Advertisement

Week In The News: Obamacare Blowup, NSA Fury And A Year After Sandy

46:56
Download Audio
Resume

Obamacare hullaballoos. NSA snooping fury still rising. Superstorm Sandy, one year on.  Our weekly news roundtable goes behind the headlines.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius pauses while testifying on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2013, before the House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on the difficulties plaguing the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. (AP)
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius pauses while testifying on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2013, before the House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on the difficulties plaguing the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. (AP)

Rolling thunder on the big issues this week.  On Obamacare, more rollout problems and now some Americans losing their old insurance and not happy about it.  The President’s old words replayed and a new argument:  this is better, get with it.  NSA surveillance still roiling Europe and now Google and Yahoo too.  The spymasters making no apologies.  We’ve got abortion battle and shutdowns in Texas.  Chemical weapon shutdown in Syria.  A plea for help from Iraq.  And electronic devices cleared for airline takeoff.  Up next On Point:  Our weekly news roundtable goes behind the headlines
-- Tom Ashbrook

Guests

Siobhan Gorman, intelligence correspondent for The Wall Street Journal. (@Gorman_Siobhan)

Julie Rovner, health policy correspondent for NPR. (@JRovner)

Jack Beatty, On Point news analyst.

From Tom's Reading List

Wall Street Journal: Europeans Shared Spy Data With U.S. — "The revelations suggest a greater level of European involvement in global surveillance, in conjunction at times with the NSA. The disclosures also put European leaders who loudly protested reports of the NSA's spying in a difficult spot, showing how their spy agencies aided the Americans. The phone records collected by the Europeans—in war zones and other areas outside their borders—were shared with the NSA as part of efforts to help protect American and allied troops and civilians, U.S. officials said."

NPR: Congressmen Berate Sebelius For Cancellations, Website Woes — "Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius headed to Capitol Hill Wednesday for a date with lawmakers frustrated by the rocky rollout of the HealthCare.gov website. What she got at the House Energy and Commerce Committee was four hours of venting from Democrats and Republicans alike."

Philadelphia Inquirer: Sandusky Settlements Cost Nearly $60M -- "The university's board of trustees had approved paying up to $60 million earlier this year, and the tab came to $59.7 million, the university said in a news release. The first multimillion-dollar settlement, with a 25-year-old man who was abused in a campus shower, was announced in mid-August. University officials predicted at that time that 25 more settlements would soon follow as part of a global agreement."

This program aired on November 1, 2013.

Advertisement

More from On Point

Listen Live
Close