Democracy Now!

The U.S. military said Thursday that it blew up another boat of suspected drug smugglers, this time killing four people in the eastern Pacific. The U.S. has now killed at least 87 people in 22 strikes since September. The U.S. has not provided proof as to the vessels' activities or the identities of those on board who were targeted, but now the family of a fisherman from Colombia has filed the first legal challenge to the military strikes. In a petition filed with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the family says a strike on September 15 killed 42-year-old Alejandro Andres Carranza Medina, a fisherman from Santa Marta and father of four. His family says he was fishing for tuna and marlin off Colombia's Caribbean coast when his boat was bombed, and was not smuggling drugs.Alejandro was murdered," says international human rights attorney Dan Kovalik, who filed the legal petition on behalf of the family. This is not how a civilized nation should act, just murdering people on the high seas without proof, without trial."

Federal authorities are carrying out intensified operations this week in Minnesota as President Donald Trump escalates his attacks on the Somali community in the state. The administration halted green card and citizenship applications from Somalis and people from 18 other countries after last week's fatal shooting near the White House. During a recent Cabinet meeting, Trump went on a racist tirade against the Somali community, saying, We don't want them in our country," and referring to Somali immigrants as garbage." Minnesota has the largest Somali community in the United States, and the vast majority of the estimated 80,000 residents in the state are American citizens or legal permanent residents.We have seen vile things that the president has said, but in these moments, we need to come together and respond," says Jaylani Hussein, the executive director of CAIR-Minnesota. He also highlights the connections between Trump's targeting of the community and foreign policy. If you demonize Muslims, then you can get away with killing Muslims abroad. This has always been the case, from the Afghanistan War to the Iraq War."

A major immigration crackdown is underway in New Orleans and the surrounding areas of Louisiana, dubbed Operation Catahoula Crunch" by the Trump administration. According to planning documents, 250 federal agents will aim to make 5,000 arrests over two months. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem says the operation will target the worst of the worst," though the number of arrests being planned suggests that authorities will conduct broad sweeps including those who have no criminal records, as has happened in other immigration crackdowns.They're going to target whoever they can, and as the Supreme Court has unfortunately authorized them, they're using racial profiling as part of that approach," says Homero Lopez, legal director for the New Orleans-based organization Immigration Services and Legal Advocacy, or ISLA. What they're doing is they're taking folks out of our community: our neighbors, our friends, our family members."

The conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court has cleared the way for Texas to use a gerrymandered congressional map in next year's midterm elections that a lower court found racially discriminatory. The 6-3 ruling is another political win for President Donald Trump and his allies, who have gotten a number of favorable rulings from the justices after being stymied by lower courts. Trump has asked Republican-led states to redraw their maps in order to preserve the narrow GOP majority in Congress when voters head to the polls in November 2026. The Texas effort could flip as many as five seats for the party.Ari Berman, voting rights correspondent for Mother Jones magazine, calls it a catastrophic ruling" that further normalizes extreme partisan gerrymandering. This whole exercise made a complete mockery of democracy."

One of the Most Troubling Things I've Seen": Lawmakers React to U.S. Double-Tap" Boat Strike, Pentagon Watchdog Finds Hegseth's Use of Signal App Created a Risk to Operational Security", CNN Finds Israel Killed Palestinian Aid Seekers and Bulldozed Bodies into Shallow, Unmarked Graves, Ireland, Slovenia, Spain and the Netherlands to Boycott Eurovision over Israel's Participation, Protesters Picket New Jersey Warehouse, Seeking to Block Arms Shipments to Israel, Supreme Court Allows Texas to Use Racially Gerrymandered Congressional Map Favoring Republicans, FBI Arrests Suspect for Allegedly Planting Pipe Bombs on Capitol Hill Ahead of Jan. 6 Insurrection, DOJ Asks Judge to Rejail Jan. 6 Rioter Pardoned by Trump, After Threats to Rep. Jamie Raskin, Grand Jury Refuses to Reindict Letitia James After Judge Throws Out First Indictment, Protesters Ejected from New Orleans City Council Meeting After Demanding "ICE-Free Zones", Honduran Presidential Candidate Nasralla Blames Trump's Interference as Opponent Takes Lead, Trump Hosts Leaders of DRC and Rwanda in D.C. as U.S. Signs Bilateral Deals on Minerals, Trump Struggles to Stay Awake in Another Public Event, Adding to Speculation over His Health, Netflix Announces $72 Billion Deal to Buy Warner Bros. Discovery, 12 Arrested as Striking Starbucks Workers Hold Sit-In Protest at Empire State Building, Democratic Socialists Win Two Jersey City Council Seats in Groundbreaking Victories, Judge Sentences California Animal Rights Activist to 90 Days in Jail for Freeing Abused Chickens, National Parks Service Prioritizes Free Entry on Trump's Birthday Over Juneteenth and MLK Holidays

Amid escalating ICE raids in New York City, Democracy Now!'s Messiah Rhodes spoke to immigrants and advocates supporting newly arrived migrants and asylum seekers from West Africa with hot meals, legal advice and job training. When I help the people here, the people will help me one day," Guinean immigrant Abdul Karim, a cook at Cafewal weekday kitchen, told Rhodes.Murad Awawdeh, of the New York Immigration Coalition and a member of New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani's transition team, also comments. He shares how the incoming mayoral administration can work to protect immigrants from Trump's anti-immigrant agenda.

Immigrant rights advocate Murad Awawdeh joins us to discuss Donald Trump's nationwide anti-immigrant crackdown and how it's manifested in Trump's hometown of New York City, where hundreds of New Yorkers recently blocked a federal immigration raid targeting street vendors from West Africa before it even started. This has never been about vetting. This has never been about security and safety. It's about cruelty," says Awawdeh about the Trump administration's persecution of immigrants. His war on immigrants and his mass deportation agenda is all to lead to making America white again."

Foreign policy analyst Matt Duss discusses the status of Russia-Ukraine ceasefire talks and new data on the extent of casualties from the now nearly four-year Russian invasion of Ukraine. Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed. For what did these people die? For what reason were they sent into this horrible meat grinder?" asks Duss.

Pete Hegseth, much like the president he serves, sees himself as, essentially, above the law, as unconstrained by legal procedure." Foreign policy analyst Matt Duss discusses the brewing conflict within the Trump administration over the leadership of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, including his involvement in a leaked announcement of U.S. strikes on Yemen in March and the chain of command behind U.S. strikes on boats in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean. Legal experts say the boat strikes, which have already killed at least 80 people, are likely illegal.

Senate War Powers Resolution Seeks to Block Trump from Unilaterally Attacking Venezuela, Admiral to Brief Lawmakers About U.S. Boat Strikes Condemned by Human Rights Groups as Murder", New York Times Sues Pentagon over Press Policy That Violates the First Amendment", Israeli Forces in Gaza Kill Seven Palestinians in Latest Violation of October Ceasefire, An Academic Veneer for Genocide": Protesters Heckle Former Israeli Politicians at Toronto Debate, Immigration Agents Deploy to New Orleans and Twin Cities, Seeking to Arrest Thousands, ACLU Says ICE Violates Policy Against Jailing Pregnant People and Nursing Moms, Prisoners Face Harrowing Human Right Violations" at Infamous ICE Jail in Florida Everglades, Democrats Release Images of Epstein's Caribbean Island as Ghislaine Maxwell Petitions for Release, ADP Reports U.S. Economy Lost 32,000 Jobs Last Month, Trump Admin to Slash Fuel Efficiency Standards Enacted Under the Biden Admin, Trump to Issue Pardons for Democratic Congressmember Cuellar and His Wife, Paramount Skydance Corporation Doubles Proposed Breakup Fee to Acquire Warner Bros.

WTO/99 is a new immersive archival documentary" about the 1999 protests in Seattle against the World Trade Organization that uses 1,000+ hours of footage from the Independent Media Center and other archives. The historic WTO protests against corporate power and economic globalization were met with a militarized police crackdown and National Guard troops. We feature clips from the film and discuss takeaways that have relevance today. These issues haven't gone away," says Ian Bell, director of WTO/99. We also speak with Ralph Nader, who is featured in the movie.

As a Fight Club" of eight senators led by Bernie Sanders challenges Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's handling of President Trump, we speak with Ralph Nader, who has been taking on the Democratic Party for decades. Sixty years ago this week, he published his landmark book, Unsafe at Any Speed, exposing the safety flaws of GM's Chevrolet Corvair and leading to major reforms in auto safety laws. Nader discusses the legacy of his book, the current state of government regulation and why Congress must reclaim its authority from an out-of-control Trump administration. Clearly, we're seeing a rapidly entrenching dictatorship," Nader tells Democracy Now! The focus has to be on impeachment, and there will be a large majority of people in favor of it."

Israel has announced it will reopen the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt in the next few days as part of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire. However, the border will only open in one direction: for Palestinians to exit. Israeli American human rights lawyer Sari Bashi says the move validates fears that Israel's goal is to continue the ethnic cleansing of Gaza."This comes as a coalition of 12 Israeli human rights groups concluded in a new report that 2025 is the deadliest and most destructive year for Palestinians since 1967. Last week, the United Nations reported more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli settlers and soldiers in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem since October 7, 2023. Violence in the West Bank and Gaza is directed toward getting Palestinians to leave," says Bashi.

Hegseth Says He Did Not See Survivors of First U.S. Boat Strike, Citing Fog of War", Israel Announces Plans to Reopen Rafah Border Crossing But Only for Palestinians to Leave Gaza, Russia and U.S. Fail to Reach Compromise to End the War in Ukraine, Republican Lawmakers Criticize Trump Decision to Pardon Former Honduran President Hernandez, Pentagon Inspector General to Release Report on Signalgate" Thursday, Trump Says He Doesn't Want Somalis in the U.S. as ICE Plans Operation Targeting Them, Trump Administration to Pause Immigration Applications from Countries on Travel Ban List, Trump Administration Fires Eight Immigration Judges in New York City, Trump Administration Threatens to Withhold Money for SNAP Benefits, Federal Vaccine Panel Prepares to Vote on Possibly Ending Infant Hepatitis B Vaccines, Federal Judge Blocks Trump Admin from Cutting Medicaid Funding to Planned Parenthood, Trump Admin Puts FEMA Workers Back on Administrative Leave, Larry Summers Banned from American Economic Association over Close Ties to Epstein, Republican Matt Van Epps Wins House Special Election by Closer-Than-Expected Margin, More Than 1,350 People Have Now Died in Devastating Floods and Landslides in Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Thailand

President Trump has gutted the U.S. government's support for AIDS healthcare around the world while ordering an end to commemorations of World AIDS Day, observed annually on December 1. Cuts to U.S. foreign aid are having a disproportionate impact on LGBTQ+ communities in many countries, says journalist and scholar Steven Thrasher, speaking from Uganda. There are people who've been harmed very immediately," he says. Thrasher, who teaches at Northwestern University, also comments on the school's $75 million payout to the Trump administration to settle a discrimination probe and restore frozen federal funding, calling it a travesty."

New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani and Vermont independent Senator Bernie Sanders joined striking Starbucks workers on the picket line Monday to demand the coffee giant reach a fair contract with its unionized workforce after years of delay tactics.Speaking outside a store in Brooklyn, Mamdani said New York is a union town," and vowed to continue joining pickets even after he is sworn in as mayor on January 1. Responding to a question from Democracy Now!, Sanders said Mamdani's successful campaign for mayor was a blueprint for the Democratic Party, with affordability and workers' rights at the center of the agenda. We have the grassroots of America behind us," Sanders said.Starbucks workers at unionized stores across the United States launched an open-ended strike November 13 accusing the company of unfair labor practices. Starbucks Workers United has been bargaining for a contract with the company since early last year. Monday's picket came just hours after Starbucks reached a $38 million settlement with New York City for labor violations including denying workers stable and predictable schedules.

As bipartisan criticism intensifies over U.S. attacks on alleged drug boats" in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, the White House is defending a September 2 operation that killed 11 people. The Washington Post reports Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered a second attack to kill two survivors of an initial strike, an order that legal experts say would constitute a war crime. The White House on Monday confirmed the second strike but said the authorization came not from Hegseth, but from Admiral Frank Mitch" Bradley, then head of Joint Special Operations Command.This comes as Hegseth threatens to court-martial Democratic Senator Mark Kelly, a former naval officer, after Kelly and five other Democratic veterans urged service members to refuse unlawful commands.Killing civilians who are not engaged in armed conflict against us is a war crime," says law professor David Cole of Georgetown University.

White House Defends Double Tap" Strike on Alleged Drug Boat, Says Admiral Gave Order to Kill, Israeli Forces Kill 2 Palestinian Teens During Raids Across Occupied West Bank, Israeli Forces Kill Palestinian in Gaza Refugee Camp in Latest Ceasefire Violation, Pope Leo Visits Lebanon, Urging Peaceful Coexistence Across Middle East, Netanyahu Asks Israeli President to Pardon Him over Corruption Charges, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner Meet Vladimir Putin as U.S. Pushes for Ukraine Peace Deal, Trump Threatens Hell to Pay" in Honduras If Presidential Election Results Change, Heavily Armed Gangs Kill Nearly a Dozen People in Haiti as Trump Admin Cancels TPS for Haitians, Indiana Lawmakers Unveil New Voting Map to Allow GOP to Win All Nine House Seats, Speaker Johnson and Trump Try to Prevent Upset House Loss in Tennessee Special Election, Appeals Court Rules Trump's Personal Attorney Alina Habba Is an Unlawful U.S. Attorney, Senate Minority Leader Schumer Says His Offices Received Emailed Bomb Threats, Trump Commutes Seven-Year Prison Sentence of Private Equity CEO Convicted of Fraud

Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the man who authorities say shot two National Guardsmen outside the White House, had previously worked in a CIA-backed Zero Unit" in Afghanistan, often called death squads" by human rights groups. The United States made this person into a child soldier, and now is experiencing what I think is one of the most horrifically bright-line cases of imperial blowback that we've seen throughout the 'war on terror,'" says Spencer Ackerman, journalist and author focused on U.S. military and foreign policy.

We look at President Trump's call to pause all asylum decisions after an Afghan man who once worked for the CIA opened fire near the White House last Wednesday, shooting two National Guard members, killing one. Rahmanullah Lakanwal entered the United States in 2021 through Operation Allies Welcome, a program that saw the U.S. evacuate thousands of Afghans who faced reprisals from the Taliban over their work with the U.S. and the former U.S.-backed government.Trump has since said that he will permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries." Afghan refugees have been stuck in limbo in the United States, and now they're being targeted by President Trump's political stunts," says Shawn VanDiver, founder and president of #AfghanEvac. Laila Ayub, executive director of Project ANAR, says the Trump administration is using the tragedy to scapegoat and collectively punish an entire community."

Democracy Now! speaks with journalist Spencer Ackerman about the Trump administration's deadly, ongoing attacks on alleged drug boats" amid reports President Trump is preparing to attack Venezuela, with all airspace surrounding Venezuela now closed. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and others are turning the military into a criminal operation," says Ackerman. This shows the moral degeneracy that the 'war on terror' has left as a legacy in the U.S. military."

President Trump has announced plans to pardon former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, who is serving a 45-year sentence for trafficking hundreds of tons of cocaine into the United States. In 2024, Hernandez was convicted in New York of drug trafficking and weapons charges. The evidence from the Southern District of New York was overwhelming," says Dana Frank, professor of history emerita at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a longtime observer of Honduran politics.Trump's announcement came on Friday, and he also threatened to cut off funding if Hondurans did not elect his chosen conservative candidate as they went to the polls Sunday to pick a new president. He's almost threatening Honduras that if we don't do what he is demanding ... he will wreak vengeance against Honduras," says Rodolfo Pastor, former secretary of the presidency under Xiomara Castro in Honduras.

Venezuela Condemns Trump's Declaration That All Airspace Surrounding Venezuela Is Closed, Trump Says He Will Pardon Honduras's Former President Convicted of Drug Trafficking, Death Toll from Israel's War in Gaza Surpasses 70,000 Palestinians, Israeli Forces Fatally Shoot Two Palestinian Men in Occupied West Bank, Israeli Authorities Free Palestinian American Teen Mohammed Ibrahim After Holding Him Without Trial, Israeli Forces Conduct Raid in Syria, Killing 13 People, Trump Admin Halts Decisions on All Asylum Applications After Shooting of National Guard Members, Trump Announces He's Canceling All Executive Orders Signed by Biden Using an Autopen, Trump Calls New York Times Reporter Ugly" over Her Story Raising Questions About His Health, Hong Kong Officials: At Least 151 People Died in Blaze That Engulfed a High-Rise Apartment Complex, Babson College Student Deported to Honduras During Trip Home for Thanksgiving, Judge Dismisses Georgia Election Interference Case Against President Trump, Floods and Landslides Kill Over 1,000 Across Southeast Asia, Protests in Manila Demand President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Resign over Corruption, 4 Killed, 11 Wounded in Mass Shooting at Children's Birthday Celebration in Stockton, CA, Trump Administration Ends U.S. Commemorations of World AIDS Day

As Zohran Mamdani prepares to become New York's first Muslim and first South Asian mayor on January 1, we look at the historic rise of the democratic socialist who shocked the political establishment. We spend the hour hearing Mamdani in his own words and look at the grassroots coalition that helped him pull off what's been described as one of the great political upsets in modern American history."

Marquetta Shields-Peltier was just a toddler when her father, Leonard Peltier, was jailed in 1976. During our recent trip to Turtle Mountain Reservation in North Dakota, we spoke to Marquetta about the campaign to free her father and what it meant to see him released in February.

In September, Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman sat down with longtime political prisoner and Indigenous activist Leonard Peltier for his first extended television and radio broadcast interview since his release to home confinement in February. Before his commutation by former President Joe Biden, the 81-year-old Peltier spent nearly 50 years behind bars. Peltier has always maintained his innocence for the 1975 killing of two FBI officers. He is expected to serve the remainder of his life sentences under house arrest at the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Nation in Belcourt, North Dakota. In a wide-ranging conversation, we spoke to Peltier about his case, his time in prison, his childhood spent at an American Indian boarding school and his later involvement in the American Indian Movement (AIM) and more.We still have to live under that, that fear of losing our identity, losing our culture, our religion," Peltier says about his continued commitment to Indigenous rights. The struggle still goes on for me. I'm not going to give up."

Protests have erupted in North Carolina after federal agents arrested 370 people in immigration raids. On Monday, Bishop William Barber and other religious leaders gathered in Charlotte to demand an end to ICE raids. What you have is a conglomerate of policy violence, and it's deadly," says Barber, who is organizing protests against ICE and Medicaid cuts across the country. Barber notes that 51,000 people may die from preventable deaths because of the so-called Big Beautiful Bill, according to research from the University of Pennsylvania and Yale. This is not just about Democrat and Republican and left versus right. This is literally about life versus death."

Zohran Mamdani will be taking office as mayor of New York in just five weeks. His transition team continues to make announcements about the new administration, recently unveiling a 400-person advisory group, broken up into 17 committees. Democracy Now! speaks with the incoming first deputy mayor, Dean Fuleihan, on how Mamdani plans to implement his progressive vision. Government, working together across agencies with clear direction, can accomplish the needs of New Yorkers, and that's what the mayor-elect has put forward," says Fuleihan.Fuleihan also comments on Mamdani's meeting with President Trump, which was surprisingly warm. We look for help wherever we can get it, while also maintaining our principles and defending New Yorkers," he said.

During a controversial Oval Office meeting last week, President Trump defended Mohammed bin Salman when a reporter asked about the Saudi crown prince's involvement in the 2018 murder of Washington Post opinion columnist Jamal Khashoggi. The man sitting in the White House next to President Trump is a murderer," says Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of DAWN, an organization founded by Khashoggi in 2018. To Whitson, Trump's main motivation for cozying up to Saudi Arabia is financial. The U.S. government [is] promising to deploy American men and women soldiers to defend the Saudi crown prince ... in exchange for profits for U.S. companies, U.S. businesses and U.S. officials."

U.N.: Israel's War on Gaza Will Cost More Than $70 Billion in Reconstruction Over Several Decades, Human Rights Groups Call on Israel to Release Palestinian Journalist and Activist Ayman Ghrayeb, Brazil's Former President Jair Bolsonaro Starts Serving 27-Year Prison Sentence, Trump to Send Witkoff to Moscow Next Week to Meet with Putin, Dr. Abraham, a Skeptic of COVID-19 Vaccines, Tapped to Serve as Second in Command at the CDC, FBI Probes 6 Congressional Democrats Who Filmed Video Warning Military of Illegal Orders, ICE Detains University of Oklahoma Professor with Valid H-1B Visa, Judge Orders Trump Admin to Provide Bond Hearings for Detained Immigrants, DOJ Admits Noem Decided to Deport Venezuelan Men to CECOT Prison in El Salvador, Labor Leader David Huerta Pleads Not Guilty to Obstructing ICE Raid in Los Angeles, Flooding in Thailand Kills 33 People and Displaces More Than 2 Million People, All 24 Schoolgirls Kidnapped in Northwest Nigeria Have Been Rescued, Trump Fat-Shames Illinois Governor JB Pritzker at Annual Turkey Pardon, Trump Reportedly Considering a Proposal to Extend Health Insurance Subsidies Under the ACA

We recently spoke to Brazilian environmental activist Angela Mendes, the daughter of Amazonian forest defender and labor leader Chico Mendes, who was assassinated by ranchers in December 1988. She discussed her father's legacy and her ongoing work to protect the Amazon rainforest from encroachment by ranching and mining industries. They come here, build their companies, bringing death to the territories, bringing death for the forests and threatening the peoples of the forest," Mendes said, speaking to Democracy Now! at the COP30 U.N. climate summit in Belem.

As the Trump administration escalates pressure on Venezuela, U.S. military activity across the Caribbean continues to grow. The U.S. has deployed more than 15,000 troops to the region and carried out airstrikes on over 20 boats, killing at least 83 people in operations the White House has justified, without providing evidence, as targeting drug traffickers. On Monday, the administration also designated the so-called Cartel de los Soles as a foreign terrorist organization, alleging President Nicolas Maduro leads the group.It's certainly not a cartel," says Phil Gunson, senior analyst for the Andes region with the International Crisis Group. He explains that while some parts of the Venezuelan military are involved in the drug trade, these people are in it for the money," and declaring them terrorists is ridiculous."We also speak with Alexander Avina, associate professor of Latin American history at Arizona State University, who says the anti-Maduro campaign is part of a broader plan" to remake the entire region. It's not just about Venezuela."

While much of the recent interest in Jeffrey Epstein has focused on the late sexual predator's relationship with President Donald Trump, his emails also reveal his close relationships with other powerful figures from the worlds of politics, finance, academia and beyond. The thousands of files released by the House Oversight Committee earlier this month include his correspondence from April 2011 through January 2019, after he was already a registered sex offender for abusing underage girls in Florida. The fact that so many prominent and influential people could ignore those crimes is indicative of their membership in a borderless network of people who are more loyal to each other" than anything else, says journalist Anand Giridharadas. He had chosen this particular kind of social network, this American power elite, because he could be sure that it would be able to look away."Giridharadas is author of Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World and recently wrote about the Epstein emails for The New York Times opinion section.

GOP Lawmaker Presses U.S. to Invade Venezuela, Promising Field Day" for U.S. Oil Companies, Sudan's RSF Announces Unilateral Ceasefire as Military Rulers Reject U.S.-Backed Ceasefire Plan, Israel Continues to Violate Gaza Ceasefire as GHF Closes Aid Sites Condemned as Death Traps", Sen. Van Hollen Calls for Release of Mohammed Ibrahim, a Florida Teen Jailed for Months by Israel, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee Met Secretly in July with Convicted Spy Jonathan Pollard, Russia Launches Deadly Attacks on Ukraine Even as Peace Talks Continue, Trump Administration to Review Status of Refugees Admitted to U.S. Under Biden, Federal Appeals Court Ruling Limits Trump's Plans to Fast-Track Deportations, Costa Rica Rebuts Trump Administration's Claims It Would Not Accept Kilmar Abrego Garcia, 31 Arrested While Protesting Inhumane Conditions at Miami-Dade ICE Jail, Marjorie Taylor Greene to Quit Congress After Break with Trump over Gaza, Healthcare and Epstein, Pentagon Threatens Court-Martial of Sen. Mark Kelly, Who Told Service Members to Disobey Illegal Orders, Judge Tosses Indictments Against James Comey and Letitia James over Unlawfully Appointed Prosecutor, EPA Approves Pesticides Containing Forever Chemicals" and Rolls Back Drinking Water Standards, Viola Ford Fletcher, Oldest Survivor of Tulsa Race Massacre, Dies at 111

Global negotiations at the annual U.N. climate summit ended Saturday in Belem, Brazil, with a watered-down agreement that does not even mention fossil fuels, let alone offer a roadmap to phase out what are the primary contributors to the climate crisis. The COP30 agreement also makes no new commitments to halt deforestation and does not address global meat consumption, another major driver of global warming.I'm angry at a really weak outcome. I'm angry at the fossil fuel lobbyists roaming the venue freely, while the Indigenous activists [were] met with militarized repression," says Brandon Wu, director of policy and campaigns at ActionAid USA. I have a special level of incandescent outrage at ... the rich, developed countries of the Global North who come in to these conferences, and they act like they're the heroes, when, in fact, what they're doing is shifting the burden of a crisis that they caused onto the backs of the poor."The absence of the United States is critical," adds Jonathan Watts, global environment writer at The Guardian. The United States under Donald Trump is trying to go backwards to the 20th century in a fossil fuel era, whereas a huge part of the rest of the world wants to move forward into something else."

After months of mutual animosity, President Donald Trump and New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani met for the first time in a widely anticipated meeting late last week. But after the two discussed Mamdani's plans to lower the cost of living in New York City, where both men grew up, Trump said that he and Mamdani agree on a lot more than I would have thought" and promised to work together once Mamdani takes office in January. The newly friendly relationship is likely temporary, but still remarkable," says Ross Barkan, who is writing a book about Mamdani's rapid political rise. If Trump is less antagonistic towards Mamdani, the idea is to have Trump do as little damage as possible to New York City," Barkan says of Mamdani's conciliatory approach to the meeting. He's not going to attack. He's going to try to build coalitions."Barkan also comments on the brewing intra-party conflict between the Democratic establishment and the more left-wing Democratic Socialists of America - whose members, including Mamdani, typically run for elected office as Democrats - as well as what Trump's lack of challenge to Mamdani's assertion that Israel is committing a genocide in Gaza says about the shifting discourse on Israel-Palestine in the United States.

Israeli Airstrikes Kill at Least 24 Palestinians Despite U.S.-Brokered Ceasefire, Israeli Airstrike on a Beirut Suburb Kills 5 People, Including Hezbollah's Acting Chief of Staff, Trump Admin Set to Designate Maduro and His Gov't Allies as Members of a Foreign Terrorist Organization, U.S., Ukrainian and European Officials in Geneva to Discuss U.S. Proposal to End Russia's War on Ukraine, Trump Repeatedly Praises Mamdani During Oval Office Meeting, Democratic Lawmakers File Police Complaints After Trump's Posts Accuse Them of Seditious Behavior", Trump Denied Federal Disaster Aid to Chicago Residents After Two Major Storms, ICE Agents in Oregon Violently Abduct 17-Year-Old High School Student on Lunch Break, SCOTUS Temporarily Restores Texas Congressional Map Declared an Illegal Gerrymander by Lower Court, 50 Students Escape After Gunmen Abduct Hundreds from Catholic School in Nigeria, G20 Concludes Summit in South Africa Boycotted by U.S., COP30 Climate Summit Concludes Without Agreement to Phase Out Fossil Fuels, Brazil's Former President Jair Bolsonaro Arrested After Tampering with Ankle Monitor

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."

Trump Accuses Democratic Lawmakers of "SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!", Federal Judge Rules Trump's Military Deployment to D.C. Unlawful, Federal Prosecutors Drop Charges Against Chicago Woman Shot by Border Patrol Agent, DHS to Shift Focus of Immigration Raids from Charlotte to New Orleans, Border Czar Plans to Expand Immigration Raids in NYC; The Guardian Reveals FBI Spied on Activists, Zohran Mamdani Travels to White House as Trump Threatens to Cut Federal Aid to New York City, Israeli Forces Move Beyond Gaza's Yellow Line" and Continue Attacks in Fresh Ceasefire Violations, Israeli Troops Kill 2 Palestinian Teens in West Bank Amid Wave of Settler Attacks, London Police Arrest Peaceful Protesters for Carrying Signs Supporting Palestine Action, Zelensky Agrees to Negotiate with Trump on 28-Point Peace Plan" Negotiated by U.S. and Russia, Interior Department to Open 1.3 Billion Acres of U.S. Waters to Oil and Gas Drilling, 30+ Countries Oppose Draft U.N. Text That Excludes Roadmap to Phase Out Fossil Fuels, CDC Website Altered to Promote False Claim That Vaccines Cause Autism, Larry Ellison Discussed Firing CNN Anchors with White House Amid Warner Bros. Takeover Bid, Trump and JD Vance Notably Absent from D.C. Funeral for Dick Cheney, Architect of Iraq Invasion

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.

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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.

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