03/09/22 03/09/22 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! pres. biden: today i am announcing united states this targeting the main artery of russia's economy, all imports of russian oil and gas. amy: united states has banned russian energy imports as russia's invasion of ukraine has entered its 14th day. we will speak to antonia juhasz, author of "the tyranny of oil,"

about the call for for a green energy revolution. then we speak to tariq ali about russia's invasion, nato's expansion in eastern europe, and ukrainian president zelensky's historic address to the house of commons. >> we will not give up and we will not los we will ght to the end. we will defend our land. whatever the cost. we will fight in the cities and villages. amy: plus, the florida state senate has passed the so-called "go say gay" education bill, while welfare officials in texas have been ordered to launch child abuse investigations against parents who seek gender-affirming care for their transgender children. we will talk to the aclu's chase strangio. >> fighting back again these

meases, pushing to veto the soalled don't say gay bill and the tigation in texas. these are happening amidst a national effort tottack ansgendechildren we are sgles that uld criminalize heal care for transgender minors moving forward in alabama and -- amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. russia's assault on ukraine continues two weeks after it launched its invasion. hundreds of civilians have been killed, over 2 million people have become refugees as thousands more attempt to flee ukraine's cities amid the russian onslaught. residents in besieged areas are running out of medicine, food, and water, and hundreds of thousands have lost power. the international committee of the red cross called the humanitarian situation apocalyptic. ukraine says it will attempt to evacuate civilians through six humanitarian corridors after

russia pledged to observe local ceasefires, though previous such efforts have failed. on tuesday, five thousand people were evacuated from the city of sumy, including around 700 indian students who have been trapped since the start of the war and many other students of color from around the world. the pentagon rejected an offer by poland to send its fleet of mig-29 fighter jets to ukraine using a u.s. airbase in germany, saying it "raises serious concerns for the entire nato alliance." this comes as vice president kamala harris embarks on a two-day visit to poland and romania. meanwhile, efforts are ramping up to further isolate russia. on tuesday, president biden announced the u.s. is banning russian oil. pres. biden: russian oil will no longer be accepted in u.s. ports and the american people will deal another powerful blow to putin's war machine.

this move has strong bipartisan support in congress and i believe in the country. americans have rallied to support ukrainian people and made it clear we will not be part of subsidizing putin's tests. amy: in response, the kremlin accused the u.s. of declaring economic war on russia. the u.s. imports 3% of its crude oil from russia. british prime minister boris johnson announced the u.k. will phase out russian oil imports by the end of the year. meanwhile, the european union outlined plans to cut russian gas imports by two thirds this year and end dependency on russian fossil fuels "well before 2030." mcdonald's, coca-cola, and starbucks have temporarily stopped doing business in russia. ukraine's state-run nuclear company is warning of a risk of a radioactive leak risk after losing power at the russian-occupied chernobyl nuclear plt. meanwhile, a moldovan oil tanker appears to still be burning in the black sea nearly two weeks after it was reportedly hit by a

russian military strike. ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky became the first foreign head of state to virtualladdress the british parliament tuesday, where he told lawmakers over 50 children have been killed since the start of the invasion. the u.n. said one million children have become refugees. at a pediatric hospital in kharkiv, doctors report treating children with critical injuries. >> we have operated on four children suffering from shrapnel wounds or bullet wounds. sadly, one little girl died yesterday. >> yesterday, another little boy was admitted. he was in a residential block hit by a missile. amy: venezuela has released two jailed u.s. citizens following a rare visit to caracas by a delegation from washington, d.c. one of the freed prisoners is

gustavo cardenas, a citgo oil executive who was arrested in 2017 and convicted of corruption -- a charge rejected by the us. the other is cuban american jorge alberto fernández, reportedly accused of terrorism for flying a drone. the white house said talks about releasing american prisoners were not related to a possible easing of sanctions on venezuela amid the russian oil ban. in guatemala, a massive data leak has revealed the multinational mining giant solway group bribed local police and other officials to repress indigenous resistance to its destructive open pit nickel mine in the town of el estor in the eastern izabal region. leaked documents show solway, which is based in switzerland , hid evidence of environmental struction in the region, including the pollution of a sacred lake, spied on journalists who investigated the mine, and intimidated and bribed local community leaders. the report was published by forbidden stories and was led by

65 journalists from around the world. a washington, d.c., jury found guy wesley reffitt, the first capitol insurrection defendant to go on trial, guilty on all five charges he faced. reffitt, who is aligned with the far right militia the three percenters, led the pro-trump mob that breached the capitol building as congress was certifying the 2020 election. he also threatened his children so they wouldn't turn him in to authorities. his 19-year-old son jackson reffitt, nonetheless, shared information with the fbi about this father's participation in the attack and testified against him during the trial. guy reffitt now faces a maximum -- faces 20 years in prison for obstruction of congress and obstruction of justice. in related news, a federal grand jury on tuesday indicted enrique tarrio, leader of the far-right

proud boys, with conspiracy to obstruct congress on january 6. tarrio was not at the capitol insurrection, having been arrested two days earlier for vandalism at a black church. but prosecutors say he was fully involved in planning the attack and was in touch with other proud boys during the assault. the florida senate passed the anti-lgbtq education bill known as the "don't say gay" bill tuesday despite stark opposition from democrats, rights advocates, and many students and educators. the bill, which would ban discussion of sexuality in gender identity in schools, now heads to the desk of governor ron desantis, who has voiced support for the measure. on tuesday, state senator shevrin jones, florida's first openly gay member of the senate, made an emotional plea to his colleagues during debate. >> to those who think you can legislate gay people away, i'm sorry, you cannot. i think you should spend your time to protect them.

children who were out there yesterday and to every person who has been rejected by anyone, we love you, thank you for showing up every single day as your true hunting self -- authentic self. keep going. amy: the idaho state house has passed a bill that would criminalize gender-affirming healthcare for transgender children and teens, joining several other u.s. states that have enacted or introduced similar bills. the bill makes it a felony punishable with life in prison for a doctor to provide medically necessary care which includes surgeries and hormone treatments. it would also make it a felony for taking trans youth out of the state to receive health care elsewhere. the bill now heads to the idaho state senate for consideration. we will talk more about this later in the broadcast with chase strangio. in minnesota, around 3500

minneapolis public school teachers and education support staff are on strike demanding better conditions for students and fair wages. demands include reduced class sizes, ensuring all schools have a counselor and social worker, and a more diverse staff. it's the first teachers strike in minneapolis in over 50 years. this is greta callahan of the minneapolis federation of teachers speaking monday as the union announced the strike. >> we continue to say our students need and deserve more and we continue to be shut out of the decision-making process. those of us on the ground floor are here to say our kids deserve better and when you have thousands of people saying we will go without pay so that our kids can have what they deserve, you know something is wrong in the minneapolis public schools. amy: a bipartisan senate passed a major $107 billion overhaul of the u.s. postal service tuesday. the postal service reform act eliminates a costly 2006 mandate

that required the usps to fund employee retirement benefits 75 years in advance and instead directs retired employees to enroll in medicare. the plan also ensures deliveries six days a week, orders the creation of an online delivery dashboard, and strengthens financial reporting requirements to congress. the measure, which cleared the house with overwhelming support last month, now heads to biden's desk for signing. meanwhile, a house bill is expected to be introduced today that would require a contract for a new fleet of delivery trucks to be made up of at least 75% electric vehicles. heren new york city, immigrant workers left out of government pandemic relief took to the streets tuesday, international women's day, shutting down traffic on the manhattan and brooklyn bridges. workers and advocates are demanding $3 billion be added to the excluded workers fund, and a permanent unemployment insurance program. this is ana maria archila, long-time activist, who is now

running for lieutenant governor of new york. >> governor hocuel had an opportunity and she chose -- the governor had an opportunity to make sure immigrants would not be excluded from health care and she chose not to and that is what we are on the streets, because she is choosing to prioritize the needs and the priorities and the interests of billionaires at a moment when immigrant workers have been at the forefront of protecting every single one of us. amy: and elsewhere on to national mistake, russian police arrested women who led an anti-war protest. meanwhile, ukrainian women in kyiv spent the day in bomb shelters. in turkey, at least 38 women were detained in istanbul as riot police set up barricades and fired pepper gas at protesters. in sudan, security forces fired tear gas at a women's rights rally. this is one of the protesters.

>> in spite of all the violations that happened to me and so it doesn't happen to others, there are women who haven't humiliated, raped, so this will not happen others because we reject all these violations. and in spite of these violations, these things will not prevent us from revolting. we will go on in spite of the persecution of women. they will not scare us. we will continue our revolution and will not fear a thing. amy: 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. juan: hi, amy. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. amy: as russia's invasion of ukraine enters its 14th day, we begin today's show looking at the war's impact on global energy markets. on tuesday, president biden announced a ban on imports of russian oil, gas, and coal.

britain followed up by saying it would phase out imports of russian oil by the end of the war. the european union has announced plans to reduce its dependence on russian oil and gas by two-thirds this year. president biden announced the u.s. ban during an address from the white house. pres. biden: today i am announcing the united states is targeting the main artery of russia's economy. we are banning all imports of russian oil and gas and energy. that means russian oil on know look at the acceptable u.s. ports on the american people will deal another powerful blow to putin's tests machine. this is a move that has strong bipartisan support for congress and i believe in the country. america's have rallied support -- have rally to support ukrainian people and made it clear we will not be part of subsidizing putin's war. amy: global oil and gas prices have soared over the past two

weeks since russia invaded ukraine and experts warn prices could keep rising. earlier this week, russia threatened to cut off natural gas shipments to europe in response to western sanctions. russia provides the e.u. countries with about 40% of their natural gas and about a quarter of its oil. meanwhile, oil giants bp, shell, and exxon have announced plans to halt its operations in russia. the ceo's of big oil have long had close to the russian government. former exxon ceo rex tillerson, who served as secretary of state under donald trump, received russia's order of friendship medal by vladimir putin in 2013. on tuesday, analysts at goldman sachs said -- "given russia's key role in global energy supply, the global economy could soon be faced with one of the largest energy supply shocks ever." in recent days, the biden

administration has begun exploring other ways tincrease global oil supply. er the weekend, biden administration officials traveled to venezuela to discuss the possible lifting of sanctions on the nation's oil industry. the white house has also floated the idea of biden visiting saudi arabia in an effort to mend relations and to urge the kidom to pump moreil. while the biden administration is pushing more oil drilling, many climate activists say now is the time to invest in a green energy revolution. democratic senator ed markey of massachusetts said -- "this moment is a clarion call for the urgent need to transition to domestic clean energy so that we are never again complicit in fossil-fueled conflict." we go now to antonia juhasz. she is an investigative journalist focused on energy and climate. antonia is the author of three books, including "the tyranny of oil." she teaches at tulane university in new orleans, where she is joining us from.

welcome back to democracy now! let's begin with president biden's ural -- announcemt of the van from russia come the significance of this. >> it is extremely significant and thank you for having me and thank you, juan. there are many parts of that speech that were very important. josé the most important is when biden said the u.s. must transition to cradling energy -- clean energy and that means tyrants like putin will not be able to use fossil fuels as weapons against other nations. he did not limit it to putin and essentially stated that the united states is going to now see the wielding of fossil fuels as a weapo of war and that is a profound stament andhould have profound impacts on the way that we look at the way ny nation a many companies use fossil fuels and the impact people, the economy, war p,eace,

climate, etc. by stating the united states would end any liquefied natural gas or coal imports, the unite states being the first natioto take that will step against putin and to essentially say that peace and ukraine is dependent on a shifting off of fossil fuels, enng russia's availability the ability to use it as a war and that necessity to transition off fossil fuels. that is the message that has been mildly repeated out of the political leadership come the citizens of ukraine, people around the world, the head of the secretary-general of the united nations. this message has been repeated that a key tool toward peace is the unwinding of the global reliance on fossil fuels.

juan: at the same time, the biden administration is looking to reorient its supplies and obviously world's supply discussions with venezuela, possibilities -- there seems to be an impetus to reach a deal with iran and also the attempts to get saudi arabia and some of the gulf states to increase their oil supplies. both leaders of the saudi arabia and emirates decide -- decline have phone calls with biden so is it really a shifting of more toward a renewable energy or is it an issue of having to reorient the supply routes in terms of oil? >> there's the short and lo-term. first of all, it is important to say the price spike we have seen immediately in the aftermath o

the russian invasion of ukraine is n about a shortage of supply of any natural resource at this point of oior natural gas. it is energy traders trading on the expectation of a reduction in supply and pushing the price of oil up. the price of oil going up has admittedly impacted the price of gasoline. if we regulated energy traders behavior, we could address that problem right now. but the problem is right now the expectation is that will be a reduction in supply of russian oil on the global markets, russian natural gas because putin has already been using the supply of natural gas as a tool against europe. so controlling the flow, the decision whether to let natural gas flow to your which also has significant impact. so in the short term, the biden administration did orchestrate which is a fairly profound shift in global energy politics, the international energy agency

acted to coordinate its members led by e united states to increase oil supplies by 60 million barrels. that was essentially as a direct rebuff against opec's unwillingness to do that. that is because saudi arabia is aligned with russia and trying to protect russian ierest an is not when to put more oil into the market in order to support russia. it is not surprising to me that the saudis are not taking bide 's call. i don't think it is going to happen. in the short term, there is a desire tdemonstrate her will be more oil d that should hopefully reduce the stress been put on the market by energy and that expection of a reduction in supply. but think weeed to pull the administration and the global leaders to their pledges, which is they are saying this is a short-term solution. the long-term or even an term solution is the transiti to

fossil fuels. they need to be held to those statements most of every member of the biden administration who has spoken has reiterated at statement and they need to be held to that statement because if anything this war has shown us, how insecure we are based on this dependenc the united states is the leading guzzler by far of gasoline. the power the price of gasoline has over political elections, peoples pocketbooks, everything in between, is an incredible weakness of the dependence of europe on, and i call it methane gas not natural gas because natural gas is about 93% methane, euros dependent on methane gass put itnto this position where iis having an almost impossible time divorcing itself from putin's power. being unable to do that means there's not a stand to take against wielding the war against ukraine so that incredible

weakness that is created by that dependence on methane gas and the idea that methane gas should be considered a bridge fuel from fossil fuel to noble energy, i think is for you to start that has been exposed to weakness not only on compoding the climate isis, but continue to support autocrats and some of the most brutal regimes in the world. i think we need to look at the actions of the oil companies, bp, shell, even exxon who have been unwinding and divesting their partnersps with russia and doing so with public statements in which they say they're doing this for humanitarian reasons, they do not want to put their money behind putin and support his work. and that sentiment needs to be

applied and thought it all the papartnerships with the other countries that are wielding rollover fossil fuels as weapons . saudi arabia is a key example in the through the brutal war on yemen. all of the same oil companies that partner with russia and putin partner with the saudiis

this crisis erupts just as

nordstrom 2 was getting ready to go and operation. this is a war that is the fst significant, well, since implementation of crimea, the first superpower war over fossil fuels come about fossil fuels, and the climate era and that has dramatically changed the discussion of these issues. this inot a war for oilnd away the iraq war was literally to capture oil fields and turn them over to oil companies. this is a wathat is fueled by the financial support of fossil fuels, supporting putin and giving him control over so much of world decision-making but also the immediate impetus for the war was a dispute over a natural gas pipeline nord stre 2. nord stream 1 is the pipeline that cares significant amount of methane gas to europand it goes fromussia through ukraine

under the black sea to germany. putin has been withholding natural gas from that pipeline to europe as he is trying to get nord stream 2 into tion. nord stream 2 specifically does not go through ukraine, bypasses the ukraine so that putin wasn't exposed to the sweetness of ukraine, somewhat control of that pipeline, bypasses ukraine, follows a similar path to get to germany. it is ready to go but europe and united states have been trying to stop russia's pending action against ukraine by not letting the gas flow through nord stream 2. that recent decision to not let the gago through nord stream 2 s the most immediate predecessor to putin's decision to invade raine. so in many ways, this is a war about a pipeline, the flow of natural gas, and about putin's

ability to wield fossil fuels as a weapon. amy: on monday, white house press secretary jen psaki had this response when asked by fox if the u.s. would do more to produce more oil at home. >> let me give you the facts, and i know that can be inconvenient but they are important. to the contrary, we have been clear in thehort-term supply must keep up with the demand. we are shifting to clean energy future, we are one of the largest producers for strong, domestic oil and gas industry. we have produced or oil. it is at record numbers. we will continue to produce more oil. there are 9000 approved drilling permits that are not being used. amy: here is jen psaki saying we are going to up the production of oil at a time with a huge push for renewables. shis admitting this.

there is an interesting challenge here. you have the ukraine bill that is racing through congress, around $10 million to help ukraine. then there is the issue of whether there is a way of crafting build back better to be framed in terms of ukraine, which would make it more palatable to republicans. can you talk about this? and which side is going to win, not republican or democrat, but those who are duly concerned about renewables versus a huge gush of more oil? >> transition to clean energy and off of fossil fuels as rapidly as possible. i think it is true. i think what she is doing right now is there huge push first led

by the america petroleum institute, the largest oil company lobbying group in the united states, putti pressure -- this was just a weeand a half ago, this happened so quickly -- on the bide administration not to implement any sanctions on russian oil. not because they were worried necessarily about putin, but because all the western oil companies that have such large stakes in russia and they did not want those to be impacted. at the same time, the american petroleum institute and their supporters in congress have been pushing the response to the war needs to be we produce more oil and that we can't have filled back better, we can't pass legislation that would put more restrictions, merck regulations on the oil industry because the solution to the war is the united states needs to be producing so much more oil and gas. so what the response of the biden administration has bn is

don't worry, we are producing tons of oil and natural gas. thfirst year of an administration, just to be clear, is usually the result of the polies of the s. administration. so the trumpet administration did not produce as much in its first year because it was stil under the sway of the obama debt --he obama administration's licies. trump significantly, dramatically increase prodtion over the course of subquen years in office, reaching a high point just before the covid crash. his fit year of the biden administration ithe tail end of the trump administration licies that have calved that pruction at record highs. jen psaki is saying, look, we're producing all th oil and gas. the solution, therefore, is clearly not to reduce regulation our regulations are not stopping you from producing. they are trying to get, i

believe, the administration is trying to get build back better past. if we want to rapidly transition to renewable localized, democratized noble energy in the u.s., that is the bill. that is the bill in congress right now to do it. as i'm sure youristenersnow, it has been stopped by one senator, really, and that is joe manchin of west virginia who is the most heavily funded fossil fuel member of congress by a longshot right now. obviously, coal is his primary interest, but he is the most heavily supported of the fossil fuel industry of any member of congress right now, and he sing-handedly stopping this bill from moving forward it is very, very hard for the administration to act on its pleds to physician to renewable energy without that legislation. that sd, there are things they caput intolace and it oved it couldthat yesterday when biden gave his speech,

simultaneously released i think two executive oers that not on -- let go further than the ban on imports, but also banny u.s. companies or banks from financing or investing in ssian energy. the one question that brings to my mind, there are so corporate holdouts. so chevron, for example, has not divested its holdings in the caspian pipeline. exxon has not. they are in partnership with russian oil -- with russia on that pipeline because it carries the oil. they really want to keep oducing in because asked on. talk about a world leader that is a brutal controller of his country, that is because asked on -- kazakhstan. they don't to the pipeline. there's a lot of moving parts happening here and the bottom line is to keep putting pressure on the administration, the

companies to uphold their pledges to achieve first piece in ukraine and stop putin and then to make transition from fossil fuels. amy: antonia juhasz, that you for being with us. there's so much to talk about. investigative journalist focused on energy and climate. author of three books, including "the tyranny of oil." speaking to us from new orleans where she teaches at tulane university. coming up, we speak with tariq ali about nato expansion and eastern europe and ukrainian president's histoc address to the house of commons yesterday. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: ukrainian village voices, a new york city-based collective of ukrainian and non-ukrainian singers whose mission is to preserve and revive the polyphonic singing style of ukraine's villages. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. with juan gonzalez. we continue to look at russia's invasion with ukraine, we go to london. on tuesday, the president of ukraine gave and address of the house of commons. >> we will not give up and we will not lose.

we will fight to the end. we will fight at sea, in the air, we will defend our land most of whatever the cost, we will fight in the forest in the fields and the shores, and the cities and villages, in the streets. we will fight on the hills. strengthen the sanctions against the country, terrace russia, and recognize it as a terrorist country. find a way to make our ukrainians safe. do what you can, wt you have to, what is obliged by the greatness of your country and your people. amy: he received a standing ovation from the british lawmakers. joining us now from london is historian, activist, film maker, author tariq ali. he is on the editorial committee of the new left review. days before the russian invasion, he wrote a piece headlined "news from natoland." on sunday he took part in an action against the war. welcome back to democracy now! can you talk about what zelensky

's message was, what britain is doing, and overall your response to russia's invasion of ukraine? >> well, amy, let's start with zelensky's message. it was a propaganda message, quite honestly, using some famous phrases from churchill's speeches. it wasn't churchill's speeches that won the war. the key battles fought by the red army on russian soil and what is now uainian soil that destroyed this final calof hitler's germany and that to defeat, we should never forg that whatever the rhetoric. the basic purpose of zelensky's address and house of commons, clearly organized by the foreign office, etc., west to plea for no fly zone.

that is the key demand of ukrainian. but it is a demand that nato has intelligently so far rejected because we know to implode -- impose a no-fly zone at the present time cld lead to america escalation of the war d possiblthe use of new their weapons. that particular demand is going to get anywhere. it is largelyressure on putin, but putin knows what he is doing. as far as the wartself is concerned, amy, how will it biden? in fact, nobody knows. neither putin nor nato who have created a situation over the last 30 years and some of them re intelligent u.s. commentars telling us now for a long time, finally reached --

it will end here, whatever the lution. putin's attempt to mimic the united states and pretend that ssia is great imperial is full hardy, it won't work. apart from the fact he is isolated fm large chunks of the country around him. if you look at the u.s. -- if you look at the gdp of russia, it is 1.4 troy in dollars. less -- 1.4 trillion, ss than italy, and meniscal to the united states. how can u even attempt to mimic the united states can even work at a good thing, which it obviously isn't. i think ihas backfired and i think the key question now we have to ask is the following,

how should we try and end war this war? further escation? further armaments? pouring i more is going to make things worse. particularly for the people of ukraine. they are the ones who are suffering the most its the refugees and the ordinary citizens who don't want this, who are suffering. so the question has to be asked, is a bloody rtition the only solution? and it is, then why not start the process now? neither side wants it but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't argue for it just like we argue -- it is no more utopian than that. it is something that nobody is arguing. just look at it.

in russia, we've sn the emergence of a courageous powerful peaceovent for which one has total sympathy. they are being beaten up and locked up. in britain, both boris johnson and h understudy, the labor leader, have -- in russia, putin tells them your agents of nato, which they deny and say we don't report nato. here in britain, johnson and storm attacked the movement and say by bringing citizens of nato come your supporting putin, which we deny as well. itas george bush who started this whole thi, if you are not with us and our wars, you're with the terrorists. we said it was not an acceptable way of arguing. the key thing politicians in europe and elsewhere should be asking our, how are we going to end this tragedy?

i don't think putin is calculated does ashley what he could achieve. it is obvious now from information coming outcome he thought it would be a quick soaking and they met with resistance which they were not preparedor. just one example, putin sent policeman, his police guard, people do special duties in obscurity, into kyiv who were beaten back. so it is not in anyone's interest, not in the interest, certainly not in the interest of russia. so we could have a number of things coming out of th conflict, a bloody partition of the ukraine, which i think is better than continuing war, and putin could be toppled from within russia becae people in russia are beginning to see

exactly what is going on. some of my more utopian friends, activist are telling me we are hoping that he will suffer at the hands of the ukrainians, not nato. so it might trigger new revolution in russia itself. i think effectively, the russian ite will get very angry war if this war -- if this war goes on endlessly. nato has just learned after 20 years in afghanistan, or i hope they have learned and will not attempt to repeat a performance anywhere in europe, putin should have learned that from russia's own eerience, but he clearly hasn't. how can you occupy country without thousands andhousands and thousands of your own troops? even if you say that is a puppet government, they will need the

backing of russian troops. so i am sure these things are being discussed seriously, or, amy, you could do with the u.s. did in relation to venezuela, having failed to topple the government's, they actually imagined -- created an imaginary government with a total embassy, recognized the president, got their european friends to be the same. no one in south america takes it seriously. no one. so you can imagine -- putin could try the same. i would not advise that. it would be a total failure. and to point out, whereas in the past you had a situation where ukrainians were fairly evenly divided between being not with

russia but broadly speaking on that side or broadly speaking being with united states and its military organizationato. it was 40/40. at one stage it was 50/50. now i would -- we don't know, but i would suggest from speaking to some of my friends from ukraine that no one wants an invasion by the russians, or very few people do. and there are probably more people nown favor of nato and there were before. juan: i wanted to ask you, this issue of the response of those on the left, there is an article in "the new york times" today the says socialist response to the war has put some on edge. it is openly critical of the

democratic socialism of america for claiming that the imperialistic expansionism of nato help to fuel the crisis that exists now. there are already candidates running against people like jamaal bowman on a foreign policy position and attacking dsoc. what should be the response of those on the left to this invasion and situation right now? >> i think we can't dissociate the situation completely from nato's aggressive polics over the last few decades. i mean, they were warned don't try to enter ukraine and last november, biden went ahead and more or less said the articles were rea to incorporate ukraine into nato.

now it is not just the left that is saying this. you have to understand, thomas friedman in he new york times", their star columst, cannot by any stretch of the imagination be said to be on the left, yet his two columns in february were very critical as he quoted a very interesting piece from george cannon who is the father of cold war, the rolled cold war. cannon worn some years ago if you carry on like this, you'll end up with a very ugly situation in ukraine. then you have other examples that in 2008 under condoleezza rice and bush's white house, clearly bite and intelligence official that he had been in the soviet russia for 2.5 years and met nobody. he said i met everyone.

people who hated putin, libels, people in the military, and none of them supported nato in ukraine. he said cleverly and telligently, move back from that position. this man who said this, william burns, currently director of the central intelligence agency, having to deal with the consequences of his own -- five advice he given that was rejected. so sing nato is involved is just a fact of life. there are number of go books coming out, one called "not one inch" and she argues that from the very beginning, there was the failure of russian leaders

to understand that, basically, the u.s. and germany were going to go their own way. gorbachev was stabbed in the front. not one inch eastward should we move, said baker. that was the pledge given in return from -- for german unification. and the west german chancellor at the time told gorbachev, we will not even permit nato bases and the former east germany. they came in 300 miles through swats of former soviet union territory. amy: we have 10 seconds. we have 10 seconds. >> yeah. amy: i want to thank you so much for being with us, clearly, a lot to unpack your and we will continue this conversation. we also will post online discussion with you about what is happening in venezuela with

one gonzalez, not our own, but the emissary for president biden going to meet with maduro in venezuela and what this means. tariq ali historian, activist, , filmmaker, and author. he is on the editorial committee of the new left review. days before the russian invasion, he wrote a piece headlined "news from natoland." coming up, florida passes that so-called don't say gay bill. students, teachers are rising up in protest. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "when we make it though" by barbara dane. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. with juan gonzalez. the florida senate voted tsday to ban the discussion of sexuality and gender identity in schools. the legislation, which is known as the "don't say gay" bill, has faced mounting criticism from democrats, rights advocates and many students and educators. meanwhile, the idaho state house has passed a bill that would criminalize gender-affirming healthcare for transgender children and teens. the bill makes it a felony punishable with life in prison for a doctor to provide gender-affirming care, including surgeries and hormone treatments.

it would also make it a felony for trans youth to leave the state to receive that care elsewhere. this all comes as a fight escalates in texas over a directive by republican governor greg abbott that orders state welfare officials to launch child abuse investigations against parents who seek gender-affirming care for their trans children. we go now to chase strangio, deputy director for trans justice with the aclu lgbtq & hiv project. the aclu is part of a lawsuit to block the texas directive. chase, let's start with florida and what happened there. >> good morning. starting specifically with florida, we now have the so-called don't say gay bell that heads to the governor's desk. he has indicated his support for the bill. i want to make two quick points about this piece of legislation as it relates to the legislation and the national context. we're hearing a lot from supporters about how this is really targeting young children in classrooms like the explicit

prohibition in the k-3 context. as the parent of a fourth-grader, what are families like mine supposed to do? those are grades where people are urged to talk about their families. this erases the possibility that young people can speak about their own lives, their own truth. that connects to this larger national context where what we're seeing is the national well-funded effort to attack and eradicate trans youth and trans lives specifically. that is the intention. juan: can you talk a bit more about the context in which this and other bills are being advanced by republican lawmakers, especially in florida where the -- governor desantis has potential presidential candidate? >> we sing at effort to weaponize misinformation particularly about trans people to mobilize the little co-pays in the lead up to the 2022-2024 and this is happening in state

houses the country deeply gerrymandered that have shifted far to the right as a result in large part of the supreme court's decision in 2013 two got the voting rights act with the shall be converses holder decision. we cannot understand it without understanding voter suppression happening, without understanding to restrict access to reproductive health care. there's a dynamic process that is mobilizing state control over people's bodies through voter suppression structures in order to make it harder for people to survive in the lead up to major national elections in 2022, midterms, and 2024 with a presidential election. that is what we're seeing from gop leadership not just in florida, but also in places like south dakota and texas as well. juan: chase, or an attorney in the case of dole vs abbott in texas. can you describe that case and what has happened so far? >> we have to understand there

is an absolute crisis in texas. families are being terrorized by governor abbott's directive to the child welfare agency to start investigating families and threatening the general public with criminal prosecution if they do not report trans youth and their families to the child welfare agencies. right now on the ground, we know families are being investigated solely because they have transgender children. teachers are being asked to report transgender children and their families to child welfare authorities and providers have cut off health care across the state. the practical impact is catastrophic. people are suffering. we filed a lawsuit to try to block this directive. we are currently in state court in austin to try and stop the implementation of this directive and every level and that litigation continues, but the reality is this national conversation and the actions by the alabama legislature, florida legislature cut and executive officials in texas is having the

effect of making it difficult if not impossible for trans young people to survive. amy: texas, chase. are they threatening to take trans children away from their parents? >> they are threatening to take trans children away from their parents for the exclusive purpose their parents are loving and supporting them and providing them with medically necessary doctor recommended health care. i cannot stress this enough. they are coming into homes, investigating families solely because parents love their kids and providing care consistent with the recommendations of every major medical association in the united states. amy: the significance on friday, houston-based jig -- largest pediatric hospital in the country announcing it is stopping prescribing gender affirming hormone therapies? >> they have cut off care, canceled appointments, and we're talking about lifesaving necessary care. we have young people who are relying on this care to stabilize her health and well-being. a lot of this care is time

specific. they're pulling young people off care that will force them into their endogenous puberty. the extent of the fear and trauma is unimaginable right now and there's very little recourse for many people. we are fighting with everything we have to stop not only the implementation of these directives, but the fallout from them. it is not just these large hospitals, but individual providers, because of your prosecution if they follow the ethical obligation as doctors to treat their patients. juan: i'm wondering if you can talk about some of the legislation occurring in other states, for instance, in idaho, iowa, or utah? >> i would to highlight briefly that idaho and alabama currently have felony bans pending. there is one vote left in the house and i know it has to make it to the senate posed of are bills that would be similarly catastrophic for trans people and we already have such a bill that is in arkansas but our

litigation continues and there are dozens of bills across the country still pending. amy: specifically in idaho, what you're most concerned about having their? >> i am concerned this bill happens and all care is cut off. that would make it a felony with potential life imprisonment not only to treat people in state, but you take someone out of state to get the treatment. what are families supposed to do? as a parent, i cannot imagine what it must feel like to face criminal prosecution to try to keep your kid alive. amy: how many bills like this have been introduced around the country, chase? >> we're facing a context now are over 35 states have introduced goals targeting transgender young people. we are continuing to fight to the very end of these legislative sessions because there is an aggressive push to move these quickly through state legislatures. amy: we want to get into the details so we will do part two of our discussion with you right now. chase strangio is deputy director for trans justice with

the aclu lgbtq & hiv project and that does it for our show. democracy now! is currently accepting applications for a human resources manager. learn more and apply at 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!

(sophie fouron) we're right in the middle of a lava field. this used to be a land and a neighbourhood. when you live here, it can be taken by lava, and it can rain any second of the day. there's a very raw and authentic vibe here, on big island. is it because it's the only island of all hawaiian islands that have active volcanoes? they also believe very strongly in the gods. it's not the