The News Agents - USA - podcast cover

The News Agents - USA

Join Emily Maitlis and Jon Sopel in a weekly podcast that unpicks everything you need to know about the world of US politics - all of it delivered with Emily and Jon’s astute analysis, world-class insight and wry sense of humour. Episodes are available every Tuesday/Wednesday. The News Agents USA is a Global Player Original podcast and production. For advertising opportunities on this podcast email: [email protected]

Episodes

Live from Richmond, Virginia: Trump on the campaign trail

We're in Richmond, Virginia for Donald Trump's last rally before he is almost certainly crowned the Republican candidate for president. But who are the voters queuing for miles to get into the sold-out event? What do they think - and what motivates them to vote for a man indicted 91 times? We're the only foreign press able to get into the rally. The Trump team wouldn't let anyone else in. Listen to find out what it's like at the heart of MAGA America. Editor: Gabriel Radus Video Production: Rory...

Mar 03, 202433 min

BONUS: Has the Supreme Court just saved Trump?

It's been some 24 hours for Donald Trump. In one evening, he scores a major win as the Supreme Court kicks the election inteference case down the electoral road. Plus, a major congressional thorn in Trump's side, Reaganite senator Mitch McConnell announces he's stepping down as Senate Republican Leader. Trump is ever so close to total ownership of the Republican party. We digest in this bonus episode of The News Agents - USA. Editor: Gabriel Radus Video Production: Shane Fennelly The News Agents...

Feb 29, 202425 min

Why is Fox News fact-checking Trump?

Fox News cut away from Trump's victory speech in South Carolina to correct his lies, in real time. And call out his election denials. What's going on between the TV channel and their former hero - and how long will it last. Also on the episode - why is Biden talking about a Gaza peace deal in an ice cream parlour and who is the Republican senator saying he backs the Alabama court decision to stop IVF despite wanting more children in his state. There's so much going on this week, and that's befor...

Feb 27, 202432 min

Does Bernie Sanders think Joe Biden is too old?

On today's episode we talk to the thorn in corporate America's side Senator Bernie Sanders. Should Amazon exist? Is Biden to old? Is Trump too racist? And how can he justify spending 200 million dollars on an election campaign? Later, ahead of South Carolina’s primary we ask what Nikki Haley’s strategy is. Editor: Gabriel Radus Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell Video Production: Rory Symon The News Agents USA is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/ You can listen to this episod...

Feb 21, 202440 min

Old men and corrupt tyrants: America's choice for 2024

After a deeply unedifying week of US politics we look at the choice before America in November. Is Biden too old to stand for President? Is Trump too corrupt? And what happens next if the answer to both those questions is 'yes'? On today's episode we look at the report by special counsel Robert K. Hur who calls the president a 'well-meaning elderly man' and the kind words of encouragment Trump has for Vladimir Putin. Will any of the court cases land a decisive blow either way? And what is going ...

Feb 13, 202432 min

A court rules Trump has no presidential immunity

The unanimous decision by the court of appeal in Washington has declared that Donald Trump has no presidential immunity. This means Special Counsel Jack Smith can now proceed apace with his indictment of Trump over attempted election interference. What does this mean for Trump legally? What will happen to the highly debated US border deal? And later to hear from Ambassador John Bolton on whether military intervention by the US could make a Trump comeback more likely. Editor: Gabriel Radus Social...

Feb 06, 202443 min

Could Taylor Swift swing the US election?

It's all quiet - for now - on the campaign front. Today we ask whether republicans are prepared to scupper a cross-party border deal if they think it could help Trump in November. And we bring you the remarkable story of E. Jean Carroll - who’s owed 83 million dollars by the Donald. And ask if Taylor Swift can swing a US election. PSA: If you want to hear about Biden's crisis in the Middle East - head to the Monday episode of our regular daily The News Agents feed. Why is everyone talking about ...

Jan 30, 202437 min

What happened in New Hampshire and what does it mean?

Nikki Haley lost by more than ten points overnight in New Hampshire. The Republican National Committee now wants to crown election-denier Trump as its nominee. But Haley has made clear she’s not going to go quietly. She’s sticking around to call Trump senile and sees if he falls down any (metaphorical) stairs. Election denier Trump meanwhile is getting really stroppy with her and, like a sad class bully, has started threatening her. Editor: Gabriel Radus Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell Vide...

Jan 24, 202429 min

BONUS EPISODE: Ron gone, endorses Don - has Trump won?

A bonus episode of The News Agents: USA as Ron DeSantis drops out of the presidential race and endorses the man that's ridiculed him for months on end - Donald Trump. He's kissed the ring - 6 days after slagging people off for being spineless enough to do just that. With just one state having voted, and another voting tomorrow Tuesday (New Hampshire) - is Nikki Haley, the only candidate left - toast? Editor: Gabriel Radus Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell Video Production: Shane Fennelly &amp...

Jan 22, 202434 min

Donald Trump dominates in Iowa: is the Republican race already over?

Last night in Iowa saw many firsts. The coldest caucus on record and the biggest lead by the winner. Trump secured his win just 31 minutes after the polls closed. His nearest rivals, Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley trailed him by 30 odd points. So is the contest over? Can anything change the trajectory of Trump? And what does this tell us about the state of the Republican party and what will happen next? Editor: Gabriel Radus Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell Video Production: Shane Fennelly The...

Jan 16, 202433 min

The 2024 US election: the starting gun is fired

The US 2024 election calendar kicks off in earnest this week as the wannabee Republican nominees head to Iowa. Trump is making a quick pit stop via the courts - to tell them to grant him immunity from prosecution. And Nikki Haley is trying a novel tactic of pissing off the Iowan voters by telling them that New Hampshire knows better. Meanwhile, Biden is reminding America Trump is a threat to democracy, as he heads straight to South Carolina for the three year anniversary of the January 6th riots...

Jan 09, 202432 min

End of Year America Special: Your questions answered

Could California exit the union? Could Trump try for three terms? Would proportional representation ever work in America? And what were we doing on a soup-making course before the New Hampshire primary? Your brilliant questions, our valiant and occasionally pathetic attempt at answers as we see out the pre-election presidential year of America 2023. Editor: Gabriel Radus Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell Video Production: Shane Fennelly The News Agents USA is brought to you by HSBC UK - https...

Dec 19, 202339 min

Anti-Semitism and academic freedom: what’s happening on US college campuses?

The viral clip of Harvard President Dr. Claudine Gay - unable to condemn those on campus calling for genocide - has kicked off a wider debate about academic freedom and double standards. The president of University of Pennsylvania - who offered similar responses - has now resigned. On today’s episode we talk to Columbia Professor of History Simon Sharma about campus culture war and how it’s affecting wider party politics. Editor: Gabriel Radus Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell Video Productio...

Dec 12, 202332 min

What will a second Trump term actually look like for America?

Donald Trump is warning of the dangers to democracy posed by 'corrupt' Joe Biden. It almost sounds ironic. But Trump doesn’t do irony - he's more into inciting violence. Today we speak to former US ambassador Matthew Barzan who worked on the two Obama campaigns. How dangerous is the threat of a Trump presidency in 2024, and, what does it actually look like? The News Agents USA is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/ Editor: Gabriel Radus Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell Video ...

Dec 05, 202333 min

Sean Spicer: Trump's Press Secretary on Trump, truth and 2024

What has the temporary pause in Gaza done for Biden's standing amongst young voters? What did Mike Pence really say about certifying Joe Biden as president? And what does Sean Spicer (ex White House Press Secretary) make of what happened to his former boss Donald Trump after he stopped working for him? We ask him. All that - cohosted between London and the Carribean with our beach correspondent Jon Sopel. Editor: Gabriel Radus Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell Video Production: Rory Symon You...

Nov 28, 202333 min

Why is Joe Biden haemorrhaging support from young voters?

We're on the ground in California to understand why young voters are turning their backs on Joe Biden - and how this could well consolidate Donald Trump's path back to the White House next year. We also talk to the Editor-in-Chief of the Cook Report, Amy Walter. And - is Thanksgiving a waste of time? Jon and Emily discuss (well, disagree). Editor: Gabriel Radus Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell Video Production: Rory Symon Newsgathering by Nick Charles Currie in Los Angeles, CA. You can liste...

Nov 21, 202331 min

Are Republicans changing their stance on abortion?

Every time abortion rights are on the ballot, the Democrat candidates do well. That’s been the story since Roe v Wade was overturned 18 months ago. And republicans are beginning to panic. Do they have a plan to win back voters? Does it include a softer stance? Also today we hear from a Republican and a Democrat formerly in Congress. If Biden is doing so well, where is the enthusiasm? Loretta Sanchez (D-CA) and Greg Walden (R-OR) join us, having spent the week working in the UK with the Eccles Ce...

Nov 14, 202344 min

Is America about to give Donald Trump a second chance? Dispatch from the Deep South

Emily reports from Georgia, the eye of the Donald Trump legal storm, where he was caught on tape trying to get an election official to 'find' him more votes to win the 2020 election. A year out from 2024, is this purple state closer to staying blue or turning MAGA red? The latter could tip the election in Trump's favour. And we cross state lines to the hometown of the woman who could capitalise should a jail cell call for the Donald. Nikki Haley. Could she prove to be the Republican nominee come...

Nov 08, 202356 min

America’s most conservative senator: The Exclusive

We have an exclusive interview on today’s episode with the senior senator from Utah - Mike Lee - who ranks as America’s No1 most conservative senator - in the 538/NY Times poll. We talk to him about the Republican Party, the new speaker, and why he tried to help Donald Trump secure an election he had lost. Later - why did Mike Pence drop out of the Presidential race? And ... who is Dean Phillips?? Editor: Gabriel Radus Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell Video Producer: Rory Symon You can liste...

Oct 31, 202336 min

Is Liz Cheney coming for Donald Trump?

The race for the crucial role of Speaker of the House is in disarray. Republican representatives are tearing each other apart. Trump's former lawyers are pleading guilty to election interference in the Georgia trial - each a further potential nail in the Trump legal coffin. And, out of all this a name is emerging - Liz Cheney who, we understand, is weighing up whether to take Trump on as the Republican's choice for president. Could she be about to enter the race ? We speak to someone who knows h...

Oct 24, 202334 min

Is Biden going to Israel a bad idea?

Joe Biden is heading head-first into an active warzone. The 80-year-old is travelling to Israel tomorrow to begin brokering the toughest negotiation of his presidency - in an attempt to restore relative calm and peace in the Middle East. It's a dangerous, herculean task that has the potential for domestic and foreign backlash. It will require every ounce of his weighty diplomatic might. We speak to General David Petraeus, formerly the head of the CIA - and military historian Andrew Roberts. They...

Oct 17, 202333 min

A power vacuum in Washington and chaos in the Middle East

Just one week ago Kevin McCarthy was booted unceremoniously out of his job as House Speaker. No one could have foreseen then how different the world would look four days later when Hamas wreaked tragedy across Israel. Now there’s a power vacuum in Washington and an unfolding catastrophe in the Middle East. What power does America have to help? Biden U-turns and starts to build more border wall in the South - with cries of hypocrisy from the right and anger from parts of his own party in the left...

Oct 10, 202331 min

MCCARTHY SACKED: Why is the Republican Party eating itself alive?

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, is ousted by his own party. The first time it's happened in US history. It's the start of a Republican civil war. Why has it happened? Because he dared to find compromise with the Democrats. What is going on in that party? What does it tell us about the chance of the parties ever working together? And later, Trump is on trial in New York. It’s a civil case that could cost him millions and see him stripped of assets, hotels and business...

Oct 03, 202328 min

Can any other Republican beat Donald Trump? The second debate

The second Republican debate threw up a lot of sound and fury. But perhaps it revealed futility more then anything else. Seven Republican candidates met on stage to battle it our for the nomination. It is incredibly unlikely it will be any of them will win. Meanwhile Donald Trump is with car workers in Detroit. He’s already trying to fight the general election against Biden. Will anything - even a court ruling finding him guilty of decades-long fraud - get in his way? Editor: Gabriel Radus Socia...

Sep 28, 202326 min

The News Agents USA: Debate Night, Take 2

It's debate night, second time round in California on Wednesday night. Trump is MIA, again - instead going to fight for blue collar workers by going to Michigan. Emily and Jon will be back in your feeds on Thursday morning digesting all this - see you then!

Sep 27, 20231 min

Will America continue to make Russell Brand rich?

Russell Brand famously hated big tech. He ranted about their power as recently as last year. Yet now, he’s all over the websites he purports to despise - YouTube, TikTok, Rumble. How has he reinvented himself as an alt-right interviewer. And we ask why Donald Trump has changed his position on abortion. Is he already fighting the general election on the airwaves? Editor: Gabriel Radus Planning Producer: Alex Barnett Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell Video Producer: Will Gibson-Smith You can li...

Sep 19, 202334 min

Vladimir Putin: Trump's Russian running mate?

Putin has called Trump politically persecuted, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has opened an impeachment inquiry into the president, and Joe Biden has saved the economy but now just wants to go to bed. It's another normal week in America. David Frum - former speechwriter for George W. Bush - joins us and we ask if any of this is moving the state of political play. Editor: Gabriel Radus Planning Producer: Alex Barnett Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell Video Producer: Will Gibson-Smith You can lis...

Sep 12, 202323 min

Could a 'treason clause' kick Trump off the ballot?

The 14th Amendment is not something anyone has discussed much since the 1800s. But right now it's the talk of the town. It includes a post-civil war clause that bars anyone from holding public office if they've engaged in an insurrection or rebellion. Right now, there are lawyers, academics and die-hard constitutionalists who are working out if there's a legal channel to remove Trump's name from any electoral ballot on the grounds he tried to overturn democracy on January 6th 2020. We speak to a...

Sep 05, 202336 min

Why are there still racist killings in America?

On Saturday, a 21-year-old killed three people in Jacksonville, Florida, in a racist hate crime. 60 years on from Martin Luther King's famous 'I Have a Dream' speech, and three years on from the killing of George Floyd, why does America seem to always go 'two steps forward and then two steps back'? And do the GOP frontrunners have a handle of the problem of racial discrimination in America? We ask Ron Christie, Republican strategist who's father used to vandalise segregationist signs in 1960s Am...

Aug 29, 202328 min

Who won the Republican Party debate?

There were eight candidates on stage last night in Milwaukee all vying for the Republican nomination to be president. But the man who’ll almost certainly get it was locked in a rambling conspiracy heavy chinwag with his recently sacked Fox friend Tucker Carlson. Who won the debate on stage? Will any of it shift the dial? And will they still pledge loyalty to Trump if he’s convicted of a crime ? Editor: Gabriel Radus Social Editor: Georgia Foxwell Video Producer: Will Gibson-Smith The News Agents...

Aug 24, 202336 min
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