Senate confirmation hearings are underway for President Trump's pick to fill the seat of the late Justice Antonin Scalia, which has been vacant for more than a year. Will partisan politics block Judge Neil Gorsuch's nomination? We also cover the latest on FBI Director James Comey's testimony; how to handle bullying as a parent; and more.
Week in politics: Latest on Comey testimony, Gorsuch confirmation hearings underway and exploring the ‘deep state’
FBI director James Comey and National Security Administration director Adm. Michael S. Rodgers are both testifying on Capitol Hill today before the House Select Intelligence Committee discussing possible Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Comey has confirmed that the FBI is holding a formal inquiry into possible connections between the Russians and Trump campaign and has also stated that neither the FBI nor the Department of Justice has any information that corroborates President Trump’s claims that former President Obama wiretapped Trump Tower before his victory.
Also being grilled on the Hill today is Supreme Court nominee Judge Neil Gorsuch. The meat of the hearings will begin tomorrow as Judge Gorsuch is expected to face a stiff line of questioning from Democrats about his qualifications and views on a number of highly-charged issues. Gorsuch will need 60 votes to be confirmed for the seat formerly occupied by the late Justice Antonin Scalia.
Two of our regular political experts join us today to round up the hearings on Capitol Hill, look ahead to the week in politics, plus we’ll explore a little bit about the ‘deep state’ -- what it is, why it keeps popping up in the news, and why you should care.
Guests:
Toluse Olorunnipa, White House reporter for Bloomberg; he tweets
Lanhee Chen, research fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University; he was an adviser for Marco Rubio’s 2016 presidential campaign and former policy director for the Romney-Ryan 2012 presidential campaign; he tweets
Lynn Vavreck, professor of political science at UCLA; she tweets
Senate confirmation hearings underway for Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch
Capitol hill is bustling today. On top of testimony by FBI Director James Comey before the House Intelligence Committee, the Senate Judiciary Committee is holding a major hearing that could determine the future of the balance of power on the nation's highest court.
Opening statements began this morning in the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch.
President Donald Trump tapped the federal appeals court judge from Colorado to replace influential conservative Justice Antonin Scalia, who passed away in February of last year.
Democrats are facing pressure from liberal members of their party to push back on President Trump's first court pick, especially in light of Senate Republicans’ refusal to hold hearings on President Obama's nominee, Merrick Garland. Republicans say Judge Gorsuch is supremely qualified and temperamentally suited to join the court, and observers believe he will follow in the originalist footsteps of Scalia.
What are the strategies of Republicans and Democrats going into today's hearings? What will the goals of both parties be in grilling, or supporting, Judge Gorsuch? What are Judge Gorsuch's goals? What strategies have prior Supreme Court nominees used to survive the hearing process, and what tactics have failed in the past?
Guests:
John McGinnis, the George C. Dix Professor in Constitutional Law at Northwestern
Margaret Russell, Associate Professor of Law, Santa Clara University
The life of Ona Judge, George Washington’s runaway slave
In “Never Caught,” historian Erica Armstrong Dunbar recounts the story of Ona Judge, one of George Washington’s former slaves.
Dunbar explores Ona Judge’s life as a runaway, as well as the Washingtons’ persistent and sometimes illegal attempts to recapture her, in a narrative that sheds new light on the U.S.’s founding father and the complex state of slavery in late 18th century America.
Dunbar will be speaking and signing books on Monday, March 20, at 7pm, at Eso Won Books. For more information, click here.
Guest:
Erica Armstrong Dunbar, Professor of Black American Studies and History at the University of Delaware; author of “Never Caught: The Washingtons’ Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave”
What to do when your kids tell you they’re being bullied
There’s no perfect plan for how to react when your kid is bullied.
But talking about it is one way Arizona dad, Isaac Irvine, chose to deal when it happened to his 9-year-old son, Bodi. As reported by CBS News the boy had been growing his hair to donate to cancer patients, and was made fun of by his classmates. So his dad took the opportunity to share their conversation about the day’s events in a video on Facebook. It shows Isaac posing the questions: “What happened?” “How’d it make you feel, man?” and “Do you think you’re the only person who get’s bullied?” The video has garnered more than 60,000 views and serves as a teaching moment for parents and kids.
How do you talk to your kids about bullying? Do you have advice for other parents? Call 866 893 5722 and let us know.