Legal challenges to Arizona's immigration law. 100,000 marchers expected at immigrants' rights May Day rally in Downtown LA. Gulf of Mexico oil spill reaches the coast. Is the love affair over between Barack Obama and the White House Press Corps? And T-G-I-FilmWeek! We review newly released movies, including A Nightmare on Elm Street, Furry Vengeance, Please Give, Harry Brown, and The Good Heart. Later, if Jerry Weintraub stops talking, you'll know he's dead.
Arizona immigration law: gearing up for the legal fight
As fallout continues over passage of Arizona's strict immigration law, the Obama administration is examining possible legal challenges to the measure, which would allow local police to demand proof of citizenship when it takes effect this summer. One option would charge that the Arizona law preempts the federal government's role in controlling the country's borders, while a civil rights challenge would charge that the law encourages racial profiling. At the same time, will the situation in Arizona force Congress to address immigration reform? President Obama has said that Congress may not have the "appetite immediately to dive into another controversial issue." How is the legal fight over immigration likely to play out?
Guests:
Peter Nicholas, Washington correspondent for the L.A. Times and the Chicago Tribune
Jon Feere, Legal Policy Analyst for the Center for Immigration Studies
William Sanchez, Lead Attorney, The National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders (CONLAMIC) Legal Defense Fund, which filed a suit Thursday challenging SB 1070
100,000 May Day marchers expected Saturday
The immigrants’ rights May Day event in downtown Los Angeles this Saturday may draw larger crowds than originally expected. Organizers believe that concern over the controversial new Arizona law requiring police to check the legal status of people they suspect of being undocumented will boost participation in the march to City Hall. The LAPD is preparing to handle up to 100,000 people, up from its initial estimate of 60,000. In MacArthur Park in 2007, a May Day melee occurred when police fired rubberized bullets at a mostly peaceful crowd after a small group of agitators confronted police. This year, the LAPD is preparing for the event with city-wide maximal deployment.
Guests:
Frank Stoltze, KPCC reporter
Raul Murillo, Director of Hermandad Mexicana Nacional (Mexican National Brotherhood); and organizer of Saturday’s May Day event.
Gulf Coast oil spill update
Oil from the massive spill in the Gulf of Mexico reached Louisiana's wetlands today as storms threatened to frustrate protection efforts. Larry gets the latest on the ecological disaster with NPR's Wade Goodwyn.
Guest:
Wade Goodwyn, NPR reporter covering the spill
Heartburn on the menu at the White House Correspondents' Dinner?
It’s a common perception: the press just loves President Barack Obama. Well, if there was some love, the love is gone. According to Politico, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs doesn’t get back to people, the White House gift wraps “scoops” for some journalists and not others, and some reporters say the White House is controlling, stingy and thin-skinned. With the annual White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner taking place tomorrow evening, Larry finds out: is the honeymoon over between the press and Barack Obama?
Guests:
Josh Gerstein, White House reporter for Politico
Linda Feldman, White House correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor
FilmWeek
Larry Mantle and KPCC film critics Wade Major of boxoffice.com and Lael Loewenstein of Variety discuss the films opening this week including A Nightmare on Elm Street, Furry Vengeance, Please Give, Harry Brown, The Good Heart, The Good, The Bad, And The Weird, Dirty Hands, and Timer. TGI-FilmWeek! Live tweeting this week's reviews:
Guests:
Wade Major, BoxOffice.com Lael Loewenstein, Variety
Jerry Weintraub's still talking
He’s worked with Elvis and Sinatra and been counselor and confidante to celebrities and politicians. Now, the veteran Hollywood film producer and deal maker Jerry Weintraub has a new memoir, co-written with Vanity Fair Editor Rich Cohen. Part how-to guide, When I Stop Talking, You’ll Know I’m Dead: Useful Stories from a Persuasive Man, is packed with entertaining stories Weintraub’s probably been telling at cocktail parties for years. The book chronicles his rise from the Bronx, to the hills of Hollywood, and his crowning hits as movie producer, from Robert Altman’s Nashville, to Steven Soderbergh’s Ocean’s Eleven, Twelve, and Thirteen. Larry talks with Weintraub about his remarkable life and career, marked by luck, love and improvisation.
Guest:
Jerry Weintraub, co-author of When I Stop Talking, You’ll Know I’m Dead: Useful Stories from a Persuasive Man (Twelve); he is also a veteran Hollywood film producer and former Chairman and CEO of United Artists.