Loud & Clear

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Aaron Maté, a journalist for The Nation and The Grayzone, and a former host and producer at Democracy Now and The Real News.A new report reveals not only that key Russiagate figure Konstantin Kilimnik was not a so-called Russian government agent, but that he was in fact a US State Department source. And, Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team knew about this for more than the past year. US and Russian warships came within 165 feet of each other earlier today, and each country blames the other for the near collision. Accidents happen -- but when tensions between countries are as high as they are now in this new Cold War, even small mishaps can start unnecessary war. Mark Sleboda, an international affairs and security analyst, joins the show.President Trump this week criticized the war in Vietnam, a sentiment that many Americans share. Rather than concentrate on keeping America out of more wars, CNN took him to task about his co

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.President Trump said on Twitter yesterday that no agreement has been reached with Mexico on stemming the flow of undocumented migrants and that tariffs would go into effect on Monday. Mexico’s Foreign Minister met yesterday with Vice President Pence and Secretary of State Pompeo hoping to convince them that Mexico is doing all it can to protect the border. But White House officials said nothing would make the president happy short of a complete cessation of illegal border crossings. The President also made threats today about new tariffs on another $300 billion of Chinese goods.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 direc

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Tim Karr, the senior director of strategy and communications at Free Press and he joins us from Washington.Australian federal police this morning raided the headquarters of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in a move that is meeting with an outcry from journalists, civil libertarians, unions, and human rights groups. The police had warrants naming two reporters and the news director, who had worked on a story using Defense Ministry documents showing that Australian troops had committed war crimes in Afghanistan. Police also raided the home of one of the reporters. Joe Biden is the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination for president. Believe it or not, this is the fourth time he’s run for the country’s highest office. And he was Vice President for eight years. Biden’s earlier campaigns were doomed for a variety of reasons. In 1988 he was credibly accused of plagiarism. In 1992 he was accused of embellishment. In 2000

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by John Ross, Senior Fellow at Chongyang Institute, Renmin University of China, and an award-winning resident columnist with several Chinese media organizations.Top U.S. and Chinese officials exchanged sharp criticisms in the run up to today’s 30th anniversary of the 1989 events in Tiananmen Square, with U.S. Secretary of State Pompeo slamming China’s human rights record and a Chinese government spokesman replying that the remarks aim to “patronise and bully the Chinese people.” What happened 30 years ago, and why is it still such an important issue in contemporary U.S.-China relations? President Trump is in the second day of his visit to the UK. He met this morning with outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May and said he was interested in negotiating what he called a “major trade deal” with the country. Queen Elizabeth hosted a state dinner for the president last night, but Trump’s crowds have been small and very large protests ha

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Bruce Fein, a constitutional law scholar and a former assistant deputy Attorney General of the United States, and Dan Kovalik, a human rights and labor lawyer who is the author of the book “The Plot to Overthrow Venezuela: How the US is Orchestrating a Coup for Oil.”The Justice Department is refusing to comply with a federal judge’s order to release transcripts of recorded conversations between former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn and Russian Ambassador to the United States Sergey Kislyak. Federal prosecutors also refused to release an unredacted portion of the Mueller report that focused on Flynn. That puts the Department of Justice in contempt of court. 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

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Joe Lauria, the editor-in-chief of Consortium News, founded by the late Robert Parry. And he’s the author of the book “How I Lost, By Hillary Clinton.”Wikileaks co-founder Julian Assange is in a prison hospital in serious condition, according to his attorneys, family members, and Wikileaks. Julian was transferred to the prison hospital yesterday after one of his attorneys found him to be incoherent in advance of a court hearing that he was going to do via video. Meanwhile, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture appealed to the UK government today, saying that Julian was being tortured psychologically. President Trump last night announced onerous new sanctions against Mexico that will take effect on June 10, unless the Mexican government stems the flow of migrants to the United States. Tariffs of 5 percent on all Mexican goods began that day and will rise to 25 percent by October. Stocks and bonds both tumbled with

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Aaron Maté, a journalist for The Nation and a former host and producer at Democracy Now and The Real News.Special Counsel Robert Mueller said in a rare press conference yesterday that his investigation is over and that his written report speaks for itself. He added that he would not answer any questions, even from Congress, beyond what is already in the report. But one thing the mainstream media is overlooking is that careful language Mueller used. What did he really say about the DNC hack, Russia, and collusion? Israelis will go to the polls again in September after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to form a governing coalition by yesterday’s deadline. Netanyahu was unable to pull in enough support amid a dispute with former ally Avigdor Lieberman of the ultranationalist Israel Our Home over the conscription of ultra-orthodox Jewish seminary students. Netanyahu will remain in office until the election and, in July, w

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.Special Counsel Robert Mueller held a press conference today in which he said that he would not say anything before Congress than he had already written in his report. He cautioned that he had NOT said that the President had not tried to obstruct justice, but that it was unconstitutional to charge a sitting president with a crime and unfair to accuse a person of a crime when he could not defend himself. National Security Advisor John Bolton held a press conference today where he accused Iran of using mines to attack the oil tankers that were damaged in the Persian Gulf on May 12. Bolton also accused Iran of being behind a failed attempt to disrupt Saudi oil infrastructure. No evidence was presented to support these claims, but the Trump administration’s march towards confrontation with Iran continues regardless. Massoud Shadjareh, the fou

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.Elections for the European Parliament are over and the results are not nearly as clear cut as many observers had expected. In the UK, the results held true to public opinion polls, with Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party finishing first with more than 35 percent of the vote. Elsewhere around Europe in the European Parliamentary election, the anticipated right-wing tide never materialized, and although more nationalists were elected to the body, the Greens also finished very strongly. In the end, pro-Europeanists still control the majority. Independent journalist Diani Barreto and Alexander Mercouris, the editor-in-chief of The Duran, join the show. Cybercriminals--extortionists--have terrorized Baltimore over the past three weeks, freezing thousands of city computers, freezing emails, and disrupting everything from real esta

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Joe Lauria, editor-in-chief of Consortium News and author of the book "How I Lost, By Hillary Clinton." The superseding indictment of Julian Assange on violations of the espionage act is sending shockwaves around the world. The panel discusses what this extreme attack on press freedom means for democracy in the United States. President Trump yesterday gave Attorney General William Barr sweeping powers to review and declassify documents related to how the Russia collusion investigation was conducted. He also ordered the CIA and all of the other 15 intelligence agencies to cooperate in the review. Barr also will seek to determine if the Obama Administration authorized a spying operation against the Trump campaign. The hosts are joined by Dan Kovalik, a human rights and labor lawyer who is the author of the book “The Plot to Overthrow Venezuela: How the US is Orchestrating a Coup for Oil.” British Prime Minister Theresa May a

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Jim Kavanagh, the editor of thepolemicist.net. Michael Avenatti, the attorney who rocketed to fame by representing adult film star Stormy Daniels in her lawsuit against President Trump, was charged yesterday with defrauding her of $300,000. Avenatti was charged earlier this year in New York on multiple felony counts of trying to extort the Nike shoe company of $25 million. And he faces yet more felony charges in Los Angeles, accusing him of defrauding other clients. However, at the height of his public notoriety last year, he was hailed as a hero by the corporate media and even established an exploratory committee and said he wanted to run for president. A federal judge ruled against President Trump’s request to block Deutsche Bank from complying with Congressional subpoenas seeking his financial records. Meanwhile, the president angrily walked out of a White House meeting with Congressional Democrats yesterday, saying that a

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Ambassador Peter Ford, the former UK Ambassador to Syria.The Trump Administration announced yesterday that it “sees signs that the Syrian government may again be using chemical weapons” in its offensive to recapture the last remaining rebel-held territory in the country, and warned that the use of chemical weapons would incur retaliatory measures from Washington. The alleged chlorine attack took place weeks ago against a group allied with al-Qaeda. These accusations take place, however, just a few days after a report by Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons experts was leaked which casts doubt on the United States’ version of events with regards to a previous alleged chemical attack. The United States is preparing sanctions and criminal charges against Venezuelan officials whom they accuse of using food aid program to launder money for the Maduro government, as well as companies involved in supplying goods to t

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 www.rall.comHouse Democrats fumed today when former White House Counsel Don McGahn was a no-show for a Judiciary Committee hearing, despite the fact that he was subpoenaed. Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler said that McGahn would be held in contempt of Congress, but President Trump said he had ordered McGahn to not testify, and he added that he had done so as a favor to all future presidents. Meanwhile, investigators are seeking a wide range of financial records from President Trump and Donald Trump, Jr. A 16-year-old Guatemalan boy who was being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and was diagnosed with the flu, has died in custody. He is the fifth child to die in ICE custody since December. ICE officials had no response when asked why the boy was not taken to a hospital when he complained of feeling sick. Isabel Garcia, co-founder of Co

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Randy Credico, an activist, a comedian, and the former director of the William Moses Kunstler Fund for Racial Justice.Today, Ecuadorian authorities handed over to US prosecutors Julian Assange’s legal documents and medical records that remain in the Ecuadorian Embassy after Assange’s arrest. Sweden also issued a request for a detention order against Assange. Over the weekend president Trump threatened to “end” Iran if it threatens the United States, prompting an outraged response from the Iranian government. Fears are mounting that the stage is being set for war. Massoud Shadjareh, the founder of the Islamic Human Rights Commission, joins the show. New Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky was inaugurated today following his landslide election victory, and immediately dissolved parliament and called for snap elections. What does Zelensky’s presidency mean for Ukraine and for the geopolitical conflicts the country is embroile

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker is joined by Sputnik News analysts and producers Walter Smolarek and Nicole Roussell.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 U.S. drive for regime change in Iran, the seizure of the Venezuelan embassy in D.C., the U.S.-China trade war, new developments in the fight for justice for Eric Garner, and the draconian anti-abortion law in Alabama. Donald Trump has unveiled a sweeping proposal to fundamentally remake the U.S. immigration system under the so-called “merit based” process long demanded by the far right. Trump’s proposal would crack down on the family reunification process that working people from poor nations frequently rely on. Juan José Gutiérrez, the executive director of the Full Rights for Immigrants Coalition, joins the show. UK Labour Party leader jeremy corbyn has ended negotiations with Prime Minister Theresa May over the f

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker is joined by Kei Pritsker, an organizer with the ANSWER Coalition and a member of the Embassy Protection Collective who stayed in the embassy for weeks.This morning, all of the Embassy Protectors at the Venezuelan Embassy in DC were arrested and taken away in police vehicles, despite being legal tenants of the building that is owned by the Venezuelan Government. Over a grueling 36-day struggle the Embassy Protection Collective made headlines worldwide and became a formidable line of defense against the U.S.-backed right wing coup attempt that is still underway. 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 has been a peace and solidarity activist for almost 50 years, currently as national president of Veterans for Peace, joins the show to describe his own experiences in front of the Ven

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker is joined by Amanda Reyes, the executive director of Yellowhammer Fund, an abortion fund in Alabama to help women get abortion procedures.The Alabama State Senate passed a hotly debated bill yesterday banning all abortion except in cases of “serious health risk” for the mother. The bill does ban abortions for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest. The Senate approved this bill 25 to 6. The U.S. government has ordered the evacuation of all non-emergency personnel from Iraq due to alleged threats by Iranian-aligned militias in the country, a charge Iran rejects as an attempt to create a false pretense for U.S. military aggression. Meanwhile the Iranian government has announced changes in its nuclear policy as a means to express frustration that Western powers are not living up to their side of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. Shabbir Razvi, an economist and political analyst, joins the show. Pamela Turner, a 44 year old Black woman who lived i

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and Walter Smolarek, sitting in for John Kiriakou, are joined by Medea Benjamin, co-founder of CODE PINK and member of the Embassy Protection Collective, and by 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 an anti-war activist.Last night, the police cut the locks on the door of the Venezuelan Embassy in DC and entered. But after about half an hour of tense negotiations with activists still living in the embassy and their lawyer, the cops resealed the door and left in a resounding win for the Embassy Protection Collective. This comes amid Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido public request for a U.S. military invasion to rescue his failed coup attempt. Tuesday’s weekly series is False Profits—A Weekly Look at Wall Street and Corporate Capitalism with Daniel Sankey. Brian and Walter speak with financial policy analyst Daniel Sankey. Don

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 Overthrow Venezuela: How the US is Orchestrating a Coup for Oil.” Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, on the heels of his failed coup attempt against President Nicolas Maduro, has formally requested the armed intervention of the US military. Guaido said on Saturday that he had tasked his political envoy in Washington to “open direct communications” with the US military toward what he called “military cooperation.” A week after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo canceled a visit to Berlin, he abruptly canceled a visit to Moscow to meet with President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Pompeo instead flew to Brussels, where he said he had important meetings on Iran, although the European Union’s foreign policy chief said she knew nothing of the meetings. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates announced that s

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Gareth Porter, a historian, investigative journalist, and analyst specializing in U.S. national security policy, and by Sputnik News analyst and producer Walter Smolarek.The panel takes a look at the biggest stories so far this week and put them into historical context, including U.S. aggression against Iran and Venezuela and so-called “great power competition” against China. Chelsea Manning was released yesterday from a federal detention facility in Alexandria, VA. She had refused to testify before a grand jury against Wikileaks co-founder Julian Assange. The term of the Assange grand jury had expired. But Manning will likely be arrested again next week when a new grand jury is empaneled. She already has said that she again will refuse to testify. Joe Lauria, editor-in-chief of Consortium News and author of the book "How I Lost, By Hillary Clinton", joins the show. The Justice Department announced yesterday that Daniel E