Today on AirTalk, we discuss health officials clearing elementary schools to reopen and its impact on ongoing negotiations with LAUSD officials and the teachers union. Also on the show, we recap the second impeachment of former president Donald Trump; answer your COVID-19 questions; and more.
Following Trump’s Acquittal In Senate Impeachment Trial, What Happens Next In Inquiry Into January 6th Capitol Attack
Former President Donald Trump may have been acquitted in the Senate impeachment trial where he faced a charge of incitement of insurrection, but the legal and governmental inquiry in his role in the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol Building by a violent mob of pro-Trump extremists is just getting started.
A Democratic congressman accused Donald Trump in a federal lawsuit on Tuesday of inciting the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and of conspiring with his lawyer and extremist groups to try to prevent the Senate from certifying the results of the presidential election he lost to Joe Biden. The lawsuit from Mississippi's Rep. Bennie Thompson, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, is part of an expected wave of litigation over the Jan. 6 riot and is believed to be the first filed by a member of Congress. It seeks unspecified punitive and compensatory damages. Lawyers for Trump have denied that he incited the riot. The suit, filed in federal court in Washington under a Reconstruction-era law known as the Ku Klux Klan Act, comes three days after Trump was acquitted in a Senate impeachment trial that centered on allegations that he incited the riot, in which five people died. That acquittal is likely to open the door to fresh legal scrutiny over Trump's actions before and during the siege.
Meanwhile, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Monday that Congress will establish an independent, Sept. 11-style commission to look into the deadly insurrection that took place at the U.S. Capitol. Pelosi said the commission will “investigate and report on the facts and causes relating to the January 6, 2021, domestic terrorist attack upon the United States Capitol Complex … and relating to the interference with the peaceful transfer of power." In a letter to Democratic colleagues, Pelosi said the House will also put forth supplemental spending to boost security at the Capitol. In her letter Monday, Pelosi said, “It is clear from his findings and from the impeachment trial that we must get to the truth of how this happened.”
Today on AirTalk, we’ll look at what happens now that the Senate impeachment trial is over, the potential continuing legal exposure of the former president, and what this 9/11-style commission would do.
With files from the Associated Press
Guests:
Susan McWilliams Barndt, chair and professor of politics at Pomona College and editor of American Political Thought Journal
Pratheepan Gulasekaram, professor of law at Santa Clara Law, where he specializes in constitutional and immigration law; he tweets
Hal Kempfer, CEO of Global Risk Intelligence and Planning (GRIP), a management consulting firm based in Long Beach, and retired Marine lieutenant colonel; he has worked in military support for homeland security and defense both as an active member of the military and as a civilian
DOC AMA: Rate Of COVID-19 Infections Falling, Blue Shield To Implement New California Vaccine Plan & More
In our continuing series looking at the latest medical research and news on COVID-19, Larry Mantle speaks with Dr. Peter Chin-Hong from UCSF.
Topics today include:
L.A. County elementary schools are fully cleared to reopen
Rate of new virus infections falling, but deaths remain high
CVS and Walmart decide who gets leftover COVID-19 vaccine doses
WHO authorizes AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use
Blue Shield to call shots under California vaccine contract
California data on vaccine distribution reveal disparities
As COVID-19 ebbs, LA Latinos see disproportionate devastation
Guest:
Peter Chin-Hong, M.D., infectious disease specialist and professor of medicine at the UCSF Medical Center; he tweets
Elementary Schools In LA County Now Cleared To Reopen. What Does That Really Mean?
For the first time in nearly a year, health officials gave the green light to LA County elementary schools to fully reopen.
Campuses will not immediately reopen in Los Angeles Unified, however. District officials and the teachers union are still in negotiations over what it might look like for students and teachers to head back to campuses for in-person instruction. The decision was made after LA County crossed a key threshold— a seven-day average of daily COVID-19 infections below 25 cases per 100,000 residents.
Today on AirTalk, we’re learning more about what elementary school reopenings might look like. Are you a teacher or a parent? What are your thoughts? We want to hear from you! Give us a call at 866-893-5722 or comment below.
Guests:
Caroline Champlin, KPCC reporter who’s been following this, she tweets
Teri Sorey, president of the Irvine Teachers Association
Ashley Bettas-Alcalá, president of the San Bernardino Teachers Association
The Pandemic Is Pushing Mothers Out Of The Workforce. What Will It Mean Long-Term?
When schools and childcare centers closed with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic last March, many working mothers took up the slack.
Often, this came at the expense of their jobs or labor force participation. In February 2020, women held more than half of the jobs in the United States; by fall, women were dropping out of the labor force at four times the rates of men. A recent New York Times piece profiling three working American women highlighted the often disproportionate childcare load women take on, whether as single parents or in heterosexual relationships. The burden is particularly felt by women of color, who are more likely to have lost their jobs and are on the front lines as essential workers at higher rates. As a result, white women and wealthier women are more likely to leave the labor force completely, while women of color and low-paid women are more likely to make changes to their work schedules and rely on other child care solutions instead.
Are you a working mother? Have you considered leaving the labor force? How have you adapted your childcare during the pandemic? We want to hear from you. Comment below or give us a call at 866-893-5722.
Guests:
Kathryn Edwards, economist at the RAND Corporation and a professor at the Pardee RAND Graduate School; she tweets
Sarah Jane Glynn, sociologist and senior fellow at the Center for American Progress who co-authored the report, “How COVID-19 Sent Women’s Workforce Progress Backward”