PROFILE
FROM Francis De Luca
Use the Bathroom, Break the Law The federal government says the state of North Carolina is violating the civil rights of transgender people. A new law requires them to use only those public bathrooms designated for the sex on their birth certificates, not the sex that defines their sense of identity. Attorney General Loretta Lynch compares it to the Jim Crow laws used to discriminate against black Americans after the Civil War. Billions in federal education money could be withheld, and Governor Pat McCrory says Washington's being a "bully." Even before its clear how the law might be enforced, legal actions could lead to decisions with national impact.
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Terrorism and tweets, hate speech and murder Just days before an election, Britain is coping with a rash of deadly terrorism, and Prime Minister Theresa May is on the defensive. And again today, President Trump has tweeted criticism of the Mayor of London. Later, a double murder in Portland, Oregon has revealed the ugly past of a supposedly “progressive” city. One immediate question: is “hate speech” protected by the First Amendment?
Trump's new look at civil rights and global warming President Trump is reportedly ready to pull the US out of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. We look at the possible consequences. On the second half of the program, we hear about cuts in Obama-Era civil rights programs called for by the Trump Administration's first budget plan.
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.