Democracy Now!

Nearly two weeks after Hurricane Maria slammed into Puerto Rico, the capital San Juan is still facing a dire lack of food, clean water and electricity. Hanging over one of San Juan's freeway overpasses near the neighborhood of Playita are multiple cloth signs reading, in Spanish, "SOS Playita needs food and water." We air voices from Puerto Rico's neighborhood of Río Piedras in the capital, San Juan, speaking about the self-organized relief efforts in the wake of Hurricane Maria. Special thanks to Democracy Now!'s Juan Carlos Dávila.

President Trump is slated to visit Puerto Rico tomorrow, nearly two weeks after Hurricane Maria devastated the island. Puerto Rico's 3.5 million residents still have nearly no electricity and dwindling supplies of food, fuel and fresh water. San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz has begged the federal government for more help, warning, "We are dying, and you are killing us with the inefficiency and the bureaucracy." For more, we speak with Juan González, Democracy Now! co-host, former staff writer at the New York Daily News and author. His new book is called "Reclaiming Gotham: Bill de Blasio and the Movement to End America's Tale of Two Cities."

Nearly two weeks after Hurricane Maria devastated the island, Puerto Rico's 3.5 million residents still have nearly no electricity, and supplies of food, fuel and freshwater are dwindling. President Trump is scheduled to visit Puerto Rico on Tuesday, but attacked San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz in a series of tweets while he was at his private golf resort in Bedminister, New Jersey, this weekend. Trump wrote, "The Mayor of San Juan, who was very complimentary only a few days ago, has now been told by the Democrats that you must be nasty to Trump. Such poor leadership ability by the Mayor of San Juan, and others in Puerto Rico, who are not able to get their workers to help. They want everything to be done for them when it should be a community effort. 10,000 Federal workers now on Island doing a fantastic job." Trump drew outrage for his tweets, including from acclaimed playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda, the creator and original star of "Hamilton." On Saturday, Miranda tweeted, "You're going straight to hell, @realDonaldTrump. No long lines for you. Someone will say, 'Right this way, sir.' They'll clear a path." We speak with Luis Miranda Jr., the father of Lin-Manuel Miranda and a founding partner of the MirRam Group consulting firm. His new piece for the New York Daily News is titled "Puerto Ricans aren't 'lazy' and will remember Trump's bad hurricane response." Both he and his son, Lin-Manuel, have been raising money for Hurricane Maria relief efforts.

At Least 50 Dead as Gunman Opens Fire on Las Vegas Music Festival, 12 Days After Hurricane, Over Half of Puerto Ricans Lack Clean Water, Trump Attacks San Juan Mayor After She Criticizes Hurricane Response, Spanish Police Launch Massive Crackdown on Catalonia Independence Vote, Trump Undercuts Secretary of State's Efforts to Negotiate with North Korea, U.S. to Draw Down Staff at Havana Embassy Following "Sonic Attacks", HHS Secretary Tom Price Resigns over Travel Cost Scandal, Syria: Rescuers Say 28 Civilians Die in Airstrikes on Idlib Province, Iraq Bans Flights to Kurdish Region as Turkey Warns Kurds over Independence, Cameroon: Police Kill 8 Pro-Independence Protesters in Anglophone Region, Germany Holds Same-Sex Weddings as Marriage Equality Law Takes Effect, Argentina: Thousands March Demanding Answers over Disappeared Activist, 9 Million Children at Risk of Losing Affordable Care as CHIP Funding Lapses, St. Louis: Protests Continue over Acquittal of White Former Officer, Thousands Join Marches for Racial Justice Around the U.S.

We speak with Michael Moore, the Academy Award-winning filmmaker behind "Michael Moore in TrumpLand," "Fahrenheit 9/11," "Bowling for Columbine" and "Sicko." Now, Moore has added theater production to his list of accomplishments with his debut play, "The Terms of My Surrender." He launched the production with the question, "Can a Broadway show take down a sitting president?" and lays out a roadmap of what he believes needs to happen next.

Good news or fake news? Acting Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke and the Trump administration defend their response to the unfolding humanitarian crisis in Puerto Rico, where many of the 3.5 million residents remain without electricity and are desperate for fresh water, food and other supplies. We speak with Laura Moscoso, a data journalist at the Puerto Rico-based Center for Investigative Journalism. She says the death toll is much higher than the government reports, noting, "Our phones have been ringing with many testimonies."

Desperately Needed Aid Piles Up at Puerto Rican Ports as Distribution Lags, Thousands From Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands Evacuate on Cruise Ship, Lawmakers Call Hurricane Response "Inexcusably Slow and Ineffective", Report: Climate Change Costs U.S. Economy Hundreds of Billions of Dollars, Syria: Civilians Die in Russian, Syrian and U.S.-Led Coalition Airstrikes, Somalia: Car Bomb Attack in Mogadishu Kills Seven, Rohingya Refugee Boat Capsizes Off Bangladesh, Killing 13, HHS Secretary Tom Price Apologizes over Taxpayer-Funded Charter Flights, Protests Against Education Secretary Betsy DeVos Decry School Privatization, Rep. Steve Scalise Returns to Congress for First Time Since Shooting, ICE Arrests Hundreds of Undocumented Immigrants in Sanctuary Cities, North Dakota: Standing Rock Tribal Chair Who Fought Pipeline Loses Election, Abortion Rights Activists March for Safe and Legal Abortions Across Europe

As we broadcast from UNESCO in Paris, we speak with Tarja Halonen, who was elected in 2000 as Finland's first female president and served until 2012. Her election came about 100 years after Finland became the first European country where women were given the right to vote. In 2009, Forbes named Halonen among the 100 Most Powerful Women in the world. Since leaving office, she has become a prominent advocate for gender equality as well as transparency. She spoke today to mark the International Day for the Universal Access to Information, and we asked her about the country's cost-effective healthcare system, which she says has given Finland "a lower infant mortality rate, better maternity care than the United States."

The African nation of Namibia found itself in the news last week after President Trump mispronounced its name during a speech at the United Nations. Trump's reference to the nonexistent Nambia left many observers confused as to whether he was referring to the Gambia or Zambia or Namibia. White House officials later clarified to say Trump meant to say Namibia. During that same speech, Trump congratulated African leaders for helping make his friends rich. We find out more from one of Namibia's best-known journalists, Gwen Lister, who is in Paris to speak today at UNESCO. She is the founding editor of the independent newspaper The Namibian, which reported critically on the apartheid South African regime. During the 1980s, she was jailed twice, and her newspaper's office was destroyed by arson. The building was later firebombed in the 1990s after Namibia became independent. Gwen Lister has since become a leading advocate for press freedom. She is a founding member of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, which gained fame for publishing the Panama Papers, which exposed how the world's rich used tax havens to hide their wealth. Gwen Lister is speaking today here at UNESCO to mark the International Day for the Universal Access to Information.

As we broadcast from Paris, we examine political turmoil in France, where it has been less than five months since the centrist political figure Emmanuel Macron defeated Marine Le Pen to become France's youngest president ever. While Macron won in a landslide, opinion polls show most French voters now oppose how he has governed. On Saturday, leftist opposition leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon led up to 150,000 people in a protest against Macron and his attempt to rewrite France's labor law. Meanwhile, human rights groups are criticizing Macron for pushing a new anti-terror law that would make permanent key parts of France's state of emergency, which went into effect after the 2015 Paris attacks. "The situation in France is highly volatile, both socially, economically and politically," says our guest Yasser Louati, a French human rights and civil rights activist.

Puerto Rico: Hospitals in Crisis Amid Shortages of Water, Power and Medicine, Climate Activists Occupy Senate Leader McConnell's Office, Trump Unveils Tax Plan That Would Overwhelmingly Favor the Wealthiest, Federal Judge Blasts Trump's Move to End DACA as "Heartless", Libyan Coast Guard Boards Humanitarian Aid Vessel in Search of Migrants, Iraqi Government Threatens Kurdish Region over Independence Vote, Spanish Police Seize Ballot Boxes Ahead of Catalonia Independence Vote, U.S. Airstrike Kills Afghan Civilian After Taliban Attack Pentagon Chief, Ugandan Lawmakers Brawl in Parliament over Presidential Age Limit, Israel Shortens Sentence for Soldier Convicted of Killing Palestinian, Interpol Recognizes the State of Palestine as a New Member, Bangladesh: Nearly 500,000 Rohingya Refugees Have Fled Burma Since Last Month, Cameroon Military Forces 100,000 Refugees to Return to Nigeria, NFL Star Rishard Matthews on Anthem: "I Will Kneel Until Trump Apologizes", Hugh Hefner, Founder of Playboy Magazine, Dead at 91

As a series of destructive hurricanes hit the United States, devastating floods in South Asia have killed more than 1,300 people. "[Bangladesh] is the most densely populated country in the world. … It's becoming a situation where we will have have hundreds of thousands of climate refugees," says Muhammad Yunus, founder of Grameen Bank and recipient of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize. His new book is titled "A World of Three Zeros: The New Economics of Zero Poverty, Zero Unemployment, and Zero Net Carbon Emissions."

In the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Burma, more than 400,000 members of the Rohingya Muslim minority have fled the country after hundreds of their villages were burned to the ground. The U.N. high commissioner for human rights has accused the Burmese government of waging a textbook example of ethnic cleansing. In recent days, Bangladeshi authorities have sharply restricted the movements of Rohingya refugees, telling them they can't leave their makeshift camps, ordering drivers not to transport Rohingya and landlords not to rent to them. We get response from Muhammad Yunus, the founder of Grameen Bank and recipient of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize. He and over a dozen other Nobel Peace laureates have signed a letter calling on the United Nations Security Council to intervene to protect the Rohingya and end the humanitarian crisis in Rakhine, Burma. Yunus's new book is "A World of Three Zeros: The New Economics of Zero Poverty, Zero Unemployment, and Zero Net Carbon Emissions."

Amid growing calls for the creation of an independent probe into human rights violations in the U.S.-backed Saudi bombing campaign in Yemen, we speak with Radhya Al-Mutawakel, chairwoman of the Yemeni NGO Mwatana Organization for Human Rights. She became the first representative of Yemeni civil society to brief the U.N. Security Council on the war in Yemen. The three-year war in Yemen has killed more than 10,000 civilians, ravaging the country's infrastructure and triggering a massive cholera outbreak.

One week after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, President Donald Trump says he will visit the island next Tuesday, even as most of the 3.5 million U.S. citizens who live there remain in the dark, without access to power, clean water, food and fuel. Facing withering criticism, Trump held a press conference Tuesday and denied he has neglected the disaster. His administration also denied a request from several members of Congress to waive shipping restrictions to help get gasoline and other supplies to Puerto Rico as it recovers, even though the Department of Homeland Security waived the Jones Act twice in the last month following hurricanes Harvey and Irma, which hit the mainland United States. We speak with Democracy Now! co-host Juan González and with former New York State Assemblyman Nelson Denis, who wrote about the Jones Act in The New York Times this week in a piece headlined "The Law Strangling Puerto Rico." His book is called "War Against All Puerto Ricans: Revolution and Terror in America's Colony."

After Maria, Puerto Rican Residents Say Aid Is Not Arriving Fast Enough, Senate Republicans Officially Abandon Graham-Cassidy Healthcare Bill, Roy Moore Wins Alabama Senate Runoff, Despite Trump's Backing of His Opponent, WaPo: Acting Head of DEA to Resign over Trump, DHS Planning to Collect Social Media Information on All Immigrants, San Diego: Construction on Prototypes for Trump's Border Wall Begins, Trump to Cap Number of Refugees Resettled in U.S. at Lowest Level Since 1980, Trump Doubles Down on Attacks on NFL Players Protesting Racism and Police Brutality, Iraqi Kurdish Leader Says Overwhelming Majority Voted for Independence, Mexico: Anger Grows over Government's Handling of Earthquake, Mexico: Families Mark Third Anniversary of Disappearance of 43 Students, After Decades of Protests, Saudi Arabian Women Win the Right to Drive

As many parts of the United States recover from a devastating series of hurricanes, we end today's show with an update from one of the hardest-hit communities along the Gulf Coast. Port Arthur, Texas, is a fenceline community with several massive oil refineries that flooded during Hurricane Harvey. Just last week, a fire at the Valero oil refinery in Port Arthur released nearly 1 million pounds of emissions into the air, prompting residents to stay in their homes for hours. Meanwhile, the 3,600-acre Motiva oil refinery in Port Arthur says it plans to continue a multibillion-dollar expansion of its facility, which is already the largest in the United States. This comes as hundreds of displaced Port Arthur residents whose homes were flooded during the storm continue to live in tents. We speak with environmental justice activist Hilton Kelley, who made history in 2011 when he became the first African-American man to win the "Green Nobel Prize"—the Goldman Environmental Prize. Kelley is the executive director and founder of the Community In-Power and Development Association. His restaurant and home were both flooded during Hurricane Harvey.

Six days after Hurricane Maria slammed into Puerto Rico, 3.4 million U.S. citizens in the territory remain without adequate food, water and fuel. But as the massive crisis became clear over the weekend, President Trump failed to weigh in, instead lashing out at sports players who joined in protest against racial injustice. It took the president five full days to respond, with comments that appeared to blame the island for its own misfortune. We examine the dire situation in Puerto Rico with Yarimar Bonilla, Puerto Rican scholar, who wrote in The Washington Post, "Why would anyone in Puerto Rico want a hurricane? Because someone will get rich." And we speak with Puerto Ricans in New York who have been unable to reach loved ones after nearly a week.

Puerto Rico: Millions Without Electricity, Water, Food & Fuel Six Days After Hurricane Maria, North Korean Foreign Minister Says Trump Has Declared War, Capitol Hill: 181 Arrested Protesting GOP Healthcare Bill, Which Appears to Be Dead, NBA Superstar LeBron James Celebrates Ongoing NFL Protests Against Racism, Amnesty Condemns Mass Iraqi Execution of 42 People, Millions of Iraqi Kurds Vote in Independence Referendum, HRW Report: U.S. Airstrikes on School and Market Killed 84 Civilians in March, Palestinian Killed 2 Israeli Security Guards & Israeli Cop at West Bank Settlement, Peru: Indigenous Achuar Seize Control of 50 Oil Wells to Protest Drilling in Amazon, Indonesia: 60,000 People Evacuated in Bali Ahead of Possible Volcano Eruption, NYT: Six Close Trump Aides Have Used Private Email Addresses for White House Work, Chelsea Manning Says She Was Blocked from Entering Canada, Texas: Appeals Court Allows Parts of Anti-Immigrant SB 4 Law to Take Effect, Alabama Voters Head to Polls for GOP Senate Runoff That Has Divided Bannon & Trump, Anthony Weiner Sentenced to 21 Months in Prison for Sexting to Underage Girl, Georgia Slated to Execute Keith Tharpe Tonight, Despite Racial Bias of Juror

Amid increasing concern over chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, a degenerative brain disease linked to repeated blows to the head, a recent study of the brains of 111 deceased NFL players found all but one were found to have CTE. We speak with Dr. Harry Edwards, sociologist, author and sports activist, who says a consequence of CTE that is largely overlooked is the lack of alternative job opportunities for black players. We're also joined by Donté Stallworth, sports commentator and former NFL player who spent 10 years in the league.

As sports players join a growing movement of kneeling during the national anthem ahead of games to protest racial injustice, we get response from one of the advisers to the player who started it all, former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Dr. Harry Edwards, a longtime staff consultant with the San Francisco 49ers, says he hopes Kaepernick "will become a person of the year" and should be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Edwards is professor emeritus of sociology at the University of California, Berkeley, and author of "The Revolt of the Black Athlete," reissued this year for its 50th anniversary edition. He was the architect of the 1968 Olympic Project for Human Rights.

At a campaign rally in Huntsville, Alabama, on Friday evening, Trump lashed out at players who have joined a growing protest movement started by former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick against racial injustice, kneeling during the national anthem ahead of games. We get response from former NFL player Donté Stallworth, who spent 10 years in the league and is now a sports commentator, who says, "We can't allow the president to hijack this conversation and make it all about him."

In the biggest display of athletic defiance in years, football teams across the nation protested President Donald Trump after he attacked the NFL, NBA and some of their most popular athletes for daring to draw attention to racism and police violence. We look at the unprecedented role of political activism among athletes under the Trump presidency and the politics of playing the national anthem at games. We speak with Dr. Harry Edwards, professor emeritus of sociology at the University of California, Berkeley, and the author of several books, including "The Revolt of the Black Athlete," reissued this year for its 50th anniversary edition. He was the architect of the 1968 Olympic Project for Human Rights and is a longtime staff consultant with the San Francisco 49ers. We're also joined by Dave Zirin, sports editor for The Nation magazine, who notes that playing the national anthem before games has a long and hallowed history that goes back to the days of "Jersey Shore" and Justin Bieber.

After Trump Attack, Sports Leagues Unite in Protest of Racism & Police Brutality, Puerto Rico: Thousands Evacuate Amid Fears of Dam Collapse After Maria, Mexico: Death Toll from Earthquake Tops 300 as 2 More Quakes Strike South, Trump Threatens North Korea; NK Foreign Minister Says Trump on "Suicide Mission", Trump Admin Issues New Order Expanding Travel Ban to Chad, North Korea & Venezuela, Republican Lawmakers Scramble as McCain Says He'll Oppose Healthcare Bill, Germany: Merkel Wins 4th Term; Right-Wing Party Wins 13% to Enter Parliament, Tensions Escalate One Week Ahead of Catalonia Independence Referendum, Iraqi Kurds Head to Polls for Kurdish Referendum Vote, U.S. Launches 6 Drone Strikes into Libya, Killing 17, Syrian-American Journalist & Her Mother, Syrian Opposition Activist, Assassinated in Turkey, France: Tens of Thousands Protest After Macron Signs Anti-Worker Laws, St. Louis: 22 Arrested Protesting Acquittal of Cop for Killing Anthony Lamar Smith, Howard University Students Disrupt FBI Director James Comey's Speech

Amid tensions over North Korea's nuclear and missile tests, 51 countries have signed the world's first legally binding treaty banning nuclear weapons. It prohibits the development, testing and possession of nuclear weapons, as well as using or threatening to use these weapons. It was first adopted in July by 122 U.N. member states, despite heavy U.S. opposition. None of the nine countries that possess nuclear weapons signed the measure, including Russia, Britain, China, France, India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel. We speak with Susi Snyder, nuclear disarmament program manager for the Netherlands-based group PAX and author of the report "Don't Bank on the Bomb."

Thousands gathered Saturday to celebrate the life of legendary comedian and civil rights activist Dick Gregory, who passed away last month at the age of 84. We feature some of the voices of those who gathered to remember him, including Rev. William Barber, president and senior lecturer of Repairers of the Breach; Rep. Maxine Waters; and children of civil rights legends, such as Martin Luther King III; Reena Evers, daughter of Medgar Evers; and Ilyasah Shabazz, daughter of Malcolm X.

A major new investigation by Amnesty International reveals a bomb that killed 16 civilians in Yemen's capital last month was made in the U.S.A. Among the survivors was 5-year-old Buthaina, whose photograph went viral in the aftermath of the strike. She lost her entire family in the strike. Amnesty International’s arms expert analyzed remnants of the weapon and found clear markings that matched U.S.-made components used in laser-guided, air-dropped bombs. Coalition airstrikes continue to be the leading cause of child casualties, as well as overall civilian casualties. The latest finding by Amnesty comes as some European Union countries recently tabled a motion at the U.N. Human Rights Council calling for an independent inquiry into human rights abuses committed by all sides in the conflict. The U.N. high commissioner for human rights has called the humanitarian crisis in Yemen an "entirely man-made catastrophe." We speak with Raed Jarrar, the advocacy director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International USA.

North Korea Threatens Pacific H-Bomb Test as U.S. Brings New Sanctions, Puerto Rico Under Curfew as Hurricane Maria Death Toll Rises to 32, Mexico: Earthquake Death Toll at 273 and Climbing, Iran Nuclear Deal Signatories Oppose U.S. Threatened Withdrawal, Iraq: Tens of Thousands Trapped in Hawija as U.S.-Backed Offensive Begins, Amnesty International: U.S.-Made Bomb Killed Yemeni Civilians, NYT: Trump Rolling Back Limits on Drone Strikes, Commando Raids, India: Muslims Protest Planned Mass Deportation of Rohingya Refugees, Bangladeshi PM Lays Out Plan for U.N.-Backed Repatriation of Rohingya, Indian Journalist Killed on the Job in Northeast State, Philippines: Mass Protests Oppose President Duterte's Authoritarianism, France: Unions March as President Macron Plans to Cut Labor Protections, Sen. Bernie Sanders to Debate Republican Authors of Healthcare Bill, Children of Interned Japanese Americans Oppose Trump Travel Ban, Ex-NFL Star Aaron Hernandez Had Severe CTE at Time of Suicide, Vice Media Workers Vote to Unionize, St. Louis: Protests Against Acquittal of White Police Officer Continue, Cornell University Black Students Protest Racist Incidents on Campus

A humanitarian crisis is unfolding in Burma, where more than 400,000 members of the Rohingya Muslim minority have fled the country after hundreds of their villages were burned to the ground. The U.N. high commissioner for human rights has accused the Burmese government of waging a textbook example of ethnic cleansing. In the United States, there are increasing displays of anti-immigrant sentiment and anti-Semitism. In Palestine, the United Nations has warned the Gaza Strip has become uninhabitable. For more on concentration camps and anti-Semitism, we speak with journalist and author Andrea Pitzer. Her book has just been published, titled "One Long Night: A Global History of Concentration Camps."

At the United Nations, President Trump's chief economic adviser, Gary Cohn, said Monday the U.S. would withdraw from the landmark 2015 Paris climate accord as planned. His comments came as U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said climate should be a top priority at this year's General Assembly. Our guest, economist Jeffrey Sachs, notes that the "agreement is completely symmetrical for all 193 countries," and also argues that chemical and oil companies should help pay for recovery efforts after extreme weather related to climate change.

President Trump's comments at the United Nations General Assembly urging the withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal sounded familiar to our guest, Jeffrey Sachs. "The last time we had this kind of rhetoric was George W. Bush with the axis of evil," Sachs said. "It was immediately followed by the Iraq War, which was the most disastrous single step of American military action and 'diplomacy,' or anti-diplomacy, in modern times. So this is a setup, again, for war, for conflict. And it is extraordinarily ignorant and dangerous. Iran is in compliance with the agreement that was reached."

On Tuesday, President Trump gave his first address to the United Nations General Assembly, boasting about the size of the U.S. military and threatening to "totally destroy" North Korea. "[N]uclear war is a real threat," says Jeffrey Sachs, leading economist and director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University. "It's not some idle imagination right now. You have two leaders—both seem unstable—yelling at each other. Both have nuclear arms."

Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico Wednesday as a Category 4 storm, bringing record rainfall and catastrophic flooding, destroying power lines and leaving the entire country in the dark. This comes as many homes on Puerto Rico were still dark two weeks after Hurricane Irma cut electricity to hundreds of thousands. The storm also raised concerns about potential environmental disasters. Puerto Rico is home to 23 Superfund sites, including on the island of Vieques, site of a former U.S. naval test range, which took a near-direct hit from the storm. It is also the site of a coal-fired power plant owned by the private company AES. Residents across the island have been demanding the plant be closed and that the company stop dumping toxic coal ash into their community, saying the waste is poisonous to their health and the environment. We speak with Emily Atkin, staff writer covering the environment at the New Republic, who writes, "Puerto Rico is Already an Environmental Tragedy. Hurricane Maria Will Make It Even Worse."

Mexico: Death Toll from Massive Earthquake Rises to 250 People, Hurricane Maria Knocks Out Power & Causes Catastrophic Flooding in Puerto Rico, Dozens of Countries Sign Landmark Treaty to Ban Nuclear Weapons at U.N., Iran Slams Trump for Threatening to Undo Nuclear Treaty, Trump Considering Resuming Suspended Military Aid to Egypt, Obama Slams Republicans' Latest Effort to Repeal Affordable Care Act, California Sues Trump over Border Wall, Togo: Hundreds of Thousands Demand President's Ouster and Term Limits, Spanish Officials Raid Catalan Offices in Crackdown on Independence Referendum, U.S.-Led Coalition Airstrikes Reportedly Kill Six Civilians on Syria-Iraq Border, Croatia Removes Billboards of Melania Trump After She Threatens Lawsuit, Scottie Nell Hughes Sues Fox, Alleging Fox Anchor Charles Payne Raped Her, ND Judges Trying to End Program Allowing Out-of-State Lawyer to Represent Water Protectors, Palestinian Activist Rasmea Odeh Deported from U.S. to Jordan

On Tuesday, speaking to the United Nations General Assembly, President Trump railed against the Cuban government and said the U.S. would not lift its sanctions against Cuba. Trump has moved to reverse the normalization of relations between the U.S. and Cuba and reimpose travel and trade restrictions. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson also said the U.S. may close the embassy over a host of unexplained health problems that embassy workers are suffering, including hearing loss and brain injury. The health problems appear to be caused by some form of sonic attack. Cuban officials deny any involvement in the apparent sonic attack and are cooperating with U.S. officials to investigate the incidents. We speak with José Pertierra, a Cuban attorney who represented the Venezuelan government in its efforts to extradite Luis Posada Carriles. We also speak with Jeri Rice, director of the film "Embargo," a new documentary about U.S.-Cuba relations premiering this week in New York.

A humanitarian crisis continues to unfold in Burma, where more than 400,000 members of the Rohingya Muslim minority have fled the country to escape a brutal Burmese military operation. According to Human Rights Watch, tens of thousands of Rohingya homes have been burned to the ground. Some 214 Rohingya villages in Burma have been destroyed. Before-and-after satellite photos distributed by Human Rights Watch reveal that wide swaths of Rakhine state have been destroyed in recent weeks. Last week, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein accused the Burmese government of waging a textbook example of ethnic cleansing. On Tuesday, Human Rights Watch called on the United Nations General Assembly to condemn the Burmese military operation. Meanwhile, Burmese Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who is now Burma's de facto president, is facing mounting criticism for her handling of the violence. Last year, she attended the United Nations General Assembly as Burma's much-esteemed new civilian leader. This year, she has refrained from attending the gathering, choosing to avoid questions about the Burmese military's crackdown on the Rohingya. During a nationally televised speech on Tuesday, Suu Kyi refused to blame the military or address the U.N.'s accusation of ethnic cleansing. We speak with Azeem Ibrahim, author of the book "The Rohingyas: Inside Myanmar's Hidden Genocide." He's a senior fellow at the Center for Global Policy.

Vice President Mike Pence and other Trump administration officials spent Tuesday on Capitol Hill lobbying Republican senators to support the latest healthcare plan, known as the Graham-Cassidy bill, named after its main architects, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. The last-ditch effort by Senate Republicans to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act has to be done by September 30, when a deadline allowing the Senate to pass the legislation by a simple majority expires. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities says the bill would cause many millions of people to lose coverage, gut Medicaid, eliminate or weaken protections for people with pre-existing conditions and increase out-of-pocket healthcare costs to individuals, all while showering tax cuts on the wealthiest Americans. The New York Times editorial board wrote on Tuesday, "It is hard to overstate the cruelty of the Graham-Cassidy bill." We speak with Alice Ollstein, a politics reporter at Talking Points Memo focusing on healthcare. Her recent piece is titled "Where Things Stand with the Senate's Last-Ditch Obamacare Repeal Push."

In the Caribbean, Hurricane Maria struck the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico this morning as a major Category 4 storm—the most powerful hurricane to make landfall there since 1928. The landfall on Puerto Rico came after Maria lashed the U.S. Virgin Islands and devastated the island of Dominica, causing what the country's prime minister called "mind-boggling" devastation. For more, we speak with Democracy Now! co-host Juan González.

In Mexico, a massive 7.1-magnitude quake struck 100 miles southeast of Mexico City Tuesday, collapsing dozens of buildings around the capital city and trapping schoolchildren, workers and residents beneath the rubble. At least 217 people are dead, and hundreds more are missing. Among the dead are least 21 students at a primary school in Mexico City and 15 worshipers who died during a Catholic mass when the earthquake triggered an eruption at a volcano southeast of the city. The disaster struck just hours after residents participated in an earthquake preparedness drill marking the 32nd anniversary of a 1985 earthquake that killed 5,000 people. Tuesday's quake follows another earthquake less than two weeks ago, which killed at least 90 people and leveled thousands of homes after it struck near the coast of the southern state of Oaxaca. We speak with Laura Carlsen, director of the Mexico City-based Americas Program of the Center for International Policy.

Massive Earthquake Rattles Mexico City, Killing at Least 217, Hurricane Maria Strikes Puerto Rico as Dangerous Category 4 Storm, In U.N. Speech, President Trump Threatens North Korea, Iran and Venezuela, Senate Approves Record-Shattering $700 Billion Pentagon Spending Bill, Syria: Hospitals Bombed in Idlib; Mosque Destroyed in Raqqa, Nigeria Cholera Epidemic Adds to Global Spread of the Disease, Burmese Leader Aung San Suu Kyi Denies Reported Ethnic Cleansing, Turkish President: Trump Apologized for Indictments Against Guards Who Beat Protesters, Equifax Confirms Another Data Breach Exposed Employee Tax Information, Three Lawmakers Among 10 Arrested at DACA Protest Outside Trump Tower

This past weekend, a surprising gathering took place at President Trump's childhood home in Queens, New York. The home is now an Airbnb. On Saturday, the international humanitarian and development organization Oxfam America rented out the home for refugees to spend the day there sharing their stories of home, resistance and life in the United States. This comes as The New York Times reports that President Trump is now considering whether to further reduce the number of refugees allowed into the United States to fewer than 50,000. For more, we speak with Eiman Ali, a refugee whose family fled Somalia in the 1990s and eventually settled in the United States. She spent this weekend inside Trump's childhood home in Queens. We also speak with Isra Chaker, the refugee campaign leader for Oxfam America.

On Monday, six recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) program sued the Trump administration in a San Francisco federal court over its plans to rescind the program. The lawsuit argues the Trump administration failed to follow proper administrative procedures in rescinding DACA and that revoking the program violates due process laws. DACA was instituted by the Obama administration in 2012 after years of sustained grassroots organizing by young undocumented students. Fifteen states and the District of Columbia have also sued the Trump administration over its plans to end DACA. We speak with one of the six plaintiffs, Dulce Garcia, an immigration lawyer who regularly defends other immigrants in court in California. She's been living in the United States since her family immigrated from Mexico when she was four years old.

Earlier this month, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the Trump administration plans to rescind the DACA program—the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival program. DACA gives nearly 800,000 young people the legal right to live and work in the United States. President Trump and Democratic Party leaders are now attempting to strike a deal to protect DREAMers. Last week, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi met with President Trump at the White House for a meeting aimed at enshrining the protections of DACA into law. After the meeting, Trump said any potential deal would rely on also approving "massive border security." On Monday morning, dozens of undocumented activists and their allies shouted down Congressmember Pelosi during her news conference, accusing her of using DREAMers as "bargaining chips" in her meeting with Trump. The protesters demanded protections not only for DREAMers, but for all 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States. We speak with Congressmember Luis Gutiérrez, Democrat of Illinois. He is a member of the Judiciary Committee and the co-chair of the Immigration Task Force of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

Category 5 Hurricane Maria Threatens Storm-Ravaged Caribbean, U.N. Leader Gives Climate Warning as U.S. Continues Exit from Paris Agreement, At U.N., President Trump Threatens Venezuela, Plans Military Parade, Sen. John McCain to Support New Republican Obamacare Repeal Effort, DREAMers Sue the Trump Administration in Bid to Save DACA, Immigration Activists Disrupt Event Held by Rep. Nancy Pelosi, CNN: Former Trump Campaign Chair Paul Manafort Was Wiretapped, Nigeria: Suicide Attack in Borno State Kills 12, Indian Government Moves to Deport Rohingya Refugees Amid Ethnic Cleansing, Interior Department Plans to Shrink 10 National Monuments, Trump Admin Moves to Open Alaskan Refuge to Oil and Gas Drilling, Georgia Tech Students Protest Police Shooting of LGBTQIA Group's President

Last week, Vermont independent Senator Bernie Sanders introduced a bill that would provide universal healthcare by expanding Medicare to include every American. Sanders introduced the bill flanked by doctors, nurses and some of the bill's 15 Democratic co-sponsors. For more, we're joined by best-selling author Naomi Klein.

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner has tapped the former head of U.S. operations for oil giant Shell to lead Houston's post-Hurricane Harvey recovery effort. Marvin Odum was the chair of Shell for eight years. He retired in 2016. Hurricane Harvey killed at least 82 people, flooded thousands of homes and destroyed billions of dollars of property. It also caused widespread environmental contamination, triggering a half-million-gallon gasoline spill and the release of up to 5 million pounds of pollutants into the air. For more, we speak with best-selling author and journalist Naomi Klein.

President Donald Trump on Tuesday is scheduled to address the United Nations General Assembly. Climate change is expected to be high on the agenda at this year's gathering. As the world leaders meet, another major storm—Hurricane Maria—is gaining strength in the Caribbean and following a similar path as Hurricane Irma. The current forecast shows Maria could hit Puerto Rico as a Category 4 storm as early as Wednesday. The U.S. Virgin Islands, which were devastated by Irma, also appear to be in line to be hit by Maria. Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal reported over the weekend that the Trump administration is considering staying in the Paris climate agreement, just months after the president vowed to pull out of it. The White House denied the report. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Sunday signaled Trump may stay in the Paris accord, but National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster gave a different message on Fox News Sunday. We speak with best-selling author Naomi Klein, a senior correspondent for The Intercept. Her most recent book, "No Is Not Enough: Resisting Trump's Shock Politics and Winning the World We Need," has been longlisted for a National Book Award.

U.N. General Assembly Opens This Week in New York City, Trump Admin Issues Conflicting Information About Paris Climate Deal, Ex-Head of U.S. Operations for Shell to Lead Houston's Harvey Recovery, U.S. to Expand Green Zone in Kabul—and U.S. War in Afghanistan, Yemen: Residents Say 12 Civilians Killed in U.S.-Backed, Saudi-Led Strike, Trump Admin Considering Closing U.S. Embassy in Cuba, St. Louis: Massive Protests Erupt over Acquittal of White Ex-Cop for Murder of Anthony Lamar Smith, Trump Retweets Doctored Video of Him Hitting Hillary Clinton with Golf Ball, Spanish Authorities Seize 1M Fliers in Crackdown Against Catalan Referendum, Bangladesh: Authorities Restrict Rohingya Refugees' Movements, Mexico: Thousands Protest Femicide After Young Woman's Murder, ISIS Claims Responsibility for London Subway Bombing, Facebook Turns Over Info on Russian Election Ads to Special Counsel Mueller, Trump Mocked at Emmys as Donald Glover, Riz Ahmed & Lena Waithe Make History

We turn to the devastating floods in South Asia, where more than 41 million people have been battling floods and displacement. More than 1,300 people have died in Bangladesh, India and Nepal in recent months, after the region was hit by the worst flooding in at least 40 years. Some 40 million more people have seen their homes, businesses or crops destroyed. In the coming decade, devastating floods are expected to increase as changing weather patterns worsen risks in the region, climate researchers say. Flooding accounted for 47 percent of all weather-related global disasters between 1995 and 2015, the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction said in a report. Of the 2.3 billion people affected, 95 percent were in Asia. We speak with David Molden, the director general of the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development in Kathmandu, Nepal. The group works in eight countries across South Asia: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan

Hurricane Irma made landfall in the U.S. Virgin Islands as a Category 5 storm just over one week ago, knocking out electricity and running water, and cutting off communications with the outside world. Now, Governor Kenneth Mapp says the islands of Saint John and Saint Thomas are still nearly entirely without power. The hurricane also destroyed schools and the main hospital on Saint Thomas. The devastation was so extensive, it can be seen from space. Earlier this week, a U.S. military amphibious ship arrived on Saint Thomas ladened with equipment and supplies. The islands have also received emergency aid from residents of the nearby island of Puerto Rico, where volunteers banded together to collect supplies and transport them on dozens of ships. But while Hurricane Irma hit the U.S. Virgin Islands days before it made landfall on the Florida Keys, the Virgin Islands have been largely forgotten in the wall-to-wall U.S. media coverage of the storm. And that omission is even more striking given that the U.S. Virgin Islands are in the midst of celebrating their centennial as U.S. territory. We speak with Saint Thomas native Tiphanie Yanique, award-winning poet and novelist. She's an associate professor in the English Department at Wesleyan University and the author of the poetry collection "Wife" and the novel "Land of Love and Drowning."