On Wednesday, scientists with both NASA and NOAA—the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration—confirmed 2016 was the hottest year on record, topping the previous record set in 2015, which topped the previous record only one year earlier. The unprecedented warming of the planet due to human-caused climate change comes as Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt testified in front of the Senate Wednesday during his confirmation hearing to be t...

Today marks President Obama’s last full day in office. On Friday at noon, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts will swear in Donald Trump as the country’s 45th president. On Wednesday, in his last press conference as president, Obama defended his decision to commute the sentence of Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning, and condemned the Israeli occupation. He also warned Trump that he will not stay silent if he sees what he called the nation’s ...

On Tuesday, President Obama also commuted the sentence of longtime Puerto Rican independence activist Oscar López Rivera, who has been imprisoned for about 35 years, much of the time in solitary confinement. In 1981, López Rivera was convicted on federal charges including seditious conspiracy—conspiring to oppose U.S. authority over Puerto Rico by force. In 1999, President Bill Clinton commuted the sentences of 16 members of the FALN, but López R...

In one of his final acts in office, President Obama shortened the sentences of 209 prisoners and pardoned 64 individuals on Tuesday. The list included Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning, who is now set to be freed on May 17, after Obama reduced her sentence from 35 years to seven. According to her attorneys, she is already the longest-held whistleblower in U.S. history. Manning leaked more than 700,000 classified files and videos to WikiLeaks abo...

We look at one of the most controversial policies President Obama passes on to Donald Trump: family detention. Since 2014, thousands of Central American women and children seeking asylum have been held in private jails. Despite complaints of medical neglect and poor oversight, the Obama administration resisted calls to end the practice. Now, advocates worry Trump could expand it, with even less oversight. Democracy Now! correspondent Renée Feltz ...

At least 42 Democrats plan to boycott Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration this Friday, after Trump used the weekend to attack civil rights icon John Lewis. On Friday, Democratic Congressmember Lewis questioned the legitimacy of Trump’s election during an interview on NBC News. Early on Saturday morning on Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, Donald Trump hit back at Lewis on Twitter, saying he was "All talk, talk, talk–no action." Trump’s comment...

During Wednesday’s press conference, President Obama warned that the expansion of Israeli settlements was making a two-state solution impossible. "I don’t see how this issue gets resolved in a way that maintains Israel as both Jewish and a democracy," Obama said, "because if you do not have two states, then, in some form or fashion, you are extending an occupation. Functionally, you end up having one state in which millions of people are disenfra...

President Obama Gives Final News Conference; Obama Denies Clemency to Native American Activist Leonard Peltier; 2016 was Third Straight Hottest Year on Record; Bernie Sanders Slams EPA Nominee Scott Pruitt at Confirmation Hearing; Amid Scandal, Tom Price Undergoes Confirmation Hearing for HHS Head; Wilbur Ross, Nikki Haley Undergo Confirmation Hearings; Rick Perry Faces Confirmation Hearing to Head Agency He Vowed to Abolish; Homeowners Facing Fo...

While President Obama has commuted the sentence of Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning, the administration has indicated it has no plans to pardon NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said last week, "The release of the information [Manning] provided to WikiLeaks was damaging to national security. But the disclosures by Edward Snowden were far more serious and far more dangerous." We speak to The Intercept’s J...

Obama Commutes Sentences of Chelsea Manning & Oscar López Rivera; Obama Commutes Sentence of General James Cartwright; Activists Continue Calling for Freedom for Leonard Peltier; Did Betsy DeVos Lie to Senate About Her Involvement in Family Foundation?; Trump Interior Pick Ryan Zinke Says He'd Review Reversing Ban on Arctic Drilling; Report: 18 Million Could Lose Healthcare If Obamacare Is Repealed; Nearly 60 Congressmembers Will Not Attend Trump...

As a new study by Oxfam finds the world’s eight richest men control as much wealth as the poorest half of humanity, the group says it is concerned that wealth inequality will continue to grow following the election of Donald Trump, whose Cabinet members have a combined wealth of nearly $11 billion. We look at the rise of Trump, and those joining his administration, with award-winning Rolling Stone journalist Matt Taibbi. His new book comes out to...

Outrage and Inaugural Boycotts Follow Trump Attack on Rep. John Lewis; Private Donations to Trump Inaugural Committee Top $100 Million; Protesters Nationwide Launch Campaign to #InaugurateTheResistance; Thousands Rally in Cities Across U.S. Against Trump Deportation Plans; Tens of Thousands Protest Planned Repeal of Affordable Care Act; HHS Nominee Tom Price Faces Accusations of Insider Trading; Trump Communications Appointee Steps Down Amid Plag...