In this segment, The Week Ahead, the hosts take a look at the most newsworthy stories of the coming week and what it means for the country and the world, including the Democratic 2020 primary and the possible addition of Michael Bloomberg to the race, the ongoing mass demonstrations in Chile, tensions resulting from the US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, and more.
Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has indicated that he intends to enter the Democratic race for president. Bloomberg yesterday filed papers to contest the Alabama primary. Alabama has an unusually short filing deadline. Pundits are saying that Bloomberg has told friends that he doesn’t believe the current crop of Democrats has the wherewithal to defeat Donald Trump in the 2020 election. But critics are ridiculing the move as yet another deeply unpopular intervention by a billionaire into politics. Richard Wolff, a professor of Economics Emeritus, University of Massachusetts, Amherst and founder of the organization Democracy at Work. Prof. Wolff’s latest book is “Understanding Marxism,” joins the show.
The Trump Administration this week sued Gilead Sciences, a pharmaceutical company that sells HIV prevention drugs that can cost up to $20,000 a year, saying the company is earning billions of dollars from research funded by taxpayers, without paying those taxpayers back. The government says Gilead has infringed upon patents owned by the Department of Health and Human Services and has fought attempts by HHS to license its patents and collect royalties. Brian and John speak with Jeremiah Johnson, the HIV Project Director for the Treatment Action Group.
A Chilean police officer was arrested yesterday after shooting two students in ongoing demonstrations. Other police officers have been accused of beatings and a sexual assault and more than 2,000 protestors have been injured. Protestors are demanding economic equality and an end to corruption. Meanwhile, in Hong Kong, protests continued, and one demonstrator died after falling from a parking garage. Dan Kovalik, a human rights and labor lawyer who is the author of the book “The Plot to Overthrow Venezuela: How the US is Orchestrating a Coup for Oil,” joins the show.
Brazil’s top court ruled yesterday that former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva must be released from prison because no Brazilian can be incarcerated until he or she has exhausted all appeals. The ruling could lead to the release of thousands of prisoners besides Lula, and it seriously weakens the hand of right-wing president Jair Bolsonaro’s Justice Minister. Arnold August, a journalist, author and lecturer currently on an international speaking tour “U.S.-Venezuela-Cuba-Canada: The Geopolitics,” which has already stopped in 7 Canadian cities and in Havana, with further appearances in Venezuela and Ireland, joins Brian and John.
It’s Friday! So it’s time for the week’s worst and most misleading headlines. Brian and John speak with Steve Patt, an independent journalist whose critiques of the mainstream media have been a feature of his site Left I on the News and on twitter @leftiblog, and Sputnik producer Nicole Roussell.
We'd love to get your feedback at radio@sputniknews.com