The new chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party has only been in office for a few days, but he’s already striking back at critics of the GOP-led General Assembly. Claude Pope talks with host Donna Martinez about the protests by liberal advocacy groups – dubbed Moral Mondays and Witness Wednesdays -- and discusses his plans to keep the Republicans in power as the 2014 election cycle looms. Then People in Politics Correspondent Stephanie Hawco takes us to the latest legislative protest. You’ll hear comments from several anti-GOP activists, as well as the Rev. William Barber, head of the N.C. NAACP, which is leading the events. Then we turn to the legal problems of former Republican legislator Stephen LaRoque of Kinston. LaRoque now faces jail time after being convicted of multiple federal charges that he diverted federal money meant for economic development nonprofits he led, to his family and friends. Investigative reporter Sarah Ovaska of N.C. Policy Watch explains the convictions to Martinez, as well as the sentence LaRoque faces, and the suspicious information that snagged her interest in this story many months ago. That’s followed by an update on discontent inside the North Carolina Democratic Party. Stephanie Hawco tells Martinez about the resignation of a key party official and an EEOC complaint filed against Chairman Randy Voller by a former party staffer. Hawco and Martinez also discuss the public squabble that played out among the GOP’s Senate leaders this week as Senate Finance Committee Co-Chairman Bob Rucho of Mecklenburg County resigned his co-chairmanship in a huff over disagreements with Senate Leader Phil Berger, Republican of Rockingham County. And finally, Martinez talks with Chris Fitzsimon of N.C. Policy Watch about progressives’ disagreements with Republican policies, as well as the upcoming race for the U.S. Senate seat how held by Democrat Kay Hagan.