AirTalk for December 19, 2012

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In the wake of the Sandy Hook massacre, local officials are taking steps towards gun safety reforms. We'll discuss what California legislators are doing about gun control. Dr. Mark Lachs joins Larry to talk all things health -- no insurance needed. We'll also consider the Benghazi report and it's potential impact on a possible Clinton presidential run. Later, we'll talk about holiday food and speak with Richard Gere about his role in Arbitrage.

AirTalk for December 19, 2012

In the wake of the Sandy Hook massacre, local officials are taking steps towards gun safety reforms. We'll discuss what California legislators are doing about gun control. Dr. Mark Lachs joins Larry to talk all things health -- no insurance needed. We'll also consider the Benghazi report and it's potential impact on a possible Clinton presidential run. Later, we'll talk about holiday food and speak with Richard Gere about his role in Arbitrage.

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In the wake of the Sandy Hook massacre, local officials are taking steps towards gun safety reforms. We'll discuss what California legislators are doing about gun control. Dr. Mark Lachs joins Larry to talk all things health -- no insurance needed. We'll also consider the Benghazi report and it's potential impact on a possible Clinton presidential run. Later, we'll talk about holiday food and speak with Richard Gere about his role in Arbitrage.

Obama launches task force to crack down on gun violence as states rethink local gun laws

President Barack Obama vowed Wednesday to take direct action against gun violence, as he launched a panel led by Vice President Joe Biden aimed at promptly determining tactics for preventing mass shootings like the one in Newtown, Connecticut.

The new task force is expected to produce “concrete proposals” by January that Obama said he “intend[s] to push without delay.” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) also announced a task force of her own on Wednesday that would be led by Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.) and would also focus on reducing gun violence.

Lawmakers in California are also jumping into action to improve gun control laws after the Newtown massacre, including state senators Leland Yee and Kevin de Leon. Yee on Tuesday introduced a bill that would, among other safety precautions, prohibit gun owners from using devices known as “bullet buttons” or “mag magnets,” which allow semi-automatic weapons to be easily reloaded with multiple rounds of ammunition. De Leon, a Democrat from Los Angeles, affirmed he would introduce a proposal this week requiring ammunition buyers to get permits issued by the United States Department of Justice.

How effective will these new efforts to prevent gun violence be? Are the renewed calls for stricter gun regulations just rhetoric or will they really lead to concrete results?

Guests:

Kitty Felde, KPCC’s Washington D.C. correspondent

Leland Yee, California Democratic State Senator representing California’s 8th District, including half of San Francisco and most of San Mateo County

Kevin de Leon, California Democratic State Senator representing California's 22nd Senate District, which includes Los Angeles, Alhambra, East Los Angeles, Florence-Graham, Maywood, San Marino, South Pasadena, Vernon, and Walnut Park

Sam Paredes

, a member of the Board of Directors, Gun Owners of California

The doctor is in

AirTalk continues our semi-regular series looking at the top health stories, fads and frustrations facing patients and doctors.  Today, Larry is joined by Dr. Mark Lachs to discuss the phenomenon of how elderly couples can begin fighting after a medical scare.   

Dr. Lachs will join Larry to take your questions and calls – no health insurance or appointment necessary.

Guest:

Mark Lachs, M.D., Director of Geriatrics for the New York Presbyterian Health Care System; physician, scientist, and gerontologist at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City; author, "Treat Me, Not My Age: A Doctor’s Guide to Getting the Best Care as You or a Loved One Gets Older" (Viking Press)

The Benghazi report’s political fallout

The Accountability Review Board, an independent investigation panel, has concluded that the State Department’s failures resulted in poor security at the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya. According to the report, there were systemic problems at the management level, which opened up the diplomatic mission to vulnerabilities.

Twenty-nine recommendations were made to improve security, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton approved all of them. While the report comes down harshly on the State Department’s flaws, it did not single out any individual officials as shirking or violating their responsibilities, and thus made no call for disciplinary punishment. The Accountability Review Board is mandated by law whenever an official is killed during a diplomatic mission overseas, but its findings are not required to be made public or sent to lawmakers.

Despite this, Clinton is dedicated to revealing as much information as possible. But is that such a smart move? Three department officials have resigned in the wake of the report. Why? How were they involved? Most importantly, what’s going to happen to Hillary Clinton? If she was harboring any presidential ambitions in 2016, what are her chances now? How will this play out politically for both parties?

Guests:

Anne Gearan, Diplomatic Correspondent for the Washington Post

David Mark, Politix, Editor-in-Chief and author, “Going Dirty: The Art of Negative Campaigning” (2006, Rowman and Littlefield Publishers)

Winter dishes, holiday cookies and homemade gift ideas from the L.A. Times test kitchen

Before a recipe for snowflake pretzel rods, lemony moons and stars, chunky apple pancakes or shitakes on toast can grace the pages of the Los Angeles Times it gets tested, tasted, tweaked and re-tested in their spacious test kitchen.

Each perfectly-styled recipe is then whisked into the nearby photo studio for its Hollywood close-up. The Los Angeles Times Test Kitchen is one of very few such facilities still in existence at daily metropolitan news publications. They test more than 600 recipes on average per year. But only 400 make it to print.

This year, the folks behind all the fabulous food have two new e-books including “Holiday Handbook” and “Holiday Cookies,” gift ideas for the cook in your life and all kinds of seasonal favorites to dish about.

Are you looking for some last minute cooking advice? How about some homemade holiday gift ideas? Well, you’ve come to the right place. L.A. Times Food Editor Russ Parsons, and Test Kitchen Chef Noelle Carter join Larry in studio to answer all your culinary questions.

Guests:

Russ Parsons, L.A. Times Food Editor, “The California Cook” columnist; author of “How to Pick a Peach” and “How to Read a French Fry”

Noelle Carter, L.A. Times Test Kitchen Manager & Chef; “Culinary SOS” columnist

Richard Gere on ‘Arbitrage’ and Oscar buzz

Richard Gere says critical reception of his role of hedge fund manager Robert Miller in the film “Arbitrage” was not even a factor when he decided to star in the film about a desperate New York businessman; nevertheless, the Oscar bees are buzzing.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has already nominated Gere for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama for his performance in the film, which is often indicative of a forthcoming Academy Award nomination. Oscar nominations will not be announced until January 10, but some critics are citing Gere’s performance as one of the best of his career.

If Gere does snag an Oscar nomination, it would be the first in the 63-year-old actors nearly 40-year career. Listen in as Richard Gere joins host Larry Mantle to talk about the movie’s unexpected critical praise, working with first-time director Nicholas Jarecki and more.

Guest:

Richard Gere, actor currently seen in “Arbitrage”

Interview Highlights:

On why Gere chose to do the film “Arbitrage”:

"It worked on so many different levels, it was a really good script all the way around. It was timely, it spoke to our era, this character was kind of those iconic zeitgeist characters that speak of the era and represent what we’re all going through. And it was a beautifully written script.”

On the challenge of playing the character Robert Miller:

“If you trust the storytelling, and it's just to be alive and awake in the process and give yourself fully to it. It was written with a lot of energy and a lot of drive, there's a ticking clock all the way through it. So I think to keep the freshness of it, keep clear of all the balls that are being juggled. I have to be aware of that all the time.”

On how Gere approached the challenges of each scene:

“That's just my job, at this point I don't have to think about it too much, that's just what I do. The hardest thing for me, frankly, was to keep clear were the injuries from the accident, and making sure all the way through the movie we were showing that in the right way. Not to dominate scenes, but to keep it on the right level. That was a little tricky.”

On the process as an actor:

“There's a lot of work that one does, its studying, its observing people, its knowing what the job is. But the human stuff is more emotional observation of other people as it resonates through my own emotions. It's being alive to the story and feeling trusting enough to bring my own personal background to it and my own emotions to it but also the kind of the collective emotions of us as human beings.”

On the duality Gere’s character exudes throughout the film:

“When we first started screening this I had friends of mine calling up really angry with me, who were rooting for this guy at the same time they knew he was such a scumbag. And I think part of my job is to present a human being. As we all know, once you meet people we can be appalled by them, but I think we recognize everyone is going through a human dilemma of some kind. We see ourselves in each other. And these characters are mirrors. That’s my job is to hold up a mirror to what it’s like to be a human being with all those faults and all of the joy too.”

On Gere’s previous knowledge and interest in the subject matter prior to the filming:

"No I didn't have any interest in it. My own finances were managed by someone who was extremely conservative, so I really didn't have any interface with this world at all. And I'm not a gambler, either, I don't have that kind of instinct. But I'm looking for human beings here, I'm looking for motivations. Where do people come from, what kind of people are that? I can't play a job description, there's no juice in it, but you can play emotional backgrounds, psychological backgrounds, what do people want, what is happiness to them and what are the tools available to them to achieve their version or their vision of happiness. and then you put them in a world of causes and conditions that rub up against them and force them. We have a lot of them in this movie, of situations, of causes and conditions that reveal this guy in a deeper way than he would ever know himself otherwise."

On how, nowadays, Gere chooses what type of film he wants to be involved in:

“Its harder and harder to find these kind of scripts that are based on characters, people, language, ideas that don’t rely on the kind of larger cartoony approaches, which I like a lot of those films too. But this is the type of film that of course actors love to make. Because its all about people talking to each other, behaving. The camera wants to see what you’re thinking, wants to be there when something is happening and to see how a human being reacts to something that is relatable to the world that we live in.”

On if this type of film facilitates Gere to get to a deeper place:

“I think there a magic to storytelling. The movie that Julia and I made, ‘Pretty Woman’ has talked to the whole planet. People were touched and moved by that. There was a certain magic in that movie. And I don’t discount that. And I don’t say that this is better because its more serious. And I can’t say that it’s more fun or more creative, it’s different. A movie like ‘Pretty Woman’ that does work and has some kind of mysterious primal thing going for it, I’m as delighted by that as I am by anything.”