12/21/23 12/21/23 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >>

amy: as the death toll in gaza tops 20,000, the united nations is pleading for a new ceasefire as the humanitarian crisis escalates amid heavy israeli attacks. on wednesday, the u.n. security council was forced to postpone a vote for a third time on gaza due to opposition from the biden administration. we will get the latest. then we look at the colorado supreme court's historic decision to bar donald trump from the colorado primary ballot over his role in the january 6 insurrection. and we will look at trump's increasingly extreme campaign anti-immigrant rhetoric. pres. trump: i think the real number is 15 9, 16 million people into our country. we have a lot of work to do. their poisoning the blood of our country. that is what they have done. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. palestinian officials say the death toll from 75 days of

israeli attacks on the gaza strip has topped 20,000, nearly 1% of the gaza population. at least a thousand children are dead. i hospital had been in northern gaza and the last functioning medical facility or people could undergo surgery. the who team leader said the bodies of the dead are placed in rows in the courtyard. patients who have gone weeks without needed surgery and growing rates of postoperative infections due to a lack of antibiotics. >> we found a hospital that completely stopped functioning. two days ago, a number of staff were detained. last saturday, we visited al-shifa and they were telling us how they work sending surgical cases here because they had some of the only operating theaters left in northern gaza

and gaza city. those are no longer functional. they don't have surgeons. they don't have power. they don't have water. they don't have food. amy: united nations human rights office as they have received disturbing information. the u.n. agency reports during a raid on a building in the al remal neighborhood, soldiers separated a group and then from women and children and shot and killed at least 11 of them men invite of their family members. soldiers allegedly order the women and children into room and either shot at them or through a grenade into the room, seriously injuring some of them including an infant and a child. israel continues to attack southern gaza. on wednesday, a three-day-old infant was pulled from the rubble, alive but injured, after israeli strikes flattened residential buildings in rafah. >> we saved her life at the last

moment. we could not see her because of the smoke created by the rocket. my cousin carried her outside so she could breathe properly. three days old, a small baby girl, choked because the rocket strikes. amy: united nations security council has for the third time this week postponed a vote on a resolution calling for a ceasefire in gaza and for israel to allow shipments of food, water, fuel, and medicine into the besieged territory. several security council members have expressed frustration with the united states for repeatedly delaying votes and for threatening to once again veto any resolution. meanwhile, president biden had just a brief response wednesday when asked about a reporter about the unprecedented death toll in gaza. >> your reaction to 20,000 dead in gaza? pres. biden: -- amy: french president emmanuel macron has criticized israel's assault on gaza while repeating his call for a truce leading to a humanitarian ceasefire.

on wednesday, macron told a french tv news channel -- "we cannot let the idea take root that an efficient fight against terrorism implies to flatten gaza or attack civilian populations indiscriminately." france's health minister tendered his resignation on wednesday to protest an anti-immigrant bill backed by president emmanuel macron and approved by a wide margin in the french parliament. the bill makes it far easier for france to expel asylum seekers, sets strict immigration quotas, makes it harder for children of immigrants to become french citizens, and delays immigrant'' access to welfare benefits by several years. far-right leader marine le pen has called the amended bill an ideological victory for her party. in brussels, the european union has agreed to a new pact on migration and asylum that amnesty international warned was set low back for decades to come and lead to greater human

suffering. the agreement comes after three years of negotiations and allows for the detention of migrant families, including those with young children, and fast-tracks the deportation of newly arrived asylum-seekers. eu parliament member said in a statement -- "in the face of russia's war of aggression against ukraine, the eu showed that solidarity with those seeking protection is possible. but instead of building on that experience, the deal just struck will institutionalize and worsen the most repressive practices -- mass detention, pushbacks, and cruelty at the borders." texas republican governor greg abbott chartered a flight tuesday that brought more than 120 immigrants from the u.s.-mexico border to chicago. it's a major escalation of abbott's policy of transporting asylum-seekers to democratic-led cities and comes just after abbott signed senate bill 4, which makes it a state crime to enter texas outside of a u.s. port of entry. this comes amid mounting

tensions in chicago over the arrival of migrants from the southern border and a worsening housing and health crisis that faces them. on sunday, a five-year-old boy staying at a temporary shelter died amid a spate of illnesses at the facility. chicago mayor brandon johnson is calling for more resources to support migrant families and an end to the political weaponization of the issue. >> everyone knows that the right-wing extremism in this country has targeted democratically ran cities. frankly, have been intentional about going after democratically ran cities led by people of color. their whole motivation is to create disruption and chaos because that is what -- that particular party has been about. amy: nbc news is reporting chinese president xi jinping informed president biden last month beijing plans to reunify taiwan with mainland china. the message was conveyed as the two leaders spoke on the sidelines of the apec summit in san francisco in a meeting

intended to ease tensions between beijing and d.c. the biden administration reportedly rejected a chinese request to make a public statement saying it supports the goal of peaceful unification and does not support taiwanese independence. though the u.s. supports the one-china policy, it maintains cultural and commercial ties with taiwan and supplies the territory with weapons. u.s. citizens freed in a prisoner exchange with venezuela were repatriated wednesday, while released colombian businessman alex saab landed in venezuela where he met with close ally president nicolas maduro. saab, who is accused of money laundering via the u.s. and bribery, was granted clemency by president biden in exchange for the release of 10 u.s. prisoners. maduro also agreed to free at least another 20 political prisoners. separately, caracas also returned fugitive malaysian defense contractor leonard glenn francis, who is implicated in a major pentagon bribery scandal. as he welcomed alex saab back at a caracas news conference,

president maduro welcomed the prisoner exchange as a positive step in u.s.-venezuela relations. >> hopefully, it we will be found for respect, equal treatment, and understanding between the united states of america and the republic of venezuela. a step has been taken that will hopefully contribute to that path. amy: in argentina, new president javier milei ordered a major deregulation of the national economy wednesday. the far-right libertarian followed through on his campaign promise, using executive powers to undo or change 300 rules. these include eliminating laws regulating rents and preventing the privatization of state companies. milei also announced measures to deregulate labor, trade, tourism, pharmaceuticals, and other areas. following the announcement, thousands of people took to the streets in the first public demonstration since his inauguration and his threats to crackdown on protests. this is alejandro bodart, secretary general of the socialist workers movement.

>> i think it is clear there is a government that is determined to apply a brutal adjustment that has already begun, which has rapidly crushed wages. to make this happen, they are determined to repress and restrict democratic freedoms. it is unbelievable a march cannot take a sin peace because these people have taken the political decision to prevented by violating our constitutional rights. amy: india's parliament voted on a number of key bills wednesday, including contested criminal reform measures, after more than 140 opposition lawmakers were suspended this week in a major crackdown by the ruling bjp party. opposition leaders accuse prime minister narendra modi of trying to hobble a new political alliance that is challenging the bjp in next year's elections. karti chidambaram of the opposition national congress party warned after the suspensions india's parliament is "going to resemble the north

korean assembly." and influential civil rights lawyer, professor, and expert on police brutality paul chevigny has died at the age of 88. as a lawyer with the new york civil liberties union, chevigny founded the police practices project and published two books on abusive policing, including the seminal "police power." in the 1971 case handschu v. special services division, he successfully challenged the new york police department surveillance of political organizations, which at the time included the black panther party and anti-vietnam war activists. he went on to write about police violence in other countries, including brazil, argentina, and jamaica. as a professor at nyu law, he inspired legions of students. paul chevigny is survived by two children, including the filmmaker katy chevigny. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. nermeen: and i'm nermeen shaikh. welcome to all of our listeners

and viewers from around the country and around the world. health officials in gaza say the death toll from israel's 10-week bombardment has now topped 20,000, including more than 8000 palestinian children. officials in gaza say the death toll also includes 97 journalists and 310 healthcare workers. on wednesday, the political leader of hamas, ismail haniyeh, traveled to cairo for talks with egyptian officials about a possible new ceasefire and the exchange of captives. israel believes about 129 israeli hostages are still being held in gaza. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu is under increasing pressure to secure the release of more hostages after israeli forces mistakenly shot dead three israeli hostages who managed to escape captivity in northern gaza. the three men, who were all shirtless, were shot as they cried for help in hebrew while holding up a white flag.

amy: we are joined now by the israeli journalist yuval abraham. his latest article for 972 magazine and local call is headlined "the hostages weren't our top priority': how israel's bombing frenzy endangered captives in gaza." if you can start off by talking about exactly what you understand happened -- there is apparently a grow pro on a dog that captured what took place. the reaction of the israeli public and what this means about the netanyahu administration and how they are dealing were prioritizing or not hostages? >> these are three hostages -- one is a palestinian, jewish-israeli -- who somehow managed to escape captivity. we don't know how.

they rolled around gaza for a few days. they had written in hebrew on buildings, help. they communicated the fact they were israeli captives to an army dog that had a gopro camera. they were essentially executed by soldiers. one of them held a white flag. they took off their clothing to show they were not wearing any explosives. soldiers opened fire. they immediately killed two of them. the commander on the scene realized that they were perhaps israelis and told soldiers to stop firing. the third captive managed to run back to a building. when he came out, soldiers shot at him again, killing him.

i mean, it is being reported as a mistake that soldiers have made. i think it was not a mistake when they thought they were palestinians. clearly, you don't accidentally shoot someone holding a white flag. of course it becomes a mistake when they realized they are israeli hostages. it triggered protests, calling on the netanyahu government to reach a deal with hamas to release more captives and hostages. but currently, from the way i am reading both the political situation and the public situation, such aa scene seems unlikely. nermeen: can you explain why think such a deal is unlikely? tell us what the intelligence sources spoke to for your piece,

what they told you about the concerns that hostages had, the fact you write in this piece that israeli hostages often said they were more afraid of being killed by israeli airstrikes than by hamas. >> of course. i think it is unlikely because i think not yahoo! politically -- netanyahu politically is not going to be willing to pay the price that hamas is asking, which is to reach a more substantial cease-fire or perhaps a permanent cease-fire and to release all palestinian prisoners, including two who are considered to be palestinian leaders, including many palestinians who are serving long prison sentences in the occupation jail. some of them for killing israeli citizens. this would ruin netanyahu

politically, which i think is why he will not do it and why he is making it clear publicly he plans to continue the war for months. this relates to our investigation at +972 magazine because we have basically spoken to israeli sources who have described how during the first weeks of israel's onslaught in gaza, the military knowingly carries out striking policy, bombardment policy, not only decimating gaza and kill thousands and thousands of palestinians, but also endangered he's really captives --israeli captives and hostages. sources have told me in intelligence at the time they had little intelligence as to where these captives were being held and the general atmosphere was in the top military commanders is that hostages are not a priority.

that their safety is relegated in favor of carrying out this bombardment campaign. as you said, in the end of november when captives were released from gaza for the first time, many described being hit by israeli airstrikes or attacks , describing a fear -- this traumatic fear of feeling the power that is supposedly protect you is a very, very big threat to your life. talking about really being on the verge of death. we know in some cases, hostages were hit by the israeli attacks. the conditions in the captivity of hamas were horrific for some hostages as well. we also cover that in the report and also talk about testimonies of released captivity and

sources inside the military of sexual assault against some of the captives. but a recurring theme in many of the testimonies of the captives is really being terrified from the israeli airstrikes. it seems for at least the first few weeks of the war, this was done knowingly in a sense by the military. nermeen: quite rightly, there's been a lot of emphasis on the israeli hostages, but at the same time you mentioned palestinian activists and politician barghouti speaking to the bbc this morning, he talked about how palestinian prisoners are not so much the focus of discussion. some were released from detention center in northern israel earlier, they said that they were -- that they were tortured and some died as a result.

he was speaking to the bbc on thursday. >> they told me they were kept more than 1000 people in detention or concentration camp. they were beaten badly. they were tortured. some people were hit with electrical shocks. they also used drowning their heads in the water while they were interrogating them intensively for hours. they are kept in a place which is very cold. they don't have enough clothes and food there given is very little. the most important thing i never prisoners that they witnessed died because of the beating and torture. nermeen: that is dr. mustafa. a correction, the detention center was in southern israel, not northern. your response? >> it is appalling. i have seen these testimonies

and also live testimonies of palestinians being released from israeli interrogation. to me, it reminded me of things i saw of jews in eastern europe in the 1930's and 1940's. you see their hands with ruses. they were handcuffed for hours. they spoke about been electrified by soldiers, being beaten by soldiers, really tortured. could see on their faces, it is horrific. you said at the start of the show that it is now more than 20,000 palestinians who were killed in gaza, roughly 1% of the population. just to put it in proportion for the audience in the united states, 1% of the population in the u.s. is 3.3 million people being killed in 75 days.

i agree with you that in a way i have heard israeli journalists using the term "war crimes" for the first time after the three israelis were killed by soldiers. they felt comfortable to shoot someone who was holding a white flag in their hands. to me it is outrageous how there are two completely different sets of ways we look at the world, not according to the crime where the victim of the crime. how many palestinians were executed by the israeli soldiers? how often does that happen without any response from journalists, without using words like "war crimes"? a lot of what is going not is this disparity between having

some people whose lives have meaning and other people whose lives have no meaning for so many people in the west and israel. amy: i wanted to ask about the number of prisoners being taken by israel on the west bank. something like 4000. just since october 7. do you have a sense they are just rounding up people because as they negotiate a prisoner exchange they will have more to get back? and human rights watch's report released today, systemic censorship of palestine content on instagram and facebook. people being systemically knocked off of facebook and instagram if they are posting about what is happening to palestinians. >> yeah, so israel has a

long-standing policy of mass arrests. we have seen them happening in previous gaza bombardments also in 2021. thousands of prisoners were held without trial and charges being pressed against them. even when charges are pressed, the system of the military occupation in the military judicial system is extremely unjust. 99.4% of the cases end up in indictment. i think part of it has to do with getting numbers -- it seems logical. i don't have any inside information. but what you suggested seems logical. for the next prisoner exchange, hamas will insist on releasing much more prominent palestinian prisoners. so unlike last time when really we saw palestinian prisoners being released after they sent

-- spent a short time in prison, i think for the next to take place, they will need to have more substantial palestinian prisoners. there is repression online. i know the israeli ministry constantly working with meta, with facebook, with x, and with instagram to aid in this process. there have been reports about mass scanning that israel does of social media to find posts, to flag in a way for these international social media organizations. the repression is taking place. amy: yuval abraham, thank you for being with this journalist , based in jerusalem who writes for +972 magazine and local call.

we will link to your new article "'the hostages weren't our top priority': how israel's bombing frenzy endangered captives in gaza." coming up, i wednesday the u.n. security council postponed a vote for the third time due to u.s. opposition. we will speak with phyllis bennis. back in 20 seconds. ♪ [music break]

amy: "blinding lights" by the weeknd. the artist announced earlier this month he would be directing $2.5 million to meals for palestinians in gaza. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. with nermeen shaikh. nermeen: the united nations security council has for the third time this week postponed a vote on a resolution calling for a halt to the fighting in gaza and for israel to allow shipments of food, water, fuel, and medicine into the besieged territory. several security council members have expressed frustration with the united states for repeatedly delaying votes and for threatening to once again veto any resolution. amy: we are joined now by phyllis bennis, a fellow at the institute for policy studies. she serves as an international adviser to jewish voice for peace. phyllis has written several books, including "understanding the palestinian-israeli conflict." her recent piece for in these times is headlined "the christmas truce of 1914 and the demand for a cease-fire in gaza."

as we went to air today, phyllis, there is no resolution at this point at the u.n. one is expected today but we said that monday and tuesday and wednesday. if you can talk about what is going on there and then we can talk about the christmas truce as we move into the weekend. >> this is in some was a very old story. the united states refuses to accept a globally demanded cease-fire in the context of israeli assault, particularly on gaza. we have seen it before and again now. the u.s. is refusing to allow the term "cessation of hostilities." they certainly won't allow the term "cease-fire" to be used. they want to talk about a suspension of hostilities, meaning a temporary pause like we saw two weeks ago to allow in a certain amount of aid, reduce the pressure on israel, get some of the hostages released, and then go back to the israeli

assaults and kill more thousands of palestinians presumably. what we're looking at is the question of whether the other members of the security council will be able to persuade the u.s. -- i think this is doubtful -- to change their position and allow decent language about a real cessation of hostilities or a cease-fire. and if they don't, will the council go ahead and force the united states to use its veto, something the u.s. does not like to do, or will it essentially collapse under its own pressure and simply withdraw the resolution is say, well, we could not get the u.s. on board so we are not going to go forward? the issue then becomes whether you're letting the u.s. off the hook by saying we will simply -- we will simply withdraw the resolution or do you force the u.s. to use its veto which then has consequences, including

sending resolution off to the general assembly where it passes under very particular conditions that can make it much more influential, and buy some arguments by legal scholars, perhaps enforceable like the security council resolution would be? that is where the council is right now. nermeen: if you could explain that because normally, general assembly vote is not legally binding in the way a security council vote is, which is why they're so much emphasis on what the security council does. >> the particularity here is when the u.s. or any other of the five permanent members of the council actually uses a veto, a new regulation at the u.n. passed a couple of years ago requires the general assembly than meet within 10 days to take up that same issue. ordinarily, this is closely held. the security council deals with threats to peace and security around the world. the general assembly can do with everything else.

when one of the five permanent members come in this case the u.s., uses its veto on an issue of peace and security, under those conditions, the general assembly is required to hold an emergency session and it is held under what is known in the u.n. as uniting for peace precedents. this is something the u.n. was forced to accept in 1951 at the instigation, ironically, of u.s. come how the u.s. got the u.n. to endorse its war in korea. under those conditions, the decisions made by the general assembly which officially are considered nonbinding, not enforceable, take on additional power because it's derivative of united nations security council power. so the decisions are uncertain, whether it is really enforceable, a much stronger resolution in the general assembly if it follows a veto in

the security council. that is one of the big reasons why the united states does not like to use its veto if they can avoid it. the other reason is it shows the world just how isolated the united states is. the u.s. and israel stand alone in the general assembly on a similar resolution was 100 53 countries out of 193 who voted yes and only 10 countries, including the u.s. and israel, voted no. under those circumstances, it demonstrates the isolation of the u.s. that is not something the biden administration is eager to be showing up against. nermeen: talk about the significance of u.s. support. explain why it is so strident despite what is happening in gaza and also the fact when biden did lightly criticize israel for its indiscriminate bombardment saying it was losing international support, the israeli foreign minister quickly

said israel would continue "with or without international support." your response to that? is that accurate do you think? >> i think what is true is the united states has made a number of polite requests of the israel i government. what you're doing is ok, using massive bombardment is ok, but try to change that, maybe change the tactics of the ground invasion so you're not killing quite semi-civilians. it doesn't look good. but there are no consequences when the israeli response from netanyahu or others is, no, we're going to continue doing what we're doing. there's no way israel feels compelled to respond to that and tell the request becomes requirements and requirements come with conditions that make a difference so that when the united states says, you got to stop bombing gaza, or killing siblings and it is illegal under international law," and israel

says, no, we're going to continue, within the next sentence at a president biden or secretary of state blinken or whoever is relating the messages come ok, then you know those billions of dollars we send your military every year? you can kiss that goodbye. you know how we have been protecting at the international criminal work so you're never held accountable for war crimes? we're not doing that anymore. those of the kinds of things that will begin to have a real impact on israel. as long as the israelis are clear of what the biden, where the symbolism of his embrace physically and politically of netanyahu and the israeli state is, we have your back and will protect you no matter what, but please make a few amendments, they have no reason to take that seriously. amy: i want to turn to tony blinken speaking wednesday ndc at the state department briefing.

>> i hear virtually no one saying come demanding from us that it stop hiding behind civilians, that it laid down his arms, that it surrender. this is over tomorrow if hamas does that. this would have been over a month ago, six weeks ago if hamas had done that. how can it be there are no demands made on the aggressor and only demands made of the victim? amy: phyllis bennis, your response? >> it is ironic that the secretary of state of israel's supporter, the provider of 20% of its entire military budget, among other things, will move forward to say that the need for the people of gaza -- because this war is against the people

of gaza. it is not just against hamas. the notion the u.s. is saying the demand should be made on hamas week it has been the united states backing of israel that has allowed israel to impose a siege on gaza for 17 years? we should be clear this siege did not begin on october 7. it was escalated after the atrocities that were committed on october 7 for sure, but this had been going on for 17 years, partially enough that 20% of all children in gaza were stunted by the age of two because they could not get sufficient food necessary for children to thrive. that was way before october 7. we have to look at this in the context of the ongoing war that israel has been waged in gaza, against gaza, against the people of palestine. it is a war that has become genocidal in its impact.

so this notion secretary of state blinken who is desperately trying to divert the focus of u.s. outrage, global outrage at israel and at the united states for enabling the israeli or crimes to continue, he is using every possibility he can. negotiations are underway between israel and hamas in cairo with egypt and qatar. other negotiations are underway in the united nations as we've been discussing. at the bottom line is israel has killed 20,000 people, 70% of them children and women. and that does not even count the thousands of people that have been killed under the rubble when israeli bombs have destroyed buildings and homes over people's bodies. so we are looking at something that has never happened at this scale in this century.

that has to be our focus. that is why we need to cease-fire. you will not be able to protect the hostages and bring them home without a cease-fire. you will not be able to bring in sufficient aid to make it possible to stop what is now real starvation in gaza. we have not seen that before even under the siege. we have not seen actual starvation. and now united nations world food program is saying more than half at the families in gaza are starving and that 90% are food insecure. that doesn't exist anywhere in the world right now where 50% of the population is starving. that has to stop. that is why we need to cease-fire, to end those realities. nermeen: we just have a minute to come if you can respond to the pole that was released earlier this week where it is clear the majority of americans are opposed to the biden administration's policy but in a

perplexing finding, a number of them say they would in the 2024 election vote for trump instead as a result? >> i can't explain it. i don't know exactly what the show was that they asked and that is always a key part of how they get answers like this. i think what is key is the first thing you said, there is massive opposition in this country to what the biden administration is doing. 80% of democrats, president biden's own party, want a cease-fire now. we are seeing massive opposition within the state department, within the white house -- the white house interns, these young ambitious students, high school and college students, the youngest of the federal workforce, came out publicly as said "we are not the leaders of today but we aspire to lead in the future and we cannot stand by and watch this genocide been perpetuated by israel with our support." that has never been seen before

in this country. that is why we say not only is the was isolated at the united nations, but the biden administration on this issue is massively isolated within the united states itself. aim for phyllis bennis, thank you for being with us, fellow at the institute for policy studies. international adviser to jewish voice for peace. we will link to your piece for "in these times" "the christmas truce of 1914 and the demand for a cease-fire in gaza." coming up come the decision to bar donald trump on the colorado primary ballot over his role in the january 6 insurrection. and then his increasingly extreme rhetoric talking about immigrants poisoning the blood of the nation. back in 20 seconds. ♪ [music break]

amy: "me myself and i" by de la soul. trugoy the dove, nee dave jolicoeur passed away at the age of 54. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. nermeen: we turn now to colorado, where the state supreme court has ruled in a 4-3

decision to bar donald trump from the state's 2024 presidential primary ballot because of his actions during the january 6 insurrection. in an unprecedented decision, the justices ruled that the former president is ineligible to appear on the ballot citing the insurrection clause in the 14th amendment, which was written to prevent civil war confederates from returning to government. section 3 of the amendment states -- "no person shall hold any office, civil or military, under the united states who, having previously taken an oath as an officer of the united states, to support the constitution of the united states, shall have engaged in insurrection." trump has vowed to appeal the decision to the u.s. supreme court where conservatives hold a 6-3 majority. meanwhile, a number of other states are also considering barring trump from the ballot. amy: we are joined now by the constitutional attorney john bonifaz, president of free speech for people which has filed legal challenges to trump's eligibility to appear on

the ballot in a number of states including minnesota, michigan, and oregon. first, john, if you can talk about what happened in colorado and respond to those who simply say, why let the courts decide? why not let the voters decide? >> thank you for having me. this is a fantastic victory for our democracy and our constitution, the colorado supreme court got it right. donald trump is disqualified under section 3 of the 14th amendment for inciting, mobilizing, facilitating january 6 the insurrection on. now, to your question on why not let the voters decide, the fact is the constitution makes clear you have to meet certain qualifications to run for president of the united states, including being 35 years or more by the time of night duration,

being a natural born citizen, and not having taken an oath to prevent and the constitution and then engage in insurrection. that is what donald trump did. he is disqualified under that critical provision. it is designed to protect our republic. the framers of the 14th amendment placed it into the 14th amendment after the civil war to ensure those who threaten republic by taking that both of office and then turning around and engaging in insurrection shall never hold public office again. nermeen: could you talk about where else similar decisions may be made? what other states are considering also potentially banning trump? quote i want to say we congratulate our allies and citizens first once ability and ethics in washington for their outstanding work in the colorado case and achieving this victory. we are proud of how the movement

and work are around the country to uphold section 3 of the 14th amendment. and free speech for people, we have felt similar challenges to donald trump's eligibility in minnesota, michigan, and oregon. in two of those cases, michigan and oregon, are pending before their state supreme court. yesterday we notified both of those courts via supplemental authority letters of the colorado decision and making clear its application to our cases in michigan and oregon. we have been also quite public we intend to file additional challenges very soon in other key states. the key question here is, what will supreme court do? will they take this case and how will they rule? i also want to add another critical question, what will election officials do across the country? they have the mandate to follow

the mandate of the constitution, follow with the constitution requirements are here for placing candidates on the presidential primary ballot. that includes section 3 of the 14th amendment. they now have a state supreme court ruling making clear that donald trump engaged in insurrection and is disqualified and they ought to follow that ruling and bar him from their state ballots as well. nermeen: i want to read a quote from former biden administration official tim wu, professor at colombia university. he wrote on x-- "this may be an unpopular post, but i think we need to realize that using undemocratic means to fight candidate trump increases the odds of losing democracy itself. i don't mean you should ignore clear-cut violations of the law, but anything that feels like a reach is dangerous." if you could respond to that? also the fact that biden was

asked about the colorado decision on wednesday and this was his response. >> [indiscernible] pres. biden: i think it is self-evident. he certainly supported in insurrection. no question about it. none. zero. he seems to be doubling down on everything. nermeen: your response to what president biden said and also law professor tim wu? >> on the law professor tim wu, and i admire his work, but i think he is wrong in this matter. this is not an antidemocratic fight. this is a fight to protect our democracy into protect our constitution. we could not ignore with the clear language of section 3 of the 14th amendment is an the reasons why the framers of the 14th amendment playset into the constitution. this was right after the civil

war. there were ex-confederates who sought to remain a power or attain power. a decision was made by those who drafted the 14th amendment, by the congress that passed it in the states that enacted it come that those who take an oath of office to defend our constitution and then turn around and engage in insurrection as the confederates did are barred from ever holding public office again. they represent a threat to our republic and now we have a second insurrection in our nations history on january 6, 2021, donald trump incited and immobilized and engaged in that insurrection and he is barred from holding future public office. this is about protecting our democracy. if we ignore this provision of the constitution, we make it a dead letter and set a very dangerous precedent going forward that people can ignore their oath of office and engage in future insurrections.

mr. president biden's comments, i think he is right that donald trump has proven to be an insurrectionist and the courts must uphold section 3 of the 14th amendment. amy: john bonifaz, thank you for being with us, president of free speech for people. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. nermeen: we in today's show looking at donald trump's increasing authoritarian rhetoric on the campaign trail. over the weekend, trump claimed immigrants are poisoning the blood of the country. pres. trump: when they let shy think the real numbers 15 million, 16 when people enter our country, when they do that, we have a lot of work to do. there poisoning the blood of our country. nermeen: trump's remarks sparked

widespread criticism. vice president kamala harris said trump's words were "similar to the language of hitler." on tuesday, trump doubled down during a campaign stop in iowa. pres. trump: it is crazy what is going on. they are ruining our country. they are destroying the blood of our country. they are destroying our country. they don't like it when i said that and i never read "mein kampf." they said, hitler said that in a much different way. amy: trump was standing between two christmas trees. we are joined now by jeff sharlet, an award-winning journalist and author. professor of english and creative writing at dartmouth college. author of several books, including "the undertow: scenes from a slow civil war." iowa caucus and the new hampshire primary are the first two for the republicans. the democrats have changed their schedule. jeff, first respond to this poisoning of the blood and the comparisons to adolph hitler,

his wife ivanka trump, mother to his children, who died falling down the stairs a little while ago, said he had a book of quotes of adolph hitler on his bedstand. take it from there. >> i think it is fascinating trump volunteered "i haven't read mein kampf" and in fact the book he is alleged -- i haven't read "mein kampf" in effect the book he is alleged is a different book. he's is going out of his way to repeat that language after the comparison has already been made. i think he is invoking that because of chaos and drama. i think he is counting in his face he is going to be more helped by the high trauma of hitler and world war ii than the comparison to the worst

fascist in history. nermeen: what do you think of the consequences of not taking these words of trump's seriously? and also, is this likely to diminish his support or in fact increase it? >> all we need to do is look at what is happening, it is increasing the support. he is understanding the drama. in terms of not taking seriously, a lot of the press is still covering this race like it is a horse race as opposed to a last gasp of the closest thing -- hold onto what we have of american democracy. we are starting to look at something called project 2025, a 900 page blueprint together by trump's allies the heritage foundation funded by the koch money.

900 page blueprint for day one. trump says from day one, on day one i'm going to be a dictator. which is another bit of language i think he is kind of ropadoping the press. what was the word i kept saying? dictator. even more important is the drama that makes him the exciting and infectious terms a man of action , then you have this 900 page document that lays out agency by agency with every right-wing think tank on board, with the personnel -- 20,000 personnel already figured out, including 5000 lawyers to fight for this. talking about concentration camps, domestic surveillance -- all the facets of a full-sized fascist government. he doesn't have to have read

that just like he doesn't have to have read "mein kampf" to hit those notes. amy: in the 2025 document people should understand, this 920 page document funded by the heritage foundation, the koch others, talking about defunding the department of justice, breaking up the department of homeland security, department of education, and commerce -- the title of your book come the subtitle "the undertow: scenes from a slow civil war." can you tease that out as we move into 2024, what you mean by a slow civil war? >> i think the slow civil war, first of all, we look at the casualties that are already happening. pregnant people forced to have children or suffering physically, even dying. the epidemic of trance and were

suicides. all of these facets of a growing concentration of fascist policy but the slow civil war also takes place through welfare, through the laws that prevent people from getting the things they need. they are casualties of that. what we see in that document, massive acceleration letter. we plan is based around 180 days. they go back -- the heritage foundation made it stay by making a similar document for ronald reagan in 1980. 60% of was implemented in the first six months of his administration. they cite that and say that was for reagan and now we're in the age of trump and we need to go further. that is the term they use, "much further." nermeen: how representative would you say this document is to the far right conservative movement and do you think irrespective of whether trump is elected or not some of these

policies will be carried through or an attempt will be made to carry them through? >> yeah, i think that is another thing we have to remember. one, some -- it is nikki haley possibility i don't take seriously but if it does happen, this is ready-made for her as well. but also ready-made for right-wing activism. it is putting the stamp of trumpism. coming not from one group or another that has been taken over by heritage foundation, allies for defending freedom which is the group arguably responsible for overturning roe. we see the christian right, business organizations, libertarian, intellectuals as it were of the right-wing movement, claremont institute -- the document represents 400 contributors, many of them former trump officials -- defense contractors. i think the document is also meant to display once and for

all the full sort of application of the competence put to work for the fury of trump's fascism and say, ok, everybody is on board. this is the project. the project is trumpism regardless. . of where the man is amy: you're in new hampshire. nikki haley got the endorsement of the governor there, governor sununu. the significance of this? and her response to president trump talking about the comments about the blood and the polluting of the blood of this country? she said it is simply not helpful. if you can end by talking about what this language dies and how it shapes the entire discourse and what you think the media needs to do in response? >> i have been impressed that

they have stepped up a little bit more than they have been recently with not just that language but vermin and this kind of exterminationist linwood. it is important to understand poising the blood doesn't just come from mein kampf but an undercurrent through american right-wing rhetoric. i'm looking at a document from 1957, a right-wing publication for citizens trials and it reads like it could have been written yesterday and it talks about poisoning the blood. this kind of low throne has always been there and trump is now putting it on the national stage, giving it that platform that the far right has always wanted and was a little afraid to claim. they were worried if we say this out loud, maybe we will lose the people. down their discovery the people they want are coming to them because they are naming

the "f" word, fascism. amy: jeff sharlet is an award-winning journalist and author. author of several books, including "the undertow: scenes from a slow civil war." democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to outreach@democracynow.org or mail them to democracy now! p.o. box 693 new york, new york 10013.