01/08/20 01/08/20 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democrcracy now! a they were struckck with such slap last night. that is another matter. military action like this is not sufficient. what is important is ending the corrupting preresence of america in the region. amy: after warning iraq, iranian forces fired 22 missiles at a pair of mililitary bases housing

in iraq inaraqi troopss what it described as "fierce revenge" for the u.s. assassssination of iranian commander qassim suleimani. there were no casualties reported.. we will get response from across the u.s. as well as tehran. then president trump has signed an emergency declaration for puerto rico after a 6.4-magnitude earthquake killed at leastst one person anand spad a mamassive power r outage thatt plungeged nearly the entire population into darkness wewe will go to o san juan foroe latestst. horrible.e. horrible, hohorrible, horrrribl. everytything fell onon top of u. we went out to ththstreet andnd getting thehere was an odyssey becacause everythihing h had fan the roadad. it is hahard to see so many hous around you on the ground. it is not easy, but by the glory of god, we are alive. amy: all that and more, coming up.

welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. iranian forces fired 22 ballistic missiles at two iraqi military bases that house u.s. and iraqi troops early wednesday mornrng in what iran describibed as revenge for the u.s. assassination of iranian commander qassim suleimani at the baghdad d internationanal airport the missiles were friday. launched from inside i iran. iraq says iraqarned themem ahe of the attacacks, which stckck e al asad airbase base in ee weern prprovince o of anbar anda base near erbil in northern iraq. senior iraqi officials say there were no u.u.s. or iraqi casualts in the strikes. this is iranian foreign minister javad zarif speaking after the missile attacks. >> we have said very clearly if the unitited states tatakes any further action, iraq willl respond -- iran will respond.

we did not start this process of escalation. the united states waged anan economic w war against iran. amy: only hours after the launch of the missiles, a boeing 737 jet crashed shortly after takeoff from tehran's international airport, headed to the ukrainian capital kiev. the crash killed all 176 people on board, including 82 iranians and 60 canadians. iranian media reported the crash was due to technical difficulties. the jet was part of the same aircraft family as boeing's troubled 737 max passenger jet -- which has been grounded worldwide following two deadly crashes that killed 346 people. meanwhile, in iraq, calls for -- antigovernment protesters are calling for demonstrations on january 10 to demand an end to political interference by the united states or iran in iraqi politics. iraqi journalists are also

reporting armed men attacked antigovernment protesters in the southern city of nazareth, opening fire and burning down tense at the protesting campus. this allll comes as the ununited states is deployingg about 40000 u.s. soldiers from the 82nd airborne division based out of fort bragg, north carolina, to kuwait. katies a military spouse fernandez. >> so the thought of my husband being on a plane to a war zone by the end of the day is shocking. even to us, even though it is his job. technically, it is not the job we are used to. it is very sudden and unexpected and traumatic to the military families and the community here because this is not something that we have seen -- at least, in the last 10 years or so. amy: we will have on the latest

on the u.s. iraq and iran after headlines. on capitol hill, senate majority leader mitch mcconnell says he has enough votes from senate republicans to begin president trump's impeachment trial without the support of senate democrats. mcconnell is pushing to open the trial with only an initial agreement to hear arguments from the prosecution and defense, not a guarantee to hear witnesses. democratic lawmakers are demanding mcconnell and senate republicans agree to call witnesses in the senate trial because some high-level witnesses called by the house during its impeachment process refused to comply with the congressional subpoenas to testifyy at the direrection of e white house. former national security adviser john bolton now says he would comply with a subpoena to testify in the senate trial if he is called to do so. house speaker nancy pelosi is continuing to withhold the articles of impeachment in efforts to pressure senate republicans to call witnesses. although, ththere is speculation mcmcconnell could try toto opene trial without the articles.

president trump has signed an emergency declaration for puerto rico after a 6.4-magninitude earthquake killed at least one person and sparked a massive power outage that plunged nearly the entire puerto rican popopulation into darkrkness tuesday. it's the largest earthquauake to hit puerto rico in more than 100 years and follows a sereries of strong quakes that have rattled the island in recent days. flattened homes and inoperable power plants have e left neaeary 350 people homomeless and at let 300,000 without drinking water. this is one puerto rico resident, josefina bentacourt pacheco. >> horrible. horrrrible, horriblble, horribl. everytything fell onon top of u. we went ouout to the strtreet ad tting there w w an odyssey cause e erything h had flen o on the road. it is reallyly hard to see so my houseses around you on the grou. it is not easy, but by the glory of god, we are a alive. amy: we will go to puerto rico

later r in the broadcast. in spain, the leader of the and parliament go tuesday. the leader of the socialist .arty pedro sanchez nation magazine reports spain's new coalition government has promised a strength and job security in unions, raise the minimum wage, pass legislation to curb climate change, and introduce universal public childcare. in argentina, the leftist government of president alberto fernandez has withdrawn credentials for the ambassador of u.s.-backed opposition figure juan guaido, reversing the stance of former right-wing president mauricio macri. elisa trotta gamus was recognized as the legitimate ambassador of venezuela by macri last year as guaido self

appointed himself president and attempted to overthrow the elected venezuelan president nicolas maduro. in a two sentence letter addressed, the fernandez government notified it was " putting in and do your special mission in the argentine republic." in india, hundreds of thousands of unionized workers and students took to the streets today for a strike to demand a rise in the minimum wage and to protest the privatization of natural resources. many students are also boycotting classes in solidarity with violent attack on students at delhi's jawaharlal nehru university, who blamed the attack on a right-wing student group linked to prime minister narendra modi's ruling bjp party. this is one e of the protetestes today, rajbibir singh. todayay the whole of india is observing a shut down. all of the banks of the country are shut.

this is against the privatization and anti-employee policies. amy: in canada, indigenous leaders issued an eviction notice to the workers of a pipeline company seeking to build a $6.6 billion gas pipeline through first nations territory in british columbia. in a press release, five clans of the wet'suwet'en nation said coastal gaslink had violated the nation's trespassing law and "has bulldozed through our territories, destroyed our archaeological sites, and occupied our land with industrial man-camps. the ongoing criminalization of our laws by canada's courts and industrial police is an attempt at genocide." on saturday, coastal gaslink workers reportedly complied with the eviction notice and vacated the work sites. but reuters reports construction of the pipeline resumed tuesday. in delaware, a teenager reportedly threw an incendiary device at a planned parenthood building early friday morning, sparking a fire at the clinic.

authorities have charged 18-year-old samuel james gulick with three criminal counts, including intentionally damaging a facility that provides reproductive health services. he faces up to 20 years in prison. and a "new york times" analysis reveals there have been shootings at or around after school sporting events nearly once a week across the country this academic year. the more than 20 shootings at football, basketball, and other games have largely gone overlooked in the discussion around the epidemic of school shootings in the united states. among the victims this year was micah tennant, who was fatally shot in november while attending a high school football game in pleasantville, new jersey. he was 10 years old. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. iranian forces fired 222 ballistic missiles at u.s. foforces in iraq early wednesday

in what iran described as "fierce revevenge" for the u.s. assassination of iranian commander qassim suleimani who was killlled in a u u.s. dronee strike last week at the baghdad airprport. the mimissiles, whicich were lalaunched from iriran, struck e ain al-asad base in anbar province andnd a base in erbil. there werere no initial reportsf u.s. or iraqi casualtities. iran andiran warned the iraqi government before the attack. shortly after the attacks, iran's foreign minister javad zarif tweeted -- "iran took & concluded proportionate measures in self-defense under article 51 of u.n. charter targeting base from which cowardly armed attack against our citizens & senior officials were launched. we do not seek escalation or war, but will defend ourselves against any aggression." earlier today, iran's supreme leader ayatollah khamenei called the missile strike a slap in the

face of the americans and called for u.s. troops to leave the middle east. >> they y were struck with sucha slap last night. that is another matter. military action n like this isit sufficient. what is impoportant is ending te corrupting presence of america in the region. amy: after the missile strikes, president trump tweeted -- "all is well! missiles launched from iran at two military bases located in iraq. assessment of casualties & damages taking place now. so far, so good! we have the most powerful and well equipped military anywhere in the world, by far! i will be making a statement tomorrow morning." that is today. the iranian missile strike comes just days after the iraqi parliament voted to expel all u.s. military forces from iraq. we begin today's show in tehran, where we are joined by mohammad

marandi. he is a professor of english literature and orientalism at the university of tehran. he was part of the nuclear deal negotiations in 2015. first, professor, if you can respond to what took place last night, early this morning, with basesttacking two iraqi that housed u.s. and iraqi bases, warning iran in advavanc, and killing g one. >> i think the most important messssage that the iranians were sending to the u united statates --t we can file missileles fire missiles at your bases and yoyou cannnnot intererce any of th. this was thehe most important military base in iraq. missiles wentnian through the american defefense shield, which surrounund all militaryry bases, especially inn

air base. and d he reachched their tararg. i think k that is an important message because it means basically that all-american bases in the p persian gulf regn are vulnerablele, and all those countries, perhaps more importantltly, t that are hostig amamerican baseses, are vulnerae to missiles and there is no force that can bring them down. amy: were you surprised by this attack? and how do you respond to the foreign minister javad z zarif said we do not seek escalation or war, but will defend ourselelves against any aggrgression?? >> no, i wasn't surprised. erehthink most people expecting an attack at some point during this period. me wasrhaps surprisised the facact the americans were unable to inintercept any of t e missiles. stage, from what

we have been hearingngrom the foforeign mininister and otheres that i iran does not t play more military strikes. they have caused damage to the base. it is possible the iranianans dd casualties.have any we don't know exactly what happened. we will find out in the coming hours. but what is clear is the missiles reacheded theirir targ. anand at the iranians and the iraqisis before the atattack inn orer r to prevent anyny aircrat civilian aircraft that mayay be flying in the regionon t be in danger. amamy: professoror -- > and they could have told te iraqis to inform thehe american. i'm not privy to o that sort off informatioion, so it is all speculation for me. amy: you tweeted "everyone

should immediately leave the uae, saudi arabia, bahrain, and other countries where u.s. bases are seen as a threat to iran. if the trump regime makes a full issue move, these resumes will be held responsible. consididered hostile entities attacked with fufull forcece and dedestroyed." explain. >> if the regimes in the united ararab erarates, for exaxample,d bahraiain and saudi arabia, allw the united states to use cases to attack iran, and thehey wille hostile e entities and iran will strike back and bring down the regimes. i thinink it is quite clear. in war, that is what happepens. what the iranianand ordinary pepeople s should leave t the rn as soon n as possible becacausee have no idea what trump is going too.o. he is the sort off person you have t to see what h he tweets n the morning when he wakes up. soso people w who live in t the

persian gulflfegion, if f they n leave, they should leave, untill it becomes clear if t the united states wanants to calalate or n. bubut i think it is quite obvios that i if any ofof these countns coopererate with the united stas in attackingng iran, they will e considered an enemy of iran. they are very small and vulnerable, they are fafamily dictatorships. the only form m -- like in t the case of the united arab emirates, thehe emiratate populn isis only a fragment o of the tl population of f ee country, whih is not very large, either. so it would not last long. probablyly would last t a couplf days, the regime in the united arab emirates. amy: professor, you were involved in the nuclear deal thetiations that led to iranian nuclear deal, the multiparty iranian nuclear deal. that trump pulled out of. can you talk about how that

relates to what is happening today? and is there negotiations going on behind the scenes? the u.u.s. pulling out of that d to almost all closed channel of negotiations with iran. voice theire u.s. negotiating with iran? is it the swiss ambassador? we heard the japanese commonest or a s simple. what is happening? >> there are no private nenegotiations taking place between iran and the united states. the united states sometimes tense messages throughgh difrert channels, as you pointed out, but t the iraniansns are unwillg to negototiate bececause they se have already negotiated a nuclear deal. the americans tore that deal until they abide by those cocommitments that they made inn the deal, , we have noththing to talklk about. because if iran was to accept negotiatg g withhe a amerins again, b basically, the iranians

would be saying the americans can tear up their d deals and renegogotiate. and d that is just not possible because ththe american gogovernt would d become more demandnding every titime thehey don't get wt they wanant, impe nenew nctitio, and tear up the deal o or whater deal t they sign. so t the iraranians arare sayinf youu want to have any negotiatations with usus, yououe to abide b by the commitmentstst wewere made e during p previous netiatioions and then we canan o on frorom there. otherwise, we cannot negotiate withth a government that tears apart agreements and carries out economic warfare. at: and what is the response your university, the university of tehraran where u u are now, d around iran to the assassination ofof qassim suleimani? t the major proemems intat i have with ththe mediaa

the united states and much of europe is that there is alwayays this tendencncy to call iran a regime - -- which sort of implis it is illegitimimate and not isble -- and to claim it unpopopular, people, c corrupt - evil, corrupt, and i it is fallg apart.t. ii have been hearing this sincei was a teenager. the fact it exists and has existed for decades, , i t think shouldavave by now made it clear to many in the west thatt this s a legitimate government w with a constitution, with checks and balanceses, and which has a high degree of legitimacy amongng the public -- whwhether r people ine west like it or not. that were thel funerals that we saw i think shows the degree to which the

islamic republic of iran is legitimate in the eyes of the public because the numbers were extraordinary. in tehran alone, between five to 7 million people participated in the funeral. it is unheard of. and even in iraq, we constantly hear the iraqis hate iran, iraqis hate the popular mobilization force, the force that actually defeated i isis wl step up when the american governmentnt murdered the iranin general as well as the iraqi general, the deputy had the popular mobilization force, we saw the h huge funerals in iraq we're in each city, hundreds of thousands of iraqis, as the funeral passed through those cities, they carried the iranian commander on their shoulders with the iranian flag. so i think a lot of what we hear in thehe united states and a lot

of what we read in the united states and a lot of what we watch on television in the united states is wishful thinking by does that come from the corridors of power and because they misread iran and they present a picture of iran which they would like to believe, they constantly miscalculate based upon those impressions that are not based on reality. amy: very quickly, professor, the protest against the iranian regime that happened before -- and there were protests in iraq against the iraqi government -- now there are going to be protests called for january 10 in iraq against both iranian and u.s. influence in iraq. what has the assassination of suleimani meant for the antigovernment protesters in iran? it looks like it is brought together people across the political spectrum and led to an ascendancy of the fafar right of iran.. > well, i don't undersrstandy

use the term "r"regime" for ira. you use i it for france or britn or c canada or a australia is it just for iran? i i don't owow what the far-rigt means because our politics are very different from politics inn your country.. polititics are very fragmented. we have different political parties. if you mean n those who are more opposed to u.s. policies in this region, i think actually what trump has done is created a consensus among the political paparties and the e overwhelming majority of the iranians t that the united states govevernment cannot be negotitiated with. and protestersrs, a against the government, are protesters against the government. we h have to make a distinction. the protest that were made against the gogovernment were me against the fuel hike that the

governrnment implemented, very poorly managed, and those in it on day one with no arrest and no deaths. subsbsequent to that, we had d e riots. those right w were egged on by person in which media channels, and many of them w were violent and coordinated from outside the country, such as the mek terrorist organization. they attackeked hundreds of bans within two dayays. they burned over 100 gagas ststationsns. they attacacked refineries. sites.tacked storage these are not ordinary rioiots that we had in iran. so again, whether you -- amy: how m many people do youu think were killed in those protests? >> i don't know the numbers. at the point i am making is that

if iran, the islamic public of iran with the c constitution tht currently y exists, , was unpop, you would not have seen the scene i in tehran and the other citities that you saw. i think it is time for western countries to accccept the f fact thatat the people of iran have their own state and they make their own d decisions, and i its not for ththe united states or e europeans s to deterermine how iranians conduct themselves and how w the iranians decide to implement policy and what laws are passed in this land. it is best for the unitetestates and d the eururopeans to o takee of their own affairs. they have enough trouble among themselves and in their own countries right now as it is most of amy: on that issue of the protesters killed, the u.s. special representative for iran brian hook said more than 1000 iranian citizens may have been killed in that uprising, what you call the riots. dodo you thinknk that isis poss?

>> that is c completely nonsens. all of the numbers are made up ,y the united states fabrications.. we d don't take anything the americanans- the american government takes seriously, just like the american n government claimed d general suleimani went to iraq to carry out attacks on the iranian -- on the americans most up we know now from the iraqi prime minister that he went there to see the iraqi prime minister and to discuss a letter from saudii arabia becaue the iraqi prime minister was trying to mediaiate betweenen e twoo couountries i in the iraqie minister s said in parliament tt trump knew about this and that trump gave -- supported this. but then the americans with an murdrdered this general. if this general l was not popul, if the islamicic republic o of n did not have a high degreree of legitimacycy, again, repeat, you would not have seen suchch crow.

iran is an educated society. so you can -- one cannot say they are stupipid, that they are backward, that they are fofools. no. i think k it shows the narratits on iran, whethther it is about riots oppression, those narratives in the west are not completely accurate. amy: mohammad marandi, thank you for being with us professor of , english literature and orientalism at the university of tehran. he was part of the nuclear deal negotiations in 2015. speaking to us from tehran. this is democracy now! when we come back -- later in the broadcast, we will talk about the earthquake in puertrto rico. at first, we will go to juan cole at the university of michigan. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, i'm amy goodman. we continue to look at iran's attack on two iraqi military

bases that house iraqi and u.s. troops, firing 22 missiles at the bases. no casualties repeported. iran described it as revenge for the u.s. assassinanation of qasm suleimani the baghdad international airport last week. we go now to the university of michigan to professor juan cole, who teaches history there. his blog "informed comment" is online at juancole.com. the author of many books, including "muhammad: prophet of peace amid the clash of empires." your response to the iranian attacks on the iraqi bases that house u.s. and iraqi troops, and then, before that, the assassination of suleimani? >> well, both the assassination of general suleimani and the iranian response are unprecedented in the past 40 years of tension between the united states and iran. in fact, the assassination of general suleimani is

unprecedented in general. i lived through the cold war and never do i remember the united states assassinating a soviet general. the two countries were involved in very serious proxy wars and great tensions, but it never went to the point where they would just murder each other's high official. thatis, i think, something would only be done by an extremely erratic person, such as donald trump. this is not a normal piece of statecraft. and that it would elicit an enormous response from iran was predictable. the response that came, however, did surprise me because iran has not tended to act in a direct and open fashion against its enemies in recent years, it has tended to have a certain degree of deniability in anything that

it did. and it still has not been absolutely determined that iran itself struck the refinery in saudi arabia in september, have been tinkered tax that have not been directly tied to iran -- although iran is under suspicion for them. i had suspected iran would work. proxies and try to avoid having a direct fingerprint on this response. that they fired missiles at bases where u.s. personnel were present, even though they appeared to have gone out of their way to avoid any casualties from either iraqi or american, at least symbolically, takes this conflict between the two countries to a much higher level. it is spiraling. it is escalating and very worrisome ways. amy: what do you think will at this point happen?

today, president trump expected to address the nation. >> the two countries at this point have several choices before them. one would be to leave it at that. there was an assassination. there was a response. the two have been involved in a lot of covert actions against one another. they could go back to doing that. or it could escalate. president trump could order missile strikes on facilities of the iranian revolutionary guards. in which case i presume there would be in writing in response to that as well -- there would be iranian response to that as well. these are the two possibilities that are before us, either finding a way to turn to tolomacy and standdown or escalate. amy: i wanted toto turn to the u.s. defense secretary mark esper's speaking tuesday. >> as we defend our people, let me reiterate the u.s. is not taking a war with iran but we're

prepared to finish one. we are seeking a diplomatic solution. at first, this will require iran to de-escalate. he or require the resume to come to the table with the goal of preventing further bloodshed. and it will require them to cease their maligned activities throughout the region. as i said, we are open to having this discussion with them, but we're just is prepared to deliver a forceful responsnse to defend our interests. amy: juan cole, your response to the u.s. secretary of defense? >> i find it very difficult to take the sort of discourse from the trump administration seriously. --e killed one of the height they killed one of the high-ranking generals of another country and then they said they did that to avoid a war or now is the time for de-escalation? i mean, what world do they live in? this is an extremely erratic behavior. and the fact someone who is relatively let his --

levelheaded like mark esper is going along with it is extremely alarming. i think that chairman of the joint chiefs of staff should have simply resigned rather than go forward with this attack on suleimani, which was clearly illegal. iraq, whominister of everybody in the u.s. press and among the political class is completely ignoring, the kind of trumump's insiststence on a whie hierarchy has turned into a white hierarchy of knowledge. so if a brown person says something , it is just not entered into the discourse. that didn'tclear invite suleimani to be involved in negotiations between iran and saudi arabia to reduce tensions. suleimani came on a commercial flight where the manifest is clear. he checked through baghdad airport with a diplomatic passport. and then trump just blew him

away, along with several other people, including high-ranking iraqi military official. this is weird. one can only imagine it is possible that trump and esper and pompeo and that gang did not want tensions between saudi arabia and iran to be reduced, and that was the reason for the strike. this cover story they gave up that suleimani was coming to kill americans is falling down laughing ridiculous. amy: and now they just referred to him as "a bad guy." >> you seem major journalists and television anchors talking about the bad guy. this is not journalism. this is just war propaganda. you what thesk journalist tweeted yesterday. he said --

"reminder as this crisis escalates, we have no director of national intelligence, no homeland security secretary, no head of the cbp or ice, no state department undersecretary of arms control, no assistant secretary for europe, and no navy secretary." >> the trump administration is a hollow shell. six i pentagon officials have recently resigned, partially because of trump's erratic behavior. it is extremely worrisome that a person, it seems to me, clear personality deficits is the commander-in-chief of the united states. and actually can launch nuclear weapons. so he is engaging in this kind of escalation is extremely worrisome. the other thing the american public is not generally been told -- although, it sometimes come out a bit -- is the united states has iran under a

financial blockade of unprecedented proportions. iran is being sanctioned to a degree that no country has ever been sanctioned in peacetime. in essssence, if you drew up a naval blockade to prevent iran from trading with other countries, that would be an act of war and international law. the trumpet administration has done this through financial means. it is gone to japan, south korea, india, said you may not deal with iran, may not by iranian petroleum. so the receipts have plummeted that was 70% of their income from 2.5 million barrels a d day to 500,000 barrels a day. the country is being economically strangled. and that is the reason for which we see all of this tension and violence. trump has been at war with iran for 19 months. amy: c can you respond t to the contradictory messagages from te pentagon and the white house? monday, the u.s. command in baghdad issued a memo appearing

to suggest the u.s. would withdraw u.s. troops from the country. this after the iraqi parliament spoke to expel use military forces. hours later, mark esper said the u.s. is not withdrawing troops from iraq? >> again, it is typical trump administration dysfunction. the central command in the middle east knows very well the united states troops have to leave iraq now. the parliament voted -- it wasn't an advisory vote. parliament voted that the iraqi government should take steps to expel u.s. troops. that resolution that parliament passed was presented to them by the prime minister. it was an act of the executive to have the vote, so the trump administration is trying to depict it as i'm your advisory

vote. it wasn't. abouthe prime minister says hes the letter from the u.s. military as face value, which is the u.s. was preparing to leave. the u.s. troops cannot be in iraq if the iraqi government does not authorize their presence. because it woululd open up to lawsuits. every time they got involved in a firefight, if somebody was killed, those peopople could hal u.s. troops before an iraqi judgdge. they could be execututed for murder. the u.s. troops will have to leave. i think the iranian strikes on those bases were partly to encourage the sunni arabs and the kurds who are dragging their feet on this matter to agree that the u.s. troops should leave because they don't want to be in the middle of a crossfire between iran and the united states.

juan cole, thank you for being with us professor of history at , the university of michigan. we turn now to ali kadivar, assistanant professor of socociy and internationanal studies at boston college. grew up in iran during the iran-iraq war. he completed his undergraduate and first graduate degree at the university of tehran, where he was actitive in the student movement. your response to the effects of what is happening now, the u.s. assassination of the iranian commander, of suleimani, now the iranian attacks warning iraq in advance no u.s. or iraqi casualties as a result of those attacks. and this all happening after these major antigovernment ,rotest, both in iraq and iran what this means for the people of iran, professor? the hit of general suleimani was also a hit on iran 's domestic politics.

it can tell is a lot to go on the day before suleimani wasas assassinated.. you these series of protests that happen in december. it was ignited by the heightened petroleum price, but it turned to protest and riots against the islamic republic. it is vevery natural t to see attacks to banks and buildings when it is against austerity or the protests are spontaneous. there isis psychological researh and research and pololitical science says this is in contrast with the previous guest -- and the iranian regime's response was brutal and very violent. and amnesty international says more than 200 people were killed . what is for sure is hundreds of people were killed. this was bigig damage to the

prestige of the revolutionary guard that were involved in the repression of the protesters and the islamic republic in general. one day before s suleimani's assassination, the commander o f the revolutitionary guard went o the city in the northwest of iran. there was a bloody crackdown on protesters in this city. they were trying to make up for the blood that was shed. they were going to give money to the families of the victims and consoled her pain. the whole regime was crumbling. a letter was signed on that day i 100 conservative figures. tore have been many letters officials criticizing the political situation. but what is interesting is this letter was signed by 100 speakers.

that withd mr., need the current approachehes that te governrnment has been taking for the iranian politics, islamic republic is in its way. now general suleimani's assassination completely change the narratative in iran. there's no ongoing conversation about the protests nor ongoing about the violence that the government used in response to protesters. you see in various videos, it is clear ththe securityty forces od .ire on civilians this is very visible in various videos people uploaded to social media. and then you see someone like mr. marandi who comes out and says this was just a controversy of t the foreignerers. ththe narrative has changed. general suleimani was popular inside iraran because not much discussion could happenn inside

iran criticizing arends for policy and involvement in iraq in syria. suleimani was mostly seen as a national figure come as a defendnder of iran's national security, sosomeone who fivee wh isis. was seeng of suleimani as an act of aggreression on the entirerety of iran, not necessarily against the islamic republic. that is what we see such a crowd coming out in suleimani's funeral. it really heieightened the nationalist sentiment among iranians. i don't think all of the people came out to show support for the regime. they came to show their support iran iran for and the country, but of course not all of that crowd can speak for them. when the crowd goes home, then iranian officials will come out -- claimlegitimacy

legitimacy from this crowd. this is not anything new in the history of the islamic republic. the islamic republic does not open and free election in which the oppositition partieses c participate.e. but it suppoports revolutionaray regimes that had at high-capacity mobilizing their supporters. they can bring their supporters to the streets. this funeral was definitely coordinated, but i think all of the observers saidid this was thatond the funeral government orchestrated. iranians came out to mourn suleimani and show their support for the country, but the r regie is going to claim -- a claimed for the regime's, which was in trtrouble because e of thehe vie -- violent response to the protest, the conversation has changed. foreignicizing iran's policy is much harder revovolutionary guard has claim. and i think more prestige

socially from the attacks they did last night. we hope -- all of us hope e the escalation and suleimani's assassination was a major escalation, last that was in escalation. we were all very worried and concerned where this is going to go. the iranians do not wantnt to se another war. i was born u under the iran-iraq war. i still r remember running from missiles and goingng to shelelt. we know how destructive a work could be. we have seen this. iraqis h have seen this. it is very unfortunate this confrontation between iran and the united states is happening in iraq and iraq is paying the price for it. but the more act of escalation, the more militarization with embolden our lenders in iraq would bring secretive forces such as the revolutitionary guad

to the center of the iranian politics. iranian regime -- amy: i want to bring an florida state representative anna eskamani of orlando. she is the first iranian american to be elected to any public office in florida. amani, i wante esk to thank you for being with us. i was wondering if you could respond to the latest situation that we have been learning about on the border as details are emerging about how border patrol detained and questioned as many as 200 iranian americans at the u.s.-canada border over the weekend? "the new york times coastal reporting some were detained for hours, including being interrogated about their opinions on the united states and the situation with iran. the prelate, many hadad gone to vancouver for just full families, for persian pop concert. >> thank you for having me. i want to echo their previous speaeakers points a around

nationalism rising in iran and how there continues to be a demand for a true democratic government in iran. but a desire not to go to war. that is a very big difference between what the people of iran what based on talking to my family. in regards to the border, we saw this in action on social media, families began sharing their stories of being stopped and and at the border and the reality is when we see the potential war rise and countries like iran between the united states, we will see xenophobia rights locally. and whether it is through different rhetoric's on the internet or state sanctions questionining from customs and border patrol, it becomes really scary and problematic to be in a in this country. i was very pleased to see solidarity coming from other americans standing side-by-side, those who have been treated this

way and as members of congress answers up to ensure are found on what exactly took place and that justice is served for those who are seeking a. amy: you have had trump's policies have been catastrophic, not just for u.s.-iran relations, but also for any kind of democratic reform withihin in . problematic.n very i have opposed president trump's policies from day one. whether it was the travel ban -- which collectively chose muslim majority countries, iran included, making it difficult for iranians to attend our universities, to engage american democracy, whether it was the ececonomic o or characteter reay extreme sanctions, preventing even humanitarian needs going to iran, all the way to the rise of hate crimes in this country, as we are sick not just with the iranian americans, but other groups as well. the reality is the trump

administration and they truly cared about the people of iran, he would not toss around the idea of attacking cultural sites -- which allowed the islamic republic of iran to use as propaganda to help build those crowds during these funerals. unfortunately, our president continues to be irresponsible with his rhetoric, lacking complete strategy. i don't think he and his administration expected this type of reaction from iriran. hopeful for remain de-escalation. it was very scary to watch everything take place last night, but i am very hopeful that members of congress will ensure there is accountability and oversight and that we prevent going to war with iran. amy: i want to thank you for being with us, florida state representative anna eskamani of orlando isis the first iranian-american to be elected to any public office in florida ali kadivar is an assistant professor of sociology and international studies at boston college.

juan cole, professor of history at the university of michigan. when we come back, we go to puerto rico where 6.4-magnitude thehquake has rocked island, sparked a massive power outage. ♪ [musisic break] amy: this is democracy now!, i'm amy goodman. we tururn to puerto o rico whehe presidident trump assigned an

emergencncy declaration afteter 6.4-magnitude earthquake rocked the island tuesday morning, killing at least o one person ad plunging nearly the entire population into darkness in a mass power outage. it is the most powerful earthquake to hit puerto rico in more than a century. a 5.8 magnitude quake struck on monday, damaging the coastal town of guanica. damage from the earthquakes have leftearly 350 ople homels and at least 300,000 without drinking water. puerto rico governor wanda vavazqz has popower would be restored throughout most of the island withi24 to o 48 hours. schools on thehe island r remain closed wednesday. the disast declarationon comes as t the u.s. contininues to hop federal aid to puertrto rico for recovery from hurricanee maria, which devaststated the island in 2017, , killing at least 30000 people -- - although somome cous sasay thdeath h to is likeke much higher. the e orm left puerto co i in thdark foronths inhe

aftershocks s has taken on a new meaning. if you can talk about what has happened now? how much electricity is restored? water? how is the island being taking care of right now? >> well, an estimated quarter to one third of the popululation hs electricity back again after they were originally told the whole island would have electricity back by noon yesterday. a lot of folks are frustrated and feeling this is like an aftershock of hurricane maria or just a repetition of it in terms of g government mismanagement, lack of information, prproblems with infrastructure. and these kind of f aftershocks

that are not really -- not just about the earth shaking, , but realally about a l lack of prepeparedness on n the part ofe gogovernment and a also a deep fragility and vululnerability tt was pre-exisisting becausese of hurricicane mariand the debt crisisnd everyining that placed us in the path of hurricane maria being devastating. amy: what about the emergency response are president trump? what doess this memean for the islandnd? certainly, fiercrcely criticize for what he did after maria and the aftermath right through to today. grateful l he we're hasn'tt t teted anyththing offensive about us this timime. so small favavors. it is important that he signed that emergency declaration. although, it is hard to know what that will mean since we're still waiting to receive the funds from the emergency declaration of more than two years ago. and that h hold of funds has met

roads have not been repaired, schools that serve as shelters are in disarray. there is aa lack ofof infrastructure and preparedndnes that i is still being a attendeo from the lasas c cmatic event. it is unclear when that emergency aid will kick in. certainly, folks here are not waiting for. amy: can you talk about the response of governor wanda vazquez? certainly, controversial governor, following the ouster rosello.or we're going to turn right now to a clip of wanda vazquez, the puerto rican governor, declaring a state of emergency throughghot the island. i've just signed a declaration of state of emergency. we have declared a state of emergegency for all of puerto rico. we also felt the earthquake so

we can all benefit from these declarations and we can make valuations for our municipalities and residences so we can have a clear picture of what the consequences of this earthquake is. at the same time, i've signed the declaration activating the national guard of puerto rico so the national guard can assist us in any way necessary. we have to manage the situation calmly. we're all worried. we are all anxious and nervous. it is natural. we are talking about a situation that puerto rico has not experienced in the last 102 years. amy: that is governor wanda vazquez. i also want to read a clip from professor yarimar bonilla's book "aftershocks of disaster," where she and a cowriter right -- "since hurricane maria made landfall, puerto ricans have found themselves relentlessly jolted by the storm's aftershocks. this happens every time systemic failures are revealed, death and

damages are denied, aid is refused, profiteering is discovered, and officials who were not elected by local residents make drastic decisions about the island's future. aftershocks remind us that disasters are not singular events but ongoing processes." we just are going right now back to yarimar bonillala. the studio we were talking g to her in and said what has just lost power. professor, we have you on the telephone. scribe thehe scene rig now.. it has become a regular occurrence here in puerto rico. we lost powow in the generator took a hit. wewere still waiting to get the generator backup. amy: and what kind of word are you hearing from hospitals? the head of the electric company said most have electricity

restored, but this is so incrediblyly dangerous a at a te lilike this.s. >> i think part of what t is importanant to distingnguish ben now and huhurricane mariria is t it i is a little b bitore geographically contained as the structural damage. the epicenter was a at the soututhern coaoast of puertoto . i knknow a lot of f folks who he family here arereorried abobout their family memembers throughgt the i island, but r really it is mostly in n the s southern coast where people are slslping outstside, having repeated tremors, etc. it is the e northern coaoast ane rest of puertoto rico, we are feeleling some aftftershocks ofe earthquakeke, but it is mtly infrastructural issssues such as ththis. the roads are little bit t bettr here so we don't have the problems tt we had in maria a of people n not being ablble to geo a h hospital and supplplies not bebeing able to o get to peoplp. so it is a little bit of a

better situation, even though it is nerve-racking in a different sense. amy: we will leave it there. i thank you so much for joining us. the studio just lost power in san juan as we talk about the aftershock of the earthquake.

hello and welcome to nhk "newsline." it's 9:00 a.m. on thursday in tokyo. we start this hour with a confrontation between washington and tehran. u.s. president donald trump is striking a measured tone in his response to iran firing missiles at american military facilities in iraq. he says america has a powerful and lethal military. but it doesn't necessarily mean that the country will use it. trump addressed the nation from the white house on wednesday. >> we suffered no casualties. l