Society for law and policy on obamas executive order. Then will the United States deport a kurdish activist to turkey where he was once imprisoned and tortured . My daddy can to this country to be free. Nightmare. Is been a amy 25 years ago, Ibrahim Parlak came to the United States fleeing persecution in turkey. Now he is fighting to block the u. S. From sending him back. He and his daughter will join us from chicago. All that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. North korea says it has successfully detonated its First Hydrogen bomb. If confirmed, the test marks a major increase in north Koreas Nuclear capacity. The north korean staterun tv network announced the test after seismologists detected a 5. 1 magnitude tremor near the countrys main nuclear test site. Washe first hbomb test conducted. We will not give up a Nuclear Program as long as the United States maintains its stance of aggression. Amy north koreas announcement has not been independently verified and experts have voiced skepticism about whether north korea is capable of producing a hydrogen bomb. South korea called the announcement a grave provocation to our national security, while japan condemned it as a major threat to regional and International Peace and stability. Speaking in tokyo today, u. S. Ambassador to japan Caroline Kennedy said the United States stands with japan. We stand with japan, our partners and allies in solidarity with this provocation and we will work closely together in the coming days. Amy Hydrogen Bombs can be hundreds or even thousands of times more powerful than the atomic bomb the United States dropped on the japanese cities of hiroshima and nagasaki in 1945, the first and only use of Nuclear Weapons in war. President obama has laid out his plans to take executive action in an attempt occur gun violence in the United States. Part of his kind will result in mandatory background checks for individuals purchasing firearms online or at gun shows. The administration has also calling for the hiring of 200 new federal agents to enforce the nations gun laws and 500 million to increase access to Mental Health care. On tuesday, president obama spoke at the white house surrounded by family members of People Killed in shootings. It was one of the most emotional speeches of his presidency. He wiped back tears as he remembered firstgraders killed at the san Hook Elementary School in newtown, connecticut. Every time i think about those kids, he gets me mad. And, by the way, it happens on the streets of chicago every day. Amy we will have more on president obamas speech after the headlines. In iran, a top military commander has condemned sunday storming of the Saudi Embassy in tehran calling it an ugly, unjustifiable act. He made remarks after protesters angered by saudi arabias execution of a shiite cleric set fire to a part of the Saudi Embassy. The burning prompted saudi arabia, bahrain, sudan to break ties with iran while the United Arab Emirates downgraded relations with the rent and kuwait recalled its ambassador. Tuesdayl president said saudi arabia could not hide its shiite of executing cleric by cutting ties with tehran. A spokesperson for the u. S. Led Coalition Fighting the selfproclaimed Islamic State says the militants have lost 30 of the territory they held in iraq and syria. U. S. Army colonel made the announcement tuesday. We believe in a rat, it is about 40 . In syria, harder to get a good number, we think hundred 20 and altogether, around 30 , we believe. Taken together iraq and syria. Amy in afghanistan, a u. S. Soldier has been killed and two others wounded during a special forces operation in the Southern Province of helmand. The pentagon says u. S. Forces came under fire in the town of marjah. A u. S. Helicopter reportedly crashed at the scene during a rescue attempt. The Islamic State has reportedly murdered a journalist who wrote about life in the isiloccupied raqqa. Ruqia hassan was reportedly killed in september, but activists say isis hijacked her social media accounts and used them to claim she was alive. A member of the activist group raqqa is being slaughtered silently said before her death, hassan said im in raqqa and i received death threats, and when isis me arrests me and kills me its ok because. I have dignity its better than in humiliation with isis. She was 30 years old. In turkey, Iraqi Kurdish journalist mohammad rasool, who worked for vice news, has been released after 131 days in prison. Rasool was accused of assisting a terrorist organization. He was arrested in august in southeastern turkey, where the turkish government has imposed curfews as part of a wideranging crackdown. Human Rights Groups have recorded well over 100 civilian deaths in the area. A report by the committee to project journalists last month called turkey the fifth worst jailer of journalists in the world. In venezuela, rightwing opposition lawmakers have taken control of congress for the first time in 17 years. The opposition won 99 out of 167 seats in elections last month. The new legislature sets up a challenge for president Nicolas Maduro as he seeks to continue the socialist revolution that was launched by the late hugo chavez. Democratic president ial candidate and vermont senator Bernie Sanders has taken aim at wall street in his latest address. Speaking here in new york, sanders vowed to break up the biggest banks within a year of taking office. Greed is not good. [applause] in fact, the greed of wall street and Corporate America is destroying the very fabric of our nation. [applause] and here is a new years resolution that i will keep is elected president , and that is if wall street does not end its greed, we will end it for them. Amy some of the first families set for deportation under the obama administrations recent raids have won a key victory after a top Immigration Appeals Court halted their deportations. In what advocates dubbed carseat raids, agents rounded up at least 121 people over the weekend, targeting Central American families who have recently fled violence in their home countries. Activists say five of the families were able to win a halt to their deportation after citing due process violations. The order came just hours before they were set to be deported to el salvador, which now has the highest murder rate in the world for a country not at war. A Broad Coalition of doctors, experts, lawmakers and organizations have petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn a texas antichoice law that could shutter all but a handful of abortion clinics in the state. Those who filed briefs opposing the law include medical professionals, religious groups, the obama administration, and more than 160 members of congress. A coalition of cities and municipalities including new your, baltimore, boston, dayton, ohio, and San Francisco have also filed a brief against the texas law, saying if it goes into full effect, cities and states without harsh abortion restrictions will see a surge in patients needing care. The Supreme Court will hear arguments on the case in march. In the latest news to shake the administration of chicago mayor rahm emanuel, a federal judge has ruled a Top Administration lawyer intentionally hid key evidence about a fatal police shooting, then lied about it. The judges ruling reversed an earlier decision in favor of two Chicago Police officers that concluded they were justified in killing africanamerican darius pinex during a traffic stop five years ago. The officers claimed they pulled pinex over because his car matched a description they heard over their radios about a car wanted in connection with a shooting. On monday, a judge ruled senior chicago attorney jordan marsh intentionally withheld a recording of the radio dispatch showing the car did not actually match the description, then lied about his reasons for doing so. Marsh resigned hours after the ruling. This all comes as chicago mayor rahm emanuel faces calls to resign over a potential coverup of the Police Killing of Laquan Mcdonald and of a grandmother and college student, bettie jones and quintonio legrier. Illinois state lawmakers are now considering steps to potentially allow a recall of mayor emanuel. Snyder, governor federal officials announced their investigating the issue of the water. Governor snyder apologized last week for the states handling of the water crisis in flint, where residents have reported a spate of health problems, from rashes and hair loss to memory loss. The contamination began after an emergency manager appointed by Governor Snyder switched the citys water source to the longpolluted flint river in a bid to save money. In august, Governor Snyder helped deliver 1500 water filters to flint even as state officials assured people the water was safe. And an estimated 35,000 dairy cows have been found dead after a rare blizzard hit west texas and eastern new mexico late last month. The storm left snow drifts up to 14 feet high, burying many cows alive, while others froze to death or starved. An estimated 10 of adult dairy herd in west texas perished. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. President obama has laid out his plans to take executive action in an attempt to cut gun violence. Part of his plan will result in mandatory background checks for individuals purchasing firearms online or at gun shows. The administration is also calling for the hiring of 200 new federal agents to enforce the nations gun laws and 500 million to increase access to Mental Health care. On tuesday, president obama spoke at the white house surrounded by family members of People Killed in shootings. It was one of the most emotional speeches of president obamas presidency. At times he was wiping back tears as he remembered children killed by gun violence. All of us should be able to Work Together to find a balance the rest of our. Ights are also important Second Amendment rights are important, but there other rights we care about as well, and we have to be able to balance them. Because our right to worship freely and safely, that right was denied to christians in charleston, south carolina. And that was denied jews in kansas city and denied muslims in nopel hill s andikhs creek. They had rights, too. [applause] our right to peaceful assembly, that right was robbed from moviegoers in aurora and lafayette. Our unalienable right to fe d libertanpurst of college kidin Santa Barbara and from High Schoolers at. Olumbine and from firstgraders in newtown. Firstgraders. Family who never imagined their loved one would be taken from our lives by a. Ullet from a gun every time i think about those kids, it gets me mad. And by the way, it happens on the streets of chicago every day. [applause] amy president obama speaking on tuesday at the white house. He was surrounded by family members of People Killed in shootings, including lucia mcbath, who joins us now from washington. She is the mother of jordan davis, the 17yearold who was shot dead in 2012 in florida at a gas station by man named michael dunn who confronted davis and his friends about the volume of their car stereo. Lucia mcbath has since become a leading gun control advocate. Welcome back to democracy now you were front and Center Standing right behind president obama as he spoke yesterday. Talk about the significance of what he has done. Well, yesterday was a very profound day toward the movement of gun violence prevention in this country. And specifically speaking as a victim of gun violence, standing on that platform with president obama and all the other victims, it was just an amazing day for us specifically, because we have been on the front lines. We have been fighting this fight for some time, and it is been very disheartening time and again to watch our legislators not be beholden to the constituents that have placed them in office, but to be a holden to the gun lobby. And for the first time now, we andsome concerted effort change in keeping our communities and our families and futures safe. So yesterday was the right move, the right step, and were definitely going in the right direction. Amy do you think these executive orders what have saved jordans life, your son . Know, i dont believe so because in my case, michael dunn had purchased his guns legally. That was not an issue. For us, it would be more so dealing with the standard ground laws and the application of those laws around the country. But definitely, the executive orders that are being put in place by president obama are a tremendous start toward making sure, you know, gun sellers in this country are accountable for the guns there selling, who they are selling them to, making sure they are licensed, making sure they are instituting background checks on any guns they are selling to individuals. We have to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous criminals. As president obama said yesterday, he is going to make sure we spend more time and effort in managing those individuals that need help with Mental Illness, keeping guns out of their hands, and just also, the huge proliferation in trafficking of guns in this country, these are very, very. Rofound steps he is moving in the right direction. If our legislators have not been accountable to keeping our communities safe, they have turned their backs on the american community, then if he has to take executive orders to keep us safe, then we applaud him for doing so. This storymcbath, about your son jordan daviss death was turned into a film last year called three and a half minutes, 10 bullets. I want to play the films trailer. 45yearold michael dunn is being charged with shooting and killing 17yearold jordan davis. The confrontation began over loud music. Was their music playing in the car . Yes. Did the defendant say anything about the music . I hate that thug music. Im not racist, they are racist. Michael dunn is claiming selfdefense. Jordan davis threatened michael dunn. I look and im looking at a barrel. This is about the right for everyone to protect themselves, protect their family. Youre not going to kill me, you son of a could it have in your imagination . No. I mean, anything is possible, i guess. Maybe they didnt have a gun, but he thought they had a gun. They think it is a gun when it is in the hands of a young africanamerican. Trayvon martins father text me, i just want to welcome you into a club that none of us want to be in. Its time to pick up where dr. King left off. Ive never covered a trial with this much international attention. This was the 21st century lynching. Jordan . Happened to what happened to jordan . The trailer for three and a half minutes, 10 bullets. Listen toth, as you that and stood behind president obama, what do you think now has to happen in this country . Well, as we know, this was just a giant leap for it, but theres so many parts and pieces to the gun coulter and the gun problems we have in this country. Theres a lot more that has to be addressed, but what we want to make sure that we begin doing, definitely background check legislation in place for all gun sales in this country is definitely a deterrent. Were not going to be up to take all the guns off the street. And most of kelly, president infringenot trying to upon anyones Second Amendment rights. He wants to make sure he tempers and balances with those rights commonsense measures in our gun laws to protect us basically from ourselves. There a lot of moving pieces and parts. This is going to be a long battle and process. Ands a Culture Shift change. As president obama said yesterday, it takes a long time. Moving forward, we begin with what we know we can do now background check legislation, making sure gun dealers and sellers are fully licensed, making sure we give more help to those individuals in this country who are mentally ill so theyre not getting their hands on guns, keeping guns out of the hands of convicted criminals, you know, beginning to see a drop in some of the gun trafficking illegal gun trafficking, and as he also said, beginning to spend more time and effort the department of Homeland Security and department of justice, you know, spending more time and effort on research for gun safety technology. These are all beginning measures, but theres so much more that has to be done and it is going to take years to really stem this tide of gun culture in the country. And you want to turn to a clip of you testifying, lucia mcbath, the firstever Senate Hearing on stand your ground laws. This was back in october, october 20 9, 2013. I was raised in a family steeped in justice and confident in the triumphant goodness of humanity. My mother was a registered nurse and my father, who served in the u. S. Army dental corps, was also for ove