Democracy Now!

The United States is refusing to criticize Israel after Israeli forces shot dead at least 61 unarmed Palestinian protesters taking part in the Great March of Return in Gaza Monday. More than 2,700 Palestinians were injured. At the United Nations, U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley has blocked a call for an international investigation into Israel's actions. On Tuesday, she repeatedly blamed the violence on Hamas while praising Israel for showing restraint. During her remarks, Nikki Haley refused to place any blame on Israel. She later walked out of the Security Council chamber when the Palestinian ambassador to the U.N., Riyad Mansour, addressed the council. Since Palestinian protests began on March 30, Israel forces have killed at least 112 Palestinians and injured more than 12,000. On Tuesday, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said she was closely following the situation in Gaza and would "take any action warranted" to prosecute crimes. Meanwhile, the United Nations human rights office has condemned the "appalling deadly violence" by Israeli security forces in Gaza. For more, we speak with Norman Finkelstein, author and scholar whose most recent book is titled "Gaza: An Inquest into Its Martyrdom."

U.S. Refuses to Criticize Israel's Massacre of 60+ Palestinians During Nonviolent Protest, Key Democrats Back CIA Director Nominee Gina Haspel, North Korea Cancels Talks with South Korea over Joint U.S.-SK Military Drills, Trump Admin Exploring Holding Immigrant Children on Military Bases, Amnesty: Pakistani Human Rights Activists Targeted for Digital Attacks, Mexico: Radio Journalist Juan Carlos Huerta Killed in Tabasco, Fox Settles Racial and Gender Discrimination Lawsuits for $10 Million, Uber & Lyft Will Stop Forced Arbitration for Sexual Harassment, Sexual Assault, Blake Farenthold Won't Repay $84,000 Taxpayer Money Used in Sexual Harassment Settlement, North Carolina Teachers Walk Out of Class, Shuttering Hundreds of Schools, Planned Parenthood and ACLU Sue to Block Iowa's Harsh Anti-Abortion Bill

The Israeli military's massacre of Palestinians Monday has sparked widespread international condemnation. South Africa has recalled its ambassador to Israel. Turkey has recalled both its ambassadors to Israel and the United States and has declared three days of mourning starting on Friday. Palestinian leaders have accused the Israeli military of committing war crimes, but the United States has blocked a U.N. Security Council statement calling for an independent investigation into the killings. Meanwhile, Israeli officials have tried to claim Hamas is behind the protests in efforts to justify the killings. For more, we speak with Tareq Baconi, author of the book "Hamas Contained: The Rise and Pacification of Palestinian Resistance." He is a policy member at Al-Shabaka: The Palestinian Policy Network and a policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations.

Palestinians are staging a new round of protests in Gaza today to mark the 70th anniversary of the Nakba, or the Day of Catastrophe, when more than 700,000 Palestinians were forced to flee or were expelled from their homes. Today's protests come after the Israeli military killed 61 unarmed Palestinian protesters on Monday. In total, since the Palestinians launched the Great March of Return protests on March 30, the Israeli military has killed at least 109 Palestinians and wounded 12,000 people. For more, we speak with a Nakba survivor: 86-year-old Mahmoud Salah, who was born in a village just outside of Jerusalem that was bombed and invaded when he was a teenager in 1948.

While the Israeli military was carrying out a massacre against Palestinian protesters in Gaza, senior members of the Trump administration gathered in Jerusalem for the opening of the U.S. Embassy. Among those who attended were President Trump's daughter, White House senior adviser Ivanka Trump; her husband, senior adviser Jared Kushner; and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin. The Trump administration's decision to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem has sparked widespread condemnation, including in the city of Jerusalem itself, where demonstrators gathered Monday to protest the ceremony. For more, we speak with Budour Hassan, a Palestinian writer and project coordinator for the Jerusalem Center for Legal Aid and Human Rights.

Funerals are being held across Gaza today for the 61 Palestinians killed by the Israeli military, which opened fire into crowds of unarmed demonstrators protesting the opening of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem and the ongoing Israeli occupation. Among the victims shot dead by an Israeli sniper was 30-year-old Fadi Abu Salmi, who used a wheelchair and had both his legs amputated. Another victim was 8-month-old Laila al-Ghandour, who died early this morning after inhaling tear gas fired by the Israeli military, including tear gas dropped by Israeli drones. For more, we speak with Muhammad Shehada, writer and activist from Gaza and a student of development studies at Lund University, Sweden. He writes for Haaretz, The Forward and other publications. His latest article for The Forward is titled "All We in Gaza Want Is That Israel Recognize Our Humanity."

The Israeli military killed at least 61 Palestinians in Gaza and wounded 2,700 more for protesting Monday's opening of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem and the Israeli occupation. It was the deadliest day for Palestinian protesters since they launched the nonviolent Great March of Return on March 30. Palestinian leaders are accusing the Israeli military of carrying out war crimes during Monday's crackdown. More protests and a general strike across the Palestinian territories are planned for today. We get an update from Gaza with Democracy Now! correspondent Sharif Abdel Kouddous.

Death Toll in Gaza Rises to 61, After Israeli Military Massacres Protesters, South Africa & Turkey Recall Ambassadors to Israel over Murder of Palestinians, Jewish Activists March in D.C. to Protest Opening of U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, Hundreds Arrested in Nationwide Day of Action for New Poor People's Campaign, NYT: DeVos's Education Dept. Stalls Probes into For-Profit Schools, Catalan Parliament Elects Pro-Independence Candidate as President, Report: Colombian Army Executed Up to 10,000 Civilians, Claiming They Were Rebels, NYT: Two Dozen People Killed by Carbon Monoxide After Leaving on Keyless Cars, Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Death Row Prisoner Robert McCoy

In the latest economic fallout from President Trump's decision to pull the United States out of the landmark Iran nuclear agreement, top White House officials said Sunday that the Trump administration is prepared to impose sanctions on European companies that do business with Iran. We get response from former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varifoufakis, who was the chief negotiator of Greece's bailout with the European Union and International Monetary Fund. He also discusses the opening of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem and calls it a "civil rights catastrophe." His new book is titled "Talking to My Daughter About the Economy: Or, How Capitalism Works—And How It Fails." Varoufakis served as finance minister in Greece in 2015, before resigning from the Syriza government. He is also co-founder of Democracy in Europe Movement 2025, known as DiEM25.

While tens of thousands of Palestinians gathered near the heavily fortified border with Israel for nonviolent protests against the U.S. Embassy's opening in Jerusalem Monday, a new Poor People's Campaign launched in the United States. Rev. Dr. William Barber II, a co-founder of the movement, is bringing together low-wage workers, clergy and community activists around the country to advocate for the rights of the poor. People in 40 states are participating in actions and events starting today that will culminate in a mass protest in Washington, D.C., on June 23. We are joined by Rev. Dr. William Barber, president of Repairers of the Breach and distinguished visiting professor of public theology at Union Theological Seminary, to discuss human rights from Gaza to Washington, D.C., and the anti-gay, pro-Trump pastor from Dallas chosen by the Trump administration to lead the prayer at the opening of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem.

On Mother's Day 50 years ago, thousands converged on Washington, D.C., to take up the cause that Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had been fighting for when he was assassinated on April 4, 1968: the Poor People's Campaign. A little more than a week after her husband's memorial service, Coretta Scott King led a march to demand an Economic Bill of Rights that included a guaranteed basic income, full employment and more low-income housing. Half a century later, Rev. Dr. William Barber II and Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis have launched a new Poor People's Campaign. Starting today, low-wage workers, clergy and community activists in 40 states are participating in actions and events across the country that will culminate in a mass protest in Washington, D.C., on June 23. We speak with Rev. Dr. William Barber and Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis, co-chairs of the Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival.

We go to Gaza for a live update from Sharif Abdel Kouddous as tens of thousands of Palestinians have gathered near the heavily fortified border with Israel for nonviolent protests against the U.S. Embassy's opening in Jerusalem. At the time of our broadcast, the Israeli military had killed at least 30 Palestinians, and least 1,000 had been injured. "No one is carrying any weapons here. There are no bullets being fired by Palestinians on Israeli soldiers. … And yet these killings continue," Kouddous says. This comes as senior members of the Trump administration have gathered in Jerusalem for the embassy's opening.

Israeli Soldiers Kill Dozens of Palestinians as U.S. Opens Embassy in Jerusalem, Trump Admin Threatens to Sanction European Firms Doing Business with Iran, In Reversal, Trump Trying to Save Chinese Company Hit by U.S. Sanctions, Report: Trump Admin Eliminates NASA Program to Monitor Carbon & Methane, Afghanistan: Taliban Kill More Than 100 Afghan Soldiers & Police in Last Week, Pakistan Prevents U.S. Diplomat from Leaving, After He Killed 1 in Car Crash, Burundi: 26 Killed in Attack on Village, Days Before Controversial Referendum, Iraq: Early Election Results Show Cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in Lead, Indonesia: ISIS Claims Responsibility for String of Attacks on Churches, 1974 CIA Memo: Brazil's Former Dictator Personally Approved Summary Executions, White House Refuses to Apologize for Aide's Comments Mocking John McCain, American Bishop Michael Curry to Deliver Sermon at British Royal Wedding, Trump Admin Rolls Back Protections for Transgender Prisoners

This week, the Trump administration announced it will detain asylum seekers and separate them from their children at the border. A case in California shows how some minors who arrived alone to seek asylum have been put in adult detention. Immigration authorities in California are refusing to release an Afghan asylum seeker from an adult detention center, even though a federal court had determined he is a child. His lawyers say the teenager, who has been held in adult detention for five months, is 17 years old. But ICE used a disputed "pseudoscience" age test based on a dental exam to insist he is over 18. The teen, who uses the name Hamid for privacy and protection, says he fled Afghanistan using a forged passport after the Taliban murdered his father. On Tuesday, Hamid spoke to Democracy Now! in his first phone interview from the Mesa Verde detention center in Bakersfield, California. We speak to his attorney Mariel Villarreal in New York.

It's Mother's Day this weekend, and racial justice groups around the country are bailing black women out of jail so they can spend the holiday with their families. For the second year in a row, "Black Mama's Bail Out Day" is raising money to bail out as many black women from jail as possible. The effort is taking place in dozens of cities to call attention to the injustice of cash bail. We speak to Mary Hooks, co-director of Southerners on New Ground and an organizer of National Black Mama's Bail Out Day.

Former Vice President Dick Cheney said Thursday that the U.S. should restart torture interrogation tactics. Cheney's comment comes a day after President Trump's nominee to head the CIA, Gina Haspel, repeatedly refused Wednesday to call the CIA's post-9/11 treatment of prisoners "torture," and declined to state whether she believes torture is immoral. Haspel's prospects for confirmation remain in doubt, after Republican senators Rand Paul of Kentucky and John McCain of Arizona issued statements opposing her nomination. We speak to Laleh Khalili, professor at SOAS University of London and author of "Time in the Shadows: Confinement in Counterinsurgencies."

For the seventh week in a row, Palestinian protesters are gathering in Gaza near the Israeli border as part of an ongoing nonviolent protest called the Great March of Return. Since the protests began, Israeli forces have killed at least 47 Palestinians and wounded nearly 7,000. The protests are leading up to a massive rally next week timed to mark the 70th anniversary of the Nakba, known as the Day of Catastrophe to Palestinians, when more than 700,000 Palestinians were forced to flee or were expelled from their homes. Still with us is Laleh Khalili, professor at SOAS University of London. She's the author of a number of books, including "Time in the Shadows: Confinement in Counterinsurgencies."

Tension is mounting between Israel and Iran in Syria. On Thursday, Israel bombed dozens of Iranian targets inside Syria in the largest attack by Israel since fighting began in Syria in 2011. Israeli authorities said the attack was in response to Iranian forces firing 20 rockets at Israeli forces in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran had "crossed a red line," though Israel has offered no evidence the rocket attacks were carried out by Iran. Earlier today, Iran's Foreign Ministry said Israel's claim about an Iranian rocket attack is "freely invented and baseless." Meanwhile, more evidence is emerging that it was Israel—not Iran—that began the escalation this week. The New York Times reports an Israeli missile strike on Wednesday hit a village in the Syrian Golan Heights. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reports Israel carried out a missile strike on Tuesday near Damascus, killing at least 15 people, including eight Iranians. That strike occurred just hours after President Trump announced the United States would pull out of the Iran nuclear agreement. To talk more about the rising tension between Israel and Iran, we go to London, where we are joined by the Iranian-American professor Laleh Khalili. She is a professor at SOAS University of London. She's the author of a number of books, including "Time in the Shadows: Confinement in Counterinsurgencies."

U.S. and North Korea Set for June 12 Trump-Kim Summit in Singapore, Yemen: At Least 11 Civilians Killed in U.S.-Backed, Saudi-Led Airstrikes, Dick Cheney Urges Restart to Torture Program, Saying, "I'd Do It Again", CIA Director's Confirmation in Doubt as Sen. McCain Cites "Disturbing" Torture Role, Britain Formally Apologizes to Libyan Rendition Victims, AT&T Paid Trump's Lawyer $600K to Advise on Time Warner Merger, Rudy Giuliani Leaves Law Firm Amid Criticism of Hush Money Payments, U.S. Apologizes After Canadian Minister Ordered to Remove Turban, NYT: Kirstjen Nielsen Nearly Resigned over Trump's Reprimand, ICE Agents Raid San Diego Home, Mocking Demands to See Warrant, Hawaii Prepares Mass Evacuation Plans as Volcanic Eruption Grows, Beaumont, Texas: Bomb Explodes on Steps of Church, Sudan: Death Penalty for Teen Bride Who Killed Husband During Rape, Flight Attendants' Survey Finds Sexual Harassment Rampant on Flights, Junot Díaz Resigns as Pulitzer Prize Chair Amid Sexual Misconduct Claims, Spotify to Drop R. Kelly over Sexual Assault Accusations, FEC to Allow Candidates to Use Campaign Funds for Child Care, Mexico: Mothers of the Disappeared March for Drug War Victims

Israel has bombed dozens of Iranian targets inside the country in the largest attack by Israel since fighting began in Syria in 2011. The bombing raid came a day after Israel accused Iranian forces in Syria of firing 20 rockets at Israeli forces in the occupied Golan Heights, a part of Syria that Israel has occupied since 1967. We spend the rest of the hour looking at the war in Syria with a Syrian journalist and a New York artist who have worked together for years. Marwan Hisham is a Syrian journalist from Raqqa, now living in exile in Turkey. He became a journalist after first taking part in the initial protests against Bashar al-Assad in 2011. His new book is illustrated and co-authored by the award-winning artist Molly Crabapple. They first started collaborating in 2014, when Hisham was still living in ISIS-occupied Raqqa. He would send her photographs of life under ISIS, and she would draw illustrations of them. Their book is titled "Brothers of the Gun: A Memoir of the Syrian War" and is out next week.

On Capitol Hill Wednesday, President Trump's nominee to head the CIA, Gina Haspel, announced she would not restart the CIA's interrogation program. But she repeatedly refused to call the CIA's post-9/11 treatment of prisoners "torture," and declined to state whether she believes torture is immoral. Haspel's comments came in testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee, as she made her case to become the first woman to head the agency. Haspel is a 33-year CIA veteran who was responsible for running a secret CIA black site in Thailand in 2002, where one prisoner was waterboarded and tortured in other ways. Haspel also oversaw the destruction of videotapes showing torture at the black site. At least two Republican senators have come out against her—Rand Paul and John McCain, who said her "role in overseeing the use of torture is disturbing & her refusal to acknowledge torture's immorality is disqualifying." But Haspel may still be confirmed with the help of Democratic lawmakers. Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia has already announced he will back Haspel. We speak with Jeremy Scahill, co-founder of The Intercept and host of the weekly podcast "Intercepted."

Israel Launches Massive Airstrikes on Syria, Targeting Iranian Forces, CIA Director Nominee Gina Haspel Won't Say If Torture Is Immoral, North Korea Releases 3 U.S. Citizens as Mike Pompeo Meets Kim Jong-un, U.S. Prepares Iran Sanctions After Trump Withdraws from Nuclear Deal, Hopes Fade for Release of U.S. Citizens Held in Iran, Michael Cohen Promised White House Access to Win $4.4 Million in Payments, Afghanistan: At Least 15 Dead in ISIS, Taliban Attacks, Nicaragua: Thousands Protest Bloody Crackdown on April Demonstrations, Argentines Protest as President Macri Prepares to Take on IMF Loans, Malaysia: Opposition Wins First Election Since Independence in 1957, Sen. Bernie Sanders' Workplace Democracy Act Would Strengthen Unions, California Will Require Most New Homes to Install Solar Panels

Voters in West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana and North Carolina headed to the polls Tuesday to decide a number of key primaries. In West Virginia, the state's Republican Attorney General Patrick Morrisey won a closely watched U.S. Senate primary, defeating U.S. Rep. Evan Jenkins and former coal baron Don Blankenship. Blankenship had served a year in prison after 29 miners died in the 2010 Upper Big Branch Mine disaster. He faced intense criticism after releasing an ad attacking Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and his "China family." Patrick Morrisey will now face the conservative Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin in November. In Ohio, Richard Cordray defeated former Congressmember Dennis Kucinich in the state's Democratic primary for governor. Cordray served as the first director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. He will now face Mike DeWine in November to determine who will replace outgoing Ohio Governor John Kasich. In Indiana, Vice President Mike Pence's brother Greg Pence won the Republican primary for a congressional seat in eastern Indiana. Female candidates were also big winners on Tuesday. According to Politico, there were 20 open Democratic House primaries with women on the ballot Tuesday, and voters selected a female nominee in 17 of them. In Ohio, Rachel Crooks, one of at least 19 women who have accused President Trump of sexual harassment and assault, won an uncontested primary for a seat in the state's House of Representatives. For more, we speak with Tim Murphy, a senior reporter at Mother Jones, and Kevin Robillard, senior political reporter for HuffPost.

President Trump announced Tuesday he is pulling the United States out of the landmark 2015 Iran nuclear deal, brokered by his predecessor, President Obama. That same day, Trump's new Secretary of State Mike Pompeo flew to North Korea to finalize plans for President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to hold a landmark face-to-face meeting. For more on President Trump, the Iran nuclear deal and efforts to avoid nuclear proliferation and nuclear war, we speak with Media Benjamin, co-founder of CodePink, author of "Inside Iran: The Real History and Politics of the Islamic Republic of Iran." She has also participated in the peace delegation to North Korea, Women Cross DMZ.

Trita Parsi, head of the National Iranian American Council, says he was targeted by an Israeli private intelligence agency over his support for the Iran nuclear deal. The agency, Black Cube, was hired to orchestrate a "dirty ops" campaign against members of the Obama administration who negotiated the nuclear agreement. The Guardian reports Trump's aides hired Black Cube; The New York Times says it's not yet clear who hired the intelligence firm. Among those Black Cube was hired to investigate and discredit were Obama's top national security aide Benjamin Rhodes and Vice President Joe Biden's national security adviser Colin Kahl. Black Cube is made up of former officials from the Mossad and other Israeli agencies. It is the same firm hired by disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein to stop publication of articles that exposed him as a sexual predator.

European nations are scrambling to save the landmark nuclear agreement with Iran, one day after President Trump announced he would pull the United States out of the deal and reimpose sanctions on Iran. The 2015 agreement was worked out by the United States, five other world powers and Iran. Former President Obama described Trump's decision to withdraw as a serious mistake and warned it could lead to another war in the Middle East. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani responded by saying Iran would continue to abide by the agreement and would not renew its nuclear program for now. For more, we speak with Trita Parsi, founder and president of the National Iranian American Council. His most recent book is titled "Losing an Enemy: Obama, Iran, and the Triumph of Diplomacy." We also speak with Medea Benjamin, co-founder of CodePink. Her latest book is titled "Inside Iran: The Real History and Politics of the Islamic Republic of Iran." She is also the author of "Kingdom of the Unjust: Behind the U.S.-Saudi Connection."

President Trump Pulls United States Out of Landmark Iran Nuclear Agreement, NYT: Russian Billionaire Funded Cohen Shell Company Used to Pay Stormy Daniels, CIA Director Nominee Gina Haspel Faces Senate Confirmation Hearings Today, NY Gov. Appoints Special Prosecutor to Investigate Claims Schneiderman Assaulted 4 Women, North Korea Frees 3 Americans During Mike Pompeo's Visit, Women Candidates Win Big in NC, WV, Ohio and Indiana Primary Races, Armenia: Parliament Elects Opposition Leader as Prime Minister, Israel Orders Deportation of Human Rights Watch Director Omar Shakir, John McCain Says He Doesn't Want Trump to Attend His Funeral, NYC: Journalists Protest Alden Global Capital for Decimating Newsrooms Nationwide, Louisiana Judge Rules Bayou Bridge Pipeline Permit Is Illegal, Police Cars & Helicopter Swarm 3 Black Women Leaving Airbnb, "Black Mama's Bail Out" Action Seeks to Free Black Women from Jail Ahead of Mother's Day

Journalists are orchestrating a rising rebellion against censorship and layoffs implemented by the nation's second-largest newspaper chain, Digital First Media, and the New York-based hedge fund that controls it, Alden Global Capital. Reporters from Digital First publications around the country will rally outside Alden Global Capital's office here in New York City to demand that the hedge fund either invest in its newspapers or sell them. The hedge fund is known for slashing and downsizing its papers to maintain high profit margins. Since 2010, Digital First Media has cut budgets and staffs at newspapers across the country, including the Oakland Tribune, the San Jose Mercury News and the St. Paul Pioneer Press. In recent months, Digital First Media cut 30 percent of the newsroom at The Denver Post. Meanwhile, the private company reported profits of almost $160 million in 2017 and a 17 percent operating margin—far higher than other newspaper publishers. For more, we speak with Elizabeth Hernandez, a breaking news reporter for The Denver Post; Julie Reynolds, an investigative journalist who has been covering Alden Global Capital for years; and Dave Krieger, the former editorial page director at the Boulder Daily Camera before being fired last month for self-publishing an article critical of Alden Global Capital.

From the massive Women's March against President Trump's inauguration, to the wave of teachers' strikes sweeping across red states nationwide, to the #MeToo movement, women have been at the forefront of rising political and social mobilizations challenging the Trump administration's agenda and the entrenched gender-based violence and white supremacy in U.S. society. For more, we speak with Cecile Richards, who has just stepped aside as president of Planned Parenthood after 12 years. She's just published a new memoir, "Make Trouble: Standing Up, Speaking Out, and Finding the Courage to Lead."

On Friday, Iowa's governor signed one of the nation's most restrictive abortion bills. The new law requires any woman seeking an abortion to undergo an abdominal ultrasound. The law bans abortion if a fetal heartbeat is detected, which often occurs at six weeks—before many women even know they are pregnant. Meanwhile, in South Carolina, Democratic lawmakers used a filibuster to defeat a Republican abortion ban that would have prohibited as many as 97 percent of abortions in the state. This comes as a federal appeals court ruled last month that an Indiana abortion law signed by Vice President Mike Pence when he was the state's governor in 2016 was unconstitutional. The law restricted a woman's ability to seek an abortion, including in cases where the child would be born with a disability. For more on the attacks to women's reproductive rights nationwide, we speak with Cecile Richards, who has just stepped aside as president of Planned Parenthood after 12 years. She's just published a new memoir, "Make Trouble: Standing Up, Speaking Out, and Finding the Courage to Lead." In the book, she writes, "For the first time in my life, I'm wondering whether my own daughters will have fewer rights than I've had."

NY AG Eric Schneiderman Resigns After 4 Women Accuse Him of Physical Abuse, Trump Slated to Announce Decision About Iran Nuclear Deal Today, New NRA President Is Oliver North, Key Figure in Iran-Contra Scandal, Newly Released Emails Show EPA Tried to Shield Scott Pruitt from Tough Questions, Trump Admin Ramping Up Criminal Prosecution of Migrants for Crossing Border, Giuliani: Trump to Decide by May 17 Whether to Testify to Mueller, Nigeria: 45 Killed in Attack on Village; Military Rescues 1,000 Captives from Boko Haram, Yemen: 6 Killed by Saudi-Led Coalition Bombing, Lebanon: Hezbollah and Allies Win Additional Seats in Parliamentary Election, HUD and Ben Carson to Be Sued for Suspending 2015 Fair Housing Rule, Melania Trump Unveils Kids' Health Platform; Trump Calls for $7B Cuts to Children's Health Insurance Program, Hawaii: Hundreds Evacuate Volcanic Eruption on Big Island, UNC Doctoral Student Maya Little Poured Red Paint on Confederate Statue in Protest

We speak to world-renowned Indian author and activist Arundhati Roy about the increasing incidence of rape in India, as police there say they have arrested the main suspect in an alleged gang rape and murder of a teenage girl. Dhanu Bhuiyan and his accomplices are accused of burning the 16-year-old girl alive on Friday. She was reportedly murdered in the eastern state of Jharkhand after her parents complained to the local village council that she had been raped. The council told accused rapist Dhanu Bhuiyan to do 100 sit-ups and pay a 50,000 rupee fine—that's $750—as punishment. The men were allegedly so enraged by the penalty that they beat the girl's parents, then set her on fire. The attack is just one of the most recent of a series of brutal incidents of sexual violence against minors. Meanwhile, there were 40,000 rapes reported in India in 2016, and 40 percent of the cases involved child victims.

When Mandy Manning received her 2018 Teacher of the Year award at the White House Wednesday, the press was barred from her speech, and President Trump did not mention who she teaches: immigrant and refugee children. While she was at the White House, Manning handed President Donald Trump a stack of letters from her refugee and immigrant students, while billionaire Education Secretary Betsy DeVos looked on. She also wore six politically themed buttons as she accepted her award from Trump, featuring artwork from the 2017 Women's March, a rainbow flag and the slogan "Trans Equality Now!" Mandy Manning joins us from Spokane, Washington, where she is an English and math teacher at the Joel E. Ferris High School. She was named 2018 National Teacher of the Year by the Council of Chief School State Officers.

The Trump administration announced Friday it is ending temporary protected status for nearly 90,000 Hondurans now living in the United States, saying they must return home. TPS is an immigration status granted to foreign nationals who can't safely return to their home countries, and allows them to legally live and work in the United States. Hondurans were first given TPS in 1999 after Hurricane Mitch devastated the country. Critics note Honduras remains the one of the world's most violent countries. The Trump administration has also ended protections for El Salvador, Haiti, Nepal, Nicaragua and Sudan. Only South Sudan and Syria were renewed. An estimated 300,000 people will be impacted overall. We get response from Patricia Montes, an immigrant from Honduras and executive director of Centro Presente in Boston, Massachusetts, which has worked with members from Honduras and Central America since the 1980s. She also has family members who will lose their temporary protected status.

The Trump administration's push to install the CIA's controversial deputy director, Gina Haspel, as the agency's new director faces mounting scrutiny as Haspel is set to begin a Senate confirmation hearing this Wednesday. The Washington Post reports the hearing almost didn't happen, after Haspel attempted to withdraw her name from consideration over opposition to her role in the CIA's torture program under George W. Bush. Wednesday's hearing will mark the first time Haspel has been forced to speak publicly about her role in the U.S. torture program and the destruction of CIA tapes documenting the torture. Haspel's nomination as CIA director has been "sold like a box of cereal" by the agency, says John Prados, senior fellow at the National Security Archive, but with no transparency about her record. As of now, says Prados, there's no public document listing Haspel's duties in her more than 30 years at the CIA.

Report: Trump Aides Hired Israeli Firm for "Dirty Ops" Targeting Supporters of Iran Nuke Deal, Giuliani: Trump to Reject Iran Deal & Supports Regime Change, Israeli Troops Shoot Dead Three Palestinians in Gaza, Trump Terminates TPS for Hondurans, At NRA Convention, Trump Slams Gun Control Laws in France & U.K., Report: Gina Haspel Sought to Withdraw as CIA Pick, Ex-Convict, Coal Baron Don Blankenship Soars Ahead in WV Senate Primary, Entergy Paid Actors to Support New Orleans Power Plant at Public Hearings, Mother & Daughter End 5-Week Tree Sit Protesting Virginia Pipeline, Tens of Thousands of University of California Workers Begin Strike, Pelosi Calls for Ethics Probe of Tony Cárdenas into Sexual Assault Allegations, Writer Junot Díaz Faces Accusation of Sexual Misconduct

As dozens of migrants from Central America remain camped out at the U.S.-Mexico border attempting to seek asylum in the United States, we spend the hour with two of the nation's most celebrated writers, both refugees themselves. Viet Thanh Nguyen was born in Vietnam in 1971. After the fall of Saigon in 1975, he and his family fled to the United States. He is the author of three books, including "The Sympathizer," which won the Pulitzer Prize, and he teaches at the University of Southern California. He is also the editor of a new collection titled "The Displaced: Refugee Writers on Refugee Lives." We are also joined by the Chilean-American writer Ariel Dorfman, who has been described as one of the greatest Latin American novelists. Forty-five years ago, he fled Chile after a U.S.-backed coup displaced President Salvador Allende. Dorfman had served as Allende's cultural adviser from 1970 to 1973. Living in exile, he became one of Gen. Augusto Pinochet's most vocal critics, as well as a celebrated playwright and novelist. Dorfman, who teaches at Duke University, has just published a new novel, "Darwin's Ghosts," and a new collection of essays titled "Homeland Security Ate My Speech." He also contributed an essay to "The Displaced: Refugee Writers on Refugee Lives."

White House Struggles With Trump's Explanations of Hush Money Payment, Trump's Shifting Accounts on Stormy Daniels Payment Sparks Backlash, President Trump and Vice President Pence to Address NRA Convention, NYT: Army Special Forces Are in Yemen, Contrary to Pentagon Claims, Syrian Rebels Evacuate Homs in Russian-Brokered Deal, Gaza: Palestinians Hit by Israeli Bullets as Mass Protests Continue, North Korea Set to Release Imprisoned U.S. Citizens Ahead of Summit, Former Volkswagen CEO Criminally Charged for Violating Clean Air Act, Arizona Public School Teachers Win 20 Percent Raise, Ending Strike, National Teacher of the Year Silently Protests as Trump Awards Prize, Hawaii: Mandatory Evacuation Ordered as Kilauea Volcano Erupts, India: Death Toll from Extreme Weather Rises to 127, Protesters Target Waffle House over Arrest of African-American Patron, After Long Silence by Trump, White House Reaches Out to "Waffle House Hero", Charlottesville, VA: White Nationalist Guilty of Beating Black Man, ProPublica: Active-Duty Marine Joined Violent Far-Right Protests, Georgia Set to Put Condemned Prisoner Robert Earl Butts Jr. to Death, New York City Mayor Backs Plan for Safe Drug Injection Centers, House Chaplain Rescinds Resignation Amid GOP Furor over Tax Bill Prayer, Plowshares Activists Indicted over Protest at Kings Bay Naval Base

We spend the rest of the hour with the legendary, award-winning author Arundhati Roy. She won the Booker Prize in 1997 for her novel "The God of Small Things." In 2017, 20 years after the publication of her first novel, she published another work of fiction, just out in paperback, titled "The Ministry of Utmost Happiness." The novel was longlisted for the Booker Prize and nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award. The book has been hailed as "an elegy for a bulldozed world." Arundhati Roy received the 2002 Lannan Foundation Cultural Freedom Prize, and her journalism and essays have been collected in several books, including "The End of Imagination," "Field Notes on Democracy: Listening to Grasshoppers" and "Capitalism: A Ghost Story."

A standoff continues on the U.S.-Mexico border, where scores of asylum seekers are attempting to cross into the United States after taking part in a month-long caravan that began more than 2,000 miles away in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas. Many of the caravan participants are migrants fleeing violence in Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador. Around 100 have been accepted for processing, but scores remain camped out by the border near San Diego, California, as officials claim the border entry point has limited capacity. President Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions have attacked the migrants in statements and tweets. "It's very clear that President Trump and Attorney General Sessions do not understand this section of federal law," says attorney Nicole Ramos, director of the Border Rights Project of Al Otro Lado, who represents members of the caravan. "The caravan members that are camped out at the border are trying to access a legal process which has existed for decades." We speak with Ramos, who is in Tijuana, Mexico, and with Tristan Call, a volunteer with Pueblo Sin Fronteras, or People Without Borders, just back from spending time with the caravan.

Rudy Giuliani Says Trump Reimbursed Stormy Daniels Hush Money Payment, Trump Denies Affair, Accusing Stormy Daniels of Extortion, Trump Hires Lawyer Who Defended Bill Clinton Against Impeachment, Guantánamo Prisoner Ahmed al-Darbi Transferred to Saudi Arabia, Libya: 12 Dead as Suicide Bombers Strike Tripoli Electoral Office, U.S. Returns Looted Iraqi Artifacts Acquired by Hobby Lobby, Chilean Survivors of Clerical Sexual Assault Meet with Pope Francis, 9 Dead as Aging Puerto Rico Air National Guard Plane Crashes, Puerto Rico Anti-Austerity Protests Continue, Defying Police Violence, Iowa Lawmakers Approve Ban on Most Abortions, 27 More Women Accuse Charlie Rose of Sexual Abuses, Cambridge Analytica to Shut Down After Facebook Privacy Scandal, Two Black Men Who "Trespassed" at Philly Starbucks Settle Lawsuits, Harvard University Will Negotiate with Student Labor Union, Arizona Teachers' Strike Continues as State Budget Talks Stall

Two U.S. human rights lawyers were detained Sunday for 14 hours at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion International Airport before being deported back to the United States. Columbia University's Katherine Franke and Center for Constitutional Rights executive director Vincent Warren were repeatedly questioned about their associations with groups critical of Israel. They were part of a delegation of American civil rights activists heading to Israel and Palestine to learn about the human rights situation and meet with local activists. They arrived back in New York City early Monday. This comes just days after Israeli soldiers shot and killed three Palestinian protesters and wounded hundreds more on Friday, when the soldiers and snipers opened fire during the Palestinians' weekly nonviolent protest near the Gaza border. On Saturday, a fourth protester died after succumbing to his wounds. The nonviolent protests demanding the right for Palestinian refugees to return to their land began on March 30. Since then, the Israeli military has killed at least 42 Palestinians, including two journalists, and injured thousands more. For more, we speak with Vincent Warren, executive director of the Center for Constitutional Rights, and Katherine Franke, professor of law, gender and sexuality studies at Columbia University.

Tuesday was May Day, or International Workers' Day, and hundreds of thousands of workers took to the streets worldwide. Major mobilizations were held across the globe, from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Paris to Jakarta. We hear from May Day protesters here in New York.

Schools are closed for a fifth day in Arizona, as thousands of teachers continue to strike demanding better funding for education. Crowds of striking teachers dressed in red T-shirts have rallied at the state Capitol this week and last to demand a 20 percent pay raise for educators and decreased class sizes, among other demands. The strike began Thursday, with teachers protesting the $1 billion funding cuts to education in the state since the 2008 recession. The teachers' strikes in West Virginia, Kentucky, Oklahoma and Arizona have been described by some as a "red-state revolt." In 2016, Donald Trump won all four states. The Arizona Legislature is expected to vote on a budget today, which organizers say will now include additional funding for education. If the budget passes, teachers say they will return to class tomorrow. We speak to Noah Karvelis, an elementary and middle school music teacher in Phoenix and one of the leaders of #RedForEd and Arizona Educators United. He helped start the teachers' protests in Arizona.

It's been almost eight months since Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, and at least 30,000 homes in Puerto Rico still lack power. As anti-austerity protests hit San Juan, we speak to Giovanni Roberto, director of the Center for Political Development in Puerto Rico.

In Puerto Rico, thousands marked May Day by joining a general strike in the capital of San Juan to protest austerity measures, from the closing of public schools to increases in university tuition. When protesters tried to converge on the building where the federal oversight board has its offices, police fired tear gas and pepper spray. The board has called for the implementation of 10 percent pension cuts, eliminating mandatory Christmas bonuses, reducing required vacation and sick time, and allowing businesses to fire employees without having to first prove a just cause. This comes as at least 30,000 people still lack power almost eight months since Hurricane Maria devastated the island. Last month, an excavator downed a transmission line, blacking out the entire electrical grid. We air a report from the streets of San Juan filed by Democracy Now! correspondent Juan Carlos Dávila.

EPA's Scott Pruitt Faces New Scandals over Ties to Lobbyists, Spending, Foreign Trips, 17 States Sue to Block EPA from Weakening Fuel-Efficiency Car Standards, Immigration and Customs Enforcement Leader Thomas Homan Resigns, Texas & Other States Sue Trump Administration to Force End of DACA, About 2 Dozen Caravan Members Allowed to Apply for Asylum in United States, Nigeria: Dozens Killed in Suicide Bombing Attacks on Mosque in Mubi, Central African Republic: Thousands Protest & Mourn Attack on Church That Killed 15, Armenia: Widespread Anti-Government Protests Continue, Official Autopsy for Stephon Clark Contradicts Family's Independent Autopsy, Kanye West Causes Widespread Outrage with Comments About Slavery, California Supreme Court Ruling Deals Blow to "Gig Economy" Companies, Workers March in Cities Across the World to Mark May Day, Martín Espada Becomes First Latino Poet to Win Prestigious Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize

The National Memorial for Peace and Justice opened last week in Montgomery, Alabama—a monument to victims of white supremacy in the United States. The memorial's centerpiece is a walkway with 800 weathered steel pillars overhead, each of them naming a U.S. county and the people who were lynched there by white mobs. In addition to the memorial dedicated to the victims of lynching, its partner site, the Legacy Museum: From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration, also opened last week. For more, we speak with Bryan Stevenson, the founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, the nonprofit behind the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, the country's first-ever memorial to the victims of lynching in the United States.

In Afghanistan, the funerals have begun for the 10 journalists killed on Monday—the deadliest day for journalists since the Afghan War began in 2001. Nine journalists died in a double suicide bombing attack in Kabul, including Agence France-Presse's celebrated photographer Shah Marai. Survivors of the bombing said the suicide bomber was posing as a cameraman. ISIS has claimed responsibility for that attack. A 10th journalist was shot dead Monday in the eastern city of Khost. For more, we speak with Ali Latifi, a freelance journalist based in Kabul, and Phil Chetwynd, editor-in-chief at Agence France-Presse.

Afghanistan: 10 Journalists Killed in Deadliest Day for Reporters Since 2001, South Korea Dismantles Propaganda Loudspeakers in Latest Step Toward Peace, Netanyahu Claims, Without Evidence, Iran Violated 2015 Nuclear Deal, 8 Migrants from Caravan Allowed to Enter U.S. and Seek Asylum, Reuters: EPA Granted Billionaire Carl Icahn a Financial Hardship Waiver for Refinery, NYT Obtains Mueller's List of Questions He'd Like to Ask Trump, NBC: John Kelly Repeatedly Called Trump an "Idiot", Stormy Daniels Sues Trump for Defamation, After Tweet, Roy Moore Sues 4 Women Who Accused Him of Sexual Assault, Harassment, #MuteRKelly: Women of Color Demand Companies Cut Ties with R. Kelly over Rape Claims, Arizona Teachers and Workers Across the World Set to Strike, Scholar and Activist Joel Kovel Dies at 81 in New York City