Pushback with Aaron Mate

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.

The bipartisan US establishment has coalesced around increased hostility to China in response to the coronavirus pandemic. China has faced numerous allegations including that it covered up the pandemic at the world's expense, developed the virus in a lab, and has spread disinformation. Journalist and attorney Ajit Singh debunks some of the most widespread claims lodged against China and analyzes the parallels between the current climate and Russiagate. Guest: Ajit Singh, Attorney and Journalist.

An internal investigation has found that top Labour Party officials sabotaged Jeremy Corbyn's leadership, including by trying to lose the 2017 UK election. The report also suggests that the same people who tried to undermine Corbyn were themselves the ones who were slow to respond to allegations of anti-Semitism -- another weapon that was used against Corbyn's leadership. Guest: Asa Winstanley, journalist with The Electronic Intifada. Links: Asa Winstanley: https://electronicintifada.net/people/asa-winstanley Al Jazeera's "The Lobby" (UK): https://www.aljazeera.com/investigations/thelobby/ Al Jazeera's "The Lobby - USA": https://electronicintifada.net/content/watch-film-israel-lobby-didnt-want-you-see/25876