FEATURING MAZIN QUMSIYEH – The teenage Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi has been freed after more than 6 months in Israeli captivity. Tamimi made international headlines after she was jailed for slapping an armed Israeli soldier in defense of her cousin who was shot. The young woman returned home triumphantly as hundreds of supporters gathered around. The 17-year old Palestinian activist has become a symbol of resistance around the world. She is only one of thousands of Palestinian children that have been incarcerated by Israel.

Meanwhile the Israeli Navy has intercepted a flotilla of boats carrying aid supplies to Gaza. The “Freedom Flotilla” 2018 is part of an on-going international solidarity effort to break Israel’s siege of Gaza. Israeli authorities arrested those on board. Eight years ago, a boat named the Mavi Marmara attempting to similarly break the Gaza siege was attacked by Israeli forces who killed 9 people on board.

Mazin Qumsiyeh has been on the faculties of the University of Tennessee, Duke, and Yale Universities. He is now a professor at Bethlehem and Birzeit Universities. His books include Popular Resistance in Palestine and Sharing the Land of Canaan. He is founding director of the Palestine Institute of Biodiversity and Sustainability.

In today’s news headlines a massive fire in Shasta County, Northern California, has been burning over the weekend, tearing through 100,000 acres, forcing the evacuation of thousands, and destroying hundreds of homes in its path. So far six lives have been claimed including that of a 70-year old woman and her two great grandchildren aged 4 and 5. A firefighter and a rescue worker have also died and seven people remain missing. 

That’s a survivor of the Carr fire – a fire that has continued to burn as a deadly combination of high temperatures and high winds drive it – conditions directly linked to the on-going human-driven warming of the planet. The watchdog group Public Citizen released a report late last week called Extreme Silence: How the US Media Have Failed to Connect Climate Change to Extreme Heat in 2018. The report examined media coverage by national and local newspapers, and TV networks in the period between January 1 and July 8 2018 and found that only a small percentage of stories covering extreme temperatures explicitly mentioned climate change. Later on today’s show we’ll speak with Thanu Yakupityage of 350.org to survey the global heat wave that has enveloped the planet and how media outlets cover them as well as what climate justice activists are planning.

Instead of addressing climate change President Donald Trump over the weekend pivoted to his favorite topic: immigration. He tweeted angrily, “I would be willing to ‘shut down’ government if the Democrats do not give us the votes for Border Security, which includes the Wall! Must get rid of Lottery, Catch & Release etc. and finally go to system of Immigration based on MERIT! We need great people coming into our Country!”

Meanwhile the ACLU has filed a new set of documents in federal court showing how some immigrant parents were separated from their children twice. Shortly after several fathers were reunited with their children, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) gave them forms with 3 options, one of which was to opt for voluntary deportation of the child and parent together – that option was pre-selected for them by ICE on the forms. When the fathers tried to select the option of being deported on their own, they were separated without getting the chance to even say goodbye to their children.

Later on our program we’ll speak with Ben Wolcott of Make the Road NY about a report called Bankrolling Oppression that his organization helped to write linking Trump’s immigration policies to the growth of private prisons and how big banks are investing in them.

News emerged over the weekend that President Trump had met privately with the publisher of the New York Times, A.G. Sulzberger earlier this month. The meeting was reportedly about Trump’s treatment of the press, constant allegations of “fake news,” and the declaration that the media are the “enemy of the people.” Trump tweeted his impression of the July 20th meeting calling it a, “good and interesting meeting,” and that he, “Spent much time talking about the vast amounts of Fake News being put out by the media & how that Fake News has morphed into phrase, ‘Enemy of the People.’ Sad!” Mr. Sulzberger then issued a five-paragraph

FEATURING BEN WOLCOTT – July 26 was the deadline by which the government was ordered by a judge to reunite all immigrant children separated from their parents in Trump’s so-called zero-tolerance border policy earlier this year. But of the approximately 2,500 children that were separated 711 still remain without their parents after the deadline, lawyers for the government said. Of those, 431 cases remain where the parents were deported before getting their children back and the rest were “ineligible” to be returned as per the government.

Meanwhile protesters across the country have continued confronting ICE offices and other institutions involved in the immigrant crackdown including banks that are financing private prisons for immigrants. JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and BlackRock, have been targeted by activists this week after the Center for Popular Democracy released a report called Bankrolling Oppression. Eight people were arrested while protesting outside the home of JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon.

For more information visit www.maketheroadny.org, www.backersofhate.org and download the report HERE.

Ben Wolcott, Campaign Researcher at Make the Road Action.

In today’s news headlines CNN is reporting on Friday morning that President Donald Trump knew about a June 2016 meeting in Trump Tower in advance, according to his former attorney Michael Cohen. That meeting was with a group of Russians who apparently were offering helpful information on Hillary Clinton – a meeting that Trump claimed he knew nothing about until the New York Times asked him about it. Now, according to CNN, “Cohen’s claim would contradict repeated denials by Trump, Donald Trump Jr., their lawyers and other administration officials,” and that, “Cohen alleges that he was present, along with several others, when Trump was informed of the Russians’ offer by Trump Jr.” Trump on Friday posted a tweet saying, “I did NOT know of the meeting with my son, Don jr.”

In related news, the Associated Press has reviewed documents revealing that the Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya who met with Trump campaign officials at the Trump tower meeting, has far closer ties to the Russian government than she let on. Ms. Veselnitskaya had claimed she works completely independently of governments but AP says the documents they reviewed, “suggest her ties to Russian authorities are close — and they pull the curtain back on her campaign to overturn the sanctions imposed by the U.S. on Russian officials.”

Special Counsel Robert Mueller is reported to be examining Trump’s tweets in connection with possible obstruction of justice attempts. The New York Times reported on Thursday that Mueller, “is scrutinizing tweets and negative statements from the president about Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the former F.B.I. director James B. Comey,” by the President in connection with his desire to end the Russia investigation. The paper also reports that Mueller is examining, whether Trump’s actions, “add up to attempts to obstruct the investigation by both intimidating witnesses and pressuring senior law enforcement officials to tamp down the inquiry.” An “obstruction-of-justice” law that was put in place after the Enron accounting controversy years ago is apparently at the heart of this line of inquiry.

Meanwhile, Michael Avenatti, the lawyer for Stormy Daniels has announced that he is representing three additional women who were paid hush money to remain quiet about their affairs with Trump ahead of the 2016 election. Avenatti made the announcement at a forum in West Hollywood on Thursday but did not give specifics.

The impeachment effort by some Republicans aimed at Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein has been dropped just a day after it was introduced. Representative Mark Meadows who is jockeying to replace retiring Paul Ryan as House Speaker withdrew his impeachment bill saying he would pursue ‘contempt’ instead. Republicans have targeted Rosenstein for criticism over the Special Counsel investigation. Mr. Ryan came out strongly against Rosenstein’s ...

FEATURING THANU YAKUPITIYAGE – The most dramatic instance has been the devastating fires that hit a small resort near Athens in Greece killing scores of people many of whom were trapped in their cars or drowned while seeking refuge from the flames in the sea.

In Japan spiking temperatures have led to more than 20,000 people being hospitalized in the past week and more than 80 people have died.

Here in the United States the West Coast has been struck with back-to-back heat waves fueling fast-moving wildfires.

The record-breaking heat is in line with predictions that climate scientists have been making for years about global warming. But you wouldn’t know it from elected officials or most of the media.

For more information about Rise for Climate mobilization visit www.RiseForClimate.org and www.350.org.

Thanu Yakupitiyage, U.S Communications Manager, 350.org.

FEATURING JOSH HOXIE – Seema Verma, the Trump Administration’s Administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in a speech in California on Wednesday warned of problems facing the government’s popular Medicare and Medicaid programs. Medicare turns 53 years old later this month. Verma also took aim at the Affordable Care Act, and, when asked about the increasingly popular notion of expanding Medicare to all Americans, slammed the idea. She later followed up her speech with a Tweet claiming that Medicare-for-All would result in Medicare-for-None.

Meanwhile, new data has found that the federal deficit has increased dramatically, far faster than economists were predicting. The increase is clearly linked to the reduction in corporate taxes into the treasury as a result of the Trump and GOP-tax reform bill passed last year.

Trump had asserted that the tax cut would pay for itself but the numbers from the Office of Management and Budget show that the tax cut will result in an additional trillion dollars in debt over the next decade. Republicans are chomping at the bit to use the deficit to claim cuts to services like Medicare.

For more information visit www.inequality.org and www.ips-dc.org.

Josh Hoxie, heads the Project on Opportunity and Taxation at the Institute for Policy Studies.

FEATURING JUNAID AHAMAD – Former international cricket star-turned anti-corruption activist Imran Khan has declared victory in Pakistan in elections that took place Wednesday. The elections were marred by heavy violence on the day that people voted with a devastating attack in the city of Quetta that killed more than 30 people. There have also been serious accusations alleging cheating and fraud.

Mr. Khan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf declared victory early Thursday morning after winning a clear plurality of seats in the National Assembly. According to AP, “Khan’s message of a ‘new’ Pakistan resonated with young voters in a country where 64 percent of its 200 million people are below the age of 30.” Khan’s leading rival, Shabaz Sharif, the brother of disgraced former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, is disputing the results.

Junaid Ahmad, assistant professor at the University of Lahore in Pakistan, and Secretary-General of the International Movement for a Just World.

In today’s news headlines a string of deadly coordinated suicide attacks in the Syrian city of Sweida has left 216 people dead. The city has been left out of most of the violence of the Syrian war until now. The Islamic State has taken credit for the devastating attacks, which came in waves in the early hours of Thursday morning. One of the attacks hit a busy market. Armed men also entered the city and shot residents in the head as they slept in their homes. Sweida is home to the Druze minority in Syria. IS media outlets boasted of the attacks. Meanwhile the US and France on Wednesday announced sanctions aimed at the Syrian government’s chemical weapons program.

In Pakistan, former international cricket star-turned anti-corruption activist Imran Khan has declared victory in elections that were marred by heavy violence and allegations of cheating and fraud. Mr. Khan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf declared victory early Thursday morning after winning a clear plurality of seats in the National Assembly. According to AP, “Khan’s message of a ‘new’ Pakistan resonated with young voters in a country where 64 per cent of its 200 million people are below the age of 30.” Khan’s leading rival, Shabaz Sharif, is disputing the results.

In domestic news, 11 Republican lawmakers have introduced articles of impeachment against Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. The impeachment effort is aimed at the Special Counsel’s investigation into election wrongdoing because only Mr. Rosenstein can fire Robert Mueller (Attorney General Jeff Sessions has recused himself from the investigation). Representatives Mark Meadows of North Carolina and Jim Jordan of Ohio introduced the resolution, but stopped short of forcing a vote. In an interview on Fox News on Wednesday night, Mr. Jordan said, “We’re tired of the Justice Department giving us the finger and not giving us the information we’re entitled to, to do our constitutional duty.” He added, “More importantly, the American people are sick of it. That’s why we filed the resolution.”

Meanwhile President Trump has decided to postpone an invitation to Russian President Vladimir Putin to 2019 after facing criticism from both major parties. Trump’s National Security Adviser John Bolton cited the Russia investigation for delaying the invitation even though Trump faces a bi-partisan consensus on accusations of cozying up to Russia too much. Last week Trump stunned lawmakers when he said he wanted to invite Mr. Putin to the White House this fall.

The fallout from Trump’s meeting with Putin in Helsinki, Finland continues as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo faced aggressive questioning on Wednesday by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Members of both parties asked Pompeo if he had been briefed on the specifics of the private conversation between Trump and Putin in Helsinki. Here is Pompeo’s touchy exchange with Senator Bob Menendez, the ranking Democrat on the committee.

The Pompeo hearing was actually meant to focus on a lack of progress in denuclearizing North Korea. According to the

FEATURING KEVIN MORRIS – While much attention has been paid to the politics of the upcoming midterm elections, the issue of voting rights has fallen off the radar. A new report by the Brennan Center for Justice found that five years after the Supreme Court gutted a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, voter rolls are being purged.

Brennan Center lawyer Myrna Perez in a recent New York Times op-ed wrote that her organization found that, “the median rate of purging across the country has risen from 6.2 percent of voters to 7.8 percent since 2008.”

Download the report HERE.

Kevin Morris, quantitative researcher with the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice, focusing on voting rights and elections. He is one of the co-authors of the report, Purges: A Growing Threat to the Right to Vote.

FEATURING ELON GLICKMAN – For nearly 20 years an organization called Taglit Birthright has been sending young Jews from around the world to Israel for an all-expenses paid trip during which the participants are given a carefully curated view of Israel. But now, a new movement has emerged urging the program to tell the truth about Israel and its treatment of Palestinians.

A number of Birthright participants made headlines recently when they had high-profile confrontations during their trips and left their scripted tours to visit Palestinians whose homes had been destroyed by Israelis. Among them is my guest Elon Glickman whose videotaped questioning of the Birthright maps of Israel has gone viral.

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

Elon Glickman, active member of If Not Now, a Los Angeles born Jewish American who participated in the free Birthright trip to Israel where he was one of several people who walked off the trip in protest of Israeli oppression of Palestinians.