Today on AirTalk, We update you on the latest political news, including president Joe Biden's day one executive orders. Also on the show, we answer your COVID-19 questions, discuss health inequities d
On First Day, Biden Signs Series Of Executive Orders To Reverse Trump-Era Policies
President Joe Biden is moving swiftly to dismantle Donald Trump’s legacy on his first day in office, signing a series of executive actions that reverse course on immigration, climate change, racial equity and the handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
The new president signed the orders just hours after taking the oath of office at the Capitol, pivoting quickly from his pared-down inauguration ceremony to enacting his agenda. With the stroke of a pen, Biden ordered a halt to the construction of Trump’s U.S.-Mexico border wall, ended the ban on travel from some Muslim-majority countries, declared his intent to rejoin the Paris Climate Accord and the World Health Organization and revoked the approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, aides said.
The 15 executive actions, and two directives, amount to an attempt to rewind the last four years of federal policies with striking speed. Only two recent presidents signed executive actions on their first day in office — and each signed just one. But Biden, facing the debilitating coronavirus pandemic, a damaged economy and a riven electorate, is intent on demonstrating a sense of urgency and competence that he argues has been missing under his Republican predecessor.
“There’s no time to start like today,” Biden said in his first comments to reporters as president.
Biden wore a mask as he signed the orders in the Oval Office — a marked departure from Trump, who rarely wore a face covering in public and never during events in the Oval Office. But virus precautions are now required in the building. Among the executive actions signed Wednesday was one requiring masks and physical distancing on federal property and by federal employees. Biden’s order also extended the federal eviction freeze to aid those struggling from the pandemic economic fallout, created a new federal office to coordinate a national response to the virus and restored the White House’s National Security Council directorate for global health security and defense, an office his predecessor had closed.
The actions reflected the new president’s top policy priority — getting a handle on a debilitating pandemic. In his inaugural address, Biden paused for what he called his first act as president — a moment of a silent prayer for the victims of the nation’s worst public health crisis in more than a century.
Today on AirTalk, we are discussing the latest on President Biden’s executive orders post-Inauguration. Questions? Give us a call at 866-893-5722.
With files from the Associated Press
Guests:
Anna Edgerton, politics editor for Bloomberg; she tweets
Mike Madrid, Co-founder of The Lincoln Project and Republican political strategist for the Sacramento-based public affairs firm GrassrootsLab; he tweets
COVID-19 AMA: Biden To Issue Pandemic Plan, Decline In New Cases For U.S., And More
In our continuing series looking at the latest medical research and news on COVID-19, Larry Mantle speaks with Dr. Shruti Gohil, professor of medicine and associate medical director for epidemiology and infection prevention at UC Irvine’s School of Medicine.
Topics today include:
Biden administration announcing coronavirus plan today
CNN: Sources say Biden inheriting nonexistent pandemic strategy
New COVID cases in U.S. decline after hitting peak last week
Gov. Newsom promised 1 million shots in 10 days -- was the goal achieved?
Health officials say vaccinating people 65 & over could take months, push back timetable for others
Vaccine hesitancy in low-income communities where it is most-needed
WSJ: Lilly antibody drug prevents COVID-19 in nursing homes, study finds
CALMatters: Newsom to unveil new vaccine appointment website
CALMatters: Hospitals ask state for relaxed rules for nursing, patient discharge
CALMatters: COVID-19 cases, new syndrome on the rise among children, especially Latino children
Guest:
Shruti Gohil, M.D., professor of medicine and associate medical director for epidemiology and infection prevention at UC Irvine’s School of Medicine
Wikipedia Celebrates Two Decades Of Providing Free Information and Tertiary Sourcing
Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, has been used as a major learning tool for many people across the world for 20 years now, assisting the lives of not only students but also eager learners that enjoy its free access.
The site has created a community that allows for anyone to contribute information and resources to its millions of pages, with each new contributor either adding or correcting another’s work. Wikipedia has also been able to do better than other platforms in terms of combating false information, correcting articles they deem as “vandalized” within 5 minutes of it being published according to their parent company the Wikimedia Foundation.
Despite the website’s attempts to get as balanced of a perspective as possible there have been issues, the site even has a page dedicated to its major criticisms, raising issues such as factual reliability and systemic bias. One statistic that critics have used is from a recent Wikimedia survey, citing that 87% of its contributors identify as males.
Today on AirTalk, we discuss Wikipedia’s influence on the internet over the past 20 years and going forward. Are you someone who contributes to Wikipedia? Do you see it as a powerful educational tool or something else? We want to hear from you, call us at 866-893-5722.
Guest:
Heather Kelly, technology reporter for the Washington Post and author of the recent piece, “On its 20th birthday, Wikipedia might be the safest place online”; she tweets
How Historic Health Inequities Are Tied To COVID Impact In South LA
COVID-19 has disproportionately impacted communities of color, both in Southern California and nationally, and the reasons are complex and rooted in historic inequities.
Dr. Elaine Batchlor, CEO of the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital in South Los Angeles has experienced a lot of these disparities firsthand.
We sit down with Dr. Batchlor to dig into the topic.
Guest:
Elaine Batchlor M.D., CEO of Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital in South Los Angeles
Citing Role In Capitol Attack, Sen. Josh Hawley's Publisher Dropped His Upcoming Book. Its New Publisher Explains Why They Picked It Up
After his original publisher, Simon & Schuster, announced in the wake of the attack on the U.S. Capitol that it would no longer be publishing his upcoming book “The Tyranny of Big Tech,” Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley has a new home with conservative publisher Regnery Publishing, who announced on Monday that it would be picking the senator’s book up.
Hawley has been widely condemned for his encouragement of the Jan. 6 protest that ended with a violent mob rampaging through the Capitol. Thousands had gathered that day as Congress voted to formally certify Joe Biden's win over Trump. Hawley joined other senators that day in formally objecting in the Senate to the Electoral College. The following day, Simon & Schuster released a statement that it would not be publishing Hawley’s book, citing his role in “what became a dangerous threat to our democracy and freedom” as its reason. In Monday’s edition of The Wall Street Journal, Regnery President and Publisher Thomas Spence wrote an op-ed entitled “Blacklists Are The Rage In Publishing” in which he explains why he decided to publish the book and what he feels the consequences of not doing so might be to the publishing industry and the public exchange of ideas. “We don’t have to agree with everything—or anything—Mr. Hawley does,” Spence writes. “We ask only if his book is well-crafted and has something true and worthwhile to say. The answer is yes.”
Today on AirTalk, we’ll hear from the president and publisher at Regnery about why his publishing house decided to take on the book and explore how publishing houses make these decisions, the things that factor into those decisions, and what the role of a publishing house ultimately is in deciding whose works get published.
With files from the Associated Press.
We invited Simon & Schuster to join us for our discussion but they declined our request. You can see the company’s official statement here.
Guests:
Thomas Spence, president and publisher of Regnery Publishing, the publishing company that will be printing the upcoming book from Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) “The Tyranny of Big Tech”
Brooke Warner, publisher of She Writes Press, an independent publisher of women’s books; she is a publishing expert, writing coach and consultant with 22 years of experience in the publishing industry; her former roles include executive editor of Seal Press, an imprint of Hachette Book Group focusing on feminist literature; she tweets