President Trump kicked three news organizations out of the White House, but a judge ordered them back in…for now.

There are deeper issues here about freedom of the press and, however this plays out, understanding what to do when a brazen president tries to dictate the story of his presidency.

President Trump’s foreign policy is also in the spotlight as he speaks at the UN and hosts China’s leader Xi Jinping.

What is that foreign policy exactly? Trump launched a war in Iran and targeted Venezuela, but the Russia-Ukraine conflict drags on. If this is a president who promised that he could pick up the phone and influence any world leader, is it time for him to prove it with Vladimir Putin?

Producer: Leo Duran

Host: David Greene

Guests:

• Mo Elleithee, executive director at Georgetown University's Institute of Politics and Public Service - @MoElleithee
• Will Swaim, CEO of the California Policy Center - @WillSwaim

Senator Mitch McConnell was absent from Capitol Hill for weeks. Rumors and conspiracies swirled until he recently reappeared and said he was in medical care recovering from a fall.

He’s not the only politician who’s hid their health from the public eye – Joe Biden, for instance, tried to keep concerns about his health quiet before the 2024 election – until it was too hard to ignore.

We talk about what aging and ailing lawmakers owe to the public especially if it impairs their ability to serve.

Plus, immigration enforcement is surging. ICE doubled the number of arrests compared to earlier this year, and has been doing it without the massive protests that rocked the country. But now, with two headline-grabbing shootings of motorists by ICE agents, what is the future of that strategy?

We also talk about how congress came together on a massive affordable housing bill.

Producer: Leo Duran

Host: Mike Madrid

Guests:

• Liz Bruenig, staff writer at The Atlantic - @EBruenig
• Sarah Isgur, senior editor at The Dispatch - @whignewtons

Progressive Democrats are surging in primary elections across the country, but the party establishment is worried they’ll lose this November. Republicans think those progressives will be easier to beat, too.

So how will this intra-party fight among Democrats play out and determine control of Congress? And why is the GOP so sure they can beat progressive Dems when some polls show their party is underwater with voters on the economy?

Plus, the president campaigned to secure elections using false claims. House Republicans advanced his elections bill – the SAVE America Act – just as two election deniers advanced in Arizona’s Republican primaries.

And we talk about the Iran war. Republicans passed extra military spending to keep it going, so do those Republicans now own an unpopular war?

Producer: Leo Duran

Host: Susan Davis

Guests:

• Mo Elleithee, executive director at Georgetown University's Institute of Politics and Public Service - @MoElleithee
• Sarah Isgur, senior editor at The Dispatch - @whignewtons