Democracy Now!

President Joe Biden has signed an executive order repealing the Trump administration's ban on transgender people serving in the U.S. military and ordered the Pentagon to review the files of troops who were forced out because of the ban and to immediately halt discharges of transgender troops now serving. Chase Strangio, deputy director for transgender justice with the ACLU's LGBT & HIV Project, calls it "an incredibly important development," but warns the attack on transgender rights is continuing at the state level, with a raft of new legislation targeting trans people in education, healthcare and more. "We have this significant backlash to the very notion that trans humanity is going to be recognized," says Strangio. "It is truly painful to hear a movement that essentially, at its core, believes that being trans is wrong and should be eradicated."

House Delivers Article of Impeachment to Senate, Triggering Trump's Second Trial, Inspector General to Probe Whether DOJ Officials Worked with Trump to Overturn Election, Dominion Voting Systems Sues Rudy Giuliani for Lying About 2020 Election, President Biden Increases U.S. Vaccination Goal to 150 Million Shots in 100 Days, California's Governor Lifts Stay-at-Home Orders Even as Many ICUs Remain Full, Moderna Prepares Modified COVID-19 Vaccine Booster Amid Concerns over New Variants, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell Drops Demand to Preserve Filibuster, President Biden Reverses Trump's Transgender Military Service Ban, Senate Confirms Janet Yellen as Treasury Secretary, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Backs Tony Blinken for Secretary of State, As Yemenis Protest U.S. Blacklisting of Houthis, Canadians Act to Halt Saudi Arms Sales, Eritrean Soldiers in Ethiopia's Tigray Region Accused of Murder, Looting and Sexual Assault, U.S. Plans Curbs to Oil and Gas Leasing as Satellite Data Show Massive Loss of Earth's Ice Sheets, U.N. Labor Body Says the Pandemic Cost Workers $3.7 Trillion in Lost Wages , Lawmakers Call on President Biden to Commute Death Sentences of Federal Prisoners, New York Times Denies It Fired Editor Lauren Wolfe "Over a Single Tweet" Favorable to Biden, Biden Restores Plan to Feature Abolitionist Harriet Tubman on $20 Bill, Indigenous Authors of "We Are Water Protectors" Win Caldecott Prize

Workers at the Hunts Point Produce Market in New York City have overwhelmingly approved a new three-year contract, ending a week-long strike that captured national attention and galvanized the community behind the essential workers at the Bronx-based business. Some 1,400 members of the Teamsters Local 202 union walked off the job on January 17, demanding a $1 raise and recognition for their work to keep New Yorkers fed during the pandemic, with the Hunts Point Market supplying about 60% of the city's produce. Management had offered a 32-cent raise instead. But after a week on the picket line and widespread support from the community, workers won raises of $1.85 per hour over three years, as well as improved terms for family health benefits. "They were resolved with each other, and they were standing shoulder to shoulder with each other on the basic premise of being treated decently," Daniel Kane, president of Teamsters Local 202, says of the workers' job action. "They fought, and they came away with their dignity."

We look at how COVID-19 has increased economic inequality with anti-poverty campaigner Reverend William Barber, who delivered the homily at the official inaugural prayer service. Barber says President Joe Biden's focus on unity cannot come at the expense of major reforms needed to fight systemic racism, poverty, environmental destruction and more. "It cannot be just kumbaya. It has to be fundamental change," he says. "We cannot be the wealthiest nation in the world, where billionaires in this country made a trillion dollars between May and November during COVID, while poor and low-wealth people of every race, creed, color, sexuality have suffered and continue to suffer."

President Joe Biden has promised swift action on the pandemic, the economic crisis and more, but much of his agenda hinges on whether he can get enough support in the Senate, where an unprecedented number of bills in recent years has required a 60-vote supermajority in order to overcome filibusters. Many progressives and civil rights groups have urged Democratic leaders to kill the filibuster, warning that if they don't, Senate Republicans will obstruct Biden's plans just as they did with the Obama administration. Former Senate aide Adam Jentleson, author of the new book "Kill Switch: The Rise of the Modern Senate and the Crippling of American Democracy," says the filibuster has historically been used to stop racial progress and thwart majority opinion. "The framers … did not want the filibuster to exist," he says. "When they created the Senate, it was an institution that had no filibuster power. It was designed to be a majority-rule body."

U.S. Tops 25 Million COVID-19 Cases as Biden Restricts Travel to U.S., Warns "Things Will Get Worse", Deborah Birx Says Trump WH Had "Parallel" COVID Data as Biden Admin Faces Multiple Vaccine Challenges, Pandemic Takes Heavy Toll on Children and Students' Physical and Mental Health, Bernie Sanders Says Senate Dems Could Use Reconciliation to Pass Pandemic Relief, Senate Moves Forward on Cabinet Confirmations as Biden Revokes More Trump Orders, Senate Will Start Trump's Second Impeachment Trial in 2nd Week of February, National Guard Deployment at U.S. Capitol Becomes COVID-19 Superspreader Event, Biden Administration Orders Probe of Domestic Violent Extremism After January 6 Insurrection, COVAX to Begin Vaccine Delivery in Feb.; South Africa Paying 2.5x EU Prices for AstraZeneca Vaccine, AMLO Tests Positive for COVID; Brazilians Demand Bolsonaro's Impeachment; NZ Reports 1st Case in Months, Russia Violently Cracks Down on Protesters Calling for Release of Alexei Navalny, Protesters in Tunisia Call for End to Corruption, Police Repression, Cyclone Eloise Leaves Path of Devastation in Mozambique, Grand Jurors Call for Impeachment of KY AG Daniel Cameron over Mishandling of Breonna Taylor Case, Trump Plotted to Oust Acting AG, Use DOJ to Force Georgia to Overturn Election Results, Indigenous Leaders and Allies Demand Halt to Construction of U.S. Border Wall, Hunts Point Market Workers in the Bronx Win Wage Increase After Week-Long Strike, Chicago Teachers Union Rejects Return to In-Person Classes, Citing Coronavirus Risks, Veteran Talk Show Host Larry King Dies After Hospitalization for COVID-19, Hank Aaron, Who Overcame Racist Barriers to Become Home Run Record-Holder, Dies at 86

After President Joe Biden issued an executive order on his first day in office canceling the Keystone XL pipeline, pressure is growing from Indigenous leaders and environmental groups for the new administration to do the same with the Dakota Access pipeline, the controversial project that sparked the historic Standing Rock uprising in 2016. "The pipeline is illegal," says Jodi Archambault, a citizen of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and former special assistant to President Barack Obama on Native American affairs. "The best thing that he can do is drop the appeals to this and stop the oil from flowing now." We also speak with Alex White Plume, a former vice president and president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe of the Pine Ridge Reservation, whose late wife Debra White Plume was a key organizer at Standing Rock.

We look at the fight to save tribal elders and Native language speakers as the pandemic rips through Indian Country, with Indigenous communities facing woefully inadequate healthcare, lack of governmental support, and the living legacy of centuries of colonialism. Native Americans have died from COVID-19 at twice the rate of white people across the U.S. To combat this crisis, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe has prioritized elders who speak the Dakota and Lakota languages to receive vaccines. "Knowing that there were a lot of elders who were at really, really high risk, this was a concern from the very beginning," says Jodi Archambault, a citizen of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and the former special assistant to President Barack Obama on Native American affairs. The parents of Nola Taken Alive, a member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Council, both recently died of COVID-19. "My parents were very humble people," she says. "They played a very important role not only in my siblings' and our family's lives, but also to the entire community of Standing Rock." We also speak with Alex White Plume, a former vice president and president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe of the Pine Ridge Reservation who is a Lakota interpreter.

On his first full day in office, President Joe Biden unveiled a 198-page national plan to tackle the coronavirus pandemic as the U.S. death toll tops 410,000. He signed 10 executive orders to create a new national COVID-19 testing board, to help schools reopen, to mandate international travelers to quarantine upon arrival, and to require masks on many forms of interstate transportation. Biden also invoked the Defense Production Act to increase COVID-19 testing and the production of vaccine supplies, saying a wartime effort is needed to combat the virus. "It just feels like the federal government is back, the federal government is going to play a constructive and helpful role in this pandemic and the pandemic response. And that's critical," says Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health. "It's science-driven stuff that I wish we had had a year ago." Dr. Jha also discusses his proposal to delay giving out second shots of coronavirus vaccines until there is more supply, as well as how new variants of the coronavirus impact the efficacy of existing vaccines.

Joe Biden Unveils National Strategy to End COVID-19 Pandemic, Dr. Anthony Fauci Describes "Liberating Feeling" of No Longer Working for Trump, As U.S. COVID-19 Vaccine Supplies Dwindle, Tens of Thousands Face Canceled Appointments, China Builds Quarantine Facility to Isolate New Cases; Fire at India's Serum Institute Kills 5, Biden Seeks 5-Year Extension to Last Remaining Nuclear Treaty Between Russia and the U.S., Lawmakers Approve Waiver for Biden Defense Secretary Nominee Gen. Lloyd Austin, Biden Appoints Jessica Rosenworcel, Supporter of Net Neutrality, as Acting FCC Chair, Biden Admin to Keep U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, Recognizes Contested City as Israel's Capital, Senate Dems Reject McConnell's Bid to Preserve Filibuster as He Pushes for February Impeachment, Senate Dems File Ethics Complaint Against Sens. Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley over Jan. 6 Insurrection, Federal Forces Arrest Ex-Marine for Beating Officer with a Hockey Stick During Capitol Riots, Rights Groups Warn Any New Anti-Terror Laws Will Be Used for Racial Profiling, Domestic Surveillance, Biden Suspends Trump's Contested "Remain in Mexico" Policy, Biden to Sign Exec. Order Expediting Stimulus Checks, Food Aid as House Readies New Pandemic Bill, Instacart Lays Off 2,000 Workers, Including Group Who Started Company's First Union, AOC Joins Striking Workers at Hunts Point Produce Market in the Bronx, The New Yorker Union Goes on One-Day Strike to Protest "Egregious" Wage Proposal

One of the most remarkable moments from Wednesday's inauguration ceremony came from poet Amanda Gorman, the youngest poet in U.S. history to speak at a presidential inauguration. The 22 year-old read "The Hill We Climb," a poem she finished right after the riot at the Capitol earlier this month. We feature her full recitation and get reaction from scholar Cornel West and award-winning journalist Maria Hinojosa.

We host a wide-ranging discussion of the historic inauguration of President Joe Biden and Kamala Harris — the first-ever woman, South Asian and Black vice president — how we got here, and what comes next, with award-winning journalist Maria Hinojosa and author and Harvard professor Cornel West. Hinojosa says she had "mixed emotions" watching the inauguration, her sense of hope tempered by memories of the Obama administration. "We all had these extraordinary expectations, and then things didn't turn out that way," she says. "The work continues." West says that while getting Trump out of office was vital, he is still suspicious "of the capitulation to the neoliberal greed and lies and hatred, now that we've pushed back the neofascist forms of greed and lies and hatred." On his first day in office, President Biden ended many of the Trump administration's anti-immigrant policies. Hinojosa says parts of this agenda are promising, but lack urgency. "In eight years, there could be a new administration. Everybody knows that," she says. "Do you understand that if you were to do massive immigration reform right now … what that would do to boost the American economy across the board?"

Joe Biden was sworn in as 46th president of the United States Wednesday, ending the Trump era with a call for national unity and urging Americans to come together during a period of turbulence. President Biden signed 17 executive orders in his first official act from the Oval Office, including on immigration, the pandemic and the climate crisis. Biden has promised more executive actions in the coming days. Vice President Kamala Harris swore in three new Democratic senators Wednesday afternoon, giving Democrats narrow control of the Senate and laying the groundwork for the administration's ambitious agenda. We play highlights from the day.

Joe Biden Sworn In as 46th President of the United States, Ending Trump Era, Kamala Harris Sworn In as Vice President, Setting Several Historic Firsts, Biden Signs Executive Orders on Environment, Immigration, Civil Rights, Economy & Pandemic, Biden Unveils Pandemic Strategy as U.S. COVID-19 Deaths Near Record High, VP Harris Swears In Three Senators, Giving Democrats Narrow Control of Senate, Senate Confirms Avril Haines as Director of National Intelligence, House to Vote on Waiver Paving Path for Retired General Lloyd Austin to Lead Pentagon, President Biden Fires Union-Busting Lawyer Who Refused to Resign from Labor Board, Donald Trump Leaves Office and Washington, D.C., Threatens "We Will Be Back", Far-Right Proud Boys Leader Joe Biggs Charged over Role in Jan. 6 Capitol Insurrection, U.K. Has World's Highest COVID-19 Death Rate as Health Workers Report "Exhaustion" and "Trauma", Zimbabwe's Foreign Minister Dies of COVID-19; Deaths Mount in Amazonas, Brazil, as Oxygen Runs Out, At Least 28 Killed, Scores Injured After Twin Suicide Bombs Go Off in Baghdad, Biden Admin to Continue Imperialist Policies Toward Venezuela, Recognizing Guaidó as President, 43 Refugees Killed in Shipwreck Off Libyan Coast in First Major Mediterranean Disaster of 2021, DOJ Drops Insider Trading Probe of Sen. Richard Burr, Biden Exec. Order Bans "Golden Parachutes," Lobbying for Federal Workers, Watchdogs Demand Transparency as Corporations Pour Millions into Biden-Harris Inauguration, Reality Winner’s Family Urges Biden to Order Her Release, Says She Was Sexually Assaulted by Prison Guard

We look at the path forward for the Biden-Harris administration and the role of social movements with political strategist Waleed Shahid and author and analyst Michael Eric Dyson. Shahid, spokesperson for the progressive political action committee Justice Democrats, says Biden could be "one of the most transformative presidents" in U.S. history if he acts boldly. "But it will take an immense amount of pressure on Joe Biden, on the political system, on the political class for him to get there," says Shahid.

As Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are inaugurated and the Trump presidency comes to an end, we look back at his regime with author and analyst Michael Eric Dyson. "The Trump presidency has been an unmitigated disaster," Dyson says. His "direct assault" on democratic processes resulted in a "neofascist presidency that attempted to undermine the very legitimacy of the democracy that he was put in office to uphold."

Avril Haines, Biden's nominee for director of national intelligence, began her confirmation hearing Tuesday. She was President Obama's top lawyer on the National Security Council from 2010 to 2013 and CIA deputy director from 2013 to 2015, where she authorized using drone strikes to carry out targeted extrajudicial assassinations. "We know that in almost all cases that she said it was legal to put these names on the kill list, and people were subsequently killed by drone, including American citizens," says CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou, who exposed the Bush-era torture program and was the only official jailed in connection to it. He also discusses Haines's handling of CIA agents who illegally hacked the computers of the Senate Intelligence Committee to thwart its investigation into the CIA's detention and interrogation program that used torture methods like waterboarding.

With less than 12 hours before the end of his presidency, Donald Trump issued 143 pardons and commutations, including a pardon for Steve Bannon, his former chief strategist and campaign manager. Trump, who has pardoned other associates and allies during his single term, has so far rejected calls to pardon prominent whistleblowers including WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and NSA whistleblowers Edward Snowden and Reality Winner. Details continue to emerge about how allies of Trump have personally profited from people seeking pardons. We speak with John Kiriakou, a former CIA analyst and case officer who exposed the Bush-era torture program and was the only official jailed in connection to it, about the pardon system. He says an associate of Trump personal attorney Rudy Giuliani offered him a pardon for $2 million, which Kiriakou declined to pay. "They don't see this as a bribe," says Kiriakou. "This is the way Washington works."

Biden and Harris Attend Memorial to Honor 400,000+ COVID-19 Victims in U.S. on Eve of Inauguration, 12 Nat'l Guards Removed from Inauguration; Charges Filed Against "Oath Keepers" over Jan. 6 Riot, Steve Bannon Among Final Trump Pardons and Commutations, Rachel Levine Could Become 1st Transgender Official Confirmed by Senate as Biden Cabinet Hearings Start, Biden to Rejoin WHO as Global Death Toll Soars Past 2 Million, Countries Grapple with New Variants, Trump Admin Declares Multiculturalism Is "Not Who America Is" as WH Releases Racist, Revisionist Report, Pompeo Says China Guilty of Genocide Against Uyghur Muslims, 155+ Killed and 50,000 Displaced in Sudan's West Darfur as U.N. Troops Start to Withdraw, Two Female Judges Shot Dead in Kabul; Aid Group Warns 18 Million Afghans Need Urgent Support, ICE Rips 9-Year-Old Haitian Boy from His Older Brother, Before Deporting 19-Year-Old, Asylum Seekers in Mexico Ask Biden to Adopt Humane Immigration Policies, Union Leaders Condemn Police Attack on Striking Workers at Hunts Point Market in the Bronx, 4,000+ Columbia Students Take Part in Largest-Ever Tuition Strike

Outrage continues to build as more evidence emerges about participants in the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, which included members of violent white supremacist groups, including some who were on a terror watchlist. Leading Democrats, including President-elect Joe Biden, have called for new domestic terror laws to crack down on white supremacist violence, but civil liberties groups warn that law enforcement agencies already have the powers they need to disrupt violent far-right groups and that new domestic terrorism laws will ultimately harm marginalized groups. "We cannot find our solutions in systems that ultimately harm us, particularly Black and Brown people," says Manar Waheed, senior legislative and advocacy counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union.

At least 28 law enforcement officers from across the United States attended the Trump rally in Washington, D.C., on January 6 that led to the attack on the U.S. Capitol, with some even boasting on social media about taking part in the riot that left five people dead. BuzzFeed News investigative reporter Albert Samaha says off-duty police officers' involvement in the insurrection reflects a growing problem of right-wing radicalization in police ranks — a problem Black officers say has gone unaddressed by higher-ups. Samaha says that while "white supremacist ideology in law enforcement is as old as law enforcement in the U.S." there was a marked change in tone and attitudes among police officers following the 2014 Ferguson uprising against police brutality. He says that Donald Trump's loud support for police against claims of misconduct and systemic violence gave officers new license to express bigoted and extremist views. "The top came off, and the rhetoric suddenly became acceptable within locker rooms," he says.

Israel has been hailed as having the world's most vaccinated population, but Palestinians are not included. Human Rights Watch and others have called on Israeli authorities to provide COVID-19 vaccines to the more than 4.5 million Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. "Israel is a racist state," responds Congressmember Rashida Talib of Michigan, who is Palestinian American and one of the first Muslim women elected to Congress and says her Palestinian grandmother was denied access to a vaccine. "I hope my colleagues, I hope our country, sees what the Palestinians have been trying to tell us for a very long time. … You can see it with the distribution of the vaccine."

Former Michigan Governor Rick Snyder and eight other former officials were charged last Thursday in a sweeping criminal investigation into the Flint water crisis. Snyder faces two charges of willful neglect of duty, a misdemeanor. In 2014, Flint's unelected emergency manager, appointed by then-Governor Snyder, switched the city's water supply to the Flint River as a cost-saving measure. The move has been linked to at least 12 deaths from an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease and widespread lead poisoning in residents, including children, in the majority-Black city. "It is really important that many of those elected, including the governor, are held to a higher standard," responds Congressmember Rashida Tlaib of Michigan. She says some children face ongoing side effects from the water crisis, such as learning disabilities, and many residents remain sick and in need of support for their care.

As President-elect Joe Biden prepares for his inauguration on Wednesday, he has outlined sweeping plans for his first days in office to address the raging coronavirus pandemic and roll back key parts of Donald Trump's agenda, including on immigration, the climate crisis and more. President Trump, meanwhile, leaves office as the only president ever impeached twice, after he encouraged a violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. For more on the transition, we speak with Congressmember Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, who says senators must vote to convict Trump after his impeachment in the House. "I hope that there's an awakening in the Senate, but I've been waiting for that awakening to happen for quite a while," says Tlaib.

WHO Warns of "Catastrophic Moral Failure" as Wealthy Nations Hoard Vaccines, U.S. COVID-19 Death Toll Passes 400,000, New York Seeks Vaccines Directly from Pfizer After HHS Fails on Promise to Distribute Doses, FBI to Vet 25,000 National Guard Troops Deploying to Washington, D.C., for Inauguration, FBI Arrests More Far-Right Militia Leaders, White Supremacists Over Capitol Attack, New Yorker Footage Shows How Insurrectionists Breached Senate Chamber on Jan. 6, Senate to Begin Confirmation Hearings for Joe Biden Cabinet Nominees, Biden Executive Orders on Day 1 to Reverse Many of Trump's Most Contentious Actions, Trump Admin Guts Environmental Protections During Final Days in Office, Last-Minute Trump Admin Deportations Target Black Immigrants, Cory Johnson and Dustin Higgs Are 12th & 13th Federal Prisoners Executed Under Trump, Trump Installs Loyalist Michael Ellis as Top NSA Lawyer in Final Days in Office, Amid Accusations of Bribery Scheme, Trump Prepares Final Flurry of Pardons and Commutations, Uganda Opposition Candidate Bobi Wine Under House Arrest After Claiming Election Fraud, Opposition Leader Alexei Navalny, Who Survived Poisoning, Arrested Upon Return to Russia, Florida COVID-19 Whistleblower Rebekah Jones Arrested, Accuses Gov. DeSantis of Retaliation, Guatemalan Police and Military Beat Back Caravan of Honduran Asylum Seekers, 700 Refugee Children Crossed into U.S. Alone Due to Trump's "Remain in Mexico" Policy

Today is the federal holiday that honors Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He was born January 15, 1929. He was assassinated April 4, 1968, at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. He was just 39 years old. While Dr. King is primarily remembered as a civil rights leader, he also championed the cause of the poor and organized the Poor People's Campaign to address issues of economic justice. Dr. King was also a fierce critic of U.S. foreign policy and the Vietnam War. We play his "Beyond Vietnam" speech, which he delivered at New York City's Riverside Church on April 4, 1967, as well as his last speech, "I've Been to the Mountaintop," that he gave on April 3, 1968, the night before he was assassinated.

The total number of deaths from COVID-19 in the U.S. is set to top 400,000 before Joe Biden's inauguration on January 20, but rollout of coronavirus vaccines has been slow, with many describing a vexing amount of red tape standing between them and the shot. We look at the development and distribution of another vaccine during the polio epidemic in the 1950s with Dr. Peter Salk, a physician and professor of infectious diseases and microbiology at the University of Pittsburgh, whose father, Dr. Jonas Salk, developed the first polio vaccine and famously declined to patent his invention. "The rest of the world and the countries that are less able to afford vaccines need consideration, as well," says Dr. Salk. "There needs to be a creative cooperation among all of us, including the businesses, in order to find ways to satisfy the needs of these other countries."

As security is ramped up in Washington, D.C., and state capitols across the U.S., the FBI is warning of more potential violence in the lead-up to Joe Biden's inauguration on January 20. Federal authorities have arrested over 100 people who took part in last week's deadly insurrection at the Capitol, and The Washington Post reports that dozens of people on a terrorist watch list — including many white supremacists — were in Washington on the day of the insurrection. "This was something that had been coming for a long time," ProPublica reporter A.C. Thompson, who covers right-wing extremism, says of the January 6 riot. "If you looked at the rhetoric online … it was all about revolution, it was all about death to tyrants, it was all about civil war."

Joe Biden Unveils $1.9 Trillion Coronavirus and Economic Relief Package, U.S. on Pace to Top 400,000 COVID-19 Deaths by Inauguration Day as Unemployment Surges, Dozens of Capitol Rioters Were on FBI Terrorism Watch List, QAnon Insurrectionist Jacob Chansley, Who Threatened VP Pence, Seeks Trump Pardon, NY Rep. Adriano Espaillat Tests Positive for Coronavirus After Receiving 2nd Dose of Vaccine, Hospitals in Brazil's Amazonas Run Out of Oxygen as Fears of Variant Trigger Travel Bans, 2020 Was Hottest Year on Earth, Bringing Record Fires, Heat Waves and Extreme Weather, Yemen's Humanitarian Disaster Set to Worsen as U.S. Moves to Label Houthis as Terrorists, Michigan Ex-Gov. Rick Snyder, 8 Top Ex-Officials Charged over Flint Water Crisis, DOJ Inspector General Report Details How Trump and Allies Pushed to Separate Families, ICE's Acting Director Resigns After Two Weeks on Job, Caravan Departs Honduras, Fleeing Economic Crises and Hurricane Devastation, Report Says ICE Failed to Provide Basic Coronavirus Protections, Threatened Prisoners, New York Attorney General Sues NYPD for Abuses During 2020's BLM Uprising, The Intercept Co-Founder & Oscar Winner Laura Poitras Says She Was Fired by First Look Media

As the United States breaks all records for coronavirus cases, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns another 92,000 could die in the next three weeks as complaints grow over the slow distribution of COVID vaccines. Across the country, hospitals are overflowing, and ICU beds are in short supply. In Los Angeles County, an epicenter of the outbreak, a staggering one in three residents has gotten the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic, according to new data. For more on the pandemic, we speak with epidemiologist Dr. Ali Khan, dean of the University of Nebraska Medical Center's College of Public Health and the former director of the CDC's Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response, where he oversaw the Strategic National Stockpile. He says that despite the grim statistics in the United States, other countries with more proactive pandemic responses have shown that it is possible to bring the virus under control and largely return to normal life. "We can do that same thing here in the United States if we use good science," he says.

We look at the fight for accountability after a white supremacist mob attacked the U.S. Capitol and as President Trump is impeached for a historic second time for his incitement of violence. Supporters who took part in the January 6 attack — including current police officers — have been arrested across the U.S. for their involvement in the insurrection. Ahead of Joe Biden's inauguration, the FBI is warning police chiefs around the country to be on high alert for right-wing domestic terror attacks. The Pentagon said it's increasing the number of National Guard soldiers deployed to the nation's capital to 20,000 — twice the combined number of U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan — in stark contrast to the response to last week's riot. "The impeachment yesterday is a culmination of sorts of the kind of violence and racism that has been at the heart of the Trump administration that finally boiled over," says Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, assistant professor of African American studies at Princeton University and contributing writer at The New Yorker magazine. "We have a government that has completely spun out of control at the hands of Donald Trump."

The House of Representatives has voted to impeach President Donald Trump for inciting an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol in a bid to overturn Joe Biden's Electoral College victory, and Trump will end his term in office with the distinction of being the first U.S. president to be impeached twice. Ten Republicans joined Democrats in the 232-197 vote to impeach, and Trump now faces a trial in the Senate. Constitutional attorney John Bonifaz says the House "did its duty" and that the Senate must move quickly to take up impeachment proceedings. "Those who did not vote to convict last time are responsible, in part, for allowing this president to stay in office, someone who has clearly abused his power time and time again, leading to this violent attack on the U.S. Capitol," says Bonifaz, co-founder and president of Free Speech for People.

Donald Trump Impeached for Second Time After Inciting Insurrection at U.S. Capitol, More Capitol Insurrectionists Arrested as FBI Warns of Continued Domestic Terror Threat, 20,000 National Guard Troops Deploy to Washington, D.C., for Inauguration, Democrats Demand Probe into Whether GOP Lawmakers Helped Rioters Scope Out Capitol, Trump Claims to Oppose Violence, One Week After Telling Insurrectionists "We Love You", Trump Tells Aides Not to Pay Giuliani's Legal Fees as Bid to Overturn Election Fails, Trump and Allies Sanctioned by Growing List of Corporations, J&J Vaccine Trials Show Promise as CDC Predicts 92,000 More U.S. Deaths in Next 3 Weeks, Husbands of Reps. Jayapal and Pressley Test Positive for COVID-19 After Capitol Siege, WHO Officials Arrive in Wuhan; Switzerland to Vote on Restrictions; Peru Health Workers Strike, U.S. Bans Cotton and Tomatoes from Xinjiang Citing Forced Uyghur Labor, Hong Kong Arrests 11 More People as HRW Blasts Rights Violations in China and U.S., Ugandans Go to Polls Amid Violence and Crackdown on Opposition, Census Bureau Stops Separately Counting Undocumented People, Ending Trump's Racist Policy, SCOTUS Makes It Harder to Get Abortion Pill During Pandemic

As Los Angeles County reports record COVID-19 infections, overflowing hospitals and record death tolls, we look at how Indigenous communities there are among the hardest hit in working-class neighborhoods, where many are essential workers. "Indigenous people, we don't have the privilege to stay home and not go to work," says Odilia Romero, co-founder and executive director of Indigenous Communities in Leadership, or CIELO, an Indigenous women-led nonprofit organization in Los Angeles. Romero also laments "the loss of knowledge" that comes with the devastation of COVID-19. "Some of the elders have passed away, and there goes a whole worldview," she says. CIELO recently published a book documenting the stories of undocumented Indigenous women from Mexico and Guatemala living in Los Angeles in the midst of the pandemic.

As the House votes to impeach President Trump, the FBI warns there could be a repeat of the violent insurrection he encouraged on January 6, with Trump loyalists planning to hold armed protests nationwide ahead of Joe Biden's inauguration. We speak with Timothy Snyder, a historian of fascism, who says the riot at the U.S. Capitol was "completely and utterly predictable" given President Trump's record of stoking extremism and undermining democratic institutions. "The American republic is hanging by a thread because the president of the United States has sought to use violence to stay in power and essentially to overthrow our constitutional system," says Snyder.

House to Impeach Trump as GOP Shows Signs of Backing Removal, FBI Warned of "War" Ahead of U.S. Capitol Assault as Military Issues Joint Condemnation, 3rd Lawmaker Tests Positive for COVID-19 After Insurrection as Dems Call Out GOP Links to Riot, Law Enforcement Probes Officers Involved in Capitol Riot as FBI Warns of Armed Action in Coming Days, U.S. Gov't Executes Lisa Montgomery After SCOTUS Sides with Trump, CDC Expands Vaccine Eligibility, Will Start Requiring International Travelers to Test COVID-Negative, India Delivers Vaccine; Malaysia Suspends Parliament; Israel Won't Vaccinate Medical Workers in OPT, Mike Pompeo Claims al-Qaeda's New Home Base Is Iran, Offers No Evidence, India's Top Court Stays Controversial Farm Laws Which Spurred Historic Protests, Irish Report Finds 9,000 Babies and Children Died in Homes Run by Catholic Church Amid Mass Abuse, Nigerian Authorities Release Activist Omoyele Sowore After Arrest at Peaceful Protest, Former Alibaba Delivery Driver Who Set Himself on Fire Fuels Criticism of Gig Economy in China, SEIU and Ride-Hailing Drivers Petition CA Supreme Court to Overturn Prop 22, Michigan Ex-Governor Charged over Flint Water Crisis, Billionaire Casino Magnate, Republican Party and Israel Megadonor Sheldon Adelson Dies

A federal judge has granted a stay of execution for Lisa Montgomery, who was set to become the first woman executed by the federal government in 67 years, but the Trump administration is appealing the decision. Two men are also scheduled to die this week. Since July, when the Trump administration revived the federal death penalty, the U.S. government has executed 10 people — more than in any presidency since 1896. "Time is running out for the Trump administration to go through with these three executions, and they know that, which is why they're very insistent that they happen this week and not after January 20," says Isaac Arnsdorf, a reporter at ProPublica. We also speak with Sister Helen Prejean, Catholic nun and one of the world's leading death penalty opponents, who says Trump embarked on his late killing spree simply because "he has the power to do it." "The death penalty needs to be abolished completely, and you have to take the power out of individuals' hands," she says.

Democrats in Congress are pushing ahead with impeachment following the violent insurrection that killed five people at the U.S. Capitol on January 6. The single article of impeachment against President Trump cites his incitement of insurrection and accuses him of subverting and obstructing the certification of the 2020 election. This comes as authorities are warning of more right-wing violence around Joe Biden's inauguration on January 20, with possible armed far-right protests planned at all 50 state capitols as well as the U.S. Capitol. We speak with Walden Bello, an acclaimed sociologist, academic, environmentalist and activist, whose latest column argues the United States has entered a "Weimar Era," in which democratic elections are increasingly delegitimized as street violence becomes the norm. "This is not something that's unusual that has happened in the Capitol. Right-wing groups, when they begin to lose electorally, … they resort to the streets and to violence in order to stop that process," says Bello.

House Prepares 2nd Impeachment of Donald Trump Unless Pence Removes Him from Power, FBI Warns of "Armed Protests" in All 50 States and at Biden's Inauguration, WaPo: Trump, Busy Watching TV for Hours, Ignored Pleas to Call Off Mob During Capitol Assault, Acting Homeland Security Secretary Resigns Amid Warnings over Domestic Terror Threats, Capitol Hill Pipe Bomb Case Remains Unsolved as Capitol Police Suspend Officers Who Supported Attackers, U.S. COVID-19 Deaths Average More Than 3,000 Per Day, Lawmakers Catch COVID-19 After Sheltering in Room Where GOP Reps Refused Masks, Pfizer to Boost COVID-19 Vaccine Output as WHO Warns of Vaccination Inequality, COVID-19 Surges in Southern Africa; Portugal's President Tests Positive for Coronavirus, Trump Administration Puts Cuba Back on List of State Sponsors of Terrorism, Guantánamo Bay Prison Starts 20th Year of Indefinite Detentions, B'Tselem Blasts "Apartheid Regime" as Israel Greenlights Construction of More Illegal Settlements, South Korean Court Orders Japan to Compensate Women Forced into Sex Slavery, Federal Court Halts Execution of Lisa Montgomery, Only Woman on Federal Death Row, Colorado AG Opens Grand Jury Probe of Police Killing of Elijah McClain, Asylum Seekers Shelter in Abandoned Bosnian Buildings Amid Severe Winter Cold

Twitter, Facebook and other social media companies have removed President Trump from their platforms, after years of debate about the disinformation he shared to millions of followers from his accounts. While many are applauding the bans, author Chris Hedges warns they could backfire. "To allow these companies to essentially function as de facto platforms for censorship and manipulation … harkens back to the way civil liberties were eviscerated in the wake of 9/11," says Hedges. "It's always, in the end, the left that pays for this kind of censorship." We also speak with UCLA professor Ramesh Srinivasan, director of the Digital Cultures Lab, who says Big Tech allowed right-wing extremism to flourish for years before acting and that lawmakers need to enact robust regulation. "All of these technology platforms, powered by their hidden algorithms that are indeed opaque, thrive on the amplification of polarization," says Srinivasan. "It is incredible how much power we have given to a very small number of people who are essentially mediating pretty much every aspect of our lives."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is threatening to begin new impeachment hearings against President Trump if Vice President Mike Pence doesn't invoke the 25th Amendment of the Constitution to remove Trump from office for inciting his supporters to storm the Capitol. Calls are also growing for Republican Senators Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley to be expelled or to resign for supporting Trump's effort to overturn the election and fanning the flames ahead of last week's insurrection, and authorities are warning about more right-wing violence ahead of Inauguration Day on January 20. Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a New York University historian whose work focuses on fascism, authoritarian leaders and propaganda, says the storming of the Capitol was "a logical result" of Trump's legitimization and encouragement of right-wing extremism since 2016. "The threat to democracy is not outside our institutions only. It's coming from inside," Ben-Ghiat says.

House Democrats Set to Impeach Trump If Mike Pence Refuses to Invoke 25th Amendment, Twitter Permanently Bans Trump's Account as Big Tech Distances Itself from Trump, Far Right, Authorities Make More Arrests Following Domestic Terror Attack at U.S. Capitol, Brian Sicknick, Capitol Police Officer Killed in Coup Attempt, Was Antiwar Trump Supporter, U.S. Records Highest Daily COVID-19 Case Count as Biden Vows to Release All Available Vaccines, Global Cases Surge as London Declares Major Incident, Japan IDs New Variant, and Iran Bans U.S., U.K. Vaccines, U.S. Prosecutors Say Honduran President Hernández Took Bribes from Drug Traffickers, Over 60 People Feared Dead After Indonesia Plane Crash, U.S. to Designate Yemen's Houthis as Terrorist Group, Sadyr Japarov Wins Kyrgyz Election, Months After He Was Sprung Free from Jail, Women Accounted for All of 140,000 Net Jobs Shed by U.S. Economy in December, Biden to Nominate William Burns, Who Helped Negotiate Iran Nuclear Deal, as CIA Chief, New Details Emerge of Trump's Attempts to Overturn Georgia Election Results, Death Penalty Opponents Fight to Halt Trump's Killing Spree in Final Days of Presidency

As Florida sets new records for daily coronavirus cases, we speak with a whistleblower who was fired in May from the Florida Department of Health after she refused to censor information about the state's COVID-19 outbreak. Rebekah Jones is a data scientist who helped build Florida's coronavirus tracking dashboard, and she says her termination came after she refused to manipulate data to support the state's reopening. In December, police raided Jones's home in Tallahassee, seizing her computer and phone and holding her family at gunpoint, as part of an alleged investigation into a hacking of the Florida Health Department's website. Jones says she had not had access to the website for many months and that the raid was in retaliation for speaking out. "The state has been dodging releasing information at every opportunity," says Jones, who now runs the independent coronavirus data portal Florida COVID Action.

As the United States reports record COVID-19 deaths, Florida broke the record for the highest single-day increase in new cases Thursday. Across the state, long lines to get vaccinations against COVID-19 left senior citizens camping in their cars overnight in cold weather, after Governor Ron DeSantis lowered the priority age to 65, 10 years below the CDC recommended age of 75. Those aged 79 and older are reportedly four times as likely to die from COVID. We speak with John and Maria Luisa Schoch, aged 79 and 80, as they enter their second day in line waiting for shots.

Joe Biden has formally nominated Merrick Garland for attorney general. Garland has served on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals for over two decades and previously worked at the Justice Department, where he prosecuted the Oklahoma City bombing case. President Obama nominated Garland in 2016 to serve on the Supreme Court, but the nomination stalled after Republican senators refused to put it up for a vote. Elie Mystal, justice correspondent for The Nation, says Garland is an "underwhelming" pick, given his judicial record. "People need to remember that Garland was picked for the Supreme Court because he was a compromise candidate," says Mystal. "This is a centrist jurist who has a history — a troubling history, to me — of being deferential to police and being unwilling to hold police accountable for acts of brutality and misconduct."

Calls are growing for President Trump to resign or be removed from office after he incited supporters to storm the Capitol in an act of insurrection to disrupt the counting of Electoral College votes. The unrest left five people dead, including a Capitol Police officer who was reportedly struck in the head by a fire extinguisher. Trump is losing support from his inner circle, with Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao both resigning before the end of Trump's term. The chief of the Capitol Police is also expected to resign next week, as multiple reports reveal police officers aiding rioters, from removing barricades to giving out direction to the offices of specific lawmakers. Democratic Congressmember Ro Khanna says Republicans must support efforts to remove Trump, especially as much of Trump's incitement targeted Republican lawmakers who refused to back his false claims of election fraud. "This was not an attack just on Democratic lawmakers. If anything, it was an incitement of violence against Republican lawmakers," says Khanna.

U.S. COVID-19 Deaths Top 4,000 in New Daily World Record, Trump Pledges Orderly Transition of Power, One Day After Inciting Insurrection at Capitol, Nancy Pelosi Says House May Vote on Impeachment Unless VP Pence Removes Trump from Power, Mob Unleashed by Trump Kills Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick , Federal Prosecutor Won't Rule Out Charges Against Trump for Inciting Riot at U.S. Capitol, Violent Mob of Trump Supporters Attacks Black Woman in Los Angeles, Public Health Officials Warn Insurrection in D.C. Was Likely Superspreader Event, South Africa Overwhelmed by COVID-19 Surge; Brazil Deaths Top 200,000; Japan Declares Emergency , Iraqi Court Issues Arrest Warrant for Trump over Killing of Top Militia Chief, Biden Taps Marty Walsh for Labor Sec, Gina Raimondo for Commerce, Isabel Guzman for Small Business Admin, Elaine Chao and Betsy DeVos Join Other Trump Allies in Resigning Following Storming of Capitol, Boeing Reaches $2.5 Billion Settlement in Federal Investigation into Two 737 MAX Crashes , Ex-Security Head of Canadian Mine in Guatemala Convicted of Murdering Indigenous Leader Adolfo Ich

World leaders reacted in horror over the storming of the U.S. Capitol, with the U.N. secretary-general calling on political leaders to demand their followers refrain from violence. Leaders of the U.K., New Zealand, Australia, Canada, India, Japan, France, Germany, NATO and the European Council called for a peaceful transfer of power to Joe Biden. Investigative journalist Allan Nairn looks at what steps Trump may take next, and says despite protestations from President-elect Joe Biden and others that the insurrection was "not who we are," the U.S. has a long track record of disrupting democratic processes elsewhere. "What has shaken the U.S. population so badly, this assault on the Capitol yesterday, is really nothing by comparison to what U.S. operations have done in Latin America, in Asia, in Africa, in the Middle East, to other democratic movements and elected governments over the years," says Nairn.

As Washington reels from the storming of the U.S. Capitol by a pro-Trump mob intent on overturning the 2020 election results, lawmakers are considering new impeachment proceedings against President Trump for fomenting the insurrection. Civil War and Reconstruction historian Manisha Sinha says this isn’t the first attempt to disrupt the democratic process by right-wing white domestic terrorists, citing the 1898 Wilmington coup and other efforts before that throughout the Southern states. "These groups today remind me of those people," says Sinha. In response to the call to invoke the 25th Amendment against Donald Trump, she argues, "This is an awful portent for our democracy, and we need to respond forcefully to it."

The U.S. Congress has certified President-elect Joe Biden's victory, hours after a violent, right-wing mob incited by President Trump interrupted proceedings and stormed the U.S. Capitol. Four people died during the chaos, which has been described as an attempted coup. The insurrection was the culmination of months of lies by President Trump, widely repeated in right-wing media and on social media platforms, that the 2020 presidential election was rigged for Joe Biden. At a rally Wednesday, Trump urged supporters to head to the Capitol, who later broke through barriers and lines of police outside the Capitol and made their way inside, where they ransacked offices and sent lawmakers scrambling. Bree Newsome Bass, an antiracist activist, artist and housing rights advocate arrested in 2015 after she tore down the Confederate flag at the South Carolina state Capitol, says it's impossible not to note "the obvious difference in terms of how police have a coordinated, overtly militarized response to any kind of protest that is challenging racism in policing or racism in the government versus what we witnessed yesterday" in Washington, D.C. "It is very clear that the primary function of police forces in the United States is to enforce racism above enforcing public safety."