Full Program

Part 1

Now that we are told the Republican frontrunner has a solid if not insurmountable lead, we begin with a look into who Mitt Romney is. Scott Helman, a staff writer at The Boston Globe and co-author of a new book “The Real Romney”, joins us. We explore the candidate’s formative years and learn what makes the man, not the robot, tick.

Then we get an insightful briefing on what‘s holding Syria together and what is tearing it apart, as well as examining the role of the outside powers and the regional players now embroiled in a proxy war that could go on for a considerable time. Aram Nerguizian, a visiting fellow and the Arleigh Burke Chair in Strategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies joins us. We discuss the Assad family clan and its Mafia-like domination of both Syria’s politics and its economy as the civil war intensifies to the point Syria could become the Somalia of the Mediterranean with arsenals of chemical and biological weapons on the loose.

Part 3

Then finally we assess how the West might deal with another presidency of Vladimir Putin who just won the Russian election amid charges of fraud and growing protests at home. Daniel Treisman, a professor of Political Science at UCLA and author of “The Return: Russia’s Journey From Gorbachev to Medvedev” joins us. We discuss why President Obama has yet to congratulate Putin on his victory while mentioning at yesterday’s White House press conference that he’s looked forward to meeting Putin at Camp David during the G-8 summit.

Full Program

Part 1

We begin with a discussion with one of the signatories of a letter in today’s Washington Post urging President Obama to say no to a war of choice with Iran. Paul Pillar, the former National Intelligence Officer for the Near East and South Asia joins us to explain why he and many senior military officials are concerned that what is being billed as an Iran problem, is an Israeli problem, and if there is a war with Iran, Israel will not be just a contributing factor, but the prime mover.

Part 2

Then we speak with Bob Samuels, the President of the University Council who is in the Sacramento, at the state capitol along with thousands of others, demonstrating against tuition hikes and education cuts that are decimating what was once the country’s leader in public education, California, which now languishes near the bottom with Mississippi.

Part 3

Then finally Anne Marie O’Connor joins us in the studio. She is the author of a new book “The Lady in Gold: The Extraordinary Tale of Gustav Klimt’s Masterpiece Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer”. Anne Marie writes for the Washington Post from Mexico City and we hear about her recent investigations into how the Mexican drug cartels are kidnapping immigrant women from Central America and forcing them into the sex trade, and also discuss the on-going struggle of returning art stolen by the Nazi’s to the rightful heirs of the original owners, most of whom were murdered by the Nazis.