Hello and welcome to Background Briefing, available 247 at Background Briefing.org. I'm Ian Masters,

and today we'll examine a number of stories and issues in the news.

We'll begin with Trump going back for Putin to have Russia readmitted to the G7

in a repeat of Trump's amateurish foreign policy deals in the name of peace,

as was the case with Afghanistan when he sold out the Afghan government

to make a photo-op deal with the Taliban that led to the disastrous U.S. withdrawal.

This time he is selling out Ukraine to Putin in the name of peace and saving lives in the hope of one-uping Biden and getting a Nobel Prize to catch up to his nemesis Obama.

Joining us is Alison McManus, a managing director for the National Security and International

Policy Department at the Center for American Progress.

Previously, she was the managing director at the Freedom Initiative,

where she advocated for political prisoners in the Middle East and North Africa,

and she also served as a research director of the Tahr prisoners in the Middle East and North Africa, and she also served

as a research director of the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy from 2014 to 2019.

Then we look into today's confirmation of the anti-vaxxer and conspiracy monger RFK Jr. to be the

Secretary of Health and Human Services, who claims to want to make America

healthier again in the service of a Big Mac eating, diet, coke, drinking, dear leader,

who is busy fleecing the American government to make the super rich richer again.

Joining us is Michael Hilzig, a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter and columnist at the Los Angeles

Times. He received the Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and columnist at the Los Angeles Times.

He received the Pulitzer Prize for articles exposing corruption in the entertainment industry.

Currently, he writes the twice-weekly column covering business and economic issues relevant to life

in California, and his books include The New Deal and Modern History and Iron Empires,

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