Democracy Now!

As U.S. and Iranian officials continue negotiations over Iran's nuclear program, President Trump has ordered a buildup of U.S. forces in the Middle East, including two aircraft carriers. This is an extremely dangerous situation, which both sides are actually incentivized to escalate," says Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. Both sides actually believe that a short, intense war may improve their negotiating position."

Tributes are pouring in from across the globe for Reverend Jesse Jackson, who died on Tuesday. The civil rights icon and two-time presidential candidate was 84 years old. Democracy Now!'s Juan Gonzalez recounts his experience as a reporter visiting Cuba and Puerto Rico alongside Jackson. Jesse was always there when people were fighting for some form of social justice," says Gonzalez. Of all the U.S. leaders of the past half-century, I believe none had a more international view and a commitment to worldwide social justice as Jesse Jackson did."Bishop William Barber, president and senior lecturer of Repairers of the Breach, met Jackson 40 years ago as a student when he asked to work with Jackson's student campaign during his 1984 presidential run. Jackson was somebody that was serious about people uniting to save humanity - PUSHing - that he was serious about an agenda of uplift," says Barber.

U.S. Military Says It Carried Out Strikes on Three Boats in the Caribbean and Pacific, Killing at Least 11 People, Iran's Foreign Minister: U.S. and Iranian Negotiators Have Agreed on Guiding Principles" on Iran's Nuclear Program, Mehdi Mahmoudian, Oscar-Nominated Co-Writer of It Was Just an Accident," Released from Iranian Prison, Peru's Congress Impeaches Interim Peruvian President Jose Jeri, Federal Judge Blocks Efforts by Trump Administration to Rearrest Kilmar Abrego Garcia, Immigration Judge Blocks Trump Administration from Deporting Mohsen Mahdawi, DHS Spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin Announces Her Resignation, Two-Month-Old Baby Detained at ICE Jail in Dilley, Texas, Deported Along with His Family, Tarique Rahman Sworn In as Bangladesh's New Prime Minister, Independent Journalist Georgia Fort and Activist Trahern Crews Plead Not Guilty in Federal Court in Minnesota, Late Show" Host Colbert Blasts Trump Admin After CBS Pulls Interview with Texas Democrat Talarico

Two ICE officers have been placed on administrative leave and are accused of lying under oath about an incident in Minneapolis last month involving two Venezuelan immigrants, one of whom was shot in the leg by an agent. After the incident, the two Venezuelan men, Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna and Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, were charged with felony assault, falsely accused of beating an ICE officer with a broom and snow shovel. Sosa-Celis was shot in the right thigh. While the Department of Homeland Security originally claimed the two men had attacked the agent, video evidence and witness testimonies contradicted the accusations. Federal prosecutors in Minneapolis last week dropped the felony assault charges against Aljorna and Sosa-Celis.Criminal defense attorney Frederick Goetz, who represents Aljorna, says the admission of wrongdoing is unusual" given that the Justice Department has been zealous in carrying out President Trump's anti-immigration agenda. It was not only a dismissal, but a dismissal with prejudice, meaning that my client can never be charged again for anything to do with this incident," says Goetz.

We look back on the life and legacy of civil rights icon Reverend Jesse Jackson, who died Tuesday at the age of 84. From marching with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to building the Rainbow Coalition in his two presidential runs and beyond, Jackson's life contributed to making this country more democratic, more inclusive, more fair," says Howard University political science professor Clarence Lusane.We also speak with activist Larry Hamm, who co-chaired Jackson's 1988 presidential campaign in New Jersey. Hamm first met Jackson in 1971 and says he was audacious" above all else. Jesse knew his place in history," says Hamm.

As we remember the life and legacy of civil rights icon Reverend Jesse Jackson, who died Tuesday at the age of 84, we air remarks by Senator Bernie Sanders from a 2024 tribute held during the Democratic National Convention. Sanders, whose own two runs for president galvanized progressives across the United States, hailed Jackson's campaigns in 1984 and 1988 for building a broad coalition for social justice. Jesse Jackson is one of the very most significant political leaders in this country in the last 100 years," Sanders said. Jesse's contribution to modern history is not just bringing us together; it is bringing us together around a progressive agenda."

Civil rights icon Reverend Jesse Jackson died Tuesday at the age of 84. Jackson is known for working closely with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference during the civil rights movement, and he later ran two groundbreaking presidential campaigns in 1984 and 1988, when he pushed to cut the Pentagon budget while increasing domestic spending on education, housing and healthcare. Jackson was also involved in international campaigns from the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa to supporting Palestinian self-determination. We remember his legacy and air interviews from his many appearances on Democracy Now! over the years.

Civil Rights Icon Rev. Jesse Jackson Dies at 84, Second Round of Indirect Talks Between U.S. and Iranian Officials Underway in Geneva, Ukrainian and Russian Officials Meet in Geneva Today for U.S.-Brokered Peace Talks, Drop Site News: Senior Hamas Leader Says Group Will Not Follow Calls to Unilaterally Disarm, Trump Calls Cuba a Failed Nation" and Refuses to Rule Out Military Action, Minnesota Investigators Say FBI Refusing to Share Evidence in Alex Pretti's Killing, AG Bondi Faces Bipartisan Criticism After Telling Congress All Epstein Files Have Been Released

Three activists - Robert Earl Council, Melvin Ray and Raoul Poole - featured in the Oscar-nominated documentary The Alabama Solution were placed in solitary confinement last month in what advocates believe is retaliation for their role in exposing the abuses of the state's prison system and for helping to organize a prison labor strike. We're joined by three guests who worked on the documentary: director Andrew Jarecki, investigative journalist Charlotte Kaufman and Tiffany Johnson Cole, a childhood friend of and attorney for Robert Earl Council. Johnson Cole has filed a lawsuit against her client's transfer. She says Council, Ray, Poole and other incarcerated activists have put themselves in harm's way in an effort to bring about change in a system that is truly cruel and inhumane."The Alabama Solution features footage clandestinely shot on contraband cellphones wielded by men incarcerated by the fifth-largest state prison system in the United States. The footage includes the apparent cover-up of the beating death of an incarcerated man by prison guards. Any authoritarian administration does not want you to see what's going on inside," says director Andrew Jarecki. They can't really continue to do what they're doing if there's enough public pressure, which is one of the reasons why Alabama is so anxious about this film." Kaufman adds that the problem extends throughout the country. We spend $80 billion a year on prisons and jails and incarcerate 2 million people, and yet the public's not allowed to see in and evaluate whether the system is fulfilling its mandate."

Thirty-three-year-old Palestinian activist Leqaa Kordia will soon mark one year trapped in ICE detention. Kordia, who was born in East Jerusalem, first came to police attention when she was arrested during the 2024 Gaza solidarity protests at Columbia University. Those charges were dropped, but Kordia was later detained at routine immigration check-in in New Jersey. Federal immigration officers said her student visa had expired, and sent her to an ICE detention center in North Texas, where she's been incarcerated ever since. Under what she describes as torturous conditions, she suffered her first-ever seizure, which led to a multiday hospitalization. For three days, ICE refused to inform her family and legal team about her status and whereabouts. She's been a relatively healthy person physically until she was detained ... [but] her health is at great risk if she remains in custody," says Kordia's attorney Sarah Sherman-Stokes.Kordia has lost more than 200 family members to Israel's genocide in Gaza, and a judge has ruled that she cannot be repatriated to Israel because of risk of persecution there, but the U.S. government has refused to release her on bond while her legal battle crawls along. Leqaa should never have been detained," in the first place, says Sherman-Stokes.

Reuters: U.S. Military Preparing for Possible Strikes on Iran If Trump Orders Attack, Israel Kills at Least 11 Palestinians in Gaza Over the Past 24 Hours, Oscar-Winning Palestinian Director of No Other Land" Says His Family Has Been Attacked by Israeli Settlers, U.S. Military Strikes Boat in the Caribbean, Killing Three People, Ukraine Launches Drone Strike on Russian Black Sea Port Ahead of Peace Talks with the U.S., AOC and Secretary of State Rubio Offer Competing Visions of U.S. Foreign Policy at Munich Security Conference, Trump Admin Planning to Spend Over $38 Billion to Buy Warehouses and Convert Them into ICE Jails, Two ICE Agents Face Criminal Probe over Lying to a Jury After Shooting a Venezuelan Immigrant in Minnesota, DHS Enters Partial Shutdown After Senate Democrats Refuse to Support Funding Bill, Federal Judge Orders Return of Deported Babson College Student Any Lucia Lopez Belloza Back to the U.S., RFK Jr. Says He Used to Snort Cocaine Off of Toilet Seats", Barack Obama Blasts Clown Show" After Trump Posts Racist Video Depicting Obamas as Apes, Russell Vought Uses $15M from Foreign Aid Agency He Gutted to Pay for Security Detail, San Francisco Educators End Strike with Tentative Deal to Fully Fund Family Healthcare

Cuba is facing a growing humanitarian crisis due to a U.S.-imposed oil blockade. The Trump administration has also threatened new tariffs against any nation that sends fuel to Cuba, which has been under a U.S. trade embargo since 1962. These measures have caused fuel shortages and widespread blackouts, while the cost of food and transportation has skyrocketed. This is a massive violation of human rights," says Ernesto Soberon Guzman, Cuban ambassador to the United Nations. It's a massive violation of international law."

Faith leaders in North Carolina are leading a three-day trek from Wilson to Raleigh in an event aimed at supporting unabridged voting rights; living wages and ending poverty; welcoming immigrants," and more. Reverend Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove spoke with Democracy Now! from the march, saying that love is the power that can overcome fear in this moment." As North Carolina faces a President Trump-led gerrymandering effort, Wilson-Hartgrove hopes that the event will mobilize voters across the state.

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives voted on Wednesday to require proof of U.S. citizenship in the November midterm elections. If it becomes law, it would be the worst voter suppression bill ever passed by Congress," according to Ari Berman, national voting rights correspondent for Mother Jones. The bill really combines a lot of the worst things that Republicans want to do with regards to voting, and it comes at a time when Trump appears dead set to try to interfere in the midterm elections," he adds.Wednesday's vote sends the legislation on to the Republican-led Senate, where it is expected to receive a vote but unlikely to garner the 60-vote, filibuster-proof majority needed for passage.

Trump Halts Endangerment Finding" That Gave EPA Power to Regulate Greenhouse Gases, Senate Rejects Homeland Security Funding Bill, Teeing Up Partial Government Shutdown, Trump Administration Says It's Ending Surge of Immigration Agents to Minnesota, Marine Vet Says Feds in Minneapolis Sampled His DNA and Cloned His Phone Without Warrant, IRS Improperly Shared Taxpayer Data with DHS as Part of Trump's Immigration Crackdown, Federal Judge Orders Return of Venezuelans Deported to Notorious Prison in El Salvador, I Felt Like an Animal": Palestinian Activist Leqaa Kordia Describes Abuse in ICE Custody, High Court Rules U.K. Government's Ban on Palestine Action Unlawful, Mexico Sends Humanitarian Aid to Cuba as U.S. Tightens Blockade, Venezuela's Interim Leader Takes U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright on Tour of Oil Facilities, Rep. Ro Khanna Demands DOJ Unredact Name of Politician Who Wrote 2016 Email to Jeffrey Epstein, Epstein Files Set Off Political Storm in Norway, Prompt Resignations at Goldman Sachs & DP World, Judge Rules Hegseth Trampled" Sen. Mark Kelly's First Amendment Rights in Retribution Effort, LGBTQ+ Activists Raise Pride Flag Over Stonewall After Its Removal by Trump Administration

As we continue to look at Wednesday's contentious hearing of the House Judiciary Committee, we speak with Vermont Congressmember Becca Balint, who walked out after Attorney General Pam Bondi accused her of supporting antisemitism. Balint, who is Jewish and whose grandfather died in the Holocaust, had just asked Bondi to meet with survivors of Jeffrey Epstein - a demand that Bondi repeatedly ignored during the hearing.It was just heartbreaking to watch the attorney general act in this way, especially when survivors have waited, over the course of decades, for justice," Balint tells Democracy Now!

Authorities in Iran have arrested the Oscar-nominated screenwriter Mehdi Mahmoudian in Tehran. Mahmoudian co-wrote the film It Was Just an Accident with dissident director Jafar Panahi, and their film is nominated for Best Original Screenplay and Best International Feature at this year's Academy Awards. Mahmoudian was arrested after signing a public statement condemning Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, as well as the brutal crackdown on anti-government protesters, calling it an organized state crime against humanity." Panahi, who also signed the statement alongside 15 others, recently spoke with Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.Panahi described meeting Mehdi when they were both imprisoned, which led to their creative partnership. Because he had spent nine years of his life in prison, I knew that he had a deep understanding of different people in the society, and for that reason, I invited him to this film to help with writing the dialogues, because he knew the different characters of this film very well," Panahi said.

President Donald Trump held a lengthy meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Wednesday at the White House, where the two leaders discussed ongoing nuclear talks with Iran. Trump has said he wants to reach a deal with Iran about the country's nuclear program, which Tehran insists is only for peaceful civilian purposes but which the U.S. and Israel claim is aimed at developing nuclear weapons. In recent weeks, Trump has repeatedly threatened to attack Iran after the Iranian government crushed a wave of anti-government protests, killing thousands of people. The Pentagon is also reportedly preparing to move a second aircraft carrier strike group to the Middle East, raising pressure on Iran's leadership.What Netanyahu is seeking to do with this visit is to inject poison pills into the negotiations in order to ensure that they fail, and thereby set the stage for a new armed conflict with Iran," says Middle East analyst Mouin Rabbani.

Attorney General Pam Bondi testified Wednesday before the House Judiciary Committee, where she repeatedly refused to answer questions about her handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case. She also refused to apologize to Epstein survivors over the botched release of files, some of which contained survivors' personal information and even uncensored nude photographs. During the hearing, Bondi was photographed consulting a binder that appeared to show the search history of lawmakers who visited the Justice Department to examine the unredacted Epstein files in person.Essentially, they were spying on us," says Democratic Congressmember Pramila Jayapal. It's certainly not going to stop me from continuing to review the files, but it is absolutely outrageous."Jayapal also condemns the Justice Department for refusing to open new investigations into Epstein's associates listed in the files. These were rich, powerful, wealthy people, mostly men, who groomed, raped, abused, manipulated young girls," she says.

AG Bondi Hurls Insults at Lawmakers as She Defends Handling of Epstein Files, Trump Says Nothing Definitive" Decided on Iran After Hourslong Meeting with Israeli PM Netanyahu, Thousands Protest in Melbourne as Israeli President Herzog Wraps Australia Tour, Video Shows ICE Agents Breaking Into Home of Pennsylvania Family, St. Paul Mayor Demands ICE Leave Minnesota After Federal Agents' Pursuit Ends in Multi-Car Crash, ICE Jailing Immigrants at Previously Undisclosed Floor of Manhattan Federal Building, New Body-Camera Footage and Emails Released in CBP Shooting of Marimar Martinez, FAA Closed El Paso Airspace After CBP Fired Anti-Drone Laser at Party Balloon, House Passes Bill to Repeal Trump's Tariffs on Canada, Trump Accepts Washington Coal Club's Inaugural Award, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Fires Alexis Goldstein for Documenting DOGE Meeting, Argentina's Senate Approves Sweeping New Labor Bill Pushed by Far-Right President Milei

In a victory for the fossil fuel industry, a set of Obama-era rules that required the federal government to regulate the emissions of six greenhouse gases is being reversed by the Trump administration. The changes would undo the legal basis of the fight against global warming, as well as remove industrial reporting obligations and roll back emissions standards for cars and trucks. Environmental engineer Gretchen Goldman helped author those emission standards while working for the Department of Transportation under the Biden administration. Now as the president of the Union of Concerned Scientists, she says their repeal will not only increase what drivers pay at the pump but also set U.S. innovation back on the world stage. We're really seeing the abdication of U.S. leadership on climate, and that has huge implications, both for our immediate ability to reduce heat-trapping emissions globally ... but also in terms of our standing and contribution in the world."

We continue our conversation with Texas Congressmember Al Green as he plans to reintroduce impeachment proceedings against President Trump over infusing his hate into policy." Green currently represents Texas's 9th Congressional District, which was recently redistricted by the Texas state Legislature in favor of Republican voters. He says his seat, which he has held for over two decades, was targeted for redistricting in part because of his opposition to Trump. Green is now running for reelection in Texas's neighboring 18th Congressional District.

House Democrats grilled the heads of ICE, CBP and USCIS at a hearing Tuesday over their role in the Trump administration's brutal campaign to carry out mass deportations. These three directors are responsible for what we are seeing around the country, whether it's in detention, whether it's in the streets or even in the courts," says Illinois Congressmember Delia Ramirez, who is calling for her fellow Democrats to suspend funding for the Department of Homeland Security unless Republicans agree to their demands to rein in federal immigration agents. We play excerpts from Ramirez and other representatives' remarks about the killings of U.S. citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, the deaths of immigrants in ICE custody and the fear and terror experienced by civilians confronted daily by masked federal agents. This is more than authoritarianism. This is a de facto dictatorship," says Texas Congressmember Al Green, who also spoke at the hearing.

Democratic Lawmakers Grill the Heads of ICE, CBP and USCIS on Trump's Mass Deportation Campaign, Immigrant Family Files a Lawsuit Claiming Their Toddler Was Returned to an ICE Jail Amid a Measles Outbreak, ACLU Files Lawsuit Against Law Enforcement for Mass Immigration Raid in Idaho, Democratic Congressmember Khanna Accuses the DOJ of Improperly Redacting Names of Wealthy Men in the Epstein Files, Former Palm Beach Police Chief Says Trump Told Him in 2006 That Everyone" Knew of Epstein's Behavior, Commerce Secretary Lutnick Testifies He Visited Epstein's Island, Trump Admin Removes Pride Flag from Stonewall National Monument in New York City, Trump Admin Plans to Cut $600 Million in Public Health Funds, Trump Threatens to Send Another Aircraft Carrier to Strike Iran, WSJ: Pentagon to Send 200 U.S. Troops to Nigeria, UNICEF Warns More Than Half of All Children in North Darfur Are Acutely Malnourished, FAA Reopens El Paso Airport After Abruptly Halting Flights, At Least Nine People Killed in a Mass Shooting in British Columbia, Canada, FBI Raid of Fulton County Election Office Based on Debunked Claims from Election Deniers, Federal Grand Jury Declines to Indict Six Democratic Lawmakers for Urging Service Members to Refuse Unlawful Orders, Progressive Analilia Mejia Wins House Democratic Primary in New Jersey

A new ProPublica investigation reveals new details about a sprawling ICE detention complex where families describe horrific conditions inside, such as being served contaminated food, with children and parents at times finding worms in their meals. Lights are reportedly left on for 24 hours a day. South Texas Family Residential Center, in the town of Dilley a few dozen miles from the southern border with Mexico, detains an estimated 3,500 people, more than half of them children. I have never felt so much fear to go to a place as I feel here. ... Once I go back to Honduras, a lot of dangerous things could happen to my mom and I," a 14-year-old detained at Dilley, Ariana Velasquez, told ProPublica. There are also mounting reports of psychological abuse by guards, some of whom have allegedly threatened families with separation. Many of the children who are now being sent there are being arrested by ICE around the country, and some of them, like Ariana, have been living [in the U.S.] for years," says Mica Rosenberg, investigative reporter at ProPublica.

Senate Democrats have reportedly begun tentative negotiations with the White House just days before funding for the Homeland Security Department is set to expire at midnight on Friday, threatening another partial government shutdown. Joaquin Castro, a Democratic congressmember from Texas, visited the family immigration detention center in Dilley where 5-year-old Liam Ramos was held. Kids have been traumatized by the experience," says Castro.

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are accusing the Justice Department of covering up the names of co-conspirators of the deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein as fallout from the Epstein files grows across the globe. Millions of pages remain unreleased. As many prominent U.S. figures evade accountability following mentions in the Epstein files, a number of European figures have resigned for their relationships with Epstein. The most extraordinary and worrying thing of what is going on in the United States is the scale of normalization that is happening, in which the press is absolutely a structural part of this," says Carole Cadwalladr, award-winning investigative journalist. I have been shocked - deeply, deeply shocked - by the absence of headlines."

Pentagon Says It Killed 2, Leaving 1 Survivor, in Attack on Boat in Eastern Pacific, Airlines Suspend Flights as Cuba Runs Out of Jet Fuel Amid U.S. Oil Blockade, Israel's Security Cabinet Expands Control Over Illegal West Bank Settlements, Israel's Latest Gaza Ceasefire Violations Leave 7 Palestinians Dead, Thousands Protest as Israeli President Isaac Herzog Visits Sydney, Australia, Ghislaine Maxwell Pleads the Fifth in Deposition to House Oversight Committee, 53 Are Dead or Missing After Boat Carrying Migrants Sinks Off Libyan Coast, Federal Court Strikes Down California Law to Unmask Federal Agents, Family Demands Answers After Leqaa Kordia Is Hospitalized in ICE Detention, Immigration Judge Rejects Trump Admin's Efforts to Deport Tufts University Student Rumeysa Ozturk, WSJ: Trump Admin Planning to Repeal Obama-Era Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Finding", Nurses at Mount Sinai and Montefiore Reach Tentative Deals on New Contracts, San Francisco Public School Teachers Striking for Salary Increases and Family Health Benefits

The partial reopening of Gaza's southern Rafah crossing with Egypt has been marked by chaos and severe restrictions imposed by Israel, as tens of thousands of Palestinians continue to wait for medical evacuation to receive urgent care outside the Gaza Strip. According to U.N. data, only 36 Palestinians in need of medical treatment were allowed to leave Gaza during the first four days of the crossing's reopening. Palestinians permitted to reenter Gaza have also reported abuse and hourslong interrogations. This comes amid growing skepticism over the implementation of the second phase of the Trump-brokered ceasefire, which Israel has repeatedly violated with near-daily attacks across Gaza since the truce took effect in October.No one inside Gaza is calling this a ceasefire," says Arwa Damon, former CNN correspondent and the founder of INARA, a nonprofit organization that supports children impacted by war. She says ongoing Israeli restrictions on medical evacuation are essentially a death sentence for many people, including children. They are either going to end up with permanent injury or they are going to die."

With the 2026 Winter Olympics underway in Italy, we speak with writer and academic Jules Boykoff, author of six books about the Olympics, who says Milan is hosting the Games despite widespread public opposition from locals. Boykoff says that while the Olympics have attempted in recent years to institute some cosmetic" reforms, they don't get at the core elements that really plague the Olympic Games, and that's overspending, that's the intensification of militarized policing, that's greenwashing, that's corruption, that's the displacement of local populations."Boykoff's recent piece for The Nation, co-authored with Dave Zirin, is headlined Get Ready for This Year's Undemocratic, Debt-Ridden, and Mobster-Infused Winter Olympics."

President Donald Trump is refusing to apologize for sharing a racist video on social media that depicts former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama as apes. The video remained available on Trump's Truth Social page for 12 hours before it was deleted around noon on Friday. It prompted rare criticism from members of his own party, including South Carolina's Tim Scott, the Senate's only Black Republican, who called it the most racist thing" he had seen from the White House.This is a disgusting and despicable display of racism from President Trump," says Wisdom Cole, senior national director of advocacy for the NAACP. Instead of unifying the nation and celebrating the achievements of Black America ... he chooses to continue to perpetuate bigotry."

We speak with Aliya Rahman, a U.S. citizen who was violently dragged from her car by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis last month and detained at the Whipple Federal Building, which has become the epicenter of the government's immigration crackdown in the city. Rahman says she repeatedly told agents she was disabled and had a brain injury, but they ignored her pleas for medical attention or other accommodation. I was taken out of that place unconscious," says Rahman, who describes lasting injuries and trauma from her detention. Rahman was not charged with any crime. What I saw in that detention center was truly horrific."We also speak with attorney Alexa Van Brunt, director of the Illinois office of the MacArthur Justice Center, who says victims of ICE violence like Rahman can sue the federal government for violating their rights, but they cannot sue the officers in their individual capacity."

At Least 50 People Arrested in Minneapolis While Marking One Month Since Renee Good's Killing, Mexican Immigrant Whose Skull Was Broken During His Arrest by ICE Speaks Out, More Than 1,000 Google Workers Call On Company to Cancel Contracts with ICE and CBP, Federal Judge Puts Temporary Hold on Data Sharing Between IRS, Social Security Administration and ICE, Trump Refuses to Apologize for Publishing a Racist Video Depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as Apes, DOJ to Allow Congress Unredacted Access to Epstein Files, Israeli Security Cabinet Approves New Rules to Tighten Control Over Occupied West Bank, Iran Says It's Willing to Limit Uranium Enrichment for Sanctions Relief, Hong Kong Court Sentences Media Mogul Jimmy Lai to 20 Years in Prison, Drone Attack by Paramilitary Group RSF Kills at Least 24 People in Sudan, Federal Judge Orders Trump Admin to Unfreeze $16 Billion in Funds for New York Tunnel Project, U.S. Vice President Vance Booed at Opening Ceremony of Winter Olympics, Bad Bunny Makes History as First Artist to Perform Super Bowl Halftime Show in Spanish

We host a debate between two former officials at the human rights organization Human Rights Watch. Omar Shakir resigned this week after more than a decade as the organization's Israel and Palestine director, over a report on the Palestinian right of return that he says was blocked from publication for ideological reasons. I've lost faith in our new leadership's fidelity to the integrity of what we do best, which is to publish the facts that we document and consistently apply the law," says Shakir. Yet HRW's former executive director Kenneth Roth says the report was utterly unpublishable" and questions the legal basis of the unpublished report's claim that Israel's denial of Palestinians' right of return is a crime against humanity. Some Palestinian refugees may have this great suffering required for it to be a crime against humanity, but a lot of them clearly don't," he states. Shakir calls Roth's objections hypocritical in light of similar HRW claims about the rights of Rohingya and Chagos Island refugees. The right of return remains this third rail even among progressive human rights institutions," he says.

In the wake of deadly mass protests that have shaken the ruling Iranian government, and with U.S. leaders publicly weighing the idea of military intervention and potential regime change in Iran, American and Iranian officials are beginning renewed talks over Iran's nuclear program today. We speak to two guests, reporter Nilo Tabrizy and scholar Arang Keshavarzian, about the very strange and contradictory situation" facing the country. For both the Iranian state, but more importantly for Iranian people, it's very unclear what all of this portends, especially since it doesn't seem like these negotiations will go beyond the question of the nuclear program," says Keshavarzian.

The Washington Post has laid off more than 300 journalists, dismantling its sports, local news and international coverage. Everybody is grieving, and it's a loss for our readers," says Nilo Tabrizy, one of the paper's recently laid-off staff, who describes a robotic" meeting announcing the cuts. They didn't have the dignity to look us in the eye." The shocking staff culling has been widely attributed to the paper's leadership under Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who bought the nearly 150-year-old institution in 2013. Karen Attiah, the former global opinion editor at the Post, was hired soon after Bezos's arrival. She recounts how the arrival of a billionaire backer initially revitalized the paper with resources and creative freedom, before souring over the next decade. We thought [he] shared the same values that we had," says Attiah, who was fired from the Post last fall over comments she made about the death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Journalism deserves better than a billionaire owner who decides that partying in Europe is more important than people's lives."

The September 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center in New York City was a major polluting event. Debris from the collapse of the buildings spread toxic substances, including asbestos, lead, mercury and more, throughout the disaster zone. As New York City leaders issue new calls for the release of files detailing the extent of this pollution, we revisit the reporting of Democracy Now! co-host Juan Gonzalez, the author of Fallout: The Environmental Consequences of the World Trade Center Collapse. What I tried to warn about in the series of articles that I wrote about the dangers, the health dangers, in the future for people who were living in or working at ground zero have proven to be true," he says about his reporting on political leaders' early denials of post-9/11 health risks. More people have died as a result of illnesses contracted after the collapse of the World Trade Center than died on that day."

DHS Funding Is Set to Lapse as Top Senate Republican Rejects Restrictions on Immigration Agents, Protesters from New York to Milan Decry Trump's Immigration Crackdown, U.K. Opposition Parties Call for Vote of No Confidence in PM Starmer over Epstein-Linked Ambassador, Brad Karp, Chair of Paul Weiss Law Firm, Resigns over Ties to Jeffrey Epstein, Global Sumud Flotilla Plans Largest Humanitarian Mission Yet to Gaza, Cuban President Open to Talks with U.S. Amid Warnings of Humanitarian Collapse" Due to Oil Blockade, Sudan's RSF Bombs Hospital as Famine Spreads in Darfur, Nigerian Army Deploys to Kwara State After Massacre Leaves 170 Dead, Bombing at Islamabad Mosque Kills 31 and Injures Scores, U.S. Economy Shed 108,435 Jobs in January, Worst Month Since 2009 Recession

French prosecutors have asked Elon Musk to appear for questioning following a police raid on the offices of the social media network X in Paris. The French probe comes on the heels of a U.K. investigation into Musk's AI tool Grok over its potential to produce harmful sexualized image and video content." Last month, the European Union also launched an investigation into sexual deepfakes created by Grok. It's a part of a kind of a pushback that we're seeing now against Musk that's probably more forceful than anything we've seen to date," says Quinn Slobodian, professor of international history at Boston University and author of the upcoming book Muskism: A Guide for the Perplexed.

U.S. citizens who have had violent encounters with federal immigration agents deployed in cities across the U.S. testified before Congress on Tuesday. Amid harrowing testimony by three victims and the brothers of Renee Good, congressional Democrats offered apologies and promises of accountability. Not a single Republican lawmaker showed up to the hearing.Renee Good's brothers Brent and Luke Ganger both testified at the hearing, with Brent Ganger calling Good unapologetically hopeful."Marimar Martinez was shot multiple times by Border Patrol agents. The mental scars will always be there as a reminder of the time my own government attempted to execute me - and when they failed, they chose to vilify me," Martinez said.Daniel Rascon described how federal immigration agents pointed rifles at him and shot at his car. They shattered the windows, and in that moment the whole world felt like it was the size of the inside of our pickup, and we were sitting in harm's way with nothing to do but record the horrifying experience," he said.Aliya Rahman was stopped by federal agents and violently pulled from her vehicle - despite telling the agents that she is disabled and has a traumatic brain injury. I now cannot lift my arms normally," said Rahman. I was never asked for ID, never told I was under arrest, never read my rights and never charged with a crime."

We continue our conversation with Congressmember Ro Khanna, who urges Democrats to demand legislation that reins in President Trump's anti-immigration raids ahead of the congressional vote on the spending bill. Khanna says the U.S. should tear down ICE," replacing it with a new agency that has oversight with human rights to enforce immigration law."He also comments on Trump's multimillion-dollar cryptocurrency deal with the United Arab Emirates. We really need a new moral vision in this country. I mean, the decline in ethics and transparency has eroded public trust," Khanna says.

Democratic Congressmember Ro Khanna has called for Congress to investigate associates of Jeffrey Epstein named in the files and for the full release of the remaining documents. This comes as Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the review of Epstein files is over and that no further prosecutions are expected. Blanche, who was formerly President Trump's personal lawyer, told Fox News that it isn't a crime to party with Mr. Epstein."Meanwhile, Epstein survivors have criticized the Department of Justice for failing to redact personal information, including some of their identities, as well as email addresses and even nude photos. They were cavalier, at best, when it comes to the survivors, and they took great lengths to protect some of the rich and powerful people who actually committed the crimes and morally heinous acts," Khanna tells Democracy Now!

Minnesota Officials Demand All Federal Agents Leave as Trump Administration Announces Drawdown, 10-Year-Old Girl Seized by Federal Agents in Minnesota Freed from Texas ICE Jail, ACLU Calls for U.N. Probe into Trump's Immigration Crackdown over Human Rights Abuses, Have ICE Surround the Polls": Steve Bannon Adds to Fears Trump Will Disrupt Midterm Elections, Supreme Court Clears Congressional Map Gerrymandered to Benefit California Democrats, Palestinians Returning to Gaza Through Rafah Crossing Report Severe Restrictions by Israel, Chuck Schumer Defends U.S. Arming Israel as Trump Admin Approves $6.7 Billion Weapons Sale, Six Palestine Action Protesters Found Not Guilty of Aggravated Burglary, Nuclear Arms Control Treaty Between U.S. and Russia Expires, Drop Site News: U.S. Military Officials Informed Middle East Ally That Trump Could Soon Attack Iran, WSJ: Abu Dhabi Royal Purchased 49% Stake in Trump Family's Cryptocurrency Firm, Washington Post Lays Off More Than 300 Journalists, Human Rights Watch: Three-Quarters of the World's Population Living Under Autocracy"

After several months of rising tension between them, Colombian President Gustavo Petro sat down with U.S. President Donald Trump in a closed-door meeting that lasted approximately two hours at the White House on Tuesday. The two leaders have exchanged threats and insults since Trump returned to office in 2025, with Petro harshly criticizing the U.S. bombing of boats at sea and for threatening the sovereignty of countries in Latin America. Both leaders took a much more conciliatory tone after their meeting, with Petro sharing a photo of them shaking hands alongside a handwritten note from Trump calling it an honor" and adding, I love Colombia."Colombian Senator Clara Lopez Obregon, speaking to Democracy Now! from Bogota, says the White House meeting was an important repositioning" of the relationship, and cautions that the region needs a more coordinated response to coercion" from the U.S. Latin America, unfortunately, has been unable to structure meaningful and permanent instruments of collective action, so each country has to negotiate on its own from a position of weakness."

As the last major nuclear arms treaty between the United States and Russia expires this week, we speak with arms control expert Dr. Ira Helfand, a steering committee member of Back from the Brink, a national coalition organizing communities across the United States to call for the abolition of nuclear weapons. Helfand is a longtime member of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, or ICAN, which received the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize. He is also the immediate past president of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, awarded the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize, and a co-founder of Physicians for Social Responsibility.We are in a very, very dangerous moment," says Helfand, who urges major powers to reduce their nuclear arsenals rather than potentially starting a new arms race. Strength and safety are not the same thing. ... If you allow these weapons to continue to exist, it is not a question of if we have a nuclear war - it's just a question of when."

President Donald Trump has called to nationalize" voting in the United States, alarming state leaders who oversee the process, as well as legal experts who say his takeover demand violates the Constitution. This comes as he continues to falsely claim he won the 2020 election, with Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard overseeing an FBI raid last week to seize ballot boxes and other voting records in Fulton County, Georgia.Gabbard, as spy chief, has no statutory authority to be involved in a domestic election investigation," says David Becker, director of the Center for Election Innovation & Research. He says that since the failed effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election, an ecosystem of grift" has grown around Trump that profits from continuing to spread election denial even as courts have repeatedly thrown out their claims.

As President Trump suggests the federal government should nationalize" and take over the elections process from the states, we speak with Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes. He is the former county recorder for Maricopa County, Arizona, and oversaw elections there in 2020. The Justice Department has sued Arizona and over 20 other states for their full voter registration lists. No means no," Fontes says in response to the Trump administration's encroachment on state authority. We should not be handing over any of our personal identifying information to the president. Not only should we not be doing it, but it's against the law for me to fulfill the request from the Department of Justice."

Trump Doubles Down on Calls for GOP to Nationalize" Voting in the U.S., Renee Good's Brothers Urge Congress to Restrain Federal Immigration Crackdown, New York Attorney General James Announces Legal Observers to Document Federal Immigration Raids, Trump Signs Consolidated Funding Bill, Ending Partial Government Shutdown, Colombian President Gustavo Petro Meets with Trump at the White House, U.S. Military Announces It Shot Down Iranian Drone in the Arabian Sea, Israeli Airstrikes Kill at Least 21 Palestinians in Gaza, Trump Insults CNN Reporter Kaitlan Collins for Not Smiling as She Asked About Epstein Survivors, Hearst Magazines Union Stages Walkout Calling for a Fair Contract

ProPublica has identified the two Border Patrol agents who shot Alex Pretti, the Minneapolis man killed January 24 while observing immigration enforcement in the city. The outlet says the agents are Jesus Ochoa, 43, and Raymundo Gutierrez, 35. This is in the public interest," says reporter J. David McSwane. This country has a tradition and norm of being able to identify law enforcement officers, both for their safety and the safety of the public."

Activists in Maine are resisting ICE immigration raids in Portland and Lewiston that the Trump administration dubbed Operation Catch of the Day." The immigrant community in Maine has grown in recent years, with an influx of asylum seekers and Somali immigrants in particular. As a small state, community means a lot," says Mufalo Chitam, executive director of the Maine Immigrants' Rights Coalition, adding that her organization has received thousands of phone calls to their immigrant support hotline in recent weeks.