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- [00:17]
Amy Goodman
From Sheffield Live in England. This is Democracy Now.
- [00:22]
Kaveh Madini
Water bankruptcy. Just like financial bankruptcy explains the situation where we are suffering from insolvency, meaning that the amount of water used is far more than the rate of renewal or the income that nature gives us.
- [00:40]
Amy Goodman
The environmental cost of artificial intelligence, carbon, water and land footprints. That's the title of a new UN Report. We'll speak with one of the scientists who wrote it, Kaveh Madini. We'll also talk to him about the US Bombing of Iran's reservoirs. Then to one of New York's most iconic universities, the News Square. Founded as a haven for anti Nazi, anti fascist intellectuals, the New School university
- [01:11]
Jeremy Varon
where I teach recently forced out or laid off dozens of full time faculty, including tenured professors, as part of a severe austerity program that threatens the historic legacy of the New School and should be a warning to professors everywhere.
- [01:26]
Amy Goodman
We'll be joined by tenured New School historian Jeremy Varon, who's been forced to take early retirement. And then Hell's Army, a new documentary on the Wagner group and the rise of mercenary armies.
- [01:44]
Jeremy Varon
So Wagner was there to defend the city?
- [01:51]
Central African businessman / local interviewee
Yes, Wagner was there. They had helicopters, tanks. They did a good job of massacring them. War is not good. War is not good, is it? But I tell you, Wagner, they are very strong.
- [02:08]
Amy Goodman
Speak to the film's director, Rick Rowley. It's premiering today at DC Docs in Washington, then headed here to the Sheffield Doc Fest. All that and more coming up. Welcome to Democracy now, democracynow.org, the War and Peace Report. I'm Amy Goodman. President Trump's claiming a deal has been reached to end the war with Iran, but Iranian officials say nothing has been finalized yet. Trump made the announcement on Thursday following two days of strikes and after threatening to take Kharg Island, a key Iranian oil hub. Trump spoke at the White House on Thursday.
- [02:53]
Mohsin Madawi
We just made a great settlement of the war with Iran and we're going to be subject to finalization of documents.
- [03:03]
Amy Goodman
We should get done over the next few days. Trump went on to say a signing ceremony could be held in Europe in the coming days. A spokesperson for Iran's Foreign Ministry said the text of a deal is mostly finalized, but also said the U.S. keeps, quote, changing their positions, unquote. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Israel was not party to any new US Iran agreement. On Thursday, forces struck another commercial tanker in the Gulf of Oman in the third US Attack on a boat in the region. This week. Oman's military led efforts to rescue the sailors. India's condemned the strikes which have all targeted ships with crews from India. Three Indian sailors died in one of the strikes. US Central Command claimed the three boats were targeted for violating the US Blockade of Iran and for failing to comply with US Orders in India. The father of one of the sailors killed called for his son's body to be returned home.
- [04:13]
Father of Indian sailor
I only have one demand, that the mortal remains of my son be brought back. I want to know about his last moments. Was he provided rescue help or not? What were the circumstances that led to the death of three crew members of our country? All others were rescued. Why not them?
- [04:31]
Amy Goodman
Elon Musk is poised to become the world's first trillionaire when his rocket company, Space X, makes its debut on Wall street today in the largest IPO in history. The company says it's selling over 555 million shares at a price of $135 a share. Musk claims this company is worth over $1.7 trillion. Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren's written to the securities and Exchange Commission asking for the age to investigate the SpaceX stock sale. She said, quote, this is shaping up to be the most rigged IPO in American history. Unquote. Meanwhile, environmental and conservation groups have filed a federal lawsuit seeking to block a land swap that would give SpaceX more than 700 acres of a national wildlife refuge in South Texas. This is Becca Hinojosa of the South Texas Environmental Justice Network. SpaceX getting more money means the rocket facility getting larger, creating more damages to poor people's homes, dumping more pollution into the environment, into onto our beach. The SpaceX IPO means a bigger environmental disaster for this South Texas community. President Trump said Thursday he's nominating Jay Clayton to be the next Director of National Intelligence to oversee the nation's 18 intelligence agencies. Agencies. Clayton's U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and former Chair of the securities and Exchange Commission. Trump had faced bipartisan criticism for his decision last week to name MAGA loyalist Bill Pulte as acting Director of National Intelligence after Tulsi Gabbard announced she was resigning to show opposition to Pulte. A bipartisan group of House lawmakers voted Thursday against a short term extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance act, known as FISA. The provision is set to expire today. Many express fear Pulte would use the provision to gather intelligence to target critics of Trump. Trump's new pick to be intelligence chief Jay Clayton has faced criticism as US Attorney over his handling of the unsealing of Grand Jury materials records related to Jeffrey Epstein. The family of the Palestinian Dr. Hussam Abu Safiyah say they fear he's being tortured in Israeli detention. After the doctor appeared by video link at an Israeli Supreme Court hearing in Jerusalem. One of the doctor's sons, Ilyas Abu Safiyah, told Al Jazeera, quote, we did not only see the face of a father we have missed for many long months, we saw the marks of torture, pain and exhaustion clearly etched on his face, unquote. Dr. Hussamafia has been detained without charge for over 500 days. Prior to his detention, Dr. Abu Safiyad served as a pediatrician and director of the Kamal Erdwan Hospital in Northern Gaza. His lawyer, Nasser Oda, spoke after Wednesday's hearing.
- [07:56]
Nasser Oda
The doctor explained to us and also to the court that he is still suffering from severe back pain and neck pain as a result of an assault he suffered during his transfer two months ago from Nafa prison to Negev prison. He has not received treatment yet and needs medical follow up due to chronic illnesses. He is experiencing vision problems due to the confiscation of his eyeglasses, which he has not yet received. Also, we continue to see signs of skin diseases that were on the doctor's hands and are widespread in the political prisoner sections within Israeli prisons. These diseases have spread significantly and as a result of medical negligence.
- [08:31]
Amy Goodman
The Trump administration has issued fresh sanctions on Cuba's oil and gas company as the island already faces a near total fuel and naval blockade and worsening humanitarian crisis. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio made the announcement Thursday, claiming without evidence that Cuban officials, quote, resell countless barrels of scarce energy on the secondary market, hoarding energy supplies for its military, unquote. In response, Cuba's Foreign Affairs Minister Bruno Rodriguez said on social Media, quote, the U.S. secretary of State, driven by vindictive sentiments of the elitist clique that propelled his political career, is now further tightening the blockade. To justify this, he doesn't resort to excuses prepared by his State Department, but rather to the usual vulgar lies he said. Here in Britain, Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing a growing political crisis. On Thursday, Britain's Defense Secretary John Healy and Armed Forces Minister Al Carnes resigned, accusing Starmer of failing to invest enough money in the military. This comes as Starmer faces pressure to shift government spending from welfare to warfare. Protests continue in Albania, with thousands of people taking to the streets of the capital Tirana, demanding the resignation of Prime Minister IDI Rahma over the development of a massive resort linked to Jared Kushner. President Trump's son in law. The multibillion dollar project would turn an abandoned Soviet weapons base known as Sazan into a luxury island resort. Protesters held signs that Red Albania is not for sale.
- [10:23]
Albanian protester
The government is corrupted, the opposition is corrupted. They're in this together. So we hope we can reach something. Is the first time that we protest. The protest is at this scale is the first time that no political parties included. So we are very happy to be here and we hope we can achieve something.
- [10:46]
Amy Goodman
Pope Leo has appealed to world leaders to treat migrants more humanely. During a trip to the Canary Islands, he threw a wreath of flowers into the waves to remember those he called our brothers and sisters who had died while trying to reach the shores of Europe.
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Pope Leo
We cannot grow accustomed to counting the dead. Human dignity has no passport and does not lose its value when crossing a border. May history not accuse us of turning the pain of those who suffer into a common sight along our shores today, here by the sea, every individual that arrives asks us what remains of our humanity. Sooner or later it will be known whether we protected life or whether we yielded to indifference.
- [11:28]
Amy Goodman
Many migrants who'd fled to Spain's Canary Islands praised Pope Leo's trip Sankoon Kamara as a migrant from Guinea.
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Kaveh Madini
It gives you hope.
- [11:40]
Amy Goodman
The pope came for the migrants. I'm one of them, so I'm happy
- [11:44]
Central African businessman / local interviewee
to see the pope.
- [11:45]
Kaveh Madini
Maybe he can solve the migrants problems.
- [11:47]
Amy Goodman
In New Jersey, immigrant rights advocates say dozens of women detained at the Newark ICE jail known as Delaney hall have joined an ongoing hunger and labor strike that's in its third week. Among their demands is for the jail to fire a female guard accused of sexually assaulting at least 10 immigrant women. The initial hunger and labor strike began May 22, led by an estimated 300 prisoners. In retaliation, activists say most of the hunger strikers have been transferred out of Delaney hall and sent to other jails in recent days. Delaney hall is run by the for profit company Geo Group. In related news, the Jersey City Council has unanimously approved a resolution to divest from Citizens bank as calls to boycott the bank row over its financing of Geo Group and CoreCivic, two of the nation's largest private operators of ICE jails. To see more on our coverage of Citizens bank, you can go to democracynow.org the state departments reportedly opened an investigation into the Iranian born political analyst Trita Parsi in a move that could result in him being deported. This according to the online media outlet the Free Press. Parsi, who holds a green card, has lived in the United States for 25 years he co founded the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft and that national Iranian American Council. In recent months, Parsi has been a leading critic of Trump's war in Iran and has appeared on numerous media outlets, including Democracy Now. To see our interviews with him, go to democracynow.org the FIFA World cup kicked off Thursday with the opening match play between Mexico and South Africa at the iconic Estadio Azteca, the Aztec Stadium in Mexico City. Protests have continued against FIFA over its complicity with Trump's policies and exorbitant ticket prices that have made matches inaccessible to most fans. FIFA has also faced backlash after Haiti's qualifying team was forced to change the design of its World cup jersey when it was deemed too political by FIFA. The front of the jersey originally included a depiction of Haiti's final revolutionary battle for independence in 1803. And in a victory for housing rights in New York City, a landlord that owns about 5,000 apartments has agreed to waive millions of dollars in back rent after Mayor Zoran Mandani took action on behalf of thousands of tenants. Summit Properties purchased 93 buildings from bankrupt owner Pinnacle Group in March. Many of the tenants said they had for years refused to pay rent to Pinnacle Group over unsafe living conditions in their buildings. Mayor Mangani said to Len responsible for, quote, more than 5,000 housing violations and 14,000 complaints, unquote. Affordable housing and tenants rights have been at the center of Mamdani's agenda. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now. Democracynow.org, the war and Peace Report. I'm Amy Goodman. We are broadcasting from Sheffield Live community television and radio in Sheffield, England, from the same building as the Sheffield Docks, Belfast, where Steal the story please. The documentary about Democracy now is premiering here. It moves on to docs. Ireland will be in Belfast next week. We begin today's show with how the AI race is impacting the environment as big tech companies like Amazon, Google, Meta and Microsoft, along with other AI players and governments are racing to build the massive data centers that power artificial intelligence. We hear a lot of about what AI technology might mean for society and much less about what this global infrastructure looks like as a material system with measurable environmental impacts. A new investigation by UN scientists aims to change that. The report warns AI's water use in 2030 will match the needs of 1.3 billion people, while its power use will be triple that of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nigeria combined countries with a combined population of 650 million. Already in 2025 global data centers consumed an estimated 448 terawatt hours of electricity. If treated as a nation, they would have been the world's 11th largest electricity consumer, behind France and ahead of Saudi Arabia. The report also frames this as an environmental justice issue. 90% of AI computing is concentrated in the US and China, while the rest of the world, as well as communities within those countries disproportionately bear the cost. Minerals extraction, e waste, water shortages and more. The investigation was conducted by the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health. It's titled environmental cost of AIs energy, carbon, water and Land Footprints. We're joined now by Kava Madini. He's the Director of the Institute and a co author on the report. He previously served as the deputy head of Iran's Department of Environment and earlier this year was awarded the Stockholm Water Prize, often referred to as the Nobel of water. Welcome back to Democracy Now, Kaveh Madini. If you can start off by summarizing what you have found.
- [17:51]
Kaveh Madini
Thanks for having me and thanks for your interest in this very important topic. So what we know is that we are facing the fourth industrial revolution that is changing our lifestyle, the way we work and we live. And when it comes to AI, most people understand AI as a digital technology, as a virtual thing, as something that is in the clouds and up somewhere out there. What we tried to do in this report was to remind people that there's some physics to all of this and there is a massive infrastructure and material supply chains that back this service or this innovation. And if we want to understand our impact, we have to think about that very long supply chain that starts with the extraction of critical minerals in the poor areas of the world, lead to the manufacturing of all the technologies and the hardware, then construction of of the data centers and other infrastructure, then operations of that infrastructure that requires massive amounts of energy and has major footprints. And then at the end of the life cycle we have to deal with the E waste. In this particular report we focus very much on the operations and the massive energy use of the operations. Meaning that our day to day interactions with AI tools result in a lot of energy use and producing. Energy as we know not only comes with carbon footprint but as we remind in this report, also with water and land footprint and other ecological impacts that often we don't pay attention to, especially when we keep talking only about the carbon element. We wanted to remind people about those local impacts, what is happening. And then when you look at the numbers you see massive of massive numbers, major numbers, enormous use of energy. And that means that we have to deal With a major challenge. If we continue using AI in the way we are, and it seems that that would be the case, then we would need to satisfy the power hunger of AI. A lot of investments are happening in renewables. But as we discuss here, if the increase in power consumption results in this stopping the retirement of fossil fuels, the decarbonization process would be halted and compromised. And that's not something good for the world. Yet we clarify in the report that AI is not bad. AI is a technology on its own. It's like a knife. You can save a patient's life in the operating room with it as a doctor, or you can kill people with it as a murder. The way we use AI would determine if this is going to be a good technology for humanity or not. And we say that we have to proactively manage things and think about those impacts if we want this revolution to be sustainable and fair.
- [21:20]
Amy Goodman
Here I wanted to read you a statement by your colleague, the lead author of the report, Dr. Miriam Axo, who said, quote, what surprised us most is how often the choices that look greenest from a carbon perspective end up worse for water or for land. If we keep judging AI sustainability by carbon alone, we might think that renewables make AI infrastructure clean. But that's solving one problem while creating other problems, often in places that didn't ask for it. Can you expand on this?
- [21:58]
Kaveh Madini
So, yes, the climate change discussions and discourse around the world is very much focused on carbon, and that's something very normal. But we have shown in our research in the past that some of the renewables, although they produce less carbon when it comes to their water impact and land impact, they have massive, they have big water footprint. For example, biofuels on average are 70 to 400 times bigger in terms have a water footprint that is 70 to 400 times bigger than some traditional fossil fuels. So if we go to a greener choice or a carbon less choice, it doesn't always mean that there are not other impacts. And we have to understand these trade offs when we deal with them. Hydropower is another one that we sometimes brand as a clean energy. But we know that building a hydropower dam results in a lot of ecological footprint. Reservoirs also have high evaporation rates and lose a lot of water. So that means that they have high water footprint. So what we try to remind here is that first of all, you have to choose the energy sources that are suitable for each community. Hydropower might work in Brazil or Canada or Norway, but it's not necessarily the best choice for California or Iran, where I come from. So that's something to keep in mind. But also we have to pay attention to the fact that now we are adding more energy demand. Post Paris, one of our challenges, Post Paris agreement, one of our challenges has been to decarbonize and reduce power consumption. So we keep adding renewables, but at the same time we are increasing consumption. That means that we are not making progress. Decarbonization would be only successful if, at the same time that we are increasing demand, we also retire the fossil fuels that we rely on. That means that we have to produce more and more renewables, invest more and more in renewables, but also not every type of renewable, the renewables that are cleaner. And then think about where we are placing those, where the energy comes from, which community is suffering from the consequences. If you're planning, if you're placing a power plant or a data center in a region suffering from water shortage or water scarcity, where communities are struggling, where farmers and rural communities are struggling, when indigenous peoples are struggling, then you're imposing additional cost to those people. Normally, they're not the main beneficiary of the data centers, they're not the service users, they're not the investors. And what we are seeing around the world is there is a lot of interest from the private sector in this market, a lot of push for further development and the placements that are not based on the comprehensive thinking about all these impacts and consequences and what happens in the long run. In April, we also published a report about the critical minerals and the extraction of critical minerals, showing what is happening in Africa, showing what is happening in South America, where communities are suffering from the pollution. And essentially we are seeing the reproduction of the oil extraction era. Critical minerals are the fuel of the 21st century. We are seeing a new form of, if you will, like an imperialism, where we keep extracting those resources. Those people don't have EVs, don't even have horses and donkeys, and we move their resources. So I can drive my EV in North America and claim that we are contributing to a cleaner future, but in a way, we are saving the future generations in the rich countries of the world at the expense of killing people in some poor communities of the world. This is very dark, but it's a reality. It doesn't mean that critical minerals are bad very quickly.
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Amy Goodman
What are you calling for, Kaveh Madini?
- [26:17]
Kaveh Madini
Further transparency, further thinking about these things, further, you know, taking responsibility along the supply chains. And we are saying there that it's not only the developers who have to make decisions. But governments also have responsibilities and US users also can make can be less consumptive. We now have an AI consumerism that we should be worried about. We can use AI less, less and more responsibly.
- [26:45]
Amy Goodman
And before we go, I wanted to switch gears to ask you a question about Iran. You are an Iranian born scientist. You were one of the heads of the Department of the Environment there. The threats to the water reservoirs. On Wednesday, Iranian media reported US US military strikes hit drinking water reservoirs in the south of Iran, damaging at least two concrete tanks, cutting off water for tens of thousands of people. Your response to the mounting concerns over the long term consequences of the war on human health, land and marine ecosystems and aquifers, as well as the war's impact on global warning?
- [27:34]
Kaveh Madini
I think what I'm worried about is mostly the normalization of targeting civil infrastructure as a part of a war. So you want to take out a government, your different strategies are insufficient and at some points you start attacking infrastructure and to paralyze your enemy who suffers from the consequences. Are this the poor community, the vulnerable communities. Now we are seeing another incident in this war. This is not the first time and we know this didn't only happen in Iran. The rest of the countries in the region also suffered from this. But in the case of Iran, this is another case where reservoirs or where the water infrastructure in a poor community, in a rural community gets targeted. Now 10 villages launch lost their water supply. Two reservoirs got impacted. One of those tanks, the bigger one had been recently actually developed and established. Who suffers from this? The civilians that you claim you want to rescue from that government. So they are the ones who have to bear the consequences. They are the ones who even in normal times are struggling with having access to clean, clean water. And as a result of war now they have to suffer further and further. This is just the short term impacts. If you think about what happens as a result of all the emissions associated with the war, we are also going to pay the cost of that. If you think about how the economies would suffer and when we know that the economies are in the resistance mode or in the inflation mode, they become more resources extractive, they become more polluting, then we know that the long term consequences would be even more dire. What I'm happy about at end the is that Iran this year has been very lucky and nature has been much more generous than the politicians to the Iranians. So Iran has got a lot of rain this year, the rest of the region as well. But that's a temporary relief. The long term consequences would be severe. And we have already seen that it's not only the infrastructure that is being targeted. Think about all the pollution, all these tankers that beyond targeted, the oil spills in the Persian Gulf, the petrochemical facilities, infrastructure, the refineries that are getting targeted in the coastline, all of those impacts would be there. Pollution would be there. People are going to fish, eat the pollution. Everything would be there for a long, long time. Even if President Donald Trump and Ayatollah Khamenei shake hands tomorrow, these consequences would be there for generations. They would not only, I think, impact the Iranians. These are transgenerational and transboundary.
- [30:27]
Amy Goodman
I want to thank you very much for being with us from Toronto. Kaveh Madini, the director of the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health, previously served as deputy head of Iran's Department of Environment. He recently won the 2026 Stockholm Water Prize, often referred to as the Nobel of water. Madini and his colleagues have just released a major United nations report which will link to called the Environmental Cost of Artificial Intelligence. Carbon, Water and Land footprints. Go to democracynow.org Coming up, the attack on higher education. We'll talk about the mass layoffs at the new school and efforts to deport outspoken Palestinian Columbia University graduate student Mohsin Nadawi. Stay with us.
- [31:31]
David Berkley
Is there a harbor? Harbor for these hard times? Been going over the paths in my mind when we were younger Ran through the flowering trees it's hard to remember sunlight and breeze oh, to find what we left behind.
- [32:15]
Amy Goodman
A harbor for hard times. By David Berkley. This is democracy now, democracynow.org, the war and Peace Report. I'm Amy Goodman broadcasting from Sheffield, live in England. From the Sheffield document, we turn now to the troubled state of higher education in the United States. The Trump administration is now attempting to impose its views on academic scholarship in universities by rewriting the federal rules that govern all of higher education. Last month, the Office of Management and Budget issued a new rule requiring all federal grants undergo a review to ensure they demonstrably advance the president policy priorities. The proposal could threaten scholarly research and teaching on race, immigration, gender studies and history, as well as research in the sciences and health. Another rule proposed by the Education Department would require colleges to have, quote, intellectual diversity in order to receive federal funding. The pressure from the federal government comes at a time of private nonprofit colleges turning to austerity measures to deal with their financial challenges and declining enrollments. Last week, one of New York's most iconic universities, the new school which was founded as a haven for anti fascist, anti Nazi intellectuals, laid off 19 full time faculty, 68 staff members as well. Along with coerced voluntary separations and early retirement since last year, December, these mass firings constitute a major gutting of the New School's full time faculty. For more we go to Jeremy Varron, professor of history at the New School where He's taught since 2008 and he's president of the New School chapter of the aaup. That's the American association of University Professors. He's been personally impacted by the recent firings. Took a two year early retirement package. He's the author of three books. Books including most recently Our Grief is Not a Cry for War. Professor Varen, thanks for joining us. Explain what's happened at the New School and then put it into a national context.
- [34:24]
Jeremy Varon
Okay, so with its severe and reckless austerity, the New School has struck a blow against its own faculty and students, its proud progressive traditions and professors everywhere. Facing budget deficits of disputed origin, it's trying to fire its way to a balanced budget, including by firing full time faculty and tenured professors. For those who are fired, it's devastating. Of course, most are in the social sciences and humanities where the New School earned its global reputation as a haven for dissident intellectuals and critical thought. It was a completely top down process. Nobody asked to be fired. And to the last part of your question, it's a chilling message to all of academia nationwide. The last two years have seen nearly 300 program closures and faculty and staff firings. And we fear that the number will grow as universities act more and more like corporations concerned above all with the bottom line. So we are a cautionary tale and also a very live struggle where we still have current demands.
- [35:29]
Amy Goodman
So talk about what's happened, your colleagues and you yourself.
- [35:34]
Jeremy Varon
Yeah, well, you know, we were told that we're not only dispensable, but a liability because. Because we simply cost too much. So for an entire year they were threatening to fire people. They wouldn't say who, they wouldn't say by what criteria. Very afraid of being fired. I took a two year phased retirement and I'll retire at age 61 and have to figure out how to pay the bills and afford healthcare without a salary or a profession. And then what they're trying to do is save money by letting go of the most experienced, most highly compensated faculty and then shifting teaching labor to part time, contingent, precarious and less well compensated faculty. So it's a cost saving move that irrevocably alters the meaning of a faculty and diminishes, I think, the strength and reputation of the New School. And again, this is a model that's being followed nationwide and will be more so in the future cities.
- [36:34]
Amy Goodman
How do universities fire tenured faculty?
- [36:37]
Jeremy Varon
Right. So tenure, you know, is typically awarded after a rigorous and lengthy process of evaluation. It's commonly seen as lifetime employment. It is a fundamental guarantee of academic freedom. You don't want trustees or administrators or state legislators firing people based on what they teach and what they write. And yet the New School has declared tenure essentially meaningless. They claim that you can declare an academic program deficient or simply restructured and fire people at will. And then our big concern is that presidents everywhere are watching and will lustily follow the New School model, which is an easy way to cut costs by attacking your own workforce.
- [37:22]
Amy Goodman
A recent article in hackinger report in NPR cites a report from the Huron Consulting Group projecting 442 private, nonprofit four year colleges are at risk of closing or merging in the next decade. This is a quote from Peter Stokes, managing director of Huron. Quote, we have too many seats, we have too many classrooms. So over the coming five to 10 years, this shakeout is going to take place. End quote. Jeremy Varon, what is the Huron Consulting Group and what is its history at the New School?
- [37:57]
Jeremy Varon
I mean, it's one of these management consulting groups that advises companies of many varieties in downsizing, austerity, internal reorganization. And the New School has had a sort of on again, off again relationship with Huron. They were one player in the recent austerity that the New School executed. And the statistics they cite are chilling. It points to a major, major decline of the place of higher education within the broader American cultural landscape.
- [38:28]
Amy Goodman
And can you talk as a historian about the history of the New School and back to its anti fascist, anti Nazi youths, German professors fleeing the Holocaust.
- [38:41]
Jeremy Varon
Right.
- [38:42]
Amy Goodman
I mean, so yeah, what these cuts mean for the humanities and social sciences. Right.
- [38:48]
Jeremy Varon
So the New School was founded in 1919 in defense of free speech rights around World War I. In the interwar year, it was a safe harbor for dissident intellectuals persecuted by European fascism. In the decades since, it has had scholars in exile and it's always tried to stand up for the underdog and the persecuted. And all over the world, Latin America, Europe, parts of Asia, it means something. And it signifies to the world freedom and resistance to authoritarian power. As you indicated, the recent cuts attack the humanities and social sciences. That's where a lot of the critical thinking occurs, not exclusively. And we're afraid that the historic mission and legacy of the New School will be severely diminished and we still attract free thinking students who want to participate in this glorious history and mythology. But the administration is making all these things about the New School less true. And then the great irony is that if this kind of austerity can happen at the New School, it can happen everywhere. So faculties all over the country need to be on guard. They need strong labor unions, AUP chapters, and strong coalitions of faculty, students, alumni and parents.
- [40:05]
Amy Goodman
Jeremy Varron, professor of history at the New School, where he's taught since 2008, present a new School chapter of the American association of University Professors, has really recently, as a result of the recent firings, took a two year early retirement package. Author of three books, including Our Grief is Not a Cry for War. This is Democracy now. Democracynow.org I'm Amy Goodman. In other higher education news, we turn now to the latest news on the case of the Palestinian Columbia University graduate student and activist Mohsa Madawi. New legal filings show a federal immigration judge has sided with the Trump administration, ordering his deportation. Mohsin Madawi has filed an appeal backed by the aclu. In February, another immigration judge dismissed his case, but it was reinstated after the Trump administration filed an appeal. In a statement, Madawi said, quote, the administration is abusing immigration law to silence me for speaking the truth about Palestinians suffering and genocide, unquote. Mohsin Adawi is a green card holder who grew up in a refugee camp in the occupied west bank, was arrested by ICE in Vermont in April of last year when he appeared for what he was told would be his U.S. citizenship interview. He spent more than two weeks in ICE custody before a judge demanded his release. He went then to New York and graduated from Columbia University and now is at Sipahe's, a graduate student there. For more, we're joined by Mohsen Madawi, who happens to be in Chicago at the moment. Mohsen, if you can talk about what your new strategy is for dealing with have you gotten a deportation order?
- [42:04]
Mohsin Madawi
First of all, thank you, Amy, for the interview and it's a pleasure to be with you and with your audience. I want to talk about this case and what this case is really about. This is not just my case, but it is driving to a deep question about the heart of this country that is related to the Constitution and the question that is at stake. Do we believe in the rule of law according to the Constitution, or do we believe in the rule of whoever is in Power. And what the Trump administration has done with me and with other students, the crackdown on universities and weaponizing immigration laws is unconstitutional. And my strategy now, after they have fired, after they fired the immigration judge who terminated my case and remanded the case, reactivated it, reinstated the deportation, and they deemed that I am deportable, and they gave it to another judge. I decided to not apply for a relief because I'm going to cut to the core of this issue, which is an issue that is related to the First Amendment. Do I have, as a green card holder, as a lawful permanent resident for 12 years, never committed a crime, Do I have the rights that actually, the citizenship questionnaire that I get tested on states that I do, which is, do I have the right to free speech, freedom of assembly and freedom of expression? And now the decision that I decided to do and to take, a difficult decision because I am going full scale technically, without a backup plan, going directly to the First Circuit, because I believe that what the Trump administration has done is unconstitutional.
- [44:04]
Amy Goodman
And so your next step. And again, have they given you a deportation order at this point?
- [44:14]
Mohsin Madawi
Yes, they have given. They have issued a deportation order to a country that is not my country, to Jordan. And it's not surprising, I'm not going to get in details about this because we will be litigating this as well. But it's not surprising that this government that is denying me here the rights in this country and denying my people in Palestine their freedom and their dignity is also denying my connection to the land itself. Now, this deportation order is on hold because again, we have appealed to the First Circuit, which is a federal court, and it will not bethere would not be action until there is a decision from the federal court on this issue on this matter.
- [45:01]
Amy Goodman
And Mohsen, finally, I want to ask you, I mean, I covered your graduation as an undergraduate from Columbia last year. I mean, when you came down the aisle after being released from an ICE jail, after a judge's demand and order, I mean, the place erupted. You got a standing ovation. You're now a Columbia graduate student. Is Colombia coming to your defense?
- [45:28]
Mohsin Madawi
Colombia has not issued any statements about this. They have not reached out to give any kind of support. I see the double standard in comparison to the student who was detained last by ICE and released within, you know, 24 hours. They have not stood up and they have not given or provided any support. But I have to say, Amy, this is. It's not only that Columbia students who gave up, you know, they have supported me and Columbia community and did a standing ovation. We're talking about the whole nation, the whole country that is now refusing to side with Israel and is objecting to giving military aid to Israel that has been conducting a genocide, ongoing genocide, against my people and America that has been providing the weapons for this genocide, providing the political coverage for it and sustaining it not only over the past three years, but this has been going on for more than 70 years. So the decision that, you know, the situation is, I'm going to fight for what I believe in when I applied to become a citizen in this country because I deeply believed in the promise of this Constitution, and I believe that taking it to the First Circuit will cut to the core of this matter. Immigration courts have been weaponized. Immigration judges can be fired by the executive branch. And we've seen that, that in federal courts, it's designed by the Constitution, according to Alexander Hamilton, Federalist Papers in 1878, and that's Article 78 as well. And it says that there has to be a separation between the executive and the judicial. Therefore, there was a design that federal judges cannot be fired and they have to abide by the Constitution. That's why I'm taking my case to the First Circuit. And I believe that we will prevail in this, not only on my behalf, but on behalf of millions of people here who deserve to have equal rights, because the fight in Palestine and the fight here in America is interconnected, and it's about the dignity of all people and their equal rights.
- [47:59]
Amy Goodman
Mohsa Madawi, want to thank you for being with us. Columbia University graduate student detained over his absence. Outspoken support for Palestinian rights. We thank you for being with us and we'll continue to follow your case. Up next, hell's Army, a new documentary about the Wagner Group. We'll speak with its director, Rick rowley. Back in 20 seconds.
- [48:23]
David Berkley
You don't know how fire works. It burns too slow, you'll lose it. You don't know how fire works. It dies until you feed it. Come some lonely evening when these embers go leaving me bitter and cold we watch our body corners.
- [48:57]
Amy Goodman
By Kasi Velaza. This is democracy now, democracynow.org, the war and Peace Report. I'm Amy Goodman. As we turn now to the global rise of mercenary armies, in particular, the Wagner Group, a Russian company founded by Yevgeny Prigozhin, which has employed as many as 50,000 fighters who have been active in Ukraine, Syria, increasingly across Africa. A new documentary by filmmaker Rick Rowley looks deeply at the Wagner Group and some of the journalists who exposed its activities. It's called Hell's Army. Let's start with a clip from the film in which a wealthy Central African businessman and politician discusses the Wagner group's role in supporting the regime when rebel forces attack the capital city of Bangi in the Central African Republic in 2021. The clip begins with the dissident Russian reporter Katya Hakim.
- [49:56]
Katya Hakim
Before leaving town, John is invited to meet a representative of the ruling regime, Fidel Guancica, in his half completed compound overlooking the capital.
- [50:12]
Central African businessman / local interviewee
Nine floors.
- [50:13]
Jeremy Varon
Nine floors.
- [50:15]
Central African businessman / local interviewee
It's a pyramid. No, I am a pharaoh of Bangui. It's the Guangzhika dynasty. There it is. I am the king of the world. Like Titanic?
- [50:32]
Amy Goodman
Yes, like Titanic.
- [50:34]
Katya Hakim
Guangzhika says that the regime here had been on the brink of collapse before Wagner forces arrived to save the capture from a rebel attack.
- [50:43]
Jeremy Varon
So Wagner was there to defend the city?
- [50:51]
Central African businessman / local interviewee
Yes, Wagner was there. They had helicopters, tanks. They did a good job of massacring them. War is not good. War is not good, is it? But I tell you, Wagner, they are very strong.
- [51:09]
Katya Hakim
The ruling regime had embraced Wagner and it had become something terrifying. Mercenary army that kept authoritarian regimes in power while it conquered oil fields and gold mines.
- [51:25]
Amy Goodman
That was a clip from the new film Hell's army, which is having its North American premiere this afternoon in Washington D.C. d.C. Rick Rowley will then hop on a plane and come here to Sheffield live to the Sheffield Doc fest where the film will premiere here. We're joined now by filmmaker Rick Rowley, Academy Award nominated, four time Emmy winning director, just won an Emmy for his film on HBO Max called Critical Incident, Death at the Border and congratulations for that, Rick. I know you're going to be here in Sheffield, but right now you're in dc. Talk about Hell's Army.
- [52:09]
Rick Rowley
Hell's Army. I mean, I've been making films about war for most of my life because war reveals us at its moral extremities. Our deepest sicknesses become visible not just as individuals, but as a culture. And so the return of mercenary armies to the battlefield after centuries of absence is more than just a change in military tactics. Democracies don't need mercenaries. They're what states turn to when war has become a tool of private greed. They debase soldiers and turn them into murderers. They debase the entire nation by the thugs and the gangsters who run it. And that's not only a problem in Russia. These processes, the rise of authoritarianism and oligarchy, we're seeing them right here in the United States and around the world. So this film is a warning sign of the horrors that lie ahead on this road. Authoritarianism and oligarchy are closing it all around us. But I still think that we can choose a kind of a different path
- [53:11]
Amy Goodman
and remind us what the Wagner group is, who Yevgeny Prigozhin was and his fiery demise in 2023.
- [53:23]
Rick Rowley
Yeah, well, so I've been tracking mercenaries since 2004, when I first crossed paths with them in Iraq. And, you know, Blackwater there, which was exposed by the brilliant reporting of Jeremy Scahill, was an inspiration to the Russian Ministry of Defense to develop its own mercenary capability. But when Wagner emerged from the shadows first in Syria, it was clear that they'd realized an ideal, a terrifying ideal that Blackwater and all of its descendants had failed to do. Wagner put 30,000 soldiers in the field at one time. They were larger than most of the armies in Europe. They're the first private company to conquer a European city in 500 years. And, you know, as you saw in that clip, in countries like the Central African Republic, they're propping up autocrats while they seize oil fields and gold mines. I mean, and when war is turned into a tool of private greed, I mean, it's a business that is always looking for areas to expand and, you know, it's a scourge that should have been banned from the battlefield centuries ago. So Prigozhin's story and Wagner's story is incredible. It's like a parallel to the Hollywood film Scarface. Prigozhin was in a Soviet penal colony and was released into the chaos of post Soviet St. Petersburg. He was a petty thug and a gangster who, you know, ranprobably ran money laundering outfits, you know, casinos and restaurants linked to other figures in the underworld in St. Petersburg who happened to cross paths with a rising star there, a former KGB agent named Vladimir Putin. And when Putin became president, Vladimir Prigozhin became a billionaire. He was made a mini oligarch in charge of catering contracts for the state. But he really found his owncame into his own when the first Russian operations in Ukraine happened back in 2014. Then Wagner emerged as a mercenary army that spread from there, first to Syria, then to several countries in Africa, and then came back to Ukraine during the full scale invasion. He wasyou know, Denise Korotkov, who's one of our main investigators and characters and who has unpresenthe was the first person to report of the existence of Wagner and has unprecedented access inside looks on Prigozhin as Sort of this pathetic figure. He's violent and, you know, vindictive, but he's also desperately eager to please Putin and his inner circle. But he was always just on the outside of it. Wagner was his chance to become a real player in the halls of power in the Kremlin, but he rose too high. And so other members of Putin's inner circle in the Ministry of Defense and the army saw a need to take over Wagner during the war in Ukraine. Ukraine, after their success in Bakhmut, they were going to turn Wagner into just another part of the Ministry of Defense apparatus. Prigozhin knew that that was the end of his career and potentially a death sentence. So he staged one of the most insane uprisings in Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union. A column of tanks headed to Moscow. They shot down helicopters and planes. He called that off and ended up dying in a plane crash or his body was discovered after a plane crash, a flight between Moscow and St. Petersburg. Very clearly, you know, if not ordered, at least authorized by Putin. But the important thing here is.
- [57:13]
Amy Goodman
We just have a minute, Rick. Very, very, very, very quickly. We just have a minute. You follow two reporters in where Wagner group operates now. How d it is even to cover them?
- [57:25]
Rick Rowley
Yeah, exactly. So Denise Korotkov, who's the first reporter to cover Wagner, he introduced us to Katya Hakim and to the whole team at the dossier center in the uk, an amazing group of investigators who allowedgave us, you know, access to both the front lines, to leaked documents from inside and to insiders. During the course of investigation investigating the Wagner group, three of their colleagues were murdered in the Central African Republic trying to expose Wagner's presence near a Russian gold mine or a Wagner gold mine. So the, you know, stakes are incredibly high for them. And you know, this film began as chasing the world's most feared mercenary army around the world. But in the end we realized that he could be killed, the leader of this army could be killed. But its model continues around the world. Oligarchs are turning to mercenary armies and, you know, it's a scourge that needs to be stopped.
- [58:27]
Amy Goodman
And we will continue to cover it. Rick Rowley, Academy Award nominated, four time Emmy winning director of the new film Hell's army having its North American premiere at DC Docs in Washington D.C. then coming here to Sheffield Live. Yes, we've been broadcasting from the studios of Sheffield Live and Sheffield Community Tail of Radio. Special thanks to Steve Buckley and Sangeeta Basudev and to Jeff Williams and Abigail Turner. I'm here at Sheffield Live for the release of DC Docs. For the release of Steal A Story, please. And on to Belfast. I'm Amy Goodman. Thanks for joining us.