The San Onofre nuclear power plant is officially shutting down for good. How much is it going to cost, and what will it mean for customers? Also, Justice Department's Andre Birotte answers questions about everything from the Patriot Act and surveillance to marijuana laws. Then, NSA's monitoring of Americans far exceeds Verizon customers and includes information from Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Facebook and more. Has your trust been breached or are you not surprised? Lastly, Tim Cogshell and Andy Klein review The Internship, The Purge and more for Filmweek.
San Onofre nuclear power plant closure
Southern California Edison decided to permanently shut down the San Onofre nuclear power plant today after a 16 month debate over whether or not it would be re-opened. The plant closed nearly a year and a half ago because of damaged steam generators that caused leakage of radioactive steam. The utility company had expected to restart the plant, but the chairman of Edison International said the uncertainty over whether it would re-open was not good for customers or investors. Before its closure, the 40-year-old nuclear plant provided power to about 1.4 million homes in southern California. It is one of just two nuclear power plants in California.
How much will the plant’s closure cost customers? Where will the replacement power come from?
Guests:
Mark Pocta, program manager of the Division of Ratepayer Advocates at the CA Public Utilities Commission
Coral Davenport, energy and environment correspondent for the National Journal
Andre Birotte on the Patriot Act, secret surveillance, Ron Calderon and marijuana laws
At a time when the Justice Department is facing scrutiny for its surveillance of journalists, now the entire Obama Administration is under fire for revelations that the National Security Agency has been storing phone records of Americans and tapping into servers of major Internet companies.
Yesterday, Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) criticized the surveillance in a statement: "As the author of the Patriot Act, I'm extremely troubled by the FBI's interpretation of this legislation." Last year, lawmakers on the Senate Intelligence Committee complained about "overbroad" surveillance in a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, stating, "We believe most Americans would be stunned to learn the details of how these secret court opinions have interpreted Section 215 of the Patriot Act."
We'll ask the Justice Department's André Birotte about how far he goes in using the Patriot Act and how he balances national security with civil liberties. Birotte’s office has also been the main investigating body into the Ron Calderon affair. On Tuesday, the California Senator's offices were searched by the FBI. When will investigators disclose what's behind the search?
Birotte's office is also in charge of executing the federal policy on marijuana laws. Exactly what those policies are has shifted to and fro under President Obama and AG Holder. What is Birotte's reaction to Los Angeles voters approving a ballot for 100-plus medical marijuana dispensaries.
In other Justice news, Birotte's office has worked diligently on insider trading crimes at KPMG, as well as tracking child pornography traffickers. And, last but not least, last month Birotte's office charged Walmart with dumping hazardous waste. The company was fined $82 million for violating the Clean Water Act. What other questions do you have for André Birotte?
Guest:
André Birotte, Jr., United States Attorney for the Central District of California; As US Attorney, Birotte oversees 260-plus attorneys for the Department of Justice; Sworn in March 2010, Birotte is a member of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee’s Civil Rights, Cyber/Intellectual Property, Terrorism/National Security, Violent and Organized Crime, and Border and Immigration Law Enforcement Sub-Committees; and Co-Chair, Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force’s Consumer Protection Working Group; Former LAPD Inspector General
NSA secret “PRISM” data mining operation much bigger than initially suspected
Wednesday brought the revelation that, by request of the FBI, the NSA was monitoring the phone records of millions of Verizon customers. And then yesterday afternoon, it emerged that the same government agencies have gained secret access to the audio and video chats, photographs, emails, and documents of countless numbers of Americans directly from the servers of Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, PalTalk, AOL, Skype, YouTube, and Apple, according to documents posted on the websites of both The Guardian and The Washington Post.
National Intelligence James R. Clapper said in a statement: “Information collected under this program is among the most important and valuable foreign intelligence information we collect, and is used to protect our nation from a wide variety of threats.” An unnamed source from inside the intelligence community told Washington Post reporters, “They quite literally can watch your ideas form as you type.” The Obama Administration has reacted by saying that Prism is legal, highly effective, and aimed at non-U.S. citizens.
Is collection of data on this big a scale a violation of our rights to privacy or a necessary evil that keeps us safe from terrorist attacks? How is this data culled and used? And will this breach of trust between government and average Americans hurt Obama’s second-term agenda?
Guest:
Robert O’Harrow, Washington Post Investigative Reporter and author of a seminal 2005 book about data profiling and national security titled “No Place to Hide: Behind the Scenes of Our Emerging Surveillance Society”
Filmweek: The Internship, The Purge, Plimpton! Starring George Plimpton as Himelf and more
Larry and KPCC critics Tim Cogshell and Andy Klein review this week’s releases, includingThe Internship, The Purge, Plimpton! Starring George Plimpton as Himelf and more. TGI-Filmweek!
The Internship
The Purge
Plimpton! Starring George Plimpton as Himelf
Rapture-Palooza
Guests:
Tim Cogshell, film critic for KPCC and Alt Film Guide
Andy Klein, film critic for KPCC and the L.A. Times Community Papers chain
Shooting near Santa Monica College campus
Officials at UCLA Medical Center confirmed one person has died after a gunman fired shots near Santa Monica College today. The school was put on lockdown and six people were taken to the hospital, three of whom were in critical condition. President Barack Obama was in Santa Monica today for a fundraiser a few blocks away from the campus, but the shooting was not thought to be related.
Click here for more of KPCC’s coverage of the shooting.
Guests:
Mary Plummer, Grant Slater, Brian Watt, Rina Palta, KPCC reporters
Ming-Yang Hsu, CHP officer
Witness accounts from: Carolyn Tschopik, Kate Linthicum, Adolfo Arqueta, Noke Taumalolo, Ben Hellwarth, Avishay Artsy, Joe Orcutt, Kate Linthicum, Suja Lowenthal