Several leaders of wealthy nations met over the weekend in Biarritz, France for the annual G-7 meeting. President Donald Trump was among those who attended and continued to stir confusion about his trade war with China. According to the Washington Post, “A summit of world leaders devolved into a confusing spectacle on Sunday when President Trump signaled regret for his trade war with China only to have the White House reverse his position hours later.” He said that Chinese authorities called him twice to restart talks but Chinese authorities denied making the calls. On Monday this is what Trump said at a press briefing: he discussed his trade war with China. Meanwhile on Sunday Trump aides spoke on Sunday talk shows to explain what the President meant when he said last week that he was ordering US companies to leave China. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said, “I think what he was saying is he’s ordering companies to start looking…He wants to make sure to the extent that we are in an extended trade war, that companies don’t have these issues and move out of China.” According to the Wall Street Journal Trump thinks he, “could theoretically force U.S. companies to leave China by invoking a law known as the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977.” Meanwhile the US and Japan announced that they have reached a trade deal“in principle,” at the G-7.

In other news from the G7 meeting, the Trump administration was blindsided with the surprise appearance of Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif. France, which is hosting the meeting, had invited Mr. Zarif, in the hopes of reviving the Obama-era nuclear agreement between the US, Europe, and Iran. The Trump administration had just last month imposed sanctions on Mr. Zarif. Trump denied being caught off guard by Zarif’s presence and even suggested that he may meet with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in the coming weeks. Also at the G7 meeting on Saturday President Trump threw the meeting into disarray by insisting that the G7 group readmit Russia into its ranks. Member nations had kicked Russia out some years ago after its annexation of Crimea.

While Trump was busy at the G7 he apparently did not have time to attend the talks on the climate, oceans, and biodiversity, on Monday. Although Trump was scheduled to attend and indicated that he wants, “clean air and water,” he did not make it to the meeting. Meanwhile G7 leaders agreed on an aid package for Brazil to help fight the raging fires in the Amazon rain ...

FEATURING RHETT A. BUTLER – The fires burning in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest have garnered international attention and thrust President Jair Bolsonaro’s pro-business and deregulatory policies into focus. Thousands of fires are burning in the world’s largest rainforest, considered to be a critical carbon sink protecting global climate stability. 

European nations are threatening to block a major deal with Mercosur, a South American trading block that includes Brazil, over the fires destroying the Amazon. French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted on Friday, “Our house is burning. Literally….It is an international crisis. Members of the G7 Summit, let’s discuss this emergency first order in two days!”

Rhett A. Butler, Founder and CEO of the largest rainforest news site in the world Mongabay.com.

FEATURING JESSICA MASON PIEKLO – The American right wing has enjoyed one success after another in chipping away and women’s legal right to an abortion. The decision by Donald Trump’s administration to withhold Title X funding for family planning from providers that also offer abortion is only one prong of a multi-prong effort. Other efforts include a steady stream of state-wide bans on abortion at earlier and earlier stages of a pregnancy including when a pregnancy is first confirmed through an ultrasound. 

How did we, in this modern day age, come to a point where women’s bodies are still being legislated? 

Jessica Mason Pieklo is Vice President of Law and the Courts at Rewire.News. She is a writer and adjunct law professor in Boulder, Colorado. She is the former assistant director of the Health Law Clinic at Hamline Law School in St. Paul, Minnesota and former litigator. She is the co-author of a new book with Robin Marty called The End of Roe Vs. Wade: Inside the Right’s Plan to Destroy Legal Abortion.

China has announced a new round of tariffs on $75 billion worth of American goods in direct retaliation to President Donald Trump’s trade war. The tariffs, ranging from 5-10% are set to begin on September 1st. China also announced that it would resume tariffs on American auto manufacturers with 5% on car parts and a whopping 25% on cars. China warned last week that it would retaliate after Trump imposed a 10% tariff on $300 billion worth of Chinese imports to the US. Hours after China’s announcement, Trump began tweeting in anger, issuing orders to US corporations to find alternatives to China. He wrote, “We don’t need China and, frankly, would be far…better off without them….Our great American companies are hereby ordered to immediately start looking for an alternative to China, including bringing your companies HOME and making your products in the USA.” Meanwhile a coalition of auto manufacturers released a statement warning of dire consequences to the US economy from the trade war. “When these tariffs were initially imposed by China in 2017, American exports of finished vehicles dropped by 50 percent. We can’t let that happen to American workers again,” said the coalition’s spokesperson. And market indicators plummeted Friday morning in response to China’s announcement with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling nearly 500 points. 

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell spoke on Friday at an annual symposium in Jackson Hole, Mississippi, during which he explained in vague terms that the Fed “will act as appropriate to sustain the expansion,” of the US economy. He also suggested that there was no rule book to set policy to protect the economy against trade wars such as the one Trump is waging. In what amounted to a veiled criticism of the President, Powell said, “The global growth outlook has been deteriorating since the middle of last year. Trade policy uncertainty seems to be playing a role in the global slowdown and in weak manufacturing and capital spending in the United States.” Ahead of Powell’s speech Trump – who has publicly insulted the Fed chair repeatedly on Twitter – exploded in anger once more, writing, “As usual, the Fed did NOTHING! It is incredible that they can ‘speak’ without knowing or asking what I am doing, which will be announced shortly. We have a very strong dollar and a very weak Fed. I will work ‘brilliantly’ with both, and the U.S. will do great…My only question is, who is our bigger enemy, Jay Powell or Chairman Xi?”

The Washington Post published an in-depth report about how White House staff members are worried about Trump’s confused and contradictory response to a slowing economy. Trump has apparently, “told aides that he thinks he can convince Americans that the economy is vibrant and unrattled through a public messaging campaign.” But, “Few aides have a firm sense of what steps he would seriously consider, in part because he keeps changing his mind.” 

FEATURING JUDITH LEBLANC – The first-ever Native American Presidential Forum took place this week in Sioux City, Iowa, drawing 10 of the Democratic Presidential candidates including 3 of the four frontrunners, Senators Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Kamala Harris. Former Vice President Joe Biden chose not attend. 

At the forum, named after the revered indigenous activist Frank LaMere who died just months earlier, candidates were questioned by a panel of experts. Senator Elizabeth Warren, who last year took a DNA test to prove she had some Native Ancestry, apologized for her action. She also released a lengthy and detailed plan for the addressing issues important to the community if she becomes President. 

Judith LeBlanc, Member of the Caddo Tribe of Oklahoma and executive director of the Native Organizers Alliance, a national organizing and training Native network.

Native American Presidential Forum Day 1:

Native American Presidential Forum Day 2: 

FEATURING CHARLES POSTEL – The failings of capitalism and the rise of wealth inequality in the US has become a more and more common topic of political discussion. Communities of color in the US have long suffered disproportionately in terms of economic, racial, and gender justice. But that is no accident as my next guest describes in his timely history book, Equality: An American Dilemma 1866-1896.

Charles Postel, Author of the award-winning book, The Populist Vision which won the Bancroft Prize and the Frederick Jackson Turner award. He is a professor of History at San Francisco State University. His new book is called Equality: An American Dilemma, 1866-1896.

President Donald Trump unleashed a bizarre rant on Wednesday in front of reporters with his Marine One helicopter buzzing in the background. During his impromptu press briefing, which appears to have replaced the traditional White House briefings Trump referred to himself as “the chosen one,” during a rambling outdoor press briefing. He also insulted the leader of Denmark, repeated his anti-Semitic remark about “disloyal Jews,” accused the media of trying to trigger a recession, and said he considered giving himself the medal of honor. On immigration he repeated his idea to revoke the Constitutional right to birthright citizenship. And, Trump lied once more about President Obama’s immigration policy saying it was his predecessor who separated immigrant families and that he brought them together. In fact Obama did not have a policy to separate families and his administration did so on very rare case-by-case occasions. Trump’s government has enacted a policy that resulted in thousands of families being separated and many remain so.

During his bizarre, lie-filled rant to reporters Trump reversed course on the idea of tax cuts to address a looming recession. He said simply, “We don’t need it. We have a strong economy.” Meanwhile a new study by the National Women’s Law Center has found that black women earn “61 cents for every dollar paid to their white, non-Hispanic male counterparts,” which amounts to a “lifetime loss of $946,120.”

Presidential frontrunner Bernie Sanders has just released a new plan to address climate change. Building on the Green New Deal – which was outlined in a resolution introduced by Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez and Senator Ed Markey, Sanders’ plan is a, “ten-year, nationwide mobilization centered on equity and humanity.” According to Associated Press, “Among Sanders’ ideas is sourcing 100% of the country’s electricity from renewable and zero-emissions power. He is calling for committing $2.18 trillion in grants for low- and middle-income families to weatherize and retrofit their homes and businesses, with the goal of reducing residential energy consumption by 30%. He would charge the Energy Department with making sure that both new and existing commercial structures, as well as high-income home owners, meet his administration’s energy retrofitting goals.”

Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider, is working to makeup for a $60 million shortfall in funding after the Trump administration implemented new rules on family planning services in an attempt to defund the organization. In states like Utah and Minnesota Planned Parenthood is the only healthcare provider serving the family planning needs of poor women. At stake is the care of tens of thousands of women.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has published an op-ed in the New York ...

FEATURING STEVEN W. THRASHER – The New York police officer involved in the killing of Eric Garner five years ago has finally been fired from his position. A departmental disciplinary judge recommended the firing of Daniel Pantaleo last week. The New York Times obtained the Judge Rosemarie Maldonado’s opinion – a document which concluded that Pantaleo had been “untruthful,” and his defense witnesses to be, “unhelpful or unreliable.” Additionally Garner’s autopsy, “provided ‘overwhelming’ evidence that Officer Pantaleo had used a chokehold in spite of being trained not to.” Pantaleo is now suing to get his job back. 

Read Steven Thrasher’s OpEd on the New York Times, “Daniel Pantaleo Was Fired. We’re Still Afraid for Our Lives,” HERE.

Steven W. Thrasher holds the Daniel H. Renberg Chair, for social justice in reporting, and is an assistant professor of journalism and core faculty member of the Institute of Sexual and Gender Minority Health and Wellbeing at Northwestern University. He recently wrote a piece in the New York Times called, “Daniel Pantaleo Was Fired. We’re Still Afraid for Our Lives.”

Assata’s Daughters is a Black women-led organization formed by Black feminists and organizers in the south side of Chicago as a reaction to the violence in their neighborhoods. Through training and then participating in coalition-based campaigns, Assata’s Daughters provides mentorship for Black youth to learn to address the many social issues that impact their world. Our partners at Brave New Films recently profiled the organization in a new short as part of their #YouthinAction series. Today we’ll play that short film that showcases how Assata’s Daughters fight for change and overcome many obstacles, including the recent fire in their Chicago headquarters.

President Donald Trump’s administration has announced a new rule that would overturn the so-called Flores Settlement and allow the government to indefinitely detain immigrant families. Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan made the announcement on Wednesday. The rule stunned immigrant rights advocates including the ACLU, whose spokesperson said, “This is yet another cruel attack on children, who the Trump administration has targeted again and again with its anti-immigrant policies. The government should not be jailing kids, and certainly shouldn’t be seeking to put more kids in jail for longer. Congress must not fund this.” 

 In other news President Trump this week accused Jewish Democrats of “great disloyalty“ during remarks to the press. According to the New York Times, “his language was reminiscent of the anti-Semitic smear that Jews have a ‘dual loyalty’ and are more devoted to Israel than they are to their own countries.” The Anti Defamation League’s Jonathan Greenblatt responded saying, “charges of disloyalty have long been used to attack Jews.” Twitter users responded with the hashtag #DisloyaltoTrump.

A day later Trump thanked one of his ardent supporters Wayne Allyn Root, a TV host on Twitter. Trump quoted him saying, “Thank you to Wayne Allyn Root for the very nice words. “President Trump is the greatest President for Jews and for Israel in the history of the world, not just America, he is the best President for Israel in the history of the world…and the Jewish people in Israel love himlike he’s the King of Israel. They love him like he is the second coming of God…But American Jews don’t know him or like him. They don’t even know what they’re doing or saying anymore.” One Twitter user, Rabbi Andy Kahn, observed, “This thread, not a full day after calling American Jewish Democrats disloyal, is eschatological antisemitism from a right wing extremist. It draws a line between good (right wing and/or Israeli) and bad (liberal) Jews. This is stochastic terrorism.”

In other news Trump had a phone conversation with NRA head Wayne LaPierre this week during which he assured him that a federal law requiring background checks for gun purchases was off the table – this just two weeks after saying the opposite in the wake of two mass shootings. CNN is reporting that since those shootings at least 27 people have been arrested across the nation for making threats about committing massacres. The organization March for Our Lives, which was formed by survivors of the high school shooting in Parkland, Florida, have published a detailed plan to end gun violence in the US. The program called Peace Plan for a Safer America,