12/08/21 12/08/21 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> i will tell you as president by looked at president putin in the eye, things we did not do in 2014, we are prepared to do now. amy: the united states is threatening new sanctions against russia if it invades ukraine. we will look at the virtual summit between biden and putin and why russia fears nato's expansion in eastern europe.

then to columbia university, where 3000 student workers are on strike. >> many students, my parents are writing angry letters to th adnistration. the universitoutright said they could easily afford to pay us but they don't want to cause they top think it is "pdent." and that kind of miserlyness is responsible for undergraduates not receiving the education they paid for. amy: we will speak to a student a professor. plus, we will talk to an animal rights activist who has just been convicted on felony charges of burglary and larceny for rescuing a sick baby goat from a goat meat farm during a 2018 direct action livestreamed on the web. >> one of the reasons we're doing this today is we want to show the world. these animals don't deserve to die. they deserve a chance at life. we believe killing an animal

intentionally is cruel. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. presidents joe biden and vladimir putin held a two-hour virtual meeting tuesday amid mounting tension over the military build-up at the russia-ukraine border. national security adviser jake sullivan spoke to reporters following the call. >> he told president putin directly of russia further invades ukraine, the united states and our european allies would respond. amy: russia blamed escalating tensions on western powers and reiterated opposition to any plans for nato to expand in eastern europe. we'll have more on this story after headlines with the nation's katrina vanden heuvel.

the house passed a $768 billion military budget tuesday in a 363-to-70 vote. the sum is $24 billion higher than what was requested by president biden, despite withdrawing this year from the u.s.'s longest war in afghanistan. the package includes funds aimed at countering china's power and to build ukraine's military strength. it also includes nearly $28 billion in nuclear weapons funding. separately, the senate voted down a bipartisan bid by senators bernie sanders, rand paul, and mike lee to halt $650 million in u.s. arms sales to saudi arabia amid the vastating ongoing war on yemen. the house select committee investigating the january 6 capitol insurrection said they would pursue criminal contempt charges against mark meadows if he fails to show up for a deposition today. cnn is reporting the house

committee has formally subpoenaed phone records for over 100 people, including mark meadows. meanwhile, former trump adviser steve bannon's contempt of congress trial has been set for july 18. an early south african study on the omicron coronavirus variant finds people who received the pfizer vaccine could still be vulnerable to breakthrough infection, though a third booster shot appears to offer greater protection. early data has not shown omicron causes more severe illness and health officials have reaffirmed widespread vaccination is the best protection against covid-19. in other health news, the u.s. surgeon general on tuesday warned young people are facing a devastating mental health crisis, compounded by the ongoing pandemic. young people have reported higher rates of depression and anxiety, and emergency room visits for suicide attempts went up by over 50% for adolescent girls in early 2021 compared to figures from 2019.

french authorities have arrested a saudi man who is suspected of involvement in "washington post" columnist jamal khashoggi's 2018 assassination. khalid aedh al-otaibi was detained at a pariairport as he prepared to fly to riya. but saudi officials say the man is not the suspect in question and simply has the same name as a former member of the saudi royal guard implicated in the disappearance and killing at the saudi consulate in istanbul. last year, a saudi court jailed eight people for the murder but rights groups and lawmakers say the plot's masterminds, including crown prince mohammed bin salman, have not faced justice. chile has legalized same-sex marriage after years of organizing and political pressure. the legislation also recognizes adoption and other parental rights of same-sex couples and full spousal benefits. this is senator álvaro elizalde of chile's socialist party. >> i believe that this is a

historic and relevant date. this victory is the result of years of struggle, fight, and forts which and to not only modify the law, but also change the culture. amy: the historic vote came as chileans prepare to cast ballots in a presidential run-off on december 19. the race pits progressive former student activist gabriel boric against far-right josé antonio kast, who has opposed lgbtq rights during his time as a lawmaker. in a landmark ruling last week, ecuador's constitutional court said plans to mine for copper and gold in a protected cloud forest are unconstitutional and violates the rights of nature. the case involved mining permits that were issued in los cedros, a protected area in northwestern ecuador, which the high court argued would harm the precious and unique biodiversity of the forest. los cedros also stretches into parts of peru and colombia. the rights of nature are enshrined in ecuador's constitution. in burundi, a massive fire in an

overcrowded prison killed at least 38 people,njuring dons more. the blaze was caused by an electrical short-circuit according to burundi's interior minister. rohingya refugees are suing facebook's parent company meta over its failure to stop violent hate speech on its platform, which contributed to the bloody military crackdown of the rohingya muslim community by the burmese military in 2017. law firms in the u.s. and u.k. launched the legal effort on behalf of the rohingya community around the world, including in bangladeshi refugee camps. plaintiffs are demanding over $150 billion in damages. the u.n. found as many as 10,000 rohingya were killed by burmese forces during the 2017 genocide, though some estimates put the death toll at more than twice that number. another 730,000 people were forced to fully burma. in financial news, the world inequality lab found the world's billionaires saw their net worth grow exponentially during the pandemic by more than $3.6

trillion in 2020 alone, while 100 million more people were pushed into extreme poverty. the report also found that since 1995, the world's richest 1% claimed 38% of all new wealth, as the poorest half of the global population benefited from just 2%. in washington d.c., immigrant justice advocates were joined by progressive lawmakers as they rallied to demand congress and president biden include a path to citizenship in the build back better reconciliation bill. this is hwangchan yu with the hana center in chicago, who immigrated to the u.s. as a child. >> in this rare moment, we can use the process to take a step forward. we need our full lives. that means fighting for citizenship through registry and that means disregarding the parliamentarian. immigrants are essential and we make this country exist in the first place.

we aren't compromising our lives. that is the bottom line. amy: an investigation by house democrats into the medical abuse and forced sterilization of immigrants detained at the irwin county detention center from the doctor who performed unnecessary gynecological treatme and surgeries did not meet acceptable standards of care. the investigation also signaled the doctor may have performed invasive procedures to inflate payment from the government and "defraud the department of homeland security and the federal government without consequences." the senate confirmed tucson police chief chris magnus as the next head of customs and border protection. magnus has faced criticism for his handling of the tucson police shooting of 27-year-old carlos ingram lopez, who died in april 2020 after police pinned him face-down to the ground for 12 minutes at his grandmother's house. tucson police did not disclose ingram-lopez's killing until june.

the senate also voted to confirm jessica rosenworcel as chair of the federal communications commission, the first woman to serve as permanent chair of the agency. digital rights activists welcomed the news. she was a fierce critic of the trump-era repeal of net neutrality protections. last month, jonathan kanter, one of the nation's leading anti-monopoly experts, was confirmed to head the justice department's antitrust division. the senate also unanimously confirmed charles "chuck" sams iii in november as the first ever native american national park service director. sams is a member of the cayuse and walla walla tribes of the umatilla nation. the white house announced tuesday salad tomorrow the withdrawn her nomination to become control of the currency after opposition from republicans and some conservative democrats. she grew up in soviet kazakhstan an came to the u.s. in 1991. during heronfirmation hearing, the louisiana republican john kennedy accused her of loyalty

to the communist party. she uld have been the first immigrant, first woman, first person of color to fill the role. democratic congressmembers jan schakowsky and nanette diaz barragán reintroduced the future generations protection act. the bill, which has 21 other co-sponsors and is backed by a slew of environmental grou, would ban fracking, block new fossil fuel power plants, and ban crude oil and natural gas exports. in business news, the billionaire ceo of a digital mortgage company better.com is under fire after video circulated of him laying off 900 staffers, about 15% of its workforce, during a zoom call. >> if you are on this call, you are part of the unlucky group being laid off. your employment here is terminated effective immediately.

amy: ceo vishal garg reportedly accused some of the fired employees of working just two hours a day. soft bank, which backs better.com, had agreed to a $750 million cash injection as it undergoes a merger and garg received a $25 million bonus last year. and journalist, music writer, and cultural critic greg tate has died. he was 64 years old. he has been described as the "godfather of hip-hop journalism." tate started writing for "the village voice" in 1987, where for years he told stories about black culture and identity. he went on to write for "rolling stone," the bbc, and other outlets. in 1992, he published his first book, "flyboy in the buttermilk: essays on contemporary america." he co-founded the black rock coalition, a group that fought against stereotypes of black artists. greg tate's latest piece was published by "the nation" in september, an analysis of current black cultural landscape through the lens of

afropessimism, by frank b. wilderson iii. tate wrote -- "james baldwin said, 'to be a negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in a state of rage almost, almost all of the time.' but what he didn't say was that, on a good day, it is mostly a sublimated state of rage since folk got bills to pay and sanity to keep." and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman in new york, joined by my co-host juan gonzález in new brunswick, new jersey. hi, juan. ju: hi, amy. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. amy: the united states is threatening to impose new economic sanctions and other measures if russia invades ukraine. president biden issued the warning tuesday during a two-hour virtual summit with russian president vladimir putin. the talks were held amid growing tension between the two countries over the expansion of

nato in eastern europe and russia's deployment of tens of thousands troops along the border of ukraine. after the summit, president biden's national security advisor jake sullivan spoke to reporters. >> president biden was direct and straightforward with president putin. he reiterated america's support for ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. he told president putin if russia further invades ukraine, united states and our european allies would respond with strong economic measures. we would provide additional defensive material to the ukrainians above and beyond that which we are already providing. we would fortify our nato allies on the eastern flank with additional capabilities in response to such an escalation. he also told president putin there's another option, de-escalation and diplomacy. amy: russian president vladimir putin also spoke after the virtual summit and repeated his opposition to nato's expansion in eastern europe.

>> by the way, the threat on her western borders really grows. we have talked about it repeatedly. look how close the russian borders come. we take it more than seriously. speaking to the united states and its allies, we would insist on reaching certain agreements that prevent makes an the nato to the east and deploying weapons and threatening to us close to russia. amy: to talk more about the biden-putin summit and other issues, we are joined by katrina vanden heuvel, the editorial director and publisher of "the nation" magazine. also a columnist for "the washington post." she has been reporting from russia for the last 30 years. welcome back to democracy now! >> thank you, amy. thank you, juan. amy: can you start off by responding to what happened yesterday i talked about the escalation of tension on the

russian-ukraine border? >> absolutely. this escalation is not new. it goes back -- we have a one-sided narrative which is a problem because we have not followed a growing mass of nato troops on ukraine-russia's border. the escalation is nether in the united states or security interest at a time when politics , political solution, diplomatic solution is the only way forward. got to go back. history matters. you mentioned nato expansion. in 1990, gorbachev presided over the agreement -- reunification of germany and james baker promised not one-inch eastward. nato would not expand one-inch eastward. that is documented.

it was violated. i think that is the original sin of what we witnessed today. it is hard for americans to understand nato expansion and what it means to russia, having a mass of nato troops on a border. we are so -- the warsaw pact, the military or lien counter to nato, collapsed. it is a military organization. in addition, the united states has spent about $2.5 billion in drones and whatever nonlethal means, weapons, so in addition to looking at russia's troops, lived a look at the other side of the story which is also naval and air provocations in the last month. nuclear bomber flying 12 miles from russia's border. this is not reported in the

united states media. it is in the military press. but i think you need at the full-page point to understand -- full-page point to understand what we are witnessing a possibility way forward is we need de-escalation in a diplomatic political solution. there is no military solution. president biden is not sending american men and women to fight in ukraine. that is a crazy evation a problem that can be solved diplomatically. juan: i wanted to ask you precisely about the issue of the failure to report the u.s. buildup in the region. you are mentioning the military press. he reported on october 30, u.s. us porter entered the black sea. about a week later, the uss whitney in the sixth fleet indicated more were going into the black sea. this is tantamount to a chinese or russian military ship buildup

on the gulf mexico. could you talk as well about the increased arms sales that have occurred from united states, and even the fact u.s. advisors are training ukrainian troops in the western ukraine right now? so the buildup is not just on the russian side, is it? >> no. this goes ba to the one-sided narrative that permit sort of the cold war media establishment to portray it as a one-sided situation. we need to understand this has a history. ukraine has a long significance to russia. the underreporting of u.s. involvement is a disservice to american people because they are getting cash picked up the papers this morning and it is russian aggression, russian aggression. there is russian aggression, but

also u.s. complicity with drones, as you said, whatever nonlethal weapons are. obama, to his credit, held up shipments. trump went back and forth most up biden has moved forward. you do have a danger here of a president who is doing some good things at home but seems commitd to the old cold war tropes and driving russia and china together, not making america more secure nor is he using his resources to not partner with but work with russ on a mutual interest such as climate, nuclear. clinton secretary of defense has we are the closest to military works is the cuban missile crisis. these are important issues that are getting obscured in the united states, in some ways in russia complicit. this is a civil war which has become a proxy war between the united states, russia, nato.

so i think we need to step back before there could be an accidental escalation. so that is where i think we are done a disservice. as you at democracy now! know very well and we at "the nation" know if you do not get the full debate, the full range of views, you're not learning what is going on and that is our role, to really dig deep. juan: could you talk about the role of the european union in this? clearly, the biden administration has been signaling with russia does send its troops into ukraine, there will be many more -- considerable more sanctions this time around, specifically, on this nord stream 2 gas pipe at russia's building? but the reality is, already europe depends on russia for close to 40% of all of its

natural gas needs. is there separation of interests to some degree beten the european union and the united states on how to deal with russia? >> absolutely. first of all, i think our foreign policy has become one of sanctions-reach. and i'm not just talking about russia. the expansion of sanctions could well drive a wedge, growing wage between the european union, the united states, russia, and drive russia more closely tied to china. you have a new government in germany. i believe nord stream 2 has been approved yet german regulators still need to sign off. there's no question that it is a way of russia moving around other gas streams. but there are other sanctions and play, too. the most drastic 1 -- recklessly

talked about -- removing russia from the swift global banking system. i don't know enough about it except it will drive russia work closely to china a alternative forms of currency. but i do think the sanctions overreach is something that -- again, we should be trying to work together, not as friends necessarily, but as working partners. it is such a waste of resources. you talk about russian troops amassing. they are already there. we know that. there is a diplomatic resolution, which the quincy instute wrote about in "the nation" cover story a week or so ago which is this minsk accord which the u.n. and the united states endorsed in 2015. it would bring together -- you were talking about european allies. it would bring together germany,

russia, ukraine, a role for the united nations, and it wou essentially demilitarized the eastern part of ukraine and return federal language rights, which has been a big issue. it would possibly put crimea into a u.n.-moderated referendum situation, but not clear at all. minsk is a way forward that would reduce tensions, that would lead toward a better situation in ukraine. what is not reported, again, are very rarely, 13,000 lives have been lost in this proxy war stop and i think we owe it to families, others in ukraine to try to find a way to halt this military conflict. amy: it is not only biden. looks like democratic house of representatives is going in the same direction. passing the 768 balloon dollar

military budget -- $768 billion military budget, higher than requested from biden, and some of that money will be going to countering china's power, building up the nuclear weapons arsenal, and sending weapons to ukraine. >> this is such a tragedy. i moment that we have slowly emerged from a pandemic, the idea more money for nuclear weapons, which is in this bill, how to nuclear weapons relate dealing with pdemics? we need to iest in the existential crises producing these crises -- climate, nukes, pandics. i think congrs -- there is a reduce the defense budget. very good voices. but what we need in this country, on the eve of the democracy summit biden has

called, which has a cold war feel to it, we need to understand our democracy is on a ventilator. and we need to rebuild our home to get our act in order at home before we can go out preaching to other countries. i think we have seen a revival of this national security strategy where we may russia and china enemies. they are not going to be friends, but usual interest demand of working partnership. i feel for reasons we could spend another show on is slipping away unless we wake up and understand it simply sober realism. that we are not going to send men and women to ukraine. that we need a short out a relationship with russia. and those demand a full robust debate, which you do have on democracy now!, but the

one-sided coverage -- it is not even commentary -- in that u.s. media about u.s.-russia, i think is debilitating and dangerous for our security. amy: katrina vanden heuvel, you talk about the democracy slipping away. it is something also that the russian journalist dmitry muratov is talking about, who will receive the nobel peace prize on friday, along with a filipino journalist maria russ. you have known him for many years. he is warning people about the descent into pacifism around the world. -- fascism around the world. can you talk about his role? >> he founded his newspaper and a cafeteria 30 years ago stuck it has remained the independent voice that has survived, has done some of the most extraordinary investigations into prison conditions come into

corruption. it is paper of humanism. that he survives six of his journalists that have been killed is a testament to his strength, his resilience, and his ability to navigate a system that is not ask most as some americans think, but demands a commitment to democracy. gorbachev, the on recipient of a nobel peace prize in the last century, is part supporter of the newspaper. it has trained a new generation of investigative reporters, mostly women, and i think it will survive because it has this great spirit. that he won the nobel peace prize and maria ressa, who i know a little, is a testament to the journalism needed in these times that is so connected to this future possibilities of a democracy that is under siege everywhere, including in our country. amy: katrina vanden heuvel,

thank you for being with us, editorial director and publisher of "the nation" magazine she is also a columnist for "the washington post." has reported on russia for the last 30 years. next up, the largest strike in the united states is here in new york city at columbia university. they have called on unions to help them shut down the school today. we will speak with a striking student worker and a professor who supports them. stay with us. ♪♪ [musibreak]

amy: "solidarity forever." students on strike for a fair contract. this is democracy now! i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. the largest strike in united states is happening right now here in new york city at columbia university. 3000 student workers, graduate and undergraduate, are facing down the private university. they are in their fifth week of the strike. columbia has the right to replace them all and they do not return to work by friday. this is paul broun. he is speaking monday at a protest on campus. >> ainistrators take a sick day,othi really happens. but if i grad stude takes i the day or aacility rson takea sick day, clses would

ve to be cceled anstuff like that. i gue its reorienng the peeptionrom the lturof gradte schooroike were to sdents, wshould bglad toe hererespecng the labor we put into the institution. amy: on monday, many columbia faculty members walked out of their classes in a show of solidarity with the striking student workers and joined the picket line on the campuses iconic college walk. this is english professor jack halberstam. >> i think it important university understand that this isn't just about the demands you are making, which, by the way, are utterly reasonable demands post cost-of-living raise most of what is the problem? dental care -- someone who would into debt for root canals, as a graduate student, yes, please. dental care. these are absolutely basic. in

the difficult issue of third-party arbitration. i think i understand more about that after the meeting yesterday. what i think is helpful is just to remind ourselves there is a larger context within which this strike takes place. we are with you. we stand with you. see you. we fight alongside you. to faculty allies i say, this is our fight. this is our university. this is our chance to say no to the corporate university here and now. this is not goldman sachs. amy: professor jack halberstam will be joining us in minute. today the student workers are calling on others to help them shut down the university from 8:00 to 6:00 i not crossing the picket line. they're asking professors and students not to go to classes, not to hold classes. one of their slogans is "new york is still a uniontown and

member of other units are expected to join and solidarity. for more, we're joined the professor jack halberstam, professor of english and gender studies at columbia university. and by johannah king-slutzky, a phd student in the english and comparative literature department at columbia university. rank and file member of student workers of columbia. let's begin with you. this is the largest strike in the united states that is going on right now. can you tell us why you're striking? it is nothe first strikey the columbia students this year. klux that's right. thank you for having me on this program. this is our second strike this year. we struck last spring as well. we have basic demands. our iority contract articles ares jack mentioned in the speech that you all just heard, a raise so we need

cost-of-living standards. we have lower income compared to cost-of-living that any peer institution. we are also asking for health care that includes vision and dental benefits. we are asking r protections against sexual harassment and discrimination. and we are asking for full unit recognition for any member who the national labor relations board said should be able to join. the university has been trying to keep out some of our legal members. we are really motivated, as professor jack halberstam said, we see ourselves as part of the broader labor movement, both in higher education, which has been facing administrative overreach. and in the labor movement overall. juan: could you talk about what precisely the student workers do at columbia and what the

university's respoe has been to your demands? >> yeah. student workers, we are i think the majority of workers or at least instructional workers and research workers at the university. we are the ones who do the research that wins grant money for the university. we are teachers. we are teaching assistas, research assistants. i teach my own class. many of my colleague teach the same class as a professor would teach. we'rehe ones who have the most face time with the undergraduates who are paying coluia's bills paying tuition. juan: increasingly, as many universities have got increasingly to student workers and contingent lectures instead of faculty to teach most of their courses? >> it is a he problem and the high education movement, but

there haseen a real ship towardsiring contingent faculty, meaning people at the university can replace quickly and easily. they have very few rights. they make much less income. graduate workers as well are facing a similar onslaught. in many ways, it feels like we are lambs being led to the slaughter. we feel like there's a good chance that we are going to become one of these adjunct or contingent faculty members after we graduate. that is one of the reasons we are motivated in this fight. we really see this as telling administrators, telling universities that have billions and billions of dollars in reserve they could easily afford to pay graduate workers, undergrads who p.a., they can afford to pay us a living wage. they set out right taken afford it and i jt don't think it is prudent, that i don't want to.

if you can afford to pay us living wage, i don't really understand why one of my colleagues, whether they are a grad worker or an adjunctf a professor should have to do things liknot takeis son t the dentist beuse we don't get dentaloverage or we d'make engh money to pay for dental coverage out-of-pocket. amy: i want to read in email from the david driscoll, the vice president of lumbia university come to over 3000 students last week. it has been made public. a reason in part -- "in order to plan coverage for the spring term in a timely fashion, the following categories of student officers will receive their letter in the normal course: student officers who are currently working as shown by their attestations, students who are not currently on appointment, or student officers who are currently on strike but return to work by december 10, as shown by their attestation for the current pay period. please note that striking student officers who return to work after december 10, 2021

will be appointed/assigned to suitable positions if available. can you respond to it the university is doing? and talk about the significance of this day and the action growing ever larger. >> that email, the language sounds bland by it was very alarming. what they're saying is they are planning to replace those of us who remainn strike to the end of the week. this is an illegal form of retaliation. we are on an unfair labor practice strik which procts us from our labor beg permanently replaced yet they're threatening to do that very thing. it is frightening because it is illegal but the university has a much greater megaphone, much more power than we do, and it is easy for them to get away with legal activity likthat. so w a shuttindown caus todato kin of tell t

univerty that we and oth unions in the city and faculty we areot ok wi them jt bullzing ove us. it is t only illeg, but unjust t fire people likee. i stand to lose my job, my apintment,y teaching appoinent. i have my owclass i am supposed to teach next semester and may n have class returno becau i have been exercising my legally protected right to withhold my labor. we are having a massive cket for those who are in new york city, you're welcome to come down tour campus and join us in the picket. it will be a very joyful experience. we are asking every student and every faculty member not to cross the picket by attending class or holding class. as paul and the speech you guys shared, when the teachers, which graduate students like me when

we shut down, when we stop working, the university grinds to a halt and we really want to ma that clear. juan: i would like to brg in professor jack halberstam into the conversation, professor of english and gender studies at columbia university. could you talk about the faculty response to the strike? my understanding is columbia's endowment right now is a little over $14 million. an increase about $3 billion in the past year of the pandemic. could you talk about the ability of the university to meet the demands of the strikers? >> thank you juan,. johannah has been very eloquent about the fact university can meet the demands of the students but chooses not to. despite the fact the university said it was going into a kind of

financial freefall during covid, it turns out that along with many other corporate stakeholders, universities did very well during covid on the stock market. some people suggest the endowment grew by $3.1 billion. we were all asked to share in austerity measures during covid. but as often happens with corporate entities, people e not asked to share in the profits once the financial crisis is over. what the students are saying is new york is an incredibly expensive place to live, and you're supposed to be offered a graduate education that does not put you in debt. student debt right now is a tremendous burden on this generation of intellectuals. they are also looking at a future in which, as johannah

said, their labor has been meted out to adjuncts who have no protection, very few benefits, no opportunity to save for retirement. so we are bankrupting a whole generation in order to provide more profits for the university. apart from anything else, it is unethical. the faculty response and the humanities and social sciences has been strong and supportive, but there is not the same response across the university. i think many of us recognize that the university does not value the work that goes on in the humanities, in particular, the same way of values the work in the professional schools, which then return money to the system in many, many different forms. so what we the faculty are concerned about is a larger project of downsizing the humanities, the place where

people get trained to think critically about the world they live in and to think radically about how to transform it, and the grad students are absolutely aware of this and are fighting this battle on many fronts. they expected 37 faculty at the rally the other day. there are over 100 people. over 100 faculty. many of them, very prominent faculty with real political commitments to this strike. amy: can you tell us about the letter that was sent to the columbia college dean james valenti where culty expressed their view that the lack of graduate student labor has harmed undergraduate education and that these harms will be exacerbated if the strike is not resolved? some of them are talking about not being able to grade the students and parents now weighing in. can you talk about what it means to teach and be a student at columbia right now?

>> graduate student labor is the invisible labor of the university. graduate students to everythi behindhe scenes for the class. i am teaching a class right now with 90 students and three ta's. without the ta's, i field upwards of 40 emails budget. office hours are not held, papers are not graded. what johannah said is important, which is a lot of the teaching at columbia is done by graduate students. some people who are paying $50,000, $60,000 a year often are being taught by a student instructor who receives $30,000 a year. they are not being taught by the nobel prize-winning professor upon whose reputation columbia rest. they're often being taught by graduate students who are

underpaid and undervalued. the faculty have become very frustrated by the way the administration is not giving us reasons for why they won't settle with the student workers. that is spurring these -- that is what is motivating these letters. people are saying, hey, maybe i wouldn't even support the university. but what is the university's position? nobody really knows. no message has gone out other than of we don't want to respond to this." it is very frustrating as a professor, very frustrating. juan: professor halberstam, you continue there for many years. how does this strike compared to other protests that have come and got at the university while you have been there? >> i've only been at columbia for five years. but there is a long history as the professor said the other day

at the rally. along history of protest going back tonight said 68 when students protested segregation and protested university support of the vietnam war. those were very powerful protests involving hunger strikes. leading to the creation of some of the programs and a and ethnicity at columbia. amy: we have to end with the person you are speaking to, professor halberstam, juan gonazlez was one of the leaders of that strike in 1968. juan: i remember it well. quite anatomist of her time before she became a much decorated professor and historian. it is critical i think that that ev some of the major professors of those days, people like eric bentley and robert

bruce team were big supporters of the students and they helped quite a bit and keeping our morale going to be able to merge victorious in that strike. amy: thank you for being with us, halberstam halberstam jack and johannah king-slutzky. coming up, we speak to an animal rights activist who has just been convicted on felony charges of burglary and larceny for rescuing a sick baby goat from a goat meat farm. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "mazzafrique" by burnt sugar. greg tate died tuesday at the age of 64. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. in north carolina, an animal rights activist has been convicted on felony charges of burglary and larceny for removing a sick baby goat from a goat meat farm.

wayne hsiung was given a suspended sentence and 24 months probation. the co-founder of the animal rights organization direct action everywhere was arrested in 2018 for taking the baby goat from the sospiro goat ranch in north carolina in a direct action that the group livestreamed in an effort to expose animal cruelty. in moment, wayne will join us. but first, i want to go back to what happened on that night in 2018. he spoke on a livestream as he drove toward the farm. >> will park outside that farm, make a u-turn, get the car ready to leave. we will go in, document the conditions. we have dog treats in our pants because we know these barking dogs are going to need something to calm them down if you're going to stop them from alerting the farm. the farm security is just a few hundred feet from where the goats are. if we need to make a getaway,

we're going up to make a run down a hill, jump onto a tree stump, then jump across an electrified fence to get out. if we have to do that with a goat, we will. we will do whatever we can to make sure at least one of these animals get out. the idea behind open rescue, we believe what we're doing is right, that there's nothing wrong from trying to take an animal from harm's way. i have been accused of being a criminal. i'm being sued by major turkey farm for taking animals who were quivering in fear and pain. today we're going to take an animal who is scared, who does not want to die. we will take her to the vet. the industry wants to claim this is a crime we know that is not true. amy: minutes later, wayne hsiung of direct action everywhere entered the goat farm for the rescue operation. >> this is that baby.

she looks pretty young. there are one million goats killed every year. one of the fastest growing types of meat every year. there raised in these tiny pens. you will be heartbreaking to take this baby away from her mama. we're going to say "i'm sorry" to the mama but if we leave the baby here, she is going to be kill. the way they are killed is heartless. they dragged them by the hind legs, hit them on the head. many are not even unconscious when they are ultimately eviscerated in the slaughter line. we cannot allow this to happen. amy: the group direct action everywhere continued to livestream after wayne hsiung had taken the goat from the farm. >> so we have a little baby here. she is sad because her mama --

but we did not trigger any sort of attention, which is good. at this baby is scared. let me turn around the other way. you guys can see her. she is very young. her for is still kind of just developing. she's only i would say about seven pounds. an adult week goat will be 35 pounds or so. the two breeds of goat most commonly used -- she looks like a kiko which is from new zealand. they will usually raise them for about six months and send them off to processing piper slaughter. amy: that was wayne hsiung, co-founder of the animal rights organization direct action everywhere in 2018. he was convicted this week for that action and given a suspended sentence and 24 months probation. he's a former faculty member at

northwestern law school. as a lawyer, he represented himself duduring the trial. he joins us today from asheville, north carolina. last monday you began your opening statements by saying "the question of this case is really a simple one. the question is, is compassionate crime?" talk about why you did this, we call rescue, and respond to your sentence. your convicted, but then given a suspended sentence. close to be out of jail right now, i very much expected to be -- the reason i'm out of jealous because of mediattention from places like the intercept and democracy now! the reason we are doing this is because there is incredible amount of animal cruelty unfolding in states like north carolina, which has a very powerful agricultural industry. when citizens complained about this, including employees as some of the farms, the vernment has consistently, instead of trying to have

accountabili, pass laws to prevent local citizens from suing farms for polluting the local air and water, so activists have started resorting to direct action tactics to expose what is happening and to give some direct care to the animals who are suffering. juan: during your trial, the judge repeatedly sustained objections from the prosecution when you tried to explain were past animal rescue efforts, including of a goat named lenny? >> that's right. it was a strange trial. there were so many folks on the right who are advocating for free speech, which i think is a worthy cause to advocate for. but in this case, even when i was trying to present a defense in my own criminal case, we were prevented for talking about a reasons for being there. the state filed a motion in the firs trial saying you're not

allowed to talk about the conditions the animals were facing, the veterinarian care you provide them. so my opening statement was cut off and was not allowed to talk to the jury about why we were there. one of the strangest things about the states motion was what they phrased it was witnesses of this testimony at this trial are not allowed to talk about efforts they made to protect the light of the property at issue. that is such a strange non sequitur. the idea were talking about the life of property. it goes to the central issue, are the living creatures of this earth property or were living creatures that deserve some form of dignity and respect? amy: what has happened to the goats nce then? if you could talk about that. ended do you see your case as that any side of precedent? can you talk about animal armors? >> the goat was to an that marian and had pneumonia.

-- veterinarian and he had pneumonia. we were not aowed to talk about it in trial. it is happy and healthy. because the authorities attempted to return the go to the farm, i don't actually know where he is. after the i have heard he is in good shape. i think this will set a precedent was of the prosecution thought this would be a one-day trial, convicted and hopefully incarcerate me r a long time but there were dozens of local residents who came out and protested. my understanding is thousands of people wrote to the local district attorney and complained and said, wire protecting property more than life? partly as a result, they decided we don't want to turn this guy into a martyr so they did not put me in prison. we will let him go and just telling to get out of north carolina. that is what i am planning to do. amy: and the animal farmers? >> one of the things that came

out in court, a lot of the animal farming industry has been describing as terrorists. you can see on the livestream what we did. all we did was take a sick animal to the bittner in. the fact we live in a political system were trying to help a suffering living creature is terrorism while exploiting the same animal business as usual is how the political parties of the system and the industry of animal farming are out of whack. it does not make a lot of sense. i think if we had gotten a chance to talk the trial openly about these issues and present the evidence of what actually happens on animal farms, the jury might have been swayed. but we did get a wonderful chance in the court of public opinion to talk about these issues openly. in that way, i think we are setting an important precedent. juan: at the end of the trial, the prosecutor gave you a hug? do you think you changed minds

in the process of the trial? >> it was a strange thing. the prosecution, the judge rall very heartened and thought this guy is a radical, throw him in jail and throw away the key. the jury did not get to hear most of the evidence. the judge in the prosecution did. my sense is the judge and e prosecution when we were arguing about what evidence should be allowed, even they heard about how much a baby goat ffers when they have pneumonia, when they heard about one of the baby goats was covered in lice, they were swayed. the reality is when any of us are confronted with the reality of what happens in some of these industrial slaughter houses and farms or even facilities, the thought of cutting one animal's throat, killing one animal, is disturbing. they were swayed. that is a victory for us. amy: wayne hsiung, thank you for being wi us, animal rights advocate and co-founder of the

organization direct action everywhere. just convicted on felony charges of burglary and larceny for removing a sick baby goat from a goat meat farm. got a suspended sentence of two years. thank you to everyone who tuned in for our 25th anniversary celebration tuesday night. you can watch the full even

i'm catherine kobayashi in new york. people around the world panicked when word spread a few weeks ago about a new variant. they have had time to learn more about omicron and gained some perspective. now, scientists with u.s. pharmaceutical firm pfizer and their german partners at biontech say a booster shot could prove pivotal. the scientists say two doses of their vaccine produced