Democracy Now!

Trump Remains Evasive on Funding Deal as Shutdown Deadline Approaches, Venezuelans Take to the Streets as Guaidó Sets Deadline for Aid to Enter Country, Venezuela's Guaidó Says He's in Talks to Restore Ties with Israel, Venezuelan President Maduro Says Trump Admin Run by KKK, Philippines: Journalist and Rappler Founder Maria Ressa Arrested, Spain: Catalan Leaders Stand Trial for 2017 Independence Bid, Turkey Issues 1,100 Arrest Warrants in Opposition Crackdown, Acting Defense Secretary Makes Surprise Trip to Iraq, Senate Passes Bill Protecting 1 Million Acres of Public Lands, NYC Jury Finds El Chapo Guilty on All Charges, Report Uncovers 20 Years of Sexual Abuse in Southern Baptist Church, Families Sue Gov't over Family Separation Policy, Measles Outbreak Attributed to Refusal to Vaccinate, CA Police Officers Fatally Shoot Rapper Who Was Sleeping in His Car, Nehanda Abiodun, Black Revolutionary and "Godmother of Cuban Hip-Hop," Dies at 86

A new report finds at least a third of the Himalayan ice cap will melt by the end of the century due to climate change, even if the world's most ambitious environmental reforms are implemented. The report, released by the Hindu Kush Himalaya Assessment earlier this month, is the culmination of half a decade's work by over 200 scientists, with an additional 125 experts peer reviewing their work. It warns rising temperatures in the Himalayas could lead to mass population displacement, as well as catastrophic food and water insecurity. The glaciers are a vital water source for the 250 million people who live in the Hindu Kush Himalaya range, which spans from Afghanistan to Burma. More than 1.5 billion people depend on the rivers that flow from the Himalayan peaks. We speak with Dahr Jamail, independent journalist and Truthout staff reporter. He is the author of the new book "The End of Ice: Bearing Witness and Finding Meaning in the Path of Climate Disruption."

In Dayton, Ohio, faculty members at Wright State University have just concluded one of the longest public university strikes in U.S. history. On Sunday, the university's administration reached a tentative contract agreement with the faculty union's executive committee, which union members will vote to ratify in coming days. The strike began late last month, when the university imposed a contract on faculty members that worsened working conditions and decreased benefits. When the administration refused to negotiate, 85 percent of Wright State University's union members voted to authorize a strike. We speak with Rudy Fichtenbaum, president of the American Association of University Professors. He is the chief negotiator for the association's chapter at Wright State University, where he is professor emeritus of economics.

Public school teachers in Denver, Colorado, are striking for the second day, after negotiations between the teachers' union and the school district failed to reach a contract over the weekend. The Denver Classroom Teachers Association is demanding an increase in teachers' base salaries rather than putting money in incentives and bonuses. The Denver teachers walked out Monday following 15 months of negotiations over a controversial bonus-based pay system that educators say leaves them unable to predict their salaries and guarantee financial security. The starting salary for a Denver teacher for the 2019-2020 school year is $43,255, according to The Denver Post. This is the district's first teacher strike in 25 years. We speak with Henry Román, a Denver elementary school teacher and president of the Denver Classroom Teachers Association.

Negotiators Reach Tentative Border Funding Deal as Shutdown Looms, Trump and Beto O'Rourke Hold Rival Rallies in El Paso, Rep. Ilhan Omar Apologizes for Critical AIPAC Tweet, Report: 40% of Insects May Go Extinct in Near Future, Yemen: Grain Supplies at Risk of Rotting as Millions Face Famine Risk, Syria: Airstrikes in ISIS Stronghold Kill Scores of Civilians, Mexico: Veteran Radio Reporter Jesús Ramos Rodríguez Murdered, Mexico: LGBT Activist Óscar Cazorla Found Dead, Cameroon: Hospital Arson Kills At Least 4 Amid Mounting Violence, Honduran and Nepali TPS Holders Sue Trump Administration, WSJ: Nat'l Enquirer Asked DOJ If It Should Register as Foreign Agent, Faculty at Wright State University End 20-Day Strike, Hartford Courant Journalists to Unionize

The U.S. and Russia have proposed opposing draft resolutions at the U.N. Security Council as the leadership crisis in Venezuela deepens. The U.S. is calling for elections in Venezuela and for international aid deliveries to be allowed to enter the country. The Russians called out international intervention in the affairs of Venezuela and the threat of foreign military action. The Venezuelan government of Nicolás Maduro is accusing the United States of attempting to stage a coup. We speak to The Intercept’s Glenn Greenwald about the actions of Washington and of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.

On Friday, an operation by Brazilian military police in Rio de Janeiro left at least 13 people dead after a shootout in the neighborhood of Santa Teresa. Police say they were there to investigate suspected drug traffickers but encountered gunfire when they entered the area. Last month, Rio's new governor, Wilson Witzel, said that city security forces were authorized to shoot to kill suspects. He also said Rio should have its own Guantánamo Bay to house criminals, whom he labeled "terrorists." Brazil's new president, Jair Bolsonaro, has vowed to intensify the war on drugs. While running for president, Bolsonaro said a "good criminal is a dead criminal." In other news from Brazil, Brazil's first elected openly gay federal lawmaker, Jean Wyllys, recently left his post and fled Brazil, amid growing homophobic violence coinciding with the rise of Bolsonaro. He was replaced in Brazil's Congress by David Miranda, a Rio city councilmember and husband of our guest, Glenn Greenwald.

Democratic Congressmember Ilhan Omar of Minnesota is facing criticism today after commenting on a tweet by Glenn Greenwald. On Sunday, Greenwald tweeted, "GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy threatens punishment for @IlhanMN and @RashidaTlaib over their criticisms of Israel. It's stunning how much time US political leaders spend defending a foreign nation even if it means attacking free speech rights of Americans." Rep. Omar retweeted his post and added the line: "It's all about the Benjamins baby." She later named AIPAC as the organization paying American politicians to be pro-Israel.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is publicly accusing the owner of the National Enquirer of "extortion and blackmail," weeks after the paper revealed details about his extramarital affair. Bezos had recently hired a private investigator to determine how the tabloid newspaper obtained private text messages between him and his lover, and whether the paper's actions were politically motivated. The National Enquirer's parent company, American Media, Inc., responded to Bezos's investigation by threatening to publish revealing photos of Bezos if he did not agree to publicly state that the Enquirer's coverage was not politically motivated or influenced by political forces. We speak with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Glenn Greenwald about the dispute and Amazon's role in building the surveillance state.

Shutdown Talks Stall as Friday Deadline Looms, Virginia: Gov. Northam Refuses to Step Down Amid Racism Crisis, Second Woman Accuses Virginia Lt. Gov. Fairfax of Rape, Venezuela: U.S. and Russia Dig In at U.N. with Rival Resolutions, Venezuela: Standoff over Aid Pits Military Against Guaidó Supporters, Rio: At Least 13 Dead in Shootout, Haiti: At Least 2 Killed in Anti-Government Protests, Gaza: Israeli Forces Kill 2 Teenage Protesters, Acting Pentagon Chief: No Orders to Withdraw U.S. Troops from Afghanistan, AMI, Saudi Official Respond After Bezos Accuses Nat'l Enquirer of Blackmail, Denver Public School Teachers Go on Strike, Keystone Likely Responsible for MO Oil Spill, NYC: Protesters Blast Guggenheim's Ties to Sackler Family, WaPo: Amazon May Reconsider NYC HQ2 Deal, Sen. Amy Klobuchar Enters 2020 Presidential Race, Sen. Elizabeth Warren Formally Launches 2020 Presidential Run, Grammys Celebrates Firsts, Highlighting Women and Rap, GOP Rep. Walter Jones, Who Shifted Position on Iraq War, Dies at 76

Trump administration officials are acknowledging that there may be thousands more missing immigrant children who were separated from their parents than originally reported. This was the focus of a hearing on Thursday of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. We speak to Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project. He is the lead lawyer on the ACLU’s national challenge to the Trump administration’s family separation practice. He testified at the hearing yesterday.

After months of anticipation, Democratic New York Congressmember Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey introduced a resolution for the Green New Deal Thursday, presenting a sweeping plan to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in 10 years, make major investments in public transit and federal jobs, fully transition the U.S. electricity off fossil fuels and codify indigenous peoples' rights to prior consent and approval for decisions that affect them. Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi seemed to mock the proposal on Wednesday, referring to it as a "green dream, or whatever they call it." We speak to journalist Kate Aronoff, a fellow at the Type Media Center and a contributing writer to The Intercept and Jacobin.

The Supreme Court has temporarily blocked a restrictive Louisiana anti-choice law from going into effect Thursday, in a major victory for reproductive rights advocates. The case was seen as a litmus test for determining whether millions of women across the nation will continue to have access to abortions. The divided court ruled 5 to 4 in favor of an emergency appeal by a Louisiana-based abortion provider, Hope Medical Group for Women, to temporarily block a Republican-backed law that could have left the state with just a single doctor legally allowed to perform abortions. The law requires doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of their clinics. Pro-choice groups call such statutes TRAP laws, or "targeted regulation of abortion providers." We speak to Dr. Leana Wen, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the Planned Parenthood Action Fund.

Supreme Court Temporarily Blocks Louisiana Abortion Law, Green New Deal: Rep. Ocasio-Cortez & Sen. Markey Introduce Landmark Resolution, U.S. Spy Agencies: Saudi Crown Prince Said He Would Go After Khashoggi "With a Bullet", Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos Accuses National Enquirer of "Extortion and Blackmail", Report: U.S.-Based Plane Caught Bringing Arms into Venezuela, U.S. Special Envoy Elliott Abrams Rules Out Negotiations with Maduro, Senate Judiciary Committee Narrowly Backs William Barr to Become Attorney General, Acting AG Matthew Whitaker to Testify on Capitol Hill, Arizona Prisoner Dies Weeks After Warning "I Am Being Killed" Due to Medical Neglect, Protesters Rally Outside Brooklyn Jail Where Prisoners Were Held Without Heat, Video Shows Penn. School Officer Attacking Black Teenage Girl, Frank Robinson, Major League Baseball's First Black Manager, Dies at 83, John Dingell, Longest-Serving Member of Congress, Dies at 92

Democratic Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey is calling on the FBI and Department of Homeland Security to investigate whether employees at Trump National Golf Club broke the law by helping undocumented employees obtain fake work papers amid news reports that the Trump company has fired at least 18 undocumented workers from five golf courses in New York and New Jersey in the past two months. On Monday, Menendez called on the federal government to allow former undocumented employees of the Trump properties to remain in the country while the investigation proceeds. We speak with an undocumented housekeeper from Guatemala named Victorina Morales, who helped expose what was happening on the Trump properties by speaking on the record to The New York Times. Morales spent years making Donald Trump's bed and performing other duties at his New Jersey club, even though she was undocumented. She attended the State of the Union as a guest of Democratic Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey. We speak with Morales, Watson Coleman and Morales's lawyer, Anibal Romero.

A reckoning about racism and sexual assault has left Virginia's government in disarray, with the state's top three elected officials—all Democrats—facing political crises that threaten to upend their careers and the state's leadership. The controversy that has enveloped Virginia since Governor Ralph Northam admitted last week to wearing blackface took a shocking turn Wednesday, when Attorney General Mark Herring also admitted to wearing blackface at a college party. Just days prior, Herring—who is second in line for Virginia's governorship—had called for Governor Northam to resign. The first in line, Virginia Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax, is also embroiled in scandal after a woman who's accused him of sexual assault came forward Wednesday with details of the encounter. Governor Northam has refused to step down since a racist photo from his 1984 medical school yearbook page emerged featuring a man wearing blackface posing next to a man wearing a Ku Klux Klan outfit. If all three of the Democratic politicians resign, Republican House Speaker Kirk Cox is next in line to become governor. We speak with Khalilah Brown-Dean, an associate professor of political science at Quinnipiac University, who is from Lynchburg, Virginia, and a graduate of the University of Virginia. Her forthcoming book is titled "Identity Politics in the United States."

Professor Details Sexual Assault Allegations Against Virginia Lt. Gov., Virginia AG Mark Herring Says He Wore Blackface at 1980 College Party, NASA and NOAA Data Show 2018 Was Among Hottest Years on Record, House Democrats Hold Hearing on Bill to Expand Gun Background Checks, House Advances Bill to End U.S. Support for Saudi-Led War in Yemen, Taliban Says U.S. Has Agreed to Halve Its Afghanistan Troop Presence, Honduran Prosecutors: Energy Executive Masterminded Berta Cáceres Murder, New Mexico Governor Withdraws National Guard from U.S.-Mexico Border, Pentagon Deploys 3,750 Additional Troops to U.S.-Mexico Border, Supreme Court to Rule on Restrictive Louisiana Anti-Choice Law, Civil Rights Groups Challenge Texas Voter Purge Targeting Immigrants, Trump Administration to Roll Back Payday Loan Regulations, Teachers in Chicago and Oakland Take Labor Action, Izzy Young, Who Led American Folk Music Revival, Dies at 90

A federal judge has approved a plan for Puerto Rico to restructure a portion of its debt which would require Puerto Rico to pay $32 billion over 40 years. Critics say the deal will allow vulture funds to make huge profits by buying up those debts. Several of those vulture funds include public employee pension funds and the investment funds of Harvard, Princeton and Yale. Judge Laura Taylor Swain, who held a hearing on the proposed deal last month, echoed critics' concerns about Puerto Rico's ability to make the payments and the likely effects on public services. However, she said in her decision, "[T]he Court is not free to impose its own view of what the optimal resolution of the dispute could have been."

As we continue to discuss President Trump's State of the Union, we are joined by Ana María Archila, co-executive director of the Center for Popular Democracy. She attended the address as a guest of New York Congressmember Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. In September, Archila made headlines when she, along with another woman, Maria Gallagher, confronted Republican Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona in an elevator after he announced his support for Judge Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court. Shortly after the confrontation, Sen. Flake called for a delay of the Senate vote pending a limited FBI investigation.

In his State of the Union address on Tuesday night, President Trump called for bipartisan unity while he attacked Democrats and the Robert Mueller investigation, denounced efforts to expand abortion rights in Virginia and New York, attacked immigrants and reiterated his demand for a border wall—with no mention of the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, which delayed his address by a week. Women in Congress wore all white to the speech in a nod to the movement for women's suffrage. After the address, former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams made history, becoming the first African-American woman to give the Democratic response. We're joined by Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, the first Somali American elected to the House of Representatives and one of the first Muslim women in Congress. Her guest at last night's presidential address was a Liberian woman who fled to Minnesota in 2000 due to civil war and is now facing the threat of deportation from the United States.

Trump Attacks Immigrants, Abortion Rights, Democratic Investigations in SOTU, Stacey Abrams Slams Gov't Shutdown, Voter Suppression in SOTU Response, School Apologizes for Racist Yearbook Photos as VA Gov. Northam Resists Resignation, Pope Francis Acknowledges Priests Sexually Abused Nuns, Ex-President of Costa Rica Accused of Sexual Assault, At Least 29 Haitian Migrants Killed in Shipwreck, Taliban Attacks Kill 50 in Afghanistan, CNN: Saudis Gave U.S. Weapons to al-Qaeda, Other Militants in Yemen, CENTCOM Head Was Not Notified of U.S. Troop Withdrawal from Syria, Anti-BDS Lawsuit Against Salaita & American Studies Association Dismissed, Senate Passes Anti-BDS Bill, Dems Grill Trump Judicial Pick Rao on Past Sexual Assault Victim Blaming, Ex-Koch Official Overseeing EPA Water Regulations, The Intercept: Pelosi Aide Told Health Insurance Reps Dems Will Oppose Single Payer, Judge Approves Major Debt Restructuring Plan for Puerto Rico, Alabama AG Clears Officer for Killing Man Wrongly Believed to Be Mall Shooter, NYC Judge Visits Jail Where Inmates Suffered Freezing Conditions with No Power, Grammy-Nominated Artist 21 Savage Detained by ICE

Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, the notorious Mexican drug kingpin, has been on trial in New York City for 11 weeks. A federal jury headed into deliberations yesterday after more than 200 hours of testimony at the Federal District Court in Brooklyn revealing the inner workings of the Sinaloa Cartel, the major drug trafficking organization run by El Chapo. Fifty-six witnesses took to the stand with stories of murder, violence, spying, widespread corruption and even one tale of the drug lord escaping arrest in 2014 by climbing naked through a sewer alongside a former lover. El Chapo faces 10 charges, including leading a criminal enterprise, and could receive life in prison in the U.S. if convicted. The trial concludes as Donald Trump continues to call for a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, which he claims will help combat drug trafficking. However, government data shows most of the hard narcotics seized by Customs and Border Protection come at legal ports of entry, not from people trying to secretly cross the southern border. We speak with Christy Thornton, an assistant professor of sociology and Latin American studies at Johns Hopkins University, who says El Chapo's sensational trial is obscuring the truth about the so-called war on drugs.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has reached out to Pope Francis, asking for his help to bring about a peaceful solution to the crisis in Venezuela. Maduro is facing increasing international pressure to resign from office two weeks after opposition leader Juan Guaidó declared himself to be Venezuela's interim president. Guaidó made the announcement on January 23 after speaking to U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, who offered support from the Trump administration. Since then, a growing number of countries have openly recognized Guaidó's claim to the presidency, including Austria, Britain, Denmark, France, Germany, Spain and Sweden. Italy has blocked a European Union statement recognizing Guaidó, and Ireland and Greece have called for new elections but have not recognized Guaidó's claim to the presidency. Meanwhile, the Venezuelan opposition and the United States have rejected an offer by Mexico and Uruguay to host talks between the two sides. We speak to David Smilde, senior fellow at the Washington Office on Latin America and professor of sociology at Tulane University. And in California, we speak to Miguel Tinker Salas, professor at Pomona College and author of "The Enduring Legacy: Oil, Culture, and Society in Venezuela" and "Venezuela: What Everyone Needs to Know."

Venezuela: European Leaders, Lima Group Recognize Guaidó as President, VA Gov. Northam Delays Resignation Decision over Racist Yearbook Photo, VA Lt. Gov. Fairfax Denies 2004 Sexual Assault Accusation, Old Photo of Sen. McConnell in Front of Confederate Flag Resurfaces, Dems Invite Targets of Trump Policies to SOTU Address, Trump to Nominate David Malpass to Head World Bank, Trump to Nominate Ex-Oil Lobbyist Bernhardt as Head of Interior Dept., Iraqi President Salih Blasts Trump for Saying U.S. Troops Will Monitor Iran from Iraq, Somalia: Al-Shabab Claims Car Bomb & Shooting That Kills At Least 12, U.K. Panel: Saudi Arabia Responsible for Abuse of Women Activists, Israeli Forces Kill 19-Year-Old Palestinian in West Bank, Mexico Will Search for 10,000s Disappeared in Drug War, Leaked Trump Schedule Shows 60% Unstructured "Executive Time", DOJ Subpoenas Trump 2016 Inaugural Committee, NY Dems Name Amazon Critic to HQ2 Review Board, Utah GOP Rolls Back Voter-Approved Medicaid Expansion, Report: Climate Change Will Reduce Himalayan Glaciers by At Least 1/3, Activists Arrested After Shutting Off Enbridge Pipeline Valves

More than 1,600 prisoners at a Brooklyn federal detention center were forced to endure freezing temperatures during last week's polar vortex, with no heat, no light, no hot water for showers and no hot meals. Demonstrators rallied throughout the weekend to protest the conditions at the Metropolitan Detention Center, which is run by the Bureau of Prisons. Prisoners communicated with protesters by banging on the jail windows. On Sunday afternoon, some of the protesters, including family members of those incarcerated, were pepper-sprayed by guards. Democracy Now! was there on the ground. By 6:30 p.m., officials said electricity was restored. We speak with Brad Lander, a New York city councilmember who spoke with prisoners and prison officials this weekend.

We discuss the history behind calls for Democratic Virginia Governor Ralph Northam to resign after a photo surfaced on his 1984 Eastern Virginia Medical School yearbook page showing a man wearing blackface posing next to a man wearing a Ku Klux Klan outfit. The yearbook also features an image of a white man in a wig, dress and black face. The photo's caption reads, "'Baby Love,' who ever thought Diana Ross would make it to Medical School!" Another photo in the yearbook shows three men in blackface. We are joined by Rhae Lynn Barnes, assistant professor of American cultural history at Princeton University and author of the forthcoming book "Darkology: When the American Dream Wore Blackface." Her new article for The Washington Post is headlined "The troubling history behind Ralph Northam's blackface Klan photo."

Democratic Virginia Governor Ralph Northam is facing calls to resign after a photo surfaced on his 1984 Eastern Virginia Medical School yearbook page showing a man wearing blackface posing next to a man wearing a Ku Klux Klan outfit. Northam apologized for the photo on Friday, but walked back his statements on Saturday, claiming neither of the men in the photo was him. He did admit to using blackface to portray Michael Jackson at a dance contest. We speak with Reverend Kevin Chandler, president of the Virginia State Conference of the NAACP.

Calls are mounting for Democratic Virginia Governor Ralph Northam to resign after a photo surfaced from his medical school yearbook page showing a man wearing blackface posing next to a man wearing a Ku Klux Klan outfit. On Friday, Northam apologized for the photo in his 1984 Eastern Virginia Medical School yearbook. However, on Saturday, he reversed course and claimed neither of the men in the racist yearbook photo was him as he initially thought. As Northam resisted growing calls for his resignation, he admitted to a separate instance of blackface: darkening his face to imitate Michael Jackson in a 1984 dance contest. Meanwhile, a separate 1981 yearbook from the Virginia Military Institute has surfaced revealing Northam was known by the racist nickname "Coonman" as an undergraduate student there. We get response from Lamont Bagby, chair of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus, who is calling for Governor Northam to step down.

Calls Mount for VA Gov. Northam to Resign over Racist Yearbook Photo, Trump Sends Aid to Venezuela, Says Military Intervention "An Option", Trump: U.S. Should Maintain Troops in Iraq to "Watch" Iran, Trump Floats Another Gov't Shutdown or Nat'l Emergency over Border Wall Funding, El Salvador Elects Outsider Nayib Bukele as President, Mexico Denies Entry to U.S Lawyers & Journalists Working with Migrants, Iraq: Gunman Shoots Novelist Alaa Mashzoub, Amnesty Int'l: Boko Haram Killed At Least 60 in Nigeria Attack Last Week, Russia Suspends INF in Response to U.S. Withdrawal, U.N.: At Least 29 Children Died on Way to Syrian Refugee Camp Since December, Vice Media, McClatchy Cuts Add to Spate of Media Layoffs, Foxconn Commits to Building Wisconsin LCD Panel Plant, Sen. Warren Apologizes to Cherokee Nation for DNA Test, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard Launches 2020 Presidential Bid, NYC: Protesters Rally Outside Jail After Inmates Report No Heat & No Power

As we mark the beginning of Black History Month, we look at "Always in Season," a disturbing new documentary that examines lynching in the United States both past and present. It interviews Bryan Stevenson, founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, which built the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery to remember the more than 4,000 African Americans lynched in the United States. It also looks closely at the case of Lennon Lacy, a 17-year-old African-American high school student who, on August 29, 2014, was found hanging from two belts attached to a wooden swing set in a largely white trailer park in Bladenboro, North Carolina. At the time of his death, Lacy was dating an older white woman. Local authorities quickly determined his death to be a suicide, but Lacy's family and local civil rights activists feared authorities may have been covering up a lynching. We speak with Lacy's mother, Claudia Lacy, and Jacqueline Olive, the director of "Always in Season."

As the state of Texas this week carried out the nation's first execution of the year, we look at "Clemency," a new film starring Alfre Woodard that examines the death penalty from the perspective of those who have to carry out executions as well as the condemned. Woodard portrays prison warden Bernadine Williams as she prepares to oversee what would be her 12th execution as warden in the aftermath of one that was horribly botched. As her life seems to unravel, Williams, for the first time, grapples with what it means to be part of a system of state-sanctioned murder, as the execution date for Anthony Woods, played by Aldis Hodge, gets closer. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. We speak with Nigerian-American writer-director Chinonye Chukwu, who says she was inspired to take on the subject after the execution of Troy Anthony Davis, who was put to death by the state of Georgia on September 21, 2011. Davis's execution was carried out despite major doubts about evidence used to convict him of killing police officer Mark MacPhail, and his death helped fuel the national movement to abolish the death penalty.

WSJ: After Venezuela, U.S. to Target Cuba in Effort to Reshape Latin America, Venezuela: Guaidó Seeks Support from Russia, China as Maduro Gov't Remains Defiant, U.S. Announces Withdrawal from INF, Sen. Sanders Proposes Expanding Estate Tax for Wealthiest Americans, Senate Bill Opposes U.S. Withdrawal from Syria & Afghanistan, Trump Dismisses Funding Talks 2 Weeks Ahead of Gov't Shutdown Deadline, Progressive Dems: "Not Another Dollar" for DHS, Court: Syrian Gov't Responsible for Killing War Reporter Marie Colvin, Somalia: U.S. Airstrike Kills 24 al-Shabab Militants, Reports: EPA Won't Set Limits on Harmful Chemicals in Drinking Water, Pharma Co. Insys Accused of Bribing Doctors to Prescribe Fentanyl , DHS Created Fake School to Catch Immigration Violators, ICE Is Force-Feeding Immigrant Prisoners in Texas, McConnell: Dem. Move to Make Election Day a Holiday Is a "Power Grab", Jezebel: FBI Warned Law Enforcement of "Pro-Abortion Extremists", FBI Investigated Group That Protested Far-Right Rally, Considered KKK as Victims, Texas Catholic Church Identifies 286 Priests Accused of Sexually Abusing Children, NJ Sen. Cory Booker Announces 2020 Presidential Run

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg recently missed oral arguments as she continues to recover after having two tumors removed from her lung last month. But the Supreme Court has said she is cancer-free and that the 85-year-old, now three-time cancer-surviving justice, has been reviewing arguments and weighing in on cases from home. Meanwhile, the documentary "RBG" about her life has been nominated for an Academy Award. At the Sundance Film Festival, we speak with Julie Cohen, one of the film's directors.

Acclaimed actor Tessa Thompson joins us at the Sundance Film Festival to talk about the Me Too movement and the Time's Up initiative, which is pushing Hollywood studios and actors to commit to work with women directors in its new #4PercentChallenge. Time's Up is about "addressing safety in the workplace," says actor Thompson. "It's really looking at imbalance of power."

Thousands took to the streets for women's marches across the country on January 19, exactly two years after Donald Trump's inauguration sparked a burgeoning women's movement. But some of this year's marches were steeped in controversy. In November, Teresa Shook, one of the founders of the Women's March movement, called for the removal of the four national co-chairs: Bob Bland, Tamika Mallory, Carmen Perez and Linda Sarsour. She accused them of allowing "anti-Semitism, anti-LBGTQIA sentiment and hateful, racist rhetoric to become a part of the platform." Much of the criticism focused on links between some of the co-chairs and the Nation of Islam's Minister Louis Farrakhan, who has been widely accused of being anti-Semitic. A new documentary premiering at the Sundance Film Festival captures how Mallory and the movement handled the crisis. It's called "This Is Personal." On Monday, Tamika Mallory and Linda Sarsour joined Rebecca Walker, author of the autobiography "Black, White, and Jewish," and Nancy Kaufman, CEO of the National Council of Jewish Women, to discuss the controversy.

Democrats have selected former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams to deliver the response to President Trump's State of the Union address. The address will take place on Tuesday, after being delayed due to the government shutdown. Abrams will become the first person not in public office to respond to the president, as well as the first African-American woman to deliver the response. She recently launched Fair Fight Action, a voting rights advocacy group, after she narrowly lost Georgia's governor's race to Secretary of State Brian Kemp, who was widely accused of suppressing the vote. In mid-November, Abrams refused to concede the race, and Fair Fight Action is now suing Georgia election officials for mismanagement of the midterm elections. We recently spoke to Abrams in Los Angeles, where she was attending the National Day of Racial Healing. "Our responsibility doesn't end on Election Day," she said. "The minute the elections are over, the people who won—who did not share our values—are going to be working hard. We have to be working even harder."

Venezuela: U.S. Urges Military to Back Guaidó as Protesters Take to Streets, Reuters: UAE Hired Ex-NSA Agents to Spy on Opponents and Critics, Congress Reintroduces War Powers Resolution to End War on Yemen, Trump Hits Back After Intelligence Chiefs Contradict Him on Iran, N. Korea, Israeli Forces Kill Teenage Palestinian Girl at West Bank Checkpoint, Israel: Thousands of Israeli Ethiopians Protest Racism, Police Brutality, Migrants: Scores Killed in 2 Boat Wrecks Off Djibouti Coast, Humanitarian Ship Docks in Italy After European Nations Agree to Process Migrants, Colombia: 2 Community Leaders Killed Amid Mounting Attacks on Activists, Philippines: Grenade Kills 2, Injures 4 in Mosque Attack, Thailand: Toxic Smog Blankets Bangkok, Shuts Down Schools, Special Counsel Says 1,000+ Confidential Files Leaked by Russians, Foxconn May Drop Plan to Produce LCD Panels at Wisconsin Plant, At Least 10 Dead as Polar Vortex Disrupts Travel, School, USPS, Report: FDA Failing to Protect Young People from Vaping Risks, Morton Sobell, Co-Defendant of Julius & Ethel Rosenberg, Dies at 101

As the Trump administration continues its attempt to oust Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, the U.S. has imposed a de facto embargo on oil from Venezuela's state-run oil company. The new sanctions include exemptions for several U.S. firms, including Chevron and Halliburton, to allow them to continue working in Venezuela. We speak with prize-winning investigative journalist Allan Nairn about the push to privatize Venezuela's oil.

In an ongoing effort to topple Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, Vice President Mike Pence met with members of the Venezuelan opposition at the White House Tuesday alongside Trump's new special envoy to Venezuela, Elliott Abrams. Elliott Abrams is a right-wing hawk who was convicted in 1991 for lying to Congress during the Iran-Contra scandal, but he was later pardoned by President George H.W. Bush. Abrams defended Guatemalan dictator General Efraín Ríos Montt as he oversaw a campaign of mass murder and torture of indigenous people in Guatemala in the 1980s. Ríos Montt was later convicted of genocide. Abrams was also linked to the 2002 coup in Venezuela that attempted to topple Hugo Chávez. We look at Abrams's track record with prize-winning investigative journalist Allan Nairn, who has closely tracked Abrams for over three decades. Nairn is two-time winner of the George Polk Award and a recipient of the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Award.

The United States is continuing to ratchet up pressure on the Venezuelan government in an attempt to topple President Nicolás Maduro. On Tuesday, the State Department announced it is giving control of Venezuela's U.S. bank accounts to opposition leader Juan Guaidó, who declared himself to be president last week. Meanwhile, the U.S. has also refused to rule out a military invasion of Venezuela. We spend the hour with prize-winning investigative journalist Allan Nairn.

U.S. Hands Over Assets to Guaidó as Venezuela Restricts His Travel, Intelligence Community Contradicts Trump on Iran, N. Korea, ISIS, Trump Immigration Rule Forces 1st Asylum Seeker Out of U.S., Back into Mexico, Pentagon to Send "Several Thousand" More Troops to U.S.-Mexico Border, Honduras: Rights Groups Slam Guilty Verdict for Opposition Critic María Luisa Borjas, Brazil: 5 Arrested in Dam Collapse That Killed 65, Devastating Environment, Mexico: Tens of Thousands Strike as 27 Factories Reach Deals for Pay Raises, U.K. Lawmakers Order PM Theresa May to Reopen Brexit Negotiations, Cameroon: Security Forces Arrest Opposition Leader, Journalists, Record-Breaking Polar Vortex Grips the Midwest, Jury Files New Charges Against Pittsburgh Synagogue Mass Shooter, Roger Stone Pleads Not Guilty in Mueller Indictment, Actor Jussie Smollett Recovers After Brutal Racist, Homophobic Attack, Stacey Abrams to Deliver Democratic Response to State of the Union

In her first television interview, we speak with a woman who helped topple Harvey Weinstein and expose his rampant sexual abuse but has remained largely behind the scenes until now. Lauren O'Connor was a literary scout at the Weinstein Company who worked closely with Weinstein. In 2015, she penned an internal memo about her boss that would later become famous. In it, she wrote, "I am a 28 year old woman trying to make a living and a career. Harvey Weinstein is a 64 year old, world famous man and this is his company. The balance of power is me: 0, Harvey Weinstein: 10." This memo was later leaked and would eventually become the bedrock of the 2017 New York Times investigation that first exposed Weinstein's decades of abuse. Lauren O'Connor tells her own story for the first time in "Untouchable," a damning documentary about Weinstein's abuse of power through the eyes of the women he targeted, that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on Friday.

As we broadcast from the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, we look at a new film that is forcing the movie industry to look closely at itself. It's about the rise and fall of a movie titan who once used Sundance as a hunting ground: movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, who has been accused of rape, sexual assault or misconduct by more than 75 women. The film "Untouchable" takes on Harvey Weinstein's decades of predatory behavior and the system that allowed it to happen, through the stories of survivors of his abuse, from his time as a young music promoter in Buffalo in the 1970s all the way until a series of investigations toppled Weinstein in 2017. The stories of accusers, from Gwyneth Paltrow to Salma Hayek to Angelina Jolie, rocked Hollywood, sparking the Me Too movement. More than a year after this public reckoning, Weinstein now faces five charges that could land him in prison for life, including rape and predatory sexual assault. Weinstein has just hired the former lawyers of one of his most public accusers, actor Rose McGowan, who says Weinstein raped her here at Sundance in 1997. His trial is expected to begin in May. Just two years after Harvey Weinstein joined the Women's March in Park City, "Untouchable" premiered here on Friday. We sat down with the film's director, Ursula Macfarlane, the day after the premiere.

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Former Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone, who was arrested on Friday, and Donald Trump share a unique history: Both were heavily influenced by the infamous attorney Roy Cohn, who served as a chief counsel to Senator Joseph McCarthy during the Red Scare in the 1950s and would later become a leading mob attorney. Cohn represented Trump for years and once claimed he considered Trump to be his best friend. Cohn is the subject of a new documentary at the Sundance Film Festival titled "Where's My Roy Cohn?" We speak to the film's director, Matt Tyrnauer.

More information has come to light about the direct U.S. role in an attempted coup in Venezuela. The Wall Street Journal reports Vice President Mike Pence called opposition leader Juan Guaidó on the night before he declared himself to be president, pledging U.S. support for his actions. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has accused the United States of attempting to wage a coup. Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has named Elliott Abrams to be his special envoy to Venezuela. Abrams is a right-wing hawk who was convicted in 1991 for lying to Congress during the Iran-Contra scandal, but he was later pardoned. Abrams defended Guatemalan dictator General Efraín Ríos Montt as he oversaw a campaign of mass murder and torture of indigenous people in Guatemala in the 1980s. Ríos Montt was later convicted of genocide. Abrams was also linked to the 2002 coup in Venezuela that attempted to topple Hugo Chávez. We speak to Ro Khanna, Democratic congressmember from California.

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On Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pledged to send $20 million to the Venezuelan opposition in the form of humanitarian aid to address the shortages of food and medicine caused in part by harsh U.S. sanctions. Pompeo made the announcement while speaking at the OAS, the Organization of American States. Pompeo's speech was interrupted by CodePink co-founder Medea Benjamin, who held a sign reading, "OAS: Don't Support a Coup in Venezuela."

While Mexico and Uruguay are calling for dialogue to address the crisis in Venezuela, much of Latin America has sided with the Trump administration by recognizing Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó as Venezuela's new leader. We look at what this mean for the broader region with professors Alejandro Velasco and Steve Ellner.

The U.S.-led effort targeting the oil-rich nation of Venezuela dates back two decades, since the late Hugo Chávez became president in 1999. In November, John Bolton accused Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua of being part of a "troika of tyranny." In September, The New York Times reported the Trump administration conducted secret meetings with rebellious military officers in Venezuela to discuss overthrowing Maduro. We air more of our recent interview with Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza. He came into the Democracy Now! studio last week.