Scandals Swirl Around Jared Kushner

Coming up on today’s show:

• Jared Kushner is under fire this week for the multiple meetings conducted in 2017 with the financial institutions Apollo and Citigroup. The companies gave hundreds of millions of dollars of loans to Kushner Companies, his family business. The loans raise questions about the appearance of conflicts of interest, and the news comes alongside a downgrade of Kushner’s security clearance. Andrea Bernstein, senior editor for politics and policy for WNYC News has been following Kushner’s business dealings for months and brings us the latest. 

• HUD Secretary Ben Carson was in the headlines this week because of reports of lavish spending on dining furniture and other home decorations. But since taking office in March of last year, the secretary has maintained a low profile. What changes are underway at HUD as the agency faces major budget cuts and a lack of leadership? For answers, The Takeaway turns to Vincent Reina, assistant professor of city and regional planning at the University of Pennsylvania.

• Over the weekend, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf warned the community that ICE was planning raids in the area. Since then, legal advocates say they have confirmed more than 150 arrests across Northern California, and ICE officials have criticized the mayor’s warning. Tyche Hendricks, Immigration and Criminal Justice Editor for KQED in San Francisco, has more on how the raids played out and how the community is reacting.  

• Some ICE detention proceedings begin with dramatic raids, like the kind happening in Oakland. But others begin more quietly, when immigrants least expect they might be taken in. Mikel Purki, a 21-year-old living in New Jersey whose father and mother were taken into ICE custody when they thought they were going in for a green card, shares his story. And Leon Fresco, an immigration attorney and former head of the Office of Immigration Litigation during the Obama Administration, explains how U.S. immigration policy has shifted over time. 

• The 90th Annual Academy Awards are coming up this Sunday, and some of the most exciting nominees this year can’t be seen on screen, only heard. Melissa Locker, culture reporter for The Takeaway, joins the program to talk about some of the heavy hitters in this year’s musical Oscar categories.

• Critics are calling this an unpredictable year for the Oscars. Guillermo del Toro’s aquatic romance, “The Shape of Water,” garnered 13 nominations, the most of any film.  We review the most stunning, surprising and dramatic films with Alison Willmore, a film critic for BuzzFeed, and our regular film critic Rafer Guzman.

This episode is hosted by Todd Zwillich