Special Counsel Robert Mueller testifies on Wednesday to two House panels, the Judiciary and Intelligence Committee, to submit to Congressional questioning about the controversial report his office issued. Democrats are hoping the hearings will generate greater public appetite for impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump while Republicans want the whole thing to disappear. Meanwhile Mr. Mueller has made it very clear that he has no interest in expressing anything other than what he has already done in his report. 

Today we’ll play for you excerpts of a dramatized reading of sections of the Mueller report called “The Investigation: A Search for the Truth in Ten Acts,” read by well known celebrity actors such as John Lithgow, Jason Alexander, Annette Benning, Kyra Sedgwick, Kevin Kline, Ben McKenzie, Alfre Woodard, Gina Gershon, Aidan Quinn, and Alyssa Milano. The play, written by the Pulitzer Prize winning Robert Schenkkan, is a dramatization of the Mueller Report that used the actual text for dialogue, focusing on obstruction of justice. Journalist Bill Moyers introduces the reading. 

You can watch the entire reading on their website at lawworksaction.org, or below.

President Donald Trump reached a federal government spending deal with leaders from both major parties on Monday that would lift the debt ceiling and increase spending. The debt ceiling would be suspended for two years until after the 2020 Presidential race, and, the budget would span two years as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has demanded. Opposition to the deal emerged almost immediately from both sides of the aisle with Republicans worried about increasing the government deficit, and Democrats complaining about political concessions made to Trump. New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez pointed out on Twitter, “Notice how whenever we pursue large spending increases + tax cuts for corporations, contractors & the connected, it’s treated as business as usual. But the moment we consider investing similar $ in working class people (ex tuition-free college) they cry out it’s ‘unrealistic.'” Meanwhile Politico referred to the President as “Deficit Don,” in an analysis that explained how, “The president endorsed a bipartisan budget deal without any of the spending restraints previously demanded by Republicans.”

 In other news Trump is moving to tighten rules for food stamp recipients in a way that could cut millions of Americans off the safety net program. The new rules would mean that those enrolled in other benefits such as TANF would no longer be automatically enrolled in the food stamp program – also known as Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program or SNAP. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue explained the move saying that states have, “misused this flexibility.” He added, “We are changing the rules, preventing abuse of a critical safety net system, so those who need food assistance the most are the only ones who receive it.” In 2017 about 13% of the US population made use of food stamp benefits. Acting deputy undersecretary of the USDA, Brandon Lipps, made the bizarre claim that, “automatic eligibility has expanded to allow even millionaires and others who simply receive a TANF-funded brochure to become eligible for SNAP when they clearly don’t need it.”

The Justice Department has issued a warning letter to Special Counsel Robert Mueller ahead of his public testimony to two House Panels on Wednesday. A DOJ spokesperson said the letter was simply a response to Mueller’s request asking for direction on how to navigate congressional questioning. The DOJ said to Mueller in its letter it, “agrees with your stated position that your testimony should be unnecessary under the circumstances,” and warned, “Please note there should be no testimony concerning the redacted portions of the public version of your report.” Representative Jerrold Nadler,

FEATURING PAUL SEAMUS RYAN – Newly unsealed court documents made public last week showed that President Trump was closely involved in the 2016 hush-money payments made to Stormy Daniels, the woman he allegedly had an affair with. Daniels, an adult film actress,  whose birth name is Stephanie Clifford had apparently threatened to go public with the story of their affair ahead of the 2016 elections. The documents were made public because it seems that no new charges would be filed on what many view as election fraud. 

According to the documents the FBI both Trump and his close aide Hope Hicks were involved in discussions about the payments even though both claimed they had no knowledge about it at the time. Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen made public, checks that Trump wrote to him as reimbursements for the payments during his Congressional testimony earlier this year. 

The Justice Department’s decision to not file charges comes at the same time as Attorney General William Barr was held in criminal contempt by the House for ignoring subpoenas related to the Census controversy and days ahead of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Congressional testimony.

Paul Seamus Ryan, Vice President of Policy & Litigation at Common Cause.

FEATURING DR. HAMZA AL-KATEAB, WAAD AL-KATEAB, EDWARD WATTS – The war in Syria has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives and continues to today with near daily headlines of dozens killed in attacks. Now a new documentary paints a horrifying and moving portrait of what it is like to live through the Syrian war. Told through the first person account of a woman whose life and perspective changes when she has a little baby girl, the film “For Sama,” chronicles the heartbreaking dilemma facing a mother, an activist, and a filmmaker. 

For viewing information visit https://www.forsamafilm.com.

Waad al-Kateab, Producer and Cinematographer of For Sama, Dr. Hamza al-Kateab, subject of the film and Edward Watts, Director.

House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler and other Democrats have been speaking out ahead of Wednesday’s public hearing featuring testimony from Special Counsel Robert Mueller. In an interview on Fox News with host Chris Wallace, Mr. Nadler accused the President of being guilty of “high crimes and misdemeanors.” If Democrats do pursue impeachment after the Mueller hearings, they would be led by the committee that Nadler chairs. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump on Monday appeared panicked in his Twitter post when he said, “Highly conflicted Robert Mueller should not be given another bite at the apple.” He then ended his tweet with a contradictory message saying that Mueller was to be trusted if judged by his report. He wrote, “Result of the Mueller Report, NO COLLUSION, NO OBSTRUCTION!…”

A Washington Post article on Sunday explained that ahead of his controversial political rally last week where Trump’s supporters chanted “Send Her Back,” in reference to Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, Trump prepared ahead of time to launch attacks on Omar and her colleagues. According to the paper, “Advisers wrote new talking points and handed him reams of opposition research on the four congresswomen.” Trump denied the report on Twitter, but was proven wrong when photos emerged of a sheet of paper in his hands with talking points. Among the points typed on the sheet were, “it seems like they hate America,” and “if you are not happy here you can leave.” Meanwhile Trump adviser Stephen Miller, widely credited for infusing the White House with racism, was confronted by Fox News’s Chris Wallace on Sunday, essentially refusing to answer Wallace’s questions about why it was wrong for the Squad to criticize America when Trump has done it many times.

Meanwhile news emerged on Saturday in the New York Times about an idea Trump pitched in 2005 for his reality TV show that would, “pit an all-white team against an all-black team.” The article was aptly titled, “Trump Employs an Old Tactic: Using Race for Gain.” In Louisiana a police officer was found to have written in a FaceBook post that congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who is part of the “squad,” should be shot. He wrote in response to a fake-news meme that she, “needs a round — and I don’t mean the kind she used to serve.” He also called her, “a vile idiot.” And in Georgia, an African American state lawmaker named Erica Thomas said that a white male grocery store employee told her to, “go back to where she came from.”

Congresswoman Deb Haaland,

FEATURING NEGIN OWLIAEI – The House of Representatives on Thursday voted to raise the federal minimum wage from its current $7.25 an hour to $15 an hour, marking a significant victory for progressives and labor rights. Only three House Republicans joined Democrats in voting for it.

If the bill became law, it would mark the first federal minimum wage increase in over a decade and the largest jump ever. Even more importantly, the Raise the Wage bill ties future increases to the minimum wage to middle class pay levels.

Low-wage workers have for years been demanding an increase in their minimum wage to $15 an hour and indeed many cities and even states around the country have raised the floor of their wages to $15 an hour. A recent report by the Congressional Budget Office estimated that nearly 30 million Americans would benefit from a federal increase to $15 an hour, and more than a million households would be lifted out of poverty.

Negin Owliaei, researcher and editor at Inequality.org, a project of the Institute for Policy Studies. She previously worked as a journalist and digital producer at Al Jazeera Media Network.

FEATURING IEVA JUSIONYTE – The US-Mexico border is more politicized today than in recent memory. With President Donald Trump’s rallying election campaign cry to “Build a Wall,” he has banked on the criminalization of immigrants and traded on racist stereotypes. As a result the practical impact on the border has been deadly. 

A former emergency responder at the US-Mexico border writes in searing detail how our policies have resulted in serious injuries and deaths at the border with little to no impact on the actual reasons why people are attempting to enter the US, or how they finally make it through.

Ieva Jusionyte, Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Social Studies at Harvard University. Her earlier book was Savage Frontier: Making News and Security on the Argentine Border. She has trained and volunteered as an emergency medical technician, paramedic, and wildland firefighter in Florida, Arizona, and Massachusetts. Her new book is called Threshold: Emergency Responders on the US-Mexico Border.

The Trump Administration announced that the Navy had shot down an Iranian drone in the Straits of Hormuz on Thursday, in an attempt to ratchet tensions with Iran. President Trump made the announcement of what he called “defensive” action taken from the USS Boxer.

But Iranian authorities on Friday denied that the US had shot any of their drones, suggesting the US may have accidentally shot down an American drone. Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on Twitter, “We have not lost any drone in the Strait of Hormuz nor anywhere else. I am worried that USS Boxer has shot down their own UAS (Unmanned Aerial System) by mistake!,” The Iranian Revolutionary Guard also said none of its drones were missing and announced it would put before-and-after photos of its entire drone stock online. Iranian forces reportedly downed an American drone last month. 

Meanwhile Iran’s foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif arrived in New York this week for talks at the United Nations and made what he called a “substantial” offer to the US on nuclear inspections. The Guardian Newspaper characterized the offer saying Iran, “would formally and permanently accept enhanced inspections of its nuclear program, in return for the permanent lifting of US sanctions.” On Thursday the US imposed sanctions on a network of corporations that it says are selling Iran materials for its nuclear program. 

Here in the US, New York Congress woman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez confronted Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan at a hearing on Thursday about a report on current and former Border Patrol agents exchanging violently racist and sexist content including about her. 

Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, who has become Trump’s top target of racism and hate, was given a royal welcome back to her home state of Minnesota with hundreds of supporters greeting her. She spoke at a town hall meeting that night to discuss Medicare-for-All as part of her progressive agenda. On Friday President Trump expressed frustration over how beloved Omar appeared to be by her constituents and slammed media coverage of her welcome on Twitter, writing angrily, “Mainstream Media, which has lost all credibility, has either officially or unofficially become a part of the Radical Left Democrat Party. It is a sick partnership, so pathetic to watch! They even covered a tiny staged crowd as they greeted Foul Mouthed Omar in Minnesota.”

Meanwhile, newly unsealed court documents show that President Trump was closely involved in the 2016 hush-money payments made to Stormy Daniels, the woman he allegedly had an affair with. Daniels’ whose birth name is Stephanie Clifford ...

FEATURING JULIO RICARDO VARELA – Thousands of Puerto Ricans are continuing their protests in San Juan in front of the Governor’s mansion demanding the resignation of Governor Ricardo Rosselló. For nearly a week people have gathered en masse in spite of police attacks of tear gas and rubber bullets. 

Protesters are angry over leaked messages that were exchanged between Rosselló and some of his top aides denigrating the victims of Hurricane Maria. The messages also included a joke about shooting Carmen Yulín Cruz, the outspoken mayor of San Juan, and a homophobic joke about Puerto Rican pop star Ricky Martin. 

Although Rosselló has apologized and claimed to fire the staffers with whom he had the exchanges, Puerto Ricans remain adamant that he resign saying the disturbing messages were only a part of the problem. 

Julio’s article in the Washington Post called ‘Puerto Rico’s governor needs to step down’ can be found HERE.

Julio Ricardo Varela, Digital Media Director for Futuro Media, founder of LatinoRebels.com, one of the top U.S. Latino media sites.He was formerly digital producer for Al Jazeera America’s “The Stream” and his work has been featured in the Guardian, ESPN, the New York Times, Quartz, Le Monde, Univision and Telemundo and many other outlets. 

FEATURING TED HOWARD – Most Americans understand that the US economy is, to paraphrase Bernie Sanders, “rigged” against the majority of us. In fact the health of our economy is generally measured by the well-being of the stock market and corporate profits. 

When economic recessions hit, the rich are bailed out and move on with almost no consequences. Under President Donald Trump wealthy Americans have prospered even more, winning a massive tax cuts while the rest of us continue to struggle. Yet we are told that the economy is humming along smoothly. 

How do we make our economy work for all of us? My guest says in a new book, we have to “democratize” it. 

Find more at https://www.ademocraticeconomy.org.

Ted Howard, co-founder and President of The Democracy Collaborative, formerly the Executive Director of the National Center for Economic Alternatives. He is the co-author with Marjority Kelly of the new book The Making of a Democratic Economy: Building Prosperity for the Many, Not Just the Few.