November 9 - Gorbachev's Warning of a New Cold War; Behind the Scenes of the North Korean Prisoner Release; The Hollowing Out of the Democratic Party

Full Program

Part 1

We begin with the former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev’s warning at the 25^thanniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, that the world is on the brink of a new Cold War and trust should be restored by dialogue with Russia. Nina Khrushcheva, the granddaughter of another Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, joins us to discuss her article at Reuters “Building Berlin’s Wall Helped Avoid a Nuclear War” and her conversations with Gorbachev about the Berlin Wall, and how in Putin’s Russia today, Gorbachev is seen by many as an American spy while Putin accuses her grandfather of “robbing” Russia by handing Crimea over to Ukraine in 1954. 

Part 2

Then we examine the secret mission by the Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, who was able to obtain the release of two Americans, Kenneth Bae and Matthew Miller from captivity in North Korea, and return with them on his plane to their families in the U.S. A former U.S. Ambassador to South Korea, Donald Gregg, joins us to discuss reports that one of the released prisoners planned to document brutal conditions inside the North’s extensive prison camp system and Ambassador Gregg’s exchanges with a top North Korean diplomat Jang il-Hun prior to the release, that indicated the North Koreans were very concerned that the United Nations report of human rights violations could lead to an indictment of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un before the International Court of Justice.

Part 3

Then finally we look into the hollowing out of the Democratic Party in Congress from two losses in a row in the midterm elections, and speak with John Nichols, the Washington correspondent for The Nation. He joins us to discuss the braindead nature of the Democratic campaigns in which candidates ran away from Obama and healthcare reform, while the president himself did nothing to refute his critics, refusing to use his considerable communication skills to extol his achievements and outline his vision for making life better for most Americans as the Republicans sabotage efforts to improve the economy for the 99% while backing policies that favor their backers, the 1%.