sarah leah whitson amy:sarah leah whitson, thank you for being with us executive director , of democracythe arab world now, or dawn. we willing to your piece in the american prospect headlined "america's middle east 'withdrawal' breathes its last breath." next outcome is ba.5 the reinfection wave? we will speak with ed yong. ♪♪ [music break] amy: "walk it out," unk featuring outkast and jim jones. it was blasted wednesday and amazon warehouse workers as they walked out of their jobs to demand higher wages and more of a focus on safety during amazon's prime. workers meanwhile, the german warehouses, so when on a prime day strike in recent days calling for good and healthy work. this idemocracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. we areow about two point five years into the coronavirus pandemic and health experts said this week the most infectious transmissible covid-19 is now a global health emergency. this is world health organization director-general tedros adhanom ghebreyesus speaking on tuesday at a virtual news conference in geneva.

amy: for more, we're joined by sarah leah whitson, executive director of democracy for the arab world now or dawn. her recent article in the american prospect is headlined "america's middle east 'withdrawal' breathes its last breath." we just spoke to you last week ahead of biden's trip. great to have you back. can you respond now to what actually has taken place, the meeting of the man who u.s. intelligence has said was responsible for the murder of "the washington post" columnist jamal khashoggi, mohammed bin salman? >> i would have to agree with "the washington post" the fist bump seen around the world will live in infamy, will become the legacy of president biden as a man who broke his promises and broke them in such a disgraceful manner, bumping fists with them and he promised to the american people he would make a pariah. that is one hell of a way to be remembered. amy: i want to get your comment on this comment when cnn's wolf blitzer was sitting with the saudi foreign minister who was in the room during president biden's meeting with the crown prince about the murder of journa