The Issue Is: Gloria Allred versus Larry Elder, Round 2

LOS ANGELESl - This week on "The Issue Is" a rematch.

On the left, legendary attorney Gloria Allred. On the right, veteran political commentator Larry Elder.

Six months after their first debate, the two icons, and longtime friends, return to spar over a host of hot-button topics.

Among them, marriage equality, reparations for Black Californians, former President Donald Trump’s NFT collection, abortion, and a potential Elder 2024 presidential run.

As if that weren’t already enough, Elex Michaelson also sits down with new Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, just days after she was sworn in as the city’s first female Mayor.

Michaelson and Bass discuss that history-making inauguration, Bass’ first act as Mayor, declaring a state of emergency to address the city’s rising homelessness crisis, continued chaos at City Hall, and more.

The Issue Is: California's reparations task force

ELDER’S CENTRAL TAKE: "It's absurd. Reparations is the extraction of money from people who are never slave owners to be given to people who were never slaves. California was a free state. The idea that somehow I, as a black person should get a quarter of a million dollars from taxpayers who had nothing whatsoever to do with slavery is insidious. And what about people that are 10% black or 25% black, should they get a 10% check or 25% check? And how many times do we want to do this? Women have didn't have the right to vote until 1920. Should Gloria Allred get reparations for not being able to vote because she's a woman and her ancestors could not vote? What about the treatment of the Japanese, they couldn't own farmland in California. What about the treatment of Chinese, they couldn't they were discriminated against in the laundry business in the Bay Area. We could go and do this forever. And do we go back to Africa, because without the complicity of African chieftains, the African and the Arab slave trade never would have taken place…"

ALLRED’S CENTRAL TAKE: "Well, actually, there have been reparations for people who are Japanese, who were interned right during World War Two in California... We should acknowledge, as a country and in every state, that slavery was wrong, that it should never have taken place, that the slaves were harmed and it just really irreparable harm and that there have been harms to African-Americans ever since then because of systematic discrimination against them in education and employment in every other way…"

The Issue Is: Marriage equality and the passage of the Respect for Marriage Act

ALLRED’S CENTRAL TAKE: "[The Respect for Marriage Act was] absolutely necessary. And I give a lot of credit to the president and also to some Republicans, a few, and all the Democrats who voted for that very important bill. It's important, Elex, because it recognizes marriages that are, for example, in California, where, you know, marriage equality is legal, then if they go to another state where it is not legal, then their marriage has to be recognized. And so that's why this federal law is very, very important…"

ELDER’S CENTRAL TAKE: "Completely unnecessary after the Dobbs decision that reversed Roe v Wade, and it was this supposed dictum that suggested maybe we could revisit same-sex marriage, there wasn't a single state that moved to outlaw same-sex marriage, not one. And in California, in our Constitution, is the right to privacy, which was the basis upon which Roe v Wade was decided, wrongly, in my opinion, but the point is, California has a right to privacy. So is there zero possibility that, all of a sudden, same-sex marriage and interracial marriage would be outlawed, so it's completely unnecessary, waste of time, virtue signaling on the part of the Democrats to say that we care about downtrodden, gays and so forth, and the dastardly Republicans do not…"

The Issue Is: Trump digital trading cards NFT collection

ELDER’S CENTRAL TAKE: "The mission was for us to talk about Trump. Mission accomplished. He's a very savvy business guy, and that's what he was doing…."

ALLRED’S CENTRAL TAKE: "Well, he's monetizing the fact that he was president and that he is popular among a very small and shrinking base of his supporters, and he's trying to make as much money that he can. It's all going to him personally, by the way. It's not going to his campaign to run for president…"

ELDER’S CENTRAL TAKE: "I don't disagree with what you've just now said. He does, in my opinion, have a smaller and shrinking base, a smaller percentage of Republicans now say they want him to run. A greater percentage now say they want Ron DeSantis to run. It's not going to be a coronation…"

The Issue Is: Elder's new documentary "Uncle Tom II"

ELDER’S CENTRAL TAKE: "It's about how after slavery, black people still moved forward, despite Jim Crow, despite the KKK. Why? Because of a belief in family, belief in God, a belief in the values of America and the belief in entrepreneurship, all of which are under assault by organizations like Black Lives Matter. On their website, they decry the nuclear family as some sort of artificial construct of Western civilization. They, of course, embraced Karl Marx, who hated capitalism and who was an atheist. So all the things that made Black people survive despite horrific conditions are, in my opinion, under assault by organizations like Black Lives Matter. And that's what "Uncle Tom II" talks about…"

The Issue Is: The latest on Harvey Weinstein's sexual assault trial

ALLRED’S CENTRAL TAKE: "They're having to consider whether or not to convict on four different Jane Doe individuals for whom charges have been filed. And also during the trial, Elex, there were four other women who testified as what we call Me Too witnesses, 1101b witnesses, and so they're also considering their testimony, even though no charges were filed to show a similar pattern, modus operandi, plan, scheme, and so forth. And so, you know, there are eight men, there are four women on the jury, and they've asked for read backs of some of the testimony. And obviously, they've been having some difficulty in reaching a verdict. They need a unanimous jury in order to convict, a unanimous jury in order to acquit. It's also possible they could convict for some victims and acquit on others, all possibilities are open, including a possible mistrial…"

"The Issue Is: with Elex Michaelson" is California's only statewide political show. For showtimes and more information, go to TheIssueIsShow.com.