we will speak with independent journalist marcy wheeler and the two former labor secretary robert wright. robert reich. >> is there something that still unites us as a people? do have obligations to one another or are we just a bunch of self-seeking individuals that happen to be here in a place called the united states? amy: we will speak with robert reich about his new book "the common good." all of that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. in syria, up to 100 people died in a barrage of syrian government airstrikes and artillery shelling against the rebel-held enclave of eastern ghouta outside the capital damascus monday. the syrian observatory for human rights is calling monday the deadliest day in three years for the area. among the victims were dozens of civilians, including children, whose bodies filled a makeshift morgue on tuesday. at least four hospitals were reportedly bombed on monday. there are reports the syrian government is planning an impending ground invasion of eastern ghouta, which is home to 400,0

amy: we're joined now by marcy wheeler, an independent journalist who covers national security and civil liberties running the website emptywheel.net. we are speaking to her in lansing, michigan. explain exactly what this memo is. this is a firestorm in washington, hitting trump's own appointee, the head of the fbi against trump himself. >> the memo purports to be a they claimisa abuses, primarily focused on a fisa weren't targeted at turgor at warned targeted carter page. although the warrant was not approved until he was off the campaign. one of the ways we already know this memo is misleading because it did not target the campaign. they targeted somebody the campaign got rid of because of his ties with russia. so that is the first thing. and it focuses -- it is reportedly emphasizing the fact that christopher's deal dossier, which was that part of the dossier, in opposition dossier, was paid for by the dnc and hillary clinton's campaign, and it complains that that dossier was one of the things used to get the fisa warrant against carter page. we can assumes a downplays of the things t

amy: marcy wheeler, thank you for being with us, independent journalist covering national security and civil liberties. runs the website emptywheel.net. we will link to your latest pieces, the latest one "byron york confirms that many names and sources implicated carter page as an agent of a foreign power." speaking to us from grand rapids, michigan. this is democracy now! when we come back, we go to kabul, afghanistan. stay with us.  [music break] amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. nermeen: on tuesday night, president trump became the third president in a room to attempt to put a positive been on the war in afghanistan. the longest war in u.s. history. pres. trump: our warriors in afghanistan have new rules of engagement. along with their heroic afghan partners, our military is no longer undermined by artificial timelines and we no longer tell our enemies our plans. amy: five years earlier, president barack obama predicted in his 2013 state of the union that the war would soon be over. pres. obama: our forces