BROADCASTS.com

On today’s episode of Loud & Clear, award-winning editorial cartoonist and columnist Ted Rall and journalist and filmmaker Dan Cohen join the show.

In our first hour, we discuss two big issues. First we talk about Donald Trump’s trip to Puerto Rico and the outrageous statements he made there. Then, the panel talks about the landmark Palestinian cabinet meeting held in Gaza and efforts and Palestinian reconciliation.

The U.S. government has expelled 15 diplomats from the Cuban Embassy in Washington, following the U.S. withdrawal of the bulk of its staff in Havana last week. Is the Trump administration attempting to undo any steps taken towards normalization of U.S.-Cuban relations? Arnold August, author of the book “Cuba-US Relations: Obama and Beyond,” talks about the issue.

The “Russian Facebook ads” story has become a parody of itself. After turning over the ads to congressional investigators, Facebook has now announced that the majority of the ads in question were seen after election day. Gareth Porter, a historian, investigative journalist and analyst specializing in U.S. national security policy discusses this development.

Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators flooded the streets of Catalonia today as part of a general strike to protest police attacks on people attempting to participate in Sunday’s independence referendum that left nearly 900 injured. Sputnik News analyst Walter Smolarek, joins the show.

Are big polluters calling the shots at the Environmental Protection Agency? EPA head Scott Pruitt’s appointment schedule certainly suggests that this is the case. Kevin Kamps, the Radioactive Waste Watchdog at the advocacy organization Beyond Nuclear, talks about this issue.