Weather Program Manager, National Weather Service Central Region Headquarters
Weather Program Manager with the National Weather Service Central Region Headquarters, based in Kansas City, Missouri
PROFILE
Jim Keeney
Guest
FROM Jim Keeney
To the Point
Is the Deluge in Iowa Worse than It Needed to Be? This weekend's newscasts and front pages were full of pictures dramatizing the damage from record rainfall and massive flooding , especially in Iowa. The area covered is smaller than it was in 1993--the worst such period in living memory, but the damage could end up being even worse. Midwestern farming has been a bright spot in a declining economy, but record rainfall and massive flooding are turning success into disaster. Widespread development on natural floodplains leaves less land to soak up excess water, which leads to big trouble downstream. When the levees are over-topped, those new developments are threatened with inundation. Have local and federal officials failed to learn the lessons of flooding in decades past? What will that mean in the future?
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To the Point
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.
To the Point
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.
To the Point
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.
To the Point
The longest US war: Will Trump send more troops to Afghanistan? The Trump White House is divided over the Pentagon's request for more troops in Afghanistan—where the US has been fighting for the past 16 years. Is there a formula -- either for "victory" or a political settlement? Is there an end in sight for America's longest war?