Democracy Now!

The Intercept: Judge Collaborated with Prosecutors to Put Ex-President Lula and Others Behind Bars, DOJ Agrees to Hand Over Some Mueller Docs to House Dems, Trump Touts Trade Deal with Mexico, Renews Tariff Threats Against China, Kushner-Owned Co. Received $90 Million from Unknown Foreign Sources Since Start of Trump WH, Transportation Sec. Chao Helped Boost Projects Favorable to Husband Sen. McConnell, Migrants Held in Cramped Cells for 2.5 Weeks After Asylum Hearings as Part of "Remain in Mexico" Plan, Judge Offers Temporary Relief to Missouri's Last Abortion Clinic, Model Karlie Kloss Asks Fans to Support Planned Parenthood in Abortion Ban Fight, Canada to Ban Single-Use Plastic by 2021, At Least 95 Dead in Mali as Ethnic Tensions Mount, India Sentences 3 Men Who Raped and Killed 8-Year-Old Muslim Girl to Life in Prison, U.S. Ambassador: Israel Has Right to Annex West Bank, U.S. Submits Extradition Request for Julian Assange, California to Offer Healthcare to Some Undocumented Adults, NRA Gave Money to 18 Board Members, NYC Trans Community and Allies Demand Justice for Layleen Polanco After Rikers Death

Longtime civil rights leader Rev. Dr. William Barber joins us to respond to his conviction Thursday for trespassing during a 2017 protest against gerrymandering and attacks on healthcare at the North Carolina Legislature. Barber had refused to leave the General Assembly as ordered, after he organized a sit-in at the legislative building when Republican leaders refused to meet with him about concerns with voter ID requirements and redistricting plans that would weaken the power of the black vote. "We must start connecting systemic racism, most seen through systemic voter suppression and gerrymandering, poverty, the lack of healthcare, environmental devastation and the war economy," says Barber, the former president of the North Carolina NAACP and a leader of the national Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival. This Wednesday he will join faith leaders and religious groups in Washington, D.C., for a march to the White House to protest the Trump administration's attacks on the nation's most vulnerable communities, and next week he hosts the three-day Poor People's Campaign Moral Action Congress in Washington, D.C., that will draw hundreds of people from across the country for a presidential forum, where both Republican and Democratic candidates will speak.

Facing an escalating showdown with Mexico and an insurrection from his own party, President Trump said Friday the United States had reached a deal with Mexico to avert a 5% tariff on all imported Mexican goods that was due to take effect today and increase to 25% by October. Trump's announcement came after three days of Mexico-U.S. negotiations in Washington. Officials said it was based around Mexico's commitment to deploy National Guard forces throughout the country, in particular to its southern border, in order to stem the flow of northbound migrants headed toward the US. Under the deal, they said Mexico also agreed to expand what is known as the Remain in Mexico policy, which allows the U.S. to send back Central American asylum-seeking migrants to Mexico while their cases make their way through immigration courts. However, on Saturday, The New York Times reported that the plan to send troops to the border had already been agreed to in March. We speak with Lori Wallach, director of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch and author of "The Rise and Fall of Fast Track Trade Authority."

U.S.-Mexico Deal Averts Trade Crisis with Plan to Deploy Mexican Troops to Curb Migration, Dem Lawmakers Call Out Migrant Prison Co. for Hiring John Kelly, Bipartisan Senators Oppose U.S.-Saudi Arms Deal with Flurry of Resolutions, Up to 1 Million Protesters Take to Hong Kong Streets Against Chinese Extradition Bill, 2 Reported Deaths as Haitian Protesters Call for Resignation of President Moïse, WaPo: WH Barred Science-Based Climate Change Testimony, Transgender Prisoner Layleen Polanco Found Dead at Rikers Island, North Carolina Transgender Woman Chanel Scurlock Fatally Shot, Detroit Police Charge 18-Year-Old with Murdering 2 Gay Men, 1 Transgender Woman, Diplomatic Buildings Display LGBT Symbols for Pride, Defying Anti-Equality Trump Policy, Publisher Drops Ex-NYC Prosecutor Linda Fairstein over "Central Park 5" Case, Minneapolis Sentences Ex-Cop Who Killed Unarmed Australian Woman, Ali Stroker Makes History as First Wheelchair User to Win Tony Award

We spend the hour with Ava DuVernay, whose damning new four-part television series "When They See Us" tells the story of five teenagers of color from Harlem—four African-American and one Latino—who were wrongfully accused and convicted of raping and nearly killing a white woman out for a jog in New York City's Central Park. The night that would come to define the boys' lives was April 19, 1989, more than 30 years ago. In the sensational trial that followed, they became known as the "Central Park Five." Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam and Raymond Santana served between six and seven years, and Korey Wise, the only teenager tried as an adult, served more than 13 years. In agonizing detail, "When They See Us" exposes the inner workings of a criminal justice system designed to fail people of color, laying bare the decades of trauma triggered by the boys' wrongful convictions. It also looks unsparingly at those responsible for the miscarriage of justice, including Linda Fairstein, the head of the Sex Crimes Unit at the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, who spearheaded the case, played by Felicity Huffman. Since the series premiered, Fairstein has been forced to resign from several boards, including Safe Horizon, the Joyful Heart Foundation and her alma mater, Vassar College. Glamour magazine, which named Fairstein Woman of the Year in 1993, issued a statement saying, "Unequivocally, Glamour would not bestow this honor on her today." Ava DuVernay says that her series reveals that "the system's not broken; the system was built this way."

Bowing to U.S. Pressure, Mexico to Deploy 6,000 Troops to Guatemala Border, House Judiciary Chair Pushes for Presidential Impeachment Inquiry, House Ways and Means Chair Has No Plans to Acquire Trump's New York Tax Records, Russian President Says U.S. Is Shunning Negotiations on Nuclear Arms Treaty, African Union Suspends Sudan over Massacre of Sit-in Protesters, Study Finds Limiting Climate Change Would Save Thousands from Heat-Related Deaths, Jay Inslee: Democratic National Committee Refusing to Hold Debate on Climate, SEIU Becomes First Major Union to Endorse Green New Deal, Report: Earth's Oceans More Contaminated with Plastic Than Previously Known, Trump Administration Plans to Reclassify High-Level Radioactive Waste as Low-Risk, Biden Retracts Long-Standing Support of Federal Funding Ban on Abortions, Ex-NYC Prosecutor Linda Fairstein Under Fire for Role in "Central Park 5" Case, Disciplinary Hearing Wraps Up for NYPD Officer Who Choked Eric Garner to Death, 50 Years Later, NYPD Apologizes to LGBTQ Community for Stonewall Raids, WA State Supreme Court Sides with Same-Sex Couple in Discrimination Case, Animal Rights Activist Confronts Amazon CEO over Cruelty at Chicken Farms, Dr. John, Legendary New Orleans Songwriter and Performer, Dead at 77

Nearly 100 animal rights activists were freed today, after being arrested by police in riot gear for carrying out a rescue mission and protest at the Reichardt Duck Farm in Petaluma, California, which they accuse of engaging in animal torture. More than 600 activists with Direct Action Everywhere stormed the slaughterhouse Monday, fanning out in teams to chain themselves together at the entrance, freeing dozens of ducks and in some cases locking themselves by the neck to the slaughter line. Several of the activists made it inside the slaughterhouse, where they began trying to rescue ducks that were hanging upside down by their feet. Inside the slaughterhouse, the activists began using U-locks on their own necks, locking themselves to the metal duck slaughtering production line. An employee of the slaughterhouse then turned on the belt, threatening the lives of the activists and nearly asphyxiating Thomas Chiang, who was dragged by the neck and wedged against a metal pole. Chiang was later taken away by ambulance and treated for nerve damage and severe pain. He's since been released from the hospital. We speak with Priya Sawhney and Wayne Hsiung, co-founders and lead organizers at Direct Action Everywhere. Hsiung was arrested during Monday's action and was released late Wednesday. He is facing a total of 17 felony charges in jurisdictions around the country for his animal rescue actions. Sawhney is also facing felony charges.

In the latest attempt by the Trump administration to squeeze the Cuban economy, the Treasury Department announced Tuesday that it is ending the people-to-people program, which has been the most popular way for Americans to visit the country, through organized group trips in spite of the embargo. Private cruises to the island will also be banned. On Wednesday, the cruise companies Carnival Corporation, Royal Caribbean and Norwegian all said they will no longer travel to Cuba, affecting nearly 800,000 bookings. In a statement, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin claimed the ban is in retaliation for Cuba "providing a communist foothold in the region and propping up U.S. adversaries in places like Venezuela and Nicaragua." Cuba supports the government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, while the U.S. has backed opposition leader Juan Guaidó and demands to overthrow the Maduro government. In April, the administration also moved to allow U.S. nationals to sue any company that does business in Cuba using private property seized during the Cuban revolution. Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel responded to the news by saying, "Cuba will not be frightened or distracted with new threats and restrictions. Work, creativity, efforts and resistance is our response. They haven't been able to suffocate us. They won't be able to stop us." We speak with Cuban political science professor Arturo Lopez-Levy, co-author of the book "Raúl Castro and the New Cuba: A Close-Up View of Change."

The death toll in Sudan has risen to more than 100 following a deadly military raid on a nonviolent sit-in in Khartoum Monday morning. According to doctors who have been taking part in the ongoing anti-government uprising, at least 40 bodies were dredged up from the Nile River in the aftermath of the carnage. Meanwhile, the state news agency reported Thursday that the death toll was no more than 46. On Wednesday, the Transitional Military Council said it had launched an investigation into the violence and offered to resume a dialogue on a transition to democracy, just a day after scrapping all agreements with an opposition alliance. But the opposition has rejected the military's calls to negotiate, citing ongoing violence against civilians. Demonstrators from a range of civil society groups are continuing to demand a civilian transitional government following the overthrow of President Omar al-Bashir in April, after a months-long popular uprising, and the military's subsequent government takeover. We speak with Marine Alneel, a Sudanese activist recently back from Khartoum. She was at the sit-in just days before it was raided.

U.S.-Mexico Immigration Talks Continue as Trump's Tariff Deadline Nears, Trump Admin to Cut School, Legal Aid and Recreation for Migrant Children, Mexican Police Arrest Immigration Activists Cristóbal Sánchez and Irineo Mujica, Trump Visits Normandy, France, on 75th Anniversary of D-Day Invasion, Trump Compares Future Irish Border to U.S.-Mexico Border Wall, Irish Protesters Decry Trump's Racism, Misogyny and Climate Denial, Pressed on Climate Change, Trump Says Weather "Changes Both Ways", Yemen's Houthi Rebels Claim They've Seized Territory in Saudi Arabia, CNN: Trump Admin Withheld Intelligence on China-Backed Saudi Missile Program, Sudan Death Toll Tops 100 as Bodies of Protesters Dredged from Nile River, Australian Police Raids Target Reporter and Broadcaster over Leaked Documents, Denmark's Social Democrats Win Most Seats in Election as Far-Right Support Collapses, Millions of Pigs to Be Killed as Swine Fever Sweeps Southeast Asia, YouTube Says It Will Purge White Supremacist Content, Trump Cancels Funding for Fetal Tissue Research That Could Lead to Life-Saving Cures, Biden Campaign Says He Still Supports Anti-Abortion Hyde Amendment, Bernie Sanders Confronts Walmart Execs over "Starvation Wages"

The body of 26-year-old Chynal Lindsey was recovered Saturday from a lake in Northeast Dallas. Police said they are investigating her death as a homicide. Chynal is the third transgender black woman killed in Dallas since October, including the high-profile death of Muhlaysia Booker just two weeks ago. Another Dallas trans woman was stabbed multiple times in April but survived. Trans rights activists say the violence in Dallas is indicative of the larger threat to black transgender women. At least eight black trans women have been murdered in the U.S. this year. According to the Human Rights Campaign, at least 26 transgender murders were recorded last year, although it's likely the actual number is higher; the majority of those were black transgender women. We speak with Ashlee Marie Preston, a media personality and civil rights activist. She made history as the first transgender editor-in-chief of a national publication—Wear Your Voice magazine—as well as the first openly trans person to run for state office in California. She says, "Our law enforcement are looking at black trans women as women who are breaking the law, instead of looking at the laws that are breaking black trans women."

Johana Medina, a 25-year-old transgender asylum seeker from El Salvador, died at an El Paso, Texas, hospital this weekend after spending seven weeks in immigration jail, according to several LGBTQ groups and advocates who knew her. Medina had sought medical treatment for nearly two months for complications related to HIV/AIDS before finally being transferred to the hospital last week. She died four days later. Medina is believed to be the second transgender migrant to die in or after being released from ICE custody since Trump became president. The other is Roxsana Hernández Rodriguez, a 33-year-old Honduran transgender woman who died while in ICE custody in May of last year. An autopsy revealed that she was physically assaulted prior to her death. We speak with Isa Noyola, deputy director at Mijente and prominent transgender and immigrant rights activist based in Pheonix, Arizona.

Mexican officials are meeting with Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo today in Washington, D.C., to discuss President Trump's plan to impose a 5% tariff on all imported Mexican goods. Over time, tariffs could increase to as much as 25%. Trump announced tariffs over what he claims is Mexico's failure to stem the flow of Central American asylum seekers and migrants into the United States. Citing potentially devastating consequences to the U.S. economy, Senate Republicans defied the president Tuesday, announcing their opposition to the tariffs. We speak with Laura Carlsen, director of the Mexico City-based Americas Program of the Center for International Policy.

President Trump met with Prime Minister Theresa May on Tuesday to discuss Brexit and a future trade deal, while protests rocked London. In a wide-ranging press conference, Trump laid out plans for a post-Brexit trade deal with the United Kingdom, saying that the U.S. should have access to all sectors of the British economy, including the National Health Service. Trump later walked back his comments after they sparked outrage. Trump's state visit comes just days before May is scheduled to resign her post on Friday after repeated failed attempts to strike a Brexit deal. Thousands took to the streets of London to protest Trump's visit—a fact that Trump denied on Tuesday, calling the demonstrations "fake news." We speak with Cambridge professor Priya Gopal, who says Trump's claim about the protests is "an outright lie."

GOP Mounts Possible Trump Challenge as Threat of U.S.-Mexico Trade War Looms, House Passes Dream and Promise Act, Which Could Grant Citizenship to 2.5 Million, Dozens of Children Forced to Spend Up to 39 Hours in Hot Vans After Botched ICE Family Reunification, U.K.: Trump Calls for New Trade Deal, Calls Protests "Fake News" as 10,000s Demonstrate Against His Visit, Sudan: Death Toll Rises to 60+ as Struggle Between Military and Protesters Mounts, Chynal Lindsey Is the 3rd Black Trans Woman to Be Killed in Dallas in Past Year, Virginia Governor Calls for Gun Control Reforms After VA Beach Mass Shooting, Police Arrest Deputy Accused of Inaction & Neglect During Parkland Massacre, Hope Hicks to Hand Over 2016 Campaign Documents to Congress, Record Flooding Grips Midwest, Killing 3 and Displacing 10,000s, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams Arrested at Housing Rights Protest, 100 Animal Rights Activists Arrested After Protest Action at NorCal Duck Slaughterhouse, Court Hears Arguments in Historic Climate Lawsuit Pitting Youth Against U.S. Gov., Trump Admin Restricts Travel to Cuba, Ending People-to-People Program

As the 2020 election heats up and calls for President Trump's impeachment continue, we look at the deepening divide within the Democratic Party with Ryan Grim, Washington, D.C., bureau chief for The Intercept. He is the author of the new book "We've Got People: From Jesse Jackson to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the End of Big Money and the Rise of a Movement." In it, he writes, "Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez may seem like she came from nowhere, but the movement that propelled her to office—and to global political stardom—has been building for 30 years."

A chilling national inquiry has determined that the frequent and widespread disappearance and murder of indigenous girls and women in Canada is a genocide that the government itself is responsible for. The findings were announced by the Canadian National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls at a ceremony on Monday with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the families of victims. Many in the audience held red flowers to commemorate the dead. The national inquiry was convened after the body of 15-year-old Tina Fontaine from the Sagkeeng First Nation was found in the Red River in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 2014. The report follows decades of anguish and anger as indigenous communities have called for greater attention to the epidemic of dead and missing indigenous women, girls and two-spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex and asexual people. Some 1,500 family members of victims and survivors gave testimony to the commission, painting a picture of violence, state-sanctioned neglect, and "pervasive racist and sexist stereotypes" that led nearly 1,200 indigenous women and girls to die or go missing between 1980 and 2012. Indigenous activists say this number could be a massive undercount, as many deaths go unreported and unnoticed. We speak with Marion Buller, chief commissioner of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, and Robyn Bourgeois, assistant professor in the Centre for Women's and Gender Studies at Brock University.

CBP Confirms 2 More Migrants' Deaths in Recent Days, Judge Denies Dem Request to Block Funding of Border Wall, Mexico, U.S. Lawmakers Hope to Avert Trump Tariff on Mexican Goods, U.S. Sends Border Patrol Agents to Guatemala, Trump Meets with Theresa May as Protesters Blast His U.K. Visit, Sudan: Death Toll from Anti-Protest Raid Mounts, as Transitional Gov't Sets Timeline for Election, Reports: Car Bomb Kills At Least 14 People in Northern Syria, Swedish Court Rejects Detention Request for Julian Assange, New Images Appear to Contradict Reports of Killings of High-Level North Korean Officials, House Passes Disaster Relief Package After GOP Attempts to Stall Bill, Kushner Refuses to Disavow Birtherism, Defends Trump Tower Mtg., Says Palestine Not Ready to Self-Govern, SCOTUS Rejects DOJ Request to Expedite Decision on DACA, Antitrust Probes Hit Tech Industry, House Prepares for Contempt Votes on AG Barr, Wilbur Ross & Don McGahn over Census & Mueller Report, Trump Admin Lifts Summer Ban on Highly Polluting, Ethanol-Based E15 Fuel, Nevada, Illinois Pass Bills Protecting Reproductive Rights

President Trump is considering pardoning American military members convicted of war crimes. One of the requests for a pardon is reportedly for Navy SEALs Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher, who is facing charges of shooting unarmed civilians and killing a wounded captive teenage fighter by stabbing him with a knife and then staging a re-enlistment ceremony over the dead teen's body. On Thursday, a military judge in San Diego ordered Gallagher free from custody, citing prosecutorial misconduct in his murder trial for war crimes. The court has yet to rule on whether to remove prosecutors or to throw out the case entirely. One of the attorneys for Gallagher also represents the Trump Organization. Republican Congressmember Duncan Hunter, one of Gallagher's most vocal supporters, recently admitted in a podcast to killing hundreds of civilians while serving in the U.S. military during his deployment to Fallujah, Iraq, in 2004. This comes as Trump may also consider a pardon request for Blackwater contractor Nicholas Slatten, who was twice found guilty of first-degree murder in the deadly 2007 Nisoor Square massacre in Baghdad, which killed 14 unarmed Iraqi civilians. We speak with Waitman Wade Beorn, a combat veteran of Iraq and a Holocaust and genocide studies historian. In a May 9, 2019, opinion column in The Washington Post, headlined “"I led a platoon in Iraq. Trump is wrong to pardon war criminals."

Justice Clarence Thomas sparked harsh rebuke last week after claiming that abortion rights can be traced back to the 20th century eugenics movement. He made the comments in a 20-page opinion after the Supreme Court declined last week to take up a provision of an Indiana law that bars abortions based on the sex, race or disability of the fetus. The decision keeps in place a lower court injunction on the measure. But Justice Thomas indicated that he supports the law, writing in his opinion, "Enshrining a constitutional right to an abortion based solely on the race, sex, or disability of an unborn child, as Planned Parenthood advocates, would constitutionalize the views of the 20th-century eugenics movement." To make his case, Justice Thomas cited a book by Adam Cohen titled "Imbeciles: The Supreme Court, American Eugenics, and the Sterilization of Carrie Buck." We speak with Adam Cohen, who has since refuted the justice's claims. In a piece for _The Atlantic_ titled "Clarence Thomas Knows Nothing of My Work," Cohen writes, "Thomas is absolutely right that we need to remember our eugenics past and make sure that we do not make the same mistakes again. He is absolutely wrong that individual women making independent decisions about their pregnancies are the eugenicists of our time."

As Louisiana, Mississippi, Kentucky, Ohio and Georgia attempt to outlaw abortions after six weeks, Missouri legislators approve an eight-week ban and Alabama passes a near total ban on abortions, we speak to journalist Ari Berman about how the widespread attack on abortion rights across the country is tied directly to voter suppression. He writes in a recent piece for Mother Jones, "These states have something else in common: a systematic effort to distort the democratic process through voter suppression and gerrymandering. These tactics have greased the way for near-total bans on abortion and for other extreme right-wing policies."

Newly surfaced documents reveal that a now-dead senior Republican strategist who specialized in gerrymandering was secretly behind the Trump administration's efforts to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census. The New York Times broke the story last week in an article that called Thomas Hofeller the "Michelangelo of gerrymandering." When Hofeller died last August, he left behind a computer hard drive full of his notes and records. Hofeller's estranged daughter found among the documents a 2015 study that said adding the citizenship question to the census "would be advantageous to Republicans and non-Hispanic whites" and "would clearly be a disadvantage to the Democrats." Census officials estimate 6.5 million people will not respond to the census if the citizenship question is added. This undercount could affect everything from the redrawing of congressional maps to the allocation of federal funding. We get an update from Ari Berman, senior writer at Mother Jones, whose new piece is "Architect of GOP Gerrymandering Was Behind Trump's Census Citizenship Question."

Gunman Kills 12 People During Virginia Beach Rampage, DHS Watchdog Warns of "Dangerous Overcrowding" at El Paso Migrant Prison, El Salvadoran Transgender Migrant Dies in ICE Custody After Denial of Medical Care, Judge Temporarily Keeps Missouri's Sole Abortion Clinic Open, Military Forces in Sudan Raid Sit-in, Killing At Least 9 Protesters, Protesters Set Fire Outside U.S. Embassy in Honduras, Police Tear-Gas, Arrest Palestinian Protesters as Israeli Settlers Enter Al-Aqsa Mosque, Trump Blasts Brexit, Insults Meghan Markle, While London Mayor Protests His U.K. Visit, Report: Disappearance and Murder of 1000s of Indigenous Women a "Canadian Genocide", U.S. Visa Applicants Must Now Submit 5 Years of Social Media Information, Over 300 Boeing Planes May Have Faulty Wing Parts, CA Rep. Duncan Hunter Says His Unit Probably Killed "Hundreds of Civilians" in Iraq

Today marks the 10th anniversary of the murder of Dr. George Tiller, a 67-year-old abortion provider who was shot point-blank in the forehead as he attended church services in Wichita, Kansas. He faced constant threats and incidents of violence and vandalism in the decades leading up to his death. The man who assassinated him, anti-choice extremist Scott Roeder, is serving a life sentence. We air a new piece from StoryCorps by Rabbi David Young and cantor Natalie Young, who went to see Dr. Tiller in 2006.

"Ask for Jane." Those were the magic words that provided thousands of women access to safe abortions before the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling in 1973 that guaranteed the constitutional right to abortion. With abortion services outlawed in most of the country, women often had to risk their own lives in order to terminate pregnancy. So, in 1969, a group of women in Chicago decided to take matters into their own hands and set up a hotline, offering counseling and eventually providing abortion services themselves. To reach the underground feminist abortion service, all you had to do was call a phone number and ask for Jane. We speak with two former members of Jane: Laura Kaplan and Alice Fox. Laura Kaplan is the author of "The Story of Jane: The Legendary Underground Feminist Abortion Service."

The United Nations special rapporteur on torture is warning that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is suffering from the effects of "psychological torture" due to his ongoing detention and threats of possible extradition to the United States. The U.N. expert, Nils Melzer, also warned that Assange would likely face a "politicized show trial" if he were to be extradited to the United States. Melzer writes, "In 20 years of work with victims of war, violence and political persecution, I have never seen a group of democratic states ganging up to deliberately isolate, demonize and abuse a single individual for such a long time." Julian Assange is currently serving a 50-week sentence for skipping bail in 2012 at London's Belmarsh Prison, after he was forcibly removed from the Ecuadorean Embassy by British police last month. Last week, the U.S. Justice Department announced it was charging Assange with 17 counts of violating the Espionage Act for his role in publishing U.S. classified military and diplomatic documents exposing U.S. war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan. Assange, who had already been charged on one count of hacking a government computer, now faces up to 170 additional years in prison under the new charges—10 years for each count of violating the Espionage Act. Assange was due to appear by video link before a magistrates' court on Thursday but failed to appear, reportedly due to health problems. We speak with U.N. Special Rapporteur on Torture Nils Melzer.

Trump Threatens Tariffs on Mexican Goods in Bid to Halt Migrants, Trump Administration Plan Would Bar Most Central Americans from Seeking Asylum, Louisiana Governor Signs Anti-Choice Bill as Missouri's Last Abortion Clinic Is Set to Close, GOP Gerrymandering Expert Led Push to Add Citizenship Question to Census, Civilians Flee Russian-Backed Syrian Assault on Last Rebel-Held Province, North Korea Executes Special Envoy to the U.S. After Failed Trump Summit, Colombia Releases Ex-Guerrilla Leader Wanted by the U.S. on Drug Charges, U.S. Drug Agency Targeted Honduran President in Cocaine Trafficking Probe, Hondurans Continue Massive Protests Against Privatization Plans, Hundreds of Thousands of Brazilian Students Protest Education Cuts, Bangladesh Charges 16 in Murder of Student Who Reported Sexual Assault, Trump Attacks Robert Mueller While Admitting Russia Aided His Election, Commodity Prices Surge as Severe Weather Hampers Spring Planting, Lone Republican Stalls $19 Billion Disaster Relief Bill, New Hampshire Abolishes the Death Penalty, House Committee to Convene Hearings on D.C. Statehood, Navy SEAL Accused of War Crimes Released Ahead of Murder Trial, Exonerated Death Row Prisoner Harold Wilson Dies at 61

The Trump administration is under fire for delaying plans to replace Andrew Jackson's portrait on the $20 bill with abolitionist leader Harriet Tubman. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin made the announcement last week, saying Tubman won't appear on the bill until at least 2026. Under a 2016 Obama initiative, Tubman was originally scheduled to replace Andrew Jackson by 2020—the 100th anniversary of women being granted the right to vote. She will be the first woman in over a century and the first African American to appear on the front of a U.S. banknote. Andrew Jackson was a slaveholder who in 1830 signed the Indian Removal Act, which forced 16,000 Native Americans from their lands in what became known as the Trail of Tears. We speak with Kate Clifford Larson, the author of "Bound for the Promised Land: Harriet Tubman, Portrait of an American Hero."

For the first time, a pharmaceutical company is on trial for its role in the opioid crisis in Oklahoma this week. Johnson & Johnson—the corporate giant better known for its baby products—produces a fentanyl patch and previously also manufactured an opioid pill. In opening statements Tuesday, lawyers made a sweeping case against the company, accusing it of driving demand for opioids while the drug ravaged Oklahoma. The state says Johnson & Johnson targeted children and veterans to sell opioids. In court filings, Attorney General Mike Hunter likened Johnson & Johnson to a "kingpin" that has been targeting an unsuspecting public since the 1990s. Purdue Pharma settled with Oklahoma in March for $270 million, and Teva Pharmaceuticals reached an $85 million settlement deal Sunday, just ahead of the landmark trial. This leaves Johnson & Johnson as the only defendant in the first civil trial of its kind. The trial is expected to last two months, and will set the stage for the nearly 1,900 federal and state lawsuits targeting drug makers and distributors pending around the country. We speak with Jan Hoffman, a reporter for The New York Times who is covering the landmark opioid trial in Oklahoma.

Israel will hold new elections after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to form a coalition government in six weeks of negotiations following the April 9 election. This marks the first time in Israeli history a prime minister-designate has failed to form a coalition government. The news comes as the United States is continuing to promote a controversial Middle East peace plan drawn up by President Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, who is in Israel today along with special envoy Jason Greenblatt. But the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports that the political crisis in Israel could kill the U.S. plan, which will be partially unveiled at a conference in Bahrain next month. Palestinian officials have vowed to boycott the conference and dismissed any attempts to tackle peace talks in the region without addressing human rights and the Israeli occupation. We speak with longtime Palestinian diplomat Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization's executive committee. The United States recently denied Ashrawi a visa to enter the country.

Robert Mueller Says His Report Did Not Exonerate President Trump, Mueller's Public Remarks Stoke Calls for Trump's Impeachment, Israeli Knesset Dissolved as PM Netanyahu Fails to Form Ruling Coalition, Without Evidence, John Bolton Blames Iran for Oil Tanker Sabotage, Louisiana Lawmakers Approve Ban on Most Abortions, Disney May Halt Filming in Georgia If State Abortion Ban Takes Effect, Latin American Rape Survivors Who Were Denied Abortions Appeal to U.N., Argentines Hold One-Day Strike Against IMF-Imposed Austerity, Argentine Lawmakers Consider Bill to Decriminalize Abortion, Honduran Protesters Mobilize Against Privatization Plans, U.S. Battered by Extreme Weather, with 500+ Tornadoes in 30 Days, Energy Department Attempts to Rebrand Methane as "Freedom Gas", USS John McCain Moved Out of View Ahead of Trump's Visit to Naval Base, WikiLeaks Says Health of Jailed Founder Julian Assange Is "Deteriorating", Joe Biden Puts Hands on Shoulders of 10-Year-Old Girl, Saying "You're Good-Looking", Yemeni Journalist Denied Visa to Come to U.S. to Receive Pulitzer Prize

An Arizona humanitarian aid volunteer goes to trial today for providing water, food, clean clothes and beds to two undocumented migrants crossing the Sonoran Desert in southern Arizona. If convicted, Scott Warren could spend up to 20 years in prison. Warren, an activist with the Tucson-based No More Deaths, is charged with three felony counts of allegedly "harboring" undocumented immigrants. For years, No More Deaths and other humanitarian aid groups in southern Arizona have left water and food in the harsh Sonoran Desert, where the temperature often reaches three digits during summer, to help refugees and migrants survive the deadly journey across the U.S. border. Warren was arrested on January 17, 2018, just hours after No More Deaths released a report detailing how U.S. Border Patrol agents had intentionally destroyed more than 3,000 gallons of water left out for migrants crossing the border. The group also published a video showing border agents dumping out jugs of water in the desert. Hours after the report was published, authorities raided the Barn, a No More Deaths aid camp in Ajo, where they found two migrants who had sought temporary refuge. We speak with Scott Warren and his fellow No More Deaths volunteer and activist Catherine Gaffney in Tucson.

As states around the country ramp up their attacks on reproductive rights, the Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to rule on an Indiana law that would bar abortions based on the sex, race or disability of the fetus. The decision will keep in place a lower court's injunction on the measure. However, the Supreme Court decided to allow Indiana's so-called fetal burial law to go into effect, which stipulates that abortion clinics must dispose of fetal remains either through burial or cremation. The measure was signed into law by then-Governor Mike Pence in 2016. We speak with Alexa Kolbi-Molinas, senior staff attorney at the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project, about the significance of the Supreme Court decision and the growing threat to Roe v. Wade. "What's happening this year is definitely a national and concerted effort by politicians, who have really been a emboldened by President Trump's anti-abortion agenda, to really ratchet it up a notch and now take direct aim at Roe v. Wade with abortion bans," she said. We also speak with Dr. Erin King, a gynecologist and the executive director of Hope Clinic for Women in Illinois, about the dangers abortion providers face every day.

"This is not a drill. This is not a warning. This is real, and it's a public health crisis." Those were the words of Planned Parenthood President Leana Wen Tuesday, when news broke that Missouri's only abortion clinic might be forced to close by the end of the week, effectively ending access to legal abortion in the state. Planned Parenthood says that Missouri's health department is threatening not to renew its license over a series of unreasonable demands, including interviewing seven of the clinic's doctors. Dr. Colleen McNicholas, an abortion provider at the clinic, told reporters, "This is harassment and attempted intimidation of doctors at the highest levels of government." Missouri is one of six states in the country with just one abortion clinic left. If it fails to renew the license by May 31, it will become the first state without any abortion services since Roe v. Wade recognized the constitutional right to an abortion in 1973. Planned Parenthood has filed a lawsuit to stop the clinic's closure. A hearing is scheduled for this afternoon in St. Louis. This comes less than a week after Missouri's Republican Governor Mike Parson signed a law banning abortions at eight weeks of pregnancy, with no exceptions in cases of rape or incest. The law will trigger a total ban if Roe v. Wade is overturned. We speak with Dr. Erin King, a gynecologist and the executive director of Hope Clinic for Women in Granite City, Illinois, about 10 minutes from downtown St. Louis, Missouri.

SCOTUS Makes 2 Key Decisions on Indiana Abortion Laws, Missouri's Last Abortion Clinic May Shut Down This Week, Netflix Considers Georgia Production Boycott After Abortion Ban, Sen. Kamala Harris Announces Plan for Gov't Oversight of New State Abortion Laws, Rights Groups Challenge Rule Allowing Providers to Refuse Healthcare Based on Religious Belief, PA Policy Allowing Students to Choose Bathroom Remains in Place After SCOTUS Declines Challenge, Sen. McConnell Would Confirm a Trump SCOTUS Nominee in 2020, Angela Merkel Warns Against Rise of Nationalism, At Least 20 Civilians Killed in Syria as U.N. Warns of Humanitarian Crisis, 55 Prisoners Killed After Fighting Breaks Out in Brazilian Prisons, Deforestation of Amazon Up by 20% Over 9 Months, Malaysia to Send Back "Dumped" Plastic Waste to U.S. and Other Countries, House Republicans Block Disaster Relief Bill, Study: Flavored E-Cigarettes May Increase Heart Attack Risk, 940 Measles Cases Confirmed as Outbreak Reaches Over Half of U.S. States

Earlier this month, the billionaire investor Robert Smith stunned many when he offered to pay off the student loans of the 2019 graduating class at the historically black Morehouse College. The average student debt is now $32,000. Nationwide, 44 million people owe nearly $1.5 trillion. Student debt is expected to increase to $2 trillion by 2022. We speak with Ben Jealous, former national president of the NAACP, and De'Jaun Davis-Correia, a 2019 Morehouse graduate who will benefit from Smith's donation.

On the heels of Prime Minister Theresa May's resignation, the Brexit Party led by Nigel Farage came in first place in Britain's European parliamentary elections with 31% of the vote. The ruling Tory Party placed fifth. We speak with journalist Paul Mason about what the election means for the Labour Party and the future of Brexit. We also speak with David Adler, the policy coordinator for the Democracy in Europe Movement, or DiEM25.

The Green Party soared in popularity in many nations in the European parliamentary elections, placing second in Germany and making gains in Finland, France and Ireland. The next president of the European Commission will likely be Bas Eickhout of the Dutch Green Party. We speak with Luisa Neubauer, a youth climate activist and member of the German Green Party, about the party's next steps.

The European Union elections concluded over the weekend, with centrist parties losing dozens of seat while far-right and Green candidates made significant strides. In France, the far-right National Rally party led by Marine Le Pen narrowly beat the centrist alliance led by French President Emmanuel Macron. In Italy, the far-right nationalist League party placed first, winning 34% of the vote. The party is led by Italy's Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini. While right-wing euroskeptic parties slightly increased their power in the EU assembly, about 75% of voters still backed parties that support Europe. We speak with David Adler, the policy coordinator for the Democracy in Europe Movement, or DiEM25.

Missouri Gov. Signs 8-Week Abortion Ban as Federal Judge Blocks Mississippi Abortion Ban, Judge Blocks Redirecting of Federal Funds to Build Parts of Border Wall, European Parliament Elections See Greens and Far-Right Gain Ground But Pro-EU Parties Retain Majority, Trump Says Regime Change in Iran Not the Goal After Sending 1,500 More Troops to Region, Trump Dismisses North Korean Missile Tests, Welcomes Anti-Biden Comments, Saudi Airstrike in Yemen Kills 12 Civilians, Including 7 Children, Head of Citizenship & Immigration Agency Resigns as Trump Admin Purge Continues, Landmark Oklahoma Opioid Trial Against Johnson & Johnson Starts After Settlement with Teva, TSA Allows Epilepsy Drug Containing Cannabis on Flights, Trump Admin Escalates Multi-Pronged Attack on Climate Science, Tornadoes, Extreme Weather Tear Through Midwest as Heat Wave Grips Southeast, 2 Members of MOVE 9 Freed After 40 Years Behind Bars

As the Democrats consider launching impeachment inquiries, we speak with world-renowned political dissident, linguist and author Noam Chomsky about what he sees as the political perils of "Russiagate."

Supporters of the Green New Deal recently staged a nationwide tour to build support for the congressional resolution to transform the U.S. economy through funding renewable energy while ending U.S. carbon dioxide emissions by 2030. Democracy Now! spoke with Noam Chomsky about the Green New Deal and the lessons of the old New Deal in Boston in April.

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has begun a record fifth term in office after narrowing defeating former military chief Benny Gantz. In a discussion with Democracy Now!'s Amy Goodman, Noam Chomsky talks about how President Trump directly interfered with the Israel election by repeatedly helping Netanyahu, from moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem to recognizing Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights in defiance of international law.

Attorneys for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange are vowing to fight his possible extradition to the United States following his arrest in London, when British police forcibly removed Assange from the Ecuadorean Embassy, where he had taken asylum for almost seven years. In April, Democracy Now!'s Amy Goodman spoke to Noam Chomsky about Assange's arrest, WikiLeaks and American power.

As President Trump pulls out of key nuclear agreements with Russia and moves to expand the U.S. nuclear arsenal, Noam Chomsky looks at how the threat of nuclear war remains one of the most pressing issues facing mankind. In a speech at the Old South Church in Boston, Chomsky also discusses the threat of climate change and the undermining of democracy across the globe.

In April, hundreds of people packed into the Old South Church in Boston to hear the world-renowned dissident and linguist Noam Chomsky speak. He looked back at the rise of fascism in the 20th century and the growing ultranationalist movements of today, from Brazil and the United States to Israel and Saudi Arabia.

The Espionage Act charges filed against Julian Assange mark just the latest attempt by the Trump administration to criminalize journalism and whistleblowers. Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning is back in jail for refusing to testify before a grand jury. Two weeks ago, drone whistleblower Daniel Hale was arrested in Tennessee. We air a new video by The Intercept titled "Why You Should Care About Trump's War on Whistleblowers," featuring Jeremy Scahill. We also speak to Scahill and Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg about how the corporate media has failed to stand up for Assange and others.

As the Justice Department charges WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange with 17 counts of violating the Espionage Act, we speak to Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg. In 1971, he was charged with violating the Espionage Act for leaking a top-secret report on U.S. involvement in Vietnam to The New York Times and other publications. At the time, Ellsberg faced over 100 years in prison. He tells Democracy Now!, "There hasn't actually been such a significant attack on the freedom of the press … since my case in 1971."

In an unprecedented move, the Justice Department has indicted WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on 17 charges of violating the Espionage Act for his role in publishing U.S. classified military and diplomatic documents exposing U.S. war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan. The documents were leaked by U.S. Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning. The Espionage Act of 1917 has never been used to prosecute a journalist or media outlet. The new charges come just over a month after British police forcibly removed Assange from the Ecuadorean Embassy in London, where he took asylum in 2012. Initially the Trump administration indicted Assange on a single count of helping Manning hack a government computer, but Assange faces up to 170 additional years in prison under the new charges—10 years for each count of violating the Espionage Act. We speak with Jennifer Robinson, an attorney for Julian Assange. "It is a grave threat to press freedom and should be cause for concern for journalists and publishers everywhere," Robinson says.

Julian Assange Indicted Under Espionage Act in "Terrifying Threat" to 1st Amendment, British Prime Minister Theresa May to Resign June 7, Trump Preparing to Circumvent Congress on Saudi, UAE Weapons Sales, Trump Grants Attorney General Sweeping Powers to Investigate Mueller Probe Origins, Trump Calls Nancy Pelosi "Crazy" After She Calls Out Trump's "Temper Tantrum", Doctored Video Showing "Drunk" Nancy Pelosi Retweeted by Trump Lawyer Rudy Giuliani, Trump Calls Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson "Dumb as a Rock", Banker Accused of Bribing Paul Manafort to Win Trump Administration Post, Trump Pledges $16 Billion to Aid Farmers Harmed by U.S.-China Trade War, Trump Preparing to Name Ken Cuccinelli Immigration Czar, Family of Migrant Teen Who Died in U.S. Border Patrol Custody Demands Answers, Nicaraguan Opposition Holds General Strike to Demand Prisoner Release, New Campaign Calls on 2020 Candidates to "Put People Over the Pentagon", Sen. Bernie Sanders Proposes Tax on Wall Street Speculation, Harvey Weinstein and Accusers Reach $44 Million Deal over Sex Assault Claims, Record Number of Students Walk Out of Classes in Global Strike for the Climate