10/09/20 10/09/20 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: frorom new york, this is democracacy now! >> last night the fbi and michigan state police arrested six individuals charged in a federal complaint with conspiring to kidnap the govevernor of michigan gretchen whitmer. amy: 13 men with ties to armed right-wing militias have been arrested for their roles in plots to overthrow the michigan

state government and kidnap governor whitmer. she blames president trump for instigating the violence. >> last with the president stood before the america people and refused to condemn white supremacists and hate groups like these two michigan militia groups. amy: than the nobel peace prize 2020 has just been announced. the norwegian nobel committee has decided to award the nobel 2020 to thefor world food program. amy: we will speak to vijay prashad about the u.n. awarding the he's price and how it is worse ---- war is worsening hunr across the globe. and we will look at the fifightg between armenia and azerbaijan. both sides have just agreed to hold talks in moscow. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine

reportrt. i'm amy goodman. authororities in michigan have arreststed 13 men with ties s to right-wing militias, including six men who allegedly plotted to kidnap the g governor of michig, democrat gretchen whitmer, ahead of the november election. seven other men linked to a militia group called the wolverine watchmen face state terrorism, conspiracy, and weapons charges for plotting to storm the state capitol in lansing with the intent of starting a civil war. governor whitmer blamed president trump for instigating the violent plots. in april, trump sent a tweet reading, "liberate michigan." and just last week, trump told a far-right hate group known as the proud boys to "stand back and stand by." >> when our leaders meet with, encourage, or fraternize with domestic terrorists, they legitimize their actions and

they are complicit. amy: president trump responded by attacking govovernor whitmern tweets. after headlines, we will go to michigan for the latest. president trump said thursday he isis plannining to resume in pen campaigning as early as saturday with a rallyly in florida even thoughee remains sick with vid-19 at the white hse and may still contagis. trump al rejected a proposal thursdayy the commission on presidenti d debat to have trump and biden join next thursday's debate fro seratete rote lolotions. but late thursy, trump campgngn manager, who is als posiveve forovid, reversed course singrumpoes want to debate biden after all. trump'personal doctor said in a statement he anticipates the president can return to public engagements on saturday even though the white house continues to withhold critical details about the president's mental and physical health, including when

trump had his last negative test forr coronavirus and se tested again after being positive. thursday morning, trump told foxbusiness he has recovered completely from the coronavirus. pres. trump: i am back b becausi am a p perfect physical specimen and i i am extremely young. amy: trump repeated his claim that his bout with covid-19 has made him immune to coronavirus, even though there is evidence how people can become reinfected. pres. trump: when you catch it, you get better. and then you are immune. amy: throughout the day, trump continued to lash out against his political opponents on twitter, demanding attorney general william barr lockup former president barack obama, hillary clinton, and his political opponent now joe biden. on thursday evening, trump coughed his way through an interview with fox news' sean hannity. pres. trump: absentee is ok

because absentee ballots -- excuse me. absentee ballots are fine. amy: at another point in the telephone interview, trump appearared to mute his microphoe only took off again before he resumed speaking. pres. trump: three debates with hillary and i think the first excuse me. on the first debate, they oscillated on my. amy: on capitol hill, house speaker nancy pelosi said thursday president trump is in a "altered state right now" and announced a plan to create a commission to review trump's fitness for office. >> is disassociation from reality would be funny if it were not so deadly. amy: any move by the house of representatives to invoke the 25th amendment to remove trump wowould require the agrgreementf vice president mike pence.

on thursday, pence canceled plans to travel to indiana today where he was scheduled to cast an early vote -- pence is instead heading to washington, d.c. his abrupt schedule change set off a flurry of speculation on whether the vice president might also have covid-19, though a spokesperson told reporters late thursday, "nobody's sick. there's no positive tests." across the uniteted states, thee were over 56,000 positive tests for coronavis reported ththursday a and over 900 re deaths. a a new model t the cdc pdictss another 20,000 peoeople will die of covid-19 9 by halweenen, ding to the 212,000 confirm u.s. deaths since march. in bismarck, where hospitals reached 100% capacity this week, some covid-19 patients were turned away and offered a home monitoring program instead of a hospital bed.

in new jersey, former republilin governrnor chris christie remais hohospitalized with covid for te 19 seventh day in a row. christie's twitter account went silent saturday and there's been little word on his condition, though wnyc reported thursday christie is not on a mechanical ventilator and has been in telephone contact with friends. christie was present at the white house during a superspreader event september 26 -- a packed celebration for supreme court nominee amy coney barrett headlined by president trump where few people wore masks and no one practiced social distancing. after the white house refused an offer by the cdc to help with contact tracing, reporters at "usa today" attempted to identify and track more than 200 people at the rose garden event. the paper's investigation found attendees left washington and joined large gatherings around

the country that potentially exposed hundreds or even thousands of others to coronavirus. a top u.s. vaccine scienentist o blew the whistle on n presiden trump's didisastrorous handlingf the coronavirus pandemic spoke publicly thursday for the first time since he resigned his post at the national institutes of health, where he'd been demoted after speaking out. this is dr. rick bright speaking on cnn. >> the messaging that president trump came to america and the world when he left the hospital about there is no need to be afraid of this virus is probably ththe most reckless and deadly piece of information i have ever heheard. this v virus is deadly. it is a airborne. and now, finally, ththe cdc is being allowed by the white house to tell the world it is airborne . it spreads prisoson a easily. look at the hotspot from that rose garden ceremony for thehe supreme court t nominee. amy: at least two drugs used to

treat president t trump's coronavirus infection were tested on cells derived from fetal tissue, contradicting the trump administration's opposition to the ususe of human embryonic cell lines in medical research. the drugs are remdisivir, an anti-viral, and an experimental cocktail of monoclonal antibodies produced by regeneron. a similar experimental drug produced by eli lilly was also tested using cells derived from fetal tissue. last year the trump administration cut federal funding to many projects that use embryonic stem cell lines, meeting a core demand of anti-abortion activists. president trump declared this week he is cured of covid-19 after he received the regeneron antibody treatment. the drug is still in clinical trials and is not fda approved. regeneron's billionaire ceo has been a member at president trump's golf resort in westchester, new york, and met with trump in may.

after meeting in july, regeneron received $450 million in government funding as part of the trump administration's vaccine program known as operation warp speed. trump's 2017 filing with the u.s. office of government ethics shows trump was invested in both regeneron and gilead sciences, the maker ofof remdisivir, which trumis also tataking. the world health organizization says worldwide coronavirus cases spiked to a single-day high thursday, led by exponential rises across much of europe which logged nearly 100,000 new cases. austria, france, the netherlands, poland, portugal, romania, russia, slovakia, and spain all reported record- or near-record levels o of infectin thursday. this comes as the world bank warns the pandemic could push 150 million more people around the world into an extreme poverty by next year. meanwhile, new zealand officials have lifted all social

distancing restrictions after declaring victory in their efforts to eradicate a second, small outbreak of coronavirus. in ohio, a federal judge has blococked an order from rerepubn secretary of state frank larose limiting the installatioion of ballot drop boxes to just one locacation per county. the thursday ruling allows for ballot drop boxes to be placed in multiple areas where they are needed. in related news, a federal appeals court in wisconsin has reversed a ruling from last week that granted extra time to receive and count absentee ballots due to the coronavirus pandemic. absentee ballots in the state will now only be counted if they are returnrned by elelection da. a a warning to our audience, the followowing headline contains graphihic descriptions of sexual assault. two friends of former model amy dorris -- the 26th woman to accuse president trump of sexual misconduct -- say dorris told them about the 1997 assault

shortly after it happened. last month in an interviewew wih the guguardian, dorrrris said tp grabbed d her, forciblbly kisser anand groped her at the u.s.s. n tennnnis tournamenent in 1997. in r related news, presisident p lashed out at democratic vice presidential nominee kamala harris in an interview with fox business thursday following wednesday's vice presidential debate. pres. trump: and this monster that was on stage with mike pence, who destroyed her last night, by the way. but this monster -- amy: trump repeated the "monster" insult on twitter, also saying kamala harris is a "communist." human rights w watch is condemng ongoining violence against lgbtq people in honduras, el salvador, and guatatemala and denoununcine united states fofor denying refe to lgbtq asylum seekers from the region. the report published this week is based on over 100 interviews with lgbtq people from the three countries as they detail brutal

violence and discrimination at the hands of law enforcement, gangs, and their own families. in related news, protests continue in guatemala demandingg justice for two women killed in the region of zacapa just one week apart from each other. laura daniela hernandez was shot to death in late september and litzy cordon was kidnapped monday and found dead the next day. so far this year, at least 350 women have been violently killed in guatemala. in immigratition newews, buzzfed reports a new immimigration and customs enforcement popolicy allows ice agents to arrest and quickly deport undocumented people who have been in the u.s. for less than two years, without first seeing an immigration judge. this comes after an appeals court in the district of columbia lifted a preliminary injunction against the rule in june. meanwhile, the intercept reports ice has admimitted to wrongfully deporting a guatemalan asylum seeker in august before his

scheduled hearing in immigration court and without a judge's order for removal. cesar marroquin reportedly fled guatemala after facing torture and political persecution. he crossed into the united states in march and immediately turned himself into border patrol and was into an immigration prison in louisiana. ice has called his extrajudicial removal an "admininistrative ererror." louisiana officials are warning of a life-threatening stormm surge as hurricane delta bears down on the gugulf coast with sustained winds of 120 miles per hour. the storm is forecast to make landfall friday afternoon as a category 2 storm near lake charles, louisiana -- the fourth named storm to hit the area during this year's unprecedented hurricane season. just weeks ago, hurricane laura came ashore near lake charles as the strongest storm to hit louisiana in over a century, destroying homes and leaving residents without power for weeks. the trump p administration impod sanctions thursday on 18 major banks in iran, effectively

shutting off the iranian financial sector from the global economy. the move drew alarm from european union officials who say it will exacerbate shortages of food and medicine during the pandemic. iran's foreign minister javad zarif tweeted -- "conspiring to starve a population is a crime against humanity. culprits & enablers -- who block our money -- will face justice." in oslo, norway, the nobel peace prize committee has awarded the 2020 prize to the u.n. world food program. united nations largest specialized agency and the world's biggest humanitarian group addressing hunger. last year it provided assistance in 88 countries to close to 100 million people. after headlines, we will talk abt th mornini's announcement. lotimeme rublican ndraiser elliot bidy habeen chaed th consping to sve as a foren agent for lobbngng the trump p ministraon o on halflf of t t malaysi and c cnese governmes.

broi is accud of accting $6 mlion in ibes to d a u.s.nvestigaon into a billn-dollarmbezzlemt of a malaian statinvestment fund, while paratelyeeking f the returnf a chine exile his me count. broidyas a maj fundrair for ump'2016 camign. and pionring tragender activivi and joualist t nica roberts passed away monday in her hometown of houston, texas. roberts founded the award-winning blog transgriot in 2006, where she covered the trans community. roberts described herself as a "proud unapologetic black trans woman speaking truth to power." she was 58 years old. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. authorities in michigan have arrested 13 men with ties to illegal right-t-wing militias including six men who allegedly plotted to kidnap and take hostage the e governor o of michigan, democrat gretchen

whitmer. u.s. attorney andrew birge announced the charges on thursday. > thehe fbi in michigan state police arrested six individuals charged in a federal complaint with conspiring to kidnap the governor of michigan gretchen whitmer. according to the complaint unsealed this morning, adam fox, barry croft, ty garvin, caleb andks, daniel harris, brann concerta conspired to kidnap the governor from her vacation home in the western district of michigan before the november election. amy: the men are accused of planning to take governor whitmer hostage and then bring her to wisconsin where they planned to put her on what has been described as a trial prior to election day. seven other men linked to a group called the wolverine watchmen face state terrorism, conspiracy, and weapons charges

for plotting to storm the state capitol in lansing with the intent of starting a civil war. governor whitmer has been the target of numerous protests during the covid-19 pandemic for using her executive power to issue new public health rules to limit the spread of the virus. governor whitmer blamed president trump for instigating the violent plots. in april, trump sent a tweet reading, "liberate michigan." just last week, the president of the united states stood before the american people and refused to condemn white supremacists and hate groups like these two michigan militia groups. "stand back and stand by" he told him. "stand back and stand by." hate groups for the president's words not as a rebuke, but as a rallying cry, as a called action . when our leaders speak, their

words matter. they carry weight. when our leaders meet with, encourage, or fraternize with domestic terrorists, they legitimize their actions and they are complicit. when they stoke and contribute to hatate speech, they are complicit. amy: president trump responded by attacking governor whitmer in -- yesterday and today on twitter.r. we are joined now byby two gues, michigan state representativee kyra harris bolden and russ mcnamara, a reporter at wdet, detroit's npr affiliate. russ, let's begin with you. can you lay out w wt to manany acroross this coununtry was a shockiking a announcement yeste? >> it came as a surprise to many, but not nececessarily here in michigan because the state has a long history of militiaia and white e nationonalist ties.

partrt of the oklahoma c city bombining plot was stararted hen michigan. and so we go back to the mid-1990's and it kind of started there. it faded away during the obama era, and then after president obama was elected, we see the risese a again of these white nationonalists and militiaia gr. so thehe guys that were arrested the other night, they got together online in v vararious groups, facebook groups, and that caught ththe attentioion oe fbi. plus, when some of the plotting started t to invnvolve the attan law enenforcemement, somebody gt cold feet and became an informant to the f fbi and that gave them a better idea of what was going on. these guys are amateurs, essentially, but some had explosive training andnd new how toto make a with shrapapnel that actutually tested d it out a and testeded it out and figured out

which h bridgege they wanted to blowupup to helelp inin the kidf governor whitmer. it was fairlyy long inin the planning s sges, andnd they were set to go and take -- go through with their plot rightt before te election. amy: can you talk about blowing up the bridge. explain what we're talking about here. to prevent authorities to come to the aid of governor whitmer, who they alalso had talked about lynching. >> yes. the e misogyniststic undertonene been therere all along. that includes in the protest backck in april andnd may.. lotsts of nonooses, lots o off i imagery when it comes to governor whitmer. that was always s there.e. theyey wanted to draw law enforcemement awaway from the governor anyone fifive. they wanted a direct assault onn the capital building itself in another of the two plots. amy: and talk about the weapons

that they were charged with using. for example, an ied. >> i did havave explplosives. they wanted to c cause as much havovoc as possible in parart to draw attenention away frfrom thr ovoverall g goal of kidnapping e governor, , but also in causing death and destruction. you don't set up a bomb to blow up and make it anti-personnel and not try to take out and kill people. amy: kyra harris bolden, were demomocratic michigan state representative. although a number of these men who were charged yesterday with terrorism were actually at your workplace earlier, months ago, as they were taking over the michigan legegislature -- where were you? can you describe the scenene tht ultimately p president trump wod enendorse? you for havavingk me thihis morning to t talk abot this verery important totopic.

it is very impmportant to note this couould have been preveven. the michigan house democrats have b been sounding the alalarm since opereration griridlock tht happened i in mid april. and there wawas actually an opereration judgmentnt day which theyey actually canceleded sessn because i i don't know, peaps si did nonot know what wawas goingo happen. e e actu d day wwerere there where the cacapital was storormy domestic terroriststs, we know now, it w was surreal. actctually across the stetet from the capital. and from my office, i could see confedederate flags. i i could see e nazi swastika paparaphernalia. there were signgns that say " " tyrant gets a a news" in referee toto our governor gretchen whitmer. there was a tru w with anoosee hanging off ththe back. knowd not takee much to

that these threats had nothing to do with the governor's so-called lockcked out or stay home and stay sasafe order. this was a very dangerous situation ththat we werere ente. i will also share with you something that many peoplele probabably don't t know. theyey were actually not allowed in the capital until minutes before we were called to vote. amy: explain when this was. mid april, the height of the stay home, stay safe orders. obviously, there was a lot of angst. there were a lot of businesses closed. but you know, i think it was tot also used as an excuse rally. we also saw a lot of trump flags, which seemed out of place for a rally against stay home, stay safe orders. but this happened in mid april

at the height of covid. -- for visitors were not allowed in the capitol building until minutes before we were called into vote. so it was a purposeful action that we would have to be confronted with the same people that were armed, that had nazi paraphernalia, that had nooses, ththat had confedederate flags. fortunately, our gallelery was clososed, but t the senate's wa. you may have seen a picture going around the intnternet whwe he was askeded the confirmed two of them m in arrrrested had previously been standing armed about the senate chamber. and that picture was taken by senator paul hankey. some of the senators actually have bulletproof vests because of the situation. it was not s safe. i will also note it w was during the height of covid. and many o of thespepeopleerere not t wearing masks.

and they were crowdeded in our state house. so that added an extra layer of kind of terror for us. we were dealing with a global pandemic and dealing with what we know now to be domestic terrorists. amamy: in april, that is w when presidentt trump tweeted "liberate michigan" and in may he wrote -- "these are very good people." i want to go to washington congressmember pramila jayapal who was questioning attorney general william barr during a house judiciary committee in july about the threat to michigan governor gretchen whitmer. it was a contentious exchange. jayapal noted the discrepancy between barr's militarized response to black lives matter protesters and armed militia members who displayed white nationalist symbols and threatened michigan's governor.

>> o on two separate occasioions after president trump tweeted "liberate michigan" to subvert stay home orders to protect the public health of people in michigan, protesters swarmed the michigan capitol carrying guns, some with swastikas, confederate flags, and one even with a dark arounddoll with a noose its neck. are you aware e these protesters calllled for the governor to be lynched, shot, and beheaded? >> no. >> were not aware? >> i was not a aware. >> you did not know the protesters called for the governor to be lynched, shot, and beheaded? honestly, you could be concerned about that. >> there are a lot of protests around the united states. >> general bar, seem to be engaging with protests in certain parts of the country. you're very awaree of those, but when protesters with guns and

swastikas -- >> i am aware -- >> excuse me, my time and i control it. you are aware of some kikinds of protesters but michigan went protesters carry guns and confederate flags and swastikas and call for the governor of michigan to be beheaded and shot and lynched, somehowow you're nt arare of that. >> so that is commererce member pramila jayapal l questioning attorney general lee embarq was to remember, the attorney general is in charge of the justice depepartment. it is the fbi, his attorney, state officials who have now charged 13 men with various domestic terrorism charges. i want to go back to russ mcnamara and talk about the groups that are involved. this is not just a disparate group of individuals. we are talking about bug lou and we're talking about -- well, tell us about ththis group calld the w wolverines. watchmen.verine

>> they're part of t the many groups that have popped up over the la decade or so. even over the weekend, a man involved in the antigovernment boogaloo movement was s shot and killlled by federaral agents ina parking lot t of a suburban detroit restaurant followingng a shootout. nr;;;; s we have e seen a all of thesee indidividual groups pop up over the e last d decade, p partially fueleded because it is easier to get togogether via social media. whether r or not it is a privave facebook group or online foruru, these guguys are gtingng togeth. but if you look at these guys and their trail l in social med, they a are a collelective bututy arare fairly well fractured and they have their own idealals and ideology. they have piecemeal equipment.

their tactical gear is not anything that you consider professional, but their firearms, for the most part, r. of: so they may be a sort h group amateu-is training heavily and a parenentr going to take these guys to wisconsin? meaning the governor to wisconsin to stand trial. the attorney general of michigan , talk about this just been the tip of the iceberg. representative kyra harris bolden, that is where i went asking about trump's lack of response or. william barr's lack of response. and what is the response of the republican statate legislatures nonow for the arrest of these groups? because the attorney general of michigan said this might just be the tip of the iceberg with more ,eavily armed, organized man

part of these gangs, who mimight be preparingng for election day. >> i will l share with you that justst yesteterday, there was a rarally on the steps o of the capital wherere you could seeeek trump flags.s. therere wasn't t the same kind f nazi paraphernrnalia and confederatate flags, but t thiss on the h heels o of the news breakiking about t the kidnap ad murder plot t against the governoror. and there is a kindnd of similar rarally. i will s say this and d majority leader mike s sharkey said -- spspoke at this rally andnd said that this is s no time to b be k anand commitmement to freedom.m. group was his wordsds to this that had g gathered. nonothing about the kidnap anand murder plot about t the governo. we did see a couplple of republics s speak out andnd s sy they are glad the governor is

safe andnd there is no p place r thisn ththe state. but again, this coululd have ben prevenented. we can simplply not allow gugunn the capitol. have bebeeneen - -- we sounding the a alarm as michigin befeforeocrats since way this situauation has happepened. to no avaiail. i reread reports s some of my repupublican colleleagues have d ifif there is a law that would have prevevented this fromom happening, letet me know. allow simimply l limit or r not guns i in our capital l and that would makeke a huge infererence. but to suguggest there's nothing ththat can be done i thinkk is incorrect. amy: you president trump not endorsing these indictments yesterday, but calling for t the jailing of his political , as well as biden the former president of the united states barack obama. he was doing this yesterday, speaking on fox.

i am wondering as an african-american representative in michigan, kyra harris bolden, are you getting more security right now? how much securitity is now susurrounding the e michigan governrnor? >> so the e michiganan governons always had h her detail, and i i wantnt t to take thehe time to k the fbi and thehe police that thwartrted this plan. individualalw legislatotors doo receive prprotection. as i i stated beforere, our offs are across thehe street from the cacapitol. there e is no secret e entrance. we typicalally have to wawalk ththrough whahatever rally y pr, demonsnstration is on the capitl lalawn. and i will sasay thahat as a b k woman, walkingng past that evevt date where there were heavilily armed d -- now that we k know doststic terrorists - -- and gog in the back dodoor of my place f .ork w was incrediblbly demeanig

to see cononfederate flagsgs and noososes is a great granddaughtr of a a man that t was lynched? it brorought me to teaears. to see the p point that we havee gotten to is truly heartbreaking and i hopee that t instead of jt words, we e exit take action t o mamake surure that sometething e this doesn't actually h happened t thethat we don't carry flames of hate i in michigan. amy: i i want to thanknk you for being g with us, democratic stae representative kyra harris bolden, and russ mcnamara, reporter at wdet in detroit. president trump, even as these indictments came down, continued to attack governor whitmer, repeatedly yesterday and cocontinues that attack today. shortly before we broaoadcast ts morning, this year's nobel peace prize e was anannounced. we will go to that in a moment..

♪ [music break] amy: this is democracy n now!, democracynow.o.org, the quarante reportrt. i'm amy goodman. shortly before we went t to broadcast this morning, this year's nobel peace prize was announced. committeewegian nobel has decided to award the nobel peace prize for 2020 two the

world food program for its , forts to combat hunger its contribution to bettering conditions for peace and conflict affected areas, and for acting as a driving force in use of to prevent the hunger as a weapon of war and conflict. and because that is the norwegian about committee chairwoman announcing the 2020 nobel peace prize in oslo at 5:00 p.m. eastern time this morning. the world food program is united nations largest specialist agency, the biggest human attorney group addressing hunger. plaster provided assistance in 88 countries to close to 100 million people. in april, it's director told the u.n. security council the number of people worldwide expressing

severe hunger could double close to 265 million a and less urgent steps are taken.n. >> myy conversations with world leaders ovover the past many months before the coronavirirus even became an issue, i wasas in 2020 would be facing the worst humanitarian c crisis since e wd war ii for a variety of reaeaso. such as the war in syria, yemen, that deepening prices in places like south sudan.. the desert locust t swarms in frequent natural disasters and changing weather patterns t that w we are experiencingng. the economicic crisis in lebano, whicich is impacting milillionsf syrian refugees,, drc, sudadan, ethiopopia, and the list goes o. we were already f facing a perft storm. so tododay with covid-19, i want to stress that we are not only

facing a global health p pandem, but a also a global human attory and catastrophe. amy: that was david beasley, the former southth carolina governo, nonow head of ththe world food program, speaking to the united nations security council e earlr this year. for more, we're joined by bj rishaad, director of --vijay prashad, director of tricontinental institute for social research and author of many books including "washington bullets: a history of the cia, coups, and assassinations." can you respond to this latest announcement and talk about the already global hunger catastrophic problem in the world, now accentuated by the pandemic? with you. be i could not be happier that the world food program won the nobel prize for peace because this hunger pandemic is paralyzing

perhaps s 2.7 billllion people. we have seen an escalation of hunger. nobody should go to sleep hungry at night and a -- inin the world food program, the u.n.'s food and cultural program, have been ststruggling t to tackle this. whwhat would only make me happy than this is n next year the cun doctors when the nobobel peacece prprize. that would be the best two years in a row for the nobel peace prize. the hunger issue i is very significant. it was there as david beasley vertically put it, before the pandemic. there has been an increase in agro business, movining cash crs and displacing small farmers who produce most of the world's food. this create a great crisis in the countryside long before the pandemic. during the pandemic, i don't know iff you saw this, but in guatemala citity, people work flying white flags to say we are

hungry, as if in surrender. david beasley told the u.n. security council w we cannot let the world population surrender. speaking of surrenender, he mentioned yemen in his remarks. the world food program, food and culture, other u.n. humanitarian organizations, say h hf of yemen's 28 m million people aren famimine conditions. this includes alalmost 10 millin n a war that saudi arabia, back by armed the suppliers from the united states , united kingdom, and so on, unrelenting war against thehe yemeni peoeople -- halff the populalation in hunger.. you add to that, the sanctions situation. when the nobobel committee chairwomanan said you should not use hunger as a weapon in conflict, the u.n. special reference work -- s special repertoire saiaid several times the sanctions against iran,

agaiainst venezuela, , tantamouo collectiveve punishmenent in fa, oeur soan special rappat they are on the brink o of ststarvationon. happier than me the issue of hunger, which should be abolished in the modern world, is out thehere because ofof thihis price. it is really significant day for all of those on the front lines trying to make sure that peoplee are fed daily. amy: it is very significant response to yesterday though it was chosen well before, when the trump adadministration announced it has imposed new sanctions on iran's financial sector despite opposition from european countries one the move could have devastating humananitarian consequences, as the pandemic and ongoing sanctions. critics say this new move will likely shut off channels iran uses to import food and medicine. the foreign minister called it a

crime against humanity. >> this is a crime against humanity, certainly. there is ample evidence for that but it i is also extraordinarily cruel, amy. i think the cruelty of it needs to be underlined.. this is a moral issue as much as it is an legal issueue. it is moral. people should be outraged by the cruelty ofof this action. used toeeing s sanctions punish people. medicines not able to enter iran. planes are not willing to fly in because they are afraid of secondary sanctions. this is precisely what the worod food program has b been findings onone of the m main difficulults they can't get transport into countries - -- they could not gt into thehe main port in yemen tt was being bombed. tranansportation is a real chalallenge. you've got to say the people in these u.n. agencies, not just

the world food program, not just the food and wororld -- it is unesco, unicef. there's a reason the u.s. government is going after these u.n. agencies. i should not be the one explaining why the u.s. government is going after these agencies. i would like to see the adadministration of f the united states explained to the world why they are sanctioning, why they're going after agencies like the u.n. children's fund. what is the problem with the world health organization in the midst of a pandemic? it is quite heartbreaking to see this cruel policy emanating from washington, d.c. amy: finally, vijay prashad,, te connection between hunger in the world and climate change? yet the vice president of the united states mike pence and his debate with kamala harris who presidenent trump has just calld a monster and a communist, when

he was asked about climate change, he said, yes, the climate is changing. >> what a ridiculous statement, amy.y. i i would like to take vice president mikeke pence o on a journey through the -- i would like to take t them to work enoh a fafaso, to niger come to chad. i would like to show him how the sahara desert is moving southward. i would like to show him the locusts which david beasley mentioned. i want t to show him what this means to people who cannot brerk the soil and grow food in that part of the world. and when they try -- this is very signinificant, when in the 1980's s theyry t to bring operatate farming, there was a upup agast himngineed with e active parcipation of the fren intntelgence services and most likely with the c cia. these e are goodhearteted people trying to bring good into the world. they get overthrown and these peop who are now in charge and

unwilllling to look reality inie eye and say, yes, something very significanant is hapappening, te climate has changeded and we mut do something to reverse that. they are not serious people, amy. they seem to be driven by a streak of cruelty, which breaks my heart. amy: you mentioned yemen. but the connection between war in yemen and this massive hunger, the u.s. supported saudi uae war on the people of yemen with the most recently jared kushner working a deal with uae to give them f-35 b butter plan, something that have been forbidden -- fighter r planes, something that have been forbidden for years. amy: the u.n. secretary-general at the start of the pandemic to have a world cease-fire. he had yemen directly in his sights.

he wanted that war in yeyemen to be s stopped for thehe durationt least the pandemic, if not forever. it is a rereally precrcritical g that you have the british agenencies, companies, the americican government, continuig to arm united arab emirates and saudi arabia, continuing to give ththem logisticacal support in s ruthless war which is driving come as i said, 2 million children to starvation in yemen. something has to be done about it. the united nations has done all it can. they countries simply feel have no check on them. and it is about time the population of the united states and the population of the united kingdom stand up and say, not in our name. because this is right now happening in the name of every u.s. citizen and in the name of every citizen of united kingdom. amy: vijay prashad, thank you for being with us director of , tricontinental institute for social research and author o of

many books most the latest just out "washington bullets: a , history of the cia, coups, and assassinations." cocoming up, we look at what is happening in armenian and azazerbaijan. ststay with us. ♪ [music break]

amymy: "bull-doze b blues" by y thomas. this is democracy now!, dedemocracynowow.org, the quarae report. i'm amy gogoodman. we spend the rest of the hour looking at the ongoing fighting between armenia and azerbaijan over the disputed territory of nagorno-karabakh, where at least 300 people have died since the violence began two weeks ago. the real death toll is expected to be even higher. russia said both countries have agreed to talks in moscow, expected to take place today, a sign a ceasefirereay be on the table. prince president macron sd his office at the twoo countriries e "moving totord a t truce" but it is still fraragile. nagorno-karabakh lies inside azazerbaijan butut is controllly ethnhnic armenians. it was the site of a bloody conflict in ththe wake of the

collapse of the soviet union. many fear this latesest spike in conflict -- the worst since the 1990's s could sparkrk a regiol war, with turkey openly supporting azerbaijan and russia allied with armenia. "the g guardian" repeports syrin rebel fighters have signgned upo workrk witprivatate turkisish fs in azerbrbaijan and tuturkey is reportedly supplplying azerbaijn with drones and weapons. in an interview with sky news earlier this week, armenian prime minister nikol pashinyan accused turkey of continuing its genocidal l policiesgagainst t armenian peoplple. > it is absbsolutely notot inflammamatory languagage when y that this i is turkey's policy o continue the a armenian gegenoc. issusus look at whahat t turkey implementing ununder the mediteteanean, libya, syria iraqaq

t ttehe is not d dbt this i i policy y contitiing thee armrmian genocide. thepolicof reinstating turkish empire. americica amnesty inteatioional b band azerbaijan has used cluster bombs in civiliaian are. for more, we go to concord, massachusetts, where we're joined by anna ohanyan, professor r of political science and internatational relations at stonehill college. she's the author of "russia abroad: driving regional fracture in post-communist eurasia and beyond and networked regionalism as conflict management." welcome to democracy now! it is going to have you with us. this is an area of the world that i believe most people in the united states are not paying much attention to. if you c c talk about exactly what is hahappening as the foren ministers of both armenia and azerbaijan are now coming to moscow today, apparently, for

peace talks. but what has h happened? whwhy has t this conflagration grgrown? >> thank you for covering the dedevelopmenents, the e violenct is ongoing, the offensive from on the nagorno karababakh from azerbaijan and tururkey corrugad offenses. as you mentioned, turkey has bebeen supportinazerbaijijan diplomatically grievously as well as training t the azerbaijn military, but this particular involvement, the specific c type of intervention o on the side of azerbaijan is very destabilizing in terms of the supupport with e mercenaries as well as drone technology, creates the conditions of transnsforming the conflict for proxy war. two broadare perspectives that have been applied to what has been goining on. were easily understood geopolitical a analysis was --

analysis, two-dimensional, has been describing -- has been prevalent and explaining this conflict as resurgence of turkey trying to enter t the south erdogan islthoughh beenen claiming autonomous, challenging given turkishsh territoriall b boundaries recoge by the treaty. the geopopoliticalal analysis ao have as think about this as a confrontation between russia and turkey. but i ththink this narrative is reallyly missingng a l lot. it is very much under the radar and a not been picked up as m mh by the international news coverage. the key development herere is te domestic factors driving the foreign policies of this country. turkey and azerbaijan.

in particular, what is missing from the discourse is two years ago, armenia had a democratic breakthrough, the velvet revolution, , which was bottom-, driven by people p power, nonviolent disobedient campaign. becauseignificant witheated democratic diet neighbor georgia, already a democratic society. studies in social science and peace e research have establishd that when in a region, democraticic poll strengthensnse this creates pressure on the authoritarian -- in this case, azerbaijan -- toward democratization. president andre here to the seas from his f fatr and grooming h his wife to t tae overer [indiscernible] try to be a lot more

accommododative. however, within two years, you also seeee belarus protests breaking out and people kept -- probably the last dictator of e europe. instead of really trying to move in that direction, pulled in turkey. the democratic dian between the change, the structure strengthen the democratic poll and south caucasus and therefore created the important avenue for mitigating the conflict. this was essssentially offffsety authoritarian coordination. betweeeen azerbaijan and turkey. turkey's entering, i m mentione, changes s the ructcture of thehe conflictct because by bringing n mercenaries from syria, it does two very importantnt and unfortunatate things. it introduces -- a privatize iss

viololence in country. probably this type of conflilict thereou s see off which - -- already hard to negotiate but alsoso hard to win militarily. so introducing this e element, turkey's change of the structure of this conflict, is very destabilizing for the region. amy: talk about the significance of the foreign ministers of armenia and azerbaijan going to moscow today for peace talks. of course ,putin is i in a basically covid bunker since march, does not see a lot of people. they have to be quarantined for two weeks before they can see him, going through disinfectant tunnels and t things likeke tha. but whwhy moscow and what dodo u think will come of this?s? - -- any push, any didiplomatic attention to end de hostililities is welcome. i thihink at this point, , the challenge is to end the

violence. turkey has been the only coury among ththe regional powers gret powersrs, that matter, has -- tt has been pushing for militarized solution, which would be any militarized solution to the conflict would be a loss for azerbaijani people as welell. it would b be very difficucult r azerbaijani society to moveve io a democratic path down thehe ro. russia's role in particular here i have to say, russia hass been the growown up in the room. russia, contrary to whatat i rereferred to geopoliticical analysis, would have russia and turkey c clashing. august the, their attention, russia and turkeyy arere on differenent sides of the conflit in s syria, in libya. but here, this indeed has been russia's histotoricall backyardd since prpredating the s soviet n .

what is impoportant here is rusa has been -- kremlin has been playing institutionanal role in contrast to turkey, it is using all the regional organizatations anand instititutional challenge- channels it created. so the question is whether kremlin will have enough sides.e to pressure both i am w worried that it is turkey here that is the big factor. is pulllling in the ministers of foreieign affairs f armeninia and azerbaijanan is sy wonderful and impoportant. so right nowow -- again, i'm not sure how turkey will be hahandl. amy: we just have 30 seconds. you have called azerbaijan and he authoritarian petro state. in the area we are talking about, nagorno karabakh, is an area of pipelines, oil. this is that rich oil --

oil-rich area. i is the significant? >> this is very significicant becacause from the global perspective, the economist magazine issued an important report the global l capital markets are shiftingng toward green energy order. so this will be -- that report also pointed out, not surprisingly, this creates pressure on the petro state to move toward taxation, taxing the citizens -- which will require them to engagee and buildld reprpresentative i institutions. this is s a diversionary war on the side that has beeeen domestc discontent that has s been enormomous. the authoritarianism in azerbaijan has been n nourishedy the oil -- by t the pipelines wh the collapse of the soviet union, azerbaijann emerged as an independent country started to control its oil resources. unfortunately -- line amy: five seconds. >> this militarism has not been

challenged and we see this playing out in nagorno karabakh. amy: we will continue to follow this. anna ohanyan, thank you for being with us professor of , political science and international relations at stonehill college.bbaiog

sami: what's up, man? how you doing, brother? tommy: excellent. welcome to my hometown. sami: thank you very much. tommy: are you ready for this? sami: yeah, man. tommy: yeah? bass to bass all over the place. sami: ethiopia's the place. tommy: yes, sir. sami: gypsy punk legend and gogol bordello bass player tommy gobena is my brother from another mother. he's originallyy from ethiopia, so of course i had to ask him to joioin the adventure when i decided to