Harvard University rescinds Chelsea Manning’s fellowship, an Emmy cameo by Sean Spicer, another eyebrow-raising retweet by President Donald Trump. Those are just a few of the news-making controversies that captured headlines over the weekend. For Harvard, the problems began last week following their announcement that named Manning, who was convicted of leaking classified information to Wikileaks, a fall Fellow. Two days later, Harvard rescinded the offer after former acting CIA director Mike Morell resigned from the school and current CIA director Mike Pompeo canceled an appearance in protest. Meanwhile, Sean Spicer, the former White House press secretary, made a surprise appearance at the Emmys where he poked fun at himself. But not everyone was laughing. Nor was everyone laughing when President Donald Trump retweeted a gif someone edited, which depicted Trump hitting Hillary Clinton with a golf ball and knocking her over. Martha Coakley, a former Harvard Fellow, as well as Attorney General for Massachusetts, candidate for governor and current partner at Foley Hoag; and Harvard College alumnus Frank McNamara, a former U.S. attorney, and Trump supporter joined Jim to break down the controversies making headlines.
(Editor’s Note: We received feedback from many viewers on this segment. On Tuesday, September 19, 2017, Jim shared some of them and an apology from Frank McNamara, which you can see here.)
A Brookline family is celebrating a victory, on behalf of their five-year-old daughter, and other kids like her. Last week the elite Park School in Brookline settled with federal prosecutors, who say the school violated the Americans with Disabilities Act when they refused to admit Harper Oates. Oates suffers from a spinal cord injury that paralyzed her arms and legs, and the school said it could not admit her because the type of curriculum she would require would force it to fundamentally alter its education model. While the school maintains it did not discriminate, it agreed as part of the settlement to provide better training for staff and remove barriers to make the school more accessible to those with disabilities. A representative from the Park School was invited but declined to appear on the program. Instead, the school sent a statement pointing out that the Department of Justice “did not find fault with the decision not to admit Harper, but rather how it reached the decision.” The school added that they “take the finding very seriously” and “enhanced admissions guidelines are already in effect for the upcoming admission cycle.” Harper’s mother, Dawn Oates, joined Jim to discuss the outcome of the settlement and the effect it could have other families.
At the Bennington House, a certified sober home in Quincy, the house rules are prominently placed on the refrigerator. Attending several AA or NA meetings a week, doing chores, taking drugs tests and meeting curfew are mandatory. While residents didn’t want to be interviewed, the managers were anxious to talk about how this kind of setting is essential to transitioning back into society and staying sober.
Jim’s thoughts on the unsettling number of Americans who apparently have absolutely no idea how this country works.
