White House Senior Advisor Dan Pfeiffer made the rounds on this past Sunday’s talk shows to defend the Obama administration and to drive home the point that the White House has not been behind recent scandals. Also, Abercrombie's CEO is facing backlash for discriminating comments, Yahoo buys Tumblr, and the Midwest is cleaning up wreckage from the deadly tornadoes. Then, will "predictive policing" reduce crime or lead to racial profiling? Later, District 6 School Board candidates debate their policies, and AirTalk previews the election tomorrow.
Debate rages on between the White House and its critics over the handling of recent scandals
The IRS targeting conservative groups, the killing of US Ambassador Chris Stevens in Benghazi, and the government’s recent seizure of phone records from AP reporters have plagued the White House with scandal in recent weeks. White House Senior Advisor Dan Pfeiffer made the rounds on this past Sunday’s talk shows to defend the Obama administration and to drive home the point that the White House has not been behind these scandals, and that they will support any investigations that will help remove the problem.
Reports this weekend revealed that the White House’s chief lawyer learned weeks ago that the IRS audit would reveal misconduct, though the President was allegedly not informed about this, and only learned of the results when they were revealed to the public by an IRS official 10 days ago. Furthermore, its known that both Republicans and Democrats knew about the IRS probe back in April 2012.
Should the Obama administration have been better prepared for this fallout? Do we believe that the administration had no hand in influencing the IRS office that committed the fouls, and if we do, can we believe that they didn’t learn about it until just days ago? Are Republicans pointing out a major flaw in the administration’s policies -- namely that they keep claiming to have been uninformed about all these recent scandals -- or is this just more partisanship gone extreme?
Guests:
Jonathan Wilcox, Republican Strategist; former speechwriter for Governor Pete Wilson
Matt Rodriguez, Democratic strategist; former senior Obama advisor in 2008, who now runs the Los Angeles office for the Dewey Square Group
Abercrombie’s chief executive doesn’t want to play nice, and apparently it’s working
Since his 2006 interview with Salon resurfaced last week and went viral, Abercrombie and Fitch CEO Michael S. Jeffries has faced a slew of backlash and protests towards his blunt comments regarding the company’s marketing strategy.
In the interview, Jeffries says, “Candidly, we go after the cool kids. We go after the attractive all-American kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends. A lot of people don’t belong [in our clothes], and they can’t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely.”
The CEO has faced controversy and lawsuits in the past for discriminating against employees and employee candidates based on their physical appearance or their age, and for refusing to produce plus-sized clothing. Amid the recent backlash, Jeffries released a statement Thursday claiming that the quotes were mostly taken out of context and gave no indication that the company would change course.
Should they? Where do you draw the line between focusing on a particular demographic and being an exclusionary company? To what extent should a company be responsible for being inclusive? Have Jeffries’ candid remarks actually helped his company? Would you shop at Abercrombie? Would you let your kids shop there?
Guest:
Gabriella Santaniello, Senior Vice President of Retail Market Research at Wedbush Securites
Yahoo throws down $1.1 billion in cash for Tumblr
Another year, another blockbuster tech acquisition. Yahoo! has announced that it is buying microblogging site Tumblr. The deal is worth $1.1 billion in cash and gives the aging internet giant an instant infusion of young, dedicated social network users.
But there’s a catch: Tumblr isn’t really making any money, so Yahoo! would need to figure out a way to monetize the site. The proven way, so far, for a social networking site to generate revenue has been selling ads. And that’s exactly what Yahoo! plans to do with Tumblr. But the question lingers on whether the move would turn off long-time Tumblr users. Last year, Facebook bought the photo-sharing site Instagram for $1 billion and has yet to sell ads on the site, worried about alienating users. And Google has been cautious with placing ads on YouTube, the video-sharing site it bought years ago.
Guest:
Amir Efrati, staff reporter at the Wall Street Journal
Alhambra Police Department implements 'predictive policing'
It's straight out of the mind of sci-fi writer Phillip K. Dick, but “predictive policing” is not just a nifty plot device. Since late 2011, the Los Angeles Police Department has been using the tool in a number of geographic areas.
The software, also called PredPol, is developed by a team of academics and uses police data to predict and map where crime will likely happen. The algorithm’s latest convert is the city of Alhambra, which has become the first place in Southern California to implement its use on a city-wide scale. Research has shown that police officers perform significantly better with the the help of PredPol, but critics worry that its use might lead to racial profiling and violations of the 4th Amendment.
Guests:
Mark Yokoyama, Alhambra Police Chief
Andrew Guthrie Ferguson, Professor of law at the University of the District of Columbia; he recently published a paper on prediction policing and possible 4th amendment issues in the Emory Law Journal.
Sanchez, Ratliff face off in LAUSD School Board District 6 debate
Tomorrow, voters will be asked to choose between two candidates in a runoff for a seat on the Los Angeles Unified School District board representing the east San Fernando Valley.
Monica Ratliff’s and Antonio Sanchez’s stances on the issues seem similar on many issues, though Sanchez, a rising star in Los Angeles’ political scene, has quite a bit of big-money backers and a political-action committee headed by Mayor Villaraigosa. Ahead of tomorrow’s run-off, the candidates will discuss everything from disruptive students in classrooms to school-served breakfasts.
Guests:
Monica Ratliff, elementary school teacher and candidate for school board
Antonio Sanchez, candidate for school board
Marijuana propositions breakdown
Voters will decide the fate of pot shops in Los Angeles in Tuesday’s election when they choose between three propositions that will regulate medical marijuana dispensaries. Propositions D, E and F will either limit the number of dispensaries in the city or allow more to open with tighter regulations and higher taxes.
The vote comes two weeks after a Supreme Court decision that allows cities and counties to shut down marijuana shops, which many have already done. The city approved a ban of the shops last year that was soon repealed.
Will L.A.’s attempt to regulate dispensaries work this time? Where do people go for medical marijuana if shops are closed? What is the best way to regulate marijuana in L.A? Should it be an open market?
Guest:
Frank Stoltze, KPCC politics reporter
Rock the Vote puts its imprint on the the Los Angeles city election
Voter turnout for tomorrow’s runoff mayoral election between City Controller Wendy Greuel and Councilman Eric Garcetti is expected to be in keeping with historical trends, meaning the number would more likely than not be pretty low. Only 21% of eligible voters went to the poll back in the March primary, despite the millions of dollars candidates spent blanketing the airwaves with ads.
One group is working on the ground to change that with the youth vote. Rock the Vote is known for engaging youth voters nationally—and, for the first-time ever, it is going hyperlocal. If this Los Angeles experiment proves successful, Rock the Vote plans to flex its muscles in other municipal elections. Larry talks to Heather Smith, president of Rock the Vote, on getting the youth vote out tomorrow.
Guest:
Heather Smith, President of Rock the Vote