. israel's government has o orderd thousands of african migrants to leave israel within 90 days or face arrest. the plan was announced as israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu called african migrants infiltrators during a cabinet meeting wednesday. >> the infiltrators haveve a sisimple choice -- co-op or it with us and leave voluntarily, respectfully, humanely, anand legally or we will have to use the many other tools at t our disposal, which h are also accocording to lawaw. i hope it will choose to cooperate with us. amy: most of the estimated 40,000 migrants in israel are refugees from eritrea and sudan fleeing war and persecution, although israel considers them ececonomic migrants. meanwhile, members of israelel's parliament, ththe knesset, erupd in a shouting match wednesday, as prime minister netanyahu and right-wing lawmakers advanced legislation that would make it

easier to carry out death sentences against palestinians convicted on terrorism charges. capital punishment is legal in israel, but has not been implemented since 1962 when nazi leader adolf eichmann was put to death for his role i in the holocaust. in iran, tens of thousands of people took to the streets of cities across iran wednesday for pro-government rallies. the state-sanctioned demonstrations were held one week after anti-government protests erupted across iran, targeting high unemployment, equality, and housing costs. on wednesday, the head of iran's islamic revolutionary guards corps said there would be no more sedition and ththat protest leaders had d been arrested. state media have reported the detention of over 500 people across iran. in ethiopia, t the prime ministr said on he would release all of wednesdaday ethiopopia's politil prisoners and close a notorious

prison that human rights groups have labeled a torture chamber. amnesty international welcomed the surprise announcement, saying if authorities follow through, it will mark the "end of an era of bloody repression in ethiopia." ethiopia remains a major u.s. ally in africa despite its long history of human rights abuses and its record of silencing journalists, protesters, and opposition p pitical pararties. in nigeria, a suicide bomber struck a mosque in the northeastern borno state wednesday, killing 11 worshipers during morning prayers. no group has claimed responsibility for the bombing, which occurred in an area where the military group boko haram remains activeve. back in the united states, the saysg director of ice politicians who resist the trump administration's immigration policies should be arrested and charged with crimes. thomas homan made the comment during an appearance on fox news on tuesday, one day after california formally declared itself a sanctuary state for

immigrants. >> california better hold on tight. they are about to see a a lot me stateation orders in the of california. if the politicians in california don't want to check the community's, then ice will. amy: homan's comment came as the trump administration continues its campaign to force local police officers to cooperate with the federal government's mass deportationon plans. washington state filed suit against the budget hotel chain motel 6 on wednesday, accusing it of violating anti-discrimination and privacy laws by handing over personal information of hotel guests to ice. washington attorney general bob ferguson says hotel managers gave the names, dates of birth, driver's license numbers, and license plate numbers of some 9000 guests to immigration officers, who scrutinized the lists for latino-sounding names, leading to the arrests of at least six people. the lawsuit comes four months after the phoenix new times reported motel 6 managers in arizona had a similar cooperation agreement with ice.

in new york city, the daughter of haitian immigigrant jean montrevil says her father was arrested wednesday by ice agents outside his home in the far rockaway in queens and was taken to the essex county jail. jean montrevil came to the u.s. from haiti with a green card in 1986 at the age of 17. last june, when he went to his first check-in under president trump, montrevil was detained, handcuffed, processed to be deported until calls from his supporters apparently prompted his release. speaking on democracy now! last summer, jean montrevil described the dangers he could face if he's deportrted to haiti. i'm ae you get deported, criminal alien. there is a process you have to go through in haiti. yet to be interviewed by the haitian government. you have to have a family member to come & you off. all of my family lives here now.

if you can get out, yet to pay money to get out. they are making money off criminal deportees in haiti. people have e died in thehe hain jail. amy: montrevil's arrest by ice on wedednesday came after the trump administration said it is revoking a special immigration program for nearly 60,000 haitians, including many who came to the united states after the devastating earthquake in 2010. their temporary protected status, or tps, will now end in july next year.. on capitol hilill, vice presidit mike pence swore in two democrats to the senate on thursday, giving the democratic caucus 49 seats to the republicans' 51. democrats are now two seats shy of a senate majority after former federal prosecutor doug jones beat republican roy moore in a special election last month. jones was seated wednesday along with tina smith of minnesota, who was appointed by governor mark dayton to replace former

senator al franken. franken formally resigned tuesday after at least seven women said he groped them or forcibly tried to kiss them without their consent. connecticut senators richard blumenthal and chris murphy have wrapped up a two-day trip to puerto rico, warning the island remains in deplorable shape more than 100 days after hurricane maria made landfall. senator murphy noted congress approved a $36.5 billion disaster relief package for hurricane-devastatated states ad puerto rico, but said much of the needed fun, includining community development block grants, have not yet reached the island. >> the white house is niggling and i mean the puerto rirican governmement, making them gogo through all sorts of bureaucracy and red tape that is unnecessarily. the result is the economy is still hemorrhaging. amy: and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. nermeen: and i'm nermeen shaikh.

welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. we begin today's show with north korea. president trump took to twitter thursday to take credit for renewed communications between north korea and south korea. trump tweeted -- "with all of the failed 'experts' weighing in, does anybody really believe that talks and dialogue would be going on between north and south korea right now if i wasn't firm, strong and willing to commit our total 'might' against the north. fools, but talks are a good thing!" this comes after north korean leader kim jong-un has ordered the reopening of a hotline with south korea's leaders, bringing the biggest thaw in relations between the two koreas in years. the overture came as south korean president moon jae-in said he's open to talks next week with the north in the so-called truce village in the demilitarized zone. earlier ththis week, president trump drew international attention when he tweeted a threat to north korea that was steeped in sexual bravado,

writing -- "north korean leader kim jong-un just stated that the "nuclear button is on his desk at all .'mes will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that i too have a nuclear button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my button works!" duduring a p press confeferencen wednesday, white house press secretary sarah sanders addressed questions about trump's taunting of north korean leader. >> i don't think it is tauntingg to stand up for the people of this country. i think what is dangerous is to ignore the continued threats. if the previous administration had done anything and dealt with north korea and dealt with the ramp instead of sitting by and doing nothing, we would not have to clean up their mess now. larger nuclear a button? amy: trump's tweet came after north korean leader kim jong-un declared his nation a fully-fledged nuclear power

monday, saying in a televised new year's day speech he was prepared to launch a nuclear attack against his enemies, including south korea, japan, or the united states. >> the entire united states is within range of our nuclear weapon. a nuclear button islwayss o on y dedesk. thisis is reality. nonot a threreat. amy: kim said north korea would now focus on mass producing nuclear warheads and ballistic missiles for operational deploymement. for more, we are joined in chicago by bruce cumings, professor of history at the university of chicago and author of several books on korea, including "korea's place in the sun: a modern history" and "north korea: another country." professor cumings, welcome to democracy now! let's start off with the breaking news this week of communications being open between south and north korea. what does this mean and the possibility that as early as next week they will somehow meet at truce village in the demilitarized zone?

>> it is very important, particularly the tone of kim jong-un's statement, which was very conciliatory toward the south and followed up by a high official who is even more conciliatory talking about north korea's hopes for the south korean winter olympics going well. of course, kim jong-un offered to send a delegation to the olympics. this is in great contrast to, for example, the 1988 or olympics which the north koreans try to disrupt with terrorist attacks. it is a very good sign. i would add that kim jong-un did big button with a lot of nuclear weapons, but he very clearly said that north korean nuclear weapons are for defensive purposes and would not be used unless north korea was attacked.

secondly, he said something that north korean officials have been saying for the last six months without a lot of attention. and that is words to the effect that their nuclear program is nearly completed, which would mean they don't have to test so much. they have tested a great deal in 2017, particularly missiles, and test lastge h-bomb september. i think on all three counts, this was generally a welcome statement, a conciliatory statement. president trump's tweet this morning as trying to take credit for these talks going forward, that's fine. the fact is, the trump administration was very opposed to the president of south korea's proposal for talks. the trump administration position is there can be no talks until north korea commits

to denuclearization. that is their only hold card. they are not going to do that before talks open. i would give a lot of president -- credit to president moon for opening up these talks next january 9 next week, in spite of tremendous opposition, not to mention almost daily provocations coming from president trump. nermeen: t this morning there ws a call on that hotline, the south koreans reached out to the north. do we know anything about the content of that call? >> no, it was all i could do to two the new york times before coming down here so i don't know the content was. that one was closed two years ago in the context of an south korean president shutting down a very large industrial zone just across the dmz and north korea

where about 60,000 north koreans were working for mostly south korean firms. it was the last and biggest fruit of really more than a decade of attempts at reconciliation between north and south. so i have hopes that not just this communication line, but that export zone will be reopened soon. i hope know that, but it. amy: u.n. ambassador nikki haley said tuesday north korea might be preparing for another missile test andnd warned such a move would need tougher steps against pyongyang. koreawe hear that north might be preparing for another missile test, i hope that does not happen. but if it does, we must ring even more measures to bear on the north korean regime. the civilized world must remain united and vigilant against the rogue states development of a nuclear arsenal.

we will never accept a nuclear north korea will stop we won't take any of the talks seriously if they don't do something to ban all nuclear weapons in north korea. we consider this to be a very reckless regime. we don't think we need a band-aid and we don't agree need to smile and take a picture. them stop have nuclear weapons, a and they need to stotop it now. north korerea can talk w with ae they want, but the u.s. will not recognize it or acknowledge it until they agree to ban the nuclear weapons they have. amy: so if you can respond to this, bruce cumings, and respond to the u.s. setting preconditions.s. but this is d directing a shared between south and north korea. and then talk about between of trump talking about his button bigger than the north korean leaders s and also his taking credit for this coming together. >> i think you are right that

this initiative came from the two korea's. the u.s. was not involved as far as we know in this initiative. the unfortunate fact is that not just the trump administration, but many, many administrations going back decades, have not one koreas to be together. they always want the u.s. to be in a supervisory role. official fromn the obama administration was quoted as saying, south korea needs to be on a tight leash. that kind of condescending crap is just coming out of the mountains of a bipartisan coalition of american officials for a long, long time. president moon is a very experienced politician. he was chief of staff to the man who did the deepest reconciliation with north korea when he was in office.

i think the u.s. should trust moon to conduct these talks and make whatever deals might be possible with north korea. , liketrump's tweet everything else, even a 17 inches of snow that boston is when you get that trump essentially says it is his doing, no matter what it is, donald trump is snapping his fingers and making everything happen. but the hidden lining in that statement is that trump supports the talks. he said right at the end that he supports the talks. talks are good. i'm not a psychiatrist, so i don't know why donald trump throughout his campaign and his president has constantly showed his freudian insecurities about the size of his, whatever. in this case, he is b basically bringing kim jong-un up to his

level or bringing himself down to kim jong-un's level. in any case, focusing attention on north korea in a way that no previous president would ever do. it is childish. about a possible nuclear war that could literally destroy the planet. i wish i knew with the north koreans think of it, but i would guess that after all of these months, they are starting to not taken very seriously. last summer, they were asking republicans in washington, what does truck mean when he says "fire and fury" or he is going to totally destroy us? because in north korea, every statement coming out of the government is carefully vetted right of the line, where as truck is not -- trump is not vetted at all. it demeans the united states. it brings trump basically to kim jong-un's level. nermeen: giving that trump has

been tweeting as much as he has come activists in san francisco are questioning twitter's enforcement of its policy against violent threats after trump used the platform to taunt north korean leader kim jong-il and. members of a group called resistance projected an image on the outside of twitter headquarters in san francisco on wednesday directed at the twitter ceo jack dorsey, which read -- "jack is complicit." a spokesperson for twitter said .hey did not violate policy twitter's rules page reads -- on "we consider violent threats to be exposes statement of one's intent to kill or inflict serious visible harm against another person. please don't that wishing or hoping that someone asked me if ,is serious physical harm making vague threats or threatening less serious forms of physical harm would not fall under this specific policy." bruce cumings, can you respond

to that and whwhat you thihink,f anything, should be done to prevent trump from escalating the situation between the u.s. and north k korea? >> his latest statements, the one yesterday about how big his button was, my violate obscenity statutes. but certainly, is very bellicose statements last summer about totally destroy north korea would seem to be outside twitter's guidelines. north korea was totally destroyed by the u.s. during the korean war and a three-year air campaign that left him is nothing standing. and every north korean is taught about this, very bitter about it but what you can say to trump is, we totally destroy north korea already instilled and not win the war. -- and still did not win the war. it is very irresponsible talk. i would imagine just about everybody in the white house, including the custodians

cleaning his bathrooms, would like to grab his twitter and throw it as far -- his iphone, and throw it as far away as they has unsettled relations with our friends and allies and our enemies time and time again. by lining up with the iranian demonstrators against the ayatollahs, he puts them in a position where the ayatollahs can easily claim therefor and agents. he blasted pakistan for coddling terrorists and protecting them inside the country. pakistan has been doing that for decades. the uss don't all about it and has tolerated it for other reasons. so he's basically a kind of wrecking crew. in this case, the wrecking crew is twitter. i think we would all be happy if twitter would just cut him off, but that is obvious the not going to happen. what could come of these

direct talks between north korea and south korea? >> i think it is very probable that a north korean delegation will come to pyeongchang for the olympics of begin february 9. and that may include athletes who would participate in some nonofficial form. two north korean stators who qualify for the olympics in canada some weeks ago, but apparently, the north koreans did not put in an application or failed to meet a deadline or something, so they cannot participate as only big athletes. but i think it will be a time when the world can breathe a sigh of relief that at least there won't be missiles were vicious tweet going off during the olympics and that it could be a start to things like reopening the case zone and reducing the terrible tension that has been rocking the

the koreanwracking peninsula. amy: bruce cumings, professor of history at the university of chicago. among his books "korea's place , in the sun: a modern history" and "north korea: another country." when we come back, norway says it is cutting off weapon sales to saudi arabia because of the u.s.-backed saudi bombing campaign against yemen. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. nermeen: we turn now to yemen. on wednesday, norway's ministry of foreign affairs announced it will stop supplying weapons and ammunition to the united arab emirates, citing great concern over the humanitarian crisis in yemen. the uae is part of the saudi-led coalition that has been carrying ouout airstrikikes in yememen fr neararly three y years. in 2016,6, norway sold nearly y0 million worth of weapons to the uae. meanwhile,e, the u.s. . and brin continue t to supply t the sauds withth billions d dolla wororth of w weapons. the u.s. also provides logistical military support to saudi arabia. the saudi air campaign has killed more than 10,000

civilians in yemen, which is the air worldld poorest country, and displaced more than million. threeamy: in december, doctors without borders said it suspected an outbreak of diphtheria in the country for the first time since 1982, with 28 deaths reported since august. meanwhile, the international committee of the red cross said the number of suspected cholera cases in yemen has reached 1 million, making itit the worst cholera epidemic on record, and the united nations is warning over 8 million people are a step away from famine. more than 80% of yemenis now lack food, fuel, water and access to healthcare. well, recently nermeen shaikh and i spoke to journalist iona craig, who was based in sana'a from 2010 0 to 2015 as thehe yen cocorrespondent for the timemesf london. she wawas awarded ththe 2016 orl prizize for her reporting on yemen. i started by asking her what the world needs to know about the crisis in yemen. >> i think it is really how man-made the human a during crisis is. the saudi coalition's policy of not just blockadading the c couy

and restricting food imports in yemen imports 90% of its food in peace time, but also the bombing campaign that i m mentioned in that report for the guardian that has been used to systematically target's yemenis ability to grow their own food or supply food for themselves. so there is a clear had -- pattern of a strategy to bomb farmland, to target the areas where farmers are trying to grow food host of, as well as targetining fishermen, where people have an coming fish anddly reliant on fishermen's supplies to feed themselves. so in that report, i spoke to fishermen on the red sea coast, the head of the fishermen's union, and to farmers. also there has been academic

research done on the date of the airstrike campaign since 2015 that does show a pattern of the saudi coalition apparently targeting yemen's food supplies, its own farmers, and fishermen in order to prevent them from being able to provide food for themselves in addition to this blockade. so this is what is so largely responsible for the humaninitarn crisis we are e seeing now with more than 8 million people facing famine, witith hundreds f thousands of children now starving to death. and this hasas been a policy of the s saudi coalitionwhwhich is backed b by western nations including the u.s. they are complicit in that. it is mass starvation of 27 million people. nermeen: let's go to a first-person account by a young woman living in the name --sana'a will stop she goes by for herdonym to safety.

's to inside our houses. you don't know if the airstrike's going to come. it is safer for you and your family to stay closer to your house. since 2011, we have this kind of ugly experience of letdown in our houses for days and days. but this one is different. this one is like most of the people are just like they are sad, really sad. even myself. since i was a student, i have issues with old regime and the troubles and everything, but when my friend got killed, i cried. most of the people really cried. men and women. they feel like this man has been our leader for almost 55 years.

he was the president into i finished school and he was still the president. we always look up to him. he is our father for my generation. noticed -- thing i it is like people, i don't know, they lost hope. death breaks every single one in the country because there is still protection anymore. nermeen: that was a young woman who goes by the name selma, a 26-year-old speaking from sana'a , the capital of yemen, speaking of the former president. iona, could you respond to what shshe s said, in particular, tht , breaksh, saleh's death every single one in t t country because ththey think there is

still l prectiononnymore?? >> everybody in yemen, even those who hated saleh were shocked when he died that it happened at all, but also the way in which he died. i'm not sure e everybody would hold that sameme voice.. the are people who were very pleased to see saleh go, but i think everyrybody now -- there s mass uncertainty of what happens next. that is everybody's question, what happens now that saleh is dead and his political party appears to be crumbling? , think particularly in sana'a people over the last 10 days are incredibly scared trying to comedic it with people is difficult after saleh's death. is cracked down on the

internet. people's ability to communicate with the outside world has been silenced. even when you're able to communicate with people, they are very scared. they don't want to talk about politics. they don't it's a what is going on because they feel the will be areisals and thee h houthis going to crackdown on anyone who still shows loyalty to saleh. there's been a lot of talk of detentions in sana'a. it is uncnclear how many peopope have effectivevely disappeareded into the prisons of sana'a. getting information out of sana'a is so difficultlt because of the internet restrictions. people are incredibly scared. they're sort of holding their breath of what is going to happen next in yemen after salah 's death. houthis: speaking of the , the fact that now the trump administration says they're going to share proof that iran

is arming the who the rebels, what are the implications of that and why is the trump administration making this claim now? >> i think the most important part of that is why. why is the white house going to be sharing this evidence? why is saudi arabia not sharing the evidence or even the yemeni government sharing the evidence? i think the concern is about the answer to that question. is this going to be -- is this rhetoric and this narrative going to be used as some form of pretext for more u.s. involvement in the war in yemen to support any ground operations by the saudi-led coalition? there have been movements saleh .nd's death a grand operation had been talked about for more than a year. but previous visit administration, they advised the saudi led coalition against that. so the concern is this kind of rhetoric coming out of the white

house may be used as some form or way to support the coalition in the upcoming ground offensive and increase u.s. involvement in the war in yemen. that then brings the prospect of escalation because it is highly likely that is that did happen, iran would retaliate. they may not retaliate in yemen. they could retaliate in syria or iran and that brings the process act of an almost proxy conflict then between the u.s. and iran. it is incredibly dangerous. --hink the timing of it now it is dangngerous for yemen n ie sisince that the aid agencies he warned for a long time now about the dangers of pushing militarily on -- they rely so heavily on that port. the consequences could be beyond the borders of yemen and for the rest of the region if this is going to be now used as some

form of narrative for more u.s. involvement in targeting the houthis in yemen sue saudii arabia see very much as s a proy for iran. it seems to be t the houthis hae increased the capabilities on the weapons side. the yemeni arsenal dididot contain ballistic missile second riyadh. as far as iry perhaps parts that have been smuggled into yemen in order for them to build a modify the ballistic missiles that they did have inn order to fire them into riyadh. have been tois fire towardsds the uae as well.. thisis talk could be incrediblee dangerous for the region. amy: jared kushner recently went meeting with his dear friend in alman, the crown

prince of saudi arabia. his role in what is happening here in what you feel the u.s. should be doing right now? >> i think with the u.s. cozying up more to saudi arabia, being on the saudi coalition side while be more hostile towards iran really means getting some kind of dialogue going on the war in yemen to bring an end to the conflict is less and less likely. u.s. actions at the moment are pointing toward sort of another it in conflict, trying to find an end of the conflict becomes more difficult than the u.s. is actually making it more difficult by this kind of relationship with saudi arabia. while being more aggressive in their rhetoric towards iran. it has a direct reflection onn the population. the u.s. at the moment and their activities are making that worse

for yemenis on the ground and will do if they cannot get to the point of some of my of political discussion or a cease-fire to at least bring a hold to hostilities in some way. the u.s. is making the situation worse in yemen rather than better. amy: and the effect of cholera. how many people have cholera? how is that affected by the saudi, u.s. backed saudi bombing of yemen? >> the issue with cholera, actually, the numbers are expected to reach one million by the end of this year with or than 2000 people now having died from the disease. the bombing of infrastructure, of water supplies, has had an impact on hospitals, the blockading of medical supplies bringing them into the country, the blockading of water purification into the couountry, the aid agencies have been bringing in supplies for that. that all has an impact on the the choleraelp

situation in yemenen. now you're seeining outbreak of more disisease. we're hearing the last few days abouout diphtheria in yemen, whh has not been r reported for decades in the country. this is all because less than 50% of the country's medical facilities are now operating, and those that are operarating r under massive e strain. theyey cannot get the supplies they need. the aid agencies cannnnot bringn the help they need for those kinds of situations. it is not just hunger. it is disease. that is not going to be just restricted to cholera now whilst the hospitals and medical centers in yemen struggle to cope with basically the situation they are in because of the conflict, because the hospitals have been bombed, because of medical facilities that have been put out of action because of the war. the health care system is basically collapsing in yemen at the moment. that's no way to rectify if the aid agegencies cannnnot t help in to them at the moment. nermeen: could you also explain, as far as the bombing campaign

goes, who are the principal countries? the u.s.s. and the u.k. for supplying arms to saudi arabia, and why there isn't more pressure on them given the situation in yemen to cease all sales -- or at least to limit them? >> right. obviously, the primary weapon arms sales ares coming from the u.s. to saudi arabia. britain is also involved, other european countries are involved. canada is involved. it is a very lucrative business for the u.s. and the u.k., particularly in the u u.k. it is not just weapon sales, it is other investments from saudi arabia and other gulf countries who are part of the coalition, particularly in the brexit era when the british government is going to be looking beyond investmentfor more in the country. so it is about maintaining relationships that have a financial interest ultimately.

clearas gone on despite evidence of violations of international monetary law that i've seen on the ground in yemen . evidence has been collected by human rights organizations. ist doesn't look like it going to stop anytime soon. there have been ongoing calls both in the u.s. and the u.k. for suspensions of weapon sales. there was a partial suspension of decision guided weapons in the u.s. a year ago, but that has since been lifted and there now selling precision guided weapons back to the saudis again. there no indications that either the u.s. or the u.k. is going to timee that policy any soon. it is a point of leverage and they can use that to push for dialogue in this war, that itits nonot being used. obviously, the consequences are devastating for yemenis. amy: what does the trump family

gain by this close relationship with saudi arabia? not to diminish the obama administration and the number of times he went to saudi arabia and what he had done, but clearly, the first foreign trip president t trump took was too saudi arabia. jared kushner has been our number of times. his closeness with the crown prince salman. what do the trumps gain? >> this is a lot of -- based on financial interest in economic interest. this is the really disheartening thing about it because that is at the expense of millions of yemenis who are literally starving to death. the interest of those people and the lives of those people is being seen as inferior to the economic interests of u.s. in ththe financial interests of the trump administration. it brings a lot of questions compass ofthe moral

societies and our governments with the u.s. and the u.k., in this about the direction thahat this takes because we are all now well aware of the human terrain situation in yemen right now and how many millions of people are suffering the situation of famine on the ground and the likely numbers of people who are going to starve to death. a yet our governments are still willing to hold very close relationships with saudi arabiba for financial interests, maintain that relationship at the cost of many hundreds of thousands of lives in yemen. amy: award-winning journalist iona craig has reported from yemen for years with correspondent for the times of london. this is democracy now! to see part one of our discussion, you can go to democracynow.org. when we come back, colombia university has one, hunters, rikers, new york university. they all have students for justice in palestine groups on

campus. so why did fordham say no? stay with us. ♪ [music break] amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy gogoodman with nermeen

shaikh. nermeen: we end today's show with a case that highlights what some are calling the "the palestine exception" to free speech on college campuses. here in new york, student at fordham university's lincoln center campus are fighting in court for their right to start a student for justice in palestine group. the student government approved the group unanimously but the dean of students over rule the approval singled stir up controversy" and be "polarizing." amy: on wednesday, the students were in court here in new york asking a judge to re-instate the student government's approval. one of the students who is suing to allow the club to be on campus is joining us now. ahmad awad has now graduated from fordham university. he initiated the process to get approval for the group and is the lead petitioner in the case against fordham. he is now a law student at rutgers university. also joining us dima khalidi, , director of palestine legal . we asked fordham university to join us but they said they are not providing any statements while the case is in litigation. we welcome you both to democracy now!

you did.d tell us what what you did does not sound very unusual here for a club to be on campus. unusual at all. it was a simple part of the college experience. entered into school. i had an interest from the beginning. i had friends who are older than me that were contributing to the cause at other universities, so i thought it would only be right to have a group on campus. so in fall 2015, we begin the process of getting approval to have the club status on campus. amy:y: were other universities n new york, for example, have this group? this post, many have of columbia, nyu, hunter, rutgers, montclair s state and w on and on.he listst goes there are list of over 180 chapters around this country either under the name sjp or under other names that also work with sjp.

amy: so you into the student government. whether they say? >> we got the necessary documentation we needed to fill out and filled it up properly. we got the signatures we needed and filled in all the positions. thetarted to meet with ministry's and to explain our goals and our mission. we're the constitution written up. we revised it according to school policy. eventually we went out for a vote after a year of waiting. the student government unanimously approved our club and granted us club status. unfortunately, a month later, we werere told thahat dean keieith eldrdredge would veto o the clu. he believed it was polarizing gn college campuses and it would be a necessary for fordham to have a club. nermeen: is that the only justification you have received from the university administration about why they overturned the student government's decision? >> yes. it is s mainly to do with the ft

they believe the group would be polarizing on campus. it may make other students upupt oror uncomfortable. amy: how do they determine this? >> based office begin with other professors, reviewing other cases from around the country. professors?s?ordham >> they wrote in support of our cause and in support of allowing to sjp on campus. in addition, dozens of catholic clergy members from other churches and universities around this country wrote an open letter to fordham condemning the dean's decision a and telling fordham that they should revise. could youima khalidi, talk about if there has been any precedents to this, a student government approving a group and the university administration overturning that approval? >> that is why this case is so important. this is really the first instance we're seeing of them

banning a student group like this, especially after getting apprproval. we have seen sjp another student groups face a lot of pressure, censorship, even punishment for protesting for palestinian human rights, but this is the first time a university has censored to this point, to this level, without any debate even happening. critical that we challenge this kind of blatant censorship. amy: what is article 78? >> it is a procedure specific to new york law that allows challenging private institutions when they violate their own rules and regulations. because private institutions are not bound by the first amendment and in this case, we are challenging the university's

decision based on the fact it was an arbitrary and capricious decision. it was a bad faith decision. fordham's oned guarantees to its students that it would respect their free expression and dissenting views, etc. new layout, what is the broader significance of this case? it stems far beyond fordham university. >> that's right. we are seeing around the country a very broad-based, consistent, and concerted effort to undermine the growing movement for palestinian rights. we saw in your earlier segment what is happening in palestine, the kinds of human rights abuses that are happening to children and otherwise. and people are upset about it with trump's jerusalem decision. with this growing movement, israel and its supporters in the trying toncreasingly shut down this conversation.

this is what is happening at fordham. toorder to support our right dissent in this country, to take these kinds of important positions, we have to ensure that universities don't get away with this kind of blatant censorship. amy: did other groups supppport you? a y yes, we had support from number of other groups concluding the muslim students association who was externally supportive and helpful in our process moving forward. his students around campus, just begin with friends that i have, other classmates, everyone was interested to see with this has to offer because there was no other area where people could conflict on fordham 's. campus. amy: did you expect controversy? >> not at all. manyny people go to college is knowining that t they are goingo be able