Democracy Now!

We speak with Oscar-nominated filmmaker Rick Rowley about his new documentary, Hell's Army. The film tracks the Wagner Group, the notorious Russian mercenary army that has fought in Ukraine and other parts of the world. The group's founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin, was a confidant to Putin until a failed 2023 mutiny against the government. He died in a suspicious plane crash two months later.We realized that he could be killed, the leader of this army could be killed, but its model continues," says Rowley. Around the world, oligarchs are turning to mercenary armies, and it's a scourge that needs to be stopped."Hell's Army has its North American premiere Friday in Washington, D.C.

Palestinian activist and green card holder Mohsen Mahdawi, who was targeted by the Trump administration last year as part of a crackdown on pro-Palestinian campus activism, faces a new deportation threat. A federal immigration judge has sided with the administration and renewed removal proceedings against him, reviving a case that had been dismissed by an earlier immigration judge. Now he is taking his case directly to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit, telling Democracy Now! that he is technically without a backup plan" and relying on the federal courts for justice because I believe that what the Trump administration has done is unconstitutional."

The Trump administration is continuing its assault on higher education, but in a departure from its earlier high-profile fights with individual institutions like Harvard, it is now rewriting the federal rules that govern all universities and colleges. Rules are being proposed by the Education Department and other agencies to impose the administration's preferred policies on thousands of schools - including on racial equity, transgender rights, immigration and antisemitism - or face funding cuts and possible disaccreditation.The pressure from the federal government comes at a time of intensifying austerity at many schools. Last week, one of New York's most iconic universities, The New School, laid off 19 full-time faculty and 68 staff members. Along with coerced voluntary" separations and early retirements since December 2025, these mass firings constitute a major gutting of The New School's full-time faculty.It's a chilling message to all of academia," says Jeremy Varon, professor of history at The New School and president of the university's chapter of the American Association of University Professors. We fear that the number will grow as universities act more and more like corporations, concerned above all with the bottom line."

We continue our conversation with acclaimed Iranian environmental scientist Kaveh Madani, who comments on U.S. strikes targeting Iranian water reservoirs, which have exacerbated the country's water shortage. He criticizes the normalization of targeting civil infrastructure as a part of a war."Who suffers from the consequences of this? The poor community, the vulnerable communities," says Madani.

The environmental toll of the artificial intelligence boom continues to mount as tech companies use ever more power to run their data centers and enormous amounts of water for cooling. A new investigation by U.N. scientists warns that AI's water use in 2030 will match the needs of 1.3 billion people, while its power use will be triple that of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nigeria combined - countries with a total population of 650 million.Most people understand AI as a digital technology, as a virtual thing, as something that is in the clouds," says Iranian environmental scientist Kaveh Madani, director of the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health. What we tried to do in this report was to remind people that there's some physics to all of this."

Trump Claims Great Settlement" Has Been Reached to End War, But Iran Says Nothing Has Been Finalized, India Condemns Deadly U.S. Strikes on Boats After 3 Sailors Killed Near Oman, Musk Poised to Become World's First Trillionaire as SpaceX Goes Public, Trump Taps Jay Clayton to Head National Intelligence After Bipartisan Opposition to Bill Pulte, Detained Palestinian Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya Appears in Israeli Court with Signs of Torture, Family Says, U.S. Issues New Sanctions on Cuba's Oil & Gas Company, Two Top U.K. Military Officials Resign in Row with Starmer over Military Spending, Albania Is Not For Sale": Protests Mount over Proposed Jared Kushner Luxury Development, Dignity Has No Passport": Pope Leo Visits Canary Island to Show Solidarity with Migrants, Detained Women Join Hunger and Labor Strike at Delaney Hall ICE Jail in NJ, Report: State Dept. Opens Probe of Iranian-Born Trita Parsi, Critic of Trump's War, Protests Held as World Cup Opens in Mexico, Landlord Waives Back Rent for Tenants After Being Targeted by NYC Mayor Mamdani

A key provision of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is set to expire Friday unless it is reauthorized by Congress. Section 702 allows for the warrantless surveillance of foreign nationals believed to be outside of the U.S., yet, in practice, it also sweeps up and stores vast amounts of data from people inside the country, including their emails, texts and cellphone data. The FISA provision was enacted in 2008 to legalize George W. Bush's warrantless wiretapping program that was developed after 9/11.A bipartisan group of senators is opposing the reauthorization of Section 702 due to President Trump's naming of MAGA loyalist Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence, to replace Tulsi Gabbard, who announced her resignation in May. Pulte has no known background in intelligence. He currently serves as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, where he has used his position to carry out Trump's campaign of retribution against his political enemies.It took this nomination of a completely unqualified guy to get enough members of Congress to really stop [Section 702]," says Cindy Cohn, executive director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. It's time to take a look and listen hard about the privacy protections that are needed, at a minimum, for this program to go forward." Cohn notes that the massive national security surveillance state that was built after 9/11 has always been a threat to freedom."

People are really, really afraid ... that ICE will go and raid communities where people are watching and gathering together" to watch the FIFA World Cup, says Nelini Stamp. She is an organizer with the Our Copa campaign, a grassroots initiative that aims to protect immigrant fans, center the sport's working-class roots, and host accessible local watch parties during the World Cup. We will keep each other safe as much as possible during these games," says Stamp.

We continue our World Cup coverage in Mexico City, where local protesters are using the global event to bring attention to their causes. A sit-in by a teachers' union is targeting World Cup festivities. And the mothers of disappeared people have been protesting, trying to reach the stadium in the far south of the city," says Jose Luis Granados Ceja, who covers Latin America for Drop Site News. Meanwhile, due to high ticket prices, the people who love this sport are not going to be able to attend the games. They have been extraordinarily inaccessible to the population," adds Granados Cejas.

The FIFA World Cup kicks off today with two games in Mexico. This will be the biggest World Cup in history, with teams from 48 countries playing over 100 games in 16 host cities across Canada, Mexico and the United States. With a new FIFA pricing system in place, tickets are significantly more expensive for this World Cup than for previous tournaments. And Trump's harsh immigration policies are having another chilling effect on the games. Out of the 39 countries under either a full or partial U.S. travel ban, four - Iran, Haiti, Cote d'Ivoire and Senegal - are expected to play in the World Cup. Players from the latter three countries received visa exemptions, while the Iranian team must train in Tijuana, Mexico.This World Cup is shaping up to be one of extreme exclusion," says author and former professional soccer player Jules Boykoff. Working-class fans basically have no chance of buying a ticket to these games ... and you have people who have chosen not to come to the United States because they fear getting scooped up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement."

The U.S. struck Iran on Wednesday for a second day in a row, and President Trump is threatening more strikes. Iran has claimed it launched retaliatory missiles at a U.S. Navy fleet in Bahrain, as well as at U.S. air bases in Kuwait and Jordan. Iran has also declared the complete closure of the Strait of Hormuz, despite claims by the U.S. that it now effectively controls the strait. Iran's Foreign Ministry says the U.S. strikes have rendered the ceasefire practically meaningless."The last time that the U.S. and Iran spoke directly was in April, but talks have been continuing through intermediaries. It is Israel, not the U.S. and Iran, that doesn't want the war to end, argues journalist Rami Khouri. Israel has made it clear that it's not going to do what the U.S. tells it," says Khouri. He adds that the U.S. doesn't know how to get out of the war or how to rein in" Israel. So, I expect we're going to see a continuation of these tit-for-tat military strikes."

U.S. Continues to Strike Iran for a Second Day in a Row, U.S. Attacks Tanker Off the Coast of Oman, Killing 3 Indian Sailors, Amnesty International Accuses Israel of Ethnic Cleansing in the West Bank, FBI Conducts Raids of Pro-Palestinian Activists in Michigan, Anti-Immigrant Riots Continue in Belfast as Police Deploy Water Cannons to Quell Second Night of Unrest, U.S. Inflation Hits Highest Level in 3 Years Driven by Increasing Gas Prices, New Jersey Health Inspectors Find Unsafe and Unsanitary Food Prep at Delaney Hall, GAO Report Finds Sweeping Failures at ICE Jail in Fort Bliss, Texas, U.S. Measles Cases Top 2,000 for Second Straight Year, NYT: RFK Jr. Disengaged in Running Health and Human Services Department

We continue to follow the impact of the Trump administration's ongoing assault on scientific research in the United States with an update from climate scientist Peter Kalmus, who says he has been forced to resign from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) after 15 years at his dream job." In an immense loss to the government's capacity to monitor and assess atmospheric conditions, the JPL has lost about 30% of its staff since President Trump took office for the second time, says Kalmus, who warns that the dismantling of federally funded scientific infrastructure comes as rising global temperatures put the Earth in extreme danger." We're on this escalator towards warmer and warmer and warmer temperatures, and world leaders are not doing anything about it."

We're joined by ocean policy expert David Helvarg to discuss the Trump administration's dismantling of the Ocean Observatories Initiative, the cutting-edge eyes [and] ears" of the ocean. The program's closure, proposed in the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 playbook for Trump's second administration, involves the decommissioning of a vast network of ocean floor sensors that collect data on marine ecosystems, ocean currents and global climate data, protecting the world's oceans and providing critical information about extreme weather. In their place is the increasingly unregulated expansion of resource extraction driven by the fossil fuel industry, essentially developing the ocean for offshore oil drilling and mining - basically, as a gas station and a garbage dump."Helvarg, the author of Forest of the Sea: The Remarkable Life and Imperiled Future of Kelp, also discusses the world's other forest crisis": the loss of over half of kelp forests to warming ocean temperatures, throwing coastal ecosystems deeply out of balance. We have an ocean," adds Helvarg. It's full of life. It's at risk. And we need to better understand the other 71% of our blue marble planet to protect it - and not to let a few individuals and corporations destroy it."

James Dolan, the billionaire owner of New York City's Madison Square Garden and its affiliated sports teams, the New York Knicks and the New York Rangers, is under fire after a bombshell investigation by Wired magazine revealed the inner workings of the arena's extensive surveillance network. Dolan employs facial recognition technology to track and profile arena attendees. This reportedly included a trans woman who, according to a former security staffer, was targeted solely due to her gender identity, as well as lawyers who have been banned because their firms are involved in lawsuits against him. Dolan's spy machine" feeds information to Madison Square Garden's sizable security forces, who operate beyond the arena itself, acting as a kind of second ersatz police force in Midtown Manhattan," explains Noah Shachtman, one of the authors of the Wired investigation. It captures everyone, and some people get labeled as threats, even when they're clearly not." Dolan's blacklist also extends to his other venues, including Radio City Music Hall, also in New York City, and Sphere, in Las Vegas. Even for those who never step foot in Madison Square Garden, Shachtman says, the system there isn't an outlier. It's a model."

After the downing of an Apache helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz, the United States and Iran have begun trading missile and drone strikes in the most serious escalation of hostilities since the April ceasefire agreement. President Trump posted on social media Wednesday morning that Iran has taken too long to negotiate a deal" and would now have to pay the price!!!" For more, we speak to Mohammad Eslami at Tehran University, who says Trump's lies and broken promises" have shattered Iranians' trust in a diplomatic solution. Every night, there are lots of peoples chanting all around the street against Trump. And also, ... unfortunately, many of them are chanting against negotiation with Donald Trump," he says. Right now they are asking the Iranian [forces] to retaliate."

Trump Says Iran Is Taking Too Long to Negotiate a Ceasefire Deal and Will Now Have to Pay the Price", Israeli Strikes Kill at Least 13 People in Southern Lebanon, U.N. Report: Armed Groups in Gaza Have Beaten, Maimed and Executed Dozens of Palestinians, Kenyan Police Forces Fatally Shoot a Man During Protest Against U.S. Ebola Facility, World Cup Referee from Somalia Returns Home After U.S. Denies Him Entry, Anti-Immigration Riots Roil Belfast as Firefighters Escort Immigrant Families from Their Homes, Federal Judge Permanently Blocks Alabama from Executing Inmate by Nitrogen Gas, House GOP Approves $70 Billion to Fund Trump's Immigration Crackdown, AP: Trump Admin Separated Dozens of Immigrant Children from Their Parents for a Second Time, Epstein's Former Assistant Groff Testifies Before House Oversight Committee, Trump Family Promotes Commemorative Coins for White House UFC Fight, Progressive Candidate Platner Overwhelmingly Wins Maine's Democratic Primary for Senate, GOP Congressmember Nancy Mace Loses GOP Primary for Governor of South Carolina, Republican Steve Hilton Advances to General Election in California's Gubernatorial Race

President Trump on Monday attended the third game of the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The San Antonio Spurs beat the New York Knicks, who hadn't lost a game since late April. The crowd booed when Trump was shown on the jumbotron.This was supposed to be a day about the Knicks. It was supposed to be a celebration of New York," says Dave Zirin, sports editor for The Nation and host of the Edge of Sports podcast. And instead it was about one authoritarian, malignant narcissist."Anticipation for the FIFA World Cup is joyless," adds Zirin. This is the first time that travel warnings are being issued to fans coming here. Even warnings are being issued to people who live in the United States by immigration groups because of the threats of ICE being at the stadiums."

Ahead of the initial public offering for SpaceX, we speak with historian Quinn Slobodian, author of Muskism: A Guide for the Perplexed. He says Elon Musk is creating a situation where he becomes deeply reliant on state contracts" as the U.S. government then becomes reliant on Musk. It's not about demolishing the government," Slobodian says of his work with DOGE, the so-called Department of Government Efficiency that Musk led for the Trump administration. It's about making the government more compatible, ready for the kind of products that Musk offers, and to make him then an indispensable part of the infrastructure." Slobodian goes on to warn that Musk's wealth is helping to fuel his anti-immigrant, racist political ideology. We really should be worried about the possibility of those things to live together: tech-driven prosperity and radical right-wing racist politics."

Elon Musk's rocket company SpaceX is set to go public this week targeting a $1.8 trillion valuation, potentially making it the largest initial public offering in history. It is also projected to make Elon Musk, already the world's richest man, the world's first trillionaire.The nonprofit newsroom More Perfect Union has released a new report from business reporter Eric Gardner called We Uncovered a Hidden Wealth Transfer in the SpaceX IPO. You're Holding the Bag." It details how Musk convinced Nasdaq to forgo the usual waiting period to include SpaceX in its index fund, potentially exposing retirement savers to what many professional investors believe will be an overinflated stock price. While Musk and early investors are positioned to see their wealth skyrocket, the SpaceX IPO could hurt these regular investors, says Gardner. He has essentially financially engineered the IPO as a massive wealth transfer from everyday investors to insiders," Gardner says of Musk.

Israel is continuing to carry out attacks on Lebanon amid ongoing talks between the U.S. and Iran to end the war. Iran is maintaining its demand that Lebanon be included in a ceasefire deal. Lylla Younes, an investigative journalist based in Beirut, says President Trump's claims that he wants peace with Iran are absurd" because the United States continues to support Israel's aggression in southern Lebanon." She argues that an angry phone call between Netanyahu and Donald Trump is ultimately meaningless" as long as Israel is granted impunity and arms." Younes also talks about reporting she did for Drop Site News on the ethnic cleansing in Ain Arab, a village in southern Lebanon.

Trump Again Claims He's Nearing a Deal with Iran, as Tehran Says U.S. and Israel Broke Ceasefire, Israel Bombs Lebanese City of Tyre After Ordering All Residents to Flee, Israeli Strike on Gaza Refugee Camp Kills 8-Year-Old Palestinian Leaving School, Nigeria's Military Says It Has Freed 360 People Abducted by Boko Haram, Progressive L.A. Councilmember Nithya Raman Advances to November Runoff Against Incumbent Mayor Bass, Trump Formally Nominates Former Personal Lawyer Todd Blanche as Attorney General, Immigrant from Republic of Georgia Dies in Louisiana ICE Jail, New Jersey Gov. Sherrill Says ICE Strictly Limited Her Inspection of Delaney Hall, Trump's Border Czar" Tom Homan Threatens Surge of Immigration Agents to New York, NYC Mayor Mamdani Pushes Back Against Border Czar Homan's Threats, Federal Judge Rules Against Trump's $100,000 Annual Fee on H-1B Visa Applications, Trump Loudly Booed During Game 3 of the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden

Peru's presidential runoff is too close to call as ballots continue to be counted from Sunday's election between Keiko Fujimori, daughter of former dictator Alberto Fujimori, and leftist lawmaker Roberto Sanchez. Peruvian election officials say final results could take up to a month to confirm.Peruvian economist and public policy expert Gustavo Guerra-Garcia Picasso says democracy has been undermined" by Fujimori and her right-wing coalition, and that reforms must be implemented quickly to restore a presidential system with checks and balances."We also speak with historian Greg Grandin, who situates the Peru election in a wider battle between right and left across Latin America - with the Trump administration conducting an unprecedented program of aggression" against leftists.

Voters are casting ballots in primary elections Tuesday in Maine, one of a handful of states that could decide which party controls the Senate after this year's midterm elections. Democrats believe they have their best shot in years to unseat Republican Senator Susan Collins, but their presumptive nominee has been mired in controversy.Graham Platner is a 41-year-old oyster farmer and Marine veteran who entered the race as a populist progressive. Democratic Governor Janet Mills, who was urged to run by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, suspended her campaign in April amid polls predicting Platner would easily beat her - though she remains on the ballot. Platner's past, however, has cast a shadow on his campaign. The initial controversies focused on offensive posts Platner made on Reddit years ago and on a tattoo on his chest that resembled a Nazi symbol, which he has since apologized for and covered up. In recent weeks, sexually explicit text messages came to light that Platner had sent to women after getting married in 2023. The New York Times then reported that several women who had dated Platner recalled unsettling" and abusive behavior by him, which he has denied.For more, we speak with Kim Villanueva, national president of the National Organization for Women PAC, which supports Mills in the primary, and Maine resident Shay Stewart-Bouley, executive director of Community Change, Inc., who says Platner is speaking to people's material concerns and that voters may be forgiving" for his messy" personal life.

Iran and Israel exchanged fire overnight in the most serious escalation since a U.S.-Iranian truce was reached in April. Iran launched a wave of missiles at northern Israel in retaliation for Israeli attacks near Beirut on Sunday. Israel responded with attacks on Iran, with explosions reported in Tehran, Tabriz and Isfahan. This comes as peace talks appear stalled between the United States and Iran, largely over Iran's insistence that any agreement must include Lebanon and halt Israel's attacks on that country. President Donald Trump has also repeatedly expressed frustration with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and reports from NBC News and The New York Times indicate the Pentagon is growing increasingly concerned over Israel spying on U.S. officials.I was not surprised by the Iranian attack on Israel," says analyst Trita Parsi, who notes that Iran's leaders want to extend their deterrence" to Lebanon. What is perhaps a bit surprising is ... that the Israelis defied Trump's expressed wishes."

Iran Says It's Halting Attacks on Israel After Both Countries Exchange Fire, Israeli Strikes Hit Beirut Despite a U.S.-Brokered So-Called Ceasefire, Israeli Strikes Kill at Least Seven Palestinians in Gaza, Russian Drone Hits Nuclear Fuel Facility Near Chernobyl, Killing 3 People, Hegseth Uses D-Day Anniversary to Attack European Immigration Policies, Saying Continent Facing New Invasion", Federal Lawsuit Seeks to Block White House UFC Event Set for Trump's 80th Birthday, Trump Storms Out of Interview with NBC News's Welker After She Questions Him About Slush Fund, Ex-60 MInutes" Anchor Pelley Claims Bari Weiss Wanted to Push False Narratives on Renee Good's Killing, New Jersey Boosts Legal Funding for Immigrants Held at Delaney Hall ICE Jail, Hunger Strikers at Adelanto ICE Jail Moved to Solitary Confinement After Talking to Lawmakers, 12 Injured as Gunfire Erupts at Toledo, Ohio, Street Festival, Brussels Warns Albania That Jared Kushner's Luxury Resort Could Violate EU Environmental Rules

The British government earlier this week barred left-wing political commentators Hasan Piker and Cenk Uygur from entering the U.K. ahead of several speaking events. The Home Office said it was canceling their travel permits because their presence in the U.K. may not be conducive to the public good." Piker and Uygur, who are related, are both outspoken in their criticism of Israel. While the government did not cite a specific reason for the ban, some lawmakers and pro-Israel groups had accused the two of promoting antisemitism, which they reject.I find what the British government did here to be objectionable. I find it to be disgusting. I also find it to be terrifying," Piker tells Democracy Now! I think it's a sign that we're ... headed down a very different - dare I say, fascist - direction in the Western world."Piker also discusses his participation in a recent humanitarian mission to Cuba, for which he is reportedly under investigation by the Trump administration, and his support for progressive and antiwar candidates in this year's midterm elections. We don't have a lot of time. Fascism is here," Piker says.

We speak with Dr. Adam Hamawy, the former U.S. Army combat surgeon who just won the Democratic nomination in New Jersey's 12th Congressional District. He is now the heavy favorite to win the Democratic-leaning district in November and, if elected, would become New Jersey's first Muslim member of Congress. Hamawy is an outspoken advocate for Palestinian rights and volunteered in Gaza during Israel's genocidal assault on the territory. He has been endorsed by prominent progressives like Senator Bernie Sanders and Congressmember Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, as well as Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth, who credits Hamawy with saving her life after her helicopter was shot down in Iraq in 2004.I was running on something very simple: that we should be spending on healthcare, not bombs," Hamawy tells Democracy Now!, criticizing the $1 trillion Pentagon budget. We need to be spending some of that right here at home to restore our nation, to fund universal healthcare like Medicare for All, to fund tuition-free public college, to rebuild our roads and bridges, to address the housing crisis."

Senate Approves $70 Billion in Additional ICE and Border Patrol Funding, Hezbollah Rejects Extension of U.S.-Brokered Ceasefire Between Israel and Lebanon, WFP Warns Strait of Hormuz Closure Has Pushed Millions More into Hunger, Israeli Strike on Gaza Leaves Family of Five Burned Alive in Their Home, Trump Administration Scraps Ocean Sensors That Track Climate Change and Predict Storms, Trump Administration Seeks More Control Over Scientific Research Grants, White House Announces $700 Million in Federal Funds for Coal Industry, Lawmaker Grills Marco Rubio over Trump's Apparent Naps at Public Events, Kalshi Reports Disgraced Former Congressman George Santos for Insider Trading, Democrats Oppose Rule Change Allowing Crypto and Private Equity Investments in Pension Funds, Residents of Monterey Park, California, Vote to Ban Data Centers, GOP Congressman Wins Uncontested New Jersey Primary Even Though He Hasn't Been Seen in Months, Pam Bondi Testified Todd Blanche Was in Charge" of Entire Release" of Epstein Files, Peruvians March Against Keiko Fujimori Ahead of Presidential Vote, Warning of Return to Dictatorship, Colorado Appeals Court Reverses Homicide Convictions of Paramedics in Elijah McClain's Death, Marjane Satrapi, Author of Comic Memoir Persepolis" About Life in Iran, Dies at 56

The Trump administration five months ago launched an energy blockade against Cuba, coming on top of the over six-decade-long embargo, the longest in U.S. history. The expanded U.S. sanctions have exacerbated the island's economic crisis, forcing Cubans to live with rolling blackouts, inflation and shortages of basic goods.The situation there is dire," says Cuban American historian Ada Ferrer. It has been for quite some time, and it's gotten worse and worse over the last five months."Acknowledging the devastating effects the U.S. embargo has on the island, Ferrer says the Cuban government's priority is not the well-being of the Cuban people." She points out that despite the current deterioration of the industry, Cuba continues to invest in tourism, ignoring sectors of the economy, such as agriculture, education, health - all of which are in horrible decline."Ferrer also discusses her new book, Keeper of My Kin: Memoir of an Immigrant Daughter.

Former U.S. Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino led the Trump administration's militarized immigration crackdowns in Chicago, Los Angeles and Minneapolis. Bovino was eventually removed from his position in January after immigration agents under his command killed 37-year-old VA nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.We speak with Amanda Moore, a reporter who focuses on far-right extremism and state violence. She spent months following Bovino and the immigration crackdown in the United States for Mother Jones and other outlets. [Border Patrol] would snipe us with rubber bullets from rooftops by the detention centers," says Moore.We also get a comment from reporter Charles R. Davis about other right-wing figures in the Trump administration.

Hundreds of far-right activists gathered in Portugal on Saturday for the annual Remigration Summit" advocating for the mass deportation of immigrants. Former U.S. Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino and white nationalist leader Jared Taylor were VIP guests alongside elected officials from Germany and Spain's far-right parties. In an interview ahead of the event, Bovino cited Nazi Germany's lead general, Erwin Rommel, as an inspirational figure.Remigration is basically the policy response to the 'great replacement' conspiracy theory," says Charles R. Davis, a journalist based in Vienna, Austria. Davis explains great replacement" as a theory that there is a global elite plot, typically by Jews," to replace white people in Europe and North America with immigrants. It's an argument for mass deportations," not just of recently arrived immigrants, but of those who were allowed in over the last hundred years who were not really, as they see it, European or American," says Davis. This is basically rooted in Nazi ideology."

Hundreds of immigrants detained at the ICE jail known as Delaney Hall in Newark, New Jersey, have been on a hunger and labor strike for nearly two weeks. They are protesting the conditions at the jail, including spoiled food that has had maggots in it, overcrowding and inadequate medical care. Detainees are also forced to work for around $1 per day. In retaliation against the strike, guards at Delaney Hall have reportedly beaten participants, and family visitation was temporarily suspended. The strikers are demanding their release from the ICE jail and that the most vulnerable populations are freed first.Detainees' family members, along with immigration advocates and anti-ICE protesters, have been rallying outside Delaney Hall since the strike began. Democracy Now!'s Maria Taracena was outside Delaney on Tuesday. She spoke to a man who had just been released from detention, a community organizer, a lawyer and family members who were waiting to visit their loved ones inside the ICE jail.Police have erected barricades half a mile around Delaney Hall, making it more and more difficult to go and visit those who are on labor and hunger strike," says Natalie, a New Jersey volunteer with the mutual aid group Eyes on ICE. I was trying to see my father. He recently got put in," says the daughter of a man being held in Delaney Hall. She is struggling to find legal support for her father. He does not deserve to go to another country when he belongs in this one."

House Votes 215-208 to Approve Resolution Seeking to End Trump's War on Iran, Rep. Rashida Tlaib Advances Resolution to End U.S. Involvement in Israel's War on Lebanon, Lebanon Agrees to Extend U.S.-Brokered Ceasefire with Israel, Trump Says U.S. Bombed Iran on Tuesday, Contradicting Rubio's Claim That Iran War is Over", Israeli Airstrikes Kill Nine Palestinians in Gaza, British Government Bans Hasan Piker and Cenk Uygur from Entering U.K., Trump Nominates Todd Blanche as the Next U.S. Attorney General, Trump Signs Executive Order Making It Easier to Fire 8,000 Highly Paid Government Workers, Rural Communities in Bolivia Seize Oil Field, Calling on President Paz to Resign, Thousands Demonstrate Against Chilean Far-Right President Kast, Labor Protests Rock Mexico City Days Before World Cup, Protests Erupt in Albania over Massive Resort Development Linked to Jared Kushner

We continue our coverage of the fallout from the dropped federal case against the Broadview 6," six people who attended a protest outside Chicago's Broadview ICE jail in September. They were later indicted for conspiracy to impede a federal agent, despite many not having met prior to appearing together in court. I didn't find out that I had been indicted until a month after this happened," says Kat Abughazaleh, who was not arrested at the protest, but weeks later, as she was running for Congress. Michael Rabbitt, a Democratic ward committeeperson in Chicago, says that when he received a text informing him about a warrant for his arrest, I actually thought it was a scam. I honestly didn't think it was real."

Calls are growing for the interim U.S. attorney in Chicago, Andrew Boutros, to resign over his handling of the Broadview 6" case - six individuals charged with federal crimes for protesting outside Chicago's Broadview ICE jail in September. The remaining charges against four of the Broadview 6 were recently dismissed after the case collapsed in court due to widespread prosecutorial misconduct. This DOJ has completely corrupted the grand jury process," says attorney Chris Parente, who represented one of the Broadview 6. When they decide that they want to get a political indictment through, they will do whatever it takes, even acting in an unethical way."Parente, himself a former federal prosecutor, says federal prosecutors heavily misrepresented the case and forced an indictment despite the grand jury initially voting against it. What's even worse," he adds, is the U.S. attorney's subsequent cover-up of the prosecutors' conduct, refusing to release the grand jury transcripts for months and later redacting and withholding full pages from the judge who ordered their release. As a former federal prosecutor, your job is not to win any case. It's to do the right thing. And I've never seen a case like this, where from the jump they did the wrong thing at every single turn."

In yet another deeply alarming appointment," President Donald Trump has picked major Trump campaign donor Bill Pulte to replace former Congressmember Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence, the nation's top spy chief who reports directly to the president. Pulte is not somebody who has any of the requisite experience for this incredibly important office," says Matt Platkin, a former attorney general for New Jersey. Pulte is also expected to continue in his other high-level positions as chair of the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and chair of the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) and director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, where he is accused of abusing his power to pursue political prosecutions against Trump's enemies.We also speak to Harvard Law School professor Nancy Gertner, a retired federal judge, about legal challenges to Trump's mass deportation campaign, particularly involving widespread abuses committed by DHS and ICE. What we're seeing now is an effort for the courts to catch up to those abuses, and they are. Legislation is going to be needed to make this even more clear," says Gertner.

After widespread bipartisan outcry, the Justice Department says it is permanently abandoning plans for a $1.776 billion anti-weaponization" fund. Widely branded as a slush fund," it was expected to reward President Donald Trump's supporters, including those who attacked the Capitol on January 6, 2021. The fund was announced in May as part of a settlement in Trump's personal lawsuit against the IRS over the leak of his tax data. That case was recently reopened, after dozens of former federal judges filed a motion alleging that Trump's actions were collusive." As Nancy Gertner, one of the judges who joined the motion, explains, What happened in this case was, essentially, Trump was suing himself. There was no question that Trump was on both sides of the 'v.'" Gertner and her fellow judges are represented by attorney Matt Platkin, who says, It is illegal for the president to ask for any IRS audit to be opened or closed. That is a federal crime."

Iran Launches Missiles and Drones at Kuwait and Bahrain in Retaliation for U.S. Attacks, Israel Kills at Least Eight People in Southern Lebanon, Israeli Forces Kill at Least Four Palestinians in Gaza, Trump Picks MAGA Loyalist Bill Pulte to Serve as Acting Director of National Intelligence, Pentagon Hires Jan. 6 Insurrectionist for Counterterrorism Role, DOJ Kills $1.8B Anti-Weaponization Fund, But Trump's IRS Settlement Remains, Former Border Patrol Chief Bovino Attends Anti-Immigrant Summit in Portugal, New Jersey Attorney General Files Lawsuit Against Private Prison Company GEO Group, SCOTUS Allows Alabama to Adopt New GOP-Friendly Congressional Map, CBS News Fires 60 Minutes" Correspondent Scott Pelley, MAGA-Supporting Republican Steve Hilton Leads California Governor's Race, L.A. Mayor Karen Bass Advances to Runoff, Challenged by Reality TV Star and City Councilmember, Deb Haaland Advances in Bid to Become New Mexico's First-Ever Indigenous Governor, Trump-Backed Gubernatorial Candidate Loses GOP Primary in Iowa, Dr. Adam Hamawy, Who Volunteered in Gaza, Wins Democratic Nomination for New Jersey House Seat

We speak with journalist, academic and author Steven Thrasher about his new book, The Overseer Class, in which he explores how members of historically marginalized groups rise to positions of power within institutions in lieu of structural change. He identifies Black police officers as a prominent example of this phenomenon. As public opinion in the United States has grown more critical of law enforcement, Black cops are kind of rehabilitating police departments, as are women cops and LGBTQ cops," Thrasher says. Those are the people who I call overseers, the ones who rule between the ruling class and the working class."

More than 200 people have now been killed in U.S. military strikes on boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific. Since September, the Pentagon has struck more than 60 vessels, claiming, without evidence, that the boats were engaged in narco-trafficking" operations. Human rights groups have roundly condemned the attacks as extrajudicial killings.The U.S. is not in active conflict with any of these groups," says Amanda Klasing, the national director of government relations and advocacy at Amnesty International USA. These are law enforcement operations, ... so the individuals on these boats have a right to life and a right to due process."

Israeli drones have killed at least eight people in Lebanon despite an announcement Monday by U.S. President Donald Trump that both Israel and Hezbollah had agreed to stop fighting. Trump's intervention came as Israel threatened new strikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut, leading Iran to suspend indirect negotiations with the U.S. to protest Israel's expanding military offensive in Lebanon. Since March 2, Israel has killed more than 3,400 people in Lebanon while seizing large swaths of the country and displacing about one-fifth of the population.Lebanon is a weak state, it doesn't have a lot of leverage, and a lot of people are concerned," says Associated Press reporter Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut. They sort of feel beholden to the regional and global powers on their fate."

Israel Kills 8 in Lebanon After Trump Says He Told Netanyahu to Call Off Beirut Attack, Rep. Rashida Tlaib Calls on Congress to Pass Lebanon War Powers Resolution, Iran Suspends Talks with U.S. Amid Israel's Attacks on Lebanon, Israel Continues to Violate Gaza Ceasefire, Killing 3 More Palestinians, I Am Offended": NYC Mayor Mamdani Blasts Appearance by Israel's Smotrich at March, Russian Strikes Kills at Least 18 in Ukraine, Trump Appears to Abandon Proposed $1.8 Billion Slush Fund" for MAGA Supporters, Anthropic Confidentially Files for IPO, as Sen. Sanders Calls for 50% Tax on Stock of AI Companies, Newark Mayor Baraka Set to Announce Legal Strategy to Shut Down Delaney Hall, Ghana's Parliament Approves Bill Criminalizing LGBTQ+ Activities, Defense Secretary Hegseth Designates Pentagon Press Office as a Classified Space, Veteran 60 Minutes" Correspondent Pelley Blasts CBS News Leadership, Critical Incident: A Death at the Border" Wins Outstanding Investigative Documentary at News Emmys, Voters Head to the Polls in Several States for Primary Elections

A federal jury last week convicted three people on felony conspiracy charges over their involvement in an anti-ICE protest in Spokane, Washington, last June. The Spokane Three" are awaiting sentencing and face up to six years in prison for conspiracy to impede or injure ICE officers. They had attempted to block the transfer of a group of detained immigrants by sitting in front of a bus. Six of the nine protesters originally charged took plea deals, but the Spokane Three decided to fight the charges.If I had taken a plea deal, it would have essentially been me lying and saying that I did something that I didn't do. I didn't assault anybody," says Bajun Mavalwalla, a U.S. military veteran and one of the Spokane Three.What we have here is a really large reach of the conspiracy statute," adds journalist and author Aaron Glantz, highlighting that no officers were hurt in the June protest. What happened was a relatively minor demonstration."

President Donald Trump has tapped David Venturella, a former ICE official and executive at the private prison company GEO Group, to replace Todd Lyons as head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. GEO Group saw its profits jump from $32 million in 2024 to more than $254 million in 2025 as the Trump administration expanded government contracts with ICE jails nationwide.Setareh Ghandehari, advocacy director at Detention Watch Network, says private prison companies have an intricate" relationship with ICE. It's really a revolving door," she says, pointing out that Venturella worked for ICE under Presidents Bush and Obama, then went to GEO Group before this latest appointment by President Trump. It's really hard to see where the interests of ICE end and those of private prison companies begin," says Ghandehari.

We look at a growing boycott against Citizens Bank amid a campaign to pressure the corporation to divest from financing CoreCivic and GEO Group, two of the nation's largest private operators of ICE jails. An interfaith coalition of dozens of religious groups in Boston said Citizens Bank has failed to adequately address its concern about financing private prisons, so the group has withdrawn $1 million from its estimated $14 million account with the bank and threatened to keep removing funds until its demands are met.Filmmaker Julie Cohen and journalist Paul Barrett, who are married, recently wrote an opinion piece about closing their account at Citizens Bank over its complicity with Delaney Hall and other ICE jails.Over more than a dozen years, Citizens Bank has arranged for and helped provide some $2 billion in financing for GEO Group and CoreCivic," says Barrett, a former reporter for The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg Businessweek. Without that money, these corporations literally could not function."The idea is to basically use our collective economic power to speak out about those who are aiding and abetting" the immigrant detention system in the United States, adds Cohen. A lot of what's going on in these ICE detention facilities is not lawful because ... immigrant neighbors, most of whom have not committed any crime beyond immigration violations, are being held there without due process."

An estimated 300 immigrants detained at the Delaney Hall ICE jail in Newark, New Jersey, are continuing a hunger and labor strike to demand their freedom. Amid ongoing protests, New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill has deployed state police, who erected a barricade around the facility and have reportedly brutalized activists. Newark Mayor Ras Baraka has also imposed a nightly curfew around Delaney Hall until further notice.Local investigative journalist Bob Hennelly joins Democracy Now! to talk about the ongoing hunger and labor strike, launched on May 22, and its historical implications in Newark and the rest of the country. In letters at the outset of their strike detailing the conditions in the ICE jail, detainees have written something that I think historians will say is equivalent to the Declaration of Independence," says Hennelly, because they so vividly describe the way they've been deprived of all the basic human rights that we've come to associate with this nation."

Trump Claims U.S. Shouldn't Have Been in Iran" in Fox News Interview, Israeli Troops Push Deeper into Lebanon, Capturing Medieval Beaufort Castle, Israeli Attacks Kill Two Palestinians in Gaza, 2027 National Defense Authorization Act Proposes to Integrate U.S. and Israeli Militaries, Former AG Bondi Claims She Lacked Authority in the Release of Epstein Files, Federal Judge Orders Temporary Halt to Trump's $1.8 Billion Slush Fund for Insurrectionists, Immigrants at Delaney Hall Continue Hunger and Labor Strike Demanding Their Release, Texas Police Arrest ICE Agent Who Shot Venezuelan Immigrant in Minneapolis, U.S. Military Strikes Vessel in Eastern Pacific, Killing Three People, Pro-Trump Right-Wing Candidate Takes Lead in First Round of Colombian Presidential Election, Federal Judge Orders Trump's Name Removed from Kennedy Center, Prominent Nicaraguan Indigenous Leader Brooklyn Rivera Dies in Detention, Memorial Service at NYC's Riverside Church Honors Black Liberation Activist Assata Shakur

Protests in Bolivia are demanding the resignation of Rodrigo Paz, the country's first right-wing president in decades. Since Paz took office in November 2025, the country has been placed under austerity measures that have led to a surge in poverty rates for much of Bolivia's rural and working-class population. We speak to Kathryn Ledebur, director of the Andean Information Network in Cochabamba, Bolivia, about the monthlong protests. Bolivia is a country where, for 19 years, Indigenous people and social movements enjoyed equal rights and political inclusion," she explains. There's a huge break between what Paz promised and what he's done in practice, which is select a white, upper-middle-class Cabinet with only two women, reject any genuine dialogue, reject interaction with the Bolivian social movements, or even have any empathy for people and what they're going through day to day."Ledebur also discusses the Paz administration's growing ties with the Trump administration as the U.S. seeks to expand its so-called war on drugs throughout Latin America.

A jury in Chicago has ordered Boeing to pay nearly $50 million to the family of Samya Stumo, a 24-year-old who was one of a total of 346 people killed in a pair of Boeing 737 MAX jet crashes less than a decade ago. Stumo died aboard Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 in March 2019, just months after another 737 MAX jet, a recently introduced model at the time, crashed in Indonesia. They knew that there was a malfunction with the plane. The plane crashed in Indonesia, and then somebody inside the company decided to keep flying the plane and did not fix whatever it is that was wrong," says Stumo's mother, Nadia Milleron.Milleron adds that while her family welcomes the latest settlement, she plans to continue pursuing legal action and serious scrutiny of Boeing's safety practices. This trial that we just had was not about accountability," she explains. This idea that they can just pay money and then continue on with the same behavior, that's what we object to, and that's why we want to expose what they're actually doing in the company that could have caused these crashes."