11/0/07/19 11/07/19 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! tofor a second republic invade algeria, we are against the elections of the current government. we do not want traders anymore. we do not what in algeria like the one of today anymore. amy: as mass protests continue across the globe from chile to hong kong and from haiti to ira, -- to iraq and lebanon, we go to algeria where demonstrators have taken to the streets every friday for nine months. then we look at the crackdown on

activists in saudi arabia as the u.s. deparartment t of justice s charges against two former twitter r employees with helping the saudis spy on critics of t e kingdom. then "the pollinators." >> they're here toolollina our ops. one ouof eveve three bites of food we put in o mou comes from holay -- honeybe llinatio >> ihink theeneral public should know rfid stem is threened by the fact the bee are in trouble.. and they should carababout that becausththey e fooood. amy: new documenta l lookst how the world is fining th extinctionve the event ever seen. all of that in more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. televised impeachment hearings against president trump are expected to begin wednesday post

of the leading witness will be william taylor come the top, karen diplomat in ukraine. he previously has testified there was a quid pro quo making the release of u.s. military aid to ukraine conditional on ukraine from investigating trump's political rival joe biden and his son hunter. on wednesday, house investigators release the transcript from taylor's closed-door testimony. one of the key takeaways? taylor said it was trump's personal lawyer rudy giuliani's idea to have ukraine's president commit to the investigations into the bidens. post" isington reporting president trump wanted attorney general william barr to hold a news conference declaring trump broke no laws during his july 25 phone call with the ukrainian president, which is at the center of the impeachment inquiry. attorney general barr reportedly refused to do so. on wednesday, president trump lashed out at democrats over the impeachment inquiry during a rally in monroe, louisiana.

trunk out the democrats must be accountable for their hoaxes and their crimes. now corrupt politicians nancy pelosi and shifty adam shipped in the cricket media have launched the deranged, delusional, and hyper partisan impeachment witchhunt. now we go again. amy: in election news, the san francisco district attorney race still remains too close to call, although latest results show interim district attorney suzy loftus pulling ahead of public defender chesa boudin. boudin is the child of weather underground activists kathy boudin and david gilbert and ran on a platform of ending cash bail and dismantling the war on drugs. some san francisco leaders have accused the police officers association of trying to buy the attorneys race, accusing them of spending up to $650,000 in ads attacking

boudin. meanwhile, former attorney general jeff sessions is slated to announce today that he's planning t to run for his old alabama senate seat. the primary race would likely pit sessions against accused sexual predator roy moore, who lost to democrat d doug jones after several women came forward accusing moore of sexually abusing them when they were underage. in massachusetts, democratic congresswoman ayanna pressley has backed senator elizabeth warren's presidential campaign. pressley becomes the only member of the so-called "squad" of four young progressive congresswomen to endorse elizabeth warner. alexandria ocasio-cortez of new york, ilhan omar of minnesota, and rashida tlaib of michigan -- -- have all endorsed senator bernie sanders. meanwhile, warren is continuing to come under fire from billionaires. on wednesday, bill gates implied he was worried about how much money he would have left over under warren's tax plan. the microsoft founder has over $100 billion.

in response, warren tweeted at gates offering to sit down with him and explain exactly how much he'd pay under her proposed 6% tax on the richest americans. on friday, democracy now! we'll be broadcasting the first ever presidential forum on environmental justice at south carolina state university in orangeburg. candidates taking part will be senators elizabeth warren and cory booker, businessman tom steyer. before it begins at 6:00 p.m. eastern. i will be moderating with former epa official mustapha lee and we will be live streaming at democracynow.org and broadcasting on stations across the country. in syria, president trump has approved an expanded military mission to secure a 90-mile expanse of oil fields in the eastern part of the country, meaning hundreds of u.s. troops will remain inin syria. this comeses despite predent trump's repeated claims he was bringing the troops home.. the mission complicacates the u. troops' rolole in syriaia and cd

bring them into o rect confnfrontation with the russian or syrian military. virginia democratic senator tim kaine condemned trump's decision, saying -- "risking the lives of our troops to guard oil rigs in eastern syria is not only reckless, it's not legally authorized. president trump betrayed our kurdish allies that have fought alongside american soldiers in the fight to secure a future without isis -- and instead moved our troops to protect oil rigs." cnn is reporting that defense secretary mark esper is planning to urge president donald trump not to intervene in the cases of u.s. soldiers facing war crimes allegations. trump has already ordered a review of the charges against army lt. clint lorance and army green beret major matt golsteyn. clint lorance is serving a 19-year murder sentence in the military prison in fort leavenworth, kansas, for ordering soldiers to open fire on unarmed afghan motorcyclists in 2012.

matthew golsteyn is facing murder charges related to the 2010 killing of an alleged afghan bomb-maker. he reportedly told cia interviewers he had shot the unarmed man and then destroyed his body in a burn pit on the military base. trump is also reportedly considering restoring the rank of navy seal eddie gallagher. he has been accused of multiple war crimes, including shooting two iraqi civilians and fatally stabbing a captive teenager in the neck. a california jury acquitted him of murder charges in july. a federal judge has voided the trump administration's so-called "conscience rule," which would have allowed healthcare workers to refuse to offer medical care to patients, including ababortions, if the procedurures conflicted with the healthcare worker's private religious beliefs. the rule would have also allowed these medical workers to refuse to refer patients to other healthcare providers who c could carry out the procedures. the now-voided rule was part of the trump administration's

broader effort to limit access to abortion. a new propublica investigation reveals how vice president mike is reveals how vice president mike pence's office interfered with foreign aid programs in order to reroute the money to christian groups abroad, particularly in iraq. the investigation reveals how long-time officials worried that the white house interference in usaid funding programs could be unconstitutional because it favored one religion, christianity, over others. the officials also worried that perceptions that the u.s. was favoring some religious groups could worsen sectarian divisions in iraq. the department of justice has charged two former twitter employees with spying for the saudi arabia by accessing private user data and giving it to saudi officials in exchange for payment. the charges were unveiled wednesday in san francisco.

one twitter employee, ahmad abouammo, has already been arrested. meanwhile, california has sued facebook f for documents related to california's investigation into facebook's privacy policies. california's probe into facebook began last year following the revelations that voter-profiling company cambridge analytica harvested the data of more than 50 million facebook users, without their permission, in efforts to sway voters t to support president dodonald trum. facebookok has also paid thehe federal trade commissionon5 billion to settle a case over facebook's data shaharing with cambridge analytica. the new zealand parliament has approved landmark climate legislation that commits new zealand to zero carbon emissions by 2050. this is new zealand prime minister jacinda ardern. >> our world is warming. therefore, the question for all of us is, what side of history

will we choose to sit on in that moment in time? i absolutely believe and continue to stand by the statement that climate change is the biggest challenge of our time. zealand,s here in new that means this generation, this is our nuclear moment. amy: in mexico, new details are emerging about the massacre of the american-m-mexican mormon family in the nonorthern state f sonora. three women and six children were killed when gunmen ambushed their suv's as they traveled along the highway. experts have determined that the ammunition used in the attack was manufactured in the united states by the american weapons manufacturer remington. mexican president andres manuel lopez obrador has announced he's impaneling an investigation. lopez obrador ran on a campaign promise of ending mexico's u.s.-backed drug war and improving security. but the homicide rate this year is on track to hit a record

high, threatening public support for the president's long-term strategy of reducing cartel violence through social and educational programs. this is julian lebaron, a member of the americacan-mexican mormon community.y. >> the whole family wants to know exactly who the attackers were and why they did it. we don't want the government too manipulate the facts. we want no lies. during yesterday's morning media obrador,e by lopez said the victims were in the middle of crossfire. they don't even have the facts of what happened. we, the family arrived at the crime scene before members of the public prosecutors arrived who did not even show up. public prosecutors from the state of chihuahua. we live in an area where criminals do as they wish and authorities don't even defend women or children. amy: over 100 people are murdered in mexico every day. six of the children survivors of the attack on the mormon aerican mexicans are in

tucson hospital. in new york city, immigration activist marco saavedra is heading to his final asylum hearing today, where he will argue that his life would be at risk if he is sent to mexico. saavedra has been involved in several high-profile immigration actions. in 2012, he purposely got himself arrested by federal authorities to infiltrate the privately owned broward transitional center in florida in order to investigate firsthand allegations of human rights abuses inside the secretive facility. this is marco saavedra explaining how he got arreststed for the action. >> i got arrested undercover. i had to lie and say i originally arrived and undocked minute immigrant, that i was looking for my cousin that was also a day laborer and i flash my mexican metric you love as bait, which the border patrol agent had to take an he asked me directly, are you undocumented?

as soon as he said that, i i sad in broken english, yes. he said, i have to arrest you know. we have the audio of that on file where he arrests me and that is our entry point into the transitional center that houses 600 undocked minute immigrants ofof the priority for detention- which we wanted to infiltrate. amy: as we broadcast this program, marco is standing on the steps of 26 federal plaza in new york holding a news conference before he goes in for his hearing. visit democracynow.org to see our full interview with marco. and in media news, new york's longtime community-supported radio station wbai is back on the air with local programming. on wednesday, a state judge restored the radio station to local control. in october, the pacifica foundation abruptly laid off wbai's staff and ended local programming, setting off a legal battle over the future of the

station. wbai is one of five stations in the pacifica radio network, which was founded in 1949 by the peace activist lew hill. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. nermeen: and i'm nermeen shaikh. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. we begin today's show in algeria, where protests against corruption, the jailing of opposition leaders, and the army's powerful role in national politics have entered their ninth month. tens of thousands filled the streets of the capital algiers last friday to mark the 65th anniversary of the war of independence from france and to demand a new revolution. demonstrators have denounced the upcoming december elections, saying they say will be rigged. >> for a second republic to liberate from traders hands, we are against the elections this

current government. we do not want traders anymore. we do not want in algeria like the one in today anymore. nermeen: last month, the algerian government intensified its crackdown on demonstrations in advance of next month's elections, with over 100 student protesters arrested. interim president abdelkader bensalah announced the country will hold a presidential election on dedecember 12. long-time president abdelaziz bouteflika resigned in april following weeks of protests. amy: tens of thousands of mostly young people have marched every friday demanding remaining members of the ruling elite also step down before any new elections. elections planned for july were canceled after protesters said they would be controlled by the army and the ruling elite. well, for more, we're joined by two guests. mehdi kaci is a mehdi kaci is a algerian-american activist who organized a protest last weekend in san francisco in support of algerians. and daikha dridi is a journalist

based in algiers. we welcome you both to democracy now! let's go to algiers. daikha dridi, explain what is happening in the streets, whether protest began, the forcing out of the president, and what p people are calling fr right now. february 2222. surpriseompletely as a to everybody. people rushed out on the streets friday after the prayer. it was a week or so after president bouteflika announced through a letter because he is actually sick, paralyzed, had a stroke in 2013 and has been unable to talk or move or actually govern since 2013. but he kept on being president. after the announcement of bouteflika running for a fifth term after 20 years ruling the

week or 10 days after that, people poured out on the streets of algeria everywhere, in the capital, in all the big cities, demanding that he step down, saying "no more of you. we don't want you anymore. this is the end of it." that itm was so big took everybody by surprise. people kept on demonstrating in a very peaceful manner every friday. and the students actually decided they will -- they will have their own demonstrations on tuesdays. ever sincee a ritual the 22nd of february. the algerians are out on the streets every tuesday and friday by the tens of thousands

demanding first that bouteflika step down and then demanding a radical change. they want democracy. ons is why people are still the streets. this is why even though president bouteflika resigned on april the second, the algerians did not go back home and kept on. it is really important to understand what is happening in , there is a political uprising but there is also refugees sense of pride that the algerian people are experiencing. personally that is what is keeping them on the streets. they were not answering the calls of political organizations. they were not calling the answer

of any unions or political parties were opposition. they were just answering the dignity.hat they call it is still going on until now because after the resignation of the president, the army decided to the chief of staff of general, to is the make as if the only issue was to remove bouteflika and remove all the corrupt is this man who -- businessmen who are at the time the algerians are wanting a and notch deeper change going back home. so the demonstrations are happening. it is pretty incredible to see

and how proud are the people for being peacefully determined no matter how long it would take them to get rid of the entire system. nermeen: daikha dridi, you said it was the army chief of staff come at his behest that bouteflika was forced to resign. can you talk about the role of the military historically in algeria and what role they're playing now? was the military responding to the protests or were there internalal reasons they wanted bouteflika out? >> oh, no, the m military y nevr wanteded bouteflika out. they were e completely pressured by the uprising to take him out. bouteflika actually came and saved the military -- the military has a historic role.

mostly the generals who are rolling algeria since the independence are all veterans of the algerian war of independence against the colonial ranks. they have been ruling the country basically most of the a civilian facade. this is the first time in history where the civilian facade is gone. they made bouteflika resigned thinking it would get people back to ordinary life. but they did not actually understand the people who are on the streets want a real change. they don't just want, like, just a masquerade -- what they usually do, like try to change a top level or there.

they want the rule o of law. they want free elections. they want free press. they want dignity back. that is exactly what people are talking about on the streets. amy: if you could talk about the crackdown on journalists. you yourself are journalist. it also the effects of the protests in lebanon and iraq are the mass uprising for a moment uprising in egypt. what kind of effect this is having on egypt and what kind of affected algeria have been getting g these protesests monts ago on the other c countries? fact, t thetter of algerian uprising happened long that aree ones happening now in lebanon and the usually -- hugely repressed in egypt last month. what is happening is the

that --s did not think did not think themselves this just go on the streets because it was always heavily repressed. they discovered there was a way for them to protest in a very manner justeaceful being on the streets twice a week and also passively not accepting the minister's to their towns and all the representatives of the state are not welcome anymore. so they discovered a new force. they are happy to use it even though there is a repression. the repression is not bloody. the algerian army did not --

there were no orders to shoot. the protesters. until now, there was only one 2.ualty that happened april what is happening in algeria is like, new -- is very, to the algerians themselves and new to what is happening around them. curiousrians were very about what was going on in sudan. protesters were on the streets at the same time in february also and in march as the algerians. and now they are looking at what is happening in lebanon and iraq . the hope is that actually to upp algeria on safe ground

peaceful protests and hoping repression never goes into violence -- violent crackdowns against demonstrators. nermeen: are the protesters now calling -- as you said, the army's ruling more brazenly, more transparently than ever before. are the protesters making specific demands about the role of the military in algerian politics? aboutuld you also talk the number of political prisoners that are now being held in algeria who have been involved in these protests? >> yes. it is very clearar, there is nothining tacit or implicit in e protesesters. at the beginning, they were -- howdy keep the army state? to give the army a chance not to

be in a face-to-face with the population. but now they're just telling the chief of army, the chief of the army staff, the general bensalah to step down because it has been eight months that they have been demanding democracy and the only thing he has been trying to impose is an election that is not -- from which there are no guarantees for people. it is not going to be democratic. the students are very, -- the slogans are very, very nasty to the general. there's a very famous slogan that is having french and happen arabic that [speaking for language]

algerians are referring actually a lot to the history of the war of independence. i think personally it is because for them it is a matter of pride. telling those rulers who for , taking overthem the country, imposing a them weship, telling are the direct descendents of the heroes who got the country rid of colonial french and we will get rid of you, too. amy: and finally, the committee to protect journalists calling on algerian authorities to release journalist mustapha to end the harassment of journalists covering antigovernment protest. he was arrested last month where he served as editor-in-chief.

cpj saying it has documented the arrest of at least four other journalists who were covering the national protests. the middle east and north africa coordinator sharif mansour said in a statement -- "algerian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release bendjama mustapha and all other journalists arrested in recent months. millions of algerians have taken to the streets to have their voices heard, and the press should be allowed to cover this period of national importance without fear of retaliation." what about the crackckdown on journalists? we just have 20 seconds. ?> the crackdown they cracked out on journalists who are very involved in the coverage of the protest. the stop had been released. he is out of jail. stillare four others were in prison. they are in prison because of ther ongoing coverage of protest and because of the involvement in the fitting human rights in algeria. amy: and hundreds of oththers he been arrested as well --

>> no, not hundreds of others, no. less, l lyrical detainees. most of them a are protestererst some of ththem are polititical figures and activists who were arrested at home. but most of them were grabbed during the demonstration. nermeen: i would like to bring in mehdi kaci. can you talk about the role of andyouth in these protests why specifically they have been involved? levels of an and inequality, cetera? what is driving this huge youth protest participation? definitely ahave different view on the situation in algeria. what is going on currently in algeria is really due to a huge inferential -- difference in the

generational gap between the two groups. what i mean by the two groups is the rulers who are basically, most of them, over 80 years old and the youth who are democratically about 70% of the population. those other groups basically under 35. they are unemployed, like you mention. if they are students, they have no hope of finding a job after they graduate. with this revolution, what is interesting is they certainly the algerian people have been, if you like, aware of what has been going on in algeria for the last 20 years under the bouteflika regime. but this year the youth have used the technology such as facebook and twitter and then mobile technology to take videos and pictures and go online very unite and basically organize against the state.

the protest you're holding in san francisco, what you're calling for here? >> i think you mentioned some of , the committee to protect journalists. the diaspora here in california in particular, but in general we are working with different groups, collectives not only in the united states, but also in canada and elsewhere. there are groups in paris, brussels, and london and other cities within france where there is a diaspora. what we are asking for is we are in solidarity with the algerian people. what we want is mainly the immediate release and unconditional release of all political prisoners. we also want the and of repression on the media, particularly the activists journalists on the internet,

such as youtube, facebook, or twitter. we also want the cancellation of the elections of december 12, which we all think they are being scheduled -- illegally being scheduled. finally, we want the transitional period for algeria to move to a better democratic process so that algerians can and enjoy their liberties. amy: we want to thank you both for being with us. mehdi kaci is s an algerian-american activist whoho organized the san francisco and daikha dridi is a journalist based in algiers. thank you for being with us. when we come back we're going to be talking about what is happening in saudi arabia. a new report out as he was justice department goes after some employees at twitter who are spspying for the saudi regi, the justice department says come against protesteters. stay w with us.

♪ [music break]

amy: "ma drit" by mounir cheriak. this is democracy now!, i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. nermeen: the u.s. department of justice has charged two former twitter employees with helping saudi arabia spy on thousands of people, including critics of the kingdom. the twitter employees are accused of giving the saudi government detailed information about users, including telephone numbers and email addresses linked to the accounts, as well as internet protocol addresses that could be used to identify a user's location. the charges are being filed just over a year after the brutal murder of saudi journalist and critic jamal khashoggi who was killed inside the saudi consulate in turkey. amy: we turn now to a scathing new report by human rights watch on saudi arabia. it finds one year afterer murder, saudiutal crown prince mohammad bin salman's kingdom continues to arbitrarily detain countless activists, regime critics and clerics. the report says there is a darker reality behind prince mohammed's widely touted

initiatives for saudi women and youth, including mass arrests of women actitivists, some of whom have allegedly been sexually assaulted and tortureded with elecectric shocks. severalal top trump administratn officials recently joined financial industry executives at a saudi investment forum known as davos the desert. stephen nguyen, senior advisor jarrard kushner, led the u.s. delegation of other attendees included stephen schwarzman, co blackstone group, tina powell mccormick of goldman sachs, and larry fink, ceo a blackrock. we're joined now by adam coogle, middle east researcher at human rights, author of a new report titled "'the high cost of change': repression under saudi crown prince tarnishes reforms." welcome to democracy now! talk about this whole issue of the justice department going after the former twitter employees for spying on

dissidents in saudi arabia. what do you know? >> the justice department yesterday revealed indictments , two of themudis twitter employees, for allegedly accessing particular information on users at the request of the saudi governmenent. what i i find really unique abot the e situation is that they hae identified the person who was essentially handling the twitter employees as a very, very close confidant of crownwn prince mohammed bin salman. mbs's personald of office as well as the head of his charity called the mist foundation. what is also interesting is how fafar back this goes. in 2014, mbs really had risen on the scene of saudi politics yeyt stuck -- had not risen on the scene of saudi politics yet. his father was the crown prince and defense minister, but he e s sort o of a m minor official wog

for r his father. yet at the same time, it does appear that somebody from his circle was making these contacts at twitter and reququesting u ur informatioion. it appepears to me from the indictme t that around the time kingng abella died january 23, 202015, these contacts sort of increased and you can see the calls increase in the request for i think the identities of certaiain twitter accounts increased as well. the saudi authorities have made no bones about it in teterms of twitter.. they are interested in limiting free expression. they do not want saudi citizens to be able to go on to that platform and express themselves freely, to c criticize the crown prince, or t to criticizize the crown prince's plans. they have taken steps to limit

it as much as possible, both through arresting saudis directly for what they tweet an engaging massive troll armies to d dissidentsrassment and critics onlinine. now we see even a darker side where it appears as ththough at least t at some point in time ty may have had the ability to unmask anonymous accounts through using contacts that were working directly for twitter. this is very, very troubling. it also reminds me of a very dark tweweet that wawas madade e former royal court advisor, who is alsoo well-known for his alleged role in the murder of journalist jamal khashoggi in october 2018. thateeted in august 2017 saudi citizens who wanted to tweet criticism of the government through anonymous accounts were not safe. he tweeted they had the ability to obtain their ip addresses, and

he also said he had a secret way of obtaining their personal information, that he was not going to say.. this is a tweet he may directly. i don't know if at that time when 2017 that the saudi authorities hadad any sort of ability to get information directly from twitter. obviously, the twitter indictment is from 2014-2015. but it is very concerning. nermeen: adam, could you talk about some of the changes that crown prince mohammed bin salman instituted within the security agencies as a result of which he now directly has appointed or overseas -- over seas people who are directly involved in these operations and also how saudi arabia has deployed commercially available surveillance technologies to hack into the online accounts of government critics and dissidents, in

particular pegasus. could youou talk about t that? >> when crown prince mohammed bin salman became crown prince in june 2017, we saw some mamassive shifts. most notably, the authorities began to meticulously restructure the country security agencies. they took the previously very werful andnd independent. minister of interior -- ministry of interior, and removed the prosecution service, as well as the counterterrorism functions and the domestic intelligegence agency and created them all as separate agencies reporting to and overseen directly by the royal court.t. they alslso purged from the sysm a man whwho previously had overseen the securitity -- manyf the security agencies. they removed other heads o of agencies that were not loyal to the king and the crown prince. after this was completed over the summer of 2017, we

immediately saw a rapid escalation in the level of repression in saudi arabia beginning with mass arrests and 2017 of clerics, intellectuals, academics, probably dozens if not hundreds of people. 2017 the in november so-called corruption arrest whereby the authorities tatarged businessmen, current and foreign officials, as well as foreign family royal family members and held them at the ritz-carlton where they allegedly mistreated them and extorted them to hand over their financial assets in exchange for their freedom, continuing on through the mass arrests of women, human rights activists, 2018 who were also held in an unofficial place of detention and allegedly subjected to pretty brutal torture. discontinued a few the murder of jamal khashoggi. we saw after mohammed d bin saln and his father reorganized the

secured agencies and had them firmly under their grip, they were able to immediately go and target dissidents and activists and others going afafter them an really arresting people, wide ranges of peoplple, even peoeope that were nominally supporting the crown prince's plans. i think what is interesting about the mass arreststs beginng inin 2017 to point out is while obviously freedom of expression in saudi arabia has never been respected anand saudis have alws been targeted and arrested who dare to cross red lines in ththe public speech, what we saw after 2017 was categorically d differt and much worse than what we had seen beforore. both and ensure number and types individuals w who were arrested, but also in the introduction of really pernicious a and malicious abusive practices, most notably like i mentioned earlier, the holding of detainees in unofficial p places of detention

where allegations of mistreatment were pretty rampant, including an allegation made by "the new york times" that one m man died as a resultf his t treatmement in the ritz-carlton. we have seen the extortion of individuals to turnover their monetary and financial assets in exchange for their freedom. we have also seen the saudi authorities go a after family members of detainees, instituting arbitrary travel plans, threatening them not to hask out, and t this continued. onone of the o other pernicious practices that it ismportant to point out is the saudi authorities acquiring an apapparent u use of advanced cyr surveillance software against saudi activists and dissidents. it seems clear that a well-known saudi activist in canada named had his phone analyzed by

an independent group andnd they discovered on his phone a software calalled p pegasus, whh is created by y a group called e nso g group based out of israel. this software essentially turns the phone into a spying device. it allows whoever can accccess e phone to tururn on the camererao turn on the microphone, to see every thing on the phone the individual is d doing. what is realally scary about the fact thehey invented the softwte into omar's phone is omar was in touch with -- it is no secret omar was in touch with jamal khashoggi inin the days and wees before he died. it is very possible the authorities saw all of their exchanges that were going on. and their plans for, you u know, scaling up their activism in defense o of basic rights in sai arabia. knoww twon to omar,ee or three other i individuals hae alalso claimed that they w weree targets of pegasus attacks made by saudi arabia, including a researcher from amnesty international in the u.k. and

another saududi dissident living in london. the fact that the saudi authorities -- dylan amy: can you talk about what is happening with women? the fact when mohammed bin salman annnnounced women wououle able to drive, the very women activists who have been fighting for women to be able too drive werere then imprisoned. >> yes. that is correct, amy. mohammed bin salman in september 2017 announced women would be able to drive in 2018. and that very day somebody fromm a high g government official called the country's most well-known women rights activists and threatened them not to say a word about the end of driving ban publicly on twitter or anywhere elelse. they seemed into it on not allowing the women to claim credit for the reforms, even though these are the women who put the position on the map over years, as well as other women's rights issues and other

discrimination rights issues. they outright arrested the leading activist from all of the leading activists, beginning in may 2018 just a mere week or two before the lifting of the driving ban. this is what i was talking about earlier. while the authorities have attempted to justify the mass arrests by sayingng, oh, we are targeting only extremistst comen fafact many y of the people thte targeting ouour reformists and people who absbsolutely support the e crown prince's policies. i think the authorities by arresting the women human rights activists and subjecting thehemo horrendous mistreatment as well as putting them on trial for a host of rather frivolous actions that do not resemble recognizable crimes, i think they're trying to send a clearar messssage to saudi society that their input is unwanted, that the government is going to make his decisions, and d there isfor any sort of civivic activism or citizezens petitioning of their

government for reforms. amy: what message is being sent for those like stephen nguyen and jared kushner and rick perry and blackrock and other financial institutions represented that the so-called dog was in the desert, when so many were saying they should boycott what others called his grace in the desert. 30 seconds on the significance of this, what this kind of meeting does for bin salman? >> it is very challenging for me or any other saudi wawatchers to see how there is to be accountability for the abuses that we have seen under king salman and mohammed bibin salman when people seem to be returning to business as usual despite the fact there has been no accountatability for any of the really terrible allegations of abuse is have come out, whether the jamal khashoggi or the treatment of women rights activists and others. unfortunately, this administrationon has sent t the saudi leadership the signal that

they can essentially do what they want and ththat there won't be any real meaningful pressure on them to reform or two into some of these pernicious prpractices. i think it is real because for concern ththe 70 officialsls tht boycotted the event last year aree returning despite the fact that saudis have not made any real steps toward account ability. amy: adam coogle, we will into your report "'the high cost of change': repression under saudi crown prince tarnishes reforms." when we come back in 30 seconds, what is happening to the bees. stay with us. ♪ [music eak]

amy: music from "the pollinators." this is democracy now!, i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. we end today's show with a stinging newew documentary tha's already genenerating a lot of buzz. the film is called "the pollinators" and features swarms of yellow-black jacketed honeybees whose existence may determine the future of human survival. the insects llllinatneararlyll the fruitsvegetabl, , and ts we csusume. somexpxperts eimimate e ouout eveverthree e tes of food we e depends on theork of honeybees. buthe fututure of the insects is now in perilith h wispreread repopos of bee colony collapse in the last cacade a a half, the nation's beekpepers he reported staggerg g decles i in their bee poputitions e toto pesticides, pasisites,nd l los of habit.. scieists warclclimatchanange is also thatateninthe e inct's survival, noting beecould di off at faster tetes ashe e ear warms.

this iththe trler r fothe nene documentary "the polnanators >> bees are so fascinangng. when you first going to a beehive,ouou're worried about gettinststung. as soon as youtatart wchining them and sing th o on th cone communicatg with eh other its s so fasnating, so colelex. it mosy worksntil we get in ththe waof it.t. >> popopulions of neybeeeeare dying l levelthatat a unprecedented and very concerning. clcloseo o halff ththe loniesesn thth u.s. dying eversingle year. >> pollinators havdidisappred anfarming has become a lot bigger. e to th, now they need beekeepershat can move these from one placeo o the her.r. >> we can learn a good deal from be about theealth ofhe landsceses thawe i inhit, anand we c canearn a aood deal about thfolly ofetting uour agricuurure in quite e e way ththate have. >> the agricture is

inteuption oa natura system, buit can b done thoughtfully with great benefit. >> it is going to take 20 to 30 years for that groundo o get back ithe e she thatatt was to sustai life for all of these while incts, birds, and every thinelsese. >> p ptecting the land, protecting the soil is r ligation. and from that,e e get dicious, nourishing pduducts. >> we have been pollinati fruitsnd vegetles and ts the 10's,0's, 50's. we are not that beekeepers, we're just trying to hang onto our business. in a go for more, we're joined now by peter nelson, director of "the pollinators." also beekeeper himself. welcome e to democracy now! a mass extinction? explain. >> thehe loss to beekekeepers he been pacing the last since 2005 2 thousand six has been

somewhere between n 30 and up to 50% depending on where they are in the country. it is a little alarming. nermeen: is that just in the united states or rvs all over the world experiencining this or is it because here in the u.s. they use more pesticides? >> there's a worldwide loss of insights. i think that has been documented . here in the united states because of their exposurure to pesticides and agriculture, it is particularly pronounced. amy: let's turn to an excerpt "the ." poinators >> because the native plinanato who u ud to here are no longer in lae engh qntities do that pollinatn, honeyes have steppein to ta the rolof poinator > pollinaon is a basinatural nction. a lot plans inature need ininses to t tnsfer p polle one the moseffificit is t t honeee. ooood stfcly, , althee

wewe eatthe e vetableses andhehr fruiuitsndnd so , momostf thatat nes s honeee p pollinaonon or poination. the chemical companies thi we ouould eatorn, soybean, and ricend that esn' need to be pollatator. that is what ty y thin we should live . if you like fruits a vegeblbles and nuts, a lot of atat nee pololliting.. a lot of while insects can do the jo b but n as s we as bringing in a commercial bebeekeer toto p down 1000 colonies ionone area and give a good bla of pollination. our business has two different ends. one is producingononey but the reason heyeybeesre h herin thehe first t ace is to all innate are crumed up one out of thr biteteof food we put iour mouths com fro heybeee poination. closi think e genera polatitionhouldnonow oufoodod systems thrtened byhe fact at thesere in trouble.

they should care about that because the eat food. amy: this is another clip from "the pollinators" featuring dave hackenberg. he w among the first beekpepers tsounund e alarm abououbee colony collapse sosordern 202006 >> pollinators have sasappead and farming has become aotot ggerer a so do all ofhis, now th needeekeepers that can move bees from one place to the otr.r. e ononlyees that are movable that you compete on the ck of a trucks honeybs. amy: aexcerpt "the poinators. petenelson how does your deal with this differently than the united states? placedeuropean union has a ban on certain pesticides. they recently strengthen it because the science was showing it wasn't working. here we have a different set up. the precautionary principle the european union uses says it needs to test these pesticides

or herbicides or whatever before they go into the environment to make sure they are say. here we have a different approach. where we have oftentimes the chemical companies doing the testing themselves and doing -- getting their own result and they get a conditional registration, which allows them to use the pesticides without being fully tested in the field. that is a law bound by the epa. nermeen: in the film, peter, many people, including bill mckibben, talk about the fact the collapse of the depopulation is just onepulation instance to come. why is what is going on now with bees a harbinger of what might come later? >> honeybees are studied more than a lot of other insects. we have data on them. since there are so well studied and documented combat the losses are like that on honeybees, and brings up the question, what else is going on in nature with other species? it is important

to know honeybees are only one in withspspecies of bees america. ill want to go to buil mckibben.. ose e wean leaea a good deal of bees ouout the health of the landscapese inhabiand condaril we can learn a goo deal about the fly of settg ofur agricicture in quite the waththat w have. andooked so efficient conserered eryththinin the ways that h have ne i it, but that turns o t to be a false sufficienc it ithe e chpestst w to produce pork corn or whatever elsebut thatheapnessomes at a high price anand at price is the ss of e agricuural diversity redundcycy, reliencyhat is real beydrice. its the thg that wbuilt up over 10,0 years

agriculture. now in aindf f hundred years of industrialization, we have managed to get rid of most of it. amy: that is bill mckibben in "the pollinators." peter nelson, are also beekeeper. you're talking about pesticides and how they're used in this country. also, the whole issue of the climate crisis? >> bees are an indicator species. we need to pay attention to what is going on because our agricultural system is dependent upon these commercial bees. agriculture is got much more simplified, kimmel goodie dependent so it is required just chemically-dependent, so it is required to bring in these because the traditional bees are not able to live there anymore. it is become essential to bring these bees almost as an insurance policy for much of the agricultural system. amy: and agricultural uses bees? >> it is the most are trisha's and nourishing things that we eat. fruits and nuts and vegetables.

foods that we have are mostly pollinated by bees. amy: thank you for being with us, peter nelson, director of "the pollinators." on friday, democracy now! will be broadcasting and live streaming the first presidential forum on environmental justice at south carolina state university in orangeburg. candidates taking part so far include senators elizabeth warren and cory booker, businessman tom steyer as well as marianne williamson, and others. i will be moderating with former epa official mustapha lee. you can watch it as we livestream at democracynow.org beginning friday evening at 6:00 p.m. eastern and also television stations and radio stations will be running it across the country. we will also be broadcasting from orangeburg, from south carolina state tomorrow morning. democracy now! is currently

accepting applications for paid six-month internships here in our new york city studio. learn more and apply at democracynow.org. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to outreach@democracynow.org or mail them to democracy now! p.o. box 693 new york, new york 10013. [captioning made possible by democracy now!]