Patt Morrison for Fri 9/11/09

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Friday, September 11, 2009

 

1:00 – 1:40

What’s the Legislature Up To…When They're Supposed to be Working?

We expect juicy sex scandals in politics, but really…. with a lobbyist? How prevalent is corruption behind the scenes in Sacramento? And while the hanky-panky is going on, who's working and what's being done as the deadline looms for passing bills before term end? 

 

Guests:

Julie Small, KPCC reporter covering Sacramento

 

Dan Walters, political columnist for The Sacramento Bee

CALL HIM:   

  

Legislators:  TBD

 

 

1:40 – 2:00

Guns, Drugs, Politics & the Desert—U.S. & Mexico Work out Border Issues

Last week Mexican drug cartel soldiers stormed a drug rehabilitation clinic in the border town of Ciudad Juarez, killing 17 patients execution style against a wall.  It’s just the most recent example of extreme acts of violence that continues to persist along the U.S.-Mexico border.  As the drug war rages, and American guns and money flow south while Mexican drugs flow north, are there any novel ideas at work to improve a dire situation?

 

Guest:

Alan Bersin, Assistant Secretary for International Affairs & Special Representative for Border Affairs at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security

CALL HIM

• Bersin is speaking this afternoon at the University of San Diego’s Trans-Border Institute on a vision of the U.S.-Mexico border security relationship.
• He’ll be speaking about the coordination of border security policy with Southwest border communities, both within Mexico and the U.S., and the southbound flow of arms and cash across the border.

 

 

2:00 – 2:20

WMD Terrorist Attack by 2013—What Have We Learned from 9/11?

The Congressionally-mandated Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission estimates that a WMD terrorist attack is more likely than not to occur by 2013, a scary assessment especially on the 8-year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.  A new bill from the Senate attempts to address the grim possibility of a biological or chemical weapons attack in the U.S., as the lessons of 9/11 are still being learned.  Can we prevent such an attack, and how should we prepare for the eventuality?

 

Guests:

Col. Randy Larsen, executive director of Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation & Terrorism

• Larsen is a retired Colonel in the U.S. Air Force, where he was a commander at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland.
• He was the founding director of the Institute for Homeland Security & a senior fellow at the Center for Biosecurity at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, before taking over on the WMD commission.
• He was one of the first witnesses to testify in front of the 9-11 Commission and in 2005 ran war games for members of the House Committee on  Homeland Security.
• The “Weapons of Mass Destruction Prevention & Preparedness Act of 2009” was authored by Senators Joe Lieberman and Susan Collins, members of the Senate Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee.

 

 

2:20 – 2:30

OPEN

 

 

2:30 – 3:00

One Year after Chatsworth Metrolink Crash: Reform Struggles

25 people died and 135 were injured a year ago tomorrow when a Metrolink train collided head-on with a Union Pacific freight train. A year later, Metrolink plans to install a $200 million collision avoidance network, around-the-clock video surveillance, and directly control the hiring of its conductors. But money is tight, crashes persist, and labor is pushing back hard on video surveillance. What changes are realistic and necessary?

 

Guests:

Frank Stolz, KPCC reporter who covered the Chatsworth crash last year

 

Richard Katz, vice chairman, Metrolink

CALL HIM:

 

Kitty Higgins, former National Transportation and Safety Board member who oversaw the public hearing following the Chatsworth crash; she’s currently president of the Higgins Company, a government relations consulting firm

CALL HER

 

TBA, representative from the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, the union which represents Metrolink/Connex engineers