Reverend Jesse Jackson, the civil rights leader and two-time presidential candidate, has died at his home in Chicago at the age of 84. He was a member of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s inner circle, marching alongside him for civil rights. He was with Dr. King when he was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1968. Reverend Jackson was the founder and president of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition in Chicago. He was the first African American to greet South African President Nelson Mandela when he came out of jail in 1990. Here's Reverend Jesse Jackson on Democracy Now! back in 2017 shortly after President Trump first took office. He spoke about expanding the constitutional right to vote.

Rev. Jesse Jackson: “When we got the right to vote in 1965, Blacks couldn’t vote. White women couldn’t serve on juries in the South. Eighteen-year-olds couldn’t vote. You couldn’t vote bilingually. You could not vote bilingually. But we were able to challenge that and get proportional representation and democratize democracy.”

After headlines, we’ll hear more from Reverend Jesse Jackson’s past appearances on Democracy Now!

A second round of indirect talks between the Trump administration and Iranian officials is underway in Geneva, Switzerland. Ahead of the talks, Iran’s Foreign Ministry said it’s willing to discuss limits to its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief, adding that Iran will not accept zero uranium enrichment. On Monday, Iran’s military staged war games in the Strait of Hormuz, as the U.S. Navy steamed a second aircraft carrier strike group toward the Arabian Sea. U.S. officials said on Friday that Trump is considering an attack on Iran that could last for weeks.

Meanwhile, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who’s been pushing for the U.S. to topple Iran’s government, was in Tel Aviv on Monday, a visit he said was to reassure the Israeli people that there’s no gap between President Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Iran policy.

Sen. Lindsey Graham: “There are two lines in the water right now. One is a diplomatic line, trying to find a way to end this regime diplomatically that will advance our national security interest. The other line is the military option. I think President Trump is looking for which line can catch the biggest fish. The bottom line is, we’re into weeks, not months, in terms of decision-making.”

Ukrainian and Russian officials are also meeting in Geneva today for U.S.-brokered peace talks, just days ahead of the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Russia is demanding that Ukraine give up 20% of the eastern region of Donetsk, which Ukraine refuses to do. Ahead of the talks, U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal and Sheldon Whitehouse traveled to Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian President Zelensky and vowed to pass a sanctions bill aimed at Russia. Senator Blumenthal also said the U.S. should supply Ukraine with long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles and that the Pentagon should help guarantee Ukraine’s security under any deal to end Russia’s war.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal: “There have to be an ironclad, airtight security guarantees as the linchpin for peace. Ukraine needs and deserves a guarantee from the United States, not just European powers, that it will be actively engaged if Russia again attacks.”

In Gaza, a senior Hamas leader involved in the ceasefire negotiations tells Drop Site News that Hamas will not agree to demands that it unilaterally disarm. Basem Naim also said that Hamas will not submit to Israel’s demand for a total demilitarization of the Gaza Strip. This comes amid reports that President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed back in December that Hamas would be given a two-month deadline to disarm.

On Monday, the Hind Rajab Foundation said it had filed a criminal complaint in Chile seeking the prosecution of Rom Kovtun, an Israeli soldier accused of taking part in the deadly 2024 siege of Al-Shifa Hospital. The World Health Organization reports at least 21 patients were killed during attacks on the hospital.

Meanwhile, the head of the United Nations Development Programme is demanding greater access to Gaza to expand aid and recovery efforts. Administrator Alexander De Croo spoke from Gaza City.

Alexander De Croo: “More than 300,000 families in Gaza are looking for housing. Only 10% of people today living in Gaza have housing which has the basic accommodations, so 90% of the population is today looking for housing. You have seen in what very difficult circumstances people have to live or have to survive.”

President Trump called Cuba a “failed nation” on Monday and refused to rule out military action aimed at toppling its government. Trump spoke to reporters aboard Air Force One.

President Donald Trump: “And they should absolutely make a deal, because it’s a — it’s really a humanitarian threat. … We’ll see how it all turns out, but Cuba and us, we are talking. In the meantime, there’s an embargo. There’s no oil. There’s no money. There’s no anything.”

Cuba’s deputy foreign minister responded to Trump’s remarks, writing, “It is frequent for U.S. officials and diplomats to claim that U.S. aggression is not responsible for difficulties in Cuba. It seems they don’t listen to their President.” The Trump administration’s blockade of fuel has triggered a severe humanitarian and economic crisis in Cuba, compounding the impact of the U.S. economic embargo that’s been in place since 1962. On Monday, Spain’s Foreign Ministry said it would use United Nations channels to send humanitarian aid to Cuba. The announcement came a day after activists rallied outside the Cuban Embassy in Mexico City, expressing solidarity with the Cuban people, while protesting the U.S. blockade.

Ivon Guerra: “Faced with this attack that aims to leave Cuba without energy for hospitals, without fuel for its ambulances, without resources to bring food to the family table, solidarity between peoples is emerging today as the most powerful antidote against the blockade, because, while the United States government imposes sanctions and punishment, dignified governments and peoples, like Mexico’s, respond with brotherhood.”

Minnesota’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said Monday the FBI has formally notified investigators that their agency will not receive access to evidence in the killing of Alex Pretti. Pretti was shot to death in Minneapolis on January 24 by Border Patrol agent Jesus Ochoa and Customs and Border Protection officer Raymundo Gutierrez, who fired 10 rounds in under five seconds. Six of the bullets were fired as Pretti lay motionless on the ground. The FBI previously refused to share information about the shooting of Venezuelan immigrant Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, who was shot in the leg by ICE agents who then lied about the circumstances of the shooting, and Renee Nicole Macklin Good, who was fatally shot by a Border Patrol officer on January 7. Democratic Governor Tim Walz blasted the FBI’s withholding of evidence, writing, “Minnesota needs impartial investigations into the shootings of American citizens on our streets. Trump’s left hand cannot investigate his right hand. The families of the deceased deserve better.”

On Capitol Hill, Attorney General Pam Bondi is facing bipartisan criticism after she told Congress all documents related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have been released. That’s despite the fact that the Justice Department still holds about 3 million pages. On Sunday, Republican Congressmember Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who co-authored the Epstein Files Transparency Act, told ABC News that more files should be released and unredacted. Massie said he no longer has confidence in Bondi as attorney general, and responded to President Trump’s personal attacks.

Rep. Thomas Massie: “Donald Trump told us that even though, you know, he had dinner with these kinds of people in New York City and West Palm Beach, that he would be transparent. But he’s not. He’s still in with the Epstein class. This is the Epstein administration, and they’re attacking me for trying to get these files released.”

On Monday, Thomas Pritzker resigned from his position as executive chair of the Hyatt Hotels Corporation, citing his links to Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. The release of the Epstein files revealed that Pritzker had been in regular contact with Epstein after his 2008 plea deal on sex crimes charges.

In Los Angeles, Mayor Karen Bass on Monday called for Casey Wasserman to step down as chair of Los Angeles’s 2028 Olympic Games over revelations about his ties to Epstein and Maxwell.

In France, police have been searching the Arab World Institute as part of an investigation into links between its former president, Jack Lang, and Epstein.

Meanwhile, Columbia University said it is cutting all ties to two faculty members at its dental college, after the Epstein files revealed they had used an “irregular process” to help a girlfriend of Epstein gain admission.