The highly anticipated culmination of peace talks between the US and Afghanistan’s Taliban abruptly ended in disarray over the weekend after President Donald Trump announced in a series of tweets on Saturday that he had planned a secret meeting with the Taliban and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani at Camp David – but then cancelled that meeting. He wrote, “Unbeknownst to almost everyone, the major Taliban leaders and, separately, the President of Afghanistan, were going to secretly meet with me at Camp David on Sunday. They were coming to the United States tonight.” Trump then added, “Unfortunately, in order to build false leverage, they admitted to an attack in Kabul that killed one of our great great soldiers, and 11 other people. I immediately cancelled the meeting and called off peace negotiations.” A day later Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaking on ABC with host George Stephanopoulos attempted to explain the President’s logic.

Meanwhile the New York Times revealed the inside story of how the plan to invite the Taliban onto US soil just days before the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks happened. According to the paper, “Mr. Trump … would not only bring the Taliban to Washington, but to Camp David, the crown jewel of the American presidency. The leaders of a rugged militant organization deemed terrorists by the United States would be hosted in the mountain getaway used for presidents, prime ministers and kings just three days before the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that led to the Afghan war.” The paper also said, “What would have been one of the biggest headline-grabbing moments of his tenure was put together on the spur of the moment and then canceled on the spur of the moment. The usual National Security Council process was dispensed with; only a small circle of advisers was even clued in.”

Congress is back in session on Monday and the House Judiciary Committee immediately announced it would vote this Thursday on the rules for impeachment hearings. The House Intelligence committee also jumped into high gear saying it would be investigating President Trump’s efforts to force Ukraine to meddle in the 2020 election based on public statements made by the Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani. Other investigations of Trump’s recent doings include a move by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to investigate why some of its staff backed the President on an incorrect assessment of Hurricane Dorian’s path. The incident is being referred to as “Sharpie-Gate” for the crudely drawn line on a map that Trump showed to press to make the false claim that the state of Alabama was in the hurricane’s path. When the National Weather Service contradicted the President, someone at the NOAA insisted that the President and not the NWS was correct. There is now a firestorm of opposition within the government agencies over what they see as dangerous politicization of their work. And the US Air Force will be investigating why some of it staff have been staying at Trump’s financially struggling golf resort in Scotland.

FEATURING CAROLYN HOMER – A federal judge just ruled that the government’s so-called terrorism watch-list violates people’s rights and may be unconstitutional. The F.B.I.’s Terrorist Screening Center has been maintaining the list for years and currently lists about 4,600 US citizens who face severe travel restrictions. The majority of people on the list, which numbers a total of 1.2 million people, are non-American. The judge’s decision was made on a case brought by the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) on behalf of about 2-dozen Americans who are on the list.  

To continue following this case, visit www.CAIR.com.

Carolyn Homer, Trial Attorney with the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR).

The White House is reportedly considering cutting the US’s refugee admissions to nearly zero.  For decades the program has admitted tens of thousands of people from all over the world fleeing persecution but under President Donald Trump the number being admitted has dramatically dropped. Now, according to the New York Times, which broke the story, Trump is considering several options that would, “all but end the United States’ status as one of the leading places accepting refugees from around the world.” A spokesperson for the group Refugees International told the paper, “At a time when the number of refugees is at the highest level in recorded history, the United States has abandoned world leadership in resettling vulnerable people in need of protection…The result is a world that is less compassionate and less able to deal with future humanitarian challenges.”

The Labor Department announced on Friday that the US economy added a disappointing 130,000 jobs in August, below the 160,000 that some economists had estimated. According to the Washington Post, “anemic hiring in manufacturing, mining, truck driving and retail — industries that are most directly affected by the trade war — helped drag employment gains down this summer.” Meanwhile the Federal Reserve published a report this week estimating that the costs to the US economy of uncertainty triggered by President Trump’s trade war is hundreds of billions of dollars. On the global scale the loss ads up to about $850 billion.

The Trump administration released a major plan this week to revamp the housing market. At the center of the plan is the privatizing of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, the two government-backed mortgage lenders that have helped finance about half of all home mortgages in the US. According to the Washington Post, “The long-awaited plan from the Treasury Department features nearly 50 proposals, including many technical changes to financial regulations, and is aimed at shrinking the government’s role in the housing market.” According to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin Trump’s plan would, “protect taxpayers and help Americans who want to buy a home.” But Mike Calhoun, president of the nonprofit Center for Responsible Lending told NPR, “For working class Americans who want to buy a house this could make it much more difficult to get a mortgage and make the mortgage much more expensive.”

The Washington Post Editorial Board published a strongly worded opinion on Friday accusing President Trump of using the Russia-Ukraine conflict to meddle in the 2020 Presidential election. The US has been providing military aid to Ukraine to help stave off Russian incursions on its border. But the Post’s editors write, “we’re reliably told that the president … is attempting to force [Ukrainian President] Mr. Zelensky to intervene in the 2020 U.S. presidential election by launching an investigation o...

FEATURING DAVID TURNBULL – After the Democratic National Committee refused to hold a Presidential candidate debate centered on climate change, CNN decided this week to host its own forum on the critical subject matter. CNN hosts questioned the top ten Presidential candidates in a 7-hour televised marathon while audience members added their own questions. While the format did not enable candidates to challenge one another, climate justice activists hailed the sheer existence of a forum dedicated to climate change. 

David Turnbull, Strategic Communications Director at Oil Change US.

FEATURING NATASHA HAKIMI ZAPATA – For American observers of the political chaos playing out across the Atlantic in Britain, Brexit seems to be a confusing, mysterious mess. For just about as long as Americans have been living with Donald Trump’s Presidency, Britons have been living with the results of a narrow vote for their nation to leave the European Union. The new Prime Minister Boris Johnson was a strong backer of Brexit. But given the stakes Johnson appears to be alienating members of his own party and the public. As mass protests fill the streets of London and a looming deadline of October 31st threatens to bring a no-deal Brexit, we go to the UK today to try to make sense of it all.  

Read her article about Brexit HERE.

Natasha Hakimi Zapata, Foreign Editor for Truthdig.com.

The record-breaking storm Dorian is pounding South and North Carolina as well as Georgia with some areas expecting an 8-foot storm surge and up to 15 inches of rain. There are winds of up to 110 miles per hour and 200,000 people in South Carolina have been without power. The city of Charleston is expected to be hard hit. President Donald Trump, who had insisted that the state of Alabama would be hit by the hurricane, on Wednesday showed a map that appeared to have a black line extending over Alabama that some speculated had been drawn in by hand just to be consistent with the President’s statements. Meanwhile in the Bahamas, which have been totally destroyed by Hurricane Dorian, the official death toll has crept up to 23 but thousands remain missing. Search and rescue teams of the US Coast Guard and British Royal Navy are assisting in recovery efforts. A website called DorianPeopleSearch.com has been deployed to help people find their loved ones. One estimate for the cost of rebuilding Bahamas was $7 billion. 

 As Hurricane Dorian rained destruction in the Atlantic coastal areas, ten Democratic contenders for President participated in a climate change forum hosted by CNN. Over 7 hours, CNN hosts aired back-to-back interviews with the top ten candidates. Audience members were also able to participate in questioning candidates and some members of the youth-led climate organization Sunrise Movement challenged candidates like Joe Biden on his links to fossil fuel executives and companies. Meanwhile President Trump, in between his tweets about the record breaking hurricane that is clearly driven by climate change, spent time mocking the CNN forum on Twitter and making a number of false claims. We’ll have more coverage on the climate forum on our show. 

A federal judge has ruled that the government’s so-called terrorism watch-list violates people’s rights and may be unconstitutional. The F.B.I.’s Terrorist Screening Center has been maintaining the list for years and currently lists about 4,600 US citizens who face severe travel restrictions. The majority of people on the list, which numbers a total of 1.2 million people, are non-American. The judge’s decision was made on a case brought by the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) on behalf of 19 Americans who are on the list.  

Yet another Republican politician is retiring – Wisconsin Representative Jim Sensenbrenner. The GOP lawmaker has served more than 20 terms in Congress and cast more than 23,000 votes. He now joins a growing list of his fellow party members choosing to...

FEATURING BILL MCKIBBEN – The devastation of Hurricane Dorian has offered yet more dire evidence of the critical choice humanity faces: to continue burning fossil fuels and heating up our atmosphere, or to choose a path away from climate destruction. 

On September 20th, a global climate strike of the likes we may have never before seen, will mobilize people around the world to demand action on climate change. A week-long series of actions, events, marches, rallies, strikes, and more are intended to send a powerful message to decision makers that we can no longer continue with the status quo.

For more information about a Global Climate Strike near you visit https://globalclimatestrike.net.

Bill McKibben, internationally renowned climate activist, published author, and founder of 350.org, winner of the Right Livlihood award and other multiple awards. His latest book, published earlier this year is called Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out?

FEATURING TAKEIA WATTS – Hundreds of medical technicians, nurses and other healthcare workers from Kaiser Permanente marched in various California cities on Labor Day to make a show of force for a potential strike in October if contract negotiations do not go well. The healthcare provider serves millions of people in California as well as in other states. But workers are so fed up of being sidelined that 98% of union members voted to strike. 

For more information, visit www.seiu-uhw.org.

Takeia Watts, Medical Assistant at Kaiser Permanente in Stockton, California.

Hurricane Dorian has laid waste to the Bahamas as the scenes of destruction are now emerging. For two days the record-breaking storm pounded the picturesque Caribbean islands destroying structures as far as the eye can see. One resident of the island who captured aerial footage of the destruction told the press, “You can’t tell that there are any homes there…It looks like a bunch of building materials were put in a big grinder and thrown on the ground.” So far the official death toll is 7 people including an 8-year old boy but authorities are certain that number will rise far higher. Media are reporting stories of individuals volunteering to wade through the flooded landscape looking for survivors. One person told CNN, “I don’t think we’ve seen anything like this in our lifetime…Total destruction.” The World Food Program estimates that 60,000 people may be in need of food. The Bahamas is a popular stop for cruise ships, and on Wednesday the Royal Caribbean International said it would be sending ships full of supplies to the islands. The US has also deployed a disaster relief team.

After battering the Bahamas, Hurricane Dorian has made its way to the US sweeping across the coastlines of Florida and Georgia and now heading toward the Carolinas. The National Hurricane Center assessed that those states would face, “destructive winds, flooding rains, and life-threatening storm surges.” It is possible that the storm could make landfall in the Carolinas later this week. Although the storm is slowing down, one weather expert told the Washington Post that a weakened hurricane still posed severe dangers.

In other news, the retail giant Walmart has announced a change to its gun sales policy. The company said it will no longer sell handguns, or ammunition for hand guns, short barrel rifles and other models of firearms. Walmart also said, “we request that customers no longer openly carry firearms into Walmart or Sam’s Club locations in states where open carry is permitted.” Soon after the grocery chain Kroger announced a similar policy against open-carry. Meanwhile the Washington Post Editorial Board on Wednesday added its voice to the frustrated chorus of lawmakers and activists calling on Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell to allow a debate and vote on federal gun safety bills. “How many more names will be added to the list before Mitch McConnell acts on guns?” is the title of the op-ed. The paper listed the names and ages of victims of many mass shootings from 1999 to the present-day and asked, “Would any volume of bloodshed convince the Kentucky Republican that Congress faces a moral imperative to act?” And Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot blasted Republican Senator Ted Cruz for citing her city as an example of why gun control doesn’...

FEATURING MARK LEVINE AND BRYAN REYNOLDS – The US Special Envoy to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, has just announced a peace deal with the Taliban saying the US and the militants agree “in principle” on a draft agreement. So far what is known is that the deal will include the US withdrawing troops from 5 bases within 135 days as long as the Taliban keeps its end of the bargain. However Taliban forces have been relentlessly bombing various parts of the country with major civilian casualties. 

This October marks the 18th year of war with Afghanistan, the longest official war the US has ever waged. That means that a baby born when the US first began dropping bombs is now an adult. How have Afghan youth lived through so much war? 

Mark LeVine, Professor of Modern Middle Eastern History at the University of California, Irvine, Bryan Reynolds, Professor in the Department of Drama at UC Irvine.