We dive into international security concerns behind the WannaCry virus, which infected computers in nearly 150 countries this weekend; Trump's short list for a new FBI director this week; a look into KPCC's investigation with the San Bernardino Sun on officer-involved shootings in the largest county in the United States; and more.
Week in politics: Odds on seeing a new FBI director named this week, plus forecasting US response to North Korea’s missile test and more
With visits lined up early this week between President Trump and three foreign leaders (Abu Dhabi, Turkey and Colombia) followed by Mr. Trump’s first major trip overseas, it might come as a surprise to some that the President has also said his administration wants to move quickly in appointing a new FBI director, and that he might even have a decision before he leaves the U.S. on Friday.
A shortlist of candidates is already circulating, though several of the names being considered are politicians and that has some worried about what might happen if a known partisan were nominated to lead an agency that is supposed to stay out of politics.
Meanwhile, much of the rest of the developed world is still reeling following a massive cyberattack that has slowed up internet traffic in the U.K., China, India and a slew of other countries. Microsoft’s president blasted the National Security Agency for the hack, which exploited a flaw in Windows’ operating system known to the NSA. We’re also following the weekend missile test that North Korea carried out, seemingly successfully, and looking at response from both the U.S. and South Korea, which just installed a new president.
Also on the docket this week, looking at what might come out of President Trump’s panel to investigate voter fraud in the 2016 election and a preview of his first big overseas trip.
Guests:
Pete Peterson, dean of the School of Public Policy and senior fellow at The Davenport Institute at Pepperdine University; he tweets
John Iadarola, host and creator of ThinkTank, part of The Young Turks Network; he also serves as a weekly co-host for The Young Turks weekly live show; he tweets
Robert Litwak, vice president for scholars and director of international security studies at the Wilson Center; he is the author of the new book, “Preventing North Korea's Nuclear Breakout” (Wilson Center, 2017)
KPCC’s latest investigation on officer-involved shootings zooms in on San Bernardino County
KPCC and The San Bernardino Sun teamed up to produce the first substantive examination of police shootings in San Bernardino County - the largest county in the United States. According to some of the research, county officers shot 103 people in a six-year span.
Guests:
Annie Gilbertson, investigative reporter at KPCC. Her three-part radio series on officer-involved shootings in San Bernardino County launches today
Lolita Harper, director of public relations with the Sheriff’s Employees Benefits Association, the union that represents the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department; retired detective for the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department (2005 to 2015)
Parsing the tech and national security concerns behind the WannaCry ransomware attacks
Over the weekend, the ransomware WannaCry infected computers in nearly 150 countries, taking files hostage for $300 in bitcoin and threatening to delete them after a week of no response.
The malware, which exploits a vulnerability in Microsoft’s Windows XP, was reportedly stolen and leaked from the NSA back in April, leading Microsoft’s president to criticize the NSA for keeping tabs on software weaknesses.
The attack was largely halted over the weekend thanks to a 22-year-old UK-based computer researcher who found and triggered a kill switch in the code.
There’s been anxiety over what will happen today as people head back to work and turn on their computers – and though there were more infections reported, mostly in Asia, WannaCry seems to be slowing down.
How does WannaCry work and what can we do to protect ourselves? Does the NSA bear any responsibility for these attacks? And what are the tech and national security concerns, looking forward?
Guests:
Russell Brandom, reporter at the Verge who has been following the story
Bob Stasio, a fellow at the Truman National Security Project, a national security think tank; he is also former Chief of Operations of NSA’s Cyber Center
Dealing with the gray areas of sexual assault by and towards children
According to a yearlong Associated Press investigation, there were nearly 17,000 official reports of sexual assaults by K-12 students from 2011 to 2015.
Nearly 5 percent of this sexual violence involved 5 and 6-year-olds, and those numbers rose sharply when students hit middle school and puberty, declining again when kids entered high school.
Barring private homes, schools are the location where kids are most likely to experience sexual violence at the hands of peers.
Certain situations involving K-8 students raise particularly difficult questions about what qualifies as sexual assault. On the one hand, children can’t legally consent to sexual activity. But then there is a normal, maybe even expected, amount of sexual experimentation between kids. When does this cross the boundary into assault?
What can parents and school administrators do to keep kids from perpetrating or being subjected to unwanted sexual situations? How do we deal with the gray areas inherent to sexual incidents involving children?
Guests:
Marc Ecker, lecturer in the College of Education at Cal State Fullerton and former superintendent of Fountain Valley School District; he’s worked in the California public school system for over 42 years
Betsy Brown Braun, child development and behavior specialist; best selling author of “Just Tell Me What to Say: Sensible Tips and Scripts for Perplexed Parents” (HarperCollins, 2008)