What’s on MPR News – 3/29/19

Friday March 29, 2019
(Subject to change as events dictate. This page is updated throughout the day.)

9 a.m. – 1A with Joshua Johnson
Domestic news roundup.On Sunday, Attorney General William Barr submitted a four-page letter about the Mueller report to Congress. His summary? There’s no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, and it’s inconclusive whether President Trump attempted to obstruct justice. Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein have chosen not to pursue obstruction charges. Why did Mueller refrain from taking a position on obstruction of justice in his report? Meanwhile, House Democrats are doubling down on demands for the Justice Department to release the full report, with threats to take the issue to the Supreme Court. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-NY, has been leading the charge. Will the public ever see the Mueller report? And what of other pending investigations into the Trump administration?

We’re also following the latest on climate change legislation. Senate Democrats have moved on from the Green New Deal initiative in favor of several separate bills, after the Senate blocked legislation to advance the comprehensive plan How will Democrats revitalize their climate change policy agenda heading into 2020?

Guests: Susan Glasser, staff writer, The New Yorker; Asawin Suebsaeng, White House reporter, The Daily Beast; Yamiche Alcindor, White House correspondent, PBS NewsHour, contributor, NBC News and MSNBC.

10 a.m.- 1A with Joshua Johnson
International news roundup. So. Brexit. Will it happen? Yesterday, members of Parliament voted down eight different options for Brexit – including a no-deal Brexit. Prime Minister Theresa May also said she would resign once Parliament accepted a deal. Will the members of Parliament and the European Union be able to agree on a deal? And if they don’t, and a hard Brexit happens, what could be the economic effects?

Facebook banned white nationalist and white separatist rhetoric this week, following a livestreamed massacre at two Christchurch, New Zealand, mosques. Motherboard also learned that the social platform would “begin directing users who try to post content associated with those ideologies to a nonprofit that helps people leave hate groups.” How will Facebook enforce this ban?

And the fallout from a devastating cyclone in southern Africa continues. At least 460 people in Mozambique are confirmed dead, with the death toll expected to rise. In addition, the mayor of Beira, a city in Mozambique, said the government failed to warn the people in the hardest hit areas.

Guests: Peter Bergen, CNN’s national security analyst; Indira Lakshmanan, executive editor, Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting; Ravi Agrawal, managing editor, Foreign Policy.

11 a.m. – MPR News with Angela Davis
Trump extended deportation protection for Liberians, but what happens next? MPR News host Angela Davis speaks with Fata Acquoi, former program director at the African Immigrant Services, about the uncertainty the Liberian community is facing and the fight to find a permanent solution. Davis also talks with U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips, who represents Brooklyn Park and Brooklyn Center, about his long-term solution that would provide legal status and a pathway to citizenships for qualifying Liberian refugees.

11:20 a.m. – Rick Kaufman, the executive director of community relations and emergency management for Bloomington Public Schools and James Densley, a professor of sociology at Metropolitan State University. Densley’s most recent research supports the idea that schools need to focus on mental health when trying to prevent school shootings. Kaufman was working at the Columbine High School during the shootings in 1999 and now spends his time consulting on crisis management and communications.

12 p.m. – The Takeaway
“Politics with Amy Walter” on the Friday edition of The Takeaway. Democrats look to win back the Badger state and rebuild the so-called “blue wall.” Is Wisconsin a place for either party to take for granted? What’s the secret to political success there? Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin) says, “it would not hurt any candidate for the presidency of the United States to shake hands outside of Lambeau Field.”

1 p.m. – Science Friday
Astronomers are working to measure just how fast the universe is expanding… and the answer ties into basic questions of how the universe works. Plus, you helped build a real time flu map. Hear how the season’s shaping up.

2 p.m. – BBC NewsHour
On the day Britain was scheduled to exit the European Union, the British Prime Minister tries one more time to get at least part of her Brexit deal through; It’s the last day of campaigning in the elections in Ukraine; a national memorial service is held in New Zealand.

3 p.m. – All Things Considered
The week in politics; child migrant smuggling; female coaches in mens sports; the Brexit withdrawal vote; Marvin Gaye’s lost album.

6:00 p.m. – Marketplace
The state of Brexit may be uncertain, but for people living in the UK, Brexit has already changed their economic lives.

6:30 p.m. – The Daily
New Zealand is holding a national day of remembrance today for the 50 people killed in the mosque shootings in Christchurch. Our colleague spent several days with one family of one man who died in the attack.

Guest: Charlotte Graham-McLay, who spent time with the family of Atta Elayyan.

7 p.m. – The World
Keeping an eye on North Korea’s missiles. Satellite photos provide the clues. How independent experts analyze satellite images to see North Korea’s secrets.

8 p.m. – Fresh Air
Writer Luis Alberto Urrea talks with Terry Gross about growing up with a border wall in his own family: he’s the son of a Mexican father and American mother. He’s written fiction and non-fiction, and reported on the deadly path of immigrants trying to cross the border. His novel The House of Broken Angels is out in paperback.