February 25 - Is the GOP Reaping What It Has Sown?; The "Bombshell" in Trump's Tax Returns; Iran's Rigged Elections

Full Program

Part 1

We begin with an assessment of how much the Republican establishment now alarmed at the prospect of Donald Trump being the GOP’s standard bearer, is reaping what they have sown in terms of immigrant bashing, scapegoating minorities and relentless and racists attacks on Barack Obama, all of which Trump has seized on turning coded dog whistle politics into openly expressed bigotry, racism and xenophobia. Timothy McCarthy, a Lecturer on History, Literature and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School joins us to discuss whether Trump is the Republican’s attack dog that has been fed and nurtured by the Party but has now grown strong enough to destroy its master.

Part 2

Then we look into charges made by Mitt Romney of all people that Donald Trump’s unreleased tax returns contain a “bombshell” that is likely to reveal Trump has less wealth than he claims. David Cay Johnston, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who because of his investigations has been called “the de facto tax enforcement officer of the United States”, joins us to discuss why Trump probably pays little to no tax and whether he takes fees for laundering the money of his silent partners, one of whom is rumored to be Vladimir Putin.

Part 3

Then finally we get two opinions on tomorrow’s parliamentary elections in Iran that have been heavily rigged by the hardliners running Iran who have purged candidates who might be reform-minded. A former State Department Policy Advisor Suzanne Maloney, a Senior Fellow in the Center for Middle East Policy at the Brooking Institution joins us. Then we will hear from Iranian/American historian Dr. Maziar Behrooz, about whether disillusioned young Iranians will boycott the election that serves the interests of the hardliners by having the outward appearance of democracy while guaranteeing the results they want.