Background Briefing: October 16, 2018
Trump’s Long and Deep Financial Ties to the Saudis We begin with President Trump’s denial in a tweet today claiming he has no financial interests in Saudi Arabia (or Russia for that matter) which flies in the face of the many statements he made on the campaign...
Background Briefing: October 15, 2018
Trump and MBS Concoct a Cover Story We begin with the cover story the White House and the Saudi Crown Prince MBS came up with to get them both off the hook following the murder and dismemberment of the Saudi-American journalist Jamil Khashoggi in Turkey....
Background Briefing: October 14, 2018
Will the Saudi Crown Prince’s Reign Be Over Before It Begins? We begin with the increasing isolation of Saudi Arabia as more and more evidence points to the Saudi Crown Prince MBS as the person responsible for ordering the assassination and gruesome murder and...
Background Briefing: October 11, 2018
Fingers Point at Saudi Arabia’s Impetuous, Arrogant and Violent Crown Prince We begin with the growing pressure on Saudi Arabia as it becomes increasingly clear that the impetuous, arrogant and violent Saudi Crown Prince known as MBS, ordered the grisly...
Background Briefing: October 10, 2018
Trump’s Torrent of Lies in His Op-Ed Against Medicare-for-All We begin with the op-ed in today’s USA Today by President Trump attacking the Democrats for wanting to expand Medicare to Medicare-for-all, using the familiar tropes of “socialism”, “big government...
Background Briefing: October 9, 2018
Speculation About Nikki Haley’s Sudden Departure We begin with the surprise resignation of the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley whose sudden departure has led to feverish speculation. Barbara Crossette, the former UN Bureau Chief for The New York Times...
Background Briefing: October 8, 2018
Trump Declares There is a War on Men We begin with Lynn Stuart Parramore, a Senior Research Analyst at the Institute for New Economic Thinking, a cultural historian who studies and writes on the intersection of culture, gender and economics. She joins us to...
Background Briefing: October 7, 2018
Trump Stokes Men’s Aggrieved Entitlement We begin with the Kavanaugh effect reflected in Trump’s recent rhetoric that expands on male victimhood which he used successfully in the 2016 campaign to convince the white working class they are being marginalized by...
Background Briefing: October 4, 2018
The Fix Was in on the FBI Investigation We begin with a former FBI Special Agent and discuss the limits the White House and the Senate Judiciary Committee placed on the supplemental FBI investigation into the accusations made by Dr. Ford against Judge Kavanaugh...
Background Briefing: October 3, 2018
A President Out of Control But With the Nuclear Button We begin with the uncontrolled outburst that spewed from President Trump at a rally in Mississippi last night as he belittled Dr. Blasey Ford who testified against Judge Kavanaugh. Despite having been...