As far as wage gains average hourly earnings were up 3 point one percent from a year ago which is a bit below the wage gains we've seen in recent months Chris Arnold n.p.r. News the u.s. And China are still exploring options that will get the world's 2 largest economies to a new trade agreement to that end N.P.R.'s Emily Fang tells us Beijing has announced it will waive the tariffs on some shipments of American pork in soybeans China's finance ministry said American pork and soybean sellers could apply for tariff waivers but didn't say the quantity of shipments involved American soybeans import had been subject to an extra 25 percent tariff since last July but an ongoing swine flu epidemic has decimated China's pig herds by as much as 40 percent causing prices to skyrocket N.P.R.'s Emily Fang reporting despite an appeal from Turkey NATO allies at this week's summit in London appear unwilling to endorse uncourteous policy of designating Syrian Kurdish fighters as terrorists the Turkish government's latest protest comes months after its cross border offensive against Syrian Kurdish fighters despite the diplomatic clash Turkey eventually dropped its objection to a NATO pact that would bolster the defense of Poland and the Baltic states neighboring Russia this is n.p.r. News it's 904 this is k.p.c. News California has ordered insurance companies to stop dropping policyholders who live in areas affected by recent wildfires the order from insurance commissioner Ricardo Lara will last for one year it only covers people who live within the perimeter of one of 16 different wildfires that raged across the state in October this marks the 1st time the state has used a new law that's designed to give homeowners more time to find coverage as the growing threat of wildfires makes insuring their properties more expensive another rain storm is making its way into southern California this is a much weaker system than we saw earlier this week most rainfall is expected in the central part of the state with Sam's bespoke County getting the bulk of it the National Weather Service says about half an inch is expected to fall between Santa Barbara and Los Angeles counties which. Start seeing some of that rain later this afternoon into tomorrow meteorologist Kristen Stewart says the storm is not expected to affect recent burn scars usually on any thing like flash flood or late in the on rainfall rate but we're not expecting any heavy the snow level will remain high at around 7000 feet or so this afternoon's temperatures will mostly be in the sixty's looking ahead to next week it'll be drier and a little bit warmer checking your drive on the 10 Freeway westbound before Washington Boulevard there's a motorcycle crash reported and also a crash reported on the 105 Freeway westbound at Wilmington with 3 vehicles they tangled in the fast lane and at last check the fire department was heading to the scene you're listing to $89.00 k p c c news it's 9 o 6 support for n.p.r. 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I mean in law or an underappreciated part of it you also need to have a message that connects with the moment and the discipline and the campaign infrastructure to deliver it it's a lot harder than it looks in good faith I cannot tell you my supporters and volunteers but I have a path forward if I don't believe this week many were shocked to see Senator calmly Harris suspend her campaign for president to you my supporters like supporters it is with deep regret but also with deep gratitude and I am suspending our campaign today. Senator Harris started the race with great promise she was a woman of color and a party that counts on women and voters of color as a key constituency as a senator from California she had the potential to raise a lot of money and she gained a lot of positive attention among liberals for her grilling of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh she also had the backing of many high profile Democrats 2nd in endorsement only to Joe Biden She also raised more than $35000000.00 Here to walk us through this moment in the Democratic primary I'm joined by Darryn sales political reporter for Buzz Feed news and 2 from Politico Laura Baron Lopez national political reporter and miking reporting fellow Maya talk 1st about Harris's meteoric fall you know it's a big surprise to a lot of people that she lost altitude so quickly I think though we can point to her waffling on the issues you mentioned her going after Joe Biden in the 1st debate shortly after that when she was grilled on her stance on topics like segregation and bussing we didn't get a clear message from her exactly on where she stood with that and it didn't help that. We have 18 other people in the race who are able to articulate maybe a bit clearly and more clearly on their stances maybe not on segregation but on other topics right and voters are really starved for someone who has a clear and direct message which is why Harris shot to the top so quickly because she was able to demonstrate that and then when she was pressed on it it wasn't it wasn't as clear as it as we would have wanted it to be what do you think is it that she just wasn't able to follow through well when you ask even her supporters the answer is different among all of them and also people who didn't support her but were very impressed by her and had relationships with her and I'm talking about black members of Congress that I just spoke to in the past few days Emanuel Cleaver told me Look I think that when she 1st attacked Biden in that 1st debate about desegregation that it didn't help her with voters I also have heard that from some voters on the campaign trail I also spoke to Marcia Fudge who was a big endorser of Kamel Harris and she said it really comes down to the money she argued that we have seen Bernie Sanders reset his campaign multiple times the most notable $1.00 after the heart attack and that Harris was starting to do that but that she just didn't have the money to keep it going and if she had had the ability to have that fund raising and the money to keep it going then she thinks that Iowa would be a very different story with Harris in the race right there was sort of this historical context to her which was in an initially attractive to a lot of voters but it wasn't enough Yeah I think she had exhibited this ability to . Sort of be this competent. Political figure in this very polarizing era in the country she had gained. Lots of notoriety if you remember on television the Kavanagh hearings for instance she was a a mainstay of these very public very public nomination process in this sort of raw moment in the country's history and the sort of nomination of a very controversial Supreme Court justice nominee and so I think that she had this this profile of someone who her supporters thought fit the moment and was uniquely positioned to make waves as a senator who's been elected and a very large and diverse state and who had really been elected the same night as Trump It felt like something of a. Of almost a twist of fate that this young telegenic woman who has this profile in this sort of rich history of sort of this and here and to the rule of law and had gone to and we see you was there so much about her about her biography that attracted people and I think that part of the surprise in all of this is that she didn't get to use that to get people to the polls and that was something that people in her campaign I think saw as a challenge because they didn't know that she was necessarily comfortable and she wasn't talking a lot about herself this is like one of the values that she talks about comes from her mom is the idea that you are a representative of other people and like that you're helping people means that you put you know yourself. Second and I think the last thing I'll say about that is that even and you see so many of her supporters online and on social media talking about how unfair all of this of the treatment has been I'm sure we'll get to a conversation about the media but she's never said any of those words herself. And I think even in that she's sort of symbolic of this intangible strength that black women in particular have been talking about in terms of pushing institutions to empower and trust black women in particular with leadership that's a really good point and it is a point also that 2 of the remaining candidates of color Cory Booker and Julio Castro are making now in the wake of. Harris's bowing out of this race and yesterday I just reading what Cory Booker was saying in Iowa he said you know what does it say about the Democratic primary that immensely qualified widely supported truly accomplished black woman running to lead a party that is significantly empowered by black women voters didn't have the resources needed to continue or campaign and Castro went a step further and to your point there and looked at the media and said that they held her to a different standard a double standard that was grossly unfair by focusing on turmoil within her campaign rather than her message so I can you address those issues that the Booker and Castro brought up yeah I think they are pretty valid I mean without people of color on the debate stage you miss out on a key opportunity to talk to issues that people of color really care about if I were a Lizabeth Warriner Bernie Sanders 2 candidates who are in you floating around 2nd and 3rd place with black voters I would take this as an opportunity to really speak to some of those topics and you know Cory Booker does make a good point because a number of black candidates do struggle to get top dollar donors and I think that was something that Carmel really faced at this point but at the same time I mean the polls don't lie and black voters have across the board for the last. Several months supported Joe Biden Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren those are their top 3 candidates who do you think were well I think that the comments from Senator Booker and Secretary Castro are one piece of a larger hole in this moment right now within the Democratic primary which is that the top 4 front runners are white the debate stage looks like it will be majority white and what leads to that and this discussion about whether or not the fact that Iowa New Hampshire go 1st. Leads to that the debate qualifications potentially maybe lead to that. And yes that already candidates of color and you add being a female candidate of color on top of that makes it. Far more difficult to run a presidential race and what natural bias these days media have when it comes to expecting more from a candidate like that opposed to a more seasoned candidate like Biden who you know here is there were early on there was reports and it's valid to report about this that she wasn't spending that much time in Iowa. But I'm not sure if i've seen as many reports about the fact that Biden just doesn't campaign that much he has more now but he doesn't do a lot of direct stumping or rallies and he hasn't for a long time of course he's picking up because he needs to pay attention to Iowa but maybe that something that should be further examined when it comes to how we cover these candidates 1000000 forward and more diverse fields moving forward but the polls there and you know Biden's strength with African-American voters isn't just a mirage I mean when you talk to voters in places like South Carolina. They say look he's been here for us we know Him We have a relationship with him we're not just going to abandon for candidate we just don't we don't know that well and we haven't seen sort of put in the years like Joe Biden house Yeah it's interesting it's an interesting question because I think that we have to be a little bit wary about how the polls reflect what the polls are reflecting and they electorate and who's being polled. As a sort of example I mean in Florida and the Democratic governor's primary There was polling that showed. You know that engine Gillum was like at best it 3rd a 3rd place candidate and the primary for Florida Yeah and what I think what it did when you talk to people who are campaigning is that he's talked to regular folks their excitement about him as a candidate I think was something that wasn't reflected in the polls and so I think as reporters we have to be careful about how we depend on polling and be as transparent as possible and the other thing about that of course is just that as reporters we are thinking about this and I mean this goes what Laura was saying but I think that part of this whole equation is sort of the unintended consequences of in-depth reporting sometimes on these candidates I talked to a top Harris supporter who's you know understood that the sort of political ration of these headlines about her really had a negative effect on donors and really tamping down their own personal enthusiasm about her as a candidate and really you know it really turned up the heat on her campaign in a way of. I don't think was necessarily helpful and it certainly wasn't congruity with what they were seeing on the ground which was consistent crowds consistent support consistent in things as I'm at the doors and in places like Iowa people really clamoring all over the place that she was going to see her and so this question of her dropping out then becomes a question of like who's running the campaign and and how those decisions get made how much of that factors into some circumstances that we're we're not quite clear on just was going to add that I was speaking to one of her supporters in South Carolina yesterday a local elected official who is saying that the the atmosphere on the ground there at her events was just far different than what people were thinking in d.c. Or what the prognosticators were saying about her on t.v. And that he argued you know he said that he had been to even though he officially endorsed her he had gone to every candidates events when they came to South Carolina and he said that the difference between Harris and ends in every candidates events is that consistently they were overwhelmingly filled to the brink and also filled with black voters I'm speaking with Laura Baron Lopez and Mike King from Politico and Baron sands political reporter for Buzz Feed news we're talking about what Kamel means for Democrats in 2020 back in a minute politics with Amy. I it's Larry Machel every year for the past 17 years we've gone on stage with the film we critics to preview the Oscars as one of our most popular k.p.c. See in person events I can't believe you said. This year it's on Sunday February 2nd the week before the Academy Awards and we're back at the historic theater ready so doubt in downtown l.a. Tickets on sale now at k.p.c. C dot org slash. 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Radio in Boston I'm sitting here with Laura Baron Lopez and Mike King of Politico and Deron Sam some news we're talking about the state of the Democratic primary in the end of calmly Harris's presidential campaign I asked my own about the Democrats' chances with young voters and young voters of color if they have someone like Joe Biden Elizabeth Warren or people who to judge at the top of the ticket I think we got a taste of this in 2016 a lot of younger voters and irregular voters where pretty disenfranchised with the Clinton nomination and some people just didn't vote and it played into the hands of course and some ways of other candidates and of the charm win but also you know going back to what Laura was saying about how Biden probably needs to step up a bit in his own campaigning he could probably use a push with younger black voters who are increasingly disenfranchised with a stablish Mitt moderate Democrats I think that Booker does make a good point with that and it's also one of Sanders a strong suit is that he's able to attract younger black voters who are more enthusiastic about a more progressive agenda so would it be enough then as a lot of the conventional wisdom is speculating on Deron to put calmly Harris as a v.p. Pick for Joe Biden or does that look like so obvious right like I know what I need to do I got to get younger voters younger voters of color so come on Harris you're my v.p. Yeah I mean when you talk to young people or people really and places like South Carolina this is how they're thinking about the primary it's not individually they're thinking about pairings and like how do you begin to look at a ticket and that's how people who like our Super Bowl. I thinking about it I do think that one of the things that is sort of apparent in my reporting is that . There are lots of people who view the sort of transactional politics that Biden sort of partaking in as more pull a double more acceptable then what's happening with for instance with people to judge in terms of how he has. Navigated this primary and in the way that he's campaigned it's preferable to I think some of the more progressive candidates in the tactics of folks who view for instance the Bernie Sanders movement as outside of the Democratic Party spear and sees his movement as sort of be set with the same problems that he was beset with in 2016 that Sanders has some of the same problems you're saying or what would those be well I think it's how he presents in the American south particularly with black voters I think Biden's sort of fire wall there as being viewed as something that comes to Harris would complement a very well with her level of experience on the federal level yes but I think also just as one of the figures now who has I think come to symbolize the political moment in like a very sort of an emotional way in a way that I think is speaking directly to the kind of voter in this country who wants the societal change that is going to come with women being given power and is this sort of being this is the kind of thing that men will step aside to help accomplish and to help I think sort of the race some of the real problems in our society as a relates to you know issues that of. You know hurt our society quite frankly. As it relates to discrimination against women Miller That is a really important point because you know in 2017 Of course there was the women's March and the marches that followed that 2018 yet a record number of women winning seats in Congress there was a real sense that and I remember talking to Democratic strategists that it was almost a foregone conclusion that Democrats were going to pick a woman to be the nominee that it just seemed like such an effort 2020 that it just seemed like such a natural thing and such an natural reaction to the Trump presidency and yet here we are. 2 months out from Iowa with 3 white men at the top and one white woman I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that people are afraid that Trump will win reelection so. Even though 28000 look like it was showing a progressive trend line in terms of the number of women that were elected to Congress the number of women of color that were elected to Congress I think voters are very democratic voters are very afraid that Trump will win reelection and so they go back to what they know they go back to experience with with candidates that they have and by doing so well known and I think that it cannot be understated how much of an advantage that gives him and the same with Bernie Sanders who has also very high name i.d. Right my how true is that do you think that this just overwhelming fear of losing to Trump is really what's driving voters right now and that. That is making it harder for women and for people of color because they're still seen as to quote unquote risky as the you know as the nominee it's an interesting dynamic I think that all Democrats of course want their candidate to win they don't want the opponent to to get back in the air get back in the White House but it does put up an unfair barrier to women and to people of color this idea of competence that that counts against them and especially with a candidate like Harris who showed time and time again that she could take charm to task that she was able to go after him and we'll see that I think during her term as senator that she has to finish during the impeachment hearings she'll be able to show a number of those people who might feel tentative about a woman or a woman of color in the White House exactly what she's capable of well my Aunt Laura there and thank you all so much for coming and talking with me today thank you thank you. There Lopez is a reporter for Politico my a king is a reporting fellow also a politico. Is a political reporter for Buzz Feed news. Supported by Focus Features and participant with dark waters a thriller starring Mark Ruffalo and mysterious death in the small town lead one man to risk his life for the truth now playing in select theaters everywhere December 6th dot com where business owners and h.r. Professionals compose job openings review candidates take notes and schedule interviews from an on line. Critics review the new animated feature. Movie. The historical action. Every Friday at 11 here on $89.00 p.c.c. . Supporters include Walt Disney Pictures. And the all new original song awards eligible performed by Naomi. Allen make it with lyrics by. Supporters include Cedars Sinai don't let a sports injury end your game turn to the orthopedic experts at the Cedar Sinai Institute team doctors of the Los Angeles. Clippers and more 800. Politics with Amy Walter on the takeaway yet again the biggest story in Washington this week is impeachment on Thursday House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said this today I'm asking a chairman to visit with I have calls of impeachment the statement while not really surprising still marked a significant moment in the impeachment proceedings against President Trump on Thursday we also learned that the House Judiciary Committee will hold its 2nd hearing this Monday December 9th on the findings of the Intelligence Committee I sat down with a member of that Intelligence Committee Democratic Congressman Rush a Christian more 30 who represents the 8th district of Illinois over the last few months we've talked several times on the show about impeachment I wanted to know if the way his constituents are reacting has changed at all since the beginning of the impeachment inquiry we've had an overwhelming number of I guess positive comments about making sure that this impeachment inquiry goes forward and that we do a thorough job and you know do it with the solemnity and dignity that it that it requires that being said I know that as a whole as a country people remain divided and they're still in some cases trying to digest what's happening and you know going into the holiday season this is not necessarily top of mind for you know all of our constituents and the public so. You know we just have to continue to do our work and do it with the seriousness it deserves and do it in a share manner you know we've now had 50 plus hours of testimony and front of the committees a lot of that testimony broadcast live and here we are at this point with not a single Republican who says he or she. We'll support impeachment the public remains incredibly divided what happened with those hearings why do you think they didn't really move the needle on opinions outside of the the Democrats I think that people are still maybe trying to understand some of the finer points of what's happening and you know I think that quite frankly people want to you know perhaps you know see a trial they want to see what what happens in the Senate and they want to see the witnesses that perhaps didn't show up to our inquiry hearings and the reason why I think that's important is I think that we are still in a process where witnesses are coming forward evidence is being gathered our investigation stopped in the intelligence committee however the stonewalling in the obstruction really prevented a lot of folks from being able to testify who would have otherwise testify even though there were a number that didn't do you believe there's any chance that some of the biggest witnesses of John Bolton a Mick Mulvaney are going to show up in front of the Senate here's the interesting dilemma that Republicans will have in the Senate which is that you know I think that we're as Mick Mulvaney or someone else like that could go to the lower courts and seek a blocking or her so to speak now you have the chief justice of the United States presiding over the trial he can basically rule on the propriety of requests for witnesses on the spot Now it's true that the Senate Republicans with a $51.00 vote majority might be able to block his ruling however how many times can they do that sure sure all the witnesses and the documents that pertain to what happened if there's one thing that I. Came out loud and clear in public sentiment it's that what happened here with the with the Ukraine call is serious and they want to know exactly what happened and they want to they wanted us to get to the bottom of what happened more with Congressman Krishnamurthy just a moment. The take away is supported by Focus Features and participant with dark waters a thriller starring Mark Lowen and Hathaway mysterious deaths in a small town lead one man to risk his life for the truth now playing in select theaters everywhere December 6th. Democratic Congressman Rush a Krishnamurthy a member of the House Intelligence Committee we've been talking about the impeachment inquiry and I asked the congressman if he felt that the intelligence committee was able to get to the bottom of what happened now I have I think that we have a broad understanding but I think that there's still a number of questions that remain you know coming out of the witness testimony I think one of the biggest questions is who all are involved how are they involved and how is this pressure scheme directed I think that the Republicans you know one of their defenses in the impeachment inquiry hearings that I heard was nobody heard the president get on the phone and say I hereby bride Ukraine for. The purpose of my political campaign. And and yet the very people who might have been witnesses to those conversations or those types of conversations were prevented from testifying so let's see let's see what happens so the impeachment articles are getting written up in judiciary What would you like to see in them what do you think needs to be in there I don't necessarily want to get ahead of the chairman of the Judiciary Committee on this particular issue but I think that there's overwhelming evidence of at least 2 sets of facts one with regard to the call itself whether there was an abuse of power or coercion or bribery with regard to the pressure scheme where. The president attempted to pressure the Ukrainians to investigate his domestic political rivals and leverage his office to do so that's one set of facts and then the other is basically obstructing Congress's investigation of that particular affair I mean we were blocked from getting virtually any documents from the State Department from the Defense Department from the Office of Management and Budget and we were blocked from receiving testimony from some of the the main witnesses however as you know a number of did come forward on their own but a number of others did not or were blocked on Monday Judiciary Committee is holding out a 2nd hearing is there something there you want to hear what you want to get out of that that you think will bring some of that clarity you're looking for with regard to. The Monday hearing I think it's basically going to be presenting as I understand it our findings from the impeachment inquiry to the to the Judiciary Committee as they formulate their actions going forward so you know between now and Monday I'm not sure that there's going to be a lot of new information that hasn't been released in the report however again because it's the holiday season I'm not sure everybody is reading every page of. The $300.00 pages are dense and I think that it'll be the job of our attorneys who present the report on Monday to to bring out the highlights and help to weave them together so that people understand the narrative and understand the testimony and context with each other Republicans also have an opportunity to ask questions of the counsel correct correct so I mean should we expect it to. Look much like what we have seen for the last couple of weeks in the Intel Committee the arguments made by Democrats and those made by Republicans are expecting that maybe there's a different line of questioning or. Issue that gets brought out there might be but I don't I haven't heard anything new from the other side in terms of arguments. I think their arguments are either that. It didn't happen there was no pressure scheme or if there was it's perfectly Ok I personally think that's an on satisfactory argument but you know we may hear some version of that on Monday Congressman Krishnamurthy thanks so much for coming in and talking with me again I really appreciate it thank you Amy. Your listening to the take away on 89.3 k p c c 20 minutes on air talk what bring together the heads of the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach the friendly competitors will talk about the challenges of trade disputes and stronger competition from other u.s. Ports and then on film week our critics review the animated Playmobil the movie and the French drama portrait of a lady on fire a terror talk at 10 film week at 11 here on 89.3. You're listening to politics with Amy Walter from the takeaway in the u.s. Income inequality is the highest it's been since the Census Bureau began tracking it more than 50 years ago his family struggled to make ends meet many of them are also struggling to figure out how to pay for college tuition for attending 4 year private college and public university has more than doubled since the late eighty's today college students that graduate with loans around 30 $1000.00 on average the issue of making college affordable has become a leading issue for Democrats but like the issue of health care there are a lot of different opinions from the candidates on how to get their. Public colleges and universities. We are going to roll back student loan debt part to college universally available with free tuition and fees I also believe in free college. And middle income students. I just don't believe it makes sense to ask working class families. Even the children of billionaires to help us understand how college move from being affordable to expensive I sat down with Caitlin's Uloom professor of social and cultural analysis at n.y.u. And author of indebted how families make college work at any cost there are many different explanations but there are certain facts which are very very clear 1st of all over decades now states have been cutting funding to their higher education systems that has meant the budgets for state colleges and universities have been squeezed and squeezed and squeezed now those institutions still need to get their funds to deliver the education they're committed to so they raise tuition. They turned to philanthropy they changed their models by recruiting more out of state students and out of country students who pay high tuitions the concept of these public colleges was that higher education was in the public interest but why should me taxpayer person have to support all these people that I don't know I'd rather have my tax dollars go to something else the balance between those things has clearly shifted toward thinking of higher education as a private good something that primarily benefits the a person who gets a degree now during the 1980 s. It became the absolutely dominant way of thinking about higher education that it was a private good and that it would benefit individuals mostly by increasing their potential incomes in jobs in the future we really lost as a part of the public discourse the idea that higher education had broad social benefits here we are it's 2020 and. Every Democrat running for president has some version of whether we call it free college or debt free college or free college with an asterisk is there an overall philosophy that links together the Democrats in their vision of higher education and how it is paid for yes I think that it's not only. That there's a vision I like the Democrats I think it's a vision that links back to our own histories is that higher education should be understood as something that benefits us all so it used to be many decades ago that a high school degree could provide a way for people to enter into the middle class and enter into a stable prosperous life that had predictability and and the potential to open opportunities for children that's also always been part of what middle class life has meant in the United States but today a college education is more and more required for that if we look at the outcomes for people with college degrees versus For those who don't the possibility of having a stable life a decent income and and the possibility for our children depends more and more heavily on having college degree the debate right now between someone like people to judge and say Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders is people to judge would say well that's not really fair that everybody can get a free college education why should middle class people be subsidizing the educations of rich families who can afford to pay there is a distinct difference among the Democratic candidates around. Who should be the beneficiary of a free or inexpensive education so people like Pete booted judge don't believe that we should be considering higher education in say the same way that we do k. Through 12 education and of course we think that everyone should get k. Through 12 education have a public option too to do that but that somehow higher education is a different kind of thing so at that point of college the students who have last should get more in the students who came from families with more should pay more now that's the kind of language of redistribution that were used to hearing about the mechanisms of the taxation system but somehow that debate has been shifted onto the shoulders of higher education I think that's something that we should really think about the biggest losers then in all of this are middle class families who aren't wealthy enough to pay full freight but are poor enough to get the benefits of either scholarships or financial aid and they are the ones who are really bearing the brunt of all this they're bearing the brunt of a certain kind of way I don't want to say that there are bigger losers than lower income people who are trapped in all sorts of ways including being extremely and added because that ground that they receive from the Federal Government other places simply have not kept up with the increases in the cost of attendance so middle class people are squeeze and particular kind of way because the presumption is that they are going to be able to do it they're going to be able to send their kids to and through college without undue strain. And that is no longer the case it is now the case that the amounts of money families are required to contribute in addition to the debt students themselves have to take on has put so much pressure on metal. It has actually redefined what it means to be middle class Thank you so much for coming in and helping us dig through all of this I really really appreciate. Of social and cultural analysis at n.y.u. And author of How families make college work at any cost. This is. The very latest on the impeachment inquiry of Representatives and film. Critics reviewing the movie based on the very popular toys animated. And. Getting a lot of critical. Film week every Friday at 11. Point 3 k. P.c.c. . Supporters include Southern California hospitals including. St Mary in Long Beach. California hospital in downtown l.a. St Bernard and Community Hospital of San Bernadino their doctors and nurses look for the healing of human kindness every day about a merchant services heart care and healthy visit dignity. Dignity of. Human Kindness. It's politics with Amy Walter of The Takeaway We're continuing our conversation about the skyrocketing costs associated with higher education here with me now is a Leo one she's a staff writer at The Atlantic covering education I also worry about the premise that getting a college degree serves as a social equalizer Here's what she told me there is this false notion of college as as really a proxy for the American dream a ladder into the middle class while I think too much blame on college as does this track from other for says I don't think colleges should get away with with their sort of refrains that they are equalizers when they're really in many ways kind of perpetuating the caste system in this country to explain how that what you mean by that right so basically these days if you if you break up the population and income brackets what you'll see is that the extent to which those from the wealthiest income bracket are tending college as not particularly the colleges have that have the greatest return best men at disproportionate rates there was a study a few years ago that sound that 24 year olds from the 2 top groups actually counted for 77 percent of the bachelor's degrees awarded so that's more than 3 quarters graduates from the households with the lowest incomes they were representing just 10 percent of all degrees awarded so so we're really seeing a story of haves and have nots What do you talk about the issues that are contributing to this so one major factor has been sort of declining state investment and higher education so state funding for for their universities their flagships their community colleges has really really pumped it and so as a result colleges are more reliant on tuition than ever before it's also just become more expensive to educate and so. Students and so tuition has just skyrocketed and real public university tuition has tripled over the past 3 decades and at the same time we've seen middle income wages stagnate so so it's this huge dissonance that that is creating somewhat of a crisis that's just you know poised to explode and the government has tried some military with sort of stopgap solutions primarily through the form of student loans and that's why the student loan crisis has really ballooned into what it is today I think it's $120.00 trillion dollars now is how much the debt is where and so this was basically just a catastrophe waiting to happen so the issue of free college and then is that is that the answer is that the way to at least a 1000000 raid this inequality problem right so this idea of free college it's obviously a buzzword right now and it's actually pretty broad term it's kind of used as a catch all to describe any sort of. Iteration of this idea of really just giving certain students or all students 100 percent discount it is a nice idea obviously I mean that is a model that we should aspire for the problem is that there's so much inconsistency across states because it's often state state driven policies that in how they're applied and what the criteria are and what the amounts are and what institutions are eligible all that stuff is really inconsistent policymakers don't actually have I don't think the best grasp on what something like this entails specially in recent years because it's just been so popular when we hear 2020 presidential candidates really sort of embracing this notion. And kind of sort of suggesting insinuating that it's some panacea can be really dangerous and that's why you have people like people to judge who are weak Garceau has really kind of are sought to expose the ugly underbelly of this idea by saying that it would also benefit wealthy people basically giving free access to college to people who don't really need it this is a really big conundrum which is the acknowledgment I think across the political spectrum that in this economy having a high school degree is is no longer enough and that getting some sort of post secondary education is critical and yet. We can't seem to figure out how to make this work so I mean are we are we just kind of stuck here then with with the system that we have been just can hope maybe we fix it around the edges or do you think that this really needs to be blown up and we kind of start all over again I tend to believe that the the latter contingency is going to happen in some way shape or form I don't think we're going to see this sort of massive reinvention of the system but I do think this problem is this vicious cycle widening income inequality and this idea of getting ahead because it says us non-game I think all of that is obviously not sustainable also I think we need to think about what's sort of parents and high schools and those who work with the teenagers who are sort of trying themselves for college like what are parents telling their kids about what they want them to do with a college degree what are squalls telling students about what they should look for in a college what they should do to prepare for college so I think I think everyone deserves a little blame and a little scrutiny and needs to interrogate their their own actions a little even journalists like us not writing about Harvard every chance we get and of course the institutions themselves the decision makers I think a lot. Of micro controversies are crises they're dealing with have to do with this larger vicious cycle only Oh thank you so much for taking the time to walk us through all of this are really appreciated thank you Aliya long as a staff writer at The Atlantic covering education. One more thought for me today on the primaries there's never one reason why a promising candidate fails but I. With. All the money. All the media attention in the world. If the candidate. Message has to be a. Lot of ideas. As to why she wanted to be president and what she was going to do as president. And only one. That's. Remember if you missed anything or. The people who made this. Executive Assistant. At the. Thanks so much for listening this is politics with. The truth now playing in theaters everywhere. We want you to. A few text messages a week about topics we're discussing on our show. Just text the word start. Again tech start. To join our conversation. 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Promise program for students who can afford to we should learn more at Pasadena. From the moaned Broadcast Center this is their talk Good morning I'm Larry Mann. Supreme Court justices meet today to consider a case that's had a big effect on Southern California it's known as the Boise decision the ruling essentially requires cities to allow overnight sleeping in public places if there aren't enough shelter beds to handle the homeless population that's led to encampments throughout our region talk with the heads of the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles friendly competitors who find themselves with increasing competition from other u.s. Ports to trade with the u.s. His biggest trading partner is a further challenge than its film we can have a talk with our critics reviewing the week's new movies right here on keeping c.c. . Live from n.p.r. News in Washington I'm Lakshmi saying for the 2nd time in less than a week officials are investigating a deadly shooting on a military base this time in Pensacola Florida 4 people including the gunman are dead the shoot.