Headlines for April 3, 2008
2 Apr 2008
Witnesses: 6 Iraqi Civilians Killed in US Attack in Basra, Bush Urges Larger Afghan Occupation, NATO Expansion, Leader: Hamas Would Accept State on ?67 Borders, WHO: Dozens of Palestinians Die Awaiting Israeli Permission for Medical Treatment, Opposition Party Wins Zimbabwe Parliament Vote, Ecuadorian Parliament OKs Ban on Foreign Military Bases, Bi-Partisan Housing Deal Slights Struggling Homeowners, Fed Chair: US ?Recession is Possible?, EPA Sued on Failure to Regulate Greenhouse Emissions, Supreme Court Rejects Puerto Rico Suit Seeking FBI Docs on Rios, Chertoff: Many Immigrants Won?t Be Granted Status in Time for November Vote, ?Fusion Centers? Collect, Share Personal Info of US Citizens, South Dakota Could See New Vote on Abortion Ban, Virginia Gov. Stays All Executions Pending Supreme Court Ruling on Lethal Injection, Prosecutors Rest Case in Sean Bell Killing Trial

Record Number of Food Stamp Recipients Projected
1 Apr 2008
Government officials are projecting the number of Americans receiving food stamps will reach a record 28 million later this year. Over the past year, more than forty states saw the number of food stamp recipients rise. A ten percent jump in food stamp recipients was recorded in six states: Arizona, Florida, Maryland, Nevada, North Dakota and Rhode Island. In West Virginia, one in six residents now receive food stamps. We speak with Jim Weill, president of the Food Research and Action Center.

Oil Execs Asked to Justify Huge Profits at Congressional Hearing
1 Apr 2008
The executives of the five biggest oil companies – Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell, BP, ConocoPhilips, and Chevron – were called to testify at a Congressional hearing on Tuesday. Lawmakers took them to task for making enormous profits but investing next to nothing in renewable sources of energy. They were also called to justify why they got $18 billion in tax breaks last year when their profits had hit $123 billion and oil prices had reached runaway highs. We speak with Steve Kretzmann of Oil Change International.

Tensions Grow as Zimbabweans Await Official Presidential Election Results
1 Apr 2008
Tensions are rising in Zimbabwe as official presidential election results have still not been announced. Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai claims he won the poll against President Robert Mugabe but said he would not claim victory until the official count by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission was known. We speak with Gerald LeMelle of Africa Action and journalist and political activist, Grace Kwinjeh.

After Adverse Publicity, Wal-Mart Drops $400,000 Healthcare Claim Against Former Employee Disabled in Traffic Accident
1 Apr 2008
After tremendous adverse publicity, retail giant Wal-Mart has announced it is dropping its effort to collect over $400,000 in healthcare reimbursement from Debbie Shank, a former employee. Debbie lost much of her memory and ability to communicate or walk in a car crash in May 2000. Her family successfully sued the trucking company involved, and after attorneys’ fees and expenses, the $417,000 from the settlement was put in a trust for Debbie’s care. That’s when Wal-Mart stepped in and sued the Shanks to recover the medical costs. Wal-Mart won the case in court. The story generated a public outcry after it was recently featured on several national news networks and newspaper editorials. We speak with Debbie’s husband, Jim Shank. [includes rush transcript]

Headlines for April 2, 2008
1 Apr 2008
?03 Justice Dept. Memo Said Military Interrogators Could Ignore Law, Admin to Waive Environmental Laws for Mexico Border Wall, Senate to Introduce Foreclosure Assistance Bill, Business Donors Favoring Democrats over Republicans, McCain Economic Advisors Under Scrutiny, Britain Delays Troop Withdrawal From Iraq, Pakistani Minister Calls for End to U.S. Airstrikes, Embassy Bombing Widow Calls for Trial of Gitmo Prisoner in Civilian Court, ?Fossil Fools Day? Protests Target Coal-Linked Banks, Police Shooting Survivor Describes Sean Bell?s Last Moments, Correction, Iraqi Civilian Deaths Rise 31%

EXCLUSIVE…Bush’s Law: Eric Lichtblau on Exposing the NSA’s Warrantless Wiretapping Program and How the White House Pressured the New York Times to Kill the Story
31 Mar 2008
In a national broadcast exclusive, we speak with New York Times reporter Eric Lichtblau about his new book, Bush’s Law: The Remaking of American Justice. Lichtblau won the Pulitzer Prize for exposing the Bush administration’s warrantless wiretapping program in December 2005. He reveals the inside story of the New York Times?s decision to delay publication of the story for more than a year after intense lobbying from the White House. [includes rush transcript]

“Iraq Has Really Become Somalia…A Collection of Different Militias”—Back from Baghdad, Journalist Nir Rosen Paints a Picture of a Broken Iraq
31 Mar 2008
Independent journalist Nir Rosen joins us in our firehouse studio soon after returning from three months in Iraq, his latest visit since moving to Baghdad to cover the US invasion in 2003. “It’s been propagated by the right and accepted by the left in the US that the surge, which is really an escalation of troops [...] by 30,000 soldiers, somehow brought peace to Iraq,” Rosen says. “This is just an absolute lie. Violence has subsided somewhat in Baghdad, that’s true, but it’s not the result of the increase in American troops directly. It’s the result of a few other factors.” [includes rush transcript]

Headlines for April 1, 2008
31 Mar 2008
Death Toll in Iraq Fighting Reaches 460, Swiss Bank UBS Loses $19 Billion, Paulson Unveils Plan to Overhaul Regulation of Financial Markets, Truckers to Stage Fuel Strike to Protest Rising Fuel Costs, 59 Percent of US Doctors Back National Healthcare Plan, Military Considers Recruiting & Hiring Bloggers, Israel to Build 1,400 New Homes in West Bank & East Jerusalem, Zimbabweans Await Election Results, 100 Indian Workers March to D.C. to Protest Slave Conditions, Pro-Tibet Activists Protest at White House, Military Issues New Rules on Recruiters on Campuses, Canada’s Seal Hunt Enters Fifth Day

Loretta Napoleoni on “Rogue Economics: Capitalism’s New Reality”
30 Mar 2008
Italian economist, journalist, and author Loretta Napoleoni argues that recent events on Wall Street indicate a much larger upheaval and could ?signal the end of the ?Roaring Nineties,? nearly two decades of easy money, cheap credit, and soaring global debt.? Its an argument Napoleoni develops in her latest book called ?Rogue Economics: Capitalism?s New Reality.?

Cesar Chavez Day: United Farm Workers Co-Founder Dolores Huerta Reflects on the Life and Legacy of the Legendary Labor Activist
30 Mar 2008
Cesar Estrada Chavez, legendary labor activist, civil rights leader, and founder of the first successful farm workers union would have been 81 years old today. Events are planned across the country to honor his life and legacy. Thousands marched in his memory over the weekend and nine states recognize March 31st as an official holiday. We speak with Dolores Huerta.

?Exodus: Where Will Iraq Go Next?” Deborah Campbell on the Iraq Refugee Crisis
30 Mar 2008
Refugees International estimates that up to 5 million Iraqis have been displaced since 2003. That’s one in five Iraqis who have had to flee their homes since the US led invasion of their country. Two and a half million Iraqis have been internally displaced and an equal number have managed to leave the country, to Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Turkey, the Gulf States, and most of all, Syria, which hosts 1.5 million Iraqis.

Headlines for March 31, 2008
30 Mar 2008
Sadr Orders Mehdi Army to Stop Fighting, Iraq Gov’t Controls Only 1/4th Of Basra, Report: U.S. Air Strike Kills Eight Civilians in Basra, Turkey Warplanes Attack Northern Iraq, Arab Leaders Re-Endorse 2002 Israeli Peace Initiative, Sen. Clinton Pledges to Continue Campaign Until Convention, Treasury Sec. Paulson To Unveil New Plan To Regulate Markets, Record Number of Food Stamp Recipients Projected, Military Drops Another Haditha Prosecution, Siegelman Links Karl Rove to His Prosecution, Zimbabwe Opposition Claims Victory Against Mugabe, Pro-Tibet Protesters Attempt to Disrupt Olympics Ceremony, Dalai Lama Accuses China Of Threatening Tibetan Culture, HUD Secretary Jackson To Resign, Bush Jeered At Baseball Game, 80-Year-Old Deacon Arrested At Mall For Anti-War T-Shirt

Amy Goodman Questions Sen. Obama on Heeding Iraqis’ Call for Full US Withdrawal
27 Mar 2008
Following his speech on the economy at New York’s Cooper Union, Amy Goodman asks Sen. Barack Obama why he is not calling for a total withdrawal of US troops from Iraq in accordance with the 70 percent of Iraqis who say they want the US out. [includes rush transcript]

Following Mixed Court Ruling, Mumia Abu-Jamal’s Lead Attorney Maintains Hope for Overturning Conviction
27 Mar 2008
A federal appeals court Thursday refused to overturn the conviction of imprisoned journalist and former Black Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal and rejected his call for a new trial. However, the long-awaited ruling said Abu-Jamal, who has been on death row for twenty-six years, deserves a new sentencing hearing because of flawed jury instructions. If he is re-sentenced, he will face either death or life in prison without parole. We speak to Abu-Jamal’s lead attorney, Robert Bryan. [includes rush transcript]

“From the Frontlines of Humanity”: Former UN Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland on World Crises—Congo, Darfur, Iraq, Colombia and Palestine
27 Mar 2008
As former UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and the former UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, Jan Egeland spent years working with the world’s neediest and in conflict zones including Darfur, Colombia, Gaza, Lebanon, Uganda, the Congo and Iraq. Egeland joins us to talk about his time dealing with world crises, which he documents in a new memoir, “A Billion Lives: An Eyewitness Report from the Frontlines of Humanity.”

Headlines for March 28, 2008
27 Mar 2008
Despite Bush Claims, US Forces Leading Attacks on Mahdi Army, Toll from US Strike on Hilla Unknown, US Memo Warns of Poor Conditions at Fallujah Prison, UK Admits to Torturing Iraqi Prisoners, Democratic Congressional Candidates Call for Immediate Iraq Withdrawal, Court Orders New Sentencing for Mumia Abu-Jamal, Ex-Alabama Gov. to be Freed on Bond, Puerto Rico Gov. Charged in Corruption Case, Israel Accused of New Extrajudicial Killings, Negroponte Denies Pressuring Pakistani Leaders, Tibetan Monks Storm Chinese Press Briefing, Pentagon Orders Nuclear Inventory, Clinton, Obama Tout Economic Proposals

In New Book, Chilean Ambassador to the UN Details Bush Admin’s Pre-War Efforts to Coerce Allies into Supporting Iraq Invasion
26 Mar 2008
Heraldo Munoz, the Chilean Ambassador to the United Nations, has revealed new details of how the United States bullied and threatened other countries to support the Iraq war. Munoz has written an account of the period, A Solitary War: A Diplomat’s Chronicle of the Iraq War and Its Lessons. [includes rush transcript]

British Correspondent Patrick Cockburn on Iraq’s Growing Sectarian Divide and the Myth of “Success” in the US “Surge”
26 Mar 2008
As a new civil war threatens to explode in Iraq between US-backed Iraqi government forces and Shia militiamen, we go to London to speak with Patrick Cockburn, Iraq correspondent for the London Independent. Covering the invasion and occupation from the ground in Iraq for the past five years, Cockburn has been described as “the best Western journalist at work in Iraq today.” He is author of the new book Muqtada: Muqtada al-Sadr, the Shia Revival and the Struggle for Iraq. [includes rush transcript]

Headlines for March 27, 2008
26 Mar 2008
Up to 60 Iraqis Killed in US Attack on Hilla, Oil Rises to $107 a Barrel After Pipeline Attack, Report: US Escalates Military Strikes in Pakistan to Preempt Anticipated Opposition, UN Climate Change Head Warns on Antarctic Ice Melt, McCain: US Casualties, Not Occupation, at Issue in Iraq, Citing Security, Ex-Obama Pastor Cancels Texas Appearances, Protesters Flood Bear Stearns to Protest Government Bailout, Foreclosure Inaction, Ex-Gitmo Prosecutor Leaving Military, Olmert Hints at Renewed Israeli Attacks on Gaza, US War Contractor Shipped Decades-Old Ammo to Afghanistan

Homeowners Plan Demonstration at NYC Offices of Bear Stearns, JPMorgan Chase to Protest Government Bailout
25 Mar 2008
Hundreds of homeowners are planning a demonstration today Manhattan in front of the corporate offices of Bear Stearns and JP Morgan Chase to protest the “taxpayer bailout…and refusal of the government and Federal Reserve to provide real solutions for the millions of homeowners at risk of foreclosure.” We speak with Bruce Marks, the founder of the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America that is organizing the demonstration.

“The Man Who Pushed America to War” – Aram Roston on “The Extraordinary Life, Adventures and Obsessions of Ahmad Chalabi”
25 Mar 2008
As the war in Iraq enters its sixth year, we take a look at “The Man Who Pushed America to War.” That’s the title of a new book about Ahmad Chalabi, the Iraqi exile who helped drum up pre-war claims that Saddam Hussein was developing weapons of mass destruction and had links to al-Qaeda. We speak with author Aram Roston about Chalabi’s past, his close ties to the U.S. government, his role in the U.S. invasion of Iraq and much more.

A Century in Iraq, Replacing UN with “League of Democracies,” Rogue State Rollback? A Look at John McCain’s Foreign Policy Vision
25 Mar 2008
We speak with investigative reporter Robert Dreyfuss about Senator John McCain’s vision for foreign policy. “McCain is drawing up plans for a new set of global institutions,” Dreyfuss writes, “from a potent covert operations unit to a ‘League of Democracies’ that can bypass the balky United Nations, from an expanded NATO that will bump up against Russian interests in Central Asia and the Caucasus to a revived US unilateralism that will engage in ‘rogue state rollback’ against his version of the ‘axis of evil.’ In all, it’s a new apparatus designed to carry the ‘war on terror’ deep into the twenty-first century.” [includes rush transcript]

Headlines for March 26, 2008
25 Mar 2008
Iraqi Crackdown on Sadr Militia in Basra Spreads to Other Shiite Areas, Workers Sue KBR for Toxic Exposure in Iraq, Supreme Court Weighs Plight of US Prisoners Challenging Iraqi Sentences, Palestinian Authority Denies Israeli Influence over Security Force, US Suggests Ending Public Debate on Israel-Palestine at UN, Charities: Afghan Donor Money Wasted on Salaries, Profits, US Says Nuclear Parts Mistakenly Sent to Taiwan, Defense Minister?s Comments Re-Ignite Colombia-Ecuador Row, Lebanon to Boycott Arab League Summit, Chavez: McCain a ?Man of War?, Supreme Court Rejects World Court Jurisdiction, Scientists: Global Warming Behind Massive Antartic Ice Collapse, Tobacco Company Funded Lung Cancer Study

Paralyzed Iraq Vet Responds to Cheney: “We Didn’t Volunteer Where You Sent Us to Go”
24 Mar 2008
In an interview on ABC News, Vice President Dick Cheney was also asked about the 4,000 soldiers killed in Iraq. “We are fortunate to have a group of men and women, an all-volunteer force, who voluntarily put on the uniform and go in harm?s way for the rest of us,? Cheney said. In response, Tomas Young, an Iraq war veteran who was paralyzed after being shot in Baghdad said, “Many of us volunteered with patriotic feelings in our heart, only to see them subverted and bastardized by the administration and sent into the wrong country. Yes, we volunteered, but we didn’t volunteer were you sent us to go.” [includes rush transcript]