Editor, Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Report
Director of the Intelligence Project at the Southern Poverty Law Center, based in Montgomery, Alabama, and editor of its Intelligence Report
PROFILE
Mark Potok
Guest
FROM Mark Potok
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Bomb threats to Jewish centers stir up fears over heightened anti-Semitism More than 100 Jewish community centers and schools nationwide have faced bomb threats . The FBI is investigating , but so far have not identified a suspect.
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
How 90s right-wing extremism echoes in today's politics Janet Reno, the nation’s first female attorney general, died this morning from complications of Parkinson's Disease. Her eight-year tenure in Bill Clinton’s administration was marked by a number of instances of right-wing white extremism, like the Oklahoma City bombing and rise of the Unabomber. Those events revealed a deep anger and divide along political lines -- not unlike what we see today.
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Oregon Militia Movement Leads to Tragedy LaVoy Finicum, one of the armed protesters occupying a wildlife refuge in Burns, Oregon, during the past two months was killed yesterday afternoon in a police confrontation. Authorities also stepped up a blockade of the Malheur Wildlife Refuge after arresting several members of the group, including leader Ammon Bundy, when they traveled outside. We look at where this incident leaves the self-styled militia movement in the West.
Here Be Monsters
HBM040: The Reformation Bible Puritan Baptist Church [EXPLICIT] In this episode, Emile visits the church to investigate the story of Eric's rise and fall in the bizarre, radical, niche world of anti-papal internet talk radio and finds out how Eric's upbringing in the Civil Rights Era informed his views on white supremacy.
Which Way, L.A.?
Saturday's Shooting Rampage in Tucson Twenty-two year-old Jared Laughner was arraigned today in Phoenix, telling a federal judge he understood charges of murder and attempted murder. They stem, of course, from Saturday's deadly shootout in Tuscon. When proceedings resume in two weeks, they'll be handled by another federal judge who's not from Arizona. Doctors say it's good news that Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords ' condition has not changed since a bullet passed through her brain. She has been able to respond to simple commands.
To the Point
Violence, Madness and Politics in Arizona In Washington today, federal charges were filed against Jared Lee Loughner stemming from Saturday's shooting rampage in Tucson. Meanwhile, members of Congress and their staffs gathered on the steps of the Capitol and observed a moment of silence in tribute to their wounded colleague, Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords . Business has been cancelled for the rest of this week. FBI Director Robert Mueller has taken charge of the investigation of Saturday's shooting . Yesterday, he talked about the increased availability of what he called inciteful speech, including hate speech. He said possible links to extremist groups would be a continuing focus. We discuss what led to the shooting rampage that killed six people, including US District Court Judge John Roll and 9-year old girl, Did vitriolic rhetoric play a role? Is a tragedy being used to make political points?
Which Way, L.A.?
Will Tea Party Activists Derail before November? After losing on healthcare reform , Tea Partiers launched a nation-wide bus campaign this weekend. On Saturday, they some ten thousand activists descended on Harry Reid's small hometown of Searchlight, Nevada, hoping to help unseat the Democratic Majority Leader this November and to play a major role in the mid-term elections. Tea Partiers have been criticized for inflammatory rhetoric that's ratcheting up political tension, and which critics say has helped fuel harassment against some Democratic lawmakers. How far will the movement go? How will it shape political debate? And how are Democrats and mainstream Republicans responding?
To the Point
Will Tea Party Activists Derail before November? After losing on healthcare reform , Tea Partiers launched a nation-wide bus campaign this weekend. On Saturday, they some ten thousand activists descended on Harry Reid's small hometown of Searchlight, Nevada, hoping to help unseat the Democratic Majority Leader this November and to play a major role in the mid-term elections. Tea Partiers have been criticized for inflammatory rhetoric that's ratcheting up political tension, and which critics say has helped fuel harassment against some Democratic lawmakers. How far will the movement go? How will it shape political debate? And how are Democrats and mainstream Republicans responding?
To the Point
Is Right-wing Extremism on the Rise? Conservative pundits are up in arms about a new report warning that right-wing extremists are a threat to America's internal security. Prepared in conjunction with the FBI and unlike a previous report about left-wing radicals, it contains few specifics and names no names, but it does say returning veterans could pose a danger. Though the Obama Administration has apologized for that, mainstream conservatives still insist they're under unwarranted political attack. We hear both sides and ask what this dispute and the Tax Day "tea parties" mean for the future of Republican politics.
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To the Point
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.
Left, Right & Center
How was the trip? President Trump's travels got less fun as he went from the Middle East to Europe.
To the Point
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.
To the Point
Trump's 'America First' goes missing abroad In the Middle East, President Trump is changing some policies of the Obama Administration—and reversing his own campaign attacks on Islam as a religion that "hates us." We hear about his visit to Saudi Arabia and what's at stake for the rest of his foreign excursion.