Democracy Now!

In an effort to discourage Russia’s increasing military presence at the border with Ukraine, the U.S. has threatened to impose sanctions if Russian President Vladimir Putin orders an invasion. We host a debate between two foreign policy thinkers on whether sanctions could avert war — or make it more likely. The current sanctions bill proposed by Congress rushes to punish Russia in a way that would be harmful to diplomacy and could have disastrous humanitarian impacts on Russian civilians, warns Marcus Stanley, advocacy director of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. Meanwhile, George Lopez, professor emeritus at the University of Notre Dame’s Kroc Institute, says sanctions can act as an effective deterrent to Russian aggression.

Heads of State Hold More Talks as U.S. Threatens Sweeping Sanctions Amid Russia-Ukraine Tensions, NY Drops Indoor Mask Mandate; Pfizer Projects Over $50 Billion in Revenue from COVID Treatments, Canadian Truckers Shut Down Bridge Linking to U.S. as “Freedom Convoy” Grows, Israeli Soldiers Shoot Dead 3 Palestinians in West Bank City of Nablus, Millions in Horn of Africa Face Severe Hunger After Years of Drought, U.S. Approves $100 Million Military Sale to Taiwan, Outrage Mounts over School Hijab Ban in Indian State of Karnataka, Ex-Pope Benedict Asks for Forgiveness for Church’s Sexual Abuse But Denies Wrongdoing, Rape Survivor Who Sparked #MeToo Mvt. in Australian Gov’t Responds to Prime Minister’s Apology, UCLA to Pay $243M for Abuse by School Gynecologist; Harvard Students File Sexual Harassment Suit, Oakland School Board Votes to Close at Least 7 Schools Despite Community Outcry, Biden Admin Slams Florida’s Anti-LGBTQ School Bill After Gov. DeSantis Signals His Support, Reports: Biden Admin to Ramp Up Immigrant Surveillance, Home Confinement, McConnell Blasts RNC for Downplaying “Violent Insurrection,” Censure of Reps. Cheney and Kinzinger

We go to Oakland, where a group of teachers are on a hunger strike to protest a plan to close and merge over a dozen schools due to under-enrollment. This comes ahead of a critical school board vote Tuesday that will decide whether to proceed with the plan. Activists argue the move threatens to divert resources to charter schools and displace hundreds of Black and Brown children from their neighborhood schools. The hunger strike across multiple different schools has empowered many to speak up against longtime systemic racism, says Moses Omolade, one of the striking workers and a community schools manager at Westlake Middle School. “The school board is attempting to close predominantly Black and Brown schools without engaging with us at all.”

The Minneapolis judge who signed the no-knock warrant that led to the fatal police shooting of 22-year-old Black man Amir Locke also presided over the trial of Derek Chauvin, the ex-police officer convicted for the murder of George Floyd. The trial of three officers facing lesser charges — Tou Thao, Thomas Lane and J. Alexander Kueng — is currently underway after being delayed when one of the defendants tested positive for COVID. The trial will show the importance of accountability even from police who are bystanders to murder, says Benjamin Crump, part of the legal team for George Floyd’s family.

Protests are continuing in Minneapolis after police fatally shot 22-year-old Amir Locke during an early-morning “no-knock” raid on February 2. Bodycam video shows that Locke appeared to be asleep on the couch and wrapped in a blanket when a SWAT team entered the apartment. Locke held a gun he was legally licensed to carry, and was not named in the warrant. Minneapolis interim city Police Chief Amelia Huffman claimed Locke pointed his weapon in the direction of the officers, and suggested he could have been connected to crime, despite not being a suspect in their investigation. “It was very jarring for many people in our community to see Amir painted almost like a criminal,” says attorney and police accountability activist Nekima Levy Armstrong. No-knock warrants, which Mayor Jacob Frey promised to eliminate but never did, “have deadly consequences for innocent Black people like Amir Locke and Breonna Taylor and so many others,” says civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, part of the legal team for Amir Locke’s family. This week the Biden administration responded to the raid saying it may consider a federal policy that limits the use of no-knock warrants.

The African Union is condemning a wave of coups in Africa, where military forces have seized power over the past 18 months in Mali, Chad, Guinea, Sudan and, most recently, in January, Burkina Faso. Several were led by U.S.-trained officers as part of a growing U.S. military presence in the region under the guise of counterterrorism, which is a new imperial influence that supplements the history of French colonialism, says Brittany Meché, assistant professor at Williams College. Some coups have been met with celebration in the streets, signaling armed revolt has become the last resort for people dissatisfied with unresponsive governments. “Between the U.S.-led war on terror and the wider international community’s fixation on 'security,' this is a context that centers, if not privileges, military solutions to political problems,” adds ​​Samar Al-Bulushi, contributing editor for Africa Is a Country.

Biden Vows to Halt Russia-to-Germany Gas Pipeline If Russia Invades Ukraine, Several Democratic-Led States Announce Plans to Roll Back Mask Mandates, Biden Administration Tests Four-Legged Robotic “Dogs” on U.S.-Mexico Border, Costa Rican Presidential Candidates Appear Headed for April Runoff Election, Ex-Honduran President Added to U.S. List of Corrupt Officials over Drug Trafficking, Brazilian Antiracist Protesters Demand Justice for Immigrant Killed over Unpaid Wages, Supreme Court Will Allow Alabama’s GOP-Gerrymandered Congressional Maps to Stand, Jill Biden Confirms Free Community College Won’t Be in Build Back Better Bill, Spotify Comes Under Pressure to Drop Joe Rogan over Past Racist Comments, Big Oil Board Members to Testify to House Subcommittee on the Environment, Todd Gitlin, 1960s Radical Who Critiqued Left-Wing Movements, Dies at 79

Ahead of the Super Bowl this weekend, we speak to former National Football League player Donté Stallworth about racism and anti-Blackness in the league. Last week, former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores sued the NFL, as well as three teams — the Dolphins, Broncos and Giants — for discriminating against him as a Black candidate during his interview process. In his complaint, Flores says the NFL is “racially segregated and is managed much like a plantation,” with wealthy white owners and head coaches at the top while the majority of players who risk bodily injury are Black. “Hopefully at the end of this, Brian Flores can continue his coaching, but also that we can see some changes in the NFL,” says Stallworth.

Human rights advocates say renewed international attention for China during the Winter Olympics should focus on rampant human rights violations occurring across the country. It is incumbent upon the International Olympic Committee to deny countries the bid to host if they violate their citizens’ human rights, says Jules Boykoff, author and former member of the U.S. Olympic soccer team. While many have commended China’s “zero-COVID policy,” the emphasis on keeping infection rates low is distracting from other kinds of suffering, adds Yaqiu Wang, senior China researcher at Human Rights Watch.

The U.S. warns Russia could soon invade Ukraine, as diplomatic talks continue in Moscow and Washington and the U.S. sends more military equipment to Ukraine. We look at the potential of war from the seldom-discussed perspective of citizens of Ukraine. “This Russian brinkmanship is having a devastating effect on the Ukrainian economy, even without an invasion,” says Russian American journalist Masha Gessen, who just returned from reporting in Ukraine. Foreign policy expert Anatol Lieven says that while a Russian invasion of Ukraine remains a possibility, “there clearly is a desire in Moscow to pursue a diplomatic path” to resolve the crisis without war.

Macron Meets with Putin, Scholz with Biden, Amid Ongoing Tensions over Ukraine, U.S. Tops 900,000 COVID Deaths; New Jersey Lifts School Mask Mandate, Turkish President Erdogan and Honduran President Castro Test Positive for COVID-19, Ottawa Declares Emergency as Trucker-Led Anti-Government Protests Spread, Family Demands Justice for Amir Locke, Killed in Minneapolis Police No-Knock Raid, Mexico Raids Tijuana Camp Home to Hundreds of Asylum Seekers Denied U.S. Entry, Iran Talks Show Some Signs of Progress After U.S. Agrees to Waive Certain Sanctions, Tens of Thousands Displaced as Cyclone Batsirai Batters Madagascar, Oil Slick Spotted After Ship Carrying 50,000 Barrels of Crude Explodes Off Nigeria’s Coast, Ecuador High Court Sides with Indigenous Groups in Dispute over Drilling and Mining, Puerto Rican Teachers Protest to Demand Livable Wages and Pensions, RNC Censures Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for Supporting Capitol Insurrection Probe, North Carolina Supreme Court Strikes Down GOP-Gerrymandered Map, Tennessee Black Lives Matter Activist Gets 6 Years in Prison for “Illegal Voting”, Ex-Employee Makes New Sexual Harassment Claims Against Washington Football Team Owner Dan Snyder

We go to Chicago, where protests erupted Thursday over the early release of the white ex-police officer Jason Van Dyke, who was convicted of killing a Black 17-year-old named Laquan McDonald in 2014. Van Dyke — who was the first police officer in the United States to be charged with murder for an on-duty shooting — was sentenced to nearly seven years in prison but was freed early for “good behavior” after only serving a little over three years of his sentence. He was only convicted of murder a year after the shooting, when community activists pushed the Chicago police to release video footage of the incident showing Van Dyke shooting McDonald in the back 16 times as the teen was walking away from the scene. We speak with community organizer Will Calloway, who pushed for the video’s release, and activist Justin Blake, uncle of police shooting victim Jacob Blake, who supports calls for Attorney General Merrick Garland to bring federal civil rights charges against Van Dyke. The two were both arrested and federally charged after joining the protests on Thursday.

We speak with Rep. Jamie Raskin about his wife Sarah Bloom Raskin’s grilling by a Senate panel Thursday over her qualifications to be President Biden’s nominee for the top bank regulator, the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. Republicans argue her past comments on climate change show she could use her position to discourage banks from lending to fossil fuel companies. Raskin said if she was confirmed, she would not be able to take such actions. “What they’re attacking is the idea there can be citizens who are fully aware of climate change and take it seriously, who can serve honorably and lawfully in other capacities,” says Rep. Raskin. “It is just an outrageous attack on her qualifications.” We’re also joined by “Love & the Constitution” director Madeleine Carter, whose film premieres Sunday.

As more details emerge about Donald Trump’s role in the deadly January 6 insurrection, we’re joined by Congressmember Jamie Raskin, who serves on the House select committee investigating the Capitol attack and was the lead manager in Trump’s second impeachment trial. Raskin writes about the insurrection in a new memoir titled “Unthinkable: Trauma, Truth, and the Trials of American Democracy” and is featured in the new MSNBC documentary “Love & the Constitution,” which follows Raskin during Trump’s years in office leading up to the January 6 insurrection and the tragic death of Raskin’s son. “We knew that Trump was doing everything in his power to try to overturn the election,” says Raskin. “We had prepared for everything except for a violent insurrection overrunning the House and the Senate.” We’re also joined by “Love & the Constitution” director Madeleine Carter, whose film premieres Sunday.

Biden Claims ISIS Leader Detonated Bomb That Killed 13 at Site of U.S. Raid, Vladimir Putin Meets Xi Jinping in Beijing as Winter Olympics Open, State Dept. Questioned over Claims Russia Is Plotting “False Flag” Operation in Ukraine, South African Plant Produces mRNA COVID Vaccine Based on Moderna Data, Chicago Ex-Cop Who Murdered Laquan McDonald Released After Just Three Years in Prison, Biden on Crime in New York City: “The Answer Is Not to Defund the Police”, Turkey Blames Greek Border Guards After 12 Asylum Seekers Freeze to Death, Texas Butterfly Conservation Center Shuts Doors Following Right-Wing Harassment , Mexican Auto Workers Form Independent Union After Breaking Off from Corrupt Labor Group, Daniel Ortega’s Critics Convicted as Trials Resume in Nicaragua

The United Nations warns Afghanistan is "hanging by a thread" as millions in the country suffer from hunger and are at risk of freezing to death during the winter as U.S. sanctions have devastated the economy. We get an update on what is now the world’s largest humanitarian crisis from Jan Egeland, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council. He also discusses how the NRC has condemned the deadly attack on a camp for displaced people in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the organization’s humanitarian concerns after the U.S. raid in Syria targeting an ISIS leader that reportedly killed at least 13, including women and children.

As tensions grow between Russia and NATO over a potential invasion of Ukraine, up to 2 million people in eastern Ukraine are at risk of massive displacement and violence if the conflict escalates. We speak with the Norwegian Refugee Council's Jan Egeland, who is on the ground in Ukraine and says a war could roll back nearly a decade of humanitarian progress made in the Ukrainian region. "We need reconciliation, we need peace," says Egeland on the messages he is hearing from Ukrainians.

Despite Russian President Vladimir Putin continuing to deny accusations of a planned invasion of Ukraine, the Biden administration ordered the deployment of 3,000 additional troops to Eastern Europe on Wednesday to supposedly protect Ukraine. Moscow-based historian and political writer Ilya Budraitskis says both Russia and the U.S. are gaining more from the threat of conflict than an actual war, and says Russia has no real strategic gain from a potential invasion.

Amnesty International has become the third major human rights organization to accuse Israel of committing the crime of apartheid against Palestinians in a new report released on Tuesday. Amnesty finds Israel's system of apartheid dates back to the country's founding in 1948 and has materialized in abuses including massive seizures of Palestinian land and property, unlawful killings, forcible transfer, drastic movement restrictions, and the denial of nationality and citizenship to Palestinians — all of which constitute apartheid under international law. We speak with Amnesty International USA's executive director Paul O'Brien, who calls on the United States to "put pressure on the Israeli government to dismantle this system of apartheid," despite both the Biden administration and the Israeli government rejecting the report's findings.

U.S. to Deploy 3,000 Additional Troops to Eastern Europe Amid Tensions over Ukraine, Witnesses Say U.S. Raid That Killed ISIS Leader in Syria Left Civilians Dead, Pentagon Sends Warship and Planes to UAE; Saudi Arabia and Israel Hold Joint Naval Exercises, Militia Attacks DRC Camp for Displaced People, Killing 60, Pfizer Asks FDA to Approve COVID Vaccine for Young Kids Despite Mixed Clinical Trial Results, Ecuadorian Court Rejects Oil Drilling on Indigenous Lands in Amazon Rainforest, Biden Renominates Former Chevron Lawyer First Tapped by Trump to Become Federal Judge, Senate Forges Ahead with Judicial Confirmations, But Sen. Luján's Leave Could Stall Process, Democrats Accuse Food and Energy Companies of "Pandemic Profiteering", Mexican Reporter Thwarts Assassination Attempt Amid Spate of Violent Attacks on Journalists, FBI Says It Tested Pegasus Spyware But Did Not Use It as Part of Any Investigation, FBI Investigating "People of Interest" After Spate of Bomb Threats Against HBCUs, 6,500 North Carolinians Asked to Stay Away from Fertilizer Plant Fire as Risk of Explosion Remains

As a wave of book bans sweeps schools and libraries across the United States, we speak with the celebrated graphic novelist Art Spiegelman on a Tennessee school district's recent vote to ban his Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel "Maus" from its eighth grade language arts curriculum. The novel, which was targeted for profanity and nudity, tells the story of Spiegelman's parents who survived the Holocaust. Spiegelman says the bills put forth by conservatives are just a "displacement of their own anxieties" and warns of taking away "access to understanding a genocidal system built by fascists and authoritarians" for youth and adults alike. He also comments on ABC's recent suspension of Whoopi Goldberg for her comments that the Holocaust was "not about race," saying Goldberg deserves to stay on air in light of her apology.

School districts and Republican-controlled state legislatures are rapidly intensifying efforts to ban certain books about race, colonialism, sex and gender identity from public classrooms and libraries. The wave of book bans — with more than 70 educational gag order bills being introduced in legislatures over the past month alone — have been largely led by right-wing groups funded by Charles Koch. We're joined by author George M. Johnson to talk about their award-winning memoir-manifesto "All Boys Aren't Blue," which deals with homophobia, transphobia and racism and has been targeted for removal in at least 15 states. "Black storytelling has often been banned," says Johnson. "My book is a tool so that Black queer kids and LGBTQ teens can see themselves and read about themselves and learn about themselves." Johnson also says the bans have only given youth more access points to their book and argues the recent bills imposed by conservatives are "all about the fear of losing the control of the minds that they have had in this country since its early foundings."

Putin Accuses U.S. of Using Ukraine as "Tool" to Contain Russia, Pacific Nations, Incl. Tonga, Report First COVID Cases; South Africa, EU Nations Ease Restrictions, Guinea-Bissau's President Says He Survived Coup Attempt, Security Forces Killed in Attack, Two Babies Die in Freezing Syrian Camps for Displaced People, Major Coalition of States, Cities and Advocacy Groups Backs Mexican Effort to Sue U.S. Gunmakers, Native American Tribes Reach Tentative Settlement with J&J, Drug Distributors over Opioid Epidemic, ABC Suspends Whoopi Goldberg from "The View" After Saying Holocaust Was "Not About Race", Ex-NFL Coach Files Discrimination Lawsuit Against Teams, NFL, Over a Dozen HBCUs Receive Bomb Threats on First Day of Black History Month, Shootings at Virginia and Minnesota Schools Claim at Least 3 Lives, Oakland Students Walk Out, Teachers Launch Hunger Strike, to Protest Planned School Closures, D.C. City Council Will Send Checks to Daycare Workers to Make Up for Low Pay, Immigrant Rights Group Rally Support for Bill Expanding Healthcare for Undocumented New Yorkers

To speak about the key role NATO is playing in the Ukraine crisis, we speak with Ludo De Brabander, spokesperson of the peace organization Vrede vzw in Belgium, where NATO is headquartered. De Brabander says NATO has outlived its purpose, and touches on how activists in NATO countries like Belgium are pushing against narratives in the media that war with Russia is necessary.

Germany's new coalition government is refusing to send lethal weapons to Ukraine but has offered to send over 5,000 combat helmets to protect Ukrainian soldiers in case of a Russian attack. The move has been ridiculed as the U.S. and other NATO countries continue to send military support to Ukraine. In response, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has promised his country will stay in tune with European Union and NATO policies toward Russia. To speak more about Germany's stance toward Ukraine, we're joined by German peace activist and executive director of the International Peace Bureau Reiner Braun, who calls on the European Union to establish a more "common politics with Russia" to prevent a war in Central Europe. He also says war in the region could result in use of nuclear weapons that would lead to "the end of Europe."

The United States and Russia sparred on Monday over the crisis in Ukraine at the United Nations Security Council. Meanwhile, U.S. senators are preparing to unveil a bill that would target Russian President Vladimir Putin, Russian banks and other entities with sanctions. To discuss the Ukraine crisis, we're joined by the co-founder of CodePink, Medea Benjamin, who says "we need the voice of the American people" to oppose U.S. escalation and also calls on U.S. progressives to vocalize their opposition to fueling a war in Europe. We also speak with Ukrainian sociologist Volodymyr Ishchenko, who says Ukrainian intelligence does not see a Russian invasion as likely or economically wise for Russia.

U.S. and Russia Clash over Ukraine at U.N. Security Council, China Struggles to Stamp Out COVID Outbreaks Ahead of Beijing Winter Olympics, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Tests Positive for Coronavirus, Pfizer Vaccine Could Be Made Available to U.S. Children Under 5 by March, Trump Sought to Seize Voting Machines in Swing States He Lost to Biden, Atlanta-Area Prosecutor Asks FBI for Protection After Trump Urges Followers to Protest, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Accuses Democrats of "Smears" over Nazi Rallies, Amnesty Report Finds Israel Guilty of "The Crime of Apartheid Against Palestinians", Three Israeli Officers Disciplined over Killing of Omar Assad, Won't Face Criminal Charges, Biden Administration to Expel Some Venezuelan Asylum Seekers to Colombia, Roberto Toledo Assassinated, Becoming Fourth Mexican Journalist Murdered in 2022, Burmese Junta Extends State of Emergency on First Anniversary of Military Coup, Torrential Rains Bring Landslides and Flooding to Brazil and Ecuador, Biden to Reverse Trump's Rollback of Rules on Toxic Mercury Emissions, Court Rules Arizona Utility Violated Antitrust Law by Overcharging Customers with Solar Panels, Starbucks Union Organizing Spreads to 54 Stores in 19 States, Single-Payer Healthcare Bill Dies in California Assembly Despite Democratic Supermajority, Federal Judge Rejects Plea Deal Between Prosecutors and Ahmaud Arbery's Murderers

We speak with Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors about her new book, "An Abolitionist's Handbook," which lays out her journey toward abolition and 12 principles activists can follow to practice abolition, which she describes as the elimination of police, prisons, jails, surveillance and the current court system. "We have to imagine what we would do with these dollars, with these budgets, and they have to really be an imagination that's grounded in care," says Cullors. She also speaks about her community organizing in Los Angeles, which fought $3.5 billion worth of jail expansion, and her multi-year contract with Warner Bros. Television Group to create original storytelling content around abolition.

Jailed 77-year-old Native American activist Leonard Peltier has tested positive for COVID-19 less than a week after describing his prison conditions as a "torture chamber." Peltier was convicted of aiding and abetting the killing of two FBI agents during a shootout on South Dakota's Pine Ridge Reservation in 1975 while a member of the American Indian Movement. He has long maintained his innocence and is considered by Amnesty International as a political prisoner. We speak with his lawyer and former federal judge Kevin Sharp, who says Peltier's case was riddled with misconduct, including witness intimidation and withholding exculpatory evidence. Sharp argues Peltier's health, age and unfair trial make him the perfect candidate for executive clemency. "The legal remedies are no longer available," says Sharp on Peltier's case. "Now it's time for the [Bureau of Prisons] and the president of the United States to fix this and send him home."

U.N. Security Council Meets over Russia-Ukraine Tensions as Ukraine Calls Out Western "Panic", U.N.: 2,000 Children Died Since 2020 After Being Forced into Combat in Yemen, Taliban Killed Dozens of Former Gov't and Allied Forces Workers Since Takeover, Sudanese Security Forces Kill Another Demonstrator as Protests Continue 3 Months After Coup, North Korea Tests Most Powerful Ballistic Missile Since 2017, Pipeline Bursts on Indigenous Land in Ecuadorian Amazon; Thailand Rushes to Contain Coastal Oil Spill, Spotify Adds Advisory to Podcasts About COVID; Joni Mitchell Removes Music from App, Ahmaud Arbery's Family, Lawyers Condemn DOJ's "Back-Room Plea Deal" with Convicted Murderers, Trump Says He'll Pardon Insurrections If Reelected, Claims Pence Had Power to Overturn 2020 Results, Pennsylvania Court Rejects Expanded Mail-In Voting; New York Dems Could Gain 3 House Seats in Redrawn Map, Man Sues After Being Locked Up for 37 Years on Recanted, Bribed Testimony, Former Miss USA and Black Lives Matter Advocate Cheslie Kryst Dies by Suicide

Families of passengers who died in fatal crashes while aboard Boeing 737 MAX jets in Ethiopia and Indonesia are urging the Department of Justice to reopen a Trump-era settlement that allowed the company to evade criminal prosecution. We speak with the father of one of the victims, as well as the director of the new documentary, "Downfall: The Case Against Boeing," which details Boeing's push for profit over safety and is set to air on Netflix February 18. "We ultimately want this agreement reopened so that our input is reflected and it's not a hasty rush job at the end of an administration," says Michael Stumo, father of Ethiopian Airlines crash victim Samya Stumo, who recently met with Attorney General Merrick Garland. Boeing kept the planes running to save money despite internal research showing that their designs had a high probability to cause a crash. "They blamed the pilots, even knowing the system was faulty on this aircraft," says filmmaker Rory Kennedy.

Israeli forces continue to expel Palestinians from their homes in occupied East Jerusalem, a move that the United Nations has described as a possible war crime. We speak to Palestinian poet and activist Mohammed El-Kurd, whose own family is among those facing eviction in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood. Sheikh Jarrah is also where the Salhiyeh family recently gained attention for threatening self-immolation while protesting their eviction and the demolition of their home. The dispossession of Palestinians has left families facing homelessness in the cold of winter. "This is not a unique situation for our neighborhood," says El-Kurd. "It is happening all across colonized Palestine."

We go to Tijuana, Mexico, where a wave of murdered journalists has raised international alarm and prompted nationwide protests. The three most recently murdered are José Luis Gamboa Arenas, Alfonso Margarito Martínez Esquivel and Lourdes Maldonado López. We speak with Jan-Albert Hootsen, Mexico correspondent at the Committee to Protect Journalists, who attended López's funeral on Thursday in Tijuana and says Mexican authorities' investigations and security measures have proven "woefully insufficient." He adds that violence against journalists exploded after the Mexican government launched its U.S.-backed war on drugs. "The United States is a player in this violence, whether it likes it or not."

U.S. Calls for Security Council Meeting on Ukraine as Russia Warns of Nuclear Confrontation, Biden Pledges to Nominate Black Woman to Supreme Court in February, Burkina Faso Coup Leader Paul-Henri Damiba, Who Was Trained by U.S. Military, Gives First Speech, Xiomara Castro Sworn In as First Woman President in Honduras's 200-Year History, Fukushima Nuclear Disaster Survivors Sue over Cancer Diagnoses, 70 Confirmed Dead After Tropical Storm Brings Flooding to Southern Africa, Massive Iceberg Breaks Up in Southern Atlantic, with Unknown Environmental Toll, Federal Judge Cancels Biden Administration's Largest-Ever Offshore Drilling Lease Sale, L.A. City Council Moves to End Oil and Gas Drilling, Pittsburgh Bridge Collapses Hours Before Biden Visits City to Promote Infrastructure Bill, U.S. Coast Guard Suspends Search for Migrant Boat Wreck Victims, 39 People Likely Dead, Oklahoma Executes Donald Grant, the First U.S. Prisoner to Be Put to Death in 2022, Amazon Warehouse Workers in Staten Island Will Vote on Forming a Union, NYC Street Vendors Push for New Laws Protecting Their Rights, 20 Years Ago: George W. Bush Gives "Axis of Evil" Speech a Year Before Illegal Invasion of Iraq

As the Federal Reserve signals it will raise interest rates in March, we talk to Christopher Leonard, author of the new book "The Lords of Easy Money," about how the Federal Reserve broke the American economy. He details the issues with quantitative easing, a radical intervention instituted by the federal government in 2010 to encourage banks and investors to lend more risky debt to combat the recession. "The Fed's policies over the last decades have stoked the world of Wall Street," says Leonard. "It has pumped trillions of dollars into the banking system and thereby inflated these markets for stocks, for bonds. And that drives income inequality."

A 60-year U.S. embargo that prevents U.S.-made products from being exported to Cuba has forced the small island nation to develop its own COVID-19 vaccines and rely on open source designs for life-saving medical equipment such as ventilators. We speak to leading Cuban scientist Dr. Mitchell Valdés-Sosa about how massive mobilization helped produce three original vaccines that have proven highly effective against the coronavirus. "In a moment that the whole world was mobilizing to face this tremendous menace that was killing people around the world, the U.S. administration did not lift any of the 400 sanctions that were slapped on Cuba during the Trump administration plus this decades-long embargo," says Valdés-Sosa, director of the Cuban Center for Neuroscience. "Medicines and vaccines are not a commodity. It's not something to get rich with. It's something to save people's lives."

Liberal Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer is retiring after nearly three decades on the bench, giving President Biden a chance to fulfill a campaign promise to nominate the first Black woman in history to serve on the high court. Those worried that identity politics will hinder the most qualified candidate should consider that 108 of 115 justices since the nation's founding have been white men, says Elie Mystal, justice correspondent for The Nation. Breyer's retirement comes as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell threatened to stall any nominations that Biden put forth later in the year. Breyer leaves "an institution that I think he really idealized as beyond politics, and at the same time, it's so, so clear that politics drove him out right now," says Dahlia Lithwick, senior editor and senior legal correspondent for Slate, who has interviewed Breyer.

Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer to Retire, Handing Biden Chance to Nominate Replacement, U.S. and NATO Offer No Concessions to Russia in Standoff over Ukraine, U.S. Approves $2.5 Billion Arms Sale to Egypt Despite Human Rights Abuses, House Democrats Demand End to U.S. Servicing of Saudi Warplanes Used in War Crimes, 180 Killed as U.S.-Backed Forces Retake Syrian Prison Where Children Are Imprisoned, U.N. Renews Calls to Free Up Aid for Millions of Afghans Facing Starvation, Extreme Poverty, Global COVID Cases Break New Record as COVAX Falls Short on Vaccine Delivery Goal, Spotify Sides with Joe Rogan in Vaccine Misinformation Spat, Will Remove Neil Young Songs, San Jose Will Be the First U.S. City to Mandate Gun Owner Insurance, Interior Department Cancels Mining Leases Near Minnesota Boundary Waters, Texas Students Fire Back After School Board Moves to Ban Books on Social Inequality

The documentary "Takeover," which chronicles the radical actions of the Young Lords, was recently shortlisted for an Academy Award. In 1970, the Puerto Rican collective took over a condemned hospital in the South Bronx to demand the construction of a new hospital, free healthcare for all, and more. "I'm still amazed there's been so much interest in what we did as youngsters more than 50 years ago," says Democracy Now! co-host and Young Lords founding member Juan González. "I hope that some of the lessons of what we did right and what we did wrong will resonate with younger people these days."

We speak to award-winning journalist Jonathan Katz about his new book "Gangsters of Capitalism: Smedley Butler, the Marines, and the Making and Breaking of America's Empire." The book follows the life of the Marines officer Smedley Butler and the trail of U.S. imperialism from Cuba and the Philippines to Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and Panama. The book also describes an effort by banking and business leaders to topple Franklin D. Roosevelt's government in 1934 in order to establish a fascist dictatorship. The plot was exposed by Butler, who famously declared, "War is a racket." The far-right conspiracy to overthrow liberal democracy has historical parallels to the recent January 6 insurrection, says Katz.

As new cases of the highly infectious Omicron variant continue to climb in undervaccinated parts of the world, we speak to the head of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about how vaccine inequity could lead to even more variants of the coronavirus. Dr. John Nkengasong says only 10% of the population is fully immunized in Africa, a continent of 1.3 billion people, and millions of vaccines donated by COVAX went unused because of their short shelf life. Meanwhile, several countries in Africa have begun manufacturing their own vaccines. "We have to shift our focus to vaccinating — that is, making sure that vaccines that are arriving at the airport actually get into the arm of the people," says Dr. Nkengasong.

U.S. Says Personal Sanctions Against Putin Possible If Russia Invades Ukraine, Aid Ship to Tonga Reports 23 COVID Cases; China Tries to Contain Omicron Ahead of Olympics, Biden Admin Pulls Business Vaccine Requirement; Judge Stays Decision Blocking NY Indoor Mask Mandate, Pfizer Starts Testing Omicron Vaccine; FDA Halts Use of 2 Antibody Therapies , Leonard Peltier Calls Prison Conditions "Torture" Amid COVID Lockdowns and Neglect, Colombian Indigenous Leader José Albeiro Camayo Killed by Armed Group, Pataxó Protesters in Brazil Launch Blockade, Demand Justice 3 Years After Deadly Vale Dam Disaster, Seven Bangladeshi Refugees Die En Route to Italy, Dozens of Migrants Feared Dead After Boat Capsized Off Florida Coast, Florida Bill Backed by Utility Co. Could Wreck State's Solar Industry, Florida Republicans Push Homophobic Bill Banning Discussion of LGBTQ Issues in Schools, Prosecutors Accuse 3 Ex-Officers of Failing to Intervene During George Floyd's Murder, At Least 29 House Dems Will Not Run for Reelection; Alabama Ordered to Redraw Racist Voting Map

In memory of Thich Nhat Hanh, the world-renowned Buddhist monk, antiwar activist, poet and teacher who died Saturday, we reair a speech Hanh gave at Riverside Church in New York in 2001. Shortly after the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, Hanh urged the audience to embrace peace in the face of anger, citing his experience of witnessing suffering on both sides during the war in his native Vietnam. "The real enemy of man is not man," says Hanh. "It is ignorance, discrimination, fear, craving and violence." We also speak with Hanh's longtime friend and fellow peace activist, Father John Dear, former director of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, the organization that first brought Thich Nhat Hanh to the United States in the 1960s. "He was really an embodiment of peace and gentleness and nonviolence," says Dear.

As the Biden administration reviews U.S. nuclear weapons policy, over 60 advocacy groups, including Veterans for Peace and CodePink, recently issued a joint statement calling for the elimination of hundreds of U.S. intercontinental ballistic missiles. "The notion is if you get rid of those ICBMs, you reduce the risk of accidental nuclear war, and it's a first step towards more rational nuclear policy," says William Hartung, research fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. We also speak with Father John Dear, longtime peace activist and Catholic priest who led a campaign for 15 years in New Mexico calling for the disarmament of the national laboratories at Los Alamos. Dear was an adviser to Archbishop John Wester of Santa Fe, New Mexico, on his new pastoral letter titled "Toward Nuclear Disarmament" that calls for the abolition of nuclear weapons arsenals around the globe. The letter is part of a sea change in the Catholic Church under Pope Francis, which condemns "the mere possession of these weapons" as "totally immoral," says Dear.

The U.S. has prepared some 8,500 troops to deploy to Eastern Europe in the event that Russia invades Ukraine, which Russian President Vladimir Putin denies is his goal. On Wednesday, officials from Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany are scheduled to meet in Paris to negotiate resolving the crisis. "The security of Europe ought to be principally Europe's business," says Anatol Lieven, senior fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. "This whole notion of great power competition, which is embedded in the National Defense Strategy, has been used as kind of the magic key to keep Pentagon spending at near-records levels," says national security expert William Hartung, research fellow at the Quincy Institute.

Pentagon Puts 8,500 Troops on High Alert as U.S. Warns Russia Is Preparing Ukraine Invasion, Judge Strikes Down New York Mask Mandate, Sarah Palin Tests Positive for Coronavirus After Flaunting NYC Vaccination Requirement, African Union and United Nations Condemn Burkina Faso Military Coup, Guatemala Convicts Ex-Soldiers of Raping Indigenous Women in 1980s, Lourdes Maldonado López Murdered in Tijuana, Third Journalist Killed in Mexico This Month, Turkish Journalist Sedef Kabas Detained for "Insulting" President Erdogan, Police Will Investigate Breaches of COVID-19 Lockdowns at Boris Johnson's Official Residence, Judge OKs Special Grand Jury to Probe Trump's Efforts to Overturn Election, Virginia Attorney General Fires January 6 Investigator from University Position, Supreme Court to Hear Challenges to Affirmative Action in College Admissions, King Soopers Grocery Workers in Colorado Approve New Contract, Ending Strike, States' Lawsuit Accuses Google of "Deceptive" Location Tracking, Iowa Prosecutors Drop Charges Against Matt Johnson, Who Exposed Cruel Treatment of Pigs

A British judge has ruled that political dissident and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange can appeal his extradition to the United States. The ruling dealt a major blow to the Biden administration's efforts to put Assange on trial for espionage charges. Assange has spent over 1,000 days locked up in the Belmarsh high-security prison in London, where he recently suffered a mini-stroke. The "politically driven" prosecution of Assange is punishing "a publisher for doing his work, for having published evidence of U.S. crimes," says Stella Moris, Assange's fiancée. "For every win that we get, Julian's situation doesn't change. And this is punishment through process."

As conservative justices on the Supreme Court threaten to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortions nationwide, we speak to the filmmakers and a subject of "The Janes" about life before Roe, when a collective of women in Chicago built an underground service for women seeking an abortion. Heather Booth, who founded the Jane Collective as a college student, speaks about adopting lessons from the civil rights movement and antiwar sentiments of the time. "You have to stand up to illegitimate authority," says Booth. The directors of the film, Emma Pildes and Tia Lessin, speak about their motivation to encourage others to take action in the face of human rights under threat.

We go to Nuku'alofa, capital of Tonga, to speak with Tongan journalist Marian Kupu on the humanitarian relief efforts underway after an undersea volcano erupted on January 14, blanketing the South Pacific island nation with ash and triggering a tsunami. Kupu was able to flee the worst effects of the initial eruption by driving to higher ground but now reports lingering aftereffects such as water tanks polluted by ash. Although the islands have prepared for hurricanes, climate change has exacerbated a newly volatile environment. "We have never been prepared for volcanic eruptions," says Kupu. "This is something really new for us."

World-renowned Buddhist monk, poet, teacher and antiwar activist Thich Nhat Hanh has died in his native Vietnam at the age of 95. He was exiled from Vietnam for decades beginning in the 1960s after he spoke out publicly against the war. In 1966, he traveled to the United States and met with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., helping to persuade King to speak out against the U.S. War on Vietnam. King went on to nominate Thich Nhat Hanh for a Nobel Peace Prize a year later, calling him an "apostle of peace and nonviolence."