Today on AirTalk, Los Angeles Police Department Chief Michel Moore joins Larry Mantle for his monthly check-in. We also discuss the recent LA Times report on the more than 12,200 reported sexual abuse victims within the Boy Scouts; and more.
Boy Scouts Contemplates Bankruptcy As Legal Challenges Mount From Sexual Abuse Claims
Seven years ago, the LA Times published an investigative piece revealing that 5000 men and women had been expelled from the Boy Scouts of America due to suspicion of sexual abuse -- but a follow up analysis has now revealed the problem to be even greater.
An expert hired by the Boy Scouts said she tallied 7,819 individuals in the “ineligible files” (a coded term used internally by the organization to label suspected predators) as of January, as well as 12,254 victims.
Sexual abuse settlements have already strained the Boy Scouts’ finances to the point where the organization is exploring “all available options,” including Chapter 11 bankruptcy. But now the financial threats have intensified. The reason: States have been moving in recent months to adjust their statute-of-limitations laws so that victims of long-ago sexual abuse can sue for damages.
A bankruptcy by the Boy Scouts could be unprecedented in its complexity, potentially involving plaintiffs in virtually every state.
With files from the Associated Press
Guest:
David Crary, reporter with The Associated Press, who’s been reporting on the Boy Scouts; he tweets
LAPD Chief Moore: Civilian Disciplinary Review Panel, New LAPD Officer-Involved Shooting Stats And More
Los Angeles Police Department Chief Michel Moore joins Larry Mantle for his monthly check-in on AirTalk. Topics discussed include:
- 1,000 guns seized at Bel-Air mansion
- Role expansion of civilian disciplinary review panel
- New LAPD officer-involved shooting stats
- Taser replacement
- LAPD ending some crime stat programs
- LAPD’s gang database and criticism of racial profiling
- Citizens’ concealed weapons permits decision
- Synagogue security after San Diego County shooting
Guest:
Michel Moore, Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department; he tweets
Town Hall Turmoil: Outlining The Various TV Strategies Of 2020 Presidential Candidates
2020 presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren made headlines on Tuesday when she announced in a
I love town halls. I’ve done more than 70 since January, and I’m glad to have a television audience be a part of them. Fox News has invited me to do a town hall, but I’m turning them down—here’s why...
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) May 14, 2019
that she would not be participating in a Fox News town hall, calling the cable network a “hate-for-profit racket” and saying that it “gives a megaphone to racists and conspiracists.”
The decision highlights what has been a divide among the 2020 field -- how to handle appearances on the very conservative and often Trump-defending network. On the one hand, it offers an opportunity for the Democratic candidates to try and sway Trump supporters and conservatives on the fence to their side. But candidates like Senator Warren appear to want to focus on the liberal voting groups that will make up a majority of Democratic votes in 2020.
Senator Bernie Sanders, by contrast, did a Fox News town hall in April which the New York Times reports drew the largest audience for any TV appearance by a 2020 candidate so far. CNN’s town hall programs, meanwhile, have not gotten so much love from viewers. The Washington Post reports that so far, CNN’s town halls have all lagged in the ratings behind even regular programming on MSNBC and Fox, and have failed to even eclipse CNN’s own daily programs.
What do you think of Senator Warren’s decision not to participate in the Fox News town hall? What about the TV strategies of some of the other candidates? What is contributing to the low ratings for CNN’s town halls? Are people simply not interested yet? Is it a function of overall low ratings at the network? Or is their approach just dull?
Guests:
Joe Concha, media reporter at The Hill; 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
Matt Rodriguez, Democratic strategist and founder and chief executive officer of Rodriguez Strategies. He is also a former senior Obama advisor in 2008; he tweets
Margaret Sullivan, media columnist for The Washington Post
David Folkenflik, media correspondent for NPR News and the host of NPR'S "On Point"