03/02/20 03/02/20 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> today we are issuing a joint declaration with the united states to pave the way for stability.ce and amy: the u.s. and taliban sign deal t to withdraw a americatros fromom afghanistanan and end the lolongest will -- four in u.s.

history. we'll speak with reporter azmat khan about the details still being worked out. a judge has suspended the hearing for julian assange who faces 175 years in prison for charges related to his role in publishing classified documents exposing u.s. war crimes in afghanistan and iraq. clubs wikileaks has published evidence of war crimes, human rights abuse the world over. years in prison in the united states. this is an abuse of process. it is a political offense. smy: we will speak with julian' or jennifer robinson. then we speak with jennifer cisneros, a 26-year-old immigration lawyer running to replace congressmember henry cuellar, one of the most conservative democrats in congress. she called him trump's favorite

democrat. then we go to iran, the epicenter of the corona outbreak in the middle east where at least nine officials have tested sitive foror the disease including itits health mininist. i w wld like toto inform you i have been infected with cocoronavirus. i hahad a f fever yesterdrday. my f fst test was positive l lat night anand i have e isolated myseself. theyey informedd me my fininal t isis definitely positive. i'm starting my treatment and my general condition is not that. i had a fever, which, god willing, will decrease. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the number of confnfirmed coronavirus infections continues to grow worldwide. cases have now been confirmed in at least 65 countries, with the death toll surpassing 3000. the first two fatalities on u.s. soil were reported over the weekend in washington ststate.

both deaths were at the evergreen health hospital in kirkland. both men were residents of the same nursing home. a genetic analysis shows that the virus was likely circulating undetected over the past six weeks in washington, potentially infecting hundreds of people. there are now at least 89 cases in the u.s., with new york, oregon, rhode island, and florida reporting new infections. very few tests have been done. president, meanwhile, is claiming that criticism of his handling of the outbreak is part of a democratic hoax. south korea said today it confirmed 599 new cases -- higher than the daily total reported in china. italy now has over 1600 confirmed cases and iran over 1500, with at least 66 deaths. in paris, the louvre museum is closed for a second d day as cas also mount acrososs france.

the u.s. has signed a deal with the taliban aimed at drawing down i its military presence and ending its 18-year war in afghghanistan. the long-antnticipated deal coms after a year and a h half of negotiations and following a weweek-long partrtial truce. afghanan president a ashraf ghan sunday h however rejected aa prisoner swap program with the taliban, ahead of power sharing talks that start next week in oslo, norway. afghan women are also raising alarm the deal could further restrict or do away with their rights. this is journalist nargiss hurakhsh. >> there in n the period of negoatations, taliban havave repeatedly shown their views on women have not changed and this is a concern to us. we call on the afghan government and the team will negotiate with the t taliban to c consider the freedom and achievement of all afghans, especially women, as the bottom line. amy: we will have more on the

historic u.s.-afghan deal after headlines. former vice president joe biden won a decisive victory saturday in south carolina's democratic primary, marking his first-ever win in a presidential primary or caucus. he took over 48% of the vote -- more than double senator bernie sanders' 20%, who placed second. billionaire tom steyer placed third with 11%, former south bend, indiana, mayor pete buttigieg came in fourth with 8%, and senator elizabeth warren fifth with 7%. as saturday's results came in, steyer announced he was dropping out of the race, with buttigieg following suit sunday evening. while biden received the majority of black votes in south carolina, over 100 prominent black writers and academics endorsed bernie sanders, writing in an open letter -- "a sanders presidency would go a long way toward creating a safer and more just world. the commitment to free college education, the elimination of student debt, and the enfranchisement of incarcerated

citizens, are only some of the reasons we have come to this conclusion." meanwhile, a number of mostly black churchgoers in selma, alabama, protested billionaire mike bloomberg sunday by standing up and turning their backs to him as he addressed the congregation. bloomberg was commemorating the 55th anniversary of "bloody sunday," when police attacked civil rights activists as they crossed the edmund pettus bridge in a march from selma to montgomery, alabama. while bloomberg was mayor of new york city, police officers made 5 million stop and frisk's, which terrorized and criminalized black and brown communities. the remaining presidential candidates -- including bloomberg, who will appear on the ballot for the first time since the primaries started -- will compete tomorrow on super tuesday, where 14 states will vote and over a third of all democratic delegates are up for grabs.

democracy now! will be live broadcasting with the intercept a super tuesday special from 7:00 p.m. to midnight eastern time at democracynow.org and stations around the country. south korea says north korea has fired two unidentified short-range projectiles off its coast earlier today. the launch is thought to be part of a days-long military drill in north korea. a new mit study found that there was no fraud in n bolivia's elections last october -- refuting a widely touted accusation that was used b by te organization of american states, the u.s. government, and others, to justify supporting the coup that removed president evo morales and put in place an unelected right-wing government. anti-indigenous right-wing government. in israel, voting is under way for the third national election in less than a year, pitting prime minister benjamin netanyahu against former army

chief benny gantz. neither netanyahu's likud party nor gantz's blue and white party have been able to win an outright majority or form governing coalitions in the two prior elections. the prime minister benjamin netatanyahu's trial for corruptn will begin to weeks after the election. greek forces attacked migrants with tear gas and stun grenades as thousands of refugees arrived at the turkish border with greece after ankara announced it would no longer try to prevent entry into europe. thousands, including families with young children, are now stuck at the border. this is a syrian refugee describing the scene this weekend. >> we have been here for two days. there are children that our two month old. they are not allowing us in. they're firing tear gas. one man was hit with a bullet in his hand. we have no food. look at these kids.

amy: turkey's move to loosen border restrictions came as a russian-backed syrian government offensive in idlib province has displaced nearly a million people, most of them fleeing toward the turkish border. turkish president recep tayyip erdogan has regularly threatened to open the border to pressure europe for military assistance in syria, where dozens of turkish troops have been killed in recent days and weeks. in britain, a judge has suspended the extradition hearing for wikileaks founder julian assange until mid-may. this comes after four days last week of intense deliberations between assange's legal team and attorneys representing the u.s. government. if extradited to the united states, assange faces up to 175 years in prison for charges related to the espionage act. we'll have more on thisis story after headlines with assange's legal adviser jennifer robinson. chiefs from the wet'suwet'en first nation an canadian ministers are resuminig talks today afteter reaching a draft deal which reportedly

affirms certain indigenous land rights amid the ongoing battle against the coastal gaslink pipeline. indigenous land defenders say they will l continue t to ght until plplans for the pipeline e canceled and the canadian popole retreat from protected lands. members of the cayuga nation are sounding thehe alarm after multiple buildings, including a school, were raided and destroyed last weekend in seneca falls, new york. a press conference to address the destruction this weekend ended in violence after cayuga nation police reportedly attacked cayuga chiefs. the demolitions were ordered by the cayuga nation council, whose leader clint halftown is not recognized as legitimate by many members of the nation. some local authorities have called the destruction acts of domestic terrorism. president trump announced friday he would nominate texas congngressmember john ratcliffes his permanent director of national intelligence. in 2019, trump was forced to back off from nominating raratcliffe for the rolele aftes lack of experience -- and apparent lies about his

qualifications -- were questitioned by both democrats d republicans. a federal court ruled sunday the trump administration unlawfully appointed ken cuccinelli as the acting head of u.s. citizenship and immigration services last june. u.s. district judge randolph moss also ruled that cuccinelli's policy that accelerated initial screenings for asylum seekers should be struck down, since he did not have the authority to issue the directive. the group democracy forward, which brought the suit on behalf of immigrant rights organization raices, said in statement -- "this is both a victory for the rule of law and a significant blow to the trump administration's xenophobic agenda." asylum seekers at the u.s.-mexico border were left confused and frustrated after a federal appeals court ruled friday trump's so-called "remain in mexico" policy was invalid -- but just hours later, stayed its own decision to allow for the trump administration to appeal.

some 60,000 asylum seekers have been forced to wait in mexico on dangerous and often squalid conditions while their claims make their way through u.s. courts, which can take months or even y years. in a victory for climate activists, a portland, oregon, jury refused to convict five extinction rebellion members for blocking railroad tracks used to transport oil by zenith energy corporation and other oil companies. the activists were acquitted after presenting a necessity defense. valve tuerer kenard,d, o off the zeni 5 5, sa of f th landma v victo -- "when titizensre t tolthe truth about thclclimatcrisisis -- whi i is thfirsrst extitition rellilio's s mands -- they take appprpriatend responblble action, , our jur did,ndnd we ank k th." in other environmental activism news, police arrested members of extinction rebellion nyc as they blocked construction of a national grid fracked gas pipeline in brooklyn. and 54 teaching assistants at the university of california,

santa cruz, were fired as they have been carrying out a weeks-long strike demanding a cost-of-living adjustment. the workers were fired after they refused to turn in final grades for the fall semester. another 28 striking graduate students who were expecting to be assigned teaching positions were told they would not be hired. santa cruz is one of the least affordable cities in the country. the organizers the wildcat strike have called for the cancellation of classes today in support of the strike. musician,y, legendary actor, and activist harry oldfonte turned 93 years this weekend. he celebrated with over 1000 loved ones, fans, and friends at the historic apollo theater in harlem. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the u.s. has signed a deal with the taliban aimed at drawing

down its military presence and ending its 18 year war in afghanistan. the long anticipated deal comes after a year and a half of negotiation following a weeklong partial truce. just one day after the accord was hailed as as a major step in ending the longest war in u.s. hihistory, it hit a roadblock when presidedent ashraf ghanii sunday rejected a key stipululion that t the afghan governrnment release 5000 0 taln prisoners. the prison release is one of many conditions in a deal the united states and the taliban signed saturday in doha, qatar. officials hope the accord sets the stage for a more detailed peace plan that creates a officials hope the accord sets power-sharing arrangement and lasting cease-fire. but the deal did not include a key plplayer -- the american-backed afghanistan government. intra-afghan talks had been set for march 10, but a taliban spokesperson said monday the taliban refused to participate unless the afghanistan government releases the 5000 taliban prisoners outlined in

the agreement. the taliban has long refused to speak to the government calling it a "puppet regime." more than 12,000 u.s. troops are still stationed in afghanistan. under the deal, nearly 5000 of them will leave afghanistan in 135 days. the rest will withdraw 14 months later if the taliban complies with the terms of the agreement. the deal also calls for the taliban to cut ties with radical groups such as al qaeda and prevent them from launching attacks from afghanistan. in turn, the united states will advocate for removing taliban leaders from both u.s. and united nations sanctions blacklists. in the agreement, the taliban refused to accept the description of al qaeda as a terrorist but committed to helping prevent future attacks. president trump said saturday the taliban could be america's newest partner in the so-called global war on terror. pres. trump: i will be meeting personally with taliban leaders in the not-too-distant future.

and will be very much hoping that they will be doing what they say they're going to be doing. they will be killing terrorists. they will be killing some very bad people. they will keep the fight going. we have had tremendous success in afghanistan in the killing of terrorists, but it is time after all of these years, to go and bring our people back home. we want to bring our people back home. amy: since the u.s. invaded afghanistan nearly two decades estimates over 10,000 civilians were killed or injured from the ongoing conflict in 2019 alone. more than 100,000 civilians have been killed or injured over the past decade. meanwhile, the united states remain largely unmet. for more, we're joined by azmat khan, an award-winning

investigative reporter, a "new york times magazine" contributing writer, and a future of war fellow at new america. her investigations into u.s. wars have taken her to iraq, afghanistan, pakistan, and syria. she is currently writing a book about america's so-called precision airstrikes. welcome back to democracy now! it is great have you with us. so talk about this deal that has just been brokered -- i think it surprised many when president trump came out to hold a coronavirus news conference but first began by revealing this deal was being signed. >> 18 years under this war, this deal is clearly a breakthrough. it is also something that can and should have been dead a long time ago. if you look at not just the lives lost in this war and you look at some of these things that happened in 2001, for example, and october, before the united states had launched its

invasion, omar and some of the taliban leadership had offered to turn over bin laden to a third-party country, thereby averting this war altogether. the bush administration rejected the offer. two months later into the bombing campaign when the taliban offered some kind of a negotiated settlement in which omar would retain some sort of leadership in kandahar and work out a negotiated settlement with the man who would become president, karzai, rumsfeld rejected it. there were several more times in which there were clear paths to a negotiated settlement that are far better than the deal we have today. but 18 years into this war, this is the best united states could get and it took it. it is not perfect. there are imbued duties in the plan -- ambiguities the plan of things that are not clearly spelled out and it does not ensure an end to violence. we are likely to see as long as the u.s. keeps finding the other side, we're likely to see this violence continue and shift into

new patterns. it is no guarantee by any means. at the same time, we have to look mostly a what the u.s. is agreeing to. they have made these claims they're going to withdraw american troops over time, and you really need to look at what the united states has done when faced with true plymouth in this war and other wars. have often resorted to contractors to take up some of those roles that would otherwise be carried out by the u.s. military. one of the things i have been looking at in recent years is the outsourcing of contracting. the outsourcing of airstrikess when it comes to contracting. the outsourcing of intelligence. things that allow the united states to continue the war while reducing its overt troop levels and susustaining that were with the sort of f invisible army.y. so while there are about 12,000 u.s. troops in afghanistan right now, they're also 26,000 contractors. there's a a really big gap that people need to watch. amy: so what happens to the

contractors? >> it is unclear. this deal does not address that. amy: the number of troops? >> 12,000. amy: and contractors? >> 26,000. amy: more than double. >> and 10,000 of those are americans, semi third country nationals, summer afghan locals. but those are just the ones in country, that 26,000. there are many other contractors sitting in u.s. bases here as well as another basis in -- across the world who were involved in this were from abroad. amy: i don't mean to sound cynical, but could this mean simply 1 100% mercenary army let in afghanistan? >> it is s unclear if there will nenecessarily be on the ground n the e wayshey werere committed - work, , the way contractors function in the past. i think you're more likely to see the continued use of airpower and contractotors facilitating that. they are already doing that right now.

on u.s.e screeners bases. and these are contractors who are doing this work who are wawatching drone footage to basically give the calls for airstrikes. this is happening right now. as troop levels decrease, you're going to see a shift toward expanding that. in many ways, there are probably defense contractors who are celebrating at the prospects for this right now. amy: i want to turn to the afghan journalist who is reacting to the news of the u.s. taliban accord. the period of negotiations, the taliban have repeatedly shown their views on women have not chahanged and ths is a a concern to us. we call on the afghan government and the team who will negotiate with the taliban to considerer their freedom and achievements of all afghans, especially women, as the bottom line. amy: so what about this? what about what will happen to women now?

>> this question has been an enduring part of the war. in the lead up to the war in afghanistan, u.s. leaders used it as a rationale to build support for the war. it was successful in doing that. at the same time, it also manipulated this cause. you have seen the exploitation of women's rights as a rationale for continuing and sustaining this war come e is question of what h happens if we l leave? the taliban has not made significant gestures that show it would take -- as of today, at least -- they have not made any significant gestures that would show they woululd allow for mass education for girls across the country. there isn't -- has not been any clear guarantees but it is also not something that we have seen worked out public, either. thererare many women and girls in urban centers who have a lot to lose, and there are many people in rural areas who basically bear the brunt of this war who are basically trying to keep alive every day, who are

the victims of not just nitrates and airstrikes, but also a taliban attack and landmines, who simply want to see some kind of a peaceful end. you need to take the gender issue into account, certainly, but to mistake the idea that the united states has used that as an explicit military goal, that there military official sitting in a room arguing this is why we are at war, is really the exploitation of the women's issue. this is not a real consideration when you're looking at the military admisission in afghanistan. amy: it was quite something near president trump sang "the taliban will be left to kill the terrorists." >> this is related to the question of the rise of isis in afghanistan and of al qaeda in afghanistan, the sort of affiliates that have emerged. it is fascinating because you have essentially sing a fracturing of the taliban. people who have splintered off into these other groups.

which makes it a lot harder to negotiate across the board and now you have groups that have been under the taliban that you could have negotiated with that are now all of these different kinds of actions. the united states is struggling to figure out who to work with, who to talk to, how to go about even pursuing a deal like this, whether or not the people are talking to have the ability to carry out the agreements that are made, if that will filter down. there are a lot of questions about the fracturing of this and whether you will see the united states try to create the idea of a good taliban n and bad taliba. amy: and who actually negotiated this deal into hall, cutter, for the united states and the taliban? what is it me in the afghan government was not involved? >> the main envoy here was in these negotiations, over the last year have, has been -- the afghan government has been quque

upset during this process, not bebecause -- amy: the former u.s. ambassador to afghanistan who is an afghan american. close yes. he has been involved in this work from early on on the american side. he is somebody who has pursued these negotiations much to the afghan government's chchagrin. there quite upset at the lack of involvement. there have been some extreme tensions between him and the afafghan government must specifically over the deals struck. easy that most prominently with the question of detainees. there really needs to be some kind of a conversation between these negotiators, the telegram, and the afghan government. it will be interestingngo see how that plays out over the next week. amy: what about the 5000 prisoner swap? the afghan government says they are not agreeing to this. the e taliban says that they wil not negotiate with the afghan

government if that prisoner swap does not happen first. >> that prisoner swap has been at the forefront of the taliban's agenda. if you look at the history of this war and the tension and the role it has played, we have seen so many who have been detained, not just in guantanamo and elsewhere, but bagram. they are still being held today. the taliban would like to see these people return. it has been a critical point of issue. they struck some kind of -- the language is quite vague and the agreement and there has even what u.s.ents over representatives have said they would negotiate with respect to detainees saying this would never be a prisoner swap -- a prisoner swap wowould never be n the table, get it materialized in this agreement. there are questions of how much buy-in there really is and whether something like that -- if the afghan government will match -- will reciprocate that. amy: finally, when is the ceremony going to take place the president trouble -- the last

one was called off around september 11, it was going to be at camp david. what do you understand is happening now? >> it is i'm clearly in the large part because the afghan government has responded in this questions raised about what still needs to be worked out between the taliban so it is unclear when we will see that actually materialize, but we do know there is a conversation that will happen. i'm a thank you so much for being with us, award-winning investigative reporter, a "new york times magazine" contributing writer, and a future of war fellow at new america. her investigations into u.s. wars have taken her to iraq, afghanistan, pakistan, and syria. currently writing a book about america's so-called precision airstrikes. when we come back, go to london and we will be joined by julian assange's attorney. the judge has suspended a tradition hearings. he faces 175 years in prison in the united states if he is said

here for exposing war crimes in afghanistan and iraq. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. as we turn now to the extradition hearing for wikileaks founder julian assange, which a british judge has suspended after four days of intense deliberations between assange's lawyers and attorneys representing the u.s. government. assange faces 18 charges of attempted hacking and breaches of the espionage act for his role in publishing classified documents exposing u.s. war crimes in iraq and afghanistan. he could be sentenced to up to 175 years in prison. judge vanessa baraitser ordered the legal teams to reconvene in the middle of may for the remainder of the extradition hearing, where witnesses will be cross-examined.

this is julian assange's father john shipton outsiside woolwich crcrown court last week. journalism,ssion of the ceaseless malice directed against julian assange by ththe authorities, the 10 year long arbitrary detention of julian as witnessed by the united nations working group on arbitrary detention, the torture of julian rep.tnessed by the u.n. turner: on torture, all of those reports are available. that is what will happen to journalists, publishers, and publications if this extradition, this politicalal extradition of julian assange is successful. amy: that was julian assange's

father, john shipton. julian assange has been incarcerated in london's belmarsh prison since last september where he first served a 50-week jail sentence for breaching his bail conditions. since 2012, he had taken refuge in ecuador's london embassy to avoid extradition to sweden over sexual assault allegations. during his time in the ecuadoran embassy, assange was reportedly spied on by a spanish security firm. julian assange says the cia was behind the illegal 24/7 surveillance. for more, we're joined by one of the people who was spied on, jennifer robinson human rights , a attorney who has been advising julian assange and wikileaks since 2010. welcome to democracy now! thank you for joining us from london. can you describe the four days of hearing, just physically in the courtroom in london and what julian assange faces? obviously, we have had a week

of hearings. faces 100 75e years in prison per publications back in 2010 that were released to wikileaks by chelsea manning. it is important remember what this case is about in the publications to which is been prosecuted and sought for extradition. that includes iraq war logs, diaries that show abuse of detainees in iraq and afghanistan, war crimes, human rights abuse. the same with cable gate. for four days lasting dust last week, there was a packed courtroom. the journalist section was packed. to finally hear after 10 years of u.s. preparing these case, grand jury investigation under the obama administration and an indictment pursued by the trump administration. we finally heard the u.s. case. we heard nothing new. nothing new since chelsea manning's prosecution in 2012. what is important is what the

court finally heard is the defense case. a number of arguments were put forward by our team, including the espionage act -- this is an unprecedented use -- which is a political offense and ought to be barred from -- under the terms of the u.k.-u.s. extradition treaty. we also heard evidence about the grave threat this poses to press freedom not just for journalists inside the u.s., but for journalists everywhere around the world because of the priesthood and this sets. -- precedent this sets. fornalists and publishers publishing truthful information about the united states. also heard evidence about how the united indictment has misrepresented the facts, including making the false allegation that julian assange had diligently put lives at risk. theence this week about technological security measures that wikileaks imposed upon the media partners and reduction processes that were undertaken to protect anyone at risk in

those publications. it was a long weekend hearings. i think this important people start to see the true facts of this. chelsea manning remains in prison in the u.s. right now, but we heard evidence from her prosecution in these proceedings demonstrating that chelsea manning had provided this information to wikileaks based on her own conscience, having seen war crimes, the murder of civilians, the murder of journalists by united states forces -- which is what drove her to release the information to wikileaks. it was a long week of hearings and an important one for julian. you jennifer robinson, can describe the courtroom where julian assange was held at the back of the courtroom as is the custom in ak? was he able to hear the proceedings, consult? were you in the front with the other lawyers? you are his legal advisor. >> throughout the hearings, julian was at the back of the

courtroom, behind where we sit as his legal counsel, and effectively in a glass box. this creates significant amount of difficulties for us and communicate in with him during the course of the proceedings, which was raised as a concern on the final day of the hearing. he sits behind us, which means while we are paying attention to the judge, we cannot see when he is raising concern or seeking clarification or offering information to us about what he is hearing in court. the entire courtroom, including the public gallery, are alerted to the fact whenever he wants to raise a question with us. if he is whispering to us or trying to get our attention in court, the u.s. prosecutor is sitting right next to us and can hear everything. we made a notification at the in of the week in order for them to allow him to leave and for the u.s. viewers, it would seem strange that he would not be permitted to sit next to his defense counsel. the judge refused our application. we also heard evidence of the

mistreatment that julian suffered not just the difficulties he has in committee kenwood as in court in a secure and confidential manner, but also the treatment he has been receiving from prison authorities. on the first of the hearing we heard he was handcuffed 11 times, strip-searched twice, and had his legal papers taken away from him. this is indicative of the kinds of treatments he has been suffering. the most recent in a long history of difficulties we have been having and preparing his case, the difficulties of access team in prison, and getting him -- sufficient time with him over the complex evidence that needs to be presented in court. it goes to show i think the obstacles and the challenges that we face and he faces in defending himself properly in these proceedings. amy: he said wednesday i'm as much a participant in these proceedings as i am watching wimbledon. again, complaining he could not communicate with you, with lawyers overall.

the u.s. attorneys argue that his case is not political. explain what you think are the crimesgnificant work that he provided evidence of and what it means if he came to this country, how is it possible he as an australian citizen faces 175 years for treason in the united states. >> this case is inherently political. what you look at the terms, the offenses for which he has been charged, including numerous offenses under the espionage act -- which in captured traditional turtle stick activities -- the espionage act itself is a political offense and substance but we also need to look at the political context in which this execution and extradition request comes. this is in the context of the trump administration. a president who calls the media the enemy of the people.

we have learned since julian was arrested that the obama administration had taken a decision not to prosecute under the espionage act because of what the so-called new york times problem. that is that you cannot distinguish between the actions of wikileaks and "the new york times" receiving a publishing this information. we also say beyond the political nature of the offense and the political context in which he would be charged, the u.s. prosecution seemed to try to argue this past week that what wikileaks did and julian did in publishing this information was not a political act. we heard evidence in the court well-knownn's political views that we heard with respect to wikileaks and the aims and why wikileaks was created by him. we heard with respect to the erect or logs, wikileaks -- julian sang with the release lies can start a war, then truth can stop them. we heard work crimes, both

respect to collateral murder commodes was evidence of war crime in u.s. troops killing journalists and civilians, but also more broadly about torture of detainees, how evidence of that in fact lead to the immunity of u.s. troops in the ultimate withdrawal of u.s. forces from iraq. what we're saying is wikileaks not only published information of important men rights abuses, it was certainly in the public interest. at that impact resulted in a change in u.s. policy. we say that makes it a political offense. amy: finally, how is julian assange's health? >> we remain very concerned about his health. of course, he had more than seven years inside the ecuadorian embassy without access to health care because the u.k. government refused to recognize his asylum. asylum that was granted to him by ecuador, not to hide from sweden as your introduction suggested, but to protect him from yours extradition, the very

outcome he is facing right now. difficult situations. he is in isolation for much of the time. you heard me eararlier explain e treatment he has been suffering between the prison and the court each time for his hearing, including being handcuffed numerous times, strip-searched, and the like. this is compounding our existing concerns about his health and we heard psychiatric evidence put forward to the court about concerns about his ability to withstand the sort of treatment he will suffer in u.s. prisons under special minister measures if you are returned to the u.s. it is a very serious situation and one that is under constant monitoring at our end. amy: jennifer robinson, thank you for being with us, human rights attorney. legal advisor for julian assange and wikileaks since 2010. when we come back, tomorrow is super tuesday tuesday. we go to texas to speak with that candidate running in a primary race, jessica cisneros,

26 year old immigration lawyer who is challenging henry cuellar. stay with us. ♪ [music break] amy: "fight the power" by public enemy. this is democracy now!, i'm amy goodman. ahead of super tuesday, we turn now to look at the wave of young progressives who want to follow in the footsteps of congressmember alexandria ocasio-cortez, the democratic socialist who unseated a 10-term incumbent democrat in new york city two years ago. becoming the youngest woman ever served in congress.

one of the key races that is taking place on super tuesday that is not being paid attention to as all the focus is on the presidential primary, is 26-year-year-old jessica cisneros, who is running in south texas to challenge henry cuellar, one of the most conservative democrats in congress. the 64-year-old centrist is backed by the democratic congressional campaign committee and house speaker nancy pelosi. cisneros has branded him "trump's favorite democrat" because he has voted with donald trump neararly 70% of the time. in return,n, he has rurun tatacs like this one. >> new candidates for congress. one stands with families. one supports miners having a an ababortion without parents knowledge. one who is raising money for our community and spend his life here. one who gets her money from outsiders. amy: in fact, much of the outsider support pouring into the contentious race has been for cuelellar.

he received at least $40,000 to defend his seat from the conservative koch brothers's political action committee and has major support from pharmaceutical companies. in contrast, cisneros is an immigration attorney who supports medicare for all, the green new deal, and "creating a humane border and immigration policy." she has been endorsed by bernie. an alexandria ocasio-cortez. we invited cuellllar to join u s but he declined. for more, we are joined jessica cisneros joining us by democracy now! video stream from the campaign trail. welcome to democracy now! jessica cisneros, you are a former intern for commerce member cisneros whwho you are challenging? rather, former intern of henry cuellar? >> yes, i interned for him in 2014.. i was an undergrad at the time..

i went to washington. i was super excited. i was shococked by how coconservative he was and it tok me h having g to go to washingto figugure out h his track record. that is something g i think k at now.w. a lot t of people before thiss campaign you what he was up to and how he was not really representing us in congress. amy: you're on the campaign trail now. tell us where you are and tell us -- we did invite congressmember cuellar to be on the broadcast. can you tell us what your main points of contention are with him and why y you want to serve your district in congress? >> so right now we are in mission, texas, partrt of the mt southern tip of our district. our r district is pretty big, te same size as the statete of new jersrsey. it goes all the waway up too my hometown of laredo, texas, and san antonio, which takes about six hours just to drive through. one of f the biggest diststincts between meme and c cuellar is we

are e serving. yocacan tell w who ware seservig because of how we finance ourr campaiaigns. notas mentitioned, i am tataking a s single cent of corporatate pack moneyey. i do not ththink that corporate money has the place e or role in electora politics. it s shouldn't. milliond moree than $1.5 with just an average contribubution of $32, which i s incredibible. here y you have sosomeone takikg money fromom t koch b brothers koch family,ch -- as i g groups, nra, the private prison industry, which is one of the huge financial backers of cuellar. that is why we belieieve there e so many issues whether it be health care or immigratioion or education or infrastructure that are going ununaddressedecause while he is trying to cater to outside e corporatee intntereste are trying too make e sure our voices are heard. about theu can talk main issues that commerce member cuellar is attacking on. your language against him is

strong. you're saying he is trump's favorite democrat. what does it mean to say he sided with the president 70% of the time? that is a very serious issue as you are along the southern border, even in the last few days president trump, when being asked if he is g going to cloloe the e southern border entirely because of coronavirus, he said these are the i issues ththat hs looking at right now. >> exaxactly. i have not heard anything from the congressman tryrying to make sure that we are not caught in the middle of ththis because, y, we are right on the u.s.-m-mexio borderer. the v votes s some of he has takaken are a about immigration, right? he said -- he has voted to fund t the walll twice. once in 2018, the e most recentn 2019. there are e eas in our district where the e wall is being built. it is upsetting, first of all, this is an area withth a huge

immigrant population. my parenents are from mexico. has mexicanmily rates as well. to seeee him turn his backck onr community do it in a very extensive way, the wall is coststing about tens of millions ofof dollarsrs per mile, and thn you rnrn aroround and see our diststrict, which has a 24% poverty ratate -- all of money uld be used toto invest in our communities,s, but that isis not whatat he h has been fighting f. he has basically been throwing our community under the bus. there are so much potential in this area. all we ask foror is the opportunity y and ththe investmt and we rise up to the challenge. but of course, cuellar doesn't seem to think that way. amy: can you tell us what is happening on the border? just t the headlines we had at e top of the show, summoning these headlines relate directly to your neck of the woods. to southern texas and of the whole border area. asylum-seekers at the

u.s.-mexico border were left confused and frustrated after a federal appeals court friday ruled that trump's so-called remaining mexico policy was invalid, but just hours later, stayed its own decision to allow the trump administration to continue it. another the cuccinelli zar, federal judge, was completely illegal. so whatever policies he put into place should not be in effect. >> exactly. recent, representing folks in immigration court under the trump administration, and i can take immigration law is such a roller coaster right now. when you're talking about families being caught in the middddle of t this, it is unacceptable. as you mentioned, a few days ago, this decision was passed and everyone was excited and then it was like, no, we're just kidding. these are people's lives on the

liline. it is their livelihood. my parents have beenen throughgh immigrgration reform themselves. i know it means toto families because that is how my familyy was able to o have thehe life tt we have now. we want that for our many neighbors who unfortutunate rigt nonow have e mixed statusus fam. one of the things were tryryingo focus on with this campaign is papaint an a accurate o or painn accurate picture of whwhat lifen the border isis like. i think it is very harmful to keep perpetuating the stetereote this is a very lawawless area of the country because it really isn't. for us, instead of sending - -- spending money on is trained -- we are asasking too invest t that money in our communities. there are arareas here where a t of families l live wherere they don'n't eveven have basic infrastrucucture like cave roads or running watater or streetlights.

we want for the government to invest in as in a different way instead of trying to police us. amy: finally, you talked about your opponent congressmember cuellar trump's favorite democrat. is -- his reputation goes way back. is it true he endorsed gegeorge. bush f for president ovever al ? he is a democratic congress member. >> yes, he did. search images or ofof his picture, yoyou will se. be rick perrrryo secretetary of state here in texas. as recenently as the last elecen cycle, he has endorsed republicans. we know this is a district that went to hillarary clilinton by 0 points in the last presidential election. thisis is a district whwhere beo o'rourke wiped the floor with

ted cruz in the senate race. we believe i in strong dememocrc vavalues. for more thahan a decadade, heny cuellalar has been the only optn the ballolot. there's a lot of momentum and excitement right now because for the first time in over a d deca, we have another choice. amy: we are sorry that congressmember cuellar wasn't able to join us, but jessica cisneros, thank you for joining us, 26 year old immigration attorney running for covers along the border in south texas in a district that hillary clinton won by 20 points. jessica cisneros has been endorsed by senators bernie sanders and elizabeth warren. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. tomorrow night, super tuesday not, we will be on the air from 7:00 eastern to midnight in a joint broadcast with the intercept following all of the primariess throughout the united states. we hope you will join us then. as we ended today show with the

coronavirus. that's right, and specifically looking at iran, the epicenter of the virus outbreak in the middle east. the official death toll there has risen to at least 54, the highest outside of china where the outbreak began, and experts say the real number of people in iran who have died from the disease may be as high as 200. at least seven iranianan officis have tested positive. iran's deputy health minister iraj harirchi posteded a video n social media last week saying he had contracteded coronavirus. just a day before he appeared ill at a press conference, where he s said mass quarantines were unnecessary. >> i i would likike to inform yu that i have been n infected with coronavirus.s. i had aa feverer yesterd.. my f first test wawasositive lat night and i i have isolated myselflf. they informemed me a few minutes ago my final test is defefinitey positive. i am starting my treatment and my general condition is not that. i had a fever, which, god

willing, will decrease. well, , n sunday, iranian authorities annonounced new efforts to combat the coronavirus, calling on people not to use public transportation, and closing schools, universities, and cultural centers. the world health organization has declared the outbreak an international health emergency. for more, we are going to speak to dr. kamiar alaei, an iranian global health-policy expert and co-founder and co-president of the institute for international health and education. visiting professor at the university of oxford. welcome to democracy now! doctor, can you start off by talking about why you think iran has been so hard-hit at this point? >> as you know, iran undermined the reality. -- from china to iran. not only did they not close the

direct flights, but in some occasions come the increased the number of flights. they used iran as a kind of transferring p point. were twome time, there other important occasions. one was the anniversary of the revevolution. after that, in pararliamentary electitions. the e main concern of the government was that. discourage the p population to come to participate. amy: i want to go to secretary of state mike pompeo speaking on friday before the house foreign affairs committee about iran's response to the coronavirus. >> their health care infrastructure is not robust. to date, their willingness to share information about what is really going on inside of the islamic republic of iran has not been robust. i'm very concerned thahat it is iran not sharing information. amy: so here is pompeo expressing his concern about iran.

how much to the was sanctions against iran affect the health infrastructure? because they are not just total u.s. actions against iran, they sanction any country that does business with iran. has this also deteriorated the health infrastructure inside iran? somefinitely sanction has contribute in factors, especially right now. they are seeking to have testing devices. i think the main cause of outbreak is the mismanagement of the leadership of iran. iran is a pretty good infrastructure, especially for health care system, but the problem was the decision-makers were not health officials. due to political interest, they did not listen to a lot of experts. that is the main source of coronavirus is q the city ofom. ministers asked to put the city and quarantine, the militia did

not accept that. that shows from one side, the experts cannot implement those decisions. at the same time, the government wanted to undermine the significance of the coronavirus outbreak. so that was a reason why a lot of the health care workers -- they were not expecting they may face the outbreak and we have a lot of doctors and nurses that got infected by coronavirus. amy: if you can talk aboutut wht is happening to the government. you have the vice president, the head of women's affairs, she has been -- he has tested positive. seven officials now. contact with the president. what does this mean at this point? >> this is very surprising because if you compare this to china, delsea and china there are a lot of senior officials that got infected stop one of the reasons was they undermined the reality of the coronavirus

and the second is how do you expect a senior leader who does does who dies of exposure? when you look at the recordsds y -- official reports has more than 400 cases. the predediction is over 20,000. there arare more than 1818 couns contacted among iranians. amy: we have this new news and from above timime magazine," died att councilmember a tehran hospital of the virus, state radio said, was 71, member of a council that advises iran's supreme leader. the significance of this and president trump saying over the about, iraran iran talkingng

said, "we would love to be able to help them. all they have to do is ask." what do you think will be iran's response and what you think of what trump said? we have 20 seconds. --it is a good opportunity the wait was s approached was nt in t the right way. culture..re a proud -- tok it would b be more accept international aid. amy: dr. kamiar alaei, thank you for being with us, co-founder and co-president of the institute for international health and education. he is a visiting professor at university of oxford, and an expert on hiv/aids, drug policy and international health and human rights. speaking to us from albany, new york. that does it for our show. we are going to be doing a live

five hour broadcast of a super tuesday night, with the intercept from 7:00 eastern time to midnight. check it out at democracynow.org or on your local station. happy birthday tolibby. [captioning made possible by