Donald Trump

We sit down with Princeton University history professor, Julian Zelizer. Zelizer is a scholar of American political history, with a focus on the second half of the 20th century and the 21st century. He joins us to discuss the roots of President Trump in American politics, the current impeachment inquiry, and his thoughts on the impact of this most recent election in states like Virginia and Kentucky, where Democrats won big. He's in Rochester for a presentation at the University of Rochester.

In studio:

• Julian Zelizer, professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he had a “positive” meeting with President Donald Trump on Wednesday at the White House to talk about funding for a key train tunnel connecting Manhattan to New Jersey.

Cuomo spent the primary and general election season berating Trump and his policies, including at an appearance last summer at a Brooklyn church.

Following the mass shooting in Pittsburgh, we sit down with Norm Ornstein, a longtime political commentator and author. He’s won awards for diagnosing America’s political dysfunction, and he’s made a mark in government with his work on McCain-Feingold, election reform, and more. Ornstein is a guest of the Jewish Book Festival at the JCC.

In studio:

• Norm Ornstein, political commentator and author
• Andrea Miller, director of the Rochester Jewish Book Festival
  

Investigative journalist David Cay Johnston has some ideas for how to make President Donald Trump’s tax returns public. He wrote about them in an op-ed for the New York Times.

We hear those ideas, and we're also joined by New York State Attorney General candidate Zephyr Teachout. She weighs in on how the Attorney General’s office could assist in the process if she were to win the election.

In the last six weeks, nearly 2,000 children have been separated from their parents after crossing the southern border without proper documentation. While their parents are sent to immigration detention centers or to jail, the children are sent to government facilities or foster care. The move is part of the Trump administration’s “zero-tolerance” immigration policy.

Activists across the country are protesting that policy, and many of those activists are immigrants themselves. This hour, we hear their stories and discuss the challenges they face. They also discuss what they’d like to see in terms of a national policy on immigration. Our guests:

• Gabriela Quintanilla, Western New York Associate Coordinator for Rural & Migrant Ministry
• West Cosgrove, Western New York Coordinator for Rural & Migrant Ministry
• Cesar Vargas, co-director of the Dream Action Coalition, and New York’s first undocumented attorney admitted to the New York Bar
• Aly Wayne, undocumented immigrant from Senegal, and member of the Syracuse Peace Council and Black Immigration Network Steering Committees
  

W.J.T. Mitchell is a writer and a professor of English and art history at the University of Chicago. He’s in Rochester as a guest of the University of Rochester, discussing his piece, "American Psychosis: Trumpism and the Nightmare of History.”

He joins us to share his perspective on the age of Trump in the context of capitalism and democracy.

President Trump is moving forward with plans for a national military parade this coming November. The parade, estimated to cost between $3 million and $50 million, will celebrate the American military and its achievements throughout history.

Our panel consists of veterans who discuss the meaning of such a parade, and whether they think it should happen. In studio:

• Todd Baxter, Monroe County Sheriff who has 22 years of service with the U.S. Army
• Dominick Annese, U.S. Army veteran of the Vietnam War
• Gary Beikirch, Medal of Honor recipient for his actions in the Vietnam War
• Matt Barnes, Fairport Police Sgt and veteran of the U.S. Army
  

President Trump promised tariffs when he was a candidate. Now that he's delivering, some business leaders are expressing shock and concern.

But why is this president being treated differently than previous presidents who also deployed tariffs? And what, exactly, would a trade war look like? Our guests discuss it.

• Kent Gardner, chief economist with the Center for Governmental Research
• Rob Shum, professor in the Department of Political Science at the College at Brockport
• Amit Batabyal, professor of economics at RIT
  

Dueling publication weighed in recently on the question: who has been tougher on Russia, Trump or Obama?

We discuss U.S. policy in regards to Russia, and how the ongoing Mueller investigation is affecting that relationship. Our guest has many years of experience in evaluating, teaching about, and contributing to this subject:

• Randy Stone, director of the Skalny Center for Polish and Central European Studies at the University of Rochester