April 19 – Putin Accuses the U.S. of Wanting “Vassal States”; The Saudi Quagmire in Yemen; Questions Remain About Oklahoma City Bombing

Full Programs

Part 1

We begin with the latest from Russia after President Putin’s marathon TV chat with the nation in which he criticized the U.S. for not wanting partners or allies but instead treating other powers as “vassal” states. Masha Gessen, who is just back from Moscow, joins us to discuss the latest crackdown on what’s left of the political opposition and her new book just out “The Brothers: The Road to an American Tragedy”.

Part 2

Then we look into the deepening quagmire for Saudi Arabia in Yemen that has U.S. officials worried about the humanitarian crisis caused by indiscriminate bombing and how the Saudi intervention has emboldened the so-called Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. We will speak with Graham Fuller the former vice chairman of the National Intelligence Council at the CIA who joins us to discuss the hidden agendas in Yemen as thousands of Yemeni troops pledge allegiance to the exiled leader Hadi, while most of Yemen’s military remains loyal to the ex-president who is allied with the Houthi rebels.

Part 3

Then finally on the 20^th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing in which 168 Americans were killed, many of them pre-school children, Andrew Gumbel, joins us. He is the author of “Oklahoma City: What the Investigation Missed – And Why it Still Matters” and we discuss his latest article at The Guardian “Oklahoma City Bombing, 20 years later, Key Questions Remain Unanswered”.