Democracy Now!

In a rare bipartisan effort Tuesday, House lawmakers voted 258 to 159 to exempt banks with less than $250 billion in assets from many of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act regulations, even though banks' profits are soaring. The Dodd-Frank Act was passed after the 2008 economic crisis, which was provoked by years of risky lending by Wall Street banks. Thirty-three Democrats joined their Republican counterparts in voting for the financial regulation rollback, which, if signed into law, would leave less than 10 banks in the U.S. subject to stricter federal oversight. For more, we speak with Minnesota Democratic Congressmember Keith Ellison. He is the first Muslim member of Congress and the deputy chair of the Democratic National Committee, or DNC.

Voters in Georgia, Texas, Arkansas and Kentucky headed to the polls Tuesday to determine a number of key primaries, and it was another big night for female Democratic candidates. In Georgia, Stacey Abrams made history by becoming the first African-American woman to win a major party's nomination for governor in the U.S. If Abrams wins in November, she will become the first African-American governor in the Deep South since Reconstruction. Meanwhile in Houston, Texas, Lupe Valdez made history by becoming the first openly gay and first Latina candidate to win a major-party nomination for Texas governor. For more, we speak with Minnesota Democratic Congressmember Keith Ellison, deputy chair of the Democratic National Committee.

President Trump Casts Doubt on June 12 Summit with North Korea's Leader, Congress Passes Sweeping Bill to Roll Back Dodd-Frank Act Regulations, Palestinian Authority Asks ICC to Investigate Israel for War Crimes, Stacey Abrams Is First Black Woman to Win Major Party's Nomination for Governor, The Guardian: Giuliani Helped OxyContin Maker Continue Drug Sales, Afghanistan: 16 Die in Explosion in Kandahar; Taliban Kill 22 Police Officers in Ghazni, Pakistan: Severe Heat Wave in Karachi Kills At Least 65 People, IACHR Condemns Nicaragua for Bloody April Crackdown Against Protesters, EPA Officials Bar Multiple Journalists from Summit on Water Contamination, 10 McDonald's Workers File Sexual Harassment Complaints, Virginia Judge Rules in Favor of Transgender Student Gavin Grimm

Top FBI and Justice Department officials have confirmed they will meet with congressional leaders to review classified information on the handling of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into potential ties between Russia and the Trump campaign. This comes after President Trump demanded an investigation into whether the FBI infiltrated his presidential campaign. Trump has claimed for months, without evidence, that the Obama administration spied on his campaign. Legal experts say his tweet Sunday crossed a line by applying overt presidential pressure on the Justice Department, which could possibly set up a clash similar to the one between President Nixon and the Justice Department during the Watergate scandal. 
The finding of wrongdoing by Trump could ultimately be referred to Congress and make impeachment a topic of debate among candidates in the midterm elections, though few Democratic leaders have openly supported it. This comes as Texas Democratic Congressmember Al Green doubled down on his effort to impeach Trump, a year after he first announced he was drafting articles of impeachment. We get an update from John Bonifaz, an attorney and president of Free Speech For People, one of the organizations that launched the "Impeach Donald Trump Now" campaign.

While the royal wedding has been heralded for celebrating black culture, the British government is facing ongoing scrutiny for hostile immigration policies that have targeted black immigrants. Last month, British Home Secretary Amber Rudd resigned amid an escalating scandal over how thousands of Caribbean immigrants who have lived in Britain for decades are facing discrimination and deportation despite having legally immigrated to Britain after World War II. Known as the Windrush generation, many of the immigrants never formalized their citizenship after they immigrated from former British colonies. Now, following harsh new anti-immigration laws enacted in 2012, many of them are facing eviction, unemployment and the possibility of deportation. The British government has admitted that more than 60 people may have been wrongfully deported. We speak with Gabrielle Bruney, editor for Esquire. Her new piece is "The Royal Wedding Celebrated the Contributions of Black Britons, but it comes amid a scandal rooted in the British government's mistreatment of Caribbean people." We are also joined by Priya Gopal, a university lecturer in the faculty of English at the University of Cambridge.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were married Saturday at Windsor Castle in a ceremony that many heralded for celebrating black culture and history. Markle is biracial, divorced and a self-proclaimed feminist. The wedding featured a sermon about slavery, poverty and the enduring power of love by Bishop Michael Curry, the first African American to preside over the Episcopal Church. The British royal family is a "celebration of wealth, of elitism, of privilege in the hands of the few, of all the resources concentrated in the hands of a very small percentage of the country. In that sense it very much represents the current economic order in which we all live," says Priya Gopal, a university lecturer in the faculty of English at the University of Cambridge.

On Monday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo used his first major policy address to threaten Iran with "the strongest sanctions in history." Pompeo presented a list of 12 "basic requirements" for a _new_ nuclear treaty with Iran, including "unqualified access" to all nuclear sites and an end to its interventions in Yemen. This comes just under two weeks after the Trump administration withdrew the United States from the Iran nuclear deal. "Pompeo and Bolton have made the choice for the international community much, much easier," says Trita Parsi, founder and president of the National Iranian American Council. "Either you collaborate with the Trump administration and go along with these sanctions, walk away from this nuclear deal and speed up this march toward war—or you resist."

Mike Pompeo Threatens Iran with “Strongest Sanctions in History”, Pence Threatens North Korea as U.S.-N.K. Summit Looks Increasingly Imperiled, Trump Meets with Christopher Wray, Rod Rosenstein at White House, Gina Haspel Sworn In as CIA Director, In 5-4 Ruling, Supreme Court Deals Major Blow to Workers’ Rights, Financial Regulators Slated to Roll Back Volcker Rule, U.S. and China Back Away from Threats of Trade War, Volcanic Eruptions Threaten Geothermal Power Plant on Hawaii’s Big Island, Oakland Residents Throw "BBQing While Black" Party After White Woman Called Police on Black Men for Grilling, Georgia Primary: Stacey Abrams Running to Become First Black Female Governor in U.S., Lawyer and Civil Rights Pioneer Dovey Johnson Roundtree Dies at 104

As details surface about the school shooting in Santa Fe, Texas, Friday that left 10 dead, a familiar pattern has emerged: The shooter was a white male who had been rejected by a female classmate. The mother of Shana Fisher, one of the victims in the art classroom where police say 17-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis entered and opened fire, told the Los Angeles Times that her 16-year-old daughter "had 4 months of problems from this boy. ... He kept making advances on her and she repeatedly told him no." Sadie Rodriguez said her daughter recently stood up to Pagourtzis in class, and "a week later he opens fire on everyone he didn't like." The Santa Fe shooting echoes another that followed rejection: In March, 16-year-old Jaelynn Willey was shot in the head at Great Mills High School by 17-year-old Austin Wyatt Rollins after she had ended their relationship. Her injuries left her brain dead. She later died after she was taken off life support by her family. We are joined by Soraya Chemaly, a journalist who covers the intersection of gender and politics. She is the director of the Women's Media Center Speech Project.

One of the 10 victims in the Santa Fe High School shooting was Sabika Sheikh, an exchange student from Pakistan. She was due to return to her home country in June after participating in an exchange program sponsored by the State Department. CNN reporter Saeed Ahmed compared the shooting of Sheikh to that of Malala Yousafzai, who was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman who boarded her school bus in 2012. Ahmed wrote, "Both are Pakistani girls: One, Malala, was shot on her way to school by a militant in Swat, near Pakistan's border with Afghanistan. She survived. The other, Sabika, was shot by a fellow student inside a school in Santa Fe, Texas. She died. But, as many ruefully pointed out, that's where the comparison ends." He went on to quote blogger Asfandyar Bhittani, who tweeted that, unlike Malala, "Sabika Sheikh will be forgotten before next weekend." We're joined by Murtaza Hussain, a reporter at The Intercept focusing on national security, foreign policy and human rights.

We look at the latest in a series of deadly mass shootings at U.S. schools: Friday morning in Texas, 17-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis entered Santa Fe High School and shot dead 10 people—eight fellow students and two teachers. He used a shotgun and a .38 revolver taken from his father to carry out the murders. Ahead of the attack, Pagourtzis posted on his Facebook page a picture of a T-shirt he wore Friday that read "Born to Kill." Some Texas officials responded to Friday's shooting with calls for prayers and blamed abortion and violent video games. The incoming National Rifle Association president, Oliver North, blamed Ritalin for school shootings. We get an update from Kolten Parker of The Texas Observer and Ed Scruggs of Texas Gun Sense.

8 Students & 2 Teachers Killed in Shooting Rampage at Santa Fe, TX High School, NYT: Trump Jr. Met with Israeli Social Media Manipulation Expert Ahead of 2016 Election, On Twitter, Trump Demands DOJ Probe Alleged Surveillance of Trump Campaign, Trump to Meet with South Korean President at White House Tuesday, Cuba: 110 People Die in Plane Crash Outside Havana, Afghanistan: 8 Killed in Bombing at Cricket Match in Jalalabad, All of Chile's Roman Catholic Bishops Offer Resignation over Sex Abuse Scandal, Saudi Government Arrests Slew of Prominent Saudi Feminist Activists, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro Wins New 6-Year Term, Asia Argento at Cannes: I Was Raped by Harvey Weinstein, Royal Wedding Celebrates African-American Culture and History, Survivors of White Supremacist Attack in Charlottesville Marry

Whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg is best known for leaking information about U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War in 1971, but he also drafted plans for nuclear war as a consultant to the Department of Defense and the White House as detailed in his book, "The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner.” He joins us in Santa Cruz to discuss nuclear war, North and South Korea and Iran. He says Trump withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal has "no imaginable benefit to anybody, except for those mad men who want to see Iran destroyed,” referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Saudi Arabia.

Whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg was a high-level defense analyst in 1971 when he leaked a top-secret report on U.S. involvement in Vietnam to The New York Times and other publications that came to be known as the Pentagon Papers and played a key role in ending the Vietnam War. We speak with Ellsberg about the recent 50th anniversary of one of the most famous acts of civil disobedience in the United States. On May 17, 1968, Catholic priests and activists broke into a draft board office in Catonsville, Maryland, and stole 378 draft cards and burned them in the parking lot as a protest against the Vietnam War. They became known as the Catonsville Nine. Ellsberg discusses the role nonviolent direct action can play in social movements. Ellsberg says that the ending of the war in Vietnam "relied on a lot of people doing unusual things."

The Environmental Protection Agency is facing a major new scandal after it worked with the White House to bury an alarming federal study detailing widespread chemical contamination of the nation's water supply. One Trump administration official warned release of the study would create a "public relations nightmare." The study found chemicals commonly present in Teflon and firefighting foam are a threat to human health at levels the EPA had previously called safe. We speak with Robert Bilott, the attorney the New York Times calls the the "worst nightmare of DuPont," the manufacturer of Teflon. He successfully won compensation for his clients whose drinking water had been contaminated by toxic chemicals used to make Teflon. He is a recipient of the 2017 Right Livelihood Award.

Gina Haspel Confirmed as CIA Director, Despite Her Record on Torture, Trump Says North Korea's Kim Jong-un Could Suffer Same Fate as Gaddafi, Trump to Cut Funds to Women's Clinics, Reinstitute Abortion Gag Rule, House Farm Bill Would End Food Assistance to Over 2 Million People, Senate Intel Committee Republicans Cite Russian Interference in 2016, China Denies Trump Admin Claims of $200 Billion Trade Deal, Egypt to Reopen Gaza Border Crossing Until End of Ramadan, Congo: WHO Warns of "Urban Ebola" as Virus Spreads to Mbandaka City, Colombia Orders Thousands to Evacuate Amid Fears that Dam May Burst, In Reversal, NASA Administrator Says Humans Cause Climate Change, Republican Rep. Mo Brooks Blames Coastal Erosion for Rising Seas, New York Court Greenlights Summer Zervos Defamation Suit Against Trump, Fox News Names Longtime Roger Ailes Protégé Suzanne Scott as CEO, Hawaii: Geologists Warn Worst Could be Yet to Come as Kilauea Erupts, New York: Calls Grow for Disbarment of Lawyer Filmed in Racist Tirade

North Korea is threatening to cancel the June 12 U.S.-North Korea summit, after President Trump's national security adviser, John Bolton, said on Sunday the U.S. should use the so-called Libyan model for denuclearization. In 2003, Libya negotiated sanctions relief from the United States in exchange for renouncing its nuclear program and welcoming international inspectors to verify the dismantlement. Eight years later, the U.S. and other nations attacked Libya, toppling and killing Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. We are joined by Christine Hong, an associate professor at University of California, Santa Cruz, and an executive board member of the Korea Policy Institute.

Fifty years ago today, on May 17, 1968, in the Baltimore suburb of Catonsville, Maryland, a group of Catholic priests and activists stood around a small fire, praying and singing. They had gone into the local draft board office and taken 378 draft records, for the young men in the 1-A category who were most likely to get drafted to go to war in Vietnam. They set fire to the draft records using homemade napalm, made from gasoline and laundry soap, to symbolize the U.S. military's use of napalm on Vietnamese civilians. Video of the act of civil disobedience was seen around the world. They became known as the Catonsville Nine, and in 1970 they were given prison sentences of up to three years behind bars. We feature interviews with Fathers Phil and Daniel Berrigan, who helped organize the protest, and speak to Margarita Melville, one of the last surviving members of the Catonsville Nine, during a ceremony to mark the unveiling of a new historical marker to commemorate the action.

As Palestinians vow to continue protesting against the Israeli occupation of Gaza, we speak to a Canadian doctor who was shot by Israeli forces in both legs Monday while he was helping injured Palestinians. Israeli forces shot dead at least 61 unarmed Palestinian protesters taking part in the Great March of Return Monday, including one doctor. Canada, Britain, Germany, Ireland and Belgium have called for an investigation into the killings. The United Nations Human Rights Council has announced that it will hold a special session Friday to discuss escalating violence in Gaza. We speak with Dr. Tarek Loubani, an emergency room medical doctor, one of 19 medical personnel shot in Gaza on Monday. Loubani is an associate professor at Western University in London, Ontario. He is a Palestinian refugee and a member of the Glia Project creating open-source medical devices for low-resource settings.

Trump on North Korean Threats to Cancel Summit: "We'll See", U.N. Human Rights Council to Review Israel's Massacre in Gaza, Under Trump, Refugee Admissions to U.S. at Lowest Level in Decades, President Trump Calls Undocumented Immigrants "Animals", DHS Sought Negative Info on Haitians Ahead of Canceling Protections, Senate Approves Bill to Restore Net Neutrality Rules, Trump Financial Disclosure Reveals Stormy Daniels Payment, WHO Ships Experimental Vaccine to Congo as Ebola Outbreak Kills 23, Chile: Thousands March Against Campus Sexual Violence, Michigan State to Settle Larry Nassar Sexual Abuse Lawsuit for $500M, EPA Chief Pruitt & White House Sought to Block Chemical Release Study, Whistleblower Says Steve Bannon Sought to Suppress Black Vote, CIA Cites Hacker Joshua Schulte as Suspect in WikiLeaks Release, North Carolina: Thousands of Teachers March for School Funding, Brooklyn Man Exonerated 27 Years After Murder Conviction

Internal documents obtained by The Guardian show how a network of right-wing think tanks have launched a nationwide effort to convince members of public sector unions to stop paying dues. The effort is backed by $80 million in funding from billionaires like the Koch brothers, who expect a favorable decision from the Supreme Court this month in a case that could let workers who benefit from union-negotiated contracts avoid paying union dues if they opt not to join the union. The campaign comes as North Carolina teachers staged a massive walkout today, shuttering hundreds of schools, on the heels of major strikes by teacher unions in West Virginia, Kentucky, Oklahoma and Arizona. For more, we speak with Ed Pilkington, chief reporter for The Guardian in the U.S. His new report is an exclusive look at "How rightwing groups wield secret 'toolkit' to plot against US unions."

Four Pennsylvania state House candidates backed by the Democratic Socialists of America won their Democratic primaries Tuesday: Summer Lee, a lawyer and labor organizer; Elizabeth Fiedler, a former public radio reporter; Sara Innamorato, the founder of a women's advocacy group; and Kristin Seale, who works at an energy conservation nonprofit. Two of the women unseated male incumbent state representatives in Tuesday's primaries. For more, we speak with Ryan Grim, D.C. bureau chief for The Intercept.

The Senate Intelligence Committee approved President Trump's nominee for CIA director, Gina Haspel, sending her confirmation to the full Senate floor. Haspel is a 33-year CIA veteran who was responsible for running a secret CIA black site in Thailand in 2002 where at least one prisoner was waterboarded and tortured in other ways during her tenure. She also oversaw the destruction of videotapes showing torture at the black site. A number of key Democrats have come out backing Haspel, after she said the CIA torture program should never have existed, even though 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, during her confirmation hearing last week. For more, we speak with Ryan Grim, Washington bureau chief for The Intercept. His latest story is headlined "Ahead of Vote on Gina Haspel, Senate Pulls Access to Damning Classified Memo."

This spring's mass nonviolent protests in Gaza come as the human rights conditions in the "open-air prison" have even further deteriorated. Last year, the United Nations issued a report warning Gaza is already "unlivable." The majority of its water is contaminated, and electricity is limited to only a few hours a day. About half the population is children. Almost all are refugees who are prevented from ever leaving the tiny Gaza Strip, one of the most densely populated places on Earth. For more, we speak with Norman Finkelstein, author and scholar whose most recent book is titled "Gaza: An Inquest into Its Martyrdom."

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."