'BradCast' 6/20/2019 (Guest: Dr. Assal Rad of the National Iranian American Council)
On today's 'BradCast':\xa0 Tensions are increasing in the Middle East after Iran shot down an unmanned U.S. surveillance drone that it claims had crossed into their airspace. The U.S. contends the spy plane was in international airspace. The U.S. has blamed Iran, without presenting evidence, for several attacks on shipping tankers, and Iran has denied any involvement in those incidents. But U.S. war-hawks have been banging drums against Iran for some time, and applauded Donald Trump's unilateral withdrawal last year from the landmark Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), negotiated by the Obama Administration to curb Iran's nuclear program in exchange for lifting crippling sanctions -- with which Iran is still certified to be in compliance. Trump described Iran's action on Thursday as "a very bad mistake" and "a foolish move". Dr. Assal Rad, Iran expert and policy analyst at the nonpartisan, nonprofit National Iranian American Council, explains what is known and unknown about the current situation, how Trump's restoration of sanctions has crippled Iran's economy, at least for the working class, and how Trump's violation of the anti-nuclear pact has strengthened the political hand of anti-U.S. hardliners in the Islamic Republic. Also today:\xa0 Oregon's Democratic Gov. Kate Brown has authorized state police to find rogue Republican state senators who fled the state to prevent a quorum necessary to approve sweeping climate change legislation. Rep. Ted Deutch (D-FL) has re-launched the bipartisan 'Climate Solutions Caucus'. Plus Desi Doyen has our latest 'Green News Report', with troubling news on the Trump Administration's official rollback of Obama's landmark Clean Power Plan in favor of a scheme to aid the coal industry, and good news from New York state, where lawmakers have adopted one of the world's most ambitious climate change action plans...