Loud & Clear

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Ajamu Baraka, a longtime human rights activist, organizer with the Black Alliance for Peace, and the 2016 Green Party nominee for Vice President of the United States; Aurelia Williams, an activist and organizer; and Ted Rall, an award-winning editorial cartoonist and columnist.President Donald Trump completes his first year in office tomorrow, and what a year it’s been. They look at the start of the president’s legacy, from hotter wars to less healthcare to tougher times for the poor and the environment. Then they turn to the continuity from the last Administration.Congress has just hours to act to avert a government shutdown as intense negotiations over the future of undocumented youth, the CHIP health program, and government spending appear to hit a wall. Tom Prigg, a Democrat running for the U.S. Congress in Pennsylvania’s 12th District, joins the show.Congressional Republicans are demanding the release of a memorandum th

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Brent Wilkes, the national executive director of the League of United Latin American Citizens. The government is heading directly for a shutdown as Senate Republicans admit that they do not have the votes to extend federal funding, even for the short term. Meanwhile, President Trump tweeted today that the Children’s Health Insurance Plan should not be part of a Continuing Resolution, but instead should be part of a long-term solution, along with his border wall.Secretary of State Rex Tillerson backpedaled yesterday on US plans for Syria’s border with Turkey, saying that the US would not arm a Kurdish border force and adding that the US owes Turkey an explanation. Tillerson said further that the US plans to maintain a military force inside Syria even after ISIS is defeated. Ambassador Peter Ford, the former United Kingdom ambassador to Syria, joins the show.President Trump is set to address by satellite Friday’s March for Life

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are 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, joins the show.A former C.I.A. officer suspected by investigators of helping China dismantle United States spying operations and identify informants has been arrested. The reported collapse of the US spy network in China is described by the New York Times as one of the American government’s worst intelligence failures in recent years.A newly drafted United States nuclear strategy that has been sent to President Trump for approval will permit an expanded use of nuclear weapons. This document is called the Nuclear Posture Review. The following is a 30-minute except interview on the issue of nuclear weapons. The program was recorded one week ago in the studio of Radio Sputnik. Brian and John speak with Greg Mello, the executive director of the Los Alamos Study Group, and Kevin Kamps, the Radioacti

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Bryan MacCormack, the executive director of the Columbia County Sanctuary Movement, and Juan José Gutiérrez, the executive director of the Full Rights for Immigrants Coalition. A DACA deal appears to be dead in light of President Trump’s recent racist comments. But he blames Democrats, whom, he says, are willing to shut down the government if there’s no DACA deal. A group of Foreign Ministers, including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, meets in Vancouver this week to discuss implementation and enforcement of sanctions on North Korea. Alison Bodine, an anti-war and social justice activist and the Chair of Vancouver's antiwar coalition Mobilization Against War and Occupation, and Walter Smolarek, Sputnik news analyst, join the show. The government of Turkey is planning what it is calling an “imminent” military operation against US-backed Syria Kurdish fighters in the northern Syrian city of Afrin. With 2,000 US special forc

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 author of many books, including Race to Revolution: The U.S. and Cuba During Slavery and Jim Crow.The hosts and Dr. Horne talk about President Trump’s comments to members of the Republican and Democratic Parties at the White House, where he spoke in the most racist and disparaging way about nations including Haiti and African countries. They also discuss what happened to DACA, why there’s no deal, and President Trump’s immigration policy. Additionally, the panel takes a look at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday and at the real legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.President Trump appears set to extend the Iran nuclear deal, despite his tough rhetoric. But White House officials say he is still looking at ways to either modify it or kill it. Medea Benjamin, co-founder of Code Pink, joins the show.President Trump has canceled his scheduled trip to the U

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Bill Binney, a former NSA technical director who became a legendary national security whistleblower, and Coleen Rowley, a former FBI special agent named 2002 Time Magazine person of the year with two other whistleblowers. The House of Representatives is set to vote on a provision that would reauthorize the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act while President Donald Trump appeared to torpedo his Administration’s own position on the act. Meanwhile, Democrats will go it alone on their Russia investigation, as Republicans in Congress are reluctant to chase the Russian boogeyman. The Trump Administration said today that it would allow states to impose work requirements on people in the Medicaid program. Mary Gerisch, an organizer and member chair of the Rights & Democracy health care justice team, joins the show. President Trump waived part of the fines for five banks charged with fraudulent conduct, including Deutsche Bank,

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Max Blumenthal, senior editor of Alternet’s Grayzone Project, and Jim Kavanagh, editor of ThePolemicist.net.The Department of Justice sent a letter today to Sputnik News demanding that we register with them as “foreign agents.” We’ll spend the first hour discussing this attack on freedom of the press and freedom of speech.A US District Court judge in San Francisco has blocked President Trump’s plan to phase out Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, because of the President’s tweet supporting the program. It’s Trump versus Trump on DACA. Angie Kim, an immigrant rights advocate and community organizer with the MinKwon Center for Community Action, joins the show.Former presidential advisor Steve Bannon has stepped down--or has been forced out--as the executive chairman of Breitbart News, as the fallout continues from his sharp attacks on President Trump and his family in a recent book. Brian and John speak with Dave

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Dan Kovalik, the author of “The Plot to Scapegoat Russia.”Senator Dianne Feinstein has released the Senate Committee testimony of Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson against the wishes of Chuck Grassley, the chair of the committee, in the latest twist to the “Russiagate” saga.Tenants in Maryland are suing that a property management firm controlled by Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner’s real estate company and an Israeli Corporate entity provided $30 million to Kushner’s properties before Trump sent Kushner to Israel and the Middle East and before Trump announced that the US was recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Matt Hill, an attorney representing aggrieved tenants in a class action suit brought against Kushner and his companies, joins the show.North Korea announced yesterday that it would send a team of athletes to the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, while South Korea confirmed the first high-level talks between th

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Kevin Gosztola, writer and co-host of the podcast Unauthorized Disclosure and Paul Wright, the founder and executive director of the Human Rights Defense Center. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has rescinded Obama-era guidance to state courts that was meant to end debtors prisons. The Supreme Court already has called such institutions “unconstitutional.” The war against the poor keeps going, but did it ever really slow down?National Security Agency head Admiral Mike Rogers will retire this spring, according to a classified memo that was leaked to the press. It’s a fitting end to Rogers’s four-year tenure. We talk about the rise of the National Surveillance state and the US government’s war against whistleblowers. Kirk Wiebe, a former NSA senior analyst and renowned national security whistleblower, joins the show.The Trump Administration announced today that it will expel as many as 260,000 El Salvadorans who were granted tem

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Coleen Rowley, whistleblower and former FBI special agent and by author Dan Kovalik, a human rights and labor lawyer. The New York Times is reporting that President Trump enlisted his attorney to demand that Attorney General Sessions not recuse himself from the Russia investigation. Is this obstruction of justice or a meaningless detail seized upon by the media?Pakistan today expressed “deep disappointment” today after President Trump announced a cutoff in security aid to the country. Marvin Weinbaum, Scholar-in-Residence for the Middle East Institute’s Center for Pakistan Studies, joins the show.For the third year in a row, American police officers killed more than 1,000 people, even as the rates of violent crimes continue their historic declines. Brian and John speak with Abraham Marquez, a community organizer and activist.Spain’s Supreme Court has refused to release Catalan Vice President Oriol Junqueras, who has been in

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Lee Stranahan, co-host of Radio Sputnik’s “Fault Lines” program. President Trump today filed a libel suit against his former campaign manager Steve Bannon, saying his former senior advisor violated a non-disclosure agreement with the Trump Organization by disparaging him in a recent book by Michael Wolff. Trump is seeking to block the publication of the controversial book by Michael Wolff, which is scheduled for Tuesday, and is already #1 on the New York Times bestsellers list. Anoa Changa, host of the radio show The Way With Anoa, joins the show.Former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort, currently under a dozen federal indictments, sued the Justice Department yesterday accusing special counsel Robert Mueller of prosecutorial overreach. Brian and John speak with Jim Kavanagh, the editor of ThePolemicist.net, and Kevin Zeese, co-coordinator of Popular Resistance.Attorney General Jeff Sessions yesterday rescinded an Obama-er

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Sputnik News analyst Walter Smolarek and Lee Stranahan, co-host of Radio Sputnik’s “Fault Lines” program. Donald Trump issued a statement that read in part: “Steve Bannon has nothing to do with me or my Presidency. When he was fired, he not only lost his job, he lost his mind”. In an explosive new book by Michael Wolff, former White House counselor Steve Bannon described the Trump Tower meeting between Donald Trump, Jr., Paul Manafort and Jared Kushner and a Russian lawyer during the 2016 campaign as “treasonous” and “unpatriotic.”President Trump threatened to cut off aid to the Palestinians yesterday unless the Palestinian Authority agrees to peace negotiations. PA President Mahmoud Abbas responded that the president has no credibility, following his decision to move the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. Brian and John speak with Ali Abunimah, the co-founder of The Electronic Intifada and author of the book The Battle for

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by author and journalist Mazda Majidi and Phil Wilayto of the Virginia Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality. Demonstrations throughout Iran have been heavily praised by Donald Trump. Who are the demonstrators, what are they fighting for. Is this a spontaneous uprising, or is there something more sinister behind it?South Korea today offered talks with North Korea amid a standoff over its weapons program a day after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said he was open to negotiations, but that his country would push ahead with the production of nuclear weapons. Brian and John speak with Professor Simone Chun, a fellow at the Korea Policy Institute and Hyun Lee, a writer for Zoominkorea.org.California yesterday became the largest state in the country to allow the recreational use of marijuana. The state also enacted one of the most progressive sentencing and criminal justice reforms related to marijuana ever. Alex Friedmann,

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Gareth Porter and Catherine Shakdam, both journalists and authors. Donald Trump may kill the Iran deal in January, a move that could open the door to an Iranian nuclear weapon. Meanwhile, the U.S. mainstream media continues a drumbeat of hostility against Tehran that certainly will do nothing for peace in the Middle East or even for American economic well-being.Loud & Clear Listener Steve Patt has an interesting take on Congressional priorities. He posted on Facebook recently that the Democratic congresspeople in his neck of northern California recently wrote to FCC chairman Ajit Pai, not about net neutrality issues, but about the dangerous Russian bear taking over US airwaves.A federal judge has ruled that an American citizen accused of being an ISIS fighter has a right to an attorney. But doesn’t EVERY American deserve Constitutional rights, no matter his politics? Zachary Wolfe, a lawyer and activist who teaches at

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Dr. Margaret Flowers, co-director of Popular Resistance. Now that he has signed a tax scheme into law that will turn over more than $1 trillion dollars in wealth to the richest people in America, Donald Trump has set his sights on dismantling New Deal programs that form the basis of our social safety net.Turkish President Erdogan said today that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was a “terrorist” and that any hope of peace in the war-torn country would be impossible with Assad leading it. What does Turkey’s leader hope to accomplish with this rhetoric? And what might the next year have in store for Syria? Peter Ford, the former UK ambassador to Syria, joins the show. The Trump Administration has cut funding for the United Nations in the aftermath of a resounding defeat on Jerusalem in the UN General Assembly. Joining the show to discuss Trump's decision is award-winning Palestinian journalist Daoud Kuttab. As the year draws

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker is joined by Ali Abunimah, the co-founder of The Electronic Intifada and author of the book The Battle for Justice in Palestine.The Palestinian foreign ministry has denounced a new Israeli settlement construction plan, which includes the building of 300,000 housing units in occupied East Jerusalem.The head of the Venezuelan diplomatic mission to Canada has been expelled from the country, escalating a conflict that saw the Canadian ambassador to Venezuela expelled days earlier. In the run up to next year’s crucial presidential election, what does this all mean? Brian and Walter are joined by Carlos Ron, the Chargé d'Affaires of the Embassy of Venezuela in Washington, DC.The Trump administration has decided to send advanced Javelin anti-tank missiles to Ukraine, inflaming the simmering civil war in the east of the country. International affairs and security analyst Mark Sleboda joins the show.The Washington Post attacked progressive news outlet CounterPunch i

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by peace activist and scholar Dr. Anthony Monteiro and author Paul Atwood.Tensions across Eastern Europe are heating up as NATO inches towards the Russian border, disputes over missile installations flare, and the head of the U.S. Marine Corps bluntly declares, “there’s a war coming”. Just how much longer can the “Russiagate” probes keep going? Despite uncovering no hard evidence, Nancy Pelosi is demanding that the House continue its investigation, and FBI Deputy Director McCabe appears before the intelligence committee. Brian and John speak with Peter Lavelle, host of RT's flagship show CrossTalk.A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit accusing Donald Trump of violating the emoluments clause of the constitution. However, the judge did not rule that Trump was not in violation of the clause, simply that the plaintiff lacked standing. Dan Kovalik, a labor rights lawyers, joins the show to discuss the case.Pro-independence politica

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Manuel Hassassian, the Palestinian ambassador to the UK, and by author and activist Miko Peled.In a stinging rebuke to the Trump administration, a highly unusual emergency session of the United Nations General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to condemn the U.S. decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.Catalonia votes today in what many are calling a second round of the independence referendum. All indications are that the results will be extremely close. Brian and John speak with independent journalist Alberto Garcia Watson, and Dick Nichols of Green Left Weekly.The Pentagon has admitted for the first time that it has carried out “multiple ground operations” in Yemen in 2017, as well as tripled the number of airstrikes from a year earlier. The horrific war drags on with the participation of the U.S. military. Independent political commentator Catherine Shakdam joins the show.In a big win for the first amendment,

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by journalist and author Daniel Lazare and investigative reporter Dave Lindorff.The Republican tax bill will soon become law. What does it all mean?Congress is once again inching its way toward a government shutdown. But a deal may still be possible on dreamers and on funding federal operations for the entire fiscal year. Joining the show are Angie Kim, an immigrant rights activist, and Juan Jose Gutierrez, executive director of the Full Rights for Immigrants Coalition.An Associated Press investigation has found that between 9,000 and 11,000 civilians were killed during the nine-month battle to retake the Iraqi city of Mosul from ISIS fighters. War correspondent Ali Musawi joins the show to discuss the AP report. Catalonians are set to vote today in parliamentary elections that are largely seen as another referendum on independence. With most of the regions leaders in jail, will the results be any different this time around? J

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by journalist and best-selling author Max Blumenthal, as well as by David Cobb, campaign manager of the 2016 Jill Stein/Ajamu Baraka presidential campaign.The Washington Post reported today that the campaign of Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein was under investigation by the Senate Intelligence Committee for so-called “collusion” with the Russian government, a sign that the Senate investigation is expanding, even as the parallel House probe winds down.The Trump Administration’s Homeland security advisor said in an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal today that the WannaCry ransomware virus is a North Korean cyber attack. We will discuss the evidence and the potential consequences. Financial policy analyst Daniel Sankey joins the show. Public opposition to the Republican tax bill continues to mount as the House passes the bill and the Senate schedules its final vote. Editorial cartoonist and columnist Ted Rall joins Brian