A power vacuum in Washington and chaos in the Middle East
The News Agents - USA
Global
4.3 • 719 Ratings
🗓️ 10 October 2023
⏱️ 33 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Just one week ago Kevin McCarthy was booted unceremoniously out of his job as House Speaker.
No one could have foreseen then how different the world would look four days later when Hamas wreaked tragedy across Israel. Now there’s a power vacuum in Washington and an unfolding catastrophe in the Middle East. What power does America have to help?
Biden U-turns and starts to build more border wall in the South - with cries of hypocrisy from the right and anger from parts of his own party in the left.
And later - the rise of another Kennedy? Robert Kennedy Junior - conspiracist and now independent candidate for the presidency - thinks he can win. Blimey.
Editor: Gabriel Radus
Producer: Laura FitzPatrick
Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell
Video Producer: Will Gibson-Smith
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The Newsagents USA podcast is brought to you by HSBC, UK, opening up a world of opportunity. |
| 0:09.8 | This is a global player original podcast. |
| 0:13.7 | Previously on the West Wing, I mean the Newsagents USA. |
| 0:17.1 | It's the benefit of this country that we have a better Speaker of the House than Kevin McCarthy. |
| 0:21.0 | Let's get a budget. Let's get our act together. Let's get on with it. Let's vacate the chair. |
| 0:26.4 | And let's get a better speaker. The Office of the House of the United States House of Representatives |
| 0:32.7 | is hereby declared vacant. I believe in bringing new blood up and helping them, and I want to help them all the way. |
| 0:40.3 | Look, I enjoy you. I don't know if you'll cover me as much, but I'm sure I won't miss you, but see you soon. |
| 0:47.3 | Last week, when we rush back to the studio to record after the news that Kevin McCarthy had been ousted as Speaker of the House, |
| 0:55.1 | we couldn't quite imagine that there would be bigger news. |
| 0:58.2 | And of course, what has happened in the Middle East this weekend |
| 1:01.1 | has played in a strange way into the utter dysfunction of Washington politics |
| 1:07.5 | that although the House might want to pass a resolution |
| 1:10.6 | and ensure funds flow to Israel, |
| 1:14.0 | it can't do a bloody thing because they haven't got a speaker and it doesn't seem to be resolved |
| 1:19.8 | anytime soon. Welcome to Newsagents USA. It's John. It's John. |
| 1:30.5 | It's Emily. |
| 1:31.3 | And it was quite an exciting moment, actually, this time last week, because we literally, as John says, |
| 1:37.3 | legged it back as the news was breaking, this historic moment when Kevin McCarthy was kicked out of his position as Speaker of the House by around |
| 1:46.4 | eight of his own, eight Republicans who despised the fact that he had conceded, worked with |
| 1:54.7 | the Democrats to try and ease funding that would stop government shutting down. And as a result of |
| 2:00.7 | that, Kevin McCarthy |
... |
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