Today in a democracy now exclusive, Cherelle Baldwin joins us in the studio after almost three years in prison on a 1 million bond awaiting trial. We will also speak with her mother and her attorney. Been to yemen. Then to yemen. Hundreds of thousands of yemenis took to the streets to protest the First Anniversary of the u. S. Backed, saudiled offensive. The protest were said to be the largest since 2011 force of resignation of the president. On yemenis from all different sects came out in the masses, to show the world that the yemeni people can never be shaken nor defeated. Amy since the u. S. Backed, saudiled intervention began last march, more than 6000 people have been killed in yemen, about half of them civilians. Unicef says nearly 10 million children are in dire need of humanitarian assistance. We will speak with farea almuslimi and sarah leah whitson. Herpes in the Los Angeles Times the u. S. Is quietly helping saudi arabia weight devastating aerial campaign in yemen. All of that and more coming up. Amy welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Both former secretary of state Hillary Clinton and vermont senator Bernie Sanders campaigned in new york state thursday, ahead of the New York Primary later this month. During a speech at the State University of new york at purchase, clinton faced disruption from protesters who yelled, if she wins, we lose. Meanwhile, more than 16,000 people gathered in st. Marys park in the south bronx for a Bernie Sanders rally where sanders stressed his brooklyn roots. I went to Public Schools in brooklyn, new york. [applause] education and i want every kid in the city and in this state to have a quality, good public education. [cheers] and that means instead of giving tax breaks to billionaires or fighting wars, we should not be fighting, were going to be investing in housing and education and health care. Amy senator sanders spoke alongside actress Rosario Dawson , director spike lee, puerto rican rapper. He said he supports sanders foreignpolicy position. I support Bernie Sanders because he has spoken out americanhose latin dictatorships financed by the United States which left more than half a Million People dead or disappeared. To theans being opposed leaders in guatemala, argentina, just to name a few. Hillary clinton has dared to praise the likes of hillary is. N Henry Kissinger responsible for those who disappeared in the 60s, 70s, and 80s, it is enough for me not to vote for her. Amy this comes as Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders head into a tight race in wisconsin on tuesday. Meanwhile, donald trump met in washington, d. C. With leaders of , the Republican National committee, amid increasing tension between the gop leadership and the partys leading candidate. Trump is facing a wave of backlash in wisconsin ahead of the tuesday contest, with recent polls showing texas senator ted cruz leading trump by at least 10 points. This comes as trump picked up an endorsement wednesday by the National Border patrol council. It was the Border Patrol agent union its firstever president ial primary endorsement. Donald trump has promised to build a wall across the entire length of the u. S. Mexico border and to force mexico to pay for it, a proposal which experts have said is not feasible. Some Major Companies are reportedly reconsidering whether to sponsor the Republican National convention in cleveland in july. The New York Times reports apple, google, and walmart are all reassessing their plans amid increasing turmoil in the gop race. Under pressure from activists, cocacola has already dramatically reduced its sponsorship of the event from 600,000 in 2012 to only 75,000 this year. This comes as cleveland is purchasing thousands of sets of police riot gear in advance of the rnc, using a 50 million federal grant. Cleveland is also planning to rent enough interlocking steel barricades to stretch for three miles. In chicago, protesters rallied thursday to denounce the police union for hiring a former Police OfficerJason Van Dyke to work as a janitor after he was dismissed from the Police Department over the 2014 Fatal Shooting of africanamerican teenager Laquan Mcdonald. Officer van dyke shot 17yearold Laquan Mcdonald 16 times while the teenager was at a distance and walking away, posing no threat. Van dyck currently faces six counts of firstdegree murder. Three weeks ago, he was hired by the police union at an hourly rate of 12 an hour. Activist jamal green said his hiring is a slap in the face to chicago residents. This comes as the Chicago Teachers Union are slated to launch a oneday strike today to protest the lack of state funding for education. The Chicago PublicSchool District currently faces a 1. 1 billion deficit. Chicago Teachers Union president karen lewis said, we are dying the death of a thousand cuts. The pentagon continues to face questioning over its military presence in iraq. The daily beast has reported there are at least 12 u. S. Generals deployed to iraq to lead a force that is officially supposed to consist of only 3870 u. S. Troops. A troop force of this size would usually be lead by only a single colonel. Five top u. S. Womens Soccer Players have filed a landmark lawsuit with the equal Employment Opportunity commission accusing u. S. Soccer of wage discrimination. The players say they earn only about 40 of what male players earn, despite the fact that the u. S. Womens National Team has won three world cups and four olympic championships. The u. S. Mens National Team, in comparison, has never even reached the world cup finals. On thursday, Soccer Player hope solo and her teammates spoke to matt lauer on nbcs today show. I have been on this team now for a decade and a half, and i have been through numerous negotiations. Honestly, not much has changed. We continue to be told we should be grateful just to have the opportunity to play professional soccer and to get paid for doing it. In this day and age, you know, it is about the quality. It is about equal rights and equal pay, and were pushing for that. We believe the time is right because we believe it is a responsibility for womens sports and specifically for women soccer, to really do whatever it takes to push for equal pay. And be treated with respect. Amy the Mississippi Senate has voted to advance a piece of sweeping antilgbt legislation, which will allow organizations and businesses to deny people an array of Services Based on religious objections. Opponents of the legislation say house bill 1523 could legalize discrimination against lbgt people seeking everything from wedding products to Counseling Services to housing. Erik fleming with the aclu of mississippi says it is very broad and very dangerous. It basically sanctions religious discrimination. This comes after North Carolina passed a sweeping law, known as the bathroom bill, which bars cities and towns from passing laws prohibiting discrimination against lgbt people in public accommodations. And imprisoned colombian hacker has told Bloomberg Businessweek that he was paid to rig my job was to do actions of dirty war and psychological operations, black propaganda, rumors the whole dark side of politics that nobody knows exists but everyone can see. The office has rejected the claims. Sepulveda said he was also paid to rig the reelection of colombian president alvaro uribe, and the election of rightwing honduran president Porfirio Lobo sosa, who was elected in 2009 following the u. S. Backed coup. Support it is currently suin serving a sentence for hacking the 2014 election. The scandal over sexual abuse by u. N. Peacekeeping forces in the Central African republic is growing. On thursday, the United Nations announced 108 new allegations of sexual abuse. The majority of the victims are minors. The former director of the u. N. Peacekeeping mission in the Central African republic resigned last year amid similar allegations. United nations secretary general spokesperson Stephane Dujarric spoke on thursday. Let me start with the situation in Central African republic, and let me say at the outset, the secretarygeneral is shocked to the court at the latest allegations of abuse in the Central African republic. His focus is on the victims and their families. Were talking about women, Young Children who have been traumatized in the worst imaginable way. Amy in nevada, eight people were arrested blockading two gates to the Creech Air Force base. The base is one of several homes for the u. S. Militarys Lethal Drone Program in pakistan, afghanistan, somalia, yemen, and other countries. Six of the eight protesters arrested are veterans. The action is the first in a twoweek mobilization at the base demanding it be shut down. In vancouver, canada, an activist has entered her third week on a Hunger Strike to protest the construction of an 8. 8 billion hydroelectric dam project in northern british colombia the largest Public Infrastructure project in the provinces history. The Canadian Company bc hydro is behind the project. Speaking outside bc hydros offices, Hunger Striker Kristin Henry called on canadian Prime MinisterJustin Trudeau to halt the project. I would also like to see trudeau step up to his promises to reassess and redevelop relations with the indigenous communities here. It to happen. He is granting permits. He made a lot of promises to get into office, a lot of them based on his relations with inches of this indigenous communities. This is a perfect example of where he is leading industries blow through the rights of the indigenous people. Amy in a historic victory for the fightforfifteen campaign, both the state of california and new york city are poised to raise the minimum wage to 15 an hour in the coming years. On thursday, the California Legislature voted to raise the minimum wage incrementally each year, until it reaches 15 an hour by 2022. Governor jerry brown says he plans to sign the legislation on monday. Meanwhile, new York Governor Andrew Cuomo says he has reached a budget deal that will hike the minimum wage in new york city to 15 by the end of 2018. In regions of upstate new york, the minimum wage will be raised to 12. 50. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Juan welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. Amy this is quite remarkable victory in both new york and california around the minimum wage. Juan the advocates are calling it the one of the largest pay raises for American Workers in history of the country. About 5 Million People are going to see, minimumwage workers, are going to see their wages increase substantially over the next few years. It is remarkable only about three years ago, this movement started with a single strike of mcdonalds workers in new york city and it spread across the country and it will continue to spread because there are too Many Americans who cannot live on the federal some higher or state minimum wages in some areas, so this is a Remarkable Movement that is also going to boost the economy. All of these lowwage workers will immediate least and that money. It is remarkable that a movement has been able to get this far so quickly. Amy we will continue to cover it as this wave of both protest and response with real laws sweeps the country. Juan now to todays top story. The verdict not guilty. That was the decision of a connecticut jury thursday in the murder trial of Cherelle Baldwin. We first reported on the case yesterday, just hours before the jury acquitted baldwin, a 24yearold mother. She was charged with the 2013 killing of her exboyfriend, Jeffrey Brown, whom baldwin says had stalked and abused her. According to court documents, brown had repeatedly threatened baldwin, took her credit cards and money, and assaulted her during visits to see their son. Baldwin eventually attained a Court Order Barring threats, harassment and assaults during , visits, but brown continued sending baldwin a threatening text message. Then, according to a Police Affidavit based on baldwins statements, brown showed up at her house, climbed through her window and attacked her, choking her with his belt. Baldwin escaped and managed to get inside her car, but so did brown, who again choked her. What happened next is hard for even baldwin to remember, but when Police Arrived they found , baldwin on the ground with a broken leg, and brown was lifeless in front of the car, pinned against the garage wall. Baldwin was eventually arrested on murder charges. Amy since the incident, Cherelle Baldwin has spent prison,hree years in held on a 1 million bond. A first trial in 2015 ended in a hung jury, 11 to was declared a one, mistrial. In her favor, 11 to one. Prosecutors moved to retry cherelle. After the notguilty verdict was read, Cherelle Baldwin fell to the floor sobbing, saying, my baby is going to get his mommy back. Jeffrey browns father, jeffrey hines, said he respected the decision of the jury. He pointed to a class ring he wears which has a symbol of the scales of justice and said, they made a decision. Thats it. The case has caught the attention of Domestic Violence organizations nationwide, who cited the case as an example of how black women are disproportionately imprisoned when they defend themselves against domestic abuse. Well today in a democracy now exclusive, Cherelle Baldwin joins us in our studio for her first interview since being freed yesterday. Also with us is her mother, cynthia long, who we spoke to yesterday on democracy now in bridgeport, but today she is with us in new york. And her defense attorney, miles gerety. Thank you so much for joining us. Cherelle, welcome to the free world. Thank you so much. Amy how did you feel when you heard that verdict yesterday in the bridgeport courtroom . I just, like, collapsed. I could not believe it. When they said not guilty of all five accounts, it was just like god sent an angel down and saved me. It was amazing. Amy you had been in prison for nearly three years awaiting this trial. Yes. Juan what has it been like you have a fiveyearold son. How are you able to maintain relations with him during that time you were in prison and what has been his reaction now that you are back out . , but has not seen me yet im going to see him on monday. I would see him twice a month up at the correctional facility. The whole time he thought i was at school. He did not know i was in jail, because we were burgundy shirts and jeans, so he thought i was at school. He said to me last weekend, he was like, mommy, will you come home . Promise y, when i come home i will play with you. When i go home, im going to play the lego batman all day with him. Amy cynthia long, we spoke to yesterday. We did not know how long the jury would be out. What was your response . I was just totally overjoyed. Because i believe my daughter was innocent the whole time. I am just so grateful that the jury got to hear her side of the story, you know, that they made the right decision. It just overwhelmed me with tears because, you know, there are so many Domestic Violence victims out there that are still struggling in jail for fighting back. I am just so grateful, you know, that everything turned out well for cherelle. , could you gerety talk about how you got involved in the case in the significance of the case, especially in light of the fact there was this history of abuse that existed beforehand, whether prosecutors even attempted a murder conviction . When i wasvolved told about the facts of th