The Brian Lehrer Show

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Showdown in Nassau County

Thursday, October 04, 2007

Nassau County officials say immigration agents endangered residents and police during raids last week. According to the charges, the federal agents were wearing cowboy hats and brandishing shotguns, when they were supposed to be investigating gang activity. Also, two movie critics compare notes on the New York Film Festival; Ayaan Hirsi Ali's security; and a call-in about the proposed redesign of the Marriage Bureau to rival Las Vegas.

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Listen to the whole show

Taxi Strike Part 2

Bhairavi Desai, executive director of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, explains why taxi drivers are planning to strike again over the use of GPS devices in cabs.

Showdown in Nassau County

Peter Schmitt, minority leader of the Nassau County Legislature (R-Massapequa), responds to claims that immigration officials used improper tactics in raids that were supposed to be targeting gangs.

Film Studies

Film critics Dana Stevens of Slate and Entertainment Weekly’s Owen Gleiberman join us for the month of October to talk about films. This week: the long & short of the New York Film Festival.

Dutch Treat

Abigail Esman, a writer based in NY and Amsterdam who has written for Salon.com and other publications on the clash between the West and Muslims in The Netherlands, discusses the latest wrinkle in the Ayaan Hirsi Ali story.

Abigail Esman's website

Three's a Crowd

A group of conservatives, many of them Christians, have stated that they would consider launching a third-party candidate if both the Republicans and Democrats nominate a pro-choice candidate. Charles W. Dunn, dean of Regent University's Robertson School of Government and the editor of The Future of Conservatism: Conflict and Consensus in the Post-Reagan Era (ISI Books, 2007) and author of The Seven Laws of Presidential Leadership (Prentice Hall, 2006) analyzes what a third party run would do to the Republican party.

Destination: Marriage Bureau

Las Vegas has Elvis, who should marry couples in New York? Mayor Bloomberg wants to redecorate the Manhattan Marriage Bureau to rival Las Vegas as a hip placed to get hitched. Listeners call in with design suggestions.