Listen to “North Korea 'Full Steam Ahead' on Nukes & Missiles” on Spreaker.

The New York Times reports that North Korea is quietly continuing its nuclear weapons and missile programs without any pause despite agreeing in June to move towards denuclearization, and one of the leading experts on the region says the reports are correct and President Trump needs to bring back the maximum pressure campaign immediately.

“North Korea is making nuclear fuel and building weapons as actively as ever, the publicly available evidence suggests. But he now appears to be borrowing a page from Israel, Pakistan and India: He is keeping quiet about it, conducting no public nuclear demonstrations and creating no crises, allowing Mr. Trump to portray a denuclearization effort as on track,” the Times reported.

“Current and former intelligence officials say new assessments suggest that Mr. Kim has carefully read Mr. Trump and concluded that as long as the optics are good, and the exchanges between the two leaders are warm, he can hold off demands for progress toward disarmament,” the report continued.

Gordon Chang is an East Asian policy expert.  He is author of “Nuclear Showdown:  North Korea Takes on the World” and “The Coming Collapse of China.”  He says the reports are spot on.

“The New York Times is correct.  The North Koreans are continuing to produce fissile material.  They’re continuing to work on their reactor at Yongbin, which has no peaceful purposes.  And it’s continuing to build facilities where they actually construct ballistic missiles,” said Chang.

He says the world is getting complacent because external relations between the U.S. and North Korea are much warmer.

“The intelligence is showing one direction.  The North Koreans are going full steam ahead.  The only thing they’re not doing is they’re not detonating nukes and they’re not launching missiles, but they don’t really need to do that to make progress,” said Chang.

Contrary to Trump administration promises to keep the maximum pressure campaign of sanctions and other penalties in place, those punishments did ease just before the Trump-Kim summit in June.

Chang says the U.S. stopped going after North Korean front companies in June and July and did not punish China, South Korea, or Russia for violating remaining sanctions.

“When Secretary of State (Mike) Pompeo says we haven’t relented in our maximum pressure campaign, he’s not exactly been candid with the American people,” said Chang.

Worse yet, Chang says North Korea sees any effort to find common ground, whether the easing of penalties or even holding a summit, as a sign of weakness and feels emboldened to continue its bad behavior.

Chang also says Trump can change this pattern immediately.  With the stroke of a pen he could snap back to the maximum pressure campaign and slap penalties on China, South Korea, and Russia for violating the sanctions.

“He should do so immediately,” said Chang.  “He’s allowed the situation to continue for too long.”

Listen here for the full interview with Gordon Chang and learn why he thinks Trump will get tough on North Korea again soon.

Listen to “Duplicitous Dems, Ridiculous Red Wave Complacency, Dowd’s Dangerous Threshold” on Spreaker.

Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America are thoroughly disgusted as Senate Democrats unveil their talking points, simultaneously demanding an FBI investigation to the get to the truth of the allegation against Brett Kavanaugh and stating they believe the accuser.  They also shudder as Trump allies and the Republican National Committee are terrified that many Trump voters are thoroughly convinced the Democrats have no chance to win the midterm elections and suggest GOP turnout may suffer as a result.  And they unload on former George W. Bush strategist and current Never Trump ABC News figure Matthew Dowd for suggesting that we should always believe the female in “he said, she said” situations.

Listen to “McCarthy Talks Kavanaugh Accusation, Manafort Plea” on Spreaker.

Former federal prosecutor Andrew C. McCarthy is blasting Senate Democrats for launching a last-minute sexual assault allegation against Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh and noting that such tactics by the left and uncertainty by Republicans in how to respond is a major factor in why Republican voters went with Donald Trump two years ago.

He’s also weighing in on the significance of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort pleading guilty to felony charges and agreeing to cooperate with Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

Kavanaugh seemed to be on a smooth path to confirmation until the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Dianne Feinstein released a vague letter about an allegation against Kavanaugh.

In recent days, we know that Christine Blasey Ford accused Kavanaugh of forcing himself upon her at a 1982 party when both were teenagers.  Kavanaugh categorically denies any wrongdoing with respect to Ford or anyone else.

McCarthy says Feinstein’s approach stinks.

“I think it’s really a disgrace that this came out the way that it did.  Sen. Feinstein knew about this in July, sat down and had face-to-face interviews with this guy.  She questioned him at a public hearing, questioned him at a private hearing.  They never mentioned a word of it.

“They spring this at the last minute, at the moment the guy is about to get a committee vote,” said McCarthy.

Kavanaugh seemed on track to secure all Republican votes in the Senate, but now at least four of them are demanding more hearings to get more information from Ford and Kavanaugh.

Some GOP politicos are suggesting Trump drop the Kavanaugh nomination since he’d be tarnished for decades even if none of this is true.  McCarthy says that instinct is exactly why Trump got elected.

“He urges that you fight the way the Democrats fight.  You fight aggressively the way the Democrats fight.  You break the rules if you have to, the way the Democrats do.  I hate that that’s the way our politics are, but it sure looks to me that that’s exactly the way they are,” said McCarthy.

Listen here to hear all of McCarthy’s comments on the Kavanaugh controversy, and why he does not think Manafort’s plea deal is as significant as some partisans hope or fear it will be.

Listen to “Kavanaugh Catch-22, Clueless Ocasio-Cortez, Kim Cons U.S.” on Spreaker.

Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos tackle the latest accusations of Christine Blasey Ford against Brett Kavanaugh, leaving Republicans with the unpleasant choice of ditching a Supreme Court nominee over an eleventh hour allegation missing many specifics or confirming a nominee who many Americans now believe to be a sex offender just one month before the midterms.  They also get a kick out Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez flailing and failing to explain how she would pay for $40 trillion in new government programs over ten years.  And they sigh as evidence mounts that North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un hasn’t stopped his nuclear or missile programs but just isn’t boasting about it anymore.

Listen to “‘They Will Use Any Excuse They Can to Delay This Nomination'” on Spreaker.

The top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary injected a new twist to the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation battle by publicizing an anonymous accusation that Kavanaugh engaged in misconduct, which is now described as an attempted sexual assault when Kavanaugh was in high school.

However, a prominent defender of Judge Kavanaugh says the timing and vagueness of the allegation all smell of political opportunism by Democrats.

In a piece for the New Yorker, Ronan Farrow writes that the unnamed accuser alleges that a teenage Kavanaugh tried to force himself on a female high school student and at least temporarily tried to prevent her from leaving a room at a party where he had been drinking.

In a statement, Kavanaugh said, “I categorically and unequivocally deny this allegation. I did not do this back in high school or at any time.”

No Senate Democrats are speaking publicly on the matter, other than Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s statement referring the matter to the FBI.  Feinstein reportedly knew of the allegation since July.

Judicial Confirmation Network Chief Counsel Carrie Severino says Feinstein had ample opportunity to address the issue in public or in private with Kavanaugh in recent weeks, so the timing of this revelation seems awfully suspicious to her.

“If Sen. Feinstein truly thought that this was a credible claim that needed to be looked into, you’d expect her to talk about it during her personal interview with him or during the hearings,” said Severino, who notes that Kavanaugh responded to more than 1,200 questions from the Senate Judiciary Committee.  That’s more than any other Supreme Court nominee.

“The story is still very murky about what went on.  I think what’s clear here is that politically we know exactly where it’s coming from.  (Senate Minority Leader) Chuck Schumer said, ‘I’m going to do everything I can in my power to stop this nomination.  This is really just making good on that promise,” said Severino.

After a week of confirmation hearings that included consistent disruptions by protesters and various allegations by Democrats on the committee, Severino says this is just one more bit of ugliness in a very undignified performance from liberals.

“It’s just another one of those ugly moments that we’ve seen from protesters to threats against Sen. (Susan) Collins’ staff, bribery efforts that may be campaign finance violations,” said Severino.

Without a named accuser and without many specifics in the allegation, Severino says it’s hard to know what, if anything, actually happened 36 years ago.  But she says the fact that 65 women who went to school with Kavanaugh immediately vouched for his character then and now and that the FBI sees no reason to investigate the claim lends credibility to Kavanaugh’s denial.

Severino says the bottom line is that Democrats are desperate for any reason to delay Kavanaugh’s confirmation.

“I’m surprised they haven’t said, ‘There’s a hurricane going on.  We can’t have a vote until the end of hurricane season.’  They will use any excuse they can to delay this nomination.  It’s really a last ditch effort because they hope against hope that maybe in the process of delaying it they can win the Senate or find something else to distract people.

“It’s simply not going to work.  They have to face up to the facts that they don’t have the votes,” said Severino.

Listen to “Kavanaugh Accused, RBG Rips Bitter Confirmations, Curtains for NYT Credibility” on Spreaker.

Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America discuss the allegation emerging now against Brett Kavanaugh but dating back to the 1980’s, and while the allegation is disturbing, they agree a lot more specifics need to come out before it can be taken credibly.  They also applaud Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg for blasting the rank partisanship that has become  a hallmark of Supreme Court confirmation debates.  And they slam the New York Times for clearly implying that UN Ambassador Nikki Haley ordered $52,000 curtains for her ambassadorial residence in New York City, when the same article makes it clear the spending decision was made in the Obama administration.

Listen to “The Facts About Florence” on Spreaker.

Hurricane Florence may do a great deal of damage and bring major flooding, but the system has weakened some in the days before hitting the east coast and even the storm surge may not be as devastating as advertised.

Dr. Tim Ball taught climatology at the University of Winnipeg.  He is also the author of “The Deliberate Corruption of Climate Science.”  Two days ago, forecasters expected Florence to come ashore as a Category Four hurricane, meaning maximum sustained winds were thought to be 130-156 miles per hour.

Florence is now a Category 2 storm, with wind speeds now expected to be between 100-110 miles per hour.  That’s still capable of causing plenty of destruction, but how did forecasters miss the downgrade?

Dr. Ball says they shouldn’t have.  He says as the storm moved north in the Atlantic Ocean, it was guaranteed to hit colder water, which weakens the power of hurricanes.

“Hurricanes are driven by the water that’s evaporated off the surface, and the heat energy that’s used to evaporate that water is released back into the storm when it condenses.  That’s called the latent heat of condensation,” said Ball.

He also says the storm is further hampered moving north by the tropopause, the layer of our atmosphere between the troposphere and the stratosphere.  The tropopause is twice as big at the equator than it is at either pole, so a reduced tropopause going north also weakens Florence.

“As they move north, these systems get squeezed, get flattened out.  As they get flattened out, that means that they spin less rapidly, which  reduces the wind speed,” said Ball.

He also says while the storm surge may cause significant peril along the coast and even further inland, that too will likely be less significant than advertised.

Ball says atmospheric pressure pushes down on the ocean but the low pressure accompanying hurricanes allows the ocean to bulge up and surge into land.  It can get even worse if the storm strikes at high tide and depending how the wind from the hurricane is acting at landfall.

However, Ball says the 955 millibars (the measure of atmospheric pressure) is not particularly low, so that ocean bulge will hopefully be less catastrophic than most are reporting.

Listen here for more of Dr. Ball’s hurricane analysis, his explanations of why the the forecast is now shifting, and his larger thoughts on the climate debate.

Listen to “Senate Polls, Trump’s Stupid Hurricane Tweets, Bush Not Stumping for Cruz” on Spreaker.

Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America are glad to see polls showing Republicans inching ahead in the Tennessee and Indiana Senate races, and other key pick-up opportunities are also in reach.  They also hammer President Trump for tweeting his objections to the death toll listed for last year’s hurricanes in Puerto Rico, especially as another major storm is making landfall.  And they react to George W. Bush hitting the midterm campaign trail for several candidates, but not for Sen. Ted Cruz in his own state.

Listen to “Bernard Kerik's Gripping 9/11 Memories” on Spreaker.

On Tuesday, Americans paused to remember the horrors and heroism seen on September 11, 2001, and now the man who led the NYPD through that harrowing day and the days that followed is sharing his vivid memories of that day.

Bernard Kerik served as NYPD commissioner from August 2000 until the end of 2001.  He is now the author of the fictional thrilled, “The Grave Above the Grave,” which is about a New York City Police Commissioner dealing with a future terrorist attack.

Seventeen years ago on 9/11, Kerik has just completed a workout when his chief of staff told him a plane had hit one of the World Trade center towers.  Early speculation was that a small private plane had gone off course, but Kerik knew that wasn’t right as he looked out the window at the burning skyscraper just a quarter mile away.

Kerik immediate called Mayor Rudy Giuliani and they planned to meet at 7 World Trade Center.  Kerik arrived first and personally witness the desperation of the people trapped in the tower.  When his driver attempted to turn onto Vesey Street, an officer stopped them to explain why they couldn’t continue.

“A police sergeant came up to my vehicle and said, ‘Look, you can’t turn into the block.  They’re jumping.’  Immediately, I didn’t grasp what he was talking about.  I stepped out of the vehicle and for the next several minutes I watched people jump from the top of Tower 1.  They were landing on Vesey and they were landing in the courtyard between the two buildings,” said Kerik.

Giuliani arrived about five minutes later, but just before he arrived, the second plane hit the south tower.  Kerik immediately knew that meant the city was under attack.  Not knowing how many more planes may be coming, he ordered officers to evacuate high profile targets like city hall, the Empire State Building and the United Nations.

“We basically shut down the city and I think that was the first time in the city’s history that it was actually closed,” said Kerik.

The towers were attacked just 17 minutes apart.  For the next hour, first responders raced through the building to get people out.  He considers that the greates rescue operation in American history.

“They took 20,000-25,000 people out of those buildings and the immediate surrounding area.  But they also evacuated more than a million people out of Manhattan and into the four other boroughs and into New Jersey,” said Kerik.

Kerik and Giuliani were in 7 World Trade Center when Giuliani learned from the White House that a plane had struck the Pentagon.  At that same moment, the south tower imploded.

“It felt like a freight train was coming through the side of it.  The door slammed open and my chief of department, Joe Esposito, came in and yelled, ‘Everybody get down.  The building’s coming down’  That was Tower 2.  It imploded just about on top of us,” said Kerik.

What Kerik saw police and firefighters do next exceeds the definition of bravery.  He says every officer who didn’t die in the Tower 2 collapse rushed into Tower 1 to save as many lives as possible.  Tower 1 imploded less than 30 minutes later, taking more lives of New York City’s finest.

Kerik is now active in two ways in the wake of 9/11.  First, he is pleading with Congress to fund efforts to support more than 10,000 Ground Zero personnel who contracted life-threatening illnesses from the toxic air on site.

He is also urging political leaders and the public to stay vigilant.  He says terrorists flying planes into buildings is unlikely to happen again, but the threat of five or six groups of terrorists targeting an elementary school or some other soft target would “put this country into a manic depression.”

“The threat is still here,” said Kerik.  “The threat is something we have to deal with.

Listen to the full interview with Bernard Kerik to hear more of his first-person account of 9/11 and the fight that still continues.

Listen to “Hillary Pushes Debunked Lie, GOP Candidate Attacked, Scarborough's Shame” on Spreaker.

Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America get a kick out of Hillary Clinton trying to damage efforts to confirm Brett Kavanaugh by spreading a birth control lie that was thoroughly debunked days ago – even by liberals.  They also recoil as an angry anti-Trump voter tries to stab a Republican congressional candidate in California and the mainstream media largely ignore the incident.  And they blast MSNBC host Joe Scarborough for arguing, on 9/11, that President Trump is damaging the United States far more than any terrorist ever has or could.