August 28 – The Unnatural Disaster Underway in Houston; Trump Defends Arpaio Pardon; White House Leans on CIA to Cook Books on Iran Intel

Full Program

Part 1

We begin with the worsening flooding in Houston as Hurricane Harvey, now a tropical storm, continues to dump up to 50 inches of rain over the surrounding area. Jeff Goodell, a contributing editor at Rolling Stone and author of the forthcoming book, “The Water Will Come: Rising Seas, Sinking Cities and the Remaking of the Civilized World”, joins us to discuss the factors involved in contributing to this unnatural disaster. Along with the rising sea level due to global warming, we will examine the role of unchecked development in and around Houston as a result of the housing boom and the coastal subsidence where the land has sunk more than half a foot due to oil drilling. Another effect of global warming is the rising sea surface temperature responsible for a 3% increase in average atmospheric moisture content for each half degree centigrade of warming which has resulted in 3-5% more moisture in the atmosphere, creating the potential for more intense rainfalls known as “rain bombs” and much greater flooding.

Part 2

Then we assess Trump’s remarks in a press conference today in which he again called for the building of a border wall that he insists Mexico will pay for while defending his controversial pardon of former sheriff Joe Arpaio who Trump claimed “was treated unbelievably unfairly”. Joining us to refute this absurdity is Antonia Noori Farzan, a staff writer at the Phoenix New Times where she has covered the former sheriff for years and where she has an article, “Latino Reaction to Arpaio Pardon ‘Just Throwing the Finger” at Federal Judges”.

Part 3

Then finally we look into a repeat of the White House leaning on the CIA to cook the books on intelligence to justify a war against Iraq, with this time the target being Iran. Middle East expert Rasool Nafisi, the author of The Rise of the Pasdaran” and “The Cultures of the Middle East”, joins us to discuss White House pressure on the CIA to create evidence against Iran to support Trump’s determination to tear up the nuclear agreement with Iran which will end up as a gift to Iran’s hardline rulers and undermine President Rouhani and the pro-democracy reformers.