Loud & Clear

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker is joined by political analysts Alexander Mercouris and Mark Sleboda to analyze why Russia and the United States failed to come to an agreement on Syria at the G20 Summit.Obama and Putin met for about 90 minutes on the sidelines of the summit, in addition to a meeting between Secretary of State Kerry and Foreign Minister Lavrov. President Obama says that “gaps of trust” exist between the U.S. and Russia and that has hampered any kind of agreement on Syria. What really happened at the G20? Is it just a trust issue?Obama has become the first U.S. President to visit Laos where he will attend the ASEAN Summit. Is Obama trying to lure Laos into a closer relationship to counter China? Becker is joined by writer and columnist Patrick Lawrence, whose latest book is “Time No Longer: Americans After the American Century”, to discuss the meaning of Obama's historic visit.Could the U.S pivot to Asia be undermined by tension with the Philippines? Obama has scrapped a me