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Welcome to another edition of Ringside Politics with Jeff Crouere
Today’s Hot Topics:
1) Disturbing bodycam video released after public outcry over the Chicago police shooting of a 13-year-old boy shows the youth appearing to drop a handgun and begin raising his hands less than a second before an officer fires his gun and kills him.
A still frame taken from Officer Eric Stillman’s jumpy nighttime body camera footage shows that Adam Toledo wasn’t holding anything and had his hands up when Stillman shot him once in the chest about 3 a.m. on March 29. Police, who were responding to reports of shots fired in the area, say the boy had a handgun on him before the shooting. And Stillman’s footage shows him shining a light on a handgun on the ground near Toledo after he shot him.
The release of the footage and other investigation materials Thursday comes at a sensitive time, with the ongoing trial in Minneapolis of former Officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd and the recent police killing of another Black man, Daunte Wright, in one of that city’s suburbs. Before the Civilian Office of Police Accountability posted the material on its website, Mayor Lori Lightfoot called on the public to keep the peace and some downtown businesses boarded up their windows in the expectation that there could be unrest.
2) Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday rejected a push from the left wing of the party to swiftly vote on legislation to expand the Supreme Court with Democrats in full control of Washington.
“I have no intention to bring it to the floor,” Pelosi said of the legislation, led by House Judiciary Chair Jerry Nadler and Sen. Ed Markey, which would expand the number of Supreme Court justices to 13 from nine.
Instead, Pelosi said she backed President Joe Biden’s recent move to create a commission to study possible expansion of the Supreme Court: “I don’t know that that’s a good idea or a bad idea. I think it’s an idea that should be considered.
“It’s not out of the question,” Pelosi said of the broader push.
3) The House committee tasked with overseeing the federal response to the COVID-19 pandemic grilled the nation’s top health experts Thursday over the state of vaccinations in the U.S.
Democrats applauded the progress, but Republicans did not get all the answers they were hoping for.
“We are on the path to finally defeat this virus,” said House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, D-SC.
Clyburn reported about 70 million Americans are fully vaccinated, but Rep. Mark Green, R-TN, worries about another growing number.
“Thousands and thousands of Covid-positive immigrants are being released into the U.S.,” Green said.
Green, along with House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-LA, recently traveled to the border. Scalise said he flew back with migrants who were not tested for COVID-19.
“They’re violating every guidance Americans are required to follow,” Scalise said.
4) Could we soon be spotting Will Smith in the Queen City? Sen. Tim Kennedy wants to see it happen.
Recently, Apple Studios and producers Will Smith and Antoine Fuqua pulled production of the film Emancipation out of Georgia. This was in response to recent, controversial changes in voting laws in the state.
“We cannot in good conscience provide economic support to a government that enacts regressive voting laws that are designed to restrict voter access,” Smith and Fuqua previously stated.
Today’s Guests:
1) Sheila Weinberg, Founder and CEO of Truth in Accounting – joins the show in the first hour to discuss the state of debt in our country.
2) Donna Carol Voss, author and commentator joins in the final segment to take several callers, address today’s hot topics, and much more.
3) Chris Holton, Vice President of Outreach, Center for Security Policy – calls to discuss the latest in the Biden administration.
