Discussing the absence of a wet and cold El Niño; diving into FRONTLINE'S documentary on fantasy sports; Obama's new budget plan and the earmark $19 billion dollar proposal for cybersecurity and the film makers of "What Happened Miss Simone?" stop by AirTalk to talk Oscar buzz.
Amid talk of fires, not rain, climatologists defend a so far shy El Niño
It’s supposed to reach nearly 90-degrees in parts of Los Angeles today, just hours after recording-breaking hot weather swept through with Santa Ana winds on Monday -- so where’s the cool, wet El Niño we've been promised now for months?
It’s difficult to tell what’s happening when it’s like no El Niño we've ever seen before. To explain what they’re seeing and what to expect, we talk with two of California’s leading climate scientists.
How does El Niño's rainfall stack up?
Guests:
William Patzert, a climatologist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Daniel L. Swain, PhD candidate with the Climate and Earth System Dynamics Group, Department of Earth System Science, Stanford University
Ed experts debate efficacy of revamped SAT test set to debut in March
Four years in the making, the new SAT test will be unveiled in a month. It’s the biggest overhaul of the college admission test in a decade.
The new test places more emphasis on reading and comprehension, even in the math section. Critics charge that the shift will penalize students whose first language isn’t English, and also those who come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Supporters say that the new version is more intellectually rigorous and is a much better gauge of college readiness than the old test.
Guests:
Jed Applerouth, educator and founder of Applerouth Tutoring Services, a national organization that helps students prep for college admission tests like the SAT
Robert Schaeffer, public education director at the National Center for Fair and Open Testing, a nonprofit based in Massachusetts that advocates to reform testing practices
FRONTLINE documentary looks at popular yet uncharted world of daily fantasy sports
Under federal law, online sports betting is illegal.
The 2006 statute banning it was designed to crack down on the practice, but it excluded fantasy sports or sports simulation games. Thanks to this loophole, the law accidentally gave birth to a multi-billion dollar industry that has become the center of a national discussion on what constitutes online gambling.
Today, daily fantasy sports leagues offered by sites like DraftKings and FanDuel promise huge cash payouts for the biggest winners, but have also raised eyebrows. New York’s attorney general has already sought an order to have the sites shut down in his state on the basis that they’re illegal gambling operations, and law enforcement are dedicating resources to better understanding the industry.
FRONTLINE’s ‘The Fantasy Sports Gamble’ dives deep into the world of online sports betting and daily fantasy sports, the legality and ethical questions surrounding the industry, and where its future lies.
TWEET US YOUR THOUGHTS
USING
‘The Fantasy Sports Gamble’ will air tonight on PBS SoCal (KOCE) at 10 p.m. P.T.
Guest:
Walt Bogdanich, investigations editor for the Business and Finance desk of The New York Times and a correspondent for the FRONTLINE documentary ‘The Fantasy Sports Gamble’
Police leaders at odds over use-of-force reforms
A police group's proposal that law enforcement officers be required to do more than what's minimally required by law in violent encounters has spurred anger and pushback from leading national groups representing chiefs and rank-and-file sworn officers.
The Police Executive Research Forum, a Washington-based think tank, last month unveiled its 30 new principles that re-envision how officers use force after national outrage over questionable shootings and violent arrests initially sparked by the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, police in 2014.
The police research group's recommendations include an unprecedented acknowledgement by police professionals that officers should go beyond the Supreme Court-adopted basic legal standard that asks what a reasonable officer would do in such situations, and encourage officers to focus on preserving all lives, not just their own.
The report states, “Agency use-of-force policies should go beyond the legal standard of “objective reasonableness” outlined in the 1989 U.S. Supreme Court decision Graham v. Connor. This landmark decision should be seen as ‘necessary but not sufficient,’ because it does not provide police with sufficient guidance on use of force.” (Listen to AirTalk debate Graham v. Connor here.)
Two of the most influential police groups, the International Association of Chiefs of Police and Fraternal Order of Police, said they have problems with the proposals.
The International Association of Chiefs of Police says it's "extremely concerned" about recommendations that it worries could ultimately endanger officers and the public.
With files from the Associated Press.
Guests:
Tim Williams, founder of TT Williams Investigations, a private investigation firm in Los Angeles; Retired LAPD Senior Detective Supervisor (Robbery-Homicide Division), 1974-2003; Expert on police procedure and use-of-force for state and federal court
David A. Klinger, Professor of Criminology & Criminal Justice, University of Missouri--St.Louis ; former LAPD patrol officer
POTUS’ FY 2017 budget proposal earmarks $19 billion for cybersecurity, but where will it go?
In his final budget proposal as President of the United States, lame duck though it may be, Barack Obama is making a big push to shore up holes in the nation’s cybersecurity after several major hacks in the U.S. last year, including the Chinese theft of millions of Americans’ security records from the Office of Personnel Management.
The Cybersecurity National Action Plan would, in part, set up a committee of technology and cybersecurity experts from outside the government to make suggestions for best practices and designates $3.1 billion dollars to modernize the federal government’s outdated computer system.
The Republican-controlled Congress isn’t expected to even consider the budget, and both the House and Senate Budget Committees have said they won’t even hold hearings on the FY 2017 proposal.
Guest:
Tim Starks, national cybersecurity reporter at POLITICO; he tweets from
The legend of Nina Simone, according to Oscar-nominated doc maker
The woman known to the world as Nina Simone was born Eunice Waymon, whose virtuosity at the piano was evident at a very early age.
The North Carolina native changed her name after the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia rejected her scholarship application. She was convinced that it was because of her race, a claim that remains disputed. Broke, Simone started playing at an Atlantic City bar and the name change was done to prevent her parents from finding out.
In “What Happened, Miss Simone,” filmmaker Liz Garbus focuses on the singer’s musical career as it intertwined with her growing political activism. One of Simone’s most famous, and controversial songs, “Mississippi Goddamn” was written in response to the 1963 bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama that killed four young black girls. Simone wrote it in a fit of rage and grief in less than an hour.
As part of our coverage of this year’s Academy Awards, Larry speaks with filmmaker Liz Garbus, and Ambassador Attallah Shabazz, Malcolm X’s daughter, about Simone’s lasting influence.
Guests:
Liz Garbus, filmmaker of the Oscar-nominated documentary, “What Happened, Miss Simone.”
Ambassador Shabazz, diplomat and eldest daughter of Malcolm X and Betty Shabazz, featured in the documentary, “What Happened, Miss Simone.”