Full Program

Part 1

We begin with the New York State Attorney General issuing a notice of violation to the Donald J. Trump Foundation for soliciting charitable donations when the foundation is not registered to do so under state law. Tiziana Dearing, a professor of social work at Boston College and the former head of Catholic Charities for the Archdiocese of Boston, joins us to discuss the extraordinary hubris Trump displays in self-dealing by soliciting charitable donations to his Trump Foundation then, either spending it on himself, or making grandiose displays of phony charity by donating other people’s money in his name. We also try to understand why average middle class and working Americans who pay their taxes could support someone who boasts that he is smart for not paying taxes, which leaves the inescapable implication that Trump sees his supporters who pay taxes as being stupid.

Part 2

Then we examine the unsettling rejection of the peace deal between the Colombian government and the Farc guerrillas to end the 52 year-long civil war that has cost 260,000 lives. Michael Shifter, the president for policy and Director of the Andean Program at the Inter-American Dialogue joins us to discuss this surprise upset vote of 50.2% to 49.8% of Colombians rejecting the initiative by President Santos while siding with former President Uribe who campaigned against the deal. Due to the low voter turnout of 37%, we assess whether Colombia is having a “Brexit” moment in which politicians misjudged the popular anger towards the widely-hated Farc.

Part 3

Then finally, with today’s announcement that the State Department is cutting off cooperation with Russia on Syria and Putin’s cancellation of the joint U.S. and Russian program to dispose of nuclear weapons-grade plutonium, we speak with Nicholas Heras, a Middle East expert at the Center for a New American Security. He joins us to discuss how the Russians have been stringing the Americans along in Syria while they change facts on the ground in favor of the Assad regime, and the likelihood of another exodus of refugees as the Assad, Russian and Iranian coalition make further territorial gains while committing more barbaric atrocities and war crimes.

Full Program

Part 1

We begin with the reaction to yesterday’s overwhelming votes in the House and Senate to override President Obama’s veto of JASTA, the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act that now is the law of the land even though many Senators who voted for it now want the amend the bill. Kristen Breitweiser, a 9/11 widow and activist who is known for pressuring Washington to provide a public accounting of what went wrong on September 11. 2001 and in the months before, joins us to discuss why she feels that the role of the Saudis in the 9/11 attacks has not been thoroughly investigated and that the only way the truth will finally come out is in court cases that can now go forward in which discovery can be employed and evidence presented and evaluated. We also discuss President Obama’s rebuke of the Congress for not doing the “hard thing” in voting against JASTA.

Part 2

Then we speak with Philip Shenon, a long-time Washington correspondent and foreign correspondent for The New York Times and the bestselling author of “The Commission: The Uncensored History of the 9/11 Investigation”. He joins us to discuss the concerted efforts, following the release of the declassified 28 pages, to close the book on 9/11 and ignore the paths not taken by previous investigators that the pages reveal indicating the leads generated and evidence trails were not followed because higher ups blocked the pursuit of any investigation into Saudi Arabia’s possible role in 9/11. We also assess whether today’s announcement that Saudi Arabia in cutting production to drive up the price of oil which will take the pressure off Russia’s sinking economy, is retaliation for yesterday’s vote, assuming the U.S. has been encouraging Saudi Arabia to flood  the market to lower the price of oil as a way to punish Putin.

Part 3

Then finally Lisa Campbell joins us in the studio. She is a 20 year veteran of Law Enforcement who comes from a family in which her mother, father, brother, uncles and cousins are police officers. We will discuss the documentary film she has just finished, “Shoot, Don’t Shoot” which attempts to bridge the gap by addressing the underlying issues that lead to the escalation of violence by and against the police. Since new evidence is emerging from both the controversial shootings of Keith Scott in Charlotte and Terance Crutcher in Tulsa, we will examine non-lethal options that police could employ and whether they are trained and equipped to deal with the erratic behavior of suspects suffering from mental illness or drug addiction.