Today on AirTalk, our weekly political roundtable recaps the big stories you might’ve missed over the weekend and looks ahead to the week to come in political news at the national and state level. We also discuss the latest on the San Diego area Synagogue Shooting; and more.
Week in politics: House Dems threaten subpoena, spar with AG Barr over planned testimony
AirTalk’s weekly political roundtable recaps the big stories you might’ve missed over the weekend and looks ahead to the week to come in political news at the national and state level. Here’s what we’re watching this week:
2020 candidates check-in
Biden declared his run last week, raised $6.3M in first 24 hours, tried to smooth things over with Anita Hill, has rally today at 2p ET in Pittsburgh, gets firefighters’ union endorsement
Beto kicked off CA campaign on Saturday, calls for $5 trillion to fight climate change
Elizabeth Warren lays out plan for eliminating student loans
Who’s in the Dem debates and who is in danger of not qualifying
As Congress returns to Washington, D.C. after a two week break, AG Barr expected to testify on Wednesday (Senate Judiciary), Thursday (House Judiciary), but threatening not to testify before House
As White House stonewalls subpoenas, House Dems grapple with how to respond
Trump’s speech at NRA convention on Friday (apparently he said he’d never ratify an arms treaty and renewed his promise to repeal ACA)
Rod Rosenstein speaks on his role in Mueller probe
FBI warns of Russian interference in 2020 race
Trump, Japanese PM Shinzo Abe met Friday to try and hammer out a trade deal
Trump admin wants to raise debt limit
Trump sticking with Stephen Moore for Fed post, despite misogynistic comments
White House Correspondents’ Dinner was Saturday night
Former Indiana Senator Richard Lugar dies at 87
With guest host Kyle Stokes
Guests:
Matt Rodriguez, Democratic strategist and founder and chief executive officer of Rodriguez Strategies. He is also a former senior Obama advisor in 2008; he tweets
Sean T. Walsh, Republican political analyst and partner at Wilson Walsh Consulting in San Francisco; he is a former adviser to California Governors Pete Wilson and Arnold Schwarzenegger and a former White House staffer for Presidents Reagan and H.W. Bush
After shooting at San Diego area synagogue, Jewish leaders share their thoughts on the rise of violence directed at religious groups
On Saturday, a shooter opened fire at a synagogue outside San Diego, killing one person and injuring three.
The sheriff says they’re investigating the attack as a possible hate crime after discovering a nine-page manifesto filled with anti-semitic and anti-Muslim rhetoric. Authorities said the 19-year-old gunman opened fire as about 100 people were worshipping exactly six months after a mass shooting in a Pittsburgh synagogue. Police searched the gunman’s house and said he was also being investigated in connection with an arson attack on a mosque in nearby Escondido, California, on March 24.
The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that witnesses said Lori Kaye, 60, died while trying to protect Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein from gunfire. Goldstein was wounded in the index fingers on both hands while Noya Dahan, 8, was hit with shrapnel in the face and leg, and Almong Peretz, 34, was shot in the leg as he ushered children in a playroom to safety.
Today on AirTalk, we’ll get the latest on the police investigation into the shooting, talk to local Rabbis about how synagogues are dealing with the rise of hate crimes and violence targeting religious groups, and take your calls at 866-892-5722.
With files from the Associated Press
Guests:
Priya Sridhar, reporter for KPBS in San Diego; she is reporting at the scene for the shooting; she tweets
Rabbi Sharon Brous, senior and founding rabbi of of IKAR, a Jewish congregation in Los Angeles
Rabbi Naomi Levy, author of many books, including her latest, “Einstein and the Rabbi” (Flatiron Books, 2017); founder and leader of NASHUVA, a Jewish spiritual outreach movement based in L.A.
Amanda Susskind, Los Angeles regional director for the Anti-Defamation League; she tweets
Under ambitious new goals, Los Angeles will be ‘zero waste’ by 2050
California already leads the nation in pursuing progressive environmentally minded policies and legislation. Under Mayor Eric Garcetti’s new plan, the city of Los Angeles wants to go a step further.
The Mayor announced this morning an ambitious plan to dramatically reduce the city’s carbon emissions, by mandate zero carbon for new buildings -- from office towers to homes -- by 2050. Also in the plan: the creation of a zero emissions transportation network, a zero carbon electricity grid, and by 2050, a Los Angeles that “won’t send a single piece of trash” to the landfill.
How achievable are these goals? Guest host Kyle Stokes talk to KPCC reporter Sharon McNary.
With guest host Kyle Stokes.
Guest:
Sharon McNary, infrastructure correspondent for KPCC who is covering the story; she tweets
Cara Horowitz, co-executive director of the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at UCLA School of Law
Ethan Elkind, director of the climate program at the Center for Law, Energy & the Environment at UC Berkeley
LAUSD students push to lower voting age to 16 in school district elections
Students of the Los Angeles Unified School District want the power to vote in their school board elections as soon as they turn 16.
As young activists under the nation’s second-largest school system, LAUSD students have pushed their board to recently approve a resolution directing officials to prepare a report on the feasibility of opening voter eligibility to an additional 60,500 estimated students.
Tyler Okeke, a 17-year-old high school senior at Harbor Prep Teacher Academy in Wilmington, drafted the resolution. He also sits on the board as its student representative.
"Students have a lot to bring to the table," Okeke told LAist. "We've already been contributing. I think it's time to move it up to a civic level."
While the board unanimously approved the resolution, there’s still several steps to get city officials to approve a 2020 ballot measure for the issue.
Supporters say that students are more likely to engage civically through an election that directly affects them, while also helping to prepare them as voters in future elections. Critics are concerned about the influence teachers may wield over their students and say that many students don’t have enough life experience to make informed decisions at this level.
What side are you on? Call us at 866-893-5722 or comment below.
With guest host Kyle Stokes
Guest:
Luis Sánchez, executive director of Power California, a youth civic engagement organization that worked closely with Tyler Okeke to develop and introduce the resolution