Democracy Now! Audio - Democracy Now! 2026-04-29 Wednesday

Episode Date: April 29, 2026

Headlines for April 29, 2026; “Political Disaster for Donald Trump”: Jeremy Scahill on Stalled U.S.-Iran Talks; UAE Quits OPEC as Many Countries Ramp Up Oil Production Despite Worsening Climate Crisis; “We Are Bombarding America’s Forests with Roundup”: Despite Cancer Fear, Trump Admin Pushes Herbicide

Rochester, New York, this is Democracy Now. I appeal to the parties, open the strait, let ships pass, no tolls, no discrimination, let trade resume, let the global economy breathe. U.S. Iran talks remain at a standstill, as the U.S. is continuing to blockade Iranian ports, and Iran has largely halted shipping traffic. in the strait of Hormuz. We'll speak with Jeremy Scahill of Dropsite News. Then the United Arab Emirates has pulled out of OPEC and a move to increase its oil production capacity.

We'll look at what the Iran War means for the push to transition away from fossil fuels. And finally, the Supreme Court hears a case that could determine if thousands of cancer patients can sue Roundups manufacturer, We'll speak to Mother Jones reporter Nate Halverson about his new investigation. It's headlined, we are bombarding America's forests with Roundup. For decades, Monsanto, the original maker of Roundup, has insisted the product is safe when used as directed. But in 2015, the World Health Organization released a landmark assessment saying glyphosate is probably carcinogenic. All that and more.

Coming up. Welcome to Democracy Now, Democracy Now.org, the War and Peace Report. I'm Amy Goodman. President Trump and his national security team are reportedly skeptical of Iran's proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for tabling nuclear talks. U.S. officials say President Trump expressed doubts Monday that Iran was acting in good faith. Iran has so far refused Trump's key demand that it end all nuclear nuclear nuclear news. enrichment and formally renounce nuclear weapons. In his latest post on truth social, Trump threatened Iran to, quote, better get smart soon, unquote. Earlier on Tuesday, Trump posted, quote, Iran has just informed us that they're in a state of collapse. They want us to open the Hormuz straight as soon as possible as they try to figure out their

leadership situation, which I believe they will be able to do, unquote. This is Brigadier General Muhammad Akraminia, a spokesperson. spokesperson for the Iranian army. Regarding the current situation, we have not considered the war to be over. From the day the fighting stopped, and, in effect, a ceasefire or silence took place on the battlefield. Since there is no trust in the United States and our enemies, we have continued in the same way as during the war, making serious efforts to update our list of targets.

In southern Lebanon, Israel's killed at least seven people on Tuesday, including emergency workers. It comes as the United Nations reports. Since the start of the U.S. Israeli war on Iran, Iranian authorities have executed 21 people and arrested 4,000. Meanwhile, the U.S. Treasury Department issued a new round of sanctions Tuesday, targeting Iran's banking network and Chinese purchases of Iranian oil. Oil prices continue to rise with Brent crude reaching $112 a barrel. It comes as the United Arab Emirates announced Tuesday. It's withdrawing from OPEC after nearly 60 years of membership. The UAE is the third largest oil producer in OPEC behind Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

Meanwhile, an NBC news analysis found that bets on prediction markets wagering on the war's outcome have now surpass $2 billion. A federal grand jury is again indicted former FBI director James Comey. This time over a social media post showing seashells arranged on a beach to read 86-47. The two-count indictment claims the image was a death threat against President Trump. Both counts carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. The new indictment comes less than a month after Trump did. Trump did. And dismissed Attorney General Pambandi, whom he complained was not aggressive enough in executing his agenda. A previous Justice Department case against Comey was dismissed last year when a federal judge found the prosecutor who secured the indictment had been unlawfully appointed. Comey's second indictment came the same day as his daughter, Maureen Comey, won a court ruling allowing her to proceed with a lawsuit against the government.

Maureen Comey was fired as a federal prosecutor in Manhattan last year. She was the lead federal prosecutor securing the conviction against Epstein co-conspirator Gilane Maxwell. James Comey responded to his latest indictment in a video posted to Substack on Tuesday. I'm still innocent. I'm still not afraid. And I still believe in the independent federal judiciary. So let's go. The Federal Communications Commission announced Tuesday it's accelerating the review of eight local broadcasting licenses used by ABC. The agency cited an investigation into whether Disney's diversity, equity and inclusion policies, DEI, constitute unlawful discrimination.

The move came one day after President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump publicly demanded ABC fire late-night host Jimmy Kimmel overj overjoking. he made about the First Lady days before the White House Correspondence dinner shooting. Democratic FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez said, quote, this is an unprecedented and politically motivated attempt to interfere with how broadcasters operate and this unlawful overreach will fail, unquote. The Trump administrations fired all 22 members of the National Science Board, which is the policy and advisory arm of the National Science Foundation. Democratic Congress member Zoe Lofgren of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, said,

quote, this is the latest stupid move made by a president who continues to harm science and American innovation. Will the president fill the NSB with MAGA loyalists who won't stand up to him as he hands over our leadership and science to our adversary, she asked? Last year, the Trump administration targeted the NSF for sweeping cuts under Elon Musk now defunct Department of Government Efficiency, or Doge, halting more than 1,600 NSF grants worth nearly $1 billion. King Charles addressed a joint session of Congress Tuesday. He's only the second British monarch to do so. He reaffirmed what he called the enduring bond between the United States and the United States and the United States. United Kingdom and praise NATO while urging continued support for Ukraine. In the immediate aftermath of 9-11, when NATO invoked Article 5 for the first time and the

United Nations Security Council was united in the face of terror, we answered the call together as our people have done so for more than a century, shoulder to shoulder through two World Wars, the Cold War, Afghanistan, and moments that have defined our shared security. Today, Mr. Speaker, that same unyielding resolve is needed for the defense of Ukraine and her most courageous people. King Charles avoided any mention of the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein's sexual abuse, despite a direct request from Democratic Congress member Roe-Combe. who said the British ambassador to the U.S., Christian Turner, had privately told him the King would acknowledge them.

King Charles' visit was overshadowed by leaked audio of Ambassador Turner, telling a group of British students back in February that the only country that has a special relationship with the United States is Israel. And Israeli court has extended the detention of Dr. Hussam Abu Safia, director of the Kemetad Hospital in northern Gaza, again without filing any charges against him. According to Physicians for Human Rights, Dr. Abu Safia is currently held in Negev prison under harsh conditions and is being denied his medication and medical treatment despite a deterioration in his health. Dr. Abusafia was detained at gunpoint back in 2024 when Israeli forces

raided Kamal Adwan Hospital. He had continued working at the hospital. He had continued working at the hospital even after his son was killed in an Israeli air strike. U.N. Special Rapporteurs have called for Dr. Abu Safia's immediate release, saying they had received reports. He has endured severe torture. The Trump administrations issued a new visa restrictions ordering U.S. embassies and consulates to reject applications of foreign nationals who may intend to seek asylum in the United States. The Washington Post reports U.S. officials will be required to question applicants and whether they fear harm and persecution in their home countries. The State Department cable adds, quote, visa applicants must respond verbally with a no for the consular office to continue with visa issuance, unquote. The new rules come after a federal appeals court ruled Trump's claims of an invasion in order to shut down asylum requests at the U.S. Mexico border.

is unlawful. The ICE agent who shot and killed Renee Good in Minneapolis is back on duty and has been transferred to a different state so far facing no consequences after he fatally shot Good in broad daylight back in January. That's according to The Daily Beast, which reports Jonathan Ross is back at work with ICE while the Trump administration continues to sabotage an investigation into goods killing. At least six senior Justice Department officials quit over the mishandling of the case as well as an FBI official in Minneapolis who was forced to end an investigation into Ross. In more related news, the state of Arizona sued the Trump administration seeking to block plans by DHS to turn a warehouse in the city of

surprise into an ICE jail. The warehouse is located across the street from a hazardous chemical storage facility. Democratic Arizona Attorney General Chris Mays filed the federal lawsuit Friday, joining growing opposition nationwide to Trump's expansion of immigrant detention. ICE is also planning to open another jail in Louisiana to detain immigrant children and their families at a former military base and won the nation's most PFA's contaminated. sites. PIFAs are known as forever chemicals linked to cancer and other health risks. Meanwhile, a Maryland federal judge temporarily blocked plans to repurpose a warehouse into an

ICE detention center as the Trump administration failed to conduct an environmental impact review. The decision could significantly delay Trump's efforts of detaining immigrants at warehouses across the United States. In South Africa, human rights groups are raising alarm as vigilante violence against African immigrants continues across the country. Immigrants say they're living in constant fear, reporting assaults, violent harassment on the streets, and disruptions to their businesses by xenophobic groups. They're mounting calls for the South African government to address the rising threats

against immigrants following the reported killing of two nationals from Nigeria. And there are heightened security concerns in Colombia after a series of attacks ahead of next month's presidential election. Armed groups have launched over two dozen drone and explosive attacks since Friday, including a deadly bombing on a highway near Cali, which killed at least 21 people. This is Colombian leftist presidential candidate, Ivan Cepeda. It is evident that the authors of these acts terrorists, it is clear that those. behind these terrorist acts are seeking to benefit. Let us say it plainly, the political project of the far right. And those are some of the headlines. This is Democracy Now, Democracy Now.org, the War and Peace Report. I'm Amy Goodman on the road to Rochester, New York. Negotiations between the

United States and Iran to end the war are an impasse as the conflict reaches at 61st day. President Trump and his national security team are reportedly skis. skeptical of Iran's proposal to reopen the strait of Hormuz in exchange for tabling nuclear talks. U.S. officials say President Trump expressed doubts Monday that Iran was acting in good faith. Iranists so far refused Trump's key demand that it end all nuclear enrichment. The Wall Street Journal reported late Tuesday that Trump has told AIDS to prepare for an extended blockade of Iranian ports to ramp up the pressure on Tehran. In his latest post on truth social, Trump threatened Iran to, quote, better get smart soon.

Earlier on Tuesday, Trump wrote, quote, Iran has just informed us that they're in a state of collapse, unquote. They want us to open the Hormuz straight as soon as possible as they try to figure out their leadership situation, which I believe they will be able to do, President Trump said. This is Brigadier General Muhammad Akraminia, a spokesperson for the Iranian Army. Regarding the current situation, we have not considered the war to be over. From the day the fighting stopped, and, in effect, a ceasefire or silence took place on the battlefield. Since there is no trust in the United States and our enemies, we have continued in the same way as during the war, making serious efforts to update our list of targets.

And this is U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Heg-S. speaking at a Pentagon News conference last Friday. Iran knows that they still have an open window to choose wisely, as we said previously, choose wisely at the negotiating table. All they have to do is abandon a nuclear weapon in meaningful and verifiable ways, or instead they can watch their regime's fragile economic state collapse under the unrelenting pressure of American power. For more on all of this, we're joined now by DropSight News co-founder Jeremy Scahill.

His new piece is headlined. As Trump's narrative on negotiations flails, Iran is setting its own terms for ending the war. Hi, Jeremy. Can you start off by just explaining the thesis of your piece? Well, you know, what I've been reporting over the past several weeks is that far from being in disarray, as Trump and his allies in the media have portrayed the Iranian government, it's the Trump administration that is in a state of total chaos, erratic meltdowns that culminated with Trump claiming that J.D. Vance was on an airplane in route to Islamabad to meet the Iranian foreign

minister, Abbas Arachi, then saying that Jared Kushner, his son-in-law and special envoy, Steve Whitcuffel, they're actually on the airplane. And they were claiming, oh, the Iranians are begging us to talk. And we're going to go and meet them in Islamabad when foreign minister Arachi is there. The Iranians were telling me, we have no intention. of meeting any Americans and that Iran is on its own tour now of Pakistan, Oman, and Russia, where Arachi met with President Vladimir Putin, and we're establishing our own terms for ending the war. And so what we've seen here is the construction of a total propaganda narrative that is being repeated by almost every Western news organization that somehow there are these negotiations

going on, that the Iranians are putting proposals in front of the Americans, that's not what's happening at all. What Iran has done is it has briefed Pakistan, which is currently the mediating country in the negotiations between the U.S. and Iran, and they've said to them, here are our conditions for ending the war. And what Iran is saying is, we will enter into direct talks with the United States when President Trump lifts what Iran considers to be the illegal military naval blockade in the Strait of Hormuz. We will have an initial round of discussions about how to facilitate the expansion of commerce and transit through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran has maintained that it's not shut down the strait, but that it's just shut it down for any vessels that are

linked to the U.S. war in any way. And then after those conditions are met, the Iranians will go back to direct talks having to do with nuclear negotiations. But they're saying that Steve Whitkoff and Jared Kushner are total ignoramuses when it comes to the technical issues in terms of nuclear or other issues that having Kushner at the table might as well be having Benjamin Netanyahu at the table. That's part of why they pushed for J.D. Vance. Iranians told me that they witnessed during the last round of direct talks a division between J.D. Vance on the one hand and Jared Kushner and Steve Wittkoff on the other hand. Trump has paid himself into a corner. He's certainly in a quagmire. The administration is desperate to find some form of an off ramp, and they have been

pushing a live-filled propaganda narrative that has been picked up by media across the board that somehow the Iranians are kind of adjusting their position and coming back to Trump, but it's not good enough yet. The reality is that Trump has no idea how he's going to end this, because the Iranians know, or they believe that they have the three Ms on their side, munitions, markets, and the midterms. They think that they have done unprecedented damage to. U.S. defensive capabilities in the Persian Gulf. They caused the evacuation of 13 American military bases. They committed widespread damage against American aircraft that only now is starting to come to light. They destroyed the early warning, highly expensive radar systems. The Israelis interceptors

are at dangerous, low levels. And the United States is unable to confront Iran's asymmetric posture in the Strait of Hormuz, no matter what Trump does. The markets are in freefall right now, relatively speaking, it's not going to get better. If Trump starts bombing Iran again, they say they're going to hit oil infrastructure in the Persian Gulf, potentially cut undersea internet cables, which would massively disrupt commerce and internet. And the final thing is the midterms coming up. This is a political disaster for Donald Trump. And the Iranians feel like they're in a position that Trump is not holding the cards. And so what they're saying is if you don't meet our initial demands to lift your illegal naval blockade, we're not going to have any talks with you

anytime soon because you've painted yourself into a corner and we're going to sit back and let you continue to have less and less space in that corner. Jeremy, you note that the Iranian foreign minister, Basaragchi, has been on a strategic three-nation tour where he's unequivocally laying out Tehran's position to mediators and key strategic players who may influence future negotiations. You write, quote, Russia played a key role in the 2015 nuclear deal and could emerge as an important guarantor of Tehran's interests in any agreement reach with the U.S. I want to ask you about Russia's role in this, but first, let's go to a clip. This is Russian President Vladimir Putin, followed by the Iranian

Foreign Minister of Asaragchi in St. Petersburg Monday. to convey my most sincere words of gratitude and confirm that Russia, same as Iran, intends to continue our strategic relations. We see how courageously and heroically the Iranian people are fighting for their independence and sovereignty. Of course, we very much hope that, based on this courage and will for independence, the Iranian people will, under the leadership of a new leader, make it through this difficult period of trials and peace will follow. From our side, we will do everything that is in your interest, in the interests of all nations in the region,

so that peace is reached as soon as possible. You know our position very well. I was asked to confirm during this visit that Russian-Iranian relations is a strategic partnership and will remain that way moving forward. It was proven that Iran has friends and allies, such as Russia, Russia, who stand by Iran during difficult times in support Iran. We thank you for your firm position in support of Iran. So that was the Iranian Foreign Minister, Rajji, before that Russian President Putin. Jeremy, talk about what Putin's position is now.

And back in 2015, it may surprise people. Right. So back in 2015, when the U.S., with a delegation led by John Kerry, the Secretary of State at the time, spent a year and a half negotiating with the Iranians, and that deal ended with 25,000 pounds of enriched uranium being transferred from Iran to Russia. Now, at that point, the Iranians only had a relatively small quantity of what's called highly enriched uranium, and it was only enriched to a 20 percent level. 98% of that highly enriched uranium was shipped to Russia. It's astonishing to think back on it and those numbers, given what we're talking about now, which is roughly 1,000 pounds the Iranians are believed to have of highly enriched uranium, potentially to as high as 60%. And so the Iranians, because of Trump's threatening kind of menacing tone and actions, and certainly because of the six weeks of bombing, has said, we're not going to transfer any uranium outside of the country. that it's as sacred to us as our soil and that we would agree to dilute it so that it could be used for medical and non-military purposes, but transferring is it is out of the equation. What's interesting is that I've heard from Iranian sources that if the Iranians felt like

they were dealing with normal people on the other end of the table, technical experts, and not real estate buddies and the son-in-law of the president, but if they were dealing with like an actual technical team, as they did back in 2015, that a lot of the, lot of issues could be on the table. And so part of what may be happening is that the Iranians, on the one hand, want to strengthen their military and political relationship with the Russians. It goes both ways. The Iranians also provide the Russians with drones that are used in the war in Ukraine. The Russians almost certainly have been providing the Iranians with intelligence during the course of the U.S. Israeli war. But on the other hand, the Iranians are planning a kind of other

scenario where if there is a sane set of discussions on the nuclear issue, would there be some flexibility. I've heard that there are possibilities that they could consider Russia or even China if they did shift their position, which officially they've given no indication they will. But if that becomes a sort of sticking point and Iran feels that it's getting its own concessions in the form of a widespread lifting of sanctions, a backing off or some kind of non-aggression pact that would certify that the U.S. isn't going to continue this pattern of launching wars in between pretending to be in negotiations with Iran, then the sense that I get is that a lot would be on the table. So I think that the Iranians are also looking at an alternative universe where Donald

Trump fabricates some declaration of victory, that he tries to intensify the economic war against Iran and the hopes that they can spark a domestic uprising to bring down the government. And that Trump essentially just panics himself into a state of saying, like, I'm not going to do this anymore. That's one scenario that could happen. Joe Kent, who resigned as the director of the National counterterrorism center, early on after he resigned weeks ago, he came out and said that Trump should essentially do that, kind of walk away. I was told by a senior Iranian official that they think the most likely long-term scenario is that there isn't any major agreement reached and that there is kind of a low intensity tension that continues to boil. And so, you know, the Iranians feel,

though, that time is on their side and that it's Donald Trump who has the clock and that he's watching it with sweat increasingly pouring down his face because Iran, has no intention of capitulating. So there's dual tracks that the Iranians are operating on. And I just want to emphasize again that when you read these reports about the Iranians have put a new proposal forward, et cetera, much of what the Iranians have been doing is reiterating their position. They feel that the United States did not understand the significance of what they put on the table back in February, that it would have gone beyond the 2015 nuclear agreement. And I think it's pretty clear at this point that Israel has thorough.

contaminated what the U.S. believes is intelligence on Iran. And it seems quite clear that throughout this war, and actually before it, the Israelis were presenting completely cooked intelligence, that it was going to be easy, that it's going to be a cakewalk, that you just assassinate the leadership and the people are going to rise up. It's not just that Israel has political influence. It's clear that Israel has contaminated the intelligence gathering and presentation to the president of the United States by constantly injecting politicized fake intel to try to keep this war going or to start it in the first place. On Monday, German Chancellor Friedrich Mears said he had become disillusioned with the U.S.

and Israel over the war in Iran and said the Trump administration is being outwitted and humiliated. This is Merz. The Americans have obviously no strategy. The Americans. clearly have no strategy. And the problem with conflicts like this is always that you don't just have to go in. You also have to get out again. We saw that all too painfully in Afghanistan for 20 years. We saw it in Iraq. An entire nation is being humiliated by the Iranian state leadership.

Jeremy Schaerl, your response. I mean, on just a factual level, what Chancellor Merz is saying is 100% true. But in real political terms, Mertz was a supporter of Donald Trump's actions. Germany, perhaps second only to the United States, has passionately supported and defended the Israeli genocidal operations in Palestine, specifically in Gaza, and these broader wars. And Mertz kissed the ring of Donald Trump from the very beginning. He bowed to him and allowed himself to be walked around the block by the Trump world, like a poodle. So Mertz has no credibility whatsoever, but the fact that even the poodles of the United States, like Friedrich Mertz of Germany, the fact that they are saying this openly and saying that the U.S. is being humiliated is a strong indicator of how the sort of game is up. The world realizes that Trump has been lying to manipulate markets to try to resurrect the oil market situation, to try to pretend as though he's winning because he keeps thinking he's going to bomb the Iranians into submission with his tough boy act.

act on true social, it's not working. And in fact, markets this week, even for the first time in this attempt at manipulation, they didn't even react to the bald-faced lie that Trump told yesterday, where he said the Iranians are saying that they're on the verge of collapse and they want Trump to open up the straight of Hormuz. That didn't happen. And the markets did not react in the way that they typically have to Trump's manipulation every Monday morning. So I think the world is realizing what Mertz, who often is a poodle of the United States, particularly Trump, Mertz is saying the quiet part out loud because it's so obvious that to deny it would make you look like an absolute idiot.

On Saturday, the Iranian Red Crescent Society said it submitted evidence to the International Criminal Court documenting U.S. Israeli war crimes. The RCRS. estimates more than 132,000 civilian structures were bombed across Iran, including hospitals, apartment buildings, universities, research facilities, and bridges. How is Iran dealing with its own reconstruction and economic crisis? It's very difficult. I mean, I think we don't fully understand the extent of the damage and destruction that has been wrought inside of Iran. And, you know, the Iranians, of course, do have a difficult time in importing goods. But I will note, something quite significant. After Abasarachi left Pakistan last weekend when Trump claimed that they

were going to be meeting with the Americans and then it didn't happen just as the Iranian said it wouldn't, Pakistan announced that it was going to effective immediately implement a directive that would facilitate a dramatic expansion of transit across Pakistan for third country goods delivering to Iran. What that is part of is the bilateral relationship between Iran and Pakistan, and it's a direct answer to Trump saying that he's strangling Iran. So this meeting with the Russians, this trade deal that now has been put into force with the Pakistanis to give free passage to third nation goods coming into Iran, the deepening relationship between Iran and China, which has largely unfolded in secret away from cameras. And then Iran's now outreach in the Persian Gulf is very clearly Iran imagining a world where this doesn't get resolved right away and that Iran certainly survives intact with its state, its government, its power structure very much in control of Iran. And they're looking for an alternative to a full solution or resolution with the United States. That's going to be a key thing to watch. Iran is not just operating on some desperate track to try to make a deal with the United States.

you know, this is a real nation state. This isn't just some, you know, paper tiger that the U.S. can assassinate some people and do heavy bombing and then they collapse. This is a country of institutions. Whatever anyone thinks about Iran, they've spent 47 years building institutions that have parallel infrastructure. I don't think there is a historical precedent for having basically the entire upper echelons of political, military, and religious leadership assassinated, and then turn around and do six to seven weeks of retaliation. strikes that fought the world's superpower to a standstill, there isn't a historical precedent for what we're seeing. And I think now the United States and Trump's advisors understand they have

to take this seriously. And Iran is operating on a totally different path that presumes that they aren't going to have a political resolution to this crisis or conflict with the United States. Jeremy Scahill, co-founder of Dropsite News. Thanks so much for joining us. We'll link to your new piece. As Trump's narrative on negotiations flails, Iran. is setting its own terms for ending the war at DemocracyNow.org. On Friday, I'll be joined by the other co-founder of DropSight News, Ryan Grimm. That's May 1st at 645 for a screening of the new film about Democracy Now. Steal this story, Please, at AFI Silver in Silver Spring.

The film also features Jeremy Scahill. It's a fundraiser for WHUT, How, University, PBS. For more information, go to Democracy Now.org. Coming up, the United Arab Emirates has pulled out of OPEC in a move to increase its oil protection. We'll look at what the Iran war means for the push to transition away from fossil fuels. Stay with us. Montsaintor II.

Have you ever figured what you're going to do Start up again Monsanto To ever figure What you're going to do And you find you've poisoned Ivan

At Monsanto by the late folk musician Michael Hurley in our Democracy Now studio In 2020 He died a year ago this month We'll be talking about Monsanto's roundup pesticide later in the broadcast. This is Democracy Now, Democracy Now.org, the War and Peace Report. I'm Amy Goodman on the road to Rochester, New York, where I'll be speaking at Monroe Community College today

at noon. We turn now to the long-term impact of the Iran War and the near closure of the Strait of Hormuz on energy systems worldwide. On Tuesday, the United Arab Emirates, the UAE, announced it's leaving OPEC, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. By the end of the week, the UAE has long disagreed with Saudi Arabia over oil production quotas and says it's leaving the group to focus on national interests and increase its production capacity. The announcement came, just as leaders of the six Gulf countries gathered in Saudi Arabia to discuss the regional crisis created by the war and the impact of Iran attacking their energy. infrastructure. As countries across the globe brace for the ripple effects of the energy shocks

created by the war, European Commission President Ursula van der Leyen, addressed the European Parliament earlier today. She warned the consequences of the current energy crisis could last for years. So the way forward is obvious. We must reduce our over-dependency on imported fossil fuels, and we must boost our homegrown, affordable, clean energy supply from renewables to nuclear in full respect of technology neutrality. For more on the energy crisis and what the war's meant for the push to a clean energy transition, we're joined now in London by Bloomberg Cedar Senior Climate Reporter, Akshed Rati. He is the host of the Zero podcast and newsletter on climate solutions, author of climate capitalism, winning the global race to zero emissions. Thanks so much for joining us. Start off by talking about the significance act shot of UAE pulling out of OPEC.

So, UAE is the third largest producer of oil in that cartel. And it is a cartel that, it increases production and decreases production to try and. control the price, keep it high enough so that oil exporting countries can balance their budgets and subsidize a lot of the lifestyle that is there in these oil-rich economies. The fact that the UAE has pulled out means that this cartel will have less ability to be able to push up the price when it wants. And we've already seen some of it not working because there are all these other producers like the USA, but also places like Guyana that are increasing their production a lot. And that means the power that OPEC had been weakening already.

And this will be a big blow to them purely if they are looking at just price control. If you can talk about what all of this means for a transition away from fossil fuels. I mean, we're speaking as that meeting in Santa Marta, Colombia, is taking. place. Where is this all headed? So we are currently living through what the International Energy Agency calls the biggest energy shock that the world has experienced. This is bigger than the 1970s dual oil shocks that were there in 73 and 79 in sheer volumes, but also as a share of total energy consumption because it's not just oil, but also liquefied natural gas that is getting blocked in the

straight of Hormuz. And in the past, when countries were faced with this kind of energy shock, they had options that were quite limited. In the short term, they could try and pay more money if they had more money, or they could try and reduce the use in some form by telling people to do less of something. But this time around, beyond those two options, there is a third or a fourth option that countries have, which is to try and deploy as much renewable so that they can build energy supply at home, because most countries have plenty of sun and the wind, and to deploy electric vehicles or electric infrastructure that would consume energy in the form of electricity, which is just a much more efficient way of consuming energy.

So for every unit of electricity, if you can go a mile in an electric car, you can only go a third of the mile in a gasoline car. And so that is what most countries are looking to. And this meeting in Santa Marta, that is the first meeting of countries, and it's not all countries in the world, is the countries that want to transition away from fossil fuels, a few dozen, 50, 60 countries. They are meeting at this moment because they have found that the international framework for governance on climate, which is under the United Nations, isn't addressing this key challenge,

which is countries that are, a, dependent on fossil fuel, important. ports want to move away from fossil fuels. And then there are countries that are progressive and realize, yes, we are fossil fuel producers today, but we cannot be fossil fuel produced for long. And so we need to figure out how can we win our economies of fossil fuel revenue and move towards a cleaner future, even if the world doesn't care about climate change. We just heard the European Commission President say that we have to reduce our dependence on imported fossil fuels. You're always, as a climate reporter, looking at success stories from Ethiopia to the Philippines.

As we begin to wrap up, talk about the significance of what's happening now. And if that is accelerating as a result, maybe an unintended consequence of the U.S. Israeli war on Iran. Well, we should note that when the 1970s oil crisis happened, and this was importing countries, countries in North America and Europe, they turned to making themselves more efficient, trying to find cleaner sources like nuclear in their mix. But they were rich countries and they could at that time invest in these technologies in a big way. This time around, if that was the path that the world had to take, developing countries would

have really struggled. But what is now happening, as you point out, in places like Ethiopia, you know, $1,000 per capita income, one of the poorest countries or the Philippines, this, you know, a islanded nation with like really difficult terrains to work through, they are turning to clean energy sources because they are affordable and they are cheap. And sure, much of that comes from China. But most of the developing countries that are importing fossil fuels are importing economies anyway. So rather than import fuel and fuel burning devices, they are like, well, we'll just import electric vehicles and make the fuel on ourselves by importing some of the renewables. And so,

So this is the kind of move that we've not seen in the past, and most of the acceleration on the energy transition is likely to happen in developing countries that are really dependent on fossil fuel imports today. On Monday, you tweeted climate change headlines from around the world, writing, we might be in the middle of wars, but the climate crisis takes no break. I mean, you've got the U.S. state of Georgia declaring a state of emergency after wildfires burned over 39,000 acres and destroyed more than 120 homes in the Great Plains.

Intense drought is threatening winter wheat harvest. And, of course, as you've talked about, in India, extreme heat right now. Well, the climate crisis does not take a break. It is a crisis that is caused by us putting out all these carbon emissions into the atmosphere, but then its impacts are run by the rules of physics and chemistry. So even if our societies currently aren't interested, aren't willing to act on the climate crisis, that crisis continues to get worse. As a climate reporter going into summer, it's always an anxious time.

People are thinking about holidays, but I'm thinking about extreme weather events that are going to go up. a notch because the planet continues to get hotter. We are also looking at an L-Nineo formation, perhaps a super L-L-L-L-L formation, which is this natural cycle that adds even more heat to the Northern Hemisphere during this period, which means extreme weather events that are being made worse by climate change could get even more extreme because a natural phenomenon adds on top. So I think, you know, as much as many countries, including the United States, can ignore this crisis for now, most countries do not have that comfort, and which is why the meeting at Santa

Marta is so important, because the countries that are most vulnerable, island nations, they are there in Santa Marta, trying to push for a legal framework to try and figure out how the world can transition away from fossil fuels. And it seems like a marginal conversation now, but it will show up again and again, because this meeting is also going to happen another year in Tuvalu, they've confirmed. So next year's leading, we'll look to try and get this instrument going if it can. Akshatrati, senior reporter for climate at Bloomberg, and the host of the Zero podcast author of Climate Capitalism, winning the global race to zero emissions.

Tune in on Thursday when we'll speak with journalist Bill McKibben about his new piece, the Iran War is another reason to quit oil. Coming up, we are bombarding America's forests with Roundup. A new investigation by Mother Jones after this. Of your every crime, the GMO potato, that McDonald's buys. And now it ain't even safe to eat a mess of fries. Monsanto GMO

Knola pouring oil and all the soil Can't even find the jump food Bad Monsanto by the late folk musician Michael Hurley from our Democracy Now studio This is Democracy Now, Democracy Now.org.

I'm Amy Goodman. Justices at the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments on Monday in a case that could determine and whether thousands of cancer patients can keep suing the manufacturers of the popular weed killer glyphosate or Roundup. The pesticide was developed by Monsanto, which was bought by Bayer in 2018. Critics of Roundup have long alleged a link between the herbicide and cancer.

On Monday, justice has appeared to be split on whether a federal law that regulates the sale and marketing of herbicides preempts state-level lawsuits, manufacturers. The case centers on whether the federal government or states should decide what warning labels should be put on herbicides. The main plaintiff in the case is a Missouri man named John Dernel. He's alleged two decades of exposure to the chemical caused him to develop blood cancer. A jury found Bayer had failed to warn him of the risks associated with Roundup and awarded him $1.25 million in damages. administration, which is called Roundup Safe, is siding with Bayer. Meanwhile, Mother Jones and the Center for Investigative Reporting have just released

a major investigation looking at how the U.S. Forest Service has been rapidly expanding its use of the herbicide despite concerns about Roundup safety. In a moment, we'll be joined by investigative reporter Nate Halverson. But first, let's turn to excerpts of a short documentary he made as part of the investigation he did with data reporter. Melissa Lewis. We found that over the past 20 years, the use of glyphosate has more than quadrupled in California forests.

Check out this map the Melissa made. We only have these numbers on California because the state is crazy enough to make everyone report their pesticide use. And thank God they do, because no other state apparently does it. And so I have almost no clue what it looks like elsewhere. Almost no clue. I dug up this crazy long appendix to another crazy long EPA report. And guess what?

It gives me an estimate for national use. And do you know where it estimated that 90% of forest spraying was happening? In southern states. So California is only a drop in the bucket. These southern states are some of the biggest timber producers in the country. And companies are using it right after they log the land, spraying glyphosate everywhere to make way for the next generation of trees. The timber companies and the Forest Service are using ground up in the woods

to help trees grow back faster. and then one day they can cut up all down again, make more money, and repeat the process. They are treating millions of acres of forest just like a row of corn. An excerpt from a new short documentary by journalist Nate Halverson from Mother Jones. He'll join us in a minute. But first, another excerpt from the documentary. For decades, Monsanto, the original maker of Roundup, has insisted the product is safe when used as directed. But in 2015, the World Health Organization released a landmark assessment saying glyphosate is probably carcinogenic.

It sparked all those lawsuits. The most popular weed killer in the world may cause cancer. That is the determination by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. The optics were really bad. And PR catastrophes like this didn't help. You can drink a whole quart of it and it won't hurt you. You want to drink some? We have some here.

I'd be happy to, actually. Not really, but I know it wouldn't hurt me. If you say so, I have some glyphosate? No, no, I'm not stupid. Oh, okay. So you... So it's dangerous, right? No, people try to commit suicide with it and fail fairly regularly. Tell the truth.

It's not dangerous to humans. No, it's not. So are you ready to drink one glass of that? No, I'm not an idiot. Here's where the safety debate and our investigation takes a turn, because Monsanto's strategy went way beyond public relations. Monsanto was secretly behind some of the most influential scientific reports. It was padding the scientific studies in its favor.

An excerpt from the short documentary by investigative journalist Nate Halverson, an Emmy award-winning producer for Reveal. The video accompanies this new article from Mother Jones headline, We're bombarding America's forests with Roundup. Nate Halverson joins us from San Francisco. Hi, Nate. if you can start off by talking about the oral arguments the Supreme Court heard this week, a round, roundup, and then how that relates to this major investigation you've done for Mother Jones review.

Yeah, so the Supreme Court, as you said, was hearing whether or not people will be able to sue in state courts. And because essentially on the federal level, the EPA had previously come out and said that Roundup and glyphosate, the chemical behind Roundup was safe. I think it's worth noting that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals actually overturned the EPA's decision, noting that the EPA had failed in coming to this conclusion that it does not cause cancer, that by its own research, the majority of studies it looked at indicated it had caused non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. So even on the federal level, there's a lot of uncertainty around the safety.

And in the state courts, I mean, some of the information you saw there in the documentary, we only have, like, the internal emails from Monsanto employees talking about creating these fabricated or, as they say, ghost-written studies. We only have that information now because people were able to sue in state courts. And in that very first lawsuit that came forward, which was here in the Bay Area, the jury determined, that Monsanto had acted with, quote, malice. And part of that was because of their dummying up of the science, which a state appellate court upheld and said was very reasonable for the jury to have concluded. So if you can talk about Trump issuing an executive order deeming glyphosate critical to national security, he even invoked the Defense Production Act to bolster its domestic production? Yeah, the Trump administration has both in the first term when some of these internal

emails that came out on the lawsuit, who quoted a lobbyist saying the Trump administration was telling Monsanto that they had nothing to worry about from them, that they had Monsanto's back around products like glyphosate to now, of course, the executive order, which provides legal protection and also his attempt to boost domestic production to their intervention in the Supreme Court. case. It's a long list of the ways that the Trump administration has stepped forward to help glyphosate. Of course, the majority of glyphosate is still used in agriculture, but it is we found by building this database of 5 million records with pesticide reports here in California, we were able to show that the fastest growing use is actually now for forestry. And previous to the,

to Trump basically giving the shield laws to the manufacturers of glyphosate, you know, bear. He had issued an executive order to the, to increased timber production across national forests by 25%. And so when you combine these two things, what you're talking about is a rapid potential increase, well, we've seen it historically, but even going forward, a continued rapid, increased use of Roundup and Glyphosate in the forests of the United States. I want to go back to another clip of your short documentary released as part of your new investigation with bombarding America's forests with Roundup. So I wanted to talk to the Forest Service officials behind spraying glyphosate.

We're looking for Ranger Nickerson. I went to their outpost near my cabin in the little town of Chester, California, and I sat down with District Ranger Russell Nickerson, who oversees like, half a million acres of Lassa National Forest. It was his decision to spray glyphosate here. So I'm the decision maker for the district, so for that land base. Is it safe to use? I mean, really, if you want to talk more herbicide details,

it's probably our Washington office that you would talk to on that. You know, there's now been more than $10 billion in settlements and jury verdicts, you know, to people who got sick after being exposed to glyphosate. Does that raise concerns? Yeah, I mean, it does from that level. I asked them about U.S. Surgeon General nominee Dr. Casey means. You know, she said, glyphosate, which is the most commonly used pesticide in the United States,

has a direct relationship with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. So I've got to stop here right now. Is that something that, you can discuss things that are in the purview of the project? Yeah. And right now it's sitting outside of like not in his official capacity. So if we can stick with the project and not so much what's the tools that are being, that are potentially being used. Yeah.

So Nate Howverson, if you can talk about that scene and the interruption. And then also talk about the Trump administration's interests inside him with Bayer, which has gone against the so-called Maha agenda, make America healthy again. Maha wants crop chemicals reduced, if not banned entirely. What's going on here? Yeah, I mean, this was a fascinating moment, right? But this is the person we were interviewing there is in charge of the spraying. You know, he runs half a million acres of national forest land.

And so I just asked him point blank, is it safe to use? And he can't say yes, it's safe to use. And, you know, I pulled all of the inspection reports that the state has accrued. You know, they're spraying hundreds of thousands of acres. So I pulled all of the reports for inspection only 11 times in the state of California. Had they actually gone out to see if they were appropriately spraying this. I mean, if the workers themselves were wearing the necessary protective equipment. And I found that of those 11, I found photos of contractors.

and foresters tell me these are predominantly Latino workers, Hispanic workers coming up from Mexico and Central America, that you see them coming out of the forest covered in Roundup. And this is the same, when you have this skin contact, this is the same situation that resulted in all of these successful lawsuits against Monsanto, against Bear. And these guys who are moving around oftentimes contracted workers that don't speak English are covered it. And so I also asked him about that and he couldn't say that that was safe. And so I think we have a real concern here, both for the communities around where this is being sprayed, but also for the people that are doing the spraying. And I think it's also important to

note that the EPA itself says that this adversely or harms 93% of endangered species. And we're spraying it across these incredibly environmentally sensitive areas. And of the 7% it doesn't hurt, it's like whales. It's things that aren't even in the forest. So I think Maha movement has long, you know, since the Maha movement formed, which was really formed out of other groups that had long advocated for some of these environmental issues, they really don't, they don't like Roundup. President Trump has come out in favor of Roundup. And so I think you're beginning to see a real schism between President Trump's base. Nate Halverson, Emmy Award-winning producer of Reveal

on the Center for Investigative Reporting. We'll link to your new piece. We're bombarding America's Forest with Roundup. That does it for our show. Today, I'm headed to Rochester for a speech at Monroe Community College at noon. I hope folks come out. And then on Friday, May 1st,

I'll be doing a fundraiser with the screening of Steal the Story, please, at AFI Silver, in Silver Spring for WHUT PBS. You can go to our website for more information, as well as a fundraiser for WPFW on May 2nd at noon at the same theater. I'm Amy Goodman. Thanks so much for joining us.