Democracy Now!

Three weeks after Puerto Rico was devastated by Hurricane Maria, President Trump asked Congress for $4.9 billion loan to help the island pay government salaries and other expenses. This comes as he allowed a 10-day waiver of the Jones Act to lapse, restricting shipments of food, fuel and medicine from foreign-flagged ships as nearly half of the island still lacks clean water and nearly 90 percent lacks electricity. This comes as military security firms continue to patrol the streets of Puerto Rico's capital San Juan, and Academi, formerly known as Blackwater, has a pending bid to provide security services for water transportation. Meanwhile, solar companies and nonprofits say they could help Puerto Rico regain power. We get an update from Democracy Now!'s Juan González and speak with Rev. Jesse Jackson, civil rights leader and the founder and president of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, who helped to gather aid to send to Puerto Rico, and has written a column published around the country this week titled "How to put Puerto Rico back on its feet."

In California, powerful winds and bone-dry conditions are fueling massive wildfires. A state of emergency has been declared in northern areas as the fires have left at least 17 people dead, destroying whole neighborhoods and forcing 20,000 people to evacuate their homes. The wildfires come after the U.S. Forest Service warned last year that an unprecedented 5-year drought led to the deaths of more than 100 million trees in California, setting the stage for massive fires. Climate scientists believe human-caused global warming played a major role in the drought. We speak with Park Williams, bioclimatologist at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and co-author of a 2016 report showing that global warming is responsible for nearly half of the forest area burned in the western United States over the past three decades.

California: Wildfire from Death Toll Hits 17; Blocks Reduced to Ashes, Puerto Rico: Health System in Dire Condition, 3 Weeks After Hurricane Maria, Officials: Trump Called for Tenfold Increase in Nuclear Weapons Arsenal, More Women Accuse Harvey Weinstein of Rape, Assault & Harassment, Lawmakers Push for End to U.S. Backing for Devastating War in Yemen, Spain Moves to Suspend Catalonia's Autonomy, Philadelphia: Javier Flores Leaves Sanctuary After Winning Immigration Hearing

More than 50 U.S. cities celebrated Indigenous Peoples' Day Monday in place of the federal holiday honoring Christopher Columbus, the Italian explorer who massacred and enslaved Arawak indigenous people while opening the door to the European colonization of the Americas. In New York City, protesters called for the city to make the second Monday of each October Indigenous Peoples' Day. Democracy Now! joined demonstrators for an Anti-Columbus Day Tour at the American Museum of Natural History. Special thanks to producer Andre Lewis.

Last Thursday, a federal judge denied a second request for bail from Reality Winner, the former National Security Agency contractor who is accused of violating the Espionage Act. Winner allegedly passed a top-secret document to The Intercept that claimed Russian military intelligence conducted a cyberattack on at least one U.S. voting software company just days before the 2016 election. Federal Judge Brian Epps of Augusta, Georgia, said his decision to deny bail was based in part on social media comments by Winner that she "admires Edward Snowden and Julian Assange."

Microsoft has joined Facebook in saying it is investigating whether Russian operatives paid for "inappropriate" pro-Trump ads on its Bing search engine and other platforms. Social media giant Facebook has said a Russian company placed thousands of ads on their network at a cost of more than $100,000, including some that targeted states crucial to Trump's victory. Last week, the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee said it reached the conclusion that Russia interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Meanwhile, CIA Director Mike Pompeo has blasted Wikileaks as a hostile intelligence service that is often abetted by state actors like Russia, and Trump adviser Roger Stone declined to confirm to the House Intelligence Committee that he was directly in contact with WikiLeaks about damaging information on then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. We get response from Julian Assange, the founder and editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks.

As we speak with WikiLeaks founder and editor-in-chief Julian Assange, he shares an update on when he may be able to leave the Ecuadorean Embassy in London, where he has sought refuge and political asylum for more than five years. Earlier this year, Swedish prosecutors have dropped an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct by Assange, which he denies and calls a pretext for his ultimate extradition to the United States to face prosecution under the Espionage Act.

Barcelona's Mayor Ada Colau is calling for Spain to remove thousands of state police who have been deployed to Catalonia ahead of tonight's expected declaration of independence by regional President Carles Puigdemont, possibly triggering intervention by Spanish forces. We speak with WikiLeaks founder and editor-in-chief Julian Assange, who has been advising those pushing to secede on how to communicate securely even as the state pushes back.

Mass Evacuations in California as Wildfires Kill at Least 10, EPA Chief Scott Pruitt Repeals Obama-Era Carbon Emissions Rule, Puerto Rico: FEMA Chief Dismisses San Juan Mayor's Criticism as "Political Noise", At Least 23 Rohingya Refugees Die as Boat Capsizes, Afghanistan: Red Cross to Pull Staff Amid Mounting Attacks, Syria: Airstrike in Idlib Province Kills 11 Civilians, French Public Employee Unions Strike over Job Cuts, Sick Pay, Google Says "Suspected Russian Agents" Bought Political Ads in 2016, Blackwater Founder Erik Prince Mulls Wyoming Senate Primary Challenge, Deandre Harris, Beaten by White Supremacists in Virginia, Faces Felony Charge, ESPN Suspends Anchor Jemele Hill After She Tweets Support for NFL Protests, 50+ Cities Celebrate Indigenous Peoples' Day as New Yorkers Protest Columbus

Ai Weiwei has been called the most powerful artist in the world—and the most dangerous man in China. Born in 1957 in Beijing, he spent his childhood and youth in a hard labor camp in the Gobi Desert in remote northwest China. As a student at Beijing Film Academy, he first became involved in art and activism. He spent his twenties in New York City and then returned to China. In 2008, after a massive earthquake in Sichuan, China, Ai Weiwei launched a citizen investigation to collect the names of the more than 5,000 schoolchildren who died, partially as a result of the highly shoddy government construction of the schools. While his citizen investigation catapulted him to international fame, it also enraged Chinese government officials. In 2009, his popular blog was shut down. A few months later, police broke into his hotel room and attacked him, punching him in the face and causing cerebral hemorrhaging. In 2010, Ai Weiwei was placed under house arrest, after the Chinese government demolished his studio. Then, in 2011, he was arrested at the Beijing airport and held for 81 days, without any charges. Chinese authorities seized his passport and refused to return it until 2015. For more on the remarkable life of this world-renowned dissident and artist, we speak with Ai Weiwei.

The United Nations says there are now more refugees worldwide than at any time since World War II. The journey and struggle of these 65 million refugees is the subject of Chinese artist and dissident Ai Weiwei's epic new documentary. It's called "Human Flow." For the documentary, Ai Weiwei traveled to 23 countries and dozens of refugee camps. We speak to world-renowned Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei.

Republican Sen. Bob Corker Warns Trump Taking U.S. Toward "World War III", Trump Threatens War on North Korea, Saying, "Only One Thing Will Work!", Trump Demands Wall Funds, Migrant Crackdown in Exchange for Action on DREAMers, Hurricane Nate Brings Power Outages and Flooding to Gulf Coast, Canadian Government Settles Suit by Indigenous Children Forced into Adoption, Hundreds of Thousands Rally in Barcelona Against Catalan Independence, Russian Police Arrest Hundreds at Banned Rallies Demanding Democracy, Thousands of Israeli and Palestinian Women March for Peace, Mexico: Edgar Daniel Esqueda Assassinated, 11th Journalist Killed in 2017, Ghana: Gas Explosion in Accra Kills Seven, Injures Over 100, Weinstein Company Fires Harvey Weinstein over Sexual Harassment Reports, Protesters Outside White House Loop Footage of Trump's Sex Assault Boasts, Charlottesville, VA: White Nationalists Return 8 Weeks After Violent Protests, Leaked FBI Report Cites "Black Identity Extremists" as Terror Threat, Utah: No Murder Charge for SLC Cop Who Shot Black Cyclist in the Back, Vice President Mike Pence Stages Walkout Amid NFL Player Protests

We end today's show where we began the week: in Puerto Rico. Doctors say the island's health system remains crippled two weeks after Hurricane Maria hit the island, leaving more than 90 percent of the island without electricity and half of its residents without drinking water. That's at least according to statistics published by FEMA on Wednesday. But on Thursday, FEMA removed data about access to drinking water and electricity in Puerto Rico from its website. Democracy Now!'s Juan Carlos Dávila is on the ground in Puerto Rico, and this week he managed to make it to the island of Vieques to speak with residents of the area that the U.S. Navy used as a bombing range for decades. Since the 1940s, the Navy used nearly three-quarters of the island for bombing practice, war games and dumping old munitions. The bombing stopped after a campaign of nonviolent civil disobedience, but the island continues to suffer. The Navy says it will take until 2025 to remove all the environmental damage left by more than 60 years of target practice. Juan Carlos filed this report from Vieques in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria.

On Thursday, the National Rifle Association said it would support additional regulation on the gun accessory known as "bump stocks." Investigators believe the device was used in Sunday night's mass shooting in Las Vegas, in which Stephen Paddock, a 64-year-old white man, killed 59 people, including himself, and injured nearly 500 people. Authorities say Paddock bought at least 12 bump stocks, which allow semi-automatic rifles to act like machine guns, capable of firing hundreds of rounds a minute. But many say the "bump stocks" regulations do not go far enough to prevent future mass shootings. We go to Las Vegas, where we are joined by Annette Magnus-Marquart, executive director of the Nevada-based Battle Born Progress, which advocates for gun control.

Amid news of the Nobel Peace Prize being awarded to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, we turn now to look at whether President Donald Trump is trying to sabotage the Obama-brokered nuclear agreement with Iran and seek a war with Iran. According to The Washington Post, Trump is expected to announce next week the deal is not in the United States' national interest, and will move to "decertify" the deal. If this happens, Congress will decide whether or not to reinstate harsh economic sanctions against Iran, potentially tanking the landmark deal. The move comes despite the fact the Trump administration begrudgingly certified that Iran has complied with its obligations under the agreement earlier this year, as has the International Atomic Energy Agency, which closely monitors Iran's activities.

As the Nobel Committee made their announcement today in Oslo, President Trump is expected to "decertify" the landmark 2015 Iran nuclear deal next week. We speak with Tim Wright, the Asia-Pacific director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, and go to Tehran and Washington to get response.

The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons Wins Nobel Peace Prize, WaPo: Trump to Decertify Landmark Iran Nuclear Deal, Trump Issues Cryptic Threat: "The Calm Before the Storm", Tropical Storm Nate Kills 22 in Central America, Tesla's Elon Musk Proposes Solving Puerto Rico Electrical Crisis with Solar Power, NRA & Lawmakers Support Regulation for Gun Devices "Bump Stocks", Ivanka & Kushner Rerouted Emails to Trump Organization Servers, White House: John Kelly's Personal Cellphone May Have Been Hacked, Mueller's Investigators Met with British Intelligence Agent Christopher Steele, NYT Reveals Decades of Sexual Harassment Accusations Against Harvey Weinstein, Anti-Abortion Rep. Tim Murphy Resigns After Lover Reveals He Pressured Her to Have Abortion, Trump Admin to Limit Affordable Care Act Contraceptive Coverage, Interior Department Official Joel Clemente Resigns in Protest, Pakistan: Suicide Bombing at Shiite Mosque Kills 20, Red Cross Warns of Harrowing Spike in Violence Across Syria, In Rebuke to Trump, California Adopts "Sanctuary State" Law

We get response from Puerto Rican-born Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-NY) to President Trump's visit to the island two weeks after Hurricane Maria, and his comments that he would help the U.S. territory wipe out its $73 billion debt to help it recover from the extensive damage caused by Hurricane Maria. White House budget director Mick Mulvaney later walked back the remarks.

As the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee says it has reached the conclusion that Russia interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, and CNN reports a number of Russian-linked Facebook ads specifically targeted Michigan and Wisconsin, two states crucial to Trump's victory in November, we speak with Russian-American journalist Masha Gessen. "We don't know if there was a conspiracy," Gessen says of allegations the Trump campaign colluded with Russia. "But even if there was, we should do our best to try not to engage in conspiracy thinking. … It lends itself to this idea that once we discover that Trump colluded with the Russians, that we'll magically get rid of Trump." She says it is unlikely the investigation will produce the kind of evidence of collusion that could be used as a legal basis for impeachment, and argues impeachment is unlikely while Republicans have control of both houses of Congress.

As the Senate Intelligence Committee says Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election, we discuss Russia and Trump with Russian-American journalist Masha Gessen. Her new book, "The Future is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia," has just been shortlisted for the National Book Award and offers a warning to the United States today as she points to the similarities between Trump and Putin, and warns of the threat of autocracy under a Trump presidency.

Budget Director Walks Back Trump's Comments on Forgiving Puerto Rico Debt, Las Vegas Shooter Stockpiled Dozens of Firearms & 12 Devices to Turn Rifles into Machine Guns, Senate Intelligence Committee Hasn't Ruled Out Collusion Between Russia & Trump, Report: Ivanka & Donald Jr. Were Nearly Charged with Felony Fraud in 2012, Tillerson Denies He's Considered Resigning over Conflicts with Trump, Iraqi Military Says It's Seized Control of Hawija from ISIS, Egypt Launches Widening Crackdown Against LGBT Community, First Syrian Regime Soldier Convicted of War Crime, Israeli Military Seals Off West Bank & Gaza for 11 Days, Aung San Suu Kyi Stripped of Freedom of Oxford Award over Crackdown on Rohingya, House Passes Bill to Criminalize Abortion After 20 Weeks, St. Louis: 140+ Arrested Blocking I-64 over Acquittal of White Cop for Killing Anthony Lamar Smith, Prisoner Rights Advocate John Thompson Dies at 55

We get reaction to President Trump's attack on NFL players protesting racism from Bishop William Barber, president of Repairers of the Breach and author of "The Third Reconstruction: Moral Mondays, Fusion Politics, and the Rise of a New Justice Movement." "The president is trying to change the issue," Barber says. "Kaepernick knelt because he was saying the nation is not living up to its promise—one nation under God, liberty and justice for all—because African-American men, unarmed, are being shot—and women—in the street by people who have sworn to protect and serve."

This weekend hundreds will gather in Raleigh for the North Carolina NAACP State Convention, the last one that will be presided over by Bishop William Barber II as president of the state conference. Rev. Dr. Barber announced he would not run for re-election to his post earlier this year, in order to focus on his work with Repairers of the Breach and the launch of a Poor People's Campaign. In what he says is a national call for moral revival, Barber is on a 15-state public event tour to address issues of systemic racism, poverty, militarism and ecological devastation, and spread North Carolina's Moral Mondays movement nationwide in a push that draws on the history and unfinished work of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1967-'68 Poor People's Campaign, which called for America to stand against what King called the "triplets of evil"— systemic racism, poverty and militarism. Bishop Barber joins us in our studio and says right now he is focused in part on voting rights. "It is amazing to me that we're having a conversation about Russian hacking, but we're not having a conversation about racialized voter suppression, which is systemic racism, which is a tool of white nationalism, which is a direct threat to our democracy."

In the aftermath of the deadly shooting in Las Vegas Sunday night by 64-year-old Stephen Paddock that left 59 people dead and 527 others wounded, we look at calls for gun control and how Australia worked to change its culture of gun violence after a massacre 20 years ago—and won. In April of 1996, a gunman opened fire on tourists in Port Arthur, Tasmania, killing 35 and wounding 23 others. Within 12 days of the attack, Australia's conservative government announced a bipartisan deal to enact gun control measures. There has not been another mass shooting in Australia since. We speak with Rebecca Peters, who led the campaign to reform Australia's gun laws after the Port Arthur massacre and is now an international arms control advocate and part of the International Network on Small Arms.

Puerto Rico officials say the death toll from Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico has increased from 16 to 34, though the Center for Investigative Journalism reports that number could still rise. The announcement came after President Donald Trump visited the U.S. territory on Tuesday and repeatedly praised his administration's response to the storm, comparing it to George W. Bush's handling of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. During Trump's visit, protesters also gathered outside the convention center in San Juan. On Tuesday evening, Trump shocked observers by suggesting that he might seek to cancel Puerto Rico's $74 billion debt. We get response from Democracy Now!'s Juan González.

Puerto Rico Death Toll Rises as President Trump Lauds Hurricane Response, Protesters in San Juan Blast Trump's Hurricane Response, U.S. Militarism, Leaked Photos Show Las Vegas Shooter's Arsenal, Casino Workers Say They Witnessed Las Vegas Shooter Abuse Girlfriend, House Suspends Silencer Bill as Senate Leader Rejects New Gun Controls, Sen. Bernie Sanders: Tax Bill Would Give $52 Billion Break to Walton Family, Defense Secretary Mattis Opposes Withdrawal from Iran Nuclear Deal, NBC: Secretary of State Tillerson Called President Trump a "Moron", U.S. Expels Cuban Diplomats Amid Dispute over "Sonic Attacks", Spain: Hundreds of Thousands Join Catalan Independence Protests, Parts of French State of Emergency to Become Permanent Under New Bill, Former Iraqi Leader Jalal Talabani Dies at 83, Mexico: Earthquake Death Toll at 366 as Last Body Recovered from Site, Scotland Bans Oil and Gas Fracking, Equifax CEO Apologizes to Congress over Data Breach Affecting 143 Million, Yahoo Says All 3 Billion User Accounts Were Breached in 2013 Hack, Ben & Jerry's Signs Labor Agreement Protecting Farmworkers

As President Trump travels to Puerto Rico two weeks after it was devastated by Hurricane Maria, we go to the island for an on-the-ground report. Democracy Now!'s correspondent Juan Carlos Dávila traveled to the town of Utuado to speak with residents who have yet to get help other than a few bottles of water. He also joins us live in the capital San Juan from a protest against Trump's visit.

Efforts by President Donald Trump to ease some restrictions on U.S. weapons sales overseas have raised concerns as he considers changes that would allow the State Department and Pentagon to more actively advocate on behalf of American arms manufacturers. The move could be included in an executive order or presidential memorandum Trump plans to issue this fall. This comes as the United States is already the global leader in weapons exports, accounting for more than half the world's annual arms deals. We speak with William Hartung, the director of the Arms and Security Project at the Center for International Policy.

As details emerge about the massacre in Las Vegas, the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, Republican leaders called for a moment for national mourning and prayer, even as lawmakers advanced a pair of bills that would liberalize gun laws. One measure that could pass the House as early as this week would remove long-standing restrictions on silencers. Another bill expected to move through Congress this fall would allow people to lawfully carry concealed weapons across state lines into jurisdictions that don't allow them. We speak with two journalists following the story: Kira Lerner is a political reporter at ThinkProgress, and Lois Beckett is a senior reporter at The Guardian covering gun policy, criminal justice and the far right in the United States.

As the the toll from Sunday night's mass shooting in Las Vegas rose to 59 dead and 527 wounded, we go to Nevada to speak about the state's lax gun laws with Elizabeth Becker, the former head of the Nevada chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. "The people of Nevada want every gun sale … to have to undergo a background check," Becker says.

Las Vegas: 59 Dead, 527 Injured as Police Search for Shooter's Motive, Las Vegas Shooter Stephen Paddock Had Arsenal of 42 Guns, Explosives, Republicans Call for Mourning and Prayer Amid Push to Liberalize Gun Laws, Trump to Visit Puerto Rico After Calling Critics "Politically Motivated Ingrates", Supreme Court Opens Term with Workers' Rights Case, White House Advisers Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump Used Private Email Server, Yemen: ICRC Warns of New Outbreaks as Cholera Cases Near 1 Million, Syria: 11 Dead as Suicide Bombs Target Damascus Police Station, Kenyan Police Clash with Supporters of Opposition Presidential Candidate, Spain: Mass Protests Continue as EU Rejects Catalan Independence Vote, New York Judge Throws Out Case Against Activist Prosecuted by NYPD, Rock Legend Tom Petty Dies of a Heart Attack at 66

In Spain, tensions are escalating over Sunday's independence referendum in the northeast region of Catalonia. More than 800 people were injured after Spanish police stormed polling stations and tried to forcibly prevent people from voting, firing tear gas and physically attacking prospective voters. Late on Sunday night, the Catalan regional government said 90 percent of Catalan voters chose independence. The Catalan government now says it plans to unilaterally declare independence from Spain within 48 hours. Spain says it will recognize neither the results of the referendum nor a declaration of independence. The escalating conflict is being described as the biggest constitutional crisis in Spain since the end of the Franco dictatorship in the 1970s. For more, we speak with Sebastiaan Faber, professor of Hispanic studies at Oberlin College and author of the forthcoming book "Memory Battles of the Spanish Civil War: History, Fiction, Photography." He's the co-author of an article in The Nation headlined "Have Spain and Catalonia Reached a Point of No Return?" We also speak with Pau Faus, filmmaker and writer from Barcelona, Spain. His recent documentary "Ada for Mayor" follows the campaign of Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau.

The U.S. military has sent more than 4,000 soldiers to Puerto Rico as the island continues to grapple with a dire shortage of clean water, food and electricity nearly two weeks after Hurricane Maria. For more on the militarization of Puerto Rico in the aftermath of the devastating storm, we speak with Xiomara Caro Diaz, lawyer, activist and director of New Organizing Projects at the Center for Popular Democracy.

Nearly two weeks after Hurricane Maria slammed into Puerto Rico, the capital San Juan is still facing a dire lack of food, clean water and electricity. Hanging over one of San Juan's freeway overpasses near the neighborhood of Playita are multiple cloth signs reading, in Spanish, "SOS Playita needs food and water." We air voices from Puerto Rico's neighborhood of Río Piedras in the capital, San Juan, speaking about the self-organized relief efforts in the wake of Hurricane Maria. Special thanks to Democracy Now!'s Juan Carlos Dávila.

President Trump is slated to visit Puerto Rico tomorrow, nearly two weeks after Hurricane Maria devastated the island. Puerto Rico's 3.5 million residents still have nearly no electricity and dwindling supplies of food, fuel and fresh water. San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz has begged the federal government for more help, warning, "We are dying, and you are killing us with the inefficiency and the bureaucracy." For more, we speak with Juan González, Democracy Now! co-host, former staff writer at the New York Daily News and author. His new book is called "Reclaiming Gotham: Bill de Blasio and the Movement to End America's Tale of Two Cities."

Nearly two weeks after Hurricane Maria devastated the island, Puerto Rico's 3.5 million residents still have nearly no electricity, and supplies of food, fuel and freshwater are dwindling. President Trump is scheduled to visit Puerto Rico on Tuesday, but attacked San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz in a series of tweets while he was at his private golf resort in Bedminister, New Jersey, this weekend. Trump wrote, "The Mayor of San Juan, who was very complimentary only a few days ago, has now been told by the Democrats that you must be nasty to Trump. Such poor leadership ability by the Mayor of San Juan, and others in Puerto Rico, who are not able to get their workers to help. They want everything to be done for them when it should be a community effort. 10,000 Federal workers now on Island doing a fantastic job." Trump drew outrage for his tweets, including from acclaimed playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda, the creator and original star of "Hamilton." On Saturday, Miranda tweeted, "You're going straight to hell, @realDonaldTrump. No long lines for you. Someone will say, 'Right this way, sir.' They'll clear a path." We speak with Luis Miranda Jr., the father of Lin-Manuel Miranda and a founding partner of the MirRam Group consulting firm. His new piece for the New York Daily News is titled "Puerto Ricans aren't 'lazy' and will remember Trump's bad hurricane response." Both he and his son, Lin-Manuel, have been raising money for Hurricane Maria relief efforts.

At Least 50 Dead as Gunman Opens Fire on Las Vegas Music Festival, 12 Days After Hurricane, Over Half of Puerto Ricans Lack Clean Water, Trump Attacks San Juan Mayor After She Criticizes Hurricane Response, Spanish Police Launch Massive Crackdown on Catalonia Independence Vote, Trump Undercuts Secretary of State's Efforts to Negotiate with North Korea, U.S. to Draw Down Staff at Havana Embassy Following "Sonic Attacks", HHS Secretary Tom Price Resigns over Travel Cost Scandal, Syria: Rescuers Say 28 Civilians Die in Airstrikes on Idlib Province, Iraq Bans Flights to Kurdish Region as Turkey Warns Kurds over Independence, Cameroon: Police Kill 8 Pro-Independence Protesters in Anglophone Region, Germany Holds Same-Sex Weddings as Marriage Equality Law Takes Effect, Argentina: Thousands March Demanding Answers over Disappeared Activist, 9 Million Children at Risk of Losing Affordable Care as CHIP Funding Lapses, St. Louis: Protests Continue over Acquittal of White Former Officer, Thousands Join Marches for Racial Justice Around the U.S.

We speak with Michael Moore, the Academy Award-winning filmmaker behind "Michael Moore in TrumpLand," "Fahrenheit 9/11," "Bowling for Columbine" and "Sicko." Now, Moore has added theater production to his list of accomplishments with his debut play, "The Terms of My Surrender." He launched the production with the question, "Can a Broadway show take down a sitting president?" and lays out a roadmap of what he believes needs to happen next.

Good news or fake news? Acting Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke and the Trump administration defend their response to the unfolding humanitarian crisis in Puerto Rico, where many of the 3.5 million residents remain without electricity and are desperate for fresh water, food and other supplies. We speak with Laura Moscoso, a data journalist at the Puerto Rico-based Center for Investigative Journalism. She says the death toll is much higher than the government reports, noting, "Our phones have been ringing with many testimonies."

Desperately Needed Aid Piles Up at Puerto Rican Ports as Distribution Lags, Thousands From Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands Evacuate on Cruise Ship, Lawmakers Call Hurricane Response "Inexcusably Slow and Ineffective", Report: Climate Change Costs U.S. Economy Hundreds of Billions of Dollars, Syria: Civilians Die in Russian, Syrian and U.S.-Led Coalition Airstrikes, Somalia: Car Bomb Attack in Mogadishu Kills Seven, Rohingya Refugee Boat Capsizes Off Bangladesh, Killing 13, HHS Secretary Tom Price Apologizes over Taxpayer-Funded Charter Flights, Protests Against Education Secretary Betsy DeVos Decry School Privatization, Rep. Steve Scalise Returns to Congress for First Time Since Shooting, ICE Arrests Hundreds of Undocumented Immigrants in Sanctuary Cities, North Dakota: Standing Rock Tribal Chair Who Fought Pipeline Loses Election, Abortion Rights Activists March for Safe and Legal Abortions Across Europe

As we broadcast from UNESCO in Paris, we speak with Tarja Halonen, who was elected in 2000 as Finland's first female president and served until 2012. Her election came about 100 years after Finland became the first European country where women were given the right to vote. In 2009, Forbes named Halonen among the 100 Most Powerful Women in the world. Since leaving office, she has become a prominent advocate for gender equality as well as transparency. She spoke today to mark the International Day for the Universal Access to Information, and we asked her about the country's cost-effective healthcare system, which she says has given Finland "a lower infant mortality rate, better maternity care than the United States."

The African nation of Namibia found itself in the news last week after President Trump mispronounced its name during a speech at the United Nations. Trump's reference to the nonexistent Nambia left many observers confused as to whether he was referring to the Gambia or Zambia or Namibia. White House officials later clarified to say Trump meant to say Namibia. During that same speech, Trump congratulated African leaders for helping make his friends rich. We find out more from one of Namibia's best-known journalists, Gwen Lister, who is in Paris to speak today at UNESCO. She is the founding editor of the independent newspaper The Namibian, which reported critically on the apartheid South African regime. During the 1980s, she was jailed twice, and her newspaper's office was destroyed by arson. The building was later firebombed in the 1990s after Namibia became independent. Gwen Lister has since become a leading advocate for press freedom. She is a founding member of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, which gained fame for publishing the Panama Papers, which exposed how the world's rich used tax havens to hide their wealth. Gwen Lister is speaking today here at UNESCO to mark the International Day for the Universal Access to Information.

As we broadcast from Paris, we examine political turmoil in France, where it has been less than five months since the centrist political figure Emmanuel Macron defeated Marine Le Pen to become France's youngest president ever. While Macron won in a landslide, opinion polls show most French voters now oppose how he has governed. On Saturday, leftist opposition leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon led up to 150,000 people in a protest against Macron and his attempt to rewrite France's labor law. Meanwhile, human rights groups are criticizing Macron for pushing a new anti-terror law that would make permanent key parts of France's state of emergency, which went into effect after the 2015 Paris attacks. "The situation in France is highly volatile, both socially, economically and politically," says our guest Yasser Louati, a French human rights and civil rights activist.

Puerto Rico: Hospitals in Crisis Amid Shortages of Water, Power and Medicine, Climate Activists Occupy Senate Leader McConnell's Office, Trump Unveils Tax Plan That Would Overwhelmingly Favor the Wealthiest, Federal Judge Blasts Trump's Move to End DACA as "Heartless", Libyan Coast Guard Boards Humanitarian Aid Vessel in Search of Migrants, Iraqi Government Threatens Kurdish Region over Independence Vote, Spanish Police Seize Ballot Boxes Ahead of Catalonia Independence Vote, U.S. Airstrike Kills Afghan Civilian After Taliban Attack Pentagon Chief, Ugandan Lawmakers Brawl in Parliament over Presidential Age Limit, Israel Shortens Sentence for Soldier Convicted of Killing Palestinian, Interpol Recognizes the State of Palestine as a New Member, Bangladesh: Nearly 500,000 Rohingya Refugees Have Fled Burma Since Last Month, Cameroon Military Forces 100,000 Refugees to Return to Nigeria, NFL Star Rishard Matthews on Anthem: "I Will Kneel Until Trump Apologizes", Hugh Hefner, Founder of Playboy Magazine, Dead at 91

As a series of destructive hurricanes hit the United States, devastating floods in South Asia have killed more than 1,300 people. "[Bangladesh] is the most densely populated country in the world. … It's becoming a situation where we will have have hundreds of thousands of climate refugees," says Muhammad Yunus, founder of Grameen Bank and recipient of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize. His new book is titled "A World of Three Zeros: The New Economics of Zero Poverty, Zero Unemployment, and Zero Net Carbon Emissions."

In the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Burma, more than 400,000 members of the Rohingya Muslim minority have fled the country after hundreds of their villages were burned to the ground. The U.N. high commissioner for human rights has accused the Burmese government of waging a textbook example of ethnic cleansing. In recent days, Bangladeshi authorities have sharply restricted the movements of Rohingya refugees, telling them they can't leave their makeshift camps, ordering drivers not to transport Rohingya and landlords not to rent to them. We get response from Muhammad Yunus, the founder of Grameen Bank and recipient of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize. He and over a dozen other Nobel Peace laureates have signed a letter calling on the United Nations Security Council to intervene to protect the Rohingya and end the humanitarian crisis in Rakhine, Burma. Yunus's new book is "A World of Three Zeros: The New Economics of Zero Poverty, Zero Unemployment, and Zero Net Carbon Emissions."

Amid growing calls for the creation of an independent probe into human rights violations in the U.S.-backed Saudi bombing campaign in Yemen, we speak with Radhya Al-Mutawakel, chairwoman of the Yemeni NGO Mwatana Organization for Human Rights. She became the first representative of Yemeni civil society to brief the U.N. Security Council on the war in Yemen. The three-year war in Yemen has killed more than 10,000 civilians, ravaging the country's infrastructure and triggering a massive cholera outbreak.

One week after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, President Donald Trump says he will visit the island next Tuesday, even as most of the 3.5 million U.S. citizens who live there remain in the dark, without access to power, clean water, food and fuel. Facing withering criticism, Trump held a press conference Tuesday and denied he has neglected the disaster. His administration also denied a request from several members of Congress to waive shipping restrictions to help get gasoline and other supplies to Puerto Rico as it recovers, even though the Department of Homeland Security waived the Jones Act twice in the last month following hurricanes Harvey and Irma, which hit the mainland United States. We speak with Democracy Now! co-host Juan González and with former New York State Assemblyman Nelson Denis, who wrote about the Jones Act in The New York Times this week in a piece headlined "The Law Strangling Puerto Rico." His book is called "War Against All Puerto Ricans: Revolution and Terror in America's Colony."

After Maria, Puerto Rican Residents Say Aid Is Not Arriving Fast Enough, Senate Republicans Officially Abandon Graham-Cassidy Healthcare Bill, Roy Moore Wins Alabama Senate Runoff, Despite Trump's Backing of His Opponent, WaPo: Acting Head of DEA to Resign over Trump, DHS Planning to Collect Social Media Information on All Immigrants, San Diego: Construction on Prototypes for Trump's Border Wall Begins, Trump to Cap Number of Refugees Resettled in U.S. at Lowest Level Since 1980, Trump Doubles Down on Attacks on NFL Players Protesting Racism and Police Brutality, Iraqi Kurdish Leader Says Overwhelming Majority Voted for Independence, Mexico: Anger Grows over Government's Handling of Earthquake, Mexico: Families Mark Third Anniversary of Disappearance of 43 Students, After Decades of Protests, Saudi Arabian Women Win the Right to Drive

As many parts of the United States recover from a devastating series of hurricanes, we end today's show with an update from one of the hardest-hit communities along the Gulf Coast. Port Arthur, Texas, is a fenceline community with several massive oil refineries that flooded during Hurricane Harvey. Just last week, a fire at the Valero oil refinery in Port Arthur released nearly 1 million pounds of emissions into the air, prompting residents to stay in their homes for hours. Meanwhile, the 3,600-acre Motiva oil refinery in Port Arthur says it plans to continue a multibillion-dollar expansion of its facility, which is already the largest in the United States. This comes as hundreds of displaced Port Arthur residents whose homes were flooded during the storm continue to live in tents. We speak with environmental justice activist Hilton Kelley, who made history in 2011 when he became the first African-American man to win the "Green Nobel Prize"—the Goldman Environmental Prize. Kelley is the executive director and founder of the Community In-Power and Development Association. His restaurant and home were both flooded during Hurricane Harvey.