Democracy Now!

The science envoy for the U.S. State Department Dan Kammen has resigned in protest of President Trump's refusal to quickly condemn the deadly white supremacist violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, earlier this month. In his resignation letter, Kammen, referring to Trump, wrote, "Your presence in the White House harms the United States domestically and abroad and threatens life on this planet." The first letter of each paragraph of his resignation letter spells out the word: "Impeach." We speak with Dan Kammen, professor of energy at University of California, Berkeley.

Hurricane Harvey Bringing "Life-Threatening" Flooding to Gulf Coast, Florida Executes Prisoner Using Anesthetic Untested in Executions, White House Presses Senate Leader on Healthcare amid Feud with Trump, Trump Administration Threatens Government Shutdown Over Border Wall, Immigration Activists Warn Trump Admin. May Soon Cancel DACA Program, Rabbis Cancel Planned Call With Trump Over Charlottesville Response, St. Louis: Driver Injures Mourners at Vigil for Transgender Police Victim, Trump Associate Roger Stone Says Impeachment Would Lead to Violent Insurrection, Interior Dept. to Reduce Size of National Monuments, Open Lands to Exploitation, Brazilian President Abolishes Vast Reserve of Amazon Rainforest, Trump Envoy Jared Kushner Meets Israeli, Palestinian Leaders, Israelis Demolish West Bank School Ahead of New School Year, U.N. Calls for Humanitarian Truce in Raqqa Amid Civilian Deaths, Rights Groups Call for Release of Bahraini Activist Ebtisam al-Saegh, Peru: Police Crackdown on Lima Protest by Striking Teachers

On Monday President Trump announced an escalation of the U.S. war in Afghanistan. He also issued a warning to Afghanistan's neighbor, Pakistan. President Trump went on to say that the U.S. would develop its strategic partnership with India, calling on the Modi government to help in Afghanistan. Observers say that the move might be a signal to Islamabad that the U.S. would back India in the struggle between the South Asian rivals, unless Pakistan severed ties with the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani network, one of its factions. For more we speak with Pakistani journalist Raza Rumi, editor of the national Pakistani newspaper The Daily Times and a professor at Cornell University and Ithaca College.

Spanish police are continuing to investigate last week’s attack in Barcelona, where 15 people died after a van plowed into a crowded walkway along Las Ramblas—the city’s most famous avenue. On Monday police shot dead the man suspected of driving the van: a Moroccan-born, 22-year-old named Younes Abou-yaaqoub. Police believe he was part of a 12-person cell plotting to carry out a series of bomb attacks. Eight of the cell’s members are now dead, four suspected members have been detained. The events of the past week have shocked many in the Barcelona region. On Sunday, thousands of Muslims, including many from Morocco, marched against violence in Barcelona, chanting, "Islam is peace" and "not in my name." We speak to Tariq Ramadan, Professor of Contemporary Islamic Studies at Oxford University. Ramadan was named by Time Magazine as one of the most important innovators of the twenty-first century. In 2004, Tariq Ramadan accepted a job at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, and Time magazine listed him among the top 100 thinkers in the world. But nine days before Ramadan was set to start teaching here in the United States, the Bush administration revoked his visa, invoking a provision of the PATRIOT Act that allows the government to deny entry to non-citizens who "endorse or espouse terrorism."

In Syria, the local journalistic group Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently reports dozens of civilians have been killed by U.S.-led bombing and artillery fire over the last few days amid the ongoing battle to seize control of the city of Raqqa from ISIS. Amnesty International has just released an in-depth investigation documenting how hundreds of civilians have been killed and injured since the offensive began in June to capture the ISIS stronghold. Survivors and witnesses told Amnesty International that they were trapped on "all sides" between ISIS militants, the U.S.-led coalition force's aerial bombardment, and Russia-backed Syrian government airstrikes. Amnesty is now calling on all warring parties to prioritize protecting civilians and granting them safe passage. We speak to Donatella Rovera, Senior Crisis Response Adviser at Amnesty International.

Charlottesville Covers Confederate Statues with Black Fabric as Residents Demand Their Removal, White Supremacist Christopher Cantwell Surrenders to Police in Virginia, Trump Administration Issues Permit for White Supremacist Rally in San Francisco, Amnesty: Hundreds of Syria Civilians Killed in Raqqa amid US Bombing, Paris: Family & Activists Mourn Death of Syrian Actress Fadwa Suleiman, Yemen: U.S.-Backed Saudi-Led Airstrike Kills 41 North of Sanaa, Kushner Travels to Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Israel and Palestine, White House to Direct Pentagon to Bar Transgender Troops, Indian Supreme Court Deals Landmark Victory to Privacy Activists, U.S. Science Envoy Dan Kammen Resigns in Protest of Trump, Mexican Journalist Candido Rios Vazquez Murdered in Veracruz, Remains of Swedish Journalist Kim Wall Discovered on Copenhagen Beach, Philippines: Major Protests Against Duterte’s Drug War Spread Across Manila, Johnson & Johnson Speaks Out Against Its Drug Being Used in Execution, Judge Blocks Revised Texas Voter ID Law, Saying Law is Still Discriminatory, NYC: More than Thousand People Rally to Support Colin Kaepernick, Marshall Islands’ Politician, Climate & Anti-Nuclear Activist Tony de Brum Dies

In a prime-time address on Monday, President Trump vowed to step up the U.S. military campaign in Afghanistan which began nearly 16 years ago, extending the longest war in U.S. history. Earlier this month, the New York Times reported that Trump may have found a reason to prolong the nearly 16-year war: Afghanistan’s untapped mineral deposits, which could be worth nearly a trillion dollars. Shortly after the Times piece came out, we spoke with Kathy Kelly, co-coordinator of Voices for Creative Nonviolence, a campaign to end U.S. military and economic warfare. We also spoke with Jodi Vittori, senior policy adviser for Global Witness on Afghanistan policy. Vittori spent 20 years in the U.S. military, where she served in several countries, including Afghanistan. She has received numerous military awards, including two Bronze Stars.

Earlier this week, we sat down with award-winning actor Alec Baldwin, the acclaimed Donald Trump impersonator on Saturday Night Live. Baldwin’s performances have been seen by millions—including President Trump himself. Baldwin is currently preparing for another run of Trump impersonations on the upcoming season of Saturday Night Live. We spoke with Baldwin on Monday at Guild Hall, in East Hampton, New York.

Ahead of Trump’s speech in Phoenix on Tuesday, there was much speculation that Trump would pardon Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio, who was convicted of contempt of court for defying an order to stop his deputies from detaining people on suspicion of being undocumented. While he didn’t pardon Arpaio on Tuesday, Trump hinted during his speech that a pardon would be coming soon. For more we speak with Francisca Porchas, organizing director of Puente Arizona, a grassroots human rights movement for migrant justice.

In a campaign rally in Phoenix on Tuesday night, President Donald Trump repeatedly defended his response to the deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville as thousands of protesters who had gathered outside were attacked by police with tear gas and pepper balls. During his speech, Trump blasted the corporate media and also threatened a government shutdown if he didn't get Congressional approval to build a wall along the southern border.

Phoenix: Thousands Protest Trump as He Threatens Gov’t Shutdown over Border Wall, Judge Rules Arizona Ethnic Studies Ban is Unconstitutional, After Massive Boston Protest, White Nationalists & Right-Wing Groups Cancel 67 Planned Rallies, After Charlottesville, Four Universities Refuse to Allow Richard Spencer to Speak, Missouri Gov. Stays Execution of Marcellus Williams After New DNA Evidence, Did a Photo of Afghan Women in Miniskirts Influence Trump’s Decision on U.S. War?, Israeli-Imposed Power Shortages in Gaza Cut Water Access by One-Third, Up to 800 Dead in Flooding Across India, Bangladesh and Nepal, U.S. Cuts Military Funding to Egypt Amid Human Rights Concerns, U.S. Court Revives Lawsuit Seeking to Block Construction of New U.S. Base in Japan, Energy Transfer Partners Sues Greenpeace & Earth First!, Accusing Groups of "Eco-Terrorism", Peru: Indigenous Nations in Amazon Seize Control of Canadian Company’s Oil Facilities, Nicaragua: Hundreds of Former Sandinista Fighters March to Demand Housing, Pensions, Justice Dept. Drops Request for 1.3M Visitor IP Addresses for Website DisruptJ20.org, The Village Voice to Stop Printing after 62 Years, St. Louis: Black Transgender Woman Kiwi Herring Killed by Police

On Friday billionaire investor Carl Icahn left his role as regulatory adviser to Donald Trump, just before the _New Yorker_ published an article entitled "Carl Icahn's Failed Raid on Washington." The article detailed Carl Icahn's potential conflicts of interest, including his heavy lobbying for a rule change about blending ethanol into gasoline, a rule which affects the profits of Icahn's Texas-based petroleum refining company, CVR. According to the _New Yorker_, in the months after Trump's election, the stock price of CVR nearly doubled, which meant Icahn's own wealth surged, at least on paper, by a half a billion dollars. For more we speak with Tyson Slocum, director of Public Citizen's Energy Program. In March Public Citizen asked lawmakers to investigate Carl Icahn's actions."Watch extended interview with Tyson Slocum":https://www.democracynow.org/2017/8/22/billionaire_carl_icahn_resigns_as_trump_adviser

White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon has left the White House and rejoined the far-right-wing website Breitbart News as the executive chairman. Bannon has been one of Trump's closest and most trusted advisers. After departing the White House, he said, "In many ways I think I can be more effective fighting from the outside for the agenda President Trump ran on. And anyone who stands in our way, we will go to war with.” Before his departure, Bannon granted an extraordinary interview to Robert Kuttner, co-founder and co-editor of the liberal magazine _The American Prospect_. For more on Bannon’s departure and his interview, we speak with Robert Kuttner, co-founder and co-editor of _The American Prospect_.

On Monday night, President Trump announced that the U.S. would continue the ongoing war in Afghanistan, which is already the longest war in U.S. history. The Pentagon is likely to deploy about 4,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan in the coming months. This summer, the U.S. already began intensifying its air war in Afghanistan. During the month of June, the U.S. carried out 389 airstrikes in Afghanistan—the highest monthly total in five years. For more we speak with award-winning journalist Azmat Khan, who has reported extensively from Afghanistan.

President Trump has announced plans to escalate the U.S. war in Afghanistan—already the longest war in U.S. history. While Trump offered few specifics during his prime-time address Monday night, he has reportedly already signed off on a plan to send about 4,000 more troops to Afghanistan. For more we speak with Matthew Hoh, who resigned from the State Department in 2009 over the Obama administration’s escalation of the war in Afghanistan. Prior to his assignment in Afghanistan, he served in Iraq and Afghanistan including time as a Marine Corps company commander in Anbar Province.

Trump to Continue U.S. War in Afghanistan, Likely Deploy 4,000 More Troops, Syria: U.S.-Led Bombing Reportedly Kills Dozens of Civilians in Raqqa, University of Texas in Austin Removes 3 Confederate Monuments, Baltimore Activists Take Sledgehammer to Christopher Columbus Statue, Liberty Grads to Return Diplomas to Protest University Head’s Support for Trump, Secret Service Has Run out of Money to Protect Trump & Family, Remains Discovered of Some U.S. Sailors Missing after USS McCain Crash, Pope Francis Calls on Governments to Protect Refugees, Not Criminalize Them, "50 Years Is Too Long!": Protests Erupt in Togo Against Ruling Family Dynasty, Spain: Police Kill Suspected Driver of Van in Barcelona Attack, Spain: German-Turkish Author Critical of Erdogan Briefly Arrested at Turkey’s Request, India: Bank Workers Strike to Protest Privatization of Banking Sector, Chile Rolls Back Strict Anti-Abortion Laws Imposed Under Military Dictatorship, Tens of Thousands Expected to Protest Trump’s Speech in Arizona, Ohio: Father of Steubenville HS Football Player Shoots & Wounds Judge, Pokanoket Nation Launches Occupation at Brown U. to Reclaim Ancestral Land

In a special broadcast today, we remember legendary comedian and civil rights activist Dick Gregory, who passed away on Saturday in Washington, D.C. at the age of 84. Gregory became one of the most popular comedians in the country, paving the way for generations of African-American comedians. On Sunday Chris Rock wrote on Instagram, "We lost a king. They'll never be another. Read his books. Look him up you won't be disappointed. Unfortunately the America that produced Dick Gregory still exists." Dick Gregory was the first African-American comedian to sit on the couch of The Tonight Show, then hosted by Jack Parr. As his popularity grew, so did his activism. In 1967, Dick Gregory ran for mayor of Chicago against the infamous Richard Daley. He was a close friend of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and in 1968 he ran for president against Richard Nixon. Dr. Greg Carr, chair of Afro-American Studies at Howard University and a friend of Gregory, described him as a perpetual student. “His intellectual capacity was honed to precision with a lifetime of deep study,” Carr told _Diverse Magazine_. We feature Dick Gregory in his own words in our 2002 interview with the comedian in our old firehouse studio. We first interviewed Gregory just months after _Democracy Now!_ went on television.

Tens of Thousands March Against White Supremacy in Boston & Other U.S. Cities, Thousands in Berlin, Vancouver & Quebec City Protest Nazis & Xenophobic Extremists, Steve Bannon Leaves White House & Rejoins Right-Wing Website Breitbart, Entire President’s Committee on Arts & Humanities Resigns, Calls on Trump to Step Down, U.S. & South Korea Launch Massive Military Drills on Korean Peninsula, Trump to Give Update on U.S. Military Strategy in Afghanistan Tonight, U.S.-Backed Iraqi Military Launches Campaign to Seize Tal Afar from ISIS, 10 U.S. Navy Sailors Missing After USS John S. McCain Collides with Oil Tanker, Philippines: Protests Growing Against Duterte’s Bloody Drug War, 200 People Die in Mudslide in Democratic Republic of the Congo, Pakistan Poised to Pass Law Ensuring Full Rights for Transgender People, Hong Kong: 20,000 March to Protest Jailing of Pro-Democracy Student Activists, Comedian & Civil Rights Activist Dick Gregory Dies at 84, Total Eclipse Visible Across Continental United States for First Time in 99 Years

The Justice Department is demanding web hosting provider DreamHost turn over 1.3 million IP addresses of people who visited the website DisruptJ20.org, which was used to organize the protests against President Trump's inauguration. The Justice Department is also seeking names, addresses, telephone numbers, email addresses and other information about the owners and subscribers of the website. More than 200 protesters were arrested during the Inauguration Day protests and are now facing decades in prison on trumped-up charges. We are joined by Nate Cardozo, a senior staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. His group is assisting DreamHost in its opposition to the government’s search warrant.

We feature Part 2 of our discussion with a former neo-Nazi and the nephew of a white supremacist who marched in the Charlottesville, Virginia, protest. Christian Picciolini is co-founder of Life After Hate, a nonprofit helping people disengage from hate and violent extremism. He was a leading neo-Nazi skinhead gang member and far-right extremist in the 1980s and 1990s. We also speak with Jacob Scott, the nephew of Peter Tefft, who was disowned by his father, Pearce Tefft, in a letter published in a local newspaper. Scott discusses what it means for the family to speak out.

President Donald Trump continues to face outrage over his response to last weekend's deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, where racism and anti-Semitism were on clear display. We speak with Steven Goldstein, executive director of the Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect, which is calling on Twitter to suspend Trump's personal account, after branding him an accomplice to domestic terrorism.

"We Are Not Afraid": Thousands Take to Streets of Barcelona After Van Attack Kills 14 People, After Barcelona, Trump Revives Debunked Myth of Executing Muslims with Bullets Dipped in Pigs' Blood, From GOP Senators to Murdochs, Criticism of Trump Grows, Trump Praises "Beautiful" Confederate Statues as Protests Escalate, In Wake of Charlottesville, ACLU Rethinks Defending Armed Hate Groups, Report: U.S.-Led Airstrikes Kill 59 Since Monday in Raqqa, Despite Protests from China, U.S. & S. Korea to Stage Massive Joint Military Drill, Three Hong Kong Student Pro-Democracy Activists Sentenced to Jail, Settlement Reached In Landmark Torture Suit Against Psychologists, Racial Gerrymandering Ruled Unconstitutional in Texas, KKK Members Who Worked as Prison Guards Convicted of Plotting to Kill Black Prisoner, ExxonMobil Escapes Responsibility for Role in Massive Tar Sands Oil Pipeline Spill, Solidarity on the Gridiron: White NFL Player Embraces Teammate Giving Black Power Salute, NBA Star Kevin Durant on Trump: "I Don't Respect Who's in Office", Resistance Grows in Puerto Rico over Dumping of Toxic Coal Ash

One of the participants in the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville was a man named Peter Tefft. He was outed by the Twitter group "Yes, You're Racist," which had been posting screenshots of participants in an effort to expose them. His father, Pearce Tefft, has come out and publicly denounced his white supremacist son in an open letter published in The Forum, a newspaper in Fargo. The letter read, in part, "I, along with all of his siblings and his entire family, wish to loudly repudiate my son's vile, hateful and racist rhetoric and actions. We do not know specifically where he learned these beliefs. He did not learn them at home." We speak with Jacob Scott, the nephew of Peter Tefft.

Heather Heyer is the latest casualty in a number of deaths at the hands of white nationalists. Foreign Policy recently published an FBI and Department of Homeland Security bulletin that concluded white supremacist groups were "responsible for 49 homicides in 26 attacks from 2000 to 2016...more than any other domestic extremist movement." Despite these findings, the Trump administration recently slashed funds to organizations dedicated to fighting right-wing violence. One group, Life After Hate, which works to help white nationalists and neo-Nazis disengage from hate and violent extremism, was set to receive a grant under the DHS's Countering Violent Extremism program, approved by the Obama administration. When Trump DHS policy adviser Katharine Gorka released the final list of grantees in June, Life After Hate had been eliminated. Gorka is the wife of Trump adviser Sebastian Gorka, who has been linked to a Hungarian far-right, Nazi-allied group. We speak with Christian Picciolini, co-founder of Life After Hate and former neo-Nazi skinhead gang member.

As President Trump faces growing outrage over his response to the deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, we bring you an exclusive: an interview with the great-great-grandsons of Confederate General Stonewall Jackson. At least 1,500 symbols of the Confederacy can be found in public spaces across the country. But now a number of the monuments are coming down. Calls for the removal of the statues are even coming from the descendants of the leaders of the Confederacy. We speak with two of the great-great-grandsons of Confederate General Stonewall Jackson. Jack and Warren Christian have just written an open letter to the mayor of Richmond calling for the removal of the Stonewall Jackson statue in Richmond. They write, "Our sense of justice leads us to believe that removing the Stonewall statue and other monuments should be part of a larger project of actively mending the racial disparities that hundreds of years of white supremacy have wrought."

Mourners Honor Heather Heyer, Killed by Neo-Nazi in Charlottesville, VA, Charlottesville Man Beaten by White Nationalist Suffers Stroke, Protesters Injured by Neo-Nazi Terrorist Sue "Unite the Right" Organizers, Thousands March Against Hate in Charlottesville, Philadelphia and Berlin, President Trump Isolated over Response to Charlottesville Violence, Trump Disbands Advisory Councils as CEOs Resign over Charlottesville Response, U.S. Military Leaders Condemn Racial Hatred, Trump Adviser Katharine Gorka Helped Defund Anti-Hate Group, Lawmakers Call for Firing of Trump Aides over White Supremacist Views, Trump Adviser Steve Bannon Assails Rivals in American Prospect Interview, Greensboro, NC Apologizes over Its Role in 1979 Killings by Neo-Nazis, Jeff Sessions Condemns Racism While Cracking Down on Sanctuary Cities, Syria: At Least 29 Civilians Die in U.S.-Led Coalition Airstrikes, Gaza: ISIS Strikes at Border as Palestinians Suffer Electricity Shortages, NAFTA Renegotiations Open as Mexican Farmers Protest, Philippines Police Kill Scores in Drug War's Bloodiest Week Yet, Seattle Seahawks Star Michael Bennett Sits Out National Anthem in Protest

President Trump is facing widespread criticism for his latest comments on the deadly white supremacist protest in Charlottesville, Virginia. Speaking at Trump Tower on Tuesday, Trump said the violence was in part caused by what he called the "alt-left." President Trump's comment were widely decried. Former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney wrote on Twitter, "No, not the same. One side is racist, bigoted, Nazi. The other opposes racism and bigotry. Morally different universes." We look at one of the groups who confronted the white supremacists in the streets: the anti-fascists known as antifa. We speak to Mark Bray, author of the new book, "Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook.""Watch Part 2 of Interview With Mark Bray":https://www.democracynow.org/2017/8/16/part_2_antifa_a_look_at

Bree Newsome sparked a national debate in 2015 on Confederate monuments and symbols and their place in modern American society when she scaled a 30-foot flagpole in South Carolina and removed the Confederate flag from state Capitol grounds. Her action followed the massacre of nine African-American parishioners by a white supremacist at a Charleston church in South Carolina. As police yelled for her to come down, she grabbed the Confederate flag and said, "You come against me with hatred … I come against you in the name of God. This flag comes down today." Footage of the event went viral and was seen around the world. The next month, state legislators voted to remove the Confederate flag permanently, following mounting pressure. We speak with artist and activist Bree Newsome about renewed efforts around the country to remove Confederacy symbols following this weekend's deadly rally in Charlottesville, Virginia—where white nationalists and members of alt-right groups had gathered to protest the city's decision to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from a downtown park.

A crowd of activists toppled a Confederate statue in Durham, North Carolina, on Monday, just two days after the deadly white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. As the crowd shouted "We are the revolution," a college student named Takiyah Thompson climbed up a ladder, looped a rope around the top of the Confederate Soldiers Monument in front of the old Durham County Courthouse and then pulled the statue to the ground. She was arrested the following day on two charges of felony inciting a riot and three misdemeanor charges, including defacing a statue. Thompson was released last night on a $10,000 unsecured bond. We speak with Thompson about her actions before her scheduled court hearing this morning.

Trump Repeats Claim "Both Sides" to Blame for Charlottesville Violence, Trump Tweets, Then Removes Cartoon of Train Running Over CNN Figure, More Members of Trump Advisory Council Quit over Charlottesville Response, Baltimore Removes Confederate Statues as National Movement Grows, Durham, NC Police Execute Warrants for Protesters Who Toppled Confederate Statue, CBO: Trump Plan Would Raise Health Insurance Premiums 20 Percent in 2018, South Korea: Thousands Rally Against Trump's Nuclear War Threats, Sierra Leone: Over 600 Missing in Freetown Following Landslide, Heavy Rain Brings Deadly Flooding to Nepal, India, Bangladesh, NASA: July 2017 was the Hottest July on Record, Topping 2016's Record, 27 Arrested at White House Sit-In Protest in Support of DACA, Houston, TX: No Charges for Officers over Public Body Cavity Search

The white supremacist violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, over the weekend came after thousands of neo-Nazis, Ku Klux Klan members and other white nationalists descended on Charlottesville to protest the city's plan to remove a Confederate statue of Robert E. Lee. The effort to remove this statue was spurred in part by the African-American city Vice-Mayor Wes Bellamy, who convinced his fellow city councilmembers not only to vote to remove the statue, but also to create a "reparations fund" for Charlottesville's African-American residents. For more, we speak with award-winning author and writer Ta-Nehisi Coates, who in 2014 penned the influential piece for The Atlantic, "The Case for Reparations."*Related Segments*"Ta-Nehisi Coates: Given Trump & GOP History of Racism, Violence in Charlottesville was Predictable":https://www.democracynow.org/2017/8/15/ta_nehisi_coates_with_a_racist"We Were 8 Years in Power: Ta-Nehisi Coates on Obama, Trump & White Fear of 'Good Negro Government'":https://www.democracynow.org/2017/8/15/we_were_8_years_in_power"Ta-Nehisi Coates: I Would Like to See Donald Trump Resign & Leave White House":https://www.democracynow.org/2017/8/15/ta_nehisi_coates_i_would_like"Full Interview: Ta-Nehisi Coates on Charlottesville, Trump, the Confederacy, Reparations & More":https://www.democracynow.org/2017/8/15/full_interview_ta_nehisi_coates_on

Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who is himself named after Confederate leaders, is now tasked with investigating the white supremacist violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, which killed one person and injured dozens. But few have any confidence this investigation will bring justice, given Sessions himself has a long history of making racist comments and defending white supremacist policies. The violence is escalating calls for Trump's resignation, including from award-winning writer Ta-Nehisi Coates.*Related Segments*"Ta-Nehisi Coates: Given Trump & GOP History of Racism, Violence in Charlottesville was Predictable":https://www.democracynow.org/2017/8/15/ta_nehisi_coates_with_a_racist"We Were 8 Years in Power: Ta-Nehisi Coates on Obama, Trump & White Fear of 'Good Negro Government'":https://www.democracynow.org/2017/8/15/we_were_8_years_in_power"Ta-Nehisi Coates on How Cities & Municipalities Are Winning Reparations for Slavery at Local Level":https://www.democracynow.org/2017/8/15/ta_nehisi_coates_on_how_cities"Full Interview: Ta-Nehisi Coates on Charlottesville, Trump, the Confederacy, Reparations & More":https://www.democracynow.org/2017/8/15/full_interview_ta_nehisi_coates_on

After the white supremacist violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, over the weekend, which killed one person and injured dozens more, we spend the hour with award-winning author Ta-Nehisi Coates to understand the roots of this racial terror. His new book of essays about the Obama presidency has just been published, titled "We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy."*Related Segments*"Ta-Nehisi Coates: Given Trump & GOP History of Racism, Violence in Charlottesville was Predictable":https://www.democracynow.org/2017/8/15/ta_nehisi_coates_with_a_racist"Ta-Nehisi Coates: I Would Like to See Donald Trump Resign & Leave White House":https://www.democracynow.org/2017/8/15/ta_nehisi_coates_i_would_like"Ta-Nehisi Coates on How Cities & Municipalities Are Winning Reparations for Slavery at Local Level":https://www.democracynow.org/2017/8/15/ta_nehisi_coates_on_how_cities"Full Interview: Ta-Nehisi Coates on Charlottesville, Trump, the Confederacy, Reparations & More":https://www.democracynow.org/2017/8/15/full_interview_ta_nehisi_coates_on

The nation continues to grapple with the fallout from this weekend's violence after a Nazi sympathizer drove into a crowd of anti-racist protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia, killing one person and injuring 19. President Donald Trump finally condemned white supremacists on Monday for the bloodshed this weekend, after initially failing to directly blame the group. The move followed mounting pressure and severe backlash from nationwide street protests and corporate CEOs who resigned from Trump's American Manufacturing Council over his failure to quickly condemn the deadly violence. Meanwhile, a Foreign Policy report revealed that an FBI and Department of Homeland Security bulletin concluded that white supremacist groups were responsible for more homicides "than any other domestic extremist movement." Despite these findings, the Trump administration recently slashed funds to organizations dedicated to fighting right-wing violence. To discuss all these developments, we speak with award-winning acclaimed author Ta-Nehisi Coates in his first major interview since the inauguration of President Donald Trump. He is the author of a forthcoming book, due out in October, "We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy." *Related Segments*"We Were 8 Years in Power: Ta-Nehisi Coates on Obama, Trump & White Fear of 'Good Negro Government'":https://www.democracynow.org/2017/8/15/we_were_8_years_in_power"Ta-Nehisi Coates: I Would Like to See Donald Trump Resign & Leave White House":https://www.democracynow.org/2017/8/15/ta_nehisi_coates_i_would_like"Ta-Nehisi Coates on How Cities & Municipalities Are Winning Reparations for Slavery at Local Level":https://www.democracynow.org/2017/8/15/ta_nehisi_coates_on_how_cities"Full Interview: Ta-Nehisi Coates on Charlottesville, Trump, the Confederacy, Reparations & More":https://www.democracynow.org/2017/8/15/full_interview_ta_nehisi_coates_on

Durham, NC: Activists Topple Confederate Statue Amid Nationwide Protests Against White Supremacy, CEOs Resign from Trump Advisory Board over White Supremacist Violence in Charlottesville, VA, Trump Begrudgingly Condemns White Supremacist Violence But Fails to Fire Bannon, U.N. Condemns White Supremacist Violence in Charlottesville, VA, Nazi Sympathizer & Charlottesville Suspect James Alex Fields Denied Bond, Far-Right Extremists & White Supremacists Plan Slew of Upcoming Rallies, ACLU of Virginia Board Member Resigns over ACLU Defense of White Supremacists, New England Holocaust Memorial Vandalized on Monday for Second Time This Summer, Trump Says He's Considering Pardoning Notorious Racist AZ Sheriff Joe Arpaio, DOJ Demanding 1.3 Million Visitor IP Addresses for DisruptJ20.org Website, Syria: 30+ Civilians Reportedly Killed by U.S.-Led Airstrikes and Shelling in Raqqa, North Korea Holding Off on Guam Strike, Waiting to See What "Foolish Yankees" Will Do, Tens of Thousands of Residents Protest U.S. Military Bases in Okinawa, Japan, Venezuela: Thousands Attend Anti-Imperialist March as U.S. Threatens Military Intervention, Sierra Leone: More Than 300 Killed in Mudslides as Thousands Remain Missing, Israel Releases 5 Palestinian Journalists in West Bank and Gaza

On Saturday, President Trump addressed reporters at his golf resort in Bedminster, New Jersey, blaming the violence in Charlottesville on "many sides." We get response from Rev. Traci Blackmon, executive minister of Justice and Witness Ministries of the United Church of Christ. "What is happening under this current administration is permission to hate," Blackmon says.

Jalane Schmidt, an organizer with the local Black Lives Matter movement and an associate professor of religious studies at the University of Virginia, describes the school's history of connections to the KKK and its alumnus, white nationalist leader Richard Spencer.

We continue our roundtable discussion on violence that erupted in Charlottesville, Virginia, over the weekend as thousands of neo-Nazis, KKK members and other white nationalists began descending on the city to participate in the "Unite the Right" rally. Thousands of counterprotesters met in Charlottesville, including clergy, students, Black Lives Matter activists, and protesters with the antifascist movement known as "antifa." We are joined by two clergy members and a local Black Lives Matter activist who helped organize the demonstration. Rev. Traci Blackmon is executive minister of Justice and Witness Ministries of the United Church of Christ. During a live interview with MSNBC at the march on Saturday, she was forced to flee as counterprotesters were attacked around her. Cornel West was also on site and describes the scene. We also speak with Jalane Schmidt, an associate professor of religious studies at the University of Virginia.

We spend the hour examining the "Unite the Right" white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, this weekend that erupted into violence, resulting in three deaths. After a torchlit march of hundreds on the University of Virginia campus Friday night, more than 1,000 white nationalists descended on the city on Saturday to oppose a plan to remove a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee from a city park. They were met by anti-racist counterdemonstrators, and fights broke out before the rally began. Witnesses report police did little to intervene. Shortly after the protest began, a man later identified as James Alex Fields drove his vehicle into a crowd of counterdemonstrators in what many are calling an act of terrorism. A local paralegal named Heather Heyer was killed in the attack, and at least 19 others were injured. Two Virginia state troopers also died Saturday when their helicopter crashed en route to the scene of the violence. On Saturday, Trump addressed reporters at his golf resort in Bedminster, New Jersey, blaming the violence in Charlottesville on "many sides." We begin our roundtable discussion with Brandy Gonzalez, who survived the car rampage, and Lisa Moore, a registered nurse who assisted a victim of the car attack.

Thousands March Nationwide to Condemn Neo-Nazi Violence in Charlottesville, VA, White Supremacists Kill 1, Injure Dozens, During Ku Klux Klan Rally in Charlottesville, VA, Trump Refuses to Explicitly Condemn White Supremacist Violence, Afghanistan: Local Officials Say U.S. Airstrikes Kill 16 Civilians, Syria: Nearly 1,000 Civilians Reportedly Killed During U.S.-Led Offensive in Raqqa, Pakistan: ISIS Suicide Bomb Attack Kills 15 in Quetta, Latin America Outraged by Trump's Threat of U.S. Military Intervention in Venezuela, Bolivia: Indigenous Nations Protest as Morales Signs Law Paving Way for Amazon Highway, Israel: Thousands Protest Corruption Amid Netanyahu Bribery Investigation, Kenya: Police Kill 11 During Post-Election Demonstrations, Burkina Faso: 20 Killed After Gunmen Open Fire in Restaurant, Nepal and India: Nearly 100 Killed in Flash Flooding and Mudslides, Des Moines, Iowa: FBI Raid Catholic Worker House Where DAPL Sabotage Activists Live, NYC Becomes First U.S. City to Guarantee Lawyers for Poor Tenants Facing Eviction

Thousands of Yemenis and other nationals from countries covered by Trump's travel ban are currently stranded in different parts of the world as the State Department refuses to honor the fact that they won a U.S. government immigration lottery. Many of the winners have already sold their homes and cars, left their jobs and even relocated in anticipation of their move to the United States. Their eligibility to receive green cards under the program will end only three days after the travel ban is slated to expire on September 27, meaning their applications will likely not be processed in time, which lawyers say operates as an effective ban. We are joined by Hamed Sufyan Almaqrami, 29-year-old Yemeni Ph.D. student in applied linguistics who was awarded a diversity visa in 2016. Due to Trump's travel ban, he is now stranded in India. We also speak with his attorney, Yolanda Rondon of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, and Stephen Pattison, a U.S. immigration attorney who spent nearly three decades with the State Department.

The front page of Guam's Pacific Daily News reads "14 Minutes!" That's how long it would take missiles fired from North Korea to reach the U.S. territory in the western Pacific if there is an escalation of the threat of nuclear war between the U.S. and North Korea. On Thursday, Trump again threatened North Korea, saying if it were to carry out an attack on Guam, the U.S. would retaliate with military action. The Pentagon controls about a third of all the land on Guam, which is home to 163,000 people and a sprawling complex of U.S. military bases, including the Air Force base where many of the United States' B-2 bombers take off from before flying over the Korean Peninsula. For decades, residents of Guam have resisted the militarization and colonization of their homeland by the United States, which has now put them in the crosshairs of a possible nuclear war between the U.S. and North Korea. We go to Guam to speak with LisaLinda Natividad, president of the Guahan Coalition for Peace and Justice and a member of the Guam Commission on Decolonization, and with David Vine, author of "Base Nation: How U.S. Military Bases Abroad Harm America and the World."

Elected Officials Condemn Trump's Nuclear Threats Against North Korea, Trump Attacks Senate Leader McConnell over Legislative Failures, Double-Digit Premium Hikes to Follow Republican Healthcare Effort, Minnesota Lawmaker Condemns Trump's Silence over Mosque Bombing, Trump Adviser Sebastian Gorka Calls Mosque Attack a False Flag, President Trump Ramps Up North Korea "Fire and Fury" Threats, U.S., Canadian Diplomats in Cuba Suffer Deafness from Covert "Sonic Device", Russia: Journalist Jailed over Calls for Political Accountability, Central American LGBTQ Activists Arrive at U.S.-Mexico Border, Seeking Asylum, Yemen: Human Smugglers Intentionally Drown African Migrants at Sea, Ethiopia: Intense Drought Has Millions on Brink of Starvation, NOAA Climate Report Confirms 2016 was Hottest Year on Record, Greenland: Defrosting, Drying Tundra Burns in Unprecedented Wildfires, Nebraska: Over 460,000 Oppose Keystone XL Pipeline in Public Comments, New York: 5 Arrested Protesting Goldman Sachs Fossil Fuel Conference

It's been six months since Attorney General Jeff Sessions was sworn in as head of the Department of Justice. In that time, Sessions has managed to undo nearly every aspect of Obama's civil rights legacy. We look at how Sessions is using the Justice Department to roll back decades of progress on civil rights, voting rights, LGBT rights and police reform. We speak with Vanita Gupta, president of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. She is the former head of the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice.

On Tuesday, President Trump shocked the world by hinting the U.S. could carry out a nuclear strike on North Korea. Hours after he spoke, North Korea threatened to strike the U.S. territory of Guam in the western Pacific. China has warned that a "war of words" between the U.S. and North Korea could spiral out of hand. We speak with Andrew Bacevich, professor emeritus of international relations and history at Boston University. He is a retired colonel and Vietnam War veteran.

The war of words between the U.S. and North Korea continues to intensify, with North Korea threatening to strike the U.S. territory of Guam, while Defense Secretary General Mattis warned North Korea's actions could result in the "destruction of its people." This came after Trump vowed to strike at North Korea with "fire and fury." Meanwhile, the U.N. Security Council recently imposed a new round of sanctions against North Korea over its test launches of two intercontinental ballistic missiles last month. We speak with journalist Tim Shorrock, who recently returned from South Korea.

Mattis Warns N. Korea Could Face "Destruction of Its People" as Tillerson Downplays Rhetoric, North Korea Military Announces Plan to Fire Missiles into Sea Off Guam, Peace Activists Protest Outside White House Calling for Negotiations with N. Korea, FBI Raids Home of Trump's Former Campaign Chair Paul Manafort, Five Die in Kenya as Protests Continue over Presidential Election, U.N.: $1 Billion Needed to Restore Basic Services to Mosul, Report: More Than 2,400 Have Died in 2017 Crossing Mediterranean, Migrant Helper in France Gets Suspended Four-Month Sentence, Canada Erects Camp on U.S. Border to Process Asylum Seekers, Four Palestinians Injured in Israeli Airstrikes Targeting Gaza, IDF Soldier Begins Prison Term for Executing Wounded Palestinian Man, Criminal Investigation Casts Doubts on Benjamin Netanyahu's Future, Farmworker Dies in Washington State After Being Denied Medical Help, Puerto Rican Protests Call for Investigation into PR's Debt

From Attorney General Jeff Sessions to EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, many of Trump's key administration members are far-right-wing figures who are seeking to dismantle the very agencies that they have been picked to head. For more on this right-wing revolution, we speak with longtime activist and journalist Allan Nairn.*Related Segments with Allan Nairn*"Forget Russia. Is Provoking a Nuclear War with North Korea Grounds for Impeachment?":https://www.democracynow.org/2017/8/9/forget_russia_is_provoking_a_nuclear"Journalist Allan Nairn on Trump Administration's Revolutionary Dismantling of U.S. Government":https://www.democracynow.org/2017/8/9/journalist_allan_nairn_on_trump_administrations"Blackwater Founder Erik Prince Urges Trump to Privatize Afghan War & Install Viceroy to Run Nation":https://www.democracynow.org/2017/8/9/at_urging_of_blackwater_founder_trump

The White House is considering an unprecedented plan to privatize the war in Afghanistan at the urging of Erik Prince, founder of the now-defunct private mercenary firm Blackwater. Prince told USA Today the plan would include sending 5,500 private mercenaries to Afghanistan to advise the Afghan army. It would also include deploying a private air force—with at least 90 aircraft—to carry out the bombing campaign against Taliban insurgents. The plan's consideration comes as a federal appeals court has overturned the prison sentences of former Blackwater contractors who were involved in a 2007 massacre in Nisoor Square in central Baghdad, killing 17 civilians when they opened fire with machine guns and threw grenades into the crowded public space. For more, we speak with longtime investigative journalist and activist Allan Nairn.*Related segments with Allan Nairn*"Forget Russia. Is Provoking a Nuclear War with North Korea Grounds for Impeachment?":https://www.democracynow.org/2017/8/9/forget_russia_is_provoking_a_nuclear"Journalist Allan Nairn on Trump Administration's Revolutionary Dismantling of U.S. Government":https://www.democracynow.org/2017/8/9/journalist_allan_nairn_on_trump_administrations"A Rightist Revolution: Allan Nairn on Trump Admin's Radical Agenda to Roll Back Social Progress":https://www.democracynow.org/2017/8/9/a_rightist_revolution_allan_nairn_on

As tensions escalate between the United States and North Korea, the U.S. government is particularly ill-equipped to carry out effective diplomacy, thanks to the Trump administration's efforts to dismantle the State Department. The U.S. currently has no ambassador to South Korea, no secretary of Asian Pacific affairs and no secretary of East Asian affairs. For more on the dismantling of the U.S. government, we speak to longtime journalist and activist Allan Nairn.*Related Segments with Allan Nairn*"Forget Russia. Is Provoking a Nuclear War with North Korea Grounds for Impeachment?":https://www.democracynow.org/2017/8/9/forget_russia_is_provoking_a_nuclear"Blackwater Founder Erik Prince Urges Trump to Privatize Afghan War & Install Viceroy to Run Nation":https://www.democracynow.org/2017/8/9/at_urging_of_blackwater_founder_trump"A Rightist Revolution: Allan Nairn on Trump Admin's Radical Agenda to Roll Back Social Progress":https://www.democracynow.org/2017/8/9/a_rightist_revolution_allan_nairn_on