What’s on MPR News today 3/12/18

Monday March 12, 2018
(Subject to change as events dictate)

Until 9 a.m. – Morning Edition
Jeff Sessions moves to limit asylum; exercise to repair an aging heart; and why bikers age better.

9 a.m. – MPR News with Kerri Miller
The Political Junkie. Kerri Miller’s weekly talk with political commentator Ken Rudin.

9:20 a.m. — President Trump’s “America First” policy has ruffled the feathers of several US allies. Does this rhetoric weaken America’s position as a global leader? Or does it help the United States to scale back past policies that have been criticized as overbearing?

Guest: Michael Wahid Hanna, senior fellow at the Century Foundation.

10 a.m.- 1A with Joshua Johnson
Back to banking as usual? The Senate is set to eliminate many restrictions that were placed on banks in the wake of the last global financial crisis with an overhaul of the law known as Dodd-Frank.

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act was passed in 2010 “to promote the financial stability of the United States by improving accountability and transparency in the financial system, to end “too big to fail”, to protect the American taxpayer by ending bailouts, to protect consumers from abusive financial services practices, and for other purposes.”

A new Senate bill removes some of the regulations Dodd-Frank imposed. Supporters say it’s overdue and hardly makes a dent in the way of reform. Critics say it’s reckless.

Who’s right? And what will it mean for you?

Guests: Sen. Bernie Sanders, author of “The Speech: A Historic Filibuster on Corporate Greed and the Decline of Our Middle Class“; Evan Weinberger, assistant managing editor, Bloomberg Law; Joe Valenti, director of Consumer Finance, Center for American Progress; Paul Merski, executive vice president and chief economist, Independent Community Bankers of America.

11 a.m. – MPR News with Tom Weber (Marianne Combs hosts)
Penumbra Theatre Company in St. Paul recently asked Minnesotans to share their experiences of life in America. They then took 12 finalists and helped them to develop their work for the stage. The results paint a vibrant picture of the hopes and struggles of an increasingly diverse country.

12 p.m. – MPR News Presents
On the 50th anniversary of the 1968 presidential primary in New Hampshire, you’ll hear an APM documentary by MPR political reporter Tim Pugmire about Eugene McCarthy’s 1968 Presidential campaign. On March 12, 1968, Minnesota’s U.S. senator got a shocking 42 percent of the vote in the first-in-the-nation New Hampshire primary. Later that month, incumbent Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson announced he would not run again. “The McCarthy Tapes” is a documentary based on archival recordings from the time.

1 p.m. – The Takeaway
Doctors in Eastern Ghouta forced to decide who lives and who dies. A city under siege in Syria struggles to maintain a medical infrastructure that’s under attack.

2 p.m. – BBC NewsHour
The latest reaction to the British prime minister’s statement on the attempted murder of a former Russian spy. A possible medical breakthrough in France on previously untreatable neuropathic pain.
And can a sugar tax reduce obesity levels? We visit Norway to find out.

3 p.m. – All Things Considered
A Pennsylvania special election preview; the fifth anniversary of the pope; and a new tech oil boom. Plus: a podcast from Northfield based on Wolverine; and what can’t Danai Gurira do?

7 p.m. – The World
The launch of the world’s largest nuclear icebreaker symbolizes Russia’s dream of dominating the Arctic Ocean, and Vladimir Putin’s ambition to make Russia great again.

8 p.m. – Fresh Air
Terry talks with journalist Rania Abouzeid. Banned from entering Syria by the Syrian government, she continues to go back to report on the war. In her new book, No Turning Back, she writes about rebel fighters and families caught in the middle. As a child, she also saw war up close. She was raised in Australia, but her Lebanese family would visit war-torn Beirut.