Two business associates of Rudy Giuliani are under arrest. They were reportedly taken into custody for conspiracy and campaign finance violations, and an unnamed congressman is also referenced in the federal indictment. The case is said to be linked to US President Donald Trump's efforts to get Ukraine to open an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden. Giuliani is Trump's personal lawyer, as well as the former mayor of New York City. What are the connections, and will this amount to anything?
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Turkey's air and ground offensive in Syria has killed over 100 "terrorists." The advance of Turkish forces into northeastern Syria is now in its second day. It's unclear whether those killed in the operation were fighting with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. The Turkish invasion began Wednesday after President Trump pulled US troops back from the area, clearing the way for Turkish forces, a move that drew condemnation from both parties as an abandonment of US allies. The UN Security Council will meet Thursday in an emergency session to discuss Turkey's military actions against the Kurds in northern Syria. Thousands have already fled in the face of ground and air attacks.
Shopping malls in Hong Kong are closing early Thursday in anticipation of protests. For the past four months, pro-democracy demonstrators have been staging protests in a variety of areas. During these demonstrations, shops have been vandalized, and protesters have used malls as locations for sit-ins. As a result, Hong Kong, one of the world's top shopping cities, is seeing a decline in revenue, and the Asian financial hub is looking at its first recession in 10 years.
The day after dozens of groups from around Washington State gathered at Tacoma City Hall to launch a new campaign calling on the Tacoma City Council to shut down the infamous Northwest Detention Center (NWDC aka Northwest ICE Processing Center), new reports from people detained there describe a new low for the GEO Group, the company that operates the center: a screw was found in the food during lunch. A relative of a person detained was able to take screenshots of the incident during a video call. La Resistencia, a grassroots group that supports the leadership of those detained at NWDC and calls for an end to detention and deportations in Washington state, received the pictures and report from the relative earlier Thursday. During Wednesday’s campaign launch, La Resistencia presented a letter from people detained to the Tacoma City Council detailing the conditions, which included finding of blood on a plate and multiple instances of finding hair and maggots in the food. The letter is signed by nearly 40 people who are detained at the facility who have witnessed or experienced these incidents themselves. They explained that a complaint hadn’t been filed because they didn't know whether they were allowed to do so, and because many times guards have ignored their complaints. The letter ends with a report that kitchen workers saw rats in the kitchen.
GUESTS:
Lee Stranahan — Co-host of Fault Lines on Sputnik News Radio.
Daniel Lazare — Journalist and author of three books: "The Frozen Republic," "The Velvet Coup" and "America's Undeclared War."
Dr. Gerald Horne — Professor of history at the University of Houston and author of many books, including "Blows Against the Empire: US Imperialism in Crisis."
Maru Mora-Villalpando — Nationally known immigrant rights activist, co-founder of the Latinx organization Mijente and community organizer with Northwest Detention Center Resistance
Dr. Jack Rasmus — Professor of economics at Saint Mary's College of California.
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