The Takeaway

For transcripts, see individual segment pages.

Since Georgia flipped blue for President-elect Joe Biden, the gulf between the Old South and the New South has come into focus. 

Come January, the state’s closely watched runoff elections will determine which party controls the U.S. Senate. In one race, Republican Senator David Perdue will face Democrat Jon Ossoff. In the other race, Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler, who was appointed to her seat last year by Governor Brian Kemp, faces Democrat Rev. Raphael Warnock, the senior pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. Not surprisingly, the final weeks of campaigning have turned ugly and expensive as millions of dollars worth of campaign ads flood Georgia's airwaves. 

Amy Walter spoke Rev. Dr. Robert M. Franklin Jr., professor of moral leadership at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology, and Jim Galloway, a political columnist at the Atlanta Journal Constitution, about how Black and white Americans view the role of religion in politics and social justice.

Read the 1963 "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" referenced in the interview here.

During the 2016 election, President Trump spent a considerable amount of time talking about immigration. On the campaign trail, he made racist comments about Mexicans and one of his first acts in office was to institute a Muslim ban. During the 2018 midterms, he directed his attention to migrant caravans headed towards the U.S. border in the hopes that the issue would animate his base ahead of Election Day. The child separation policy instituted by the Trump administration is among the crueler pieces of his immigration portfolio. Today, hundreds of children remain apart from their families.

The subject of immigration was rarely mentioned during the general campaign for the presidency. This was disheartening for many families and individuals who are living with uncertainty regarding their immigration status. That sense of uncertainty applies to the individuals who participated in the Obama administrations' Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. While the program granted temporary legal status to undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children, its participants must go through a renewal process every few years. 

Dara Lind, an immigration policy for ProPublica, and Dianne Solis, a reporter covering immigration and social justice issues at The Dallas Morning News, describe what immigration policy could look like under the Biden administration and how he will address the DACA program. Plus, Ciriac Alvarez Valle, a DACA recipient, shares how the program has impacted her life. 

Come January, Cliff Bentz will represent one of the largest congressional districts in the country, Oregon’s second. Like his predecessor Rep. Greg Walden, Bentz will be the only Republican member of the Oregon delegation. Bentz served as part of the Republican minority in Oregon’s state house and senate since 2008. He describes what it was like to govern in the minority party and what lessons he’ll apply to his first term in Washington.

For transcripts, see individual segment pages.

For transcripts, see individual segment pages.

For transcripts, see individual segment pages.

For transcripts, see individual segment pages.

This week marked the so-called safe harbor deadline when states have certified their results for the U.S. presidential election. Typically, by the safe harbor deadline, election-related challenges at the state level are wrapped up. 

But, President Trump is continuing to claim - without proof - that the results in many of the states that voted for Joe Biden are fraudulent and should be tossed out. So, how can the election be both certified - and contested?

Helping us to make sense of it all is our friend Barbara Perry, the Presidential Studies Director at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center. She begins by explaining who the electors are and what the Electoral College actually does.

In the nine months that the coronavirus pandemic has ravaged the U.S., the most vulnerable Americans have struggled to keep up with monthly expenses. Eight million Americans have fallen into poverty since May, and today, there are 10 million fewer employed people than there were before the pandemic.

By quickly passing the $2.2 trillion CARES Act, Congress was able to stave off some of the initial impacts of the virus. Americans received one-time cash payments, businesses were offered a lifeline, and unemployment benefits were expanded. But nine months later, many of those benefits have expired. Members of Congress haven’t been able to agree on how much relief should be included in a second round of stimulus funding and can’t seem to come to an agreement over liability protections and state/local funding.

William Spriggs, a professor in the Department of Economics at Howard University, and Heather Long, an economics correspondent The Washington Post, describe how the pandemic and Congress’ inaction is hurting millions of Americans who are in dire need of federal assistance. Plus, we hear from a number of individuals who are hurting financially and awaiting assistance. 

Because the economy is in such bad shape, there’s increased scrutiny regarding who President-elect Joe Biden is choosing to help him shore up the economy. Democratic voters will also be watching to ensure that Biden stays true to his campaign promise of including diverse candidates among his staff. Alex Thompson is a national political reporter at Politico who has been following the nomination process closely. He shares what we can glean from the team Biden has assembled so far and what these selections mean for his economic recovery plan.

Nicole Malliotakis is joining a record number of Republican women who’ve been elected to Congress. She defeated Democratic Congressman Max Rose and will represent New York’s 11th District. In recent weeks, the number of residents in Staten Island infected with the coronavirus has surged and their death rate is now higher than any other borough in New York City. In addition to dealing with the growing number of cases in her district, it’s likely she will be spending her first days in Washington navigating a showdown regarding a COVID-19 relief package. 

Special thanks to the Action for Boston Community Development, the Illinois Association of Community Action Agencies, and the Amalgamated Transit Union for putting us in touch with some of the voices you heard in this show.

Intro Music by: http://www.ithinklikemidnight.com/.

Additional Music by: https://jcowit.bandcamp.com/.

For transcripts, see individual segment pages at thetakeaway.org.