[captioning made possible by democracy now!] ♪ amy: from pacifica, this is democracacy now. >> this is no time f for d dial. this is time for action. to end thee has come dictatorship once and for all. amy: as the united states rejects calls for negotiations, venezuelan president nicolas maduro warns the trump administration about attempting to use military force to topple

his government. >> stop, stop. donald trumpmp, you are makiking your dutch mistakes that will stain your hands with lined. amy: we will host a discussion on the crisis in venezuela then we look at the trial of trial of joaquin "el chapo" guzman, the notorious mexican drug kingpin who has been on trial in new york city for 11 weeks. the trial has implicated the mexican government of widespread corruption with one witness alleging the former president accepted a $100 million bribe from drug traffickers. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. leaders of key european countries say they recogninize oppoposition leader juan g guais venezuela's interim president monday, after an ultimatumum

imposed on p president nicololas maduro to call for new elections expired sunday at midnight. the countries include france, spain, germany, britain, portugal, sweden, denmark, austria and the netherlands. this is german chancellor angela merkel. in canada, members -- merkel. >> the person we expected to initiate an election process is seen is possible. germany and others recognize him as legitimate president to oversee this fast. amy: in canada, members of the lima group issued a declaration of support for juan guaido. canadian foreign affairs minister chrystia freeland highlighted that the group however does not support the use of force to remove maduro's government. groupmembers of the lima -- guyana, mexico, and st. lucia -- did not support the declaration. guaido hailed the widespread recognition from international leaders monday. he has called for more mass protests in venezuela today. meanwhile the government of , sitting president nicolas

maduro remains defiant, with maduro again saying he would not bow to any outside ultimatums. this is foreign minister jorge arreaza. >> the european countries are following the united states. wililling dusust ruling awaits, donald trump is such a death bot, racist, arrogant, so grandiose he does not care about others. he is the expression of capitalism. amy: to see our interview, go to democracynow.org. democratic virginia governor ralph northam told his staffers he would make a decision about his future as governor soon as the scandal around a racist yearbook photo continues to 1984 mount. northam is photoizing for his showing a man wearing blackface

next to a man wearing ku klux klan regalia, but followed back the statements, claiming neither man is him, but did use blackface in a michael jackson look-alike contest. democraticic and republican lawmakers and civil liberties groups are calling for his resignation. northam reportedly told his cabinet members he was worried he would be thought of as a racist for life is he resigned. meanwhile, lieutenant governor justin fairfax, who would become governor if northam stepped down, denied a sexual assault accusation from 2004 at an impromptu news conference monday. the accuser alleges fairfax forced himself on her in a hotel room in 2004 aftfter they met the democratic national convention. fairfax maintains the encounter was consensual. staffers say the washington post it before the

inauguration but were unable to substantiate the claim. amid the ongoing scandal in virginia, an old photo appearing to show senate majority leader mitch mcconnell posing in front of a large confederate flag has resurfaced. the photo first circulated in 2015 and is said to be from a sons of confederate veterans event in the early 1990s. president trump is set to deliver the state of the union address from the house chamber tonight. former georgia gubernatorial candidate for georgia and voting rights advocate stacey abrams will deliver the democrats' response with california's , attorney general xavier becerra delivering the spanish-language response. democratic lawmakers have invited guests that are affected by some of president trump's most controversial policies. oregon senator jeff merkley will bring a mother and daughter who were separated at the u.s.-mexico border last year as part of trump's family separation policy. california democratic congressmember zoe lofgren invited shaima swileh, a

yemeni mother who had to sue in order to receive a travel waiver to see her dying son, a u.s. citizen, because of trump's muslim ban. victorina morales, an undocumented worker who used to work at a trump golf club before going public with her story in december, will accompany new jersey congress member body watson:. the trump organization has fired at least 18 undocumented workers since morales broke her story. tune in tomorrow for democracy now's special coverage of the state of the union. reports have emerged that trump will nominate david malpass, a treasury department official, to be the new head the world bank. malpass is an outspoken critic of the world bank, suggesting it is overly intrusive. he previously worked on wall street as the chief economist of bear stearns. in 2007, he wrote op-edl street journal" titled "don't panic about the

credit market" - less than a year before the collapse and subsequent sale of bear stearns amid the 2008 financial crisis. president trump has announced he will nominate david bernhardt as secretary of the interior department. bernhardt, a former oil lobbyist, has been the agency's acting secretary since ryan zinke stepped down in december amid multiple scandals and ethics investigations. bernhardt was confirmed as deputy secretary of the interior in 2017, where he helped roll back regulations overseen by the department. he worked to make the approval for land and offshore drilling projects easier, and proposed limiting protections for endangered species. bernhardt also ordered some furloughed workers back to work during the government shutdown to pushsh through on ol and natural gas drilling permits, offshore drilling and drilling in the alaska refuge. iraq's president barham saleh spoke out after t trump said he wanted to keep us troops in iraq to watch a ron. .- a ron -- iran

in an ininterview wiwith cbs su, trump said "we h have an unbelievable and expensive militaryry base built in i iraq. it's perfectly situateded for looking atat all over different parts of the troubled middle east." in response, saleh said trump did not ask them m about this ad that the u.s. military presence inin iraq has the mission of helplping to combat ththe islamc state. president saleh added the iraqi constitution prohibits the use of iraq as a base to threaten neighboring countries. in somalia, a car bomb killed at least 11 people at a shopping center in the capital mogadishu monday. also monday, gunmen shot and killed the head of dubai-owned port in the semi-autonomous region of puntland. militant group al-shabab claimed responsibility for both the attacks. a panel including british ththree members of parliament concluded the highest levels saudi authority are responsiblee for the "cruel,l, inhuman and degrading" treatment of women activists, and may be in violation of international law. the panel looked at reports from humaman rights groups detatailig

the fates of women activists jailed after campaigning for the right to drive and an end to the male guardianship system. the women include loujain al-hathloul, a prominent women's rights advocate who has been arrested several times. amnesty international says that activists were sexually harassed, electrocuted, flogged and subject to death threats. in the west bank, mourners attended the funeral of 19-year-old abdullah tawalba, who was shot and killed by israeli forces near a checkpoint another palestinian was wounded monday. by the gunfire. israeli officers said the young men threw an explosive device. mexican officials announced a plan monday to search for tens of thousands of people who have disappeared in the country's dedevastating drug war. >> there are 40,000 missing persons, more than 1100 unmarked graves, 26,000 unidentified bodies in custody, and that

tells you the humanitarian crisis and the situation we are facing and want to get the hind. amy: mexican president andres manuel lopez obrador, committed during his campaign to investigating the disappearances and said he would set up truth commissions and a reparations system for victims. the white house is reportedly panicking after president trump's executive schedule was leaked and published by axios on sunday. the schedules revealed trump spent around 60% of his time over the past three months in unstructured "executive time," which includes tweeting, reading the news, watching tv and making phone calls. the justice department issued a subpoena to president trump's inaugural committee monday, ordering the hand-over of financial documents related to trump's 2016 presidential inauguration. the manhattan u.s. attorney's office reqequested the document, and d are seeking information on whether any foreign donors received access to the trump administration in exchange for contributions.

last month, "the new york times" reported trump's inaugural committee received an unprecedented $107 million from private donors, at least twice the amount raised by any of his predecessors. new york democrats have named state senator michael gianaris to the board that will evaluate new york's development deal with amazon, setting up a possible fight with governor andrew cuomo. gianaris has been a critic of the amazon deal to build a new headquarters in long island, queens, long island city. cuomo, who has long courted amazon's business, has the authority to block the appointment of gianaris, though it would likely intensify anger among the democratic lawmakers and activists who have opposed the amazon deal. on monday, republican state senators in utah passed a bill limiting medicaid expansion just a few months after voters approved the expansion in november.

the medicaid expansion should benefit people with incomes up to 138% the povoverty levevel t the republican bill would restrict eligibility to those making less than 100% of the poverty level. utah will also seek federal permission to impose work requirements on medicaid recipients. 60% ofo, where over voters approved a medicaid expansion, lawmakers are also attempting to stymie the measure, by considering work requirements and other restrictions. in environmental news, a new report finds that at least a third of the himalayan ice cap will melt off by the end of the century, due to rising temperatures. the report states that even radical change to human behavior would not be enough to save the glaciers of the hindu kush and himalaya range, with major consequences for nearly 2 billion people. the hindu kush and himalaya region stretches from afghanistan to burma and is the

, the largest concentration of ice after arctic and antarctica. the melting glaciers risk overflowing lakes that would engulf local communities by mid-century, before river flows go into decline, affecting power supplies from hydrodams and agricultural production. 4 activists known as the "four necessity valve turners" were arrested monday after shutting off two valves s at an enbridge energy pipeline in minnesota. the pipelines run over native american territory. in a statement, the activists, who are part of the catholic worker movement said, "the group acts in solidarity with the most vulnerable worldwide who suffer the greatest impact from climate change. the four necessity valve turners believe it is time to take personal responsibility for preventing the dangerous expansion of the oil industry, because governments and regulators have failed to do so." the facebook page for the four necessity valve turners has been taken down since live turn --

live streaming yesterday. the activists are being held at a jail in itasca county where they are awaiting arraignment hearings scheduled for wednesday morning. they face possible misdemeanor charges including trespassing and property damage. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now democracynow.org, the war and , peace report. i'm amy goodman. >> i am one gonzalez. venezuelan president nicolas maduro has reached out to pope francis asking for his help to bring about a peaceful solution to the crisis in venezuela. maduro is facing incncreasing international pressure to resign from office two weeks s after opposition leader juan guaido declarared himself to be venezuela's interim president. guaido made the announcement on january 23 after speaking to u.s. vice president mike pence , who offered d support from the trump administration. since then, a growing number of countries have openly recognized guido's claim to the presidency.

on austria, britain, denmark, monday, france, germany, spain and sweden all voiced support for guido after maduro rejected their calls to hold new elections. but italy blocked a european union statement recognizing guaido. ireland and greece have called for new elections and have not recognized his claim to the presidency. amy: meanwhile, the venezuelan opposition and the united states have rejected an offer by mexico and uruguay to host talks between the two sides. on vice e president mike pence friday, spoke in miami and ruled out any negotiatations. >> this is no time for d dialog. this is time for actioion. end thetime has come to maduro dictatorship once and for all. president was vice mike pence. on sunday, president trump appeared on cbs's face the

nation a and said sending u.s. troops to venezuela is an option. he wasas interviewed by margaret brennan. >> what would make you use the military? >> it is an option. >> would you negotiaiate personally to request him to exit? and requesteded a meetiting i'veve turned him down becauause are far along in the process. wewe have a young and energetic gentleman n and a g group that e been very, if you talk about democracy, it is through democracy in action. inaction. amy: while the u.s. is rejecting negotiations, the impact of the sweeping new u.s. sanctions on venezuela are being felt across the country "-- the country. journal" isreet reporting oil tankers are beginning to pile up off the venezuelan coast as the country struggles to pump and ship oil

due to the sanctions. to talk more about venezuela we are joined by two guests. miguel tinker salas is a venezuelan-born professor who teachers at pomona college, in clermont, california. he is the author of "the enduring legacy: oil, culture and society in venezuela" and "venezuela: what everyone needs to know." david smilde is a senior fellow at the washington office on latin america where his focus is venezuela. he is a professor of sociology at tulane university. he runs the blog, "venezuelan politics and human rights" and is co-editor of the compilation, "venezuela's bolivarian democracy: participation, politics, and culture under chavez." he h has lived in or worked on venezuela since 1992. miguel tinker salas and david smilde, welcome to democracy now. can you summarize what has happened and what you think will happen? uido declared himself the interim president, immediately recognized by the united states, lima, and many european

countries. many in the opposition thought maduro would have fallen. they overestimate their power and underestimate the fact that he still may have power among sectors of the population, not many, but still has significant power and the power of the military. we still dueling protests over the weekend. mercedes, aand middle-class neighborhood. immediately thereafter, we saw an effort at spinning which march had the largest amount of people. sideosition that either can still draw out a population. the fear i have was we increasingly continue with all, thatwinner take all the marbles are being put on international recognition ousting maduro.

there is no recognition of what does this mean for the country in terms o of its social fabric, political culture, and if there is no negotiated agreement on that process. davidi would like to ask to give us his perspective and light of the f fact that the attempts to change the revolution did not start yesterday. the has been a constant tension between the united states during the chavez regime and now during the -- underr madururo, to chane the direction of venezuelan society. urge listeners -- d david: i would urge listens to n not reduce e the situatatio that. what happepened with juan guaido

was s not dictated by the united states and clearly there was coordination. got in theezuelans mail that he was legitimate. it is a difficult situation. thatworried in the fact the united states has taken such a high profile in this from the beginning. the move to sanctions the past week, oil sanctions, is difficult. i think the u.s. in the opposition spot, the very day himselfdo declared president the military would step in. they back maduro now so they have more strength than people think. unless there is a change or transition in the coming week or month, these oil sanctions will

hurt the oil population more than the government and will allow them a during government to ratchet down its authoritarian project. juan: in terms of the whole issue of the oil sanctions, the picture now of tankers lined up, unable to transfer -- transport oil. is it a problem that any country that wants to buy oil, the currency they use, they will be sanctioned by the united states for transacting with venezuela? it is the financial squeeze? david: and many of -- miguel: and many of those bankers are in the gulf coast and have not reached port because they are concerned over who will pay for the oil. the buyers are concerned, will they get sanctioned? this is a danger of sanctions. they essentially pass the pain

the people, not the government. it increases suffering for the average venezuelan and it is a tragedy that that is part of the strategy, it is a waiting game to see the extent to which sanctions will have an impact on the population. someone is betting on the fact that people will be suffering and will turn their wrath on the government. they may turn their wrath on those who are in posing sanctions. it is a dangerous proposition to utilize sanctions, because people pay the price. amy: i wanted to ask david about the sanctions and the u.s. intervention at every level, strangling the economy. nicolas maduro's embattled venezuelan regime desperate to hold onto the dwindling cash

pile it has a abroad, was for $1.2n its bid billion of gold out of the bank of england. providesion to officials a withdrawal of fact -- after john bolton lobby their u.k. counterparts to cut off the regime from its overseas assets. on january 29, bloomberg reported -- secretary of state mike pompeo took another step to bolster quite know, -- guido, certifying a national assembly member has a key over -- authority over key bank accounts in the united states. over accountsty of the federal reserve of new york and other insured u.s. banks. toyou think it is too simple compare this to nancy pelosi going out into the street as house speaker, the equivalent of

was, announcing herself president and then countries of the world announcing they recognize her as president, and then those countries where u.s. money is say, we are giving the money to her? david: i think that would be too simplistic. this is a plausible interpretation. it is not like e dust loctite bg tight because of the constitution. a legitimateot president, the national assembly president will step in. amy: what it be vice presideden? david: if they are recognizing do b because of constitutiononal norms of successionon -- amy: wouldn't the constitution -- david: i think it is a a dangers game because guidodo has no wayf

getting this money into venezuela. it will be some sort of escrow account. his opposition does not have any central-l-bank, so in thee meane there will be a real difficulty in venezuela in terms of the lack of funds. amy: what it be the vice president who would take over if the president maduro was pushed out? ,avid: my understanding constitutionally it is the national assembly president.t. juan: i wanted to ask you in terms of the potential for civil war in the country, supposedly maduro has called on the peoples militias to become more active now. he said weapons would be available to them from the military. what is the potential for, given the fact that no matter what the size of his supporters are, they are clearly dedicated and

determined, for the potential for venezuela to slip into civil war? david:d: i think it is something that is not considereded enough. itit could happen. the opposition itself doeses not have arms, bubut you u could hae some f factionon of the military rebel l againsnst maduro and ots stay loyal. that could cause a civil war. that would be e a difficult situation because there is the armed forces and other actctors, paramililitaries in venenezuela, armed gangs that have gold, so that c could be chahaos. this simplistic assumption that just pressuring guido -- just pressuring madaduro and trying o lure the military to step in will lead to democracycy, it is just as likely that if the militatary steps in anand trieso

put one of its own i in power or someone more amenable to it in power, and the situation could turn into a civil war. davide are talking to tinker salas.uel we will be back in a moment. ♪ ♪

[music break] am amy goodman with juan gonzalez as we continue with our guests miguel tinker salas and talking about, the crisis in venezuela. juan: i would like to ask you

something that does not normally get asked by the commercial media accounts of what is going on. what went wrong and the boulevard in revolution? rian revolution? miguel: the fact that maduro was popular despite the u.s. government, since madero has come in he has clearly lost -- the government has clearly lost popularity. what happened from your perspective? miguel: i think the crack even when chavez was alive, we saw neighborhoods voting left. maduro inherits that process and inherits it at a time which the price of oil was declining significantly. time, he had to maintain a series of social programs and had extended and overreach in many ways.

you have the management of economic improvisation, corruption, there -- their inability to control the exchange rate, and then you add sanctions. to purchase capital goods to renovate the oil industry, and add the fact you are trying to process heavy crude and make a profit at a lower margin, those are the components. there is a tremendous amount of responsibility the maduro government and forces bear. i have to add sanctions. sanctions aggravated the prices as well. you also had an economic war by in the private sector who were refusing to participate and also came together at a time which maduro did not prove to be the master chavez had been. he was fororced to negotiate

arrangements with his own party's supporters and that complicated the political and economic process, and aggravated shortages of food and medicinin, prompting people to leave. interview,ecent secucurity advisor john boltlton said u.s. oil companies could benefit from what is happening in venezuela. >> we are in conversation with major american n companies in venezuela, in the case of citgo. i think we will try to get to the same end r result. venezuzuela is one of ththe thre cocompanies i call thehe troikaf tierney. itill make a big difference to the united states ifif we could have oil companies investt in ad prproduce the oil capabilities n venenezuela. it would be good for the people of venezuela a and the united states. amy: david, can you talk about

this, the u.s. despite the widespread sanctions has exempted u.s. oil companies, the significance of the message of bolton? david: i think anybody knows that venezuela is a petro economy. it has the largestst proven reserves of oil l in the world d that makes it of extraordinary interest to the united states, europe, and other countries. it does s not surprise me e at l be talking would about this, trying to sell the administration's approach to big oil, in part because sanctions are impacting o oil intererestsn the gulf c coast. they arere going to have to replace some of f this heavy cre coming in. it is time to sell this, and the interests are always involved. juan: i want to ask you about

the significance of elliott abrams being the special envoy to venezuela, and the history of abrams in central and south america. he has a long, sorted history -- .ordid history he provided military support to the dictator who was later convicted of genocide. -- wasresponsible for found guilty during the iran contrary, of lying to congress about the reagan administration's efforts to provide aid despite a profession -- congressional ban. abrams has a long history to leaders in latin america and they know what he does. for him coming in n at this sta. david: that is one of the most

disturbing things that is happenened then i -- the last couple of weeks. , the u.s. presidential administrations do things that they do not seem to really be aware of the object of that vote and sent up alarm bells in the region. this is the point that really told me that the trump administration is sort of making venezuela part of its foreign almost part of make america great agagain type foren policy. elliott abrams was the architect inone of the darkest periods u.s.s.-latin america i involvem. not only was he involved any run contra, he was involved -- he run contra i --ran contra, clearlyim there speaks

to those in latin america and those who watch latin america, that the u.s. intentions are regime change and ththe intentns are to impose itself onon the situtuation. that is unfortunate. it really cloudss the water a ad makes s the situation momore difffficult. amy: professor, your response to elliott abrams, the point person in venezuela? miguel: it does not speak clearly to the opposition. connected with and elliott abrams and have not condemned his nomination. the same thing with john bolton. say, we do notdo want troops on the table? we do not want u.s. marines or john bolton talking about how he will benefit u.s. companies from our oil? we do not want marco rubio talking about the conditions in

venezuela or john bolton making as part of your geopolitical arrangement for the troika of tyranny and reviving a cold war in latin america. elliottt want u.s. -- abrams running policy from the united states because we do not want his bloodstained hands. we are not here and that from the opposition and they do not want to talk about this being a coup. amy: on friday, john bolton threatened to send president maduro to guantanamo, in a radio interview with hugh hewitt. >> mussolini met a bad end. is that the choice facing maduro? yesterday, i wish him a long, quiet retirement on a pretty beach far from venezuela. the sooner he takes advantage of

that, the sooner he is to be there rather than guantanamo. amy: t that is the u.s. national security advisor john bolton.n. your response? he is posturing or trying to put thehe pressuren maduroro to get him to step asi. . do not think that will do it i think there has t to be some sort of process of n negotiatio, some sorort of process of transitional justicece that will make it amemenable. all of these peoplple have high exitit costs. they are complicated by human righghts violations anand corrun , anand they f feel they will be extradited or face something worse in venezuela. there has got to be transitional justice involved. to make it attractive for these guys. juan: miguel, i would like to

ask you in terms of the effort to marshall international support to different countries for one or the other side. clearly, two major countries, china and russia, have not been supportive. china is a huge creditor to venezuela, something like $60 billion in loans that china has extended to venezuela over the past decade or so. can you talk about the battle for the hearts and minds of world leaders in other parts of the world? miguel: i think we have seen that clearly. after thetion in 2017 failure of the negotiations in the depend -- the minion on thec, they gave up electoral process in venezuela and started to see the way of dealing with touro out was to consolidate -- majuro out was to consolidate power.

also, winning over european countries and the u.s. the election of donald trump facilitated that, and that was obviously their strategy. the government of venezuela has the support of russia and china who are heavily vested in the oil industry and in terms of russia, militarily. in turkey, you are cheering today venezuela, tomorrorow turkey, south africa. maps that show all the supporters, they always leave africa out. venezuela iss that being inserted into a potentially international conflict and being done so in large part because it has been signaled as the third part of the trike a of tyranny that must fall -- troika of tyranny that must fall, first venezuela, then

cuba, then neck or rodda -- nicaragua. in an is the opposition zero game, all or nothing strategy. i think it will prove harmful for the country. the only solution is for some mediated process, and the offer by mexico and uruguay and the veteran needs to be completed. the wall's talk about " street journal" piece from last week, the first step in the trump administration's plan to reshape lalatin america, with ca next. they will announce new measures against cuba, including new sanctions and restoring them as a state sponsor of terrorism. according to "the wall street journal," the u.s. plans to target nicaragua.

the nationsdubbed the troika of tierney. president -- tyranny. president trump is "not a fan of except inons abroad" "this hemisphere." i would not doubtbt it isis part o of a larger strategy. i would suggest that i think it is good to take venezuela on at some. simply react -- at its own. simply reacting to this -- i am no fan of the trunk former paul -- foreign policicy -- bubut wee to prioritize this. do not think the enemy of my enemy is my friend, i is a propr response. has prioritized

in every o occasion, look at who is suffering, who has power, who needs toto change, i in criticig as needed. in the case ofof venezueuela, io not ththink the trump administration against the venezuelan government and the opposition, and maduro's legacy and record, it is clear he is in an absolute disaster in venezuela, and he has become a very undemocratic actor. the trump foreign policy is very worrying. we need to contact the people. amy: i want to thank you both for joining us. we will continue to cover what is happening in venezuela. to our hour with the

andzuelan foreign minister on the point with elliott abrams. this is democracy now. when we come back, the trial of el chapo and the information that has come out that should -- mr. trump when he talks about national security. ♪ [music break]

now,this is democracy democracy.org, the war and peace resort. juan: we end today's show with the trial of joaquin "el chapo" guzman, the notorious mexican drug kingpin who has been on trial in new york city for 11 weeks. a federal jury headed into deliberations yesterday after more than 200 hours of testimony at the federal district court in brooklyn that revealed the inner workings of the sinaloa cartel, the major drug trafficking organization that el chapo is

accused of leading, through testimony of murder, spying, corruption, and even one tale of the drug lord escaping in by 2014 climbing naked through a sewer. el chapo faces ten charges, including leading a criminal enterprise, and could receive life in prison in the u.s. if convicted. before being extradited to the u.s., guzman had escaped from jail in mexico twice. more than a dozen of his former associates struck deals to cooperatate withth u.s. prosecu, who say guzman trafficked d tons of cocaine, heheroin, marijuanaa and methamphetamine into the united states for more than two decades. the trial also implicated the mexican government in the cartel's corruption, with one witness alleging that former mexican president enrique peña

nieto accepted a $100 million bribe from drug traffickers. peña nieto has denied the claim. amy: the trial concludes as donald trump continues to call for a wall betweenen the u.s-mexico border, which he claims w will be a security measure e to stem m drug trafafficking. howevever, several former sinala cartel m members tesestified dug the e trial that they primarily smuggleded drugs through legegal ports of entry, on trucks, cars, trains and fishing boats. u.s. government data shshows most of the hahard narcotics seized by customs and d border prorotectin come at legal ports of entryry, not from people trying to secretly cross the southern border. well for more, we're joined by a guest who says el chapo's sensational crile is up scaring the truth about the so-called drug war. christy thornton, assistant professor of sociology and latin american studies at johns hopkins university. his trial is "a last-gasp effort to salvage the reputation of a failing war that has cost hundreds of thousands of lives." w welcome back.

the tribulationons of the trial and how w they have bn distorted by the media. >> the f first parart of the trl saw a situation where the u.s.s. governmement and t the judge wod hard -- the u.s. government's complicity with the sinaloa cartel. documents revealed communications between the dea and lawyers for el chapo and ,inaloa, have been unsealed thanks to the diligent work of journalists. they have worked hard to get that information out from under seal. one important thing that it made very clear to the jurors who are entering their second day of deliberations, the u.s.

government is not on trial. this is the trial of el chapo. u.s. questions about the government actors and mexican government actors are sort of off the table. than the much brbroader issues being considered by the jury. of thehat are some revelations in terms of the complicity of the united states with the sinaloa cartel? people who have been mexico watchers, there have been things in the media particularly by investigative journalists for some time. lawyers for the sinaloa organization met with the del -- dea to provide information about traffickers. the question arises, whether those agreements to provide rival organizations included

promises of immunity. witnesses cooperating is the son of the partner of el chapo, testified and he was under the impression that he had been given immunity from the dea. this,a and not -- denies but in the course of making that argument, these documents were entered into the court record. ththe sinaloa lawyers were meetg with the deaea for at least 10 very and they hahave been much aware of the trafficking activities. the dea allowance and allow it to continue as long rivaly cracked down on drug organizations. that allegation remains unclear and was stricken from the record.

that is part of the context here. the vast collaboration with aspects of the mexican state, local security forces, all the way up to the presidency itself. juan: those allegations, if true, would not be the first time because decades ago when the drug war was focused on they cooperated with the kelly cartel as long as they were able to go after the medellin cartel, it seems a history of u.s. drug enforcement agencies seeking to play one cartel off againstst another in this so-called war on drugs. >> that is important, and that is the case because the prosecution's strategy is to prprove a conspiracy.

they are trying to prove a conspiracy to traffic drugs and commit murder, all the various chargers. -- charges. they have to build the structure of these cartels, tell a story about thee structure that there is a kingpin, and if you take them out you will decapitate the organization and make it no longer function. that comes frorom that strategy. the intelligence effort aligns that strategy and that tells a story about drug trafficking that i think actually completely obscures what modern-day drug traffic looks like. a are not talking about family al capone structure that we got from the mafia. we have flflexible, ad hoc networks that are able to come apart and together based on market opportunities.

it does not comport with this prosecutorial side that relies on kingpins. make the case, they have to continue to tell the outdated story and give stories to get a consensus. amy: one of the witnesses who the f formert president took a $100 million drive from drug traffickers. this comes from the colombian drug lord alex cifuentes villa what is your response? >> it is hard to know if this bribe happenened. there have been allegations that mexican presidents have been on the papayroll fofor decades. when el chapo escape from federal present, -- prison,

supposedly he was wheeled out in a laundry cart. that oldernandez said president knew about this and authorized this. allegations against the presidents have been part of the drug war since it began. that in itself is not surprising. the question n is what it says about the structure of t the sinaloa cartel. a defefense for el chapo has trd to make the case that it was not el chapo who took the bribe. instead, his partnerer who is still at large and has never , he took a $100 million bribe. if h he is still at lalarge, hes that are -- theoretically in

charge of the organization. juan: what do you make of the fact that el chapo's attorneneys mounted virtrtually no d defens, other than prosit examining the what -- cross examining thee witnesses? >> it was a very lopsided defense portion of the trial. after a about three mononths ofe prosecution line out their case, we got a day of testimony in t e defense. the case they are trying to make is that el chapo is not the singular king -- kingpin of the cartel but he is one in a group of people who have led the organization, and he has been set up by his partner to take the fall. in the closing arguments, we saw el chapo's lawyer make this argument again and again, almost to the point of reproach from the judge, because this piece intimated things

about the cooperation between the mexican, u.s. governments and the sinaloa cartel. that has been the strategy of el chapo's defense to say, he was not the only guy at the top.p. you should not let him take the fall for a set of circumstances that involve governments and other traffickers. amy: the jury heard testimony blaming el chapo's sons for the --der of have air valdes javier valdez. a former lieutenant in the senate drug cartel testified at el chapo's trial that valdez was murdered after he ignored death threats by el cha's ns against publishing an interview. in march of 2017, after one of his colleagues was assassinated, javier valdez said, "let them kill us all, if that is the

death sentence for reporting this hell. no to silence." unquote. valdez silence." valdez would be assassssinated just two months s later. >> h he is among a group of journalists who have lost thther lives in mexico. journalists fear the narco's and the complicity between them and the government. reporting on questions of the stateichch local, federal, actors might be involved in the drug cartel, is a point of contention. we have seen dozens of mexexican journalists lose theirir livived many have gone intntexile in t e united states for reporting this. a serious repercussions that we needed to think k about whwhile w we are ththinking aboe strategy from the united statet, e way we are pets --

perpetuating that kind of violence. juan: what is your sense that the outcome will be of the trial , and what will be the impact of a hill to verdict on the war on drugs? >> that is virtually no. -- nil. many assume because of the lopsided nature of the prosecution, because the defense was short, and because there is such a preponderance of evidence that this will be an open and shut case. there is the possibility that shares structure -- question the overall structure and buy the argument about el chapo not being the singular head. if he is convicted, he spends the rest of his life in the united states and literally nothing changes. we saw a huge e interdiction of

fentanyl coming through a legal port of entry. cartels will continue to meet the demand that comes from the market in the united states. we spend $100 billion on drugs in the united states each year. will be a massive incentive for the remaining parts of the sinaloa cartel, but all of the parts that have fractured from it and the competing organizations. amy: as president trump is about to give a state of the union address and demand a wall on the border, as you said with fentanyl going through the legal that it isig message legal ports of entry the d drugs going through? >> that will be ignored. trump will continue to ignore the evidence. we c can argue about the w wall. the wall will absolutely not

stop the vast majority of drugs coming into the united states. border militarization as a compromise, the things democrats are offering, more surveillance technology -- amy: we have

hello. glad to have you with us. it's 9:00 a.m. on wednesday in tokyo. we begin with the united states this hour. president trump will deliver his annual state of the union address soon. he's likely to speak about a second meeting with north korea's leader as well as building a controversial border wall with mexico. that issue partially shut down government for a month and led democrats to delay his speech.