Today on AirTalk, we discuss talks for the next coronavirus relief package. Also on the show, we look at LAPD's expansion of a policing program; our weekly political roundtable discusses the biggest headlines; and more.
LAPD Expands Community Policing Program
The Los Angeles Police Department is expanding its community policing program, Community Safety Partnership (CSP), which was launched in 2011. It will have its own bureau, led by one of the program’s founders, deputy chief Emada Tingirides.
Proponents say growing CSP will help re-focus LAPD’s mentality towards working with the community and its residents, rather than quantifying success by tracking arrests. But critics who’ve pushed for defunding the police department feel that rather than expanding CSP, social workers should be sent to answer the kind of calls the department was set up to answer. We get the latest.
We reached out to a number of stakeholders, including Emada Tingirides, deputy chief of the LAPD’s new community policing bureau, as well as LA City Councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson but they were not available for today’s segment. We are working on scheduling an interview with them later in the week.
Guests:
Cindy Chang, Los Angeles Times staff writer covering the Los Angeles Police Department
Pete White, founder and executive director of the Los Angeles Community Action Network (LA CAN), a community organization that works on anti-poverty issues
We Analyze The House Dem’s Versus The GOP’s Coronavirus Relief Packages
Unemployment assistance, eviction protections and other relief for millions of Americans are at stake as White House officials launch negotiations with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on a new coronavirus aid package that’s teetering in Congress ahead of looming deadlines.
While Senate Republicans struggled to roll out their own $1 trillion proposal, Pelosi implored the White House and GOP lawmakers to stop the infighting and come to the negotiating table with Democrats. Aid runs out Friday for a $600 weekly jobless benefit that Democrats call a lifeline for out-of-work Americans. Republican want to slash it to $200 a week, saying that the federal bump is too generous on top of state benefits and is discouraging employees from returning to work. The proposal provides some $105 billion to schools and colleges, the K-12 funds tilted toward campuses that reopen with in-person learning. There’s more money for virus testing, $15 billion for child care centers and benefits for businesses, including a fresh round of loans under the Paycheck Protection Program, tax breaks and a sweeping liability shield from COVID-19-related lawsuits.
The Republican proposal would also provide another round of $1,200 direct payments based on the same formula from the earlier aid bill. People making $75,000 or less would receive the full amount, with the benefit phased out for those earning above $99,000, or double for married couples filing joint taxes.
Today on AirTalk, we discuss what’s in the proposal and what it could mean for individuals who are unemployed and the country’s economy.
With files from the Associated Press
Guests:
Shana Charles, assistant professor at the Department of Public Health at California State University Fullerton; former director of Health Insurance Studies at UCLA Center for Health Policy Research
Joe Antos, health policy expert and health economist at American Enterprise Institute, a market-oriented think tank in D.C.; he tweets
Kevin Klowden, executive director of the Milken Institute’s Center for Regional Economics and California Center; he tweets
Pandemic Sports: MLB Infections Plus The Latest With Basketball From The Orlando Bubble
Two major league baseball games scheduled for Monday night were postponed after more than a dozen Miami Marlins players and staff members tested positive for the coronavirus in an outbreak that stranded the team in Philadelphia. The Marlins’ home opener against Baltimore was called off, as was the New York Yankees’ game at Philadelphia. The Yankees would have been in the same clubhouse the Marlins used last weekend.
The Marlins’ outbreak raised new doubts about MLB’s ability to finish a 60-game season barely underway amid a pandemic. As the MLB runs into complications, the NBA has rolled out what game operations in a bubble will look like, with the first several of 33 scrimmages being played last week. The scrimmages — exhibitions, some call them — will continue through July 28, two days before the restart of the regular season in the form of seeding games that will determine who has what seed for the playoffs. Although some players have left the Orlando bubble for personal matters or choices that could put others at risk, the bubble experiment is proving successful so far.
Today on AirTalk, we check in on the latest with major league sports. Do you have thoughts or questions? Call 866-893-5722.
With files from the Associated Press
Guests:
Jared Diamond, national baseball writer for the Wall Street Journal; author of "Swing Kings: The Inside Story of Baseball's Home Run Revolution” (William Morrow, March 2020); he tweets
Tania Ganguli, reporter for the Los Angeles Times covering the Lakers, she’s reporting from inside the NBA bubble in Orlando; she tweets
COVID Doc AMA: California Latest, Potential Of Pooled Testing, Vaccine Study And More
In our continuing series looking at the latest medical research and news on COVID-19, Larry Mantle speaks with Dr. Kimberly Shriner, infectious disease specialist at Huntington Hospital in Pasadena.
Topics today include:
Latest COVID-19 numbers in California
Medical teams deployed to two hospitals in Los Angeles
We’re seeing new waves of infection in places which previously had been doing well, like Hong Kong and Australia
The potential of pooled testing
What do we know about herd immunity and is it a viable solution to the coronavirus?
Thousands of volunteers have signed up for the world’s biggest vaccine study
What happens after the vaccine?
Guest:
Kimberly Shriner, M.D., infectious disease specialist at Huntington Hospital in Pasadena
Week In Politics: COVID Stimulus Package, The Protests, Schools And More
AirTalk’s weekly political roundtable recaps the major headlines you might’ve missed in politics news over the weekend and looks ahead to the week to come. Here are the headlines that we’re following this week:
COVID-19 relief bill talks halted in Congress over the extent of unemployment benefits last weekend. Now they’re ramping back up, with the GOP presenting a $1 trillion relief package
Renewed protests in cities including Los Angeles, Oakland and Seattle in response to Federal agents sent to Portland, against the wishes of local government. Trump threatened to send federal troops to other cities with protests
Attorney General Barr will testify in front of Congress today about protests, Mueller inquiry and more
Reopening schools seems to have become a political issue, with the CDC’s new statement calling for reopening. Critics felt the statement minimized health risks
Trump cancelled the part of the RNC that was scheduled in Florida due to public health concerns
Biden’s VP search continues
Guests:
Amanda Renteria, board member for Emerge America, a national organization that works to identify and train Democratic women who want to run for political office; she is the former national political director for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign and has been a staffer for Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI); she tweets
Jack Pitney, professor of politics at Claremont McKenna College; he tweets