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Updated 2025-08-19 14:00
Rep. Keith Ellison: GOP Tax Bill Would Reorder Society & Create "Hereditary Aristocracy" for Rich
On Saturday morning, Senate Republicans passed a nearly 500-page tax bill that will have dramatic impacts not only the U.S. tax code, but also healthcare, domestic spending and even oil and gas drilling. The plan would cut taxes by nearly $1.5 trillion. Major corporations and the richest Americans, including President Trump and his own family, would reap the most dramatic benefits. Overall, the bill is expected to add $1.4 trillion to federal budget deficits over the next decade. The bill passed the Senate 51 to 49, with every Democrat voting against the bill and all Republicans voting for it except for Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee. We speak with Minnesota Democratic Congressmember Keith Ellison. He's the first Muslim member of Congress. Ellison is also the deputy chair of the Democratic National Committee.
Headlines for December 4, 2017
In Rushed Vote, Senate Passes Sweeping Tax Bill Benefiting Wealthiest, Michael Flynn to Testify Following Plea Deal with Special Counsel, Honduras: Protesters Denounce "Election Fraud" Amid Stalled Returns, Yemen: Former President Ali Abdullah Saleh Reportedly Killed by Houthis, Syria: 27 Civilians Dead in Attack on Damascus Suburb, Israel: Tens of Thousands March Against Prime Minister Netanyahu, Trump to Decide Whether to Recognize Jerusalem as Israel's Capital, Malta: Suspects Arrested over Murder of Anti-Corruption Journalist, Utah: Thousands Protest Trump Plans to Scale Back National Monuments, Billy Bush: "Of Course" It was Trump's Voice in "Access Hollywood" Tape, Arnold Schwarzenegger Cancels Appearance Amid Protests over Sexual Abuse, New York Met Suspends Conductor James Levine over Sexual Abuse Claims, Walmart Drops T-Shirt Calling for Lynching of Journalists , CVS to Purchase Aetna in Healthcare Mega-Merger, Australian Lawmaker Proposes to Partner During Marriage Equality Debate
Cities Across the U.S. Join Movement to Impeach President Trump for Violating the Constitution
In November, a half-dozen Democrats introduced articles of impeachment against Trump, accusing him of obstruction of justice and other offenses. This comes as a petition for impeachment launched in October by Democratic donor Tom Steyer now has more than 3 million supporters. At least 17 communities around the country are now on record calling for impeachment proceedings against Trump. On Tuesday, the town of Weston, Massachusetts, joined the list when residents supported a citizen petition asking the House to assess whether Trump is violating the Constitution. We speak with constitutional attorney John Bonifaz, co-founder and director of Free Speech for People.
New Investigation Finds U.S. Special Forces Massacred Somali Civilians & Orchestrated a Cover-Up
The Pentagon is on the defensive after a new investigation revealed evidence that U.S. special operations forces massacred civilians in Somalia earlier this year, allegedly firing on unarmed farmers and their families, then planting weapons beside the bodies to appear as though the people were armed members of al-Shabab. On Wednesday, they released a statement that said, "After a thorough assessment of the Somali National Army-led operation near Bariire, Somalia, on Aug. 25, 2017 and the associated allegations of civilian casualties, U.S. Special Operations Command Africa has concluded that the only casualties were those of armed enemy combatants." This came after The Daily Beast published an investigation Wednesday on the operation and its aftermath and reported what eyewitnesses have said since the attack: The victims were farmers, and they were killed by American soldiers. All of this comes as the U.S. recently revealed it has some 500 troops in Somalia, up from a reported 50 earlier this year. We speak with Christina Goldbaum, an independent journalist based in Mogadishu, Somalia. Her new article for The Daily Beast is the investigation headlined "Strong Evidence That U.S. Special Operations Forces Massacred Civilians in Somalia."
GOP Quietly Moves to Open Arctic Refuge to Oil & Gas Drilling While Earth Undergoes 6th Extinction
As the GOP tax bill heads to a potential vote today, a little-known provision tucked into the Republican tax bill would open one of the world's last pristine wildernesses—the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge—to oil and fracked gas drilling. The amendment was added during negotiations to win votes for the larger tax bill. The Arctic Refuge is rich in biodiversity and home to caribou, polar bears and musk oxen. It has also been home to indigenous people for thousands of years. We speak with activist and photographer Subhankar Banerjee, Lannan chair and professor of art and ecology at the University of New Mexico.
Marcy Wheeler: Mike Flynn's Guilty Plea to FBI Will Shape How GOP Handles Russia Investigation
*Update: ABC is reporting Michael Flynn prepared to testify that President-elect Donald Trump directed him to make contact with the Russians _during the transition_, initially as a way to work together to fight ISIS in Syria.*Just before news broke that President Trump's former national security adviser Mike Flynn will plead guilty this morning to lying to the FBI, we spoke with national security reporter Marcy Wheeler, who anticipated the news and said it could "dramatically change how Republicans face the Russian investigation."
Is Trump Plan to Replace Rex Tillerson a Push for More U.S. Aggression Toward Iran, North Korea?
White House chief of staff John Kelly has reportedly developed a plan to push Secretary of State Rex Tillerson out of his post and replace him with CIA director Mike Pompeo. The New York Times reports President Trump would then appoint Republican Senator Tom Cotton to replace Pompeo at the CIA. Cotton has been a key ally of the president on national security matters. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders denied the reports on Thursday. We speak with Marcy Wheeler, an independent journalist who covers national security and civil liberties at her website EmptyWheel.net. Her new piece is headlined, "Throwing H2O on the Pompeo to State Move."
Headlines for December 1, 2017
As Vote Nears, Senate Told Tax Cuts Would Add $1 Trillion to Deficit, Report: White House Could Replace Secretary of State Tillerson with Mike Pompeo, Top House Democrat Calls for Sen. Al Franken to Resign, House Democratic Leader Pelosi Calls on Rep. John Conyers to Resign, Matt Lauer Offers Qualified Apology Over Sexual Assault Claims, Alabama: Roy Moore Blames "Malicious" Allegations on Gays, Socialists, Russell Simmons Steps Down From His Companies Amid Rape Allegations, Israel Horovitz Dropped from Theater Company Over Sex Assault Charges, Honduras: Protests Rage After Election Commission Delays Vote Results, U.S. Says 800 Civilians Killed in ISIS Fight; Monitors Say True Toll Far Higher, Pakistan: Taliban Gunmen Storm College, Killing 9, Yemen: Tens of Thousands Protest U.S.-Backed Saudi-Led War, Undocumented Immigrant Cited by Trump Found Not Guilty of Murder, Arizona: Border Patrol Kills Migrant on Tohono O’odham Reservation, Philippines: March on Presidential Palace Condemns Duterte "Dictatorship"
Anti-Globalization in the Era of Trump: Joseph Stiglitz on Shared Prosperity Without Protectionism
In the updated edition of Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz's new book, "Globalization and Its Discontents Revisited: Anti-Globalization in the Era of Trump," he argues that when Trump became president, he "threw a hand grenade into the global economic order." We speak with Stiglitz about the impact of free trade agreements that Trump has criticized.
Nobel Prize-Winning Economist Joseph Stiglitz: Trump Tax Plan to Worsen Inequality, Expand Loopholes
Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz joins us to critique the Republican tax plan that could face a vote as early as Friday. The sweeping legislation would overhaul the tax code in order to shower billions of dollars in tax cuts upon the richest Americans, including President Trump’s own family, and repeal the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate. Stiglitz is a Columbia University professor, and chief economist for the Roosevelt Institute. He served as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Bill Clinton.
Will Trump's Latest Islamophobic Tweets Impact Court Rulings on His Mostly-Muslim Travel Ban?
Oral arguments are scheduled for next week in both federal appeals court cases of President Trump's proposed travel ban, which blocks various people from eight countries, six of them with Muslim majorities, from entering the United States. Mehdi Hasan, award-winning British journalist and broadcaster at Al Jazeera English, discusses the impact Trump's recent retweets of Islamophobic messages and videos could have on the cases and notes, "This is the way he's always been."
Mehdi Hasan Rips Thomas Friedman's "Nauseating" Column in NYT Praising Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince
We get response from Al Jazeera's Mehdi Hasan to _New York Times_ columnist Thomas Friedman's recent controversial column, "Saudi Arabia’s Arab Spring, at Last." Hasan argues the piece is absurdly sympathetic to Saudi Arabia, and that Trump's friendly relations with the country mean he "is not just a liar and a conspiracy theorist, he's a hypocrite. He goes on about radical islamic terrorism but cozies up to Saudi Arabia, which many would argue has done more to promote ideologically and financially radical Islamic terrorism than any other country on earth."
White House Defensive as Trump Shares British Hate Group Videos, Drawing International Condemnation
President Donald Trump drew international outrage Wednesday after he retweeted three violent videos shared by a leader of the fringe, far-right-wing group Britain First. The videos purport to show violence carried out by Muslims. The videos were posted early Tuesday by Britain First deputy leader Jayda Fransen, who was arrested just days ago on hate speech charges over an appearance in Belfast last August. She was previously found guilty of religiously aggravated harassment after she verbally accosted a Muslim shopkeeper during a so-called "Christian patrol" last year in the English town of Luton. We get response from Mehdi Hasan, award-winning British journalist and broadcaster at Al Jazeera English and columnist for The Intercept.
Headlines for November 30, 2017
Full Senate to Debate Tax Bill That Would Shower Billions on Wealthiest, Trump Retweets Videos Posted by British Far-Right Anti-Muslim Leader, White House Spokesperson: "Whether It's a Real Video, the Threat is Real", More Women Accuse Matt Lauer of Sexual Harassment, Assault, MPR Cuts Ties With Garrison Keillor Over "Inappropriate Behavior", Another NPR Executive Resigns Over Sexual Harassment Charges, Lawyers Say Rep. John Conyers to Challenge Sexual Harassment Charges, Supreme Court Weighs Police Tracking Cellphones Without Warrant, Trump Veers from Tax Speech to Insult North Korea's Kim Jong-Un, Report: U.S. Sought Cover-Up After Special Forces Killed Somali Civilians, Burkina Faso: French President to Declassify Documents on Thomas Sankara's Death, Bosnian War Criminal Dies After Drinking Poison in International Criminal Court, Argentine Court Convicts Former Officials For Crimes During Military Dictatorship
Native American Woman Olivia Lone Bear, Mother of 5, Missing in North Dakota Oil Fields
We look at the case of Olivia Lone Bear, yet another Native American woman who has gone missing in the oil fields of North Dakota. We speak with her brother, Matthew Lone Bear, who is part of a daily search to look for his sister since she went missing on October 25th in New Town, North Dakota. Olivia Lone Bear is the mother of five children. We also speak with Mary Kathryn Nagle, a Cherokee writer and lawyer.
Cherokee Writer: Trump Pocahontas Slur Reflects Centuries of Colonial Violence Against Native Women
As Native American Heritage Month winds down, President Donald Trump is opening the door to new drilling and mining on land considered sacred by tribal nations. On Monday, Trump plans to travel to Utah to announce plans to shrink the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments to make way for more industrial activity on the land. The Hopi, Navajo Nation, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, Pueblo of Zuni and the Ute Indian Tribe all say they will sue to stop the plan. This comes after Trump attempted to insult Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren by referring to her as "Pocahontas" during a White House ceremony honoring Navajo code talkers, Native Americans who served in the Marines during WWII and used the Navajo language in order to transmit encoded information. Warren says her family is part Cherokee. We speak with Mary Kathryn Nagle, a citizen of Cherokee Nation and a partner at Pipestem Law, P.C., a law firm dedicated to the restoration of tribal sovereignty and jurisdiction.
Abuses of Power: Heather McGhee on Matt Lauer, Trump, Sexual Assault, Patriarchy and the Tax Code
As NBC News fires Matt Lauer after accusations of "inappropriate sexual behavior," our guest Heather McGhee, president of Demos, makes the connection between patriarchy and abuses of power in media and government, from the White House and its endorsement of Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore, to the GOP tax plan that Republicans are pushing toward a vote in the Senate.
Graduate Students Plan Nationwide Walkouts Against GOP "Assault" On Post-Secondary Education
More than 40 graduate student walkouts are planned across the country today to protest a measure tucked into the budget bill that passed the House earlier this month that amounts to a pay cut of thousands of dollars for graduate students by reclassifying their tuition waivers as taxable income. Opponents say the move could diminish the number of students who will even consider graduate school and hurt the chances of finishing for current students. We speak with Jenna Freudenburg, a fourth-year graduate student in astronomy at Ohio State University and an organizer with the Save Graduate Education movement.
As GOP Tax Plan Faces Senate Vote, Critics Say Bill Would Give Hundreds of Billions to Top 1 Percent
Republicans are rapidly pushing forward with their efforts to pass President Donald Trump's tax plan, which would overhaul the tax code in order to shower billions of dollars in tax cuts upon the richest Americans, including Trump's own family. On Tuesday, the Senate Budget Committee passed the Senate version of the plan, with all Republicans on the panel voting for it and all Democrats voting against. Protesters disrupted the committee hearing Tuesday with chants of "Kill the bill, don't kill us." The plan will now go to the full Senate for a vote as early as Thursday. The Senate bill slashes the corporate tax rate and gives further tax cuts to wealthy business owners. It would also repeal a key provision of the Affordable Care Act, the requirement that most Americans have health insurance. Experts say revoking this provision, known as the individual mandate, would cause the cost of health insurance to skyrocket. We speak with Heather McGhee, president of Demos and Demos Action.
In Surprise Move, Illinois Rep. Gutiérrez Won't Seek Re-Election, Says He'll Focus on Puerto Rico
Illinois Democratic Congressmember Luis Gutiérrez announced Tuesday he will not seek re-election, because he instead plans to focus on rebuilding Puerto Rico in the wake of Hurricane Maria. This comes as the Federal Emergency Management Agency reportedly gave more than $30 million in contracts to a newly created Florida company called Bronze Star, LLC, which failed to deliver any aid to Puerto Rico. We get response from _Democracy Now!_ co-host Juan González.
Headlines for November 29, 2017
Republicans Pass Trump’s Tax Plan in Senate Budget Committee, North Korea Launches Intercontinental Ballistic Missile, Hawaii to Test Early Warning System as Nuclear Threat Between U.S. and N. Korea Rises, NYT: Trump Continues to Push Racist and Discredited Birther Theory about Obama, Honduras: Fears of Vote-Rigging as Court Delays Releasing Final Presidential Election Results, Pentagon Admits There Are Nearly 9,000 U.S. Troops in Iraq, Lawyers Stage Walkout at Brooklyn Criminal Court to Protest ICE Arrests at Courthouses, Pope Francis Avoids Saying "Rohingya” in Anticipated Speech in Burma, NBC Fires Matt Lauer After Accusations of Inappropriate Sexual Behavior, Rep. Conyers Under Pressure to Resign As Another Woman Accuses Him of Sexual Harassment, Illinois Rep. Luis Gutiérrez to Retire to Focus on Rebuilding Puerto Rico, FEMA Gave $30M Contract to FL Company That Failed to Deliver a Single Tarp to Puerto Rico
Floating Guantánamos: How the Coast Guard Uses Indefinite Detention to Wage "War on Drugs" at Sea
A shocking new exposé reveals how the U.S. Coast Guard is detaining thousands of suspected drug smugglers they arrest in international waters and keeping them jailed at sea for up to several months before they are charged in a U.S. federal court. Many of the suspects are low-level smugglers from impoverished fishing towns in Latin America. During their imprisonment at sea they are shackled on deck, exposed to the elements and denied access to lawyers and their families. The increased detentions began when General John Kelly headed the Pentagon's Southern Command from 2012 to 2016. Kelly is now President Trump's White House chief of staff after briefly serving as Secretary of Homeland Security. We are joined by Seth Freed Wessler, the journalist who broke the story in _The New York Times Magazine_ in a piece headlined, "The Coast Guard’s ‘Floating Guantánamos.'" Wessler is a Puffin Fellow at the Investigative Fund at the Nation Institute.
J20 Trial: 200+ Inauguration Protesters, Journalists & Observers Face Riot Charges From Mass Arrest
The first trial of the nearly 200 people arrested during President Trump’s inauguration is underway and involves six people, including one journalist, Alexei Wood, a freelance photojournalist and videographer based in San Antonio. The defendants were charged under the Federal Riot Statute and face multiple felony and misdemeanor charges, including inciting or urging to riot, conspiracy to riot and multiple counts of destruction of property. We get an update from Jude Ortiz, a member of the organizing crew of Defend J20 and the Mass Defense Committee Chair for the National Lawyers Guild, and speak with defendant Elizabeth Lagesse, who is also a plaintiff in the ACLU lawsuit which charges D.C. police mistreated detainees after their arrests at the inauguration.
As Accusations Stack Up, A Look at the Onerous Process of Reporting Sexual Abuse on Capitol Hill
What happens to a member of Congress when someone dares to come forward to report wrongdoing? As Senator Al Franken returned to Congress in the face of allegations from four women that he had groped or inappropriately touched them, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said she spoke to and believed one of the women who has accused Michigan Congressman John Conyers of sexual harassment, we speak with Alexis Ronickher, an attorney who has represented multiple congressional staffers pursuing harassment claims through Congress’s Office of Compliance.
Headlines for November 28, 2017
Trump Heads to Capitol Hill to Promote His Tax Bill, Which Would Shower Billions on Rich, Showdown for Control of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Continues, Trump Uses Racial Slur to Insult Sen. Elizabeth Warren during Ceremony with Navajo Code Talkers, Another Top Official at State Department Resigns, Illinois Rep. Luis Gutiérrez to Retire from Congress, WashPost Targeted for Sting Operation Seeking to Discredit Reporting on Roy Moore, In Reversal, Trump Now Claims 2005 Access Hollywood Tape Is Fake, Flynn's Lawyer Meets with Mueller’s Team as Plea Deal Appears Likely, U.S. Navy Identifies 3 Sailors Who Went Missing after Plane Crash in Philippine Sea, Honduras: Leftist Candidate Maintains Lead in Presidential Election as Votes Are Counted, Indonesia: 150,000 People Under Evacuation Orders as Bali Volcano Erupts, Vietnam: Blogger Sentenced to Prison for Reporting on Chemical Spill, Australia: Six Peace Activists Face Years in Prison for Protest at Secretive U.S. Military Base, Rep. Ted Lieu Demands Pentagon Investigate NYT Exposé on Civilian Casualties
Meet the Socialist Marine & Anti-Police Brutality Protester Who Won Democratic Seats in November
Can the emergence of non-traditional candidates help revive a faltering Democratic Party that is facing its lowest approval rating in nearly a quarter century? We speak with two Democrats who won key races with support from grassroots sources outside of the Democratic Party. In Charlotte, North Carolina, Braxton Winston is a former middle school football coach who took to the streets in 2015 along with hundreds of people to protest the police killing of Keith Lamont Scott. We also speak with Lee Carter, a Democratic Socialist and former Marine who unseated the Republican majority whip of Virginia's House of Delegates.
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Showdown: Trump Appoints Director Who Vowed to Kill Agency
We look at the showdown at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau after Director Richard Cordray stepped down Friday and appointed as his successor, Leandra English, the Bureau’s deputy director and his former chief of staff. Almost immediately, President Trump responded with his own announcement that he planned to go ahead with his own appointment of Budget Director Mick Mulvaney, who has voted in favor of killing the bureau. Now English is suing. We speak with Lisa Donner, Executive Director of Americans for Financial Reform, which fought for the creation of the agency.
Sharif Abdel Kouddous: Mosque Attack Comes As Egypt Faces "Wave of Oppression" on Political Freedoms
At least 305 people were killed in an attack on a crowded mosque in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula on Friday that officials are blaming a militant group linked to ISIS. Egyptian president Abdul Fattah al-Sisi has vowed revenge and launched multiple airstrikes he says were targeting militants fleeing the attack. For more we speak with _Democracy Now!_ correspondent Sharif Abdel Kouddous in Cairo, who says Egypt faces its "worst wave of repression" in modern history as "Sisi has used the war on terror to clamp down on political freedoms."
Headlines for November 27, 2017
Egypt in Mourning after 305 Killed in Militant Attack at Sufi Mosque, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Official Sues over Agency Showdown, Lawmakers Under Escalating Pressure to Reveal Sexual Harassment Settlements, Two Journalism Schools Rescind Awards Given to Charlie Rose, Crowds Rally Worldwide for Int. Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, South African Court Doubles Sentence for Olympian Oscar Pistorius, Convicted of Killing Girlfriend, More than 100 Career Diplomats Exodus State Department under Tillerson, Pope Francis Visits Burma Amid Military Ethnic Cleansing Campaign Against Rohingya, Honduras: Progressive Candidate Takes Early Lead in Presidential Election, Syria: Dozens of Civilians Killed in Last 24 Hours, Pentagon to Admit There Are 2,000 U.S. Soldiers inside Syria, Pakistan: Law Minister Resigns After 5 Protesters Are Killed in Security Crackdown, Time Inc. Bought by Meredith Corporation in Koch Brothers-Backed Deal, Black Workers at Tesla File Class-Action Lawsuit, Saying Tesla Is "Hotbed for Racist Behavior", Native Americans Gather in Plymouth, MA, for 248th Annual National Day of Mourning
Will Houston's Post-Harvey Recovery Exacerbate Inequities or Build a More Just City?
Hurricane Maria shattered all past U.S. rainfall records and forced hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate their homes in the Houston area. The storm also caused massive environmental and public health impacts. Houston, known as the "Petro Metro, is home to the country's largest refining and petrochemical complex. As the floodwater receded over Labor Day weekend, we spoke with Dr. Robert Bullard, known as the founder of the environmental justice movement, about who stands to profit from the relief effort, and who may not.
San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz on Trump, Shock Doctrine & "Disaster Capitalism" in Puerto Rico
Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz joins us for an extended interview about how Hurricane Maria had changed Puerto Rico since it struck the island on September 20, Trump's attacks and her vision for the future. Democracy Now! interviewed Cruz when we visited Puerto Rico last month. She spoke to us in the city's Roberto Clemente Coliseum, where her entire mayoral staff was living after Hurricane Maria devastated the island on September 20.
Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz on "Indefensible" Whitefish Contract to Restore Electricity to Puerto Rico
Thousands of people recently rallied on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., calling for justice for Puerto Rico, two months after Hurricane Maria made landfall. The protesters called on FEMA to act quickly to restore services and for the cancellation of Puerto Rico's debt. Half of the island remains without power, and hundreds of thousands of residents still have no access to clean drinking water. This comes as the head of the Puerto Rico public power company, PREPA, resigned, after facing widespread outrage and controversy for signing a $300 million contract with the tiny Montana-based company Whitefish, named after the hometown of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke. Democracy Now! was in Puerto Rico a month ago, and just a few days before the cancellation of the contract was announced, we went to the Roberto Clemente Coliseum, where the San Juan mayor, Carmen Yulín Cruz, and her vice mayor, Rafael Jaume, had just gotten their hands on the contracts and were analyzing the details of the $300 million deal with Whitefish and another $200 million contract between the power company and Cobra, which is an Oklahoma-based company.
#MeToo Founder Tarana Burke, Alicia Garza of Black Lives Matter on Wave of Sexual Harassment Reports
Over the last two months, the political, media and entertainment worlds have been rocked as thousands of women come forward to share their stories of sexual harassment and abuse. The catalyst was the historic disgracing of Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, who is being criminally investigated after dozens of women came forward to accuse Weinstein of rape, assault and sexual harassment. Following the investigations by The New York Times and The New Yorker, women across the country and the world are now coming forward with their own stories, involving many different men, under the hashtag #MeToo. We go back to the beginning of this historic moment to the days the Harvey Weinstein revelations, when we interviewed Tarana Burke, an activist and sexual assault survivor who started the hashtag #MeToo a decade ago. She's now a program director at Girls for Gender Equity. We also spoke with Soraya Chemaly, a journalist who covers the intersection of gender and politics, and Alicia Garza, co-founder of Black Lives Matter.
A Tribute to Blacklisted Lyricist Yip Harburg: The Man Who Put the Rainbow in The Wizard of Oz
His name might not be familiar to many, but his songs are sung by millions around the world. Today, we take a journey through the life and work of Yip Harburg, the Broadway lyricist who wrote such hits as "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" and who put the music into The Wizard of Oz. Born into poverty on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, Harburg always included a strong social and political component to his work, fighting racism and poverty. A lifelong socialist, Harburg was blacklisted and hounded throughout much of his life. We speak with Harburg’s son, Ernie Harburg, about the music and politics of his father. Then we take an in-depth look at The Wizard of Oz, and hear a medley of Harburg’s Broadway songs and the politics of the times in which they were created. [includes rush transcript]
Haitians Denied Protected Status Face Deportation to "Nation in Turmoil" After Earthquake, Hurricane
The Trump administration plans to revoke a special immigration program for nearly 60,000 Haitians, many of whom came to the United States after the devastating 2010 earthquake in Haiti. Their temporary protected status, or TPS, will now end in July 2019. We speak with Marleine Bastien, executive director of FANM, Haitian Women of Miami.
FCC Moves to Gut Net Neutrality, Ignoring Public Support & Laws Upholding Equal Internet Access
Federal Communications Commission chairman Ajit Pai issued a major order Tuesday in which he outlined his plan to dismantle landmark regulations that ensure equal access to the internet. Pai wants to repeal net neutrality rules that bar internet service providers from stopping or slowing down the delivery of websites and stop companies from charging extra fees for high-quality streaming. A formal vote on the plan is set for December 14th. We speak with Tim Karr, Senior Director of Strategy for Free Press, which is organizing support to keep the rules in place ahead of the vote.
Rebecca Solnit: Ending Sexual Harassment Means Changing Masculinity & Undermining Misogynist Culture
We discuss the ongoing stream of sexual harassment allegations by women against powerful men, and what experts say is a pervasive culture of misogyny that enables sexual misconduct towards women, with Rebecca Solnit. Her recent article is headlined, "Let this flood of women's stories never cease: On Fighting Foundational Misogyny One Story at a Time."
Expert: President Trump Calling His Accusers "Liars" Confirms Women's Fears of Not Being Believed
Amid the torrent of sexual abuse allegations lodged by women against powerful men, President Trump rushed to the defense of Alabama Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore, who stands accused of multiple instances of sexual assault against minors. Meanwhile, CBS News, PBS and Bloomberg all said Tuesday that they're firing veteran journalist Charlie Rose over multiple accusations of sexual harassment. On Capitol Hill, Congressmember Jackie Speier says she knows of at least two lawmakers who've engaged in sexual harassment and has introduced a bill to end a mandatory "cooling off period" before accusers can file claims. We speak with Jennifer Drobac, a professor and expert in sexual harassment law at Indiana University's Robert H. McKinney School of Law.
Headlines for November 22, 2017
Charlie Rose Out at CBS, PBS and Bloomberg Over Sexual Harassment Claims, Trump Defends Roy Moore Over Sexual Assault Claims: "He Denies It", Disney Animation Executive John Lasseter Faces Sex Harassment Claims, Olympic Women's Gymnastics Team Doctor Accused of Sexual Abuse, Rep. Jackie Speier Pushes ME TOO Congress Bill, FCC Chair Ajit Pai Unveils Plan to End Net Neutrality, Zimbabwe: President Mugabe Resigns, Ending 37-Year Rule, Former Bosnian Serb Commander Ratko Mladic Found Guilty of Genocide, Lebanon: Premier Saad Hariri "Suspends" Resignation After Return to Beirut, Iraq: Suicide Bomber Kills 23 at Marketplace in Tuz Khurmatu, State Dept. Issues Saudi Arabia Travel Warning, Citing Yemeni Rebels, U.K.: Labour's Jeremy Corbyn Condemns British-Backed Saudi-Led War in Yemen, Haitians in U.S. Protest Trump Plans to End Protected Status, Campaign Calls for Release of Sex Trafficking Victim Who Killed Abuser, Second Judge Orders Halt to Trump's Transgender Military Ban
The Uncounted: New York Times Finds US Airstrikes Kill Far More Iraqi Civilians Than Pentagon Admits
Iraqi Civilian Describes U.S. Airstrike on His Home That Killed His Wife, Daughter, Brother & Nephew
Today we spend the hour looking at a damning new report that reveals how U.S.-led airstrikes against Islamic State militants in Iraq have killed far more civilians than officials have acknowledged. An on-the-ground investigation by the New York Times Magazine titled "The Uncounted" found the actual civilian death toll may be 31 times higher than U.S. officials admit. We interview one of the survivors featured in the report. Joining us from Erbil, Iraq, Basim Razzo describes the 2015 U.S. airstrike on his home in Mosul, in which his wife, daughter, brother and nephew were killed. Video of the strike on his home shows a target hit with military precision.
Headlines for November 21, 2017
Charlie Rose Show Pulled from Air after 8 Women Accuse Him of Sexual Harassment, New York Times Suspends Glenn Thrush over Sexual Harassment Accusations, Second Woman Accuses Sen. Al Franken of Groping Her, Report: Rep. John Conyers Paid $27,000 to Settle Sexual Harassment Complaint, Immokalee Workers Demand Wendy’s Sign Fair Food Program to End Sexual Harassment in Fields, "Vote Roy Moore?": WH Continues to Endorse Moore Despite Sexual Assault Allegations, Trump Admin Revokes Protected Immigration Status for Nearly 60,000 Haitians, Judge Blocks Trump’s Executive Order to Withhold Funding from Sanctuary Cities, Trump Admin Asks Supreme Court to Allow Travel Ban to Take Effect, Nebraska Regulator Approves Keystone XL Pipeline, Trump Designates North Korea as State Sponsor of Terrorism, Report: U.S. Air Force on Track to Triple Number of Bombs Dropped in Afghanistan, NYT: U.S. Military Sharply Increased Bombing in Somalia in November, Report: U.S. Wars Since 9/11 Will Cost Up to $8 Trillion in Interest Payments Alone, Nigeria: Suicide Bombing Kills Up to Fifty People at Mosque, Zimbabwe: Mugabe Still Refusing to Resign, as Ruling Party Opens Impeachment Proceedings, Whitefish Halts Repairs & Threatens to Sue Puerto Rico’s Power Authority for $83 Million, Justice Department Sues to Block AT&T and Time Warner Merger, FCC to Announce Plans to Repeal Net Neutrality Rules Today, Transgender Day of Remembrance: 25 Trans People Killed in U.S. So Far This Year
Virginia Governor Defies Trump on Paris Climate Deal, Pushes Investments in Solar & Wind
At the U.N. Climate Summit in Bonn, Germany, a number of U.S. senators, mayors and governors staged a defiant anti-Trump revolt. The lawmakers were part of a coalition of cities, universities, faith groups and companies who attended the U.N. climate summit to reject Trump's vow to pull the U.S. out of the Paris deal and instead proclaim "We Are Still In." We spoke with Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe.
Trump Says He Represents Pittsburgh, not Paris. But Pittsburgh Mayor Says City Still In Climate Deal
At the U.N. climate talks in Bonn, Germany, officials representing nearly 200 nations ended an all-night round of negotiations early Saturday morning. The negotiations were aimed at hammering out the implementation of the 2015 Paris climate deal. This year was the first COP since President Trump vowed to pull the United States out of the landmark 2015 Paris Climate Deal, a process which takes four years. Despite Trump's vows to withdraw from the deal, a number of progressive U.S. senators, governors and mayors staged an anti-Trump revolt last week in Bonn, proclaiming "We Are Still In." We spoke with Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto.
As Zimbabwe's Mugabe Refuses to Resign, Advocates Say Coup "Is Not the Answer" for Meaningful Reform
In Zimbabwe, longtime leader Robert Mugabe is refusing to resign as president amid a growing political crisis. Last week Mugabe was placed under house arrest after Zimbabwe's military seized parliament, courts, government offices, and the main airport in the capital, Harare. The apparent coup came a week after President Mugabe ousted his Vice President, Emmerson Mnangagwa, who’s since been named by the military as interim president. Members of Zimbabwe's ruling party are preparing to meet to discuss Mugabe's impeachment, after the deadline for him to resign came and went this morning. On Sunday, Mugabe gave a televised address acknowledging the country's problems, but did not mention stepping down. Zimbabwe's ruling party, ZANU-PF, has expelled Mugabe and First Lady Grace Mugabe from the party. Impeachment proceedings against Mugabe may now begin as soon as Tuesday. For more we’re joined by Glen Mpani, Mason fellow at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He is a democracy and governance practitioner who has worked for the last 15 years in Africa. His recent op-ed in the New York Times is titled, “For Zimbabwe, a Coup Isn’t the Answer.”
Headlines for November 20, 2017
Zimbabwe: Mugabe Refuses to Resign Presidency After Military Takeover, Thousands Rally For Puerto Rico Disaster Relief on National Mall, Jeffrey Tambor to Leave Transparent After Sexual Assault Charges, Russell Simmons Accused of Sexual Assault as Brett Ratner Watched, TED Talks Accused of Failing to Stop Sexual Harassment, Congress Paid $17M to Settle Sexual Harassment, Discrimination Suits, Sen. Al Franken Won’t Resign Over Kissing, Groping Woman Without Consent, Trump on UCLA Players’ Arrests in China: "I Should Have Left Them in Jail!", ISIS Routed from Last Remaining Towns in Iraq, Syria, Turkish Authorities Ban All LGBTQ Events in Ankara, Libya: Enslaved Migrants Sold at Auction, Germany: Talks to Forge Coalition Government Collapse, Mexico: NAFTA Renegotiations Begin Amid Protests, Arizona Immigrant Rights Activists Protest Steve Bannon Address, Study: Black Men Receive Harsher Prison Terms than White Counterparts, Jacksonville, FL: Students to Confront Neo-Nazi Rally, In Reversal, Trump to Uphold Import Ban on African Elephant Trophies, Nebraska to Determine Fate of Keystone XL Pipeline Permit, Burying Time Capsules, Young Activists Pledge Fight for Climate Justice
Tom Goldtooth: Carbon Trading is "Fraudulent" Scheme to Privatize Air & Forests to Permit Pollution
In South Dakota, the energy company TransCanada says it shut down part of its pipeline Thursday after a rupture spilled 210,000 gallons of oil in a field near Amherst. The pipeline carries a highly polluting form of oil called "diluted bitumen." This comes amid a new report titled "Carbon Pricing: A Critical Perspective for Community Resistance," which exposes the dangers of carbon trading, a scheme in which major companies purchase carbon credits from countries who agree to plant trees or protect existing forests. We speak with one of the report's co-authors, Tom Goldtooth, executive director of the Indigenous Environmental Network, and Isabella Zizi from Richmond, California, home to a massive Chevron oil refinery. Chevron has said it will purchase carbon credits to offset increased pollution from a recent expansion of the Richmond refinery.
Key Architect of Paris Climate Accord: "We Cannot Combat Climate Change with More Coal"
For more on the final assessment of this year's U.N. climate summit, we speak with one of the key architects of the landmark 2015 Paris climate deal, Manuel Pulgar-Vidal. He was previously the environment minister in Peru. He is also the former president of COP20 and a key architect of the Paris Agreement.
Activists Condemn Failure of COP23 to Address Interrelated Crises of Climate, Energy & Inequality
On the last day of the United Nations climate summit in Bonn, Germany, we get a wrap-up on negotiations. This year is the first COP since President Trump vowed to pull the United States out of the landmark 2015 Paris climate deal, a process which takes four years. At this year's COP, a new coalition of 19 countries has committed to working toward phasing out coal, although many of these countries—including Britain—continue to expand fracking and other extraction projects. Also this week in Bonn, indigenous groups won increased recognition of their rights, autonomy and participation in negotiations. But many say this year's negotiations do not go nearly far enough to address climate change—especially as new research shows the threat is continuing to accelerate. We speak with Dipti Bhatnagar, the climate justice and energy coordinator at Friends of the Earth International, and Asad Rehman, the executive director of War on Want.
"Keep It in the Ground": As COP23 Ends, Activists Protest at Europe's Largest Open-Pit Coal Mine
Throughout the United Nations climate summit in Bonn, Germany, activists have been protesting against fossil fuels. Early this morning, Democracy Now! drove about 45 minutes west of Bonn to the forests of western Germany, where activists unfurled a banner at the largest open-pit coal mine in Europe that read, "It's Up to Us to Keep It in the Ground." "You can't separate the peace movement from the climate movement," says Lea Heuser, winner of Germany's Aachen Peace Prize.
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