Is struggling for my people. I did not kill those agents. Amy we will speak to the attorneys of Chelsea Manning and Leonard Peltier, as well as Oscar Lopez Riveras brother. He is preparing for him to come home. Then we look at betsy devos, Donald Trumps pick to be come education secretary. Do you think if you were not a multibillionaire, if your family had not made hundreds of millions of dollars in contributions to the republican party, that you would be sitting here today . As a matter of fact, i think there would be that possibility. Amy we will speak to Jeremy Scahill about besty devos and how her brother, blackwater founder erik prince, is advising donald trump from the shadows. All that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. President obama has commuted the sentences of Army WhistleblowerChelsea Manning and puerto rican independence activist Oscar Lopez Rivera as part of more than 200 commutations he issued tuesday. Chelsea manning now set to be freed after obama shortened her may 17 sentence from 35 years to seven. Say shes for manning has ready been the longest held whistleblower in u. S. History. She has been in military custody since may 2010. Manning leaked more than 700,000 classified files and videos to wikileaks about the wars in iraq and afghanistan and u. S. Foreign policy. She has been subjected to long stretches of solitary confinement and denied medical treatment related to her gender identity. She attempted to commit suicide twice last year. Puerto rican independence activist Oscar Lopez Rivera has been imprisoned for about 35 years, much of the time in solitary confinement. In 1981, lopez 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 lopez rivera refused to accept the deal because it did not include two fellow activists, who have since been released. Under the obama commutation order lopez rivera will be also , released on may 17. On tuesday, obama also commuted the sentence of retired u. S. Marine corps general james cartwright. Last year, cartwright admitted he lied to the fbi during an investigation into who leaked classified information to the New York Times about stuxnet, a secret u. S. Cyberwarfare operation against iran. According to yahoo news, general cartwright was the 10th person to be criminally charged under president obama in a case related to classified disclosures more, by far, than were brought by any president before him. Well have more on the commutations of Chelsea Manning and Oscar Lopez Rivera after headlines. President obama did not, however, pardon nsa whistleblower Edward Snowden or native american activist Leonard Peltier. Peltier is a former member of the American Indian movement who was convicted of killing two fbi agents during a shootout on south dakotas pine ridge indian reservation in 1975. He has long maintained his innocence. Many are calling on obama to pardon peltier, and activists have been maintaining a daily vigil outside the white house since late november. They are demanding his freedom. Well have more on the case of Leonard Peltier later in the broadcast. Confirmation hearings for president elect Donald Trumps cabinet nominations continue on capitol hill. On tuesday, education secretary nominee betsy devos faced intense questioning by Democratic Senators over her role in her familys foundations, which have poured millions of dollars into funding private Christian Schools and antilgbtq organizations, including the groups focus on the family and the Family Research council, which the Southern Poverty Law Center has listed as an antilgbt hate group. This is New Hampshire senator Maggie Hassan. A i understand there is foundation, i take it, named for your parents. That is correct. It is my Mothers Foundation. And you sit on the board . I do not. Ok, so when it made its over 5 million focus on the family, you did not know anything about it. My mother makes the decisions or her foundation. Amy thats betsy devos, answering senator hassans questioning. Later in the confirmation hearing, senator hassan against questioned devos about her role in the family foundation. I just want to clarify the issue about whether you were on the board of your Mothers Foundation. I have 990s through 2013 where you are listed as the Vice President and a board member. Was that just a mistake on your part . That was a clerical error. I can assure you, i have never made decisions on my Mothers Foundation board. The listing you were Vice President of the board is incorrect . That is correct. Amy devos was listed as the foundations Vice President in federal tax filings for several years. Betsy devos is also the former chair of the Michigan Republican party and a longtime backer of Charter Schools and vouchers for private and religious schools. She and her husband have also invested in a student Debt Collection agency that does business with the education department. During tuesdays hearing, washington senator patty murray questioned devos about whether she would privatize education. Can you commit to us tonight you will not work to privatize Public Schools or cut a single penny from Public Education . Thank you for that question. I look forward if confirmed to working with you to talk about how we address the needs of all parents and all students. We acknowledge today that not all schools are working for the students that are assigned to them. And i am hopeful we can Work Together to find Common Ground in ways that we can solve those issues and empower parents to make choices on behalf of their children that are right for them. I take that as not being willing to commit to not privatizing Public Schools or cutting money from education. Amy the senate also held confirmation hearings tuesday for montana congressman ryan zinke, who is trumps nominee to head the interior department. This is alaska senator lisa murkowski, questioning zinke about whether he would attempt to roll back president obamas ban on oil drilling in the arctic. Will you commit to a formal review of all of the Obama Administrations actions that took resource bearing lands and waters in alaska, effectively off the table, including the decisions that specifically prevented the leasing of those lands and those waters for development, and determine whether or not they can be reversed . Yes. The president elect has said that we want to be energy independent. Amy today the senate will hold confirmation hearings for billionaire wilbur ross, trumps nominee for commerce secretary Oklahoma Attorney general scott , pruitt for epa director; and for Georgia Republican congressman tom price, trumps pick to head the department of health and human services. Prices confirmation hearing comes as a new study by the Congressional Budget Office says 18 Million People could lose their Health Insurance if the Congress Repeals major provisions of the Affordable Care act. The offices report says the repeal of key parts of obamacare would leave 32 Million People without Health Insurance, and cause the cost of insurance premiums to double over the next 10 years. Obamacare currently has a favorable Approval Rating of 44 . 59 House Democrats now say they will not attend trumps inauguration. The boycott began after trump attacked civil rights icon john lewis over the Martin Luther king jr. Holiday weekend. On twitter, trump called lewis all talk, talk, talk and told lewis he should focus on the burning and crime infested innercities. On tuesday night, a man lit a fire near Trump International hotel in washington, d. C. , and said he was trying to light himself on fire as a protest against trumps inauguration. Trump has a historically low Approval Rating for an incoming president. A Monmouth University poll released tuesday found only 34 of u. S. Residents view trump favorably. President obama, in comparison, had an 84 Approval Rating just before his inauguration in 2009. A former contestant on trumps Reality Tv Show the Celebrity Apprentice has sued trump for defamation. In october, Summer Zervos apprentice. In october, Summer Zervos accused trump of repeatedly Sexual Assaulting her during a meeting in 2007, saying trump kissed her on the lips, pressed his body against hers, and groped her breasts, all without her consent. She was among a series of women who accused trump of Sexual Assault during the 2016 campaign. Trump, in return, called zervos and the other women liars. This is zervos, announcing her lawsuit, alongside her lawyer gloria allred. Since mr. Trump has not issued a retraction as i requested, he has therefore left me with no alternative other than to sue him in order to vindicate my reputation. I want mr. Trump to know that i will still be willing to dismiss my case against him immediately for no monetary compensation if he would simply retract his false and defamatory statements about me and acknowledge i told the truth about him. She was previously on the apprentice. At a News Conference in moscow, russian president Vladimir Putin responded to unsubstantiated memos prepared by a British Intelligence operative that say russia has come for mys information on trump including a , sex tape of trump from 2013 involving sex workers in moscow. This is putin. Trump arrived in straightaway rushed to meet with moscow prostitutes. This is an adult man, first of all. Apart from that, a man who for many years took part in organizing beauty contest. He is socialized with the most beautiful women in the world. This hard to believe he ran to a hotel to meet with our girls of loose morals. Although, they are the best in the world. Amy just after arriving in washington, d. C. Come yesterday, donald trump appeared at dinner for foreign diplomats during which he spoke about longtime exxon mobil ceo rex tillerson, who trump has nominated to head the state department. Rex tillerson, hes around here somewhere. Where is our rex . What a job. Thank you very much. Thank you. I think it is tougher than he thought. He goes into a country, takes the oil, goes into another country [laughter] dealing with these politicians, right . He is going to be so incredible and i am very proud of him. Amy during tillersons confirmation hearing, he faced opposition from some members of the Senate Foreign relations committee, including florida senator marco rubio and others over tillersons close ties to russia. But even if senator rubio votes against tillerson and the committee does not approve him, the committee chair, senator bob corker may take the unusual step , of calling a vote on whether to send tillersons confirmation to the full senate a move that hasnt happened in decades. The Nigerian Military has bombed a governmentrun refugee camp on tuesday, killing dozens of displaced people and at least six humanitarian aid workers. Nigerian Officials Say the bombing was an accident. This is hugues robert with doctors without borders. The location, it was hard to reach. For more than six months, people could not access. It was extremely accurate. On top of that, mass casualties. Bombing. Alties due to s really like amy in north dakota, republican lawmakers have introduced a bill that would shield drivers from liability if they injure or kill a pedestrian obstructing traffic. Its one of several bills aimed at cracking down on the fight against the 3. 8 billion Dakota Access pipeline, which has seen native American Water protectors at times marching on public roads and highways. Actions against pipelines continue across the united ways, including in florida, where water protectors locked them selves to a truck money to stop the pipeline in memphis, arrested at the refinery under protest against the Diamond Pipeline on monday. In texas, to water protectors were arrested after locking themselves to heavy equipment friday to delay construction of the transpecos pipeline, which is being built by the same Company Behind the Dakota Access pipeline. In new york city, over 100 people set up a protest encampment outside the headquarters of financial giant Goldman Sachs, which they are calling government sachs. At least three of trumps cabinet and cabinetlevel picks are tied to Goldman Sachs, including treasury secretary nominee steven mnuchin, National EconomicCouncil DirectorGoldman Sachs president gary cohn, and trump chief strategist former Goldman Sachs executive stephen bannon. Over a dozen people camped out overnight in the freezing cold. This is jonathan westin. I would say people that believe he is going to drain the swamp have been lied to. It is in a complete fraud when he talked about draining the swamp. He brought them in closer. He brought all of these swamp monsters inside the white house. Now they have a Permanent Office and controlling all of the institutions of government. Amy and in mexico, Goldman Environmental Prize winner Isidro Baldenegro lopez has been assassinated. The indigenous leader has long organized against illegal logging and deforestation in the sierra madre mountains. Decades ago, his father was also murdered after leading mass protests against illegal logging in their familys ancestral lands. This is baldenegro lopez, who won the prestigious goldman prize in 2005. We know there are people who want to pillage the riches of bc era, and they dont even live here. By fraud and forgery, they managed to get away with it will stop and we oppose this. Theyre not going to log the forest. Amy and those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. 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 WhistleblowerChelsea Manning, longtime imprisoned puerto rican independence activist Oscar Lopez Rivera and retired u. S. Marine corps general james cartwright. But missing from the list is 71yearold native american activist Leonard Peltier. Later in the program, we will look at the cases of peltier and Oscar Lopez Rivera. But first, to Chelsea Manning who is now set to be freed on may 17 after obama shortened her sentence from 35 years to seven. According to her attorneys, she is already the longest held whistleblower in u. S. History. She has been in military custody since may 2010. Manning leaked more than 700,000 classified files and videos to wikileaks about the wars in iraq and afghanistan and u. S. Foreign policy. She has been subjected to long stretches of solitary confinement and denied medical treatment related to her gender identity. Chelsea manning attempted to commit suicide twice last year. Joining us now are two of her attorneys. Nancy hollander is mannings appellate attorney. Chase strangio of the aclu represents