In the most shocking upset of the presidential campaign to date, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders defeated former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the Michigan primary. Sanders won 50 percent of the vote to Clinton’s 48. Opinion polls had projected Clinton would easily win the state by as much as 20 percent. Late last night, pollster Nate Silver wrote that Michigan would “count as among the greatest polling errors in primary history.” Despite Sanders’ win in Michigan, Clinton ended up winning more delegates on Tuesday thanks to a lopsided win in Mississippi, where she won 83 percent of the vote. Sanders gave an impromptu news conference outside a hotel in Miami last night.
Sen. Bernie Sanders: “And what tonight means is that the Bernie Sanders campaign, the people’s—the revolution, people’s revolution that we are talking about, the political revolution that we are talking about, is strong in every part of the country. And frankly, we believe that our strongest areas are yet to happen.”
On the Republican side, Donald Trump claimed Hawaii, Michigan and Mississippi, while Texas Senator Ted Cruz won Idaho. Florida Senator Marco Rubio did not pick up any delegates. We’ll have more on the races later in the broadcast.
The Pentagon has reportedly presented the White House with the most detailed outline to date for possible military action against ISIL in Libya. The New York Times, citing anonymous officials, said the options include airstrikes against as many as 40 targets across four areas of Libya. Libya has been engulfed in fighting after a U.S.-backed military intervention ousted longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. Click here to see our segment on then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s role in the Libya intervention.
Israeli authorities say they have shot dead two Palestinians they accused of opening fire at cars in Jerusalem and wounding one person. Separately in the occupied West Bank, Israeli soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian they said tried to stab them. The attacks came a day after a Palestinian allegedly went on a stabbing spree near the city of Jaffa, killing a U.S. student, Taylor Force. The attacks coincided with a visit by Vice President Joe Biden over a possible increase in U.S. military aid to Israel.
In Oregon, local officials say police were justified in fatally shooting armed right-wing militia spokesperson LaVoy Finicum in a standoff in January. Video shows Finicum screaming, “You back down, or you kill me now!” But the local sheriff said FBI agents involved in the shooting are under investigation for firing two shots at Finicum and then not disclosing the shots to investigators.
Maryland’s highest court has ordered Baltimore police officer William Porter to testify against five fellow officers at their trials over the fatal arrest of African American Freddie Gray. Gray’s family attorney said his spine was “80 percent severed at his neck.” Officer Porter’s trial ended in a hung jury in December; he faces a retrial. Tuesday’s decision allows the officers’ trials to resume. The next one is set to begin April 13, one year and one day after Gray’s fatal arrest.
In New York, the police officer who fatally shot unarmed African-American teenager Ramarley Graham in the bathroom of his own home four years ago will not face criminal charges. Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara’s office said there is not enough evidence to support civil rights charges against officer Richard Haste, who shot Graham in the chest in front of his grandmother and six-year-old brother as the teen attempted to flush a bag of marijuana down the toilet. Police had pursued Graham into his own home without a warrant. Haste was initially indicted for manslaughter, but the case was later dismissed over a prosecutor’s error and a new grand jury declined to indict him.
In Ohio, a police officer has been fired after referring to the suicide of a Black Lives Matter activist as a “happy ending.” Fairborn police officer Lee Cyr posted the comment after MarShawn McCarrel fatally shot himself on the steps of the Ohio State House in Columbus. Click here to see our interview with friends of MarShawn McCarrel.
In New York City, dozens of women marked International Women’s Day by rallying outside the Honduras Mission to the United Nations to demand justice for the murder of Honduran environmental activist Berta Cáceres. She was gunned down in her home last week, less than a year after she won the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize. The activists also demanded the release of Gustavo Castro Soto, another well-known environmental campaigner, who witnessed the shooting and was shot twice. Honduran authorities have barred him from returning to his native Mexico. He says his life may be in danger. Honduran activist Gregoria Flores spoke at Tuesday’s protest.
Gregoria Flores: “We came here today to look for the United Nations delegate from Honduras, but they told us she wasn’t here. We spoke with the person who reports to her, and we gave him a letter demanding clarifications about Berta’s case, freedom for Gustavo, security for the family of Berta Cáceres, and security for all of the activists in Honduras and around the world, as well. One more time: Freedom for Gustavo, freedom for Gustavo. We need Gustavo to be in Mexico. We need Gustavo to be with his family. We need an assurance of the safety of Gustavo’s life. We want the whole world to say, 'Freedom for Gustavo, freedom for Gustavo, and justice for all the defenders of human rights.'”
In the Peruvian Amazon, an indigenous village has reportedly released at least eight officials it had taken hostage to demand action over an oil spill on its lands. The village had been excluded from an emergency response plan after the spill. On Sunday, villagers seized a grounded military helicopter, capturing officials, including representatives of the state-owned energy company Petroperú, which operates the pipeline. Petroperú said the hostages were freed after the firm agreed to provide aid, including help with electrical and phone service.
And Dr. Quentin Young, whose patients included Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and a young Barack Obama, has died at the age of 92. Young was one of the nation’s leading advocates for single-payer healthcare. Speaking on Democracy Now! in 2009, as President Obama laid out his plans for what would become known as Obamacare, Dr. Quentin Young criticized his former patient and longtime friend, saying Obama’s plan didn’t go far enough.
Dr. Quentin Young: “The problem is the diagnosis here. America’s difficulties, indeed the crisis in healthcare, is due to one big thing: the multi-payer and private insurance companies. Everybody knows that. Obama knows that. He said he was for single payer not that many years ago, and if he was starting from scratch, was the way he put it, he would go with it. Well, he is starting from scratch, and the failure to grasp the nettle and really give America the kind of healthcare reform system it deserves is very painful and very dangerous.”
Dr. Quentin Young died Monday at his daughter’s home in Berkeley, California. He was 92.
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