Background Briefing: June 5, 2022
An Assassination Attempt on Putin in May and Cancer Treatment in April
We begin with questions surrounding Putin’s health and investigate a classified US report that he underwent treatment for advanced cancer in April and that there was an assassination attempt on Putin’s life in March. Joining us is William Arkin, a Senior Editor at Newsweek and one of America’s premier military experts whose investigative work has appeared on the front pages of The New York Times, The Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times. Until recently he was an NBC News analyst and reporter for thirty years and he also served in Army intelligence in West Berlin during the Cold War and has been a consultant to wide-ranging organizations, including the US Air Force, the United Nations Secretary General, Human Rights Watch, and the Natural Resources Defense Council. The bestselling author of more than a dozen books, including and The Generals Have No Clothes: The Untold Story of Our Endless Wars, his latest book is On That Day: The Definitive Timeline of 9/11, and we discuss his latest article at Newsweek, “Exclusive: Putin Treated for Cancer in April, U.S. Intelligence Report Says.”
How Much Will the American President Have To Bow Before the Entitled Saudi Thug?
Then with Biden’s trip to Israel and Saudi Arabia postponed until July, we look into how much the American president will have to bow before the entitled and murderous Prince Mohammad bin Salman about to be crowned king who could help lower the price of oil but so far has refused to do so, but is instead showering billions on team Trump who MBS and his ally Putin clearly want back in the White House in 2024. Joining us is Sarah Leah Whitson, the executive director of Democracy for the Arab World Now DAWN who was formerly the executive director of Human Rights Watch’s Middle East and North Africa Division, where she oversaw 19 countries, with staff located in 10 countries. She has led dozens of advocacy and investigative missions throughout the region, focusing on issues of armed conflict, accountability, legal reform, migrant workers, and political rights.
Amid Pomp and Ceremony, a Majority of Young Britons Want an Elected Head of State
Then finally we go to the UK which is in the midst of a festival of pomp and ceremony honoring Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee. Joining us is Polly Toynbee, a columnist for the Guardian who was formerly BBC social affairs editor, columnist and associate editor of the Independent, co-editor of the Washington Monthly and a reporter and feature writer for the Observer. She is the co-author of Dismembered: How the attack on the state harms us all and we discuss her latest article at The Guardian, “For today even Republicans like me can put up with the pomp with a drink in hand.”