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Sep 24, 2018
News that Dr. Christine Blasey Ford will testify Thursday against Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh has prompted many to warn senators not to repeat the mistakes of the Anita Hill hearings of 1991, when Hill was questioned by an all-male, all-white Senate Judiciary Committee over her allegations that then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas had sexually harassed her in the workplace. In the weeks after Hill testified, nearly 1,600 black feminists organized as "African American Women in Defense of Ourselves" and signed a manifesto published in an advertisement in _The New York Times_. We speak with historian, author and activist Barbara Ransby, one of the initiators of the manifesto, who is now a professor of African American studies, gender and women's studies and history at the University of Illinois, Chicago.
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Sep 24, 2018
Dr. Christine Blasey Ford has agreed to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday about her allegations that Kavanaugh attempted to rape her when she was 15 years old and he was 17 years old. More than 1,100 alumnae of the Holton-Arms School, the Maryland prep school that Blasey Ford graduated from in 1984, have signed a letter in support of her sexual assault claims against Kavanaugh, saying they are grateful that she came forward to tell her story. In a letter, they wrote, "It demands a thorough and independent investigation before the Senate can reasonably vote on Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to a lifetime seat on the nation's highest court. Dr. Blasey Ford's experience is all too consistent with stories we heard and lived while attending Holton. Many of us are survivors ourselves." We speak with Holton-Arms School alumna Alexis Goldstein in Washington, D.C. She helped organize the letter campaign in support of Blasey Ford.
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Sep 24, 2018
Senator Dianne Feinstein is calling for the immediate postponement of the nomination proceedings of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh after a second woman has come forward alleging sexual misconduct by the judge. Deborah Ramirez, a former classmate of Kavanaugh's at Yale University, has accused him of exposing himself and thrusting his penis into her face during a college party in a dorm room. Ramirez spoke on the record to The New Yorker and is now calling on the FBI to investigate her allegations. The New Yorker revealed Republican Senate aides learned of Ramirez's allegations last week and responded by trying to quickly move Kavanaugh's nomination ahead before the allegations became public. This comes as Dr. Christine Blasey Ford has agreed to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday about her allegations that Kavanaugh attempted to rape her when she was 15 years old and he was 17 years old. Kavanaugh has denied both accusations. We speak with Jodi Jacobson, president and editor-in-chief of Rewire.
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Sep 24, 2018
Feinstein Calls for Postponing Kavanaugh Nomination Process After Second Woman Speaks Out, Trump Questions Blasey Ford's Attempted Rape Claim, Trump Admin to Deny Green Cards to Immigrants Who Collect Public Assistance, NYT: Rosenstein Suggested Secretly Recording President Trump, Iran Blames U.S. & Gulf States After 29 Die in Attack on Military Parade, Giuliani: The Overthrow of Iran's Government Is "Going to Happen", Coal Ash Spill Reported in Cape Fear River in North Carolina, Pompeo Warns U.S. Preparing "Series of Actions" Targeting Venezuela, 20,000 March in Switzerland for Equal Pay for Women, Cruz and O'Rourke Spar in First Debate for Texas Senate Seat, Sentencing Hearing Begins for Bill Cosby
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Sep 21, 2018
In his new documentary "Fahrenheit 11/9," filmmaker Michael Moore interviews the last surviving Nuremberg prosecutor, Ben Ferencz, who describes President Trump's policy of family separations at the U.S.-Mexico border and the large-scale detention of immigrant children as a "crime against humanity." Moore also looks at the rise of Hitler in Nazi Germany and compares it to the rise of Trump in the United States.
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Sep 21, 2018
In July, 2016, Michael Moore wrote a column titled "Five Reasons Why Trump Will Win." In it, Moore wrote, "Donald J. Trump is going to win in November. This wretched, ignorant, dangerous part-time clown and full time sociopath is going to be our next president. President Trump. Go ahead and say the words, ‘cause you'll be saying them for the next four years: 'PRESIDENT TRUMP.'" He went on to list the five reasons why Trump would be elected: Trump's focus on the midwest, "The Last Stand of the Angry White Man," "The Hillary Problem," "The Depressed Sanders Vote" and what he called the "Jesse Ventura Effect"—people voting for Trump simply to disrupt the system. We talk to Michael Moore about his predictions and how Democrats failed to take Trump more seriously.
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Sep 21, 2018
We continue our conversation with Michael Moore about his interaction with Donald Trump on Roseanne Barr's talk show in November 1998. Moore had released the film _Roger & Me_ nine years earlier. Trump was upset to learn the two would be appearing together and threatened to leave, Moore says. Michael Moore negotiated with Trump, asked him not to leave and promised not to "go after" him over real estate dealings and charges of racism—and now says he was "played."
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Sep 21, 2018
Fahrenheit 11/9—That's the name of the new documentary premiering today by Oscar-winning filmmaker Michael Moore, a stunning retelling of the 2016 election and its aftermath. 11/9. That's November 9th, the day Donald Trump won the 2016 presidential election. In the film, Michael crosses the country, documenting not only the rise of Trumpism but also the teachers' strikes sweeping the nation, the "blue wave" of progressive candidates in the 2018 primaries, the rise of student activism after the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, and the water crisis in his hometown of Flint, Michigan. Moore spares no one in the wide-ranging documentary, which takes aim at the Democratic establishment, the New York Times and other mainstream media outlets, the electoral college, Barack Obama, Donald Trump and even himself. Michael Moore joins us in our studio to talk about the film and much more.
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Sep 21, 2018
"Fahrenheit 11/9"—That's the name of the new documentary premiering today by Oscar-winning filmmaker Michael Moore, a stunning retelling of the 2016 election and its aftermath. 11/9. That's November 9, the day Donald Trump won the 2016 presidential election. In the film, Michael crosses the country, documenting not only the rise of Trumpism but also the teachers' strikes sweeping the nation, the "blue wave" of progressive candidates in the 2018 primaries, the rise of student activism after the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, and the water crisis in his hometown of Flint, Michigan. Moore spares no one in the wide-ranging documentary, which takes aim at the Democratic establishment, The New York Times and other mainstream media outlets, the Electoral College, Barack Obama, Donald Trump and even himself. Michael Moore joins us in our studio to talk about the film and much more.
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Sep 21, 2018
Dr. Christine Blasey Ford Offers to Testify About Kavanaugh Attempted Rape Allegations, Republican Congressman Jokes that Abraham Lincoln Groped Ruth Bader Ginsburg, State Department Specialists Opposed Pompeo's Decision to Keep Backing Saudi Assault in Yemen, Dozens of Undocumented Immigrants Arrested While Trying to Retrieve Children in Custody, Trump Admin Diverts $266 Million from Social Programs to Pay For Detaining Children, One Year After Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico Remains in Crisis, Trump Reportedly Asked Spain to Build 3,000-Mile Wall Across Sahara Desert, At Least 100 Die After Ferry Capsizes in Tanzania, Ireland Moves to Legalize Abortion and Make Abortions Free, Andrew Cuomo's Former Top Aide Sentenced to Six Years in Prison, Colin Kaepernick to Receive Harvard University's W.E.B. Du Bois Medal, Noam Chomsky Visits Brazil's Former President Lula in Prison
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Sep 20, 2018
"American Prison." That's the name of the new book by award-winning journalist Shane Bauer, who dives deep into the profit-earning motives of U.S. prisons, from convict labor in colonial-era settlements all the way to present day mass incarceration, including Bauer's own stint as an undercover prison guard at the privately owned Winn Correctional Center in Louisiana. We speak with Shane Bauer in New York City.
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Sep 20, 2018
South Carolina officials are coming under fire for refusing to relocate prisoners in mandatory evacuation zones even as Hurricane Florence barreled down on the state. Prisoners were instead put to work behind bars making sandbags to prepare for the storm's arrival. We speak with Kymberly Smith, a community organizer with the Party for Socialism and Liberation. She has been protesting South Carolina's choice to not evacuate prisoners during Hurricane Florence.
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Sep 20, 2018
Two women being transported by sheriff's deputies to a mental health facility drowned Tuesday in South Carolina when the van they were riding in was overcome by floodwaters. The two sheriff's deputies in the vehicle survived. Forty-five-year-old Wendy Newton and 43-year-old Nicolette Green are two of at least 37 people killed by Hurricane Florence since the storm made landfall. Both women had gone to hospitals Tuesday morning when they were involuntarily committed and detained. Less than 24 hours later, they were dead. "There are a lot of questions remaining about why this had to occur, then, why there couldn't have been some sort of an emergency delay," says Meg Kinnard, South Carolina correspondent for the Associated Press, who has been following the story closely.
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Sep 20, 2018
As Republicans charge forward with Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nominee hearing despite Dr. Christine Blasey Ford's claim that he raped her as a teenager, a new Nation investigation reveals a secret network of right-wing activists has spent millions of dollars attacking questions about Kavanaugh's stance on abortion, LGBTQ rights and executive privilege as "anti-religious bigotry." We speak with Sarah Posner about her explosive new report for The Nation: "The ‘Anti-Catholic' Playbook." She is a reporting fellow at the Investigative Fund at The Nation Institute.
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Sep 20, 2018
Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley has set a 10 a.m. Friday morning deadline for Dr. Christine Blasey Ford to decide whether she will testify about her allegation that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh attempted to rape her at a high school party when she was 15 years old. But Dr. Blasey Ford's lawyers say an FBI investigation into her claims should be conducted first. Attorney Lisa Banks issued a statement Wednesday saying, "The rush to a hearing is unnecessary, and contrary to the committee discovering the truth." We get response from journalist Sarah Posner, reporting fellow at the Investigative Fund at The Nation Institute.
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Sep 20, 2018
Sen. Grassley Sets Deadline for Kavanaugh Accuser to Respond to Testimony Request, North & South Korea Aim to Declare End of War This Year, Shocking Video: Florence Rainfall Drowns Thousands of Factory Farm Animals in NC, Puerto Rico Marks Anniversary of Hurricane Maria as Trump Denies Death Count, Trump Continues Attack on Sessions: "I Don't Have an Attorney General", Senate Passes $674 Billion Military Spending Bill, FBI & DOJ to Redact Documents Trump Ordered Fully Declassified, Israeli Forces Kill 15-Year-Old Boy in Gaza as Historic Protests Continue, Palestinian UNRWA Staff Protest Job Cuts in Gaza, Germany: Journalist Dies While Covering Hambach Forest Occupation, NYRB Editor Leaves After Outcry over Essays by Men Accused of Sexual Assault, NBA Sanctions Dallas Mavericks for Sexual Misconduct and Violence, Human Rights Group to Bail Out Over 500 from Rikers Island, Former Disgraced Chicago Police Chief Jon Burge Dies at 70, CodePink's Medea Benjamin to Iran Envoy: "You Are Making a Case for War with Iran"
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Sep 19, 2018
The Trump administration has once again slashed the number of refugees allowed to resettle in the United States. On Monday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the new cap on refugees would be a historic low of just 30,000 next year, down from the current level of 45,000. The actual number of refugees allowed in to the country is expected to be even lower than the 30,000 cap. Monday's announcement represents the lowest ceiling any president has imposed on the U.S. refugee program since its creation in 1980. Under President Obama, the refugee cap reached 110,000. For more on the Trump administration's refugee policy, we speak with Ryan Mace, refugee specialist for Amnesty International USA.
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Sep 19, 2018
As President Trump visits North Carolina, where thousands are evacuating after Hurricane Florence caused record flooding, we go to Raleigh to speak with Rev. Dr. William Barber, co-chair of the Poor People's Campaign. Areas devastated by the storm include some of the poorest areas on the Eastern Seaboard. Barber's recent CNN piece is headlined "In hurricane wind and waves, the poor suffer most."
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Sep 19, 2018
As President Trump visits North Carolina, where thousands are evacuating after Hurricane Florence caused record flooding, we go to Raleigh to speak with Rev. Dr. William Barber, co-chair of the Poor People's Campaign. Areas devastated by the storm include some of the poorest areas on the Eastern Seaboard. Barber's recent CNN piece is headlined "In hurricane wind and waves, the poor suffer most."
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Sep 19, 2018
Dr. Christine Blasey Ford's sexual assault allegations against Brett Kavanaugh have cast doubt on whether President Trump's Supreme Court nominee will be confirmed by the Senate. "The process was bad from the beginning," says Rev. Dr. William Barber, co-chair of the Poor People's Campaign and president of Repairers of the Breach. "We are poised to have two presidents that did not win the popular vote, now will have appointed four extreme members to the Supreme Court." Barber says Kavanaugh will be dangerous to voting rights, to labor rights, to healthcare and to women's rights.
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Sep 19, 2018
A Senate hearing with Supreme Court justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh and Dr. Christine Blasey Ford may not move forward, as Blasey Ford asks for the FBI to investigate her claims that Kavanaugh attempted to rape her as a teenager before she testifies. Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley had invited Blasey Ford and Kavanaugh to both testify on Monday, but Blasey Ford's attorneys are declining the offer. Her lawyers wrote in a letter to Grassley, "While Dr. Ford's life was being turned upside down, you and your staff scheduled a public hearing for her to testify at the same table as Judge Kavanaugh in front of two dozen U.S. Senators on national television to relive this traumatic and harrowing incident." The letter revealed that Blasey Ford has received multiple death threats and has been forced to move out of her home. On Tuesday night, Senator Grassley said there's "no reason for any further delay" in the hearing, even if Christine Blasey Ford does not testify. We speak with Oscar-winning filmmaker Michael Moore about Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford. His new movie, "Fahrenheit 11/9," is out in theaters this week.
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Sep 19, 2018
North and South Korea Vow to Denuclearize, Co-Host 2032 Olympics, Kavanaugh Accuser Dr. Blasey Ford Faces Death Threats, Asks for FBI Investigation Before Testifying, Florence Death Toll Rises to 35, Includes 2 Detainees in Police Custody, Trump Considers Building Permanent Military Base in Poland, NATO Building Permanent Military Structures in Afghanistan as 17th Anniversary of War Approaches, Yemen: New Evidence of U.S.-Made Bombs; Charity Warns of Starvation on an "Unprecedented Scale", Israeli Forces Kill 2 Men in Gaza Protest and 1 Palestinian in Occupied East Jerusalem, U.N. Report Condemns Burma for Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity, U.S.-China Trade War Ramps Up with Retaliatory Chinese Tariffs, Pussy Riot Activist Was Likely Poisoned, German Doctors Confirm, Wilbur Ross Lied Under Oath About Origin of Request to Add Citizenship Question to 2020 Census, Brooklyn Catholic Diocese Part of Massive Settlement in Child Sexual Abuse Cases, Workers Strike Around the Country to Protest Sexual Abuse and Harassment at McDonald's
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Sep 18, 2018
This week marks the seven-year anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street movement and 10 years since the collapse of U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers, which triggered the onset of the global financial crisis. The crisis also sparked massive global anti-capitalist movements, including Occupy Wall Street, the M-15 movement in Spain and the anti-austerity movements in Greece. "It's striking how little we are marking these anniversaries," says author and activist Nathan Schneider. "I think … we recognize we really haven't done anything serious to deal with the causes of this crash." Schneider's new book outlines an alternative economic model based on cooperative ownership that saw a resurgence since the 2008 financial crisis. It's titled "Everything for Everyone: The Radical Tradition that is Shaping the Next Economy."
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Sep 18, 2018
While the worst of the Hurricane Florence is over, officials say the most dangerous flooding is yet to come for residents of the Carolinas and Virginia, as thousands have been ordered to evacuate their homes and hundreds more have sought rescue from rising floodwaters. But undocumented immigrants have expressed concern they will encounter immigration enforcement if they seek help. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has reallocated nearly $10 million from FEMA's budget to ICE to pay for detention space and deportations. We speak with Laura Garduño Garcia, a DACA recipient and Greensboro-based organizer with Siembra NC and the American Friends Service Committee; and with Mary Small, policy director for Detention Watch Network.
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Sep 18, 2018
Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley has announced that the committee will hold another hearing on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh next Monday in light of accusations that he attempted to rape a 15-year-old girl at a party while he was in high school. Both Kavanaugh and his accuser, professor Christine Blasey Ford, will testify under oath. As the allegations against Kavanaugh gain steam, a new report from Ryan Grim for The Intercept has revealed that attorney Cyrus Sanai multiple times tried to reach out to Senators Charles Grassley and Dianne Feinstein on behalf of federal court employees also willing to speak out against Kavanaugh. The employees wanted to talk about Kavanaugh's work as a clerk for disgraced former Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Chief Judge Alex Kozinski, who resigned in 2017 after being accused by at least 15 women of sexual misconduct. But Sinai never heard back. Kavanaugh has said repeatedly that he did not witness Kozinski behave in a sexually inappropriate way. We speak with Ryan Grim, Washington, D.C. bureau chief for The Intercept. His latest piece is headlined "Attorney Sent Letter to Chuck Grassley and Dianne Feinstein Claiming Federal Court Employees Willing to Speak About Brett Kavanaugh."
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Sep 18, 2018
Trump Administration Slashes Number of Permitted Refugees in U.S. to Historic Low, Kavanaugh & Christine Ford to Testify at New Hearing on Attempted Rape Allegation, Syrian Missile Downs Russian Military Aircraft, Killing 15, Russia and Turkey Announce Plan to Create Demilitarized Zone in Idlib, Yemen: U.S.-Backed Saudi Coalition Accused of Deadly Bombing of Radio Station, Pyongyang: North and South Korean Leaders Reportedly Preparing to Declare End of Korean War, Hurricane Florence Death Toll Reaches 32 as Threat of Toxic Coal Ash Release Looms, Death Toll from Typhoon Mangkhut Tops 74 with 3 Million Displaced in China, Nigeria: More than 100 Dead in Mass Flooding, Israeli Airstrike Kills 2 in Gaza; Palestinian Man Dies in Custody in West Bank, Pakistan: PM Imran Khan Plans to Grant Citizenship to Over 1 Million Refugees, Trial Underway for Officer who Killed 17-Year Old Laquan McDonald in 2014, Ex-Police Chief in Florida Pleads Guilty to Framing Innocent Black Men, Trump Orders Declassification of Materials in Russia Probe, Billionaire Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff Acquires Time Magazine, Texas Board of Ed Votes to Drop Hillary Clinton, Helen Keller from Curriculum
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Sep 17, 2018
Protests continue in Dallas after the shooting and killing of a 26-year-old black man in his own apartment by a white Dallas police officer. Police officer Amber Guyger has been charged with manslaughter after she entered Botham Shem Jean's apartment about two weeks ago and opened fire, killing him. Police claim she believed it to be her apartment. Questions are growing over why there was a three-day delay in charging Guyger and how she failed to know she was not in her own apartment when she killed Jean. Jean's family is also criticizing police for issuing and making public information from a search warrant on Jean's apartment. We speak with Lee Merritt, a civil rights attorney who is representing the family of Botham Jean, and says police are trying to smear Jean to shield their officer from punishment. "It took (Jean) being killed by a Dallas police officer for him to become a criminal," Merritt notes.
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Sep 17, 2018
As news of sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court Brett Kavanaugh breaks, his stance on Roe v. Wade is also under scrutiny. The _New York Times_ reports that it received several leaked documents ahead of Kavanaugh's confirmation hearings earlier this month, including an email in which Kavanaugh questioned the accuracy of calling Roe v. Wade the "settled law of the land." We speak with Dahlia Lithwick, Senior Editor at _Slate.com_; and Ian Millhiser, a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress Action Fund and the Justice Editor of _ThinkProgress_.
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Sep 17, 2018
Last week, ThinkProgress published a report by Senior Fellow Ian Millhiser headlined "Brett Kavanaugh said he would kill Roe v. Wade last week and almost no one noticed." But then a Facebook fact-checker with the conservative outlet the _Weekly Standard_ declared it "fake news," leading the piece to be targeted and demoted by the social media site. _The Intercept_ then re-published Millhiser's piece, with editor-in-chief Betsy Reed writing, "The story was effectively nuked from Facebook, with other outlets threatened with traffic and monetary consequences if they shared it." We speak with Ian Millhiser, a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress Action Fund and the Justice Editor for _ThinkProgress_.
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Sep 17, 2018
Dr. Christine Blasey Ford has come forward to accuse President Trump's Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of attempted rape, throwing his nomination into question in the days before the Senate judiciary committee is expected to vote on it. Blasey Ford is a professor at Palo Alto University in California, and says Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when they were both in high school. She at first expected her story to be kept confidential, but changed her mind after it leaked. She now says she is willing to testify about her experience. In an interview published Sunday by the Washington Post, Ford said in the early 1980s, Kavanaugh and a friend were "stumbling drunk" when they pushed her into a bedroom. The Post reports that "while his friend watched, she said, Kavanaugh pinned her to a bed on her back and groped her over her clothes, grinding his body against hers and clumsily attempting to pull off her one-piece bathing suit and the clothing she wore over it. When she tried to scream, she said, he put his hand over her mouth." We get a response from Dahlia Lithwick, Senior Editor at Slate.com, whose latest piece is headlined "Our System Is Too Broken to Assess the Sexual Assault Claim Against Kavanaugh."
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Sep 17, 2018
California Professor Publicly Accuses Brett Kavanaugh of Attempting to Rape her in High School, Tropical Depression Florence Kills 17 & Smashes Rainfall Records in Carolinas, Florence's Torrential Rains Trigger Toxic Coal Ash Release in North Carolina, Typhoon Mangkhut Reaches Mainland China; Death Toll in Philippines Could Exceed 100, FEMA Head Defends Trump's Lies on Hurricane Maria's Death Toll in Puerto Rico, Hundreds Mourn 12-Year-Old Gazan Boy Killed at Nonviolent Protest at Border Fence, Officials Say Palestinian Teenager Fatally Stabbed Israeli in Occupied West Bank, Chile: Pope Expels Priest in Child Sex Abuse Scandal, Blackwater Contractor Faces Retrial for Murder in Nisoor Square Massacre in Iraq, Trump Threatens to Impose New Tariffs on China, Escalating Trade War, Texas Border Agent Confesses to Murdering Four Women, Guatemala's Highest Court Orders Return of U.N.-Backed Anti-Corruption Probe, Germany: Thousands Protest the Clearing of Hambach Forest for Coal Mine Expansion, European Activists Protest Banks on 10-Year Anniversary of Lehman Brothers' Collapse
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Sep 14, 2018
As California Governor Jerry Brown's Global Climate Action Summit is underway in San Francisco, we look at one of the more controversial solutions to climate change: geoengineering. Sometimes called "climate manipulation," geoengineering involves the deliberate altering of the earth to decrease the impact of greenhouse gas emissions. Such proposals are already being explored by government agencies, scientists, and businesses around the world. Supporters of geoengineering endorse radical ways to manipulate the planet, from spraying aerosols with sulfur particles into the stratosphere, to scrubbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. But critics say these "techno-fixes" do nothing to address the root causes of climate change, and worse, can be dangerous for the earth. We host a debate between Gopal Dayaneni, board member of the ETC Group and a founding member of the Climate Justice Alliance, and David Keith, professor of applied physics at Harvard's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and professor of public policy in the Harvard Kennedy School. He is also the founder of Carbon Engineering, a company developing technology to capture CO2 from ambient air.
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Sep 14, 2018
Over 100 indigenous and climate justice activists staged a protest in San Francisco Tuesday outside a meeting of California Governor Jerry Brown's Climate and Forest Task Force. Protesters attempted to deliver a letter to Brown and task force members. Democracy Now! was there in the streets.
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Sep 14, 2018
Protesters disrupted the Global Climate Action Summit Thursday, criticizing California Governor Jerry Brown in part for his support for cap and trade. Cap and trade is a market-driven strategy in which governments cap emission levels, then allow companies to buy and sell permits to pollute. California has the most far-reaching cap-and-trade program in the United States. Last year Governor Brown signed an extension to the state's cap-and-trade law, which began under Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Governor Brown has credited cap and trade with limiting the state's greenhouse gas emissions, but the issue has split many environmental groups. We host a debate between Peter Miller, director of the western region Climate & Clean Energy Program for the Natural Resources Defense Council, and Eriel Deranger, founder and executive director of the group Indigenous Climate Action and a member of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation.
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Sep 14, 2018
Protesters disrupted the Global Climate Action Summit Thursday, criticizing California Governor Jerry Brown in part for his support for cap and trade. Cap and trade is a market-driven strategy in which governments cap emission levels, then allow companies to buy and sell permits to pollute. California has the most far-reaching cap-and-trade program in the United States. Last year Governor Brown signed an extension to the state's cap-and-trade law, which began under Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Governor Brown has credited cap and trade with limiting the state's greenhouse gas emissions, but the issue has split many environmental groups. We host a debate between Peter Miller, director of the western region Climate & Clean Energy Program for the Natural Resources Defense Council, and Eriel Deranger, founder and executive director of the group Indigenous Climate Action and a member of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation.
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Sep 14, 2018
Protesters disrupted the Global Climate Action Summit Thursday, criticizing California Governor Jerry Brown in part for his support for cap-and-trade. Cap-and-trade is a market-driven strategy in which governments cap emission levels, then allow companies to buy and sell permits to pollute. California has the most far-reaching cap and trade program in the United States. Last year Governor Brown signed an extension to the state's cap and trade law which began under Republican governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Governor Brown has credited cap and trade with limiting the state's greenhouse gas emissions, but the issue has split many environmental groups. We host a debate between Peter Miller, director of the western region climate and clean energy program for the Natural Resources Defense Council, and Eriel Deranger, founder and executive director of the group Indigenous Climate Action and a member of the Athabaskan Chippewa first nation.
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Sep 14, 2018
As California Governor Jerry Brown's Global Climate Action Summit kicked off Thursday, indigenous and climate justice activists blocked the main entrance in protest. While the protests took place outside the GCAS, Gov. Brown and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the U.N. special envoy for climate action, were inside. Protesters disrupted Bloomberg's speech at the summit's main plenary. Democracy Now! was there, in the streets and at the conference.
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Sep 14, 2018
Hurricane Florence Makes Landfall, Lashing Carolinas Coast, Trump Falsely Claims 3,000 Puerto Ricans Did Not Die After Hurricane Maria, Wins and Losses for Progressive Challengers in New York Primaries, Former Refugee from Afghanistan Safiya Wazir Unseats Incumbent in NH Primary Race, Paul Manafort and Special Counsel Reach Tentative Plea Deal, Sen. Feinstein Refers to FBI Letter Alleging Sexual Misconduct by Kavanaugh, Dozens of Homes Explode North of Boston, Mass., Killing 1 Person, Argentina: Thousands of Teachers & Students Strike Against Austerity Measures, Lawsuit Alleges MSU Officials Intentionally Covered Up 1992 Rape by Larry Nassar
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Sep 13, 2018
Governors, mayors and policy makers from around the world are gathering this week for the Global Climate Action Summit. The conference was organized by California Governor Jerry Brown. The conference begins today just days after Brown signed a new law to shift California to 100 percent carbon-free electricity by 2045. While Brown is hailed as a climate hero, he has been widely criticized by many climate justice activists who are planning to protest outside the opening of today's conference. We speak to Bill McKibben, the co-founder of 350.org. His latest piece for the Nation is titled Jerry Brown's Climate Legacy Is Still Being Decided."
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Sep 13, 2018
As the East Coast prepares for Hurricane Florence to make landfall, fear is growing that the storm could result in catastrophic waste spills. Twenty-four toxic coal ash containment ponds in the path of the storm are at risk of flooding in the extreme rainfall. We are joined by Will Hendrick, staff attorney with the Waterkeeper Alliance, Frank Holleman, senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center, and Bill McKibben, co-founder of 350.org.
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Sep 13, 2018
In North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and Georgia, millions of residents are bracing for the arrival of Hurricane Florence, which meteorologists are warning could unleash life-threatening storm surges and historic flooding across a wide swath of the East Coast. Even if the storm weakens, experts warn Hurricane Florence could kill thousands of farm animals and trigger catastrophic waste spills from sewage treatment plants, hog waste lagoons and chicken farms. Many of the factory hog farms in North Carolina store their waste by spraying it on nearby fields and neighborhoods, or by depositing it in lagoons that can overflow during hurricanes, causing the toxic pig manure to pour into nearby waterways. We speak with Naeema Muhammad organizing co-director for the North Carolina Environmental Justice Network and Will Hendrick, staff attorney with the Waterkeeper Alliance.
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Sep 13, 2018
Millions Along East Coast Brace for Arrival of Hurricane Florence, Toxic Waste Sites and Nuclear Plants Lie in Path of Hurricane Florence, Puerto Rican Officials Slam Trump for Claiming Response to Maria Was "Success"
, NYT: More Migrant Children Are Detained than at Any Other Time in U.S. History
, Parents Forcibly Separated from Children Win Second Chance to Apply for Asylum
, NYT: Scott Pruitt in Talks to Work as Consultant to Coal Tycoon, Pompeo Certifies Saudi-Led Coalition Taking Steps to Protect Yemeni Civilians, Despite Evidence, Guatemala Protests President's Effort to Shut Down U.N.-Backed Anti-Corruption Probe
, Trump's Son Eric Faces Backlash After Anti-Semitic Comments About Woodward's Book
, CBS "60 Minutes" Chief Jeff Fager Ousted amid Sexual Harassment Accusations
, Report: Over 3,600 Children in Germany Were Sexually Abused by Clergy
, Pussy Riot Member Hospitalized for Suspected Poisoning
, New York Voters Head to Polls for Primary Today
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Sep 12, 2018
Today in San Francisco, the Rise Against Climate Capitalism conference—a counter-conference to California Governor Jerry Brown's Global Climate Action Summit—will focus on the common goals of climate activists and labor. That's also the subject of an explosive new report: "Death on the Dakota Access: An Investigation Into the Deadly Business of Building Oil and Gas Pipelines." We speak with Antonia Juhasz, a longtime oil and energy journalist, about her new investigation for Pacific Standard magazine on the deaths of two men who worked on the Dakota Access pipeline, and the massive oil and natural gas boom that has generated some of the deadliest jobs in the country.
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Sep 12, 2018
We continue our conversation about California's incarcerated firefighters with a look at the women fighting the state's climate change-fueled blazes. We speak with Amika Mota, a former prisoner firefighter. She didn't even make $1 per hour while on duty as a firefighter—she made just 53 cents. Amika Mota is now the director of prison re-entry at the Young Women's Freedom Center in San Francisco.
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Sep 12, 2018
We go behind the scenes of California's raging climate-fueled wildfires with the hidden men and women on the front lines of the state's ever-growing fire season: prisoner firefighters. Of the 13,000 firefighters battling blazes across the state, more than 2,500 are prisoners. While salaried firefighters earn an annual mean wage of $74,000 a year plus benefits, prisoners earn $1 per hour when fighting active fires. According to some estimates, California saves up to $100 million a year by using prison labor to fight its biggest environmental problem. The Democracy Now! team traveled on Sunday to the Delta Conservation Camp, a low security prison about an hour north of San Francisco where more than 100 men are imprisoned. We interviewed incarcerated firefighters who had just returned from a 24-hour shift fighting the Snell Fire in Napa County.
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Sep 12, 2018
"Storm of a Lifetime": Hurricane Florence Barrels Down on Carolinas' Coast, Ahead of Florence, SC Officials Say They Will Not Evacuate Ridgeland Prison, Florence Threatens Catastrophic Waste Spills from Pig Farms, Coal Ash Ponds, 6 Years Before Florence, North Carolina Passed Law Banning Studies of Sea Level Rise, Ahead of Florence, Trump Tries to Celebrate Admin. Response to Hurricane Maria, Merkley: Trump Admin Diverted $10M from FEMA to ICE to Build Detention Centers, HHS to Triple Size of Texas Tent Camp for Migrant Children, Stephen Miller's Former Rabbi Slams Him at Rosh Hashanah Services over Family Separation, Tens of Thousands of Syrians Flee Idlib for Turkish Border, Afghanistan: Death Toll from Nangarhar Suicide Bombing Rises to 68, Lula Officially Pulls Out of Brazil's Presidential Race, Up to a Million People March in Barcelona to Celebrate Catalonia's "National Day", Ethiopia and Eritrea Reopen Border After 20 Years
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Sep 11, 2018
We look at fallout from the women's U.S. Open final Saturday, where tennis star Serena Williams lost to 20-year-old Naomi Osaka, after accusing umpire Carlos Ramos of sexism. On Monday the Women's Tennis Association came out in support of Williams, with chief executive Steve Simon suggesting the umpire showed a different level of tolerance to Williams because she is a woman. During the final, Ramos gave Williams a code violation after he deemed a gesture made towards her by her coach to be "coaching," which is banned during a game. Ramos then penalized Williams a point after she destroyed her racket in anger, and docked her an entire game after she subsequently called the umpire a "liar" and a "thief" for stealing her point. We speak with Amira Rose Davis, assistant professor of history and women's, gender and sexuality studies at Penn State University and co-host of the sports podcast, "Burn It All Down."
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Sep 11, 2018
On Monday President Trump's national security adviser John Bolton announced the administration will close the Palestine Liberation Organization's office in Washington as retaliation for the Palestinians' efforts to bring alleged Israeli military war crimes to the International Criminal Court. Palestinian diplomat Saeb Erekat called the move "an affirmation of the U.S. administration's determination to continue its policies of blackmail and extortion and undermining the peace process and the two state solution." We speak with Jamil Dakwar, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Human Rights Program.
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Sep 11, 2018
President Trump's national security adviser John Bolton has threatened U.S. sanctions against International Criminal Court judges if they proceed with an investigation into alleged war crimes committed by U.S. troops in Afghanistan. In 2016 an ICC report accused the U.S. military of torturing at least 61 prisoners in Afghanistan during the ongoing war. The report also accused the CIA of subjecting at least 27 prisoners to torture, including rape, at CIA prison sites in Afghanistan, Poland, Romania and Lithuania. Bolton said in a speech at the Federalist Society Monday, "We will let the ICC die on its own. After all, for all intents and purposes, the ICC is already dead to us." We get response from Jamil Dakwar, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Human Rights Program.
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Sep 11, 2018
President Trump's national security adviser John Bolton has threatened U.S. sanctions against International Criminal Court judges if they proceed with an investigation into alleged war crimes committed by U.S. troops in Afghanistan. In 2016 an ICC report accused the U.S. military of torturing at least 61 prisoners in Afghanistan during the ongoing war. The report also accused the CIA of subjecting at least 27 prisoners to torture, including rape, at CIA prison sites in Afghanistan, Poland, Romania and Lithuania. Bolton said in a speech at the Federalist Society Monday, "We will let the ICC die on its own. After all, for all intents and purposes, the ICC is already dead to us." We get response from Jamil Dakwar, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Human Rights Program.
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Sep 11, 2018
More than 1.5 million people have been ordered to evacuate the coasts of Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina as Hurricane Florence continues to gain strength as it barrels toward the East Coast. The enormous Category 4 storm is projected to make landfall on Thursday or Friday, bringing with it heavy rains and high winds that could linger for days after hitting land. People up and down the coast are preparing for extreme flooding and what the National Hurricane Center is calling a "life-threatening storm surge." Experts are warning the damage could be catastrophic.
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Sep 11, 2018
John Bolton Threatens International Criminal Court Judges with Sanctions, More Than 1 Million Ordered to Evacuate as Florence Barrels Toward East Coast, Trump Admin Plans to Roll Back Regulations Limiting Methane Gas Emissions, Gov. Jerry Brown Signs Law to Move California to Carbon-Free Energy by 2045, In Urgent Plea, U.N. Secretary General Warns of Risks of "Runaway Climate Change", Bill McKibben: More than $6 Trillion Divested from Fossil Fuel Companies So Far, WaPo: 1,600 Federal Workers Have Departed EPA in Mass Exodus, U.N. Warns Offensive in Idlib Could Lead to Worst Lost of Life in 21st Century, Afghanistan: At Least 20 Killed in Suicide Bombing in Nangarhar, White House Considering Second Meeting Between Trump & Kim Jong-un, MSF: 100 Migrants Died Crossing Mediterranean Earlier in September, Protesters Rally Outside Dallas Police Headquarters over Police Killing of Botham Jean, FL Republican Gubernatorial Candidate Ron DeSantis Spoke at Far-Right Conference, Prosecutors Admit They Wrongly Accused Maria Butina of Trading Sex for Influence
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Sep 10, 2018
Supreme Court justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh is facing accusations of perjury following his confirmation hearing last week. Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont has suggested Kavanaugh lied to the Senate Judiciary Committee during his 2004 and 2006 hearings to become a federal judge. During those hearings Kavanaugh denied seeing private Democratic files that detailed strategies for opposing Republican judicial nominees while he was associate counsel in the George W. Bush White House. We speak with Lisa Graves, former top aide to Senator Patrick Leahy, whose new piece is headlined "I Wrote Some of the Stolen Memos That Brett Kavanaugh Lied to the Senate About." Graves is the former chief counsel for nominations for the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and was deputy assistant attorney general in the Department of Justice. She is now co-director of Documented, which investigates corporate influence on democracy.
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Sep 10, 2018
Supreme Court justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh is facing accusations of perjury following his confirmation hearing last week. Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont has suggested Kavanaugh lied to the Senate Judiciary Committee during his 2004 and 2006 hearings to become a federal judge. During those hearings Kavanaugh denied seeing private Democratic files that detailed strategies for opposing Republican judicial nominees while he was associate counsel in the George W. Bush White House. We speak with Lisa Graves, former top aide to Senator Patrick Leahy, whose new piece is headlined "I Wrote Some of the Stolen Memos That Brett Kavanaugh Lied to the Senate About." Graves is the former chief counsel for nominations for the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and was deputy assistant attorney general in the Department of Justice. She is now co-director of Documented, which investigates corporate influence on democracy.
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Sep 10, 2018
Hundreds of thousands of protesters in more than 90 countries joined a worldwide day of protest demanding urgent action to address climate change Saturday. In San Francisco, up to 30,000 people took part in the Rise for Climate, Jobs and Justice march. It is believed to be the largest climate march ever on the West Coast. The protest came just days before the start of the Global Climate Action Summit being organized by California Governor Jerry Brown. Democracy Now! was in the streets of San Francisco for the march.
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Sep 10, 2018
Activists Rally at Protests Worldwide to Demand Urgent Action on Climate Change
, Syrian and Russian Militaries Continue Offensive in Idlib, Obama Slams Trump as "Threat to Democracy", Trump Ex-Campaign Adviser George Papadopoulos Sentenced to 14 Days in Prison
, Senator Warren: Time to Use 25th Amendment to Remove Trump from Office
, U.S. to Adopt Aggressive Stance Against International Criminal Court, Israeli Soldiers Kill 2 Palestinian Protesters Friday
, NYT: U.S. Officials Met with Rebel Venezuelan Officials to Discuss Coup Against Maduro
, Egyptian Court Sentences 75 Muslim Brotherhood Members to Death
, Iraq: Protests over Public Services, Jobs Continue in Basra
, CBS Head Leslie Moonves Resigns, After New Sexual Assault & Harassment Accusations, NYT: CIA Expanding Drone Operations in Africa
, Nationwide Prison Strike Ends on 47th Anniversary of Attica Uprising
, White Dallas Cop Charged with Manslaughter for Killing Black Man in His Own Apartment, Serena Williams Tackles Sexism by Umpires at 2018 U.S. Open
, NFL Players Protest Racism & Police Brutality by Kneeling During National Anthem
, Scientist Jocelyn Bell Burnell Wins Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics
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Sep 07, 2018
The leaders of Russia, Iran and Turkey are meeting today in Tehran as the Syrian military is threatening a massive invasion of the rebel held city of Idlib. Russia and Iran are close allies to Syria while Turkey has been a key supporter of the opposition. This comes as the United States will chair a U.N. Security Council meeting today on the crisis in Syria. The U.N. is warning that an assault on Idlib could lead to a humanitarian catastrophe. U.N. special envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura said that if talks in Tehran fail, as many as 800,000 citizens may flee the region and that panic is spreading among Idlib's 3 million residents. Meanwhile, the Washington Post reports that President Trump has agreed to a new strategy that indefinitely extends the U.S. military effort in Syria in part to push out Iranian forces from Syria. We speak with award-winning journalist Rania Abouzeid in Beirut. She's the author of "No Turning Back. Life, Loss, and Hope in Wartime Syria." She has reported extensively from Syria since the uprising began in 2011, and has received the George Polk Award in 2014 and the Michael Kelly Award in 2015 for her coverage.
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Sep 07, 2018
The Trump administration is attempting to remove court-imposed time limits on the detention of immigrant children. The administration's proposal would allow immigrant families to be held in detention indefinitely, ending the long-standing 1997 Flores agreement which says that children cannot be jailed for more than 20 days. More than 400 children remain separated from their parents more than a month after a court-imposed deadline requiring the Trump administration to reunite all of the separated families. The American Civil Liberties Union says it appears ICE officials had access to the phone numbers of hundreds of parents of separated children before a federal court's June 26 family reunification deadline, but intentionally withheld the phone numbers for months. We speak with Cathleen Caron, founder & executive director of Justice In Motion, a group spearheading an effort to find parents of detained children.
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Sep 07, 2018
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing took a series of dramatic turns Thursday, as Democratic senators began releasing confidential documents from Kavanaugh's work at the George W. Bush White House. The New York Times also broke a major story Thursday morning revealing that Kavanaugh wrote as a White House attorney in 2003 that he did not deem the Supreme Court's landmark Roe v. Wade abortion rights decision to be "settled law of the land." He wrote, "I am not sure that all legal scholars refer to Roe as the settled law of the land at the Supreme Court level since Court can always overrule its precedent, and three current Justices on the Court would do so." These revelations come as the Trump administration withholds more than 100,000 pages of Kavanaugh's records on the basis of presidential privilege. We speak with Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.
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Sep 07, 2018
Sen. Cory Booker Releases Kavanaugh Documents in Act of "Civil Disobedience", New Documents Contradict Kavanaugh's Sworn Testimony, Kavanaugh Conflates Birth Control with Abortion, Trump Admin Seeks to Allow Indefinite Detention of Immigrant Families, ICE, DOJ Subpoena Millions of North Carolina Voting Records, Top Trump Admin Officials Deny They Penned Scathing Anonymous Op-Ed, Baghdad Massacre Trial for Blackwater Mercenary Ends in Hung Jury, Gunman Kills Three at Cincinnati Bank, Then Shot Dead by Police, Cincinnati Officer Who Tased 11-Year-Old Girl Will Face Discipline, Jury Gives $1 Fine to Man Who Punched White Supremacist Jason Kessler, Brazil: Far-Right Presidential Candidate Jair Bolsonaro Stabbed, Brazilian Workers' Party Candidate Lula da Silva to End Presidential Bid, New York AG Subpoenas All of State's Catholic Dioceses in Abuse Probe, Twitter Permanently Suspends Alex Jones & Infowars from Platform, New Northern California Wildfire Erupts in Shasta County, East Coast Schools Close Due to Heat Wave and Lack of AC, Thousands March in NYC for Action on Climate Change
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Sep 06, 2018
India's Supreme Court has overturned a law criminalizing consensual gay sex, in a major victory for LGBTQI groups. The ruling voids a portion of the Indian Penal Code written by Britain's colonial government in the 1860s, which, although rarely enforced, made sodomy a crime punishable by up to life in prison. We speak with Arundhati Roy, the acclaimed activist and author based in New Delhi. She won the Booker Prize in 1997 for her first novel, "The God of Small Things."
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Sep 06, 2018
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis are in New Delhi today for talks aimed at deepening military and trade ties between India and the United States. India is the largest weapons importer in the world. The trip comes just a week after the Indian government conducted raids across the country targeting prominent human rights activists, lawyers, poets and critics of the the Narendra Modi government. At least five people were arrested. Critics say the arrests are part of a broader attempt by Modi's government to silence dissidents ahead of next year's general election. We speak with the prize-winning author and activist Arundhati Roy. She won the Booker Prize in 1997 for her first novel, "The God of Small Things." Her most recent book is a novel titled "The Ministry of Utmost Happiness."
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Sep 06, 2018
The White House is scrambling to ferret out disloyal members of President Trump's inner circle after the New York Times published an anonymous op-ed Wednesday it says was written by a senior administration official claiming that a "quiet resistance" is underway seeking to constrain Trump's worst impulses. In the extraordinary op-ed, the unnamed official writes, "Many of the senior officials in his own administration are working diligently from within to frustrate parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations." We speak to Vince Warren, executive director of the Center for Constitutional Rights.
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Sep 06, 2018
Judge Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court confirmation hearing enters its third day today. On Wednesday Capitol Police arrested 73 people protesting Kavanaugh's nomination. The protests began almost immediately when Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley tried to start the hearing. Protesters included Women's March organizers from 26 states. Among them was a teenager who stood on a chair and said, "I'm 18, and I'm here for the youth of the country. You're ruining my future." We speak to Hina Shamsi, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's National Security Project, and Vince Warren, executive director of the Center for Constitutional Rights.
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Sep 06, 2018
Unnamed Trump Official Cites "Quiet Resistance" Within Administration, Trump Blasts "Gutless" Writer of Anonymous New York Times Op-Ed, Kavanaugh Won't Rule Out Presidential Self-Pardon, Roe v. Wade Reversal, Trump Suggests Banning Protests As 73 Arrested at Kavanaugh Hearing, Afghanistan: 20 Dead, 70 Wounded in Kabul Twin Bomb Attack, Iraq: Government Building Torched as Basra Protests Continue, Spain Cancels Bomb Sales to Saudi Arabia over Yemen Civilian Deaths, Syria: 800,000 More Civilians Could Be Displaced by Idlib Fighting, Trump Denies Report He Wanted to Assassinate Syria's Bashar al-Assad, Kim Jong-un Says Faith in President Trump Remains Unchanged, India's Supreme Court Overturns Colonial-Era Ban on Gay Sex, Jon Kyl Leaves Lobbyist Job, Returns to Senate to Fill John McCain's Seat, Chicago: Murder Trial Opens for Officer Who Shot Laquan McDonald, Louisiana: Four Water Protectors Arrested at Bayou Bridge Pipeline Site
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Sep 05, 2018
Independent Senator Bernie Sanders has targeted Amazon for its role in widening the wage gap in the United States, and this week he is expected to unveil legislation requiring large employers like Amazon to cover the cost of federal assistance received by their employees. We speak with journalist James Bloodworth, who spent a month working undercover as a "picker" in an Amazon order fulfillment center and found workers were urinating in bottles because they were discouraged from taking bathroom breaks. His new book is "Hired: Six Months Undercover in Low-Wage Britain."
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Sep 05, 2018
Amazon made headlines Tuesday when it became the second American company, after Apple, to reach $1 trillion in value. Amazon's founder and chief executive, Jeff Bezos, is the richest man in the world, with a net worth of more than $167 billion. But what's behind that wealth? What about its workers? The working conditions in Amazon's warehouses have been the focus of protests, union drives and several investigations—including by student reporters. As students throughout the country head back to class, we feature an investigative report by students at the Rutgers University Department of Journalism and Media Studies.
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Sep 05, 2018
Amazon made headlines Tuesday when it became the second American company, after Apple, to reach $1 trillion in value. Amazon's founder and chief executive, Jeff Bezos, is the richest man in the world, with a net worth of more than $167 billion. But what's behind that wealth? What about its workers? The working conditions in Amazon's warehouses have been the focus of protests, union drives and several investigations—including by student reporters. As students throughout the country head back to class, we feature an investigative report by students at the Rutgers University Department of Journalism and Media Studies.
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Sep 05, 2018
Even as records about Judge Brett Kavanaugh's time in the White House remain concealed, much can be learned from his judicial record. We speak with Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen, about their analysis of Judge Kavanaugh's opinions in split-decision cases, which found that during his 12 years on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, Kavanaugh decided or wrote an opinion against the public interest 87 percent of the time in split-decision cases dealing with consumer, environmental and worker rights.
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Sep 05, 2018
When Fred Guttenberg approached Judge Brett Kavanaugh during Tuesday's Supreme Court confirmation hearings to talk about his daughter Jaime, who was shot and killed in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre on Valentine's Day, he hoped to shake the nominee's hand and start a conversation. Instead, Kavanaugh turned his back and walked away. We speak with Fred Guttenberg about Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing and his record on the Second Amendment.
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Sep 05, 2018
When Fred Guttenberg approached Judge Brett Kavanaugh during Tuesday's Supreme Court confirmation hearings to talk about his daughter Jaime, who was shot and killed in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre on Valentine's Day, he hoped to shake the nominee's hand and start a conversation. Instead, Kavanaugh turned his back and walked away. We speak with Fred Guttenberg about Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing and his record on the Second Amendment.
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Sep 05, 2018
Protests, arrests and repeated calls from Democratic senators to adjourn the proceedings. That's how confirmation hearings began Tuesday for Judge Brett Kavanaugh, President Trump's pick to fill Justice Anthony Kennedy's seat on the Supreme Court. We begin our look at the hearings with Heidi Sieck, co-founder of the national organization VoteProChoice, who was the first member of the public to enter the Kavanaugh hearings on Tuesday and was removed after she protested, along with dozens of others who interrupted the proceedings.
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Sep 05, 2018
Dozens Arrested Disrupting First Day of Kavanaugh Confirmation Hearings, U.S. to End All Funding for U.N. Agency Providing Humanitarian Aid to Palestinians, Nearly 500 Migrant Children Remain Separated from Their Parents, "Fear": Bob Woodward's New Book Depicts Trump White House as "Crazytown", Amazon Becomes Second-Ever U.S. Company to Reach $1 Trillion in Market Value, California Lawmakers Pass Net Neutrality Bill, in Rebuke to Trump's FCC, Mexican Television Reporter Javier Enrique Rodríguez Valladares Killed in Cancún, Worst Typhoon to Hit Japan in 25 Years Kills at Least 10, Iraq: At Least 5 Killed by Security Forces Amid Ongoing Protests in Basra, From Florida to Washington, Prisoners Continue Nationwide Strike, Ayanna Pressley Defeats Michael Capuano in Massachusetts Primary
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Sep 04, 2018
Canada's Federal Court of Appeals has rejected the government's approval to triple the capacity of the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline in a major victory for indigenous groups and environmentalists. On Thursday, Justice Eleanor Dawson nullified licensing for the $7.4 billion project and brought construction to a halt until the National Energy Board and the federal government complete court-ordered fixes. Her ruling cited inadequate consultations with indigenous peoples affected by the project, and found the National Energy Board's assessment of the expansion was so flawed that the federal Cabinet should not have relied on it during the approval process. Just minutes after the court's decision, Kinder Morgan's shareholders agreed to sell the existing pipeline and the expansion project to the federal government for $4.5 billion. Prime Minister Trudeau had announced in May that Canada would purchase the pipeline. This means the government now owns the project as its expansion faces years of further review. We speak with Winona LaDuke, Native American activist and executive director of the group Honor the Earth, and Eriel Deranger, founder and executive director of the group Indigenous Climate Action.
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Sep 04, 2018
Canada's Federal Court of Appeals has rejected the government's approval to triple the capacity of the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline in a major victory for indigenous groups and environmentalists. On Thursday, Justice Eleanor Dawson nullified licensing for the $7.4 billion project and brought construction to a halt until the National Energy Board and the federal government complete court-ordered fixes. Her ruling cited inadequate consultations with indigenous peoples affected by the project, and found the National Energy Board's assessment of the expansion was so flawed that the federal Cabinet should not have relied on it during the approval process. Just minutes after the court's decision, Kinder Morgan's shareholders agreed to sell the existing pipeline and the expansion project to the federal government for $4.5 billion. Prime Minister Trudeau had announced in May that Canada would purchase the pipeline. This means the government now owns the project as its expansion faces years of further review. We speak with Winona LaDuke, Native American activist and executive director of the group Honor the Earth, and Eriel Deranger, founder and executive director of the group Indigenous Climate Action.
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Sep 04, 2018
Confirmation hearings begin for Judge Brett Kavanaugh to fill Justice Anthony Kennedy's seat on the Supreme Court. If he is confirmed, it would likely make the court the most conservative since the 1930s. Kavanaugh is 53 years old and could serve on the Supreme Court for decades to come. Critics warn his confirmation could lead to major rollbacks of civil rights, environmental regulations, gun control measures, voting rights and reproductive rights, including possibly overturning Roe v. Wade. We speak with Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. Last week the committee released a damning report on Kavanaugh's record on cases and issued a statement opposing Kavanaugh's nomination. She will attend the Senate confirmation hearings for Kavanaugh this week.
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Sep 04, 2018
Confirmation Hearings for Judge Brett Kavanaugh Begin Today, Trump Attacks Sessions for Filing Charges Against 2 Republican Congressmen, Father of Mollie Tibbetts: Don't Use Her Death to Promote Xenophobia and Racism, Trump Warns Syrian Government Not to Attack Idlib, Reuters Journalists Sentenced to 7 Years in Prison After Investigating Burmese Military Massacre, Saudi-Led Coalition Says Bombing of School Bus, Killing 40 Children, Was "Unjustified", Germany: 50,000 Attend Anti-Racism Concert in Chemnitz, Brazil: Fire at National Museum Destroys Millions of Pieces of Art and History, Canadian Court Rejects Effort to Triple Capacity of Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain Pipeline, "Protect the Protest": Activist Groups Launch Campaign to Fight SLAPP Suits, Gordon Slated to Hit Gulf Coast as Hurricane Today, Florida Gubernatorial Candidate Andrew Gillum Targeted by Racist Robocall, Colin Kaepernick Is New Face of Nike's "Just Do It" Campaign, Steve Bannon Disinvited from Headlining New Yorker Festival After Protests, Award-Winning Alternative Weekly The Village Voice Shuts Down After 63 Years, Funerals Held for Aretha Franklin and John McCain, Legendary Pianist and Composer Randy Weston Dies at 92
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Sep 03, 2018
In a Labor Day special, we air an extended conversation with Boots Riley, writer and director of "Sorry to Bother You," his new film about an evil telemarketing company, a corporation making millions off of slave labor, and one Oakland man at the center of it all who discovers a secret that threatens all of humankind. His dystopian social satire is being hailed as one of the best movies of the summer. Riley is a poet, rapper, songwriter, producer, screenwriter, humorist, political organizer, community activist, lecturer and public speaker—best known as the lead vocalist of The Coup and Street Sweeper Social Club.
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Aug 31, 2018
In this exclusive broadcast, Democracy Now! breaks the media blockade and goes to occupied Western Sahara in the northwest of Africa to document the decades-long Sahrawi struggle for freedom and Morocco's violent crackdown. Morocco has occupied the territory since 1975 in defiance of the United Nations and the international community. Thousands have been tortured, imprisoned, killed and disappeared while resisting the Moroccan occupation. A 1,700-mile wall divides Sahrawis who remain under occupation from those who fled into exile. The international media has largely ignored the occupation—in part because Morocco has routinely blocked journalists from entering Western Sahara. But in late 2016 Democracy Now! managed to get into the Western Saharan city of Laayoune, becoming the first international news team to report from the occupied territory in years.
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Aug 30, 2018
After progressive candidate Andrew Gillum pulled off a stunning upset in Florida's Democratic primary for governor Tuesday, putting him on a path to become the state's first African-American governor, he was attacked within hours by his Republican opponent—handpicked by Trump—who warned voters not to "monkey this up" by supporting Gillum. Even Fox said they they don't condone his comments. We speak with two activists who've worked with Gillum: Phillip Agnew with Dream Defenders in Florida and Charlene Carruthers, head of Black Youth Project 100 and author of the new book "Unapologetic: A Black, Queer, and Feminist Mandate for Radical Movements."
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Aug 30, 2018
Prisoners across the country join work stoppages, hunger strikes and commissary boycotts in at least 11 states to protest prison conditions and demand the end of what they call "prison slavery." Organizers report prisoners in South Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Indiana are demonstrating. Individuals in Texas, California and Ohio have gone on hunger strike, including some in solitary confinement. Meanwhile, at least six people have been hunger-striking inside the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, Washington, for more than a week. We speak with Amani Sawari, prison strike organizer working on behalf of Jailhouse Lawyers Speak, a network of prisoners who are helping organize the nationwide strike.
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Aug 30, 2018
Prisoners are dying at the highest rates the state of Mississippi has ever seen. Thirteen prisoners have died behind bars in the month of August alone. That's compared to 47 prisoner deaths in Mississippi in the entire year of 2015. Prison officials insist the deaths are by natural causes. But advocates and family members are demanding answers for the shocking spike in prisoner deaths, including the killing of 24 year-old Nija Syvallus Bonhomme at the privately run Wilkinson County Correctional Center in southwestern Mississippi. Bonhomme died in his cell after what officials say was a fight with another prisoner. But his family says that the prison failed to protect him from violent conditions that led to his death, allowing him to return to his cell after a violent altercation with his cellmate. His sister told Democracy Now!, "They threw him back to the dogs." We speak with Jody Owens, director and managing attorney of the Mississippi office of the Southern Poverty Law Center, part of a recent lawsuit against the Mississippi Department of Corrections alleging grave abuses of prisoner rights at a private prison.
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Aug 30, 2018
"We Did a Fantastic Job": Trump Praises His Handling of Puerto Rico Despite 3,000 Deaths, Report: Trump Administration Jailing Passport Applicants with U.S. Birth Certificates, Betsy DeVos Prepares to Rewrite Campus Sexual Misconduct Policies, Baylor University Accused of Infiltrating Sexual Assault Support Groups, Texas Police Officer Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison for Fatally Shooting Black Teenager, California Lawmakers Push for State to Go Carbon-Free by 2045, Trump on Twitter Announced Donald McGahn Leaving White House Counsel Post, Florida GOP Senate Candidate Said Black Opponent Andrew Gillum Will "Monkey This Up", Andrew Cuomo & Cynthia Nixon Spar in Only New York Gubernatorial Debate, U.N. Accuses Nicaragua of Widespread Repression; Ortega Faults U.N. for Ignoring Violent "Coup Mongers", Brazil Sends Troops to Venezuelan Border as Refugee Crisis Grows, Detroit School System Shuts Off Drinking Water Due to High Lead Levels
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Aug 29, 2018
We look at the shocking case of a Texas woman sentenced to five years in prison for illegally voting, who could now have even more time added to her sentence. Crystal Mason cast a provisional ballot in the 2016 presidential election despite having a past felony conviction for tax fraud that prevented her from voting. In March, she was convicted of illegal voting; she says she did not know that she was barred from casting a ballot in Texas due to her criminal record. Her supporters argue her conviction was racially biased, and point to the case of Terri Lynn Rote, a white woman in Iowa who was convicted of the same crime after she tried to vote for President Trump—twice. Rote was sentenced to two years' probation and fined $750. Crystal Mason joins us along with her attorney, Kim Cole. Mason has a federal court hearing in Fort Worth, Texas, tomorrow, and if she loses the hearing, she will be heading to prison. We also speak with Marc Mauer, executive director of The Sentencing Project, about how policies restricting the voting rights of convicted felons disenfranchise more than 6 million people.
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Aug 29, 2018
Puerto Rico officially raised the death toll from Hurricane Maria last year from 64 to nearly 3,000 following the release of a study ordered by the governor of the island. This officially makes Maria one of the deadliest storms in U.S. history. We get response from Democracy Now! co-host Juan González and Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers.
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Aug 29, 2018
Pressure is growing for Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to reject plans to grant federal funds to states to purchase firearms for teachers and school employees. The proposal comes after requests from Oklahoma, Texas and other states to train and arm school marshals. DeVos's plan would use federal Student Support and Academic Enrichment grants to pay for firearms and to train educators in their use, and would reverse long-standing federal policy prohibiting federal funds for arming educators. We speak with Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, and Adam Skaggs, chief Counsel at the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.
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Aug 29, 2018
Pressure is growing for Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to reject plans to grant federal funds to states to purchase firearms for teachers and school employees. The proposal comes after requests from Oklahoma, Texas and other states to train and arm school marshals. DeVos's plan would use federal Student Support and Academic Enrichment grants to pay for firearms and to train educators in their use, and would reverse long-standing federal policy prohibiting federal funds for arming educators. We speak with Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, and Adam Skaggs, chief Counsel at the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.
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Aug 29, 2018
As the school year begins this week across the United States, the top student loan watchdog has resigned in protest, accusing the Trump administration of siding with powerful predatory lenders over student loan borrowers. Seth Frotman worked as student loan ombudsman under the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau director, Mick Mulvaney. He wrote that under Mulvaney's leadership, "the Bureau has abandoned the very consumers it is tasked by Congress with protecting." This comes as Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has proposed new rules that would cut an estimated $13 billion in federal student loan relief for people defrauded by for-profit colleges. We speak with Sara Goldrick-Rab, professor of higher education policy and sociology at Temple University and author of "Paying the Price: College Costs, Financial Aid, and the Betrayal of the American Dream."
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Aug 29, 2018
Puerto Rico Increases Hurricane Death Toll to 2,975, Andrew Gillum, a Black Progressive Backed by Bernie Sanders, Wins Florida Gubernatorial Primary, Trump-Backed Martha McSally Wins Arizona GOP Senate Primary, Trump Warns of "Violence" If Democrats Win Control of Congress, Texas Police Officer Convicted for Killing 15-Year-Old African-American Student, Teachers in Washington State Begin Strike, U.N. Secretary-General: Report on Genocide Targeting Rohingya Needs Serious Consideration, India Carries Out Raids Arresting Critics of Modi Government, France's Environment Minister Resigns On-Air Over Climate Change, Department of Homeland Security Analyst Linked to White Supremacists, 160 Workers Arrested in ICE Raid in Texas, Nine-Year-Old Dies by Suicide in Denver Shortly After Coming Out as Gay
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Aug 28, 2018
We revisit the 1968 DNC protests in Chicago, where Yippies Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin nominated a pig named "Pigasus the Immortal" to compete with candidates Hubert Humphrey and Richard Nixon. They hoped to In-Hog-Ur-Ate Pigasus instead. His platform was to be a pile of garbage—"just like the platform of all the other parties." They demanded Pigasus be taken to the White House for a foreign policy briefing and given a Secret Service detail. Pigasus was later arrested along with many others, who were charged with disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace and bringing a pig to Chicago. Defense attorney William Kunstler later accused the Democratic Party of the same charges. We continue our conversation with Black Panther Bobby Seale, arrested for inciting a riot and gagged during the Chicago 8 trial stemming from his speech at the protest, and SDS activists and organizers Bernardine Dohrn and Bill Ayers.
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Aug 28, 2018
As we revisit the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago that became a national spectacle 50 years ago when police attacked demonstrators, we are joined by Bobby Seale, who was chair of the Black Panther Party when he spoke at the demonstrations and was later arrested and became part of the Chicago 8. Seale describes how at his conspiracy trial the judge ordered that he be gagged and bound to his chair. He was sentenced to 48 months in prison for 16 acts of contempt of court, but all of the charges were later dismissed.
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Aug 28, 2018
It was 50 years ago this week that the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago became a national spectacle, as a major political event turned into chaos that culminated with a police riot, much of it unfolding on live national television. Chicago met the protesters with 24,000 police officers, National Guardsmen and Army soldiers using tear gas and clubs. We feature newsreel clips from the week and go to Chicago to speak with former SDS and Weather Underground member Bill Ayers, who was arrested 50 years ago.
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Aug 28, 2018
U.N. Accuses U.S.-Backed, Saudi-led Coalition of Possible War Crimes in Yemen, North Korea Warns Denuclearization Talks in Jeopardy, Federal Court Strikes Down North Carolina's Gerrymandered Voting Map, U.S. Student Loan Watchdog Accuses Trump Administration of Siding with Predatory Lenders, Facebook Bans Burmese Army Commander-in-Chief After U.N. Genocide Report, U.S. and Mexico Reach Agreement to Revise Portions of NAFTA
, Trump Breaks Near-Silence on Death of Sen. John McCain, Study Links Air Pollution to Reduction in Intelligence, Bloomberg Reassigns Journalist Who Exposed Wells Fargo's Ties to Gun Industry, Former Egyptian Presidential Candidate Condemns Crackdown on Opposition Figures, Malian Singer Khaira Arby, the "Nightingale of Timbuktu," Dies at 58
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Aug 27, 2018
Pope Francis marked the first papal visit to Ireland in 39 years by acknowledging the failure by church authorities to address child abuse crimes by the clergy. But Sunday, Pope Francis faced a new bombshell accusation from a former top-ranking Vatican official who called on him to resign, releasing a 7,000-word letter claiming the pope knew about allegations of sex abuse by high-ranking Cardinal Theodore McCarrick years before they became public, and failed to punish him. McCarrick faces allegations that he coerced men training to become priests into sexual relationships and abused a teenage altar boy. Pope Francis has refused to comment on the accusations. In Dublin, we speak with Peter Isely, a survivor of childhood sexual assault by a Wisconsin priest, and a founding member of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. We also speak with Thomas Doyle, a former priest and longtime supporter of justice and compassion for clergy sex abuse victims. They're both part of the organization Ending Clergy Abuse.
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Aug 27, 2018
After a major debate, Democrats have voted on a key progressive demand after the 2016 campaign: to vastly reduce the power of superdelegates in choosing the party's presidential nominee. Saturday's vote by the Democratic National Committee comes after the 2016 race for Democratic nominee between Senator Bernie Sanders and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and pitted many DNC members who supported the change against two former party chairs and members of the Congressional Black Caucus. We get an update from Norman Solomon, national coordinator of RootsAction. He was a Bernie Sanders delegate from California to the 2016 Democratic National Convention, where he coordinated the independent Bernie Delegates Network.
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Aug 27, 2018
We host a roundtable discussion on the life and legacy of John McCain, the Vietnam veteran and former prisoner of war, six-term senator and two-time presidential candidate, who died Saturday at the age of 81 of brain cancer. We speak with Mehdi Hasan, columnist for The Intercept and host of their "Deconstructed" podcast. He's also host of "UpFront" at Al Jazeera English. He's been tweeting in response to McCain's death and wrote a piece last year headlined "Despite What the Press Says, 'Maverick' McCain Has a Long and Distinguished Record of Horribleness." We are also joined by Medea Benjamin, co-founder of CodePink, which McCain once referred to as "low-life scum," and by Norman Solomon, national coordinator of RootsAction, executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy and author of "War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death."
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Aug 27, 2018
We host a roundtable discussion on the life and legacy of John McCain, the Vietnam veteran and former prisoner of war, six-term senator and two-time presidential candidate, who died Saturday at the age of 81 of brain cancer. We speak with Mehdi Hasan, columnist for The Intercept and host of their "Deconstructed" podcast. He's also host of "UpFront" at Al Jazeera English. He's been tweeting in response to McCain's death and wrote a piece last year headlined "Despite What the Press Says, 'Maverick' McCain Has a Long and Distinguished Record of Horribleness." We are also joined by Medea Benjamin, co-founder of CodePink, which McCain once referred to as "low-life scum," and by Norman Solomon, national coordinator of RootsAction, executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy and author of "War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death."
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Aug 27, 2018
John McCain Dies at 81, Democratic Party Officials Vote to Reduce Power of Superdelegates, Pope Francis Meets with Church Sexual Abuse Survivors in Ireland, Trump Administration Cuts $200 Million in Aid to Palestinians, U.N. Calls on Burma's Top Generals to Be Investigated for Genocide Against Rohingya, Reports: Head of ISIS in Afghanistan Killed in Airstrike, Corruption Scandal Engulfs Argentina
, 3 Killed, Including Gunman, in Shooting at Video Game Tournament in Florida, Listen to Detainee on Hunger Strike in Northwest Detention Center, 7 Arrested at Protests at UNC over "Silent Sam" Confederate Monument
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Aug 24, 2018
A Bangladeshi woman facing deportation has been granted a last-minute stay following public outcry against her removal. Salma Sikandar's deportation was halted less than 24 hours before she was supposed to board a one-way flight to Bangladesh, leaving behind her husband and 17-year-old son, who is a U.S. citizen. Sikandar has lived in the United States for nearly 20 years. But in June she was told by Immigration and Customs Enforcement that she had to leave the country by August. That's when her community stepped in, staging protests in New Haven and a hunger strike outside the ICE office in Hartford, demanding Sikandar be allowed to stay in the United States. We speak with Salma Sikandar and her son Samir Mahmud, who will start his freshman year at Quinnipiac University next week. It has been Sikandar's lifelong dream to send her son to college.
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Aug 24, 2018
In the wake of President Trump's former attorney Michael Cohen's plea deal and former campaign manager Paul Manafort's guilty verdict, many are advocating for Trump's impeachment. We speak with The Intercept's James Risen, who says lawmakers should indict Trump and prosecute him in a federal court.
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