At least nine Pakistanis were killed Sunday in a U.S. drone strike in North Waziristan, the first reported drone strike of 2015. News accounts of the strike are based on unnamed Pakistani government and security officials. The Obama administration has said nothing so far. For years, the United States did not even publicly acknowledge the existence of the drone strikes. The drone program is just one example of the national security state's reliance on secret operations. The recent Senate Intelligence Committee report revealed another example: the shadowy network of overseas CIA black sites where the United States held and tortured prisoners. The report also noted the CIA shrouded itself in a cloak of secrecy keeping policymakers largely in the dark about the brutality of its detainee interrogations. The agency reportedly deceived the White House, the National Security Council, the Justice Department and Congress about the efficacy of its controversial interrogation techniques. We are joined by a guest who has closely followed the debate over national security and secrecy: Scott Horton, a human rights attorney and contributing editor at Harper's Magazine, whose new book is "Lords of Secrecy: The National Security Elite and America's Stealth Foreign Policy." ||| Visit http://democracynow.org to watch the full daily news program, read the transcript, or search our vast online archive. Livestream weekdays 8-9am ET. Follow Democracy Now! on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Tumblr, Stitcher, SoundCloud, iTunes, TuneIn, Google+ and Pinterest.

From Drone Strikes to Black Sites, How U.S. Foreign Policy Runs Under a Cloak of Secrecy

Headlines for August 08, 2025; Gaza Takeover: Mouin Rabbani on Israel’s “Indefinite, Genocidal Military Campaign”; “They Poisoned the World”: The Corporate Cover-Up & Fightback Against PFAS, “Forever Chemicals”; Epstein Survivor Jess Michaels: Victims Want “Accountability & Justice,” Not Political Grandstanding

Democracy Now! is a daily independent news hour hosted by award-winning journalists Amy Goodman and Juan González. Visit democracynow.org to watch and listen to the latest interviews, read through show transcripts, search the vast news archive or to make a donation to support our nonprofit news program. Livestream weekdays 8 a.m. ET.

Democracy Now! Friday, August 8, 2025

Headlines for August 11, 2025; “Silencing the Coverage”: Israel Assassinates 5 Al Jazeera Journalists in Targeted Strike in Gaza; “This Is Orchestrated Killing”: MSF Condemns GHF Aid Sites, Saying They Were Set Up to Be Death Traps; “They Will Be Held Accountable”: California AG Takes Trump to Court for Deploying National Guard; Community Organizer Slams “Fascist ICE Agents” After Arrest of U.S. Citizen Documenting Raids

Democracy Now! is a daily independent news hour hosted by award-winning journalists Amy Goodman and Juan González. Visit democracynow.org to watch and listen to the latest interviews, read through show transcripts, search the vast news archive or to make a donation to support our nonprofit news program. Livestream weekdays 8 a.m. ET.

Democracy Now! Monday, August 11, 2025

Headlines for August 12, 2025; Trump’s Takeover: ACLU on Federalizing D.C. Police & Deploying 800 National Guard; “Slide Towards Fascism”: Khalil Gibran Muhammad on Racist Roots of Trump D.C. Takeover; Trump’s New Secret Directive OKs Military Action in Latin America Under Guise of Drug War; Israel Has “Deliberate Strategy” of Killing Palestinian Journalists Like Anas al-Sharif: U.N. Expert

Democracy Now! is a daily independent news hour hosted by award-winning journalists Amy Goodman and Juan González. Visit democracynow.org to watch and listen to the latest interviews, read through show transcripts, search the vast news archive or to make a donation to support our nonprofit news program. Livestream weekdays 8 a.m. ET.

Democracy Now! Tuesday, August 12, 2025

Headlines for August 13, 2025; YouTube Star Ms. Rachel on Her Gaza Advocacy: “My Deep Care for Children Doesn’t Stop at Any Border”`

Democracy Now! is a daily independent news hour hosted by award-winning journalists Amy Goodman and Juan González. Visit democracynow.org to watch and listen to the latest interviews, read through show transcripts, search the vast news archive or to make a donation to support our nonprofit news program. Livestream weekdays 8 a.m. ET.

Democracy Now! Wednesday, August 13, 2025

Headlines for August 14, 2025; “The Fort Bragg Cartel”: Book Exposes U.S. Special Forces’ Involvement in Drug Trafficking & Murder; Colombian Sen. Cepeda on Sentencing of Far-Right Ex-Pres. Uribe, U.S. Ally, Paramilitary Accomplice

Democracy Now! is a daily independent news hour hosted by award-winning journalists Amy Goodman and Juan González. Visit democracynow.org to watch and listen to the latest interviews, read through show transcripts, search the vast news archive or to make a donation to support our nonprofit news program. Livestream weekdays 8 a.m. ET.

Democracy Now! Thursday, August 14, 2025

By Amy Goodman & Denis Moynihan
Anas Al-Sharif and his colleagues were among the last journalists in northern Gaza, prepared to report on Israel’s renewed invasion of Gaza City to depopulate the city of 1 million Palestinians.

Column — "If These Words Reach You, Know That Israel Has Succeeded In Killing Me"

Headlines for August 15, 2025; Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson Tells Trump to Stay Out; Decries Authoritarianism, War on Poor People; John Mearsheimer vs. Matt Duss: A Debate on Trump-Putin Summit, Ukraine, Russia & Paths to Peace

Democracy Now! is a daily independent news hour hosted by award-winning journalists Amy Goodman and Juan González. Visit democracynow.org to watch and listen to the latest interviews, read through show transcripts, search the vast news archive or to make a donation to support our nonprofit news program. Livestream weekdays 8 a.m. ET.

Democracy Now! Friday, August 15, 2025

Headlines for August 18, 2025; Is Peace Possible? Nation Publisher Katrina vanden Heuvel on Trump Summits with Putin, Zelensky; In Largest Israeli Protest to Date, 1 Million Israelis Demand Gaza Ceasefire to Free Hostages; “Whitewashing of History”: Harvard Historian on Trump’s Targeting of School Curricula, Smithsonian

Democracy Now! is a daily independent news hour hosted by award-winning journalists Amy Goodman and Juan González. Visit democracynow.org to watch and listen to the latest interviews, read through show transcripts, search the vast news archive or to make a donation to support our nonprofit news program. Livestream weekdays 8 a.m. ET.

Democracy Now! Monday, August 18, 2025

Headlines for August 19, 2025; Will Russia-Ukraine War End with Diplomacy or on Battlefield? John Mearsheimer vs. Denys Pilash; “They Kidnapped Me”: L.A. Immigrant Rights Activist Recounts Violent Arrest by Masked Federal Agents

Democracy Now! is a daily independent news hour hosted by award-winning journalists Amy Goodman and Juan González. Visit democracynow.org to watch and listen to the latest interviews, read through show transcripts, search the vast news archive or to make a donation to support our nonprofit news program. Livestream weekdays 8 a.m. ET.

Democracy Now! Tuesday, August 19, 2025

Headlines for August 20, 2025; Occupied D.C.? Six GOP States Send National Guard to Washington as Outcry Grows over Trump Power Grab; For-Profit Presidency: New Yorker Mag Reveals Trump Family’s Frenzy to Cash In on the White House; “Unprecedented and Not Normal”: ACLU Sues over Legal Black Hole at “Alligator Alcatraz” ICE Jail

Democracy Now! is a daily independent news hour hosted by award-winning journalists Amy Goodman and Juan González. Visit democracynow.org to watch and listen to the latest interviews, read through show transcripts, search the vast news archive or to make a donation to support our nonprofit news program. Livestream weekdays 8 a.m. ET.

Democracy Now! Wednesday, August 20, 2025

An independent daily global news hour, anchored by award-winning journalists Amy Goodman and Juan González, broadcast weekdays on 1,400+ radio and TV stations. Livestream the show weekdays from 8AM to 9AM ET at http://www.democracynow.org.