Democracy Now!

Israeli Attacks Kill Dozens of Palestinians as Army Claims to Control 40% of Gaza City, Hamas Releases Video Showing Two Israeli Hostages in Gaza City, U.S. Sanctions Palestinian Human Rights Groups for Backing ICC War Crimes Probe, Third Earthquake Strikes Afghanistan as Death Toll Passes 2,200, Indonesian Officer Fired over Killing of Delivery Driver as Anti-Government Protests Spread, Senators Grill HHS Secretary RFK Jr. over Vaccines and Turmoil at Public Health Agencies, Federal Reserve Nominee Plans to Keep His Job as White House Adviser, DOJ Launches Mortgage Fraud Probe of Federal Reserve Governor Targeted by Trump, Justice Department Considers Banning Transgender Americans from Owning Guns, Washington, D.C., Sues Trump Admin for Deploying National Guard, Northwestern University President Resigns After Trump Administration Freezes Research Funds, Federal Appeals Court Rules Alligator Alcatraz" Can Continue Operating, Trump to Sign Executive Order Renaming Department of Defense as Department of War, Pentagon Says Two Venezuelan Fighter Jets Buzzed U.S. Navy Vessel, Eric Adams Considers Dropping Out of NYC Mayoral Race After Meeting with Trump Adviser

The Trump administration is facing growing criticism for suspending visas for Palestinian passport holders, including for Palestinian officials set to attend the annual U.N. General Assembly this month. When the U.S. denied a visa to Yasser Arafat to address the U.N. in 1988, the General Assembly was moved to Geneva - the U.N. faces similar calls now. The move by the U.S. is an indication of the unprecedented degree to which the U.S. government has handed the levers of its foreign policy over to the Israeli regime," says Craig Mokhiber, an international human rights lawyer who formerly served as the director of the New York Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. He resigned in October 2023 over the U.N.'s failure to adequately address large-scale atrocities in Palestine and Israel.Mokhiber also says there is more the U.N. could do to stop the genocide in Gaza. The General Assembly has the ability to circumvent the Security Council with a United for Peace" resolution that could force concrete action" in Gaza.

As Congress returned to Washington Tuesday, the controversy over files related to convicted serial sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has picked back up, with bipartisan pressure to make files related to the federal investigation into Epstein public. Democratic Congressmember Ro Khanna of California has co-authored a bipartisan measure that could compel the Justice Department to release the files. The measure was filed by Congressmember Thomas Massie, a conservative who has clashed with President Trump, and lawmakers will begin collecting signatures for their Epstein resolution starting Tuesday. We need 218 signatures," says Khanna. We have 216. We have to get two more Republicans on the bill, and we're in talks with at least 10 who are strongly considering it."Khanna also discusses attempts by congressmembers to recognize a Palestinian state and enact an arms embargo on Israel. Military support for Israel is a moral stain on the United States because of our complicity," says Khanna.

Jeffrey Epstein survivors rallied in front of Congress on Wednesday, detailing their experiences of abuse and calling for the release of all Epstein files. We cannot heal without justice," says one Epstein survivor, Chauntae Davies. We cannot protect the future if we refuse to confront the past." Survivors also announced that some victims would work to confidentially compile their own list of individuals implicated in Epstein's crimes. This comes as lawmakers seek to force a House floor vote compelling the Justice Department to release all the files from the Jeffrey Epstein case.Lauren Hersh, the national director of the anti-trafficking organization World Without Exploitation, is a former sex-trafficking prosecutor in New York who joined survivors for their press conference just steps from the Capitol on Wednesday. Courage is contagious," says Hersh, adding that we were approached by several other Epstein survivors who we didn't even know."

Israeli Forces Kill 84 Palestinians in a Day as Troops Push Deeper into Gaza City, Israeli Minister Proposes Annexing 82% of Occupied West Bank, WaPo: White House Plan Envisions U.S. Control of Gaza Strip, Relocation of Entire Population, Scotland Halts Funding to Weapons Makers Who Supply Israel, Army Veterans Disrupt Senate Hearing to Accuse Members of Complicity in Gaza Genocide, Democratic Senators Urge Trump Admin to Reveal Details About GHF Funding, Epstein Survivors Call on Congress to Release More Files as Trump Claims Democrat Hoax", Trump to Ask SCOTUS to Overturn $5 Million Verdict in E. Jean Carroll Sex Abuse Case, Florida Plans to End All Vaccine Mandates for Schoolchildren, Over 1,000 Current and Former Workers at HHS Call on RFK Jr. to Resign, Federal Judge Rules Trump Admin Illegally Blocked Research Funding from Harvard, Secretary of State Rubio Promises More Strikes on Boats Allegedly Carrying Drugs from Venezuela, The Voice of Hind Rajab" Receives Record 22-Minute Standing Ovation at Venice Film Festival

A 35-year-old former U.S. Army sergeant, Bajun Baji" Mavalwalla II, faces up to six years in prison for protesting against ICE deportations in what legal experts are calling a test case for the Trump administration's attempts to criminalize and punish dissent. Mavalwalla was arrested and charged with conspiracy to impede or injure officers" after he was identified in a video taken at the protest and shared on Instagram. Mavalwalla, who survived a roadside bomb blast while serving in Afghanistan, was also injured by a rubber bullet at the protest. This whole event has been staged by the Trump administration," says Mavalwalla's father, Bajun Ray Mavalwalla, who witnessed and filmed his son's arrest at their home in Spokane, Washington. It's unconscionable." We speak to the elder Mavalwalla, also a U.S. Army veteran who served in Afghanistan and as part of the National Guard, and to journalist Aaron Glantz, who has been reporting on this story for The Guardian.

We speak to journalist Jean Guerrero about the Trump administration's ongoing anti-immigrant crackdown and the bipartisan roots of anti-immigrant cruelty" in the United States. Guerrero's latest opinion piece in The New York Times is titled The Border Is Invading America" and traces the development of U.S. border policies since the Clinton administration. The brute force that the border once unleashed out of sight, in the desert or behind the locked doors of detention centers, is now erupting on our streets," says Guerrero. We desperately need a reckoning with the structural abuses embedded in our immigration system and with how both parties have played a role in sustaining them, because, otherwise, the border is going to continue to coil inward and to destroy our collective rights."

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, recaps and responds to the latest legal news on the Trump administration's ongoing immigration crackdown. We cover judicial decisions that the Trump administration cannot deport alleged Venezuelan gang members without due process, that it broke the law by sending National Guard troops to put down protests in Los Angeles, as well as its attempts to deport hundreds of Guatemalan children currently in the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement and deputize military lawyers with no experience in immigration law to serve as immigration judges, and more.

President Trump is preparing to send National Guard troops into Chicago and Baltimore, right after a judge in California ruled that he broke the law by deploying troops to Los Angeles against anti-ICE protesters. This is not about public safety, and it's not about law and order. It's a show of force meant to intimidate, to create fear and send troops to occupy cities, because people in those cities largely and overwhelmingly oppose Donald Trump and his policies," says Jesus Chuy" Garcia, who grew up in Chicago and now represents the Chicagoland area in Congress.

Israel Kills 113 More Palestinians in Gaza, Including 33 People Seeking Aid, Israel Mobilizes 60,000 Reservists for Gaza City Offensive, Belgium to Recognize Palestinian State at the U.N. General Assembly, Maduro Warns U.S. Seeking Regime Change in Venezuela as U.S. Attacks Boat, Killing 11, U.S. Federal Appeals Court Blocks Trump's Use of Alien Enemies Act to Deport Venezuelans, Federal Judge Rules Trump Admin Broke the Law When Deploying Troops to Los Angeles, Bloomberg: ICE to Receive Access to Israeli Spyware Program, Pentagon Authorizes 600 Military Lawyers to Serve as Immigration Judges, House Oversight Committee Releases Thousands of Epstein-Related Documents, Chinese President Xi Jinping Hosts Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un at Military Parade, Coup Trial of Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro Enters Final Phase, Judge Rules Google Does Not Need to Sell Chrome in Antitrust Case, WaPo: Trump's BLS Nominee Discussed Gender Differences in IQ Scores with Interns

In Gaza, Israeli attacks since dawn have killed at least 54 Palestinians, including people seeking food. The attacks came as Gaza health officials recorded another 13 deaths due to starvation - three of them children. That brings the number of hunger-related deaths in Gaza to more than 360. According to a leading global monitor, more than half a million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are suffering catastrophic" levels of hunger due to Israel's blockade. This comes as the world's leading genocide scholars' association has approved a resolution establishing that Israel's policies and actions in Gaza meet the legal definition of genocide as found in the Genocide Convention, constituting war crimes and crimes against humanity.Palestinian American journalist Rami Khouri says the declaration shows even conservative scholars" now consider Israel's actions in Gaza a genocide. But, he adds, the question is, Will any of the major Western powers take action?"

Thousands of mourners attended a funeral for 12 senior Houthi figures in Yemen's capital of Sana'a on Monday after they were killed by Israel in an airstrike last week. The dead included the Houthi prime minister, Ahmed Ghaleb al-Rahawi. The Houthis have ruled the capital and much of northern Yemen for over a decade. For the last two years, Houthi fighters have regularly launched missiles at Israel and attacked ships in the Red Sea in what they described as actions in solidarity with Gaza.The killing of the Houthi leaders is meant to signal to the Yemenis and everybody else in the region that Israel will keep attacking anybody, will kill senior people - they don't care about any laws or reprisals," says Palestinian American journalist Rami Khouri, who warns that Israel is fueling an endless war" in the Middle East.

A federal judge stopped the Trump administration from illegally deporting as many as 700 Guatemalan children over the Labor Day weekend, ordering a last-minute block on their removals even as some children had already been boarded onto planes. The National Immigration Law Center filed an emergency request to stop the deportation flights, arguing that the children would face harm and abuse if they were returned to Guatemala. The children arrived in the United States as unaccompanied minors, and many are now living in shelters or foster care. The Trump administration insists it is acting at the request of the children's families and the government of Guatemala.There are protections for unaccompanied minors that provide how a child can be released from custody, to whom, and the process if they want to go back to their country," says Efren Olivares, an attorney representing Guatemalan unaccompanied minors. If this were a benign repatriation to send children back to their parents, it wouldn't be happening at midnight on Sunday of Labor Day weekend."

A federal appeals court struck down most of President Trump's sweeping tariffs Friday, saying they have no legal basis. The decision could undo many of Trump's tariffs from Liberation Day" in April, as well as earlier tariffs against Canada, Mexico and China. In its ruling, the appeals court called levying tariffs a core Congressional power," but the White House had argued the president has authority to impose tariffs without Congress based on the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The tariffs will remain in effect until October, giving the Trump administration time to bring the case to the Supreme Court. The decision encompasses two different cases that had challenged the tariffs: one brought by a group of U.S. states, led by Oregon, and the other brought by a group of businesses.It's a sweeping decision that unequivocally rebukes President Trump's idea that he can impose tariffs on American consumers on his own without the approval of the Congress," says attorney Neal Katyal, who represents the businesses that initiated the tariff lawsuit.Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield says his state challenged the tariffs because of their economic impact since about 70% to 80%" of the costs are paid by U.S. consumers. I really think we have to start calling them regressive taxes," Rayfield says.

Appellate Court Rules Most of Trump's Tariffs Were Unlawfully Imposed, Landslide Kills Over 1,000 in Darfur Mountains Where Many Sought Refuge from Civil War, Afghans Appeal for International Help as Earthquake Death Toll Tops 1,400, Amid Famine and Israeli Attacks, Gaza's Children Face Third Consecutive Year Without Education, International Scholars' Association Declares Israel Is Committing Genocide in Gaza, Dozens of Ships Set Sail for Gaza Carrying Humanitarian Aid, Seeking to Break Israel's Siege, Thousands Gather in Yemen's Capital for Funeral of Houthi Leaders Killed in Israeli Strike, Judge Rules Over 600 Unaccompanied Guatemalan Children Can Stay in the U.S., Texas Governor Greg Abbott Signs New Congressional Map into Law, Xi Jinping Warmly Greets Putin and Modi at Security Summit, Russia Blamed for Jamming Navigation System of Plane Carrying EU Chief, Seven Dead in Anti-Government Protests in Indonesia, Over 1,000 Demonstrations Held Across the U.S. for Labor Day

In 1980, historian Howard Zinn published his classic work, A People's History of the United States. The book would go on to sell over a million copies and change the way many look at history in America. We begin today's special with highlights from a production of Howard Zinn's Voices of a People's History of the United States, where Zinn introduced dramatic readings from history. Alfre Woodard reads the words of labor activist Mother Jones; Howard's son Jeff Zinn reads the words of IWW poet and organizer Arturo Giovannitti; Marisa Tomei reads the words of the women's suffrage leader Harriet Hanson; and James Earl Jones reads from Zinn's A People's History of the United States.

We speak with Rachel Griffin Accurso, the educator known to millions around the world as Ms. Rachel, who has become a leading advocate for children in Gaza. Her YouTube channel for young children became wildly popular during the COVID-19 pandemic and today has more than 16 million subscribers. Since the start of Israel's war on Gaza, Accurso has used her social media reach to speak out for Palestinian children facing hunger, disease, injury and death. She has been hailed as the heir to Mister Rogers, the legendary PBS children's entertainer who also used his position in families' living rooms to speak out on social issues.I see all children as precious and equal. My deep care for children doesn't stop at any border," Accurso tells Democracy Now! in a wide-ranging interview.We also speak with Tareq Hailat, director of the Treatment Abroad Program for the Palestine Children's Relief Fund, who helped connect Accurso with a 3-year-old girl from Gaza named Rahaf, who lost both her legs in an Israeli airstrike. Accurso and Rahaf filmed a video in which they sing and dance together.Hailat describes Accurso as one of the most significant, if not the most significant, voices for Palestinian human rights" in the world. Her advocacy has touched the hearts of people that never would have ever heard about Gaza or the Palestinian children, and that's why her voice is so vital," he says.

Twenty years ago today, on August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina roared ashore in southeastern Louisiana, tearing through the Gulf Coast with catastrophic force and gushing winds, driving a massive storm surge toward New Orleans. Thousands were abandoned by state and federal officials, left to fight for survival in the rising floodwaters - many stranded on the rooftops of their sinking homes without water, food or medical care. The storm and its aftermath are the focus of the acclaimed new documentary series, Hurricane Katrina: Race Against Time. It offers an historical record of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath and examines how it was a catalyst that revealed preexisting systemic failures. Democracy Now! speaks with the film's Academy Award-nominated director, Traci A. Curry.

A new documentary, Steal This Story, Please!, which tells the personal story of Amy Goodman and her decadeslong career as an independent journalist, is premiering this Sunday at the Telluride Film Festival in Telluride, Colorado. The film highlights some of the monumental stories Democracy Now! has covered throughout the years and the importance of independent journalism.

As Israel pushes deeper into Gaza City, President Donald Trump met Wednesday to discuss plans for a postwar Gaza with his son-in-law and former Middle East envoy, Jared Kushner, and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. This comes as Israeli business leaders are reportedly involved in developing a postwar Gaza plan that includes the creation of a Trump Riviera" and a manufacturing zone named after Elon Musk, using financial models developed by the U.S. firm Boston Consulting Group.Former State Department official Josh Paul says the Trump administration, alongside the Israeli government, is attempting to transition from Israeli colonialism to corporate" colonialism. The move would exploit incredible suffering for economic gain," he adds. Paul was director in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs in the State Department and resigned in protest of the push to increase arms sales to Israel amid its assault on Gaza. He's now a director at A New Policy, the lobbying organization he co-founded with fellow resignee Tariq Habash to press for a change in U.S. policy on Palestine and Israel. Paul also worked with Tony Blair when Blair was Quartet special envoy for Middle East peace and Paul was an adviser for the U.S. security coordinator.

Amid Deepening Famine, Israel Declares Gaza City a Dangerous Combat Zone", Palestinian and Israeli Protesters in West Bank Demand End to Gaza Assault, Flooding Displaces More Than 1 Million in Pakistan, Thai Constitutional Court Removes Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, Security Council Votes to Wind Down U.N. Peacekeeping Mission in Lebanon, Democrats Demand Assault Weapons Ban in Wake of Minneapolis School Shooting, RFK Jr. Taps Deputy to Lead CDC After White House Fires Director Who Opposed Anti-Vaccine Moves, Fed Governor Lisa Cook Sues to Keep Her Job After Trump Attempts to Fire Her, White House Seeks to Use Chicago Naval Base for Immigration Crackdown, U.S. Air Force to Offer Full Military Honors to January 6 Rioter, Trump Administration Withdraws U.S. from U.N. Review of Human Rights Record, Texas GOP Lawmakers Advance Bill to Expand Abortion Restrictions, Trump Signs Executive Order Banning Unions at Several Government Agencies, NYC Mayoral Candidate Zohran Mamdani Joins Rev. Al Sharpton's March on Wall Street"

Independent journalist Jordan Flaherty was in New Orleans in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina first hit, and both supported and reported on relief efforts in the aftermath of the storm. Flaherty explains how Katrina's devastation to the city's infrastructure accelerated the existing dispossession of its primarily Black residents, how corruption and mismanagement in the years following the storm diverted aid, and how racist media narratives contribute to the ongoing criminalization of Black New Orleanians. It's devastating," says Flaherty, warning that the aftermath of Katrina is not only reverberating, but amplifying, today. The support for the oil and gas industry, the heightened climate change, hurricanes getting bigger, hurricanes getting stronger, less land to protect us in the city, less infrastructure to support us, less of a social safety net ... less ways to afford to live in the city, in this country."

This week marks the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's landfall in New Orleans and the U.S. Gulf Coast. We revisit Democracy Now!'s initial coverage of the disaster, which killed over 1,800 people, forced over a million to evacuate and stranded tens of thousands of others with limited resources and aid.

Firearms are the number one killer of our kids in America. That's a uniquely American problem." Two children, aged 8 and 10, were killed Wednesday when a former student fired dozens of shots through the stained-glass church windows at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis. Seventeen other people were injured. We speak to Kris Brown, president of the gun violence prevention organization Brady, about what she characterizes as the solvable" issue of mass gun violence and how right-wing policymakers and their pro-gun policies are making all of us far less safe."

Four More Palestinians Starve to Death as Israeli Tanks Advance on Gaza City, U.N. Security Council Members, Except for U.S., Condemn Man-Made Crisis" in Gaza, Jewish Peace Activists Demand California Senators End Support for Israel's Assault on Gaza, Russian Drones and Missiles Kill 15 in Kyiv as Kremlin Rebuffs Trump's Peace Push, U.S. Officials Discussed Energy Deals with Russia, Including Return of ExxonMobil, Shooter Kills Two Children and Injures 17 People at Minneapolis Catholic School, Public Health Officials Resign in Protest as White House Fires CDC Director, FDA Approves New COVID Vaccines with Access Restrictions, Amid Trump's D.C. Crackdown, Transportation Dept. Plans Takeover of Union Station, California Lawmakers Pass Resolution Phasing Out Crude Oil Imports from Amazon

The Trump administration placed some staffers at the Federal Emergency Management Agency on leave Tuesday amid fallout over a letter to Congress signed by more than 180 current and former employees, who warn that budget cuts and mismanagement are putting the agency's work at risk. The dissenting staffers singled out Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and acting FEMA Administrator David Richardson as lacking the qualifications and authority to oversee FEMA's operations and warned that administration policies could result in a disaster on par with 2005's Hurricane Katrina. The letter, titled the Katrina Declaration," came just days before the 20th anniversary of the hurricane, one of the deadliest and costliest natural disasters in U.S. history.Jeremy Edwards, a former FEMA spokesperson who signed the letter, lays out their demands and says Katrina is a grim example of what happens when there are people in charge who don't take the agency's mission seriously."

Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook is suing President Donald Trump to challenge his attempt to fire her from the board of the central bank. A president cannot get rid of Fed officials over policy disagreements, but he can dismiss someone for cause." In recent days, Trump's allies have accused Cook of misrepresentation on her mortgage forms, which Trump cited Monday when demanding her removal. Trump has also repeatedly threatened to fire Fed Chair Jerome Powell as he pushes the central bank to cut interest rates more rapidly.The Federal Reserve is meant to be protected from these types of political pressures. It is an independent institution," says Aya Ibrahim, a former senior policy adviser at the White House National Economic Council, where she covered the financial regulation portfolio and supported Cook's confirmation. Ibrahim says Cook, the first Black woman to serve on the Fed's Board of Governors, is an incidental target of Trump's larger desire to exert control over all parts of government."

The divide in the Democratic Party over Gaza came into full view at a meeting Tuesday of the Democratic National Committee, where party members debated rival resolutions on the U.S.-Israel relationship.We speak with Allison Minnerly, a 26-year-old DNC member from Florida, who introduced a resolution for the party to support an arms embargo on Israel, cut off military aid to the country and recognize Palestinian statehood. The measure was blocked by party leaders who instead backed a rival resolution by DNC Chair Ken Martin, which called for a ceasefire in Gaza, increased humanitarian aid and a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Martin ultimately withdrew his resolution amid outrage from rank-and-file members, who had overwhelmingly backed the more expansive proposal, and promised the creation of a task force to study the issue further.We need to continue this conversation," Minnerly tells Democracy Now! Palestinian rights and dignity are just too important to ignore at a time like this, and we want the war in Gaza to end."

We speak with the head of pediatrics at Gaza's Nasser Hospital, where Israel killed more than 20 people, including five journalists, Monday in a double-tap" strike, drawing global condemnation. Dr. Ahmed Al-Farra says Israel's justification of targeting a camera on the roof is unbelievable," and calls the attack a calculated trap aimed at targeting rescue teams."

Ten Palestinians Starve to Death in Gaza as Israeli Forces Kill 76 in a Day, Reuters Journalist Resigns over Outlet's Response to Israel's Killing of Journalists at Nasser Hospital, More Than 350,000 Israelis in Tel Aviv Call for Gov't to Accept Ceasefire Deal, Israeli Forces Raid West Bank as Senators Van Hollen and Merkley Visit Church Attacked by Settlers, Rights Groups Urge the Release of Palestinian American Teen Held in Israeli Prison, DNC Rejects Resolution Calling for an Arms Embargo on Israel, Protesters Occupy Microsoft President's Office to Protest Company's Work with Israel, CBS News: U.S. Resumes Neighborhood Checks" to Vet Citizenship Applicants, Florida Asks Federal Appeals Court to Keep Operating Alligator Alcatraz", GOP Governors in 19 States Mobilize National Guard to Assist ICE, Trump Calls for Death Penalty in All D.C. Murder Cases, Trump Says U.S. Would Accept Up to 600,000 Chinese Students, Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook to File Lawsuit Against Trump's Attempt to Fire Her, Lebanese Journalists Demand Apology from U.S. Envoy over His Demeaning Comments, FEMA Suspends Staff for Signing Letter Criticizing Trump Administration, Whistleblower Claims DOGE Put Americans' Social Security Records at Risk, Denmark Summons Top U.S. Diplomat over Allegations of Greenland Espionage, Trump's 50% Tariffs on India Take Effect as Penalty for Indian Imports of Russian Oil

Among the executive orders President Trump signed Monday are two that aim to eliminate so-called cashless bail. The move threatens to cut federal funding to Washington, D.C., as well as other cities and jurisdictions that continue to implement the economic and racial justice policy. Before cash bail was eliminated, judges would come up with a number out of thin air, and the decision about whether somebody was released was based upon whether they had a rich grandma or rich aunt or a girlfriend who was willing to put up the money," says Sharone Mitchell, chief of the Law Office of the Cook County Public Defender.This comes as Trump has continued to single out D.C., as well as Democratic-led cities like Chicago, engaging in racist and baseless rants about a violent crime wave as he threatens to expand his military occupation. I'm a lawyer. I will tell you lots of legal arguments. I'm not sure the law matters anymore," says Mitchell.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday that would establish specialized" National Guard units to be quickly deployed in Washington, D.C., and all 50 states, and again threatened to send troops to Democrat-run cities like Chicago. Officials and grassroots organizers have vowed to fight back. We are a strong labor city," says Byron Sigcho-Lopez, a Democratic Socialist alderperson of the 25th Ward in Chicago. We're not going to normalize fascism, and we're prepared to face the dictator head-on." Sigcho-Lopez says the city is planning a mass mobilization effort to take place on Labor Day.

Israel's war on Gaza is the deadliest conflict for journalists in recorded history. In an attack on Nasser Hospital in Gaza Monday, Israel killed five more journalists in addition to over a dozen others. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed the hospital attack was a tragic mishap," but just hours later, Israeli forces killed a sixth journalist. There is a pattern of targeting and killing journalists that lets us think that there is an intention," says Francesca Albanese, U.N. special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territory.As countries prepare for the U.N. General Assembly, Albanese notes the complicity of Western states in the genocide in Gaza, particularly the United States. There has been a tolerance of Israel's impunity for decades," says Albanese. However, the United States is the single most important factor of crisis in the United Nations."

Three More Palestinians Starve to Death in Gaza as Israeli Forces Kill 75 in a Day, Thousands of Protesters Block Roads Across Israel During Nationwide Day of Disruption", Israeli Minister Says Annexation of West Bank Will Begin This Month, Scottish Police Arrest Screenwriter Paul Laverty over T-Shirt Opposing Gaza Genocide, Australia Expels Iranian Ambassador, Accuses Iran of Organizing Antisemitic Attacks, Absolutely Forbidden": Federal Judge Blocks Deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Uganda, U.S. Immigrant Population Down by More Than 1 Million Since Trump's Return to Office, Libyan Coast Guard Fires on Rescue Ship Searching for Refugee Boat in Distress, I Will Not Resign": Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook Rejects Trump's Claim He Fired Her, Trump Orders Creation of Specialized" National Guard Units to Quell Civil Unrest, FEMA Employees Warn Cuts and Mismanagement Threaten a Catastrophe on Par with Hurricane Katrina, Trump Touts Great Relationship" with Kim Jong-un at Meeting with South Korean Leader, Trump Executive Order Seeks to Impose Cash Bail on Criminal Suspects, Trump Orders Vigorous Prosecution" of People Who Burn U.S. Flag, Alex Acosta, Who Gave Sweetheart Deal" to Jeffrey Epstein, Agrees to Testify to House Panel

We speak with George Retes, a 25-year-old U.S. citizen and Army veteran who is taking on the federal government after he was detained by ICE for three days and three nights without explanation. Retes was arrested during a raid in July at a cannabis farm in Camarillo, California, where he worked as a security guard. Retes was driving to work when he encountered a checkpoint, where agents broke his car window, pepper-sprayed him and dragged him out of his vehicle for arrest. While he was jailed without charge, Retes missed his daughter's third birthday.They never let me call my family. They never told me what I was charged for. They just kind of threw me in there and didn't care," Retes tells Democracy Now!These are basic violations of George's federal constitutional rights and his rights under California law," says his attorney, Marie Miller, who is suing the government over what happened to Retes in the hopes of setting a precedent to stop the same thing from happening to others.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who became a symbol of Trump's anti-immigrant crackdown when the administration illegally sent him to El Salvador earlier this year, is at risk of being deported again - this time to Uganda, a country he has no ties to.Abrego Garcia was one of hundreds of men sent to El Salvador in March to be jailed in that country's brutal CECOT mega-prison, despite a court order specifically meant to prevent his deportation. After initially claiming no power to return Abrego Garcia, the administration brought him back in June to face human smuggling charges that his legal team has condemned as retaliation. He was released Friday from federal detention in Tennessee and allowed to rejoin his wife and three children in Maryland pending trial, but the administration immediately informed his lawyers of their intention to begin new deportation proceedings to Uganda. Abrego Garcia was taken into custody again Monday morning.Clearly, the Trump administration is sort of making this all up as they go along," says Chris Newman, legal director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network and a lawyer for Abrego Garcia's family. He accuses President Trump of using the highest office in this land to railroad and prosecute and punish an innocent man."

We speak with UNICEF spokesperson Tess Ingram in Gaza City, where the world's top authority on hunger has formally declared a famine. The United Nations-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, says the catastrophic" situation in Gaza's largest urban center puts about half a million Palestinians at risk of starving to death. Many aid agencies have lifesaving supplies sitting in warehouses outside Gaza that they are unable to distribute due to Israeli restrictions. This comes as Israel has escalated its destruction of Gaza City with the intent of forcibly displacing residents further south.Hopefully world leaders will take it and use it as a catalyst to finally do something to try and get more aid to these children," Ingram says of the famine declaration. What we are asking for is for us to be allowed to do our jobs. We are being hampered every step of the way at the moment."

Israeli airstrikes on Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza killed at least 20 people Monday, including five Palestinian journalists. Eyewitnesses say Israel carried out a double-tap" strike on the hospital. A drone initially hit the hospital's roof, killing one journalist setting up a live stream, and then another strike hit journalists and rescue workers who were responding to the initial strike. Israel knew exactly who was there," says Palestinian writer and analyst Muhammad Shehada. Israel has killed 244 journalists, by far surpassing all 20 years of the war in Vietnam or all six years of the Second World War."

Israeli Airstrikes on Nasser Hospital Kills 20 Including 5 Palestinian Journalists, 300,000 Protest in Australia Against Israel's War on Gaza, Israeli Strikes on Yemen Kill at Least 6 People, Injuring Dozens, Russia Downs Ukrainian Drone Near Nuclear Plant, Sparking Fire, Trump Threatens to Send National Guard to Chicago, NYC & Baltimore, Federal Judge Blocks Trump Administration from Cutting Federal Funding to Sanctuary Cities, Kilmar Abrego Garcia Taken into ICE Custody Again and Faces Deportation to Uganda, Democratic Lawmakers Slam FBI Raid of Trump's Former National Security Adviser John Bolton, Trump Administration Purges High-Ranking Military and Intel Officials, Egyptian Gov't Employees Filmed Grabbing and Beating Two Egyptian Americans in New York, Virginia Giuffre's Family Says DOJ Gave Maxwell A Platform to Rewrite History", Texas Senate Approves New Congressional Maps Favoring Republicans, Trump Administration Halts Work on Nearly Completed Wind Farm in Rhode Island, Florida Paints Over Rainbow Crosswalk Honoring the Victims of Pulse Nightclub Shooting in Orlando

Family and community members are mourning 52-year-old Roberto Carlos Montoya Valdez, a father and grandfather from Guatemala who died while attempting to escape an anti-immigrant raid at a Home Depot in California last week. Montoya, a day laborer who had lived and worked in the United States for about three years, was struck and killed by a car while fleeing across a nearby freeway. Democracy Now! speaks with Montoya's wife and daughter, Ana Maria Vasquez and Ana Victoria Montoya, at their home in Guatemala. We want people to remember my dad in the same way we will remember him: as a loving, respectful, brave man," says Ana Victoria. He died because of these injustices, this persecution."At least two men have now died while attempting to flee the Trump administration's massive expansion of federal immigration enforcement. Authorities have yet to confirm which agencies or groups were behind the raid. If it was indeed a fact that Roberto Carlos was being chased by an individual into the highway, the community, the family, needs to know the truth. We need to, most of all, bring justice," says Pablo Alvarado, the co-executive director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network. NDLON is calling on Home Depot to release any video footage it has, and demanding an immediate and full investigation of the events that led to Montoya's death.

Shahed Ghoreishi was fired from his position as a press officer for Israeli-Palestinian affairs at the U.S. State Department earlier this week. While no official explanation was given, Ghoreishi was involved in multiple departmental disputes over how to characterize U.S. positions on Israel's forced expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza and the killings of Palestinian journalists. In a TV broadcast exclusive, Ghoreishi speaks to Democracy Now! about his firing and what it may tell us about the Trump administration's future policy in Israel and Palestine.

Democrats and Republicans are locked in a historic battle over congressional representation as Texas Republicans gerrymander the state's district maps to flip five Democratic seats, at the request of President Trump. California Governor Gavin Newsom says he is fighting fire with fire," signing legislation to hold special elections for the public to approve a new gerrymandered map of their own. David Daley, a voting rights expert and the author of Antidemocratic: Inside the Far Right's 50-Year Plot to Control American Elections, calls this a gerrymandering Armageddon" that threatens to spread nationwide. Donald Trump does not want to have an election fair and square," says Texas state legislator Trey Martinez Fischer, a Democrat representing San Antonio. He wants to be the 'commander-in-cheat.' He wants to cheat on America, cheat on democracy, steal these congressional seats."

U.N. Declares a Famine in Gaza, Where Over 500,000 Face Starvation, Destitution and Death", Netanyahu Says He'll Restart Ceasefire Talks While Proceeding with Gaza City Invasion, California to Hold Special Election for Redrawn Maps to Counter Texas GOP Gerrymander, Trump Praises Troops and Officers over Federal Takeover of D.C. Law Enforcement, ICE Agents in D.C. Coordinate with Police to Target Immigrants in Moped Traffic Stops, Federal Judge Halts Expansion of Alligator Alcatraz" over Environmental Violations, State Department Is Vetting 55 Million U.S. Visa Holders for Deportable" Offenses, Kremlin Rules Out European Troops in Ukraine, Casts Doubts on Putin-Zelensky Summit, Ukrainian Man Accused of Sabotaging Nord Stream Pipelines Is Arrested in Italy, SCOTUS Clears Path for Trump to Cancel Nearly $800 Million in NIH Research Grants, Trump Administration Ignores Congressional Directive to Fully Fund HIV/AIDS Program, Trump Administration Cancels Grants for Sex Education, English as a Second Language, Court Rules Alina Habba Has Been Unlawfully Serving as U.S. Prosecutor for New Jersey, New York Appeals Court Voids Excessive" Civil Fraud Judgment Against Trump Organization, Eric Adams Adviser Indicted on Fresh Bribery Charges; Another Adviser Attempts to Bribe Reporter, FBI Raids Home of Trump's Former National Security Adviser John Bolton

President Trump said Tuesday the Smithsonian Institution was too narrowly focused on negative aspects of U.S. history, including how bad slavery was." Trump's social media post minimizing the horrors of chattel slavery came after the White House ordered a far-reaching review of Smithsonian museum exhibitions in order to ensure they align with Trump's interpretation of U.S. history.In early 2020, Democracy Now! spoke with the newly appointed secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, Lonnie G. Bunch III, in Washington, D.C. Bunch was previously the founding director of the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture. He shares stories of the work of building the museum and its collections, and the time when President Trump made a visit during his first term. The museum has become a pilgrimage site, a site of resistance, a site of remembering what America could be and a site to engage new generations," said Bunch.

Israel gave final approval Wednesday for a controversial settlement project in the occupied West Bank, sabotaging efforts at creating a future Palestinian state. The project has been on hold for over 20 years, largely due to pressure from previous U.S. administrations. The E-1" settlement would see the construction of about 3,400 new housing units and would sever one of the last remaining territorial links between major Palestinian cities like Ramallah in the northern West Bank and southern cities including Bethlehem, as well as cut off East Jerusalem. The West Bank is nearly 6,000 kilometers squared in size, and it has been the prize for Israel," says Mariam Barghouti, Palestinian writer and journalist based in Ramallah. Barghouti says Israeli officials have blatantly expressed their intent to bury the prospect of a Palestinian state. Israel is not engaging in just a war on Gaza," she says. It is engaging in a war of annihilation of Palestinians."

Israel's military says it has established a foothold on the outskirts of Gaza City and is calling up an additional 60,000 reservists ahead of a full-scale invasion of Gaza's largest urban area. This follows days of escalating airstrikes and artillery fire that have killed scores of Palestinians in one of the world's most densely populated regions.Dr. Mimi Syed is an emergency medicine physician who's been on two medical missions in Gaza working in hospitals that were under Israeli siege and was just denied reentry into Gaza, mere hours before she was scheduled to travel there for a third medical mission. Syed was planning to bring in a small amount of aid to the besieged enclave. As a doctor, I shouldn't have to smuggle in baby formula," she says. I shouldn't have to smuggle in protein."Syed also received harrowing voice memos from a Palestinian medical student in Gaza with whom she had become friends. The medical student lives in Gaza City and received evacuation orders as Israeli forces prepare to invade. I no longer have any hope," said the student in a recorded message.

Israel Calls Up 60,000 Reservists as It Begins Gaza City Invasion, Israel Approves Settlement Splitting West Bank in Two and Further Dooming Palestinian State, State Department Fires Officer Who Expressed Condolences for Journalists Killed by Israel in Gaza, State Department Sanctions More ICC Officials for Investigating U.S. and Israeli War Crimes, Russia Escalates Attacks on Ukraine, Casting Doubt on Trump's Call for a Putin-Zelensky Summit, Colombia's President Warns U.S. Against Invading Venezuela, Texas House Approves Congressional Map Gerrymandered to Help GOP in 2026 Midterms, Appeals Court Clears Path for Trump to End TPS for Immigrants from Honduras, Nepal and Nicaragua, Trump Administration Officials Visit National Guard Troops in D.C., Drawing Jeers and Protests, Trump Calls on Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook to Resign, Judge Rejects DOJ Request to Unseal Grand Jury Transcripts Related to Jeffrey Epstein, Missouri Community Defeats Secretive Project to Build Massive AI Data Center, No Azure for Apartheid": 18 Arrested at Protest of Microsoft's Work with Israel's Military

We speak with ACLU lawyer Eunice Cho about a new federal lawsuit brought on behalf of immigrants held at the detention center in the Florida Everglades dubbed Alligator Alcatraz." The detainees allege being routinely subjected to human rights abuses, denied due process and access to legal counsel, while families have complained of being unable to find their loved ones disappeared" into the facility. These are basic constitutional rights that are afforded to anybody that is held in government custody. And what was happening at Alligator Alcatraz is simply unprecedented and not normal," says Cho, senior counsel at the ACLU National Prison Project.

How much is Trump pocketing off the presidency?" That's the question driving a major new investigation by journalist David D. Kirkpatrick in The New Yorker, which finds that the first family has been leveraging its place atop U.S. politics to rake in billions. According to Kirkpatrick, Donald Trump and his immediate family have made $3.4 billion from his time in the White House, including more than $2.3 billion from various cryptocurrency ventures alone.What really surprised me about all this is just how fast they're making this money. They seem to turn down no opportunity," says Kirkpatrick. It really sharpens the question of what a buyer, so to speak, might be getting for that."