Soon-Shiong purchased The Times, along with the San Diego Union-Tribune and other local papers, last month for $500 million. He sits down with Larry to discuss the future of the paper. We also spend the first hour of the show speaking with a slew of experts on Trump's Supreme Court nomination Brett Kavanaugh.
After Trump taps textualist Brett Kavanaugh for Supreme Court, the confirmation fight ahead and potential impact on midterm elections
President Trump has nominated Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court to fill the vacancy left by retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy.
If confirmed, Trump's choice would solidify the high court's conservative majority and continue the president's push to shift the federal bench to the right.
Trump announced his choice with a prime-time address from the White House East Room. Since 2006, Kavanaugh has served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, often called the nation's second most powerful court. He was appointed to that post by President George W. Bush, after serving as Bush's White House staff secretary.
Kavanaugh graduated from Yale Law School and clerked for Kennedy in the mid-1990s. Kavanaugh later worked with independent counsel Kenneth Starr during the investigation of President Bill Clinton.
With files from the Assocated Pres
Guests:
Richard Re, associate professor of law at UCLA who clerked for Brett Kavanaugh on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit from 2008-2009
Margaret Russell, associate professor of Law at Santa Clara University
Adam White, Hoover Institution and director of the Center for the Study of the Administrative State at George Mason University; he is also on the executive committee of the Federalist Society’s Administrative Law Practice Group; he tweets
Julie Nice, professor of law at the University of San Francisco, where her areas of expertise include constitutional law
Amanda Hollis-Brusky, professor of politics at Pomona College and author of “Ideas with Consequences: The Federalist Society and The Conservative Counterrevolution” (Oxford University Press, 2015)
Jody Armour, professor of law at USC
John Eastman, constitutional law professor at Chapman University; senior fellow at the think tank The Claremont Institute
Ilya Shapiro, senior fellow in constitutional studies at Cato Institute and editor-in-chief of the Cato Supreme Court Review; he tweets
William P. Marshall, professor of law at the University of North Carolina, specializing in federal courts, presidential power and judicial selection matters; former deputy White House counsel and deputy assistant to President Clinton
AirTalk special: Interview with new LA Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong
The historic sale of the Los Angeles Times to biotech billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong closed last month.
Soon-Shiong, 65, took control of The Times, San Diego Union-Tribune and a handful of community newspapers from Chicago-based Tronc. The $500 million deal, which was announced on Feb. 7, returns The Times back to local ownership after nearly two decades under Chicago control.
Born in South Africa to Chinese immigrants, Soon-Shiong built a fortune by building and selling two biopharmaceutical companies. He holds a small ownership stake in the Los Angeles Lakers. Today, Forbes magazine estimates his fortune at $7.6 billion.
But with such an impressive business profile, Soon-Shiong is yet to be tested in the field of journalism. He has pledged to restore The Times reputation as a journalism powerhouse. "There's no agenda, other than to make this the best journalistic institution," Soon-Shiong said in a statement.
We check in with Soon-Shiong to talk about his plans for the Los Angeles Times and what will the future of the publication look like under his leadership.
Guests:
Patrick Soon-Shiong, owner and executive chairman of the Los Angeles Times, San Diego Union-Tribune, Los Angeles Times en Español and other publications under the California News Group; CEO and Chairman of Nantworks, a health care and biotech company based in Culver City; he tweets
Norman Pearlstine, executive editor of the Los Angeles Times; former media executive, who has previously held key positions at Time Inc., Bloomberg L.P. and the Wall Street Journal; he tweets