Democracy Now!

Tens of thousands of Minnesotans braved the bitter cold in Minneapolis on Friday to demand "ICE out." The march was organized by faith and labor leaders and was accompanied by calls for an economic blackout. Seven hundred businesses reportedly closed in solidarity. Democracy Now!'s John Hamilton filed a report from the streets. John Reuss, an English teacher, said his students are afraid. The fear is so tangible," said Reuss. If we do not shut it down right now, your city is next."

Civil rights attorney, minister and activist Nekima Levy Armstrong, who was arrested by federal officials for participating in an anti-ICE demonstration at Cities Church in St. Paul, was released from federal custody on Friday. They have altered the facts, just as they altered my image as a way of trying to criminalize nonviolent, peaceful protests and lawful dissent against their unlawful and unjust actions," says Armstrong, noting images posted by the Trump administration that digitally altered her to make it appear as if she was sobbing during her arrest.

Democracy Now! speaks with a former colleague of Alex Pretti, the 37-year-old ICU nurse shot dead by federal agents in Minneapolis on Saturday. Dr. Aasma Shaukat, who hired Pretti for a research job over a decade ago, says he lived with kindness, compassion and a strong sense of civic duty to help his fellow citizens."

Protests have intensified in Minnesota after federal immigration agents killed Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse who worked in the Minneapolis Veterans Health Care System, on Saturday. Democracy Now!'s John Hamilton reports from the scene of Pretti's killing, where protesters clashed with federal agents. We've seen everything from people that are unconscious, that have fainted, tear-gassed, bruised, bloody noses, can't breathe," said Melissa, a local resident. State Senator Omar Fateh responded to the killing with outrage: He had a camera on his hand. He was tackled, he was pummeled, and he was executed."

Federal Immigration Agents Fatally Shoot 37-Year-Old ICU Nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, Attorney General Bondi Demands Access to Minnesota's Voter Rolls and Welfare Data, FBI Agent Resigns After Unsuccessfully Trying to Probe ICE Agent Who Killed Renee Good, Israel Kills Three Palestinians in Gaza, Violating U.S.-Brokered Ceasefire, U.K. Authorities Arrest 86 Protesters Demanding the Release of Palestine Action Prisoners, Venezuela Releases Dozens of Political Prisoners, Vaccine Panel Chair Says Polio and Measles Shots Should Be Optional, Marxist Scholar Michael Parenti Dies at 92

Today marks the 50th anniversary of Paul Robeson's death on January 23, 1976. The actor, singer, athlete and scholar was once famous around the world, but he was attacked, blacklisted and hounded by the government for his political beliefs. Jackie Robinson, the Brooklyn Dodgers star who had integrated the all-white major baseball leagues, was hailed as a national hero in 1949 for testifying against Robeson before the House Un-American Activities Committee associated with Senator Joseph McCarthy. For more, we speak with sports journalist Howard Bryant, author of the new book Kings and Pawns that looks at how Robeson and Robinson's paths intertwined at the height of the McCarthy era.History writes people out of the story, and it's our job to write them back in," Bryant says. Fifty years after Paul Robeson's death, it's time for a reappraisal of one of the great Americans."

Hundreds of businesses in Minnesota have closed for the day as part of an economic blackout to protest the surge of ICE agents into the state. Organizers of the strike include faith leaders and unions, who are encouraging people to stay home from work, school and shopping.Kieran Knutson, president of the Communications Workers of America Local 7250, says the strike comes after weeks of living under the heavy weight of this racist campaign of terror by ICE agents" in the Twin Cities area. Nothing runs without the working class in this country, and today we're going to show our power."

The Justice Department said Thursday that it had arrested three people in Minnesota who interrupted a church service in St. Paul to protest a pastor's role as a local ICE official. The activists involved in the protest now face charges under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, a law written to protect abortion clinics.One of the arrestees, civil rights attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong, had her appearance digitally altered in a photo posted online by the White House to make it look like she was crying while handcuffed. Her attorney, Jordan Kushner, tells Democracy Now! that Justice Department officials refused to let Levy Armstrong turn herself in, instead demanding an arrest at the hotel where she was staying. This was their trophy," says Kushner, who adds that the government used more manipulative tactics to keep her in jail" even though no one is detained in a case like this."

As President Donald Trump formally inaugurated his so-called Board of Peace at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday, his son-in-law Jared Kushner presented his vision of turning the Gaza Strip into an upscale seaside resort with gleaming skyscrapers and entirely new cities. The proposal is said to require an investment of at least $25 billion, and Kushner's presentation showed a map of the besieged territory divided into different zones. This all comes as Palestinians in Gaza struggle to survive with little food or shelter amid ongoing Israeli restrictions on aid.It's hard to take these people seriously. I mean, they're buffoonish. But the problem is, is that they control the largest military and economy in the world," says Sharif Abdel Kouddous, the Middle East and North Africa editor at Drop Site News. He calls the Board of Peace a parody of a colonial body" and says the plan for Gaza will result in ultimate control and subjugation" of the Palestinian population.

Economic Blackout: Businesses Close for Day in Minnesota to Protest ICE Crackdown, Minnesota Activists Arrested for Anti-ICE Church Protest; White House Posts Doctored Photo, Outrage Grows over ICE Detaining 5-Year-Old Liam Ramos, Seven Democrats Back Spending Bill to Fund DHS & ICE, Israel Kills 4 in Gaza as Kushner Lays Out Plan for Turning Gaza into Seaside Resort, Russia, Ukraine & U.S. Negotiators Hold Trilateral Talks in Abu Dhabi, WSJ: U.S. Seeks Cuban Collaborators to Help Topple Government, Public Health Advocates Decry U.S. Leaving World Health Organization, Trump Orders Review of All Federal Funding Going to Democratic-Led States, Ex-Special Counsel Jack Smith: Not Holding Trump Accountable for Trying to Steal Election Could Be Catastrophic", Larry Ellison's Oracle Part of New Deal to Own U.S. Version of TikTok, Filipino Radio Journalist Sentenced to Up to 18 Years in Prison

Deadly anti-government protests continue to rock Iran in the midst of the country's spiraling economic crisis. Thousands of civilians are believed to have been shot dead by government forces in the past few weeks. Meanwhile, President Trump continues to threaten military intervention in addition to a harsh new set of economic sanctions that the U.S. introduced this week. Although a government-instituted communications blackout has made it difficult to assess exactly how many people have been killed, we sit down with Iranian author Sahar Delijani to discuss the working-class uprising" against Iran's capitalist regime." Delijani was born in Iran's notorious Evin Prison - where her leftist activist parents were detained in the 1980s - just a few years before her uncle was executed during the 1988 massacres of Iranian political prisoners. This is part of a long struggle of Iranian people to oust this regime, against tyranny, against dictatorship, against an authoritarian, theocratic regime, a military state," she says. This has been happening, partly due to sanctions, but also partly to this rampant corruption and mismanagement."

Trump's deportation machine has touched down in Maine. As the state, home to a significant share of the Somali American community, faces a surge of ICE activity, we're joined by Safiya Khalid, the first-ever Somali American city councilmember for Lewiston, Maine's second-largest city. Lewiston's streets are completely empty" as residents of all immigration statuses fear harassment and violence from unchecked federal agents. If a white woman was shot in the face, none of us are safe," warns Khalid, referring to the recent killing of Renee Good by ICE in Minneapolis. She advises people to stay home and do not leave your home."

We speak to Greek economist Yanis Varoufakis about the United States under Donald Trump and its attempts to reshape the post-World War II international consensus. Trump has all his work done for him by placid European centrists who went along with the policy of trashing international law and creating the circumstances for him to create his private company and say, 'Right, I'm taking over the world,'" laments Varoufakis as he draws a connection between Trump's pay-to-play diplomacy and the mercantalist policies of European colonial powers. Varoufakis comments on plans for the reoccupation of Gaza by the U.S.-led Board of Peace," which signed its founding charter this week; Trump's designs on the Danish territory of Greenland; and European leaders' ineffectual, largely symbolic resistance to Trump's assertion of U.S. supremacy on the world stage.

Trump Backs Down on Threats to Take Greenland - at Least for Now, Trump Launches Board of Peace; Critics Warn It Could Undermine U.N., Israel Kills Three Journalists in Gaza Working with Egyptian Humanitarian Group, ICE Claims Right to Forcibly Enter Homes Without Warrant: Leaked Memo, Federal Agents Detain 5-Year-Old Coming Home from Preschool in Minnesota, U.S. Moves to Deport 2 Men Who Witnessed Cuban Man Killed Inside ICE Facility in Texas, Trump Administration Launches New Immigration Crackdown Targeting Somali Communities in Maine, Supreme Court Appears to Oppose Trump Efforts to Fire Lisa Cook from Federal Reserve, House Committee Votes to Hold Bill & Hillary Clinton in Contempt in Epstein Probe, Uvalde Officer Acquitted in Trial over Response to 2022 School Shooting, Chile's Far Fight President-Elect Names Two Pinochet Lawyers to Cabinet

The largest nurses' strike in New York City history has reached its 10th day, as negotiations stall. Nearly 15,000 New York City nurses are fighting for a contract that includes higher pay, a staffing increase to manage patients, improved benefits and workplace protections against violence. Senator Bernie Sanders and Mayor Zohran Mamdani joined the picket line at Mount Sinai West Tuesday with the New York State Nurses Association. This is a fight for our patients," says Michelle Gonzalez, a nurse at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City, who notes one of the nurses' priorities in contract negotiations is to have ICE officers not be allowed into our facilities."

World leaders are gathered in Davos, Switzerland, site of the World Economic Forum - which has turned into an emergency summit over President Trump's threats to take over Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of Denmark. This comes as Oxfam International has released a report finding economic inequality creates fertile ground for increased authoritarianism." Amitabh Behar, executive director of Oxfam International, says the entire multilateral structure seems not just fragile, it's broken."

We speak with activist, civil rights attorney and ordained minister Nekima Levy Armstrong about her role in a protest at a St. Paul church on Sunday, where one of the pastors, David Easterwood, also leads a local ICE field office in the Twin Cities area. I believe that if someone professes to represent the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to preach it, that they should not be allowing ICE agents to drag people out of their homes," Levy Armstrong tells Democracy Now! She spoke from an undisclosed location after Trump officials vowed to investigate and possibly arrest the demonstrators.

Federal Prosecutors Issue Subpoenas to Five Democratic Officials in Minnesota, You'll Find Out": Trump Teases Takeover of Greenland, U.S. Seizes Another Venezuelan Oil Tanker in the Caribbean, Russian Attack on Kyiv Leaves Ukrainian Parliament Without Power, UAE and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu Commit to Joining Trump's Board of Peace" in Gaza, NYC Mayor Mamdani and Vermont Senator Sanders Join Striking Nurses, Trump Admin Acknowledges DOGE Employees Accessed and Shared Social Security Data, Public Health Groups Sue CDC and RFK Jr. over Vaccine Recommendations, Trump Pardons California Woman After Commuting Her Sentence During His First Term, Trump Asks Federal Judge to Block DOJ from Releasing Fmr. Special Counsel Jack Smith's Report, Fed Chairman Powell Set to Attend SCOTUS Oral Arguments on Trump's Attempts to Fire Fed Governor Cook, NYT Editorial Board: Trump Used Office to Make at Least $1.4 Billion, Bruce Springsteen Dedicates Performance of Song Promised Land" to Renee Good

Tensions are escalating between the United States and Europe after President Trump threatened to impose tariffs on eight European allies that oppose his push to take over Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of Denmark. Thousands took part in protests in Greenland and Denmark over the weekend to oppose Trump's annexation threats.Julie Rademacher, chair of Uagut, an organization for Greenlanders in Denmark, tells Democracy Now! that Trump's rhetoric is a threat to everyone. This is not only Greenland being attacked. This is democracy, freedom and the world order as we know it that's being attacked."

One month after the deadline set by Congress for the Justice Department to release all files on the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the Trump administration has made available less than 1% of the files. This comes as President Trump has dramatically expanded immigration operations in Minnesota while attacking Venezuela, threatening to bomb Iran and maintaining that the United States will annex Greenland.Trump's campaign promised that the files would be released, all of the files. Now, that's not happened," says legal expert Michele Goodwin, calling it a travesty."

Federal agents carrying out the Trump administration's sweeping immigration actions in Minnesota have been widely accused of using excessive force, arresting U.S. citizens, denying people access to legal counsel and other violations. Now President Trump has put 1,500 U.S. military troops on standby for possible deployment to Minnesota under the Insurrection Act, which would mark another major escalation in his attack on dissent.The federal government is not above the law," says legal expert Michele Goodwin, who says the administration's violent crackdown in Minnesota marks a reversal" of how federal force was used during the civil rights movement to protect peaceful protest. It's quite horrific."

Democracy Now! producer John Hamilton reports from Minneapolis, where residents say ICE agents are violently targeting legal observers and community members as part of the Trump administration's crackdown on immigrants. Patty O'Keefe, who was arrested while monitoring ICE activity in her vehicle, said agents broke our two front windows and dragged us out," then taunted her in custody. She said one agent told her, You guys got to stop obstructing us. That's why that lesbian bitch is dead," referring to Renee Good, the mother of three shot dead earlier this month by an ICE agent.Indigenous residents have also been detained. Nobody is more American than the American Indian," Oglala Sioux attorney Chase Iron Eyes told Democracy Now!, adding ICE's actions against Native Americans are a legal impossibility."This comes as the Pentagon has placed 1,500 soldiers on standby for a possible deployment to Minnesota, just days after President Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act. The Trump administration has also reportedly opened criminal investigations into Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, all while declining to investigate Good's killing.

Trump Threatens to Impose Tariffs on 8 European Countries Opposing His Push to Take Over Greenland, Pentagon Prepares 1,500 Soldiers to Be Possibly Deployed to Minnesota, Trump Calls for Regime Change in Iran, Israeli Forces Start Demolishing UNRWA Headquarters, Trump Invites Putin, Xi and Netanyahu to Join Board of Peace to Oversee Gaza Ceasefire, U.N. Human Rights Chief Volker Turk Visits Sudan, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni Reelected to a Seventh Term, At Least 19 People Killed in Chile Wildfires, Guatemala Declares State of Emergency After 10 Police Officers Killed, Hundreds Protest in Davos Ahead of Trump's Visit, WaPo: DOJ Looking to Weaken Gun Laws to Appeal to Second Amendment Supporters, Top Catholic Cardinals in the U.S. Issue Statement Denouncing U.S. Foreign Policy, Rev. Al Sharpton Denounces ICE Killing of Renee Good at MLK Day Rally, Coalition of Activist Groups Calls for a Nationwide Walkout to Protest Trump Admin

Today is the federal holiday that honors Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He was born January 15, 1929. He was assassinated April 4, 1968, at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. He was just 39 years old. While Dr. King is primarily remembered as a civil rights leader, he also championed the cause of the poor and organized the Poor People's Campaign to address issues of economic justice. Dr. King was also a fierce critic of U.S. foreign policy and the Vietnam War. We play his Beyond Vietnam" speech, which he delivered at New York City's Riverside Church on April 4, 1967, as well as his last speech, I've Been to the Mountaintop," that he gave on April 3, 1968, the night before he was assassinated.

All That's Left of You is a new feature film that looks at 70 years of Palestinian history through the lens of one family's experience over three generations. Democracy Now! speaks with Palestinian American director and actress Cherien Dabis, who says the film is about looking for meaning in grief and choosing humanity even in the most difficult of circumstances, which Palestinians have done and do every single day."

A federal appeals court on Thursday delivered the Trump administration a victory in its efforts to deport Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, opening the door for his rearrest. Khalil was a graduate student at Columbia University when he was arrested in March and detained for months. He missed the birth of his son, Deen, while in detention. The Trump administration is trying everything in its power to come after me, to put the full weight of the government to actually make an example out of me," Khalil tells Democracy Now! The U.S. government has not brought a shred of evidence that I broke any laws."The appeals court did not weigh in on the constitutional merits, instead saying Khalil should have appealed his removal order in immigration court before going to a federal judge. What people need to understand is the immigration courts are not real courts," says Baher Azmy, a member of Khalil's legal team. They're part of the executive branch."

Following Minneapolis protests in response to the ICE killing of Renee Good, President Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act Thursday, a move that would allow him to send military forces to the city. Trump's comments came after a second person was shot by ICE following a traffic stop. Trump probably sees this as a civil war," says Baher Azmy, legal director for the Center for Constitutional Rights. This, as we all know, is being leveraged as part of an autocratic power grab."

A new investigation by ProPublica finds over 40 cases of immigration agents using potentially fatal chokeholds and other moves that can cut off breathing. These arrests are playing out around the country, and often in full view of cameras and witnesses," says ProPublica reporter Nicole Foy. She also reports that at least 170 U.S. citizens have been arrested by immigration agents.

Trump Threatens to Invoke Insurrection Act to Suppress Protests Against Federal Agents' Abuses, ACLU Lawsuit Seeks to Halt Unprecedented Level of Violence" Committed by Immigration Agents, Records Reveal Minneapolis Mother Renee Good Was Struck Multiple Times by ICE Agent's Bullets, Medical Examiner: Cuban Immigrant's Death in Texas ICE Jail Was from Asphyxia Due to Neck and Chest Compression", Pentagon Orders Carrier Strike Group to Middle East as Trump Threatens to Attack Iran, U.S. Seizes Another Oil Tanker as Venezuela's Interim President Proposes Opening Oil Sector, Cuba Repatriates Remains of 32 Officers Killed in U.S. Attack on Venezuela, Maria Corina Machado Gives Nobel Peace Prize to Donald Trump, NATO Members Deploy Soldiers to Greenland Amid Trump's Threat to Seize Territory, Israeli Forces Kill 10 Palestinians in Latest Violations of U.S.-Brokered Ceasefire Deal, Appellate Court Overturns Ruling That Freed Palestinian Activist Mahmoud Khalil, Trump Says 2026 Midterm Elections Should Be Canceled, CBS News Exclusive" That ICE Officer Suffered Internal Bleeding" Draws Huge Internal Concern"

With Iran gripped by nationwide protests that activists say have left at least 2,600 people dead, we recently spoke with renowned Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi, whose latest film, It Was Just an Accident, was shot entirely in secret inside Iran and won the Palme d'Or at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival. The film has since been shortlisted for an Oscar in the international feature category. Panahi dedicated a recent New York Film Critics Circle Award to Iranian protesters.It Was Just an Accident centers on a group of former prisoners who kidnap a man they believe was their interrogator and grapple with whether to exact revenge, and Panahi says the film drew directly from his own experience with state violence and repression. Panahi has been repeatedly arrested in Iran, served prison sentences, and was recently sentenced in absentia to an additional year in prison and a two-year travel ban.In an extended interview, Pahani discussed the protests in Iran, fighting against censorship, and the risk of prolonged cycles of violence. I have always said this regime will fall. It is impossible for it to not fall, because it's a failed state in every sense," he said. What I care about is the future of my country. I want the country to stand. I want there to be peace, and I want our children and the children of our children to not be facing bullets." He was interpreted by Sheida Dayani.

The FBI raided the home of Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson this week and seized her electronic devices, part of a leak probe into a government contractor accused of mishandling classified government materials. Natanson has reported extensively on the Trump administration's changes to the federal bureaucracy, including mass layoffs of government workers. This comes amid a broader pattern of attacks on the media, including lawsuits, funding cuts, and increasing media and technology consolidation.It's hard not to see [the FBI raid] as an effort to intimidate not just journalists, but the sources that would communicate with them," says Jameel Jaffer, director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University. It's a terrible time for press freedom. ... We need the press to inform the public about the government's actions and decisions and to help us hold government officials to account."

U.S. Pulls Back from Some Middle East Bases Amid Trump's Threats to Attack Iran, State Department to Halt Processing Visas for Immigrants from 75 Countries, ICE Shoots Man in Minneapolis After Gov. Walz Decries Federal Campaign of Organized Brutality", ICE Jails Oglala Sioux Members at Fort Snelling, Site of 19th-Century Concentration Camp, Protester in Santa Ana Is Left Permanently Blind by Less Lethal" Round Fired by Federal Agent, ProPublica: ICE Agents Used Potentially Fatal Chokeholds in 40+ Cases, Maine Officials Warn ICE Is Preparing Surge into Lewiston and Portland, Danish Foreign Minister: Fundamental Disagreement" with Trump over Greenland, Trump's Middle East Envoy Witkoff Says Gaza Truce Has Entered Its Second Phase, Senate Republicans Kill War Powers Resolution to Limit Trump on Venezuela, FBI Agents Raid Home of Washington Post Reporter Hannah Natanson, Democratic Lawmakers Say DOJ Is Investigating Them over Video to U.S. Service Members, Trump Flips Middle Finger to Autoworker Who Called Him a Pedophile Protector"

When Becky Pepper-Jackson started middle school, she wanted to join her school's track and field team. Like many girls her age, she was excited to make new friends and cultivate a passion for a sport. But unlike the other girls on her school's track and field team, Pepper-Jackson is trans. And because she lives in West Virginia, a state which has banned transgender girls from participating in public school sports, Pepper-Jackson was excluded from what for her classmates is a normal childhood experience. Pepper-Jackson sued, and her case is now before the conservative-majority Supreme Court - which, after oral arguments Tuesday, appears likely to uphold similar laws throughout the country. The states have attempted to justify these things in terms of some sort of alleged sex-based athletic advantage," says Karen L. Loewy of the LGBTQ+ legal advocacy organization Lambda Legal. It's really about whether the court is going to uphold trans people's equal opportunity in all aspects of public life."

A new report finds the number of people in ICE detention has nearly doubled in Trump's first year back in office, driven by indiscriminate arrest policies that have locked up more and more people without criminal records, an unprecedented situation for immigration detention." We break down the numbers with Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, which published the report. Reichlin-Melnick explains that ICE's annual budget has approximately quintupled, even as 2025 marked the agency's deadliest year so far. Four more people have already died in detention in just the first two weeks of 2026. Crucially, all of this has been slower than they wanted," he adds. Their hope was to have over 100,000 people in detention by today; they've hit 70,000."

Reporter Ken Klippenstein's latest investigation into the inner workings of the Trump regime finds that immigration enforcement agencies ICE and Border Patrol have relaxed recruitment and deployment guidelines in an effort to fill the administration's sweeping deportation goals. There's splits within the agency about the shooting [of Renee Good] and the general mission," says Klippenstein, whose reporting is based on leaked documents and interviews with officials from the Department of Homeland Security. Because they're worried about sending more experienced agents there who might not agree with the mission," he explains, DHS is heavily recruiting volunteers with little vetting or training to carry out its deportation mandate. They have more money than they know what to do with, and they need to fill those roles, and they're doing everything they can to create them so that the actual personnel head count can match the resources that they now have."

They didn't ask very many questions." Independent journalist and U.S. military veteran Laura Jedeed recounts how she was hired as a deportation officer by Immigration and Customs Enforcement after a six-minute interview at a job fair in Texas, despite never signing any paperwork, not having completed a background check, likely failing a drug test, and publicly sharing her opposition to the Trump administration and its anti-immigrant crackdown. It seems like the answer to the question, 'Who are they hiring?' is: They don't know."

Trump's immigration enforcement surge continues to rock Minnesota, just a week after the ICE shooting of Renee Good, a mother of three and U.S. citizen in Minneapolis. The Minnesota Star Tribune reports that the number of federal agents now in Minneapolis and Saint Paul outstrips the 10 largest Twin Cities metro police departments combined. We don't want ICE in our neighborhoods. They are violent, they are creating chaos and terrorizing our immigrant neighbors, and they are not keeping anyone safe," says vice president of the Saint Paul City Council, Hwa Jeong Kim, who comments on the city's new lawsuit against the Trump administration, the loss of temporary protected status for thousands of Somali immigrants in the United States, plans for a general strike in Minneapolis and more.

Over 2,500 People Killed in Anti-Government Protests in Iran, DOJ Releases Memo Stating That Trump Had Constitutional Power to Attack Venezuela, Interim Venezuelan Government Releases at Least Four U.S. Citizens Imprisoned in the Country, Cuba's President Defies the U.S. as Trump Pressures Cuban Government to Make a Deal, Vice President Vance and Secretary of State Rubio Expected to Meet with the Leaders of Denmark and Greenland, Six Federal Prosecutors in Minnesota Resign over DOJ's Handling of Renee Good's Shooting, Trump Admin to Suspend Federal Funding for Sanctuary Cities and States Next Month, Trump Admin Ending Temporary Protected Status for Immigrants from Somalia, SCOTUS Poised to Uphold State Laws Banning Transgender Youths from Participating in School Sports, Far-Right Zionist Group Betar US to End Its Operations in New York After Probe by New York Attorney General Letitia James, Louisiana Seeks to Extradite California Doctor for Providing Abortion Pills, Claudette Colvin, Pioneer in the Civil Rights Movement, Dies at 86

As President Trump threatens Iran, Venezuela, Mexico, Greenland and more, renowned historian Alfred McCoy says the United States is an empire in decline," following a predictable pattern of militarism abroad and political instability at home as it loses power and influence on the world stage. American politics become increasingly contorted and irrational," says McCoy. I think the thing to do is to realize that we are an empire in decline, ... and it will continue for another decade or two, until American power finally slips away."McCoy just published his latest book, Cold War on Five Continents: A Global History of Empire and Espionage, on the impact of U.S.-Soviet imperial proxy wars in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Iran has said it's ready for war" or dialogue after President Trump said the U.S. was considering very strong options" to intervene if Iran's security forces kill anti-government protesters in an ongoing crackdown. Vali Nasr, professor at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, says the U.S. can wage full-scale war on Iran - which President Trump does not seem to be eager to do - or it can hope to squeeze Iran economically in order to create political unrest in Iran."This comes as at least 648 people have been killed since protests broke out in late December, according to the Norway-based group Iran Human Rights, and over 10,000 people have been arrested. Iranian officials say the number of dead could be as high as 2,000.

Activists in Los Angeles are demanding justice for Keith Porter Jr., an African American 43-year-old father of two, who was fatally shot by an off-duty ICE agent on New Year's Eve. His family is demanding transparency in the investigation into his killing. When he walked in, he brought joy," says Porter's cousin Jsane Tyler. He always had a laugh, a joke, a smile." Community organizers have called for the arrest of the ICE officer who killed Porter, but local government officials have reportedly told activists they have no intention of investigating Porter's killer. The community is going to have to mobilize," says Melina Abdullah, co-founder of Black Lives Matter Los Angeles.

Minnesota & Illinois Sue over Federal Invasion" by ICE Agents, ICE Agents in Minneapolis Fire Tear Gas, Pepper Spray at Protests over Immigration Raids, Four Top DOJ Officials Resign over Decision Not to Probe ICE Killing of Renee Good, As Trump Weighs Iran Strikes, Tehran Says It Is Prepared for War But Ready to Negotiate, Eight Palestinians Killed in Intense Winter Storm, Headstone Is Finally Placed for Palestinian Poet Refaat Alareer, Killed in 2023 Israeli Strike, Ex-Treasury Secretaries & Fed Chairs Criticize Criminal Probe into Jerome Powell, Sen. Mark Kelly Sues Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over Unconstitutional Crusade" to Censure Him, Press Freedom Groups Criticize House Subpoena of Journalist Seth Harp, Military Faces War Crime Accusation for Disguising Military Plane Used in Boat Strike, Russia Launches Another Major Overnight Drone & Missile Attack on Ukraine, RSF Drone Strike Kills 27 at Sudanese Army Base, EPA to Stop Considering Health Impacts When Regulating Air Pollution, Judge Blocks Trump Effort to Freeze $10 Billion in Child Care Subsidies for 5 States, Nearly 15,000 Nurses Launch Strike in NYC; Mayor Mamdani Backs Nurses, Synagogue in Jackson, Miss., Once Bombed by KKK, Is Damaged in Arson Attack

We look at All the Walls Came Down, a new short documentary directed by filmmaker Ondi Timoner that looks back at the devastating 2025 fires in Los Angeles, which destroyed Timoner's home and left the historically Black community of Altadena in ruins. The film, which has been shortlisted for an Academy Award, follows community organizer Heavenly Hughes as residents confront the aftermath of the fires and organize to rebuild their town.We feel like we're being forced out because of this fire and not really getting the support that we need from our elected officials to be sure to preserve and protect our Black and Brown community," says Hughes.Timoner says Southern California Edison, which has taken responsibility for the Eaton Fire, has refused to tap its emergency funds. The utility company needs to bridge families over so that they're not pushed off their generational land," Timoner says. It's an urgent situation in our town."(Watch Part 2 of this interview.)

We speak with civil rights attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong in Minneapolis as protests continue in the city following the killing of activist Renee Good last week. The ICE agent who fatally shot Good in her car has been identified as Jonathan Ross, an Iraq War veteran described by family and friends as a hardcore conservative Christian and MAGA supporter. This comes as Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem continues to claim Good was engaged in domestic terrorism."Folks at the highest levels of government are perpetuating falsehoods ... and working overtime to justify the brutal murder of Renee Good," says Levy Armstrong, who urges local authorities to arrest Ross.

Hundreds of people have reportedly been killed in Iran as authorities crack down on protests against inflation and the government's handling of the economic crisis, with thousands more arrested amid a nationwide communications blackout. The protests started in late December and quickly spread across the country, marking the strongest internal challenge to the Iranian government in years. Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to attack Iran in support of the protesters.Many civil and political activists in Iran have warned against any kind of foreign intervention, because it actually increases repression inside of the country," says Narges Bajoghli, associate professor of Middle East studies at Johns Hopkins University.We also speak with Iranian dissident Hamidreza Mohammadi, brother of the imprisoned Nobel laureate Narges Mohammadi. Speaking from Oslo, he says he has been unable to reach his family inside Iran since the start of the protests. In the lack of internet and telephone communication, the regime has been able to kill a lot of people," Mohammadi says. People in Iran simply want [a] different system, and they don't want to be enslaved by this regime for its ideological purposes."

Over 500 Protesters Killed in Demonstrations in Iran, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu Expresses Support for Iranian Protesters as Israel Continues to Strike Gaza, Anti-ICE Protests Spread Nationwide Following the Fatal Shooting of Renee Good, ICE Agent's Cellphone Video Shows the Minutes Before Renee Good Was Killed, NYT: Venezuela's Interim President Requests U.S. Help to Seize Rogue Oil Tanker, Nobel Institute Rejects Offer by Venezuelan Opposition Figure Machado to Share Peace Prize with Trump, Trump Threatens Cuba to Make a Deal Before It's Too Late", Denmark's Prime Minister Says Country Faces a Fateful Moment" as Trump Threatens to Take Over Greenland, DOJ Launches Criminal Probe into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, Smithsonian's Portrait Gallery Removes Text on Trump's Two Impeachments

Israeli American Liat Beinin Atzili was taken captive during the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack. Over the next two months, her family members, including film director Brandon Kramer, tirelessly advocated for her release, an endeavor now documented in Kramer's new film, Holding Liat. We speak to Atzili and Kramer about their family's ordeal and Atzili's captivity in Gaza, where she was held in isolation alongside another Israeli woman by members of Hamas until November 2023. They kept telling us that they had no idea what was going on with other hostages, and that it was their job to keep us safe and to keep us healthy until we were released in a hostage deal. And that's what they did," she says. Since her release, Atzili has become a fierce advocate for peace and reconciliation. There aren't any conflicts that are unsolvable. It's just a matter of people wanting to speak to each other and wanting to listen and to understand each other's stories," she says. If we don't do that, we're just allowing violence to take over."Holding Liat premieres Friday, January 9, at Film Forum in New York, where Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman will moderate a Q&A with Liat Atzili and director Brandon Kramer.

Two years ago this month, the world was gripped by a series of shocking recordings of a 6-year-old girl in Gaza pleading for help as she sat trapped in a car riddled with bullets alongside the bodies of her cousins, aunt and uncle, who had just been killed by Israeli forces as the family attempted to flee the Israeli ground invasion of Gaza City. Emergency responders with the Palestine Red Crescent Society attempted to secure safe passage to rescue the child, an elementary school student named Hind Rajab, but Israeli forces also targeted and destroyed an ambulance as it arrived on the scene, killing medical workers Yusuf al-Zeino and Ahmed al-Madhoun, before firing again at the family's car, killing Rajab.When you hear her voice, you can't unhear it," says the award-winning Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania, whose new Oscar-shortlisted film, The Voice of Hind Rajab, incorporates recordings of Rajab's emergency calls to depict responders' race-against-the-clock attempt to save her - and the ultimate failure of the international community to prevent her violent death. Ben Hania says the film, a hybrid of documentary and drama, is an effort to honor [Rajab's] voice, but also to tell this incredible story of those heroes trying to save lives in impossible conditions."

Minnesota state investigators say the FBI is blocking them from investigating the ICE shooting of Renee Good, a mother of three and award-winning poet who was killed in her car on January 7. The federal government's claims of immunity for the ICE officer - identified as Iraq War veteran Jonathan Ross - go against precedent, as does its refusal to cooperate with state authorities, says Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, who is demanding a local and state-led investigation into Good's homicide and an end to the Trump administration's smear tactics" against Good. This is Third Reich stuff," adds Ellison, decrying the escalation in aggressive tactics employed by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis and throughout the country. This is an unprecedented attack on American institutions."

Portland Mayor Calls on ICE to Halt Operations in City After Border Agents Shot Married Couple, The Killing of Renee Good: Minnesota Officials Fear Cover-Up After FBI Halts Cooperation with State Investigators, Rep. Robin Kelly to Introduce Articles to Impeach Kristi Noem, Immigration Agents Denounced for Raid Outside Minneapolis High School, Bipartisan Bill Advances in Senate to Block Trump from Taking Military Action in Venezuela, Would Be Great Honor": Trump on Offer by Machado to Share Nobel Prize with Him, U.S. Considers Sending $100,000 to Each Greenlander as Part of Trump Push to Take Over Island, Protests Continue in Iran; Trump Renews Threat to Attack Iran If Protesters Are Crushed, There's Neither Peace Nor Truce": Israel Kills 14 Palestinians in Gaza, Russia Deploys Hypersonic Missile in Massive Attack on Ukraine, 17 House Republicans Join Democrats to Restore Obamacare Subsidies, Reps. Khanna & Massie Call for Special Master to Oversee DOJ Release of Epstein Documents, Mamdani & Hochul Announce Plan to Provide Free Child Care for 2-Year-Olds in NYC