US Congress
Ted Lieu is a Congressman representing California's 33rd District (Hancock Park, Santa Monica, Malibu, Agoura Hills, Calabasas, South Bay) and serves on the House Judiciary Committee and House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Lieu formerly served as State Senator for California's 28th District and former State Assemblyman for the 53rd District (Torrance, South Bay beach cities, Marina del Rey, Westchester, West Los Angeles).
Will firing James Comey backfire on President Trump? After meeting with Russia's Foreign Minister today, President Trump gave a brief answer when asked why he fired the head of the FBI. "Because he wasn't doing a good job. Quite simply, he wasn't doing a good job." Speaking at greater length, Vice President Mike Pence told reporters it was, "the right thing at the right time." The President says he fired Comey at the request of current Attorney General Jeff Sessions. His action is being compared to the so-called "Saturday Night Massacre" that led to President Richard Nixon's resignation in 1973. Comey was looking into the Trump campaign's connections to Russia. His Administration insists that it's time to move on, but Democrats are demanding an independent investigation. Just one Republican is going that far. But many say they are "troubled."
Trump and Russia: A real scandal or a diversion? Just after the President accused Barack Obama of "wiretapping" Trump Tower, WikiLeaks dumped a massive database revealing CIA hacking. Coincidence? Now, conservatives are joining liberals in demanding to know if Trump and his associates have been lying about collusion with Russia. But others insist such conspiracy theories lead down "a rabbit hole," and distract attention from healthcare, the environment and the justice system. One week from the start of congressional hearings we get the latest on the political firestorm.
President Trump: Illegitimate or just unpopular? Donald Trump landed in Washington today and he takes office tomorrow with the lowest approval ratings in recent memory. At least 60 Democrats in Congress are boycotting his inauguration, some even calling his presidency "illegitimate." Another record-breaker: Saturday's Women's March on Washington could be one of the largest inauguration-related protests in history. But given Trump's temperament and Republican control of Congress, guest host Barbara Bogaev asks whether any of this will matter when it comes time to actually govern.
The United States in another Middle-East civil war For months, State Department officials and a few members of Congress have warned that America's at risk of violating international law. Until today, it was all about US military aid to Saudi Arabia's bombing of civilian targets in Yemen, its tiny neighbor already devastated by civil war. Today, an American warship fired cruise missiles into Yemen — in retaliation for shots fired from shore -- making the US more directly involved than ever. Now Iran is sending ships to the region -- escalating an already tense international situation while a humanitarian disaster unfolds on the ground.
Local Congressman Wants Probe of Exxon For years, tobacco companies knew about the dangers of smoking, but publicly denied their own scientists' findings. They were prosecuted under federal law. Now, members of Congress are demanding that Exxon be investigated for similar violations — based on investigative reporting by the Columbia Journalism School's Project on Energy and the Environment, which found that Exxon knew about climate change for 20 years—and made plans to exploit it—while telling the public the science was unreliable.
The Race to Replace Waxman After 40 years in Washington, Los Angeles Democrat Henry Waxman has resigned from Congress, and the line to replace him is growing. The registration is 44% Democratic, 27% Republican and 24% Independent. The 33rd Congressional District is anchored on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, and includes parts of Torrance and other beach cities, including Santa Monica and Malibu, as well as Beverly Hills and surrounding parts of Los Angeles, all the way to Agoura Hills and Calabasas. We hear from two prominent Democrats who want the job, State Senator Ted Lieu and former LA City Controller Wendy Greuel. We'll talk later with other candidates, including Republicans and Independents.)
Assembly Bill to Offer Bailout to Homeowners Facing Foreclosure The sub-prime lending market was a product of the housing boom that’s now cooling off in California and the rest the country. Many homeowners are now faced with foreclosure. They can’t keep up with increasing payments on loans with variable interest rates—which means they started out low and they’re now going up. Should California create a pool of money to help avoid those foreclosures? Democratic Assemblyman Ted Lieu proposes a bill . We hear from Lieu as well as from economist Jack Kyser.
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.
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.
