Democracy Now! Audio - Democracy Now! 2025-12-30 Tuesday

Episode Date: December 30, 2025

Democracy Now! Tuesday, December 30, 2025

From New York, this is democracy now. We talked about Hamas and we talked about disarmament. And they're going to be given a very short period of time to disarm. And we'll see how that works out. But if they don't disarm, as they agreed to do, they agreed to it, then they'll be held to pay for them. And we don't want that. President Trump meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Mar-a-Lago,

warning Hamas to disarm even as Israel's repeatedly violated the so-called Gaza ceasefire with near-daily attacks. Trump also expressed support for Israel's threats to launch new, attacks on Iran. We'll speak with Palestinian-American journalist Ramehoudi and Israeli reporter Giedem Levy. Then, as millions struggle with rising food and living costs, the Trump administration's plans to resume garnishing the wages of student loan borrowers in default. Donald Trump ran promising to abolish the Department of Education. He's actually turning it into the Department of Debt Collection.

We'll speak with Julia Barnard, higher education team lead at the Debt Collective and the former student loan ombudsman at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Also starting January 1st, health care course expected to double or triple for millions across the United States. The elimination of the enhanced premium tax credits and the Affordable Care Act will cause millions and millions of people to lose coverage, probably 12 million. already, people in the United States owe about $200 billion in medical debt. We can only expect that debt to increase. We'll look at what's at stake with Elizabeth Benjamin, Community Service Society Vice President

and member of New York Mayor-elect Zoran Mamdani's transition team. All that and more coming up. Welcome to Democracy Now, Democracy Now, Democracy Now, dot org, the war and peace report. I'm Amy Goodman. The U.S. conducted another strike against a boat in the Pacific killing two people. The U.S. Southern Command announced the strike on social media and did not provide any evidence of alleged drug smuggling. Since September, the Pentagon's claimed 30 attacks on boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific killing at least 107 people. This comes as the Trump administration's built up military forces in the region as part of a

pressure campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Meanwhile, U.S. officials say the CIA carried out a drone strike on a port facility in Venezuela last week. It's the first report of a U.S. attack on a target inside Venezuela. CNN reports the strike targeted a remote dock on the Venezuelan coast that the U.S. government claims is being used for narco-trafficking. President Trump revealed the strike last week. and when questioned, repeated it Monday, without providing any evidence of drug smuggling. There was a major explosion in the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs. They load the boats up with drugs.

So we hit all the votes, and now we hit the area. It's the implementation area. That's where they implement, and that is no longer around. President Trump was speaking next to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump expressed support for Israel's threats to launch new attacks on Iran. Trump's remarks came as he hosted Netanyahu at Mar-a-Lago. It was the fifth visit by the Israeli leader to the U.S. since Trump retook the White House. Responding to Netanyahu's claims that Iran's rebuilding its nuclear industries following U.S. and Israeli attacks last summer,

Trump said, quote, we'll knock the hell out of them, unquote. Separately, Trump warned Hamas will, quote, have hell to pay if it refuses to disarm during the upcoming second stage of the U.S. brokered ceasefire agreement. Well, we talked about Hamas and we talked about disarmament, and they're going to be given a very short period of time to disarm. And we'll see how that works out. Steve Whitkoff and Jared Kushner will be in charge of that from our side. But if they don't disarm, as they agreed to do, they agreed to it, and then they'll be held to pay for them.

Trump made no reference to the hundreds of times Israel's violated the ceasefire since it took effect October 10th. Trump also claimed he'd recently spoken to the Israeli president, Isaac Herzog, about a pardon for Netanyahu, who faces charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust in three separate cases in Israel. President Trump said Herzog promised a pardon is, quote, on its way, though Herzog's office later denied the claim. Meanwhile, Netanyahu announced President Trump will become the first non-Israeli citizen to receive the Israel Prize, the nation's highest civilian award. The announcement came as President Trump was caught on a hot mic complaining to Netanyahu that he'd been denied. a Nobel Peace Prize. We'll have more in this story after headlines. Hamas has officially confirmed its longtime spokesman, Abu Obeda, and former leader in Gaza,

Mohamed Sinwar, were killed earlier this year, confirming Israel's announcement. Back in May, the Israeli military said it had killed Mohammed Sinwar, the younger brother of the former Hamas leader, Yahya Sinwar. Three months later, Israel said Abu Obeda had also been killed. In a video statement, a new Hamas spokesperson appeared on camera masked and announced the group remains committed to the October 10th ceasefire, but, quote, will not give up their weapons as long as the occupation remains, unquote. Since the U.S. brokered ceasefire took effect, Israel's killed at least 414 Palestinians wounding more than 1,100. Somalia has condemned Israel's recognition of the breakaway region of Somaliland, calling it a, quote, direct-in-graved

to International Peace and Security, unquote, in a letter to the United Nations Security Council. The letter also says, quote, we further note, with deep concern, reports that this recognition may serve as a pretext for the forced relocation of Palestinians to northwestern Somalia, unquote. Last week, Israel became the first country in the world

to recognize Somaliland as an independent state. Meanwhile, other countries refuse to recognize Somaliland. The Arab League's U.N. ambassador told the Security Council, it's rejecting, quote, any measures arising from this illegitimate recognition aimed at facilitating force displacement of the Palestinian people are exploiting northern Somali ports to establish military bases, unquote. In Somalia, demonstrations against Israel's recognition of Somaliland spread across the country as protesters wave flags and called for national unity. In Iran, protests erupted Monday over the country's falling currency in dire economic situation.

Merchants and shopkeepers near Tehran's Grand Bazaar closed their businesses and joined demonstrations. Footage posted on social media show demonstrators chanting Azavi, the Farsi word for freedom. Another video shows security forces in riot gear confronting the protesters and firing tear gas. Since Iran's 12-day war with Israel back in June, Iran's currency has lost 60 percent of its value. On Monday, the head of Iran's central bank resigned as protests spread throughout Iran. Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered his army to take full control of the Zaparita region of southern Ukraine after a Russian commander said his forces were less than 10 miles from its capital city. Putin's order came as the Kremlin accused Ukraine of launching a drone attack on one of Putin's presidential residences. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky rejected the claim, calling it, quote, a complete fabrication intended to justify additional attacks against Ukraine, unquote.

Meanwhile, many residents of Kiev remain deeply skeptical that President Trump's discussions with Putin, Zelensky, and European powers would bring Russia's war on Ukraine any closer to an end. him. Only real strength can stop him. Our soldiers now provide this strength, so it is unlikely that these talks will stop the war. China launched large-scale military drills around Taiwan for a second day Tuesday. Taiwan says it detected 130 Chinese aircraft and 22 vessels near the island. It's the highest number recorded on any day over the past year, according to an analysis by the South China Morning Post. Beijing called the deployment of forces a, quote, stern warning following the U.S. sending an $11 billion arms package to Taiwan. In Kosovo, the Albanian Nationalist Party of Albion Koti has won a landslide victory

and snap parliamentary elections held Sunday. Kirti is called for an expansion of social services and higher salaries for public workers as party's victory breaks a nine-month political deadlock that's been in place since inconclusive elections in February left Kosovo without a functioning government. Voters in the capital, Pristina, were hopeful Sunday's election marks a turning point. No one living in Kosovo, nor those from the diaspora, have been satisfied with the political blockade that existed. And perhaps eventually there will be positive results and the political parties will be forced to find a solution because this is holding the country back. In economic news, new data shows U.S. corporate bankruptcies surge this year to levels not seen since 2010.

At least 717 companies filed for bankruptcy through November, a 14 percent increase over last year. This comes as a new poll commissioned by The Guardian found nearly half of U.S. residents say their financial security is getting worse compared to just one in five who says, it's improving. Fifty-seven percent believe the U.S. economy is currently in a recession. Meanwhile, President Trump's continuing to blame Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for the state of the U.S. economy. On Monday, Trump called Powell a fool and said, I'd love to fire him. A federal judge in California is dismissed an indictment against a TikTok streamer from South Los Angeles who was shot by ICE agents who surrounded him. his car during an immigration enforcement operation in October.

Carlitas Ricardo Parias had faced charges of assault after agents accused him of using his car as a weapon to ram two of their vehicles. But newly released body cam footage from the ICE agent who fired his gun shows Parias did not move his car. Instead, the footage shows the agent smashing through a passenger window, pointing his gun at Parias and threatening to shoot him if he didn't get out. The agent then fires striking Padillas in the elbow. A deputy marshal was struck in the hand when the bullet ricocheted. On Saturday, U.S. District Judge Fernando Aguine ordered the case against Parlias dismissed, saying

he was deprived of his constitutional rights when the government moved him to an ice processing center 90 miles east of Los Angeles following his release. on bond. The Trump administration is set to use a public health regulation drafted during the early days of the COVID pandemic to deny immigrants access to asylum. The regulation taking effect Wednesday will allow the U.S. to deny asylum claims that U.S. ports of entry based on, quote, emergency public health concerns generated by a communicable disease, unquote.

This comes on top of a broad asylum ban. Trump imposed on his first day back in office despite U.S. obligations under international law to provide pathways for resettlement or asylum to those fleeing persecution. And Bangladesh has declared three days of state morning after the nation's first female Prime Minister, Khaledazia, died in the capital Dhaka. She was 80 years old, longtime leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and served three terms as Prime Minister. Bangladesh's interim leader, Muhammad Yunus, wrote on social media, quote, through her uncompromising leadership, the nation was repeatedly freed from undemocratic conditions

and inspired to regain liberty. The nation will remember her contributions to the country and its people with respect, he said. And those are some of the headlines. This is Democracy Now.com.org, the War and Peace Report. I'm Amy Goodman in New York. joined by Democracy Now is Juan Gonzalez in Chicago. Hi, Juan. Hi, Amy, and welcome to all of our listeners and viewers across the country and around the world. We begin today's show with President Trump's meeting at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Trump expressed support for Israel's threats to launch new attacks on Iran as Netanyahu claims Iran's rebuilding its nuclear industries following U.S. and Israel. Israeli attacks last summer. Now I hear that Iran is trying to build up again, and if they are, we're going to have to knock them down. We'll knock them down. We'll knock the hell out of them. But hopefully, that's not happening.

I heard Iran wants to make a deal. If they want to make a deal, that's much smarter. Separately, Trump warned Hamas to disarm during the upcoming second stage of the U.S. Brokered ceasefire agreement, even as Israel's repeatedly violated the truce with near daily attacks on Gaza. Well, we talked about Hamas. talked about disarmament. And they're going to be given a very short period of time to disarm. And we'll see how that works out. Steve Whitkoff and Jared Kushner will be in

charge of that from our side. But if they don't disarm, as they agreed to do, they agreed to it, then they'll be held to pay for them. President Trump also claimed he recently spoke to Israeli President Isaac Herzog about pardoning Netanyahu, who faces charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust in three separate cases in Israel. Trump said Herzog promised a pardon, quote, is on its way, though Herzog's office later denied the claim. Meanwhile, Netanyahu announced Trump would become the first non-Israeli to receive the Israel Prize, the nation's highest civilian award. The announcement came as Trump was caught on a hot mic, complaining to Netanyahu. he'd been denied a Nobel Peace Prize. For more, we're joined by two guests. In Tel Aviv,

Gidon Levy, is with us, an award-winning Israeli journalist, author, and columnist for the newspaper A Arets and a member of its editorial board. His latest book, The Killing of Gaza, reports on a catastrophe. And in Cambridge, Massachusetts, we're joined by Rami Hudi, Palestinian-American Journalist, Distinguished Public Policy Fellow at the American University of Beirut. He's also a non-resident senior fellow at the Arab Center, Washington, D.C. We welcome you both to Democracy Now. Rami Hordi. Let's begin with you.

Talk about the significance of this Mar-a-Lago meeting that dealt with everything from the U.S. saying they'd support again a strike on Iran to saying Hamas must disarm before the second stage of a truce. Well, the significance of the meeting is that it reconfirmed most of the war. the fears that most people around the world have about what the U.S. and Israel are actually doing or planning in Gaza, the rest of Palestine, and the wider Middle East. There were very, very few, if any, specifics at all of the plans ahead for so-called phase two of the Trump-Natniahu plan. Phase one has not been implemented fully. Almost every statement that Trump

and Natnia Humade was either inaccurate or a deliberate lie, or vague, or irrelevant, or warmongering, threats, sanctions, we're going to beat the hell out of them. It was quite an extraordinary performance of two men who are known for their love of warfare and bravado, tough guy, talking, and they performed almost like cartoon characters. We're going to beat the hell out of them if they don't do this, they go this and that. And with very, very few, if any, really no specifics whatsoever. And this is the concern that most people have, that what this tells us or suggests that this situation is a continuation of the American-Israeli drive that's been going on for some years now to reconfigure the Middle East, at least the Levant, West Asia part, into a new colonial arrangement. whereby the U.S. and Israel dominate what goes on in the region, they give orders to everybody,

and they set the rules, and they grab whatever territory they want, if they want to make a resort, if they want to make an Israeli Zionist colonial settlement, if they want to set up a military base that they can do anything they want. It was really quite depressing, but also a very, very accurate reflection of a culmination of a century of Zionist and Israeli linkages with Western colonial powers, the British and then the Americans, in dominating this region and playing with it, like they were like playing a game that was a combination of monopoly and risk that you move people around, you buy this, you set up a hotel, the beach resort here, an investment there. It was quite distressing, but an accurate reflection of where we are in the world.

During the press conference, Trump claimed that Israel was abiding by the ceasefire, despite the fact that over 400 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire was agreed to. Your response to this claim? Well, this is a reflection of what I said, that almost every statement that Trump or not Njahou made is either an outright lie or an exaggeration or a diversion. It's not accurate. It's not the truth. The truth is that maybe 10, 15% of what they agreed on in the phase one of the plan has been implemented. The Israelis are killing, bombing, attacking, starving. They now have a new weapon, which is to freeze babies to death. Palestinian babies are dying by freezing, one-year-old, one-week-old, two-week-old babies. And this follows the last two years where Israel has killed. Palestinian babies in Gaza with starvation, with bomb attacks, with fires, with lack of medicine, lack of water, lack of food. It's unbelievable what is happening, and it's continuing.

And this is part of the problem that the American president, at least for now, we don't know if his position is going to stick. He's very erratic. Mercurial. He could change. And maybe there's stuff going on behind the scenes that we don't know. But from what he says, he's fully supporting whatever Israel wants to do in continuing its genocide and possibly even following Israel into Syria, Lebanon, and Iran.

I also wanted to ask you, in flying to the United States, Netanyahu's aircraft, according to flight tracking data, crossed Greek, Italian, and French airspace. All three of those nations are signatories to the Rome Statue, which obliged them to arrest Netanyahu because of his outstanding arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court for war crimes. Your response to this failure of these European countries to act? Well, this raises another really important and distressing factor of issue that's going on now, has been for some years, which is the Israeli-driven American collusion in shredding not just Palestinian babies and tents and homes in Palestine, but shredding international law

and existing conventions on war crimes, human rights, sovereignty. So the Israelis basically say we don't, these rules of law, rules of war, the international criminal court, all these things, they don't apply to Israel. We're exempt from all this. And the Americans seem, the president at least, seems to go along with this. And this is troubling. But it's a sign that the Arab-Israeli or the Palestinian Zionist conflict is now expanding because Israel is pushing policies all around the world that protected and favor it and are now impinging on fundamental rights not only of states around the world but individual rights. For instance, in the U.S., it's very difficult to teach a course on Palestinian-Israeli history or Palestinian. resistance, as it used to be very routine, but now you can do it. So public libraries are being restricted in what they can do. Media is being restricted to a large extent, the mainstream

media. And this is one of, this is another factor that law doesn't matter anymore. We're into a lawless world, which is really taking us into the new phase of colonialism, as I described it. Let's bring get on Levy into this conversation, the award-winning Israeli journalist on the board, editorial board of the newspaper Ha'Arats. Can you talk about the significance of this meeting at Mar-a-Lago, Netanyahu's fifth, what it means with the threat to Hamas, and then also this whole issue of Trump saying he spoke to the Israeli president, he's going to be giving Netanyahu a pardon, and then the president's office in Israel saying that wasn't true?

It's very hard, Amy, to speak about the significance of a meeting in which what you got was only warm air, all kinds of cliches, all kinds of threats, things which are, as Rami rightly said, things which are totally disconnected with reality, and you don't know, you don't know to find yourself there. I would say I agree almost to everything that Trump is said, except of one thing. It was not a two-man show. In this case, it was a one-man show because Netanyahu was absent yesterday. It was all about Donald Trump. And Donald Trump presents himself as someone who promises the sky, who has no demands from Israel whatsoever. This was really outrageous.

They should do this and they should do this and they should do this. And the country that slaughtered 20, 30,000 children in Gaza has no accountability for anything in his accident. They are not, at least at the press conference, there are not special requirements from this country. It's all requirements from all the other hectares. And this by itself is outrageous. And then comes another point, obviously, that by the end of the day, they are coming from two different schools.

Because for Trump now, the most important thing is to get a deal, no matter how, no matter what he wants to see deals. For Netanyahu, the main strategic goal is to continue in all four fronts to continue to fight, not to put an end to any of the disputes there, neither in Lebanon, no, Israel, no in Iran, and obviously not in Gaza. Trump doesn't speak about a redeployment and taking out the Israeli troops from Gaza. I mean, that's a core issue.

What about it? It's even not mentioned. Who cares if the Israeli army will stay there or not? this is something marginal. And then came obviously this unbelievable intervention in a sovereign other country, in the legal system of a sovereign other country, a journalist, not really a journalist,

but a small person for Netanyahu raised the question about the pardon, by chance, obviously, and here he is back, Donald Trump, calling to pardon Netanyahu intervention, the legal system in the middle of a legal procedure in another country, spreading also, I don't want to say lies, but President Herzog denied that he spoke with Donald Trump after he got his letter. So in any case, it was embarrassing. I think the most accurate way to describe yesterday's conference, press conference, was embarrassment. I also wanted to ask you, Gidon, about Israel becoming the first country in the world to recognize Somaliland, the breakaway region of Somalia, as an independent state.

Coming as other countries refused to recognize it, and today, large protests took place across Somalia. This is Somalia's UN ambassador Abu Bakr Dahar Aasman, addressing the UN Security Council Monday during a special meeting on the issue. A3 plus unequivocally reject any steps aimed at advancing this objective, including any attempt by Israel to relocate the Palestinian population from Gaza to northwestern region of Somalia. This action is not only unlawful, but it's morally reprehensible. So, Gidon Levy of Haarets, can you talk about the significance of Israel becoming the sole nation to recognize Somaliland and this reference to using it for Palestinians to be sent there? It's funny and ironic that the only country in the world, except of the United States, which opposes any kind of recognition in a Palestinian state in the United States, in the country. the rights of the Palestinian people and so forth and so forth is now the only country which recognize some other entity which nobody knows exactly to describe and nobody knows

exactly what is the nature of this country and where are they aiming. Israel as a pariah state is functioning in recent years with total ignoring of the international community, no matter what the international community says, no matter what are the resolutions, Israel is playing as if it is the only international actor. And therefore, we, sure, show, go ahead. No, it's back on the West Bank. Gidun, I wanted to just break in to ask you about the death of Muhammad Bakri. You wrote a piece for Aretz. Israel crushed Muhammad Bakri for daring to express Palestinian pain as it is.

I wanted to ask you about the acclaimed actor and filmmaker who died at 72 in northern Israel on Christmas Eve. He appeared in more than 40 films, directed documentaries, highlighting the experience of Palestinians under occupation, best known for his 2002 documentary Janine Janine, featuring the voices of Palestinians in the Janine refugee camp following the devastating Israeli military attack that killed 52 Palestinians. In 2007, Mohamed Vakri spoke to Democracy Now about interviewing survivors of the Janine massacre. They wanted to tell their stories because they were still in shock. when I came in Janine, I was shot with what I saw. I couldn't think.

I couldn't feel. I was really just humiliated as a human being, not as a Palestinian, not as a director, not as an actor, just as a human. How come people can do such things like that in the camp? Gidon Levy, if you can talk about the significance of Muhammad Bakri, you wrote about him. you were there for the ceremony with his sons, who are also actors like him. Describe what it was like. First of all, on a personal level, I really, I can't tell you how much I loved him. We spent so much time together, including, by the way, in your New York,

because he used to come almost every year to the Israeli film festival in the JCC in Manhattan, And we used to meet them from time to time, and in any place he went, and whatever he did, he was, on one hand, a cultural icon, a brave Palestinian patriot. On the other hand, another typical victim of the Zionist or Jewish or Israeli machinery, which totally crashed his life and his career. His film, Janine, which was a heartbreaking film about a heartbreaking reality in this refugee camp of Janine, maybe the most courageous refugee camp in the West Bank and the most devoted one, his film was an authentic expression of the pain of those people. I used to be there so many times in this. Refugee, I can tell you that what he showed

was the real pain of those people. But Israel is not ready to listen to any other pain except of the Israeli pain, obviously. And we are talking about 20 years ago, which means it's not yet Netanyahu, it's not the yet this fascist government. It's the legal system of Israel, There's a lot of reputation, the Supreme Court, which is supposed to be a lighthouse of liberalism, and they crashed him until they brought a situation in which his film was forbidden to be screened in Israel.

Can you believe, Amy, a film about the Safar of a refugee camp based on facts was censored in Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East. And this crashed him because he never recovered of it. He lost almost any chances to work in Israel as an artist, as a director. He kept on working until his last years, the last months. His last film I saw was a five-minute film excellent and touching. But Israel crashed in because there is no room for Palestinian patriots in Israel. and there's no room for people in his size in Israel if they are Palestinians or Israeli Arabs, as we like to call them. I just wanted to ask you also, all the attention is on Gaza and the ceasefire, but meanwhile, very little attention on the West Bank.

The Israeli cabinet approved the establishment of 19 settler outposts, additional settler outposts on December 11th, and this has been condemned by most European countries, including Canada and Japan, but these settlements and the additional violence and attacks on Palestinians and the West Bank continue. Your response? So if there was a moment of light in yesterday's press conference with the president and the prime minister,

it was when the president was asked about the West Bank, and I felt, maybe I'm wrong, but I felt a little different tone when it came to it. It seemed that here at least, the United States has not see eye to eye with the darling of Donald Trump, namely Netanyahu. The West Bank, where I travel at least once a week for almost 40 years now,

the West Bank is unrecognizable. Whoever, and I guess both of you have been to the West Bank, Bank in the past. Until two years ago, the war in Gaza, it was one West Bank, and in the last two years with this government, it's another West Bank. The settlers see the war in Gaza as a huge historical opportunity as a chance really to implement all the crazy messaic dreams and fantasies, and they are doing it on the daily basis. The army is collaborating with them on a daily basis. The problem is not the recognition of another 19th settlement. The problem is the violence of the settlers, their behavior, and the cooperation with the army. The soldiers are behaving like in Gaza, at least part of them.

It is impossible to live in the West Bank after they made Gaza an unlivable place. They are really on the way to turn. the West Bank into an unlivable place, 900 checkpoints. Can you live in a piece of land with 900 checkpoints that you never know, which one will be open or which one will be closed? Can you have any normality in this reality? And then when one day it will explode, Israel will be so surprised and so offended, How can it be that the Palestinians are raising their violence again?

But what else is left for them? Gidon Levy, we want to thank you for being with us, award-winning Israeli journalist, author, calmness for the newspaper, Arad's member of the editorial board, his latest book, The Killing of Gaza, reports on a catastrophe. And thank you to Rami Khori, Palestinian-American journalist and distinguished public policy fellow at American University of Beirut,

non-resident senior fellow at the Arab Center, Washington, D.C. We just have 30 seconds, Rami. But I also wanted to get your comment on the passing of Muhammad Bakrhi. You know, Muhammad Bekary represents Palestinian culture, creativity, life, and persistence. The Israelis and the Zionist movement before them worked overtime and continued to work overtime to crush any activism that is not only political activism, but literature, poetry, cinema, art, cooking, any creative work that Palestinians do that reflects their humanity and their attachment to their ancient land. The Israelis and the Zionist movement want to crush this.

The Americans and the British and a few others seem to go along with this by banning activism for Palestine. in many Western lands. And this is an old, old tradition. You know, the Israelis killed Ghassan Kenafani many years ago and a whole bunch of other prominent Palestinian creative artists. And they'll continue to do this. And you get the American system, not the government, but the commercial system,

refusing to distribute, say, really good Palestinian films that show the reality in Palestine and Israel. So there's many ways in which his death is a, continuation of a longer tradition of Western colonial attempts to essentially erase Palestine, like the British gave Palestine to the Zionist movement in 1917, the Trump today is essentially giving Palestine, Gaza and the West Bank and other places, and South Lebanon and parts of Syria, is giving them to the Israelis. And this is a continuation of a colonial tradition, which is troubling, but it's going on

and we have to deal with it. We want to thank you for being with us. And on Monday, we're going to speak with the Palestinian director, Shereen Dhabi, about her new film, All That's Left of You, a powerful, multi-generational Palestinian epic. Muhammad Bakari stars in it as well as his son, Salah, and Adam. That's Monday on Democracy Now. Next up, starting in January, Trump plans to resume garnishing

the wages of student loan borrowers in default. Stay with us. Well, I'm the first to say, we're all going to be all right. I've been feeling let away. We're all going to be all right. It's always been this way. all right. There ain't no golden days. We've always have been all right. And Kulushita Man. By Singh Kaine, performing in our Democracy Now studio.

This is Democracy Now, Democracy Now.org. I'm Amy Goodman with Juan Gonzalez. As millions across the United States struggle are with rising food and living costs, we look now at how the Trump administration's plans to resume garnishing the wages of student loan borrowers who haven't been able to make their payments for at least nine months. An estimated 5 million people are currently in default on their student loans. The billionaire education department secretary, Linda McMahon, has confirmed the agency will notify about 1,000 student loan borrowers of plans to withhold a portion of their

paycheck starting the week of January 7th. The number of notices will then increase every month for the rest of next year. The Trump administration already began withholding tax refunds and social security benefits from some student loan borrowers in default, as it also slashed affordable repayment options for millions of people. We are joined right now by Julia Barnard, the Higher Education Team lead at the Debt Collective, former student loan ombudsman at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, joining us from Raleigh, North Carolina. Thank you so much for being with us, Julia. Can you just start off by explaining what's going to happen for student loan borrowers in default? How many are there? Their wages are going to be garnished?

Yes, thank you for having me. Like you said, we've got around 5 million borrowers currently with federal student loans in default. That number is expected to increase to 10, potentially even as high as 15 million borrowers with loans in that status. Borrowers then become subject to a range of negative consequences, including forced collections like wage garnishment, tax refund offsets, like you mentioned, including seizure of anti-poverty benefits, like the earned income tax credit, the child tax credit, and other refunds, and also negative credit score impacts. So yes, it's an extremely negative negative experience for borrowers who have loans and default.

And Julia, in terms of the growth of student debt, it's more than tripled between 2007 and 24, now to about $1.7 trillion, how did the amount continue to escalate even during the period of this five-year reprieve that existed? Yeah, yeah. It's a complicated question. Student loans have increased 44 million Americans now owe student debt to the federal government. That doesn't even include students who put tuition on debt products like credit cards or tuition payment plans or other types of debts. Tuition prices, the cost of college has continued to rise, as we all know, and as you've mentioned in the program, costs for medical care, health care premiums, housing, child care, going up.

So increasingly, individuals are debt financing education, whereas in the past, that used to be a good provided by the government with the recognition that an educated population makes our nation more competitive and bolsters our democracy. And what's the latest on the Trump administration's plans to privatize some of this nearly $2 trillion in federal student loan debt? Yeah, I've read those news reports as well. As far as I can tell, that is not going very far from what I understand. There's not a lot public about the process. From what I understand and from what I know in my experience, the student loan portfolio is not a very profitable asset. The government is protected from certain consequences,

certain legal consequences that private creditors are not protected from. So I think it would be a very risky asset for any private, entity looking to buy the entire portfolio or a portion of the portfolio. As I understand it, the only profitable parts of the portfolio are kind of parent plus loans. There are certain tranches of the portfolio that could make sense. But the debt collective, for example, has said publicly that we'd like to put in a bid on the non-performing parts of the portfolio, for example, like the parts of the portfolio that are in default status. Julia, two quick questions. What's the role of the billionaire

education secretary, Linda McMahon. One of your colleagues, Esther Taylor at Debt Collective, has called the Education Department simply a debt collection agency now. And what options do people have? Yeah, thank you for the question. There's a certain amount of discretion involved. It's a choice to turn on the debt collection program. It's a choice to contact employers and have them garnish wages and send them to the Department of Education. We know from our experience trying to turn off the wage garnishment system during the pandemic, that two-thirds of people who were experiencing wage garnishment in 2020 had illegal collections after Congress had voted to stop collections on wages. So it's a very difficult system to turn on and off.

And I think it's cruel and hostile to working people to turn the system on before we're sure that we can run it in a compliant manner. Yeah, so I think it's really important for borrowers to know that they're not a loan. Like we've talked about, there are millions and millions of borrowers who have loans in default status. We know from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, from state attorneys general, from borrowers themselves, that there's widespread, there are widespread errors that can cause people's loans to go into default that have nothing to do with their willingness to repay.

a lot of borrowers who go into default kind of intuitively simply do not have the money to pay their student loans. And so the government kind of trying to extract water from a stone I think is unnecessary. It's likely to, it's unlikely to result in benefits to the government, to the taxpayer, and certainly to the borrower themselves. And finally, go ahead. Oh, I wanted to talk about borrowers' options, if that's all right. Yes. So I think it's really important to say that when a loan goes into default, the servicing arrangement is transferred, and the loan goes into the hands of a debt collector who may not feel the same responsibility for teaching borrowers about their options. So the Department of Education typically leans on options that require repayment,

such as rehabilitation and consolidation, for borrowers to get their loans out of default status. However, there are other options, such as cancellation. For total and permanent disability discharge, there's false certification discharge. There is... If a school misled a student or committed fraud, there are other types of discharge called borrower defense discharge. There are a lot of ways for borrowers to have their loans canceled that do not require repayment that the government doesn't necessarily tell borrowers about. So we encourage borrowers to try to understand their options, come to a debt collective event to learn more. You can look at this on the internet, but it's important to know that you can get your loan out of default status without necessarily having to repay. And one final option I want everyone to be aware of is that if you're facing a financial hardship,

so 95% of debtors who have their wages garnished say it causes a major or general financial hardship. If that's true, people can immediately contest when they get a notice of wage seizure to say it causes a financial hardship and have that paused. So it's really important to open that mail and get in touch to object to the wage garnishment. as soon as you get the notice. Julia Barnard, I want to thank you for being with us. Currently, the higher education team lead at the Debt Collective, former student loan ombudsman at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Next up, starting January 1st, health care costs are expected to double or triple

for millions of people across the United States. We'll speak with Elizabeth Benjamin, member of the New York mayor-elect Zoran Mamdani's transition team, Vice President at Community Service Society. Stay with us. I need money. Now you're paying me off the boots, but I can't come away. I need money here on Democracy Now, Democracy Now.org.

I'm Amy Goodman with Juan Gonzalez. In January 1st, tens of millions in the United States will see their health insurance costs soar when subsidies under the Affordable Care Act expire. Health insurance premiums are expected to more than double or triple. for some 20 million people pricing many out of health care coverage entirely. The enhanced subsidies were first put in place during the pandemic. Congress is on recess until January 6th, with Republicans reportedly leaving early for a two-week holiday break without voting to extend the ACA or Obamacare tax benefits. Divisions over the issue were at the heart of the longest government shutdown in U.S. history earlier this year,

with Democrats insisting on continuing the subsidies. For more, we're joined here in our New York studio by Elizabeth Benjamin. Vice President of Health Initiatives, Community Service Society of New York, member of the New York Mayor-elect Zoran Mamdani's transition team. Elizabeth, welcome back to Democracy Now. Explain what's about to happen. It's January 1st. Yes, starting January 1st, people will no longer have access to what's called enhanced premium tax credits.

This enabled us to cover about basically double the number of people that were able to participate in Obamacare, the Affordable Care Act Tax Premium Credit program or financial assistance program that enabled people to purchase health care more affordable, more in a more affordable fashion. You know, the Affordable Care Act benefits really crucial members of society, small business owners, self-employed people, gig workers, artists, writers, a whole swath of folks. will no longer have access just because the premiums are so expensive now. And our donation has essentially done nothing to control health care costs. So it's going to be very difficult come January 1st for many, many Americans, about 11 million.

On top of that, with HR1, the so-called one big, beautiful bill, we know that President Trump and the Republicans that voted for this bill will make it much harder for our lowest-income members of of America to be able to have retain their Medicaid coverage. So between the two, we estimate over 20 million Americans will lose coverage, essentially undoing every single gain we have made over the last 15 years. And Elizabeth, what are the chances that the subsidies that are set to expire, that Congress can extend them when it comes back into session in January? Well, they certainly can do it. I have no faith that they will do it. It seems, that there is very strong opposition to doing the right thing and making health care more

affordable for people in the United States. And if people begin to turn to alternatives, what scam should they be watching for, things like short-term plans? Do you explain what they are and how they might work? I'm so glad you asked this one. It's so important. There are many, many kind of faux insurance products out there. There's short-term plans.

But more importantly, there's also a thing called health care sharing ministries, which many people are critical of because they say they pose as insurance products when they're really not. They sort of promise a network of doctors and that you can access that networks, but often they don't cover drugs. Those doctors may or may not really participate in them. So I really urge people to go to a navigator or someone in a hospital or a hospital. federally a qualified health care center or health care center, and really talk to someone that can help you sort through your insurance, real insurance options. You've been recognized as one of the leading navigators in the United States, and you really lead a team of navigators, a community service society. Most people have never even heard that term. What do you mean call a navigator?

Thank you so much, Amy, for asking that question. Navigators are people that have been certified by their local states or the federal government to help people sort through their Affordable Care Act or Obamacare options. They can help people in New York State. They can help people enroll in Medicaid, as well as Affordable Care Act coverage. In many states, they're basically health insurance enrollment as sisters. And whether it's a certified navigator or someone at a hospital who's a certified application counselor, please go see an expert.

There are lots of options to sort through. They will really help you. If people want to reach Community Service Society, what's the website? It's CSSNY.org, but we only help people in New York, so I really, there's, you know, you can go on the worldwide web and search up a local navigator or certified application counselor near you, or just go to your health care provider, as long as they're sort of in a health care center or a hospital, they should be able to sort through the options with you. And Elizabeth, states like New York have their own marketplace of,

for health care, how will those states be affected or will the impact be any different in those states? Yes. Unfortunately, between HR1 and the affordable, the unwinding of these enhanced premium tax credits, it disproportionately impacts do-gooder states like New York who have expanded their Medicaid programs. We know medical debt and higher levels of morbidity, mortality have occurred in the states, mostly the southern states that have refused to expand Medicaid. were the MAGA bases? Correct. It's really sad. So they're going to be most effective? They will be most impacted. But New York will especially be impacted because like the good do goder state stepped up, expanded Medicaid, with the cuts to Medicaid, it will really impact those folks already. And basically, it dumbs down the rest of the country to the southern swath where they have disproportionate levels of medical debt, higher levels of morbidity, higher levels of mortality, because they haven't expanded. coverage. We know coverage counts. And talk about the racial disparities when it comes to health care.

I mean, the number of people who will lose their health care entirely, in the end, the public pays for that right, because they go to hospitals, they have to be taken care of, but many die. What is Bernie Sanders continually cite something like 65,000 people will die this year as a result of not having health insurance. Right. So what's really upsetting about losing coverage is what we what was what was amazing about the affordable care act is it really undid many of the racial disparities we saw in health care coverage and and and that was a really incredible thing it truly was it and is an equity an effort for improving equity in america if i'm sorry your second question racial disparities yes it was overall it really kind of undid that if you got the

Affordable Care Act by not funding these tax credits. And on top of HR1, which is really trying to undermine Medicaid, access to Medicaid, that's like a double whammy that really will have profound impact against low-income people, people of color, and people who are sick, people with disabilities, people who have a health care condition like cancer or something that's completely out of their control. That's who was impacted the most by not having coverage. And Elizabeth, will there be an impact also on the overall health insurance rates for the entire nation, not just for those who were using ACA? Yes. I mean, the evidence is less clear about that. But if you pull out 20 million people out of various insurance pools, it puts more

stress on the entire overall health care system. Costs will continue to rise. We've done nothing as a country to control health care costs. And so the only thing we can do is really try to grapple with how to get people back into coverage and stop this madness. And finally, what about President Trump saying we want to stop giving money to the health insurance industry? Well, that's just a lie. We were never giving money to the health insurance industry. The money was going to individuals. It's financial assistance that's run through the tax code to individuals. It basically provides financial. financial assistance in the form of a tax credit to enable you to be able to buy coverage.

If he cared about controlling health insurance profits, he would control health insurance companies and he would require health insurance companies, providers, big pharma to control their costs by rate setting like countries like Switzerland that have a private health insurance system, but the government sets the rates that providers' pharma is paid. We should do something like that at the very least. And when you say at the very least, 10 seconds on universal health care. Yes. I mean, obviously, the program that best controls costs in America is Medicare or the veteran system.

And that's because we have government setting rates. If we care about costs, and we want to expand coverage, we should do something about setting rates. Elizabeth Benjamin, Vice President of Health Initiatives at the Community Services I of New York, member of the New York Mayor-elect Zeran Mamdani's transition team. I'm Amy Goodman with Juan Gonzalez for Democracy Now.