Donald Trump

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

A number of local groups are joining together to develop what they call a “united community response to Donald Trump’s hatred and racism.” The event will be led by Minister Franklin Florence Sr.

We're joined by the event’s organizers to discuss their goals, and we also welcome comments from supporters of Donald Trump. Our guests:

• Minister Clifford Florence, president of the Faith Community Alliance
• Larry Knox, political and community engagement coordinator for 1199 SEIU
• Howard Eagle, representative of the Take It Down Planning Committee and the Movement for Anti-Racist Ministry and Action
• Tim Schiefen, small business owner
  

Investigative journalist David Cay Johnston has written a new book on the Trump administration. In It’s Even Worse Than You Think: What the Trump Administration Is Doing to America, Johnston writes that Trump is unlike any president before him; he says the evidence is that Trump’s entire focus is on enriching and helping himself. The book seeks to explain all of the ways that the administration is serving insular interests and not the common good.

Johnston joins us in studio for the hour.

Adam Serwer, correspondent forThe Atlantic Monthly, joins us to discuss his recent piece titled "The Nationalist's Delusion." The piece has been hotly debated since its publication, and many prominent writers of color call it a landmark in analyzing America's history with white nationalism.

Can you stand your neighbors? Increasingly, the answer depends on what their politics are. We are moving away from people who disagree with us, and National Review writer David French says we're headed for a "national divorce." French says, "Americans tend to belong to their political tribe not so much because they love its ideas but rather because they despise their opponents." So we've decided to bring in guests who are close friends and political opposites. How do they maintain friendships? What can we learn from that?

Our guests:

• Ernie Orlando, 8th grade social studies teacher at Churchville-Chili Schools
• Joe Randise, IT manager
• Tom Proietti, resident media scholar at St. John Fisher College
• Tony Conte, professor of accounting at Monroe Community College