Lieutenant Colonel Alexander S. Vindman, a top Ukraine expert on the National Security Council gave his deposition to House committees overseeing the impeachment inquiry on Tuesday. Vindman’s testimony was just as devastating as that of Acting Ukraine Ambassador William Taylor and confirmed Taylor’s assertion that President Donald Trump was withholding military aid from Ukraine in exchange for politically damaging information on his election opponent. Vindman became the first witness to the incriminating July phone call between Trump and Ukraine’s leader to testify to the House, saying he raised alarms twice about the President’s behavior. In his opening statement obtained by the press, Vindman said, referring to the US’s European Union Ambassador, “Sondland emphasized the importance that Ukraine deliver the investigations into the 2016 election, the Bidens, and Burisma. I stated to Amb. Sondland that his statements were inappropriate, that the request to investigate Biden and his son had nothing to do with national security, and that such investigations were not something the NSC was going to get involved in or push.” He added, “I was concerned by the call. I did not think it was proper to demand that a foreign government investigate a U.S. citizen… This would all undermine U.S. national security.” Meanwhile, Fox News, President Trump’s favorite media outlet, has already jumped on the fact that Vindman is a Ukrainian born immigrant and has begun smearing him in an effort to defend the President. 

In related news, House committees are requesting a deposition from a man named Robert Blair, an aide to White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, who has emerged as one of the key figures in the Ukraine scandal. Like Mr. Vindman, Blair was on the July phone call between Trump and Zelensky. And, Charles Kupperman, another witness called by House committees, has asked a court to decide whether he is required to testify or not. Kupperman is the former Deputy National Security Adviser and was also on the Ukraine call. He failed to show up for a House hearing on Monday and a federal judge has now called him to court on Thursday alongside lawyers for the Trump administration and House committees. Meanwhile, Democrats plan to cement their procedures legislatively rather than fight refusals to testify in court. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that the first vote would be held this Thursday to pass procedures to start public testimonies. According to the New York Times, “That vote would establish rules for the public presentation of evidence and outline due process rights for Mr. Trump.” But Republicans, who have vociferously denounced the secrecy of the hearings are now reportedly shifting their strategy to defending the President on the merits of the impeachment case rather than process. 

Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee have asked Attorney General

FEATURING RAHUL MAHAJAN – US forces have reportedly killed the leader of the Islamic State, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi in a raid in northwestern Syria. In a triumphant national address to the nation, President Donald Trump announced the killing in his trademark style of bragging, denigration, and exaggeration. The announcement came at a politically useful moment for Trump who has come under rare criticism from his own party for pulling US troops back from Northern Syria. 

Rahul Mahajan is the US Foreign Policy and Empire Correspondent for Rising Up With Sonali and is the author of two books on the Iraq war: Full Spectrum Dominance: U.S. Power in Iraq and Beyond and The New Crusade: America’s War on Terrorism. He also teaches at University of Wisconsin, River Falls.

FEATURING MEGAN PETERSON – Abortion restrictions at the state level have steadily been eroding women’s constitutional rights for several years. One state where restrictions are being legally challenged is Minnesota where a group of organizations have joined a lawsuit whose first hearing takes place this week. In the lawsuit, Doe Vs. Minnesota, the plaintiffs are listed as “DR. JANE DOE; MARY MOE; and FIRST UNITARIAN SOCIETY OF MINNEAPOLIS.” The suit makes the case that a number of anti-abortion measures are in violation of the state Supreme Court’s own ruling decades ago that affirmed women’s reproductive rights. 

For more information visit https://unrestrictmn.org.

Megan Peterson, Executive Director at Gender Justice, a legal and policy advocacy org committed to gender, economic and reproductive justice.

President Donald Trump on Sunday gave a televised address and triumphantly announced the killing of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, a man considered to be the leader of the notorious terrorist organization called the Islamic State or ISIS. Al Baghdadi was reportedly cornered by US forces while hiding in a compound in Syria in a raid that took years of planning. Associated Press reported that, “The stout, bearded militant leader wore a suicide vest and dragged along three children as he fled from the American troops.” He then blew himself and the children up. There have been previous reports of Al Baghdadi’s death that were revealed to be false but, as per AP, this time, “Lab technicians conducted an onsite DNA test to make sure and within 15 minutes of his death, positively identified the target.”

Trump’s announcement drew instant comparisons to President Barack Obama’s announcement of the assassination of Osama bin Laden as he used denigrating terms to describe the killing in contrast to Obama’s more measured tone. The New York Times summarized how, “He repeated the word ‘whimpering’ six times and made a point of repeatedly portraying Mr. al-Baghdadi as ‘sick and depraved’ and his followers as ‘losers’ and ‘frightened puppies.’” Meanwhile House Speaker Nancy Pelosi released a statement on Sunday evening saying that, “The House must be briefed on this raid, which the Russians but not top congressional leadership were notified of in advance, and on the administration’s overall strategy in the region.” When asked by reporters if he had informed Pelosi Trump admitted, “No, I didn’t. I didn’t do that. I wanted to make sure this kept secret. I don’t want to have men lost, and women. I don’t want to have people lost.” He gave no evidence for why he thought the House Speaker would leak details to the press. 

Details have also emerged that Trump knew of the US military’s planned raid to kill Al Baghdadi when he decided unexpectedly to pull US troops back from Northern Syria some weeks ago. His decision reportedly complicated the planning of the raid and forced military strategists to move faster and take greater risks. The New York Times noted that, “The president cast the death of the ISIS leader as validation of his disengagement strategy. But it required intelligence agencies and allies he has spurned.” Trump described the video of Al Baghdadi’s killing akin to “watching a movie,” and announced on Monday that he might authorize the release of parts of it to the public. And Syrian Kurdish Forces have announced that just after Al Baghdadi’s killing, they conducted a joint raid with US forces and killed the ISIS leader’s top aide and possible successor, Abu Hassan al-Muhajir. 

In news from the impeachment inquiry, House committees overseeing the probe of how Trump improperly used US military aid to Ukraine to extract politic...

FEATURING MELEIZA FIGUEROA – As Californians grapple with a new normal of a changing climate fueling deadly, rampaging wildfires, another problem is plaguing millions of the state’s residents, and that is the privately run utilities company Pacific Gas and Electric or PG&E, whose aging power lines have been responsible for many fires. 

After last year’s record breaking Camp Fire that resulted in 85 deaths and the totally destroyed town of Paradise, this year PG&E has decided to preemptively shut off power to hundreds of thousands of residents across the state. The company, who tried to give its executives millions of dollars in bonuses earlier this year, says Californians should expect blackouts for perhaps ten years before it replaces aging infrastructure. Some have now begun calling for the state to take over the company.

Meleiza Figueroa is a correspondent for Rising Up With Sonali. She’s also a PhD Candidate in Geography at UC Berkeley and Faculty owner at the Cooperative New School for Urban Studies and Environmental Justice. She has been a longtime political educator and organizer, involved in a wide range of movements for social and environmental justice in California.

FEATURING MELANIE JOY – One of the most enduring collective questions in contemporary America is how we ended up with a President who thrives on hate, denigration, and bullying. The answer lies of course in the fact that there is a significant proportion of the electorate that identifies with Donald Trump’s moral standards, have catapulted him to power and are determined to keep him there. 

Today we turn to a psychologist who explores an idea that she calls “Powerarchy,” a “widespread invisible belief system based on a hierarchy of moral worth” that considers some groups or individuals of having higher moral worth than others. Understanding that belief system can be critical to social transformation. 

For more information about the book visit www.Powerarchy.org.

Melanie Joy, Harvard educated psychologist and international speaker. She was a lecturer at the University of Massachusetts in Boston and is the bestselling author of Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows. Her new book is called Powerarchy: Understanding the Psychology of Oppression for Social Transformation.

Reports emerged that the US Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into the origins of the Special Counsel’s investigation into the 2016 election. What began as an administrative review overseen by Attorney General William Barr has now been switched to a criminal probe, suggesting that Mr. Barr may be trying to deliver a political victory to President Donald Trump. For months Trump railed against the investigation led by Robert Mueller claiming it was illegal. The New York Times explained that, “Mr. Trump has made clear that he sees the typically independent Justice Department as a tool to be wielded against his political enemies.” Some are speculating that the Democrats leading an impeachment inquiry against Trump through House committees is taking the place of the investigation that the Justice Department should have been conducting. 

 Meanwhile more details are emerging from the closed-door deposition by Pentagon official Laura Cooper earlier this week to House committees. The Trump administration apparently sent her lawyer a letter the day before she was scheduled to appear at the hearing claiming there was an “absence of authority for the Committees to conduct an impeachment inquiry,” and adding that Ms. Cooper, “cannot participate in [the impeachment] inquiry under these circumstances.” Cooper defied Trump’s order and shared the letter with the committees. In other news related to the impeachment, Steven Fruman, the brother of Igor Fruman an associate of Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, has been subpoenaed. Igor Fruman and another man named Lev Parnas were arrested some weeks ago as they were attempting to leave the country. Now, federal prosecutors in New York are interested in documents from Fruman’s brother Steven. Prosecutors have been digging through evidence, even blowing doors off a safe as per CNN.

Republicans, some of whom blocked Cooper’s testimony to House committees on Wednesday for 5 hours, are claiming that the impeachment process is improper because the inquiry is being conducted in secret. On Thursday Fox News’ judicial analyst Andrew Napolitano reminded conservatives who created the rules that House Committees are now operating under.

Democratic House Representative Nydia Velasquez from New York this week introduced historic legislation called the Climate Displaced Person’s Act. In a statement the Congresswoman said, “If we are going to meaningfully discuss comprehensive climate equity and climate justice, we must inject security assistance and resettlement opportunities for climate-displaced persons into our conversations.” The bill would, “would create a humanitarian program separate from the U.S. refugee admissions program. The new program would admit a minimum of 50,000 [Climate Displaced Persons], beginning with Fiscal Year 2020, allowing CDPs to access resettlement opportunities.” Meanwhile Senator Chuck Schumer published an

FEATURING COLLIN REES – President Donald Trump spoke on Wednesday at the Shale Insight Conference in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which is a gathering that promotes hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” as a means of extracting oil and gas. Aside from some bizarre tangents where he discussed building a wall in Colorado and urged his supporters to demand he stay in office for 16 more years, Trump focused on all the ways in which his administration has promoted greater carbon emissions. 

Today, as the planet is burning up with record breaking heat waves and extreme weather events, Trump’s actions at the helm of the largest per capita carbon emitter is arguably more critical than anything he has done.

For more information visit PriceOfOil.org and OilChangeUSA.org.

Collin Rees, Senior Campaigner with Oil Change U.S.

FEATURING DOREEN DODGEN-MAGEE – Digital technology has reshaped societies all over the world. Broadband internet access is now considered a human right. Our smart phones allow us to carry mini computers wherever we go and many of us imagine these conveniences help streamline our busy lives. But more often than not we are spending inordinate amounts of time in front of screens. Worse yet, our children are doing so, encouraged by schools and parents alike.

Some analysts have warned of technology’s negative impact on our society. Today we turn to a psychologist who is not averse to digital devices but who advocates for finding a balance – something I suspect most of us are craving direction on. 

Doreen Dodgen-Magee, a psychologist with over 25 years of experience and author of the new book Deviced: Balancing Life and Technology in a Digital World.

Donald Trump’s personal lawyer William S. Consovoy has said the President is so far above the law that he could shoot someone and not be prosecuted. Consovoy made the outrageous claim while asking the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals to block a subpoena for Trump’s financial records as part of an investigation into hush money payments made to women that Trump allegedly had affairs with before the 2016 election. One of the three judges, Denny Chin, invoked Trump’s own claim made ahead of the election that he could “stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody” and not “lose any voters.” Judge Chin asked, “Local authorities couldn’t investigate? They couldn’t do anything about it…Nothing could be done? That is your position?” Mr. Consovoy’s response was “That is correct.” 

In news from the impeachment inquiry against Trump, Republican Senator and ardent Trump backer Lindsey Graham says he is introducing a Senate resolution condemning the Democrat-led House impeachment inquiry. This, despite the fact that the Senate has no power to stop the inquiry given that the constitutional authority to introduce articles of impeachment against presidents lies with the House of Representatives. On Wednesday House Republicans delayed a closed-door deposition of a Pentagon official named Laura Cooper by five hours, staging an angry occupation of the room where the deposition was to be conducted. Representative Matt Gaetz, a Trump loyalist, led the action of more than 2 dozen GOP lawmakers. They contended that Republicans were being shut out of the process even though Republican members of the 3 House committees conducting the inquiry were fully participating in the process. Bloomberg reported that Trump knew of the Republican action to block Cooper’s testimony in advance. Democratic Representative Bennie Thompson, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee wrote a letter to the Sergeant-at-Arms demanding that the Republicans be warned of the “unprecedented breach of security” they engaged in. 

The GOP’s actions came a day after damning testimony from the acting US Ambassador to Ukraine, William Taylor. Trump loyalist Gordon Sondland, a former hotelier and current US Ambassador to the EU, disputed portions of Taylor’s testimony through his lawyer. And, Associated Press is reporting based on sources in Ukraine’s government that then-President elect Volodymyr Zelensky was worried months before the infamous phone call with Trump about Rudy Giuliani’s demand that he investigate Trump rival Joe Biden. Meanwhile, not much has emerged of Laura Cooper’s deposition which began late on Wednesday afternoon. According to CNN, “Once Cooper’s testimony began, she provided a very technical readout of how foreign aid is disbursed,