Loud & Clear

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are 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 uprising in Minneapolis demanding justice for George Floyd, protests in other cities across the country against racist police violence, the failed renewal of FISA, Iranian tankers arriving in Venezuela, and more. The American taxpayer has paid handsomely to develop a drug called Remdesivir which media reports say could become a major player in the fight against the coronavirus. Remdesivir was developed by the pharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences with tens of millions of dollars from three federal agencies, but it was a failure among anti-virals. Well, now it shows promise, as well as profitability. And Gilead is keeping that money and not refunding taxpayers. Annette Gaudino, State & Local

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Michelle Gross, the president of Communities United Against Police Brutality in Minneapolis, and Jordan Kushner, a Minneapolis criminal defense and civil rights attorney.Protests over the police killing of George Floyd continued in Minneapolis overnight, with at least one person dead. Most of the demonstrations continue to take place near the city’s 3rd precinct station, near the site where police officers killed Floyd by kneeling on his neck for an extended period. Protestors also appear to have set fire to numerous businesses in the area, and the mayor has asked the governor to call out the National Guard. Minnesotans from all walks of life continue to question why none of the policemen have been arrested. House Democrats last night adjourned, rather than take a vote on a controversial bill to reauthorize surveillance tools as part of the FISA Act. The measure had broad bipartisan support in March, but Republicans began tur

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Sputnik news analysts Nicole Roussell and Walter Smolarek.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 focusing on the killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis.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.Thousands of protestors took to the streets of Minneapolis, Minnesota last night to protest yesterday’s police killing of George Floyd. Floyd was pinned to the ground by police officers, one of whom knelt on Floyd’s neck until he stopped breathing. A witness videoed the incident and it quickly went viral. After nationwide outrage, the officers we

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Professor Richard Wolff, a professor of Economics Emeritus, University of Massachusetts, Amherst and founder of the organization Democracy at Work whose latest book is “Understanding Socialism.”Today is Loud & Clear’s weekly series about the biggest economic news of the week with special guest -- Prof. Richard Wolff.More than 60 activists, academics, writers, workers, and students from more than 20 countries have come together to form the Covid-19 Global Solidarity Coalition. The purpose of the group is to bring ordinary people together to seize the opportunity to overthrow global structures of inequity and violence and to build a better world. The coalition launched the manifesto this weekend. Dr. Peter Kuznick, a professor of history and director of the Nuclear Studies Institute at American University, and the co-author with Oliver Stone of the book and the hit Showtime television series “The Untold History of the Unite

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker is joined by John Ross, Senior Fellow at Chongyang Institute, Renmin University of China, and an award-winning resident columnist with several Chinese media organizations.China’s biggest political gathering of the year is finally taking place after a two month delay because of the coronavirus pandemic. Called “Two Sessions,” the first meeting was yesterday and was a gathering of top political leaders of the Chinese Communist Party. Today’s meeting is of the National People’s Congress. Premier Li Keqiang will lay out the country’s economic goals and the policies needed to achieve them. And the U.S. government is lashing out at a new proposed Hong Kong security law.Unemployment in the United States is likely in the 25 percent range with some 40 million Americans having filed for unemployment benefits in the past month. In real terms, it’s almost certainly higher, perhaps significantly, as many people have dropped out of the labor market or their benefits have

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Sputnik News analysts and producers of this show Nicole Roussell and Walter Smolarek.Loud & Clear’s series, In the News, is where the hosts look at the most important ongoing developments of the week and put them into perspective, including still rising unemployment in the US, who’s at fault for the thousands of lives that could have been saved had the US locked down earlier that new data is showing us, the newest update in the propaganda war the US media and politicians are waging against China, and more. 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 John. Immigration and

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Dr. Tara Smith, an epidemiologist and professor at the Kent State University College of Public Health, where she specializes in zoonotic infections and molecular epidemiology.So much of the media has been focused on the coronavirus pandemic in the country’s urban hotspots. We hear a lot of news about the outbreaks in New York, Philadelphia, Atlanta, and elsewhere. But we don’t hear much about what is happening in rural America. How is the pandemic hitting rural counties across the country? President Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in recent days have repeated false information that the coronavirus was created in a Chinese lab in Wuhan. The two have said repeatedly that they have “enormous evidence” and “a significant amount of evidence” that this is the case. But the statements are not true. Pompeo, in an interview with Breitbart yesterday, backed off and said he doesn’t know where the virus originated. But Trump has

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker is joined by Eddie Conway, Executive Producer with The Real News Network who was a leading member of the Baltimore branch of the Black Panther Party and a political prisoner for 44 years, and Dr. Jared Ball, a professor of communication studies at Morgan State University, the editor of “A Lie of Reinvention: Correcting Mannin Marable’s Malcolm X,” and the author of many writings at www.IMixWhatILike.org.On this day 95 years ago, Malcolm X was born. He would go on to become an icon of the fight for Black liberation before being assassinated in 1965. Malcolm X remains a beloved figure and an inspiration to people’s movements around the world. Today is Loud & Clear’s weekly series about the biggest economic news of the week with special guest -- Prof. Richard Wolff. Professor Wolff, a professor of Economics Emeritus, University of Massachusetts, Amherst and founder of the organization Democracy at Work whose latest book is “Understanding Socialism,” joins

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Leo Cuello, an attorney and the director of health policy for the National Health Law Program.The Department of Health and Human Services recently began distributing portions of $175 billion allocated by Congress to healthcare providers as part of the four coronavirus relief bills. The largest share of the initial outlay will be to hospitals that accept Medicare. Although the money was appropriated weeks and months ago, it has been slow to reach hospitals, and many are now threatened by bankruptcy. 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. Israel finally has a government. After an 18 month-long political s

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Dr. Gerald Horne, a professor of history at the University of Houston and the author of many books, including “Race to Revolution: The U.S. and Cuba during Slavery and Jim Crow.”Commemorations are taking place across the country to mark the 50th anniversary of the Jackson State massacre. Frequently left out of the history books, two students were killed and 12 wounded when 75 state and local policemen opened fire on a dormitory at the predominantly Black Jackson State College in Jackson, Mississippi. The police said there was a sniper on the roof of the dorm. That turned out to be a lie. There were no arrests in connection with the deaths at Jackson State, although the Commission concluded "that the 28-second fusillade from police officers was an unreasonable, unjustified overreaction...A broad barrage of gunfire in response to reported and unconfirmed sniper fire is never warranted." Republican Senator Richard Burr steppe

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 “No More War: How the West Violates International Law by Using 'Humanitarian' Intervention to Advance Economic and Strategic Interests.”By a 4-3 vote, the Republican-dominated Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that the governor’s stay-at-home orders were illegal and ordered that the state reopen. Bars and restaurants did so immediately and now scientists will watch the state to see if coronavirus infections spike there. Meanwhile, Department of Health and Human Services whistleblower Dr. Rick Bright testified before Congress today, saying that the Trump Administration simply does not have a master plan to respond to the coronavirus and to save American lives. The official unemployment rate currently stands at 14.7 percent, a number not seen since 1937. Economists believe it will go even higher next month, probably hitting or surpassing 20 percent. That

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Vijay Prashad, the Director of the Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research and Chief Editor of LeftWord Books, the author of “The Death of the Nation and the Future of the Arab Revolution,” and his most recent publication is “Red Star Over the Third World.”Economies around the world are taking an unprecedented hit from the coronavirus pandemic. And third world economies are particularly hard hit. In many cases, poor countries turn to the International Monetary Fund for assistance. But the IMF, along with the World Bank, usually impose crushing austerity measures on weak economies, making it even tougher for them to rebound. That’s happening right now--in the midst of the pandemic. The FBI, in a recent court filing, has accidentally revealed the name of an official in the Saudi Embassy in Washington who allegedly dealt directly with the 9/11 hijackers. Saudi Islamic Affairs attache Musaed al-Jarrah, who went on to s

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Professor Wolff, a professor of Economics Emeritus, University of Massachusetts, Amherst and founder of the organization Democracy at Work whose latest book is “Understanding Socialism.”Today is Loud & Clear’s weekly series about the biggest economic news of the week with special guest -- Prof. Richard Wolff. The US and China are currently engaged in a new missile race, the US Navy is frequently positioned in the South China Sea, and President Trump is accusing China of trying to steal research related to a coronavirus vaccine. And the escalation against China is bipartisan in nature. Peace activists in the US are urging the administration to make a “pivot to peace,” however. And they say that it’s not too late to turn away from the language and actions of war. KJ Noh, a peace activist and scholar on the geopolitics of Asia, and a frequent contributor to Counterpunch and Dissident Voice, joins the show. On February 23, 2

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Sputnik News analysts and producers of this show Nicole Roussell and Walter Smolarek.In this segment, The Week Ahead, the hosts take a look at the most newsworthy stories of the coming week and what it means for the country and the world, including the controversy over the reopening of the US economy and the latest US accusations against China. A leaked document obtained by The Grayzone shows that the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons made false and misleading statements about two veteran inspectors who challenged a coverup of their investigation of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Syrian city of Douma. Grayzone found that OPCW leaders engaged in a pattern of deception that minimized the inspectors’ senior roles and prestige in the organization. Aaron Maté, a journalist with The Grayzone and The Nation, and host of the podcast Pushback with Aaron Maté, joins the show. British Prime Minister Boris J

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Aaron Maté, a journalist with The Grayzone and The Nation, and host of the podcast Pushback with Aaron Maté. After a long delay, the House Intelligence Committee just released 57 transcripts of interviews that the committee conducted in the Russiagate probe. These include interviews with former DNI head James Clapper, Crowdstrike CEO Shawn Henry, and more. The Justice Department yesterday dropped all charges against former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. Flynn had agreed to plead guilty to one felony count of making a false statement, but his new attorneys found that the FBI had plotted against Flynn before interviewing him in a way that many Americans believe amounted to entrapment. President Trump had been under some pressure to pardon Flynn. Now that’s not necessary. Daniel Lazare, a journalist and author of three books--“The Frozen Republic,” “The Velvet Coup,” and “America's Undeclared War,” joins the show. Unt

The United States and China are involved in an arms race, this one over missiles. Washington announced this week that it would roll out new weapons and a new strategy in a bid to close what it calls a dangerous missile gap with China, which has upgraded its missile systems over the past decade. Beijing, meanwhile, is warning Washington to “stop playing chess” around the region, to stay out of the South China Sea, and to think before it acts. A young black man, Ahmaud Arbery, was jogging through a neighborhood in February in a Georgia suburb. As he jogged past one house, the resident there called out to his son, and the two got into their pick-up truck, armed with a shotgun and a pistol, and they followed him. After a brief confrontation, they shot Arbery and killed him. Although this incident took place in February, it only became public this week. And nobody has yet been charged with any crime. Atlanta activist Estevan Hernandez joins the show. Loud & Clear’s series, In the News, is where the hosts loo

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Dave Lindorff, an investigative reporter, a columnist for CounterPunch, and a contributor to The Nation, Extra! and Salon.com, whose writings are at ThisCantBeHappening.net.The Senate is back in session and the House of Representatives is preparing to reconvene to consider a new coronavirus relief bill. That bill would provide additional small-business relief and would extend the loan forgiveness period of the so-called Paycheck Protection Program. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, meanwhile, is not concerned with relief bills. Instead, he is laser focused on filling every single judicial vacancy with Trump appointees, just in case Joe Biden finds himself as president-elect in November. An amateurish coup attempt was launched against Venezuela by a group of American and Venezuelan mercenaries. Not surprisingly, the evidence of who initiated the coup is now pointing directly at Juan Guaido and the US government. Patr

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Professor Wolff, a professor of Economics Emeritus, University of Massachusetts, Amherst and founder of the organization Democracy at Work whose latest book is “Understanding Socialism.”Today is Loud & Clear’s weekly series about the biggest economic news of the week with special guest -- Prof. Richard Wolff. The Trump administration is further embracing conspiracy theories about the Chinese military being responsible for the Coronavirus outbreak, but some analysts are raising a very different concern -- Could US military personnel, who travel around the world in close confines bypassing normal border checks, function as “superspreaders” for the pandemic? KJ Noh, a peace activist and scholar on the geopolitics of Asia, and a frequent contributor to Counterpunch and Dissident Voice, and Dr. Claudia Chaufan, a non-practicing Argentine physician and critical health policy scholar who directs the graduate program in health po

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Ken Hammond, an undergraduate at Kent State University before and during the Kent State Massacre, a speaker at the May 4, 1970 rally on the Commons, and an eyewitness to the shooting who was questioned and arrested by the FBI as one of the Kent 25 and went on to co-found the Kent Legal Defense Fund.Fifty years ago today, on May 4, 1970, members of the Ohio National Guard fired 67 rounds in 13 seconds into a group of unarmed, peaceful students protesting the illegal US bombing of Cambodia. Four students, Allison Krause, Jeffrey Miller, Bill Schroeder, and Sandra Lede Scheuer, were killed and another nine were wounded. One was permanently paralyzed. The shootings led to protests against the Vietnam War at colleges and universities across America. But no National Guardsmen were ever punished for the murders. A new report by the International Energy Agency concludes that the coronavirus pandemic is delivering the biggest shock to

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are 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 strike actions for International Workers Day, Joe Biden finally speaking publicly about former staffer Tara Reade’s allegation that he sexually assaulted her, the Trump administration’s potential next moves against China, and more. Today is May Day, also known as International Workers’ Day, created to celebrate workers and the working classes around the world. The holiday was originally suggested in 1889 by the Marxist International Socialist Congress and pushed by the American Federation of Labor, which was then lobbying and demonstrating for an 8-hour work day. This celebration of labor subsequently became a national holiday in most countries around the world. But not in the United States. Yasemi