A year after the cataclysmic explosion in Beirut that injured 8,000 people, killed hundreds and could be heard as far as the island of Cyprus, the Lebanese still reel from the trauma of the blast and the lack of accountability in its aftermath. Thousands marched and protested on Wednesday to observe the grim anniversary, as the country’s dire political and economic situation remains in steep decline and a surge of violence after rocket attacks into neighboring Israel, who retaliated with force. Former Pentagon official Michael Maloof joins to share his insight. He says Lebanon is “on the verge of being a failed state” and that without drastic action it will fall apart.
Then RT America’s Faran Fronczak joins to discuss a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Wednesday. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida) painted a dystopian picture of “the long arm of red China,” intellectual property theft, and Beijing’s rapid advances in medicine and biological research. Plus, RT America’s Natasha Sweatte reports on New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s increasingly precarious fight against mounting scandal and disgrace as calls for his resignation or impeachment intensify and those accusing him of sexual assault and harassment continue their pressure. And later, Congressional staffer Jennifer Massey weighs in on Twitter’s enlistment of Associative Press and Reuters to serve as fact checkers, which she argues will accelerate Twitter’s fondness for censorship. Critics allege that Twitter’s frequent manipulation of media narratives on its platform springs from partisan bias.
Watch: Here