We look at the possibility of a Trump v. Clinton or a Trump v. Sanders election; e-cigarettes will now be regulated the same as tobacco; and listeners share their your favorite places to brunch just in time for Mother's Day.
Surrogates and supporters break down head-to-head general election matchups for the remaining presidential candidates
And then there were three.
Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, and Bernie Sanders are all that remains from the big candidate fields that began election season. While Donald Trump is the presumptive GOP nominee, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are still fighting it out on the Democratic side.
Senator Sanders has said that he knows the road to the nomination is narrow, but he feels good about his chances to win in upcoming states.
What would a Trump vs. Clinton election look like? What about a Trump vs. Sanders election? How would the candidates strategize for themselves and against their opponent?
Guests:
Jeffrey Lord, a contributing editor to The American Spectator, a former aide to Ronald Reagan and author of "What America Needs: The Case for Trump" (Regnery Publishing, 2016)
Nomiki Konst, Sanders campaign surrogate, political analyst, and founder/executive director of The Accountability Project; she tweets from
Ed Espinoza, director of Progress Texas, a political communications firm based in Austin, TX. Former Western States Director for the Democratic National Committee in California and a superdelegate in 2008
Experts debate controversial FDA move to regulate e-cigs like tobacco
Hundreds of electronic cigarette brands will have to undergo federal review to stay on the market under new rules that have the potential to upend a multibillion-dollar industry attempting to position itself as an alternative to traditional cigarettes.
The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday released long-awaited rules that bring the burgeoning industry under federal oversight. The changes will limit e-cigarette sales to minors and require new health warnings. In a shift vigorously opposed by the industry, manufacturers must seek federal permission to continue marketing all e-cigarettes launched since 2007, making up the vast majority of the market.
The vaping industry argues the move to combine tobacco products with e-cigarettes, which contain no tobacco, is a political move that will make it more difficult for consumers to buy e-cigarettes in place of tobacco. Meanwhile in California, Governor Brown has signed a law raising the age at which you can buy cigarettes to 21.
Read the rule here.
Guests:
Sarah Karlin-Smith, health care reporter at Politico specializing in the policy and politics that affect the drug industry
Tony Abboud, national legislative director for the Vapor Technology Association
Frank Leone, Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania Medical Center
Co-living trend bets on upscale dorms for working-age adults
A new trend on the rental market is testing the waters in London, New York, and D.C. Dubbed co-living spaces, they are akin to a monied, millennial version of college dorms or retirement homes.
Opening in London's West End this week, an 11-story tower features 550 en-suite bedrooms plus shared kitchens, living spaces, a gym, library, and other amenities. In the US, WeWork, the company that brought sleekly designed shared work spaces to dozens of neighborhoods and cities including Pasadena and Santa Monica, has opened WeLive dwellings in Manhattan and a D.C. suburb in Virginia.
While renters might expect cheaper rent for co-living spaces, the proprietors are betting the added value of having a community and upscale amenities is more attractive than a tradition one-bedroom or roommates.
Would co-living towers hold appeal for Angeleno tenants? What are the economics driving this new trend?
Guest:
Miguel McKelvey, Co-Founder, WeWork and WeLive --a multi-billion dollar venture in the sharing economy
Diving into new homelessness numbers
Homelessness in Los Angeles County rose by nearly 6 percent to 46,874 people over the past year, according to new numbers released by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority Wednesday morning.
The population of unsheltered homeless, meaning those living on the streets, in makeshift shelters or in cars, rose 11 percent in the city of L.A. over the last year.
According to LAHSA, the overall homeless number rose largely because for the first time they included homeless youth, aged between 18 and 24, in their overall count. About 2,400 youth were added to the overall homeless number, which was 44,359 in 2015.
Homeless youth are also driving the increased proportion of homeless people going without shelter.
Click here to read the full story.
Guests:
Naomi Goldman, spokesperson for the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, which conducted the count
Adam Murray, Executive Director, Inner City Law Center, a nonprofit law firm focused on housing and homelessness based in Downtown LA
Va Lecia Adams Kellum, Executive Director of St. Joseph Center in Venice, which works with working poor families, and homeless men, women and children
SoCal businesses debate closing bathrooms to homeless
Some Starbucks in the Los Angeles area have closed their bathrooms to the public, in part because homeless people occupy the coffee shop's bathrooms for long stretches of time, bathing in them and leaving a mess for employees to clean.
A recent NPR piece notes that many homeless people are drawn to Starbucks coffee shops, which open early and offer free WiFi, when overnight shelters kick out patrons in the morning.
But Starbucks is hardly the only business facing tough choices. With a growing Los Angeles homeless population, many small businesses also must decide how to balance customer service, the needs of transients and maintaining an atmosphere that's welcoming to the rest of the public.
We asked business owners how they deal with homeless patrons.
Interview Highlights
Floyd in Echo Park: I work at a restaurant and we have reoccurring homeless people who come in and want to use the restroom. They’ll lock themselves in, be in there for 10 or 15 minutes and basically bathe in there, one person has shot up heroin. They clog the toilet with paper towels. So my restaurant’s policy is customers only now. And as an employee who is usually there, I have to monitor this.
Peter in Hollywood: As a business owner, I can understand why someone might want to close their restroom and not want to incur that kind of inconvenience. But why do they have to do that? It’s because as a city, as a community, we’re not providing these things. When the city locks bathrooms, it means nobody is using them. So where people going to go? They’re going to look to businesses.
Karen in Venice: The restrooms in Venice Beach have been closed for a long time except during peak daytime hours and it’s putting a burden on small businesses. It’s not only cruel to homeless people, it’s inconvenient for everyone. I used to go to Barnes and Noble in Venice with my two toddlers, and the restroom was locked and it still is 10 years later. We need to provide public restrooms for people to provide.
Martin in Huntington Beach:We want to do something for homeless people, but we also want to have boundaries because it’s detracting from the public value of the Huntington Beach Public Library.
Va Lecia Adams Kellum: Well, certainly they do have this same problem — and there’s no simple solution. There are so many generous business owners in Venice who try very hard to accommodate the homeless and it gets to be a real challenge when customers don’t have equal access to the space. Businesses deal with it in a number of different ways, including taking away outdoor seating and hiring security. Often times St. Joseph Center has offered to help and provide security in some of the spaces that are near our location. It’s a very challenging situation.
Adam Murray: There’s a great non-profit out of San Francisco that runs mobile showers and bathrooms for the homeless. They have buses that are equipped and allow people to use the bathroom. The buses travel around the city and go to the hot spots and do that on a regular basis. I would love to see Starbucks sponsor something like that in Los Angeles, or other businesses that are interested in doing that. Until we collectively come up with the will to tackle this problem and spend the money, we’re going to continue to see these problem escalate.
Guests
Va Lecia Adams Kellum, Executive Director of St. Joseph Center in Venice, which works with working poor families, and homeless men, women and children
Adam Murray, Executive Director, Inner City Law Center, a nonprofit law firm focused on housing and homelessness based in Downtown LA
LA’s best brunches
Bellini. Mimosa. Bloody Mary.
Few things epitomize weekend relaxation like the Sunday brunch. In celebration of this great dining tradition, AirTalk wants to know what are your favorite places for brunch in the Southland.