Bob Collins
Friday Dec. 21, 2018
(Subject to change as events dictate. This page is updated throughout the day.)
9 a.m. – 1A with Joshua Johnson
Domestic news roundup. In a surprising turn (something we’ve had plenty of this year), former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn’s sentencing was delayed this week, and a new date has not yet been set. The judge presiding over the case laid into Flynn. Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to FBI agents in a 2017 interview. In the courtroom, Flynn said he accepted responsibility for his actions. Special Counsel Robert Mueller has recommended Flynn serve no prison time, due to his cooperation with Mueller’s investigation into interference in the 2016 election.
And another blockbuster investigation by The New York Times raised further concerns about Facebook’s business practices. This comes on the heels of an investigation that revealed an “aggressive lobbying campaign,” led by Facebook exec Sheryl Sandberg to combat the negative publicity the company was receiving.
To avoid a government shutdown, the Senate passed a stopgap spending bill which will keep the government funded until February 8. This measure does not include any of the five billion dollars for the wall that President Trump requested, and he has said he won’t sign a measure that doesn’t put more money toward the wall.
Guests: Shawna Thomas, Washington bureau chief, Vice News; Christopher Buskirk, editor and publisher of the journal American Greatness, co-author of “American Greatness: How Conservatism, Inc. Missed the 2016 Election and What the D.C. Establishment Needs to Learn“; Steve Clemons, Washington editor, The Atlantic.
10 a.m.- 1A with Joshua Johnson
International news roundup. This week, a Senate report revealed new details on the sweeping efforts to interfere with the 2016 American elections on social media platforms. The report, obtained by The Washington Post ahead of its Monday release, said “the operation used every major social media platform to deliver words, images and videos tailored to voters’ interests to help elect President Trump – and worked even harder to support him while in office.”
In Yemen, the cease-fire between Houthi rebels and government forces appeared to hold. And residents in the besieged port city of Hodeidah are hopeful the peace could be maintained as the U.N.-ordered ceasefire continues.
And the Brexit debate grinds on in the U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May scheduled a vote on her withdrawal deal for January 14, but intense opposition remains in Parliament.
Guests: Jonathan Tepperman, editor-in-chief, Foreign Policy; Paul Danahar, Washington bureau chief of the BBC; Gillian Tett, U.S. managing editor, Financial Times.
11 a.m. – MPR News with Angela Davis
MPR News host Angela Davis and three experts on children and mental health discussed how to identify kids who need help and how schools, practitioners, and families can work together to give kids the support and treatment they need.
Panelists: Christina Gonzalez, Director of Student Support Services at Richfield Public Schools; Renita Wilson, Clinical Director at Kente Circle; Eman Abdullahi, Licensed School Counselor at Saint Paul Public Schools
12 p.m. – The Takeaway
Examining the Republican Party’s problem with women. What’s the matter with the Kansas legislature: A series of Republican women officeholders say they’ve had enough.
1 p.m. – Science Friday
The facts behind food myths. Do double dippers spread their bacteria to everyone else ? Can you eat raw holiday cookie dough? And is the 5-second rule real? Plus: why some pharmacies have age restrictions on giving vaccines.
2 p.m. – BBC NewsHour
The fallout of the sudden resignation of US Defence Secretary, James Mattis – how frayed are tempers in the White House.
3 p.m. – All Things Considered
The week in politics; legalizing hemp; a tiny home theft; the year-end at the Capital Gazette; Der Spiegel and Fergus Falls and Robert Bly’s collected poems.
6:00 p.m. – Marketplace
With tax season on the horizon, accountants are scrambling to get trained on the new tax law as the GOP tax reform goes into full effect.
6:30 p.m. – The Daily
President Trump seemed poised to avoid a government shutdown and to carry his fight for a border wall into 2019, when the House will be controlled by Democrats. Then he shot down the spending deal. So what happened?
Also, to cap off a chaotic day of breaking news, Jim Mattis resigned as secretary of defense.
Guest: Jonathan Weisman, the deputy Washington editor of The New York Times.
7 p.m. – The World
We get the scoop from a guy in Finland, who’s in the Santa business. Santa isn’t at the North Pole. He moved south in 1984 to the edge of the Arctic Circle.
8 p.m. – Fresh Air
Singer and songwriter Loudon Wainwright III. He became a folk singer/songwriter in the late ’60s, singing humorous and autobiographical songs. In 1972, on his “Album III” he scored the top-40 hit “Dead Skunk.” Since then he’s recorded more than 20 albums. He has a new Netflix special, Surviving Twin, which was recorded live on stage earlier this year, and reflects alot on his complicated relationship with his father who was an acclaimed columnist for Life magazine for many years. We feature excerpts of two interviews with him.
