Democracy Now

Census data shows nearly one in two Americans live in poverty, and now the Congressional Budget Office warns things could soon get worse if President Obama and Congress remain at an impasse over the 2013 fiscal budget. House Republicans are calling for cuts to food aid, healthcare and social services, while protecting funds for the Pentagon. We discuss poverty with Peter Edelman, who resigned as assistant secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services over then-President Bill Clinton's signing of the 1996 welfare reform law that threw millions off the rolls. "Basically, right now, welfare is gone," Edelman says. "We have six million people in this country whose only income is food stamps. That's an income at a third of the poverty line. ... Nineteen states serve less than 10 percent of their poor children. It's a terrible hole in the safety net. Welfare has basically disappeared in large parts of this country." Now a professor at Georgetown University Law Center, Edelman has written a new book, "So Rich, So Poor: Why It's So Hard to End Poverty in America." "I'm very much supportive of Occupy," he adds. "The idea ... of the 1 percent and the 99 percent ... all fits together. We really should be all one country." [includes rush transcript]

A historic election is underway as Egyptians head to the polls for the first presidential election since their ouster of Hosni Mubarak. For the first time in the country's history, the winner is not a foregone conclusion. We go to Cairo for an update from Democracy Now! correspondent Sharif Abdel Kouddous. Despite predictions of a high turnout, Kouddous says concerns remain over the role of Egypt's military rulers: "Many say that we cannot have a president without a constitution. ... The president is essentially being elected without knowing exactly what authorities he will have vis-à-vis the military, vis-à-vis cabinet, vis-à-vis the Parliament. And many of these young revolutionaries ... say that any president that comes will be a puppet for the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, will not have any real power, and that the real struggle will continue to be in the streets." [includes rush transcript]

Egypt Holds Landmark Presidential Elections, IAEA, Iran Approach Deal Ahead of Baghdad Talks, U.S. Drone Strike Kills 4 in Pakistan, Tens of Thousands Protest Education Cuts in Spain, Estimated 400,000 Protest on Quebec Student Strike's 100th Day, Former U.S.-Backed Guatemalan Dictator Faces 2nd Genocide Trial, CBO: U.S. Could Face Recession in 2013, Regulators Confirm Probes of JPMorgan Chase over $3 Billion Loss, Senate Panel Votes to Extend Gov’t Surveillance Powers, Court Upholds $3.4 Billion Settlement over Native American Land Trusts, Pakistani Doctor Who Aided CIA in Bin Laden Search Sentenced to 30 Years, Bomb Plot Targeting Uribe Foiled in Argentina, Morgan Stanley Faces Questions over Facebook Offering

Captain Paul Watson, founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, has been released on bail in Germany following his arrest for possible extradition to Costa Rica on decade-old charges stemming from a confrontation between a Sea Shepherd vessel with shark fin poachers off the coast of Guatemala. Sea Shepherd is known for using nonviolent direct action to enforce international fishing and conservation laws and has been highly recognized for its anti-whaling efforts. Sea Shepherd continues to maintain that Watson's arrest was politically motivated and is calling on its supporters to come together in a day of action on Wednesday when Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla visits Germany. Watson joins us from Frankfurt. "We've never injured anybody," Watson says. "The most powerful weapon in the world, as far as I'm concerned, is the camera. So, we go into battle armed with cameras. … Right now 90 million sharks a year are being destroyed to feed the shark fin industry in Asia. And that means the fins are cut off of these animals, and they're thrown back into the ocean. And this is what we filmed off of Guatemala, and this is what we intervened against: a highly illegal operation." [includes rush transcript]

Following a weekend that saw nearly 100 arrests of protesters at the NATO summit in Chicago, we speak with National Lawyers Guild attorney Sarah Gelsomino, who represents one of the five activists charged with terror-related crimes. Two are accused of attempted possession of explosives or incendiary devices, and three more are accused of conspiracy to commit terrorism, material support for terrorism and possession of explosives. Gelsomino says the so-called "NATO Three" were set up by government informants who planted the explosives. "Our clients who are facing the most serious charges of terrorism are actually in solitary confinement right now, we just learned," Gelsomino says. "A very top priority this week is to get them out of that extremely punitive and extremely dangerous condition that they're in right now." [includes rush transcript]