The homeless problem has reached crisis level in the state. Mayors across the state are banding together to ask the Brown administration for $1.5 billion to tackle homelessness in their cities.We also evaluate US strategy towards North Korea; analyze the role of law enforcement using Amazon’s facial recognition system; interview Sheriff Jim McDonnell; and more.
We evaluate US strategy towards North Korea as Trump opens door to diplomacy with Kim Jong Un hours after canceling summit
President Donald Trump declares he is "waiting" to see if North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will again "engage in constructive dialogue." Trump opened the door for diplomacy Thursday just hours after he canceled a summit with Kim scheduled for next month in Singapore.
But he insisted that Kim reach out, placing the blame on the North Korean leader for the collapse of negotiations. He also said that until that happened, tough sanctions on Pyongyang would continue and the U.S.-led "maximum pressure campaign is continuing."
Trump and Kim had been slated to meet June 12 for what White House officials had hoped would be a historic diplomatic breakthrough for the president. They advised that the summit could be rescheduled. We evaluate US strategy towards North Korea and what does that mean for future relations.
With files from the Associated Press.
Guests:
Mike Mazza, research fellow in foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), a Washington-based conservative public policy research institute; he focuses on US defense policy in the Korean Peninsula, as well as the Asia-Pacific region; he tweets
Mike Fuchs, former deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs and a Senior Fellow at Center for American Progress (CAP), a Washington-DC based left-leaning research think tank; he tweets
Why you should read all of the privacy policy updates flooding your inbox
A new law protecting users’ digital data is going into effect across the European Union on Friday – and it’s changing privacy policies for U.S. users too.
The General Data Protection Regulation (or G.D.P.R.) requires companies to get user consent before collecting data and gives users the power to deny companies any information that isn’t essential to using the service. The regulations led companies to roll out tools where users can decrease the amount of data they’re sharing to the minimum needed, as well as the ability to download and take their data with them if they ever leave the service: also known as “the right to be forgotten.”
The G.D.P.R. also mandates that policies be written so that the average person can understand them, abandoning the typical legalese used in privacy agreements and making them even longer.
Even though the law only directly applies to European users, many companies are making the tools available to those in the United States, too. So how will they affect your daily app and website use?
Larry talks with Wall Street Journal technology columnist Joanna Stern for more.
Guest:
Joanna Stern, personal technology columnist at the Wall Street Journal; she has been following the story; she tweets
Security measure or Big Brother? Civil rights groups ask Amazon to stop selling its facial recognition system to law enforcement
The ACLU released an open letter to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos Tuesday, demanding Amazon to “stop powering a government surveillance infrastructure that poses a grave threat to customers and communities across the country.”
The technology, called Rekognition, was released in 2016 through Amazon’s cloud computing division. For a low price, it helps users identify people, objects, scenes and activities in videos or images. It’s been used by C-SPAN to quickly provide the names of lawmakers on screen and at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding to identify celebrity guests.
However, Amazon has also been providing the technology to law enforcement agencies, like the Orlando Police Department and Oregon’s Washington County Sheriff’s Office.
Proponents of its use in law enforcement say it’s a powerful tool to help departments recognize crime suspects in photos and videos. Critics say that allowing the government to use the technology in any capacity is a dangerous boost to surveillance that can’t be undone.
Would you feel comfortable with your local law enforcement using Amazon’s facial recognition system to scan images and videos in real time? Call us at 866-893-5722.
Guests:
Russell Brandom, senior reporter at The Verge; he tweets
Jennifer Lynch, senior staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which signed the ACLU’s open letter to Amazon; Jennifer founded the EFF’s Street Level Surveillance Project, which examines law enforcement use of surveillance technology
Deputy Jeff Talbot, public information officer at the Washington County Sheriff’s Office in Oregon, one of the law enforcement agencies currently using Rekognition
Is the city creating a monopoly with its proposed scooter and bike-sharing regulations?
Los Angeles officials have started debating how to regulate the influx of scooter and bike-sharing companies that have popped up throughout the city, garnering praise for solving the “last mile” problem, as well as annoyance and safety concerns from residents.
On Wednesday, the Transportation Department floated some regulations as part of a one-year pilot test of new rules. The rules would limit each company from having more than 2,500 bikes or scooters in the city, it would set parameters around where the scooters can be parked (outer edge of a sidewalk, locked onto an object like a parking meter) and, most controversially, would ban these bike start-ups from operating with three miles of a Metro bike-sharing station, existing or planned. It would also ban scooters from downtown and the three-mile radius which surrounds it.
This would take prime business opportunities off the table for these companies, some of which are saying that the city is trying to monopolize and privilege its own services.
Should the city regulate these scooter and bike-sharing start-ups? Which regulations would you like to see? And would the current proposal unfairly advantage the city’s bike-sharing program?
Guests:
Meghan McCarty Carino, KPCC reporter covering commuting and mobility issues
David Estrada, chief legal officer and head of government relations at Bird, the Venice-based e-scooter company
Ryan Rzepecki, CEO of Jump Bikes, an electric bike-sharing company owned by Uber
How much of California’s $9-billion budget surplus should go to fight homelessness?
The homeless problem has reached crisis level in the state. Mayors across the state are banding together to ask the Brown administration for $1.5 billion to tackle homelessness in their cities.
The coalition is made up of mayors from 11 of the biggest cities in the state, including Long Beach, Los Angeles, Santa Ana, and Anaheim.
Governor Brown has said that he wants to devote about $350 million to help fight homelessness. The governor has also called for a $2-billion bond for homeless housing on the November ballot.
Guests:
Darrell Steinberg, mayor of Sacramento and chair of the coalition, Big 11 Mayors, which is asking the Brown administration for a one-time investment to fight homelessness
H.D. Palmer, Deputy Director for External Affairs at the California Department of Finance
LA County Sheriff’s race interview: Sheriff Jim McDonnell
There are three candidates running for the L.A. County Sheriff position: two department veterans, Bob Lindsey and Alex Villanueva, and incumbent Sheriff Jim McDonnell.
In the coming month ahead of the June 5 primary, we’ve done interview with the challengers (you can listen to them here and here).
Today, Larry Mantle sits down with incumbent Sheriff Jim McDonnell, who was elected in 2014, the first outsider to the department to be elected to the position in over 100 years. He came into a department roiled with controversy and corruption, on the heels of former Sheriff Lee Baca, who was sentenced to three years in federal prison.
Sheriff McDonnell came into the department with the goal of cleaning up the department. Has he lived up to his promise in the last four years? And what direction will he take the department if re-elected?
Ready for Election Day? Get up to speed on what you need to know with KPCC’s Voter Game Plan. Read up on the candidates and ballot measures, find out about registration deadlines and ask us your questions.
Guest:
Jim McDonnell, Sheriff of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department; he tweets