'BradCast' 1/8/2020 (Guest: Former Dep. Asst. Secretary of State Michael Fuchs)
b"On today's 'BradCast':\\xa0 Iran's Tuesday night launch of missiles at two Iraqi military bases housing US troops, in response to Donald Trump's assassination last week of a top Iranian leader, caused no casualties, and may have been a deliberate, intentional attempt to help de-escalate a military confrontation that threatened to spiral out of control. In brief remarks on Wednesday, Trump appeared to take the off-ramp that Iran offered him, announcing new economic sanctions and claiming the US is ready to "embrace peace," amid a rash of blatant lies about the anti-nuclear pact struck with Iran during the Obama Administration and other matters. A Ukranian Airlines plane crashed after take-off from Tehran's airport on Tuesday, shortly after the missiles were launched against the bases, and some experts believe the plane could been attacked, either accidentally or on purpose. Former Deputy Asst. Secretary of State MICHAEL FUCHS joins us to clear up much of the confusion of the days since Trump's assassination of Soleimani and Iran's measured retaliatory response. Fuchs also offers insights into the prospect of ending U.S. military interventions in the Middle East, the chances for diplomacy to succeed with Iran, and actions Congress could take to prevent Trump and future presidents from acting so dangerously, including re-asserting its Constitutional war-making authority. Also today: two-thirds of Puerto Rico has been without power, and hundreds of thousands are without clean water, due to a major (and unusual) earthquake on Tuesday that severely damaged the U.S. island's largest power plant..."