'BradCast' 8/30/2017 (Guest: Congressman Hank Johnson (D-GA))
b"Historic floodwaters begin to recede a bit in Houston, as some sunshine finally returns and the airport begins to re-open after five hellish days. But it's only "the end of the beginning" in the Bayou City, as one meteorologist cautioned. Officials expect the death toll in and near Houston to surge in the days ahead as Harvey makes a second landfall near the Texas/Louisiana border, continuing to threaten lives there and in states to the north.\\xa0 All of this as Congress prepares to return from their long August recess after Labor Day, and members respond to some of the startling Executive Actions taken by Donald Trump as the record hurricane slammed ashore last Friday night. We're joined by Congressman Hank Johnson (D-GA-4) today to discuss some of those actions, including the President's pardon of controversial former Maricopa County, Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, and the less-noticed reversal of President Obama's restrictions on the infamous "1033 Program" at the Pentagon. That program supplies surplus military weapons and equipment -- such as automatic rifles, mine-resistant vehicles, armored drones and even grenade launchers -- free of charge to local law enforcement agencies around the country. Rep. Johnson has introduced his bi-partisan "Stop Militarizing Law Enforcement Act" (H.R. 1556) for three successive years now, and explains today -- as Republican Sen. Rand Paul appears to agree in the Senate -- why curbs must be placed on the program which originally came to the nation's attention after military vehicles and gear were deployed in Ferguson, MO in response to protests after the police killing of an African-American teenager in 2014. Johnson also weighs in on whether he believes Congressional Republicans from Texas will support Harvey disaster relief when they return (unlike after Superstorm Sandy slammed the East coast in 2013), and whether he will join Democrats who have filed Articles of Impeachment against President Trump.\\xa0 Finally, Defense Secretary James Mattis appears to be separating himself somewhat from Trump -- but not nearly as much as some on the Left are suggesting -- following the order to ban transgender members of the U.S. Military and saber-rattling with North Korea. In the meantime, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's job may be on the line following a clear separation from the President's "values" in the wake of Trump's response to neo-Nazi violence in Charlottesville..."