“We Cannot Wait for Change” — Freed Whistleblower Chelsea Manning on Iraq, Prison & Running for Senate
Fifteen years ago this month, the U.S. invasion of Iraq began. The war’s most famous whistleblower, Chelsea Manning, appears today in her first live television interview. While serving as an Army intelligence analyst in Iraq, Manning leaked a trove of documents in 2010 about the Iraq War to WikiLeaks. She also leaked diplomatic cables, as well as information on Guantánamo and the U.S. War in Afghanistan. It would become the largest leak of classified data in U.S. history. Manning was caught and eventually sentenced to 35 years in prison—the longest sentence ever given to a whistleblower in the United States. Last year, President Obama granted her clemency in one of his final acts in office. She had written to the president requesting what she described as a “first chance at life.” Since her release, Manning has emerged as a leading activist for trans rights and greater transparency. She has been featured in the pages of Vogue, where she was photographed by Annie Leibovitz, and was named 2017 Newsmaker of the Year by Out magazine. In January, she announced her bid for the U.S. Senate in Maryland, challenging Democratic Senator Ben Cardin, who is seeking a third term.

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“One Life Is Worth All the Guns in America”: Students Demand End to Violence at March for Our Lives
In a historic day of action, more than 800 protests were held Saturday urging lawmakers to pass gun control. In Washington, organizers say 800,000 took part in the March for Our Lives, which was organized by students who survived the February 14 shooting massacre at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. In New York, another 150,000 took to the streets; 85,000 rallied in Chicago; 55,000 marched in Los Angeles. Tens of thousands also rallied in Atlanta and Pittsburgh. In Washington, D.C., survivors of gun violence—from Parkland to Chicago—shared the stage to decry the power of the National Rifle Association and to demand an end to the violence. We air highlights of the speeches.

WATCH: Parkland Survivor Emma González Stands in 4 Minutes of Silence Heard Around the World
On Saturday in Washington, D.C., Parkland shooting survivor Emma González took to the stage at the massive March for Our Lives and stood behind the podium in silence for four minutes as she fought back tears. It’s being called the loudest silence in the history of U.S. social protest.

Voices from the Mass Shooting Generation: Youth from Around Country Descend on D.C. to Demand Change
Organizers say as many as 800,000 people poured into the streets in Washington, D.C., for the March for Our Lives, which was organized by students who survived the February 14 shooting massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Amy Goodman and Democracy Now!’s youth correspondent Soledad Aguilar-Colón of Beacon High School here in New York City spoke to people in the crowd who had traveled from all over the world to join the protest.

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Trump’s Most Alarming Foreign Policy Move Yet? Warmonger John Bolton Named National Security Adviser
President Trump has tapped John Bolton to become his next national security adviser, replacing H.R. McMaster. Bolton is known for his ultra-hawkish views. He has openly backed war against Iran and North Korea, and was a prominent supporter of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Just three weeks ago, Bolton wrote an article for The Wall Street Journal titled “The Legal Case for Striking North Korea First.” In 2015, while the Obama administration was negotiating the Iran nuclear deal, Bolton wrote a piece titled “To Stop Iran’s Bomb, Bomb Iran.”

Major New Investigation into Trump Real Estate Deals in India Reveals Corruption, Lawsuits, Fraud
A major new investigation has just been published into Trump’s business partnerships in India and the conflicts of interest these deals pose for the White House. The new cover story for The New Republic is titled “Political Corruption and the Art of the Deal.” In it, journalist Anjali Kamat notes the Trump Organization has entered into more deals in India than in any other foreign country. These deals, she writes, are worth an estimated $1.5 billion and produced royalties of up to $11 million between 2014 and 2017. During her year-long investigation, Kamat traced Trump’s India partners’ long history of facing lawsuits, police inquiries and government investigations that contain evidence of potential bribery, fraud, intimidation, illegal land acquisition, tax evasion and money laundering.

Meet the American Professor Suing Cambridge Analytica for His Psychographic Profile
We turn now to the burgeoning scandal around voter-profiling company Cambridge Analytica. Startling revelations show the company harvested the data of more than 50 million Facebook users, without their permission, in efforts to sway voters to support President Donald Trump. Cambridge Analytica was founded by billionaire Robert Mercer. Trump’s former adviser Steve Bannon of Breitbart News was one of the company’s key strategists. Cambridge Analytica used the data to turn a voter-profiling company into a powerful psychological tool, which began launching targeted political ads aimed at carrying out Robert Mercer’s far-right political agenda.

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Reformer or War Criminal? Saudi Crown Prince Welcomed in U.S. as Trump Touts Weapons Deals
On Tuesday, President Trump met with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House, where the two leaders finalized a $12.5 billion weapons deal. This comes less than a year after Trump announced a $110 billion arms deal with the Saudis. During the meeting, Trump held up posters of recent Saudi weapon purchases from the United States and said, “We make the best equipment in the world.” Human rights groups warn the massive arms deal may make the United States complicit in war crimes committed in the Saudi-led bombing campaign in Yemen.

As Yemen Faces World’s Worst Humanitarian Crisis, Senate Refuses to End U.S. Support for Saudi War
On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate rejected a bipartisan resolution to end U.S. military involvement in the Saudi-led war in Yemen within 30 days, unless Congress formally authorizes the military action. The vote was 44 to 55, with 10 Democrats joining the Republican majority to block the legislation and Arizona Senator John McCain not casting a vote. The U.S.-backed, Saudi-led airstrikes and naval blockade have devastated Yemen’s health, water and sanitation systems, sparking a massive cholera outbreak and pushing millions of Yemenis to the brink of starvation. More than 15,000 people have died since the Saudi invasion in 2015.

Are Israel & Saudi Arabia Pressuring U.S. Toward War with Iran?
Journalist Mehdi Hasan and Medea Benjamin, co-founder of CodePink, discuss how the United States is siding with Saudi Arabia in its feud with Iran and what it means for the Middle East. Could it mean war against Iran? On Monday, Saudi Arabia called the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers a “flawed agreement.” President Trump has long threatened to pull out of the deal.

15 Years After Invasion of Iraq, Amnesia & Distortion Obscure U.S. Record of War Crimes & Torture
Fifteen years ago this week, the U.S. launched its invasion of Iraq on the false pretense that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was hiding weapons of mass destruction. The attack came despite worldwide protest and a lack of authorization from the United Nations Security Council. The ongoing war has devastated Iraq and destabilized the region.

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“The Battle for Paradise”: Naomi Klein on Disaster Capitalism & the Fight for Puerto Rico’s Future
Six months since Hurricane Maria battered the island of Puerto Rico, the island is the site of a pitched battle between wealthy investors—particularly from the technology industry—and everyday Puerto Ricans fighting for a place in their island’s future. The Puerto Rican government has pushed for a series of privatization schemes, including privatizing PREPA, one of the largest public power providers in the United States, and increasing the number of privately run charter schools and private school vouchers. Best-selling author and journalist Naomi Klein is author of “The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism.” Her latest piece for The Intercept, where she is a senior correspondent, is “The Battle for Paradise: Puerto Ricans and Ultrarich ‘Puertopians’ Are Locked in a Pitched Struggle over How to Remake the Island.”

Six Months After Maria, Residents Resist Efforts to Turn Island into Privatized Bitcoin Playground
On Monday, teachers across the island held a one-day strike to protest the plans to privatize the education system on Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Roselló is pushing for privately run charter schools and private school vouchers. Yarimar Bonilla is an associate professor of anthropology and Caribbean studies at Rutgers University and a visiting scholar at the Russell Sage Foundation. Her latest piece in The Nation is titled “6 Months After Maria, Puerto Ricans Face a New Threat—Education Reform.”

After Maria, Puerto Ricans Cultivate Food Sovereignty While FEMA Delivered Skittles & Cheez-Its
An upcoming video produced by The Intercept follows Naomi Klein on her recent trip to Puerto Rico. Some of the people she speaks with include two environmental activists, Jesús Vázquez and Katia Avilés, who talk about food security after Hurricane Maria.

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“It Was a Crime”: 15 Years After U.S. Invasion, Iraqis Still Face Trauma, Destruction & Violence
It was 15 years ago today when the U.S. invaded Iraq on the false pretense that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was hiding weapons of mass destruction. The attack came despite worldwide protest and a lack of authorization from the United Nations Security Council. At around 5:30 a.m. in Baghdad on March 20, 2003, air raid sirens were heard as the U.S. invasion began. The fighting has yet to end, and the death toll may never be known. Conservative estimates put the Iraqi civilian death toll at 200,000. But some counts range as high as 2 million. In 2006, the British medical journal Lancet estimated 600,000 Iraqis died in just the first 40 months of the war. The U.S. has also lost about 4,500 soldiers in Iraq. Just last week, seven U.S. servicemembers died in a helicopter crash in western Iraq near the Syrian border. The war in Iraq has also destabilized much of the Middle East. Former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and others have directly blamed the U.S. invasion of Iraq for the rise of ISIS.

Undocumented and Unpaid, Until Now: Houston Day Laborers Fight Wage Theft After Hurricane Harvey
After Hurricane Harvey dumped more than 50 inches of rain on Houston six months ago, tons of moldy debris had to be removed, and the nation’s fourth-largest city is now beginning a multi-year rebuilding process. Much of the work is being done by undocumented immigrants, who make up at least half of the Texas construction workforce. But even as their work is in high demand after the storm, many are facing widespread wage theft. Few of them report the abuse, because they fear deportation if they go to police because of state’s so-called “show me your papers” law that allows police to ask anyone in their custody their immigration status.

Voices from Houston After Harvey: Immigrant Homeowners Say Little to No Help Coming from FEMA
In an on-the-ground report from Houston, Democracy Now! producer Renée Feltz speaks with immigrant homeowners who faced heavy flooding during Hurricane Harvey and say they are recovering with little or no help from FEMA, even though their U.S.-born children are living with them. Many faced FEMA inspectors who did not speak Spanish.

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Former Brazilian President Lula: It’s Clear Marielle Franco’s Assassination Was Premeditated
Here’s a Democracy Now! exclusive interview with, Brazil’s former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who is now running for president again. The discussion begins with the assassination of 38-year-old Rio city councilmember and human rights activist Marielle Franco, who was killed last week. Franco, who was a black lesbian, was known for her fierce criticism of police killings in Brazil’s impoverished favela neighborhoods. Her death comes at a pivotal moment for Brazil and the future of democracy in South America’s largest country. Just last month, President Michel Temer ordered Brazil’s military to assume control of police duties in Rio. “The only thing that she did was to work against the assassination of black people in the peripheral areas in the defense of human rights,” says Lula da Silva.

Exclusive: Brazilian Presidential Candidate Lula on Facing Jail as He Runs for President Again
Former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the highly popular former union leader, is running for president in this year’s election even as he is facing a possible prison term on what many believe to be trumped-up corruption charges tied to the sprawling probe known as “Operation Car Wash.” Lula was convicted of accepting a beachside apartment from an engineering firm vying for contracts at the state oil company Petrobras. But many of Lula’s supporters say the conviction was politically motivated. President Lula responds to the charges against him. “We’re awaiting for the accusers to show at least some piece of evidence that indicates that I committed any crime,” he notes.

Brazil’s Former President Lula on U.S. Intervention in Latin America & 15th Anniv. of Iraq Invasion
Former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva co-founded Brazil’s Workers’ Party and served as president from 2003 to 2010. During that time, he helped lift tens of millions of Brazilians out of poverty. As he runs for president again, he discusses the 15th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, and U.S. interference in Latin America.

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50 Years After My Lai Massacre in Vietnam, Revisiting the Slaughter the U.S. Military Tried to Hide
Fifty years ago, on March 16, 1968, U.S. soldiers attacked the Vietnamese village of My Lai. Even though the soldiers met no resistance, they slaughtered more than 500 Vietnamese women, children and old men over the next four hours, in what became known as the My Lai massacre. After the massacre, the U.S. military attempted to cover up what happened. But in 1969 a young reporter named Seymour Hersh would reveal a 26-year-old soldier named William Calley was being investigated for killing 109 Vietnamese civilians. Today, memorials have been held in My Lai to mark the 50th anniversary of this horrific attack.

The GI Resistance Continues: Vietnam Vets Return to My Lai, Where U.S. Slaughtered 500 Civilians
As a group of Vietnam War veterans and peace activists travel back to Vietnam to mark the 50th anniversary of the My Lai massacre, Amy Goodman and Juan González speak with three members of the delegation: Vietnam veteran Paul Cox, who later co-founded the Veterans for Peace chapter in San Francisco; Susan Schnall, former Navy nurse who was court-martialed for opposing the Vietnam War; and longtime activist Ron Carver, who has organized an exhibit honoring the GI antiwar movement at the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City.

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