For $6 a month, become a Useful Idiot! Get extended interviews, Thursday Throwdowns, and bonus content at http://usefulidiotspodcast.com

Or find us on Locals at http://usefulidiots.locals.com

Katie Halper and Aaron Maté go over the worst moments of the Sunday morning news shows that they watch so you don’t have to.

If it's Monday Morning, it's #mondaymourning

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Click here for the full interview with Rep. Ro Khanna: https://www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/p/full-episode-rep-ro-khanna-theres?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false

You can go to our sponsor https://aura.com/usefulidiots to try 14 days for free. That’s enough time for Aura to start scrubbing your personal info off these data broker sites, without you lifting a finger

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Go to groundnews.com/useful for a better way to stay informed. Subscribe for 40% off unlimited access to world-wide coverage through our link.

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Watch this week's Thursday Throwdown: Putin-Xi-Modi Summit Causes Neocon PANIC on CNN https://www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/p/putin-xi-modi-summit-causes-neocon?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false

For $6 a month, become a Useful Idiot! Get extended interviews, Thursday Throwdowns, and bonus content at http://usefulidiotspodcast.com

Join us LIVE on Youtube every Monday at 10am EST for Monday Mourning, where we watch the Sunday morning news shows so that you don't have to.

This week we’re joined by California Congressman Ro Khanna, one of the only members of Congress willing to appear on shows that are to the left of the Democratic Party. Our conversation spans from working with “bad guy” Republicans on releasing the Epstein Files, protecting Medicare, stopping Trump’s regime change operations in Venezuela, and taking on AIPAC:

Useful Idiots: You've been spearheading an effort to get Trump to recognize Palestinian statehood. Can you tell us more about this effort and any new developments around it?

Rep. Khanna: We have twenty six signatures to officially recognize a Palestinian state. Now people say, ‘Is this just moral preening? Why does it matter?’ First of all, it obviously matters to Netanyahu and it matters to AIPAC because they have been very opposed to it. So there is real value in recognizing the humanity of the Palestinian people and their national aspirations.

Secondly, the Palestinians need some hope, a horizon of hope to overcome the destruction and extremism that they are seeing. And third, the reality is that the United States recognizing a Palestinian state, unlike all the other countries, really matters because we have the ability to have consequences based on our aid and our support.

Useful Idiots: So when you bring this pitch to your colleagues in Congress, what kind of pushback are you getting? Why are they not on board with this yet, even though it's supposed to be U.S. policy to support a Palestinian state in just twenty two percent of their homeland?

Rep. Khanna: The reality is that when you have the United States actually do it, it sets a marker that says ‘if Israel is not committed to actually taking steps to recognizing a Palestinian state, then there are going to be consequences.’ And that is a red line for AIPAC. It's a red line for Bibi. And so members of Congress have been reluctant to get on.

Subscribe for our full interview with Rep. Ro Khanna on AIPAC ousting progressive members of Congress, why he’s teaming up with GOP Reps Massie, Mace, Greene, and Boebert to release the Epstein Files, and why even though he doesn’t support Maduro he is fighting Trump’s regime change operations in Venezuela.

00:00 The Four Food Groups of News

23:40 Rep. Ro Khanna interview

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For $6 a month, become a Useful Idiot! Get extended interviews, Thursday Throwdowns, and bonus content at http://usefulidiotspodcast.com

Or find us on Locals at http://usefulidiots.locals.com

Katie Halper and Aaron Maté go over the worst moments of the Sunday morning news shows that they watch so you don’t have to.

If it's Monday Morning, it's #mondaymourning

🎙️ New to streaming or looking to level up? Check out StreamYard and get $10 discount! 😍 https://streamyard.com/pal/d/4906030668972032

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Click here for the full interview with Vijay Prashad and the Freedom Flotilla's Greg Stoker: https://www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/p/its-a-joke-vijay-prashad-laughs-at?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false

You can go to our sponsor https://aura.com/usefulidiots to try 14 days for free. That’s enough time for Aura to start scrubbing your personal info off these data broker sites, without you lifting a finger

Support local jobs and get variety of high-quality clothing and activewear at https://www.american-giant.com and get 20% off your first order with promo code USEFUL. Thanks to American Giant for sponsoring the show!

Go to groundnews.com/useful for a better way to stay informed. Subscribe for 40% off unlimited access to world-wide coverage through our link.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Watch this week's Thursday Throwdown: David Pakman PANICS After Dark Money Dems Scandal Revealed https://www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/p/david-pakman-panics-after-dark-money?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false

For $6 a month, become a Useful Idiot! Get extended interviews, Thursday Throwdowns, and bonus content at http://usefulidiotspodcast.com

Join us LIVE on Youtube every Monday at 10am EST for Monday Mourning, where we watch the Sunday morning news shows so that you don't have to.

Useful Idiots takes to the High Seas this week.

We’re looking at two ships: the Venezuelan boat that was bombed by the Trump Administration which they claimed carried drug-smuggling terrorists, and the US Veterans Flotilla attempting to sail to Gaza to break Israel’s deadly blockade.

Calling in from that Flotilla, which took off from shores in Spain during our conversation, is former Army Ranger Greg Stoker. His ship of veterans is bravely leading the charge to Gaza, with the hope that even Israel won’t face the PR battle of keeping a group of US war veterans hostage in torture prisons.

But, as drones fly over the boat and the crew sails closer and closer to Israeli waters, Stoker explains how what he’s seeing in Gaza is different than anything he saw as a soldier.

“I did four combat deployments in the Seventy-Fifth Ranger Regiment, which is the U.S. Special Operations Unit to Afghanistan,” he tells us. “I was there in tactical operations centers watching Obama's drone strike campaign play out and kind of got radicalized into an anti-imperialist position.There was just no standard of proof for who we were killing. Basically if a guy ended up in the wrong contact list on someone's phone, could have been a Taliban sublieutenant's baker, he was probably going to eat a hellfire missile.And I thought that was bad enough. I just have never seen anything like what Israel's done. As horrible as what we did during the global war on terror, kill millions of people in five different countries, this is completely beyond the pale. And the entire world is less safe because of the precedent set in Gaza over the past two years, a complete disregard for international law and humanity.”

The louder we amplify the voices on the Freedom Flotilla, the better chance they’ll have of breaking the siege. Greg explains:

I hope everybody watching this supports us because we don't have any diplomatic, economic, or military support. We are a humanitarian effort and we will be confronted by a rogue genocidal actor. The only cover that we get is global engagement.What we're going to try to do is wage an information war against Israeli military propaganda to call out different actions that they will take in the global forum and try to make them politically non-viable. So we appreciate your support and engagement over the next two weeks as we try to break the siege. Because y'all's engagement is the only cover we're getting.

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We also talk to historian and journalist Vijay Prashad after the White House posted a video this week allegedly attacking a ship in what they’re calling a huge drug bust against Venezuelan cartel smugglers.

To find out why Vijay “scoffs” at the Trump administration’s “ridiculous” story and calls it a joke, please become a paid subscriber. Your support keeps us independent.

00:00 Intro

01:23 CNN Dems are siding with Trump on sending the National Guard to Chicago

08:50 Vance and Hegseth threaten to invade Venezuela

13:23 EU Commission VP just lied about World War II?

16:22 Nigel Farage gets confronted by CodePink

18:58 Vijay Prashad interview

19:48 Trump's Venezuela boat attack is a JOKE

35:27 Will the Trump Admin INVADE Venezuela?

36:27 Greg Stoker interview

37:02 The US Veterans boat sails to Gaza with the Freedom Flotilla

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/useful-idiots-with-katie-halper-and-aaron-mate/donations

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You can go to our sponsor https://aura.com/usefulidiots to try 14 days for free. That’s enough time for Aura to start scrubbing your personal info off these data broker sites, without you lifting a finger

Support local jobs and get variety of high-quality clothing and activewear at https://www.american-giant.com and get 20% off your first order with promo code USEFUL. Thanks to American Giant for sponsoring the show!

Go to groundnews.com/useful for a better way to stay informed. Subscribe for 40% off unlimited access to world-wide coverage through our link.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Watch this week's Thursday Throwdown: Fox News Somehow Hits New Low on Israeli Hospital Strike Justification https://www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/p/fox-news-somehow-hits-new-low-on?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false

For $6 a month, become a Useful Idiot! Get extended interviews, Thursday Throwdowns, and bonus content at http://usefulidiotspodcast.com

Join us LIVE on Youtube every Monday at 10am EST for Monday Mourning, where we watch the Sunday morning news shows so that you don't have to.

Watch TOMORROW'S FREEDOM, the documentary about Marwan Barghouti: https://watch.watermelonpictures.com/tomorrow-s-freedom https://www.tomorrowsfreedom.com/

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For $6 a month, become a Useful Idiot! Get extended interviews, Thursday Throwdowns, and bonus content at http://usefulidiotspodcast.com

Or find us on Locals at http://usefulidiots.locals.com

Katie Halper and Aaron Maté go over the worst moments of the Sunday morning news shows that they watch so you don’t have to.

If it's Monday Morning, it's #mondaymourning

🎙️ New to streaming or looking to level up? Check out StreamYard and get $10 discount! 😍 https://streamyard.com/pal/d/4906030668972032

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/useful-idiots-with-katie-halper-and-aaron-mate/donations

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Click here for the full interview with Professor Richard Sakwa and Dr. Omar Abdel-Mannan: https://www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/p/trumps-plan-genocide-in-gaza-peace?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false

Help Dr. Omar's foundation: https://www.healthworkers4palestine.com/

You can go to our sponsor https://aura.com/usefulidiots to try 14 days for free. That’s enough time for Aura to start scrubbing your personal info off these data broker sites, without you lifting a finger

Support local jobs and get variety of high-quality clothing and activewear at https://www.american-giant.com and get 20% off your first order with promo code USEFUL. Thanks to American Giant for sponsoring the show!

Go to groundnews.com/useful for a better way to stay informed. Subscribe for 40% off unlimited access to world-wide coverage through our link.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Watch this week's Thursday Throwdown: MSNBC Claims It’s Now Independent Media https://www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/p/msnbc-claims-its-now-independent?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false

For $6 a month, become a Useful Idiot! Get extended interviews, Thursday Throwdowns, and bonus content at http://usefulidiotspodcast.com

Join us LIVE on Youtube every Monday at 10am EST for Monday Mourning, where we watch the Sunday morning news shows so that you don't have to.

Useful Idiots has another Double Header this week as we look at Gaza and Ukraine.

First up we speak with Dr. Omar Abdel-Mannan, founder of Health Workers 4 Palestine, about the State Department’s heartless decision to pause all visitor visas for people from Gaza. This policy shift came after Jewish-supremacist, right-wing-conspiracy-theorist, and self-described “proud Islamophobe” Laura Loomer took to Twitter (and tagged Secretary of State Marco Rubio) to expose the fact that “Islamic invaders” were infiltrating the U.S. from Gaza. Of course, what was really happening is that children injured in Gaza with weapons from (and/or paid for by) the U.S. were coming to the states for medical treatment (at no expense to U.S. taxpayers) thanks to the non-profit HEAL Palestine.

Dr. Omar knows how important it is to provide children from Gaza with medical treatment in England, where he lives. He himself has worked tirelessly to bring children wounded in Gaza by UK weapons, into the UK.

He also reacts to propagandist outlets like Bari Weiss’s The Free Press, which engages in the most disgusting whitewashing of Israel’s crimes: starving children to death isn’t that bad because most of the ones dying have pre-existing conditions. Phew! What a relief.

Plus, we ask Dr. Omar: is Palantir selling your health data to Israel?

Next we speak with Professor Richard Sakwa to discuss the latest in Russia-Ukraine after Trump’s controversial summit with Putin.

We ask Sakwa: what are Putin’s true motives? Does he see Ukraine as a real country? Does he want revenge on the US and UK after Biden and Boris Johnson colluded to push Ukraine out of peace talks? And is Trump treating Putin as his equal, conning him into taking a worse deal, or bowing down to him just like he does with Netanyahu?

00:00 Intro

00:40 Dem Rep beats up protesters

03:22 How JD Vance lied about "no taxes on tips"

07:30 Trump thinks he's going to Heaven

09:54 MSNBC thinks progressives are MAGA

14:05 Dr. Omar Abdel-Mannan interview

14:22 Laura Loomer tells Rubio to cancel visas for wounded children

46:57 Professor Richard Sakwa interview

47:36 The Trump-Putin Summit

59:31 Does Putin see Ukraine as a real country?

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/useful-idiots-with-katie-halper-and-aaron-mate/donations

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See Aaron and Katie at Icarus Fest in NJ on August 23: https://www.icarusfest.com/

For $6 a month, become a Useful Idiot! Get extended interviews, Thursday Throwdowns, and bonus content at http://usefulidiotspodcast.com

Or find us on Locals at http://usefulidiots.locals.com

Katie Halper and Aaron Maté go over the worst moments of the Sunday morning news shows that they watch so you don’t have to.

We’ll never go corporate: Your support for Useful Idiots keeps us going!

If it's Monday Morning, it's #mondaymourning

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/useful-idiots-with-katie-halper-and-aaron-mate/donations

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

You can go to our sponsor https://aura.com/usefulidiots to try 14 days for free. That’s enough time for Aura to start scrubbing your personal info off these data broker sites, without you lifting a finger

Support local jobs and get variety of high-quality clothing and activewear at https://www.american-giant.com and get 20% off your first order with promo code USEFUL. Thanks to American Giant for sponsoring the show!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Watch this week's Thursday Throwdown: Bill Maher Goes FULL PROPAGANDA Bot For Israel https://www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/p/bill-maher-goes-full-propaganda-bot?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false

For $6 a month, become a Useful Idiot! Get extended interviews, Thursday Throwdowns, and bonus content at http://usefulidiotspodcast.com

Join us LIVE on Youtube every Monday at 10am EST for Monday Mourning, where we watch the Sunday morning news shows so that you don't have to.

For nearly 40 years, journalist Tim Weiner has closely covered the CIA, finding his way inside crucial meetings, speaking with retired officials, and gaining the trust of people with classified information. And his latest book, The Mission, does something we’ve never seen before:

It gives an in-depth history of the CIA without any anonymous sources. Everyone’s on the record. We don’t know how Tim did it, but he joins Useful Idiots to share what he’s learned from 40 years of digging.

Useful Idiots: You spoke to former CIA Director Richard Helms, and you wrote: “He wanted me to understand that the agency hadn't dreamed up the idea of overthrowing Iran or killing Fidel Castro. Every president since Truman had commanded the CIA to intervene with guns and money to control the fate of nations when sending in the Marines was not an option.” Did you get the sense that the CIA was always just unquestioningly following orders?

Tim Weiner: It took me a while to understand this simple but important point: the CIA is an executor of American foreign policy. It doesn't dream up coups and plots and other nefarious covert activities. With rare exceptions, it does what the president tells it to do.

It's not like a couple of CI officers were sitting around drinking martinis in 1960 saying, ‘Hey, I got a good idea. Let's go kill Fidel Castro.’ Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy and President Kennedy's brother, Bobby, wanted Castro gone.

When it came time to investigate the first twenty five years of the CIA, the Church Committee in the 1970s dove deep into this: Frank Church, the senator who ran them, wondered aloud if “the CIA has become a rogue elephant trampling people and nations.”

But, we later find out, after the hearings, Church amended his statement: “When the elephant tramples people and nations, it's not the elephant's fault. It is the fault of the mahout, the elephant driver.” And that was the President of the United States.

The Church Committee, and even the torture report about CIA secret prisons that the Senate finally released ten years ago, really tiptoes around this question of presidential authority for violations of the laws of God and man and the Geneva Convention by the CIA. It's the president's outfit. And it is a unique expression of presidential power to order the CIA to go and kill people or torture them or throw them in secret prisons for the rest of their lives, never to see the light of day.

Useful Idiots: Your book tells the story of the great lengths to which the CIA went to cover up for torture. You have this controversy over an attempt to destroy videotapes of torture at a CIA secret prison in Thailand. And then you also have the CIA spying on the Senate as the Senate is investigating the CIA's torture program.

Tim Weiner: Two unhappy stories. The first is rather dramatic.

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/useful-idiots-with-katie-halper-and-aaron-mate/donations

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Click here for the full interview with Intelligence Expert Tim Weiner: https://www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/p/full-episode-intelligence-expert?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false

You can go to our sponsor https://aura.com/usefulidiots to try 14 days for free. That’s enough time for Aura to start scrubbing your personal info off these data broker sites, without you lifting a finger

Support local jobs and get variety of high-quality clothing and activewear at https://www.american-giant.com and get 20% off your first order with promo code USEFUL. Thanks to American Giant for sponsoring the show!

Go to groundnews.com/useful for a better way to stay informed. Subscribe for 40% off unlimited access to world-wide coverage through our link.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Watch this week's Thursday Throwdown: Bill Maher Goes FULL PROPAGANDA Bot For Israel https://www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/p/bill-maher-goes-full-propaganda-bot?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false

For $6 a month, become a Useful Idiot! Get extended interviews, Thursday Throwdowns, and bonus content at http://usefulidiotspodcast.com

Join us LIVE on Youtube every Monday at 10am EST for Monday Mourning, where we watch the Sunday morning news shows so that you don't have to.

For nearly 40 years, journalist Tim Weiner has closely covered the CIA, finding his way inside crucial meetings, speaking with retired officials, and gaining the trust of people with classified information. And his latest book, The Mission, does something we’ve never seen before:

It gives an in-depth history of the CIA without any anonymous sources. Everyone’s on the record. We don’t know how Tim did it, but he joins Useful Idiots to share what he’s learned from 40 years of digging.

Useful Idiots: You spoke to former CIA Director Richard Helms, and you wrote: “He wanted me to understand that the agency hadn't dreamed up the idea of overthrowing Iran or killing Fidel Castro. Every president since Truman had commanded the CIA to intervene with guns and money to control the fate of nations when sending in the Marines was not an option.” Did you get the sense that the CIA was always just unquestioningly following orders?

Tim Weiner: It took me a while to understand this simple but important point: the CIA is an executor of American foreign policy. It doesn't dream up coups and plots and other nefarious covert activities. With rare exceptions, it does what the president tells it to do.

It's not like a couple of CI officers were sitting around drinking martinis in 1960 saying, ‘Hey, I got a good idea. Let's go kill Fidel Castro.’ Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy and President Kennedy's brother, Bobby, wanted Castro gone.

When it came time to investigate the first twenty five years of the CIA, the Church Committee in the 1970s dove deep into this: Frank Church, the senator who ran them, wondered aloud if “the CIA has become a rogue elephant trampling people and nations.”

But, we later find out, after the hearings, Church amended his statement: “When the elephant tramples people and nations, it's not the elephant's fault. It is the fault of the mahout, the elephant driver.” And that was the President of the United States.

The Church Committee, and even the torture report about CIA secret prisons that the Senate finally released ten years ago, really tiptoes around this question of presidential authority for violations of the laws of God and man and the Geneva Convention by the CIA. It's the president's outfit. And it is a unique expression of presidential power to order the CIA to go and kill people or torture them or throw them in secret prisons for the rest of their lives, never to see the light of day.

Useful Idiots: Your book tells the story of the great lengths to which the CIA went to cover up for torture. You have this controversy over an attempt to destroy videotapes of torture at a CIA secret prison in Thailand. And then you also have the CIA spying on the Senate as the Senate is investigating the CIA's torture program.

Tim Weiner: Two unhappy stories. The first is rather dramatic.

00:00 Intro

00:48 MSNBC can't stop its Russiagate hypocrisy

06:31 Rubio gives Netanyahu permission to take Gaza

15:46 Netanyahu turns on loyal servant New York Times

22:02 Stephen Miller's wife has an announcement for conservative women

26:06 Tim Weiner interview

33:17 The CIA Elephant

41:40 CIA destroys torture tapes

46:24 CIA spies on the Senate

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/useful-idiots-with-katie-halper-and-aaron-mate/donations

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Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy