FEATURING ENRIQUE MORONES – President Trump has been threatening to close the US border with Mexico amid reports that the influx of migrants trying to enter is peaking. In a tweet on Monday Trump doubled down on his threat saying, “Mexico must use its very strong immigration laws to stop the many thousands of people trying to get into the USA. Our detention areas are maxed out & we will take no more illegals. Next step is to close the Border!”

How exactly the US would go about shutting down all or some parts of the world’s busiest land border is not clear. Many Republicans are concerned about the impact it would have on the US economy.

Meanwhile, thousands of migrants and refugees remain trapped in Mexico as the US has insisted that they wait there while applying for asylum.

Enrique Morones, founder and director of San Diego-based human rights organization Border Angels.

FEATURING TOBY BLOMÉ AND ELEANOR LEVINE – Activists with Code Pink and Veterans for Peace have gathered this week at Indian Springs, Nevada to call attention to the on-going US drone operation being conducted from Creech Air Force base.

The twice-yearly demonstrations have taken place for the past ten years but what is different this year is how the US has escalated its drone program especially since Donald Trump took office. There are some estimates that the secret program has tripled in size. Additionally the Trump administration has ended hard-won requirements to publish drone strike fatalities.

Over five days this week the activists in Nevada are holding twice-daily vigils each morning and afternoon.

For more information visit http://shutdowncreech.blogspot.com.

Toby Blomé and Eleanor Levine, organizers with the San Francisco-based chapter of Code Pink Women for Peace.

In a series of tweets late Monday President Donald Trump revealed that his decision to overturn the entire Affordable Care Act in a legal case, would not be followed up with a Republican-led alternative healthcare plan until the 2020 elections, and that is only assuming the GOP wins back the House. The President made his social media declaration, saying, Republicans, “are developing a really great HealthCare Plan with far lower premiums (cost) & deductibles than ObamaCare. In other words it will be far less expensive & much more usable than ObamaCare. Vote will be taken right after the Election when Republicans hold the Senate & win back the House.” He added in a separate tweet, “The Republican Party will be known as the Party of Great HealtCare,” misspelling the word, “healthcare.” Democratic leaders reacted with skepticism with Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer saying that Trump’s announced plan means that he will, “hold Americans hostage through 2020,” and that Trump, “insists he has a magic plan that we can see if only the American people re-elect him.”

In other news, Trump’s plan to close the Southern border with Mexico is also as vague as his promise to repeal the ACA. On Monday several of his Republican allies were apparently bewildered at his threat. According to Politico, “some Hill Republicans warned that any dramatic disruption to regular traffic across the U.S.-Mexico border could bring Trump into a new confrontation with his own party, whose leaders warn that closing parts or all of the border would wreak economic havoc.” On Tuesday morning Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders spoke to reporters, saying it was the fault of Democrats that Trump was forced to threaten the border closure. 

A second woman has come forward and accused former Vice President Joe Biden of invading her personal space. Amy Lappos in an interview with the Hartford Courant described an incident that took place in 2009 at a fundraiser. According to Lappos, “It wasn’t sexual, but he did grab me by the head.” She added, “He put his hand around my neck and pulled me in to rub noses with me. When he was pulling me in, I thought he was going to kiss me on the mouth.” She explained that she didn’t complain then because he was the Vice President, but she explained, “There’s absolutely a line of decency. There’s a line of respect. Crossing that line is not grandfatherly. It’s not cultural. It’s not affection. It’s sexism or misogyny.” Lappos’ allegation comes after former Nevada Congresswoman Lucy Flores made a similar accusation. On Tuesday House Speaker Nancy Pelosi  commented on Biden’s inappropriate behavior toward women.

President Trump’s battles with Puerto Rico continued on Monday night as he tweeted erroneously that, “Puerto Rico got far more money than Texas & Florida combined, yet their government can’t do anything right, the place is a mess – nothing works.” He said,...

FEATURING RAMESH SRINIVASAN – In an op-ed on Saturday in the Washington Post, Facebook Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg called on Congress to regulate companies like his. He outlined four areas in which he thinks the Internet could benefit from regulation: “harmful content, election integrity, privacy and data portability.”

Zuckerberg’s call comes in the wake of several damaging stories centered on its practices. First, the horrific mass shooting in Christchurch, New Zealand, that left 50 people dead, was live-streamed by the perpetrator on Facebook and shared widely. Facebook is also among those social media companies that have allowed hateful content to proliferate online and has now said it will ban white supremacist and white nationalist content.

Second, the Department of Housing and Urban Development last week filed a surprise lawsuit against the company for engaging in housing discrimination by allowing advertisers to target specific demographics and thereby violate the Fair Housing Act.

Ramesh Srinivasan, Director of the Digital Cultures Lab and Professor of Information Studies and Design and Media Arts at the University of California, Los Angeles. Author of Whose Global Village? Rethinking How Technology Shapes Our World. His new book, co-authored with Adam Fish is called After the Internet.

FEATURING NANDINI ARCHER – Tens of thousands of people protested in Verona, Italy over the weekend against the reactionary politics of a gathering of groups called the World Congress of Families. The conference drew a conglomeration of people whose homophobic and misogynist views have drawn the ire of Europeans.

A new study published last week by the group Open Democracy has traced how the right wing Christian fundamentalists in the United States have poured millions of dollars into reactionary movements in Europe. Groups like Billy Graham’s Evangelistic Association, American Center for Law and Justice, and Alliance Defending Freedom have sent more than $50 million over the last ten years to fuel the kinds of trends on display at the World Congress of Families in Verona.

Nandini Archer, Editorial Assistant at Open Democracy, works with the International Campaign for Women’s Right to Safe Abortion and is an active member of the feminist direct action group Sisters Uncut.

A former White House Security adviser-turned-whistleblower named Tricia Newbold told members of Congress on Monday morning that the Trump administration had taken actions that compromised national security. Newbold is a longtime staffer and in transcribed interview with the House Oversight and Reform Committee she explained how Trump officials had overturned at least 25 security clearances that, “were not always adjudicated in the best interest of national security.” In a document that summarized her allegations, Newbold reportedly said, “I would not be doing a service to myself, my country, or my children if I sat back knowing that the issues that we have could impact national security.” She added, “I feel that right now this is my last hope to really bring the integrity back into our office.” The chair of the House Committee, Elijah Cummings has said he wants to subpoena White House officials to further investigate Newbold’s claims. Among those whose security clearance decisions are known to have been reversed are Trump’s daughter and son-in-law, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, and National Security Adviser John Bolton.

In other news, the House Judiciary Committee expects to hold a vote on Wednesday to subpoena the Mueller report, a day after a deadline that it had given the Justice Department for the report’s release. Attorney General William Barr has said he will release a redacted version of the report in mid-April but Committee Chair Jerrold Nadler had said he wants the, “full and complete report,” including the evidence that Mueller’s team gathered. In an op-ed published on Monday in the New York Times, Mr. Nadler warned, “If the department is unwilling to produce the full report voluntarily, then we will do everything in our power to secure it for ourselves.” He explained, “We have every reason to suspect that the unedited obstruction section of the Mueller report resembles the report that Congress received from the Watergate grand jury in 1974.” The Watergate report apparently, “did not recommend that the president should be prosecuted. It did not say the president should be impeached. It simply stated the evidence so that Congress could do its job.”

In news on immigration, President Donald Trump announced by tweet late last week that he would be closing the US border with Mexico. Over the weekend White House staffers including Counselor Kellyanne Conway confirmed that it was a serious threat saying in an interview on Fox News Sunday, “It certainly isn’t a bluff. You can take the president seriously.” Meanwhile the US State Department announced over the weekend to cut aid from three Central American nations: El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. The move would affect about $500 million in unspent funds that were appropriated to fund counter-narcotics programs.

FEATURING KEVIN GOSZTOLA – As the political battle over making the Special Counsel results public continues, reports emerged this week that Robert Mueller’s report is more than 300 pages long. The length – akin to that of an average book – calls into question the succinct 4-page summary made public by Attorney General William Barr.

In his rally speech in Grand Rapids, Michigan on Thursday evening, Trump riled up his base claiming that the “collusion delusion,” was over, eager to close the chapter and turn the entire investigation into a useful political tool to bludgeon his rivals.

What will it take to make the Mueller report public?

Kevin Gosztola, managing editor of Shadowproof.com. He also produces and co-hosts the weekly podcast, Unauthorized Disclosure.

FEATURING MELISSA MOORE – A few days ago mysterious billboards began popping up in New York advertising a slick looking private club for marijuana users called Country Club Cannabis (CCC). The club had an online presence and used slogans like, “The Privilege to Indulge.”

It turns out that the ads were part of a satirical action by the group Drug Policy Alliance to demand that the state legalize marijuana and do so equitably so as to address those most harmed by a narcotics ban.

The group hopes that New York will join the growing list of states legalizing recreational Marijuana use but be the first to do so within an equitable framework.

For more information visit www.smart-ny.com.

Melissa Moore, Deputy State Director in New York of the Drug Policy Alliance.

President Donald Trump held a triumphant rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan on Thursday, celebrating what he has decided is his complete exoneration from the Special Counsel investigation. Trump conducted in his usual bombastic style, filled with racist imagery, mocking name-calling, and provocations of violence from his rabidly angry base.

Trump’s son Donald Jr. opened for him, taking aim at Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, saying, “Think about the fact that every mainstream, leading Democratic contender is taking the advice of a freshman congresswoman who three weeks ago didn’t know the three branches of government.” He added, “I don’t know about you guys, but that’s pretty scary.” His comments prompted the crowd to chant “AOC Sucks.” During his rally speech the President also attacked Democratic Representative Adam Schiff’s physical characteristics.

Trump also mocked asylum seekers making up facts to suit his anti-immigrant narrative. 

In other immigration news photos and videos emerged on Thursday of hundreds of migrants in El Paso, Texas, being held in cages with barbed wire in the parking lot of a Border Patrol station. The cages are being termed a “transitional shelter.” CBP Commissioner Kevin McAleenan said earlier this week that border apprehensions of migrants were, “at its breaking point.”  He also said, “CBP is facing an unprecedented humanitarian and border security crisis all along our Southwest border, and nowhere has that crisis manifested more acutely than here in El Paso.” But reporters described the outdoor cages that refugees are being held in as akin to concentration camps.

Meanwhile Homeland Security Secretary Kristjen Nielsen proposed several changes in immigration enforcement to Congress. In a letter dated March 28, Nielsen asked Congress for authority to deport unaccompanied refugee children back to their home countries, as well as keep asylum seekers in detention for longer periods, and to require people to apply for asylum from their native countries.

Trump has decided to overrule his own Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’s decision to cut Special Olympics funding as part of her proposed set of cuts to her own Department. In remarks to reporters on Thursday he gave no other specifics nor did he mention that DeVos’s plan to cut the Education budget is part of his demand for an across-the-board slashing of non-military domestic programs.

The state of Maryland on Thursday passed a minimum wage law of $15 an hour, becoming the sixth state in the nation to adopt what had begun as a rallying cry by low-wage workers a few years ago. Democrats in the state legislature overrode a veto by Republican Governor Larry Hogan who said the wage increase would, “devastate” the economy of his state. Both of Maryland’s state legislative chambers are controlled by Democrats, who passed the bill by votes of 96-43 in the House and 35-12 in the Senate. The new law would increase the current minimum wage of $1...

FEATURING PAUL SONG – The Justice Department earlier this week announced that it will seek to overturn the entire Affordable Care Act, President Obama’s signature healthcare bill that Republicans have waged war against for years. In a court filing on Monday in a case pending at the Federal Court of Appeals in New Orleans, DOJ attorneys asserted that a lower court ruling in Texas last December invalidating the entire law should be upheld.

According the Washington Post, “If the Justice Department’s position prevails, it would potentially eliminate health care for millions of people and cause disruption across the U.S. health-care system — from removing no-charge preventive services for older Americans on Medicare to voiding the expansion of Medicaid in most states.”

Democrats welcomed the about-face, girding themselves to defend the ACA which remains popular.

Paul Song is the Healthcare Correspondent for Rising Up With Sonali. He’s a board-certified radiation oncologist. He is co-chair of the Campaign for a Healthy California, and is on the board of Physicians for a National Health Program.