03/01/21 03/01/21 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> what we have done by the actions we have taken is really not to rupture the relationship, but recalibrate it, to be more in line with our values. i think we have to understand as well this is bigger than any one person. amy: the biden administration is defending its decision not to sanction saudi crown prince

mohammed bin salman for ordering the assassination u.s.-based journalist jamal khashoggi despite a u.s. intelligence report directly implicating the crown prince. while biden is letting mbs get away with murder, he is sending a completely different message to iran. pres. biden: you cannot act with unity. be careful. amy: those were biden's words after u.s. airstrikes in syria killed at least 22 in an attack targeting iranian-backed militias. we will get the latest on both stories, and then go to washington where the democratic-controlled house has passed a $1.9 trillion covid relief package but it does not include a federal $15 minimum wage. >> an increase in the middle which is a financial necessity for families, for our economy, and moral imperative for our

country. it is an evitable to all of us that the $15 minimum wage will be achieved. amy: we will speak to khanna and look at theloody crackdown in burma as the military junta kills 18 protesters in the deadliest a of the coup a month ago. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman. the biden administration will not sanction saudi crown prince mohamed bin salman for the assassination of "washington post" columnist and saudi dissident jamal khashoggi, despite friday's declassified intelligence report reaffirming the crown prince directly approved the killing. the u.s. instead announced travel restrictions on dozens of other saudi officials. biden is set to publicly address

u.s.-saudi relations today, though the white house says no new policy will be announced. this is secretary of state tony blinken. >> the relationship with saudi arabia is an important one. we have snificant ongoing interests. we remain committed to the defense of the kingdom. what we have done by the actions we have taken is not to rupture the relationship but to recalibrate it. amy: the u.n. special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings said the u.s. should directly sanction bin salman and "take the lead in ensuring accountability." khashoggi's fiancée hatice cengiz is also calling for bin salman to be punished without delay. meanwhile, cnn is reporting the names of three men were removed from the khashoggi report shortly after it was first released. we'll have more on this story after headlines. we will speak with the son of a political prisoner in saudi arabia. johnson & johnson's covid-19

vaccine is starting to roll out across the united states after it received the approval of the centers for disease control. unlike the two other approved vaccines in the u.s. by moderna and pfizer-biontech, johnson & johnson requires one shot and does not need to be stored in a freezer. this comes as health experts warn the recent decline in cases is slowing down as more states move to relax restrictions. this is cdc director rochelle walensky. >> we may be done with the virus, but clearly, the virus is not done with us. we cannot get comfortable or get in trouble since of security at the worst of the pandemic is behind us. not now, not when mass vaccination is so very close. amy: in texas, people are reporting workers at the university of texas rio grande valley vaccination clinic turned them away because they were undomented, move that is against state policy. in news from washington, d.c., the house passed the $1.9

trillion stimulus bill early saturday, which now heads to the senate. in response to the senate parliamentarian declaring last week that including a $15-an-hour minimum wage increase goes against the rules of budget reconciliation, senators bernie sanders and ron wyden say they will push for an amendment to penalize large companies that pay workers less than $15 an hour. president biden is meeting virtually with mexican president andrés manuel lópez obrador today, where lopez obrador is expected to ask the u.s. to share some of its coronavirus vaccine supply with mexico. in burma, mass protests continued today after at least 18 people were killed in anti-coup demonstrations sunday, the deadliest day since the february 1 military coup whichw deposed and detained de facto leader aung san suu kyi. police fired live ammunition into crowds as burmese forces

steadily escalated their crackdown. one local group says 1000 people were arrested sunday, including journalists and medical professionals. sunday's bloodshed followed the firing of burma's ambassador to the united nations after he denounced the military coup. this is chow mo toon. >> we need the strongest possible action from international unity to immediately and the military coup, to stop oppressing the people, to return the safe power to the people, and restore democracy. amy: we will have more on burma later in the show with scholar and activist maung zarni. in hong kong, chinese authorities have charged 47 activists with conspiracy to commit subversion under the national security law. they were among more than 50 people arrested in january for organizing a primary vote to choose candidates for a

legislative election in the hopes of forming a majority bloc of lawmakers opposed to one-party rule. if convicted, the activists face up to life in prison. in iraq, at least four people were killed and 120 injured friday after security forces in the southern city of nasiriyah opened fire on people protesting the deterioration of public services. residents are demanding clean drinking water and regular electricity in a city where most residents face polluted water and just a few hours of power each day. in nigeria, 42 people, including over two dozen students, who were abducted by an armed group last month from a school in the north-central state of niger, have been released. this comes as local authorities continue to search for over 300 school girls taken by armed men last week in a raid at their boarding school in the northwestern sta of zamfara. at least 15 refugees drowned off the coast of libya after their boat capsized sunday. this is the second refugee shipwreck in the mediterranean in less than two weeks.

the rubber boat was carrying over 100 people, including children, trying to reach european soil. according to the united nations, more than 20,000 refugees have died in the mediterranean since 2014. back in the united states, donald trump made his first public address since leaving the white house, receiving a standing ovation as he delivered the keynote address to the annual conservative political action conference, bin salman, in tampa, florida, on sunday. trump renewed his attas on immigrants and repeated the lie that the 2020 election was stolen from him. he said he would not form a third party and hinted he might run again in 2024's republican presidential primary. inmmigration news, all asylum-seeking families who had been detained at the berks county ice jail in pennsylvania have been released. the jail had been accused of abusing prisoners. in 2016, an ice employee was convicted of sexually assaulting an asylum seeker while she was

detained at berks. immigrant justice advocates have been fighting to abolish family ice jails for years -- a practice that was expanded under the obama administration. this comes as two other controversial ice jails for asylum-seeking families, dilley and karnes in texas, will reportedly now be used as "reception centers" while families receive a covid-19 health screening and shelter arrangements are made. members of the asian american community, allies, and electedw officials rallied in new york city saturday to call for more action in the face of increasing anti-asian hate crimes. this is new york congressmember grace meng. >> we have been taught our entire life to just fit in, just be quiet, don't speak up, be invisible. if you are invisible enough, you will be seen as american. but we are here to say that we will be invisible no more. we will speak up.

amy: the rally came after at least two more attacks against asian americans were reported in new york. last week, a 36-year-old asian man was stabbed while walking down the street. and 61-year-old filino american noel quintana, who spoke at saturday's action, was slashed across the face while on the suay last month. new york governor andrew cuomo has been forced to apologize for what he claims work misinterpreted comments after a second former aide came forward over the weekend to share her story of being sexually harassed by the governor. charlotte bennett revealed to "the new york times" that cuomo told her he was open to relationships with younger women and complained about being lonely and being unable to hug anyone because of the pandemic. bennett said -- "i understood that the governor wanted to sleep with me, and felt horribly uncomfortable and scared." last week, former aide lindsey boylan said cuomo kissed her on the lips without her consent, among other things. new york attorney general letitia james has been charged

with selecting an independent investigator to look into the legations. in mississippi, residents of jackson have spent nearly two weeks under boil water orders after a february cold snap burst pipes and left thousands of people without reliable access to running water. the crisis has cast a new light on jackson's crumbling infrastructure, with mayor chokwe lumumba warning it could cost over $1 billion to fix the city's aging water system. and in philadelphia, supporters of renowned political prisoner and journalist mumia abu-jamal gathered saturday across from city hall demanding the medically vulnerable 66-year-old be released from prison after he started experiencing symptoms of covid-19. this is mumia abu-mal's grandson. >> they want to bury my grandfather's name at the site for black liberation. they want to bury that. we ain't gonna let them buty

that. amy: and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman. u.s. intelligence agencies have confirmed saudi crown prince mohamed bin salman directly approved an operation to assassinate "washington post" columnist and saudi dissident jamal khashoggi in 2018. on friday, the biden administration declassified an intelligence report about the murder inside the saudi consulate in istanbul. but president biden decided not to sanction the saudi crown prince, who has been a close u.s. ally. instead, the united states announced travel restrictions on dozens of other saudi officials. cnn is reporting the names of three men were removed from the khashoggi report shortly after it was first released friday. the united nations special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions agnès callamard criticized the biden administration's response. >> i a disappointed by the lack

of material information an evidence included in that report. and i will be very disappointed if there is no action taken. amy: president biden spoke on friday to univision and claimed he would hold saudi arabia accountable for human rights abuses. pres. biden: we are going to hold the accountable for human rights abuseand we areoing to me surehey, in fact, if they wanto de with us, they have to deal with it in a way that human rights abuses are dealt with. we are trying to do that acro the world, buparticularly here. this report has been sitting there. the last report would not even release it. when i got in, found the report, read it, released it. it is outrageous what happened. amy: we are joined now by two

guests. congressman ro khanna is a democrat from california. he is a member of the house committee on oversight and reform. abdullah alaoudh is the research director for the gulf at the organization democracy for the arab world now, or dawn. the organization is the brainchild of jamal khashoggi. alaoudh was a friend of the late khashoggi. he is -- his father has been a held in solitary confinement in saudi arabia since 2017. we welcome you both to democracy now! let's begin with abdullah alaoudh. can's you respond to the report's release, what you found most significant about it and the biden administration response? >> thank you so much for having us. it is a pleasure to be here. the report was no surprise. there was no new information. we already knew that bin salman

was implicated in the murder, we just needed that report to be released. and we think it is a huge step toward transparency. it also we think it is equally important to follow that with a step toward accountability, which is as we know now, implicated in the murder, it is important to not just point a finger but to sanction mbs, mohammed bin salman, and treat him as the pariah he is like biden promised during the campaign. amy: i want to turn to joe biden speaking in november 2019 during a presidential debate. >> president trump has not punished senior study leaders. would you? >> yes. a set at the time, khashog was

murdered and dismembered and i believe on the order of the crown prince. i would make it very clear we are not going to sell more weapons to them. we will make them pay the price and make them the pariah that they are. there is very little social redeeming value in the president government in saudi arabia. amy: congressmember ro khanna, e-surprised? -- were you surprised? close candidate biden statement was very strong. i'm glad they have released the report but they need to follow that up with concrete action. at the very least, mbs should not be allowed to come to the united states. he still has the ability to come to the united states. they need to make it clear we will stop any arm sales. it needs to go much further.

they need to demand the saudis lived the blockade and stop funding the groups that are you linda civil war. -- feeling the civil war. amy: you say the biden administration has frozen the military weapons that would go directly to attack yemen, but this is not permanent. the language was there but what has i naturally done to stop it? what you understand about that freezing of the weapons, how long that will be? >> my understanding is they have made it clear to the saudis the administration is not going to support in any way bombing into yemen. that any bomng into yemen will be considered an offensive assault. the challenge is the coalition bombing in yemen continues, even without an united states support. the saudis containing the

blockade, continue funding groups in yemen that are feeling the civil war. we have a much larger obligation to put pressure on the saudis to bring this war to annd, which is important to remind people is the reason that khashoggi was assassinated. he was assassinated because of his courage in pointing out the intolerable, and carson about suffering of people in yemen. amy: this issue goes from holding the saudi regime responsible for the dismemberment of one man, "the washington post" columnist jamal khashoggi, quite literally, is dismemberment, to the dismemberment of an entire nation, to yemen, the horror of both. the saudi foreign office issued a statement saying -- on "the government of the kingdom of saudi arabia completely rejects the negative, false and unacceptable assessment in the report pertaining to the kingdom's leadership, and notes that the report contained

inaccurate information and conclusions. the kingdom rejects any measure that infringes upon its leadership, sovereignty, and the independence of its judicial system." abdullah alaoudh, can you talk about what directly implicates mohammed bin salman and also the timeline? it says the planning of this murder of khashoggi goes back to i think september 28 he was murdered on october 2 as he walked into the estimable -- istanbul consulate in turkey, the saudi consulate, to get papers for marrying his fiancée and was literally sawed apart. >> first of all, the killing team and the mastermind of the killing team is the intervention force that created personally by mbs and was tasked with

protecting mbs, and operated under not just his watch but is direct orders. that is one thing the report actually confirmed. second, the team traveled two private jets owned by mbs and was complic by mbs just a few months before the murder. at the same time the company used was taken from one private indivial in saudi arabia to mbs himself and was used in the operation. thirdly, the contradicting narratives of the saudi

government and mbs personally showed how from the very beginning this was meditated and sit in the forensic experts with the bones out is just -- direct evidence of premeditation and how they preplanned the whole thing. it could not be an accident if you send in somebody whose sole expertise is to dismember people. this is not an accident. amy: abdullah alaoudh, what do you want to see happen right now? and what do you think would most affect the royal family and if saudi arabia? what would said a message the strongest? >> i want to make a few points here. one, saudi arabia is not mbs. if they want to come as blinken

said, once to still have some kind of relationship and partnership with saudi arabia, saudi arabia is not mbs. the saudi institutions -- i mean, there are a lot of alternatives within the royal family and all of them are actually in jail so they can start with releasing them and protecting them. that is one. second, i think sanctioning bs is by itself the strongest message. one, for accountability, and this is a rule of law and justice, and second for other actors within the saudi institution to rearrange the secession quarter and have somebody who does not have blood on their hands and look at the

mbs only in the past three years. he started the worst -- in yemen by waging a war. he blockaded for all of three years was a peep the prime minister of lebanon under house arrest. heat arrested -- he arrested lawyers, economists come and put them in jail. thiss only in the past three years. imagine if you file this man to be king? he is just a defect a ruler and still -- has changed four times only ithe past for five years, so it is still possible. it is somethi the united states can help with rearranging the secession by sanctioning mbs

and making it difficult for his team, for his force to just use the international stage as theater for their own operations. amy: commerce member khanna, kenny responded that, what you think the biden administration should do as biden is also addressing this today and the kind of message this sends to the world, to the credit of president biden, this report was released, the trumpet administration suppressed it. but following up on literally documented murder, the president moves on to say we're going to have travel restrictio and other members of the administration? >> i agree with what both of you have said. there is no way we caróhave a report released where there is direct implication of mbs

ordering the brutal killing of khashoggi. and we know all of his offenses internationally and continue to have him held with no countability. so sanctioning him, making it clear he inot allowed in the united states will hopefully have an impact on the saudis thinking about someone else in the royal family to assume adership. that is their decision, not our decision. but our decision is to make sure that mbs is held accountable. as i would argue, any person, head of state, senior leader around the world should be held accountable if they are directly implicated for murder and killing. amy: finally,b, if you can describe where your father is -- finally, abdullah alaoudh, if you can discover your father is now? >> he is in solitary confinement since 2017. he was arrested

after calling for reconciliation between saudi arabia. they tortured him. they deprived him of medications and sleep for a long time until he went really, really sick and was hospitalized a few times. lost half of his hearing and vision because of medical negligence. he was mistreated all along. all of the family -- 19 members of my own family were used against me to intimidate me and threatened me. and they froze my account, froze my passports, and asked me to go back to saudi arabia. they transferred my father to a specialized criminal court. they charged him with 37 charges, including corrupting thearth by seeking to change

the saudi monarchy and to democracy and having books band in the kingdom and being sarcastic about the government achievements very preposterous charges like these. they are seeking the death penalty and still seeking the death penalty against him because of these actions. amy: we will continue to follow your father's case as well. abdullah alaoudh, thank you for being with us, director for the gulf at don, democracy for the arab world now, speaking to us from washington, d.c., a friend of the late saudi arabian journalist, activist, dissident jamal khashoggi. ro khanna, we will ask you to stay with us as we will move on to talk about well president biden is leading mbs get away with murder, he is sending a very different message to iran. we will talk about the bombing, the u.s. bombing in syria. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: gaida singing "motherless child." this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman. we turn now to syria. the biden administration is cing intense criticism from -- after u.s. air force fighter jets bombed eastern syria on thursday. the pentagon claimed the strikes targeted iranian-backed militant groups. the london-based syrian observatory for human rights reports at least 22 people died. biden ordered the airstrike on the same day he spoke with the king of saudi arabia, iran's archrival in the region. according to the white house, biden committed on the call to helping saudi arabia defend its territory from iranian-aligned groups. the pentagon called the assault a response to recent rocket attacks on u.s. forces in northern iraq. those attacks came more than a year after iraq's parliament voted to expel u.s. troops -- an order that's been ignored by both trump and biden. on friday, biden was asked about the airstrikes.

pres. biden: you can't act with impunity. because all. amy: still with us is democratic congressmember ro khanna. we are also joined by trita parsi, executive vice president of the new thinktank, the quincy institute. his most recent book is titled "losing an enemy: obama, iran, and the triumph of diplomacy." trita parsi, can you respond to the attack, the u.s. bbing of syria? yes. the biden administration i think i himself specifically else strongly because of the attacks in iraqarliera respon was warranted. i think what many people are fearing is very quickly the biden administration is falling into the same old patterns of before, of responding to this without having a clear strategy that actually would extract us from these. conflicts and actually pave the way for much more productive diplomacy.

the idea this would help us with the diplomacy of iran for instance, seems difficult to understand, mindful of the fact we are now in a situation in which the iranians have rejected the europeans to come to the talks precisely because of these attacks because of other measures that have been done, which means these first two months of the biden administration that could have been used for really productively laying the groundwork for new talks instead have been used to fall into old patterns will stop this is quite concerning because at the end of the day, reviving the jcpoa is another promise the biden administration gave during the campaign that it would pursue diligently. amy: were you surprised by these attacks? explain exactly where they took place in syria. >> they took place in the eastern part of syria. rious groupthe biden administrati describ as pro-iranian, certainly seem to have a dree of sport fro iran under the command of iran.

it inot as clear, and at the end of the day, the fact this was said the se day as the biden administration decided not to pursue sanctions on bs again seems to suggest the biden administration is more concerned this point of making re it isot upset certa allies in the region, does not have accosted cost at home for pursuing compromise with iran over the nuclear issue -- which i think since i very concerning meage. at the end of the day, in ord forhe jcpoa to revised, bothranians d the u.s.ide haveo giveomprise and they' goi to have to paa polical pri at ho. e obama ministraon did s roani gornment did so. there no esping fm that. at this age we are already signaling we are not -- we're too concerned about is political cost, that since the question

mark as to whether the political will exist for single these negotiations on the nuclear program, to conclusion. amy: congressmber ro khanna, your response to the bbing of syria? >> the administration's actions are not -- are clearly illegal under the united states law and under international law. we do not have any authorization military force to go into syria. in fact, president obama tried to get them to back off the stuff we do not have any authorization of military force to attack iran. the idea this was an imminent attack on the a self-defense are simply not borne out by the facts. under international law, for self-defense, we have to go to the united nations. united nations do not do that. -- the united states did not do that. ran on respecting the united states and international law and these actions clearly violate

both. amy: trita parsi, you could talk about the year pan union, a rant rejecting an offer by the e.u. to hold direct talks with the u.s. on the nuclear deal, after the u.s. attack on eastern syria, the significance of this? >> it is very fortunat decision byhe iranians. i think it would have a better if they accepted this invitation. but at the same time, it inot a surprising decion. fact, one of president biden's own senior officls, sherman, who is now going to be confirmed next week to become the deputyecretarywas a leing negotiator under obama for the nuclear deal, said in 2019he idea of the iranis would come to the table and talk to the u.s. without some sanctions reliefmeaning e u.s. would continue to violate the jcpoa and yet the iranians would come, s extremely unlikely. it is not there to me why the

biden administration has chosen a strategy some of its own seor offials ear on had ed to bextremely unlely to succe. is not surprising. it is very negativ i know we are in a worse situation. they will tentially be a fight about whether the -- some of the reductions, obligations under the jcpoa whi t u.s. continues complety disrard its ligation e are althe typef wrong meures andteps sulbe tan at thistage of diplacy. athis st, thershould be goodill measus in ord to createhe best ssible circumstans for diplomacyo star nowere havg the opsite. amy: canou elain iran's dema the u. and sanctions before returning to negotiions? explaiwhat the.s. sancons agnst iranre andow they are afcting the pple.

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changed ump' pition a maximum preure. the u.soes noeven com backnto the al but mages to shifthe blame ont iranians this is pa of theifear. ingsanctionsompletelis unreistic. but thiraniansre demanng the s. se promisonce u. isnside e deal, iwill liv sanctis. s is diflt to sehow the u.s. cou reject -- ce it is side theeal, it so sanctions or iwill be compleiolation. am ro khan come ifou can talk abo the timinof this attack al week e buildu of e rease of t rept on the murder okhashogg a the ear conctiono mbs, hammed b salman,he crown princef saudi abia, sall that wa buildin then prident bin says hes eaking wh the kinand they

talk autefendi saudi's border and just beforthe relee of eeport,hey bombyria and they tk aboutttacki iraniabacked mitias, t major emy of sai abia. n you reond to ts, this idea ty are reasing aeport that pros the muer of khhoggi, behind iis the crown prce of sai arabia but they doaudi arab's biing? >> this ishy the cstitutn says beforpresidentakes ese actis, have come to congress those isss would ve bee debate qutions wod have bn asked. ishis inny way respoe to nversatis withhe saudi whdo we ed to take this action now? why do we suddenly feel there is an imminent threat? is this action going to be expiratory?

how is a military strike d escalatory? iran's enriched unium was about one hundred two kilograms when president trump office. it is 2.5 tons now. it is 25 times more repeating this continued strategy not only has implications for staying entangled in the middle east, it has -- the challenges in view in the united states somehow actions are going to force regime change in iran. if anything, they are entrenchg the regime. we need a totally different approach. amy: i want to thank you both for being with us. trita parsi, thank you for joining us. with the quincy institute. i also want to thank ro khanna and ask you to stay with us because a lot has happened in the house, where you are a

member from california. we want to ask about the $1.9 trillion pandemic relief package. the house has included the $15 hour minimum wage, but it will be stripped out. we want your response to that and other issues. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "minimum wage" by they might be giants. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman. in a party line vote, the house voted saturday to pass president biden's $1.9 trillion pandemic relief package, which includes $1400 stimulus checks to people who make less than $75,000 a year, as well as funding for expanded unemployment insurance, vaccination programs, school re-openings, and more relief for small businesses. the package also includes a measure to increase the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 an hour, which could now be ripped o as it hds to th sena after t un-elted nate pliamentaan ruledt

do not comy withudget rules around reconciliation. in response to the senate parliamentarian declaring last week concluding that $15 hour minimum wage increase in the package goes against the rules of reconciliation, senators bernie sanders and ron wyden said they will push for an amendment to penalize large companies that pay workers less than $50 an hour. democratic senators joe manchin of west virginia and kyrsten sinema of arizona have also said they will oppose the $50 an hour minimum wage, despite the fact that people out there states support was not the white house said biden would respect that parliamentarian's decision and the senate's process. progressives are pushing back on this approach. for more, we go to ro khanna, democratic congressmember from california. your response to what happened? and explain exactly what this part of the bill is that you passed in the house and what is going happen in the senate.

>> at the heart of what democrats stand for is giving working-class americans i'm a middle-class americans a raise. a minimum wage is $7.25. i don't know any part of this country were someone can survive on 70 $.25. the bill we passed says it needs to be raised to $15 an hour. it is a gradual raising. it is not until 2024. many states will already have $15 laws. as you pointed out, this is popular in both blue and red states. florida passed recently a $15 minimum wage. the reality is that we will not be able to get this done unless we do it through reconciliation or eliminating the filibuster. we simply do not have 10 republican bones. that is why we believe we ed toave this pa of th renciliatiackagen the nate the parliamenrian in my view gave a false opinion in this

case. i believe the minimum wage clearly has a budget impact. if you raise people's wages, they will pay more taxes. mr. lee has more of a budget impact than the repeal of the aca had which the parliamentarian ruled is reconciliation. this is why ultimately belongs to the senate chair, either the vice president are some of the vice president designates. there is precedence for not listening to the parliamentarian's advice. we are hopeful the vice president or whoever is in the senate chair will do that and in this case. amy: explain exactly what can happen and what that precedent was. >> parliamentarian, listening to his entire testimony on youtube video, basically said hubert humphrey disregarded the promontory and when he was vice president. nelson rockefeller in 1975 famously disregarded the parliamentarian to bring the

threshold required for overcoming filibuster from 67 votes, which is what it used to be, down to 60. we see carly there is a pattern of the vice president overturning or disregarding the parliamentarian, especially when there are procedural issues regarding the filibuster. the vice president here can do the same thing or whoever is in the senate chair, and that would allow the $15 minimum wage to be in the package. people say, you already have a couple of senators are going to vote against it anyway. first of all, people often say one thing. it is very different to vote against the president's first major initiative. i don't think -- secondly, we're going to have compromise for negotiation was senators, disagree with the $15, you first have to relate in so they haven't to negotiate, understanding and can be part of the reconciation package. amy: you people like raphael

warnock who won the perhaps have to run again in two years, from georgia, wildly popular in georgia, $50 an hour. you have mark kelly come arizona, popular in arizona. he also runs again in two years. the significance of these congressmembers, the senators like mentioned where it is popular, he is proposing $11 an hour minimum wage. but this is bipartisan, multi-partisan, $50 an hour is supported across the country. >> it is. it is a moral issue. i think people recognize the extraordinary wealth generation, especially in the pandemic. silicon valley, many have done extraordinarily well because of the digitization of the economy. trains are dollars that we can afford for every person to make at least $15 minimum wage. that can be and should be the floor. this is one of the few issues that has raw support across the

political spectrum -- broad support across the political spectrum. it is something we must deliver on because it will help us mobilize people that we need to continue to maintain our majority continue to succeed politically. amy: what that means for democrats to maintain a majority is respond -- politico shows 76% of americans, more than three quarters of americans, back the overall bill, including 60% of republicans. but not a republican voted for it. that goes larger than the $15 an hour. i want to ask you about what other means of getting that passed it into stripped out of the senate bill? >> there really only two means of getting $15. one is to make sure it is in reconciliation. if it is not come into have to be in a second reconciliation. at any point, it requires

disregarding the parliamentarian. so either you have to overturn the parliamentarian or you have to eliminate the filibuster. otherwise, they're simply not a path to getting $15 minimum wage. amy: what does eliminating the filibuster mean? >> it means it would take a 51 vote -- 51 votes to pass any major bill in the senate. right now it takes 60 votes. there's a brilliant book which explains -- i did not understand the history of the filibuster, but it explains it was an invention of calun who used the 60 vote requirement to do the bidding of the slave states and then it was invoked time and time again in the civil rights era to block civil rights legislation. as i pointed out, it is ironic that nelson rockefeller overruled the parliamentarian to try to lower the impact of the

filibuster from 67 votes to 60. at this history of the libuster being tied to jim crow is important and highlights why need to overturn it. reverend barber, was talking to him recently, said this is a moral issue of our time. the people who are often most affected and low wages are black d brown, many women. this is an issue of justice. we cannot let these procedures std in the w of whatsust d right. amy: d you thi the $15n our proposal will die if its not inuded i t senate w, the senate bill? >> i'm never going to concede defeat and we ll continue to fit. the next fight would be the next reconciliation but i think this is a moment to act. this is our best chance for the reason you mention. there are a lot of good things in this well. they have a per state and local

government, for schools to be openfor vaccinations, for children in poverty. a bill that is so popular, that is our best chance of having minimum wage, part of it at the height of the presidents population, approval it is first 100 days is all in the best chance to get meaningful legislation. while the bill instruments in many ways, and i voted for it and i will vote for the final package, whatever is in it, but the important thing is the $15 minimum wage is not just one year. it represents a role toward structural change about an a economy that is for people. that is the question, do you believe we need structural change in america for those left behind? i do. amy: ro khanna, thank you for been with us, democratic congress member from california, member of the house committee on oversight and reform. as we ended today show in burma, where mass protests continued today after at least 18 people were killed in anti-coup protests sunday, the deadliest

day since the february 1 military coup which deposed and detained de facto leader aung san suu kyi. police fired live ammunition into crowds as burmese forces steadily escalate their crackdown. one local group says 1000 people were arrested sunday including journalists and medical professionals. sunday's bloodshed followed the firing of burma's ambassador to the united nations after he denounced the military coup. >> we need the struggles possible action from the international community to immediately end the military coup come to stop pressing the people, to return the state power to the people, and to restore democracy. amy: for more, we go to london where we are joined by maung zarni, burmese scholar, dissident, human rights activists, and co-founder of the forces of renewal for southeast

asia or for-see, a grassroots network of pro-democracy scholars and human rights activists across southeast asia. welcome back to democracy now! describe what happened over the weekend. >> well, the coup group and the tire security sector, including the hard-core divisions and the police force intelligence network have essentially terrorized entire population. amy, i think we nd to redefine what is happening in burma as the otest agnst the military coup, by the new military dictatorship. i have lived under the first military dictatorship for 25 years. i have seen nothing, despite all of the repressions going on around me and the whole society, i have seen absolutely nothing like what is happening. we have a situation where the

military coup group has unleashed unprecedented terror -- not simply against people protesting against a few, but people inside homes, people just standing by and not getting involved in street protests. something unprecedented happened. the elected body called the committee representing people -- sorry, people representing the parliament declared the coup group terrorists. i have been pointing this terroristic aspect of the regime and this committee representing the entire body of elected mps not allowed to take the seats and of the parliament on the first of february, calling this group terrorists. that followed another unprecedented act at united nations general assembly

briefing by the official representative declaring and characterizing the military as the existential threat to the country and the people. we have a next-door and your situation in burma. not simply clashes between demonstrators and the armed forces. amy: we just got word that aung san suu kyi, the nobel laureate, appeared in court today. she is one of those that was detained, very much lost a lot of that human rights -- are world-renowned status as a human rights leader because of her stance on the rohingya, standing against the rohingya. but there she was in court. the significance of this? >> well, amy, aung san suu kyi has remained an iconic and pivotal and indisputably the

most widely popular burmese politician within the majority. to a degree, have a critical elemen -- hypocritical element to defend aung san suu kyi when she failed to defend the gecide victims, the rohingya people. however, what needs to happen with aung san suu kyi, as well as the societies revolting against the entire security sector, the armed forces and the police and all the rest, is we need to decouple whatever aung san suu kyi's criminal responsibility culpability in international law what respect to the genocide against the rohingya. as you know, there is a proceeding going on at the

international justice. gambia challenging the state of -- for violating the terms of the genocide convention. we need to decouple aung san suu kyi and her role in the genocide from the people's popular democratic will on the grounds that people have the democratic right pick their own government and to revolt against to radical regime, which we have -- tyrannical regime, which we have in burma. we need to look at the external actors beyond aung san suu kyi and mystic politics that are involved in enabling and protecting this regime -- the public have decided to call terrorist group. at 3:00 in the morning in the

u.k., i woke up, that is like 9:30 in the morning, i saw taliban-type situation, infantry divisions firing on the empty streets and people screaming inside their homes. we need to look at particularly china's support of this regime and also look at singapore's financing and investing. there are a lot of things that need to be unpacked. china flying what is considered to be sovereign -- i would estimate 5000 and 10,020 special forces have been flown in an unmarked aircraft carriers

from the nearest province of china into burma. in anticipation, perhaps paranoid, on the part of the burmese government or military that the u.s. might militarily intervene. these are really, really relevant issues in international law. amy: what do you think the u.s. should do? >> well, president joe biden, i campaign for it online because what happens in e united states matters around the world, particular matters for democratic struggles, particularly burma and other places -- amy: we have 10 seconds. >> i think biden should put his money where his mouth is. he says democracy needs to be defended at the security conference 10 days a and burmese people, millis are out risking their lives and biden

needs to follow up with actions. amy: maung zarni, thanks for being with us, burmese scholar and dissident, joining us from london. that does it for today's show. that does it for today's show. [captionxxk[=.

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