Loud & Clear

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Cindy Sheehan, an anti-war activist and journalist whose son Casey was killed during the Iraq War; by Patrick Lawrence, the author of Time No Longer: Americans After the American Century and a columnist at The Nation; and by Greg Mello, the Executive Director of the Los Alamos Study Group.President Trump outlined his foreign policy vision that includes an increasingly adversarial view of Russia and China, a tougher focus on what he calls “rogue states,” and increased counter terrorism operations.The United Nations Security Council is considering a draft resolution that would render Donald Trump’s decision to move the US Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem “null and void”. Palestine's ambassador to the UK, Manuel Hassassian, joins the show. The Organization of American States has called for a new election in Honduras, as that country’s incumbent president appears to have stolen the race from a popular opposition candidate.Jeanette

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Randy Credico, who is an activist, comedian and former director of the William Moses Kunstler Fund for Racial Justice.Special Counsel Robert Mueller casts a wider and wider net in his investigation, he’s apparently looking at whether Donald Trump was somehow aided in the 2016 election by Wikileaks and Julian Assange. Congressional investigators allege that the contact was brokered by Republican political consultant Roger Stone. And they allege further than Stone was introduced to Assange by Randy Credico. Randy has been subpoenaed to testify today before the House Intelligence Committee, where he intends to plead the fifth.It’s crunch time for the Republicans as both the House and Senate prepare to vote on the tax bill. But several Republican senators are saying that they will or may vote no. What does the final version of this bill mean for poor and middle class Americans? Dean Baker, the co-director of the Center for Ec

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by economist Richard Wolf to talk about the Republican Tax Plan which could be signed into law as early as next week. What’s in this bill, who are the big winners and big losers?The Federal Communications Commission voted today to repeal Obama-era net neutrality regulations, paving the way for big corporations to control content and pricing on the internet. We’ll talk about what the vote means for information freedom with Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers, the co-founders of Popular Resistance.US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said this morning that she will present what she calls “irrefutable evidence” that Iran has violated the Iran deal by sending missiles to the Houthi rebels in Yemen, an accusation that Iran denies. Brian and John are joined by Medea Benjamin, the co-founder of CODEPINK, and by Kathy Kelly, co-coordinator of Voices for Creative Non-Violence.Congress has failed to enact an extension of the Chi

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Connor Sheets, a journalist with AL.com; by Garland Nixon, the co-host of Radio Sputnik’s Fault Lines; by Leada Gore, a journalist with AL.com; and by Mike Hersh of Progressive Democrats of America. Alabama voters caused a stunning upset yesterday in that state’s senate race, handing victory to Democrat Doug Jones over Republican Roy Moore. What does this mean for President Donald Trump, who lost twice, having endorsed Moore in the general election, and the incumbent, Luther Strange in the Republican primary? And does it mean that the Democrats will again become a big tent party, welcoming conservatives into their ranks?Almost immediately after Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that the US government would be willing to hold talks with the North Korean government without any pretexts, President Trump jumped in and said that no such thing would happen. Meanwhile, South Korean President Moon Jae In arrived in China on an

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Greg Mello, the Executive Director of the Los Alamos Study Group, by Jim Kavanagh, editor of ThePolemicist.net, and by Dr. Jeremy Kuzmarov, a professor at the University of Tulsa to discuss President Trump's signing of the enormous National Defense Authorization Act.Society is facing a watershed moment as more and more women offer revelations of sexual harassment and sexual assault committed against them. A new documentary film has just been released featuring 16 women, each of whom says they were the victims of abuse and harassment by Donald Trump. In this segment we talk about the role of the Democratic and Republican parties as they both try to take advantage of this moment and movement for narrow political agendas. Joining the show are Dr. Nazia Kazi, a professor of Anthropology at Stockton University, and Sue Udry, a peace and social justice activist and Executive Director of Defending Rights and Dissent. It’s judgement

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by editorial cartoonist Ted Rall and author Daniel Lazare.CNN and later other media outlets including MSNBC breathlessly reported that they finally had the missing piece of evidence, the so-called Smoking Gun that would prove Russia-Trump collusion during the 2016 election. Pundits all over the media took to the airwaves. But there was a problem: this story too turned out to be entirely false.Then, Russian President Vladimir Putin has made a surprise trip to Syria and announced that the country was beginning to withdraw its military forces from the country. With the U.S. determined to stay in Syria indefinitely, what comes next as the many sides in the war consider a negotiated end to the conflict? International affairs and security analyst Mark Sleboda joins the show along with Rick Sterling of the Syria Solidarity Movement.Elizabeth Shackleford, a senior U.S. diplomat, resigned over the weekend, saying that President Trump and

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by financial policy analyst Daniel Sankey and political cartoodnist and columnist Ted Rall.Congress passed a two-week Continuing Resolution Budget bill Thursday, that prevents a government shutdown a day ahead of the deadline. But lawmakers face a rocky road over the next few weeks as they try to clinch a broader budget deal by the end of the year. Then, John and Brian talk to Bradley Birkenfeld, a former banker and whistleblower whose disclosures to the United States government led to a massive fraud investigation against the Swiss bank UBS and other banks that had enabled tax evasion by ultra-rich U.S. taxpayers. He is the author or Lucifer’s Banker: The Untold Story of How I Destroyed Swiss Bank Secrecy.Violence flared in Israel and the Palestinian territories yesterday in response to the Trump Administration’s announcement that it would move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Despite the fact that virtually every Mi

President Donald Trump said yesterday that Defense Secretary James Mattis “knocked the hell” out of ISIS because the president and his policies made it possible. Is Trump already trying to rewrite history? War correspondent Ali Musawi and journalist Joe Lauria join the show. Brian and John are then joined by Historian and Author Alfred McCoy to discuss his new book "In the Shadows of the American Century-- The Rise and Decline of US Global Power."Protests across the Middle East and the world have erupted in outrage at Donald Trump’s announcement yesterday that the United States was recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Palestinian journalist Daoud Kuttab joins the show to discuss these developments. Protesters are demonstrating against the Federal Communications Commission’s proposed repeal of net neutrality rules at hundreds of Verizon stores around the country beginning today. Why Verizon? Because FCC chairman Ajit Pai is the company’s former General Counsel, and it would benefit handsomely fro

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Arab Barghouti, activist and son of legendary imprisoned Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti, as well as journalist and filmmaker Dan Cohen.President Trump has announced that the United States is set to recognize Jerusalem as the Capital of Israel. This is a dramatic departure from the position adopted by past US president. Why, and why now? Then, Brian and John take a look at the controversy over the banning of the Russian team from the 2018 Winter Olympics over allegations of systematic use performance-enhancing drugs. Is this about the integrity of the game, or politics? Brian and John are joined by Alan Moore, a specialist in sports governance and the host of the Capital FM Sports show based in Moscow, and by Professor Danny Shaw, a political commentator and a boxer.There has been a dramatic increase in the number of homeless people in the United States. Newsweek reports that Homelessness in the US has risen for the first

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Ken Silverstein, the editor-in-chief and lead writer at WashingtonBabylon.com, and by Jim Kavanagh, the editor of ThePolemicist.net.The Mueller investigation into President Trump’s alleged collusion with Russia has entered a new stage with Special Counsel Robert Mueller issuing subpeonas for information on all of Donald Trump’s accounts at Germany’s Deutsche Bank. Meanwhile, Mueller is asking a federal judge to revoke Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort’s bail because of an op-ed that he tried to have ghostwritten.The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday handed a victory to President Donald Trump by allowing his latest travel ban targeting people from six Muslim-majority countries to go into full effect even as legal challenges continue in lower courts. What will this mean for the families from the targeted countries? Matt Adams, the legal director of the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, joins the show. Palestinian Authority Pre

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Massoud Shadjareh of the Islamic Human Rights Commission and by Kathy Kelly of Voices for Creative Non-Violence.Yemen’s former president Ali Abdallah Saleh, was killed today in an explosion in the capital Sanaa, claimed by Houthi fighters after Saleh reportedly dropped out of their uneasy alliance. What does this mean for the ongoing war there? Is this the consolidation of power the Houthis have been working toward?Then, Donald Trump may be set to announce that the United States will recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Why and why now? This move that will be seen by the Palestinian people as an extreme provocation comes as Benjamin Netanyahu and his family are mired in serious corruption charges. Miko Peled, activist and author, joins the show.As more and more evidence comes to light of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Israeli government, Israeli-American media billionaire Haim Saban is thanking presid

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Ken Silverstein, the editor-in-chief and lead writer at WashingtonBabylon.com whose latest book is The Secret World of Oil. In the biggest development yet in the Mueller investigation, former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn has pled guilty to one count of lying to the FBI. But the absence of any other serious charges has led to a whirlwind of speculation about what Flynn gave Mueller in return.Then, this afternoon Senate Republicans were putting the finishing touches on a massive overhaul of the U.S. tax code to the benefit of the ultra-wealthy and corporations. Republican leaders expressed confidence that it will pass a vote today. Brian and John are joined by Jim Kavanagh, the editor of ThePolemicist.net, and Daniel Sankey, a financial policy analyst. In recent days, Bitcoin has surged, crashed and surged again as the cryptocurrency becomes one of the most talked-about subjects in economics. Today, the Chicago Merca

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Bruce Fein, a constitutional lawyer and a former Assistant Attorney General of the United States, and by Bill Binney, a former NSA technical director and whistleblower.A bill to renew the controversial Section 702 program -- a key part of the mass surveillance state -- has been introduced by the House intelligence committee. While members of the committee claim that the law would introduce new measures to safeguard Americans’ privacy, the core spying powers of the NSA would be left intact.In the latest assault on alternative media, RT has had its congressional press credentials revoked. Meanwhile, the Mueller investigation moves forward as Jared Kushner is interviewed. Kevin Zeese, the co-director of Popular Resistance, as well as Paul Street, a journalist, historian and author, whose latest book is “They Rule: The 1% v. Democracy”, join the show.Donald Trump is reportedly planning to replace Rex Tillerson as head of the Stat

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Simone Chun, a fellow at the Korea Policy Institute and a member of the Korean Peace Network, and by Hyun Lee a member of the Solidarity Committee for Democracy and Peace in Korea and a writer for ZoominKorea.org.The balance of forces in Korea was fundamentally changed yesterday with North Korea’s test launch of an ICBM capable of targeting the entire United States. Will the Trump administration move further along the path to war, or will it be forced to back down?Cellphone corporations, through cell site information, possess a massive amount of increasingly precise data about its users’ movements. Can the government access it without a warrant? The Supreme Court is considering this question right now. Brian and John speak with Heidi Boghosian, the executive director of the A.J. Muste Memorial Institute and the former executive director of the National Lawyers Guild, as well as Brad Schlesinger, an appellate attorney licensed

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by cartoonist and columnist Ted Rall, Pete Dolack, an organizer with Trade Justice New York Metro, and professor and economist Steve Keen. A meeting between Donald Trump and top Congressional Democrats over the federal budget was abruptly cancelled today, making a government shutdown even more likely. Meanwhile, taxes, the Dream Act and other key priorities are piling up in what is shaping up to be a make-or-break moment for the Trump administration.New footage of the slave markets in Libya are sparking outrage and protest across the globe. More than six years since the NATO-backed overthrow of the Libyan government, chaos continues to reign in what was once the most developed country in Africa. Ben Norton of AlterNet's GrayZone Project, joins the show.Palestinian unity may finally be at hand as Hamas is scheduled to hand over administration of Gaza to the Palestinian Authority this week. But there are still serious obstacles in

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Dr. Jan Oberg, director of the Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research, and by Dr. Robert Epstein, Senior Research Psychologist at the American Institute for Behavioral Research and Technology.The controversy over Google’s censorship of alternative media outlets continues, as the internet giant appears to be attempting to play both sides of the highly controversial issue.The police state in America continues to grow, as more departments adopt the use of the controversial “stingray” surveillance system and the Trump administration escalates its war on immigrants by granting local police departments new powers to harass and arrest those suspected of being undocumented. Brian and John speak with Anoa Changa, host of the radio show The Way With Anoa, as well as Aislinn Borsini of the Black Lives Matter movement.The high-stakes showdown over the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau intensified today as both Mick Mul

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Dominique Stevenson, Program Director for the American Friends Service Committee’s Friend of a Friend program, and by by Kofi Ademola, an organizer with the Black Lives Matter movement. Baltimore detective Sean Suiter was killed with his own weapon the day before he was scheduled to testify against other police officers to a grand jury. The mysterious death is raising questions about systemic corruption within the Baltimore Police Department.Will U.S. troops ever leave Syria? Now that ISIS is effectively defeated, the Pentagon is signaling that it will maintain its presence in the north of the country indefinitely. Rick Sterling, investigative journalist, joins the show. More than 200 people were killed in a horrific terrorist attack on a mosque in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula today. Details are still emerging, but the massacre is sure to send shockwaves throughout the region. Brian and John speak with Sputnik News analyst Walter

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Tim Karr, Senior Director of Strategy at FreePress; Kevin Zeese, co-director of Popular Resistance; and by Ted Rall, an award-winning editorial cartoonist and columnist. The face of the internet is set to change dramatically as FCC Chair Ajit Pai announces his intention to repeal net neutrality regulations. Meanwhile, telecom giants are hoping for another big win as AT&T and Time Warner fight to have their merger approved.Saad Hariri made his much-anticipated return to Lebanon today, after being held in apparent captivity in Saudi Arabia where he was forced to resign as Prime Minister. Hariri announced that he was “suspending” his resignation -- what comes next for Lebanon and the Middle East as a whole? Marwa Osman, independent journalist and analyst, joins the show along with journalist Joyce Chediac. Is a political solution possible in Syria? The leaders of Turkey, Iran and Russia are meeting in Sochi to lay the ground

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Peter Ford, former British Ambassador to Syria, and by Mark Sleboda, international affairs and security analyst.A high profile meetings between Vladimir Putin and Bashar al-Assad in Russia today, followed by a phone conversation between Putin and Donald Trump, has raised hopes that the bloody civil war may be approaching an end. After so much suffering, can there be a negotiated peace?A rare leaked State Department internal dissent memo slams the Trump administration for shielding allies from sanctions related to the Child Soldiers Prevention Act. Does the U.S. government really turn a blind eye to the use of child soldiers? And does this practice extend beyond the current administration? Jim Jatras, former U.S. diplomat and political analyst, joins the show. Charlie Rose has been dropped by CBS and PBS following revelations about years of sexual harassment and assault as it becomes even clearer that abuse by powerful men is

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Jana Nakhal an independent researcher and a member of the central committee of the Lebanese Communist Party, and by Middle East political analyst Robert Carter.Saudi Arabia continues to push its regional offensive against Iran. The Saudis have denounced Iran at an extraordinary Arab League summit held in Cairo yesterday, and the region awaits the imminent return of Saad Hariri to Lebanon, where he is expected to explain the mysterious events surrounding his resignation.New accusations have hit Jared Kushner and Donald Trump Jr. over communications pertaining to Russia, are more indictments on the way? Plus, Sputnik has once again been the target of fake news, with the Daily Beast and several other outlets falsely claiming that we have registered as a foreign agent. Dan Kovalik, a human rights and labor lawyer who is the author of “The Plot to Scapegoat Russia”, Jim Kavanagh, editor of ThePolemicist.net, and Dr. Robert Epstein