i'm amy goodman. a federal appeals court has struck down voting restrictions in north carolina saying they disproportionately affected african americans. in the ruling, the three-judge panel from the fourth circuit wrote -- "the new provisions target african americans with almost surgical precision." the law had been challenged the by the justice department the , north carolina naacp, and other civil rights groups after its passage in 2013 limited the forms of i.d. acceptable at poling places as well as restricting how people could register. as a result, about 5% of the state's registered voters, primarily african-americans, would have been excluded from being able to cast a ballot. this is bob hall, executive director of democracy north carolina, speaking to democracy now! about how the rules affected north carolina's presidential primaries earlier this year. that would send a registration, we had over 8000 voters able to use same-day registration. that is, they were not registered but they showed up

i'm amy goodman. the u.s. military carried out two airstrikes in libya against isis fighters in what it says will be an ongoing campaign. the e strikes took place mondayn the city of sirte. pentagon officials said the campaign would continue until isis has been driven from the city, which it took over last year. the pentagon said libya's western-backed unity government , known as the gna, requested the airstrikes. the so-called unity government is one of three competing governments that claim legitimacy in the country. this is pentagon spokesman peter cook. >> the goal for the gna is to eliminate isil from sirte and from the country and we will be working closely with them and they will be determining the pace in the succesess of this campaign, arguably, they have their forces on the ground conducting their efforts. this will be in support of their efforts. isil's number seven reduced. they have made sisignificant progress alrlready on their own. we believe this can make a difference. hopefully, and a

i'm amy goodman. in italy, the death toll continues to rise from a devastating 6.2-magnitude earthquake. at least 247 people are confirmed dead. dozens more people are still missing as search and rescue teams are using everything from bulldozers to bare hands to scour the rubble for bodies and survivors. the earthquake struck central italy early wednesday morning. homes, churches, stores, and even a hotel collapsed as people were sleeping. this is a local resident speaking wednesday about the earthquake. last night i woke up with a sound that sounded like a bomb. it was deafening. it was also disheartening because everything was collapsing on me. tonight, we think we will sleep together with our relatives and friends in the tents there providing us. amy: this comes as a 6.8-magnitude earthquake also struck burma on wednesday, killing at least three people. in afghanistan, at least 12 people have been killed in an attack on the american university in kabul. seven of the victims were students. the attac

i'm amy goodman. new york police commissioner william bratton has announced he is resigning next month. over the past four decades, bratton has reshaped modern policing. he has served as the new york police commissioner twice, and as commissioner of the boston police department and chief of the los angeles police department. bratton was a lead advocate of the so-called broken windows policy that calls for officers to crack down on minor infractions in an attempt to decrease violent crime. while new york city mayor bill de blasio calls them extraordinary, critics say it has unfairly targeted communities of color. in a statement, black lives matter co-founder opal tometi told democracy now! -- "william bratton is the key architect of programs that have terrorized our communities for decades." chief bratton and his policies have faced years of protests and opposition from activists. we'll have more on his resignation after headlines. with less than 100 left before the november election, president obama o

i'm amy goodman. a series of bomb blasts in thailand have hit three of the country's most popular tourist resorts killing four people and wounding dozens. there were at least 11 explosions in total. no group has claimed responsibility. the blasts comes days after the country voted to accept a military-backed charter in a referendum. human rights watch warned that thailand is moving toward become a military dictatorship. brad adams, the group's asia director said -- "instead of the long-promised return to democratic civilian rule, the new constitution facilitates unaccountable military power and a deepening dictatorship." in campaign news, the "new york times" and the "gannett" newspaper chain have petitioned the new york supreme court to unseal records from donald trump's 1990 divorce with ivana trump. unsealed records could determine if ivana directly accused trump of raping or sexually assaulting her during their 14-year marriage. according to the book "lost tycoon," ivana used the word "rape" durin

i'm amy goodman. republican presidential nominee donald trump has repeated a claim he watched a video showing iriranian officials s receiving money from the u.s. in exchange for r five prisoners, even after one of his staffers admitted no such video exists. this is trump speaking on the campaign trail on wednesday in florida. mr. trump: i will never forget the scene this morning -- and remember this. iran -- i don't think you have heard this anywhere but here. iran provided all of that footage, the tape of taking that money off that airplane. right? $400 million in cash. how this the president do that? repeated therump claim on thursday in maine for tweeting -- "the plane i saw on television was the hostage plane in geneva, switzerland, not the plane carrying $400 million in cash going to iran!" some republicans, including trump, have said the money was a ransom for five prisoners released by iran, including "washington post" reporter jason rezaian. the obama administration said on wednesday that $400

i'm amy goodman. continuing in milwaukee two days after police shot dead a 23-year-old african american man named sylville smith. activated the national guard after local residents have fires to police cars and several local businesses, including a gas station saturday night. 17 people were arrested, four police officers were reportedly injured. last night, two police officers were reportedly injured and one person was hospitalized after being shot by an unknown assailant. this is a man who said he is the brother of sylville smith, spspeaking about the uprising. >> r right now we have a city rt going on. [no audidio] if you don't have a anyone to protect us, t this is what you get. you have riots. you people going crazy. amy: the milwaukee police department is defending its use of force in the case. police say he was shot while trying to flee from an officer who stopped his car. police chief edward flynn said he viewed video and it showed smith had tuturned toward him mh a gun in h his hand after r th

i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez.e are speaking with vijay prashad professor of , international studies at trinity college and author of a new book called, "the death of the nation and the future of the arab revolution." i want to turn to a novelist who was just arrested. i want to talk about press freedom in turkey. it is reported tuturkish author has written about her treatment in prison since her arrest earlier this month after the government closed down the newspaper where she worked. she now faces a pending trial on terrorism charges and says she has been denied medication sufficient water for five days and is diabetic. she is one of many journalists and writers who have been arrested on charges of terrorism in turkey. about 10,000 people have been arrested since the coup or the attempted coup come a though erodgan arrested power back. professor vijay prashad, what about this? >> she is one of the tens of thousands of people who have been arrested under the so-called suspicion that she was doing propaganda for th

i'm amy goodman. an official from the u.s. secret service has confirmed the agency has spoken t to the trump cacamn about his comments at a rally in wilmington, north carolina on tuesday, which many saw as a call to assassinate his rival hillary clinton. mr. trump: hillary wants to abolish, essentially abolish, the second amendment. either way, if she gets to pick -- if she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks. although, the second amendment people, maybe there is. i don't know. amy: the official told cnn the secret service has had multiple conversations with the campaign. donald trump, however, is denying these conversations have taken place with the secret service tweeting -- , "no such meetiting or conversation ever happened." this comes as hillary clinton has spoken out about trump's comments, during a rally in des moines, iowa, wednesday. mrs. clinton: yesterday we witnessed the latest in a long line of casual comments from donald trump that crossed the line. hihis casual cruelty to

i'm amy goodman. in brazil, suspended president lma rousseff took the stand monday and denounced her impeachment trial as a coup. an impeachable crime, any impeachment carried out by brazilian lawmakers is a clear attack on the constitution because the constitution clearly sets up the necessity for impeachment processes on the basis of a crime. impeachment process which commits the violent act of removing an innocent president is a coup d'etat. amy: during her testimony, she also compared the impeachment proceedings to brazil's dictatorship-era military tribunals that sentenced her to prison for her activism against the regime. she was tortured while imprisoned. despite her impassioned testimony, brazil's senate is expected to vote to remove rousseff as early as wednesday. in the united states, homeland security department secretary jeh johnson has ordered dhs review its contracts with for-profit prison companies. this comes after the justice department told the bureau of prisons to end its use of pri

i'm amy goodman. republican presidential nominee donald trump invoked the cold war as he pledged to wage war against what he described as the ideology of radical islam while speaking in youngstown, ohio during his speech, trump also , monday. vowed to impose a system of vetting, an ideological test for all immigrants. he also said he'd create a commission on radical islam, keep guantanamo bay open, and stop trying people accused of terrorism in civilian courts. he also reversed an earlier threat that the united states might not meet its nato obligations, and sd d monday h e would work with nato allies to defeat islamic state militanants if he wins the white house. former new york city mayor rudolph giuliani introduced trump onstage in youngstown monday, where giuliani sparkeded outrage when he appeared to forget about the events of 9/11. >> under those eight years before obama came along, we did not have any successful radical islamic terrorist attack in the united states. when clintonaed and obama go

i'm amy goodman. donald trump is visiting mexico today, where he'll meet privately with mexican president enrique pena nieto. among those believed to be going our former new york mayor rudolph giuliani and alabama senator jeff sessions. this comes as donald trump is slated to give a major speech on immigration and arizona tonight. trump has made the mass deportation of 11 million undocumented immigrants one of the cornerstone proposals of his campaign, although under his new campaign manager, kellyanne conway, he appears to be backing away from the mass deportation plan. trump has also called mexicans -- he has vowed to build a wall and forced mexico to pay for it. he has also called mexicans rapists and criminals. mexican president enrique pena nieto has fiercely criticized trump in the past, once comparing him to adolf hitler and benito mussolini. meanwhile, a new mother jones investigation reveals trump's modeling agency, trump model management, may have broken immigration laws by profiting from fo

i'm amy goodman. russia's defense ministry says it has used a base in western iran to carry out air strikes in syria. the ministry reported the strikes hit targets in aleppo, idlib, and deir al-zour provinces. the strikes are the first time russia has carried out from third country since it began its military intervention in syria class civivil war and a base and renders it a capability to intensify its bombing campaign in syria. this comes as fighting has intensified in and around aleppo. the united nations is warning of a dire humanitarian crisis as millions are l left without watr or electricity. gravelyommission is concerned for the safety of civilians, including reported 100,000 children living in aleppo city where violence has reached new highs in recent weeks as the symmetric warfare intensifies over control of armed group-held neighborhoods in the principipal remaining supply lines. amy: we'll have more on syria after headlines with dr. zaher sahloul, the founder of the american relief coaliti

i'm amy goodman. in yemen, a suicide car bomb explosion killed at least 50 members of a pro-government militia earlier today. a witness said the attacker drove his vehicle into a crowd of new recruits in the port city of aden. isis has claimed responsibility for the bombing. the attack follows u.s.-backed saudi airstrikes on friday that killed 11 civilians in northern yemen. the strikes came just one day after secretary of state john kerry met with the saudi foreign minister, where he urged a political solution to the war in yemen. despite the request, the u.s. continues to supply saudi arabia with arms. earlier this month, the state department approved a more than $1 billion deal to supply battle tanks and other weapons to the kingdom. meanwhile, isis has also claimed responsibility for a suicide bomb attack on a wedding in southern iraq on sunday, which killed at least 15 people. turkish airstrikes and shelling reportedly left dozens of civilians dead in northern syria, as the turkish military and i

i'm amy goodman. in election news republican , presidential nominee donald trump's campaign appears to be in turmoil, with widening divisions both inside the trump campaign and between trump and republican party leaders. on tuesday, trump's running mate indiana governor mike pence endorsed house speaker paul ryan in his wisconsin congressional race after trump refused to endorse ryan earlier this week. instead, trump has praised ryan's opponent in the race, saying he was "running a very good campaign." ryan's opponent, paul nehlen, has defended trump's attack on khizr and ghazala khan, the parents of a u.s. army captain who died serving in iraq in 2004. congressmember ryan however, , publicly distanced himself from trump over the comments. trump's refusal to endorse ryan comes amid reports trump's campaign staff are beginning to panic.c. on monday, trump's campaign announced the firing of two senior advisers, including longtime republican strategist ed brookover, who had been trump's liaison to the rn

i'm amy goodman. in a historic announcement, the justice department has told the bureau of prisons to end the use of private prisons. in a memo released yesterday, deputy attorney general sally eight road that private prisons "simply do not provide the same level of correctional services, programs, and resources, do not save substantially on costs do not maintain the same level of safety and security" as facilities operated by the bureau of prisons. this is former president bill clinton, speaking earlier this year about the need for prison reform. >> we need prison reform. he will tell you, we overdid it in putting too many young, nonviolent offenders in jail for too long. [applause] now federal government can set an example. this is something a lot of republicans agree. let these people out of jail. give them education, training. amy: that was bill clinton. laws enacted during clinton's presidency increased the national prison population by more than 60%. the justice department's directive willffect

i'm amy goodman. the american red cross is calling this week's flooding in louisiana the worst disaster in the u.s. since hurricane sandy in 2012. at least 13 people were killed after historic rainfall submerged parts of baton rouge and the surrounding area. state officials say the destruction may result in the worst housing crisis in the region since hurricane katrina in 2005. the federal government has declared the area a disaster zone and state officials say more than 5000 people remain in emergency shelters. this is a volunteer in acadia parish, louisiana, where public schools remain closed and a curfew remains in place amid the devastating flooding. >> it is very scary. god has a reason, i just don't know what it is yet. the rain is coming some more. we just don't know what to do. we're going -- we're china get stuff coming in, but everything is blocked. the owner is running to walmart and buying crates and crates of milk so we can pass out here to our little people in our community. amy: the lou

i'm amy goodman. on tuesday, president obama visited louisiana for the first time since last week's devastating floods that killed 13 people and damaged 60,000 homes. the red cross has called it the worst natural disaster in the united states since hurricane sandy. it also marked louisiana's worst flooding sincece hurricane katrina. some neighborhoods still have up to two feet of standing water . president obama spoke in baton rouge. pres. obama: i just had a chance to see some of the damage from the historic floods here i louisiana. i come here first and foremost to say their prayers of the entire nation are with everybody who lost loved ones, as i think anybody who can see just the streets, plus the inside of the homes, people's s lives haveeeen upenend by t this flood. amy: while many climate scientists have tied the historic floods in louisiana to climate change, president obama made no link during hihis remar. while obama was in baton rouge, he also met with the family of alton sterling who was k

i'm amy goodman.ealth officials have issued an unprecedented warning to pregnant women, telling them not to travel to parts of miami-dade county amid dozens of confirmed cases of locally transmitted zika virus. the virus has now been conclusively linked to microcephaly, a condition where babies born to infected mothers have abnormally small heads and other health problems. the travel advisory issued by center for disease control concerns two neighborhoods, wynwood and miami beach. this is miami beach mayor philip levine. >> we need federal help. we need the federal government to step up and do what is necessary to reconvene and make sure the state and the count to get the proper funding immediately so that we can use these resources to combat this virus. amy: public health officials are warning that the zika virus may soon spread to parts of louisiana and texas. it has also spread to the us .s. territories of american samoa, the u.s. virgin islands, and puerto rico, as well as throughout dozens of car

i'm amy goodman. in chicago, hundreds of protesters marched through the streets and blocked traffic in a series of demonstrations following the release of video showing the fatal police shooting of an unarmed african american teenager. the newly released video from police body cameras shows the moments before and after police killed 18-year-old paul o'neal on july 28. in the video, police are seen shooting repeatedly at the car o'neal was driving, which police say was stolen. the video then shows a police officer running over to o'neal, who is lying face down in a growing pool of blood surrounded by other officers. the officers then handcuff o'neal with his arms behind his back and search his backpack, as he continues bleeding. afterward, one of the officers can be heard complaining that he will be on desk duty for the 30 days. listen carefully. >> [beep] man. i am going to be on desk duty for 30 days now. mother [beep] amy: paul o'neal died shortly afterwards at northwestern memorial hospital. the co