02/05/21 02/05/21 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! pres. biden: this war has to end. and to underscore our commitment, we are ending all american support for offensive operations in the war in yemen, including relevant arms sales. amy: president biden pledges to end u.s. support for the saudi-led war on yemen, describing it as a humanitarian and strategic catastrophe.

but will the u.s. move actually end the six-year war? plus, we will look at whether president biden will reverse trump's recognition of morocco's occupation of western sahara -- africa's last colony. but we first, we go to ethiopia to speak with the head of the african cdc. it is four years old today. a south african variant of covid-19 is spreading, african nations are racing to secure vaccines but it could take months, if not years. >> the continent recognizes that the global victory against covid has to be guided by global solidarity because this is a global crisis. no country will be considered free of cotry of ancountry in the world is having covid infections. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman.

president joe biden pledged thursday to end u.s. support for the saudi-led war in yemen, describing it as a "humanitarian and strategic catastrophe." the war, which began six years ago and was supported by both president obama and trump, has devastated yemen, leaving at least 100,000 people dead. according to the united nations, 80% of yemen's 30 million people need some form of aid or protection. biden's pledge came during a major foreign policy speech thursday in which he vowed to get tough on adversaries like china and russia while declaring "america is back." we'll have more on biden's foreign policy plan and the war on yemen later in the broadcast. the united states reported more than 5000 coronavirus deaths thursday, a world record daily toll since the start of the pandemic. daily confirmed cases continue

to fall but remain stubbornly high with nearly 130,000 new infections over the most recent 24 hour period. on thursday, johnson & johnson asked the food and drug administration for emergency use authorization of its single-shot covid-19 vaccine. in a large clinical trial, the vaccine prevented 85% of severe cases of the disease. there were no deaths. in tampa, florida, the nfl has set official attendance at super bowl at 25,000 fans. 30,000 cardboard cut-outs will fill the other seats. it will be the densest crowd of any pro football game since the start of the pandemic, raising fears the super bowl could become a super-spreader event. 25% of u.s. adults who responded to a seton hall sports poll said they were planning on gathering with people from outside of their household to watch the game. despite warnings from the

centers for disease control. here in new york, yankee stadium is opening today is a mass vaccination site and at the bronx, one of the poorest areas of the country which has the highest covid-19 positivity rate in new york city. vaccinations for frontline workers including restaurant workers, taxi and ride-share drivers will be limited to gronk's residence to prevent vaccine tourism. on capitol hill, vice president harris broke a 50-50 tie in the senate this morning to approve a budget bill clearing the way for democrats to pass a coronavirus relief package. the vote capped 15 straight hours of amendment votes in an all-night session nicknamed a "vote-a-rama." overnight, senate budget committee chair bernie sanders deflected a bid by iowa republican joni ernst to force a vote on immediately doubling the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour.

sanders' move preserves a bid by democrats to gradually double the minimum wage by 2025. at least one democrat, senator joe manchin of west virginia, is on the record opposing a minimum wage of $15. next week house democrats expect to introduce a coronavirus relief package similar to president biden's $1.9 trillion proposal. democrats are planning to pass the legislation using the budget reconciliation process which needs the approval of a simple majority of senators. which means it could pass with no republican support. dozens of democratic lawmakers have proposed a resolution demanding president biden use executive action to cancel up to $50,000 in student debt for all borrowers. such a move would wipe out student debt for 36 million people. the resolution was unveiled thursday by senate majority leader chuck schumer, senator elizabeth warren, and several

progressive house democrats. this is congressmember ilhan omar. >> millions of americans can't afford to put food on the table and feed their families. millions can't pay rent and face housing and security. millions lost their jobs during the pandemic and can't afford basic necessities. the last thing people should be worried about is their student debt. amy: the house of representatives voted thursday to strip georgia republican congressmember marjorie taylor greene of her committee assignments over her history of violent and racist rhetoric. 219 house democrats voted in favor of sanctioning congressmember greene. all but 11 house republicans voted against taking such action. ahead of the vote, congressmember greene refused to apologize for her past remarks, including support for murdering house speaker nancy pelosi and anti-muslim and anti-semitic

comments. during an eight-minute speech from the house floor, greene said "school shootings are absolutely real," "9/11 absolutely happened," and claimed she had stopped believing in the qanon conspiracy theory "later in 2018." >> what shall we do as americans? shall we stay divided like this? will we allow the media that is just as guilty as qanon of presenting truth and lies to divide us? amy: according to the qanon conspiracy theory promoted by congressmember greene, donald trump was working secretly to overthrow of a cabal of deep-state officials and a child sex trafficking ring of satanic pedophiles and cannibals. during thursday's debate, house majority leader steny hoyer displayed a poster showing an image which then-candidate greene shared to facebook in september.

she brandishes an ar-15 assault rifle next to the faces of representatives ilhan omar, rashida tlaib, and alexandria ocasio-cortez. the post was captioned "squads worst nightmare." this is democratic congressmember cori bush of missouri, who last month moved her office away from marjorie taylor greene's for her team's safety. >> we cannot build an equitable antiracist education system if the committee member incites violence to the perpetuation of racist lies in an attempt to overturn an election. we cannot build an openable antiracist society if i member of congressamy: before congressr greene said she believed the massacres at sandy hook and parkland happened she had said she believes they were staged. new york commerce member alexandria ocasio-cortez is calling on congress member

agreed to be expelled from congress after she sent out a fundraising email filled with lies about progressive democrats, including that aoc cop." ocasio-cortez spoke on the house floor about the danger of ignoring or minimizing survivor accounts of the january 6 insurrection at the u.s. capitol . clubs some are demanding that we move on, or worse, attempting to minimize, discredit, or belittle the accounts of survivors. in doing so, they not only further harm those who were there that day and provide cover for those responsible, but they also sent a tremendously damaging message to survivors of trauma. amy: we will hear more from aoc later in the broadcast. in related news, former president trump has refused a house call to testify next week at his impeachment trial for inciting an insurrection. the voting technology company

smartmatic is suing fox news, some of its hosts, and two of trump's former lawyers -- rudy giuliani and sidney powell -- for $2.7 billion, accusing them of spreading lies that smartmatic helped steal the election from trump. giuliani and powell have also been sued by voting machine manufacturer dominion for spreading election-fraud conspiracy theories. in brazil, the prosecutor-general is investigating the government of far-right president jair bolsonaro for possible negligence in its response to the devastating covid-19 outbreak in the state of amazonas, which saw hospitals in manaus run out of oxygen and stretched beyond breaking point. meanwhile, bolsonaro has come under attack from officials across the political spectrum after brazil scrapped its "car wash" operation -- an anti-corruption task force started in 2014. last year, bolsonaro announced it was being disbanded because

there is no corruption in his government. the biden administration suspended the deportation of dozens of african asylum seekers at the last minute wednesday, following new allegations that immigration and customs enforcement agents tortured them into signing their deportation orders. "the guardian" reports the asylum seekers who are congolese, cameroonian, and angolan may now be interviewed as witnesses while the allegations are looked into. one of the asylum seekers was reportedly placed in a room with darkened windows as agents grabbed the asylum seeker by the neck and back. they said -- "i told them, 'please, i can't breathe.' i asked them to release me. they said that they didn't care. what they need is my fingerprint." a new congressional report has found some baby foods have dangerous levels of toxic heavy metals, including arsenic, mercury, and lead. the house oversight panel found these metals in rice cereals,

juices, sweet potato puree, and other products made by gerber, nurture, hain celestial group, and beech-nut nutrition. campbell soup, walmart, and sprout foods declined to cooperate in the investigation. the fda is reviewing the report's findings as the congressional committee is urging stricter standards on baby food. consulting giant mckinsey has agreed to a $573 million settlement in a lawsuit over the company's work advising purdue pharma and other drug makers to aggressively market highly addictive opioid painkillers. the deal, made with 47 states, washington, d.c., and five territories, is the first national settlement as part of a sweeping litigation filed by state, county, and local officials against opioid manufacturers in recent years. a warning to our audience, the next headline contains disturbing details and images. the incarcerated activist

kinetik justice, who democracy now! interviewed in 2016 during a nationwiderison strikewas severely beaten last satday by guar at the doldson correctional facility in bessemer, alabama. witnesses sajustice tried to defuse an altercation after guards struca mentally i prisoner unconscious with an axe-like baton. video shows pools of blood and a dislged tooth in the cell. both men were airlifted to a trauma center in birmingham before being returned to prison monday. democracy now! spoke to kinetik justice's mother ernestine council after he was allowed to call her wednesday and describe -- described his injuries. >> his eye was swollen shut. he had got hit in his eye. he had two broke ribs and bruce's where they had beat him on the back of the head and on

his side. those are the injuries that i know that he told me he had. severe. they beat him badly. but thank god he is yet alive. amy: in december, the justice department filed a major lawsuit against alabama's department of corrections for excessive use of force by staff in a dozen prisons after an investigation detailed incidents such as a guard beating a handcuffed prisoner in a medical unit while shouting, "i am the reaper of death, now say my name!" guards involved in last weekend's attack are now on leave and the fbi may investigate. and in labor and education news, the chicago teachers union and the country's third largest school district remain at an impasse over a return to in-person teaching as teachers consider a possible strike over demands for safe working conditions during the pandemic. the teachers union and chicago

mayor lori lightfoot, who is pushing to reopen schools, traded barbs thursday with the mayor saying talks are actually moving backwards. this is mayor lightfoot speaking at a news conference thursday. >> the right thing for our kids and this difficult time, black and brown kids who look like me coming from circumstances like the one i grew up in who are struggling and are failing. we are failing those children by not giving them the option to return to school. amy: the chicago teachers union responded on twitter -- "one of the more disappointing moments from the mayor's press conference was her accusation of 'fear mongering,' when there have been 230,000 positive cases and nearly 5000 deaths from covid in her city. how do you explain 'fear mongering' to those families?" and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. week i'm back, we go to ethiopia

to speak with the head of the african cdc post of african nations are racing to secure vaccines but it could take months, if not years. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

"prayer for africa." this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman. we begin today in africa, where countries across the continent are facing a second covid-19 outbreak linked to a variant first found in south africa that many scientists believe is more infectious and has also been detected in botswana, ghana, kenya, and zambia, as well as more than 20 non-african countries so far. more than 40 african nations have been hit by this second wave, but just six have received relatively small quantities of

vaccine. there is concern new variants could spread the virus further before widespread vaccination begins. a virtual african union summit this week and will focus in part on the continent's response to covid-19. the outgoing chair, south african president cyril ramaphosa's own country, accounts for about 40% of coronavirus cases and deaths in sub-saharan africa. a johannesburg nurse described the dire situation. >> most are full to capacity. were we have seen body bags on the floor. y: on thursday, u.s. president joe biden sent a video message to the african union summit vowing more cooperation in the fight against the virus. pres. biden: to reach this future, we must also confront the serious challenges we face, including investing more in global health, defeating covid-19 and working to prevent,

detect, and respond to future health crises. and partnering with the african cdc and other institutions to advance health security. amy: for more, we go to addis ababa, ethiopia, to speak with dr. john nkengasong, director of the africa centers for disease control and prevention. he has said the world faces a moral catastrophe if covid-19 vaccines are delayed in africa while wealthier nations vaccinate their entire populations. doctor, welcome back to democracy now! congratulations as you mark the fourth anniversary today of the founding of the africa cdc. >> thank you. it is a pleasure to be back with you. amy: can you start off explaining what you described what can hapn in africa as a moral catastrophe? >> the situation in africa is urgent and critical.

if you look at the second wave of the pandemic, it has really become -- mortality rate now higher than the case fatality rate. the rates of death occurring over the last month are significantly more than what we observed in the first weeks. unless we have a time effort to vaccines, i'm afraid the situation will be extremely difficult to manage going forward. amy: last month, south african president cyril ramaphosa urged wealthy nations to stop hoarding surplus doses of covid-19 vaccines. this is what he said. >> the rich countries of the world went out and acquired large doses of vaccine from the developers and manufacturers of these vaccines. and some countries have gone

beyond and acquired up to four times what the population needs. and hoarding these vaccines. and now this is being done to the exclusion of countries of other countries in the world that most need this. we are all not safe if some countries are vaccinating their people and other countries are not vaccinating. we all must act together in combating coronavirus because it affects all of us equally. amy: in a webinar last month about africa's covid-19 vaccine financing and deployment strategy, south african president ramaphosa, who is also the chair of the african union, said -- "the painful irony is that some of the clinical trials for these vaccines were carried out in africa." dr. nkengasong, talk about that. talk about africa being used as the experimentation site but

when it comes to reaping the benefits of the vaccines that proved to be safe, you are last in line. >> i think it is unfortunate. when i use the word that we may be headed toward a more catastrophe -- moral catastrophe company 1996 when drugs to treat hiv were available, entertain years before they were finally accessible on the contint. between 1996 and 2006, 12 million africans died unnecessarily. i think we should really make sure the history does not occur again, especially with this pandemic. we are very worried we may be heading toward that direction if something is not done and done urgently. i think in 1963, martin luthe king said are characterized the challenges at that te as the fierce urgency of now.

i don't know of y situation that we are living with today that doesn't meet that scenario, rad and timely access not just in the developed world but in developing countri. president ramaphosa and the commission are leading t charge to make sure africa is not liking too much behind. we haveecured 270 million dos and an additional 400 million doses of vaccine from india. so we are making some progress, but it will not be easily distributed. we have to mount in historic effort to vaccinate up tobout 30% of our population before december in order tolow dn the spread of the pandemic in africa. otherwise, the consequences will be very fast on our continent. amy: talk about the deals that must be made with pharmaceutical companies and other countries.

you places like canada and the united states that ultimately are ordering hundreds of millions of vaccines. i think in canada, something will have enough to vaccinate the population four or five times before you see countries getting vaccines in africa. so what kind of responsibility does a country like the united states have? here in this country, people are saying, no, we can't get vaccines, why should we care about what is happening in africa? explain why africa is so critical. >> africa so critical because we are part of the globe. africa is a continent of 1.3 billiopeople. we are seeing a weakness -- the globe as a whole has recorded more than 100 million cases of covid-19 in one year. that is extraordinary. when was the last time was on

such a fast-moving virus? the spanish flu pandemic. it is a threat globally. it has to be very clear no part of the world will be safe until all parts of the world are say. -- world are safe simply become to this together or go down together. there is no middle ground. that is why the united states and canada another developing worlds must collaborate. the countries that are secured can do the right things that history will remember them right. reallocate the vaccines so that we can begin to rapidly vaccinate our people. i use the word up about" purposefully. -- i use the word "rapidly"

purposefully. stop the spread of the new variant. amy: doctor, can you explain the south african variant? we hearing about it in the united states because people are threatened in the united states. how fast it is moving, what it means? >> it means we're dealing with a virus that replicates. there are mutants and like covid-19 most of is normal. what we know is the variants is currently dominating th pandemic in south africa. we see how quickly it is spread over the last couple of months. south africa now accounts for about 40% of all infections on the continent. that means sou africa ll be overwhelmed currently by the

rapidly spreading virus. what we don't know is people infected with the virus are dying more. i think maybe become just maybe, an increased cases coming out around 2.6%, but the global which is 2.2%, by the attributed to the variant. we just don't know. try to generate over 50 million genomes in the next six month to understand the spread of the variants. a deep dive into the spread of the variant. amy: dr. nkengasong, i want to read from up above the guardian" newspaper. they say tanzania has rejected vaccinations altogether, raising fears that the east african country could act as a reservoir for the disease and threaten

progress elsewhere. the president said last week that tanzania had lived for over one year without the virus because our god is able and satan will always fail and insisted the pandemic can be fought with herbal remedies. the world health organization's africa chief last week urged tanzania to share its data on infections. can you talk about the significance of what tanzania is doing? >> what tanzania is doing is hugely significant. no country is an island. tanzania is a strong member of the african union. again, on the opinion is the need to cooperate and collaborate and share wi each other to build a united front.

[indiscernible] belies strongly and at the unity of the continent. there's no other time i can recall that is more challenging than it is now because of covid-19. i think we have to express that unity and come together as one and fight this battle. covid-19 will not be eliminated in africa if we still have pockets of infections in tanzania, a country of about 60 million inhabitants. it is just not going to happen. if we call intensity to cooperate with the aica cdc, world heal organization, the commission so we can work hand-in-hand to eliminate this virus from our continent, we must do that to surve. otherwise, we will live with covid forever on that continent, addition to hiv, tuberculosis, and malaria that are always -- already a serious threat. amy: the first shipment of

vaccines arrived in south africa earlier this week. how many vaccines have been acquired by the entire continent ? the world health organization said on thursday its covax initiative aims to start shipping nearly 90 million covid-19 vaccine doses to africa in february. can you explain what covax is? >> covax is a multilateral mechanism that was set up in geneva and managed by the world health organization, the global alliance of vaccines and the coalition for epidemics. i think it is a response to what i will call protectionism. pool our resources and acquire vaccines and distribute it to those countries that are in need. i think it is a welcome initiative. we continue to be very

supportive of that initiative. at the same time, the leadership of the african continent, as you said earliercrome at the leadership, chairperson and the president of south africa, and president ramaphosa, pull together what we called african vaccine alliance to acquire more vaccines. together we have acquired a total of about 700 million doses of vaccine. but let me be very clear, all of those vaccine doses will not arrive on the continent at the same time. it will be over a period of the next six months and spread over 22022. both from the covax facily and the african union enabled us to achieve a 60% immunization targets, which was set up as part of our continental strategy to achieve heard immunity.

-- herd immunity. we are very encouraged. we have to get prepared. we are working with member states to establish the plan, establish a vaccine center so once the vaccines arrived, we can easily and rapidly roll the vaccinations. the significance of president biden rejoining the world health organization? and what is your message for the biden administration when it comes to vaccine access and africa? close i was encouraged to listen to president biden a few minutes ago new play th. i think united states leadership has always been determined and always played -- been a game changer once they ploy themselves properly.

the pepfar program is a good exple. we are encouraged from the words we're heang from the white house witregard to glob secuty and the fight against covid-19 on the continent. africa citizens are ready to work with the u.s. government and the usaid and other parties working with -- we are extremely encouraged with what we're hearing from the white house. amy: what words of advice you have for the united states? the united states is the wealthiest country in the world and yet it has the worst infection right and the worst death rate -- what, less than 5% of the worlds population but more than 1/5 of the world's death and infections when it comes to covid9. >> i believe it is a new day for the united states, f the new administration. we are very encourad they will

reond to the current pandemic in the united states, truly driven by science, by evidence come and buy data. we are very encouraged. rely on good science and good data and to make sure the trust between the community -- i think with efficacy to see our ivileged that we are working hand in glove with the political leadership of our continent and we have not run into any challenging issues with that. [indiscernible] it becomes very challenging. we are encouraged the united states is moving in that direction. amy: dr. john nkengasong, director for africa centres for disease control and prevention. speaking to us from ethiopia. this is democracy now!, i am amy goodman, as we turn to capitol hill. the u.s. senate is preparing to

begin its impeachment trial of president trump for inciting the deadly january 6 insurrection at the capital. democratic house lawmakers warned on thursday about the dangers of ignoring or minimizing the violence of the insurrection. congress woman alexandria ocasio-cortez of new york organized a special session to give lawmakers a chance to talk about what happened that day. >> 29 days ago on january 6, 2021, insurrectionists attacked our capital seeking to overturn the results of our nation's election. 29 days ago, the glass in and around this very chamber was shattered by gunshots clubs, but individuals seeking to restrain and murder members of congress duly elected to carry out the duties of their office.

29 days ago, officer may, who late in honor yesterday and our nation's capital, was murdered on the steps just outside this hollowed floor. two capitol police officer's have lost their lives since. in addition to the four other people who died on the events of january 6. 29 days ago, food service workers, staffers, children ran or had for their lives from violent deliberately incited by the former president of the united states. sadly, less than 29 days later with little to no accountability for the bloodshed and trauma of the 6th, some argument and we move on or belittled the

accounts of those who were there that day and provide cover for those responsible. but they also sent a tremendously damaging message to survivors of trauma all across this country. that the way to deal trauma, violence, and targeting is to paper it over, minimize it, and move on. amy: that is your commerce member alexandria ocasio-cortez speaking thursday. her sister squad member rashida tlaib of michigan also spoke. >> this is so hard because as many of my colleagues know, my closest colleagues know, on my very first day of orientation, got my first death right. it was a serious one. the fbi had to go to the gentleman's home. i did not even get sworn in yet and someone wanted me dead for just existing. more came later. uglier, more violent. one celebrating and writing the

new zealand massacre and hoping moore would come. another mentioning my dear son adam -- mentioning him by name. each one paralyzed me each time. so what happened on january 6, all i could do was think allah that i wasn't here and felt overwhelming relief. i feel bad for alexandria, so many of my colleagues were here. but i thought to myself, thank god i am not there. i saw the images that they did not get to see until later. my team and i decided at that point we keep the death threats away. we tried report and document them to keep them away from me because it just paralyzed me. all i wanted to do was come here and serve the people, the people

that told my mother who only has an eighth-grade education that she deserves -- people that believed in me. so it is hard. it is hard when my seven brothers and six sisters begged me to get protection, many urging me to get a gun for the first time. i have to tell you, the trauma from just being here existing as a muslim is so hard just imagine my team, which i adore, they are diverse. i have lgbtq staff, i have a beautiful muslim that wears her hijab probably und the halls. i have like women that are so proud to be here to serve their country. i worry for their lives because of this rhetoric. i never thought they would field

and here. so i ask my colleagues to please try not to dehumanize what is happening. this is real. you know many of our residents from the shootings, the massacre at the synagogue -- all of it. all of it is led by hate rhetoric like this. i urge my colleagues to please, please take what happened on january 6 seriously. you will lead to more deaths. we can do better. we must do better. thank you. amy: commerce member rashida tlaib on the house floor. congress member alexandria ocasio-cortez came over and put her hand on her back to comfort her. when we come back, president biden pledges to end u.s. support for the saudi led war on

yemen, describing it as a humanitarian catastrophe. back in 30 seconds. ♪♪ [music break] amy: this is democracy now! i'm amy goodman. in his first major address on foreign policy, president biden pledged to end u.s. support for the saudi-led war in yemen which began six years ago and was supported by both the obama and -- by both president obama and

trump. biden described the war as a "humanitarian and strategic catastrophe." mr. biden: we are stepping up to end the war in yemen, a word which has created humanitarian and strategic catastrophe. i have asked my middle east team to ensure our support for the united nations initiative to impose a cease-fire, open mentoring challenge, and restore long dormant peace talks. this war has to end. and to underscore our commitment, we are ending all american support for offensive operations in the war on yemen, including relevant arms sales. amy: biden's remarks come days after his administration announced it was freezing u.s. arms sales to saudi arabia and is examining sales to the united arab emirates, including the sale of lockheed martin f-35 jets, which were approved by the trump administration as part of uae's normalization deal with israel last year. the six-your were in yemen has devastated the country.

at least 100,000 people have died. according to the u.n., 80% of yemen's million people need some form of aid or protection. we go now to lansing, michigan come to speak with shireen al-adeimi, a yemeni scholar, activist, and an assistant professor at michigan state university. her new piece for "in these times" is titled "biden says he's ending the yemen war --but it's too soon to celebrate." professor, welcome back to democracy now! that was president biden's first day visiting the state department. can you talk about the significance of this move? >> this is the culmination of six years of activism and advocacy to end the u.s. role in the war on yemen. as far as victories go, there have been far and fewli between but this is probably the most significant victory if you want to call it that that we have had over six years because finally we have a president who acknowledged this devastating

war that is frankly caused by u.s. participation and is committing to and -- at least in some form, the war on yemen. the significance is important but as we are going to talk, there are some details that we need to be clear about. amy: talk about those details. what are you most concerned about right now? folks in his speech, biden said he is ending offensive operations in yemen but he went on to commit to defending saudi borders. this is concerning to me because i still remember the statement the white house putut when obama initially entered the war in march of 2015, that was the exact same claiming, they were defending saudi territory from the houthis. this is what led us here six years of war, 250,000 people start to death of not more. the entire country destroyed.

the framing was always to protect saudi borders. amy: let's go to president biden's exact words. pres. biden: at the same time, saudi arabia faces missile attacks, uab strikes, and other threats from arena supply forces -- roy nguyen supply forces. we'll continue to help them defend its sovereignty and his territorial integrity and its people. amy: professor al-adeimi? >> he says he wants to defend saudi people. the saudis have enjoyed u.s. support for decades but certainly in the last several years, they have been the biggest customer of arms sales to the united's -- from the united states. if you look at civilian casualties, i can't find figure of saudi civilian casualties over six years. the missiles from the houthis did not start until saudis started bombing. to frame it as protecting the

saudi territories is concerning because that is what started it and hers were weak and it six years later, what is it me to continue to defend saudi arabian borders, at whose expense? is it going to be the expense of yemeni civilians? is u.s. going to stop supporting some form of -- providing some support to the saudi led coalition but not others, like intelligence sharing, and the name of dividing saudi arabia? will they continue providing assistance to the saudis let's stay with the blockade or spare parts or with some weapon sales? he used the word "relevant" arms sales. what does it mean? why not all arms sales? i want to be optimistic because this mns so much to us but the details matter for the 30 million yemenis living back home.

is this work would and for them? we can't really see an war -- an end unless they and a of the support. until then, yemenis will not be able to pick up the pieces and be able to live freely. amy: what about in one of his last acts in office, aside from inciting the insurrection, president trump named houthis as a terrorist organization. >> everybody seems to agree this was a misuse of the term, misuse of the designation. the who these controlled areas of yemen were over 70% of the publisher live. if they are designated as foreign terrorists, then banks are not going to be able to operate in yemen. so people like me living here who are sending money back home because 80% of yemenis need aid to survive, we will not be able to do that anymore.

the aid organizations working in yemen will not yield to reach the 80% that need aid to survive. that is calling for an escalation of mass starvation and mass murder. the biden administration says they're reviewing the policy, which is great news. they have until the end of february to make a decision but it needs to be reversed right away so more yemenis don't die because of this designation. amy: what about that uae getting these f-35 fighter planes in exchange for the uae recognizing israel but again the biden administration has put that on hold, looking at that deal? what with the uae have to do with yemen? >> the uae has been working alongside the saudis since day one. they claim to have left yemen but that just means they no longer had uae soldiers on the ground but had trained

mercenaries to continue operating in yemen. the uae occupying the island in south yemen. there supplying the rebel group of the separatist group in the south come and have been supporting them. they have control over yemen's gas and whatnot so they have major ambitions they were in secret prisons in the south and have been involved in the assassinations of religious leaders in the south. they have been strongly constructive. -- extremely destructive. supplying them with f-35's does nothing but ensure they are more capable to continueombing yemenis. they also have pilots and committed planes in their efforts to destroy yemen. they are major parties of war and we should not be supplying them with weapons whatsoever. amy: finally, professor al-adeimi, the significance of

president biden ending the muslim ban? >> this is a victory for many people. this should never have happened in the first place. much like the war in yemen. these things are easy to designate and so incredibly difficult to reverse. it is a major victory. i would expect he is going to end that. it should not have happened in the first place. yemen was one of the countries listed under the ban. yemenis who are bombed on the saudi have a led coalition with support from the u.s. were not able to leave the country because of the blockade. those who were able to lead were not able to join families or come to the united states to seek a better life. i am hopeful this is how he started his administration and really hopeful he will continue showing desk that he is committed to ending the war in yemen and will fulfill his

campaign promise to end all support for the u.s.-led military so that we can begin to talk about justice and accountability because this is not going to suffice. amy: shireen al-adeimi, thank you for being with us, yemeni scholar, activist, and an assistant professor at michigan state university. we will link to your piece "biden says he's ending the yemen war -- but it's too soon to celebrate." we look at another foreign-policy facing the biden administration. in december, the united states became the first country in the world to recognize morocco's sovereignty over occupied western sahara -- what many consider to be africa's last colony. morocco has occupied much of the resource-rich territory since 1975 in defiance of the united nations and the international community. president trump made the announcement as morocco agreed to establish diplomatic relations with israel becoming the fourth arab nation to do so in recent months as part of

what's known as the abraham accords. during tony blinken's first news conference last week at the state department, the afp reporter who is head of the state department correspondents association asked tony blinken about the abraham accords and western sahara. >> and with morocco, does the united states still recognize as the previous administration said rock and sovereignty in western sahara? >> thank you. a couple of things, first, we said, who pretty much support the abraham accords. we think israel normalizing relations with its neighbors and other countries in the region is a very positive development. we applaud them. we hope there may be an opportunity to build on them in the months and years ahead. we're also trying to make sure we have a full understanding of any commitments that may have been made in securing those

agreements, and that is something we are looking at right now. amy: that is secretary of state tony blinken. near joined now by -- we are joined now by stephen zunes. his recent article published in "truthout" is titled "one of the democrats' biggest hawks is now senate foreign relations chair." it is clear the biden administration has not yet made up their mind about whether to draw back from what trump did come this unprecedented move of recognizing morocco's sovereignty in exchange for arauca recognizing israel. now morocco says they are not going to move ahead on israel unless they know the biden administration will continue trump smooth. talk about the significance of this, professor. >> it will be very dangeus if

biden does not reverse trump's unprecedented recognition of raous takeover of western sahara. the united nations charter is very clear thexpansion of territory by military force is legitimate. trump already made the dangerous precedents in terms of recognizing visuals annexation of golan heights of syria. however, taking over entire country brings it to a new level, especially since stern sahara is recognized by the african union as a full member tate. over 80 countries have recognize the independent democratic republic. essentially what trump was doing was to endorse the takeover of one recognize african country by another. the failure to reverse this would signal the biden administration shares the trump administration's contempt a

fundamental international law. there has been a lot of pressure on bidenrom both directions. in the senate, have everybody from a leading liberal like senator patrick leahy of vermont to very right-wing senator jim inhofe of oklahoma saying this is dangerous, it needs to be reversed. at the same time, because of trump's ties with israel, he has been getting a fair amount of pressure to say, hey, say support the abraham accords, you say support morocco's recognition of israel, are putting us in jeopardy if you reverse this kind of recognition. so we are at a very critical point right now. the fact he has not made an announcement yet seems to indicate a could go either direction. amy: it is interesting don't you spoken to a number of world leaders from japan to mexico to canada to russia, he has not spoken to the israeli prime

minister nanyahu yet. >> it pretty clear netanyahu favored trump and that the israeli government in pursuing policies that the biden ministration is not supported. the same time, biden has reitered the united states will continue to send millions of dollars of unconditional taxpayer-funded military aid to isel regardless of the violations of the legalorms. i thinit is one of the you contradictory policies. finger wagging of israel about certain things but knowi the u.s. is really not going to do anything about it, about their policies. in terms of the like a phone call, i think it doesndicate relations will be somewhat frosty or -- frostier in certain respects but i think this idea this great triumph for

ese authoritarian arab states to recognize israel and exchange are things like massive arms sales or supporting -- is not really a step toward peace, espeally sin of course the fundamental problem, the reason there is not pieces not because of nonrecognition per se but the fact that palestinians are still under occupation. just as the people of western sahara. amy: professor, you have written about the new secretary of state tony blinken's record. can you share moment of it with us? close unfortunately, like biden, he is ry much a hot. he was aassionate supporter of the invasion of iraq and like biden, who chaired the senate foreign retions committee when blinken was the chief staff -- cef staffer, he only

allowed a day anhave on the hearings on the most impornt foreign policy issue in the past quarter-century and stopped the witness listith -- stacked list with were suppoers. hes been a big supporter of the israeli govnment d its policies. conversely, sometimes the ate department has been a moderating force, mor hawkish presidents as has been the head of the senate foreign relations committee. if anything, to the right of biden. i think it leaves us in the grassroots to challenge the administration policy to make suret does n get us into trouble in tms of impetuous interventionist policies and supporting dictatorships. amy: steph zunes, thank you for being with us, of politics professor and international studies at the university of san francisco.

of "western sahara: war, co-authorof "western sahara: war, nationalism, and conflict irresolution." to see our documentary on western sahara, go to democracynow.org. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to outreach@democracynow.org or mail them to democracy now! p.o. box 693 new york, new york 10013. [captioning made