A look back at the moments that would change the way parties choose their candidates, Golden State celebrates sports history being made, can comedy be used to combat terror.
Take Two Time Machine: The history of delegates
Just five days remain until the New York presidential primary and stakes are high for candidates on both sides of the political aisle.
The "Excelsior" state holds a trove of delegates; for Hillary Clinton, a win would further propel her past Bernie Sanders. For Donald Trump, the delegate boost could chip away at the chances of a contested convention.
The value of delegates has been on full display this election cycle, but their role has changed a lot since the days of the founding fathers.
For more on how the current system came to be, Take Two spoke to Seth Masket, chair of the department of political science at the University of Denver and author of the book, “The Inevitable Party: Why Attempts to Kill the Party System Fail and How they Weaken Democracy.”
1832 Democratic Convention
1860 Democratic Convention
1910 Changes
1968 Democratic Convention
2016 Presidential Race
Fast food workers continue push for higher wages
Tens of thousands of low-wage workers will walk off the job in 320 cities nationwide. They're rallying for pay of $15 an hour and a union.
Similar protests will take place in 40 different countries spanning six continents worldwide.
Rallies are also happening locally... earlier today, employees were demonstrating at a McDonald's in the southern California region of Southgate.
For more on the California labor protests, KPCC's Ben Bergman joined the show.
To hear the full interview, click the blue play button above.
The Wheel Thing: Untangling electric vehicle tax credits
It’s been two weeks since Tesla introduced its all-electric Model 3 sedan, with a range of 215 miles per charge and a starting price of $35,000. Costing half as much as the auto maker’s larger Model S, the Model 3 surprised industry analysts when more than 325,000 people placed deposits on the compact luxury sedan in little more than a week.
Yet many of those wannabe Model 3 owners who’ve put down $1,000 refundable deposits are expecting to get the car for a whole lot less. At least $7,500 less, courtesy of federal government incentives for all-electric vehicles.
That subsidy only exists to a certain point, however. The federal tax credit phases out once a manufacturer has sold 200,000 electric vehicles in the U.S. — a target Tesla is projected to hit in early 2018, soon after the Model 3 is scheduled to go into production. General Motors, which sells the plug-in hybrid Volt, all-electric Spark and upcoming long-range all-electric Bolt, will also be among the first auto makers to hit the 200,000 EV mark that triggers reduced tax incentives.
It was the Energy Improvement and Extension Act of 2008 that established tax credits for plug-in electric vehicles as a means of spurring buy-in of more fuel efficient cars and stimulating the economy. Effective for new cars purchased in or after 2010, when the Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf ushered in a new era of plug-in electric vehicles, the tax credits range from $2,500 to $7,500 per car, based on battery capacity.
Electric vehicles with larger batteries, such as the Tesla Model S and BMW i3, are eligible for the largest, $7,500 rebate, while EVs with less all-electric range, such as the Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid, receive as little as $2,500 from the federal government.
The EV credit is processed with Internal Revenue Service Form 8936, aka the Qualified Plug-in Electric Drive Motor Vehicle Credit. For a hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle, it’s Form 8910. Both forms are filed along with the IRS Individual Income Tax Return Form 1040. The tax credit operates as a dollar-for-dollar credit against taxes owed.
Paired with state incentives, such as California’s Clean Vehicle Rebate Project, which refunds buyers $1,500 for new plug-in hybrids, $2,500 for all-electric vehicles and $5,000 for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, the cost of the most popular EVs are often reduced by $10,000 off the manufacturer’s suggested retail price.
The $35,000 Tesla Model 3, for instance, could be had for as little as $25,000 after applying the California Clean Vehicle Project rebate and federal tax credit, bringing Tesla’s entry-level model down to a price that falls between bestselling, similarly sized gas-powered cars like the Honda Ciivc (starting at $19,475) and BMW 3 Series (starting at $34,145).
It’s no wonder so many people have plunked down a deposit to buy the Model 3. It’s entry-level luxury at a more mainstream price. Yet once an auto maker sells 200,000 electric vehicles in the U.S., the federal tax credit begins to phase out. At the end of the quarter following the fiscal quarter during which the company hits its 200,000-vehicle production limit, the IRS reduces the $7,500 credit to $3,750 for the following two quarters, and reduces it again to $1,875 for the subsequent two quarters before eliminating the credit altogether.
Depending on Tesla’s production schedule, customers who are early in the delivery queue for the Model 3 are likely to receive the $7,500 federal tax credit, but those who receive their cars later may only get $3,750, $1,875 or nothing at all.
Tesla has so far delivered about 71,000 cars in the U.S., according to the web site InsideEVs.com, and its Model S is currently the nation’s bestselling EV. The Palo Alto-based company is on track to sell at least 70,000 more vehicles in the U.S. by the end of 2017, when Tesla has said the Model 3 will go into production. That means that Tesla will be rapidly approaching its 200,000-car threshold shortly after the Model 3 goes on sale.
“We are committed to providing customers with up-to-date information about current incentives at the time of purchase,” Tesla spokeswoman Alexis Georgeson told Automotive News this week. “We’ll do the same when it’s time for customers to confirm their Model 3 orders.”
General Motors and Nissan, which, as of March 2016, have so far sold 92,737 Volts and 95,522 Leafs in the U.S. respectively, according to InsideEVs.com, will also be among the first auto makers to hit the 200,000-vehicle production limit within the next couple years, at which point their EVs will also be subject to reduced federal tax credits.
How the LA Times put Kobe Bryant's 30K plus shots into one graphic
Twenty years and more than 30,000 shots have all come down to one chart.
The LA Times compiled all the stats on Kobe Bryant's every shot ever, and turned it into an interactive visual for die-hard Laker fans and the curious alike.
Every shot Kobe Bryant ever took. All 30,699 of them
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes)
Every shot Kobe Bryant ever took. All 30,699 of them https://t.co/hbtm23cHQh pic.twitter.com/BXMHWMmtIC
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) April 14, 2016
Joe Fox, graphics and data journalist for the LA Times, helped put all the data together. He joined host Alex Cohen to tell more.
To listen to the full interview, click on the blue audio player above.
With the record in hand, how do the Warriors compare to the '96 Bulls?
73 is the magic number.
The Golden State Warriors beat the Memphis Grizzles last night, to claim the record for most wins in the regular season
This honor was previously held by the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls of 1996.
Earlier I spoke with Tim Bontemps, National NBA writer for the Washington Post
He says that there is no doubt about it: if the Warriors win the Championship, they'll go down as the greatest team in the history of the NBA. If not, well... It was still a pretty amazing run.
USC didn't have to look far for the newest Athletic Director
USC has finally named a new Athletic Director. Lynn Swann will take over from current AD Pat Haden on July 1st.
Swann's a former star wide-receiver for the Trojan football team and a Super Bowl champion with the Steelers -- but he has little experience heading up an athletic department.
That's led to scrutiny from fans online, who consider this another misstep in a school that's made a habit of hiring from its alumni base. Some said that the hire made even less sense when the University claimed that it had cast a wide search to find the perfect candidate for the position.
We turn now to Petros Papadakis, host of "The Petros & Money Show" on Fox Sports Radio. He's also a former tailback for the Trojans.
State of Affairs: Presidential candidates make moves in CA
On this week's State of Affairs, Donald Trump begins the hunt for California delegates, Governor Jerry Brown takes a swipe at Sen. Ted Cruz, and Hillary Clinton back in the state for another round of fundraising.
Joining Take Two to discuss:
- , POLITICO's California Playbook reporter
- , Capital Public Radio's Capitol Bureau Chief
Can comedy be used to combat terror?
"Right now it sucks" to be ISIS
That's what Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Work told reporters this week.
He said the U.S. is hitting the Islamic militant group hard right now and that part of our new arsenal includes cyber-attacks.
But is that enough? Might we need to use something else? Like a few good laughs?
That's what musician Bono suggested Tuesday when speaking in front of a Senate Subcommittee.
The U2 frontman suggested sending Amy Schumer, Chris Rock and Sacha Baron Cohen overseas may be an effective strategy to combat ISIS.
For more on this notion, we were joined by a Muslim stand-up comic who actually talks a fair bit about terrorism in his routine, Ahmed Ahmed.
He was born in Egypt, raised in Riverside and turned to comedy after he found himself unable to land any roles in film and television which weren't terrorists or cab drivers.
To hear the full interview, click the blue play button above.
Lights, Camera, WriteGirl! event brings stories of at-risk teens to life on stage
This weekend Hollywood actors join forces with WriteGirl, a local nonprofit, to portray stories written by teen girls on stage.
WriteGirl pairs young women with professional writers to promote empowerment, creativity and self-expression.
This weekend WriteGirl is hosting a fundraising benefit at the Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood called Lights, Camera, WriteGirl.
Keren Taylor, the executive director of Write Girl, and writer Josann McGibbon, who's credits include "Runaway Bride," "The Starter Wife" and last year's Disney Channel hit "Descendants" joined host Alex Cohen in studio to talk about the organization, their red carpet benefit, and the process of mentoring young women to become confident poets, journalists, screenwriters, and more.
Some of the actors attending the star studded event include Wendi McLendon-Covey of "The Goldbergs," Keiko Agena of "Gilmore Girls," Aasha Davis of "Friday Night Lights," Trevor St. John of "Containment" and Tembi Locke of "Eureka" who will be performing pieces written by WriteGirl participants.
If you're interested in purchasing tickets for this weekend's Lights, Camera, WriteGirl event, you can purchase them here.
'Echo Park' filmmakers discuss love and inclusion in Hollywood
You can probably guess where Amanda Marsalis's debut feature, "Echo Park," is set. Once considered a rough part of town, the neighborhood (just like the movie) is now teeming with hipsters, coffee shops and record stores.
"Echo Park" circa 2016 isn't the first indie drama to use the area as a backdrop. Thirty years ago, in 1986, Susan Dey starred as a waitress and single mom living a boho, artsy life surrounded by other boho, artsy types in the other film called "Echo Park."
The 2016 version of this slice-of-life drama stars Mamie Gummer as a successful designer, Sophie, who moves from the westside to Echo Park after a breakup. She meets Alex (played by Tony Okungbowa) and the two start a relationship.
Marsalis and Okungbowa, who also co-produced the film, talked with Alex Cohen about Marsalis's previous work as a photographer, the way the film impacted their views on love and how Hollywood can be more inclusive of diverse voices.
Although the movie features an interracial couple — Sophie is white and Alex is black — the filmmakers chose not to highlight the racial dynamic. “[Inter-racial dating] is our reality,” says Okungbowa. The problems between Sophie and Alex are less about race and more about geography: Sophie is westside and Alex is eastside.
But it’s their differences that bring the couple together. Marsalis says:
"They begin to understand themselves better because it's reflected back from somebody that's so different. If you're surrounded constantly by people who are the same as you, you might not understand yourself as well because you're part of a collective in a way and this really puts both their lives into focus."
The film is distributed by Array, Ava DuVernay’s distribution company, which focuses on promoting the work of female filmmakers and filmmakers of color. Marsalis and Okungbowa agree that this made a huge difference in bringing the film to life. Okungbowa says:
"The way forward is taking control. Taking control of distribution outlets, taking control of creating material, taking control of telling stories. It makes a difference who helms a story and those things can only be taken care of by the right people at the top."
"Echo Park" opens this weekend at the Downtown Independent Theater in Los Angeles. You can also watch it on Netflix.