01/17/23 01/17/23 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] ." amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> i think you are all aware going through great deal of turmoil, man-made or not and everybody is dealing with it. for now, this is what we have to deal with. but to your point, 10 days or a week is too much.

amy: the death toll from to excel flooding in california has reached at least 20 as climate scientist are predicting more extreme weather in the next two years. outrage is growing over how fossil fuel companies were fully aware of the link between fossil fuel emissions and global warming but spent decades skewing the sites in order to make maximum profits. we will speak with commerce member ro khanna. >> the 1970's, exxon and not only climate change is real, but exxon's products were contributing to the climate crisis. amy: we will also speak with him about their priorities of the incoming congress is the debt ceiling looms. calls for george santos to resign and whether khanna a run for senate or president. in the

justice department and congress face new calls to investigate donald trump's financial ties to saudi arabia. the latest controversy -- the chair of the fund started crown prince mohammed bin salman. it has paid millions to trump. >> i have known these people for a long time and a saudi arabia. they have been friends of mine for a long time. i have invested in many american companies. we own percentages of many, many american companies. what they're doing for golf is so great. the salaries are going to go up. amy: we look at how saudi arabian government agents infiltrated wikipedia to control information about saudi arabia and imprisoned wikipedia ministrators.

all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. in ukraine, at least 44 people were killed and dozens remain missing after a missile attack tore through a high-rise apartment building in the city of dnipro on saturday. it was one of the deadliest single assaults of the war since russia invaded nearly 11 months o. officials in kyiv blamed russian long-range missiles for the destruction. united nations secretary-general antonio guterres strongly condemned the attack, calling it another example of a suspected violation of the laws of war. a kremlin spokesperson denied russia was responsible, suggesting the blast may have been caused by a ukrainian air defense missile that went astray. elsewhere, fierce fighting continues to rage in the eastern province of donetsk, where russian forces are seeking to

take full control of the city of soledar. earlier today, the u.n.'s human rights office confirmed more than 7000 civilians have been killed in ukraine since russia's invasion, though the agency believes the true toll is likely considerably higher. in kyiv, ukraine's president volodymyr zelenskyy cited the latest russian attackss he appealed to allies to send even more heavy weaponry. >> it is possible to do it somehow on the battlefield of ukraine. unfortunate, no. those weapons which are in -- our soldiers are waiting for so much. amy: the united states has launched expanded combat training program for ukrainian

soldiers. the top u.s. general mark milley, the chair of the joint chiefs of staff, toward a base in germany as pentagon advisors began training about 500 ukrainian troops including artillery, tanks, and missiles. it came just days after british prime minister rasheed sunak said the u.k. would ship advanced tanks and hundreds of armored vehicles to ukraine, becoming the first western nation to supply such offensive weaponry. on sunday, nato secretary-general -- other allies will follow suit. meanwhile, german defense minister has resigned amidst mounting criticism from some nato members over the aide.

>> what does it say about the future? we know germany needs a strong military defense industry. amy: lester, the gman chancellor pledged to spend over $100 billion to expand germany's military. in afghanistan, armed men shot and killed former member of parliament mursal nabizada on sunday in an assault on her home in kabul. one of nabizada's bodyguards was killed in the attack, which also left her brother and another guard injured. nabizada was elected in 2019 to represent kabul and remained in office until the taliban takeover in august of 2021. her assassination came amid a massive crackdown on the rights of women and girls by the taliban. over the weekend, the charity save the children reported it has remed a small percentage of its activities in afghanistan for the first time since the taliban banned women from working for non-government organizations. the group added in a statement

-- "the ban on female ngo workers, on top of the existing humanitarian crisis, will drive up the needs of children and have a huge ripple effect. it will mean fewer women and girls are reached with essential support. it will mean more children are forced into labor and marriage. it will mean tens of thousands of jobs are put at risk across the sector." burkina faso's government says armed men abducted more than 50 women in two separate incidents late last week in the town of arbinda. the women were kidnapped as they foraged for leaves and wild fruit due to widespread food shortages in a part of burkina faso that's under blockade by insurgents affiliated with al qaeda and isis. the conflict has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced about 2 million people across in burkina faso since 2015.

in ventura county, 17 inches of rain fell over the past week. helicopters were needed to evacuate some residents in the county after flooding and landslides cut off access to their homes. nearly two inches of rain fell on downtown los angeles saturday setting a new record. parts of the sierra mountains received over four feet of snow. over the weekend, prident biden approved a major disaster recovery declaration for calirnia. he plans to visit part of california's central coast on thursday. meanwhile, climate scientists are predicting the world will see record heatwaves over the next two years due to a combination of climate change

and el nino, a natural climate cycle that drives global temperatures higher. hundreds of activists have occupied the deserted town for months to prevent the area from being mined for lignite, a highly polluting type of coal. over the weened, police used tear gas, water cannons, and batons to clear the encampment. medics say at least 20 climate protesters were injured. swedish climate activist greta thunberg joined the protesters over the weekend. video posted online show police pushed her and others from the site.

>> [inaudible] amy: the world economic forum has begun in the luxury ski

resort of davos, switzerland. on monday, climate activists blocked a private jet airport used by many wealth attendees to reach the annual conference. according to greenpeace, over 1000 private jets flew in and out of davos during last year's gathering. meanwhile, over 700,000 people have signed an open letter to fossil fuel ceo's attending the world economic forum urging them to "immediately stop opening any new oil, gas, or coal extraction sites, and stop blocking the clean energy transition." the letter was written by a group of climate activists including vanessa nakate of uganda and greta thunberg of sweden. in nepal, an investigation is under way into the cause of a yeti airlines crash on sunday that appears to have killed all 72 people on board. it was nepal's deadliest air disaster in more than three decades. the plane had been traveling from the capital kathmandu to

nepal's second-largest city pokhara when it began rolling from side to side before crashing into a gorge and catching fire. investigators were able to recover the plane's cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder on monday. in the occupied west bank, israeli troops shot and killed a 14-year-old palestinian boy monday as they carried out a raid near bethlehem. he was a student in united nations refugee agency school. he was the 14th palestinian killed by israeli troops so far this year. the fourth palestinian child killed since the new year. his death came less than two days after an estimated 80,000 israelis rallied in tel aviv to protest plans by israel's new far right government to overhaul the judicial system. similar protests were held in the jerusalem and haifa.

it would sharply limit additional powers by allowing a simple majority of lawmakers to invalidate supreme court decisions. in britain, the government of conservative u.k. prime minister minister rishi sunak has vetoed a bill passed by scotland's parliament that would have made it easier for people to change their legal gender. the legislation was approved by scottish lawmakers last month. it would make it simpler and faster for transgender people to obtain legal documents establishing their gender, would end the need for a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria, and would extend those rights to teenagers as young as 16. it's the first time since the scottish parliament was established in 1999 that the u.k. government has used its veto power to block a scottish law from taking effect. on monday, scotland's first minister nicola sturgeon condemned the veto as a

full-frontal attack on the scottish parliament. >> in my view, it will be quite simply a political decision and i think it will be trans people come already one of the most vulnerable, stigmatized groups in our society, as a political weapon and i think that will be unconscionable and insensible and really quite distasteful. amy: in new mexico, republican candidate who lost his bid for a sit in the new mexico statehouse in november has been arrested for orchestrating -- at the homes of four democrat officials. according to the albuquerque police department, he paid four men in cash to shoot at the homes of two county commissioners and state legislators. he was arrested by a swat team monday. inland the albuquerque mayor described saying -- "the

new york times" is revealing some republican insiders knew over a year ago that then republican congressional candidate, and now congressman, george santos had made up much of his resume, including his educational background, employment history, and religion. santos' lies were exposed when his campaign did a routine background report on him but the findings were not made public. during his run, santos would go on to pick up key endorsements including kevin mccarthy who is now the house speaker. on monday, new york republican congressmember nick lalota called on the department of justice and the federal elections commission to freeze any money left in santos's campaign account due to fraudulent activity. it recently came to light that one of santos' aides impersonated kevin mccarthy's chief of staff in fundraising efforts. on monday, mccarthy admitted he "always had a few questions"

about santos but mccarthy has so far refused to back calls for santos to resign. new york mayor eric adams traveled to the border city of el paso, texas, sunday and said new york city has no more room to house additional asylum seekers. >> given the false impression if you come to this city, everything -- amy: the new york mayor used his trip to el paso to urge biden administration to provide more help to new york which has accepted 40,000 asylum seekers over the past year, including 800 in a single day last week. eric adams' trip was criticized

by new york city comptroller brad lander who said the mayor's trip "risks reinforcing a harmful narrative that new immigrants themselves are a problem." oklahoma has carried out the first of what prison officials say will be 11 executions this year. scott eizember was pronounced dead at 10:15 a.m. local time last thursday after authorities at the oklahoma state penitentiary strapped m to a gurney and injected him with a lethal cocktail of three drugs. eizember is the eighth death row prisoner to be killed since oklahoma resumed capital punishment in late 2021 after a six-year moratorium. his killing came as one of alabama's largest suppliers of packaged gas said it will refuse to supply nitrogen to state gas chambers. a spokesperson for the company airgas said in a statement -- "notwithstanding the

philosophical and intellectual debate of the death penalty itself, supplying nitrogen for the purpose of human execution is not consistent with our company values." and the acclaimed novelist russell banks has died of cancer at the age of 82. thanks was twice a finalist for the pulitzer prize known for drawing on his working-class background to write about criminals, outcasts, and revolutionaries. his books were adapted into feature films. his 1998 historical novel "cloud splitter" focuses on the abolitionist john brown. russell banks spoke to democracy now! in 2011 about john brown's life and legacy. >> stood at that crossroads of religion and violence in the

american imagination and righteous wrath if you will, principled violence. he was our homegrown terrorist but he was a terrorist, certain today, universally the ending of slavery. his story is still a complicated one for most americans. amy: to see our interview with russell banks, go to democracynow.org. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. coming up, congressmember ro khanna on the deadly storms and flooding in california, then republican-controlled congress, george santos, and whether or not ro khanna will be running for president or the senate. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman in new york, joined by democracy now!'s juan gonzález in chicago. 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 in california, where the death toll from two weeks of heavy storms and flooding has reached at least 20 as record rainfall and snow continued over the weekend. the director of the california governor's office of emergency services called the storm among the most deadly natural disasters in the modern history of our state. president biden has approved a major disaster recovery declaration for the state and plans to visit part of california's central coast thursday. climate scientists are predicting the world will see

record heatwaves over the next two years due to a combination of climate change and el nino, a natural climate cycle that drives global temperatures higher. climate scientist james hansen and his colleagues recently said, "we suggest that 2024 is likely to be off the chart as the warmest year on record." this comes as a recent study in the journal science confirmed exxonmobil was fully aware of the link between fossil fuel emissions and global heating, but spent decades refuting and obscuring the science in order to make maximum profits. our next guest is california congressmember ro khanna, who spent nearly two years investigating exxon and three other major fossil fuel companies for their misinformation campaigns about climate change. >> as early as the 1970's, exxon new not only that climate change is real but exxon's products

were contributing to the climate. amy: at the end of the congressional term in december, the house oversight and reform committee issued a report along with more than 1000 pages of documents showing how exxon mobil, chevron, shell, bp, and the american petroleum institute and u.s. chamber of commerce hid their role in warming the planet by misleading the public about climate change. now the incoming senate budget committee by senator sheldon whitehouse is expected to pick up the investigation. congressmember ro khanna, democratic california and deputy whip of the congressional progressive caucus, joins us now from washington, d.c. welcome back to democracy now! we are speaking to you and a very different political landscape. speaking of landscapes, what is happening in your home state is, to say the least, chilling is

warm. can you talk about the connection which the media, though they focus a lot on california what is happening does not talk about climate change. you focused a whole hearing on clement change and came out with a report. make the connection. >> amy, fit of all, thank you for bringing it up. i was reading about a fiver old boy was with his family and the fiver old boy was separated and has not been found. in my district, we have not been hardest hit. the roads are still flush with water, driving conditions are very unsafe. it cerinly has been a challenge for the residence. the reality is this extreme weather, because of higher heat, higher pressure, and it is

directly linked to the burning of fossil fuels has change the climate. the report -- the investigation i led as chair of the environmental subcommittee basically says exxon, chevron, another big oil companies knew that when they were burning fossil fuels in the 1970's, it was causing climate change and this was going to be a major problem for humanity. ey had the best scientists. yet their executives when it for decades and lied to the american puic. did not disclose. [indiscernible] juan: congressman, i wanted to ask you, that fact we're going to have split congress now with the democrats and a control of the senate and republicans and a control of the house, your expectations of what can be

achieved legislatively in terms of the climate crisis? >> unfortunately, i don't think much. we still have so many climate deniers on the republican side. even those who acknowledge that climate change -- where they can make progress. juan: i would ask give it another looming -- i want to ask about another looming threat.

secretary janet yellen -- debt limit this thursday. what does that mean exactly? >> it is important for people watching to understand we are not debating how much we spent in the future. this is obligations the united states government has. i believe in this country we should pay our debt. this should not even be a debate. the consequences of not doing that will be spiking interest rates at a time when the economy already is vulnerable. social security check -- will

not go out. so if push comes t shove, i believe the administration can act in their own power, increasing the interest rate on bonds to be able to raise interest rates and other avenues. amy: isn't that what conservative republicans and a number of democrats want? >> higher interest rates -- but they don't care. they don't care about the

institution's the economy. i am for increasing the spending. kevin mccarthy is in a difficult position because -- amy: i want to go back to the issue of climate.

amy: what have you recommended in this report that just came out before the beginning of the year to actually hold these companies accountable and would be criminal accountable as well as financial countability? >> they can be held accountable like big tobacco was held accountable. financial accountability. need to prevent the methane leaks that are taking place and many oil wells. these companies like big tobacco light to the american public.

what the documents show to increase the fossil fuel infrastructure. so they're actually not taking significant steps to lower emissions. they're using that rhetoric on making very small investments in cleantech and it is making massive investments in increasing fossil fuel infrastructure, carbon emissions. juan: i would like to ask you about an unusual bipartisan effort, with marco rubio -- >> ourountry made a colossal

stake. after, we basically spent over 70,000 either offshore or factories got shuttered, we bought the means -- the capability of producing things inhis country. it led to social discourse. it led to the guttinof communities. renel industry of factories in america. fdr, the war -- reconstruction organization -- juan: i wanted to ask you also about the change in democratic leadership in the house.

clearly, the group of leaders, including nancy pelosi who were all over 80 years old, have stepped down from their leadership posts. we have a new generation with hakeem jeffries. your sense of what this generational change is going to do in terms of democratic tactics and strategy in the house? >> there is in excitement with new generational leaders. i think leader jeffries -- off to very strong start. they are helping make sure that the democratic caucus is united around our goals. it has been a very good few weeks for the democratic caucus. amy: congress member ro khanna, if you can talk about what you believe should happen with congressman santos?

it has almost become a joke now accept it is so significant and involves the balance in congress . the latest news that george santos' aid in person eight it the chief of staff and kevin mccarthy admitting they knew there were problems with santos going way back. of course it will come out more. just lying about almost everything, not even clear what the guys name is. the republican leadership of long island where he comes from calling for him -- kevin mccarthy -- what do you think should happen? >> he should resign. it is obvious. i don't know any other jobs in america you can go in, lie about your education, life about your background -- you would be fired. you would be asked to leave. why is congress different?

why can't someone tell every single lie in a job interview, which is an election is coming continue to serve? in my view, should resign. and make of the house wants to defund the ethics committee. that is one place where they could sanction him. how do you actually make this happen? >> they not only want to defund the most shame -- this is an office of congressional ethics that came about after the abramoff scandal. it is pretty bipartisan. after about 50 democrats, 50

republicans. they are lessening the standards in this country, so much for draining the swamp. has to be far more effort by leadership to get him to resign. when leadership was that to happen, they can make it happen. the're cosing noto because they want his vote in a closely divided house. juan: i what'd ask about the continuing crisis at the border -- i want to ask about the contending crisis at the border, how the biden administration is handling most of you saw the report we had of the mayor of new york city traveling to the border because of enormous number of refugees who have been sent by texas to new york city. you introduced a resolution recently calling on the u.s. to

acknowledge its complicity in el salvador's humanitarian crisis. could you talk about the biden administration is doing or what you think should be done? >> in my view, this is a commonsense issue. of course we need to secure our border but we need to make sure that every person has the right to file for asylum and to make sure the asylum case is heard. in the case of people fleeing actual violence, legal duty, make sure -- we don't want people coming with fraudulent

claims. can only be adjudicated if we beef up the asylum office. amy: following up on that, you recently tweeted, at the u.s. is never fully recognized its role in perpetuating el salvador civil war. i introduced a resolution today calling for the u.s. to support humanitarian aid and violence prevention for el salvador and extend tps for salvadorans in america today. i want to ask about that and another question. we all know the new house is saying it is going to investigate the intelligence committees. you had kinzinger and cheney on the january 6 committee, republicans regretting their limited role and i want to investigate that committee and intelligence. but progressive's have long called for investigating

intelligence committees. you had the hearings of the 1970's. is there a way, you are a master of working with the other side, also investigating what happened with julian assange -- a number of people calling for just -- is there some way of investigating the intelligence community from a progressive perspective? >> unfortunately i don't think in the current committee -- it is no church committee. the church committee did extraordinary work. in el salvador, as you're are well aware, the history of person we provided significant of the el salvador and military. never acknowledged our role.

if this committee were looking at overreaches at american policy, i would happily have supported it. my fear is in the fear many of my democratic colleagues, the committee is going to go after investigators donald trump. and then i don't think serves any productiv purpose. amy: let me ask you about julian assange. there will be a tribunal at the end of the week at the national press club. many major news organizations are calling for the biden administration to drop the charges against him. he faces 175 years in prison in the night states if extradited, tried, and found guilty. the new york times, the guardian, your spiegel have -- they have called for these charges to be dropped that the press is at stake. do you join -- >> whatever you think is moral

actions, not defended those. i do not believe he can bring charges against someone for publishing information. if there is actual evidence that julian assange himself had to literally sought -- deliberately sought and gather classified information tough illegal means, then that is different. but if the charges simply receiving this information and publishing it, that in my view affects the entire concept o freedom of press and a chilling effect on publishers. i think that is overwrought. juan: i wanted to ask you, one -- cheney porter has announced her bid -- katie porter has announced her bid. many expect senator feinstein to

resign at her current term after serving for more than three decades. i am wondering your thoughts about that? any thoughts yourself even for running for the senate? also other potential candidates for that seat. >> i have been -- bernie sanders supporters and delegates have reached out. what i said six years ago i had encouraged to run against dianne feinstein. [indiscernible] i am flattered people want me to serve. amy: are you thinking of running for senate or president? >> certainly not president [indiscernible]

i know barbara lee is going to make a decision in the next few months. juan: finally, i wanted to ask you another piece of legislation the you have joined forces with senator padilla on the peace act requiring force by officers -- >> i have been pushing this for years, this idea that use of force standards should be the standard of force used in i must every western liberal democracy and that force can only be

applied when it is absolutely necessary, a last resort. that would reduce any of the police killings of unarmed men in this country. -- an officer things someone is going for a guide or it is -- unless they have their life threatened or someone else's life threatened. that is what the peace act is all about. amy: as we wrap up, what has overwhelmed the new cycle over the weekend is the revelations of esident biden having classified documents. of course, the comparisons -- the numbers don't compared, at

least what we know at this point -- donald trump, but having classified documents at his home and garage. i want to ask you what you think should happen in this case? do you support the attorney general appointing a special counsel immediately to investigate this? and if it raises overall questions about the massive over classification of documents in washington, the millions of people who have access to them and the millions of documents that are classified? >> i certainly think over classification. i've often said i'm surprised i am learning things that i could have just read in "the new york times," or on democracy now!

but the point is we do have to treat classified information very seriously, very securely. i have never been able to -- i don't derstand what we can have that on every branch of government, don't allow classified documents to leave the premises. don't allow people to take them to their private residences or put them in some kind of presidential center. it seems that is a recipe for a problem. i hope there will be holistic reform. the key differences, started with, amy, not just the numbers of documents, bidens attorney reported on day one when they discovered these documents in stark contrast president trump refused to cooperate, and i

trust merrick garland's integrity. it is appropriate as long as special counsel is appropriately circumscribed and does not turn into some kind of witchhunt as independent councils often do. amy: thank you very much, congress member ro khanna, democratic congressmember from cafornia. deputy whip of the congressional progressive caucus. next up, two stories about saudi arabia, how the kingdom is funneling liens into donald trump's golf resorts and how saudi arabia imprisoned two wikipedia administrators who posted content critical of the country's human rights records. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report.

i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. the justice department and congress are facing news calls to investigate donald trump's financial ties to saudi arabia the latest controversy centers on a new golf tournament which is owned by saudi arabia's sovereign public investment fund. the chair of the fund is saudi crown prince mohamed bin salman. the new league has paid millions to golf resorts owned by donald trump who has publicly supported the new league which is attempting to compete with the pga. >> appreciate the decisi to host this event. >> i have known these people for a long time in saudi arabia and they have been good friends of mine for a long time. they have invested in many american companies. they own big percentages of many, many american companies. frankly, what they're doing for golf -- salaries are going to go way up. >> you are so closely associated with the city of new york. you've all people understand the passion surrounding 9/11. what do you say to those family

members who protested earlier this week and will be doing again on friday? >> nobody has got to the bottom of 9/11, and fortune i, as to the many acts -- unfortunately. i can tell you there are a lot of great people that are out here today and we are going to have a lot of fun and we're going to celebrate and money is going to charity. amy: the group democracy for air world now. also made headlines after real the saudi government had infiltrated bucha pdf -- wikipedia. and imprisoned two wikipedia administrators who posted content critical of the kingdoms human rights record. to talk about vote and more, we are joined by sarah leah whitson, executive director of democracy for the arab world now or dawn. it is great to have you with us. why don't we start off with

wikipedia? >> what can i tell you? amy: from the beginning, when we turn to wikipedia to get information, when we are reading about saudi arabia, who is in control of that information? explain what you learned in the lawsuit that you brought? >> what we learned following the december 2022 ban by wikipedia of administration is in the middle east is that they had apparently an infiltration by what they called external parties. we were able to piece together the infiltration was by the saudi govnment of administrators -- apparently editing, posting, believing content irrelevant and

important to saudi arabia in a way that promoted a positive image of saudi arabia and blocked information that appeared critical of saudi arabia. what we also learned and feast together was that two foreign minister writers in saudi arabia have been arrested on the same day and ultimately -- originally sentenced five to seven years. posted critical information about the country. became much more apparent when in september 2022 -- sentenced to over 30 years in prison. through this research and investigation basically, we were

able to uncover how static governments had pressured administrators and editors in saudi arabia to post flattering content and not critical content about the country. juan: sarah leah whitson, if these administrators were arrested in september 2020, what kind of publicity did this receive at the time? did it take two years for wikipedia to be able to figure out what was going on? >> that question is more properly directed with the media. all we know about the wikipedia foundation, which oversees wikipedia, is in december 2022, they said they hadaunched an investigation starting in january 2022 and that the result of that investigation was external properties had created conflict of interest, their words.

not mention the arrest and imprisonment of two wikipedia former administrators. in a subsequent statement, the two administrats were sanction. it is not clear to us whether they have demanded the saudi government released them or assisted or supported these two former saudi ministries. it would be very convenient for wikipedia -- to pretend the arrest and imprisonment of these two men did not have to do with their work on wikipedia but that is clearly not true. juan: i would also like to ask you, you have called on the doj to investigate the circumstances surrounding payments by saudi arabia's investment fund, businesses owned by former president trump. could you talk about why you decided to make that call? >> sure.

basically, on friday of last week, just a few days ago, an attorney for the pga tour involved in litigation, golf --liv golf revealed a secret shareholder agreement that in fact the liv golf is 93% owned by the saudi investment fund which is controlled by crown prince mohamed bin salman. this is the first direct link of direct payments, basically, by mohamed bin salman to president trump that liv golf has posted on a nber of trump resorts. under federal law, negotiations, business negotiations with a foreign government are clearly banned, forcing your officials, including -- for senior officials, including president,

while they are in office but no laws for such dealings after they leave government. what is not clear in what we believe the doj should investigate is the extent to which these solicitations, etc., by trump or his agents were conducted with saudi arabia and its agents while trump was in power. but more important, the factor is no law prohibiting a foreign government from paying a former president near month after he leaves office just like the $2 billion saudi arabia republic investment fund paid to jared kushner six month after he left office and the $1 billion they paid steven mnuchin, former treasury secretary, month after he left office shows how weak our concept of interest laws are in the dangers that subjects are democracy to. and the fact government officials can really just in the

payroll of foreign agents minutes after leaving office. this has got to stop. amy: what kind of support do you have? in congress and other places, for exposing this and during the investigation? and if you could weave that into what happened the last time we had you want, federal judge dismissing the lawsuit filed by the fiancée of the murdered journalist jamal khashoggi who wrote for "the washington post" in the saudi embassy in a simple in turkiye, him throwing out sovereign immunity? >> to date, carolyn maloney and senator elizabeth warren both announced their going to be investigating payments to jared kushner and to steven mnuchin

for confit of interest for reasons that are specified. and they're very hopeful about those investigations will now be expanded to payments to the trump organization. clearly, for many, need papers president trump -- many favors president trump greater to mohamed bin salman's extraordinary protection for mohamed bin salman and his role as the murder of jamal khashoggi and result in direct payback for president trump and his son-in-law and treasury secretary -- we don't know. in terms of lawsuits against mohamed bin salman, which was recently dismissed because the biden administration's recognition of sovereign immunity for crown prince mohamed bin salman, i think it

ju reflects the favors, protection, all kinds of grants of favors -- amy: -- >> -- john amy: we have to leave it there. [captioning made possible by democracy now!]

ñl hello and welcome to nhk. russia says