Will Trump take advantage of Hunter Biden pardon?

KCRW's Left, Right & Center

KCRW

352865, News

4.2 • 4.8K Ratings

🗓️ 6 December 2024

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

President-elect Donald Trump has long spoken about his plan to put America first instead of acting as the world’s policeman. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law this week, but the nation’s parliament quickly overturned it. Syrian rebel forces entered the city of Aleppo for the first time in nearly a decade. President Biden is funneling additional resources into Ukraine. All the while, the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah hangs delicately in the balance. What kind of shift is the global community preparing for when it comes to U.S. foreign policy?

Meanwhile on U.S. soil, current President Joe Biden is in hot water after issuing a blanket pardon on his son Hunter Biden. The younger Biden son was facing sentencing for two criminal cases involving gun ownership and tax charges. President Biden repeatedly claimed that he would not pardon his son if found guilty in order to restore faith in the justice system. Democrats and Republicans alike are fuming at the walking back of the decision. What are the implications of this pardon as America transitions presidents?

As Biden bends the meaning of “justice,” KCRW continues to analyze what justice will mean in the next White House administration. President-elect Donald Trump wants to make big changes to American justice, national security, and intelligence proceedings — including with his pick for FBI director, Kash Patel. Patel has been outspoken with his desires to “go after” critical members of the media. Will fealty to the president take second place to national security?

Transcript

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0:00.0	You are here for another left, right, and center. Hello, I am David Green. Sarah Isker is here, as well as Moalethy.
0:08.4	President-elect Donald Trump has laid out a vision. I think we can all agree to put America first and to serve American interests and not feel like the United States always has to solve other countries' problems around the
0:21.4	world. But that policy is going to be tested because the world is feeling pretty crazy.
0:27.0	In South Korea, their president has lifted martial law. He imposed after the parliament, defied him
0:32.6	by voting to overturn it. Syrian rebels have launched a lightning offensive against the regime of Bashar al-Assad,
0:40.3	entering the northern city of Aleppo itself for the first time in eight years.
0:45.3	In the final weeks of his administration, President Biden is funneling more resources towards
0:50.3	Ukraine.
0:51.3	Israel and the Lebanese militant group, Hezbollah, agreed last week to end nearly
0:55.3	14 months of fighting. And under the deal, they each agreed to withdraw their forces from southern Lebanon
1:01.0	within 60 days. But since then, they have repeatedly accused each other of violating the terms of
1:06.9	the truce. All right, where should we begin? How about South Korea? This beacon of democracy in
1:11.8	Asia, a country that was plunged into chaos when President Yun Suk Yul declared martial law. He
1:18.0	has low approval ratings. He was clearly trying to tighten his political grip. Turns out just for a few
1:23.3	hours because he backed off quickly and is now facing calls for impeachment. Then in Syria, a
1:29.4	coalition of rebel forces stunningly swept into Aleppo, capturing that city from the forces of
1:35.2	Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. In previous years, Assad had been able to strengthen his grip in
1:42.0	the region with help from allies like Russia and also Iran.
1:46.2	But that assistance has taken a hit with Russian resources focused on Ukraine, Iran,
1:52.0	engulfed in numerous conflicts via their proxies throughout the Middle East.
1:55.9	There's just a lot to deal with.
1:57.7	And President-elect Trump is going to be dealing with it in not so many weeks
	...

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