San Francisco District Attorney-Elect Chesa Boudin
Last Saturday, Deputy Public Defender Chesa Boudin declared victory in the close contest to elect San Francisco’s next district attorney. The race was too close to call on election night. But after four days of counting ballots, Suzy Loftus, who was appointed as interim district attorney by Mayor London Breed just weeks before the election, conceded to Boudin. Bernie Sanders congratulated Boudin on his victory, illustrating the national attention the race garnered and signifying that criminal justice reforms appear to be resonating with voters after decades of prison overcrowding and tough-on-crime initiatives.
Guest:
- Chesa Boudin, San Francisco district attorney-elect
Diplomats and Dueling Narratives: Televised Impeachment Hearings Begin
This week, House Democrats kicked off two days of public hearings in their impeachment investigation of President Trump. On Friday, the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, testified on Capitol Hill. She described the personal toll of being the target of a smear campaign led by Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, that led to her removal and that she felt threatened by the president. During her testimony, Trump tweeted disparaging remarks about her and defended her dismissal. On Wednesday, two other career diplomats, George Kent and William Taylor Jr., also appeared before the committee, describing a shadow diplomatic effort led by Giuliani to pressure Ukraine to investigate Trump’s political rivals. GOP lawmakers accused them of political bias and dismissed their accounts as hearsay.
Guest:
- Ron Elving, senior editor and White House correspondent, NPR
Thanksgiving
In less than two weeks, millions of friends and family will gather at dinner tables across America for Thanksgiving. Forty-six million turkeys will be gobbled up on the big day, according to the National Turkey Federation, a trade group representing turkey farmers and processors. But this year, sides may steal the Instagram spotlight from this finicky bird that takes hours or even days, depending on whether a brine is used, to cook expertly. And in a state as big and diverse as California, some immigrant communities are finding ways to fuse this fall feast with the flavors and traditions from their homelands.