several arab american leaders and michigan, but several of them, including dearborn's mayor abdullah hammoudned the invitation. mayor hammoud joins us to discuss this and more. mayor hammoud, it's a pleasure to have you on the show. thank you for joining us. i will start with the wall street journal op-ed. you have called it racist, bigoted, and islamophobic. i've listed a few examples of the kind of ramifications that a piece like this can lead to in our country. talk to us through what you are hearing on the ground from your constituents. how it is landing in the community, and what made you make the decision to increase the police presidents in and around community centers, places of worship, and elsewhere? >> thank you so much for having me. that piece was extremely inflammatory. upon it being published, we received many calls from faith leaders across the community that no longer felt safe. including residents and members of the congregation. working with our police chief, we helped with patrols, especially around places of worship to make sure the people not only felt like they were sa

that is not as inspirational as one would hope. >> all right, dearborn mayor abdullah hammoud. thank you so much for your time and insights. i appreciate you joining us tonight. >> thank you. >> anti-lgbtq rights, defenders of slavery, and house speaker mike johnson. how are they all connected? i will tell you, next. you, next. n vaccinated against the flu, but don't forget this season's updated covid-19 shot too. i suffer with psoriatic arthritis and psoriasis. i was on a journey for a really long time to find some relief. cosentyx works for me. cosentyx helps real people get real relief from the symptoms of psoriatic arthritis or psoriasis. serious allergic reactions, severe skin reactions that look like eczema, and an increased risk of infections, some fatal, have occurred. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms, had a vaccine or plan to or if ibd symptoms develop or worsen. i move so much better because of cosentyx. ask your rheumatologist about cosentyx. ♪♪ ugh! nope! try my old spice you can use it on your pits, chest, and even, your... toes? [both] oh that

in dearborn, michigan, the city's first arab american mayor abdullah hammoud tells me this is deeply personal for his community. >> when i have a resident who walks up, who talks about 80 innocent family members in the current war in gaza what is my response to him? well, it could have been worse. that is an insufficient response. >> reporter: what is the message you guys are hoping to send to the president today? >> i think the message is the president has not earned our votes. >> reporter: but michigan's governor is urging democrats to get behind biden, even if they'd prefer a younger candidate. >> i would say, the train's out of the station. get onboard. >> reporter: and today, other democrats we spoke with, like union work errorry gill, worry the protest votes will just boost trump's chances in november. what do you make of this uncommitted movement that we're seeing here? >> i think it's stupid. i think it's going to hurt. it's going to hurt the democratic party. >> reporter: now, president biden is expected to win here tonight, the question now, how big will this protest vote b

president's refusal to support an enduring cease-fire is pushing many here, like the democratic mayer, abdullah hammoud vote uncommitted in today's primary. >> i think for me, voting uncommitted today is sending a message that were trying to hold our officials accountable. >> reporter: the president won just four years ago. donald trump won it in 2016 by just 10,000. that means tens of thousands of votes against biden could cost him the state in the general election. >> this is a clear warning to the democratic party that unless they do change course, they are in trouble in november. it gives us an opportunity to express our concern and express it now in february. >> reporter: adam abusalah volunteered for the president's 2020 campaign, but by the time we first met him in early november, he was angry with the president for standing by israel as tens of thousands of civilians in gaza died. >> if you were to tell me that my vote were to be the vote whether biden wins in michigan or not, i would still not vote for biden. >> reporter: now he is actively campaigning for uncommitted. the president still expe

the president's refusal to support cease-fire is pushing many here, like the democratic mayer, abdullah hammoudvote uncommitted. >> it is sending a message we're trying to hold him accountable. >> reporter: donald trump won it in 2016 by just 20,000. that means tens of thousands of votes against biden could cost him the state in the general election. >> this is a clear warning to the democratic party that unless they do change course they are in trouble in november, it gives us an opportunity to express our concern and express it now in february. >> reporter: adam abusalah volunteered for the president's 2020 campaign, but when we first met him in early november, he was angry with the president for sending by israel as tens and thousands of civilians in gaza died. >> if he were to meet that my vote were to be the boat whether biden wins in michigan are not, i would still not vote for biden. >> reporter: the president still easily expected to enact a primary tonight. on monday, on goring negotiations for these hostages might lead to a cease-fire. and he reiterated his strong support for israel,

we'll speak with the mayor of dearborn abdullah hammoud, who refused to meet with biden's campaign manager. and we will talk to arab-american pollster james zogby. then, "origin." >> i want to be in the story, really inside the story. shows how all of this is linked. amy: we speak with award-winning filmmaker ava duvernay about her new film that dramatizes the book "caste: the origins of our discontent" by pulitzer prize-winning journalist isabel wilkerson. >> the film follows is a bill wilkerson in her pursuit of truth as she writes the book and you watch your overcome great personal challenge and also complete the book. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. over one million displaced palestinians are under threat of a new ground assault on gaza's southernmost city of rafah after the israeli military said it would attack the area once labeled a safe zone. the u.n. called rafah, located on the border with egypt, a "pressure cooker of despair." the death toll in gaza continues to rise with over 27,000 kille

dearborn mayor abdullah hammoud, who previously refused to meet with biden's campaign manager, announced wednesday he is joining over 30 other michigan officials who are vowing to cast an "uncommitted" vote in the state's primary on february 27. the effort is being led by the group "listen to michigan," which is headed by rashida tlaib's sister. in other election news, democrat marianne williamson has suspended her presidential campaign against joe biden. pakistan cut off cell phone and internet service earlier today just as voting began in a national election marred by controversy. opposition candidates say the telecommunications cutoff is just the latest move by pakistan's military-backed interim government to rig the election. pakistan's interior ministry said the move was needed to "mitigate potential security threats." on wednesday, a pair of bombings outside campaign offices in the province of baluchistan killed 30 people. in the democratic republic of the congo, tens of thousands of people continue to flee violence in the east of the country as m23 rebels advance toward goma, the

in response, dearborn's mayor abdullah hammoud said he was ramping up police presence across religiouss and landmarks over fears of racist violence. president biden and michigan governor gretchen whitmer both condemned the article. meanwhile, long-time "new york times" columnist thomas friedman penned an op-ed titled "understanding the middle east through the animal kingdom" in which he compared iran to a parasitoid wasp, writing, "we have no counterstrategy that safely and efficiently kills the wasp without setting fire to the whole jungle." michigan congressmember and the only palestinian-american u.s. lawmaker rashida tlaib said, "this is blatant islamophobia and anti-arab racism that puts people's lives in danger." in texas, a man attacked four young muslim americans who were driving home from a protest for palestinian rights in austin on sunday. three of the victims are sunday. -- three of the victims are palestinian-americans, including a 23-year-old who was stabbed after the attacker pulled them out of the car. they say the suspect, who has been identified as bert james baker, y

president's refusal to support an enduring cease-fire is pushing many here, like the democratic mayor, abdullah hammoud think for me, voting uncommitted today is sending a message of we're trying to hold our elected official accountable. >> reporter: the president won michigan by 154,000 votes four years ago. donald trump won it in 2016 by just 10,000. that means tens of thousands of votes against biden could cost him the state in the general election. >> this is a clear warning to the democratic party that unless they do change course, they're in trouble in november. this gives us an opportunity to express our concern and to express it now in february. >> reporter: adam abusalah volunteered for the president's 2020 campaign. but by the time we first met him in late november, he was angry with the president for standing by israel as tens of thousands of civilians in gaza died. >> if you were to tell me that my vote would be the vote whether biden wins in michigan or not, i will still not vote for biden. >> reporter: now he's actively campaigning for uncommitted. the president still easily won the prima