Democracy Now!

WH Discussed Promoting Rob Porter Months After Receiving FBI's Report on Alleged Domestic Violence, Second Judge Temporarily Blocks Trump from Canceling DACA, ICE Seattle Official Charged with Stealing Immigrants' Identities to Commit Credit Card Fraud, Trump's Lawyer Personally Paid to Silence Ex-Porn Star About Encounter with Trump, U.S. Intelligence Chiefs Claim Russia Planning to Meddle in 2018 Election, After 3-Year Bombing Campaign, U.S. Refuses to Commit Money to Iraq's Reconstruction, Israeli Justice Minister: Maintaining Jewish Majority More Important Than Human Rights, Israeli Police Recommend Indicting PM Netanyahu on Corruption Charges, Imprisoned Reuters Journalists Win PEN Award for Reporting on Massacre in Burma, Ethiopia: Top Oromo Opposition Leader Freed from Prison, British Judge Again Upholds Arrest Warrant Against Julian Assange, CAIR Sues Southwest for Removing Passenger from Plane for Speaking Arabic, Olympic Gold Medalist Shaun White Faces Questions About Sexual Harassment Suit

This week marks 25 years since Bill Clinton signed the Family and Medical Leave Act, which gave employees in the U.S. the right to unpaid time off to care for themselves and family members. A decade later, San Francisco became the first city to approve paid sick leave. Today some 14 million workers in 32 municipalities and nine states have paid sick leave policies. On Thursday, Austin city councilmembers will vote on an ordinance that would make it the first city in the South to require paid sick leave from private employers. But the measure is facing strong opposition from a Koch brothers-backed lobbying group called the National Federation of Independent Business, which is fighting paid sick leave policies across the country. This the same lobbying group that led the opposition to the Affordable Care Act. For more we speak to Gregorio Casar, the Austin city councilmember who introduced the paid sick leave measure. When he first won election in 2014, he was the youngest councilmember in the city's history. He is the son of Mexican immigrants.

Tensions across northern Syria are escalating sharply amid a series of clashes between external and internal powers, including Israel, Iran, Turkey, Russia and the Syrian government. On Saturday, Israel shot down what it says was an Iranian drone that had entered Israel's airspace after being launched in Syria. Israel then mounted an attack on an Iranian command center in Syria, from where the drone was launched. One of the Israeli F-16 military jets was then downed by a Syrian government anti-aircraft missile. Meanwhile, also in northern Syria on Saturday, a Turkish Army helicopter was shot down by U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish YPG fighters near the Syrian Kurdish city of Afrin, where Turkey has launched a bombing and ground offensive. All this comes as the United Nations is warning of soaring levels of civilian casualties in Syria. For more, we speak with Anne Barnard, The New York Times bureau chief in Beirut, Lebanon. Her recent articles are titled "Israel Strikes Iran in Syria and Loses a Jet" and "It's Hard to Believe, But Syria's War Is Getting Even Worse." And we speak with Syrian-Canadian researcher Yazan al-Saadi.

Trump's $4.4T Budget Plan Would Gut Social Programs, Expand Pentagon, Senate Begins Immigration Debate as DACA Expiration Looms, White House Won't Explain Timeline of Rob Porter Abuse Allegations, Syria: Civilian Toll Mounts as Fighting Rages in Damascus Suburbs, Israel: Likud Party Says U.S. Discussed Annexation of Settlements, Palestinian President to "Refuse to Cooperate" with U.S. as Mideast Mediator, Israel: Military Trial Opens for Palestinian Teen Who Slapped Soldier, Tonga: Massive Cyclone Destroys Homes, Flattens Parliament Building, South Africa: ANC Orders President Jacob Zuma to Resign, Trump Admin Won't Support Transgender Students' Bathroom Access, Health and Human Services Dept. Coordinated with Anti-Abortion Group, Trump's Pick to Run 2020 Census Withdraws Nomination, Fox News Editor Calls U.S. Olympic Team "Darker, Gayer, Different", AG Sessions Praises "Anglo-American Heritage" of Law Enforcement, Wisconsin: 3 Jail Staffers Charged over Prisoner's Dehydration Death, West Virginia Woman Dragged from Capitol for Calling Out Campaign Donors, Apple Seeks Court Injunction Against French Tax Protesters

On Sunday, in Lahore, Pakistan, the world-renowned Pakistani human rights lawyer and activist Asma Jahangir died suddenly at the age of 66. For decades, Jahangir has been a leading advocate for women, minorities and democracy in Pakistan. In 1983, she was imprisoned for her work with the Movement to Restore Democracy during the military rule of General Zia ul-Haq. Later, in 2007, she was put under house arrest for helping lead a lawyers' protest movement that helped oust military leader Pervez Musharraf. As one of Pakistan's most powerful lawyers, she founded the country's first legal aid center in 1986, served as the first female president of the Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan and was the U.N. special rapporteur for human rights, extrajudicial killings and religious freedoms. Democracy Now! interviewed Asma Jahangir in "2007":https://www.democracynow.org/2007/11/14/under_house_arrest_pakistani_human_rights and "2016":https://www.democracynow.org/2016/8/9/pakistan_mourns_after_bombing_at_hospital. Click "here":https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4g7bsw3o9Q to watch Asma Jahangir’s full speech when she accepted the Right Livelihood Award in 2014. For more on her extraordinary life, we speak with her close personal friend, Tufts University professor Ayesha Jalal.

A federal judge temporarily stayed the deportation order for New Sanctuary Coalition executive director Ravi Ragbir on Friday, only one day before he was scheduled to be deported. He's one of a growing number of immigrants whose scheduled deportations—both individual or en masse—have been halted by federal judges in New Jersey, Massachusetts, Michigan and Florida. For more on the legal battle against Trump's mass deportation efforts, we speak with Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project; Seth Kaper-Dale, pastor of the Reformed Church of Highland Park; and Ravi Ragbir, executive director of the New Sanctuary Coalition.

On Friday, a federal judge stayed the deportation of New York City immigrant rights leader Ravi Ragbir, after he filed a free speech lawsuit arguing immigration officials unconstitutionally used their power to suppress political dissent by targeting outspoken activists for surveillance and deportation. The judge stayed the deportation only one day before Ravi Ragbir was scheduled to be deported. He has now been ordered to check in with Immigration and Customs Enforcement on March 15. For more, we speak with Ravi Ragbir, executive director of the New Sanctuary Coalition.

Syria: Tensions & Casualties Rise Amid Clashes Between Israel, Iran, Turkey & Syrian Gov't, As White House Domestic Violence Scandal Spirals, Trump Supports Accused Abusers, DOJ's Third-Highest-Ranking Official, Rachel Brand, Abruptly Resigns, Senate Slated to Begin Debate on Immigration Today, Federal Judge Stays Ravi Ragbir's Deportation on Free Speech Grounds, NYC Public Defenders Strike to Protest ICE Arrests at Bronx Courthouse, Court Rules Immigrants' Class Action Lawsuit Against GEO Group Can Proceed, Trump Blocks Release of Schiff Memo, After Release of Nunes Memo, NY Attorney General Sues Weinstein Company over Sexual Harassment, Oxfam Faces Crisis over Cover Up of Sex Crimes in Post-Earthquake Haiti, Kim Jong-un Invites South Korean President to Visit North, in Latest Thaw in Tensions, Reuters Publishes Shocking Report on Burmese Military's Killing of Rohingya, ICC Opens Inquiry into Extrajudicial Killings in the Philippines, Honduras: Activist Edwin Espinal & Others Jailed over Post-Election Protests, Iran: Hundreds of Thousands Gather to Mark Anniversary of 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iranian-Canadian Environmentalist Found Dead in Tehran Jail, Report: Britain Pressured Sweden Not to Drop Assange's Extradition Proceedings 5 Years Ago, Russian Plane Crashes Near Moscow, Killing 71, Puerto Rico: Fire at Electrical Station Plunges Swaths of Island Back into Darkness, World-Renowned Pakistani Human Rights Lawyer Asma Jahangir Dies at 66

Fifteen years ago this week, Secretary of State General Colin Powell gave a speech to the United Nations arguing for war with Iraq, saying the evidence was clear: Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. It was a speech Powell would later call a blot on his career. Is President Trump doing the same thing now with Iran? We speak to Powell's former chief of staff, Col. Lawrence Wilkerson. He recently wrote a piece titled "I Helped Sell the False Choice of War Once. It's Happening Again."

In Pyeongchang, South Korea, the 2018 Winter Olympics have opened, with North and South Korean athletes marching together at the open ceremonies. The games are seen as a pivotal moment for relations between the two countries, who have been officially at war since 1950. In an effort to de-escalate tensions on the Korean Peninsula, North Korea has sent a 500-person delegation of athletes, musicians and performers to the Olympics. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's influential sister attended today's opening ceremony and shook hands with South Korean leader Moon Jae-in; the pair are scheduled to have lunch together. But as the peninsula tries to de-escalate the threat of nuclear war, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence warned the U.S. is slated to impose another round of sanctions against North Korea. We speak to Christine Ahn, the founder and international coordinator of Women Cross DMZ, a global movement of women mobilizing to end the Korean War.

In a pair of early-morning votes, the U.S. House and Senate approved bills to end a brief overnight shutdown of the government. The bill raises military and domestic spending by almost $300 billion over the next two years. But the bill failed to meet the demands of immigrant rights groups—and many Democrats—who wanted protection for young undocumented immigrants whose protections President Trump ended last fall. The House only passed thanks to 73 Democrats who joined Republicans backing the measure. We speak to Greisa Martínez Rosas, advocacy director for United We Dream. She is a recipient of DACA, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.

Congress Passes Spending Bill Without Deal to Protect Young Immigrants, Dow Jones Falls 1,000+ Points Again in Stock Market "Correction", Korean Athletes March Under Unified Flag as Winter Olympics Open, Mike Pence Denies Reported Snub by Olympic Figure Skater Adam Rippon, Reports: Senior White House Officials Knew of Rob Porter Abuse Allegations, Dozens of White House Staffers Lack Permanent Security Clearance, Guatemala: Two Journalists Murdered in Apparent Execution, Bermuda Becomes First to Revoke Marriage Equality Rights, Illinois: White Supremacist Poised to Win GOP Congressional Primary, Southern Poverty Law Center Reports "The Alt-Right Is Killing People", Ohio Sues DuPont, Citing Decades-Long Spill of Toxic Chemical, Seattle: Former Olympic Swimming Coach Accused of Sexual Abuse, Immigration Arrests Up 30 Percent in 2017, Still Far Below Peak Obama Levels, Draft Trump Admin Plan Would Punish Immigrants on Government Assistance, Tacoma, Washington: ICE Detainees Begin Hunger Strike, Immigration Activist Ravi Ragbir Heads to Court Hoping to Halt Deportation

The U.S. is intensifying its air war in Afghanistan as U.S. Central Command has announced it is shifting military resources from Iraq and Syria back to Afghanistan, where the United States has been fighting for over 16 years in the longest war in U.S. history. U.S. Air Force Major General James Hecker recently said Afghanistan has "become CENTCOM's main effort." The news comes after a particularly bloody period in Afghanistan. Despite the spiraling violence, President Trump recently ruled out negotiations with the Taliban during a meeting of members of the United Nations Security Council. We speak to Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Steve Coll about his new book, "Directorate S: The C.I.A. and America's Secret Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan."

In New Orleans, Black Lives Matter activist and Charleston, South Carolina, community organizer Muhiyidin d'Baha died Tuesday, after he was struck in the thigh by a bullet as he rode his bicycle. Police have not named any motive or suspects in the killing. He made national headlines last year after he appeared in a viral video that shows him leaping over a police line in an attempt to grab a Confederate flag from a white supremacist at a rally in Charleston. In 2015, Democracy Now! spoke with Muhiyidin d'Baha outside the Emanuel AME Church amid the funerals of nine African-American worshipers who were gunned down by white supremacist Dylann Roof.

Senators Reach 2-Year Spending Agreement Without Deal on Immigration, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi Speaks for 8+ Hours to Support DREAMers, DREAM Activists Arrested at Nonviolent Capitol Hill Protest, White House Aide Rob Porter Resigns Amid Domestic Violence Allegations, Syria: Dozens Dead as U.S. Airstrikes Target Pro-Government Forces, Iraq: UNICEF Appeals for Aid After Mosul's Hospitals Left in Ruins, Taiwan: Powerful Earthquake Leaves 6 Dead, 76 Missing, Pay Equity Lawsuit Targets British Supermarket Chain Tesco, Vice President Pence Warns North Korea Despite Winter Olympics Thaw, Mike Pence to Lead U.S. Olympics Delegation, Drawing LGBTQ Protests, EPA Chief Scott Pruitt Suggests Global Warming is Not a "Bad Thing", California Officials to Block Oil Shipments from New Offshore Wells, North Dakota: 1-Year Prison Sentence for Anti-Pipeline Activist, Electronic Frontier Foundation Founder John Perry Barlow Dead at 70, Black Lives Matter Activist Muhiyidin d'Baha Shot Dead in New Orleans

In Ohio, a 16-year-old girl who killed her abusive father is finally home from juvenile detention, after her case sparked national outcry over the treatment of domestic violence survivors. The young girl, Bresha Meadows, was just 14 years old when she shot dead her abusive father, Jonathan Meadows, with a bullet to his head as he slept. Only two months earlier, Bresha had run away from home, telling relatives that she was scared for her life "because her father was beating her mother and threatening to kill the whole family." Bresha was sentenced to a year in juvenile detention, with credit for time served, as well as six months at a mental health treatment center. We speak to journalist Victoria Law, who has been closely following the story.

The NAACP and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund have sued the Department of Homeland Security over its decision to rescind the temporary protected status (TPS) designation for Haitian immigrants. We speak to Sherrilyn Ifill, president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.

In Maryland, closing arguments are scheduled to begin today for two Baltimore police officers who are part of what has been described as one of the most startling police corruption scandals in a generation. The officers were part of an elite plainclothes unit called the Gun Trace Task Force—but, according to prosecutors, the unit acted more like a criminal outfit. In his opening argument during the trial, the lead federal prosecutor, Leo Wise, said, "They were, simply put, both cops and robbers." According to prosecutors, the officers stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from city residents. They broke into houses. They stole drugs and then gave them to drug dealers. They carried BB guns that they could plant on people they shot. Six members of the task force have already pleaded guilty. We speak to Sherrilyn Ifill, president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.

New York City taxi drivers held a vigil on Tuesday to honor livery car driver Douglas Schifter, who killed himself in front of City Hall Monday morning after writing a long Facebook post condemning local politicians and Wall Street-backed apps like Uber for pushing him into financial ruin. He wrote, "I worked 100-120 consecutive hours almost every week for the past fourteen plus years. When the industry started in 1981, I averaged 40-50 hours. I cannot survive any longer with working 120 hours! I am not a Slave and I refuse to be one. … There seems to be a strong bias by the Mayor and Governor in favor of Uber. A Company that is a known liar, cheat and thief." Over the past five years, the number of for-hire cars has more than doubled in the city, largely thanks to Uber. But the soaring number of cars has resulted in a financial crisis for many longtime taxi drivers who now struggle to get customers. We speak to Bhairavi Desai, executive director and co-founder of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, which represents over 19,000 taxi drivers in New York City.

U.N. Calls for Ceasefire in Syria as Dozens Are Killed by Regime Airstrikes, Pence Warns of New Sanctions on N. Korea, Ahead of Olympic Games in S. Korea, John Kelly Sparks Outrage by Suggesting DREAMers Are Lazy, Trump Gives Pentagon Marching Orders to Stage Giant Military Parade, FEMA Slammed After Only 50,000 of 30 Million Meals Were Delivered to Puerto Rico, House Passes Legislation Overhauling Congress' Sexual Harassment Process, Las Vegas Casino Mogul Steve Wynn Resigns Amid Sexual Harassment Scandal, Ecuador Reaffirms Support for Assange After London Judge Upholds Arrest Warrant, Hong Kong's Highest Court Throws Out Prison Sentences for Pro-Democracy Activists, NYC Livery Driver Commits Suicide at City Hall, Blaming Uber & Politicians for Financial Ruin, Baltimore Cops on Trial for Conspiracy, Robbery in Massive Police Corruption Scandal, Court Upholds $25 Million Settlement Against Trump University, Rep. Nydia Velázquez Introduces Private Bill to Protect Ravi Ragbir

On February 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his historic "The Drum Major Instinct" sermon at the Ebenezer Baptist Church, two months before his assassination. On Sunday, 50 years later, the words of his sermon were used to in a Dodge Ram truck advertisement at the Super Bowl. The ad sparked widespread criticism for the obvious distortion of Dr. King's message. But other revisions to civil rights history are often more subtle. For more, we speak with the author of a new book showing how the legacy of the civil rights movement in the U.S. has been distorted and whitewashed for public consumption. Professor and historian Jeanne Theoharis's new book is titled "A More Beautiful and Terrible History: The Uses and Misuses of Civil Rights History." She is also the author of the award-winning book "The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks."

Super Bowl Sunday marked the 50th anniversary of "The Drum Major Instinct," a historic sermon the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. gave at the Ebenezer Baptist Church on February 4, 1968, two months before his assassination. The sermon is mostly remembered for the way King concluded it, by imagining his own funeral, downplaying his famous achievements and saying, "If you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice." Well, on Sunday, Ram trucks marked the anniversary of King's speech by using part of it in a Super Bowl ad to sell trucks. The controversial ad featured King's voice played over video showing U.S. marines, ranchers and a soldier wearing camouflage, but it ignored King's own warning about car advertisements from the same speech. We speak to the famed sociologist and civil rights activist Harry Edwards.

As the battle over the DREAMers and DACA heats up in Washington, we look at a stunning new piece in The New Yorker titled "When Deportation is a Death Sentence." It looks at how an unknown number of men and women have been killed in their home countries after being deported or turned away by the United States. The article focuses in part on a Mexican-born woman named Laura. Despite living her whole adult life in Texas, she was deported to Mexico after a traffic stop. She warned a U.S. Border Patrol agent, "When I am found dead, it will be on your conscience." Within a week of her deportation, she was murdered by her ex-husband. We are joined by the award-winning journalist and New Yorker staff writer Sarah Stillman. She is also director of the Global Migration Project at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism.

Global Markets Plunge After Monday's Historic U.S. Drop, House Intelligence Committee Votes to Declassify Democratic Memo, Reports: Dozens Killed by Syrian Gov't Bombing in Idlib & Eastern Ghouta, London Judge Rules to Uphold Assange's Arrest Warrant, Ecuador Votes to Reinstate Presidential Term Limits, in Blow to Correa, Israeli Gov't Sends Notices to African Refugees: Leave or Be Jailed, Husband of Immigrant Rights Activist Ingrid Encalada Latorre Released from Detention, Kansas: Chemistry Professor Fights Deportation After Being Arrested on Front Lawn, USA Gymnastics Team Doctor Larry Nassar Sentenced to Another 40-125 Years in Prison, Supreme Court Refuses to Block PA Ruling on Gerrymandering, Philadelphia Eagles Players Say They'll Skip White House Visit After Super Bowl Win

The Philadelphia Eagles stunned the sports world by beating the New England Patriots Sunday night in Minneapolis with a 41-to-33 win in Super Bowl LII, the first-ever title for the Eagles. The game capped a historic season for the National Football League, in which African-American players staged league-wide protests against racial injustice and police brutality by taking the knee during the national anthem before games. Meanwhile, Patriots wide receiver Brandin Cooks was knocked out on the field and left the game with a concussion on Sunday. For more on the protests and new research on concussions, we speak with Mel Reeves, longtime human rights activist and organizer with Take a Knee Nation. And we speak with Dr. Harry Edwards, professor emeritus of sociology at the University of California, Berkeley. He is the author of several books, including "The Revolt of the Black Athlete," reissued last year for its 50th anniversary edition.

This weekend, House Speaker Paul Ryan touted a story of a woman whose paycheck increased by $1.50 cents a week as a major benefit to middle-class workers. On Saturday, Ryan tweeted a link to an Associated Press report, writing, "A secretary at a public high school in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, said she was pleasantly surprised her pay went up $1.50 a week ... she said [that] will more than cover her Costco membership for the year." After a deluge of ridicule and outrage, Ryan deleted the tweet hours later. For more, we speak with Richard Wolff, emeritus professor of economics at University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and visiting professor at The New School. He's the author of several books, including, most recently, "Capitalism's Crisis Deepens: Essays on the Global Economic Meltdown."

A treaty intended to limit the United States and Russia's long-range nuclear arsenals officially takes effect today. But the once-promising treaty, signed eight years ago by President Obama, is overshadowed by a new nuclear arms race sparked by President Trump. On Friday, the Trump administration unveiled its new nuclear weapons strategy, which involves spending at least $1.2 trillion to upgrade the United States' nuclear arsenal, including developing some completely new nuclear weapons. Prominent anti-nuclear advocates have denounced the Pentagon's plan as "radical" and "extreme." For more, we speak with Beatrice Fihn, executive director of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.

New U.S. Nuclear Policy Calls for More Nukes, New Scenarios When Nukes Could Be Used, Nunes Memo Confirms FBI Probe of Trump Campaign Began Independent of Steele Dossier, Tillerson Suggests U.S. Would Back Military Coup in Venezuela, NYT: Egypt Allowed Israel to Carry Out 100 Airstrikes in Northern Sinai, U.S. Airstrikes Increased Sixfold in Yemen in 2017, Two Die, 116 Injured in Amtrak Accident in South Carolina, Report: Dozens of Girls Abused by Larry Nassar After FBI Began Probe, Father of Molested Girls Attempted to Attack Larry Nassar in Court, Uma Thurman Accuses Harvey Weinstein of Sexually Assaulting Her in 1990s, French Police Arrest Tariq Ramadan on Rape Charges, Over 100 Migrants Die Off African Coast in Recent Days, Italian Neo-Nazi Shoots Six African Migrants in Drive-By Shooting, 17 Arrested at Super Bowl Protest in Minneapolis

As President Trump continues his crackdown on immigrant communities, a growing number of people are taking sanctuary in churches across the country to avoid deportation. A new report called "Sanctuary in the Age of Trump" says more people are now taking sanctuary than at any time in the United States since the 1980s. We end today's show in Colorado, speaking to another immigrant rights leader, Sandra Lopez, who has taken sanctuary at the parsonage of the Two Rivers Unitarian Universalist church in Carbondale, Colorado. She is now facing deportation to Mexico after living in Colorado for 17 years. She's a mother of three U.S.-born children: Alex, Edwin and Areli.

Historian Gar Alperovitz has revealed for the first time the key role he and a handful of other activists played in helping whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg leak to journalists the Pentagon Papers—a 7,000-page classified history outlining the true extent of U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Daniel Ellsberg told The New Yorker the secret role this group played was so crucial in releasing the Pentagon Papers that he gave them a code name: "The Lavender Hill Mob." Alperovitz went by the alias "Mr. Boston." Ellsberg told The New Yorker, "Gar took care of all the cloak-and-dagger stuff." We speak to historian and political economist Gar Alperovitz about why he is going public now.

Defying Democrats and FBI, Trump to Release Controversial Russia Probe Memo, 12-Year-Old Girl Arrested as 4 Injured by Gunfire at Los Angeles Middle School, Toxic Air Pollution at U.S. Schools Most Impacts Students of Color, U.N. Envoy Warns Burma Mass Graves Show "Hallmarks of Genocide", Jailed Reuters Journalists Denied Bail by Burmese Court, At Arab League, Warnings over U.S. Cuts to U.N. Palestinian Refugee Agency, Fidel Castro Díaz-Balart, Son of Late Cuban Leader, Commits Suicide, Kenyan Government Defies Court Order to Reopen TV Stations, U.K. Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn Pledges Homes for the Homeless, Maldives Court Drops "Terrorism" Conviction for Ex-President Mohamed Nasheed, South Africa: Cape Town Faces "Day Zero" as Water Supplies Dwindle, California Snowpack Ominously Low, Prompting Fresh Drought Fears, Austin, TX, City Council Votes to Divest from Border Wall Contractors, San Francisco DA to Drop, Reduce Thousands of Pot Convictions, Dennis Peron, Medical Marijuana Pioneer, Dies at 72

The United States is one of the most depressed countries in the world. Could it be because of the country's adoption of neoliberal economic policies? We speak to Johann Hari, author of a controversial new book, "Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression—and the Unexpected Solutions." He writes, "Junk food has taken over our diets, and it is making millions of people physically sick. A growing body of scientific evidence suggests that something similar is happening with our minds—that they have become dominated by junk values, and this is making us mentally sick, triggering soaring rates of depression and anxiety."

On Tuesday night, President Trump became the third president in a row to attempt to put a positive spin on the war in Afghanistan—the longest war in U.S. history. Five years earlier, President Barack Obama predicted at his 2013 State of the Union that the war would soon be over. And back in 2006, President George W. Bush used his State of the Union to praise Afghanistan for building a "new democracy." More than 16 years after the U.S. War in Afghanistan began, the country remains in a state of crisis. On Saturday, more than 100 people died in Kabul when an ambulance packed with explosives blew up. Then, on Monday, Islamic State militants carried out an early-morning attack on a military academy in the western outskirts of the capital of Kabul, killing at least 11 troops and wounding 16. We speak to investigative reporter May Jeong in Kabul. Her most recent piece for The Intercept is titled "Losing Sight: A 4-Year-Old Girl Was the Sole Survivor of a U.S. Drone Strike in Afghanistan. Then She Disappeared."

A showdown is brewing in Washington as the White House prepares to release a controversial Republican memo despite opposition from the FBI, the Justice Department and Democratic lawmakers. The four-page memo, written by House Intelligence Committee chair, Republican Congressmember Devin Nunes of California, purports to show that the FBI abused its power when it began surveilling Trump campaign adviser Carter Page in 2016 due to his dealings with Russia. Supporters of President Trump claim the memo offers proof that the FBI's investigation was tainted by politics from the start, in part because the FBI won approval of the wiretap by citing a dossier funded by supporters of Hillary Clinton. On Wednesday, the FBI, which is led by Trump appointee Christopher Wray, issued an unusual statement criticizing the imminent release of the memo, saying, "[W]e have grave concerns about material omissions of fact that fundamentally impact the memo's accuracy." We speak to independent journalist Marcy Wheeler, who runs the website EmptyWheel.net.

FBI Cites "Grave Concerns" over Release of Russia Probe Memo, NYT: Robert Mueller Probing Trump Officials' Spin on Russia Meeting, CDC Director Steps Down Amid Reports of Tobacco Investments, 1 Dead After Amtrak Train Carrying Republican Lawmakers Hits Truck, Trump Admin to Extend Protected Status to Syrian Refugees, For Now, Syria: Civilian Casualties Rise as Turkey Presses Afrin Offensive, Turkish Court Reverses Release of Jailed Amnesty International Chair, Trump Admin Designates Hamas Leader Ismail Haniyeh as a "Terrorist", Former China Editor Blasts Gender Pay Gap at BBC, 265 Women and Girls Have Now Reported Sexual Abuse by Larry Nassar, Half of Iraq and Afghanistan War Vets Not Getting Mental Healthcare, Federal Prosecutors Drop Corruption Case Against NJ Sen. Bob Menendez, Hong Kong Votes to Ban Ivory Sales in Major Animal Rights Victory

On Tuesday night at President Trump's first State of the Union, there were two words conspicuously missing from Trump's lengthy address: climate change. Trump did, however, celebrate "beautiful, clean coal" and the rollback of key regulations to protect the environment. For more on the State of the Union, we speak with 350.org co-founder Bill McKibben and with The Nation publisher Katrina vanden Heuvel.

During President Trump's first State of the Union, he called on Congress to pass an immigration overhaul and repeatedly tried to conflate immigrants, including DREAMers, with terrorists and gang members. Among Trump's guests to the State of the Union were the parents of two young girls who were killed by members of the MS-13 gang two years ago in Long Island, New York. MS-13 is a gang that originated in Los Angeles in the 1980s and has since spread to Central America as a result of the U.S. mass deportation policies. For more on the history of MS-13 and the United States' relationship with El Salvador, we speak with Daniel Denvir, writer-in-residence at Harvard Law School's Fair Punishment Project. His 2017 article for The Washington Post is titled "Deporting people made Central America's gangs. More deportation won't help."

On Tuesday, Republican Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona asked the U.S. Capitol Police to arrest undocumented immigrants attending President Trump's State of the Union address. Gosar's threat didn't stop many undocumented activists from attending after they were invited by Democratic lawmakers. We speak to Maru Mora Villalpando, an activist and undocumented immigrant with the group Northwest Detention Center Resistance and the group Mijente. She attended the State of the Union as a guest of Washington Senator Maria Cantwell.

During President Trump's first State of the Union address Tuesday night, he repeatedly tried to conflate immigrants, including DREAMers, with terrorists and gang members—the latest in a string of racist or xenophobic statements Trump has made throughout his time in office. Yet, on Tuesday night, many lawmakers with the Congressional Black Caucus protested against Trump's racism—and his recent comments calling African nations "shithole countries"—by wearing traditional African kente cloth. For more on the State of the Union, we speak with Minnesota state Representative Ilhan Omar, the highest-elected Somali-American public official in the United States.

President Trump delivered his first State of the Union Tuesday night. During the lengthy address, Trump announced he'd signed an executive order keeping the Guantánamo Bay military prison open, and escalated his warmongering rhetoric against North Korea, calling the North Korean government "depraved" and warning it poses a nuclear risk to the United States. For more, we speak with Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor and publisher of The Nation, America's oldest weekly magazine.

In Xenophobic Speech, Trump Attacks Immigrants, Pushes War with North Korea, Judge to Consider Trump's "Vicious" Anti-Latino Rhetoric in Suit over DACA, Pfizer Reaping $11 Billion Gain from Trump's Tax Overhaul, State Department Imposes No New Sanctions Against Russia, Despite Law, FEMA Ending Food & Water Shipments to Puerto Rico Today, Honduras: American Faith Group Denounces U.S. Support for Hernández, Colombia: Buenaventura Strike Leader Temístocles Machado Assassinated, Polish Parliament Passes Law Criminalizing References to Poland's Role in Holocaust, Turkey Arrests 300+ for Criticizing Afrin Military Offensive Online, Egypt: Pro-Democracy Coalition Calls for Boycott of Upcoming Elections, Japanese Woman Sues Gov't for Forced Sterilization, France: Renowned Islamic Scholar Tariq Ramadan Detained Amid Rape Charges, Nonviolent Resistance Advocate Gene Sharp Dies at 90

In New Jersey, immigrant rights advocates and faith leaders are speaking out against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency for detaining multiple parents while they were taking their children to school. On Thursday, Roby Sanger was detained by ICE after dropping his two daughters off at school, while Gunawan Liem was detained after he dropped his daughter off at the school bus stop. Both men are Indonesian. A third man, also from Indonesia, Harry Pangemanan, has taken sanctuary at the Reformed Church of Highland Park in New Jersey, after he says he saw undercover ICE agents waiting outside his home as he was preparing to drive his daughter to school. All three are parents of U.S.-born children. For more, we speak with Seth Kaper-Dale, pastor of the Reformed Church of Highland Park, where Harry Pangemanan has sought sanctuary. And we speak with Gunawan Liem’s pastor, Steven Rantung, pastor of the First Indonesian Seventh-Day Adventist Church in South Plainfield, New Jersey.

Last month, Ravi Ragbir was one of several nationally recognized activists to be taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He was handcuffed and arrested during his routine check-in on January 11, prompting a mass protest that ended with 18 arrested, including two members of the New York City Council. Ravi was then quickly flown by ICE, in shackles, to the Krome Detention Center in Florida. As he faced imminent deportation to his native Trinidad, public outcry grew. Then ICE informed his lawyers that he would be brought back to detention in the New York City area. On Monday, U.S. District Judge Katherine Forrest said Ragbir's detention was "unnecessarily cruel," and ordered ICE to free him. But he still faces deportation. For more, we hear from Ravi Ragbir himself, executive director of the New Sanctuary Coalition.

On Monday, a federal judge in New York City ordered the immediate release of immigrant rights leader Ravi Ragbir from immigration jail, calling his detention "unnecessarily cruel." In a decision read aloud from the bench, District Judge Katherine Forrest said Ragbir had "the freedom to say goodbye," and compared his treatment to that of "regimes we revile as unjust, regimes where those who have long lived in a country may be taken without notice from streets, home, and work. And sent away. We are not that country; and woe be the day that we become that country under a fiction that laws allow it." Ragbir is the executive director of the New Sanctuary Coalition. He's one of a handful of high-profile immigrant rights activists who have been targeted by the Trump administration. For more on his release and what's next, we speak with Ravi Ragbir; his wife, immigrant rights advocate Amy Gottlieb; and Ravi's lawyer, Alina Das, co-director of the Immigrant Rights Clinic at NYU School of Law.

FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe Resigns Abruptly, Alex Azar Sworn In to Head Health and Human Services Dept., House Intelligence Committee to Declassify Nunes Memo, Gov't Watchdog: Pentagon Restricting Key Information on U.S. War in Afghanistan, Trump's Friend, Billionaire Steve Wynn, Resigns as RNC Chair, U.S. Oil Extraction to Surpass Saudi Arabia's This Year, New Sanctuary Coalition Director Ravi Ragbir Released from Detention, Court Rules Immigrant Children Have No Right to Government-Appointed Lawyer, DHS Imposes Further Restrictions on Refugees Seeking to Enter U.S., U.N.: 30 African Refugees Drowned Off Coast of Yemen, Report: 33 People Killed by Airstrikes in Idlib, Syria, Yemen: 15 Killed in Suicide Bomb; 36 Killed in Fighting in Aden, Gaza: 13,000 UNRWA Workers Launch Strike to Protest Trump's Funding Cuts, Kashmir: Protests & Strike After Indian Soldiers Kill 2 Students, Brazil: Landless Workers' Movement Leader Márcio Oliveira Matos Assassinated, In Victory for Native Activists, Cleveland Baseball Team Drops Its Racist Logo, Historian Gar Alperovitz Reveals His Role in Helping Ellsberg Leak Pentagon Papers

We speak with Ari Berman, senior writer at Mother Jones and a reporting fellow at The Nation Institute, about his new for piece for Rolling Stone titled "How the GOP Rigs Elections." "We like to think in this country, if you get the most votes, you're the winner. But that's not how it works, because of gerrymandering right now," Berman notes.

The Trump administration says its request to add a question on citizenship status to the 2020 census is under legal review. Data from the once-a-decade census has major implications for shaping the political landscape. The population count is used to determine how congressional seats are distributed across the country and where hundreds of billions of federal dollars are spent. Critics say that including a citizenship question on the census will deter undocumented residents from participating in the questionnaire out of fear that the government could use the information against them. Trump's request to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census would "sabotage the entire census," says Ari Berman, senior writer at Mother Jones, and "massively depress responses among immigrant groups."

Michigan's attorney general has launched an investigation into Michigan State University, and the entire board of directors of USA Gymnastics is resigning, after team doctor Larry Nassar was sentenced to up to 175 years in prison last week for sexually assaulting and abusing more than 160 young female athletes. We speak with reporter Mark Alesia, part of the investigative team at The Indianapolis Star, which broke the story, and discuss his latest story, "What's next for USA Gymnastics? A long, tough road at best."

In Afghanistan, Islamic State militants have carried out an early-morning attack on a military academy in the western outskirts of the capital of Kabul, killing at least 11 troops and wounding 16. This marks the latest in a wave of deadly attacks this month. Monday was already declared a national day of mourning in Afghanistan, after a Taliban attacker drove an ambulance filled with explosives into the heart of the city on Saturday, killing at least 103 people and wounding as many as 235. One week earlier, Taliban militants killed 22 people at Kabul's Intercontinental Hotel. Last week, another six people were killed in an assault claimed by the Islamic State on the office of aid group Save the Children in the eastern city of Jalalabad. This comes as the United States has stepped up its assistance to Afghan security forces and its airstrikes against the Taliban and other militant groups. We get an update from Lotfullah Najafizada, news director of TOLOnews, a 24-hour news channel based in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Afghanistan Reels After 103 Killed in Suicide Attack in Kabul, Dr. Nassar Scandal: USA Gymnastics Board Resigns, Michigan Opens Investigation, Trump to Ask for $716 Billion in Boost to Military Spending, Fitness Tracking Company Reveals Locations of Secret U.S. Military Bases, Protesters Rally at White House to Denounce Trump for Racism, Xenophobia, Lawmakers Battle over Whether to Declassify Nunes Memo, Honduras: U.S.-Backed President Hernández Inaugurated Amid Massive Protests, Albania: 10,000 Protesters Demand Prime Minister's Resignation, Protesters in Germany & France Demand End to Turkish Offensive in Afrin, Syria, New Jersey: ICE Detain 2 Fathers After Dropping Their Daughters Off at School, Some Immigrant Rights Activists to Attend Trump's State of the Union, "Are You a Citizen?": Justice Dept. Seeks to Add 2020 Census Question, Longtime Investigative Journalist Robert Parry Dies at 68, Time's Up & #MeToo Movements Take Center Stage at Grammy Awards