Why Did Biden Meet With Middle East Leaders Who Want Trump Back in the White House?
We begin with President Biden’s just-concluded trip to Israel and Saudi Arabia where he met with Gulf and regional leaders, many of whom want Trump back in the White House. Pledging a US commitment to stay in a region that Obama wanted to pivot away from to focus on China, we will assess what Biden gained from meeting with the pariah prince MBS who offered little to help lower the price of oil and instead suggested we should not limit emissions to deal with global warming but should produce more oil. Joining us is Robert Baer, one of the most accomplished agents in CIA history, and a winner of the Career Intelligence Medal. He is the author of four New York Times bestsellers, including Sleeping With the Devil: How Washington Sold Our Soul For Saudi Crude and is considered one of the world’s foremost authorities on the Middle East and is an intelligence and national security affairs analyst for CNN. His latest book, just out, is The Fourth Man: The Hunt for a KGB Spy at the Top of the CIA and the Rise of Putin’s Russia.
The Futility of Dealing With Joe Manchin Who Just Stymied Biden’s Agenda for a Second Time
Then we examine the one man in America who not only shares MBS’s objections to reduce fossil fuel dependence to save the planet but was able to stymie for the second time, Biden’s efforts to do something about it. Joining us is David Dayen, the Executive Editor of the American Prospect and the winner of the Ida and Studs Terkel Prize. He is the author of Chain of Title: How Three Ordinary Americans Uncovered Wall Street’s Great Foreclosure Fraud and Fat Cat: The Steve Mnuchin Story, and his latest book is Monopolized: Life in the Age of Corporate Power. We discuss his article at the American Prospect on the futility of dealing with Joe Manchin, “May Build Back Better Never Be Spoken Of Again.”
Why is the DOJ Prosecuting Low-Level Insurrectionists Instead of Those Who Planned and Led the Coup Attempt?
Then finally we get an update on the January 6 Committee investigation and question why the House committee is doing all the work while the DOJ, with vast resources and subpoena power, is sitting on its hands prosecuting low-level insurrectionists instead of those who planned and led the coup attempt. Joining us is Corey Brettschneider, a professor of political science at Brown University, where he teaches constitutional law and politics, as well as visiting professor of law at Fordham Law School. He is the author of The Oath and the Office: A Guide to the Constitution for Future Presidents and his latest book is Decisions and Dissents of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg: A Selection.