Donald Trump is in Brussels, Belgium today for the annual NATO summit and already he is angering his NATO allies. Early in the day he confronted German representatives about a pipeline deal with Russia while the US apparently protected NATO nations from Russia. Trump posted a video of the exchange to his Twitter account.

That was President Trump at the NATO Summit in Brussels on Wednesday. German Chancellor Angela Merkel later hit back saying, “I’ve experienced myself a part of Germany controlled by the Soviet Union and I’m very happy today that we are united in freedom as the Federal Republic of Germany and can thus say that we can determine our own policies and make our own decisions.” Trump seemed to miss the irony of his own very recent remarks about the US improving relations with Russia.

On Tuesday Trump tweeted, “The European Union makes it impossible for our farmers and workers and companies to do business in Europe (U.S. has a $151 Billion trade deficit), and then they want us to happily defend them through NATO, and nicely pay for it. Just doesn’t work!”

Trump has also ordered a new round of tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods. The tariffs will be at about 10% and will include such consumer products as burglar alarms and mackerel rather than raw materials that were targeted in an earlier round of tariffs. China is readying its own round of tariffs in retaliation.

Here in the US, Trump has pardoned Dwight and Steven Hammond, two of the cattle ranchers around whom the right-wing armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge was organized more than two years ago. The Hammond brothers had been sentenced to five years for arson on public lands. Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders defended the President’s decision saying, “The Hammonds are devoted family men, respected contributors to their local community, and have widespread support from their neighbors, local law enforcement, and farmers and ranchers across the West. Justice is overdue for Dwight and Steven Hammond, both of whom are entirely deserving of these Grants of Executive Clemency.”

A day after Trump announce Brett Kavanaugh as his nominee to the US Supreme Court, organizers have announced their opposition. NARAL Prochoice America together with groups like Moveon, Credo and Progressive Change Committee announced that this August 26th would be a day of action to fight the Kavanaugh nomination. In New York, more than 300 people gathered outside Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer’s office demanding that he use his leadership to push every Democratic Senator to oppose Kavanaugh. Late on Monday night Senator Bernie Sanders led a rally calling for opposition to the nominee.

That’s Senator Bernie Sanders calling on Americans and his fellow lawmakers to oppose the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. After today’s headlines, we’ll bring back Jessica Mason Pieklo of Rewire.News for an in-depth look at who Kavanaugh is and what rights are at stake, plus what lawmakers and grassroots activists can do to stop the confirmation.

In immigration news, more than 50 immigrant children under the age of 5 were

FEATURING SAIRA RAO – Long-time Representative Maxine Waters of Southern California continues to be a focus of threats after urging progressives to confront Trump Administration officials in restaurants and other public places about their anti-immigrant policies. President Trump has attacked her on his Twitter feed multiple times, and it didn’t help that top Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi condemned Waters. A Deputy District Attorney in San Bernardino County named Michael Selyem has been placed on leave and is under investigation for tweeting deeply offensive sexist remarks about Waters and wondering why she hasn’t been shot.

My guest today has been on the receiving end of similar threats after challenging white supremacy on social media. Saira Rao, who ran for Congress in Denver as a staunch progressive Democrat and was a featured guest on our show ahead of Colorado’s primary, is temporarily leaving the state with her family. She joins me now to explain why.

Saira Rao, ran for Congress in Colorado’s First District, co-founder of In This Together Media, former clerk for the US Court of Appeals, first generation Indian American.

FEATURING President Donald Trump on Monday night made his highly anticipated announcement of Judge Brett Kavanaugh as his new Supreme Court nominee to replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy. The 53-year old federal appeals court judge was an aide to President George W. Bush and had investigated President Bill Clinton.

He is a staunch Republican who is connected to GOP organizations and whose name was high on the list of 25 judges vetted by extremist anti-abortion groups that Trump promised to pick from in case of a Supreme Court vacancy.

So who is Brett Kavanaugh and which of our rights are at stake with his confirmation to the nation’s highest court?

Read Jessica Pieklo’s article on Rewire.News about Kavanaugh, HERE.

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 just wrote a piece on Rewire.news about Kavanaugh.

President Donald Trump on Monday night made his highly anticipated announcement of Judge Brett Kavanaugh as his new Supreme Court nominee to replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy. The 53-year old federal appeals court judge was an aide to President George W. Bush and had investigated President Bill Clinton. He is a staunch Republican who is connected to GOP organizations and whose name was high on the list of 25 judges vetted by extremist anti-abortion  groups that Trump promised to pick from for the Supreme Court.

Earlier in the day on Monday, progressive Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts reflected to MSNBC host Chris Hayes about the decision Trump was to make.

That’s Senator Elizabeth Warren reflecting on Trump’s Supreme Court decision just hours before he announced that he was nominating Judge Brett Kavanaugh. On our show tomorrow we’ll bring you an in-depth look at who Kavanaugh is and what Democrats may be planning around his confirmation.

Trump is heading to Brussels for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit on Tuesday. Ahead of his trip he told reporters at the White House that he was unhappy with the pact because, “Frankly it helps them a lot more than it helps us.” He also said he was not sure if Russia was a friend or an enemy. Trump is scheduled to meet one-on-one with Russian President Vladimir Putin next week in Helsinki. He said to reporters, “I think that getting along with Russia, getting along with China, getting along with others is a good thing, not a bad thing.” Trump has various business interests with both Russia and China.

On Monday Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made a surprise visit to Kabul, Afghanistan after leaving a high-profile meeting in Pyongyang, North Korea. It was his first visit to the site of the US’s longest official war as State Secretary. While there he claimed that Trump’s strategy in the Afghanistan war was working. 

UK’s Prime Minister Theresa May continues to face a political crisis that threatens her leadership. The controversial foreign minister Boris Johnson, who had led the move for Britain to leave the European Union has resigned. Johnson said he refused to back May’s Brexit plan and became the second minister to depart over the issue in two days. The Atlantic described May’s conundrum like this: “There does not yet appear to be any deal that both the British government and the EU will accept. Any deal acceptable to the government will be far too generous to Britain for Brussels, while any deal acceptable to Brussels will be too strenuous for Westminster.”

In Minneapolis, Minnesota, family members of a 31-year old African American man killed by police are demanding the officers be charged. Thurman Blevins Jr. was shot and killed on June 23rd by officers Ryan Kelly and Justin Schmidt after they were chasing him. Police are contending that Blevins was armed and did not respond to instructions to drop his gun. Witnesses have said he was holding a bottle or a cup. The officers in question are on paid leave. Blevins’ funeral will be held later this week.

In Memphis,

FEATURING TRAVIS LUPICK – The opioid crisis in the US continues to claim lives as Pharmaceutical executives face public scrutiny about what they knew about the addictive nature of a certain class of prescription painkillers.

Now, a new book examines a bottom-up approach to tackling addiction that has great relevance for the opioid epidemic in the US. Award winning journalist Travis Lupick explores the history of a community in Vancouver, British Columbia where grassroots activists worked to create a safe space for themselves that transformed how they managed their addiction.

For information about Travis’ book tour visit www.fightingforspace.com.

Travis Lupick, an award-winning journalist based in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. He has more than a decade’s experience working as a staff reporter and editor for the Georgia Strait Newspaper. He received an award from the Canadian Association of Journalists for his coverage of Canada’s fentanyl crisis. His new book is called Fighting for Space: How a Group Of Drug Users Transformed One City’s Struggle With Addiction.

**This segment was originally broadcast on May 30, 2018.

FEATURING ISA BLUMI – The United Nations has declared the war in Yemen as the “world’s worst humanitarian crisis.” Four years into a war led by Saudi Arabia with advisory and weapons support from the US, UK and other Western nations, the poorest Gulf Arab nation lies in ruins. Tens of millions of Yemenis – about three quarters of the population – are in need of food and/or medical aid. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has pointed out that Yemen’s children are the worst victims with, “nearly half of all children aged between six months and 5 years old chronically malnourished.”

The UN warning comes in the wake of a US visit by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman to the White House where President Trump met with him to discuss selling Saudi Arabia more weapons, even as members of Congress have questioned US support for the Yemen war.

Now a new book puts into historical context the Saudi war on Yemen, tracing back foreign inference in the small nation over several decades.

Isa Blumi, Associate Professor in the Department of Asian, Middle Eastern, and Turkish Studies at Stockholm University. He is the author of Ottoman Refuges, 1878-1939, Foundations of Modernity, and Reinstating the Ottomans. His newest book is called Destroying Yemen: What Chaos In Arabia Tell Us About the World.

**This segment was originally broadcast on April 5, 2018.

FEATURING YALE STROM – The popularity of politicians like Senator Bernie Sanders, and so-to-be Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, has underscored the openness of Americans to the S-word. Socialism is no longer a dirty word in the US and more Americans, especially young people who are burdened with debt and struggling in this economy, are eager for a nation that tends more socialist.

Now, a new documentary profiles the Presidential candidate who, more than a century ago, inspired masses of Americans to consider socialism as a preferable alternative. Eugene V. Debs was a democratic socialist and trade unionist, and helped to found the Industrial Workers of the World as well as the American Socialist Party. He ran for President five times starting in 1900 and was arrested for his anti-war views. Many, including Senator Sanders credit Debs for inspiring them today.

For information about the movie visit www.firstrunfeatures.com, www.yalestrom.com, and for Educational Institutions visit www.kanopy.com.

Yale Strom, violinist, composer, filmmaker, writer, photographer and playwright. His new documentary is called ‘American Socialist: The Life and Times of Eugene Victor Debs’.

FEATURING MARY ANNE HITT – Scott Pruitt was once considered the most inappropriate person to lead the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) given that he had sued more than a dozen times to undermine it. That prediction came horribly true and today we’ll examine his disastrous legacy as well as the person set to replace him

In addition to gutting public safety standards, Pruitt was forced to resign primarily because he blatantly turned the EPA into a cash cow for himself and his family. From the infamous $43,000 private phone booth in his office, to the fishy cheap condo rental from a lobbyist in DC, the hefty pay raises for aides about which he lied, the abuse of his position to get his wife a high-paying job, and the tens of thousands of tax payer dollars spent flying First Class, and more, journalists have even said they’ve “lost count,” of the scandals.

In May the Sierra Club obtained tens of thousands of internal documents through the Freedom of Information Act showing so much rampant corruption at the EPA under Pruitt that the organization’s Executive Director Michael Brune concluded, “Scott Pruitt doesn’t live in the swamp — he is the swamp — and he should resign, or be fired immediately.”

Sadly Pruitt’s replacement, the coal lobbyist Andrew Wheeler could be even worse for the EPA and the nation as a whole.

For more information visit www.sierraclub.org, www.beyondcoal.org, www.bootpruitt.com, and follow Mary Anne’s twitter @maryannehitt.

Mary Anne Hitt, Director of Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign.

All eyes are on President Donald Trump as he readies his announcement for Supreme Court nominee to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy this evening. According to news reports, he is picking between four candidates: Amy Coney Barrett of the Seventh Circuit, Brett M. Kavanaugh of the District of Columbia Circuit, Raymond M. Kethledge of the Sixth Circuit and Thomas M. Hardiman of the Third Circuit. There are also reportsthat Trump is enjoying the drama of all the attention he is garnering. We’ll examine his nominee later in the week once his announcement is made.

After he announces his Supreme Court pick the President heads to Europe for what is sure to be a fraught meeting in Brussels with NATO leaders tomorrow night. Trump is expected to demand that the heads of state of NATO nations increase their defense budget to keep up with the US’s bloated military. Trump has also angered his European allies with an aggressive trade war.

In anticipation of Trump’s visit and the NATO summit European activists marched by the thousands in Brussels over the weekend. The #TrumpNotWelcome was one of many slogans. Another one was “Make Peace Great Again.” Trump will visit the UK on July 13th where activists have obtained approval for massive anti-Trump protests and even a “Trump Baby” balloonto fly in London’s skies.

British Prime Minister Theresa May is experiencing a crisis of her leadership after a top minister overseeing Brexit negotiations resigned. Newsweekdescribed it as, “The resignation of the Brexit minister threatens to open a chasm in May’s Conservative—or Tory—government, with moderates calling for a “soft” Brexit on one side and extremists lobbying for a “hard” Brexit on the other.” There is even speculation that by the time of Trump’s visit, there may be a new prime minister.

Here in the US, a record-breaking heat wave engulfed Southern California since Friday with temperatures hitting past 110 degrees Fahrenheit and remaining scorching hot through Sunday. The heat led to power surges which in turn led to ill-timed outages leaving tens of thousands of LA-area residents without power. The Department of Water and Power reportedthat Saturday was the second highest ever usage of electricity. And that Friday was the hottest July 6th on record. There were also several wildfires across California that were burning from San Diego to the northern border with Oregon.One person diedfrom the fires in Northern California.

It wasn’t just Californians suffering from record heat. Over the past week a number of regions in the Northern Hemisphere experienced extremely high temperatures. In North America high temperatures were recorded in Colorado, New Hampshire, and Vermont. Temperatures in Algeria went past 124 degrees Fahrenheit, making it the hottest ever-recorded in Africa. Glasgow, Scotland, and Tbilisi, Georgia also broke records. According to the Washington Post, “No single record, in isolation, can be attributed to global warming. But collectively, these heat records are consistent with the kind of extremes we expect to see increase in a warming world.”

Haiti has been rocked with several days of violent protests over the weekend, linked to the government’s proposal to sharply raise fuel prices. According to Associated Press, “Looters pillaged burned and vandalized shops,” and that the US has asked its citizens to “shelter in place.” At least three people have been killed, and as many as seven, and all flights to and from Haiti have been canceled. Here’s how some of the protesters explained to Al Jazeera what was happening. PLAY AUDIO. Haiti’s Prime Minister Jack Guy Lafontant announced that the government was suspending the fuel price hike.

The Trump Administration’s detente with North Korea has hit a roadblock following two days of talks with high-level representativ...

FEATURING EMILY MONOSSON – For far too long human societies have developed artificial technology to combat disease both in humans and in our food sources. We have used chemical warfare on plants and overused antibiotics in ourselves to treat mundane diseases. But today we are seeing the growth of antibiotic resistant bacteria and as our understanding of bacteria grows, scientists are realizing that an overreliance on chemicals to protect ourselves may be coming back to haunt us.

A new book by an environmental toxicologist suggests that with our greater understanding of the natural world we can develop methods to work with nature instead of against nature in order to stave off disease.

Read Emily’s articles at www.ToxicEvolution.wordpress.com and follow her on Twitter at

@emonosson11.

Emily Monosson, environmental toxicologist and writer, independent scholar at the Ronin Institute and an adjunct professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She is the author of Unnatural Selection: How We Are Changing Life, Gene By Gene; Evolution in a Toxic World: How Life Responds to Chemical Threats; and the editor of Motherhood, The Elephant in the Laboratory: Women Scientists Speak Out. Her new book is called Natural Defense: Enlisting Bugs and Germs to Protect Our Food and Health.

**This interview was originally broadcast on March 15, 2018.