democracynow--2020-12-28--"The Priorities Are Wrong": Rep. Ro Khanna Says He Won't Vote to Override Trump Veto on Defense Bill

This is a rush transcript .
Copy may not be in its final form .
AMY GOODMAN : So , let ’ s go to a tweet you sent out earlier this month .
You wrote , “ If you vote for a bloated $ 740 billion defense budget , which [ is ] over 50 % of our discretionary budget , or the Trump $ 1.6 trillion tax cut , please save us the lectures about deficits .
You have no credibility.
” In addition to voting on the $ 2,000 checks to go out , both houses of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s veto of the NDAA .
Can you explain what this is all about ?
REP. RO KHANNA : It ’ s very simple .
Trump has vetoed the defense bill , which would be $ 740 billion .
Now , his reasons for vetoing it are disingenuous .
He wants to strip tech companies of Section 230 protections , which , if you strip them of that , would really hurt speech on the internet .
This is not some thoughtful reform .
But the bottom line is , $ 740 billion @ @ @ @ @ @ @ We ’ re spending money on aircrafts .
We ’ re spending money on the modernization of nuclear weapons .
And we can ’ t find money to get food in to people who need it ?
We can ’ t find money to get more rental assistance for folks who are going to face evictions ?
We can ’ t find money to get $ 2,000 into the pockets of Americans ?
The priorities are wrong , and so I ’ m not going to vote to override his veto .
There @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , where everyone ’ s flying back in because they don ’ t want something to happen where we don ’ t pass the defense budget at this bloated level .
But my view is , let ’ s really ask why we are spending so much money on defense when we have such other needs of national security .
One other point , Amy : The NIH actually has the ability to have universal viral detectors , to have antiviral treatments .
Why aren ’ t we funding that , those programs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ?
AMY GOODMAN : Speaking of this military bill , that you say you will break from the Democrats in voting to override , the Trump administration has formally notified Congress it intends to authorize the sale of nearly a half-billion dollars ’ worth of laser-guided bombs to Saudi Arabia .
Critics say the weapons could be used on civilians in Yemen .
In 2019 , Trump vetoed bipartisan legislation that would have blocked arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates .
Congressmember Ro Khanna , you have continually championed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the stopping of U.S.-backed Saudi-UAE war on the people of Yemen .
Can you comment on what that means , what you ’ re going to do about it , and the fact you recently told The Washington Post Biden should immediately reverse course if this deal goes through ?
REP. RO KHANNA : President-elect Biden must reverse course .
And I am convinced he will .
I think Tony Blinken , his secretary of state designee , understands the humanitarian crisis in Yemen and wants to make sure that we bring it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we need to do is stop supplying the Saudis not just with weapons , but also with any logistical support , intelligence support , that they can use to increase their offensive in Yemen .
And we need to support Martin Griffiths at the U.N. , who ’ s been doing a terrific job in bringing the parties together .
So , this is a last-ditch effort from Trump to reward the Saudis .
He ’ s had a pro-Saudi policy for four years .
It ’ s unfortunately led to one of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
But that is going to end January 20th .
I have confidence , actually , in Tony Blinken and Jake Sullivan .
They understand the depths of this crisis , and they will work with Congress to help bring it to an end .
AMY GOODMAN : Let me ask you about COVID .
You represent California in Congress .
COVID is raging across the country , with cases now topping 19 million , over a third of a million deaths .
One in every thousand Americans has now died of COVID-19 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the U.S. since the start of the pandemic , as experts warn things will likely get worse with post-holiday season travel leading to new spikes .
Your state , California , becoming the first state to top 2 million cases last week , as hospitals in Southern California are reporting just a handful to no ICU beds available .
Congressman Ro Khanna , can you talk about what is happening now and what needs to happen ?
REP. RO KHANNA : Well , it ’ s tragic .
It ’ s unprecedented , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ re losing over 3,000 Americans a day .
I would say there are four things that need to happen .
First , new leadership needs to set a new tone about the importance of wearing masks and social distancing .
It ’ s not just legislation .
Leadership matters .
I think President Biden will do that .
Second , we need an efficient and fair distribution system of the vaccines .
That remains our best bet .
Third , we need to continue to invest in testing and contact tracing .
That @ @ @ @ @ @ @ parts of the country .
And finally , we need massive investment in making sure people have healthcare .
There are people , you know , who are paying $ 200 for tests .
In fact , I had to pay — I had my family tested .
It cost $ 200 for each test .
Now , we can get it reimbursed by insurance , and some insurance does , some doesn ’ t .
We need to make sure that the testing and the healthcare related to COVID is free , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to do that .
AMY GOODMAN : How do you think the issue of Medicare for All will play , when you have COVID , that has really exposed the racial economic disparities when it comes to healthcare , particularly that — you know , who has access , who doesn ’ t ?
This goes to issues from vaccine access to test access to mask access .
How you , a proponent of Medicare for All , can lead a new Congress and a Democratic administration , which , frankly , President @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for All — do you think you could change that , given what so many people in this country have understood ?
REP. RO KHANNA : I do .
Medicare for All now has become a moral imperative .
Here is the thing , Amy .
In this country ’ s history when we have had past crises , we usually respond with bold legislation .
When there was the Depression , we responded with bold legislation on the economy .
When we had civil rights movement and Dr. King , we responded @ @ @ @ @ @ @ now just had the greatest healthcare crisis , arguably , in the last hundred years .
It has exposed that people who don ’ t have healthcare are having worse outcomes , are facing either death or facing higher risk of illness .
It should be obvious that the solution is to have people have healthcare coverage from the day they are born .
That is what Medicare for All is .
We need to have a vote in the House of Representatives on Medicare for All .
We need to continue to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to build consensus for it .
Now , people say , “ Well , the votes aren ’ t there .
The Senate votes aren ’ t there.
” If Franklin Roosevelt or Lyndon Johnson had thought that way , they would have never gotten anything done .
LBJ could have just said , “ Well , the Southern votes aren ’ t there .
Let ’ s never pass civil rights.
” That is not imaginative leadership .
The challenge is for us to build a consensus and the votes .
And @ @ @ @ @ @ @ do it in this crisis , then when ?
AMY GOODMAN : Ro Khanna , we want to thank you for being with us , Democratic congressmember from California .
He represents Silicon Valley , a member of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform .
Next up , we look at how dozens of immigrant women detained by ICE at the Irwin County Detention Center in Georgia have joined a class-action lawsuit against ICE over allegations they were either forcibly sterilized or subjected to nonconsensual , invasive gynecological procedures .
We ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a woman who alleges this and to Jamaica , the country of Jamaica , where another woman was deported after her surgery .
Stay with us .

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: So, let’s go to a tweet you sent out earlier this month. You wrote, “If you vote for a bloated $740 billion defense budget, which [is] over 50% of our discretionary budget, or the Trump $1.6 trillion tax cut, please save us the lectures about deficits. You have no credibility.” In addition to voting on the $2,000 checks to go out, both houses of Congress are expected to overturn Trump’s veto of the NDAA. Can you explain what this is all about?
REP. RO KHANNA: It’s very simple. Trump has vetoed the defense bill, which would be $740 billion. Now, his reasons for vetoing it are disingenuous. He wants to strip tech companies of Section 230 protections, which, if you strip them of that, would really hurt speech on the internet. This is not some thoughtful reform.
But the bottom line is, $740 billion is way too much defense spending. We’re spending money on aircrafts. We’re spending money on the modernization of nuclear weapons. And we can’t find money to get food in to people who need it? We can’t find money to get more rental assistance for folks who are going to face evictions? We can’t find money to get $2,000 into the pockets of Americans?
The priorities are wrong, and so I’m not going to vote to override his veto. There’s almost a crisis in Washington, where everyone’s flying back in because they don’t want something to happen where we don’t pass the defense budget at this bloated level. But my view is, let’s really ask why we are spending so much money on defense when we have such other needs of national security.
One other point, Amy: The NIH actually has the ability to have universal viral detectors, to have antiviral treatments. Why aren’t we funding that, those programs, instead of buying more aircraft carriers?
AMY GOODMAN: Speaking of this military bill, that you say you will break from the Democrats in voting to override, the Trump administration has formally notified Congress it intends to authorize the sale of nearly a half-billion dollars’ worth of laser-guided bombs to Saudi Arabia. Critics say the weapons could be used on civilians in Yemen. In 2019, Trump vetoed bipartisan legislation that would have blocked arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Congressmember Ro Khanna, you have continually championed the issue of peace in Yemen and the stopping of U.S.-backed Saudi-UAE war on the people of Yemen. Can you comment on what that means, what you’re going to do about it, and the fact you recently told The Washington Post Biden should immediately reverse course if this deal goes through?
REP. RO KHANNA: President-elect Biden must reverse course. And I am convinced he will. I think Tony Blinken, his secretary of state designee, understands the humanitarian crisis in Yemen and wants to make sure that we bring it to an end.
The first thing we need to do is stop supplying the Saudis not just with weapons, but also with any logistical support, intelligence support, that they can use to increase their offensive in Yemen. And we need to support Martin Griffiths at the U.N., who’s been doing a terrific job in bringing the parties together.
So, this is a last-ditch effort from Trump to reward the Saudis. He’s had a pro-Saudi policy for four years. It’s unfortunately led to one of the greatest humanitarian crises in the world. But that is going to end January 20th. I have confidence, actually, in Tony Blinken and Jake Sullivan. They understand the depths of this crisis, and they will work with Congress to help bring it to an end.
AMY GOODMAN: Let me ask you about COVID. You represent California in Congress. COVID is raging across the country, with cases now topping 19 million, over a third of a million deaths. One in every thousand Americans has now died of COVID-19. December, the deadliest month in the U.S. since the start of the pandemic, as experts warn things will likely get worse with post-holiday season travel leading to new spikes. Your state, California, becoming the first state to top 2 million cases last week, as hospitals in Southern California are reporting just a handful to no ICU beds available. Congressman Ro Khanna, can you talk about what is happening now and what needs to happen?
REP. RO KHANNA: Well, it’s tragic. It’s unprecedented, unfathomable. I mean, we’re losing over 3,000 Americans a day. I would say there are four things that need to happen.
First, new leadership needs to set a new tone about the importance of wearing masks and social distancing. It’s not just legislation. Leadership matters. I think President Biden will do that.
Second, we need an efficient and fair distribution system of the vaccines. That remains our best bet.
Third, we need to continue to invest in testing and contact tracing. That still isn’t happening in many parts of the country.
And finally, we need massive investment in making sure people have healthcare. There are people, you know, who are paying $200 for tests. In fact, I had to pay — I had my family tested. It cost $200 for each test. Now, we can get it reimbursed by insurance, and some insurance does, some doesn’t. We need to make sure that the testing and the healthcare related to COVID is free, so that we can actually incentivize people to do that.
AMY GOODMAN: How do you think the issue of Medicare for All will play, when you have COVID, that has really exposed the racial economic disparities when it comes to healthcare, particularly that — you know, who has access, who doesn’t? This goes to issues from vaccine access to test access to mask access. How you, a proponent of Medicare for All, can lead a new Congress and a Democratic administration, which, frankly, President Biden has said he will veto Medicare for All — do you think you could change that, given what so many people in this country have understood?
REP. RO KHANNA: I do. Medicare for All now has become a moral imperative. Here is the thing, Amy. In this country’s history when we have had past crises, we usually respond with bold legislation. When there was the Depression, we responded with bold legislation on the economy. When we had civil rights movement and Dr. King, we responded with civil rights legislation.
We have now just had the greatest healthcare crisis, arguably, in the last hundred years. It has exposed that people who don’t have healthcare are having worse outcomes, are facing either death or facing higher risk of illness. It should be obvious that the solution is to have people have healthcare coverage from the day they are born. That is what Medicare for All is.
We need to have a vote in the House of Representatives on Medicare for All. We need to continue to advocate for it. And we have to build consensus for it. Now, people say, “Well, the votes aren’t there. The Senate votes aren’t there.” If Franklin Roosevelt or Lyndon Johnson had thought that way, they would have never gotten anything done. LBJ could have just said, “Well, the Southern votes aren’t there. Let’s never pass civil rights.” That is not imaginative leadership. The challenge is for us to build a consensus and the votes. And if we’re not going to do it in this crisis, then when?
AMY GOODMAN: Ro Khanna, we want to thank you for being with us, Democratic congressmember from California. He represents Silicon Valley, a member of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform.
Next up, we look at how dozens of immigrant women detained by ICE at the Irwin County Detention Center in Georgia have joined a class-action lawsuit against ICE over allegations they were either forcibly sterilized or subjected to nonconsensual, invasive gynecological procedures. We’ll go inside Irwin to speak with a woman who alleges this and to Jamaica, the country of Jamaica, where another woman was deported after her surgery. Stay with us.


democracynow--2020-12-28--Rep. Ro Khanna: $2,000 Stimulus Checks Are Needed, Not More Austerity, Amid Economic & Health Crisis

This is a rush transcript .
Copy may not be in its final form .
AMY GOODMAN : This is Democracy Now !
, democracynow.org , The Quarantine Report .
I ’ m Amy Goodman .
President Trump unexpectedly signed a $ 2.3 trillion spending package Sunday that includes a $ 900 billion COVID-19 relief package .
The bill includes direct payments of $ 600 for most adults , expanded unemployment benefits , aid for small businesses , money for vaccine distribution , and a temporary extension of a federal eviction ban .
Millions were plunged into uncertainty over the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the bill while he vacationed and golfed in Florida .
This allowed two unemployment programs to lapse Saturday night .
Congresswoman Ilhan Omar tweeted Sunday night , “ Never forget , his tantrums have real life consequences for millions of Americans .
Since [ unemployment insurance ] expired Saturday , this delay will almost certainly postpone state unemployment payouts .
I am so glad his days of inflicting pain are coming to an end , ” she tweeted .
Last week , Trump blasted the bipartisan bill , describing it a “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ administration had helped negotiate the bill .
Trump is demanding lawmakers amend the bill to give $ 2,000 in direct payments to most Americans — a proposal opposed by most Republicans but endorsed by Democrats .
The Democratic-controlled House will vote on increasing payments to $ 2,000 today .
Trump has also asked lawmakers to rescind parts of the bill , but the request is expected to be ignored .
The COVID relief package is part of a broader spending package that needed to be signed in order to avert a government shutdown @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of provisions endorsed by Republicans , including new tax breaks and nearly $ 1.4 billion for Trump ’ s border wall .
In other congressional news , the House is scheduled to vote today to override Trump ’ s veto of a $ 740 billion defense bill .
We ’ re joined now by Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna of California .
Last night , he tweeted , “ I am glad we are finally having a vote tomorrow on a $ 2000 stimulus .
The question remains why we didn ’ t have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and I proposed this .
This is a lesson .
It should not require permission from Trump or Republicans to vote on and push for bold policies.
” Congressman Khanna , welcome back to Democracy Now !
That seems to me to be a clear message to the Democrats .
Can you just explain what ’ s happened over this holiday weekend ?
Trump didn ’ t play ball with Congress at the beginning , but was certainly out there playing ball — playing golf through the weekend as unemployment lapsed , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ without getting any concessions , he signed last night .
REP. RO KHANNA : Well , that ’ s a fair summary .
I mean , he was just playing politics here .
He had no intention of actually pushing for $ 2,000 .
He never tried to get McConnell and the Republican senators on board .
And Mnuchin , as you pointed out , never was advocating for that in the negotiations .
So there ’ s no doubt in my mind that Trump is to blame for the delay , for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and the Republicans are to blame for not having $ 2,000 .
That said , what I am saying is that Tim Ryan and I , Bernie Sanders , Kamala Harris , many of us have been calling for $ 2,000 since March , April of this year .
And we should not wait to have Republican support or Republican statements before voting on that .
We need to make sure that when we ’ re advocating for working families , when we ’ re advocating for progressive policy , that we put @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and put pressure on the Republicans to do the right thing .
AMY GOODMAN : So , explain how this will work .
Before he signed this bill last night , again , 24 hours earlier , unemployment wouldn ’ t have lapsed for many people .
Now millions , perhaps 12 million people , are plunged into uncertainty .
They might get it late .
They might not get it for a week and will lose that forever .
But before he did that , Nancy Pelosi called for voting on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2,000 today .
Now , without changes , Trump has approved the legislation .
What could possibly get this passed , not only in the House , but , do you believe , in the Senate ?
REP. RO KHANNA : I think it ’ s an uphill battle to get it passed in the Senate .
I mean , we ’ re going to vote tonight to have $ 2,000 checks , but McConnell has already indicated he is opposed to that .
Cornyn has indicated that he ’ s opposed to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ take is either Trump not just tweeting out but convincing Republican senators to support it , or a next administration , hopefully Joe Biden , making this a critical component of what we ’ re going to push for .
But the obstacle has always been in the Senate .
AMY GOODMAN : There was word that Jon Ossoff in Georgia was demanding that David Perdue pull his ads saying that he had been part of passing this legislation , because then Trump didn ’ t sign off on it .
Trump is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for the runoff elections next week , that that could have put pressure .
Kevin McCarthy in the House , your colleague there , reportedly had a conversation with Trump yesterday .
Who knows what caused this change ?
But what Trump said in signing this , to save face , because he got no changes but signed off on this bill , he said it ’ s because Congress had agreed to look into voter fraud , you know , the tremendous amount of voter fraud he alleges that took place that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cases were brought to one after another Trump-appointed judges , not to mention the Supreme Court .
What about this ?
And what about this legacy that Trump — this issue that Trump keeps pushing right through January 6 , when he ’ s demanding calling for thousands to come to Washington , D.C. , to challenge the final approval of the election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris ?
REP. RO KHANNA : Amy , your analysis is absolutely correct .
This had nothing to do with helping the American people .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ we get $ 2,000 checks to working families .
This was Trump upset with McConnell because McConnell is not willing to have senators challenge the results of the election , and McConnell has already congratulated Joe Biden .
So Trump says , “ Well , look , I can blow up this deal .
And I actually cost you those Georgia races if I blow up this deal , because that ’ s going to hurt Perdue and Loeffler in their races.
” And I think behind the scenes you had McConnell and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t do this .
You ’ re going to cost us those seats.
” And who knows what concessions they made ?
Who knows what Mitch McConnell has promised him on January 6 ?
It ’ s of real concern .
And all we can hope and be vigilant about is that there is a transition and that you don ’ t have shenanigans with the Senate or the House of Representatives on January 6th .
AMY GOODMAN : So , at the same time you have this vote expected to take place @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Pelosi is putting forward to increase the payments to $ 2,000 , if you can quickly say why the Democrats didn ’ t demand this from the beginning , why it took Trump ?
It seemed that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez , Pelosi , Schumer were his major enemies , but then he put Mitch McConnell at the top of the list because he dared to say the words “ President-elect Joe Biden , ” so ticked him off that he just put in this demand at the end , after Mnuchin negotiated the whole @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Democrats , your colleagues , insist on this from the beginning ?
REP. RO KHANNA : I don ’ t know .
It ’ s a good question .
That ’ s what I ’ ve been asking on Twitter and making the point more broadly .
I mean , there were many of us , not just progressives , people who are highly respected in the party — Senator Kamala Harris , Tim Ryan — many saying , “ Let ’ s get $ 2,000 in the pocket of ordinary Americans @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” We should have been saying this , voting on it , campaigning on this loudly and clearly since March , partly because it may have been effective in actually getting Americans relief .
And secondarily , it would have made it clear that one party is for getting money to working families and putting money in the pockets of people , and the other party is blocking it .
Instead , I think we were too reluctant .
We were not sufficiently bold .
We finally did pass a HEROES Act , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It did not have $ 2,000 checks .
None of the checks were monthly .
So , what I think this shows is that our policies are popular .
You see Donald Trump realizing that too late .
We should be willing to have votes on it , to advocate for it , and realize that we ’ re on the side of people .
We don ’ t have to wait for some kind of mythical bipartisan consensus to advocate for good policy .
AMY GOODMAN : And , of course , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wall between U.S. and Mexico , that Trump had insisted Mexico would pay for , reportedly pushing scores of these projects forward because he thinks possibly President Joe Biden will stop this wall .
But what about that ?
That ’ s part of this bill .
That ’ s part of what the Democrats and Republicans arrived at by consensus .
REP. RO KHANNA : Well , that ’ s wrong .
And that ’ s why some of us in the progressive party voted against the authorization for the homeland security @ @ @ @ @ @ @ We voted for the part of the bill that would get $ 600 checks to people and that would fund most of the other government .
And the speaker split the bill because she knew that there were many progressives who could not in good conscience vote for more funding for the border wall , could not vote for this bloated defense budget .
And that is something that we ’ re going to have to try to reverse in the first year of the Biden administration .

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The Quarantine Report. I’m Amy Goodman.
President Trump unexpectedly signed a $2.3 trillion spending package Sunday that includes a $900 billion COVID-19 relief package. The bill includes direct payments of $600 for most adults, expanded unemployment benefits, aid for small businesses, money for vaccine distribution, and a temporary extension of a federal eviction ban. Millions were plunged into uncertainty over the holidays as Trump held up the signing of the bill while he vacationed and golfed in Florida. This allowed two unemployment programs to lapse Saturday night. Congresswoman Ilhan Omar tweeted Sunday night, “Never forget, his tantrums have real life consequences for millions of Americans. Since [unemployment insurance] expired Saturday, this delay will almost certainly postpone state unemployment payouts. I am so glad his days of inflicting pain are coming to an end,” she tweeted.
Last week, Trump blasted the bipartisan bill, describing it a “disgrace,” even though his own administration had helped negotiate the bill. Trump is demanding lawmakers amend the bill to give $2,000 in direct payments to most Americans — a proposal opposed by most Republicans but endorsed by Democrats. The Democratic-controlled House will vote on increasing payments to $2,000 today. Trump has also asked lawmakers to rescind parts of the bill, but the request is expected to be ignored.
The COVID relief package is part of a broader spending package that needed to be signed in order to avert a government shutdown. The broader bill includes a number of provisions endorsed by Republicans, including new tax breaks and nearly $1.4 billion for Trump’s border wall. In other congressional news, the House is scheduled to vote today to override Trump’s veto of a $740 billion defense bill.
We’re joined now by Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna of California. Last night, he tweeted, “I am glad we are finally having a vote tomorrow on a $2000 stimulus. The question remains why we didn’t have this vote in March when @TimRyan and I proposed this. This is a lesson. It should not require permission from Trump or Republicans to vote on and push for bold policies.”
Congressman Khanna, welcome back to Democracy Now! That seems to me to be a clear message to the Democrats. Can you just explain what’s happened over this holiday weekend? Trump didn’t play ball with Congress at the beginning, but was certainly out there playing ball — playing golf through the weekend as unemployment lapsed, and then, out of the blue, without getting any concessions, he signed last night.
REP. RO KHANNA: Well, that’s a fair summary. I mean, he was just playing politics here. He had no intention of actually pushing for $2,000. He never tried to get McConnell and the Republican senators on board. And Mnuchin, as you pointed out, never was advocating for that in the negotiations. So there’s no doubt in my mind that Trump is to blame for the delay, for the anxiety people had. And McConnell and the Republicans are to blame for not having $2,000.
That said, what I am saying is that Tim Ryan and I, Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris, many of us have been calling for $2,000 since March, April of this year. And we should not wait to have Republican support or Republican statements before voting on that. We need to make sure that when we’re advocating for working families, when we’re advocating for progressive policy, that we put that forward, have votes on that, and put pressure on the Republicans to do the right thing.
AMY GOODMAN: So, explain how this will work. Before he signed this bill last night, again, 24 hours earlier, unemployment wouldn’t have lapsed for many people. Now millions, perhaps 12 million people, are plunged into uncertainty. They might get it late. They might not get it for a week and will lose that forever. But before he did that, Nancy Pelosi called for voting on the amendment to get it to $2,000 today. Now, without changes, Trump has approved the legislation. What could possibly get this passed, not only in the House, but, do you believe, in the Senate?
REP. RO KHANNA: I think it’s an uphill battle to get it passed in the Senate. I mean, we’re going to vote tonight to have $2,000 checks, but McConnell has already indicated he is opposed to that. Cornyn has indicated that he’s opposed to that. So, what it would take is either Trump not just tweeting out but convincing Republican senators to support it, or a next administration, hopefully Joe Biden, making this a critical component of what we’re going to push for. But the obstacle has always been in the Senate.
AMY GOODMAN: There was word that Jon Ossoff in Georgia was demanding that David Perdue pull his ads saying that he had been part of passing this legislation, because then Trump didn’t sign off on it. Trump is expected to go to Georgia to campaign for the runoff elections next week, that that could have put pressure. Kevin McCarthy in the House, your colleague there, reportedly had a conversation with Trump yesterday. Who knows what caused this change? But what Trump said in signing this, to save face, because he got no changes but signed off on this bill, he said it’s because Congress had agreed to look into voter fraud, you know, the tremendous amount of voter fraud he alleges that took place that he has never proven, even when cases were brought to one after another Trump-appointed judges, not to mention the Supreme Court. What about this? And what about this legacy that Trump — this issue that Trump keeps pushing right through January 6, when he’s demanding calling for thousands to come to Washington, D.C., to challenge the final approval of the election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris?
REP. RO KHANNA: Amy, your analysis is absolutely correct. This had nothing to do with helping the American people. This was not a debate about whether we get $2,000 checks to working families. This was Trump upset with McConnell because McConnell is not willing to have senators challenge the results of the election, and McConnell has already congratulated Joe Biden. So Trump says, “Well, look, I can blow up this deal. And I actually cost you those Georgia races if I blow up this deal, because that’s going to hurt Perdue and Loeffler in their races.”
And I think behind the scenes you had McConnell and McCarthy telling Trump, “Don’t do this. You’re going to cost us those seats.” And who knows what concessions they made? Who knows what Mitch McConnell has promised him on January 6? It’s of real concern. And all we can hope and be vigilant about is that there is a transition and that you don’t have shenanigans with the Senate or the House of Representatives on January 6th.
AMY GOODMAN: So, at the same time you have this vote expected to take place, you said, tonight that Nancy Pelosi is putting forward to increase the payments to $2,000, if you can quickly say why the Democrats didn’t demand this from the beginning, why it took Trump? It seemed that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Pelosi, Schumer were his major enemies, but then he put Mitch McConnell at the top of the list because he dared to say the words “President-elect Joe Biden,” so ticked him off that he just put in this demand at the end, after Mnuchin negotiated the whole thing. But why didn’t the Democrats, your colleagues, insist on this from the beginning?
REP. RO KHANNA: I don’t know. It’s a good question. That’s what I’ve been asking on Twitter and making the point more broadly. I mean, there were many of us, not just progressives, people who are highly respected in the party — Senator Kamala Harris, Tim Ryan — many saying, “Let’s get $2,000 in the pocket of ordinary Americans. Let’s vote on it.” We should have been saying this, voting on it, campaigning on this loudly and clearly since March, partly because it may have been effective in actually getting Americans relief. And secondarily, it would have made it clear that one party is for getting money to working families and putting money in the pockets of people, and the other party is blocking it. Instead, I think we were too reluctant. We were not sufficiently bold. We finally did pass a HEROES Act, but that had $1,200 checks. It did not have $2,000 checks. None of the checks were monthly.
So, what I think this shows is that our policies are popular. You see Donald Trump realizing that too late. We should be willing to have votes on it, to advocate for it, and realize that we’re on the side of people. We don’t have to wait for some kind of mythical bipartisan consensus to advocate for good policy.
AMY GOODMAN: And, of course, $1.5 billion for the southern border wall between U.S. and Mexico, that Trump had insisted Mexico would pay for, reportedly pushing scores of these projects forward because he thinks possibly President Joe Biden will stop this wall. But what about that? That’s part of this bill. That’s part of what the Democrats and Republicans arrived at by consensus.
REP. RO KHANNA: Well, that’s wrong. And that’s why some of us in the progressive party voted against the authorization for the homeland security and against the authorization for defense. We voted for the part of the bill that would get $600 checks to people and that would fund most of the other government. And the speaker split the bill because she knew that there were many progressives who could not in good conscience vote for more funding for the border wall, could not vote for this bloated defense budget. And that is something that we’re going to have to try to reverse in the first year of the Biden administration.


democracynow--2020-12-28--Headlines for December 28, 2020

Headlines for December 28, 2020

In international news , the European Union has begun a coordinated rollout of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID vaccine after it was approved last week .
In Latin America , which has been suffering a devastating second wave of the virus , Mexico , Chile and Costa Rica have begun their mass vaccination programs .
Canada , Japan and South Korea are some of the latest countries to detect cases of the highly infectious new COVID variant which was originally identified in Britain .
Japan announced it is temporarily banning nonresident foreigners from entering the country .
Meanwhile , officials in Nigeria @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of coronavirus , days after South African officials blamed a surge in COVID-19 cases on another variant , which they claim is more contagious .
South Africa just passed 1 million cases , and health workers say they are quickly becoming overwhelmed .
Dean Yago : “ Yeah , we ’ re dealing with the COVID , nothing else now .
There ’ s no longer any sickness that we know ; it ’ s COVID all the time .
You know that you are at a risk with a patient all the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ journalist Zhang Zhan was given a four-year jail sentence for her social media reporting from Wuhan as the virus took hold at the start of the year .
Last week , the first COVID cases were recorded in Antarctica at a Chilean research base .

In international news, the European Union has begun a coordinated rollout of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID vaccine after it was approved last week. In Latin America, which has been suffering a devastating second wave of the virus, Mexico, Chile and Costa Rica have begun their mass vaccination programs.
Canada, Japan and South Korea are some of the latest countries to detect cases of the highly infectious new COVID variant which was originally identified in Britain. Japan announced it is temporarily banning nonresident foreigners from entering the country.
Meanwhile, officials in Nigeria say they are investigating a new variant of coronavirus, days after South African officials blamed a surge in COVID-19 cases on another variant, which they claim is more contagious. South Africa just passed 1 million cases, and health workers say they are quickly becoming overwhelmed.
Dean Yago: “Yeah, we’re dealing with the COVID, nothing else now. There’s no longer any sickness that we know; it’s COVID all the time. You know that you are at a risk with a patient all the time now.”
In China, citizen journalist Zhang Zhan was given a four-year jail sentence for her social media reporting from Wuhan as the virus took hold at the start of the year.
Last week, the first COVID cases were recorded in Antarctica at a Chilean research base.


democracynow--2020-12-29--Joseph Stiglitz on the Pandemic Economy & Why He Backs Sanders' Filibuster for $2000 Stimulus Checks

This is a rush transcript .
Copy may not be in its final form .
AMY GOODMAN : This is Democracy Now !
, democracynow.org , The Quarantine Report .
I ’ m Amy Goodman .
The House of Representatives voted Monday to approve a measure that would increase stimulus checks from $ 600 to $ 2,000 , sending the bill to the Senate , where it faces a standoff today .
The House also voted to override Trump ’ s veto up the $ 740 billion National Defense Authorization Act .
In the Senate , Republican Majority Leader Mitch @ @ @ @ @ @ @ consent today to override Trump ’ s veto of the NDAA , but independent Senator Bernie Sanders has said he ’ ll filibuster to delay the crucial vote unless the Senate also holds a vote on the $ 2,000 checks .
Sanders tweeted , quote , “ If McConnell doesn ’ t agree to an up or down vote to provide the working people of our country a $ 2,000 direct payment , Congress will not be going home for New Year ’ s Eve .
Let ’ s do our job , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in session would conflict with the campaigns of Republican Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler in the January 5th runoff races that will determine the control of the Senate , in Georgia .
Their opponents , Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock , are both campaigning in support of the $ 2,000 checks .
This all comes after President Trump ’ s delayed signing of the massive COVID-19 relief bill Sunday caused a lapse in unemployment benefits for millions , because that lapsed on Saturday night .
He was golfing through the weekend @ @ @ @ @ @ @ economic crisis both here in the United States and worldwide , we ’ re joined by the Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz , Columbia University professor and chief economist for the Roosevelt Institute .
He served as chair of the [ Council of ] Economic Advisers under President Bill Clinton and chief economist at the World Bank .
His latest book , People , Power and Profits : Progressive Capitalism for an Age of Discontent .
Professor Stiglitz , welcome back to Democracy Now !
JOSEPH STIGLITZ : Nice to be here .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ of these checks and what Bernie Sanders is doing today , saying he ’ s going to filibuster .
He will not let McConnell allow this vote not to take place in the Senate , up or down , on the $ 2,000 check .
JOSEPH STIGLITZ : Well , one of the things that he ’ s pointing out very forcefully is the long history of McConnell not allowing the Senate to take votes on issues , bill after bill , that the House has passed .
You know , we think @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this one person has blocked the ability of the Senate to go on record of saying whether they ’ re for or against a whole variety of measures that large numbers of Americans think are important .
And this one is very important .
This one is whether those at the bottom of our income distribution will have enough money to tide them over to meet their bills .
You know , millions and millions of Americans lost their jobs , haven ’ t been able to pay their rent .
There was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bills kept coming in .
And now they owe nine months of rent .
And without this kind of help , they won ’ t be able to pay what is due .
AMY GOODMAN : You know , we had Congressman Ro Khanna on yesterday , who was talking about why was it — you know , President Trump saying he wouldn ’ t sign the COVID relief package unless people got $ 2,000 instead of the $ 600 .
In the end , he gave all that up .
But , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tweeted : Why are we not demanding that people get $ 2,000 ?
So , talk about Trump and him using this , though in the end he didn ’ t insist on it .
And then go into that time period , President Trump signing after Saturday night , which meant this lapse in unemployment benefits that people may then get late , and when you ’ re on the edge , that could mean no food for your family for a period of time , or you get the money later @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and it was foolish .
While he was playing golf , as you said , about 12 million Americans were about to lose their unemployment insurance .
Because he couldn ’ t make a decision — you know , really amazing , president of the United States couldn ’ t make a decision — those 12 million people will go for a whole week without any source of income , without their unemployment check — and then , all for naught , because then he signed it .
You know , he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ earlier , and that would have avoided an enormous amount of suffering .
AMY GOODMAN : These bills are the largest in U.S. history , these budgets that have been passed , are being fought over .
Can you talk about what this will mean and how COVID — and we should step back .
It ’ s not just the virus , because the virus has affected the world .
But the U.S. has by far the hugest mortality and morbidity figures , almost 20 % of the deaths and the infections @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have less than 5 % of the world ’ s population — this on the shoulders of President Trump and how he ’ s allowed it to rip through this population like no other country .
Talk about what this means for what Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will inherit and what they need to do , Professor Stiglitz .
JOSEPH STIGLITZ : Well , you ’ re absolutely right that COVID-19 has affected America much worse — in some ways , not a surprise among the advanced countries , because we are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that doesn ’ t recognize access to healthcare as a basic human right , and the result of that is we have poorer health condition and more health disparities .
This is not an equal opportunity virus .
It goes after people with poor health conditions .
The president , though , mismanaged this , even given that , terribly .
And that ’ s the reason why we ’ ve been so badly affected .
It is the disease that has the enormous adverse effect on the economy .
People don ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t want to eat out in restaurants .
The remarkable thing is that the United States economically has done a little bit better than Europe , for instance .
And one of the reasons for that was precisely the massive assistance that we provided in the spring with the — it was called the CARES Act — almost $ 3 trillion .
And this had an enormously beneficial effect on the U.S. economy .
But it was predicated on the assumption that the economic downturn — the virus , the virus , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ longer that , and then we would bounce back .
Well , I always thought that was a fantasy .
Anybody that knew about epidemiology knew that that was not likely to happen .
But the various provisions ended mid , late June , and Congress , the Republicans , refused to do anything .
The House passed what was called the HEROES Act to try to keep money flowing into the economy , but the Senate — talking again about the power of Mitch McConnell — just wouldn ’ t bring it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ now six months later , the end of the year .
The disease didn ’ t just disappear , and looks like we ’ re going to face this for months to come , and it is very apparent that we need another large amount of money .
And that ’ s where the additional money , that $ 2,000 , would be of enormous benefit .
AMY GOODMAN : So , also included in the bill , these tax breaks to the wealthy , including increased military spending for about $ 5 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ out a report saying the collective wealth of billionaires in the U.S. has jumped by close to a trillion dollars , $ 931 billion , since mid-March .
The report found 22 million U.S. adults reported not having enough food to eat .
More than half of those adults had children in their households .
Nearly 62 million U.S. residents lost work between March and September .
And yet this massive windfall for the country ’ s wealthiest billionaires .
JOSEPH STIGLITZ : Well , that ’ s a reflection of what is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we kept interest rates so low , when those who have access to Zoom and technology can largely avoid the worst effects of the disease , you ’ re going to get that kind of K-shaped recovery .
The low interest rates benefit those who own shares , and those have done fantastically well .
And that ’ s why , in that context of this very unequal incidence of the disease and the incidence of the economic impact , that $ 2,000 , that goes to those at the bottom , is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ know , it doesn ’ t really remedy the K-shaped recovery , but it ameliorates some of the worst consequences .
AMY GOODMAN : Professor Stiglitz , you have urged rich countries to provide assistance to developing economies to deal with the aftermath of this pandemic , that has been especially devastating in parts of the Global South .
In a recent blog post for the International Monetary Fund headlined “ Conquering the Great Divide , ” you called specifically for the issuance of $ 500 billion in special drawing rights , writing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ SDRs would be of enormous assistance to developing economies and emerging markets — with no or little cost to the taxpayers of developed economies.
” Can you explain how this would work and what your concerns are about the impact of this crisis in poor countries ?
JOSEPH STIGLITZ : Well , it ’ s very simple .
You know , the Fed has the power to print money , to create money .
That has helped a lot of businesses in the United States .
The IMF is sort of like the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and it can create a kind of global money , which are called special drawing rights .
It was part of the idea that Keynes had when the IMF was created .
And we used it in the 2008-2009 crisis .
There was a big issuance of these SDRs .
The head of the IMF has called for a $ 500 billion issuance .
You know , the United States , we were talking about , a minute earlier , how we ’ ve had this massive assistance , over $ 3 trillion @ @ @ @ @ @ @ trillion ] to $ 3.5 trillion of monetary support .
Well , the poor countries just don ’ t have those kinds of resources .
The amount of money that they ’ ve been able to muster to fight the disease and to fight the economic aftermath has been minuscule .
And this $ 500 billion , given in proportion to what they call the quotas , would be an enormous help to these developing countries and emerging markets .
One person , one person alone , stands between the issuance of these @ @ @ @ @ @ @ treasury under President Trump , Mnuchin .
And he has not given any good reason for not doing it .
I hope it ’ s one of the first things that Biden ’ s secretary of treasury will do once they take office .
AMY GOODMAN : This pandemic will force many countries into a debt crisis .
What is being done to alleviate this ?
JOSEPH STIGLITZ : Almost nothing .
You know , I was worried before the pandemic that too many developing countries were getting overly indebted .
You know @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
They make a lot of money out of loans to developing countries and emerging markets .
Interest rates are higher .
So they push governments to borrow , and — you know , just like they push a lot of poor Americans to borrow too much .
So I was worried that there was actually too much debt on the part of too many countries .
Well , once the pandemic happened , their incomes plummeted .
And so , many countries are at the brink .
And there has to be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the G20 , which is a group of countries that represented the vast majority of GDP income in the world , got together and said , “ We will have a stay on payments , on debt payments , but only for the poorest countries , not the emerging markets , only for the official debt — that is , government-to-government debt — not for private debt , not for multilateral debt.
” And now that the disease has continued for 10 months and is likely to continue , especially in those countries @ @ @ @ @ @ @ because they can ’ t afford the vaccine , won ’ t get it — they ’ re at the back of the line — the problem is , what was a temporary problem of inability to pay now is a real problem .
There is a need for a debt restructuring .
And unfortunately , we don ’ t have a good framework for that debt restructuring .
AMY GOODMAN : Finally , if you can talk about the team that Biden is pulling together and those he hasn ’ t named @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who says he will filibuster today , Senator Sanders , has been pushing hard to be named labor secretary .
We don ’ t know if that will happen .
I ’ m wondering your thoughts on this .
Also , you know Janet Yellen , the new treasury secretary nominee , very well .
JOSEPH STIGLITZ : Yeah , she was my student the first year I taught at Yale back in 1967 .
She was a first-rate student .
I knew she was going to make a real contribution , both @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , to policy .
I actually think we need Bernie Sanders in the Senate .
He ’ s been — the role he ’ s playing right now in forcing , hopefully , the Senate to take up the issue of $ 2,000 help is an example — AMY GOODMAN : Would you endorse this filibuster today ?
JOSEPH STIGLITZ : Yes , I think I would .
You know , the point is that there will — eventually , the Senate will have to deal with it .
And I think the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ work — let people go on the record of what their view on this $ 2,000 — seems to me part of the democratic process .
There shouldn ’ t be that much power in the majority leader in the Senate .
AMY GOODMAN : Joe Stiglitz , I want to thank you so much for being with us , Nobel Prize-winning economist , Columbia University professor , chief economist for the Roosevelt Institute .
That does it for the show .
Democracy Now !
is produced by a remarkable group of people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Deena Guzder , Libby Rainey , Nermeen Shaikh , María Taracena , Carla Wills , Tami Woronoff , Charina Nadura , Sam Alcoff , Tey-Marie Astudillo , John Hamilton , Robby Karran , Hany Massoud , Adriano Contreras .
Special thanks to Julie Crosby .
Wear a mask .

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The Quarantine Report. I’m Amy Goodman.
The House of Representatives voted Monday to approve a measure that would increase stimulus checks from $600 to $2,000, sending the bill to the Senate, where it faces a standoff today. The House also voted to override Trump’s veto up the $740 billion National Defense Authorization Act.
In the Senate, Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is expected to ask for unanimous consent today to override Trump’s veto of the NDAA, but independent Senator Bernie Sanders has said he’ll filibuster to delay the crucial vote unless the Senate also holds a vote on the $2,000 checks. Sanders tweeted, quote, “If McConnell doesn’t agree to an up or down vote to provide the working people of our country a $2,000 direct payment, Congress will not be going home for New Year’s Eve. Let’s do our job,” Sanders said.
Keeping the Senate in session would conflict with the campaigns of Republican Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler in the January 5th runoff races that will determine the control of the Senate, in Georgia. Their opponents, Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, are both campaigning in support of the $2,000 checks.
This all comes after President Trump’s delayed signing of the massive COVID-19 relief bill Sunday caused a lapse in unemployment benefits for millions, because that lapsed on Saturday night. He was golfing through the weekend in Florida.
For more on the economic crisis both here in the United States and worldwide, we’re joined by the Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz, Columbia University professor and chief economist for the Roosevelt Institute. He served as chair of the [Council of] Economic Advisers under President Bill Clinton and chief economist at the World Bank. His latest book, People, Power and Profits: Progressive Capitalism for an Age of Discontent.
Professor Stiglitz, welcome back to Democracy Now!
JOSEPH STIGLITZ: Nice to be here.
AMY GOODMAN: Talk about the significance of these checks and what Bernie Sanders is doing today, saying he’s going to filibuster. He will not let McConnell allow this vote not to take place in the Senate, up or down, on the $2,000 check.
JOSEPH STIGLITZ: Well, one of the things that he’s pointing out very forcefully is the long history of McConnell not allowing the Senate to take votes on issues, bill after bill, that the House has passed. You know, we think of ourselves as a democracy, but this one person has blocked the ability of the Senate to go on record of saying whether they’re for or against a whole variety of measures that large numbers of Americans think are important.
And this one is very important. This one is whether those at the bottom of our income distribution will have enough money to tide them over to meet their bills. You know, millions and millions of Americans lost their jobs, haven’t been able to pay their rent. There was a stay on eviction, but those bills kept coming in. And now they owe nine months of rent. And without this kind of help, they won’t be able to pay what is due.
AMY GOODMAN: You know, we had Congressman Ro Khanna on yesterday, who was talking about why was it — you know, President Trump saying he wouldn’t sign the COVID relief package unless people got $2,000 instead of the $600. In the end, he gave all that up. But, in fact, Ro Khanna had long tweeted: Why are we not demanding that people get $2,000? So, talk about Trump and him using this, though in the end he didn’t insist on it. And then go into that time period, President Trump signing after Saturday night, which meant this lapse in unemployment benefits that people may then get late, and when you’re on the edge, that could mean no food for your family for a period of time, or you get the money later.
JOSEPH STIGLITZ: It was cruel, and it was foolish. While he was playing golf, as you said, about 12 million Americans were about to lose their unemployment insurance. Because he couldn’t make a decision — you know, really amazing, president of the United States couldn’t make a decision — those 12 million people will go for a whole week without any source of income, without their unemployment check — and then, all for naught, because then he signed it. You know, he could have made the decision a day earlier, and that would have avoided an enormous amount of suffering.
AMY GOODMAN: These bills are the largest in U.S. history, these budgets that have been passed, are being fought over. Can you talk about what this will mean and how COVID — and we should step back. It’s not just the virus, because the virus has affected the world. But the U.S. has by far the hugest mortality and morbidity figures, almost 20% of the deaths and the infections in the world, even though we have less than 5% of the world’s population — this on the shoulders of President Trump and how he’s allowed it to rip through this population like no other country. Talk about what this means for what Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will inherit and what they need to do, Professor Stiglitz.
JOSEPH STIGLITZ: Well, you’re absolutely right that COVID-19 has affected America much worse — in some ways, not a surprise among the advanced countries, because we are the only country among the advanced countries that doesn’t recognize access to healthcare as a basic human right, and the result of that is we have poorer health condition and more health disparities. This is not an equal opportunity virus. It goes after people with poor health conditions. The president, though, mismanaged this, even given that, terribly. And that’s the reason why we’ve been so badly affected.
It is the disease that has the enormous adverse effect on the economy. People don’t want to travel. They don’t want to eat out in restaurants. The remarkable thing is that the United States economically has done a little bit better than Europe, for instance. And one of the reasons for that was precisely the massive assistance that we provided in the spring with the — it was called the CARES Act — almost $3 trillion. And this had an enormously beneficial effect on the U.S. economy.
But it was predicated on the assumption that the economic downturn — the virus, the virus, would last for six weeks, maybe longer that, and then we would bounce back. Well, I always thought that was a fantasy. Anybody that knew about epidemiology knew that that was not likely to happen. But the various provisions ended mid, late June, and Congress, the Republicans, refused to do anything. The House passed what was called the HEROES Act to try to keep money flowing into the economy, but the Senate — talking again about the power of Mitch McConnell — just wouldn’t bring it up.
And so, we are now six months later, the end of the year. The disease didn’t just disappear, and looks like we’re going to face this for months to come, and it is very apparent that we need another large amount of money. And that’s where the additional money, that $2,000, would be of enormous benefit.
AMY GOODMAN: So, also included in the bill, these tax breaks to the wealthy, including increased military spending for about $5 billion. Americans for Tax Fairness put out a report saying the collective wealth of billionaires in the U.S. has jumped by close to a trillion dollars, $931 billion, since mid-March. The report found 22 million U.S. adults reported not having enough food to eat. More than half of those adults had children in their households. Nearly 62 million U.S. residents lost work between March and September. And yet this massive windfall for the country’s wealthiest billionaires.
JOSEPH STIGLITZ: Well, that’s a reflection of what is becoming called the K-shaped recovery. When we kept interest rates so low, when those who have access to Zoom and technology can largely avoid the worst effects of the disease, you’re going to get that kind of K-shaped recovery. The low interest rates benefit those who own shares, and those have done fantastically well. And that’s why, in that context of this very unequal incidence of the disease and the incidence of the economic impact, that $2,000, that goes to those at the bottom, is really important, because it — you know, it doesn’t really remedy the K-shaped recovery, but it ameliorates some of the worst consequences.
AMY GOODMAN: Professor Stiglitz, you have urged rich countries to provide assistance to developing economies to deal with the aftermath of this pandemic, that has been especially devastating in parts of the Global South. In a recent blog post for the International Monetary Fund headlined “Conquering the Great Divide,” you called specifically for the issuance of $500 billion in special drawing rights, writing, quote, “The provision of SDRs would be of enormous assistance to developing economies and emerging markets — with no or little cost to the taxpayers of developed economies.” Can you explain how this would work and what your concerns are about the impact of this crisis in poor countries?
JOSEPH STIGLITZ: Well, it’s very simple. You know, the Fed has the power to print money, to create money. That has helped a lot of businesses in the United States. The IMF is sort of like the central bank of the central banks, and it can create a kind of global money, which are called special drawing rights. It was part of the idea that Keynes had when the IMF was created. And we used it in the 2008-2009 crisis. There was a big issuance of these SDRs.
The head of the IMF has called for a $500 billion issuance. You know, the United States, we were talking about, a minute earlier, how we’ve had this massive assistance, over $3 trillion of fiscal and another $3 [trillion] to $3.5 trillion of monetary support. Well, the poor countries just don’t have those kinds of resources. The amount of money that they’ve been able to muster to fight the disease and to fight the economic aftermath has been minuscule. And this $500 billion, given in proportion to what they call the quotas, would be an enormous help to these developing countries and emerging markets.
One person, one person alone, stands between the issuance of these, and that is the secretary of treasury under President Trump, Mnuchin. And he has not given any good reason for not doing it. I hope it’s one of the first things that Biden’s secretary of treasury will do once they take office.
AMY GOODMAN: This pandemic will force many countries into a debt crisis. What is being done to alleviate this?
JOSEPH STIGLITZ: Almost nothing. You know, I was worried before the pandemic that too many developing countries were getting overly indebted. You know, Wall Street loves to make loans. They make a lot of money out of loans to developing countries and emerging markets. Interest rates are higher. So they push governments to borrow, and — you know, just like they push a lot of poor Americans to borrow too much. So I was worried that there was actually too much debt on the part of too many countries.
Well, once the pandemic happened, their incomes plummeted. And so, many countries are at the brink. And there has to be some response. Now, initially, the G20, which is a group of countries that represented the vast majority of GDP income in the world, got together and said, “We will have a stay on payments, on debt payments, but only for the poorest countries, not the emerging markets, only for the official debt — that is, government-to-government debt — not for private debt, not for multilateral debt.”
And now that the disease has continued for 10 months and is likely to continue, especially in those countries, for much, much more, because they can’t afford the vaccine, won’t get it — they’re at the back of the line — the problem is, what was a temporary problem of inability to pay now is a real problem. There is a need for a debt restructuring. And unfortunately, we don’t have a good framework for that debt restructuring.
AMY GOODMAN: Finally, if you can talk about the team that Biden is pulling together and those he hasn’t named yet? You know, the man who says he will filibuster today, Senator Sanders, has been pushing hard to be named labor secretary. We don’t know if that will happen. I’m wondering your thoughts on this. Also, you know Janet Yellen, the new treasury secretary nominee, very well.
JOSEPH STIGLITZ: Yeah, she was my student the first year I taught at Yale back in 1967. She was a first-rate student. I knew she was going to make a real contribution, both academically and then, as she has, to policy.
I actually think we need Bernie Sanders in the Senate. He’s been — the role he’s playing right now in forcing, hopefully, the Senate to take up the issue of $2,000 help is an example —
AMY GOODMAN: Would you endorse this filibuster today?
JOSEPH STIGLITZ: Yes, I think I would. You know, the point is that there will — eventually, the Senate will have to deal with it. And I think the refusal of McConnell to have democratic processes work — let people go on the record of what their view on this $2,000 — seems to me part of the democratic process. There shouldn’t be that much power in the majority leader in the Senate.
AMY GOODMAN: Joe Stiglitz, I want to thank you so much for being with us, Nobel Prize-winning economist, Columbia University professor, chief economist for the Roosevelt Institute.
That does it for the show. Democracy Now! is produced by a remarkable group of people: Renée Feltz, Mike Burke, Deena Guzder, Libby Rainey, Nermeen Shaikh, María Taracena, Carla Wills, Tami Woronoff, Charina Nadura, Sam Alcoff, Tey-Marie Astudillo, John Hamilton, Robby Karran, Hany Massoud, Adriano Contreras. Special thanks to Julie Crosby. Wear a mask.


democracynow--2020-12-29--Lawyer Paul Dickinson: The U.S. Promised Iraqis Justice. Trump's Blackwater Pardons Took It Away.

This is a rush transcript .
Copy may not be in its final form .
AMY GOODMAN : Last week , President Trump pardoned the four former Blackwater mercenaries involved in the 2007 Nisoor Square massacre , where 17 Iraqi civilians died .
The pardoned men include Nicholas Slatten , who had been sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of first-degree murder for his role in the massacre .
The other three Blackwater contractors were convicted of involuntary manslaughter and given sentences of 12 to 15 years .
The pardons have sparked outrage in Iraq and here in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 9-year-old victim Ali Kinani told the Middle East Eye , quote , “ No one is above the law is what we learn in America , but now there ’ s someone above the law .
I don ’ t know how this is allowed , ” he said .
Blackwater was founded by Erik Prince , a close ally of President Trump .
Prince ’ s sister , Betsy DeVos , serves as education secretary .
Supporters of the Blackwater guards refer to the men as “ the Biden Four.
” In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Justice Department would appeal the dismissal of a criminal case against the Blackwater mercenaries involved in the Nisoor Square massacre .
The men would later be tried and convicted .
For more , we ’ re joined by Paul Dickinson in Charlotte , North Carolina .
He served as the lawyer for the family of Ali Kinani and five other victims of the Blackwater contractors who were convicted of killing at least 14 innocent Iraqi citizens in the attack .
Dickinson ’ s recent piece for The Intercept is headlined “ I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Civilians .
Trump Just Pardoned Those Convicted Killers.
” Paul Dickinson , welcome to Democracy Now !
Can you respond to the pardon , and its significance ?
PAUL DICKINSON : Good morning , Amy .
Thank you for having me .
I will admit it ’ s been quite a while since I ’ ve listened to that gripping interview with Mohammed .
I was sitting in the room when he gave that story and explained what happened that day .
And sitting here listening to it again through my headset , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that he and others faced that day .
My response to the pardon is that these four men were tried and convicted by the U.S. legal system , that there were difficulties with prosecution — as you mentioned , the indictment was dismissed on New Year ’ s Eve 2009 .
Joe Biden gave a press conference and said that we were going to pursue — U.S. government was going to pursue the prosecution .
Each step of the way , Mohammed and others , including my other five clients , were promised @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were going to hold those men accountable .
And that ’ s what we did .
Nicholas Slatten was tried with the other three .
The court of appeals made a decision that he should have been tried separately .
He was tried separately .
The important thing to note from this is not that there was some extraordinary effort to try these men or to make an example of them , but , however , that they were given fair trials ; that the U.S. court system , the U.S. justice system @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their victims to ensure justice was given fairly , that they received fair trials ; and now , after the promises that we made to each one of these victims that we were going to hold people accountable for their criminal actions abroad , that that has been taken away from them .
And I can not imagine the feelings that Mohammed and the others have for feeling that justice has been taken from them by the U.S. government , after it had been promised to them .
We have gone back on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that is sad and unfortunate .
AMY GOODMAN : In fact , Slatten was convicted of first-degree murder , actually , not for the killing of Ali Kinani — is that right ?
— but the 19-year-old medical student who was driving his mom .
AMY GOODMAN : And so , what at this point happens next ?
They ’ re just freed from prison ?
PAUL DICKINSON : The president ’ s pardon power is absolute .
Yes , they are freed from prison .
As I recently tweeted about , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the contract that Blackwater had with the Department of State provided the contractors who were working in Iraq and elsewhere under the contract complete immunity from both criminal and civil liability in Iraq , and that the only place that these men could have been charged criminally or held civilly accountable , which is what my lawsuit was about , was in the United States .
But even those steps provided us very difficult legal hurdles to get over to get them in the United States , get jurisdiction over them .
We @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was removed to federal court , then sent back to state court .
It was on the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals for a period of time before the case eventually resolved .
The Justice Department faced similar difficulties in trying them in the United States .
However , the courts of appeals determined that those cases were correct , and the federal court in North Carolina thought that our claim was correct , and state court in North Carolina .
There is no other place to try these men .
There is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
We held them accountable for the civil claims , but the criminal claims are now gone .
There ’ s nothing that can be done .
It ’ s unfortunate .
As I said , we ’ ve gone back on our word against these people , and that word can not be changed now .
AMY GOODMAN : We want to thank you , Paul Dickinson , for being with us , the lawyer for the family of Ali Kinani and five other victims of the Blackwater mercenaries who were involved @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2007 in Nisoor Square , Baghdad .
We will link to your piece in The Intercept , headlined “ I Sued Blackwater for the Massacre of Iraqi Civilians .
Trump Just Pardoned Those Convicted Killers : Trump ’ s pardon of the Blackwater mercenaries who murdered 14 Iraqi civilians at Nisour Square shows the world what justice means in the United States.
” This is Democracy Now !
When we come back , we go to Nobel Prize-winning economist Joe Stiglitz .
The House just voted to increase stimulus checks from $ 600 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Senate today is key .
Stay with us .
AMY GOODMAN : “ Adoro ” by Mexican singer and songwriter Armando Manzanero .
He died of COVID Monday at the age of 86 .
Mexico has the fourth-highest reported COVID death toll in the world .

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: Last week, President Trump pardoned the four former Blackwater mercenaries involved in the 2007 Nisoor Square massacre, where 17 Iraqi civilians died. The pardoned men include Nicholas Slatten, who had been sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of first-degree murder for his role in the massacre. The other three Blackwater contractors were convicted of involuntary manslaughter and given sentences of 12 to 15 years.
The pardons have sparked outrage in Iraq and here in the United States. The father of 9-year-old victim Ali Kinani told the Middle East Eye, quote, “No one is above the law is what we learn in America, but now there’s someone above the law. I don’t know how this is allowed,” he said.
Blackwater was founded by Erik Prince, a close ally of President Trump. Prince’s sister, Betsy DeVos, serves as education secretary. Supporters of the Blackwater guards refer to the men as “the Biden Four.” In 2010, then-Vice President Joe Biden announced the Justice Department would appeal the dismissal of a criminal case against the Blackwater mercenaries involved in the Nisoor Square massacre. The men would later be tried and convicted.
For more, we’re joined by Paul Dickinson in Charlotte, North Carolina. He served as the lawyer for the family of Ali Kinani and five other victims of the Blackwater contractors who were convicted of killing at least 14 innocent Iraqi citizens in the attack. Dickinson’s recent piece for The Intercept is headlined “I Sued Blackwater for the Massacre of Iraqi Civilians. Trump Just Pardoned Those Convicted Killers.”
Paul Dickinson, welcome to Democracy Now! Can you respond to the pardon, and its significance?
PAUL DICKINSON: Good morning, Amy. Thank you for having me.
I will admit it’s been quite a while since I’ve listened to that gripping interview with Mohammed. I was sitting in the room when he gave that story and explained what happened that day. And sitting here listening to it again through my headset, I’m reminded of the horror that he and others faced that day.
My response to the pardon is that these four men were tried and convicted by the U.S. legal system, that there were difficulties with prosecution — as you mentioned, the indictment was dismissed on New Year’s Eve 2009. Joe Biden gave a press conference and said that we were going to pursue — U.S. government was going to pursue the prosecution. Each step of the way, Mohammed and others, including my other five clients, were promised by the U.S. Justice Department that we were going to hold those men accountable. And that’s what we did. Nicholas Slatten was tried with the other three. The court of appeals made a decision that he should have been tried separately. He was tried separately.
The important thing to note from this is not that there was some extraordinary effort to try these men or to make an example of them, but, however, that they were given fair trials; that the U.S. court system, the U.S. justice system, worked for these men and for their victims to ensure justice was given fairly, that they received fair trials; and now, after the promises that we made to each one of these victims that we were going to hold people accountable for their criminal actions abroad, that that has been taken away from them. And I cannot imagine the feelings that Mohammed and the others have for feeling that justice has been taken from them by the U.S. government, after it had been promised to them. We have gone back on our word to these victims, and that is sad and unfortunate.
AMY GOODMAN: In fact, Slatten was convicted of first-degree murder, actually, not for the killing of Ali Kinani — is that right? — but the 19-year-old medical student who was driving his mom.
PAUL DICKINSON: That’s my understanding, yes.
AMY GOODMAN: And so, what at this point happens next? They’re just freed from prison?
PAUL DICKINSON: The president’s pardon power is absolute. Yes, they are freed from prison. As I recently tweeted about, the four men are given pardons, and the contract that Blackwater had with the Department of State provided the contractors who were working in Iraq and elsewhere under the contract complete immunity from both criminal and civil liability in Iraq, and that the only place that these men could have been charged criminally or held civilly accountable, which is what my lawsuit was about, was in the United States.
But even those steps provided us very difficult legal hurdles to get over to get them in the United States, get jurisdiction over them. We sued them in North Carolina. Case was removed to federal court, then sent back to state court. It was on the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals for a period of time before the case eventually resolved. The Justice Department faced similar difficulties in trying them in the United States. However, the courts of appeals determined that those cases were correct, and the federal court in North Carolina thought that our claim was correct, and state court in North Carolina.
There is no other place to try these men. There is no other place to hold them accountable. We held them accountable for the civil claims, but the criminal claims are now gone. There’s nothing that can be done. It’s unfortunate. As I said, we’ve gone back on our word against these people, and that word cannot be changed now.
AMY GOODMAN: We want to thank you, Paul Dickinson, for being with us, the lawyer for the family of Ali Kinani and five other victims of the Blackwater mercenaries who were involved with the murders of Iraqi citizens in 2007 in Nisoor Square, Baghdad. We will link to your piece in The Intercept, headlined “I Sued Blackwater for the Massacre of Iraqi Civilians. Trump Just Pardoned Those Convicted Killers: Trump’s pardon of the Blackwater mercenaries who murdered 14 Iraqi civilians at Nisour Square shows the world what justice means in the United States.”
This is Democracy Now! When we come back, we go to Nobel Prize-winning economist Joe Stiglitz. The House just voted to increase stimulus checks from $600 to $2,000. What happens in the Senate today is key. Stay with us.
[break]
AMY GOODMAN: “Adoro” by Mexican singer and songwriter Armando Manzanero. He died of COVID Monday at the age of 86. Mexico has the fourth-highest reported COVID death toll in the world.


democracynow--2020-12-29--"Blackwater's Youngest Victim": 9-Year-Old Ali Kinani Was Among Victims of Trump's Pardoned Killers

This is a rush transcript .
Copy may not be in its final form .
AMY GOODMAN : This is Democracy Now !
, democracynow.org , The Quarantine Report .
I ’ m Amy Goodman .
President Trump ’ s pardon of four former Blackwater mercenaries convicted for their role in a massacre in Baghdad has sparked outrage in Iraq .
The Iraqi Foreign Ministry said the decision violates , quote , “ the values of justice , human rights and rule of law ” and , quote , “ ignores the dignity of the victims , ” unquote .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ who was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of first-degree murder for his role in the 2007 Nisoor Square massacre , when he and other Blackwater mercenaries opened fire with machine guns and grenades on a crowded public space in Baghdad , killing 17 unarmed civilians , including women and children , the youngest victim a 9-year-old boy named Ali Kinani .
Later in the program , we ’ ll be joined by a lawyer who sued Blackwater over the massacre , but first we turn to a short documentay by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ aired on Democracy Now !
in 2010 .
It features an interview with Ali Kinani ’ s father , Mohammed Kinani .
This is Blackwater ’ s Youngest Victim .
MOHAMMED KINANI : [ translated ] Everyone was trying to escape .
Whoever wasn ’ t shot dead in their car just wanted to escape somehow .
When one man tried to run , they shot him .
He dropped dead on the spot .
He was on the ground bleeding , and they were shooting nonstop .
They shot like they were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
He sank into his own blood .
And every minute , they would go back and shoot him again , and I could see his body shake with every bullet .
He was dead , but his body shook with the bullets .
He would shoot at someone else and then go back to shooting at this dead man .
AMY GOODMAN : That ’ s Blackwater ’ s Youngest Victim , a short documentary by Jeremy Scahill and Rick Rowley that first aired on Democracy Now !
in 2010 .

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The Quarantine Report. I’m Amy Goodman.
President Trump’s pardon of four former Blackwater mercenaries convicted for their role in a massacre in Baghdad has sparked outrage in Iraq. The Iraqi Foreign Ministry said the decision violates, quote, “the values of justice, human rights and rule of law” and, quote, “ignores the dignity of the victims,” unquote. The Blackwater guards included Nicholas Slatten, who was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of first-degree murder for his role in the 2007 Nisoor Square massacre, when he and other Blackwater mercenaries opened fire with machine guns and grenades on a crowded public space in Baghdad, killing 17 unarmed civilians, including women and children, the youngest victim a 9-year-old boy named Ali Kinani.
Later in the program, we’ll be joined by a lawyer who sued Blackwater over the massacre, but first we turn to a short documentay by Jeremy Scahill and Rick Rowley that first aired on Democracy Now! in 2010. It features an interview with Ali Kinani’s father, Mohammed Kinani. This is Blackwater’s Youngest Victim.
MOHAMMED KINANI: [translated] I’m not just remembering the scene. I’m reliving it as if it were happening now. I will never forget those few minutes. So whatever you ask me, I will answer with absolute clarity.
All I could hear from my car were gunshots and the sound of glass shattering and the sound of tires blown out with bullets. I started to scream, “They killed my son! They killed my son!” What can I tell you? It was like the end of days. With cold blood and stone hearts, they continued shooting.
JEREMY SCAHILL: Baghdad, September 16, 2007. Shortly before noon, a convoy of four armored vehicles departs the Green Zone, the heavily fortified U.S. base in Iraq. The men inside of the vehicles were elite private soldiers working for Blackwater. Their code name: Raven 23.
The men had defied orders from their superiors to remain in the Green Zone and proceeded on to the streets of Baghdad. As they departed, they were again told to return to base. They didn’t.
Within minutes, Blackwater Raven 23 would arrive at the congested Baghdad intersection known as Nisoor Square. Fifteen minutes later, at least 17 Iraqi civilians would be dead, more than 20 others wounded, in a shooting that would go down in infamy as Baghdad’s Bloody Sunday.
You probably have never heard his name, but you likely know something about how 9-year-old Ali Mohammed Hafedh Kinani died. He was the youngest person killed by Blackwater forces at Nisoor Square.
This is the story of the death of young Ali Kinani, and his father has provided us with the most detailed eyewitness account of the Nisoor Square massacre ever given to a U.S. media outlet.
Mohammed Hafedh Abdulrazzaq Kinani and his wife Fatimah lived with their three children in Baghdad. Mohammed ran his family’s auto parts business, and he adored his youngest son Ali, whom the family affectionately called by his kid nickname, Allawi.
MOHAMMED KINANI: [translated] He would sleep on my arm. He was nine-and-a-half years old, but still slept on my arm. He had his own room, but he never slept alone.
When he turned 9, I told him it was time to stop using my arm as his pillow. I said, “Son, you’re getting older. Go sleep with your brothers, on your bed in your room. Your name is Ali. We used to call you Allawi, but you’ll be a man soon.” So he said, “As you wish, father.” He always said that.
So I looked and saw his feet under the door. I called him in. He opened the door and said, “Dad, I’m Allawi, not Ali.” He was telling me that he was still a child. After that, he kept sleeping on my arm. It was the only pillow he ever had.
JEREMY SCAHILL: When U.S. forces rolled into Baghdad in April of 2003, Mohammed proudly took his son to greet the men he called their liberators, the U.S. military. Mohammed was that rare personification of the neoconservative narrative about the U.S. invasion.
MOHAMMED KINANI: [translated] The first day the American Army entered Baghdad, I handed out juice and candy in the street, to celebrate our liberation from Saddam.
JEREMY SCAHILL: Before September 16th, 2007, Mohammed had never heard of Blackwater. Now he thinks of them and that day every waking moment. He remembers that Ali was not supposed to be in his car that day. Mohammed had just pulled away from his family’s home on his way to pick up his sister Jenan and her children for a visit. Ali came running out of the house.
MOHAMMED KINANI: [translated] He was quiet the whole ride. But then we passed a newly built park, a garden. So he turned to me and asked, “Daddy, when are you going to bring us here?” I told him, “Next week, hopefully, if God wills it.”
JEREMY SCAHILL: Mohammed and Ali picked up Jenan and her three children and made their way back home. The return journey would bring them through Nisoor Square. When Mohammed found himself in a traffic jam at the square that day, he thought it was a U.S. military checkpoint. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary to him when he saw the armored vehicles block off traffic.
MOHAMMED KINANI: [translated] One of the guards gestured toward us with his hands. This gesture means “stop.” So we stopped. I and all the cars in front and behind me stopped. We followed their orders.
At that point, I didn’t even know they were Blackwater. I didn’t know it was a security company. I thought it was some sort of American Army unit, or maybe a military police unit. In any case, we followed their orders.
JEREMY SCAHILL: As Mohammed and his family waited in the SUV, the man in the car next to them was frantic. “I think someone was shot in the car in front of you,” he told Mohammed. It was then Mohammed watched in horror as Blackwater gunners, for no apparent reason, blew up a white Kia sedan in front of his eyes. Inside, Mohammed would later learn, were a young Iraqi medical student and his mother.
MOHAMMED KINANI: [translated] There was absolutely no shooting or any sign of danger for us or Blackwater. No one was in the slightest danger.
Suddenly, in the flash of a second, they started shooting in all directions. And it wasn’t warning shots. They were shooting as if they were fighting in the field.
By the time they stopped shooting, the car looked like a sieve. This is the only way to describe it, because it was truly riddled with bullets. They finished with the first car and turned their guns on us. It turned into the apocalypse.
JEREMY SCAHILL: As chaos and blood flooded the square, Mohammed remembers the fate of one man in particular who tried to flee the Blackwater gunmen.
MOHAMMED KINANI: [translated] Everyone was trying to escape. Whoever wasn’t shot dead in their car just wanted to escape somehow. When one man tried to run, they shot him. He dropped dead on the spot. He was on the ground bleeding, and they were shooting nonstop. They shot like they were trying to kill everyone they could see. He sank into his own blood. And every minute, they would go back and shoot him again, and I could see his body shake with every bullet. He was dead, but his body shook with the bullets. He would shoot at someone else and then go back to shooting at this dead man.
The man is dead in a pool of blood. Why would you keep shooting him?
JEREMY SCAHILL: As Mohammed sat in his SUV with his 9-year-old son Ali, his sister Jenan and her three children, he realized that, for them, attempting to escape was not an option. As the shooting intensified, Mohammed yelled for the kids to get down. He and Jenan did the same.
MOHAMMED KINANI: [translated] Bullets were coming from the right and the left. My younger sister was trying to cover me with her body. So I pulled out of her grip and covered her with my body to protect her. I have pictures that show the headrest of my sister’s seat is full of bullet holes. It was horrific, extremely terrifying. I still wake up from sleep, startled.
Why? I ask. Why would they do this? We were civilians sitting in our cars. Most of the cars had families in them. So why did this happen?
I kept hearing boom, boom, boom in my car. Bullets were flying everywhere. It was horrific, horrific. I don’t know. I don’t know how to describe it.
After they had killed everyone in sight, my sister and I kept still. I had her rest her head on my lap, and my body was on top of her. We would sneak to peek from under the dashboard. They continued shooting here and there, killing this and that one. Then it cleared. Nothing was moving on the street. Only the Blackwater men were moving. Then, they drove off.
JEREMY SCAHILL: It seemed to Mohammed like a miracle had blessed his car. “We’re alive,” he thought. As the Blackwater forces retreated, Mohammed told Jenan he was going to check on the man who had been repeatedly shot by Blackwater. It was then Mohammed’s world crumbled.
MOHAMMED KINANI: [translated] When I got out of the car, my nephew said, “Uncle, Allawi is dead.” My sister started screaming, and I turned to look at Ali.
I turned and saw that his window was broken. It was shot. I looked at him, and his head was resting at the side of the door. I opened the door to see if he was OK. I opened the door, and he started falling out. I stood there in shock, watching him as the door opened and his brain fell to the ground between my feet. I looked at his brain on the ground, and I pushed him back into the car. I told my sister that they had blown his brains out.
I started to scream, “They killed my son! They killed my son!” I was turning and screaming. People were standing on the roof of a nearby building, saying, “Get out! Get out!” But I was in another world. They killed my son, and I was looking at his brain.
I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know what to do. I reached through the window to check his heart, and it was beating. I told my sister, who said, “Let’s rush him to the hospital. Maybe he still can make it.” But I knew. His brain was on the ground. He’s gone.
I turned the car, which had no water, no tires, and I spun it around. I drove towards Yarmouk Hospital.
JEREMY SCAHILL: At the hospital, Mohammed was told that because of Ali’s severe head injuries, an ambulance would need to rush him across town to a neurological hospital.
MOHAMMED KINANI: [translated] Riding in the ambulance, I was completely destroyed. My son was dying in front of my eyes. He was suffering. His arms were shaking and almost pulled out the IVs. So I held his hands still.
He died. What can I say? My son. Up to the night before his death, my son never slept alone.
JEREMY SCAHILL: After Ali died, the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad contacted Mohammed, offering his family a $10,000 condolence payment, making clear it was not a remedy for what happened and not a substitute for any potential legal action against the shooters. Initially, Mohammed refused the money, but the embassy pursued his family, urging them to take it. They eventually did, but with one condition: that half the money be donated to the family of a U.S. soldier killed in Iraq. Mohammed’s wife Fatimah delivered the gift to the U.S. Embassy.
MOHAMMED KINANI: [translated] This is a gift from Ali’s family to whichever family you choose, the family of any soldier who lost his life for the sake of Iraq. I want you to give it as a gift. I know it is insignificant, but it is an emotional and moral gesture from us to them.
JEREMY SCAHILL: Mohammed carries around a letter sent his family by General Ray Odierno, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq. “Your substantial generosity on behalf of the families of fallen American soldiers,” Odierno wrote, “has touched me deeply.”
While Mohammed and his family mourned the death of Ali, half a world away in Washington, D.C., Blackwater’s owner, Erik Prince, was summoned before the U.S. Congress. Blackwater, Prince said, had been the victim of an armed ambush by Iraqi insurgents at Nisoor Square, and he defended the conduct of his men, saying they had, quote, “acted appropriately at all times.”
REP. DANNY DAVIS: You do admit that Blackwater personnel have shot and killed innocent civilians, don’t you?
ERIK PRINCE: No, sir. I disagree with that. I think there’s been times when guys are using defensive force to protect themselves, to protect the package. They’re trying to get away from danger. There could be ricochets. There are traffic accidents, yes. This is war. You know.
JEREMY SCAHILL: Mohammed watched those hearings live and was outraged.
MOHAMMED KINANI: [translated] I wish they would ask the head of Blackwater: Did he think that this child was a threat to his company? This giant company with all the biggest weapons, guns and planes — was this boy a threat to them?
JEREMY SCAHILL: At the hearing, a State Department document was produced revealing that before Nisoor Square, the department had coordinated with Blackwater to set a low payout for Iraqi shooting victims, because, in the words of a department security official, if it was too high, Iraqis may try “to get killed by our guys to financially guarantee their family’s future.”
Despite Prince’s brazen denials, the thought of suing Blackwater didn’t cross Mohammed’s mind. He didn’t want anyone’s money. He readily cooperated with the U.S. military and federal investigators, and he believed that justice would be done in America.
Then, he says, Blackwater stepped in.
In February of 2008, ABC News did a brief story about Mohammed. The day the story was posted online, Blackwater’s attorney threatened to take legal action against the network, accusing ABC of defamation.
What outraged Mohammed was that Blackwater denied its forces killed Ali, claiming instead that he was killed by a stray bullet, possibly fired by the U.S. military an hour after Blackwater personnel had departed the scene. Blackwater claimed Ali was hit by a warning shot that ricocheted and killed him. It was not even possible, the Blackwater lawyer claimed, that Blackwater was responsible.
Shortly after that, Mohammed said an Iraqi attorney approached him. But he wasn’t just any lawyer. Ja’afar al Moussawy was the chief prosecutor of the Supreme Iraqi Criminal Tribunal, which prosecuted Saddam Hussein. He was the Iraqi lawyer. Mohammed agreed to meet with Moussawy and Blackwater’s regional manager. He says they offered him $20,000.
MOHAMMED KINANI: [translated] I said, “I’m not taking a penny from you. I want nothing.” I asked them if they wanted to resolve the problem. They said, “Yes.” I said, “OK, get me a pen and paper.” I said, “Look, I have the paper, and I can sign and waive all my rights. All of them. I will sign now, but under one condition: I want the head of Blackwater to apologize publicly to me in America and say, 'We killed your son, and we're sorry.’ That’s all I want.” I told them, “I don’t want $50 or $20,000. I just want him to publicly apologize. That would be enough for me.”
Blackwater’s regional manager said, “We do not apologize.” I said, “You kill my son and go on TV and publicly accuse me and all Iraqis of being mercenaries who intentionally have you kill us for the compensation. And you were under oath in front of Congress, and you tell me you will not apologize. What did you want, then? Why did you bring me here?” He said, “No, we won’t apologize.”
JEREMY SCAHILL: Mohammed then confronted the Blackwater manager about the company’s claim that the U.S. military, not Blackwater, may have killed Ali.
MOHAMMED KINANI: [translated] I told the manager, “My son was killed in the car with me. How can you say it was the military? Do you want to stain the reputation the American Army? The American Army is innocent of this. Why would you blame this on them? Do you want us to hate them more? Aren’t you an American company, and this is your national military? Why would you do this to your own?” I told them, “We love the American Army more than you do.”
JEREMY SCAHILL: Mohammed threw the pen and paper at the Blackwater manager and left the meeting.
MOHAMMED KINANI: [translated] So I had no choice but to go the legal route and take things to court.
JEREMY SCAHILL: As we wrap up our time together, Mohammed Kinani shows us a cellphone video of young Ali hopping around a swimming pool with his cousins and siblings. With a smile ear to ear, Ali approaches Mohammed’s cellphone camera and says to his dad, “I am Allawi.”
ALI KINANI: [translated] I am Allawi. I am Allawi.
AMY GOODMAN: That’s Blackwater’s Youngest Victim, a short documentary by Jeremy Scahill and Rick Rowley that first aired on Democracy Now! in 2010.


democracynow--2020-12-29--Headlines for December 29, 2020

Headlines for December 29, 2020

The House of Representatives voted Monday to approve a measure that would increase stimulus checks from $ 600 to $ @ @ @ @ @ to the Senate where it faces a standoff today .
The House also voted to @ @ @ @ @ of the $ 740 billion National Defense Authorization Act , or NDAA .
In the @ @ @ @ @ Mitch McConnell is expected to ask for unanimous consent today to override Trump ’ s @ @ @ @ @ But independent Senator Bernie Sanders has said he will filibuster to delay the crucial vote @ @ @ @ @ a vote on the $ 2,000 checks .
Sanders tweeted , “ If McConnell doesn @ @ @ @ @ up or down vote to provide the working people of our country a $ 2,000 @ @ @ @ @ not be going home for New Year ’ s Eve .
Let ’ s do @ @ @ @ @ 12 Republicans would need to join with the Senate ’ s 48 Democrats to reach @ @ @ @ @ approve the $ 2,000 checks .

The House of Representatives voted Monday to approve a measure that would increase stimulus checks from $600 to $2,000, sending the bill to the Senate where it faces a standoff today. The House also voted to override Trump’s veto of the $740 billion National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA.
In the Senate, Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is expected to ask for unanimous consent today to override Trump’s veto of the NDAA. But independent Senator Bernie Sanders has said he will filibuster to delay the crucial vote unless the Senate also holds a vote on the $2,000 checks. Sanders tweeted, “If McConnell doesn’t agree to an up or down vote to provide the working people of our country a $2,000 direct payment, Congress will not be going home for New Year’s Eve. Let’s do our job.” At least 12 Republicans would need to join with the Senate’s 48 Democrats to reach the necessary 60 votes to approve the $2,000 checks.