Democracy Now!

The new documentary The Encampments, produced by Watermelon Pictures and BreakThrough News, is an insider's look at the student protest movement to demand divestment from the U.S. and Israeli weapons industry and an end to the genocide in Gaza. The film focuses on last year's student encampment at Columbia University and features student leaders including Mahmoud Khalil, who was chosen by the university as a liaison between the administration and students. Khalil, a U.S. permanent resident, has since been arrested and detained by immigration enforcement as part of the Trump administration's attempt to deport immigrants who exercise their right to free speech and protest. Columbia has gone to every extent to try to censor this movement," says Munir Atalla, a producer for the film and a former film professor at Columbia.We speak with Atalla; Sueda Polat, a Columbia graduate student and fellow campus negotiator with Khalil; and Grant Miner, a former Columbia graduate student and president of the student workers' union who was expelled from the school over his participation in the protests. Functionally, I was expelled for speaking out against genocide," he says. All three of our guests emphasize their continued commitment to pro-Palestine activism even in the face of increasing institutional repression. The Encampments is opening nationwide in April.

We're joined by the four-time Grammy-winning musician Macklemore, a vocal proponent of Palestinian rights and critic of U.S. foreign policy. He serves as executive producer for the new documentary The Encampments, which follows last year's student occupations of college campuses to protest U.S. backing of Israel's genocidal assault on Gaza. He tells Democracy Now! why he got involved with the film and the roots of his own activism, including the making of his song Hind's Hall," named after the Columbia student occupation of the campus building Hamilton Hall, which itself was named in honor of the 5-year-old Palestinian child Hind Rajab. Rajab made headlines last year when audio of her pleading for help from emergency services in Gaza was released shortly before she was discovered killed by Israeli forces. We are in urgent, dire times that require us as human beings coming together and fighting against fascism, fighting against genocide, and the only way to do that is by opening up the heart and realizing that collective liberation is the only solution," Macklemore says.

Major Earthquake Strikes Burma and Thailand, Collapsing Buildings as Rescuers Rush to Find Survivors, Israeli Attacks on Gaza Continue After It Broke Ceasefire, Killing More Students and Aid Workers, Israel Attacks Southern Lebanon, Beirut in Flagrant Breach of Ceasefire, Marco Rubio Says Rumeysa Ozturk Is One of More Than 300" Visa Holders Targeted by Trump, U.S. Court in New Jersey Hearing Arguments in Mahmoud Khalil Case, U.S. and Colombia Agree to Share Biometric Data of Immigrants, Protesters in El Salvador Denounce Nayib Bukele's Human Rights Abuses, Collaboration with Trump, Turkish Authorities Escalate Crackdown on Protesters and the Media Amid Political Crisis, U.S. Escalates Yemen Airstrikes, Bringing Total Deaths Since March 15 to at Least 57, U.S. Judge Orders Waltz, Vance, Rubio to Preserve Messages from Signal War Group Chat, HHS Cutting 10,000 More Jobs as DOGE Carries Out Mission to Gut the Government, We Can Eliminate an Entire District Court": Mike Johnson Escalates Attack on Courts That Defy Trump, Trump Withdraws Elise Stefanik Nom for U.N. Ambassador as GOP Frets Over Slim House Majority, New York County Clerk Refuses to Enforce Texas Penalty Against NY Abortion Provider, Trump EO Orders Gov't Agencies to End Collective Bargaining with Federal Unions, EPA Created Email So Polluters Can More Easily Obtain Exemptions from Environmental Rules, Robert McChesney, Free Press Co-Founder and Staunch Defender of Media and Democracy, Has Died, New Trump EO Aims to Gut Smithsonian Institution

Elon Musk was born in 1971 in Johannesburg, South Africa, and raised in a wealthy family under the country's racist apartheid laws. Musk's family history reveals ties to apartheid and neo-Nazi politics. We speak with Chris McGreal, reporter for The Guardian, to understand how Musk's upbringing shaped his worldview, as well as that of his South African-raised colleague Peter Thiel, a right-wing billionaire who co-founded PayPal alongside Musk. Musk lived what can only be described as a neocolonial life," said McGreal. If you were a white South African in that period and you had any money at all, you lived with servants at your beck and call."

After spending over a quarter of a billion dollars on Donald Trump's presidential election campaign, Elon Musk is pouring money into a Supreme Court election in Wisconsin. Musk has spent more than $18 million to support Trump-backed candidate Brad Schimel over liberal Susan Crawford and has been paying Wisconsin voters $100 to help flip the state's top court. This election could impact abortion rights, unions and Republicans' ability to keep gerrymandered districts in place to control Congress. The level of corruption at play here, the level of money at play here, really is a warning sign for what's happening to our democracy," says Ari Berman, voting rights correspondent for Mother Jones magazine.

Over a thousand protesters gathered near Tufts University on Wednesday after masked plainclothes immigration agents snatched Rumeysa Ozturk, a Tufts Ph.D. student and Fulbright scholar, from the streets of Somerville, Massachusetts. Surveillance video shows agents approaching her on the streets near her home Tuesday evening and handcuffing her while she screamed for help. Tufts University's president said the school had no prior notice of her arrest. Last March, Ozturk co-wrote a piece in the student newspaper criticizing the Tufts administration's response to Palestinian solidarity protests on campus that were calling for divestment from Israel. Democracy Now!'s Hany Massoud and Ariel Boone were in Somerville at Wednesday's protest. One of our community members was taken by armed agents of the state who kidnapped her from right outside her home," said Lea Kayali, an activist with the Palestinian Youth Movement. People are here to stand up for the movement that she was punished for supporting."

The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts has fired at least five members of its social impact team, including its artistic director, the renowned artist Marc Bamuthi Joseph. The team aimed to expand the art center's reach to diverse audiences and to commission new works by Black composers.

ICE Agents Abduct Tufts Ph.D. Student in Escalating Crackdown on Anti-Genocide Campus Protests, ICE Detains Iranian Ph.D. Student in Alabama and Farmworker Union Leader in Washington, Israel Kills Another 25 Palestinians in Gaza, Threatens to Seize Territory", 17-Year-Old Walid Khaled Abdullah Ahmad Dies in Notorious Israeli Prison, South Sudanese Vice Pres. Machar Is Arrested in Sharp Escalation of Tensions, Sudanese Army Declares Khartoum Is Free" After Seizing Capital Airport, Brazil's Top Court Says Jair Bolsonaro Must Stand Trial over 2022 Coup, Poisoning Plot, DHS Sec. Noem Parades in Front of El Salvador Supermax Jail as U.S. Courts Block Trump Expulsions, Housing Dept. Collaborating with DHS to Identify Undocumented Residents in Subsidized Housing, White House Announces Scaled-Down Trip to Greenland Even as Trump Insists We Need Greenland", SCOTUS Backs Regulations on Ghost Guns; Trump Tries to Cancel $65M Teacher-Training Grants, Capitulation Is the Wrong Way to Go": Dir. Julie Cohen Resigns from duPont-Columbia Award Jury, UC Davis Suspends Law Student Association over Its Vote to Divest from Israel, USAID to Cancel Funding for Global Vaccine Alliance, a Possible Death Sentence for 1.2M Children, Calls Mount for Hegseth and Waltz Resignations as More Signal Chats from Yemen Attack Emerge, Fire Elon, Not Elmo": Democrats Ridicule GOP Hearing Aimed at Defunding Public Media, Trump Announces 25% Tariffs on Imported Cars and Auto Parts, Democrat Wins PA State Election in Major Upset Ahead of Key U.S. House Races in Florida, Kennedy Center Fires Social Impact Employees, Including Artistic Director Marc Bamuthi Joseph

Mass demonstrations are continuing in Turkey, where Istanbul Mayor Ekrem mamolu has been arrested on corruption charges. Since protests broke out last week, Turkish authorities have detained more than 1,400 people, including students and journalists. mamolu is the main rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdoan in the 2028 presidential election and was recently nominated for president by the Republican People's Party. Erdoan has led the country since 2003, but his popularity has dropped in recent years amid increasingly authoritarian policies cracking down on dissent. Everyone knows that this is politically motivated and that Erdoan is scared that he's not going to win against Ekrem mamolu," says Turkish political scientist Ezgi Baaran.

Democratic lawmakers are calling for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and national security adviser Michael Waltz to resign, after they discussed bombing Yemen in a group chat that also included journalist Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic. Waltz had set up the chat on the messaging app Signal and appeared to accidentally add Goldberg, who then got a front-row seat as top officials, including Vice President JD Vance, discussed classified information. The attacks ultimately killed dozens of people in Yemen, including children. Journalist Safa Al Ahmad, who has been reporting on Yemen since 2010, says that while Washington is obsessing over the U.S. national security implications of the group chat, there is almost no criticism of the bombing campaign at the heart of the scandal. They are killing Yemenis with no recourse for Yemenis themselves," says Al Ahmad, who notes that U.S. involvement in attacks on Yemen started almost exactly 10 years ago, when a Saudi-led coalition began bombing the country with support from the Obama administration.There was actually no legal rationale under the Constitution for doing these strikes," adds Branko Marcetic, staff writer for Jacobin. Only Congress is actually able to declare war."

The Social Security benefits of millions of people in the United States are at risk as the Trump administration institutes drastic changes billed as anti-fraud" measures, but which critics say are aimed at weakening the popular program and potentially laying the groundwork to privatize it. The Social Security Administration has already shuttered dozens of offices across the country and is laying off thousands of workers. At the same time, the agency is demanding people make more in-office visits for routine business. The changes are part of government-wide efforts led by billionaire Elon Musk and DOGE, the so-called Department of Government Efficiency.They are destabilizing the program," says Nancy Altman, president of Social Security Works and chair of the Strengthen Social Security Coalition. It's really hard to imagine what they have in mind, what their endgame is, other than destroying our Social Security system."We also speak with Jacobin staff writer Branko Marcetic, who says Trump's nominee to head the Social Security Administration, financial services executive Frank Bisignano, has a reputation for slashing costs and pushing out staff. All of that is a pretty grim portent" of his plans for the Social Security Administration, if Bisignano is confirmed, says Marcetic. The people that are going to be hurt by it are the actual Social Security beneficiaries."

Israel Kills 38 Palestinians in Gaza; Israeli Court Orders Dr. Abu Safiya Held for 6 Months More, Palestinian Filmmaker Hamdan Ballal Freed After Being Assaulted by Israeli Settlers & Soldiers, Israel Kills 6 in Syria as U.S. Lanches New Attacks on Yemen, Waltz & Hegseth Face Calls to Resign Over Yemen Attack Plans Disclosure on Signal Chat, U.S. Intelligence Agencies Omit Climate Change as National Threat, Russia and Ukraine Agree to Naval Ceasefire in Black Sea, JD Vance to Join Delegation Headed to Greenland Amid Trump Threats to Seize Territory, ACLU Warns Trump Targeting of Another Law Firm Is Despotic, Unpresidential", AAUP & Middle East Studies Assoc. Sue Trump for Creating Climate of Repression on Campuses, Salvadorans Protest U.S. Sending Venezuelans to Imperial Prison", 54 Die in Sudanese Airstrike on Market in North Darfur; South Sudan on Brink of Civil War, 24 Die in South Korea's Largest Wildfires Ever, UNAIDS Warns Millions Could Die from U.S. Aid Cuts, Report: DOGE Employee Known as Big Balls" Once Helped Cybercrime Gang, Senate Committee Advances Nomination of Dr. Mehmet Oz, Backer of Privatizing Medicare, Trump Signs New Voting Executive Order; Critics Warn Millions Could Be Disenfranchised

We go to Gaza for a report on the brutal conditions of Israel's genocide of Palestinians from Abubaker Abed, a 22-year-old journalist who has recently been diagnosed with malnutrition as a result of Israel's total siege of the Gaza Strip. It's unending misery," says Abed. We're here stranded. We're seeing the systematic killing of everyone, as Israel is targeting every single one here in Gaza." In the week since Israel's abrupt desertion of its ceasefire agreement, says Abed, the total suffering in Gaza is much worse than ever before." He pleads for international intervention and accountability. As long as the world allows Israel to do so, this will not stop."

On Monday, Israeli strikes killed two Palestinian journalists: Al Jazeera's Hossam Shabat, who was 23 years old, and Palestine Today's Mohammed Mansour, who was killed in his apartment alongside his wife. This brings the total number of journalists that Israel has killed in Gaza over the past year and a half to 206. Just before his death, Shabat had shared news of Mansour's killing on social media and filed an article with Drop Site News describing Israel's scorched-earth campaign in his hometown of Beit Hanoun. His editor Sharif Abdel Kouddous remembers Shabat as a warm and funny person," dedicated to his job and his community. In recent months, he had been under increasing surveillance by the Israeli military, which labeled him a terrorist and placed him on a hit list." Despite being targeted and openly hunted," Shabat continued nevertheless to cover the genocide of his people."

Hamdan Ballal, the Oscar-winning Palestinian director of No Other Land, was attacked by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank community of Masafer Yatta, arrested by Israeli soldiers and held overnight. The group entered their village and started the assault shortly after residents broke their daily Ramadan fast. Ballal's No Other Land co-director Basel Adra witnessed the attack. He tells Democracy Now! that settlers and soldiers together attacked [Ballal] physically, brutally, and abducted him," while soldiers pointed guns and fired warning shots at a group of villagers including women and children. Ballal screamed I'm dying" as he was being beaten. Although the Israeli military has accused Ballal and two other Palestinians of throwing stones at soldiers, another eyewitness, Jewish American peace activist Anna Lippman, says the accusations are groundless. The double standard is so strong here in the West Bank that Palestinians know that if they were to touch a stone, that could mean their life." Adra calls on international intervention to end the violent occupation of Masafer Yatta, where almost every day there is [an] attack." Since this interview was conducted, Ballal has reportedly been released from Israeli custody and returned to his family.

Do Not Let the World Look Away": Israel Kills 2 More Journalists, Incl. Al Jazeera's Hossam Shabat, Israeli Settlers Brutally Attack Hamdan Ballal, Oscar-Winning Filmmaker, in Occupied West Bank, Trump's National Security Team Accidentally Shares Yemen War Plans with Journalist in Signal Chat, U.S. Attacks on Yemen Kills at Least 2 More People in Sana'a, Russian Missiles Injure Dozens in Ukraine's Sumy; Ukraine Kills 6, Incl. 3 Russian Journalists, SCOTUS Rejects Landmark Youth Climate Case, Ending 10-Year Battle That Inspired New Legal Strategy, SCOTUS Rejects Case Challenging NYT v. Sullivan, SCOTUS Hears Arguments in Key Louisiana Redistricting Case, Trump Threatens 25% Tariffs on Countries That Buy Venezuelan Oil, USPS Chief Louis DeJoy Resigns as DOGE Prepares to Gut Agency, U.S. Judge Reaffirms Order Blocking Trump from Expelling Immigrants Using Wartime Order, Columbia Student and Green Card Holder Sues Trump Administration After ICE Attempts to Arrest Her

Education Secretary Linda McMahon says Columbia University is on track to regain its federal funding after the Ivy League institution yielded to the Trump administration's demands on Friday. The demands include banning face masks on campus, hiring 36 new security officers with greater power to arrest and crack down on students and appointing a senior vice provost" to oversee the Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian and African Studies and the Center for Palestine Studies. Students say they will continue to fight for Palestinian rights and for Columbia to divest from Israel, but free speech experts are sounding the alarm. We have no idea what comes next, but groveling before a bully, we all know, just encourages the bully," says Katherine Franke, former professor at Columbia Law School.

Badar Khan Suri is one of the many pro-Palestine scholars being targeted by the Trump administration. Suri, originally from India, is a Georgetown University professor and postdoctoral scholar on religion and peace processes in the Middle East and South Asia. Last Monday evening, Suri was ambushed by masked federal agents with the Homeland Security Department as he and his family returned to their home in Rosslyn, Virginia, after attending an iftar gathering for Ramadan. Suri was taken into custody without being charged with or accused of any crime. He was told the federal government had revoked his visa. Over the next 72 hours, Suri was transferred to multiple immigration detention centers, and he is currently jailed at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Louisiana, separated from his wife, a U.S. citizen of Palestinian descent, and his three children. Unlike Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University graduate facing deportation, Suri is not a political activist," says Nader Hashemi, a professor of Middle East and Islamic politics at Georgetown University. He was just a very serious young academic focusing on his teaching and his research."

The Trump administration has ramped up efforts to target free speech on college campuses and one doctoral student at Cornell University who was involved in pro-Palastinian protests on campus now finds himself targeted for deportation once again. Momodou Taal is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Africana Studies at Cornell University who is a dual citizen of the United Kingdom and the Gambia. He was suspended twice last year for joining a demonstration calling on Cornell to divest from Israel and faced deportation until massive protests pressured Cornell to allow him to reenroll, thereby extending his visa. Earlier this month, Taal, along with two U.S. citizens, filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration's executive orders that target foreign nationals who it claims are national security threats. I believed I was going to be a target eventually," says Taal.

Israel Renews Attacks on Gaza's Hospitals as Its Full-Scale War Continues, Erdoan Intensifies Crackdown on Rival mamolu as Court Jails the Detained Istanbul Mayor, Columbia Caves to Trump Demands, Outlines Plans to Militarize Campus, Reinforce Censorship, Trump Orders DOJ and DHS to Punish Law Firms That Challenge His Agenda, Trump to Revoke Temporary Status of 530,000 People from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela, WaPo: IRS Could Soon Release Personal Data of Immigrant Taxpayers to DHS, U.S. Judge Blocks ICE from Deporting Activist Jeanette Vizguerra, Social Security Head Briefly Threatens to Shut Down Agency, Pentagon Hosts Elon Musk But Skips Briefing on China After Media Reports, Musk's PAC Offers Wisconsin Voters $100 as He Pours Millions into Key Supreme Court Race, U.S. and Russia Hold Talks in Saudi Arabia as Negotiations Continue to End Ukraine War, Sudanese Army Sweeps Major Sites in Khartoum After Seizing Presidential Palace, South African Ambassador Returns Home to Warm Welcome After Expulsion from D.C., South Korean Court Reinstates Prime Minister Han Duck-soo as President Ahead of Yoon Suk Yeol Ruling, Canadian PM Calls for Snap Election to Take On Trump, Most Significant Crisis of Our Lifetimes", Greenland Pushes Back on Highly Aggressive" Planned Visit by Members of Trump White House, 34,000 Rallygoers Attend Bernie and AOC's Denver Stop on Fighting Oligarchy" Tour

The U.S. government this week released thousands more records on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963, long a source of fascination and intrigue. This is the final batch of JFK files after the federal government began declassifying documents in the early 1990s. While these latest files contain no major revelations about the assassination, they do include many previously redacted details about the CIA global effort to influence elections, sabotage economies, overthrow governments," says Peter Kornbluh, senior analyst with the National Security Archive, a government transparency organization and research institution. Now at least we know what was being done in our name but without our knowledge."

We speak with the Brennan Center's Faiza Patel, who warns the Trump administration is ramping up efforts to target international students and other visitors and immigrants to the United States over pro-Palestinian speech. The State Department has reportedly launched a new effort using artificial intelligence to help identify and revoke visas for people the government deems to be supporting U.S.-designated terrorist groups, based primarily on the individuals' social media accounts. Foreign students are running scared," says Patel. She also notes that while AI-driven sounds really fancy," the process is more likely to be a basic keyword search prone to rudimentary mistakes."

We get an update on legal efforts to stop the Trump administration from deporting Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, who has been detained for two weeks despite being a legal resident with a green card. The Trump administration has explicitly said it is targeting Khalil because of his pro-Palestinian advocacy during protests at Columbia University last year, invoking a rarely used provision of immigration law to claim he could undermine U.S. foreign policy. Federal Judge Jesse Furman recently ordered the case to be moved to New Jersey, even though Khalil himself remains locked up in an ICE jail in Louisiana. In doing so, Judge Furman acknowledged that the right court to hear this is here, in the area where all of these events played out, where Mahmoud's family is, his eight-month-pregnant wife is, his community is and his lawyers are," says Shezza Abboushi Dallal, a member of Khalil's legal team.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday instructing Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to start dismantling her agency, although it cannot be formally shut down without congressional approval. Since returning to office in January, Trump has already slashed the Education Department's workforce in half and cut $600 million in grants. Education journalist Jennifer Berkshire says despite Trump's claims that he is merely returning power and resources to the states, his moves were previewed in Project 2025. The goal is not to continue to spend the same amount of money but just in a different way; it's ultimately to phase out spending ... and make it more difficult and more expensive for kids to go to college," Berkshire says. She is co-author of the book The Education Wars: A Citizen's Guide and Defense Manual and host of the education podcast Have You Heard.

Israel Pushes Further into Gaza; Genocide's Death Toll Rises, with 200 Children Killed Since Tuesday, Trump Signs Executive Order to Dismantle the Education Department, U.S. Judge Blocks DOGE from Accessing Personal Info at Social Security Administration, U.S. Judge Slams DOJ for Again Defying Orders as Immigrants Targeted for Deportation over Tattoos, ICE Issues New Contract for GEO Group as NLRB Drops Detainee Abuse Case Against the Prison Co., Trump Rescinds Order Targeting Law Firm After It Agrees to Provide $40M in Legal Services, Reports: Elon Musk Attending Pentagon Briefing on Possible China War Plans, M23 Fighters Capture Another Town in Eastern Congo After Rwanda and DRC Leaders Call for Ceasefire, Sudanese Army Recaptures Presidential Palace in Khartoum, A Coup to the National Will": Arrests and Mass Protests in Turkey After Arrest of Ekrem mamolu, Mediterranean Shipwreck Claims at Least 6 Refugee Lives, with 40 Missing, Off Italian Island, UCLA Students Sue over Suppression of Gaza Protests, Violent Attack by Angry Mob Last Spring, International Student Activist Momodou Taal Sues to Block Trump Orders Targeting Protesters, 1,000+ Jewish Activists and Allies Rally for Mahmoud Khalil, House Democrats Start to Openly Call for New Leadership After Schumer Budget Debacle, AOC Joins Bernie Sanders on His Hugely Popular Fighting Oligarchy" Tour in Red and Swing Districts

A legal battle is continuing between the Trump administration and a federal judge over the president's invocation of the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to expel over 130 immigrants from the United States to a mega-prison" in El Salvador over claims that they are members of a Venezuelan gang. Margaret Cargioli, an attorney who is representing one of the men, an LGBTQ asylum seeker who did not have a deportation order when he was effectively disappeared by ICE, says the unilateral expulsion of asylum seekers is extremely unusual and concerning." Cargioli's client was not deported. He was sent there unlawfully," and his disappearance not only puts his asylum case at risk, but also his life. CECOT, the prison in El Salvador that the Venezuelan nationals were sent to, is infamous for torture and other human rights abuses, while Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele's authoritarian rule has been marked by a long-running suspension of due process rights. Juan Pappier, who has investigated the prison system in El Salvador for Human Rights Watch, says people who are sent to CECOT will never be allowed out."

The new book Murder the Truth: Fear, the First Amendment, and a Secret Campaign to Protect the Powerful by The New York Times business investigations editor David Enrich chronicles an ongoing campaign by the wealthy and powerful to overturn the landmark Supreme Court decision New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, which in 1964 established bedrock protections against spurious defamation and libel cases in the U.S. legal system. By subject[ing] people to this torturous, long-running and extremely expensive legal process," those who can afford to pay for expensive and threatening defamation lawsuits can silence any public criticism and suppress others' rights to free speech, says Enrich. It has huge implications for our democracy and the ability of everyone to speak their mind."

A jury in North Dakota has ordered Greenpeace to pay more than $660 million in damages for defaming Energy Transfer Partners, the corporation behind the Dakota Access Pipeline. The Texas-based pipeline company accused Greenpeace of orchestrating criminal behavior by training and providing funds to the Indigenous-led protests at Standing Rock. Greenpeace and its supporters, including other nonprofits and advocacy groups, argued that the lawsuit is part of a conspicuous attempt by corporations to destroy the right to free speech. Longtime human rights and environmental lawyer Steven Donziger, who was part of the independent trial monitoring team observing the trial, says it was purposely held in a region of the country with deep ties to the fossil fuel industry. Donziger said most of the jurors in the case were connected to the industry and were predisposed" to rule in favor of Energy Transfer despite the false narratives" presented at the trial. Greenpeace plans to appeal the ruling.

Israel Kills Another 100 Palestinians; Death Toll Tops 700 in 3 Days Since Gaza Ceasefire Withdrawal, Israel Forces Gazans to Flee Once Again in Renewed Genocidal Campaign, This Was Not an Accident": U.N. Condemns Deadly Israeli Attack on U.N. Facility, International Legal Coalition Will Pursue Israelis Involved in Gaza War Crimes, U.S. Continues Attacks on Yemen and Houthi Movement, Global Protests for Gaza Continue After Israel Resumes All-Out War, Zelensky Agrees to Pause Energy Attacks; Trump Says He Wants Ownership of Ukraine's Nuclear Plants, An Attack on the 1st Amendment": Greenpeace Ordered to Pay $667M over Standing Rock Protests, Trump to Issue Executive Order to Dismantle Education Department, Education Department Sued for Freezing Student Loan Repayment Plans, Justice Department Removes Guidance to Businesses on Disability Rights, ICE Detains Georgetown Researcher Who Spoke Out for Palestinian Rights, Trump Administration Freezes $175 Million in Funds to UPenn over Trans Athletes, Judge Transfers Case of Jailed Palestinian Activist Mahmoud Khalil to New Jersey, CAIR Calls on Harvard and UNH to Cancel Professorships of Former Biden Advisers, Immigrant Rights Groups Sue ICE over Enforced Disappearance" of 48 People, Pentagon Appeals Judge's Order Freezing Purge of Transgender Military Members, Pentagon Purges Thousands of Articles About Minority and LGBTQ+ Personnel

The Social Security Administration is considering drastic new anti-fraud measures that could disrupt benefit payments to millions of Americans, according to an internal memo first obtained by the political newsletter Popular Information. The changes would force millions of customers to file claims in person at a field office rather than over the phone. An estimated 75,000 to 85,000 elderly and disabled adults per week would be diverted to field offices. This comes even as the Trump administration slashes jobs and closes offices at the agency. Officials in the Social Security Administration who spoke with reporter Judd Legum, founder of Popular Information, have told him that there is an effort to break the organization."

Immigrant rights activist Jeanette Vizguerra, who has lived in the U.S. for more than 30 years, was arrested by ICE agents in Colorado on Monday. She was ambushed during her work break by ICE officials and is now being held in a private prison in Aurora. Vizguerra rose to fame during Trump's first term when she evaded immigration officials by staying in a church basement with her four children and was named one of the 100 most influential people of the year by Time magazine in 2017. The courts may not save us, but we save each other," says Jennifer Piper, program director at the American Friends Service Committee, Colorado. Only the people can save each other and make justice and democracy real." We also speak with Vizguerra's 21-year-old daughter Luna Baez, who says her mother had felt under surveillance before her arrest, including by people in unmarked vehicles. It's something that is very, very scary," she says.

Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts issued a rare statement Tuesday criticizing attacks by President Trump and his allies on federal judges. For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision," he said. Roberts's statement came after Trump called for the impeachment of U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, who ordered the Trump administration to stop using the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport immigrants. On Saturday, the administration ignored Boasberg's order to turn around three deportation flights bound for El Salvador. We speak with The Nation's justice correspondent Elie Mystal on the Trump-led breakdown of constitutional order. There's not a coming constitutional crisis," says Mystal. We are in a constitutional crisis right now."

The nearly two-month ceasefire in Gaza has been shattered as Israel carries out a second day of intense airstrikes. At least 27 Palestinians were killed in overnight strikes Tuesday night. This comes a day after Israel killed over 400 Palestinians, including at least 174 children. The bombing is the most savage attack that Gaza has witnessed in over a year," says Muhammad Shehada, a writer and analyst from Gaza. He says the renewed assault in Gaza is linked to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's legal and political challenges at home. When you're in crisis, nothing would unite your government, nothing would suppress any sort of protest or opposition, more than killing Palestinians."

At Least 27 Palestinians Are Killed as Netanyahu Says Renewed Gaza Strikes Are Only the Beginning", Protests Demand End to U.S. Support for Israel's Genocide in Gaza, I Am a Political Prisoner": Palestinian Activist Mahmoud Khalil Sends Letter from ICE Jail, Supreme Court Chief Justice Rejects Trump's Call to Impeach Federal Judges, ICE Agents Detain Colorado Immigrant Rights Activist Jeanette Vizguerra, Russia Bombs Ukraine Hours After Trump Discusses Ceasefire Plan with Putin, Federal Judge Rules DOGE's Dismantling of USAID Is Likely Unconstitutional, Trump Fires Democratic Commissioners at Federal Trade Commission, Delaware Lawmakers Advance Billionaires' Bill" Shielding Corporate Executives from Accountability, Presidents of Rwanda and DR Congo Call for Ceasefire After Peace Talks in Qatar, Turkish Police Arrest Erdoan Rival and Restrict Free Expression Ahead of Elections, Hungarian Lawmakers Outlaw LGBTQ+ Pride Events

One of President Donald Trump's most intense fixations since returning to the White House has been to take over and overhaul the Kennedy Center, the national arts and culture institution in Washington, D.C. Trump fired the president of the Kennedy Center, replaced the bipartisan board of trustees with loyalists and made himself chairman of the organization, vowing to shift programming away from woke" art and toward more patriotic themes. On Monday, he visited the Kennedy Center to personally preside over a board meeting. Numerous artists have cut ties with the Kennedy Center since Trump's takeover, but folk musicians Nora Brown and Stephanie Coleman performed a concert at the Kennedy Center last week and used the opportunity to protest Trump's policies from the stage. We were considering what the most effective method of protest was" and decided our voices would be loudest on the stage," says Brown. The arts are a fundamental way for people to express ourselves and for us to recognize other people's stories and experiences and struggles," adds Coleman.

The Trump administration has vowed to continue its military strikes against the Houthi movement that controls much of Yemen, and says it will hold Iran responsible for any retaliation from its ally. Since Saturday, U.S. warplanes have launched dozens of large-scale attacks on multiple towns across Yemen, killing dozens of people. The strikes came after the Houthis threatened to resume attacks on Israeli-linked ships in the Red Sea in response to Israel's ongoing blockade of the Gaza Strip. For more on Yemen and the regional dynamics, we speak with Saudi journalist and filmmaker Safa Al Ahmad, who has been reporting on Yemen since 2010. Supporting the Palestinians ... has incredibly increased Houthi popularity," says Al Ahmad.

We speak with Palestinian journalist Abubaker Abed in Deir al-Balah, who says the civilian population and the medical system cannot handle more war. Israel launched a massive wave of airstrikes overnight that killed hundreds of people across the territory, effectively shattering the fragile ceasefire signed in January. People have not yet recovered from the endless trauma they have been through during the past 15 months. We haven't taken a breath from what we have been enduring," says Abed.We also speak to Palestinian human rights attorney Diana Buttu, who says Israel is bombing Palestinians because it can," knowing it will face almost no pressure from the United States or other countries. Israel knows that it can get away with it."

Israel has shattered the Gaza ceasefire agreement with Hamas, launching a massive wave of airstrikes overnight that killed hundreds of people across the Palestinian territory and wounded many others. The surprise attacks came amid stalled talks on how to extend the ceasefire signed in January, though Israel has signaled for weeks that it wanted to resume the war on Gaza. Dr. Feroze Sidhwa, an American trauma surgeon volunteering at Nasser Hospital, describes some of the horrific injuries he has treated, and says it's heartbreaking" for Palestinians to suffer more bloodshed. It's all because we provide the funding, the diplomatic, the economic and the military support. And we don't have to," he tells Democracy Now! We didn't have to under Biden. We certainly don't have to under Trump."

Israel Unilaterally Ends Gaza Ceasefire with Airstrikes That Kill Hundreds of Palestinians, Prosecutors Cancel Netanyahu's Testimony in Corruption Trial Amid Renewed Gaza Assault, U.N. Calls Israel's West Bank Settlements a War Crime" Amid Settler Attacks on Palestinians, UNICEF Says U.S. Attacks on Yemen Killed Civilians, Contradicting Pentagon's Claims, Lebanon and Syria Halt Cross-Border Fighting; Israel Strikes Syrian Military Sites, I Don't Care What the Judges Think": Trump Administration Rejects Court Orders on Deportations, U.S. Deports Brown University Surgeon to Lebanon Despite Judge's Order, Trump Administration Begins Dismantling EPA's Scientific Research Office, Hundreds Rally in Houston Against Cuts at NASA's Johnson Space Center, DOGE Operatives Force Entry into U.S. Institute of Peace, Trump to Discuss Ukraine Ceasefire Plan in Phone Call with Russian President Putin, M23 Withdraws from DRC Peace Talks, Texas Health Workers Arrested for Providing Abortions Amid Near-Total Ban, Trump Tours Kennedy Center After Installing Himself as Chair, Documentary on U.S. Reporter Killed by Russian Forces in Ukraine Wins SXSW Award

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is facing mounting calls to step down after he voted in favor of the Republicans' spending package Friday. The Republican bill has been described as a blank check" for the White House to keep defunding and dismantling government services and agencies. Calls have been mounting for New York Congressmember Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to primary Schumer, who was joined by eight other Democratic senators in voting for the bill. This was one of the most utterly embarrassing strategic blunders on behalf of the Democrats that I've seen," says Democratic strategist Waleed Shahid. He criticizes Schumer for his surrender" to Trump and Elon Musk's drastic defunding of the federal government after Schumer himself had warned against it. You don't say there's a fire, and then you give the arsonist a match and gasoline. And that's effectively what Chuck Schumer did."

President Trump has invoked a controversial 18th-century law last used to justify the arrest and internment of 30,000 Japanese, German and Italian nationals during World War II, as part of his ongoing crusade against immigrants. Citing the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, the Trump administration deported more than 130 immigrants who have been accused, often with little to no evidence, of gang affiliation. The ACLU won a judicial order against the deportations, which the Trump administration ignored, allowing the flights to continue to El Salvador, where authoritarian leader Nayib Bukele received the deportees at a notorious supermax prison. We speak to Lee Gelernt, who argued to stop the flights on behalf of the ACLU, about Trump's attacks on established U.S. immigration law. We cover the second Trump's administration's attempts to incarcerate immigrants at the Guantanamo military prison and end birthright citizenship, as well as the ongoing effects of his previous administration's policies of family separation and countrywide travel bans.

President Donald Trump spoke at the Department of Justice Friday in an unprecedented speech in which he threatened to take revenge on his political enemies, from the press to the FBI itself. It was a typical rambling and hate-filled diatribe," says Maryland Congressmember Jamie Raskin. Nobody has ever taken a sledgehammer to the traditional boundary between independent criminal law enforcement, on the one side, and presidential political will and power, on the other." Raskin, who spoke at a press conference in response to Trump's address outside of the Department of Justice, is a former constitutional law professor and served as the Democrats' lead prosecutor for Trump's second impeachment over the January 6 Capitol insurrection. He also responds to Trump's illegal" invocation of the wartime Alien Enemies Act of 1798 and his attempt to deport foreign-born university students and faculty. Trump's sweeping efforts to make the United States hostile to immigrants creates danger for everybody," warns Raskin. Finally, Raskin responds to recent divisions within the Democratic Party over a GOP spending bill. He urges congressional Democrats to present a unified plan" and common strategy" for resisting a Republican supermajority loyal to Trump.

U.S. Bombs Yemen, Killing Dozens of Civilians, Trump Administration Defies Court Order Halting Deportation Flights to El Salvador, Trump Mulls Travel Ban Targeting Citizens of Up to 43 Nations, ICE Arrests Second Columbia Student over Palestinian Solidarity Protests, Video Shows Immigration Agents Refused to ID Themselves During Mahmoud Khalil Arrest, We Are Going to Fight Back": Expelled Columbia Labor Leader Vows to Combat Censorship, Retaliation, Far-Right Group Betar Says It Handed Trump Admin Thousands of Names" of Deportation Targets, Storms Kills at Least 40 People as Trump White House Purges Agencies That Study Extreme Weather, Schumer Faces Calls to Step Down Amid Democratic and Public Anger on GOP Spending Bill Vote, New Trump EOs Gut Agencies Serving Unhoused People, Libraries and Media Organizations, Trump Assails Judges, News Outlets and Critics in Rambling Speech at Justice Department, Hundreds of Thousands Rally in Serbia Against Government Corruption, JD Vance Booed by Audience While Attending Concert at Kennedy Center

A pair of federal judges have ordered the Trump administration to reinstate thousands of fired federal workers at the departments of Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Defense, Energy, Interior and Treasury. The White House vowed to fight what it called an absurd and unconstitutional order." This comes as the White House and its allies have increasingly targeted judges who rule against the administration. Elon Musk has posted dozens of messages on his social platform X calling for the impeachment of judges who rule against the administration. We speak with retired federal Judge Nancy Gertner, who served as a federal district judge in Massachusetts for 17 years, from 1994 to 2011. The distance between what they are trying to do and what is lawful is so enormous that anyone would rule as these judges are doing," says Gertner.

We speak with the acclaimed Russian American writer M. Gessen, who says Donald Trump has entered his second term prepared to enact his radical Project 2025 agenda, including a crackdown on LGBTQ rights and dissent. Gessen, who has spent decades writing about authoritarianism at home and abroad, argues that while he was something of an accidental president" in his first term, Trump has been transformed by power" and is now increasingly imperialist" and totalitarian."

Over 300 protesters with the group Jewish Voice for Peace flooded the lobby of Trump Tower in New York on Thursday wearing red shirts saying Not in Our Name." They demanded the immediate release of Mahmoud Khalil and held banners reading opposing fascism is a Jewish tradition." About 100 protesters were arrested and face charges of trespassing, obstruction and resisting arrest. Democracy Now! was at the protest. I refuse to allow this administration to speak in my name, to use our names as Jews, to carry out a fascist agenda," protester Josh Dubnau said. The Trump administration is a government that has far-right white supremacists, people that do the Nazi salute, and [Trump's] fine with that."

U.S. Judges Order Agencies to Reinstate Fired Workers, Trump and Musk to Halt Mass Layoffs, A Slap in the Face": Democrats Accuse Schumer of Betrayal" After He Backs GOP Funding Bill, Jewish Protesters Takes Over Trump Tower to Demand Release of Mahmoud Khalil, Columbia Punishes Students in Historic Hind's Hall Protest as Trump Issues Ultimatum to Admin, Harvard Law Students Vote to Divest from Israeli War Machine, Trump and Putin Set to Talk as Zelensky Accuses Moscow of Manipulation" over Truce Conditions, NBC: Pentagon Preparing Plans to Illegally Seize Panama Canal, Syria Signs Transitional Constitution Against Backdrop of Israeli Airstrikes, Military Occupation, U.N. Warns Entire Families" Killed in Syrian Sectarian Violence as Some Alawites Flee to Lebanon, Argentinian Riot Police Crack Down on Pensioner-Led Anti-Government Protests, Cuba Releases 553 Prisoners, Fulfilling Its End of Collapsed Deal with U.S., Trump Resumes Family Detentions, Including Children as Young as 1, DOJ Drops Sexual Abuse Lawsuit Against Immigraton Housing Contractor, Raul Grijalva, Longtime AZ Congressman and Defender of Immigrant & Environmental Rights, Dies at 77

We speak with Valerie Costa, an organizer behind the grassroots Tesla Takedown movement peacefully protesting outside Tesla showrooms to oppose billionaire owner Elon Musk's role in government. Since Donald Trump's return to the White House, Musk and his so-called Department of Government Efficiency have led mass firings of federal workers and dismantled entire agencies. As protests against Tesla grow and sales plummet, the company's stock has lost about 40% of its value since the start of the year. This week, President Trump personally intervened on behalf of his adviser and held a promotional event with Musk at the White House, where he said he would buy an electric vehicle and declared attacks on Tesla dealerships to be domestic terrorism." Meanwhile, Musk personally attacked Costa, falsely accusing her of committing crimes" in a post on his X social network. They're peaceful, nonviolent protests," says Costa, an activist and organizer in Seattle. Protesting Tesla ... is ultimately about hitting Elon Musk's bottom line."

Education Secretary Linda McMahon has issued a warning to 60 universities that they're being investigated for antisemitism and could face penalties. Her warning came days after the Trump administration withdrew $400 million in federal grants and contracts to Columbia University and as the administration attempts to deport Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil over his involvement in campus antiwar protests at the school. At the same time, President Trump has pledged to abolish the Education Department entirely, with plans announced this week to fire an additional 1,300 employees, effectively cutting the agency's workforce in half. It's pretty clear what this administration is trying to do, and it has nothing to do with antisemitism," says former Education Department official Tariq Habash, who resigned last year to protest the Biden administration's support of Israel's war on Gaza. It has everything to do with Donald Trump's vision for America, which is consolidating his authoritarian power."

We get an update on the Trump administration's attempt to deport Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, whose case has alarmed immigrant advocates and civil rights groups. Khalil, a legal permanent resident who is married to a U.S. citizen, was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in New York on Saturday and told his green card was being revoked because of his role in Columbia University student protests last year opposed to Israel's war on Gaza. He has since been moved to an ICE jail in Louisiana with little access to legal counsel or to his family, including his pregnant wife. On Tuesday, a federal judge extended an order blocking Khalil's deportation while he considers whether the arrest was unconstitutional.It's been very clear from the beginning that the government's strategy is to cut Khalil off not just from access to the court here in New York, not just from access to his legal team, but from access to his support base," says Ramzi Kassem, part of Khalil's legal team.