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Villanova University
Mark Schrad is an assistant professor of political science at Villanova University and the author of Vodka Politics: Alcohol, Autocracy and the Secret History of the Russian State.
PROFILE
Mark Schrad
Guest
FROM Mark Schrad
To the Point
The summit within the summit After warm greetings in public, Presidents Trump and Putin were behind closed doors for more than two hours today in Hamburg, Germany. For the moment, their meeting has overshadowed the larger G-20 summit, as protesters stormed local police in the streets of the city. Mr. Trump’s aides said he had “no agenda,” but Secretary of State Tillerson says he began with Russia’s meddling in America’s election. Putin denied it. With US-Russian relations at their lowest point in decades, is there any chance of a rapprochement? Is that in America’s interests?
To the Point
Presidential tweetstorms and the Russian connection President Trump is reportedly outraged at his staff because the political flap over false statements about Russian officials just won't go away. At the same time, he's added to all the drama with early-morning tweets of unverified charges that former President Obama "wiretapped" Trump Tower. FBI Director James Comey has raised the ante by asking the Justice Department to refute that claim—by the new President who's kept him in office. Today, cabinet members unveiled the amended version of his controversial travel ban. But the Trump agenda faces stiff competition for public attention.
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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.
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White House budget proposal slashes and burns President Trump's first budget request is considered dead on arrival in Congress — a familiar development in Capitol Hill. We hear what it reveals about the priorities of the new administration. What's likely to die… and what might survive?
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Who's to blame for the opioid crisis? Some of the lawyers who took on Big Tobacco are now going after Big Pharma. It’s all about the deadly epidemic of opioid use. Are the drug companies to blame? What about the users? Later, on today’s Talking Point: making sense of Britain’s upset election.