Different incidents that have been taking place here in the persian gulf over the last several weeks how volatile this this region right here has become of late its almost like think of it this way its like this area here is like a line of demarcation between 2 countries that hate each others guts they despise each other right so heres saudi arabia on this side of the firs in golf right saudi arabia which needs United States protection here in the gulf which it offers which also needs United States protection here in yemen where its fighting a war right now let me show you the adversaries the other side right here is a wrong as you can see right there which supports the actions in yemen that are at war with saudi arabia and also what can we say about iran well they want dominion of this area of the persian gulf and are trying. You establish it with its navy so both iran and saudi arabia right you have iran and saudi arabia fighting for gemini in this region they both want to say were the boss you know were were controlling this situation but something something happened last year something that began to alter this a little bit let me show you another map so we can capture what were talking about here bring that in if you can kevin all right here it is its these 2 dots essentially right here see these 2 locations that are not far from that last september of last year there was a bold attack i mean they hit them hard these are the famous aramco oil fields in saudi arabia one of them are kurds right here this is called and ill try pronouncing it but its a blue killick right here in this region and the other one occurred here in the region known as coup rise those are 2 big giant Major Oil Fields they knocked out Oil Production for more than 2 weeks shut him down and there is reason to suspect that you know who was behind it iraq iran behind the attack so what happened saudi arabia turns to the United States after this incident and they say please help us United States so the United States sent them several batteries of Patriot Missiles and 2 jet fighter squadrons to defend these particular oil fields so guess what happened within the past week the United States says to saudi arabia sorry charlie were going to take those Patriot Missiles and the fighter squadrons back youre on your own because the saudis were Still Producing and shipping out too much oil causing the price of u. S. Crude to tank and all the businesses here were complaining to the white house the white house picks up the phone they threaten saudi arabia essentially telling them look you either stop producing or you going to lose the protection that were giving you and then the white house did it. Wasnt just a threat President Trump told the protection so now guess what saudi arabia does guess what theyve just done they just announce that theyre going to reduce their output of oil again by another 1000000. 00 barrels a day right so essentially as i lay out this scenario for you you have to ask yourself who is the winner in all of this and who is the loser well the winner in all of this say middle east experts is iran interestingly enough while theyre also saying that for the 1st time in a long time theyre seeing the the saudi veneer if you will showing signs of cracking let me put up another sign that kind of shows you what were talking about these are the signs that the saudis are hurting right. Boil demand down right nobody wants or oil because of covert 19 thats tough for a country thats basically a one trick pony economy right theyre forced to cut their production right they say that they will not pay for their own defense really. And iran is not letting up and now we have Something Else we have learned that its going to begin to tax its own people as we see here in the bottom of the kingdom is actually increasing its that its a value added tax which is what they call it there we dont have it here its a tax on consumers and businesses by a whopping 15 percent. Thats a situation something we havent seen in a while this is friction this is pain where there usually isnt any now how does this change the middle east dynamic. Thats a were going to drill down right here on the news of rick sanchez where we believe its time to do news again. Here we go with a list of the questions that we think youll be asking tomorrow after watching our us today is one of the worlds richest countries hurting now and how much was there really a technical error leading to the dismissal of the Michael Flynn case and what are the u. S. And canada teaming up to mine. From the moon no less 5 lets get started though with this curious case of saudi arabia for decades now i dont have to tell you its flaw and that saudi arabia has flaws that its world its worth on the world stage often times to the point of seeming almost repugnant with the exception of iran countries big and small have treated saudi arabia like the us whatever you want you get whatever your wat it but covert 19 and circumstances have seemed to suddenly change that for the 1st time in like 4050 years weve expanded coverage on this story and were going to give them with our to correspondent john harvey. Saudi arabia like the rest of the world has been struggling with the coronavirus pandemic the kingdom of 34000000 people has more than 42000 confirmed cases and close to 300 deaths anough to hit the economy there hard as well so much so riyadh is planning on tripling its vet the value added tax on basic goods from 5 percent to 15 percent starting july 1st while also suspending the cost of living allowance to its citizens starting june 1st saudi arabia instituted the back 2 years ago as part of an overall plan to cut its reliance on the worlds crude oil market the cost of living allowance of 1000. 00 reales or about 270. 00 per month to state employees starting in 2018 to help offset the increased cost of the valley and a rise in the price of petrol now with revenues falling because of the corona virus pandemic the kingdom is looking to recoup the money lost the countrys finance minister Mohammad Dunn said in a statement the measures are aimed at helping put public finances in a position to support the economy as it emerges from lockdown adding quote these measures are painful but necessary to maintain financial and economic stability over the medium to long term and overcome the unprecedented Coronavirus Crisis with the least damage possible. The question is how much damage these measures will have the most drastic action taken yet by a major gulf will producer since oil prices plunged more than half in march the International Monetary fund has projected that all 6 Energy Producing gulf states in the Gulf Cooperation Council saudi arabia kuwait bahrain cutter United Arab Emirates and oman will be an economic recession this year and as the g. C. C. States grapple with the Financial Outlook post pandemic saudi arabia is also planning to cut its Oil Production by 1000000. 00 barrels starting june 1st to reportedly further help support the Global Oil Markets coate and the u. A. E. Also planned additional cuts meantime the United States is removing 2 Patriot Missile batteries that had been guarding Saudi Oil Fields from iranian attacks and what was reportedly the fall out from the dispute over the Saudi Oil Price War with russia asked about the removal of the patriot batteries President Trump said this last week what i want to talk about it but were doing some things will make it a lot of moves in the middle east and elsewhere were doing a lot of things all over the world militarily weve been taken advantage of all over the world our military and. In the sense that were and this is nothing to do with saudi arabia this has to do with other countries frankly much more u. S. Secretary of state my palm peo said the Patriot Missile battery which all did not signal any decreasing support for saudi arabia nor was it related to the ongoing oil dispute between saudi arabia and russia pompei 0 said the u. S. Still considers iran a threat it will likely be a topic of discussion and secretary pompei o meets with israeli officials this week in jerusalem where hes also expected to discuss Israels West Bank and sation plans and chinas control of israels haifa port for the news with Rick Sanchez John hardy. So what do you do when all youve got is off suddenly nobody wants. Joining us maillard 2 perfect guests to discuss this topic a former newquay m. P. George galloway an economist and noted professor Richard Wolffe professor im going to start with you what do you make of this this sticky wicket that suddenly the saudi arabians of find themselves at well the 1st thing id say is that anybody who continues to believe in as secretary of state palmdale really needs to clean their ears and reopen their eyes at the understand you have it right rick this isnt a very important breakthrough in the relationship between the United States and saudi arabia they used to Work Together pretty well pretty consistently to make a lot of money for the Oil Companies by moving the price up or down as needed now theyve had over flowing out the United States in the leadership of mr trump wants to make friends among the people doing the oil fracking and in the oil business in the middle of our country from china in the north through texas in the south to do that in ca to get the price up and to get the price up the biggest producer of oil in the world is saudi arabia weve had a cold virus that worsens that the me and simple law of economics cut the supply so far down that the price of oil goes up that is what the people in the midwest the packers want and thats what the Oil Producers want in fact itll hurt all of us with our heating oil and our gasoline and the fertilizer producers will use the oil that comes later thats after the election the immediate job is what it is and its audis have to go along or else they get threatened in exactly the way you summarize thats interesting and im thinking george i wonder. Are the iranians smart enough to to know this was coming and to kind of almost. In a malka vallely in fashion set this whole thing up as some are charging. No i think they just sit back and watch the special relationship between the u. S. And saudi arabia begin to see it and is whats happening as richard professor wolf just said the special relationship doesnt look so special now the trumpet ministration has punished saudi arabia quite severely here this is not just a token withdrawal its sending a big message to the world and the punishment is for flooding the market with oil trying to destroy the shero oil and fracking oil industry in the United States and severely damaging the interests of the u. S. And multinational Oil Companies so you might see saudi arabia was a trifle im grateful in doing that because the United States underwrites the very existence of saudi arabia and President Trump was very blunt about that last year when he said publicly the the saudi royal dictatorship would be didnt put it that way wouldnt last 2 weeks without the american underwriting and that was brutal but true so i dont think iran has set this up but iran is clearly a beneficiary of it. After just our discovery though rick there are still plenty of us hardware in the persian gulf the biggest u. S. Military base in the whole world is next door to saudi arabia and qatar and as weve discussed before the persian gulf is truck a block with American Naval hardware professor let me ask you economically speaking lets look at the long range picture here i imagine the saudis are saying eventually this whole thing is going to be over at. No ones going to want our oil again and were going to be top dog are they smart or are they right or wrong if theyre thinking that way. Well i think that theyre probably carefully weighing the pros and cons of what might happen since none of us really know let me add another caution being productive by a 1000000 barrels is not going to bring the price of oil up because the problem is much bigger than that there would have to be much larger cuts both in saudi arabia and in the other Oil Producing countries who are not at all in a position to do that. Not brush or not and so on and so i think youre going to see mormon newry as each side tries to give up the least in order to get the most and saudi arabia is going to have to do. Then were seeing now if thats going to be the way to fix this problem and they are going to resist because its shaking up their own society its a really important story im so glad we had a chance to discuss it with with you guys i appreciate your time to both of you thank you very much theres still a lot more ahead this is that is next sanchez were so glad youre watching our special coverage and will be right back. Wall street is busy trading your money 5 days a week and there are 4 corners. And 3 major stock market. And when you have to watch drive or bail it all becomes clear theres just one business you cant afford to mend. The one and only. Find it now on portable t. V. Oh yeah oh. Go buy. I like it was only hosts ask a question for the guests and then actually listens to the guests answer and then reacts to that thats a false Dennis Miller ive got a new shelf. You know it doesnt really matter where youve been but batterers is where youre going right well see you Church Generations look back at the establishment media as the lead in the water pipes that drove the romans mad do you find yourself watching t. V. To turn your brain off to relax i want you to watch t. V. To turn your brain on im rick sanchez. Its time. To do music. All right former National Security adviser Michael Flynn is still making headlines after charges against him were dismissed by attorney general bill barr despite flynn admitting to perjury not once but twice now many of the president s backers say clinton should be freed never been charged in the 1st place never been investigated critics of the move are calling what bar did a quote perversion of justice here now to put it all together for us martys scott email hughes whos been working through this story for us got to watch out. Recchi youre exactly right youve got the supporters of Michael Flynn sharing the decision last friday of bill maher to drop the d. O. J. His case against Michael Flynn but then you have the opposite side that scratching their head saying he admitted twice to perjury so why are you driving at this has to be political but lets break it down like you do so well on your show and go ok why it was bill barajas you said that they should actually drop the charges against Michael Steele and a lot has happened i get a sense last friday when this happened i saw it basically started to unravel based on protocols that were handling within microphones out that there was a document which showed that there was this handwritten no this was kind of kind of what may well it did you go to it this is some f. B. I. Officials questioning the purpose of interviewing fled what is our goal that no said true that mission or to get him to lie so we can prosecute him or get him fired that what theyre going to show that there was possibly some a targeting by the f. B. I. In regards to what Michael Flynn also part of this document kind of showed what was weak about the report and why ultimately they decided the o. J. Decided to drop it showed that clinton for a visit with president clinton was in a forest that when it actually told his boss that he was going it was also great by the Defense Department before he went and when he came back he also briefed at the Intelligence Committee on his meeting in russia doesnt show there was actual no actual denial of by explain that he talked to his they act and actually that was something that was obviously accused by the maulers and that the f. B. I. Had actually wanted to close the investigation in january 427000 the 1st some reason it was late and made to stay open now james at comi also bragged in this interview in a videotaped interview that he had authorized the f. B. I. To kind of skipped a protocol and hurry things through when he was going to do at the flight interview and when they did the report of the plane interview ok to start a 2nd that started that that name that we continue to hear you actually edited the report. So we have that they were going does it exactly opposite from what the actual interview was the general and to begin with all of this just brings the circumstance the idea that you know what i said up to perjure himself now that was last weeks document dump what were waiting on right now is if you have the current director of National IntelligenceRichard Grinnell in his last few weeks actually is marse every bill barring say he is going to give over the full list of those in the administration mainly the Obama Administration that knew of the unmasking of general flynn as well as a lot of other documents that is going to unclassified declassified he has done this now were just waiting for those documents to be made Public Record all of this just comes the idea that were just starting to get the beginning of how the last 3 years weve been spent obsessing with this idea of russia including not only with the Trump Campaign but with the targeting ira intelligence agencies and the question is why michael why did they want Michael Flynn to be out well a lot of it comes back to the original criticism back in 2012 of the about mr actions of syria and when he came into the trumpet mr ation when the 1st thing he said he was going to do was scale back and the i cia and use a restructuring and it minimized the power that a lot of our intelligence agencies seem to have right now with and president ial ministration so really continue to follow this regular set every day developing and were waiting on those documents to be declassified and released to the public to see exactly how far up that this go the new bottom in a bomb and ministration all right scott email use with a Strong Defense of Michael Flynn thank you scotty we appreciate it remember space force well now President Trump has another plan for space and this one is really well if youll pardon the pun here out there you know environmentalists often get angry in their opposition to things like drilling and strip mining and sensitive areas Like National parks well how about the moon is that sensitive enough perhaps its a defense of plant but then you have to ask yourself against whom right the fence of against whom well there are suggestions that there are still nazis hiding out there on the moon but then again thats just a movie. Here now correspondent natasha sweet. Mining the moon for materials is something on the white house agenda in the making the u. S. Is reportedly drafting an International Agreement called the artemis accord the main purpose of the pact is related to lunar mining proposing safety zones which would separate a countrys moon base from others this would ignite the groundwork for allowing ownership of mind resources the artemis a court would also bypass the United Nations treaty process according to an anonymous source familiar with the draft according to the source this isnt some territorial claim the idea is if you are going to be coming near someones operations and theyve declared safety zones around it then you need to reach out to them in advance consult and figure out how you can do that safely for everyone there have been conspiracy theories floating around the far side of the moon already houses a secret base some say its nazis while others believe its aliens the movie iron sky depicts a theory of nazis inhibiting the moon with the hopes of taking over earth for these guys anyway now its a sign from the moon that. The outer space treaty of 1967 in which the us is a member prohibits military activity on places like the moon and also bans the storing of weapons of mass destruction the treaty does allow for peaceful exploration and use of space while the u. S. Has not yet share the draft with ally countries according to a media reports the us will not be sharing it with russia the report quotes Anonymous Sources saying the pentagon increasingly views moscow as hostile for making threatening satellite maneuvers toward u. S. Spy satellites in earth orbit the draft is reportedly named after nasa is new Artemis Lunar Exploration Program the goal is to get astronaut back on the moon by 2024 reporting for the news with Rick Sanchez Natasha sweet r t r theres a lot of i want to show you something take a look at this image that you see behind that truck right. There is the white house right and then theres that truck and about 0300 other trucks on constitution avenue there are independent truckers who are here for a protest and now youre about to see my colleague Michele Greenstein whos got this story covered for us michelle take it away. Look rick dont let brokers kill the Trucking Industry keep brokers accountable for not paying Truck Drivers these are just some of the signs that im seeing here on constitution avenue behind me in front of me all along this street are over 100 trucks and truckers from all across the nation have gathered here in the capital with a very simple message they say theyre being charge such High Commission rates by freight brokers that some of them are actually operating at a loss they say some of the smaller trucking businesses are actually losing money while transporting essential goods during the coded 1000. 00 crisis and that some of them have already gone out of business now what these truckers want is for the troubled ministration to open investigation into the freight brokers and investigation under the sherman antitrust act which says that corporations can collude with one another to do price fixing and the main thing they want rick is transparency take a listen to what the d. O. J. To investigate these Brokerage Companies are under the safe food handling. And have the materials under federal regulations for nonsi of partners of 1. 3 that say that we as a carrier have the right to review the record of the transaction and the moment that that load has been safely delivered every Brokerage Company will not allow you to do that ive got hundreds of thousands of requests from different carriers that state these Brokers Companies say no you do not have that right even though its our federal right so this is what these Brokers Companies or a federal violation are and for these truckers price gouging isnt the only issue in addition to a need for covert testing and protective equipment many u. S. Truck fleets are seeing a decline in freight volume causing some of the smaller Trucking Companies to pull their fleets off the road in time. Really i mean in and out of the epicenter every day with no hazard pay. No p. P. It wasnt until 2 weeks ago that the eprom c. S. A. Started to have no p. P. Almost almost a month and a half after his parent ever began not only that rick but these truckers may be part of a Bigger Picture here while the stock market can be induced into rising by Companies Buying back their own stock the real economy depends on the movement of goods and in the United States trucking is a huge part of this so you may think this doesnt affect you but it can now on may 3rd trump tweeted in support of the truckers writing im with truckers all the way and its going to work out well but some of these truckers say that while he did tweet that its past time trying to do something about the price gouging that could put them out of business and that theyll be here for as long as it takes theres a lot of investors as were trucking this coronavirus exposed what were actually dealing with and what i would hear is that we get it from. 0 to pledge so rick if these price gougers dont get regulated soon we may be looking we may be looking at months of this time kind of protests here in the capital good story michel well well told well put together well researched thank you for giving us their perspective on this that is our news. Thanks so much for being with us stay safe stay connected check out portable t. V. You can take us with you wherever you go in the studio with us from the ocean. With good reason Public Discourse is focused on addressing and finally each containing the kobe 1000. 00 pandemic now the focus is on devastated economies where the recession. Oppression recovery you. Know. Or population dying water some of the wealthier neighborhoods its been far more contained and the numbers are much lower than some of the more neighborhoods were working with Great Stories of how started their lives theyre just stories d of the year. I think its safe to say into the 19 will be remembered the world over as one of the most trying things of 2020 by the end of march the country has the hardest was the United States and youre sitting in particular. My friend maria lives in new york ive asked for its record a bit of her life during the pandemic. Hi my name is maria out and she. Talking to you. Which is global at the center of. Atomic so this is this is my 15 month old son whos playing by whos solved as are most of the other kids in the park normally there would be a single patch of grass available to sit on the little erie out here so quarantining knew your is a little bizarre because theres theres like 2 worlds right so were in a world where we feel very isolated were working from home but were still working and then theres this like other part of new york that we dont see when you look at like the map of how it is politically some of the wealthier neighborhoods. Its been far more contained in the numbers are much lower than some of the poorer neighborhoods its like 2 different worlds like i dont know whats going on over there top to be honest