Loud & Clear

Latest Episodes:

Why Is the Trump Administration Targeting Chelsea Manning? Mar 13, 2019

Show notes

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Daniel Ellsberg, one of the the most important whistleblowers in modern American history and the author of The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner.
Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning is still sitting in a federal jail in Alexandria, Virginia for refusing to respond to a subpoena to testify before a grand jury, apparently against Wikileaks co-founder Julian Assange. Manning invoked her rights under the first, fourth, fifth, and sixth amendments in her refusal to testify. How long can the injustice of her incarceration go on?
Donald Trump finally relented and grounded Boeing 737 MAX 8 jets today, following earlier moves by the European Union and countries around the world in the aftermath of the second crash of one of the new jets in the past five months. Why was the U.S. so slow to act? Mary Schiavo, the former Inspector General at the Department of Transportation, an aviation attorney, and an aviation professor, joins the show.
The British Parliament voted today against leaving the European Union without some sort of a deal on the Irish border and import tariffs. A vote will be held tomorrow on whether to ask for an extension to try to negotiate the country’s exit, but that must be approved by all 26 EU member states. Prime Minister Theresa May’s options for getting through the crisis are dwindling quickly. Meanwhile, Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn is calling for a new national election. Brian and John speak with Steve Hedley, the senior assistant general secretary of the the UK’s Rail, Maritime, and Transport Workers Union.
A federal judge in Washington sentenced former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort to an additional three-and-a-half years in prison on two tax and corruption charges. The sentence comes just days after Manafort was sentenced to 47 months in prison by a federal judge in the Eastern District of Virginia. Talk in the mainstream media has now turned to the possibility of a presidential pardon for Manafort. Jim Kavanagh, the editor of thepolemicist.net, joins the show.
Outrage is spreading across the country in the wake of dozens of indictments announced by the FBI in a college entrance cheating scandal involving wealthy parents and celebrities. What does this scheme tell us about the state of higher education in America? Rick Ayers, a professor of education at the University of San Francisco, the author of “An Empty Seat in Class: Teaching and Learning after the Death of a Student,” and co-author of the book “You Can’t Fire the Bad Ones: And 18 Other Myths about Teachers, Teachers Unions, and Public Education,” joins Brian and John.
Wednesday’s weekly series, In the News, is where the hosts look at the most important ongoing developments of the week and put them into perspective. Today they discuss the scandal that celebrities and the wealthy are scamming their way into elite colleges in new ways and analyze the deep-rooted inequalities built in to the higher education system. Jacqueline Luqman, the co-editor-in-chief of Luqman Nation, which hosts a livestream every Thursday night at 9:00 p.m. on Facebook, and Sputnik news analyst Walter Smolarek, join the show.
Wednesday’s regular segment, Beyond Nuclear, is about nuclear issues, including weapons, energy, waste, and the future of nuclear technology in the United States. Today, the hosts focus on the 8th anniversary of the Fukushima nuclear meltdown disaster. Kevin Kamps, the Radioactive Waste Watchdog at the organization Beyond Nuclear, and Sputnik news analyst and producer Nicole Roussell, join the show.

The end of Brexit or Brexit till the end? Mar 12, 2019

Show notes

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Neil Clark, a journalist and broadcaster whose work has appeared in The Guardian, The Week, and Morning Star.
The British parliament decisively rejected changes to Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal, defeating a measure that she said would reduce the risk that a backstop to prevent a hard border with Ireland would become permanent. European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker said this was the UK’s last chance to negotiate a smoother exit from the EU.
As Venezuela continues to feel the effects of an alleged cyber attack on its electrical system, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said last night that he had ordered all American diplomats to leave the country, saying their presence was “a constraint” on US policy there. Those diplomats will spend the day shredding documents and destroying equipment, and the marine guard will lower the flag. Lucas Koerner, an activist and writer for VenezuelAnalysis.com, joins the show.
Marielle Franco was a local politician in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil who fought against police violence against the city’s poorest residents. She was murdered a year ago Thursday. But yesterday, authorities arrested two former policemen in a killing that prosecutors are calling “a meticulously planned assassination.” Brian and John speak with Dr. Francisco Dominguez, a senior lecturer at Middlesex University and the head of the Centre for Brazilian and Latin American Studies.
The United States has threatened Germany that if they keep working with Chinese tech company Huawei on 5G technology, then the United States will cease some intelligence sharing with Germany. Will this further fray ties between the United States and Europe? Jude Woodward, the author of the book “The US vs China: Asia's new Cold War?,” joins the show.
President Trump yesterday sent his record $4.75 trillion budget to Capitol Hill for congressional consideration. Democrats in the House declared it “Dead on Arrival” because of provisions that would cut $1.9 trillion from Medicare and Medicaid and that would eviscerate federal employee pay and benefits. Ted Rall, an award-winning editorial cartoonist and columnist whose work is at rall.com, joins Brian and John.
Tuesday’s weekly series is False Profits—A Weekly Look at Wall Street and Corporate Capitalism with Daniel Sankey. Today they focus on job reports and whether the United States and the globe are on their way to a recession. Brian and John speak with financial policy analyst Daniel Sankey.
Today’s regular segment that airs every Tuesday is called Women & Society with Dr. Hannah Dickinson. This weekly segment is about the major issues, challenges, and struggles facing women in all aspects of society. This week they talk about the strikes and rallies with millions of people worldwide for International Women’s Day. Hannah Dickinson, an associate professor at Hobart and William Smith Colleges and an organizer with the Geneva Women’s Assembly, and Loud & Clear producer Nicole Roussell join the show.

Boeing in Trouble after Second Fatal Crash with Nearly 200 Deaths Mar 11, 2019

Show notes

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Professor Bijan Vasigh, a professor of air transportation at Embrey-Riddle University, an expert on aviation issues, a consultant to some of the biggest airlines in the world, and the author of dozens of academic papers and books.
The Chinese government has ordered all of the country’s airlines to ground their Boeing 737s after one of the jets belonging to Ethiopian Airlines crash after takeoff over the weekend, killing all 157 people on board. A Lion Air 737 crashed five months ago into the Java Sea shortly after takeoff, killing all 189 people on board. Is there something fundamentally wrong with the new 737?
Unpublished video footage obtained by the New York Times contradicts claims by the Trump Administration that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was responsible for lighting a convoy of humanitarian aid on fire. Vice President Pence tweeted over the weekend, “The tyrant in Caracas danced as his henchmen burned food and medicine.” The truth, however, is that members of the US-backed opposition accidentally started the fire with a Molotov cocktail. Dan Cohen, a journalist and a documentary filmmaker, most recently of the film Killing Gaza, joins the show.
One member of the recent Code Pink peace delegation to Iran, David Hartsough, upon landing in Iran, had what doctors usually call a “cardiac episode.” That required emergency treatment and an angioplasty in an Iranian hospital. The hosts will talk about medical care in Iran and about President Rouhani’s trip to Iraq to try to blunt the effect of sanctions. Brian and John speak with David Hartsough, cofounder of World Beyond War and the Nonviolent Peaceforce, and author of the book “Waging Peace: Global Adventures of a Lifelong Activist.”
A British organization called The Charity Commission this week accused the London-based Islamic Human Rights Commission of anti-Semitism and challenged its legal structure, saying that it was designed to support terrorism. The charge, of course, is ridiculous. But it points to a trend whereby people and organizations that support the rights of Palestinians are somehow anti-Semitic and support terrorism. Massoud Shadjareh, founder of the Islamic Human Rights Commission, joins the show.
Monday’s segment “Education for Liberation with Bill Ayers” is where Bill helps us look at the state of education across the country. What’s happening in our schools, colleges, and universities, and what impact does it have on the world around us? Bill Ayers, an activist, educator and the author of the book “Demand the Impossible: A Radical Manifesto,” joins Brian and John.
Hawaii Congresswoman and presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard conducted a nationally-televised town hall meeting on CNN last night in which she answered several tough questions that set her apart from other Democratic candidates. Meanwhile, Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Democrat from Minnesota, continued to be the target of attacks because of her comments on foreign influence in American politics and the legacy of President Obama. Dan Kovalik, a human rights and labor lawyer who is the author of the book “The Plot to Control the World: How the US Spent Billions to Change the Outcome of Elections Around the World,” joins the show.
Monday’s regular segment Technology Rules with Chris Garaffa is a weekly guide on how monopoly corporations and the national surveillance state are threatening cherished freedoms, civil rights and civil liberties. Web developer and technologist Chris Garaffa joins the show.

Whistleblower Manning Sent Back to Prison for Standing on Principle Mar 09, 2019

Show notes

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Jacqueline Luqman, the co-editor-in-chief of Luqman Nation, which livestreams every Thursday night at 9:00 p.m. on Facebook, and Sputnik News analyst and producer Walter Smolarek.
Friday is Loud & Clear’s weekly hour-long segment The Week in Review, about the week in politics, policy, and international affairs. Today they focus on Chelsea Manning being taken back into custody, the smears against Representative Omar all week, and the Venezuelan power outage.
18 of Venezuela’s 23 states were hit yesterday with a massive power outage, which the Maduro Administration blamed on anti-government saboteurs. Senator Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican who has been the Senate’s leading voice against the Maduro government, earlier in the day had called for widespread unrest, and he celebrated the blackout as the beginning of the end of the Venezuelan government. Chuck Kaufman, he is the National Co-Coordinator of the Alliance for Global Justice, joins the show.
Our friends and frequent guests Ann Wright and Medea Benjamin over the past two weeks led a peace delegation to Iran, where they met with government officials, peace activists, and regular Iranians. They were public about the trip. They gave interviews and posted their progress on Facebook. But when they returned to Washington last night, they were detained and questioned by the FBI. The hosts also talk about the recent travails of Chelsea Manning in the notorious federal district court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Brian and John speak with Ann Wright, a retired United States Army colonel and former U.S. State Department official in Afghanistan, who resigned in protest of the invasion of Iraq and became a prominent anti-war activist.
Yesterday the hosts talked about the five different federal agencies that had created a database to illegally track and harass journalists, activists, and attorneys reporting on or involved with the migrant caravan that made its way to the United States late last year. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said when the story broke that the Mexican government would not cooperate in the scheme with US officials. But, it turns out, that was not true. Juan José Gutiérrez, the executive director of the Full Rights for Immigrants Coalition, joins the show.
Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort yesterday was sentenced to 47 months in prison for charges of corruption and tax evasion. Federal prosecutors had asked for 17½ to 24 years. Judge T. S. Ellis said that Manafort had committed serious crimes, but not serious enough for him to spend the rest of his life in prison. The public and media outcry was swift, with many commenting that the decision showed that there is one kind of justice for wealthy white men and another kind of justice for people of color. Manafort will be sentenced in a separate case in Washington next week. Daniel Lazare, a journalist and author of three books—“The Frozen Republic,” “The Velvet Coup,” and “America's Undeclared War,” joins Brian and John.
It’s Friday! So it’s time for the week’s worst and most misleading headlines. Brian and John speak with Steve Patt, an independent journalist whose critiques of the mainstream media have been a feature of his site Left I on the News and on twitter @leftiblog, and Sputnik producer Nicole Roussell.

Progressives Push Back on Dem Leadership’s Racist Attack on Rep. Omar Mar 08, 2019

Show notes

The fallout from Rep. Ilhan Omar’s recent comments about foreign intervention in US politics, interpreted as a reference to pro-Israel lobbying giant AIPAC, deepened today. Presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris both backed Omar’s right to her political position, and senior Democrats pushed back against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s decision to offer a resolution which at first condemned anti-Semitism and then condemned all religious intolerance. Senior Democrats now are debating whether there is a need for any resolution at all.
Leaked documents reveal that five different federal agencies have been maintaining a secret database to target and track journalists, activists, and attorneys working on the recent migrant caravan heading toward the United States. The program, dubbed Operation Secure Line, resulted in the journalists, activists, and attorneys being harassed at the US-Mexico border, detained, and denied entry into Mexico. Ariana Drehsler, a photojournalist who recently completed a series on migrants and asylum seekers at the US-Mexico border and was one of the many journalists and immigration advocates who was tracked, targeted, and interviewed, joins Brian and John.
President Trump yesterday issued an executive order revoking an requirement introduced at the end of the Obama administration to publicly report the number of US drone strikes outside of war zones and the number of civilians killed by them. The Bureau of Investigative Journalism estimates that up to 1,700 civilians, including as many as 400 children, have been killed by U.S. drone bombings since the program began. Jeremy Kuzmarov, a professor of American history whose latest book is “The Russians Are Coming, Again: The First Cold War as Tragedy, the Second as Farce,” joins the show.
The Federal Reserve has decided to end some of the public pass-fail grades it gave big banks after their annual stress tests, which came as a result of the Dodd-Frank Act during the Great Recession. A bank will no longer receive a grade if it has taken the test for the past four years and passed in the most recent year, a move critics say raises the risk of another 2008-style financial collapse. Brad Birkenfeld, a famed whistleblower who single handedly brought down international money laundering at banking giant UBS, joins the show.
Veterans for Peace is Thursday’s regular segment about the contemporary issues of war and peace that affect veterans, their families, and the country as a whole. Gerry Condon, a Vietnam-era veteran and war resister who refused orders to deploy to Vietnam and lived in exile in Canada and Sweden for 6 years, organizing with other U.S. military deserters and draft resisters against the Vietnam war, and for amnesty for U.S. war resisters, joins the show. He has been a peace and solidarity activist for almost 50 years and has served on the Board of Veterans For Peace for the last 6 years, currently as national president.
A regular Thursday segment deals with the ongoing militarization of space. As the US continues to withdraw from international arms treaties, will the weaponization and militarization of space bring the world closer to catastrophe? Brian and John speak with Prof. Karl Grossman, a full professor of journalism at the State University of New York, College at Old Westbury and the host of a nationally-aired television program focused on environmental, energy, and space issues, and with Bruce Gagnon, coordinator of the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space and a contributor to Foreign Policy In Focus.
Thursday’s weekly series “Criminal Injustice” is about the most egregious conduct of our courts and prosecutors and how justice is denied to so many people in this country. Kevin Gosztola, a writer for Shadowproof.com and co-host of the podcast Unauthorized Disclosure, joins the show.

U.S. Trade Deficit Hits All-Time Record During Trump Presidency Mar 07, 2019

Show notes

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Richard Wolff, a professor of Economics Emeritus, University of Massachusetts, Amherst and founder of the organization Democracy at Work. Prof. Wolff’s latest book is “Capitalism's Crisis Deepens: Essays on the Global Economic Meltdown.”
President Trump has promised repeatedly to bring the trade deficit under control. Instead, it has exploded. The latest figures from the Commerce Department show that the US last year ran a trade deficit of $891.2 billion, the largest in American history. The deficit with China hit a record $419 billion, despite the President’s trade sanctions against that country.
Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen testified today before the House Homeland Security Committee. The testimony focused on the Trump Administration’s policy of family separation at the border and the deaths of migrant children in federal custody. The testimony is taking place as President Trump prepares to veto a resolution from Congress overturning his border wall state of emergency. Isabel Garcia, co-founder of Coalición de Derechos Humanos, joins the show.
Scores were arrested earlier this week in Sacramento, California as police repressed demonstrations demanding justice for Stephon Clark, an unarmed 22-year-old African-American man who police shot and killed in his grandmother’s backyard in Sacramento last year. The Sacramento County district attorney and the California Attorney General announced in the past few days that the two policemen who killed him will not face any charges. Brian and John speak with Jamier Sale, an organizer with the ANSWER Coalition and was one of the activists who was arrested on Monday night.
In a ceremony marking the sixth anniversary of the death of his predecessor, Hugo Chavez, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro called for demonstrations on Saturday, which he called “a day of anti-imperialism.” Oppositionist and self-described president Juan Guaido is holding rallies the same day. And Guaido called on Venezuela’s public employees to join his efforts to overthrow the government. Arnold August, a lecturer, journalist and author of the book “Cuba-US Relations: Obama and beyond,” joins the show.
Last night, Senator Chris Murphy announced new actions were being taken to force to the Senate floor a bipartisan effort to rein in US support for the war in Yemen as early as next week. The resolution, sponsored by Republican Mike Lee, Democrat Chris Murphy, and Independent Bernie Sanders, has broad bipartisan support, but probably not enough to override an expected presidential veto. Kevin Zeese, the co-coordinator of Popular Resistance, at popularresistance.org, who has just returned from a peace delegation organized by CodePink to Iran, joins Brian and John.
Wednesday’s weekly series, In the News, is where the hosts look at the most important ongoing developments of the week and put them into perspective. Jacqueline Luqman, the co-editor-in-chief of Luqman Nation, which hosts a livestream every Thursday night at 9:00 p.m. on Facebook, and Sputnik news analyst Walter Smolarek, join the show.
Wednesday’s regular segment, Beyond Nuclear, is about nuclear issues, including weapons, energy, waste, and the future of nuclear technology in the United States. Kevin Kamps, the Radioactive Waste Watchdog at the organization Beyond Nuclear, and Sputnik news analyst and producer Nicole Roussell, join the show.

Will NSA Suspend Massive Spying Program Against the American People? Mar 06, 2019

Show notes

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Bill Binney, a former NSA technical director who became a legendary national security whistleblower.
The National Security Agency, NSA, has reportedly shut down a system that analyzes logs of Americans’ domestic calls and text messages, halting a program that has been the source of controversy over privacy since the 9/11 attacks. The program apparently ended months ago, and the Trump Administration apparently will not ask Congress to reauthorize it. But the NSA retains vast domestic and international spying capabilities
Chinese electronics giant Huawei is preparing to sue the US government for barring federal agencies from using the company’s products. Huawei executives believe the move could force the US to make public whatever evidence it has against it. Meanwhile, Huawei’s CFO, Meng Wanzhou, has filed a suit in Canada for violating her constitutional rights as she continues her fight against extradition to the United States. Jude Woodward, the author of the new book “The US vs China: Asia's new Cold War?,” joins the show.
Venezuelan oppositionist Juan Guaido returned to the country yesterday after meeting with the right-wing leaders of Colombia and Brazil in defiance of a Supreme Court order prohibiting him from leaving the country. He breezed through customs and immigration officials without incident and then brazenly called for the overthrow of President Nicolas Maduro at a rally in Caracas. Supporters of both Maduro and Guaido will hold large-scale demonstrations on Saturday. Brian and John speak with Anya Parampil, a Washington-based journalist for The Grayzone Project.
The Trump Administration has canceled agreements that give Turkey and India preferential treatment in trade. The US Trade Representative’s office said that India has not allowed more US goods into the country in contravention of the current agreement, and Turkey no longer qualifies for trade concessions. While the U.S.-China trade war might be cooling down, the Trump administration is now moving to ignite conflicts with other major economies. Steve Keen, the author of “Debunking Economics” and the world’s first crowdfunded economist, whose work is at patreon.com/ProfSteveKeen, joins the show.
Following statements from top European leaders, including the Irish Prime Minister and the president of the European Council, expectations are mounting that the long-anticipated departure of the UK from the European Union will be delayed. British Prime Minister Theresa May is still holding out for a March 29 Brexit however and is desperately maneuvering to improve her government’s position. Neil Clark, a journalist and broadcaster whose work has appeared in The Guardian, The Week, and Morning Star, joins Brian and John.
Today’s regular segment that airs every Tuesday is called Women & Society with Dr. Hannah Dickinson. This weekly segment is about the major issues, challenges, and struggles facing women in all aspects of society and today they focus on International Women’s Day. Hannah Dickinson, an associate professor at Hobart and William Smith Colleges and an organizer with the Geneva Women’s Assembly, and Loud & Clear producer Nicole Roussell join the show.
Tuesday’s weekly series is False Profits—A Weekly Look at Wall Street and Corporate Capitalism with Daniel Sankey. Brian and John speak with financial policy analyst Daniel Sankey.

Why the Trump-Kim Korea Peace Talks Broke Down and What’s Next Mar 04, 2019

Show notes

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Tim Shorrock, a Washington-based investigative journalist who grew up in Japan and South Korea and who is the author of “SPIES FOR HIRE: The Secret World of Outsourced Intelligence.”
The conventional wisdom is that the US-North Korean summit in Hanoi was a failure that resulted in no deals and no changes to the sanctions regime, but new moves by the United States and South Korea aim to put the peace process back on track. The cancellation of large-scale war exercises and statements by top officials are raising hopes that negotiations can be revived.
Monday’s regular segment Technology Rules with Chris Garaffa is a weekly guide on how monopoly corporations and the national surveillance state are threatening cherished freedoms, civil rights and civil liberties. Web developer and technologist Chris Garaffa joins the show.
Congressional Democrats announced that they will aggressively pursue an investigation into obstruction of justice and a wide range of other misconduct against President Trump as the Mueller probe appears to be wrapping up, leaving many of the most fervent Russiagate proponents disappointed. Meanwhile, Senator Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, announced over the weekend that he would vote against President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency related to the border. This means a measure rejecting the declaration now has enough votes to pass the Senate despite Trump’s veto threat. Brian and John speak with Jim Kavanagh, the editor of thepolemicist.net who has written on this topic in a recent article called "Be Careful What You Ask For: Wasting Time with Manafort, Cohen, and Russiagate."
Venezuelan opposition leader and self-declared President Juan Guaido has returned to Venezuela following a trip to meet with the right-wing leaders of Colombia, Brazil and Ecuador carried out in defiance of a court-issued travel ban. The Trump Administration warned the government of President Nicolas Maduro today that Guaido’s arrest would be deemed a hostile provocation. Dan Cohen, a journalist and a documentary filmmaker, most recently of the film Killing Gaza, joins the show.
Monday’s segment “Education for Liberation with Bill Ayers” is where Bill helps us look at the state of education across the country. What’s happening in our schools, colleges, and universities, and what impact does it have on the world around us? Bill Ayers, an activist, educator and the author of the book “Demand the Impossible: A Radical Manifesto,” joins Brian and John.
Representative Ilhan Omar, a Minnesota Democrat who is Muslim, rejected criticism from some of her colleagues after she criticized the influence of pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC. Rep. Jerry Nadler, the Democratic chairman of the House Oversight Committee, called Omar’s comments “a vile, anti-Semitic slur.” Meanwhile, a blatantly Islamophobic display in the West Virginia capitol building that linked Rep. Omar to 9/11 is causing outrage. Ali Abunimah, the co-founder of The Electronic Intifada and author of the book “The Battle for Justice in Palestine,” joins the show.
Hundreds of people, including ISIS fighters, fled their last foothold in eastern Syria this morning after US-backed Kurdish fighters had to slow their own advance because ISIS was using civilians as human shields. Even so, a spokesman for Kurdish forces said the battle to take Baghouz from ISIS would be over quickly. Rick Sterling, an investigative journalist and member of the Syria Solidarity Movement, joins Brian and John.

Cohen Testimony Wraps Up, Trump Returns from Hanoi Summit With No Deal Mar 01, 2019

Show notes

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Walter Smolarek (filling in for Brian Becker) and John Kiriakou are joined by Jacqueline Luqman and Abdus Luqman, the editors-in-chief of Luqman Nation, which livestreams every Thursday night at 9:00 p.m. on Facebook.
Friday is Loud & Clear’s weekly hour-long segment The Week in Review, about the week in politics, policy, and international affairs. Today they focus on Michael Cohen’s testimony this week, the issue of reparations in the 2020 elections, the Kim-Trump summit in Hanoi, and Nigerian elections.
South Korean President Moon Jae In struggled to save face today after the collapse of President Trump’s summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Moon said in a speech that the summit’s failure makes South Korea even more important on the world stage. But polls show that most South Koreans wanted the summit to succeed. Meanwhile, the North Koreans wanted sanctions relief more than anything, and they got none of that. Hyun Lee, a member of the Solidarity Committee for Democracy and Peace in Korea and writer for Zoominkorea.org, joins the show.
Israel’s Attorney General yesterday indicted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on three felony counts related to bribery and breach of trust. The announcement, coming just before next month’s general election, is a major blow to Netanyahu as he seeks a fifth term in office. Brian and John speak with Miko Peled, the author of “The General’s Son - A Journey of an Israeli in Palestine.” Miko Peled has a new book "Injustice: The Story of the Holy Land Foundation Five.
Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning revealed yesterday that she has been subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia. Last month the Justice Department accidentally revealed that it had secretly indicted Wikileaks co-founder Julian Assange in the Eastern District. Manning said that she will fight the subpoena.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo can’t just let Amazon walk away. So he’s written an open letter to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos begging him to reconsider his decision to not open a second headquarters in Queens. Cuomo also has phoned Bezos and other Amazon executives asking them to come back. Dr. Jack Rasmus, a professor of economics at Saint Mary's College of California and author of “Central Bankers at the End of Their Ropes: Monetary Policy and the Coming Depression,” whose work is at www.jackrasmus.com, joins Walter and John.
It’s Friday! So it’s time for the week’s worst and most misleading headlines. Walter and John speak with Steve Patt, an independent journalist whose critiques of the mainstream media have been a feature of his site Left I on the News and on twitter @leftiblog, and Sputnik producer Nicole Roussell.

Korea Peace Process Dealt a Blow as Trump Walks from Bargaining Table Feb 28, 2019

Show notes

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Walter Smolarek and John Kiriakou are joined by Brian Becker, who is in Hanoi covering the US-North Korean summit.
Talks between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ended today with no agreement on any issue. Kim said that he would continue a moratorium on missile testing and development, but the fate of future negotiations remain very much in doubt. Can the peace process be put back on track?
Thursday’s weekly series “Criminal Injustice” is about the most egregious conduct of our courts and prosecutors and how justice is denied to so many people in this country. Paul Wright, the founder and executive director of the Human Rights Defense Center and editor of Prison Legal News (PLN), and Kevin Gosztola, a writer for Shadowproof.com and co-host of the podcast Unauthorized Disclosure, join the show.
Michael Cohen, President Trump’s longtime personal attorney and fixer, testified on Capitol Hill, saying that the President was a liar, a conman, and a racist, and that those around the President had traded their own integrity for proximity to power. Expectedly, the President exploded on Twitter, despite being busy with his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Cohen is due to report to prison on a myriad of felony charges in the next few weeks, which his opponents cite as reason to disbelieve his testimony. Walter and John speak with Dan Kovalik, a human rights and labor lawyer who is the author of the book “The Plot to Control the World: How the US Spent Billions to Change the Outcome of Elections Around the World.”
President Trump’s senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner is finishing up a visit through the Middle East to publicize an Israeli-Palestinian peace plan. Meanwhile, the United Nations released a report saying that “the commission found reasonable grounds to believe that … the use of live ammunition by Israeli security forces against demonstrators was unlawful.” Ariel Gold, a peace activist and the national co-director of Code Pink, joins the show.
Veterans for Peace is Thursday’s regular segment about the contemporary issues of war and peace that affect veterans, their families, and the country as a whole. Gerry Condon, a Vietnam-era veteran and war resister who refused orders to deploy to Vietnam and lived in exile in Canada and Sweden for 6 years, organizing with other U.S. military deserters and draft resisters against the Vietnam war, and for amnesty for U.S. war resisters, joins the show. He has been a peace and solidarity activist for almost 50 years and has served on the Board of Veterans For Peace for the last 6 years, currently as national president.
A regular Thursday segment deals with the ongoing militarization of space. As the US continues to withdraw from international arms treaties, will the weaponization and militarization of space bring the world closer to catastrophe? Brian and John speak with Prof. Karl Grossman, a full professor of journalism at the State University of New York, College at Old Westbury, the author of six books, and the host of a nationally-aired television program focused on environmental, energy, and space issues.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif resigned earlier this week just hours after meeting with an American peace delegation, apologizing for what he called his shortcomings. But President Hassan Rouhani refused the resignation, and Zarif was back in the office two days later. What was behind the resignation? Walter and John speak with Massoud Shadjareh, the founder of the Islamic Human Rights Commission.

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