Yesterday's Senate Intelligence Committee's hearing determined that Russian hacking in the upcoming U.S. midterm election was inevitable, so how does California prepare for the threat? We speak with Secretary of State Alex Padilla. We also look at the future of Israel after the Netanyahu scandal; talk about the history of love songs; and more.
Just how vulnerable are CA’s election systems to Russian interference? An interview with Secretary of State Alex Padilla
Russia is already interfering in this year’s midterms elections, according to top U.S. intelligence officials at the Senate Intelligence Committee’s annual hearing on “worldwide threats” yesterday.
Similar to the 2016 election, Russia is currently using fake social media accounts, many of which are bots, to spread inaccurate information. Reports have also shown the U.S. state elections systems are vulnerable to hacking because of outdated technology.
Larry sits down with Secretary of State of California Alex Padilla to hear what California is doing to protect its voting system ahead of this year’s midterm elections – plus, the executive director of Harvard’s Defending Digital Democracy Project tells us how they’re working with states and candidates to prevent hacking and interference.
Guests:
Alex Padilla, Secretary of State of California
Caitlin Conley, executive director of the Defending Digital Democracy Project at Harvard University’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs; the project aims to protect democratic processes and systems from cyber and information attacks; she’s an army officer who is currently a graduate student at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government
What could Netanyahu’s bribery case mean for Israel’s future?
Allegations of bribery, fraud and breach of trust have been brought against Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
As reported by CNN, Israeli police said Tuesday that there’s “sufficient evidence” to indict Netanyahu and criminal charges in two separate corruption cases have been brought against him. Israeli police are investigating whether Netanyahu accepted gifts including cigars from overseas businessmen, and is particularly honing-in on the prime minister’s relationship with Arnon Milchan, an Israeli billionaire and Hollywood film producer.
The second case involves Netanyahu’s conversations with the owner of one of Israel’s leading newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth, which is known to be critical of the prime minister. In leaked transcripts of conversations with the paper’s owner, Arnon Mozes, Netanyahu talks about limiting the circulation of a competing news publication, bartering for more favorable coverage.
Netanyahu said Tuesday that the allegations would not amount to anything. Investigation evidence will now go to the attorney general, who will decide whether to indict the prime minister. So what does this mean for the state of Israel? Larry speaks to a reporter and analysts to find out more.
Guests:
Paul Danahar, Washington bureau chief for the BBC; former Jerusalem bureau chief for the network; he is also author of “The New Middle East: The World After the Arab Spring”
Eran Vigoda-Gadot, a political scientist and the dean of the faculty of social sciences at The Haifa University in Israel
Aaron David Miller, vice president for new initiatives and Middle East Program director at the Wilson Center; former adviser to Republican and Democratic Secretaries of State on Arab-Israeli negotiations, 1978-2003; he tweets
In honor of Valentine’s Day, a look at the history and evolution of love songs
It’s safe to say love songs aren’t what they used to be – but is that such a bad thing?
As the societal concept of love has changed, it only makes sense that romantic music has changed with it. Love songs tackle issues such as gender, sexual preference, dating, cheating – the list goes on. Arguably, these ideas have all evolved since before Mozart struck his first piano key, so how has music reflected the change?
We sit down with LA Times music critic Mikael Wood to discuss.
Guest:
Mikael Wood, pop music critic for the Los Angeles Times
Would widening the 710 Freeway help or hurt Long Beach, East LA?
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority gave its support this week for a $6 billion proposal to widen the 710 Freeway.
As reported by the Los Angeles Times, the plan would add one lane in each direction between Ocean Boulevard in Long Beach and the 60 Freeway in East Los Angeles. It could also make changes to 24 major streets and displace an estimated 436 people, many of which live in low income areas.
But the 710 corridor is a path for tens of thousands of trucks to access the ports of L.A. and Long Beach and Metro argues that as the number of trucks increase, congestion is rising. So will a wider freeway make for a better traffic flow?
Guests:
Martin Wachs, distinguished professor emeritus of urban planning at UCLA
Adrian Martinez, staff attorney at the environmental law firm, EarthJustice
Do AI risk-assessment scores make pre-trial sentencing less biased?
The decision of whether to release a defendant on bail and on which conditions is usually left in the hands of judges, but some courtrooms are now turning to risk-assessment AI systems in an effort to make the process less biased.
One commonly used system -- Laura and John Arnold Foundation’s Public Safety Assessment -- is now used in nearly 38 jurisdictions, including four counties and one city in Arizona, and Santa Cruz County in CA. The system processes data on a defendant based on factors such as their prior convictions, past behavior and age, to create two scores on a scale of 1-6: the likelihood that a defendant will skip out on their court date and the likelihood that they will commit another crime. These scores are one of the many factors that a judge can choose to incorporate into their pre-trial sentencing decision.
Proponents of using AI systems in pre-trial sentencing are hopeful that this will reduce human bias and even replace the cash bail system. But critics are afraid that judges will grow too reliant on these scores. And there are concerns that the system itself may have prejudice baked into it. The argument goes that since these risk-assessment systems rely on data about prior convictions and people of color interact more with the criminal justice system because of pre-existing human bias, they will end up with higher risk scores than white defendants.
We talk with a researcher who is currently running a study on the Arnold Foundation’s Public Safety Assessment scoring system, as well as a professor who studies algorithmic fairness.
Guests:
Christopher Griffin, research director at Harvard’s Access to Justice Lab, which evaluates new ideas in civil and criminal justice; the lab is currently assessing the Laura and John Arnold Foundation’s Public Safety Assessment, a risk-assessment scoring system
Suresh Venkatasubramanian, professor of computing at the University of Utah and a member of the board of directors for the ACLU Utah; he studies algorithmic fairness
How employers who hire undocumented workers are dealing with uptick in ICE audits and raids
Last month, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents raided 7-11 convenience stores across the country.
Managers were served audit notices and all-in-all, 21 workers were arrested.
The audits and raids sent a shockwave through immigrant communities across the country, including right here in Los Angeles, where one of the 7-11 stores that was raided is located.
We’re asking AirTalk listeners: how are employers talking to undocumented employees about recent ICE raids? How are employees talking to each other and what are those conversations like? If you run or work at a business where undocumented workers have been an integral part of the operation of the business, how are you dealing with the audits and raids? Are you changing hiring practices or vetting employees in a different way? What conversations are you hearing your employees or co-workers have?
Correction: An earlier version of this article identified KIWA as the Korean Immigrant Workers Association instead of the Koreatown Immigrant Workers Association. We have made a correction and apologize for the error.
Guests:
José Eduardo Sánchez, director of organizing for Koreatown Immigrant Workers Association (KIWA)
Davis Bae, regional managing partner at the Seattle office of Fisher Phillips, a national labor and employment law firm that represents employers, where he also co-chairs their immigration practice