California delegates for Trump plus the leader of the "free the delegates" movement to oust him; Turkey's failed coup has caused concern with friends and family here in Los Angeles - we talk to some of them; and we ask which California traffic laws should be more frequently enforced.
South LA Trump Delegate: 'I can’t think of a time when our party has been more unified'
The beginning of the Republican National Convention has been tumultuous to say the least. So far, the first couple days have given rise to a flap over a potentially plagiarized speech, a last ditch floor battle intended to embarrass the front-runner, and a slew of passionate speeches addressing everything from a rise of crime and the failure of the immigration system.
For Skylar, an AirTalk caller from El Segundo, the rhetoric used during the first days of the convention have felt alienating.
“I’m an African-American [and] watching the convention yesterday, I felt that I was watching so much white anger,” he said. “The biggest cheers and applause came from things that personally I feel were direct attacks to me and minority communities.”
Charles Moran, a Trump delegate from South L.A., assured listeners that the California delegation contains people of diverse backgrounds and perspectives.
“California really does represent the broad spectrum of the conservative rainbow with the diversity of our state and with our ideology,” he said.
Moran is representing California’s 44th Congressional district in South Los Angeles. He has also served as the president of California’s chapter of Log Cabin Republicans, a PAC that advocates for gay Republicans and their allies.
He did not see the events of the night as divisive.
“The mood on the floor at the RNC is so positive in support of Donald Trump and Governor Pence, and I just can’t think of a time when our party has been more unified at a convention like this,” Moran said.
As a gay Republican, Moran did express limited reservations with the party’s vice presidential nominee. As governor of Indiana. Pence signed into law the state’s “Religious Freedom Restoration Act,” which was widely decried as permitting discrimination against the LGBT community.
However, Moran emphasized that Pence’s reaction to the criticism showed that he will be a unifying force if elected.
“He ended up reversing parts of the law that were the most extreme...which is an admission that he understood what was at stake here,” Moran said.
“That’s important. It shows a balanced role of government, that he is a leader who is going to build consensus. That’s exactly what he did.”
Hear more of Airtalk's discussion by clicking the playhead above.
Guests:
Scott Shafer, reporter for KQED, he joins us from the RNC
Carl Sferrazza Anthony, First Ladies and presidential families historian and author of many books including the multi-volume “First Ladies: The Saga of the Presidents' Wives and Their Power”
Ange-Marie Hancock, associate professor of political science and gender studies at USC
Jack Pitney, professor of politics at Claremont McKenna College
Kendal Unruh, “Free the Delegates” group opposed to Donald Trump; RNC Rules Committee member and a Republican Delegate from Colorado who attempted a rules change for delegate voters; Seven-time convention delegate; in her professional life, Unruh is a high school teacher of American Government
Charles Moran, a Republican political strategist and the Immediate Past Chairman of the California Log Cabin Republicans, an organization representing gay conservatives and their allies; he is a Trump delegate for California’s 44th district which includes South Los Angeles.
After more doping allegations, should all Russian athletes be banned from the Olympics?
Anti-doping officials around the world are calling for Russian athletes in all sports to be banned from the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil after a scathing report out from the independent World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) on Monday implicated Russia in a doping scheme that involved hiding hundreds of positive drug test results ahead of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.
This could be viewed as the second shoe dropping for Russia related to drug use. The Russian track and field team has already been banned from Rio thanks to doping allegations, and now WADA and other anti-doping agencies say that all Russian athletes should be barred from the Olympics.
The International Olympic Committee, the body with the power to ban an entire nation from the Olympics, didn’t indicate how it planned to deal with the allegations, but acknowledged the gravity of the situation and vowed to take the “strongest sanctions possible.” Russia has brushed off the report, saying it is largely political and maintains it has always maintained strict anti-doping rules for its international athletes.
Should Russia be banned based on the WADA report? What would it mean for the Olympic Games if Russia weren’t allowed to participate?
Guests:
Ed Hula, editor in chief of “Around the Rings,” a publication based in Atlanta, GA devoted to covering the Olympics
John Hoberman, sports historian and doping expert at the University of Texas-Austin; he studies politics and the Olympics, and use of performance-enhancing drugs
Southern Californians react to attempted coup in Turkey
Turkey’s failed military coup on Friday has caused concern with friends and family here in Los Angeles who have ties to the country.
With more than 8,000 government officials removed from office and 6,000 people detained, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has taken big action against his opponents. He is also reportedly contemplating the death penalty for detainees, which could potentially sever ties with Turkey and the European Union.
Turkey’s prime suspect for inciting the coup is Fethullah Gulen, an exiled cleric living in Pennsylvania. There are no plans currently to extradite Gulen.
So how has all of this impacted L.A.’s Turkish community? Worries about friends and family in that country, as well as Turkey’s political landscape have been at the forefront of many people’s minds.
What are your thoughts on the coup? If you have friends and family in Turkey, what is your biggest concern and how has it affected your community?
Guests:
Aaron David Miller, Vice President and distinguished fellow for the Middle East program at the Wilson Center and former advisor to Republican and Democratic Secretaries of State on Arab-Israeli negotiations, 1978-2003; author of "The End of Greatness: Why America Can't Have (and Doesn't Want) Another Great President"
Cenk Uygur, CEO and host of The Young Turks network, who’s been following the story. He tweets from
Driving poll: Which jerk move deserves more tickets?
If you could ask the California Highway Patrol to go on a ticketing blitz for a specific traffic violation, would you want them to target tailgaters, speeders and weavers, smog offenders, or a different scofflaw altogether?
Many drivers are peeved by a particular infraction such as failing to signal. Some Californians, while stuck in traffic jams, have witnessed one-too-many solo drivers abusing the HOV (high occupancy vehicle) lane. There are also the slow-pokes who coast far below the posted speed (yes, that can get you one point on your license), and the selfish folks, for instance on the 10 West getting into Santa Monica, who make a late break for an exit after speeding past all the drivers who had waited their turn.
Let's not forget texting or making a left turn across double yellow lines.
Which traffic laws should be enforced more frequently? What bugs you more - the potential for danger or slowing down traffic?
Guest:
Edgar Figueroa, California Highway Patrol Officer, Southern Division