Today on AirTalk we'll provide updates about the Boston bombing suspects. Also, New York considers raising the smoking age to 21, San Francisco is asking residents to retrofit their buildings, and Mayor Villaraigosa speaks about his new budget proposal. Then, should schools use palm scanners on students and should Los Angeles add more surveillance cameras? All that and more, today on AirTalk.
More questions and answers in Boston bombing case
As Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev begins to answer questions from investigators, new details are emerging about the motivation behind the attack. The Tsarnaev brothers were said to have been operating alone, driven by religious fervor and were not aligned with any known international terrorist or military groups. The brothers were thought to have been radicalized in the US through the Internet and learned how to make bombs through an al Qaeda website.
How will investigators determine the motives behind the attack? Do we know what Tamerlan Tsarnaev did on his trip to Dagestan and Chechnya last year? Was he involved in the mysterious triple homicide in Waltham, Mass., in September 2011?
Guest:
Mark Arsenault, reporter for the Boston Globe
Poll: Should the legal tobacco purchase age rise from 18 to 21?
A new proposal in New York City could raise the age requirements for legal purchase of cigarettes from 18 to 21. The proposal would not prevent people under 21 from possessing or smoking cigarettes, but would restrict purchase of cigarettes to those 21 and older within city limits.
City council speaker and mayoral candidate Christine Quinn and city health commissioner Dr. Thomas A. Farley defended the proposal, citing statistics that point to smoking becoming habitual rather than experimental around age 20. By limiting access to cigarettes within the city, the legislation would protect young smokers from lifelong addiction.
"Everything that we do on tobacco is to save lives, but we also know it will save health care dollars by reducing smoking," said Danny McGoldrick, Vice President of Research, Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids. "We think that changing the legal age of sale to 21 will help reduce smoking among a key target of the tobacco companies, those 18-21 year olds, which is tobacco companies themselves identify as a key period during which kids transition from experimental to regular smoking."
Opponents to the proposal argue that at age 18, people are old enough to make their own decisions about smoking.
"I think sometimes the best way to get a teenager to do something is to tell them they can't do it. So you certainly worry about whether this is the right strategy and I do think its really easy for kids to buy cigarettes," said Dr. Peter Ubel. "My bigger concern is this is just going to look like more heavy-handed [NY Mayor] Bloomberg activity that's just going to turn people against better more effective public health measures."
The number of young smokers has seen a steady decline in the past decade as it is – would the proposed legislation have much of an impact? Would young smokers go outside the city to purchase cigarettes? Is it appropriate to restrict access to legal goods for users over the age of 18?
Guests:
Danny McGoldrick, Vice President of Research, Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids
Dr. Peter Ubel, physician and behavioral scientist who specializes in healthy policy and economics; Professor of Business Administration and Medicine & Professor of Public Policy, Duke University
Should LA building owners be required to retrofit buildings to better withstand earthquakes?
San Francisco passed a sweeping law on Thursday that will require building owners to upgrade any properties that have the kind of structures mostly likely to be damaged in an earthquake -- so-called "wood-frame soft-story" buildings.
The upgrades can cost upwards of $100,000 per building and some Los Angeles property owners are firmly opposed to that kind of law being enacted here. But San Francisco lawmakers successfully argued that requiring these upgrades was in the public interest. So far, only two other cities require property owners to pay for this type of earthquake retrofitting, Santa Monica and the Bay-Area suburb of Fremont.
Does public safety override property owners' concerns about cost? Is it practical to have this requirement in a city like Los Angeles with such a high rate of low-income housing? Who would be responsible if a building owner couldn't pay?
Guests:
Dan Faller, president and chief executive of the LA-based Apartment Owners Assn. of California
Mitchell Englander, LA City Council member who represents District 12 in the North West San Fernando Valley
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa unveils new budget
L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa yesterday unveiled a $7.7-billion budget that closes a projected $216 million deficit without resorting to layoffs or furloughs. There’s money to hire new firefighters and purchase new police vehicles, plus funding to fill potholes and pave city streets, which had been slashed because of budget cuts, would be restored.
Despite the good financial news, the Mayor wants to freeze all employee salary increases and wants city workers to contribute 10 percent toward their health care benefits. This is Mayor Vaillaraigosa’s final budget; he is due to leave office at the end of June.
Guests:
Antonio Villaraigosa, Mayor of Los Angeles
Alice Walton, KPCC’s online Politics reporter
Hacked AP Twitter account sends Dow Jones down
The Associated Press’ Twitter account was hacked today and the perpetrator sent out a fake tweet saying that President Obama was injured in an explosion at the White House. Minutes later, the AP, using another Twitter account, announced that the tweet was fake. White House spokesman Jay Carney went on air to confirm that the president had not been harmed.
RELATED: AP Twitter account hacked; Dow Jones industrial average drops on false explosion report
But enough people had read the hacked tweet to cause the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 to both plummet. Both exchanges quickly rebounded soon after. The AP’s main Twitter feed has some 2 million users. Are traders relying too heavily on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter for information?
Guests:
Mackenzie Weinger, Media Reporter for POLITICO
Mike Isaac, Senior Editor at All Things D - an online publication that specializes in technology and startup news
POLL: Should there be more surveillance cameras in Los Angeles?
When the FBI released images of the two suspects involved in the Boston Marathon bombings, many people found the clarity of these images quite striking. Although many are uncomfortable with the idea of being watched by surveillance cameras, the country was relieved to finally see some progress in identifying suspects in the bombings.
Major cities like London are under constant surveillance with cameras all over the city and in the subway. According to Slate, New York has over 3,000 cameras just for Lower Manhattan. However, in Los Angeles, the LAPD estimates over 300 cameras to cover the entire city — not many for such a large metropolitan area.
Should Los Angeles install more surveillance cameras? Are private security cameras enough? Do cameras deter crime? Would you be uncomfortable with “Big Brother” watching or is it worth it to prevent future tragedies?
Guests:
Chief Edmund “Ted” Sexton, Chief of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department
Marc Rotenberg, Executive Director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center