PROFILE
FROM Brian Hicks
Debate Begins over Removal of the Confederate flag at the SC Capitol The state legislature in Columbia, South Carolina is meeting today, and there are rallies outside the capitol building. On the agenda is Governor Nikki Haley’s proposed measure to remove the Confederate flag from a monument on the capitol grounds. Brian Hicks is metro columnist for the Post and Courier in Charleston.
Law Enforcement on Trial in America In Charleston, South Carolina cellphone video appears to show criminal conduct by police officer Michael Slager. He was fired and charged with murder shortly after the video went viral. It's the most damning in a series of videos that have created a crisis of public confidence in law enforcement. Such recent body-cam and bystander videos appear to confirm the worst accusations against police in some parts of America. They show what looks like racial profiling, abuse of force and tampering with evidence. They suggest that some cops believe they can get away with murder. Everybody agrees police face danger on a daily basis, but there's a growing consensus that steps are needed to counteract a loss of public confidence. Is better training what's needed to overcome deficiencies in cop culture?
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Ex-FBI Director Comey tells his side of the story Today, former FBI Director James Comey came close to calling the President who fired him a liar. The White House denied the claim and called it insulting, but Republican Senators did not challenge Comey’s truthfulness. Many questions remain: did the President try to obstruct a federal investigation? Later, we’ll go behind the “velvet rope” for a look at 5-Star health care for the richest Americans.
Trump plays scolder-in-chief with NATO allies At the opening of NATO’s dramatic new headquarters in Brussels today, President Trump acknowledged that Article 5 — promising that “an attack on one nation is an attack on all” -- has only been invoked one time: in the aftermath of September 11. But the President failed to provide what 27 other Alliance members have been waiting for: a re-commitment by America’s new leader to Article 5. Instead, they got a scolding.
What happens when America retreats from the world? Is President Trump taking his "America First" agenda to extremes, withdrawing the country from the international stage on trade and climate change, distancing America from its traditional allies across the Atlantic and even threatening to physically isolate the country through the building of a wall along its southern border? León Krauze guest hosts.
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.