Democracy Now!

Thousands of mourners are lining up at the Vatican, where Pope Francis's body is lying in state in St. Peter's Basilica. His funeral will be on Saturday. In May of 2024, Pope Francis gathered 30 Nobel Peace laureates to the Vatican in a roundtable including our guest, Maria Ressa, who was awarded the prize for defending the free press in the Philippines. He changed the church by changing the people," says Ressa. He moved it away from a Eurocentric kind of Global North view, and he brought in Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa and Asia."

As the Trump administration goes after universities, law firms and more, some argue that the free press will eventually become a target. Trump's attacks on the press have already begun, with the president filing a number of baseless lawsuits against organizations like ABC and CBS, including a $20 billion lawsuit against CBS over how the network edited an interview with Kamala Harris last year on 60 Minutes. The White House has also banned the Associated Press from covering some presidential events over its refusal to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America. I didn't want to be an activist, but when it's a battle for facts, journalism is activism," warns Nobel Laureate Maria Ressa, whose new site Rappler faced attacks from former president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte. We also speak with The American Prospect editor Robert Kuttner, who has a new piece headlined Is the Press Next?"

President Trump is facing increasing criticism from big businesses over his decision to launch a global trade war. On Monday, CEOs of Walmart, Target and Home Depot met with Trump at the White House to warn about Trump's trade policies. A day later, Trump signaled he is open to substantially lowering tariffs on China. Trump has also toned down his attacks on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, whom he had previously threatened to fire. This all comes as global stock markets remain in turmoil over Trump's trade policies. The Wall Street Journal reports the Dow Jones Industrial Average is headed for its worst April performance since the Great Depression. This is classic Trump," says Robert Kuttner, co-founder and co-editor of The American Prospect. You create a crisis. Then you say, 'Well, actually, I'm going to back off,' and the crisis is over. And you end up with yourself and the country worse than before you started."

Israeli Attacks Kill 50 Palestinians in Gaza, Including People Waiting for Food Assistance, Itamar Ben-Gvir Protested by Yale Students, Feted by Trump and GOP, Suspects in Kashmir Massacre Identified; India Closes Border, Cancels Visas for Pakistanis, Russian Air Attack on Kyiv Kills 8 as Trump Ratchets Up Pressure on Ukraine, U.S. Judge Pauses Order Against Trump in Abrego Garcia Case as His Wife Goes into Hiding, Florida Police Collaborate with ICE in Crackdown on Immigrant Communities, ICE Arrests 8 Dairy Workers in Largest Immigration Raid in Vermont's Recent History, Southeast Asian Immigrants in California Face Arrest, Deportation After Routine ICE Check-ins, DoorDash Workers Protest Food App's Wage Theft and Other Labor Violations, 12 States Sue Trump over Arbitrarily Imposed Tariffs", $TRUMP Cryptocurrency Soars After Offering Top Investors "VIP Reception with the President", EU Fines Apple and Meta $800 Million for Violating Antitrust Law, Harvey Weinstein Retrial on Rape Charges Begins in New York, 60 Minutes" Chief Quits as Trump Calls for CBS to Lose Broadcast License, FBI and Police Raid Homes of Pro-Palestinian UMich Students Who Joined Campus Protests, Occidental Students Hold Hunger Strike to Demand Divestment from Israeli War Machine, Universities Form Mutual Defense Compact" Against Trump's Political Interference, Interior Department Plans to Shrink National Monuments Amid Push for Mining, Fossil Fuel Projects, Study Finds Nearly Half of U.S. Residents Are Exposed to Unsafe Levels of Air Pollution, 84% of World's Coral Reefs Suffer Largest-Ever Bleaching Event

We spend the hour with acclaimed historian Greg Grandin discussing his new book, America, America: A New History of the New World, which spans five centuries of North and South American history since the Spanish conquest, including the fight against fascism in the 1930s. He examines the U.S.-Latin American relationship under Trump, with a focus on El Salvador, Panama, Ecuador and Cuba. Grandin also has a new piece for The Intercept that draws on the book, headlined The Long History of Lawlessness in U.S. Policy Toward Latin America." If the United States really has given up its role as superintending a global liberal order and the world is reverting back to these kind of spheres of power competitions, then Latin America becomes, essentially, much more important," says Grandin. We also continue to examine the legacy of the late Pope Francis, the son of Italian immigrants to Argentina and the first pope from Latin America. Grandin shares how the Catholic Church's involvement in the conquest and colonization of the continent impacted the pope's beliefs.

Israel Attacks School Sheltering Displaced Palestinians, Killing 10, Protests Erupt on Yale Campus Ahead of Visit by Israeli Far-Right Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, Ukraine Ceasefire Talks Collapse as Marco Rubio Pulls Out, Gunmen Attack Tourists in Indian-Administered Kashmir, Killing 26, World Food Programme Halts Aid to 650,000 in Ethiopia Amid Funding Shortfall, State Department Will Eliminate Programs on Climate Crisis, Human Rights and War Crimes, Families Say Two Venezuelans Simply Disappeared" Amid U.S. Deportations to El Salvador, Judge Halts Plan to Reopen ICE Office at New York's Rikers Island Jail, Immigrant Advocates Ask U.N. Human Rights Council to Investigate U.S. Open-Air Detention Camps, Democratic Lawmakers Visit Rumeysa Ozturk and Mahmoud Khalil at Louisiana ICE Jails, Trump Says He Won't Fire Fed Chair Jerome Powell and Will Reach Deal to Reduce Tariffs on China, HHS Slashes Funding to Women's Health, Promotes Lab Leak Theory of COVID Origins, As Tesla's Profits Plummet, Elon Musk Says He'll Scale Back DOGE Efforts, EPA to Lay Off or Reassign Hundreds of Staffers Working on Environmental Justice and DEI, Three More Federal Prosecutors Resign over Dismissal of Eric Adams Probe, Supreme Court Conservatives Appear Poised to Allow Parents to Opt Out of Schools with LGBTQ Books

This week marks the 70th anniversary of the Bandung Conference, when 29 nations from Asia and Africa gathered in Indonesia for a historic anti-colonial conference that was meant to chart a new path for developing countries amid a tide of decolonization sweeping the globe. The 1955 Bandung Conference announced the arrival on the world stage of peoples from the Global South, and it marked the birth of what would later become the Non-Aligned Movement at the height of the Cold War rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union. Key nations participating included China, India, Pakistan, Egypt, Burma and Vietnam. The conference was hosted by Indonesian President Sukarno, a major anti-imperialist figure who would later be overthrown in a U.S.-backed coup.They all gathered together because they understood their unity was very important, not only to create a new trade and development order - that was not the only part - but also to fight for peace," says author and journalist Vijay Prashad, director of the Tricontinental think tank. Bandung represented hope for hundreds of millions of people around the planet in 1955."

A federal judge has ordered Rumeysa Ozturk to be transferred to Vermont as she seeks to challenge what her lawyers call her unconstitutional detention" in an ICE detention center in Louisiana. Ozturk is a Turkish national and a Tufts University Ph.D. student whose abduction off the streets by plainclothes U.S. agents was caught on camera, one of the most controversial examples of the Trump administration's crackdown on pro-Palestinian international students. She was targeted after co-authoring an opinion piece for the Tufts student newspaper critical of the school's response to Gaza protests. Last week, an immigration judge denied bond for Ozturk, declaring her to be a potential danger to the community." Meanwhile, The Washington Post reports the State Department found no evidence linking Rumeysa Ozturk to antisemitic activities or public statements in support of terrorism, as the administration has claimed.For more, we speak with Mudassar Toppa, part of Ozturk's legal team and a staff attorney at CLEAR, a legal nonprofit and clinic at CUNY School of Law. In this case, the government was clear it was intending to abduct Ms. Ozturk. They didn't want her to know that her visa was revoked, and four days later, they did exactly what they planned and abducted her in broad daylight," says Toppa.

As the Vatican prepares the funeral for Pope Francis and church leaders begin to consider his replacement, we look at the late pontiff's environmental legacy. Pope Francis frequently called for action on the climate crisis and urged his followers to be good stewards of the Earth. He also openly criticized the role of wealthy nations and capitalism in causing the climate crisis.He brought together the riches of Christian and Catholic tradition to bear with the prophetic work of social movements around the world in confronting a global crisis," says Nathan Schneider, professor of media studies at the University of Colorado Boulder. Schneider is also a contributing writer at America, a national Catholic weekly magazine published by the Jesuits, where he has been covering Catholic engagement with climate change and the economy.Pope Francis argued that our relationship with the Earth depends on justice among people, and that in order to address this environmental crisis, we need to also address the crisis of disposability, of treating not only the planet, but each other, as disposable," says Schneider.

House Democrats Visit El Salvador to Press for Release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, Relatives Fight U.S. Attempts to Transfer Venezuelan Immigrants to El Salvador Prison, ICE Denies Mahmoud Khalil's Request to Join His Wife for Birth of Their First Child, The War Must Stop": Detained Palestinian Green Card Holder Mohsen Mahdawi Calls for End to Gaza War, Judge Orders Reinstatement of Canceled Visas for 133 Foreign Students, UNRWA Chief Condemns Israel's Use of Aid to Gaza as a Bargaining Chip and a Weapon of War", Survivors Recount RSF Massacre on Zamzam Camp for Displaced Sudanese, Putin Floats Direct Ceasefire Talks with Zelensky Amid Continued Russian Attacks, Latest U.S. Airstrikes Hit Yemen's Capital, Marib Governorate and Kamaran Island, Hegseth Blames Press Over Reports of Second Signal Chat in Which He Shared War Plans with Family, White House HHS Cuts Could Slash Budget by 40%, Eliminate Key Programs, Harvard Sues Trump Admin for Freezing Federal Funds, Trump Admin to Start Garnishing Wages on Defaulted Student Loans Next Month, Trump Administration Mulls Perks" to Boost Birth Rate While Attacking Medicaid, Child Care, Vatican Sets Saturday Funeral for Pope Francis, Judge Sides with 6 Plaintiffs Challenging Trump's Anti-Trans Passport Rules, Protesters in London Decry Top Court's Ruling Attacking Trans and Nonbinary Community

As the Trump administration ramps up its attacks on international students and Palestinian activists, Jewish New Yorkers are calling for the release of detained Columbia student Mohsen Mahdawi, who was arrested in Vermont when he appeared for what he was told would be a naturalization test. Mahdawi had previously expressed fears that the appointment, which came earlier than usual in the typical naturalization process, could end up being a trap. These deportations do not keep anyone safe," says Josh Drill, an Israeli American master's student at Columbia University. They endanger us because they separate Palestinian and Israeli peacemakers who are trying to change the reality."

We continue our look at the life and legacy of Pope Francis with a focus on his advocacy for migrants' rights and next steps for selecting his successor, with input from groups like SNAP, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. It was clear that the subject of migrants and immigrants wasn't just one topic among many that he addressed, as all popes might," says Robert Ellsberg, editor of Pope Francis's book on migrants and refugees. It really was a kind of signature of his papacy."

In his last public appearance before he died, Pope Francis addressed Easter Sunday Mass and repeated his call for a ceasefire in Gaza. Pope Francis's position on Palestine is just an extension of his theology and pastoral care in general, caring for the marginalized and victims of injustice," says Reverend Munther Isaac, Palestinian Christian theologian and pastor, who joins us for the second of several segments on Pope Francis.

Pope Francis has died at the age of 88. The Argentinian-born Jesuit had led the Catholic Church since 2013, when he made history by becoming the first pope from Latin America. Francis was a vocal champion for the poor and marginalized, migrants' rights, and often spoke out about the climate crisis. When he addressed almost any issue, he would begin with the experience of people at the margins," says Marie Dennis, director of the Catholic Nonviolence Initiative.

We speak with Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen, just back from El Salvador, where he met Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland father whom the Trump administration says they forcibly transferred to an El Salvador mega-prison last month by administrative error." We will keep fighting for his constitutional rights, because if we deny the constitutional rights for one person, we threaten them for everybody," says Van Hollen. Four more Democratic lawmakers, including Congressmembers Maxwell Alejandro Frost of Florida and Yassamin Ansari of Arizona, have since traveled to El Salvador to continue pressuring for Abrego Garcia's release.

Pope Francis Dies at 88, Hours After Calling for Gaza Ceasefire, Palestine Red Crescent Rejects Israeli Probe into March Massacre of 15 Gaza Humanitarian Workers, SCOTUS Blocks Trump from Expelling Another Group of Venezuelan Immigrants Out of Texas, U.S. Judge Orders Trump Admin to Return Jailed Tufts Student Rumeysa Ozturk to Vermont, Minnesota Father Has Student Visa Secretly Revoked in Trump's Mounting Crackdown, Protesters Warn Fascism Is Here as More Anti-Trump Demonstrations Take Over Streets Nationwide, U.S. Airstrikes Kill at Least 12 in Sana'a, Days After U.S. Port Attack in Yemen Kills 80+, NYT: Hegseth Spills Yemen Attack Plans in Another Signal Chat, This Time Including His Family Members, U.S. and Iran Report Progress in Nuclear Talks, Will Meet Again Next Week, Pakistan Expels 80,000 Afghans in Contested New Policy, Russia Launches Barrage of Drones on Ukraine After Easter Ceasefire", DRC Suspends Party of Ex-President Joseph Kabila, Long-Serving Progressive Congressmember Barbara Lee Elected as Oakland Mayor

Fatma Hassona, the 25-year-old Palestinian photojournalist and subject of the upcoming documentary film Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk, was killed with her family Wednesday by an Israeli missile that targeted her 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 ACID Cannes 2025 film festival. Director Sepideh Farsi remembers Hassona for her talent, integrity and hope. I can't tell you how devastated I am," says Farsi. She shares that Hassona had joyfully accepted the invitation to Cannes but had emphasized her desire to return to Gaza and remain on her family's land. Farsi adds that there is a chance that Hassona's building had been targeted, given the high number of journalists and photographers in Gaza who have been killed by the Israeli army." In tribute to Hassona's work, we play the trailer to Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk and share a selection of her photography and poetry.

These were otherwise healthy school-age children who didn't have to die." We speak to the world-renowned pediatrician, virologist and vaccine expert, Dr. Peter Hotez, about the dangerous anti-vaccine agenda of Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Amid a growing number of measles cases in the United States, RFK Jr. has promoted skepticism of the efficacy of the MMR vaccine, which protects against measles, mumps and rubella. At least two unvaccinated children have died from measles, a highly contagious disease that had been effectively eliminated in the U.S. in the past few decades. Hotez, the father of a child on the autism spectrum, also debunks RFK Jr.'s claims that vaccines are linked to autism, and criticizes his deeply offensive" statements about people living with autism. Evoking eugenic beliefs, the HHS secretary, who now holds the power to determine healthcare policy in the United States, shows this consistent lack of intellectual curiosity, this kind of simplistic way of thinking and talking about autism," says Hotez.

U.S. Airstrikes on Yemen Kill at Least 58, Injure Over 100 Others, Palestinian Photojournalist Fatma Hassona Killed with Family in Israeli Attack, Hamas Rejects Interim Israeli Truce Proposals, Seeks Comprehensive and Full End to War, ICC Demands Hungary Justify Its Failure to Act on Netanyahu Arrest Warrant, Sen. Van Hollen Meets with Kilmar Abrego Garcia in El Salvador as Legal Defeats Mount for Trump, New Group of Immigrants Threatened with Removal Under Contested Wartime Act, SCOTUS to Hear Arguments in Trump's Attempt to End Birthright Citizenship, U.S.-Born Man Arrested Under Florida's Latest Anti-Immigrant Law After Crossing State Lines, ICE Signs $30 Million Deal with Palantir as It Expands Mass Surveillance of Immigrants, Zohran Mamdani Joins NYC Jewish Community to Say No Fascists, No Pharaohs" at Passover Action, Boston Jews Call for Release of Rumeysa Ozturk After Judge Denies Bond to Abducted Student, Trump Escalates Attacks on Harvard, Targeting International Students, The Fight to Win All Fights": Students and Faculty Protest Trump Crackdown on Schools, U.S. Judge Rules Google Illegally Operates Online Ad Monopoly, Trump Threatens to Kick Out Federal Reserve Chair Powell, New Rule Threatens Endangered Species by Allowing Industry to Destroy Protected Habitats, Rubio Says U.S. Will Determine in A Matter of Days" If It Should Move On" from Ukraine War, Florida Son of a Sheriff's Deputy Uses Mom's Service Gun to Kill 2 People in Campus Mass Shooting, Grand Jury Indicts Luigi Mangione; Charge Could Lead to Death Sentence

We speak with the award-winning author and journalist Omar El Akkad, whose new book about the war on Gaza is titled One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This. The book expands on a viral tweet El Akkad sent in October 2023, just weeks into Israel's genocidal assault on the Palestinian territory, decrying the muted response to the carnage and destruction unfolding on the ground. He wrote, One day, when it's safe, when there's no personal downside to calling a thing what it is, when it's too late to hold anyone accountable, everyone will have always been against this." He joins Democracy Now! and says the book explores how people respond to injustice and grapple with their own role in it. It's in large part trying to figure out my place in this society," says El Akkad. I happen to live on the launching side of the missiles, and as a result, it's very, very easy for me to look away. And what happens when you decide you're not going to look away?"

President Trump's Africa envoy Massad Boulos has finished a tour of several East African nations, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where he discussed a peace deal that could involve the U.S. tapping the country's rich mineral resources, including cobalt and lithium. Several Western mining companies are already reportedly lined up to take part in the U.S.-backed mineral resources partnership. These people are among the poorest in the world," says Jan Egeland, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council. They live on top of the incredible mineral riches that have been plundered by so many companies, so many colonial powers, so many of the neighbors of DRC. I hope the U.S. will really make sure there is an equitable deal, but that can really only happen if there is a peace agreement."

Sudan is facing the world's largest humanitarian crisis after two years of war between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, or RSF. Thousands have died, and some 13 million have been forcibly displaced. There are also widespread reports of sexual and ethnically motivated violence and a worsening hunger crisis. Emtithal Mahmoud, a Darfurian refugee and humanitarian activist, describes how the violence has impacted her own family, including in a recent RSF attack on the Zamzam refugee camp where fighters killed and tortured many civilians. They kidnapped 58 of the girls in my extended family, and we are still searching for them," says Mahmoud. We need the world to pay attention." Unlike the Darfur crisis of the early 2000s, when it was on the agenda of many world leaders, the current conflict is being largely ignored by the international community, says Jan Egeland, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council. It is by far the worst displacement crisis in the world," notes Egeland.

Vince Warren, executive director of the Center for Constitutional Rights, joins us as President Trump's defiance of the courts is pushing the United States toward a constitutional crisis, with multiple judges weighing whether to open contempt proceedings against his administration for ignoring court orders. On Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg criticized officials for continuing to stonewall his inquiry into why planes full of Venezuelan immigrants were sent to El Salvador last month even after he ordered the flights halted or turned around midair. Boasberg noted in his order that Trump officials have since failed to rectify or explain their actions," giving the administration until April 23 to respond. This comes as Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen traveled to El Salvador but was blocked from seeing or speaking to Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland father who was sent to CECOT on the March flights in what the Department of Homeland Security has admitted was an administrative error." Both the Trump administration and the government of Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele have refused to release and return Abrego Garcia. This week, federal Judge Paula Xinis said the administration had made no effort to comply with the order, and said she could begin contempt proceedings. The government is providing no information, not even the most basic factual information about what's been happening," says Warren.

U.S. Judge Finds Probable Cause" to Hold Trump Admin in Contempt over CECOT Transfers, ICE Violently Arrests Massachusetts Man After He Reveals He's Not the Target of Their Search, California Faith Leaders Condemn Plans to Reopen Dublin Prison as ICE Jail, IRS Could Revoke Harvard's Tax-Exempt Status over Refusal to Bend to Trump, DOJ Sues Maine for Refusing to Comply with Anti-Trans Order, Israel's Genocidal Attacks on Gaza Continue, Slaughtering Children, Displaced Palestinians, Dr. Abu Safiya's Lawyer Warns Kamal Adwan Director Is Being Tortured in Prison, Reports: U.S. in Talks with Yemeni Fighters over Possible Ground Attack Against Houthi Movement, Mass Gaza Protests in Karachi; Police Crack Down on Student Protests in Germany, Netherlands, Protesters Arrested on Roof of U.K. Factory That Supplies Israeli Weapons Maker, Prosecutors Seek to Ban Discussion of Gaza at Upcoming Trial of Louisville Five" Protesters, Sudan's RSF Declares Rival Government as Civil War Enters Third Year, Tunisian Opposition Politicians Launch Hunger Strike Amid Mass Trial of Dissidents, Colombian Indigenous Leader's Murder Is Third of the Year, Illegal and Economically Destructive": California Sues Trump over Tariffs, Guards Charged with Murder over Beating Death of New York Prisoner Messiah Nantwi, Puerto Rico's Energy Grid Collapses for Second Time in Four Months

Harvard University has pushed back as President Trump ramps up his attacks on higher education. After Harvard rejected demands by the Trump administration to eliminate all DEI initiatives and further crack down on Palestinian rights protests, including reporting international students to federal authorities, the Trump administration said it's freezing $2.2 billion in federal grants and $60 million in contracts to Harvard. University President Alan Garber wrote in a letter to the school community on Monday, The University will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights."This is an effort to try to take over the ideological agenda of the country by taking over universities," says Andrew Manuel Crespo, professor at Harvard Law School and general counsel of the Harvard faculty chapter of the American Association of University Professors.

In one of its first major actions under the Trump administration, the Federal Trade Commission is arguing Meta has an illegal monopoly in social media and should be forced to divest Instagram and WhatsApp. CEO Mark Zuckerberg took the stand Monday as the highly anticipated antitrust trial kicked off in Washington, D.C. If Meta loses the trial, it could be forced to sell off those platforms. We've let one company, one man, influence the information environment for the world," says Frances Haugen, former Facebook employee and whistleblower.

The Trump administration is now seeking to deport Columbia University student Mohsen Mahdawi, who is being held in a prison in northwest Vermont. He was detained by Homeland Security agents when he went to an immigration services center to take a civics test that is the final step in the process of becoming a naturalized citizen. Mahdawi moved to Vermont from the West Bank in 2014 and has been a legal permanent resident, or green card holder, since 2015.All three members of Vermont's congressional delegation are calling for Mahdawi's release, including Congressmember Becca Balint. This should terrify every single person living in this country, regardless of your citizenship status," says Balint. This is Trump creating his own army of brownshirts right here in our country."

Judge Overseeing Kilmar Abrego Garcia's Case Considers Contempt Charges for U.S. Officials, Judge Blocks Trump's Order Ending Protections for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans & Venezuelans, Do Not Attempt to Remain in the United States": CBP Orders U.S. Citizens to Self-Deport", Video Shows Violent Arrest of Venezuelan Man by Federal Agents Who Wounded Bystander, Republicans Face Protests over Trump's Agenda at Raucous Town Hall Meetings, Israeli War Chief Refuses Calls to End Gaza Siege, U.S. Envoy Says Iran Must Completely End Uranium Enrichment, Trump Escalates Trade War, Saying China Now Faces 245% Tariff, NATO Leader Pledges Support to Kyiv as Trump Blames Ukraine, Not Russia, for Invasion, White House Restricts Access to Wire Service Reporters Including AP and Reuters, Russian Journalists Sentenced to 5+ Years in Prison for Extremism", Hungary Amends Constitution to Ban LGBTQ+ Pride Events, U.K. High Court Ruling Excludes Trans Women from Equality Act Protections, U.S. Threatens Retaliation as U.N. Shipping Agency Reaches Deal to Curb Greenhouse Gases, Climate Activists Demand Protections for Indigenous Communities Ahead of COP30 Summit

A new set of documentaries directed by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney premieres April 15 and April 16 on HBO. The films in The Dark Money Game series investigate the origins and impacts of campaign finance in the U.S. Our country is being run by a small group of people who have an enormous amount of money, and they dominate our politics," says Gibney. It's almost as if bribery has become utterly legalized. It's pay to play. It's quid pro quo."

As Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa claims victory in a contested election, Noboa's leftist rival Luisa Gonzalez is challenging the results, calling Noboa a dictator" who committed election fraud to be reelected. The widow of former candidate Fernando Villavicencio also released a new video seemingly confirming allegations that Noboa had been involved in an attempt to frame a third candidate for Villavicencio's assassination during the 2023 presidential election. Journalist Jose Olivares, who reported on the allegations for Drop Site, responds to the new video and the Noboa administration's cozying up" to Donald Trump and his allies, including the notorious private military contractor Erik Prince.

We speak to Nayna Gupta, policy director at the American Immigration Council, and Jose Olivares, an award-winning investigative journalist specializing in Latin American politics, about El Salvador's immigrant detention collaboration with the United States. Over 300 people have been disappeared to El Salvador's dangerous maximum-security prisons, including at least one man who was targeted for removal by mistake. U.S. President Trump and Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele now say they have no power to bring Kilmar Abrego Garcia back to the United States, despite a Supreme Court order to facilitate" his return. What we saw yesterday was political theater and a set of administration officials lying to the American public," says Gupta about Trump and Bukele's meeting Monday in the Oval Office, which was open to the press. Donald Trump and his administration can absolutely bring home Mr. Abrego Garcia. That is well within their power and authority." Olivares recounts the origins of U.S.-Salvadoran collaboration and the Salvadoran government's own close ties to the MS-13 criminal organization.

Hundreds of members of Jewish Voice for Peace in New York protested outside of the office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Monday on the third night of the major Jewish holiday Passover. They gathered in support of a growing number of immigrant activists who have been taken prisoner by ICE, including New York residents Mahmoud Khalil and Mohsen Mahdawi, both Palestinian participants of pro-Palestine protests at Columbia University last year. Democracy Now! spoke to some of the Passover Seder attendees. I've always thought of Passover as a celebration of liberation. And liberation can never be just the Jews," said protester Marianne Pita. The only way to fight for liberation is to fight for everybody."

El Salvador's President Rejects Return of Wrongfully Removed Maryland Father, Homegrowns Are Next": Protests Erupt as Trump Proposes Sending U.S. Citizens to Salvadoran Prisons, Trump Orders Military to Take Control of Vast Stretch of Southern Border, Trump Administration Seeks $45 Billion to Expand ICE Detention Centers, ICE Arrests Mohsen Mahdawi, Columbia Protest Leader and Green Card Holder, Jewish Peace Activists Mark Passover with Protest at New York ICE Office, Trump Administration Freezes $2.2 Billion in Grants to Harvard, Citing DEI and Protests, Death Toll from Israel's Assault on Gaza Passes 51,000, Up to 400,000 Displaced as Sudan's Rapid Support Forces Seize Refugee Camp, Killing Hundreds, Pete Marocco Exits State Department After Gutting USAID, Trump Admin Moves to Cancel $9.3 Billion of USAID, Public Media Funds, Jury Selection Opens in Retrial of Sarah Palin's Defamation Suit Against New York Times, On Tax Day, IRS Workers Brace for Mass Layoffs, Zuckerberg Takes Stand in Meta Antitrust Trial

As the Pulitzer Prize-winning podcast Suave returns for its second season, we speak with journalist Maria Hinojosa and David Luis Suave" Gonzalez, the subject of the series. Gonzalez was sentenced to life in prison at age 17, but got an unexpected second chance when he was paroled in 2017 following a Supreme Court ruling that found sentences like his unconstitutional. The first season of the podcast followed Gonzalez's case, his decadeslong friendship with Hinojosa and his eventual release from prison. The second season looks at how his freedom is complicated by the long shadow of prison. I'm on parole for the rest of my life. That's not freedom," Gonzalez tells Democracy Now! If somebody makes a false phone call and says, 'He looked at me wrong, I feel a threat,' I could go back to prison. ... When the United States Supreme Court said that it was unconstitutional to keep a juvenile in prison for life, then it should be unconstitutional to keep that same juvenile on parole for life."

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele is meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday, part of a growing alliance between the two right-wing leaders. In recent months, El Salvador has imprisoned hundreds of people for the Trump administration who were expelled from the United States with little or no due process, ending up in the brutal mega-prison known as CECOT. One of those men is Maryland resident Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whom the Trump administration deported despite a protective order meant to prevent his removal from the country. The Trump administration has so far refused to bring Abrego Garcia back, despite a unanimous Supreme Court ruling ordering the government to facilitate" his return. Bukele, who has described himself as the world's coolest dictator," has ruled for years under a state of emergency in El Salvador, imprisoning tens of thousands of people without trial as part of a supposed war on gangs. Never did I imagine that we would be in a situation where the Trump administration, the United States, is looking to El Salvador, to the Bukele administration, saying, 'Huh, we kind of like what you are doing,'" says Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Maria Hinojosa, who just returned from a reporting trip to El Salvador.

We get an update on the case of Mahmoud Khalil from Diala Shamas, senior staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights and part of Khalil's legal team. An immigration judge in Louisiana ruled Friday that the Trump administration has grounds to deport Khalil for taking part in Gaza student protests, despite being a legal permanent resident of the United States. The government's evidence in the case consists of a two-page memo from Secretary of State Marco Rubio conceding that Khalil has no criminal history and that the U.S. is seeking to deport him based purely on his beliefs, statements, or associations." Despite the setback, Khalil still has a separate case playing out in New Jersey, where lawyers are challenging the legality of his detention. We are moving with urgency. The government is trying to slow down the case in federal court and speed it up in immigration court," says Shamas, who notes that throughout his detention, Khalil has continued to highlight the U.S.-backed Israeli war on Gaza. That is the reason that he and many others are being subject to this retaliatory policy of arresting, detaining and transferring people simply for their protest."

Israel Bombs Last Functioning Hospital in Northern Gaza, 1,600 Israeli Ex-Soldiers and Intelligence Agents Demand End to Assault on Gaza, Return of Hostages, Houthis Say U.S. Attacks on Yemen Killed Seven, Wounded 29, 34 Killed, Over 100 Injured in Sumy, Ukraine, as Russia Bombs Palm Sunday Celebrations, U.S. Demands Control Over Ukrainian Gas Pipeline as Part of Arms-for-Minerals Deal, Trump Administration Ends Protected Status for Cameroonian and Afghan Immigrants, Judge Rules Trump Admin Can Deport Mahmoud Khalil for His Beliefs, State Dept. Has No Evidence Tying Abducted Tufts Student Rumeysa Ozturk to Antisemitic" Activity, Trump Hosts El Salvador's Bukele at White House Amid Uproar over U.S. Transfers to CECOT, Judge Rules Against Religious Groups, Says ICE Can Raid Houses of Worship, Trump Exempts Smartphones and Other Electronics from Steep Tariffs on China, Democrats Dig In on Suspected Insider Trading by Trump Associates Amid Tariffs Roller Coaster, Trump Plans for More Cuts to Federal Climate Science Research, Trump Moves to Get Rid of Head Start, Which Offers Free Child Care to Poor Families, Bernie Sanders and AOC Address L.A. Crowd of 36,000 as Part of Fighting Oligarchy" Tour, Ecuadorian Presidential Challenger Alleges Fraud After Incumbent Noboa Wins Reelection, Gabon Coup Leader Brice Oligui Nguema Wins Presidential Election, Suspect Charged in Arson Attack on Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro's Home, Firing Squad Executes South Carolina Prisoner Mikal Mahdi, Protest in Cambridge Demands Harvard Refuse to Comply with Trump Threats

A feature film about life in the occupied West Bank, The Teacher, opens in New York tonight and in theaters across the U.S. next week. The film, which is inspired by true events, centers a Palestinian schoolteacher who struggles to reconcile his commitment to political resistance with supporting his student. It's a fiction narrative, this film, but it is deeply, deeply rooted in reality," says Farah Nabulsi, director of The Teacher, which is partially based on the 2011 prisoner exchange deal between Hamas and Israel, in which one Israeli soldier was exchanged for over 1,000 Palestinian prisoners. Nabulsi and Saleh Bakri, the acclaimed Palestinian actor who stars in The Teacher, speak to Democracy Now! about the resonance of the film in the midst of Israel's genocide in Gaza. The occupation wants us separated," Bakri says. I want to dismantle these checkpoints ... I dream of Palestinians coming together again."

Microsoft fired two workers who protested the company's ties to Israel's assault on Gaza at its 50th anniversary celebration last Friday. The workers protested after leaked documents revealed that Microsoft supplies the Israeli military with AI and cloud technology, as well as an Air Force unit known as the Ofek, to build kill lists." We wanted everyone to know that Microsoft's cloud and AI are the bombs and bullets of the 21st century," says Vaniya Agrawal, No Azure for Apartheid organizer and a former Microsoft employee who was fired after disrupting an April 4 discussion between current and former Microsoft CEOs, including Bill Gates.

A lawyer who represents a pro-Palestinian student protester in Michigan was detained Sunday at the Detroit Metro Airport on his way back from a family vacation. Dearborn attorney Amir Makled was separated from his wife and children and asked to surrender his cellphone by Border Patrol agents. This wasn't something that was random," says Makled. They had a whole profile about me." He was eventually released after 90 minutes of questioning and refusing to provide sensitive client information to the agents. Makled believes he was targeted due to his involvement in cases that challenge the current administration of President Donald Trump.

In a unanimous ruling, the Supreme Court has ordered the Trump administration to facilitate" the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the United States, after the Maryland resident was denied due process rights and deported to the notorious CECOT prison in El Salvador. But the court remains vague on how exactly this would happen, and the Trump administration has claimed it has no way of ensuring his safe return. Elsewhere, a federal immigration judge in Louisiana is set to rule today on whether the Trump administration has grounds to deport Mahmoud Khalil, a permanent resident of the United States who was involved in a campus protest at Columbia University. Ahead of today's ruling, Secretary of State Marco Rubio filed a short memo that concedes Khalil has no criminal history, and argues he should be deported as part of U.S. efforts to combat antisemitism. We speak to attorney Ramzi Kassem, who is part of Khalil's legal team, about the cases of Abrego Garcia and Khalil. Kassem says the Supreme Court decision on Abrego Garcia's case is a step in the right direction and will hopefully lead to his return home."

China Hikes Up Tariffs Against U.S. to 125% Amid Escalating Trade War, Democrats to Investigate Trump Allies for Insider Trading over Tariffs, SCOTUS Orders Trump Admin to Return Kilmar Abrego Garcia to U.S. from El Salvador's CECOT Prison, Avelo Airlines Faces Protests, Boycotts After Agreeing to Use Planes for Deportations, U.S. Admits It's Seeking to Deport Mahmoud Khalil for His Beliefs Ahead of Key Ruling, Israel Kills More Palestinians in Gaza, Including Children, as It Presses Ahead with Rafah Seizure, Ahmad Manasra, Jailed by Israel When He Was 13, Freed After Decade Behind Bars, Activists Protest Travis Air Base; Greenpeace UK Activists Dye U.S. Embassy Pond Blood Red, Sudan Tells World Court the UAE Is Abetting Genocide as Civil War Nears 2nd Anniversary, Ukraine's Allies Gather to Rally Military Support for Kyiv Amid Stalled Ceasefire, House GOP Passes Voter ID Bill That Critics Say Would Disenfranchise Millions, Guilty of Treason": Trump Orders DOJ Probe into Two Former Officials Who Criticized Him, Democrats Attempt to Push Elon Musk Out of Trump Administration by May 30, House GOP Passes Budget Bill to Slash Federal Spending and Taxes on the Wealthy, Death Toll in Dominican Republic Nightclub Disaster Rises to 221, New Zealand Lawmakers Reject Bill to Roll Back Mori Rights

Columbia University professor Marianne Hirsch's new article in The Forward is titled I grew up under a terrifying authoritarian regime. Mahmoud Khalil's arrest is right out of their playbook." She tells Democracy Now! that seeing footage of the ICE arrests of Khalil and Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk brought back these feelings of terror that I had as a child." Hirsch grew up in Romania under the authoritarian regime of Nicolae Ceauescu and says she sees parallels between the climate of fear she was raised in and the repression of speech and protest on campuses today. Hirsch, who is Jewish, condemns the anticipatory capitulation" of universities, like Columbia, to the Trump administration's threats to pull funding and says the reason for this was never to fight antisemitism, but it was to decimate academia."

As the U.S. and Iran prepare for talks this weekend in Oman to discuss Iran's nuclear weapons program, we speak to journalist Negar Mortazavi about the Trump administration's negotiation strategy of threats and pressure" and his diplomatic doctrine of peace through strength." Mortazavi is skeptical that the talks will result in Iran giving up its nuclear weapons program, as Trump's team is demanding, and comments on the impacts of severe sanctions on Iran, which have devastated the country's fragile economy.

President Trump has announced a 90-day pause on new tariffs for most countries and a steep increase to tariffs on China. The 125% tariff rate on China comes after China retaliated in an escalating trade war between the two largest economies in the world. For most other countries, a 10% tariff remains in place, but higher tariffs were paused just hours after they went into effect, causing global stock markets to shoot back up after a historic plunge. We speak with two economists, Nancy Qian and Joseph Stiglitz, about the chaos" of the week since Trump's initial unveiling of his tariff plan on April 2, which he termed Liberation Day." There is no economic theory behind what he is doing," says Stiglitz. He calls Trump a schoolyard bully" who is upending international markets based on a flawed understanding of the role of trade deficits and the feasibility of reintroducing manufacturing to the U.S. economy. We've just never seen anything like this before," says Qian, who adds that China appears to be digging in for the long, drawn-out trade war that Trump has now ignited.

Trump's Trade U-Turn Lowers Tariffs to 10% for Most Countries, Hikes Them to 125% for China, Israel Kills at Least 35 People in Shuja'iyya Attack as Israeli Forces Prepare to Seize Rafah, Deepening Hunger in Gaza as Israel's Illegal Blockade Stretches Through Sixth Week, U.S. Senate Confirms Christian Zionist Mike Huckabee as Israel Ambassador, U.S. Continues Air Attacks on Yemen, Killing at Least 16 People Since Tuesday, U.S. Treasury Levies New Sanctions Against Iran Ahead of Nuclear Negotiations, DOGE Reverses Death Sentence" Aid Cuts for Several Nations, But Not Yemen or Afghanistan, 8 People Died in South Sudan While Forced to Walk 3 Hours for Care After U.S. Aid Cuts, Federal Judges Temporarily Block Deportations of Some Immigrants Under 1798 Wartime Law, USCIS to Screen Immigrants' Social Media Sites for So-Called Antisemitic Activity, Germany's Christian Democratic Union Forms Governing Coalition with Social Democrats, Children and Babies Suffer Malnutrition in Greek Refugee Camp, Mexican President Rejects Potential U.S. Drone Strikes on Drug Cartels, House Speaker Johnson Delays Vote on Budget Framework Amid Far-Right Revolt, Trump Orders DOJ to Block States from Enforcing Climate Laws, Trump Executive Orders Seek to Boost U.S. Coal Production and Consumption

As federal agencies face crippling cuts and are forced to cut essential services, President Trump has announced he will seek a $1 trillion budget for the Pentagon, a record-setting number that would mark the highest level of U.S. defense spending since World War II. William Hartung, a senior research fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, blasts the promised budget as completely unnecessary" and says that almost the only beneficiaries are going to be the weapons manufacturers." Hartung also discusses the growing political influence of Silicon Valley defense technology startups, including Alex Karp's Palantir and Elon Musk's SpaceX.

An immigration judge has announced she could rule as early as Friday on whether the Trump administration can continue to detain Mahmoud Khalil, the former Columbia University student protest leader incarcerated at an immigrant detention center in Louisiana. Khalil, a legal permanent resident of the United States, was seized by federal agents on March 8 and told his green card had been revoked. His case comes as many legal scholars say the country is facing a constitutional crisis on a number of fronts - from the Trump administration's threats to ignore judicial decisions, to its targeting of law firms, to its use of the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to expel Venezuelan immigrants without due process. Trump is trying to neutralize the opposition," says David Cole, professor at the Georgetown University Law Center and former ACLU national legal director. He wants to violate the law with impunity."

Stock Markets Plummet as President Trump's Sweeping Tariffs Take Effect, Israeli Strikes on Gaza City Residences Kill Dozens, with Scores Trapped Under Rubble, Autopsy Shows 17-Year-Old Palestinian Starved to Death in Israeli Prison, Family Demands U.S. Probe into Israel's Killing of 14-Year-Old Palestinian American, A Death Sentence for Millions": WFP Asks Trump to Reverse Cuts to Emergency Food Aid, Trump Cancels Deportation Relief for 900,000 Immigrants, IRS Acting Administrator Quits over Agreement to Share Immigrants' Tax Data with ICE, New York Mayor Eric Adams Orders Rikers Jail to Reopen ICE Office, Judge Sets Deadline for Evidence in Mahmoud Khalil Deportation Case, Judge To Consider Release of Tufts University Student Rumeysa Ozturk, Video Shows Masked Federal Agents Ambushing Georgetown Professor Badar Khan Suri, Trump Administration Freezes Nearly $2 Billion in Funding to Northwestern, Cornell Universities, Panamanians March in Protest as Hegseth Promises to Take Back" the Panama Canal, Russian Drones Strike Dnipro and Kharkiv as Ukraine Prepares to Negotiate Minerals Deal with U.S., Supreme Court Will Allow Trump Administration to Fire 16,000 Probationary Workers, Elon Musk Mocks Peter Navarro as Fractures Open Within Trump Administration over Tariffs, Federal Judge Orders White House to Restore Access to AP, Citing First Amendment

There has been a systemic erasure of Black history." Professor Christina Greer discusses the Trump administration's crackdown on free speech and efforts to whitewash American history. The erasure of the history of racism and resistance is not only intellectually dishonest, says Greer, but will also cause the U.S. economic and social harm. We can't move forward as a nation collectively ... if we don't understand our collective past," she says.