How Abaaoud escaped detection for so long; analyzing the San Francisco case of a divorced couple's frozen embryos & the latest stop on our 30th anniversary tour, from the new Broad museum - what the future of DTLA holds as rapid development runs up against a growing homeless population
Alleged ringleader of Paris attacks tied to multiple terror plots, escaped detection
The alleged mastermind of the Paris attacks who was killed in a raid there yesterday has been linked to at least four foiled terror plots in recent months, according to French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve.
Speaking to reporters, he said officials were told on Monday that Belgian jihadi Abdelhamid Abaaoud had been spotted in Greece. The tip came from a country "outside of Europe." Cazeneuve said Abaaoud was wanted on international warrants and had been sentenced in absentia in Belgium to 20 years in prison.
Spain's interior minister says Abaaoud had used Internet social networks to try to recruit women from Spain to join the Islamic State group. Minister Jorge Fernandez Diaz, speaking Thursday on Spain's Antena 3 television, said Abaaoud "had tried to recruit through social networks Spanish people, especially women, to join and travel to fight" for IS in combat zones. He said this matched the extremists' campaign to recruit women to "repopulate" its self-declared caliphate in parts of Syria and Iraq.
Counter-terrorism expert, Seth Jones of the RAND Corporation think tank says Abaaoud was likely travelling on false documents and once inside Europe's (passport-free) Schengen area he would have travelled freely.
With files from the Associated Press.
Guest:
Seth Jones, Director, International Security and Defense Policy Center, RAND Corporation think tank; Jones has served as the representative for the commander, U.S. Special Operations Command, to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations; Author, "Hunting in the Shadows: The Pursuit of al Qa'ida after 9/11" (W.W. Norton, 2012)
Judge ordered frozen embryos destroyed in SF divorced couple’s fight
A San Francisco woman is now weighing her options after a judge ruled that the embryos she and her husband froze and stored at UCSF must be “thawed and discarded” due to an agreement the couple signed at the fertility clinic where they stored the embryos that required they be destroyed in the event of a divorce.
46-year-old Dr. Mimi Lee married Stephen Findley in 2010. Lee had recently received a breast cancer diagnosis and wanted to make sure she could still have children in the event that her treatment rendered her infertile.
The couple signed a contract, agreeing to destroy the embryos if the two were ever to divorce. When that happened earlier this year, Lee decided she wanted to break the agreement and keep the embryos after all because she says her cancer treatment left her unable to have children.
During the July trial, Dr. Lee argued that she believed the agreement she signed at the fertility clinic was just a consent form, and figured she could change her mind in the future. Her former husband says that their divorce was not amicable and that he doesn’t want to be tied to Lee for the rest of his life.
The court ruled that given Dr. Lee’s profession and knowledge, her testimony that she didn’t know she was entering into a binding agreement wasn’t credible.
Guest:
Judith Daar, Professor at Whittier Law School, Clinical Professor at UCI School of Medicine and current Chair of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine Ethics Committee
AT30: The future of downtown Los Angeles
The revitalization of downtown Los Angeles has been a long time in the making.
Just a decade ago, it wouldn’t be a stretch to describe the titular center of the city as a ghost town – a place where office bees spent 8 hours a day and then quickly hightailed home. But then things started to happen: from the construction of condominiums to the growth of cultural events like the Downtown Art Walk and the influx of hip spots such as Bestia and the Ace Hotel, this historic urban space has been transformed and reborn.
But with growth comes growing pains. Rents in the area have gone up considerably, making a once an affordable area out of reach for many. And rapid development has run up against a growing homeless population that has long called downtown Los Angeles home.
In this rebroadcast of the AT30 live event at the Broad museum, Larry Mantle leads a discussion on what the future of downtown Los Angeles holds.
Guests:
Alice Callaghan, Founder and Director, Las Familias Del Pueblo
Jose Huizar, Los Angeles City Council Member representing District 14 and co-chair of the Homelessness and Poverty Committee
Jon Regardie, Executive Editor, Los Angeles Downtown News
Carol Schatz, President & CEO of Central City Association of Los Angeles
Brian Traynam, Co-owner, The Escondite bar; former co-owner, Bar 107
Brigham Yen, Downtown resident and founder of the blog, DTLA Rising