Curious about today’s topics on The Larry O’Connor Show? Below are a few stories on the radar. Be sure to listen to The Larry O’Connor Show Monday – Friday 3pm – 6pm on WMAL.
Trump administration officials unveiled a new round of sanctions on Thursday against 24 Russian entities and individuals in response to offenses that include interference in the 2016 election.
Some of the targets of the sanctions include the “malicious cyber actors” named in special counsel Robert Mueller’s indictment of 13 Russians last month, a senior administration official told reporters on Thursday. The sanctions were also designed to respond to NotPetya, a massive cyberattack Russia launched in Ukraine last year, as well as a recent attempt by the Russians to infiltrate the U.S. energy grid, the official said.
“This is just one of a series of actions we’re taking” against Russia, the official said. “There will be more to come.” [Read More]
As Kyle Kashuv’s classmates at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School embarked on an unprecedented media blitz in their calls for new gun laws, the 16-year-old junior took his time.
In the days after a gunman killed 17 classmates and teachers at the sprawling Parkland, Florida school campus, Kashuv joined hundreds of students on a bus trip to Tallahassee to meet with state lawmakers. That is when the light bulb went off in his head.
“I realized there is a real concern for Second Amendment rights and someone had to voice the opinion of 50 percent of America,” he said. [Read More]
Nation of Islam Turns Against Black Members of Congress Who Denounced Farrakhan (TownHall)
The Nation of Islam is rebuking three black members of Congress who criticized its leader, Louis Farrakhan, over anti-Semitic and anti-white comments he made in a Chicago speech last month.
The group wrote an open letter to Democratic Reps. Danny Davis (IL), Gregory Meeks (NY), and Barbara Lee (CA), expressing their “deep disappointment” with their denouncements of Farrakhan.
“We are writing this open letter to express our deep disappointment with your published denouncement of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan’s Saviors’ Day 2018 Message at the behest of the Republican Jewish Coalition, the anti-Defamation League and others who represent White supremacy and the continuing effort to destroy our community. It is abhorrent for you, as elected officials, to defend these people against the Truth that uncovers the horror that has been done to Black people and to serve as their mouthpiece, rather than allow them to defend themselves against their record and history which proves that they are anti-Black,” the letter states. [Read More]
Republican Lawmaker Pushes Tax-Per-Mile To Replace Gas Tax (PJ Media)
Americans love their cars. The United States has one of the highest car ownership rates per capita in the world. We’re a mobile culture and we like it that way. But a tax-per-mile plan being pushed by Republican Rep. Sam Graves of Missouri might have drivers re-thinking those weekend joyrides instead of feeling all the pain at the pump.
The Miami Herald reports: “While exact plans for such a tax remain vague, the fees could be calculated based on odometer checks, GPS devices, cellular technology or radio-frequency identification devices that would track how far a vehicle travels and charge drivers accordingly.”
This isn’t a unique idea. A pilot program in Colorado had 150 participants from 27 counties choose how they would report their mileage, and compared it to what they paid through the current 18.4-cent per gallon gas tax. [Read More]
Outcry Over Dead Dog Intensifies Pressure on United CEO (Bloomberg)
United Airlines has managed a feat to which no company aspires — outraging the world twice in less than a year. The death of a puppy in an overhead bin this week raises anew the question of whether the carrier’s CEO can hang onto his job.
United has sustained a series of embarrassments on Chief Executive Officer Oscar Munoz’s watch, from the tragic loss of a French bulldog on Monday to the surreal death of a giant rabbit in United’s care at the Chicago airport. Munoz survived one of the worst corporate scandals in recent history almost a year ago, when a video captured airport officers forcibly dragging a United passenger down an airplane aisle. [Read More]
Shulkin says VA getting ‘back on track’ amid speculation of firing (The Hill)
Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary David Shulkin said Thursday amid speculation that he will be fired by President Trump that he thinks his department is getting “back on track” after recent “distraction.”
“I’ve publicly acknowledged that the distraction that has happened that you’ve talked about is something that I deeply regret,” Shulkin told a House Appropriations Committee subpanel. “I’ve come here for one reason, and that’s to improve the lives of veterans, and that’s what I’m focused solely on doing.
“There are a lot of people that frankly are more interested in politics than I am. I’m interested in getting this job done. And I’ve made it clear to everybody in my department that I have no tolerance for anything other than the business that have to do for VA. I believe that we are getting back on track with that, and I’m going to do everything I can to keep our focus on the work that we have to do because there’s a lot of work to do, as you mentioned, that impacts people’s lives.” [Read More]
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