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Climate Concerns, Inauguration Excitement, Guns in the Obama Era

The Takeaway

Coming up on today’s show:

  • Today is the last day of Senate confirmation hearings for before Donald Trump is sworn in as the 45th president of the United States. Takeaway Washington Correspondent Todd Zwillich joins us from the Capitol to recap yesterday’s hearings and to explain what to expect from today’s proceedings. 
  • If confirmed, Scott Pruitt, Donald Trump’s nominee to head the EPA, may reverse much of President Obama’s environmental legacy, including signing a global agreement to reduce climate emissions. Bill McKibben, an environmentalist, co-founder of 350.org, and a scholar in residence at Middlebury College, explains what Trump’s EPA can and cannot do. 
  • Hundreds of thousands of Americans are flocking to Washington D.C. for the swearing-in of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States. While some are going to protest, others will be heading to the nation’s capital to celebrate, including Blake Roderick of Pittsfield, Illinois. He discusses his upcoming and his expectations for the incoming administration.
  • As Barack Obama prepares to leave office with his highest approval rating since assuming the presidency, Takeaway listeners from across the United States weigh in on his legacy.
  • Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-NY) and Sandro Galea, dean at the Boston University School of Public Health, look back at President Barack Obama’s legacy on gun control and why, despite the horrific mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, he wasn’t able to bring about the kind of changes he hoped for.
  • Barack Obama made history when he mobilized young people and campaigners in 2008. We talk with three volunteers who campaigned for Obama as college students — Lauren Wyatt, Molly Rivera, and Jose Torrez — and ask them to reflect on the current state of politics today. 

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