President Trump is heading to the border today to speak with Customs and Border Patrol officials about the so-called "crisis" there, even though those same officials aren't being paid because of the government shutdown. Meanwhile, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was sworn in today for a new term as the US-backed regime change effort targeting his government continues, and Brazil's new president, Jair Bolsonaro, moved today to withdraw his country from the UN global migration pact.
Thursday's weekly series "Criminal Injustice" is about the most egregious conduct of our courts and prosecutors and how justice is denied to so many people in this country. Paul Wright, the founder and executive director of the Human Rights Defense Center and editor of Prison Legal News (PLN), and Kevin Gosztola, a writer for Shadowproof.com and co-host of the podcast Unauthorized Disclosure, join the show.
President Trump said today that he will "almost definitely" declare a national emergency soon to secure funding for his border wall. He made the comment as he departed today to Texas to meet with Customs and Border Patrol officials and continue making the case for hardline anti-immigrant policies. Brian and John speak with Isabel Garcia, co-founder of Coalición de Derechos Humanos.
The US has accused Russia's Kaspersky Lab of working with Russian spies on cyberwarfare. But Politico is reporting that Kaspersky actually helped catch an NSA data thief, even though the US had completely missed the theft. Kim Zetter, the author of the book "Countdown to Zero Day: Stuxnet and the Launch of the World's First Digital Weapon," and a prolific journalist who has contributed to Politico, the Washington Post, the New York Times, CNN, NPR, and other outlets, joins the show.
The New York Times today issued a correction--a retraction would be more appropriate--to a front-page story yesterday saying that former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort had shared polling data with a Russian contact for passage to a Russian oligarch. That information was untrue. Manafort had shared the information for passage to two Ukrainian politicians with whom he had had a business relationship. The true story undercuts any accusation of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Dan Kovalik, a human rights and labor lawyer who is the author of the new book "The Plot to Control the World: How the US Spent Billions to Change the Outcome of Elections Around the World," joins Brian and John.
It's time again for our regular weekly segment Veterans for Peace, where we'll discuss contemporary issues of war and peace that affect veterans, their families, and the country as a whole. Gerry Condon, a Vietnam-era veteran and war resister who has been a peace and solidarity activist for almost 50 years, currently as national president of Veterans for Peace, joins the show.
The UK's departure from the European Union is fast approaching. The British parliament is now conducting the official debate on the Brexit deal ahead of a vote next week. But Prime Minister Theresa May may not have the votes necessary to pass the terms of the deal, and was dealt a blow when members of her own Conservative Party revolted to help pass a motion limiting her options in the event that the deal is rejected. Brian and John speak with Alexander Mercouris, the editor-in-chief of The Duran.
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