Gen. Michael Hayden, The American Bison, Anxious Culture Wars

Coming up on today’s show:

• On Monday, Sally Yates, former acting attorney general, and James Clapper, former director of national intelligence, answered hours of questions from the Senate Intelligence Committee aimed at understanding the links between General Michael Flynn, President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser, and Russia. Takeaway Washington Correspondent Todd Zwillich explains what we learned from the hearing, and where we go from here.

• General Michael Hayden, the former director of the National Security Agency, and former director of the Central Intelligence Agency, responds to the testimony delivered by Yates and Clapper, and what the investigation reveals about the state of the Trump White House. His book is titled: “Playing to The Edge: American Intelligence in the Age of Terror.”

• On Sunday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed a bill that would ban sanctuary cities in his state by imposing civil and criminal penalties for localities that don’t comply with federal immigration policies. We hear from law enforcement who are protesting the law. Art Acevedo, the chief of police in Houston, Texas, explains why he is opposed to the law.

• On Tuesday, South Koreans will choose a leader to replace impeached President Park Geun-hye. The election occurs at a moment of extreme tension between the North and the South.  Tim Shorrock, journalist who has been reporting from Korea for The Nation magazine, discusses the election and the politics at play. He’s also the author of “Spies for Hire: The Secret World of Intelligence Outsourcing.”

• Yesterday, the White House announced 10 judicial nominees for the more than 120 open positions in the lower courts across the country. The Trump Administration also has plans to roll out more nominations over time to fill the 129 vacant judicial seats, which exist in all 11 circuits, including Washington D.C. For details, we turn to Meryl Justin Chertoff , executive director of the Justice and Society Program at The Aspen Institute.

• Conservation efforts have brought the wild American bison back from the brink of extinction, but this success has also brought some unexpected problems, according to Amy Martin, a journalist who has been reporting on bison in Montana for her podcast “Threshold.” 

• WNYC new podcast, “The United States of Anxiety: Culture Wars,” shines a light on the people who have been battling to shape America’s political culture for decades. In the first episode, WNYC Reporter Arun Venugopal travels to Kansas to speak with the Indian community about how they’re dealing with their changing status in America, and how white supremacy is impacting their community.