Special Counsel Speaks Out, Beto O’Rourke, Universal Mental Health Care Plan

Special Counsel Speaks OutOn Wednesday, special counsel Robert Mueller declined to clear President Trump of obstruction of justice in his first public comments on his two-year investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential race. Speaking at the Department of Justice, he said, “If we had confidence that the president clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said so.” He also declined to appear before Congress to answer questions about the investigation, and claimed that the report detailing his findings  was his “testimony.” But some prominent Democrats, including congressman Adam Schiff, disagreed with that assertion and still want him to testify, while nearly half of the Democratic presidential candidates now support starting impeachment proceedings.

Guest:

U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Burbank

Democratic Presidential Candidate Beto O’RourkeThe California Democratic Party state convention kicked off in San Francisco today. This year’s gathering has attracted the attention of Democratic presidential hopefuls, 14 of whom will be in attendance and making their case to delegates, activists and political operatives ahead of the state’s primary in March. We spoke with one of those candidates, Beto O’Rourke of Texas, about immigration, universal health care and President Trump.

Guest:

Beto O’Rourke, Democratic presidential candidate

Universal Mental Health Care and Decriminalizing Psychedelic MushroomsThis week, San Francisco Supervisors Hillary Ronen and Matt Haney  announced a plan to provide free mental health care and substance abuse treatment to any city resident, even those with health insurance. To help pay for the plan, called Mental Health SF, a ballot measure would ask voters to approve a tax on businesses whose CEOs make 100 times more than the median salary of their employees. Existing state funds to pay for mental health services for low-income residents could also be used. Meanwhile, across the bay, Oakland moved one step closer to becoming the second city in the nation, after Denver, to decriminalize the use of psychedelic mushrooms and other naturally occurring hallucinogens.

Guests:

April Dembosky, health correspondent, KQED Keith Humphreys, professor of psychiatry, Stanford University

Copyright 2019 KQED