Democracy Now!

Cori Bush is running for Congress again. Bush previously served two terms as a Democratic congressmember for Missouri, until she was unseated in 2024 following a multimillion-dollar attack campaign run by pro-Israel groups. Bush, a community activist who participated in the 2014 Ferguson uprising over the police killing of Michael Brown, was an outspoken critic of Israel in Congress and introduced a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza in October 2023. I'm running again because the person in the seat is not meeting the moment, and he's someone that was basically placed there ... because they didn't want someone speaking out for the people of Palestine, speaking out for human rights and civil rights," says Bush.

The funeral for 56-year-old Nurul Amin Shah Alam, a disabled Rohingya refugee from Burma who was found dead after he was abandoned by Border Patrol agents miles away from his home, was held yesterday in Buffalo, New York. Local reporter J. Dale Shoemaker, who first reported on Shah Alam's disappearance for the Buffalo news organization Investigative Post, explains what we know about the case.

Federal agents detained a Columbia University student early Thursday after Department of Homeland Security officers allegedly gained access to a university-owned residence by presenting a fake missing person poster of a 5-year-old. As news broke of the student, Ellie Aghayeva, and her detention, students and community members rallied en masse demanding her release and an end to immigration enforcement on campus. Due to restrictions implemented by the university in response to pro-Palestine protests, the students were unable to protest on campus proper, but instead took to nearby streets.Aghayeva was released Thursday afternoon, shortly after New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani brought up her case during a meeting with President Donald Trump to discuss housing. For that decision to be quickly flipped is remarkable because it shows the power of opposition, but also how loose and flippant these arrests are, and how maybe unnecessary they are," says Zeteo's Prem Thakker, who has been reporting on the case.Columbia's active response, including its legal support of Aghayeva, marked a departure from previous high-profile immigration arrests of its students. Mohsen Mahdawi, a former Columbia University student who last year was also detained by DHS, says Aghayeva's arrest in campus housing is a direct result of the university administration's abdication of its responsibility to protect its students. Columbia University administration did not have the backbone, in fact, to file any lawsuits against the Trump administration for violating basic rights," says Mahdawi. This is actually what the Trump administration intended to do, which is to fracture liberal institutions and turn the administrations against their students."

As fallout from the Epstein files continues, we speak with investigative journalist Barry Levine, author of The Spider: Inside the Tangled Web of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. Recordings of the House Oversight depositions of Bill and Hillary Clinton are set to be released today and tomorrow. The Clintons were called by House Republicans to testify on their relationships with Jeffrey Epstein, but Levine emphasizes that credible allegations tying either the Clintons or Donald Trump to Epstein's criminal activities are currently limited. Meanwhile, files known to contain allegations of sexual abuse of a minor by President Trump have been withheld or removed by the Department of Justice. Levine says that the focus on the Clintons is a political distraction targeted at Trump's perceived enemies" while millions of documents on the Epstein case that could directly implicate his other associates have still not been released or unredacted for the public. There are men who are out there who took part in the sex trafficking that have not been brought to justice," says Levine.

U.S. and Iran Conclude Indirect Talks With No Deal on Iran's Nuclear Program, Pakistan Launches Cross-Border Strikes on Afghanistan, Declaring Open War" on Taliban, Russia Strikes Cities Across Ukraine Ahead of Talks Between U.S. and Ukrainian Envoys, Hillary Clinton Tells Congressional Committee She Never Met Jeffrey Epstein", Israeli Strikes on Gaza Kill 6 Palestinians in Latest Breach of U.S.-Brokered Ceasefire, ICE Agents' Car Chase Through Newark Ends in Multi-Car Crash That Injured Children, ICE Agents Use False Pretense to Detain Columbia University Student Without a Warrant, NYC Mayor Mamdani Asks Trump to Dismiss Immigration Cases Against Pro-Palestinian Activists, Mamdani Pitches Trump on Federal Funds for Affordable Housing in New York, Netflix Drops Bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, Clearing Path for Merger With Paramount Skydance, FBI Fires More Agents Who Investigated Trump's Mishandling of Classified Documents

A record 129 press workers were killed worldwide in 2025, more in one year than in any of the previous three decades for which the Committee to Protect Journalists has collected data. The previous record was set in 2024. For both 2024 and 2025, the Israeli military was responsible for two-thirds of all press killings. This shows the systematic pattern that Israel is using to silence the journalists, whether by killing them, targeting them, imprisoning them, intimidating them, and also smearing them," says Sara Qudah, Middle East and North Africa regional director at the Committee to Protect Journalists. CPJ also documented the killings of journalists in Ukraine, Mexico, Yemen, and more.

Testimony and evidence from 59 Palestinian journalists reveals strikingly consistent" reports of beatings, sensory deprivation, sexual violence, starvation and medical neglect while detained, according to a review by the Committee to Protect Journalists. Most of them were held under Israel's so-called administrative detention" policy and were never charged with any crime. The journalists lost an average of 52 pounds in Israeli prisons. This report was one of the most difficult reports to work on, because you are listening to human beings who are describing inhuman conditions they had to face for months, and some of them for years," says Sara Qudah, Middle East and North Africa regional director at the Committee to Protect Journalists.

It's been almost one year since Israeli forces killed 15 Palestinian medics and aid workers in a brutal two-hour massacre on a vehicle convoy in southern Gaza. Israeli soldiers had attempted to cover it up by burying the bodies in a shallow mass grave, and crushing the rescue vehicles with heavy machinery, but a new investigation by Forensic Architecture and Earshot has recreated a minute-by-minute accounting of what took place. Director of Earshot Lawrence Abu Hamdan, who analyzed audio from video evidence alongside witness accounts, calls the Israeli response to the attack an obstruction of justice." He says there is no reason why the Israeli army, with all of its GPS coordinates, its drones in the sky, couldn't have done this internal investigation at a way higher resolution than we can have done."We've been able to show that the attack continues for over two hours - until 7 a.m. in the morning, where we have the last recording of the night," says Samaneh Moafi, assistant director of research at Forensic Architecture.

Cuban exiles on a U.S.-registered speedboat attempted to enter Cuba undetected, but were confronted by border patrol in Cuban waters on Wednesday. According to the Cuban Interior Ministry, the Cuban nationals on the speedboat fired on the border agents who then returned fire - killing four and injuring six of the men. This comes as the Trump administration's blockade of fuel has triggered a severe humanitarian and economic crisis in Cuba, compounding the impact of the U.S. economic embargo in place since 1962. In response to the growing humanitarian crisis, activists are organizing a flotilla to deliver aid to the island. We cannot allow us to go back to the days of gunboat diplomacy, where the U.S. thinks that it is allowed to violate sovereign nations, and it can have hegemony over the hemisphere," says CodePink co-founder Medea Benjamin, who is taking part in the flotilla. These are sovereign countries. We must leave them alone."

U.S. and Iran Hold Indirect Talks Over Iran's Nuclear Program Amid Trump's Threats to Attack, Cuba Says Border Guards Fired on Heavily Armed Exiles in US-Registered Speedboat, Killing 4, Aid Groups Appeal to Israeli Supreme Court to Overturn Ban on Humanitarian Operations, State Department Offers Consular Services in Illegal Israeli West Bank Settlements, NYT: Documents Related to Trump Accuser are Missing from DOJ's Release of Epstein Files, Larry Summers to Resign as Harvard Professor Over Epstein Ties, Federal Judge Rules Trump Admin's Policy of Deporting Immigrants to Third Countries" Unlawful, Blind Rohingya Refugee Found Dead After Being Abandoned by Border Patrol, Congressmember Omar Demands Probe Into the Arrest of Her Guest Aliya Rahman at the State of the Union, Trump Administration Freezes Medicaid Reimbursements to Minnesota, Senate Democrats Grill Trump's Nominee for Surgeon General Over Her Position on Vaccines, Anthropic Drops Safety Pledge as Hegseth Demands Pentagon Access to AI Models, Brazil's Supreme Court Sentences Five Men to Prison for Marielle Franco Murder

I couldn't in good conscience sit there and listen to Trump go on and on with what we knew was going to be hours of lies, gaslighting and maligning the very people that I represent," says Congressmember Adelita Grijalva on her decision to skip Tuesday's State of the Union address. There was no attempt to bring the country together."

We speak with Minneapolis resident Aliya Rahman, who attended Tuesday's State of the Union address as a guest of Congressmember Ilhan Omar. Rahman was removed from the chamber Tuesday and spent several hours in jail following what she describes as an aggressive arrest by Capitol Police - all for silently challenging Trump during the speech.There are only two things you can do at the State of the Union, and they are sit down and stand up," says Rahman. I was arrested for standing up."Rahman, a U.S. citizen, was violently dragged out of her car and detained by federal immigration officers last month and later released without charge.

Many Democratic lawmakers boycotted Tuesday's State of the Union address to attend alternative events, including our guest Congressmember Summer Lee of Pennsylvania, who gave the Working Families Party response to President Trump. The president is disgraceful, and I don't think it's worth our time to give him an audience," says Lee, who encourages opponents to keep challenging his falsehoods. When you take away the lie, there is no foundation for President Trump."Lee also challenges Trump's claims about non-citizen voting, which experts say is exceedingly rare, and the decision by Republican House leadership to deny honors to the late Reverend Jesse Jackson at the Capitol following the civil rights icon's death.

Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz responds to Donald Trump's State of the Union address on Tuesday, when the president repeatedly touted his tariffs as saving the country money and boosting the economy. Stiglitz says Trump's lies" about tariffs can't erase the truth about how they have raised costs for most U.S. residents. It is estimated the average family is paying somewhere between $1,000 and $1,700 in extra money because of the tariffs," says Stiglitz. His policies have failed."

President Donald Trump on Tuesday delivered the longest State of the Union address in modern history, speaking for nearly two hours as he claimed the United States is entering a golden age" under his leadership. Trump spent much of his speech touting his economic policies and his administration's immigration crackdown. We play excerpts from Trump's address as well as responses to it from different Democratic lawmakers, many of whom skipped the speech to attend alternative events.

Trump Defends His Immigration Crackdown in State of the Union Address, Several GOP Lawmakers Call on Rep. Gonzales to Resign Over Allegations of Affair With Staffer, Pentagon Pressures Anthropic to Allow Full Access to Its AI Models, Mexico's Gov't Warns of Legal Action Against Musk After He Falsely Links Sheinbaum to Drug Cartels, Reuters: Iran Close to Deal to Purchase Anti-Ship Cruise Missiles From China, Whistleblower Claims FBI Agents Delayed to Crime Scenes Due to Kash Patel's Use of Agency's Private Jets, Trump Administration Sues University of California Over Allegations of Antisemitism at UCLA, WSJ: Trump Considers Issuing Executive Order to Force U.S. Banks to Collect Citizenship Information, More Than Two Dozen People Killed in RSF Raid in North Darfur, BBC Edits Out References to Trump's Crackdown in Minneapolis From Broadcast of BAFTA Awards, South Carolina Enlists Help of Public Health Experts Outside the CDC to Contain Measles Outbreak, 15 Democratic-Led States Sue the Trump Administration to Reverse CDC's Vaccine Policy, At Least 30 People Reported Dead in Brazil From Floods and Landslides

War crimes prosecutor Reed Brody joins Democracy Now! to discuss a number of ongoing human rights issues, including the international fallout of the so-called Epstein files," the International Criminal Court case against former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, the Russian invasion of Ukraine - now marking its fourth anniversary - and more.

Aided by U.S. intelligence, Mexican security forces killed the nation's most wanted man, the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as El Mencho," on Sunday. At least 70 people were killed in the raid and aftermath as armed groups retaliated in more than a dozen states.There's a real sense in Mexico and beyond that governments need to show the U.S. that they are willing and able to take military action on their own, lest Washington send special forces into the country," says Reuters correspondent Laura Gottesdiener about the raid and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum's wider crackdown on organized crime. While Sunday's operation will help Sheinbaum stave off some of the pressure from Trump," Latin American historian Alexander Avina warns that this is not going to do much in terms of stopping the flow of illicit drugs from Mexico into United States." Instead, he says, instability within cartel leadership will likely lead to internal power struggles that spill out into local communities. The burden of this war always falls upon the very bottom of the hierarchy within this political economy," says Avina.

As the Northeast United States contends with the aftermath of a historic bomb cyclone blizzard that blanketed the region, we speak to climate scientist Michael Mann about the causes and effects of increasingly intense weather events. We expect to see that increase as long as we continue to warm up the planet by burning fossil fuels and putting carbon pollution into the atmosphere," says Mann. Meanwhile, he adds, policy decisions are making it harder to prepare for extreme weather. With its defunding of scientific infrastructure across the country, the Trump administration is truly putting Americans in harm's way."

Peter Mandelson, former British ambassador to the U.S., Arrested Amid Epstein Probe, Bard College Hires Law Firm to Probe Links Between its President Leon Botstein and Epstein, CBS News Contributor Peter Attia Resigns From Network Over Epstein Ties, NPR: DOJ Fails to Release Epstein Files Related to Allegations That Trump Sexually Abused a Minor, U.S. Military Strikes Boat in the Caribbean, Killing At Least Three People, Mexico on Alert After Killing of Drug Lord El Mencho", Former ICE Attorney Accuses Agency of Lying to Congress of Slashing its Training Standards, Palestinians in Gaza Observe Holy Month of Ramadan Despite Skyrocketing Food Costs, Trump Blasts Media Reports That Top General Warned About Risks of Attacking Iran, Russia's Invasion of Ukraine Reaches Four-Year Anniversary, Federal Judge Blocks DOJ From Releasing Special Counsel's Report on Trump's Mishandling of Classified Documents, Some Democratic Lawmakers Plan to Skip Trump's 2026 State of the Union Address, Filmmaker Jonte Richardson Quits as Judge for the BAFTA Awards After Racist Incident

As the winter Olympics come to a close, a number of athletes have drawn controversy for their political statements. U.S. athletes, in particular, have expressed conflicting feelings about representing the United States during the current political moment.We speak with former athlete Jules Boykoff, who has written extensively on the Olympic games, about how politics intersect with the Games. The Trump administration has politicized these Olympics from the very beginning," he says.

We speak with Mosab Abu Toha, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Palestinian poet and author from Gaza, who responds to recent developments in the region including the Trump administration's policy on Palestine, a recent report finding that the genocide's death toll is much higher than originally reported and more.Responding to Mike Huckabee's recent comments suggesting Israel has the biblical right to expand throughout the Middle East, Abu Toha says, As a Palestinian, I don't belong to anywhere else than Palestine. My grandparents were living in Yaffa in 1948 before they were expelled. They didn't know about the Bible." He notes that the situation in Gaza remains dire despite the so-called ceasefire. It's still a genocide, ongoing."

The Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs on Friday in a 6-3 vote. The justices ruled that the tariffs - which were imposed by a series of executive orders - exceeded presidential powers under a 1977 law that gives the president authority to regulate commerce only in the case of international emergencies. The ruling takes away a leverage power tool by Trump," says Lori Wallach, director of the Rethink Trade program at the American Economic Liberties Project. He's furious about it, because a court that's been otherwise willing to expand his authority endlessly drew a line."Trump called the ruling a disgrace" and responded Friday by announcing a new 10% global tariff - which he increased to 15% Saturday.

SCOTUS Strikes Down President Trump's Global Tariffs, U.S. and Iranian Negotiators Set to Meet in Geneva Thursday, U.S. Military Strikes Boat in the Eastern Pacific, Killing 3 People, Mexican Security Forces Kill Drug Lord El Mencho", Israeli Strikes Kill At Least 12 People in Lebanon, Family of Palestinian-American Teen Fatally Shot by an Israeli Settler Demand Accountability, Arab and Muslim Nations Condemn U.S. Ambassador to Israel's Remarks on Israel and the Middle East, Axios: DNC 2024 Election Autopsy Report Concludes Harris Lost in Part to Biden's Gaza Policy, 17 Palestine Action Activists Granted Conditional Bail, Newsweek: ICE Fatally Shot a U.S. Citizen Nearly a Year Before Killing Renee Good and Alex Pretti, Bomb Cyclone" Pummels and Paralyzes Northeastern U.S., U.S. Secret Service Agents Fatally Shot an Armed Man After He Breached the Secure Perimeter at Mar-a-Lago

An immigration judge has blocked the Trump administration from deporting Mohsen Mahdawi, a Columbia University graduate and green card holder who was detained last April at what he thought was a citizenship interview. Mahdawi grew up in a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank and was an outspoken critic of Israel's genocide in Gaza while attending Columbia. He spent two weeks in ICE custody before a federal judge ordered his release. Mahdawi's case is part of a broader pattern of the Trump administration targeting international students for expressing solidarity with Palestinians and demanding divestment from the Israeli government.Mahdawi says even though immigration judges are part of the executive branch, the Trump administration clearly violated the rules of law" in targeting him. The harder they come on me, the more energy and power I will have, and I will continue to work for the freedom of the Palestinian people and the right of return and equal rights and human rights for Palestinians."

Journalist Jeremy Scahill says the Trump administration's vision for the Gaza Strip is of a continued colonial apartheid regime" with Israel and U.S. interests controlling the lives of millions of Palestinians in perpetuity. Palestinians are being told that they must completely surrender," says Scahill. President Trump chaired the first meeting of his so-called Board of Peace this week, a body established for Gaza but whose remit has already expanded.

Despite chairing the first meeting of his newly formed Board of Peace on Thursday, President Donald Trump continues to threaten war against Iran as the Pentagon positions a massive fighting force in the Middle East. Trump said he would give Tehran about two weeks to reach a deal on its nuclear program, but media reports indicate that he could launch an attack within days. Iran maintains its nuclear enrichment program is for peaceful civilian purposes.Journalist Jeremy Scahill says Trump already used the veneer" of negotiations to attack Iran last year, and that despite ongoing talks between the two countries, he has essentially already decided to launch a new war that could quickly spiral out of control.I've been told by military experts who spent decades working in the Pentagon that there's a spirit of delusion that has just taken hold in the administration," says Scahill. You have elements here who are absolutely obsessed with Iran and destroying the Islamic Revolution."

British police released former Prince Andrew on Thursday after 11 hours in custody, with his shocking arrest earlier in the day making him the first senior British royal to be arrested in nearly 400 years. Police are probing his connections to the deceased sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein and whether he shared classified government information with him while serving as a U.K. trade representative from 2001 to 2011. King Charles' brother, now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor after being stripped of his royal title, is the most high-profile figure in the U.K. to be implicated in a widening scandal over ties to Epstein, who died in a New York jail in 2019 awaiting trial on sex trafficking. Authorities did not reference sexual abuse allegations against Mountbatten-Windsor or Epstein's sex trafficking case; Mountbatten-Windsor settled a lawsuit with Epstein survivor Virginia Roberts Giuffre in 2022 and has denied all wrongdoing.Investigative journalist Carole Cadwalladr says this week's arrest feels like a rupture" in British society because the royals are seen as sacrosanct" and rarely subjected to such treatment. And in America, what are we seeing? We're seeing this sort of culture of complete impunity, where it appears the law is not equal, where there are people who are above it."

WSJ: Trump is Considering Limited" Strikes on Iran, With Option to Ramp Up Assault, Trump Says U.S. Will Give $10B in Funding to His U.N. Alternative, the Board of Peace", Israeli Settler Fatally Shoots Palestinian-American Teen in Occupied West Bank, Palestinian Journalists Describe Beatings, Starvation and Sexual Assault by Israeli Captors, Hallmarks of Genocide": U.N. Experts Sound Alarm Over Sudanese Paramilitary Group's Atrocities, U.K. Police Raid Former Home of Ex-Prince Andrew, Arrested Over Ties to Jeffrey Epstein, French Prosecutors Reopen Probe Into Epstein Associates Including Model Scout Jean-Luc Brunel, Trump Banner Draped over DOJ Headquarters Amid Growing Demands for Full Release of Epstein Files, Judge Rejects Trump Administration's Practice of Denying Bonds to Indefinitely Jail Immigrants, Police in Cameroon Arrest Journalists Probing Trump's Secretive Deportation Campaign, Federal Prisons Prohibit Gender-Affirming Care for Trans People, Bernie Sanders Rallies Support for California Wealth Tax Opposed by Billionaires and Gov. Newsom

U.K. police have arrested the former Prince Andrew, the brother of King Charles, on suspicion of misconduct in public office. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was previously sued in 2021 by Epstein survivor Virginia Giuffre, who accused him of multiple instances of sexual assault when she was underage. The lawsuit was settled out of court shortly after it was filed, but Mountbatten-Windsor was allowed to keep his royal title and privileges at the time. Those were recently stripped following revelations about the extent of his friendship with the American serial sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Their friendship has been widely known to the public since at least 2008, when Epstein was first convicted for soliciting a minor for sex.British authorities are now reportedly investigating whether Mountbatten-Windsor shared confidential government information with Epstein in 2010 while serving as a U.K. trade representative. This is a story about sex trafficking, about the abuse of numerous women, and it seems like where justice might be brought, it's on a different charge, which is sharing confidential information with a powerful person," says Novara Media's Michael Walker.

Following violent and indiscriminate sweeps of immigrant communities across the United States, the number of people in ICE detention has increased 75% since President Trump returned to the Oval Office. Yet, as the number of lawsuits against the Trump administration's mass deportation campaign skyrockets, the federal government has continued to jail people indefinitely. Although judges across the U.S. have handed down more than 4,400 rulings of illegal detentions of immigrants since October, very few of these rulings have been acted upon. Reuters reporter Brad Heath says the unprecedented pile-up" of tens of thousands of cases is straining the capacity of the rapidly shrinking staff at the Department of Justice and further delaying the release of immigrants from ICE jails.

We continue our conversation with attorney Laura Marquez-Garrett and victim advocates Lori Schott and Lennon Torres about their fight to hold tech giants accountable for the damaging and even deadly effects of social media addiction on children and young adults. We're also joined by Frances Haugen, a former Facebook employee who blew the whistle on several of the company's harmful and manipulative practices in 2021. Haugen says mega-rich tech oligarchs" like Mark Zuckerberg cared about teenagers only as people who could bring others onto the platform. They worried about public perception, not the actual health of the kids," says Haugen, adding that companies like Zuckerberg's Facebook under-invested in the safety of children," ignoring years of warnings about the psychological impacts of their products on child development in favor of optimiz[ing] for spending more and more time on these platforms."

Meta - the parent company of social media platforms Facebook and Instagram - and Google are on trial in Los Angeles following a lawsuit accusing them of fueling and profiting from addictive behaviors aimed at children and young adults. We speak to three people attending the landmark trial, including TIME 100 Most Influential People in Health" honoree Laura Marquez-Garret, an attorney at the Seattle-based Social Media Victims Law Center who has filed more than 1,200 complaints against tech companies throughout the country. Their work is part of a nationwide fight on behalf of victims and families, including two of our guests, parent advocate Lori Schott and Lennon Torres, a former child performer who now works to hold tech companies accountable for facilitating online child sexual abuse.Schott's daughter Analee was just 18 years old when she died by suicide in 2020, following a struggle with depression and body dysmorphia that Schott says was aggravated by predatory tech." Schott and Torres say Meta knew about the dangers of products like face augmentation filters and easily bypassed age verification, yet did nothing to improve its systems. I was receiving hundreds of messages from grown adult men trying to groom me online because they understood I was vulnerable," says Torres, now 26. The social media platforms could easily stop strangers from being able to contact kids ... [but] when I look at big tech leadership, I just see lazy. I see lack of innovation. I see a lack of accountability."

CNN: U.S. Military Planning to Strike Iran as Early as This Weekend, UK Authorities Arrest Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor Over Epstein Ties, Former Victoria's Secret CEO Les Wexner Testifies About His Links to Epstein, UN Panel Says Alleged Sex Crimes in Epstein Files Amount to Crimes Against Humanity, The Guardian: Trump Admin Planning 5,000-Person Military Base in Gaza, Trump's So-Called Board of Peace Holds Its Inaugural Meeting in Washington D.C., Lancet Medical Journal: Death Toll in Israel's Assault on Gaza Far Higher Than Reported, Palestinian Photographer Mariam Dagga Posthumously Wins 2026 Polk Award for Photojournalism, Russian President Putin Slams U.S. Oil Blockade of Cuba, MS NOW: DHS Launching Nationwide Campaign to Probe and Prosecute Naturalized Citizens for Voter Fraud, Trump Admin Planning to Roll Back Limits on Toxic Mercury Pollution From Coal-Fired Power Plants, NYU Langone Health to Close Trans Youth Health Program, South Korea's Former President Sentenced to Life in Prison, Eight Backcountry Skiers Found Dead After Avalanche in California

In a surprise victory, progressive candidate Analilia Mejia won the Democratic primary to fill the House seat left vacant by New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill. Mejia served as 2020 national political director for Bernie Sanders and as deputy director of the Labor Department's Women's Bureau under President Joe Biden. As a proponent of community organizing, she has pledged to refuse corporate PAC and AIPAC dollars. It is training each other, engaging each other, understanding our history, so that we can protect our democratic institutions and we could preserve the kind of self-governance that we strive for in the United States," Mejia says.Mejia won 29.3% of the vote against former Congressmember Tom Malinowski, who placed second with 27.6% of the vote. Although Mejia was the only candidate to say Israel is committing a genocide, Malinowski - who is pro-Israel but supportive of limits on aid to Israel - was the target of AIPAC ads that may have led to Mejia's victory.

The Trump administration has fired Consumer Financial Protection Bureau program manager Alexis Goldstein for documenting a meeting a year ago between the agency and Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. I have been on admin leave ever since, until I was fired last week," says Goldstein, who says the Trump administration's gutting of the CFPB removed key oversight of the financial industry. So, essentially, no one is watching the biggest banks."Goldstein is now running to represent Maryland's 6th Congressional District.

As U.S. and Iranian officials continue negotiations over Iran's nuclear program, President Trump has ordered a buildup of U.S. forces in the Middle East, including two aircraft carriers. This is an extremely dangerous situation, which both sides are actually incentivized to escalate," says Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. Both sides actually believe that a short, intense war may improve their negotiating position."

Tributes are pouring in from across the globe for Reverend Jesse Jackson, who died on Tuesday. The civil rights icon and two-time presidential candidate was 84 years old. Democracy Now!'s Juan Gonzalez recounts his experience as a reporter visiting Cuba and Puerto Rico alongside Jackson. Jesse was always there when people were fighting for some form of social justice," says Gonzalez. Of all the U.S. leaders of the past half-century, I believe none had a more international view and a commitment to worldwide social justice as Jesse Jackson did."Bishop William Barber, president and senior lecturer of Repairers of the Breach, met Jackson 40 years ago as a student when he asked to work with Jackson's student campaign during his 1984 presidential run. Jackson was somebody that was serious about people uniting to save humanity - PUSHing - that he was serious about an agenda of uplift," says Barber.

U.S. Military Says It Carried Out Strikes on Three Boats in the Caribbean and Pacific, Killing at Least 11 People, Iran's Foreign Minister: U.S. and Iranian Negotiators Have Agreed on Guiding Principles" on Iran's Nuclear Program, Mehdi Mahmoudian, Oscar-Nominated Co-Writer of It Was Just an Accident," Released from Iranian Prison, Peru's Congress Impeaches Interim Peruvian President Jose Jeri, Federal Judge Blocks Efforts by Trump Administration to Rearrest Kilmar Abrego Garcia, Immigration Judge Blocks Trump Administration from Deporting Mohsen Mahdawi, DHS Spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin Announces Her Resignation, Two-Month-Old Baby Detained at ICE Jail in Dilley, Texas, Deported Along with His Family, Tarique Rahman Sworn In as Bangladesh's New Prime Minister, Independent Journalist Georgia Fort and Activist Trahern Crews Plead Not Guilty in Federal Court in Minnesota, Late Show" Host Colbert Blasts Trump Admin After CBS Pulls Interview with Texas Democrat Talarico

Two ICE officers have been placed on administrative leave and are accused of lying under oath about an incident in Minneapolis last month involving two Venezuelan immigrants, one of whom was shot in the leg by an agent. After the incident, the two Venezuelan men, Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna and Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, were charged with felony assault, falsely accused of beating an ICE officer with a broom and snow shovel. Sosa-Celis was shot in the right thigh. While the Department of Homeland Security originally claimed the two men had attacked the agent, video evidence and witness testimonies contradicted the accusations. Federal prosecutors in Minneapolis last week dropped the felony assault charges against Aljorna and Sosa-Celis.Criminal defense attorney Frederick Goetz, who represents Aljorna, says the admission of wrongdoing is unusual" given that the Justice Department has been zealous in carrying out President Trump's anti-immigration agenda. It was not only a dismissal, but a dismissal with prejudice, meaning that my client can never be charged again for anything to do with this incident," says Goetz.

We look back on the life and legacy of civil rights icon Reverend Jesse Jackson, who died Tuesday at the age of 84. From marching with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to building the Rainbow Coalition in his two presidential runs and beyond, Jackson's life contributed to making this country more democratic, more inclusive, more fair," says Howard University political science professor Clarence Lusane.We also speak with activist Larry Hamm, who co-chaired Jackson's 1988 presidential campaign in New Jersey. Hamm first met Jackson in 1971 and says he was audacious" above all else. Jesse knew his place in history," says Hamm.

As we remember the life and legacy of civil rights icon Reverend Jesse Jackson, who died Tuesday at the age of 84, we air remarks by Senator Bernie Sanders from a 2024 tribute held during the Democratic National Convention. Sanders, whose own two runs for president galvanized progressives across the United States, hailed Jackson's campaigns in 1984 and 1988 for building a broad coalition for social justice. Jesse Jackson is one of the very most significant political leaders in this country in the last 100 years," Sanders said. Jesse's contribution to modern history is not just bringing us together; it is bringing us together around a progressive agenda."

Civil rights icon Reverend Jesse Jackson died Tuesday at the age of 84. Jackson is known for working closely with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference during the civil rights movement, and he later ran two groundbreaking presidential campaigns in 1984 and 1988, when he pushed to cut the Pentagon budget while increasing domestic spending on education, housing and healthcare. Jackson was also involved in international campaigns from the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa to supporting Palestinian self-determination. We remember his legacy and air interviews from his many appearances on Democracy Now! over the years.

Civil Rights Icon Rev. Jesse Jackson Dies at 84, Second Round of Indirect Talks Between U.S. and Iranian Officials Underway in Geneva, Ukrainian and Russian Officials Meet in Geneva Today for U.S.-Brokered Peace Talks, Drop Site News: Senior Hamas Leader Says Group Will Not Follow Calls to Unilaterally Disarm, Trump Calls Cuba a Failed Nation" and Refuses to Rule Out Military Action, Minnesota Investigators Say FBI Refusing to Share Evidence in Alex Pretti's Killing, AG Bondi Faces Bipartisan Criticism After Telling Congress All Epstein Files Have Been Released

Three activists - Robert Earl Council, Melvin Ray and Raoul Poole - featured in the Oscar-nominated documentary The Alabama Solution were placed in solitary confinement last month in what advocates believe is retaliation for their role in exposing the abuses of the state's prison system and for helping to organize a prison labor strike. We're joined by three guests who worked on the documentary: director Andrew Jarecki, investigative journalist Charlotte Kaufman and Tiffany Johnson Cole, a childhood friend of and attorney for Robert Earl Council. Johnson Cole has filed a lawsuit against her client's transfer. She says Council, Ray, Poole and other incarcerated activists have put themselves in harm's way in an effort to bring about change in a system that is truly cruel and inhumane."The Alabama Solution features footage clandestinely shot on contraband cellphones wielded by men incarcerated by the fifth-largest state prison system in the United States. The footage includes the apparent cover-up of the beating death of an incarcerated man by prison guards. Any authoritarian administration does not want you to see what's going on inside," says director Andrew Jarecki. They can't really continue to do what they're doing if there's enough public pressure, which is one of the reasons why Alabama is so anxious about this film." Kaufman adds that the problem extends throughout the country. We spend $80 billion a year on prisons and jails and incarcerate 2 million people, and yet the public's not allowed to see in and evaluate whether the system is fulfilling its mandate."

Thirty-three-year-old Palestinian activist Leqaa Kordia will soon mark one year trapped in ICE detention. Kordia, who was born in East Jerusalem, first came to police attention when she was arrested during the 2024 Gaza solidarity protests at Columbia University. Those charges were dropped, but Kordia was later detained at routine immigration check-in in New Jersey. Federal immigration officers said her student visa had expired, and sent her to an ICE detention center in North Texas, where she's been incarcerated ever since. Under what she describes as torturous conditions, she suffered her first-ever seizure, which led to a multiday hospitalization. For three days, ICE refused to inform her family and legal team about her status and whereabouts. She's been a relatively healthy person physically until she was detained ... [but] her health is at great risk if she remains in custody," says Kordia's attorney Sarah Sherman-Stokes.Kordia has lost more than 200 family members to Israel's genocide in Gaza, and a judge has ruled that she cannot be repatriated to Israel because of risk of persecution there, but the U.S. government has refused to release her on bond while her legal battle crawls along. Leqaa should never have been detained," in the first place, says Sherman-Stokes.

Reuters: U.S. Military Preparing for Possible Strikes on Iran If Trump Orders Attack, Israel Kills at Least 11 Palestinians in Gaza Over the Past 24 Hours, Oscar-Winning Palestinian Director of No Other Land" Says His Family Has Been Attacked by Israeli Settlers, U.S. Military Strikes Boat in the Caribbean, Killing Three People, Ukraine Launches Drone Strike on Russian Black Sea Port Ahead of Peace Talks with the U.S., AOC and Secretary of State Rubio Offer Competing Visions of U.S. Foreign Policy at Munich Security Conference, Trump Admin Planning to Spend Over $38 Billion to Buy Warehouses and Convert Them into ICE Jails, Two ICE Agents Face Criminal Probe over Lying to a Jury After Shooting a Venezuelan Immigrant in Minnesota, DHS Enters Partial Shutdown After Senate Democrats Refuse to Support Funding Bill, Federal Judge Orders Return of Deported Babson College Student Any Lucia Lopez Belloza Back to the U.S., RFK Jr. Says He Used to Snort Cocaine Off of Toilet Seats", Barack Obama Blasts Clown Show" After Trump Posts Racist Video Depicting Obamas as Apes, Russell Vought Uses $15M from Foreign Aid Agency He Gutted to Pay for Security Detail, San Francisco Educators End Strike with Tentative Deal to Fully Fund Family Healthcare

Cuba is facing a growing humanitarian crisis due to a U.S.-imposed oil blockade. The Trump administration has also threatened new tariffs against any nation that sends fuel to Cuba, which has been under a U.S. trade embargo since 1962. These measures have caused fuel shortages and widespread blackouts, while the cost of food and transportation has skyrocketed. This is a massive violation of human rights," says Ernesto Soberon Guzman, Cuban ambassador to the United Nations. It's a massive violation of international law."

Faith leaders in North Carolina are leading a three-day trek from Wilson to Raleigh in an event aimed at supporting unabridged voting rights; living wages and ending poverty; welcoming immigrants," and more. Reverend Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove spoke with Democracy Now! from the march, saying that love is the power that can overcome fear in this moment." As North Carolina faces a President Trump-led gerrymandering effort, Wilson-Hartgrove hopes that the event will mobilize voters across the state.

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives voted on Wednesday to require proof of U.S. citizenship in the November midterm elections. If it becomes law, it would be the worst voter suppression bill ever passed by Congress," according to Ari Berman, national voting rights correspondent for Mother Jones. The bill really combines a lot of the worst things that Republicans want to do with regards to voting, and it comes at a time when Trump appears dead set to try to interfere in the midterm elections," he adds.Wednesday's vote sends the legislation on to the Republican-led Senate, where it is expected to receive a vote but unlikely to garner the 60-vote, filibuster-proof majority needed for passage.