Pushback with Aaron Mate

Multiple US outlets, citing anonymous intelligence officials, are claiming that Russia offered bounties to kill US soldiers in Afghanistan and that President Trump has taken no action. The Grayzone's Max Blumenthal breaks down the story's flaws and how it continues a Russiagate-era push of the Democratic Party to the right. "The constant flow of Russiagate disinformation into the bloodstream of the Democratic Party and its base is moving that party constantly to the right, while pushing the US deeper into this Cold War," Blumenthal says. Guest: Max Blumenthal, editor of The Grayzone and author of several books, including his latest "The Management of Savagery." Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has set a date of July 1st to begin Israel's annexation of major parts of the Occupied West Bank. A group of 47 independent UN legal experts call the annexation plan "a vision of a 21st century apartheid." Author and scholar Norman Finkelstein argues that Netanyahu is exploiting a brief window of opportunity under Trump and will use the deadline to swallow up valuable West Bank while pretending to be making a compromise because he does not seize the entire territory. "If there were an an Oscar for Best Dramatic Performance by a Nation-State, Israel would win hands down every year," Finkelstein says. "And so they will manage to turn this illegal annexation, which will enable Israel to appropriate some of the best farmland, agricultural land in the Occupied Territories, that will preclude the possibility of a Palestinian state — they’ll manage to turn it into another agonizing, gut-wrenching compromise. I could write the script." Guest: Norman Finkelstein, author and scholar. His latest book is "I Accuse! : Herewith A Proof Beyond Reasonable Doubt That ICC Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda Whitewashed Israel." www.normanfinkelstein.com Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate

Veteran civil rights activist Larry Hamm discusses the national uprising against systemic racism and police violence as well as his primary challenge to Democratic Sen. Cory Booker. "The challenge that faces us is to develop strategies and tactics that will sustain our movement over the long haul," Hamm says. Guest: Larry Hamm, chair of the People's Organization for Progress and candidate for the Democratic Senate nomination in New Jersey.

As Syria tries to recover from a nearly decade-long conflict, the US has imposed crippling new sanctions that explicitly target reconstruction. "For Syrians, sanctions on reconstruction and on oil and gas are likely to be felt most acutely," the Washington Post reports. "The Caesar Act will probably limit the government’s ability to procure oil, further hurting the already low quality of life." The new sanctions follow earlier coercive measures that had already hurt Syrian civilians, compounding the destruction of a lengthy proxy war fueled and funded by the US and its allies. Guest: Elijah Magnier, veteran war correspondent who has covered the Middle East for more than three decades. Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate

The families of black victims of police violence are calling on the United Nations Human Rights Council to open an investigation of what they call an "unfolding grave human rights crisis" in the United States. Relatives of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Philando Castile, and Michael Brown urge the UN to probe the killings of their loved ones and the government crackdowns on anti-racism protests. The letter's co-drafter, Gay McDougall, a legal scholar and former UN expert on racial discrimination, joins Pushback. Guest: Gay McDougall. Former member of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination; the UN's first Independent Expert on Minority Issues; and former member of South Africa's Independent Electoral Commission. Currently a Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence at the Leitner Center on International Law and Justice at Fordham University Law School. Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate

Historian and author Gerald Horne discusses the US uprisings against police brutality and systemic racism sparked by George Floyd's killing; the devastating impact of the US government's decades-old war on the black freedom struggle; the ongoing "Russia-baiting" of the protests; and how, amidst the suffering and repression at home, the U.S. government, in bipartisan fashion, continues to attempt to impose its will on countries abroad, from China to Venezuela. Guest: Dr. Gerald Horne, Moores Professor of History and African American Studies at the University of Houston. Author of more than three dozen books, including the forthcoming The Dawning of the Apocalypse. Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate

The Trump administration continues to undermine global arms control and increase the threat of a nuclear weapons race with Russia and China. The U.S. has announced plans to withdraw from the Open Skies Treaty, which allows participants to launch joint surveillance flights in a bid to avert military conflict. Trump officials have also rejected talks on renewing New START and reportedly discussed conducting the first US nuclear test since 1992. All this comes as Trump's arms control envoy said that Trump can outspend Russia and China on nuclear weapons "into oblivion." Guest: Daryl Kimball, Director of the Arms Control Association. Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate

In his latest Grayzone exposé, Max Blumenthal reveals how the US surveilled and targeted Wikileaks founder Julian Assange inside Ecuador’s London embassy, all while working with Trump mega-donor and casino magnate Sheldon Adelson’s security team and a Spanish company that had initially been hired to protect the embassy. Drawing on court testimony and internal documents, Blumenthal details how the CIA sabotaged an asylum plan for Assange; installed software that allowed it to directly monitor him; and harassed and monitored Assange’s attorneys, friends, family, and journalist colleagues. Guest: Max Blumenthal, Editor of The Grayzone and author of The Management of Savagery. Max Blumenthal's article: https://thegrayzone.com/2020/05/14/american-sheldon-adelsons-us-spy-julian-assange/

Crowdstrike, the firm that accused Russia of stealing DNC emails in 2016, has made a bombshell admission. In newly released Congressional testimony, Crowdstrike president Shawn Henry said that "we did not have concrete evidence" that alleged Russian hackers actually took the emails from DNC servers. "There's circumstantial evidence, but no evidence that they were actually exfiltrated," Henry said. Aaron Maté breaks down Henry's testimony and why it adds new doubt about the core allegation at the heart of Russiagate.

Noam Chomsky joins Aaron Maté to discuss the May Day workers' strikes; how Donald Trump's ineptitude and neoliberal capitalism fueled the COVID-19 crisis; US attacks on China and the WHO; Trump's overlooked escalation of the nuclear arms race with Russia; the question of "lesser evil voting" in the Biden-Trump race; and what the targets of US empire can teach us about resiliency and resistance. Guest: Noam Chomsky, renowned linguist, author and political dissident.