i'm amy goodman.he u.s. topped 25 million confirmed coronavirus cases sunday, over one quarter of the world's caseload, which is approaching 100 million. the u.s. has recorded over 419,000 deaths. president joe biden is expected to reinstate travel restrictions from brazil, britain and much of europe, as well as impose a new ban on non-u.s. citizens traveling from south africa, where health officials have said a more transmissible variant is behind a devastating surge. top infectious disease expert dr. anthony found she said over the weekend data shows covid vaccines appear to be less effective against some of the new variance. british prime minister boris johnson said for the first time friday the u.k. variant may be not just more infectious, but up to 30% more deadly as well. britain's chief scientific advisor cautioned evidence of the claim is not yet strong and that more research is needed. president biden and members of his team warned over the weekend the coming weeks and months will be tough. b

i'm amy goodman. the united states reported another 4000 deaths from covid-19 thursday as a fast-spreading coronavirus variant first seen in south africa was detected in south carolina for the first time. daily u. infections have been on the decline after shattering world records earlier this month, but remain at extremely high levels of about 150,000 per day. disease experts worry new variants, coupled with fatigue over masks and social distancing, could lead to another surge in cases. here in new york, attorney general letitia james said thursday governor andrew cuomo's administration undercounted covid-19 deaths at nursing homes by as much as 50%. just hours after james' announcement, new york health department officials added nearly 4000 nursing home deaths to new york's tally. drug maker novavax said thursday its covid-19 vaccine showed nearly 90% efficacy at preventing disease in patients in a large clinical trial in the u.k. but worryingly, the novavax vaccine showed only a 50% efficacy rate in

i'm amy goodman. a british judge has blocked the extradition of wikileaks founder julian assange to the united states where he could have faced up to 175 years in prison. in an extraordinary decision, judge vanessa baraitser said assange would not be safe in u.s. prisons due to the state of his mental health and the increased risk of suicide. judge baraitser said -- "i find that the mental condition of mr. assange is such that it would be oppressive to extradite him to the united states of america." supporters of assange celebrated outside the london courthouse. theo celebrate that american prison system is so bad that even this judge would not send julian assange into it. amy: in 2019, julian assange was indicted in the united states on 17 counts of violating the espionage act related to the publication of classified documents exposing u.s. war crimes in iraq, afghanistan, and elsewhere. we laugh more on the story after headlines. president trump repeatedly pressured georgia's republican secretary of

i'm amy goodman. another 4000 people have died across the united states from covid-19 wednesday in what has been the deadliest month since the pandemic began. the biden administration projects as many as 90,000 more u.s. residents will die in the next month as the virus continues to spread out of control in communities in all 50 states. on wednesday, president biden's task force met publicly for the first time, remotely over zoom, and live-streamed from the white house youtube channel. it had some problems. biden was notably absent, allowing scientists to lead th discussion. tamping at public expectations about rapid vaccinations for most u.s. residents. >> you're taking action to increase capacity, but even so, it wil be months before everyone whoants aaccine will be able to get one. amy: theace comes as new coronavirus variance are spreading across the globe with mutations that may make them more infectious and likely to evade existing covid-19 vaccines. after the headlines, we will go to houston, t

i'm amy goodman. the house of representatives has voted to impeach president donald trump for inciting an insurrection at the u.s. capitol in a bid to overturn joe biden's electoral college victory. trump becomes the first u.s. president to be impeached twice. wednesday's vote, 232 to 197, with 10 republicans joining democrats. it is the most by part of this impeachment -- bipartisan impeachment in history. this is missouri freshman democrat cori bush. >> if we fail to remove by what's up from assist president, it is communities like missouri's first district that suffer the most, the one 117th congress must understand we have a mandate to legislate in defense of black lives, the first step is to root out white supremacy starting with impeaching the white supremacist in chief. thank you and i yelled back. -- i yield back. amy: some house republicans booed after congressmember cori bush delivered those remarks. shortly after wednesday's vote, house speaker nancy pelosi signed the single article of impe

i'm amy goodman. momentum is building to remove president trump from office following the violent attempted coup last wednesday that saw an angry mob of trump-backed insurrectionists storm the capitol, resulting in five deaths. house democrats are introducing a resolution formally calling on vice president mike pence to invoke the 25th amendment. house speaker nancy pelosi says if pence does not move to do so, the house will proceed with impeachment for the second time in trump's single term. pence has reportedly not ruled out using the 25th amendment. california congressmember ted lieu said an article of impeachment with at least 210 co-sponsors in the house will be introduced today. the draft resolution cites "incitement of insurrection." meanwhile, two republican senators have joined calls for trump to resign -- alaska's lisa murkowski and pennsylvania's pat toomey, who spoke on nbc's "meet the press" sunday. >> i think the best way for our tontry is for the president resign and go away as soon as

i'm amy goodman. i joined by my co-host juan am gonzÁlez in new brunswick, new jersey. hi, juan. uan: hi, amy. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. amy: with less than 12 hours before the end of his presidency, donald trump issued 143 pardons and commutations including a pardon for steve bannon, his former chief strategist and campaign manager. in august, bannon was arrested for defrauding trump supporters who donated to an anti-immigrant nonprofit called "we build the wall." in a recent weeks, bannon helped promote conspiracy theories about the 2020 election and urged trump supporters to come to washington, d.c., on january 6 when rioters attacked the capitol in an insurrection that left five people dead, including a capitol police officer. other high profile pardons included elliott broidy, one of trump's top fund-raisers in 2016 , and three former republican congressmen -- rick renzi, robin hayes, and randall "duke" cunningham. added to several congressmen early trump supporters that trump gave commutations or pardons to. tru

i'm amy goodman in new york joined by my co-host juan gonzÁlez in new brunswick, new jersey. i, juan. juan: hi, amy. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. amy: after winning office with massive support from people of color, president joe biden moved tuesday to advance what the white house calls his racial equity agenda. pres. biden: open the promise of america to every american, and that means we need to make the issue of racial equity not just an issue for anyone department of government, it has to be the business of the whole of government. amy: biden opened his speech by invoking the legacy of george floyd, the african-american man whose death under the knee of a white minneapolis police officer prompted nationwide protests against racism. he announced four executive actions. pres. biden: today i'm directing the department of housing and urban affairs and development to redress the stroke arrest is a and housing policies. today i'm directing the federal agency to reinvigorate the consultation process with indian tribes. re

i'm amy goodman. house impeachment managers have delivered an article of impeachment to the senate, charging donald j. trump with "incitement of insurrection." on monday evening, the nine impeachment managers walked the article through national statuary hall and the capitol rotunda to the senate, where on january 6 a violent mob incited by president trump attacked police officers, looted lawmakers' offices, and delayed the certification of joe biden's electoral college victory. the violence left five people dead. maryland congressmember jamie raskin, who will lead the prosecution against trump, read the article of impeachment to the sete. >> donald john trump thus warrants impeachment and trial, removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the united states. amy: senate president pro tem patrick leahy will preside over trump's impeachment trial, not john roberts, the supreme court's chief justice. the trial is set to begin on february 9. the j

i am amy goodman. we begin today's special looking back at the uprising against police brutality and racism, following the police killing of george floyd in minneapolis on may 25th. the protests helped shift public opinion on policing and systemic racism with "defund the police" becoming a rallying cry of the movement. well, for more on the historic protests, we turn to the legendary activist and scholar angela davis, professor emerita at the university of california, santa cruz. for half a century, angela davis has been one of the most influential activists and intellectuals in the united states and an icon of the black liberation movement. i interviewed her in early june and asked her if she thought this moment is truly a turning point. prof. davis: this is an extraordinary moment. i have never experienced anything like the conditions we are currently experiencing, the conjuncture created by the covid-19 pandemic and the recognition of the systemic racism that has been rendered visible under these co

i'm amy goodman. the united states death toll from covid-19 topped 4000 for the first time on thursday, setting yet another daily world record as top public health official dr. anthony fauci warned the u.s. outbreak will get even worse in the weeks ahead. arizona is now one of the worst-affected parts of the world, with nearly 1% of state residents testing positive for coronavirus in just the past week. in california, the national guard is assisting los angeles county's coroner's office after morgues and mortuaries ran out of storage space for covid-19 victims. the cdc reported thursday that asymptomatic carriers of coronavirus are responsible for more than half of new infections, a finding that bolsters the urgent need for masks and social distancing. meanwhile, new research published in the journal science immunology shows 90% of people have robust immunity to coronavirus eight months after an infection. it's not yet known if immunity wanes after a longer interval. president trump said thursday ther

i'm amy goodman in new york joined by my co-host juan gonzÁlez in new brunswick, new jersey. i, juan. juan: hi, amy. happy new year. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. and happyjk;% news year to all. at a campaign rally monday night in georgia for the two critical senate runoff elections taking place today, president trump addressed thousands of unmasked supporters and used much of the time to focus on himself and again dispute the outcome of november's presidential election. pres. trump: i want to thank you very much. llo, georgia. by the way, there is no way we lost georgia. there is no way. that was a rigged election. we are still fighting it. you will see what is going to happen. amy: in a rambling speech, trump cited the same conspiracy theories he used to pressure georgia's secretary of state in a recorded telephone call over the weekend to "find" him enough votes to overturn the state's certified election results. on monday, georgia's top election official, republican gabriel sterling, held a press conference to deb

i'm amy goodman, as we continue with dr.luther king's speech the night before he was assassinated. it was april 3, 1968, a rainy nighin memphis, tennessee. >> we aren't going to let any mace st us. we are masters in our nonviolent movement in disarming police forces. they don't know what to do. i've seen them so often. i remember in birmingham, alabama, when we were in that majestic struggle there, we would move out of the 16th street baptist church day after day, by the hundreds we would move out. and bull connor would tell them to send the dogs forth. and they did come. but we just went before the dogs singing "ain't gonna let nobody turn me around." bull connor next would say, "turn the fire hoses on." and as i said to you the other night, bull connor didn't know history. he knew a kind of physics that somehow didn't relate to the transphysics that we knew about. and that was the fact that there was a certain kind of fire that no water could put out. and we went before the fire hoses. we had known water. if we were baptis

i'm amy goodman in new york, joined remotely by my co-host nermeen shaikh. hi, nermeen. meen: good morning, amy. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. amy: the u.s. congress certified the election of joe biden and kamala harris shortly before 4:00 a.m. this morning, about 14 hours after a violent mob incited by president trump stormed and occupied the u.s. capitol in an act of insurrection to stop the counting of votes. some lawmakers described the siege as an attempted coup. members of the right-wing mob smashed windows, broke down doors, and scaled walls to enter the capitol. they attacked capitol police. they ransacked and looted offices, including house speaker nancy pelosi's. an armed standoff took place at the door of the u.s. house of representatives. rioters took over the senate chamber with some trump supporters, including a prominent supporter of the qanon conspiracy theory, posing for photos in the seat occupied by vice president mike pence just minutes before. one man carried a large confederate flag inside t

i'm amy goodman. house democrats are inching toward removing president trump from power after he incited his supporters to attack the u.s. capitol last wednesday. on monday, the house adjourned for the day after republicans objected to a voice vote on a measure calling on vice president mike pence to invoke the 25th amendment. the house is set to hold a vote on the measure today. pence has signaled he's unlikely to declare trump incapable of executing his duties, and such a move would also require a majority of trump's cabinet members. democratic leaders have scheduled an impeachment vote for wednesday. more than 218 lawmakers have already committed to passage of the single article of impeachment charging trump with inciting violence against the government of the united states. senate republican leader mitch mcconnell has adjourned the senate until january 19, all but ruling out a senate impeachment trial ahead of joe biden's inauguration on january 20. biden on monday questioned whether the senate co

i'm amy goodman. joe biden was sworn in as 46th president of the united states wednesday, ending the trump era with a call for national unity. speaking on the steps of a capitol building that just two weeks prior was mobbed by a group of right wing extremists trying to overturn the election, president biden said the u.s. faces an unprecedented combination of challenges posed by the covid-19 pandem, mass unemployment, racial injustice, white supremacist violence, and the existential threat of climate change. and he warned against the spread of lies in a thinly veiled reference to the trump administration's constant stream of falsehoods over the past four years. pres. biden: recent weeks and months have taught us a painful lesson. there is truth and there are lies. lies told for power and for profit. and each of us has a duty and responsibility as citizens, as americans, especially as leaders , leaders who have pledged to honor our constitution, protect our nation. to defend th truth and defeat the lies

i'm amy goodman. president-elect joe biden has proposed a massive $1.9 trillion plan to battle the coronavirus pandemic and the economic crisis. the plan calls for sending out an additional $1400 per person in direct payments, $350 billion for hard-hit state and local governments, and another $400 billion in pandemic response funds to pay for vaccinations, testing, school reopenings, and emergency paid leave. it also offers enhanced unemployment benefits, tax credits to working families, rental assistance, and eviction and foreclosure moratoriums through september. biden also called on congress to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. he outlined his plan in a national address thursday evening. mr. biden: sub 18 million americans are still relying on unemployment insurance. some 400,000 small businesses have permanently closed their doors. the crisis of deep human suffering is in plain sight, and there is no time to waste. we have to act and we have to act now. amy: parts of biden's plan rankled some

i'm amy goodman. the house is voting toy to impeach president trump for the second time in his single term. lawmakers will vote on one article of impeachment against trump for inciting the deadly riot at the u.s. capitol last week which left five people dead. on tuesday, house lawmakers approved a resolution calling for trump to be removed by invoking the 25th amendment but vice president mike pence has rejected that effort. pence spoke with trump monday evening in their first reading since last week's mob violence. among the chants of the mob, "hang mike pence." four house republicans said tuesday they would vote to impeach president trump, including wyoming congressmember liz cheney, the third-ranking republican in the house. the white house says they expect at least 20 republicans will support impeachment though other estimates are lower. "the new york times" reports senate majority leader mitch mcconnell believes trump committed impeachable offenses and privately supports democrats' efforts to rem

i'm amy goodman. democrats appear on the brink of taking control of the u.s. senate after the reverend raphael warnock won a special election tuesday over republican senator kelly loeffler while democrat jon ossoff has a 16,000 vote lead in his runoff against former republican senator david perdue. warnock is pastor of the ebenezer baptist church in atlanta, which was the spiritual home of dr. martin luther king, jr. and dr. king junior's father. warnock will become the first black democrat to ever represent a southern state, as well as the first black senator from georgia. he spoke to supporters last night. >> we were told we could not win this election. we proved with hope, hardware, and people by our side, anything is possible. amy: we will have more on the georgia races after headlines. a joint session of congress is convening today to certify the electoral college votes. president trump falsely claimed tuesday vice president mike pence has the power to unilaterally reject electoral votes. at leas

i am amy goodman. as the united states, britain, and other nations begin unprecedented mass vaccination campaigns to combat the covid-19 pandemic, other parts of the world may not have access to vaccines for months -- if not years. a new report finds as many as nine out of 10 people in dozens of poorer countries could miss out on the coronavirus vaccine until at least 2022 because wealthy countries, including the united states, have hoarded enough doses to vaccinate their entire populations between three and five times over. the report was issued by the people's vaccine alliance, which includes amnesty international, frontline aids, global justice now, and oxfam. this is winifred byanyima, executive director of unaids, in a video produced by the people's vaccine alliance. >> huge pharmaceutical companies are keeping the vaccine research a secret. they're deciding how many vaccines get made, how much to charge for them, and who gets vaccinated. this will no doubt leave billions of peopleehind. pharma co

i'm amy goodman. the world health organization warned monday wealthy nations are hoarding covid-19 vaccines at the expense of the world's poor, leaving millions of elderly people vulnerable even as younger, healthy people in richer nations get vaccinated. the who chief dr. tedros adhanom ghebreyesus spoke monday from geneva one year after first the cases of covid-19 were detected outside china. >> i need to be blunt. the world is on the brink of catastrophe. and the price of this failure will be paid with lives and livelihoods in the world's poorest countries. amy: he warned wealthy countries are circumventing the u.n.'s program to ensure the fair distribution of covid-19 vaccines, known as covax, driving up prices and jumping to the front of the line. this comes as worldwide confirmed coronavirus cases topped 24 million, with over 2 million documented deaths from covid-19. the united states' death toll from covid-19 has topped 400,000 -- by far the worst in the world. california has become the first

i'm amy goodman. on his first full day in office, president joe biden unveiled a 198-page national plan to tackle the coronavirus pandemic, calling it a wartime undertaking against covid-19. adding to the urgency, the u.s. recorded another near-record global high death toll thursday, with over 4,100 deaths. biden signed 10 executive orders to create a new national covid-19 testing board to help schools reen, to mante international travelers to quarantine upon arrival and to mandate masks on many forms of interstate transportation. >> our plan starts with mounting an aggressive, safe and effective vaccination campaign, to meet our goal of administering 100 million shots in our first 100 days in office. we are on day one. this will be one of the greatest operational challenges our nation has ever undertaken. amy: on thursday, the nation's top infectious disease expert, dr. anthony fauci spoke to reporters at the white house and was asked about the difference between working under esident trump and biden

and now, without further ado, please welcome our moderator, the host of "democracy now," amy goodman.plause] amy: what a great honor it is to be with you all today here at purdue university. today is democracy now's 24th anniversary. [applause] how many of you listen to or watch "democracy now?" that's fantastic. we have flyers that show all the stations, tv and radio, where we broadcast in this area. we broadcast on 1500 public television and radio stations, and you can check it out at democracynow.org. so, the idea originally, when we began 44 years ago on just nine community radio stations and on pacifica radio, was to go to where the silence was, to break down stereotypes and caricatures. when we began, we were on pacifica radio. the fourth of the five pacifica stations went on the air in houston, texas in 1970. within a few weeks, it was blown off the air by the ku klux klan. they strapped dynamite to the base of the transmitter. when the station rebuilt a few weeks later, they strapped 15 times the dynamite to the base of the transmitter and blew it up again. it took months to g