NBC News yesterday broke a story that the FBI has been monitoring the phones, email, and text messages of President Trump's personal attorney Michael Cohen and that the monitoring began months before the press ever got wind that Cohen was the subject of any investigation. Civil libertarians are decrying what appears to be the blatant and wanton disregard of attorney-client privilege.
Economic and political turmoil continue in Venezuela ahead of the crucial May 20th presidential election, but the causes and consequences are misrepresented in the mainstream US media. The hosts are pleased to be joined by two Venezuelan human rights activists to help us separate fact from fiction. You'll hear the voice of interpreter Leonardo Flores. Eugenia Russián, president of the Latin American Foundation for Human Rights and Social Development, the oldest human rights organization in Venezuela, and a nun with the Missionaries of Christ, and Desiree Cabrera, a member of the Committee of Victims of Violent Protests whose 19-month-old baby was in a nursery attacked by right-wing protesters in 2014, join the show.
Thousands of Palestinians staged a sixth weekly protest today against Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands, with some throwing stones and burning tires, while Israeli soldiers fired live rounds. More than 170 people were wounded today. Since late March, 39 Palestinians have been killed and more than 1,700 wounded by Israeli fire during the protests. Walter and John speak with Miko Peled, the author of "The General's Son — A Journey of an Israeli in Palestine" and the newly released "Injustice: The Story of the Holy Land Foundation Five."
The United States warned China yesterday that there would be "consequences" for its growing militarization of disputed islands in the South China Sea amid reports that it has deployed missiles to the area. The threat comes amid continued talks between the two countries to try to solve a major trade dispute and follows a formal complaint to Beijing over Chinese lasers being used to blind US pilots in the Horn of Africa. Dr. Jack Rasmus, a professor of economics at Saint Mary's College of California, author of "Central Bankers at the End of Their Ropes: Monetary Policy and the Coming Depression," and whose additional writings are at jackrasmus.com, joins the show.
A delegation of members of Veterans for Peace has carried out massive civil disobedience demonstrations in front of the main gate at Camp Schwab, the US military base on the island of Okinawa. The group is showing its resistance to the base by blocking truck traffic into and out of the gate. Bruce Gagnon, the coordinator of the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space, a contributor to Foreign Policy In Focus, and one of the participants in the action in Okinawa, joins Walter and John.
Some states are turning to a supply and demand based system for toll roads, with skyrocketing costs for the consumer. The Wall Street Journal and others have been reporting on this change, asking the question, "What is the best mechanism for reducing congestion?" But is that the right question to ask about our infrastructure needs? Katy Lang, a North Carolina transit advocate and organizer, joins the show.
The hosts continue the regular segment of the worst and most misleading headlines. John and Nicole speak with Steve Patt, an independent journalist whose critiques of the mainstream media have been a feature of his blog Left I on the News, which you can find at lefti.blogspot.com.
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