| Federal Probe into Post-Katrina Shootings by Police Widens We get an update on the investigations into a spate of police shootings in New Orleans that took place in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. In recent weeks, two former members of the New Orleans police have admitted to participating in a cover-up of the Danziger Bridge shootings of September 4, 2005, when police SWAT units opened fire on a group of unarmed civilians, killing two and wounding four. Meanwhile, federal investigators have widened their probe into the New Orleans Police Department and are now looking into the circumstances surrounding four other incidents that include three deaths and one non-fatal shooting. [includes rush transcript]  Report: Petraeus Warns Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mullen that Israel Is Jeopardizing US Security Interests Veteran military and foreign affairs analyst and author Mark Perry reports that CENTCOM commander General David Petraeus dispatched a team of senior military officers in January to brief Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Admiral Michael Mullen on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Perry reports that the briefers told Mullen that "Israeli intransigence on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was jeopardizing US standing in the region." [includes rush transcript] Rep. Alan Grayson's "Medicare You Can Buy Into Act" Attracts 50 Co-Sponsors With the Democrat-led push for healthcare reform in its final stages, Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) introduces "The Public Option Act," a measure that would allow people under sixty-five to buy into Medicare. The bill has attracted fifty co-sponsors. Grayson joins us to discuss the measure and healthcare reform overall, his own family's experience with private insurance companies and more. [includes rush transcript] Headlines for March 17, 2010 10 Palestinians Seriously Wounded in Israeli Crackdown on Jerusalem Protests, Rejecting US Criticism, Israel Announces New Settlement Construction, Palestinians Name Ramallah Street After Slain US Activist Rachel Corrie, 9 Killed in US Drone Attacks in Pakistan, ACLU Sues US for Disclosures on Drone Attacks, Report: US Sending "Bunker Buster" Bombs to Diego Garcia, Ex-PM Holds Slight Lead in Iraqi Elections, Ban: Haiti in "Race Against Time" Before Rainy Season, Afghanistan Confirms Amnesty Law for War Crimes, NZ Peace Activists Acquitted for Antiwar Protest, 5 Dems Announce Opposition to Healthcare Bill, Penn. Nearly Doubles Cost of Low-Income Insurance Program, Top Economic Officials Foresee "Elevated" Unemployment Rate, Admin Threatens Veto of Intel Funding over Oversight Provisions, US Military: Sexual Assaults Up 11% in 2009, University of Florida Students Protest Police Shooting of African Graduate Student, Irish Activist, Rendition Critic Has US Visa Revoked Charles Bowden on "The War Next Door" In the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juárez, a US consular employee and her husband were shot dead on Saturday while driving in their SUV. In a separate incident nearby, the husband of a Mexican employee at the US consulate was shot dead. The shootings are believed to be the first deadly attacks on US officials and their families by Mexico’s powerful drug organizations. We go to the US-Mexico border to speak with reporter Charles Bowden. "There is no serious War on Drugs," Bowden writes. "Rather, there is violence, nourished by the money to be made from drugs. And there are U.S. industries whose primary lifeblood comes from fighting a war on drugs." [includes rush transcript] News Wizard |