Democracy Now! Independent News (09/13/05) avi

Headlines for September 13 - John Roberts Hearings Open in Senate - 45 Bodies Found in New Orleans Hospital - Michael Brown Resigns As Head of FEMA - 72% of African-Americans Say Bush Doesn't Care About Them - Environmental Disaster: Toxic Landfill Remains Underwater - U.S./Iraqi Attack on Tall Afar Kills 200 - Lawyers For Frances Newton Seek Stay On Execution - U.S. Gives Chavez Opposition $100K -- Roberts at High Court Confirmation Hearing: "I Have No Agenda" -- The Senate opened confirmation hearings Monday for John Roberts to become the nation's 17th chief justice. If confirmed, Roberts would be the youngest chief justice in two centuries and would be positioned to lead the court for decades. We play Roberts' opening remarks. -- GOPs Encourage Nominee to Avoid Controversial Topics -- During the opening day of confirmation hearings of John Roberts as chief justice, Democrats repeatedly said all questions to the nominee were fair game, including about issues such as abortion and civil rights. Republicans encouraged Roberts not to answer questions about his views on controversial topics. We play excerpts of the hearing. -- Honduran Immigrants in New Orleans: Fleeing Hurricanes Mitch, Katrina and Now the U.S. Government -- It is estimated that 120,000 Hondurans lived in the New Orleans area. Many were refugees from Hurricane Mitch, which devastated Honduras in 1998 killing up to 10,000 people. While many Honduran immigrants were granted temporary legal status, others are undocumented and fear deportation. Democracy Now! travels to Louisiana to speak with some of the Honduran survivors there. -- After Katrina, Where Have All the Prisoners Gone? -- A makeshift prison has been set up in the Greyhound bus and train station in downtown New Orleans. The nearby prison, was flooded after hurricane Katrina. What happened to the prisoners there and in other parish prisons in New Orleans? A writ of habeas corpus was recently filed for an accounting of the prisoners. We speak Louisiana defense attorney Phyllis Mann. {Democracy Now! is a national, daily, independent, award-winning news program airing on over 350 stations in North America. Pioneering the largest public media collaboration in the U.S., Democracy Now! is broadcast on Pacifica, NPR, community, and college radio stations; on public access, PBS, satellite television; as a "podcast," and on the internet. The program is hosted by award-winning journalists Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez and produced out of the Downtown Community Television Center, a community media center in New York Citys Chinatown. Democracy Now! is funded entirely through contributions from listeners, viewers, and foundations. We do not accept advertisers, donations from corporations, or donations from governments. This allows us to maintain our independence.} http://www.democracynow.org