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During Sinema's brief time in office, she has gained a reputation for being particularly inscrutable. She is known for rarely holding town halls with constituents or taking questions from the press. Last week, five members of Senator Kyrsten Sinema’s Veterans Advisory Council publicly stepped down, calling her “one of the principal obstacles to progress.” The Takeaway talks to one of those members, Sylvia González Andersh, a U.S. Air Force Veteran, to get some more insight on Kyrsten Sinema.

Delays in Reconciliation Deal Hamper Biden's Trip to Europe

President Biden is traveling through Europe this weekend, for a trip that includes meeting with world leaders at the Group of 20 summit in Rome and the UN’s climate summit, COP26. Anthony Adragna, Congressional reporter for POLITICO and author of the Congress Minutes, POLITICO’s guide to what’s happening on Capitol Hill, joined The Takeaway to discuss.

The State of Black Women's Representation in American Politics

In 2021, there are a record number of  Black women serving in state legislatures. More Black women than ever before contested for and won Congressional seats in 2020.  But after the Governor of California appointed a man to fill the former Senate seat of Vice President Kamala Harris, there is now not a single Black woman in the U.S. Senate. For more on all this, The Takeaway spoke to Kimberly Peeler-Allen, a visiting practitioner at the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University and co-founder of Higher Heights,  a group focused on Black women’s political power as voters and representatives.

The Implications of Private Military Training Complexes in North Carolina

After the riots at the Capitol on January 6th, we learned that a number of the insurrectionists had received training at private, tactical training sites. Laura Flanders, host of The Laura Flanders Show, spoke to residents and council members in North Carolina who have seen these military complexes set up shop in their communities. Our host speaks with Laura and Christina Davis McCoy, secretary of the Hoke County NAACP about the rise in private military training sites, the greater implications, and what residents can do to keep them out of their backyards.

For transcripts, see individual segment pages. 

Jessica Taylor, the Senate and Governors Editor for The Cook Political Report, and Zach Montellaro, state politics reporter at POLITICO take a look at state politics and gubernatorial races around the country where candidates are debating issues around education, police reform, and abortion rights.

New Analyses Show Potential Undercount of Black Population During 2020 Census

The findings have brought up concerns that some jurisdictions and civil rights leaders have had about lower-than-expected totals in the 2020 Census. “This might be our greatest undercount since 1960, or 1950,” said Marc Morial, former mayor of New Orleans and president and chief executive of the National Urban League, which sued the bureau last year to stop the count from ending early. Morial joined us to discuss the undercount and the far-reaching implications it could have. 

The Experience of Resettling as an Afghan Refugee

Fifty-five thousand. That’s how many Afghans have relocated to the U.S. since mid-August.According to the Department of Homeland Security, about 40 percent are eligible for special immigrant visas because of the work they did aiding U.S. efforts in Afghanistan. But for other Afghan evacuees, it’s unclear what their legal status will be. Many entered the country not as traditional refugees, but instead under a temporary legal process known as parole. That means many of these refugees currently don’t have a direct pathway to permanent residency. For more on this, The Takeaway spoke with Naheed Samadi-Bahram, Women for Afghan Women's U.S. Country Director.

For transcripts, see individual segment pages. 

Join us for this week's political round up with Michael Steele, former Lt. Gov. of Maryland and previous chair of the RNC and Christina Greer, Associate Professor of Political Science at Fordham University, co-host of podcast FAQ NYC, and author of the book “Black Ethnics: Race, Immigration and the Pursuit of the American Dream." Michael and Christina share their thoughts about the debt ceiling extension and reproductive rights as well as the state of voting rights and the Democrat and Republican strategies ahead of the upcoming midterm elections.

Why New York State Assemblymember Jessica González-Rojas is Fighting for Immigration Reform

New York State Assemblymember Jessica González-Rojas traveled to D.C. this week and was arrested while participating in that peaceful protest. She joined The Takeaway today to talk about why she's fighting for immigration reform.

Jason Rezaian Discuss his new podcast 544 Days

Jason Rezaian joins us to discuss his new Spotify Original Podcast 544 Days which chronicles his time in an Iranian prison and what it took to get him out.

For transcripts, see individual segment pages.

President Joe Biden delivered a speech geared toward a tax plan for the middle class. California had its recall election in which Governor Gavin Newsom beat out Republican frontrunner and recall candidate Larry Elder. The Takeaway hosts a politics roundtable with Dave Weigel, a national reporter covering politics for the Washington Post. Brendan Buck is a Republican strategist at Seven Letter and a former aide to Republican speakers of the House John Boehner and Paul Ryan. and Maya King, a politics reporter at Politico. 

Political Power Struggle Continues in Haiti 

Haiti is still struggling to recover a month after a major earthquake and storm hit the country and killed more than 2,000 people, with hundreds still missing. Meanwhile, Haiti is also dealing with a profound political crisis after the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July. This week, that political struggle came to a new head when a prosecutor accused the current leader of the country, Prime Minister Ariel Henry, of being involved with the killing. The Takeaway was joined by Jacqueline Charles, Caribbean Correspondent for the Miami Herald to discuss the ongoing power struggle. 

Why Larry Elder's Run Has People Talking About Black Republicans

Leah Wright Rigueur, author of The Loneliness of the Black Republican; Joe Watkins host of “State of Independence” and former aide to President George H.W. Bush; and Ron Christie, former special assistant to President George W. Bush, join us to discuss what Elder’s campaign means for Black Republicanism in the U.S., and the long and complicated history between Black Americans and the Republican party.

For transcripts, see full segment pages.

This past Monday — Labor Day — 7.5 million workers lost their COVID-era expanded unemployment benefits, even as the pandemic continues on.  President Joe Biden decided not to extend the benefits before they were set to expire. For more on this, The Takeaway spoke to Heather Long, economics correspondent for the Washington Post, and Annelies Goger, Fellow at the Brookings Institution. 

How Islamophobia Has Impacted Sikh Communities

Although there's no correct target for the hate and violence that occurred, misdirected Islamophobic violence against Sikh Americans has continued for two decades. The Takeaway spoke with activist and author Valarie Kaur about what the post 9/11 era has meant for Sikh Americans and her new documentary Divided We Fall: Americans In The Aftermath.

California Voters Will Decide Whether Gov. Gavin Newsom Stays or Goes

On Tuesday, California voters will decide whether Gov. Gavin Newsom will stay in office or be removed in a Republican-driven recall election. There are 46 candidates that are running to replace the Governor; however, recent polling shows support for the governor to stay in office. The Takeaway spoke with Libby Denkmann, senior politics reporter at KPCC in Southern California about how the recall election works and what the latest polling says.

For transcripts, see individual segment pages. 

On Wednesday, one of the most restrictive ever abortion rights laws in the U.S. went into effect in the Lone Star state. Called SB8, it bans most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, before most people even know they’re pregnant. While it doesn't’ reverse Roe v Wade, it does circumvent it. 

The Legal Questions Surrounding Texas's Restrictive Abortion Law 

At midnight on Wednesday, the Supreme Court of the United States effectively overturned Roe v. Wade in a 5-4, page-and-a-half, unsigned, decision delivered without the court receiving briefings or hearing arguments. 

Before Roe v Wade there was the Jane Collective

We take a look at how activists worked to provide abortions prior to Roe v. Wade with a look at the Jane Collective, a group that operated out of Chicago and performed thousands of abortions between 1969 and 1973. Melissa speaks with her mother about her work in Washington between 1969-1971 and Laura Kaplan, author of a book about the collective, The Story of Jane: The Legendary Underground Feminist Abortion Service.

A New Jersey Bill Could Expand Reproductive Healthcare

Continuing the discussion of abortion access, The Takeaway looks at New Jersey’s Reproductive Freedom Act that would expand reproductive health and abortion access in the state. In October of 2020, a coalition of organizations called Thrive New Jersey worked with state legislators to introduce the bill. It has been stalled in the legislature for almost a year now, but after Texas’ restrictive abortion law went into effect this week, there has been a new push for New Jersey’s Legislature to take action.

For segment, see individual segment pages.  

This week, the Supreme Court ruled that the Biden administration must reinstate the Trump-era immigration policy known as 'Remain in Mexico,' which forces many asylum seekers to live in Mexico while they wait for the date of their asylum hearings.Many migrants seeking asylum have had to endure unsafe and inhumane conditions in Mexico during that interim period.

How the Biden Administration is Responding to Deadly Terrorist Attacks in Kabul

On Thursday, two terrorist attacks by the Kabul airport killed dozens of Afghans and at least thirteen U.S. service members. U.S. officials say that an Afghanistan based affiliate of ISIS was behind the attack. With less than a week until the August 31 deadline that the U.S. says all U.S. military members will be withdrawn from Afghanistan, these deadly attacks and the potential of more in the coming days greatly complicate the situation for the Biden administration.

A Win for Felony Offender Enfranchisement in North Carolina

A North Carolina judicial panel declared that roughly 56,000 formerly incarcerated individuals “can register to vote and cast ballots.” This specifically applies to individuals who are felons, served their time and are out on parole. It would also include people “convicted of a federal felony” but have probation as their punishment. State lawmakers who are defendants in the case promise to file an appeal.

For transcripts, see individual segment pages.

On Thursday, 49-year-old Floyd Ray Roseberry of Grover, North Carolina surrendered to Capitol Police after an hours-long standoff at the Library of Congress. Earlier in the day, Roseberry posted a video to social media claiming he had explosives. In a press conference following his surrender, U.S. Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger, indicated Roseberry had suffered personal losses in his family. 

Should Politician's Apologize?

On Monday President Joe Biden said, “I am President of the United States of America, and the buck stops with me,” when discussing Afghanistan. He also noted he was “saddened by the facts” of the current crisis but did not apologize for any failure on the part of the US. Our round table discussion will address past instances when presidents publicly apologized or noted lessons learned, when they didn’t, and how that ultimately affects how they’re seen by voters. 

From Baking to Painting Murals: Protesting Can Take Many Forms

Following the murder of George Floyd, millions of people across the globe took to the streets to protest police brutality and systemic racism. But people also protested in more unique ways like baking. 

A conversation on the history of bipartisan legislation, changes in ideology, and whether true bipartisanship is actually dead.

Fights Over Voting Rights and Mask Mandates Heat Up in Texas

This week, Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan signed arrest warrants for 52 Democrats who have refused to return to the state Capitol during the two special sessions called this summer.

What the July Jobs Report Tells Us About Economic Recovery

Last week, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released its July jobs report, which showed a .5 percent drop in the unemployment rate to 5.4 percent.

For transcripts, see individual segment pages.

This week, the New York attorney general released a report detailing allegations that Governor Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed 11 women and created a culture of “fear and retaliation.” 

Politics, Power, and Abuse

In 2019, Professor Vanessa Tyson publicly accused Virginia Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax of sexual assault.

The Ohio Special Election and the Future of the Democratic Party

On Tuesday, Shontel Brown, the chairwoman of the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party, won the special election primary in Ohio’s 11th Congressional District.

For transcripts, see individual segment pages.

Roughly 20 million people in the U.S. are expected to be brought out of poverty this year, according to a recent Urban Institute research report.

Advocates Win Unemployment Case in Arkansas as Republicans Try to Strip Benefits

Many Republican-led states have halted the extra $300 per month unemployment insurance payments, but lawsuits around the country might change that.

House of Representatives Holds First Hearing on Insurrection Attack

On Tuesday, the House of Representatives held its first hearing on the January 6th insurrection.

Should We Kill or Reform the Filibuster?

This week, the Senate voted to move forward with a bipartisan infrastructure deal. However, it faced the threat of a filibuster just a week ago.

Six months into Biden’s presidency, The Takeaway looks at the administration's strategy ahead of the 2022 midterm elections.

Conservatives Are Changing Their Tune on Vaccines

A significant number of high-profile members of conservative media are now urging their audiences to get vaccinated.

What the U.S. Withdrawal from Afghanistan Will Mean for Veterans

Many veterans of the war in Afghanistan will face physical, emotional, and financial battles for decades.

Top Democratic lawmakers, including House Majority Whip James Clyburn, are urging their colleagues in the Senate to reform the filibuster in order to pass voting rights legislation.

Inflation Is On the Rise in the U.S.

As cities and states across the country reopen, inflation is on the rise.

The Future of the Child Tax Credit

On Thursday, families across the United States began receiving a monthly child tax credit payment.

Confirmation Hearing for Sheriff Ed Gonzalez Shows Signs of Biden's ICE Strategy

On Thursday, a confirmation hearing was held for Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, President Biden’s nominee to lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

On Wednesday, President Biden laid out his plans for addressing the nationwide rise in violent crime and homicides.

Amid Decline in Vaccination Rates, Biden Visits North Carolina

Plus, how community organizers are leading the charge with culturally relevant outreach.   

Who Will Be New York City's Next Mayor?

While the general election is still months away, the winner of the Democratic primary is expected to come out on top in November.  

Guest hosted by Melissa Harris-Perry.

With that in mind, The Takeaway revisits a conversation from earlier this month about Black Music Month, with Nabil Ayers, writer and general manager of the record label 4AD, and Mark Anthony Neal, James B. Duke Distinguished professor of African and African American Studies at Duke University and host of the podcast, Left of Black. Black Music Month is an annual celebration every June of the Black musicians, producers, songwriters and more. Started more than 40 years ago, the observance celebrates the history and scope of Black artistry spanning musical genres from classical and folk to hip hop and rock.

Then, The Takeaway turns to KalaLea, host of Blindspot: Tulsa Burning and audio journalist for NPR’s Latino USA, Slate Studios, NPR’s Interfaith Voices, and The New Yorker podcasts. Blindspot: Tulsa Burning highlights the events leading up to the Tulsa Race Massacre. 

Finally, to close out the show, The Takeaway speaks to women lawmakers, including Rep. Alma Adams, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan, and Rep. Lauren Underwood, about their dads for a very special Father's Day segment.

(Rep. Lauren Underwood with her father)

In total, SCOTUS has at least 20 cases left to decide before the end of the term. Already this week, there have been decisions in a handful of cases. In a unanimous ruling on Tuesday, for example, SCOTUS affirmed the authority of tribal police and government in United States v. Cooley. 

So what other cases should we be watching — and what’s really at stake? The Takeaway spoke about all that and more with Kate Shaw, professor at Cardozo School of Law and co-host of the Supreme Court podcast, Strict Scrutiny. Plus, Robert Barnes, Supreme Court correspondent at The Washington Post, describes the calls for Justice Stephen Breyer to retire ahead of the 2022 midterms while Democrats still control Congress.

The president's budget attempts to incorporate plans on infrastructure, housing, and healthcare, and is likely to receive conservative backlash for raising the federal deficit.

Biden's Child Care Tax Credit: What It Does and Who It Leaves Out

The American Rescue Plan that President Joe Biden signed into law in March sought to remedy the lack of a strong child care infrastructure by expanding the child tax credit.

The Tulsa Race Massacre, 100 Years Later

On May 31, 1921, a violent white mob killed hundreds of residents in the thriving Black community of Greenwood in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

The legislation aims to address the uptick in hate crimes targeting the Asian Americans and Pacific Islander population during the pandemic.   

House Votes to Establish Bipartisan Commission Looking Into Capitol Attack

The idea to form a commission—in the style of the one that investigated the 9/11 attacks—has been fraught since day one. 

New York Attorney General Announces Criminal Investigation Into the Trump Organization

The criminal probe means the AG’s office will work alongside the Manhattan District Attorney to investigate possible fraud in the Trump Organization's business dealings.

There's a long history of using incentives to promote public health.  

Some Republican-led States Plan to End Enhanced Unemployment Benefits Early

A look at the growing number of red states opting out of the pandemic era unemployment program.    

New Deal-Inspired Program Would Pay Writers to Document the Pandemic

Earlier this month, Congressman Ted Lieu of California introduced a bill that would create a 21st Century Federal Writers’ Project.

Who is Rep. Elise Stefanik?

Stefanik was elected in 2014 as a young moderate Republican, but in recent years she’s embraced President Trump.

We speak with Senator Jeff Merkley about the For The People Act.

New Data Indicates Homelessness Declined in Washington, D.C., But Long-term Issues Persist

According to recent data, Washington, D.C.'s unhoused population fell by around 20 percent last year. But there were also increases in individuals experiencing chronic homelessness. 

What's the Future of the GOP Under the Biden Administration?

Months into a new presidency, there’s still a rift within the Republican Party over former President Donald Trump’s false claims about election fraud. 

President Biden has used his first hundred days in office to drive the largest expansion of government seen in decades.

Newsom Opponents Have Gathered Enough Signatures to Trigger a Recall—Now What?

California is facing its first gubernatorial recall in nearly two decades.

Should We Be Optimistic About the U.S. Economy?

The unemployment rate is steadily dropping, and stocks have been on the rise, as the country has ramped up its aggressive vaccination campaign.

Why Viewers Love Political TV Dramas

No matter how much high-stakes tension there is going on in the actual Washington, D.C., there’s something endlessly entertaining about the best political television shows. 

While many breathed a sigh of relief following the verdict, the days since have been a reminder of just how rampant police violence is in the country. 

How Advocates Are Pushing President Biden to Confront Environmental Racism

Although he’s already taking more steps than his predecessor, some advocates are pushing President Biden to go much further to address environmental racism.

Statehood for Washington, DC to Advance to the Senate

The nationwide reckoning over systemic racism and a groundswell of support for voting rights has elevated the fight for statehood. 

The actions against Russia represent one of the first major tests for the new administration on the international level. 

Biden Administration Emphasizes Commitment to Israel at a Chaotic Moment in Israeli Politics

A visit to Israel from U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin came as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is once again fighting for his political future. 

What Withdrawing from Afghanistan Means for Veterans and Active Troops

This week, President Biden announced that U.S. troops would withdraw from Afghanistan by September 2021.

Governor Murphy joins the Takeaway for a conversation about the state’s pandemic response, school reopenings, and election reform in the state.

Divisions Emerge Over Biden's Proposal to Raise the Corporate Tax Rate

One of the biggest debates emerging around President Biden's $2 trillion infrastructure proposal is how to pay for it.

Kentucky Passes Law to Expand Voting Access

This Wednesday, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear signed into law a bipartisan bill to expand voting access in the state. 

Biden Announces Executive Actions to Address Gun Policy

The new actions attempt to address recent violent mass shootings in the U.S.

A Procedural Ruling Allows Senate Democrats to Pass Some Bills with Simple Majority

This week, the Senate parliamentarian determined that Democrats could pass additional legislation through the budget reconciliation process. 

Lawmakers in Georgia are part of a national trend in which legislators across the country have introduced more than 250 bills that aim to restrict voting.  

In Texas, Lawmakers Advance Legislation for New Restrictions on Voting

SB7 would do everything from limit early voting hours to prohibit drive-thru voting in the state.

This week, a gunman in Boulder, Colorado killed ten people while they were shopping in a local grocery store.

Vice President Harris to Lead the White House Response at the Southern Border

This week, President Biden tapped Vice President Kamala Harris to lead the United States’ response to the growing number of migrants arriving at the southern border.

Biden Proposes Gun Reform in Light of Atlanta, Boulder Shootings

In the wake of the recent mass shootings, President Joe Biden has proposed a ban on assault weapons, high-capacity magazines, and an expansion of background checks for gun sales. 

This month, two different bills aiming to redefine Puerto Rico's relationship to the mainland U.S. have been introduced in Congress. 

What You Need to Know About Foreign Interference in the 2020 Election

A recently declassified national intelligence report outlines efforts authorized by foreign leaders to influence public opinion about the 2020 presidential race.

One of the takeaways from the 2016 election was to constantly question our assumptions about voting behavior. Democratic dominance in the so-called Blue Wall states of the midwest is no longer assured and neither is the GOP hold on states like Arizona, Georgia, and Texas. Even so, the assumptions about demographics, specifically the role that race has on voting preferences, continue. For years, conventional wisdom suggested that higher overall turnout would result in more wins for Democrats. And while Biden won seven million more votes than Trump, he only carried the electoral college by around 40,000 votes. Record turnout helped Democrats win in Georgia, but it also helped Republicans hold onto vulnerable Senate seats in Iowa and North Carolina.  

Chryl Laird, assistant professor of government and legal studies at Bowdoin College, Julia Azari, associate professor of political science at Marquette University, and Mark Hugo Lopez, director of global migration and democracy research at Pew Research Center, describe the nuances of the electorate and debunk the assumptions we make based on demographics.   

Politics with Amy Walter Theme: "Enter the Dragon" by J. Cowit is currently available for free here.

                                                                                          Amy's Final Take

I have had the great privilege and honor to host this show every week for the last 2 and a half years. And I am so very grateful to those who made this possible - WNYC, PRX, and the amazing team of professionals who work so hard on making sure that we get the best possible product on the air. 

Over the last few years, political reporting has become more about generating outrage than seeking to explain. Covering the loudest and most controversial voices, while ignoring those who are doing the work at keeping our democracy alive.

The goal of this show was to be the opposite of all of this. We wanted to help people understand that politics wasn’t meant to be distilled in 140 characters. That curiosity is one of our most valuable - and underappreciated - assets. 

That doesn’t mean that I want politics to be neat and clean. It’s messy. And, that’s ok. The more voices in the mix mean that we are hearing from people whose stories were once left out of our political narratives. 

But, messy doesn’t have to mean dysfunctional. What we need more than anything in this moment is leadership. Instead of throwing up their hands and saying “well, it’s what people want” or “it’s what the market demands” leaders set boundaries and are willing to be unpopular for doing so.  

I also wanted every show to convey a sense of humility and empathy. To 

Accept that you don’t always have the answers or that sometimes the people you may not always agree with have some pretty good ideas. 

Covering this moment in American politics has been an amazing experience. Thank you for taking this crazy journey with me. 

And, while I won’t be at this microphone every week, I will be popping on every now and then to talk with Tanzina about politics and Washington. You can also catch me every Monday on PBS NewsHour or read my weekly column at CookPolitical.com.

I leave you with this: our politics is only as broken as we allow it to be. Show up. Speak up. Listen more, shout less. 

Both the pandemic and former President Trump’s baseless attacks on voting by mail underscored the importance of election administrators and volunteers. As election officials attempted to run smooth and fair elections, they also had to combat the spread of misinformation, much of which was instigated by former President Trump. Even after a year like 2020, these individuals remain dedicated to administering future elections and safeguarding our democracy. Damon Circosta, chair of the North Carolina State Board of Elections, Katie Hobbs, Arizona Secretary of State, and Evan Malbrough, founder of the Georgia Youth Poll Worker Project and Puffin Democracy fellow with the Andrew Goodman Foundation, reflect on the 2020 election cycle. Plus, Gabriel Sterling, chief operating officer and chief financial officer for the Secretary of State of Georgia, shares what it was like to face the real-time consequences of former President Trump’s lies about the results of the general election. 

Former President Trump’s norm-defying presidency caused many to question the roles institutions play in checking the power of the executive branch. The lies Donald Trump created and amplified about the integrity of our elections meant that millions of Americans doubted the final result. Suzanne Spaulding, senior adviser for homeland security and director of the Defending Democratic Institutions project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, describes how prepared social media networks and other institutions were to combat misinformation related to the election in 2020 and how that compared to 2016.

Returning K-8 students for in-person instruction was one of President Biden’s most prominent campaign promises. While the administration is weighing additional guidance from the CDC and input from teacher’s unions, parents, and governors, there is no policy prescription that will erase the fear many teachers have regarding returning to the classroom amid the rise of more transmissible variants of coronavirus. 

Marguerite Roza, research professor at Georgetown University and director of the Edunomics Lab, and Dana Goldstein, national reporter at the New York Times covering education, address President Biden’s plan to reopen schools. Plus, Howard Stevenson, director of the Racial Empowerment Collaborative at the University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of Education, describes why Black and Hispanic parents are less likely to send their children back for in-person learning after being on the receiving end of discriminatory practices at the hands of institutions, including schools. And, Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, describes the challenges for getting teachers back in the classroom after a year of remote teaching and muddled federal guidance from the Trump administration.

Some music for this podcast by I Think Like Midnight.

A mob descended on the U.S. Capitol in a literal attempt to overthrow an election. And, thousands of Americans took to the streets this summer to protest longstanding police violence against Black and brown Americans.

But, skepticism of the government didn’t start with President Trump’s attacks on the Deep State or his claims of voter fraud. Distrust of the police didn’t begin with the murder of George Floyd. And, mistrust of corporate and business leaders wasn’t created by Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders.

So, how long have we been here, how did we get here, and is there any hope that we can find resolution? Amy talks with Jamelle Bouie, opinion columnist at The New York Times and Yuval Levin, the director of Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies at the American Enterprise Institute and the editor in chief of National Affairs about how to restore the faith. 

Another big issue just around the corner is redistricting. For the past four years, the National Democratic Redistricting Committee has been preparing for the 2021 redistricting process. They’ve sued against gerrymandered maps of the last decade, educated people about the redistricting process and built grassroots infrastructure. But democrats had a tough year in 2020 at the state legislative level. We speak with Kelly Ward Burton, executive director at National Democratic Redistricting Committee about how things have changed since the last redistricting in 2011.

The Republican counterpart to the NDRC is the National Republican Redistricting Trust. Like the Democrat's group the NRRT is also hard at work planning for what's to come. Adam Kincaid, the group's president and executive director, weighs in on their strategy and priorities throughout the mapmaking process. 

Not all states redistricting efforts are lead by lawmakers. In recent years a number of states have made attempts to strip politics out of the redistricting process by removing the mapmaking power from the legislature and handing it over to an independent commission. California formed it's first independent commission back in 2010. Paul Mitchell, owner of Redistricting Partners explains how commissioners in the Golden State are chosen. And Amy sits down with Jane Andersen and Sara Sadhwani, two of the newly minted members to hear about their expectations for the process.  

Amy's final take: 

Here’s one more thing from me: We started this hour talking about the eroding faith in American institutions and ended the hour hearing from two California women - one Republican and one Democrat - who believe that they can make a difference in shaping our democracy. Two regular people - with busy lives and other responsibilities tugging at them - decided that their voice mattered. 

Yuval Levin said that hope, more than optimism, is what keeps him engaged in the work of trying to heal our nation’s divides. Optimism implies that all will turn out ok. Hope is the acknowledgement that it might not. But, without it, we are just stuck in a cul-de-sac of cynicism - always looking for someone else to blame instead of figuring out ways to be part of the solution. 

It’s not that our institutions have failed, as much as our leaders have failed them. The church leaders who didn’t protect vulnerable children; the politicians who have abused the public trust; the corporate CEO who put profit over his own workers safety. 

If you want to fix our institutions, then be prepared to take ownership of the ones in which you are a part. Be prepared to put the greater good of that institution ahead of your personal needs and desires. Be willing to believe that those who have different ideas can be allies and not just enemies. 

In 2020, almost 30 states expanded access to absentee ballots and early voting to make voting easier during the pandemic. As a result, states saw a record-breaking number of requests for mail-in-ballots. And while Republicans have historically relied on absentee ballots, former President Trump’s attacks on voting by mail meant that more Democrats took advantage of the early vote option, while many Republicans opted to vote in person on Election Day. Today, Republican state legislators in swing states like Georgia, Michigan, Texas, and Pennsylvania are pushing for new voting restrictions in the aftermath of a Biden win. Grace Panetta, senior politics reporter at Business Insider, describes the unintended consequences of restricting voting rights.  

Every ten years, the U.S. government conducts a census that determines how many seats each state will receive in the House of Representatives. This data is used to redraw congressional and state legislative district lines. The most recent census results have been delayed by the pandemic and a legal battle regarding whether or not undocumented immigrants would be included in the final count. Republicans and Democrats have long sought to draw districts in their favor, but tolerance for hyper-partisan gerrymandering has waned considerably over the last decade. Dave Wasserman, House editor for The Cook Political Report, describes where the latest redistricting efforts stand and which states stand to gain additional seats.  

The precarious nature of the economy is among the challenges President Biden has inherited. Record unemployment continues as major sectors of the economy remain shut down as a result of the pandemic. Having introduced a $1.9 trillion stimulus package ahead of inauguration, President Biden is hoping to bring Republicans on board to demonstrate his commitment to bipartisanship. But it’s unlikely that Republicans will support his plan as it currently reads even though distributing aid to suffering businesses and families is a time-sensitive matter. Heather Long from The Washington Post and Derek Thompson from The Atlantic describe the economy as it stands today and what approach President Biden should take in implementing another stimulus package.

Plus, Kamala Harris made history this week as she became the first woman and woman of color to be sworn in as vice president. Stephanie Schriock, president of EMILY’s List and author of "Run to Win: Lessons in Leadership for Women Changing the World," has spent her professional life working to elect pro-choice Democratic women to public office. She spoke with Amy Walter about how drastically things have changed for women in politics throughout her career and the magnitude of Vice President Harris’ ascent to the White House.     

President Trump’s ban from Twitter means that for the first time in four years, Washington is unaware of how he’s processing the current news cycle and the end of his term. 

With President-elect Joe Biden days away from assuming the presidency, he’s preparing to tackle the dual crises of COVID-19 and an economic downturn. How quickly the Senate moves to take up impeachment will have a direct impact on how efficiently the Biden administration is able to move through their agenda.

Annie Linskey, a national political reporter at The Washington Post, Anita Kumar, White House correspondent for POLITICO, and Sarah Wire, congressional reporter at The Los Angeles Times, share what the mood is like in the West Wing and what happens to President Trump’s grip on the Republican Party after he leaves office.   

Throughout his time in office, Donald Trump's actions have raised many questions about the presidency. Particularly, since he broke with America’s proud tradition of a peaceful transfer of power when his supporters attacked the Capitol. Today, a militarized Washington, D.C. stands prepared to address growing security concerns ahead of Joe Biden’s inauguration. Barbara Perry, director of presidential studies at the University of Virginia Miller Center, puts Donald Trump’s presidency into context and expands on how he changed the presidency, for better or worse. 

Also, the insurrection has highlighted the role social media platforms have in the dissemination of conspiracy theories and lies. Many of those who participated in the violent attack were involved in conversations on Twitter and Facebook that falsely claimed that the election had been stolen from President Trump. While Trump has been banned from several platforms, including Facebook and Twitter, the lies and rhetoric he shared with his followers has not disappeared. Darrell West, senior fellow at the Center for Technology Innovation at The Brookings Institution, and Kevin Roose, technology columnist at The New York Times, describe how individuals become radicalized online and where they go when they’ve been deplatformed.  

Also, in the midst of the crisis in Washington this week, Democrats Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock won both Senate runoffs in Georgia. As a result, Democrats will have a slim majority in the House and Senate. Sahil Kapur, national political reporter for NBC News, describes how Democrats were able to run progressive candidates in a swing state and win. 

Finally, President Trump’s norm-defying first term has drawn sharp criticism over the last four years, but the events of the week have drawn almost universal condemnation. Members of his own party have called on President Trump to resign and in less than two weeks, Joe Biden will be sworn in against a backdrop of unprecedented division. To understand how Joe Biden might attempt to navigate this moment in politics Amy Walter spoke with Brendan Buck, Republican strategist at Seven Letter and a former aide to John Boehner and Paul Ryan, and Joel Payne, Democratic strategist, former aide to Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign, and host of “Here comes the Payne.” 

President Donald Trump spent his first term undermining the credibility of the media. His tweets, campaign events, and press conferences were tools he used to cast doubt on the legitimacy of reputable news organizations while promoting unfounded lies and conspiracy theories that served his personal agenda. As President Trump prepares to leave office, members of the White House press pool have turned their gaze to President-elect Joe Biden.

Due to the virtual nature of campaigning in 2020, Biden was able to avoid much of the traditional back and forth with members of the media. There are some who argue that members of the press didn’t push hard enough to get Biden in front of reporters. But because Biden has spent a considerable amount of time in Washington, he has a track record that he can be measured against.

A core part of Biden’s campaign promise was a return to normalcy that would include a more traditional communications team and relationship with the press. Rick Klein, political director at ABC News, Caitlin Conant, political director at CBS News, and Ben Smith, media columnist at The New York Times, discuss what the Biden administration’s relationship with the press could look like. 

President Trump distinguished himself in a crowded 2016 primary field by running as a populist. He spoke to the problems that many Americans felt the government had failed to adequately address, like their inability to earn a decent wage or pay for healthcare and higher education. A man who was born rich tapped into the anxieties of working-class Americans whose pleas for help were ignored by leaders of both the Republican and Democratic parties.

William G. Howell, professor in American Politics at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy, and Terry M. Moe, professor of Political Science at Stanford University and a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution are the co-authors of Presidents, Populism, and the Crisis of Democracy. They spoke with Amy Walter about the last impact of populism and President Trump’s lasting impact on our politics. 

Come January, the state’s closely watched runoff elections will determine which party controls the U.S. Senate. In one race, Republican Senator David Perdue will face Democrat Jon Ossoff. In the other race, Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler, who was appointed to her seat last year by Governor Brian Kemp, faces Democrat Rev. Raphael Warnock, the senior pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. 

We are in the final weeks of a campaign that has, not surprisingly, turned ugly and expensive. 

To better understand the final weeks of the race and the role that religion plays in Georgia politics, host Amy Walter spoke with Rev. Dr. Robert M. Franklin Jr., professor of moral leadership at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology, and Jim Galloway, a political columnist at the Atlanta Journal Constitution. 

Read the 1963 "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" here.

Check out our 2020 election coverage here.

Check out the full freshman conversation series here.

Check out our series, "A Votar: A Look at Latino Voters in the 2020 U.S. Election," here.

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The subject of immigration was rarely mentioned during the general campaign for the presidency. This was disheartening for many families and individuals who are living with uncertainty regarding their immigration status. That sense of uncertainty applies to the individuals who participated in the Obama administrations' Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. While the program granted temporary legal status to undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children, its participants must go through a renewal process every few years. 

Dara Lind, an immigration policy for ProPublica, and Dianne Solis, a reporter covering immigration and social justice issues at The Dallas Morning News, describe what immigration policy could look like under the Biden administration and how he will address the DACA program. Plus, Ciriac Alvarez Valle, a DACA recipient, shares how the program has impacted her life. 

Come January, Cliff Bentz will represent one of the largest congressional districts in the country, Oregon’s second. Like his predecessor Rep. Greg Walden, Bentz will be the only Republican member of the Oregon delegation. Bentz served as part of the Republican minority in Oregon’s state house and senate since 2008. He describes what it was like to govern in the minority party and what lessons he’ll apply to his first term in Washington.

Check out our 2020 election coverage here.

Check out the full freshman conversation series here.

Check out our series, "A Votar: A Look at Latino Voters in the 2020 U.S. Election," here.

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But, President Trump is continuing to claim - without proof - that the results in many of the states that voted for Joe Biden are fraudulent and should be tossed out. So, how can the election be both certified - and contested?

Helping us to make sense of it all is our friend Barbara Perry, the Presidential Studies Director at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center. She begins by explaining who the electors are and what the Electoral College actually does.

By quickly passing the $2.2 trillion CARES Act, Congress was able to stave off some of the initial impacts of the virus. Americans received one-time cash payments, businesses were offered a lifeline, and unemployment benefits were expanded. But nine months later, many of those benefits have expired. Members of Congress haven’t been able to agree on how much relief should be included in a second round of stimulus funding and can’t seem to come to an agreement over liability protections and state/local funding.

William Spriggs, a professor in the Department of Economics at Howard University, and Heather Long, an economics correspondent The Washington Post, describe how the pandemic and Congress’ inaction is hurting millions of Americans who are in dire need of federal assistance. Plus, we hear from a number of individuals who are hurting financially and awaiting assistance. 

Because the economy is in such bad shape, there’s increased scrutiny regarding who President-elect Joe Biden is choosing to help him shore up the economy. Democratic voters will also be watching to ensure that Biden stays true to his campaign promise of including diverse candidates among his staff. Alex Thompson is a national political reporter at Politico who has been following the nomination process closely. He shares what we can glean from the team Biden has assembled so far and what these selections mean for his economic recovery plan.

Nicole Malliotakis is joining a record number of Republican women who’ve been elected to Congress. She defeated Democratic Congressman Max Rose and will represent New York’s 11th District. In recent weeks, the number of residents in Staten Island infected with the coronavirus has surged and their death rate is now higher than any other borough in New York City. In addition to dealing with the growing number of cases in her district, it’s likely she will be spending her first days in Washington navigating a showdown regarding a COVID-19 relief package. 

Special thanks to the Action for Boston Community Development, the Illinois Association of Community Action Agencies, and the Amalgamated Transit Union for putting us in touch with some of the voices you heard in this show.

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Due to the virtual nature of campaigning in 2020, Biden was able to avoid much of the traditional back and forth with members of the media. There are some who argue that members of the press didn’t push hard enough to get Biden in front of reporters. But because Biden has spent a considerable amount of time in Washington, he has a track record that he can be measured against.

A core part of Biden’s campaign promise was a return to normalcy that would include a more traditional communications team and relationship with the press. Rick Klein, political director at ABC News, Caitlin Conant, political director at CBS News, and Ben Smith, media columnist at The New York Times discuss what the Biden administration’s relationship with the press could look like. 

Check out our full media coverage series here.

Torres will make history as the first openly gay Afro-Latino elected to Congress. Here he talks with Politics host Amy Walter about his experiences growing up in public housing, coming out, running for office, and his hopes for the next Congress. 

Check out our 2020 election coverage here.

Check out the full freshman conversation series here.

Check out our series, "A Votar: A Look at Latino Voters in the 2020 U.S. Election," here.

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Due to the virtual nature of campaigning in 2020, Biden was able to avoid much of the traditional back and forth with members of the media. There are some who argue that members of the press didn’t push hard enough to get Biden in front of reporters. But because Biden has spent a considerable amount of time in Washington, he has a track record that he can be measured against.

A core part of Biden’s campaign promise was a return to normalcy that would include a more traditional communications team and relationship with the press. Rick Klein, political director at ABC News, Caitlin Conant, political director at CBS News, and Ben Smith, media columnist at The New York Times discuss what the Biden administration’s relationship with the press could look like. 

Congressman-elect Ritchie Torres (D-NY) is a freshman member of the 117th Congress representing New York's 15th Congressional District. With the balance of the senate up for grabs come January, Congressman-elect Torres describes his expectations for his first months on the job. You can hear extended conversations with the newest members of Congress here.

In January, Georgia will hold two runoff elections that will determine which party controls the U.S. Senate. To secure the majority, Democrats will need to win both seats. Gradual demographic change, particularly in metro areas like Savannah and Atlanta, have pushed this former Republican stronghold into the swing-state territory. At the same time, grassroots organizations, many of them led by Black women, have spent years organizing and registering voters - especially Black voters. Among those organizers is Deborah Scott, executive director of Georgia Stand-Up. Her organization is working overtime to register voters ahead of the December 7th registration deadline in addition to making sure voters that participated in the presidential race vote in the runoff.

In assessing how this once Republican stronghold has become a swing state, most of the attention has been on the influence of the state’s Black voters and white suburban voters. This makes sense given their share of the population. However, the fastest-growing group of voters in the state are Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. While they make up a significantly smaller share of the vote, their political influence can be seen at the congressional and statewide levels. An early analysis of the November elections by a Democratic firm found that voter participation by Asian American and Pacific Islanders in Georgia was up by 91 percent from 2016. 

Amy B Wang, a national politics reporter for The Washington Post, described the role Asian American and Pacific Islander voters played in 2020 and the role they might play during January’s special election.

One of the most enduring tales Americans tell about themselves is that America is the land of great economic opportunity and that anyone who wants it can make it into the middle class. But the path to the middle class has become tougher to navigate over the last three decades.

In 2016, candidate Donald Trump was able to build an effective narrative about how the great (mostly white) middle class had been hollowed out by elites and immigrants. In the aftermath of that election, reporters scurried across America, telling the stories of disgruntled white men in the heartland who were unable to access life in the middle class.

Jim Tankersley, tax and economic reporter at The New York Times and author of "The Riches of This Land: The Untold, True Story of America’s Middle Class," knows that these stories weren’t telling the whole story of how the middle class came to exist and how it’s been torn apart.

Hinson will replace Representative Abby Finkenauer, who flipped the seat from red to blue in 2018. Hinson, who ran on a message of bipartisanship, spoke with host Amy Walter on Monday while she was participating in virtual freshmen orientation and isolating after receiving a positive coronavirus diagnosis.  

Check out our 2020 election coverage here.

Check out the full freshman conversation series here.

Check out our series, "A Votar: A Look at Latino Voters in the 2020 U.S. Election," here.

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But for younger voters, environmental justice and climate policy are a top priority. Climate change has animated a generation of voters, many of whom spent months making calls and texts to swing states, even though Joe Biden was not their first choice nominee. These voters are paying close attention to who Biden appoints to his cabinet and to lead agencies as a means to gauge how seriously he’ll be taking their top issue.

Throughout his time in office, President Trump aggressively went after more than 100 environmental rules aimed at protecting the integrity of water, land, and air. 

While President-elect Biden will have the ability to issue executive orders at his disposal, there’s division within his own party about how aggressive he should be on the issue.

Coral Davenport, energy and environmental policy reporter at The New York Times, Jody Freeman, law professor at Harvard University and former counselor for energy and climate change in the Obama White House, and Waleed Shahid, spokesperson for the Justice Democrats describe how the Biden administration might proceed with pursuing climate change policy in a hyperpolarized political landscape.

As part of our continuing series with the freshman members of the 117th Congress, host Amy Walter spoke with Democratic Congresswoman-elect Marilyn Strickland from Washington and Republican Congresswoman-elect Ashley Hinson from Iowa. They both share what they’re hoping to accomplish in their first term and how they plan on working through partisan gridlock. You can hear extended conversations with the newest members of congress here.

Kathryn Dunn Tenpas, a senior fellow at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center and senior research director at the White House Transition Project, describes the impact of a truncated presidential transition. 

President-elect Biden is attempting to assemble members of his senior team while the current president seems determined to do the opposite. With just about two months left in his term, President Trump has fired a number of high-profile members of his administration. This includes Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and Administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration Lisa Gordon-Hagerty.

Lisa Rein, a reporter covering federal agencies and the management of government in the Trump administration for The Washington Post, describes why the president would pursue this avenue at the end of his tenure. 

This week, newly elected members of Congress convened on Capitol Hill for freshmen orientation. Although Democrats speculated that they would expand their majority, they ended up losing eight seats. In the days since, some moderate members of Congress have speculated that progressive issues like Medicare for all cost Democrats a supermajority. Congressman-elect Mondaire Jones and Congresswoman-elect Carolyn Bourdeaux share what it’s like to be joining Congress at this moment. This conversation is part of a continuing series on the freshmen members of the 117th Congress. You can listen to extended interviews here.

If President-elect Biden holds his lead over President Donald Trump, it would mean that Georgia has moved from red to blue for the first time since 1992. For years, southern states like Georgia have sat reliably in the Republican column, but voters in cities like Atlanta and the surrounding suburbs played a definitive role in moving the state to the left. Georgia's competitive political landscape is emphasized by the fact that the state will soon hold two runoff elections that will determine which party controls the senate. Andra Gillespie, an associate professor of political science at Emory University, describes the state’s changing electorate and the future of state-wide races. 

After every election members of the media and politicians attempt to understand patterns that emerged among voters. One element of the 2020 election cycle that stood out to many is how in South Texas, President-elect Joe Biden underperformed when it came to predominantly Latino counties that typically break for Democrats by wide margins. 

While Biden won the majority of support in predominantly Latino precincts in El Paso County and Dallas county, in counties along the border including Hidalgo, Zapata, and Starr, Biden’s standing slipped considerably from where Hillary Clinton stood four years ago.

Arelis Hernández, a reporter covering the U.S. southern border, immigration, and Texas for The Washington Post, explains how President Trump made gains within these communities.

President Trump has consistently and falsely asserted that losing reelection would mean that the White House was stolen from him. Meanwhile, election officials across the country have been working diligently to maintain free and fair elections. This year, their jobs include responding to a pandemic and refuting conspiracy theories. Election officials from across the country describe how Election Day 2020 went and how things could improve for future elections. 

As Joe Biden gets closer to winning the electoral college, the Trump campaign is taking to the courts in an attempt to challenge the results. In the past few days, states like Michigan, Georgia, and Pennsylvania have all seen lawsuits calling into question their process of counting ballots, though there’s no evidence supporting the president’s claims of voter fraud. While some of the lawsuits have already been dismissed, others are still in play. Toluse Olorunnipa, a White House reporter for the Washington Post, breaks down the Trump campaign’s recent legal action.

In the Trump era, political polarization has reached a level not seen since the Civil War. Though this polarization didn't start with President Trump's campaign and subsequent administration, it has brought the deepening divide to the surface--and to the ballot box--with voter turnout this week reaching record numbers. Lilliana Mason, professor of government and politics at the University of Maryland and author of "Uncivil Agreement: How Politics Became Our Identity," walks us through the widening political divide in the U.S. and what it means for how the country moves forward, regardless of who wins the 2020 election.

Amy's closing thoughts:

"The political profession. No other career as prosaic has been glamorized more. In movies and on TV, everyone who works for or as a politician is beautiful, smart, and ambitious. All are doing super important work that is changing the world. Even the interns are drafting amendments that protect our way of life.

In real life, of course, politics is messy. And, more important, boring. For every election night balloon drop victory party, there are a million days filled with the crushingly tedious work of voter contact and fundraising and town hall meetings filled with cranky and angry constituents.

But, as we learned this week, it is the people who do the non-glamorous work, those who spend almost every single day of their entire career in relative ambiguity, who help keep our democratic institutions steady. I’m talking about the elected officials, poll workers, and office staff, who ensured that this election - an election taking place in the middle of a health pandemic and with record turnout - was conducted as fairly, smoothly, and judiciously as possible. They are doing this work under great duress and stress. They continue to do their job even as the president of the United States - without any evidence - takes to the White House briefing room to question their integrity.

When the election is over, these folks aren’t going to get a sweet cable TV gig or their own podcast. Instead, they are going to go back to their offices and prepare for the next election.

For all of you who are cynical or anxious about the sturdiness of the guardrails protecting our democratic institutions, look no further than the local officials in charge of voting. They are not bowing to pressure from the president. They are not abandoning their posts for fear of political reprisal. They are doing their jobs. And, doing them well.

At the end of the day, it is regular people who are responsible for our democracy. And, the regular people are saving it."

A standard election cycle would’ve meant interacting with voters at conventions, town halls, and canvassing events. As the pandemic upended traditional forms of campaigning, we’ve spent the last few months engaging with students, teachers, small business owners, religious leaders, and individuals from across the U.S. They update us on how things have changed since we last spoke and what hopes, if any, they have riding on Election Day. 

The most recent national polls shows President Trump is trailing Vice President Joe Biden by almost nine points. Four years ago, pundits and politicians relied on polls that failed to account for counties that should’ve served as warning signs for Democrats. This time around there are fewer undecided and third-party voters who could swing us towards a surprise. Dave Wasserman, House Editor for The Cook Political Report, describes his reporting on key bellwether counties that could determine the outcome of the election. 

President Trump has spent the last few months maligning the voting process and attempting to cast doubt on the outcome of the election. He’s made a number of misleading comments regarding absentee voting and has incorrectly stated that the process of counting ballots should end on November 3rd. Grace Panetta, Senior Politics Reporter Covering Elections and Voting for Business Insider, describes what we can expect on election night and beyond. 

It’s been six months since the $2 trillion CARES Act was signed into law. The bill provided much-needed aid to states, businesses, and individuals who were deprived of traditional means of income as a result of the pandemic. The relief the CARES Act provided has since dried up and millions have fallen into poverty as a result. Emily Cochrane, a congressional reporter at The New York Times, shares the latest from the ongoing stimulus talks between Speaker Pelosi and Secretary Mnuchin and what could happen if a deal doesn’t come together before Election Day.

Turnout is up in Wisconsin where voters will play a pivotal role in deciding who will become the next president of the United States. As some Wisconsin neighborhoods have already surpassed turnout levels from 2016, Congresswoman Gwen Moore of Wisconsin shares how the level of enthusiasm compares to four years ago. Plus, Craig Gilbert of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel describes trends in early voting and what’s happened to pockets of support for President Trump since 2016.

This election cycle special attention is being paid to growing voting blocs that have the power to move the needle towards or away from a second term for Donald Trump. Since 2016, millions of Latino voters have become eligible to vote, making young Latino voters a powerful political force. Takeaway host Tanzina Vega joins Amy to discuss her A Votar series and what she's observed from the conversations she’s had with this group ahead of Election Day.

Democrats have seen a boon in fundraising with Jaime Harrison, the Democrat running against Republican Judiciary Chair Lindsey Graham, pulling in millions in the days after Ginsburg’s death. Graham himself, as well as several other vulnerable Republican senators, are hoping that the confirmation of a conservative to the court will help boost GOP enthusiasm and turnout.

As the hearing wrapped up on Thursday, it was clear that Barrett had made it through the process unscathed. A vote is expected on October 22nd in the Judiciary Committee and by the full Senate at the end of the month. We spoke about this with Sahil Kapur, national political reporter for NBC News, and Jessica Taylor of The Cook Political Report. 

Also on the show, a look at the political landscape in Texas going into the 2020 election. For years now, Democrats have been predicting they can turn this red state blue. But the last time a Democratic presidential candidate actually won the state was in 1976. 

However, Texas is changing. A diverse electorate, combined with a backlash to Trump in traditionally Republican suburbs has given Democrats serious political traction. The latest polls show President Trump leading Joe Biden by an average of just two points. We got an overview of what’s happening in Texas from Abby Livingston, D.C. Bureau Chief at the Texas Tribune.

There’s also a Senate race in the state this year. In 2018, a Texas Senate race was the center of the political universe. Then, Democratic Representative Beto O’Rourke raised millions of dollars and gained national attention for his race against Senator Ted Cruz. O’Rourke came up short, but his impressive showing gave him enough momentum and fame to mount a presidential run—albeit a short-lived run. Two years later, another Republican Senator, John Cornyn is up for re-election in Texas.

We spoke to his opponent, MJ Hegar, the Democratic Senate candidate and U.S. Air Force veteran, about her race against the three-term incumbent. Her campaign brought in $13.5 million in the third quarter and she’s been outspending Cornyn in TV ads over the past few weeks. But even though the race is tightening, polls show Cornyn is still ahead by over seven percentage points. 

We also took a look at the Latino vote in Texas with Jason Casellas, an associate professor of political science at the University of Houston. According to recent estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau, the Latino population in Texas grew by two million over the last decade, and it’s on track to become the state’s largest demographic group in 2021. 

Senator Kamala Harris and Vice President Mike Pence gathered in Utah on Wednesday for the first and only vice presidential debate. The advanced age of President Donald Trump and Joe Biden against the backdrop of a highly contagious pandemic has emphasized the role of vice president. Maya King from POLITICO and Annie Karni from the New York Times explain what role Harris and Pence will play between now and Election Day.

An unusually competitive senate race in South Carolina is among the many twists and turns of this election cycle. Lindsey Graham, Senator from South Carolina, Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and Trump loyalist is fighting for his political career. The latest polling has Senator Graham virtually tied with charismatic newcomer, Democrat Jaime Harrison. Danielle Vinson, professor of politics and international affairs at Furman University, explains why the state is in play in this year and what Senator Graham misunderstood about South Carolina's electorate. 

It's been four years since Donald Trump was elected after one of the most unconventional and divisive campaign cycles in recent history. During his norm-shattering first term, President Trump has been impeached, emboldened far-right groups, refused to release his tax returns, and attempted to use his status to influence the Department of Justice. Moments that would've ended anyone else's political ambitions are just bumps in the road for Donald Trump. The authors of "After Trump: Reconstructing the Presidency" describe how Trump has taken advantage of his office and how the presidency could be reformed to prevent similar abuse. Bob Bauer is a senior adviser to the Biden campaign and former White House counsel to President Barack Obama and Jack Goldsmith is a professor at Harvard Law and served as George W. Bush’s assistant attorney general in the Office of Legal Counsel.

With about a month to go before the election, this news could upend a cycle that has already been buffeted by major events on an almost weekly basis. White House Reporter for The Washington Post Toluse Olorunnipa describes what this could mean for President Trump's ability to govern. 

Both President Trump and Joe Biden are preparing for a drawn-out battle over election-related litigation. They are going to court over everything from signature-match rules, to who can and can’t collect absentee ballots, to where ballots can be dropped off. The results of these disputes taking place before and after Election Day could have serious implications regarding the future of voting. At the same time, false allegations of voting abnormalities from the White House pose the risk of casting doubt over the final result.

Justin Riemer, Chief Counsel at the Republican National Committee, shares how they’re approaching pre-election litigation. Grace Panetta, Politics and Voting Reporter for Business Insider, describes how both campaigns are attempting to substantiate their arguments and how that’s playing out in state courts.

Pennsylvania is among a handful of states that will play a decisive role in electing the winner of the upcoming election. In 2016, Trump won the state's 20 electoral votes by less than one percent. Pennsylvania, which recently began allowing no-excuse absentee voting, has also become ground zero for pre-election lawsuits. Jonathan Lai is a reporter covering voting and elections for The Philadelphia Inquirer. He joins Politics with Amy Walter to describe how voting in Pennsylvania has changed since 2016 and he expands on the false assertions the president made about Philadelphia in Tuesday's debate. 

The New York Times recently published new reporting about President Trump’s tax returns that detailed how the president avoided paying income taxes. Andrea Bernstein, co-host of the Trump, Inc. podcast from WNYC and ProPublica, outlines how Trump has benefitted financially from the presidency and what it could mean for the Trump Empire when he leaves office. She is also the author of "American Oligarchs: The Kushners, the Trumps, and the Marriage of Money and Power."

Senate Republicans will scramble to confirm Judge Barrett ahead of Election Day, while Democrats argue that Judge Barrett's nomination could hurt the Affordable Care Act and Roe v. Wade. 

The Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to start hearings on October 12, just a few weeks before the general election. 

POLITICO White House Reporter Gabby Orr reacts to the announcement and describes how Judge Barrett's nomination and pending confirmation will impact the rest of the race. 

Wisconsin is among the few states that played a decisive factor in Hillary Clinton's 2016 loss. This year, the state made headlines because of a flawed primary election that took place towards the beginning of the pandemic. Election officials struggled to keep up with absentee ballot requests, thousands of mail ballots were ultimately rejected, and when it came to in-person voting, photos of people waiting in line for hours, at the height of the pandemic, went viral.

Wisconsin Elections Commission Administrator Meagan Wolfe, Politics Reporter and Washington Bureau Chief for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Craig Gilbert, and Wisconsin Public Radio’s Laurel White dissect Wisconsin's political landscape and share how seriously we should be taking polling.

Also, Black voters are the backbone of the Democratic Party. They are one of the party's most reliable voting blocs and failing to secure their votes will have significant electoral consequences. There is also a significant generational gap between younger Black Americans who feel alienated from traditional politics and older Black voters who are typically loyal to the Democratic Party. Vice President and Chief of Campaigns at Color of Change Arisha Hatch shares how Black voters are thinking about the voting process.  

Clara Spera, Ginsburg's granddaughter said her grandmother dictated the following statement before her death: "My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed."

While the race for the White House had already morphed into a turbulent, hyper-partisan event there's no doubt that Ginsburg's death underscores how consequential the November 3rd election will be.  

In a statement issued on Friday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said President Trump's nominee "will receive a vote on the floor of the United States Senate.” That statement exists in direct opposition to his stance on Barack Obama's 2016 nomination of Merrick Garland. 

Professor Barbara Perry, director of presidential studies at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center, and Sahil Kapur, national political reporter at NBC News, discuss Ginsburg's legacy and how her death could change the trajectory of the election cycle. 

The state has had no-excuse absentee voting since 1991 and the numbers of voters who use this method continue to grow. As the president continues to malign the U.S. Postal Service and absentee ballots and question the integrity of the upcoming election, we hear from Katie Hobbs, Arizona Secretary of State, KJZZ Phoenix host Steve Goldstein, and Professor Lisa Sanchez from the University of Arizona.

Latino voters are a growing share of the population in states like Florida, Texas, and Nevada. In Arizona, they account for about a quarter of voters in the state according to Pew. 

While national polling indicates that Joe Biden is ahead of President Trump when it comes to Latino voters, he hasn't been able to match Hillary Clinton’s margins from 2016. The Trump campaign is appealing to Latinos with a message centered on crime and the economy. The Biden campaign is using President Trump's response to the pandemic to illustrate that he's unfit to lead. 

Daniel Garza, president of the conservative Libre Initiative, and Carlos Odio, co-founder of democratic Latino polling and analysis firm Equis Research, share their insights as to what's at stake for this electorate.  

These conversations are part of a series called Every Vote Counts.

The consequences of those lies can be seen in a recent Monmouth University poll that found almost 40 percent of Americans don’t believe that the elections will be conducted fairly and accurately. A majority of Americans say that they think the Trump campaign will try to cheat if necessary to win in November, while 39 percent say the same of the Biden campaign.

Aside from Barack Obama in 2008, North Carolina hasn't voted for a Democrat for president since Jimmy Carter in 1976, but polls show President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden are neck and neck there. A contentious senate race is also on the ballot in the state. 

North Carolina began sending out absentee ballots on September 4th. The more than 700,000 mail ballots that have been requested has shone the national spotlight on the Tar Heel State. 

Chair of the North Carolina State Board of Elections, Damon Circosta, Michael Bitzer, a professor of Political Science at Catawba College, and Rusty Jacobs, politics reporter at WUNC North Carolina Public Radio, walk us through the state's electoral process.

Many credit Barack Obama’s win in North Carolina to strong turnout from African American voters. Exit polls that year showed African Americans making up almost a quarter of the electorate and they gave Obama 95 percent of the vote. Congresswoman Alma Adams of North Carolina’s 12th Congressional District and Professor Kerry Haynie, Political Science and African & African American Studies at Duke University, describe how the Biden/Harris ticket is working to convince Black voters to turnout. 

As part of our continuing series on how the pandemic has changed campaigns, we checked in with Chase Gaines, Coalition Director North Carolina GOP. He describes what it's like to organize at this moment and what he's heard from voters while knocking doors.

These conversations are part of a series called Every Vote Counts.

Maya King, political reporting fellow at POLITICO, and Katie Glueck, national politics reporter for The New York Times unpack how questions surrounding the role of law enforcement could alter November's election.

NextGen America is a political group that engages young voters to support progressive causes and candidates. Before the start of the pandemic, they interacted with students in-person on college campuses through voter registration drives and casual conversations about voting. Jared DeLoof, State Director NextGen America explains how they've adapted to the new reality.

The idea that disinformation and conspiracy theories thrive on the internet is widely known and has been part of the mainstream conversation since the election of Donald Trump in 2016. Despite attempts to remove bad actors and regulate social media networks, conspiracy theories are still making their way to the forefront of our politics in 2020. 

Ben Collins, covers disinformation, extremism, and the internet for NBC, and Cindy Otis, vice president of analysis at the Alethea Group and author of “True or False: A CIA Analyst's Guide to Spotting Fake News” describe the methodology behind these nefarious actors and why they're committed to their cause.

President Trump used his primetime speech to convince those watching that he was still the outsider that had been elected four years prior and that he would not conform to establishment politics, even though he is now the establishment. Joe Biden used his time to demonstrate that he believes that Trump is a threat to democracy and that reelecting him would mean four more years of divisive politics and the continued mishandling of the coronavirus.  

Toluse Olorunnipa, White House Reporter at The Washington Post, Tim Alberta, Chief Political Correspondent at Politico, and Elaina Plott, National Political Reporter at The New York Times analyze the Republican National convention and share what the next 60 days could look like. 

The economic slowdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic has left millions of Americans without work. That includes Angelica Garcia, who was a barista at Starbucks in The Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas for 19 years. She shares what the last few months have been like for her and what her hopes are for the future. Plus, Heather Long from The Washington Post describes the overall health of the U.S. economy and whether Americans can expect more economic relief from the federal government. 

In 2018, former defense department analyst Elissa Slotkin flipped a seat from red to blue in a suburban Michigan district that Trump carried by seven points. She credited extensive grassroots organizing for her success, including the 200,000 doors her team knocked. This time around, the restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic have made it impossible for her to reuse her 2018 playbook. Congresswoman Slotkin shares how she's adjusted her campaign and how she's working to safely interact with voters in person and online.

Each night consisted of live and taped speeches where voters implored those watching to vote for Joe Biden. They spoke about President Trump's failure to address climate change, structural racism, gun violence, economic insecurity, and the coronavirus that has killed more than 170,000 Americans. A significant portion of the week was dedicated to bringing Republicans into the fold as many shared that they had voted for Trump in 2016 and came to regret doing so. 

Headliners like Michelle and Barack Obama, Kamala Harris, and Elizabeth Warren stressed that the country is at an inflection point and that those in positions of power are working to dilute American votes. 

Maya King from Politico, Astead Herndon from The New York Times, and Alex Roarty from McClatchy reflect on the historic convention and how it was received by those watching from home. Yamiche Alcindor, White House correspondent for PBS NewsHour, analyzes how President Trump spent his week.

Also, progressives are using a method called “deep canvassing” to engage with voters ahead of November’s general election. These are longer conversations that take place over the phone or in-person with the goal of changing someone’s beliefs by using personal stories and empathy to create a lasting connection. In the early 2000s, Steve Deline and Ella Barrett got involved with deep canvassing to understand why people had voted against same-sex marriage in California. They now run the New Conversation Initiative, a group that works with People's Action to teach deep canvassing to progressives. 

This conversation is part of our continued look at the limits of campaigning during the pandemic and how activists and candidates are trying to connect with voters in spite of restrictions. 

The way election night coverage has unfolded in the past makes this new reality particularly tough to understand. But just because the exit poll data and electoral college tally that we are used to seeing populate our screens may not all be there by the time we go to bed does not mean there's something sinister going on. 

Caitlin Conant, Political Director of CBS News and Rick Klein, the Political Director of ABC News describe how they're preparing both their newsrooms and the American people for election night.  

This week, Joe Biden announced that Kamala Harris would join him on the Democratic presidential ballot as his vice president. Black women have been among the most loyal supporters of the Democratic Party, even though they're underrepresented in positions of power within the party. The Biden-Harris ticket is historic, especially as notable women in media and politics announced that they would be paying special attention to the way the media covers them. Valerie Jarrett, Former Senior Advisor to President Barack Obama reacts to the news. 

On this show, we've been following how elections and campaigns have changed because of the pandemic. Among the most notable differences is the way campaigns interact with voters since large gatherings have been discouraged. Americans for Prosperity Action, a conservative organization linked to the Koch network, is knocking on doors in swing states in support of Republicans running in senate and congressional races. Tim Phillips, President of Americans for Prosperity, shares what he's learning from voters at the doors.

Bush is one of more 100 Black women running for Congress this cycle, a record-breaking number, according to an analysis by the Center for American Women and Politics. 

Women of color have also become the focal point of discussions around who Joe Biden will choose as a running mate. With this attention and scrutiny has come criticism and attacks, many from within the Democratic Party itself, which fall along familiar lines of racism and sexism. 

Guests:

Kimberly Peeler-Allen, a visiting practitioner at the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University.

Aimee Allison, is the founder and president of She the People.

The White House has spread not only conflicting messages about the severity of the virus but also conspiracy theories about the science and the solutions to stopping the pandemic. 

With no certainty to the end of the pandemic, many are relying on a vaccine as the only way back to the way things were but even a vaccine comes with its own set of issues. Finding a way to distribute hundreds of millions of doses of a vaccine in addition to convincing Americans that it is safe and effective could be an uphill battle. Communicating transparently is especially important with communities of color who have been disproportionately hurt by the coronavirus.  

Guests:

Umair Irfan, Staff Writer at Vox

Carolyn Johnson, Science Reporter at The Washington Post

Dr. Jesse Goodman, Professor at Georgetown University and the Former Chief Scientist at the Food and Drug Administration

Gary A. Puckrein, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Minority Quality Forum

With less than 100 days until the general election, Jane Coaston, a senior politics reporter at Vox, and Tim Alberta, chief political correspondent for Politico, share how voters are processing this moment and their options for November.

Joni Ernst is a Republican Senator from Iowa whose seat was considered relatively safe until recently. Today, she’s fighting off a challenge from Democrat Theresa Greenfield, an Iowan who, like Ernst, has farm-girl roots. Ernst describes how campaigning has shifted as a result of COVID-19 and what she thinks of the president's response to the pandemic.

You can listen to Amy's interview with Theresa Greenfield here.

Check out our ongoing coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic here.

Check out our local leader series here.

After a messy primary in June with long lines and shuttered polling locations, election officials in the state have been working to improve and restore faith in the process for what is certain to be a contentious election in November. And, in a little over a week, they’ll get another try. On August 11th, more than half of Georgia’s 159 counties will hold runoff elections giving voters and election staff another test run prior to the election. 

Efforts to recruit and train more poll workers are underway and more early voting locations are open in Fulton County, the epicenter of Election Day problems. Situated in metro Atlanta, Fulton County is also the state’s most populous. 45 percent of the population there is African American. It is also heavily Democratic. Hillary Clinton carried the county with almost 70 percent of the vote and 2018 Democratic gubernatorial nominee Stacy Abrams won it with 72 percent.  

Guests:

Robb Pitts, Chairman of the Fulton County Board of Commissioners 

Evan Malbrough, a 2020 graduate of Georgia State University and founder of The Georgia Youth Poll Worker Project

Stephen Fowler, a political reporter, Georgia Public Broadcasting

In Iowa, a state that President Trump easily won in 2016, Democrat Theresa Greenfield is challenging Republican Senator Joni Ernst, where the latest polling has her up by a few points. Greenfield shared her motivation for getting in the race and what she thinks Iowans want to see in Washington. 

You can listen to Amy's conversation with Senator Joni Ernst here.

Also, this week President Trump announced new guidelines for school reopenings. He said that public schools in coronavirus hotspots could delay reopening for a few weeks but ultimately that decision will fall to governors. As many schools across the country are expected to begin the academic year in the next month or so, school districts have been grappling with how to manage the reality of COVID-19 with the expectations for curriculum.  

In Iowa, Republican Governor Kim Reynolds recently announced limitations on remote learning and mandated that at least 50% of the time students spend on learning core subjects must take place in person. Grant Gerlock, a reporter for Iowa Public Radio, shares how schools are dealing with balancing the governor's latest requirements against the well-being of their students and staff.

Guests:

Theresa Greenfield, Democratic Candidate for Senate in Iowa

Grant Gerlock, Reporter for Iowa Public Radio

Congresswoman Brenda Lawrence of Michigan, Congressman James Clyburn of South Carolina, and Congresswoman Lauren Underwood of Illinois share their remembrances and reflect on the legacy of John Lewis. 

In the last year, the Congressional Black Caucus, one of the most powerful blocks in Congress, has lost three veteran members after the deaths of Elijah Cummings, John Conyers, and John Lewis. John Bresnahan, Congressional Bureau Chief at Politico, weighs in on this moment for the CBC as it sits at the forefront of the national effort to enact police reform.

And while wishful thinking had many hoping that by now we’d have a better grip on the virus and the economic downturn, the reality is just the opposite. At the end of this month the additional $600 per week in unemployment benefits that many have come to depend on is set to expire. Congressional reporters Nick Fandos from The New York Times and Li Zhou from Vox share what we can expect as Congress prepares to return from their July recess.  

North Carolina is significant for another reason, it is one of a handful of states with two other top offices on the ballot; Governor, Roy Cooper, a Democrat is up for reelection as is US Senator Thom Tillis, a Republican. The race for Senate is of national prominence, Republicans are fighting to hold onto the seat and Democrats are hoping a win here puts them on the path back to majority control. Cal Cunningham, the Democrat who is challenging Tillis tells us why he thinks he’s the right choice for North Carolinians. We’ve reached out to the Tillis Campaign for an interview but have yet to receive a response. 

Of course, all of this is happening amid a global health crisis, putting increased scrutiny on the voting process in every state. Legislators and election officials in North Carolina have been working to ensure a safe and accessible election, Rusty Jacobs a political reporter at WUNC explains what changes have been made to both absentee and in-person voting ahead of the election. 

Finally, recent polling has put President Trump behind Joe Biden in the general and re-energized Democrats about their chances for winning both the White House and Senate. Amy talks with Jessica Taylor, Senate and Governors Editor for The Cook Political Report about this year’s competitive Senate races and what the senate map might look like come November.

Some of the music on this pod by Gypsy George. 

The killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis sparked an uprising for racial justice and renewed demands for police reform. Across the U.S., calls to defund the police and reinvest the funds into schools and mental health services have grown louder as the mission of police departments is reconsidered. Daniel Nichanian, founding editor, The Appeal: Political Report, shares where these proposals are taking place and whether or not it’s just a liberal city phenomenon.

Plus, Cincinnati Council Member Chris Seelbach and founder of the Cincinnati Black United Front, Iris Roley reflect on the state of policing in their city and how effective their community-based model has been since it was enacted in the early 2000s.

Check out our ongoing coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic here. 

Click on the 'Listen' button above to hear this segment. Don't have time to listen right now? Subscribe for free to our podcast via iTunes, TuneIn, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts to take this segment with you on the go.

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Hannes Schwandt, assistant professor at Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy, shares how cohorts unlucky enough to join the workforce during a recession see a loss in lifetime earnings.

Amanda Mull, a staff writer at The Atlantic, describes how disasters like pandemics alter the worldview of those transitioning into adulthood and how the current economic downturn has the potential to do the same for Generation C. 

Judah Lewis was finishing the second semester of his senior year at Howard University when COVID-19 caused the school to close and classes to move online. The path to his last semester was not an easy one and now he feels like the rug has been pulled out from underneath him. Lewis talks to us about how the pandemic has jeopardized his post-graduation prospects and provides an update on his career plan.

In May, activist and playwright Larry Kramer died at age 84. He'd devoted his life to advocating for the gay community during the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Kramer was an outspoken critic of the government's response to the crisis and famously criticized Dr. Anthony Fauci, who at the time was the face of the federal government's response, in the pages of the San Francisco Examiner.

Dr. Fauci reflects on his friendship with Larry Kramer and how their bond influenced the rest of his career in public health. 

Kentucky and New York are among the states that hosted primaries this week. In both states, several candidates of color, many who ran on progressive platforms, had strong performances. While officials wait for absentee ballots to arrive so they can provide a final tally, the delayed outcome has raised questions about future elections. Amy Gardner, National Political Reporter at The Washington Post and Astead Herndon, National Political Reporter at The New York Times, share how Tuesday's elections bode for November.

The general election will likely come down to a handful of swing states. In Pennsylvania, where a primary was held on June 2, the process of counting votes lasted until days after. Montgomery County Commissioner Ken Lawrence weighs in on the looming pressure regarding the upcoming presidential contest.

Plus, Democratic Congressman Conor Lamb flipped his seat from red to blue in a special election in 2018. A pro-second amendment, pro-fracking moderate, Lamb was cautious to weigh in on President Trump in a district he'd won in 2016. Congressman Lamb describes how his campaign has shifted its messaging for 2020.

The ongoing protests against police brutality have prompted a national reexamination about the role of the police. In Philadelphia, Larry Krasner was elected as District Attorney in 2017. He ran as a reform candidate and promised to reduce the number of people in jail by overhauling the sentencing process and the bail system, in addition to holding officers accountable for misconduct. He weighs in on the culture of policing and police unions as we move towards a national tipping point.

As protesters continue to demand justice for George Floyd and accountability for police brutality, public symbols of white supremacy have become a target. Confederate statues have long held the ire of those who’ve said they elevate those who fought (and lost) to keep slavery alive. As the demands to remove public reverence to confederate generals become more widespread, historians are requesting that schools modify textbooks that romanticize what confederates were fighting for. James W. Loewen, historian, sociologist, and author of "Lies My Teacher Told Me," and Keisha N. Blain, Associate Professor of History at the University of Pittsburgh, join Politics to discuss.

Check out our ongoing coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic here. 

Click on the 'Listen' button above to hear this segment. Don't have time to listen right now? Subscribe for free to our podcast via iTunes, TuneIn, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts to take this segment with you on the go.

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Ninety-nine years ago, Tulsa, Oklahoma was the site of one of the deadliest and most destructive race massacres in U.S. history. On that day, violent white people took it upon themselves to murder Black Americans and loot their businesses. Black homes, churches, restaurants, drugstores, and doctors offices were razed. In the end, Black Wall Street, one of the most prosperous Black communities, was destroyed. 

At a time when Americans are grappling with the role white supremacy played in shaping modern society, President Donald Trump chose to hold a rally in Tulsa during the weekend of Juneteenth. We take look at how the holiday resonates differently this year. 

Guests: 

Karlos K. Hill, Chair of the African and African American studies department at the University of Oklahoma

RJ Young, Host of the RJ Young Show. Excerpts from his audio diary were provided to us by KOSU. RJ's story is part of the America Amplified initiative. 

How Progressive District Attorneys Are Approaching Criminal Justice Reform

It’s been almost a month since George Floyd was brutally killed by police officers in Minneapolis. Protester's demands for police accountability have not waned, forcing officials to address the role of racism in policing and policy. As calls to defund the police grow louder, mayors, police chiefs, and local law enforcement step into the spotlight. At the same time, officials that attempt to reprimand officers for misconduct must face the wrath of powerful police unions. We speak with Kimberly Gardner, the Chief Prosecutor for the City of St. Louis, who was elected on the promise of reform on what it's like to go toe-to-toe with the police. 

Guest:

Kimberly Gardner, Chief Prosecutor for the city of St. Louis

How the Economy Fails Black Americans

Not only has the coronavirus pandemic disproportionately hurt Black Americans who've been infected at a higher rate, but the economic uncertainty it's created has set them back in terms of employment. Black Americans are concentrated in parts of the economy that have been designated as essential, like grocery store workers and transit operators. Still, Black unemployment almost tripled from February to May to almost 17 percent.

Today, Black households have one-tenth of the wealth compared to white families and are much less likely to own their homes. Historically, recovering from recessions is tougher for Black people. We sit down for a conversation about the unemployment rate for Black Americans and what an economic recovery might look like.

Guest:

Amara Omeokwe, Economics Reporter at The Wall Street Journal

As the coronavirus pandemic has created uncertainty for the upcoming general election, many Americans are reconsidering how they’ll cast their ballots. This week, many primary voters in Georgia were greeted by long lines and malfunctioning voting machines. The chaos surrounding Georgia’s recent election has raised questions about whether or not the same issues will reoccur in November. 

Also, George Floyd was laid to rest in Houston following weeks in which thousands of Americans took to the streets to decry police brutality in his name. Meanwhile, Congress is reckoning with how to respond to the protests and calls for police accountability. Two national reporters join Politics with Amy Walter to discuss the Justice in Policing Act of 2020, how Republicans are responding to calls for police accountability, and Georgia’s flawed elections. 

Guest Host:

Matt Katz, WNYC

Guests:

Nick Fandos, Congressional Correspondent for The New York Times

Laura Barron-Lopez, National Political Reporter at POLITICO 

Congressman James Clyburn on his Time in the Civil Rights Movement and Addressing Systemic Racism 

This week, Democrats introduced the Justice in Policing Act on Capitol Hill.  If passed, the bill would prohibit chokeholds, ban some no-knock warrants, tracking police misconduct at the national level, and make it easier to pursue legal and civil action against the police. The momentum for the bill stems from the uprisings against police brutality after George Floyd was brutally killed by police officers in Minneapolis. Congressman James Clyburn of South Carolina reflects on his time in the civil rights movement and what he hopes to accomplish through the Justice in Policing Act. 

Guest:

James Clyburn, Congressman from South Carolina’s 6th Congressional District and Majority Whip

How “Defund the Police” has Become More Palatable to the Mainstream

The killing of George Floyd by police officers in Minneapolis has shifted the way Americans see policing. Recent polling from The Washington Post found that 69 percent of Americans found “the killing of Floyd represents a broader problem within law enforcement.” While many high-ranking members of the Democratic Party don’t support calls to defund the police entirely, the notion of some form of defunding is picking up traction. A conversation about the politics of defunding the police.

Guests:

Alex Vitale, Author of "End of Policing" and Professor of Sociology and Coordinator of The Policing and Social Justice Project at Brooklyn College

Andrea Ritchie, Researcher at the Interrupting Criminalization Initiative and author of "Invisible No More: Police Violence Against Black Women and Women of Color"

How Minneapolis Plans to Dismantle Their Police Department

Minneapolis has been in the national spotlight since George Floyd was killed by police on video. Although the events there sparked protests across the nation, the city is also a catalyst for change. One progressive city leader, Steve Fletcher, has been working on police reform since he took office in 2018. He was among nine members of the Minneapolis city council that recently announced their commitment to dismantling the city’s police department. 

Guest: 

Steve Fletcher, Minneapolis City Council, Ward 3

The death of George Floyd, an African American man, at the hands of police officers in Minneapolis has ignited protests and conversations surrounding the mistreatment of Black Americans at the hands of the state against the backdrop of a pandemic that is disproportionately affecting Black people. Americans in every state have taken to the streets to protest police brutality and chant "Black Lives Matter." A look at the history of Black disenfranchisement, failures in leadership and policy, and the role ongoing protests will play in the general election.  

Guests:

Adam Serwer, Staff Writer at The Atlantic covering politics

Elizabeth Hinton, incoming Professor of History, law and African-American studies at Yale and the author of “From the War on Poverty to the War on Crime: The Making of Mass Incarceration in America”

Carol Anderson, Charles Howard Candler Professor of African American Studies at Emory University and author of "White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide"

Mayors, Past and Present

Since George Floyd was killed by police officers in Minneapolis, demonstrations against police brutality have taken place across the United States. For mayors, listening to the protester's grievances and balancing them against the responsibility of engaging with police chiefs is a challenging task. 

A conversation with Michael Tubbs, the first Black Mayor of Stockton, California, about addressing police brutality at the local level and what he hopes will come from the protests.

Plus, a conversation with former San Antonio Mayor, Julián Castro. As a candidate for the Democratic nomination, Castro spoke often about the pattern of police brutality and how bias in the criminal justice system disproportionately impacts Black Americans. He reflects on his time as mayor, ending police brutality, and the future of the movement. 

Guests: 

Michael Tubbs, Mayor of Stockton, California

Julián Castro, former Mayor of San Antonio and former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development

How Demonstrations Across the U.S. have changed the Vice Presidential Selection Process

A national conversation about race and the lack of police accountability has shifted the trajectory of the VP selection process for the Biden campaign. With the disparities in health care that coronavirus has underscored and the brutal killing of George Floyd, the selection process faces heightened scrutiny. 

Guests: 

David Siders, National Political Correspondent at Politico

At the beginning of the Democratic nominating contests, the party faced a number of challenges. The field being crowded with candidates with such varied politics demonstrated that there were different visions for the future of the party. And today, while Joe Biden is the presumed nominee, there is concern that he won't drive excitement and turnout in the way a candidate like Senator Bernie Sanders might've been able to.

The Democratic Party's foremost goal is to remove President Donald Trump from office, but they'll need to respond sufficiently to questions surrounding racial and economic inequality in addition to the fault lines exposed by the coronavirus pandemic. A roundtable discussion about the future of the Democratic Party and the role progressive candidates will play within the larger institution. 

Also, a conversation about the killing of George Floyd during an arrest in Minneapolis and how Trump's response demonstrates his need to exploit division.

Guests:

Joel Payne, former aide to Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign and host of "Here Comes the Payne"

Maya King, Campaign 2020 Reporting Fellow at Politico

Dave Weigel, National Political Reporter at The Washington Post

Jamaal Bowman, Democratic Primary Candidate for New York’s 16th Congressional District 

The Legacy of Larry Kramer with Dr. Anthony S. Fauci

This week, activist and playwright Larry Kramer died at age 84. He devoted his life to advocating for the gay community during the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Kramer was an outspoken critic of the government's response to the crisis and famously criticized Dr. Anthony Fauci, who at the time was the face of the federal government's response, in the pages of the San Francisco Examiner.

Dr. Fauci reflects on his friendship with Larry Kramer and how their bond influenced the rest of his career in public health. 

Guest:

Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Individual reactions to the coronavirus pandemic and the public health restrictions that have accompanied it have underscored how powerful negative partisanship can be in the formation of political opinions. In past crises, national shocks have urged partisans to put aside their personal grievances in pursuit of the greater good, but today, that doesn't seem to be the case. 

A look at how the perception of risk influences our political behavior and the impact it has on public opinion.

Guests:

- Jonathan Haidt, social psychologist and Thomas Cooley Professor of Ethical Leadership at New York University’s Stern School

- Lynn Vavreck, Hoffenberg Professor of American Politics and Public Policy at UCLA and contributor to The Upshot at The New York Times

Georgia's Reopening

Last month, Georgia became one of the first states to begin easing restrictions associated with COVID-19. The decision was criticized by health officials as moving too quickly and risking a potential surge in cases.

Across the state, citizens, business owners, and mayors hold mixed feelings regarding how Governor Brian Kemp has approached the public health crisis. While many governors across the U.S. have seen a bump in approval for their handling of the crisis, just 39% approved of Governor Kemp's handling of the pandemic. 

A look at how Georgia residents and business owners are navigating the reopening and what they need to see before they decide to participate. 

Guests:

- Andra Gillespie, Associate Professor of Political Science at Emory University and Director of the James Weldon Johnson Institute

- David Bradley, President and CEO of the Athens Chamber of Commerce 

Back to School

Parents can't go back to work if they're also responsible for co-teaching and childcare throughout the day. Any return to normalcy for families across the U.S. will be impossible without schools reopening. And while online learning has become the norm, it's exacerbated inequality as having a computer and reliable internet access have become precursors to learning from home. 

A look at how schools in Colorado are approaching what a return might look like and the steps that would be necessary to get students back in the classroom. 

Guest:

Katy Anthes, Commissioner of Education for the State of Colorado

In April, Wisconsin held its primary and local elections in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. Many voters who did not receive their absentee ballots in time had to choose between risking their health to vote in person or not voting at all. This week, the state's Supreme Court struck down the stay-at-home order signed by Democratic Governor Tony Evers in March. Amy shares her thoughts on the partial reopening.

Heather Long, economics correspondent at The Washington Post, and Betsey Stevenson, Professor of Public Policy and Economics at the University of Michigan, explain what the economic downturn means for small businesses and the American middle-class long term. 

Dr. Mandy Cohen, Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, shares what metrics the state used to determine that it's the right time to begin phase one. 

Phase one of North Carolina’s reopening includes a relaxation of restrictions on social gatherings, including worship services. Services with more than 10 people can take place as long they are outside and social distancing is respected. Spence Shelton, lead pastor at Mercy Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, shares what it's like to lead group worship remotely and how he's navigating phase one. 

Dr. Lucian Conway is a professor of Social Psychology at the University of Montana studying what shapes human thoughts and communications at the Political Cognition Lab. He shares what's driving the gap between what liberals and conservatives think about how seriously to take the threat of COVID-19 and how the government should respond to it.

Small business owners have been saddled with the enormous responsibility of managing their businesses during the pandemic. They've seen a sharp decline in sales with no end to the public health crisis in sight. This week, we hear from two small business owners trying to navigate the new normal. Lenore Estrada is the owner of Three Babes Bakeshop in San Francisco and Abigail Opiah is the cofounder of Yeluchi by Unruly, a mobile hairstyling service. 

This week, the Justice Department announced that they were dropping the criminal case against Michael Flynn, President Trump’s first national security adviser. Flynn had pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI twice regarding conversations he’d had with a Russian diplomat in 2016. Katie Benner, who covers the Justice Department for The New York Times, shares how the decision came about and whether or not it undermines the credibility of the Russia investigation. 

When a crisis happens, leaders in Washington try to mitigate financial ruin and to boost morale which often results in the creation of programs that have a lasting impact. The creation of Homeland Security, unemployment benefits, and new regulations on banks have stemmed from national disasters. The coronavirus pandemic is no exception as more than 30 million Americans have applied for unemployment insurance over the last six weeks.  

This week, Politics with Amy Walter examines how the government response to the coronavirus pandemic compares to dilemmas of the past. Tony Fratto, deputy assistant to President George W. Bush and Jason Furman, top economic adviser to President Barack Obama share what it was like to lead the country through an unprecedented shock. Jerry Seib, the executive Washington editor of The Wall Street Journal, explains why there’s more widespread support for government intervention today versus during the 2008 financial crisis. 

Erica Werner, a congressional reporter for The Washington Post, describes how members of Congress have been working together on multiple COVID-19 recovery packages and how likely it is that the partnership lasts. Annie Linskey, a national political reporter at The Washington Post, shares how Joe Biden’s campaign is adjusting to the realities of campaigning from home as a result of the pandemic.

Finally, Mayor Quentin Hart of Waterloo, Iowa shares how his constituents are dealing with the coronavirus outbreak and how a local outbreak is tied to the city's Tyson Foods plant. 

Recent graduates seeking to get involved in field campaigns have also had to shift expectations. Sam Aleman, a digital organizer for the Democratic National Committee, and Kiran Menon, a senior at the University of Virginia studying politics, discuss what it's like to pursue campaign jobs during the pandemic. 

States have scrambled to adjust long-planned elections because of the public health risk posed by COVID-19. Earlier this month, the governor of Wisconsin attempted to postpone in-person voting but was ultimately unsuccessful. So on April 7, Wisconsin voters stood six feet apart in long lines to cast their ballots while respecting social distancing. Since then, a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigation found systemic problems with the state's absentee ballot request process. Reporter Daphne Chen described the electoral shortfalls. 

Also, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose describes how he's navigating the changes of the state's upcoming all vote by mail primary.

As part of our series on governing during a pandemic, we spoke to Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry. He shared how his constituents are holding up and how he's advising the governor on reopening the state.    

Check out our ongoing coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic here.

Hannes Schwandt, Assistant Professor at Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy, shares how cohorts unlucky enough to join the workforce during a recession see a loss in lifetime earnings in addition to other less desirable life outcomes. 

Amanda Mull, a staff writer at The Atlantic, describes how disasters like pandemics alter the worldview of those transitioning into adulthood. The economic fallout from the Great Recession made it difficult for millennials to start stable careers causing them to protest the institutions and policies that contributed to their struggle. The current economic downturn has the potential to do the same for Generation C. 

Judah Lewis was finishing the second semester of his senior year at Howard University when COVID-19 caused the school to close and classes to move online. The path to his last semester was not an easy one and now he feels like the rug has been pulled out from underneath him. Lewis talks to us about how the pandemic has jeopardized his post-graduation prospects and his job with Teach for America. 

Heather Long, an economics reporter at The Washington Post, shares an update on who is left out when it comes to the $1,200 government stimulus checks meant to soften the blow from the economic downturn.

As part of our continuing look at how mayors across the country are tackling this pandemic, Mayor Linda Gorton of Lexington, Kentucky describes the measures she's taken to fight COVID-19.

Check out our ongoing coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic here. Check out our local leader series here.

A handful of rural states are without statewide stay-at-home orders and Arkansas is one of them. Marco McClendon is the Mayor of West Memphis, Arkansas, a town located just across the Mississippi River from downtown Memphis, Tennessee. Mayor McClendon shares the measures he's implementing in his town to contain COVID-19.

This week, Senator Bernie Sanders ended his bid for the Democratic nomination. Ruby Cramer has been covering the Sanders campaign for BuzzFeed News. She shares what his legacy might look like and which factors contributed to his shift from frontrunner to dropout. 

Check out our ongoing coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic here. Check out our local leader series here.

BREAKING: Wisconsin's Democratic Gov. Tony Evers issues order delaying Tuesday’s presidential primary election until June because of the coronavirus pandemic; court challenge expected. https://t.co/9l3Ui0tZZ4

NOTE: This is an evolving story, our Politics host Amy Walter be keeping up with it and tweeting her analysis throughout the weekend. You can find Amy at @amyewalter or click her Twitter thread below for all of the latest: 

Just now: WI Gov. Evers (D) calls for special session to turn the 4/7 primary into all vote-by-mail. According to MKE Journal’s @MollyBeck , GOP legislature has rejected it & “WI polls will be open on Tues. & people will be voting in person.” 1/

On Tuesday, April 7th, Wisconsin will hold its primary election in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. While 15 states have postponed their primaries, officials in Wisconsin have decided to move forward with the race rather than leave local elected positions in limbo.

Patrick Marley from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, State Representative Tyler August, and Congresswoman Gwen Moore join Politics with Amy Walter to discuss the decision to host an election during the coronavirus pandemic.  

Also, Austin Mayor Steve Adler shares what it's like to govern during a pandemic in a blue city within a red state. 

Finally, Chryl Laird, Assistant Professor of Government at Bowdoin College and author of "Steadfast Democrats: How Social Forces Shape Black Political Behavior," shares why Black Americans are such a loyal voting bloc for Democrats. 

Check out our ongoing coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic here. Check out our local leader series here.

As Americans wait for a coordinated federal response, small business owners are running out of resources to keep their livelihoods afloat and their employees on the payroll. Lenore Estrada is the founder of Three Babes Bakeshop in San Francisco and the Executive Director of SF New Deal. She's had to lay off most of her employees and lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in business. She joined Politics to share how things have changed since the start of the economic downturn. 

Congressman Colin Allred of Texas weighs in on the $2 trillion stimulus package out of Washington this week. Among many things, the stimulus package is supposed to provide relief for small businesses struggling to adapt to the loss in traffic.

The Washington Post's Paul Kane covered the 2008 financial crisis in addition to the ongoing one. He joins Amy Walter to analyze the details of the stimulus package and how Democrats are working to ensure there are checks on assistance for large corporations. 

First responders are putting their lives on the line throughout the coronavirus pandemic. Dr. James Augustine is the Medical Director of South Fulton, Georgia. He describes how first responders are adjusting to the realities of the pandemic. 

Finally, Anita Dunn, senior adviser to former Vice President Joe Biden, shares how campaigning has changed as a result of the pandemic. 

Louisiana was the first state to postpone their primary contest as a result of the ongoing public health pandemic. Several states have since followed its lead. Louisiana's Secretary of State R. Kyle Ardoin joins Politics to explain the reasoning behind the decision to move their primary.

The global economy has slowed considerably as communities attempt to contain the spread of coronavirus. Economist and Howard University professor Andria Smythe describes the tools that policymakers are using to soften the economic blow. 

Wendy Parmet, professor of law and the director of Northeastern University's Center for Health Policy and Law in Boston, discusses the power that state and local governments have to deal with a public health crisis. 

During times of crisis, people look to the President. A strong show of leadership has the power to calm nerves and reassure audiences that everything will be okay. Professor Barbara Perry is the Presidential Studies Director at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center. Professor Perry weighs in on what the role of the president has been historically and what lessons can be applied to the ongoing pandemic. 

Check out our ongoing coverage of the coronavirus pandemic here. 

Michigan will have an outsized role come November. This is why Biden's performance in the swing state mattered a great deal during Tuesday's primary where he won every county in the state. Maya King of Politico, Ruby Cramer of BuzzFeed News, and Democratic strategist Joel Payne join us to discuss the primary results and what it means for the future of Bernie Sanders' campaign. 

Mayor Michael Taylor of Sterling Heights in Macomb County Michigan has voted for Republicans his whole life, but that changed ahead of his state's primary. Although Macomb County supported President Obama twice, it flipped for Trump in 2016. The county has traditionally been a bellwether in elections: whoever wins this blue-collar county wins the state. Mayor Taylor shares why he can no longer support Trump.

In the midst of election season, Jessica Huseman of ProPublica's Electionland project analyzes what about the election process has changed since 2016 and how that will affect turnout.  

Plus, Reid Wilson, national correspondent at The Hill and author of "Epidemic: Ebola and the Global Scramble to Prevent the Next Killer Outbreak," joins Politics to discuss the Trump administration's response to the coronavirus pandemic. 

Check out our ongoing coverage of the coronavirus outbreak here.

We hear from various constituencies across the Democratic spectrum about how they're feeling now that the race has narrowed. Our voices include Aimee Allison, founder of She the People, Domingo Garcia, national president of LULAC, Lanae Erickson, senior vice president at Third Way, and Aracely Jimenez, deputy communications director of Sunrise Movement. 

While the attention has been on the fight happening on the Democratic side, President Trump certainly hasn't been sitting on the sidelines. Politico's Alex Isenstadt discusses Trump's reelection strategy. Also on the show, a look at the Trump administration's handling of the coronavirus outbreak with Yasmeen Abutaleb, a health policy reporter at The Washington Post.

Plus, a conversation with Joshua Geltzer of Georgetown's Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection about the lost words of the 14th Amendment and what they could mean for voting rights in this country. 

Biden took almost 50 percent of the vote in the state, besting 2nd place finisher Bernie Sanders by almost 30 points. His win was built on the strength of support among African American voters, he took almost two-thirds of the black vote. But can Biden’s momentum from South Carolina translate into wins in the 14 states that hold elections on Tuesday?

Amy Walter talks with Joel Payne, a Democratic strategist, Dave Weigel, national reporter covering politics for The Washington Post, and Jamie Lovegrove, political reporter at The Post and Courier. 

Voters in Texas will choose their candidate on Super Tuesday. Abby Livingston of The Texas Tribune weighs in on how some Democrats are feeling about the likelihood of Bernie Sanders as the nominee. 

Plus, Ellen Nakashima of The Washington Post provides analysis regarding reports of Russian interference in the 2020 election process. Finally, a look at the impact of coronavirus on global markets with Reuters' Heather Timmons. 

Host Amy Walter discusses the results of the Silver State with Joel Payne, a Democratic strategist; Tara Golshan, 2020 reporter at HuffPost Politics; and Zach Montellaro, campaign reporter for Politico. 

Host Amy Walter discusses the results of the Silver State with Joel Payne, a Democratic strategist; Tara Golshan, 2020 reporter at HuffPost Politics; and Zach Montellaro, campaign reporter for Politico. 

On Wednesday, Michael Bloomberg joined his rivals in Nevada for his first debate as a presidential candidate. The former mayor has positioned himself as a moderate businessman alternative to President Donald Trump. While he's spent millions on highly-produced advertisements, his debate performance has caused some to question whether the appeal from his ads translates into a candidate that could beat President Trump. Rosie Gray from BuzzFeed News shares some insights from the campaign trail. 

On Super Tuesday, California's 415 Democratic delegates will be up for grabs. But as of writing, more than one million voters have already submitted their ballots. Paul Mitchell of Political Data Inc. shares how campaigns are trying to sway voters ahead of March 3rd. 

Also, a look at the role Latino voters will play in the Democratic primary and beyond. We hear from Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia of Texas, Mark Hugo Lopez from the Pew Research Center, and Dr. Stephen Nuño-Perez from Latino Decisions. 

Also, The Democratic Party of Nevada is trying to avoid the tech issues that disrupted the final result of the Iowa caucuses. Rebecca Katz of New Deal Strategies and Megan Messerly of The Nevada Independent weigh in on the process and how candidates are making their case to voters in the final days before the caucuses. 

Finally, Maya King of Politico and Errin Haines of The 19th* join Amy Walter to discuss how presidential hopefuls are modifying their messages to court black voters. 

Priscilla Thompson, 2020 campaign embed with NBC and Josh Rogers, Politics Reporter at New Hampshire Public Radio join Politics with Amy Walter to discuss. 

Executive Director of the New Hampshire Democratic Party, Amy Kennedy, weighed in on how The Party plans on engaging the state's contingent of Democratic voters. Dante Scala, professor of political science at the University of New Hampshire explains the impact the Iowa caucuses have on voters on Tuesday. 

David Weigel of The Washington Post weighs in on the State of the Union Address and the Senate's vote to acquit President Trump on two articles of impeachment. 

Democratic Strategist Matt Paul fills us in on why many voters are undecided until the last minute and what it will take to convince them to get behind a candidate. Chair of the Iowa Democratic Party Troy Price and Iowa Public Radio's politics reporter Clay Masters explain how the caucus process has changed since 2016. Iowa State University student Megan Johansen explains why she's supporting Pete Buttigieg. 

Also, Peter Ambler, the executive director of Giffords explains how the national conversation surrounding gun control has shifted, even in the suburbs. 

ICYMI: Check out the first installment from Iowa here.

J. Ann Selzer, whose poll is considered the “gold standard”, walks us through her latest data set and what to make of this incredibly close race. 

From Waterloo, we heard from Mayor Quentin Hart, who has endorsed former Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Pastor Frantz Whitfield, a supporter of Vice President Joe Biden, about the calculus behind their endorsements.

Dave Swenson, an economist at Iowa State University, explained the economy of the state which holds an outsized influence on the rest of the primary season.

Although Pennsylvania handed President Obama victories in 2008 and 2012, voters decided to take a chance on President Trump in 2016, awarding him 20 electoral votes. This week, Politics with Amy Walter traveled to Pennsylvania to hear from politicians in the state about the lessons learned from 2016 and what’s at stake in 2020. Congressman Brendan Boyle, Congressman Dwight Evans, and Philadelphia Councilmember Kendra Brooks sat down with Amy Walter. 

Plus, Jerome Dillard, the State Director for Ex-Incarcerated People Organizing (EXPO), highlights the implications of failing to engage disenfranchised voters. Also, the New York Times’ Margot Sanger-Katz explains the Republican-led lawsuit that attempts to dismantle the Affordable Care Act and what that means for the 20 million Americans that would lose coverage. 

Finally, Steve Mistler, Chief Political Correspondent of Maine Public Radio, weighs in on Senator Susan Collins’ legacy and how it might change in light of the ongoing impeachment trial.

While Twitter recently announced that it would no longer run political advertisements, Facebook has moved in the opposite direction. Earlier this week, Facebook announced that it would continue to allow political advertisements on the platform, even ads containing false information. 

Patrick Ruffini, co-founder of Echelon Insights and Tara McGowan, CEO and founder of Acronym, join Politics with Amy Walter to discuss what both parties have learned since 2016 about using social media platforms to target voters for fundraising.

Plus, Thanassis Cambanis of the Century Foundation analyzes the future of the US-Iran relationship in light of the assassination of Major General Qassim Soleimani and Andrew Clevenger of CQ Roll Call provides context about the War Powers Resolution.

Also, Toluse Olorunnipa of The Washington Post recaps President Trump's time in office as we head into 2020 and Jesse Paul of the Colorado Sun weighs in on how vulnerable Republicans in the Senate are thinking about 2020. 

Plus, Nader Hashemi of the Center for Middle East Studies and Senator Chris Murphy provide context regarding the past and present of the United State's relationship with Saudi Arabia. 

Click on the 'Listen' button above to hear this segment. Don't have time to listen right now? Subscribe for free to our podcast via iTunes, TuneIn, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts to take this segment with you on the go.

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Also, The Washington Post's Heather Long discusses why it's rare to hear about the loss of administrative jobs that were primarily held by women. The president of the Voter Participation Center, Page Gardner, explains why presidential candidates should harness the voting power of unmarried women.

Also, Congressman Krishnamoorthi provides an update on the impeachment inquiry. Finally, Caitlin Zaloom and Alia Wong describe how college went from being accessible to burdensome and expensive. 

Our coverage this week is part of a collaboration with 250 other media organizations called “Covering Climate Now.” 

President Donald Trump was elected in 2016 fresh off of giving campaign speeches that promised to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement and bring back coal jobs. Just over two years later, we look at whether or not he's made good on those promises.

Guests:

Rachel Cleetus, Policy director with the Climate and Energy program at the Union of Concerned Scientists

Kendra Pierre-Louis, Climate reporter for The New York Times

Christine Todd Whitman, Former Governor of New Jersey and Former Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency

Zahra Hirji, Climate reporter for BuzzFeed News

Rich Fitzgerald, County Executive (D) for Allegheny County, Pennsylvania

Leandra Mira, Pittsburgh climate activist

Comment from Shell:

"Shell received its Air Quality Permit in 2015 from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, with oversight from the Federal Environmental Protection Agency.  In line with its permitting requirements, Shell will meet the regulatory standards created to protect people and the environment."

At the same time, 2020 Democratic candidates for president are debating which approach they should take to governing. Some, like former Vice President Joe Biden, argue that voters want a return to a more pragmatic style of governing. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders are less interested in bringing GOP legislators to the table than they are in bringing a grass-roots revolution to Washington. 

Wisconsin State Senator Janet Bewley joins us to discuss what it's like to govern in the minority. Governing reporter Alan Greenblatt weighs in about how state legislatures have become increasingly entrenched in party politics. 

Political analysts Joel Payne and Ty Mastdrof join us for analysis of the last debate. Plus, New York Times congressional reporter Nick Fandos fills us in on the latest surrounding the impeachment inquiry.

While the televised inquiry didn't reveal much new information, it provided an opportunity for those watching from home to hear from long-time government civil servants involved in Ukrainian foreign policy. Amanda Terkel from HuffPost and Anita Kumar from Politico join Politics with Amy Walter to discuss the latest on impeachment. Pollster Kristen Soltis Anderson weighs in on public opinion surrounding the President and the inquiry.

Barbara Perry of the University of Virginia's Miller Center describes how social media and the 24-hour news cycle changes how Americans metabolize impeachment. Alan Frumin walks us through the rules that govern impeachment proceedings. 

The Atlantic's Emma Green explains what Democrats misunderstood about religious voters in 2016. Reverend Joe Darby of Nichols Chapel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina talks to us about what he's hearing from his congregation in the early-primary state. Pastor Bart Barber of First Baptist Church in Farmersville, Texas joins us to discuss Evangelical support for President Trump in 2016. Doug Pagitt, pastor and executive director of Vote Common Good, discusses his campaign to ask Evangelicals and Christians to consider Democratic candidates. 

Finally, Congresswoman Elaine Luria of Virginia's second district joins us to discuss the ongoing impeachment inquiry and the implications of televised testimony. 

Sarah Kliff of The New York Times and Yasmeen Abutaleb of The Washington Post join us to discuss why there's been such little movement on this subject, even though there's broad support for reform. Finally, Nick Fandos, a congressional correspondent for The New York Times, joins us to discuss the House's vote to authorize a resolution to establish the next phase of the impeachment inquiry. 

When it comes to big tech, the conversation has shifted from if they should be regulated to how and by whom. For a long time, these tech giants grew quickly and quietly beyond what many of us could’ve imagined. As a result, incredible wealth and power started to concentrate in Silicon Valley, largely unchecked by Congress.

Tim Wu, the author of The Curse of Bigness and a professor at Columbia University, explains how big tech companies became embedded in the social and economic fabric of our country. Senator Mark Warner is one of a growing number of Democrats who are critical of how much power big tech has amassed, and he shares his ideas on how to rein them in on today's show. Representative Ro Khanna, the Democrat who represents Silicon Valley in Congress, walks us through the adversarial nature of the relationship between Silicon Valley and Washington, D.C.

Plus, Cecilia Kang, a tech reporter at the New York Times, gives an update on the antitrust investigations going on. Finally, journalist and author Charles Duhigg explains the spectacular growth of Amazon, from its early days as an online retailer to the tech giant it is today. 

Winning back the seats in districts that Trump carried in 2016 is a priority for Republicans and the Democrat-led impeachment inquiry might give them the support to do so.

On the latest episode of Politics with Amy Walter, Parker Poling from the National Republican Congressional Committee and Dave Wasserman from The Cook Political Report join us to discuss the role impeachment will play in drumming up Republican candidates in 2020. Plus, Jennifer Duffy, senior editor for The Cook Political Report, provides an update on upcoming Senate races. 

Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia of Texas tells us what she's hearing from her constituents about the impeachment inquiry. Elena Schneider, a national politics reporter for Politico, provides an update on Mayor Pete Buttigieg's debate performance and his ability to fundraise. 

Finally, Politics with Amy Walter reflects on the legacy of Congressman Elijah Cummings.

The week started with a letter from White House Counsel Patrick Cipollone to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, informing the House leader that the White House was not going to participate in an impeachment inquiry that it considered unconstitutional. Resistance to the impeachment inquiry escalated when the White House refused to let the U.S. Ambassador to the European Union, Gordon Sondland, testify to Congress.

Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, joined Politics with Amy Walter to discuss the latest on the impeachment inquiry and how the House will continue their investigation without a cooperating White House. 

Also, Eugene Kiely and Erika Franklin Fowler discuss the implications of political digital advertising for 2020. Congresswoman Katherine Clark weighs in about the House Democratic Caucus and efforts to prioritize the issue of gun violence. Finally, Peter Beinart shares why the presidency might skip generation X.

While the White House works on beating back the impeachment inquiry, members of Congress are home in their districts checking in with constituents. This task might prove difficult for those representing districts that have supported the president in the past, like Democratic Congresswoman Elaine Luria from Virginia.

Representative Luria joined Politics with Amy Walter to discuss why she decided to support the impeachment inquiry and the response she's received from constituents in a district that voted for Donald Trump in 2016. 

DC-based reporters Yamiche Alcindor of PBS and MSNBC and Rachael Bade of The Washington Post contextualize the ongoing impeachment proceedings. Tim Alberta from Politico chronicles the transformation of the Republican Party and historian Timothy Naftali demonstrates the role of bipartisanship during past impeachments. 

Amy's Final Take

This week, we also got our first polls taken since House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the House was starting a formal impeachment inquiry. Here’s what they show: Even as support for impeachment has grown, opinions about how the president is doing his job are virtually unchanged. In other words, as we’ve seen over the last 2 plus years, voters are pretty locked into how they feel about this president and there’s nothing that has been able to alter that. 

This is different from what we saw back during the Nixon impeachment. Back then, as support for impeachment rose, Nixon’s approval rating dropped. While support for impeaching Trump is basically at the same point it was with Nixon in 1974, Trump’s job approval rating is 41 percent Nixon’s was just 25 percent.  It is a testament to just how much more polarized the electorate is today than it was 45 years ago. And, a reminder that even as more and more information about Trump’s interactions with Ukraine are revealed — much of it is getting to Americans through partisan, biased filters like social media and cable news - making it harder and harder for any sort of ‘consensus’ to be found either among members of Congress - or the electorate. 

And, we end up where we’ve been all along. A divided country, more deeply and firmly entrenched than ever. And, those who aren’t as politically engaged or aligned, struggling to make sense of it all.

Opening music: I Think Like Midnight

For many, the allegations leveled against President Trump this week broke the dam. Several Democrats from purple districts who previously had not supported impeachment decided to back an impeachment inquiry announced by Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday. Shortly after, an unclassified version of the whistleblower's complaint was released and the acting Director of National Intelligence went before Congress. 

Purple-district Democrat, Rep. Colin Allred of Texas, joined Politics with Amy Walter to discuss what changed his mind on the impeachment inquiry. 

Guests:

Representative Colin Allred, Democrat, Texas-32

John Bresnahan, Congressional Bureau Chief for Politico

Margaret Taylor, Senior Editor and Counsel at Lawfare

Doug Heye, Republican Strategist and CNN Contributor 

Joel Payne, Democratic Strategist and Former Aide to Harry Reid

Our coverage this week is part of a collaboration with 250 other media organizations called “Covering Climate Now.” 

President Donald Trump was elected in 2016 fresh off of giving campaign speeches that promised to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement and bring back coal jobs. Just over two years later, we look at whether or not he's made good on those promises.

Guests:

Rachel Cleetus, Policy director with the Climate and Energy program at the Union of Concerned Scientists

Kendra Pierre-Louis, Climate reporter for The New York Times

Christine Todd Whitman, Former Governor of New Jersey and Former Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency

Zahra Hirji, Climate reporter for BuzzFeed News

Rich Fitzgerald, County Executive (D) for Allegheny County, Pennsylvania

Leandra Mira, Pittsburgh climate activist

Comment from Shell:

"Shell received its Air Quality Permit in 2015 from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, with oversight from the Federal Environmental Protection Agency.  In line with its permitting requirements, Shell will meet the regulatory standards created to protect people and the environment."

We also look at how the caucus process works in Nevada and what we might expect in the first primary state, New Hampshire. Finally, a conversation about the Democrats and impeachment, in light of the House Judiciary Committee vote this week to move forward with an impeachment inquiry. 

Guests:

Claire Malone, senior politics writer for FiveThirtyEight

Joel Payne, former aide to the Hillary Clinton Campaign 

Issac Dovere, staff writer at The Atlantic

Shelby Wiltz, caucus director for the Nevada State Democratic Party

Rebecca Katz, founding partner of New Deal Strategies

Karen Hicks, founder and CEO of Civix Strategy Group

Kyle Cheney, Congress reporter for Politico 

There’s something of a consensus-building within the so-called mainstream political media that it’s only a matter of time before Biden’s Teflon shield is deflated. His debate performances have been shaky. He is not as quick on his feet as the other candidates. And, he’s spent most of the campaign on defense - either explaining past votes, or changing long-held positions on policy. 

But, it also seems to me that many in the political class may be underestimating the staying power of a flawed - but popular and well-known - candidate. In 2016, for example, the assumption among the political elites - me included - was that once the summer ended, so would Trump’s hold on the lead in the GOP race. Voters would start to get serious about electability and stability and would reject this unorthodox candidate. Obviously, we know that didn’t happen. 

This isn’t to say that Biden’s destined to win the nomination. But, just that his staying power may be more durable than we think. He’s built up a lot of goodwill over his many years in office that no one else can claim. 

Guests:

Annie Linskey, National politics reporter for The Washington Post

Josh Jamerson, National politics reporter for The Wall Street Journal

Elaina Plott, White House correspondent for The Atlantic

Matt Paul, Democratic  Strategist based in Des Moines 

As we edge closer to 2020, candidates hoping to win the Democratic nomination have made rebuilding the middle class the central tenant of their candidacies. What role will unions and organized labor play in 2020? Plus, we look at domestic workers and caregivers and how they've been left out of the conversation when it comes to labor protections.

Guests:Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers

Lee Saunders, President of AFSCME, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees

Mary Kay Henry, President of Service Employees International Union (SEIU)

Stephanie Bloomingdale, President of the Wisconsin AFL-CIO

Rusty McAllister, Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the Nevada ALF-CIO

Rick Bloomingdale, President of the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO

Dave Jamieson, Labor Reporter at the Huffington Post

Ai-jen Poo, Director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance

Also, when it comes to understanding economic opportunity in Africa, the continent is still largely overlooked by the West. We look at the African Continental Free Trade Area and the opportunities it could unlock. 

Finally, a conversation with the political heavy-hitter from New Hampshire that Democratic hopefuls are trying to woo.

This episode was guest hosted by Duarte Geraldino. 

Guests:

Nancy Cook, White House Reporter, POLITICO 

Andria Smythe, Assistant Professor of Economics at Howard University

David Luke, Coordinator of the African Trade Policy Centre at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa

Howard French, Journalism Professor at Columbia University and former New York Times foreign bureau chief in Africa and China

Carlos Cardona, Laconia Democratic Party Chair

In fact, 4 of the 11 retirements are Congressman in Texas. This on top of 5 Texas Republican retirements in 2018 and two districts where Democrats flipped the seat. Could this turn Texas -- a historically red state -- blue, or at least purple?

This week, we break down these Republican retirements.

Guests:

Brendan Buck is a partner at Seven Letter Communications and the former chief communications advisor and counselor to Speaker Paul Ryan.

Susan Brooks (R), represents Indiana’s 5th congressional district. 

Pete Sessions (R), former Congressman from Texas.

Cal Jillson, professor of political science at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

Manny Garcia, executive director of the Texas Democratic Party.

After horrific events like these, there's always questions like "Will lawmakers take action?" and "Will this time be different?" While there has been some small movement in the wake of the Parkland and Las Vegas mass shootings, the issue of gun control is largely at a standstill.  

This week, we're revisiting the last time major gun control legislation was signed into law. Twenty-five years ago, Congress passed two major gun control bills, but the votes didn’t line up exactly as you’d expect. The Brady Bill, which was signed in 1993, didn’t go into effect until February 1994, and that was followed by the Assault Weapons Ban later that year.  

Plus, we take a look at the complex world of absentee ballots. Last week, a new round of charges were filed against a political operative in North Carolina. He's being investigated for alleged voter fraud related to his handling of absentee ballots during the 2016 and 2018 elections. We also break down another voter fraud scandal in Brooks County, Georgia, from 2010. 

Guests:

Hank Brown (R), former Senator from Colorado

Glen Browder (D), former Congressman from Alabama

German Lopez, senior correspondent at Vox

Professor Barry Burden, director of the Elections Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison

Steve Harrison, political reporter for WFAE

Jon Ward, national political correspondent with Yahoo News

Andra Gillespie, associate professor of political science at Emory University 

The city has gotten a lot of attention over the course of the week as it hosted the latest round of democratic debates. But why Detroit? Because — Michigan.

President Donald Trump won Michigan by just over 10,000 votes in 2016. But Democrats are hoping to put the state firmly back in their column. After a strong showing in the 2018 midterms, Democrats are feeling hopeful. Republicans say there's still a lot of support for President Trump — even in the counties, the Democrats were able to flip. 

Guests:

Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (D), representing Michigan's 12th District

Lavora Barnes, Chair of the Michigan Democratic Party

Congresswoman Haley Stevens (D), representing Michigan's 11th District

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer (D)

Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive activist who ran against Whitmer in the primary

Congressman Paul Mitchell (R), representing Michigan's 10th District

Jamie Roe, a Michigan-based Republican strategist

But where the hearings may have lacked in made-for-TV soundbites, Mueller's comments reiterated the fact that the United States remains under attack from a foreign adversary, one that seeks to undermine our faith in the foundational principles of democracy.

We hear from cybersecurity experts about how this problem goes far deeper than just election meddling, and what needs to be done to address the continuing threat.

Plus, we take a look at the growing amount of student debt owed in the US, which passed a staggering $1.5 trillion in 2018. With more and more students struggling to pay for a college education, what are political leaders, and 2020 Democratic presidential candidates, doing to address this crisis?

Guests:

Suzanne Spaulding, former Under Secretary for cyber and infrastructure protection at the US Department of Homeland Security.

Lisa Kaplan, founder of the Alethea Group.

M.H. Miller, editor at The New York Times, and author of a forthcoming book about his experience with student debt.

Danielle Douglas-Gabriel, a reporter covering the economics of education for The Washington Post.

Plus, we look at the yawning generation gap, as voters from different eras compete for political relevance.

With the U.S. electorate divided along generational lines, there are transformational demographic trends already having clear impacts on the way 2020 presidential candidates are trying to appeal to voters. But while the Baby Boomer bloc is increasingly eclipsed by the combined numbers of Generation X, Millennials, and Generation Z, so far it's an open question whether or not the influence of younger voters will have the final say in determining the results of the Democratic primary, or the general election.

This week, we look at the different generations active in U.S. politics, and try to figure out the forces at play in deciding the country's future.

Guests:

Dave Weigel, national political reporter for The Washington Post

Paul Taylor, author of The Next America: Boomers, Millennials, and the Looming Generational Showdown

Clare Malone, senior political writer at FiveThirtyEight

Manuel Pastor, professor of sociology and American Studies & Ethnicity at the University of Southern California

The Senate passed a spending bill aimed at alleviating what the Trump administration said was a lack of funding to properly house detained migrants. But the Democratic-controlled House, wary of writing a blank check without strict limits on how that money would be spent, sent a revised bill back to the Senate. But when that bill died with Mitch McConnell, the conservative-leaning "Problem Solvers" caucus of the House Democrats signaled that they were willing to pass the Senate's no-strings-attached bill, with or without the support of Speaker Pelosi.

When Pelosi ultimately sided with the Problem Solvers, it set off a backlash among the party's progressive wing, most notably Congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley, Rashida Tlaib, and Ilhan Omar, known collectively as "The Squad." And the outrage breathed new life into a long-simmering division between The Squad and Party leadership.

This week, Amy examines how deep these divisions go, and whether or not party unity is possible heading into 2020.

Also, Representative Seth Moulton from Massachusetts, who's running for the Democratic presidential nomination, joins Amy for her Candidate Talk series. And Eric Liu discusses his new book, Become America: Civic Sermons on Love, Responsibility, and Democracy. 

Guests:

Ryan Grim, the DC bureau chief at The Intercept, and the author of We’ve Got People: From Jesse Jackson to AOC, the End of Big Money and the Rise of a Movement

Seth Moulton, Represents Massachusetts's Sixth District in the House of Representatives, Democratic presidential candidate

Heidi Heitkamp, former Senator from North Dakota

Steve Kornacki, National Political Correspondent for NBC News and MSNBC, author of the book The Red and the Blue

Eric Liu, CEO of Citizen University and executive director of the Aspen Institute’s Citizenship and American Identity Program, author of Become America: Civic Sermons on Love, Responsibility, and Democracy

Moulton has been a vocal critic of Democratic leadership, wanting to see a new generation take the helm. 

We also talk with two academics to discuss how their policy work could be used in tandem with politics to bring about change in areas of technology and inequality.

Finally, Amy reflects on the LGBTQ movement, on the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising.

Guests:

Kristen Soltis Anderson, co-founder of Echelon Insights and author of The Selfie Vote: Where Millennials Are Leading America (and How Republicans Can Keep Up)

Rich Lowry, editor-in-chief of National Review

Jonathan Capehart, opinion writer for The Washington Post and a member of its editorial board; he also hosts the “Cape Up” podcast

Raj Chetty, professor of economics at Harvard University, and the director of Opportunity Insights

Ramesh Srinivasan, professor and director of the Digital Cultures Lab at UCLA

Ilene Chaiken, co-creator of The L Word and executive producer of Empire

But in the rush to perfect the effectiveness of digital ads, regulators have been slow to catch up. Will the lessons of 2016, and what can happen when nefarious actors hijack those platforms to spread disinformation, prove an effective warning for 2020 and beyond? And will Democrats be able to catch up to the Trump campaign's robust online operation?

Also, continuing with our "Candidate Talk" series, Amy talks with Senator Michael Bennet about trying to break out in a crowded Democratic field.

Guests:

Patrick Ruffini, Republican digital strategist, partner and co-founder of Echelon Insights, a polling and data analytics firm

Guy Cecil, Chairman of Priorities USA, a Democratic super PAC

Kevin Roose, tech columnist for Business Day at The New York Times

Young Mie Kim, professor at the school of journalism and mass communication at the University of Wisconsin-Madison

Ellen Weintraub, Chair of the Federal Election Commission

Michael Bennet, United States Senator from Colorado, Democratic Presidential candidate

Amy Walter spoke with Senator Bennet to discuss his campaign, his 10-year Senate career, and his vision for the nation.

But almost 30 years after the fall of the Soviet Union, socialism is once again having a moment in mainstream U.S. politics. As politicians like Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez pitch their Democratic Socialism to a generation not familiar with Cold War rhetoric, skeptics remain unconvinced about the promise of sweeping social reform.

Guests:

Bernie Sanders, United States Senator from Vermont, Democratic presidential candidate

Peter Beinart, contributing editor for The Atlantic and professor at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism

Sheryl Gay Stolberg, Congressional Correspondent for The New York Times

Ilya Somin, Professor of Law at George Mason University

"Democratic Socialism means to me requiring and achieving political and economic freedom in every community in this country. Let me be very clear, as well, when I state that the only way we achieve these goals is through a political revolution.”

On Wednesday, at George Washington University, Senator and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders laid out his vision of Democratic Socialism.

The speech also came at a time when his campaign seems to have stalled. He trails Vice President Joe Biden in national and early state polls. Meanwhile, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg are eating into his support among liberal voters. The speech was an opportunity for Sanders to reset the terms of the debate - and, he hopes, his position in the race.

Amy Walter sat down with the senator in a conference room at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee near Capitol Hill not long after he finished his speech.

Over the past few years, we’ve heard a lot about the Latino vote.

The white working class vote.

The suburban women vote.

But a core constituency of the Democratic electorate, since Barack Obama was elected has not gotten the same level of attention: African Americans.

Will this change before 2020?

According to the strategists we talked to, if Democrats want to win back the White House, it better.

Guests:

Alicia Garza, a founder of the Black Lives Matter Global Network, and the head of the Black Futures Lab

Bakari Sellers, former South Carolina state representative and a CNN contributor

Thelisha Eaddy, South Carolina Public Radio reporter

Theodore  R. Johnson, Senior Fellow at the Brennan Center

Aimee Allison, founder of She the People

On the one-year anniversary of the launch of Politics with Amy Walter from The Takeaway, the show takes a look back at the history of the electoral college. Amy moderates a debate for and against the institution, plus an exploration of the public’s shifting support for the electoral college.

Guests include The New York Times columnist and CBS News political analyst Jamelle Bouie, Carrie Dann, political editor for NBC News, Ruy Teixeira, Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress and Lina Newton, associate professor of political science at Hunter College.

The office of the presidency also leaves its mark on every person who holds it.

This week, we broadcast from the Presidential Ideas Festival, hosted by the University of Virginia’s Miller Center in Charlottesville. It’s a three-day festival attended by presidential scholars, journalists, political junkies, as well as politicians and administration officials.

We spent our time here talking to people who have worked closely with former presidents, on both sides of the aisle, to get their perspective on how the office changes those who serve, and on how those who served have changed the office. 

Guests:

Barbara Perry, Professor and Director of Presidential Studies at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center

Andy Card, White House Chief of Staff during the George W. Bush administration

Kathleen Sebelius, United States Secretary of Health and Human Services during the Barack Obama administration

Karl Rove, Senior Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff during the George W. Bush administration

Susan Rice, U.S. National Security Advisor during the Barack Obama administration

Also, the teachers’ strikes across the country that began in 2018 are a sign that teachers’ unions are stronger than ever. As the 2020 Democratic candidates compete for their support, they are laying out ambitious education proposals. Will this be the election that people vote on education? Or is this still largely viewed as a state issue, not a federal one? 

Guests:

Andrew Yang, Democratic presidential candidate 

Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers

Sarah Reckhow, Associate Professor of Political Science at Michigan State University

Jeffrey Henig, Professor of Political Science at Teachers College, Columbia University

Linda Tillman, Ph.D., Professor Emerita at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill

Jennifer Duffy, a political analyst covering US Senate and Governor's races for the Cook Political Report, explains why for some Democrats the Senate seems to have lost its allure.

Frances Lee, a political science professor at the University of Maryland, tells us how we got a Senate in the first place. 

Osita Nwanevu, a staff writer at the New Yorker covering politics and policy in Washington, D.C., and Logan Dobson, a Republican strategist and the former director of Data and Analytics for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, debate equal state representation in the U.S Senate.

Alan Frumin, the Senate Parliamentarian from 1987 to 1995 and again from 2001 to 2012, answers questions from our listeners about Senate rules and procedures. 

 James Carville is the Democratic strategist who famously coined that, while working on Bill Clinton’s presidential campaign in 1992. He meant people vote with their pocketbooks. In other words, when the economy is strong, the incumbent wins. That should be good news for the Trump administration because by many measures the economy is doing great. It grew at an unexpectedly high pace of 3 percent in the first-quarter of this year. The stock market is surging. Wages are up. Unemployment is down. Yet despite all this, the President's approval rating is still stuck in the low to mid-40s, putting the old cliche "it's the economy, stupid," to the test. 

Kevin Hassett, the Chairman of the President's Council of Economic Advisers, tells us that he expects the economic growth we have been seeing to continue this year at an even faster rate, and that's good news for Donald Trump's chances of re-election.

Heather Long, Washington Post's economics correspondent, says the economy may be growing quickly, but there is one big problem: rising inequality. Plus, she brings us up to speed on Donald Trump's picks for the Federal Reserve. 

Denise Murray, a farmer in Wisconsin, talks to us about selling her dairy cows because their upkeep had gotten too expensive. Mike Gallagher, a Republican congressman representing the 8th district of Wisconsin, explains how the Trump administration's tariffs on steel and aluminum have impacted constituents like Murray, and ponders whether voters in the swing state will support the president again in 2020. 

Scott Clement, the polling director at the Washington Post, walks us through a new Washington-ABC poll that shows that most people feel that our economic system benefits those in power.

And lastly, Lynn Vavreck, the co-author of Identity Crisis: The 2016 Presidential Campaign and the Battle for the Meaning of America, says actually, there may be some issues that are even more important to voters than the economy.

Read Amy Walter's take here.

We check in with two campaign reporters, Juana Summers from The Associated Press, and Annie Linskey from The Washington Post, who tell us about what voters seem to be looking for when trying to choose between the candidates. 

For our Biden digest, we turn to Mike Memoli, of NBC News, who has been following Biden's career on the national stage for over a decade. He explains what he thinks we can expect from Biden’s third attempt to reach the highest office. Borys Krawczeniuk, of the Scranton Times-Tribune, gives us the view from Biden's hometown. And Aimee Allison, the founder of the political group She the People, says he has some serious obstacles to overcome if he wants to do well with black women voters. 

Plus, Bloomberg's Joshua Green has been out on the campaign trail trying to gauge where voters stand on the issue of impeachment. His verdict? They are pretty ambivalent. 

Amy's Final Take:

After the  2016 election, the  media was criticized for spending too much time in D.C. absorbed in our Twitter bubbles. Voters were telling us the story of the election, but we weren’t listening to it.

Three years later, the Washington, D.C. and Twitter echo chambers are obsessed with talk of "impeachment" and "Russia" yet that’s not what voters or presidential candidates are talking about out in the states.  

My sense, from listening to voters and to the reporters who are on the ground covering them, is that Democratic voters are more pragmatic than prescriptive. The grassroots demand for Congress to start impeachment just doesn't seem to be there. Now, should Trump win re-election, I'd expect that pragmatism to give way to all out panic and push-back.

That may change, but for now, we should take the lessons of 2016 to heart and stop trying to make the narrative fit neatly into a box we have already pre-built. The race for 2020 has a LONG way to go. The best way to understand where it’s headed is to watch it unfold at its own pace, not the one being set by cable TV.

Or is it just the beginning?

Well, like a lot of things...it’s both.

Katie Benner, a Justice Department reporter at The New York Times, discusses the new and revealing pieces of the redacted Mueller report and if Robert Mueller did anything that sets precedent for the next special counsel. Nicholas Fandos, who covers Congress for the New York Times, brings us up to speed on the investigations that are being conducted by several congressional committees. 

Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi is the Democratic representative from Illinois’s 8th congressional district. He also serves on two key congressional committees with their own investigations into President Donald Trump: The Committee on Oversight and Reform and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. We talk to him about how those investigations will or won’t change now that we have the redacted Mueller report. 

For a conservative take on the redacted Mueller report, we speak to Noah Rothman, a political commentator, and editor at Commentary.

Finally, what impact could the release of the redacted Mueller report have on Donald Trump and his presidency? We talk to Carrie Dann, a politics editor at NBC, who has been analyzing what impact the Mueller investigation has had on public opinion. 

Amy Walter got the chance to sit down with Senator Booker to discuss his campaign, the legislation he’s introduced in the Senate to form a commission to study the issue of reparations, and vision for the future.

Reparations has come up a lot recently as the Democratic candidates have been asked to weigh in on the issue. Earlier this week, Senator Cory Booker announced that he would introduce legislation, “to form a commission for the study of reparation proposals for African-Americans.” But the idea of reparations has a long history, Amy explores that with The Takeaway’s Tanzina Vega.

Plus, Amy talks to Rob O’Dell, from the Arizona Republic, about his two-year investigation with USA TODAY and the Center for Public Integrity. Over the past eight years, state lawmakers have introduced at least 10,000 bills that were written, almost entirely, by corporations, industry groups, or think tanks. O'Dell helped create the algorithm that led to this discovery, and he says these numbers are just the tip of the iceberg.

To end the hour, Amy talks to Allison Anderman, the Managing Attorney at the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, about how lobbying works, in practice. 

In response to Allison Anderman’s comments about what she calls “the corporate gun lobby,” we reached out to The Second Amendment Foundation, and to the NRA.

The Second Amendment Foundation statement: 
''The gun prohibition lobby falsely claims that gun manufacturers are in the driver's seat when it comes to lobbying for gun rights. The fight for Constitutional Carry, the right to exercise a constitutional right without a permit, is lead by grassroots activist gun owners on a state level. Twelve states have now passed Constitutional Carry and the gun ban lobby is losing this battle. As a result, they have come unglued and make many false and outrageous claims that are simply not true."
- Alan Gottlieb, Founder Second Amendment Foundation
The statement from the NRA: 
"It's understandable that gun control groups like the Giffords Law Center try to mislead the American public by calling NRA the corporate gun lobby, but that’s false. The NRA represents more than 5 million dues-paying members and the tens of millions of law-abiding gun owners who want nothing more than the right to protect themselves, their families, and their homes. Gun control advocates like Anderman would rather strip people of their constitutionally protected rights and put you at the mercy of criminals who don’t give a second thought to breaking in your homes and shooting you dead.
We’re proud of our success in championing legislation like constitutional carry because it recognizes the rights of law-abiding people to defend themselves in the manner they see fit. Again, it’s another example of the gun control lobby trying to mislead the American public by saying constitutional carry allows anybody to carry a gun. That is a lie. It allows anyone who is legally allowed to posses a firearm to carry a firearm. They suggest it allows criminals to carry without a permit when that’s just not the case.
That’s because gun control groups like these are largely composed of high-priced lobbyists and lawyers that are financed by a small handful of the country's elitist billionaires. They have no constituency, no grassroots appeal, and continue losing ground in state after state. The NRA is financed by membership dues and donations. Our constituents are every law-abiding gun owner in the country, our grassroots outreach is second to none, and we will continue defending the 2nd Amendment as long as there’s a Constitution of the United States."
- Lars Dalseide, NRA spokesman

“Slay the Dragon,” chronicles the challenges to congressional maps in several states that have been accused of partisan gerrymandering including Michigan and Wisconsin. In Michigan, voters approved a ballot measure in 2018 to take map-drawing power out of the hands of the legislature and put it into the hands of an independent commission. The film also follows the legal team involved in Gill v. Whitford as that case from Wisconsin makes its way to the Supreme Court of the United States. 

Barak Goodman is the co-director of Slay the Dragon. The film will premiere later this month at The Tribeca Film Festival.

Scott Walker was the governor of Wisconsin from 2011 to 2019. During his tenure, Republican lawmakers created new congressional districts which he then signed into law. Walker is now the Finance Chairman of The National Republican Redistricting Trust, but he's also been accused by critics of partisan gerrymandering. Amy Walter speaks to Walker about why he decided to continue to focus on an issue that has embroiled him in so much controversy.

Eric Holder, the Attorney General under President Obama, recently wrote an editorial for The Washington Post in which he announced that he will not be running for president, and instead will focus his energies on the “fight to end gerrymandering.”

We talk to Holder about why he thinks this is a such an important issue for Democrats to combat right now. 

On March 26th, the Supreme Court of the United States heard oral arguments in this term’s gerrymandering case. Amy Howe, the co-founder of SCOTUSblog, brings us up to speed on what happened and what to watch for. 

"I can’t think of a single time in my life where I haven’t been an underdog. What I am used to doing is working hard. You know,  I am going to walk the walk, in the campaign, in my vision for the future, in working hard and knocking on doors, and getting to those town halls. And I think people will see by the end of it that I can defeat Donald Trump and win this nomination."

Castro, whose grandmother immigrated to the United States from Mexico and then worked here as a maid and a cook, talks to Amy Walter about how he is used to upending people’s expectations. 

Click on the 'Listen' button above to hear this segment. Don't have time to listen right now? Subscribe to our podcast via iTunes, TuneIn, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts to take this segment with you on the go.

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To begin the hour, Craig Gilbert, Washington Bureau Chief at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, explores what tipped the state to President Trump’s favor in 2016 and what it will take for Democrats to win it back in 2020.

Republican Congressman Sean Duffy represents Wisconsin’s 7th district in a rural part of the state. Congressman Duffy talks to Amy Walter about why President Trump performed so well in rural areas in 2016 and weighs in on whether or not Trump’s trade policy and tariffs will hurt him there in 2020. 

Congresswoman Gwen Moore joins Amy Walter to reflect on 2016 and the course correction Democrats have made in the state. And Senator Tammy Baldwin, who won re-election in 2018, has been offering advice to some of the 2020 candidates who have asked her the secret to running as a liberal Democrat in the state. 

To end the hour, we talk to Julian Castro. Castro served as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development during the Obama administration. He was also the mayor of San Antonio. He announced he was running for president on January 12, 2019. 

Tom Perez was elected as chairman of the DNC in 2017. Perez's mission is to insure that 2020 isn’t a repeat of 2016. That doesn’t just mean winning, it means re-instilling faith in the system for Democrats. And the DNC has done a lot of work on this front. Amy Walter talks with chairman Perez about the reforms the DNC has undertaken.

Also: we look into the potential unintended consequence of the new superdelegate rule with Dave Wasserman from the Cook Political Report. Julia Azari, an associate professor of political science at Marquette University, gives us the rundown on the new and confusing debate rules. Jeff Link, a longtime Iowa Democratic strategist, explains what’s new for the first caucus state and the role that Iowa plays in the presidential nominating process. We also tackle the unwritten rules on money and fundraising with Maggie Severns of Politico and try to figure out what the role of the DNC actually is these days, and how it’s changed in the last 25 years with Jamal Simmons of HillTV.

Amy's Final Take: 

When it comes to covering a primary, the media spends most of its time focused on candidates - their personalities, their policies, and their blunders. But, winning candidates spend a lot of their time focused on the unsexy stuff - how to leverage the rules to their advantage. For example, Barack Obama’s campaign in 2008 realized early on that the delegate rules meant that caucuses were going to win him a lot of delegates - even if they didn’t garner as much media attention as big primary states like Pennsylvania or Texas.

This year, Democrats have lots of new written and unwritten rules to figure out. How to raise lots of money without looking beholden to corportists and one percenters. How to get on the debate stage - and make the most of that opportunity. And, how to convince primary voters that they won the process fair and square. As we saw in 2016, winning the primary is only one part of the challenge for the nominee. He or she has to keep the party unified and inspired all through the general election too.

Read her latest Cook Political Report here.

But here’s something that might have gotten lost: The day before seven Republican senators voted along with Democrats to end U.S. support of the Saudi led war in Yemen.

What does this split tell us about President Trump’s relationship with Republicans in congress? Eliana Johnson is a White House Reporter for Politico. She’s been following this and is here to help us make sense of it all.

We also hear from former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld who is considering a primary challenge to President Trump.

Henry Olsen, a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and an opinion columnist at the Washington Post, thinks Governor Weld or any other ‘moderate’ Republican considering a challenge to President Trump is on a fool’s errand.  

This month, Jay Inslee, the Democratic governor of Washington state, declared he is running for President, and climate change is his number one issue.

According to a recent Pew Research Survey, about 67 percent of Democrats see climate change as a top priority, but only 21 percent of Republicans feel that way. Amy asked Governor Inslee how he plans to bring the country together over an issue that only half of the country views as a priority.

Amy's Final Take: 

Since that day in 2015 when he descended the golden escalator in Trump tower, people like me have wondered whether the GOP would split apart over Donald Trump. His populist, pro-tariff views would alienate business-friendly GOP types. His past support for abortion rights and his multiple divorces would scare off evangelical voters. And, his anti-immigration rhetoric went against the advice of establishment Republicans who warned that unless the GOP expanded its appeal beyond white voters, it would find itself in a demographic death-spiral. Yet, here we are - almost four years later - and the president is as popular with the GOP base as ever.

What keeps the GOP together? The president has given Republicans what they wanted - and avoided (for now) the things they worried about him doing. Many don’t like the steel and aluminum tariffs. But, back in 2016 he warned of imposing a 45 percent tariff on Chinese-made goods. Instead of unilaterally pulling out of NAFTA, as he once warned he’d do, he re-negotiated the trade deal. And, he’s not wavered on cultural or social issues that are important to evangelical voters. In other words, he’s giving most Republicans what they wanted.

Another unifying factor for the GOP: the 2020 democratic candidates. Even if you don’t like Trump, well, the potential Democratic nominee could be much, much worse.  This is why the president is spending so much time and energy labeling Democrats as the party of socialism.

So, the GOP sticks with Trump because he’s giving them most of what they want, but also because the Democratic choice is unpalatable. We should stop asking if Trump is going to lose support from Republicans - he probably won’t. Instead, what we should be looking for is whether he can keep GOPers as motivated to turn out and vote.  Trump had an enthusiasm advantage over Clinton in 2016. In 2018, it was Democrats who were more motivated. Let’s see what 2020 brings.

Read Amy's latest Cook Political report here.

After initial plans to condemn anti-Semitism more specifically were scrapped, the U.S. House of Representatives' Democratic leadership opted for a more generic "anti-hate" measure.

Amy's Take: Where Have Bipartisan Priorities Gone?

Amy Walter examines why Democrats and Republicans no longer agree about which issues demand the greatest urgency.

Citizenship Question Defies Purpose of the Census, Says CA Sec. of State

"Is this person a citizen of the United States?" That question has not been asked as part of the full, once-a-decade census since 1950.

Congressman Krishnamoorthi told Amy he does not believe that now is the right time to start impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump. He wants to wait until after the Mueller investigation is over. 

Yoni Appelbaum, a senior editor at The Atlantic, and the author of their March cover story, IMPEACH, disagrees with Congressman Krishnamoorthi's assessment. He says the legislators saying wait have got it wrong. We speak to journalist Yoni Appelbaum about why he thinks it’s time to impeach President Trump. 

But what about the argument against?

For that we turn to Don Calloway, a Democratic strategist.

Throughout history only two presidents have actually faced impeachment, what can we learn about the circumstances then and how it could impact the decision to impeach President Trump or not? For that we talk to Leah Wright Rigueur, an Assistant Professor of Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

When Amy Walter sat down with Buttigieg she was curious to find out what he thinks distinguishes him as a candidate.

"I think I distinguish myself as a millennial midwestern mayor at a time when my party has struggled to connect to the industrial midwest, that's where I'm from the so-called rust belt. At a time when we’ve sometimes looked too readily to Washington for leadership, I'm a mayor and I have a very different reality in terms of government at the city level - which I would argue is the level of American democracy that is working best today - and I do have a millennial perspective too that is that of belonging to the generation that will be on the receiving end of decisions being made today on everything from gun safety to climate change."

The historic nature of a potential run for president is not lost on Buttigieg but he also realizes he has to offer more to be a serious contender.

"Whatever is in your profile on paper maybe gets you a look but then pretty quickly the conversation evolves to what it is you have to say and how you say it."

Amy's Final Take: When you are a small fish swimming in a big pond - especially a pond filled with fish who have lots of star power and name recognition - well, you’ve got a lot to prove. Part of the reason Buttigieg has been able not just to capture the media attention but to keep it is because he’s incredibly articulate. He knows what he wants to say and how to say it. That includes how he positions himself in a primary where there’s a growing divide over whether Democrats should put forward the candidate with the boldest, most aggressive agenda. Or if they need to promote the candidate who is more pragmatic and incremental.

Plus, Amy Walter talks to two reporters who have been on the 2020 campaign trail to get the sense of what things are like on the ground.

Juana Summers is a national political reporter covering the 2020 campaign for the Associated Press, and Annie Linskey is a national political reporter covering the 2020 campaign for The Washington Post. 

Dr. Perry is a professor of presidential studies at the University of Virginia.

She says to understand how the president’s role has changed and developed over the course of history we have to go to the beginning, like the real beginning.

To secure that funding, he declared a national emergency.

In advance of Trump’s official announcement, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi spoke out against the idea of an emergency declaration.

Is declaring a national emergency in this situation allowed? Unprecedented?

To get a better understanding of this use of executive power Amy Walter spoke to Dr. Barbara Perry, the director of presidential studies at the University of Virginia's Miller Center.

Amy Walter's latest Cook Political Report:

Ambivalent voters who disliked both presidential nominees. Tepid enthusiasm from Democrats for their nominee. Tremendous support and energy from Republicans for theirs. Those were the three most important factors in Trump’s success in the three blue wall states.

As we look to 2020, we know that Trump continues to enjoy solid support from his base, but the Democrats are at least equally energized to get out and vote against him. This leaves the battle for the 'ambivalent' voter as the most critical piece of the 2020 strategy.

Trump has done little in his tenure in office to woo those not already in his base. The only question now is if Democrats will nominate a candidate who can appeal to these voters, or if they will choose a flawed candidate who will, once again, force these voters into having to decide between the "best-worst-choice."

Read the full analysis here.

Amy Walter's latest Cook Political Report:

Ambivalent voters who disliked both presidential nominees. Tepid enthusiasm from Democrats for their nominee. Tremendous support and energy from Republicans for theirs. Those were the three most important factors in Trump’s success in the three blue wall states.

As we look to 2020, we know that Trump continues to enjoy solid support from his base, but the Democrats are at least equally energized to get out and vote against him. This leaves the battle for the 'ambivalent' voter as the most critical piece of the 2020 strategy.

Trump has done little in his tenure in office to woo those not already in his base. The only question now is if Democrats will nominate a candidate who can appeal to these voters, or if they will choose a flawed candidate who will, once again, force these voters into having to decide between the "best-worst-choice."

Read the full analysis here.

The governor of the state, Ralph Northam, has been embroiled in a scandal since earlier this month when photos of his medical school yearbook surfaced, showing one person in blackface, another in a Klu Klux Klan robe.

There were calls for him to resign, and for Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax, a black politician who was next in line, to take over. But now he’s involved in his own scandal.

On February 6, Dr. Vanessa Tyson released a statement accusing the lieutenant governor of sexual assault. Her allegation dates back to the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston.

“After the assault, I suffered from both deep humiliation and shame,” Tyson wrote. “I did not speak about it for years.” Soon after, another woman, Meredith Watson, has also accused Fairfax of sexual assault.

Fairfax has denied any wrongdoing and called for an FBI investigation into the allegations.

And third in line for Governor, Attorney General Mark Herring, who after the Northam and Fairfax revelations, admitted that he wore blackface at a college party in the 1980s.

How do we decide when and how to hold politicians accountable?

Here to help us work through these questions are Jamelle Bouie, an opinion columnist for The New York Times and Joan Walsh, the National Affairs Correspondent for The Nation.

But what does "Medicare for all" actually mean? And is it achievable? 

Sarah Kliff, a health policy journalist for Vox, defines the term. 

Julian E. Zelizer, a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton, gives us a historical look at how healthcare reform has worked in the U.S in the past.

Neera Tanden, the president of the Center for American Progress, explains what she views as the best path forward, while Avik Roy, the president of The Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity, offers a different opinion. 

And Mollyann Brodie, the executive director of public opinion and survey research at the Kaiser Family Foundation, explains how Americans feel about "Medicare for all" based on polling data. 

Plus, we remember former Representative John Dingell from Michigan, the longest serving member of Congress and champion of health care reform.

The latest to announce: Cory Booker, the Senator from New Jersey.

This week’s episode of Politics with Amy Walter begins with an interview with Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, who’s running for President.

Amy speaks with Sen. Gillibrand about her views on Medicare for All and comprehensive immigration reform. They discuss the Senator’s former views on immigration and gun control, where she took a more conservative stance — she’s since apologized for those policy positions. This is the first interview with a presidential hopeful, and we plan to do as many as possible in the lead up to the Iowa Caucus.

Click on the 'Listen' button above to hear this segment. Don't have time to listen right now? Subscribe to our podcast via iTunes, TuneIn, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts to take this segment with you on the go.

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Just two days before the trade talks began this week, the US Department of Justice unveiled criminal charges against the Chinese telecommunications company Huawei. The DOJ accused the company of stealing trade secrets, committing wire fraud, breaking confidentiality agreements, and violating sanctions against Iran.

Jiayang Fan, a staff writer at The New Yorker, says that the U.S. and China view this case very differently.

Reaching an agreement on the trade war might be less about coming up with new rules and regulations and more about coming to some sort of a mutual understanding.

Weijian Shan grew up during the Cultural Revolution and spent his childhood in a hard labor camp. Today, he is chairman and CEO of PAG, a private equity firm and author of, “Out of the Gobi: My Story from China and America.” He reflects on the current tension between two schools of thought: One which seeks to move forward and abandon the system of party control over economic activity and the other that wants to hold onto the previous system of an active government presence in the economy.

Amy's Final Take:

We only just scratched the surface of China’s long, complicated and often confusing relationship with the West. If we want to understand the prospects for the short term like will there be a trade deal or more tariffs — we need to understand how China views itself — with both hubris and deep seated memory of past humiliations at the hand of the west.

Plus, the trade war is masking the bigger, more challenging dilemma for the U.S. and the rest of the world for the long term. What I found most fascinating in my discussion with Jiyang Fang of the New Yorker as well as my conversations with people in Beijing and Shanghai last December, is the degree to which China sees itself as a more passive — rather than active — Superpower. In other words, China wants to be successful and prosperous and powerful, but doesn’t want to play the role of enforcer of political world order. The question isn’t what happens if China fills the vacuum left by the U.S.’s diminishing role in policing the world’s political, social, moral world order. Instead, it’s what happens if China doesn't fill it. And, we are left with — a vacuum?

We start with James Hohmann of The Washington Post who was one of the first to notice that many of the Democratic presidential candidates are starting out their races with apologies. 

Stephanie Cutter is a Democratic strategist who worked on President Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign. She too has noticed all the apologies coming from the Democratic presidential candidates this election cycle.

Ron Bonjean is a Republican strategist. He has been a spokesperson for former Senate Republican Leader Trent Lott, and for former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert. His take is more critical of these apologies. 

Marjorie Ingall is a writer and one of the founders of Sorry Watch, a site that analyzes public apologies.

Of course, the other big story is the government shutdown. At this point, it’s hard to know if voters will care about it in 2020, or if anyone will take the blame and offer an apology. Amy spoke to two freshmen Democrats - from districts that flipped red to blue - about what they’ve been hearing.

Congressman Antonio Delgado represents New York’s 19th congressional district and Congressman Jared Golden, represents Maine's 2nd congressional district. Both Golden and Delgado spoke of the need for Democrats and Republicans to find common ground.

Amy's Final Take: Here’s my take on the raft of political apologies we’ve been hearing from 2020 Democrats. Democratic candidates running to catch up with where they think their base is.

The most important question, of course, is how voters will respond. Do they punish those who strayed and reward the candidate who has been the most ideologically consistent? Or are they willing to forgive and move on? Trump was all over the map on policies and positions. That obviously didn’t prevent him from winning the nomination. As one Democratic strategist told me: Americans don’t care if you flip as long as you flip in their direction.

Here’s the other thing. Voters are smart. And, perceptive. They don’t have the time to build elaborate spreadsheets that track candidate voting records and changes in policy positions. They mostly go with their gut. And, their heart. They can smell insincerity and calculation.

Stone is charged with seven counts, including one count of obstruction of an official proceeding, five counts of false statements and one count of witness tampering, according to Mueller’s office.

These are all connected to the 2016 election interference.

Aaron Blake is a senior political reporter at The Washington Post.

In this hour, Politics host Amy Walter asks, is comprehensive immigration reform impossible? From the summer of 2001 when a bipartisan agreement looked hopeful through today, a look at why compromise remains out of reach.

Shari Robertson is a documentary filmmaker. Back in the early 2000s, she and her filmmaking partner Michael Camerini embedded themselves within this reform effort, driven by President George W. Bush.

But how did we end up here, where we are now, where an immigration bill with bipartisan support seems almost unimaginable? To make sense of this Amy checked in with Chuck Hagel. He’s a former Republican senator from Nebraska and was one of the co-sponsors of the 2006 immigration bill.

Cecilia Muñoz was considered President Obama’s conscience on immigration. She was deeply involved in the reform effort that took place during his administration and gives us the insider view on why that failed.

In 2011, Jose Antonio Vargas officially came out of the closet as an undocumented immigrant. This was years before millions of others would join him.  And he did it in the most public way a person could - he wrote a cover story in The New York Times Magazine called, “My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant.” He is now the founder of Define American, and is the author of “Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen.” He joins the program to share his analysis of the current impasse over immigration.

Amy's Final Take: We had an ambitious idea this week. Try to explain - in an hour - why Congress has failed in its last two attempts to pass comprehensive immigration reform. The goal was not to leave you with the answer - but for you to appreciate all the cross-currents and challenges that face policymakers.

But, I was struck by two things over the course of putting this show together. First, it is actually not that hard to pass an immigration reform bill. The biggest impediment to success is the lack of political will and the lack of willingness to sacrifice and compromise. That includes lots of people - activists, organizations, people on the frontlines of the issue - not just the politicians.

The second is that whenever we talk about immigration reform we hear a lot from the political figures involved, but not as much from real people. I want to leave with the voices from the people we heard at the top of the show.

And a special thanks to our friends at The Marshall Project for sharing the testimonial tape in this episode. It was all collected as part of a project called We Are Witnesses, in partnership with Newsy.

Click on the 'Listen' button above to hear this segment. Don't have time to listen right now? Subscribe to our podcast via iTunes, TuneIn, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts to take this segment with you on the go.

Want to comment on this story? Share your thoughts on our Facebook page or Twitter.

If true, this may be the strongest indication yet that President Trump criminally tried to obstruct justice in connection with the Russia investigation. 

The report cites "two federal law enforcement officials involved in an investigation of the matter.”

Politics host Amy Walter talked to Anthony Cormier, a Buzzfeed investigative reporter who co-authored that report.

And for the congressional reaction, she spoke with Joaquin Castro, a Democratic congressman from Texas.

Congressman Castro took to Twitter after the story published to say:

If the @BuzzFeed story is true, President Trump must resign or be impeached.

 Amy Walter asked Congressman Castro, how he will know if the Buzzfeed story is true?

Amy's Final Take: This story has set D.C. on fire.

But, it’s not the first time that Washington thought that this was the story to end all stories. We’ve still got a long way to go. First, as Buzzfeed’s Anthony Cormier told us, Michael Cohen’s Feb. 7th hearing in front of the House Oversight Committee may not provide the kind of bombshells or corroboration that many are expecting. In other words, there may be more questions than answers.

Democrats in Congress aren’t quite ready yet to pull the trigger on impeachment. Yet, at least one Democratic Rep. thinks it may not be necessary to wait until the Mueller report comes out.  House investigations - and investigative reporting - can fill in the blanks. And provide enough evidence for impeachment proceedings to begin.

Thanks for hitting up our extra podcast today on Politics with Amy Walter….we’ll keep watching this story and we know you will also.

UPDATE: The Washington Post reports: Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s office on Friday denied an explosive report by BuzzFeed News that his investigators had gathered evidence showing President Trump directed his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, to lie to Congress about a prospective business deal in Moscow.

But it’s not just Republicans using aggressive political tactics. Democrats in New Jersey proposed a constitutional amendment for redistricting that would essentially solidify their party’s control of the state legislature for the next decade. The idea prompted a mass backlash, notably from folks from within the same party, like the state’s Democratic Governor Phil Murphy. 

In Alabama, a group of Democratic tech experts used deceptive social media tactics similar to the Russians in the 2016 presidential elections to influence the Special Senate race last year on behalf of now Senator Doug Jones, according to a report from The New York Times. 

So, is all this wheeling and dealing just politics as usual or has something fundamentally changed? This hour on Politics with Amy Walter from The Takeaway, we take a look at constitutional hardball, who's playing clean, who's playing dirty, and whether or not they out to be playing at all. 

Guests:

David Pozen is a professor of Law at Columbia Law School.

Clare Malone is a senior political writer at FiveThirtyEight.

Doug Heye has held communications positions in the House, Senate, RNC, as well as serving in the George W. Bush administration.

Karine Jean-Pierre is a senior adviser at Move On.

Jonathan Rauch is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.

Myrna Pérez is the Deputy Director of the Brennan Center's Democracy Program and leader of the Center's Voting Rights and Elections project.

Amy's Final Take: Over the last few years, I’ve been thinking a lot about institutions and why and how they fail. And, I grapple with the question of whether the dismantling and disruption of our political norms and structures are just a normal, healthy but painful process of democracy. Kind of like a forest fire is good because of the way it clears dead brush and encourages new growth. Or, is what is happening today the beginning of a descent into a dark and dangerous place where rules and guardrails no longer guide us.

In talking with the guests for this show - and others who are thinking a lot about these things - I am cautiously optimistic. The most dangerous threat to our political system is that people disengage from it; that it becomes so discredited that no one believes their voice or vote matters. The 2018 election showed us that voters aren’t walking away. Turnout was higher than any previous midterm election in over 100 years. And, as the Brennan Center’s Myrna Pérez noted, the path to progress isn’t always linear. And, in an era of Instagram, insta-pots and insta-news, it’s hard to remain patient when we see things moving in the wrong direction. Most fundamentally, our system is built on faith. If we lose it, we will lose everything.

Congressman Hoyer spoke with Amy Walter to discuss the new Congress, President's Trump's demand for border wall funding and the comments of Freshman Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib who said she wanted to "impeach the motherf----r," referring to the president at an event Thursday night.

You can connect with The Takeaway on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or on our show page at TheTakeaway.org.

This new Congress is the most diverse in U.S. history, and on Thursday the first former refugee, the first Native-American women, and the first Muslim women were all sworn into the House of Representatives. Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi reclaimed the speakership, and as The New York Times said became "the highest-ranking and most powerful elected woman in American political history."

This hour on Politics with Amy Walter, we'll hear from incoming freshman members of Congress as well as more senior members with decades of experience on how they're thinking about this next legislative session. We'll hear from reporters and experts who study Congress on what we should expect this session and some big ideas on how to make it work better.

Guests:

Freshman members of Congress: Rep. Max Rose, (D-NY), Rep. Denver Riggleman, (R-VA), Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN), Rep. Colin Allred (D-TX) and Rep. Bryan Steil, (R-WI).

Senior Members: Rep. Steny Hoyer, (D-MD) Majority Leader, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) Chairman of House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) Chairman of House Rules Committee, Rep. Richard Neal, (D-MA) Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee and Rep. John Yarmuth, (D-KY) is the chairman of the House Budget Committee.

Lee Drutman is a senior fellow in the Political Reform Program at New America.

Lisa Desjardins covers the U.S. capital as a Correspondent for PBS NewsHour. 

Molly Reynolds is Senior Fellow of Governance at The Brookings Institution. 

You can connect with The Takeaway on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or on our show page at TheTakeaway.org.

This week on Politics with Amy Walter from The Takeaway we talk to showrunners and screenwriters to see why they think there’s still a role for political fiction.

Guests:

Paul Redford is the writer for The West Wing, Designated Survivor, Alpha House, and Madam Secretary.

Barbara Hall is the showrunner for Madam Secretary.

Garry Trudeau is the showrunner for Alpha House.

You can connect with The Takeaway on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or on our show page at TheTakeaway.org.

This week on Politics with Amy Walter from The Takeaway, we'll examine the growing divide among Republican leadership and the electorate and we visit Kansas, where a handful of Republican women in the statehouse have defected from the GOP.

Guests:

Kansas State Senator Barbara Bollier and Representative Stephanie Clayton represent suburban districts where a majority of voters went for Hillary Clinton in 2016.

Kim Alfano is a Republican strategist and CEO of Alfano Communications.

Robert P. Jones is the CEO of the public religion research institute and the author the End of White Christian America.

You can connect with The Takeaway on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or on our show page at TheTakeaway.org.

And in a separate investigation, Maria Butina pleaded guilty to conspiracy, admitting that she tried to influence high profile Republicans and National Rifle Association members on behalf of Russia. All the while, President Donald Trump has doubled down, again referring to the investigation as a "witch hunt."

But how do these latest developments fit into the larger picture of Mueller's investigation, and are we anywhere near the end?

This week on Politics with Amy Walter from The Takeaway, we attempt to break it all down and examine what we know from all different angles, hearing from a reporter, a former FBI agent, a historian, a Democratic Congressman, and a conservative publisher during the course of the hour.

Guests:

Mark Mazzetti is the New York Times' Washington Investigative Correspondent.

Asha Rangappa is a discussing Senior lecturer at Yale University's Jackson Institute for Global Affairs and a former FBI special agent.

Julian Zelizer is a professor of History and Public Affairs at Princeton University.

Congressman Adam Schiff is on track to become the Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

Chris Buskirk is the publisher and editor of the conservative publication American Greatness.

Opening music composed by Tina Guo. Check out her music here.

All other music composed by Jay Cowit. 

You can connect with The Takeaway on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or on our show page at TheTakeaway.org.

Guests:

Staff Sergeant Patricia King

Ambassador Eric Edelman

Dave Lindorff, an investigative reporter and a contributor to The Nation

Meghann Myers, a Senior Reporter for Army Times

Neta C. Crawford, Professor of Political Science, Boston University and co-director of the Costs of War Project at Brown University

Dr. Isaiah Wilson III, a retired Army colonel, and a senior lecturer with Yale University’s Jackson Institute for Global Affairs

Note: Mark Skidmore reached out directly to us to clarify his position: "My opinion is that the reports from the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) are too vague to draw any conclusions and we need access to the underlying data. I am unable to determine whether these massive adjustments are "plugs" or potentially large amounts of money flowing in and out of the DOD financial system. For reasons described here, I do not dismiss the possibility that these unverified transactions could represent more than made up numbers or plugs."

You can connect with The Takeaway on Twitter, Facebook, or on our show page at TheTakeaway.org.

For this hour of Politics with Amy Walter, we analyze President Trump's top promises that he made in his campaign, and whether or not he's followed through on them. We break these promises into six distinct sections: foreign policy, trade, jobs, the Supreme Court, Obamacare, and the southern border wall.

Here are ten of them, with the results so far:

1. Respect for America on the World Stage

Susan Glasser, a staff writer for The New Yorker, says President Trump has failed on this: "This is probably his biggest failure. By the numbers, by any objective standard, the United States has plummeted in world opinion."

2. Withdraw from the Iran Nuclear Deal

In May, President Trump finalized plans to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal. "If you didn't think he was going to withdraw from the Iran deal, which is what some serious foreign policy people thought or convinced themselves of, you were wrong," says Susan Glasser.

3. Make NATO Allies Pay More

"It's not fair to say that as Trump has claimed, that he's gotten European allies to pay millions more," says Susan Glasser. "However, if you want to grade on a curve, you definitely could say that the threats or the bullying, or the blustering, or however you want to characterize it, have produced a new awareness in Europe that they ought to ante up more for their common defense in NATO than they felt pressured to do in the past."

4. Withdraw from The Trans-Pacific Partnership and Renegotiate NAFTA

President Trump followed through on withdrawing from TPP with an Executive Order on January 23rd. But he revived parts of the TPP to renegotiate NAFTA, which the administration finished just this month. According to Alex Lawson, Law360’s senior reporter on international trade, "[The new NAFTA] is an improvement," but the guidelines for the renegotiation were already drawn up by the Obama administration. "It's a little disingenuous for Trump to say that none of this happens without me...That's just not the case."

5. GDP Growth of Over 3.5 Percent Over 10 Years

GDP growth was over 4 percent in the second quarter of 2018, but Jim Tankersley, tax and economics reporter for The New York Times, says, "It's not what President Trump promised. It's not the supercharged sustained 3.5, 4 percent, which is really hard to do at this point in an economic cycle, but it's better than it was, and I do think he gets some credit for that."

6. Create 25 Million Jobs Over 10 Years

"We're right around 4 million jobs from the start of his presidency," says Jim Tankersley. "I will say that is a straight line continuation of the job creation pace we were on for the average of the last several years before his presidency." As for the question of creating 25 million jobs in 10 years? "You are unlikely to see that level of job creation."

7. Appoint Conservative Justices to the Supreme Court Who Support the Second Amendment and Oppose Abortion

Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch are certainly considered conservative justices. It remains to be seen how they will vote on Second Amendment issues, as well as on a potential Roe v. Wade debate. "The jury is still out," says Amy Howe, co-founder of SCOTUS Blog.

8. Fully Repeal and Replace Obamacare

Julie Rovner, Chief Washington Correspondent for Kaiser Health News, says that while the Trump administration has done quite a bit to dismantle Obamacare, they failed to fully repeal and replace it.

9. Build the Southern Border Wall 

The Trump administration claims that new fencing along the Southern Border is the Trump Wall. But according to Michel Marizco, senior editor for KJZZ, that is far from the truth. "What's going up now does not fit the definition" of the type of wall that Trump called for in his campaign and in an Executive Order that he signed early in his presidency.

10. Make Mexico Pay for the Southern Border Wall

As for Mexico paying for the wall? "No ma'am," says Michel Marizco.

You can connect with The Takeaway on Twitter, Facebook, or on our show page at TheTakeaway.org.