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March 8 - Could a Porn Star Bring Down Trump?; Trump Shoots America in the Foot and Starts a Trade War; How Trump is Hurting 214 Million Women as 830 Die Everyday
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We begin on this International Women’s Day with the ironic possibility that it will not be the press, or the Democrats or even the Mueller investigation that will bring down Donald Trump’s presidency, but instead it looks like it might be a porn star Stephanie Clifford who goes by the name of Stormy Daniels. An expert on leadership and women’s relationship with power, Gloria Feldt, the author of “No Excuses: 9 Ways Women Can Change How We Think About Power” who was president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, joins us to discuss how Trump, who has bullied and intimidated women into silence and labelled the many women who have come forward charging him with sexual harassment “liars”, may have met his match with Stormy Daniels. She appears to have broken Trump’s NDA, Non-Disclosure Agreement that came with the $130,000 Trump’s lawyer paid Stormy for her silence shortly before the 2016 election. We will discuss how NDA’s have been used by powerful men to silence women who have been sexually abused, but more and more women are coming forward to break these agreements such as has been the case with Roger Ailes, Bill O’Reilly, Harvey Weinstein and now Donald Trump. |
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Then we speak with Katheryn Russ, a Professor of Economics at the University of California, Davis who worked for the Obama Administration’s Council of Economic Advisors as Senior Economist for International Trade and Finance. She joins us to discuss her article at Econofact “Will Steel Tariffs put U.S. Jobs at Risk?” and analyze the many reasons why Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminum make no sense economically or in terms of national defense. But worst of all they have taken the focus away from China as the bad actor on trade and intellectual property and instead have turned the U.S. into the bull in the global china shop. |
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Then finally we address the damage Trump is doing to women all around the world following his decision shortly after taking office to impose the Global Gag Rule along with defunding the U.N. Population Fund, impacting family planning programs for the world’s most vulnerable population of 214 million women with unmet needs for modern contraception, where every day 830 women die from preventable pregnancy-related causes. Jamila Taylor, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress joins us to discuss her new report at the Center for American Progress “On International Women’s Day, Resist Trump’s Global Gag Rule”. |
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March 7 - A Super-Hawk Could Land as the White House National Security Adviser; Could Democratic Fratricide Stymie the Blue Wave?; The Author of "The Fight Against This Age: On Fascism and Humanism"
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We begin with the alarming possibility that a hawkish ideologue who sees war as the first not the last solution, and who desperately wants to bomb North Korea and Iran, will soon be the National Security Advisor in the Trump White House where John Bolton will be able to indulge his bloodthirsty fantasies with real world consequences. Jacob Heilbrunn, a Senior Editor at the National Interest and author of “They Knew They Were Right: The Rise of the Neocons”, joins us to discuss the expected departure soon of the embattled National Security Advisor General McMaster and Bolton’s visit to the Oval Office yesterday where Bolton was auditioned again, after having been turned down for a top job last time because Trump did not like Bolton’s moustache. With the resignation of Gary Cohn, who tried to prevent a trade war but was outmaneuvered by a corrupt Secretary of Commerce and an outright crank serving as Director of the White House National Trade Council, we will assess how much the bar is being lowered at the White House, given the exit of 43% of the White Houses’ senior staff in just one year.
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Then we get an analysis of yesterday’s primaries in Texas that saw a huge uptick in Democrats coming to the polls and speak with an award-winning television news correspondent in Texas, James Moore, the co-author of the bestseller “Bush’s Brain: How Karl Rove Made George W. Bush Presidential”. He joins us to discuss his article at CNN “Democrats are taking a dangerous gamble in Texas” and whether fratricide between the Sanders wing and the Clinton wing of the party will stymie the Blue Wave, given the intervention by the DCCC in a hit job against a liberal Democrat in Houston, which appears to have backfired since Laura Moser made it to the May runoff in the Texas 6th District. |
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Then finally we are joined in the studio by Rob Riemen, the founder of the Nexus Institute in The Netherlands whose latest book, just out, is “The Fight Against This Age: On Fascism and Humanism”. We assess the growth of far-right, populist and fascist parties across Europe and the extent to which Donald Trump has encouraged this illiberal global trend towards authoritarianism. And we will also discuss what can be done to restore democratic values and reinvigorate democratic movements. |
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March 6 - The Banking Lobby's Successful Rollback of Reforms That Followed the 2008 Crash; West Virginia's Teachers Take on a Corrupt and Indifferent State Government; Fighting Back Against the Global War on Democracy
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We begin with the Senate rolling back banking reforms instituted after the 2008 Wall Street crash in what Senator Elizabeth Warren called “a dangerous, wrong bill” which the Majority Leader Mitch McConnell put forward as a way to distract from the Senate’s total lack of activity on dealing meaningfully with the pressing issue of gun violence. Mike Konczal, a Fellow with the Roosevelt Institute, joins us to discuss his article at The New York Times “Why Are Democrats Helping Trump Dismantle Dodd-Frank?” and assess whether the moderate Democrats who voted with the Republicans on a bill dubbed “The Bank Lobbyist Act” which claims to be helping small banks while removing restrictions on the big banks, will be rewarded by their constituents for doing the bidding of Wall Street and not standing up for Main Street. In spite of Senator Warren’s efforts, the vote today to deregulate banks passed 67 to 32, ignoring her warning that the bill will make the American taxpayer take all the risk if banks fail again while all the profits will be going to giant banks. |
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Then we look into the wildcat strike by low-paid teachers in West Virginia who are deeply distrustful of the governor and the legislature after a deal offering a 4% raise went nowhere and a new deal offering 5% is in the offering although it is supposed to be offset by other budget cuts yet to be announced. Anne Marie Lofaso, a Professor of Law at West Virginia University College of Law who spent 10 years as an attorney with the National Labor Relations Board’s Appellate and Supreme Court Branches, joins us to discuss the low priority given to public employees in a state that has a budget shortfall because it lavishes tax cuts on the wealthy while giving big breaks to coal and oil industries. |
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Then finally we speak with Yascha Mounk, a Lecturer on Political Theory at Harvard University’s Government Department who is the author of a new book, just out, “The People Versus Democracy: Why Our Freedom Is in Danger and How to Save It”. He joins us to discuss the latest in the global retreat of democratic values, this time in Italy where far-right anti-immigrant parties made gains. We will examine the growth of illiberal regimes around the world and what steps can be taken to reverse this alarming trend which the head of the world’s most powerful democracy is encouraging rather that reversing, as Trump congratulates China’s leader for declaring himself dictator for life.
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March 5 -Another Russian Spy Poisoned in the UK; Alarm at the Re-Emergence of Italy's Right; Growing Concern at Home and Abroad That Trump is Triggering a Trade War
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We begin with the latest mysterious poisoning of another former Russian spy in the U.K., this time Colonel Sergei Skripal a retired Russian Military Intelligence GRU officer who was one of four prisoners Russia swapped for ten deep cover “sleeper” agents planted by Moscow in the U.S. who were exchanged in 2010. Luke Harding the former Moscow bureau chief of The Guardian who was expelled by the Kremlin and is the author of “A Very Expensive Poison: The Assassination of Alexander Litvinenko”, and his latest book “Collusion: How Russia Helped Trump Win the White House”, joins us. We discuss whether this latest hit involving a mysterious unknown substance was ordered by Putin as a way to bolster his credentials with right wing nationalists ahead of the March 18 presidential election he is expected to win. And we will also assess what kind of protection former Russian spies are provided by the U.K. security services, given the record of high-profile hits by the Kremlin on British soil.
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Then we examine the results of the Italian election that have alarmed the E.U. as illiberal right wing regimes sympathetic to Putin gain more ground in Europe with Italy’s center right Five Star Movement getting the most votes at 32% and are expected to form a coalition with the far-right anti-immigrant League which captured 17.5% of the vote. Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a Professor of History and Italian Studies at New York University who writes on fascism, racism and authoritarian rulers, joins us to discuss her article at CNN “In Italy’s elections, the fascists did scarily well”. |
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Then finally, with growing concern from Republicans at home and from leaders around the world that Donald Trump is triggering a trade war because of his snap decision to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, we will speak with Matt Gold, a Professor of Law at Fordham University where he teaches International Trade Law. He previously served as the Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for North America in the Executive Office of the President and we will discuss whether Speaker Ryan and others will be able to convince Trump to walk back his plan as Trump threatens to double down, pressuring NAFTA partners Canada and Mexico. |
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March 4 - The Kushner Shakedown of Qatar; Trump's Cavalier Declaration of a Trade War; An Activist Who Dressed at Louis XVI to Protest Treasury Secretary Mnuchin at UCLA
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We begin with the bombshell revelations by NBC News and The Intercept about the Kushner family shakedown of the Qatari government for a half a billion dollar loan to bailout Jared’s unwise investment in 666 5thAvenue, a financial albatross which has a $1.4 billion balloon payment due in February. Ryan Grim, the DC Bureau Chief for The Intercept joins us to discuss his latest article at The Intercept “Jared Kushner’s Real-Estate Firm Sought Money Directly from Qatar Government Weeks Before Blockade”. We will look into the extraordinary nature of the self-dealing going on in the Trump White House where the lines between government duties and private business are all-but erased with Jared Kushner representing the United States with some of the most important and sensitive portfolios in our government all the while raising money for his family’s troubled real-estate business that is threatened by Jared’s 2007 vanity purchase of the most expensive building in Manhattan which is underwater and could take down the Kushner brand. |
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Then we speak with Timothy Canova, a Professor of Law, and Public Finance at Nova Southeastern University who teaches Regulation of International Financial Institutions, International Business Transactions and International Trade and Development Law. He joins us to discuss Trump’s impetuous move to slap tariffs on steel and aluminum which has provoked reciprocal threats from other trading partners to slap tariffs on bourbon and Harley Davison motorcycles and could lead to a trade war which Trump is cavalierly unconcerned about, declaring “trade wars are good and easy to win”.' |
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Then finally Mike Stutz joins us in the studio. He is a UCLA alumnus and activist with The Useful Idiots who led a demonstration at UCLA last week dressed as Louis XVI to protest Steven Mnuchin’s appearance on campus at which the Treasury Secretary’s answers to questions from moderator Kai Ryssdal of Marketplace and the audience were greeted with hisses and boos, prompting the Treasury Department to seize the videotape record of the event revoking an agreement to make it public. |
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