Loud & Clear

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Under Pressure from Trump, Will Europe Move Closer to Russia? Aug 29, 2018

Show notes

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and Walter Smolarek (sitting in for John Kiriakou) are joined by Peter Lavelle, host of RT’s flagship program CrossTalk.
French President Emmanuel Macron said this week that the European Union needs to look out for its own security, rather than looking to the US. Germany is moving forward with the Nordstream 2 gas pipeline from Russia, against the US’s demands. What does the strengthening of European-Russian relations and the fraying of US-European relations mean for geopolitics?
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.
Justice Department official Bruce Ohr gave testimony and answered questions for 8 hours behind closed doors yesterday in a hearing held by the House Judiciary and House Oversight and Government Reform committees. What does Ohr’s role in the investigation into alleged Russian collusion say about the nature of the entire Mueller investigation? Brian and Walter speak with Ted Rall, an award-winning editorial cartoonist and columnist whose work is at rall.com.
Puerto Rican Governor Ricardo Rosselló commissioned a full study on the death toll from last year’s Hurricane Maria, and the results are in. Up from the original estimate from of 64, this week’s report put the death toll at 2,975, making Maria one of the deadliest hurricanes ever.
Dr. Adriana Garriga-López, department chair and associate professor of Anthropology at Kalamazoo College, joins the show.
With rumors swirling about President Trump potentially firing Attorney General Jeff Sessions, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham appeared to throw his hat in the ring in an interview last night. Meanwhile, this morning, President Trump announced that White House counsel Don McGahn will be leaving in the fall. Dave Lindorff, an investigative reporter, a columnist for CounterPunch, and a contributor to Businessweek, The Nation, Extra! and Salon.com, joins Brian and Walter.
Important primaries were held across the country last night. In Florida, progressive Democratic candidate Andrew Gillum won the gubernatorial primary against frontrunner and former Congressperson Gwen Graham, and his competition, conservative Ron DeSantis, was tapped by President Trump. And in Arizona, establishment favorite Martha McSally defeated two far-right challengers. Jacqueline Luqman, the co-editor-in-chief of Luqman Nation, whose livestream is available every Thursday night at 9:00 p.m. on Facebook, and Juliana Musheyev, a Floridian and member of the Board of Directors of the Peace Education and Action Center, join the show.
Teachers and faculty voted last night to approve a strike if negotiations with Seattle Public Schools don’t produce a tentative contract by the start of the school year on Tuesday. Brian and Walter speak with Jane Cutter, an educator and the editor of LiberationNews.org.

War On Alternative Media: A Discussion With Abby Martin & Mike Prysner Aug 28, 2018

Show notes

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Abby Martin, host of The Empire Files, and Mike Prysner, the producer. You can support their ongoing work at patreon.com/EmpireFiles and GoFundMe.com/keep-empire-files-going.
Progressive alternative media in the United States is under attack. Recently, the prominent TeleSur program The Empire Files was shut down as a consequence of U.S. sanctions imposed on Venezuela. Meanwhile Facebook and other social media giants have been censoring and concealing content that doesn’t fit the corporate media narrative.
Monday’s weekly series is False Profits—A Weekly Look at Wall Street and Corporate Capitalism with Daniel Sankey. Daniel Sankey, a financial policy analyst, joins the show.
Despite being caught in a lie, CNN is standing behind their reporting. Lanny Davis, lawyer for former President Trump’s lawyer Michael Cohen, told CNN as an anonymous source (and then other outlets as well) that Cohen had details on the Trump Tower meeting that special counsel Robert Mueller is keen to find out about. Then, in an apparent bid to muddy the waters, in the past few days he’s been saying Cohen doesn’t necessarily have information. Several outlets outed him as their source, embarrassing him in his flip-flopping—but confusingly, CNN is still “confident in our reporting.” Brian and John speak with Jim Kavanagh, the editor of thepolemicist.net whose latest is "Be Careful What You Ask For: Wasting Time with Manafort, Cohen, and Russiagate.”
Donald Trump tweeted this morning criticizing Google’s manipulation of search results. While his outrage was directed at their reported suppression of right-wing outlets, beneath the surface are huge implications about Google’s power and ability to surveil virtually every part of our lives. Dr. Robert Epstein, the senior research psychologist at the American Institute for Behavioral Research and Technology, joins the show.
Chemnitz, a German city in the state of Saxony, has erupted in racist rioting and violence in the last few days, with crowds yelling anti-immigrant slogans and using the illegal Nazi straight-arm salute facing off with crowds of anti-racist protesters. What does this mean for the rise of the far-right in Germany and in Europe? John Wight, the host of the weekly Sputnik Radio show Hard Facts, joins Brian and John.
The Russian defense minister today announced that huge military drills involving hundreds of thousands of soldiers will take place in the country’s east next month. With a sizable contingent of Chinese troops expected to participate, many are taking this as a sign that the two rising powers are moving closer together in response to the U.S. government’s new doctrine of “major power competition.” International affairs and security analyst Mark Sleboda joins the show.
After questioning Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Iran’s Parliament censured him today and referred him to the judiciary. This comes shortly after the ministers of economy and labor were fired by lawmakers. Is the Iranian leadership changing? Are the US sanctions playing into these changes? Brian and John speak with Mohammad Marandi, an expert on American studies and postcolonial literature who teaches at the University of Tehran.

John McCain: “Tireless Advocate” … of War, Empire & Regime Change Aug 27, 2018

Show notes

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Dr. Nazia Kazi, an activist, professor of Anthropology at Stockton University and the author of the forthcoming book “Islamophobia, Race and Global Politics.”
Senator John McCain died on Saturday and the testimonies about his service and character are pouring in from around the country. McCain is being described as a maverick and a moderate who tried to wrest his party from dangerous populism. However, his real legacy is his consistent votes for and encouragement for the country to go to war, and he personally dropped bombs over civilians in Hanoi.
Progressive governments across Latin America have been under unprecedented pressure to move to the right, with countries from Brazil to Argentina to Ecuador either pushing liberal leaders aside or changing policy to ally themselves with the United States. What’s behind this push to the right? And are Latin American countries in danger of a return to military or fascist governments with the support of the United States? Arnold August, a lecturer, journalist and author of the book “Cuba-US Relations: Obama and Beyond” and Gloria La Riva, the director of the Cuba and Venezuela Solidarity Committee, 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. Brian and John speak with web developer and technologist Chris Garaffa.
Lanny Davis, the attorney for President Trump’s lawyer Michael Cohen, is backing off statements he made last week that Cohen has information to share with investigators indicating that Trump knew in 2016 of Russian efforts to undermine the Hillary Clinton campaign. And attorneys for accused Russian spy Maria Butina say that federal allegations that Butina traded sex for information are nonsense. Coleen Rowley, a former FBI special agent who in 2002 was named Time Magazine person of the year along with two other whistleblowers, joins the show.
Iranian Defense Minister Amir Hatami met today with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and pledged Iranian help in the reconstruction of Syria, as well as enhanced defense cooperation. The United Nations estimates that the country will need $388 billion to rebuild from a seven-year-long civil war that has seen the deaths of more than 350,000 people. Massoud Shadjareh, the founder of the Islamic Human Rights Commission, joins Brian and John.
The North Korean government reacted angrily today after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo canceled his planned visit to that country. Pompeo cited a lack of progress in bilateral talks as the reason for the decision. But North Korea said that the US was hatching a criminal plot against Pyongyang and that the US was not serious about negotiations. Dr. Christine Hong, associate professor of critical race and ethnic studies at UC Santa Cruz and a member of the Korea Policy Institute, joins the show.
In a victory for labor unions, a federal judge on Saturday struck down key provisions of a series of executive orders that would have made it easier to fire federal workers and weaken their unions. The ruling is a major setback for President Trump’s policy of trying to break unions, especially those that represent federal workers. Brian and John speak with Jeff Bigelow, an organizer with AFSCME, the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees.
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 the show.

Behind the Anti-Palestinian "Canary Mission" Blacklisting Operation Aug 24, 2018

Show notes

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Max Blumenthal, a journalist, a bestselling author whose latest book is “The 51 Day War: Ruin and Resistance in Gaza,” the senior editor of Grayzone Project, and co-host of the podcast “Moderate Rebels.”
Facebook is being accused of creating an entirely new level of censorship, deleting posts and whole pages, blocking content, and restricting access to news. The mainstream media has decried Facebook’s censorship of conservative sites like Prager University and InfoWars. But Facebook also has deleted pages associated with Bernie Sanders followers and Black Lives Matter. What the media aren’t talking about, however, is Facebook’s censorship of pages and news advocating for the Palestinian cause or for peace in the Middle East.
Friday is Loud & Clear’s regular segment on the midterms, taking a look at political races around the country in the runup to midterm elections in November. 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, joins the show.
A new tranche of US sanctions against Russia will take effect on Monday, including prohibitions on loans, weapons, and dual-use items. The sanctions will remain in place for at least one year. Brian and John speak with international affairs and security analyst Mark Sleboda.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller has given Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg immunity as part of the investigation into Trump’s former personal attorney, Michael Cohen. And Weisselberg isn’t the only person granted immunity. National Enquirer publisher David Pecker has also received a guarantee of immunity. The noose appears to be tightening around the White House. But what is the thrust of the investigation now that it has nothing to do with Russia? Daniel Lazare, a journalist and author of three books—“The Frozen Republic,” “The Velvet Coup,” and “America's Undeclared War,” joins the show.
It has been nearly a month since a federal court ordered the Trump Administration to reunite separated immigrant families, but hundreds of children are still waiting for reunification. In fact, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, some 565 children are still being held in detention away from their parents. Juan Carlos Ruiz, cofounder of New Sanctuary Coalition, joins Brian and John.
Houthi rebels reported that Saudi warplanes attacked a village outside of Hudaidah in Yemen yesterday, killing at least 30 people, including 22 children. The dead had fled an earlier Saudi bombing that had killed 44 civilians. Kathy Kelly, co-coordinator of Voices for Creative Non-Violence, joins the show.
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 blog Left I on the News and on twitter @leftiblog, and Sputnik producer Nicole Roussell.

Media Frenzy Over New "Hack" of DNC: Oops! It was Just a Security Test Aug 23, 2018

Show notes

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Ted Rall, an award-winning editorial cartoonist and columnist whose work is at rall.com.
Headlines in major news outlets across the country sounded the alarm about what they said was yet another sinister Russian attempt to subvert American democracy—a hack into the Democratic National Committee’s voter database. But, it turns out, this was nothing more than a security test by one of its state affiliates.
Adopting another talking point of the extreme right wing, President Trump has asked that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo take a look at “the large scale killing of farmers” in South Africa, referring to the white landowners whose property is subject to a new redistribution program aimed at addressing the legacy of apartheid. This comes after Fox News host Tucker Carlson called South African President Ramaphosa a racist. Dr. Gerald Horne, a professor of history at the University of Houston and author of many books, including “From the Barrel of a Gun: The United States and the War against Zimbabwe,” joins the show.
Today the hosts continue Thursday’s weekly series “Criminal Injustice,” where they talk about the most egregious conduct of our courts and prosecutors and how justice is denied to so many people in this country. Today they focus on the massive prison strike taking place in more than a dozen states. Brian and John speak with Paul Wright, the founder and Executive Director of the Human Rights Defense Center and editor of Prison Legal News (PLN), and Nicole Roussell, a producer of this show.
The United States and China imposed 25 percent tariffs on $16 billion worth of each other's goods today, as the Trump administration’s trade war continues to gather steam. What will the consequences be for the two countries’ economies, and the world? Jude Woodward. She is the author of the book “The US vs China: Asia's new Cold War?,” joins the show.
Tonight in 1968, 43 Black GIs who were stationed at Fort Hood, Texas, refused to board a plane to go fight against protestors at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Many of the soldiers had already been to war in Vietnam, and this was a huge act of dissent, foreshadowing much more dissent within the ranks of the military in decades to come. C. R. Gibbs, an author and co-author of six books and a frequent national and international lecturer who appears regularly on television to discuss historical issues, joins Brian and John.
NSA contractor Reality Winner was sentenced today to 63 months in prison, or more than 5 years. She was charged under the Espionage Act for leaking to the press a report on alleged Russian election interference. Kevin Gosztola, the managing editor for Shadowproof.com and co-host of the podcast Unauthorized Disclosure who was at the hearing this morning, joins the show.
The British government released 25 guidance documents for people and businesses in the case that no Brexit deal is agreed upon between the EU and the UK, leaving the UK without any agreements on trade, diplomacy, and other relationships with the EU. Brian and John speak with Robert Griffiths, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Britain.
The US has had a long and contentious debate about affirmative action, one policy intended to help with centuries of structural oppression of people of color. Most recently, the opposition to affirmative action has shifted to blaming the policy for keeping high-performing Asian-American students out of elite places like Harvard. But what sort of effects on Asian-American students are really at play? Dr. Kevin Kumashiro, an internationally recognized expert on educational policy, school reform, and educational equity, and social justice who is the former dean of the School of Education at the University of San Francisco, joins the show.

Truth and Lies: Media's Misdirection of Manafort Verdict and Cohen Plea Aug 22, 2018

Show notes

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Jim Kavanagh, the editor of thepolemicist.net, Dan Kovalik, a human rights and labor lawyer who is the author of the book “The Plot to attack Iran,” and Joe Lauria, the editor-in-chief of Consortium News, founded by the late Robert Parry.
Courts in New York and Alexandria, Virginia delivered bombshells for President Trump yesterday, as former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort was convicted of eight felony counts of bank fraud, and Trump attorney Michael Cohen turned himself in to the FBI and pleaded guilty to eight counts of campaign finance fraud, bank fraud, and wire fraud. Manafort will now go on trial on additional fraud counts in Washington, DC, and Cohen will go to prison for between three and five years.
Wednesday’s regular segment, Beyond Nuclear with Kevin Kamps, looks at nuclear issues, including weapons, energy, waste, and the future of nuclear technology in the United States. Today they focus on Trump’s plan to cut coal regulations, and the connections between the coal and nuclear industries. Kevin Kamps, the Radioactive Waste Watchdog at the organization Beyond Nuclear, joins the show.
Facebook announced yesterday that it had taken down 652 fake accounts and pages with ties to Iranian and Russian propaganda organs. The company said there were four different campaigns, with three originating in Iran. Is Facebook jumping on the war hysteria bandwagon? Brian and John speak with Dave Lindorff, an investigative reporter and founder of This Can’t Be Happening!, as well as a columnist for CounterPunch, and a contributor to Businessweek, The Nation, Extra! and Salon.com.
Saudi Arabia is preparing to execute five people, including a woman, for participating in peaceful demonstrations in support of rights for Shia Muslims. The public prosecutor, who reports directly to King Salman, has charged the five with a variety of so-called crimes, including, “participating in protests, incitement to protest, chanting slogans, attempting to inflame public opinion, filming protests, and providing moral support to rioters.” The five could be beheaded as soon as Friday. Ali al-Ahmed, the director of the Institute for Gulf Affairs, joins the show.
Russia’s foreign minister said that the Taliban have accepted an invitation to attend talks on the future of Afghanistan to be held in Moscow on September 4. Sergei Lavrov said that the aim of the talks is to encourage the Taliban to abandon hostilities, to engage in a dialogue with the Afghan government, and to protect Russian citizens in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, hopes for a temporary halt in the fighting have broken down following a mass kidnapping and a rocket attack on the presidential palace as President Ashraf Ghani was giving a speech. Brian Terrell, a long time peace activist and a co-coordinator of Voices for Creative Nonviolence, joins Brian and John.
National Security Advisor John Bolton said yesterday that the United States would respond “very strongly” if forces loyal to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad use chemical weapons in an offensive to retake Idlib Province. But doesn’t that just open the door for US-allied forces to use chemical weapons and blame the Syrian government? Rick Sterling, an investigative journalist and member of the Syria Solidarity Movement, joins the show.
Tensions between the United States and Turkey, along with the country’s economic instability, continue to heat up. National Security Advisor John Bolton told reporters yesterday that Turkey could end its lira-battering crisis with Washington “instantly” by freeing a detained American pastor. Bolton added that promises of cash from the Qatari government will not save Turkey’s economy. Brian and John speak with Ambassador Robert Pearson, a former US Ambassador to Turkey and former director general of the US Foreign Service.

What the Manafort Verdict and Cohen Plea Deal Means for Trump & Mueller Aug 21, 2018

Show notes

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, the Paul Manafort guilty verdict and the Trump lawyer Michael Cohen’s plea deal is the lead story at the top of the second hour.
In the first hour, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Joe Lauria, the editor-in-chief of Consortium News, founded by the late Robert Parry and author of the book "How I Lost, By Hillary Clinton," and Alexander Mercouris, the editor-in-chief of The Duran.
Key Senate committees held hearings today amid news that Microsoft has seized six websites that it says were registered by Russia’s military intelligence organization, the GRU, and that targeted Republican think tanks and the US Senate. New US sanctions on Russia take effect tomorrow, and two senators are sponsoring what they are calling “the sanctions bill from hell” that they would pass if the US intelligence community confirms that the Russian government was behind the six suspended websites. Meanwhile, British Foreign Minister Jeremy Hunt today called on all EU member countries to join the US and UK sanctions.
Tuesday’s regular segment is Loud & Clear’s weekly series False Profits—A Weekly Look at Wall Street and Corporate Capitalism with Daniel Sankey. Daniel Sankey, a financial policy analyst, joins the show.
The jury has reached its verdict in the trial of Paul Manafort, who was for a brief period the chairman of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign in the summer of 2016. Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s personal lawyer for more than a decade, was also in court today where he pled guilty to multiple charges.
Mumia Abu Jamal has been in prison in Pennsylvania since 1981, after being accused and convicted of killing a policeman. He was on death row until 2011, when his sentence was converted to life without parole. Mumia and his supporters have always maintained his innocence, and he will be in court again next week in Philadelphia. He’ll be in court on August 30 pursuing a new legal strategy that argues that Ronald Castile, a former District Attorney whose office prosecuted his case, was improperly involved in his appeal after he became a state supreme court justice. Dr. Johanna Fernandez, a professor at Baruch College and an activist with Campaign to Bring Mumia Home, and the maker of the film “Justice On Trial,” which you can check it out this Thursday at 7:00 p.m. at the Maysles Cinema in Harlem, joins the show.
American prisoners are going on strike today all across the country. The action will continue through September 9, which marks the anniversary of the deadly uprising at the Attica Correctional Facility in upstate New York. But the strike isn’t necessarily political in nature. Prisoners want to draw attention to prison conditions and exploitative labor practices. And they want their work to be valued by society. Alex Rubinstein, a Sputnik news analyst and journalist whose work is on twitter @RealAlexRubi, joins Brian and John.
Today marks the 47th anniversary of the death of George Jackson. The hosts take a look at his legacy and present-day significance. Dr. Gerald Horne, a professor of history at the University of Houston and author of many books, including “Blows Against the Empire: U.S. Imperialism in Crisis,” joins the show.
Voting rights activists in Georgia are decrying a state plan to close two thirds of the polling stations in a predominantly Black county. The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a formal protest with the county’s electoral board. Even the Republican nominee for governor has urged officials to abandon the plan. Brian and John speak with Anoa Changa, the director of political advocacy and a managing editor of Progressive Army, and host of the show The Way With Anoa.

New Cracks Emerge in "Russiagate": Beneath the Headlines Aug 20, 2018

Show notes

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Jim Kavanagh, the editor of thepolemicist.net, whose most recent piece is “Fighting Fake Stories: The New Yorker, Israel and Obama,” and Ted Rall, an award-winning editorial cartoonist and columnist.
President Trump over the weekend revoked the security clearance of former CIA director John Brennan and threatened to do the same to a list of other former Obama-era national security officials and a current Justice Department official. Meanwhile, media outlets reported that White House Counsel Don McGahn met at least three times with Special Counsel Robert Mueller. President Trump tweeted early this morning that McGahn is “not a rat, like in the Nixon White House.”
Monday’s weekly half hour 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.
The State Department has created something called the Iran Action Group to coordinate US foreign policy toward that country. Detractors, however, say that the group’s purpose is to create a policy to overthrow the Iranian government. And the group’s membership is apparently classified. Brian and John speak with Mohammad Marandi, an expert on American studies and postcolonial literature who teaches at the University of Tehran.
Nearly 90 South Korean families crossed into North Korea yesterday to be reunited with elderly relatives they had not seen since being separated in the chaos of the Korean War nearly 70 years ago. The reunification program has been ongoing for decades, was suspended, and was restarted in the recent rapprochement between the two Koreas. Simone Chun, a fellow at the Korea Policy Institute and a member of the Korean Peace Network, joins the show.
After eight grueling years of austerity, Greece today emerged from its bailout program. The $330 billion in loans from the European Union, the European Central Bank, and the International Monetary Fund saved the country from insolvency, but economic misery is still the norm, with unemployment remaining well over 20 percent. Steve Keen, the author of “Debunking Economics” and the world’s first crowdfunded economist whose work is at patreon.com/ProfSteveKeen, joins Brian and John.
Loud & Clear’s regular Monday segment “Education for Liberation” is about 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? 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 recently released book, “You can’t fire the bad ones: And 18 other myths about teachers, teachers unions, and public education,” joins the show.
In a second episode of Loud & Clear’s regular Monday segment “Education for Liberation”, Brian and John speak with Dr. Kevin Kumashiro, an internationally recognized expert on educational policy, school reform, and educational equity and social justice, and the former dean of the School of Education at the University of San Francisco.

1965 Watts Uprising: A Rebellion that Shook America Aug 10, 2018

Show notes

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Dr. Alice Bonner, a docent at the National Museum of African American History and Culture and a retired professor at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland.
Ahead of the anniversary of the deadly Charlottesville white supremacist protest, the hosts speak with Dr. Alice Bonner about a pivotal moment in the fight against racism in the United States -- The Watts Uprising.
Again today we take a look at political races around the country in the runup to midterm elections in November. Jacqueline Luqman, co-editor-in-chief of Luqman Nation, joins the show.
Virginia Governor Ralph Northam has declared a state of emergency in Charlottesville in advance of the one-year anniversary of the violent Unite the Right rally. Last year a right-wing extremist ran over and killed 32-year-old Heather Heyer. Brian and John speak with Kei Pritsker, he’s a D.C.-based activist who is one of the organizers of the counter-protest against the “Unite the Right 2” rally in Washington D.C.
President Trump’s new Space Force will be the first new military branch since the creation of the Air Force 70 years ago, if Congress approves it and it can get off the ground. But what exactly is a space force? And do we really need one? We’re joined from Maine by Bruce Gagnon, the coordinator of the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space, joins the show.
Fusion GSP founder Glenn Simpson met secretly with one of Barack Obama’s seniormost Justice Department officials, Bruce Ohr, immediately after the 2016 election, according to Ohr’s handwritten notes that were released yesterday. In that meeting, Simpson told Ohr that Trump attorney Michael Cohen was the the secret middleman between the campaign and the Russian government. Simpson admitted in sworn testimony last year to the House Intelligence Committee that he had contact with Ohr after Trump’s election victory. But Ohr’s notes provide the first detailed public account of what the two men actually discussed. We’ll get into the details. Steve Patt, an independent journalist whose critiques of the mainstream media have been a feature of his blog Left I on the News, joins Brian and John.
The National Security Archive, a private academic organization based at George Washington University that is the repository for declassified government documents, announced today that its Freedom of Information Act suit against the CIA for documents related to CIA director Gina Haspel’s involvement in the torture program was successful. The Archive already has released those documents and they are damning in the information they provide on Haspel and torture. Brian and John speak with Sue Udry, a peace and social justice activist and Executive Director of Defending Rights and Dissent.
Code Pink is one of the most active and influential peace organizations in America, tackling issues from Gaza to immigration to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. One of the leading members of that group is our friend and frequent guest Ann Wright. Earlier this week, Ann found herself at the US-Mexico border, where she’s been working to improve the plight of so many immigrants to this country. Ann Wright, a retired United States Army colonel and former U.S. State Department official who resigned in protest of the invasion of Iraq and became an anti-war activist, joins the show.

NATO Warplanes Fire Missiles on Russia's Border During War "Games" Aug 09, 2018

Show notes

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by international affairs and security analyst.
The latest round of sanctions targeting Russia is already taking a toll, as forces in the U.S. military and foreign policy establishment continue their campaign to ensure that the two countries remain on a collision course.
Dozens of people, including many children, were killed in Yemen today by an airstrike launched by the Saudi-led coalition waging war on that country. The bombing, which hit a school bus, is causing outrage around the world. Medea Benjamin, an anti-war activist who is the co-founder of Code Pink, 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. Brian and John speak with Kevin Gosztola, a writer for Shadowproof.com and co-host of the podcast Unauthorized Disclosure, and Paul Wright, the founder and Executive Director of the Human Rights Defense Center and editor of Prison Legal News and Criminal Legal News.
Besieged Gazans fired on Israel last night, and received massive rocket fire in return. This happened as a ceasefire was in the works. So what happened? Daoud Kuttab, an award-winning Palestinian journalist, joins the show.
Venezuela’s Supreme Court has ordered the arrest of former head of the National Assembly Julio Borges, who currently lives in exile in Colombia. Paul Dobson, a writer for VenezuelaAnalysis.com, joins Brian and John.
The initial count of fatalities in Puerto Rico during Hurricane Maria was initially assessed at 64. But according to a revised report submitted to Congress today, the number of fatalities is actually 1,427. Dr. Adriana Garriga-López, Department Chair and Associate Professor of Anthropology at Kalamazoo College, joins the show.
Brazil’s Workers Party nominated imprisoned former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as its presidential candidate despite the fact that the Supreme Court will likely seek to keep him off the ballot. Meanwhile, far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro, who is a frontrunner, chose an outspoken general as his running mate. General Hamilton Murao has spoken in favor of a military coup in Brazil. Brian and John speak with Brazilian-British activist Victor Fraga with Democracy Brazil UK.
Periodic series Stories from the National Museum of African American History and Culture is where Dr. Alice Bonner highlights some of the most important episodes in Black history. This installation is about Ida B. Wells’ legacy. Dr. Alice Bonner, a volunteer docent at the newly opened National Museum of African American History and Culture, retired professor at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland, and a longtime journalist at the Washington Post who wrote her dissertation on a history of press desegregation, joins the show.

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