Today on AirTalk, our weekly political roundtable discusses the headlines you might have missed. Also on the show, we check in on the city's ports; talk with listeners about the loss of graduation ceremonies; and more.
COVID-19: The Week Ahead, Antibody Test, Furloughs Of Medical Staff And More
The United States is bracing for a painful week, with a wave of coronavirus deaths expected across the nation.
New York City, the U.S. epicenter, New Orleans and Detroit face especially worrying days ahead. Yet President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence are striking optimistic tones, insisting that hard weeks ahead will ultimately lead to the nation beginning to turn a corner.
Meanwhile, new Stanford research is leading to the development of a test to detect protective antibodies, which might be useful in determining whether a healthcare worker can return to work.
And, perhaps counterintuitively, hospitals are looking at furloughing non-emergency staff.
We discuss all these latest headlines with our medical expert, and we take your questions. Call ust at 866-893-5722.
With files from the Associated Press.
Guest:
Otto Yang, M.D., infectious disease specialist at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and professor of medicine at UCLA; his laboratory specializes in T cell immunology in HIV infection, relevant to developing immune therapies and vaccines for HIV and potentially other diseases including viral infections and cancer
Graduations Are Canceled Or Going Virtual. Seniors, How Are You Feeling?
The global coronavirus pandemic is impacting seniors everywhere. Yes, elderly seniors, who are at higher risk when it comes to the virus. But high school and college seniors are now missing out on what’s typically an extremely memorable time.
Proms, celebrations and graduations are all things seniors look forward to as they wrap up schooling and look ahead to the next chapter of their lives. According to NPR News, many universities and colleges across the country have cancelled commencements all together. Others have announced virtual graduation celebrations. It’s left many students feeling devastated. Are you a senior this year? How have you been impacted by campus closures and altered graduation plans? How are you coping? We want to hear from you. Join the conversation and share what you’re going through by calling 866-893-5722.
A Fifth Question For Passover: Should This Year’s Seder Be Virtual?
With Passover starting Wednesday, many Jewish families are grappling with how and whether to celebrate the holiday in the time of COVID-19.
Seders typically involve large gatherings of family and friends, singing, reading from the Haggada (a song and prayer book), eating of symbolically important foods and games for kids. How will this all translate on Zoom, especially with family members who might be technologically challenged?
If you typically have a Passover Seder, we want to hear about how you’re celebrating this year. Are you postponing? Doing a smaller Seder with those around you? Turning to technology to recreate your typical gathering? Call us at 866-893-5722.
Triple Play: When Sports Resume, Will Fans Feel Safe At Large Venues And Events?
We know you miss sports. We do too. Being cooped up in your house is bad enough, to say nothing of having to do so without the option of turning on your TV to catch a midday baseball game or follow the NBA or NHL seasons down their playoff stretches, all of which would be going on right now were it not for COVID-19.
But the question remains -- when the major American sports do resume business as usual, and when fans are finally allowed to populate large venues again, will they feel safe doing so? There’s no simple answer, and as the Wall Street Journal notes, it may be something that’s out of the control of both the leagues themselves and the major TV networks that pony up the big bucks for broadcasting rights. Ultimately it will be the fans who decide when it’s OK to attend a sporting event with 30,000 strangers with whom you’ll be in close contact.
Today on AirTalk, we’ll reconvene the Triple Play
Guests:
A Martinez, host of KPCC’s “Take Two”; he tweets
Nick Roman, host of “All Things Considered” on KPCC; he tweets
Checking In On The Ports of Los Angeles And Long Beach: Hospital Ship ‘Mercy’ Docks, Cargo Volumes Are Down And More
The Navy hospital ship Mercy, sent to relieve pressure from local hospitals, is docked at the Port of Los Angeles and started receiving patients on Sunday.
Today, we talk to the executive director of the Port of Los Angeles about how the Port is coordinating with USNS Mercy in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. We’ll also discuss how the pandemic has affected the most trafficked container port in North America, what’s happening to cargo volume and what that all means for you.
Guests:
Gene Seroka, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles
Mario Cordero, Executive Director of the Port of Long Beach; he tweets
Week In Politics: White House Clashes With States, A Virtual Presidential Convention? And More
AirTalk’s weekly political roundtable recaps the major headlines you might’ve missed in politics news over the weekend and looks ahead to the week to come. Here are the headlines that we’re following this week:
How the White House has dealt with the pandemic this far
Should Trump be using the full authority of the Defense Production Act?
Various state governors are fighting with the White House over COVID-19 supplies
New York asks for national effort to redistribute resources to their state
Dr. Anthony Fauci advises nationwide stay-at-home order, but Trump isn’t onboard
Trump and the firing of Capt. Brett Crozier, the commanding officer of the USS Theodore Roosevelt
A decade of rising job numbers is over. What the economy and the state of business portend for the 2020 race and the future
- 2020:
Guests:
Nomiki Konst, founding member and board director of the organization, Matriarch, which aims to help progressive working class women run for Congress; she is the host of “The Nomiki Show” on YouTube; she tweets @NomikiKonst
Pete Peterson, dean of the School of Public Policy and senior fellow at The Davenport Institute at Pepperdine University; he tweets