AirTalk’s weekly political roundtable recaps the headlines you might have missed this weekend and looks ahead to the stories to watch in the week to come. We also remember President George H.W. Bush; examine emergency notification systems in light of recent wildfires; and more.
Week in politics: Remembering President George H.W. Bush, how lawmakers are trying to avert a looming government shutdown, G-20 recap and more
AirTalk’s weekly political roundtable recaps the headlines you might have missed this weekend and looks ahead to the stories to watch in the week to come. Here’s what we’re following:
George H.W. Bush dies at 94
Government shutdown latest
What happened with Trump and Putin at the G-20 summit this weekend? Apparently he “breezed past” Putin Friday to greet MBS but eventually met with him. Plus, U.S.-China trade war cease fire
New NAFTA (USMCA) signed on Friday
Mueller probe latest, follow up on Cohen news
DHS asks Pentagon to extend military’s Mexico border deployment through January
Nearly a month after midterms, some House races remain undecided
Check out these photos that GOP strategist Sean Walsh shared with us from his time in the George H.W. Bush White House. For more, click through the photo slideshow at the top of the page.
Sean, in addition to being a GOP strategist, also worked in the H.W. Bush White House as a special asst. to the president and an assistant press secretary. He shared some photos from his time in the administration pic.twitter.com/lCurHfwQO1
Guests:
Bill Burton, Democratic political strategist with the firm SKD Knickerbocker and former deputy White House press secretary for Barack Obama; 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
Checking in on national security and counterterrorism with expert Brian Michael Jenkins
National security expert and recurring AirTalk guest Brian Michael Jenkins started researching terrorism at the RAND Corporation in 1968.
He’s served on several White House commissions on terrorism and national security and written multiple books with his expertise. And now, he’s celebrating his 50th anniversary at RAND as one of the world’s leading voices on counterterrorism strategy, aviation safety and hostage negotiations.
Brian Michael Jenkins joins Larry for a check-in on global and domestic terrorism, national security and how it all affects the American government
Guest:
Brian Michael Jenkins, senior advisor to the president of the RAND Corporation and one of the nation’s leading experts on terrorism and homeland security; he tweets
AirTalk remembers the life and presidential legacy of President George H.W. Bush
George H.W. Bush played many prominent public roles in nearly a century of life, from when he was a 20-year-old World War II hero to the 41st president of the United States.
In between came turns as a congressman, director of the CIA, an ambassador to the United Nations and China, and a two-term vice president.
Yet colleagues and friends described the great-grandfather as humble, modest and unfailingly polite.
Bush, who died late Friday at his Houston home at age 94, would see his popularity as president soar after he assembled a U.S.-led military coalition that liberated the oil-rich nation of Kuwait from its invading neighbor Iraq in 1991 during the Gulf War. But just a year later, a deepening economic crisis at home would drive him from office when he lost his bid for re-election.
Still, the Republican would reinvent himself yet again by becoming an elder statesman admired by members of both major political parties. Bush, who died just eight months after the death of his wife of seven decades, Barbara, also saw his son George W. Bush twice elected as the nation's 43rd president.
AirTalk remembers Bush.
Guests:
Tony Coelho, former U.S. Congressman, who worked closely with President George H.W. Bush to pass the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990; founder of The Coelho Center for Disability Law, Policy & Innovation at Loyola Law School
Mark Updegrove, president and CEO of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Foundation, a non-profit organization providing support to the LBJ Presidential Library, and author of the book “The Last Republicans: Inside the Extraordinary Relationship Between George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush” (HarperLuxe, November 2017); he tweets
After the Camp fire, we discuss how evacuation notification and protocols can be improved
According to the Los Angeles Times, nearly a third of the residents of Paradise who signed up for emergency alert phone calls didn’t receive them.
Instead, many residents said they relied on word-of-mouth and the sight of flames approaching. As the fires spread over Paradise, they blacked out cell phone towers and those who were able to use landlines filled them up to capacity. And once residents did start the evacuation process, there were issues with traffic and transit.
The evacuations process in the Camp fire underscored the limitations in wireless communication alert systems, as well as issues surrounding evacuation transit and education.
What can be improved for the future?
Guests:
Kelly Huston, deputy director of the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services
Frances Edwards, professor and deputy director of the National Transportation Security Center at San Jose State University
Pasadena Republican Club sues city, nonprofit, alleging free speech violation; can private renters restrict events in city-owned buildings?
A nonprofit that leases a city-owned building prohibited the Pasadena Republican Club from holding an event that features a speaker who advocates against gay marriage.
The speaker is John Eastman, the director of Claremont Institute’s Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence, which is providing legal services for the Republican Club. The Western Justice Center rents out space to community groups at the historic Maxwell House. When they canceled the event, the Republican Club filed a lawsuit against both, the center and the city of Pasadena that owns the building.
The lawsuit argues that blocking the event is a violation of the First Amendment’s protection of free speech. They say the city should not be allowed to pick and choose which organizations can rent space at the Maxwell House, nor should such discrimination be allowed at any city-owned property. But is the city’s ownership of the building relevant? Does a private entity that rents a space from the city free to block events if they don’t reflect their values? We debate.
Guests:
John Eastman, constitutional law professor at Chapman University; senior fellow at the think tank, Claremont Institute
Jody Armour, professor of law at USC; he tweets