Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar 4/1/26: Russia Breaks Cuba Blockade, Kristi Noem Husband Scandal, Fmr CIA On Trump Bungling Iran War
Apr 1, 2026
Robert Baer, former CIA case officer and author, offers intelligence analysis. Liz Oliva-Fernandez, Cuban reporter, documents hospital struggles under sanctions. Brace Belden, activist/journalist, shares firsthand reporting from Havana. They discuss Russia delivering oil to Cuba, harsh effects of sanctions on healthcare, hospital blackouts and scarce medicines, and U.S. policy choices shaping humanitarian outcomes.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Sanctions Devastated Cuban Hospitals
- U.S. sanctions and an oil blockade have crippled Cuban healthcare access.
- Ryan Grimm and Liz Oliva Fernandez describe hospitals facing blackouts, lack of syringes, and halted medication imports since 2019 tightened restrictions.
Staff Hand-Pumped Ventilators During Blackouts
- Doctors manually hand-pumped ventilators during blackouts until generators kicked in.
- Ryan recounts anesthesiologist Altheo Fernandez describing frantic manual oxygening for babies when power failed.
Carlos The Boy Waiting For Trikafta
- A nine-year-old Cuban boy with cystic fibrosis was in palliative care waiting for Trikafta.
- Ryan and Brace Belden visited Carlos; parents knew the life-saving drug existed but couldn't access it due to lack of hard currency.
