September 6 – Populism on the Left and Right in the Presidential Primaries; Elections in Guatemala; Putin’s New Play in Syria

Full Program

Part 1

On this Labor Day weekend we begin with the contrasting narratives for working Americans emerging from the presidential primaries underway with the billionaire Donald Trump promising miracles with motivational self-help promises while Bernie Sanders calls for social justice and the leveling of the playing field between overwhelming corporate and political power and weakened labor unions and the downsized middle and working classes. Steve Clemons, the Washington editor-at-large for The Atlantic and editor in chief of Atlantic LIVE, joins us to discuss the rise of populism on the left and right and the chances of the Republican establishment’s success as it gangs up to stop the Trump steamroller, as well as possible wildcards upsetting the Democratic primaries.

Part 2

Then we cover the ouster of Guatemala’s president who went straight from the palace to prison, just ahead of today’s elections that many wanted delayed so that a wider range of candidates could run in a race dominated by representatives of the old guard who are mired in corruption with most of Guatemala’s former presidents either in exile or jail. A cultural anthropologist who has spent years uncovering evidence of genocide in Guatemala, Victoria Sanford, the Director of the Center for Human Rights and Peace Studies at City University New York, joins us to discuss the role of people power in ousting a corrupt leader.

Part 3

Then finally we go to Moscow to look into reports likely leaked by the Russians that Putin is planning to bolster the embattled Assad regime in Syria with increased military aid and possible ground troops and combat aircraft. A Moscow-based independent defense analyst Dr. Pavel Felgenhauer who is a columnist for Novaya Gazeta, joins us to discuss the likelihood that Putin is trying to leverage his earlier proposal to have the West and its Arab allies join Russia in the fight against ISIS by threatening to escalate Russian involvement unless they accept his plan which envisions the Assad family staying in power.