Democracy Now!

NATO, U.S. Express Doubt over Russian Troop Pullback as Putin, Biden Say Diplomatic Path Still Open, Sandy Hook Families Reach Historic $73 Million Deal with Remington, Prince Andrew Settles Sexual Assault Lawsuit with Survivor Virginia Giuffre, Ex-Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández Arrested for Drug Trafficking, U.N.: Pollution Causes More Premature Deaths Than COVID-19, U.S. Coastal Sea Levels Will Rise Another Foot by Mid-Century, Climate Change-Fueled “Megadrought” in Western U.S. Worst in 12 Centuries, Flooding and Mudslides Kill at Least 34 People in Petrópolis, Brazil, Israeli Forces Kill 2 Palestinian Teenagers in West Bank; Activists Condemn U.S. Delegation to Israel, Attacks in Mogadishu Kill at Least 5 People; U.N. Sounds Alarm on Hunger Crisis for Somali Children, Senate Confirms Robert Califf to Head FDA; Senate GOP Delays Confirmations for Fed Nominees, Jan. 6 Cmte. Issues Subpoenas in False Elector Plot; WH Orders Handover of Trump Visitor Logs

Two competitive congressional races are heating up in Texas. Former labor organizer Greg Casar and immigrant human rights lawyer Jessica Cisneros have both gained national endorsements from progressive lawmakers like New York Congressmember Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who traveled to the state to campaign for them this past weekend. “We have a real opportunity for big progressive change here in the heart of the state where we’ve seen so many oppressive laws be pushed through the pandemic,” says Casar, who is running in Texas’s 35th Congressional District, which covers eastern Austin and eastern San Antonio.

Early voting in the first 2022 primary elections kicked off Monday in Texas with extreme new anti-voter laws in effect. The Republican-enacted restrictions have already caused Texas voters issues, with some 40% of ballots in Houston rejected. We speak with Anthony Gutierrez, executive director of Common Cause Texas, one of 30 civil rights groups who sent a letter to the Texas secretary of state on Monday calling for stronger action to ensure voters have access to the ballot leading up to the state’s March 1 primary. He describes how the laws are also facilitating right-wing efforts to intimidate Black and Brown voters at the polls.

President Biden is facing mounting criticism for seizing $7 billion of Afghanistan’s federal reserves frozen in the United States. Biden is giving half of the money to families of September 11 victims while Afghanistan faces a humanitarian catastrophe. We speak to two of the founders of a new campaign called Unfreeze Afghanistan, a women-led initiative to lift sanctions and other economic restrictions on Afghanistan, and a woman who lost her son in the World Trade Center attack, who says the money should stay in Afghanistan. “The suffering of the Afghan people at the hands of the United States and its allies is reprehensible. This is adding insult to injury,” says Phyllis Rodriguez, a member of September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, whose son Greg was killed in the World Trade Center attack and who says 9/11 families want “information, not remuneration.” Afghan American activist Masuda Sultan says continued lack of access to money and basic services in Afghanistan will inspire a new wave of underground terrorism in the country, “endangering the entire world.” Biden’s order is gravely hypocritical, adds Medea Benjamin, critiquing the administration for “putting themselves forward as these great saviors of Afghanistan” for releasing Afghan-owned assets as “aid” while taking no punitive action against Saudi Arabia, whose citizens led the 9/11 attack.

Russia has announced plans to pull back some troops from the Ukrainian border in a possible effort to deescalate the standoff over Ukraine but still intends to continue with military exercises in Belarus and the Black Sea. This comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky indicated on Monday the country may drop its bid to join NATO and the U.S. continues to urge U.S. citizens to leave Ukraine, warning a Russian invasion could come as soon as Wednesday. We speak with Medea Benjamin, co-founder of CodePink, who says the U.S. is continuing to escalate the crisis by directing U.S. funds to weapons and loans for Ukraine. “It seems the United States is more anxious for Russia to invade than Russia is to invade,” says Benjamin.

Russia Withdraws Some Troops from Ukraine Border, Says It’s Open to More Diplomacy, California Will Keep Mask Mandate for Schools as Universal Mask Mandate Ends, Canadian PM Invokes Emergency Powers as Police Say Anti-Vaccine Protesters Plotted Violence, Thousands of Nurses Go on Strike as Australia Suffers Its First COVID-19 Surge, Civil Society Groups Demand Moderna Drop Vaccine Patent Filings in South Africa, Sudanese Forces Kill Two More Protesters Demanding End to Military Rule, Israeli PM Meets Bahrain’s Crown Prince in First-of-Its-Kind Visit, Mexican Media Workers Demand End to Impunity for Those Who Murder Journalists, Honduran Police Surround Home of Ex-President as U.S. Requests His Extradition to Face Drug Charges, House Democrats Demand Biden End Policy That’s Deported 1000s to Face Torture, Rape and Murder, “A Day Without Immigrants”: U.S. Protests Demand Immigration Reforms, Accounting Firm Breaks Ties with Trump, Saying Financial Statements Can’t Be Trusted, Judge to Throw Out Sarah Palin’s Libel Lawsuit Against New York Times, Manuel Oliver, Whose Son Joaquin Died in Parkland Massacre Four Years Ago, Arrested in D.C. Protest

A damning new investigation by The Intercept details the climate risks facing incarcerated people in more than 6,500 detention facilities across the country, including wildfires, floods and extreme heat. We feature a 10-minute video report that includes the stories of people behind bars and their families who are fighting for justice, and speak with reporter Alleen Brown, who says the climate crisis, coupled with the deterioration of detention facilities, places the U.S. mass incarceration system at a “crossroads” between being reinvested in or defunded. The report also includes a new database, which Brown hopes “can be a tool for organizers, policymakers, reporters and family members of people who are trapped inside these facilities.”

Valentine’s Day kicks off a campaign by feminist leaders in 70 countries across the world to celebrate One Billion Rising, an initiative by V-Day to end violence against women — cisgender, transgender and gender nonconforming — girls and the planet. ”COVID has ushered in a very strange and perplexing time for women. We are on the frontlines everywhere,” says V-Day founder V (formerly Eve Ensler). The campaign seeks to resist “the broken systems of capitalism and neoliberalism,” as well as the fascist governments upholding these broken systems, says Monique Wilson, global director of One Billion Rising who is based in the Philippines. The campaign repositions “women from being victims to being active agents in protection of their rights,” says Africa director Colani Hlatjwako, who is helping organize community-based protection sites for women and girls in their home country of Eswatini.

High-Level Diplomatic Talks Continue as U.S. Warns Russia Could Invade Ukraine at Any Time, Canadian Police Clear Trucker Convoy from Ambassador Bridge as Protests Spread to More Countries, Pfizer’s Vaccine for Under 5s on Hold; Study Finds Even Mild COVID Cases Up Risk of Heart Disease, Afghan Central Bank, Aid Groups Condemn U.S. Move to Seize and Redirect Billions in Afghan Assets, Honduran Court Orders Release Of Environmental Activists Who Protested Open-Pit Mining Project, Deforestation in Brazilian Amazon Reached Record Levels Last Month, U.S. Judge Restores Protections for Gray Wolves; Australia Declares Koalas an Endangered Species, 15-Year-Old Russian Skater Given OK to Compete After Testing Positive for Banned Substance, Puerto Rican Teachers Get Temporary Pay Raise After Protests; More Workers Join in Labor Demands, 35-Year-Old Christina Yuna Lee Stabbed to Death in New York’s Chinatown, White Father and Son Arrested for Chasing and Shooting at Black Driver D’Monterrio Gibson, Congress Approves Bill to Ban Arbitration Agreements in Sexual Abuse Claims, Connie Hogarth, Who Spent Decades Fighting for Peace and Justice, Dies at 95

This month marks 55 years since the assassination of an NAACP leader. The new documentary “American Reckoning” seeks justice in the cold case of murdered civil rights activist and local NAACP leader Wharlest Jackson Sr. in Natchez, Mississippi. No one was ever charged with his 1967 murder, despite evidence pointing to the involvement of the inner circle of the local Ku Klux Klan. It’s one of many unsolved crimes targeting civil rights activists. “The fact that no one has been indicted for Wharlest’s case or for these other cases shows the limits of the justice system,” says co-director and co-producer Yoruba Richen. Wharlest Jackson Sr.'s daughter, Denise Ford Jackson, recalls how her mother received redacted documents when trying to get to the bottom of her husband's murder. We also speak with Brad Lichtenstein, the film’s co-director.

Comedian Joe Rogan has come under fire for spreading COVID-19 misinformation, using racial slurs and other harmful rhetoric on his Spotify podcast. Musicians such as Neil Young and Joni Mitchell have pulled their music from the platform in protest of his $100 million contract reportedly paid by Spotify, raising questions how responsible audio platforms should be over hateful content. “He’s made it clear that he doesn’t have any intention of changing the lies and hate he spreads on his podcast, and it’s far past time that Spotify came to the plate and actually moderated the content on its platform,” says Alex Paterson, a self-described “Joe Rogan watchdog” and senior researcher for the LGBTQ Program at Media Matters.

WaPo: Trump Took “Top Secret” Documents to Mar-a-Lago Resort, Anti-Vaccine Truckers Block Three Ports of Entry Along U.S.-Canada Border, Biden Urges U.S. Citizens to Leave Ukraine as Russia and NATO Continue Troop Buildup, Biden to Split $7B in Frozen Afghan Assets Between 9/11 Families and Humanitarian Relief, Pace of Civilian Killings in Yemen Has Doubled Since U.N. Disbanded Monitoring Group, Biden Admin Approves Billions in New Arms Deals to Middle East and Indonesia, At Least Six Killed in Mogadishu Blast, Heber López Becomes 5th Journalist to Be Killed in Mexico in 2022 , Historic Rights Trial Brought by Guatemalan Maya Q’eqchi’ Community Gets Underway, Haitian Factory Workers Vow to Keep Up Strike in Face of Violent Crackdown, Cameroonian Asylum Seekers Suffered Torture, Rape After U.S. Deportations, Biden Pushes Plan to Lower Drug Costs as U.S. Customers Grapple with High Inflation, Declassified Letter Reveals Years-Long CIA Mass Domestic Surveillance Program

President Joe Biden had promised to end support for offensive operations by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen and stop all “relevant” arms sales, but the U.S. continues to service Saudi warplanes, and the administration recently approved the sale of $650 million in air-to-air missiles to Saudi Arabia. Congressmember Ro Khanna, one of the most outspoken congressional critics of the war, says the U.S. has the power to stop the fighting. “We could ground the Saudi Air Force to a halt tomorrow if we stopped supplying them with tires and parts,” says Khanna. “Instead, we continue to authorize arms sales to the Saudis.”

Congressmember Ro Khanna chaired a congressional hearing this week that called out fossil fuel companies for failing to meet their pledges to reduce emissions and demanded CEOs of corporations like ExxonMobil confront their climate change denialism and correct their record of contradicting statements. “The goal is to get them to admit that they made mistakes in the past and commit to change going forward,” says Khanna.

We speak with Congressmember Ro Khanna, whose district is in the heart of Silicon Valley, about his new book “Dignity in the Digital Age: Making Tech Work for All of Us.” He argues more federal regulation in the tech industry can secure an equitable society while encouraging innovation. “We need to understand that if you care about social justice and racial justice, that you have to look at the wealth generation gap,” says Khanna.

A major investigation by CNN raises questions about whether U.S. soldiers opened fire on Afghan civilians last August after a massive suicide bomb exploded outside the Kabul International Airport. Compiling hospital records of gunshot wounds, video evidence and eyewitness accounts, CNN’s report appears to directly contradict the Pentagon’s narrative, which said over 180 people were killed in the single blast that ISIS-K claimed responsibility for. We speak to one of the co-authors of the CNN report, Nick Paton Walsh, who says reporters found 19 people “who quite specifically said they saw people shot in front of them or were shot themselves.”

CDC Continues to Recommend Indoor Masking as More States Roll Back COVID Restrictions, GOP Rep. Hal Rogers Apologizes for Telling Black Caucus Chair Rep. Joyce Beatty, “Kiss My Ass”, Russia Opens Joint War Games with Belarus as U.S. Troops Mobilize to Romania and Poland, Jan. 6 Committee Subpoenas Peter Navarro, Who Boasted of Efforts to Overturn 2020 Election, Biden Administration Unveils $5 Billion Plan to Fund Electric Vehicle Charging Stations, Climate Experts Detail Misinformation by Fossil Fuel Cos. as Oil CEOs Refuse to Testify to Congress, Youth Climate Activists Sue Virginia for Violating Their Constitutional Rights, Senate Hearing Takes on U.S. Drone Warfare, Which Has Killed Tens of Thousands of Civilians, 3 People Arrested in Connection with Jan. Assassination of Journalist Lourdes Maldonado López, California Sues Tesla for Discrimination Against Black Employees, Memphis Starbucks Fires Workers Who Organized Union Drive, Alabama Amazon Workers Vote in 2nd Union Election as Amazon Dodges $5 Billion in Taxes, Sens. Sanders and Klobuchar Introduce Bill to Cut Drug Prices in Half

In Mexico, thousands of workers at the country’s largest General Motors plant have won a historic vote to form an independent union, breaking from a tradition of corrupt unions tied to elites who cut deals with corporations to keep wages and benefits low. We go to Guanajuato, Mexico, to speak with historian Javier Bravo about the victory and the passage of critical labor reforms in 2019, which ensure workers can create new unions independent of the will of their employers, says Bravo.

We speak to longtime progressive journalist and 2020 Bernie Sanders adviser David Sirota, who was just nominated for an Academy Award for co-writing the screenplay of the hit Netflix movie “Don’t Look Up” along with the film’s director, Adam McKay. The satire of the fight to have climate change acknowledged, let alone acted upon by global leaders, follows the plight of astronomy professor Dr. Randall Mindy (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) and his graduate student Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence) as they fail to warn the planet of an impending comet that threatens to wipe out human existence. The film shows audiences “how ridiculous and destructive our world has become when it comes to dealing constructively with science,” says Sirota. If corporate media tends to make light of serious issues, the film raises the larger question: “How do we actually make climate science salient in the political discourse?”

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