Gina Haspel appeared in open session before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence today in her much-anticipated confirmation hearing. Haspel said that on her watch, the CIA will not reinstate a detention and interrogation program, and also noted that she has a strong moral compass. She did not express any regret for her role in the George W. Bush Administration's torture program, despite being asked.
Wednesday is Loud & Clear's regular segment Beyond Nuclear, looking at nuclear issues including weapons, energy, waste, and the future of nuclear technology in the United States. Today, the hosts concentrate on fallout from Trump leaving the Iran deal. Kevin Kamps, the Radioactive Waste Watchdog at the organization Beyond Nuclear, and Nicole Roussell, producer for Loud & Clear, join the show.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is on his way back from Pyongyang with three Americans who had been in prison in North Korea. Pompeo was in for meetings that would lay the groundwork for President Trump's upcoming meeting with Kim Jong Un. Meanwhile, Kim was in Beijing consulting with the Chinese for the same reason. Jude Woodward, the author of the new book "The US vs China: Asia's new Cold War?," and Chris Black, an international criminal lawyer who is on the List of Counsel before the International Criminal Court, join the show.
Mainstream Republicans and Democrats won most of their races in primaries yesterday in West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, and North Carolina. Don Blankenship, the mining company CEO jailed for a year for his role in the deaths of 29 miners, lost his race for US Senate in West Virginia. Former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau director Richard Cordray beat Dennis Kucinich in the Democratic nomination for governor in Ohio, Vice President Pence's son won the Republican nomination for a Congressional seat in Indiana. And incumbent Republican Congressman Robert Pittinger of North Carolina lost his race to a far-right wing former pastor. Brian and John speak with Travis Boothe, an organizer with the Morgantown Tenants Union, and Jacqueline Luqman, the co-editor in chief of Luqman Nation.
Stormy Daniels' attorney is alleging that Trump attorney Michael Cohen received $500,000 from a company controlled by a Russian oligarch, with the money being deposited into an account for a company that was then used to pay off the adult film actress. And CNN is reporting that Robert Mueller's investigators questioned an unnamed Russian oligarch about payments into that account. But AT&T, a subsidiary of Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis, and Korea Aerospace Industries also made big payments to the account. Isn't the bigger question about paying for presidential access? Daniel Lazare, a journalist and author of "The Frozen Republic," "The Velvet Coup," and "America's Undeclared War," joins Brian and John.
Yesterday, a global trending hashtag on twitter was #Tamam, or "enough," in response to Turkish President Erdogan. Erdogan has called snap presidential elections on June 24, and polls show he may be in jeopardy. Nevzat Evrim, a journalist with the Turkish newspaper SoL, joins the show.
As Donald Trump pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal yesterday, Israel sent missiles into Syria, targeting an Iranian base. This morning there are reports of 15 dead, including eight Iranians. Israel's military, the Israeli Defense Forces, announced that they were opening bomb shelters in anticipation retaliation from Iran. Brian and John speak with Bob Schlehuber, producer of Radio Sputnik show By Any Means Necessary, who is in Jerusalem.
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