KCRW's To the Point

Last night in the city of Nice, France saw it’s third major terror attack in the past 19 months, with at least 84 people killed and two hundred injured. Despite political calls for action, intelligence officials from France to the United States admit they’re at a loss to prevent attacks on crowds that come without any warning.

Donald Trump has promised repeal of President Obama’s major achievement: the Affordable Care Act. Now even Obama is proposing a major change—the “public option” pushed by Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton. Would that save Obamacare? Would it have a chance of passing the House and the Senate?

Republicans are famous for nominating conventions that run so smoothly it’s a challenge for anybody but delegates to stay awake. Next week’s meeting in Cleveland is going to be very different, as we’ll hear on our program.

The election of Barack Obama raised high hopes that America’s legacy of racism had finally been overcome. But, after a week of deadly violence, the nation—and the President—face a very different reality.

Last week’s deadly violence has escalated the tension between advocates for Black Lives Matter and some ardent supporters of local police. The killing of five officers by a black sniper has inflamed passions from the streets to the halls of Congress.

A sniper attack in Dallas left five officers dead and seven wounded after a peaceful protest against police shootings became a nightmare. To a nation already stunned by live video of the aftermath of a fatal police shooting of a motorist in Minnesota, the Texas massacre was one more stunning blow.

Hillary Clinton’s been cleared of criminal wrongdoing in her use of email servers while Secretary of State, but that doesn’t mean Republicans -- or voters -- will let her off the hook. How the “extremely careless” charge could dog Clinton until November, coming up.

One month to go until the Olympic Games and Brazil is in a state of emergency. But it’s not just political and economic crises -- athletes have been mugged at gunpoint, venues are unfinished or perhaps unsafe, the Olympics mascot was shot dead... Can it get any worse?

Universal Basic Income -- ­­ It's an idea people on both the Left and Right have kicked around for decades. But it has newfound currency because of the gig economy and automation replacing workers. We’ll hear the pros and cons of Uncle Sam cutting everyone a check.

The 50 states are central to America’s political system…but real power now lies in the growing metropolitan regions that cross state boundaries. We’ll hear how cities are getting together to overcome our national gridlock before unsolved problems reach the crisis stage.

Allergies and auto­-immune diseases like colitis are much more common than they were just decades ago­­-- some scientists believe it’s because we’re too clean-- ­ they’re testing treatments now that use bacteria and parasitic worms to restore our immune systems to a healthier balance.

More surprises and turmoil in UK politics today raises the question:­­ will a new Prime Minister and rearranged Parliament move forward with the BREXIT? And in the meantime, how will the EU tamp down revolt from other member countries and criticism that it is undemocratic? Coming up, who stands to gain and lose from Brexit chaos and a power vacuum in the EU.

Hillary Clinton is leading Donald Trump in the polls and crushing him in fundraising. But the Donald is banking on a ‘Brexit Bounce’ that capitalizes on voters’ globalization fears. This week he made his first swing-state tour of the general election -- lashing out at trade deals. We’ll examine the general election strategies emerging for both candidates -- including who’s on the VP short lists.

Rising rents and flat-lined incomes are driving people from their homes at a record rate. But this “eviction epidemic” goes largely unnoticed. We’ll talk with the author of a new book about the Eviction Industrial Complex -- and what being kicked out by a landlord does to a family.

On this last decision day of the term, the US Supreme Court did not fade gently into the summer with a 4­4 tie on a controversial issue ­­ instead the justices struck down a Texas abortion law. Justice Anthony Kennedy was the swing vote, handing abortion rights activists their biggest win in a generation. We  hear what it means for other states like Mississippi and Wisconsin, which are facing similar challenges.