Today on AirTalk, we update you on the latest political news in Washington D.C.. Also on the show, we answer your COVID-19 questions, discuss the passing of broadcast legend Larry King; and more.
Politics: Biden Pushes Coronavirus Relief Bill, FBI Considers Charges In Insurrection, Impeachment Proceedings And More
Today on AirTalk, we discuss the latest in politics.
Today’s topics include:
Biden pushes sweeping COVID-19 relief bill. Will he garner enough support?
Biden’s “Buy American” plan
House Dems to transmit impeachment article. What’s the timeline for proceedings?
FBI debating charges for insurrectionists
Supreme Court throws out emoluments case against Trump
Guests:
Anita Kumar, White House correspondent and associate editor for POLITICO; she tweets
Jack Pitney, professor of politics at Claremont McKenna College; he tweets
Doc AMA: Biden To Reinstate Travel Restrictions, Young People Camping Out In Unofficial Vaccine Lines And More
In our continuing series looking at the latest medical research and news on COVID-19, Larry Mantle speaks with Dr. Kimberly Shriner from Huntington Hospital in Pasadena.
Today’s topics include:
CA lifts regional stay-at-home orders
Biden to reinstate international travel restrictions
Merck nixes COVID-19 vaccines trials after weak immune responses
Moderna: vaccine still effective against variants
Moderna developing booster targeted at South Africa strain
LA County says more vaccine appointments available this week
Young Angelenos waiting in unofficial vaccine lines
AstraZeneca: vaccine shortfall in Europe
Study: rich countries will face financial burden if poor ones go unvaccinated
Should we be wearing better masks?
Guest:
Kimberly Shriner, M.D., infectious disease specialist at Huntington Hospital in Pasadena
LAUSD Superintendent Austin Beutner On Schools Reopening, Students And COVID-19 Vaccines & More
For Los Angeles Unified students and educators, school is back in session— on Zoom.
Amid a severe uptick in COVID-19 cases in Los Angeles County, the California Superior Court rejected a petition to require LAUSD to partially reopen schools for in-person instruction for high-need students. Superintendent Austin Beutner had shut down school campuses due to “extraordinary and quite dangerous” infection rates in the county. The superintendent has pushed for schools to become vaccination sites for staff and local community centers, as well as for children, once a vaccine for children has been approved.
Today on AirTalk, we’re learning more about what the start of this LAUSD term is looking like, as well as what the path forward to campus reopenings could look like.
Guest:
Austin Beutner, superintendent of Los Angeles Unified School District
Is The Governor Newsom Recall Movement A Real Political Threat?
The movement to recall Governor Gavin Newsom began before the shutdown, but it’s picked up steam during the pandemic, as some Californians turn their frustrations over shuttered schools and businesses toward the state’s leadership.
There’s also anger over the pace of the vaccine distribution, as well as the Governor’s private actions, such as his French Laundry outing. And this anger has snowballed into a recall effort that’s now looking like it might trigger a special election.
Recent reporting by the L.A. Times has also uncovered that certain far-right groups are connected to the recall effort, though the movement is now arguably mainstream. How might these ties impact the movement? How did we get here? And what would a special election look like?
Guest:
Anita Chabria, Sacramento-based reporter for the L.A. Times where she covers California state politics and policy; she tweets
Broadcast Giant Larry King Dies At 87
Larry King, the suspenders-sporting everyman whose broadcast interviews with world leaders, movie stars and ordinary Joes helped define American conversation for a half-century, died Saturday. He was 87.
King died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, his production company, Ora Media, tweeted. No cause of death was given, but a spokesperson said Jan. 4 that King had COVID-19, had received supplemental oxygen and had been moved out of intensive care. His son Chance Armstrong also confirmed King’s death, CNN reported.
A longtime nationally syndicated radio host, from 1985 through 2010 he was a nightly fixture on CNN, where he won many honors, including two Peabody awards.
With his celebrity interviews, political debates and topical discussions, King wasn’t just an enduring on-air personality. He also set himself apart with the curiosity he brought to every interview, whether questioning the assault victim known as the Central Park jogger or billionaire industrialist Ross Perot, who in 1992 rocked the presidential contest by announcing his candidacy on King’s show.
In its early years, “Larry King Live” was based in Washington, which gave the show an air of gravitas. Likewise King. He was the plainspoken go-between through whom Beltway bigwigs could reach their public, and they did, earning the show prestige as a place where things happened, where news was made.
King conducted an estimated 50,000 on-air interviews. In 1995 he presided over a Middle East peace summit with PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat, King Hussein of Jordan and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. He welcomed everyone from the Dalai Lama to Elizabeth Taylor, from Mikhail Gorbachev to Barack Obama, Bill Gates to Lady Gaga.
Especially after he relocated to Los Angeles, his shows were frequently in the thick of breaking celebrity news, including Paris Hilton talking about her stint in jail in 2007 and Michael Jackson’s friends and family members talking about his death in 2009.
King boasted of never overpreparing for an interview. His nonconfrontational style relaxed his guests and made him readily relatable to his audience.
Today on AirTalk, we want to hear your stories of Larry King. Comment below or give us a call at 866-893-5722.