Day: July 16, 2018

Background Briefing: July 16, 2018

 

Trump’s Shameful Display of Craven Fealty Towards Putin

We begin with the shameful and craven fealty on display today in Helsinki at the press conference which followed Trump’s meeting with Putin in which our president blamed America and sided with the leader of a hostile foreign power who intervened in our election and, according to our Director of National Intelligence, continues to attack the infrastructure and election systems of United States to this day. David Rothkopf, a visiting professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and author of “The Great Questions of Tomorrow” joins us to discuss his article at The Daily Beast “Way Trump Deals With Russian Attacks Is ‘Textbook Treason’”.  We assess whether today’s disgraceful display of a weak and compromised president cow-towing to a ruthless despot could be a turning point for the American people to recognize that the Republicans who are seeking to undermine the Mueller investigation, are serving Russian interests as much as the indicted Russian military officers who attacked as were. And with Senate Minority Leader Schumer speculating that Putin “Holds damaging information over Trump”, we look into what it will take for Republican enablers of their traitor-in-chief to re-discover their patriotism.

 

Trump Outmatched by Putin on the World Stage

Then we go to Prague and speak with an expert on transnational crime and Russian security affairs, Mark Galeotti, a senior researcher at the Institute of International Relations in Prague whose latest book is “The Vory: Russia’s Super Mafia”. He joins us to discuss how much Trump was outmatched by Putin who appeared as more than an equal on the world stage after coming off a very successful World Cup Russia hosted, and the alarm felt among America’s European allies as Trump praises Putin while calling the E.U. a foe.

 

Trump Defends Putin While Blaming Everything on Hillary Clinton

Then finally we speak with Russian expert Kathryn Stoner, Director of International Policy Studies and Senior Fellow at Stanford University’s Center for Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law. The author of the forthcoming book, “Russia’s Return as a Global Power”, she joins us to discuss how disheartening it is to see our own president reject the findings of our own Justice Department and Intelligence Agencies to defend Putin and blame everything on Hillary Clinton and her email servers.