Working with state and local leaders to help secure our schools, and tackle the difffficult issue of Mental Health. Amy the Florida Shooting comes a year after President Trump repealed an obamaera regulation , making it harder for people with severe mental disabilities to p purchase firearms. We will get response and also look at t the florida gunmanans history of threatening women and possible extremist political beliefs. Then to south africa. I do believe when one is elected in this type of position, he basically become a servant of the people of south africa. And i will take that task with utility, faithfulness, and with dignity as welell. Amy Cyril Rampaphosa has been sworn in as south africans new president following the resignation of jacob zuma. We will go to south africa. All that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace reportrt. Im amy goodman. The u. S. Senate has wrapped up four days ofof open debate witht advancing a a single measure on immigration. In four separate votes thursday, senators failed to reach the 60 votes needed to move forward on a bill that would have protected 1. 8 8 million young undocumented immigrants known as dreamers, while further militarizing the u. S. Mexico border. The failed votes came after President Trump blasted a bipartisisan bill as a total catastrophe and threatened a veto. This is Senate Minority leader, Democrat Chuck schumer of new york. Theres only one reason while the senate will be able to reach a bipartisan solution to daca President Trump. President trump created this problem by terminating me daca program last august. Since up decision, President Trump has stood in every single way a proposal that could become law. Amy one measure supported by President Trump t t the astt number ovovotes,ust t 39ut off 100. It wldld havshararply curtailed u. S. Immigration quos s and exexpand b bordemililitarization funding by 25illion, while proving a lengthy pa t to citizenship r r drears. Unless congrs s pass ann immigratiobibill, ndreredsf thousands ofrereamercoululd e their daca status begin expiring as early as march 5, although, two federal courts have ruled the Trump Administration cannot end the program. Meananwhile, Daca Recipients and their supporters have launched a 250mile, 15day march from new york city to washington, d. C. , where they plan a mass protest ahead of dacas march 5 expiration date. This is daca recipient li adorno, speaking at the start of the march in lower manhattan. I feel like myy parents and pepeople around the country who are undocumented have sacrificed so much. To this day, ththere criminalizd every night on the evening news. We feel like that is not fair. We are asking for dignity and respect for everyone, not just the dreamers. A lot of politicians are promising as reforms to fix it, but nothing ever happens. This walk is not necessarily for changing the politicians m mind, but the communitity. Amy in parklandnd, florida, students and Family Members gathered for a candlelight vigil thursday night to mourn the 17 people who were killed on wednesday in one of the Deadliest School shootings in u. S. History. The massacre at the Stoneman Douglas high school in broward county, florida, was the 18th School Shooting this year. At least 15 other people were wounded in the attack by a 19yearold former student named nikolas cruz, who used a semiautomatic ar15 rifle and multiple magazines. On thursday, the mother of 14yearold shooting victim alyssa spoke on cnn. Folks the gunman, the crazy person, just walks right into the window oft on my child store, and starts shooting. Shooting her. And killing her. President trump, you say, what can you do . You can stop the guns from getting into these childrens hands. On thursday, nikolas cruz confessed to carrying out the mass shooting, according to a police report. Cruz wasas a former member o of junior rotc who was obsessed with guns and had been expelled from the high school. Cnn reports that broward sheriffs deputies were called to the cruz family home 39 times since 2010 for reports of domestic disturbances. Despite those calls and other warnings cruz was able to , purchase his ar15 semiautomatic Assault Rifle legally at the sunrise tactical supppply gun store in coral springs, florida. At the white h house, President Trump gave a speech thursday in which he made no mention of gunsns, but instead spoke about Mental Health. Pres. Trump our administration is working closely with local authorities to investigate the shooting and learn everything we can. We are committed to wororking wh state and local leaders to help secure our schools and tackle the difficult issue of Mental Health. Amy President Trumpmps commens sparked outrage from gun safety advocates, who pointed out that, last february, President Trump repealed an obamaera regulation that made it hararder for some people with h severe mental disabilities to purchase firearms. According to the center for responsive politics, the nra spent over 52 million in political advertisements in the 2016 election, with more than 11 million spent in support of Trumps Campaign alone. Well have more on the Florida Shooting and the United States epidemic of gun violence after headlines. Aican National Congress leader Cyril Ramaphosa has been confirmeded s the new president after the former leader, president jacob zuma, resigned from office abruptly on wednesday night amid a series of corruption scandals. This is president ramaphosa speaking today. The issue you have raced from issues that have to do with corruption, issues of how we can straighten out our state owned enterprises, and how we deal is issues thatre aree on our radar screen. Those are issues that are going to be addressed. Amy Cyril Ramaphosa once led the National Union of mineworkers under apartheid in the 1980s and later became one of africas richest men, as he built a Business Empire that included mining interests. Later in the broadcast, well go to johannesburg, south africa, to speak with activist Koketso Moeti about south africas change in leadership. Ethiopias prime mininister said thursdsday he will step down frm office after a massive wave of protests undermined his partys grip on power. The surprise resignation of Hailemariam Desalegn came just days after ethiopia released senior oromo Opposition Leader bekele gerba from prison, and just weeks after ethiopias government said it would release Political Prisoners and close an infamous prison in the capital, addis ababa. In el salvador, a court has releasased a woman who was sentenced to 30 years in prison after she gave birth to a stillborn baby. In 2008, teodora del Carmen Vasquez was convicted on aggravated homicide after she went into labor while at work, tried unsuccessfully to summon an ambulance, and passed out on the floor of a bathroom after miscarrying. This is Teodora Vasquez speaking just after her release thursday. I know my effort has been worth it, and now im happy to go back to my family again. For 10eparated for them years, seven months. And now were back together again. Amy international welcomed the a representative with Amnesty International welcomed the ruling, but said at least 27 other women remain behind bars in el salvador due to obstetric consultations. Back i in the United States, a federal Appeals Court ruled thursday that President Trumps latest ban on travelers from six majoritymuslim countries unconstitutionally discriminates against people because of their religious beliefs. Writing for a 94 majority at the fourth u. S. Circuit court of appeals, judge Roger Gregory wrote that trumps travel ban was unconstitutionally tainted with animus toward islam, adding on a fundamental level, the proclamation secondguesses our nations dedication to religious freedom and tolerance. The Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case in april and has ruled that t trumps travel ban can n be fully enfororced untilt renders its s decision. The new yorker magazine reports donald trump went to Great Lengths to cover up Extramarital Affairs in the years before he becacame president. The journalist reports trump used his close ties to American Media inc. , the publisher of the national enquirer, to quash a story about a consensual sexual affair with karen mcdougal, former playmate of the year. According to farrell, the inquirer paid mcdougal 150,000 for the exclusive rights to her story, then buried the peace just before the election. The tablet also reportedly paid and google to write a fitnesss column in an attempt to further by her silence. In new york city, new york Police Sargent hugh barry was acquitted thursday on murder charges in the Fatal Shooting of africanamerican woman Deborah Danner in october of 2016. Danner had Mental Health issues, including schizophrenia. Police say she was shot and killed in her own home in the bronx after a neighbor called 911. When police arrived, they found danner naked in her bedroom holding a pair of scissors. Sergeant hugh barry fatally shot her twice in the chest, saying he feared for his life after the 66yearold woman picked up a baseball bat. Barry has been sued twice in recent years for brutality. He was acquitted by judge robert neary in a bench trial after he waived h his right to trialal ba bronx jury. Austin has become the first city in texas and the first in the south to make paid sick leave a mandatory requirement for nongovernment employees. Austins city Council Voted 92 early this morning for t the measure, which will require employers to provide up to 64 hours of paid sick leave. To see full coverage of the fight for sick leave in austin and around the country, you can go to our website at democracynow. Org. And inin texas, supporters of 23yearold Asylum SeekerLaura Monterrosa say she was put in solitary confinement for 60 hours at the T Don Hutto Detention Center outside austin, in order to pressure her to recant her allegations that she was sexually assaulted by a guard. Ice says monterrosa was under medical observation. But she later made a strange call to her lawyer from an unusual phone number. Grassroots leadership shared a recording with democraracy now i wanted to call you because i wanted to tell you that everything ive said was false. And a was forced to tell you that because if not, they were going to lock me again in that room and i did not want to be locked again in that room. Ass on amy this comes the fbi is conducting a civil rights investigation into the alleged abuse. After her call, dozens of supporters went to visit monterrosa, who tried to commit suicide in january. She fled el salvador to escape sexual persecution as a lesbian, and has been detained 8 months. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. In parkland, florida, students , parents, families gathered for a candlelight vigil on thursday night to mourn the 17 people who who were killed at the marjory Stoneman Douglas high school in broward county, florida, in one of the Deadliest School shootings in u. S. History. Least 15 other people were wounded after a 19yearold former student named nikolas cruz arrived at the high school in an uber at 2 19 p. M. , armed with a semiautomatic a ar15 rie and a black duffel bag and backpack fililled with loaoaded magagazines. Magazinenes of ammunition. On thursday, cruz confessed to carrying out the mass shooting, according to a police report. Cruz was a former member of junior rotc who was obsessed with guns and had been expelled from the high school. On thursday, President Trump gave a speech at the white house in whichch he made no mention of guns. Our administration is working closely with local authorities to investigate the shooting and learn everything we can. Were committed to working with state and local leaders to help secure ourur schools and tackle the difficultt issue of meMental Health. Amy also early thursday morning, President Trump tweeted so many signs that the Florida Shooter was mentally disturbed, even expelled from school for bad and erratic behavior. Neighbors and classmates knew he was a big problem. Must always report such instances to authorities, again and again trumps speech and tweets sparked outragage from gun safey adadvocates and famililies of te whwho were killed in parkland, o pointed out that last february, President Trump repealed an obamaera regulation that made it harder for some people with severe mental disabilities to purchase firearms. Some Mental Health advocates, meanwhile, warned President Trumps comments perpetuated stigma against people with Mental Illness. For more, were joioid by two guests. C, lindsaygton, d nichols is with us, the federal policy director for Giffords Law Center to prevent gun violence. And in nashville, tennessee, Jonathan Metzl is a professor of psychiatry and the director of the center for medicine, health, anansociety atat vanderbilt university. Hes the lead aututhor of a vanderbilt study entitled Mental Illness, Mass Shootings, and the politics of f american firearms, which found that fewer than 5 of Fatal Shootings in the United States are committed by people diagnosed with Mental Illness. He writes frequently about gun violence in america, including a recent politico piece entitled im a psychiatrist. Making gun violence about Mental Health is a crazy idea. We welcome you both to democracy now dr. Jonathan metzl, why is it a crazy idea . Blew me say first of all in the aftermath of Mass Shootings, it is understandable to me why the question of Mental Illness comes up because these shootings are so terrorizing, so spectacular that we asked a very important question, which is, what would cause somebody to go over the edge when there are some and responsible citizens and gun owners in the world . In that sense, i think we do leararn a lot from the Mental Health histories of mass shooters. Policy levelas a as the height of your response ability to do a President Trump did yesterday, which is to make the discourse about Mental Health. On the statistical level, people with Mental Illness, first of all, are far less likely than sane people to commit gun crimes. Even in the case of Mass Shootings, what we see is even though we jump to this question of Mental Illness right away, many other factors are probably more explanatory, everything race, thel networks, access of firearms. And that sense, these are collocated policy questions. I feel like what President Trump is doing when he shifts the conversation just to Mental Health, is to cynically shut down a real conversation about what we can really do as a society to stop Mass Shootings and just to stop gun crime more broadly. Amy lindsay nichols, as this has played out in parkland, this horror, i want to go back to the quote of the mother who lost her 14yearold daughter, who rocks the country yesterday as she spoke directly into the camera addressing president t trump. President trump, you say, what can you do . You can stop the guns from getting into these childrens hands. Amamy lindsayay nichols, stope guns from getting into childrens hands. Her, but not just students are being interviewed. These are high school students, unlike sandy hook five years ago, that are a