Background Briefing: June 6, 2018

 

The Democrats Squeak by with a Low Turn-Out in California

We begin with the results of primary elections in eight states yesterday with close attention being paid to New Jersey and California for signs of a Blue Wave that could sweep away Republican control of the House in November. Ed Kilgorethe Managing Editor of The Democratic Strategist and a political columnist for New York Magazine where his latest article is “California Democrats Did Well, But Not Perfectly, in Primary”, joins us to discuss the light turnout by Democrats who narrowly avoided being shut out of key House races and, in spite of Trump’s unpopularity in the Golden State, there was a strong showing of Republicans. With a considerable number of mail-in ballots yet to be counted, we will analyze whether in a number of close races where a Democratic candidate in a crowded field of other Democratic hopefuls, managed to slip into second place behind a Republican incumbent, the chances of a Blue Wave upset in November could be diminished. And since the margins between Democratic challengers in second and third place are so close with 2.7 million mail-in ballots now being counted, we assess who might end up being the most viable Democratic candidates in the general since some were chosen by the DCCC and others by the California Democratic Party.

 

A Mexican Court Demands a REAL Investigation into the 43 Missing Students

Then with Mexico’s opposition candidate Lopez Obrador polling over 50% way ahead of other candidates including the PRI Party of outgoing President Pena Nieto, we  go to Mexico City to examine the latest twist in the tortured sage of the 43 missing students which had gripped Mexico and led to Pena Nieto’s downfall. John Gibler, the author of “I Couldn’t Even Imagine That They Would Kill Us: A Oral History of the Attacks Against the Students of Ayotzinapa” joins us to discuss how a Mexican federal court has ordered the government to investigate the 2014 disappearances again, this time under the supervision of a truth commission led by Mexico’s National Commission for Human Rights along with parents of the victims. This time the court insists that for the first time the role of the Federal Police and the Army in the massacre and disappearances has to be investigated.

 

Trump Sells out the Kurds and US National Security

Then finally we speak with David Phillips, a former senior advisor and foreign policy expert to the State Department under Presidents, Clinton, Bush and Obama. He joins us to look into a major strategic blunder underway with Secretary of State Pompeo making a deal with Turkey to sell out the Kurds over the objections of Secretary of Defense Mattis. We try to make sense of why Trump is letting ISIS off the hook just as it is about to be finished off and rewarding Turkey, Russia and Iran against the national security interests of the United States.