03/31/23 03/31/23 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york this is democracy now! indicted. donald trump has become the first u.s. president to face criminal charges after a new york grand jury indicts him for paying hush money to stormy daniels during the 2016 race. tromp is expected to surrender and appear in court tuesday. we will speak to hofstra law

professor professor yaroshefsky. then to nashville, tennessee. over 1000 protesters flooded tennessee state capitol building thursday demanding an end to gun violence following monday's school shooting in nashville that killed six, including three nine-year-old's. we will speak to an emergency room doctor who took part in the protest, as well as manny oliver . five years ago his son guac was killed and the parkland school massacre. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and

peace report. i'm amy goodman. a grand jury in manhattan has indicted donald trump on more than 30 criminal counts related to hush-money payments trump made to adult film star stormy daniels during his 2016 presidential campaign. the charges come after his former fixer -- it is the first time a former presidentas faced criminal charges in the united states. trump is expected to surrender to authorities on tuesday. he responded to the indictment by releasing a long statement that read in part, "this is political persecution and election interference at the highest level in history." we'll have much more on trump's indictment after headlines.

senator bernie sanders and congressmember jamaal bowman, backed by other progressive lawmakers, are calling on the biden administration to reconsider the u.s. policy towards israel "in recognition of the worsening violence, further annexation of land, and denial of palestinian rights." the letter, which has been circulating in both chambers of congress this week to garner support, calls for a probe into whether u.s. weapons are being used to commit human rights abus against palestinians. dozens of jewish leaders and community groups are also supporting the letter. this comes amid rare public rebukes of israel by u.s. officials over its now-paused plan to gut the judiciary and its plans to illally expan its settlements on palestinian land. on thursday, palestinians marked land day with marches, protests, and speeches across the occupied territories. meanwhile, israel's law

professors forum, representing 120 prominent law professors, has joined human rights groups and it comparing israel's treatment of palestians to the former apartheid government of south africa. earlier this week, the new head of human rights watch tirana hassan urged the u.s. and other allies of israel to help hold it accountable for its rights violations. >> we say this is not -- this is a government on a rampage against human rights, domestically against its own people in israel, and they are pushing back. amy: in mexico, authorities have arrested five out of the six people who had arrest once issued against them, including three officials from the national immigration institute, who face homicide charges after at least 39 asylum seekers were lled in a fire at an immigrant jail in ciudad juárez near the u.s. border.

one of the survivors was also taken into custody, accused of starting the blaze monday as dozens of migrants protested horrific conditions inside the overcrowded jail where they weren't provided water or food. authorities began identifying some of the victims from the fire and notifying loved ones in their home countries, thousands of miles away. most of the dead were indigenous people from guatemala. others were from honduras, el salvador, venezuela, and colombia. this is maria miranda, the wife of 43-year-old carlos pachecho, a construction worker from el el salvador. >> i hope justice is served. it is not fair how so many innocent people died. people who fight for their families, who fight to give them a better life, put food on the table, and make sure they have all theyeed. it is not fair. we need justice because they could have helped and they didn't. they didn't. amy: the vatican has formally rejected the catholic church's doctrine of discovery used to

justify european colonialism in africa and the americas, which dates from papal bulls issued in the 1450's. in a statement issued thursday, the vatican said the documents were "manipulated for political purposes by competing colonial powers in order to justify immoral acts against indigenous peoples that were carried out, at times, without opposition from ecclesiastical authorities." many indigenous leaders welcomed the church's repudiation of the doctrine of discovery, which came eight months after pope francis toured canada and apologized for the catholic church's role in canada's brutal indian residential school system. we are many students died. -- where many students died. in nashville, tennessee, more than 1000 protesters flooded the state capitol building thursday demanding an end to gun violence. the protest followed monday's shooting at covenant school in nashville, where a shooter armed with two rifles and a handgun

killed three adults and three nine-year-old students. this is 16-year-old tennessee high school student chloe spangler. >> i have grown up on my life of being scared of being shot in school. i want to fight for good control because i'm tired of my life being put second to firearms. i want students to have the opportunity to be able to share their voices because they are the ones being affected by this issue. amy: the protests came as tennessee's republican-controlled legislature is considering measures to further deregulate gun laws. one would allow people as young as 18 carry rifles and shotguns in public without a permit. another would allow education workers to carry concealed handguns on school grounds with a permit. today begins the funerals for those killed in the mass shooting. later in the broadcast, we will

speak with dr. katrina green, and in nashville who joined thursday's protest at the tennessee capitol. today marks international transgender day of visibility, a celebration of trans and nonbinary people. actions and protests are planned across the u.s. and worldwide, including here in new york, as communities continue to fight intensifying discrimination, violence, and anti-trans laws. the measure, revived by representative pramila jayapal and senator ed markey, would "provide protections for transgender and binary people, ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to thrive, regardless of their gender identity or expression." this year alone, there have been at least 450 anti-lgbtq bills proposed in state legislatures and congress. washington, d.c., historically black metropolitan ame church

says it's seeking $22 million in punitive damages against the far right proud boys group for destroying the church's black lives matter sign in 2020 and terrorizing black communities. on wednesday, church leaders and congregants testified in a d.c. court that the lawsuit seeks to permanently deter the proud boys from future attacks. in russia, "wall street journal" reporter evan gershkovich pleaded not guilty thursday to charges of espionage during a brief appearance in a moscow court. gershkovich's lawyer said after the hearing he was not allowed in the courtroom and not allowed to see the charges against his client. >> they held a quick hearing. i don't know how it loud -- how long it lasted. after that, as far as i understand, i could only guess what position has been taken, he was taken away with the decision to hold him in custody.

amy: gershkovich was ordered to be held in custody until may 29. "the wall street journal" denied the allegations and is seeking his immediate release. the biden administration called the espionage charges ridiculous and demanded immediate consular access to gershkovich. many foreign news organizations pulled out of russia last year after president putin signed a law making it a crime to disseminate what the kremlin calls fake information about the invasion of ukraine. the chief executivof fox news ordered reporters at the far-right network to stop fact-checking donald trump's false claims about election fraud after joe biden's election victory in 2020. that's according to an email from ceo suzanne scott revealed as part of a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit filed against fox news by dominion voting systems. in a message sent in early december of 2020, scott wrote of the fact-checking --

"this has to stop now. the audience is furious and we are just feeding them material. bad for business." another email revealed scott encouraged fox news to book mike lindell, the ceo of my pillow and a prominent election denier, saying he would "get ratings." and the 2023 izzy award for outstanding achievement in independent media will be shared by the lever, mississippi free press, and journalists carlos ballesteros and liza gross. the lever exposes the corruption behind the nation's most powerful institutions, leaders and companies, from dark money influence on the supreme court to medicare privatization. mississippi free press is a women-led team reporting on racial and economic inequities, and covered the ongoing water crisis in jackson, while fighting for transparency and public access to open records. carlos ballesteros' reporting for injustice watch exposed how two chicago police officers

issued arbitrary denials of u visas, which offer a path to citizenship for undocumented victims of crime, leading to a review of all denied u visas in chicago and plans to rework the city's visa procedures. liza gross of inside climate news uncovered how oil companies have bought the ability to dump toxic wastewater on farms in kern county, california. an award ceremony for the winners will take place in april. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. when we come back, we will look at the indictment of donald trump, the first former u.s. president to face criminal charges. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "law and order" performed by robert walsh. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. donald trump was indicted thursday, becoming the first

former president ever to face criminal charges in the united states. trump is expected to surrender to authorities and appear in court on tuesday. manhattan district attorney alvin bragg has not released the exact charges against trump, but according to press accounts, the grand jury indicted trump on more than 30 counts. bragg's case focused on hush-money payments trump made to adult film star stormy daniels during his 2016 presidential campaign. the charges come 4.5 years after a transfer more -- former personal attorney and fixer michael cohen pleaded guilty to tax evasion, fraud, and lying to congress about the hush money payments, which he says trump directed him to make. cohen served time in prison. donald trump is still facing three other major investigations. veteran prosecutor jack smith is leading a justice department probe into trump's role in the january 6 insurrection and attempts to overturn the 2020

election. in georgia, fulton county district attorney fani willis is investigating trump's effort to overturn by inspector in georgia in 2020. and in new york, attorney general letitia james has sued trump and his trump organization for fraud related to his business dealings. on thursday, donald trump responded to the indictment by releasing a long statement that read in part, "this is political persecution and election interference at the highest level in history." in recent weeks, trump has railed against prosecutors investigating him. trump recently posted a photo of himself holding a baseball bat next to a picture of manhattan district attorney alvin bragg, who is manhattan's first black d.a. trump has also referred to bragg as an "animal." this all comes as trump is running for the white house again.

under the u.s. constitution, trump can remain in the race even if he is convicted. in 1920, eugene debs ran for president on the socialist party ticket while in prison. to talk more about the indictment of trump, we are joined by ellen yaroshefsky, professor of law at hofstra university law school. welcome to democracy now! why don't you begin with your response to this historic indictment. >> relieved this matter is finally going to be in a court of law rather than just in the media. because it is so important to affirm the idea that we have a rule of law and that no one is above the law. so we will wait and see what a jury does when they hear the facts and they apply the law. amy: explain what we understand at this point. the indictment has not been unsealed, that apparently will happen on tuesday when trump will surrender to new york authorities, it is believed, he

will have a mug shot taken, he will be fingerprinted, and he will be in court -- it is expected. but explain what we understand these charges are about. >> we don't know for a fact, until the indictment is actually unsealed. what we expect thereabouts is that he falsified business records in the hush payments regarding the stormy daniels matter. as a result of falsifying those payments, he actually had the intent to influence the federal election. that makes it a felony. if it were just falsifying business records, which is clear happened because michael cohen has served time in prison for that, that would just be a misdemeanor. in order to elevate it to a felony, or has to be another crime, the intent to violate another crime. the thought here, not prove, that the other crime would be to

influence the federal election. what is interesting about this, even though it is an untested theory, three days before this happened was the hollywood access tape. so the idea here would be that because the hollywood access tape undermine his election prospects that he really needed to engage in this conduct to make sure that his record of falsifying payments -- falsifying hush money payments would be revealed. amy: explained that further because the hush payment to stormy daniels came less than two weeks before the election and just after that tape that was released. >> it didn't matter -- when the hush putting payments were made, michael, talked about the check, trump had signed checks, and

those were the ways in which they falsify the payments because they claimed they were legal expenses, not legal expenses but payments to stormy daniels. that is the way it unfolded. amy: karen mcdaniels, the playboy model, who apparently also got hush money payments. talk about the charges. work we don't know what the charges are, but how this all relates. >> we don't know but what we do know is we're looking at falsifying business records. any of the payments that were made were made theoretically under -- this is what michael cohen says -- they said they were legal expenses. they were not legal expenses, they were payments made to ensure that th of those women did not talk and explain what had happened. that is why -- that is a misdemeanor. when we said the indictment has up to 30 counts, that means 30

different charges. for each of those payments, for each check, that could be a different charge. amy: and her name is karen mcdougal. earlier this month trump's , former personal attorney and fixer michael cohen spent several hours testifying to a state grand jury in manhattan. he previously pleaded guilty to charges of tax evasion, bank fraud, and lying to congress about the hush money payments, which he says trump directed him to make. >> this is not revenge. this is accountability. i don't want to see anyone, including donald trump, indicted, prosecuted, convicted, incarcerated simply because i fundamentally disagree with him. this is all about accountability. he needs to be held accountable for his dirty deeds. amy: talk about the significance of what he is saying. >> he is going to testify. his testimony is significant. hopefully, there will be other witnesses as well.

part of the significance is he will be cross-examined. his credibility will be put at issue and that will be a significant issue before injury. michael, has made a lot of statements and has spent time in prison and was indicted by -- during the trump administration. all of those will be factors as the jury considers michael cohen's testimony. amy: can you respond to those who say they feel donald trump should be indicted but for far more serious crimes, among them, for example, inciting the insurrection? and the significance of this being put forward? and then how strong this case is. i mean, we are talking about the credibility before a manhattan jury. you have someone like michael, who himself has pled guilty to perjury and has served time in prison being the person who

testifies, along with stormy daniels. >> let me start here. alvin bragg is a very careful, diligent prosecutor. he is very experienced. he has been a federal prosecutor. he was a state prosecutor where he investigated trump. so coming into office, he knew very well i think what he was up against. he would not go forward i believe with an indictment unless there was significant evidence from which there are -- they believe they can prove this case beyond a reasonable doubt. there may be other more significant cases. certainly, the idea of an insurrection and try to overthrow the government is a very serious charge, much more serious than this. alvin bragg does not control that. he does not control the georgia case that fannie willis is considering. as a prosecutor, can only take the case before you, take the facts you have and investigate those facts. it could be if the timing had

been different, people would not be questioning why bring this case first? this is the case that alvin bragg has. amy: let's talk about the other cases. what he is facing in this federal investigation in washington, d.c., and what exactly fanny willis maybe bringing charges against for the fulton county da and in new york, the attorney general james. >> there are many as you pointed out, these three cases. first of all, federal charges. the department of justice brought in a very experienced lawyer jack smith who is examining the factors around the insurrection, what happened during the insurrection, donald trump's responsibility for it, classified documents -- it is an ongoing and sweeping investigation. we don't know what is going to happen. we do know it appears jack smith

has been diligent and forthright going after witsses, trng to ensure therimes bught exception, for instance, wld allow certain people to come forward and testify -- including mike pen. we don't know when or if there will be an indictment in that case. fani willis had grand jury and they gave her report she is looking at to determine whether or not donald trump, through his calls to raffensperger trying to "find 11,000 votes" that they could overturn the election in georgia. that matter went before a grand jury in georgia and she is making a determination as to whether or not there will be an indictment in that case. the year ago, december -- letitia james in york filed a civil fraud case that says fraud and other financial crimes against donald trump and the trump organization regarding

billions of dollars as a result of overvaluing and undervaluing many of the properties of the trump organization and of donald trump. that matter has also -- that matter is also proceeding. we don't have a sense timewise when or if any of these other cases will proceed, whether there will be other indictments, whether attorney general james case will go to jury. that is all to be determined. all we know right now is yes, there is one indictment, this indictment, and it is the first time donald trump president will face criminal charges. amy: even know it is the first indictment, it does not necessarily mean it could lead to the first trial. is that right? and what does it mean. if he has charges brought against him in the federal -- with jack smith, the justice department in georgia, and the state of new york, what happens then?

>> we will have to wait and see. certainly, just because there will be an indictment and arraignment, which is when donald trump will show up and plead not guilty for some ugly and be released, there will be a lot of motions that will be made. there will be a timely set of promotions. these cases do not proceed quickly. these are ite collar fraud cases that can go on for years. we don't know when there wilor if thereill ever be a trial in w york. we don't know if jack smith will and i donald trump federally. if so, the timing will have to be worked out. you cannot stand trial into separate cases at the same time. the judges will have to decide upon timing, the same history with respect to georgia. it may be the georgia case could proceed if it is indicted earlier than the new york case. amy: donald trump held his first major rally for the 2024 presidential campaign in waco, texas, last weekend. vowing to destroy the deep state

and railing against prosecutors investigating his alleged crimes. this is what he said. >> the only way to stop these arsonists is to rebuke and reject this evil persecution by sending us straight back to the white house to expel the communist and the marxists and all of them in 2024. amy: can you respond to what he is saying? >> well, he's asking for mob rule. he's asking -- this is not the first time. undermine the rule of law, not have a democracy, basically have a world in which donald trump is the only person whose opinion matters. we have a country and we are trying to uphold democracy and the rule of law, so it is significant here that alvin bragg has brought this case despite the fact donald trump may continue to make such statements, despite theact there is going to be quite a reaction i suspect donald

trump's indictment. but we have got to pull the system where there is rule of law. amy: he showed video of the violent attack on the capitol at the waco rally and tweeted that picture holding a baseball bat next to a picture of the manhattan d.a. bragg. right now the police department is preparing for next week as he has made allusions to people gathering their, calling on every police officer to be wearing uniforms. talk about what will happen on tuesday. do you expect him to be shown with his hands behind his back handcuffed? >> donald trump would probably like to have handcuffs. he would like a perp walk. i don't believe for a second the da will do that. the da is being very careful

about this, being very sensitive i think about the ways in which he is going to be arraigned. they will make special provisions. if you go to downtown manhattan, it looks like they're preparing for a war zone. it is very disturbing. there is no defendant in history who has ever paved in this fashion, calling out a mob. that said, there we not that many people there. last tuesday when donald trump announced he was going to be indicted, he wanted many people to come and demonstrate and they were not that many people. it is unclear how many people will be there tuesday, assuming he shows up, but the police will be prepared, the das office is prepared, new york city is prepared. we are not going to succumb to mob rule. we have to uphold the rule of law. amy: let me asking about florida governor ron desantis who said, florida will not assist in an extradition request given the questionable circumstances at

issue with the soros-beck manhattan prosecutor and his political agenda. unpack all of this. >> it is shocking. never before has a governor said, we are not going to abide by the law. governors are required if they get an extradition warrant from the governor in another state to make sure that person gets sent to the state. desantis first said, i'm not going to uphold the law here. the other part, the horrible part that continues to feed racist and anti-semitic violence in many places is talking about bragg or other prosecutors as soros prosecutors. that is a dog whistle for antisemitism. it is feeding the ways in which this country is terribly divided. amy: i want to read for you the beginning of a piece by chris

hedges in sure post called the donald trump problem and get your response, professor yaroshefsky. "donald trump -- facing four government-run investigations, three criminal and one civil, targeting himself and his business -- is not being targeted because of his crimes. nearly every serious crime he is accused of carrying out has been committed by his political rivals. he is being targeted because he is deemed dangerous for his willingness, at least rhetorically, to reject the washington consensus regarding neoliberal free-market and free-trade policies, as well as the idea that the u.s. should oversee a global empire. he has not only belittled the ruling ideology, but urged his supporters to attack the apparatus that maintains the duopoly by declaring the 2020 election illegitimate. the donald trump problem is the same as the richard nixon problem. when nixon was forced to resign under the threat of impeachment, it wasn't for his involvement in

war crimes and crimes against humanity, nor was it for his illegal use of the cia and other federal agencies to spy upon, intimidate, harass and destroy radicals, dissidents and activists. nixon was brought down because he targeted other members of the ruling political and economic establishment. once nixon, like trump, attacked the centers of power, the media was unleashed to expose abuses and illegalities it had previously minimized or ignored," chris hedges rights. your response? >> there's always political commentary. anytime there is an indictment that ends up in the media. so the right wing now i trump and others are saying, this is just politics in action, a litical indictment, or just try to interfere with trump's election possibility. chris hedges on the left is indicated this is done for other political reasons. let me say this, there are always lyrical consequences to

an indictment from which people in the media and the blogosphere can talk about the way in which they see it, but the point here is we have a system -- we try to have a system of the rule of law where if people are violating the law, they are violating the law, the prosecutors investigate the facts, they have discretion as to do, but we expect there will be accountability in law. there maybe other consequences from which people can argue politically, for instance donald trump may say if he is convicted and indicted, it will affect his election. no doubt that is true or should be true and may be true. people may vote for him anyway. but there will be consequences. similarly, you can argue all day long the reasons underlying the indictment, but we are looking at cases that really are about the legal system and whether we believe in a legal system and the rule of law. amy: can you compare what is

happening now, this unprecedented indictment against a former president of the united states, with what happened to john edwards? after nine days that she was indicted. after nine days of deliberation, the jury deadlocked on five of the six felony counts against the former senator. the government accused him of orchestrating nearly $1 million in payments to wealthy edwards donors made to hide his pregnant mistress from the media during a critical phase of his 2008 bid for the white house. >> yes, in fact, there were acquittals and it is the same question here, which is can you prove those payments were made with an intent to influence the election? apparently there the jury decided no. john edwards -- it is a bit apples and oranges comparing john edwards and what he has done with donald trump. donald trump has a much longer

history, there are many more indications here of what donald trump did terms of influencing the election. ultimately, it is going to be up to a jury to decide whether or not these payments, these falsified business records, were done with the intent to influence the election. the question is, wilthe ju decide the with a edwards jury decides? we don't know that. certainly, the donald trump defense use that in the media and elsewhere to talk about the case against trump and what it should not result in amy: amy: conviction. is there a statute of limitations here? >> that is an interesting question. the idea ithe statutof limitation was stopped and additional time was added. because of cuomo -- andrew cuomo said we are pulling a variety of things because of covid. so that is one. there's also a question as to tolling generically under the

procedure law. i assume that defense will raise that issue. it appears yes and fact the case can go forward because the statute was tolled from 2016 onward. amy: ellen yaroshefsky, thank you for being with us, professor of law at hofstra university law school. we wilcontinue to cover this historic indictment throughout next week. coming up, over 1000 protesters flooded tennessee state capitol demanding an end to gun violence following monday's mass shooting that killed three nine-year-old and three adults. we will speak with an emergency room doctor who took part in the protest. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we turn to nashville, tennessee, where funeral service take place today for the nine-year-children three killed in a mass shooting at the covenant school monday along with three adults. this comes as a dramatic scene

unfolded thursday as more than 1000 students flooded the tennessee state capital of downtown nashville to call for gun control. >> i have heard the shooter at the school this last monday obtained all of their weapons legally. now they're trying to pass concealed carry so teenagers can carry guns. i do not think it makes the problem better, arming more people. amy: joining the students were teachers, parents, and grandparents. this is debbie wilbur. >> it was important for me to be here today because i have children, i have rain children, and i am looking out for my future grandchildren. we just don't have a government here in tennessee that is willing to do anything about gun laws. no one, in my opinion, needs and ar-15. i think all weapons like that, assault weapons, should be banned. the only person that should be caring and assault weapons is

the military. amy: protesters also lined the halls inside the state capitol as tennessee highway patrol members escorted lawmakers to the house chamber. amy: as chants rang out in the halls, two freshman state democratic lawmakers used a bullhorn on the chamber floor to interrupt the session underway and call on their colleagues to address gun safety. republicans hold a supermajority in tennessee's legislature, have listened gun restrictions. republican governor bill lee signed a permitless carry bill into law at beretta gun factory, and state lawmakers failed to pass a red flag law may have prevented the shooter from legally acquiring three of the guns used in monday's attack because they had reportedly been under doctor's care for an emotional disorder.

tennessee republicans are considering measures to further deregulate gun laws. one bill would let people as young as 18 carry rifles and shotguns in public without a permit. another would allow education workers to carry concealed handguns on school grounds with a permit. a recently-resurfaced 2021 christmas card from republican tennessee congressmember andy ogles, who represents the district where covenant school is located in nashville, shows him posing with his wife and children all holding their long guns. there christmas card. this was ogles's fellow tennessee republican congressmember tim burchett's response to monday's shooting. >> it is a horrible, horrible situation. we are not going to fix it. criminals are going to be criminals. i daddy fought the japanese and he said, buddy, if somebody wants to take you out, there's not a whole heck of a lot you

can do about it. amy: for more on what could be done, we are joined by dr. katrina green, an emergency physician in nashville who has lost patients to gun violence and joined in the protest at the tennessee capitol to call for gun reform. thank you are joining us after working the night shift. talk about the protest and what you're demanding and also talk about what assault weapons mean when someone is shot by one. >> thank you so much for having me. yesterday was a tough day for a lot of us. this has been a tough week in nashville, but it was really encouraging to see how many people showed up at the state capitol yesterday, especially young people. the mood in the crowd was mixed. there was a lot of grief. i saw many people in tears but mostly people are angry. that is part of the reason why i went down there as well because

i am angry. i am an emergency physician. i have worked in trauma centers here in nashville and trained in trauma centers in detroit and indianapolis. at this point in my 10 year career, i have treated countless gun violence victims. it is very tough to treat those injuries under the emergency department because it is not just the injury from the penetration of the bullet, it is also the reverberation and the ricochet that happens as the bullet passes through the body. the bullet shot from a high-capacity weapon like an ar-15 doesn't just go through and through, it shatters everything it passes by as it enters and exits the body. so we see devastating injuries. most often times, these people are dead by the time they reach us. we do our best but we lose way too many patients to gun

violence. amy: can you talk about the republican governor bill lee signing off on deregulating guns in a beretta gun factory? >> the optics of that were infuriating. tennessee has become a state where it just seems like they want everybody to have a gun to matter what. signing that bill in gun factory basically signals they are siding with the gun lobby and manufactures and don't really care how many people in tennessee get hurt and die as a result of this gun for all policy they are advocating for. amy: the first funeral is being held today for a little girl, a nine-year-old who loves pink, and they're asking everyone to wear pink to the funeral. evelyn dieckhaus. can you talk about the response

of nashville, of the whole community, and how prevalent is your demand for gun control? >> the response from the community has been an outpouring of love and togetherness. and the sense of community -- that is kind of the nashville way. we have been through a lot in the last few years. we've had tornadoes, have gone to the same pandemic as everyone, had a bombing on christmas day downtown i believe in 2020 as well. our community is good at coming together and supporting those in need in times of need, and that is what happened this week. we have seen vigils, outpourings of donations to that school and gofundmes for families to help bury these children. i myself have a nephew that is nine years old, the same age as these children. i cannot imagine what these families are going through.

i wholeheartedly support them and want them to know they are loved and we all devastated by the loss of their family. amy: talk about hitting close to home, the governor who signed the deregulation of nuns in a gun after he on monday night his wife, tennessee's first lady, was said to have dinner with one of her best friends cindy peak, an old colleague from her teacher days who planned to spend the day as a substitute teacher at the covenant school but she never arrived home on monday. the 61-year-old woman was one of six victims slain in the deadliest will shooting in tennessee history. what happened at covenant school was a tragedy beyond comprehen -- comprehension, governor lee said. i was reading from the tennessee

newspaper. >> i watched that video as well. i felt very disappointed in that being hisesponse to the shooting. he did not, as far as i know, go down and visit the school to comfort those families. i know there are state lawmakers who were there in the church across the street, the reunification center, holding hands of families that were waiting for word about whether their loved ones were alive or coming home. for governor lee's wife to be so closely tied to the school and for him to not even show up? there a reason why the crowd was chanting "coward" yesterday because that is what we all feel collectively as a city, that we are the capital city. he is here conducting his business. he lives in franklin, a suburb just south of here. why doesn't he show up? why isn't he in our community?

i do not see a lot of leadership coming from our governor. what i see is the failure of leadership. amy: you have written a lot of commentary, dr. katrina green, about the fight for reproductive rights in tennessee where there was an attempt to criminalize doctors who performed abortions to save the life of a pregnant person. what are your thoughts, seeing so much being done to curb reproductive rights, but nothing being done for gun safety? >> i think it shows you where the priorities of our state leaders are. they care more about protecting potential life in aomb than they do protecting child who were alive and breathing and attending school. i do not see any concern or care for protecting precious life

that is already present in our community. i think that is the definition of hypocrisy. i am angry at the fact reproductive rights have been taken away, but i am more angry the fact they won't protect life when it is already born. i don't know what else we can d to get througho these people. pro-life is not pro-ar-15. pro-life is not lax gun laws. if y want to protect children, keep guns out of the hands of folks that would do them harm. do whatever possible by making it harder for folks to commit these atrocities. we don't even he a red flag law in tennessee, which would have prevented the person who committed these acts from purchasing at least some of these weapons. and might've been able to get that person better help for the mental distress that you assume

would cause someone to commit horrible acts like that. the most common sense thing to me would be to institute a red flag law so we can disarm folks who are going through a mental crisis. and not just folks who are having homicidal thoughts, but suicidal thoughts. we lose so many tennesseans to gun suicides every year as wl. i have been present in those emergency rooms as well and it is very hard to treat those and those families are in a rough way as well. amy: dr. katrina green, thank you for being with us. our condolences for your whole community. dr. green is an emergency physician in nashville, tennessee, who joined in the protest at the tennessee capitol thursday with another 1000 people calling for gun control. we're going to go from tennessee to florida, which brings up this

meme going around, a picture of a pile of books that says "never in recorded history has a four-year-old found his father's loaded book and ask suddenly killed his younger sister, but we ban books." from tennessee to florida to capitol hill. on wednesday, house speaker kevin mccarthy said republicans want to see all the facts before proposing any new gun legislation in the wake of the latest school shooting. that prompted a heated confrontation between new york commerce member jamaal bowman and kentucky republican congress member thomas massie, just off the house floor, where bowman accused republicans of refusing to save children's lives. >> nine-year-olds.

are they going to those funerals? no. they never go to the funerals. they never go to the scene of the mass shooting. it is not just in school. it is throughout our communities every day. amy: republican thomas massie responded to bowman, "there's never been a school shooting in a school that allows teachers to carry." in 2021, congressman massie tweeted a photo of himself and six family members holding assault-style rifles, with the caption, "merry christmas! p.s., santa, please bring ammo." this comes after manuel oliver, father of joaquin, one of 17 people killed in the 2018 mass shooting at marjory stoneman douglas high school in parkland, florida, was arrested at a hearing last week in republican-controlled house of representatives after he and his wife patricia spoke out during a

subcommittee hearing on the second amendment that was chaired by texas republican pat fallon. florida democrat and committee member maxwell frost tweeted a video of oliver "being arrested for speaking out as a committee hearing. manny is a hero. he didn't deserve this." >> [indiscernible] amy: the video shows capitol police pushing patricia oliver

away as they pin her husband manny to the ground outside the hearing room. manny oliver joins us now from his home in parkland, florida. he cofounded the gun reform group change the ref. he has engaged in callous protests for action on gun control. he is an artist. much of what he does, his murals and art and resistance. this new op-ed is headlined "arrest gun loving members of congress not grieving father's." manny oliver, welcome back to democracy now! it is been five years since you lost guac and so many lost their loved ones at parkland. and now week after week, i think in 2023, there is a mass shooting at a school alone every single week in this country. what are you calling for? >> i am calling for a different

reaction from us, from you, from our neighbors. this is our situation that some point it is going to hit either directly or indirectly every time we see someone being shot, there is an immediate circle of people that is also hurt. mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters. i think it is time to really have something so we can stop the absurd debate with representatives that we already know are not willing to do anything, and then have a nationwide strike, educational strike from all levels of education. this is for the teachers, their place of work. they don't feel safe. the kids have drills. our kids train how to survive

these shootings. it is even more than that. i want people to understand what happened in that school in nashville probably the kids thought it was a drill. so put that in your head. now let me know if it deserves us to do something more extreme or not. amy: the kids thought it was a drill. that is what you're saying? >> that is exactly what i am saying. this terrorizing possibility, predictable -- it is not even a possibility. there's a big chance it could happen. like a lottery. it is really easy to happen because we have such week gun laws -- the kids are being

traumatized on a weekly basis. every day they need to go out for a drill our kids have been training how to survive shootings. guess what? we are about to hear from someone that we need to train them better. in other words, it is their own fault. they are not trained and i. we need to arm teachers. everything is absurd, so we need something to negotiate. we need power. we need people to stand up. this is not about lighting a candle. amy: you're calling for an education strike across the country. what you want to see happen. >> i am sick of going to the capitol hill buildings and knocking on doors and explaining with my pain, with our

suffering, this is not good. they already told us they won't do anything and we have seen it happen for decades. i think big changes is required, and this is what we are sing this week, need extreme solutions. that is why i am asking for the power of the educators to get on board. we can stop this from happening. we can really demand things. there is nothing i can demand now. i don't have the power to demand politicians which negligence is not going to move anywhere. so we need to get together seriously -- otherwise, it will vanish like parkland vanishes, like others have vanished, and we cannot allow that to happen. i have seen things and i will do everything that it takes. i am flying to tennessee

tomorrow, by the way. you have an event -- we have an event. amy: finally, manny oliver, your response to the congressman where you were arrested last week and the police officers we see your wife demanding change in the hearing room and then you being tackled outside and then pushing her away? we have 20 seconds. >> that is the norm at this point. it is a relevant. getting arrested is something that has happened to me a couple of times. but i don't regret that because i made my point. i can point is that chairman and tell him, you have done nothing. my wife patricia works every day helping to protect your kids, so you should be following everything that we do. we are on the right side, amy. amy: manuel oliver, thank you so much for being with us. again, our condolences.

manny is co-founder of the gun reform group change the ref. he is the father of joaquin, one of 17 people killed in the 2018 mass shooting at marjory stoneman douglas high school in parkland, florida. we will link to your piece in " happy birthday mike burke! democrac