i'm amy goodman. army lt. col. alex vindman testified in a televised house impeachment hearing over whether president trump withheld military aid from ukraine to pressure the ukrainian president to investigate trump political rival joe biden and his son. among his statements, then men said he could not believe what he was hearing when he listened to his july 25 phone call between president trump and ukrainian president zelensky. during the call, trump pressured celestia to investigate his political rival joe biden and his son, who served on the board of ukrainian natural gas company burisma. vindman, the director for european affairs at the national security council, testified along with jennifer williams, russia advisor for vice president pence. i tuesday afternoon, house investigators heard the testimonies of kurt volker, the former u.s. special envoy to ukraine, and tim morrison, former senior director for european and russian affairs. today u.s. ambassador to the european union gordon sondland will testify to l

i'm amy goodman. on capitol hill, the p preside's former top adviser on russia and europe told the house impeachment inquiry thursday that donald trump sacrificed u.s. foreign policy goals by pressuring ukraine's leaders to announce an investigation into his political rival joe biden and his son. the advisor, fiona hill, said she came to realize the president was personally directing his attorney rudy giuliani and u.s. ambassador gordon sondland to pressure ukraine into helping trump's reelection bid by smearing one of his main political rivals. >> he was being involved in a domestic political air and -- errand and w we were involved in national security policy. in national security policy. and those two things just merge. said it was ukrainian operatives, not russians, who meddled in the 2016 election. >> right now russia's security services and their proxies have geared up to repeat their interference in the 2020 election step we're running out of time to stop them. in the course of this investigati

i'm amy goodman. in news from washington, all four white house officials who were scheduled to testify to lawmakers today in the house's ongoing impeachment hearings have refused to testify. the officials refusing to testify are john eisenberg, deputy counsel to the president for national security affairs and legal adviser to the national security council, robert blair, assistant to the president and senior adviser to the acting chief of staff, michael ellis, senior associate counsel to the president and deputy legal adviser to the national security council, and brian mccormack, associate director for natural resources, energy, and science at the office of management and budget. the impeachment inquiry is investigating whether president trump withheld military aid to ukraine in order to pressure the ukrainian president to investigatate trump's political rival joe biden and his son . the lawyer for the whistleblower who went public about trump's july 25 phone call with the ukrainian president says he w

i'm amy goodman. televised impeachment hearings begin today in the inquiry into whether president trump withheld military aid from ukraine to pressure the ukrainian president to investigate trump's political rival joe biden and his son. two witnesses are testifying today before the house intelligence committee -- george kent, a deputy assistant secretary of state, and william taylor, a former ambassador and the top u.s. diplomat in ukraine. both officials have privately told congressional investigators trump withheld aid to ukraine in an attempt to pressure ukraine to investigate the biden's. in now released text messages, bill taylor texted gordon sondland, the u.s. ambassador to the european union, the wealthy hotel magnate, "are we now saying security assistance in white house meeting our condition on investigations?" silent texted back "call me." today marks on the third televised impeachment hearings in u.s. history. we will have more on today's historic hearings after headlines with the legendar

i'm amy goodman. a federal judge has ruled president trump cannot block top white house officials from testifying in the ongoing impeachment hearings. the judge's reasoning, "the primary take away from the past 250 years of recorded american history is that president are not kings." judge ketanji brown jackson's ruling says former white house counsel don mcgahn must comply with a congressional subpoena and testify to impeachment investigators about president trump's efforts to obstruct the mueller inquiry. the justice department says it will appeal the decision. the ruling could have a sweeping impact on the e impeacachment hearings whehere a number of top officials, including former national security advisoror john bolton, have so far refused to testify. meanwhile, federal prosecutors appeared to be widening the probe into terms personal attorney rudy giuliani. "the wall street journal" reports s recently issuedd subpoenas with ties to giuliani suggest prosecutors may be investigating possible money

i'm amy goodman. longtime bolivian president abel afters has departed stepping down and what he calls a military coup. late monday, morales departed laplace on the mexican government plane. he has been granted asylum in mexico. he announced his resignation shortly after the bolivian military took to the airwaves to call for his departure. last month h he was reelected fr fourth term in a race his opponents claimed was marred by fraud. morales' departure has sparked outrage and protest across latin america with many saying he was the victim of a military coup. iss is in argentina -- this daniel in argentina. >> all social indicators and bolivia. it bothered the privilege sectors that hydrocarbons have been nationalized, basic income has been increased for the entire population. despite all of this, together with the armed forces, are carrying out this outrage. this barbarity. it has to do with the coup. and policies we thought have been eradicated from the region. and that is wider so important that po

i'm amy goodman. u.s. defense secretary mark esper has fired the secretary of the navy richardrd spencer's ouster came a week after president trump overruled luke perry leaders and pardoned three u.s. service members who havee been accused or convicted of war crimes. men included navy seal eddie gallagher who has been accused of multiple war crimes, including shooting two iraqi civilians and fatally stabbing a captive teenager in the neck. gallagher was convicted of posing with the teenaged courts but acquitted of premeditated murder. esper had opposed trump's decision to intervene in the case as well as the cases that ththe two otother soldiers accud of convicted of war crimes. we will have more on this case after headlines. in washington, released state department emails further implicate secretary of state mike pompeo in president trump's effort to pressure ukraine to investigate his political rivals, joe biden and his son hunter, which is at the center of the ongoing impeachment hearings. the docu

i'm amy goodman. a senior state department official george kent told impeachment investigators that president trump's personal attorney rudy giuliani carried out campaign of lies to smear u.s. ambassador to ukraine marie yananovitch before she was abruptly recalled from her post, according to a full transcript of kent's closed-door testimony thursday. he is slated to testify next wednesday on the first day of televised hearings in the impeachment inquiry into whether president trump withheld military aid from ukraine in order to pressure the ukrainian president to investigate trump's political rival joe biden and his son. reports thek times" ukraine president was prepared bow to trump's demands and was planning to announce the investigations in an interview with cnn on september 13. but only days before the scheduled interview, the trump administration released the $400 million in aid after news about the freeze leaked, sparing the ukrainian president from having to announce the investigation. the uni

i'm amy goodman. on capitol hill, the house judiciary committee will begin impeachment hearings next week into whether president trump withheld military aid from ukraine to pressure ukraine to investigate his political rivals, joe biden, and his son hunter. "the new york times" reports president trump knew about the whistleblower complaint about his july 25 phone call with the ukrainian president and that congress had been informed when trump decided to unfreeze the withheld $391 million in military aid. an office of management and budget official testified to the house intelligence committee that two of his colleagues quit after expressing concerns and frustration about trump's decision to withhold the aid. and an anonymous senior trump administration official, who has blasted the administration, sasaid thehey woulreveveal themselves before the 2020 election. the official is the author of a book "a warning" and a viral "new york times" op-ed. in colombia, anti-government protesters have called for an

i'm amy goodman. televised impeachment hearings against president trump are expected to begin wednesday post of the leading witness will be william taylor come the top, karen diplomat in ukraine. he previously has testified there was a quid pro quo making the release of u.s. military aid to ukraine conditional on ukraine from investigating trump's political rival joe biden and his son hunter. on wednesday, house investigators release the transcript from taylor's closed-door testimony. one of the key takeaways? taylor said it was trump's personal lawyer rudy giuliani's idea to have ukraine's president commit to the investigations into the bidens. post" isington reporting president trump wanted attorney general william barr to hold a news conference declaring trump broke no laws during his july 25 phone call with the ukrainian president, which is at the center of the impeachment inquiry. attorney general barr reportedly refused to do so. on wednesday, president trump lashed out at democrats over the imp

i'm amy goodman. house lawmakers on wednesday opened the first public hearings of the impeachment inquiry into president donald trump. two witnesses, george kent and liam taylor, but testified president trump withheld aid ukraine in an attempt to pressure ukraine to investigate joe biden and his son hunter who served on the board of the ukrainian natural gas company. in his opening statement, ambassador taylor details about her previously unknown phone call from july between president trump and gordon sondland, the u.s. ambassador to the european union. >> a member of my staff could hear presisident trump on the phone asking ambassador sondland about the investigations. mr. sondland told president trump, the ukrainians were ready to move forward. following the call with president trump, the member of my staff asked ambassador sondland what president trump thought about ukraine. mr. sondland respondnded that president trump cares more about the investigations have biden, which giuliaiani was pressing f

i'm amy goodman. the trump administration has formally notified the united nations that it will withdraw the united states from the historic paris climamate agagreement, starting a year-log process to leave the international pact to fight the climate crisis. the u.s. is the world's largest historic greenhouse gas emitter. it will become the only country outside the agreement. the 2015 agreement aims to limit global temperature rise to less than 1.5 degrees celsius, a target that would prevent the worst effects of catastrophic climate change. trump's decision to withdraw from the historic pact has sparked widespread international condemnation. this is the chinese foreign ministry spokesperson speaking monday. >> china express his regret official starting the relevant process of withdrawing from the paris climate agreement. we believe climatete change is a common challenge faced by all of humankind. all memos of the international community should join hands to cooperate, each doing their best according

i'm amy goodman. in bolivia, at least 23 people have died amidst escalating violence since president evo morales resigned at the demand of the military last week, in what he and many others have called a military coup. in cochabamba, military forces opened fire on indigenous pro-morales demonstrators friday, killing at least ninine people and injuring more than 100. the violence began soon after thousands of indigenous coca leaf growers and others gathered for a peaceful march in the town of sacaba. the massacre came one day after self-proclaimed president jeanine anez issued a decree protecting the military from prosecution for violent acts. protesters are demanding she step down. we will have more on the crisis in bolivia later in the broadcast. an unprecedented leak of secret intelligence documents from inside the iranian government has shed new light on how iran has taken control of much of t e iraqi gogovernment in the wake f the 2003 u.s. invasion. the 700 pages of d documents frm iran's ministr

i'm amy goodman. bolivia is i in a state of political crisis after longtime president eva morales resigned sunday following what he described as a military coup. bolivia has been the scene of weeks of protests since a disputed election lastst month. morales announceced his resigngnation inin a televised address sunday. >> to my brotothers and sistersa bolivia, the whole worldld, i wt toto inform you that i i am here with the vice presidedent and minister off health,h, that ii decided after liststening to my friends in the bolivian worker centerer and also o listening te catholicic church to resigign my poposition as presesident. amy:y: morales spopoke shortly r the bolivian military took to the airwaves to call for his resignation. bolivia's vice preresident alsoo resigned sununday as did the hed of thehe bolivian senanate and e lower house.e. opposition leader jejeanine anez -- who is ththe second vicice president of the bolivian senate -- is claiaiming she wilill asse the presidency today. we'll hav

i'm amy goodman. u.s. ambassador gordon sondland told the house impeachment inquiry wednesday that president trump directly pressured the ukrainian government to announce an investigation into joe biden and his son hunter and that other senior administration officials were "in the loop." during explosive testimony on the fifth day of public impeachment hearings, ambassador sondland said vice president mike pence and secretary of state mike pompeo were part of the effort to force ukraine into helping trump's re-election bid. sondland testified the officials knew president trump conditioned the release nearly $400 million in u.s. military aid and an oval office meeting with president zelensky on a statement about the bidens. >> i know members of this frame theseequently complicated issues no o form ofa simple question. was there quid pro quo? as i i testified previously with regard to the requested white house call and the white house meeting, the answer is yes. amy: wednesday's impeachment hearings o oversh

i'm amy goodman. in california, a high school student opened fire on the campus of saugus high school in the los angeles suburb of santa clarita thursday, killing two students and wounding three others. authorities have not identified the teen, but say the rampage came on his 16th birthday. police say surveillance video clearly shows him pulling a .45 caliber semiautomatic handgun from his backpack, opening fire on fellow classmates in an outdoor area of the school, before turning the gun on himself. he survived a gunshot to the head and was hospitalized in grave condition. the mass shooting prompted a panicked evacuation, massive police response. this is saugus high school senior ellie pearlman. >> it is so scary now. it is like every day there is a report. anytime there's allowed noise or any sort of threat, we locked down. for second, it was just another lockdown. amy: the gun control group everytown reports it was the 85th incident of gunfire on school grounds so far this year. it came as u.s. sen

i'm amy goodman. we begin today's show in brazil, where an indigenous forest protector named paulo paulino guajajara was shot dead in the amazon by illegal loggers on saturday. it is the latest attack in a wave of violence targeting indigenous land protectors since the election of brazil's far-right president jair bolsonaro last year. guajajara was killed when he and another forest protector was ambushed by a group of illegal loggers inside the arariboia reservation in the northeastern state of maranhao. he was part of a group called guardians of the forest. he spoke to reututers in septemr about hihis efforts to save the amazon. >> we're are protecting our land and a life on it, the animamals, the birdrds come even the tribe here, too. there's so much destruction of nature happening.. good trees with wood as hard as steel being cut down and taken away. i am scared sometimes but we have to lift up our heads. we are here fightingng. amy: attacks a against i indiges peoplele in the amazon have spid sinc

, i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez.uan: in a sharp reversal to more than 40 years of u.s.s. policy, the trump administration has announced he no longer these israeli settlements in the occupied west bank to be a violation of international law. in 1978, the state department issued a legal opinion stating that settlements were "inconsistent with international law." and every administration has upheld that. on monday, secretary of state mike pompeo announced a reversal to the u.s. position. >> the establishment of israeli submittal -- selling settlement in the west bank is not inconsistent with international law. amy: this announcement puts the u.s. at odds with the international community. in 2016 a u.n. resolution declared the settlements a "flagrant violation" of international law. israel's embattled prime minister benjamin netanyahu welcomed pompeo's announcement as a historic day for israrael t palestinian chief negotiator saeb erekat condemned the u.s. decision. cook's settlements in jerusalem have not only illegal u

i am amy goodman. in this special broadcast, we begin with the indigenous scholar r and activist nick est. he is s a co-f-founder of the indigenous resistance group the red nation and a citizen of the lower brule sioux tribe. i talked to him earlier this year about his book "our h history is the f future." the book tells the history of indigenous resistance over two centuries, offering a road map for collective liberation and a guide to fighting life-threatening climate change. estes centers this history in the historic fight against the dakota access pipeline at standing rock. i asked him to talk about the two thanksgiving stories he writes about at the beginning of his book. >> so the first thanksgiving story is -- begins with the pequot massacre by members of the massachusetts bay colony, which really marks sort of -- in my opinion, marks sort of the mythology of the united states as a settlerer-colonial country fofounded on sort of genidide to create, ironically, peace. and then i begin with anothe

i'm amy goodman. tuesday was election day. results are still pouring in from around the united states. in virginia, democrats have taken control of both legislative houses for the first time in a quarter of a century. in the kentucky governor's race, democratic challenger state attorney general andy beshear ousted trump-backed republican incumbent matt bevin, a deeply unpopular governor who sparked a statewide teachers' strike after he threatened to cut pensions. bevin lost despite president trump holding a rally in lexington, kentucky, monday night, in which he claimed a loss for bevin was a loss for himself. pres. trump: and if you lose, they're going to say trump suffer the greatest defeat in the history of the world. you can't let that happen to me. amy: the republican governor said the race is too close to call. in mississippi's governor's race, republican lieutenant governor tate reeves defeated democratic state attorney general jim hood. in virginia, democrats juli briskman, the woman who made

i'm amy goodman. the house of representatives voted along partisan lines thursday to formalize the impeachment inquiry into donald trump. all 196 house republicans voted against the measure and all but two democrats voted in favor of the resolution, which sets the stage for the first publicic hearings of the investigation. this is california democrat adam schiff, chair of the house intelligence committee. >> the founding fathers understood that a leader might take hold of the oval office who would sacrifice the national security, who would fail to defend the constitution, who would places personal or political interests about the interests of the country. they understood that might happen. and they provided a mechanism to do with it, and that mechanism is called impeachment. amy: the house vote came as tim morrison, a top official on trump's national security council, testified in a closed-door hearing that the president withheld nearly $400 million in military aid to ukraine over the summer. morrison

, i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez.uan: we turn now w to the casef tania romero, an undocumented mother from honduras and stage four cancer patient, who is fighting to remain in the united states with her four children. two months ago, romero was imprisoned by immigration and customs enforcement at the privately-owned irwin county detention center in georgia after she was pulled over for a minor traffic infraction and arrested for not having a driver's license. her arrest and imprisonment interrupted life-saving medical treatment as she recovers from oral cancer. romero remains locked up at irwin, an immigration jail notorious for its abuse and medical neglect, where she is awaiting news about her case. amy: tania romero has lived in atlanta, georgia, for 20 years and raised her children there while working as a nanny and eventually a fulull-time construction worker. a deportation order against her had apparently been outstanding since 2008, but she didn't learn about it until a decade later, according to her family. th

i am a amy goodman. today wewe are joined by david byryrne, the celebratated musician, artist, writer, cycling enenthusiast, fifilmma, and nonow broadway star. his new broadway show is called "american utopia." it is receiving rave reviews.   amy: "american utopia" grew out of david byrne's recent world tour, which the british music publication nme said "may jusust be the best live show of all time." the e production feaeatures dad byrne and 11 musical artists from around the globe, including six percussionists performing a s selection of sons from throughout his remarkable career feated on his s most recent album "american utopiaia" to highlight from his legendary band talking heads including "burning down the house." amy: also, "this must be the place.""  amy: "american utopipia" is just one of davavid byrne's currenent projectsts. he also recently launched the online magazine "reasons to be cheerful" to highlight sololutions oriented stories around the globe. david byrne recently came into the democ