FEATURING RON FEIN – Two bombshell news reports over the weekend have President Donald Trump on the defense once more regarding the Special Counsel’s investigation. The New York Times on Friday revealed that the FBI had begun investigating Trump in early 2017 when he fired then FBI Director James Comey, just weeks into his Presidential tenure. According to the Times, “law enforcement officials became so concerned by the president’s behavior that they began investigating whether he had been working on behalf of Russia against American interests.”

And then on Sunday the Washington Post reported that, “President Trump has gone to extraordinary lengths to conceal details of his conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, including on at least one occasion taking possession of the notes of his own interpreter and instructing the linguist not to discuss what had transpired with other administration officials.”

For more information visit www.impeachmentproject.org.

Ron Fein, Legal Director of Free Speech for People, and a constitutional lawyer who previously served as Assistant Regional Counsel in the US EPA. He is the co-author with John Bonifaz and Ben Clements or the new book The Constitution Demands It: The Case for The Impeachment of Donald Trump.

FEATURING SONALI KOLHATKAR – Los Angeles public school teachers began a historic strike on Monday – for the first time in 30 years. The nation’s second largest school district has refused to tap into its record reserve of $1.86 billion in order to reduce class sizes, hire more support staff such as counselors and nurses, and more. Up to half a million children are impacted as more than 30,000 teachers, nurses, counselors, librarians and other staff walk off their jobs, tired of two years of failed contract negotiations. Thousands of teachers and their supporters gathered on a cold and rainy day in downtown Los Angeles to launch the teachers’ strike. As part of our on-going series Rising Up In the Streets, we bring you this report.

Two bombshell news reports over the weekend has President Donald Trump on the defense once more regarding the Special Counsel’s investigation. The New York Times on Friday revealed that the FBI had begun investigating Trump in early 2017 when he fired then FBI Director James Comey, just weeks into his Presidential tenure. According to the Times, “law enforcement officials became so concerned by the president’s behavior that they began investigating whether he had been working on behalf of Russia against American interests.” Additionally, “The inquiry carried explosive implications. Counterintelligence investigators had to consider whether the president’s own actions constituted a possible threat to national security. Agents also sought to determine whether Mr. Trump was knowingly working for Russia or had unwittingly fallen under Moscow’s influence. The investigation the F.B.I. opened into Mr. Trump also had a criminal aspect, which has long been publicly known: whether his firing of Mr. Comey constituted obstruction of justice.”

In an interview on Fox News with Jeanine Pirro on Saturday President Trump railed against the New York Times report that the FBI had opened an investigation into him after he fired James Comey.

And then on Sunday the Washington Post reported that, “President Trump has gone to extraordinary lengths to conceal details of his conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, including on at least one occasion taking possession of the notes of his own interpreter and instructing the linguist not to discuss what had transpired with other administration officials.” Trump has essentially prevented detailed record keeping of his face-to-face interactions with Putin over the course of 5 meetings in the first two years of his presidency. High-level cabinet members in his own administration are unable to have access to the details of his interactions with Putin. According to the Post, “Former U.S. officials said that Trump’s behavior is at odds with the known practices of previous presidents, who have relied on senior aides to witness meetings and take comprehensive notes then shared with other officials and departments.” Trump was also asked to respond to the Post’s report on Fox News over the weekend.

During the same interview Trump railed against his former attorney Michael Cohen who will be testifying to Congress this week. On Sunday three high-ranking Democrats warned President Trump to refrain from commenting on Cohen ahead of his testimony. House oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) wrote a joint letter to Trump saying, “Our nation’s laws prohibit efforts to discourage, intimidate, or otherwise pressure a witness not to provide testimony to Congress.” The warning letter was highly unusual and strongly worded.

In other news, the partial government shutdown has entered its fourth week, and has broken records for being the longest in US history. Many federal workers continue to work without pay and Trump is increasingly under pressure from conservatives and some members of his own party to

FEATURING RAHUL MAHAJAN – Secretary of State Mike Pompeo traveled to the Middle East along with White House National security Adviser John Bolton. Pompeo gave a major address on Thursday in Cairo, Egypt just about a decade after President Barack Obama made a historic speech in the same city. Pompeo’s lengthy address laid out a new vision for a Trumpian foreign policy while openly denouncing Obama’s approach. Much of that vision centered on isolating Iran.

The trip intended to offer nations clarity on President Donald Trump’s sudden announcement of a complete withdrawal of US forces from Syria. But, according to the New York Times, “the two officials left the administration’s message muddier than they found it. In Jerusalem on Sunday, Mr. Bolton laid out conditions for withdrawal that could leave American troops in Syria indefinitely.” When reporters asked Pompeo about the contradictions he simply said, “There’s no contradiction whatsoever. This is a story made up by the media.”

Meanwhile the withdrawal from Syria has apparently officially begun but according to news reports it is “chaotic,” and so far only equipment is being transferred out.

Rahul Mahajan is the US Foreign Policy and Empire Correspondent for Rising Up With Sonali and 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 DEEPA IYER – A massive women-led resistance to centuries of patriarchy and misogyny under the guise of religious tradition is playing out in the Southern Indian state of Kerala. Women have been defying massive pressure to respect a rule observed for thousands of years barring women of menstruation-age from entering an important temple in Kerala.

The Sabarimala temple, dedicated to Lord Ayappa, prohibited women aged 10 through 50 from ever stepping foot inside. But the Indian Supreme Court struck down the ban after a lawsuit challenged the rule. While the backlash to the court’s decision from Hindu fundamentalist groups has been huge, women’s rights activists have also pushed back and held firm to their rights. The violent clashes have resulted in more than a hundred injuries and thousands of arrests.

Read Deepa Iyer’s article on Medium called ‘The Women’s Resistance We Aren’t Hearing About is Happening Now In Kerala,’ HERE.

Deepa Iyer, South Asian American activist who works and writes on race, immigration and more. She is the author of We Too Sing America and host of a monthly podcast called Solidarity Is This. She recently wrote the piece entitled The Women’s Resistance We Aren’t Hearing About is Happening Now In Kerala.

President Donald Trump on Thursday traveled to the US-Mexico border, on the eve of federal workers missing their first paycheck since the government shutdown began, and edging closer to declaring a federal emergency in order to build his border wall. This is what he said to reporters. President Trump on Thursday in McAllen, Texas, tried to convince his base that violence and crime were pouring over from Mexico into the US.

News emerged that the White House would divert emergency funding from the billions of dollars that Congress had set aside for rebuilding  areas struck by recent climate-related disasters including California’s wildfire destruction, and the aftermath of hurricanes in North Carolina, Houston, and Puerto Rico. Trump apparently dismissed outright an attempt by some Republicans to bring the White House and Democrats together using a large immigration reform bill that offered some concessions to immigrant groups. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham who had led that effort, explained, “It kind of fell apart.” He then said, “It is time for President Trump to use emergency powers to fund the construction of a border wall/barrier,” and added, “I hope it works.”

Meanwhile, thousands of federal workers protested in Washington DC on Thursday, angry about the on-going government impasse, which looks on track to breaking the record on the longest shutdown in US history. The rally was led by several unions representing federal workers and joined by other unions and union workers expressing their solidarity. According to the Washington Post, “Those who gathered — chanting ‘pay the workers; furlough Trump’ as they marched to the White House — work for various federal agencies and live in different states. Some said they support Trump’s push for a border wall and increased security along the U.S.-Mexico border. Others scoffed at the idea.” Brittany Holder, a spokeswoman for the National Federation of Federal Employees told the Post, “We want to send a very strong message — that this is not about politics, it’s about getting people back to work. People are feeling really stressed and anxious, and they want to know when this will end.”  On the same day as the protest the US Senate unanimously passed a bill ensuring that workers who go without pay will receive full compensation when the government reopens.

In other news, Trump’s former personal attorney and fixer, Michael Cohen has agreed to publicly testify in front of Congress next month. His testimony is yet another result of the Democrats taking majority power in the House and begins fulfilling one of the key promises that the party made to voters in investigating the President’s shady dealings. Cohen has pled guilty to several charges stemming from the on-going investigations into election-wrongdoing and has already been sentenced to three years in prison. In accepting the Congressional invitation to testify Cohen said in a statement, “I look forward to having the privilege of being afforded a platform with which to give a full and credible account of the events which have transpired.” Republicans dismissed the coming testimony as, “political theater,” while Mr. Trump said he’s “not worried about it at all.”

Independent Senator Bernie Sanders and House Representative Elijah Cummings on Thursday unveiled a major bill to

FEATURING KEITH GABY – The Trump administration earlier this week formally nominated acting head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Andrew Wheeler, as permanent head. Wheeler had served as Deputy Administrator of the EPA under Scott Pruitt, and when Pruitt resigned in a cloud of ethics and corruption scandals last July, Wheeler stepped in as Acting Administrator.

Wheeler is a former coal industry lobbyist and environmental organizations fear he will continue, if not worsen, Pruitt’s destructive legacy at the EPA.

Meanwhile federal workers rallied in Washington DC on Thursday to protest the on-going federal government shutdown. Among them were likely EPA workers. Like other agencies, the EPA has struggled to fulfill its critical role in enforcing environmental regulations during the shutdown.

For more information visit www.EDFAction.org and www.momscleanairforce.org.

Keith Gaby, Senior Communications Director of Climate, Health, and Political Affairs at the Environmental Defense Fund.

FEATURING ROBERT E. FRIEDMAN – Although the stock market is booming, the majority of Americans continue to struggle financially today. A hand-to-mouth existence is sadly quite typical and many families find building up a nest egg out of reach, let alone buying a home, saving up for their kids’ college, or their own retirement. The struggles are even worse for people of color.

But what if all it took was a few thousand dollars per person to deliver economic security to American families? Exploring this idea with concrete examples and real-world solutions is Robert Friedman, whose new book proposes a so-called “Prosperity Bill.”

Robert E. Friedman is founder and chair emeritus of Prosperity Now, formerly the Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED), a national economic development nonprofit founded in 1979. He helped create the U.S. microenterprise and savings and asset-building fields and the international enterprise development and child savings fields. His new book is called ‘A Few Thousand Dollars: Sparking Prosperity For Everyone’.

President Donald Trump stormed out of a meeting with Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer on Wednesday during talks over funding for the border wall which Trump wants included in a spending bill. According to the New York Times, “Stunned Democrats emerged from the meeting in the White House Situation Room declaring that the president had thrown a ‘temper tantrum’ and slammed his hands on the table before leaving with an abrupt ‘bye-bye.'” Pelosi and Schumer addressed reporters right afterwards. 

The President promptly tweeted with pride about his behavior, saying, “Just left a meeting with Chuck and Nancy, a total waste of time. I asked what is going to happen in 30 days if I quickly open things up, are you going to approve Border Security which includes a Wall or Steel Barrier? Nancy said, NO. I said bye-bye, nothing else works!”

Trump heads to the US border with Mexico on Thursday to continue his campaign to convince the American people that crime and violence is pouring across from Mexico. He is expected to visit a Border Patrol station in McAllen, Texas, two days after delivering a live televised address on the border from the Oval Office. Media reports found that Trump’s address had a smaller viewership than the Democratic leadership’s response. 

Just a day after Trump insisted in his Oval Office address that Mexico would pay for the wall, one of his administration officials admitted on CNN that American tax payers would pay for the wall. White House Strategic Communications Director Mercedes Schlapp said during an interview that funds generated through a new trade deal with Mexico would in effect pay for the wall, but admitted that ultimately the money would come from taxpayers.

Meanwhile, 20 days into the partial federal government shut down, GOP Senators who have remained largely silent are now attempting to negotiate a large immigration deal that would assuage both Trump and the Democrats and help restart government. According to CNN, “Republican senators are privately planning to court Democratic senators on an immigration deal that would give President Donald Trump money for his border wall and include several measures long-sought by Democrats, according to sources familiar with the matter.” Among the enticements they hope to tempt Democrats with is relief for DACA recipients as well as some restoration of the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program. It is not clear if either Trump or the Democrats would go along with such a bill.

Tired of being used as political pawns, federal workers plan to rally on Thursday at the capital to protest the on-going shutdown which looks on track to breaking records for being the longest shutdown in US history. The AFL-CIO’s Washington DC office will kick off the union-led rally and will featured federal workers impacted by the shutdown, as well as union leaders, and Congressional lawmakers.  The food stamps and Medicare programs could become the next casualty of the shutdown, which would in turn impact many millions of Americans.

FEATURING ASTRID SILVA – President Donald Trump on Tuesday evening gave a brief televised speech making his case for funding for a border wall as the partial federal government shut down stretches into its third week. It was the first time he had made a televised address from the Oval office. The 9 and a half minute long speech was rife with claims of rampant drug trafficking, criminals pouring over the border and assaulting and violently killing Americans – none of which is true.

Trump’s speech was so riddled with lies and exaggerations as was expected that media outlets spent more time fact checking it than analyzing it. Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer issued their response to the speech, as did Senator Bernie Sanders.

It is unclear if the speech had any impact. The New York Times reported that even Trump didn’t think it would help but acted on the recommendation of his advisers.

Astrid Silva, Executive Director at Dream Big Nevada.