Also, a new bill has been introduced this week that lets California doctors prescribe terminally ill patients a lethal dose of medications to end their lives. Then, we sit down for an honest look at race relations and community policing, not from the 30,000 foot view, but from individuals confronting these issues everyday.
Israel’s Prime Minister invited to speak to Congress without White House approval
While not illegal, the recent invitation of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by Speaker of the House John Boehner to address a joint session of Congress without White House approval just days after the President’s State of the Union speech has sparked controversy. Whereas typically state leaders try to avoid embroiling themselves in the domestic politics of the countries they visit by coordinating with other leaders, Boehner reached out to Israel’s ambassador to pass along the invitation. White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest has called it a “departure from [the] protocol,” although the administration has said that the President will not meet with Netanyahu during his visit.
The invitation is particularly poignant after the President’s call in the State of the Union for Congress to delay consideration of additional sanctions against Iran while nuclear talks continue. The talks have already been extended twice, and the administration believes that any ramping up of sanctions could have a destabilizing effect on negotiations. Republicans accuse President Obama of having started this tit-for-tat politics as news broke Prime Minister David Cameron of the United Kingdom had called several U.S. Senators to ask them on holding off on a sanctions vote.
So far, the administration seems wary of drawing Israel and Prime Minister Netanyahu into a domestic fight even as they push for a nuclear deal with Iran. But Netanyahu’s address to Congress is expected to be one that pushes against any potential deal with Iran, which could make domestic support to sign off on any deal, if one does emerge from the talks, quite tenuous.
Regardless of the short-term politics of “who started it,” Washington may be moving back towards partisan gridlock just days after Obama declared, “The shadow of crisis has passed, and the State of our Union is strong.”
Did Speaker Boehner disrespect the President by inviting a foreign leader without consulting the White House? Will Prime Minister Netanyahu’s speech to Congress have an impact on a potential nuclear deal with Iran?
Guests:
, Middle East foreign policy reporter covering for Al-Monitor.com in D.C., has been covering Iran nuclear talks
Michael Crowley, senior foreign affairs correspondent for POLITICO
CA lawmakers introduce new euthanasia bill for terminally ill patients
A new bill has been introduced this week that lets California doctors prescribe terminally ill patients a lethal dose of medications to end their lives. Similar legislative attempts have failed in the past, most recently in 2006. The new bill, called the End of Life Option Act, is unveiled in the wake of the death of Brittany Maynard, the 29-year-old Californian suffering from brain cancer who relocated to Portland, Ore., to end her life. Her decision helped renew debate over physician assisted suicides nationally.
The California bill is modeled after the Death with Dignity Act in Oregon that was passed in 1997, with two differences. It requires a translator for non-English speakers, and extends legal protections to pharmacists as well as physicians.
Besides Oregon, Vermont and Washington also have euthanasia laws. New Mexico and Montana allow the practice via court rulings, according to the Mercury News.
Guests:
Assemblymember Susan Talamantes Eggman, (D-Stockton), representing the 13th Assembly District, which includes Stockton, Tracy, and Thornton. She is principal co-author of the bill, and author of last year’s bill on a related subject, AB 2139.
Marilyn Golden, Senior Policy Analyst at the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, a civil rights law and policy center with offices in Berkeley, Calif., and D.C.
Producers of The Imitation Game talk about Hollywood hustle
World War II historical fiction sells well in Hollywood, but an independent film about a code-breaking mathematician with a personal secret takes real production prowess to become one of the biggest films of the year. Producer Nora Grossman optioned the popular screenplay about Alan Turing, and producer Teddy Schwarzman came on later to help shepherd the complex story - including bringing Turing's surviving relatives on set and to the final-cut screening with baited breath.
Producers of The Imitation Game talk about Hollywood hustleGrossman's Oscar nomination in the Best Picture category makes her one of the rare females at the top of the Academy nods this year. Women are more represented in producer ranks than other above-the-line credits, still the Producers Guild of America is ramping up the Woman's Impact Network to help more talent such as Grossman. What did you think of The Imitation Game?
Guests:
Nora Grossman, Oscar-nominated Producer of “The Imitation Game” - nominated for 8 Academy Awards; Nominated for The Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures by the Producers Guild of America.
Teddy Schwarzman, Oscar-nominated Producer of “The Imitation Game” - nominated for 8 Academy Awards; Nominated for The Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures by the Producers Guild of America.
The future of community policing in Southern California
Recent events in Ferguson, Cleveland, Staten Island and here in Los Angeles have polarized the nation and renewed the debate about policing. AirTalk's Larry Mantle asked people on the front lines of the issue – cops who are out on the street every day and the people who live in the communities they police, to join us for an honest look at race relations and community policing, not from the 30,000 foot view, but from individuals confronting these issues everyday.
Read more about it HERE
Guests:
Robert Cristo, a senior at Whittier College where he is completing his bachelors degree in political science and history; he’s also a youth organizer with the Youth Justice Coalition, an organization that fights inequalities in LA County's juvenile justice system
Jonathan Henderson, student in the Master of Arts in Sociology program at California State University, Dominguez Hills
Lt. Al Labrada, Community Relations Section, Office of the Chief of Police, LAPD, spent 4 years as the Senior Lead Officer in Watts
Chief Robert Luna, Chief of Long Beach Police Department
Francisco Ortega, Senior Policy Analyst, City of Los Angeles Human Relations Commission
Rafer Owens, Sheriff’s Deputy with the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, stationed in Compton