For the first time, 25-year-old U.S. Army Private Bradley Manning has admitted to being the source behind the largest leak of state secrets in U.S. history. More than a thousand days after he was arrested, Manning testified Thursday before a military court. He said he leaked the classified documents to the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks in order to show the American public the "true costs of war." Reading for more than an hour from a 35-page statement, Manning said: "I believed that if the general public, especially the American public, had access to the information ... this could spark a domestic debate on the role of the military and our foreign policy in general." At the pretrial hearing at Fort Meade military base in Maryland, Manning pleaded guilty to reduced charges on 10 counts, which carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. But even if the judge accepts the plea, prosecutors can still pursue a court-martial on the remaining 12 charges. The most serious of those is "aiding the enemy" and carries a possible life sentence. We are joined by Michael Ratner, president emeritus of the Center for Constitutional Rights and a lawyer to Julian Assange and WikiLeaks. He just returned from attending Manning’s hearing. [includes rush transcript]

• Bradley Manning Admits Giving Documents to WikiLeaks in Bid to Show "True Costs of War"
• U.S. Lawmakers Fail to Avert Sequester Cuts Before Deadline
• Obama Admin Urges Supreme Court to Overturn California’s Same-Sex Marriage Ban
• U.S. House Passes Expanded Violence Against Women Act
• South Africa: Officers Suspended After Man Dragged Behind Police Van Dies
• Explosions Targeting Shiites Kill Dozens in Iraq
• China Accuses U.S. of Repeatedly Hacking Military Websites
• Haiti: Ex-Dictator "Baby Doc" Duvalier Questioned in Court About Abuses Under His U.S.-Backed Rule
• Maryland Senate Backs Sweeping Gun-Control Bill
• U.S. Senators Delay Consideration of Assault Weapons Ban
• Texas School Worker Shot During Gun Training Class
• Keystone XL Pipeline Critic Disrupts TransCanada Speech by Locking Neck to Projector Screen
• Red Lake Nation Members Occupy Land to Protest Enbridge Oil Pipelines
• Study: Racial Wealth Gap Nearly Tripled Since Since Mid-1980s

A federal judge has once again ordered the state of Louisiana to release Albert Woodfox, a former Black Panther who has spent more than 40 years in solitary confinement. Woodfox and Herman Wallace, another prisoner of the "Angola 3," were convicted of murdering a guard at Angola Prison. The Angola 3 and their supporters say they were framed for their political activism. On Tuesday, the same federal judge that ordered Woodfox’s release in 2008 again ruled Woodfox should be set free on the basis of racial discrimination in his retrial. It was the third time Woodfox’s conviction has been overturned, but prosecutors successfully reversed the two previous victories. The state is expected to appeal once again to keep Woodfox behind bars. We’re joined by two guests: Robert King, the third member of the Angola 3, who was freed in 2001 after three decades behind bars; and Mwalimu Johnson, a longtime member of the Angola 3 support team. [includes rush transcript]

As Pope Benedict XVI steps down today, we turn to a former Catholic priest who was silenced and expelled by the pope, then-Cardinal Ratzinger, in the 1980s. Matthew Fox chronicles his story in the book "The Pope’s War: Why Ratzinger’s Secret Crusade Has Imperiled the Church and How It Can Be Saved." Pope Benedict’s tenure was marked by several scandals, most notably his handling of the widening sexual abuse scandals in the Catholic Church, including allegations that he ignored at least one case of abuse while serving as a cardinal. Documents show that in 1985 he delayed efforts to defrock a priest convicted of molesting children. "I’ll take the pope at his word here when he says he’s tired. I would be tired, too, if I left as much devastation in my wake as he has," Fox says. "I think that the Catholic Church as we know it, the structure of the Vatican, is passé. We’re moving beyond it. And it’s become a viper’s nest. It’s really sick, what’s going on, obviously — the cover-up of the pedophile priests." [includes rush transcript]

As President Obama unveiled a statue of Rosa Parks at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, the Supreme Court considered overturning a key achievement of the civil rights movement: the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Signed in 1965 by President L. Johnson, the law requires several states and counties with a history of racial discrimination to clear election-related changes with the federal government. While the Supreme Court’s four liberal justices appeared willing to back the Voting Rights Act, conservative justices were much more critical. Justice Antonin Scalia described the law as a "perpetuation of racial entitlement." We’re joined by The Nation’s Ari Berman, who covered the hearing and has reported extensively on the battle for voting rights. Berman says overturning Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act "would open the floodgates to more voter suppression laws, more legal challenges, and it would make it difficult to enforce the voting rights laws that are on the books. ... It would be one of the most radical and consequential decisions made by the court in a very long time." [includes rush transcript]

• Senate to Vote on Sequester Proposals Ahead of Friday Deadline
• Senate Confirms Jack Lew for Treasury
• Senate Panel Delays Brennan Vote for 2nd Time
• Hagel Takes Pentagon Helm After Confirmation Vote
• Senate Judiciary Committee Weights Assault Weapons Ban
• Newtown Father Appeals for Ban on Assault Rifles
• U.S. Increases Aid to Syrian Rebels; Training Underway in Regional Country
• Shell Delays Arctic Drilling After Setbacks
• Bloomberg Super PAC Helps Defeat Pro-Gun Candidate in Illinois Primary
• Judge Orders Release of Seattle Activists Jailed for Resisting Grand Jury Testimony
• French Resistance Fighter Stéphane Hessel Dies at 95
• Rosa Parks Statue Unveiled in Washington, D.C.

Oxfam has released a comprehensive report that measures how the world’s 10 largest food companies perform on food justice issues. No company emerges with passing grades. The 10 companies Oxfam scores are Associated British Foods, Coca-Cola, Danone, General Mills, Kellogg, Mars, Mondelez, Nestlé, PepsiCo and Unilever. Collectively, these companies make $1 billion a day. Oxfam based its report on seven criteria: small-scale farmers, farm workers, water, land, climate change, women’s rights and transparency. We’re joined by Chris Jochnick, a lead researcher for Oxfam’s new report, "Behind the Brands." [includes rush transcript]

The watchdog group Common Cause is calling on President Obama to shut down the outside group Organizing for Action after revelations the group is promising high-end donors access to the White House. According to The New York Times, donors who contribute $500,000 or more will be appointed to the group’s national advisory board, which meets four times a year with the president. Organizing for Action was set up by former Obama campaign officials in order to push the president’s agenda. The group’s 501(c)(4) tax status means it can accept unlimited donations from corporations and individuals without revealing their identity. We speak to Bob Edgar, president of Common Cause. [includes rush transcript]

Former White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs revealed over the weekend he was initially instructed to deny the existence of the Obama administration’s targeted killing program overseas. Even though the administration has since backed down from that stance, it continues to stonewall members of Congress on releasing the Justice Department memos explaining the program’s legal rationale. Unanswered questions around the program have held up the confirmation of CIA nominee John Brennan. "For a program that is so far-reaching and that has so many consequences, not just in the world, but for the rule of law, the Obama administration has an obligation to be far more transparent than they’ve been so far," says Jameel Jaffer, deputy legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union. [includes rush transcript]

In what’s being described as a Kafkaesque decision, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled a group of human rights organizations and journalists cannot challenge the government’s warrantless domestic surveillance program because they can’t prove they are targets of it. The American Civil Liberties Union and a coalition of human rights groups and journalists filed the lawsuit in 2008 hours after President Bush signed amendments to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which gave the National Security Agency almost unchecked power to monitor international phone calls and emails of Americans. We’re joined by the ACLU’s Jameel Jaffer, who argued the case before the Supreme Court. [includes rush transcript]

• Senate Confirms Chuck Hagel After GOP Ends Filibuster
• Obama, Boehner Spar as Sequestration Cuts Loom
• Budget Fears Prompt Release of Hundreds of Undocumented Immigrants
• Supreme Court Rejects Challenge to Sweeping Surveillance Law
• Obama Admin Continues to Withhold Drone Memos from Congress
• Afghans Protest U.S. Special Forces in Wardak Province
• NATO Withdraws Claim of Declining Taliban Attacks
• Iran Mulls EU3+3 Offer to Ease Sanctions
• Judge Rejects Claim Bradley Manning Denied Speedy Trial
• Appeals Court Strikes Down Florida, Georgia Drug Tests for Welfare Applicants
• Arkansas Gov. Vetoes 20-Week Abortion Ban; Indiana Senate Advances Ultrasound Requirement
• Federal Court Orders Release of Angola 3's Albert Woodfox for 3rd Time
• Rallies Mark 1st Anniversary of Trayvon Martin Killing