The News Agents - USA

Chaos reigns in the Democratic party. In a virtually unprecedented move President Joe Biden has stepped aside from the presidential race weeks before he was due to become the Democrats’ candidate at their national convention in Chicago.

Biden has endorsed his VP Kamala Harris. But is she assured of the crown?

In a hastily assembled emergency podcast Jon, Emily and Lewis discuss the implications for the Dems, the election and the rest of the world.

Editor: Tom Hughes

Video Production: Shane Fennelly

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We're live in Wisconsin, talking to a number of key Republican players as the party unites around Trump as Joe Biden's health and viability for office is increasingly under the spotlight.

Editor: Gabriel Radus

Video Production: Rory Symon

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Hours after Presidential candidate Donald Trump was shot at a rally in Pennsylvania, Jon and Lewis take a look at how the assassination attempt will impact the election in November.

Will it strengthen Trump's campaign? And does it mean Joe Biden will now definitely stand against him?

Editor: Tom Hughes

Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus

You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents"

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George Clooney leads a growing list of people who have called on Joe Biden not to stand again in 2024.

Will this shift the White House thinking on this thorny matter? Or will it take former Democratic presidents to weigh in before anything changes.

Last night House Democrats seemed resigned to the status quo after their caucus behind closed doors.

Biden is currently meeting Keir Starmer and others to celebrate NATOs birthday. NATO a full six years younger than Joe. And how is Trump responding to the idea Biden might walk? He's about to choose his VP, as we gear up for the Republican National Convention next week. We'll be there.

Editor: Gabriel Radus

Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell

Video Production: Shane Fennelly

The News Agents USA is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

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The majority decision by America's Supreme Court to grant Trump almost complete immunity from actions taken whilst in office make him - in the words of one dissenting justice, "a king above the law".

What are the implications of this ruling on Trump's future trials?

On his behaviour if he wins a second term?

And on America's trust in the highest court in the land?

Later, the Democrats find themselves, like their presidential candidate at times, frozen, in the aftermath of that TV debate. Will anyone close to Biden dare to suggest he pull out of the race? We hear from those who have come closest.

Editor: Gabriel Radus

Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell

Video Production: Shane Fennelly

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This was a TV debate unlike any other. Excruciating doesn’t even cover it.

Whilst Trump confidently lied his way through the facts, Biden barely reached the end of his sentences without meandering off into a far distant phrase.

It was painful to watch and it will raise serious questions now amongst senior Democrats. Can they, must they replace Joe Biden as their presidential candidate?

And if so who will be the first top figure to say it out loud?

We take you through the most painful moments of the night and the conversations after the debate and ask if the voters will forgive this more easily - or if it’s time to take drastic action to save the Democratic Party from disaster in November.

Editor: Gabriel Radus

Video Production: Shane Fennelly

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Biden's appearances at the G7 photo call and the Democrat fundraiser have raised eyebrows because of video circulating that appears to show him freezing at certain moments.

The White House says don't fall for the clips- they're edited videos or 'cheap fakes'.

What's going on? Why are Dems so defensive? And why is Trump mixing up his own doctor's name when he talks about his superior cognitive abilities.

It's all shaping up to be a bizarre first TV debate 9 days from now - and we may - may see one more candidate on the stage in the shape of Robert F Kennedy JR.

Later, what's going on at the Washington Post - that bastion of investigative reporting. Mutiny in the newsroom currently over their newish British publisher - and his past role working for Murdoch. We speak to writer for The Daily Beast, Harry Lambert.

And why is the Governor of Maryland pardoning hundreds of thousands of convicts?

Editor: Gabriel Radus

Video Production: Shane Fennelly

The News Agents USA is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

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What does the Hunter Biden conviction do to the Presidential race? When will there be a female president?

What's the campaign you wished you'd covered and why and who will be the next front runners for either party?

Your questions answered - and we have one for you. Help us spot the audio deepfake.

Editor: Tom Hughes

Video Production: Shane Fennelly

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Donald Trump is wondering aloud what prison would be like.

He probably doesn't have to -it's extremely unlikely that the sentence eventually handed down to him in July will be custodial. But his MAGA henchmen are already talking about what happens if he wins in November, and what their revenge on the prosecutors who tried him will be.

Has belief in the rule of law amongst MAGA voters broken down? And what is this doing to America?

And whilst one trial is behind us, another has just kicked off.

Hunter Biden, the President's only living son, is in court in Delaware on charges of falsification after he bought a gun as a drug addict. But can Democrats use this moment to their advantage?

Editor: Gabriel Radus

Video Production: Rory Symon

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Trump is found guilty in New York.

Just before 5pm on Thursday New York time the airwaves started cracking with news of an imminent verdict. Twenty minutes later the jury in a Manhattan court returned. And pronounced Donald Trump guilty on each one of the 34 counts.

Donald Trump can still run for president. So in one respect this may change nothing.

But let’s not let this moment of history escape - a former and possible future president who is now a convicted felon. What happens to his freedom, his vote and his temper now? And how should the Democrats play it?

Editor: Gabriel Radus

Video Production: Rory Symon

You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents USA"!

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The Trump first trial, over hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels, is over. The real question is, as the jury deliberate - will he be found guilty?

All this, while the Biden campaign sweats over stuttering polling data and a president who is apparently obstinate and determined to run the campaign his way. How can they turn the tide?

Editor: Gabriel Radus

Production: Abigail Brierley

Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell

Video Production: Rory Symon & Arvind Badewal

You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents USA"

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American legislators in the House are hurling personal insults at each other - meanwhile Biden and Trump have committed to debate each other on TV and Trump is using an attack ad - a riff off of a Tom Petty song- to accuse Biden of “free falling“.

What has happened to rational discourse in America?

Editor: Gabriel Radus

Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell

Video Production: Shane Fennelly & Arvind Badewal

You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents USA"!

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If the adult porn director Stormy Daniels was the star witness of the Trump trial last week, this week it got even hotter. Trump's former fixer, friend and lawyer took the stand.

Except now, Michael Cohen is no friend of Trump. What's more, he's a convicted felon, a liar and a perjurer. Will his presence as a key witness help or hinder the prosecution?And does it matter that he's told a jury he'd like to see Trump jailed?

Later, why are 21 foreign born sailors still stuck on the cargo ship that collapsed the Baltimore bridge?

Editor: Tom Hughes

Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell

Video Production: Shane Fennelly & Arvind Badewal

You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents USA"!

The News Agents USA is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

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In a surprise move, the sex worker and pornstar Stormy Daniels appeared as a witness yesterday in the trial of Donald Trump to reveal details of the night they spent together in a Nevada hotel room.

The details were specific, and to some ears rather lurid - and included a description of her beating him on the backside with a rolled up magazine. None of this is illegal - but what might be is the money she alleges he paid her to hush it up - money from his campaign funds.

Later, we revisit dog murderer-in-chief Kristi Noem's fortunes as a potential VP pick. And ask what happened overnight in Indiana.

Editor: Gabriel Radus

Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell

Video Production: Rory Symon & Arvind Badewal

You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents USA"!

The News Agents USA is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

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Is Trump above the law and should he have immunity from a case involving his actions around the January 6th insurrection?

That's what the Supreme Court has spent the last week arguing about. Amazingly, they might be making a case for why he checks notes... IS immune.

We hear from The New York Times Supreme Court supremo Adam Liptak.

Later is Joe Biden wise to joke about his age at the White House Correspondents Dinner?

And why did Trump's potential vice president pick shoot dead her pet puppy - and then boast about it?

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 episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents USA".

Later in the show...Why are teachers now being given guns in Tennessee schools?

We start this episode with the astonishing testimony of former Trump ally David Pecker - who ran the National Enquirer tabloids - and freuquently bought up the embarassing stories about Trump to save him face when he was running for president in 2016.

Was this against the law? Does it hurt Trump's defence?

And why does Trump keep slagging off his critics on social media when he's been gagged ?

Later what's actually happening on the Columbia campus protests?

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 episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents USA".

How do you pick a jury of right-minded individuals to pass a fair verdict on Donald Trump?

His lawyers say it's impossible, that this trial is a witch hunt, that he's been gagged AND denied the chance to go to his son's graduation.

Meanwhile, the judge has just carried on. They're selecting a jury which will witness the first ever criminal trial of a former US president.

We talk to criminal defence attorney - and hardened New Yorker - Randy Scott Zelin about whether justice can be served in such a politicised atmosphere.

Later, what actually happened on the film set of RUST in October 2021, when Alec Baldwin accidentally shot dead the lead cinematographer. Today the armourer - responsible for weapons and ammunition on set - Hannah Guttierrez-Reed was sentenced to 18 months prison. We ask an armourer here how film set rules are followed - and what he thinks went wrong.

Editor: Gabriel Radus

Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell

Video Production: Shane Fennelly

The News Agents USA is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents USA".

David Cameron flew to Washington to try and seek more funding for Ukraine. But he's been snubbed by the House Speaker Mike Johnson.

Was it hubristic to think he could change minds in America? What happens to Ukraine now?

But we start with what happened dramatically, overnight in America where the state of Arizona has just brought BACK an abortion ban dating from 1864.

How popular will this antebellum law be? And could women's rights ultimately lose Trump the election?

And we speak to Democrat Congressman Brendan Boyle (PA-2), about Mike Johnson, Marjorie Taylor Greene and whether Joe Biden should debate Donald Trump.

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 episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents USA".

Trump‘s Truth Social company has plunged in value on the stock market after losses of more than 58 million were revealed.

Luckily, though, he still has his bible business in which he tries to flog a double whammy bible constitution combo for a neat 60 dollars.

Trump is trying to win few more Christians whilst simultaneously trying not to endorse an abortion ban that could see the Republicans lose the massive electoral state of Florida.

Meanwhile, Senator Chris Coons - close Biden ally - tells us the TV debates are ‘probably a waste of time’ and appeals to Taylor Swift to come aboard the Biden boat.

Will anyone move on banning arms to Israel? We try for answers on this too...

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 episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents USA".

Trump will face a criminal trial in front of a jury before the presidential election. He'll be the first ex-president to do so - all while he has to stump up the not so measly 175 million dollars to write off his fraudulent asset evaluations. At least it's not the original $464 million - which was knocked down at the eleventh hour on Monday. Truth Social, his social media site, looks to be earning him a pretty penny at least as it's set to go public.

Plus - we talk to Ben Smith of Semafor about the crisis at MSNBC after the network hire Republican election-denier Ronna McDaniel to be part of the 'sensible right-wing commentators' paid to contribute on the shows.

Editor: Gabriel Radus

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 episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents USA".

Elon Musk has given an interview to former CNN Anchor Don Lemon. He gets quite upset when Lemon asks him why X has gone to shit under his stewardship, and whether hate speech is still welcomed on his platform.

Meanwhile, Trump is talking about a blood bath in Ohio and no one can decide whether he means the car industry or the state of democracy. Nigel Farage has got him to commit to NATO in his interview, and a new choir made of Jan 6th prisoners and supporters appears to have reached number one in the Apple charts. Hello America.

Executive Producer: Rory Symon

Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell

Video Production: Shane Fennelly

Tom Hughes is Editor for The News Agents

The News Agents USA is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents USA".

The US House have voted to force TikTok to either part ways from Chinese-owned company ByteDance or be banned in the US. Why now? Why is Trump actually not that fussed? And does this benefit or hinder Biden's efforts to capture the youth vote through social media?

This, all as Trump and Biden become the official nominees for their respective parties... though we all knew that already. Meanwhile, the pair launch their campaign ads and attack each other on age, incompetence, and their records.

And... we look back on last week, that Marjorie Taylor-Greene moment, the State of the Union address and why the White House are now being asked if they alsodigitally alter photos of Joe Biden.

Editor: Gabriel Radus

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 episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents USA".

Why did conspiracy theorist Marjorie Taylor-Greene tell Emily to fuck off?

What's it like to be let inside Donald Trump's Super Tuesday victory party?

What's next for Nikki Haley after she announced today that she is giving up the ghost in the Republcian Party primaries, meaning that barring an extraordinary circumstance, Trump is the GOP candidate? And why has she come out and refused to back Trump?

Editor: Gabriel Radus

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 episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents USA".

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 Symon

The News Agents USA is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents USA".

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 USA is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents USA".

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 before we even start to discuss the Uncommitted of Michigan.... and why it could be Biden's downfall.

Editor: Gabriel Radus

Video Production: Shane Fennelly

The News Agents USA is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents USA".

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 episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents USA".

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 to happen to the conman congressman George Santos's seat in the Long Island special election this week?

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 episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents USA".

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 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 episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents USA".

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 WWIII?

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 episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents USA".

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

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 episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents USA".

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 & Rory Symon

The News Agents USA is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents USA".

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 News Agents USA is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents USA".

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.

Editor: Gabriel Radus

Production: Lily Amory

Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell

Video Production: Shane Fennelly

The News Agents USA is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents USA".

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://www.hsbc.co.uk/

You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents USA".

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 Production: Shane Fennelly

The News Agents USA is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents USA".

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 Production: Shane Fennelly

You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents USA".

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 can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents USA".

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 listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents USA".

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 Centre and the British Library to try and convince people in the UK that the US still believes in bipartisan rhetoric.

And what was Trump doing calling the voters ‘vermin’. Is he reminding America that the authoritarian storngman with anti-democratic beliefs is well and truly back?

Editor: Gabriel Radus

Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell

Video Producers: Arvind Badewal & Jack McKay

You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents USA".

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 election day?

And...Jon is in Paris, France- and he's nabbed the Mayor of Detroit - Mike Duggan. Don't ask how. He talks to the man in charge of a crucial blue city in a crucial swing state.

Editor & Field Producer: Gabriel Radus

Video Producer: Rory Symon

You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents USA".

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 listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents USA".

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 her well.

Editor: Gabriel Radus

Planning Producer: Alex Barnett

Social Media Producer: Phoebe Dampare-Osei

Video Producer: Rory Symon

You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents USA".

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've just co-authored a book about modern warfare called Conflict: The Evolution of Warfare from 1945 to Ukraine. It may well need a new chapter soon.

Editor: Gabriel Radus

Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell

Video Producer: Rory Symon

You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents USA".

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.

And later - the rise of another Kennedy? Robert Kennedy Junior - conspiracist and now independent candidate for the presidency - thinks he can win. Blimey.

Editor: Gabriel Radus

Producer: Laura FitzPatrick

Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell

Video Producer: Will Gibson-Smith

You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents USA".

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 businesses. Trump and the courts meet once more.

Editor: Gabriel Radus

Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell

Video Producer: Will Gibson-Smith

You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents USA".

The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.

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

Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell

Video Producer: Will Gibson-Smith

You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents USA".

The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.

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!

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 listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents USA".

The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.

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 listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents USA".

The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.

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 Watergate special prosecutor about what could happen. And we look at the Republican move to launch an impeachment enquiry into Joe Biden. Do they have evidence of wrong doing?

Editor: Gabriel Radus

Social Editor: Georgia Foxwell

Planning Producer: Alex Barnett

Video Producer: Will Gibson-Smith

The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.

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 America.

And.. Trump's court date for election interference is set for early March. The day before the biggest day in the race to be nominated as the Republican presidential candidate for 2024. That'll be some week.

Editor: Gabriel Radus

Social Editor: Georgia Foxwell

Video Producer: Will Gibson-Smith

The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.

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 is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.

It's debate night in Milwaukee on Wednesday night. The big hitters of the Republican Party will all be there, fighting it out in the first chance to be on the same stage together. That is, all bar one, notable frontrunner; former President Donald Trump.

Emily and Jon will be back in your feeds on Thursday morning digesting the overnight debate. See you then!

Donald Trump. Charged with racketeering in Georgia after allegedly attempting to meddle with election results - and he's now got 91 counts against his name... and counting.

Will this change anything? And what about the whataboutery with Hunter Biden and Joe Biden? We speak to Republican strategist who worked in George W. Bush's White House, Ron Christie, Adam Klasfeld, legal correspondent who's followed all 91 charges closely, and Christopher Steele, the British spy who triggered the snowball that led to Trump's first impeachment whilst he was President - for alleged collusion with Russia.

Editor: Gabriel Radus

Planning Producer: Alex Barnett

Social Editor: Georgia Foxwell

Video Producer: Rory Symon

The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.

Ever wondered what Trump's personal pastor has to say about all the law-breaking that the 45th President allegedly has engaged in? Jon speaks to him on today's episode.

We mull that, and an impending fourth indictment, on The News Agents USA.

And we're also joined by Biden's former strategist - who explains what the President has to do to thwart the oxygen-guzzler and limelight-stealer that is Donald J. Trump.

Editor: Gabriel Radus

Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell

Planning Producer: Alex Barnett

Video Producer: Rory Symon

The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.

US prosecutors have charged Donald Trump for attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 Election. It’s the second federal indictment brought against the former president in as many months.

We knew this was on the way.

So why is he still the leading Republican to be president? And why doesn’t the party care ?

On this episode of The News Agents USA, two former Republican congressmen - one of whom challenged Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election - go head to head on whether Trump is the right person to lead the Republican Party into the 2024 election. Trump still dominates the field.

Ron de Santis keeps saying the word “ woke “ but Republican voters just keep getting turned off by him.

And Hunter Biden’s business associate has claimed Joe Biden joined more than twenty work calls with his son - while he was Vice-President. A pretty major breach if the current president was improperly involved in his son's business proceedings, but how damaging could that be for the current incumbent of the White House?

Editor: Gabriel Radus

Planning Producer: Alex Barnett

Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell

Video Producer: Will Gibson-Smith

Why is Ron DeSantis losing ground in the polls to an unknown?

Why is the new Barbie film driving American right-wingers mad?

And why did a young American soldier dash across the border to seek refuge... in North Korea?

Editor: Gabriel Radus

Social Editor: Georgia Foxwell

Video Producer: Will Gibson-Smith

The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.

As we settled into News Agents USA HQ, the breaking news that Trump may be set to face trial for a third time, and criminal proceedings for a second time, wafted in. We talk to the Washington Post's Olivier Knox about what this means for Trump, his rivals and the ever-quickening race to be the next incumbent of the White House.

Joe Manchin, the highly influential Democrat Senator of West Virginia, seems to be flirting with an independent run for the White House, forging a ticket with a former Republican Governor of Utah. What are third parties like in the US? Is it even possible to get close to the presidency without the backing of the two major US parties?

And... don't send sensitive emails without checking who you're sending to. A lesson for the Pentagon, who, instead of sending private emails to staff, accidentally sent the missives to the government of Mali.

Joe Biden meets Rishi Sunak in London before flying out to Vilnius to a NATO summit in which he's set to snub the UK government's attempts to have Ben Wallace, Defence Secretary, become the next Secretary General of NATO. The famous 'special relationship' doesn't feel so special any more. Former US Ambassador to NATO Kurt Volker joins Emily and Jon in News Agents USA HQ.

This, all while US news outlets report that the President is a lot less mild-mannered in private than he appears in public. We ask Washington Post National Politics ReporterOlivier Knox,who's spent decades with US Presidents and in the White House, if that's really the case.

And then, we turn to Trump and DeSantis, the two main candidates in the race to win the Republican candidacy for the 2024 election. Trump battles against court dates; DeSantis battles his lack of personality.

And, an ode to Marjorie Taylor-Greene, the Republican congresswoman who, despite believing that Jewish people and their space lasers are to blame for Californian wildfires, is deemed too moderate for the right-wing Freedom Caucus in Congress. Another normal week on The Hill.

Joe Biden - that's President Joe Biden - has said the Supreme Court is "not normal". He's referring to the recent judgements the 9 justices have made - overturning Roe v Wade last year, overruling affirmative action policies at two US universities, refusing to allow the government to cancel student debt, and wading into LGBTQ+ issues on a spurious basis of complaints that don't even exist.

Is this overreach?

Or is this the logical consequence of the polarisation of America?

And who polices the Supreme Court?

On Tuesday morning, CNN obtained leaked audio of Donald Trump showing classified documents to people who definitely shouldn't be seeing classified documents. He's still denying he didn't have classified documents... but we now have him admitting to it on tape. Surely he can't fudge his way out of this one....

Meanwhile the Republicans have been wooing evangelicals and Robert Kennedy Junior is offering a bizarre counter factual to the Biden democratic nomination.

On today's episode of The News Agents USA, Emily and Jon are joined by Investigations Reporter for The Washington Post, who's covered Trump extensively, Josh Dawsey.

Breaking news - that has left Republicans speechless for all the wrong reasons.

Biden's son Hunter pleads guilty to three federal charges. But they are all miniscule. None of the ones the MAGA (Make America Great Again) gang really care about anyway.

Meanwhile, Trump appears on Fox News to explain that he was too busy sorting out his golf shirts from his newspaper clippings to hand back hundreds of boxes of classified highly confidential documents... but does he incriminate himself in the process?

For a historical indictment it was an ignominious entry: Donald Trump entered the Miami courthouse via a freight lift from an underground garage.

For once, the Reality TV president ducked the cameras as he appeared on 37 charges of mishandling classified documents and espionage.

This is America 2023.

The question is how big a role will he play in America 2024- and the next presidential election.

Welcome to The News Agents USA - a new weekly podcast hosted by Emily Maitlis and Jon Sopel.

Episodes are available every Tuesday on Global Player and on all other platforms from Wednesday.