03/16/22 03/16/22 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> the meetings continue. negotiations already sound more realistic but time is data for the decisions to be in the interests of ukraine. amy: ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky suggests progress is being made on peace talks to end russia's brutal three-week-long invasion. this comes as unicef says the

war is creating a child refugee every second. as more buildings are shelled in kyiv, we will go to the capital for the latest. we will speak to historian stephen wertheim. >> if the united states and nato we to declare ao-fly zone over ukraine, they would have to shoorussianlanes t of the sky. that is what it means. that would mean a direct war with nuclear armed russia. amy: and as the world focuses on ukraine, we will look at how the u.s. is expanding its support for the saudi-led war on yemen at a time when the biden administration moves to pressure the saudis to pump more oil. we will talk to sarah leah whitson, the head of democracy for the arab world now. >> it is so discombobulating to see secretary blinken and president biden falling over themselves to decry russian

atrocities in ukraine while they support very similar, if not worse, certainly today worse, atrocities by saudi arabia and the uae. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. as the russian invasion of ukraine is in its day, ukrainian 21st president volodymyr zelensky said russian demands are becoming more realistic in ongoing negotiations to end the assault. russian foreign minister sergey lavrov said he sees some hope for a compromise. zelensky said tuesday he doesn't expect ukraine to join nato anytime soon. later today, the ukrainian leader is virtually addressing the u.s. congress where he will is expected to repeat calls for more military reinforcement and a no-fly zone. on tuesday, the prime ministers of poland, slovenia, and the czech republic held a joining -- a joint news conference with

zelensky in kyiv. this is czech prime minister petr fiala. >> fighting for lives, your country, for freedom. we know we are also fighting for our lives and our freedom. main goal of our visit or main message of our mission is to say you are not alone. our countries stand with you. europe stands with your country. amy: ukraine's capital is now under a curfew as russia continues to bomb residential areas. earlier today, russian forces shelled a 12-story apartment building in kyiv. ukraine's other cities also remain under attack or russian occupation. on tuesday, survivors of a russian airstrike on a residential block in kharkiv were evacuated by rescue workers.

>> brotherly nation, my mother comes from warsaw. how could this monster,, my god, monster, come up with something like this to distract everything. people are starting. there is no wood for heating. he decided to destroy a beautiful city. amy: meanwhile, the humanitarian crisis continues to worsen. over 3 million people have now become refugees. on tuesday, president zelensky said 100 children have been killed since the start of the invasion. unicef says a child war refugee is being created every second in ukraine. two fox news journalists, camera operator pierre zakrzewski and producer oleksandra kuvshynova, were killed earlier this week when their vehicle was struck outside kyiv. fox news correspondent benjamin hall was injured in the attack

and hospitalized. ukrainians officials say he lost part of his leg. at least five media professionals have been killed since the start of the invasion three weeks ago. the cr segment on brent renaud, the u.s. journalist was killed in ukraine, go to democracynow.org. meanwhile, russian tv producer marina ovsyannikova was released tuesday after being fined. she was calling on russians to join antiwar protests in a prerecorded video. on monday, she burst onto the set of a live russian news broadcast yelling "stop the war" while holding a sign that said "they are lying to you here." russia withdrew from the council of europe tuesday, ahead of its expected expulsion from the human rights watchdog. amid its increasing isolation, moscow also announced sanctions against president biden and a -- and top u.s. officials, as well as canadian prime minister trudeau.

this came as the european union approved a new wave of sanctions against russia, including banning investments in russian energy, luxury goods exports, and imports of steel products. the u.k. also blacklisted hundreds of powerful russians and imposes new import tariffs . meanwhile, warning moscow could stage a false flag operation in ukraine to launch a can vocal weapons attack. -- chemical weapons attack. president biden signed a bill tuesday which includes $13.6 billion in additional military and humanitarian aid for ukraine. it's part of a $1.5 trillion spending measure to fund the u.s. government through the 2022 fiscal year. the measure, however, was stripped of funding for the pandemic after democrats could not agree on where that money would come from. this comes as the white house renewed urgent calls for more coronavirus funding. this is press secretary jen psaki. >> we have outlined severe and immediate consequences the united states will face of congress fails to provide us

with $22.5 billion in emergency funding to fight covid-19. those consequences are dire. fewer monoclonal antibody sent to states, inability to purchase additional treatments, fewer tests available to americans, less surveillance for future variants, and a risk of running short on vaccines. amy: in other coronavirus news, pfizer-biontech has requested emergency use authorization from the fda for an additional vaccine booster dose for adults 65 and older. meanwhile, in florida, raul pino, the health administrator for orange county, has been reinstated. he had been suspended after promoting vaccines to his staff. in global pandemic news, politico is reporting a possible breakthrough in discussions at the world trade organization for an intellectual property waiver for covid vaccines. the waiver would reportedly only apply to vaccines in its initial phase and would be limited to certain countries. the deal still needs to be approvedy eu countries and some wto members.

israeli forces fatally shot three palestinians in separate tacks tuesy in the oupied st bk and in t bedouin city of rahat. the youngest victim was 17-year-old nader rayan, who was shot during a raid on the balata refugee camp in the west bank city of nablus. 19 migrants are missing and presumed dead after their boat capsized off the coast of libya over the weekend. three people were rescued and one body was found. the passengers were believed to be from egypt and syria. in peru, president pedro castillo on tuesday rejected allegations of corruption after congress voted to begin impeachment proceedings against him this week. castillo, a leftist former teacher and unioleader, vowed to correct errors made by his administration and signaled the need for a larger government overhaul. >> peru is currently experiencing an unprecedented unconstitutional crisis involving the three levels of

government. this has an impact on the quality of the public services that we as a state provide to the population. this situation cannot continue. amy: president castillo's approval rating has plummeted to 26% since taking office last july. peru has had five presidents since 2016. a new u.n. report finds the burmese military has committed systematic human rights violations, many amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity, since the february 1, 2021 coup. >> reports i thought myanmar's military and secured he flagrant disregard for human life, bombarding populated areas with air strikes and heavy weapons, and deliberately targeting civilians, somof whom have been shot in the head, bernadette, arbitrarily arrested, tortured, or used as human shields. amy: back in the u.s. ginni , thomas, the wife of supreme court justice clarence thomas, revealed she attended last year's january 6 stop the steal rally. ginni thomas said she left

before trump's speech and before the deadly attack on the capitol, because she got cold. thomas called the morning's events "a peaceful gathering of trump supporters." in related news, a florida judge ordered enrique tarrio, former head of the proud boys, be detained while he awaits trial on charges related to the insurrection. evidence cited in tarrio's indictment included a nine-page plan to storm government buildings on january 6 titled "1776 returns." the document does not specifically mention attacking the capitol and it's not known who produced it. sarah bloom raskin has withdrawn as the nominee for a top regulatory post at the federal reserve. the move came after conservative democratic joe manchin joined republican senators to oppose her confirmation. sarah bloom raskin had vowed to focus on how the climate crisis threatens the economy. here in new york city, street vendors held a "sleepout" and rally in front of governor kathy hochul's office, calling for her to lift a cap on licenses for

sellers. thousands of street vendors, the majority of them from immigrant communities, are unlicensed and vulnerable to hefty fines or harassment while working. >> just like you, we are mothers, we have children. we are fighting so you can take action. grant us vendor licenses so we can live and work with dented knitting -- dignity. amy: tuesday's action was also the kick-off for a 150-mile march from new york city to albany, where immigrant workers will demand new york state expand funding and protections for those excluded from government pandemic relief in the new york state budget. disney workers are staging a series of walkout after ceo bob chapek initially refused to condemn florida's so-called "don't say gay" legislation and for donating to politicians who back the measure, which bans discussions of sexuality and gender identity in schools. the virtual and in-person walkouts were organized by lgbtq employees of disney, who are

calling for the company to take action to protect workers in florida from the legislation. police in washington, d.c., arrested a suspect in a string of shootings targeting unhoused men in d.c. and new york. two of thehootings were fatal. 30-year-old gerald brevard faces multiple charges including first-degree murder. a man has been charg with attempted murder as a hate crime after he brutally attacked a 67-year-old woman of asian descent. he called her an anti-asian, sexist slur before he repeatedly punched her in the head in a building's vestibule. the shking asslt was captured on a security camera. anti-asian he crimes have skyrocketed since the start of the pandemic. and today marks one year since the atlanta spas mass shooting at three atlanta spas which killed eight people, six of them women of asian descent. commemorations and rallies are taking place across the united states today. and a bipartisan bill to make daylight savings permanent passed the u.s. senate tuesday by unanimous consent and now hes to the house. backers of the measure argue

more sunlight hours could help conserve energy, be a boon for business, and improve mental and physical health. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. unicef is now saying russia's invasion of ukraine is creating a child refugee almost every second. over 1.5 million children have now fled ukraine since russia launched its invasion three weeks ago, the total number of refugees has topped 3 million stop this top. kyiv is still under curfew as russia continues to bomb residential areas. earlier today, russian forces shelled a 12 story apartment building in the capital. we go now to kyiv where we're joined by nataliya gumenyuk. her article in rolling stone is just out headlined "'we would

die under moscow.' odesa unites to resist putin's invasion." her other recent piece appears in the guardian headlined "in mykolaiv, a city awaiting a siege, it's clear that all ukrainians are now people of war." she's the founder of public interest journalist lab and her work focuses on international security and conflict reporting, and human rights. nataliya gumenyuk, welcome back to democracy now! it is great to have you with us. first, talk about where you are, meaning tell us what is happening in the capital kyiv right now under this curfew. >> kharkiv is probably suffering -- i am now in kyiv. there is a curfew, so by tomorrow morning, we're not really allowed to leave the house. there is an air raid alert here,

so we understand the city is being fortified. there are still a million people who live here. a lot of males people joined the defense to do what they can do. because now it is clear we're coming to the fourth week of the war, not something -- every night, there are warnings that could be heavy artillery shelling. we are waking up, good, it did not happen to that extent which was explained. to be honest, it is often so much in the foreign media headlines that that seed would be overtaken within a day or another day. fortunately, somehow the major cities in ukraine are under ukrainian control.

mainly because it is -- that feeling is a strange feeling because the country is very large. it takes days to travel from one town to another. but the airstrikes could be anywhere and now we understand the strategy of russia has changed. prior, they wanted to overtake the town. where they were not capable, also kyiv kyiv like in, they are targeting artillery were airstrikes wherever they can manage. where they can reach. therefore, it is not everywhere where they are, but there is a feeling of danger. for me, just to finalize this thought, it is -- it is a lot about whether ukraine is capable to defend itself. the damage is smaller where the air defense works.

it shows the military attacks good somehow be stopped just with some defense weapons and in a military way. nothing us of our has worked. amy: you also, from kyiv, you're just in kharkiv, the second largest city in ukraine. describe what you found there. >> so it is a city where a million people live. it is an older city. the downtown, which is not really significant from the point of -- military point of view, for the central streets, the nice old areas, they are really destroyed. the residents feel it is punishment. the town is 40 kilometers away from the russian border. so they are constantly shelling the living, sleeping neighborhoods on the north of the town. we have been there. it is really tough.

i have been, for instance, to the subway station -- which today served not just the basement for the people who want to hide from the airstrikes, but were some people for 18 days sleep. now the situation changes a bit, but just to visualize, was shocking for me, there was a moment when there were up to 2000 people living at the platform of the subway station. it was so much, the subway authorities allowed for people to walk underground to another station so they can put them there. the volunteers and the people around, they're doing a great job to help get people to different towns. but we should really understand, these are the towns where millions live. even when we think about 3 million ukrainian refugees, it is not something which is doable.

this is more about you can't find hiding, safe space. it is more about finding the way to defend itself. i've also been to another town, which global is not known, a small town not much known, near the russian border. that town -- it was quite devastating. the railway station, there is nothing any longer. where there was the cultural institution in the downtown, there was nothing there. i've seen incredibly large craters from air bombs, like some three meters to four meters in diameter. there is a local mayor who is a surgeon himself, and he also keeps saving lives while being the mayor who is trying to help the people because there could

be electricity or water supply in the town, faraway from everything, but also trying to save the lives of the people. it is not all over the country like that, but i just want to express and explain what is happening in the places where a lot of journalists cannot reach because things are happening in so many small towns were many ukrainian and foreign journalists have the capacity -- don't have the capacity to cover all the stories. amy: your piece in the rolling stone is headlined "'we would die under moscow.' odesa unites to resist putin's invasion." while you were in odesa, you spoke to the renowned poet, ukrainian-russian speaking jew. explain his significance and what he told you about odesa and what it means to unite people across religions and political perspectives, something you did not have so much before. >> we had that to some extent,

but it was not so obvious. odesa is known kind of for a lot of generation of jews in ukraine. a lot of people global in the u.s. whose parents are coming from that area. indeed, he said it is paradoxical, even grotesque tragic way that the country where the president is a jew, parents fought in the second world war, needs to defend itself from the russian occupation. to really paradox. people of all nations, very multicultural city, they were standing together. so the museum workers were kind of saying, we were protecting russian art from the russians. the greeks living there, they are staying to defend the city.

there were people across all social -- so there were be a great millionaire who is a developer working to help build the checkpoints and there would be an elderly pensionaire who is making molotov cocktails. it is about the serenity. defending the lives of the people, but also people -- i did not expect. they really felt it is something there defending, not just their life, not just their dignity, it is really about this right to choose. they are really angry by the fact another country decides for themselves what government should be, how they should live. they are very strong in that. it was interesting. there was a transgender lady my spoke to who said she finds nato to be covert. amy: to be coward.

he said to be cowards? >> they said, we feel like nato would be cowards because we see how the ukrainian army fights and we see the world isn't really -- people really appreciate the support given, but they always see that nato and the other countries in the west demonstrate it is the ukrainians fight, we would not be entered that because we do not want to provoke putin. the problem, the ukrainians passing the message through may, they think you don't need to do anything to provoke putin. he picks up any reason to do what he does already. amy: you write about a particular problem of transgender people because often their passport does not reflect who they are, their gender identity and what that means for leaving ukraine. >> you know, i should say it is

not really like the problem they said people are living, but the lady i spoke to said she does for her, did not have time to change the documents, it is quite tricky. both my -- what is 21, and others 25. just really managed to join the defense. he was quite sad he was not taken for a long time because there were long lines. but he also thinks the people who usually are -- not very much into the law enforcement, they are still there. this is not just my idea i read somewhere on facebook, i really talked to 70 people around the country, in the south and north, from various political affiliations. they really see the war against them which really unites them and they also say, we don't care about anything, we don't care about -- the bombs are falling on airheads.

what we should do, we just need to defend. we don't count on anyone else to defend us. amy: let me ask about the renowned poet. he and his wife use their own books they have written to line up at the windows in case a bomb goes off to prevent the glass from coming in. talk about what boris says about odesa and ukraine right now. >> so he really described this as a very multiethnic city and that it has never been as united. and the fact this war is really five by russia -- fought by russia, the kind of fighting nationalism that could not be more absurd and grotesque and really the orwell we could not imagine in the book. so far odesa is not the heavy

fight there. what i understand from talking to military, the air defense works. but this shows -- it is very hard to compare -- i myself was resisting to compare the conflict with the second world war. but now, it feels like people feel this way, so in odesa, for instance, they share the pictures of the famous odesa theater. throughout the protection like sandbags and different kind of things used to defend the town, and they would put the picture of the 1941 and today how it looks similar and for them, this is the war they compare and the threat they compare as existential. to be honest, also important explain, a lot of people are speaking russian. for a while, they felt there was

some proximity of cultures. probably they do feel extremely betrayed. they find it absolutely horrendous what is going on. and they are united with the whole country. just to have people think they need to defend the city, but they are also very much caring about what is happening elsewhere. amy: not so far from odesa is variable -- mary opal. my great-grandfather, the descendant of the founder -- fled mariupol to be the grand rabbi of henry street. if you could talk about the significance of mary pull, what is happening right now, and the destruction of this city and then also where you spent time in mykolaiv, all of these

southern cities. mariupol is the most tragic town . it is about 100 people living there. amy: 100,000? >> 100,000 people living in mary pull -- mariupol. it is near the donbas where the conflict used to be. it was under ukrainian control. it was under military siege for quite a long time. i should be cautious about the figures, but it was blocked for many days and still almost locked. i know there is no connection with mariupol. we have seen those pictures where a maternity house has been bombed. i know we don't have proper connections, but we know there is a severe human toll. being cautious as a journalist,

we heard from authorities speaking about dozens who died there because it is really targeted. if russia overtakes this town, they kind of capture the other seen support for them but they are really destroying. i cannot provide too much information, given an example families -- a couple are from the early march they cannot reach them out so we are extremely worried. for a number of times, there was an attempt to create a humanitarian corridor. it did not work. sometimes it worked. in some cases, the corridor has been shelled. it is the worst situation, to be honest, in the country there. amy: and mykolaiv, where you spent time before the siege and the assault. >> mykolaiv is still, fortunately, not under the siege. it was taken from one side of the city, so there is a lifeline

road so people can be evacuated or at least they can have a supply of goods. but they are preparing. they do understand it is very difficult and they need to defend the town. however, let -- let's speak about good news. it is hard to pronounce that any circumstances. we know that shelling is bigger. the human toll -- can i mention the 30 people -- it sounds strange to me, appeared to thousands it is smaller. they could have been. what i understand that area, the ukrainian military are moving not just from the defending but from the advancing. what is the biggest concern, just to really understand how it works and what it is so hard to defend people. the russian troops are overtaking the smaller villages around.

if they control those village areas, they are shelling from there. it is very hard to fight them. and those people becoming the hostages. it is very hard for all of the people to leave, especially elderly people. they just do not want to leave their houses unless the worst happens. and you never know which of those villages wou be overtaken. so it is really moving every day, but the feeling is every day, it feels like the last day. that is probably how the people feel. despite there's great support, talking to the mayor -- who, by the way, as a reformer, a nice guy whom i met earlier. and now he is kind of a military leader. he still says some things like bullet-proof vest or helmets, they are still needed. ukraine receives a lot of support, but it is not very easy to deliver the support to

everywhere, to every town because everybody should really be defending it's part of the land where they live. amy: nataliya gumenyuk, thank you for joining us, ukrainian journalist, speaking kyiv to us from her hometown kyiv. we will link to your report in rolling stone "'we would die under moscow.' odesa unites to resist putin's invasion." and your other peace in the guardian "in mykolaiv, a city awaiting a siege, it's clear that all ukrainians are now people of war." founder of public interest journalist lab. coming up, as the world focuses on ukraine, look at how the u.s. is expanding his support for saudi arabia, we look at the saudi-led war in yemen at a time the biden administration is moving to pressure the saudis to pump more oil. back in 30 seconds. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "hope" byat freddy's drop. this is democracy now! i'm amy goodman. today, british prime minister boris johnson in saudi arabia and the united arab emirates to hold talks on energy security, even as critics have raised concerns about the country's human rights records. this comes as u.s. officials have also reportedly talked saudi officials about a possible visit by president biden to saudi arabia to discuss global oil supply, while refusing to directly condemn saudi arabia for executing 81 men on saturday in its largest mass execution ever. efforts to negotiate with the saudis to increase oil amid sanctions on russian oil come as much of the world is horrified

by the atrocities in the war in ukraine. unicef says it is creating a child refugee almost every second in ukraine. at the same time, we are hearing very little about the world's worst humanitarian crisis that is unfding in yemen, which is now seven ars into the u.s.-backed, saudi-led war and blockade. the united nations warns acute cases of hunger have reached an unprecedented level with over 160 thsand peopllikely to experience famine in the next half-year. what an 17 million people in yemen are in need of food assistance with high levels of acute malnutrition among children under the age of this five. was the focus of part two of my conversation with sarah leah whitson, executive director of democracy for the arab world now, or dawn. we spoke to her tuesday about dawn's civil lawsuit against the saudi arabian crown prince mohamm bin saln for the murder of jamal khashoggi, who was assassinated in the saudi consate in tury in 2018 d

was dawn's founder. i asked her how's it possible the u.s. is continuing to support the saudi have been led war and blockade of yemen? >> it is mind-boggling and it is mind-boggling that mohammed bin salman said he will not increase oil production unless the u.s. increases its support for the war in yemen. basically, the biden administration is bargaining to do more to save the children of ukraine by massacring more children in yemen. that is the formula. and that's why it's just -- it's so discombobulating to see secretary blinken and president biden falling over themselves to decry russian atrocities in ukraine while they support very similar, if not worse -- certainly, to date, worse -- atrocities by saudi arabia and the uae in yemen.

we have to be very clear, saudi and uae are starving the people of yemen with a seven-year air, land, and sea blockade that has eviscerated the country's ability to import food, medicine, and fuel. yemen is a country that imports over 90% of its food. of course people are starving when saudi and uae impose a total blockade on the country. of course people are starving when sanctions continue to be in place. they haven't entirely been lifted. the u.s. just re-designated so-called houthi financiers, that will further debilitate t ability of the country to import even legitimate products like fuel and food and medicine imports. what the biden administration has now done is what even the trump administration refed to do, which is reengage as a party of the conflict, putting american troops the line as

part of the fighting effort, as part of the war, making them legitimate military targets in the uae where u.s. forces from the military base in the uae have actively participated in firing patriot missiles against the houthis in yemen, ostensibly to defend the uae from incoming houthi missiles. but really, the best way for the uae to protect itself is to stop supporting proxy forces, to stop arming and funding proxy forces, which it dramatically increased in doing in the beginning of this year and to end its blockade of yemen. same goes for saudi arabia. this is a dead-end war. best news i heard this morning: reportedly, the saudis have invited houthi representatives for talks to riyadh. i don't know if the houthis will trust this offer. there have been prior offers like this. but the whole world knows that the saudis and the emiratis are

not going to win this war. it's been seven years. they thought it was going to take weeks. what a joke. they have decimated this country. and if the united states expects the entire world, which has not gone along, to sanction russia, to buy what it's selling in terms of defending ukraine, then it's got to stop supporting the war in yemen because the world sees this. the world sees that when the united states lks about sovereignty and violence and not attempting to extract concessions by force, it's got to follow, to talk the talk in yemen, not just tell the world what to do in ukraine. because the world is not buying it. this is why there is not more support for the war against russia in ukraine. amy: you know, maybe that's where you've got it wrong, when you say the world sees. i think the world doesn't see the way it sees what's happening in ukraine right now. i want to read a tweet from codepink -- "why is there such a disparity

between coverage of the war on ukraine vs. the war on yemen? coverage of yemen reveals the u.s. and u.k.'s complicity in creating the humanitarian crisis. coverage of ukraine constructs the u.s., the u.k., and their allies as the 'saviors of democracy.'" so let's talk about the difference. i mean, you have for example, cnn anchors -- and this is not wrong. perhaps it should be a model of coverage of war in so many different cities, in ukraine, so you see the real effects of what war looks like, feels like, smells like, the destruction of hospitals, the bombing of schools, and people feel it viscerally. could you imagine if you had those same hosts in sana'a, in aden, in other places in yemen each day to feel this humanitarian catastrophe, the

worst in the world? can you talk about that, the actual lack of coverage of what's happening on the ground in yemen, so the world doesn't respond, right? as noam chomsky says, the media manufactures consent for war and lets people know what's happening so they can respond. >> there are three elements to this, amy. the first is the lack of coverage is not an accident. it is by design. saudi and the uae have done everything they can to block international media, block international human rights investigators, including myself, om traveling to yemen. when the war started, we -- when i was at human rights watch, we were on the ground in yemen. we were able to travel to yen to document what was happening, to document the destruction, to interview victims. the saudis made that increasingly difficult, including banning, forcibly

banning by threatening to withdraw funds from u.n. planes that were still traveling to yemen and taking in humanitarian organizations. so the saudis, they understand the power of the media. they understand the power of the coverage that you described. and that's why they have done everything they can to make it impossible. it is so difficult for international media to get anywhere near the fighting in yemen. aden remains accessible, but you have to take a boat from djibouti to get there. it's virtually impossible to fly into the country. so the restrictions on getting in for international media are tremendous versus, of course, ukraine, where anybody can go in freely to document what's happening. the second is just the factor of time. the media jumps from one crisis to another. the ukraine crisis is new. the yemen crisis is old. it's been seven years. and we have seen time and again how the media loses interest and

has to move on to the next thing. so there's an attention span issue. and finally, there is the inherent racism that we see and that we've seen on such grotesque display by the western media talking about the white and blue-eyed, blond-haired ukrainians who are somehow different. their refugee status is different. their suffering is different. they're civilized people. they're european people. and so there is an inherent bias in the western media, in particular, who are the bulk of those present in ukraine, to sympathize with, to feel compassion and suffering for ukrainians under bombardment but not the same suffering, not the same pain for yemenis under bombardment, for yemenis who are literally being starved to death. and i think this is a good moment for everyone in the media to check their biases, to really think about why that is and what they can do to fix it. i would hope that the international media uses this as an opportunity to redouble its efforts to travel to yemen and

see for itself. when they have shown up, as the bbc did last year in some unbelievable footage, unbelievable coverage, it did make a difference. and i really think and hope and i wish that the international media spends just a fraction of the effort they're making now to cover ukraine to get into yemen, to show the world what's happening. this is a good moment to draw out the comparisons, the strong, strong parallels between what's happening in yemen and what's happening in ukraine. amy: finally, i wanted to ask you about congress and what it is doing about yemen right now because this isn't just the saudi, uae-led attack on yemen. it is supplied militarily and helped in its funding by the united states. can you talk about what's happening in congress? >> sure. so while, under the trump

administration the u.s. congress, in a remarkable show of bipartisan support, republican and democrat, voted three times to ban u.s. support for the war in yemen and ban arms sales to saudi arabia for the war in yemen. under the biden administration they approved arms sales to saudi arabia for the war in yemen using the handy fig leaf of calling them defensive weapons. it's quite disappointing, if not disgusting, that even members of congress, like chris murphy, who have been so vocal in condemning the war in yemen and so vocal in condemning arms sales to yemen, aneven vowg that he would not support arms sales to yemen, voted in support of arms sales to yemen that the biden administration put forward. i think, unfortunately, it reveals a great deal about the conflict of interest within the u.s. government that is so beholden to the defense industry and defense industry profits and

defense industry employment, both before and after -- they are part of the government -- but as well as the notion that we must continue to cajole the saudi arabians for acquiescence to a new arms deal with iran, or now for increasing oil production, by doing what they want and sacrificing yemen and the yemeni people if we have to. there are efforts to introduce a new war powers resolution, led by, among others, representative ro khanna, that would resubmit the renewed, reengaged american fighting in the yemen war to a congressional war powers resolution and war powers approval. but i'm not entirely confident that that will pass. amy: and can you explain exactly what is the u.s. role in the attack, the decimation of yemen? >> sure, it's multifold. number one, of course, is the provision of american weapons. they are the bulk of the weapons

purchased by saudi arabia and the uae, and those are the weapons that are landing on the heads of yemeni children, yemeni women, yemeni homes, yemeni farms, yemeni schools, yemeni universities. this is how this country is being destroyed, with american weapons. in addition, there has been years of so-called intelligence support -- i should say dumbness support -- in supposedly helping the saudis carry out their targeting and cimation and bombardment, which of course has been wildly indiscriminate, because the saudis insist on flying their planes so high to avoid being shot, that they really can't target anything with any sort of precision. and now we have the direct engagement of u.s. forces, as i was mentioning, in the uae to support emirati forces to fire missiles back at incoming houthi missiles. so the united states is directly a party to this conflict again,

and its troops are at risk in the uae as parties to the war. anit's st remarkable to me that president biden would endanger americans this way. amy: that is sarah leah whitson, executive director of democracy for the arab world now, or dawn. it was founded by the murdered saudi dissident jamal khashoggi. next up, ukrainian president recalls for nato to impose a no-fly zone and is speaking for the u.s. congress today, we speak to historian stephen wertheim. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "lemky" by the ukrainian-polish jazz harpist and composer alina bzhezhinska. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the ukrainian president zelensky is giving a virtual address to both chambers of the u.s. congress today. he is expected to repeat his call for nato to impose a no-fly zone. president biden has so far rejected his request, but some

have embraced the idea. a group of foreign policy experts have signed on to an open letter opposing a no-fly zone. the letter was co-written by our next guest, stephen wertheim. he is senior fellow in the american statecraft program at the carnegie endowment for international peace and the author of the book "tomorrow, the world: the birth of u.s. global supremacy." welcome back to democracy now! great to have you with us. talk about what it means to impose a no-fly zone and why you are opposed, what this letter is all about. >> the last three decades in which a small number of no-fly zones have imposed against much weaker enemies than russia. but what it means is that the united states and nato forces would commit to shoot down enemy planes.

any enemy plane that enters the ne. it is quite clear russia would not voluntarily comply with our verbal declaration of a no-fly zone, so we would have to oot those planes down. to do that, we would have to patrol the area with our own planes to gain supremacy in the skies over ukraine. and to do that safely, we would have to destroy the enemy's air defense systems on the ground as well. many of those e located in belarus and some potentially may be located in russia. indeed, russians could fire it u.s. and nato air forces and then theuestion would become would we go to war, go to war in exchange fire wh russians who are located inside russian territory. as you start thinking about how a no-fly zone would actually unfold, it becomes very obvious

this would be direct involvement in the war against russia. and rather than end the war, a no-fly zone would enlarge the war and escalate the war. that is why the admin has rightly been very clear throughout this conflict that a no-fly zone wod be escalatory and is not something it wants to do. amy: we're talking about war between nuclear powers and what putin hashat is clearly suggesting people should be very careful about moving forward, threatening, in fact. >> and as president obama himself noted as he prepared to leave office, that with respect to ukraine, russia would have escalation dominance. meaning because the value of ukraine to russia is so much higher than it is to the west, that putin would be prepared to

go much further. this would be a kind of existential threat for him. and now it is even more so than when he initially invaded,iven the sanctions that have been imposed on russia. so he may resort to nuclear use. amy: can you address the suggestion of a "limited" noly zone? >> it is hard to know exactly what that would mean. one has to specify where a limited no-fly zone would be imposed but come again, there is no really limited no-fly zone. a no-fly zone means a commitment t just to declare something, but to enforce it, by making sure that russian planes cannot fly within that zone. it would clearly be viewed as an act of war, and escalation by russia post russia would not be wrong to view it that way and in every case, basically three

cases in which no-fly zones have been imposed in recent decades. again, imposed against enemi much, much weaker than russia. the mission has expanded. for example, if we impose a -fly zone, whether it is called limited or not, and our pilots actually do gain superiority in the air and are watching russians inflect terrible violence on ukrainians below them, then we are faced with the question, should we actually attack russian forces on the ground? if not, what was the point of establishing a no-fly zone if it is making little difference in the war itself? a no-fly zone in and of itself would not do very much to alleviate the suffering that ukrainians are experiencing at the hands of russian aggression. what it really would be is an

intermediate step toward a much wider war. amy: i would to ask about the state of negotiations to end this war. ukrainian president zelensky suggested russian demands are becoming more realistic. >> everyone should work, including our representatives, our delegation, for negotiations with the russian federation. it is difficult but important as any war ends with agreement. the meetings continue and i'm informed the negotiations already sound more realistic. but time is still needed for the decisions to be in the interest of ukraine. amy: his remarks came a day after he acknowledged he does not expect ukraine to join nato anytime soon, which is very significant. during a news conference yesterday, the intercept's ryan grim asked white house press secretary jen psaki what the u.s. is doing to advance peace negotiations and whether the

u.s. would lift its sanctions on russia if it reached a peace deal with ukraine. this is just a small part of what she said. >> aside for the request for weapons, president zelensky has requested the usb more involved in negotiations toward a peaceful resolution to the war. what is the u.s. doing to push those negotiations forward? >> what of the steps we have taken, significant one, to be the largest provider military and humanitarian and economic assistance in the world, to put them in a greater position of strength as they go into these negotiations. amy: that is a part of what jen psaki said. your response to this? >> well, it is encouraging that president zelensky is now being even more explicit, continuing a string of remarks over the past week or so in which he has expressed a real openness to making a settlement to the war,

suggesting he is open to committing to neutrality for ukraine with respect to nato. and that has been a consistent demand russia going back along time. also, some encouraging words coming out of the biden administration as well. secretary of state tony blinken just recently suggested that the sanctions that have been imposed on russia were not intended to be permanent. and what that signals is perhaps a willingness on the part of the united states to drop some of the most draconian sanctions on russia if that becomes necessary in order to secure a peace settlement that a legitimate government of ukraine, led by zelensky, we desire. so that is the key. if the zelensky government

believes it is in the interest of ukraine to stop the bloodshed , accept what will surely be some painful concessions -- but nevertheless, preserve the sovereignty and independence of ukraine in a peaceful way, what i think will be important from the united states and its allies is to be able to be part of those negotiations and make a certain concessions with respect to sanctions that would be surely necessary to reach a peaceful resolution to the war. whether we are at the point where in fact russia is willing to make an agreement, that i hard to judge. but we may get there in the coming weeks. amy: one of the ketamine's from russia so far has been no intermediate or short range missiles deployed close enough to hit the territory of the

other side. explain this. and we just have 30 seconds. >> prior to russia's full-scale invasion several weeks ago, it seemed as though the united states and russia were making some progress and diplomacy on issues like the one you mentioned. on arms control agreements, which would involve reciprocal measures whereby nato forces in the east of nato and russia would both seek to revive the kinds of limitations on their armaments that were built up actually during the cold war, were built up a little bit after the cold war, but have atrophied over the last several decades. amy: we just have 10 seconds. >> this is also something that could be part of an ultimate peace agreement. amy: stephen wertheim, we will do part two and posted online at democracynow.org. stephen wertheim is a senior fellow in the american

statecraft program at the carnegie endowment for international peace. he's a visiting fellow at yale law school and author of the book "tomorrow, the world: the birth of u.s. global supremacy." that does it for our show. íñíñ

♪ hello and welcome to nhk "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in new york. residents of northeastern japan understand the dangers of the earthquakes and tsunami. once again they've been shaken from their beds. a magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck off the coast, leaving two people dead. officials at tet