October 27 - The Budget Deal That "Cleans Out the Barn"; Processed and Red Meat are Carcinogenic; Saudi War Crimes in Yemen

Full Program

Part 1

We begin with the budget deal that keeps the lights on and avoids a government shutdown and a debt-ceiling crisis through the election year. And while it is really a gift to the Republicans in terms of avoiding political suicide, it is nevertheless seen as a betrayal by the Tea Party “Freedom Caucus”.  Jared Bernstein, a Senior Fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities who was the Chief Economist and Chief Economic Adviser to Vice President Joe Biden, joins us to discuss the deal that John Boehner refers to as “cleaning out the barn” which, in an orchestrated attempt to assuage the fractious “Freedom Caucus, his successor Paul Ryan is distaining.  

Part 2

Then we look into the World Health Organization’s report that warns processed meat causes cancer and red meat is likely to be carcinogenic too. Marion Nestle, who was a senior nutrition advisor in the Department of Health and Human Services and a member of the American Cancer Society’s committee that issues dietary guidelines for cancer prevention, joins us to discuss how we should avoid bacon, sausages, ham, jerky and hot dogs, and cut back on red meats such as steak, lamb and pork, and start treating meat as condiment to be served with vegetables and grains.

Part 3

Then finally we examine the latest in what are considered war crime committed against Medecins Sans Frontieres with the bombing of an MSF hospital in Yemen, following the recent bombing of an MSF hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan. An expert on Yemen, Dr. Sheila Carapico, the author of “Civil Society in Yemen: The Political Economy of Activism in Modern Arabia”, joins us to discuss the Saudi-led bombing campaign in Yemen that has previously targeted museums and cultural heritage sites in the poorest Arab country that is undergoing a Saudi blockade which the U.N. warns is causing a “humanitarian catastrophe”.