Today's Liberal News
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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Endorses Joe Biden
The New York Democrat said Biden had done “quite well” given the party’s limitations.
‘No Regard For Anyone’: Christie Slams Trump After Man Is Arrested Near Obama Home
“This is the problem with someone who doesn’t think about this country and its citizens first,” the former New Jersey governor said.
Rep. Ro Khanna on Term-Limiting SCOTUS Justices, Sole “No” Vote on Pentagon Budget & Modi’s State Visit
We speak with Democratic Congressmember Ro Khanna of California about several topics.
How Syria Profits from Trafficking Captagon, Highly Addictive Amphetamine Propping Up Assad Regime
We speak with BBC Arabic correspondent Rasha Qandeel, whose new documentary investigates Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s role in producing the highly addictive amphetamine known as Captagon and how this is impacting his relations with other states in the region.
Syria’s Missing: New U.N. Body Will Investigate Disappearance of 130,000 People in 12-Year Civil War
The United Nations General Assembly has approved a resolution to establish an independent body to investigate what happened to more than 130,000 people who went missing during the conflict in Syria over the last 12 years. The Syrian government opposed the resolution, along with Russia, China, Belarus, North Korea, Cuba and Iran. “This is one of the most painful chapters in the Syrian crisis,” says Dr.
Elena Milashina Attack: Rights Groups Condemn Brutal Beating of Russian Journalist in Chechnya
Press freedom groups around the world have condemned the brutal attack on Russian journalist Elena Milashina, who was beaten by unknown assailants in the Chechen capital of Grozny on July 4. Milashina, a reporter for Novaya Gazeta, was in town to report on Chechnya’s ongoing attacks on LGBTQ people when she was assaulted along with lawyer Alexander Nemov.
Ukrainian Writer Andrey Kurkov Recalls Friend Victoria Amelina, Novelist Killed in Russian Airstrike
We remember the acclaimed Ukrainian writer Victoria Amelina, who died as a result of injuries from a Russian strike on a restaurant in Kramatorsk last week, which also killed 12 other people. Amelina was part of a human rights group, Truth Hounds, investigating Russian war crimes. Amelina’s friend Andrey Kurkov, a fellow author and the former president of PEN Ukraine, says the young writer’s death is just the latest in a long string of artists lost to the Russian invasion.
Former Arizona House Speaker Talked To FBI In 2020 Investigation
Republican Rusty Bowers said he spoke for four hours to officials about attempts to overturn Trump’s election loss.
Brit Hume Gives Fox News Viewers Damning Reality Check On ‘Loser’ Trump
The longtime Fox News analyst says supporting Trump “may come back to haunt the Republican Party in 2024.
DOJ Unseals Previously Blacked-Out Sections From Trump Warrant Application
The newly revealed paragraphs reveal that surveillance cameras showed boxes being relocated in the days before FBI and Justice Department investigators visited Mar-A-Lago.
Rep. Matt Gaetz Wants To Nix Cannabis Testing For Military
Explaining his new proposal, the Florida conservative said that “we should embrace” recruits regardless of past marijuana use.
Climate crisis: The hottest day in history
If you listened to the news over the holiday, you might have learned that it was not just exceptionally warm across much of the United States, but Monday was the hottest day in history. Or at least, the hottest day around the globe since temperature records have been maintained.
It was the first day in recorded history that the world had ever averaged over 17 degrees Celsius. That’s just 62.62 degrees Fahrenheit.
Biden is resistant to SCOTUS reform. This term’s Moore decision means he should get over it
Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to reverse decades of precedent upholding affirmative action in higher education, President Joe Biden was pressed on reforming the court. He told MSNBC’s Nicole Wallace that it would be a “mistake” to expand the court, because “I think if we start the process of trying to expand the court, we’re going to politicize it maybe forever in a way that is not healthy.
Ukraine Update: The 3:1 rule of attack, and why it doesn’t apply to the counteroffensive
On Monday, there were reports that Ukrainian forces had moved out of the recently liberated town of Rivnopil in the Zaporizhzhia area and were heading toward the village of Pryyutne, 7 kilometers to the south. On Tuesday, there were reports that there was fighting near that town. On Wednesday, there are unconfirmed reports that Pryyutne has been liberated.
Trump-appointed judge injects some QAnon into the federal judiciary
The MAGA/QAnon crowd celebrated Independence Day with one of their own, a federal district court judge in Louisiana who issued a broad injunction against President Joe Biden and a bunch of his administration officials from working with social media companies to combat disinformation.
Josh Hawley puts white nationalist words in the mouth of a Founding Father
Sen. Josh Hawley went looking for some patriotic and unmistakably right-wing sentiment to tweet out on the Fourth of July, and came up with a stirring quote from Patrick Henry, of “give me liberty or give me death” fame, about the centrality of Christianity in the founding of the United States. Or anyway, Hawley attributed the quote to Henry. That was false.
“Bad for Religion”: Gay Baptist Minister with Interfaith Alliance on SCOTUS Ruling on LGBTQ Rights
The Supreme Court has ruled 6 to 3 along ideological lines in favor of a Christian Colorado web designer who refused to create websites for same-sex couples even though the state bans such discrimination. “We’re entering into a terrible moment where a Pandora’s box has been opened,” says president and CEO of Interfaith Alliance Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, who warns “permission has been granted to use religion as a way to discriminate against your fellow people.
“Time Is of the Essence”: Astra Taylor on Student Debt Relief Setback at Supreme Court, Biden’s Plan B
The Supreme Court has blocked President Biden’s student debt relief plan, which sought to cancel up to $20,000 in individual loans, adding up to over $400 billion of federal student debt. The decision comes as a major blow to some 40 million qualified borrowers. Biden has announced his administration will pursue a “new path” for debt relief. “It was a blow to debtors,” says Astra Taylor, organizer with the Debt Collective and advocate for debt abolition.
“Inflection Point”: Uprising over French Teen’s Killing in Traffic Stop & Pattern of Racist Policing
In France, more than 3,000 people have been arrested after a week of nationwide protests following the police killing of Nahel Merzouk, a teenager of North African descent, captured on video. Nahel’s family and friends held his funeral Saturday at a mosque in Nanterre. We speak with Rokhaya Diallo, a French journalist in Paris, who explains this killing is part of a long pattern of racist policing that has divided the country.
Under Fire: Report from Jenin Refugee Camp on Israel’s Largest West Bank Attack in 20 Years
Israel attacked the Jenin refugee camp this weekend in what some are calling the largest military operation in the occupied West Bank in 20 years. Israel claims to have attacked militants in the camp, but camp residents say they were targeted by airstrikes and ground troops. Palestinian health officials say the massive two-day military offensive killed 12 Palestinians and injured at least 140 more.
Daniel Ellsberg’s Dying Wish: Free Julian Assange, Encourage Whistleblowers & Reveal the Truth
Whistleblower Dan Ellsberg joined us after the Justice Department charged WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange with 17 counts of violating the Espionage Act for publishing U.S. military and diplomatic documents exposing U.S. war crimes. Assange is locked up in London and faces up to 175 years in prison if extradited and convicted in the United States.
“The Doomsday Machine”: Confessions of Daniel Ellsberg, Former Nuclear War Planner
As we remember Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg, who died in June, we look at how he was also a lifelong anti-nuclear activist, stemming from his time working as a nuclear planner for the U.S. government. In December 2017, he joined us to discuss his memoir, The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner. “This was an actual war plan for how we would use the existing weapons,” he noted, “many of which I had seen already that time.
Months Before Death, Daniel Ellsberg Warned Crisis over Ukraine & Taiwan Could Lead to Nuclear War
Over the past 50 years, Daniel Ellsberg remained an antiwar and anti-nuclear activist who inspired a new generation of whistleblowers. In his last interview with Democracy Now!, in April, he spoke about the war in Ukraine and why it required a diplomatic solution, and about the latest leak of Pentagon documents by Air National Guard member Jack Teixeira, who has been indicted on six counts of willful retention and transmission of classified information.
RNC Accidentally Celebrates Wrong Flag In Awkward Fourth Of July Message
The Republican National Committee deleted the tweet after critics pointed out the mistake.
Biden Calls For Gun Reform On Highland Park Anniversary: ‘Much More Must Be Done’
The president’s statement on the Illinois mass shooting arrives in the wake of three back-to-back fatal shootings early this week.
Federal Judge Blocks Florida GOP Attack On Voter Registration Groups
“The Free State of Florida is simply not free to exceed the bounds of the United States Constitution,” a federal judge wrote.
Hope and Resistance: Voices of a People’s History of the United States in the 21st Century
In a special broadcast, we look at voices of a people’s history inspired by the late great historian Howard Zinn’s groundbreaking book, A People’s History of the United States, which helped reshape how history is taught in classrooms. Twenty years ago, Zinn and Anthony Arnove began organizing public readings of historical texts referenced in A People’s History of the United States.
“What to the Slave Is the 4th of July?”: James Earl Jones Reads Frederick Douglass’s Historic Speech
We begin our July Fourth special broadcast with the words of Frederick Douglass. Born into slavery around 1818, Douglass became a key leader of the abolitionist movement. On July 5, 1852, in Rochester, New York, Douglass gave one of his most famous speeches, “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” He was addressing the Rochester Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Society.
Ex-GOP Rep. Recalls Exact Moment He Knew Lindsey Graham Would Sacrifice His Dignity
A royal visit in Saudi Arabia gave former Republican David Jolly a much better understanding of the key Trump ally, he told MSNBC’s “The Beat.