In the first half, historian of Soviet and post-Soviet Russia, Stephen F. Cohen, shared a dissenting narrative of the new Cold War from its origins in the 1990s, the actual role of Vladimir Putin, and the 2014 Ukrainian crisis to today's unprecedented Russiagate allegations. He has found no evidence of President Trump colluding with the Russian government, but a "large part of the American policy elite find him offensive, and his election inexplicable" and thus are suspicious about meetings and financial dealings that are "run of the mill" such as his potential hotel deal in Moscow.
Cohen is concerned that with the allegations of Trump being a "Putin puppet" he would be unable to properly negotiate if the possibility of a war between the US and Russia arose. JFK was able to act freely in 1962 with the Cuban Missile Crisis, he cited. While the US media also demonizes Putin, Cohen said he could find no specific evidence linking the Russian leader to various dire crimes, such as the murder of multiple journalists who have been critical of the Kremlin. He suggested that the expansion of NATO led to the Ukraine crisis, and proposed that the expansion countries should have their bases demilitarized along Russian's border.
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In the third hour, renowned biographer and historian Andrew Roberts discussed his latest work on the life of Winston Churchill. Though he's written about Churchill for over 30 years, his biography of him was timed for now because certain archival materials were not made available until this decade, such as King George's wartime diaries. Roberts was struck by the British leader's passion and compassion. He cried in public fifty times during WWII and was driven by his emotions far more than any other contemporaneous politician. His book also corrects a number of myths about Churchill. For instance, he was not an alcoholic though did drink large amounts of alcohol. Roberts mused that if Churchill were alive today, he would be popular on Twitter, with his pithy remarks and witticisms.
Prayer & Finances
In the last hour, author James Paris talked about ways to use prayer for a financial and personal recovery. He recommended setting aside an hour (away from electronic gadgets) to quiet one's mind in order to listen to God. A good prayer strategy is to approach things with an open mind, he advised, seeking God's plan rather than praying to accomplish your own preset agenda. He also shared an account of an angelic encounter of his grandfather's, who saw a 7-ft.-tall figure hovering near the gas heater. After the being vanished, his grandfather discovered that the pilot light had gone off and the room was starting to fill up with gas. "The angel had held the gas from coming out," and everyone in the house would have died otherwise, Paris marveled.
News segment guests: Lauren Weinstein, Mish Shedlock