Democracy Now!

At least 196 environmental defenders were killed last year, most of them Indigenous or Afro-descendant. The deadliest country was Colombia, where at least 79 land, water and climate defenders were killed. 2023 was yet another appalling year for those who want to protect their lands and their environment," and this violence is likely to intensify as the consequences of the climate crisis become more apparent," says Laura Furones, senior adviser to the land and environmental defenders campaign at Global Witness, which published the numbers in a new report.

Israel Strikes Gaza's al-Jaouni School for 5th Time, Kills 18 Palestinians, Incl. 6 UNRWA Staffers, Israel's Assault on West Bank Continues as Death Toll in Occupied Territory Reaches 50 Over 2 Weeks, Biden Calls Israel's Killing of Turkish American Activist Ayenur Ezgi Eygi Totally Unacceptable", Kyiv Pushes for U.S. Greenlight on Long-Range Missiles as Russian Army Retakes Parts of Kursk, Protesters March to Demand End to Ethnic Violence in India's Manipur State, 3.2 Million Afghan Children Face Acute Malnutrition, Spanish Congress Recognizes Edmundo Gonzalez as Venezuela's President-Elect, Peruvian Ex-Dictator Alberto Fujimori Dies at 86, Grieving Ohio Father Blasts Trump and Vance for Politicizing Son's Death, Report Finds Doctors Far More Likely to Order C-Sections for Black Patients, Black Enrollment Drops at Harvard After Supreme Court Rolls Back Affirmative Action, Amnesty Asks Biden to Grant Clemency to U.S. Political Prisoner Leonard Peltier, Who Turns 80 Today

Tuesday night's presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump focused heavily on abortion rights and the aftermath of the Supreme Court's 2022 Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. Trump repeated his false claim that Democrats support infanticide, and claimed that allowing individual states to set their own laws on abortion was an improvement. Harris highlighted the risk to pregnant people now navigating a patchwork of laws and restrictions in the U.S. and promised to restore protections for reproductive rights as president. Kamala Harris was finally out there channeling the outrage and the profound sense of violation that many people across this country feel in the wake of the Dobbs decision," says Amy Littlefield, the abortion access correspondent for The Nation.

We speak with consumer advocate Ralph Nader and Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz about Tuesday's debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. Stiglitz says Trump's policies, including a plan for major new tariffs, would result in more inflation and slower growth" and wreak havoc on the U.S. economy. Nader says that while it's easy to look good against Trump," Harris is not fundamentally challenging corporate greed, the military-industrial complex, environmental destruction and more.

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump had their first and only scheduled debate Tuesday, providing a stark contrast between the two candidates with just eight weeks to go before the November 5 election. Harris repeatedly put Trump on the defensive as they debated abortion, immigration, Israel's war on Gaza, race, January 6 and other issues. Trump repeated his false claim that he won the 2020 election and again questioned Harris's race, painted diverse cities as inherently unsafe, repeated a debunked claim about Haitian immigrants eating pets and more. Carol Anderson, professor of African American studies at Emory University, says Trump's basic pitch is that white Americans need to be fearful" of people of color. What he is basically saying is, 'I'm your white savior.'"

Tuesday night's debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris focused heavily on immigration, with the Republican nominee attacking the current administration for not closing the border, and spreading xenophobic and racist conspiracy theories about asylum seekers. Donald Trump resorted to the same deranged and despicable rhetoric that is meant to divide people. From his very first answer, he was demonizing immigrants," says journalist Jean Guerrero, who has written extensively about immigration, including the book Hatemonger: Stephen Miller, Donald Trump, and the White Nationalist Agenda. Guerrero says that while Harris was able to project strength on the border" and undermine Trump on his signature issue," she did not do enough to challenge the narrative about immigrants bringing crime and disorder to the country. I wish that she had countered him on immigration in a more sustained way."

Presidential Debate Reveals Sharp Contrast Between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, Israel Used U.S.-Made 2,000-Pound Bombs in Assault on Gaza Encampment for Displaced Palestinians, Israeli Airstrike on West Bank Kills 5 Palestinians in Tubas, Blinken Calls Israel's Killing of U.S. Activist Ayenur Ezgi Eygi Unprovoked and Unjustified", Canada Suspends Some Arms Export Licenses to Israel, Antiwar Protesters Rally Outside U.S. Presidential Debate, Australian Arms Expo, Protesters Storm Mexican Senate to Oppose Judicial Overhaul Plan, Missouri High Court OKs Ballot Measure to Enshrine Abortion Rights, Tropical Storms Wreak Havoc in Vietnam, U.S. Gulf Coast, Colombia Tops List of Deadliest Nations for Environmental Defenders in 2023

Former presidential candidate and celebrated consumer advocate Ralph Nader discusses Israel's war on Gaza, the U.S. presidential election and more. Nader's latest article, Exposing the Gaza Death Undercount," can be read in the Capitol Hill Citizen, which he also founded. The official death toll in Gaza has been suspended at around 40,000 for months, as Israel's devastation of the territory makes it increasingly difficult to properly recover and identify the dead. Nader says that the true cost in Palestinian lives could already be well over 300,000," and that if the true count was known, it would devastate the mythology that the Biden administration and Congress are furthering, that the Israeli government does not purposely target civilian populations."

The legendary actor James Earl Jones has died at the age of 93. Across a career that spanned film and stage, he won numerous acting awards and gave voice to iconic characters including Star Wars' Darth Vader and The Lion King's Mufasa. In tribute to Jones, we play an excerpt of his reading of Frederick Douglass's speech What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?" from a performance of Voices of a People's History of the United States. He was introduced by the late historian Howard Zinn.

We speak to acclaimed historian, activist and filmmaker Tariq Ali about Western governments' support for Israel's war on Gaza and popular protest in support of Palestine, which Ali calls the biggest divide we've seen in politics almost since the Vietnam War." He argues that this division is challenging the very nature of democracy" and the international rule of law. Ali also shares his analysis of South Asian politics - in Pakistan, where former Prime Minister Imran Khan has accused the United States of engineering his ouster, and in Bangladesh, where a student-led uprising recently toppled the authoritarian regime of its former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Finally, we cover developments in Europe. In France, President Emmanuel Macron has appointed conservative leader Michel Barnier as prime minister, despite the electoral gains of the country's left-wing coalition. This comes as far-right and anti-migrant sentiment spreads throughout the Global North.

Israeli Strike Kills 40 Displaced Palestinians in Gaza Safe Zone", Funeral Held for Turkish American Activist Killed by Israeli Forces in West Bank, 1 Killed, 3 Wounded in Major Ukrainian Drone Attack on Russia, Texas Sues to Gain Access to Medical Records of Patients Who Travel for Abortions, DOJ Charges 2 Leaders of White Supremacist Group Who Were Plotting Assassinations, Race War", JD Vance, Trump Campaign Pile on Racist Attacks Against Ohio's Haitian Community, Mother of Apalachee HS Shooter Warned School After Receiving I'm Sorry, Mom" Text, Tens of Thousands Ordered to Evacuate as Wildfires Rage Across Western States, Google and Apple Lose EU Appeals as Google's Second U.S. Antitrust Lawsuit Opens, Miami Police Video Shows Officers Violently Detaining NFL Star Tyreek Hill, James Earl Jones, Prolific and Beloved Actor Who Voiced Darth Vader and Mufasa, Has Died at 93

Israel is continuing its military assault across the occupied West Bank, with soldiers storming the Palestinian city of Tulkarm after midnight Monday, just days after Israeli forces withdrew from Tulkarm and Jenin following a brutal incursion that lasted over one week. Israeli troops have also raided other towns and villages across the occupied territory as part of the largest Israeli military operation in the West Bank in about two decades, deploying hundreds of soldiers backed by armored vehicles, bulldozers, fighter jets and drones. Israel has killed dozens of Palestinians since launching the operation on August 28. The brutality is truly unprecedented," says Palestinian journalist Mariam Barghouti, who adds that in many of the targeted areas, Israel has bulldozed the overwhelming majority of the civilian infrastructure." Her recent piece for +972 Magazine is titled Inside the brutal siege of Jenin."

As friends and family mourn the killing of Turkish American activist Ayenur Ezgi Eygi by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank, we speak with the parents of Rachel Corrie, another American killed while volunteering with the International Solidarity Movement to protect Palestinians from attacks and displacement. Corrie was just 23 years old when she was crushed to death by an Israeli military bulldozer in Gaza in 2003 as she attempted to use her body to stop the destruction of Palestinian homes. Cindy and Craig Corrie have since devoted their lives to their daughter's cause and founded the nonprofit Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice. They say the news of Eygi's death brought back painful memories. It thrusts us back to that moment on March 16, 2003, about noon, when we were in Charlotte, North Carolina, and got the word about Rachel," says Cindy Corrie. It's a parent's nightmare." Craig Corrie echoes calls by Eygi's family for an independent probe into her killing. Israel does not do investigations; they do cover-ups."

A funeral is being held today in the occupied West Bank for Turkish American activist Ayenur Ezgi Eygi, who was shot dead Friday by Israeli forces while taking part in a weekly protest against illegal Israeli settlements in the town of Beita. The 26-year-old recent graduate of the University of Washington was a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement. Witnesses say she was fatally shot in the head by an Israeli sniper after the demonstration had already dispersed. The Turkish government has said it holds Israel responsible for Ayenur's death, while the U.S. government has offered condolences and called for Israel to investigate the incident. At least 17 Palestinian protesters have been killed in Beita in protests against illegal Israeli settlements since 2020.Juliette Majid, a friend of Eygi at the University of Washington, remembers the slain activist as being passionate about justice" and involved in various causes. She's no longer with us, but her spirit and her love and who she was and who she impacted in our community are still with us every day," says Majid. Filipino American activist Amado Sison, who also volunteered in the occupied West Bank and was himself shot in the leg by Israeli forces on August 9 during a weekly protest in Beita, says the U.S. government must demand an independent investigation and end Israeli impunity. If they took it seriously that a U.S. citizen was shot a month ago, maybe Ayenur would be here right now," he says.

U.N.: Israel Carrying Out Starvation Campaign" as the Entire Gaza Strip Remains in Urgent Need of Food, Israeli Forces Kill American Activist Ayenur Ezgi Eygi in Occupied West Bank, Israelis Take to Streets for Mass Protests Calling for Hostage Deal, Removal of Netanyahu, Israel Temporarily Closes Border Crossings with Jordan After Shooting of 3 Israeli Security Guards, Separate Israeli Attacks Kill 3 Paramedics in Lebanon, 16 People in Syria, Trump's NY Election Interference Sentencing Pushed to After Nov. Election, Sudan Rejects U.N. Call for Internat'l Peacekeeping Force as Video Emerges of RSF's Ethnic Massacres, Protesters Slam France's Macron for Ignoring People's Will, Vote Results by Naming Right-Wing PM, Opposition Leader Edmundo Gonzalez Flees Venezuela, Seeks Asylum in Spain, Pope Francis in East Timor Amid Uproar over $12M Cost of Papal Visit, Specter of Church Sexual Abuse, Typhoon Yagi Kills Dozens in Vietnam After Barreling Through Philippines, Southern China, Boeing Reaches Tentative Deal with 30,000+ Unionized Workers in Hopes of Averting Possible Strike, What If I Wasn't Tyreek Hill?": Miami Police Detain, Handcuff Football Stars Before NFL Game

Democracy Now! is joined by the nephew of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, who has endorsed Trump's Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris. Fred Trump III's new memoir, All in the Family: The Trumps and How We Got This Way, shares fresh insights into the Trump family and acts as a platform to advocate for individuals with developmental disabilities. Fred Trump's own son William has a rare genetic disorder that causes severe developmental and intellectual disabilities. He says Donald Trump once told him to abandon William, saying, He doesn't recognize you. Let him die, and move down to Florida." After a meeting in the Oval Office about dedicating more resources to people with disabilities, Fred Trump says his uncle said, Those people, the costs. They should just die."How could one human being say that about any other human being, least of all your grandnephew?" says Fred Trump, who calls on the next president to support disabled Americans. The Harris campaign and her positions are ones that I believe. Now, that being said, I have yet to hear anything regarding disability actions ... and I will put their feet to the fire on this."

The United Nations is warning the humanitarian situation in Gaza remains beyond catastrophic" as more than 1 million Palestinians in Gaza did not receive any food rations in August amid Israel's relentless assault. Israel's 11-month campaign has killed more than 15,000 children and enabled the besieged territory's first polio outbreak in a quarter-century. INARA founder Arwa Damon just got back from spending two weeks in Gaza, where the nonprofit currently provides medical and mental healthcare to Palestinian children. Israel has decimated every single aspect of any sort of infrastructure within the Gaza Strip, from sewage to water to electricity to you name it," says Damon, who reports that humanitarian assistance has diminished significantly while displaced Palestinians play a macabre, dark, twisted game" of trying to escape constant Israeli bombing.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has announced more U.S. aid for Ukraine just days after the country was hit by one of the deadliest airstrikes since Russia's invasion in early 2022. On Tuesday, a pair of Russian missiles struck a military academy and hospital in the central Ukrainian city of Poltava, killing at least 51 people and injuring more than 270. The sense ... is that the U.S. is giving Ukraine enough so that it doesn't lose, but not enough so that it can actually make significant and needed gains," says award-winning journalist Arwa Damon, who is in Ukraine providing medical and mental healthcare with her organization INARA, the International Network for Aid, Relief and Assistance. This has been going on for well over two years right now, and they really want to begin to be able to see a way out."

Israel Hinders Polio Vaccination; U.N. Warns Gazans Getting No Food in Beyond Catastrophic" Scenario, Israel Continues Assault on West Bank, Leaves Devastating Scenes After Attacking Jenin and Tulkarm, Georgia Authorities Charge Father of Apalachee High School Mass Shooter, Harris Calls for 28% Capital Gains Tax Rate, Proposes Tax Benefits for Small Businesses, DOJ Indicts Russians over Election Subversion Scheme Involving Social Media Propaganda" Accounts, Activists Demand Justice After Ugandan Olympic Runner Rebecca Cheptegei Is Killed by Her Partner, DRC Finally Gets First Mpox Vaccine Doses, Nicaragua Expels 135 Prisoners Jailed by Daniel Ortega's Crackdown on Opposition, Honduran Pres. Xiomara Castro Warns of Possible U.S. Coup Against Her Gov't, Haiti Expands State of Emergency Nationwide as Blinken Visits Port-au-Prince, Hunter Biden Pleads Guilty to 9 Tax Evasion Charges, FBI Raids Homes of Four Top Members of NYC Mayor Eric Adams's Inner Circle, 50 Climate Activists Arrested at Citibank HQ Demanding Fossil Fuel Divestment

As the fall term gets underway for students across the United States, we speak with journalist and academic Natasha Lennard about how college administrators are attempting to quash Gaza solidarity actions following mass protests at campuses across the country in the spring. One example is New York University, which recently updated its student policy to make criticisms of Zionism potentially punishable under its anti-discrimination rules. It's extremely dangerous," says Lennard, who teaches at The New School. It performs de facto apologia for Israel, and to have that put into writing by a university so clearly is just open for further abuses."

Columbia University law professor Katherine Franke last appeared on Democracy Now! in January to discuss an attack on Columbia's campus targeting pro-Palestinian student activists with a foul-smelling liquid that led to multiple hospitalizations. Following her interview, Franke now faces termination after two Columbia professors filed a complaint against her claiming she had created a hostile environment for Israeli students; she also became a target for Republican lawmakers.Franke joins Democracy Now! to discuss the campaign against her, the ongoing crackdown on pro-Palestine activism at Columbia and more. There's an overreaction by the university, a weaponization of the disciplinary system against students and faculty in ways that in my over 40 years at Columbia I have never seen," she says.We are also joined by attorney Kathleen Peratis, who is representing Franke along with the Center for Constitutional Rights after she quit her former law firm, Outten & Golden, because it dropped Franke as a client, saying she was too controversial. What happened at Outten & Golden is the kind of thing that's happening all over," says Peratis.

We speak with journalist, author and academic Steven Thrasher, the chair of social justice reporting at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. He was singled out by name during a congressional hearing about pro-Palestine protests on college campuses earlier this year, with one Republican lawmaker calling him a goon" for protecting students in an encampment from violent arrest. Northwestern filed charges against Thrasher for obstructing police that were later dropped, but students returning to Northwestern for the fall term will not see him in their classrooms because he has been suspended as Northwestern says he is under investigation. In his first interview about the affair, Thrasher tells Democracy Now! that he stands by his actions and that he has received no due process" from his employer. He says the university has previously celebrated him, including in glowing" job reviews and by publicizing his work. What they don't like is that I am now applying the same social justice journalism principles that I've applied to race and that I've applied to LGBTQ people, to COVID and HIV, that I was now applying those to Palestine," says Thrasher.

A 14-year-old student opened fire Wednesday at a high school in Winder, Georgia, just outside Atlanta, killing two fellow students - both also 14 years old - and two teachers, while injuring at least nine others. The teen shooter, who used an AR-platform-style weapon in his deadly rampage, surrendered to school resource officers and faces multiple murder charges as an adult. The violence in Georgia marks the deadliest U.S. school shooting of 2024 and comes after the teenager was interviewed by police last year following tips to the FBI about online threats of a school shooting.We were shocked, of course, but we were not surprised," says Georgia state Representative Dr. Michelle Au, a practicing physician in Atlanta. She had proposed a gun safety bill that was blocked by Republicans in the state who hold both legislative chambers and the governor's office. Georgia actually has some of the most lax gun laws in the country, which is of course correlated with having a very high incidence of preventable gun violence."We also speak with Kris Brown, president of the gun violence prevention organization Brady, who says hard-line Republican lawmakers with extreme" views of the Second Amendment are fine with it being a death sentence to their fellow Americans."

Israel Continues Deadly West Bank Incursion, Destroying Streets, Homes, Water & Health Infrastructure, Israel's Genocide in Gaza Continues as New Leak Details How Netanyahu Torpedoed Ceasefire Deals, U.S. Criticizes Netayahu's Failure to Reach Ceasefire But Continues to Arm His War on Gaza, Portland, Maine, to Divest from Israeli Companies Tied to Israel's Assault on Palestinians, From the River to the Sea": Meta Says Palestinian Solidarity Slogan Is Not Hate Speech, 14-Year-Old with Assault Rifle Kills Two Teachers and Two Students at Georgia High School, U.K. Prime Minister Apologizes for Grenfell Fire as Report Makes Clear Disaster Was Preventable, AfD Becomes First Far-Right Party to Win German State Election Since Nazis, Macron Appoints Conservative Politician as New PM, Eschewing Demands for a Progressive Leader, Biden Administration Considers Making Sweeping Asylum Restrictions Permanent, Harris Agrees to Terms of Debate with Trump; Liz Cheney Endorses Harris for President

Historian and journalist Betsy Phillips discusses her new book, Dynamite Nashville: Unmasking the FBI, the KKK, and the Bombers Beyond Their Control, which chronicles three bombings in 1957, 1958 and 1960 aimed at supporters of the civil rights movement in Nashville. The book has sparked a reopening of the formerly cold cases, the likely perpetrators of which Phillips names in her book. Phillips details what she uncovered through her research about the connections between the white supremacist terror campaign of the previous century and ongoing neo-Nazi activity in Nashville and the U.S. today.

As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejects growing domestic and international calls to accept a Gaza ceasefire deal, we go to Jerusalem to speak to Gershon Baskin of the human rights advocacy group International Communities Organization. Baskin has spent years as a back-channel Israeli negotiator with Hamas in ceasefire deals, including throughout Israel's current war on Gaza. It's very clear that Netanyahu doesn't want to end the war," says Baskin, who calls for all remaining stakeholders, including Hamas, the United States and Israeli protesters, to increase pressure on the defiant prime minister.

The World Health Organization has completed the first phase of a critical polio vaccination campaign in central Gaza. After health officials confirmed Gaza's first polio case in 25 years, the Israeli military agreed to calls for limited humanitarian pauses on its attacks in order for aid organizations to carry out vaccinations. But there's real practical, operational problems with this current pause," says Yanti Soeripto, president and CEO of Save the Children US, whose staff is part of the vaccine drive. It is not a ceasefire at all. It is an eight-hour pause every day." As Israel has repeatedly attacked civilians awaiting the provision of aid over the course of its war, it is difficult to reach normal coverage numbers" - especially for the two-dose vaccine course necessary to vaccinate against polio. Soeripto also discusses outbreaks in other current war zones, including the recent outbreak of mpox in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and warns that these diseases often cause even more casualties than bombs and bullets."

Israeli Attacks Kill 42 in Gaza as WHO Cites Progress in Polio Vaccination Efforts, Israeli Raids on West Bank Kill 33 Palestinians in a Week, Doctors Demand Justice for Palestinian Medical Workers Tortured in Israeli Custody, Thousands of Israelis Continue Protests Demanding Gaza Ceasefire and Hostage Deal, Russia Continues Deadly Airstrikes as Ukraine's President Orders Cabinet Reshuffle, At Least 129 Killed as Prisoners Try to Escape DRC's Notorious Makala Prison, Boko Haram Attack in Northeastern Nigeria Leaves 81 Dead, 12 Asylum Seekers Die Attempting to Cross English Channel, Phoenix Records 100th Day Over 100 as Heat Wave Bakes Southwestern U.S., Trump Pleads Not Guilty" to Amended Indictment in Election Interference Case, Montana GOP Senate Candidate Tim Sheehy Recorded Making Racist Comments, Indictment Alleges Former Aide to New York Gov. Hochul Worked as Chinese Government Agent, Trial of Uhuru Three" Opens in Florida as Group Rejects Russian Influence Claims

After nearly two decades of obstruction by the U.S. military, The New Yorker has obtained and published 10 photos of the aftermath of the 2005 Haditha massacre, when U.S. marines killed 24 Iraqi civilians in revenge for an IED bombing that killed a service member. The graphic images show dead Iraqi men, women and children, many of them shot in the head at close range. The victims ranged in age from 3 to 76. Release of the photos came only after producers of the investigative podcast In the Dark sued the Navy, the Marine Corps and U.S. Central Command to force them to turn over the photos and other records. What the photos clearly show is that these were innocent people who do not appear to be doing anything threatening at the time of their deaths," says Madeleine Baran, host and lead reporter of the podcast. Four marines were charged for the killings, but the charges were dismissed in three cases, and the last ended with a plea deal that did not result in a single day in prison. Baran says the survivors of the massacre, who cooperated with producers to get the photos released, are still waiting for justice. What they want is the world to know what happened to their family, to know that their family were good people, not insurgents, and they want justice," she says.

About 10,000 hotel workers with the union UNITE HERE went on strike across the United States over the Labor Day long weekend to fight for raises, fair workloads and respect in the workplace. The multiday strike affects Hilton, Hyatt and Marriott hotels in several major cities, including Boston, San Francisco and Seattle. We speak with striking worker Rebeca Laroque, who has worked as a room attendant for over 12 years at the Hyatt Regency in Greenwich, Connecticut, and UNITE HERE Local 2 President Lizzy Tapia in San Francisco. We're working hard, and then the money they pay, you cannot afford nothing with this, because everything is going up," says Laroque. That's why we ask for a better wage, health insurance and pension, because we cannot afford nothing."

Hundreds of thousands of Israelis protested this weekend to demand a ceasefire following the deaths of six more hostages in Gaza, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to reject the terms of a deal that would remove Israeli troops from southern Gaza. This comes after nearly 11 months of Israel's war on Gaza, which has killed over 40,000 Palestinians in the territory, according to local health authorities. Our politicians won't listen to anything, because they're driven out of self-interest," says Israeli peace activist Yonatan Zeigen, whose mother Vivian Silver was killed in the October 7 Hamas attack on Kibbutz Be'eri. Despite the feeling of solidarity on the streets, Zeigen says there is a sense of hopelessness" in the mass protests in Israel. We also speak with Haaretz columnist Gideon Levy, who says the outrage in Israel is still mostly confined to critics of Netanyahu and has not yet penetrated his base of support, and that the United States has a major role in the continued violence and Netanyahu's refusal to agree to a ceasefire. If President Biden would have really liked to put an end to this war, he could have done it within days by stopping or at least conditioning ... the supply of arms and ammunition to Israel. He didn't do it," Levy notes.

Israeli Attack on U.N.-Operated Shelter in Gaza Kills 8 Palestinians in Bread Line, Polio Mass Vaccination Campaign Begins in Gaza Despite Ongoing Israeli Attacks, Israeli Military Returns Body of 58-Year-Old Palestinian Man with Signs of Torture and Abuse, Israeli Military Attacks Journalists Covering West Bank Raids, Kills Gaza TikTok Star, Hundreds of Thousands of Israelis Protest After Army Recovers Bodies of 6 Hostages, U.K. Suspends Some Weapons Shipments to Israel, CENTCOM Says 7 U.S. Military Personnel Are Injured in Raid on ISIS in Iraq, The New Yorker Publishes Images from U.S. Marines' 2005 Massacre of Iraqi Civilians, Attacks by Russia and Ukraine Leave Civilians Dead and Wounded, Venezuela Accuses U.S. of Piracy" After President Maduro's Plane Is Seized, 10,000 U.S. Hotel Workers Go on Strike to Demand Higher Pay and Increased Staffing

We end our Labor Day special with Shawn Fein, the president of the United Auto Workers. In August, he addressed the Democratic National Convention. Midway through his speech, Fain took off his jacket to show that he was wearing a T-shirt that read Trump is a scab."

As part of our Labor Day special, we remember the longtime labor organizer and scholar Jane McAlevey, who died in July at the age of 59. She dedicated her life to empowering rank-and-file workers, training tens of thousands around the world to effectively strengthen their unions. She gave one of her last interviews to Democracy Now! in April after she announced she was entering hospice. We like to win," says McAlevey, and we like to teach workers how to win. What are the methods? What is it we can do?"

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. We hear Alfre Woodard read the words of labor activist Mother Jones and Howard's son Jeff Zinn read the words of an IWW poet and organizer Arturo Giovannitti.

Investigative journalist David Sirota, founder and editor-in-chief of The Lever, is the host of a new podcast series exploring how extremist ideologues and wealthy oligarchs have developed a system of legalized corruption in the U.S. Master Plan traces the decadeslong conservative-led plan to increase the role of money in politics. This was a plan, a specific plan, to deregulate the campaign finance laws," says Sirota.

In her first major interview since replacing Joe Biden on the ballot, Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris was questioned about her shifting statements on fracking, which has been linked to a surge in methane gas emissions over the past decade. Harris, who has previously made comments opposing fracking, vowed not to ban it if elected. The vice president went on to highlight the Biden-Harris administration's environmental record, which activists have criticized for vastly expanding oil production rather than drawing down the country's reliance on fossil fuels. The data is telling us that what Kamala Harris said about fracking - that we can do it without dealing with reducing the supply of fossil fuels - it's just not borne out by the numbers," explains The Lever's David Sirota, who adds, Ultimately, consequences for that will be on the United States, for the entire world."

Vice President Kamala Harris gave her first major interview Thursday since becoming the Democratic nominee, laying out her plans for an opportunity economy" if she becomes president. Sociologist Nikhil Goyal, author of Live to See the Day: Coming of Age in American Poverty, says Harris's support for policies like an expanded child tax credit shows a clear contrast between herself and Republican nominee Donald Trump. He fights for the billionaire class," while Harris is on the side of working people," says Goyal.

We turn to Kamala Harris's position on Israel's war on Gaza, which many are calling a genocide. After she was asked about calls to condition U.S. arms shipments to Israel by CNN reporter Dana Bash, Harris refused to consider halting the flow of weapons and instead affirmed her support of Israel. This position violates both federal and international law, argues Palestinian American political analyst Yousef Munayyer, and, coupled with her campaign's denial of a requested Palestinian American speaking spot from uncommitted" voters at the DNC, he warns that Harris could be worse than Biden" when it comes to U.S. support for Israel.

In her first major interview since ascending to the top of the Democratic ticket, Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris was questioned by CNN's Dana Bash about her policy positions and campaign platform. We begin with a look at Harris's increasingly rightward stance on immigration and border policy with immigration activist Erika Andiola. As she touted her support for hard-line border security and asylum policies, Harris positioned herself as tougher on immigration than Trump. Republican talking points ... now truly have become Democrat talking points," says Andiola.

WHO Readies to Start Gaza Polio Vaccine Drive After Israel Agrees to 3-Day Partial Pause, Israeli Forces Continue Deadly Assault on West Bank's Jenin, Leave Tulkarm and Tubas in Ruins, Kamala Harris and Tim Walz Give First TV Interview as Democratic Ticket, JD Vance Says Kamala Harris Can Go to Hell" at Pennsylvania Rally, Arlington Nat'l Cemetery Files Report After Trump Aides Attack an Employee, South Korea Court Finds Climate Law Violates Rights of Future Generations, Heavy Flooding Brings Death, Displacement and Disease in Sudan, Yemen and Bangladesh, Record Wildfires in Brazil Rage Across Amazon, Pantanal Wetlands, Klamath River Flows Freely Again After Crews Take Down Last Dam, East Timor Marks 25 Years of Independence, Immigrant Prisoners in California Are on Labor and Hunger Strike Against Their Inhumane Detention, 4 Arrested at UMich Gaza Protest; Pro-Palestinian Students at Columbia, NYU Face Censorship, Painters' Union to Divest Pension Fund from Israeli Firms to Protest Gaza Genocide, Video Game Performers Enter Second Month of Strike, Seeking Protections from AI, First Arrest Made as New York's Nassau County Bans Face Masks in Public

As Ukrainian forces press their counteroffensive deeper into Russian territory, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency has warned of the heightened risk of a nuclear catastrophe from fighting near the Kursk power plant. The war between the two countries, now in its third year, has also impacted the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, controlled by Russian forces in the occupied southeastern part of Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin have both signaled the war is likely to drag on for the foreseeable future. For more on the risk of nuclear disasters and possible peace talks to end the fighting, we speak with Vladimir Slivyak, co-chair of the Russian environmental organization Ecodefense, and foreign policy expert Matt Duss, executive vice president at the Center for International Policy and a former adviser to Senator Bernie Sanders.

The Taliban government in Afghanistan is drawing renewed outrage over a new law banning women's voices in public, forcing them to completely cover their bodies and faces out of the home, and more. This comes after the Taliban banned women from working in most fields and ended girls' education past primary school following their takeover of the country in 2021. We speak with Sima Samar, an Afghan human rights advocate and doctor who chaired the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission from 2002 until 2019; she also briefly served as minister of women's affairs in the interim Afghan government in 2002, after a U.S.-led coalition toppled the first Taliban government for its support of al-Qaeda. You cannot see such a law in any other regime on this planet," she says. This is a crime against humanity. It is gender apartheid."

At least 18 Palestinians have been killed and 30 more wounded in the occupied West Bank, where Israel has launched its largest military operation in two decades. Israeli forces have simultaneously raided four cities and refugee camps in the north, with hundreds of soldiers backed by armored vehicles, bulldozers, fighter jets and drones. Much of the violence has been centered on Jenin, a frequent target of raids by Israeli forces, but this latest military operation is the largest since the Second Intifada. Ahmed Tobasi, artistic director at the Freedom Theatre in Jenin refugee camp, says Israel's tactics are about punishing the people, punishing the civilians," with an ultimate goal of ethnic cleansing. They want Palestine empty from Palestinians." He also calls on the U.S. public to speak out against continued military support for Israel, saying the killings in both Gaza and the West Bank are only possible because Israel has the green light from the U.S. government."

We get an update from Gaza, where at least 68 Palestinians have been killed in the last 24 hours as Israel continues its relentless assault on the territory. After nearly 11 months of war, the official Gaza death toll now stands at over 40,600, although the true figure is estimated to be much higher. The World Food Programme announced it is pausing the movement of all staff in Gaza until further notice after Israeli forces shot at one of its clearly marked vehicles despite receiving multiple clearances by Israeli authorities. This comes just two days after U.N. humanitarian efforts in Gaza virtually ground to a halt due to new Israeli evacuation orders that disrupted operations again. Israel has issued several evacuation orders across Gaza over the past week, displacing a quarter of a million people in Deir al-Balah alone, including from the Al-Aqsa Hospital, where tens of thousands of residents and wounded were seeking shelter. Journalist Akram al-Satarri, speaking from just outside the hospital, describes continuous military operations, continuous devastation, continuous targeting and [an] increased number of Palestinians affected by those ongoing operations either by being killed or being injured or by becoming displaced because of the new evacuation orders."

Israeli Attacks Kill Another 68 Palestinians in Gaza; Mother of First Polio Patient Decries Baby's Fate, WFP Suspends Staff Travel in Gaza After Israel Attacks Convoy, Israel Escalates Invasion of Occupied West Bank, Kills at Least 18 Palestinians, EU Weighs Sanctions on Israeli Ministers Propagating Hate Messages Against Palestinians", Egypt Rejects Israeli Troops on Border; Namibia Blocks Vessel Heading to Israel with Weapons, U.S. Rejects Resumption of Nuclear Talks After Overture by Iran, Hong Kong Convicts Pro-Democracy Editors of Stand News of Sedition, U.S. National Security Adviser Meets Chinese President Xi Jinping, Honduras Ends Extradition Treaty with U.S. over Ambassador's Narcotrafficking Allegations, Rights Groups Sound Alarm as Texas GOP Purges 1 Million Voters from Rolls, Union Workers at Cornell University Win Historic Pay Increases After 10-Day Strike

Texas Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton is facing accusations he is using his office to suppress Latino voters in the state. The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), the country's oldest Latino civil rights group, is calling on the Justice Department to investigate Paxton over a series of police raids on the homes of LULAC members, state lawmakers and other community leaders in the San Antonio area last week. Previously, Paxton had tried and failed to shut down the Houston-based and immigrant-led civil rights group Familias Inmigrantes y Estudiantes en la Lucha (FIEL) by claiming it engaged in electioneering. We're joined by the director of FIEL, Cesar Espinosa, and the CEO of LULAC, Juan Proano, who both share how their organizations have been impacted by the attorney general's harassment and intimidation. Proano calls the targeting of Latino leaders and organizations a pattern of blatant discrimination" and says, We see these as tactics essentially for Republicans to stay in control of the government in Texas."

New voting rules in key battleground states could impact the 2024 election results. In Georgia, Democrats are suing to halt a set of Trump-backed election rules which Democrats say could be used to block certification of election results if they win in November. It appears that Georgia Republicans are laying the groundwork not to certify the presidential election if Kamala Harris wins," explains Ari Berman, who is the voting rights correspondent for Mother Jones magazine. Berman also discusses Tim Walz and JD Vance's voting rights records and a recent voting rights law out of Arizona that requires new voters to prove their U.S. citizenship.

The Israeli military has launched its biggest operation in the occupied West Bank in close to two decades, with hundreds of troops, backed by armored vehicles, bulldozers, fighter jets and drones, conducting simultaneous raids in the northern cities of Jenin and Tulkarm. At least nine Palestinians were killed overnight, with an additional 11 injured. In total, at least 652 Palestinians have been killed in the occupied West Bank since October - nearly 150 of them children - most of them during near-daily raids by the Israeli military. Israeli officials have indicated that the raids are just the first stage of an even larger operation in the West Bank. They are trying to repeat the Nakba. ... They are trying to repeat the same ethnic cleansing, the same genocide that is committed in Gaza," says Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, who joins us from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. Their goal is ethnic cleansing. Their goal is annexation of the West Bank."

9 Palestinians Killed as Israel Launches Largest Raid on West Bank in Two Decades, Israeli Attacks Kill Dozens in Gaza, Including 8 at School Sheltering Displaced Palestinians, Israeli Forces Rescue Bedouin Arab Man Kidnapped by Hamas on Oct. 7, Zelensky Rules Out Ceasefire as Russia Continues Largest Aerial Assault" of Its War on Ukraine, IAEA Chief Warns Ukraine's Advance on Russian Power Plant Threatens Nuclear Catastrophe, Afghan Taliban Approves Gender Apartheid Law Banning Women from Speaking in Public, Indian Police Fire Tear Gas as Protesters Decry Rape and Murder of Medical Trainee, Jack Smith Files Amended Indictment of Trump over Jan. 6 Insurrection, Trump Adds Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard to Transition Team, Mexico Freezes Diplomatic Relations After U.S. and Canada Criticize Judicial Reform Plan