Democracy Now!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

We look at the life and legacy of the founder of black liberation theology, Rev. Dr. James Cone. Starting in the 1960s, he argued for racial justice and interpreted the Christian gospel from the experience of the oppressed. He said he was inspired by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who gave black theology its Christian identity, and Malcolm X, who gave black theology its black identity. Dr. Cone died Saturday at age 79. We play excerpts of his speeches and speak with Rev. Dr. Serene Jones, president of Union Theological Seminary, where Dr. Cone taught for 50 years; Rev. Dr. Kelly Brown Douglas, dean of the Episcopal Divinity School and professor at Union Theological Seminary and a former student of Dr. Cone; and another former student of Dr. Cone, Reverend Dr. Raphael Warnock, who serves as senior pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church, which was the spiritual home of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He is also the chair of the New Georgia Project, author of "The Divided Mind of the Black Church: Theology, Piety, and Public Witness," and on the board of Union Theological Seminary.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has pledged to abandon his nuclear weapons if the United States agrees to formally end the Korean War and promises not to invade his country. The announcement came after a historic meeting Friday between Kim and South Korean leader Moon Jae-in in the truce village of Panmunjom. Then, on Sunday, North Korea's state media said Kim had vowed to immediately suspend nuclear and missile tests, and would dismantle its Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site. We discuss the potentially historic developments with Tim Shorrock, correspondent for The Nation and the Korea Center for Investigative Journalism in Seoul.

North Korea Pledges to Abandon Nuclear Arms If U.S. Agrees Not to Invade, 8 Journalists, Including Famed Photographer, Killed in ISIS Bombing in Afghanistan, Israeli Soldiers Kill 7 Palestinians in Gaza over the Weekend, Trump Admin Moves to Freeze Fuel-Efficiency Standards for Cars, John Bolton: Trump Has Not Yet Decided Whether to Withdraw from Iran Nuclear Deal, Parkland Students Cry Hypocrisy After Guns Are Banned for Pence's NRA Address, In Campaign-Style Rally in Michigan, Trump Attacks Migrants, Media, Democrats & FBI, Dr. Ronny Jackson Will Not Return to His Role as White House Physician, Migrant Caravan Attacked by Trump Arrives at U.S. Border to Seek Political Asylum, British Home Secretary Resigns Amid Scandal over Deportation of Windrush Generation, Arizona Teachers Continue Strike into Third Day, Sprint & T-Mobile Agree to $26.5 Billion Merger, Former Black Panther Herman Bell Freed from Prison, Dr. James Cone, Founder of Black Liberation Theology, Dies at Age 79

The U.S. Supreme Court looks poised to uphold President Trump’s travel ban, which blocks most people from seven countries—including Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen—from entering the United States. During oral arguments on Wednesday, Justice Anthony Kennedy appeared to side with the conservative side of the court. Lower courts have repeatedly ruled against versions of Trump’s travel ban, saying they were unconstitutional and in violation of federal immigration law. Among those who have asked the Supreme Court to rule the travel ban unconstitutional are the children of Japanese Americans who were interned during World War II.Joining us now is one of those children: Karen Korematsu, daughter of civil rights icon Fred Korematsu, who was jailed for refusing orders to be sent to an internment camp set up for U.S. residents of Japanese ancestry. His case went all the way to the Supreme Court. Last year Karen Korematsu wrote an op-ed for The Washington Post headlined "My father resisted Japanese internment. Trump’s travel ban is just as unfair." For more, we speak with Karen Korematsu, founder and executive director of the Fred T. Korematsu Institute.

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt was grilled by lawmakers Thursday on Capitol Hill about a slew of scandals over his spending habits and ties to industry lobbyists. Pruitt faces more than a half-dozen investigations. Among the scandals, he paid only $50 a night to live in a Capitol Hill condo owned by the wife of a prominent Washington energy lobbyist whose firm represents a roster of fossil fuel companies. Pruitt had a $43,000 soundproof phone booth installed in his office, which a government watchdog says violated spending laws. Pruitt had the EPA spend $3 million on his security detail, including 18 full-time agents. Pruitt routinely travels first- or business-class, reportedly because Pruitt was confronted by economy-class customers angry over his policies. For more, we speak with Emily Atkin, a staff writer at The New Republic. Her latest pieces include "Scott Pruitt Is Forced to Confront Reality" and "The EPA Is Acting Like Big Tobacco." We also speak with Michael Brune, the executive director of the Sierra Club.

History has been made on the Korean Peninsula today, as South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un shook hands at the Demilitarized Zone between the two countries and pledged to work to denuclearize the peninsula and to declare the official end to the Korean War. Today's historic summit marks the first time a North Korean leader has ever set foot inside South Korea. During the meeting, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said, "I came here to put an end to the history of confrontation." The North and South Korean leaders pledged to pursue talks with the United States aimed at negotiating a formal peace treaty to replace the uneasy 1953 armistice. For more, we speak with Ann Wright, retired U.S. Army colonel and former State Department diplomat. She is a member of Women Cross DMZ, a group of international peacemakers who have been calling for an end to the Korean War.

In Historic Move, North & South Korean Leaders Meet at DMZ and Commit to Peace, On Capitol Hill, Lawmakers Call on Scott Pruitt to Resign over Slew of Scandals, Senate Confirms Mike Pompeo as Secretary of State, Newly Released Docs Detail CIA Nominee Gina Haspel’s Torture Record, Jury Convicts Bill Cosby Guilty on 3 Sexual Assault Charges, NBC Anchor Tom Brokaw Accused of Sexual Harassment, Thousands Protest in Spain After Court Clears Men of 2016 Gang Rape, Thousands of Arizona & Colorado Teachers Strike to Protest Cuts to Education Funding, In Rambling Interview, Trump Admits Cohen Represented Him in Stormy Daniels Payment, NYC: 14 Jewish Activists Arrested at Schumer's Office over Israel's Killing of Palestinian Protesters, Wisconsin: Tens of Thousands Forced to Evacuate After Refinery Explosion, Editorial Board of Montgomery Advertiser Apologies for Past Coverage of Lynching

Aid agencies are scrambling to relocate tens of thousands of Rohingya refugees from crowded camps in Bangladesh ahead of the monsoon season in June. Hundreds of thousands of registered Rohingya refugees now live in the Cox's Bazar district in southeastern Bangladesh after fleeing a Burmese military campaign of rape, murder and arson that the U.N. has called a “textbook example of ethnic cleansing." Now the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees says at least 150,000 people are at "high risk from mudslides and floods" from the heavy rain in the next few months. Some could be moved to a recently formed island at the mouth of the Meghna River. This comes as more refugees are still crossing over from Burma. We are joined in our New York studio by Tun Khin, President of the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK and a member of the Free Rohingya Coalition. He was born in Burma, but in 1982 he was rendered effectively stateless along with a million other ethnic Rohingya under a nationality law.

A new exposé by The Intercept confirms how powerful Democratic officials have worked to crush competitive progressive candidates in primaries around the country, choosing instead to back moderate, business-friendly candidates. This comes after President Obama used his farewell address to encourage Americans upset about the outcome of the 2016 election to take action by running for office themselves. We speak with Levi Tillemann, a Colorado man who heeded Obama's call and found himself disappointed by the process, after he was repeatedly pressured by powerful Democrats not to run. In fact, he recorded a conversation in which he was directly told to drop out of the Democratic primary for Colorado's sixth Congressional district by none other than the second-ranking House Democrat, Representative Steny Hoyer of Maryland. We go to Denver to speak with Levi Tillemann, a candidate in Colorado's Democratic primary for the 6th Congressional District, which includes Denver. He is featured in the new exposé by Lee Fang, investigative journalist at The Intercept, "Secretly Taped Audio Reveals Democratic Official Pressuring Progressive to Bow Out of Election.”

During Wednesday's oral arguments over President Trump's travel ban at the Supreme Court, attorney Neal Katyal made reference to how the ban has blocked a U.S. citizen named Nageeb al-Omari. Al-Omari has been prevented from bringing his 10-year-old daughter to the United States to receive medical care for cerebral palsy. The family's story was featured in a new Al Jazeera Fault Lines "documentary":https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=324k9qPkU0I, "Between War and the Ban: A Yemeni-American Story." We air an excerpt of the documentary and speak with two attorneys fighting the travel ban.

The U.S. Supreme Court looks poised to uphold President Trump’s travel ban, which blocks most people from seven countries—including Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen—from entering the United States. During oral arguments on Wednesday, Justice Anthony Kennedy, who is often seen as a swing vote, appeared to side with the conservative wing of the court. U.S. solicitor general Noel Francisco argued the travel restrictions were not a “so-called Muslim ban” and that the order fell within the president’s executive authority. Francisco made the claim even though Trump campaigned for president calling for a "total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.” Lower courts have repeatedly ruled against versions of Trump’s travel ban, saying they were unconstitutional and in violation of federal immigration law. We are joined by Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLU's national Immigrants' Rights Project, who presented the first challenge to President Trump's travel ban order last year, and Diala Shamas, a staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights. She was in Djibouti last month speaking to Yemeni relatives of U.S. citizens attempting to come to the United States under Trump's travel ban.

Supreme Court Justices Suggest They'll Allow Trump Travel Ban, U.S. Cancels Protected Status for Nepali Immigrants on Earthquake Anniversary, Veterans Affairs Nominee Ronny Jackson Withdraws Amid Misconduct Claims, EPA Chief Scott Pruitt to Face Lawmakers' Questions About Ethics Scandals, Trump Attorney Michael Cohen to Take the Fifth in Stormy Daniels Lawsuit, French President Blasts Trump's Policies in Address to U.S. Congress, Second Palestinian Journalist Shot Dead by Israeli Forces in Gaza, Afghan Journalist Abdul Manan Arghand Assassinated in Kandahar, Japan: Okinawans Protest Construction of U.S. Military Base, HUD Chief Ben Carson's Bill Would Triple Poorest Tenants' Rents, California Police Say They've Captured the "Golden State Killer", Philippines Activist Denied U.S. Entry, Claims Torture in CBP Custody, New Alabama Memorial Is Dedicated to Victims of White Supremacy

Immigrant rights and reproductive justice activist Alejandra Pablos has been freed from the for-profit Eloy Detention Center, where she was detained for more than 40 days after she reported to a routine ICE check-in on March 7. Advocates say she was detained in retaliation for her activism, particularly for protesting outside the Homeland Security Department office in Virginia earlier this year. Pablos works for the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health. Pablos was a legal permanent resident who grew up in Arizona, but a conviction for driving under the influence nearly a decade ago has made her subject to deportation.

According to reporting by Rewire.News, Catholic hospitals across the country are imposing dangerous and life-threatening mandates on their patients, including requiring fetal burial after a miscarriage and restricting access to contraception, abortion, fertility treatments and gender-affirming care for transgender patients. And now, right-wing politicians like Vice President Mike Pence are pushing to enshrine these dangerous practices into law. For more, we speak with Rewire investigative journalist Amy Littlefield.

Last week, a U.S. appeals court declared unconstitutional an Indiana law signed by then-Governor, now Vice President, Mike Pence, that requires fetuses to be buried or cremated. This comes as Texas passed a law last year saying all fetal remains had to be buried or cremated, and also banned donation of that tissue for research purposes. In January, U.S. District Judge David Alan Ezra temporarily halted the fetal remains law, but Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has vowed to continue fighting for it. For more, we speak with Blake Norton, who had a miscarriage in 2015 at the Seton Medical Center in Austin, Texas, and was forced to choose whether she would let the hospital bury the remains in a shared grave, or arrange for a "private burial" at her own expense. We're also joined by Texas Observer reporter Sophie Novack, whose cover story about Blake Norton is headlined "Indoctrinated: A Catholic hospital in Austin forces patients who miscarry to consent to fetal burials. For one woman, that made a painful loss even worse—and she worries it could soon become routine across Texas."

President Trump threatened to attack Iran on Tuesday if it restarts its nuclear weapons program, while at the same time hinting he plans to scrap the international deal to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear arms. Trump made his comments at the White House during a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, who had come to Washington in an attempt to preserve the Iran deal. Trump must decide by May 12 whether the U.S. should stay in the deal. Macron said he opposes throwing out the existing nuclear deal but is open to a new agreement with Iran to address Iran's role in Syria and other issues. But advocates say Trump is likely to leave the deal and that the U.S. is trying to force Iran to be the party that ends up leaving the accord—and that Trump's National Security Adviser John Bolton and State Department Secretary nominee Mike Pompeo aren't "seriously interested" in further negotiations. "I think the United States has never abandoned the idea of regime change in Iran," says Jamal Abdi, the vice president for policy at the National Iranian American Council.

Federal Judge: U.S. Must Continue DACA Program, Lawmakers Suspend Confirmation Hearing for VA Secretary Nominee Ronny Jackson, CFPB Interim Head Mick Mulvaney to Bankers: I Only Met with Lobbyists Who Gave Me Money, U.N. Warns of Impending Humanitarian Catastrophe in Idlib, Syria, Amnesty: Iraqi Women with Perceived Ties to ISIS Face "Collective Punishment", Israel Scraps Plans to Forcibly Deport or Imprison 30,000 African Asylum Seekers, Mexico: Hundreds Protest Disappearance and Murder of 3 University Students, South Africa: Unions Call for Nationwide Strike to Protest Proposed Minimum Wage, New York City: ICE Arrests 225 People in 6-Day Raid, Judge in Spokane Blocks Trump from Defunding Planned Parenthood Program, Arizona: Republican Debbie Lesko Beats Out Democratic Challenger for U.S. House Seat, Columbia University Graduate Students Strike to Demand Right to Unionize, Rapper Meek Mill Freed from Prison in Pennsylvania

Immigrants rights activists are demanding the release of Manuel Duran, a prominent Latino journalist in Memphis who has been in ICE custody since early April. Duran was detained by immigration officials after he was arrested while covering a protest against immigrant detention outside a county jail. Duran, who was born in El Salvador, is a well-known reporter on Spanish radio stations in Memphis. He also runs the online site Memphis Noticias. Duran issued a statement while detained about the conditions in the LaSalle Detention Center in Jena, Louisiana, where he is being held. He writes, "Through this experience I have learned first hand details about the treatment our immigrants receive before they are deported. How they keep the lights on day and night and you have to sleep with a towel over your eyes. How they make you lie in bed for 45 minutes, in what seems to be at random after roll calling, and you cannot use the phone or the bathroom during that time."

A new Politico cover story reveals how an ABC journalist named Lisa Howard conducted a secret liaison with Cuba's Fidel Castro, eventually establishing a secret back channel between Castro's office and the White House. For more, we speak with Peter Kornbluh, who directs the Cuba Documentation Project at the National Security Archive at George Washington University, and who wrote the piece in Politico, "'My Dearest Fidel': An ABC Journalist's Secret Liaison with Fidel Castro."

For the first time since the Cuban revolution toppled dictator Fulgencio Batista, a president who does not have the last name Castro has taken power. Miguel Díaz-Canel was sworn in as president last Thursday. He succeeds Raúl Castro, who served two consecutive 5-year terms in office. Castro is now 86 years old and will remain head of the Communist Party. Fidel Castro handed over power to his brother Raúl in 2008 while his health deteriorated, and died in 2016. Thursday's session was held on the 57th anniversary of Cuba's 1961 defeat of a CIA-backed Cuban exile invasion known as the Bay of Pigs. Díaz-Canel began his term with a promise to defend the socialist revolution led by the Castro brothers. We speak to Peter Kornbluh, who directs the Cuba Documentation Project at the National Security Archive at George Washington University.

At least 20 people died Sunday when a Saudi-led coalition airstrike hit a wedding party in northern Yemen. Most of the dead were reportedly women and children who were gathered in one of the wedding party tents. The bride was among the dead. Medics and residents said more than 46 others—including 30 children—were also injured. The attack on the Yemeni wedding party was one of at least three airstrikes over the weekend that killed Yemeni civilians. A family of five died in an airstrike in the province of Hajjah. And 20 civilians died on Saturday when fighter jets bombed a bus near the city of Taiz. Earlier this month, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said Yemen had become the world's worst humanitarian crisis. We speak to Shireen Al-Adeimi, a Yemeni doctoral candidate at Harvard University.

Yemen: U.S.-Backed, Saudi-Led Airstrike Kills At Least 20 at Wedding, Toronto Driver Plows into Pedestrians, Killing 10 and Injuring 15, Suspected Gunman in Waffle House Massacre Arraigned on Murder Charges, Senate Committee Recommends Mike Pompeo for Secretary of State, 109 Retired Military Leaders Oppose Gina Haspel to Head CIA, Veterans Affairs Nomination in Doubt over Alleged "Improper Conduct", Trumps Welcome French President Macron for Official State Visit, French Parliament Advances Immigration Bill Restricting Asylum Seekers, Greece: Neo-Nazis Attack Peaceful Demonstration of Asylum Seekers, White House Defends Trump Tweet Condemned as Racist Toward Immigrants, Tucson, AZ: Murder Acquittal for Border Agent Who Shot Mexican Teen, Armenia: Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan Resigns Amid Mass Protests, George H. W. Bush Hospitalized One Day After Barbara Bush's Funeral

Fifty years ago today, on April 23, 1968, hundreds of students at Columbia University in New York started a revolt on campus. They occupied five buildings, including the president's office in Low Library, then students barricaded themselves inside the buildings for days. They were protesting Columbia's ties to military research and plans to build a university gymnasium in a public park in Harlem. The protests began less than three weeks after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The 1968 Columbia uprising led to one of the largest mass arrests in New York City history—more than 700 people arrested on April 30. It also inspired student protests across the country. Today, we spend the hour looking back at this pivotal moment. We are joined by Raymond Brown, former leader of the Student Afro-American Society; Nancy Biberman, a Barnard College student who joined the protests as a member of Students for Democratic Society; Mark Rudd, chair of the Columbia University chapter of SDS during the student strike; Juan González, _Democracy Now!_ co-host who was a Columbia student and strike organizer; and Paul Cronin, editor of the new book "A Time to Stir: Columbia '68." We also feature excerpts from the 1968 documentary "Columbia Revolt" by Third World Newsreel.

North Korea to Freeze Nuclear Tests Ahead of Trump Summit, French President Macron in U.S. for Three-Day State Visit, Manhunt Underway for Tennessee Shooter Who Killed 4 People of Color, Afghanistan: Suicide Bomb Kills 57, Injures 119 at Voter ID Center, Israeli Snipers Kill 4 More Palestinians at Gaza's Militarized Border, Palestinian Engineer Assassinated in Malaysia; Family Blames Mossad, Syrian Military Bombards Last Opposition-Held Areas Around Damascus, Nicaraguan President Scraps Pension Rollback as Protest Death Toll Hits 26, Peru: Assassinated Forest Defender Olivia Arévalo Lomas Laid to Rest, Armenia: Thousands Protest Power Grab by Leader Serzh Sargsyan, Arizona Teachers Authorize a Strike, Demanding Public Education Funds, Harvard Student Teaching Assistants Vote to Unionize, Climate Denier Jim Bridenstine Narrowly Confirmed as NASA Chief, HSBC Pledges to Roll Back Financing of Fossil Fuel Projects, Women Claim 5 of 6 Goldman Environmental Prizes for 2018, Georgia: Police Arrest 10 Anti-Fascist Protesters as Neo-Nazis Rally, Herman Bell Set to Be Freed on Parole After 45 Years in Prison, Colin Kaepernick Wins Amnesty's Ambassador of Conscience Award

This Sunday more than a billion people will celebrate Earth Day. This year's theme: ending plastic pollution by Earth Day 2020. Of the nearly 300 million tons of plastic sold each year, about 90 percent ends up in landfills, in the oceans—and in our bodies. Part of the focus will be microplastics, those small bits of plastic that are seemingly everywhere. We speak to Marcus Eriksen of the 5 Gyres Institute, who has led 20 expeditions around the world to research plastic marine pollution, and Priscilla Villa of the #BreakFreeFromPlastics movement.

The imprisonment of former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has shaken up this year's presidential election. Lula is the front-runner but will likely be barred from running if he is not released from prison. Polling second is the far-right former military captain Jair Bolsonaro. We speak to former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff about the rise of the far right and the recent assassination of Brazilian human rights activist and Rio City Councilmember Marielle Franco.