The director of the cia hence pushing for regime change. We look at rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula. People are distracted by the trump Reality Tv Show going on. Radar, the u. S. Government is barreling towards regime change in north korea. That is not going to work. If you thought the middle east fora disaster, get ready this. Amy we will speak to dr. Jill stein. Trump, talk about korea, voting integrity, and you know that famous photo of mike flynn and a Vladimir Putin at a dinner in moscow . Jill stein is in that picture. We will find out what happened. All that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. The white house on monday fired Communications Director anthony scaramucci, just 10 days after he was hired, capping a tumultuous week that saw scaramucci repeatedly insult his colleagues in vulgar and sexually explicit terms. Scaramuccis departure came just days after trump fired his white house rival, former chief of staff reince preibus, and less than 2 weeks after former press Secretary Sean Spicer resigned in protest of scaramuccis appointment. On twitter, President Trump dismissed reports of turmoil within his administration, tweeting a boast about stock market and employment numbers and adding no white house chaos. Sarah Huckabee Sanders speaking. If you want to see chaos, come to my house. This does not hold a candle to that. Amy scaramucci was reportedly fired by general john kelly just after he was sworn in as chief of staff monday. At the white house, President Trump praised kelly over his brief tenure as head of the department of homeland security. This is our first Cabinet Meeting with general kelly. We admire what he has done. At homelands, what he has done has been nothing short of miraculous. Close to 80 stoppage. Amy as head of dhs, kelly has presided over major immigrations and Customs Enforcement raids against undocumented immigrants. Ice has also been accused of specifically targeting undocumented activists for arrest and possible deportation. In russia, staff said they were barred from retrieving their personal items from a property used on the outskirts of moscow. President putin has ordered 750 five u. S. Staff to withdraw from the missions in moscow and elsewhere. Russia said it will send up to 100,000 troops to the eastern edge of nato territory by the end of summer. Viceensions came as president pence continued a tour of the former soviet state, threatening retaliation against any russian retaliation. Russia toas called on cease its destabilizing activities in ukraine and elsewhere and to cease its support for hostile regimes. Under trump, the United States will continue to hold russia accountable for its actions. We call on our allies and friends to do the same. President pence travel to georgia, where he promised support for georgia upon integrity. Meanwhile, in arizona, former Maricopa CountySheriff Joe Arpaio was convicted monday of criminal contempt of court for defying a court order to stop his deputies from acting as Immigration Enforcement agents. Under the ruling by u. S. District judge susan bolton, arpaio could face up to six months in prison after a sentencing phase in october. The 85yearold arpaio said in a statement he would appeal the ruling and press for a trial by jury. Arpaio is a major supporter of donald trump, whose policies have included racial profiling and detaining immigrants in a scorching outdoor tent city jail, which arpaio once referred to as his own concentration camp. In los angeles, california, longtime u. S. Resident and father of four romulo avelicagonzalez faces deportation as soon as next week, despite a National Campaign seeking his release after ice immigration agents arrested him in late february. Video taken by avelicagonzalezs 13yearold daughter fatima shows her sobbing as her father was detained by ice agents as he was driving her to school. Avelicagonzalez has lived in the United States for more than two decades. Immigration advocates fear the arrest signals a shift in ices longstanding policy against conducting enforcement activities at socalled sensitive locations, like schools, churches and hospitals. President trump personally dictated a false and misleading statement, attributed to donald trump, jr. , about a meeting the president s son arranged with a russian lawyer during the 2016 campaign. Thats according to the washington post, which reported President Trumps decision to withhold important details about the meeting came over the by his senior advisers, who wanted to provide a truthful accounting case later accounts emerged. In fact, trump, jr. Agreed to the meeting after receiving an email describing it as an attempt by the russian government to peddle information incrimining Hillary Clinton. The statement dictated by trump described the meeting as short and not focused on campaign issues, but the issue of adoption. In venezuela, two prominent leaders of the rightwing opposition, Leopoldo Lopez and Antonio Ledezma, were reportedly taken from their homes early this morning by security forces. Both men were already under house arrest. Their arrests came after the Trump Administration announced new sanctions on venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro and branded him a dictator. Maduro claimed victory in sundays controversial election over whether to create a National Constituent assembly, which the venezuelan rightwing opposition says is an attempt by maduro to further consolidate his power. The u. S. Sanctions were announced at a White House Press briefing on monday by treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin and National Security adviser h. R. Mcmaster. Of the sanctions, all assets of maduro subject to u. S. Jurisdiction are frozen and u. S. Persons are prohibited from dealing with him. He is not just a bad leader. He is a dictator. The United States stands with the people of venezuela in the face of this administration. Amy its unclear if the u. S. Will impose broader economic sanctions on venezuela, as the country suffers from high inflation and chronic food shortages. After headlines, we wi host a debate about the crisis in venezuela. In syria, convoys of buses have arrived near the lebanese border ahead of a plan to exchange 9000 rebels with the nusra front and their relatives for imprisoned members of lebanons hezbollah militia, who support syrian president bashar alassad. The exchange came as heavy fighting continued to rage around the isisheld city of raqqa in northern syria. The journalistic Monitoring Group airwars reports a u. S. Led coalition leveled a home in raqqa friday, killing 15 members of the alzana family, including eight children. Airwars also cited separate u. S. Led attacks in deir ezzor that killed 5 civilians. In iraq, airwars reported a u. S. Led assault killed ten civilians from a Single Family sunday, when an airstrike hit their home in the town of hawija. Airwars cited a local source who reported the dead were mostly children. Meanwhile, great Britains High Court ruled monday that former Prime Minister tony blair should not face prosecution for leading britain into the 2003 invasion of iraq. The courts chief justice declared there was no crime of aggression in english law under which blair could be charged. The ruling came despite a 2016 report that found blair deliberately exaggerated the threat posed by Saddam Hussein in the leadup to war, and that intelligence agencies warned blair that the invasion would increase the threat posed by alqaeda and other militant groups. In saudi arabia, authorities have freed prominent womens rights activist Mariam Alotaibi from prison after she was held 104 days without trial. Alotaibi was arrested in april after she accused one of her brothers of domestic abuse, prompting her father to have her locked up on accusations of disobedience. At the time of her arrest, otaibi was protesting the monarchys harsh laws prohibiting women from participating in civic life and requiring women to travel with a male guardian outside of the home. She was released sunday without the permission of her family, and without a male guardian present, as typically required by saudi law. Her release was hailed by saudi womens rights activists, who drew attention to otaibis plight with an Online Campaign using iammyownguardian. In kenya, a senior election official was found murdered and bearing signs of torture monday, just one week before kenyans head to the polls for a hotly contested president ial election. Christopher chege musando, who was tasked with overseeing kenyas electronic voting system, had been missing three days before his body turned up in nairobi. The murder stoked fears of a repeat of violence after an election ten years ago, which saw about 1200 people die and more than a half million displaced in fighting among different ethnic groups. In baja, california, journalist Luciano Rivera salgado was shot in the head at a seaside bar early monday, becoming at least the eighth media worker killed in mexico this year. Its not clear whether salgado was killed because of his work as a journalist. Camera footage from inside the bar reportedly showed other patrons becoming angered when salgado defended a group of women who were being harassed. The committee to protect journalists has named mexico the western hemispheres most dangerous country for reporters. Back in the u. S. , two protesters in richmond, california, were arrested monday outside the gates of a Kinder Morgan oil terminal, as they locked themselves to oil barrels in a nonviolent protest against the companys plans to build a new trans mountain pipeline in canada. The project would triple the capacity of an existing tar sands pipeline in British Columbia to 890,000 barrels per day. Opponents also want the company to halt shipments of Tar Sands Oil to refineries in the San Francisco bay area. This is richmond activist andres sota of communities for a better environment. The higher soul for leads to thatr corrosion of deal, leads to things like the explosion in august 6, 2012. Also, it creates more Greenhouse Gases and pollution. The Greenhouse Gases are destroying our atmosphere. The pollution is creating a death and disease. Amy mondays protest came as a new study found theres only a oneintwenty chance the planet will avoid warming by at least 2 degrees celsius, or 3. 6 degrees fahrenheit, by the end of the century. The study, published in nature Climate Change, finds its extremely unlikely countries will meet the goals set out by the Paris Climate Accord in 2015, especially since the Trump Administration has promised to withdraw the u. S. From the deal. Meanwhile, a separate study published monday by the university of North Carolina estimates Climate Change will cause 60,000 deaths globally in 2030 and 260,000 deaths by 2100. In tennessee, three Cheatham County sheriffs deputies are on administrative leave after video emerged showing them tasing an 18yearold repeatedly while he was strapped in a restraint chair. The jailhouse video shows jordan elias norris, who was arrested on marijuana and weapons charges, bound to the chair by the hands and feet, writhing in agony while the officers jab him in the ribs and electrocute him. One officer is heard telling noris ill keep on doing that until i run out of batteries. Norris has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit, saying he was left wanting to die as he was tortured for over 3 hours. Norris says he was left with more than 40 taser burns on his body. In washington, d. C. , a Police Officer has been suspended after he wore a white supremacist tshirt while on duty. The shirt shows a Grim Reaper Holding a rifle with the washington d. C. Flag attached to it. Above the flag are the words powershift, which refers to the officers assigned to areas with high amounts of crime. On the o in powershift is the image of a type of cross that the Antidefamation League says is the same symbol used on a neonazi website. Those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Welcome to our viewers. We turn now to venezuela, where two prominent leaders of the rightwing opposition Leopoldo Lopez and Antonio Ledezma were reportedly taken from their homes early this morning by security forces. Both men were already under house arrest. This comes as tension is escalating in venezuela after voters went to the polls sunday to elect a new National Constituent assembly which will have the power to rewrite venezuelas constitution. The rightwing opposition accused president Nicolas Maduro of attempting to consolidate his power. According to the official tally, at least 8 million people, or 40 of eligible voters, cast ballots sunday despite an Opposition Boycott. On the same day of the vote, at least 10 people, including a candidate, died during widespread violence and protests. On monday the Trump Administration placed sanctions on maduro, barring all u. S. Individuals and firms from doing business with him. This is National Security adviser h. R. Mcmaster. Madero is not just a bad leader. He is now a dictator. The United States stands with the people of venezuela in the face of the suppression. We will work with our partners to hold accountable those responsible for the escalating humance and ongoing rights violations. The president palm promised strong and swift actions if they went forward opposing the National Constituent assembly on the people. Amy on monday night maduro criticized the new u. S. Sanctions. Why am i being sanctioned . For facing fascism, hatred and intolerance . For not letting our natural wealth fall into the hands of the magnet the magnate who financed mr. Emperor donald trump. That is why i am being punished. To defend the resources of the land, which will never fall into the hands of the u. S. Imperialism. Amy well, to talk more about the situation in venezuela, were joined now by two guests. In philadelphia, pennsylvania, we are joined by george chickarello maher. He is the author of building the commune radical democracy in venezuela and we created chavez a peoples history of the venezuelan revolution. He teaches at Drexel University in philadelphia, and previously taught at the venezuelan school of planning in caracas. In new york, we are joined by francisco rodriguez, chief economist of torino capital. Hes the coauthor of venezuela before chavez anatomy of an economic collapse. Under hugo chavez, he headed the National Assemblys economic and Financial Advisory office. We welcome you both to democracy now can you describe what is happening in venezuela . Have a political crisis. The government is unpopular. The government was hit by an economic crisis. Maduros rating has fallen. Out. Venezuelans want him that happens when you have economic deterioration. Constitutionalal procedures by which you could have early elections, what we call referendums. Some courts are controlled by the government and they stopped the recall referendum last year. The opposition has been calling for early elections. The government decided to press ahead with the constituent assembly. Decides its own rules to elect a candidate. It is very biased in their favor. Municipality with the same number of representatives as rural municipalities. Delegatesthird of the are elected from lists and it was not clear where those lists were coming from. The Opposition Boycott the election. The turnout was an indicator of the governments strength. We did some individual pulling. Had,ast election you uncontested, it would be difficult to believe he has regained 2. 5 million votes. Venezuelan gdp is set to shrink by 35 to 40 . That is the in latin america and it is typically seen in countries that are not wars. Juan when you say the 40 isnt is questionable, there a way to tell for sure whether that many people voted or not . Is no way to tell for sure. The council is controlled by the government. One is from the opposition. There was a decision by the opposition to boycott. When you participate in an election, you have witnesses and you can contest the vote. All we have is an announcement of turnout. We dont know how credible it is. We carried out independent exit polling and we got a turnout figure of about