Senate Republicans unveiled their health care bill yesterday. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says there will be a vote next week. Democrats are predictably, not happy, citing the bill’s deep cuts to the Medicaid program. Senator Chuck Schumer called the bill heartless. At least four republican senators Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, Mike Lee, and Ron Johnson have said they hope to get to yes, but they’re not there yet.
Former Minnesota police officer Jeronimo Yanez was found not guilty of all charges in connection to the 2016 shooting death of Philando Castile during a traffic stop. Castile’s girlfriend Diamond Reynolds live streamed on Facebook the moments immediately after he was shot. A dashcam video of the shooting was released after the verdict, but it's left many people wondering how the officer was acquitted?
And in another high profile case, Bill Cosby’s Pennsylvania sexual assault trial ended with a hung jury. Prosecutors say they will retry him. And, in a very disturbing turn of events, reports say Cosby is planning a town hall style tour, where he will talk to men about how to avoid sexual assault charges.
Tom tackles these stories and more in the Midday News Wrap. He is joined by Christy Ford Chapin. She’s an Associate Professor of History at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, a visiting scholar at Johns Hopkins University and the author of “Ensuring America’s Health: The Public Creation of the Corporate Health Care System.” Last Sunday, her op-ed “How Did Health Care Get to Be Such a Mess?” was published in the New York Times.
Kimberly Moffitt also joins the program. She is a media critic and Associate Professor of American studies at The University of Maryland Baltimore County.