AirTalk parses through the state's newest legislature after the 2017 session ended in Sacramento Friday. We also analyze Trump's first UN appearance among other political news; debate the delicacy of foie gras after an appeals court upheld California's right to impose a state ban; and more.
Week in politics: Analyzing Trump’s first UN appearance, plus what new poll shows about Americans' trust in Trump to handle North Korea
President Trump spoke before the United Nations General Assembly’s opening session in New York City Monday morning and called for across-the-board reform and a departure from “business as usual.”
He called for the organization to cut red tape and get its spending under control, saying that the U.S. funds 22 percent of the U.N. budget. Some had been concerned about how the ‘America First’ agenda that President Trump is expected to bring to the table will sit with the rest of the member nations, which face other pressing international issues like fighting ISIS and getting a handle on recent North Korean aggressions, one of the issues the president is expected to raise when he speaks to the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the U.S. ratcheted up its own rhetoric regarding North Korea over the weekend. It follows a North Korean missile launch over Japan last week. Is the Trump administration looking to take real action as the reclusive country’s regime advances its ballistic missile program?
Plus, President Trump surprised a lot of people when he announced he’d come to a deal with Democratic leaders on protections for undocumented immigrants who were protected under DACA until the administration said last week it would roll back President Obama’s executive order. How are the GOP and his base reacting?
We’ll also talk about the politicization of award shows after last night’s 69th Emmys and how the Trump administration is responding to California’s new ‘sanctuary state’ law.
Guests:
Caroline Heldman, associate professor of politics at Occidental College and author of the forthcoming book, “Protest Politics in the Marketplace: Consumer Activism in the Corporate Age” (Cornell University Press, 2017); she tweets
Pete Peterson, dean of the School of Public Policy and senior fellow at The Davenport Institute at Pepperdine University; he tweets
California spared in Trump’s national monument review
The Trump administration has undertaken a review to adjust or reduce the size of national monuments designated in the last few decades.
According to a memo obtained by The Wall Street Journal, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has recommended changes to 7 monuments, including Utah’s Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante, as well as Oregon’s Cascade-Siskiyou. California national monuments -- like the Giant Sequoia National Monument -- are spared.
The Wall Street Journal’s Jim Carlton speaks with Larry about the leaked review.
Guest:
Jim Carlton, reporter at The Wall Street Journal who broke the story; he tweets @jimcarltonsf
CA Legislative Session: What passed? What didn't? What stalled?
The latest legislative session in Sacramento saw huge support for the state's affordable housing crisis and strong efforts to promote clean energy.
A majority of California lawmakers supported a key package of bills set to pour money into veteran housing and affordable apartment complexes. They also supported a plan for spending $1.5 billion in cap-and-trade revenue. The session officially ended Friday after a tense two days of voting.
Since the session saw so many different bills regulating so many things important to Californians (pet stores included), AirTalk wants to break it all down. On today's show, we recap the latest session with those who followed it the closest. What passed? What didn't? What wasn't decided on?
Guests:
Dan Walters, long-time California politics observer with CALmatters, a nonprofit public interest publication
Ben Adler, capitol bureau chief of Capital Public Radio in Sacramento
Guy Marzorati, producer for The California Report and KQED’s California politics and government desk
Rose Bowl looks to sell the naming rights to its field, but it won’t be a corporate name
For the first time in its history, the field at the Rose Bowl could have a name.
The Rose Bowl Operating Company is reportedly looking for approval Monday for a new name for the field which has played host to countless memorable football and soccer games. What may be a welcome surprise for some is that the field won’t bear the name of a brand or corporation, but rather that of Tod Spieker, a Silicon Valley real estate investor and UCLA alumnus.
Spieker offered to kick in $10 million to start a fundraising campaign that the Rose Bowl Operating Company hopes will raise $40 million for stadium improvements by the time the venue turns 100 years old in 2022. If Pasadena City Council approves the motion, the field would be named ‘Tod Spieker Field at the Rose Bowl,” though broadcasters reportedly would not be required to refer to it this way. The agreement would put Speiker’s name on the field for the next 25 years before it could be up for a change.
What do you think about naming the field at the Rose Bowl? Does it change anything for you that the field will be named after a person rather than a company or brand?
Guest:
Rob Yowell, president of Gemini Sports Group, a marketing firm based in Phoenix, AZ; he has been involved in negotiating a number of naming rights deals including for The Honda Center in Anaheim and Oracle Arena in Oakland
With CA’s possible ban on foie gras, a look at support and opposition to selling the delicacy
Judges ruled in California’s 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week that the state may enforce a 2004 ban on the sale of foie gras.
As reported by the Los Angeles Times, debate over the liver pate delicacy has been going through courts since the initial ruling on the ban, which was implemented in 2012, eight years after the initial ruling. The ban was then lifted in 2015.
Animal rights activists have criticized the force-feeding of animals to produce foie gras. But restaurant companies like Manhattan and Hermosa Beach-based Hot’s Kitchen, which has been involved in appeals to the ban, argue that this is a question of choice.
What is your take on the sale of foie gras?
Guests:
Michael Tenenbaum, Santa Monica-based attorney who represented plaintiffs including Hot’s Kitchen in several cases to stop the foie gras ban
Gene Baur, president and CEO of Farm Sanctuary, an animal rights advocacy organization that helps animals recover from abuse