Los Angeles Times
Bureau Chief for the Los Angeles Times
PROFILE
Mark Magnier
Guest
FROM Mark Magnier
To the Point
Radiation Fears Spread as Efforts to Cool Reactors in Japan Fail Military and police forces have used water-dropping helicopters and water canons in a desperate effort to cool down the spent fuel rods now exposed to the air at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power complex. American and Japanese officials have different assessments of how much radiation is spewing into the air from Japan's damaged reactors. Both the Pentagon and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission are sending experts into the area.
To the Point
Political Aftershocks of the Earthquake in China Three days of mourning are over and the Olympic torch relay has resumed, but the earthquake aftermath will trouble China for years to come. More than 51,000 have died and 29,000 are missing. Five million are homeless and 300,000 are injured. Officials in Beijing say hundreds of dams have been damaged, and that landslides have created 30 new lakes behind fragile mud flows. The UN has praised China for unprecedented openness since the quake struck a week and a half ago, but a return to restrictions on news coverage seems to be under way. We update the damage and the risks to come. Can an authoritarian government survive the free flow of information?
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To the Point
Will the Senate write a healthcare bill in secret? While Democrats and Republicans argue White House relations with Russia, another question is being decided behind closed doors: who gets help buying health insurance and who doesn't? We hear how the pros and cons are being shrouded in secrecy.
To the Point
Replacing Obamacare: Now you see it… now you don’t As the Senate deliberates replacing Obmacare, health coverage for millions of people is at stake. There've been no public hearings, and a draft measure won't be made public. Is the House version so unpopular that that Senate is hiding a version that looks much the same?
To the Point
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.