Background Briefing: April 16, 2019
Paris the Day After the Burning of Notre Dame We will begin and go to Paris for an update on local reactions following Monday’s fire which devastated the 850 year old Notre Dame cathedral, destroying its roof and spire and possibly damaging the surviving outer...
Background Briefing: April 15, 2019
On Tax Day Trump Hides His Returns While He and Jared Pay No Taxes On this tax day we begin with an assessment of how unfair our tax system is with the president, who claims to be a billionaire, placing himself above the law refusing to disclose his taxes, as...
Background Briefing: April 14, 2019
It Will Be a Long Time Before Julian Assange is in US Custody We begin with fate of Wikileaks co-founder Julian Assange who is in custody in the U.K. facing extradition to the United States and speak with Mike Harris, the publisher of Little Atoms who writes on...
Background Briefing: April 11, 2019
The Danger in Celebrating Assange's Arrest We begin with the arrest today in London of Wikileaks co-founder Julian Assange who was dragged out from the Ecuadorian embassy where he sought refuge and political asylum in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden over...
Background Briefing: April 9, 2019
Barr's Less-Than-Reassuring Testimony We begin with Attorney General William Barr’s testimony before the House Appropriations Committee today in which he promised the release of the Mueller Report “within a week” but ruled out the possibility of going to a...
Background Briefing: April 8, 2019
Trump's "You're Fired!" Spree We begin with Trump’s firing of the head of Homeland Security yesterday quickly follow today by the firing of the head of the Secret Service today as he purges proteges of General Kelly his former Chief of Staff apparently on the...
Background Briefing: April 7, 2019
Why Not Release Mueller Team's Summaries Now? We begin with the redactions underway on the 400-plus page Mueller Report in the hands of William Barr who has wide discretion over what is revealed and what is blacked out. With Barr scheduled to appear before the...
Background Briefing: April 4, 2019
Mueller's Investigators Are Angry at Barr's Misrepresentation of Their Report We begin with the revelations in The New York Times that some of the investigators who prepared the Mueller report now in the hands of William Barr are simmering with frustration that...
Background Briefing: April 3, 2019
McConnell Goes Nuclear for the Third Time in Six Years We begin with Mitch McConnell invoking the “nuclear option” in the senate today following his failure yesterday to get 60 votes to change the rules so that non-Cabinet level executive and district court...
Background Briefing: April 2, 2019
Anti-Vaxxers and the Growing Measles Epidemic We begin with America’s vaccination crisis with measles outbreaks in 15 states and the number of measles cases in just the first three months of this year already totaling the second-highest number of cases since...