Today on AirTalk, we discuss the latest on special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election; we also recap the big political stories you might’ve missed this weekend and look ahead to the week to come; and more
AirTalk special on Mueller report: Can Attorney General Barr exonerate Trump?
The Justice Department said Sunday that special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation did not find evidence that President Donald Trump's campaign "conspired or coordinated" with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election.
Mueller also investigated whether Trump obstructed justice but did not come to a definitive answer.
In a four-page letter to Congress, Attorney General William Barr quoted Mueller's report as stating it "does not exonerate" the president on obstruction. Instead, Barr said, it "sets out evidence on both sides of the question."
Trump, in Florida, celebrated that the report showed "there was no collusion." He also claimed it showed there was no obstruction.
Barr released his summary of Mueller's report Sunday afternoon. Mueller wrapped up his investigation on Friday with no new indictments, bringing to a close a probe that has shadowed Trump for nearly two years.
But the broader fight is not over.
The Justice Department summary sets up a battle between Barr and Democrats, who called for Mueller's full report to be released and vowed to press on with their own investigation.
With files from the Associated Press
Guests:
Chris Megerian, Los Angeles Times reporter based in Washington, D.C. where he reports on the special counsel investigation; he tweets
Jeff Mordock, reporter covering the Justice Department for the Washington Times
David Rivkin, partner at the law firm BakerHostetler; he has previously held positions at the Department of Justice, in the Office of White House Counsel and elsewhere in the federal government; he tweets
Justin Levitt, professor of law at Loyola Law School and former deputy assistant attorney general in the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department under President Obama; he tweets
Miriam Baer, professor of law at Brooklyn Law School where she specializes in corporate and white-collar crime and criminal law and procedure
John Malcolm, vice president of the Institute for Constitutional Government and director of the Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C.
Pete Peterson, dean of the School of Public Policy and senior fellow at The Davenport Institute at Pepperdine University; he tweets
Week in politics: Political dimensions of Mueller report’s release for the president and Congress, highlights from Israeli PM’s White House visit and more
AirTalk’s weekly political roundtable recaps the big political stories you might’ve missed this weekend and looks ahead to the week to come in national and state politics.
We’ll talk with our political analysts about their take on the conclusion of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation and the political dimensions of all that, but we’ll also tackle a few stories that aren’t related to the Mueller probe:
Trump comments on Golan Heights & Israel
Trump
It was announced today by the U.S. Treasury that additional large scale Sanctions would be added to those already existing Sanctions on North Korea. I have today ordered the withdrawal of those additional Sanctions!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 22, 2019on N. Korea sanctions causes confusion
Fox News poll: Biden, Sanders lead Dems preference
Sen. Kamala Harris to call for federal spending to raise teachers’ salaries
Democratic candidates want bigger SCOTUS to counteract recently-added conservative justices
Sen. Warren calls for ending electoral college
Guests:
Matt Barreto, professor of political science and Chicano/a Studies at UCLA and co-founder of the research and polling firm Latino Decisions; he tweets
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
Apple’s ‘Show Time’ announcement highlights new TV, gaming and news subscription services
Apple has always been known for its high-tech, high-energy announcements when they roll out new products, and while the tech giant’s highly-anticipated event today at its Cupertino, CA headquarters is expected to showcase a shift in the company’s focus from products to services, the events themselves still have that trademark Apple flair for the dramatic.
Apple was expected to announce today that it's launching a video service that could compete with Netflix, Amazon and cable TV itself. That service will be called “Apple TV+,” CEO Tim Cook told the audience at the Steve Jobs Theatre. In addition to a preview montage of interviews with some of the major figures who worked with Apple on exclusive content for the platform, Apple also had some of the content creators themselves make appearances, including Steven Spielberg, Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, Kumail Nanjiani and even Sesame Street’s Big Bird. The new video service is expected to have original TV shows and movies that reportedly cost Apple more than $1 billion - far less than Netflix and HBO spend every year.
Monday’s event was not all about streaming TV, either. Apple also used the platform to announce several other services that will soon be available, including a gaming subscription service for Mac, iOS and Apple TV called “Apple Arcade” that will include exclusive games available only to subscribers as well as a news subscription service called “Apple News Plus” that it says will add more than 300 magazines to the Apple News app.
With files from the Associated Press.
Guests:
Eric Deggans, TV critic for NPR; he tweets
Ryan Faughnder, film business reporter for The Los Angeles Times; he tweets
Ken Doctor, media analyst who focuses on the transformation of consumer media in the digital age; author of “Newsonomics: Twelve New Trends That Will Shape the News You Get” (St. Martin’s Press, 2010)