AirTalk looks at former FBI director Robert Mueller's legacy and how special counsels have been used in the past after Mueller was tapped to head the investigation into the Trump campaign's Russia ties. We'll also speak with LA County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl on proposed board changes and LA's new public energy program; what's next for LAUSD after the Board of Education's new pro-charter majority?; and more.
Who is Robert Mueller? And what to expect from the Russian probe in the coming months
The president calls it “the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history.”
But House Speaker Paul Ryan calls it an appropriate independent investigation. It’s now former FBI Director Robert Mueller’s job to investigate Russia’s alleged effort to disrupt the presidential election.
What can we expect over the next several months?
Guests:
Josh Gerstein, senior White House reporter for POLITICO; he has been following the story
Garrett Graff, journalist and author; he wrote a biography on former FBI Director Robert Mueller, "The Threat Matrix: The FBI At War In The Age Of Global Terror” (Back Bay Books, 2012); he tweets
Ron Hosko, former assistant director of the FBI from 2012 to 2014; president of the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund, a non-profit organization providing assistance to law enforcement officers who are required to defend their official actions in court; he worked with former FBI Director Robert Mueller for a year
Erwin Chemerinsky, legal scholar, and founding dean of UC Irvine School of Law; he has been named as the dean of UC Berkeley School of Law this week; his recent op-ed for the LA Times is “Naming Robert Mueller as special counsel isn't enough — because Trump can get rid of him”
John Eastman, professor law and community service and director of the Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence at Chapman University
John Q. Barrett, law professor at St. John’s University in New York; he worked on the prosecutorial team for the independent counsel’s office during the Iran-Contra affair
LA County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl on proposed Board changes, public energy program
Earlier this month, we spoke with former LA County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky who was in favor of a bill that would increase the number of LA County Board Supervisors from 5 to 7, as well as create a powerful new elected executive position.
Today, we’ll talk to current L.A. County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl to get her take on the proposed changes.
We’ll also ask her about the public energy program approved by the Board of Supervisors in April, which would serve as an alternative to Southern California Edison.
Have any questions for Supervisor Kuehl? Call us at 866-893-5722.
Listen to former L.A. County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky's AirTalk interview regarding the proposed changes to the Board here.
Guest:
Sheila Kuehl, Los Angeles County Supervisor representing District 3, which stretches from the ocean to Los Feliz, and from Venice up to San Fernando
Analyzing the future of LA schools after Tuesday's LAUSD election
When Nick Melvoin and — assuming her narrow lead in Tuesday's election holds — Kelly Gonez are sworn in as the newest members of the Los Angeles Unified School Board in July, the balance of power on the board will shift.
Their accessions will mean a majority of the seven-member board will have been endorsed by the California Charter School Association, a watershed moment on a board with which the district's main teachers union, United Teachers Los Angeles, has long held much sway.
Melvoin and Gonez join Mónica García, who won re-election outright in the March primary, and Ref Rodriguez as candidates who have the charter association's imprimatur.
For more on this story, click here.
Guests:
Kyle Stokes, KPCC education reporter covering LAUSD
Alex Caputo-Pearl, president of United Teachers Los Angeles
A look at how the past influences the present of Islamic faith
While there may be misconceptions about Islam in the western world, one of the most prominent is the notion that Islam is a rigid religion that hasn’t changed much since its origin.
But the new book from Christopher de Bellaigue argues otherwise. In “The Islamic Enlightenment: The Struggle Between Faith and Reason, 1798 to Modern Times,” de Bellaigue explores the relatively recent changes that have occurred within Islam as Muslim reformists embraced modernity.
However, there are still sects of Islam that remained less liberal, and for more on Islamic apologists and Wahhabists, we turn to Professor Khaled Abou El Fadl, a professor at the UCLA School of Law and the Chair of the Islamic Studies Program there.
Guests:
Christopher de Bellaigue, journalist, documentarian and author of “The Islamic Enlightenment: The Struggle Between Faith and Reason, 1798 to Modern Times” (Liveright, 2017)
Khaled Abou El Fadl, law professor and chair of the Islamic Studies Program at UCLA