Ousting the California Coastal Commission's executive director, Charles Lester, could cause friction between the state's environmentalists and developers.; Credit: David McNew/Getty Images

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The powerful California agency that manages development along the state's fabled coastline may oust its top executive soon, setting up a battlefront between environmentalists and developers who frequently clash over projects large and small.

The potential shake-up at the California Coastal Commission raises questions about the direction of an agency often caught in the friction between property owners and conservation along the 1,100-mile coast - large stretches of it prized for pristine beaches edged by jutting cliffs.

Guests:

Sara Wan, Former Commissioner on the Coastal Commission; Co-Founder of the Western Alliance for Nature, a conservancy group

Fred Gaines, a Calabasas councilman and attorney who has represented developers and property owners before the commission for 25 years

Former Mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg, speaks at the "Not One More" Event at Urban Zen on February 10, 2015 in New York City.; Credit: Monica Schipper/Getty Images

Billionaire and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is considering a run for the presidency, spurred by Donald Trump’s unsubsiding momentum and Hillary Clinton’s weakening position, according to the New York Times.

Citing unnamed sources, the paper reports that Bloomberg has told his inner circle that he would foot the bill for the run at up to $1 billion of his own money.

Citing unnamed sources, the paper reports that Bloomberg has told his inner circle that he would foot the bill for the run at up to $1 billion of his own money.

How likely is a Bloomberg run? How would it impact the rest of the field?

Guests:

Chris Smith, a contributing editor at New York Magazine who reports on New York politics; He tweets from @chrissmithnymag  

Dan Schnur, Director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at USC and adjunct faculty at USC Annenberg School

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump shakes hands with former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.; Credit: Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images

This week on AirTalk’s political roundtable: It’s countdown to the Iowa caucuses!

Candidates are jockeying across the state trying to drum up final votes and  reacting to a potential run by former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg .

As Californians, it’s difficult to watch the action knowing our own primary isn’t until June, but we can still get a piece of the action with some local analysis.

We hear from two analysts about what to watch for in these final days.

Guests:

Lynn Vavreck, Professor of Political Science, UCLA; she tweets from @Vavreck

Steven Shepard, campaigns and elections editor at POLITICO; he tweets from @POLITICO_Steve

Screen grab from Orange County Sheriff's Department Special Bulletin (January 23, 2016).; Credit: Orange County Sheriff's Department

In an elaborate escape, three inmates from Orange County Men’s Jail were reported missing Sunday.

It was nearly 72 hours after their disappearance when Sheriff’s officials confirmed the breakout of Hossein Nayeri, Jonathan Tieu and Bac Duong.

Their escape was likely made on Friday after a 5 a.m. headcount. All three men had been incarcerated for violent crimes.

The breakout, which could have taken weeks or months of planning, started with the inmates using tools to cut through steel bars, then traveling through plumbing tunnels and ended with a descent off a roof with makeshift ropes made from towels and bed sheets.

Authorities say they will offer a $50,000 reward for information leading to the capture of the fugitives.

What is the process for law enforcement to find these escaped inmates? How does this escape differ from others, where fugitives could rely on nearby wilderness to hide? How will the fugitives remain unseen in the surrounding metropolitan area of Orange County?

Guests:

Scott Schwebke, breaking news reporter for ocregister.com and the Orange County Register newspaper who’s been following the OC jail break story. He tweets from @TheChalkOutline

Lenny DePaul, Chief Inspector/Commander (Ret.) of U.S. Marshals Service New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force

Craig Caine, Inspector (Ret.) U.S. Marshals Service New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force 

​

Saavedra says at first, the sauce sold mostly at ethnic markets. By the late 1980s, it began crossing over to the mainstream.; Credit: Maya Sugarman/KPCC

Do you enjoy taking your taste buds to the limits of spiciness?

Do you seek out the hottest sauces, peppers, and seasonings to use generously on your food, regardless of how your mouth burns? Are you always in search of something hotter? If so, you might be a chilehead.

The gourmet hot sauce industry has exploded across the United States since the discovery and propagation of the Ghost Chili in 2007 as sharp culinary minds and master pepper growers have searched for the next hottest thing.

Since then, the Ghost Chile has been replaced four different times as the Guinness Book of World Records’ hottest chili pepper, a title which now belongs to the Carolina Reaper. But even with the exploding popularity of gourmet hot sauces, many areas of the country still pride themselves on the cultures and flavors that have made them famous, from the vinegar-based Tabascos of the deep south and East Coast to the jalapeno heat-heavy sauces of the West.

How are Americans’ hot sauces tastes evolving? What are the regional differences we see in hot sauces in terms of ingredients and spiciness? If you’re a chili-head, we'd like to hear from you.

For more on how the hot sauce scene is evolving in Los Angeles, check out this feature from KPCC’s Leslie Berestein-Rojas.

TWEET US YOUR THOUGHTS @AIRTALK USING #HOTSAUCE

Guests:

James Beck, aka ‘The Hot Sauce Boss; chile pepper, hot sauce, and spicy food expert, and owner of iBurn, a specialty store selling hot sauces and other spicy foods in Houston, TX

Oscar Ochoa, Local entrepreneur and creator/owner of ‘El Machete Microbrew Piquant Sauces’

Katrisa Parks puts her eight-month-old son Skyler down for a nap in the room they share.; Credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force released new recommendations about depression screening in adults this morning.

These new recommendations will focus on pregnant women and new mothers, who were not explicitly mentioned in the last USPSTF recommendation in 2009.

While this is a step forward, how will these new recommendations be carried out in practice? How will this is change the taboo nature of talking about depression among new and expecting mothers? What is your experience with depression as a mother?

Guests:

Dr. Emily Dossett, MD, Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at Los Angeles County + University of Southern California (LAC+USC) Medical Center

A Planned Parenthood office is seen in New York City. ; Credit: Andrew Burton/Getty Images

There was a surprising legal turnaround in Houston yesterday.

The Harris County DA had asked the grand jury to look into allegations Planned Parenthood was profiting from selling fetal organs to medical researchers. The allegations stemmed from undercover videos made by the founder of the Irvine-based antiabortion group, The Center for Medical Progress.

However, the DA announced late yesterday that the grand jury both cleared Planned Parenthood and indicted the makers of the undercover videos. Center for Medical Progress founder David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt face felony charges of tampering with a governmental record.

Daleiden was further indicted on a misdemeanor charge related to trafficking in human organs.

David Daleiden has been somewhat media shy, except with us. He was with us twice last year.

We were in contact with him this morning, and we're hopeful he'll be able to join us later this week. In our first conversation, Daleiden strongly defended his and Merritt's creation of phony identities to get access to Planned Parenthood conferences and employees. However, it might well be that the fake drivers licenses they used have brought the felony charges.

Guests:

Josh Schaffer, Houston-based lawyer for the Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, the organization that is at the center of the grand jury investigation.

Eric Scheidler, executive director of the Pro-life Action League, a national organization headquartered in Chicago. The group is one of the organizers behind a series of national protests against Planned Parenthood that came in the wake of the Center for Medical Progress videos

"Imperial Gamble: Putin, Ukraine and the New Cold War" by Marvin Kalb

Former CBS News’ Moscow bureau chief and Russian expert Marvin Kalb’s new book examines the Russian invasion of Crimea in 2014.

The move was followed by a series of uprisings in Southern Ukraine spearheaded by pro-Russian rebels. Those events, which happened suddenly and in rapid succession, took the US and the world by surprise. Russia was slapped with strict sanctions, further chilling relations between the West and Russia.

Kalb’s book argues that the military move was not as unplanned as believed, that Vladimir Putin long had designs to stir discord in the region. In “Imperial Gamble,” Kalb lays out the history of Russia and Ukraine to illuminate on what informed Putin’s decision, and how the Ukraine crisis today, if left unresolved, could impact stability in that region for years to come.

Guest:

Marvin Kalb, a Harvard professor emeritus and author of the book, “Imperial Gamble: Putin, Ukraine, and the New Cold War” (Brookings Institution Press, 2015); he tweets from @MarvinKalb

An I.C.E. agent walks near the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, California. Law enforcement officials continue to investigate the mass shooting at the Center that left 14 people dead.; Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Who’s responsible when a mass shooter attacks?

It’s a question that new claims against San Bernardino county are raising in the wake of the deadly terror attack at the Inland Regional Center on December 2, 2015.

Those claims, filed last week by family members of Sierra Clayborn, an environmental health specialist who was among the 14 killed in the attack, seek damages over $200 million and are the first to suggest the county fostered a hostile work environment.

How does that get proven or disproven? We talk with several lawyers about the legal fallout.

Guests:

Greg Keating, professor of law at USC Gould School of Law

Dr. Park Dietz,MD., MPH., PhD  founder of the Threat Assessment Group, Inc., a forensic and consulting firm focusing on workplace violence and the risk of threats. He has testified and consulted in cases such as the assassination attempt on President Reagan and the Unabomber investigation

Authorities are searching for three inmates who escaped from Orange County Central Men's Jail Friday. All are wanted for violent crimes. ; Credit: screengrab from NBCLA

The hunt is still on for three inmates who broke out of the Men’s Central Jail in Santa Ana as jail officials continue to put the pieces of the escape together. One of the larger questions emerging is centered around why jail officials didn’t discover the prisoners were gone until 16 hours after they had escaped, giving them a huge lead on fugitive hunters.

The three men were housed together in a dormitory-style cell, serving time for various violent crimes including murder and kidnapping. They were discovered missing during a prisoner headcount on Friday evening. A spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff’s Department says to escape, the inmates had to cut through several layers of metal and rebar and traverse plumbing tunnels in order to get to the prison roof, where they made ropes out of clothing and bedsheets to use to rappel down the side.

So far, no jail employees have been connected to the escape, but many are wondering how three men were able to break out of the facility without anyone catching wind of their plan and why they were all housed in the same unit in the first place. Jails in Los Angeles County house inmates who are convicted of violent crimes like murder or attempted murder in single cells.

What were the red flags that prison officials missed? How hard is it for jail officials to catch wind of a prison escape plan? Could this escape have been prevented?

Guest:

Craig Caine, Inspector (Ret.) U.S. Marshals Service New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force with 30+ years law enforcement experience

An employee at a Walmart in the Crenshaw district of Los Angeles on Black Friday.; Credit: ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images

With the holiday season well in our rear-view mirror, return season is upon us!

Time to bring back those jeans that are just a little too tight around the waist, or maybe that extra copy of NBA 2K16 your child got after grandpa forgot to communicate with mom and dad about gifts.

In an effort to figure out just how much of an impact return policies have on shopper behavior and whether longer return policies are better or worse for retailers, researchers at the University of Texas-Dallas conducted a meta-analysis of research papers that examined purchases, returns, or both. They looked at specific factors like the length of the policy, whether you get full reimbursement, and whether you’re required to show a receipt or other proof of purchase.

What they found was that on the whole, a longer return policy did mean more returns, but it was also correlated with an uptick in purchases. In addition, they found that being flexible about time limits for returns led to a decrease in returns. One researcher explained this as a result of customer having the product in his or her hands for longer, thereby feeling more attached to it.

So, is it possible to pinpoint the perfect return policy? Well, not exactly. Researchers say that’d be a tall order, though their work did suggest that flexibility with the time you have to return and the amount of money you get back are the best ways to boost sales.

What’s your policy when it comes to return policies? Are you more likely to return something if you know you have a lot of time to do it, or do you get more attached to the product as time goes on and you justify having it? What retailer/company has the best return policy, in your opinion?

Guest:

Kit Yarrow, consumer research psychologist, professor at Golden Gate University in San Francisco, and author of “Decoding the New Consumer Mind”

"Crisis Point" by Trent Lott and Tom Daschle; Credit: Bloomsbury Publishing

Partisan gridlock has become an unfortunate feature of American politics.

Of course, it wasn’t always like this. Two of Washington’s most seasoned political wheelers and dealers -- former Senators Tom Daschle (D) and Trent Lott (R) know a thing or two about getting things done, despite being on opposite sides of the aisle.

In the new book, “Crisis Point,” the senators lay out the factors contributing to this climate of political polarization and offer solutions to get Congress and our government unstuck.

Senators Trent Lott and Tom Daschle will be talking about their book, “Crisis Point,” at 7:30 p.m. tonight in Santa Monica with KPCC’s own Patt Morrison. Click here for more information.

Guests:

Trent Lott, former U.S. Senator (R-Mississippi) between 1989 and 2007. Coauthor of the book, “Crisis Point: Why We Must - and How We Can - Overcome Our Broken Politics in Washington and Across America” (Bloomsbury Press, 2016)

Tom Daschle, former U.S. Senator (D-South Dakota) between 1987 to 2005. Coauthor of the book, “Crisis Point: Why We Must - and How We Can - Overcome Our Broken Politics in Washington and Across America” (Bloomsbury Press, 2016)

Children at Scripps Ranch KinderCare in San Diego play in their classroom on October 1, 2013 in San Diego, CA.; Credit: Robert Benson/Getty Images for Knowledge Unive

It seems like a win-win situation: For just a couple dollars, you get a California lottery ticket and a shot at big winnings, and California schools get a cut of lottery profits.

But according to a new report out from EdBuild, a non-profit group that addresses funding inequities in public education, the California lottery distributes funding unfairly.

EdBuild argues that not many rich people actually buy lotto tickets, yet the public schools that their children attend get as much money as poorer school districts, if not slightly more.

Should distribution of lottery funds be based on the needs of a school? If the California lottery makes up a small percent of school budgets, does the distribution method make a difference?

Guests:

Alex Traverso, Spokesman for the California Lottery

Rebecca Sibilia, Founder and CEO of EdBuild, a non-profit group that works on funding inequities in public education and recently released a new report on California lotto distribution

Donald Trump holds a picture of himself after being given it as he greets people during a campaign event at the University of Iowa on January 26, 2016 in Iowa City, Iowa.; Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Donald Trump says he won’t take part in tomorrow night’s GOP debate on Fox News.

His announcement came from his campaign last night (Tuesday), and follows months of tension between the two sides after Trump spoke openly about his dislike of Fox News’ Megyn Kelly.

This debate marks the last before the Iowa caucuses next week, and would mark the first debate that Trump has not been a part of.

How will this move affect Trump’s campaign? Has Fox News responded in the right way to Trump?

Guests:

James Warren, Chief media writer for Poynter.org; he tweets from @JimWarren55

John Feehery, Republican strategist and President of Quinn Gillespie Communications; he’s also a columnist for The Hill. He tweets from @JohnFeehery

James Broussard, Professor of history at Lebanon Valley College in Annville, PA

SAy Area Rapid Transit (BART) customer waits for a train at the Embarcadero station August 14, 2009 in San Francisco, California.; Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

After reporting a nine percent decrease in average weekday boardings from nearly one and a half million in 2014 to 1.36 million in the second quarter of 2016, Metro officials are trying to figure out how to reverse this trend of declining ridership. 

The Metro board will hear a report on the issue Thursday, which will include suggestions of ways to improve ridership. 

In addition, low gas prices could mean cuts to transportation projects in L.A. County, since lower gas prices means a smaller pot for the state gas tax, out of which funds for these transportation projects are taken.

For more on this story from KPCC’s Meghan McCarty, click here.

Guest:

Megan McCarty, KPCC reporter covering transportation and mobility

A Porter Ranch residents protest outside a meeting of the Air Quality Management Board (AQMD) over the continuing gas leak.; Credit: MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images

Alleging that the company created a public nuisance, the South Coast Air Quality Managment District filed a lawsuit against Southern California Gas Company on Tuesday seeking damages that could add up to over $25 million.

Natural gas has been leaking from a SoCal Gas well since late October, and many residents of the surrounding areas have had to evacuate.

For more on this story from KPCC’s Sharon McNary, click here.

Guests: 

Sharon McNary, KPCC reporter covering infrastructure

A photo taken shows a view of a short erotic film through a virtual reality headset during a presentation at the MIPCOM audiovisual trade fair in Cannes, southeastern France. ; Credit: VALERY HACHE/AFP/Getty Images

One of shiniest objects coming out of CES this January was the Oculus Rift headset.

The Rift, as it is called, is a wearable virtual reality headset. It’s small, it’s easy to use and it’s debuting in March. It’d set consumers back close to $600 a piece, but the price tag has not dampened enthusiasm. There are cheaper versions -- Samsung makes them (for $99, but they could only be used for specific models of their smartphones), so does optical instrument maker Carl Zeiss. Of course, there's also the $20 Google Cardboard.  With all these options out there, video game makers have started to produce content. But they are not the only ones.

Producers of porn are also banking that the new visual and visceral experience provided by VR would similarly lends itself to their genre.

How is VR porn produced? How expensive is it to make it? Lots of research have focused on the sociological and psychological impact of traditional porn, are those effects magnified given the verisimilitude of VR porn?

Interview Highlights

How is VR porn content produced?

Ian Paul (Chief Information Officer at Naughty America): It’s very similar to how we shoot adult content today. The cameras are a mix of off-the-shelves and custom components, and there’s different coaching that we have to provide for the performers, but it’s very similar to how adult content is already shot, with the exception of the experience, it’s radically different. You can look around, you’d notice exceptional depth perception, it’s quite immersive, you really feel like you can reach out and touch the performer.

What are the costs?

Ian Paul: Ton more investment in the R&D, the file sizes are much larger, you are dealing with storage costs, the editing workflow is completely different, so you are dealing with investment in different editing equipment processes.

Do you think this is different enough to get viewers to pay for the content?

Ian Paul: We already have, we have the content about the July timeframe of last year and the response is overwhelming.

Do you think free providers, like the “tube” providers, will find a way to do this

Ian Paul: They may eventually. They are an ad revenue-driven model. We think it’s going to be very difficult for them to integrate ads into this type of experience. 

The production you saw was a little different, describe what the shoot was like that you witnessed?

Sarah Ratchford (writer for Vice):  The shoot was quite a long day, it was about 12 hours. What happened was -- the porn star Tori Black -- and she got into this contraption, it was basically like a dressing room: enclosed by white curtains, the rig was several poles with Canon Rebels attached to it. So there was 112 lenses pointed at her, capturing every angle of her body. She struck physical poses, she did the voices, the faces, everything.

You saw the finished product of this production, what did you think of it?

Sarah Ratchford: I saw the finished version of the scanned avatar. So I saw Tori's avatar. And then I was personally scanned in with my own avatar. Mine was clothed, mind you. But I was blown away. They only took an hour or so to developed it, as opposed to the full time it would normally take. I was floored. I tried to reach out and touch the avatars, even though I fully knew it was virtual reality and not available for me to touch. It was magical.

Do you think this has the potential to please women as much as it does men?

Sarah Ratchford: I really wonder about that. This is really geared toward heterosexual men right now. They are working on making it better for women and people of other genders, too. But Tori Black herself even said that, essentially for women to be amused by this, the men are going to have to try really hard. Women are used to putting on that sort of performative aspect of sex, and men aren't.

Taking VR aside, what's your view on pornography and your view on intimacy?

Neil Malamuth (UCLA professor): I think it's going to be a very complex issue. On the one hand, it's quite likely and this is pure speculation that this kind of VR pornography might make actual physical contacts between mates less desirable, in a way  it'd create a competitive possibility with somebody who is ideal, who you can form in certain ways, and the immersive experience can make it much more gratifying and less difficult to obtain, less messy, less nuanced by the relationships... Again, though, I'd need to say that there will be individual differences here. I could see it for some couples it could be used as an adjunct to make their experience more intimate. I could see single men using it in a way that would create a sexual experience that is more intimate than current pornography that can have for them. In that sense, paradoxically, they may be more satisfied what we call a "tamer view of pornography" than having to seek a more extreme variety that constantly may be needed to turn one on.

You study the impact of pornography on relationships and on couples, do you have concerns about the more immersive experience?

Ana Bridges (University of Arkansas professor): Two general concerns that I have. In general, I think pornography is increasingly becoming the place where young people learn about sexual behavior. Unfortunately, pornography of all type, and VR porn as well, is  a type of  learning environment that is strictly focused on the individual. Sexuality is truly about self-gratification, the way it is presented in this context. It's not an environment that emphasizes or caters to the mutual pleasure that is part of sexuality. One of the concerns I have in the increasingly immersive environment is that the more real the more experiences, the more they are rehearsing what they will do in real life. 

Do you think that that has had a negative effect in many cases in women's sexual satisfaction?

Ana Bridges: Both women and men. There are some men and women who will find real relationships more difficult and real sexual interactions more difficult. Some men are already posting, that after finding VR porn, that they are not interested in finding a relationship with a real partner because then they actually have to do things like "worry about getting married" or "having children." I also know from the women that I have interviewed and spoken with that they have concerns when they are having sex with their partners, whether their partners are truly engaging with someone else, someone they found in pornography. I think the more realistic and immersive the environment, there's a chance that for some people that would become more intrusive.

You talked about people act out violently sexually based on what they've seen, do you think that might be more likely if they have violent imagery in VR porn than in 2D?

Neil Malamuth: That is definitely a possibility, although at this point, from what I understand, [VR porn producers like Naughty America] are very strict in creating any violent pornography. In general, the effects will be more powerful by virtue of the fact that it is much more immersive. So the more you recreate real-life type experience, the more likely it is for some people there will be copycat kind of effects.  

Guests:

Ian Paul, Chief Information Officer at Naughty America, a porn producer based in San Diego that has been producing VR porn

Sarah Ratchford, a writer based in Toronto for Vice magazine. One of her recent pieces follows the porn star Tori Black in her Virtual Reality shoot for the VR porn company Holodexxx. She tweets from @sarratch

Neil Malamuth, Professor of Communication Studies at UCLA, who has studied the psychological effect of pornography for the last four decades

Ana Bridges, an associate professor at the Department of Psychological Science at the University of Arkansas, where she studies the impact of sexual  media on individual and couples

Staci Pedersen (R) and other volunteers count homeless people on Skid Row during the Los Angeles Homeless Count conducted by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) in Los Angeles, California.; Credit: David McNew/Getty Images

Today marks the final day of the 2016 homeless count in Los Angeles County, led by Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA).

For the last two nights, volunteers have been tallying up the homeless, from the San Fernando Valley, to East L.A., South Bay and everywhere in between.

In 2015, there were a grand total of 2,818 homeless people in the county, according to LAHSA. But this year’s count is also seeing something slightly different: Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is advising the count of homeless youth, who were part of a specialized count last year.

The methods used to count homeless youth in 2015 were not sufficient in the eyes of HUD, so they stepped in for some changes this time around. We’ll check in with Peter Lynn, executive director of LAHSA, for an update as this year’s count comes to a close.

Guest:

Peter Lynn, executive director of LAHSA

A new proposal by Gov. Jerry Brown would make it easier for non-violent offenders to get parole for good behavior and give judges the latitude to decide whether juveniles as young as 14 to be tried as adults for serious crimes.
; Credit: L. Matthew Bowler/Getty Images

Gov. Jerry Brown is seeking to put an initiative on the November ballot that would unwind some of the harsher aspects of the mandatory sentencing law that went into effect while he was in office between 1975 to 1983.

The proposal he wants California voters to back would make it easier for non-violent offenders to get parole for good behavior and give judges the latitude to decide whether juveniles as young as 14 to be tried as adults for serious crimes.

The measure would need more than 585,000 signatures to put the proposal on the November ballot. 

The initiative is part of a larger conversation relating to Prop 47 that aims to change Californians’ opinions on sentencing laws.

Guests:

Kent Scheidegger, legal director for the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation

Christopher Hawthorne, law professor at Loyola Law School & Director of the Juvenile Innocence & Fair Sentencing Clinic

Democratic Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders speaks during a rally at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center.; Credit: Darren McCollester/Getty Images

Presidential hopeful, Senator Bernie Sanders unapologetically warned during a CNN town hall earlier this week that taxes would go up if he is elected President, especially to pay for his universal Medicare-for-all health care plan.

But he’s promised the American middle class would make up the difference by no longer paying premiums, a claim that has been widely disputed.

The plan has been the focus of great debate, among its defenders and economists and policy experts who disagree about Sanders’ claims of expanding the Affordable Care Act, controlled drug costs and mental health services that would be available to all.

Today on AirTalk, we look at the nuts and bolts of Sanders’ health care plan and hear from two opposing sides about its viability.

​Guests:

Dr. Steffie Woolhandler, M.D., M.P.H., F.A.C.P. Physicians for a National Health Program, an organization advocating a universal, comprehensive single-payer national health program; she is also a practicing primary care physician, professor in the CUNY School of Public Health at Hunter College

Avik Roy, Senior Fellow, Manhattan Policy Institute and current healthcare advisor to Marco Rubio, former advisor to Mitt Romney; he tweets from @Avik