The Ghost Ship fire in Oakland becomes one of the deadliest in California history, Gloria Steinem on the future of feminism under President Trump, Santa's Village grand re-opening.
Oakland fire: dangerous conditions hamper recovery effort
At least 36 people are confirmed dead in a fire at a warehouse party in Oakland late Friday night.
Officials say it's the worst fire tragedy in the city's history.
It started during a dance party at an artists' collective on site known as the Ghost Ship.
Authorities are still investigating the scene to determine what started the fire, and to possibly find more victims.
"They were mostly young people in their 20s and 30s," says East Bay Times reporter Julia Prodis Sulek. "A lot of them were just starting out their lives, just having a great evening with a community they could really connect with."
Firefighters are also racing against time to survey the warehouse – the roof collapsed, and a rain storm is expected to hit on Wednesday.
"It's a very dangerous, very somber effort right now," says Prodis Sulek.
The man behind Ghost Ship, Derick Almena, also outfitted the space with many woodworking projects, and that wood may have been fuel for the fire.
"The staircase leading to the second floor – the main access to the second floor and the main escape route – was made of wooden pallets and plywood," says Prodis Sulek. "He had built a bonfire, and all it took was a match."
Hear more of Take Two's interview with Julia Prodis Sulek by using the blue audio player above
A SoCal vet on feds halting Dakota pipeline: 'It was a profound moment'
After months of protest, federal officials say they will not grant permits for the controversial Dakota Access oil pipeline to move forward. Yesterday, the Army Corps of Engineers said it would review alternate routes for the 1,100-mile long project.
The news prompted cheers among demonstrators gathered near the Standing Rock reservation.
"I feel like that was a profound moment that will stick with me," said Anderson Gould, a Marine veteran and Navajo, who left his home in San Clemente, California to make the long trip to join the encampment. He arrived Sunday and, later that same day, joined in a celebration as the news came in of the Army's decision.
Still, he said, many people at the camp vowed to remain until the pipeline is permanently stopped.
"We still feel a need to stand up, play our part and make a stand," he said.
Since April, thousands of demonstrators have been camping at the proposed site – expressing their concerns about protecting the Missouri River and sacred burial sites near the pipeline's route. They believe the pipeline threatens the Missouri River, a vital source of water for residents.
"Although we have had continuing discussion and exchanges of new information with the Standing Rock Sioux and Dakota Access, it's clear that there's more work to do," said Jo-Ellen Darcy, the Army's Assistant Secretary for Civil Works, in a statement. "The best way to complete that work responsibly and expeditiously is to explore alternate routes for the pipeline crossing."
The company behind the pipeline, Energy Transfer Partners, said it still plans to go forward with construction without changing the route, calling the Army Corps decision a "political" move from the White House.
To listen to the full interview with Take Two's Alex Cohen, click on the blue media player. This post has been updated to include additional photos provided by Anderson Gould, Jr.
Gloria Steinem on finding hope after the election: 'Look laterally at each other and not up at the White House'
Before the 2016 election, feminist writer Gloria Steinem says she wouldn't have been all that surprised that Hillary Clinton could lose, but she would have been shocked that Donald Trump could win.
The fact that America still hasn't had a woman president, says Steinem, goes to show just how big of a hurdle it is to change the biases we hold about women leaders.
"Even though there are many more good, nurturing male parents than there used to be, still, we're mostly raised by women," says Steinem "and we therefore associate female authority with childhood, and emotionality, and nurturing and great qualities, but not those that you think of as public and global leadership qualities."
Gloria Steinem spoke with Take Two's Alex Cohen ahead of a CAP UCLA event on Sunday where she sat down for a conversation with Jill Soloway, the creator of the Amazon series "Transparent."
She shared her thoughts about the future of the women's movement, and future of the country as a whole, with Donald Trump as president.
Interview highlights:
On an essay she wrote for TIME Magazine in 1970, titled "What if Women Win," and how hopeful she was that it would become a reality
"It was so distant as a possibility that women could win, and/or that there could be a female president, that this was an assignment, not an idea of my own. But it did cause me to begin to think about how different it might be... It's hard to think oneself back into that state of mind, [but] I think I was excited by the imagining and grateful that there were enough people that were challenging the status quo so that one didn't feel crazy, one felt that it was possible."
On whether she thought back then that there would be a woman president in her lifetime
"I don't think I would have said, even then, it would happen in my lifetime that we would have a female president— or a female president who really represented the majority interests of women, not a Sarah Palin or a Margaret Thatcher. Because this is arguably the most powerful position in the world, and there's a lot more competition for it than there are perhaps for the chiefs of state of other countries. But I think I would have thought that once we won the majority, as we have done, on every single issue and all the public opinion polls, we would be further ahead than now."
On what needs to happen to make more progress toward a world where men and women are on more equal footing
"I think we need to look where we are... So if we make every day a day in which we have increased that kind of balance, for instance if we have at least listened as much as we have talked, or talked as much as we have listened and created that balance. If we have looked at the groups around us and said how come this group isn't [as] representative as it should be. If we have made sure there's laughter and music along the way. You know, so I've learned that to agonize and think only about the future is to give up a chance to influence the future by what you're doing right now."
On how to find hope, for those who look at this moment as a time of despair
"I think clearly we need to look laterally at each other and not up at the White House. When we look up, we feel isolated. When we look at each other, we realize that we are the majority— even of the popular vote, that was in Hillary Clinton's favor, and also if you look at public opinion polls of the issues. All the issues that [Donald Trump] opposes, the majority of Americans support. So that is very heartening, and we realize that we have a lot of people power, and there's much that we can do."
To hear Alex Cohen's full interview with Gloria Steinem, click the blue player above.
On the Lot: Disney's Iger to advise Trump, new twist in Last Tango abuse allegations
Anyone who's seen the classic film, "Last Tango in Paris" recalls the scene when Marlon Brando tells Maria Schneider to, "go get the butter."
It's the set up for a graphic and brutal act of sexual aggression, and Schneider, who was 19 when the film was shot, has said she was surprised by it all. The scene was not in her script.
Our On the Lot guide, Rebecca Keegan of Vanity Fair, says new information about that scene, and how it was shot, is raising questions–not just about the 45-year-old film, but about the technique of surprising actors with difficult or violent actions on set to try to get a genuine reaction.
Keegan also shares the news that Disney CEO Bob Iger has agreed to sit on a panel that will advise the Trump White House on economic issues. And she talks about some of the films chosen this weekend as the best of the year by the LA Film Critics association.
To listen to the story, click the blue media player.
Jokes aside, Asian-American comedians serious about visibility
Ben Carson tapped to address housing issues, but is he qualified?
President-elect Donald Trump has picked former campaign rival Ben Carson to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD.
During the campaign, Trump vowed to lift up America's inner cities and to help increase homeownership rates.
So what can Carson, a former neurosurgeon, do to make that happen?
"He's certainly not qualified from any conventional standpoint," says Richard Green, director and chair of the University of Southern California's Lusk Center for Real Estate. "So far as I know, he's never spent any time thinking about housing or urban development."
Green, who spent last year as a senior advisor to HUD, says the Department's checklist should include more investment in Section 8 housing vouchers for low-income people.
"That would allow more Angelenos to afford living here," he says.
Green also argues that the government should increase people's access to the FHA program, which gives out low-interest mortgage loans to first-time homebuyers, as well as update the technology that manages the system.
"If he chooses not to do that, it would be very detrimental to the future of those programs."
Plus, HUD should encourage banks to give some borrowers – like independent contractors or good savers who don't have a strong credit history – a second look.
"There are a lot of people who are good credit risks who are being shut out of the market because they're a little unconventional," says Green.
Hear more of Richard Green's assessment of Ben Carson leading HUD by using the blue audio player above.
California state lawmakers to make bail reform a top priority
If you get arrested and held in jail for a crime, a judge will probably set bail. Pay it, and you will be released. It's a centuries-old process.
Now some human rights groups say the bond system is unfair because it penalizes the poor. Inmates arrested for even minor offenses can wind up spending months behind bars because they can't afford to pay. These absences can cause a ripple in the communities they leave behind.
In August, President Obama brought in civil rights lawyers to try to reform the practice on the national level.
On Monday, Assemblyman Rob Bonta and Sen. Bob Hertzberg signaled their intention to tackle the issue head-on.
Phil Telfeyan is the executive director for Equal Justice Under Law in Washington DC, an organization that provides legal services to those in need.
Press the blue play button above to hear the full conversation.
SoCal community watches Trump, Taiwan closely
Usually, the president-elect makes news by Tweeting, but a Donald Trump phone call is getting a lot of attention in Asia – and among the Chinese and Taiwanese community right here in Southern California.
"I was pretty surprised," said Pei-te Lien, professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of California, Santa Barbara. "It really has reversed the long-time marginalization, if not neglect, of the U.S. treating Taiwan either as an international orphan or as a second-class citizen in Chinese politics."
On Friday, Trump took a call from the president of Taiwan. At first glance it may have seemed like a routine call between world leaders as Trump prepares to transition into the White House.
But it's generating a lot of anxiety in China. No other U.S. president or president-elect has spoken directly with Taiwanese leadership since 1979. That's when the the U.S. cut off direct ties to Taiwan over China's policy toward the island-nation. China considers Taiwan a part of mainland China.
Though many here in Southern California are watching the developments closely, views remain divided over what it could mean for U.S. relations with China and Taiwan moving forward, said Lien. According to figures from Taiwan's government, California’s exports to Taiwan reached $7.8 Billion in 2015 and is the state's fifth largest market in Asia.
To listen to the full interview, click on the blue media player above.
Donald J. Trump: The game
Imagine a video game full of action and suspense, a game where you get to hang from helicopters while shooting at ISIS militants, a game where you get to rule over the country, forging alliances and fortifying borders.
Following this description, one might infer that they've just read the description of some new, shoot-em-up video game out just in time for Christmas.
Well, not quite.
Each of the afore-described games features a special main character: President-elect Donald Trump.
At least five video games starring Trump have come on the market this year. Some carry a very pro-Trump message; others are decidedly anti-Trump.
Regardless of the stance, thousands of gamers have paid to play the part of the president-elect.
For a deeper look at what's out there, Take Two spoke to gamer and CNET senior editor Ashley Esqueda.
(Questions and answers have been edited for clarity)
Highlights
You've looked at some these games. Many of them came out during election season. Why is digital Donald Trump such a major selling point?
I think that he is certainly a character. I mean, just in real life. We all kind of know people like this but because he's known on a global level and he's now the president-elect of the United States, I think people want to either put out a message of anti-Trump support or they want to say, 'Hey, this guy is the best, and he's going to make America great again.' So they're expressing that in the same way a street artist would but by creating video games.
Have any former presidents been featured as characters in video games or is this a new thing?
I think the amount is new. There are certainly occasions where we have seen presidents in games: in 2010, you were able to play as Barack Obama in NBA Jam. Also in Call of Duty Black-Ops Zombies, there were Nixon and JFK skins that you could fight zombies in. There was also a very strange multiplayer co-op shooter called Reagan-Gorbachev.
If you're a child of the 80s, that makes sense, though. Let's go through some of the games featuring the president-elect. Let's start with the games that have a Trump-positive narrative.
I would say that the most Trump-positive narrative would be Make America Great Again: The Trump Presidency. That was one of the ones where you control Trump, you do his 'day-to-day' activities, which is hanging out of helicopters fighting ISIS.
Day-to-day.
As you do when you wake up in the morning, and you're the president-elect. Building the wall on the US-Mexico border, and also invading China which is also a little bit, you know, controversial. Sort of a love letter to some Redditors who enjoy hanging out in a sub-Reddit called "The Donald." A lot of Donald Trump supporters in there, so they seem to be enjoying that one.
Tell us about some of the anti-Trump games.
The most anti-Trump one would be Trump Pinata, which is exactly what it sounds like.
Press the blue play button above to hear the full interview.
How the new Santa's village is setting itself apart from other theme parks
A wave of nostalgia overtook Southern Californians this weekend in the form of giant gingerbread houses and candy cane lanes.
Nestled deep in the San Bernardino forest, Santa’s Village originally opened in 1955, two months before Disneyland. At 230 acres, the attraction was one of the biggest amusement parks of its time.
Children and adults alike were entertained by petting zoos, bobsleds, a candy kitchen and a monorail with bumblebee cars. Over the years though, attendance faltered and Santa's Village closed in 1998.
Now after 18 years, the amusement park has re-opened, branded SkyPark at Santa’s village.
For more on the park’s opening weekend, Bill Johnson, general manager at SkyPark, spoke with Alex Cohen.
To hear the full interview, click the blue play button above.