Inside-America

Are party politics at play in Washington when it comes to Puerto Rico statehood? Inside America host Ghida Fakhry gives us her take in this week’s In Short.

Watch the full programme here: https://youtu.be/7wWtSCKC9ag

Puerto Rico, a US territory in the Caribbean has been fighting for autonomy and full citizenship rights for more than a century. Earlier this month, the Puerto Rico Statehood Admission Act was introduced in the US House of Representatives.

It would grant the island’s 3 million US citizens the right to full representation in the US Congress: two Senators and as many as four or five seats in the House of Representatives. Statehood would also allow eligible Puerto Ricans living in Puerto Rico to vote in US elections and get seven votes in the Electoral Colleg e which determines the outcome of US presidential elections. Puerto Rico would also have greater access to federal funding.

The bill has the support of at least 49 House members: 13 Republicans and 36 Democrats. Polls have consistently shown that a majority of Americans support admitting Puerto Rico as a state —66% are in favor of statehood; that’s two in three Americans.

In a non-binding referendum held in Puerto Rico last November, almost 53% of Puerto Rican participants voted in favor of statehood and almost 48% were against.

Meanwhile, two Democratic Representatives from New York —Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Nydia Velazquez —both of Puerto Rican descent, introduced their own legislation: The Puerto Rican Self-Determination Act, which would allow Puerto Ricans to ‘exercise their natural right to self-determination’ by electing a group of delegates to study the issue and come up with a plan for the island’s status —including statehood, free-association or even independence.

Watch other episodes of Inside America ➡ Weekly in-depth interviews with American opinion and policy-makers exploring the issues shaping US politics. 👉http://trt.world/InsideAmerica​​

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The Biden administration’s commitment to human rights is tested as it vows to recalibrate its foreign policy and demonstrate its dedication to democracy and the rule of law —at home and abroad.

President Joe Biden is facing backlash from his democratic colleagues for not holding Saudi leaders fully accountable after the release of a long awaited intelligence report concluded that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved the 2018 brutal assassination in Istanbul of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Senator Bob Menendez (D- New Jersey), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the US must send the message that “impunity is not the rule”.

The Biden administration also denounced the decision by the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda, to investigate alleged war crimes committed by Israel in the Occupied State of Palestine.

Meanwhile, Biden is facing criticism from Democrats on Capitol Hill for ordering airstrikes in Syria last month, without Congressional authorization. According to the US, the air strikes targeted Iran-backed militias accused of carrying out a deadly rocket attack on a US-led coalition base in northern Iraq. While Biden campaigned on re-joining the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) which the Trump administration withdrew from in 2018, the White House says it will not lift sanctions on Iran until Tehran comes into full compliance with its obligations. Iran says it is ready to fulfill its commitments after the US lifts its ‘illegal sanctions and abandons its policy of threats and pressure.’

Guests:

Michael Lynk- United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967

Hans Blix- former Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). He was head of the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) in the lead-up to the 2003 Iraq war and is a former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sweden.

Watch other episodes of Inside America ➡ Weekly in-depth interviews with American opinion and policy-makers exploring the issues shaping US politics. 👉http://trt.world/InsideAmerica​

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Ilhan Omar joins Inside America with Ghida Fakhry to discuss her experience during the Jan 6 attack on Capitol Hill, the rising threat of domestic terrorism, as well as her leadership role on a key House Foreign Affairs sub-committee and Biden’s foreign policy challenges.

Republican leaders are objecting to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s draft mandate of a commission to look into the January 6 insurrection on Capitol Hill.

Republican Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell called Pelosi’s idea of setting up a 9-11 style commission “partisan by design” and said the commission should be equally composed of Democrats and Republicans. Pelosi’s plan provides for 7 Democratic and 4 Republican Commissioners. McConnell also argued that in looking at violent extremism, the Commission should examine "the full scope of the political violence problem in this country” —a thinly-veiled reference to the nationwide Black Lives Matter protests last summer.

So far, over 280 people have been arrested and charged in connection with the failed insurrection.

Meanwhile, as 5000 National Guards remain deployed around the Capitol to ward off possible violence on March 4th, the newly-confirmed Attorney General, Merrick Garland, told the Senate Judiciary Committee, that he will do “everything in the power of the Justice Department” to stop domestic violent extremism. He added that the Jan 6 events were linked to a movement that poses an existential threat to the United States.

Guests:

Ilhan Omar

US Representative from Minnesota (D), Whip of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and Vice Chair of the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Africa.

Michael Jensen

Senior Researcher at the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) at the University of Maryland.

Just one month into his presidency, Joe Biden is rallying Congress and the American people behind a $1.9 trillion pandemic rescue package, as Democrats squabble over the details. Senator Bernie Sanders, who chairs the Senate Budget Committee, says it is ‘morally imperative’ to keep a $15 minimum wage in the package. But with the Senate split evenly between Republicans and Democrats, will the Democratic Party unite behind him?

And, power outages across the southern United States expose the failures of an aging infrastructure system, as the debate over fossil fuels and renewable energy heats up. Environmentalists are calling this a wake up call for America’s reliance on fossil fuel, but oil and gas pipelines continue to snake across the country.

Guests:

Stephanie Kelton- Former senior economic adviser to Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaigns, professor of economics & public policy at Stony Brook University and author of The Deficit Myth.

Steven Chu- Former US Secretary of Energy, Nobel laureate & professor of physics at Stanford University

Winona LaDuke- Anishinaabe environmental and indiginous rights activist & executive director of Honor the Earth

Watch other episodes of Inside America ➡ Weekly in-depth interviews with American opinion and policy-makers exploring the issues shaping US politics. 👉http://trt.world/InsideAmerica​

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In 'My America' Yunus Paksoy travels across the country to gain an understanding of people and groups the mainstream media is often accused of ignoring.

#MyAmerica

In this episode, we meet Eric Braden, an American veteran who faces 2 years in prison for refusing to wear a mask inside a shopping mall.

As widely anticipated, the second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump ended in an #acquittal.

57 Senators in total — 48 Democrats, two Independents, and seven Republicans found Trump guilty, while 43 Republican senators found him not guilty of inciting the January 6th insurrection. While this was the most bipartisan vote in any US President’s impeachment trial, 10 additional guilty votes were needed for a conviction. A poll released this week showed that 58 percent of Americans believe Trump should have been convicted.

Trump’s acquittal has further factionalized the Republican Party, as the seven Republican senators who crossed party lines to convict, face censure and rebuke from their State GOP leaderships.

Meanwhile, the Democrats and House Managers who argued the case to convict Trump but failed to secure what would have been a first in US history, have come under sharp criticism for their decision to forgo witness testimony after a majority of senators voted to grant that last minute request. Many argue that the live testimony of a Republican congresswoman, Representative Herrera Beutler, who was willing to testify about a desperate call for help made by Republican House leader Kevin McCarthy to President Trump while the Capitol being overtaken by insurrectionists, would have been damning and could have made it more difficult for some Republican senators to acquit.

So what impact will Trump’s acquittal have on Republicans and Democrats alike?

Guest:

Bennie Thompson

US Representative from Mississippi (D) and Chairman of the Homeland Security Committee

Demetrius Douglas

Georgia State Representative (D)

Mike Puskaric

Pennsylvania State Representative (R)

Watch Inside America ➡ Weekly in-depth interviews with American opinion and policy-makers exploring the issues shaping US politics. 👉http://trt.world/f12h

👉@_InsideAmerica 👉@Ghida_Fakhry 👉@Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3d0LYLy

A historic week in the United States as the second Senate #impeachment trial of Donald Trump is underway in Washington DC. The former president is accused of “incitement of insurrection” after his supporters stormed the Capitol on January 6th in an attempt to stop the wheels of democracy.

100 Senators —most of whom were trapped in the Capitol on January 6th— will decide to convict or acquit Trump. But in a hyper-partisan environment, will the evidence and legal arguments or party loyalty guide the Senate’s 100 jurors?

Guests:

Tom Daschle- Former Senate Majority Leader (D-South Dakota)

Rep. Emanuel Cleaver- US Congressman (D-Missouri)

Nick Ackerman- Former Assistant Special Watergate Prosecutor

Watch Inside America ➡ Weekly in-depth interviews with American opinion and policy-makers exploring the issues shaping US politics. 👉http://trt.world/f12h

👉@_InsideAmerica 👉@Ghida_Fakhry 👉@Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3d0LYLy

Will rooting out systemic racism require more than executive orders from Biden? Inside America host Ghida Fakhry gives us her take in this week’s In Short.

Watch the full programme here: https://youtu.be/9qaxdmQ02_A

Watch Inside America ➡ Weekly in-depth interviews with American opinion and policy-makers exploring the issues shaping US politics.