KCRW Left Right & Center

It was a wild week in the financial markets, driven by increasing worries about the global economy. President Trump delayed some tariffs on China so they won’t affect the holiday shopping season — an implicit admission that his trade policy is hurting the economy and his political standing.  Plus: visas for Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib to visit Israel are denied, and the panel discusses the “electability” narrative around the women in the 2020 Democratic field. A new immigration rule from the Trump administration that could make it a lot harder to get a green card, especially if you’re poor. Randy Capps  from the Migration Policy Institute talks the panel through the numbers and whether the rule is even legal.Then Michael C. Davis discusses the risks in Hong Kong that could escalate the crisis in the United States’ relationship to China.

After last weekend’s deadly mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton, President Trump said Friday morning he and Congressional Republicans intend to do something on gun background checks. He said Mitch McConnell is even on board. Republican strategists told the Washington Post they’re concerned that gun issues have hurt their ability to win in the suburbs and contributed to their loss of the House in the 2018 midterms. Is there something genuine here? Might Republicans feel compelled to be seen “doing something” about guns? And what kind of regulation or policy might be possible? Then, Jane Coaston of Vox joins the panel to discuss the white nationalist movement and mass shootings, the role of national law enforcement in preventing them, and the possibility of a new law on domestic terrorism. After a dramatic escalation in the trade war with China — it’s now a currency war too — Brad Setser  explains why it matters in the United States if the yuan is weakened.

If you think one candidate won, be honest: was it the same person you liked most before the debate? With so many candidates (still twenty over two nights), the debates almost turned into team fights: progressives who say the party needs to stand for bold change, and moderates who say that's unpopular and impractical, and that you need unifying messages that can build a clear anti-Trump majority. Who's right? Plus: a discussion of new tariffs and ongoing trade negotiations with China, the Fed's rate cut, Democrats inching towards impeachment, Will Hurd announces he won't seek reelection, and more of the week's news. Megan Mcardle and Helaine Olen represent the right and left with special guest Linette Lopez .

It was finally Mueller time this week, and some say the Special Counsel’s tight-lipped low energy approach was intentional to avoid creating a soundbite for the news cycle. Robert Mueller did confirm that there was significant Russian interference in the 2016 US election, and that the country continues to interfere with our election system. The Democrats seemed to get the better part of the budget deal struck this week ahead of Congress’ long summer break. But some of the Democratic presidential candidates are focusing on issues like medicare for all and healthcare for undocumented immigrants, which a recent poll shows, is not what the majority of voters actually want. Special guests J.W. Mason * of the Roosevelt Institute and * Joseph Majkut of the Niskanen Center join the panel to do a deep dive into the macroeconomic case for the Green New Deal. Evelyn Farkas of the German Marshall Fund gives her take on what to do about tension with Iran (hint-it involves getting back into the nuclear deal President Trump pulled out of). And we talk about whether Trump’s demand that Sweden release rapper ASAP Rocky is a good idea.

A squabble among Democratic presidential candidates about the best path for healthcare continued this week with sniping by Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders about whether medicare for all or something closer to Obamacare is going to win over voters. We talk about the rare bipartisan agreement over the repeal of the so-called cadillac tax, which imposes a tax on high-cost gold standard health plans. There was no bipartisan agreement on condemning President Trump’s suggestion that four female congresswomen nicknamed “the squad,” go back to where they came from, even though three were born in the United States. While 95 House Democrats voted in support of impeaching Trump because of his inflammatory statements, only four Republicans did. Trump may have energized his base this week, with thousands of supporters chanting “send her back” at a rally in North Carolina, but he also, at least temporarily, brought together the divided members of the Democratic party who had been feuding in recent weeks. Special guest Tim Alberta , who wrote American Carnage: On The Front Lines of the Republican Civil War and the Rise of President Trump, says while Trump’s incendiary language may mobilize members of his base, it also may end up alienating more moderate voters whom he needs for re-election in 2020. And we talk about how the compassionate conservatism of George W. Bush may have backfired on the party and helped bring Trump to power.