Loud & Clear

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Historic Kim-Trump Summit Begins: Will the Korean War Finally End? Feb 27, 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, and Christine Ahn, a co-founder of the Korea Policy Institute and the International Coordinator of Women Cross DMZ.
President Trump and North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un held a joint press conference today during which Trump said that he foresees a North Korea that is an economic powerhouse in East Asia. He added that he expects to make progress this week on outstanding issues between the two countries and repeated that he has an excellent personal relationship with Kim.
Former attorney for President Trump Michael Cohen testified in open session before the House Oversight Committee today. He submitted documents to the committee including copies of hush money checks that Trump wrote to him, financial documents, and emails. Ted Rall, an award-winning editorial cartoonist and columnist, whose work is at www.rall.com, joins the show.
A series of airstrikes have dramatically escalated the conflict between India and Pakistan. Are we headed toward another war in South Asia? Brian and John speak with Dr. Marvin Weinbaum, Scholar-in-Residence and director of the Middle East Institute’s Center for Pakistan and Afghanistan Studies.
Venezuela’s self-declared president Juan Guaido said today that he will begin exercising his “presidential duties” as soon as he returns to Venezuela from Colombia, where he met with Vice President Pence and Colombian President Ivan Duque. Meanwhile, the diplomatic tide appears to be turning in favor of President Maduro as several countries vigorously opposed foreign intervention at the UN Security Council and a major pro-government international civil society conference is held in Caracas. Anya Parampil, a Washington-based journalist for The Grayzone Project, joins the show.
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 the hosts focus on the Congressional vote of disapproval of the national emergency, the US-Korean summit going on now in Vietnam, and the ongoing debate about letting U.S. citizen Hoda Muthana back in the country after leaving ISIS. Jacqueline Luqman, the co-editor-in-chief of Luqman Nation, which hosts a livestream every Thursday night at 9:00 p.m. on Facebook, joins 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 talk about Diablo Canyon, where nuclear reactors are scheduled to shut down; the massive proposed Holtec New Mexico radioactive waste dump; and the nuclear weapon state conflicts of India v. Pakistan and US v. Russia. Kevin Kamps, the Radioactive Waste Watchdog at the organization Beyond Nuclear, and Sputnik news analyst and producer Nicole Roussell, join the show.

Labour Declares Support for New Referendum As UK Faces "No Deal" Brexit Feb 26, 2019

Show notes

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Walter Smolarek, filling in for 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.
British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn said yesterday that Labour is prepared to back another Brexit referendum if the party’s own Brexit plan is rejected in parliament tomorrow. The UK is still scheduled to withdraw from the European Union on March 29, but any number of scenarios could come to pass before then.
President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un arrived in Hanoi today in advance of their second bilateral summit. Substantive meetings will begin almost immediately, with the media speculating that Trump may offer to formally end the Korean War. Co-host Brian Becker, who is in Hanoi covering the summit, joins the show.
For the first time in a half century, Indian fighter jets this morning carried out airstrikes inside Pakistan, killed what the Indians called “a very large number” Jaish e-Muhammad terrorists. The strikes come in response to a suicide bombing last week that killed 40 Indian soldiers in the disputed region of Kashmir. Walter and John speak with Dr. Marvin Weinbaum, the Scholar-in-Residence and director of the Middle East Institute’s Center for Pakistan and Afghanistan Studies.
Cubans yesterday overwhelmingly ratified a new constitution that replaces the country’s 1976 charter. 84.4 percent of Cuba’s 8.7 million voters went to the polls, with 87 percent supporting ratification, 9 percent opposing it, and the remainder entering spoiled or blank ballots. Arnold August, a lecturer, journalist and author of the book “Cuba-US Relations: Obama and Beyond,” joins the show.
President Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen is scheduled to begin three days of testimony on Capitol Hill today. Two of those sessions will be behind closed doors. The third is in open session. The mainstream media says that Cohen will likely tell lawmakers about illegalities the President, his company, and his children may have been involved in. Daniel Lazare, a journalist and author of three books—“The Frozen Republic,” “The Velvet Coup,” and “America's Undeclared War,” joins Walter 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. 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. Walter and John speak with financial policy analyst Daniel Sankey.

Venezuelan Foreign Minister: American People Should Stand Up for Peace Feb 25, 2019

Show notes

On today's episode Loud & Clear has a special and extensive interview with Venezuela’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jorge Arreaza. In addition to his current role of the country’s top diplomat, which he has held since 2017, Minister Arreaza previously served in the cabinet as the Minister in charge of education, science and technology and was Venezuela’s Vice President from 2013 to 2016. Loud & Clear Producer Walter Smolarek traveled to New York on Sunday to conduct the interview at Venezuela’s diplomatic residence in the city.
Then, following the dramatic events of last Saturday, where supporters of coup leader Juan Guaidó attempted to storm the Venezuela-Colombia border, the so-called Lima Group of countries supporting Guaidó held a high-profile meeting in Colombia where Mike Pence gave an address. Loud & Clear Producer Walter Smolarek fills John and Nicole in on the latest.
Co-host Brian Becker is in Hanoi this week to cover the second summit between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The President said yesterday that he has high hopes for the meetings this week, that he and Kim are “on the same page,” and that he is confident the two countries can settle their differences. Administration officials are suggesting that Vietnam could be a model for a future North Korea. Brian Becker joins the show from Hanoi, Vietnam.
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? The hosts focus on the Oakland teacher strike, in its third day. Today, Rick Ayers, a professor of education at the University of San Francisco 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 Walter and John.
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.

Trump & Pentagon Setting the Stage for War against Venezuela Feb 22, 2019

Show notes

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Jim Kavanagh, founder of thepolemicist.net, whose most recent article is “The Siege of Venezuela and The Travails of Empire,” 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 the ongoing situation in Venezuela, the power of labor and teachers recent successes, and the new announcement that 200 “peacekeeping” troops will now stay in Syria.
As the US effort to overthrow the Venezuelan government has run into obstacles within Venezuela, there appears to be a growing danger of a US orchestrated military intervention in alliance between the Pentagon and the right-wing governments of Colombia and Brazil. US-corporate owned media today were dominated by headlines related to an incident at the Venezuela-Brazil border. The New York Times headline for instance reads, “Deadly Violence Erupts on Brazil Border in Venezuela Aid Showdown: Venezuelan security forces fired on those protesting the government’s determination to block aid.” Meanwhile, competing concerts are still scheduled to take place today and tomorrow on both sides of the Venezuelan-Colombian border. Paul Dobson, a writer for VenezuelAnalysis.com, joins the show.
A court in North Carolina has ordered a rerun of the congressional election in the state’s 9th district. A firm hired by Republican candidate Mark Harris was found to have committed egregious election irregularities, invalidating the result. Ted Rall, an award-winning editorial cartoonist and columnist, whose work is at www.rall.com, joins the show.
Hoda Muthana is an American woman. She was born in the United States, the daughter of a former Yemeni diplomat and she went to college in Alabama. But in 2014 she told her parents that she was going to attend a university event. Instead, she went to Syria and joined the Islamic State. Now she wants to come home. But President Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo won’t allow her. Indeed, Pompeo says she isn’t even really a US citizen. Brian and John speak with Hassan Shibly, the Muthana family attorney and the Executive Director of the Florida Council of American Islamic Relations at Tampa.
The Australian Ministry of Foreign Affairs acknowledged yesterday that it had issued a passport to Wikileaks co-founder Julian Assange in September 2018 as a result of extended negotiations. It is not clear what Assange would be able to do with the passport. He has sought asylum in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London and would likely be extradited to the United States if he leaves. Kevin Gosztola, a writer for Shadowproof.com and co-host of the podcast Unauthorized Disclosure, 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.

Mueller Russiagate Probe Ending: What to Expect? Feb 21, 2019

Show notes

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker is joined by Coleen Rowley, a former FBI special agent who in 2002 was named Time Magazine person of the year along with two other whistleblowers.
It is widely believed that the final report from the Mueller probe report will be submitted next week. The investigation has led to a string of indictments, but mostly relate to lying to the FBI and other crimes not connected to collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. What can we expect, and what impact will it have on U.S. politics and foreign policy?
In a rare unanimous decision from the Supreme Court, the practice of civil asset forfeiture was declared unconstitutional in most instances. This is a major victory for advocates who have long argued that civil asset forfeiture was little more than a mechanism for police agencies to steal from the general public. Brad Schlesinger, an appellate attorney licensed to practice in the Supreme Court, joins the show.
A new alliance has been formed by the former head of the Israeli military and the leader of a smaller so-called centrist political party to take on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in upcoming elections. In response, Netanyahu has even further embraced the extreme right wing of Israeli politics. Brian speaks with Miko Peled, the author of “The General’s Son - A Journey of an Israeli in Palestine.” Miko Peled also has a new book "Injustice: The Story of the Holy Land Foundation Five.
The fight against ISIS in the final piece of territory it controls continues to drag on as hundreds of civilians flee the battlefield. Meanwhile, a major political controversy has erupted over whether or not citizens of countries like the UK and United States who joined ISIS -- including some who were children at the time -- will be allowed to return home. Ambassador Peter Ford, the former UK Ambassador to Syria, 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.
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.
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 speaks 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.

Andrew McCabe: The Politics of an Attempted FBI Coup Feb 20, 2019

Show notes

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by 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.”
Former FBI Acting Director Andrew McCabe told NBC’s Today Show yesterday that he had briefed senior Congressional leaders--called the Gang of Eight--on the counterintelligence investigation that he had initiated against President Trump and that “no one objected--not on legal grounds, not on constitutional grounds, and not based on the facts.”
President Trump said in a speech in Miami on Monday that there is “no going back” in his efforts to oust Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro as fears of a staged provocation along the border with Colombia this Saturday mount. Meanwhile, supporters of U.S.-backed self-proclaimed president Juan Guaido have reportedly seized control of the Venezuelan embassy in Costa Rica. Lucas Koerner, an activist and writer for VenezuelAnalysis.com, joins the show.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, in his annual address to the nation, threatened to use new weapons systems to target countries that host offensive missiles and countries that deploy them, calling out the United States in particular. Putin said that Moscow is not seeking confrontation with Washington, but that it objected to the recent US decisions to withdraw from the INF Treaty and to deploy US missiles to central and eastern Europe. Brian and John speak with Steven Starr, a professor at the University of Missouri in the Peace Studies Program on the environmental, health, and social effects of nuclear weapons, and a senior scientist for Physicians for Social Responsibility.
Three British Conservative Party parliamentarians quit the Tories and joined eight former Labour MPs in a new independent political group that looks like it’s becoming a bona fide political party. The conservatives left the party over Brexit, while the Labour members, who are widely to be considered centrist “Blairites”, accused their former party of anti-Semitism. The new Independent Group is now the fourth largest political grouping in parliament, along with the Liberal Democrats. Jess Cobbett, a researcher for a British Labour Party Member of Parliament, joins the show.
The US Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to consider the Maryland Attorney General’s bid to revive a state law aimed at preventing price gouging by pharmaceutical companies. The court let stand a Circuit Court ruling that it was a constitutional violation to try to stop big pharma from raising the prices of medication. Dr. Margaret Flowers, a medical doctor and the co-coordinator of Popular Resistance whose work is at www.popularresistance.org, 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 talk about Bernie Sanders announcing his bid for the democratic nomination, Trump’s attempted coup in Venezuela, the danger of war against Venezuela, and the effort by the Trump administration to pull the plug on a high speed train linking Southern and northern california. 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.

Bernie Sanders Announces 2020 Bid as Trump Crusades against “Socialism” Feb 19, 2019

Show notes

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Anoa Changa, the Director of Political Advocacy and a Managing Editor of Progressive Army, and host of the show The Way With Anoa.
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders announced his candidacy for president this morning. Recent polls show Sanders narrowly trailing former Vice President Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination. But Sanders is expected to face fierce attacks from the Democratic Party establishment.
President Trump issued a direct threat against Venezuela in a speech in Miami yesterday, urging the largely loyal Venezuelan military to move to the side of Juan Guaidó. He said that those backing the elected government of Nicolas Maduro were risking their own lives and that, while the US seeks a peaceful transition of power from Maduro to Guaidó, “all options are open.” Paul Dobson, a writer for VenezuelAnalysis.com and Walter Smolarek, Sputnik News analyst, join the show.
Facebook has blocked the viral video channel In the Now after CNN accused it of being a Kremlin propaganda outlet aimed at American millennials and of hiding its leadership structure. But it never did any such thing. Brian and John speak with Jim Kavanagh, the editor of thepolemicist.net, whose most recent article is “The Siege of Venezuela and The Travails of Empire.”
Seven members of the British parliament left the Labour Party yesterday, criticizing Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership and sending shockwaves through the country’s political system. As Brexit and the possibility of a new election looms, this split could prove to be exactly what conservative Prime Minister Theresa May needs to stay in power. Neil Clark, a journalist and broadcaster whose work has appeared in The Guardian, The Week, and Morning Star, and Sputnik News analyst Walter Smolarek, join the show.
Investigators in North Carolina have determined that a political operative working on behalf of a Republican congressional candidate oversaw an illegal absentee ballot scheme and went to elaborate lengths to conceal it. The finding could lead to a new election for what is the only still-undecided congressional race in the country. Dave Lindorff, an investigative reporter and founder of This Can’t Be Happening!, as well as a columnist for CounterPunch, and a contributor to the London Review of Books, The Nation, Extra! Tarbell, and Salon.com, 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, including the teacher strikes in West Virginia, Chicago, Oakland, and Denver, a new nurses strike, and climate marches here and in Europe. 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.

A National Emergency that Isn’t: Trump Says “I Didn’t Need to Do This” Feb 15, 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 Trump’s announcement today that he’ll sign the funding bill and a national emergency, the ongoing coup attempt in Venezuela, and Amazon pulling out of putting a headquarters in New York City.
Amazon yesterday abruptly announced that it was canceling plans to open a second headquarters site in the Queens borough of New York City. The move came amid what the company said was an unexpected backlash from lawmakers, union leaders, and progressives angry over huge tax breaks and incentives that the state offered the company. Brian and John speak with Gabi Silva, an organizer with Damayan and the Scamazon Coalition as well as a resident of Queens.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has called a snap general election for April, continuing a period of turmoil as the territorial conflict over Catalonian independence continues to weigh on the country’s politics. Sanchez suffered a major defeat earlier this week as opposition parties banded together to defeat his budget. The new election is expected to reveal even further fragmentation of the country’s political landscape. Sputnik news analyst and producer of this show Walter Smolarek joins the show.
A Washington DC developer has resorted to intimidation and displacement tactics to force residents from their homes in the city’s Brookland Manor. Developer Mid-City Financial stands to receive $47 million to reduce the affordable housing stock and increase the number of luxury units available in Northeast Washington. And the company is using hardball tactics to do that. Brian and John speak with Yasmina Mrabet, a housing organizer with LinkUp, a community group organizing with tenant associations around the city.
The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that the Chinese government is in talks with Venezuelan opposition leaders to safeguard its investments in the country. The Journal says that Chinese economic officials are worried about the $20 billion that Venezuela owes China, as well as its investments in the Venezuelan oil industry. Chinese officials, however, called the reports “fake news” and said that no such discussions had taken place. This is just one front in the global battle for control of Venezuela’s oil assets following U.S.-backed Juan Guaidó’s appointment of parallel boards of directors for the country’s main petroleum corporations. Andy Brennan, a journalist with Asia Times and CGTN in Beijing, joins the show.

BBC Producer Admits Syrian “Chemical Attack” Was Staged Feb 14, 2019

Show notes

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Dr. Piers Robinson, the chairman of the politics, society, and political journalism department at the University of Sheffield and the author of “Routledge Handbook of Media, Conflict and Security.”
Following an in-depth investigation by James Harkin published in The Intercept about the Douma chemical weapons attack, a BBC reporter has come out publicly to say he can confirm the core claims of the article, which challenge the dominant narrative around that attack that served as a pretext for a U.S. strike on the country.
Elliott Abrams is a convicted criminal who played a key role in the Iran-Contra scandal and death squad operations in Latin America in the 1980s. He’s also President Trump’s special envoy for Venezuela, leading the effort to overthrow the government of President Nicolas Maduro and to install a puppet regime led by Juan Guaido. He testified yesterday before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, but faced a hostile crowd leery of his history of lying to Congress and his support for a hawkish, activist, neoconservative foreign policy. Kei Pritsker, an activist who was arrested yesterday during the hearing, joins the show.
Our friend and contributor Ted Rall recently had a major court decision go against him in California. This was a case that had very important implications for Americans’ constitutional rights to freedom of speech. In the end, the court decided essentially, that Ted’s right to criticize the Los Angeles Police Department was less important than the Los Angeles Times’s right to block Ted’s right to freedom of speech. It’s a case with very important constitutional implications. Ted is appealing that ruling to the California Supreme Court. Brian and John speak with Ted Rall, an award-winning editorial cartoonist and columnist, whose work is at www.rall.com.
Former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe confirmed yesterday that FBI officials were so alarmed by President Trump’s decision to fire former FBI director James Comey, that they held talks on recruiting a cabinet official to push Trump out of office using the Constitution’s 25th amendment. Meanwhile, a federal judge yesterday ruled that former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort breached the terms of his plea deal by lying to investigators after taking the deal. The ruling virtually ensures that, absent a presidential pardon, Manafort will die in prison. Dan Kovalik, a human rights and labor lawyer who is the author of the new book “The Plot to Control the World: How the US Spent Billions to Change the Outcome of Elections Around the World,” 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.
Congress today will vote on a budget to keep the federal government open beyond midnight tomorrow, even though President Trump has not yet said that he’ll sign the measure. The deal does not include funding for the president’s border wall. Susan Pai, an immigration attorney and a member of a number of civil liberties and immigrant rights organizations, joins the show.
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.

U.S. Anti-Iran Conference Goes off the Rails Feb 13, 2019

Show notes

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Mark Sleboda, an international affairs and security analyst.
Sixty countries are participating in a two-day US-organized Middle East so-called “peace conference” in Warsaw starting today that was originally billed by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo as a gathering to put pressure on Iran. The conference comes as some countries, including several in the European Union, are hoping to salvage the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, increasing tensions with Washington.
Senate Intelligence Committee chairman Richard Shelby made the rounds of political talk shows over the past two days to say that his committee had found no collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. CBS and NBC reported at length on that conclusion. Ranking Democrat Mark Warner, however, said that he “respectfully disagreed” with Shelby, adding that, while there was no evidence of collusion, the Committee still had to interview several key witnesses. Meanwhile, some proponents of the Russiagate campaign are attempting to downplay expectations by arguing that the Mueller probe isn’t expansive enough. Daniel Lazare, a journalist and author of three books—“The Frozen Republic,” “The Velvet Coup,” and “America's Undeclared War,” joins the show.
Congress is finally set to help veterans who were exposed to highly toxic burn pits in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere. Solid waste--everything from abandoned military equipment to plastic, to expired food, to body parts--is doused with jet fuel and set ablaze by the US military overseas. But the smoke and fumes are highly toxic and cause rare brain cancers. Brian and John speak with Kathy Kelly, co-coordinator of Voices for Creative Non-Violence, and Joe Hickman, journalist, professor, and author of “The Burn Pits: The Poisoning of America's Soldiers.”
British Prime Minister Theresa May’s top Brexit negotiator is finding himself in hot water. He was reportedly overheard speaking in a Brussels bar and saying that if parliament does not vote to support May’s Brexit deal with the European Union, the prime minister could indefinitely delay leaving the union, keeping the country in economic and political limbo with no end in sight. May spoke before parliament today to address the controversy. Steve Hedley, the senior assistant general secretary of the the UK’s Rail, Maritime, and Transport Workers Union, joins the show.
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 Brian and John.
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.

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