amy: dr. what jonathan daniels did was one of the most heroic christian deeds of which i have heard in my entire ministry. it was performed by jonathan daniels. >> jonathan was a brave original man. as a matter of fact, he and his girlfriend were going to leave alabama and come back to new hampshire. he said god sent him to selma alabama, to help him vote. johnson said that he was not going to -- jonathan said he was not going to leave alabama. >> ♪ >> i am the pastor of all souls church in washington, d.c. our minister, james reed, was martyred 50 years ago in the south this week. we are here today to continue his march for voting rights. he marched with dr. king on turnaround tuesday, two days after bloody sunday. dr. king organized another march, and he marched people across the edmund pettus bridge. later that night, james reed the minister of our church, was coming out of a black diner, and he was bludgeoned to death by three klansmen on the streets of selma. he died 50 years ago for the

i'm amy goodman. we are broadcasting from alabama. tens of thousands of people traveled to selma alabama, this week and the 50th anniversary of bloody sunday. on march 7 1965, hundreds of peaceful voting rights activists were attacked by police crossing the edmund pettus bridge as they attempt to march to montgomery. 50 years later, president obama attorney general eric holder, commerce member john lewis were among those -- congress member john lewis were among those to acknowledge voting rights remain under siege. the selma protest came as protests were held over a fatal police shooting of unarmed african-american teenager. tony's tony robinson was shot dead friday night after madison police say officer matt kenny forced his way into an apartment following a disturbance. police say they had responded to reports of a man running in and out of traffic. but after a justice department probe found deep racial bias among ferguson, missouri, police, brandi grayson with the young, gifted, and black coalition

i'm amy goodman.alks over a nuclear deal with iran in the final stages. progress has been reported on several issues, including limiting centrifuges at iran's main facility to around 6000. iran has backed off a pledge to enrich atomic fuel overseas. officials had previously agreed to sending uranium stockpiles to russia. the demand could be overcome by agreement on regular inspections and diluting fuel. the talks continue in lausanne today. if a deal is reached by tuesday a final agreement would be raised by june. saudi arabia says it will continue strikes on yemen until houthi rebels lay down arms. there is fighting in afden, the stronghold of the deposed president. 60 people have been killed and over 500 wounded since the bombings began last week. sunday, the saudi ambassador to the u.s. says his government discussed a military campaign with the white house four months. >> we talked about using force with the u.s. for many months. in the run-up to making the decision, we were in constant touch with

i'm amy goodman. a devastating slight gold in the south pacific nation of anna what to has left half the nation . it washed away roads and bridges. speaking during a visit to japan, just as the storm hit vanuatu's president appeals for international aid. >> i stand to appeal on behalf of the government and people of vanuatu's global community, to give a lending hand. fellow heads of states, governments and development partners, we have all experienced some disaster at one point or another. today, we appeal for your assistance. amy: he said climate changes contribute into the disaster with global warming fueling extreme weather and stronger cyclones. we will speak with 350.org founder bill mckibben after the headlines. activists in the syrian town of douma say more than 30 people have been killed in government buildings of residential areas and schools. children were reportedly among the dead. the attack comes as the syrian conflict has entered its fifth year, with the u.n. refugee agency calling it "t

i'm amy goodman. yemen could be on the brink of civil war amidst escalating clashes between government forces and shia houthi rebels, and an attack on two mosques that killed dozens. houthi rebels seized the country's third largest city taiz, and its military airport. in recent days, unidentified warplanes have reportedly bombed the aden headquarters of president abd-rabbu mansour hadi. he has asked the united nations for "urgent intervention" to defend his government against the houthis' advance. briefing the security council on sunday, u.n. envoy jamel benomar warned the situation in yemen could become a "iraq-libya-syria" scenario. >> it would be an allusion to think the houthis could mount an offensive and succeed in taking control of the entire country including [indiscernible] it would be equally false to think the president hadi could a civil sufficient forces against the hadis. -- houthis. [indiscernible] amy: the latest unrest comes after suicide bombers attacked two mosques in the capital sa

amy: the u.s. military has charged army sergeant bowe bergdahl with one count of desertion and one count of misbehavior before the enemy. bergdahl was held in taliban captivity for five years after leaving his army base in afghanistan in 2009. an earlier military report found bergdahl likely walked away from his army outpost in afghanistan of his own free will, but stopped short of finding he planned to permanently desert. bergdahl has said he was beaten, tortured, and locked in a cage after trying to escape. he was freed last year in an exchange for five taliban prisoners from guantÁnamo. on wednesday, an army spokesperson announced the charges. >> the u.s. army forces command has thoroughly reviewed the army's investigation surrounding the surgeons 2009 disappearance in afghanistan and formally charged sergeant bergdahl under the armed forces uniform code of military justice on march 25, 2015 with desertion, with intent to shirk important or hazardous duty and misbehavior before the enemy by enda

i'm amy goodman. voting is underway in israel where prime minister benjamin netanyahu faces a tight race for re-election. polls show netanyahu's likud party lagging slightly behind the zionist union coalition, led by justice minister tzipi livni and finance minister yair lapid. netanyahu has emphasized his right-wing positions in recent days, visiting the har homa settlement in occupied east jerusalem and vowing to ramp up settlement construction, deemed illegal under international law. in an interview with a website owned by u.s. casino magnate sheldon adelson, one of his leading backers, netanyahu unequivocally vowed never to allow a palestinian state, if he is re-elected. crooks i think whoever moves to establish a palestinian state or intends to withdraw from territory is simply yielding territory for radical islamic terrorist attacks against israel. this is the general and morality that was created in the past few years. those who do not understand that they're either heads in the sand. left-wing

i'm amy goodman.n ferguson, missouri two police , officers have been shot during a protest outside ferguson police headquarters early this morning. the shooting came just hours after police chief thomas jackson wentquit following last week's u.s. justice department report that found widespread racially biased abuses in the city's justice system. police say both the wounded officers have serious injury. we will go to ferguson later in the broadcast. fighting is raging in western iraq as the iraqi military continues an iranian-backed offensive against the self-proclaimed islamic state. syrian leader spoke of avery took large parts of tickertikrit. meanwhile, isil militants launched a series of suicide missions killing 10 and wounding at least 30. the obama administration is making a case for expansive war measure. defense secretary asked carter said the proposal before congress could allow strikes against isil affiliates in libya and nigeria. a top u.s. official have accused russia of moving heavy tanks

i'm amy goodman.ix days of historic talks aimed at a nuclear deal with iran are wrapping up in lausanne, switzerland. today marks a self-imposed deadline for the deal between iran, the united states and five other world powers. the associated press reports the talks will conclude with an agreement to continue a new phase aimed at reaching a comprehensive accord by the end of june. speaking before he rejoined talks today, russian foreign minister sergei lavrov said prospects for a deal looked good. mr. lavrov: the prospects are good. i would not say 100%, but you cannot be 100% sure of anything. the talks are doable if neither of the parties raise the stakes, hoping to gain something extra. amy: the pentagon has rejected reports a u.s. drone strike killed two iranian military advisors who were aiding iraqi attempts to retake the city of tikrit from the self-proclaimed islamic state. iran said the two men were killed on march 23, two days before the u.s. said it began airstrikes. saudi-led forces have i

i'm amy goodman. the iraqi military and iranian-backed shiite militias have seized large parts of tikrit as part of their offensive to retake the city from the self-proclaimed islamic state. the operation marks iraq's largest military attempt to roll back the gains made by isis last june. iranian advisers and iranian-backed shiite fighters are playing a key role while the u.s. has been sidelined. colombia is halting air attacks on farc rebels for one month as peace talks between the two sides advance. colombian president juan manuel santos said the pause reflects the rebels' adherence to a unilateral ceasefire declared in december, and could be extended if the ceasefire continues to hold. >> to boost the de-escalation of the conflict, i have decided to order the ministry of defense and commanders of the armed forces to stop bombings over farc camps for a month. after that time, we will review the implantation of the unilateral cease-fire. and according to the results, we will decide whether to continu

i'm amy goodman. a shooting rampage at tunisia's national museum has left 22 people dead, 20 foreign tourists and two tunisians, nearly 50 people injured. two gunmen began the attack by opening fire on tourists as they got off a bus and chasing them inside the museum. it is one of the most popular tourist attractions in tunis, and adjacent to the country's parliament else in. the dead included residents of japan, italy columbia, australia, france, poland, spain, and britain. it was the most serious attack in years in tunisia where the arab spring began in 2011. thousands of tunisians have marched in the streets to denounce the shooting. the tunisian president government has pledged to wage what it calls "merciless war" against terrorism. we will go to tunis after the headlines. the obama administration has signaled a potential shift in its approach to israel and palestine following the reelection of israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. on the eve of the vote netanyahu vowed to prevent the establ

i'm amy goodman. iraqi forces are continuing their largest offensive to date against the so-called islamic state as they seek to retake the city of tikrit. playing a key role in the campaign for the sunni city with reports of iranian troops even operating artillery in the area. u.s. officials, meanwhile, have expressed surprise with the tikrit operation and the pentagon has said it is not providing air support because it wasn't asked. meanwhile, in syria key u.s. backed rebel group has collapsed after a series of defeats by an al qaeda affiliate. a moderate group and armed with u.s. antitank missiles has no allied itself with the islamist shia front. the british group cage has posted audio of the isis militant known as jihadi john recounting an interrogation by a british agent in 2009. in the recording, mohammed emwazi describes how he condemned 9/11 and the deadly july 7, 2005 attacks on the london subway. >> i looked at him face-to-face new said, what do you think of the 7/7? innocent people [indisc

i'm amy goodman. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has won a surprise election victory, putting him on course for a fourth term. his likud party is poised to control 29 or 30 seats in the 120 member knesset. the zionist union opposition based second with 24 seats. a united list of arab parties came in third. netanyahu closed out his campaign with a vow to oppose a palestinian state, reneging on his nominal endorsement to a two-state solution in 2009. net and then younetanyahu also vowed to expand the illegal west bank statements and issued a last-minute plea to supporters denouncing a high turnout of arab voters. the zionist union also ran on a platform for israel to keep that many of israel settlement blocs in the occupied west bank, the home of any future palestinian state. likud says netanyahu intends to form a new government in the coming weeks. we will have more on the israeli elections after headlines. u.s. and iranian officials are giving differing assessments of the progress of nuclear

amy: dr.m kanaaneh, you're not one of those is really arabs who went out in "droves" that prime minister netanyahu warned his supporters about. he said, to get them out to vote. can you talk about netanyahu's election? you live in galilee. >> yes, i'm a citizen of israel since day one. our community actually, for the first time, the various factions that ran [indiscernible] for the first time, they were able to constitute a single list and to address -- amy: the joint list the cayman -- came in as the third-largest party. they were able to address some of the more relevant -- vis-À-vis, the central authority of the state. with that, for me, that does give me some hope in the future because in fact, in the last week, the leader of that list became, for little while, sort of the sweetheart of the media in israel. so there is potential for us to place sometime in the future despite the fact that so far, no prime minister in israel ever negotiated with the palestinian political parties to form a c

i'm amy goodman. the justice department is calling for a major overhaul of ferguson's criminal justice system after finding systemic discrimination against african-american residents. a comprehensive report says police disproportionately stopped, arrested and used force against blacks without reasonable suspicion, and then acted as a "collection agency" to operate off of their fines. unveiling the probe's findings outgoing attorney general eric holder described how residents were targeted for arrest and then saddled with penalties. >> some officers even compete to see who can issue the largest number of citations during a single stop. a total that at least one instance, rose as high as 14. we have observed even minor code violations can sometimes result in multiple arrests, jail time, and payments that exceed the cost of the original ticket many times over. now, for example in 2007, 1 woman received two working tickets that together totaled $152. to date, she is paid $550 in fines and fees to the city

i'm amy goodman. iraqi officials say they are close to victory in an an iranian-backed offensive to reclaim the city of tikrit from the self-proclaimed islamic state. iraqi forces and iranian-backed militias have reclaimed swaths of the city without the aid of u.s. airstrikes. the gains come as abc news reports iraqi military units trained and armed by the united states are under investigation by the iraqi government for war crimes. videos and photos on social media appear to show militia members and soldiers from elite units massacring and torturing civilians, and displaying severed heads. a syrian opposition group reports airstrikes by the u.s.-led coalition against isil have killed over 100 civilians. the syrian network for human rights said dozens of civilians have been killed in strikes targeting oil refineries, while 51 were killed in late december when u.s. aircraft struck a building housing an isil prison in al bab. a u.s. drone strike has reportedly killed a senior member of the militant grou

i'm amy goodman. tens of thousands of people have rallied in moscow to honor the slain opposition leader boris nemtsov. a former deputy prime minister turned dissident politician, nemtsov was shot to death friday night near red square. speaking just hours before in what would be his final interview, nemtsov had accused russian president vladimir putin of authoritarian rule. >> we need political reform in the country. when all the power is concentrated in the hands of one person and not person roles eternally, it will all end in absolute catastrophe. the main question people ask us is, you are inviting us to join the march. if we come, what will change? i answer, if a lot of people come, something will change. amy: weeks before his death, nemtsov reportedly told a russian news site he feared putin wanted him dead. putin has condemned the murder and vowed to find the perpetrators. nemtsov had been set to lead sunday's rally to protest russian economic policies and its military role in ukraine. it instea

i'm amy goodman.newly re-elected israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has tried to walk back his pre-election vow not to allow a palestinian state. netanyahu had emphasized his right-wing positions in the lead-up to the election, urging supporters to cancel out the votes of arabs he said were heading to the polls in droves. a day before the election, when asked if he was ruling out establishment of a palestinian state under his tenure netanyahu replied, "indeed." but he tried to backtrack in an interview with nbc's andrea mitchell. >> i haven't changed my policy. i never retracted my speech six years ago, calling for a demilitarized palestinian state that recognizes the jewish state. what has changed is the reality. the palestinian leader refuses to recognize the jewish state and has made a pact with hamas the calls for the destruction of the jewish state. and every territory that is bacon in the middle east today is taken up by islamist forces us -- taken up in the middle east today by islamist

i'm amy goodman. militants with the self-proclaimed islamic state have reportedly bulldozed the ancient assyrian city of nimrud, in northern iraq, in what the head of unesco has called a war crime. the ancient site was founded in the 13th century b.c. it's reported destruction comes a week after video showed isis militants smashing priceless statues at the mosul museum, northwest of nimrud. further south, meanwhile, iraqi forces and iranian-backed militias are continuing their bid to retake the city of tikrit from isil. the militants have set oil wells ablaze northwest of the city in a bid to slow the offensive. the united nations reports nearly half a million people were displaced from the darfur region of western sudan last year, the largest amount in a decade. the u.n. blames the uptick in violence on the sudanese government and government allied forces, which have ways to campaign against rebels and are for instance 2003. an estimated 300,000 people have been killed since 2003, when the sudanese p

i'm amy goodman. a saudi-led bombing campaign targeting shiite houthi rebels has entered its second day in yemen. while the u.s. is targeting shia rebels, police 39 siblings have been reportedly killed. amnesty international said six were children under 10. president hadi has left his residence for saudi arabia. or after the headlines. iraqi officials say nine of their forces have been killed by accident in an airstrike as part of the u.s.-backed effort to retake the city of tikrit from the self-proclaimed islamic state. u.s.-led airstrikes began wednesday, prompting thousands of iranian-backed shiite militias who had been fighting alongside the iraqis to boycott the battle and retreat. u.s. army general lloyd austin commander of u.s. central command, assured lawmakers including senator john mccain, there are no shiite militias in tikrit. >> the folks we're supporting -- >> are the shiite militia still in the fight? >> no, sir, they are not part of the clearing operations in tikrit. >> so the airstrik

amy: thank you.to end with a quote when you interviewed at the paris peace talks about my lai -- amy: seymour hersh, thank you for spending time with us. and for your work. seymour hersh is an investigative reporter for "the new yorker" magazine. he returned to my lai 47 years after the my lai massacre took place. this is democracy now democracynow.org, the war and peace report. back in a minute. ♪ [music break] amy: “no nos moveran" by joan baez. "we will not be moved. this is democracy now! democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. with juan gonzalez. juan: we and today's show with an update on a story democracy now! has followed closely -- president obama's expansion of the controversial practice of detaining mothers and their children. starting last summer, thousands of central american women with kids as young as a few months old crossed into the united states seeking asylum. even though many were later found to have a credible fear of violent persecution, they found themselve

also amy's doctor joins us today, dr. ray stricker, internationally known for his work in treating lyme disease pai patients. amy, i was holding up your book, and i bet you were glad to do this because your career was derailed because of this. >> yes. i couldn't write, i couldn't read, i couldn't reunderstand things. >> do you remember when you first got sick? >> i got sick the day after i was infected. i didn't know i was infected, but i had the flu, the summertime flu. i had not been sick with the flu for about 15 years. i never got sick. i saw a rash, didn't have the bullseye, didn't worry about it. >> that's typically the first symptom people talk about. >> dr. stricker, you are amy's doctor. thank you for allowing us to have this conversation. what is lyme disease? >> lyme disease is a major epidemic. the cdc estimates at least 300,000 new cases a year, probably more than that, more common than breast cancer, six times more common than aids. it is a disease transmitted by ticks. very often poem doneople don't they we