To the Point

Two Republican Senators — Bob Corker of Tennessee, and now Jeff Flake of Arizona — say they won't run for re-election next year. It's all about what they call President Trump's outrageous behavior. Is the president losing his party, or are the dissidents conceding he's running the show?

"Tax reform" is a process that's full of political pitfalls. That's one reason it's only tried every few decades. President Trump has promised "the biggest tax cuts ever" — which is — even in times of bipartisan unity -- easier said than done.

It's been decades since Hollywood liberals denounced the "casting couch" and vowed to end "sexual harassment." But revelations about Harvey Weinstein reveal the hypocrisy of the film industry… and much more.  

Donald Trump appealed to the frustrated base of the Republican Party, and Steve Bannon rode Trump's train to the White House. Now, Bannon's out on his own -- fomenting revolution against the GOP establishment—especially leadership in the Senate. Where's President Trump as the battle lines are being drawn? 

Wildfire is all too familiar in the Golden State, but last week's record-setting blazes in Northern California left behind something new — more property damage over a wider area with more human casualties than ever before. We hear about likely causes, the struggle to clean up and the possibility of prevention.

Uncertainty about the fate of Obamacare grows by the day, with key factors including bipartisanship in the Senate, opposition deeper than ever in Congress -- and a president who veers from one side to the other. We talk with Maryland's attorney general and others about what's at stake from the state house to the doctor's office. 

National Football League team owners are meeting today to craft a unified message about political protest. Men and women athletes in other sports are protesting too. We hear how one man's refusal to stand for the flag has demonstrated the inseparable relationship between sports and politics. 

Masha Gessen was born in Russia but emigrated with her parents to the United States. She returned in the early 1990s when political change was afoot. And since then, she’s become a leading observer - and critic - of Russian president Vladamir Putin. She fled Russia again in 2013. In this special podcast, Warren Olney talks with Gessen about her new book, The Future Is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia .

Most people in Puerto Rico are still without electricity, and some are drinking from a well contaminated by a superfund site. President Trump's accused of a "shocking lack of compassion" compared to speedy assistance after hurricanes hit Texas and Florida.  

President Trump is trying to make good this week on two campaign promises that upend the legacies of his predecessor. Jamil Smith guest hosts.

The list of women accusing Harvey Weinstein of everything from workplace harassment to rape keeps growing. Guest host Jamil Smith explores why Hollywood's "open secret" has spilled into public now. Is it about sex or power? 

Guest host Todd Purdum gets a rare first-hand look inside North Korea, the most isolated nation in the modern world. Is it the flash point of a new Cold War that might turn hot?

Guest host Todd Purdum discusses the Democratic Party's growing ideological – and generational – divide and its implications for the 2018 midterms and beyond.

Guest host Jamil Smith discusses journalism's battle to stand out amidst a flood of fake news and conspiracy theories, and what, if anything, Silicon Valley is doing to help.

A minor political player before last year's upset election is now a high-paid lobbyist with access to heads of state.  That's just one example of how the State Department's being hollowed out while Secretary Rex Tillerson and President Trump are reportedly at odds both publicly and personally.