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Climate Change Supercharges Hurricane Florence as 1.5 Million Evacuate in Carolinas & Virginia
More than 1.5 million people have been ordered to evacuate the coasts of Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina as Hurricane Florence continues to gain strength as it barrels toward the East Coast. The enormous Category 4 storm is projected to make landfall on Thursday or Friday, bringing with it heavy rains and high winds that could linger for days after hitting land. People up and down the coast are preparing for extreme flooding and what the National Hurricane Center is calling a “life-threatening storm surge.” Experts are warning the damage could be catastrophic.

John Bolton Threatens International Criminal Court Judges for Probing U.S. Torture in Afghanistan
President Trump’s national security adviser John Bolton has threatened U.S. sanctions against International Criminal Court judges if they proceed with an investigation into alleged war crimes committed by U.S. troops in Afghanistan. In 2016 an ICC report accused the U.S. military of torturing at least 61 prisoners in Afghanistan during the ongoing war. The report also accused the CIA of subjecting at least 27 prisoners to torture, including rape, at CIA prison sites in Afghanistan, Poland, Romania and Lithuania. Bolton said in a speech at the Federalist Society Monday, “We will let the ICC die on its own. After all, for all intents and purposes, the ICC is already dead to us.” Jamil Dakwar is the director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Human Rights Program.

Trump Admin Punishes PLO for Trying to Prosecute Alleged Israeli War Crimes in International Court
On Monday President Trump’s national security adviser John Bolton announced the administration will close the Palestine Liberation Organization’s office in Washington as retaliation for the Palestinians’ efforts to bring alleged Israeli military war crimes to the International Criminal Court. Palestinian diplomat Saeb Erekat called the move “an affirmation of the U.S. administration’s determination to continue its policies of blackmail and extortion and undermining the peace process and the two state solution.” Jamil Dakwar is the director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Human Rights Program.

Trump Admin Punishes PLO for Trying to Prosecute Alleged Israeli War Crimes in International Court
Fallout from the women’s U.S. Open final Saturday, where tennis star Serena Williams lost to 20-year-old Naomi Osaka, after accusing umpire Carlos Ramos of sexism. On Monday the Women’s Tennis Association came out in support of Williams, with chief executive Steve Simon suggesting the umpire showed a different level of tolerance to Williams because she is a woman. During the final, Ramos gave Williams a code violation after he deemed a gesture made towards her by her coach to be “coaching,” which is banned during a game. Ramos then penalized Williams a point after she destroyed her racket in anger, and docked her an entire game after she subsequently called the umpire a “liar” and a “thief” for stealing her point. Amira Rose Davis is the assistant professor of history and women’s, gender and sexuality studies at Penn State University and co-host of the sports podcast, “Burn It All Down.”

Eric’s 2018 Autumn Reading, Empathy-Pathos, is now available for pre-order. This will be a 12-sign audio reading covering Venus retrograde and beyond. Pre-order all 12 signs now for just $57 — we will increase the price very soon.

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Rise for Climate: Tens of Thousands March in San Francisco Calling for Fossil-Free World
Hundreds of thousands of protesters in more than 90 countries joined a worldwide day of protest demanding urgent action to address climate change Saturday. In San Francisco, up to 30,000 people took part in the Rise for Climate, Jobs and Justice march. It is believed to be the largest climate march ever on the West Coast. The protest came just days before the start of the Global Climate Action Summit being organized by California Governor Jerry Brown. Democracy Now! was in the streets of San Francisco for the march.

Ex-Senate Aide: Kavanaugh Should Be Impeached for Lying Under Oath About Stolen Democratic Memos
Supreme Court justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh is facing accusations of perjury following his confirmation hearing last week. Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont has suggested Kavanaugh lied to the Senate Judiciary Committee during his 2004 and 2006 hearings to become a federal judge. During those hearings Kavanaugh denied seeing private Democratic files that detailed strategies for opposing Republican judicial nominees while he was associate counsel in the George W. Bush White House. Lisa Graves is the former top aide to Senator Patrick Leahy, whose new piece is headlined “I Wrote Some of the Stolen Memos That Brett Kavanaugh Lied to the Senate About.” Graves is the former chief counsel for nominations for the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and was deputy assistant attorney general in the Department of Justice. She is now co-director of Documented, which investigates corporate influence on democracy.

Eric’s 2018 Autumn Reading, Empathy-Pathos, is now available for pre-order. This will be a 12-sign audio reading covering Venus retrograde and beyond. Pre-order all 12 signs now for just $57 — we will increase the price very soon.

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Roe v. Wade in Danger: Released Docs Reveal Kavanaugh Thinks Abortion Decision Is Not “Settled Law”
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing took a series of dramatic turns Thursday, as Democratic senators began releasing confidential documents from Kavanaugh’s work at the George W. Bush White House. The New York Times also broke a major story Thursday morning revealing that Kavanaugh wrote as a White House attorney in 2003 that he did not deem the Supreme Court’s landmark Roe v. Wade abortion rights decision to be “settled law of the land.” He wrote, “I am not sure that all legal scholars refer to Roe as the settled law of the land at the Supreme Court level since Court can always overrule its precedent, and three current Justices on the Court would do so.” These revelations come as the Trump administration withholds more than 100,000 pages of Kavanaugh’s records on the basis of presidential privilege. Kristen Clarke is president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. Last week, the organization released a damning report on Kavanaugh’s record on cases concerning civil rights.

As 400+ Children Remain Separated From Parents, Trump Admin Wants to Detain Kids Indefinitely
The Trump administration is attempting to remove court-imposed time limits on the detention of immigrant children. The administration’s proposal would allow immigrant families to be held in detention indefinitely, ending the long-standing 1997 Flores agreement which says that children cannot be jailed for more than 20 days. More than 400 children remain separated from their parents more than a month after a court-imposed deadline requiring the Trump administration to reunite all of the separated families. The American Civil Liberties Union says it appears ICE officials had access to the phone numbers of hundreds of parents of separated children before a federal court’s June 26 family reunification deadline, but intentionally withheld the phone numbers for months. Cathleen Caron is founder & executive director of Justice In Motion, a group spearheading an effort to find parents of detained children.

Idlib on Brink of “Humanitarian Catastrophe” As Syrian Military Threatens to Invade Rebel-Held City
The leaders of Russia, Iran and Turkey are meeting today in Tehran as the Syrian military is threatening a massive invasion of the rebel held city of Idlib. Russia and Iran are close allies to Syria while Turkey has been a key supporter of the opposition. This comes as the United States will chair a U.N. Security Council meeting today on the crisis in Syria. The U.N. is warning that an assault on Idlib could lead to a humanitarian catastrophe. U.N. special envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura said that if talks in Tehran fail, as many as 800,000 citizens may flee the region and that panic is spreading among Idlib’s 3 million residents. Meanwhile, the Washington Post reports that President Trump has agreed to a new strategy that indefinitely extends the U.S. military effort in Syria in part to push out Iranian forces from Syria. Award-winning journalist Rania Abouzeid is in Beirut. She’s the author of “No Turning Back. Life, Loss, and Hope in Wartime Syria.” She has reported extensively from Syria since the uprising began in 2011, and has received the George Polk Award in 2014 and the Michael Kelly Award in 2015 for her coverage.

Eric’s 2018 Autumn Reading, Empathy-Pathos, is now available for pre-order. This will be a 12-sign audio reading covering Venus retrograde and beyond. Pre-order all 12 signs now for just $57 — we will increase the price very soon.

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The Kavanaugh Cover-up? Role in Torture & Domestic Spying Policy Remains Unknown As Papers Withheld
Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court confirmation hearing enters its third day today. On Wednesday Capitol Police arrested 73 people protesting Kavanaugh’s nomination. The protests began almost immediately when Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley tried to start the hearing. Protesters included Women’s March organizers from 26 states. Among them was a teenager who stood on a chair and said, “I’m 18, and I’m here for the youth of the country. You’re ruining my future.” Hina Shamsi is director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s National Security Project. Vince Warren is executive director of the Center for Constitutional Rights.

No, You Are Not Part of the Resistance: A Response to Trump Official Who Penned Anonymous NYT Op-Ed
The White House is scrambling to ferret out disloyal members of President Trump’s inner circle after The New York Times published an anonymous op-ed Wednesday it says was written by a senior administration official claiming that a “quiet resistance” is underway seeking to constrain Trump’s worst impulses. In the extraordinary op-ed, the unnamed official writes, “Many of the senior officials in his own administration are working diligently from within to frustrate parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations.”

Arundhati Roy: The U.S. Is Growing Closer to India Militarily As Modi Expands Crackdown on Dissent
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis are in New Delhi today for talks aimed at deepening military and trade ties between India and the United States. India is the largest weapons importer in the world. The trip comes just a week after the Indian government conducted raids across the country targeting prominent human rights activists, lawyers, poets and critics of the the Narendra Modi government. At least five people were arrested. Critics say the arrests are part of a broader attempt by Modi’s government to silence dissidents ahead of next year’s general election. Acclaimed author and activist Arundhati Roy won the Booker Prize in 1997 for her first novel, “The God of Small Things.” Her most recent book is a novel titled “The Ministry of Utmost Happiness.”

“A Beautiful Moment”: Arundhati Roy Hails Indian Court Legalizing Gay Sex, Overturning Colonial Law
India’s Supreme Court has overturned a law criminalizing consensual gay sex, in a major victory for LGBTQI groups. The ruling voids a portion of the Indian Penal Code written by Britain’s colonial government in the 1860s, which, although rarely enforced, made sodomy a crime punishable by up to life in prison.

Eric’s 2018 Autumn Reading, Empathy-Pathos, is now available for pre-order. This will be a 12-sign audio reading covering Venus retrograde and beyond. Pre-order all 12 signs now for just $57 — we will increase the price very soon.

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Chaos Greets Kavanaugh Confirmation Hearing as Protesters & Dems Demand Postponement
Protests, arrests and repeated calls from Democratic senators to adjourn the proceedings. That’s how confirmation hearings began Tuesday for Judge Brett Kavanaugh, President Trump’s pick to fill Justice Anthony Kennedy’s seat on the Supreme Court. Heidi Sieck is co-founder of the national organization VoteProChoice, who was the first member of the public to enter the Kavanaugh hearings on Tuesday and was removed after she protested, along with dozens of others who interrupted the proceedings.

Meet Fred Guttenberg, the Parkland Father Who Confronted Brett Kavanaugh at His Confirmation Hearing
When Fred Guttenberg approached Judge Brett Kavanaugh during Tuesday’s Supreme Court confirmation hearings to talk about his daughter Jaime, who was shot and killed in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre on Valentine’s Day, he hoped to shake the nominee’s hand and start a conversation. Instead, Kavanaugh turned his back and walked away. Fred Guttenberg speaks about Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing and his record on the Second Amendment.

Report Finds Judge Kavanaugh Ruled Against Public Interest in Almost All of His District Court Cases
Even as records about Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s time in the White House remain concealed, much can be learned from his judicial record. Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen, discusses their analysis of Judge Kavanaugh’s opinions in split-decision cases, which found that during his 12 years on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, Kavanaugh decided or wrote an opinion against the public interest 87 percent of the time in split-decision cases dealing with consumer, environmental and worker rights.

As Amazon Hits $1T in Value, Its Warehouse Workers Denounce “Slavery” Conditions
Amazon made headlines Tuesday when it became the second American company, after Apple, to reach $1 trillion in value. Amazon’s founder and chief executive, Jeff Bezos, is the richest man in the world, with a net worth of more than $167 billion. But what’s behind that wealth? What about its workers? The working conditions in Amazon’s warehouses have been the focus of protests, union drives and several investigations—including by student reporters.

Exposed: Undercover Reporter at Amazon Warehouse Found Abusive Conditions & No Bathroom Breaks
Independent Senator Bernie Sanders has targeted Amazon for its role in widening the wage gap in the United States, and this week he is expected to unveil legislation requiring large employers like Amazon to cover the cost of federal assistance received by their employees. Journalist James Bloodworth spent a month working undercover as a “picker” in an Amazon order fulfillment center and found workers were urinating in bottles because they were discouraged from taking bathroom breaks. His new book is “Hired: Six Months Undercover in Low-Wage Britain.”

Eric’s 2018 Autumn Reading, Empathy-Pathos, is now available for pre-order. This will be a 12-sign audio reading covering Venus retrograde and beyond. Pre-order all 12 signs now for just $57 — we will increase the price very soon.

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“What Are They Hiding?”: Kavanaugh Confirmation Hearings Begin Despite Suppression of 100K Documents
Confirmation hearings begin for Judge Brett Kavanaugh to fill Justice Anthony Kennedy’s seat on the Supreme Court. If he is confirmed, it would likely make the court the most conservative since the 1930s. Kavanaugh is 53 years old and could serve on the Supreme Court for decades to come. Critics warn his confirmation could lead to major rollbacks of civil rights, environmental regulations, gun control measures, voting rights and reproductive rights, including possibly overturning Roe v. Wade. Kristen Clarke is president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. Last week the committee released a damning report on Kavanaugh’s record on cases and issued a statement opposing Kavanaugh’s nomination. She will attend the Senate confirmation hearings for Kavanaugh this week.

Indigenous Activists Win “David vs. Goliath” Victory as Court Rejects $4.5B Trans Mountain Pipeline
Canada’s Federal Court of Appeals has rejected the government’s approval to triple the capacity of the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline in a major victory for indigenous groups and environmentalists. On Thursday, Justice Eleanor Dawson nullified licensing for the $7.4 billion project and brought construction to a halt until the National Energy Board and the federal government complete court-ordered fixes. Her ruling cited inadequate consultations with indigenous peoples affected by the project, and found the National Energy Board’s assessment of the expansion was so flawed that the federal Cabinet should not have relied on it during the approval process. Just minutes after the court’s decision, Kinder Morgan’s shareholders agreed to sell the existing pipeline and the expansion project to the federal government for $4.5 billion. Prime Minister Trudeau had announced in May that Canada would purchase the pipeline. This means the government now owns the project as its expansion faces years of further review. Winona LaDuke is a Native American activist and executive director of the group Honor the Earth, and Eriel Deranger, founder and executive director of the group Indigenous Climate Action.

Winona LaDuke & Indigenous Canadian Activist Back Campaign to Stop SLAPP Suits That Silence Protests
In a major victory for indigenous groups and environmentalists, Canada’s Federal Court of Appeals has rejected the government’s approval to triple the capacity of the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline. Meanwhile, a coalition of environmental and civil liberties groups are launching a new campaign called “Protect the Protest,” to fight back against lawsuits aimed at limiting free speech. Corporations often used so-called SLAPP suits, or strategic lawsuits against public participation, to try to silence activists. Eriel Deranger is founder and executive director of the group Indigenous Climate Action. She is a member of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation.

Eric’s 2018 Autumn Reading, Empathy-Pathos, is now available for pre-order. This will be a 12-sign audio reading covering Venus retrograde and beyond. Pre-order all 12 signs now for just $57 — we will increase the price very soon.

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Boots Riley on His Anti-Capitalist Film “Sorry to Bother You,” the Power of Strikes & Class Struggle
Today’s Labor Day special features an extended conversation with Boots Riley, writer and director of “Sorry to Bother You,” his new film about an evil telemarketing company, a corporation making millions off of slave labor, and one Oakland man at the center of it all who discovers a secret that threatens all of humankind. His dystopian social satire is being hailed as one of the best movies of the summer. Riley is a poet, rapper, songwriter, producer, screenwriter, humorist, political organizer, community activist, lecturer and public speaker—best known as the lead vocalist of The Coup and Street Sweeper Social Club.

Eric’s 2018 Autumn Reading, Empathy-Pathos, is now available for pre-order. This will be a 12-sign audio reading covering Venus retrograde and beyond. Pre-order all 12 signs now for just $57 — we will increase the price very soon.

Four Days in Occupied Western Sahara—A Rare Look Inside Africa’s Last Colony
In this exclusive broadcast, Democracy Now! breaks the media blockade and goes to occupied Western Sahara in the northwest of Africa to document the decades-long Sahrawi struggle for freedom and Morocco’s violent crackdown. Morocco has occupied the territory since 1975 in defiance of the United Nations and the international community. Thousands have been tortured, imprisoned, killed and disappeared while resisting the Moroccan occupation. A 1,700-mile wall divides Sahrawis who remain under occupation from those who fled into exile. The international media has largely ignored the occupation—in part because Morocco has routinely blocked journalists from entering Western Sahara. But in late 2016 Democracy Now! managed to get into the Western Saharan city of Laayoune, becoming the first international news team to report from the occupied territory in years.

Eric’s 2018 Autumn Reading, Empathy-Pathos, is now available for pre-order. This will be a 12-sign audio reading covering Venus retrograde and beyond. Pre-order all 12 signs now for just $57 — we will increase the price very soon.