Today on AirTalk, our weekly political roundtable recaps the major headlines you might’ve missed in politics news over the weekend and looks ahead to the week to come. We also check in on the 2020 campaigns in Iowa and New Hampshire; discuss how large scale vaping bans could impact consumers; and more.
Week In Politics: Ukraine, Latest 2020 Polling And More
AirTalk’s weekly political roundtable recaps the major headlines you might’ve missed in politics news over the weekend and looks ahead to the week to come. Here are the headlines what we’re following this week:
A whistleblower complaint concerning Trump and Ukraine has surfaced. Some Dems are talking impeachment
2020:
Warren overtook Biden and Sanders in the Iowa Poll -- how significant is her lead? Kamala Harris slipped in California, according to KQED poll. She also said she’ll move to Iowa
Bill de Blasio dropped out. Who’s next? (Booker says he might drop out)
Andrew Yang has gotten some backlash (but also support) for playing on Asian stereotypes
House Speaker Pelosi revealed her plan to lower prescription drug prices, which is also one of President Trump’s goals -- will this be a bipartisan effort?
The Trump admin announced an “asylum cooperation agreement” in which they can send asylum seekers to El Salvador
Iran’s Central Bank will be hit with sanctions from the U.S.
Gov. Gavin Newsom to decide whether American Independent Party must change name
Trump and California
Federal judge blocked California law to force disclosure of Trump’s tax returns
Trump is revoking CA’s ability to set auto-emissions standards. CA is suing
Trump visited San Francisco and Los Angeles last week and promised to take action on homelessness. What that means is unclear, but the president has said that the EPA will cite San Francisco for pollution coming from the city’s homelessness problem
Guests:
Ron Elving, senior editor and correspondent on the Washington Desk for NPR News;he tweets
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
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
Checking In On The 2020 Campaign In Iowa
Things are heating up as presidential candidates set their sights on what’s considered to be one of the most important points in politics: Iowa.
On Saturday, candidates faced off at the traditional Iowan Steak Fry competition, according to the Washington Post. At the end of the day of grilling, rallying and snapping selfies, the Des Moines Register released a collaborative poll showing surging support for Elizabeth Warren. Today on AirTalk, we check in with regional reporters to hear how campaigning is going in Iowa and New Hampshire. Which candidates are still showing up in Iowa? And what do Iowans have to say about them?
Guest:
Reid Epstein, politics reporter for The New York Times; has been covering the 2020 Democratic campaign in Iowa
After Walmart Snuffs Out E-Cigarette Sales, A Look At How Large-Scale Vaping Bans Could Impact Consumers
Amid growing concerns about the health hazards of vaping, Walmart announced on Friday that it would no longer be selling e-cigarettes at its U.S. stores, becoming the latest (and largest) major retailer in the country to ban their sales, along with others like Rite Aid, Dollar General and Costco.
Walmart says it will continue to sell the products until its supply runs dry, which could take a few months, but there’s no denying that when the biggest retail operation in the country makes a decision like this, there may be others who follow suit. The FDA and CDC have both recommended that until more concrete information about the potential risks of vaping is available, users refrain from using e-cigarettes or other vaporizers, including vapes that are designed for marijuana and THC consumption. It is unclear how many of the people who have reported vaping-related health issues were using bootleg cartridges versus how many used state or federally-regulated nicotine or THC cartridges.
Public health and anti-vaping advocates say the move is aimed at preventing teenagers from having easy access to e-cigarettes and other vaping products, but others wonder whether large-scale bans like Walmart's as well as states like New York and Michigan taking legislative action to ban sales of e-cigarettes will ultimately backfire and drive consumers who might otherwise buy their vapes or e-liquid from a regulated source back to the illegal market, thereby increasing their risk of buying a cartridge that hasn’t been tested for contaminants.
If you are a vaper, are you concerned about your ability to purchase your cartridges from a reputable dealer? Have you considered going back to the illegal market? Are you at all worried about the potential health risks? Join our live conversation at 866-893-5722.
Guests:
John Maa, M.D., practicing general surgeon at Marin General Hospital outside San Francisco and past president of the San Francisco Marin Medical Society; he tweets
Jacob Sullum, senior editor at Reason, where he writes about drug policy, and author of the books "Saying Yes: In Defense of Drug Use" (Tarcher/Penguin, 2004) and "For Your Own Good: The Anti-Smoking Crusade and the Tyranny of Public Health" (Free Press, 1998); he tweets
Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs? And Other Questions (And Answers) About Death
Can you describe the smell of a dead body? Will I poop when I die? What would happen to an astronaut body in space?
Mortician and best-selling author, Caitlin Doughty, provides answers to these questions and many more in her new book, Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs? Big Questions from Tiny Mortals about Death.
The book is a catalogue of thirty-five macabre concerns, many posed by children, that Doughty addresses in short chapters. Doughty draws on her career in the funeral industry to infuse each response with fact, humor, history and anecdote. Her previous titles, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes and From Here to Eternity have both been New York Times best-sellers.
Today on AirTalk, Larry Mantle sits down with Doughty to talk about her new book and why she wants people to get comfortable talking about death (and the sometimes messy details).
Guest:
Caitlin Doughty, mortician and death positive activist; her new book is “Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs?: Big Questions from Tiny Mortals About Death” (2019, W. W. Norton & Company)