Co-Founder, White House Transition Project
Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, he is co-founder and executive director of the White House Transition Project, which provides scholarly information and assistance to secure a successful presidential transition
Barack Obama: Doing Too Much or Too Little? With the motto, "never waste a good crisis," Barack Obama is pushing a broad agenda at the same time he’s trying to stabilize the financial system and restore economic stability. Eight weeks into his four-year term, the new President appears on TV two or three times a day, each time, it seems, with a different challenge. While polls show the public remains on his side, "Obama’s honeymoon in the corridors of power has come to an abrupt end." Now Warren Buffett and other authoritative supporters say he ought to be focusing like a laser beam on fixing the economy -- right now. The White House insists that issues like healthcare, education and global warming are basic to economic recovery, long term. But is Obama addressing the costs and trade-offs honestly?
Obama Names His Nation Security Team Barack Obama's national security team is full of familiar faces, including Hillary Clinton at State and Robert Gates staying on at Defense . Along with former Marine Corps Commandant General James Jones at the National Security Council , they've had many public disagreements with the president-elect. As he introduced them today, the President-elect described himself as a strong believer in strong personalities and strong opinions. Cautioning against the danger of "group-think and affirming that he welcomed " vigorous debate inside the White House ," he acknowledged that the buck stops with him. We hear about his so-called "team of rivals." Can they implement his vision for combining force and diplomacy?
Obama Names His Nation Security Team Barack Obama's national security team is full of familiar faces, including Hillary Clinton at State and Robert Gates staying on at Defense . Along with former Marine Corps Commandant General James Jones at the National Security Council , they've had many public disagreements with the president-elect. As he introduced them today, the President-elect described himself as a strong believer in strong personalities and strong opinions. Cautioning against the danger of "group-think and affirming that he welcomed " vigorous debate inside the White House ," he acknowledged that the buck stops with him. We hear about his so-called "team of rivals." Can they implement his vision for combining force and diplomacy?
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.
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.
How was the trip? President Trump's travels got less fun as he went from the Middle East to Europe.
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.