Southern California is home to a half-dozen congressional districts where the fate of Republican seats could help decide which of the two major parties wins control of the U.S. House. We also cover the headlines you might have missed over the weekend; analyze the SCOTUS decision in favor of Colorado baker; and more.
Week in politics: Analyzing the power of the presidential pardon, the latest chapter in the on-again, off-again Korea summit and more
AirTalk’s weekly political roundtable covers the headlines you might have missed over the weekend and previews what’s to come in national politics this week.
Trump on pardoning himself
POTUS pardons Dinesh D’Souza, floats pardoning Martha Stewart & Rod Blagojevich. How far can/should he go with his pardoning powers? How have past presidents used the power of the pardon?
Latest on tariffs (G7 countries slam U.S. at recent meeting) NAFTA status, possibility of separate deals with Canada & Mexico
North Korea summit back on, says POTUS last Friday
Melania Trump, who hasn't been seen in public since May 10th, to be at Gold Star ceremony at White House today (it's not open to the press) -- what, if anything, should we make of her absence?
Trump breaks protocol with jobs report tweet before data comes out
Vulnerable Republicans see immigration as political salvation
Kevin McCarthy slams Google over ‘Nazism’ error
50th anniversary of Bobby Kennedy’s assassination in L.A.
Guests:
Sean T. Walsh, Republican political analyst and partner at Wilson Walsh Consulting in San Francisco; he is a former adviser to California Governors Pete Wilson and Arnold Schwarzenegger and a former White House staffer for Presidents Reagan and H.W. Bush
Lisa Garcia Bedolla, professor of Education and director of the Institute of Governmental Studies at UC Berkeley; she tweets
After SCOTUS rules in favor of Colorado baker, the implications for other businesses that refuse to serve same-sex couples on religious grounds
The Supreme Court ruled narrowly Monday for a Colorado baker who wouldn't make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple.
But the court is not deciding the big issue in the case, whether a business can invoke religious objections to refuse service to gay and lesbian people.
The justices' limited ruling turned on what the court described as anti-religious bias on the Colorado Civil Rights Commission when it ruled against baker Jack Phillips. The justices voted 7-2 that the commission violated Phillips' rights under the First Amendment.
Justice Anthony Kennedy said in his majority opinion that the issue "must await further elaboration." Appeals in similar cases are pending, including one at the Supreme Court from a florist who didn't want to provide flowers for a same-sex wedding.
With files from the Associated Press.
Guests:
Jonathan Keller, president and CEO of the California Family Council, a Christian-based non-profit educational organization, which filed an amicus brief on behalf of the petitioner Jack Phillips of Masterpiece Cakeshop Ltd.
Kyle Velte, visiting assistant professor at the Texas Tech University School of Law, and incoming faculty of the University of Kansas School of Law; she filed an amicus brief on behalf the respondents in this case
AirTalk’s election 411: Everything you need to know ahead of Tuesday’s California primary
Southern California is home to a half-dozen congressional districts where the fate of Republican seats could help decide which of the two major parties wins control of the U.S. House.
Nearly all of the districts are in Orange County, the once staunchly conservative region undergoing demographic changes that are nudging the county more to the left.
In 2016, for the first time in 80 years, Orange County favored a Democrat for president. Two incumbent GOP congressmen — Darrell Issa and Ed Royce — announced earlier this year that they were stepping down from office.
Their decision opened up the field to a rush of congressional hopefuls from both parties. Larry speaks with a panel of political experts to break down the ballot. Click here for KPCC’s guide to key congressional races.
Ready for Election Day? Get up to speed on what you need to know with KPCC’s Voter Game Plan. Read up on the candidates and ballot measures, find out about registration deadlines and ask us your questions.
Guests:
Libby Denkmann, KPCC’s veterans and military reporter; she tweets
Dan Walters, long-time California politics observer with CALmatters, a nonprofit public interest publication
Dan Schnur, professor in UC Berkeley’s department of political science and USC’s Annenberg School for Communication; he is also founder of the USC / Los Angeles Times statewide political poll and director of Sacramento Bee’s 2018 “California Influencer” project, a virtual panel of 60 state leaders discussing the biggest challenges in California’s future; he tweets
Jaime Regalado, professor emeritus of political science at Cal State LA; he was executive director of the Pat Brown Institute at Cal State LA from 1991-2011
Tom Campbell, professor of economics and law at Chapman University; a member of the United States Congress from 1989-1993 and 1995-2001; a member of the California State Senate from 1993-1995; and the director of the California Department of Finance from 2004-2005
Raphe Sonenshein, executive director of the Pat Brown Institute at Cal State LA
Fernando Guerra, professor and director of the Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University
Michael Alvarez, professor of political science at CalTech; he is spearheading CalTech’s research project with Orange County working to develop tools and measures to understand voting and election integrity
Norberto Santana, Jr., publisher for Voice of OC, Orange County’s nonprofit newsroom; he tweets