amy: from pacifica, this is democrcracy now! >> american-made. american-made. , american-made. american-made bombs and him

and are killing civilians, destroying infrastructure, and fueling anger in the u.s., and that is the title of the new "pbs newshour" report. >> when they wake up in the morning, they have no idea if they will keep the day.. six and a half million people are in that category. the u u.n. estimates that by the end of the year, if there is not an end to this work, another 10 million will be in that situation. that is 18 million innoctt vililians who are the victims of this war. pbs we will speak to the correspondent, jane ferguson, who smuggled herself into yemen remarkable three-part pbs series. first, we go to pakistan, which has suffered the third deadliest attack in the country's history just as it is set to hold general elections overshadowewei hundrereds of arreststs and accucusations of w widespread

ininterference b by the militat. >> thehe army'ss role is only to support t the electionon commisn of pakistatan. we will support them in all the ways they have requested. amy: we will go to lahore to speak with journalist and writer munizae jahangir. all that and more coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report, i am amy goodman. president donald trump continued to sow confusion tuesday over whether he believes russia is meddling in u.s. elections, a day after he said he misspoke in a helsinki news conference following his summit with russian president vladimir putin. on monday, trump triried to walk back his remark that he didn't see any reason why russia would have meddled in the 2016 election after intelligence officials and lawmakers of both parties decried his s comments s treasonous. on tuesday, trump appeared to go a step further, telling cbs news he held putin personally

responsible for interfering in u.s. elections. >> do you agree with you was intelligence that will -- that russia meddled in the elections? president trump: i have said that numerous times before, anad i wowould say that that isis tr. >> but you have not condemned puputin specifically. you hold him personally responsible? president trump: well, i would,, because he is inin charge of the coununtry, just like i consider myself to be responsible for things that happen in this country. you would have to hold him responsible, yes. amy: trump's assertion came as his hand-picked fbi director, christopher wray, told nbc news that russia's efforts to subvert u.s. elections remain "very active." when asked by a reporter tuesday if russia was continuing to target the u.s., trump replied, "no." twtwice.

>> let's go. make your way out. amy: at the white house, press secretary sarah huckabee sanders said trump's "no" remark was aimed at ending reporter's questions and was not actually a response to a question about russian interference. a chahance to speak with the presidenent after his commes , and the president says thank you very much but says no to answering questions. amy: this comes as the white house said it won't rule out a request by vladimir putin to have the russian government question former u.s. diplomatic personnel, including former ambassador to russia michael mcfaul. critics have blasted the trump administration's proposal as an assasault on the principle of diplomatic immunity. it came as part of a proposal by putin that would allow u.s. investigators to interview 12 russians named in an indictment by special counsel robert 's investigation, claiming they were part of a plot to interfere with the elections. in exchange, russian investigators would be granted interviews in the u.s. with the

ambassador and 10 other americans, including an outspoken opponent of putin. in 2009, his lawyer and accountant, a russian whistleblower, died in a russian jail after suspicious circumstances. his death became the basis of a u.s. s sanctions on agaiainst russia. president trump questioned a key provision of the nato military alliance, the mutual defense of nato member countries. trump made the remark during an interview with f fox news host tucker carlson. >> why should my son go to montenegro to defend us from attack? president trump: i have asked the same question. montenegro is a tiny country with very strong people. .y the way, very strong people they have very aggressive people. congratulations, you are in world war iii. amy: in illinois, state officials are investigating the chicago nonpnprofit, heartrtland

alliance, over allegations thatt it housed children separated from their parents at the us-mexico border, with many of the children reportedly suffering abuse and neglect. "the washington post" reported one boy at heartland alliance's casa guadalupe, was repeatedly injected with a drug that made him drowsy, while another boy was denied medication for weeks after injuring his arm. "the washington post" also reports children were surveilled with hidden cameras and prevented from h hugging their siblings. this comes ahead of a july 26 court-imposed deadline for the trump administration to reunite all 3000 separated children with their parents, and after the trump administration said monday it can't find the parents of 71 of the children. former coal industry lobbyist andrew wheeler, the new acting administrator of the environmental protection agency, approved a new rule tuesday that guts restrictions on the handling of coal ash, the toxic waste generated at hundreds of

coal fired plants around the u.s. the new rules were put in place in 2015 after a string of high-profile toxic spills in north carolina and tennessee. wheeler became acting head of the epa earlier this month after former epa head scott pruitt stepped down amid a string of corruption scandals. in yemen, houthi rebels have claimed responsibility for a drone attack on a saudi state oil company refinery in riyadh. but the oil company, saudi aramco, said a fire at the refinery was due to an operational incident. this comes as houthi leader abdul malik al-houthi indicated that rebels are prepared to hand over the crucial port of hodeidah to the united nations if the u.s.-backed saudi-led coalition stops military operations there, which have forced tens of thousands of civilians to flee. the u.n. has warned the offensive may severerely exacererbate the ongoing humanitarian crisis in yemen, which is already experiencing

the world's worst cholera epidemic with more than a million people afflicted and with millions more on the brink of famine. we will go to a report on yemen later in the broadcast. in israel, lawmakers approved a bill tuesday that defines the country as the nation-state of the jewish people, prompting palestinians to warn israel is sliding further into a system of apartheid. the new law declares hebrew the country's only official language, diminishing the status of arabic. it also encourages the building of jewish-only settlements on occupied territory as a national value. the bill passed in the vote of 62-55 over the objections of arab-israeli lawmakers, who threw papers into the air in protest after its passage. this is parliamentarian ahmed tibi. >> the bill is a hate crime. discriminatingy against the arab citizens,

against the arab minority. andthe jewish settlements the status ofing the arabic language. amy: in the mediterranean, at least 19 people are dead and 25 others still misissing after a boat carrying more than 100 migrants capsizezed at sea off e coast of cyprus tuesday. the deaths came as italy and other european countries have launched a crackdown on ocean vessels carrying migrants hoping to claim asylum in europe. in mexico, president-elect andrés manuel lópez obrador says he'll take a 60% pay cut after he's inaugurated in december as a gesture toward cracking down on wasteful spending and government corruption. the pledge came as lopez obobrador, known as amlo, said he's open to a debate on the legalization of drugs in mexico in a bid to end a drug war that's seen tenens of thousands of mexicans killed. this comes days after totop trup administration officials traveled to mexico city last

week to meet with amlo. secretary of state mike pompeo was joined by senior white house adviser jared kushner and homeland security secretary kirsten nielsen. the european union has ordered a multi-billion euro fine against google for violating antitrust rules, saying the high-tech giant unfairly used its dominant android operating system to squelch competition. this is the european competition commissioner announcing the fine wednesday. >> today the commission has to set it to fine google for .reaching eu antitrust rules google has engaged in illegal practices for its market position in internet search. amy: and thailand, 1 12 boys rescued from a flooded cave last week were released from a hospital on tuesday, appearing happy after an 18-day or deal they grabbed international

headlines. after they were released, the boys appeared with her soccer coach at a press conference, telling reporters were overjoyed when a pair of british divers first discover them nine days after they became trapped and mourning the death of one of the thai divers who tried to rescue them. in california, hot weather and bone-dry conditions have fueled a number of wildfires, including a 26-square-mile fire raging near yosemite national park. one firefighter has died and two others have been injured battling the blaze. the fires are beining fueled by thousands of trees that died during an unprecedented drought that's gripped california for most of the last several years. in japan, at least 12 people have died and nearly 10,000 others have been hospitalized after an intense heat wave settled in over much of the country. in gifu prefecture, temperatures topped 105 degrees fahrenheit wednesday, the hottest temperature recorded in japan in five years. the heat wave has prompted concerns about the 2020 summer olympics, set to open in tokyo two years from now. it comes on the heels of the most deadly flooding japan has

seen in decades after heavy rains killed at least 95 people and forced 2 million more to flee their homes earlier this month. scientists have linked record heat, heavy rainfall, and increased flooding to climate change. muslim groups are condemning the u.s. and canadian governments over a secretive terrorism watch list the two countries operate, saying innocent travelers have been stopped and interrogated and have had visas revoked after being falsely accused of ties to terror groups. last month, "the guardian" reported that the program, "tip-off u.s./canada" or "tuscan", began in 1997 but was expanded in 2016 under prime minister justin trudeau. the group muslim advocates has filed a freedom of information act request demanding u.s. documents on tuscan, warning it could be part of a broader effort by president trump to fulfill a campaign promise to create a registry of muslims living in the u.s. in a statement, muslim advocates staff attorney matthew callahan said, "the inaccuracy of the united states' terrorist lists is well-documented, and their potential for misuse is compounded by president trump's

racially charged agenda. to then share this misinformation with another country is irresponsible and dangerous." papapa john's founder john schnatter told the board of didirects hehe me a mistake when he stepped down as chairman aiainst ws reporthat h hused racial slur, the n-word, duri a a conrencnce ll in n y. in letteteto papa john's board, schtttter cplained was essusureto resesn withou any investigion, based on, "r"rumornd i innndo." schnattehahad alady y stped down aceceo ofhe p piz chainin earlr this yr r aftehe clmed d th nfl p pyer protests during t n natiol ananth, ich have been led by rican-n-erican players, re hurtg his pia sales. in breakgews,pain poses supreme court has withdrawn its international arrest warrants against the former catalonia president and five others exiled . politicians facing charges of last october, at the spanish government seized control of catalonia after a

referendum. a new class action lawsuit on behalf of former wrestlers in ohio state university accuses preventan of failing to sexual abuse perpetrated by a university doctor. the men alleged former team dr. richard strauss groped players, and jordan, who is serving as assistant coach in the wrestling team, must have known about the molestation. or it in has been floated as a possible replacement for paul ryan and has denied any knowledge of sexual abuses. and a group of 141 survivors who went public about their sexual abuse by former usa gymnastics doctor larry nassar appeared on stage together wednesday night to accept the arthur ashe award for courage at the annual espy's ceremony. three-time olympic gold medalist aly y raisman stood d in front f the group to receive the award. toldl those years we were

you are wrong, and you misunderstood, he is a doctor, it is ok, don't worry, we have got it covered, be careful, there are risks involved. the intention, to silence us in favor of money, medals, and reputation. but we persisted, and finally someone listened and believed us. amy: also honored where the three coaches killed and the marjory stoneman douglas high .chool valentine's day massacre they were honored as coaches of the year. and those are some of the headlines. is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i am amy goodman. >> welcome to our viewers around the country and around the world. we begin today's show in pakistan, where voters go to the polls next week. the run-up to the election has already been marred by deadly terrorist attacks, a crackdown on activists and journalists,

hundreds of arrests, and accusations of widespread interference by the military. on friday, a massive suicide bombing at an election campaign gathering in the southwestern province of baluchistan killed 149 people and injured another 200, making it the third dedeadliest attack in pakistan's history. the bombing targeted an election rally of the balochistan awami party. isis claimed responsibility for the attack. among those killed was a baluchistan provincial assembly candidate, siraj raisani. this is the slain candidate's brother, hajajlashkari. >> these kininds of incidentntse been happenining in our countr's history, and they are condemned verbally, but no solid measures are taken to prevent them. nermeen: it was the third such attack on election rallies in a week. hours after the deadly bombing, former prime minister nawaz sharif and his daughter maryam

were arrested at lahore's airport as they returned to pakistan from london in efforts to bolster sharif's political party, the pakistan muslim league-nawaz, or pmln, one of the leading contenders in next week's elections. there arrest came after sharif, a third term prime minister, and his daughter were convicted in absentia in a corruption case that sharif's supporters say was manufactured by the pakistani military and intelligence services. amy: pml-n members allege their main rival, pakistan tehreek-e-insaf, the anti-corruption party led by former cricket star imran khan, has the backing of the army, which has ruled the country for nearly half its 70-year history. if the vote goes ahead as planned, it will be only the second time pakistan has made a transition from one civilian government to another. for more, we go directly to lahore, pakistan, to talk to journalist and writer munizae jahangir. she is host and executive producer of a political talk show host on one of pakistan's

leading networks. she is the daughter of pakistan's leading human rights activist and lawyer who died earlier this year. she is also on the board of the asma jahangir foundation and a council member of the human rights commission of pakistan. we welcome you to democracy now! since we have not spoken since, our condolences on the death of your remarkable mother. >> thank you. i want to thank your team for the beautiful program you did after she passed away. thank you very much. about what can talk is happening in your country right now, and pakistan, if you can begin with this third deadly is attack that killed well over it into thend put context of this election coming up next week. thirdcourse, this is the deadliest attack in bullet city. -- attack in the at the moment, the death toll is rising as we speak.

those who are critically injured , and we just had a few deaths in the last past week. i was at an election rally of the secular party a day before he was attacked and killed in a suicide attack, and his party at that time claimed the other , you know, we would have to investigate them in the next few days. i recently interviewed a leader wassaid that only one party given a level playing field in this election, and he named imran khan. they had formed a government in the previous government, but he compmplained that the other political parties and the -- are

not being given a level playing field. he was contesting an election againsnst the talibaban in 2013d in the selection, a again, the talibaban had alreaeady announcd that they would target his party, and he believes that his party is not the giviven a level playining field. beings since his party is targeteted and not him rock on,n run con -- and not him run con -- they have gone ahead with it. elections, cases were brought up against people, and it went to the court here in pakistan. this cases were later postponed to after the election, because that was the plea he and his sister took. they have not been able to campaign, and the party's

campaign was called off after the attack. muslim leaguetan he has returned to be erected with his daughter at the airport. i was on that flight which dropped sharif and his daughter back from abu dhabi to lahore. there were many journalists on that flight, a lot of tv journalists, and we were not allowed to air any of nevada any of sharif's comments on tv, and we were told if we do air's comments are interviewsws, our tv channelsls would blolocked outut for at least one week. therefore, no o privatate tv chchannelsls or state tv chahans airered the homecoming of shari.

there was one journalist whose show was puld off there because he showed the kind of from hishat sharif had political workers who were welcoming him athe airport. his showas taken off. there were protests on twitter, and then it went back on their. at that time, there was a clampdown on electronic media. sharif's statements were not allowed to be a. his supporters were not allowed to be shown. police arrested around 150 political workers. directed workers on ,he day sharif was returning and the leaders got an anti-terrorism act, charged with that. it seems that this election, all political parties, the pakistan peoples party, and the pml-n are

our sink are being denied a level playing field, that there has been rigging, and only one political party has been given the level playing field or a free hand to contest this election. nermeen: can you explain who you are saying you were not allowed, and other networks were not allowed, to air sharif's interview, his return to pakistan, not allowed by whohom? >> it t is very obvioious that t was nonot allowed by the establishment. itit is clear to us right now tt the military did not want the current tv channels s to air any sharif. we now have a caretaker government. in pakistan, elections go from one government to the other. in between is a caretaker government. it seems the caretaker

government is absent. when they were asked why we e we not alallowed to airir this, thy said this is not in our domain. the elelectronic mediaa authoriy passed a an ordinance. independent,omee bans onnhas slapped the mededia. so whahat you mean it is independndent? so they hahave beeeen given come authorority. fimra keeps sendnding us notices ththatayay you cannott s say ang agagainst the judiciaiary and te armed foforces of pakistan becae of conitutionanal provisisions, icich do e exist in the constitution of papakistan but s ver r be usesed before.. so they ususto that in o order o quash it. i think that i is the real probm . also, we do o nosesee the mility

come up. erere are organinizationons beig used by y the mimilitary. o, and it is being accused of beieing usesed by the military. on the other hand, other polititical parties anand othehr popolitical leaders have accused imn khahan of using air space that was denied to them or facilities by the army that were denied to them. base that used in air and is to the military only reserved for heads of state and for the military, but he was allowed to use that. other political leaders were not allowed to use that. we have also s seen the l leadeo he was not given protection simply because the chief justice at the time gave an order saying that all protections should be brought ,ack and should be rejected

simply because politicians do not need protection. so he was not given the protection he was needed. he is somebody who was attacked before. by ancle had been killed suicide bomber, and his father had been killed by a suicide bomber. but he was not given the protection, and his party believes that if you are given that protection, then he would still be alive today. amy: i wanted to ask about the u.s. role in pakistan. in january, think it was ofsident trump's first tweet 2018, tweeting -- the united states has foolishly given pakistan more than $43 billion in aid over the last 50 years, and they have given us nothing of lies and deceit. thinking of our leaders as fools, they give safe haven to terrorists. those were the first words in a tweet in 2018. can you talk about the u.s. role in pakistan and how it affects

politics in your elections? >> well, the u.s. has interfered a lot in pakistani politics. it has been monitoring very closely what has been happening in pakistan. we all know that the united states looked at pakistan from the prison of afghanistan -- afghanistan,m of clamping down on militant outfits fighting this war. however, what is interesting in this election is, i am sure you must have been reading that there are extremist islamist groups for the first time that are taking part in this election, and one of them is someone who is banned by the united states. his party is banned by the united nations because it was alleged that he had a role to play in the mumbai attack. the other party had a very successful protest in islamabad. they pretty much shut down

islamabad, and it was only after the army brokered a deal between them and the government demanding that the law minister resign that they were allowed to go back, and they were not even charged with the damage they caused to public property and how they beat up policeman. it is these two political parties who are taking part in the election, and that is part of a's after an dish part of a policy of a mainstream militant outfit. of former defense minister government said it was major bone of contention between the military allowingovernment, these extremist militant groups to enter thehe mainstream polits or not. want to go to one of the leading pakistani journalists and publishers who newspaper, and he

spoke to the bbc earlier this week in a widely circulated in controversial interview. he spoke to "bbc hardtalk's" himhen sacker, who asked whether he believes the pakistani military is favoring particular candidates in the upcoming elections. >> i think there is a preferred pace of -- face of pakistan they would like to see. >> who with a favor? >> at this point, there appearss to be e an attempt to o favor second-level leaders and a coalitition that wouould rulee h their direction. talking about the deep state and you talked about the fact that the military is preventing, putting obstacles before other political p partie, but imran khan's party, the movement for justice, is granted an exception. can you explain why you think that is? what is imran khan's

relationship to the military? amy: it looks like our democracy now! strain to pakistan is to pakistan ism frozen. we will see if munizae jahangir -- it looks like w we will haveo leave that question, but we will continue to cover the pakistan elections.s. is a pakistanir writer and journalists and hosts a political talk show on one of pakistan's leading networks. she is the daughter of pakistan's leading human rights lawyer who died earlier this angir.asma jahn she is on the board of the asma jahangir foundation and a council member of the human rights commissioion of pakistan. this is democracy now!. when we come back, we go to yemen with jane ferguson. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

y: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. spend t the rest of the hour inemen, where houthi leader abdulalik al-hohi has indicated that the rebels are preparared to handnd over the crucial portrt of hodeidah to te united nations if the u.s.-backed saudi-led coalition halts military operations s the. last mononth, tetens of thousanf civilians fled hodeidah, when coalition forces launched an all-out offensive there. the u.n. w warned the ofoffensie wowould severelyly exacerbate ee ongoining humanitaririan crisisn yemen, which i is already experiencing the world's worst cholera epidemic with more than a million people afflicted and with millions more on the brink of famine. this is you and humanitarian coordinator lise grande. the reality of their life, when they wake up in the morning , they have no idea if they will idea.at day, no

eight and a half million people are in that category.. if the u.n. estimates of by the end of the year, if there is not any pup to this war, another 10 million yemenis will be in that same situation, 18 million innocent civilians who are the victims of this war, and that is areall humanitarian's saying enonough is enough. there has to be a political solution. the parties have to sit at the table and agree how to stop the conflict. nermeen: that's a clip from "pbs newshour's" exclusive three-part series by correspondent jane ferguson, who recently smuggled herself into northern yemen to report on the widespread famine and devastation there. >> the only way into rebel held yemen is to smuggle yourself in. meaning to bes just entirely as a yemeni woman with a full face veil. i traveled across the lines to see what is actually happening

inside what e united nations is cliling t world's worst humaniririan dasteter. we will speak with pbs correspondent jane ferguson now in beirut about what she saw in yemen at first, we are going to her report, part two h her threree have in part exclusive s seeses. this piece is called "amerin-n-madeombsbs iyemenn are kiing civilis, destroyi infrastruure and fueling ger at the.s." >> inside rebel territory in yen, the w w rains down from ththe sky. havee ground, front lines not moved much in the past three years of conflict. instead, an aerial bombing campaign by the saudi led and a american-backed coalition mmers mu o of thcoununt'ss north, leaving scenes keke this dotted across the capita city saa and beyond. a feeks befe i arrid, th gas staon was hit. th secity guard was in a

building nexdodoor wn itit happenen. he sd d six vililianwere killed. why did theyararget re?? why they wod ha targetesomethinlike is. sewhere the cy, a vernmentffice buding was recent hit. another of rubble, nunumento ththe viliananeaths of this war. when this building was hit, it was ststly cricacal rkers s d officers who were injured, and you can still see the blood smeared all over the walls as they evacuated after the airstrikes. in 2014, yemeni rebels called eized the capital of much of the country, and they are supported by the archrival, shiite iran. in the next yeyear, the saudi's mobilized a coalition of arab military to defeat the group.

hase aerial bombing campaign not managed to dislodge the rebels, but it has hihit weddin, hospitals, and homes. the u.s. military supports the saudi coalition with logistics and intelligence. the united states also sells the saudis and the coalition partners many of the bombs they dropped on yemen. in the mountains outside the capital, we gained exclusive access to the site where the houthis store unexploded american-made bombs, like this market for bomb made in garland, texas. it landed in the middle of the street in the capital, we're told. one of the men here told me where it was found around sanaa. >> one month ago, it landed near the bridge. next to the central book of yemen. it did not explodede. >> he also shown me the fin of a mark 82 bomb, used to guide it to its target.

let uscity, the houthis see a storage site with the remains of an american-made cluster bomb. the mostombs are among deadly with civilians, filled with baseball sized smaller bombs that scatter over a larger area. if they do not expdede, th arere like l ldmines and injure civilis.s. anyone suspected of opsising t grp is t town into jail. i treled deeininto t countride to fd a morebout hothe bombg campai is fecting people's ves ther this is wh i founda doctor withou bders cholera treatmen cenr complely deroyed byn airstre the day befo. it wasusust abt toto on terest to p patnts. the war has made it harder for people to access clean running water, leading to the worst cholera outbreak in modern history. now ery time the rains come, peoplealall il

chera ia seasonal disease herenemen, anthat is why aid orgizationsre getti ready r the worsof the cholera ason comg up. thisacilityas brandew. one w killed re, but e la of the ecious medical with life-saving equipment is devastating. it is clearly against humanitarian law, no question. warnedunited nations that the saudi have a coalition -- the united nations requested they do not bomb them. >> if you look at the total number of requests we have now and the total number of violations, there have been few violioions cparered the queststs ththose violions occ and are seriou refugee camp clerer to the e fiting a ang the saudi rderer, people told mtheyey we attacked bwarplaneinin the lalastamp thth lived in. in 2015, a refugee cp p was

bobomb by cocoition jeje. thiserson must a grandson in thatattack and walked r daysys to get here. >> they attacked the camp with three missiles in one day, and then we ran away. >> on the road to o the refugee camp, several ridgegehad been bombmbed. anger towards america is growing in rebel held areas of yemen. most people here, whether they suppt t the uthihis not, know many of the e mbs beindropoppe ououamerican. it provides a strong propaganda tool for the rebels w who go by the slogan, "death to america." a collelege professor who did his dodoctorate in the u.s. but is a strong houthi supporter. >> american-made. the plane that kills is,

american-made. tanks, american-made. you are saying to me, where is america? america is here. >> despite desperate efforts to end the fighting in yemen, the violence is getting worse. the saudi-led coalition launched an attack on a houthi-controlled city last month, home e to hundreds of thousands of yemenis and aid organizations warned of the attack could kill many civilians. as the bombs began to fall, these people fled to the capital, sanaa. -- is ause is attrition traditional house, and when the bomb landed, the roof was gone. and herouse was hit, family got out alive, but she is now homeless and trying to care for her severely disabled son. i don't know where to stay

tonight at we do not have money for a hotel, cannot afford it. we left in a hurry, scared, left everything. >> ahead of the battle, the coalition warned civilians to get out. >> the coalition announced on the tv that we have to leave. they did not tell us anything, just told us to go out. the houthis may trenches. my house is next to the sea, and the battles are there. >> millions of yemenis are just like him, living in fear of the battle raging near t their homes oror an airstrike killing them d their families. both the houthis and the saudi-led coalition ha disregarded innocent civilian life in this war. every bomb that falls on a hospital, office building, or home causes more unease about where they came from. ferguson was jane reporting from yemen for the "pbs newshour." when we come that, we will go to

beirut, lebanon. jane has come out of yemen which she snuggled herself into it we will speak directly with her. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: yemen blues. we e are spending the rest of the hour in yemen, joint in a route by jane from us in -- jane ferguson. amy: jane is just back from yemen, where she recorded this remarkable three-part series on widespread starvation and yemen. american financing of the saudi-back coalition and houthi rebels. her recent peas in the "new yorker" is about the war. welcome to democracy now! the bravery of you even going into yemen, it shows what the yemeni people face. explain how you got there. and in this piece we just aired, you talk about the u.s. support

for what is happening. how did you find this evidence? into yemen itself is evens implicated are not as close to us, located is getting into northern yemen. from outlets, including american outlets, have been granted visas and allowed to board flights into the south of yemen, and area that the saudi-led coalition controls. that is at the capipital of thee south, aden. i was able to get a visa t to gt there after a couple of attempts and board a flight to aden. from there, i basically had to drive north. you can drive north across the front line. yemenis themselves, civilians, are moving back and forth. but you have to go through dozens of checkpoints. i was not able to film them, obviously, for the piece as i was smuggling my way up.

it took several cars in various routes to be able to get up there and disguised as a yemeni woman. once i i got there, i had to wok with a yemeni team because i could only really smuguggle mysf upup. i cacannot bring my camameramand have him passed off as a believableememeni woman. so i worked with a yeneni teamm in sanaa, journalists and friends i have known for some time. aroundganizations all the worl particularly american news organizatnsns, ha been tryiyingo accece s sanaa andnd y ch so want to report from houthi-controroed areas, but journaststs a band. the sai's ntrol th aiaipace, and they have banned journalistand humarights searcher soournalis, for a ng te, fr v vario n news organizions, all the jor netwks in the u.s., have been trying to access those areas but have not been permitted to go.

it really is a case of whoever can smuggle the way of there, and that is extremely challenging logistically. you end up with one staff member up there and not 40. when i was there, as you pointed out, the major focus on the reporting is the fact that this is a war that is perhaps not so visually on the ground that the united states is involved in, but behind the scenes, the united states is supporting the saudi-led coalition. when the saudi-led coalition formed in 2015, barack obama was then president of the united states, and he supported the coalition's efforts, not with boots on the ground but certainly with logistics mentioned there. some of those logistics include things like refueling saudi jets and between bombing raids, if they can be refueled midair by united states air force jets.

that helps make the process much more efficient. of weapons, sale over $100 billion worth of u.s. weapons agreed in sales to the saudis, often agreed by obama but then confirmed by president trump. there is also bears logistical and intelligence support. -- there is also various logistical and intelligence support. yemenis talked about why they saw this as a united states war. when i took this question to them, even privately off-camera, people who do not wish to speak on camera that they were not theorters of the houthis or coalition, they would say we feel very much so like this is a united states war. and when you are on the ground there, like i said in my report, able to use this is a very strong propaganda tool. they are able to catch this war in terms of jihad, a religious

war, against not only foreign invaders like saudis, but they will say when try to recruit fighters that this is a war against foreign invaders who are fighting against islam. of the: jane, one weapons ththat the u.s. has sold to saudis, as you witnessed and discussed in your piece, are cluster bombs. could you talk about what you learned about the effects of these bombs? i mean, this is a weapon that is banned by 102 countries. explain what the effects of cluster bombs are. cluster bomb, when it is dropped, it explodes just the four it hits the ground. it can contain anything from dozens to up to hundreds of smaller bombs, about the size of a baseball, and they're just miniature bombs trying to exexplode. they spread out t over a wider be deadly forey can

civilians, especially in cocountrieies where e people lin homes,ck or n non-concrete so a areas were people live in d homes or huts, they can be particularly dangerous in those situations. they also have a particularly poor fail rate. not all o of the small l munitis will e explode, so they will remamainrimed on the ground, a d theyanan be picked u up by a chd. they can ranmly explodode much, much later. that is why clusteter bombs are seen as such a deadly weapon, because they can act likike min, as well as an explosisive that spreads itself out. nermeen: your piece also ends with a remarkable and perfect statistic, that an estimated 130 yemeni children die every day in 2017 from extreme hununger and diseasase. this piece, asn

well as your piece in "the new yorker," that this is a man-made disaster, that there is, in fact, food in yemen. it is just the people no longer food.he means to buy that millions of workers have been put out ofof work or are simimpy not being paid. can you talk about that. >> sure, this is the real toll of the war. of course, civilians are dying in the air strikes, but not near to the numbers of people falling ill and dying from the humanitarian crisis that has been caused by this war. will hear theou statistic that yemen is the world's worst humanitarian disaster, but that is really just a phrase. it was one of the reasons i wantnted tgo intnt rebel-hd emen, beuse knowing rely understas s whathat t los ke, what it means. what it ans is a thirirof the

cocountr an n enre thihi, over 8 million people on the bnknk of starvation. they're not gettingngnough nutrients. enoughnno afford touy fo t to fe thehemsves and their families sufficitltly. thstatisti on the aths of childr are parcularly startlg, and t that ibecause, as anyere ithe worl chilen are t most susceptie toalling illrom malnutrion. ey c thy of srvation. and more often is the case, they can die of infectious diseases because the bodies have become so weak. when i travel to various children'snd visit words, which are pretty much now malnutrition words, you will see terrifyingly thin children, and you will see a small trickle of them every day. a lot of parents cannot afford to bring their children to clinics or hospitals in rule capitals -- in rural capitals

because e e costf fufuelas go up. the ason this manade and ae reonvery ngo humanitari organation has pointed ouitit is n-mamades that it is caused byhehe war there has not be a a weather pattern or a parcucular turaral disaster here and erere is plplentyf fofoodetting io men. what is haening ishehe foo pres arereigher than they should be. th are higr than ty were before. th is part becausef the saudi-le coation'slockade on therea. ey are aowing fo in, but it is strictednd is a ow anexpensivprocess. the shs that port theood t held uor weekst a time and ha to be ipected. at proce is partularly difficul yemeimports e vast mority of its food anhas doneince ng beforthis war. ose pric going uhas also en cpled witthe fac that

the econy, certaly in th nortbut alsoeally alover men, is its kne, if not has collsed esstially. yoyou ll see people have ju lost theirobs, so it does not really matter how much food there is in the supermarket, and it is not really matter how expensive it has become because if you have absolutely no money, then you're not going to be able to buy it