Democracy Now!

The report on President Trump urging FBI Director James Comey to end the agency's investigation into Trump's former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, came just a day after The Washington Post revealed President Trump had disclosed highly classified intelligence to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak at the White House. We talk to CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou about his own case and the significance of Trump divulging classified secrets to Russia.

President Trump is facing yet another major scandal. The New York Times is reporting Trump personally asked FBI Director James Comey to end the agency's investigation into Trump's former national security adviser, Michael Flynn. The New York Times reports President Trump made the extraordinary request to James Comey during an Oval Office meeting on February 14—one day after Trump fired Flynn for lying both publicly and privately about his contacts with Russian officials. Trump reportedly asked Vice President Mike Pence and Attorney General Jeff Sessions to leave the room before making the request to Comey. After the meeting, Comey wrote a memo quoting the president saying, "I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go. He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go." We speak to John Kiriakou, who spent 14 years at the CIA as an analyst and case officer. He was jailed for 23 months after he became the first CIA official to confirm publicly the Bush administration's use of waterboarding.

NYT: Trump Asked Then-FBI Director Comey to End Michael Flynn Probe, NYT: Trump Asked Comey to Jail Journalists Who Report on Leaks, Israel Cited as Source for Intel Disclosed by Trump to Russians, Some Lawmakers Considering Trump Impeachment, Trump Welcomes Turkey's Authoritarian President to the White House, President Erdogan's Bodyguards Attack Peaceful Protesters in D.C., Afghanistan: Gunmen Storm Jalalabad Radio and TV Station, Iraq: Family of 8 Killed in U.S.-Led Coalition Airstrike on Mosul, U.S. Army Whistleblower Chelsea Manning Freed After 7 Years in Prison, Puerto Rican Independence Activist Oscar López Rivera Freed, Mexican Journalists Protest Violence Against Media Workers, Britain: Labour Platform Would Tax the Rich, Expand Social Programs, Mississippi: First-Ever Hate Crime Conviction for Transgender Murder, Georgia: Immigrant Detainee Hangs Self After Solitary Confinement, Georgia Executes Prisoner After SCOTUS Denies Firing Squad Request, Civil Rights Lawyer Larry Krasner Poised to Become Philadelphia DA

On Monday, a federal appeals court in Seattle, Washington, heard arguments over Trump's second travel ban, which sought to prohibit all refugees and citizens of six majority-Muslim nations from entering the United States. This is the second such court review this month. This marks Trump's second attempt to roll out a nationwide Muslim ban. We speak to the man who successfully blocked Trump's first attempt—and ignited a legal firestorm of resistance: Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson.

Senior White House officials were apparently so alarmed by President Trump's disclosures of classified intelligence to Russia that they called the CIA and National Security Agency afterward to warn them of what had happened. Officials said they were concerned Trump's comments would jeopardize a critical source of intelligence on the Islamic State. We speak to Columbia Law School lecturer Scott Horton and Stanford professor Larry Diamond of the Hoover Institution. Diamond served as senior adviser to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad.

President Trump has appeared to confirm parts of a bombshell Washington Post story that he had disclosed highly classified intelligence last week to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak last week during a meeting at the White House. Earlier this morning Trump wrote on Twitter, "As President I wanted to share with Russia (at an openly scheduled W.H. meeting) which I have the absolute right to do, facts pertaining to terrorism and airline flight safety. Humanitarian reasons, plus I want Russia to greatly step up their fight against ISIS & terrorism." According to The Washington Post, Trump disclosed highly classified intelligence—what's known as code-name information—about the possible threat of ISIS launching an attack on an airplane using a computer bomb. We speak to Stanford professor Larry Diamond of the Hoover Institution. He served as senior adviser to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad.

WashPost: Trump Shared Classified Intelligence to Russian Foreign Minister, Airwars: Up to 100 Civilians Reported Killed by U.S.-Led Airstrikes in Iraq, Reports: U.S. Airstrikes Killed 30 People, Including a Dozen Children, in Syria, State Dept.: Syrian Government Burning Bodies of Those Killed at Saydnaya Prison, Yemen: Death Toll from Cholera Outbreak Rises to 187, Afghanistan: 5 Children Killed While Playing Near Mortar Round, Award-Winning Mexican Journalist Javier Valdez Assassinated in Sinaloa, Trump Meeting with Turkish President at White House Today, Seattle Appeals Court Hears Arguments over Trump's Second Muslim Ban, Japan: Thousands Protest U.S. Military Bases on Okinawa, U.N Calls for Investigation into Murders of Transgender Women in El Salvador, Trump to Expand Global Gag Rule, Threatening Funding of Hundreds of Health Clinics, In Victory for Voting Rights, Supreme Court Refuses to Hear NC Voter Law Appeal, California: Farmworkers Sickened by Toxic Chemical Approved by Scott Pruitt's EPA, West Virginia: Former Cop Sues After Being Fired for Not Shooting Suicidal Man

It has been almost a month since over 1,500 Palestinian prisoners have been on hunger strike inside Israeli jails. The strike, which began on April 17, was called by Marwan Barghouti to protest poor living conditions in prison and the administrative detention law, which allows Palestinians to be held without charge. Barghouti is the most high-profile Palestinian in Israeli detention. Some have described him as the "Palestinian Nelson Mandela." In a New York Times op-ed announcing the strike last month, Barghouti wrote, "Having spent the last 15 years in an Israeli prison, I have been both a witness to and a victim of Israel's illegal system of mass arbitrary arrests and ill-treatment of Palestinian prisoners. After exhausting all other options, I decided there was no choice but to resist these abuses by going on a hunger strike." We speak to his son Arab Barghouthi. He recently launched the "salt water challenge," asking supporters to express their solidarity with the hunger strikers by posting videos online drinking salt water.

President Trump recently invited Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte to visit the White House, despite criticism from human rights groups over Duterte's so-called war on drugs, during which thousands of people have been extrajudicially killed by police and vigilantes. Our guest, neuroscientist Carl Hart, recently attended a drug conference in Manila. He had to leave the Philippines after his life was threatened.

In an escalation of the war on drugs, Attorney General Jeff Sessions has rescinded two Obama-era memos that encouraged prosecutors to avoid seeking inordinately harsh sentences for low-level drug offenses. He also instructed Justice Department prosecutors to pursue "the most serious" charges for all drug offenses. Former Attorney General Eric Holder condemned the move, saying, "The policy announced today is not tough on crime. It is dumb on crime." Under the Obama administration guidelines, the number of drug offenders given mandatory minimum sentences plummeted, contributing to a 14 percent decline in the total federal prison population. We speak to Carl Hart, chair of the Department of Psychology and a professor of psychiatry at Columbia University, and former anti-drug-war activist Anthony Papa, who was sentenced to two 15-years-to-life sentences for a single, nonviolent drug offense.

Fallout continues to grow over President Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey last week. The firing came just days after Comey requested more resources to probe Russia's meddling in the 2016 election. Senate Democrats are now threatening to refuse to vote on a new FBI director unless a special prosecutor is named to investigate possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. Meanwhile, pressure is growing on the administration to reveal whether Trump has been secretly recording conversations at the White House. On Friday, Trump tweeted, "James Comey better hope that there are no 'tapes' of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!" Trump's possible recording of White House conversations has led many comparisons between Trump and former President Richard Nixon, who resigned on August 8, 1974—three days after the release of an audio recording of Nixon discussing the Watergate break-in. Nixon had fought off congressional subpoenas to release the tape, but eventually the Supreme Court forced him to hand it over. It later became known as the smoking gun tape. We speak to Elizabeth Holtzman, former U.S. congressmember from New York who served on the House Judiciary Committee that voted to impeach Richard Nixon.

Computer Hack Using Stolen NSA Cyberweapon Wreaks Havoc in 150 Countries, James Clapper: Trump Represents Assault on U.S. Institutions, Trump Threatens to End Daily News Briefings, White House Close to Finalizing $100 Billion Arms Deal with Saudi Arabia, North Korea Launches Latest Ballistic Missile Test, Denver: Jeanette Vizguerra & Arturo Hernández García Win Deportation Stays, Vermont Activist and Dairy Worker Cesar Alex Carrillo Deported to Mexico, Trump Administration Revokes DACA for DREAMer Jessica Colotl, Yemen: State of Emergency Declared in Sana'a as Cholera Kills 115 People, Pakistan: 25 Killed in Attack on Politician's Convoy in Balochistan, WHO: Ebola Kills 3 in Democratic Republic of Congo, Mexican Activist for Families Whose Children Have Been Disappeared Is Murdered, Mexico: Group of Reporters Attacked by Armed Men in Iguala, Guerrero, Hong Kong: Families Who Sheltered Edward Snowden in 2013 Face Deportation, Virginia: Torch-Bearing White Mob Protests Removal of Confederate Monument

On Thursday, racial justice groups began bailing women out of jail as part of a nationwide "Black Mama's Bail Out Day." The effort, taking place in nearly 20 cities, raises money to free as many black women from jail as possible in time for a Mother's Day celebration with their families. Organizers for Black Mama's Bail Out Day are calling for an end to the cash bail system, which keeps hundreds of thousands of people who have not been convicted of any crime imprisoned in jails every day nationwide while they await trial. For more, we speak with Mary Hooks, co-director of Southerners On New Ground, or SONG, an Atlanta-based regional LGBTQ nonprofit and one of the organizers of Black Mama's Bail Out Day.

We turn now to the investigative reporter Barrett Brown, who recently completed a four-year prison sentence related to the hacking of the private intelligence firm Stratfor, which exposed how the firm spied on activists on behalf of corporations. He was released from prison earlier this year but was unexpectedly rearrested late last month, one day ahead of a scheduled interview for an upcoming PBS documentary. Brown was detained for four days and then released without receiving any formal written explanation for the arrest. For more, we speak with Barrett Brown, along with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Glenn Greenwald.

A new report has called into question whether President Trump would have actually won Wisconsin during the 2016 presidential election without the state's strict voter ID law. The study published by the progressive advocacy group Priorities USA says the law suppressed the votes of more than 200,000 residents—the majority of whom were African-American and Democratic-leaning. President Trump won only about 23,000 more votes than Hillary Clinton in Wisconsin.

Voting rights activists are expressing alarm after President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday creating a "Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity." Particularly worrying to voting right activists is the selection of Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach as the vice chair of the commission. Kobach has pushed for the strictest voter identification laws in the country and advocated for a "proof-of-citizenship" requirement at the state and federal levels. For more, we speak with Ari Berman, senior contributing writer for The Nation, where he covers voting rights. His recent piece is headlined "Trump's Commission on 'Election Integrity' Will Lead to Massive Voter Suppression."

Trump Says "This Russia Thing" was Part of Reason He Fired Comey, Acting FBI Director Says Comey Had Not Lost Trust Within Agency, Critics Say Trump's Election Commission Will Further Suppress Vote, Sessions Tells Prosecutors to Seek Harshest Sentences for Drug Crimes, Senate Approves Robert Lighthizer as U.S. Trade Representative, Iowa Rep. Rod Blum Faces 4 Straight Angry Town Halls This Week, Airwars: 60+ Civilians Killed by U.S.-Led or U.S.-Backed Airstrikes in Iraq Tuesday, Argentina: Massive Crowds Protest Shortening Sentences of Dictatorship-Era Torturers, Greek Pensioners Blockade Finance Minister & Call for General Strike on May 17, Report: Mexico 2nd Deadliest Country in World in 2016, Behind Syria, Residents Celebrate Major Environmental Victory at Seneca Lake, Chancellor of UCSB Backs Student Calls to Divest from Fossil Fuels, Dakota Access Has Already Leaked Oil and It's Not Yet Even Operational, Florida U. Awarding Posthumous Degree to Trayvon Martin, Radical Priest and Catonsville 9 Member Thomas Melville Dies at 86

We are broadcasting from Washington state, where the Department of Energy declared a state of emergency at the Hanford nuclear site after a tunnel storing contaminated radioactive materials collapsed. The collapse, which was discovered Tuesday, forced hundreds of workers to take cover to avoid potential exposure. Hanford is the nation's most polluted nuclear weapons production site. The site has been leaking radioactive waste on and off for years. The Energy Department claims no radioactive contamination has been reported so far from Tuesday's tunnel collapse. But Edwin Lyman from the Union of Concerned Scientists said, "Collapse of the earth covering the tunnels could lead to a considerable radiological release." Now the Washington state Department of Ecology's Nuclear Waste Program has announced on Twitter that it has taken legal action against Hanford. We speak with Tom Carpenter, executive director of Hanford Challenge, which advocates for workers at the Hanford nuclear site.

A federal appeals court in Richmond, Virginia, heard arguments Monday over President Trump's second travel ban, which sought to ban all refugees and citizens of six majority-Muslim nations from entering the United States. The panel of 13 judges appeared to be divided. As we broadcast from Seattle, we are joined by Matt Adams, lead counsel for the class action lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's executive order. Adams is legal director of the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project. He also describes how he is taking on U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions after the Department of Justice ordered his group to "cease and desist" from assisting unrepresented immigrants in deportation proceedings.

As we broadcast from Seattle, we get response from Kshama Sawant, a Socialist city councilmember, to President Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey. "I would say that it is really indicative of the deep instability of this administration," Sawant says. "But we, as ordinary people, as social movements, we cannot wait for whether or not there will be a smoking gun that will be found in the investigations, which, of course, should go forward. The question is: What do we do now? And I think that right now the time is ripe to really build social movements." Sawant helped win a $15/hour minimum wage for all workers in Seattle. She is also a member of Socialist Alternative.

As more details come to light about President Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey, which reportedly came just days after he asked the Justice Department for more resources to expand the bureau's investigation into Russia's meddling in the presidential election, we speak with Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a professor of history and Italian studies at New York University. Her recent piece for CNN is headlined "Trump at his most dangerous," and she is currently working on a book entitled "Strongmen: From Mussolini to Trump."

Report: Comey Fired Days After Seeking to Expand FBI's Probe into Russian Election Meddling, White House Accuses James Comey of Committing "Atrocities" as FBI Chief, Schumer Warns Trump Firing of Comey, Yates, Bharara Part of "Deeply Troubling Pattern", In Letter, James Comey Urges FBI to Remain Independent, Senate Intel Committee Subpoenas Michael Flynn, Trump's Ex-National Security Adviser, over Russia Ties, At Urging of Putin, Trump Hosts Lavrov & Kislyak at White House; U.S. Press Barred from Meeting, Education Sec. Betsy DeVos Graduation Speech Met by Boos at Historically Black College, HHS Secretary Tom Price Commends Arrest of Journalist for Asking Questions, Head of Census Bureau Resigns Ahead of 2020 Census, Senate Blocks Effort to Overturn Obama-Era Methane Emissions Rule, NC House Votes to Override Governor's Veto of Factory Farm Bill, Study: Glaciers Rapidly Disappearing at Glacier National Park, New South Korean President Vows to Bring Peace to Korean Peninsula, U.N.: 245 Refugees Died Off Coast of Libya, Report: U.S.-Led Airstrike Kills 11 in Syria, Including 4 Children, Hundreds Protest Cuts at Stony Brook University, Mother's Day Protests in Mexico Urge Authorities to Help Find Missing Children, New Orleans Removes Statue of Former Confederate President Jefferson Davis

President Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson are meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the White House today, only one day after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey in what many see as an attempt to squash the FBI's investigation into Trump's ties to Russia. For more, we speak with Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Glenn Greenwald.

Many people are comparing Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey—who only weeks earlier had confirmed the FBI was investigating whether the Trump campaign worked with Russia to sway the 2016 election—to the Saturday Night Massacre when President Nixon fired independent special prosecutor Archibald Cox. Is Comey's firing the beginning of the end of the Trump presidency? For more, we speak with Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Glenn Greenwald.

Last week, former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton claimed that FBI Director James Comey and alleged Russian hacking cost her the U.S. election, saying, "I was on the way to winning, until a combination of Jim Comey's letter on October 28th and Russian WikiLeaks raised doubts in the minds of people who were inclined to vote for me but got scared off. If the election had been on October 27th, I'd be your president." But does that claim reflect what actually happened in the 2016 election? For more, we speak with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Glenn Greenwald, co-founder of The Intercept.

Following Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey, many Senate Democrats are now calling for a special prosecutor to investigate the Trump administration. In recent months, Comey had come under widespread criticism from many Democrats for notifying lawmakers just before the election that the FBI was once again investigating whether Clinton had sent classified information from her private email server while she was secretary of state. Just last week, Clinton said Comey's actions factored into her loss. Still, on Tuesday, dozens of Democrats spoke out against Comey's firing, saying they didn't believe it was over his handling of the investigation into Clinton's emails. For more, we speak with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Glenn Greenwald, co-founder of The Intercept.

President Trump has set off a political firestorm after firing FBI Director James Comey, just weeks after Comey confirmed the FBI was investigating whether Trump's campaign collaborated with Russia to sway the 2016 election. Trump said he made the decision based on the recommendation of newly appointed Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who both faulted Comey's handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton's email server. Rosenstein faulted Comey's remarks last July, when he announced the FBI would not seek charges against Clinton. The New York Times reports Sessions had been charged with coming up with reasons to fire Comey. For more, we speak with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Glenn Greenwald, co-founder of The Intercept.

President Trump Fires FBI Director James Comey, Trump Meeting Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov at White House Today, Energy Dept. Declares Emergency at Contaminated Nuclear Site in Wash. State, South Korea Elects Moon Jae-in to Be Next President, Florida: 3 Arrested in Airport Revolt After Spirit Airlines Canceled Flights, Hundreds Protest Paul Ryan's Visit to NYC Charter School, Report: Islamophobic Attacks Surged 57 Percent in 2016, Report: Wisconsin's Voter ID Law Suppressed 200,000 Votes in Presidential Election, Report: CEOs Earning 347 Times More Than Average U.S. Worker, Ohio EPA Fines Energy Transfer Partners over 18 Pipeline Spills, Bloomberg: Oil to Begin Flowing Through Dakota Access Pipeline on May 14, Seattle: 26 Activists Arrested Demanding JPMorgan Chase Refuse to Fund Keystone XL Pipeline, Imprisoned Army Whistleblower Chelsea Manning Will Be Freed Next Week, Undocumented Activist & Student Carimer Andujar Walks Free from ICE Check-in, Reporter Arrested Asking HHS Head If Domestic Violence is Pre-existing Condition in GOP Health Plan, ACLU Issues Travel Alert About Texas After Gov. Signed Anti-Immigrant Law SB 4, DHS Has Been Compiling List of Alleged Crimes by Haitian Immigrants, Ferguson: Activists Mourn Death of Uprising Protester Edward Crawford

FCC head Ajit Pai has outlined a sweeping plan to dismantle net neutrality rules, which seek to keep the internet open and prevent corporate service providers from blocking access to websites, slowing down content or providing paid fast lanes for internet service. For more, we speak with Craig Aaron, president and CEO of Free Press.

The Sinclair Broadcast Group is reportedly nearing a $4 billion deal to purchase Tribune Media, which would give it control of more than a third of the country's local TV stations. The reported purchase comes after President Trump's pick to head the FCC, Ajit Pai, dramatically rolled back limits capping the number of stations one corporation can control. Sinclair's chair and former CEO, David Smith, is active in Republican politics and supported Donald Trump's campaign. For more, we speak with Craig Aaron, president and CEO of Free Press.

*Update: Carimer Andujar met with ICE officials today and was allowed to remain free.*Twenty-one-year-old Carimer Andujar came to the United States from the Dominican Republic with her family at the age of four. She is now in her third year studying chemical engineering at Rutgers University, where she has been an outspoken advocate for undocumented students. This morning, her future in this country is in limbo, as she's reporting to an ICE check-in, where she could face possible deportation. We spoke to Carimer yesterday as she prepared for today's check-in.

Texas is facing growing criticism after the state's Republican governor, Greg Abbott, signed into law one of the nation's harshest immigration bills, SB 4. The state bans sanctuary cities and allows police officers to check the immigration status of anyone they detain. The law was opposed by many powerful forces in Texas, including the police chiefs of every big city in the state as well as major religious leaders. For more, we speak with Gregorio Casar, a member of the Austin City Council, and Texas state Representative Rafael Anchía, who serves as chair of the Mexican American Legislative Caucus in the Texas House of Representatives.

Sally Yates Tells Senate Committee She Warned White House About Flynn, Trump Tweets About Sally Yates May Constitute Illegal Witness Intimidation, Appeals Court Hears Arguments over Trump's Second Muslim Travel Ban, Syria Gov't Says U.N. Will Not Be Allowed to Monitor "De-escalation Zones", Pentagon Pushes to Deploy 3,000 More U.S. Troops to Afghanistan, Somalia: Al-Shabab Attack in Mogadishu Kills 8, World Health Organization: 25 Die in Yemen from Cholera Outbreak, Up to 200 Refugees May Have Drowned in Mediterranean over Weekend, South Korea Voters Head to Polls for Presidential Election, Indonesia: Court Sentences Jakarta Governor to 2 Years in Prison, France: Hundreds March to Demand Macron Adopt More Progressive Platform, Interior Dept. Froze 200 Advisory Boards & Committees Last Week, Suit Accuses Mississippi County of Imposing "State of Siege" Against Black Residents, Texas: Family of Jordan Edwards Sues Balch Springs Police Dept. over His Murder

We go now to Arkansas, where the state executed four men in April, marking the first executions in Arkansas since 2005. Arkansas had initially planned to execute eight men over 11 days during the month of April, but several of the executions were blocked by the courts. One of the judges who blocked the state's efforts is now facing calls to be impeached. On April 14, state Judge Wendell Griffen issued a temporary restraining order that effectively halted six of the executions over concerns the state used false pretenses to obtain a key drug slated to be used in the executions. Following his ruling, Judge Griffen took part in an anti-death penalty protest outside the Governor's Mansion organized by his church to mark Good Friday. In addition to being a judge, Griffen is an ordained Baptist minister. Calls for Wendell Griffen's impeachment began soon after photographs from the vigil appeared in the press showing him lying down on a cot with his hands bound together as though he were a condemned man on a gurney. In his first national television interview, Wendell Griffen speaks to Democracy Now!

Puerto Rico has announced plans to close 179 public schools just days after filing for a form of bankruptcy protection, seeking to restructure $123 billion in debt and pension obligations, in the largest local government insolvency in U.S. history. The move is likely to slash money for healthcare, pensions and infrastructure. The territory petitioned for relief under Title III of the PROMESA law, which recognizes that Puerto Rico is not part of any state and must in some ways be treated as sovereign. Puerto Rico is legally barred from using Chapter 9, the bankruptcy route normally taken by insolvent local governments.

Former investment banker and political centrist Emmanuel Macron has been elected president of France in a landslide victory over far-right candidate Marine Le Pen. Macron won over 66 percent of the vote. Even though Le Pen lost, she received nearly 7 million votes—more than any other candidate in the history of her party, the anti-immigrant National Front. Le Pen had campaigned on an openly xenophobic and racist platform, calling for France to crack down on immigration and leave the European Union. Macron ran on a pro-trade and EU agenda. We speak to the French human rights and civil liberties activist and researcher, Yasser Louati. He recently wrote an article titled "French Elections: Marine Le Pen or Emmanuel Macron? Hitler or UBER?"

Emmanuel Macron Wins French Presidency over Far-Right Marine Le Pen, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Signs "Show Your Papers" Anti-Immigrant Bill, All-White, All-Male Senate Republican Group Drafting Health Bill, Federal Appeals Court to Hear Arguments on Trump Travel Ban, Army Secretary Nominee Withdraws over Anti-Islam, Anti-LGBTQ Comments, Senate Intelligence Committee Asks Trump Officials for Russia Emails, U.S.-Backed Iraqi Army Kills 81 Civilians in Strike on Mosul, U.S. Navy SEAL Kyle Milliken Killed in Somalia Ambush, Sinclair Broadcast Bid for Tribune Media Would Create Media Giant, EPA Head Scott Pruitt Dismisses Academics from Science Review Board, NC Governor Vetoes Bill Limiting Factory Farm Liability for Toxins, Texas Cop Who Killed 15-Year-Old Jordan Edwards Arrested for Murder, Los Angeles City Council Approves Resolution on Trump Impeachment

We are broadcasting from Atlanta, Georgia, home to Emory University, and we speak with Carol Anderson, chair of Emory's Department of African American Studies. Her recent book, "White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide," won the National Book Critics Circle Award for criticism.

NAACP President and CEO Cornell Brooks responds to the case of 15-year-old Jordan Edwards, who was killed Saturday in the Dallas suburb of Balch Springs by police officer Roy Oliver, who shot him in the head while he was in a car leaving a party. Oliver was fired on Tuesday. "This is a moment in our democracy where we have got to not only call for reform, but demand reform," Brooks says. "That means not only lawyers in the courts pursuing charges, pursuing prosecution of bad police officers, but also means activists in the streets engaging in serious civil disobedience, serious disruption of business as usual, and literally bringing this system of police misconduct and brutality to a grinding halt."

The NAACP is calling for Louisiana to conduct a thorough investigation and vigorously pursue charges against the police officers who shot Alton Sterling, an African-American father of five who was gunned down by police in 2016. This comes after the Trump Justice Department declined to bring federal charges against officers Blane Salamoni and Howie Lake. "What's so frightening here is that these investigations, state and federal, are being conducted in an atmosphere of dangerous silence and dangerous presumption," says Cornell William Brooks, president and CEO of the NAACP. "This code of blue prevents people from coming forward. It inhibits a free and frank discussion and testimony with respect to what's happened in so many instances."

Voters in France head to the polls Sunday for a presidential election that pits former investment banker Emmanuel Macron against far-right politician Marine Le Pen. On Thursday, Macron won the support of former U.S. President Barack Obama, who urged French voters to reject the politics of fear. Le Pen has campaigned on an openly xenophobic and racist platform, and faced protests Thursday as she campaigned at a trucking company in Brittany. "They have to choose between an openly racist candidate like Marine Le Pen, who promises the supremacy of whites and Christians, regardless of our constitution, of our tradition of separation between church and the state, and, on the other hand, you have Emmanuel Macron, who appears to be this young guy who sends a signal of, yes, it's going to be about empowering people through entrepreneurship," says our guest in Paris, Yasser Louati, a French human rights and civil liberties activist and researcher. "The problem is that his version of society is that you run a country like you run a company. And the problem is that nothing in his program actually goes alongside the working class."

Republicans have moved one step closer to repealing Obamacare after the House narrowly approved legislation Thursday that would result in tens of millions of people losing health insurance while providing a massive tax break to the rich. The future of the bill remains in doubt as Republican senators have vowed to write their own healthcare bill. Most major medical organizations and the AARP warned the bill will cause serious harm to patients and drive up the cost of healthcare. The Congressional Budget Office was not given enough time to "score" the legislation—meaning the House voted on the bill without knowing its projected impact. The bill was also opposed by almost every sector in the healthcare industry, including hospitals, doctors, health insurers and consumer groups. It puts a cap on federal spending per person—including seniors and children—under Medicaid and blocks Medicaid funds going to reimburse Planned Parenthood for providing preventive care to women. We speak with Margarida Jorge, co-executive director of Health Care for America Now and Health Care for America Now Education Fund, and Monica Simpson, executive director of SisterSong, a women of color reproductive health collective.

House GOP Health Bill Could Put Coverage Out of Reach of Millions, Opponents of Republican Healthcare Bill Vow to "Vote Them Out", Banging Pots and Pans, Protesters Target Trump's Return to New York, President Trump Praises Australia's Universal Healthcare System, Executive Order Seeks to Expand Political Role for Religious Leaders, Federal Judge Orders Georgia to Extend Voter Registration, New Georgia Law Allows Concealed-Carry Weapons on College Campuses, French Presidential Vote Pits Banker Against Far-Right Candidate, Committee to Protect Journalists: Mexican Government Failing, Argentina: Court Orders Shorter Sentences for Human Rights Abusers, Flint Homeowners Face Foreclosure over Unpaid Bills for Poison Water, Chicago Nursing Home Workers Win Labor Contract, Averting Strike, Yale Graduate Student Hunger Strike Seeks Union Contract

Ammar Mohrat was a political and media activist in Homs, Syria. He fled Syria in 2011 due to political persecution and death threats. Mohrat was granted political asylum in the United States about two years ago. He just graduated from Saint Leo University in Florida with a Bachelor of Science degree in computer information systems. On Saturday, April 29, Mohrat delivered his class's commencement address.

We turn now to the case of Marissa Alexander, the African-American mother of three who was sentenced to 20 years in prison for firing what she maintains was a warning shot at her abusive husband in 2010. She attempted to use Florida's "stand your ground" law in her defense—the law that was made famous when white vigilante George Zimmerman successfully used it as his defense after he shot and killed unarmed African-American teenager Trayvon Martin. But in March 2012, the jury rejected Alexander's use of "stand your ground" and convicted her after only 12 minutes of deliberation. She was sentenced to 20 years behind bars under a Florida law known as "10-20-Life" that carries a mandatory minimum for certain gun crimes regardless of the circumstance. Alexander won an appeal for a new trial and later accepted a plea deal that capped her sentence to three years of time served. Earlier this year, she was freed from house arrest after being jailed for three years and serving two years of court-ordered home confinement. We go to Jacksonville to speak to Marissa Alexander.

Florida lawmakers have apologized for what happened to four young African-American men in Groveland, Florida, nearly 70 years ago in 1949. The men, known as the Groveland Four, were falsely accused of raping a 17-year-old white girl. Before going to trial, one of the four men, Ernest Thomas, was hunted down and murdered by a mob of 1,000 men led by the local sheriff, Willis McCall. He was killed in a hail of gunfire. The other three men were tortured in jail until two of them gave false confessions. Charles Greenlee was sentenced to life. Walter Irvin and Samuel Shepherd were condemned to death. Just recently, Florida lawmakers passed a resolution saying, "We're truly sorry." For more, we speak with Gilbert King, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book, "Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America."

House Republicans Rush Vote on Healthcare Bill "Unscored" by CBO, FBI Director James Comey "Mildly Nauseous" over Clinton Disclosure, Trump Claims Mideast Peace "Not as Difficult as People Have Thought", Trump Executive Order Will Ease Limits on Churches in Politics, New York: Protesters Plan Noisy Protest to "Drown Out" Trump Speech, Iraq: Mosul Residents Trapped by Flooding, Fighting, Nigeria: Risk of Famine Grows Amid Fighting with Boko Haram, Puerto Rico to Seek Bankruptcy Protection, Texas Legislature Sends Anti-Immigrant Bill to Gov. Greg Abbott, Family of Alton Sterling Calls for State Charges Against Officers, Boston Red Sox Ban Fan for Life over Racist Taunts, CodePink Activists Face Up to 1 Year in Prison over Jeff Sessions Protest, CU-Boulder Students Stage Sit-in, Calling for Fossil Fuel Divestment, Protests at UC Santa Cruz, St. Olaf College Target Campus Racism, Jackson, MS: Chokwe Antar Lumumba Poised to Become Mayor

In eastern North Carolina, residents are battling with one of the state’s largest industries: hog farms. Last week, North Carolina lawmakers passed House Bill 467, which limits the damages that residents could collect against hog farms. The billion-dollar industry is primarily clustered in the eastern part of the state, where hog farms collect billions of gallons of untreated pig feces and urine in what are essentially cesspools, then dispose of the waste by spraying it into the air. Residents living in the area of the spray complain of adverse health effects and odor so bad that it limits their ability to be outdoors. For more, we speak with Naeema Muhammad, organizing co-director for the North Carolina Environmental Justice Network, and Will Hendrick, staff attorney with the Waterkeeper Alliance and manager of the organization's North Carolina Pure Farms, Pure Waters campaign.

President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed Tuesday during a phone call to work together to seek a ceasefire in Syria. The phone call came the same day ISIS militants attacked a makeshift camp for displaced Syrians and Iraqi refugees, killing nearly 40 civilians and Kurdish fighters near Syria's northeastern border with Iraq. Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch has concluded that Syrian government forces have used chemical nerve agents, such as sarin gas, in attacks at least four times in recent months, including in the April attack that killed 86 people, including dozens of children. Human Rights Watch said new evidence, including photos and videos of weapon remnants, suggests the April attack came from a Soviet-made, air-dropped chemical bomb specifically designed to deliver sarin. For more, we air Part 2 of our interview with Anand Gopal, journalist and fellow at The Nation Institute, who has reported extensively from the region.

The Haitian-American community is now facing a looming deportation deadline. Up to 55,000 Haitians could be forcefully repatriated to their fragile, struggling homeland if the Trump administration refuses to extend a temporary protected status that has allowed them to legally reside and work in the U.S. after an earthquake devastated Haiti in 2010. Haitians' temporary protected status, or TPS, is set to expire on July 22. Immigrant rights advocates say Haiti is still reeling from Hurricane Matthew, which, in October 2016, destroyed the country's southwest peninsula. The hurricane killed more than 1,000 people and decimated villages and farmland. Haiti is also suffering from a devastating cholera epidemic that erupted after the earthquake. For more, we speak with Marleine Bastien, executive director of Haitian Women of Miami.