Democracy Now!

As we continue to look at Wednesday's contentious hearing of the House Judiciary Committee, we speak with Vermont Congressmember Becca Balint, who walked out after Attorney General Pam Bondi accused her of supporting antisemitism. Balint, who is Jewish and whose grandfather died in the Holocaust, had just asked Bondi to meet with survivors of Jeffrey Epstein - a demand that Bondi repeatedly ignored during the hearing.It was just heartbreaking to watch the attorney general act in this way, especially when survivors have waited, over the course of decades, for justice," Balint tells Democracy Now!

Authorities in Iran have arrested the Oscar-nominated screenwriter Mehdi Mahmoudian in Tehran. Mahmoudian co-wrote the film It Was Just an Accident with dissident director Jafar Panahi, and their film is nominated for Best Original Screenplay and Best International Feature at this year's Academy Awards. Mahmoudian was arrested after signing a public statement condemning Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, as well as the brutal crackdown on anti-government protesters, calling it an organized state crime against humanity." Panahi, who also signed the statement alongside 15 others, recently spoke with Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.Panahi described meeting Mehdi when they were both imprisoned, which led to their creative partnership. Because he had spent nine years of his life in prison, I knew that he had a deep understanding of different people in the society, and for that reason, I invited him to this film to help with writing the dialogues, because he knew the different characters of this film very well," Panahi said.

President Donald Trump held a lengthy meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Wednesday at the White House, where the two leaders discussed ongoing nuclear talks with Iran. Trump has said he wants to reach a deal with Iran about the country's nuclear program, which Tehran insists is only for peaceful civilian purposes but which the U.S. and Israel claim is aimed at developing nuclear weapons. In recent weeks, Trump has repeatedly threatened to attack Iran after the Iranian government crushed a wave of anti-government protests, killing thousands of people. The Pentagon is also reportedly preparing to move a second aircraft carrier strike group to the Middle East, raising pressure on Iran's leadership.What Netanyahu is seeking to do with this visit is to inject poison pills into the negotiations in order to ensure that they fail, and thereby set the stage for a new armed conflict with Iran," says Middle East analyst Mouin Rabbani.

Attorney General Pam Bondi testified Wednesday before the House Judiciary Committee, where she repeatedly refused to answer questions about her handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case. She also refused to apologize to Epstein survivors over the botched release of files, some of which contained survivors' personal information and even uncensored nude photographs. During the hearing, Bondi was photographed consulting a binder that appeared to show the search history of lawmakers who visited the Justice Department to examine the unredacted Epstein files in person.Essentially, they were spying on us," says Democratic Congressmember Pramila Jayapal. It's certainly not going to stop me from continuing to review the files, but it is absolutely outrageous."Jayapal also condemns the Justice Department for refusing to open new investigations into Epstein's associates listed in the files. These were rich, powerful, wealthy people, mostly men, who groomed, raped, abused, manipulated young girls," she says.

AG Bondi Hurls Insults at Lawmakers as She Defends Handling of Epstein Files, Trump Says Nothing Definitive" Decided on Iran After Hourslong Meeting with Israeli PM Netanyahu, Thousands Protest in Melbourne as Israeli President Herzog Wraps Australia Tour, Video Shows ICE Agents Breaking Into Home of Pennsylvania Family, St. Paul Mayor Demands ICE Leave Minnesota After Federal Agents' Pursuit Ends in Multi-Car Crash, ICE Jailing Immigrants at Previously Undisclosed Floor of Manhattan Federal Building, New Body-Camera Footage and Emails Released in CBP Shooting of Marimar Martinez, FAA Closed El Paso Airspace After CBP Fired Anti-Drone Laser at Party Balloon, House Passes Bill to Repeal Trump's Tariffs on Canada, Trump Accepts Washington Coal Club's Inaugural Award, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Fires Alexis Goldstein for Documenting DOGE Meeting, Argentina's Senate Approves Sweeping New Labor Bill Pushed by Far-Right President Milei

In a victory for the fossil fuel industry, a set of Obama-era rules that required the federal government to regulate the emissions of six greenhouse gases is being reversed by the Trump administration. The changes would undo the legal basis of the fight against global warming, as well as remove industrial reporting obligations and roll back emissions standards for cars and trucks. Environmental engineer Gretchen Goldman helped author those emission standards while working for the Department of Transportation under the Biden administration. Now as the president of the Union of Concerned Scientists, she says their repeal will not only increase what drivers pay at the pump but also set U.S. innovation back on the world stage. We're really seeing the abdication of U.S. leadership on climate, and that has huge implications, both for our immediate ability to reduce heat-trapping emissions globally ... but also in terms of our standing and contribution in the world."

We continue our conversation with Texas Congressmember Al Green as he plans to reintroduce impeachment proceedings against President Trump over infusing his hate into policy." Green currently represents Texas's 9th Congressional District, which was recently redistricted by the Texas state Legislature in favor of Republican voters. He says his seat, which he has held for over two decades, was targeted for redistricting in part because of his opposition to Trump. Green is now running for reelection in Texas's neighboring 18th Congressional District.

House Democrats grilled the heads of ICE, CBP and USCIS at a hearing Tuesday over their role in the Trump administration's brutal campaign to carry out mass deportations. These three directors are responsible for what we are seeing around the country, whether it's in detention, whether it's in the streets or even in the courts," says Illinois Congressmember Delia Ramirez, who is calling for her fellow Democrats to suspend funding for the Department of Homeland Security unless Republicans agree to their demands to rein in federal immigration agents. We play excerpts from Ramirez and other representatives' remarks about the killings of U.S. citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, the deaths of immigrants in ICE custody and the fear and terror experienced by civilians confronted daily by masked federal agents. This is more than authoritarianism. This is a de facto dictatorship," says Texas Congressmember Al Green, who also spoke at the hearing.

Democratic Lawmakers Grill the Heads of ICE, CBP and USCIS on Trump's Mass Deportation Campaign, Immigrant Family Files a Lawsuit Claiming Their Toddler Was Returned to an ICE Jail Amid a Measles Outbreak, ACLU Files Lawsuit Against Law Enforcement for Mass Immigration Raid in Idaho, Democratic Congressmember Khanna Accuses the DOJ of Improperly Redacting Names of Wealthy Men in the Epstein Files, Former Palm Beach Police Chief Says Trump Told Him in 2006 That Everyone" Knew of Epstein's Behavior, Commerce Secretary Lutnick Testifies He Visited Epstein's Island, Trump Admin Removes Pride Flag from Stonewall National Monument in New York City, Trump Admin Plans to Cut $600 Million in Public Health Funds, Trump Threatens to Send Another Aircraft Carrier to Strike Iran, WSJ: Pentagon to Send 200 U.S. Troops to Nigeria, UNICEF Warns More Than Half of All Children in North Darfur Are Acutely Malnourished, FAA Reopens El Paso Airport After Abruptly Halting Flights, At Least Nine People Killed in a Mass Shooting in British Columbia, Canada, FBI Raid of Fulton County Election Office Based on Debunked Claims from Election Deniers, Federal Grand Jury Declines to Indict Six Democratic Lawmakers for Urging Service Members to Refuse Unlawful Orders, Progressive Analilia Mejia Wins House Democratic Primary in New Jersey

A new ProPublica investigation reveals new details about a sprawling ICE detention complex where families describe horrific conditions inside, such as being served contaminated food, with children and parents at times finding worms in their meals. Lights are reportedly left on for 24 hours a day. South Texas Family Residential Center, in the town of Dilley a few dozen miles from the southern border with Mexico, detains an estimated 3,500 people, more than half of them children. I have never felt so much fear to go to a place as I feel here. ... Once I go back to Honduras, a lot of dangerous things could happen to my mom and I," a 14-year-old detained at Dilley, Ariana Velasquez, told ProPublica. There are also mounting reports of psychological abuse by guards, some of whom have allegedly threatened families with separation. Many of the children who are now being sent there are being arrested by ICE around the country, and some of them, like Ariana, have been living [in the U.S.] for years," says Mica Rosenberg, investigative reporter at ProPublica.

Senate Democrats have reportedly begun tentative negotiations with the White House just days before funding for the Homeland Security Department is set to expire at midnight on Friday, threatening another partial government shutdown. Joaquin Castro, a Democratic congressmember from Texas, visited the family immigration detention center in Dilley where 5-year-old Liam Ramos was held. Kids have been traumatized by the experience," says Castro.

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are accusing the Justice Department of covering up the names of co-conspirators of the deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein as fallout from the Epstein files grows across the globe. Millions of pages remain unreleased. As many prominent U.S. figures evade accountability following mentions in the Epstein files, a number of European figures have resigned for their relationships with Epstein. The most extraordinary and worrying thing of what is going on in the United States is the scale of normalization that is happening, in which the press is absolutely a structural part of this," says Carole Cadwalladr, award-winning investigative journalist. I have been shocked - deeply, deeply shocked - by the absence of headlines."

Pentagon Says It Killed 2, Leaving 1 Survivor, in Attack on Boat in Eastern Pacific, Airlines Suspend Flights as Cuba Runs Out of Jet Fuel Amid U.S. Oil Blockade, Israel's Security Cabinet Expands Control Over Illegal West Bank Settlements, Israel's Latest Gaza Ceasefire Violations Leave 7 Palestinians Dead, Thousands Protest as Israeli President Isaac Herzog Visits Sydney, Australia, Ghislaine Maxwell Pleads the Fifth in Deposition to House Oversight Committee, 53 Are Dead or Missing After Boat Carrying Migrants Sinks Off Libyan Coast, Federal Court Strikes Down California Law to Unmask Federal Agents, Family Demands Answers After Leqaa Kordia Is Hospitalized in ICE Detention, Immigration Judge Rejects Trump Admin's Efforts to Deport Tufts University Student Rumeysa Ozturk, WSJ: Trump Admin Planning to Repeal Obama-Era Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Finding", Nurses at Mount Sinai and Montefiore Reach Tentative Deals on New Contracts, San Francisco Public School Teachers Striking for Salary Increases and Family Health Benefits

The partial reopening of Gaza's southern Rafah crossing with Egypt has been marked by chaos and severe restrictions imposed by Israel, as tens of thousands of Palestinians continue to wait for medical evacuation to receive urgent care outside the Gaza Strip. According to U.N. data, only 36 Palestinians in need of medical treatment were allowed to leave Gaza during the first four days of the crossing's reopening. Palestinians permitted to reenter Gaza have also reported abuse and hourslong interrogations. This comes amid growing skepticism over the implementation of the second phase of the Trump-brokered ceasefire, which Israel has repeatedly violated with near-daily attacks across Gaza since the truce took effect in October.No one inside Gaza is calling this a ceasefire," says Arwa Damon, former CNN correspondent and the founder of INARA, a nonprofit organization that supports children impacted by war. She says ongoing Israeli restrictions on medical evacuation are essentially a death sentence for many people, including children. They are either going to end up with permanent injury or they are going to die."

With the 2026 Winter Olympics underway in Italy, we speak with writer and academic Jules Boykoff, author of six books about the Olympics, who says Milan is hosting the Games despite widespread public opposition from locals. Boykoff says that while the Olympics have attempted in recent years to institute some cosmetic" reforms, they don't get at the core elements that really plague the Olympic Games, and that's overspending, that's the intensification of militarized policing, that's greenwashing, that's corruption, that's the displacement of local populations."Boykoff's recent piece for The Nation, co-authored with Dave Zirin, is headlined Get Ready for This Year's Undemocratic, Debt-Ridden, and Mobster-Infused Winter Olympics."

President Donald Trump is refusing to apologize for sharing a racist video on social media that depicts former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama as apes. The video remained available on Trump's Truth Social page for 12 hours before it was deleted around noon on Friday. It prompted rare criticism from members of his own party, including South Carolina's Tim Scott, the Senate's only Black Republican, who called it the most racist thing" he had seen from the White House.This is a disgusting and despicable display of racism from President Trump," says Wisdom Cole, senior national director of advocacy for the NAACP. Instead of unifying the nation and celebrating the achievements of Black America ... he chooses to continue to perpetuate bigotry."

We speak with Aliya Rahman, a U.S. citizen who was violently dragged from her car by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis last month and detained at the Whipple Federal Building, which has become the epicenter of the government's immigration crackdown in the city. Rahman says she repeatedly told agents she was disabled and had a brain injury, but they ignored her pleas for medical attention or other accommodation. I was taken out of that place unconscious," says Rahman, who describes lasting injuries and trauma from her detention. Rahman was not charged with any crime. What I saw in that detention center was truly horrific."We also speak with attorney Alexa Van Brunt, director of the Illinois office of the MacArthur Justice Center, who says victims of ICE violence like Rahman can sue the federal government for violating their rights, but they cannot sue the officers in their individual capacity."

At Least 50 People Arrested in Minneapolis While Marking One Month Since Renee Good's Killing, Mexican Immigrant Whose Skull Was Broken During His Arrest by ICE Speaks Out, More Than 1,000 Google Workers Call On Company to Cancel Contracts with ICE and CBP, Federal Judge Puts Temporary Hold on Data Sharing Between IRS, Social Security Administration and ICE, Trump Refuses to Apologize for Publishing a Racist Video Depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as Apes, DOJ to Allow Congress Unredacted Access to Epstein Files, Israeli Security Cabinet Approves New Rules to Tighten Control Over Occupied West Bank, Iran Says It's Willing to Limit Uranium Enrichment for Sanctions Relief, Hong Kong Court Sentences Media Mogul Jimmy Lai to 20 Years in Prison, Drone Attack by Paramilitary Group RSF Kills at Least 24 People in Sudan, Federal Judge Orders Trump Admin to Unfreeze $16 Billion in Funds for New York Tunnel Project, U.S. Vice President Vance Booed at Opening Ceremony of Winter Olympics, Bad Bunny Makes History as First Artist to Perform Super Bowl Halftime Show in Spanish

We host a debate between two former officials at the human rights organization Human Rights Watch. Omar Shakir resigned this week after more than a decade as the organization's Israel and Palestine director, over a report on the Palestinian right of return that he says was blocked from publication for ideological reasons. I've lost faith in our new leadership's fidelity to the integrity of what we do best, which is to publish the facts that we document and consistently apply the law," says Shakir. Yet HRW's former executive director Kenneth Roth says the report was utterly unpublishable" and questions the legal basis of the unpublished report's claim that Israel's denial of Palestinians' right of return is a crime against humanity. Some Palestinian refugees may have this great suffering required for it to be a crime against humanity, but a lot of them clearly don't," he states. Shakir calls Roth's objections hypocritical in light of similar HRW claims about the rights of Rohingya and Chagos Island refugees. The right of return remains this third rail even among progressive human rights institutions," he says.

In the wake of deadly mass protests that have shaken the ruling Iranian government, and with U.S. leaders publicly weighing the idea of military intervention and potential regime change in Iran, American and Iranian officials are beginning renewed talks over Iran's nuclear program today. We speak to two guests, reporter Nilo Tabrizy and scholar Arang Keshavarzian, about the very strange and contradictory situation" facing the country. For both the Iranian state, but more importantly for Iranian people, it's very unclear what all of this portends, especially since it doesn't seem like these negotiations will go beyond the question of the nuclear program," says Keshavarzian.

The Washington Post has laid off more than 300 journalists, dismantling its sports, local news and international coverage. Everybody is grieving, and it's a loss for our readers," says Nilo Tabrizy, one of the paper's recently laid-off staff, who describes a robotic" meeting announcing the cuts. They didn't have the dignity to look us in the eye." The shocking staff culling has been widely attributed to the paper's leadership under Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who bought the nearly 150-year-old institution in 2013. Karen Attiah, the former global opinion editor at the Post, was hired soon after Bezos's arrival. She recounts how the arrival of a billionaire backer initially revitalized the paper with resources and creative freedom, before souring over the next decade. We thought [he] shared the same values that we had," says Attiah, who was fired from the Post last fall over comments she made about the death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Journalism deserves better than a billionaire owner who decides that partying in Europe is more important than people's lives."

The September 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center in New York City was a major polluting event. Debris from the collapse of the buildings spread toxic substances, including asbestos, lead, mercury and more, throughout the disaster zone. As New York City leaders issue new calls for the release of files detailing the extent of this pollution, we revisit the reporting of Democracy Now! co-host Juan Gonzalez, the author of Fallout: The Environmental Consequences of the World Trade Center Collapse. What I tried to warn about in the series of articles that I wrote about the dangers, the health dangers, in the future for people who were living in or working at ground zero have proven to be true," he says about his reporting on political leaders' early denials of post-9/11 health risks. More people have died as a result of illnesses contracted after the collapse of the World Trade Center than died on that day."

DHS Funding Is Set to Lapse as Top Senate Republican Rejects Restrictions on Immigration Agents, Protesters from New York to Milan Decry Trump's Immigration Crackdown, U.K. Opposition Parties Call for Vote of No Confidence in PM Starmer over Epstein-Linked Ambassador, Brad Karp, Chair of Paul Weiss Law Firm, Resigns over Ties to Jeffrey Epstein, Global Sumud Flotilla Plans Largest Humanitarian Mission Yet to Gaza, Cuban President Open to Talks with U.S. Amid Warnings of Humanitarian Collapse" Due to Oil Blockade, Sudan's RSF Bombs Hospital as Famine Spreads in Darfur, Nigerian Army Deploys to Kwara State After Massacre Leaves 170 Dead, Bombing at Islamabad Mosque Kills 31 and Injures Scores, U.S. Economy Shed 108,435 Jobs in January, Worst Month Since 2009 Recession

French prosecutors have asked Elon Musk to appear for questioning following a police raid on the offices of the social media network X in Paris. The French probe comes on the heels of a U.K. investigation into Musk's AI tool Grok over its potential to produce harmful sexualized image and video content." Last month, the European Union also launched an investigation into sexual deepfakes created by Grok. It's a part of a kind of a pushback that we're seeing now against Musk that's probably more forceful than anything we've seen to date," says Quinn Slobodian, professor of international history at Boston University and author of the upcoming book Muskism: A Guide for the Perplexed.

U.S. citizens who have had violent encounters with federal immigration agents deployed in cities across the U.S. testified before Congress on Tuesday. Amid harrowing testimony by three victims and the brothers of Renee Good, congressional Democrats offered apologies and promises of accountability. Not a single Republican lawmaker showed up to the hearing.Renee Good's brothers Brent and Luke Ganger both testified at the hearing, with Brent Ganger calling Good unapologetically hopeful."Marimar Martinez was shot multiple times by Border Patrol agents. The mental scars will always be there as a reminder of the time my own government attempted to execute me - and when they failed, they chose to vilify me," Martinez said.Daniel Rascon described how federal immigration agents pointed rifles at him and shot at his car. They shattered the windows, and in that moment the whole world felt like it was the size of the inside of our pickup, and we were sitting in harm's way with nothing to do but record the horrifying experience," he said.Aliya Rahman was stopped by federal agents and violently pulled from her vehicle - despite telling the agents that she is disabled and has a traumatic brain injury. I now cannot lift my arms normally," said Rahman. I was never asked for ID, never told I was under arrest, never read my rights and never charged with a crime."

We continue our conversation with Congressmember Ro Khanna, who urges Democrats to demand legislation that reins in President Trump's anti-immigration raids ahead of the congressional vote on the spending bill. Khanna says the U.S. should tear down ICE," replacing it with a new agency that has oversight with human rights to enforce immigration law."He also comments on Trump's multimillion-dollar cryptocurrency deal with the United Arab Emirates. We really need a new moral vision in this country. I mean, the decline in ethics and transparency has eroded public trust," Khanna says.

Democratic Congressmember Ro Khanna has called for Congress to investigate associates of Jeffrey Epstein named in the files and for the full release of the remaining documents. This comes as Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the review of Epstein files is over and that no further prosecutions are expected. Blanche, who was formerly President Trump's personal lawyer, told Fox News that it isn't a crime to party with Mr. Epstein."Meanwhile, Epstein survivors have criticized the Department of Justice for failing to redact personal information, including some of their identities, as well as email addresses and even nude photos. They were cavalier, at best, when it comes to the survivors, and they took great lengths to protect some of the rich and powerful people who actually committed the crimes and morally heinous acts," Khanna tells Democracy Now!

Minnesota Officials Demand All Federal Agents Leave as Trump Administration Announces Drawdown, 10-Year-Old Girl Seized by Federal Agents in Minnesota Freed from Texas ICE Jail, ACLU Calls for U.N. Probe into Trump's Immigration Crackdown over Human Rights Abuses, Have ICE Surround the Polls": Steve Bannon Adds to Fears Trump Will Disrupt Midterm Elections, Supreme Court Clears Congressional Map Gerrymandered to Benefit California Democrats, Palestinians Returning to Gaza Through Rafah Crossing Report Severe Restrictions by Israel, Chuck Schumer Defends U.S. Arming Israel as Trump Admin Approves $6.7 Billion Weapons Sale, Six Palestine Action Protesters Found Not Guilty of Aggravated Burglary, Nuclear Arms Control Treaty Between U.S. and Russia Expires, Drop Site News: U.S. Military Officials Informed Middle East Ally That Trump Could Soon Attack Iran, WSJ: Abu Dhabi Royal Purchased 49% Stake in Trump Family's Cryptocurrency Firm, Washington Post Lays Off More Than 300 Journalists, Human Rights Watch: Three-Quarters of the World's Population Living Under Autocracy"

After several months of rising tension between them, Colombian President Gustavo Petro sat down with U.S. President Donald Trump in a closed-door meeting that lasted approximately two hours at the White House on Tuesday. The two leaders have exchanged threats and insults since Trump returned to office in 2025, with Petro harshly criticizing the U.S. bombing of boats at sea and for threatening the sovereignty of countries in Latin America. Both leaders took a much more conciliatory tone after their meeting, with Petro sharing a photo of them shaking hands alongside a handwritten note from Trump calling it an honor" and adding, I love Colombia."Colombian Senator Clara Lopez Obregon, speaking to Democracy Now! from Bogota, says the White House meeting was an important repositioning" of the relationship, and cautions that the region needs a more coordinated response to coercion" from the U.S. Latin America, unfortunately, has been unable to structure meaningful and permanent instruments of collective action, so each country has to negotiate on its own from a position of weakness."

As the last major nuclear arms treaty between the United States and Russia expires this week, we speak with arms control expert Dr. Ira Helfand, a steering committee member of Back from the Brink, a national coalition organizing communities across the United States to call for the abolition of nuclear weapons. Helfand is a longtime member of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, or ICAN, which received the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize. He is also the immediate past president of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, awarded the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize, and a co-founder of Physicians for Social Responsibility.We are in a very, very dangerous moment," says Helfand, who urges major powers to reduce their nuclear arsenals rather than potentially starting a new arms race. Strength and safety are not the same thing. ... If you allow these weapons to continue to exist, it is not a question of if we have a nuclear war - it's just a question of when."

President Donald Trump has called to nationalize" voting in the United States, alarming state leaders who oversee the process, as well as legal experts who say his takeover demand violates the Constitution. This comes as he continues to falsely claim he won the 2020 election, with Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard overseeing an FBI raid last week to seize ballot boxes and other voting records in Fulton County, Georgia.Gabbard, as spy chief, has no statutory authority to be involved in a domestic election investigation," says David Becker, director of the Center for Election Innovation & Research. He says that since the failed effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election, an ecosystem of grift" has grown around Trump that profits from continuing to spread election denial even as courts have repeatedly thrown out their claims.

As President Trump suggests the federal government should nationalize" and take over the elections process from the states, we speak with Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes. He is the former county recorder for Maricopa County, Arizona, and oversaw elections there in 2020. The Justice Department has sued Arizona and over 20 other states for their full voter registration lists. No means no," Fontes says in response to the Trump administration's encroachment on state authority. We should not be handing over any of our personal identifying information to the president. Not only should we not be doing it, but it's against the law for me to fulfill the request from the Department of Justice."

Trump Doubles Down on Calls for GOP to Nationalize" Voting in the U.S., Renee Good's Brothers Urge Congress to Restrain Federal Immigration Crackdown, New York Attorney General James Announces Legal Observers to Document Federal Immigration Raids, Trump Signs Consolidated Funding Bill, Ending Partial Government Shutdown, Colombian President Gustavo Petro Meets with Trump at the White House, U.S. Military Announces It Shot Down Iranian Drone in the Arabian Sea, Israeli Airstrikes Kill at Least 21 Palestinians in Gaza, Trump Insults CNN Reporter Kaitlan Collins for Not Smiling as She Asked About Epstein Survivors, Hearst Magazines Union Stages Walkout Calling for a Fair Contract

ProPublica has identified the two Border Patrol agents who shot Alex Pretti, the Minneapolis man killed January 24 while observing immigration enforcement in the city. The outlet says the agents are Jesus Ochoa, 43, and Raymundo Gutierrez, 35. This is in the public interest," says reporter J. David McSwane. This country has a tradition and norm of being able to identify law enforcement officers, both for their safety and the safety of the public."

Activists in Maine are resisting ICE immigration raids in Portland and Lewiston that the Trump administration dubbed Operation Catch of the Day." The immigrant community in Maine has grown in recent years, with an influx of asylum seekers and Somali immigrants in particular. As a small state, community means a lot," says Mufalo Chitam, executive director of the Maine Immigrants' Rights Coalition, adding that her organization has received thousands of phone calls to their immigrant support hotline in recent weeks.

At least 15 Philadelphia city councilmembers have backed a package of "ICE Out" legislation aimed at combating ICE and federal immigration enforcement operations in Philadelphia, including codifying sanctuary protections and prohibiting federal immigration agents from concealing their identities or covering their faces. We heard the cries from the community calling for something to be done," says Kendra Brooks, a member of the Philadelphia City Council, where she serves as minority leader. Our goal was to make sure that something is in place to prevent any undue harm." Councilmembers will vote on the legislation in the coming weeks, and it is expected to pass with a veto-proof majority.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has signed an executive order directing Chicago police to investigate reports of illegal activity conducted by ICE and other federal immigration agents. The move came in the aftermath of Trump's so-called Operation Midway Blitz in Chicago late last year, when masked agents flooded neighborhoods, snatching residents off the streets as part of Trump's mass deportation campaign. What this executive order is doing is showing up for the people of Chicago, ... creating a model for the rest of the country," Johnson tells Democracy Now!

Fulton County to Sue over FBI Ballot Seizures as Trump Says GOP Should Nationalize" Elections, Tulsi Gabbard Arranges Call Between Trump and FBI Agents Who Seized Ballots from Atlanta, Measles Cases Confirmed at Texas ICE Jail Housing Hundreds of Children, Pentagon Quietly Takes Active-Duty Troops Off Standby to Deploy to Minnesota, Federal Court Blocks Trump Administration Bid to End Protected Status for Haitian Immigrants, Israeli Strikes on Gaza Kill 4 Palestinians, Including 30-Month-Old Child, U.S. Firm Seeks 300% Profits from Monopoly Over Gaza Trucking and Logistics, Biden Admin Officials Killed Memo Warning Israeli Attacks Turned Gaza into Apocalyptic Wasteland", Trump Envoy Plans Talks in Istanbul with Iranian Officials over Nuclear Program, Russian Drones and Missiles Strike Ukraine's Cities and Infrastructure Ahead of Peace Talks, Right-Wing Populist Laura Fernandez Elected President of Costa Rica, Bill and Hillary Clinton Agree to Testify in House Investigation of Epstein, Paris Prosecutor Raids French Offices of Social Media Platform X, Civil Liberties Groups Sue NYPD for Targeting Black and Latino Drivers

We speak with Mother Jones voting rights correspondent Ari Berman about the shocking FBI raid on an elections hub in Fulton County, Georgia. Federal agents were seeking records related to the 2020 presidential election, which President Donald Trump continues to falsely claim he won despite his loss to Joe Biden that year. During his efforts to overturn the election results, Trump pressured local officials to find" him an additional 11,780 votes. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard was on the scene Friday despite having no domestic law enforcement authority. The raid comes amid an ongoing federal probe into the 2020 election.The fact that they seized 700 boxes of ballots was incredibly disturbing and sets a chilling precedent for how Trump might try to interfere in the 2026 election," says Berman, who ties the raid in Georgia to the administration's pressure on Minnesota to hand over voter rolls. This is now a multifront, concerted effort to try to interfere in the midterm elections."

The Justice Department on Friday released an additional 3 million pages of documents related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The Trump administration says it was the final release of Epstein files, even though some 2 million more documents remain unreleased. The latest batch reveals new details about Epstein's connections to the rich and powerful, including Hollywood figures, tech billionaires, public officials and more. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said it is unlikely anyone else would be prosecuted.Attorney Arick Fudali, who represents 11 Epstein survivors, says the release of the files has been a perfect storm" of incompetency and an active cover-up" by the Trump administration. It's so mind-boggling, because they're withholding documents that they shouldn't be withholding ... but, on the other hand, they're showing documents that they shouldn't be showing because they contain unredacted names of survivors," says Fudali.Investigative journalist Vicky Ward, who has covered the Epstein case for many years, says despite the flawed release of the files, they continue to shine light on a world of elite impunity and excess. We just see over and over again in these documents, this was just one big billionaires boys club that treated women like objects," says Ward.

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in hundreds of demonstrations across the United States this weekend as protests continue against the Trump administration's anti-immigrant crackdown. Democracy Now! was in the streets of Minneapolis on Friday speaking with protesters who marched in subzero temperatures.

As protests continue in Minnesota over the federal government's immigration crackdown, former CNN anchor Don Lemon and independent journalist Georgia Fort now face federal charges stemming from their reporting on a January 18 demonstration at a St. Paul church, where a senior ICE official works as a pastor. The two journalists were released Friday without bail following initial court hearings and could face fines or prison time if convicted. Their charges stem from the FACE Act, a 1994 law intended to protect access to abortion clinics which also prohibits interference with religious worship. Seven activists who took part in the demonstration also face charges.We're having a constitutional crisis," Fort tells Democracy Now! What we're seeing here in Minnesota is the people are continuing to stand. They are continuing to demand that our Constitution be upheld. I believe that journalism is not a crime."

Federal Judge Denies Request by Minnesota Officials to Temporarily Block Surge of Immigration Agents, Former CNN Anchor Don Lemon and Independent Journalist Georgia Fort Released from Federal Custody, 5-Year-Old Liam Conejo Ramos and His Father Reunited with Family Members in Minnesota, More Than 300 Anti-ICE Protests Held Across the Country, NYT: Former Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino Said to Have Mocked Prosecutor's Jewish Faith, Chicago Orders Local Law Enforcement to Probe Illegal Activity by Federal Immigration Agents, Justice Department Release Over 3 Million Pages of the Epstein Files, Israeli Forces Partially Reopen Gaza's Rafah Crossing into Egypt, Iranian Authorities Arrest Oscar-Nominated Screenwriter Mehdi Mahmoudian, Democrats Flip State Senate Seat and Pick Up Congressional Seat in Texas, President Trump Announces Kennedy Center Will Close for Two Years for Renovations, Bad Bunny Denounces ICE During Grammy Awards Acceptance Speech

The latest reliable estimates of the death toll in Iran's recent nationwide protests are growing, potentially reaching the tens of thousands. Some estimates place the number of civilians killed by government forces at 30,000 or more. We play a rare eyewitness account of the deadly massacre of protesters in Rasht, Iran, and speak to the Iranian filmmaker and political dissident Sepideh Farsi, who says U.S. military intervention would only worsen the situation." She warns that President Trump's interest in U.S. military action on the country is for business," and not for Iranian people."

An estimated 350,000 Haitian immigrants are set to lose their temporary protected status, or TPS, on February 3, 2026, after President Trump signed an executive order to revoke their TPS shortly after coming into office. TPS holders live and work in the United States legally. During the 2024 presidential election, candidates Donald Trump and JD Vance spread racist invective about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio. Now ICE is reportedly planning to begin extensive raids on Haitian American communities like Springfield. We are living under a cloud of terror," says Guerline Jozef, the co-founder and executive director of Haitian Bridge Alliance. Her organization is mounting a legal challenge against the Trump administration's revocation of TPS.I'm anxious every day," says Maryse Balthazar, a former journalist in Haiti who fled the country after its devastating 2010 earthquake. She now works as an elder care nurse in Florida. She worries about being separated from her U.S. citizen daughter, and for the safety of her son, also a TPS holder, if he were deported to Haiti, a country currently struggling with organized crime and political unrest. Balthazar says that if she were to lose her TPS, it will be like another earthquake to me."

The families of two men from Trinidad killed in an October U.S. missile strike in the Caribbean are suing the Trump administration for wrongful death and extrajudicial killing. The families of 26-year-old Chad Joseph and 41-year-old Rishi Samaroo say the two men were returning home from fishing and farming in Venezuela, not smuggling drugs as the Trump administration has claimed without evidence. Four others on the same boat were also killed. In all, at least 125 people have been killed in the unprecedented U.S. bombings of civilian boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean. It's the latest example of the Trump administration's total mockery of, contempt for the post-World World II human rights consensus, where nations are constrained by law and not mere might," says attorney Baher Azmy, who is representing the Joseph and Samaroo families in their lawsuit. He calls their deaths killings for sport and spectacle," adding that they are part of a wider pattern of federal overreach that can be seen in the administration's domestic crackdown on protesters and journalists. Azmy warns that the excessive use of force by federal agents in Minneapolis may be a dry run" for deployment of troops during elections."

In the aftermath of the abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores, Venezuela has agreed to submit a monthly budget to the Trump administration, which will release money from an account funded by oil sales. It's a deal for the interim government led by Delcy Rodriguez that historian Greg Grandin calls governing under the blade." In a further shift away from the nation-building foreign policy of the past several decades of U.S. power, what the United States is planning for Venezuela is basically to run the country as a vassal state," he says. This is an arrangement with transactional details that we've never seen before."

Senate Democrats & Trump Reach Deal to Split Off Funding DHS to Avert Shutdown, Minneapolis Mayor Calls for Nationwide End to "ICE Siege", No, No. Not at All": Trump Denies He Plans to Pull Back Federal Agents from Minnesota, Protesters Call for National Shutdown Today to Protest ICE, Sen. Collins Claims DHS Has Paused Operation Catch of the Day, Financial Times: Private Companies Reaped $22B in Contracts with ICE & CBP Last Year, Iran's Top Diplomat in Turkey as Trump Keeps Threatening to Attack Iran, U.S. Lifts Some Sanctions on Venezuela After Interim Leader Signs Bill Opening Door for Private Oil Firms, Trump Threatens to Impose Tariffs on Nations Who Provide Oil to Cuba, Trump Claims Russia Will Pause Attacks on Ukrainian Cities, Illinois Sheriff's Deputy Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison for Shooting Sonya Massey, Trump Taps Kevin Warsh to Be Federal Reserve Chair, Trump & Sons Sue IRS & Treasury for $10B over Tax Return Leaks, Journalists Don Lemon & Georgia Fort Arrested for Covering Church Protest in St. Paul

ICE and CBP are using facial recognition technology to facilitate President Trump's mass deportation campaign. With a smartphone app, immigration officers can scan faces of people they encounter and quickly search those faces against 200 million images stored in several government databases that are notoriously error-filled," according to Nathan Freed Wessler, deputy director of the ACLU's Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project. It's being used on the street in ways that are dangerous, that are totally unprecedented in this country, and that are, frankly, blatantly illegal," he adds.

Democracy Now! speaks with Congressmember LaMonica McIver of New Jersey, who is facing up to 17 years in prison stemming from an incident last May when she and two other Democratic congressmembers sought to inspect Delaney Hall, a private prison run by the GEO Group under contract with ICE. The federal government claims McIver assaulted an immigration officer. I'm not going to let them bully me out of doing my job. I'm just not," says McIver, who describes conditions at the prison as dismal. There was an entire riot at the same detention center because detainees were not getting food."