i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. >> welcome to all our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. marshall eddie conway is free. the former leader of the black panther party in baltimore was released tuesday after serving nearly 44 years in prison. his supporters described him as one of the country's longest held political prisoners. conway was convicted of killing a baltimore police officer donald sager. another officer was injured in the shooting. conway has always maintained his innocence. his supporters say he never received a fair trial and that much of the case was built on the testimony of a jailhouse informant. >> the shooting occurred at a time when federal and local authorities were infiltrating and disrupting the black panthers and other activist groups. it later emerged the baltimore chapter of the black panthers was actually founded by undercover officers from the baltimore police department. at the time of the shooting, the fbi was also monitoring conway's actions as part of its

i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh.>> welcome to all our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. widespread outrage continues to grow after the largest mass sentencing in modern egyptian history. human rights groups, the united states, and the european union have denounced egyptian court's 529nt decision to sentence supporters of ousted president mohamed morsi to death. the convictions followed a trial that lasted just over two days, with the majority of the accused tried in absentia for their alleged role in killing a single police officer last summer. mass trial has opened involving 683 people, including top muslim brotherhood leader mohammed badie. denouncey, marie harf the trials. imposing the death penalty on 529 defendants after a two-day trial would be unconscionable. the verdicts handed down yesterday by the court and the command meant another mass trial for 683 individuals today in the same court represent a flagrant disregard or basic standards of justice. the imposition of the deat

i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. >> welcome to all our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. the justice department has reportedly launched a criminal investigation into how general motors, the nations largest automaker, may have covered up safety defects in its compact cars that were linked to at least 13 deaths. the problem." six models of cars gm made from 2003 to 2007 suddenly turned off while being driven. means no engine power, no power steering, no breaks, no airbags. a report by the industry trade that for 11cluded years, gm treated it as a matter of customer satisfaction, not safety. federal regulators may have also failed to take action. despite more than a decade of complaints at the rate of about to bang a month, the national highway traffic safety administration declined to investigate the problem, saying there was not enough evidence. then in february, gm announced a massive recall of some 1.6 million vehicles based on the admissions to which the effect. this is how the adv

. >> i'm nermeen shaikh. some 1500 black and latino applicants to the fire department of new york have settled a long-running lawsuit with the city and the justice department over racially testamentary hiring practices at the nation's largest fire department. the agreement grants almost $100 million in back pay to those impacted. when the case was filed in 2007, the fire department was 90% white, even though african-americans and latinos totaled half the's population. under the new agreement, the fire department would change its recruiting policies in order to increase diversity and make the department more representative of the city's population. >> this is the latest as cremation lawsuit settled by new york since mayor bill de blasio took office 10 weeks ago. the city also settled a case over its police department's controversial stop and frisk program and another case that sought to block a law allowing individual officers to be sued for racial profiling. for more, we are joined by two guest. all washingto