Foreign policy and national security analyst
Foreign policy and national security analyst based in Washington, DC; former advisor to Donald Rumsfeld in 2001 on Iraq policy
PROFILE
Randy Scheuneman
Guest
FROM Randy Scheuneman
To the Point
Robert Gates Promises 'Fresh Eyes' at the Pentagon At his Senate confirmation hearing today to replace Donald Rumsfeld , former CIA Director Robert Gates was asked a crucial question by Democrat Carl Levin of Michigan, whether America was winning the war in Iraq. Answering "no," he said there will be no easy answers if he's confirmed as Secretary of Defense . It's expected that Gates will be confirmed, but he's still controversial. Does he have the background to run the world's most sophisticated military establishment? Will he "speak truth to power," or tell the President what he wants to hear?
Recommended
To the Point
Ex-FBI Director Comey tells his side of the story Today, former FBI Director James Comey came close to calling the President who fired him a liar. The White House denied the claim and called it insulting, but Republican Senators did not challenge Comey’s truthfulness. Many questions remain: did the President try to obstruct a federal investigation? Later, we’ll go behind the “velvet rope” for a look at 5-Star health care for the richest Americans.
To the Point
Terrorism and tweets, hate speech and murder Just days before an election, Britain is coping with a rash of deadly terrorism, and Prime Minister Theresa May is on the defensive. And again today, President Trump has tweeted criticism of the Mayor of London. Later, a double murder in Portland, Oregon has revealed the ugly past of a supposedly “progressive” city. One immediate question: is “hate speech” protected by the First Amendment?
To the Point
What happens when America retreats from the world? Is President Trump taking his "America First" agenda to extremes, withdrawing the country from the international stage on trade and climate change, distancing America from its traditional allies across the Atlantic and even threatening to physically isolate the country through the building of a wall along its southern border? León Krauze guest hosts.
To the Point
Human Rights in the era of Donald Trump President Trump’s UN Ambassador, Nikki Haley, said today the US might pull out of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council. Serious violators of human rights are members of the Council itself–and a US resignation could make things worse. Later on today’s show, now that he’s into his second term, comedian turned US Senator Al Franken is telling jokes again.