i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. nermeen: welcome to all our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. low-wage workers in the united states have staged the largest action today to demand a $15 an hour minimum wage with some 60,000 workers walking off the job in over 200 cities. protesters included fast-food workers, home-care aides child-care providers, walmart clerks, adjunct professors airport workers and other low-wage workers. the service employees international union, or seiu helped organize the campaign. in chicago, demonstrators held signs saying, "we are worth more!" while in new york, dozens of protesters temporarily halted business at a mcdonald's by staging a die-in, lying on the ground in front of the franchise. several new york protesters carried signs saying, "we work hard" and "we see wage slavery." protesters included jemere calhoun who works at two mcdonald's restaurants. "we're fighting for $15 in the union. $15 minimum wage. we feel that is what we need and what we deserve

i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. nermeen: welcome to all our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. we begin today's show in baltimore where protests over the death of freddie gray have entered their fifth day. the 27-year-old african-american man died sunday from spinal injuries, one week after baltimore police arrested him. his family and attorney say his voice box was crushed and his spine was "80%severed at his neck." a preliminary autopsy report showed he died of a spinal injury. video shot by a bystander shows gray screaming in apparent agony as police drag him to a van. you can hear the bystander's voice. >> look at his legs. look at his legs. that was legs. you are dragging him like that. amy: another witness said the police bent him like a pretzel. gray was then held inside a police van for 30 minutes. police said -- "during transport to western district via wagon transport the defendant suffered a medical emergency and was immediately transported to shock trauma via medic." the d

nermeen: and i am nermeen shaikh. south carolina police officer has been charged with murder after a cell phone video show the officer shooting eight times of the back of a 50-year-old african american man named walter scott, who was running away. the shooting occurred on saturday morning after north charlestown police officer michael slager stopped walter scott for a broken brake light. walter scott was a father of four who served for two years in the u.s. coast guard. chris stewart is an attorney for the scott family. chris stewart: what if there was no video? what if there was no witness, or hero, if i call him, to come forward? then this would not have happened because as you can see, the initial reports stated something totally different. the officer said mr. scott attacked him and pulled his taser and tried to use it on him, but somebody was watching. >> hallelujah. chris stewart: there was a witness they came forward with a video command the initial reports were wrong. nermeen: before the video was posted onlin

in 2013, nermeen shaikh and i spoke to eduardo galeano in our new york studio when his book, "children the days: a calendar of human history," had first been published. before we go to a clip of that interview, the significance of eduardo galeano? juan: this is a huge loss, not only for latin america, but for those who are fighting for social justice and for truth around the world. it is remarkable reflection, the number of world leaders who made statements yesterday after learning of his death. brazil's president, dilma rousseff, said eduardo galeano's death was a big loss particularly for those fighting for latin america that is more inclusive, just, and united. she went on to say, may his work an example of struggles stay with us and aspires each day to build a better future for latin america. evo morales, president of brazil, call gagliano a maestro of liberation of the people. i'm sorry, bolivia. and also the president of greece noted the death of gagliano affected every citizen of europe. there's been enormous outpouring of condolences and remembrances of the legacy of eduardo ga

nermeen: i am nermeen shaikh.me to our viewers around the country and our -- around the world. california governor jerry brown ordered residents and non-agricultural businesses to cut water use by 25 percent in the first mandatory statewide reduction in the state's history. 98 percent of california is now suffering from drought. governor brown issued the executive order at the mostly snow-bare phillips station in the sierra nevada mountains. the nearby sierra-at-tahoe ski resort closed for the season weeks ago due to lack of snow. governor brown: one thing we know is we are standing on dry grass, and we should be standing on five feet of snow. we are in an historic drought and that demands unprecedented action. for that reason, i'm issuing an executive order mandating substantial water reduction across our state. as californians, we have to pull together, and save water in every way we can. this executive order, which i signed today, it is long, it covers a number of different details -- in fact, i have never seen