Today on AirTalk, we learn more about protests in Portland and the federal government's deployment of agents to the city. Also on the show, we answer you questions about COVID-19; get a head start on November's ballot; and more.
Checking In With Portland As Federal Agents Crack Down On Protests
Militarized federal agents deployed by the president to Portland, Oregon, fired tear gas against protesters over the weekend as the city’s mayor demanded that the agents be removed and as the state’s attorney general vowed to seek a restraining order against them.
Federal agents, some wearing camouflage and some wearing dark Homeland Security uniforms, used tear gas at least twice to break up crowds late Friday night, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported.
Protests against systemic racism and police brutality have been a nightly feature in deeply liberal Portland since Minneapolis police killed George Floyd on May 25. President Donald Trump has decried the disorder and Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf blasted the protesters as “lawless anarchists” in a visit to the city, helping make the clashes between police and demonstrators a national focus.
We check in with what’s been going on.
With files from the Associated Press.
With guest host Libby Denkmann.
Guests:
Chris David, navy veteran and Portland resident
Tuck Woodstock, independent journalist who’s been covering the protests; they have bylines with Portland Mercury, Washington Post, NPR and more; they tweet
Remembering Congressman And Civil Rights Leader John Lewis
Rights activists, politicians from both parties and many other people touched by the legacy of John Lewis mourned the congressman and pillar of the civil rights movement Saturday, lauding the strength, courage and kindness of a man whose lifelong struggle against racial discrimination took him from a bridge in Selma to the nation’s Capitol.
“As a young man marching for equality in Selma, Alabama, John answered brutal violence with courageous hope,” said former President George W. Bush. “And throughout his career as a civil rights leader and public servant, he worked to make our country a more perfect union.”
Lewis died Friday, several months after the Georgia Democrat announced that he had been diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer. Lewis, 80, often recalled his upbringing in the segregated South, including how he was denied a library card because the library was for “whites only.” He was determined to destroy segregation, joining with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. as founder of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee to help plan the 1963 March on Washington.
With files from the Associated Press
With guest host Libby Denkmann
Guests:
Emil Moffatt, reporter for WABE, the NPR affiliate station in Atlanta; he tweets
Franita Tolson, vice dean for faculty and academic affairs and professor of law at USC, where she specializes in election law
COVID-19: Children And Covid-19, And Your Questions
In our continuing series looking at the latest medical research and news on COVID-19, guest host Libby Denkmann speaks with Dr. Sanjeet Dadwal, chief of the Division of Infection Diseases at City of Hope.
Topics today include:
What the infection of a cluster of 85 children under the age of 2 tells us about CV-19 and kids
15 children in LA County sickened by CV-related syndrome
Study: Fermented vegetable helps stave off CV-19
The big immunity study from England and the controversy it has generated
With guest host Libby Denkmann
Guest:
Sanjeet Dadwal, M.D., chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at City of Hope cancer center
Getting A Head Start On The November Ballot: All Of The Props
The November election is going to be biggie, and not just because of the presidential race.
As a California resident, you’ll be asked to vote on 12 ballot propositions that span issues ranging from whether Uber drivers should be classified as independent contractors to whether money bail should be part of our criminal justice system.
We give you the 101 on each measure.
With guest host Libby Denkmann.
Guests:
Katie Orr, government and politics reporter for KQED
Ben Christopher, reporter covering California politics and elections at CalMatters
Fernando Guerra, professor of political science and Chicano/Latino studies and director of the Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University; member of the KPCC Board of Trustees