Cenk Uygur hosting from YouTube Space LA. Hearings are being held
on Capitol hill to put a human face on those considered by some to be “collateral damage” after the Obama administration finally admitted to civilian deaths in the targeted drone strike program. Momina Bibi, a 67 year old midwife and grandmother living in Waziristan, was a victim of a targeted drone strike in October of 2012. The surviving family members including Bibi’s son and two grandchildren appeared before Congress to testify. Rafiq ur Rehman, Bibi’s son, as well as Nabeela and Zubair, her two grandchildren, gave their accounts of the attack through an interpreter. The attack appears to have been a “double tap” strike. The gallery of the hearing chamber was nearly empty. A promising bipartisan effort called the USA Freedom Act is being drafted in order to address the illegal NSA mass spying and surveillance program. The NRA is in favor of the measure, creating some very strange bed-fellows. Senator Dianne Feinstein, the intelligence committee chair and long time cheerleader of the NSA, is also surprisingly on board. However, she is trying to water down the language of the initial bill.
Cenk gives an Indiegogo campaign update. Jim Wheeler, a Nevada assemblyman, lands in hot water by saying he would vote to reinstate slavery if that’s what his constituents insisted. The stance was taken in response to an extreme and absurd rhetorical question at a Republican gathering. Wheeler has had to aggressively backpedal to contain the political damage in the aftermath. The TYT Supreme Court adjudicates. In a fun catfight, Senator Coburn of Oklahoma calls Senator Harry Reid, “…an absolute asshole.” In 2011 debt ceiling negotiations, Senator Mitch McConnell proposed a rule that would empower the President to unilaterally raise the debt ceiling without approval from Congress. Senator Schumer has recently sponsored a new bill with similar language. Mitch McConnell is now re-characterizing his former position as the “Schumer-Obama Plan.” Senator Rand Paul is being accused of plagiarism after a section of his speech in support of the Republican gubernatorial candidate of Virginia was taken from Wikipedia.
Ambassador Jenny joins Cenk for her last live Twitter Storm before moving to Chicago. Jenny will be hosting TYT Meetups on her way to Illinois. Visit tytnetwork.com/meetups for more info.
Help TYT Build a new studio by supporting our Indiegogo Campaign! CLICK here: http://igg.me/at/TYTNetwork/. Thank you! #IamTYT