cover of episode Trump Foreign Policy, Abu Ghraib Ruling, Cop 29 Climate Summit

Trump Foreign Policy, Abu Ghraib Ruling, Cop 29 Climate Summit

2024/11/13
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Key Insights

Why are President-elect Donald Trump's unconventional picks for his second-term team significant for U.S. foreign policy?

Trump's choices reflect a focus on loyalty and a shift towards a more nationalistic and transactional foreign policy, prioritizing strong opposition to China, support for Israel, and skepticism towards Ukraine.

How did the jury justify awarding $42 million to three Iraqi men tortured at Abu Ghraib?

The jury found the private U.S. military contractor, CACI, guilty of conspiring with U.S. soldiers to torture and mistreat detainees, including instructing military police officers to 'soften up' the detainees.

What is the United Kingdom's ambitious plan to combat global warming?

The UK plans to cut climate pollution by at least 81% compared to 1990 levels by 2035, investing in wind, solar, and nuclear energy, and framing climate action in economic terms.

What challenges do victims of U.S. military abuse face in seeking compensation?

Victims face significant obstacles, including multiple attempts to dismiss their cases and a lack of established mechanisms for compensation, as highlighted by the Abu Ghraib case.

How might the Trump administration's environmental policy impact climate action?

The administration's focus on regulatory rollback and the appointment of climate change skeptics could jeopardize existing EPA rules and hinder progress on climate pollution reduction.

Chapters

President-elect Donald Trump is assembling a second-term team with unconventional picks, signaling a shift in U.S. foreign policy towards a more nationalistic and transactional approach.
  • Trump's picks reflect his focus on trust and loyalty.
  • Expected strong opposition to China, support for Israel, and skepticism towards Ukraine.
  • Some picks, like Pete Hegseth for Defense Secretary, lack traditional qualifications.

Shownotes Transcript

Present elections ald. Trump is making some unconventional picks for a second term team.

Taken together, his picks could dramatically reshape america's foreign policy.

I think we have point of leverages with the ency to get them to the table.

I me marti is with Michelle Martin, and this is up first from N, P, R. news. The U.

S. Jury awards forty two million dollars to three iraqis held by americans during the iraq war. The plane of, say they were tortured. What is a ruling me for accountability for wartime abuses?

And world leaders are meeting to fight climate change. But don't look for the s to lead this time. The U.

K. Is stepping up with a major pledge. But what will other countries do if trump scales back on climate rules? Stay with us. We'll give you the news. You need to start your day.

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president elect donal trump is moving fast, assembling his team for a second term in the White house. He says he will nominate former arkansas or my cocker B2Be amb assador to isr ael, congressman, at least defending to serve as U. N. Ambassador and congress on mike well to be his national security advisor.

But some of his choices are getting a lot of attention, like his plan to nominate a television host to be secretary of defense. Pete hegseth of fox new is a military veteran but has no senior military or national security experience.

Here to talk about this is a White house correspondent, Frankl, or donis franco. Welcome back. So we could do a segment on each of these picks honestly.

But what about the big picture? What does this tell us about trumps plans to change how the U. S. Positions itself in the world?

right? I mean, I think it's a few things. First, to clearly reflects trumps focus on trust and loyalty.

These are all big supporters, which is team does hope will eliminate some of the fighting that plagued his first transition. But they're also indicative of trumps foreign policy priorities. It's a more national alister focus, more transactional. You can expect strong opposition to china, support for israel and skepticism toward ukraine. Here is mike walls, for example, talking with our own, even skip about pressing for a deal between ukraine and russia.

We have leveraged, like taking the hand fs off of the long range weapons we provided ukraine as well. And then of course, I think we have point of leveraged with zelenski to get them to the table.

Now, although is a former Green berry who is considered red to have quite a debt of foreign policy experience.

so, well, okay, so the national security advice that doesn't to be confirmed by the center, but some of these other rules do. Do we have a sense of how this mix of you lawmakers and personalities will be received? Although I look, I do have to point out that the president's party does control the senator rather will control the senate when trump s takes office.

It's still a bit unclear, but I spoke about some of that with former ambassador john Simon, who served in the bush administration. He called walls defining and hockey leaders who have to be taken seriously. Simon also mention senator marco rubio, who is widely reported to be the top candidate for secretary of state, as another who has real foreign policy credentials.

These are people who have spent a lot of time in congress, uh, at folks so many aspects of foreign policy, who have certainly met with a number of world leaders who are people who will be known qualities among the foreign n policy establishment but what surprising .

is trump naming TV host an army vat pete heck's set for defense secretary.

Okay, so how are republicans reacting to this choice? I me in this position, you you don't advise the present, but you have to manage a huge agency. You have to manage relationships with other defense leaders around the world. What are republican saying about this?

Well, one house republican committee chair express shocks saying hegseth was not known on the list of names under generation in dana, senator to Young told reporters, hidden, have a sense of heck set background or vision for the department. But he also said he wanted to give all the trust nominees a fair opportunity to be heard.

which raises a key point. I mean, I am guessing that many republicans aren't going to want to take a stand against trumps picks this early in the process.

yeah. I mean, it's not unusual for presidents to pull from out of different constituencies, but this is really an out of box kind of pick. The defense secretary leads over a million active duty troops.

Texas is a decorated veteran, but as you know, lacks the management and high profile national security experience. That said, trump really cares a lot about who those can present. Well on TV.

That is what house carsbad franco, arda ise. Frank. Thank you.

Thank you. so.

A U. S. Jury has awarded three survivors of the other great present forty two million dollars.

The abuse of by american troops. There is one of the lasting legacies of the U. S. Invasion of iraq.

The photos of that abuse published in two thousand and four are shocking and a warning to our listener's. This story contains graphic descriptions of the torture of prisoners in U. S.

In last year, M. P. r's. Ruth sherlock spoke with a former detainee to live or mushy.

They they orn us. They making us naked. Sometimes they throw that sound garnets on our cells, and sometimes they use the shot guns. When they use dogs to terrifying us, they flooded ourselves with what he .

was not involved in this court case, but the three planets in this lawsuit brought against a private U. S. Military contract or detailed similar abuse.

Mp s truth, sure. Like is with us not to tell us more about this good morning roof.

Good morning.

Could you just tell us more about this case?

yeah. Well, the jury said this. U. S. Military contractors, C, A, C, I or carque could be found guilty because the interrogators is supplied to abb.

Grab, conspired with us soldiers there to torture and retreat. The three plaintives, the jury said carking interrogators were liable because they said they actually instructed military police officers to, quote, softening up the detainees. You know, carque denies this characterization. IT says its employees were not responsible for nor took part in the abuse committed by military police labor grade. But just after the verdict, I reached by her as me, the lawyer who filed the suit on behalf of the plaintives is with the center for constitutional rights, and he told me this verdict is the culmination of a sixteen year long effort by the plaintiff to tell .

their story to an american jury for the court of appeals, surviving two dozen attempts for caucus dismiss the case in every obstacle you could imagine.

You know, he said also, this is the second trial. The first trial ended in a first trial when the jury couldn't reach a verdict on whether kaki or the army could be held responsible.

Does this court Victory pave the way for compensation for other, other grave detainees?

Well, Michelle, you know, the short answer is no. The case is specifically about these three plaintives. I think actually what this case shows is just how hard IT is.

Four victims of U. S. Military abuse to get any kind of address is the first time that a civilian injury has heard accounts directly from detainees of torture and mistreatment. That has happened. That has happened, you know, in this post nine eleven year detentions.

Taliban, muddy the above, deep, tiny we spoke to, told us how american soldiers strip him naked, poked at his genital set, snaking dogs on inmates, fired live ammunition into cells. They flooded his cell with cold water, he says. And he got neuman ia.

He spent twenty years searching for a way to get compensation, or even just an apology from the U. S. military. But ultimately, he hasn't been able to find a mechanism for that address.

So as we mentioned earlier, this verdict is against a private military contractor, but has the U. S. Military paid compensation to victims?

This is the really important point. You, after the photos showing the abuse of survivors in abb grape were published, two thousand and four secretary Donald runs felt at the time, told congress that a way should be set up to compensate the victims. But when we looked into this reporting, the story of terrible manually, we couldn't find any examples where the U.

S. Military had compensated abb grab survivors. Human rights watch then followed up with a detailed investigation, and they also found that to this day, the U. S. Government hasn't paid compensation or even set up a mechanism for these cases to be heard.

That is mrs. roth. So like ruth, thank you.

Thank you very much.

The cap twenty nine climate summit is underway in as a rajan this week.

With a new .

administration coming in, there is not as much expectation for the U. S. Setting a big climate goal, but at least one major industrial country is making a big pledge to fight lovel warming took us through this.

In other climate news, we have Julia assignment. She's climate solutions correspond on in paris. Climate is Julia. Good morning.

Good morning.

So the u climate summer began monday. What are we seeing so far?

So going into this climate summit, there hasn't been as much optimism for U. S. leadership. After all, the newly elected Donald trump famously called climate change a hoax. However, we are seeing other countries stepping up in the next few months.

Countries have to announce these big targets for how much climate pollution they are gonna a cut to limit global warming. And the united kingdom there, one of those countries stepping up yesterday, U. K. Prime minister kier starmer, he gave his speech announcing plans to cut climate pollution at least eighty one percent compared to one thousand and ninety levels by twenty thirty five.

How does the U. K. Plan to do IT? That seems like a really ambitious target.

The U. K. Is investing, improving climate solutions, things like wind energy, solar energy, big batteries, also nuclear energy.

But the U. K. Is really framing their climate action in economic terms. Here's U. K. Prime minister cure stomach.

This is a huge opportunity for investment for U. K. Businesses, for british workers. If we act now to lead the world in the economy of tomorrow .

and myself, you hear this economic argument from other countries like china. China, they're selling their technologies like electric vehicles in emerging markets like in africa and that america, china, the U. K, they see climate solutions making business sense.

Okay, back to the U. S. President electrics in the process naming his new cabinet.

He's already named a new head, or he's announced plans to name a new head of the E. P. A.

That is the former new year. Contrary sailed in. What do you know about him?

The word trump used when announcing his pic of sulton is the regulatory that is removing government regulations. According to the league of conservation voters, zeldin voted several times against clean air and clean water legislation result in many E P, A rules that limit climate pollution could be in jeopardy.

And yesterday, the E P A actually finalized this rule that oil and gas companies have to pay a fee when they leak this very potent planet heating gas under trump and a possible republican try vector in congress. Congress may overturn that. E, P, A new method role. Okay.

just let we let you go. There's one last piece of climate as a courtroom in the netherlands just overturned a ruling that the energy company shell has to reduce its climate pollution by forty five percent. What are the implications of that?

So the court did say shelf still has this duty of care to limit planet heating emissions. But the courts couldn't figure out how big the cuts should be. Still the point sets being brought up by other environmental groups is that there are still lots of climate litigation claims against big oil companies, including in states like massachusets, howie, california. Those cases are being argued in state and municipal ts, and they haven't been decided yet.

That is in paris. Julia assignment.

Julia, thank you. Thank you.

And that's up first for wednesday, november thirteen. Th, I.

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