05/01/19 05/01/19 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> the political leaders of the extreme right, promoters of this adventurous coup, go from embassy to embassy, falling between embassies and subjecting the whole country to this anxiety, t anguish of uncertainty. circumstances that could have been very serious. amy: venezuelan president nicolas maduro is claiming tuesday's coup attempt has

failed, but u.s.-backed opposition leader juan guaido is calling foa day of mass protests. the trump administration is openly backing guiado's efforts to topple maduro's government. >> this s is clearly not a coup. we recognize one guaido as let legitimate interim presisident f venezuela. just as it is not a coup and the president of the united states gives the order to the department of defense, it is not a coup for juan guaido to trying take command of f the venezuelen militaryry. amy: wwill speak to venezuelanan historian miguel tinker salas and economist jeffrey sachs who just co-authored a shocking rert that estimates 40,000 venezuelans have died as a result of u.s. sanctions. then we go to capitol hill to speak with congresswoman ilhan omar, who has been the target of a series of right-wing attacks that has led to numerous death threats. >> they cannot stand that a refugee, a black woman, and

immigrant, a muslim, shows up in congress thinking she is equal them. amy: ilhan omar will join us live. plus, we will hear excerpts from tuesday's rally outside the capitol when angela davis and other prominent african-amemerin women gather to show support for omar. including her colleagues rashida tlaib and ayanna pressley. all that and more, cominup. welcome to docracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. venezuelan president nicas maduro says he's defeated a coup attempt launched by oppotion leader juan guaido, the president of the venezuelan national assbly. on tueuesday morning guaido , appepeared in an o online vid, standing among heavilyly armed soldiers, callining for the

military too oust maduro but the venezuelan military appears to have remained largely behind maduro. during the day, clashes broke out between backers of guaido and the venezuelan government. there are e ports more than 100 people were injured. on tuesday night, venezuelan president nicholas maduro gave a televised address and denied claims by u.s. secretary of state mike pompeo that he had prepared to flee the country. >> the skirmish and venezuela has been defeated a mr. trump set up a thousand expletives and lies. my god, how far the men in the unitited states gernment are willing to go. amy: m maduro and guaido havbobh calleded on supporters to take o the streets today. we will have more on venezuela after headlines. in britain, a judge has sentenced wikileaks founder julian assange to 50 weeks in jail for skipping bail i2012 to avoid extradition to sweden on sexual assault accusations,

charges that w were eventually dropped. he was afraid he would be extradited then to the united states. la month, british h police forcrcibly removeded assange frm thecuauadore embasassywhere hehe had taken asylum f a almost seven years to fight hisis possible extxtradition to o the unitited states. afafter his arrerest, u.s. authorities sealed an indictmentccusing asnge of consnspiring with h army whistleblower chelsea manning, who leed a trove of sensitive documents to wikileaks, including evidence of u.s. war crimes. a london court is t to hear an extradition request by the united states on thursday. "the washingngton post" is reporting special counsel robert mueller wrote to attorney general william barr in march misled the barr american public when he summarized the mueller report's findings in a four-page memo sento congress. according to "the post," mueller said barr's summary "did not fully capture the con, nature, and substance" of his work, adding, "there is now public confusion about critical aspects

of the results of ou investigation. this threatens to undermine a central purpose for which the department appointed the special counsel -- to assure full public confidence in the outcome of the investigations." the revelation appears to directly contradict barr's sworn testimony to congress in when april barr was questioned by democr chris van hollen of the senate appropriations committee. >> did bob mueller support your conclusion? >> i don't know. amy: democrats are demanding an immediate investigatation into whether attorney general barr deliberately sought to mislead the public over muler's findings. on capitol hill, a 30 five-year-old lawywyer and activist who is dying of terminal als testified tuesday in a historic first of its kind congressional hearing on medicare for all. spoke to o the hohouse ruleles committee using a computerized system that tracks

his euye movements and turns them into spoken words. in this emotional testimony, he described how even with a comparatively good health insurance plan, he still pays about $9,000 a month for medical care. .> all of us need medical care and yet in this country, the wealthiest in the history of human civilization, we do not have an effecti warfare o rational system for delivering that care. i will not belabor the point because you and your constituents are well aware of costs, buts -- high outcomes, mind-boggling bureaucracy, racial disparities, bankruptcies, geographic inequities, and seemed profiteering. the ugly truth is this. health care is not treated as a human right in the united states of america. this fact is outrageous and it is far past time that we change it. say it loud forhe people in

the back. health care is a h human right. amy: in north carolina, two people were killed and four wounded tuesday when a man with a pistol opened fire at the university of north carolina-charlotte on the last day of classes. the shooting sparked widespread panic across the campus, with students and staff huddling in offices while police locked down buildings for hours. exams were canceled through sunday. police later arrested 22-year-old student trystan andrew terrell, saying the suspect was "not somebody on our radar. there was no apparent motive for the shooting. according the gun violence archive, there have been over 100 mass shootings in the u.s. so far this ar. in minsota, a jury has found former minneapolis police officer mohamed noor guilty of third-degree murder and manslaughter in the killing of justine ruszczyk damond, an australian woman who called 911 to report a possible sexual assault in the alley behind her home. or, who was seated in the

passenger seat, shot ruszczyk through the open driver's-side window of the vehicle as she approachedis police cruiser in her pajamas. this is justine's father john ruszczyk speaking after the verdict. >> justine was killed by a police officer, an agent of the state. we believe he was properly charged with a crime. the jury has returned a verdict of guilty on murder three and manslaughter two. we are satisfied with the outcome. amy: the shooting is a rare case in which a black police officer killed a white woman. it sparked widespread protests and the resignation of the minneapolis police chief. on capitol hill, black women leaders gathered tuesday in defense of congresswoman ilhan omar, one of the first two muslim congresswomen in history and the first member of congress to wear a hijab. omar says death threats against

her have spiked in number since president trump tweeted a video juxtaposing her image with footage of the 9/11 attacks. democracy now! was at tuesday's "hands off ilhan omar" event. we'll play excerpts from it later in the broadca and then go to catol hill to speak with congressmember omar. democratic leaders nancy pelosi and chuck schumer emerged from closed-door talks with president trump at the white house tuesday saying they've made progress toward a $2-trillion plan to reinvest in u.s. infrastructure. news of the meeting prompted republican lawmakers to express skepticism. senate majority leader mitch mcconnell rejected calls by democrats to pay for an infrastructure bill by rolling back republican tax cuts that overwhelmingly favor the wealthy, calling the proposal a nonstarter. and in new york city, police arrested seven nonviolent protesters tuesdsday as they peacefully blocked access to democratic senator chuck schumer's manhattan office. the youth activists with the sunrise movement are calling on the senate minority leader to

endorse the green new deal, a resolution calling for a transformation of the u.s. economy byunding renewable energy while ending u.s. carbon dioxide emissions by 2030. >> i'm willing to put my body on the li for the green new deal because it means the bodies of all of the people who are being affected by the climate crisis. we're here demanding that senator schumer sign onto a green new deal. stand with us, chuck schumer. amy: activists with the sunrise movement say they've asked senator schumer to conve town hall meetings to discussis climate planbut say their requests have been rebuffed or ignored. this is aracely jimenez, a resident of brooklyn's sunset park neiborhoo >> have lived in sunset park since i was four years old. it is a low income, immigrant community of color. and it was ravaged by hurricane sandy. what the climate

crisis is going to do, what it is already doing to communities like mine all across this planet. and when a senate minority leader refuses tcosponsor the only plan on the table that is going to address the crisis at the scale that science and justice demands, then that is unacceptable. i will not stand for it, and neither should you. amy: and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. venezuelan president nicolas maduro is claiming to have defeated a coup attempt launched by opposition leader, juan guaido, the president of the venezuelan national assembly. on tuesday m morningng, guaido appeared i in an online video,o, stananding among heavily armed soldiers, , calling for the military to back w what he calad the final phase of an effort to toppleaduro'o's governrnment. guaido appeared d alongside leopoldo lopezeza longtime opposition leader, who was portedly releleased fr h house

arrest by renegadedefficers. guaido hasas been attempting to topple the venezuelagovernmement since when he declared himself january to bvenezuela's interim president. the trump administration, as well as brazilian president jair bolsonaro and others, openly supported the coup attempt. earlier today, u.s. secretary of state mike pompeo told fox business military action in venezuela's possible "if that's what is required." intuesday, clashes broke out the streets of caracas and other cities. there are reports that one person has died and 100 people were injured. on tuesday, night venezuelan president nicholas maduro gave a televised address and denied claims by u.s. secretary of state mike pompeo that he had prepared to flee venezuela. mike pompeo said in the

afternoon maduro had a plaintiff leave to cuba and the russians got him off the plane and for bait him from leaving the country. mr. pompeo, what a lack of sincerity. to bolton also gave orders military and silly personnel in venezuela to join the coup. the skirmish in venezuela has been defeated mr. trump set off a thousand expletives and lies. my god, how far the men in the united states government willing to go. amy: maduro and guaido h have bh lllled osuppororters to takeke o the ststreets toy.y. at the united nations, venezuela's u.n.n. ambassador samuel moncada accused the united states and other natis of backing the coup attempt. >> this was not a domestic event growing from within. this came from abroad, without the power of the united states, the cia, with the intelligence apparatus, without the money from the united states, without the economic war, without the government of president in columbia, this would have be

impossible. without the help of government of chile, without the help of the brazilian president mr. internationals is conspiracy. amy: in washington, national security adviser john bolton repeated the trump administration position's on venezuela saying that all options are on the table. he also insied tueay's events were not a coup. >> we want, as our principal objective, the peaceful transfer of power. i will say again, as the president has said from the outset, nicolas maduro and those supporting him, particularly those who are not venezlans should know, all options are on the table. this is clearly not a coup. we recognize juan guaido the legitimate inner president of venezuela. and just as it is not a coup when the president of united states gives in order to the department of defense, iis not a coup for juan guaido to try to take command of the venezuelan military. amy: to talk more about the situation, we are joined by two

guests. miguel tinker salas is a venezuelan historian and professor at pomona college. he is the author of "the enduring legacy: oil, culture and society in venezuela" and "venezuela: what everyone needs to know." he joinss from claremont, california. and here in new york is jeffrey sachs, leading economist and director of the center for sustainable development at columbia university. he recently co-authored report for the center for economic and policy research on the deadly impact of the u.s. sanctions on venezuelan. the center is estimating more than 4000 venezuelans have died since 2017 as a result of the sanctions. we welcome you both to democracy now! miguel tinker salas, what do understand is happening on the ground right now ivenezuela? what has taken place? and thsignificance of juan guaido standing together with leopol lopez? >> what took place yesterday was intended coup. the problem is, you would

normally have the generals and the admirals staing at your side. obviously, that did not happen. it was an attempt onhe part of guaido and lopeznd his faction within the right-wing opposition to try to create greater divisions within the military. it was obviously that he did not have that suppor what happened was they had a haful of lower ranking officers from the national guard. they had one general from the military intelligence service. but they d not have the core within the army or the navy or the air force. they tried to leverage that. it failed. it failed miserably. here we are once again with the crisis scenario in venezuela. but there are two audiences. one is internal to venezuela to support ando'ss consolidate his support within the opposition, which was beginning to seem shaky. the other is the audience internationally, a killing to donald, poeo, appealing to do gay.

the internal one failed. today we have protest on both sides for mah 1, which aga could repeat a cycle of violence. the expectation is they will be separate marches and hopefully peaceful marches. amy: i want to turn to mike pompeo. this is in an interview with cnn'wolf blitzer on tuesday, secretary of state mike pompeo was asked what the u.s. would do if maduro arrests guaido and and also asked about russia's role in keeping maduro in the country. >> i'm not going to get into specifics, but we have said we will make that a major escalation. we have watched throughout the day. it is been a long time since anyo assume maduro. he had an airplane on the tarmac he was rdy to leave this morning, as we understand it. the russians indicated he should stay. we have made clear all along that maduro is surrounded by byans and has been supported

russians in venezuela. we're told the russians and the cubans that it is unacceptptabl. amy: that is mike pompeo, miguel tinker salas, saying that maduro was ready to leave with the plane on the tarmac to fly to cuba but got a call from russia and so he stayed. is this fake news? >> it is a false flag operation. why would maduro want to leave the country when by all accounts the soalled coup had already failed? yes, there's a side note. guaido has tried to provoke maduro, trying to provoke a crisis. because under these conditions, anyone lding a coup committed an illegal act. is touaido would like escalate the scenario and therefore, create the context in whicthe u.s. can operate either through direct action to enable blockade or through action by the part of columbia or brazil. as iaid earlier, this is an effort to provoke this cris,

to try to escalate it. we have already had three separate incidents is previously. guaido claims he can be president chen were 23rd. he was in. he claimed on february 23 from the border he would reenter the country assume the presidency. it failed. once again we have guaido claiming he will assume the president. this time it appears to have failed asell. in fact, there are criticisms within the oppositn to the all or nothing strategy. your has to be a reflective period forhe opposition to think of what they have done and consider the option was to get of negotiations rather than is idea thathroughilitary action they're going to come to power. amy: can you talk about where in caracas this coup attempt took place? >> the coup took place in the center of caracas, what is called eastern caracas in a district that has been

historically the center of the opposition's base. they attempted to move down toward the air base that resides in the middle of caracas. personnel, military they said they were tricked. there were told to show up to receive a mal and were brought to guaido's by certain number of captains and kernels of the national guard. that is important because they do not represent the core of the military. there were several lieutenants in several clonels present. not the general staff of the military. not those individuals that command bases, not those individuals that command regiments or the giants. that was the most important thing. what we saw was a repeat of a series of actions that have been led by guaido and his opposition china topple the government, which for the moment, have seemed t to have failed.

basically in the core area of support, which is the ease part of caracas. amy: we're going to go to break and come back for this discussion. in addition to historian miguel tinker salas, we will be joined by leading e economist jeffrey sachs. stay with us. ♪ [music c break]

amy: this is democracy now!, i'm amy goodman. our guest is miguel tinker salas along with jeffrey sachs. jeffy sachs recently co-authored report for the center for economic and policy research headlined "economic sanctions as collective punishment: the case of venezuela." so much is being used against the presidency of maduro, saying he has brought the country to an economic standstill. ,ou make a different case

jeffrey sachs. >> it is not an economic standstill. it is complete economic collapse, a catastrophe in venezuela. there was a crisis for sure before trump came to office, but the idea of the trump administration the start has been to overthrow maduro. that is not a hypothesis. trump was very explicit in discussions with the presidents of latin america where he asked him, why shouldn't the u.s. just invade? he said that already i2017. so the idea of the trump administration has beeto overthrow maduro from the start will stop well, the latin leaders said, it is not a good ideaea. we don''t want military action. so the u.s. governmentas been trying to strangle the venezuelan economy. it started with sctions in 2017 that prevented, esessentially, the country from accessing international capital

markets and the oil company from restructuring its loans. that put venezuela into a hyrinflation. that was the utter collapse. oil burning plummeted, the earnings used to buy food and medicine collapsed. that is when the social humanitarian crisis went spiraling out of control. then in this year, with this idea, very n nve, very s stupidn my view, that therere would be this self-proclaimed president, which was all choreographed with the united states very, very closely, another round of even tighter sanctions, essentially, confiscating the earnings in the assets of the venezuelan government took place. now venezuela is in complete, utter catastrophe. a lot of it brought on by the united states to liberally, creating massive suffering.

we know there is hunger. we know there is incredible shortage of medical supplies. we can only imagine because we won't know really until the dust settles and careful studies are mortalityh excesss there is, but surely, in the context like this, this is a catasasophe largely created by the u.s. as was said earlier, this is an all or nothing strategy. what trump does not understand and what bolton never agrees to is the idea of negotiations. overthrow.tempted it is not working. it is very cel because it is punishing 30 million people. amy: how did you come up with the number 40,000 dead as a result of these crippling u.s. sanctions? >> let me be clear. nobody knows. this was a very basic, simple calculation based on estimates of universities in venezuela

that mortality had increased by a certain proportion after the sanctions. i don't want anyone to think there is precision in these numbers. what is certain, though, staring us in the face, is there is a human entering catastrophe deliberately caused by the united states by what i would say are illegal sanctions because they are deliberately trying to bring down a government and trying to create chaos for the p purpose of an overthrow of a government. amy: why? >> why are they doing that? right-wingmal foign policy. nothing different. this is the same foreign policy we saw throughout latin america in the 20th century. it is the s same foreign policye saw catastrophically in the middle east. this is mr. bolton this is mr. bolton's idea of diplomacy.

this is trump's idea of diplomacy. you punch someone in the face, crush your opponent, you try whatever way you can to get your way. it is veryimpleminded. it is recruit. amy, it never works. it just leads to catastrophe. amy: i want to bring miguel tinker salas back to the conversation. professor at pomona college. as these protests were taking place or this good attempt was taking place in venezuela, in honduras, there were massive protest against privatization, also huge demonstrations in paris. you certainly don't get the same kind of coverage. >> you don't. the reality is, what is happening in honduras is fundamental. you have an effort of privatization. you have layoffs of doctors and professors and teachers, and there is massive street protests happening in the major cities.

and the attention is on venezuela. the same thing is happening in other context for central amera. the immigration thais happening as a result of failed u.s. policies. as a colleague was saying earlier, the rlity is this was tried elsewhere. the regime change being tried in venezuela has been tried elsewhere in latin america and has led to humanitarian crisis throughout central america, hondur, what a mueller, -- guatemala, el salvador and mexico until recently. we know it does not produce the change that most people want. it aggravates conditions for the majority of the population. so you have in the case of venezuela, mistakes made by the maduro administration that are exacerbated by the sanctions and that take a toll on humans and on the population of a country. amy: we e have been showing for our radio audience, video just to let you know, of the tr gassing of people in par and

honduras. honduras is a u.s. ally. we're not getting as much coverage of this. finally, i wanted to ask j jeffy sachs about this issue you raised of collective punishment and saying that collective punishment of the civilian population as described by both the geneva and hague internional conventions to which the u.s. is a signatory, in that way. >> and i would say of the oas, which also explicitly prohibits this kind of hostile action against another country, u.s. sanctions are now being imposed to bring down governments everywhere. you have similarly in iran yesterday, a big announcement of the collapse of the iranian economy and the imf attributed it to u.s. sanctions. this is what the trump administration is trying to do also vis-a-vis nicaragua. trump said yesterday, total blockade on cuba if they do not

smart up. this is pure bullying. it is completely against international law. it creates havoc. it is hardnough to achieve economic progress, but when the u.s. is using its political power to break other countries, the results absolutely can be devastating. we see it in venezla, that it was the kick that p pushed venezuela into this catastrophic spiraling decline and hyperinflation. it is always blamed in our press on maduro, but people don't even look and understand how the u.s. has the instruments of sanctions blocking access to financial markets, pushing terprises into default, blocking trade, confiscating the assets owned by the venezuelan government -- precisely -- and with the design of creating this kind of crisis

because the idea is if the pain is enough in the thinking of people like bolton, then there will be military overthrow. they are trying to create absolute daster. well, what is so stupid about these american policies, these neocon policies, is they do create disaster but they do not achieve -- even the political goalof the dusty people like bolton, it is not as if they're effectively nasty, they're completely ineffective and totally nasty at the same time. the congress, and our country, nobody looks. it is unbelievable that you have this basically one-man show of trump doing damage, rampaging around the world. there is no oversight at all. and in the international institutions like the imf, the insured development bank, people are scared to even say the truth that this bully of the united states, especially with the kind

of president that we have right now, no one wants to speak the obvious facts of how much damage is being done, how many lives have been lost, how much suffering is being created, how many refugees are being created deliberately. and then of course you get "the new york times" or someone else saying it is maduro or whatever because they don't even look the obvio process. amy: any of democratic leaders as well in c congressaying the same thing. we're going to turn right now to a democr in congress. we want to thank jeffrey sachs am a leading economist, director of the center for sustainable development at columbia university. we will link to your report you put out headlined "economic sanctis as collective punishment: the case of venezuela." and guel tinker salas, anchorage on his, professor at pomona college, in claremont, california. we turn now to congresswoman ilhan omar. she is the first somalali amerin

elected to congress, one of the first muslim women in congress. in february, ilhan omar question special envoy to venezuela elliot abrams on capitol hill. we welcome you to democracy now! congress member ilhan omar, before we talk about the remarkable rally held for you, in defense of you yesterday just outside the capitol next to the reflecting pool, if you can comment what is taking placace right now in venezuela, the u.s.-supported coup attempt against president maduro. for havingu, amy, me. it is really great to join you all this morning. i concur with what professor sachs was saying. a lot of the policies that we have put in place have kind of helped lead the devastation in venezuela. forort of set the stage

where we are arriving today. this particular bullying and the use of sanctions to eventually intervene and make regime change really does not help the people of countries like venezuela an is not in the interest of the united states. i think finally we have folks in congress that see what professor sachs was rerencing. amy: i want to turn right now to your questioning of elliott abrams, the man who president trump has made the special envoy to venezuela. elliott abrams, the person who was convicted of lying to , ultimately was pardoned by president george h.w. bush, but this is elliott

abrams before you in committee. >> 1991, you pleaded guilty to two counts of withholding information from congress regarding your involvement in the iran-contra affair, for which you are later pardoned by president george h.w. bush. why membersderstand of this committee or the american people should find any testimy that you give today to be truthful. >> if i can respond to that. folks it wasn't a question. congress memember ilhan omar, if you can talk about the significance of elliott abrams be made the point person on venezuela and what you do think congress can do? i mean, congressional leaders, including house speaker nancy others, a bipartisan

group, are supporting guaido, the man who simply announced he is president of venezuela. >> people like elliott abrams, neocons and warmongers, for so long have pushed for policies that are now -- we can see are not only in central america, but many parts of devastations they have had for decades. i could not pass up the opportunity to not only remind the american people that this was someone who was convicted of lying to congress, but also someone who had a heavy hand in some of the most devastating policies that we imposed on central america and that there is a direct correlation between the kind of mass migration that we are noticing right now from central america and south

america to this country. usednk for so long we have muscle memory disorder generate our foreign-policy. and it is about time that we pause and look at the kind of implications that our policies have, what our ultimate goal is, what is being successful, and what are some policies that we should do away with. i remember talking to madame secretary albright and talking to her about the success of sanctions we imposed around the world and how some of them have devastating effects on the actual population and not on the governments that we see as our adversaries. and she concurred with me that many of the sanctions that we imposed ultimately lead to devastations and we're seeing it

now in venezuela. and ultimately, lead to having severe problems in that country, which doesn't stabilize life for the people and certainly puts us here in the united states at risk. amy: we're going to go to break and then come back to talk about this unusual rly that was held just outside the capital building next to the reflecting pull yesterday. black women from around the country came in led by, among others, angela davis. you stood with your sister congressmembers rashida tlaib, ayna pressley, and people expressed their support for you, deeply concerned about the spike in a number of dea rates against you. and president trump's singler attack on you. we will go to that in one moment. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, i'm amy goodman.

african-american women leaders gathered on capitol hill tuesday in defense of congress member ilhan omar, one of the first two muslim congresswomen in history and the fifirst member of congrs to wear a hijab. omar has been the target of numerous right-wing attacks since taking office, including by president donald trump himself. omar says death threats against her have spiked in number since president trump tweeted a video juxtaposing her image with footage of the 9/11 attacks. congresssswomen ayanna p pressly and rashida tlaib, civil rights icon angela davis, and others, addressed the crowd tuesday to ur congress to censusure president trump -- who they referred to simply as the "occupant of the white house" -- for his attacks on omar and to send a message to both political partrties, "hands off ilhan oma" this is congresswoman ayanna pressley. >> i hadad to come here to lendy voice and solidarity. yeah, i happen to be a a congresswoman. before all the titles, i'm a black woman. and ilhan is my sister.

i am changing the things i can no longer accept. and from r kelly to donald, what we can no longer accept is the silencing of black women! this is a reckoning. this is us assuming our rightful place as the table shakers, as the truth tellers, as the justice seekers, as the preservers of democracy. that you trustg black women, that you see black women, that you believe black women and onerous for the role we play as healers and preservers of this democracy and this nation. rashidawoman to tlaib. >> i grew up in droit. many of my teachers, my mother's on the block all of them accepted me as a policy -- as a

woman. what i met when i talked about the pain of oppression from the pain of feeling less than. i remember ilhan saying that to me. rashida, i was b born where i ws the majority the you are born in a country where you felt like you are second class immediately when youere born, right? this is a woman speaks that way. is raw, is real. they continue to police her words, police our position. but i say hands off. hands off of the women of color that served in the united states congress. not only do we look differently, but we serve and we fight differently. and it also means we talked dierently. we are allowed to be a great in this country. >> angela davis. >> it is about time thate

stepped up to defend thosese who represent our political vision on t frontines of struggle. i feel particularly motivated to becauses aming group the attack against congresswoman ilhan omar, it is clearly directed at her as an individual is also designed to dissuade all of us from speaking out on issues that are considered controversial. imitating fromer the occupants -- that's right, 's twitter feed and the numerous threats of assassination from white

nationalists and h supporters are a way o of sendi messages to other black wom, toll who hold radical and progressive political views that they, too, can be made into targets of vitriolic violent racism. be quiet or you will suffer the fate of ilhan omar. that is the message. that message.heed we refuse to be quite. am angela davis speaking in defense of congresswoman ilhan omar who has repeatedly been accused of being anti-semitic for criticizing the power of the israeli lolobby in washingngtond questioning u.s.-israeli relations. despite the threats, she has refused to be silent and has continued to speak out against racism, islamaphobia, right-wing violence and anti-semitism.

ilhan omar, i want to ask you about, well, one of the many comets was tracy black men, saying that islamaphobia and anti-semitism grow from the same tree, that they are different branches of the same hate. can you talk about this? being of,enced it as you know, the two sides of the same bigoted coin. people that many of the who are targeting the jewish communities are also targeting the muslim community. we have to collectively work together to uplift our voices and say no toate. we know both of our communities here in the united states are targeted by white supremacists

and we know the conservatives sort of are doing everything that they can to distance ththemselves, to just inform the public about the monsters they help feed that are now causing andstaon in mosques synagogues. and if we are nonot collectively rising to that reality, then we will suffer the pain of it. amy: president trump recently ,aid in speaking to local media talking about you, "she is summit he that doesn't really understand life. real life. she is a way about her that is very, very bad for our country." if you can respond to this and tell us about your reaeal life, where you were born, what you have survived. president,i like the

i don't it here to the believe that -- unlike the president, i don't it here to the believe of xenophobia. this is my country. this is our america. we collectively live in this country. i have as much of a right to do as he does and anyone else. so that is one. thisd, let me say this, president, who really was born with a silver spring in his ofth, who wrote the backs marginalized people to make his someoneo talk to me as who survived were, lived in refugee camp, learned english in six months, worked almost every singleob that you can imagine from cleaning offices to being a cashier to working my way up to

now being a member of congress with only two decades of being in this country, to talk to me about real-life really tells you how demented he sounds and how goh he is really willing to in furthering the demonization and the silencing of minority thatnities who understand we have the power as people to stand up to him, to fight for the america we knowow we desese, and to practice the kind of political joy that allows for all of us to participate and fight for prosperity -- not for the fe but for the many. amy: congress member ilh omar, i know your time is very short. i wanted to ask, with the media painting you as a one issue congressmember, what you think is being missed?

for exampleyesterday, the first-ever hearing on medicare for all, the emotional testimony is dying ofn who als and others. if you can talk about medicare for all, what you have come out in support of it and also whether you feel that president trump should be impeached. >> so medicare for all and the testimony of ady, the very impassioned testimony of someone and are really excited he gets the opportunity -- got the opportunity to speak at the first hearing of a policy heas been so passionate about, is one that i am really privileged enough to be the vice chair of the medicare for all caucus. it is important we recognize health ce as a human right and that we make sure everyone, regardless of their economic

status here in this count or their employment status, should have access to health care. it is one i am ver passionate about. i talked about how my aunt a young age in somalia died because she did not have access to insulin to take care of her diabetes. in minnesota, we had a very young man around the same age as aunt in his early 20's who died because he could not afford insulin. so to have something like that happen not in a country like somalia, but here in the united states, is one that we should be ashamed of and one that we should work really hard to mak sure it doesn't happen again. amy: impeachment? >> on the question of impeachment, it is about time. we have had the investigations. mueller has clearly stated that

if he was giving a different opinion by the general attorney, that he would indict. and now he has kicked the ball to congress. we have an opportunity now to start impeachment proceedings for events that happened in the election. rashida, myself, alex, and others are pushing to make sure that we can investigate postelection trump and many of the obstructions and criminal activities that might have taken place in his white house. amy: we want to thank you so muchor being with us, congressmember ilhan omar, congressmember representing the and a soda fifth congressional district. somali american elected to the first u. house of representatives and one of the first muslim women in congress. i know you have to leave us but we're g going to turn now, with your wor, the words you shared

yesterday at the reflecting pool yesterday at the reflecting pool speaking at the rarally in your support. >> here's the thing that really offenda lot of people and the reason we are here. i was bo -- i was born as a very liberated human being. to a country that was cognized that they can colonize the land but they cannot colonize your mind. for people who recognize that all of us deserve dignity and that no human being was ever going to tell you that you are less than them. 13 people organize for our independence in somalia. so i was born and that brett of recognizing the -- they might be more powerful than you are, that they might have more technology than you have him a they might think that they are wiser than you,

they might control all of the ititutions. but you control your mind and that is what sets you free. so a sister of mine on tv said the thing that upsets -- the thinthat upsets the occupant of the white house, his goons in the republican party, many of our colleagues in the democratic party, is that they cannot stand th a refugee, a black woman, an immigrant, a muslim shows up in congress thinng she is equal to them. [applause]

but i say to them, how else did you expect me to show up? so here the reality. i tell people every single day, i have a certificate that everyone else hasanging in offices in congress. the same exact certificate of election. but i got more people who voted for me and sent me here than 428 of them. so when they say, who does she think she is -- when they say, who does she think she is, i am the one that the people sent to be a voice for them.

soso we have to alalways recoge that one marginalized voice represent many marginalized voices. but i don't only r represent one margrginalized voice. because in this couny, being black is enough of being marginalized. but i also happen to be a woman. that is a second marginalization. i happen to be a muslim. and i also happen to be a refugee and immigrant from what they call onof th*#*#hole countries. the reality is this *#*#hole country raised a very proud, dignified person. our circumstances might not always be peperfect, but that doesn't lessen our humanity. i'm not in the business of defendi mine.

bso when thisccupantsen of the white house. chooses to attack me, we know that that attack is not for ilhan. that attack is the continuation of the attacks that he has leveled against women, against people of color, against immigrants, against refugegees, d d certainlnly againsnst musl. and we are collectively saying -- we are collectively saying your vile attacks, your demented views are not welcome here. this is not going to be the country of the xenophobics. this is not going to be the country of white people.

this is not going to be the country of the few. this is the country of the many. this is the country that was founded -- th is thcountry that was founded on the history of nate american genocide, on the backs of black slaves, but also by immigrants. and so as much as we need to remedy the history that we continue to neglect, we also must recognize that every -- every liberty that we enjoy here, every single progress we get to celebrate, came about because immigrants parcipated in it. so i know my place in this society. all of you know your place in society. and it is one that is equal to every single peon that walks in it.

amy: minnesota congressmber ilhan omar speaking in front of the capital at a protest in h defense organized by black women leaders. sitting behind her, angela davis, congresswomen ayanna pressley and rashida tlaib, urging congress to censure president trump, who they referred to simply as the occupant of the whe house, for his attacks on omar and to send a message to both political parties, "hands off ilhan omar." she says she has suffered a spike in death threats against her since president trump pinned a tweet of a video that juxtaposed ilhan omar against the 9/11 attacks. this ds it for our show. democracy now! has an immediate opening for our paid, full-time digital fefellowship here in our new york city studio. we also are accepting applications for paid six-month internships. learn momore at democracynow.o.

democracy now! is looki for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments toutreach@democracynow.org or mail them to democracy now! p.o. box 693