Hello and welcome to Background Briefing, available 24-7 at Background Briefing.org. I'm me and Masters, and today we'll examine a number of stories and issues in the news.

We'll begin with the stark divide between facts on the ground and a government built on fiction as Trump and Nome shamelessly lie about yesterday's execution of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE officer,

as more video evidence and testimony by bystanders makes clear

that an American citizen a mother of three who are now orphans was killed in

cold blood by a government goon for no reason. Joining us is David Schultz a

professor of political science at Hamline University and University of Minnesota School of Law.

He's the author of 30 books and various articles on American politics, ethics, election, law, and media.

Most recently, American politics in the Age of Ignorance, Why Lawmakers Choose Belief Over Research,

and his latest book is generational politics in the United

States, from the silence to Gen Z and beyond. And then we look into whether the Venezuelan leadership

still in power sacrifice Maduro and his Cuban protectors in a secret deal with Trump and Rubio.

Joining us is Alejandra Velasco, Associate Dean for Faculty and Academic Affairs and a

professor at New York University.

An historian of modern Latin America focusing on social movements, urban culture and

democratization.

He's the author Barrio Rising, urban Urban Popular Politics and the Making of Modern Venezuela.

And he has an article at The Guardian, Maduro is gone, but his regime is intact.

What happened behind the scenes?

Then finally we'll speak with Ryan Cooper, senior editor at The American Prospect.

He's the co-host of the Left Anchor podcast, as well as the author of How Are You Going to

Pay for that, Smart Answers to the Dumbest Questions in Politics.

And his latest articles at the American Prospect are Trump's cargo cult imperialism in Venezuela

...