Nearly 900,000 people have signed an online petition entitled impeach donald trump now. This comes amid reports that the Trump Campaign and russia. We will speak to someone at the center of the unraveling of the theident the of presidency. Exclusivemocracy now interview with professional football star Michael Bennett made headlines when he pulled out of an israeligovernment sponsored trip to israel for nfl players. Ondoing my research palestine and israel and the things going on, i see between thees movement. Did not want to be an ambassador for a certain govevernment if i was not sure f i agreed with everything the government was doing. With michaelspeak bennet, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. In north dakota, a heavily militarized police force raided the mainin resistance e camp sep by l lakota water protectors fightiting the 3. 8 billioion ka access pipeline. Ththe camp was largely v vacated ahead of a deaeadline set one day earlier, but Police Arrested at least 33 people who refused to leave. Police in Armored Vehicles backed by National Guard soldiers later raided the nearby rosebud resistance camp. Despite the evictions, indigenousled water protectors say theyll continue to oppose the pipeline. This is navajo activist lyla june. This movement in profound ways. All acrossnted seeds the world and inspired and awakened people to see water in a new way, to see water as life. Have united things that were never united before. Amy earlier this month, construction crews resumed work on the final section of the pipeline, after the Trump Administration granted an easement to allow Energy Transfer partners to drill beneath the missouri river. In mexico, Homeland Security secretary john kelly insisted thursday the u. S. Would not carry y out mass deportations and that President Trumps Deportation Program was not a military operation. Contradicting a statement made hours earlierer. Listen to this. Force ine of military immigration operations. None. There will be no use of military forces in immigration. Amy his commentnts came after was asaid the deportation military operation. Mr. Trump we are getting bad dudes out of this country at a rate no one has seen before. It is a military operation. Amy mexico has rejected Donald Trumps pledge that he will force mexico to pay for an expanded wall on the u. S. Mexico border. Mexicos foreign minister also denounced new rules authorizing the u. S. To deport undocumented immigrants to mexico, whether or not theyey are mexican citizene. Trump suggested thursday hes looking to expand size of the u. S. Nuclear weapons arsenal. Trumps comment came during an interview with reuters. Mr. Trump it would be wonderful if no countries had nukes. If c countries are going to have nukes, we are going to be at the top of the pack. Amy the statement drew alarm from antinuclear activists who fear it will touch off a new worldwide nuclear arms race. The Trump Administration said thursday it will seek to enforce federal laws barring the use of marijuana. It reverses the Obama Administration decision. The Trump Administration would prioritize enforcement in states that have passed laws allowing for the recreational rather than the medical use of the drug. They are going to continue to enforce the laws on the books. Amy meanwhile, the Justice Department said thursday it will reverse an Obama Administration policy that would have phased out the federal governments use of private prisons. The announcement touched off a spike in the afterhours share prices of forprofit prisons including core civic and geo group. White house chief strategist steve bannon made a rare public appearance thursday at the conservative Political Action conference, or cpac. Speaking alongside white house chief of staff Reince Priebus, bannon admitted that many of President Trumps cabinet picks were selected to head agencies Whose Mission they oppose. It is deconstructction of f the administrativeve state. It y you look at t the cabinet appopointees, they work selected fofor deconststruction. The progressssive left, ifif thy they aret it passed, going to put it in a regulatory agency. Amy steve bannon is the former head of breitbart media, a farright website which frequently publishes racist, sexist, antiimmigrant and xenophobic news. His appearance at cpac came as officials expelled White NationalistRichard Spencer from the conference on thursday. A cpac spokesperson called spencers views venomous, horrible and repulsive. Breitbart has previously praised spencer, calling him one of the leading intellectuals of the soccalled altright t movemen. In kansas, police have charged a 51yearold man with first degree murder after he allegedly shouted get out of my country befofore firing on a pair of indian men at a restaurant in suburban k kansas cityty. The gunfire killed 32yearold srinivas kuchibhotla. His friend and a bystander who confronted the shooter were injured. Witnesses say Adam Purinton was drinking and spouting racial slurs before he opened fire. Purinton fled the scene and was arrested hours later after telling a bartender in clinton, missouri, he had just shot two middle eastern men. Police have said its too early in their investigation to dedetermine if theyll charge purinton with a hate crime. In new york city, customs and Border Protection agents met passengers as they exited a flight from San Francisco wednesday, demanding to check their ids. A staffer for vivice news who ws aboard the flight captured photos of the incident, saying passengers were told they couldnt disembark without showing their documents. The cbp later said its agents were assisting immigration and Customs Enforcement in seeking a person ordered removed by an immigration judge. In malaysia, a pair of women used a banned chemical nerve agent vx to assassinate kim jongnam, the halfbrother of north koreas leader. Kim died of a seizure on his way to a hospital febrbruary 13th, after the e women douseded his e wiwith the chemicacal as he was waiting to board a flight atat kukuala lumpur international airprport. The unitited nations has bannedx as a weapon of m mass destructi. Although north korea has dendd involvement in ks assassinination, the couountry s not a a signatory to t the cheml Weapons Convention and is believed to have stotockpiles of vx and othth nerve agentnts. White house chief of staff Reince Priebus soughght unsuccessfully to have the fbi refute news reports that Donald TrumpsCampaign Advisers were in frequent contact with russian intelligence agents ahead of novembers election. Thats according to cnn, which repoported thursdaday the fbi declined to publicly corroborate priebuss denial. His outreach violated policies intended to limit communications between the fbi and the administration on pending investigations. We will have more on that story with white House Counsel, former white House Counsel john dean. The pentagon is consididering a planan that would see troopss to defeat of after the isis. They are discussing the possibilility, saying thehe possibility to extend Troop Deployment officer Gerrit Lansing was among six staffers fired by the white house after they failed an fbi background check. Lansing is the former head of the republican partys digital operations. According to politico, lansing failed due to conflicts of interest posed by his business investments. In the philippines, Police Arrested an opposition senator and fierce critic of president Rodrigo Duterte today, accusing her of taking bribes from drug dealers. Senator Leila De Lima says shes innocent of any crime, and called her arrest retribution for her criticism of dutertes bloody war on drugs, which has seen police carry out thousands of extrajudicial killings. The truth will be out in the right time. If they think they can silence they think i will no longer fight for finding the truth, it is my honor to get arrested because of what i am fighting for. Amy president duterte has boasted about personally murdering drug dealers. Last september he compared himself favorably to adolf hitler, saying he wanted to kill millions of drug addicts. In portugal, police have arrested a former u. S. Intelligence operative and are preparing to extradite her to italy, where she faces a prison sentence for her role in the kidnapping and rendition of an egyptian cleric in 2003. Former undercover cia officer Sabrina De Sousa was one of 26 americans convicted in absentia by an Italian Court in 2007. They were charged with illegally seizing the cleric, abu omar, from the streets of milan in 2003, and sending him to egypt where he was tortured during a fouryear imprisonment. De sousa moved to portugal in 2015, and was arrested monday as she attempted to leave the country. She faces four y years in an italian prison. Japans Supreme Court has denied bail to a prominent activist opposed to the u. S. Militarys presence in okinawa. Hiroji yamashiro was arrested last fall on charges he cut through a barbed wire fence surrounding a u. S. Base. For decades, residents have called for the expulsion of u. S. Troops from okinawa, which houses about twothirds of the 50,000 u. S. Troops currently stationed in japanan. In puerto rico, thousands of University Students are on strike this week, protesting imminent cuts to Public Education amid an economic crisis. Puerto ricos governor has until the end of the month to submit a budget plan to a federally appointed oversight control board with sweeping powers to run puerto ricos economy. The Oversight Board wants sharp cuts to public spending and a strategy to pay the debt to bondholders. If the demand is not met, the Oversight Board will make its own budget plan. On thursday, thousands of students gathered in front of the capitol and marched to the governors mansion. This is graduate student loderay bracero marrero. We are here in defense of the univerersity of puerto rico and Public Education and the educatioion of the working clas, for us to have an accessible and public eduducation. Different campmpuses have approd different shutdowns to prorotect the university of puerto rico. Of theecaying b because plans of wall street and the plans of the government that is a puppet of whatever the oversight control board says. Amy and those are some of the headlines s this is democracy n, dedemocracynow. Org, the wawar ad peace report. Im amy goodman. Asas of today, President Trump s been in office for only 36 days, and theres already a growing chorus of voices calling for his impeachment. Nearly 900,000 people have signed an online petition entitled impeach donald trump now. Thousands of protesters poured into the streets monday for not my president s day marches. Thousands more stormed republican town halls this week to confront Republican Leaders over their support for trump. Even the city of richmond, california, has joined the movement. On tuesday, the Richmond CityCouncil Voted unanimously to approve a resolution calling on congngress to considider trumps impeachment, arguing trump is in viviolation of the constitutios ememolumenents clause, which prohibits People Holding federal office from acaccepting payments from foreigngn governments. The demand for trumps impeacachment comes as he e pres over an understaffed white house in near constant crisis. This comes as Reince Priebus sougught unsuccessfufully to hae the fbi refute news reports that Donald TrumpsCampaign Advisers were in contact with russian intelligence agents before the election. That is according to cnn, which reported that the fbi declined to publicly corroborate his denial. Policiesach violates intended to limit communications between the white house and the fbi on pending investigations. Reince priebus denied the reports. Know what they were told. I have talked to the fbi. I know what they are saying. G. I would not be on your show telling you we have been assured there is nothing to the story if i did not actually have clearance to make this comment. Allegations of White House Communications with the fbi during t the investigation have raised questions as to whether the Trump Administration has violated ethics restrictitions meant to protect such investigations from political influence. They have also drawn comparisons to former president Richard Nixons 1972 discussion with aides who used the cia to push the fbi away from investigating the watergate burglary that later led to his resignation. Will thehe constant chaos, confusioion, and conflicts of interest in the Trump Administration lead to President Trumps impeachment . For more, we go to someone at the center of the unraveling of a presidency. Whiteent Richard NixonsHouse Counsel, john dean. He is the author of several books including, the nixon defense what he knew and when he knew it and conservatives without conscience, and broken government how republican rule destroyed the legislative,e, executive, and judicial branches. John dean, welcome to democracy now good morning. 36 days into this presidency. It took a second term of office for president nexen before the House Judiciary Committee voted on articles of impeachment against him. He would later resign. Can you talk about where donald trump is now . John what i see and hear in following it are echoes of watergate. Watergate ran about 900 days. It went on for years, starting with a bungled burglary, right up to Richard Nixons resignation, followed by the conviction of his top aides. It ran a long time. What we are seeing is accelerated. Thes partially because of media and technology today. It is also the behavior of , asld trump and his aides well as the medias vigilance on this. What i see and hear are echoes of watergate. We dont have watergate 2. 0, but something that looks like it could go there. To what tooko turn place in richmond, california. Became the first u. S. City to call for an investigation into whether to impeach president donald trump. A resolution approved by the Richmond CityCouncil States trump is in violation of the emoluments clause of the constitution, which prohibits People Holding federal office from accepting payments fromom foreign governmentnts. These are e some of the city officials who voted unanimously in favor of the impeachment resolution. Ordinarily, to be talking everything about this administration is on. It would be odd to be talking about the impeachment of a presidident a month ininto hisi. Is oddlynately, it appropriate. The worord is clear thahate residents of these United States are not in alignment with his momovement of hate, his movement of fear, his movovement of bullying and intimimidation. Voices of the City Council Members in richmond, california. Do you think what they are accusing trump of could lead to his impeachment . Could if the republicans did not control both houses of congress. It is a beginning. It takes a lot of momentum, much more than one city. It takes hundreds of cities, a national change of attitude about this president before we will have an impeachment. Given the fact that the house and senate are controlled by the republicans, they are not going to impeach their president as long as he gives them what they want and signs into law a lot of the things they have had in their dreams for many years, they will not give him any problem. He will not give them any problem because he does not want to have a fight with them. It will be a while. Impeachment is not a legal process. It is primarily a political process. We are not there yet. It,t of people might like but it will not happen until the political process reaches that stage. Amy letet me ask you about the latest news out of cnn. Seekingriebus unsuccessfully to have the fbi refute news reports that donald advisers weregn infrequent touch with were in frequent touch with russian intelligence agents. They declined to corroborate the denial. He violated policies intended to e