Democracy Now!

Nations are struggling to reach a final text agreement at the COP30 U.N. climate summit in Belem, Brazil. Decisions are made by consensus at COPs, requiring consent among 192 countries, and the biggest fight over the draft text is the exclusion of a roadmap to phase out fossil fuels. Reportedly Saudi Arabia, China, Russia and India are among those that rejected the roadmap. But more than 30 countries are saying they will not accept a final deal without one. We came to this COP to get a very concrete decision on just transitioning away from fossil fuels, to get a mechanism so that we can do it in a much more cooperative manner," says Harjeet Singh, strategic adviser to the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Thousands of Amazonian land defenders, both Indigenous peoples and their allies, have traveled to the COP30 U.N. climate conference in Belem, Brazil. On Friday night, an Indigenous-led march arrived at the perimeter of the COP's Blue Zone," a secure area accessible only to those bearing official summit credentials. The group stormed security, kicking down a door before the United Nations police contained the protest. We decided we needed to stop this COP," says Alessandra Korap Munduruku, a leader of the protest, who joined us for an extended interview. We are the ones that are saying what the forest is demanding. We are the ones that are saying what the river is asking for. We are going through a lot of violence in our territories."

As negotiations draw close to a conclusion at the COP30 U.N. climate summit, nations are still sharply divided over the future of fossil fuels. Delegates representing dozens of countries have rejected a draft agreement that does not include a roadmap to transition away from oil, coal and gas. Ralph Regenvanu, Vanuatu's minister for climate change, says a number of nations refused to entertain any mention of fossil fuels" in the outcome statement from COP30. The fact that they are refusing to accept the best scientific evidence and legal obligations ... is quite astounding to countries that want to see real action."

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As we broadcast from the COP30 climate summit in Belem, Brazil, we are joined by one of Brazil's most prominent scientists, Carlos Nobre, who says the Amazon now produces more carbon emissions than it removes from the atmosphere, moving closer to a tipping point" after which it will be impossible to save the world's largest rainforest. We need urgently to get to zero deforestation in all Brazilian biomes, especially the Amazon," he argues.Nobre is a senior researcher at the Institute of Advanced Studies at the University of Sao Paulo and co-chair of the Scientific Panel for the Amazon. He's lead author of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which won a Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 for its reports on global warming.

In a wide-ranging conversation, Brazil's first minister of Indigenous peoples, Sonia Guajajara, spoke with Democracy Now! at the COP30 climate summit in Belem. She addressed criticisms of the Lula government in Brazil, which has championed climate action even while boosting some oil and gas exploration in the country; celebrated the strong presence of Indigenous representatives at this year's climate talks; and stressed the need to phase out fossil fuels. Guajajara also criticized the Trump administration for pressuring Brazil to release former President Jair Bolsonaro after he was convicted of involvement in a coup attempt. Bolsonaro was an opponent of Indigenous rights, and if he is sent to prison, we expect he will be paying for all his crimes," including everything he has done against us," says Guajajara.

As we broadcast from the COP30 climate summit in Belem, Brazil, calls are growing for stronger protections for refugees and migrants forcibly displaced by climate disasters. The United Nations estimates about 250 million people have been forced from their homes in the last decade due to deadly drought, storms, floods and extreme heat - mainly in the Global South, where many populations have also faced repeated displacement due to war and extreme poverty. Meanwhile, wealthier Global North nations disproportionately responsible for greenhouse emissions that fuel global warming are intensifying their crackdowns on migrants and climate refugees fleeing compounding humanitarian crises.The main issue is always poverty, lack of opportunity, and climate change is basically exacerbating this problem," Guatemala's vice minister of natural resources and climate change, Edwin Josue Castellanos Lopez, told Democracy Now!This is not abstract," Nikki Reisch, director of climate and energy at the Center for International Environmental Law, says of climate-induced migration. This is about real lives. It's about survival. It's about human rights and dignity, and, ultimately, about justice."Reisch also gives an update on the state of the COP30 negotiations, noting the big-ticket items" on the agenda are providing financing for transition and adaptation, phasing out fossil fuels and preserving forests. The big polluters need to phase out and pay up," says Reisch.

Israel Again Breaks Gaza Ceasefire, Killing 32 Palestinians in Wave of Attacks, Amid Gaza Assault, Explosive Weapons Caused Record Number of Child Deaths and Injuries Last Year, Syria Condemns Netanyahu Visit to Israeli-Occupied Southern Region, Photos Reveal Israel Used Widely Banned Cluster Munitions in Attacks on Lebanon, Russian Drone and Missile Attacks Kill 26 in Ukraine, As Trump Signs Bill to Release Epstein Files, Bondi Suggests DOJ May Withhold Some Documents, Larry Summers Quits OpenAI Board and Harvard Teaching Role Amid Epstein Revelations, We Need to Support Our Immigrants": Protesters in Charlotte Demand End to Border Patrol Raids, U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan Admits Grand Jury Never Saw Final Indictment of Comey, Trump-Pardoned Jan. 6 Rioter Arrested for Child Sexual Abuse, House Votes to Claw Back Provision Allowing Senators to Sue over Jan. 6 Investigations, Trump to Meet with NYC Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani at the White House on Friday, More Than 80 Countries Agree on Roadmap to Phase Out Fossil Fuels at COP30, Trump Administration Proposes New Rules to Significantly Weaken Endangered Species Act

A new report titled Data Crunch: How the AI Boom Threatens to Entrench Fossil Fuels and Compromise Climate Goals" from the Center for Biological Diversity warns the booming artificial intelligence industry's high resource consumption threatens the world's climate goals, despite rosy prognoses of AI's projected benefits. Co-author Jean Su says that the increasing use of AI for military applications offsets any positives it offers for climate change mitigation. What we need to do is empower communities and countries, especially in the Global South, to ask what is the public benefit that they are supposed to get from AI, and weigh it very carefully against the severe cost to their climate, to their electricity prices and to their water."

Sudanese climate diplomacy researcher Lina Yassin is supporting the Least Developed Countries Group at the U.N. climate summit in Belem, Brazil. The group is composed of 44 countries, including Sudan, whose cumulative emissions amount to less than 1% of total global emissions. They are the countries that have the least amount of resources to respond to the climate crisis," explains Yassin.Yassin also discusses the humanitarian crisis in Sudan, where the estimated death toll is now at 150,000. This is a proxy war funded by foreign nationals who have vested interests in Sudan's resources. ... The UAE has been using the RSF militia to illegally smuggle gold out to finance the war and finance their own gold reserves. The UAE is also really interested in Sudan's agricultural lands."

At the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Belem, Brazil, we sit down with Colombian environmentalist Susana Muhamad, who served as Colombia's minister of environment and sustainable development from 2022 to 2025. Muhamad discusses the U.N.'s mandate to mitigate the acceleration of human-caused climate change and condemns the powerful, diverting influence of the fossil fuel lobby. Muhamad, who is of Palestinian descent, also responds to the United States' attacks on boats in the Caribbean and to the ongoing Israeli genocide of Gaza. These are not issues that are not correlated," she says. Humanity can do better. [We] can be very proactive and productive in shifting this situation of climate crisis, rather than continue investing in arms, in armies and in defense."

Congress has finally voted to compel the Justice Department to release the files on Jeffrey Epstein, the deceased convicted sex offender and power broker. After a near-unanimous vote in both legislative chambers, President Trump now says he will sign the bill into law. We play statements from a press conference held by survivors of Jeffrey Epstein's abuse, who are celebrating the long-awaited win for transparency and accountability.

Congress Overwhelmingly Passes Legislation Compelling DOJ to Release Epstein Files, Trump Calls for ABC's Broadcast License to Be Revoked, Trump Defends MBS over 2018 Murder of Jamal Khashoggi, Hamas Rejects U.S.-Backed U.N. Plan to Place Gaza Under International Stabilization Force, Israel Launches Airstrike on Palestinian Refugee Camp in Lebanon, Killing 13 People, Local Somali Media Report U.S. Airstrike Killed 12 Civilians, Including 8 Children, Trump Threatens Strikes on Drug Cartels Inside Mexico and Colombia, Federal Agents Arrest More Than 200 Immigrants in Charlotte, North Carolina, Federal Court Rules Texas Cannot Use New Congressional Map for the 2026 Midterm Elections, Texas GOP Governor Abbott Declares Council on American-Islamic Relations a Foreign Terrorist Organization, Trump Administration Takes Steps to Dismantle the Department of Education, Federal Judge Rules in Favor of Meta in Antitrust Case, Brazil's Supreme Court Sentences Military Officers over Plot to Kill Lula

As Democracy Now! broadcasts from the COP30 U.N. climate summit, we speak with Kumi Naidoo, the longtime South African human rights and environmental justice activist who is president of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative. He discusses U.S. absence from climate talks, Gaza, and wealthy countries refusing to take accountability for the climate crisis. We're not asking the rich nations for a charity here. We are asking them to pay their climate debt."

We speak with one of the Indigenous leaders at the U.N. climate summit in Belem for the climate negotiations, in greater numbers than ever before, taking center stage at COP30. They are calling to end the persecution of our land defenders," says Diana Chavez, member of the Pastaza Kichwa Nation, with Pakkiru, an Indigenous organization based in Ecuador's Amazon. We're fighting to keep our territories."

As we broadcast from the United Nations climate summit in Belem, we look at Brazil's contradictory climate policies. The Lula government has reduced deforestation in the Amazon while also approving oil drilling near the Amazon. Many parts of the Amazon are now reaching a tipping point, so a point of no return," says Ilan Zugman, Brazilian climate activist and 350.org's regional head for Latin America and the Caribbean. Lula is still pushing for new oil and gas areas in the country, including in the Amazon."

U.N. Security Council Approves U.S.-Backed International Stabilization Force" in Gaza, Masked Israeli Settlers Attack Palestinian Communities in Occupied West Bank, Tens of Thousands Go Missing from Sudan's El Fasher as U.N. Warns of Mass Atrocities, Ecuador Voters Reject Constitutional Rewrite and Return of Foreign Bases, Jamaica Leads Call of Island Nations for Urgent Action at COP30 Climate Summit, Ahead of Meeting with Crown Prince, Trump Says U.S. Will Sell F-35 Jets to Saudi Arabia, FEMA's Acting Director Steps Down Amid Furor over Texas Flood Deaths, Profound Investigative Missteps": Judge Blasts Trump's Hand-Picked Prosecutor in Comey Case, Trump Claims He'd Sign Bill to Release Epstein Files, But Don't Talk About It Too Much", Larry Summers Says He's Deeply Ashamed" as Emails Reveal Ties to Jeffry Epstein, This Is Me When I Met Jeffrey Epstein": Survivors' Ad Calls on Congress to Release Files

With negotiations in their second week here at the COP30 climate conference in Belem, Brazil, we get an update on the United Nations talks from Asad Rehman, chief executive of Friends of the Earth. He says COP30 is taking place against a backdrop of rising far-right authoritarianism, climate denial, and genocide in Gaza, which are all testing the rules-based system" underpinning the U.N. climate framework. How do you celebrate 10 years of Paris, 30 years of COP, to show that, actually, multilateralism matters and implementation matters?" says Rehman of the central challenge of the talks.

Democracy Now! is broadcasting from the U.N. climate summit in the Brazilian rainforest city of Belem, near the mouth of the Amazon River, where the COP30 summit has entered its second week of negotiations. The gathering comes 33 years after the Rio Earth Summit, which created the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change. Countries are trying to find a way forward on addressing the climate crisis, even as global temperatures continue to rise and as the Trump administration boycotts the conference. COP30 is also the first since 2021 with a significant civil society presence, after three successive U.N. summits held in repressive countries that outlawed public protest.The beauty of the forest COP, the beauty of the people's COP in Brazil, is that civil society is very active, both inside and outside," says Leila Salazar-Lopez, executive director of Amazon Watch.We also speak with Viviana Santiago, executive director of Oxfam Brazil, who advises the Brazilian government on sustainable development. She stresses the importance of centering Indigenous peoples and the health of the Amazon in these talks. People that are most affected for the climate crisis are the people that did nothing to [cause] this crisis," says Santiago.

To kick off our week of coverage from the COP30 climate summit in Brazil, we play video of a major protest that took place Saturday, when tens of thousands of people took to the streets of the host city Belem to demand urgent climate action. The Indigenous-led action was the first major climate protest at a United Nations climate conference since 2021; protests were banned by Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Azerbaijan, the three previous host countries. Demonstrators denounced corporate greed, war and imperialism, while demanding urgent action to reduce use of fossil fuels and to respect Indigenous sovereignty. The answer is us," said Lucia Ixchiu, a Maya K'iche' environmental defender. We know that we have the solutions."

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Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is less than two months away from taking office in New York City. Mamdani's history-making campaign, grounded in community organizing, propelled the little-known Assembly-member to victory. Candidate Mamdani famously began the campaign polling at just 1% and overcame the intense scrutiny, Islamaphobic attacks, criticism for his support for Palestinian rights, and more. By election day, more than 2 million New Yorkers had cast their votes, a turnout record that hasn't been matched going back more than half a century.His success is in part due to massive on-the-ground organizing and an operation of more than 104,000 volunteers. We knew that we wanted it to be very big," says Tascha Van Auken, field director for Zohran Mamdani's mayoral campaign. We prioritized developing leadership and bringing in as many volunteers as possible."

Democracy Now! speaks to William Hartung about his new book The Trillion Dollar War Machine" and who profits from the United States' runaway military spending that fuels foreign wars. Hartung says that U.S. policy is based on profit" and calls for a rethinking of our foreign entanglements. We haven't won a war in this century. We've caused immense harm. We've spent $8 trillion," he says.

252 Venezuelan immigrants in the United States were flown to El Salvador in the dead of night and indefinitely imprisoned at the Salvadoran mega-prison CECOT, the Terrorism Confinement Center. The detainees had no ability to communicate to the outside world before they were finally released to Venezuela in a prisoner exchange. The men were subjected to beatings almost daily upon arrival," says Noah Bullock, executive director of Cristosal who co-authroed a report with Human Rights Watch documenting human rights abuses and torture in the prison.The report also found that the prison guards were clearly trying to hide their identities while they were torturing these Venezuelan migrants," says Juan Pappier, Americas deputy director at Human Rights Watch.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has announced the launch of Operation Southern Spear to target suspected drug traffickers in South America, Central America and the Caribbean. The U.S. now has 15,000 military personnel in the region. Over the past two months the U.S. has blown up at least 20 boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific. 80 people have been killed in what are extrajudicial executions under international law," says Juan Pappier, Americas deputy director at Human Rights Watch. The Pentagon claims the boats were carrying drugs but officials have acknowledged they don't know who has been killed.Progressives and people of goodwill - of the U.S. and Puerto Rico - it's time for those of us here to stand up and say that where we will not support any attempt to bring back the old gunboat diplomacy and to invade another Latin American country, and we need to do it soon, because this stuff is moving very quickly," says Democracy Now!'s Juan Gonzalez.

Hegseth Announces Operation Southern Spear" to Target Narco-Terrorists" Across Hemisphere, 900,000 Palestinians Face Flood Risk as Heavy Rains Compound Gaza's Misery, Israeli Forces Kill Two Palestinian Children in Raid Near Hebron as Settlers Set Fire to Mosque, Russian Attacks on Ukraine Kill at Least 6 in Kyiv, 2 in Odesa Region, Trump Administration Says It May Never Report October's Inflation and Job Loss Data, Federal Agents Release Chicago Teacher Arrested by ICE at Child Care Center, Trump Administration to Deploy Border Patrol to Charlotte and New Orleans, US Bishops Condemn Dehumanizing Rhetoric and VIolence" of Trump's Mass Deportation Campaign, US Issues New Visa Restrictions Discriminating Against People With Medical Conditions, Spaceflight Firm Founded by Jeff Bezos Lands First Stage of Giant Rocket, Challenging Musk's SpaceX, Katie Wilson Wins Seattle Mayor's Race After Insurgent Campaign Demanding Affordability, Workers Strike at Dozens of Starbucks Stores Across U.S. to Demand Union Contracts

We had the cure for death from malnutrition, and we took it away." We speak to surgeon and health policy expert Atul Gawande about the Trump administration's near-total dismantling of USAID. Gawande, the head of global health at USAID during the Biden administration, is featured in the short film Rovina's Choice, filmed at a refugee camp at the border between Kenya and South Sudan earlier this year. We play an excerpt from the film and discuss the impact of USAID cuts on humanitarian crises around the world. Gawande says hundreds of thousands of deaths have already occurred as a result of the loss of aid. We're seeing early deaths, like the malnutrition cases, and then we'll see the wave that's more to come."

Arizona Democrat Adelita Grijalva was finally sworn into office by House Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday, fifty days after winning her seat in Congress. Grijalva won a special election to fill the seat left vacant when her father, longtime Congressmember Raul Grijalva, died in March. Up until yesterday, Johnson had refused to swear in Grijalva in an effort to block her from submitting the final signature on a discharge petition to force a vote on the Justice Department's full release of the Jeffrey Epstein files. We air Grijalva's first House speech and speak to her from Capitol Hill on her first full day in office.

After months of delays, House Republicans have released tens of thousands of pages of documents from Jeffrey Epstein's estate, after Democrats earlier publicized emails suggesting that President Trump was aware that Epstein was abusing and trafficking young girls and women. In one of those emails, Epstein wrote that Trump knew about the girls." Trump's allies say the larger set of documents released Wednesday afternoon provide evidence of Epstein's later animosity towards Trump and support Trump's claims that he was not previously aware of Epstein's crimes. Still more evidence - namely, photographs and videos - may soon be publicized, as a petition for the House to vote on the full release of the Epstein files" received its final signature from newly-sworn in Congressmember Adelita Grijalva. There is a lot more to come," says Spencer Kuvin, a lawyer who represents several survivors of Jeffrey Epstein's abuse and who has reviewed much of the still-unreleased evidence, which is currently under a court protection order. The FBI does have more information that needs to be released."

Trump Signs Stopgap Spending Bill, Ending Longest-Ever U.S. Government Shutdown, Blatantly Corrupt Self-Dealing": Spending Bill Rider Allows GOP Senators to Sue DOJ for Up to $1M, Speaker Johnson Swears In Arizona Congressmember Adelita Grijalva After 50 Day Delay, Trump Knew About the Girls": House Democrats Release New Jeffrey Epstein Emails, Israeli Warplanes Continue to Bomb Gaza Cities Despite Ceasefire Deal, Israel's Knesset Advances Death Penalty Bill for Individuals Charged With Terrorism, United Nations Calls for Ceasefire and Humanitarian Aid Corridor in Sudan, Climate Action Tracker: World on Pace to See Global Temperature Rise of 2.6 Degrees Celsius, Climate Activists Launch People's Summit Flotilla at COP30 U.N. Climate Talks in Brazil, Detainees at For-Profit ICE Jail Accuse Prison Guard of Sexual Assault and Harassment, Brother of Detainee Who Died in ICE Custody Sues Government

Democracy Now! speaks with the renowned Iranian filmmaker Sepideh Farsi, the director of the new documentary Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk." The film is based on regular video calls Farsi made with the Palestinian photojournalist Fatma Hassona in Gaza over the course of a year from April 2024 to April 2025.Hassona was killed with her family by an Israeli missile that targeted her apartment building in northern Gaza. The strike occurred just one day after she learned that the film centered around her life and work had been selected to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. It's something that I will never get over," says Farsi.

A new series by Drop Site News looks at Jeffrey Epstein's ties to Israeli intelligence and how he secretly brokered numerous deals for Israeli intelligence. Drop Site revealed that Epstein had played a role in brokering a security agreement between Israel and Mongolia and setting up a backchannel between Israel and Russia during the Syrian civil war.Epstein had an extensive relationship with Israeli intelligence, U.S. intelligence and the intelligence agencies of other countries as well," says Murtaza Hussain, reporter for Drop Site News. He was a dealmaker and a fixer at a very, very elite level."

The government shutdown has brought attention to food insecurity in the United States, as it disrupted the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, or SNAP, which helps about 42 million people across the country. Delayed and partial payments have occurred despite the availability of contingency funds to keep the program going during the shutdown, because the Trump administration initially chose not to use those funds. 42 million Americans, 16 million of them children, are really struggling to be able to afford nutritious food for their health," says Mariana Chilton, child hunger expert. It's deeply concerning."

The longest U.S. federal government shutdown in history has entered its 43rd day. The House of Representatives is returning to session today to vote on a short-term funding bill to end the shutdown. The Senate approved the measure on Monday after seven Democrats and one independent backed the Republican bill even though the bill did not include an extension of the Affordable Care Act subsidies, which was a key demand for Democratic lawmakers. Some Democrats in the House are now calling for Senator Chuck Schumer to resign his position as minority leader - including Democratic congressmember from California, Ro Khanna. The President was panicking," says Khanna. He realized that he had lost the election over this. We caved too soon." Khanna also discusses his bill to force the public release of the Epstein files, surrounding the federal investigation into the serial sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein.

Israeli Forces Killed 3 Palestinians in Gaza Despite the U.S.-Brokered Ceasefire, 13-Year-Old Palestinian Boy Dies a Month After Israeli Forces Attacked Him in the Occupied West Bank, France Commits to Help the Palestinian Authority to Draft a Constitution for a Future Palestinian State, UK Suspends Sharing Intelligence With the U.S. Over Pentagon Strikes on Alleged Drug Boats, Protests Continue in Puerto Rico Against Trump Admin's Military Trainings in Arroyo, Speaker Johnson to Swear In Representative-Elect Grijalva as Gov't Shutdown Enters 43rd Day, Jack Schlossberg, Grandson of JFK, Announces Run for Rep. Nadler's Seat, Progressive Jewish Organizations Condemn Anti-Defamation League's Mamdani Monitor", Marion County in Kansas Agrees to Pay $3 Million After Police Raided Local Paper in 2023, WaPo: Trump Admin Plans to Allow Oil and Gas Drilling Off the California Coast, Our Land is Not for Sale": Dozens of Indigenous Leaders Protest at COP30 in Brazil

The new documentary Free Joan Little chronicles the landmark case of the first woman in U.S. history to be acquitted on the grounds of self-defense against sexual violence. Joan Little's 1975 murder trial inspired a national campaign for racial justice, prisoner's rights, and survivors' rights to self-defense. Director Yoruba Richen calls the movement to free Little a cry for justice" and Little's trial testimony about her assault by a prison guard a radical act" that helped expose the scourge of violence and abuse in jails and in prisons." Free Joan Little premieres this week at the DOC NYC Film Festival.

Last week, at the Spanish-immersion daycare center Rayito del Sol in Chicago, employee Diana Santillana was violently abducted and detained by immigration agents in front of parents and young children. My son was completely shut down emotionally after this happened," says Tara Goodarzi, the parent of a three-year-old who attends Rayito del Sol and witnessed the aftermath of the arrest. He was just so shocked by the state that his school and his safe place had transformed into." Goodarzi also shares how community members are resisting the Trump administration's anti-immigrant crackdown in Chicago, organizing protests, patrols, meal trains and rideshares to support immigrant neighbors.

We speak to The American Prospect's David Dayen about what could be the end to the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, after seven Democratic Senators and one independent struck a deal with Republicans to pass a short-term government funding bill. Why would you end this?" asks Dayen, echoing many in the Democratic coalition who believe the deal was a poor strategic move for the anti-Trump opposition. Calls are now growing for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to step down. Donald Trump and the Republicans were being blamed for all of this chaos...and yet, days later this this group of Democrats with the tacit support of Chuck Schumer decide that they're going to end this and cave."

U.S. Senate Passes Bill to End Historic Government Shutdown, Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa Meets With President Trump at the White House, Reuters: European Officials Express Concern Over Next Phase of Gaza Ceasefire Deal, Pentagon Announces Strikes on Alleged Drug Boats in the Eastern Pacific, Killing 6 People, Supreme Court Declined to Hear an Appeal to Overturn its Decision on Same-Sex Marriage, Supreme Court Considers Challenge to Mississippi's Mail-In Ballot Laws, Private Prison Company Geo Group Seeking Immunity From Lawsuit in Case Before Supreme Court, Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino Reportedly Leaving Chicago, Trump Admin Attempting to Deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Liberia, British Journalist Sami Hamdi to be Released From ICE Custody, Trump Threatens to Sue BBC for $1 Billion Over Broadcaster's Edit of Jan. 6 Speech, Whistleblower Claims Ghislaine Maxwell Plans to Seek Commutation From President Trump, Car Explosion in New Delhi Kills At Least 13 People, Car Explosion in Islamabad Kills At Least 12 People, Dozens of Prisoners Found Hanged in Ecuadorean Prison, Leaders and Delegates From More Than 190 Countries Gather in Brazil for the Opening of COP30 Climate Summit

Jelani Cobb, the acclaimed journalist and dean of the Columbia Journalism School, has just published a new collection of essays, Three or More Is a Riot: Notes on How We Got Here." The book collects essays beginning in 2012 with the killing of Travyon Martin in Florida. It traces the rise of Donald Trump and the right's growing embrace of white nationalism as well as the historic racial justice protests after the police killing of George Floyd in 2020. What we're seeing is a kind reactionary push to try to return the nation to the status quo ante, to undo the kind of demographic change, literally at gunpoint, as we are pushing people of color out of the country by force," says Cobb.

Over 5000 fossil fuel lobbyists were given access to U.N. climate summits over the past four years, a period marked by a rise in catastrophic extreme weather, inadequate climate action and record oil and gas expansion. This is climate obstruction at work," says Nina Lakhani, senior climate justice reporter for The Guardian US. She notes that lobbyists attend climate conferences to promote false solutions like carbon based carbon markets, carbon capture and storage - these market based solutions which are not going to save the planet."

The 30th U.N. climate change conference begins today in the Brazilian rainforest city of Belem, located at the mouth of the Amazon River. The summit opens as a major typhoon hit the Philippines killing at least eight people and displacing more than 1.4 million others. Typhoon Fung-wong hit as the Philippines is still recovering from Typhoon Kalmaegi which killed at least 224 people last week. Democracy Now! speaks with former Philippine climate negotiator Yeb Sano, chair of the Laudato Si' Movement, who warns that global steps to stop the climate crisis are too little and probably too late."

Trump Pardons Top Allies Involved in Efforts to Overturn Results of 2020 Election, 7 Democratic Senators Join Republicans to Pass Key Bill to End Government Shutdown, Trump Admin. Orders States to Stop Providing Full Benefits to SNAP Recipients, Tens of Thousands of Travelers Nationwide Impacted by Flight Cancellations, Israel Continues Striking Gaza Despite U.S.-Brokered Ceasefire, Killing 2 People, Israeli Settlers Attack Palestinian Villagers, Activists and Journalists in Occupied West Bank, Federal Judge Permanently Blocks Trump Admin From Deploying Troops to Portland, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson Calls on UN to Probe U.S. Gov't Over Immigration Crackdown, Video Shows Man Having a Seizure During ICE Arrest, Top BBC Executives Resign Following Backlash Over Edit of Trump Speech, Trump: U.S. to Boycott G20 Summit Hosted by South Africa, UN COP30 Climate Summit Opens Today in Belem, Brazil

The trailblazing human rights attorney Peter Weiss died November 3 at the age of 99. Weiss served on the board of the Center for Constitutional Rights for nearly five decades, where he worked to end South African apartheid and the Vietnam War, fought for nuclear disarmament and sought justice for victims of the U.S.-backed Contras in 1980s Nicaragua. He pioneered using the 1789 Alien Tort Statute in human rights cases. He also represented the family of U.S. journalist and human rights activist Charles Horman in a case against Henry Kissinger and others, after Horman was disappeared and killed in Chile soon after the U.S.-backed 1973 coup.He never ceased to push for a more just system, a more equitable system, along with his extraordinary wife Cora Weiss," says Peter Kornbluh, senior analyst at the National Security Archive. There's not enough words to describe how important Peter was to the progressive movement, to human rights, over these last decades."

The U.S. is continuing to blow up boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific despite growing international condemnation, while the Trump administration reportedly considers launching airstrikes on Venezuela or even assassinating President Nicolas Maduro.We are committing wanton criminal acts of assassination in the Caribbean [against] innocent people who haven't been found guilty of anything, and kind of setting the stage for an attack on Caracas itself in an attempt to take out its leader," says Peter Kornbluh, a senior analyst at the National Security Archive.Kornbluh also discusses the legacy of the Church Committee 50 years ago, which investigated abuses by U.S. intelligence agencies, including coups and assassinations abroad.

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments this week in a case challenging President Donald Trump's tariffs, with plaintiffs arguing that his unilateral levies on imported goods violate the Constitution, which grants Congress the power to impose taxes and regulate foreign commerce. The Trump administration has justified his unprecedented use of tariffs under a 1977 law known as the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, but several justices seemed highly skeptical of that argument, potentially putting President Trump's signature economic policy at risk.There is no genuine emergency. There is no war that is the precipitating basis for invoking IEEPA. And even if it were, it would not allow the imposition of tariffs," says legal expert Lisa Graves, founder of True North Research and co-host of the podcast Legal AF.Graves also discusses her new book, Without Precedent: How Chief Justice Roberts and His Accomplices Rewrote the Constitution and Dismantled Our Rights.

In an unsigned order on Thursday, the Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to require U.S. passports to list travelers' sex assigned at birth, another blow to the rights of transgender, nonbinary and intersex people, who had been able to select sex markers aligning with their gender identity or to use a gender-neutral X. Thursday's order is an interim ruling while the passport case makes its way through lower courts.The harm and the targeting of this policy towards intersex, nonbinary and trans people is terrifying. It makes it very scary to travel, to trust that you'll be able to get through security, that you'll be able to get on your flight," says Arli Christian, senior policy counsel with the American Civil Liberties Union.We also get reaction to the order from actress and activist Laverne Cox, who says trans people will persevere despite the discriminatory policy. No matter what they say about our ID documents, we are still who we are, and we will find a way to be ourselves no matter what," she says.

Sudan's Rapid Support Forces Agree to Humanitarian Ceasefire, The World's Largest Mass Grave": Palestinians Say 10,000 Bodies Are Buried Under Gaza's Rubble, Israel Launches Wave of Airstrikes on Southern Lebanon, GOP Senators Block Resolution to Rein In Trump's Military Actions Against Venezuela, Senate GOP Continues Push to End Health Insurance Subsidies as Government Shutdown Enters 38th Day, Federal Judge Orders Trump Administration to Fully Fund November SNAP Payments, U.S. Airlines Cancel Thousands of Flights as Shutdown Takes Toll on Air Traffic Controllers, Death Toll in Crash of UPS Cargo Plane Rises to 13, Tesla Shareholders Approve Pay Package That Could Make Elon Musk a Trillionaire, Federal Judge Blasts Border Patrol Chief for Lying About Violence at Chicago-Area Protests, Jury Acquits Man Who Threw Sandwich to Protest Trump's Militarized Takeover of D.C., SCOTUS Allows Trump Administration to Restrict Gender Identity Markers on Passports, Typhoon Batters Vietnam After Carving Path of Destruction Through Philippines, Documents Reveal Exxon Funded Climate Denial Campaign Across Latin America, As COP30 Opens, Brazil's Lula Warns Window of Opportunity to Act on Climate Is Rapidly Closing, Nancy Pelosi, Who Served as First-Ever Female House Speaker, to Retire from Congress in 2027, NYC Mayor-Elect Mamdani Outlines Plan to Tax the Rich and Corporations to Fund Affordability, Pioneering Human Rights Attorney Peter Weiss Dies at 99

Palestinian writer Tareq Baconi joins us to discuss his new memoir, Fire in Every Direction, a chronicle of his political and queer coming of age growing up between Amman and Beirut as the grandson of refugees from Jerusalem and Haifa. While LGBTQ+ labels have also been used by the West as part of empire," with colonial projects seeking to portray Native populations as backward and in need of saving, there's a beautiful effort and movement among queer communities in the region to reclaim that language," says Baconi. I identify as a queer man today as part of a political project. It's not just a sexual identity. It expands beyond that and rejects Zionism and rejects authoritarianism, and that's part of my queerness."Baconi also comments on the so-called ceasefire agreement in Gaza and the election of Zohran Mamdani in New York City. Palestinians are the ones that have to govern Palestinian territory, not this international force that comes in that takes any kind of sovereignty or agency away from the Palestinians," he says.

A new special report from Futuro Media follows the Trump administration's federal immigration raids and the growing community resistance against them. Taken: The Agents Raiding Communities and the People Trying to Stop Them" documents how Latinos in the U.S. are being racially profiled, kidnapped," denied due process and forced to sign their own removal orders. This is psychological terror," says investigative journalist Maria Hinojosa. Trump is saying we should have ethnic cleansing against Latinos and Latinas, if it hasn't gone far enough."Hinojosa also comments on the recent public sexual harassment of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and the growing public profile of Border Patrol chief Gregory Bovino.