Iran: Elections Under Threat
4 May 2008
“Elections Under Threat” portrays the everyday people of Iran as well as the candidates running for Parliament as they debate and discuss the relevance of these elections, their economic conditions and the international pressures on their nation. The documentary offers a unique glimpse into the political dynamics of the struggles for participation and democracy in a nation facing increasing economic and military threats from the United States.

Autonomy Vote Threatens to Pull Bolivia Apart
4 May 2008
In Bolivia, President Evo Morales has rejected an autonomy vote by the country’s richest region of Santa Cruz, calling the poll “illegal and unconstitutional.” The proposals voted on Sunday include giving Santa Cruz more control over land distribution – and rich oil and gas reserves.

Thousands of Somalis Protest Deadly US Air Strike
4 May 2008
Thursday’s air strike comes in the midst of a deepening humanitarian crisis in Somalia that the International Committee of the Red Cross described as ?catastrophic.? Over one million people have been made internal refugees, and 3.5 million, or nearly half the country’s population, may need food aid by the end of the year. [includes rush transcript]

Headlines for May 5, 2008
4 May 2008
Cyclone Kills Nearly 4,000 People in Burma, Clinton Defends Statement about “Obliterating” Iran, Report: Bush Authorizes Covert Offensive Against Iran, US Missile Hits Iraqi Hospital, 30 Injured, Iraq’s First Lady Survives Bomb Attack, Iraqi Journalist Killed in Mosul, Private Contractors to Help Train Iraqi Military, KBR’s Profits Triple Due to Iraq War Contracts, Obama and Clinton Spar Over Gas Tax, NAACP Files Voter Suppression Complaint, Lawmakers Demand Probe into Pentagon Propaganda Program, US Military Launches Foreign Language News Websites, US Considers Sending 7,000 More Troops to Afghanistan, UN Relief Agency Suspends Food Aid in Gaza, Zimbabwe Releases Official Election Results, Sami Al Haj: Koran Desecrated At Guantanamo

Southern California Residents Gear Up for New Fight to Stop Secretive Expansion by Military Firm Blackwater
1 May 2008
Just two months after local opposition thwarted its effort to build a massive outdoor training facility near San Diego, the private military company BlackwaterUSA is being accused of trying to secretly build a new one just blocks from the U.S.-Mexican border. Blackwater received approval for the 61,000 square-foot indoor facility in Otay Mesa, California by filing for permits using the names of two subsidiaries.

After More than Six Years, Al Jazeera Cameraman Sami al-Haj Released from Guantanamo Bay
1 May 2008
Arrested in Pakistan in December 2001, Sami al-Haj spent nearly six-and-a-half years at Guantanamo without charge or trial. He had been on a more than a year-long hunger strike to protest his imprisonment. We hear al-Haj’s first public remarks from his hospital bed in Sudan and speak to his brother, Asim al-Haj. [includes rush transcript]

25,000 Dockworkers Shut Down West Coast Ports in Historic Antiwar Protest
1 May 2008
In the largest labor strike since the invasion of Iraq, ports along the West Coast—all twenty-nine of them—were shut down as some 25,000 dockworkers went on a one-day strike to protest the war. We speak to Jack Heyman of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union. [includes rush transcript]

Secretaries of State Debra Bowen of California and Robin Carnahan of Missouri on Voting Issues in a Year of Soaring Turnout
1 May 2008
We speak to the top election officials from two states—California Secretary of State Debra Bowen and Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan—about some of the contentious issues facing the American electorate ahead of the November presidential election. Earlier this week, the Supreme Court upheld an Indiana law requiring voters to show photo identification. Many Democrats and civil rights groups have opposed the law, saying it is a thinly veiled effort to suppress elderly, poor and minority voters?those most likely to lack proper ID and who tend to vote for Democrats.

Headlines for May 2, 2008
1 May 2008
Al Jazeera Cameraman Sami al-Haj Freed From Guantanamo, 36 Killed, 65 Wounded in Baghdad Suicide Bombing, Turkey Resumes Attacks in Northern Iraq, Protests Mark 5 Years Since ?Mission Accomplished?, Tens of Thousands Rally for Immigrant Rights, Dockworkers Shut Down Ports in Anti-War Protest, Bush Admin Forces Out EPA Regulator Who Sought Regulation of Dow, Bush Proposes Additional Food Aid, Exxon Posts $10.89B Quarterly Profit, Nicaraguan President Accuses U.S. of De-Stabilization, New Zealand Activists Damage U.S.-Linked Spy Base

Back from Haiti, Rev. Jesse Jackson Calls for Emergency Food Aid to a Starving Nation Devastated by Longtime US-Led Interference, Subversion
30 Apr 2008
Reverend Jesse Jackson has just returned from Haiti, where the World Food Program is warning of a “major crisis” if international donors fail to help feed Haiti’s poor. Prices of rice, beans and cooking oil have doubled in the past few months. The soaring food prices have had a devastating effect: two-thirds of Haitians live on less than a dollar a day, and 47 percent are undernourished. We speak to Rev. Jackson about the US responsibility to feed a nation long targeted by Western subversion. Rev. Jackson also shares his thoughts on the recent fallout between Democratic candidate Barack Obama and his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. [includes rush transcript]

May Day: Tens of Thousands Prepare to March Across the Country as Labor Struggle Linked to Immigrants Rights
30 Apr 2008
Tens of thousands are expected to march in cities across the country today, linking immigrant rights to May Day for the third year in a row. The major demands include legal status for undocumented migrant workers and an end to the raids and deportations that have torn families apart. We speak to Anike Tourse of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles. [includes rush transcript]

US Citizens, Lawful Residents Sue Government for Illegal Detention in LA Immigration Raid
30 Apr 2008
In what’s believed to be a first, a group of US citizens and lawful residents have brought claims against the government for being illegally detained during an ICE raid earlier this year. If the claims are successful, this legal strategy could force the Department of Homeland Security to change its policy about workplace raids. [includes rush transcript]

Defying Employers, Antiwar Dockworkers Plan to Shut Down West Coast Ports
30 Apr 2008
The International Longshore and Warehouse Union has been organizing to shut down ports on the West Coast today, May Day, to protest the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. But yesterday an arbitrator ordered the union to tell its members that they must report to work today. We speak to Clarence Thomas, an executive board member of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 10 and a member of US Labor Against the War. [includes rush transcript]

Headlines for May 1, 2008
30 Apr 2008
Casualties Mount in Ongoing US Assault on Sadr City, US Death Toll Highest in 7 Months, 5 Years Since ?Mission Accomplished?, US: Iran ?Most Active? State Sponsor of ?Terrorism?, Palestinian Factions Accept Gaza Truce with Israel, UN: Gaza at ?Point of Explosion?, 10 Killed in US Airstrikes on Somalia, Iran Complains to UN over Clinton Comments, Venezuela Marks May Day with Min. Wage Hike, Peruvian Women Rally Against Rising Food Prices, Agricultural Firms Post Record Quarterly Profits, Scandal-Linked GSA Head Resigns, ?Robocalls? Discourage African American Votes in North Carolina, Barrick Gold Sues Canadian Publisher over Book Alleging Abuses

CorpWatch?s Pratap Chatterjee and Ex-Titan Translator Marwan Mawiri on Corporate Cronyism and Intelligence Outsourcing in Iraq
29 Apr 2008
CorpWatch Managing Editor Pratap Chatterjee has just returned from Iraq where he was embedded with the US military and investigating the outsourcing of both military logistics and intelligence gathering. A new Corpwatch report offers a scathing assessment of intelligence contractors L-3 and Titan. We also speak to Marwan Mawiri, who worked in Iraq as a translator with Titan in 2003 and 2004.

The Politics of the Rev. Wright Controversy: A Debate with Melissa Harris-Lacewell and Adolph Reed, Jr.
29 Apr 2008
As the Reverend Wright controversy continues to dominate media attention, we host a debate with two guests. Melissa Harris-Lacewell is associate professor of politics and African American studies at Princeton University. A Barack Obama supporter, she was a member of the Trinity United Church, and Reverend Wright was also her pastor. And Adolph Reed, Jr. is professor of political science at the University of Pennsylvania. He makes the case against voting for Senator Barack Obama in the latest issue of The Progressive magazine. [includes rush transcript]

Obama Repudiates Ex-Pastor over Controversial Remarks
29 Apr 2008
On Tuesday, Senator Barack Obama said he was ?outraged? and ?saddened? by ?divisive and destructive? comments by his former pastor, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright. Since the weekend, Reverend Wright has publicly defended himself after weeks of being lambasted by politicians and pundits for his sermons. We hear from both Obama’s and Wright’s speeches. [includes rush transcript]

Headlines for April 30, 2008
29 Apr 2008
Dozens of Civilians Feared Dead in US Attack on Sadr City, UN to Form Task Force on Food Crisis, Rev. Jackson Urges Haiti Food Aid, Bush Rejects Biofuel Link to Food Crisis, Latin American, European Leaders Meet on Poverty, Inequality, Zimbabwe Opposition Accuses Mugabe Supporters of Crackdown, Chevron Accused of Complicity in Burma Abuses, Obama Condemns Former Pastor, Study: Nearly 1/3 of Americans Struggle to Pay for Medical Care, Insurance, Home Foreclosures Rise in 1st Quarter of 2008, McCain Healthcare Proposal Mirrors Bush Admin

West Virginia Grandfather Takes on the Coal Industry: Ed Wiley on His Battle Against Mountaintop Removal Mining
28 Apr 2008
It’s been described as ?the government-sanctioned bombing of Appalachia.? The controversial coal mining practice known as mountaintop removal has been used widely in West Virginia. The technique involves blasting off the tops of mountains and dumping the rubble into valleys and streams. Its use has expanded under the Bush administration. We speak with Ed Wiley, one of the leading activists behind the grassroots effort to stop mountaintop removal in West Virginia.

BROADCAST EXCLUSIVE…Ousted NYC Arabic School Principal Debbie Almontaser Speaks Out on the New McCarthyism & Rightwing Media Attacks
28 Apr 2008
Debbie Almontaser was forced to step down in August 2007 as the founding principal of the Khalil Gibran School, New York City?s first public school dedicated to the study of Arabic language and culture. Her resignation followed a rightwing campaign that painted her as an educator with a militant Islamic agenda. In a Democracy Now! exclusive, Debbie Almontaser joins us in her first national broadcast interview since stepping down and suing the city. [includes rush transcript]

Headlines for April 29, 2008
28 Apr 2008
Supreme Court Upholds Voter ID Law, House Democrats Prepare New War Funding Bill, Cindy Sheehan to Run Against Nancy Pelosi, April Becomes Deadliest Month Since September for US Troops, Mourners Bury Palestinian Family Killed in Bombing, Israeli Warplanes Reportedly Violated Lebanese Airspace, Rev. Wright Responds To Critics & Defends Sermons, Blackwater to Build Facility Near Mexican Border, UN Officals: Biofuels Are a “Crime Against Humanity”, Opec: Oil Prices Could Hit $200 A Barrel, Shell & BP Report Record Profits, Economists Question McCain and Clinton’s Gas Tax Proposal, Number of Vacant Homes in U.S. Reach 18.6 Million, Wells Fargo’s Subprime Loan Practices Come Under Scrutiny, Burger King Refuses to Increase Pay For Farmworkers, Longshoremen To Shut West Coast Ports on May 1 to Protest War, Antonin Scalia: Torture is Not “Cruel and Unusual Punishment”

Former Marine Returns to Iraq as Embedded Photographer Only to be Ordered Home
27 Apr 2008
James Lee is a former Marine from California who served two tours of duty in Iraq in 2001 to 2004. He’s been back in Iraq more recently, this time as an embedded photographer. Lee is now a journalism student at San Francisco State University and filed reports from Iraq for the college newspaper, the Golden Gate XPress. But earlier this month, Lee was abruptly de-embedded. On April 2nd, just before General Petraeus was due to brief Congress on progress in Iraq, Lee was ordered to leave Basra. [includes rush transcript]

Scott Ritter: By Releasing Intel, US Endorses Israel’s Illegal Bombing of Alleged Syrian Nuke Site
27 Apr 2008
The head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog group, Mohamed ElBaradei, has criticized the United States for withholding intelligence that it says showed the construction of a nuclear reactor in Syria that Israel bombed in September. The International Atomic Energy Agency chief was critical of both the US delay in releasing the information and of Israel’s bombing of the site before the IAEA could inspect it. We speak with former UN weapons inspector in Iraq, Scott Ritter. [includes rush transcript]

Following Acquittal of NYPD Officers in Sean Bell Killing, Advocates Call for Special Prosecutor in Police Brutality Cases
27 Apr 2008
In New York, a coalition of civil rights advocates are calling for a permanent state-level special prosecutor to handle police brutality cases following the acquittal of three NYPD detectives in the killing of Sean Bell. The 23-year-old Bell died in a hail of fifty police bullets on the morning of what would have been his wedding day in November 2006. Two of his friends were also injured in the shooting. All three men were unarmed. We speak with Sanford Rubinstein, the attorney representing Sean Bell’s fiancee Nicole Paultre-Bell and with Jessica Sanclemente, the co-coordinator of People’s Justice.

Headlines for April 28, 2008
27 Apr 2008
NYPD Officers Acquitted in Killing of Sean Bell, Afghan President Karazi Survives Assassination Attempt, Bush Administration Claims It Can Ignore Anti-Torture Laws, Human Rights Groups Push For Trial of Rumsfeld, Pentagon Admits Planning Potential Military Action Against Iran, Adm. Mullen Claims N.Korea-Syrian Nuke Link, Palestinian Family killed in Israeli Shelling, Green Zone Hit by 10 Rockets or Mortars, U.S. Firm Builds Amusement Park And Zoo Near Green Zone, U.S. Sergeant Acquitted in Killing of Unarmed Iraqi, Pentagon Suspends Briefings for Retired Military Officers, 27 UN Agencies Meet to Tackle Global Food Crisis, Profits Soar for Global Agribusinesses & Speculators, Truckers Protest Rising Fuel Costs in D.C., Bush to Veto Democratic Plan to Help Homeowners, Canadian Police Arrest Five Mohawk Protesters, Saudi Blogger Released After Four Months In Prison