04/13/22 04/13/22 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> no more mass shootings. no more disrupting lives. no more creating heartbreak for people just trying to live their lives as normal new yorkers. it has to end and it ends now. amy: another mass shooting. this time in new york, as a gunman opened fire on a subway train during morning rush hour tuesday, firing 33 times.

10 people were shot, another 13 were injured. amid calls for more police and gun control laws, we'll discuss -- what public safety does look like with new york city public advocate jumaane williams. >> i figured it was important for everyone to see us on the train after that tragedy occurred. amy: then as u.s. inflation source to the higst rate in four decades, we will look at the impact of higher prices here and around the world with economics professor jayat ghh. >> inflaon is hitting developing countries even harder than it is in the united states. becausin most the road, gornments have already not been able to spend enough to actually rcue their citizens from all of the problems of the pandemic. d now that the ukraine war is increased grain and od prices, people already have stagna

employment -- amoco and would get an update from two starbucks workers on the growing union drive. >> i am madisohall and i am a starbucks brie stud in long beach, calornia. i'm currently organizing my store and have been facing some antiunion tactics from management. th past week, i had a chance to address those concerns with the ceo howard schultz this past friday. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. police in new york are continuing to search for a gunman who opened fire on a crowded subway train in brooklyn during rush hour tuesday morning. the gunman fired 33 shots after throwing two smoke grenades on the floor of the train. 10 people were shot and another

at least 13 were injured. "the new york times" described it as the worst attack in the history of the city's subway system. the shooting occurred in the working class neigorhood of sunset park, which has a large latinx and asian immigrant population. police have identified a 62-year-old man named frank james as a person of interest in the mass shooting. investigators say the gunman left behind a bag on the train carrying fireworks, a hatchet, and two gas canisters indicating he might have been plotting a broader attack. they also found a u-haul key. new york governor kathy hochul spoke outside the train station tuesday. >> the people of the entire state of new york stand with the people of this community and say no more. no more mass shootings. no more disrupting lives. no more creating heartbreak for people just trying to live their

lives as normal new yorkers. it has to end and it ends now. amy: the brooklyn attack is just one of several mass shootings that have occurred irecent days. on sunday, two people died and 10 were injured in a shooting at a nightclub in cedar rapids iowa. in indiana, six people were shot, including one fatally, at a birthday party sunday in indianapolis. and four people, including two teenagers, were shot saturday in washington, d.c., near nationals park after a baseball game. meanwhile, in georgia, republican governor brian kemp signed a law tuesday to allow residents to carry handguns in public without a license or background check. we will have more on the new york subway shooting after headlines. russian president vladimir putin has said peace talks with ukraine have hit a dead end. putin made the comment during a trip to eastern russia. >> and what is most important,

the ukrainian side moved away from its agreement and it just about but the requirement for security guarantees is one thing, but the question regarding settlement and relations with respect to crimea and donbas had to be taken out of the framework of those agreements, so we are back in a dead-end situation for all of us. amy: putin's remarks came as russia is preparing a major offensive in eastern ukraine. putin said "the military operation will continue until its full completion." this comes as ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy has proposed a prisoner swap with russia after ukraine's secret services detained viktor medvedchuk, a prominent pro-russia ukrainian politician who had escaped house arrest in february. zelenskyy offered to swap him for captured ukrainian prisoners of war. "the washington post" is reporting the biden administration is considering vastly expanding the type of weapons the u.s. is sending to ukraine. a proposed military aid package worth $750 million includes

money for armored humvees, mi-17 helicopters, howitzer cannons, and more drones. all this in addition to the $1.7 billion in military aid already provided to ukraine by the biden administration since the russian invasion. this comes as the pentagon is holding a meeting with the top eight u.s. weapons manufacturers to discuss ways to keep arming ukraine if the war goes on for years. in another development, president biden has accused russia of committing genocide in ukraine. he made the comment during a speech in iowa about rising food prices. pres. biden: none of this should and john whether a dictator declares war and commits genocide have to world away. amy: in recent months, russian president vladimir putin has repeatedly accused the ukrainian government of committing genocide in eastern ukraine where ukrainian troops and pro-russian separatists have

been fighting since 2014. india is defending its decision to continue importing russia energy imports despite preure from the biden administration. during a news conference on monday, india's external affairs minister s. jaishankar pointed out europe buys far more russian oil and gas than india. >> if you're looking at two purchases from russia -- energy purchases from russia, retention should be focused on europe, which probably -- we do buy some energy which is necessary for our energy security, but i suspect looking at the figures probably are total purchases for the month would be less than what europe does in an afternoon. so you might want to think about a. amy: meanwhile, in france, far-right presidential candidate marine le pen has comes out against sanctions on russian oil and gas. in a radio interview tuesday, le

pen she does not want the french people to "suffer the consequences of sanctions." in economic news, the soaring price of energy and food has led consumer prices in the united states to rise by a .5% in march compared to last year. inflation is now at its highest rate since 1981. this according to a report from the labor department. on tuesday, president biden visited iowa, where he announced a plan to suspend a rule preventing the sale of higher ethanol blend gasoline this summer in a move to lower prices at the pump. environmental groups warn the decision could lead to more smog this summer. the center for biological diversity criticized the decision, saying, "the ethanol lobby will be happy and kids with asthma will be sicker." in global economic news, oxfam is warning over 260 million people could be pushed into extreme poverty by the end of year due to the pandemic and rising energy and food costs

oxfam international said -- "without immediate radical action, we could be witnessing the most profound collapse of humanity into extreme poverty and suffering in memory." oklahoma's republican governor kevin stitt has signed into law a total ban on abortion in the state. >> we want oklahoma to be the most pro-life state in the country. we want to outlaw abortion and the state about,. amy: the law makes performing an abortion in oklahoma a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $100,000 fine. reproductive rights advocates say the oklahoma law is one of the most sweeping abortion bans because there is no exception for rape or incest and the ban starts at conception. in related news, yelp has become the latest company offering to reimburse costs for workers and their spouses who must travel

out of state to access abortion care. other companies offering a similar benefit include citigroup, match, bumble, lyft, and uber. the number of known covid cases in t world has topped 500 million, but that number is believed to be a vast undercount. one recent analysis by the world health organization estimated that the total number of people in africa who have been infected may be almost 100 times higher than the official count. meanwhile, new data from the cdc shows more peoe died in the united states in 2021 than any previous year due to a rise in covid deaths. the agency said about 415,000 people with covid died in 2021 compared to about 350,000 the previous year. in other pandemic news, covid cases continue to rise in the northeast and other parts of the country. in recent days, a number of colleges have reinstated some form of indoor mask mandates.

the list includes columbia, american, georgetown, johns hopkins, and rice universities. british prime minister boris johnson is rejecting calls to resign after he was fined for breaking u.k. covid lockdown rules by attending a party for his birthday at 10 downing street in june 2020. johnson becomes the first sitting british prime minister ever to be officially found to have broken the law while in office. johnson's birthday party was held at a time when the british government was barring residents from visiting sick relatives. british chancellor rishi sunak and johnson's wife were also fined. new cdc data shows the number of teenagers dying of drug overdoses nearly doubled between 2019 and 2020 and then rose again by 20% last year. the cdc found most of the overdoses involved the synthetic opioid fentanyl. the soaring number of overdoses

come despite a drop in overall drug use by teenagers in the united states. new york's lieutenant governor brian benjamin resigned tuesday after being arrested on federal corruption charges. he is accused of directing $50,000 in state funds to a real estate investor in exchange for campaign donations. new york govnor kathy hochul appointed benjamin as lieutenant gornor in september after she became govnor following the resignation of arew cuomo. officials in nigeria say between -- as many as 150 people were killed on sunday when armed men invaded a number of villages, opening fire on residents and burning down homes. the attackers are believed to have abducted dozens of people. no group has taken responsibility for the attack. in the philippines, at least 58 people have died after a large tropical storm triggered

landslides and floods in the central province of leyte and other areas. dozens of people remain missing. the storm came just four months after a super typhoon devastated areas of the philippines, killing more than 400 people and leaving thousands homeless. protesters in sri lanka are camping outside the president's office for a fifth day, demanding he resign from office as sri lanka faces a growing economic and political crisis. for months, sri lanka has faced dire shortages of food, fuel, and medicine. sri lanka is on the verge of bankruptcy and announced tuesday that it would stop suspending repaying its foreign debt. and brazilian presidential candidate luiz ignacio lula da silva has vowed to stop illegal mining in indigenous areas and vowed to roll back rules by president jair bolsonaro rules that open up more land for mining. lula spoke in brasilia where thousands of indigenous brazilians have been camped out to protest bolsonaro's policies.

>> no one has done more than we have in our relation with the indigenous people. what a serious is practically everything was done has been dismantled. all decrees which have been an obstacle to the protection of the indigenous people must be repealed immediately. 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: we begin today's show here the latest mass shooting in the united states. it unfolded tuesday in new york city when a gunman opened fire on a crowded subway train in brooklyn during morning rush hour. the gunman threw two smoke grenades on the floor of the train, then fired 33 times.

10 people were shot and another 13 people suffered injuries. "the new york times" described it as the worst attack in the history of the city's subway system. security cameras at the subway station were not working at the time of the shooting, but riders caught some of the graphic aftermath on cell phone video. the shting occurrein the working-class neighborhood of sunset park, which has a large latinx and asian immigrant population. police have identified a 62-year-old man named frank james as a person of interest in the mass shooting. investigators say the gunman left behind a bag on the train carrying fireworks, a hatchet, and two gas canisters, indicating he might have been plotting a broader attack. new york governor kathy hochul spoke outside the train station tuesday. >> the people of the entire state of new york stand with the people of this city, the community, and we say no more.

no more mass shootings. no more disrupting lives. no more creating heartbreak for people just trying to live their lives as normal new yorkers. it has to end and it ends now. amy: meanwhile, new york city mayor adams, who is isolating at gracie mansion after testing positive for covid-19 this week, said tuesday he will double the police patrolling the city's transit system, at least for now, and did not dismiss the idea of installing "something like metal detectors" at subway stations. adams is a former transit cop. this is mayor adams on cbs news tuesday night. >> what concerns me the most is what i've been talking about for several months now, that we have -- violence in our cities. it is time for all lawmakers to be on the same page. we remove 1800 guns off our

streets and a little over three months. it is time for us to get serious about the guns in our city, including ghost guns. amy: this comes as president biden announced new steps monday aimed at regulating the untraceable, homemade weapons called "ghost guns." tuesday's attack in brooklyn is -- comes as several mass shootings have occurred in the united states and recent days. for more, we we're joined by new york city public advocate jumaane williams, who is also running for new york governor. welcome back to democracy now! it is great to have you with us. we were there yesterday and sunset park, this working-class neighborhood of latinx and asian immigrants, in particular, many, many essential workers. can you talk about what you learned and what you understand about the person, not assessed but the police are calling him,

not a suspect, but a person of interest? >> thank you for having me. it is always a pleasure. on the ground, people are concerned. people are stunned. you have to remember the schools nearby. one almost directly across the street, be a block away come on lockdown because kids were on their way to school. one thing we have to remember, is shots fired and people are physically hit, ves were taken -- no lights were taken, which is a miracle, but the compelling trauma for those who witnessed it, people who got away, people who were in the car with that smoke and children who could not get out is long-lasting. that is one thing with to continue talking about, the trauma that happens when there is gun violence. juan: jumaane williams, what is your response to mayor adams'

lead to double the amount of police presence in the subway system, at least as a temporary measure? >> walways say please and law enforcement partners are good for an acute situation. i understand why people may want to see additional officers, they want to feel safe and actually be say. one of the problems we have said with trying to throw police at every problem, if it doesn't work, have to grow more police and more police. we have been saying for a long time, the answer to the gun violence problem cannot be solely sending police to try and deal with the problem. we had a police surge last year and another one at the end of the year. we have new units that are going to the streets and still we are having this gun violence problem. my hope is the leaders from federal, state, and city will finally come together with a

more comprehensive plan that addresses public safety. i am proud to be a leading voice on this issue. we have to do more of what is working because this is a national problem. other cities are having worse problems, so we should not look to them, but look to ourselves of what was working. juan: talked about a more comprehensive solution, there is the perception that the public has come especially the media focus on many of these isolated -- these incidents of violence when the reality is, yes, there has been an increase in crime in recent years, but nothing aired to what it was like back in the 1990's when 2000 people year

were being killed in new york city. your perspective? what would a comprehensive plan look like? >> that is 100% correct. as leaders, we have to have conversations. -- means nothing to the people who were shot in that car, the 10 people now have a long-term trauma. as you said, the media has to be more responsible because we are nowhere close to where we were in the 1980's and 1990's. frankly, we are still one of the safest in the country, even with the spike in crime. we don't want that spike to happen. we do have a way we can address it. many of us have been pushing for a comprehensive soluti for such a long time. as the pandemic was rising, we told folks while pencils were increasing, while there were issues of mental health, housing, food getting worse, we're going to see more

violence. let's get some programs in. we know we have our law enforcement partners. the more we rely on them solely, thmore we're going to see the violence increased. we asked for $1 billion in the state to address specifically gun violence and victims services. we did not get that money. what we did get is a lot of rhetoric and $1 billion to buffalo lls. that is another conversation. we need people who understand this conversation, who understand how to address public safety in these communities, and have the courage to have that conversation with the public. what we could not do is feed the fear of what we're doing and then provide solutions we now have not really solved the problem in the past and have caused other traumatic effects on the same communities. amy: jaane williams, you are running for governor, also been talked about that governor cuomo may be entering the race soon.

you have put out a housing for all proposal. i'm wondering if you could be very specific about this because when we talk about money, where it should go -- and there were big issues with what happened at sunset park. there's only one exit out but whoever it was clearly got out, not clear if that station or somewhere else. no cameras working in the area. apparently, some police officer asked a passenger to call 911, said his radio was not working. but what you feel those services have to be shored up, what are the g problems in new york? >> first of all, i always want to say cannot provide excuses for people shooting up a train. there has to be accountability and consequences for that kind of action. shooting of a street. we cannot spend more time on

that than preventing it from happening in the first place. first, congress has to act. every legal gun on the streets were legal at some point. we do need law enforcement and interagency cooperation to deal with the impact of those guns coming in, but will we also know is the intersection of access to health care, access to food, access to better education, access to housing can help with issues that people are having that then lead to high incidence of cri. the week before housing plan -- we proposed housing plan. we have a plan to build and preserve one million units in new york state over the next 10 years. the governor as a plan to build simply 100,000 units over the next five years. that is not enough to do with one of the boroughs we have in new york city, much less all of the counties in new york state.

if we do not access these type of things, it provides more pressure for people who are dealing with them. and we know the numbers show the more people are dealing with these kinds of issues, the more violence we have. we have addressed this in the past. i am happy to help lead the city to become the safest it has ever been 2018 and 2019, funding community programs, groups, addressing many of these social issues. and it worked. we said we should double down on them. we should focus on what was working, not trying to relive and rehash policies of the past that did not work. our community and new yorkers and all of the country deserved to have leaders working on a real plan to address this gun violence. juan: jumaane williams, i wanted to ask you the recently passed state budget governor hochul approved, the $220 billion

budget for the state. the state was probably this year in better financial shape than any time in its history as a result of so much federal emergency covid money coming to the states and the cities across the country. you called this budget a colossal missed opportunity that failed to meet the moment. why do you say that? >> it absolutelys. as you mentioned, we have more money than we have ever had yet the issues th i'm speaking about were woefully inadequately addressed. even some of the good issues that were addressed like the $7 billion for childcare -- which is a huge issue in the state of new york. most of that money -- unfortunate, the governor has said she will not raise any revenue for millionaires and billionaires. she told him it wouldn't and she got an extra $20 million over the course of the following week

after mentioning that. she wanted addss some of these issues because she refuses and says specifically, "i cannot find this because it is not sustainable." we have to raise revenue. there is no money in there to deal with the housing crisis that we are dealing with at this moment in time. we have more money for the buffalo bills then gun violence prevention. if you don't raise revenue, new york state is going to continue to suffer. what we had was any ability to meet a moment, to provide a new commitment to new york state. that did not happen. we told folks we were running a people can go online to see our plan, but we told him when -- while we were running that this current governor was going to be either the same or worse than the previous governor because this is the space she has built her career albany has muscle memory. unfortunately, what we're seeing the past few weeks with the budget and other news is exactly that. it is very hard to watch in slow

motion because we know what is going to be happening in the next two or three years as we begin to cut a very bone of what people need in the state of new york. amy: new york's lieutenant governor speaking of the state, brian benjamin, resigned tuesday shortly after five pop p.m.. his arrest might have gotten lost earlier in the day in the dst of the news of the mass shooting but he was arrested the morning on federal corruption charges, accused of g $50,000 in state funds to a real estate investor in exchangeor campaign donations. i wantedo turn to the u.s. attorney for t southern districtf new york, damian williams, outlining the chges against benjamin. >> this is a simple story of corruption. we allege that benjamin struck a corrupt bargain with a real estate developer referred to in the indictment as cc1.

benjamin allegedly directed a 50,000 state grant to a nonprofit organization controlled by cc1. in exchange, benjamin received tens of thousands of dollars of campaign contributions from cc1. amy: he was appointed by kathy hochul after she became governor following the resignation of andrew romo. again, hochul is running for reelection and, jumaane williams , you're one of her challengers. can you talk about the significance of these charges. it might've been lost yesterday given the global headlines around the mass shooting. >> i have to say there is a presumption of innocence until proven guilty for the lieutenant governor has pleaded not guilty. it is hard and especially someone you know when you see a black or brown person going

through this, i do think they have some additional scrutiny on them. with that said, the charges are serious and it is hard to see it in someone that you know. those legal issues are very trbling in a space of time where we have seen these kinds of issues, before. what is most astonishing to me is the governor saying she had no idea, even of these issues had come up before. no idea the illegal trouble was going on. these are the same things the governor said when she was the lieutenant governor of andrew cuomo. she said she did not know anything about what was going on when the whole world knew before even the horrors that got him taken down, his bullying tactics, the shroud of corruption and scandal that surrounded him that made new york not be governed the way it should be. and say that again, what it says to me, either aloofness that is

going on or embarrassingly there is some inadequacy and inability to see what is going on in your own space or it is worse, you implicitly are allowing these things to continue and not saying anything about it. that is a huge concern most of one of the reasons we decided to run was because we did not know there was going to be much change -- i am sad but hpy that i'm here to give a message of what new york can be. the working class, middle css, the struggling. we keep saying in the interest of the tens of thousands of new yorkers that we lost, the ones that test the one thing we can do is with the governor keep saying, go back to normal, which is what we are seeing. we need a better than normal. we need to normalize people's lives and the way that helps them to live better. amy: we just have 15 seconds,

but if you could respond to the news it is possible governor cuomo is going to reenter the race and he will be one of your challengers -- or you will not be running against hochul? >> this is what happens when people don't do what they should do. the legislature should have impeached him. this is the problem. we have been saying how bad the governor has been for many, many years. people got brave toward the end of his career, but if they had spoken o before, including the current goverr, we y not be in this position. if people had impeached him, we would nobe dealing with this as well. it is sad day for new york if he does do that. and it is dangerous for new york if he es do that. but this is what happens when people enable either explicitly or implicitly. amy: jumaane williams, thank you for being with us, new york city public advocate and candidate for new york governor. next up, as u.s. inflation soars

to the highest rate in four decades, we will look at the impact of higher prices here and around the world with economics professor jayati ghosh. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "saya" by the gambian multi-instrumentalist and composer sona jobarteh. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. we look now at the soaring price of energy and food around the world. the u.s. labor department said tuesday inflation in the u.s. rose by 8.5% in march, the highest it has been in 40 years. meanwhile, oxfam is warning over 260 million people could be pushed into extreme poverty by the end of the year due to the pandemic and rising energy and

food costs. oxfam international said, "without immediate radical action, we could be witnessing the most profound collapse of community into extreme poverty and suffering in memory." for more, we're joined by jayati ghosh, economics professor at the university of massachusetts-amherst. previously an economics professor at jawaharlal nehru university in new delhi, india, where she taught for 35 years. just appointed to the u.n. advisory board on effective multilateralism. her recent article on the increase in commodity prices following the russian invasion of ukraine is headlined "putin's war is damaging the developing world." we welcome you to democracy now! there's a lot of news in the united states about inflation with the numbers just out yesterday. worse -- worst in 40 years. if you could talk about that and then put it in context of the world. >> absolutely. no doubt it is higher inflation

a much higher inflation i think that many people, including in the adnistraon, expected. it is driven really by the fuel prices. food prices matter, but t much much lesser extent in the u.s. it is not only the price of oil that is driving this. there are supply chain issues in a number of other smaller areas like automobiles and so on, but this is a cost push inflation as economists call it. a rise in the cost of fuel, which is something that affects everything else. many other goods and services, used in transport, and so it doesn't just affect the prices at the pump it actually affects all of the other prices in the economy. the problem is, thenovernment say, oh, what we have too, is get the central into tight monetary policy, to raise interest rates. that is not the problem. that is not the solution. that does not affect the cause of the inflation. you really have to think of different measures in this

situation. juan: what parts of the rising inflation or what percentage roughly do you attribute to the invasion and the subsequent sanctions against russia and what part two structural problems within the world economy in general? >> this is a very interesting question because we know prices of food and fuel were rising even before the ukraine war. what happened thereafter is it dramatic and sharp increase, even beyond the increase we were already getting. at that time war war before the ukraine, fuel prices accounted for 30% of the increase in u.s. inflation. now it is more like half. but the prices themselves have gone higher than you would expect given the actual impact on supply. it is absolutely true russia is a major exporter of oil and

natural gas. hey, volumes of exports have not fallen that much. it has been diverted to other countries. it is also true both ukraine and russia are major suppliers of food grain. ukraine the sweet and seeds. they also supply fertilizer. all of those are impacting food production globally. the prices have shot up global on -- well beyond. that is because there's been feverish speculative activity and what are called the commodity futures market. these are markets to surveying the price one month from now, three months from now. those prices have just gone haywire over the last six months with massive involvement of speculative activity and declines as they rush out of one commodity to another. a lot of the destabilizing impact of speculation on what are caed these future markets

is impacting the current price, the stock market as well. juan: there's been an economic impact on the global south, obviously, from inflation and fuel as you say, also the aftereffects of the war, but there is also been -- this has not been noted too much in the media coverage in the west, the sharp diversions and public opinion in the global south about this war versus the public opinion in the west. in countries like indonesia, some of the largest countries in the world, pakistan, brazil, china, public opinion is much more sympathetic to the russians than it is to ukraine and certainly much more so than in the west. i'm wonderinwhy you think that is happening? >> let me take your second question first. i think what is striking, and i don't people in the west realize that, the extent to the hypocrisy, the moral double standard in this ukraine war.

yes, it is terrible what is happening. it is a brutal and completely unjustified invasion and people are dying and suffering. but more people have died in yemen in the last three months with arms provided by the u.s. and very, very brutal attacks. children are starving in yemen and afghanistan because it u.s. policy. you know, everyone else in the world assange, how come it is only when their white europeans who are affected that you care at all? really, i don't think people in the west realize the extent to which they have absolutely lost legitimacy -- moral legitimacy and their reaction to what european lives and other lives in the world. there's a very, very strong reaction. this is going to affect all kinds of things. it will affect the possibilities for multilateralism, affect whether g7 has any standing at

all to do anything. and it will affect whether people go along with the u.s. and europe in doing sanctions when the u.s. and europe wants to do it. but not for others equally terrible accent they themselves are a party to. i really do believe people in the west need to wake up and realize how much damage has been done to their own -- very limited conception of what is moral and ethical when the rest of the road is very, very disinterested in what is going on. amy: i'm wondering, professor, if you can talk about the actual corporations, if you could name names of the large corporations that are making a killing off what is happening right now, that are making huge profits. i mean, we know when it comes to, for example, gas, many in the u.s. have asked, they would say, well, people are paying five dollars or six dollars

because of the war, russia's war in ukraine. but it turns out exxon mobil and bp, all these oil companies are making more money right now than ever in their history. if you can talk about the same when it comes overall to inflation and food prices as well? >> this is the whole issue. once you get some increase in prices, companies see this as a terrific way of quickly making additional profits by raising their prices even more than is justified. yes, there is this cost-push element, but you're also getting profiteering, plain and simple. companies in the oil sector, companies in the food sector, companies in a range of other sectors, raising the price is justified by the increase in their own costs. they can do this because of the whole atmosphere of inflation expectation. this enables them -- there are

no limits. this is a time when you have to have public policy which is regulating companies like this. it is possible that governments can do it. yet the regular that companies that are openly profiting. you ve to set some controls on the price of essentials that enter into all other prizes. fuel is one of them. you have to make sure those prices are regulated and determined. the notion of the free market -- it is false because these are big fat companies that can control the market. you really have to make sure governments regulate those prices. the same is true internationally. we are getting the big players in agribusiness raising prices of basic greens and food well beyond what is needed. this is affecting people in the developing world who are already much worse off than those in the u.s. and europe, who already experienced the pandemic much worse because they had a decline in employment, wages.

they have not had the money that was spent in the u.s. and europe . they are well below levels of employment that were there before the pandemic. and now they're facing these huge increases in food prices and fuel prices there really are just going to make massive increases in poverty and hunger globally. we have to address the problem at the root, which is in terms of the ways in which prices are structured, these companies are allowed to get away with straightforward profiteering in times of crisis and bring under regulations of controls that would prevent that. juan: speaking of these protests that have begun to develop especially in the developing world, sri lanka there was a mass protest over the cost of a central goods. on tuesday, the country stopped its international debt payments, effectively defaulting on its

debts. do you foresee a potential debt crisis across the developing world as a result of these inflationary forces? >> yes, absolutely. this is something we predicted a year ago, actually come even before the ukraine war. the ukraine war has intensify the problem, but it is not just economists like me. the imf predicted that if you don't do something about the huge overhang ofebt that already a lot of countries had, in the major response of countries in the north, u.s. and europe, to raise interest rates of all capital comes back to these countries, and then you get massive volatility from the developing countries, you are going to get massive debt crisis. this is just the beginning. the first step. amy: i wanted to ask you about the inquiry that you are taking part in today with progressive

international, which was founded by, among others, the independent vermont senator bernie sanders, as well as llamas verify because of greece. can you talk about the inquiry into the imf and how that relates to what we are talking about? clubs at that many people are going to be arguing the imf had been guilty of many things. ihink the sins of commission are very important but they are well-known. let me quickly highlight most the imf goes into countries and deep crisis and says, cut public spending. it is part of the way they're supposed to somehow bring these countries back into balance by saying you reduce government spending, you oppose austerity, and investors will feel more confident. private investors will then come flocking in. that really happens.

all that happens is the problem gets much worse. there are ways the imf has had a double standard in terms of the rich countries and the not rich countries,he middle income and low income countries. in the rich countries they say, yes, spend more coming cap to revive the economy. and in the middle and low-income countries, they say, oh, get to cut down on your spending because you have to reduce her deficit. you have a very large debt. yet to somehow reduce that debt in the period of crisis. they then demand -- the import surcharges on the countries that are worse off. which is ridiculous the imf making profits off of a catastrophe and all of these countries. these are the sins of commission that have had devastating consequences acrs the world, really. but the sin of omission is

greater. the imf is the only multilateral agency we have today that handles global finance to deal with the challenges of humanity. we don't have any other structure. w, humanity we know. first there was a pandemic. we know there cou be more pandemics. but then climate change. already is upon us, which is affecting agricultural supply, which is affecting coastal sea rises, which is affecting livelihoods, which is already causing significant increases in environmental destruction, hunger, implant laws, and people havi to move, all kinds of things. you have to bring in massive -- the imf is the agency that can do it. where is the ambition they can provide this minimal funding for the huge climatchallenges that we face globally and, you can't be nationalist about this. climate do not respect

passports and visas. it is not something that stops at the border. if we don't do something now, it will affect everyone. the imf has been remarkably ambitious, sluggish, not doing the minimum it is supposed to do. it was created just after the second world war in very, very different world with a structure that is completely ridiculous now with the u.s. being about a block everything, u.s. and europe controlling 60% of the voting rights and all that. but as a result, it really has not moved to do the basic things that a multilateral organization that is in charge of global finance has to do. prevent -- juan: you are talking about climate change. you mentioned climate change. how has the eruption of this war affected efforts in various countries,ven in t united states we are seeing president biden backtracking on some of

his proposals in terms of reducing our carbon footprint. could you talk about the impact of the war on climate change? >> it is very unfortunate the ukraine war as shown whenever there is any immediate crisis, governments across the world can appoint a backtrack, reversed on commitment in terms of carbon emissions, moving to greener energy, in terms of everything. so even a warike this, which let's face it, it's a limited war in one part of europe, is causing everyone in the world to forget about their major promises and strategies. some countries are going back to coal. some countries are for sizing the dirtier kinds of fuel, forgetting about the -- instead of saying, look, let's push for greater energy because oil prices are high, let's push for greener energy, there's an, grab all the possibilities for the dirtiest energy possible.

it is the united states, europe, india, china -- everyone in the world. no country has actually or very few countries have said, let's use this as an opportunity to move much more directly into green energy sources with public funding, which is what should be the response. this is terrifyi becau it means today that were, to marketing anything us. governments are not committed, not seeing the writing on the wall, not recognizing the clear and present danger of a climate catastrophe. amy: jayati ghosh, thank you for being with us, economics professor at the university of massachusetts-amherst. we will link to her recent article following the russian invasion of ukraine headlined "putin's war is damaging the developing world." next up, speaking of economics, we get an update from the growing starbucks union drive that spread to 200 stores in 30 states. back in 30 seconds. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "part of the union" by strawbs. this is democracy now! i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. return to get get an update on the growing union efforts led by starbucks workers across the country. the historic movement began in a single starbucks store in buffalo, new york, that voted to unionize in now 200 stores have december. filed for union elections, covering over 5000 workers in at least 30 states. starbucks workers united has successfully unionized over a dozen starbucks shops, including in new york, arizona,

washington, tennessee, missouri. and on monday, workers at two stores in boston, massachusetts, unanimously voted to unionize. just last week, workers at a high-end starbucks in the chelsea neighborhood of manhattan voted to become the first starbucks to unionize in new york city. it is one of the largest starbucks in the world. this all comes despite an aggressive union busting campaign from the starbucks corporation that includes firing pro-union workers in retaliation and forcing workers to attend anti-union meetings. the national labor relations board's general counsel has argued is illegal under federal law. meanwhile, the nlrb says it's planning to formally accuse starbucks of illegally firing a group of seven workers who were fighting to unionize their starbucks store in memphis, tennessee. last monday, howard schultz spoke out against the unionization drive during a town hall meeting with about 15,000

employees. >> now, here's where it gets a little sensitive because i have been coached a little bit but i do want to talk about something pretty serious. we can't ignore what is happening in the country as it relates to companies throughout the country being assaulted in many ways by the threat of unionization. amy: for more, we're joined by jaz brisack, a barista at a starbucks store in buffalo, new york, which was the first location in the u.s. to unionize. welcome back. you guys started it in buffalo. now 200 stores in more than 30 states. talk about your strategy and respond to howard schultz. >> thank you for having me. it has been incredible to see

the national movement. we have had suprt from the beginng. the first store was mesa, arizona, whose manager was retaliated against for telling us exactly what all these people coming into buffalo were up to most of thing fired h before she had the chance to finish her time at starbucks after resigning. they were the first store to petition outside of buffalo. from there, it is been incredible. and not even able to keep up with how many more stores have been launching. it is incredible to see how many folks in the first store -- in knoxville, incredible.

not only did starbucks fire six out of the seven organizing committee, but the also have still delayed that boat from actually being scheduled the labor board. it is incredible to see more people joining in the movement growing. that is how we're going to get the kind of contract that we can sign and partners deserve is continuing to get stronger and show despite everything, we keep overcoming unionbusting and getting together in solidarity. i think it is ridiculous that howard schultz is threatened unions because we have said from day one, we are not doing this because we are opposed to starbucks. we are doing this because we want to make starbucks the best it can be, the most sustainable it can be. it says it supports lgbt rights, environment just as, black lives

tter. now being assaulted by labor rights most it does not make sense. not consistent with what starbucks as it is. we have seen howard come to buffalo and make really inappropriate comparisons to the holocaust and now we're are seeing him say he is being assaulted. he tries to acknowledge it is a sensitive subject but he is really missing the mark on how to talk about it. juan: jaz, what is your reaction to the news amazon workers at the staten island warehouse at the start of this month voted to form the country's first amazon union? >> absolutely static. that is the same day as the roastery win, which is an amazing thing to have both of those coming together. i think it shows we as workers and the labor movement can take on 15 baristas in a tiny

starbucks or 8000 workers in an amazon warehouse as long as we are standing together. amy: the retaliation against workers? we just have 30 seconds? >> it has been almost a scorched-earth strategy. not ly has srbucks been firing hopeful union leaders like the memphis seven, i can arizona, like others in buffalo, but theyave been slashing hou rs to force people to quit or have to t other jobs and then telling them, suddenly your available it doesn't meet -- this is all showing just how much we need a union because together we can fight back against these things. amy: jaz brisack, thank you for being with us barista at a

, starbucks store in buffalo, new york, which was the first location in the u.s. to unionize with starbucks workers united. happy birthday to anna ozbek, maria inés taracena, mary conlon, and david prude! we have a job opening for a news writer producer.

♪ hello there and welcome to nhk "newsline." i'm katherine kobayashi in new york. people around the world have learned of a city that's become synonymous with russian aggression in ukraine. residents of bucha have accused the troops of atrocities, of putting civilians in their crosshairs. now, investigators have come to the city to find out for themselves. the chief prosecutor of the international criminal court watched investigators exhume