Democracy Now! Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Today's Headlines

• Obama Taps Clinton To Be Secretary Of State
• As Recession is Declared, Dow Falls 680 Points
• California Declares Fiscal Emergency; Philadelphia Plans Massive Cuts
• Bush: “I Think I Was Unprepared For War”
• Thai Court Orders Dissolution of Ruling Party
• Report: U.S. Warned India About Attack on Mumbai
• Jury Clears Chevron in Suit Over 1998 Killings In Nigeria
• 20th Anniversary of World AIDS Day Marked
• UN Climate Conference in Poland Opens
• U.S. Senate Runoff Election Held in Georgia
• Charges Dropped Against Iraq Veterans Against the War
• Texas Judge Dismisses Indictments Against Cheney & Gonzales
• GM & Ford CEOs To Drive Hybrids To Washington

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  Change or More of the Same? Obama Introduces National Security Team

  President-elect Barack Obama named former rival Senator Hillary Clinton as secretary of state on Monday and said Robert Gates would remain defense secretary. Other nominees included retired General James Jones to be National Security Adviser and Susan Rice as ambassador to the United Nations. Is that change or more of the same? We speak with investigative journalist Robert Dreyfuss of The Nation magazine and Steven Clemons of the New America Foundation.

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  Israeli Reporter Amira Hass Forced Out of Gaza by Hamas, Detained by Israeli Police For Entering Gaza Without Permit

  Israel has imposed a tightened blockade over its million and a half residents for nearly a month. Last month, award-winning Israeli journalist Amira Hass defied the blockade and entered Gaza on a boat with international peace activists. But on Sunday, Hamas officials told Hass they could no longer guarantee her security and forced her to leave. Hass was briefly detained by Israeli security officials upon re-entering Israel Monday because she did not have a permit for Gaza. Amira Hass joins us on the phone from Ramallah.

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  Chevron Cleared in 1998 Shooting Deaths of Protesters in Niger Delta

  A federal jury in San Francisco has just cleared oil giant Chevron of any responsibility for the May 1998 shooting and killing of protesters in the oil-rich Niger Delta. A decade ago over 100 protesters had occupied a Chevron-owned oil platform to demand compensation and jobs for the environmental damage caused by Chevron’s drilling. The Nigerian military shot and killed two unarmed protesters and wounded several others. Survivors had argued that Chevron should be held accountable because it paid the Nigerian military and transported them by helicopter to the oil platform. We speak with the lead plaintiff and the attorney in the case.