Roughly Speaking

----Political termites---- is a term from investigative reporter and best-selling author David Cay Johnston. It refers to what Johnston calls the serious damage being done to many aspects of the federal government in the Trump administration. From worker safety to water and air pollution, Johnston describes government in retreat on regulation of industry and co-opted by corporate interests.Johnston is a longtime journalist and a winner of the Pulitzer Prize who has covered Donald Trump since the late 1980s. In fact, he wrote a widely-published book about him, called ----The Making of Donald Trump.---- Johnston is a specialist in finance and tax issues. His DCReport is a nonprofit, online news service that “reports what the President and Congress DO, not what they SAY.”David Cay Johnston's new book is “It’s Even Worse Than You Think, What the Trump Administration is doing to America.”Links:https://www.dcreport.org/http://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Its-Even-Worse-Than-You-Think/David-Cay-Johnston/9781501174162

Nominations for the 90th Oscars were announced in Los Angeles Tuesday morning. Listen to this latest episode of Roughly Speaking to hear reactions from our critics, Linda DeLibero and Christopher Llewellyn Reed. DeLibero is director iof film and media studies at Johns Hopkins University. Reed is professor and chair of the film and moving image department at Stevenson University. They are regular contributors to Roughly Speaking.

Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh has fired the police commissioner, Kevin Davis, citing a lack of progress in the department's fight against violent crime. But police are just one part of the city's criminal justice system. With homicides climbing above 300 for each of the last three years — and 11 killings in the first 19 days of 2018 — will Baltimore voters keep Marilyn Mosby as the city's chief prosecutor? Ivan Bates, a 49-year-old defense attorney and former prosecutor, is among those challenging Mosby as a candidate for Baltimore State's Attorney in the June Democratic primary. He blames Mosby for losing dozens of veteran prosecutors and dozens of felony cases, making defendants more brazen and less concerned about facing harsh punishment for their crimes. Bates also says Mosby's office should have known about the corruption of the disbanded Gun Trace Task Force; dozens of criminal cases have been thrown out because of the unit's unlawful practices.

It might seem like an abstract thought to many -- an actual nuclear attack on an Asian neighbor of North Korea, or on the United States -- but the situation between Washington and Pyongyang has wrought real tension not felt since the Cold War. Saturday, when Hawaii’s Emergency Management Agency mistakenly issued an alert about a missile attack, it raised a question: Do Americans know what to do in the event of such a military emergency? What's the plan? Culture commentator Sheri Parks joins Dan for the conversation -- and a look back to the Cold War, Civil Defense and the Cuban Missile Crisis.Links:http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation-world/ct-hawaii-false-missile-alert-20180114-story.html

In case of missile attack, what's the plan? (episode 345)

2:33: Cory McCray, a member of the Maryland House of Delegates from East Baltimore, talks about what got him off the streets where he sold drugs as a young man — his mother, an apprenticeship program, and an inspiring community leader in Belair-Edison.15:19: Anthony Smith, executive director of Cities United, talks about a national effort to reduce violence among African-American men and boys in more than 100 communities across the country, a collaboration of mayors to identify best practices and sustain them over a generation or more.47:33: Joe Ehrmann, former Baltimore Colt defensive tackle, minister, coach and motivational speaker, talks about the InSideOut Initiative to bring a big change in coaching philosophy to high schools, including Baltimore's. Partnered with the Ravens, the program aims to instill character development and moral leadership in student-athletes by breaking through the win-at-all-costs coaching approach too common in youth sports.

Dan speaks with three guests about the need to transform the lives of young people

Erricka Bridgeford, one of the organizers of Baltimore Ceasefire and The Baltimore Sun's Marylander of The Year, talks about visiting the sites where homicide victims fall, and what Baltimoreans can do about the violence in their city.

On Tuesday at the White House, Donald J. Trump made an attempt at bipartisanship on immigration. But, as the evil Ramsay Bolton in ----Game of Thrones---- might say: ----If you think this has a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention.---- Republicans quickly criticized Trump for appearing to make concessions, and conservatives in the House of Representatives rolled out a legislative package that takes a hard line on immigrants, including those covered by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA. Joining Dan to comment on national politics this week: Herb Smith, professor of political science at McDaniel College.With the Maryland General Assembly open in this election year, Mileah Kromer, director of the Goucher Poll, talks about the legislative session, the state's June primary and the November election. Could a Democratic wave at the polls threaten the incumbency of the popular Republican governor, Larry Hogan? Mileah Kromer is an associate professor of political science and the director of the Sarah T. Hughes Field Politics Center at Goucher College, and she oversees the Goucher Poll.

Dan talks national politics with Herb Smith and Maryland politics with Mileah Kromer.