U. S. History, students and parents confront President Trump and republican lawmakers in a pair of extraordinary meetings. First, President Trump holds a listening session at the white house you suggest arming teachers. Then at a town hall meeting in florida, of 7000, republican senator marco rubio hears directly from students who survived the massacre and parents who lost children. Your comments this week in those about president heaven pathetically weak. Have been pathetically weak. [applause] amy we will speak with one ofof the students who o was at the tn hall, a former intern for similar rubio. The Stoneman DouglasHigh School Graduate is begging rubio to act on guns. She has been near four mess. Hootings that Mass Shootings then to syria, where the United Nations is accusing the alassad government of waging a monstrous campaign of annihilation as the death from the assault on Eastern Ghouta rises to over 300. What is going on in Eastern Ghouta and other parts of syria may constitute war crimes. Intentionally targeting hospititals, medical f faciliti, may constitute a war crime. Access to getting basic health care that they need in these situations may constitute a war crime. Amy we will hold a roundtable discussion. All that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. The United Nations is warning of humanitarian catastrophe in syria describing a salt on the damascusus suburb of Eastern Ghouta as a monstrous campaign of annihilation. Aid workers report at least 300 people have been killed over the past three days. Many of the victims are women and children. Targets have included hospitals and residential apartment buildings. Ravina shamdasani is spokeswoman for the u. N. Office of the High Commissioner for h human rights. The High Commission for human rights is talking about this being a monstrous campaign of annihilation of Eastern Ghouta with no regard for civilian lives. How many more children dying to have to see . , the more hospitals bombed . , and more doctors killed before we see the International Community come together with one voice and take resolute action on the situation to bring g this violence to it and . And turned of iteris called for an immediate halt to fighting, calling the situation hell on her. Houta ehl we will host a roundtable discussion about the crisis in syria. Of theida, survivors marjory Stoneman DouglasHigh School Massacre dissented on the State Capitol in tallahassee wednesday, demanding lawmakers address gun violence before the legislative session ends in two weeks. This is ashley santoro, a student who survived the massacre. I sat hiding in n a closet fearg for my life, for my future, wet if were going to prprotect r fututure, where we know protectg our children . Students lobbying efforts came a day after florida lawmakers rejected an open debate on whether to ban largecapacity magazines and semiautomatic rifles like the ar15 used by the shooter, a former student named nickolas cruz. Meanwhile, students across the United States, from minnesota to colorado t to arizona, walkikint of class t to demand stricter rn laws. They carrieded signs readi mame us safe andnd bring on the polititicians we wiwill risise hundreds of students students fromom washington, d. C. Ararea h schoolols rallied outside the whitite house, s staging a sitn protesest. Inside the whitete house, President Donald Trump, Vice President mike pence, and education secretary betsy devos hosted a listening session with students and families affected by School Shootings. From columbine to the pulse nightclub to the most recent valentines day massacre. This is Stoneman Douglas student samuel zeif,f, who lost his best friend d during last weeks shooting. I dont understand why i can still go in a store and buy weapon of war, an ar. I was reading today that a persrson 20 years o old walk ina store and bought an ar15 in five minutes with an expired id. How is it that easy to buy this type of weapon . How are we not stopping this after columbine, after sandy hook . Im sitting with a mother who lost her son. It is still happening. Amy President Trump proposed ending gun free zones at schools and calleded for teaches to be armed with concealed handguns. Pres. Trump it is called concealed carry, were e it teacr would have a concealed gun on them. They go for special training. And you would be there dont longer have a gun free zone. Gun free zone to maniac, because they are all cowards, a gun free zone is lets go in and lets attack because bulullets arent coming back at us. Amy wednesday evening, survivors of the massacre at Stoneman Douglas high school sparred with politicians during a town hall hosted by cnn. This is shooting survivor, cameron kasky, questioning republican senator marco rubio of florida over his nra ties in nra ties. This is about people who are to making a difference service of those against it and are for money. Senator rubio, can you tell me you will not accept a single donation from the nra . Do support the Second Amendment and support the right of you and everyone here t to ba blue go to school and be safe. I do support any law that would give guns out of the of a deranged killer. And that is why i support the things i have stood for and fought for more nra money . That is the wrong way first of all, people ion of my agenda. Amy we will have more of that exchange a more on the student led National Uprising against gun violence after headlines when we go to Fort Lauderdale to speak with Shana Rosenthal, a former intern for republican senator marco rubio who is begging him to do something about guns. Police in South Whittier california say they have thwarted a planned mass shooting by a 1 17yearold at the communitys el camino high school. A School Resources officer says he overheard the student mumble to himself that he was planning to bring a gun to campus. After serving a search warrant to the boys home, police say they discovered a weapons cache of two semiautomatic rifles, two handguns, and 90 highcapacity magazines. Amnesty international released its annual human rights report wednesday, warning that President Donald Trump set a tone hatefilled rhetoric for 2017. Speaking from washington, d. C. , secretarygeneral salil shetty said amnesty was releasing the report from the usa for the First Time Ever because of the significant and serious new threats to human righthts brougt by t the trump administration. The rising rhetoric of hate translated into horrific, realworld consequences. That is the bad news from 2017. But theres also a lot of encouraging news. 2017 showed us what hapappens wn people march in great numbers to say they will not accept the injustices they face. Capitulate to narratives of fear, ordinary people clamored for justice, brbreathing new life into longstanding struggles and igniting a new era of social activism. There e is no better example of that than what we have seen with the kids in this country standing up against and violence in the last few days. Amy in nigeria,a, police say 11 girls went missing from the staterun boarding school in dapchi following a raid by militants with the group boko haram. Parents of the children say fighters armed with machine guns abducted the girls, though there were conflicting reports over whether some of them were subsequently rescued by the nigerian military. Reuters reports two of the girls were foundnd dead. Brazils senate has approved such as with its support to president Michel Temers decree ordering the military to take control of security in Rio De Janeiro, amid a spike in Violent Crime in brazils second largest city. Happily armed soldiers in Armored Vehicles are now patrolling rios impoverished favelas. The militarys deployment follows a wave of violence carried out by brazils police, who killed over 4200 people across the country in 2016, with nearly 1000 of those killings in Rio De Janeiro alone. In france, president Emmanuel Macron unveiled a bill wednesday that would toughen frances immigration and asylum laws. The bill would allow authorities to double the time they can detain migrants to 90 days, while shortening the deadlines for migrants to apply for asylumum. It would also allow for a oneyear prison term and fines for migrants found to have illegally crossed into france. Amnesty i internationalal france ctctctdirector Catherine Gaudard the legislation unfairly sorts Asylum Seekers into migrants and refugees. This reductive discourse is nefarious for two reasons. First of all, it contributes to persons who have been exiled, reducing them into a confrontation between good ones and bad ones in some way. In fact, migrants are individuals who have their own story, their own journey, their own reasons for leaving their countries. Although t they do not all havee the same status, they all have rights. Amy back in the United States, the Washington Post reports the parents of First Lady Melania Trump have become legal permanent residents and are poised to gain citizenship, likely relying on a family reunification process thats been attacked by President Trump which he calls chain migration. During his state of the Union Address last month, President Trump called for an end to the u. S. Policy, which allows citizens to sponsor their parents and siblings for legal residency. Legal experts say the program likely benefited melania trumps parents amalija and viktor , immigrants from slovenia whove been living in the u. S. On green cards. A spokesperson fororelania trurp refused to commement. A wealthy soninlaw of a russiabased billionaire has struck a plea agreement with special counsel robert mueller, pleading guilty to a charge of lying to federal investigators probing allegations of russian meddling in the 2016 u. S. Election. Alex van der zwaan, son of Russian Oligarch german khan, admitted tuesday he lied to fbi agents about his contacts with former Trump Campaign official rick gates. This comes as the l. A. Times reports gates has agreed to plead guilty to charges of Money Laundering and illegal foreign lobbying, and will testify against paul manafort, trumps former campaign manager, who also faces charges of illegal lobbying and Money Laundering. Back in the u. S. , unusual weather patterns have seen record low temperatures in Rocky Mountain states and parts of the pacific northwest, while temperatures spiked to record highs along much of the eastern seaboard. Newark, new jersey, saw thermometers top 80 the highest temperature ever recorded there in february. The wild weather came as the National Snow and Ice Data Center warned Global Warming has driven wintertime sea ice levels to the lowest levels seen since recordkeeping began. January 2018 saw Arctic Sea Ice reach just 13 million square kilometers, an area 10 smaller than the average for recent decades. This week, temperatures in the arctic rose by more than 45 degrees fahrenheit above normal, with the worlds northernmost weather station in greenland recording winter temperatures abovove freezing. In wyoming, state lawmakers have introduced a bill that would bring steep penalties to protesters who engage in civil disobedience aimed at halting fossil fuel extraction. Wyomings senate filile 74 would make impeding Critical Infrastructure a f felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison with a fine of up to 100,000. One of the bills cosponsors has said its a reaction to protests against the Dakota Access pipeline led by the Standing Rock sioux tribe. The wyoming bill comes on the heels of simimilar bilills inintroduced in iowa and ohihio legigislation that hews s closeo a templalate bill written by the conservative American Legislative Exchange council, or alalec. In West Virginia, schools are closed t today, after some 1 150 Public School teachers launched a twoday strike in order to protest for better healthcare and pay. Teachers havent seen an acrosstheboard pay raise since 2014, even as Health Care Costs have risen sharply, leaving many teachers with dwindling takehome pay. West virginia is a socalled right to work state where strikes by Public Employees are prohibited. Asked by reporters about the legality of todays action, West VirginiaEducation Association president dale lee said, what are they going to do, fire 15,000 people . And christian evangelical leader billy graham has died at the age of 99. Over a career that spanned decades, graham built a ministry that saw him preach in socalled crusades to millions of people around the world, bringing christian evangelism into the mainstream. Graham famously told the saturday evening post in 1963 we are selling the greatest product on earth. Why shouldnt we promote it as effectively as we promote a bar ofof soap . Graham served as investors to donald trump, harry truman. In 2002, graham apologized after he and former president Richard Nixon were heard making antisemitic remarks on a president ial tape recording. Graham was stridently anticommunist and backed wisconsin senator joe mccarthy. Billy graham died wednesday morning at h his home in North Carolina after a long series of illnesses. And those are e some of the headadlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. The time to act is now. Thats the message of survivors of last weeks School Shooting in florida. On wednesday, the nation witnessed grieving students, parents, and teachers powerfully confront lawmakers over gun control in pointed and often tense televised exchanges. The day began with students across the United States, from minnesota to colorado to arizona, walking out of class to demand stricter gun laws. They carried signs reading make us safe and bring on the politicians we will rise students at Coral Springs high school formed a giant human heart on their School Football field, as did students at cooper city high schoolol to honor the7 victims of the marjory Stoneman Douglas high School Shooting meanwhile, survivors of the shooting descended on the florida State Capitol in tallahassee to demand lawmakers to pass legislation addressing gun violence before the legislative session ends in two weeks. This is student sheryl acquaroli. Dear congress, how can you claim to stand for the people when your kids are slaughtered like animals in their school . Time wet that every take a step forward, you pull us back . Congress, [indiscernible] dont mean anything without something behind it. Frank, thoughghts and prayers. My brothers and sisters from dying. Dear congress, who will die next because of your lack of action . Who will you murder next because your lack of action is causing people to die. The next person who dies because of an ar15ill be onn you. Amamy in the afternrnoon, prest trump, along with Vice President mike pence and education secretary betsy devos, hosted a listening session with students survivors of recent shootings, including students and families from the parkland Parkland Student samuel zeif who School Shooting. Lost his best friend during the shooting spoke during the session. I turned 18 the day after. Woke up to the news that my best friend was gone. And i dont understand why i could still go in a store and ar. A weapon of war, an i was reading today that a person 20 yearar old walked inio a store and bought an ar15 in five minutes with an expired id. How is it that easy to buy this type of weapon . How are we not stopping this after columbine, after sandy hook . I am sitting with the mother