WE DECIDE: AMERICA AT THE CROSSROADS with Jenna Flanagan 7-28-25
President Trump and European nations have reportedly reached a tariff agreement, but it’s still not clear if President Trump can cut these trade deals without Congressional approval. Speaking of Congress, fear that a growing bipartisan movement to force the release of the DOJ records on multimillionaire and convicted pedophile—as well as Trump “bestie”—Jeffrey Epstein, forced House Speaker Mike Johnson to adjourn the House of Representatives early.
International pressure continues to mount on Israel and the Netanyahu government to stop their siege on Gaza, ongoing for over 21 months in response to the Hamas-led slaughter of 1,200 mostly civilians and the taking of 250 hostages.
The UN reports that tens of thousands of Palestinians have died since, including several thousand children. Now, the UN warns that as a consequence of the Israeli blockade, mass starvation is taking hold in Gaza, with one in three residents having gone without food for several days.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration continues to double down on its mass deportation strategy.
It's a lot.
We speak with DC-based investigative journalist Dave Levinthal, whose work appears in places like Rolling Stone and NOTUS. Dave is joined by Laura Jedeed, a freelance journalist based in New York City whose work has appeared in Politico, Rolling Stone, and The New Republic. You can read her Substack at BannedInYourState.com.
Laura also served two combat tours with the U.S. Army in Afghanistan in Signal Intelligence. She tracks the MAGA movement.
In our B Block, we check in with Dr. Meagan O'Rourke, National Science Liaison for Climate Change with the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Dr. O’Rourke is also the shop steward for AFGE Local 3403 and briefs us on the Trump administration’s latest attack on the thousands of committed scientists who have spent their careers serving—not multinationals—but the public interest.
We are happy to welcome back Kelly Smith, lead organizer of the New York State Non-Violent Medicaid Army. She was joined by Nijmie Dzurinko, out of Pennsylvania, and John Wessel-McCoy, an Indiana coordinator with the Hoosier State Non-Violent Medicaid Army.
The panel discusses the impact on the millions of Americans set to lose their health insurance as part of the so-called "Big Beautiful Budget Bill" that uses the cuts to fund tax cuts for the nation's wealthiest households and corporations.
In our D Block, we hear from our affiliate station WSLR in Sarasota on the next immigration concentration camp set for construction in Florida. Then Pacifica's Lisa Loving talks with investigative reporter Katya Swenk on her deeply researched article in The Lever, about how much money we’re set to spend on mass deportations—and how multinational corporations dealing in mercenaries are making bank on the new, gargantuan budget for ICE.
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The Pacifica Radio Network is composed of WBAI in New York, WPFW in Washington DC, KPFT in Houston, KPFK in Los Angeles, and KPFA in San Francisco, as well as 210 affiliate community radio stations located in over 40 states.
