The Turkish Army today attacked Syrian Kurds across the border between the two countries. The military move was not unexpected, since President Trump gave Turkish strongman Recep Tayyip Ergogan the green light to attack the Kurds two days ago. Meanwhile, war hawks both Democratic and Republican alike are trying to take advantage of the situation to justify a de facto permanent, illegal US military presence in Syria.
The White House has sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi saying that it would not cooperate in any way with the House’s impeachment inquiry. Saying that the inquiry was “unprecedented and unconstitutional,” White House attorneys said they would not provide any documents and would not allow witnesses to testify. The President, meanwhile, accused Democrats of trying to undo the 2016 election. Coleen Rowley, a former FBI special agent who in 2002 was named Time Magazine person of the year along with two other whistleblowers, joins the show.
A new poll by RealClearPolitics and an aggregate poll of polls shows Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren for the first time with a national lead over former Vice President Joe Biden in the Democratic presidential primaries. With Senator Bernie Sanders slowed by a recent heart attack, how is the Democratic landscape changing? Brian and John speak with Jacqueline Luqman, the editor-in-chief of Luqman Nation whose livestream is on every week Facebook and Youtube.
The situation in Baghdad calmed overnight after more than a week of protests left more than 110 people dead and more than 6,000 injured. Protestors are demanding better jobs, higher wages, a return of basic services and an end to government corruption. As security forces pressed on against demonstrators in the streets, the central government has ordered the release of more than 800 people so far. Ali Mamouri, the editor of Al-Monitor's “Iraq Pulse,” joins the show.
A crisis is developing between China and the National Basketball Association because of a tweet published by the owner of the Houston Rockets saying that the team stood with protestors in Hong Kong. The league forced him to take down the tweet, but not before the Chinese government protested this meddling in its internal affairs. Now, a day before a scheduled NBA game to be held in Shanghai, everything is postponed and the crisis is no closer to a resolution. John Ross, Senior Fellow at Chongyang Institute, Renmin University of China, and an award-winning resident columnist with several Chinese media organizations, joins Brian and John.
Wednesday’s weekly series, In the News, is where the hosts look at the most important ongoing developments of the week and put them into perspective, including the Turkish invasion of northern Syria and controversy over the US troop presence, the latest in the impeachment probe, and the Democratic 2020 presidential primary. Sputnik news analysts Nicole Roussell and Walter Smolarek join the show.
Wednesday’s regular segment, Beyond Nuclear, is about nuclear issues, including weapons, energy, waste, and the future of nuclear technology in the United States. Kevin Kamps, the Radioactive Waste Watchdog at the organization Beyond Nuclear, and Sputnik news analyst and producer Nicole Roussell, join the show.
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