03/06/18 03/06/18 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from papacifica, this is dedemocracy now! pres. trump: people have to understand our country on trade has been ripped off by virtually every country in the world, whether it is s friend or enemy. everybody will stop china, russia. and take people that we think are wonderful, the european union. amy: despite growing oppositionn from repubublican lawmakers, president trump is pushing ahead with a plan to place new tariffs on imported steel and aluminum -

a move some economists say could spark a trade war. trump's plan has also divided progressives. some unions and critics of so-called free trade endorse the tariffs, others warn it will hurt the u.s. economy. wewe will host a debate between lori wallach of public citizen's globalal trade watch and economt michael hudson. can we speak to democratic senator chris murphy of connecticut, one of the leadadig advocates for gun control on capitol hill. >> this happens nowhere else other than the united states of america. this epidemic of mass slaughter. ofs scorch -- scorch shooting after shooting. amy: we will speak to senator murphy about gun control, the power of the nra and his support for a new bill to end u.s. involvement in saudi arabia's devastating war in yemen. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!,

democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. and major news, north korea sass it will stop t testing its nucle weapons in order to o hold talks with the united states. the north korean officials made this promise on tuesday to an envoy of south korean officials, who had traveled to the north for a rare visit with north korean leader kim jong un. it was the first time in 10 years that south korean special envoys travel to pyongyang. on tuesday, the north korean koreaals also said north would be willing to relinquish its nuclear weapons program if the military threats against north korea are resolved. the two countries also set the date for a high-level summit in late april. president trump has repeatedly made contradictory statements about whether he would be willing to engage in talks with north korea and its leader. trump has also repeatedly threatened to deploy nuclear weapons against north korea,

severely escalating the threat of nuclelear war. in syria, human rights monitors say at least 70 people have been killed by the russian-backed syrian government's continued air strikes and artillery fire against eastern ghouta, outside the capital damascus. monitors say a humanitarian aid convoy has been blocked from delivering supplies to residents trapped in the rebebel-held are, which has s been besieged by the syrian government for years. the rescue group the white helmets say at least 30 people appear to have suffocated from a suspected chlorine gas attack on monday night. the syrian government's ongoing offensive against eastern ghouta comes despite a u.n. security council cease-fire and a five-hour daily ceasefire brokered by russia, the syrian government's main backer. president trump says he's not backing down from his plan to impose tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, despite opposition from his own party. prominent rerepublicans andd business leaders have e denouncd trump's plan, saying the tariffs will hurt the manufacturing industry and u.s. competitiveness.

the to do -- the two top republicans in congress, senate majority leader mitch mcconnell and house speaker paul ryan, have reportedly implored trump in private to reconsider his decision. meanwhile, some democrats have celebrated the move. we'll host a debate on trump's tariff plan after headlines. in a series of extraordinary live interviews on monday, former trump campaign adviser sam nunberg said he would refuse to cooperate with special counsel robert mueller's investigation. nunberg vowed to defy a grand jury subpoena and repeatedly dared mueller to arrest him. mueller has subpoenaed nunberg for emails and other communications between himself and trump advisers, including steve bannon and roger stone. this is nunberg speaking with ari melber on msnbc. >> why do i have to give them my personal communicatioions? steve bannon? roger stone? roger is my mentor.

i.e. mel 15 times a day -- i.e. mel him 15 times a day. roger is my mentor.. he is like family t to me. i'm not going to do it. i'm not going to do it. and roger did not talk -- he may have lied ababout it, but roger did not -- >> i think some people are worried about you and are worried about what you're doing. i think others are upset because we just show the white house -- >> should shut up. amy: "the new york times" is reporting the state department has yet to spend any of the $120 million allocated since late 2016 to counter alleged russian meddling in u.s. elections. "the times" reports that as a result, not a single one of the 23 analysts who work in the state department's global engagement center, which is charged with countering moscow's alleged election interference, even speakaks russssian. president trump welcomed israeli president benjamin netanyahu to the white house monday.

the two leaders celebrated trump's highly controversial decision to recognize jerusalem as the capital of israel and move the u.s. embassy there. control of jerusalem is one of the most contested issues between israelis and palestinians. netanyahu's visit comes as he faces a series of escalating corruption investigations back home. a number of his closest aides have already been arrested. later today, trump will hold talks and a joint news conference with sweden's prime minister stefan lofven. on capitol hill, 87 people were arrested monday protesting the expiration of daca, the obama-era deferred action for childhood arrivals p program, which gives hundreds of thousands of young undocumented immigrants legal permission to live and work in the united states. among those were arrested were a group of imams and muslim leaders from around the country, including activist linda sarsour and imam zaid shakir, who presided over muhammed ali's funeral. president trump tried to cancel the daca program last year, although he has repeatedly been

blocked from doing so by the courts. the daca program would have expired on monday, but it remains in effect amid the pending legal battle. in environmental news, president trump has nominated dow chemical lawyer peter wright to head up an environmental protection agency unit tasked with overseeing the disposal of hazardous waste and chemicalal spills at toxic superfund sites. meanwhile, new data says coal ash -- the residual byproduct of burning coal -- has contaminated ground water with arsenic and radium and other toxic chemicals near coal-l-fired power plants acrossss the country. the new data was released on friday, only one day after the epa administrator scott pruitt said the epa would weaken federal regulations on coal ash disposal. and according to "the new york times" emails sent by utah senator orrin hatch show oil extraction was central in the

decision to shrink the bears ears national monument in southeastern utah last year, despite fierce opposition from native americans and environmentalists. one of the emails sent by senator hatch's office to the interior department reads -- "the new boundary depicted on the map would resolve all known mineral conflicts within the bears ears." this email directly contradicts interior secretary ryan zinke's statements last year, in which he claimed, "bears ears isn't really about oil and gas." in kashmir, tens of thousands of people poured into the streets to protest indian rule over the disputed territory after indian monday soldiers shot and killed four civilians and two alleged militants at a military checkpoint overnight sunday. following the shooting, indian authorities tried unsuccessfully to suppress protests by putting the region on lockdown, closing schools, cutting off internet access, and deploying soldiers

and riot police throughout the region. in the democratic republic of the congo, at least 79 people have been killed in recent days amid fighting in the resource-rich northern province of ituri, which borders uganda. the region is rich in gold, diamonds, and coltan, and home to a long-running land dispute between two tribes. the fighting is part of a nationwide surge in violence as drc president joseph kabila tries to hold on to power, two years past the end of his term. in january, the international orgaganization for migration wawarned the humanitarian crisis in the drc has reached breaking point, with hundreds of thousands of people displaced by fighting in recent months alone. in panama,a, the silver letter spelling out the name "trump" or pried off trump international hotel and tower in panama city monday as a hotel owner claimed victory in a two-week long

battle against the trurump ororganization. the e removal of the name came s the panamanian court ruled to evict trump management team and allow the hotel owner to regain control of the property. inin west virginiaia, a historic wither strike continues every public school in the state shut down. for the last nine days in the strike, teachers are demanding a 5% raise and a cap on spiraling healthcare costs. meanwhile, graduate students at the university of illinois, urbana-champaign are entering their second week of a strike over wages and health insurance for the graduate employees. and in argentina, teachers have launched a two-day strike that has shut down schools in 17 of argentina's 23 provinces amid a dispute about wages and inflation. this is alejandro demichelis with the education workers confederation. >> we want dignified salaries. we want more investment in education. we want them to continue handing

out notebooks and books. we want the creation of new schools. this government promised to greet 3000 early childhood schools and they have not created one. that is what we are demanding today. the social right to education the state should guarantee. amy: at michigan state university in east lansing, at least two dozen people were arrested on monday amid clashes between white supremacists and hundreds of anti-fascist students and activists, who were trying to stop white nationalist richard spencer from speaking on campus. the protests delayed and cut short spencer's speech. this year's midterm elections are officially underway today with the texas primaries, where a slew of democratic candidates are challenging vulnerable republican incumbents.s. texas is onene of four minority-majority states in the country. in an unusual development and one of the races, one of the democratic senate candidates beto o'rourke has reported raising three comes more money is lookingsenator

to unseat, senator ted cruz. for more, you can go to democracynow.org. in the florida state senate has narrowly passed modern gun-controrol measures in the we of the mass shooting at marjory stoneman douglas high school in parkland, florida, which killed 17 people -- 14 students, three teachers. the measures raise the age for purchasing firearms statewide, ban the purchase and possession of bump stocks, and impose a three-day waiting period to buy guns. at the measures do not include a ban on the sale of assault rifles or limits on high-capacity magazines. a last-minute amendment to the bill rolled back the plan to arm teachers at schools across flflorida, now allowing school districts to decide whether they want armed teachers or not. for the florida senate voted, some of the families of the

victims of the valentine's day school massacre in parkland gathered to demand than control. this is ryan hadi, the father of a 14-year-old n named alina pet, who was killed during the mass shooting. >> today we have gathered to support passage of legislation aimed at improving safety of children and teachers in our schools. , we mustge is simple be the last families to lose loved ones to mass massacres in schools. 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. "trade wars are good, and easy to win." that's the message president trump tweeted on friday, sending shock-waves across the globe and sparking fears of impending

economic volatilility. on thursday, world stock m marks tumbled after trump announced he's imposing new tariffs o on imports ofof foreign steel and aluminum. the new taririffs -- 25% on stel and 10% on aluminum -- will benefit u.s. producers of the metals, while raising prices for companies that manufacture everything from cars to airplanes to high-rise buildings. amy: prominent republicans and business leaders have denounced trump's plan, saying the tariffs will hurt the manufacturing industry and u.s. competitiveness. house speaker paul ryan said in a statement monday, "we are extremely worried about the consequences of a trade war and are urging the white house to not advance with this plan." trump's announcement has also prompted concerns that other countries will impose retaliatory tariffs while challenging u.s. protectionism at the world trade organization. on monday, president trumpmp tod reporters he was not going to back down on his plan to impose new tariffs.

pres. trump: thank you all very much. i appreciate it. thank you. >> [inaudible] are you going to back down on the tariffs? pres. trump: we're not backing down. mexico, we've had a very bad deal with mexico and canada, it is called nafta. our factories have left our country or our j jobs have l let our country for many years, nafta has been a disaster. we are renegotiating nafta, asai said i would. if we don't make a deal, i wiwil terminate nafta. if i do make a deal that is search of the workers in the american people, thatt would, i would imagine, the one of the points we will negotiate. it will be tariffs on steel for canada and for mexico. so we will see what happens. but right now, 100% -- it could be a part of nafta. i just got a call from the people who are right now in mexico city negotiating nafta. mexico, and really canada what

to talk about it. but if they are not going to make a fair nafta deal, we're just going to leave it this way. people have to understand, our country on trade has been ripped off by virtually every country in the world, whetheher it is friend or enemy. everybody. russia. and take people we think are wonderful, the european union. juan: trump's announcement on tariffs has garnered eenthusiastic support from some top democratic lawmakers and unions who s say the tariffsfs l help long struggling steel and aluminum workers compete in an increasingly difficult global economy. this is democratic ohio congresswoman marcy kaptur speaking to fox news. >> we understandd the delicicate natuture of tariffsfs, but we kw america has not had a trade balance in over a quarter century. right nowow, over 700 workekersn ohio havavbeen pink slipped

unless somomething happens sooo. we know we have to r resurrect this steel industry in our country to give it a fair trade, level playing field. i think the president is inching toward that. he is at the skirmish line. i can tell you what we do not want is in america without a steel industry and in america that is subject to predatory practices by countries like china, like russia, even like vietnam, that bacackdoor goodods into this countrtry and cause in corporates here collapse. we need to have a level playing field. amy: that was democratic ohio congresswoman marcy kaptur supporting trump's tariff plan. well, for more, , we host a debe today on the impacts of trump's tariffs -- who they will help and who they will hurt. in washington, d.c., we're joined by lori wallach, director of p public cicitizen's global e watch and author of "the rise and fall of fast track trade

authority." here in new york city, we are joined by michael hudson, the author of "america's protectionist takeoff: 1815-1914." he is professor of economics at peking university in beijing, and at the university of missouri, kansas city. hudson's most recent book is titled, "j is for junk economics: a guide to reality in an age of deception." we will speak to them after break. then we will turn to democratic senator chris murphy. he is a senator from connecticut. he was a congressmember when the sandy hook massacre took place. and now he will talk about what he feels the prospects are for gun control in the u.s. congress. this is democracy now! we will begin our debate with the tariffs in a moment. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. as we turn to a debate on the impacts of president trump's who theyfor tariffs, will help, who they will hurt. in washington, lori wallach is with us, director of public citizen's global trade w watch d author of "the rise and fall of fast track trade authority." here in new york, we're joined by michael hudson, author of "america's protectionist takeoff: 1815-1914." he is professor of economics at peking university y in beijing d at the university of missouri, kansas city. lori wallach, let's begin with you. were you surprised by president trump's announcement and where the you stand?

>> i wasn't particularly surprised, to the question is whether he will follow through. mosts not managed in the artful way. and where i stand on it, this is an enforcement action similar to what has been done fairly systematically, not only in steel, there are hundreds of these kinds of orders outstanding. generallytrump is despicable. he is getting piled on, huge attack by a lot of folks who want and have been trying to declare a trade war is going to be started by him. when in fact, in 2002, president bush did the same thing, only with 30% still tariffs. there's a systematic overproduction of steel in the world because other countries subsidize. we are one of the most free trade, open countries, so we end up as the buyer of last resort. so we get flooded with the subsidized overcapacity steel. just in the last number of years

-- sorry, 100,000 workers, mainly union in these industries, have lost their jobs. what we're doing now is nothing that is particularly high-tech. wakanda,t coming from it coming from our shield laws. bouncing off this income to basically say, bafta. we're not buying the stuff. for 10 years we have been talking to all of these countries saying, stop subsidizing. dumping all of this stuff on us, and they totally ignored us. now we're doing this sort of trade to buy for. it is temporary. this is not the new tariff, but a, a yo, slow down. now there will be a temporary block. the rest of the markets have to basically stop over supplying, stop subsidizing. juan: michael hudson copy of a disk to -- you have a distantly different view. >> and many was what she said is

correct. america has always been the most protectionist country in the world for itself. it was free trade for other countries. lori is quite right when she sees there's a disconnect between what economists say and what politicians actually do. internatioional trade theories, probably the silliest branch of modern economic theory. just a massive assumption. what the textbooks they were true, then america never could've become the major manufacturing power. britain could not have also germany could not have. every country that is an industrial power has got rich by subsidizing itss industry and percent of protectionist policy. hohowever, what trump is doing s the opposite of all of the protectionist logic that every country it has followed. the idea protectionism is to increase your expensive, high technology manufacturers by getting lower on materials. trump is doing the opposite. he has raised aluminum prices by

40% in the last month host of 60% since the summer. still prices are up 33%. this is going to squeeze the prices that manufacturers have to pay that makeke things out of aluminum and steel. there is no increase in tariffs orbuying foreign tin cans foreign still products, so the american manufacturers will be squeeze. but foreign countries now have a great benefit. germany, china, other countries are thinking, now under the rules of international trade whenen there is an illegal tarif put on, we do to retaliate. they're going to say, what doe want to respond to what is the american competition we want to knock off the table? and they are going to put tariff s on whatever they think the competition is, whether it is boeing airplanes were bourbon or blue jeans or other things. is atrump's policy does

travesty of protectionism. it merely squeezes -- the pretense of all of this is that if it gives more money to the steel and aluminum companies, they w will invest and hire more labor. but they're not going to do that at all. not a siegel new steel factory is going to be -- single new steel factory is going to be built. or aluminum. what you're doing is enabling the steel and aluminum companies to use their increased profits for share buybacks and to pay dividends, but they're not going to build new factories. there is not going to be any trickle-down. trump has made a travesty out of protectionist doctrine as well. amy: lori wallach, your response? >> first of all, there is empirical research on this.

because when bush did what hehe did in 2002 with a 30% tariffs, the same exact alarms went off. up, trade war. in fact, the u.s. international trade commission, the official economist and trade experts of the u.s. government, did a very detailed study which folks can see on the itc website. it was published at the end of 2003. what they found was prices did not trump up for the users of command that case, steel because alumina was not covered. but rather there was an increase in general welfare, which is to say, as president -- sorry, as professor had has laid out, the way he is talking about it is as if these tariffs were a permanent policy. this is a temporary sort of trade policy to buy for to readjust the market. so in fact, what will happen, what did happepen in 2002 is rit away, the u.s. steel mills and

the aluminum foundries will start to rehire the people who they have laid off. a bunch of steel millllhave closed my but a lot of other ones just laid people off. those guys are going to start rehiring. as far as the prices, in fact, the study by the itc show there was not a big jump. if folks need to think through how this will work in the next year, 18 months these tariffs would be in place. again, if trump follows through. that is something that my little knew before they got into high school, which is, if for instance, there can of made of steel, the whole can of soup with a was $1. the amount of actual steel in their is not with a penny. the can be bought, produced for about five cents. let's just assume 25% increase in the price of steel, which is not what happened any time this has been done before, it is a

fraction, pennies, increased for a can of soup. we will not see a huge jump. you see companies like gm, one of the biggest user industries are basically saying, we need a domestic steel and aluminum industry in our country. we are for trade policies that actually will make our country have a manufacturing sector. iti think a lotot of the ways was announced was very sloppy and there have not been a very good management of sort of the information around it, but using these kind of short-term measures is what every country does -- which think as to what professor hudson said. gonna be a trade war. the way you respond to this -- by the way, lots of other countries do the same thing. we are one of the countries that never does. that is why we have all of the excess steel coming to us. other countries have alreaeady done the x-nay you cannot send

it here measures. there is a process. when bush did what he did in 2002, that process played out over about two yearsrs at the end of the e period, the wto said, you can't t do that, t which point than the other countries are allowed to put up sanctions. but this is not a, boom, right a way. we're processing the same kind of enforcement actions that other countries have taken at wto looks at the rules and says, this is kosher and this is not. in this case, because it is based on almost a year of research -- this is about national security, and the wto is a national secured exception -- this action might actually stand for the u.s., whereas the steel action was based in a different part of the trade law and was ruled to be a wto violation. juan: in essence, what i'm ori, this is lro

more of a political action to basically get some of the other countries to pay attention and to negotiate a better relations in terms of trade. michael hudson, this whole issue of where we are putting tariffs. clearly, the united states has monopolies in some areas that other countries could retaliate against. for instance, the pharmaceutical industry. the patents and copyrights that are so essential to the pharmaceutical and biotech industry, even doctors, medical doctors are protected in the united states from foreign competition. could you talk about the choice of steel and aluminum versus these other industries? >> you are right. it is political, more than economic. there's not much of an economic justification, despite what lori says. she is right when she says the price of steel cans is not going to go up, but the cost of steel will go up for the still can

manufacturers. they will have the cost go up a live of it and their profits will be squeezed somewhat. steelofits will be up for and aluminum. i don't think there's one to be uch of a hiring. i think there is another factor here. the fact that trump is breaking the trade agreements just as america was trying to push forth the transpacific partnership and other trade agreements that lori thehe sizing.at in fact, she should be overjoyed -- i am sure she is -- at trump's action because he wrote this wonderful book "the art of breaking the deal." i think the publisisher called t the sizing. in"the art of the deal." the suppliers won't deal with him in new york the cuts he will make a deal, i will pay you this much for what you supply for the hotel. then itt comes time to pay, oh,i did not like it, i'm going to pay you $.50 on the dollar. he screwed his suppliers,

manufacturers. the banks won't do with them. this kind of business man's behavior, that is how businessmen make money, by breaking deals. it does not work that way internationally. the international economy is so stringed right now and even though hillary backed the steel tariffs just as much as george bush backed them will step she supported them at the time. the situation has changed and the europeans are much more reactive and protectionist these days and the asians are also, because they're going to be heard, but most of all canada. canada is the major supplier of steel and aluminum for the united states. that is the politics involved. imagine what this will do right being time that nafta is renegotiated ostensibly by trump. trump has said to canada and mexico, any deal we make, we can break any time by saying "national security."

national security means anything because everything is plugged into everything else. it is all a system. you could say the protection of doctors, the pharmaceuticals, anything is national security, so what that means is, we have an out. free trade for you. we can all is protect what we're doing for national security. what are you going to do about? amy: you are professor at peking university. we're sitting here with your textbooks in englishsh and chinese. the response there? >> there is a war over who is going to control the highest technology products. and the response to america's steel and aluminum tariffs of the asymmetrical. china is only the 11th largest supplier still to america, not a major supplier at all. the steels important to america

or specialty steels, german steel and japanese still especially. american copies don't make that kind of steel. there's no way they can hire more workers and make more plants to provide the kind of a shelti steel we're getting from germany and japan. so not all steel is the same. it is going to be the politics that are very interesting. mentioning theour claims of a trade war inflated by trump himself has tweeted that trade wars are good so he has stoked the ideas of a trade war. >> i think we can all agree that president trump is despicable -- i just don't know how else to say. not the most intelligent when it comes to policy or political statements. however, that being said, the reality of how this is likely to play out is not categegoricalaly

didifferent than h how it playst every time every other country puts up this kind of a measure. professor hudson, i want to have a bet with you. i think we should have lunch, whoever loses pays. in shortt that in fact order, i if the president follos through h and puts these tariffs in place, then there will be a rehiring of a lot of the shifts that h have been stopped in aluminum and steel in the last 18 months because it is true that on a daily basis, we're not importing from china, but it is a global market. when china is over supplying, russia is over supplying and korea is, who picks up the particular steel from the other country cascades? the fact at the moment it is not coming from china, does not mean that the reduction of the total supply that this kind of two by in,policy tool will result won't have the outcome of creating more jobs. that said, the key thing is,

this is not a trade policy fix -make. this is not forstmann action on one specific problem. amy: we have to leave it there. i hope we can film the lunch. lori wallach, director of public citizen's global trade watch and professor r michael hudson. in 30 seconds, we will be back with senator murphy of connecticut on gun control. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: the imagination library its 100lebrated million book. the florida state has voted to support a number of new gun-control measures following a massacre at the marjory stoneman douglas high school in parkland, florida, in which 17 students and teachers were killed. theas voted to raise minimum age to 21, and bump stocks, and impose a three day waiting period for any gun purchase. the measures do not include a ban on the sale of a assault rifles or limits on high-capacity magazines. the gun-control measures were passed after lawmakers remove the provision to arm most teachers. the gun-control bill now moves to the state house of

representatives. washington,le in republican lawmakers said thursday they're moving on from the debate over gun control, after failing to pass a single bill on fireararms in the wake f last month's massacre in florida. the congressional inaction came as president trump appeared to backpedal thursday from his surprise announcement a day earlier that he supports comprehensive gun control measures. well, we turn now to one of the most vocal advocates for gun control in washington, democratic senator chris murphy of connecticut. this is murphy on the floor of the senate just after news broke on february 14 about the mass shooting in parkland, florida, as the students were being evacuated from the school, he took to the floor of the senate. >> let me just note once again for my colleagues, this happens nowhere else other than the united states of america. this epidemic of mass slaughter, this scourge of school shooting after school shooting.

it only happens here, not because of coincidence, not luck, but as a loc consequence of our in action. we are responsible. we are responsible for a level of massive trust city that happens -- atrocitity in this country with zero parallllel anywhere else. amy: that was chris murphy. yesterday, one gonzalez and i sat downwn with chchris murphy n monday. i began by asking him about the debate over guns in washington and president trump's mixed endorsing conference of gun control and then taking it back. cooked it is important this country is talking about the issue of guns every single day. the media may ononly pay attentn when there is a school shooting or a mass atrocity him of it every single day, 90 people die from guns. there is a mass shooting in this

country on average every single day. in chicago and in hartford and bridgeport, we're talking about the concert once of gun violence 24/seven. listen, i can't tell you where the president is on this issue today. clearly, his gut political instinct tells him, his party cannot avoid the fact that 97% of americans in the latest all what universal background checks , but of course, he hass this longtime affiliation with the nra and they want none of these changes to happen. i don't think that the issue is dead, as your leader suggested. i think mitch mcconnell is willing to bring a series of votes to the floor. not this week, but perhaps in the coming weeks. if he does that, if you allows us to have an open debate about the future of gun laws in this country, i think you will fifina bunch of his republicans willing to vote with democrats to do

things like expand background checks or make sure that every state has a law like connecticut has to take guns away from dangerous people when they start to show signs of danger. that open debate is what we are asking for. hopefully, that will happen sometime this. juan: senator, your reaction to what is been happening in florida with a legislature over the weekend and even in the face of this enormous public upsurge of calls for change, the florida legislature instead votes to basically armed teachers? >> the nra's dream is for people thatlieve this mythology places with more guns are more save. there were 30 studies done on this question that all said the same thing. places, activities, states with more guns are less safe places, not more safe. the data is in. that evidence started to mount

such that the nra actually got a law passed in congress shutting down that research, banning certain agencies from continuing that research. what we know is that places that have tons are less safe. you are more likely to be the victim of an accidental shooting than you are of a school shooting. teachers don't want to be armed. here is still one their kids going to school in a place flooded with guns. it is disappointing the florida legislature esessentially did te bidding of the gun lobby. i hope we don't make this a mistake here in western 10. amy: can you explain how the nra works and how it has so many politicians in their pocket for so long, despite the polls that ownersross the board gun , non-gun owners, folks who are anti-gun -- across the political spspectrum, people overwhelmingy

support more gun control efforts. i want to turn, as you respond to this, to ma gonzalez, who gave that remarkable 11 minute address in fort lauderdale a few days after she and the other survivedand teachers the massacre that killed 17 of their fellow students and teachers. this is emma gonzales. >> of the president wants to tell me to my face it was a terrible tragedy and how it should never have happened and maintain telling us how nothing is going to be done about it, i'm going to have to ask him how much money he received from the national rifle association pulled up [applause] it doesn't matter because i already know. $30 million. of divided by the number gunshot victims in the united states in 2018 alone, that comes out to being $5,800.

isis that how much thehese peope are worth to youou, trump? to every politician who is taking donations from the nra, shame on you. amy: thatt was emma gonzales speaking few days after the mass killing at her school. that day she had just taken ap government class where the teacher was teaching about the power of the nra. this entrenched power. you are a senator. talk about how it works behind the scenes and how you are fighting back. the nra doeslear, not have power over congress. it has power over the republican party. 90% of americans, as i mentioned, want universal background checks and 90% of democrats s in the conongress wl vovote for universal background checks. it is the republican party that has stopped these measures over and over and over again. the explanation certainly has something to do with the amount of honey that the nra put -- money the nra puts into the

campaigns, but it is more about the fact the republican party over the years has become essentially a party of one idea. that idea is less government, getting government out of every aspect of our lives. if you want to be a republican candidate, you have to prove how much you hate government. you have to hate government more than the others. there is one organization that stands more than others for the sheer hatred, and that is the nra. the nra stands for the ability of citizens to arm themselves in server action against the government. so the republican party has formed this alliance with the nra because their stamp of approval is one of the things that is necessary for republicans to o outflank other republicans in their primaries. i know it is little bit down in the weeds, but it is not as simple as the donationons. it is much more about what the nra endorsement means to the

republican party. the nra does not have influence over the democratic party. they h have influence over the republicanan party. want ask you, i about a topic that is not even really in the discussion right now, which is the assault fans -- bans. for 10 years, the united states did have a ban. from what i can tell, there was only one year during that period of time when more than 20 people were killed in a mass killing. but we have now in the last 14 years, 10 years, where more than 20 people have been killed per year in mass killings. doesn't it logically make sense that the lifting of the assault ban is only allow these kinds of mass killing's to proliferate even further? and why do you think so many americans still are resistant to the assault ban? >> not many americans are

resistant to the assault weapons ban. the latest poll suggests maybe one quarter of americans one assault weapons to continue to be illegal. double that number one assault weapons to be banned. controversialt is come it is not true. americans want universal background checks and want assault weapons off the street. it is only controversial here in congress. industry's gun business model is different today than it was 30 years ago. in 1980, over half of american households had a gun. company, you could sell one gun to a lot of people and all right. today that number is shrinking. maybe one third of american households have a gun. in order to remain profitable, that the cell more expensive weapons to a smaller number of americans. that is where the assault weapon comes in. by and large, democrats believe these weapons should be made illegal. i would encourage anybody toto take a look at the testimony from doctors who treated people

who were shot by these weapons in parkland or in sandy hook. there's something unique that happens when a bullet enters your body from an assault weapon versus a a revolver. the bullets are traveling at be that is three times that of abel and coming out of a handgun, and it rips your body to shreds. vice can break the nra's grip on congress right now because of their vice grip on the republican party, we could have a conversation about getting rid of those weapons as well. amy: explain how it works. when you say the overwhelming number of people in the u.s. support an assault weapons ban, he was in effect, clearly reduced the number of mass shootings, and yet that was allowed to sunset. but right now you have the students at parkland organizing this arch 24 march for our lives in washington, d.c. your own trajectory, having been a congressman for the area of

the sandy hook elementary school, being elected just a few weeks before to become the senator from connecticut, talk about what has happened in this five years that you have become senator and how you see an assault weapons ban possiblyy happening, even the media like cnn and msnbc -- which is clearly for gun control -- when talking to the students when they talk about an assault weapons ban, they, too, have drunk the kool-aid. they to say, well, an assault weapons ban is not possible for journalist on television speaking to the kids will stop >> right. if you want to talk about the scope of five years hook, though there has been no meaningful action here in congress, let's remember that many states have acted in many lives have been aimed. several states have passed referendums strengthening gun

laws. connecticut has some of the strongest gun laws in the nation. evidence shows we have reduced our gun violence rate in connecticut by 40%. that is significant. the anti-gun violence movement is growing and growing and growing. gonzalez has more twitter followers than the nra does and nobody knew who she was just three weeks ago. we are getting stronger and stronger. the only way we eventually win your in washington is by having an election in which a bunch of people who have been voting with the gun lobby and against their constituents lose. a lot of folks that have been voting against the will of their constituents, whether it be on assault weapons or background checks, they say, well, voters really don't care about this issue. they say they want gun lost to change, but they are really voting more on other issues like the economy, jobs, immigration. this may be the first election in 2018 where voters are going

to say, ok, if you're not with me on background checks him me then i'm not with you. and it is going to take an election i think our people lose their seatats because of thihis isissue before we really getet change your in washington. i think the kids understand that. i have met with these kids. i do think they're skeptical. they watch the way trump has bobbed and weaved and a preparing to become an electoral force. juan: speaking of those young people, what do you think the impact of a huge march in washington on march 24 would have? clearly, as you say, the election in november will be the real decider, but what impact could this march have? >> i hope this march could convince some of my republican colleagues to take up these measures, may be vote for them. i am skeptical. i think the lack of urgency they are showing, the fact that trump does not look like he's going to

try to lead republicans to water on this issue means that this march is going to be much more about sending a clear message to republicans -- fix this problem or we will vote you out of office. and this march can be a galvanizing force for the fall. i know there's a lot of efforts to do massive voter registration around these marches. remember, there is one march in d.c. there are 400 other marches at the same day around the country. if every single kid registers to vote him a that might be the biggest impact that they have. amy: senator markey, i want to ask about the televised white house meeting that president trump had with many lawmakers you are a part of. passhe urged all of you to conference of gun control measures. pres. trump: yet to be very powerful on background checks. very strong on mentally ill. yet to be very strong on that. don't worry about bump stocks.

we're getting rid of it. you don't have to complicate the bill by adding another two paragraphs. we're getting rid of it will stop i will do that myself. because i am able to. fortunately, we're able to do that without going through congress. amy: that is trump, at the end, talking about bump stocks. bump stocks convert semiautomatic guns into automatic weapons. in the las vegas case, is that are responsible case for so many -- it was responsible for scores of deaths. this issue of bump stocks, hear him saying, i'm one to take control, even of commerce won't pass the ban, i will do it through a role change through executive order. though it looks like he is taking charge, that is exactly what the nra ultimately called for after las vegas come a with a saw they could not stop and beingl measurures from voted on, although ultimately, that is what happened, they were

not voted on. they said they wanted the bump stocks van not to be done througugh congress, but througha rules s change. that way could be easily rescinded. your response? >> that is one of the reasons they wanted to be in a rule change, but also because it is on shaky legal ground whether or rid of executive can get bump stocks. the obama administration did not hit rid of bump stocks even know they wanted to, because their lawyers told them that the administration actually cannot ban certain type of device that converts guns into automatic weapons. that was only something that congress could do and that is the administration tried to do it, a gun rights group would easily be able to go to court and have the regulation struck down. so that is why the gun lobby wanting to do a by regulation, not necessarily because they think another republican a administration is going to get rid of it, but because they think they can get rid of it through the courts. that i is why the legislaturures to d do it, and hope we will.

amy: do you think president trump, saying his last extreme turnaround just on this issue of gun control, is unraveling further than many have alreready talked about, what is happening in the white house now? theeah, i don't know all of inner workings in the white house. i don't focus on it like a lot of other people do. what i know is being that meeting with the president when he endorsed things that even some democrats were not willing to endorse, i knew walking out that he was going to have to walk back some of the commitments he made there. forink it is important republicans to remember that the presidenent, for all of his fla, deep flaws, has political instincts that sometimes plug-in to the mood of the country uncertain issues and i do think he recognizes that on this issue of guns, republicans are way out of step and are really jeopardizing themselves elect were early. -- electorally.

all he will not be help on getting this bill passed, i do hope the republicans will listen to the political advice he was dispensing. amy: might you filibuster again? >> let's see if we get the votes. juan: i then asked senator markey about his support for a new bipartisan bill to end u.s. involvement in the saudi arabia's devastating war in yemen. >> we're obviously rightly focused on the violence that the federal government and u.s. congress facilitates in her own country because of our in action, but we also need to talk about the violencee we export. yemen today, a place of not a lot of americans think about, is going through the worst humanitarian crisis in the world . a famine, a cholera outbreak that has affected over one million people -- all of it is happening because of the united states. the united states has entered into a coalition with the saudis

to bomb that country as part of a very complicated civil war all stop the saudis are on one side, some rebels is the country are on the other side of it, backed by the iranians. and the bombing campaign that the united states has helped run has killed thousands of yemeni civilians, has t targeted the water treatment f facilities in that country -- which has s ledo this cholera oututbrea .epeople are dying by the day the u.s. is actually less safe because of it because this civil war inside yemen has allowed for al qaeda and isis to get bigger and stronger. we are doing it just because we are allies of the saudis and for some reason the trump administrationon is backing the saudis and their various plays in the region. senator sanders and i along with mike lee have introduced legislation that would shut down u.s. involvement. we have the ability to trigger a vovote on the senate floor to contest the fact t that we belie this military in gauge meant is

illegal, unauthorized. congress has not passed a law allowing for the administration to do this. we think it is important. we think if we stop our military engagement in the yemen civil war, we will save a lot of lives and make the u.s. safer. pass.opeful this will obviously, the trump administration going to oppose it, but we think this is one of the most import national secure to questions that congress can consider. amy: democratic senator chris murphy of connecticut. and that does it for our show. you can get our podcast or video and audio, and transcripts at democracynow.org a and get all f the latest from democracy now! 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. [captioning made possible by democracy now!]

annonocer: opportunity. prosririty. optimismsm. where cut flowers are a flourishing business, but one that's taking its toll on the environmnment. inin turkey, freedom of speech seems a thing of the past. how can thousands of sidelined academics ththere rebuild ther lives? then on to hong kong, where living space is a luxury. we head to the city where many