Peace and Reunification? Kim and Moon Sign Major Agreement After Summit

Loud & Clear

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Vijay Prashad, the director of the Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research and Chief Editor of LeftWord Books and the author of “Red Star Over the Third World,” and Dr. Christine Hong, associate professor of Critical Race and Ethnic Studies at UC Santa Cruz and a member of the Korea Policy Institute.
The leaders of North and South Korea met in Pyongyang yesterday on the second day of their three-day summit. North Korea said it would close a key missile test facility in the presence of international observers if the US took corresponding action, and the two leaders teased an historic possible fourth summit in Seoul in the coming months.
Wednesday’s regular segment, Beyond Nuclear, is about nuclear issues, including weapons, energy, waste, and the future of nuclear technology in the United States. Kevin Kamps, the Radioactive Waste Watchdog at the organization Beyond Nuclear, and Sputnik news analyst and producer Nicole Roussell, join the show.
Two mental health detainees in South Carolina died yesterday when the van in which they were chained flooded in standing water. The deputies transporting them were rescued. Brian and John speak with Kym Smith, a community organizer who has been involved in mobilizing support for the recent national prison strike.
Poland is one of the very few European countries where Donald Trump is not only welcome, but sought after. Poland’s president has even discussed the idea of naming a military base after him. But that may have changed yesterday when Trump insulted Polish President Duda by forcing him to stand to sign a strategic partnership agreement while Trump sat, looking sternly into the camera. Dr. Jeremy Kuzmarov, a professor of American history at the University of Tulsa and author of “The Russians Are Coming, Again: The First Cold War as Tragedy, the Second as Farce,” joins the show.
In another aggressive move toward China, the US is now requiring two major Chinese media outlets—CGTN and Xinhua—to register as foreign agents. How will this affect US and China’s relationship? And what about U.S. media operating in China? Jude Woodward is the author of the book “The US vs China: Asia's new Cold War?,” joins Brian and John.
Yesterday was Day 3 in the murder trial of Chicago police officer Jason van Dyke, who is charged with killing 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, shooting him 16 times. So far, the blue line of silence appears to be cracking, with two police officers testifying yesterday that they did not believe McDonald posed a threat to their safety. Kofi Ademola, an activist and organizer with the Black Lives Matter movement, and Madi, an organizer with Good Kids Mad City, an group in Chicago calling for more resources in underserved communities, join the show.
A few days ago we reported on a story in the Washington Post saying that the Trump Administration was denying passports to American citizens along the border, even when they produced birth certificates indicating that they were born in the US. Some citizens were even asked to produce notes made by the midwives who delivered them. That story was incorrect. Yes, some Americans have been denied passports. But the policy was initiated by the Clinton Administration. And there are actually fewer people being denied passports under Trump. Hostility to immigrants appears to be a permanent policy for the U.S. government—Republican or Democrat. Brian and John speak with Juan José Gutiérrez, the executive director of the Full Rights for Immigrants Coalition.