Today on AirTalk, we'll discuss the Congressional cliffhangers that the House and Senate will vote on after next week's recess. We'll also speak with Phillip Browning and Zev Yaroslavsky about Child Protective Services. Later, we'll consider the meteor explosion in Russia and check in on updates to the Dorner case. On FilmWeek, Larry and the critics review this week's releases and we discuss the binge-watching epidemic in the golden age of online streaming.
When is a filibuster not a filibuster? Whither sequestration? A round-up of Congressional cliffhangers
Last night, Congress fled the White House to start a 10-day vacation, leaving plenty of unfinished business on the table. Democrats and Republicans have been waging an ongoing battle for votes dealing with defense measures, including President Obama’s nomination for Secretary of Defense, former senator Chuck Hagel, and the sequestration measures that could institute major budget cuts to defense spending.
GOP senators successfully managed to stall fellow Republican Hagel’s nomination using the “silent filibuster.” Fifty-eight Democratic senators and four Republicans breaking from the rest of their party voted to continue with the nomination proceedings, failing to meet the 60 total votes required to override a Republican filibuster, although Republicans did signal their willingness to vote Hagel through after next week’s recess.
Senators and House representatives will also vote on the $85 billion in automatic spending cuts that will automatically begin on March 1 – Senate leaders from both parties say they have alternate legislation that would prevent the cuts and will begin voting when Congress reconvenes on February 25.
Is Congress handling cabinet nominations and sequestration budgeting in a responsible way? Why the delay on confirming Hagel as Defense Secretary? Are senators playing a game of chicken with what both parties agree could be devastating spending cuts? Should the president have an unencumbered right to pick members of his cabinet?
Guest:
Aaron Blake, Political Reporter for the Washington Post
L.A. County Department of Child and Family Services under fire
A confidential 2011 report on the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) has been made public by the Los Angeles Times. The department, which has been under fire for years for several instances in which children under its purview have suffered avoidable abuse and death, was found to have systemic, broad problems which crippled its effectiveness as an agency.
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors commissioned the report, carried out by an independent counsel, to root out the reasons for such failures and to come up with plans for how to right the sinking ship. The main reasoning for the department’s negligence in these cases was determined to be placing the responsibility of evaluating child danger to social workers with the least experience. This, paired with a department directive to try and keep children out of foster care at all costs, often led to children staying with families who were abusive and otherwise unsafe. Furthermore, employees who made egregious mistakes were often allowed to go on unpunished, establishing a culture of cyclical failure.
Phil Browning, the new Director of DCFS, has hired the main author of the report, Amy Shek Naamani, in a leadership position to help guide the department through this period of restructuring and rehabilitation. Already, Browning has demoted and transferred numerous employees to more appropriate positions, and done away with the institutionalized reluctance to place children in foster care.
What else is Browning doing to improve the department? What changes are already being seen? And how is the Board of Supervisors evaluating the progress thus far?
Guests:
Phil Browning, Director of the L.A. County Department of Children and Family Services
Zev Yaroslavsky, member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, representing the third district of Los Angeles County
L.A. Times finds a report given secretly to the Board of Supervisors detailing abuse, fatalities, and neglect of children under the care and supervision of County Departments:
April Report About DCFS Fatalities by scprweb
Dorner remains identified, now what about that million dollar reward?
It’s been twelve days since Christopher Dorner was suspected of killing Monica Quan and Keith Lawrence, and this whirlwind pursuit ended yesterday when charred remains from a burning cabin was identified as Dorner. The residents of Big Bear are entering back into their routines since LAPD lifted their tactical alert and witnesses have recounted their stories.
See KPCC’s extensive coverage of Dorner
However, as these tragic events come to a close, many questions linger. The public questions whether police officers’ use of seven tear gas canisters, nicknamed “burners,” intentionally led to a fire that burned the cabin and Dorner. How did over 200 police officers swarm Big Bear for nearly a week and not find the suspect hiding just a few doors away? And, who gets the $1 million dollar reward?
Guests:
Andrew Blankstein, Los Angeles Times reporter
Ben Bergman, KPCC reporter
Meteor in Russia injures hundreds
A meteor struck the Ural Mountain city of Chelyabinsk, Russia early Friday morning, injuring nearly 1000 people. The meteor, estimated to weigh about 10 tons, was traveling at 10 to 12 miles per second, causing a bright flash and sonic boom upon disintegration.
Though there have been no reported deaths or critical injuries, 43 people have been hospitalized out of the 985-plus seeking medical attention -- most injuries were caused by flying shards of glass during the explosions. Although the event inspired initial concerns about spikes in radiation levels, tests show a normal amount of radiation in the atmosphere. The event also generated some conspiracy theories, with one member of the Russian Parliament claiming that the meteor was actually a U.S. weapons test.
Are there ways to predict meteoric events like the one in Russia? Can large meteors be deflected, can damage be prevented? How would you react in a similar situation?
Guest:
Mike Brown, Professor of Planetary Astronomy at the California Institute of Technology; author of "How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming", a best selling memoir of the discoveries leading to the demotion of Pluto
FilmWeek: Beautiful Creatures, A Good Day to Die Hard, Would You Rather
FilmWeek Oscar Preview at the Egyptian Theatre
Larry is joined by KPCC film critics Claudia Puig and Henry Sheehan to review the week’s new film releases including Beautiful Creatures, A Good Day to Die Hard, No and more. TGI-FilmWeek!
Beautiful Creatures
A Good Day to Die Hard
No
Would You Rather
Safe Haven
Like Someone in Love
Happy People: A Year in the Taiga
Saving Lincoln
The Berlin File
Guests:
Claudia Puig, film critic for KPCC and USA Today
Henry Sheehan, film critic for KPCC and dearhenrysheehan.com
TV made to be binge-watched
Along with the rise of reality television and the invention of the DVR, “binge watching” of popular TV series is probably the biggest paradigm shift in how and what we watch TV since it went from black and white to color back in the 1950s.
Binge watching usually includes an entire weekend in sweatpants, shades drawn, consuming episode after episode of Breaking Bad, 24, the Sopranos, Lost, Louie...the list goes on and on. These programs were made for the major networks and premium cable channels, to be consumed once a week for years on end, but the launch of Netflix’s series House of Cards starring Kevin Spacey, a new paradigm in TV production made be at hand--a 13-episode season that launches in tact. It was, in fact, made to be binge-watched.
But what does that do to the social aspect of television? Can we still talk about it around the water cooler? And how will the stories television tells change as more and more shows find this mode of distribution? What will become of the “Coming next week” trailer?
Guests:
Alyssa Rosenberg, pop culture blogger for ThinkProgress and correspondent for TheAtlantic
Beau Willimon, Showrunner for Netflix drama "House of Cards"