PROFILE
FROM Brendan Schulman
Is a New Kind of Airborne Accident Just Waiting to Happen? Drone technology has many applications and it's creating an industry that's here to stay, but there are downsides. So far, no commercial airliner has been struck by an unmanned drone, but 650 pilots have reported drones near their flight paths — just this year. In the West, drones have interfered with aerial firefighting, and they've injured people on the streets of Seattle, Albuquerque, Tucson and Tampa. The FAA has only started to regulate commercial drones, and there are almost no rules for hobby drones, which are cheap to buy and easy to fly. Now, some states may be stepping in where Congress has failed to take action. Here at KCRW in Santa Monica, we've been experimenting with DJI Phantom 2. You can check out our reporting on commercial drones, including their use for news coverage, at KCRW.com/drones .
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Human Rights in the era of Donald Trump President Trump’s UN Ambassador, Nikki Haley, said today the US might pull out of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council. Serious violators of human rights are members of the Council itself–and a US resignation could make things worse. Later on today’s show, now that he’s into his second term, comedian turned US Senator Al Franken is telling jokes again.
The Trump agenda: where's the beef? President Trump says big things are happening. After celebrating a House bill on health care, he doesn’t yet have Senate agreement. With James Comey’s public testimony scheduled tomorrow, the President today tweeted his selection of a new FBI Director. Is the Chief Executive all style and no substance? Later, terror attacks in Iran and conflicting claims about who’s behind them.
Venezuela spirals into economic and political chaos Venezuela, a country whose potential for prosperity is unmatched, finds itself on the verge of civil war. What sustains the repressive government? With time running out, guest host León Krauze looks at what the international community can do to pull the country from the edge of collapse.
Is the threat from Russia missing from the Russia meddling probe? There's much being made about the Trump administration's possible ties with Russia. But the bottom line is Russia's effort to influence American democracy. Do the President and his aides care enough to take action before voters go back to the polls?